Ruby Red

21

A day had passed since I had shared that moment with Kazama and now I was unsure as to where we were going with our "relationship". I had spent the night at Headquarters because, after our moment, I went to my bed and reminisced in the memory. After that, I had fallen asleep for the night with a wide smile on my face.

A knock on my door frightened me to a point of jolting up from my sleep. I clumsily threw my covers off of me and ran over to open it, finding Kazama standing on the other side. His eyes were the same ones of steel as usual which confused me, but I kept my composure.

"What do you need?"

"You've been requested at our meeting. Hurry and change, it's already begun," he said in his usual gruff tone. I smirked at him and slowly shut the door.

"For that attitude, I think I'll take my time." I could hear his scowl as I locked the door in his face.

"Seriously, hurry. I don't want to get on your uncle's bad side today." I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms.

"Oh, now you want his approval, huh?" I shocked myself at these words of confidence that I didn't know I had. There was no response afterward except for an incoherent mumble which led me to giggle as I walked toward my dresser. I pulled out a pair of shorts and a grey sweatshirt and quickly slid into them, throwing on some socks and a pair of sneakers after. As I walked toward my door, I wrapped my hair into a messy bun and secured it with a hair tie and some bobby pins.

After applying deodorant and body spray, I stepped out of my room with my phone in hand to find the boy leaning against the wall.

"Finally." I pouted and looked up at him.

"It took me less than five minutes!" He grinned slightly to himself. "So, what is this meeting about?"

"Discussion on fair payment to the agents and an upcoming media conference." I sighed.

"Why do I have to be involved in all of this adult stuff?!" I whined.

"Because you're an adult," he began. "But you don't really act like one..." I scowled and smacked his arm which triggered a small laugh to escape his lips. I playfully glared up at him but ended up smiling because of the innocent one he sent me.

"Come on!" I grabbed his hand and ran off. "Let's go get paid!" We quickly made it to the empty elevator and stepped inside, allowing it to carry us to our desired floor. My hand never left Kazama's which made my face flush slightly. He didn't seem to care because he made no attempt to move it away. In fact, he merely shifted his hand to interlock his fingers with mine.

A small smile graced my lips at the small squeeze he gave my hand with his slightly sweaty palm. My hand sat comfortably in his as we walked down the corridor toward the Conference room.

Upon our arrival, his hand dropped from mine which was to be expected. The doors opened and we stepped in to find all of our superiors staring us down.

"You're late."

"Well, I'm sorry for just finding out about this right after being woken up," I said snarkily. Kido rubbed at his forehead and sighed heavily.

"Let's just get on with it... We have created this list of combatants and squads and ordered them in their respective service categories." Shinoda slid his list to the end of the table where Kazama and I stood so we could view it for ourselves. I took a quick glance and instantly refused.

"Not good enough." Gasps were released from my quick decision. "Many more teams and members need to be recognized, and as it is, the rewards are not high enough."