~ Author's Note ~
Hey everyone. I just wanna thank you guys for supporting this story with so much love. Even though there are so less RikuKana fans, the fact you guys support this couple is very heartwarming. I also specially thank my friend Zhane17 who isn't a RikuKana fan but still reads this fic. I love you, girl. :)
Special thanks to Dennou Writer, Nakumare, KuroShiroNeko-Chan, WindKikyo, Crest-of-Anubis, Zhane17, Fede194 and Vampire Princess for your love. Also all the other readers who are too lazy to review, favorite or follow, you have my thanks for reading this fic. :)
Happy New Year, guys! :)
Ch. 4 – Caught in the Act
The function was going on pretty smoothly. Mr. Rihyon had finished his speech – to the relief of many students – and now was enjoying the buffet along with his bodyguards, who were still on alert. The girls were having a nice time chatting and flirting with their 'Rikuo-sama' who was on his charismatic best. Ao and Kuro were having a nice time grinning and joking in secret whenever Rikuo rejected any of his crazy fan girls.
Kana, Saori and Natsumi were at a distance, spying on Rikuo covertly. Saori dragged the other two to the bathroom for a touch-up before they went and conversed with Rikuo.
Kana watched nervously as Saori applied some more of her scarlet lipstick and Natsumi combed her shoulder-length wavy dark green hair. Finally, she found her voice. "I'm not going to speak to him."
Saori dropped her lipstick in shock and Natsumi's comb met the same fate. "WHAT?!" both exclaimed, eyes widened in appall "WHY?!"
Kana blushed and twiddled her fingers shyly. "Well" she looked up only to meet their demanding gazes "I don't think he'll like me."
Saori face-palmed while Natsumi's mouth hung open. The blonde shook the shy brunette roughly by her shoulders, shouting "Girl, you've gone insane! Rikuo Nura is your idol and-'' they froze when two girls entered the bathroom, staring at them weirdly. One of them went inside the cubicle and the other waited outside, staring at the floor nervously. When the other finally came out, the two quickly left the bathroom as if nothing ever happened. "Where was I?" Saori eyed Natsumi.
"Rikuo Nura was her idol part" answered the girl, applying some mascara on her already thick eyelashes.
"Oh yeah. Rikuo Nura is your idol and that too since HIGH SCHOOL!" Saori finally left the poor girl who slumped against the wall. "Seriously Kana. You're pathetically shy."
"I-I don't know what to say" Kana admitted, her eyelids drooping "I'm not very confident nor as pretty as you or Natsumi. I'm just so . . . so" she brought her knees to her chest and hid her face "ordinary and plain-looking."
"Look, sweetie" Saori put a consoling arm on her shoulder "I won't tell you it isn't important to look externally beautiful. It is. But inner beauty matters more than anything else. And I'm sure internally, you're a gorgeous diva."
"That's right, Kana-chan!" Natsumi cheered "You're so sweet and patient and caring! You don't lose your temper easily, unlike Saori!"
"That's right, that's right" Saori nodded until something snapped "Wait. What?" She growled at Natsumi, pointing an accusing finger at her chest "You mean to say I'm short-tempered?!"
"Yes. No, wait, Saori-chan" Natsumi shook her head intermittently "I meant – that – you-''
"YOU YOURSELF SAID I'M SHORT-TEMPERED!" Saori towered over the scared girl.
As the two continued their usual bickering – everyone knows the dominant one and submissive one – Kana giggled lightheartedly. She was in a much better mood now. She could always count on her friends to cheer her up.
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Even though any observer would say Rikuo was thoroughly enjoying himself flirting away with the girls, in reality, he was bored. For him, all the girls were nothing but idiotic humans who thought they were 'charming' him with all their cleavage show, suggestive remarks and 'accidental' brushings against him. However much he enjoyed cockily retorting, he was now getting tired of the same thing all over and managed to 'disappear' for a while.
Looking around to be sure no one was stalking him – you could never be certain enough – he slipped outside the College auditorium and ran as fast and stealthily he could. Swiftly climbing up the three flights of stairs, he found himself on the roof where he could take in some fresh air.
Rikuo took out a cigarette and puffed out a few wisps of smoke. He took out his cell phone to see if he had any missed calls. 5 from Tsurara – as expected of her – 3 from some business partners, 2 from his mom and a few unknown. He sighed and placed the phone inside his suit pocket. Right now, he only wanted to enjoy the fresh air on his face and the lovely sunset view.
Suddenly, some movement behind him made Rikuo quickly pull out his gun from its hiding place and aim it into the shadows. "Out" he growled in a low yet commanding voice.
"It's just me, Rikuo-san" Kuro reassured, slipping out of the shadows. Rikuo sighed and pulled back his gun, placing it into its holster again. He then turned back and started admiring the sunset again. However, he was interrupted with a knife thrown at him, which he grabbed by its hilt as it almost collided with his back.
"Shit" he heard Kuro – actually the assassin who was disguised as him – curse "How'd you find out?"
"First of all" Rikuo smirked, turning around "Kuro doesn't call me Rikuo-san. And second" he threw the knife with such alarming ferocity that the assassin barely missed it and shot him soon after that "You're too slow."
The assassin let out a grunt of pain as he reached for his own gun on his back. However, before he could pull the trigger, Rikuo kicked the gun out of his hands. Then, the Nura heir kicked him on the spot he was shot at – a.k.a his arm – and the assassin grunted in pain before colliding over.
Suddenly, the real Ao and Kuro burst in through the door, their expressions wild with fright. They rushed over to the shot assassin and to where Rikuo was standing. Kuro began examining his body while Ao said "You shouldn't run off like that, Rikuo-sama. You may not be so lucky next time."
"Luck?" the red-eyed man chortled in a low voice "It's all a matter of skill, my friend."
"He's dead" Kuro's voice coldly remarked, checking the assassin's pulse.
Rikuo's eyes widened in confusion as he stooped down and checked his pulse for himself. "It can't be" the Nura heir gasped "I . . . . He was alive a few seconds ago! A gunshot in the arm can't kill someone!"
"He's taken poison" Kuro said as he looked at his look-alike's tongue "Most likely Sarin or Hemlock." Kuro then turned towards the other two. "This has been a planned murder so that we don't find out the real perpetrators behind it."
"Take off his mask" Rikuo gestured "I wanna see who it is."
Kuro nodded as he pulled off the assassin's mask. A young, male face was behind it with closed eyes and a disappointed look. Not someone they recognized. However, something flickered in Ao's head. But he decided to not say anything. "Looks like a young assassin" Kuro said "Though I don't know who it is."
"Hmmm" Rikuo seemed to be in deep thought. Then getting up, the Nura heir said "Let's get back. People must've noticed our disappearance by now." Kuro nodded and got up. However, Ao remained crouched.
As Rikuo walked away, Kuro noticed that his friend wasn't behind him. "Ao?" he turned back, snapping the big man out of his reverie "Is something wrong, my friend?"
"Huh?" the brunette asked, getting up "Oh, it's nothing! I was just wondering who's trying to kill Rikuo-sama."
"Even I wonder who it is" Kuro seemed to be taken in with his friend's lies "Though right now, I really have no clue." Kuro turned to his friend but frowned when he saw Ao wasn't listening to him but seemed to be in deep thought.
Where have I seen him now?
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"Where is he? Where is he? WHERE IS HE?!" Saori grunted in frustration as she scanned the bustling auditorium, not finding a trace of Rikuo Nura anywhere. Natsumi and Kana were looking in the other direction, but none seemed to have any progress. Saori let out a disappointed sigh but screeched when she felt someone tap her shoulder. Blushing because of all the stares thrown at her, she turned back to scream at the person who scared her. "Kiyotsugu!" she whisper-screamed "Where the hell were you?!"
"Me?" the raven-haired man placed his hand over his chest in a melodramatic way. "Where the hell were YOU?!" Jiro popped up beside him, his face stuffed with pasta. Saori sighed in exasperation as she got the answer to her question.
"Saori-chan!" Natsumi called, running towards the group "I couldn't find him anywhere! I think he's disappeared!"
"Who?" Kiyotsugu asked, picking up a glass of Pina Colada from a plate of the waiter.
"Rikuo, dumbass" Saori said, her brown orbs travelling all over the room. However, she suddenly remembered something. "Wait." She turned to Natsumi "Where's Kana?"
A horrified look appeared on Natsumi's face. "Oh shi-'' but before the cat-eyed girl could complete her sentence, the light in the auditorium suddenly went off. Horrified gasps filled the room as people fumbled here and there to open the curtains.
"S-Saori-chan" Natsumi quivered, sticking to the 'blonde's arm' "I-I'm scared."
"I am Kiyotsugu, Natsumi."
"Eh?" Jiro's voice screeched "Then who's holding me?"
As soon as the curtains were drawn and the fading sunset light flooded the auditorium, the blonde boy looked up only to see an annoyed Saori who dropped him mercilessly on the floor. A huge blush bloomed on Natsumi's face when she realized she was literally sticking to Kiyotsugu but the dense boy was busy in noticing something else. "Rikuo Nura is right there!" he pointed towards the now reappeared heir "What do you mean he disappeared?"
"Eh?" the two girls chorused together, surprised to see the white-haired male charming the other girls with his enigmatic aura. "Guess he'd been to the bathroom then" Natsumi said with an awkward smile.
"Yes, you maybe right" Saori cracked a half-hearted smile as well.
"But that still doesn't solve where Kana is!" Jiro reminded them.
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Kana was looking worriedly at her surroundings. She'd been separated from Natsumi in the large crowd and had been searching for her friends. She was near the backdoor when the lights had gone off when she felt three or four people push her and rush outside. She'd caught a whiff of Old Spice deodorant – the one used by men – when a horrible feeling formed into the pit of her heart.
A nasty feeling similar to one she'd got before Cookie's death.
So the brunette had not-so-cleverly decided to follow them, remembering her previous conversation with Kiyotsugu. "I think you may be correct. After all, there could be an assassination attempt on the Nuras." Those words were clearly ringing in her head now.
The brunette girl had come in the direction they had scurried to, or most probably it was that. They'd simply disappeared somewhere along the last 5 minutes and Kana wasn't a good detective. The only thing she was relying on now was her trustworthy intuition. You're overreacting, Kana, she reminded herself, Nothing's gonna happen and you know it. Why they could've forgotten some important notes in class! Or maybe they'd heard about some accident! Or maybe-
The low mumbling noise of something – or someone – forced her to freeze in her tracks.
She quietly crept along the intersection to the corridor of the second years, her ears strained to hear anything at all. There were very dim lights which along with the cold temperature gave Kana Goosebumps and she rubbed her arms, feeling pricks rise on her skin. She crept and peeked a little, just in time to see a masked person closing the door to one of the classrooms.
After many seconds had passed by, Kana finally mentally slapped herself and tiptoed towards the classroom. I know I'm gonna regret this, was the phrase which kept chanting itself in her mind.
Through the small glass-like window – which was her only mode of seeing, since the curtains of the windows were drawn – she could see three masked figures inside, though she couldn't clearly make them out. They seemed to be discussing something and Kana pressed her ear against the door. However, since they were speaking too softly, she couldn't make out even small parts of the conversation.
Wait a second, something flickered inside her mind, Aren't there supposed to be four people? Looking inside to confirm if she was right, her thoughts continued, But there're only three. Her eyes widened in realization. If that's so then the fourth one-
"My, my" a creepy voice slithered inside her ear "Do we have a guest now?"