We do not own Sakura Wars, but we own every other character that isn't Sakura Wars. And minna-san, R&R please!
Time seemed to drag on as the tailor continued to alter Maria's dress. And then, about an hour later, she stood up, examined Maria, and said, "Looks good from the front! Now I have to fix the back." Okay, that wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear from you. Maria thought, making sure the tailor caught the scowl on her face. Ravina, on the other hand, quite enjoyed the look on Maria's face, and made sure Maria caught the smirk on her own face.
Mikel was strolling along in the small store, when he caught a glimpse of a tailoring going on in the ladies department. As he got closer, he first saw Ravina, who was standing a good distance away from where the alterations were taking place. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was smirking at something. "Well if it isn't Ravina, in all her afternoon glory!" he said, striding up to her. "I'm surprised at you Mikel." Ravina replied simply. The Russian blinked. "Excuse me?" "I'm surprised at you. You noticed me before you noticed Maria." "She's here too?" "Are you going blind? She's the one getting the alteration!" Mikel looked over at the blonde, and then back at Ravina. "You're pulling my leg Ravina. That isn't her!" "And why not?" Ravina asked dryly. "That girl's wearing a dress! You'd never catch Maria in one of them." A good distance away, Maria put her hand over her face so that Mikel had an even lesser chance of recognizing her…well that, and so he couldn't see the blush that she was covering up. To be recognized by Mikel in this outfit would make great blackmail for him. "Oi! Maria! Nice dress!" Mikel shouted from where he was standing, causing Maria's blush to deepen to a dark crimson. Mikel turned to Ravina and grinned. "Never mind, you were right. Maria only blushes like that when you catch her in an embarrassing moment." "Like the time you walked into her room when she was taking her bra off?" Ravina questioned. Mikel clamped his hand over his nose, but took it off once he realized it wasn't bleeding. "Don't remind me of that! Well…at least not in front of her." He looked at Maria nervously. "Does she have her gun on her?" "No. I have it." Ravina said with a grin. "Eep! Well…could you just give Maria a message for me? I've got some info on Seiryu for her. Can she stop by the apartment tonight?" "She and I will come this afternoon, so that you can't try any funny business with her alone." Mikel muttered something, before waving goodbye to Ravina, and then blowing a kiss to Maria, who in turn glared at him. "Women. You can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em." Mikel said cheerfully to himself. The thought of Maria came back to him, and he blushed furiously before his pace quickened.
Maria was relieved when Mikel was finally out of sight. She wondered why he had walked out of there so quickly though. "All finished, despite the dirty looks you gave me." the tailor said, walking around from the back to the front. "All right, now spin around and let me see the dress." she said from where she was standing. Maria's cheeks became red with embarrassment. No one said anything about this! Haven't I been humiliated enough?! "Come on! We haven't got all day!" the tailor said clapping her hands, ordering Maria to get a move on. Maria sighed, and picked up the front folds of her dress so that she could turn around, as she did, she could hear the mumbling of the tailor, commenting on the dress. "It looks wonderful!" Ravina exclaimed as Maria returned to where she had just been standing. "I should hope it does." Maria replied dryly. "Considering I've been standing here for almost two hours!" "Yes, well, it does look great on you. Now, go and change, and then we'll go home." "You know what? I should just wear this home considering I've been wearing it forever!" Maria snapped. Ravina looked thoughtful. "Maybe you should, so you can get some practice. After all, you'll be wearing heels with that." What if I trip?! The thought slammed into Maria's mind like a truck. "N-never mind." she mumbled, stepping off the platform, and going into the changing room. "That's better." Ravina said with a grin. She turned to the tailor. "Now, how much is that going to be?" "You had better be rich, because I'm charging for those dirty looks I got from her." "Money isn't an issue. Now how much?" Ravina asked. "Three dollars." "Only three? Here's a five. Keep the change." The tailor looked stunned. "Th-thank you." she managed to spit out. "No problem. Maria! Let's go!" Maria came out of the dressing room, holding a coat hanger with the dress on it. "I'm coming, I'm coming." she muttered sourly. "I'll take the dress." Ravina said, holding her hand out. "Take it. I don't want to see it until I absolutely have to." Maria said, handing the dress over gladly. Ravina sighed. "Come on. Let's go." "That's the first sensible thing you've said all day." Maria commented as she walked out of the shop, with Ravina following her.
Once they were out of the shop, Maria took a cigarette from her pocket and lit it. "Is that the only reason you wanted to get out of there? For a ciggy break?!" Ravina asked. "It was one of my many reasons." Maria replied exhaling. "Anyways, I don't have one very often. I had my first in six months last night." Ravina sighed. "Do you want one or something?" Maria questioned, looking at her companion. Ravina sighed again. "Sure, what the heck." she muttered as she took one from the Russian. "Lighter?" Maria questioned. "Or are you going to walk around with an unlit one?" "I've got my own." Ravina replied defensively as a tiny flame appeared from her fingertip. "Not out in the open!" Maria hissed. "Relax will you? No one's around, and even if they were, they'd think I had a lighter." Ravina said, lighting the cigarette, and then blowing out the flame on her fingertip. "So now where are we going?" Maria asked, starting to walk again. Ravina exhaled, and looked at the blonde Russian. "Mikel's." Maria, in the middle of inhaling smoke, coughed. "Excuse me?" she asked. "We're going to Mikel's." Ravina repeated. "That's what I thought you said." Maria muttered. "Are we going because you need to flirt with Jacques, or because Mikel needs to talk to me?" Ravina blushed. "Well at first it was because Mikel said that he needed to talk to you, but now that you bring it up, I guess it's both reasons." Maria didn't say anything. She was too busy thinking. So Mikel's got the information…well it looks like all four of us will know something about Seiryu by the end of today- Maria's eyes went wide when she realized what she was going to have to do before Mikel revealed anything. "Ravina, maybe you and Jacques should go to our apartment. I mean, you two probably wouldn't want to hear a whole bunch of boring information-" "What has gotten into you? I'm not leaving you with Mikel! You said so yourself that you don't trust him! ……oh! Or are you hiding something-" "NO!" Maria exclaimed, horrified. "It's just…well…I have to kiss him for payment." "Oh is that all? Did you tell him what kind of kiss?" "No." "Payment is payment, right?" Ravina asked with a grin. Maria smiled. "Yeah. It is." Ravina's smile grew wider. "This might not be so bad after all…" She turned as a man with long black hair bushed by her. "Hey Maria! Wasn't he the guy from the bar?" Maria raised an eyebrow as she looked backwards. "I didn't notice." she said finally.
Midnight
Maria walked along the cobblestone streets towards the dock, her mind racing as she tried to remember all that had happened the past couple hours.
Flashback
"Hey Mikel! You've got a blonde visitor!" Jacques yelled from the living room as Maria and Ravina sat down on the couch. "Clarice?" Mikel asked from the kitchen. "No stupid! It's Maria!" Almost like a trained dog responding to a whistle, Mikel ran into the room at the mention of Maria's name. "Hiya!" "Hello Mikel." Maria responded casually. "Do you have the information?" "Do you have the payment?" "I should hope so." Maria said, getting up and walking over to him. She leaned in, and gave him a kiss……on the cheek. "Hey! What's that?" Mikel asked. "I gave you a kiss right? You didn't specify." Maria said, walking back to the couch. Mikel groaned. "Outwitted again!" "Smooth move!" Jacques said, giving Maria a high five. "All right Mikel. I paid, now give me the info." Mikel sighed, and sat down on the couch, next to Maria, with a manila envelope. He emptied out its contents…a piece of white paper with scribbled writing on it. "Okay, lets see. I can't remember which side the info is on." "Well it's got to be the side you're holding." Maria said. "Why's that?" Mikel asked curiously. "The side facing me is a grocery list." Maria said dryly. Mikel turned red with embarrassment. "I-I knew that." he said, turning even redder. "Well are you going just look at the paper or are you going to read it to me?" Maria asked, impatiently. "Don't rush me! I'm just collecting my thoughts! That's all!" Mikel exclaimed. He cleared his throat and looked at the paper. "Okay. His services are expensive but always are done. All his jobs are requested for a contact. He never picks a job. No one knows him and those who know are dead. He kills leaders that have just escaped from the prison by using bribes or threats. He kills everyone who might have seen him. He kills famous leaders or important people on the organizations, no matter how much security the person has. He kills his way in or he passes by then unnoticed. And he always kills his target." "Sounds like we're dealing with a brutal murderer more than a human." Ravina muttered. Mikel shot her a glare, and then continued. "Rumor has it that he has oriental features, but no one's been able to prove that. He also uses some kind of weird star things." "Shurikens." Maria said aloud. "Gesundheit." Mikel said, offering Maria a tissue. "No! Shurikens are the name of those weapons that he uses!" the blonde exclaimed, frustrated. "Oh…anyways, he doesn't use guns. And he cut guns easy. Every man that he kills doesn't even have the chance to get their guns out of their holsters, or to shout an alarm. His works call attention when seen but they are only found after a long time has passed." Mikel folded the paper back up, and looked at Maria, pleased with the information he had found for her. Like a dog bringing slippers to it's master. Maria thought with a smirk. "Thanks Mikel. I've got to go now." she said, standing up. "Yeah, you've got to learn how to dance in less than two days!" Ravina exclaimed cheerfully, turning Maria's smirk into a frown. "Thanks for reminding me." Maria said dryly. "Anytime!" Ravina said with a grin as Maria walked out of the room. Her business was complete. She had no other reason for staying there.
End Flashback
And now it was midnight, and Maria was late for her rendezvous with Valentinov. She reached the pier at 12:05, and was greeted by an annoyed Russian man. "You're five minutes late." he snapped. "Sorry. I was held up by Ravina. She was trying to teach me how to dance." Maria said calmly. Apparently, what she had said was funny, because Valentinov gave her an amused look. "Fine. Here's the 500 I owe you." he said, handing her a wallet, which Maria checked before she actually accepted it. "487...488...489...500...yup, it's all here." Maria said with a note of satisfaction in her voice. "Good. Oh, and what do you think of this?" Valentinov asked, holding up a mask. It was black, with white lace trimmings on it. "It's nice if you're going to be the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera." Maria said with a smirk. "No my dear, you misunderstand me. This mask is yours." "Oh, so is my next job to rob a bank?" Valentinov chuckled, but Maria could see that his teeth were clenched in aggravation. "Didn't Ravina tell you? The party is a masked ball." Maria blinked. "What?" she asked after a while. "The party is a masked ball, two nights from now. Have fun." Valentinov said, handing her the mask, and walking off. Maria knew it was useless to follow him. He wasn't going to tell her any more than what he already had. She looked at the mask and sighed. "Well at least no one will know it's me when I trip over that damn dress." she muttered before pocketing it, and walking to Fraunces Tavern. I need a drink tonight…