White Rabbit

Chapter 40: The Lioness of Tokyo

ESSENCE

I bounce up and down excitedly on my heels as Reece, Clattonia, Caliber, Kazuki, Juniper, Jace, and Lucian stand outside with me as we get ready to head to the train station.

"What is your problem?" Reece raises a brow at me in an amused manner.

"I'm excited," I pout, "don't make fun of me. I've never been to Tokyo, despite how much I've traveled."

"You know what doesn't make sense," Jace starts, "my dad is going to Shinjuku first before he goes to Tokyo."

"Who knows?" Clattonia says as we start walking towards the station, "but it might be something important. Should we go to Shinjuku first?"

"I already got us tickets for Tokyo," Lucian says, "and the next train to Shinjuku leaves after ours does."

"I guess we'll just have to head straight to Tokyo then," Clattonia sighs.

"Are you excited to see your sister, Lucian?" Kazuki snickers.

"I will kill you in your sleep," Lucian glares at Kazuki.

I raise a brow questioningly and Reece shakes his head, silently telling me not to question it.

"Well, I can't wait to meet the Lioness of Tokyo," Kazuki smirks.

"I wouldn't be too full of yourself right now if I were you," Clattonia says and waves around her phone, "I've made special arrangements for you."

Kazuki narrows his eyes at Clattonia before crossing his arms against his chest and huffing in annoyance, and if I hadn't known any better, his facade faltered for a few seconds, revealing hints of slight fear in his eyes.

The eight of us finally reach Shibuya Station and board our train a few minutes before it takes off to Tokyo. I grab on to one of the handles hanging from the train ceiling as I stand in the middle of the room next to Reece and Juniper with Clattonia standing across from us next to Lucian and Jace. Meanwhile, a few feet over from us, Caliber is standing and closely watching Kazuki, who sits down on one of the empty seats and shifts around uncomfortably under her gaze.

I gasp as I can see the beautiful Shibuya Crossing fly by outside the windows and not too long later our stop comes. We shuffle outside with our luggage and Lucian takes the lead to where we're going.

"So, where specifically does your sister work?" Juniper asks Lucian as he leads us through the busy crowds.

"She's a lead detective under my father," Lucian says with a somewhat pained expression.

"I know, but where at?" Juniper asks.

"She works at one of the stations under the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department," Lucian says after a few moments.

I glance over my shoulder as we pass a police dog on a blue leash and it wags its tail at us as it trots by and watches us, turning its head around for a few seconds before going back to looking straight ahead. Its owner nods at us and smiles as he continues walking the dog, his short, dark brown hair being mostly hidden by his police cap.

"Aww," I coo at the cute doggie and Reece nudges my arm gently.

"Haven't you ever seen a dog before?" Reece asks in an amused manner.

"Well, yeah," I roll my eyes, "but it was so adorable!"

Reece chuckles at my response as Lucian leads us across a crosswalk and into a giant building with several planes of glass windows running along the grey concrete walls.

Upon entering the police station's glass doors, I notice that there are several cubicles set up and a straight pathway leads down the middle and splits off to the right as it runs passed the cubicles that reside in long rows on both the left and right side, making up what seems to be twenty offices. Leaning against one of the outside cubicle walls is a tall, blonde haired woman with brown eyes that have flecks of purple and blue in them, perhaps a little green as well, and she's wearing dark grey pants with a dark purple dress shirt with her badge clipped to her pants. A smile lights up on her face as we enter and she automatically walks towards Lucian.

"Little bro!" The mysterious girl beams and throws an arm around Lucian's shoulders, who flinches, "I've missed you so much! You should visit more often."

"Lioness of Tokyo," Kazuki makes a somewhat impressed smile, "nice to meet you."

"Mhm," The woman raises a brow and makes an irritated expression with her lips, "Kazuki Rin. We've made special arrangements for you. And, also, it's a pleasure to meet you, Jace Athens. Although, I'm not fond of the organization that you work for."

"Um," Jace rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, "thanks..."

Meanwhile, Kazuki's smile gets wiped off of his face and he crosses his arms against his chest.

"You're actually lucky. I just got back two weeks ago, and I was quite surprised whenever I got a phone call from Clattonia and you asking to stay with me. Nevertheless, I'm happy to have you guys here," Her eyes drift over to Kazuki, "well, most of you. My name's Rai for those of you who don't know."

Kazuki snorts in annoyance and looks like he wants to stalk off in another direction, but he stays put.

"You just got back two weeks ago?" Lucian asks.

"Mhm," Rai nods enthusiastically and smiles, "I was in Seoul for two months and working on case files."

"You went to South Korea?" Jace asks.

"She did," A tall, strong, blond male wearing a white dress shirt that has the sleeves rolled up with a dark grey vest, and dark grey pants that have a badge clipped to his pants next to his pistol speaks as he walks around the corner and his hazel eyes focus on us, "and she also needs to be more careful when it comes to her actions."

"Oh, you're no fun, Daemon," Rai pouts, prompting Daemon to raise a brow at her.

"Who's that?" Lucian asks and nods towards Daemon.

"That's Daemon," Rai explains and he raises an amused brow, "he's my bodyguard. Well, technically he's a detective like me, but he's my partner and he always looks out for me and chides me whenever I get a bit reckless. So, I just refer to him as my bodyguard."

"I may as well be," Daemon grumbles, but it's clear that he doesn't mind.

"Excuse me," A woman with long, straight, black hair with bangs and red, square framed glasses runs towards Rai with a paper in her hands, her black heels clicking against the floor as she rushes quickly in her black pencil skirt and dark magenta, long sleeved dress shirt, "both of your special guests have arrived at your apartment. I was just given word to tell you, Miss Adley."

"Thank you, Shira," Rai smiles and the woman smiles back before nodding and running off once more, "Well, I'm sure you guys are ready to get to my apartment. Shall we go?"

"Yeah..." Lucian trails off, "Let's go."

"I'll see you later, Daemon. Take care of my work for me, 'kay? I owe you one!" Rai calls to Daemon as we start walking out of the building.

And with that, the nine of us head off to Rai's apartment complex, Daemon's sigh still being clearly heard in the background.