~ Author's Note ~

Hey, lovely readers! I've a question for all of you. Who do you think I should pair Tsurara with in the story?

Tsurara: *hugging Rikuo's arm* With Rikuo-sama of course!

Kana: *dark aura*

Rikuo: *eye roll*

Anyone except Rikuo. I don't have any fixed guy for her so I'd appreciate it if you guys would help me out here. :)

Kana: *happy smile*

Rikuo: *relieved expression*

Kubinashi: Dear readers, please don't vote for me.

Tsurara: What the hell?! You should be dying to be with me! Not that I want you to be paired with me . . . . . .

Kubinashi: B***h, please.

Tsurara: WHAT THE-

Jiro: PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!

What the hell are you doing here?! O_O

Tsurara: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Anyone but him! _

Kana: Special thanks to Zhane 17, Rose Rain 7, Fede 194, Marchioness Scarlet, Hikage-Sama, Vampire Princess, Nakumare, Silver Gold Moonlight, Nayrael, Kuro Shiro Neko-Chan, Dark Lord 5198, The Crest of Anubis, Dennou Writer, Night Dreamer, Night Star 09, , Micar, Sakura Tsukiyomi Lefey, Skylar-Midnight, Chizora, Ash Covered Warrior and ajiehuang 1997 for supporting this story! Not to forget the anonymous readers!

Ch. 9 – Happy times, Sad thoughts

Kana sighed as she plopped down on her purple-mattress bed, watching as the cotton fluff from one of the open pillows fluttered around her. Sighing in half-annoyance, half-exasperation she collected the cotton, stuffed it back into the pillow and chained it up properly. Lying down comfortably one again, she intertwined her fingers, laid them on her stomach and drifted off into thinking mode.

Such an extraordinary number of unusual occurrences had happened today that she had to use the old superstition of pinching herself to make sure all of it hadn't been a dream. First, the oh-so-great Ryuuji had harassed her about Rikuo Nura, though she had no inkling of an idea why.

Second was her revelation about the plan to humiliate the aforementioned obnoxious brat. While it was true she'd had some probable theories which would aid her in her quest of publicly embarrassing him, she hadn't regarded the fact she would actually do it. And that she'd tell her friends about it.

Looks like there were gonna be some interesting twists and turns in her life.

But compared to the third occurrence, the first two were nothing but small abrasions. For it was the third one which had shocked the daylights out of her.

Rikuo Nura had called her. On a date.

All right, calm down. Just calm down, she told herself, trying to even her breathing. Well, what'd happened was she and the girls had been going back home from College when the melody of Taylor Swift's "Mean" set off. Fumbling in her bag for her cell, Kana had almost dropped the device after having a glance at the caller's name.

"What the f**k are you waiting for?!" Saori had grinned, patting her encouragingly on the back. "The prince of your dreams is waiting!" All the brunette did was try to stand on her shaky knees, staring at her cell phone as if it was some strange device.

"Ne, Kana-chan" Natsumi had winked at her, nudging "You shouldn't keep him waiting. " Kana gulped and quickly pressed the receive button.

She tried to keep a composed voice but was forced to shout a little to drown out her friends' vicious giggles. "Hello?!" she almost shouted "Nura-san? Is that really you?" She motioned her friends to keep quiet.

"Yeah, it's me" she heard the white-haired man answer from the other end and she had a feeling he was grinning. Her stomach twisted into knots at the sound of his husky voice.

"H-How are you?" the brunette said, twisting a few strands of her straight hair. Saori and Natsumi snickered in the background.

"I'm fine. How's life been to you?" was the reply followed by the question. Kana paused. What should she say? Should she clear her doubts?

"The usual. Nothing really interesting" she said, smiling but realizing it was of no use. Peeking through the corner of her eye, she saw her friends staring at her intently. "So" she hesitated, not sure how to really ask "Do you want something?"

There was a slight pause before he spoke again. "Actually, could we meet somewhere?"

Kana almost dropped the phone. "You're kidding" she mechanically whispered.

"No, I'm not kidding" he repeated, sounding a little amused.

The other two girls' attention seemed to be aroused now, as they stared at her with elevated eyebrows. Trying not to hyperventilate, the brunette answered "Its okay with me. Where?"

"Eden Gardens at 7'o clock on Sunday?"

The brunette felt like fainting. The super-classy restaurant surrounded by super-wealthy mansions? What did he want to meet her for? "Yeah, sure. " A pause and then she added "I'll be coming in a white Polo car."

"Okay but I could pick you up if you want."

"Thank you but really, I can come on my own."

"No? Fine then. All right, see you on Sunday."

"Yeah, see you."

"Take care. Bye, Kana."

"Bye."

After the device whirred off, Kana stared at it before turning towards her expectant friends. Saori and Natsumi very much resembled snails at the moment with protruding eyes and curious gazes. "What, girl, what?!" asked the blonde, shaking her excitedly by her shoulders.

"No big deal" the brunette mechanically answered "Just got myself a date."

"I am such an idiot" Kana frowned, covering her face with her hands. What was she thinking? How could she have possibly agreed to go on a date with a man she barely knew? A dangerous man, to add. One with ties to Underworld assassins.

But then, how could one refuse a date with Rikuo Nura? The man was practically a God. Money, power, looks, women, talents – name it, he had it. She had no idea what would've happened if she'd refused him. Would he have given up? Possibly not.

Kana had formed two theories by now. One, he was just playing around with her for a night of sex after which there would be no contact between them. This was extremely unlikely since he wasn't a sex addict. According to the media, anyway.

Second . . . . . . . he wanted to talk. About the first and last time they met. The brunette sat up. Could it be they didn't trust her enough to keep the secret? That they were planning to kill her?

It could possibly be true.

"Kana! Dinner time!" yelled her mom from downstairs.

"Coming" she replied, staring out of the window before going. It was already twilight out. Time seemed to move so fast when you're lost in contemplation. As she walked down the stairs, she sure hoped one thing was true.

She really hoped the dinner at that restaurant was on him.

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"Good morning, everyone!" Jiro greeted, waltzing into the campus with Kiyotsugu behind him.

Saori raised an eyebrow as she leaned against her locker. Crossing her arms over her blossoming cleavage barely hid by her low neck dark blue spaghetti top, she enquired "Something good happen with you, goofball?"

However, Jiro completely ignored her and instead proceeded to sing and do ballet in the corridor, with students stopping now and then to stare at him. Natsumi turned to Kiyotsugu. "What happened with Jiro, Kiyo-kun?"

Before the raven-haired boy could answer, the blonde boy skipped happily towards the girls. "I've got great news!" he exclaimed, clapping both his hands like a school girl who just met Justin Bieber. Then, reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a magazine with Tsurara Oikawa's photo on the cover – wearing a sexy black halter top and white micro shorts – and started flipping through the pages.

Kana, who'd meanwhile been tying up the loose ribbons in her pink, puff-sleeved top, finally walked towards her friends. Jiro was looking excitedly over a page while she read over his shoulder. However, before she could make a head or tail about any sentence, he quickly showed the page to others. "Behold the great treasure!" he announced proudly, chest puffed out.

The other four gathered to read it as Saori snatched the magazine away from him. She read aloud: "Dear readers, get a chance to win passes to Tsurara Oikawa's Paris Calendar Shoot and meet the gorgeous young model herself! All you need to do is scratch the code in the magazine issue and SMS it to the number given below. You can win passes for you and your friends with all costs – excluding shopping - paid!"

"See, see, SEE?!" Jiro exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. However, before the blonde could put her manicured nails to use, he snatched it away. "No, no, NO!" he exclaimed, violently shaking his head, while hugging the magazine to his chest. "Who's the luckiest of you all?"

"Of course, the great me!" Kiyotsugu proudly announced, doing his signature hair flip. The other four rolled their eyes.

Jiro looked around the group and said "Natsumi, do you want the honor of scratching it?"

The cat-eyed girl pointed at herself before shaking her head aggressively. "I-I can't take such a big responsibility!" she stuttered. Kana and Saori sweat-dropped at the statement while Kiyotsugu sat moping in his emo corner on being ignored. "What if we don't get the passes? N-no, I can't do it!" Natsumi kept on repeating.

"All right then" Jiro drawled, before eyeing Kana. "Kana-chan will do it, right?"

"Eh?" Kana quoted "I'm not very lucky Jiro-kun." Considering what has been happening to me lately.

Jiro looked down in disappointment before slowly turning to Kiyotsugu. "All right, Kiyo-kun" he said "I guess this is yours . . . . ."

"Hey!" Saori yelled in anger "How come you asked everyone except me?!"

All the four gave her an 'are-you-serious' look and chorused "You're the unluckiest of the lot, Saori-chan."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she asked in half-shock, half-anger. Then, before Kiyotsugu could take the magazine from Jiro, she quickly snatched it and began scratching at the code.

Jiro froze as he felt all his life energy get drained out of him. He fell to the ground as a spotlight from nowhere shown on him "My life is over. It was nice knowing you guys . . . . . ."

Meanwhile, Natsumi tried to cheer him "Come on, Jiro-kun! You may still have chances!"

Kana readily agreed "Yeah! Don't give up so easily!"

Saori was inspecting the number carefully. In a detective-like way, with her index finger and thumb lifting her chin, she stated "Hmmmmmmmm. This is interesting. The code is 13131313."

Jiro, who'd just been getting up, fell to the ground again. "How can you say I still have chances?"

Natsumi rubbed his back reassuringly while the other three began the risk of sending the code to the given number. They waited with bated breath for 4 minutes, half-listening to Jiro give his 'final speech', head on Natsumi's lap. Suddenly, the familiar message tone of Saori's mobile went off.

It was a reply to their SMS.

Saori glanced at Kana and Kiyotsugu, who were on either side of her. Natsumi stared at them with anxiety, mumbling encouraging words to Jiro who looked on the verge of 'death.' The blonde swallowed a lump in her throat as she opened the message with shaking fingers. And nearly dropped her cell phone after reading it.

"I knew it" Jiro whispered "Goodbye, everyone . . . . . ."

Kana picked up the dropped cell phone while Saori stood quivering. Then, the brunette read aloud "Congratulations! You've won the passes to Tsurara Oikawa's Paris Calendar Shoot! Please specify the number of passes you want. Maximum number you can order is nine. Please specify your delivery address for details. Congratulations once again!"

Never in her life had Kana scene such a quick change in personality. One moment Jiro lay in Natsumi's lap with a pale and haggard expression and now – he was pirouetting in the middle of the corridor with an angelically happy expression on his face, attracting a large crowd. Strangely, classical music seemed to be playing in the background.

After his performance ended with a big round of applause, Jiro almost choked Saori. "Thank you so much, Saori-chan!" he said, bear-hugging her "I owe my life to you!" Dramatic tears appeared in his eyes "I'll never forget this favor for my life! You're my savior, Saori-chan!"

"It's really okay" she kept on reminding him, awkwardly smiling. "You don't need to thank me so much."

Suddenly, realization dawned on her. "Oh, I forgot to tell you guys something!" exclaimed the blonde. Then grinning mischievously at a confused Kana, she said "Kana-chan, you should tell them yourself, shouldn't you?"

The brunette stared at her, puzzled for a few seconds but recognition gripped her sensitive features. "O-Oh, that?" she asked, thinking for some way to get out of the sticky situation "Oh, well . . . . . ."

"What are you guys talking about?" Kiyotsugu asked, raising an eyebrow. Jiro was dancing around happily with Tsurara's cover photo clutched to his chest, too busy to notice.

Natsumi and Saori had Cheshire-smiles on their faces as they stared at Kana expectantly. She smiled awkwardly before attempting a mad dash out of there. However, too bad for her, Kiyotsugu had lashed onto her arm. "What is it, Kana-chan?" he asked, his serious mode turning on.

The brunette looked at the blonde, panicking, her brown eyes screaming "Help!" Saori understood the situation and said "Kana's going on a date with Rikuo Nura this Sunday."

The raven-haired teen dropped his friend's arm before staring at Saori with an incredulous expression. "You've got to be kidding me" he whispered.

Before Saori could reply, an evil chuckle was heard from nearby. "Well, well, well. That's interesting news."

Kana's eyes blazed with fierce intensity. "What do you want, Ryuuji?"

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It was already evening outside, as the sun settled down between high mountains in the distance and all birds returned to their nests. Street lights were switched on as the cabs rushed here and there, stuck in a traffic jam. From the honking streets, Rikuo stared at his watch and tapped his feet impatiently.

"Are you sure you can do nothing?" he asked. Even though the air conditioning was on, he loosened his tie for comfort.

"Sorry Rikuo-sama but it's the evening rush" replied Ao, who was in the driving seat "There's no way out of this hullabaloo."

Rikuo sighed, leaning back into the plush seat of his limo. His old man was already on his case and he was sure he'd get jeered at by him for being late again today. Huh. Life was such a cruel, cruel thing. He soon shrugged off the pessimistic thoughts and concentrated on topics of more moment. "Kuro, what's the status on Tamazuki?"

The black-haired bodyguard checked his cell phone before replying. "He's currently inactive."

"And our new friend, Mr. Kubinashi?"

Kuro smirked. "Something mildly interesting. If possible, he's gonna call upon us within this week."

Rikuo blew his bangs away from his forehead. "So many birds yet so less time" he murmured. Then, his eyes blazed again "The incident in India. Is there any allusion as to who were the perpetrators behind it?"

Kuro regretfully shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. However-'' the jam suddenly broke open and Ao swerved ahead, overtaking and infuriating many car drivers in the process. "As I was saying" Kuro continued, shooting his friend a smirk "There were some charred remains bones found in a vast field two miles away from the company."

The Nura heir's red eyes glinted with interest. "Human?" He was affirmed by a nod from the bodyguard. "Well, well, well" he smirked "Looks like our rival isn't a God after all. So he's made at least one slip. That too not a minor one. Were any of the company personnel reported missing?"

"Strangely, no. Everyone reported the next day after the fire. That's what is so weird."

Rikuo set into thinking mode, his brows straight, head on interlaced fingers, mouth set in a grim line. It is a warning. The detractors mean to say if you do not obey, we'll do more damage. But . . . . . obey what? What do they exactly want? The destruction of the company?

However, before Rikuo could think anymore, Ao spoke up. "We've reached Nura Central Headquarters."