I couldn't thank you guys enough for the reviews. They got me motivated! And I am always open for any suggestion, so don't hesitate if you have any!
Oh, if there's anyone out there a fan of Hisoka and enjoy smut. You can read my HisokaxOC story. ;)
On to the story...
Chapter 4: Breakfast
It was the first time she had ever gone shopping with Kurapika and she was so overwhelmed with happiness, then, she felt as if her heart could leap out any moment. She asked for his opinion with every clothes she tried on and even though his answer might or might not be genuine -knowing he probably said she looked good in every single one of them, just to please her- even so, she was happy. Happy that when he had those looks on his face; the slightly gaping mouth, the thirst in his eyes as they lingered on her bodily splendor and even when he looked away shyly, she could read him like an open book. With just those reactions alone, she could tell if he liked what she was wearing. When she got home and ran through her shopping bags, she found a very interesting detail. Most of the clothes she bought, meaning those she thought Kurapika liked, were all rather revealing in a sense. They were either skin tight, low cuts, short shorts or skirts, basically everything that shows more skin. Though she couldn't say she didn't choose to try on sexy clothes on purpose.
Starting from that day, Neon came to a decision that she must change her style and wear more appealing clothes in order to get her head bodyguard's attention. Well, maybe not all the time. She'd wear something cute once in a while.
As a matter of fact, she woke up early the next morning all excited; with her hair down, she wore a yellow provocative halter crop top, mini denim skirt that reached just below her buttocks and a pair of white high-heeled sandals. She had never felt more grown up and confident.
When Eliza and Lila came to her room to wake her up, only to be frozen on the spot as they stared at their young Boss in utter bewilderment. The fact that she woke up at six in the morning, dressed all sexy and pretty, came like a lightning bolt shocking them at daybreak.
Eliza blinked her eyes in disbelief. "Ne-Neon-sama?"
"Oh, Good morning you two." She sung happily as she was combing her hair in front of her vanity table and the two handmaidens took note that their Boss was in a particularly good mood. It was odd because Neon was never a morning person. It would usually take them more than an hour to get the girl out of her bed.
"A-Are you going somewhere Neon-sama?" Lila could not think of anywhere they could go to, such early in the morning.
Neon placed a finger on her chin as she put down her comb on the table. "Hmm, I haven't thought of a place."
"Then why are you up so early?" Eliza inquired, treading towards Neon.
The young lady ignored her attendants' question and got up from her seat. She rested her hands on her hips, posing like a model would in front of a camera. "Do you think he'll like what I'm wearing?"
"H-he?" Eliza was beyond confused as to what her Boss was planning to do, but she had a pretty good idea of whom exactly Neon was referring to. But she needed to confirm her assumption before jumping into conclusion.
"Oh, don't pretend you don't already know. I am talking about Kurapika. So what do you think?"
"Ku-Kurapika?" Lila came forward, standing just behind Eliza with a face of a person who just had a panic attack. Neon Nostrade was up to something and it was going to be big. From what Eliza had told her the other day, she knew it all started because of her, Lila cursed herself and her big mouth. How could she even think of suggesting such audacious- never mind that! She'll just have to pretend she'd never said it. That was what she and Eliza had decided, if anyone ever asked, they would deny, deny, deny.
Neon nodded to affirm, her eyes widened with anticipation. "So?"
The two attendants were in a complete dilemma. They'd risk upsetting the girl if they told her to change, and that would mean an entire day of Neon Nostrade in an awful mood and no one wants to deal with that. No one. She could tear down the entire mansion with her tantrum when that happens. On the other hand, if they told her head bodyguard would like it, he'd be the one to bear all the trouble and it all came down to them feeling guilty and be blamed for.
They gave each other a panic-stricken look. One nudging the other to say something while the other mouthed 'What?'
Neon watched their interaction with a perplexed look on her face, tapping her foot impatiently.
Lila, who was pushed forward by Eliza, was stumbling with her words. It was obvious which scenario had the upper hand and she decided to go for it. "Y-you look amazing! I bet he'll like it." She gave their Boss a reassuring nod as she bit on her lower lip and gave her a thumb up. She felt it was necessary.
Neon eyed her suspiciously. "Really?"
"Of course!"
"Alright then." The teenager beamed at her two attendants. "Where's Kurapika? Is he awake?"
"Ha-hai, I think he's having breakfast at the servants quarters."
Neon took a deep breath, a smile lit up her face. "Perfect!" she waggled herself and dusted off invincible dusts from her outfit before she started pacing out her room to where her head bodyguard was.
"You!" Eliza smacked Lila's arm the moment she was sure Neon wasn't within earshot. "Why did you tell her?!" It wasn't a question.
Lila clicked her tongue and grimaced at her fellow worker and best friend. "Come on, you want to screw her mood? You can go right ahead, but I won't be the one handling her when that happens."
Eliza gasped incredulously, putting a hand on her chest dramatically. "And whose fault is it that she's acting like a lovesick teenager? To a bodyguard no less."
Lila nervously shifted her gaze to Neon's bed, pretending to be innocent. "Oh my, look! Neon-sama's room is a mess. I'll start cleaning up. You go prepare breakfast."
"Hey, hey! Don't change the subject!"
Meanwhile, in the servants' dining hall, the bodyguards were having a peaceful breakfast. As for those who accompanied Neon to shopping the other day could still feel the strain of their hard work on their back.
"You alright Basho? I've got more heat plaster if you need." Melody offered worrily. The man had been groaning non-stop since they saw him walking out of his room with his back hunched.
Basho poked on his still warm omelet rice, wishing he were still in bed. "It's alright. I'm fine. Thank you anyway."
"You guys had it pretty bad." One of Light's bodyguards pointed out, there was a tone of mock in his voice. "God forbid, I'm just glad I never have to deal with that brat."
Basho clicked his tongue once, as if he wasn't annoyed enough. "You don't have to say that all the time Ritch."
Ritch shrugged. "If I were you, I would have quit. That Neon Nostrade, is a demon in disguise. I don't even understand why you are still here."
Basho grumbled under his breath before he shoved a spoonful of omelet rice into his mouth. It was a question he told himself everyday. If it wasn't for his personal reason, it was the payment and the companions that hold him back, he told himself.
"I say our leader had it tougher." Linssen said in between bites, pointing his spoon at the youngest boy in the room.
"Yeah, how come you have to deal with Light's problem too when you have to guard his daughter." Neon's chauffeur, Karl inquired curiously.
Kurapika shrugged. "Someone has to do it."
"Hear that? You guys would be unemployed by now if it wasn't for our leader." Basho added with triumph, for some reason his words were directed at Ritch.
Ritch made a face and snickered at the older man.
"But hey, is something going on between you and lady Boss?" Karl asked Kurapika, being the nosey-parker he usually was.
The Kurta looked around the table and back at Karl. "Me?" he pointed at himself.
"Yes, who else could I be talking to?"
Kurapika groaned to himself, he knew this would come sooner or later. It was best to play ignorance.
"I mean, what's the deal with the special treatment at the mall?"
Kurapika narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Who told you that?" when Karl merely shrugged, the blonde boy glanced at Melody who shook her hands in denial and he knew he'd caught the blabbermouth, two in fact, when his eyes set on his two guilty ridden companions, Basho and Linssen.
"Well, you have to admit she was acting rather weird. First, she tried on all those revealing clothes just for you, ask only for your opinion and she kept asking you what you want, like that ice cream, the neck tie and having dinner with her." Basho sprouted all that in his defense.
"And she asked 'only you' if you are tired." Linssen added. "As if she couldn't see the rest of us there."
"Boy, I think someone has a crush on Kurapika." Ritch chuckled and the rest followed.
Kurapika breathed wearily, tired of all this nonsense. "Well, it's nothing. You must be imagining things"
"You sure? Be careful boy… First, she pranced around you in revealing clothes, and the next, she'd be laying stark naked on your bed before you know it." Ritch's warning came like a joke to most of the bodyguards in the room, some were laughing shamelessly, Basho and Linssen sniffled their laughters while Melody, as the only female, shook her head tardily, thinking how men always has such crude sense of humor. A shade of red painted Kurapika's cheeks, his eyes closed with embarrassment that thickened in his throat like phlegm.
As if he wasn't embarrassed enough, the object of their conversation and his fellow butt of the joke herself marched into the dining hall wearing the most provocative of clothes.
The entire hall went dead quiet, the surprise and shock made them look like a school of goldfish, except for Karl who was choking on his own food.
"There you are!" Neon shuffled her way as she went to drag an empty chair and sat next to Kurapika, who sat at the farthest end.
It took all his willpower to look away from her barely covered top and creamy tights and look directly at her face. "Boss? What are you doing here?" the panic in his voice was apparent.
"Quick, eat your food. Then, you are coming with me." She took the spoon from his hand, shoveled a spoonful of omelet rice and tried to feed him with an "Aaaa…" she got too close and he took notice of her plump lips, coated with pink lip-gloss and his eyes betrayed his mind, lingered down to her cleavage and back to her gaping mouth. "Come on, open your mouth." Her voice recovered him from his trance and he shook his head vigorously.
"No, no! I can do this myself." He tried to seize back his spoon, but she wouldn't let him.
"Don't be a baby and open your mouth!" she demanded and when he opened his mouth to protest, she took the opportunity and shoved the spoon, filling his mouth with omelet rice.
The other bodyguards watched their interaction in astonishment and they were too shocked to stand from their sit to bow before their mistress. The fact that Light Nostrade's daughter -who they always seen wearing her fortune telling outfit with long sleeve and skirt- now wearing such aphrodisiacal set of outfit and feeding her head bodyguard his breakfast, were truly mind blowing. And what happened to Kurapika's cool teenage boy image? He was so helpless against one girl that he made the entire scene rather comical.
"Chew!" Neon urged.
Kurapika had no choice but to obey. When he finally swallowed his food down his throat and was about to say something, Neon shoved another round of food into his mouth.
With one hand, he covered his mouth and waved his other hand, refuse to be fed further. The last time he was fed like this was when he was five years old by his own mother! It was so embarrassing he wished he could crawl under the table and never came out. He could hear his colleagues suppressing their laughter and he couldn't imagine what they'd have to say after this. "Stop, please, stop!" he begged her from the bottom of his heart right after he swallowed.
"Open your mouth!" the girl would not give up! She pulled on his hand and tried to shove another spoonful of rice, but Kurapika held his lips together so tight they wouldn't open and Neon was not going to back down, so she kept pushing the object. It was a never ending fight between who was stronger until the hard edge of the spoon cut Kurapika's lip, causing him to yelped in his seat.
Neon gasped as the mulish expression on her face was immediately replaced by a look of shock and concern. "Oh my God!" When Kurapika looked up at her incredulously, she saw the blood gushing out of his lower lip and her panicked eyes started searching for paper handkerchief and she took the one she found laying next to Kurapika's plate. Her hand went up to dry the red fluid that was already flowing down his chin. It wasn't a small cut. The spoon had somehow contracted with the teeth behind his lips and the intense force she put into the object itself only made it worse.
"I'm fine." He growled under his breath, snatching the paper handkerchief from her hand and pressed them on his lip and down to his chin. Then he looked down to check if he'd gotten blood on his tabard and sighed in relief when he found none. He didn't know what he did to her in his previous life, but this girl never fails to excruciate his already pitiful life.
"Oh boy…" he heard Basho, who was sitting across him muttered cautiously. When Kurapika glanced up at the older man, he found him pointing and Kurapika's dark orbs followed his finger to the person sitting next to him. Not Melody who was sitting to his left, but the one who had cut his lip.
Glistening tears formed in her eyes and hovered before they trailed down her cheek.
He couldn't stop himself from swallowing his spit before he looked around his fellow bodyguards for help. Most of them shrugged and had 'You are on your own dude.' look on their faces. Fortunately Melody was there. She passed him her own paper towel and gestured for him to give it to her –to dry her tears- and apologize even though it wasn't his fault but the other way round.
Kurapika squinted his eyes in frustration and took a deep breath to calm himself. "I- apologize." He pronounced his apology rather involuntarily.
Seriously, how many more times would he have to apologize to Neon Nostrade? Until the time comes when she finally decided to brutally blind him with the spoon in her hand and keep his eyes in a display tube? Speaking of which, how come she hadn't done anything or say a word about his eyes? She knew he was the sole survivor of the Kurta clan, yet she hadn't done anything he thought she would. Even though he was at ease, at the same time, it was unnerving.
She sniffed quietly. It was a surprise she hadn't wail like a banshee. "Wipe my tears." she mumbled in a small voice.
"Eh?" Kurapika mouthed as he motioned closer to get a clearer hearing.
"Wipe my tears." It was still inaudible.
"I'm sorry I can't hear you."
"I said, wipe. my. tears!" her voice boomed so loud, Kurapika could feel his eardrums thundering. He cringed as his brain went frozen for a moment.
He could hear his co-workers snickering in the background. They had their fun alright, just wait until he got out of this and he'd make sure he'd double their work. Maybe even have those ungrateful people suffer and give them a little taste of babysitting Neon Nostrade. For the first time, he was thankful that Light left him in charge of management.
Obediently, he used the paper towel he got from Melody and shamelessly wiped Neon's tears away, carefully not too hard, but he wasn't gentle either. At this point, dignity was no longer an option. He had been humiliated enough that morning and was already immune to it.
"There." He finished, and it was then he took notice of her staring at him with her giant pair of sapphire blue eyes. They captivated him for a moment with their thick lashes and the way they shone under the bright light, they made him feel warm on the inside. Only when she blinked, that he realized he had been staring. He tore his gaze away and gruffly stood from his seat, gathering his plate and cup of water.
"Where are you going?" his Boss questioned him in confusion.
"Clean up." But before Kurapika could take a step away from the table, Neon took his plate and glass from his hands and set them back on the table.
"Sit down, finish your breakfast." She told him with a smile as she got up from her seat. "I'll wait for you in my room. Don't make me wait too long." She finished in a singsong voice of a devoted wife and started walking rather graciously towards the door.
He was utterly confused as to where her persistence of feeding him had gone to and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Just a little.
Before she could reach the door, he called out to her. "But I have something to discuss with your fa-"
Neon pivoted around as she moaned and rolled her eyes. "Not again!" she growled at him, both hands on her hips. "Look, I don't care what you are going to discuss with daddy. Just come and see me as soon as you are done eating. Understand?"
"It's important, I can't just-"
"I said, I don't care!" she persisted, her hands balled up into fists to her sides and her pools of ocean colored eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"Fine." He groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Just give me 3 hours."
"No!"
"Two then."
She was about to contradict and refuse, before he breathed. "Please."
It was the look on his face and the way his plead had sounded that made her eyes soften and hesitated for a while, before she finally gave in. "Fine."
Kurapika released his breath he didn't know he had been holding.
"No more than two hours, or I'll come and get you myself." She warned him as she put a hand on her hip. Her nose up in the air defiantly as she huffed demurely before she stuttered out the dining hall with her hips swaying back and forth. The bodyguards were as still as paintings, listening to her footsteps as they gradually dissipating. When they could finally hear nothing, it was then they were able to breath freely, continue with their meal and most of all, to get to tease the youngest amongst them.
"Wow, someone's going to ride on that chick in two hours." Ritch teased aloud -on purpose, gesturing both his hands in front of him as if riding a motorcycle. "Vroom, vroom."
Kurapika went back to his seat and slowly dug his spoon into his food, trying his best to stay cool and ignore their teases and laughters.
"Kurapika, are you alright?" Melody asked her friend with concern.
How can he be all right? Even though he tried to hide his irritation, he was still uncomfortable with the situation. Neon was acting weird towards him and he's now the talk amongst his colleagues. He was worried of what awaits him after two hours and he was starting to consider Ritch's joke into the scenario. Not about the riding, but about the laying on the bed naked part. What should he do if that were to happen? He took a sip of his drink to calm his nerves before he answered. "What do you think?" his tone was calm and collected, not even bothered to glance at his friend and kept his eyes on his plate.
"Oh come on. It's not so bad." Karl attempted to soothe him.
"You have to admit she's very hot." Ritch added matter of factly. "And this is a perfect chance for you. I mean, you are young and I bet that teenage blood of yours is boiling with the desire to release that primal instinct. I say, you take this opportunity and enjoy what she has to offer. Take it as a service for putting up with her."
Basho made a disgusted face. "You must be crazy. She's our Boss."
"That makes it all the better!"
"Guys. I think you should stop." Melody tried to warn her fellow bodyguards the moment she detected another heartbeat coming from behind the door. It was from the person who they thought had left a while ago and also from the same person they were gossiping about.
"I'll have to agree with Ritch on this. Frankly, I'm kind of jealous." Karl admitted, completely ignoring Melody. "She's innocent, young, beautiful and have you noticed her honkers?" he gestured with both his hands, grabbing on invincible boobs in front of him.
Ritch raised from his seat and started posing as Neon in a very sensual way. "Oh Kurapika, punish me with your chains. I've been bad!"
Linssen shook his head, but chortled nonetheless. "That's just sick."
Karl joined in Ritch's act and poised as Kurapika. "I'll bind you with my Chain jail my fair Boss. You are mine, forever."
"Oh, Kurapika! I am yours forever. Just- call me Neon."
"Oh Neon!"
Kurapika slammed his hands on the table. "Enough!"
"What, you don't like it?" Ritch raised a brow and snickered. "Don't tell me you are gay."
Everything was blurry and fast, Kurapika didn't remember sprinting over to Ritch. When he got close enough, he grabbed on the older man's collar and shot him a foul glare, his fist up and ready to assault him in the face. "You can tease me all you like, but I can't stand you talking about the Boss like that."
"Heh, suddenly you are her boyfriend now?" Ritch hissed. "What'cha gonna do about it?"
"Hey-hey, calm down!" Basho was suddenly in between them and pulled Kurapika's hand away from Ritch.
Kurapika didn't answer. He didn't even know why he felt like punching the douchebag the moment he uttered the word 'service'. He looked away as he clenched his jaw and took a deep breath to prevent his eyes from flaring red. Ritch was right; it wasn't as if he was Neon's boyfriend or anything, so why the hell did he get upset?
"I'm done eating." Kurapika walked to his seat to gather his plate of half eaten omelet rice and his glass of water to the kitchen, only to be stopped by Melody.
"I'll do it Kurapika. You should go to Light." A small smile grazed his friend's lip as she offered him her assistance. Melody hoped he'd run into the person eavesdropping outside so the girl could comfort him with her words and tell him not to worry about what they'd heard.
Kurapika managed an enervated smirk. "Thank you." He muttered and walked out the door, his mind distracted, contemplating to himself of what just happened. He didn't notice the young girl who had been hiding behind the tree plant by the door. She watched his back longingly with a smile on her face as he strode away.
"Tch! What's his problem?" she heard Ritch hissed behind the closed door.