Chapter 8: Shaman Hunters
It wasn't long before Megumi received a call similar to Yumiko's, this time from Utahime. As the representative in charge of Tokyo College, with the head of the Gojou clan at his side and Ijichi at the wheel, they both set off for the nearest train station and from there to the nearest airport.
Before leaving, Gojou received the suitcase with his plane tickets and finally decided to read the small letter his mother left for him inside Ijichi's shopping bag.
"They don't watch you like I do."
Too ominous for his taste, though true. Perhaps in a way it is a relief for him.
After looking in the mirror and remembering once again that he's wearing the same wrinkled clothes from the night before, he decides to take off his uniform. Perhaps symbolically, thinking that as a sensei he no longer has a purpose. The one true choice he had made in his life had been made for the clear purpose of building an egalitarian world for the younger shamans. To free them from the commandments of the corrupt, the powerful. With the nepotism of the higher ups out of the question, there is little left for him to do. So he decides to wear a black shirt and dark pants. Then he takes off his blindfold and arranges his fine white hair to put on a pair of custom-made glasses, so dark that no one would be able to see anything at all if they were to put them on. He looks in the mirror one last time, puts on a jacket and questions whether his appearance is too casual for the event that awaits him, when the other heads of the other clans are likely to be dressed in traditional attire, so orthodox that the very thought makes his eyes roll.
Once in Osaka, after a flight in which Megumi opted to listen to music with headphones, probably so as not to hear him talk about the only topic on Satoru's mind again, they both leave their suitcases in the hotel lobby and take the magnetic cards to their rooms.
For him it is no coincidence to have received room number 108, and he wonders if this is both a play and a tease on Yumiko's part, although he's not entirely sure if she'll have booked his room herself or made a special request to one of the clan's many assistants. One thing is clear to him, Kasumi will not be leaving his mind any time soon.
The receptionist, very diligently handed them both a small card, after verifying that they were on the guest list for the meeting that would take place in the early hours of the morning. And although Satoru is surprised by the time they have chosen to summon them, he soon realizes that, being a public space, it is perhaps the most appropriate way to keep the non-Shamans out of sight.
It is strange for him to be among the first to arrive. If it weren't for Megumi he would have taken a few more minutes wasting time on his new cell phone, however, he goes downstairs in his company to the hotel room they have booked, which looks more like a boardroom. He's more than intrigued by this new organization of self-convened shamans and within minutes begins to see new faces, used to dealing exclusively with members of the Jujutsu school and the old big shots, in rooms of the most tenebrous and exaggerated; one more way to command respect, something that never achieved the expected effect on himself.
"Do we work with users now?" he asks Megumi in a low voice, seeing out of the corner of his eye a couple of unfriendly faces entering the room. These people are not affiliated with the Jujutsu organization.
"Things have changed since Shibuya. Besides, this concerns all of us. The government has been hiring all the shamans they can get their hands on, although they have a preference for academy members."
"It makes sense, besides... there aren't many of us left."
A familiar face turns in his direction and smiles at him, a girl with a face full of piercings under his arm. Satoru quickly recognizes Hakari even though his hair is painted a striking blonde, almost as much as the leather jacket he's wearing and the black leather pants. Reminding him almost immediately of Brad Pitt's role in the movie 'Fight Club'. Behind him another group walks, like an entourage.
"There's a face I haven't seen for a long time," he says and as he approaches Gojou thinks he recognizes the girl, although the change she has made is evident.
"Kinji!" he says, raising a hand to give him a high five, and he soon imitates her gesture. "You look good," he says with a smile and lowers his face to Kirara. "You look good too."
"Not wearing the school uniform anymore?" Hakari asks.
"I guess you could say I've taken a sabbatical."
"That's fine with me," he says with a shrug. "Look, we have a buffet," he comments to Kirara and turns to the table in the middle of the room for a canapé.
Gojou looks at the arranged dishes hoping to find something sweet to put in his mouth, but he stops just as he is about to take a chocolate dipped strawberry when he sees a rather familiar face walk through the wide open double doors.
"Shit..." he mutters to himself, but Megumi manages to hear him even as the room begins to fill with bustle.
"Who is it?" He asks when he sees a woman's face smiling mischievously in his direction.
"No one, ignore her," he recommends, but it seems that this request cannot be fulfilled, as she soon shortens the distance between them to stand right in front of Gojou.
Testing the promise of being a new man, a faithful one, Satoru swallows saliva when he feels Shimiko Unagi's accusing finger on the first button of his shirt, just above his collarbone.
Both Megumi and Hakari involuntarily avert their eyes to her plunging cleavage, but while the former averts his gaze elsewhere in the room, the other is dragged away by Kirara with a tug on his arm.
"What are you staring at, Kin-chan!" Kirara scolds him in his ear.
Oblivious to the exchange between the couple, Shimiko leans towards Gojou.
"Satoru Gojou," she purrs and gives a pearly smile. Then she crosses her arms, clearly intending to make the C cup of her bra stand out. "Long time no see... I heard you recently came out of a small box. I couldn't believe it when I heard, it must feel good to stretch your legs, huh?"
Shimiko is the kind of woman who always seems to slowly weave a web of seduction that he has already fallen into a couple of times. She moves smoothly, almost without deliberation, wiggling her hips like a cursed technique, as if extending her dominance without anyone noticing and for an instant his Adam's apple quivers beneath his throat.
"It wasn't so bad, a forced vacation."
She smiles softly, barely shaking her shoulders before taking a seat. Behind them, against the walls are at least thirty chairs and Gojou is forced to sit next to Shimiko and, as if he were a life jacket, Satoru drags Megumi to sit next to him.
She wraps her arm around him and drags her fingers over his jacket, a most inopportune moment for Utahime's imminent arrival, with Momo Nishimiya and Miwa behind her. The three see him within seconds of entering the enclosure, it is evident by the expression of displeasure of the smallest and her sensei. Miwa on the other hand looks surprised, but, like Megumi, looks for another space in which to occupy her attention and they take a seat on the other side.
Kasumi's blue eyes seem to pierce him for an instant, as Shimiko slides her finger down Gojou's chest and he honestly doesn't know what to do. He finds himself stammering before he takes Shimiko's hand, smiles nervously and tries to return her curious fingers to her lap.
On the other side of the room, Kasumi begins to feel a rather peculiar burning rising in the pit of her stomach, it travels up her throat and makes her skin boil. Her pale cheeks flush red and the heat spreads down her face to her ears and then to the back of her neck.
"See, did you need more than this?" Nishimiya asks, whispering softly in her ear.
Momo has no qualms about looking directly at Gojou, unlike Kasumi who averts her blue eyes towards the door, watching the shamans who continue to enter one after another to take their seats. Satoru doesn't need his six eyes to notice it, to feel the anger radiating from those three seats. And while Kasumi no longer sees him directly, Utahime and Momo are glaring at him.
"Yes, you were right," Kasumi replies, crosses her legs and shakes one foot copiously, beginning to feel the particular anxiety that the need for nicotine causes her from time to time.
"Just look him, so shameless, it only took him one night and he doesn't even hide it anymore. We should seal him up again. We should curse him."
"Will the bar be open after the meeting?"
"I don't know, I guess so. Everyone looks like they want to have a drink."
As Kamo enters, wearing his traditional Japanese attire, the doors close behind him. A shaman clears his throat as several of those present stretch their hands across the table for a snack.
"Listen carefully, girls. This concerns us especially," Utahime tells them in a low voice.
Gojou ignores Shimiko and turns his attention to the black-suited, dark-haired shaman with a slight reddish tinge in the iris of his gaze. He looks too elegant, and too normal compared to the rest of the shamans in outlandish attire. He stands in front of the rest with a folder in his hands and turns to a young boy, who he assumes is his assistant, and the latter turns off the light after turning on a projector and lowering a white curtain. With his figure between him and the curtain, he glances at his notes and clears his throat again.
"First of all, I would like to thank you all for coming to this meeting on such short notice. My name is Oni Akira," he says in a low, masculine tone, sounding more like a vampire than a shaman to Gojou. "This is a security matter that concerns only us," he continues and steps aside to clearly see the first slide. "In the last seven days there have been seven disappearances of shamans across Japan, in Takayama City, Gunma Prefecture; in Nanao, Toyama Prefecture; in Touhoku, Aomori Prefecture; in Totsukawa, Aomori Prefecture; Totsukawa, Wakayama Prefecture; Ama Island; Heigun Island; and Isa City, Kumamoto Prefecture," he says as the locations are highlighted with red circles on the screen.
Gojou looks at the highlighted sites on the map of Japan, one so far from the other that it would be impossible for each event to have been committed by a single individual.
"The shamans who have disappeared are Sasaki Himari, Hara Akari, Mori Sakura, Teshigawara Ichika, Unagi Niko, Imata Asahi and Hayashi Sora," he lists them, passing one by one their photographs with the most likely dates of their disappearances.
Utahime raises her hand as if in a lesson and Oni Akira yields the floor to her.
"Is it true that they are all women?"
"Indeed, but besides their gender, they don't have much else in common. They all come from different parts of Japan, different affiliations, different ages and cursed techniques; three of them, in fact, did not possess innate techniques."
"Isn't it possible that they died on their missions?" Hakari interrupts.
"It was the first thing we assumed, but we found no trace of any of them. If they had died facing a curse, at least there would have been traces of blood, limbs even. Everyone here knows firsthand what a curse leaves behind when it attacks, it is very strange that it simply swallows a body without leaving a single drop of blood. That's why we suspect this is an organized attack; this is clearly not the work of one person."
"And why should we think it's not another shaman or curse user?" Gojou asks. "You seem certain that this is a group of ordinary humans."
"Unfortunately it would be very difficult to narrow down the number of shamans under suspicion, perhaps one of the members of the organization is here, or has a direct affiliation with one of our members. For security reasons I am obliged to bring you all together to inform you of the situation, even if I end up alerting those who are assassinating us."
"But, from what you say, there are no traces of a murder," Gojou answers.
"Is it possible that it is a series of kidnappings?" asks Megumi.
"Yes, it is possible. Although we don't know the motives behind the attack. For now, our only suspicion is the extremist anti-shaman group that is led by Goto Unigawa." Goto's picture does not cause Gojou to shudder, he doesn't look much different than any other ex-convict. "His ideology is based on the fact that shamans should be eradicated, given that after the Shibuya incident, the extensive amount of curses released all over Japan was revealed to the population that a shaman with affiliation to the Jujutsu school was responsible, in addition to the Night Parade of the Hundred Demons and other events that were kept hidden from the Japanese population. As far as we know, Unigawa has a network of at least a hundred members who meet frequently in the city of Shizouka."
"Mediocre shamans," comments another, dressed in a tight red leather suit with a chain hanging from his belt. "They must have been fourth-rate shamans if they let themselves be trapped by a group of humans."
"They all had different ranks, one of them was even a first-grade shaman. Which leads us to believe that their only recourse was high-caliber firearms."
"Besides," Momo interrupts, noticeably irritated, "I doubt very much that they were expecting an ambush. They were all taken by surprise."
"Yes," Oni Akira continues, "plus they were all working alone."
"Then someone must be feeding them information from the inside, how would they know they were working alone?" asks Kirara.
"Or they could have been following them for a long time," Megumi answered. "Waiting for the best moment to catch them."
At this instant Gojou asks himself a question that makes him very uneasy and instinctively turns to Miwa, catching her at the right moment when she looks at him from the corner of her eye and seeing herself evidenced, she turns again to the screen where Goto Unigawa's photograph still lies.
Unsettled by the certainty that Kasumi has been working alone for quite some time, Satoru wonders if, perhaps, she would be on this list had he not gone after her after being released from the prison realm. She would definitely have been an easy target in an ambush, her cursed technique would have done little to help her against a heavily armed group. Fortunately this didn't happen, but the thought alone is enough to make a knot form in his stomach.
"Even the strongest shaman could be vulnerable to the right weaponry," Gojou comments, crossing his arms.
Shimiko leans against the table and picks up the bowl of chocolate dipped strawberries and takes one between her fingers, her nails painted scarlet red.
"It's true, we've seen the strongest of them fall into ambushes," she comments cynically and leans towards Satoru, extending the strawberry to feed it to him in his mouth and by instinct he parts his lips and takes a bite. A few seconds later he regrets it, when Utahime, Momo and Kasumi glare at him again.
Tempted to spit out the strawberry right away, he swallows it even though he didn't get to bite down far enough and feels the chocolate scraping the inside of his throat.
"Is there any information we can use to link him directly to any of the attacks? This Unigawa guy," says another shaman, dressed in a simple red T-shirt and worn jeans.
"None. As far as we know, Unigawa has not left Osaka City."
"Is there no more information you can give us?" Kasumi asks in a soft tone, but Akira denies.
"This meeting will merely serve as a warning, to keep the lines of communication open between us and to keep the women, who seem to be the primary target of these attacks, from working alone."
"There must be a reason for these attacks to focus especially on women," Gojou comments, but no one seems to have an answer.
"We have nothing but theories, however... no certainty," Oni Akira finishes and returns to look at his assistant out of the corner of his eye. The boy turns on the light of the splendid chandeliers hanging over the table and turns off the projector. "Unfortunately, we don't have much more information; if we do, we will call another extraordinary meeting. Please, disclose what has been discussed to each of your factions, you can come to me if anything new arises; I am at your entire disposal."
"Hey, what about the alcohol?" asks another, sitting in a corner two chairs away from Kasumi. "You don't expect us to leave with a dry throat."
"Certainly not, we have made arrangements with the hotel to have the bar open all night long," answers Oni Akira before leaving.
"Well, you know where to find me," comments Hakari, getting up from his seat along with Kirara.
Megumi turns around, shifting his gaze uncomfortably between Kasumi and the woman who has entangled her arm in Gojou's. He arches an eyebrow and stands up, letting out a sigh.
"I'm going to my room," he tells him. "I have to make a call to Tokyo."
Satoru stretches out a hand towards him, stretching out his fingers in a plea for help that is to no avail, Megumi leaves along with the rest of the shamans who seem to share the same thought, taking advantage of the situation to shake hands.
Arrowed in the middle of the chest, Satoru perceives a last look full of repulsion from the trio of Kyoto women and when he makes the effort to leave Shimiko's embrace, she pushes him to return him to his place and whispers something over his ear. And even though Kasumi is too far away to hear it, she can perfectly imagine what they are talking about. Of course, it won't have to do with work, not with the lewd way she spreads her fingers down his shirt and leans against his arm, cupping her breasts.
Utahime is the last to leave and clenches her jaw before closing the double-leaf door, hearing a plea coming from Satoru's lips beforehand.
"Have fun, Gojou Satoru."
"Utahime, wait!"
Once the door is closed, Kasumi has no strength to move her feet and remains completely still feeling her skin boil, frustrated, outraged by what she has just seen so few hours after sleeping with Satoru. The soles of her shoes sticking to the red carpet that stretches down the corridors of the hotel.
She only snaps out of the mental morass she's sunk in when Momo folds her arms in front of her and spits out a few expletives.
"I'll go to sleep, it's been a long day," her sensei says, barely calmer than the two of them.
"I think Kasumi and I will go to the bar," Momo replies.
"Don't be too long..." she says, glancing sideways at the group of shamans marching towards an unmistakable destination. "Half of these shamans are not nice at all, call me if you have any problems."
"Don't worry," Momo replies with a smile and then looks at Kasumi's face, her brow barely furrowed, trying to hide her true emotions.
As her superior leaves down the hallway and Kasumi takes her first step towards the bar, Momo stops her by the arm. Holding on to her jacket, her friend looks at her with surprise and discovers slight mischief in the reflection of her blue eyes.
"Aren't you curious to know what those two are talking about?"
"Why would I want to know?" she questions, averting her gaze, "We'd better go for a drink."
In the hotel bar, more than half of the shamans from the meeting are already gathered, but Kasumi is not surprised not to see Kamo-sama's face among those present. The two take a seat at a table just away from the others and a waiter places the drinks menu in front of them. Kasumi glances at the extensive selection and soon realizes that she needs something strong and orders two glasses of sake.
"I'd prefer something more tropical," says Momo as she listens to her.
"The sake is for me," Kasumi replies.
"A bloody Mary for me, please."
The waiter picks up the order and turns towards the canteen, stopped by another group with a much larger order than theirs.
Kasumi undoes the knot of her tie; which she hasn't worn for some time, but decided to wear at the last minute with the idea that this would be a most formal occasion. Now, with her mind troubled, she just feels that she needs all the space she can get to keep breathing, unable to take her mind off whatever is going on in the room she just left.
Concerned, Momo leans over the table to whisper to her.
"Maybe this will give you the strength you need to get him out of your life once and for all. No visits, no sleeping together... That guy is not worth your time, you have to stop feeling sorry for him."
"I know... You were right, Momo. I'm stupid," she says quietly.
The waiter doesn't take long to bring them their order and politely says goodbye reminding them that he is at their disposal. Nishimiya raises hrt glass in Kasumi's direction and spreads a smile on her face that Miwa has trouble returning.
"A toast, to leaving the past behind," he says and Kasumi raises her small glass of sake to clink the crystals.
Momo barely wets her lips with her thick, reddish drink, while Kasumi swallows the sake glass in one gulp. She then takes the second glass and repeats the action, feeling the alcohol invade as it washes down her throat and spreads its warmth in the pit of her stomach. Perplexed, the blonde sees the tight expression on Miwa's face, resisting the alcohol.
"Hey, how about we take things a little slower?"
"You know what the worst thing is? For a moment I believed him, for a moment of... temporary insanity, I believed him when he said he loved me. But everything to him is nothing but a dirty game and he doesn't care who gets hurt. He's a... a jerk, a manipulator. And I'm an idiot, gullible."
"It's not your fault you're so nice, but yes... you should have kept your guard up."
"Waiter! Another round!" Kasumi says, raising her hand in the air, "He must be with that woman now, like he did that day I almost died. He'll take her to his room, I'm sure. Did you see how she touched him? How many times must he have screwed her?" The waiter comes over and pours another couple of glasses of sake and takes the empty ones away. "I can't believe I fell for it again, and this time it didn't take him more than a couple of days. I feel so dirty..."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Momo replies and continues drinking. "Besides... when was the last time you had sex?" She asks quietly and finds a slight blush rising on Miwa's pale cheeks, although she doesn't know if it's the effect of her own modesty or the alcohol that has started to take effect in her system.
"Well, I don't know, a few months?"
"How many months?"
"Maybe ten... I don't know... maybe more."
"Kasumi! No wonder you fell for it so easily! Maybe you should reconsider having a friend with benefits."
"I haven't dated much, kids and missions take up all my time... Besides, I don't know if I'm cut out for it."
"You won't know until you try."
Kasumi gulps down her third glass of sake and keeps a growl quiet inside her flaming throat.
"Well, I can't leave you alone in this," Momo says more to herself and squeezes her eyelids as she hurriedly sips her bloody Mary, sighs and sets the empty glass down hard on the table.
He doesn't have much time to meditate on what happened at the meeting, nor to go after Kasumi when two hands with slender white fingers wrap around his arm and pull him against Shimiko's soft breasts.
"Look, honey... I really don't have much time for this," he says, trying unsuccessfully to pull her off him.
"Oh, come on. You spent five years missing, there must be a lot of things you want to do now that you're free," she purrs against his ear and strokes his chin with an almost feline movement. "Isn't there an appetite I can help you appease?"
"I've already taken care of my appetites, Shimiko," he says, smiling, taking her hand to stop her from continuing to stroke him. "I'm trying something new, actually."
"Something new? Oh! Sounds interesting, I like trying new things... you know I'm very flexible. What is it?"
"Monogamy," he answers still smiling.
"Mono what?" She questions perplexed. "You? Monogamous? It has to be a joke and in very bad taste," she replies, almost offended, relaxing her intense grip on his arm.
"I'm not joking."
"Of course you are, you're laughing."
"Huh, I'm just smiling," he replies, erasing his smile.
"It's the same thing. Look, if you don't want to sleep with me you don't have to lie to me. I'd believe you more if you told me you only like men now, but... monogamy? Monogamy and Gojou Satoru don't go together in the same sentence."
"That was before," he says, freeing himself completely from her hands, holding Shimiko's hands to let them on her lap, "And believe me it's hard, in another time I wouldn't have hesitated for a moment, but now... Agh... I'm having a hard time too..."
"If it's so hard maybe it's not your thing."
"Don't they say that the things that most dificult are the best?"
"Are you calling me easy?"
"Maybe."
Distracted by their conversation, Satoru isn't alert enough to avoid the slap that has turned his face upside down. His skin itches, beginning to redden, he grits his teeth and straightens his profile again to see Shimiko's irritated face.
"You're an asshole," Shimiko replies before walking away.
He puts a hand to his cheek and strokes it as he watches her leave, then sighs and turns to the table where there is still too much food left. He picks up the strawberries that scraped his throat as he hastily swallows them and pops one into his mouth.
Fuck, he says to himself craning his neck to see the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Monogamy is more of a problem than he thought. Maybe it would be easier if his skin wasn't so sensitive after sleeping with Kasumi so recently. Maybe it's because he was too used to being indulgent in his every desire.
It still echoes in his mind what Shimiko told him, maybe it's true, maybe monogamy isn't his thing, but he won't be sure until he tries.
"Did you see how they looked at each other?" Miwa says after her fourth glass of sake, her words beginning to slip awkwardly off her tongue.
"I don't know, Gojou wears glasses," replies Momo sipping her second bloody Mary. "How about we curse him so he never gets an erection again?" she asks, laughing slyly, his face redder than usual.
"It doesn't sound bad, what if we curse him so he always has bad breath?"
"How about we make him have constant flatulence problems?"
Kasumi laughs loudly and the shamans at the next table turn to look at her. She feels so hot that she has unbuttoned the first few buttons of her shirt and fans herself with her hand, rocking gently on her seat. She has already lost a little control over her own body and feels slightly drowsy, her blue eyes narrowed.
A guy doesn't let her out of his sight and smiles at her as their gazes meet.
"That shirt has too many buttons," he says, with a lopsided smile.
"What did you just say to my friend?" Momo asks, emboldened, frowning noticeably. "An ugly guy like you has no right to look in her direction, or you want a problem with me?"
"And what trouble can a cute little girl like you cause me?"
Momo's broom rises from the floor by itself, hitting him in the jaw so hard that it knocks him out and he falls on the table unconscious.
"Momo!" shouts Kasumi.
The rest of the shamans at the table burst out laughing and another one smiles at the girls.
"Don't worry, he had it coming," he says, taking his glass of beer.
"I think we've had too much to drink," Kasumi admits, with three empty sake glasses in front of her and a heavy feeling clouding her mind. Momo rolls her eyes, then finishes in one long gulp what's left of her reddish drink and drags the glass across the table as if she hadn't just attacked a man a few seconds ago.
"Tomorrow we have to get up early..." she reminds herself and suddenly opens her eyes wide. "Hey, haven't you heard from Ren? It seems he didn't come."
Kasumi keeps quiet, thinking about the last mission she was given to start cleaning up the city of Tokyo. Unable to confess to her that she doesn't have a partner yet, she keeps silent wondering how safe it would be for her to go by herself.
Momo has a huge aversion to working for the government, accepts only a couple of jobs a year from the Kamo Clan and has reproached her a couple of times for working for the same government that offers no protection for the shamans they employ. For the same reason, she ends up resting her face on one hand and looking away from the bar.
"Are things that bad?" She asks her, believing that her countenance is nothing more than the effect that what is left of her relationship with Ren still has on her. "All right, I won't ask any more questions. Shall we go?"
"I'd like to... get some air before returning to the room."
"Okay, but don't take too long or I'll come and get you. Utahime was right, these guys are nasty," she whispers to her, though her words are quite audible.
She takes her jacket and throws it over her shoulder, walks a few steps with her former classmate and leaves through the front door of the hotel. A soft cold blast hits her embarrassed face and she breathes in the air tinged with the smell of nicotine. She ends up turning to a shaman wearing a rather outlandish jacket. Hakari turns to her, a cigarette dangling from between his lips and a barely interested look.
Kasumi walks a few steps toward him, having lost her modesty over sake and with an anxiety that only a cigarette could calm.
"Can I have one?" She asks him without even introducing herself, and Hakari doesn't take long to extend his cigarette pack to her.
After taking one in her hands, she places it on her lips and leans against him when he lights his lighter. Kasumi inhales the heavy grayish cloud and her shoulders drop after exhaling it.
This bad habit that her ex-boyfriend ended up sticking her with is one she doesn't regret at all. She discovered over the years that a lifetime of exorcising creepy creatures comes with a need to numb her senses, very occasionally. Having a drink and a cigarette after a horrific mission usually helps her sleep, and now, when Gojou Satoru has become a character worthy of her nightmares, it suits her just fine.
"Are you from the Jujutsu school?" Hakari asks her suddenly and she nods.
"And you?"
"Nah, they expelled me," he says, smiling. "You have to be careful, the cold air won't do you much good."
Kasumi frowns and as she is about to take a second puff on her cigarette, she feels it leave her fingers. She turns around, only to find Gojou's expressionless face analyzing the cigarette, which he soon throws to the ground to give it a stomp.
"I was smoking that," she complains, fingers still dangling in the air, holding absolutely nothing.
"You were," Satoru says in a tone absent of amusement.
"Can you give me another?"
Hakari finishes his cigarette and throws it on the ground without having the finesse to put it out and turns to Kasumi.
"Not if he's going to waste them," he replies and turns to go back into the hotel.
Once alone, Kasumi crosses her arms and takes her dazed gaze to the parking lot, opposite to where Satoru is standing, trying to ignore his presence. She should turn around and follow in Hakari's footsteps, but she does not.
"You smoke now?" He asks her, bringing both hands to his pockets to circle around her and stand in front of her face.
"There are many things I do that you don't know about," she replies, her brow furrowed.
"Like what?"
Nothing comes to mind, the truth is, besides smoking very occasionally, there is nothing else slightly extravagant that she does.
"I don't have to answer your questions," she replies, turning her profile in another direction.
Satoru notices the giddy way her words roll off her tongue and then the blush that tinges her cheeks. He suddenly ducks in her direction and Kasumi ends up shrugging, alerted by the shameless way Satoru violates her personal space.
"Kasumi-chan, are you drunk?"
"Of course not! What are you talking about?" She questions, opening her eyes like two plates.
"You are, how much did you drink?" He asks and a smile curves his lips and reveals his shiny white teeth.
"What are you doing here interrogating me? Shouldn't you be with... that woman? That... the exuberant one."
"Shimiko?" He asks. "No, I'd rather be here, making sure this drunk girl doesn't do anything crazy."
"I'm not drunk and I don't need you to take care of me. You'd better go see your friend."
Satoru can perfectly feel the accusing tone in Kasumi's words, he perceives a slight contempt in her weakened eyes.
"She's not my friend."
"Wow, how familiar you are considering you're not even friends."
"Let's go inside, Kasumi. The breeze won't do you any good," he says, grabbing her by the shoulder before she shakes his hand off to take a few steps away from him.
"Stop acting like you're a gentleman. Don't pretend you care what I do, whether I smoke or don't smoke, whether I drink or don't drink, or how much I drink. It's none of your concern, Gojou Satoru. Mind your own business."
"Wow, you're a stubborn drunk."
"I'm not drunk!"
"But you are jealous."
"Je-jealous?!" she questioned scandalized, intensifying the blush on her cheeks. "You're so arrogant!"
"Well, I can't argue with that, but being arrogant doesn't make me a liar. Kasumi-chan, are you jealous? Because if so you should know that nothing happened between me and her."
"I don't want to listen to you! After everything that happened you can't afford to come and behave as if nothing happened. Do you think I've forgotten everything? Well no! You're a cheater, Gojou Satoru. Once a cheater, always a cheater. That's what cheaters are like."
"Hey, hey, the status of our relationship at that time wasn't official," he replies, raising a finger in the air, trying to defend himself. "Besides, who says cheaters can't change?"
"Everyone does!"
"That doesn't sound very realistic."
"I don't care, because it's true. You're still the same as you were that day when I saw you clearly with that woman."
"This means you haven't forgiven me, right?" he asks, his deep voice stirring inside Kasumi.
"I already told you that I forgave you."
"I don't understand, you forgave me, but you keep reproaching me for something that happened five years ago. I thought things were clearer, after all, you and me—"
"Last night was a mistake. And you'd better go back to your room because you and I both know that woman is waiting for you."
"No, no, of course not, Kasumi," he says, taking her by the shoulders. "Why don't we go inside and have this conversation in a more private place?" He asks, craning her neck as she sees a small group a few meters away.
"Get your hands off me!"
"Hey, hey, don't yell or they'll think I'm kidnapping you."
"I don't give a damn!"
"You don't leave me much choice," Kasumi suddenly feels Gojou's scent flooding her nose; his chest welcoming him as he wraps her in his arms and the night breeze disappears completely. It takes her a few seconds to realize that they are in another place, a dark and warm one. And, as she does so, Kasumi rests both hands against Gojou's chest and pushes him to let go. "See?" He says after lifting a switch against the wall. "There's no one here but you and me."
Inside Satoru's hotel room, Kasumi inspects the surroundings and lets her pride fill her mouth with words again.
"What did you do with her? Did you hide her in the bathroom like you did with me that time?"
"How cruel you are," he remarks, straining a smile. "Kasumi-chan, you're making me feel like the biggest piece of trash on earth."
"It's what you make me do Gojou, I'm not like that, I don't say these things or... or go around inspecting my partner's hotel room to make sure he's faithful to me. That's what you provoke, for being a womanizer."
"But I've changed!" he says, holding both hands against his own chest. "You have to believe me, I'm telling the truth. Yes, I could have brought that woman with me today but I didn't, because of you."
"You shouldn't have! Not for me!"
"I don't understand, you wanted me to bring her to my room?"
"No!"
"Agh..." gets out his throat in a sigh and shuffles his hair with one hand. "Why the fuck does this have to be so difficult? Look... Look at me..." he begins, taking a few steps in her direction. "It's really not easy to be what you want me to be, but I'm really trying. Even if you hadn't been here today, there's no one else on the planet who would want to take back to my hotel room."
"You're the most romantic," she replies, almost ignoring him and embarks to the mini-bar, but before she manages to grab a bottle of beer, she feels Satoru's fingers wrapping over her hand, closing the door to the small fridge with the other.
"Why don't you just go to sleep?"
"With you?"
He shrugs.
"It's an option."
"No, I won't be your second choice."
"You're still with that?"
The truth is that Satoru has never liked jealous women, having to give explanations for his steps and every action is most irritating. But he accepts that this is his own doing, that Kasumi, five years ago, was not this kind of person. He feels responsible for her, for her being drunk and for her being so upset with him.
"If you're not going to let me drink, let me go. She's most likely waiting for you in her room," she tells him, her gaze still heavy and her movements awkward.
Suddenly Satoru's cold palms cup her cheeks, Kasumi feels the warmth of her skin disappear in his hands. She opens her eyes, stretching her long eyelashes in his direction and, despite her aversion to him, cannot contain the intense beating of her stubborn heart, hammering on her chest.
"Kasumi-chan, you're so cute when you're drunk."
"I-I' m not," her voice trembles and she breaks away from him, "And I'm not drunk," she says, taking her first steps towards the door.
"Wait, wait," he says, taking her by the hand to drag her to a small two-piece couch where he leaves her seated and crouches down in front of her. "Ah..." he sighs, looking up, letting his glasses slide down the bridge of his nose. "What can I do to make you believe me?" he asks to himself and Kasumi waits, perhaps hoping that he will, in fact, find something to convince her. "How about this?" From his pocket he pulls out his new cell phone and holds it out in front of her.
"What's that?" Kasumi asks, taking the cell phone in her hands, in a soft and docile tone.
"It's my cell phone, check it, I have nothing to hide from you."
Kasumi takes a quick look at the few applications that Satoru has installed and, after looking him in the eyes with some doubt, opens the agenda. Her face frowns again when she sees that he only has four numbers in his address book: Megumi, Ijichi, Kasumi and Yumiko.
"Yumiko!" she says, as if she had found enough evidence to no longer believe in his lies and displays her finding on Satoru's surprised face.
"No, no, wait!" he tells her when he notices that she tries to stand up from the sofa and stops her with his own body. Satoru has no choice but to sink to his knees with Kasumi's legs between his. "That's my mother!"
"Who would call their own mother by her first name?! Stop lying to me!"
"I swear, you have to believe me," he begs, pushing her back against the sofa. "We can call her, though... Ah... it would be a problem."
"You expect me to believe that? As good a liar as you are, I would have expected better... Besides..." she says, looking carefully at the cell phone until she notices something she had ignored so far. "This isn't even your cell phone! Yours was broken!"
"Yes... I asked Ijichi to buy me a new one."
"That's so convenient, isn't it? What happened to the old one?"
Satoru hesitates, however, he has the other cell phone in his pocket. Before he left Tokyo he asked Ijichi for it since he was expected to be here. By the same token it would have been most strange and if its location was different. But that cell phone has too many things from five years ago, too many conversations and pictures that are for his eyes only and that at this moment he wishes he had erased completely.
"You don't have it? Did you throw it away?" Kasumi asks. "I mean, if I call you right now, this is the cell phone that will ring, right?" she says, picking up her own cell phone to dial his number.
If a call from Kasumi is received on his cell phone, the clan will be put on notice that he is still pursuing this relationship, when he should be mulling over his own marital status. Kasumi still knows nothing about the arranged marriage and this makes him feel a terrible obligation to finally come clean to her. But doing so when she is so obviously intoxicated is not an option, it is a conversation he would rather have with the usual Kasumi. Not this one who is also so infuriated with him.
"The other cell phone is here and if you call, this will be the one that rings, not the new one," he confesses with slight regret in his voice, as this doesn't help his case at all. "And if you check it you'll find a lot of things you won't like, very old things that I don't care about. Well, maybe I only care about the two pictures I have with you. Nothing else..."
She seems to calm down with this explanation, although he still perceives the distrust that her blue eyes radiate.
"Besides..." he continues, "the clan is following all my steps and those of the people who are related to me. That's why I bought this one, so as not to get you or anyone else in trouble."
"Doesn't even your clan trust you?" she asks, her voice soft.
Satoru smiles with slight melancholy tinging his expression and ends up nodding. Unable to reveal the rest of the story yet.
"I just want to keep you safe from them, Kasumi-chan."
As if just at this moment she realizes that his huge figure is on top of her, Kasumi feels the heat of her face intensify and feels unable to hold his gaze. The alcohol beginning to lose the peak of its effect. Her heart pounding and she clenches her legs, she looks back into his eyes shyly and realizes that she is falling again, that his spell is taking effect once more and she curses herself for being so weak.
"So... you weren't going to sleep with that woman?" she asks shyly.
"I could... but I wouldn't. You're the only woman I'd want to sleep with."
The blush grows and Satoru notices it, sees it spreading quickly to her ears and tinginging her skin pink between her unbuttoned shirt and the loose knot of her tie.
The air around them suddenly changes, the whispered words that have just left their mouths and the way Kasumi's body relaxes on the couch only making a distinct hunger grow inside Satoru. Something that has only been increasing since his last orgasm.
"You believe me?" He whispers, subtly moving closer to her face and notices the way she evades his gaze, turning back to him fleetingly.
"This would be easier if you... didn't have such a pretty face, you know?" She says to him, still under the effect of the alcohol. "Why do you have to look like that?" She asks, as if resenting his appearance, and Satoru can't help but smile again, "Why do you have that stupid face? I hate it, I hate your face. I hate that you're so tall."
"I can bend down," he whispers again, shortening the inches between them, "And I can turn off the light if it helps you not to see this cute face of mine."
Suddenly, Kasumi laughs and hearing her, he spreads his smile.
"Dumbass, why do you have to make me laugh when I'd rather be mad at you?"
"Are you? You still mad at me?"
"Of course I am, I'm upset and jealous and I don't want to be upset and jealous. I would rather not feel anything, but you make things very difficult for me and it's not fair. I should talk to Momo, she'll tell me what to do."
"What do you think she would tell you?"
"That I curse you and never speak to you again."
"Well, in my best interest... You should stay here to sleep."
"Don't ask me to do that..."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know if I have the strength to say no..."
"Then don't..."
The tip of his nose touches hers, her heavy breath coming slowly through her half-open lips. Satoru finds no reason or strength to stop, to stop himself from shortening the inches that separate them until he feels on the skin of his lips the warm air coming from Kasumi's mouth.
She closes her eyes, somehow forgetting everything, once again. She joins her lips to his, shyly, so softly that it makes Satoru's skin crawl. Suddenly he feels Kasumi's small hands stroking the short hair on his neck, trailing her fingers down to brush his ears. Her tongue pushes over his teeth, begging for an invitation and he stops suddenly and pulls away from her, just enough to see her face in full. He brings a hand to her heated cheek and she tilts her face to feel his palm fully.
"I hate your hands too," she tells him, when in reality she adores the long, warm fingers caressing her skin.
He can perfectly feel the intense pounding of his heart, pumping hard as if he were an inexperienced teenager. His chest filling with this strange sensation that he is sure, it can't be anything else, this has to be love. So strong that he feels his chest tearing apart, unable to feel so many things at the same time.
However, a flash of lucidity clears his thoughts and he sees clearly what is in front of him; a drunken girl.
A memory bursts into his mind, so vivid that it seems like yesterday.
With no intention of leaving, Yaga continues to drink measure after measure of Irish whiskey while Gojou and Nanami remain seated next to him, chatting trivialities. At some point in the evening, Shoko re-enters only for Nanami to give her the night off, telling her that they have the situation under control as if giving her a mission report.
By this time the bar is pretty crowded, which isn't much, considering how small it is. However, it is in a fairly busy area of Tokyo city and while some people are coming in and some are going out, a few more are walking along the sidewalk outside the bar.
Gojou can come to understand the definition of 'acquired taste', which is what he generally hears about alcohol and cigarettes. For his extreme taste for sweet things was born in a similar way. He doesn't fully understand it though, as sugar doesn't cloud his judgment in the slightest.
"You should at least have a drink," Yaga tells him, "then I wouldn't feel so pathetic.
"You know I don't handle it well," Gojou replies. "It could end in disaster."
"Right, it's ironic, isn't it? That the strongest shaman can't tolerate a fucking beer."
"It is," Satoru says and smirks.
A girl sits down next to Nanami and murmurs something in his ear and he leans in her direction to listen. This small exchange is enough to catch his attention and, intrigued, he watches them slyly.
Truth be told, Nanami is not someone who dates a lot. In fact, as he sits there trying to remember the last time he heard of him dating, no memory comes to mind. But, being someone as reserved and respectful as he is, he probably wouldn't divulge it.
The six eyes have limitations, of course he can't hear what that pair are talking about, however, body language speaks volumes on its own. The blushing girl pats Nanami's shoulder and adjusts the lapel of his ochre suit and leans back with one shoulder against the bar.
"It looks like Nanami will have a good time tonight," Gojou murmurs to Yaga and he doesn't even try to turn around to look at them.
Yaga smirks and takes another sip of whiskey.
"Do you really believe that?" she questions and leaves him thinking. The truth is that Nanami is too proper to abandon Yaga on a night like this, but he hasn't refused the obvious attentions of this girl who, in his opinion, is quite attractive. She's wearing a tight black blouse that lets anyone inside the bar clearly see her imposing front. She has light brown hair and one can barely see the black roots of her hair and she smiles with gleaming white teeth that contrast the red of her thin lips.
When he sees them exchanging phone numbers, he's about to stand up to annoy him but holds back the impulse and remains seated in his place next to his superior.
Suddenly Nanami stands up and takes the girl's jacket to place it over her bare shoulders. Gojou observes Nanami's innate gallantry and the way he carefully rests a hand against her waist to escort her towards the exit.
At this point Gojou tells himself that he should have bet something with Yaga, as it becomes clear to him that he would have won. Nanami will take this girl home, but before leaving he gives him a sidelong glance and follows his course to the door.
"I told you," he remarks triumphantly and looks at his partner on the other side of the window, stopping a cab to open the door for the girl, but is left speechless as he watches him close the door to talk to the driver through the passenger window.
Nanami seems to give the driver some instructions and as the cab accelerates, he copies his own steps into the bar and returns to sit next to Yaga.
"You see?" Yaga whispers to him with a smile and a slightly flushed face.
"What was that all about?" Gojou asks Nanami, craning his neck over the bar.
"What are you talking about?"
"That! Why didn't you go with her?"
"She was drunk, Satoru," he answers, frowning.
"It didn't seem that way to me, I'd bet she only had a drink or two."
"That doesn't matter," Nanami says and picks up his short drink glass. "Besides, I wasn't the only one who noticed her condition," he comments and glances sideways at a group of men at the table behind them. "I did what I had to do, to make sure she returned home," he says and shows his cell phone in which he clearly sees the route of the cab in which the girl has just left.
Gojou's moral compass has always been a bit off, so much so that more than once he has had to copy the behavior of others to know exactly what he should do. And, on this occasion, the memory of Nanami serves as a guide to what a real man would do in this situation. As much as his skin burns and he can't wait to rip off Kasumi's clothes and make love to her again, he knows it's not right. He knows, deep down, that Kasumi might regret even the kiss he just gave her.
"It's so hard..." he murmurs and laughs. "Wait... let me paraphrase that..." he says, going back over his words. "It's very hard what I'm about to do..."
"And what are you going to do?" she whispers.
Satoru gets up from the sofa and lifts Kasumi into his arms. Surprised, she wraps her arms around his neck and watches the clear path he's tracing to the bed to lay her down in the props herself up on her elbows and is embarrassed to see him take off his belt.
She waits, thinking she knows where this is all going, however, Satoru takes the ends of the covers and wraps them around her, leaving only her face in view.
"What are you doing?" she asks confused as he climbs on top of her and uses his belt to secure her inside the blanket.
"I'm taking precautionary measures, because I know myself well enough to know that I don't have the will to stop if you touch me again," he tells her, rather amused. "I mean, I'm trying to be what you expect of me, but like I said... it's kind of... hard."
He plops down on the bed beside her. He sighs and looks at the ceiling trying to calm his most troubled thoughts. Being a guy worthy of her is a somewhat exhausting, frustrating even. But he knows it's the right thing to do, even if he spends the rest of the night regretting not succumbing to his more immediate desires.
"Sleep, Kasumi. It's my turn to watch over you," he comments, putting both hands behind his head.
"Is this... really necessary?" she asks, her voice full of embarrassment.
"It is. It's not ideal, but it's a solution to my problem."
"I see..."
"Hey, Kasumi..."
"Yes?"
"Do you really think it was a mistake to sleep with me?"
She's silent, unsure of what answer she should give him. Her chest still burns and she can clearly feel the latent need for him still invading her senses. However, just as she is about to answer him, someone knocks loudly on the door. Gojou stands up on the bed, fearing that Shimiko, for some reason, is on the other side of the door.
"Kasumi? Are you there?" He hears from the other side and Satoru fails to recognize this voice, although he has an idea of who it might be.
He gets up from the bed and walks towards the door, crossing the small hall that precedes the room of his suite.
As he is about to reach the door, she knocks again with more urgency and calls Kasumi's name. Momo's words are left hanging from her lips as Satoru opens the door to find the small blonde girl on the other side, a broom clutched firmly in her right hand.
She looks him in the face, then pushes him away and enters the foyer, scanning the surroundings for her friend.
"She's on the bed," he tells her, anticipating her reaction.
Momo opens her mouth in horror, but stops just before entering the room when she sees a lump on the bed, trapped in a dark belt. She turns around, rather quizzical, and looks Satoru in the eye again, expecting some sort of explanation.
"Don't worry, I didn't do anything to her," he says, trying to reassure her. "She's drunk."
"And what do you expect? Some prize for doing the bare minimum?" she asks him and he can't find the right words to answer her. Suddenly she climbs on her broom and levitates enough to hold his gaze without the need to stretch her neck. Once at his height, she looks at him again in the same way she did during the meeting, when Shimiko was stretching her fingers over the buttons of his shirt. "What the fuck are you planning? Do you think that by behaving barely decently you can convince her to sleep with you again?"
"If I had wanted to..."
"You think you're better? That you've changed at all? Guys like you don't change. And even if by some miracle you did, you don't deserve her. You probably don't know it, but you left her in pieces last time. But of course, how would you know? You weren't there to wipe her tears or remind her to eat. You weren't there to help her out of bed. After you, after Mechamaru and Shibuya, it took a lot of work for her to pick up the pieces to get back to herself. And... now that she's finally whole, you arrive to destroy her again and I'm not going to let you."
Speechless, Satoru parts his lips, unable to utter anything. There's not much he can say after hearing the words Momo has spat in his face and she doesn't wait, she turns on her broom and reaches Kasumi, who fortunately hasn't managed to hear anything.
"I'm going to take her out of here," she says, unbuckling the belt that has Miwa prostrate on the bed, but stops when she hears Satoru take a couple of steps into the room.
"No, you stay here with her," he says without looking at her, taking the small suitcase he hasn't unpacked yet. "I'm going to ask for another room," he finishes, taking the electronic card of room 108 to leave it on the table.
A/N: I have had a very exhausting last few weeks, so it was very difficult to find the time and energy to write this chapter. I hope you won't find too many mistakes, I'm so exhausted that it's very likely that I missed some things. I hope that doesn't make it too hard for you to read.
Thanks to Mia and Minth Estele for always leaving a comment on this story. About a question you had left, Ren was not at the meeting but he has his reasons which we will know later. This story still has a long way to go, I don't think we're even a third of the way through. I hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!