Akayuki (Red Snow) Chapter 2.1

Warning: This chapter contains mild strong language. Reader discretion is advised.

Author's Note: Disregard the American names I snuck in here. I may change them later. And I may not. Tiffany has to stay, though. Like chapter one, I broke this chapter up so it wouldn't be humongously long. Nica-Chucky is temporary. So don't get too attached. Sorry.

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction. It is intended for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual persons living or deceased is purely coincidental.

~o~

We reached the Elm District in time for a late lunch. Unlike back in Hackensack, we didn’t have guards and spies to contend with here.

I coaxed my bodyguard into the Red Light District for lunch at an old friend’s place of business.

Tiffany, the proprietress of Belle's, welcomed us and treated us to a lunch spread I only received at home on New Year’s.

After our run and the anxiety of the previous hours, I ate everything I could reach on the table. Tiffany didn’t chastise me for making a pig out of myself. She had seen me in worse shape before.

My bodyguard kept his composure, used his chopsticks, and acted like a proper prick.

Maybe I should ditch him, I thought, once I had eaten enough and was sipping some sake.

“I don’t mind new faces, but who is he exactly?” Tiff asked me, whispering in my ear so Mister Silent wouldn’t hear.

“Just a wanderin’ ronin I picked up on a snowy night,” I answered, in a voice loud enough to carry across the table to him. “Hey! You almost ready to hit the road, Mister Bodyguard?”

He set his chopsticks over his rice bowl and arose as graceful as a swan from a pond.

Damn him.

“Thanks for the meal, Tiff,” I said, kissing her cheek before hopping to my feet. “See ya.”

“Freddy doesn’t want to see you, Chucky,” Tiffany called at my back. “He wants to see Nica.”

“He’ll get whatever side I feel like showing him,” I answered without looking back.