Beautiful Black Widow - theGazettE/Dir en grey - RNC17 - Three

[avadedrahetarra]

3. Figuratively Speaking:: Reita's Confessions and Digging In

Toshiya climbed into the passenger seat of the waiting Mercedes, sighing audibly.
“My mother cursed me when she was carrying me, I just know it,” he groaned, fastening his seatbelt and sinking as far out of sight of the window as his lanky frame would allow.
“What the hell are you babbling about this time, Toshi?” Uruha prodded, maneuvering back into traffic and heading uptown.
“I was hit on by no less than six men while I was waiting for you,” Toshiya blurted, turning to face Uruha. “Six!”
Uruha snorted his laughter. “Sweetheart, when I was a dancer, being hit on by six men in one night was small time.”
Toshiya cocked an eyebrow. “You danced?”
Uruha nodded, checking his mirrors and changing lanes.
“Damn. When? How long? Where? ”
Uruha chuckled. “Before Shinya hired me. I danced for about a year. And it was there.” He pointed to the old club as they passed it.
“There? You danced there? No wonder you looked familiar.”
Uruha eyed his partner. “I never went home with you, did I?”
“Me? No. I always went in to the back for a private session with Mao.”
“Yamaguchi?” Uruha grinned. “Cutie, wasn’t he?”
“Ha. Still is.”
“He doesn’t dance anymore, does he?” Uruha stopped at a red light, his fingers tapping the steering wheel lightly.
“Not anymore, no. He got fired when we got caught screwing in Number Four.”
Uruha laughed. “That was you?”
Toshiya nodded sheepishly.
“Aoi told me about that. Damn, Mao had some guts going behind Mr. Taiji like that. Nice.”
Toshiya perked up a bit, and they talked back and forth idly for the remainder of the ride. Uruha parked on the street and pulled the building key from his pocket. They rode the elevator up in silence. Reita was waiting in the hall for them.
“Uru. Toshi. Come on in,” he said, smiling beneath the scrap of cloth that covered the middle part of his face. No one besides Shinya ever saw him without it anymore.
“How’s life, Rei?” Uruha asked as he and Toshiya settled onto the couch.
“It’s a bitch,” Reita replied, “but hey, it’s better than the alternative.”
Uruha and Toshiya both chuckled.
“I suppose there’s truth in that,” Uruha conceded, leaning back and folding one leg over the other at the knee. “How’s Shinya been treating you?”
“Like a king,” Reita said with a light blush. “This place… his doing. Everything in it… he paid for it.”
Toshiya stared, open mouthed, at Reita, causing the younger man to turn an even deeper shade of red.
“I guess he feels somewhat responsible for what happened.” Reita shrugged, turning away.
“Like hell he was,” Toshiya blurted. “He knew that mark was dangerous.”
Uruha backhanded Toshiya’s knee, affectively shutting the older man up.
“Rei, what have you got for us?” he asked, trying to keep the tears in Reita’s eyes from falling.
“Yes,” Reita said. “Yes, of course. Um, hold on. Let me go get it.”
Reita hurried out of the room.
“What the hell?” Uruha hissed, turning to glare at Toshiya. “Don’t you ever think?”
“I’m sorry!” Toshiya raised his hands pleadingly. “It slipped!”
“Yah, well next time, keep the ‘it slipped’ to your damn self,” Uruha snapped.
Reita returned, pushing an oversized wheeled steamer trunk up next to the coffee table.
“Gentlemen, your items of espionage,” he said, smiling widely. He opened the steamer trunk and began removing dry cleaner bags. “Toshiya, these are for you. You’ve been given a position in the studio Kyo and his band just signed to. Granted, it’s a small position, but you’re going to be right in there with him and his crew.”
Toshiya peaked into a few of the bags. “Wow. Designer!”
Reita laughed, reaching into the trunk again and pulling out a large envelope. “Here. Surveillance.”
Toshiya took the envelope, laying aside the bags and falling back onto the couch. “Good heavens! This man is… he’s an automaton! Up at five thirty in the morning, every morning except Sunday. He picks up the drummer of his band at seven forty-five and is at Starbucks the moment it opens. They sit there for exactly three hours, have two cups of black coffee with sugar while they work on songs. By twelve thirty Monday through Friday, Kyo is at work at Mishawa’s Eccentricities Shop. He locks up at six thirty and picks up the bassist of his band from work and drops him at home. He returns to the apartment he shares with Kaoru and cooks dinner for the two. Kaoru arrives home at seven fifteen, and Kyo leaves again by seven forty-five. His band meets at the lead guitarist’s house to practice until nine thirty. Damn… this man runs on a schedule. How the hell am I supposed to get him to put his guard down?”
“Keep digging,” Reita urged.
Toshiya cast him a confused look, but flipped through more of the papers in the envelope. “What the… hell?” He looked up at Reita, eyes wide. “You’ve GOT to be shitting me!”
Uruha, confused, snatched the papers from Toshiya. “Hey, Toshi… isn’t that your cousin?”
Toshiya tugged the papers back, staring down at the picture of Kyo wrapped up in the arms of someone who bore a striking resemblance to him. “It is. That’s my cousin, Miyavi. He told me once that he was seeing someone, but never who.”
“I guess now you know,” Uruha said softly. “Damn, what a stroke of luck. What happened to your cousin?”
“He, uh, got into a car accident in Osaka,” Toshiya muttered, running his fingertips down the face of his cousin. “He’s paralyzed from the waist down and in an assisted living home.”
Uruha bit his lip. “Ah.”
“I guess now we know why you were picked for this,” Reita added, sitting next to Toshiya and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
“Yes,” Toshiya answered automatically. “It could be worse, though.”
Uruha decided a change in subject matter was in order and reached over to slap Reita’s thigh lightly. “So, what’s in the magic box for me?”
“Ah yes,” Reita said, giving Toshiya a quick kiss on the cheek before getting back to his feet. “For the big job with the big boss.”
Uruha chuckled, shifting to sit on the edge of the couch.
"You've already got a shitload of business attire," Reita said, pulling three boxes from the bottom of the trunk, "so no spiffy clothing for you. But, there is this."
Uruha took one of the boxes from Reita and lifted the lid. It contained forged documentation bearing witness to his years of devoted service to the temp agency, both in and out of the office. The next box bore a lifetime of photographs, most of them excellent fakes, showing Uruha with "family" and "friends" in an array of ways. There were enough pictures here to fill a small mountain of scrapbooks.
"You'll love this one the best," Reita said, smiling as he handed over the last box. A set of brand new keys and blueprints lay in the bottom. "Your new apartment. Well, at least for this job. Shinya thought that your current place put you too far away from the action. This one is six blocks from Kaoru's building. Pretty cool, huh?
"Man, this place is a palace," Uruha murmured, flipping through the book and studying the layout. "It's huge!"
"Fully furnished, all paid, the works," Reita added. "You'll only need to use it for the duration, as it's one of our properties anyway."
"Think of the parties!" Toshiya added from Uruha's shoulder. "Hey, am I in any of these pictures?" He snatched the second box and curled up on the couch with it.
Uruha rolled his eyes and went back to studying the blueprints. "I knew the companies did well, but this... this is more than I expected."
"Only the best for the best," Reita intoned in a decent facsimile of Shinya's voice. "But, that's all I have for you guys. Toshiya's set where he's at, since his roommate isn't a raving lunatic." Toshiya snorted. "Shinya has issues with Aoi, though."
Uruha glanced sharply at Reita. "Does he now?"
Reita gazed back levelly. "Yes, he does. He's afraid Aoi will ruin it for you one day."
"Aoi hasn't got a fucking clue what I do!" Uruha argued.
"Hey, I'm just the messenger, cowboy. I only tell it like I hear it. Who wants a drink?"
Reita stood and disappeared into the kitchen. Uruha slammed the lid back on the box and dropped it on top of the first one on the floor. Toshiya calmly replaced the lid on the picture box and handed it over. The two men sat in silence until Reita emerged with bottles of beer for each of them. A few drinks in and Uruha had relaxed, though the sleight against Aoi was not forgotten. For all that Aoi was a fuck up, he was still one of Uruha's closest friends, and he did love the guy. He'd have to take that up with Shinya one of these days.
After this job was done.

Die groaned and tried to pry his eyes open. He'd given up long ago on trying moving; it always proved a fruitless effort. He was firmly shackled to whatever it was he was laying on. Twisting his head to one side, he focused his blurry gaze on the tiny window set high into the wall to his right. Dark. He'd missed another day. The I.V. line attached to his left arm kept him heavily sedated, though they did wake him from time to time to feed him. Always blindfolded. He'd yet to get a look at any of the men that came and went around him. He had to admit, they were good.
His fingers cramped as he clenched his fists a few times. He'd begun to lose feeling in them, which is what brought him back into consciousness. With a grunt, he lifted his head slightly, gazing down past his bare torso to his bare feet. Just beyond them was a steel door. No light penetrated the seam of it. Dropping his head back down, he lifted his midsection, bringing his butt up until his lower back cracked and popped. With a sigh, he resettled, closing his eyes again.
He felt a stinging in his left arm as his I.V. was fed from somewhere outside the room. Turning his head again, he saw the line running through a small groove in the wall. A tiny ray of light shone through that groove, then darkness once more.

Uruha adjusted his glasses and shifted his hair out of his eyes before knocking on the door. He heard a faint voice call for him to enter and, putting on his best smile, he pushed open the door and stepped in.
"Mr. Niikura? I'm Takashima Kouyou. The agency sent me?"
He stopped just inside the door, adding a touch of nervousness to the smile. His eyes met Kaoru's and he faltered. He'd known that Kaoru was attractive, but the black and white surveillance photographs had masked his rugged charm. Kaoru smiled, stepping around the desk and walking forward to meet him.
"That was fast," he said, reaching out to shake Uruha's hand. "I was surprised, to say the least."
"Yes, well," Uruha said, forcing calm back into his mind, "only the best for the best."
"Welcome aboard, Kouyou."
"Oh, please, call me Uruha." The younger man flashed a dazzling smile. "All my friends do, and I really hope that we can be friends."
Kaoru gazed long and hard at Uruha, his eyes searching every inch of his face before he smiled again. "Of course. Let's get to it, shall we?"
"Sure, Mr. Niikura."
"Kaoru, please."
Uruha ducked his head to hide his smile. He was happy to see that he was off to a smooth start, which was much more than he'd expected. Kaoru spent the next hour and a half drilling him on his knowledge of the company and what it did. He questioned and re-questioned him, almost driving Uruha to the point of insanity. Finally, Kaoru settled back into his seat and smiled.
“Well, Uruha, I think this is going to work.”
Uruha put on his best smile. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that. I was afraid you’d find me stupid.”
“Far from it,” Kaoru chuckled. “I think you’ll do well. Now, if you would, Die’s desk…”
“Kaoru? Sir?” Uruha leaned forward after a few moments of silence.
“What? Sorry,” Kaoru shook his head. “Die’s desk is right outside. He was a neat freak, so everything should be organized and easy to find. Our latest projects are in the files in the top drawer.” He tossed a set of keys across the desk. “Those are for the desk, the main office door and my office. Unfortunately, we can’t give you the key code access to the elevators, so you have to use the same ones as everyone else. Those codes are a bitch to learn.”
Uruha laughed out loud. “I’m sure they are, and trust me, I think I understand. Being a temp and all.” He finished with a wink.
“I’m glad to have you aboard. Why don’t you go ahead and go familiarize yourself with our current projects. Give me about an hour, then I’ll give you the grand tour of the offices.”
Uruha pushed himself to his feet and picked the keys up off the desk. “I appreciate the chance.”
“Well, it’s only until Die comes back.”
Uruha nodded. As he turned to leave, Kaoru stopped him.
“Uruha… that name. It’s familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?” Kaoru asked.
Uruha faltered. His mind flashed back to the club, running through his photographic memory of clientele. Kaoru’s face was not among them, but that didn’t mean much.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I mean, you’ve got a face that I’d remember.”
“Alright. Go on.”
Uruha escaped the office, pulling the door closed behind him. He sank into Die’s chair, tossing his glasses onto the desk. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes.
“You must be the temp.”
Snapping his head up, Uruha crammed his glasses back onto his face. Standing a few feet from him was an older man, possibly older than Kaoru, with soft features and chin length blonde hair.
“That would be me,” he answered. “You are…?”
“Yoshiki.”
“Oh, of course.” Uruha stood and shook the man’s hand. “I’m Uruha. Pleased to meet you.”
Yoshiki smiled. “I see you survived the gauntlet. How long were you in there?”
“No more than an hour or two. Felt like I was in high school again.”
“He’s like that. He in there?” Yoshiki motioned to the door.
“Sure is. He told me to get acquainted out here.”
Yoshiki nodded. “Well, get to it then. Don’t need the boss thinking that you’re lazy.”
“No, that wouldn’t be the best way to get things started.”
Yoshiki vanished into the office, leaving Uruha to sink back into the chair. Sucking in a deep breath, he unlocked the top drawer of the desk and pulled out a stack of files.
“Holy hell,” he muttered.
It took him almost two hours to go through everything. By the time he was finished, Uruha had a healthy amount of respect for Die and was seriously hoping that Shinya was good on his word. This Daisuke character had a decent brain behind his eyes, and it would be a shame to lose it.
Kaoru and Yoshiki emerged just as Uruha closed the last file folder and slipped it back into the stack. Uruha had a small migraine behind his left eye and a cramp in his neck, but he felt that he had a good enough grasp on the dealings to please Kaoru. Only a few hours on the mark, and Uruha was kicking himself for wanting to do a good job.
“Everything alright out here?” Kaoru’s voice drew Uruha out of his stupor.
“Perfectly,” Uruha returned, getting to his feet. “I think I’ve got a handle on it.”
“Really?” Kaoru’s eyebrow rose. “Run it down for me.”
“Of course.” Uruha flashed one of his best smiles. “Your company is developing a new computer software game with a Playstation © counterpart. The concept is solid, the dialogue stellar, the bosses real baddies, and the level system is ahead of it’s time. The computer based version of the game will focus primarily on the main body of the storyline, taking the player from past to present, all the while leaving clues and hints into future game play. The counterpart version will focus on the same line, but, as often happens from computer-to-console games, will allow for more side quests and cut scenes. These alone are no real issue, since you’ve done the same thing, successfully, with four other games.” He stopped and took off his glasses, massaging his left temple. “The only snag you’ve run into is that half of the developers are throwing tantrums that the lead character is a female in what they perceive as a clearly male-dominant scenario. Certain departments are demanding a gender change, or the game will be shelved for good.”
Kaoru looked impressed and Yoshiki gave him a light round of applause.
“That took me three weeks to figure out,” Yoshiki said. “I’m impressed. Kaoru, you should really keep this one around.”
Uruha blushed.
“I may.” Kaoru nodded. “Uruha, I’ll be picking that fantastic brain of yours later. For now, let me show you around. Yoshiki, I’ll get with you about that contract tomorrow.”
Yoshiki nodded and left, offering a small smile to Uruha on his way out. Uruha sighed and slipped his glasses back on.
“Alright?” Kaoru’s expression was concerned.
“I’m fine. The downside of my photographic memory.” He tried to smile. “It’ll pass.”
“If you’re sure. Come on then.”
Everyone Kaoru introduced him to was instantly disarmed by Uruha’s charm. His smile was infectious, that much Kaoru was certain of, but his wit was sharp and quick, making him an instant hit. When they got back to Kaoru’s office, he shyly invited Uruha out for drinks after work on Friday. Uruha smiled his consent and settled back into Die’s desk. Kaoru smiled and disappeared behind his closed door, wondering just what the hell he was doing.