Asmo's Love

Interrupt

The party is quite too much for Aoi Chiba.

Though she has been already informed of the motif done for the event, she still has not been expecting to find it outrageously extravagant and superb. There are so many people dressed in their best designer outfits, with gold and shining paraphernalia dangling on their necks and wrists. It almost feels like something Aoi Chiba only used to see from Western soirees shown on the news and online articles. Everyone is putting up their best to look grandiose and glamorous, that even Aoi's Oscar de la Renta tailored dress that she is wearing now seems a little bit too average among this sea of luxurious guests around her.

She turns to look over her shoulder just to check if Jin Sasai is still with her and she quickly gets a glimpse of him, looking indifferent and casual at the sight of the whole party. Jin just scans the entire scene, seemingly more focused on making sure that everything is safe around them and slowly meets Aoi's stare with a vacant look on his place.

"Yes?" he immediately asks her when she gives him a hesitant smile.

"What am I supposed to do here...?" Aoi voices out weakly, turning around to step closer to Jin so she would not look bothered and uncomfortable taking in the middle of the floor near the entrance of the hall. "Kenji's coming right?"

She feels somehow worried that he would not be here at the right time and now her being alone in this kind of place ultimately gives her so much pressure in trying to fit in. She could not even breathe calmly as she shifts much closer to Jin, apparently needing a pillar and a shield to keep her from meeting anyone who might suddenly approach her all of a sudden. She would never really know how to acknowledge or even talk to someone else right now.

She just wants to disappear for a moment until Kenji finally comes to her aide and saves her from the impending trouble.

"Boss Yanagi will be here soon," Jin reassures her back with a steady gaze as he gently pulls her to his side so she won't be blocking the way for the other guests that are coming in.

Aoi Chiba could not really explain herself clearly but deep inside, she is really nervous and scared. What if she meets that Yamazaki again? What if the young guy that he has sent to help her inside the Yanagi territory suddenly pops in with Kenji?

She could not really think of a good plan, it would not have been really this critical if Aoi has only thought of the consequences earlier than she is right now. Why the hell did it even slip off of her mind?

She feels helpless yet she cannot really ask for Jin's help. Even if they have already gotten close compared to the first time they had met, she cannot just tell him all of her troubles especially if she is still keeping something from Yanagi.

Jin's loyalty to the young boss is much deeper than anything he could share with anyone in this world. And Aoi Chiba knows whose side Jin will fight for.

"Sasai!"

Completely submerged in her own thoughts, Aoi Chiba almost does not notice another figure approaching them from the entryway of the hall where an old man with a walking stick and a couple of huge burly men in dark suits strides towards their direction. The men behind the old guy immediately give them a bow and the old man smiles at Jin who in return gives the old man a bow as well.

"Sakamoto." Jin eventually addresses the man as soon as he looks up and meets his stare.

"We've been busy, huh?" Sakamoto replies with a sly smirk as he casually gives Aoi a sidelong glance, indicating that he acknowledges her presence there with them, "I feel like it has been so long since the last time I've seen you."

"Well, the businesses are getting a bit thicker in the shell," Jin briefly retorts, shrugging a shoulder as if his metaphor has made sense in a way, "I'm even thinking of getting a few days off for a while. I'm pretty wired with so many nights of just losing sleep lately."

"Signs of aging, I guess," The old guy jokes as he laughs off Jin's statement, "But I would rather not let Boss Yanagi's woman hear this, you know. She might tell the Boss about that."

And upon saying these words, Sakamoto gives Aoi a look, flashing a mischievous smile on her. Whereas, Aoi just simply gapes back at him.

His voice sounds a bit familiar but Aoi could not clearly recall when she heard it before. They have already met before, at the funeral of a former boss in the clan. Yet Aoi suddenly feels like she had heard his voice somewhere else. She just could not pinpoint when and where. And she frowns as she mulls over it.

At the same time, Jin Sasai's phone suddenly vibrates inside his front pocket and he quickly fishes it out to answer the call. It seems like a notification from Yanagi's men.

"Alright, I'll be out in a sec," Aoi hears Jin muttering back to the receiver as he quickly ends the conversation and meets her eyes.

"Boss Yanagi has finally arrived outside," Jin tells Aoi and after a second he turns to stare at Sakamoto and his men, "I'll leave Miss Chiba with you for a while, Sakamoto. I'll be back as soon as possible."

With a bow, Jin flees and eventually leaves Aoi Chiba alone with Sakamoto at the corner of the hall, still a bit dumbfounded and looking lost. She has not even said a word yet and just watches Jin exits the place as if he could not care less about her. She suddenly feels annoyed as she takes a step back and casually glances at Sakamoto who is now staring at her with a sparkling glint in his eyes.

"How convenient, don't you think, Miss Cherry?" Sakamoto unexpectedly addresses her with a grin and Aoi suddenly becomes even more aware of how familiar his voice is. She really heard him before. Though it had not been somewhere else. It had been over the phone.

That call... That phonecall and the stranger from the other line that had once talked to her a few months back. She finally recognizes it.

"I told you we'd meet eventually," he tells her in a deep low voice as he motions to his two men behind him to take a step away, "How's it going now, Miss Cherry? Or would I rather call you Miss Aoi Chiba?"

Aoi Chiba could feel her heart pounding and she somehow could not think of a plan. She just gazes at him, her eyes widening and her throat tightening. She feels trapped.

Is he an ally? Or an enemy? Which side is he?

Aoi Chiba can't really know unless... she risks for it.

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