Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Broken Mirrors, chapter 51
Saturday, March 12th. Narita International Airport.
Kodachi shadowed the unlikely pair of Nabiki and Gosunkugi as she made sure that the trench coat she had worn covered as much of her as possible without looking too suspicious. The less that her natural and unnatural charm affected those around her, the better. She didn't need to do anything to tip the pair off, even if she had an odd feeling that Nabiki knew that she was there. The fact that the middle Tendo sister hadn't done anything made her suspect that Ukyo had told Nabiki about her plan, and Nabiki had decided that there had to be some merit in her attending.
At least, that was what she hoped was the case. For a human, Nabiki was a formidable woman that she would not want to earn the ire of. It would seem that it was one trait that was shared between this world's Nabiki and her own.
Still, she had to wonder why Nabiki and her darling Hikaru were flying on a public flight, and hadn't just chartered a private jet. At the least, it had made it easier for her to follow them. She had even decided to ride in Business, instead of First Class! Nabiki and Hikaru had best appreciated the sacrifices that she was willing to make.
As Kodachi made her way through the security checkpoint, she was pulled aside for a random search. Kodachi sighed and went with them as she cast a look towards the pair she had trailed this far, and met the eyes of Nabiki who raised an eyebrow for a moment before they went ahead to get settled in on the plane while Kodachi was kept occupied.
Kodachi sighed as she submitted to the search, and hung her head. Nabiki knew, and didn't completely approve of her being there. That was made evident, but still… The chance to be near Hikaru in another city? That was well worth anything that Nabiki would do to her.
Nabiki turned back and continued walking next to Gosunkugi as Kodachi was pulled aside as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. They would release Kodachi before the flight would leave, but it was always best to remind people like her that they were not beyond the reach of another. That just because they had money, or power, they were not untouchable.
This little lesson should make it easier to work with her in the future, especially if Nabiki found herself in need of making Kodachi back off so that Gosunkugi didn't rabbit when they needed him the most. Honestly, it would be best if Kodachi could just get over him. Either that, or the pair of them would just lock themselves in a room and fuck this all out of their systems so that the rest of them were not always being pulled into their messy relationship.
The dumbest thing in all of this was the fact that she was certain that the strange priest must still feel something for the succubus, and had no idea of how to handle it. With the fact that he had summoned her in the first place, no one knew her better. Add in that he knew enough to be able to ward the mansion, then she was certain that he could have sent her back or at least warded himself in such a way that she would not be able to come close. The fact that he hadn't told her quite a bit.
Nabiki glanced aside at Gosunkugi and contemplated the enigma of the priest once again before she settled back in her seat. They had a long flight ahead of them, and a week to spend in Sin City with the pair of them. She was going to need all the sleep she could get.
Gosunkugi shifted and kept himself from casting a glance backwards for the upteenth time since they had gotten on the flight. He knew the energy he felt behind him, he knew it very well. One could say intimately, in fact. For now, he would ignore it. He would pretend that it wasn't there. That it was just his paranoia at work.
It was going to be a very long 13 hours.
When the time came to leave the plane, Nabiki once again led the way off the plane. After they collected their luggage, the pair made their way out to where the car waited for them. The driver was a pretty young woman who wore a very nicely tailored suit that showed off her curves very well. If Nabiki didn't know better, she would guess call girl over driver. The hotel they were going to be staying at for their visit was certainly something else. It wasn't the venue they had chosen for the event, but it was close to it.
The reason for them not staying at the were going to use was that Gosunkugi didn't want them to taint the site beforehand with any residual energy that might have accumulated on them that he hadn't been able to cleanse.
The pair slid into the waiting car as the driver loaded their luggage into the trunk while Kodachi watched them from the shadows. After the car pulled away, Kodachi hailed a taxi and pointed at the car that Nabiki and Gosunkugi had gotten into. "Follow that car, please." At the questioning look the driver gave her, she opened her coat a little and flashed some cleavage and dropped a couple of hundred dollar bills on the seat. The driver swallowed hard and nodded as he forcefully dragged his eyes from Kodachi's assets.
Kodachi settled back into the seat with her suitcase on the seat next to her. She had made sure that everything else she would need had been sent ahead of them to the hotel they would be staying at. She forced herself to sit still and not fidget as they drove, even as her senses tracked the pair ahead of them.
Kodachi jerked as they passed the Strip, as she felt something slide over the energies that she had woven around herself like a cocoon to hide her true nature. The presence felt hot, like cinnamon on the back of your tongue. It was gone in an instant, but the aftertaste, as it were, lingered on Kodachi like cigarette smoke. It was not impossible that in the City of Sin, someone had managed to summon a succubus at one time. Perhaps that was all she had felt, the lingering presence of another.
At least, that was what she hoped it was. If not, she didn't think that anyone would notice her presence, not with how much practice she had gotten with trying to hide her presence from Hikaru.
She had best get to the hotel soon, or the driver was likely to see a lot more than he had expected to.
Nabiki led the way once more into the hotel, as a bellhop collected their luggage while the driver drove off. Nabiki couldn't help but notice that the driver left, and didn't drive towards the parking lot like she had expected them to. She glanced at the bellhop, and quickly assessed him before she looked at him and smiled sweetly. It might not come naturally to her, but she had learned how to charm with the best of them.
"Do you know where our driver will be? I completely forgot to tip her." Nabiki said as she turned to look at the bellhop and leaned forward a very calculated amount.
He swallowed hard and pulled his gaze up with great effort. "Umm, that car…. It's not one of ours…. There is a service that provides all sorts of services… Drivers, aides, people to act as escorts and companions…. They take care of a lot of things…. Lady K has some of the prettiest and most competent people you will ever find…"
Nabiki smiled and nodded as she stowed that bit of information away. It was always best to know what services and contractors there were in the area. What was interesting was that Lady K hadn't come up in her searches. It wasn't entirely uncommon in places like Las Vegas, but it was something she would have to look into.
Nabiki pulled her attention back to the moment as she stepped away from the bellhop and Gosunkugi to confirm their reservation and get their card keys. She had reserved a suite with two bedrooms and a shared space between them. It would serve them as a base of operations while they were in Las Vegas and oversaw all the preparations for the lovebird's surprise event. Even if it would have been easier in the long run to leave all the mundane details to the professionals she had hired, there were too many little factors, and not so little ones, that had to be confirmed by someone who better understood exactly what all the little details were. Such as, Gosunkugi making sure that the venue and the suite that Akane and Ranko would share for their visit was as safe as possible. She had already reserved their rooms, and no one would be in them except for staff for the entire time they were in Las Vegas. She had made sure of that, so that Gosunkugi would have as much access as he needed.
There was also the matter of making sure that no one decided to pull anything hinky, not that she thought they would, but still… The Saotome's were notoriously secretive, and rarely went anywhere outside of their home territory. Ranko was even more infamously secretive, so it was best to make sure that no paparazzi decided to try and get some sort of candid scoop or whatever other nonsense might come into their heads. It might even be a good idea to hire dedicated staff to watch over the newlyweds, but she would interview the staff of the hotel first and then decide. She was sure that while Ranko was here, then she would have all three of the retainers on hand, so that might not even be an issue.
Even if they were supposed to be on vacation while they were in Las Vegas, she knew all of them far too well. Shiro was certain to be the only person who was allowed to drive them, but that had already been accounted for. It hadn't been the easiest thing to make sure that he had the appropriate licenses for operating in the United States in the capacity that he would be handling, but money and the familiarity of Nevada with the rich and famous that came to their most famous city had been of great help.
Still, it would be nice to get to relax in her room and start to check on things from a more local vantage point.
Hopefully Kodachi would behave herself.
Kodachi watched the pair as they made their way in and waited until they had made their way up to their suite before she entered the hotel as well. She had managed to get the exact rooms they were going to be staying in well ahead of her visit, so she had booked the penthouse suite two floors above theirs.
It would be close enough that she could keep track of them, and get to Hikaru if anything happened, but far enough away that she hoped that she could hide her presence, at least as long as Hikaru did not actively look for her. If that happened, she was sure that no shell she wove over herself would be strong enough to hide her presence from him.
Of course, she had planned on revealing herself to them sooner rather than later. It was better to beg forgiveness, and all that. And hopefully, following the advice of Akane and Ukyo had paid off, at least a little. She really hoped it had, since restraining herself around Hikaru was ever so difficult! Those dead, sunken eyes .. those pale cheeks…. That slight, almost emaciated frame… it set her heart racing and her loins on fire!
No, no… she had to keep control. She would not… indulge .. as much as she was tempted to do so. It was all so that she could be closer to him, after all.
Hikaru Gosunkugi retreated back to his own room as Nabiki got settled in with her laptop out in the main room with a cup of coffee at hand. He had to prepare himself, mentally as well as spiritually, for what was to come. He had to cleanse his mind and wipe away the distractions that he had felt since he had entered Las Vegas. The muted presence that he had felt as they traveled was something that he would not worry about, unless he had to. The fact that he had felt something just meant that his suggestion that they not stay at the actual venue already had started to pay off. The presence of Ranko, and even Akane, at the other location would surely put a strain on the barrier between worlds Add in himself, Ukyo, and all the others that had regular contact with the siblings, and it was a fair amount of weight to hold up to maintain the barrier in a place that should not have experienced all that much strain.
Then there was the fact that his mind kept drifting towards a certain nuisance and distraction of his own. He was not sure what game Kodachi had been playing, but he had to admit that she had been far less… Insistent… as of late. She had started to announce her presence, instead of just trying to ambush him. She had even respected his personal space, at least for her she had been. It honestly left him wondering what was on, and… Questioning the slight ache he felt, the vague feeling that something was not quite right.
It was something that he would try to figure out another time. Say, in fifty years or so. No more than a hundred, surely. Not that he would admit that he was not prepared to face Kodachi honestly, but he worried sometimes that some of what he had felt when he first had met the succubus might still be lingering at the back of his mind, and had in some way tainted his expectations towards her.
Like he had told himself, something for another time.
In a corner of the city, a woman who radiated a sense of power and sensuality looked down at the trembling figure of a woman dressed in a chauffeur's uniform. The imposing woman shifted, one leg crossing over the other as the other woman licked lips suddenly gone dry.
"So, Nabiki did come on her own, surely to make sure that everything was in order. Interesting… you did well, my dear.." She said with words that were sweet as honey, but still sent an electric thrill through the body of the woman who knelt before her. "I am looking forward to meeting her, and seeing how she compares." She lingered for a moment, as she seemed to savor that thought, then looked at the driver once more. "This other person… This man Gosunkugi,.. He is someone I am not familiar with. I hardly think that he should matter, but still.. I will have one of my darlings look into him." She shifted again, her legs uncrossing and crossing once more. "You did a good job, my dear. I will reward you tonight…" She said with honeyed words, as the woman before her trembled in a mix of primal fear and desire. The regal woman looked towards one of the nude women that stood along the wall. "Take her to my quarters and prepare her… I shall dine in my room tonight…" She started to rise as her attendant led the young woman off.
'Hrm.. I Will have to find a new one soon, I think I have almost used up the last one… No matter, there are always more fools who will happily give me everything that they have, all of themselves, just to bask in my presence.' She thought to herself as she walked out of the room towards her quarters. In the dimness of the hall, her eyes seemed to flash for a moment, before she had stepped into her own quarters.