133: Promise? (1)

Chapter 133: Promise? (1)

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"You're going to do what I am going to say. Is that clear?” Neji said, standing in front of Toga who was sitting on the edge of the bed, hugging his abdomen. 

"Yes of course!" Toga nodded enthusiastically, her chin resting above his stomach as she stared at his eyes with her wide shining irises. "Just tell me what to do, and I will do it! Though… I need rewards for each mission..."

They were both wearing clothes now. Neji wore a purple shirt sloppily tucked under his black pants, which looked stylish if anything. While Toga wore a new set of high school, looking almost identical to and yet much better than her previous one.

Neji softly brushed his hand past her ears before he jerked her hair from behind to throw her into the bed.

“Ouch!”

Neji wouldn't have done that if she wasn't into that shit, but more importantly, he didn't want to get too close to her. She was crazy…and that was hot…but that's the problem. Crazy and Hot don't end up week together.

So, keeping his douche act up, he talked. "Your first job is to make sure to never act all lovey-dovey with me. You're an employee, I am your employer. You receive benefits for accomplishing the mission I give you, nothing more nothing less." Neji stared down at her, ignoring her grunt, as Toga rubbed the back of her head. "Is that clear?"

"Ugh… Do I look like I am in a position to talk back?" She grunted again, this time with a sigh and sat straight back up. "Well, whatever. You don't seem to like me that much, at least not when I am wearing clothes, hehe~"

"..."

"Okay, I will stop.” Toga boo’ed at him. “You’re no fun~, boss. But eh, just tell me what I am supposed to do after going back to the League."

Although Toga said she'll stop, in her mind, she thought otherwise. If she were to stop, he would most likely kill her after his mission or whatever with the League was done. She needed to make him like her somehow, enough for him to keep her around even after that, at least. So that she could savour his rich delicious blood for the end of eternity. 

Besides that, the cold look in his eyes… she might just have fallen for him already.

Neji, picking his ear with his pinky, pondered on her last question with a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm… For now, just keep notifying me about the things happening inside the League every 24 hours. Of course, if there's an emergency you can contact me early too." Neji already gave her his number along with a new phone, since she didn’t have one before. "Based on your performance, you'll be rewarded generously–don’t you worry about that." 

Seeing Toga nod, he was about to say 'That's all,' but he remembered something else. "Oh yeah, and if you're planning to spill the beans and betray me, I will make sure to lock you up in a basement while glasses of my blood will be placed around your cell, for you to smell until forever because I would keep feeding you enough to keep you alive."

"..." Toga shivered just at the thought, biting her tongue and promising not to do that right there.

"Alright, then I will drop you a few kilometres outside this building. Find your way back to the League and contact me in 24 hours." Neji said to Toga, who nodded.

"But how will we go out unnoticed-"

Her words came to a halt as Neji's fingers pressed on her neck, causing her eyes to roll up and her body to drop back to the bed.

Then Neji simply touched her just as her body immediately got stored in his inventory.

Before leaving the penthouse though, he looked at the map on the table, the map that Toga had hand-drawn just a few minutes ago. The map… of the League of Villains' hideout that Toga took a look at while nobody else was noticing.

—★—

Pro Heros and their Agencies don't usually have Sunday as their holiday. After all, if all heroes took a day off on Sunday, the crime rate would always spike up on that particular day.

Which is why the Hero Association chooses a holiday for all the heroes when they make an Agency. A hero's holiday is calculated based on the holiday of the other heroes present in their particular city.

Ryuko Tatsuma, also known as the Dragon Hero Ryukyu, was lucky enough to get her holiday on Sunday.

Today was exactly that Sunday and like usual Sundays, she was supposed to laze around and watch a few TV shows. But things don't always go according to plan. Just last Friday, Nejire Hado, one of Ryuko's sidekicks, picked on her quite a bit about her perfume, haircut and clothes outside work.

"Shame, shame! This is why you've been single for the last two years!" That's what Nejire said, which stung Ryuko's pride as a woman. 

The truth was, she liked her hairstyle a lot. Even though it gave out the 'timid-girl' vibe when she didn't wear her head-gear. But she couldn't refute the girl’s other claims. Her clothes and perfume were indeed outdated.

She couldn't even remember the last time she bought new clothes, which was why the clothes she had currently would be called 'old-fashioned' in this society where style changes every few months. 

And about her perfume… she didn't even want to talk about it. She’s been buying the same brand for the last six years.

So, today, at Nejire's recommendation, she came to [Hado Fabrics].

One of the biggest textile and fashion brands in the whole world, which had its HQ in the highest skyscraper in Chiba city, 

The skyscraper was a huge 101-story building and from what Ryukyu heard, there was everything in this building, not just clothing shops. So she could buy both her perfume and clothes from right here.

After parking her car, she took the lift to first buy her clothes. She picked a random floor, the number-33, and went up the elevator.

~Cling~

The elevator opened and she slowly stepped out, taking a deep breath in of the cool and fresh smell of the floor.

There were clothes everywhere in front of her and certainly, to maintain all that, keeping the environment good was a must.

Ryukyu walked a few rays of clothes… before she froze.

"Hey~ you should have told me you were coming! I would have organised some for you." A beautiful woman said, hugging the shoulders of a boy.

Ryukyu noticed her hair was the same shape as Nejire's, though the colour was a bit deeper blueish. Ryukyu recognised her immediately.

'That's Nejire's mother…'

The last time they met, her hair was straight, but she still recognised her because of the iconic shape her hair currently took.

Normally, Ryukyu would have gone and said hi, but… there was another person with Nejire's mother. Her son, Neji Hado.

'Ugh… I had to get on this floor, didn’t I?’

She sighed but didn't think much of it. She will simply take the elevator up another floor.

And, she was about to do so, but right then…

"Wait… Hey, isn't that Ryukyu?!"

Ryuko sighed and held back from face-palming herself as she heard Neji's voice from behind her.

Forcing a smile, she turned around to find Neji and Gara walking to her, the latter looking pleasantly surprised.

"I really should cancel all my plans for today," Gara spoke as she came closer and grabbed Ryukyu's hands. "Hello Ryukyu, how've you been?"

'Gosh, this mother and daughter duo are so similar.' Ryuko laughed softly, avoiding Neji's gaze.

"I am doing fine, thank you for asking. I assume you have been doing so too? Also, please drop the formalities." Ryuko said. "I am just here as Ryuko, an average customer in need of clothes. Don't get too heated please."

Gara was about to open her mouth with what seemed to be a protest, but before she could, her phone rang.

"Hello? Sara? Huh? What? No, no, that's not right…" Her face visibly paled, her eyes going wide. Neji looked at her worriedly while she stuttered on her phone. After a minute, she apologised to Ryuko. "Err, sorry, I have to get going…"

She apologised, to which the dragon waved her hands. 

Gara's eyes suddenly lit up. "Ah, I know!" She turned to Neji. "Baby, can you show her around a bit? You're free anyways, right? You two also know each other pretty well."

Maybe it was a hallucination, but for an instant Ryukyu could have sworn to have seen Neji's eyes focus on the empty air, as if he was watching a hologram, before his focus returned to normal.

"Oh, okay. I am free anyway." Neji said casually, and to that Gara nodded gratefully and immediately left after apologising again. Then Neji turned to her. "So, let's go and look around. Ask me anything you wish to know, I will answer if I know."

"..."

Ryukyu didn't like how uninterested he sounded right now.

'Hmph, aren’t you the same guy who was wanting to meet me just a week ago?'

Involuntarily, she looked at him with a cute frown.

"Hm?" Neji tilted his head. "Why are you frowning?"

"...Uh." Ryuko returned to her senses. "S-sorry, it wasn't intentional." She cleared her throat and changed the subject. "Anyway, how are you, Neji?"

Neji crossed his arms. "Not good."

"Huh?" This time, it was Ryuko's turn to look confused. He wasn't doing well, even though he was going out with two girls? That’s like the dream of every man, what an ungrateful guy. 

"Why?” Still, she asked softly.

"Well…" He looked at her grumpily. "Apparently a certain someone doesn't have time to meet me, but has time to come to a city almost a hundred kilometres far from her own just to buy clothes."

There was a blank silence before Ryukyu’s face went red and she became flustered. "O-oh, th-that—"

"So, did you get a boyfriend?" Neji interrupted her, leaning over to her face as their nose almost touched. "I can visualise an insecure guy telling you to cut off contact with any other males. So, did you?"

"W...well, no." Ryukyu finally sighed and took a step back from his face. She for some reason felt a bit guilty all of a sudden... "I admit, it's my fault. L-let's just say it was the pressure of work?"

"You're bad at lying, Ryuko." Neji straightened his back. "But I will accept it—in one condition."

Ryuko perked her ears up.

"Since you’re here to buy clothes, and I will be showing you around… How about this; you will have to wear any clothes that I choose–”

"Not a chance." 

Ryuko declined immediately, shaking her head softly. Rumi told her quite a bit about the process in which he seduced her. So giving him a promise like this would be a bad idea if anything.

Neji put his hands up in defence. "Now, don't get so worked up. Why do you sound so worked-up anyway? I am not going to make you wear bikinis and stuff that are too revealing, you know?"

Ryukyu watched him with narrowed eyes.

Should she agree?

She did feel a bit guilty for ignoring him… But like she told Rumi, Neji was a good boy, even if as a man he was trash. Currently, she was talking with the 'boy' Neji, not the other one. He was treating her like a friend from an older age scale. It was silly to express hate to him. So she should indeed do something to melt the ice between them…

After long consideration, she sighed and nodded. "Alright, fine. But remember, nothing too revealing. Okay?"

"Yes~ of course."

Ryukyu might have imagined it, but Neji seemed to barely hide a smirk.

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Author’s Note: What kind of trap can capture a Dragon?