"We searched her bag and gave her a pat down, Boss," said Ned, Jei's American born lieutenant, standing with Jei by his limo at the end of the alley. "Other than some pepper spray - which has expired, by the way - she's not packing anything. Either she's really good, or Sei's really nuts."
"We shall see," Jei said, taking the purse and the photo ID from Ned. He got in the back of the limo and sat opposite the 16-year old girl. She was hugging herself and visibly nervous. He read the student ID: "Shiho Kazami of the Love and Happy Culinary Design School."
She nodded. "Yeah, that's me."
He passed back her purse and ID. "I'm keeping your pepper spray, but it's expired anyway. You should get a new bottle."
"Thank you. I'll do that."
The tone of her voice said she was beyond nervous - she was terrified and doing her best not to show it. Jei thought about how to proceed. He was no stranger to using intimidation to get what he wanted, but somehow, that did not seem appropriate in this case. Not right now, anyway. Charm might work a little better.
He smiled and said, "I'm sorry if my employees have unnerved you. We're in the middle of situation right now, and we're a little security conscious, as I'm sure you can understand. So, what are you doing here?"
"A friend of mine called and asked me to give him and one of his employers a lift."
"Oh? Who is this friend? If you tell me his name, maybe I can help you find him."
"His name is Kyohei Tachibana. He goes to the same cooking school I do."
"I thought you said he has a job."
"Part time. He cooks for this woman, Sei."
"Yes, I've met Sei. Does Kyohei like her?"
"I think he has a crush on her. Why else would he keep working for her? He's quit every other job he's had."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Jei said. He thought back to the party where he'd met Sei (and tried to kill her). Though she had acted impeccably, and was prepared to go through with the marriage her grandfather had brokered with Jei's father, Jei had sensed something had been troubling her. 'If she's in love with her cook,' he thought, 'whether she admits it or not, she wouldn't be happy at having to give him up. That explains a lot.' He said, "Is he any good? Sei's picky about how works for her."
"He's the best chef in our school. I should know. I'm his team leader."
"Well, he may be the best, but I'll wager you're the prettiest."
Shiho laughed nervously. "I'm not that good looking. You say you've met Sei? There's a reason Kyo's working for her, and I don't care how much he complains. It's be hard to compete with her."
"Maybe, but don't sell yourself short. I'm sure with the right dress and just the right makeup, you'd turn heads on the Ginza."
"Me. Dressed to the nines on the Ginza. I don't think so, although I'd like to work in one of the high-end restaurants, maybe start my own someday."
"Wow - you've set an ambitious goal for yourself. I like people like that."
"Thanks."
Jei held his smile and thought, 'What are you doing, flirting with this girl? If you passed her on the street you wouldn't notice and you know it.' But it was hard not to envision her dressed to kill and on his arm, people around them whispering about the mystery girl who had landed the handsome heir to Koruken. 'Snap out of it,' he told himself. 'You have a job to do. Do it!'
"In any event," Jei said, "you said one of her employers is here? Do you have that name."
Shiho nodded. "Jo."
"Ah."
"Are they in trouble, sir?"
"Ahhh…Well, I have some…issues with Sei. Like I said, I know her. I was…attempting to resolve them when you showed up."
Now Shiho got more nervous. "You're trying to kill them!?"
"Negotiate from a position of strength might be a better way to put it," Jei said. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I do have a tendency to look before I leap. Maybe there's a better way of going about this, without drawing civilians into it." He knocked on the door; one of his men opened it. "Go back to your car and wait. Everything will be fine. Your boyfriend will be along shortly."
Shiho paused getting out of the car. "Kyo isn't my boyfriend!"
"Of course; my mistake."
As Shiho walked to her car, Jei motioned to Ned to come over to him. "We're leaving," he told his lieutenant.
"We are?" Ned said. "What did she do?"
"I'll forget you said that, Ned, and you can keep your teeth."
/
/
Jo crawled back into the kitchen from the dining room. "Looks like our friends are leaving."
"They are?" Kyo asked. "Why-" His phone rang. He answered it. "Shiho? Are you all right?…What-what did he do?…Then why is he leaving?" Kyo pulled the phone away from his ear; Jo could hear her yelling. Kyo gingerly brought the phone back to his ear. "I didn't mean anything by it…No, I'd never say that…We'll be right out." Kyo hung up. "Damn. Maybe 'normal girls' are harder to deal with than you guys after all."
"Crap," Jo said.
"What?" Kyo asked.
"I was going to ask you advice about how to handle Meg," Jo said. "But it sounds like you're not the guy to ask after all."
"You could ask Leo."
Jo looked at him.
"Point taken," Kyo said.
/
/
As the limo pulled away, Jei sat in the rear-facing seat and his eyes stayed with Shiho's car until it was out of sight.
In the front-facing seat, Ned said, "C'mon, boss, between us…we're guys here, right? How was she?"
"Nothing of the kind happened, Ned, and I will thank you to never make such an intimation again."
"Whatever." Ned pulled a candy bar out of a pocket, unwrapped it, and started to eat it.
"You know," Jei said, "you and the other guys do eat a lot of junk food."
"We're teenage males," Ned said between mouthfuls. "Eating junk food is part of the package."
"Maybe so, but you are also mercenaries working for me, and I won't have you compromised in the field because you can't feed yourselves properly. We'll have to retain a chef to whip you up something substantial."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that we will have to find a lovely young lady who can make fancy and delicious cuisine…"