A/N: So, I want to make this a multi-chapter insane josei story but I'm already writing two (well technically three novels, so, um, hope you don't mind this fragment in the interim. Also, thank you for all the reviews of my stuff, it's great to know that you all appreciate what I'm trying to do. Xoxo
Disclaimer: yea, not mine, but hey, in a year or so I might have my own stuff for people like me to play around with on .
"Trap"
Byakuya had had his reservations when the car pulled up outside the establishment on the wrong side of Tokyo's entertainment district but he had held his tongue. This man was an important businessman and potential financier for Kouga's election campaign. It would be bad if Byakuya carelessly offended him, even if the older man had insisted that the younger one "be himself". But the moment they were through the doors, Byakuya had to bite his tongue to hold it: this was a brothel.
Oh, but it did not look like one, of course not, from the outside. From the outside it was just a tea house, one that promised "real geisha" to unsuspecting gaijin and knowledgeable sarrarimen alike. Once inside the doors though, all pretence was dropped. The place was hot and dimly-lit with worn mats spread on the floor to give the appearance of tatami and cheap, plastic knock-off shoji doors as dividers. In one corner a girl sat lip-synching, her wig slipping off her head in time with the sleeve of her kimono, which, ominously, tied at the front and exposed a lot of naked, sweaty skin. A true geisha would be covered to her throat, her face and neck painted white, eyes lined by kohl, lips a cherry heart and hair done in an elaborate coiffure symbolising her status.
The word was there at the tip of his tongue but he did not say it.
"Noriyaka-sama," said someone and Byakuya turned to find the hostess approaching. She was dressed barely more appropriately than the "singer", though her cleavage was thankfully covered and her make-up, cake frosting though it was, had been applied with more care.
"Erika!" greeted Noriyaka with a smile. It was a greasy one, all teeth and wandering gaze that lifted no higher than her décolletage. If she noticed this she ignored it, allowing the businessman to grasp her shoulders and give her breathy air kisses on both cheeks that included a grope of her backside before both turned to Byakuya. Noriyaka kept his hand on Erika's waist as he said, "And this is the young man I was telling you about, Kouga-sama's nephew, Byakuya."
Erika's eyes widened a little as they landed on Byakuya, then her gaze quickly swept the length and breadth of him before returning to his face. She disentangled herself from Noriyaka's hold immediately to bow before Byakuya and greet him, "Kuchiki-sama, I am honoured by your visit tonight. If there is anything that you require, you must ask and it will be provided to you. I apologise for the state of this place, surely you are accustomed to finer things but I am sure that you will find that our geisha more than make up for this one failing."
Byakuya, ever polite, replied, "It is nothing."
Erika, who had made her entire speech bowed, straightened again to smile at him and then turned back to Noriyaka who had occupied his time with his gaze firmly trained on her backside. He did not look up when she turned but she said nothing to this, instead signalling towards an attendant. With great ceremony a screen was withdrawn to reveal twelve seated young women in varying states of undress, two with fully bared breasts, none of them actual geisha.
Byakuya bit down a little harder on his tongue. If anyone caught him in here now, the great Kuchiki Byakuya, premier Tokyo prosecutor, rumoured future head of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, scion of the prominent and ancient noble Kuchiki family, known for their samurai heritage and close links to the imperial family, well, the resulting scandal would be the end of his career and no less than the death of his ailing grandfather. Kouga, that bastard, deserved nothing less than the death of a thousand cuts for this.
Noriyaka, having completely forgotten Erika and Byakuya the moment the curtain was withdrawn, looked the women left and right and then marched over and took two by the arm, both fully clothed, thank goodness, and dragged them off their seats to stand with him. They both clung to his arms as if they were old friends, smiling brightly at him as if he were a returning lord to his harem, though it never reached their eyes. Noriyaka gave both broad grins and then turned to Byakuya and said, "Come, come, pick one, pick two, I have taken the best two but I'm sure you can find something interesting in my leavings."
It was a testament to their professionalism that neither woman on his arm immediately knocked him on his backside right then. Byakuya took a deep breath, reminded himself that Kouga really needed this man's support—his home district alone covered twenty-thousand votes—and looked to the remaining women.
On a normal day not one of them would ever lay eyes on him, or he on them, to say nothing of allowing any of them to touch him. Most of them were too young, barely out of their teens, and of those that were, they looked much older than their twenty-to-thirty-odd years. There was one though, who looked to be about his age, a tall blonde dressed in a black and silver yukata that exposed an extremely generous bosom and long legs. She winked at him when she caught him looking and then Erika said, "Oh, Chiyo is one of our newest girls, not much experience, I suggest Emi instead."
The hostess signalled for Emi to stand but Byakuya said, "Chiyo." He was not particularly interested in her but Emi had an unhealthy pallor and swayed slightly when she stood.
"The customer is always right," said Erika, and she nodded to the other woman.
When she stepped forward, Chiyo turned out to be Byakuya's height, slim-built and cheerful. She greeted him with a smile, bowed and said, "It is an honour to meet you, Kuchiki-sama."
Byakuya said nothing, but then Noriyaka looked over at her and his eyes went wide. He looked her over head to toe and stepped away from his chosen companions to greet her, "Erika-san, where were you hiding this goddess?"
But when he reached for the woman, she sidestepped him to latch herself unto Byakuya's arm, giggling, "Oh, oh, let us have some tea, my feet hurt, Kuchiki-sama. Do your feet hurt? Let me work my magic on them."
Byakuya eased her hands off of him and looked to the hostess, "Our room?"
"Right this way, Kuchiki-sama," said Erika, giving Chiyo a warning look. The woman smiled back at her, the picture of innocence. If she was worried about retribution there was no trace of it on her face. There was something very unnerving about a woman in a brothel with that much confidence. Still she stuck close to him all the way to their room while Noriyaka sang praises to her rear end.
Two hours later, Byakuya was tired, bored and very willing to smother Noriyaka with a pillow if it would end the nauseating display unfolding before him. While he and Chiyo watched, Noriyaka and his companions took turns stripping, groping and climbing over each other. Byakuya wrinkled his nose and looked away. He was not a voyeur and even if he was this was not a display he would have wanted to see.
He reached for his sake cup, still the first one that Chiyo had poured for him and brought it to his mouth for a sip. Perhaps getting drunk would wipe the image from his brain? Then Chiyo said, "You know, Kuchiki-sama, if you didn't want to come here you could have just gotten back into your car and left."
He turned to look at her. She had a cup of sake herself, though this was from her third bottle and she did not look in the least bit intoxicated. Mildly tipsy, yes, but her tone was sober.
"What do you know of this situation?" asked Byakuya. He could not be rude to Noriyaka but this woman would not be spared.
She smiled at her cup and said, "Kuchiki Kouga does know that this man has very deep ties to the yakuza, yes? That any alliance will be the end of his career, possibly forever right? Or is it that he is trying to bring down his nephew by marriage before the young man has a chance to become a threat?"
He looked at her fully, noting the way she held herself and the cup in her hands. Then lowering his voice to a murmur, he asked, "Who are you?"
"Someone who hopes that you're not more involved with this than I'm seeing now. I'd hate to have you taken in," she replied.
A law enforcement official then? So this was, what, an undercover operation? Shit!
The moment realisation hit, she threw aside her cup, threw herself bodily into him and shouted, "Now! Do it now! Now!"
An explosion. Silence, then smoke, and then the screams began. Byakuya, pressed into the filthy "tatami" under Chiyo, felt the vibration of her voice through her thin yukata as she shouted commands to friends he could not see. Then he was struck by a sudden, terrifying thought. What if they were not the police but a rival yakuza gang trying to assassinate Noriyaka?
Before he could think better of it, Byakuya put a hand up, seized Chiyo about the waist and rolled until he had her trapped beneath him. Then he began, "Wait a minute, now who—"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Chiyo, cutting him off. She glared up at him though in the low light he could barely see. Then she glanced down, back up again and yelled, "Get down!"
Byakuya ducked at once, instinct melding with training in the Self-Defence Forces, just as the shooting started. He let his body fall flat atop Chiyo, who gasped in surprise and said, "Hey now, I'm not that kind of girl."
The gunfire stopped just as quickly though, and then Byakuya heard the crackle of a radio and someone said, "Detective Matsumoto, are you alright?"
Chiyo replied, "Just fine, Hisagi-kun. Found myself the most gorgeous vest."
Byakuya rolled off of her and she sat up, straightening her hair, and asked "What's the situation?"
The reply came from behind them, "We've got the Madame, Noriyaka and the girls. The second team's searching the back room. It's just as we suspected." There was a pause and then, "Who's this guy?"
Byakuya made to turn to look at the speaker but Chiyo—well, Detective Matsumoto put her hand on his back and said, "No one."
Another pause and the person asked, "Are you sure about that?"
The detective smiled and replied, "Consider him an innocent bystander. In fact, he's not even here. Come on, Shuu-kun."
More silence, during which Byakuya turned his gaze back to the tatami before him and the detective got to her feet and then "Shuu-kun" said, "Hitsugaya wants you in the back room. Your friend better not still be here when we get back."
"Thanks, Shuu-kun!" said Matsumoto, and then her hand was on Byakuya's arm again and she was helping him to stand.
"You did not have to do that," said Byakuya once he was on his feet again.
"No, I didn't," said Matsumoto, marching him from the room. "But consider this a favour. Who knows, I might need a hotshot lawyer one day."
Byakuya let her lead him out of the building entirely and to his car. The street was filled with flashing lights, radio static and anxious murmurs of the assembled crowd. The paparazzi had not arrived, at least not yet, but there was a helicopter hovering low overhead. If they switched on their spotlight, maybe later he could pretend that he was part of the team responsible for this raid? Actually, that was not a terrible idea.
He turned to Matsumoto and said, "Detective…it is possible that I may not escape from this matter unscathed…"
She looked at him with an arched eyebrow, and then a moment later asked, "So?"
He did not want to spell this out. He was very sure that it would sound terrible aloud and she might just change her mind about his innocence. But she was waiting and this was serious and so he said, "Perhaps a little…subterfuge might be necessary."
She looked away from him to the filthy street beneath their feet, cigarette butts, bottle caps and 100 yen coins pressed into the asphalt and grime as if glued there, and asked in a low voice, "What did you have in mind, Mr Kuchiki?"
He did not want to say it but he could not afford this. He had had a revelation on the current trajectory of his life in the past minutes and he did not like where it was heading. This was a career-ending incident. His uncle Kouga would have needed nothing more than the front page of the next day's newspaper to cement his position as head of the clan and see to it that his bothersome nephew was ruined for good. He could not let that happen to the clan. He was not going to allow it to happen to Japan.
He looked at the detective, in her thin yukata and bright hair and, when she looked up at him, piercing sky blue eyes and said, "I have a proposition for you…"