Smile for You Chapter 5: Yuna's Decision
Yo! So I noticed I hadn't updated this story in a bit, so I figured I'd give it this week's 'timeslot'. Hope you all enjoy!
"No."
"Huh?!"
"Please, by all that's holy, think about this rationally..." Professor Shigemura looked as if he was about ready to slam his head through his deck, "I mean look at him, he's hardly a giant."
"He's like 7 inches taller than me!" Yuna held her hand up to Eiji's forehead in a clear effort to emphasis the difference.
"That's not the point... Yuna, your bodyguard is supposed to be intimidating and more importantly, he should know how to fight."
"I know how to fight, Sir."
"This isn't street fighting I'm talking about!..." The Professor certainly seemed to have more edge in his voice when talking to him, Eiji noticed, "My Yuna and her friends are Grammy Award winning artists! They deserve more than the best protection, and you and that Kirigaya boy hardly look as if you would fall within those qualifications."
"Mister Shigemura, with all due respect sir, you don't know much about strength verses muscle mass, do you?"
"Excuse me?" The professor found pause just long enough to stop himself from spitting out the insults sitting on the edge of his tongue, "The only reason you're even standing here is because my daughter has taken an interest in you, if it weren't for that-..."
"Actually, it's not interest." Yuna corrected as she casually grabbed Eiji's sleeve, "I've already decided. I want Eiji."
Yuna's father blanched, his eye twitching wildly as his stress seemed to reach a boiling point.
Yet, to his credit, his reaction was not nearly as aggressive as Eiji suspected it would be, "Pumpkin... I understand you don't want a bodyguard, but if this is just some impromptu move to spite my decision please find a different way."
"Weren't you the one who said I could choose any bodyguard I wanted? Well I did. Eiji."
"I meant within reason-..."
"No! You always pull this! You always call something my choice, but at the last second you always pull the rug out under the whole thing and 'choose for me'!" Yuna suddenly snapped, clearly displaying the verbal fangs her father had so expertly held back, "Well not this time! This time I'm choosing, and I'm choosing The Beaters!"
"No. That's not happening."
"Fine." Yuna arced her chin up in a hilariously childish fashion, clearly putting on a show for those present, "Then I'll just fire whoever you do bring on."
The professors hand impacted against the desk, sending a twitch of surprise through Eiji's muscles, "Yuna, if you!-..."
"And then I'll fire their replacement," Her refusal to relent was clear, though anyone foolish enough to miss her tone certainly got the message from the glower she wore, "and I'll keep doing it until I see Eiji's name on the next application!"
Eiji had to admit, it may have been a diva way of doing things, but Yuna could really get her point across when she wanted to.
He wasn't sure if he should've been impressed or worried.
"Sir, I can assure you that we're both fully capable of asset protection." He finally interjected, realizing the situation would only boil over if left to take it's course, "If you have any doubts, then my partner and I are more than willing to undergo any sort of test you'd like laid out for us."
Yuna, meanwhile, raised a curious eyebrow at Eiji's proclamation as she watched him suddenly shift into a parade rest in but an instant.
His mannerisms had turned on their head just as quickly. Gone was the soft spoken, if mildly sarcastic, young man from before.
Now? Now he seemed to exude confidence from every pour, though a clear dose of disdain for the Professor accompanied it.
"Oh you'll have a test alright... Do you know what time of year it is?"
"...Spring, Sir?"
"It's the last week of April. Right?"
"Correct, Sir."
"Do you know what happens the first Monday of May?"
The professor received an answer only in the form of a series of awkward facial contortions from the young man standing before him.
"...The Met Gala."
"Ah. I see."
"..."
"..."
"You have no idea what that is, do you?"
"None at all, Sir."
Mister Shigemura pinched the bridge of his nose, audibly clicking his tongue in clear frustration. God, he didn't have time for this. He had so much to do, and his plans didn't involve some foolhardy groupie playing bodyguard!
"It's basically a big party where A-Listers go to flaunt themselves." Yuna spoke up in place of her father, leaning over into Eiji's line of sight, "It's our second year there. Last year was a bit crazy; so it'd be pretty cool to have a chaperone this time around!"
Chaperone? What was this girl on about?
He knew he was supposed to be a bodyguard. He knew how to do that. Watch the HVT from a viable vantage point, keep an eye out for unknown variables, and eliminate or subdue any hostile that made itself known.
But a chaperon? A chaperone would no doubt be, well... Chaperoning.
And one couldn't exactly act as a chaperone from a distance, which meant that-...
"Wipe that stupid confused look off your face, you look like a lost orphan!..." The Professor's burst of anger thrusted Eiji back into the situation with such speed the young man was relatively sure he'd just discovered a new form of mental whiplash.
"Sorry, Sir."
"Enough with the 'Sir'!
"Yessir."
...
"At any rate... You two'll be chaperoning Yuna and the rest of the band during the event. If anything- and I mean anything- intends them harm, you and your friend will be the ones that step in the way. Are we clear?"
Eiji nodded, silently praying his face didn't betray his clear surprise as he exclaimed; "Sir, I can assure you that my friend and I are used to situations like this. We can manage whatever you throw at us."
"Sure you are, kid..."
"Well, then it's decided! Everyone's getting along now, right?" Yuna clapped her hands together, casting a bright smile over the room, "Cuz I gotta get back to practice!..."
"We'll be fine, Pumpkin; go on."
Yuna nodded before glancing towards Eiji, her ruby red eyes dancing over his form like a child evaluating a prospective new toy.
Though, in all fairness, that might not have been all that far from the truth.
"See you later Eiji!..."
"Yeah. Look forward to working with you."
"Yeah, me too." Yuna offered up one last cheery grin before sauntering out of the room with all the grace Eiji had come to expect from her in their short time together.
She was... Certainly something.
"Ahem..."
"Hmm?" Eiji's gaze snapped back to the Professor, "You were saying?"
"You'll report to the Head of Security so we can get you registered into our systems, and-..."
"So we're not the Heads of Security?"
"No, of course not. We've had a group of bodyguards for some time now, you're just more... Involved. Your job is more autonomous, since you'll be accompanying Yuna and her friends directly. Think of yourselves as the Pretorians of our security. You'll still be operating under the Head of Security on paper, but at the end of the day my daughter and her bandmates have the final say in terms of your role."
Eiji's only response was curt nod.
"Well, before we conclude this-..." A pastel envelope was slammed on the table with all the grace of a bull in a china shop, "Here."
"Erm, what's this for sir?..."
"Just because my daughter feels like being difficult about her choice of bodyguard doesn't mean that I don't still want the best possible outcome I can still possibly get from this." Mister Shigemura grumbled, adjusting his glasses, "You're to use that money to procure yourselves the necessary 'equipment' you'll need to fulfill this role, and that's all. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal."
"Good. Then get out."
"He was a dick."
Eiji's exclamation came along with a loud clang as a rusty old can sailed across the parking lot of the studio, impacting against a nearby complex with an almost equally obnoxious sound.
"Can't argue with that." Kazuto mumbled. While he hadn't been present for the meeting, he'd certainly heard tales the vitriol being flung in both directions from Yuna when she had returned to the dance studio where he and Asuna has found themselves.
"Jeez... Talk about a helluva day..."
"No kidding... I feel like we've run a marathon..."
"Could be worse, right?"
Kirito chuckled as he pulled his raven black coat up over his shoulders, shielding himself from the crisp spring air, "Right."
A serene bliss overtook the two friends in that moment, giving way to the distant sounds of traffic and chaos that they'd grown oh-so accustom to.
This was peace to them. Pure serenity. No words need be spoken between them.
But of course, where was the fun in that?
"So what's Asuna like?"
It took every ounce of Eiji's willpower to not shoot a sarcastic grin at Kazuto's expression.
"She's, uh, nice?"
"Yeah, I gathered." He shoved his hands in his pockets, "What's she like though?"
"I dunno... What's Yuna like?"
Erk.
It felt as if magma had rushed up into Eiji's face, "...Ass."
"I know, right?"
Eiji was quick to open his mouth, a response locked and loaded, ready to go, only to be stopped short at the sound of his name being called from across the parking lot.
"Eiji!" It was her again.
Running towards them, still in her haphazardly thrown together uniform, with her technicolor hair flowing behind her like a beautifully crafted cape. As she skidded to a stop beside the two, she let out an loud gasp, though it was accompanied by a soft giggle.
"Hey!... Jeez, you guys are faster than you look!"
"Something wrong?"
"No! No, I just completely forgot. Here," Two sheets of old notebook paper were shoved into their hands, "Me and Asuna's numbers."
"Why didn't your father give us these?" Eiji mumble as he scanned the string of numbers, looming over an oversized 'Y', "Seems like a pretty large oversight."
"Oh, he doesn't know you have'm yet!" Yuna hummed, "Our Security Head'll probably give you guys our business numbers but-..."
She winked.
"Nothing wrong with being friends on the side, right?"
She winked. At him.
No; he couldn't let himself get worked up over something so trivial. It was all just part of her idol persona. She did it to everyone. She did it to the reporter, she no doubt did it when she was on stage. That's all it was; just her idol pers-...
Wait, why did he even care? God, he sounded like a fanboy!
"Alright, see ya guys!"
And with that she was gone, like a ghost in the fog.
"...She's interesting, huh?" Kazuto's call prodded for Eiji's attention after what seemed like an eternity of silence.
"Yeah..."
"I guess today wasn't too horrible, huh?" The raven haired man chuckled as he pocketed his slip of paper.
"Don't jinx us."
"What?"
"Every time you say something like that, one of us ends up getting hurt." Eiji pointed out with a sneer.
"C'mon man, it's not like-..."
And like the clocktower bell's toll, a loud, almost primal sound slammed against their ears; a low, ominous growl that echoed down to their very souls.
"..."
"...You jinxed us."
Those were the last words exchanged between the two friends before a bush was found; and lunches were freed...