"Anita! Please, no! It's a first edition! Please!" Michelle whinged as Anita advanced on her, one arm around her chest, the other reaching forwards. She ducked, faking her movement, and dashed forwards, snatching the leather bound volume from the blonde womans' hand.
"I wouldn't care if it's been signed by the Pope and God, I'm not walking around the streets of Jinbocho naked!" She yelled, pulling the pages from the book with her eerie power, and spinning the paper sheets around herself, moulding them into a makeshift halter-top and skirt. She looked down at herself, and sighed. She looked like something you could pick up for ten thousand yen on a street corner at midnight.
And Hisa's sitting right in front of me...great... She mused, as she flopped down onto the floor. Michelle sat close by, sobbing gently, with Maggie attempting to comfort her whilst trying not to cry herself. Hisa smiled softly at the paper-covered girl, who smiled back, nervously.
"U...Uno...Thank you for saving me, Anita-chan." She said, her voice still rather high pitched. Anita had to fight against the rising blush. She shook her head.
"I...was doing it because I knew you were our client...and...I...uh..." She said, trailing off. STUPID STUPID STUPID! What kind of thing was that to say!? She mentally berated herself, before looking up at Hisa, confusion apparent on her face.
"Hisa-chan...Why did you want to hire us?" She said, looking at the girl, and was shocked to find her blushing too.
"I can...answer that..." Michelle pipped in, through her sobs. She removed from her bag a small folder full of paper and plastic wallets. At the front was a large logo of a huge boulder on the top of Mount Fuji.
"The Rockingham group. A huge corporate powerhouse that owns and runs, among other things, almost ninety percent of Japans power generation, several department and specialist stores, shipping, import/export, airfreight. They've recently taken quite a bit of interest in our Hisa-chan." The blonde woman said, hugging the girl, who tried to lean away from the clingy woman. Anita and Maggie nodded.
"They say my writing captures peoples minds..." Hisa said, nervously. She was sitting in the seiza position, and had her hands clasped together on her lap, "And they want to use my books to make people buy their things..." she continued, a sad look on her face.
"Which is why I said we'd help her for free!" Michelle said happily, smiling and clapping her hands together. Anitas' face washed from normal to hyper angry within seconds, and she kicked the older female in the shins.
"Sorry, Hisa, but we're still professionals. We'll be charging you the same price as anyone else." She said, her eyes closed, her face masked, and unreadable. The purple haired girl nodded.
"I understand. I did discuss with your sister prices briefly, and from what I understand, ten thousand yen a day seems to be slightly over the odds for your services, but it is what I will pay." The girl relied, her tones suddenly losing their upbeat timbre, becoming cold, and businesslike.
"That seems fair, considering we did you one rescue pro bono publico." Anita said her tone also cold and icy. Maggie looked from one girl to the other, and shuffled back a little, picking up one of the discarded books of Michelle as she did so. She tucked her knees up, and began to read, in a futile effort to escape Anitas' incoming storm off.
"I didn't ask you to do that, you just did it." Hisa said, turning towards the girl, and folding her arms. Anitas' eyes opened, and she grinned a devilish smile.
"Oh really? Well, then, I'll run and find those rock weirdoes and give you back, then." She said, glaring at the now slightly taller girl.
"Hah! Like how you ran away from them in the first place!" Hisa shouted back.
"Yeah!? Well, if I'd known it was you, I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BOTHERED!" Anita screamed into the girls face. The face which soon became framed with tears. The purple haired young woman began to sob, the salty wetness streaking down her cheeks. She fell to her knees, her head in her hands. Anita baulked, and took a few steps back.
"Hisa-chan...I..."
"JUST GO AWAY!" Hisa yelled, flailing her arm at Anita. It struck the girl in the midsection, tearing a hole in her flimsy paper clothing. Anita backed away further, before turning, and running away, through the bush, the wooden construct tearing at her clothing even more.
"That could've gone better..." Maggie muttered, resting her hand softly on Hisa shoulder.
STUPID PRIVATE SCHOOL EDUCATED RICHER THEN ME ARROGANT STUCK UP BRAT!!! Anita kept that thought, and others, running through her mind as she ran from the scene. She was heading away, away from Hisa, away from her sisters, away from everything so that she could have a little time to calm herself down. First I find myself wanting to kiss her, then slap her...
"AAAAGH! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!?" She yelled, as she came to a halt.
"Well, if I had to say, I'd say since you're running around in public with severely torn clothes, and screaming at the top of you voice, there's a high chance you're crazy." A female voice said behind her. She span, and saw the woman in white from earlier. SHIT! Anita thought, reaching for her paper clothing once again, but the woman held up her hands.
"Please, I wish you no harm. For now, at least," she said, a small smile arriving on her face. She reached into an inside pocket of her clothing, giving Anita a rather good view of her left breast. SHE'S NOT WEARING ANYTHING UNDERNEATH THAT! Anita thought, turning away quickly, her face beginning to heat up. The woman retrieved a cell phone from her inside pocket, and presented it to Anita. It began to ring.
"My employer wishes to speak to you, Paper." The woman said, with a smile. Anita looked at the phone sceptically, but picked it from the womans' hand. After all, if the worst comes to it, I can just run again.
"Hello?"
"Am I speaking to Anita King?" A gruff male voice said.
"Yes...who is this?"
"Ahaha! Directly to the point, I like that. Listen, Pa...No, Miss King. I am known by some as Rock. I have a preposition for you."
"I'm not interested. Blow it out your arse!" Anita said; ready to hang up on the mysterious man.
"I would advise you to listen, because if you don't, I will have my assistant bury you, your two sisters, and the little author alive." Anita gasped. She didn't have the right mindset to fight at all right now, let alone against an unknown enemy.
"What do you want with Hisa?" She said, before cursing mentally. DAMNIT! Why do I even care about that betrayer?
"Hahaha! That girl was merely a distraction to get to you, my dear. She had a near intimate relationship with you, the strongest paper user in existence. Have you ever heard of the Janken Prophecy, my dear?" Anita shook her head, and then felt silly for doing so.
"No, I haven't"
"It was discovered a few years ago in an archaeological dig in Australia. Apparently, some Buddhist monks had managed to navigate the turbulent waters of Australasia, and found refuge on the barren island. Ancient Sanskrit writings telling of an impending apocalypse involving three Gods. It was dubbed the Janken prophecy because the three gods depicted were described using just one symbol each. Rock, Paper and Metal."
"Scissors not been invented yet?" Anita said, sarcastically. The man behind the phone began to laugh heartily.
"AHAHAHA! Yes, indeed my dear! The prophecy spoke of two forces of good against one evil, a struggle to win ones greatest desire granted. The winner of the terrible war would be granted one wish. Of course, the evil being would desire to control the world, whereas it was assumed that those on the side of good would make a more responsible wish."
"Wait a second. Why are you telling me this?" Anita said, suddenly.
"Because, my dear, you are the God, Paper." the male said, before continuing, "And I am Rock. We must unite in order to defeat the evil menace that is the God of Metal," he said, seriousness present in his voice.
"Uh...I...I don't...I'd have to talk to my sisters..." She said, but there was a tone in her voice that said she wanted to do it. One true desire granted! I could ask for enough money to have food every day! Her mind was racing with what she could get with one wish. Another thought bubbled up. Hah! Hisa wasn't the important one, I was! AHA, IN HER FACE!! She thought, happily. A happiness that was soon shattered.
"You need to ask your sisters permission to do anything?" The female said, her voice full of inquisition, and sweetness. Anita stopped dead in her tracks. I...need...to ask...N...No! NO! I don't need to ask them anything! I'm my own person. Let them deal with Hisas stupid protection; I've got to save the world!
"No, I do not. Mr Rock, I'm in!"
"Excellent! I'm so happy to hear that!" He said, before ending the call.
"So...what now, Miss..." Anita said, handing the cell phone back to the woman, and once again getting a front row view at her perfectly formed chest.
"I am Lucia De Bris. I am one of Mr Rocks' personal assistants. Please follow me; I will take you to Mr Rocks' compound.
The man hung up the phone, and walked across his thick-carpeted office. The room was full of things you would expect to see within an executive office, stress-relieving toys, large TV, fish tank containing some extremely expensive tropical fish, huge soft leather chairs and a huge mahogany desk with little papers scattered across it. What it also contained, which was definitely NOT office furniture, was a large X shape made of stone, with loops of rock and wood built into it, and thick rope, which was tied around the limp and somewhat beaten half naked body of a female in her early twenties.
"Milady Metal, that was Paper. She is on her way here. Won't that be fun?" He said, adjusting one of the cufflinks on his expensive black suit. He had yellow hair, slicked back over his head, and stood a little over six feet tall. His muscles were only just contained by the custom-made suit, and he had an air of a mob boss about him. The woman said nothing.
"Oh, no response? That's a shame...It would seem that your imprisonment has finally broken your spirit. I must say you look positively helpless...good enough to taste..." He said, taking one of her breasts in hand. As he poked his tongue out, the woman spat, landing her spittle right on his extended muscle.
He struck her around the face with the back of his hand, and walked across to his desk, took a swig of water, and spat it into am ornate bin.
"My spirit will NEVER break, Rock. I will escape from this, and I WILL make Paper join the side she was supposed to be on, the side of good. She will see through your plan. She must..."
"She is a young girl, Scissors, just like you were once. She has desires and needs. I can make those happen for her. What can you do? Introduce her to a life of pain and hardship. I know which one I'd choose." He said, before laughing. He pressed a button, and a curtain fell down across the woman, hiding her from view.
"Soon, the world will be mine! Soon, I will become the true GOD I am supposed to be!"