Lorelei lit up a cigarette and switched the stereo way up. She had been driving for 8 straight hours, and by now was as tired as one can possibly imagine. Once in a while some car raced past her, but at 3 am, it didn't happen rather frequently.
The .44 rested on the passenger's seat, covered up by Lorelei's dark red overcoat and dark hat. An unexpected and nice gesture from Romeo to actually hand the piece back to her after that rather unwise stunt of hers. She remembered his exhausted look – Yubari's crew must have gotten to him pretty seriously.
Lorelei lost some speed and rolled the side window down, exhaling a line of thick smoke and snipping the ash out into the open. Her face looked extraordinary pretty, drenched in moonlight.
The car made a sharp left turn and halted in front of a tavern. The young woman exited the car, putting on her coat and placing the .44 in her left pocket. Her hat completed the image.
The door was unlocked and the interior was all dark and deserted. It didn't look like the place had all too many customers in the past time. Lorelei approached the desk and hit on one of those bells, you used to have attached to your bikes when you were little.
It took a while, but somebody did show up after all: the guy looked in his late 40s and walked in a very awkward fashion, one step at a time, gripping his stomach tightly with his hands. It amused the lady in a way.
He finally reached the desk, sat down and wiped the sweat off his forehead with a cloth, lying on the desk. Lorelei waited patiently, but he didn't say a word. So she decided to start up the conversation herself.
"Evening."
The man nodded slightly.
"I'd like a room, something not too fancy, know what I mean?"
Once again, he nodded, at the same time reaching for that cloth. Lorelei grew gradually bored by the situation and reached inside her pocket, but not yet drawing her weapon.
"Look, I know it's late and all, but I'm way too fucking tired to…"
The man wiped his face once more. Lorelei shook her head.
"Just give me the keys, ok?"
He nodded and opened one of the desk drawers. He then shut it, presenting Lorelei with a key to her room.
"Thanks a bunch." She said, taking them and descending up the stairs.
-
Gogo stood alone in her room, naked, looking at herself in the mirror. Her 'suit' hung by the bed, still sparkling, even after all that action she had been through. She stroked her fingers through her hair.
"So far, so good." She whispered.
A knock on the door interrupted her contemplation.
"Yes?"
"Only me." Vivienne purred through the door.
Gogo climbed into her bed, covering herself up with the silk sheets.
"Go ahead."
Vivienne entered, dressed in a light grey suit and sporting a tie. She closed the door and leaned against it with her back.
"Where's lover-boy?"
"Out, sparring with some of the guys."
"Is that so?" The blonde slowly walked forward and then stopped, looking at her mirror image.
"Stylish little costume, don't you think?"
"Think now's the right time to go out shopping?" Gogo asked, slightly sarcastic.
"Hey, you're the one who snatched herself a cute little ass along the way. I still got to find me some…stallion!"
They both chuckled at that last remark as Vivienne turned away from the mirror and walked towards Gogo's bed. The French took a seat on it and relaxed all the way back, turning her head towards her chief. They both quieted down, a kind of uncomfortable silence occuring for a brief moment.
In a quite unanticipated way, Vivienne formed the two fingers of her left hand to a walking pair and tardily started 'walking' her way up to the border of Gogo's sheet. Yubari watched, her breath slightly dithering. Vivienne's hand softly grasped the sheet and started pulling it down, ever so slowly, exposing the gentle skin of Gogo's body inch after delicate inch.
Gogo's collarbone trembled as she swallowed some air, watching Vivienne's right hand touching the bare skin of her shank and stroking it softly with her fingertips. Thesense of excitementwas incomparable to anything young Yubari had ever experienced before.Vivienne's hand slowly made its way further upwards and Gogo let out a soft moan of pleasure as the French slid it down to the sensual area between her thighs.
Vivienne never let her eyes off the Japanese, perceiving her every pant of breath with genuine delight.
Gogo shut her eyelids and clasped the bedsheet tightly with her hands.
Vivienne progressed her motion even further, softly biting her lower lip with anticipation.
"Please...Vivienne." Gogo whispered. "I...can't...longer wait."
The blonde smiled, already feeling her fingertips gingerly touching her...
The sound of footsteps at the door made her rapidly stop. The two looked at each other and Gogo quickly covered herself back up. Then a most miraculous thing happened: the two suddenly burst out in laughter.
Satsuro entered the room and stopped dead in his tracks, seeing the fancy-dressed Vivienne, crawling on the floor with tears in her eyes and laughing like a maniac. And his girlfriend on the bed, equally in hysteria.
"Everything…" He coughed. "Everything alright, ladies?"
Vivienne waved her hand at him, then looked back at Gogo and started laughing even louder.
"Hey baby!" Gogo managed through her laughter. She took a few deep breaths, desperately trying to quit laughing, but failed in her attempt and instead it got even worse as Satsuro just kept on standing by the door, pretty much confused.
It took quite a while for both of them to settle down.
Gogo cleared her throat as Vivienne stood up, straightening her suit.
"Your girlfriend's quite the comedian." She smiled, looking at Gogo and blowing her a kiss.
She then walked out, pinching Satsuro's cheek on her way as she passed him. She shut the door, leaving the two alone in their room.
They looked at each other in silence for a few moments, before Gogo let out a big sigh and smiled, pressing her cheek against the pillow.
"How was spar, honey?"
-
Romeo rang the doorbell, causing a massive echo coming from within the building. A moment later, it was opened by a young maid that proceeded pulling the door up to herself. It resembled a fierce struggle, so Romeo decided to assist her and pushed it forward, thus forcing the maid to the floor.
"Shit." He mumbled, swiftly entering the noble edifice.
He offered the maid his hand and she was back up on her feet in no time.
"Thank you." She spat out, running off back to her duties.
"Think nothing of it." Romeo said to himself.
He was in the reception hall of the Zhang residence. The virgin white walls were all painted in a Christian, religious fashion, with the glass ceiling going up to a dozen feet in height.
Zhang himself was already approaching his guest.
"I hope my shallow residence meets your taste, old friend!" He said, walking in a fast-paced fashion towards Romeo.
The assassin, his hands clasped behind his back, firmly nodded, a quaint smile present on his face.
"Truly a delight to see you after all those years, Toshiro!" Zhang said, offering his hand.
"No one's called me that for a long time, Zhang."
"Aren't you content I haven't forgotten it?" Zhang smiled.
"No. I rid myself of that name for a reason." Romeo replied, his hands still behind his back.
"So what is the name you go by nowadays?" Zhang didn't seem to be in any way offended by his decline ofthe handshake.
"Romeo."
"Cliché." Zhang shook his head. "How disappointing."
"I'm grieved, Zhang." Romeo seemed slightly stressed.
Zhang kept his silence for a while as the two of them walked into the dining hall of his villa.
"Fancy classical music?"
Romeo shrugged his shoulders and, with a snap of Zhang's fingers, a magnificent Schubert filled the air.
They took a seat at the table and a maid brought them a bottle of sparkling "Widow Clucaut" and two glasses. Zhang nodded and the maid retired back to her room.
Zhang filled their glasses.
"You know, the musketeers in France used to drink this, back when sonnyboy Louis was heir to the throne. It's fairly cheap, but at least it has a history."
Romeo lifted his glass and gulped it down. Zhang merely shook his head.
"So much of you is a contradiction, Zhang, that you yourself must get confused sometimes." Romeo stated, lighting a cigarette and offering one to Zhang.
"What do you mean?" He asked, accepting the offer and taking Romeo's lighter.
"You're Chinese, right? You live in a suburb of Tokyo. You finance this entire lovely house through your export business with the fair city of New York. And you wish you were a fucking European. What do you consider yourself to be, really?"
Zhang smiled, taking a long drag.
"Do you think it is important to wake up every day and say you're Japanese or Chinese or American? Does that help you in any way at all?"
"It makes clear where I stand and what I stand for."
"Oh? And what do you think you stand for, Romeo? New-age-Japanese ideals? You're a killer, for fuck's sake! You earn your bread for slicing up innocent civilians!"
"I do at least try to think I'm ridding this town of drug-bosses and Yakuzas-"
"And who are you doing it for? The simple folk?"
Zhang let out a small giggle.
"You're killing one gang, just so another can take over and continue their work. You 'rid' this town of one group of pushers, so that another group can carry out their business better. You're as useful to this town as they are."
"I like to think that's a taste of opinion."
"You can think what you want."
Romeo dropped the cigarette into his glass and stood up from his chair.
"All right, let's cut the bullshit. I'm here to ask for a favor."
"'Ask for a favor'? You really do pick your expressions, don't you?"
"I'm arranging a meeting with a group of assassins that have become particularly dangerous for me."
"And you want to use my place?"
"I want you to arrange a major ball at your place, so they feel comfortable about coming here. Invite all your friends from shipping and investment, tanker chiefs, fishers, I don't give a shit, just make it a grand fucking event."
Zhang smirked, putting his cigarette in Romeo's glass and grasping his own as he stood up.
"I can do that."
Romeo smiled.
"I knew you could."
Zhang suddenly splashed the contents of his glass right into Romeo's face.
"But if I ever see your fucked-up face near my house after that again, I'll have it flouncing in a fishnet by next morning."
Zhang's eyes looked as calm as ever. Romeo took a towel from the table and wiped his face, before throwing it on the floor.
"Nice seeing you, Zhang."
"You too."
Romeo turned his back and descended back towards the exit as Zhang stood still until he shut the door. He then threw his glass against the wall and watched the shards arrange a pattern on the floor.
"Christ."