Wind of Destiny: Converging
Red Thread – Chapter Two
Misaki stood in front of the floor length mirror in her bedroom, staring at her reflection and barely recognizing the woman in the sleeveless black evening gown staring back at her. The dress fit her like a second skin, hugging at her curves in all the right places and flowing down into a slight train around her feet. She couldn't believe how well defined even her thighs were, considering the deep, dark fabric and the almost indecently high slit up the front left side that showed off her skin as she walked and remained hidden while standing. She twisted and turned, walking around the length of her bedroom while inspecting her reflection, marveling at the way the unforgiving velvet never bunched or creased around her sides as she moved, molding to her body no matter how she stood or sat. She couldn't even see the clasps holding the bodice in place in the back.
The woman may have been a bat, but she was a genius with a sewing machine.
Walking over to her vanity table, she tentatively reached out for the large, velvet covered jewelry box sitting on the glass surface. The President had handed it to her, along with the dress and a bag containing a box of shoes, when she'd been preparing to leave the office the night before. Her heart had nearly leapt out of her chest when she'd opened it to view the necklace and earring set inside. There had to be at least a hundred carats worth of diamonds in the box. She'd tried to refuse, but the President had assured her that they were on loan from an interested party who insisted that she pair them with the dress for the evening, along with the strappy Jimmy Choo stilettos she hadn't even touched since they'd been handed to her. Not for the first time since her traumatizing fitting, Misaki found herself thinking that someone seemed to be putting way too much effort into this evening for her.
Taking a deep breath, she gingerly lifted one of the diamond earrings from the box, letting the air out of her lungs slowly as she held it up in front of her and stared at it for a long moment. Setting her lips in a thin line, she sat down on the vanity bench and gulped, squeezing her eyes closed as she quickly secured it to her left ear, followed shortly by the right one. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting at her reflection in the lighted mirror. Bringing a hand up to cover her gasp, she stared at the glittering gems hanging from her ears with wide eyes. They definitely felt as heavy as they looked.
Heaving a shaky sigh, she reached out with trembling hands for the necklace sitting atop the dark silk surface of the box's interior and lifted it as preciously as she would have a newborn babe in her hands. Taking another deep, shaky breath, she carefully undid the clasp and moved to fasten it around her neck, keeping her shaking fingers tightly secured around the diamond studded chain. She let out a heavy sigh of relief when she finally felt it clasp at the back of her neck. If she made it out of her apartment without having a nervous breakdown about what had to be millions of yen worth of accessories adorning her body, it would be a miracle.
Taking a moment to compose herself, she reached out to her stash of hair pins, pulling the left side of her hair back and securing it so that the pin was no longer visible. She'd already loosely curled the ends and applied some modest makeup before slipping on the dress. Staring back at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes lingered on her lips for a moment before dropping to her small collection of long last lipsticks. She took a moment to consider her options before reaching out for the only red shade she owned; a deep, vivid crimson. She quickly applied a coat to her lips before she could change her mind.
After reaching out to turn off the light on the vanity mirror, she stood and walked over to the floor length mirror once more, gulping heavily as she gazed at her reflection. Averting her eyes lest her nerves get the better of her, she lifted her chin and strode out into the living room where her small black clutch containing the President's generous donation check sat on the entryway table above the bag containing her shoes. She dropped her lipstick tube into the clutch before depositing herself on the bench.
Reaching out for the bag, she pulled out the small shoe box and carefully lifted the lid. She gasped when she saw the length of the heel, cringing at the thought of standing for very long in them. As she lifted one of the strappy black shoes from the box, a flash of pink caught her eye, and she moved the paper aside to reveal a package of stiletto inserts. She smiled at the sticky note attached to the surface of the package with the message, "Don't sit all night!", scrawled in large, loopy letters across it.
'An interested party, huh?'
Why did she get the feeling that she'd become a living billboard for Madame LaBlanc to advertise her work for the evening?
Shaking her head, she applied the inserts to the inner lining of the stiletto heels and slid them onto her feet, securing the straps at her ankles before standing and taking a few steps around the entryway. They made her the perfect height for the dress to barely brush the ground around her, save for the modest train at the back; and with the inserts, they didn't hurt her feet at all. Humming in appreciation, she reached out for her black dress coat, securing it around her before grabbing her clutch. Turning the lock on the door, she opened it and stepped out into the hallway, shutting it behind her and locking it back before making her way down the hall to the elevators.
As she stepped outside the building, she was greeted by the familiar face of the President's daytime driver, who smiled at her as he opened the back door to the car he'd been leaning against. "My lady, your carriage awaits."
Misaki smiled back and shook her head, "Did the President put you up to this?"
"I may or may not be getting bonus overtime for being your escort for the evening," he replied jokingly as she slid past him into the backseat of the car.
"Don't milk the clock on my account. The sooner this night is over with the better," she grudgingly replied as he shut the door behind her.
He moved forward to slide into the driver's seat and adjusted the mirror to look back at her. "What's the matter, got a hot date later tonight?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, with a book and my bathtub after standing around in these heels for the next three hours."
"Awe, come on! Don't tell me a stunner like you is gonna spend the night all alone, now? What a waste!" The driver replied jovially.
Had she not known how utterly devoted the man was to his wife and three kids, she would have taken his statement as an unwelcome invitation. However, she knew he was just honestly teasing her.
"Whether it's a waste or not is up to the parties involved, is it not? For your information, I think that sounds like a wonderful way to spend my evening," she articulately replied, grinning at his reflection in the rearview mirror.
"Any other night I'd say you're right on the money. Eh, throw a bottle of wine and some caviar in there and it'd be pretty darn perfect. But this is Valentine's Day! Any man on the face of this earth would be the luckiest guy in the world to get to spend the night with you. That's a fact," the driver told her pointedly.
She huffed and turned her eyes to gaze out the window, muttering forlornly, "Anyone but the one that matters."
"What's that?" The driver asked, not hearing her over the sound of the car.
"Nothing," she sighed, shaking her head, and hoping that would be the end of the conversation.
Here she was dressed to the nines in the most amazing gown she'd ever seen, and the only person she really cared to show herself off to was busy entertaining some other woman for the evening. She knew it was only a job to him but knowing that her boyfriend was spending Valentine's Day with a woman other than her twisted her gut. He'd promised to find some excuse to leave early and fly over to her apartment after, but it still depressed her. Out of all the days in the year to get roped into a charity date, why did it have to be the couple's holiday? If it hadn't been the first Valentine's Day since they'd officially started dating, maybe it wouldn't have been such a big deal.
She sighed again, leaning her chin against the palm of her hand as she stared out the window at the passing scenery and thought, 'Oh well, nothing you can do about it now, Misaki. It's not like you don't get to see him at all. Be grateful for the time you do get, huh?'
Hawks strolled through the open doors into the wide, private lobby of the Tokyo Ritz Carlton Hotel where the charity auction he'd been forced to attend for the evening was being held. He looked around the room, noting that most of the heroes in attendance looked to be as uncomfortable as he was, though he doubted any of them had been ordered into this farce like he had. These charity types had been hitting him up to be their poster boy practically since his first year on the job as a pro hero. Scanning the crowd wearily, his gaze lit upon a familiar face; one of the few who looked to be right at home in the den of aristocracy.
"They roped you into this nonsense again this year, huh?" He drawled, walking up to Best Jeanist with a reluctant grin spread across his face and his hands tucked sloppily into the pockets of his dress pants.
Jeanist turned his gaze to the Wing Hero, staring down at his unbuttoned suit jacket and tieless dress shirt critically as he greeted him, "Hawks. I'm surprised you showed up. You typically avoid these types of appearances."
He shrugged and looked away derisively. "Couldn't talk my way out of it this time. This kinda thing's right up your alley though, isn't it?"
"It's for a good cause," Jeanist replied, crossing his arms.
Hawks grimaced. "Yeah, but still. Doesn't playing boy toy for some bored, old, rich lady kinda make you feel a little dirty?"
"There's nothing dirty about it. You'd know that if you hadn't been avoiding it for the last three years," Jeanist replied exasperatedly as he glared over the edge of his black denim collar at him dryly.
Hawks shrugged, dropping his hands into his pockets and looking to the side with a contrary expression on his face. "I get that it's for a good cause, it just seems a little tacky to be selling our time for charity. Can it really be considered a "charitable" donation if you're purchasing something with the money you're supposedly donating?"
"One man's frayed jeans are another man's denim jacket. Rather than the intention behind their being thrown out, it's what is made of them that really matters. The money we help raise here tonight will go to many families in need of assistance. It is our duty as heroes to do everything in our power to help those in need. No matter what the cost may be to ourselves," Jeanist said, looking down at him pointedly from behind his high collar, and impeccably styled hair.
"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Hawks replied abashedly, reaching a hand up to rub the back of his head and turning his gaze away from Jeanist's scrutiny.
Spending a few uncomfortable hours with some snooty socialite was a small price to pay for such a worthwhile cause. Not that it in any way changed his views on the auction itself. A farce was still a farce, no matter what the good intentions behind it may be. The sooner this sideshow was over with the better. He had much more important things to be doing tonight.
"Five minutes, Heroes! Five minutes!" An uppity sounding usher called out from the doors leading into the main ballroom from the private lobby.
The seven heroes who had been contracted into service for the evening were led out of their waiting room and lined up on the darkened stage in descending order according to their Billboard Chart rating; except for him and Jeanist. The usher had come up and told them to switch spots at the behest of the event organizer, meaning that Hawks would end up being the last one up for bid for the evening.
"When your name is called, please step forward into the spotlight until the bidding is closed. Once the next hero has been called, please step back into your original position until all bids have been finalized for the evening. The auctioneer will usher you off the stage where an event staff member will escort you back to the waiting room to await your winning bidder for the evening," the usher hurriedly explained, not waiting around for any questions before scampering off the stage like his tail was on fire.
Hawks sighed dejectedly and hung his head. At least he wasn't the only one who would be stuck on stage for the entire production.
The lights came up suddenly, temporarily blinding him as the jovial voice of the auctioneer sounded out from the rented speakers. "First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for attending tonight's banquet in honor of those who have lost loved ones or have been victims themselves of villain attacks throughout the country. All proceeds from tonight's auction will of course be donated to the Survivor's Fund in full."
The crowd erupted in magnanimous applause.
"Thank you, thank you," the auctioneer chuckled gregariously. "Now, without further ado, let us proceed with tonight's main event! May I present to you this year's lineup of Most Eligible Heroes!"
Another round of applause broke out, accompanied by few jeering catcalls from some of the ladies in the audience.
"Ladies, prepare your pocketbooks. We'll start tonight's bidding with the newest addition to our all-star hero lineup, Kamui Woods!" The auctioneer announced boisterously, opening the floor to bidding as Kamui hesitantly stepped forward into the spotlight.
"One hundred thousand!" A female voice called out from the crowd.
The auctioneer smiled magnanimously and praised the woman. "A fantastic opening bid from bidder number eleven! Do I have anyone for one ten?"
The bids continued to roll in for each hero, but Hawks paid very little attention to anything going on with the auction. He felt Jeanist glaring at him from his right as he opened his mouth in a wide yawn. Lifting his finger to wipe an errant tear from the corner of his eye, he grinned sheepishly at the man who just shook his head as he let out a short sigh. Swiping his finger under his nose a couple of times as his bored gaze drifted off stage to his left, he shoved his hands back in his pockets and impatiently waited for his turn. He inwardly urged the auctioneer to hurry up so he could get on with this ridiculous evening and finally make his way to Misaki's apartment, hopefully with enough time to spend at least a couple of hours with his own girlfriend on Valentine's Day.
After what seemed like hours, the auctioneer finally began to announce the next to last hero up for bid. "Back by popular demand. I'm prepared to hear the highest bids we've had yet this evening. Which lucky lady out there will win top bid for the privilege of spending the evening with the Number Four Hero on the Billboard Chart, Best Jeanist!"
"Layin' it on pretty thick there, aren't they?" Hawks drawled wryly as he raised his own hands to applaud when Jeanist stepped forward. As expected, the tall hero didn't even spare him a glance for his flippant remark as he stepped forward gracefully into the spotlight.
"Five hundred thousand!" A woman called out from the left side of the audience.
"And our opening bid rings in at an astonishing five hundred thousand yen from bidder number four! Can I hear five hundred and fifty?" The auctioneer addressed the crowd excitedly.
The bids began rolling in, steadily increasing in increments of hundreds, then thousands, then millions, until finally reaching a top bid of two million five hundred thousand yen.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our highest bid for a contestant in the history of this auction, sold to bidder number seven for two million five hundred thousand yen!" The auctioneer called, his voice practically shaking with excitement.
"Not bad," Hawks commented, clapping slowly along with the crowd as Jeanist stepped back into his spot next to him.
"And now, for our final hero up for bid tonight. He's been the most requested, and the most elusive bachelor we've had on our radar in recent history. I hope you ladies out there have saved up for this once in a lifetime opportunity to spend your Valentine's Day evening with the Wing Hero, Hawks!" The auctioneer called out to a thunderous sound of applause from the audience.
"Man, I thought they laid it on thick for you, geez..." Hawks drawled exasperatedly with a grimace as he reluctantly stepped forward into the garish spotlight highlighting the stage in front of him.
"Try not to look so uncomfortable," he heard Jeanist encourage him from behind.
"Two hundred thousand!" The excited voice of a woman called out in an opening bid, less than half that of what Jeanist had opened for. Not that he was competing, of course.
"And our first bid of the night comes from bidder number seventeen for two hundred thousand yen! Now ladies, I know we can do much better than that," the auctioneer chided the women in the audience, his candor met with a chorus of laughter from the crowd.
"Five hundred thousand!" Another woman's voice rang out a moment later.
"Now that's more like it! Five hundred thousand to bidder number twelve," the auctioneer called, pointing his mallet at someone on the right-hand side of the gallery. Who, Hawks couldn't tell, as the spotlight was effectively turning the mob of people below into a mass of vague shadows.
"Seven hundred and fifty!" A new voice called out.
"One million!" The voice from the bidder before sounded a second later without any prompting from the auctioneer.
"And we've broken into the millions yet again! Do I hear one million five?" He interjected, urging more women in the audience to bid.
"Here!" Someone new exclaimed.
"One million five hundred thousand to bidder number twenty!" The auctioneer called out, his eyes widening and his smile brightening with excitement.
"Two million!" The woman from before countered.
"Two million five hundred thousand!" The newest woman to bid exclaimed excitedly.
"Suddenly we've hit the highest bid for the evening! Will we see the bids for the Wing Hero reach even greater heights?" The auctioneer asked with rife anticipation.
'Man, circus act is right,' Hawks thought to himself cynically. The man reminded him more of a ringleader than an auctioneer at this point.
"Five million!" The persistent woman's shaky voice called out brokenly.
Hawks peeked over his shoulder, shooting Jeanist an apologetic grimace as his new top bid doubled the other hero's winning bid for the night. The man just stared evenly back at him with his arms crossed. Hawks shrugged to himself as he turned back around, tilting his head back and tightening his lips in a thin line now that the bidding was surely over.
The auctioneer's face looked like it would split from how wide his grin was and he threw up his hands in elation, crying out, "Well! Quite the statement bid from bidder number seventeen! I'd be surprised to see anyone top that! With tonight's highest bid of five million yen, going once, going twice—!"
"Ten million yen!" An intimately familiar voice suddenly rang out from far in the back of the large ballroom.
"What the—?" Hawks immediately lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the harsh spotlight in an attempt to get a look at the woman who'd just called out that bid.
His heart hammered in his chest. He knew that voice. He'd know it even if it had whispered in the tightly packed throng of aristocrats scattered around the ballroom. But it wasn't possible, was it? There was no way she could be here. Right?
The auctioneer sputtered as he called out, "And we suddenly have an astonishing bid of ten million yen from the back row! Miss, please come forward and present your bidder number!"
...
'Oh no, what have you done...?'
Misaki's arm shook as it held up the little white paddle she'd been handed as she'd walked into the venue. She'd been ushered to a table to register her information and had been handed the paddle with a large black number forty-two printed on both sides. When she'd informed them that she was only there to make a donation, not participate in the auction, the table staff had informed her that she could hand in her check at the settlement table after the bidding was finished. She'd walked into the large ballroom, standing at the back of the crowd, and stared in shock up at the stage.
The charity event she'd been invited to attend in the President's stead turned out to be the very same one Hawks had been roped into participating in instead of spending the holiday with her.
She really hadn't intended to place any bids. She'd been steadfast in her conviction to head to the settlement table after the last bid and hand in the President's donation check. She'd mingle with the people at whatever table she'd been assigned to for dinner, and then leave. That had been the plan, until she'd walked into the middle of a bidding war currently going on between a bunch of women she didn't know, for a chance at spending Valentine's Day evening with her boyfriend. She'd just barely finished processing the situation when she'd heard the auctioneer start counting down for the last bid. She'd raised her paddle in the air almost as a reflex, calling out the full amount written on the President's donation check as her own bid.
Misaki silently cursed under her breath, squeezing her eyes shut and ducking her head as the auctioneer asked her to head up to the front. The crowd parted like the red sea, all eyes turning to stare at her. She kept her eyes trained firmly on the ground as she steadily made her way down to the front of the stage, passing by the woman who'd placed the bid before her and practically melting under the fiery glare she was receiving.
She chanced a glance up at the stage as she neared, lifting her head, and staring up into the wide, shocked eyes of the hero in front of her. He looked almost as shocked as she'd felt when she'd realized that she'd called out that bid; and she couldn't really blame him. She hadn't told him she was going to be attending a charity auction for the President tonight, thinking that she'd be home long before he was able to make his way over from his own charity event. Low and behold, they'd ended up attending the same one.
Misaki's attention was drawn to the auctioneer as he said, "Well I doubt I need to ask, but is there anyone out there willing to outbid number forty-two's ten million yen bid? Going once, going twice..."
She felt the sound of the gavel like a nail in her coffin as the auctioneer slammed it down onto the stand and yelled out, "Sold! To bidder number forty-two!"
Applause rang out from around the room, not quite drowning out the snooty sounding voice that addressed her from behind. "Congratulations, young lady. I hope you're good for it."
She turned her head to glance over at the woman who'd been glaring a hole in her back. She leered back at her, tilting her chin up into the air and staring down at her contemptuously from the side. Suddenly Misaki felt utterly ridiculous for having felt so depressed about Hawks spending Valentine's Day evening with another woman. If that was what he would have been stuck with had she kept her mouth shut, he probably would have made it back to her a lot earlier than she'd expected.
"Let's have another round of applause for tonight's winning bidders!" The auctioneer called out, followed by the roaring sound of applause echoing throughout the room once more.
"Miss, if you would, please follow me. We'll get your bid settled up as quickly as possible so that you may enjoy the rest of your evening," a man suddenly addressed her from the left, bowing politely as he motioned for her to follow him over to the settlement table.
Misaki moved to follow him when her wrist was suddenly grabbed, and she swiftly spun around to stare into the stunned eyes of Hawks. Apparently, he'd flown down to her when they'd begun to usher the heroes off stage.
"Misa-chan?" He asked as he looked her up and down, his expression openly showing his shock and awe at her appearance.
She almost rolled her eyes. He didn't even recognize her?
"Surprise," she sarcastically replied, holding the edge of her dress out to the side, and dipping in a slight curtsey.
"Wha—? What are you doing here?" He stammered, clearly still reeling from the shock.
"Making a fool out of myself, apparently," she said apprehensively as she sent a nervous glance around the room.
"You don't really have ten million yen to spend on a charity auction, do you?" He dubiously asked as he leaned back and slid his hands into the pockets of his dress slacks.
"Me? No way! But I'm not exactly here on my own dime," she admitted, sheepishly looking to the side.
Before he could say anything else, the man who had come to usher her over to the settlement table appeared next to her again and addressed her, "Miss?"
She turned around to look at him as she replied, "Yes?"
Looking between her and Hawks, the man leaned in and whispered nervously, "About the settlement of your bid..."
"Oh! Right, sorry, I'll be right there," she replied hastily before turning back to Hawks and telling him, "I'll come find you after."
He looked like he wanted to protest but she shooed him away with her hand as she turned and quickly followed the usher over to the settlement table. She handed in her paddle when she got there and the man sitting behind the cashbox took it, dragging his finger down a list of names on a paper attached to a clipboard until he got to her number.
"Torimodo-san?" He asked, glancing up at her.
"Yes," she replied curtly, her nerves firing off in her belly at all the looks she was getting from the people gathered around the table, a few of them looking her up and down and whispering behind their hands.
"How will you be presenting your donation this evening?" The man asked her courteously, folding his hands on top of his clipboard and grinning up at her.
"Um, by check," she stammered, hoping that it wouldn't be a problem that she was using the President's donation check to fund her spur of the moment idiocy.
She reached into her clutch and pulled out the check, swallowing heavily as she handed it over to the man. He glanced over it, verifying the amount and the pay to the order of, but he stopped abruptly when he read who the check was from. He glanced back up at her slowly, the corners of his mouth dipping in a frown as he reached up to mumble something into a small microphone hidden inside his sleeve. There was a flurry of hushed whispers from the crowd standing around her and she suddenly felt her heart plummet into her gut.
A tall, white haired woman with slit pupil red eyes and pale skin emerged from the crowd. She walked gracefully to the table and asked the man, "What appears to be the problem?"
"My apologies, ma'am, there's just a question of validity in concerns to the winning bid for Hawks," the man explained in a low tone, quickly standing from his seat behind the table and holding out the check to the woman.
A ripple of excited whispers erupted from the gallery.
Misaki noticed the woman she'd outbid elbow her way up to the front of the crowd, her heavily made-up face alit with vindictive glee at the cashier's statement. The pale woman held up her hand and the crowd immediately hushed.
"That was quite the bid you made," she said as she glanced up from the check and gave her an appraising once-over. Misaki shivered, feeling much the same way she had when she'd first met Hawks; like she was being sized up and stripped down at the same time by the look in the woman's blood red eyes.
"I'm Hebisawa Shira, the organizer of this year's auction. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the woman eloquently introduced herself.
Misaki clasped her hands in front of her and bowed shallowly to the woman as she returned the greeting, "My name is Torimodo Misaki. I'm attending tonight on behalf of the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission. That's actually who the money is from. I hope I didn't break any rules by placing a bid with it?"
The woman smirked down at her and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, she informed me that she would be having a representative attend in her stead. The way I see it, no rules have been broken. The President entrusted you with the presentation of her donation this evening. In that respect, you are free to use it to bid on any of the contestants up for auction as you see fit," she announced, handing the check back to the cashier who nodded and bowed before sitting back down in his seat behind the table.
The snarky woman who'd lost her chance at the date with Hawks huffed and stamped her foot on the ground, turning abruptly and elbowing her way back through the gaggle of onlookers with a very sour look on her face.
Misaki raised a hand to her chest and let out a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank goodness."
"Something tells me you hadn't planned on bidding before you walked in here, hm?" The tall, pale woman asked, staring down at her knowingly.
"The President didn't actually tell me what was being auctioned off here tonight, just that she wanted me to hand in her donation. I guess you could say it was a spur of the moment decision," Misaki admitted sheepishly.
"Well, congratulations. It appears as though it was a rather well-placed bid," the woman said in a low tone, glancing at something over Misaki's shoulder.
"Please give the President my best?" She asked cordially before lifting her hand in a small wave as she turned and glided away. She was gone before Misaki could reply.
"Everything alright?" Hawks's voice asked as he leaned around from her left side. Her eyes widened and she turned toward him sharply, not expecting him to have found his way back to her so quickly.
"Um," she grimaced, turning her head to glance down at the cashier handling the President's donation check behind the table.
"Everything appears to be in order. Congratulations on your winning bid, Torimodo-san," the man replied as he glanced up at her and smiled.
"Thank you," she practically sighed in relief.
"Great! I heard they'd be serving dinner in the next hall over pretty soon," Hawks said with a tilt of his head.
"Far be it from me to stand between you and food," she teased with a small grin.
Now that all the bidding mess had been settled, she was starting to feel a bit more like her usual self. She felt like she'd aged almost twenty years from the stress of everything that had happened already, and the night had only just begun. Heaven help her if there were any other surprises in store for her before she finally made it out of this ridiculous affair. Hooking her arm through his, they both began making their way in the direction of the dining hall.
"So, are you ever gonna tell me what you're doing here or are you gonna make me guess?" He asked, glancing over at her from the side with a raised eyebrow.
She glanced over at him ruefully before dropping her gaze and letting out a small, haggard sigh. "The President asked me to attend the event and hand in a donation in her place."
Hawks tilted his head back and asked, "I take it she didn't tell you what the auction was for?"
"No, she did not," she grudgingly confirmed, feeling more upset with herself for not asking for more details than at the President for not providing them.
"Get a little jealous there?" He asked, his tone light and teasing as he craned his neck and smirked down at her discerningly.
"Shut up," she grumbled, turning away from him with a faint blush on her cheeks. "Don't try to tell me that if it had been me up there, you wouldn't have done the same thing."
"In a heartbeat! Have you seen yourself?" He asked incredulously as he turned toward her and gave her an exaggerated once-over.
"Yes, actually," she said, shifting uncomfortably under his scrutiny.
"This doesn't really seem like the kind of dress you'd pick out for yourself," he commented, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at her.
Misaki glanced down, feeling a bit let down by his reaction. When she'd seen herself in the finished dress, her first thought had been pretty similar. The form fitting, elegant evening gown was a huge step out of her comfort zone. She was more of a fit n flare, A-line type, something cute and a bit on the conservative side; definitely not the sultry, sheath style masterpiece she was currently draped in, courtesy of Madame LeBlanc.
"It's not really me, huh?" She asked a bit dejectedly, crossing her arm across her midsection uncomfortably as she looked down at herself with a grimace.
Hawks suddenly stepped out in front of her, reaching out to gently grasp her wrist and pull her arm away from its protective hold around her ribs before drawing her close to him. He wrapped his arm around her waist, lightly pressing his hand to the small of her back and holding her gently, but firmly, against him as he stared deeply into her eyes and spoke with conviction, "Misaki, this dress was made for you."
Her eyes widened and she gasped, partly from the suddenness of the action and partly from the smoldering look in his golden gaze. He'd hit the nail right on the head with that statement and he didn't even know it. Suddenly the ridiculous fitting she'd been through, and the embarrassing, mostly unintentional bid she'd placed, all seemed well worth it. She had been so disheartened by the fact that they wouldn't be able to spend their first Valentine's Day together as a couple. She'd never in her wildest dreams would have expected this night to turn into such a Cinderella story. She tried to form some kind of reply, but suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
Taking advantage of her stunned silence, he continued in a low tone, "You have no idea the kind of effort it took for me to hold myself back from flying you out of here the moment I saw you walking through the crowd. Half because of the looks you were getting from all the guys around you, and half because I wanted to take you home and strip you out of it."
"Ugh, I still can't believe I did that," she groaned as she slapped her hand over her forehead, her embarrassment at what she'd done outweighing the suggestive tone of his statement.
"All's well that ends well, right? Weren't you bummed that we weren't gonna be able to spend Valentine's Day together? Problem solved!" Hawks said with a wide grin. "You have my full and undivided attention all to yourself for the rest of the night."
She lifted both of her hands to rest against his chest, smiling up at him as she drawled, "You better make it worth that ten million yen."
"You know me, I aim to please," he replied suggestively, glancing down at her ample cleavage, accentuated by the bodice of her dress and the way she was pressed up against him.
"Unfortunately, that'll have to wait," she groaned as she stepped back. "We've got some appearances to make."
"Right, time to go to work..." He trailed off reluctantly, shifting his eyes in the direction of the dining hall.
She almost found the situation laughable, seeing him look so dejected about something involving food. Hawks, she knew, was a man of few vices; the most predominant of which was food. She'd made the horribly embarrassing mistake of asking him once if he'd been starved as a child, jokingly referring to how he always seemed to spend his free time eating, or looking at food, or talking about food; to which he'd replied that, while it hadn't been every day, most days had been pretty close. He'd laughed it off at the time, but she'd been mortified and apologetic about the slipup for days afterward.
Misaki shrugged. "At least you don't have to entertain some stuck-up socialite during dinner."
He turned his gaze back to her and a genuine grin spread across his face as he said, "Have I told you you're my hero?"
She just laughed as she hooked her arm around his and walked them off toward the dining hall.
Thank you for reading :)
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