Striding out of that Academy felt so good—good to the point when I reached the double-oak doors I flung them open with both arms.
On the side of the road outside, there was a small car park I'd caught sight of as Tamaki brought me to school.
Oh no, it wasn't the car park I was pleased about.
It was my black-beauty, the motorcycle, not only washed and seemingly waxed, but weapon free too!
I did a quick search, finding the keys hidden above the wheel. Thank God someone had pity on me and had left it here.
Otherwise I would've had to wait to con Yuzuru into taking me and to pay for a legal flight.
As I before I was caught... I never had to pay for flights. Quite the contrary actually, I had people on stand-by all the time at international airports, ready with a fake passport.
I guess I'll use my sources one time more before retiring from crime...
I threw a leg over the bike and turned it on, feeling it roar to life beneath me.
Smiling my satisfaction, I plucked up the jacket and threw it on, slipping the helmet over my head.
I was mildly surprised by the fact no one had come out to stop me leaving, but that thought was pushed to the back of my head as my phone vibrated in my pocket.
Ignoring it, I decided to instead speed to the airport, gate-crashing the first flight to France.
..::..::..
'I heard about what happened...how can we trust you?' There was a business man sitting behind with his back to me, us both in the waiting area before customs.
'Do you want to me to kick your balls in in front of all of these people?' I replied, holding my phone to my cheek as a cover as I spoke with him.
'Good ol' feisty ones...' I felt the man shift in his seat, dropping a small booklet as he got up. 'Just don't get caught. Remember the three rules.' He faked checking his watch.
'I didn't get this from you,' I plucked up the passport under the cover of dropping my wallet, 'I didn't see you here, I don't know who you are.'
'Good.' And the man walked off, feigning a rushed pace to the next terminal that was due for a fakey.
I flicked open the passport, my own frowning face staring back out at me.
Alyssa Meyers.
Huh. What a cover name.
Then again, at least it wasn't something like John Smith.
I checked the flashing television hanging from the roof one more time, confirming my flight to be in half an hour.
Rising with a sigh, I trudged over to my least favourite place in the world.
Customs.
Due to the fact I always hid my weapons, I often forgot about them if they'd been on my person for a long period of time.
So whenever I had to take on an overseas job, I often had to explain why I was decked out with knives, bullets and thick vests to the officers. Which never ended well, and I usually had to come up with some way out cover story.
My most recent, you ask?
I was on the run from an abusive ex-boyfriend, afraid he would try and hurt me on my way out of the country.
That particular fib had landed me a squadron of four armed men escorting me to the gate, guarding me in case my 'abusive ex-boyfriend' came a-knockin' after they'd confiscated my arms.
Back to the present date, I once-overed myself, double checking that everything I had on me was new, and bought by Tamaki.
Weapon-free.
And hopefully meaning no random bomb checks this time.
..::..::..
The flight had been smooth, and I reached my destination must faster than I thought it would originally take.
I rose quickly, not needing to slow to grab a bag from the shelves. Yeah, I just upped-and-left at school meaning all I had was a Pikachu bag filled with textbooks.
Not even a spare pair of underwear.
Oh well, I shouldn't be there too long, and if all else failed, I didn't need the pages in my physics workbook anymore and I was quite capable of origami.
Breezing out of the plane and through the gate, I strode straight past baggage-retrieval and to the doors.
Now... to remember where the Éclair-lair was...
I was in the middle of occupying a piece of ground on the side of the road when someone walked up to me, tapping me on the shoulder.
'Excuse me, miss?' A young, bronzed man asked me in a heavy French accent.
'Yes?' I replied, beaming a winning smile at him.
'My business today is running some test drives on a new model,' he gestured to a two-seater carriage with a bicycle attached to the front—where he would obviously be pedalling, 'and today we would like to offer our services to the beautiful lady. Is there anywhere you're heading too?'
Just my luck!
I grinned wider, 'Yes! In fact, I was looking for the Tonnerre property, if you know where that is?'
He blinked slowly, 'Of course! This way please!'
Taking my hand, the boy led me over to the seat, helping me into the carriage. 'Not a moment, my lady! I hope the ride is as enjoyable as it is swift!'
He climbed nimbly onto the bike at the front, and we were off.
People on the sidewalk moved out of our way like water as we rode through, and I honestly felt like royalty ride above the sea of people.
France was as busy and loud as last time, the sweet scent of pastries embracing everyone out and about.
We rode in silence, the chauffer sometimes making light conversation about the weather, the tide of people or even how blue my eyes were.
The poor guy needed to get out more. Needed to get himself a girlfriend.
Honestly, boys like him weren't supposed to be single.
And I couldn't even lead him on a tiny bit, my ties to Tamaki way too strong for me to do so without feeling bad.
..::..::..
The boy bid me farewell after I'd thumbs-upped his service, promising to use his business again if I ever needed to.
Standing outside the Éclair-lair was much less intimidating the second time... or maybe it was because I wasn't breaking in this time.
I rang the bell, a maid answering at the intercom.
'Hello?'
'Hi there, I'm here to meet with Miss Tonnerre?' I plastered a sickly-sweet tone over my usual blunt voice.
'Miss Tonnerre isn't here just yet, are you her 9 o'clock appointment?' The maid questioned, quite naïve in her distribution of information.
'Yes, yes I am in fact!' An evil smirk twitched at my lips.
I don't know who her 9 o'clock appointment was... but they were officially replaced. Replaced, with an appointment with nothing to do with formalities.
'Oh, sorry miss! Just this way, please!' The electronic gate opened with a click, sliding into the rock pillar on the opposite side of the fence I was at.
'Okay.' I nodded, and entered the Éclair-lair.
Shit was about to go down.
'Hello again!' A young maid, probably no more than thirteen answered the door. 'Sorry to keep you waiting, miss, if you could just wait in the parlour please?'
She was very informal—not that I cared—enough so that I immediately knew she was a recent hire.
'Yeah, sure.' I smiled, hoping like hell she didn't spot my lie when she looked at my clothes.
'You must be a foreign representative,' she chattily assumed, 'the Princess has been getting a lot of those here lately.'
I didn't answer; too busy refreshing my memory of the layout of the lavish home to pay attention to what she was saying.
Three floors.
Personal quarters—third floor, right half.
Personal maid's quarters—third floor, left half.
Guest rooms, main bathroom and laundry—second floor.
Front parlour, kitchen, dining room, lounge and maid quarters—first floor.
Easiest point of entry: laundry.
Easiest point of exit: main maid quarters.
'Miss?' The maid broke into my thoughts.
'Oh,' I blinked, 'sorry! What were you saying?'
'What country do you represent?'
Oh shit.
Uh...uh...uh...
'Russia!' I exclaimed. 'Yeah...Russia.' I answered slower.
'Oh, that's nice! Did you know that a couple of weeks ago the Japanese Supreme Court found the blood-heiress to the Nikolaevna assets?'
'Yes.' I sighed, plopping into a red-velvet arm chair while the girl tried to serve me tea. I waved it away. 'How do you know that?'
'Oh, it was broadcasted worldwide a while ago! Apparently too many fakes had come forward for them to keep it a secret.' She shrugged.
Phew. She didn't know then.
'Anyways, I'm sorry miss, but I have to do my chores! I'll be back in a little while, otherwise just call for assistance!'
And she was off.
I grumbled my displeasure at her sudden departure, having wanted to ask her about Anne-Sophie.
Looks like it's up to me and my mad person-finding skills again.
..::..::..
About twenty minutes and no progress later, I was leaning dejectedly against the railing of the second floor.
I'd searched nearly every room twice, my frustration rising to the point where I nearly strip-searched a maid that was so large she nearly could've eaten the chick.
Surprisingly though, none of them questioned my wandering, and actually directed me around the massive house at certain times.
Goddamn... where did I go wrong?
I frowned, pissed at not being able to find de Grantaine this late in the piece.
Glaring down at the floor below, my eyes fell onto a beautiful white piano sitting right beside a massive window looking out at her garden.
Piano...
...Tamaki...
...mother...
Ding!
I vaulted over the railing, landing on the first floor much the same way I did yesterday morning at Tamaki's mansion.
Trotting over to the piano, I slipped in behind the little stool.
Time to run through the tall grass—and catch me some wild Pokémon!
Cracking my knuckles, I lifted the lid and slid my gaze along the impeccable keys.
I could still remember off the top of my head the song Tamaki had been teaching me since he'd decided to cop a feel, some odd orchestral piece that I could never remember the name of.
My fingers hovered for a split second over the keys as I remembered the position.
C...D...E...F...
G-position.
I started playing as best as I could, trying to emulate Tamaki's natural grace and smoothness playing a piano. I, however, was too used to pulling the triggers on guns, and often pressed the keys to hard.
I heard footsteps behind me, like someone was standing in the corridor outside.
'Tamaki...?' A voice whispered, and I stopped playing.
I threw my poké ball.
'...is that you?'
The wild Pokémon thrashed in the ball.
The door opened, and I turned to see a beautiful woman wearing a uniform staring at me.
The wild Pokémon thrashed in the ball again.
'W-who are you?' Anne-Sophie de Grantaine asked quietly.
And the wild Pokémon was mine.
'I, miss Grantaine, am your son's girlfriend.'