STARLIGHT | krmy ✓

05

CHAPTER FIVE —
SPARK.

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HER WHOLE LIFE had been dedicated to the stage. Every breath, every second, every drop of sweat. From young, her family had raised her to be the very embodiment of a soul worthy of the stage.

She had been taught that she was nothing without the spotlight. And they were right. Now, she was nothing.

Sometimes, she wanted — so badly — to push all the blame to her mother. But she knew that it would be unwise to do so; there was no value in wasting time resenting somebody who wanted nothing to do with her.

Maya was stuck in a void, and she had no idea of how to get out. Sometimes, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to get out. Wandering around on her own had been lonely, admittedly, but it wasn't any different from being at Position Zero.

But she wasn't about to wallow in self-pity. She was better than that. She was never going back into the chilling warmth of the spotlight, and that was absolutely fine with her.

"I am not going to do it," Maya insists, staring Kaoruko down as the general leans back against the oak bookshelf and crosses her arms. "There are plenty of other bodyguards for hire. Besides, I am a police captain."

"But she wants you."

Maya shifts back slightly, studying how Kaoruko seemed so nonchalant about the entire matter, and being aware of Tamao slowly shrinking away from them.

"Tell her that I have other important things to deal with," Maya says stiffly, moving back to her desk and pushing the chair back into the kneehole. She sweeps her beige trench coat on, and picks her bag up from the floor, where it had been leaning against her workspace.

She did not have the luxury of travelling the world and assuming the position of a personal bodyguard — of Saijō Claudine, out of all people.

Kaoruko pushes herself back onto her feet and stands in Maya's way as the captain makes her way to the office door. "But she's already got everything prepared for you."

Anger sparks in Maya's eyes. "How long have you known?"

Kaoruko stares back defiantly. "I was just informed. The higher-ups settled this, not me."

Maya's eyes narrow. "I wonder how."

"Saijō Claudine is an internationally-big star, Tendō-han," Kaoruko says pointedly. "Simply put, she demanded you, and paid the department a fair sum for you. So now, you have to take the job. No way around it."

Maya clenches her jaw. She really could not find a way to slither out of this one, she realises. There was no point in arguing.

"Very well, buchōu," she almost snarls, her grip iron-tight on her shoulder-bag. "Please send me the details later."

Kaoruko searches Maya's stubborn gaze a little longer, before side-stepping to allow her to pass. Maya breathes out heavily, opens the door, and closes it nicely behind her.