"You were staring at her all evening you know?" Masako said as she began undoing her black and red kimono.
"She is my assistant I have to ensure her safety." Naru replied coldly. He was looking out of the window of their shared room.
"Why is she here? I had the impression she had no idea who you really were?"
"She doesn't." Naru said. "She knows I kill people. She knows about Echigoya. The police had called her in for questioning and I can't risk them pulling her in again."
"I see." Masako purred. "You like her don't you?"
Naru turned at her question to find Masako standing by the bed in nothing but her underwear. It was black and red like her kimono had been. Naru held eye contact as he responded.
"I don't see what that has anything to do with."
"You want her." Masako said as she strutted towards him. Once beside his body she began undoing his obi. "I can be her for your tonight if you want." She pulled his kimono down off his shoulders and ran a finger down his bare chest. "You can call me by her name if you want." She whispered her words seductively.
"No."
At his words Masako stepped back in slight shock.
"What?"
"You can force me into doing whatever you like but I will not pretend that you are her."
"Why does she get your attention? What is so special about her?" Masako asked bitterly.
"There is nothing special about her, she is just my assistant." Naru said before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
I woke early on Christmas morning. Naru had banned me from bring presents and cards for people. But looking back on it, I wasn't sure what I would have got an assassin for Christmas anyway. What do you buy an assassin? Socks?
It had been weird sharing a bed. Yasuhara-san had stayed on his side and hadn't made the slightest attempt at inappropriate behaviour, but it was still weird.
As I had woken first, I picked out a dress and showered quickly.
"Can you get dressed in here so I can shower?" Yasuhara-san asked through the door as I towelled my body dry.
"Sure!" I replied and wrapped the towel around my body before leaving the bathroom. Yasuhara-san darted in and I began to dress. It was only as I pulled on the dress that I realised I would be unable to do up the zip and the back.
Not that that fact stopped me from trying. I contorted my body into a multitude of positions trying to inch the zipper upwards.
A knock on the door halted my limited progress.
I walked over to the door and went to open it, before remembering that Naru had banned me from opening the door.
"Who is it?" I called through the door.
"Me." Naru's voice responded. I unlocked and opened the door to let him in. He shut the door behind him and smirked.
"What?" I asked.
"Come here."
Frowning, I walked over to him and he spun me around. I felt his hand on the zipper as he did up my dress.
"Nice underwear." He muttered and my face went scarlet. I might've been wearing another one of the sets he had bought. In my defence, they were really comfy!
"Taniyama-san, who are you talking to?" Yasuhara-san's voice came through the bathroom door.
"Naru." I replied as Yasuhara-san walked out in nought but a towel.
"What brings you here?" Yasuhara-san asked.
"Just checking up on you both." Naru replied.
"Don't worry, Taniyama-san and I had a lot of fun in the shower." Yasuhara-san teased. My already red face deepened in colour.
"We did no such thing!" I protested, but Yasuhara-san only laughed.
"I will see you during the meetings today." Naru said before leaving.
"Why did you say that to him?" I demanded of Yasuhara-san.
"He knew it was a joke. I was only teasing the pair of you."
"The pair of us? We aren't an item!" I protested. "I don't like him like that!"
"I never said you did." Yasuhara-san smirked and picked up his suit before returning to the bathroom. What a git.
I was not allowed in any of the meetings as a mere escort to Yasuhara-san. Instead I was shown to a room with several other girls in the same position as me.
It was very awkward. Most of these girls were a lot prettier than me and a lot more confident in themselves. Some talked like old friends and others just stared at the wall.
I had taken a seat by the window and was watching some birds fly about. I wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to be doing to be honest. Then Hara-san sat down beside me.
"Aren't you supposed to be in the meetings?" I asked curiously.
"Not much for me to discuss in there." She replied.
"What are they talking about?" I asked with interest.
"Problems that face them all."
"Like what?"
"Like people that work on the other side." She replied mysteriously. "The big topic this year is the Scientist of course."
"What?"
"It's a codename." She explained and I wondered why she was telling me these things. "There was a duo, the Scientist and the Medium. The Medium was taken out earlier this year, but the Scientist remains at large."
"Oh. I see." I said, unsure of how I was supposed to respond. "Why are they called that?"
"The Medium was a master infiltrator, could get himself into anywhere and mediate any deal. The Scientist is a cold blooded killer, no emotion and no remorse. He's clinical and meticulous in never leaving any evidence of his presence unless he wants it there; it's become something of a calling card." She said. I did not like the way her eyes were dancing with mirth. As if by telling me this she was getting some sort of sick pleasure from it. "They were the perfect team."
"Who killed the Medium?"
"A friend of mine." She smiled. I looked away from her smile and back out at the birds.
Dinner was served an hour before the ball and I ate quickly before hurrying with Yasuhara-san up to our room. He changed in the bathroom before helping me into my dress. This was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to, but who wouldn't when they got to wear such a beautiful dress?
"I can see why he likes you." Yasuhara-san said as I twirled for him. "You look beautiful."
"You think he likes me because I look good in a dress?" I frowned.
"No, I think he likes you because of the innocent beauty you have." Yasuhara-san replied seriously. "You've been dragged into this world and yet you haven't lost yourself to it."
"You haven't though?"
"Perhaps not, but I don't think I'm his type." He grinned and I laughed. Yasuhara-san offered me his arm and I took it. He led me though the labyrinth that made up the mansion down to the ballroom.
Music was already playing and couples already dancing. It was like something out of a princess movie.
"May I have the honour of this dance?" Yasuhara-san asked me.
"You may." I replied. And we danced song after song until my feet hurt. I could feel Naru's eyes on me but in that moment I didn't care. Yasuhara-san was telling me funny stories as he twirled me about the dancefloor. It made me forget that Hara-san was dancing with Naru and every other man in the room. It made me forget what she had told me earlier. It made me forget that I was surrounded by murderers and monsters.
"Let's get a drink." Yasuhara-san suggested. We walked over to the makeshift bar and Yasuhara-san asked for two glasses of water. Though no one listened to the usual age restriction of twenty for drinking alcohol here, Naru had warned us against getting drunk. And to be perfectly honest, I did not think it would be a good idea considering present company.
"Who's Hara-san talking to now?" I asked. Yasuhara-san looked round to look at Hara-san, who was wearing a rich purple dress with a risqué thigh slit and talking to an elderly man.
"She has balls. That's Urado."
"The man who's running this? The one Naru told us to stay away from?"
"Yes." Yasuhara-san frowned after Hara-san. "I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Are Lin and Madoka a thing?" I asked, nodding towards where they were dancing slowly.
"No, but he wishes they were."
"Does she not like him?"
"She will not entertain the idea." Yasuhara-san replied sadly.
We finished our drinks and returned to the dance floor, refreshed from the brief respite.
Hara Masako stepped out of the ballroom, closed the door behind her and sighed with her back against the door. Social functions were always such effort.
Not to mention the glaringly obvious fact that someone had definitely been stealing the show.
When she had first heard that the little runt of an assistant was accompanying her date to this event, she presumed it was to act as his maid or something, not to accompany another man. And yet it wasn't the other man whose attention the runt had stolen.
Her date had assumed the façade of Narumi Kazuo, though almost everyone had fake names at this event. Everything was false. The business conducted was hidden in a mutual code just in case anyone was listening.
But there had been one thing that had not been fake: the look in Narumi Kazuo's eyes when he had been looking at the runt. What was her name? Taniyama?
Masako did not care. When they were out of this place she would deal with the assistant. She had thought she had made herself clear before, but evidently not…
Sighing once more, Masako leant down and pulled her strappy heels from her feet. She groaned as her feet adjusted to the suddenly flat floor and began walking back to their room.
Her long dark purple dress trailed on the floor. On every alternate step, her left leg made an appearance through the thigh high slit.
There had been a surprising number of women at the event, and yet Masako had still received the most attention. Almost every man had had his eyes on her as she had strut around, flaunting her body. She had winked at the men she had known and shared knowing smiles. And she had danced with those that she had not known; making new connections.
Her father would be proud, she thought bitterly.
Narumi Kazuo watched the brunette dancing with the informant. She was laughing at a joke Echigoya had just told her as they fumbled their way around the dance floor.
"You're staring." Lin pointed out.
"So what?" He replied curtly. "You were staring at Madoka."
"Have you had any leads?" Lin asked, ignoring the young man's words.
"Yes, but I am not discussing them here." The young man stood up. "I'm going for a walk."
Lin did not protest, so Narumi left the hall as Hara-san had done twenty minutes before. He did not want to go back to the room he and Hara-san had been forced into sharing.
He turned into the corridor that would lead furthest from that room and began striding purposefully down it. This mansion was of an odd design. It had doors that led nowhere and stair cases going sideways. But Narumi had long since gotten used to the layout.
And he needed to clear his head.
It was nearing midnight when I noticed Naru slip back into the ballroom. He walked straight towards Yasuhara-san and me.
"Might I cut in?" He asked.
"Do you mind?" Yasuhara-san asked me and I shook my head.
Naru took the hold and we began dancing much like we had in the shop. Again, he was slightly more forceful than Yasuhara-san, but infinitely more graceful as a result.
"You look beautiful." He whispered.
"Yasuhara-san said so." I replied. "But it's just the dress."
"No, the dress is just fabric, you make it beautiful."
"Are you drunk?"
He rolled his eyes in reply.
"Was your business successful earlier?" I asked.
"Somewhat." Naru replied. "We will not be returning to Tokyo tomorrow."
"Where are we going?"
"To the sea." He said. "To a place where rebels meet their end and lovers jump into the sea."
"That sounds like poetry." I remarked and a small smile graced his lips.
"Just a reference to local legends of the area."
"Are they stories I want to hear?" I enquired tentatively.
"There was a princess who had a lowly lover. They were forbidden from being each other by her family, but that didn't stop them sending messages to each other. She was promised to someone else that she did not love. They agreed to meet and run away, but there was a mix up." Naru told me. "She arrived at the true location to find her lover standing over her deceased betrothed. They knew they could not run away any longer and so jumped into the sea. It was said the gods took pity on them and immortalised them as rocks so they could always be together."
"That's so sad."
The song ended and we stopped dancing.
"Will you walk with me?" Naru asked gently and I nodded before taking his arm. He looked handsome in his suit, even though he had donned his usual black shirt. Naru guided me out of the ballroom and down a few corridors. We arrived a few minutes later at a sort of balcony area. "I want to thank you for helping me." He said quietly.
Then something caught my eye, over the doorway to the balcony was a bunch of a green plant with white buds.
"Mistletoe." I whispered.
"It's probably full of nargles." He said and I laughed softly at his uncharacteristic nonsense.
"Did the princess in your story ever get to kiss her lover?" I asked with wide eyes.
"I don't know." He looked down at me with an intense look in his eyes.
"Will this princess get to?" I made the skirt of my dress swish around a little and hoped he caught my meaning.
"A princess can demand anything she likes of her subjects."
"Then the princess would very much like to, if her subject is willing." I said gently, trying not to lose myself in the gorgeous depths of his eyes.
But his eyes were getting closer and closer.
And then they disappeared as his lips descended on mine.
Author's note: Well that just happened. I am 100x happier with this chapter than the last one! I hope those of you that read An Alternative Hint recognised some content!
I also did the unspeakable and wrote a plan for the remainder of this story and might've accidentally written the ending and omg its so perfect - it has my favourite one word Dr Who quote in it - I want to post it now but I can't.
There was a distinct lack of feisty reviewers for the last chapter! Which is a shame, I do love my feisty reviewers!
Now as I said, I might've written the ending and I wanted to post a teaser or something and I think I've found a bit I can post that won't give too much away and at the same time get you all nice and worried about what is going to happen.
So if you guys would like a teaser at the end of the next chapter, let me know in your reviews along with your thoughts and prediction!
P.S. If you review with a persuasive enough argument I will send a teaser to you personally because I'm... I would say nice but I know what the teaser might do to you, so cruel would be more accurate!