After leaving the man he had only so lightly abused with words, Hayabusa had only two destinations. The first happened to be the shop that had been owned by Kokoro’s father. Coming to a stop in front of the shop that he had become quite familiar with, Hayabusa opened the door. Kokoro looked up at him. She smiled, and kind of even blushed upon his entering. Hayabusa smiled back. He opened his mouth preparing to say something. But, he was interrupted by her father coming out from behind the counter.
“Ah, Hayabusa… you’re here…” he said. Hayabusa slightly bowed to him.
“But, of course… did you think I would not return?” he said. The man chuckled.
“Of course I knew you’d come… come…” he said, beckoning Hayabusa to come to the back office. Hayabusa followed, glancing Kokoro as he walked by. Once he made it into the office, the man closed the door and looked at Hayabusa. “So… do you want the job that you had before? Same pay, nothing different. What do you say? Once a week you check in for jobs to maintain high priority status, and check in any other time for extra top secret missions for brownie points. What do you think?”
“I’m game, sir… as long as it is not illegal. I am in debt to the Hokage… and I would notaccept going against any of his laws here…” Hayabusa. The man smiled.
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” He said. He sat down at his desk and began to write on the piece of paper. “All assassinations are handed down from the higher ups. The body guarding is the only part that is private at some times, but, there are high leveled and ranking escorting that goes on here. But… I’ll tell you what… I don’t do this just for anybody… I know you though… and I know your work…” he took out some money and gave it to Hayabusa. “Here’s an advance on Assassination. Call in a security deposit just in case an unexpected last minute assassination assignment comes your way.”
“Understood…”
“As far as body guarding… I have a job for you now…” he said. Hayabusa nodded, in accepting. The man took out money again. “Here is the pay and a little extra. You are going to take Kokoro to some party she’s been dying to go to. Some bonfire on the far West.”
“That’s convenient. I was heading there myself.”
“Great… I don’t want anybody taking advantage of her, or her doing any drugs. She MAY seduce you into letting her have sake. Tell her you have strict orders not to let her… but one or two can’t hurt.” He said with a wink. Hayabusa smiled.
“Very well…”
“Ok… now go…” he said. Hayabusa slightly bowed and walked out. He stepped up to Kokoro. He grabbed her hand and took the apron off of her, as well as the hair net. He patted the bakery powder off of her.
“Hayabusa… what are you doing?”
“Come on…” he said. He grabbed her hand, brought her to the door, and changed the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’. He closed the door and off they went. She continued to ask where they were going but Hayabusa refused to say anything. That was until they made it to the highly populated area.
“The bonfire?!” she said.
“Your father told me to bring you here…” he said.
“DUDE!!!!!” the usual man said. Hayabusa waved. He went straight to the big stack of logs. Everyone there knew to back away. He performed his seals before letting loose a great fireball. Everyone cheered for him again, as they did the day before. Hayabusa grabbed Kokoro’s hand, looking into her eyes and smiling. There was a moment there. As promised, Hayabusa stayed as his promise to the party conductor. This gave him and Kokoro the time to catch up on lost time. He found out a lot about her past; why they moved, how much she missed him, and so forth. For hours they talk, danced, had fun, and partied.
After a saki or two, Hayabusa found out Kokoro was a light weight. He had carried her all the way back to the shop. He had no idea where she lived.
“Um… Kokoro… where do you live?” he asked. As drunk as she may have been, she pointed to the shop. Or rather… the door next to the shop. It was a complex on top of the shop. Hayabusa opened the doors and led her to the door. TO her compound he had taken her, before patting her down for her key. After unlocking it, he brought her in and laid her down. He stripped her down, and as tempting as she was, and inviting none the less, as she teased him, Hayabusa covered her with the blanket. He kissed her on the forehead and turned.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kokoro…” he said. He locked the house from the inside, closed the door, and left… back home he went.
[838 Words]
