Chapter Four – Imminent Accident

"Muji-kun!" Miaka cried as their waiter brought out their usual morning feast.

"Miaka... san?" he glanced over and then smiled upon recognizing her. "Good morning."

"A friend of yours, Miaka-san?" she asked. "You're addressing her awfully familiarly, aren't you?"

"It's all right, I don't mind," the young woman smiled. "Muji-kun, this is Sui Nifei, and this is, er..." she glanced to Nakago, realizing that she didn't know he real name.

"Gi Ayuru," he said, all business.

"Right," she glanced over to him. "This is Tsu Muji, everybody."

"How do you know each other? He's just a servant," her voice was cool and calculating. Miaka frowned a little, and Muji looked suddenly downcast. "Is he not?"

"Nifei, that's pretty rude... Muji-kun isn't just a servant, he's a really nice guy. I met him after we arrived. He works in the kitchens, my favorite place!"

Muji smiled slightly when Miaka said he was nice. Nifei may look down on him, but Miaka was more his type anyway. He did wonder about the Gi character. What was his relationship to them? It suddenly hit him that this fellow was the VIP. "Oh! You're the VIP... from the Sui group, right?"

"I am."

"Is there anything I can get you, sir?" he asked helpfully.

"Ask him to sit down," Miaka hissed loudly. Muji tried to decline, saying he had to work. "If anybody complains, they can take it up with, er, Ayuru," she dragged him into the seat beside her and began talking animatedly.

Nifei frowned slightly. Why were so many men interested in Miaka? She knew she was desirable, but really, this was ridiculous. "Muji-san... Do you mind if call you Muji-san?"

"Oh, anything's fine," he smiled. embarrassed.

"Do tell me, what is your interest in Miaka-san?"

"Um..." all eyes turned to him. He began to sweat. "I... she's... a very nice woman... I'm... um... She's a friend so far, but I hope we'll become good friends later."

Miaka smiled, diffusing the strange situation flawlessly. "We will be, Muji-kun!" The young woman narrowed her eyes, even as a huge smile was plastered on her features. What was Nifei playing at, being so rude and asking such personal questions? It bothered her that she would not only subject her friends to such interrogation, as she had the previous night, but that she would do the same to acquaintances with no shame whatsoever.

Muji sat uncomfortably with the group for a few minutes until the ladies excused themselves to go to the restroom. "I should really get back to work..."

Nakago sipped his drink. "Miaka is right. If anyone should complain, direct them to me, and I will deal with it."

"Sir... that's very kind of you, but... not to be rude. Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Yuuki likes you," he said simply.

There was an uncomfortable silence and then Muji cleared his throat. "So... is... Miaka-san... um... is she... that is to say... what is your..."

"We have known each other for five years, though we haven't been in contact for most of the time. She is..." he pondered. What was the miko's relationship? She considered them friends, but he was one to not take such a title for granted. Still, if anybody was a true friend, it was Miaka. "An old friend."

"So she's not your girlfriend?" he asked.

Blue eyes danced with amusement. This young man was entertaining. He was awkward and uncomfortable, but he was attractive and kind - the kind of boy Miaka really could fall for. Unfortunately for him, he didn't think she'd be doing any falling for anybody, after the passing of Taka. "She is not."

"Do you... know Sui-san?"

"Her father is my employer, but we had never met before."

"She's a little... jealous, isn't she?"

"It would seem so," his eyes glanced to the young women approaching in warning. Muji took the hint and stopped talking. He liked this man Ayuru. He was obviously a man with much hidden in his past, but he had an interesting sense of humor, and he was not rude or snobbish, despite being in his position.

"We're back," the former Suzaku no Miko announced. "Did you miss me?"

"I was hoping you fell in," Nakago said smoothly, sipping his wine as she glared.

"So rude," she shook her head and then smiled again. "We were talking about going to the casino later. Would either of you like to join us?"

"I can't afford much gambling..." Muji sighed a little. Anything but gambling.

"Come to think of it, neither can I. Maybe we should get a game of poker going - no money involved, of course."

"Poker?" Nakago's interest seemed piqued. Miaka glanced over and then regretted the suggestion. She was sitting next to a trained liar, and she was going to play poker with him? He had been cunning and easily able to deceive before, but now he was a lawyer – he did it for a living!

"Yes, though perhaps we should use money. Raise the stakes a bit."

"I can't afford that," Miaka said it before Muji could. "Although, we could play teams! If we gather a few more people, we could team up."

"As long as I do not have to be partners with you," the blonde said to her. She stuck her tongue out.

"Just for that, you do have to be my partner, and I'm going to gamble all your money away until you don't even have the clothes on your back anymore."

"You would enjoy that, wouldn't you, Miaka?" the way he said her name made her blink. He had punctuated each syllable, so it sounded somewhat punched: Mi-Ak-A, much in the same way Nuriko said her name when he was feeling particularly silly. Of course, she was acutely aware of the fact that he was making fun of her, but overlooked it, more interested in the sudden shift into... playfulness?

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," the waiter looked down. If he did lose Nifei's money, he couldn't repay her in a thousand lifetimes. This was really way out of his league.

"How good are you at Poker?" Nifei asked Muji suddenly, her eyes narrowed at Nakago.

"Well, I was in a Poker club in high school." he said, suddenly feeling a little more confident.

"Excellent, you will be my partner. I'm going to the bar to ask if anybody else would like to play. Muji-san, come with me," she didn't ask, she ordered. He wasn't inclined to disobey.

"Teams?" he asked. "I have never heard of Poker played with teams."

"Yui and Tetsuya are horrible, so I would pair up with Tetsuya, Keisuke would pair up with Yui, and... Taka... he was very good. It had to do with money, so he would be," she laughed softly. "Anyway, it's basically the same, except the challenge is that both people have to be able to understand what they're thinking without giving it away with expressions."

"I think we'll have an edge on that front," he said. "As we've known each other for so long."

"I hope all those years at law school were worth it. Nifei is one hell of a gambler."

"We shall see," he took another sip of his drink and then stood, beginning to walk. "Are you coming or not?"

"Where are we going?"

"We're not going to play in here," he said. "There are rooms for this sort of thing, you know."

"I didn't," she stood up and followed. By the time they reached what she assumed was the game room, Nifei and Muji had assembled several more people, including the woman that Nakago had been with before and a man she was obviously interested in, and another couple, plus one more random person. They met together in a little annex off the casino where they were given a new deck of cards and a personal servant who kept them well hydrated.

"Who will deal?" Muji asked.

"You deal," Nifei handed the young man the cards and sat back, taking a long drink from her glass and placing a fierce poker face upon her pretty features.

They began to play. It was an interesting mix. Nifei was as good as Miaka had said, but Nakago was better. Unfortunately, Muji was marginally better than Miaka, who could be read like an open book. They played several hands, and Nakago was down quite a lot, though not as much as some, who had left the game altogether, as it was clearly out of their league.

"I need to use the restroom," the woman Nakago had introduced as Kanu, the woman he was escorting, announced. Nifei agreed, so they dispersed to take a short break.

"Could you please at least try not to be read so easily? I am not made of money, you know."

The young woman suddenly burst out into an evil smile. "Don't you get it? Now everybody thinks they can just look at my face for what's going on. It's the ultimate bluff. When you get a good hand now I can go 'aww...' and look disappointed, everybody will bet enormous amounts, and then I'll look clueless 'oh, I didn't know that was good!' and they'll be none the wiser."

Nakago stared for a moment. That was highly astute considering who it was. It seemed that he had underestimated her again. He, however, was not about to tell her that. "Very well."

"Come on, that's ingenious," she pouted. "Give me some credit!"

"When we have won, then you will receive accolades."

"Be prepared to pay up, then, because I'm not as bad at this as I look."

Everybody returned, and, as per plan, Miaka bluffed like nobody's business, acting clueless after each hand, saying things 'I thought it was good when you had a different card from each suite two numbers apart...' after she had just bluffed hugely.

She didn't do it every hand, so not to raise suspicions, but after a while, everybody but Nifei and Muji had quit because of her expert bluffing. It was impossible to tell when she was being honest in her expressions. Their opponents did not find it too funny. Nakago, on the other hand, was immensely amused. He hadn't thought the miko had it in her to play dirty like that.

Later, after they'd won by a landslide, he said just that.

"Well, the point is to bluff," she shrugged. "That is courtesy of Keisuke. So where are my accolades, Nakago?"

He changed the subject.

"No, you're not getting away that easily," she leaped in front of him, putting his hands on his chest to stop him from walking. He smirked slightly and she blushed, dropping her hands. "A-anyway, just say it. Say Miaka is good at poker!"

"You are sufficient at bluffing," he admitted.

"Close enough," the young woman laughed softly and continued walking again. "It's more than I expected from you, anyway."

"Where did your friends go?" he asked.

"Muji offered to get some Sake for them to drown their sorrows of defeat, so they're drinking somewhere, I'd imagine," she laughed softly. "I'm glad they're getting along better now. I think Nifei needs someone like Muji."

"Indeed," he replied.

"Ah, that's your room," she nodded. "I'll see you later, then?"

"Breakfast again? Though not at six a.m. this time."

"Actually... I think I'll take a rain check..." she knew it was dangerous to turn down Nakago, as he might construe it as rejection and not ask again, but tomorrow was the day of Taka's death. She really just wanted to be alone with her sorrow.

Nakago glanced at his watch and then it all made sense. "Perhaps the day after, then," he replaced his hands in his pockets, standing casually, making no indication whether he'd understood or not.

"Goodnight, Nakago," she said softly. He disappeared into his room. The young woman stood at his door for a few seconds, just staring. She wasn't sure what to make of his casual attitude. Had he understood? Or maybe he didn't really care either way? Confused, the young woman headed for bed, hoping to make the sorrowful day come and go faster.

Nakago didn't see hide nor hair of the miko all day. He'd quite literally bumped into Muji (actually, Muji had bumped into him, dropping a tray of food, but when the boy's boss came out and began to scream at him, Nakago had taken the blame), and he'd seen Nifei glaring from afar several times, but there'd been no sign of Miaka, not even for meals.

He was very, very, very loathe to admit it, but he was worried for her. Taka, they had all been convinced, was meant to be with Miaka, and yet here she was, alone. He wondered what she was doing.

It wasn't until late in the evening that he saw her, and when he did, she seemed to be in a rather unpleasant predicament. She was being escorted up the stairs by a man who looked old enough to be her father. She was being obviously groped and wasn't caring at all.

Nakago's sensible side told him that it really wasn't his business what she did, but hell be damned if he was going to let some old pervert take advantage of her in such a vulnerable state. She would never forgive herself, or him for letting her do such a thing.

"Excuse me," he came up behind the dirty old man. "I believe you're taking something that belongs to me."

"What?" the man grunted.

"That woman, she is my sister."

"Yeah, and she invited me upstairs to her room, so I think you should back off, buddy."

Nakago pulled his hand out of his pocket, "accidentally" dropping his business card on the floor. When he leaned to pick it up, he made sure that the man saw it. "I'm sure you wouldn't want her to cry coercion in the morning," he said smoothly. "As she is intoxicated."

The young woman peeked around the fat old man. "Nakago! What're you doing here?!" she asked loudly, a stupid smile on her face. "Come to join the party?!"

"There will be no party," he took her arm firmly. The old man, who was quite a bit shorter, and didn't look too healthy otherwise, cursed a few times and then disappeared, obviously not wanting to deal with fighting somebody who looked so deadly by nature.

"What'd you do that for, Nakago? I just wanted some company," she frowned angrily as he pulled her along.

"He was going to give you a lot more than company, Suzaku no Miko," he dragged her along and back up to her room. "Why are you acting so foolishly? Is Tamahome worth disgracing yourself?"

"Don't say his name!" she cried suddenly, enraged. "You don't have the right to say his name..."

"Must I stay here and guard the door, or are you going to refrain from going back downstairs?"

"Humph," she crossed her arms. He pushed her gently to her backside on the bed, staring down at her, a concerned frown on his handsome features.

"You deserve better than some one night stand. Would Tamahome have wanted you to go be some floozy just because he died?" he asked.

"I just want some company," she stood up, her face coming dangerously near his. "I guess you'll do. You've been here for a while... I know you..." she wrapped her arms around his neck suddenly, and he was slightly taken aback. Alcohol certainly did strange things to people... "I just want some company," she said again, her voice a bit lower, more clear. Her lips touched his and his eyes widened. She was serious. Drunk, but serious.

"Miaka, you do not want to do this with me. In the morning you will try to either kill yourself or me," he said warningly. She silenced him with her lips and fell to the bed pulling him down on top of herself.

The former Seishi was somewhat at a loss. If he pushed her away right now, she would be outraged and tell him to go, then probably find somebody else, as she was obviously intent on doing this. If he let it continue, they would both regret it severely in the morning. It didn't help that he was slightly drunk, sleep deprived, and probably as lonely as her. Her clumsy touches were tempting.

He pushed her away, sitting up, and she looked hurt. "Why don't you want me? Am I not good enough?"

"There is no question of your appeal, it is simply not wise."

"I never did this with Taka," she murmured, coming up behind him and unbuttoning his shirt - she was rather dexterous for being drunk. "I was with him for so long and I never did this. I would have liked to have been with him... just once. To show him how I really felt. He never knew how I really felt, not really... I don't want to make that mistake again, I want to live life to its fullest."

"There is a difference between living life to its fullest and being blindly promiscuous," he felt his control slipping. Her mouth was on his neck, he could feel her soft breasts, unrestrained beneath the black dress she wore, against his back. Miaka pulled his shirt from his body, pulling him back into the bed, and despite valiant efforts, his control was gone, and his hands began to wander her body as well.