Chapter Fifteen

Kayura woke to the smell of the cured meat called bacon and she sat up. She was warm in his bed, and she noticed White Blaze was back out on the fire escape. She got up and noticed he was in the kitchen cooking. She blushed, she didn't know why that was such an attractive quality to her other than men of her time did not cook unless they were on the battle field. He smiled, "I was wondering when you were going to get up."

She crossed her arms, "how are you able to be up so early?"

"What time do you get out of bed normally?"

"Noon," she answered and he frowned. "What? Being up all night being part of the shadows does not make an early riser. What time did you get up?"

"Four," he replied and saw her eyes widen.

"A.M?"

He nodded, "my schedule doesn't allow me an opportunity sleep in if I stay up. I went down to the gym."

"What time is now?"

"Ten?"

Kayura stood up, "I'm going back to bed..."

He laughed, "I'll eat all the bacon then."

She frowned and sat down at the small dining table he had, "you drive a hard bargain, Kanchou-san."

He laughed, "what were you up to when I was gone?"

"Figuring how things went to hell in a hand basket while I was gone," she replied. "I guess Tony really does care about my Lady."

"I guess," he said uncomfortably. "Those two are like oil and fire though."

"Agreed," she said. "Lady Hoshi is extremely brilliant, despite how she acts sometimes, and I think that she's a lot more like Stark than Kento wants to admit."

Steve plated some items and started to head over, "speaking of Kento, I heard a rumor you might want to check with him about?"

She furrowed her brow, "rumor?"

"Someone at night has been giving thugs some pretty brutal beat downs, like there are mafias and stuff," he paused as she stole a piece of his bacon.

"What, Maria tell you that?"

"No," he said reaching back to his kitchen counter and putting the newspaper in front of her.

She picked it up, and saw an article, "'vigilante with hulk like strength puts Yakuza crime lord in hospital.' What makes you think this is Kento?"

"Keep reading," he said as he grabbed a knife and fork to cut his omelet.

"'Vigilante clears out fridge before leaving the premises...'" She paused and he saw her bark out a laugh, "of all people, Kento...wait a minute...Runa worked for the Daily Bugle."

"That reporter friend of yours...didn't you hear?"

Kayura shook her head, "hear?"

"She committed suicide the night Nat went to go check on her," he said.

Kayura frowned and rubbed her neck, "why...would...something must have scarred her more than the armors?"

"Nat says she was into some very deep things."

"I guess she would be, she was one of the people who was with us from the very beginning and then...she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D..." Kayura cursed in Japanese and then stood up immediately, "she would have known who else in the dark would have had an interest in vibranium and artifacts!"

Kayura ran around the table and gave him a kiss and a hug, "wait, breakfast!"

"Save it for me, please," she said as she started for the door. "I'm sorry to run out but ….do you think I could pass as her sister?"

He nodded, "kind of?"

"Good," Kayura said as she latched the door behind her.

Her mind was bubbling with thoughts as she ran down the stairs and out of the building. She saw White Blaze look at her as she ran through the alley, and she said, "I'll be back later! Keep an eye on him, please!"

The tiger chuffed as she flagged down a cab. She realized her hair was still a bed head, but thankfully her messy lipstick was gone. She looked like a college student, there was worse things to look like. She had the cabbie drop her off near some shops to pick up some clothes. A nice navy skirt suit and stockings with books and a scarf. She managed to fluff up her hair nice enough to look like her bad hair cut was intentional. It was starting to grow out but not enough to not make her look like she wasn't some punk. It would have to do.

The Daily Bugle was one of the largest news companies in the United States. She didn't like its proprietor though, Jay Jonah Jameson had an axe to grind against anyone with a super power. Absolutely, everyone. She smelled coffee as she walked in the news corporation and saw male eyes on her instantly. It wasn't unusual for men to give her looks but she wasn't always okay with them. That was one thing Steve had never done and the thought made her smile. A man approached her, "hello, Miss this is a private office."

She put on her best water works and thickest American accent, "oh, sir, you have to have help me."

He stopped as her eyes looked into his, "um...wel..."

"I'm looking for my sister, we were estranged years ago and I heard some terrible things," she sobbed as she hugged him. "Her name is Runa Jones...she used to work here..."

The man pried her off, and she grinned internally. Men were so easy manipulate. He rubbed his neck, "well...let me see if there's someone you can talk to..."

She followed after the man as she noticed the eyes on her. Yeah, she was meant to be quiet, but she was pretty good actress too. The man knocked on the office door, "hey, JJ, there's someone here to see you."

"Tell them to go away," an angry man growled.

"It's really important, JJ," the man insisted.

"I said not NOW!"

'He sounds even more pleasant in person,' Kayura said mentally.

The man who was helping her leaned into the door and opened it slightly, and she could hear him say, "it's Runa's sister?"

"Runa," the man yelled.

Kay clutched her hands demurely and decided to push past the man into the office, "please, sir, it can't be true."

Jay Jonah Jameson had hair as silver as vibranium cut clean and straight up with a matching push broom mustache. He had all the looks of a mad bull dog but built extremely well for a man his age. He looked at her and then his employee, "we'll talk about this later. Close the door."

The man rolled his eyes, and she said with her best accent, "it's not true is it, sir..."

He sighed as he motioned for her to have seat, "Runa never mentioned she had a sister."

Kayura sat down, "half sister! I live in Pocatella, Idaho! She sends me cash for college, sir, and I wasn't able to go back this semester! I knew something was wrong."

He got up to the water cooler in his office and poured her a glass, "what's your name."

"Kay Jones," she said making sure to push the accent.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen, best of my class, sir," she said as he handed her the glass.

"She was the best reporter I ever had, she wasn't afraid to keep up those damned Avengers," he said as he sat back down. "I'm certain that her death was one of them shield spies they work with. It wasn't released but she was poisoned. They claimed it was suicide."

Kayura pretended to tear up, "no..no...no."

Jay looked away awkwardly, "I can't tell you anything other than."

She pretended to sob into her hands and then looked wiping her eyes, "thank you, sir. I needed to know for sure."

"No, problem," he said as she got up to leave and dramatically ran out. She had a plan to go back in later to find something out but it definitely seemed odd. She was going to come back later to flip through their stuff and find something with more evidence to follow if she did. She started to walk through an alley way when a she saw a movement above her. She looked around but didn't see anything, and then she heard someone drop down behind her.

She flipped around and saw a precarious thing, a super hero. She had heard about Spiderman when she first came to New York, but seeing a young man in a red and blue spandex outfit was a little alarming. Although, Steve's outfit wasn't much different, it looked more...heroic somehow. She kept her accent and asked, "you're that vigilante my sister used talk about..."

The man walked around her and said, "you can drop your accent. I know you're faking."

She frowned, his voice sounded familiar but she couldn't place it. Kayura lightened up the demure posture and slipped one foot behind to be prepared for an attack. "You're Spiderman."

"And you're not Runa's sister."

She smiled, "someone knew her well."

"Indeed," he said quietly and she realized he was holding something behind his back. He handed it to her and she looked at a photograph of the young woman standing with a tall blonde man with a handle bar mustache. "I've run out of leads as well, but you might know who he is."

She did but she didn't let it show.

"Look, Runa was scarred of something, maybe its whatever the net is whispering about but you seem like you aren't scarred of much," the man said. "Whoever wants this man, is the same person paid for his daughter to steal something valuable as well. You find them, you find out what they want."

Kayura smiled at him as held up a hand a web sprung forth to the tall building, "thank you. Is there anything I can do in return?"

"Just keep an eye out for Felicia and Junko," he said before he swung off.

She looked at the picture and a chill ran up her spine. It was going to be a long week again.