Chapter 16
MAYUMI SAEGUSA
With the Nine School Competition set to begin soon, she is going to get rather busy. The convention with the course two students had healed much of the wounds and scars caused by the riots and the terrorist attack and had brought the school together.
It allowed her to address the issue of prejudice openly and started a positive conversation about the issues and the division at school. She had laid the first brick for the building of reform that she had always wished to build, and now it was upto her successors to build upon it.
And right now, she found herself agonizing over her dress as she prepared to meet one of those very successors on a weekend. With days passing by, it was finally time for her first date in Highschool, and it wouldn't really be so embarrassing if it was not for the fact that it was with a junior.
Not that he ever felt like one. Inei Yotsuba was boy-wise and mature beyond his age, and as she heard the bell to her apartment ring, she buzzed up and gave herself a once-over. She had chosen a rather simple white floral sundress with a light pink overcoat.
It was neither too formal nor informal, and with a final sigh, she left the room and walked up to the door. Through design, she made sure that her sisters and butler were away, for she did not wish to make a hill out of this mole.
And here he was.
"Mayumi-san, you look lovely," he greeted her in his usual drawl and lazy voice. She did not miss how his eyes seemed to look her over with a slightly observant gaze, not that she did not do the same. She blushed at the compliment and gave him one of her own.
"You clean up nice as well," she smiled. He had cleaned up indeed, not that he came to school in drabs. But she could somehow feel that he had spent time dressing up rather than choosing it all sloppily. He wore black tapered trousers and a clean white shirt, and his sleeves rolled up. Nothing too fancy but still formal enough, she would say.
Behind him was a black car, making her raise a brow.
"Black and White is becoming quite a theme with you now, isn't it?" she teased, and he shrugged.
"I happen to like Black," he said as he led her upto the car like a gentleman, opening the door for her and helping her sit.
"Thank you," she said as he joined her, and she realized that it was not actually one of the modern self-driving cars but rather an old-school one with manual gears and brakes.
"Wow, I don't think I have ever sat in one of these," and she had not, so he shrugged.
"First time for everything," and with that they were off. And they were off, and it was not as unusual as she had expected. He took her to the cinema, and they watched a movie. Helped her shop around a bit, and a small stroll through the park.
It was pleasant and taxing for him, she could tell, but he stuck by her side as she dragged him from one place to another. That was until it came time for lunch.
"So, where are we going to lunch?" she asked. The truth was that there was not much of Tokyo she had not seen, and she had spent most of the time showing her the places she considered to be the best of the city. At that, he raised a brow.
"Now that is a surprise," he said as he joined her.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Well, you have probably dined at every fine restaurant in the city already. So, I have another plan for you," and with that, his car came to a halt in a residential neighborhood infront of a rather small house.
Beside the house, there was construction going on, and she realized that a cafe was being built. as he opened the door for her, she realized just where she was.
"This is your apartment," she replied, and he nodded with a smile.
"Yeah," he said, walking her up and leading her inside the house, which was quite a bit different from her own.
It would be simple and minimal if she had to describe it using a word.
"Have you hired a private chef?" she asked. She heard him scoff as he walked up to the kitchen.
"Like I would need one," he said, and she finally realized the whole thing.
"You are going to be cooking," she asked as she saw him walk to the other side of the counter and begin arranging utensils and bowls.
"Yeah," he replied, and she hesitated a bit before she asked.
"Have you ever done it before?"
"I ran a cafe. Plus, why don't you be the judge of whether I can cook or not," he added with a smile as he turned on the TV and passed the remote to her.
"You can watch anything to pass the time," he offered, and she just shrugged, much more interested in seeing him as he sorted ingredients.
"I would much rather watch you, lest you poison me, of course," she said, making a fake horrified expression, and he shook his head; a ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he began to cut through the meat, and she realized that he was not joking. He did indeed know how to cook.
"Wow, you can cook," she mouthed out, and he nodded.
"I can," he replied as he began to knead the dough, and seeing him making food seemed so uncharacteristic of him. She was perhaps the only person who still remembered how he had handled the Blanche members and just how ruthless he could be.
And yet here he was cooking and looking rather engrossed in it. It was an art that was becoming rarer, and house-helping CADs were now widely available. She could hardly remember the last time she had made her own food, though Mari often did.
"We have often talked about me during the day. So, who don't you tell me a bit about yourself, Inei-kun," she began as she leaned forward on the table, and he nodded.
"Ask away?" he said as he placed a dish in the oven and began to work on something else.
"You said you ran a cafe before coming to school?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah, it was a small place called Anteiku. Now, it is being run by the matrons of the local orphanage a street away from it," and she frowned.
"Orphanage?" she asked. She had not expected to hear that word from him.
"Yeah, an orphanage. I often let the kids from there come and spend a day at the shop, and when I had to come to Tokyo, I just gave them the keys," he replied.
"You grew up in an orphanage?" the words slipped out of her mouth, and she saw him still for a second, his knife halting in its dicing as he resumed and answered her after a short pause.
"No," he answered.
"But it was my first home in some ways."
The mood turned somber, and she backed off, changing the topic and watching as he cooked.
When the food came out, she took a bite and had only one word to say.
"Inei-kun!" she called out rather loudly as she looked at him intensely.
"I have made a decision."
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INEI YOTSUBA
Inei walked back into his house after dropping Mayumi off at hers. He had a small errand to run, and by now, it was nearly evening. The day had been a mixed bag. He was not enthused by the idea of the date at first and had floated it out more as a joke.
And yet, to his surprise, Mayumi had taken it rather seriously, and so he had to do the same as well. A bit of research and planning, and he had the whole thing planned out, and to be honest, it was a novel experience for him.
Inei had spent all his life alone, taking care of himself and prioritizing his own desires and needs, but this was different. Going out and doing things he did not like so much himself but for someone else was a novel experience.
He did not mind doing this for her, as he could not imagine himself doing anything similar for anyone else. He was not blind to the changes and the feelings, and yet he was cognisant enough to know that this was not a simple thing and he needed to give it time.
Plus, even before he could entertain such things, he had a whole slew of issues to deal with. During the day, he had received a message from Maya Yotsuba to call her when he was free, mentioning how it was an emergency.
And so, now, as he plopped down on the sofa in front of the TV, he called her.
"Good evening Inei-kun," Maya Yotsuba's voice rang out as his TV screen turned on making him narrow his eyes.
"Good evening," he replied dryly.
"So, are you finally free of your other activities," the way she had emphasized the 'other' told him that she was all aware of what he was up to during the day. Not that he had expected anything else.
"I am," he said, not asking for her opinion or elaborating further.
"Ohh, I am quite hurt in a way Inei-kun. This was your first date, and you did not even ask your mother for any advice. It makes me think of myself as a poor mother," she japed, and he just shrugged.
"I highly doubt that you care whether you are a good mother or not," he retorted, and she chuckled.
"So callous, and yet here I am so worried about you," she said, and he frowned.
"Why are you worried about me?" he asked.
"Because the USNA has made its move," she said, and he watched as the CIA's most wanted list opened up beside her face on the screen, and his eyes widened as he read the topmost name on the list.
'Name-Unknown.'
'Title-World Cleaver'
"They have not disclosed your name and face yet, but this shows that they are making a move. Soon enough, I believe they will make a request to the Japanese government to hand you over to the USNA government for the crimes you have committed against them," she elaborated, and it was one reason he had allied himself with the Yotsuba because though he could handle more or less any magician on the planet, handling a swarm of them would be a massive hassle.
"And the government will accept it," he asked, not bothered at all because even if they did, he knew that with the Yotsuba at his beck and call, they would not dare touch him.
"They would not dare," she replied sharply, the bubbly image of her falling away revealing the Empress of the Night.
"But that does not mean they will sit by. Many in the government will wish to strike a deal and maybe even support nonstate actors in trying to subdue you. After all, say what you will, but the USNA has many sympathetic people in our ranks," she told him.
"You think they will use Gu Jie," he addressed.
"We will have to see. But I wished to tell you the news myself and assure you that as long as you hold your end of the bargain, Yotusba and I shall do the same on our end," she declared, and he nodded.
"You do not need to worry about that."
"Good, now then, why don't you tell me about that dat..." and at those words, he cut off the call, his eyes still focused on the CIA's list at the silhouette drawn next to his title and bounty.
"Interesting."
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