chapter five
Walking into the room and sitting down onto the armchair across from Mika, the man with the ice-blue hair crossed his leg onto his knee and poured himself a glass of red wine off of the side table. Taking a sip, he looked at the man next to Mika.
"So, Oreichii, this is the Imonoyama." the good-looking man questioned.
"Y-yes sir." answered the man standing beside Mika.
"Why so hesitant?"
"No reason. Just tired." Oreichii simply answered.
The blue haired man lifted an elegant eyebrow. Well, this guy with the perfect eyebrows has to be the leader, Mika thought. But neither of them knows whether or not I am an Imonoyama. They, well, Oreichii is just guessing. Could these be amateurs?
"Tired? At this time?"
"Yes sir. We had to walk here from Tokyo Tower."
"Eh?" he questioned softly. He had too much composure to show as much expression as Mika usually did. "Why did you ever do that for? You had the cars, did you not?"
"We did have the cars sir, but we had some…difficulty."
"With the cars?"
"No, with this girl." Pointing his thumb at Mika, the superior turned his eyes onto the child. Mika, not liking his scrutiny, poked her tongue out at him. Reeling his head back in shock, the man with ice-blue hair cleared his throat.
"Was she troublesome?"
"Troublesome is and understatement."
"Please explain."
"We did as we were told to do, sir. We got into the Tower by using the construction workers' stairwell, since they are renovating some rooms there. And, like Youji told us, there were the bodyguards and the security guards in the positions he showed. We then waited until Youji turned up, and when he was there, one of his mates made a distraction so we could go up to the floor where the Imonoyamas were. So we went up, found this girl and grabbed her just like you had planned. We went to the cars, but then this little twerp began to scream. And when I mean scream, I mean scream. Her voice was too loud for anyone to not notice."
"Why didn't you cover her mouth?" asked the blue-haired man.
"I did, but she bit it, hard. This kid has sharp teeth."
"Continue."
"So, she started to scream again. But then we made a compromise. She would stop screaming if we had to walk there."
The man with ice blue hair stared at Oreichii with disbelief. "You made a deal with her?"
"…no. She, she told us that."
Mika was staring at the two men and thought, hello, I'm here! You can just ask me. Jeez! What idiots!
"Go on." said the superior.
"Well, we began walking there, and this girl was skipping along and singing as if nothing was happening. She began to go up to people at the street stands and start talking to them. Not about helping her though. Just about the weather, and stuff. But… she always made us buy something from them."
"So that is why all of this…stuff is doing on my table." drawled the handsome man as he picked up one of the toys and then screwed up his nose in disdain.
"Yes, sir."
"Interesting. But at least you have her." and at last, the man with the ice blue hair turned to Mika and talked to her for the very first time. "And your name is…?"
Mika looked at him with a strange look. Usually, these people should know who they have kidnapped, don't they? "Why don't you tell me first?"
Laughing, he said, "Yes, I have been quite rude, haven't I? My name is Sotaro Izunawa."
Mika pursed her lips. What was she going to do?
"So," continued Sotaro, "Would you like to tell me who you are?"
"Not particularly." piped Mika.
Sotaro's smile slipped a notch. "Ah, isn't that rude?"
"So what of it?"
"I have always heard that the Imonoyama Group was a polite and courteous one."
"Maybe I'm not an Imonoyama." she replied cheekily.
At this point, Oreichii choked. Sotaro looked towards his hit-man, looking for answers.
"Sh-she has t-to be an Imonoyama." stammered Oreichii.
"What do you mean? You're not sure if she is an Imonoyama?"
"She keeps avoiding the question."
"So what, that means that we may gone through all of that trouble to kidnap some other kid?" Sotaro's voice went up in pitch.
"S-sir…."
As this conversation kept on, Mika became more interested in the items she had made Oreichii buy then what the other two were arguing about. There was a small Hello Kitty imitation plush toy, an eel pie (Mika fully detested the pie, but she had only bought it for her own means), a lemon and also a pear, a grotesque toy mouse toy that squeaked, a plastic Tokyo Tower key-ring, an issue of Asuka magazine, and there was also an ice-cream (which she ate on the way to where she was currently.)) I hope it works, she thought.
Suddenly, she realized that Sotaro was addressing her.
"So please tell me, are you an Imonoyama?" asked the blue haired man. Mika noticed a faint pitch of desperation creeping into his voice.
"Tell me why you are asking me that, and I will answer your question." Mika answered in a flat tone. She was becoming annoyed at the question of her being an Imonoyama or not.
"Why…?"
"Why do you want me to be an Imonoyama or not." she said slowly.
Sotaro cleared his throat. "That…that is hard to explain."
"Don't worry. We have all night for you to explain. I don't have a bed time when I get kidnapped." she drawled.
The man with icy blue hair looked uncomfortable.
"What, is it that bad?" smirked Mika. This is getting interesting, she thought.
"N-no." Sotaro replied.
"C'mon, tell me. That way, you can find out if I am the one you want."
"I-er…"
Mika leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "You do want an Imonoyama, don't you? If I am one, it's a bonus to you. If I'm not, I would still have connections to the Imonoyamas, wouldn't I? We were at the same dinner party, and we are in the same circle."
Sotaro was convinced. "Fine then, I will tell you. But then, you will have to tell me if you're an Imonoyama, right?"
"Right." Wow, Mika thought. That was too easy.
"Oreichii," demanded Sotaro.
"Y-yes?" answered Oreichii.
"Will you please leave the room." Sotaro ordered.
"What, sir?"
"You heard me, leave. This is something between the girl and myself."
"But sir-"
"Leave!"
"Y-yes, sir." As Oreichii was leaving the room, he turned back and saw Mika poking her tongue out at him. Insolent child, he thought, closing the door behind him.
"So," said Sotaro. "where do I begin?"
~---~
Nokoru was leaning against the ornate wall of the Tokyo Tower hallway. Looking outside of the glass windows, he thought, Where are you Mika? What has happened to you?
He and Takendo had asked around to everyone they could think of to ask if they had seen a turquoise haired girl. So far, everyone had given a black look, and said no. They had asked the guests, the waiters, and even the janitors, but no one had noticed her at all.
Suddenly, he saw a raven-haired boy sprinting towards him with a wide grin on his face. Could he have found out where Mika went?
As he reached Nokoru, Takendo tried to catch his breath.
"She-" he gasped. "She was seen- she was seen heading out of the Tower through- through a back entrance."
"Who saw her?" Nokoru immediately interrogated.
"A-a woman who w-was visiting." Takendo was still trying recover from his sprint. "She said that she saw a young girl with green-ish hair and whom these men in black suits surrounded. As they walked past her, the girl gave a smile and a wave. Then went off."
"Through the back entrance…?"
"Yeah."
"This place has a back entrance?"
"Well, it's not a back entrance as such. I had a little look. It seemed to be more of a chute, or maybe a narrow stairwell that I think the builder use. This place is having a bit of a renovation in some of the rooms, you know."
Nokoru took a deep breath. What were they going to do now?
Intimidated by the blonde's silence, Takendo hesitantly asked, "Nokoru-kun? Should we go after her? I mean, men in black suits took her away. That means she has been-"
"Kidnapped." Nokoru interrupted. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Nokoru continued with, "Thankyou for the information. And yes, I should go after her."
"What do you mean 'I'?" rebuked Takendo. "I'm going along as well."
Looking at the boy who was a year or two younger then him, Nokoru sighed. "It is not wise for you to come along with me."
"Why not?" Takendo said, incredulous. "I want to save Mika just as much as you do! Or even more!"
"But this is a situation that would put you into too much danger."
"What, and it's not dangerous for you then?"
"I am not denying it isn't, but this doesn't concern you. This is an Imonoyama affair, so you shouldn't put yourself in any unnecessary danger."
"It is my choice I want to help. No one is forcing me to. I have the right to help you, and so I will." Takendo answered indignantly. Then he added in a softer voice, "For Mika's sake."
There was a silence.
"Fine then. You can help me."
Takendo grinned at Nokoru's acceptance. "So, where do we begin?"
~---~
**disclaimer: Hmm, maybe now I should also say that I do not own CLAMP School, or the characters of CLAMP School. They are CLAMP's. And if anyone wanted to sue me, there is really no use; I'm broke. However, Mika, Takendo, some of the Imonoyama family and also the bad guys were created by me, and are mine! So, if I see a Mika somewhere around without my permission ((which I really really doubt I will ever see x.x)) I will be at first extremely flattered, but a bit annoyed. I am a very territorial person. And, I will hunt you down! :P **