Liebestraum (Kurama X OC)

Chapter 08: Harmony (Or, the sounding of two complimenting notes)

"I see it too," Keiko said.

"Come on," Shizuru said while gesturing toward the boat dock building. "I'm sure the boys are getting impatient and it'll be docked soon."

Asuka was just about to follow the girls inside when she saw a woman dressed in a black suit, fishnet stockings, sunglasses and holding a manila envelope coming toward her.

Maria?

"I'll join you all in a second," Asuka said to her friends just before they entered the building.

What could she possibly want?

Asuka knew Sakyo was dead so she wasn't in any danger, but she assumed his employees would've scattered and gone back to Japan by now.

"Hello Asuka," Maria greeted when she was close enough.

She bowed. "Hello Miss Maria. I'm honestly surprised to see you here."

The woman's face was covered by sunglasses and partially masked her facial expressions. Her lips parted and came back together before speaking. "As you, and everyone else is aware, Sakyo chose to take his own life by blowing up the stadium. The Dark Tournament, is no more."

Asuka wondered where Maria was going with this.

"You're not stupid Asuka. I'm sure you realized he had his eye on you. There's something... unique about the ki you carry, and though Sakyo himself never had enough ki to discern, it was suggested taking you on would be in his best interest."

"Yes," Asuka confirmed while trying to steady her heartbeat. "May I ask who made this suggestion?"

Maria pushed her large sunglasses up her face. "Karasu wanted you for reasons not having to do with you, and that attracted the attention of Elder Toguro. After assessing your ki, he believed it carried some kind of special power, though we were never able to determine what. And that was enough for Sakyo to take an interest. He knew you came to this island by... extraordinary circumstances."

Asuka swallowed. "I see."

Maria held out the manila envelope. "Since we didn't know what your talents were, Sakyo tasked me with securing these for you."

After taking the manila envelope, Asuka undid the string which held the top down and carefully slid some papers out. Her eyes widened as she looked down at the papers and then back up at Maria. "Official papers? But... I don't understand."

Maria crossed her arms. "It's simple. Sakyo believed you'd come work for us after your team lost the tournament. He had lots of... ideas on how to coerce you. Having legitimate papers for you makes it easier for him in the long run."

I suppose Sakyo is a man who gets what he wants. He was confident that Toguro would win and the guys would be killed, leaving me with no options.

"But... why give them to me now? It's not that I'm not grateful, believe me, I am, but you have no reason to help me."

A moment of silence passed before Maria said, "Getting that wasn't cheap. We had to bribe contacts and it took a fair amount of work. And I think Sakyo would've found it amusing to let you loose in the world. You're quite interesting."

As Asuka looked at the papers, she realized most of the information was blank. "It looks like the papers are not completed. What does that mean?"

Maria sighed. "I did not have our contact at the Ward Office fill in the information because we did not know what your role would be. However, the seals are official. Simply fill-in the information you need, return it to the Ward office in the Tokyo prefecture, and it will be fine."