Bonten's Innocence

Chapter 16 - red paint

Ino sat awkwardly in the car next to Kokonoi, "well this is awkward" she sighed out unconsciously looking out the window, "sorry about that" he apologised, "no um I didn't mean to..." She quickly turned to face him, "no it's alright I deserve it" he dryly chuckled, "I'm sorry too" She apologized, "let's just forget about it" he suggested, "right" she nodded in agreement.

"Tch I'll get my revenge, one way or another... in fact why not today" Miwa smirked, she was on a mission to kidnap and kill one of the son's of Bonten's former business partners and get rid of traitors, "ma'am we've tracked him down" one of her men alerted her snapping her out of her thoughts, "alright I'll distract the rest of you disarm" she clearly gave orders before coming out of her car.

"Why are there piles of paperwork on my desk!" Kokonoi exlaimed in frustration, "maybe because Sanzu left his on yours when he went out for a field work" Takeomi explained from across the hall, "that bastard!" Kokonoi spat, "why don't you take a sit and watch some TV we can go out later as soon as I'm done" Kokonoi said to Ino who just nodded.

A few minutes in and Ino was already asleep, "guess she didn't get enough sleep yesterday" Kokonoi chuckled gently putting a blanket over her, "thank you" Ino said sleepily, "your welcome" Kokonoi smiled heading back to his paperwork.

Three hours later Ino woke up, she looked around and saw Kokonoi fully concentrated on his work, "are you awake?" Kokonoi asked with his eyes still on the laptop, "yes, good afternoon, do you need help? I can help" She offered, "no it's fine, why don't you get me a coffee instead, there's a machine down the hall" he suggested finally looking up, "alright I will" she said quickly getting up to leave the office.

On her way to the machine she happened to see Sanzu and Ran talking about something, "Mr Sanzu are you alright? You're covered in blood!" Ino panicked, "don't worry it's not my blood" Sanzu explained, "so who's blood is it?" She questioned looking confused, "it's chicken blood" Ran hastily interceded.

Ino raised a brow "chicken blood?" She repeated "yes, you see, we went to the butcher because we were craving chicken but one of them went out of control when they tried to slit the throat and ended bleeding all over Sanzu" Ran tried to convincingly lie, "so where's the chicken?" She asked, "at home in the freezer" Sanzu answered, "well okay as long as you didn't get hurt" she said slightly convinced.

"I'll be going now" Ino said walking away, "really chicken blood?" Sanzu questioned Ran who just shrugged, "I helped though, just send someone to buy chicken and put it in the fridge" he said to Sanzu before walking away, "and go clean yourself up" he added.

Ino made it to the machine where Takeomi and Mochi where talking over a cup of coffee, "good afternoon" she greeted, "afternoon" they greeted back with a warm smile, "how's Koko doing? He's been flooded with alot of work these past few days" Mochi asked, "well he's working really hard" she answered while making his coffee, "coming to the office must be pretty boring huh?" Takeomi commented, "not at all it's nice and peaceful here" she smiled, "well that's good to know" Rindou said coming out of his office, "anyway I'll be going now bye" Ino waved before heading back to Kokonoi's office.

"I'm back with the coffee" Ino announced opening the door, "welcome back" Kokonoi greeted with a warm smile, "are you sure I can't help in anyway? Even just a little, you look stressed" she pressed, "okay, how about you sit down here" Kokonoi said patting his lap, Ino's brows furrowed "are you sure that's helping?" She questioned, "yes of course it will keep me awake better than any coffee" he answered with a grin.

"Alright" Ino said shyly and slowly sitting down, "there we go" Kokonoi sighed readjusting her to work on his laptop, "are you comfortable?" He asked once he noticed her ears heating up, "yes I'm fine" she answered quickly, after a few minutes she calmed down and began to watch Kokonoi do his work, although she couldn't understand anything since it was mostly figures.