Capitulum I – Might as well look sexy if I'm possibly about to die.
Life is a bitch. Not just karma, she mused. Everything. Every aspect of life is out to get you, whether it be the circumstances of your birth, the education you received, or the people you affiliate yourself with. No matter how safe and sound you believe yourself to be, life will fuck you up, one way or another. Just like it did with her.
Looking out of the window of the car as the towering skyscrapers of Tokyo flew past her, she traced invisible patterns on her left lower arm. She never thought she would find herself in this place ever again. She did incur the wrath of Japan's most dangerous mob boss after all, the last time she was here.
He will be out for blood, that's for sure. Her blood, to be precise. She must tread carefully during this mission.
She was torn from her thoughts when her driver announced they were approaching the Plaza Hotel. "I'll have the bags brought by the staff, you go up and get settled in. I still have to check up on the security in this place." As the man in the driver's seat stopped the engine, she grabbed her bag and sunglasses. "Don't make a huge fuss out of this, Kai. If he wanted me dead on the spot he would have shot me at the airport. The very fact I'm still standing here means he probably wants to know what brought me here first. So I should be quite alright for a while." The doors were opened and Kai offered his right hand to help her out of the car. As her high heels touched the ground and she straightened herself, she felt dizzy all of a sudden. Not because of the imposing building in front of her. She was out in the open now. Although she might have sounded convincing to her confidante, she wasn't so sure about the state of her safety herself. He knew everything, and even though she's only been in Tokyo for an hour, he knew of her presence, she was sure of it.
She calculated how many steps it would take from the car to the entrance of the hotel. 10, maybe 15. That's a time span of a few seconds. She might just get killed in those next few seconds. "Sakura." Her head jerked up and her eyes met Kai's. Putting on her sunglasses and strutting over to the entrance as if she owned the place, she thought, might as well look sexy if I'm possibly about to die.
As she stepped foot into the grand reception hall of the hotel, she released a breath she didn't know she held in. "Miss Haruno, it's a pleasure to have you as our guest again. My name is Hanzo Satoshi, I'm the hotel director of the Plaza and I will make sure that everything is to your liking during your stay here with us. Now, if you would…" – "Keycard, please." Sakura demanded, stretching out her hand. The hotel director looked baffled for a second, but after getting ahold of himself, he nervously answered "Ah yes, at once Miss Haruno, but there is the matter of a few papers in need of your signature before-"
"Mr. Satoshi, my flight was exhausting, they didn't have any vodka at the airport lounge, my feet hurt like hell, and on top of that, I have a bad hair day. You can see the predicament I am in now, can't you? What I want is a nice hot bubble bath, what I do not want, however, is your ugly face telling me what to do. Now, you are going to give me the keycard and send up the paperwork later, or I swear to God, I will make sure your permanent residence will be moved from the Plaza Hotel to the graveyard. Am I understood?" With the sweetest of smiles she expectantly looked at the hotel director with her hand still stretched out.
"Now, let's try this again, shall we? Keycard." After she felt the plastic object hit her bare skin, she gave the hotel director another smile before turning and making her way through the reception hall crowd. This wasn't such a bad start, after all, she mused.
I mean I could have gotten bullet between my eyes.
