RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Thirty-Six: Some Kind Of Distraction

That early Monday morning, Yuko Amazawa got to work, all well and better from the cold she got last week, and she walked into her office with a replenished mood and energy. it seemed like taking a two-day absence was not entirely bad at all. It actually helped her a lot in taking time off from the stress she had been dealing with lately. She sauntered into the room, the familiar scent of paper and sanitizer filled her senses as she walked around her desk and took her seat behind it. 

As soon as she settled there, her phone rang and the screen flashed a familiar number. It was Osamu Sato. Yuko huffed a breath, finally feeling the start of her day as she took a sip from the coffee she had in her hand. She answered after two rings and placed the coffee in front of her on the table.

"Morning, Sato," she said in a business-like tone, "What's up?"

"Did you really get sick?" Osamu's response sounded more like he can't believe that she had and he found that amusing. And Yuko sneered.

"This is quite good of you to ask for me, being my ally and all, huh?" she spat back, "I would have appreciated it more if you gave me a call two days ago."

"So, you really did get sick?" Osamu replied, smirking over the phone.

"Aren't you haughty now? Just because I no longer have you under my command, you act more like a jerk to me, huh?"

If this was Koaru from ages ago, he would have killed himself just by mocking the Emperor. But then again, this was already the new modern age, and such traditional acts no longer existed, and so far, Yuko can only hold Osamu accountable for her plans and did not really have the full authority to keep him under her wing. They were just mere accomplices.

"I have to admit, I never actually believed it at first when your secretary told me you were sick," Osamu said, sounding more like he was teasing, "I thought you were faking it so you could do something else. Then when I called Kurosaki's office, his staff told me that he canceled the rest of his appointment for some emergency. And that was when I put two and two together... Well, didn't really think that you were sick, I just thought you two were out and about doing gods know what..."

Osamu chuckled and let out a sigh. Yuko scowled at his words.

"That's quite a theory," she said, sounding annoyed, "But that still did not explain why you didn't try to check on me when you heard I was sick."

"I did get worried," Osamu explained, fairly guilty, "But I knew Kurosaki won't let you down. And I reckon he took care of you, didn't he?"

Yuko blushed as soon as she got reminded of the things Kyouhei had done for her that day when he suddenly showed up in her apartment. She still could not believe that he had figured out her passcode lock. And now that she thought about that, she wondered how he knew about it. It was a combination of the year of Shin's death. And that was quite strange that he would have discovered what it was right away. She should definitely ask him about that... But how?

"Amazawa-san?" Osamu uttered through the phone when Yuko suddenly went quiet for quite a while, "Are you still there?"

"R-right," Yuko rushed a response as soon as she heard his voice and shook those thoughts about the passcode and that damn Kurosaki off of her mind. She did not really like how much he had become a distraction, "I'm better now, so no use of asking me anymore." She tried to drop the entire topic as she went on for something else instead. At least, just to get her away from ever thinking about him again.

"Why did you call, anyway?" she asked him right after, without missing a beat, "What's the agenda?"

"Agenda?" Osamu seemed to shift into a serious mode when she brought that up and Yuko felt relieved that he no longer pushed for the previous topic. Then Osamu let out a weary sigh through the receiver, "I called because I wanted to know if you already sorted what we will be doing about Ami Komatsu?"

Right, there was still that one thing they had to figure out. Yuko shut her eyes close, stifling a groan as she remembered that she was supposed to come up with a new plan. However, since she had been too sick to work on that, she almost forgot that she had to finish that first and foremost.

"I haven't finished it," She admitted, a bit disappointed about herself, "I have to call you back once I got it all worked out."

"What's this?" Osamu went back to teasing as he smirked, "You slouching off now? That's now how I used to know you, Your Highness."

"Oh shut it, Sato," Yuko gritted her teeth, snarling, "You were supposed to look after me all this time, and right when I needed you to assist me, you weren't there."

"Are you seriously mad that I didn't take care of you when you were sick?" And there it went again, they fell back to that same topic once more. Yuko winced as soon as she realized how she deliberately brought it up when she was not supposed to anymore. "I thought Kurosaki did it already for you? Though it is kinda weird that someone like Rei would do that to anyone, even less to you. Was he not too caring enough then?"

That was beyond the point... Yuko did not really want to recap all of that. Kyouhei was far too caring than she could handle, in fact. But admitting that would mean killing herself from embarrassment as well.

"Does your silence mean yes? Or no?" Osamu egged on, still probing more. Yuko's eyes went into slits as she glared at the phone.

"Shouldn't we be talking about Ami Komatsu right now? Instead of chatting nonsense about this?" she retorted.

"Right," Osamu said after a pause as he looked out of the window of his office and smiled at something unknown. Why does it give him a feeling that something was happening between Yuko and that fool?

"So when would you be ready?" he asked instead, choosing to keep his thoughts to himself for a while until they had finally sorted out the more important things they should be doing. There was a storm brewing sometime soon and it would only be a matter of time before everything else hit the fan. They should be prepared.

"I'm planning to meet Komatsu myself and talk to her in person," Yuko revealed with a voice that sounded quite cold and firm.

"Are you sure?" Osamu sat up from his chair and looked startled upon hearing what she just said. Can she handle her though?

"I think it's about time," Yuko answered after a second, "She and I have a lot of things to discuss anyway."

"Well, not that I'm against that," Osamu remarked, letting out a long sigh, "But I have to warn you, Amazawa-san."

"About what?" Yuko asked with a frown.

"She's not the kind of woman you think she is," Osamu said vaguely, "She's different... and quite suspicious."

"Suspicious? How?"

"You'll know once you get to talk to her," Osamu just responded with an abrupt urgency, "But just a piece of fair advice, please don't tell her anything that much. Don't jeopardize our plan. It'll be difficult to trust just anybody in this business."

"Are you saying that we should not rely on her?" Yuko frowned harder, a bit alarmed from those words.

"Not really," Osamu cleared, "But don't be too overly attached... She's still a mystery. And mysteries don't sit well with me, just so you know. Being in this kind of business made me pickier on who to depend on... So just trust me on this, Amazawa-san."

"Alright," Yuko eventually agreed, coming into terms with Osamu's brief logic, "If you say so."

Cause she really did not trust anyone that much apart from him right now. And if there was someone she knew would never lie to her, it would be Osamu... The only person whom she could trust her life with. The only person who would never betray her... Unlike Rei, or Kyouhei.

Until now, regardless of how much their relationship had been changing between them, there was still this nagging voice inside her head that kept her warning about Kurosaki. She just could not trust him at all. Yet it was strange... that for some reason, whenever she found herself lost and troubled he would suddenly appear and make her feel safe.

But she should not waver at all. She can't.

Now that things had gone too far and threats were starting to float around, Yuko cannot really afford to get swayed by some kind of distraction. Either it will be Kyouhei or Ami Komatsu (her past lover), she can't let herself be weak anymore.

Time is running, and that was the only thing constant as they push forward to this plan. And now that Yuko was beginning to get a clearer view of everything that might play into the game, she knew that she had to be defiant and bold enough to take on anything.

It will definitely be a war... soon.

----------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Thirty-Seven