File #23
Be back soon.
Ai
Takeda put down his cell phone with a sigh. The brevity of the message was just so typical of the girl. Then again, she probably picked it up from him, so he couldn't very well complain about it.
"Is it her?"
The deep basso of his father's voice made him jerk involuntarily, eyes snapping to attention to the figure sitting in a plush chair, wreathed in shoulders. The brandy glass he held in one hand sparkled ominously in the dim light of the electrical fireplace just across from him.
"Yes. She says she will be back soon." Takeda did not seem entirely comfortable in the patriarch's presence, as if unsure how to properly conduct himself. Fumbling a little, he put his phone away, then found himself at a loss with what to do with his hands. He resolved that by putting them behind his back, not unlike a posture commonly seen in the military.
The patriarch did not offer any comment to Ai's impending return, instead shifting to a related topic. Takeda nodded at what he said, replying.
"She is...independent. But committed to her duties." A non-committal answer if there was one, but yet it was also clearly protective of his charge. Ai was a free spirit, and he was proud of the way she had turned out. Given that he had an active part in the raising of her, he could not help but feel a little defensive about her.
"Do not get too attached to the girl. She is one of many. Even if she is exceptional."
"And only we will remain." Takeda hated having to say that, but it was expected. He could not afford any weakness if he was to keep his position. It was not so stable that he could just mouth off and expect to get away with it. He was, as Ai herself was, eminently replaceable.
And they all knew it.
"How's the little one coming along?" Yuuka. Of course. He should have expected the question. It was only natural, given that should anything happen to Ai, Yuuka would have to take over her role. There were others, as was to be expected, but those were separate matters from what he had to deal with personally.
"Still a little green, but she takes after Ai herself, so she should turn out alright, given some time." Which was the truth. Yuuka was a little less assertive and even more quiet than Ai had been at her age, but it would not impede her progress too badly at this stage. In fact, her passivity would make her more tractable than Ai ever was.
"Get her ready. Soon." Takeda nodded, bowing and retreating out of the room. He knew a dismissal when he heard one. And he was glad to be out of that room. He had never got along with the old man. They were just too different.
His phone trilled again, this time with a message from Yuuka. A good girl, that one. A pity that their line was not for good girls. Already she was no longer quite the same.
Pity indeed.
~*~*~
Reina was not entirely sure how she ended up outdoors in the bright afternoon sun again, right after her shower and still grumpy over that incident she had woken up to in the morning.
On the bright side, she was out on the beach on a fine sunny day, with plenty of hunks around for her to ogle at. On another plus side, after much scrutiny of her body during her extended shower, there had been no marks in any conspicuous places save for a couple of bruises that she wasn't sure how she had received. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Fortunately, they were easy enough to cover up, and she could still wear a bikini top without fear.
Resolutely keeping her mind off any negative aspects, Reina concentrated on having fun. Currently though, she was gaping at one of her schoolmates behind the large sunglasses that covered half her face.
"Beach volleyball?" It wasn't quite incredulous, but there was definitely a hint of doubt in there. Reina was pretty alright with sports, she just sucked at running. Having decent hand-eye coordination skills was a definite plus point.
"Tanaka-senpai! We're short of people on our team! Please join us!"
Well, at least the girl had good manners, Reina had to give her that. She hated being disrespected. Shrugging a little, Reina stood up, brushing the sand from her shorts.
"Sure. Why not?" Following after her taller junior, they soon joined the rest of the vacationing students. About half of them would be due to graduate soon, and Reina was one of them. She was pretty confident that her exam results would be good enough, despite having left studying to the absolute last minute (read: the day before each paper).
A bunch of high school girls playing beach volleyball in skimpy attire was bound to attract attention anyway, and Reina thrived on the fact that she could sense the numerous male gazes drawn to her. The attention made her perform better, even though she had to duck from a couple of overly powerful shots made by the opposing team.
Slightly ticked off about their team trailing, Reina spiked the ball hard across the makeshift net, sending it hurtling across at high speed. There was a disturbing thwack as the ball impacted heavily against the other girl's head, sending her staggering and falling backwards...
There was a rush, then a suddenly hushed moment as someone caught the falling girl before she hit the sand. A pause, then the other girls swarmed around their fellow schoolmate, worried.
"Mororin!" "Kanamin!" "Are you ok?" Those who knew the girl better were already ringed around her, with her best friend knelt down on the other side of the person who had caught her. Reina, feeling just a twinge of guilt at having hit the girl, also drifted over, hovering anxiously outside the circle of worried girls.
"Ugh..." The stunned girl seemed to recover from her daze, her best friend squealing aloud with relief, clutching her hands. The stranger that had caught her also asked after her state, before helping her up with the best friend.
Being much smaller than the ring of girls, Reina could not see who the mysterious rescuer was, since that person was also, evidently, not so tall that she could see them over the shoulders of the others. However, when the circle parted in order to allow poor Kanami to stagger with the help of her best friend to the shade, the identity of that person was all too readily revealed to a horrified Reina.
Behind tinted glasses, Ai smiled in that winning way of hers, mostly directed at the other girls around her, but the edge of that smirk was definitely intended for Reina. And Reina knew it. She was standing so still, fists clenched, that her body was almost shaking. With rage or embarrassment, she knew not which. Probably a combination of both. In any case, she was too distracted to even apologize properly to Kanami, which drew dirty looks from her friends. Reina, as usual, ignored them.
Dressed in casual beach wear, with a white shirt tied off at one side and unbuttoned to reveal the black bikini underneath, Ai was a picture of cool confidence and sophisticated maturity, yet still managing to appear cute at the same time. Her long hair was tied back in a half ponytail, brown strands falling straight and unimpeded over her shoulders and back. She was hardly in 'bishie mode', as Sayumi had once termed it, but she still drew attention in her own way from male and female alike.
Small or not, and almost defiantly female to boot, she definitely got the attention of Reina's fellow students without even trying. The fact that Ai was also Japanese and conversant in the language helped. Communication was hardly a problem in this case, and Ai seemed all too sunny and just friendly enough to pique interest.
The mere fact that Ai was just standing there and looking as if that morning never happened at all was really pissing Reina off though, and before she even really thought through the consequences of what she was doing, the pint-sized girl had marched up to Ai and grabbed hold of the older girl's arm, pulling her away from the circle of giggling schoolgirls and off to some distance away.
Ai let Reina pull her along, an amused smile playing on her lips. She was curious as to what the fiery yankii would do. That and the girl's appearance was hardly unpleasant, and while Reina was dragging her, Ai could easily admire the view presented before her.
"You!" Reina exploded the moment there were no idle bystanders in convenient earshot. They were not completely out of sight from her classmates, but Reina didn't give a damn about that. They would have to walk way too long if she wanted to find a decently secluded spot. Then again, Reina wasn't sure if she wanted to be alone in a secluded spot with someone like Ai. Staying out in plain sight seemed like the best way to make the other girl behave, or so Reina thought.
"Me?" Ai was grinning now, knowing that it would make Reina flip out even more at her easygoing attitude. If this were an anime, one would probably be able to see the bulging veins on Reina's forehead by now. Her fingers were still clamped around Ai's forearm, tightly and almost painfully. For her part, Ai did not seem to care too much, putting her free hand on her hip in a languid pose.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Reina wanted to yell, but she settled for hissing in order not to draw too much attention to herself. Ai squinted at her in a lazy manner, her glasses slipping a little down her nose at the action.
"Last I checked, this was a public beach, kitten." That low, sexy drawl made Reina frown and shiver at the same time. Her grip tightened, and she glared at Ai, who continued looking like the most innocent person to ever walk the earth.
"I thought I told you to leave me alone!" Reina spat through gritted teeth, her nails digging into Ai's forearm now. It was certain to leave a mark or several, but Ai did not seem to exhibit any kind of pain at the action.
"I was leaving you alone. You are the one who dragged me here. And I might add, you're still holding on to me." Ai pointed out reasonably, her eyes sparkling with concealed laughter. Reina let go of Ai's arm in disgust, wiping her hand off on her shorts as if she had just touched something slimy. Ai massaged her arm, now freshly adorned with the deep nail marks that Reina had left on it. She seemed to still be in good humor.
"Don't sulk so much, kitty. You'll get wrinkles." Ai advised with a laugh, reaching out to poke at Reina's puffed up cheeks. The younger girl flinched away, giving Ai a flat stare of open dislike. Ai did not seem particularly rebuffed by this, still sparkling with positive energy.
"Just stay away from me." Reina growled, turning away from that annoying bane of her existence. Before she could take another step though, Ai suddenly grabbed at her shoulder, spinning her around to face her.
"How rude of you to just walk away after injuring me." Ai's face had moved disconcertingly close to Reina's in an instant, making the cat-like girl feel distinctly uncomfortable at the clarity of the unfathomable eyes just inches away from her own.
Before Reina could push her away, Ai leaned in to place a kiss on the girl's cheek, or at least, she had intended to. Upon sensing Ai's forward motion, Reina tried to move away, but Ai was still gripping her by the shoulder. Desperate, she jerked her face to one side, ironically allowing Ai to brush her lips against Reina's own.
Not one to turn down a free opportunity, Ai went along with the motion and captured Reina's lips with practiced ease, taking advantage of Reina's outraged protestations and silencing them in one move. She did not hold the kiss for long though, releasing Reina after only sucking a bit tauntingly on the outraged girl's lower lip. She did not fancy being bitten by the girl, knowing that Reina was fully capable of such an act.
Reina's cheeks were definitely burning after that little display, and her hand moved of its own accord once Ai had released her. The loud smack of Reina's palm against Ai's cheek was punctuated by the clatter of Ai's glasses falling to the sand, followed by the interested gazes of her classmates who were still staring at them from afar. Ai did not move for a while, head still turned to one side. She had expected the slap, had turned her head at the right moment to minimize the force of the blow, but it still stung. Raising one hand to touch her sore cheek, Ai seemed entirely neutral as she returned Reina's angry gaze.
"I hate you! I don't want to see you ever again!" Reina burst out, even though she was the one who had just hit Ai. Well, to some degree, her vehemence was entirely expected and even warranted. However, to others who did not know of the relationship between the two girls and were not close enough to hear the conversation, it was far too easy to misinterpret what was going on. Reina did not think of that though, still too caught up in the moment as she turned and ran away from what was probably the most infuriating person that she had ever met.
Ai continued standing there until Reina disappeared out of sight, one hand still resting on her cheek. Turning, she regarded the curious gaggle of Reina's friends still lingering around in the distance, whispering to each other with obvious vigor.
Her hand moved from her cheek to brush across the lower half of her face, her thumb rubbing speculatively across her lips as a slightly evil thought crept into her mind. Her eyes hooded over with that dangerous darkness that few had ever seen up close and lived to tell of it, and she took one step forward, sandaled foot crunching down firmly on her fallen glasses, cracking the lenses and pushing the cracked edges further into the sand.
She headed towards Reina's friends, an easy smile on her all-too-innocent face. The broken glasses she left behind still half-buried in the sand, in silent testament to how she treated things and people. The sun was still bright and shining down, but it was no longer quite the fine day that it once was.
Sparkling brighter to rival the sun itself, Ai conducted herself with admirable ease, a false light to which fair butterflies gathered around, unaware of the danger they courted.
Not that they had anything to fear though, since the target was never them to begin with.
Ai only smiled as she wove her web, secure at the center. Such fun she would have.
This really was turning out to be a wonderful vacation after all.
~*~*~
"Have you found her?"
At a glance, the speaker appeared almost languid, relaxing in a plush upholstered swivel chair, the back facing the person she was addressing. She seemed more preoccupied with the panoramic view of the cityscape from her office than anything else. Behind her, the nondescript man bowed his apology that he had not yet been able to trace the elusive target, the last known destination having been Europe before they had lost track of her entirely.
"Have you found anything else about her at all?" The trace of irritation in her voice was faint, yet the displeasure was entirely palpable. This was not a woman to cross, and the man knew it. To his credit, he was utterly calm and entirely professional, betraying none of his own thoughts or feelings on the situation.
"False trails, many of them. It is almost like this person has never existed." He did not suggest anything else. It was not his place to do so. Only solid evidence, and plausible inferences at the most. He was not being paid to overthink things, or at least, to state his personal opinion on the matter.
"You may go." A curt dismissal, and he bowed again, regardless of the fact that his employer could not see him. Within moments he was out of the room, as silently and unobtrusively as he had entered in the first place.
Once she was certain that she was alone, Kamei Eri sighed and turned back to the massive desk where any number of files were arrayed across the surface. She had a lot of work to do, and she did it to some extent, but only when she wanted to, at her own pace. She had delegated the most tedious tasks to her employees, but there were still many other things that required her direct approval.
Besides all the nagging details of daily work, there was also another matter that haunted her every waking thought. Something that at nagged her, leaving her irritable and unsatisfied in its absence.
Ai, where are you? Eri did not like the feeling. She had felt betrayed once, a long time ago. She did not want to go through it a second time. But if it were to be true, her vengeance would come, in one form or another, no matter how long it took.
"Rijichou, you have a board meeting in 10 minutes." The efficient, impersonal voice of her secretary sounded over the intercom. Eri pressed the buzzer, replying in a monotone.
"I'll be there. Get my materials ready for me and meet me outside."
19 going on 20, still bearing a childlike countenance, Kamei Eri did not look like someone who could shoulder the burden of Kamei Corp on her slender shoulders. Until one looked closely at the determined set of her jawline, that calculating marble gaze that gave nothing away. Then they would proclaim her a true daughter to her poor departed father whom no one in true fact actually missed.
She had left her chair with a frown and slack shoulders; she exited the chairman's office standing straight and tall, an imperious aura emanating from her person. Kamei Eri was no longer a child, not even really a girl anymore. She was board chairman and president of Kamei Corp, the most powerful authority heading one of the foremost companies in all of Japan.
"Let's go." Her tone left no quarter for obstruction of any kind. Confident, determined, poised. Yes, she was no longer that weak girl, at least not to all these people. She was powerful. She was in control. And nothing could stop her.
What Kamei Eri wanted, she got. That was how it had always been. And always would.
The door opened for her, and she stepped through. To a new world she would forge with her own two hands. The doors closed behind her, and she did not look back.
Would not look back. Never again.
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I. Am. Exhausted.
Sorry about the delay, but I had trouble finding the right atmosphere to write this. Hope it doesn't disappoint.
*crawls into bed away from the sun*
Topic: Nocturne [13/02 - Epilogue (END)] (Read 113423 times)