♥ Chapter 2 Yo~! ♥
Chapter: 2 Friend or Foe?
Gino Gambino stood at the entrance to the museum with Mr. Emina. “Now a few words from Mr. Emina on his glorious find!” the crowd clapped and cheered for Mr. Emina as he took the microphone from Gino. “Thank you… thank you… it was before the new year when my team and I were in the caves just off the Durem Reclamation Hub. We’d been searching the caves for the legendary stones of large jade that were rumored to be hidden inside them….” Mr. Emina kept his speech going as long as he could. Giving Kira the chance to enter the museum thro a side entrance.
“Ugh… I hate wearing green…” Kira groaned to herself while slipping out of the bushes beside the entrance. It was indeed not her color. She disliked it almost as much as she hated pink. But she bared with it in order to complete her mission. After successfully picking open the lock, she crept inside.
“Wow… you just don’t give up do you?” asked a familiar voice from behind her. Kira cringed before she turned around. Thinking no one was there but just a dark shadow she stepped back, “N-no way! You can’t be here?!” D stepped out of the shadows wearing regular clothes instead of his usual ninja attire. That surprised Kira a bit, but she still kept on her toes. “I’m here, just as you are. Why didn’t you just forget about the statue and stay home?” he asked while coming closer to her. Kira stepped back for a moment, “Because I was given a second chance!! My home is with him and if he gave me a chance to redeem myself I’m not gonna sit by and let it slip away! That’s my duty to him for all his done for me!!” “What his done for you? What are you-” But Kira turned around and ran as fast as she could away from D.
He didn’t run after her just merely walked around the corner, “There’s no use in running away…” Oh how she wanted to badly to yell back at him for mocking her, but that would give away her location. Instead she moved as far as she could from him without getting away from her main objective.
That place was the room she snuck into the night before. Finding a vent above her in which she could crawl into, Kira used a strong magnet attached to a wire and flung it above her head. Pulling down then cover to the vent and catching it, she set the cover on the floor gently. Kira then tied the extra rope around her waist then jumped up and into the open space. Once she was turned around to look back down, Kira untied the rope from around her and pulled the cover back up and into place.
A few minutes later she was quietly crawling through the small space to area of the Jade Grunny. Looking past the cover she smiled as she spotted the grunny below her. “Yosh! I found it!” she cheered to herself before removing the cover and setting it down beside her. Taking the rope again and tying a small grappling hook to it, she then hooked to a corner. Making sure it was secure, Kira lowered herself down. “He’s nowhere in sight! I’m gonna get it this time!!” As much as she loved to be right… Kira was far from it.
D suddenly emerged from a shadow beside the stand for the statue. He looks up at Kira, then grabs the end of the rope. Her eyes are wide and she’s frightened by what he would do next. No no!! There’s no way he just did that!! He can’t pull me down! Kira looks back up as she begins to climb, but stops short as he eyes widen more. He appeared out of a shadow from one of the long hanging lamps beside the vent. He eyes move to under her again, “B-b-but how?! How are there 2 of you?!” As she looks back and forth the first figure disappeared leaving behind a cloud of smoke that soon dissipated. Fixing her eyes above her again Kira’s mouth opened a bit as she saw a sharp object now in his hand. “No don’t!!” she tried to protest but it was too late. D took the object and cut the rope away, sending Kira falling to the tiles below.
I failed… again… please forgive me Emina… I really tried…
She closed her eyes and waited to the incoming pain. But she was surprised again to fall into the arms of her captor. “You didn’t think I was gonna let you fall without catching you, did you?” “Why… why didn’t you just let me fall? I would’ve preferred cracking my head open and dying than having you rescue me…” D shook his head, “Tsk tsk… and have you stain your cute face with blood? I don’t think so… In fact you should be thanking me.” Kira blushed a bit at his comment before she attempted to escape his hold. But she winded up having her hands behind her back and cringing at the slight pain. What more could she do now to escape? If she were caught, would Mr. Emina come to bail her out and defend her? She didn’t want to think about it but what more could she do in this situation.
“And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” said Gino from beyond the door. This is it! This is when Kira would be given to the guards right in front of Mr. Emina. She closed her eyes again and waited for the doors to open. But then she felt as if she were sinking so she opened them again. She wasn’t exactly sinking but she was disappearing into the shadow along with D. “What are you doing?! Just hand me over-” D covered her mouth as they descended and were covered by the shadows.
As the doors opened Mr. Emina saw the tip of Kira’s bunny ears sink into the shadow and the statue still in place. He grit his teeth for a moment before Gino asked, “Is everything alright?!” “Y-yes! Please let’s continue with the showcase!” He sweated a little as Gino introduced everyone to the statue. Dammit! She failed again! I need that statue back by tomorrow night or they’ll drop the deal!
Several hours later, Kira felt the warn sunset on her cheeks as her eyes fluttered open. She was laying on Mr. Emina’s bed with the windows of the room wide open. A warm summer’s breeze made the black curtains flap. She tried to sit up but her hands were tied behind her. “Oh good. You’re finally awake…” D smiled as he sat at the foot of the bed. A tear fell down her cheeks and soaked into the sheets. “I hate you!” she cried out. It hurt to fail but now she was stuck on this bed which Mr. Emina would find her. D stood up and kneeled down beside her. Wiping her tear, he smiled warmly, “That’s weird. Since I’m the opposite. I like you…” “Go to hell!!” She barked then tried to bit at his finger. He snapped his hand back, “No thanks. It’s too hot for my tastes… but I’ll gladly go to heaven if angels like you exist there.” Kira blushed again despite her efforts not too. Staring down at the sheets she mumbled, “Why do you say those things? What do you want from me?” “Nothing much. Just that you give up on trying to steal the grunny. I may actually turn you over to the police next time.” “I can’t stop… I have to get it for him.” D folded his arms on the edge of the mattress as she stared at her, “Why do you care about him so much?” “Because… I owe him my life. He’s given me gold, clothes and a roof over my head. And if I get back the grunny, he said he’ll pay me by buying me my own home.” “If you quit this stuff, you can share my home with me. And it won’t cost you anything…” D brushed the hair from Kira’s eyes as she looked up at him. She was so confused. Why did he care about her so much? Why was he offering her all this? Was it worth it? Should she betray Mr. Emina?
“Welcome home sir!” said a maid from down the hall. Mr. Emina walked past her in a huff, “Is Kira here?!” “N-no sir. She hasn’t returned.” D quickly stood up and headed for the opened window, “Don’t forget what I said…” he winked then jumped down to the grass below then ran out of sight. Mr. Emina opened his room door just second later, “KIRA?!” He grabbed a nearby letter opener and went to her side. “What happened?! Why are you tied up here?!” he asked as he cut away the ropes. Kira sat up, “The ninja guy caught me again… I’m sor-” “You let him capture you again?! I thought by giving you a second chance you would get it back!” Emina’s voice was booming and scaring Kira as she moved up to the head board. He was unlike she had ever seen and it frightened her. “I-I’m sorry! Please!! Please forgive me! I’ll try again! Just give me another chance!” her face became a river for tears as she cowered beside him. Emina realized he was loosing his cool in front of her and cleared his throat. Speaking softly he tried to redeem himself, “I-I’m sorry for scaring you…” He then crawled on top of Kira, moving his head forward and kissing her cheek, “I’ll give you one more chance… but don’t bring it here. Tomorrow night I want you to go directly to the Port of Gambino after you steal it. Got it?” Kira nodded as her face flushed from the kiss. She wondered why the port but she didn’t question him. She was given a chance and this time she was gonna get it. Even if she had to play dirty.