Chapitre 12 :: On the way to the HQ

Publiée: 08-10-06 - Mise à jour: 08-10-06

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As soon as they were seated in the red Mini, Ryo realized that maybe taking this particular assignment has been a huge mistake. The chit didn’t remove her eyes off him during the entire commute to Shinjuku and – behold the utter weirdness – he was getting more and more uncomfortable.  

He had no idea why – he has always striven to get as much female attention as possible – but lately he was getting fed up with all the women gushing over him – when they didn’t yell for the vice squad, that is. He wanted only one female to gush over him, but she usually did that with a hefty dose of hammers.  

This time, however, there was something more than just the ga-ga eyes Hitotsugi Amaya was throwing his way. It all seemed almost surreal. The girl was a widow, for Christ’s sake! Granted, Hitotsugi had been almost thirty years her senior, but she could show some more respect to his memory than get a sudden crush for the guy who sent him to greener pastures – not that she knew that. Besides, all the people she held dear have died lately, but she seemed to have forgotten about that, too – and about her shyness – the moment she looked at him.  

He silently berated himself. She was probably just trying to forget a little, focusing on something – or someone – alive. People coped with loss differently. Kaori, for example, went into hyperactive mode. He had to smile at that one.  

Amaya grinned in the passenger seat. He was smiling. So, he liked her. She was glad. She’s never met a man like him. He was incredibly tall, his shoulders were broad, his eyes intense, and he had to be very strong. And yet, there was something protective, gentle even, in the air around him. She felt safe with him.  

His smile drew her eyes to his lips. She wondered what it would be like kissing him. She’s never been kissed by any man except for her husband, and she wanted to know how it would feel to kiss someone else. Whether Takeru wasn’t much of a kisser or she was the one defected, but she never felt the earth move under her feet at a kiss. The sun didn’t set every time her husband touched his lips to hers and there was no haze over her eyes or butterfly feeling in her stomach, like they used to get in those romance novels she so adored.  

She still remembered the first time they kissed – it was also on the day they first met. She’s never been more afraid in her life, but she was also very curious what a kiss would be like. She was curious if the ground would indeed shake. It started nicely enough. His lips came to rest gently on top of hers, fluttering like butterfly wings. But as soon as she started to enjoy it, he pushed his tongue into her mouth, filling it with his saliva and she almost choked. It was disgusting! They never said anything about that part in her books! And when he grabbed her breasts… She almost fainted in horror! Through the years she grew used to hiding the disgust she felt and to pretend to enjoy it as much as he apparently did.  

With a sigh of relief, Ryo braked in front of his apartment building. Finally they were home and he didn’t have to be alone with her in such a confined environment. Her pale eyes were just a tad too unsettling.  

»Here we are, Amaya-chan,« he murmured, driving into the garage  

She snapped out of her reverie, staring at the dark environment. There were at least a dozen identical cars to the one she was seated in along one side of the garage. Along the other there were as many identical Hondas. Why did he have so many cars? But most importantly, why did he have so many IDENTICAL cars?! As she was scrutinizing her surroundings, she noticed her protector was already out of the car and, her two bags in hand, already on his way toward the iron door at the end of the garage. So much for basic decency of opening the door for her.  

He didn’t know why he just up and left her to follow him. He just had the strangest feeling of creepiness crawling up his spine and a sudden urge to get back to Kaori as soon as possible. He knew it was pure insanity, she was perfectly safe inside their apartment thanks to all the different gadgets he hid around the premises last night as she went back to bed. Besides, she always had some kind of tracking device on, not that she knew it, of course. And she couldn’t find them even if she looked. He changed his tactics of putting the bugs in her buttons. The girl never had the presence of mind of putting on something with buttons whenever she got kidnapped. But there were always bugs on her person, he always made damn sure of that fact.  

Ryo made himself stop on the first landing, hearing their new guest panting behind him. He could feel her pale eyes on him and the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Why did he react to her in that manner? She was a real beauty, a diamond of the first water, and usually – though it was all pretence – he went crazy over girls like her. But this girl, this time… It was different. She – he was sure it wasn’t her fault at all – gave him major creeps. He suspected his reaction and behaviour were the immediate result of the knowledge her presence in his house, under his protection, presented a threat to Kaori. He didn’t care about what could happen to him. He barely cared what happened to Hitotsugi Amaya. In this case, in these circumstances, Kaori was indeed his first priority. She must come out of this mess unscathed.  

When she almost reached him, Amaya extended her hand, touching his arm with her fingers. She’s wanted to touch him ever since he walked into the suite at the Four Seasons. His bicep was thick and hard like a brick under her feathery touch and she felt herself being swamped with heat.  

Ryo flinched at her touch. It sent a chill up his spine, making his stomach clench with apprehension. He needed to get a grip on himself or he really risked screwing everything up. He needed to return to his normal, detached, PROFESSIONAL self as soon as possible. He’s lost his cool more than a week ago as he saw Kaori sprawled on the concrete, blood seeping from under her head, and he still hasn’t regained his steely resolve. It wasn’t this girl’s fault he was panicking because of his partner. It wouldn’t be her fault if something happened to Kaori, it was Maki-Godzilla’s own wish to stay with him and help him protect their client. So Ryo needed to regain his cool, stop flinching whenever Amaya touched him, stop thinking insanities about her pale eyes being spooky… and stop behaving like an idiot when it came to Kaori. As she’s said herself, she was a big girl and knew how to take care of herself.  

»Saeba-san,« Amaya gently murmured as he didn’t seem inclined to budge. He kept staring into nothingness, apparently thinking intently.  

He shook his head, turning slightly. »Call me Ryo, Amaya-chan. The “san” thing makes me feel old.«  

She flashed him another of her brilliant smiles.  

Deciding to ignore another wave of wiggens that assaulted him, he grinned back, making her precede him. It was better to keep her in front so as not to feel her eyes watch his every move, besides he could better admire her assets from behind.  

Her lips extending into a sly smile, she took the stairs slowly. In a few days she’d have him eat from her palm.  

As he followed her, Ryo’s features remained impassive – a total opposite from the usual lecherous grimaces he used to wear, but that was always the case whenever Kaori wasn’t around – comparing the behind wiggling slightly in front of his nose with a different behind. A rounder, firmer, more feminine behind that used to wiggle around his house. As he came to realize early on in his strange partnership with the sister of his best friend, when it came to curves, few women could compete with Makimura Kaori. And when it came to wiggling, spontaneous wiggling, not the artful one meant to attract male population, she had no equals. 

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