mysteries | ic; god that was strange to see you again

[ He can't deny that there's something nice about this. Even if it's a mission and even if he's alert because of it.. it's still an opportunity for them to be together. Even though they can't let the higher ups know about their relationship, that doesn't matter right now. They're expected to act like they're a couple to begin with, after all, and anything he does would probably just be chalked up to the fact that he's very naturally good with people.

If it means spending some time with Kiraki, especially while she's looking like this.. then he's glad. And when stuff gets dangerous, they can just work together to get out of it. He won't have to worry about her maybe being off somewhere and getting hurt without him being able to help her at all. This is different.

He blinks in surprise at her question though as they start walking to head to the entrance. ]

What? No, of course not! [ The very idea that Kiraki would look anything but gorgeous - let alone weird - is just something that didn't even cross his mind.

It takes another moment to calm his heart enough to let the words flow out again, but then he softly smiles sideways at her. ]

You're beautiful. Really.

[ And every word of that is genuine - of course it is. It's Mamoru.

He moves his head a little to gently nuzzle her a little. There's something oddly liberating about being able to do this without having to worry about anyone seeing them or figuring it out, really. ]

[She let herself laugh, leaning into his touch. It was really nice to hear him say that. She was gonna need all the confidence she could muster to get through tonight.

She was honestly too tickled to even respond properly. To keep her composure she instead just kept her eyes forward.
They were entering the private estate of the Suzumura group, one wrong step and their entire mission would be compromised. On top of the information they were after, they had to make sure to keep their covers flawless. There was no way that they could avoid talking to anyone else the entire night.

But if all went well, they would only need to lean on one another.]

You look quite handsome yourself. Even more adorable than usual.

[She gave him a somewhat cheeky smile, squeezing his arm slightly.]

[ He coughs, dipping his head a little to avoid showing his embarrassment too much now they're among so many people and have a cover to keep up. They just had to blend in for a little while to be able to find out where their target is, after all. ]

"Adorable" isn't really what I was going for.. [ Not now, when he has to wear a suit to infiltrate a party for rich (and somewhat shady, mostly) people. Not since he used to work for Section 4 of all places even before he got stuck in the Church. Or ever, really, but he just can't help his own babyface.

(He almost swears he can hear a faint grumble from his earpiece, hidden under the sides of his hair.) ]

But.. for now, let's just enjoy ourselves, alright?

[ Although he means "keep an eye out", but it's not like he can say that out loud now they're in plenty of company. But he knows Kiraki will pick up on the meaning anyway - he figures it's why they sent her with him, since they can easily communicate like that.

(Because it totally isn't because they're the most obvious about their relationship ever. Nope.) ]

[She laughs softly, sweeping her eyes across the group almost as if she had been commanded. It started to make sense to her. She and Mamoru had grown to be able to easily tell what the other was thinking. (for the most part) ]
She stood on her tippy-toes and leaned in to whisper into his ear.]

But with how you look, there's no way you can end up looking suspicious. [She knew that Mamoru was a bit self-conscious about how "un-manly" he looked at times. But she wanted to assure him in a way that was certain to help at a time like this. She let her her hand trail downtime front of his chest briefly, the corner of her mouth quirking upward.
[She plastered a grin on her face to make it seem from the outside as if she had simply been whispering sweet nothings to her date. She had always liked how Mamoru looked, quite a lot actually. But she knew he never had so much as a passing positive thought for himself.

As she drew away, she began to adjust her step to a small cocktail lounge area that stood outside of the main ballroom. It was secluded enough to allow for observation, but not far enough away to arouse suspicion.]

[ Mamoru's reaction suits what it would seem like to other people, anyway. Not that it's something he consciously thought out to do for that reason, it's more of an instinctive reaction, but it still works. Maybe it's embarrassment over looking cute or maybe it's the fact that she's trying to reassure him here, but his cheeks light up a little bit before he shyly dips his head for a moment or two.

When he raises it again, he's quick to follow Kiraki towards the lounge, although he can certainly see a few of the men present looking at her (or more like staring, considering how long their gaze rests) as they pass.

Not that he can really blame them, she's beautiful, but.. well, the people here aren't all supposed to be the most upright of people, so he can't help but quicken his pace a little to keep up with her and make sure she isn't off by herself. Kiraki can fend for herself, sure, but he still can't help but want to protect her.

Mamoru does order drinks for them, but he's pretty determined to make this glass last the night. He doesn't want to risk drinking more and getting drunk during a mission, but they would stand out too much without.

Just as he's handing it over to her though, another guy hanging on the cocktail bar speaks up instead. ]

Is that your girl? You're pretty lucky. [ There's an edge of sarcasm in it, as in that he couldn't believe someone with Mamoru's kind of babyface could get lucky like that usually, but of course Mamoru is way too oblivious when it comes to this sort of stuff to detect it fully.

So instead he half-shyly raises up a hand to the back of his head, trying his best to smile politely. Blending in, talking to people, finding out more - that's what they're here for. ]

Ah.. thanks.

[Kiraki has long already noticed the other men's lingering glances. A chain of soft clicking noises from her earpeice also informed her of an individual in the far corner of the lounge that matched their target's description. She replied to Umie with affirmation with a few clicks of her tongue.

With Mamoru joining her at the lounge, she picks a table with a good view of their possible target. Waiting for a good moment to tell him. Unfortunatly they were interrupted before she could do so.
She does her best to conceal her disgust at the man's comment, she just focusses on her drink and takes a sip elegantly.]

Really, I'm the lucky one.

[she said with a pleasant smile. Not willing to let Mamoru take this on his own. She gave the man a look of ice and thinly veiled challenge. Mamoru may not have picked up on his jab, but she did, and she didn't have time for it. Kiyomi's most important piece of advice was to use her beauty as a weapon, and this one seemed to make it easy.

She then looked to Mamoru, her smile turning gentle, but not losing it's dazzle. She did so both to re-assure Mamoru, and to assert her position to the stranger. Punctuation it with one-last side-glance in his direction.]

[ Of course Mamoru is fully unaware of what sort of look she's giving the other guy exactly - he just sees the smile she shoots his way instead, and that makes him smile right back. ]

You're flattering me. [ But since they are supposed to be a couple, after all - and they are, just a little less openly usually - he moves a hand to her shoulder before letting it slide down the side of her arm a little bit.

The stranger, however, sees what's going on here (not as much from Mamoru's actions as much as from Kiraki's kind of stare) and realises he doesn't stand much of a chance. Which is apparently enough to make him back off for now, leaving the two of them alone. Mamoru blinks a few times and mumbles something where he wonders why that guy suddenly left, but then he turns to Kiraki. ]

Heard anything interesting yet?

[ Anyone else would interpret it as talk from the people here, but he figured that one of the Botan girls must have contacted her from the way she was looking just now while he was fiddling with the drinks. ]

I haven't confirmed anything yet, but Umie just told me to be on the look out.

[She paused]

Don't look but, the man sitting by himself, at the end of the bar...he's someone we should keep an eye on...

[She paused, her eyes losing focus for a moment as she listened to Umie's message. she tapped her microphone in a light rhythmic pattern as response.]

That's Saburo Suzumura, not the heir, but the second son. He will certainly be necessary in completing our tasks here.

She smiled warmly, giving him a sultry look as to maintain the illusion of their conversation. Her hand rested on his forewarm while she spoke, moving slowly to clasp his hand gently. It was a relief that she could show even a little of her overwhelming affection like this and not fear being caught. Looking at mamoru, she knew that he felt the same way.

[ At least Mamoru's good enough about these sort of things that he really doesn't look when she mentions it - instead he just smiles at her and nods, the spitting image of someone completely devoted to what their lover is telling them. (To be fair, it's not that far off the truth, so it's not like it requires much acting ability to begin with.) He doesn't even wince at the contact - this much he can handle, and it's pretty nice on top of it, even if they're in the middle of a mission. ]

I see.

[ He says it lightly, happily - like they're discussing a much more normal and better topic than their current targets here.

There's a slight moment where there's some hesitation, but then he just starts to lean over, gently pressing their lips against each other. Something that wouldn't look out of the ordinary in the middle of the party, but it's more so he can whisper to her when he pulls back, their lips so close they almost still touch. ]

Maybe we'll find the main target through him. Once he pops up, I'll approach. [ He has the tracker they have to plant on the guy, after all. (Not to mention he's a little more socially sensitive than Kiraki, although he has to admit she really is going all the way to seem like a more gentle person here.) ]

[Kiraki sighed, almost feeling the need to bite her lip to maintain her self control. She and Mamoru had scarcely seen each other since their reunion. While they were able to talk often on an encrypted channel on their communicators, (courtesy of Umie). Kiraki was someone who very strongly craved physical contact and affection even if she wished that she could be as satisfied as Mamoru was.
She lifted her hand to cup his cheek, rubbing her thumb along his jawline.]

You're the better talker, but I'm the one who's all prettied up for a reason. [She said with a small smirk.] You take the lead, and I'll follow you. I'll be able to distract anyone we come into contact with if they get suspicious.

[She kissed him in return as a part of the charade, and as an excuse for their faces to remain close and their voices low. Even so, she couldn't help but make it a little rougher and more passionate than Mamoru's had been. She lingered again, her breathing becoming a little bit heavy. The hand that held his, moving their hands below the table to rest on his mid-thigh.]

[ Now this certainly isn't anything he was expecting.

It's not like kissing Kiraki is that hard for him - not on the big scale of things, anyway. There's a lot of acts that involve the other girl that are a lot harder for him, and kissing her is actually still a little nice. It's warm and it's so full of love that it's just a nice reminder of their bond, their relationship.

But then Kiraki kisses him in return. And the kiss deepens - even Mamoru can register that much, even if the thought threatens to short circuit his brain right then and there - and he can feel her breath against his lips, and he can feel her hand moving down onto his legs--

He can't deny that it's nice to be able to spend some time as an actual couple without having to worry about the higher ups noticing that they're breaching one of the core rules of both Sakura and Botan. But this is too much, his cheeks are growing red.. how can he focus on the mission and what they're supposed to do when he's like this? ]

K-Kiraki..

[ His hand slowly moves on top of hers, trying to gently get it off there before he goes crazy, but then something else snaps him back to reality first and makes him freeze up for a moment in the middle of holding her hand.

Kaito's voice crackling into his earpiece, a little too firm, the way his voice always comes out whenever he's displeased by something. He's just repeating the same informatino Umie told Kiraki a moment ago (a little odd, since Kaito would have caught on to it and not repeated it usually, right?) but it doesn't even connect in Mamoru's mind that it's an effort on his best friend's part to keep this all from escalating here. ]

Kiraki frowned, as Umie took that moment to inform her of how upset Kaito was getting on their end. She swore, taking what she could get in holding Mamoru's hand. She knew that she had let herself get carried away for a moment, and only hoped that Mamoru wouldn't fault her for it. She pulled her lips away from his with great reluctance and leaned back into her chair. Even at a party there was only so much that was actually acceptable.

She kept looking at him, taking in his expression. It was irresponsible of her to act like that and risk compromising their cover. She couldn't really apologize out loud, so she instead interlaced their fingers and gave him a lingering look as she squeezed his hand.

She didn't know what else to say, and was too ashamed to be able to keep up the charade any longer. She instead glanced around the room, long enough to see another man join Saburo at the bar. They were after this company's foreign connections, that being the Alliance. It'd be too obvious if a clearly european man were to be walking about, but something in her gut kicked her suspicions into gear. It was the way he carried himself. Openly and confidently in a way that starkly contrasted with the surrounding guests. It was likely that he could just be a Japanese businessmen who spent a lot of time abroad, but she was inclined to think otherwise.
Having regained some of her composure, she looked back at Mamoru and gave him a sweet smile.]

It looks like he has company now.

[She squeezed his hand tighter, almost as reassurance that they were on this mission together, and that they were going to do whatever it took for this mission to succeed together. So much was unknown, wether this deal actually meant the transfer of persons or just weapons, wether they were actually moving tonight; all of it was still yet to be determined, and she knew that if Mamoru was going to be in danger this night, she wanted nothing more than to be by his side.]

[ Mamoru's just really trying to keep his composure here, really. It takes him a few moments to recover from all of that, but he knows he has to calm down again - even usually it'd already be necessary, but especially while they're in the middle of a mission here. So he takes a few deep breaths, trying to focus his attention best on what she's saying right now.

Company -- it means their target must have arrived. Mamoru doesn't want to turn his head since it'd make the staring real obvious, but he knows what Kiraki means. She wouldn't mention it if it wasn't relevant, even after what happened just now.

Another deep breath, but then he's back to as natural as he can be right now as he stands up from his seat. ]

Let's go greet them then.

[ Slipping his hand out of her own, he offers her an arm instead, a more relaxed smile returning on his face.

She said she wanted to help out with this part too instead of just being backup from more close by than the others waiting outside, so he's not going to deny her that. Sure, he worries about her, but.. Kiraki has been capable. She's always been. Moreso than he was when they were younger, even. And if anything does go wrong, he'll be right there to have her back in return. ]

Edited 2015-09-09 19:58 (UTC)

ic; god that was strange to see you again

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