So the long awaited chapter is finally here! Sorry for the wait, life and laziness is getting in the way. Apologies is this chapter is kinds of here and there, I was a little tired when I finished it (still am). As always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.
Bound - Ch. 13 Jealously
"I can't believe you got yourself into that kind of mess." Eiichi tried his best to keep a straight face. He was debating on whether to scold the younger man or laugh in his face.
"Enough already! I already got a lecture from Ushio and the Captain about it, I don't want to hear one from you too." Masaki grumbled.
"Masaki is right Eiichi, besides, we have other things to be worrying about." Ushio joined in on the conversation. "I'm sure you two received news about the incident last night that involved Asagi Wataru."
The redhead frowned at the statement and grumbled. "To think that a man like him was the president of a Nishikino hospital. I swear if the Organization did get to him first I would have given him hell myself."
Ushio and Eiichi couldn't help but smile at the younger, knowing that he was beginning to take on his new role seriously.
"What?" Masaki snapped in annoyance.
"They grow up so fast don't they?" Eiichi wiped away an invisible tear away from his eye.
"Shut up Eiichi." Lilac orbs glared at the blonde.
"Now now, Father, there comes a time when children grow up." Ushio rested a hand on the taller man's shoulder.
"Ushio, don't play along with that idiot!" Masaki yelled.
"Shall we try and have another one?" Eiichi teasingly asked while ignoring the redhead.
"Unless you want to end up in the hospital, I think you should shut your mouth." Ushio gave the blonde a dark smile.
"Masaki, your Mama is being a meanie~." Eiichi slung his arms around the other's neck and pretended to cry in the said person's shoulder.
"Get off of me you dimwit! Enough with your stupid role-play, I didn't call you two over to make fun of me! I have a favor to ask." Masaki shoved Eiichi's face away from his.
"What's more important than talking about how you got your cherries popped?" The quarter Russian grinned, but was ignored by the two younger individuals.
"I'll admit, we're partially at fault for asking Saori-san to check up on the two of you. To think that she was the reason that Nico didn't make it home was because she thought it would be cute that you two had a little talk with each other." Ushio gave an apologetic look towards the redhead.
Masaki frowned at the mention of his fake girlfriend's name, but a part of him couldn't stop thinking about her. He knew for a fact that she hated his guts. Yet, at the same time, he wondered if she would be willing to forgive him for what he did.
"Well, what exactly did you need us for Masaki?" Eiichi's question pulled him out of his thoughts.
"I need you guys to attend my 'welcome back' party. As much as I don't want to have one, I don't have much of a choice. The Captain also said we could use this opportunity to snag some dirty dealers." The redhead answered.
"That's fine with me. Eiichi?" Both younger males looked at him with a slight concern.
"What's with those looks? I'll be fine. I just won't be in the lime light much, besides, I wouldn't want to steal it away from our little CEO." The blonde reassured the two that he would be fine.
"Ha, considering that you're scared of the dark, I think you need it more than I do." Masaki scoffed.
"Come on now Masaki-kun," The blonde threw an arm around the said person, grip tightening with a smile. "there's no need to be so generous to me."
"Eiichi, let go." The redhead's voice came out strained. "Can't breathe..."
"Would you two stop messing around?" Ushio looked at the screen of his phone and checked for messages before commenting on his two brother's childishness.
"You say that only because you're being left out." Eiichi replied back.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear anything because I'm sure there would be others upset with me if I accidentally kill you." The bluenet replied back.
"Anyways," Masaki cleared his throat the get the attention of the two again. "this means that we'll be needing new-"
"Leave that to me!" A cheerful voice appeared from behind them, giving them a good startle.
Kotori smiled brightly as she walked up to them,
Nozomi and Nico were not far behind. The aura that the taupe haired girl emitted had such a bright vibe it made all three bodyguards feel uncomfortable.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" The redhead whispered to the bluenet beside him.
"Maybe because she's a major in fashion design?" Eiichi answered in place of the other.
Ushio, however, kept silent. All he knew was, whatever Kotori had in mind, it was going to take possibly the whole day. And by that time, all three of them will be burned out.
xXx
All three bodyguards were sitting down as Kotori and Nozomi were having a serious discussion.
"Which color would suit Masaki-kun more?" Kotori held up two ties and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Hmm, I think the one in your left hand does." Nozomi replied.
Masaki's right eye twitched in annoyance as he watch the two go back and forth about the color of the tie he would wear. "Will you two just hurry up? I don't care which one you pick! Just choose one already, they both look the same anyways!"
"Ara, Masaki-kun, this is why you will never understand a maiden's heart." Emerald orbs looked at the direction of a certain brunette who had decided to stay far away as possible from the group because she was forced to come.
"Nozomi-chan is right!" Kotori got really close to the younger man with eyes that glowed with a burning passion. "Besides, they're not the same ties! They're two completely different shades!"
"Hah?" The redhead was dumbfounded with the heiress's statement and looked back at the other two present males. "Please tell her she's crazy?"
Eiichi and Ushio had their eyes averted to avoid any eye contact with Masaki. The blond whistled while twiddling his thumbs and the bluenet had a bored expression on his face. The youngest brother looked at the two in disbelief before getting another earful from the taupe haired girl.
Ushio sighed to himself while Eiichi chuckled at the scene. "This is tiring."
"Aw, don't be such a pooper Ushio. Why don't you ask Minami-san for some advice instead of wearing your usual attire?" His older brother nudged him playfully.
"I am quite content with my black ties. Besides, colors don't really suit me." The navy haired man stood up to take another walk around the store, but was abruptly stopped when Nozomi wrapped a tie around his neck.
"Ushio-kun is right. Bright colors don't really suit you, but I think this dark purple one does." She smiled at him teasingly making the said person blush.
"D-don't be ridiculous..." Ushio slightly turned his head to avert from the gaze the purplette was giving him, only to turn back towards her way when she pressed closer to him.
"I'm being serious."
"N-Nozomi-san, you're a little too close." The usual stoic bodyguard's voice cracked from their close body contact.
"Hmm? What was that? I don't think I heard you properly." She decided to continue teasing the embarrassed man.
"Nozomi!" Ushio shut his eyes and prayed she would give him room to breathe. "Please let me me go!"
"Alright, but only if you agree to buy this tie."
Eiichi sat by with an annoyed face. He still doesn't understand what his relationship with the purple haired heiress is, but he sure didn't like how the two were being close with each other. There was nothing he could do about it though. Ushio has no knowledge of the blond and his actions towards the woman who has him wrapped tightly around her fingers.
Masaki backed away from the group as he felt a dangerous aura emit from the fashion designer major, and Eiichi wasn't helping either. The redhead prayed for everything to just be over so he could go home. The party was tonight and his friends were starting to become the end of him.
"Fine...just please get off of me..." The busty woman giggled and gave the other a satisfied smile.
"Ushio-kun can be so mysterious sometimes." Nozomi pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. "That's why I think purple suits you."
The bluenet madly blushed at the close proximity of the older woman and became beet red to the point where steam could be seen coming out of his head. A certain redhead couldn't help but snort at his reaction while Eiichi cracked a smile in amusement. Unable to take anymore embarrassment, the blue haired bodyguard stormed away with the purple tie while his two brothers, along with Nozomi, chased after him to tease him even more.
Kotori, however, was left behind with a pained look on her face. When Nozomi had pulled Ushio close, the taupe haired girl was sure she felt a twist in her chest and brushed it off.
Why was it that only the navy haired man could make her feel this way? The last she could remember was that she had feelings for her childhood friend...but were those feelings real...or just a childish schoolgirl crush?
The Minami heiress shook the thought out of her head and tried to regain her composure. She took a deep breath and decided to catch up with the rest of her friends. In the end, it was decided that Masaki would wear the red tie that was in her right hand (although she was sure he could care less about the difference). But right before she was ready to leave, a nice silky dark blue tie caught her eye.
It was the perfect shade, just like the color of his hair. She didn't completely agree with what Ushio had said earlier about himself. It may be true that black suited him, but Kotori was positive that there were certain colors that also did too.
"Shoot me." Masaki grumbled under his breath.
"If you really mean it then, my pleasure. If you don't, then suck it up and deal with it for another hour or so." Ushio replied.
"You seem grumpy for someone who agreed to this." Aquamarine gems gave the shorter man a curious stare.
"I only agreed because Masaki asked, that doesn't particularly mean I like crowds."
"At least you don't have to pretend that you care about the people here." The redhead sighed. "I could care less about what kind of business you had with the past president. I just want to go home and sleep."
"Um, Nishikino-san, do you think you could spare a little time with us."
A feminine voice appeared from behind the Nishikino CEO. When he turned around he found a group of women whose eyes were full of hope to charm the redhead in order to get their hands on the Nishikino fortune. Amethyst orbs carefully observed each woman, not one of them peaked his interest. Instead, Masaki ended up thinking about a certain petite brunette with a foul mouth.
xXx
"Ara, Masaki-kun is so popular."
"That's only because he's the the CEO of a giant chain of Japan's hospitals, and they want to take him for themselves." Ruby eyes glared at man crowded by women. "If it weren't for that, I'm sure they would just be trying to get a nice one night stand before throwing him away and marrying some other rich guy."
"Ah, is Nicochii perhaps jealous?" Turquoise orbs glittered with amusement.
"Jealous? Ha, don't be stupid! Who would be jealous of a jerk like him?!" The smaller woman huffed in annoyance. "If anything, I'm far from jealous."
"Now now, Nico-chan." Kotori tried to ease the tension between both her friends.
"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" The blond bodyguard appeared from behind the heiresses and gave them both a charming smile with Ushio behind him.
"And give me one good reason why I should. Depending on your answer I might decide on whether or not that you're just like that scowling egghead."
But before Eiichi could answer Nozomi spoke up in a joking tone. "Eiichi seems like the type to play with a girl's heart."
"W-what! T-that's not true!" A blush dusted against his cheeks as he tried to control his composure.
"You might be right." Kotori put a hand to her chin, playing along with her purple haired friend.
"You're all childish!" Nico threw her arms in the air and walked away from the group as they continued to tease the blond.
"Nico is right, will you all stop fooling around." Ushio sighed at the present people.
"Hmm, how about a dance then?" Nozomi grinned at the bluenet, and before he could give a proper answer, she was already pulling him towards the dance floor.
Jealously burned inside of Eiichi when he saw them together. It should be him dancing with Nozomi. It should be him holding her close. It should-
"No." He shook his head and began to mumble to himself. "I need to stop feeling like this towards Ushio. It's not his fault." He let out a deep sigh found himself walking towards the dessert table for chocolate.
But...what am I to you Nozomi? Why must you be so vague with your actions and words? What exactly are we?
xXx
Kotori had slipped out from the party to get some fresh air. Once again, the uncomfortable twist in her chest returned when she saw Ushio dancing with Nozomi who also happened to be wearing the purple tie that Nozomi had also picked out for him.
"I like Hotaka-kun." She chanted the words over and over like a spell, but in the back of her mind the harming smile that her bodyguard gave her when they first met appeared.
The ashen haired woman wanted to scream out her frustrations. Why was it that the man named Sonoda Ushio was able to make her feel this way? What exactly is this feeling?
"Kotori?"
Honey brown orbs looked up from the ground at the call of her name. Nico furrowed her eyebrows at the other and frowned when Kotori frantically tried to fix her image.
"Alright spill. What's with you whenever you're around Ushio?"
"Eh?!" Amber eyes widened in surprise when the shorter girl mention the name of a certain blue haired bodyguard.
"Seriously, you've been acting like that ever since we came back from summer break." Red eyes gave her a bleak expression.
"I don't understand. Why does being around him make me feel happy, but frustrated at the same time? Why he looks at someone else, I feel like someone is taking my heart and squeezing it to the point where it hurts to breathe."
Nico listened to Kotori's words in silence. The brunette let the younger woman pour out all of her feeling until the latter was satisfied.
"So basically you're jealous that he's is being closer with Nozomi." Nico sighed. "And here I though you like that goofball. Well, I don't blame you for falling for Ushio. He...acts more mature than a certain someone, but also has his moments."
"Eh?! I never said that I like Ushio-kun!" A blush spread across the taller woman's face.
"Really? I was sure someone was getting jealous when we went shopping earlier." Nico eyed the still blushing maiden.
"U-um, Nico-chan, how would you know that you're jealous?" The question had the brunette blinking before smacking herself.
"Of course you would ask a question like that. How could I have forgotten that a sheltered princess like you wouldn't know what jealously is when you can barely tell if you like your childhood friend or your bodyguard?" Nico's statement earned a confused looked from the other individual. "Okay, a person can get jealous when the person they like is with another person. You feel just the way you describe to me earlier and want the person you like to pay attention to you and only you. And sometimes that person can be very dense and don't understand your motives when you ignore them while in reality you justwant the person to talk to you." There was a short pause between the two. "Do you understand?"
"So...does that mean that Nico-chan gets jealous when Masaki-kun is paying attention to another woman?"
"I- h- w-what are you talking about?! Who would get jealous over an arrogant dense head like him?!" Nico huffed and crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. Kotori couldn't help but giggle at her friend's reaction.
She said dense head. Another chuckle was let out of the thought.
"What's so-" The rest of Nico's sentence was muffled when a man dressed in a black suit grabbed her from behind and silenced her with a cloth. Kotori turned around and met with another man dressed the same way and was also silenced like Nico. The scent of the chemical on the cloth made their vision blur, and the last thing they heard was the men speaking in their earpiece about obtaining their targets.
"Masaki, have you seen Nico or Kotori-san?" Ushio scanned the party room again in hope to get a sight of either person.
"No." The redhead then rubbed his chin. "Now that you mentioned it, I haven't seen Nico-chan for a while now." A small pause invaded the conversation before a cold drift passed through both individuals.
"You keep attending to your guests. I'll go and talk with Eiichi." Masaki nodded at Ushio's words, but he couldn't help feeling like something bad was going to happen.
Ushio, on the other hand, tried his best to stay calm. He quickly walked over to Eiichi who seemed to be in a very bad mood.
"Eiichi, have you seen either Nico or Kotori-san?"
"Why would you care when Nozomi is giving you all of her attention?" The question caused the bluenet to blink at his older brother, but quickly disregarded the attitude.
"Look, I don't know why you're acting all sour, but I need you to stay with Nozomi. I'm going to look for Nico and Kotori-san. I'm starting to get a bad feeling with their long absence."
Ushio slips out of the party and walks down the hallways of the building. Her arrives at a balcony and notices a black car, but his heart stopped beating when he saw a couple of men dressed in black with an unconscious Kotori and Nico being shoved into the back seats.
On instinct, the blue haired man decided to take the shortest route to stop the men. He jumped down from the balcony, using other obstacles to soften the fall, and ran towards the black vehicle. But he was too late, the men noticed that they had been caught and all quickly got in the car, driving at full speed where the trained soldier couldn't catch up to them.
Ushio huffed as he tried to regain the oxygen in his body. He pulled out his phone and frantically tapped his foot, waiting for the other person to pick up.
"Saori-san," Ushio could feel the muscle in his chest quicken. "I need you to pull up the tracking device I put on Kotori-san. I also need you to inform the Captain that I'll be needing my combat equipment as soon as possible."
*Insert dramatic music*
So much jealously (not really).
Kotori and Nico get kidnapped!
Now, what are we going to do?