"Tokio?" The young woman, Kaoru, asked tentatively. Tokio barely heard the timid inquiry. Clenching her jaw, her eyes burned with rage. This was the absolute limit. That heartless bastard!
Forcing calm, after all it wouldn't do for such an accomplished, level business woman to suddenly go off for no apparent reason; she glanced down at the girl. Kaoru flinched and Tokio realized her gaze must still be cutting. With deliberate care she eradicated the expression completely from her face replacing it with cold indifference. She wouldn't allow it to rile her.
Right now she had one priority.
"Kaoru, I apologize completely. I was simply upset. If you would please pack up your desk quickly and follow me? I am afraid I will not have a lot of time to settle you in, however, I am sure one of the secretaries will fill you in adequately."
Tokio's mind whirled as she turned over the possibilities in her sharp mind. This was practically screaming Shinsengumi interference, but it didn't make a lot of sense. Why would they murder some poor, innocent man in an empty parking lot on the mediocre side of town?
Obviously, robbery was not a motive, nothing had been stolen. The car was left with the keys still in the ignition and the expensive leather wallet lay prominently on the dash.
Whoever had done the deed was a skilled gunman finishing the job with a single bullet to the head. Directly between the eyes. No one in the area reported shots so there must have been a silencer on the gun.
It was a clean job, the police were clueless. She gave a soft, cynical snort. Those screw-up? Of course they were clueless. They seemed to always be in a perpetual state of ignorance. That, of course, was why this organization was started in the first place. To cover their sorry asses. The government granted the agency she worked for special privileges, ones that they took full advantage of.
Her mind flitted back to the murder. Obviously she would be useless until this was put to rest. She fought down the urge to pace promising herself that later she would go to the gym and take out her frustrations on some unfortunate punch bag. That always helped although she ended up buying a new one to replace the old one.
"I'm packed." Kaoru managed and Tokio smothered down a grin. If she hadn't managed to scare the poor girl half to death with her murderous stare she might actually have an employee she could keep hold of. The girl had guts.
Tokio whirled expecting to be followed and wove her way through the crowded office with half a mind. She acknowledged important people and murmured greetings automatically. Office politics were nasty and she didn't have one of the top positions by chance. She also, as some gossiped, did not sleep her way into the position. Besides, people were so socially inclined that it was expected of her to be polite. It was always nice to have agreeable allies, and failing that a simple good opinion went a long way.
"Eiji, this is Kaoru. She will be taking your place while you are out. Fill her in and show her the ropes." Tokio requested. The pale, black hair boy nodded silently. He a knack for picking up on her moods. She supposed her whole demeanor was blaring out agitation. Or maybe it was simply her body language because people were scattering before her leaving her unhindered as she made her way to Hiko's office.
She slammed through the door not bothering to knock. The large man behind the desk barely looked up before returning to his papers. She reached out planting her hands on his expensive desk with a certain bit of devilish glee that she was making a mess of his clean world. She wanted to sweep his papers off his desk with one hand, but she knew he would catch her wrist before she even knocked off one.
"So you saw it then. I am rather surprised you are so angry." He said leveling prying her hands off the flat surface and shoving her backwards.
She caught herself on a plush chair; the man did like his comfort, and settled in regaining some control of her emotions. She hadn't spun this much out of control since her divorce. Taking a deep breath she clenched her jaw and managed to calm down.
"Why wouldn't I be?" She hissed thoroughly annoyed. Usually she could put up with his arrogant, demanding attitude, but at the moment she wasn't up to the task.
Hiko raised his ebony eyes up to meet her gray ones and she immediately regretted going off on the man. However, he didn't seem perturbed. Instead he folded his hands in a superior manner and stared at her.
"I'm sorry Seijuro." She said softly, secure in the knowledge that she had slammed the door tight behind her. A tasty office scandal would do nothing to soothe her ruffled feathers. She couldn't deal with it with the same cool logic and disarming tactics she normally would use.
Even though she had slipped he remained completely formal, "Takagi, I assume you wish to be assigned this case? Hardly worth the time of our top attorney and not even in your area of expertise. I fail to see what you could offer..."
She slammed her fist down flashing him a steely look. "Listen; don't feed me some corporal bullshit, okay? We know each other too well for that. I want to be on this case. I will work with anyone, do anything."
"Anything?" She wasn't sure if he was teasing or not. In fact, nothing insulting had left his mouth and he hadn't pulled an arrogant comment about her abilities, or his for that matter, yet. Either this was one of his rare sensitive moments or he was plotting something. She suspected the latter.
He steeple his fingers and a lock of his long, black hair brushed over his thick shoulder.
"You would have to work with some stupid rookie." He warned eyeing her like she was a balky horse. With a sigh when he took in her determined face he continued, "Tokio, it's not going to lead to much... I don't see why you wish to pursue this. The man's dead."
She lifted herself up from the chair and slid over behind the desk with him. He made an irritated noise, but she ignored it completely letting her fingers wind through his long hair.
"This is inappropriate for the office." He growled grabbing her hand. She offered him a simple smile, "I don't see you protesting all that much."
"You're side stepping my question. It won't work." He said watching her through narrowed eyes with a frown marring his handsome features.
"Will you be coming over for dinner?" Tokio asked ignoring his scrutiny. She brushed off her skirt and looked up innocently through her thick lashes. Damn him and his infernal need to know everything!
"Should I? You're hiding something."
"I am. So?"
"I want to know what it is."
Tokio realized that this one battle she wasn't likely to win. The man was insufferably stubborn once a notion lodged in his brain. Sighing, she sat back down subconsciously sliding into her polished court manner. A defense she used when she felt cornered. It comforted and protected her.
Hiko rose and went to her with concern etched on his features. Evidently she wasn't the only one shook up by this mess. Hiko, showing concern? Not hiding behind his gruff indifference or falling back on plain rudeness. Maybe it was because they were alone.
His rough palm brushed gently across her face pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The next thing she knew she had thrown herself at his chest and was clinging to it listening to his heart beat. He was surprised at first, but he disengaged her.
"I know I'm that lovable," He started and she felt like punching him. Why did he have to say something so stupid? "But you shouldn't be doing that here. You come over to my place and I'll have dinner ready. We won't talk about this anymore if it bothers you that much."
Tokio nodded gratefully and composed herself drawing herself up, suddenly needing to say it.
"My daughter's missing."
Wistful-Eyes: *whistles innocently* Planning, I've not been accused of that recently. Actually, Misao's 16, just like in the series (I only messed with Meg's age for... er... plot purposes! Yeah.). Well, there you go, she could be Meg's babysitter X.X Glad you liked the tinkle bit.
MissBehavin: *smirk* My twisted humor at it's finest. Oh yes, mommy dearest. I kind of goes with what we were talking about, being raised by them O.o ORO! Can you see Saitoh as a "dada" *raises eyebrows* Well, I mean, I guess he is in the series (IRL the man had 3 butt ugly sons, not that he was a looker himself...).
Fyyrrose: Did you ever have to do that with T? Take her to the restroom :| I did it with my sister (not my brother thank you). Sano gets the beat down! Hey, I'm, er, lenient on him in my new fic, sort of... Well, compared to like Okita. Tinkle has NEVER ever slipped out of my mouth, but it seemed appropriate. They pretty much called each other that O.o;; You are entering the Twilight Zone *spooky music* nyenene... er, whatever. I do too have a compassionate soul, why else would Fred and Family be living in my room (and scaring the crap out of G-ma, she tried to squish mommy yesterday). Sou won't get kill... can I maim him? :( You're no fun. And he's not a main character in this one... vampire Sou, however, is totally fair game >=]
kakashi-fan: Actually, I am, sort of.
eriesalia: He is! And best thing is he jumps right back up for more. Believe it or not he is my favorite RK character (despite all the other cool, hot, sexy, whatever guys that are out there). I was rewatching the Zanza eppy and was like, 'Damn, he looks good with that horsewacker (zanbatou). He needs another one. And kick-ass attitude baby!). Aoshi and Saitoh really steal the spotlight from the poor man :( No yaoi in this one (simply because I have other plans ;) ). Otherwise I have no qualms. Dang, never thought of sing me to sleep... *makes mental note*