PART FIVE !
a reminder of her.
A FIRE WASHES THROUGH your head and curls into the crooked spaces of your membrane. you told yourself you would have fun for Mars, but even you couldn't pinpoint what truly had happened last night. the only thing you know is that the club's strawberry wine was awfully sweet.
after waking up with a hangover, the weekend that came after that was oddly mundane and it rode by quickly until the day of the art auction—the event in which Mars had reminded you to attend much to your chagrin.
you find yourself standing in front of the mirror once again, this time instead of dressing up like a reckless doll going to a party, you find yourself buttoning the last two of your white collar shirt and pushing strands of your bangs neatly behind your ears, pouring the brown coat over your figure, looking like an unblemished person of an 19th century drama.
"Mars!" you call as soon as you opened the door. you find your roommate perched on the couch, humming to herself as she rolls a lollipop between her plump lips.
when the familiar honeycomb of your voice reaches her ears, she is immediately coaxed out of the television. leaning her head to look at you, cobalt eyes littering a few dainty stars and expectant, waiting for the next words to leave your mouth. "yeah?"
"i'll be leaving." you say, bending your silhouette near the door and securely strapping your sandals in place. the stiletto clicking against the floor when you were finished. "there is still pasta on the refrigerator, you can just heat that up when you go hungry."
"yes ma'am." she responds. "please text me when you are going back home." to this you hum, you circle the silver ring on your finger as your hand touches the door ready to leave.
"oh y/n!" you stop when you hear Mars call for you again.
"have fun." her statement seemed genuine. you shoot her a strained smile, "see you."
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"an art auction house, huh...?" Rindou hums as he slows down the car in front of the building. bonfire salt of the late afternoon forges tantalizing tattoos upon the men's ochre skins, though it also seems like billowing rain clouds will arrive in a few hours.
all eyes are on the massive auction house of Tokyo where a medium scale crowd had gathered, dripped with high class sophistication and pockets filled with money ready to bid off the presented artworks made by the godly hands of well-known painters and sculptors.
the Bonten executives let their minds wander back to the mission hammered to them by the platinum blond man.
"Takeomi had finally manage to gather database from our reliable information broker. you four," Mikey points his custard-filled taiyaki to his four executives. "seems like we got a lead on Nanami. you're in charge of detaining him and bringing him back so we can have a little talk with him about Quoia's recent drama involving us."
"and by talk, the boss meant torture?" Mocchi taps his foot against the car's floor and Ran chuckles. The older Haitani along with Kakucho pries the seatbelts from their waist, letting it zip back to the side of their car seats with a clang. today the two males were not wearing their expensive business suites, in fact they were wearing casual attire for such a sophisticated event.
Ran is sporting an umber thin turtleneck sweater layered by a brown trench coat, rings and small embezzles festoon his long fingers, and his neat and styled back mauve-hair were now tousled, messily pouring over his forehead as he slowly gazes out the window.
Kakucho on the other hand wore a white shirt followed by a dark grey wool coat, dark slacks fitting around his narrow waist and a wire-rimmed glasses he usually wore during the time he does paperwork on his desk is now perched on his face and he looks at the Rolex bracing his right wrist; the clock hands whispering the time of 4:30pm.
"remember the plan," Rindou announces, his sleeves rolled up till his elbows as he leaned against the steering wheel, gazing at his brother and Kakucho with a pointed look. "go and find Nanami, follow him until he's alone and then lure him to Mocchi and i, and then we detain him and toss him in the back. we got less than six hours to complete this, do not jeopardize this mission."
"roger, sir." Ran nods his head, tugging his sweater to make sure it hides his tattoo then he turns towards his companion. "ready, Kakucho?"
he hums in reply, after getting confirmation from his partner the two men were exiting the car and walking up the steps of the building. everyone who passes by them stops and stares in awe,
they both looked like marauders on the run. the type of boys that sin as they went on fancy old 19th century coffee shops and burning vintage cars on an old bay. they needed to thank Kokonoi for picking out there attires, because among the men of the organization Koko was the only one who had actual taste, a true cosmopolitan gentleman.
when the two men push the glass doors open their noses were instantly filled with the scent of old antiques and napoleon from the small set up bake shop in the corner of the lobby.
when three walk deeper and pass the looming greek pillars the building is suddenly cut into multiple hallways, each room littered with different furnitures that can be labeled as arts or masterpieces. suddenly they are on a deep dive down into art history.
Ran whistles lowly, lilac eyes scattering across every nook and cranny of the spacious lobby and walking down the corridors each room were filled with intricate items, tapestries, sculptures, portraits and paintings waiting to be auctioned. it's all filled with arts o' plenty.
"i know the feeling of being rich and all but this," the mauve-haired approaches a sculpture made of mahogany, lifting the prize tag with a steady finger, eyes scanning before dropping the tag and looking at his companion. "this is another vibe of rich that i cannot wrap my head around."
Kakucho pushes his glass further the ridge of his nose. "yeah."
the two men (85% of Ran's attention) tried their best not to get too distracted with the wonders and different items, following the tinted sign which showed them the way of where the auction is gonna take place, the other percentage of their attention span was withered away by Kakucho who himself is a little bit distracted, not by the displays however, but by the visage of arts that reminded him of someone familiar.
you.
the portraits, the lingering smell of finished paint, clumsy yet professional strokes. for a moment in time he had forgotten of the little limelight of his mismatched eyes from back then. he was simply reminded of the first time Izana introduced you to him, the little girl a little too careful, a little too reckless, a half-mason jar empty of affection a little bit too much of creative and shrewd for him to fully ponder.
Kakucho continues to daydream a little, leaving Ran to deal with the pre-registrations of the auction before they can attend. the older Haitani busies himself and uses up fake names and addresses prepared by them previously before going on the mission, the whimsical man even went as far as to stealing one of Kokonoi's fake cards for the event, this steers Kakucho's attention back to Ran, his face twisting and brows narrowed at the malevolent smirk of his taller co-worker.
after a moment of Ran's fake smiles and cunning charms, the two were given a paddle each, Ran thanked the person behind the counter and they stepped into the room where the auction would take place. the myriad of seat facing the stage which displayed a large screen of the featured arts of tonight's auction stood before them. they wasted no time, planting themselves on a seat a little farther from the crowds or the auction stage, after all, they are not merely simple gentlemen who intend to come and bid arts. instead, their eyes are fleeting as soon as the empty seats starts filling with people of illustrious kinds; ranging from casual tourists, rich ladies and men, business folks, or art fanatics and collectors.
a silent composing thread of whispers fill the air, Kakucho beckons for Ran to lean down. "you keep an eye on the right, i'll take the left."
"right, its getting harder to see now that most of the seats are getting taken." Ran clicks his tongue, sweeping his eyes over the crowds. after a minute or two, his eyes stops on someone. he could've sworn he felt his entire body turning taut.
"Kakucho." he feels the hand of Ran shaking him vigorously. the aegean-haired men turns to him, fixing the glasses that's close to slipping down as he quirks a brown towards Ran's direction. he then follows where his colleague's lilac eyes are situated, and he himself freezes.
they see their target, Roman Nanami, and they also see the person he is conversing himself with.
"isn't that..?" Ran's voice falters.
Kakucho swallows, almost breathless. "y/n."