DISCLAIMER: Mai-Hime doesn't belong to me… yes it doesn't… what? Are waiting for a punch line?
CHAPTER FOUR: AS PAST AND PRESENT COLLIDES
Natsuki suppressed another yawn. Her eyes watered due to the fact that she was doing nothing but waiting impatiently for the lab results. Four hours has passed but still no sign from Nao. She has been itching to call the woman for the results but decided against it. She took her cell phone from her jeans and typed a quick message to her Sensei telling her that she noticed a secret passage to the Kaichou's office. A knock on the door echoed around the office. Natsuki quickly put herself behind the door.
"Yes?" She asked.
"There's a stack of CD's for you in here. It's from Yuuichi," Fumi answered.
Natsuki opened the door for the strawberry-haired woman, who handed her the CD's. "You might want to use my laptop to view those files," Fumi smiled.
"Is that okay with you?"
"Of course. You don't need to ask. I'll go get it." Fumi turned her back on her and vanished momentarily. No later than a minute, Fumi showed up with a white laptop in her hands. "Here, take your time."
Natsuki thanked the woman and closed the door. She looked around her to find an outlet for the laptop. When she found an outlet, she sat on the floor and turned it on. After waiting for the desktop to show, she opened the disk drive to insert the first CD.
Good thing I know all the employees here.
She watched the whole video feed, but didn't notice anything suspicious. The employees were working as usual and guards were roaming endlessly. I'll need to focus on Kanzaki. If he's really in a shady business, he has to deal with it personally. Surely, there must be something in there. Natsuki searched for the CD that was labeled as Kaichou's hallway. She took out the current CD from the disk drive and swapped it with the hallway's CD.
Natsuki watched as Kanzaki entered his office. The video had a date and time below the screen. She fast forwarded it and Natsuki saw Fumi and Shizuru go into his office. As the clock beneath struck six, Reito and Shizuru left the office together. Frustrated, she watched the other CD's and the result was the same.
This is definitely weird. It's not possible that Kanzaki was doing the same thing for three consecutive months. Unless, this is fabricated. Why would they do this?
"Is there something wrong, Kuga?"
"No, nothing. I was just thinking of something." Natsuki smiled at him.
"Are you sure?" Reito asked her intently.
She shook her head and took out the CD. "I was just thinking." She busied herself by turning off the laptop and returned the CD to its cases.
"You can ask me anything, Kuga. I'll gladly answer your question truthfully." His jet black eyes held her bright green eyes. At that moment, Natsuki truly believed that he'd be honest with her but she seized her emotions. Natsuki couldn't trust anyone, not even Shizuru.
"It's not connected to this, Kanzaki, but thank you for asking." Natsuki genuinely smiled at him.
"So it's personal? A woman, perhaps?" Reito grinned at her wolfishly.
Natsuki blushed. "Woman? I have no time for my personal life, Kanzaki." She sighed deeply when she remembered Shizuru's comment at her busy schedule.
"Busy? Hopefully not. You still have your needs, Natsuki." Reito resumed his work.
Natsuki only grunted at his advice. Right now, she was okay with her life. She was satisfied with the smooth flow of her work. She stared blankly at the laptop given to her. Work? Since she left Shizuru, work became her life. She became comfortable living someone else's life. Jumping from assignment to assignment, keeping herself busy with undercover operations, barely taking any vacation. Needs? Natsuki has been ignoring her needs and her yearning for years. She has been alone most of her life. She was left alone to battle her destiny when fate decided to kill her whole family. She was alone when her mother died. She was alone when her father abused and raped her repeatedly. She was fine living by herself until Shizuru came.
Suddenly, Natsuki understood what love songs were all about. Those love quotes that sounded too cliché dawned into her battered heart. She tried to fight, to resist her feelings but Shizuru broke through her barriers. She still remembered how Shizuru's skin burned beneath her touch. How her stomach churned when she gazed to Shizuru's garnet eyes. How it felt right whenever their hands were intertwined. For the first time, she believed that love does exist. All her life, being alone was all she has ever known. It took her a long time before she finally realized that somebody was willing to love her. And all she did was to hurt that person.
Shaking the overwhelming melancholy, she focused on her task. The faster she solved this case, the sooner she'll be out of their hair. The sooner she'll forget Shizuru. Her heart constricted at the idea of leaving Shizuru forever. If only she could be good enough for Shizuru, then she'll never have to let her go. Never again. But the thought of failing to take care of Shizuru again made her angrier at herself. She'd rather be miserable without Shizuru than subject her again to another endless pain and humiliation. Natsuki took a deep breath to steady herself. Focus, Kuga. You don't need this kind of complication now.
She stared at the CD's, the cases of it indicated that Yuuchi only sent her the last three months of video feeds after the first abduction started. She stood up and walked towards the phone and dialed Yuuichi's office. After a few rings, he answered. "Yuuichi speaking."
"Kuga here, I need the video tapes of three months before September." She smiled when she remembered how annoyed Yuuichi was when she demanded for the first batch of CD's.
His voice hardened. "It'll take a while to gather those files."
"I need it as soon as possible." She countered.
"Well, you'll have to wait for it. It will take me two days to gather it. I have to recover it from our backup files. Every three months, our files go straight to a locked folder because of its sensitivity—"
"I know, I know the drill. Just get me the files, okay?" She quickly interrupted.
"Good thing Kanzaki pays me big bucks to deal with this kind of shit." He muttered.
"I'll wait two days for it. If I don't have it by then, I'll hound you again." Before Yuuichi could answer her, she quickly hung up. She internally beamed. At least she had Yuuichi to harass to release some of her pent up frustration from her current situation.
"It seems you and Yuuichi get along well." Reito commented.
Natsuki grinned at him. "You could say that to him personally."
When she was about to get back to her previous task, her phone rang. She retrieved her phone from the pocket of her jeans and glanced at the caller ID. Seeing that it was Nao, she answered it quickly.
"Yo, care to tell me the details?" Natsuki walked towards the window and let her eyes wander at the scenery below.
"Nada. There is nothing to tell, Kuga." Nao quipped.
"What do you mean 'nothing'? Don't play games with me." Natsuki snarled at her.
"I'm not kidding here, Kuga. I've got nothing. There's no DNA or fingerprints in the letters. The hair that came with the letters is from a wig manufactured by a big name company. If you're suggesting that I trace the god forsaken wig, then I'll have to disappoint you again. It's one of most popular wigs here in the city. The water used to seal the letters is tap water. Tracing this shit will take weeks and we don't have time for this. Clearly they don't want to be traced. It seems..."
"It seems the people who orchestrated this scheme were professionals." Natsuki whispered vehemently.
"Bulls eye. I wonder why highly skilled individuals chose to target Kanzaki. As far as our intel goes, the families of the missing girls came from average financial status, so they don't have any means to hire this kind of hit against him. They didn't even know that Feds were investigating into it."
"Yes. That's probably the reason why these girls were chosen." Natsuki murmured. Because they were powerless.
Natsuki felt her own hatred rise. She knew what it was like to be weak and dependent to someone who abused you. She forced herself to set aside her own demons to rationalize the situation.
"That's for sure. Also, I think there is a secret passageway between the stairs and the public elevator. Look at the placement of the stairs from the elevator. It has a huge gap in the bottom. My best guess is that the entrance is underground. I managed a quick inspection of the whole building, but couldn't find any visible doors towards it."
She snuck a quick look at Kanzaki and lowered her voice. "Yeah, I observed that too, but I don't think there would be any surveillance in there. The only video feed that was given to me were the CCTV feeds that could be seen inside the building. I think we need to focus on Kanzaki. If he is tangled in this operation, he needs to handle some matters personally, and I would be there to witness his slip."
"Yeah. Just be careful out there, Natsuki. We still don't know how huge his organization is. We can't afford to trust anyone. Kanzaki has everything to lose once this goes out and when someone is desperate, they are willing to kill anyone that will jeopardize them. Always remember that." Nao warned her.
"I've got my cover. Don't worry. Have you heard any latest intelligence from spooks?" Natsuki asked.
"None. After their director gave Sensei their tip, she clamped up on us. You know those guys; they define teamwork to the highest level." Nao sarcastically remarked.
Natsuki grimaced. "Then we have no choice but to rely on our own intel."
"Don't worry; I'm your back up. I'll extract you if there's any sign of trouble."
"I can take care of myself. Can you do me a favor? See if there is someone digging up my background." Natsuki always trusted her gut and her gut told her that the danger was much greater than it seemed to be.
Nao became silent. After a few seconds, she answered. Her voice without any emotion. "Sure. I'll knock some doors for you. I'll call again as soon as possible." She paused. "Assign my number in your speed dial."
Natsuki's voice became hoarse with emotion. "Are you getting soft, Yuuki?" She lightened up their conversation.
"Are you accusing me of being sweet? Bitch." Nao snarled at her.
Natsuki grinned. Nao was the closest person she had since Shizuru. Their friends in the FBI thought that mixing them would create a huge crash in every operation they were assigned to, but their sensei saw how they complimented each others' strength and weaknesses and they became one of the most unstoppable teams in the bureau.
"I'm just checking, asshole. Call me again for updates." She grinned.
"Whatever. Later, scumbag."
Natsuki shook her head while smiling.
"I assume that's Miss Yuuki? Did she find something?"
Natsuki glanced at the guy while slipping her phone back to her jeans. "None. We think that these people are professionals." Natsuki watched for signs of distress, but when she found none, she continued. "She checked the letters for any DNA or fingerprints, but there was nothing in them. Even the water used was from the faucet. The hair was a wig manufactured and distributed all over the city. We can't trace it easily. It will take weeks or months of manpower to look for this."
"I see." Kanzaki's face was unreadable.
Natsuki admired his way of handling stressful situation. "I guess we'll have to wait for another contact from your stalkers." Natsuki pocketed her hands. "Till then, I'll be digging some information. I was hoping to find something in CCTV cameras for the past few months."
"Sure thing. Why don't you start at my business dealings?" Kanzaki casually suggested.
Natsuki's eyebrows raised at his remark. Why would he suggest digging up information from his own business without any hesitation? She cleared her throat. "I'll be digging into your personal life, Kanzaki. Is that okay with you?"
"That's not a problem, Kuga." He smiled at her.
He's either cocky or stupid. Natsuki thought. "Okay." She walked towards the door to return Fumi's laptop. She thank the woman and asked them if she would order their lunch.
Natsuki looked back at Kanzaki. For a while, she saw a crack in his demeanor as he rubbed his temple and answered Fumi's question. "I'm not really hungry, Himeno. What do you want for lunch, Kuga?"
"I can get something from the cafeteria. I don't want to bother you."
Fumi smiled. "You're not a bother, Kuga. As for you, Kaichou, you need fuel. Miss Fujino wanted me to check if you were eating. You don't want me to lie to her, right?"
Kanzaki smiled and sighed a little. "Okay, okay. I can spare a sandwich and tea."
Natski's jealousy returned. She felt her emotions clog her throat. She looked away as she wrestled away the sudden toxic emotion in her chest.
"And you, Miss Bodyguard, what will you have?" Fumi asked her.
She swallowed."Spaghetti will do." Natsuki walked towards the sofa and sat heavily. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. Usually, assignments didn't bother her this much. She handled more delicate operations than this before. She's been a prostitute, beggar, sales lady, gun dealer and more roles than she could remember, but being near Shizuru made her camouflage weaken.
Natsuki sighed heavily. It's been a long time since she felt something like this. Shizuru made her crazy, giddy, weak and strong all at the same time. At first, she hated how someone could fill her with emotion. She was used to being empty. Loneliness was her constant companion since childhood, so being loved and being in love made her do crazy and wild things. It made her believe that there was still hope.
Natsuki shook off her thoughts. She should stop thinking too much. She needed to plan her next step. She needed to access Kanzaki's Corporation financial accounts. She needed to see Fumi's appointment calendar for Kanzaki to see if he recently entered in a new business deal. Let's see what secrets you've got, Kanzaki.
She waited for Fumi to arrive with their lunch so she could ask where she could gather those files. After a few more minutes, a series of knocks echoed around the office. "Lunch is here. Open up."
Natsuki opened up the door for the secretary as she entered the office. The delicious smell of their lunch engulfed the room and suddenly her stomach growled loudly. Her face redden as they laugh at her.
"Are you sure you're not hungry, Kuga?" Fumi asked her with a cheeky grin.
Natsuki scowled and Reito chuckled. Fumi handed them their food. "Eat now, children. Both of you work too hard." Natsuki grunted.
Fumi placed their food on the table in the receiving area.
"Could you please prepare our food, Kuga? I'll just get some water for us."
Natsuki nodded.
"Could I get some tea, Himeno?" Reito requested.
Fumi nodded and walked out of the room. Natsuki took out their food from it's plastic bag while Reito pushed himself up from his seat.
She quickly noticed how tense Reito was. Natsuki watched him from the corner of her eyes as he rubbed his neck and sighed deeply. No later than a minute, the door opened. Fumi was walking towards them with a tray. Reito quickly assisted her and took the tray from Fumi. Natsuki noticed how Fumi blushed slightly as her boss assisted her.
So Himeno has a crush on Reito. I wonder if Reito and Shizuru noticed it. Natsuki busied herself with the preparation of their table and utensils. Reito seemed oblivious about Fumi's feelings for him. After settling down, they all started to eat. Natsuki carefully watched how the two interacted with each other.
Clearly, Fumi's feelings seemed unrequited. She showed her feeling through her motherly love to the guy, which Natsuki found cute. I hope to god Reito won't reciprocate Fumi's feelings, or I'll use it as an excuse to beat him into pieces. Shizuru deserves someone better.
Fumi cleared her throat. "Kaichou, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what it is?" Reito answered nonchalant.
"Why do you need to hire a close in bodyguard? Is there something going on?" Reito slowly stopped eating. Natsuki looked at the guy to see what he would do.
"I think it's best for you to stay out of it, Himeno. It'll be much safer for you not to be in this situation." Reito looked away.
For a second, Fumi looked hurt but she managed to mask it right away. "We are friends, right? Friends look out for each other. I'm worried about you. You've been working too hard. When you're not working too hard, you're spacing out in the middle of the conversation, or worse, in the middle of a meeting. You know that you always come first before my work, right?" Fumi grasped Reito's hands. "I'm here, Reito. You don't need to handle this alone."
Reito laughed ruefully. He shrugged out of Fumi's hands. "I don't need your help, Himeno. And for me, work and business comes first. Stay out of it." Reito's voice hardened.
Natsuki inaudibly gasped. She watched how Fumi held her composure to the last thread. Reito drank his tea and stood up. "Now that that's settled, let's get back to work." Reito left them.
Natsuki grimaced when Fumi didn't move. Natsuki was about to pick up their trash when Fumi suddenly stood up. "If you think you can treat me like this, think again Kanzaki. I know there's something going on here. I'll forgive you for now, because I know there's a reason behind that asshole attitude of yours. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going back to work." And Fumi left the room.
Natsuki cringed at the awkwardness. She glanced at Reito when he sighed loudly. "Don't tell her anything, Kuga. I don't want her poking into this situation."
"You don't have to be harsh to her. Surely, she'll understand if you just explain it to her." She cleaned the table of their trash and threw it in the trash can.
"Yes I know that and I'm pretty sure she'll offer her help, but I'm afraid that it will put her in a bad situation." Reito sat heavily into his chair. "We don't want that to happen, right?"
"Technically, yes, but everyone around you was in danger ever since this started, Kanzaki. You are being stalked; everyone around you is at risk. Everyone around you can be used to hurt you, but we can ask Himeno for information. She can ask around—"
Reito slammed his hands onto his table. "Are you suggesting that we use her, Kuga?"
Natsuki pocketed her hands. "If you put it that way, yes." She watch how Reito gritted his teeth.
"You have no right to dictate how I handle this situation and I forbid you to use anyone close to me to gather information. That is your responsibility." He said menacingly.
Natsuki raised her eyebrow. "Well, I can't cover your ass while searching for information, Kanzaki. As far as I'm concerned, I am doing what I need to do here and you being an uptight ass isn't helping me. You want me to work and gather information while I'm tied up beside you? You are asking for a miracle here. You hired me as a bodyguard, not an investigator."
"You were the one who volunteered to investigate this, Kuga, not me. So if you can't do it then just leave. You know," he leaned back on his chair. "Shizuru was right about you. You are nothing but a social climber."
Everything went red. In a flash, Natsuki gripped Reito's collar and dragged him out of his chair and started punching him. They crashed on the sofa and fists flew. Reito brought up his fist to punch her in the face but Natsuki deflected it with a head butt. Dizzy, Reito tried to shake off Natsuki by kicking her in the stomach. Natsuki flew when his kick connected with her stomach. Natsuki rolled onto her stomach to stand up again when the door of Kanzaki's office opened.
"Oh, for the love of god, what are you two doing!? Stop it!" Reito cursed when he saw Shizuru and Fumi at the door frame.
"Why don't you ask your lover boy?" Natsuki brushed away her blood from her lips. Her emerald eyes shining from fury.
Reito shook his head to steady himself. He is still wobbly from Natsuki's powerful head butt. Shizuru grasped his shoulder to stop him from standing up. "Steady there. Stop moving for a minute. Could you get a first aid kit, Himeno?"
Fumi rushed out of the room to get the kit. Natsuki pushed herself up and looked at the couple. She was seething; nobody had the right to judge her. She worked her ass off to get to where she was now. It wasn't her fault that she fell in love with a girl who had more money than anyone else in this world. Everyone kept telling her that she was just using Shizuru because of her money and her family name, but hearing it from Shizuru's present boyfriend hurt like hell.
Did Shizuru really say that?
Natsuki wanted to cry. Shizuru, of all people, should know how hard she worked to be successful. She accepted different jobs just to support both of them when Shizuru left her family to be with her. And now, Reito said that Shizuru thought she just used her. Natsuki wanted to punch someone. Her inner self wanted to weep. She felt betrayed. She wanted to run away. Screw Shizuru, screw the job, screw everyone.
"Natsuki, are you okay?" Shizuru worriedly asked her. Natsuki shut away her feelings. She felt her blood run cold and answered the woman.
"Never felt better." Natsuki walked towards the door. "Just call my cell if you still want me in this terrific job." She visibly flinched when she tried to smirk.
"Let me clean your wounds, Kuga," Fumi stopped her at the door. Fumi watched as Natsuki concealed her emotion from pain into coldness. Her heart ache for Kuga. The only people who could control their emotions like this were the ones who through everything and back.
Natsuki shrugged away from the secretary's touch. She didn't need anyone and she made sure that she never will need anyone ever again. "Forget it."
Shizuru watched the blunette walk away from them. She was talking to Fumi when they heard a crash inside the office. Fearing for Natsuki's and Reito's safety, she quickly opened the door. She was shocked when she saw them both bleeding and rolling away from each other. Based off of Natsuki's facial expression, Reito said something that hurt the woman. Shizuru sighed. This was what she was afraid of; her past and her present colliding.
She looked at Reito to check if he needed professional help. Seeing none, Shizuru helped him stand and wrapped her right arm around his waist.
"I'm fine, Shizuru. Kuga's head butt caught me off guard." Reito combed his hair with her hands.
"You don't look fine to me with your busted lips and bruised forehead, Reito. And please enlightened me as to why your own bodyguard attacked you." Shizuru's voice thickened with her accent.
Reito watch Shizuru for any sign of anger. Every time the sandy-haired woman became affected, her Kyoto-ben accent becomes prominent. "I admit, I was way out of line with what I said to her." Reito sighed. He glanced at Fumi. "Could you please give us some privacy?"
Fumi nodded stiffly at them and left them alone. Shizuru raised her eyebrow questionably. "What's with Fumi? Did something happened between the two of you?"
Reito closed his eyes and cursed. He walked towards his chair and sat. "We were talking about the new course of her investigation when she suggested that we can share some information about this stalker situation to Fumi. I didn't allow her because it felt like we'll be using Fumi. She pointed out that she can't gather some information freely because she's tied up protecting me. She said some things and I ended up telling her that you told me that she's a social climber."
"I see." Reito flinched when Shizuru's cold gaze landed on him.
"Reito dear, I understand that your situation right now is nerve wrecking but channeling your anger towards other people is not a bright idea. Especially, when it is your bodyguard. We both know that you need her protection and assistance." Reito trembled when he gazed into Shizuru's bloodied iris. This part of Shizuru's personality was scarier than anything that has happened in his life now.
"Gomen, Shizuru. I wasn't thinking right when I said those things to her." Reito flinched when he grasped his jaw. He tasted his blood when he swallowed.
"You are apologizing at the wrong person. Why don't you call her and apologize to her personally?" Shizuru said. She reached out for the cotton to clean his busted lip.
"I think it's best if we leave her alone for a while. It seems that I really offended her." Reito grimaced when Shizuru dabbed antiseptic to his lips.
"You managed to hurt not only her feelings, but also her ego, Reito. She worked hard for this." Reito looked Shizuru deeply into her eyes and he saw how worried Shizuru is.
"You shouldn't have said that, Reito. She had a hard life. Her family died in a car crash long before I met her. I didn't know all the details but I heard that she's been taking care of herself since then. When we started living together, she accepted more jobs to support us. Natsuki didn't want me to work because she felt guilty that I had to leave my family when we became a couple. She was too proud to admit that she needed other people. My family tried to give her money to leave me but she never accepted it. Yes, I may have said that before, but I was too blinded with sadness and hatred to think clearly. She's the strongest and the most independent person I know, Reito." Shizuru's voice broke a little.
"Oh, God." Reito shut his eyes and brushed his hair. "Now you're making me feel bad."
"Yes, I'm making you feel guilty. God, I'm so worried about her, Reito. She tends to do stupid things when she's hurt just to forget her pain." Shizuru bit her lip. "You have her number, right? I'll call her."
Reito nodded and walked towards his table to get his phone. He quickly unlocked his phone and scrolled through his contacts. "Here. Call her from your phone so she'll answer it. If you call her from my phone, she might avoid answering it."
Shizuru typed in Natsuki's number into her own phone and called it, but it just continued ringing. "She's not answering it." Shizuru redialed it. After five rings, Natsuki finally picked up.
"Hello?" Natsuki's gruffed voice came through the line and Shizuru exhaled a sigh of relief.
"Natsuki? Where are you? Can you please come back? Reito wants to apologize to you." A nagging voice inside Shizuru's head told her that something would happen and she wanted Natsuki with them as soon as possible.
A long pause. "Did you really say that, Shizuru?" Shizuru's heart broke at the young woman's voice.
Shizuru turned her back to her boyfriend and walked towards the window. She leaned her head on the glass window and sighed deeply. "I may have said that, Natsuki." Shizuru's heart clenched painfully when she heard Natsuki's breath hitch.
"I'm not going to make excuses for what I said before. I was mad and hurt. You were my life back then." She swallowed the rising in her throat and wrestled her emotions. "You know I didn't mean that, right? Please forgive me for saying those god awful things about you."
Shizuru waited for Natsuki. She closed her eyes and silently prayed that she didn't break some permanent connection between them.
"I'm sorry too, Shizuru, for not being a perfect girlfriend to you. I'm sorry that I had to leave you. I'm sorry for hurting you." Shizuru wanted to cry. She gripped her phone to her ears to hold onto her last thread of control. Am I ready to forgive her? She asked herself.
"Come back now and we'll talk about that once everything settles down, okay?" Shizuru pleaded to her.
Natsuki sighed. "Okay; just give me ten minutes. I took a jog to release my anger. Is Reito okay?"
Shizuru chuckled. "As far as I remember, you took a hit from Reito too, right? Are you that confident in your skills?"
Natsuki laughed. "Well, yes, he managed to bust my lips, but nobody beats my head butt."
"Hai, nobody can crack Natsuki's hard head." Shizuru giggled when Natsuki growled at the other line. "Just get back as soon as possible, okay?"
Natsuki felt Shizuru's anxiety. Like she was afraid Natsuki was going to leave her again. "I promise I'll be there, okay?"
"Okay, I'll be waiting."
"So is she okay?" Reito asked her after she slipped her phone in her purse.
"Apparently, yes. She seems unharmed and she even asked me if you were okay." Shizuru sat beside him and took the cotton from his hand to resume her task.
"Do you think she's still mad at me?" He flinched when Shizuru dabbed more antiseptic on to his wound.
"Of course she's still mad at you. She's just coming back because I told her to. I bet she'll be formally stiff with you."
Reito sighed. "I deserve that. God, her head butt is much worse than her punch."
Shizuru laughed. "I told you, right? She must be the most hard-headed person I know." Shizuru's gut tightened at the nagging anxiety and she wished that Natsuki would be back as soon as possible.
Meanwhile...
Natsuki sighed heavily. She was still restless because of her pent up anger towards Reito. She wanted to go to the usual gym to find someone she could spar with. She decided to jog once more around the Fuuka forest park to settle her nerves. With a plan in mind, Natsuki started to walk for the park.
She could feel her sweat trickle down her back as she jogged. Her heart was still pounding with anger when she started to run, her mind hazy with anger as she recalled what Reito said to her.
She squinted her eyes at the blinding light of the sun as she neared the sidewalk towards the entrance. When she was about to make a run for the remaining distance, the sound of an engine gunning roared behind her. Without thinking, she dove towards the entrance to save herself as the vehicle barreled towards her. The next thing she knew, she was airborne. She crashed on the field of grass in the entrance of the park. She quickly rolled away as she reached for her gun. Seeing that the car is about to get away, she pushed herself up but her knees buckled from the searing pain at her left hip. Natsuki gasped loudly when she dropped to the ground.
Natsuki examined the area to see if there would be another hit against her. Not sensing any danger, she relaxed a little to see what part of her body was hurt. Except for her left hip, left shoulder had a lot of cuts. Natsuki thought she could go back to Reito's office alone. Bracing herself for the incoming pain, she pushed herself to her knees and balanced herself as she became dizzy.
Remembering her duty, she quickly dialed for Shizuru. After three rings, the tawny haired woman answered it. "Where are you now?"
"Reito's with you, right?" Natsuki panted when her hip started to throb.
"Why? He's with me. Did something happened to you?" Shizuru's accent started to show.
"Good. Give me a few minutes to breathe and I'll be there in a flash." Natsuki grinned despite her predicament.
"What happened? Where are you? I'll get you." Shizuru said in a high pitch voice.
"Not a chance. Just wait for me in his office. Don't leave him alone. See you later, Garnet." Natsuki hung up and turned off her phone before Shizuru could ask more questions.
Natsuki smiled softly when she remembered her special nickname for the older woman. Garnet. Her eyes were just like the gemstone itself. Dark red, opaque and unreadable. She laughed at herself. Here she was, barely able to walk from the near death experience and all she could think about was Shizuru's eyes.
Now you've lost it, buddy. Natsuki shook her head while smiling. "Now for the hard part. How the hell can I get back faster?" Natsuki asked herself.
To be continued...
OMAKE:
Shizuru: Wow, I feel so beautiful. Reito and Natsuki-chan is fighting over me *smiling widely*
Rebelionheart: *pout* If I only knew that there would be a tournament and you will be the prize, I'll be the first person in the line to participate.
Shizuru: It was a spur in a moment Rebelionheart and can you handle it? It's a fist fight.
Rebelionheart: Ow, come on. I know how to fight. I've been into fights in high school and in college. *pumps her chest*
Shizuru: Really? Rebelionheart is really cool eh? you can still enter. Natsuki won. *grin*
Natsuki: Yeah, I finished Reito a while ago with my head butt. So you want? *evil grin*
Rebelionheart: *sweat drop* R-Really? But I don't want to hurt Natsuki's beautiful face. You don't want me to hurt her right Shizuru? *pleading eyes*
Shizuru: Ara? who says you'll be able to land a punch? *innocent look*
Rebelionheart: *pale* I-If you really wanted a fight, can I suggest something?
Natsuki: Sure! *cracking her fists*
Rebelionheart: With the technology now, we can avoid physical harm *grimaced* why don't we try playing Tekken 6 in a linked game in PSP?
Shizuru: Aw, You're no fun. I want to see some blood! *pout*
Natsuki: *grinned* Of course! So how many rounds? *took out her blue psp*
Rebelionheart: *relieved sigh* One time bigtime! Are you on? *took out her own psp*
Shizuru: *pout*hugs Natsuki* no fun.
Natsuki: You're on! *grin*
A moment later...
Rebelionheart: What the fuck did just happen? *shock*
Natsuki: Nyahahahahaha *grin* It seems Shizuru is still mine. Take that!
Shizuru: I want blood, *look at Natsuki* Can you beat Rebelionheart now?
A/N:
Sorry for the delay of the updates guys…I'm busy with my work and lately it's been so toxic… thank you again for the support and reviews! Catch yah later! *wink*