Chapter 364 - A NORMAL MAN

After Akira left Black Avenue Entertainment, she met with the 'Nag' in a coffee shop outside the Pantheon headquarter. The woman's name was Maya, but her constant nagging made Akira save her as such on her phone according to her dominant characteristic. 

"Look at you. You are more beautiful after just a couple of weeks. Your life as an affluent miss is already paying off." Maya exclaimed as Akira sat down.​​

"I have always been beautiful." The response was deadpan.

"You have always been beautiful, but there is something different about you. I can't put my finger on it, but you look a little warmer than usual." Maya mused. "Wait, did you get a boyfriend?" 

Akira's mind drifted to Kaito, but she shook her head to dispel the image. 

"How could that be?" She responded easily. 

"I have a sense about these things, so do not try to dismiss me with such a perfunctory response, I can see you have a love interest. Who is it? Tell me. Tell me." Maya leaned over the table. 

"Why don't we talk about your latest break-up instead?" Akira knew how to deal with this nagging woman.

Maya felt like her heart had been stabbed by arrows at the question. However, she could not resist sharing the details. 

"Don't sound so accusatory! This break-up was not my fault. That guy was too much of a snob. He was so particular about his coffee, and he was always explaining the tastes and fragrances of different types of coffee. I cannot tell you how many times I heard the words Kilimanjaro, Jamaica Blue Mountain and Hawaii Kona." Maya tsked. 

Akira laughed as Maya got destructed by her issues. "So, what did you do?" 

Akira knew that it was not the end of the story. Her friendship with the Nag was not as long as the one with Hina. However, in terms of entertainment value, Maya was her favourite. Her breakup stories were always the best. 

"It is not something bad." Maya lowered her voice. 

Akira knew that it was probably something really good. Well, at least, for her.

"You know you will feel better if you say it." She prompted. 

"It was not something major," Maya said awkwardly. "I bought some Kilimanjaro coffee and drank it. Then, I washed the cup in my office, made him coffee with cheap instant coffee from a convenience store and took it to him." 

"Pfft!" Akira laughed harder. "And then?" 

"He was as snobbish as usual. He took a deep breath of the coffee and began yet another lecture on the beauty of Kilimanjaro coffee. How it is grown on the highest mountain in Africa, how rich the volcanic soil is, and how the pure the glacial water used is…" Maya paused. 

"I waited patiently until he drank all of the coffee and thanked me. Then, I showed him the catering packet of instant coffee I used. I told him that it's ok if he cannot distinguish different coffee tastes. I was nice about it." Maya added. 

"Who knew he would get so mad at me, claiming I tricked him? How was is it tricking? I was just opening his eyes. My good intentions were blown away without even a thank you." Maya sighed. 

"If you dated a normal man, you wouldn't have this problem," Akira said. 

"I never know they are strange until after a few dates." Maya leaned closer to Akira. "And does this mean that our queen is dating a normal man? Did he save the world in his last life?" 

Akira thought about Kaito being a normal man. Even his face did not say 'normal'! And then, she tried to imagine him saving the world. Peh! It was more likely that he tried to destroy it in his last life. However, a smile appeared on her face.

"There's definitely a hidden secret." Maya almost squealed. 

Akira cleared her throat and composed herself. 

"Let's get to work." She said professionally as she took out her tablet from her designer bag. 

As Maya continued wheedling to get more details from Akira, Ayumi was still in Mountain Ridge City. She was in the downtown area facing the ȧssociates of the men who had attacked Kaito and Akira the previous night. 

She could not access or find out anything from the men who were being detained in the police station. However, she could identify their intentions from their comrades. 

While Akira was not a good ȧssassin, she was, after all, a graduating member of the ninja school. She had gone through training with Kaito and Hu Lei, and she was not the worst student. Furthermore, she did get her hands dirty occasionally with the Shadow Brotherhood. 

"Is any of you going to give me anything useful?" She asked coldly. 

One of the men with deep gashes on his face from repeated slaps from Ayumi could not take it anymore. 

"All our business is handled through proxies. It is not a complex system, but we do not like to find out too much about our clients." He said. 

This small gang thrived because of the dirty tricks that the affluent in Mountain Ridge played on one another. However, they were not hardboiled thugs. They only had to do small things like threatening, beating up and taking incriminating videos. 

"I already know all this. I want to know if you have taken any business involving the Takahashi family." Ayumi held the small thug's chin tightly in her hand. 

"I cannot be sure, but we have heard rumours. Everyone has heard them." The thug responded. 

"Spit it out." She barked. 

"According to local rumours, Takahashi Senzo is responsible for all the misfortunes in the Takahashi family. He always eliminates anyone he thinks is a threat to his power. But there is no evidence that he has hired us." The thud explained. 

"That wasn't too hard was it?" Ayumi stood up. "If you had cooperated earlier, I wouldn't be tired, and your blood would still be in your veins. I believe you should all know what you should and should not say. As far as you are concerned, no one came in today." 

With that, she left the hideout with swaying hɨps. The thugs watched her before they tried to figure out a way to free themselves. 

Ayumi looked up to the sun and allowed it to warm her face. 

She was not sure why she was doing what she was doing. 

She wanted to move on from Kaito and live her own life. But when she thought of him with that woman… When she remembered their playful behaviour as they shared food under a tree outside that cottage… 

When she thought of his utter disregard for her feelings…

She could not let go. 

She felt like a mountain of weight was pressing down on her heart. Her heart was not broken. It was torn into pieces. 

In the past, she had not thought deeply about her love for Kaito even though she knew he did not like her. 

Since he did not have anyone beside him, she was alright with accompanying him through their business relationship and friendship. It did not matter as long as she could be beside him. 

She always thought that he loved Hu Lei. And he probably did. But it was not the kind of love that made her feel threatened. Perhaps, that was the reason she believed that if the two got together, she would quietly retreat. 

But it was not the same with Akira. 

Since he met that b*tch, he did not behave like the normal Kaito. He was willing to betray himself just to be a little closer to her. She should have realised it since he said that they should suspend the Shadow operations.

This Kaito was different. 

This was not her Kaito. 

But she would remind him who he was.