When I woke up, I tried to go at my absolute slowest. The later I got downstairs, the better, and sleeping wasn't an option seeing how I couldn't sleep a wink last night. Not to mention the bunny lighter stared at me right in the eye every time I tried to stop thinking about her. It's like it wanted me to suffer. Even as I was getting dressed, I could envision her face when she slapped my hand away. Those golden eyes that had once been so full of love and tenderness towards me were full of grief and fury. I guess that's to be expected, I mused putting on the white shirt. I'm the one who started the whole thing. Did I really have to break up with her? Not to mention all the pathetic excuses I had made. No wonder she was angry with me.
As I combed my hair, I remembered Kukai's words. 'Face the facts Ikuto, if you don't do anything about, she'll be snatched up by another. Someone like her dear friend, Tadase'. Would she really get together with Tadase? I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Probably. He's been nothing but good to her, when I've been just an asshole this entire time. Feeling the frustration level rise, I slammed my fist against the counter. Why can't I do anything right? In the mist of my semi-meltdown, my door flung open revealing a somewhat nervous Kukai.
"You can't knock?" I muttered bitterly.
"You didn't knock last night – payback. Anyways, hurry up and come downstairs."
"Why?"
"Well," replied Kukai rubbing the back of his neck. "Amu got a phone call from Ami and them, and now she's homesick."
"Homesick? It's only been a month."
"A month of frustration, sorrow, and confusion. Face it Ikuto, her time at France was horrible because of you."
"It's not fair to put all the blame on me," I mumbled taking a seat on the bed.
"I know, but you also have to think of it like this. She came to France with a broken heart, and she's leaving France with a shattered heart. Not to mention she's still a bit depressed from last night. Plus the fact when Kain accidentally said your name, she kicked the nearest chair. It's all good though, because I'm still your best buddy," he replied giving me a cheeky smile.
I wasn't sure whether I should have guilt overwhelm me or if I should be smiling at Kukai.
"Thanks man."
"Anytime bro. But listen, you may want to smooth things out with Amu a little bit."
"What am I supposed to do?"
At this Kukai chuckled and turned around.
"Ikuto, don't expect me to give you all the answers. Love never came with a handbook."
"Smartass."
"Don't you know it?"
Still sitting on the bed, I looked out the window of my room. Paris came into view. Ironic isn't it? Paris is known for being the city of love, but all it's given is broken hearts. Well at least to us. Maybe it just means Amu and I were never meant to work out.
"What's she doing downstairs?" I asked getting up from the bed.
"Not sure. When I was just about to come upstairs, Kain accidentally said your name and she started mumbling curses under her breath."
I couldn't help but chuckle. Even when we're broken up and she's pissed at me, she doesn't fail to amuse me. She's still the same Amu from when I knew back then. Managing to suppress a sigh, I headed out of the room first, only stopping to turn back and say something to Kukai.
"Are you sure love didn't come with a handbook?"
"I'm positive. Anything related to love and handbooks are things like 'How to get the opposite gender books' and those are as false as shit."
"Even in France?"
"Even in France. Plus, even if there was a handbook, I'm pretty sure buying her a box of chocolates wouldn't help your situation."
Smirking, I gave Kukai a slight shrug.
"You know, when this whole thing is over, I should probably write a book."
"Yeah, do that and the entire female population will hate your guts."
"You're right…I should just stick to negotiating."
"Yeah."
We headed down the stairs and much to our surprise – ok my surprise – Amu was pleasantly talking to Kain and Hana. A big smile plastered on to her face when Kain said some sort of a joke.
Sensing my discomfort, Kukai stuck to my side as we walked over to the kitchen for breakfast. Noticing me, Hana excused herself from Amu and Kain and rushed into the kitchen to get my food.
"Did you sleep well last night?" asked Kukai who was currently playing around with a spoon.
I merely raised my eyebrow at him. What kind of a question was that?
"It's to keep your mind preoccupied."
"Well if that's the case, then no. I couldn't sleep at all, not when her face and that horrid bunny lighter were haunting my dreams."
At this Kukai chuckled.
"She got you a bunny lighter?"
"Yeah…did I tell you that she threw it at me?"
"I think so."
"Well there you go."
"Here's your breakfast pumpkin."
I took the tray from her hands and laid out my breakfast on the table. She hovered above me until I took the first bite of the food. Not that her food had been disgusting on previous days, but this was superb. It was the best thing she'd cooked yet.
"Hana, did you make this?"
"Nope."
Confused, I looked up at her with an arched eyebrow.
"Amu did."
I took another glimpse at the food that had been placed in front of me.
"Am I going to die?"
"Don't worry about a thing. I was standing above her, when she was making this…but it's possible she may have slipped something into yours when I turned around to wash my hands," she chuckled.
"Very funny."
She quickly turned her head towards Amu, so see her deep in conversation with Kain.
"Listen, I'm sure you know this and I'm sure you don't need me to tell you, but Amu's like my own daughter. So I'm going to say this to you – she's beyond heartbroken."
"You know?"
"Sweetie, the whole hotel knows that a couple fought last night. They're just waiting to find out which one goes by the name of Ikuto and Amu."
I dragged my hands through my hair and stared at the table.
"Great."
"Don't worry. She's still thinking things through, I'm sure by the end of this trip everything will be okay again."
"I hope so."
With that Hana took her leave into the kitchen.
"It's not just about Amu is it?" asked Kukai once the noise level rose a little.
"Sure it is."
"You and Amu have fought before, but there's something else on your mind isn't there?"
"It's Saya," I mumbled.
"Come on, tell good 'ol Kukai all about it."
"Kukai, there's no fucking trace of this asshole. Sure I'm worried about the hundreds of other kids he's kidnapped. I'm worried sick about them, but with him kidnapping my little sister, this makes the case a hell of a lot more personal. And not only is that tearing me apart, Amu hates my guts all because of my dumbass decisions and choices. I could have stood up to my father back then. I could've told him what I do with my life is my choice and he has no right to lay down rules and deals on it. But I didn't know, I'd run into her again. That's how my state of my mind was working when he first laid down the deal. I had no idea she'd end of coming to work for our company or that she'd become my partner or that I'd end of falling in love with her. I didn't know."
Kukai took in a deep breath and sipped on his coffee.
"You need to take a break Ikuto. I won't say this as your friend because I know you won't listen to me. So I'll say this as your fellow colleague, you need to take a break because you are a negotiator. If your mind is full of these thoughts you'll jeopardize the case and a hundreds of lives. Sit today out and do something with Amu. Clear the air between the two of you."
"The case-
"Can wait one more day."
"Kukai, you know this can't wait."
"Fine, if you're so adamant about working on the case today, then Kain and I will go out."
"But-
"No buts, today is your day off. Amu!"
Amu turned her head to Kukai's direction but immediately spotted me first. It wasn't a stare, more like the quickest glimpse in the world before she turned her attention to him and walked over to us. Kain followed right behind her.
"Yeah."
Just before Kukai could open his mouth, I spoke up.
"You're staying behind with Kukai."
"They are?" asked Kain.
"Ikuto what the hell?" shouted Kukai.
"Yes. You and I are going to work on the case today. Just me and you," I said clarifying the situation for the both of them.
When the knowledge registered, her brows knitted together and her eyes burned with shock and anger. I'm pretty sure the anger didn't come from the fact she had to stay back. I'm 100% positive the anger came from the fact I was ordering her to stay back.
"I'm part of the team though!"
"Yeah, but the place we were planning on going today is no place for women."
"No place for women? Meaning they don't allow women to come in or not proper for me."
"Not proper for you."
"I'll let you know what's proper for me and what's not got it Ikuto. I'm coming whether you like it or not."
"You are NOT coming Amu. You Are staying behind with Kukai. And that's an order from your higher rank."
A horrible silence filled the room. Amu's eyes were dark and her bottom lip slightly trembled.
"I can't believe you guys," she finally said in a faint whisper before running upstairs.
Once she was gone, I pushed my plate away and groaned.
"Ikuto, you're an idiot," said Kukai pushing his chair back. "Who told you to do that? The plan was for you and Amu to stay behind, so you could patch things up. But with this, you only pushed her back."
"It wouldn't work," I said finally.
"How do you know? Did you ever once try it?"
"Don't you understand Kukai? She hates me! She wants nothing to do with me. Come on Kain, we're leaving."
Kain looked from Kukai to me, before nodding his head.
"Idiot," whispered Kukai from under his breath once we left.
Amu POV
I laid down on my bed and just stared at the ceiling. For the moment I didn't think about anything nor did I say anything. All I did was stare at the milky white ceiling. It was when the first tear fell from my eye that all the thoughts came surging forward. I curled up on my side, and continued to let the tears fall on the sheets.
And then the tears stopped and the anger crept in. Who did he think he was to tell me to stay back? And just as easily, more sadness tiptoed in. It was a constant tug of war between the two emotions that always worked together.
There was a knock on the door bringing me back to my senses. Wiping away the few remaining tears, I fixed my hair and rushed to the door, only to find Kukai standing there; his finger hooked on the front pocket of his jeans. He slightly tipped his head to the side and smiled faintly.
"Can I come in?"
"Okay."
Not remembering my manners, I walked in first letting him come right behind me. I took a seat on the bed, while he sat on the ground and leaned on the bed. There was a silence, but I didn't mind.
"I've know him since I was little."
"Kain?"
He chuckled.
"I mean Ikuto. He's stupid because he never thinks about himself – always for other people. That and the fact, he prejudges a situation before he sees it."
"But he's a negotiator."
"Another reason why he's stupid. He prejudges his own life and situations. He'd rather make himself suffer than have something happen to someone he cares about."
I snorted and looked out the window where I could clearly and visibly see the Eiffel Tower.
"If he cares so much, then why am I always the one to get heartbroken?"
"Now that's a question I don't have the answer to. It's something you'd have to ask yourself."
"Pssh yeah right."
"Listen in the short time we've know each other, you've become like a little sister to me. I won't lie on his behalf to make him look better. But I'm telling you this because I've heard him say it numerous times, he's still in love with you, whether you believe it or not. What happened a couple minutes ago, that wasn't what was supposed to have happened. My plan had been to keep you and Ikuto together so things could go better between the two of you. But the idiot changed everything around and made it seem like he was the bad guy."
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
Another moment of silence filled the room.
"Amu, I have an idea, but it's kind of dangerous."
"What?"
"It's only if you want to go with Ikuto and Kain."
"Yes! I want to go."
"Ugh, if Ikuto finds out, he's going to roast me alive," mumbled Kukai.
"What's the plan?" I asked smiling from ear to ear.
Later
"That's the only way I can get in?"
"Yeah…"
"I have to pretend to be a whore?"
"Yeah…"
"You have to be kidding! Kukai?"
"No…"
"And they're going to a brothel?"
"Yeah…"
"Because?"
"Because we have information from a certain source that Kyou's been spending a lot of time at the very brothel."
"I see."
"You know, you don't have to go. We can stay here like Ikuto told us too, or we can go sightsee. Your choice."
"Let's go."
"Okay, but first we have to stop by a close friend of mine."
Ikuto POV
"Here we are," mumbled Kain sourly as he stared around the building with distaste.
"Okay, we have to blend in. They'll easily know something's up if we don't pretend like we're one of the customers."
"Ikuto, that's disgusting."
"We're cops…it's our job. And trust me; I'm as disgusted as you are."
"I should've stayed back with Amu, instead of Kukai."
"Whatever. Ready?"
"Yeah."
The building resembled a very small yet classy motel, seeing as it had a ton of rooms. The front was surrounded by trees and flowers of different types. It almost seemed like it was a truly a motel. We walked through the stone pavement and I opened the front door. Immediately the smell of alcohol, cigarettes, and sex filled the air. It was absolutely disgusting. The lighting was dim, but you could clearly see the girls who were dressed in nothing but undergarments.
I walked up to a woman sitting at the reception desk. From the distance she looked to be at least in her late twenties, but standing close to her, she looked like she was no younger than 16. She had long, wavy brown hair that came up to her back. Her face was painted with heavy makeup, but that wasn't the worst of it. She was wearing the skimpiest bra that hardly covered anything. And on her head, were a pair of black bunny ears that matched her bra. Her eyes that reminded me so much of Amu were sad and dark. And on her arms…on her arms were evident signs of abuse. Purple faded lines covered her wrists. What the sad part was was that she reminded me of Saya. What was her story?
"What kind of service would you like master?"
"Service? Wait…you're Japanese?" I repeated dumbfounded.
"Master?" repeated Kain from next to me.
It's not like I'd ever been to one of these before. I'd only heard of them.
"You must be a new customer. My name is Lily, welcome to our Brothel."
She bent down and retrieved something that looked like a restaurant menu and handed to me.
"Please pick your service type, and I'll be happy to assist you, master."
"Don't call me master."
"But I must. I am here for you to use me any way you like. I am your puppet, master."
My insides squeezed, and I felt like I was ready to throw up. She's fucking 16. 16! How many times was she brainwashed so she could repeat those with ease and comfort. Did she even understand what she had gotten herself into? At this point I didn't care if Kyou was here or not. How many other girls were there like her in this god forsaken place?
"Why are you here?"
"So you can use-
"Not that crap!" I shouted, feeling my body vibrate with anger.
Her honey colored eyes widened, but she didn't say a word. Had she been taught to keep quiet too?
"I'll repeat this, why are you here?"
She quickly looked from side to side, in case anyone was nearby. Content, she looked up at me with frightened eyes.
"Are you with the police?"
"Yeah. Now, why are you working here?"
"I-I was kidnapped from the school playground when I was 6. I've been working here for 10 years now. I'm not allowed to leave, or else our 'master' said he'll inflict a heavy punishment on us. When I was 14, I'd only heard rumors of that, so I tried to escape."
"What happened?"
"Well, until then, I had only been used as a stripper. But on the day I tried to escape, he found me and tossed me into a dark room. I wasn't given food or water for days. And if I was given food, it was a single loaf of bread, and half a cup of water. Just that single amount given to me everyday at 6:00 in the morning. On the last day, when I was absolutely at me weakest point, he sent 6 men into the room w-who…who….tied me up to bed and raped me."
At this she burst into sobs. Feeling sick to my stomach, I turned and faced Kain, whose eyes were burning with anger.
"Listen to me, I can't do anything to help you right at this moment, but I'm promising you that I'll help you escape."
"Really?"
"Trust me. Now, I'm undercover at this moment. I'm looking for a criminal from Japan who's kidnapped countless children for an unknown reason. My source tells me that he's been here for a while now."
"Okay…if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. Oh and about your question, most of us here are Japanese. Please have a good time," she said acting out the part of a good receptionist.
I winked, and walked into the horrid place. I already had a bad feeling about this.
Amu POV
"Annie, this is Amu Hinamori, a good friend and colleague of mine. Amu, this is Annie Higuarashi, she used to work a makeup artist for movies."
"Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you as well," she replied with a slight French accent.
"Listen Annie, we're undercover right now, and I need your help with something."
"What is it?"
"I need you to help me make her look like a whore."
Annie stared at Kukai with a frown then stared at me.
"Impossible, she looks too innocent. And why a whore?"
"Well…we've gotten information that a certain criminal has been at a brothel for a while now. And the only way for her to get in, is if she's applying for a job."
"I see. Well, come with me. Let's see what we can do with you. Oh and Kukai, does she need clothes too?"
"I'm not sure, you decide."
Annie stared at me with kind green eyes, before giving me a wink.
"Let's go work some magic."
I snuck Kukai a semi horrified look before following Annie into a different room.
Later
"Voila! There you are."
I looked at mirror, half horrified and half impressed. My eyes were heavy with eye liner and mascara. My lips were colored with bright red lipstick. I had midnight blue eye shadow and light pink blush. She'd put extensions in my hair, and then curled enough to make it look wavy. But it didn't look like it was something I'd just walked out of a salon with. It was more like I'd curled it 3 days ago, and then slept in it. Then again, it wasn't that messy. Yes, it's kind of confusing to explain. Messy but not. There.
"Wow…"
"Speechless huh? But here, you're going to need to put these on."
She slipped out of the room real quick and reappeared minutes later with a pair of bra and underwear that matched the color of my eye shadow.
"No way! There is no way I'm putting this…this thing on!"
"It's the only thing that'll work your cover."
I snatched the cloth from her and stared at it with distaste. It looked like it would fit a little kid.
"Turn around."
"With pleasure."
I quickly undressed and put the horrid things on.
"How do I look…?"
Annie turned around and smiled wide.
"Perfect. Now go show Kukai."
My mouth dropped wide open. It was bad enough I had to put 'it' on, but now she wants me to practically flaunt myself in front of Kukai.
"Listen, it's not just about looking the part. You have to play it as well. And if you're not comfortable enough to play this part in front of someone you trust, then how are you going to play it in front of dirty strangers?"
"Great," I mumbled bitterly.
I snuck another peek at myself in the mirror before heading out the door.
"Wait!" shouted Annie. "Put these on too!"
She handed me a pair of black pumps.
"You're kidding."
"Not even close."
I quickly put them on, and rushed out of the room to where Kukai was waiting. Annie headed out in front of me.
"How'd it go?" asked Kukai getting up.
"Wonderful, luckily she had a pretty face. Amu, come on out."
Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath and walked out. I peeked one eye open, then the other, to see Kukai staring at me wide eyed, before giving me a smile.
"You'll blend in perfectly."
"That sounds like an insult," I remarked icily.
"No, it just means that she did a good job and all but-
"I'm just teasing."
"Everything's perfect in my opinion, but her eyes practically glow innocence."
"So this won't work?"
"It might, if you play the right cards. Just be careful, where you're going…its dangerous."
"Thank you Annie…thanks for everything."
"You're welcome."
"Come on Amu, we have to get going. Thanks Ann!"
"Anytime!"
At the Brothel
"This doesn't even look like a brothel!"
"They're never supposed to. Anyways, here's the story. You're here to look for a job; I'm not sure what'll happen to you once you get inside but good luck. If they ask for a name, don't and I repeat DO NOT give them yours. If something goes wrong try to escape, but if you can't scream and I'll come looking for you. We'll part from here."
"Okay…bye Kukai!" I exclaimed embracing him in a deep hug.
"Bye Amu, and be careful."
"Got it."
I took in a deep breath and walked ahead of Kukai.
Everything was going to be okay.
Author's Notes
I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Hello~ Thank you guys for waiting patiently while I was out. I had a lot of fun visiting my family. Enough about me =] About the story: The quality of this story might be kind of bad seeing how I haven't had a chance to write a single in month. The only thing I wrote in was my journal. That's pretty much it. Nothing story related what so ever. The idea of a brothel randomly came to me one night, when me and my guy friend were texting two nights ago. We were talking about how his younger sister thought his ex-girlfriend was whore and what not. (BTW, his ex was pretty nice…well to me) Anyways, the conversation suddenly switched to if I knew where 'W***** came from…and I said I didn't. He said they came from a brothel….blah blah blah. Then I asked what that was….blah blah blah and Voila! This idea somehow came? So thanks Cristian...for somehow giving me this idea :D
Anyways…. O . O
I hope to finish this story very soon ;]
Love,
Neko-Meme