Bungou Stray Dogs x OC ~ Alter Ego

Chapter 5

The private plane she had taken for the trip obviously belonged to her adoptive family, and had the height of luxury. Whether it was in terms of entertainment, with screens in every direction and the many varieties of food available, or even in terms of comfort.

Yui, sitting in her seat, was more than a little indifferent, however. If there was one thing she had to worry about right now, it was contacting the Armed Detective Agency without attracting suspicion.

His father regularly monitored her every move, almost every day, both from her phone and her computer, among many other things.

His father could find out who she was in contact with, exactly what she was talking about, and how often. Contacting the Agency by phone or email was out of the question. Her internet history could be deleted easily, but an email was far too obvious and especially incriminating.

How could she explain the reason for such an urge, to want to connect with these detectives, even though her father could hire a myriad of them with a snap of his fingers?

She could not, at the moment. Because, if she passes by her father or his few close collaborators to submit her request, nothing will remain secret. Yuuto Uemura, her adoptive father, had eyes and ears everywhere.

This was Yui's first time out of Tokyo in two years. She knew that, if she had not behaved as exemplarily as she had since her arrival in this new family, she would never have been allowed to leave, even for a few days.

She was a prisoner in a real cage with golden bars. A cage from which she had managed to get out briefly during a business trip, albeit under the close supervision of one of her servants, before her father came to imprison her once again for an indefinite period.

It was for this reason that she absolutely must not be caught, when she would try to contact this Agency. Because if anything too negative came to her father's attention, she could say goodbye to any hope of getting out of that golden cage for many years.

She did not want to wait another ten years to accomplish her dream, to accomplish the impossible. But she knew that, at the moment, she had no way of cutting ties with her adoptive family. And that, above all, she was absolutely uncertain that her father would let her go, meekly and permanently, when the day came. He had invested far too much in her to let her slip through his fingers without saying anything.

For the moment, she was stuck. Well, not quite either.

She had a plan, of course. She just had to wait for the right moment to implement it.

"Aiko?" Yui hummed in a soft voice, addressing her maid. "Can you tell me what the city looks like, please?"

The trip from Tokyo to Yokohama was ridiculously short, especially by plane. Yui had no doubt that her destination must be closer than ever, and that she must be flying over the city in question right now.

She heard Aiko rush towards her, in order to answer her mistress' request. The voice of her maid was now in front of her, whose eyes must have been scanning the horizon through the window.

"I... It is almost dark, Miss, but the city is already covered with lights... Oh, and there is a huge Ferris wheel by the sea, with five gigantic buildings beyond..."

Yui already knew who owned these big buildings, without even seeing them. Their owner was neither more nor less than her future co-contractor, if things went 'ideally'.

"We'll be there in about ten minutes, Miss," said another voice, this time a male one, in a very professional tone. "I'll ask you to fasten your seatbelt."

Docilely, Yui complied with the captain's instructions, who was also her father's personal pilot when he went on business trips of his own. She heard Aiko go to her own seat a few meters behind her, and the silence slowly fell in the air-conditioned cabin.

Distractedly, the young woman passed her finger over the iron locket she had slipped into her sleeve before leaving, wrapped around her wrist. An object she almost never parted with, despite her dislike of it.

The plane finally lands, and Yui was able to get up from her seat, smoothing out the non-existent folds of her long skirt, while Aiko draped a warm jacket over her shoulders, which she put on the next moment, along with her wide-brimmed hat, tied around her neck with a ribbon.

With her cane in hand, the girl descended the few steps that separated her from the ground, and was immediately assailed by gusts of wind that almost made her fall, if only she hadn't anticipated this kind of bad weather by clinging firmly to the railing beforehand.

She couldn't say the same for Aiko, just behind her, who missed a step because of that. Fortunately, she managed to catch herself on the railing at the last moment, thus avoiding falling on her mistress, whom she was following.

The fact that the knot in Yui's hat had not yet broken was a miracle in itself, and she felt her braid flapping in all directions. Then, as her feet finally touched the ground, a stronger gust than the previous ones finally broke the elastic band that had been used to hold her hair, releasing her long black and white intertwined strands, which blossomed in the wind, undulating furiously, and above all gracefully.

Still, a smile made its way to her lips, a smile that was closer to authenticity than any of her usual smiles.

She loved the feel of the wind in her hair, her clothes, on her skin. As if she could touch freedom with her fingertips.

She heard the exclamation of surprise from Aiko, just behind her, who had probably just realized the hair disaster of her mistress, whose hat had just taken its turn to fly away. While Yui was quickly escorted to the inside of the building, the smile of the young girl gradually reduced, until it became, again, the one she was always wearing. A smile of circumstance.

Leaving the roof on which her plane had landed, the young woman felt that someone guided her in a particular direction, in this place which was completely unknown to her.

A luxury hotel that belonged to her beloved family.

      

     
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She had very quickly settled into her private suite, one of the most magnificent of the establishment, had changed clothes and redid her braid, quickly taking her marks in this new environment.

She had then gone down to the first floor, Aiko not far away from her, as well as some bodyguards who had been assigned to her protection. There, in a living room which smelled luxuriously, almost excessively, were waiting for her as agreed members of the Mafia, with whom she was going to have to make a contract in the days to come.

With a smile, dressed in a highly uncomfortable dress that showed off her seventeen-year-old forms, without any hint of discomfort however, Yui walked into the lounge, escorted by Aiko, who showed her where her seat was, before Yui asked her to step aside, along with her bodyguards.

A short silence fell on the living room with its woody scents and expensive notes, which Yui interpreted as a silence of amazement coming from her interlocutor, whom she could almost hear thinking at full speed.

Yui not included, five people were still in the room, from what she could sense. Her potential future business partner, and most certainly his own henchmen, not far behind.

"I'll start by quickly introducing myself, if I may," she said in a soft voice as she held out her hand in front of her. "I am Yui Uemura, daughter of Yuuto Uemura, who sent me here as his representative. Nice to meet you, Mister...?"

The latter took a moment to answer, certainly under the shock to see that his interlocutor was nothing more than a young girl of not even twenty years, blind on top of that. He must have expected Yuuto Uemura to come in person.

But, after several seconds of waiting, during which nobody moved, the girl finally felt a gloved hand in hers, accepting the greeting.

"Chuuya Nakahara, pleased to meet you. I'm also representing my boss."

Then, addressing his bodyguards, he resumed.

"You can go out," he declared, with a clear and firm voice, where she however perceived a hint of nervousness, as if he apprehended something.

Was this the first time he had been in charge of closing a deal, eventually? The others most certainly could not see it, but Yui was not fooled. She had enough experience to know how the person sitting in front of her felt, even with all the efforts in the world to hide it.

This man, Chuuya Nakahara, was not much older than her, maybe only a few years. But, knowing that he was there today, he was most certainly a high-ranking Mafia official, considering that today's contract was an especially important one, either for the Uemura group or the Mafia itself.

The first time her father had tried to establish business ties with the Mafia, many years ago, he had come up against a wall that he had not anticipated, let alone understood, even to this day. But, since then, a new leader had taken over the organization, and Yuuto Uemura had seen this as a real opportunity for his business.

Yui cannot care less about all this. As long as she could do what she really wanted to do in this city, she was fine. She was just a chess piece on her adoptive father's board, at least for now.

So, she had to act with knowledge, without losing sight of her primary goal.

"It is a pleasure to be able to speak with you, Mr. Nakahara," she continued while letting herself go against the back of her chair, the hands delicately intertwined on her crossed knees, crumpling slightly the fabric of her dress between her fingers. "We have a lot to talk about, don't we?" she finished with another smile, in a confident, friendly, and yet honeyed voice.

Although no one could hear it, Chuuya included, and even less the few bodyguards and servants who had gone out to let them converse face to face.

In this room now deserted, except for the two of them.