[3rd] Week 328: Time's Up!

[Rob]

Time's Up!
1035 Words

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Touching down upon American soil, some ridiculous amount of time later, Miki still hadn’t really gotten over the fact that she had let herself get suckered into coming to her friend’s aid. Perhaps this protective feeling she felt towards Scarlett originated from losing her brother a couple of years prior, maybe this was her way of filling that gap. Fact still remained, though, that it was ridiculous to go to America like this.

On the other hand, she didn’t particularly hate it either. It had been quite some time since she had last visited her friends in the United States and it was as good a time as any to meet back up with them once again. She just would’ve wished it would’ve been under different circumstances than the ones presented to her right now. Casting her eyes to the sky once she exited the airport, she wondered if Scarlett would be there to pick her up.

It seemed unlikely, given the conversation they’d had, but it was entirely possible nonetheless. Still, it made her wonder just how bad the girl’s situation was if she needed her here in the States right now. Had people somehow realized she wasn’t actually a normal human girl? Perhaps enemies of the Initiative had gotten wind of her activities and were out for her head? There were so many possibilities coursing through Miki’s mind that she almost missed her ride.

As I thought, she thought to herself as the man driving the car introduced himself to the Orpheus agent. She’s not here after all.

“Thank you,” she spoke in her best English - which was decent enough, really - as she took a seat in the back of the Mercedes. It was as comfortable a car as one could expect from a vehicle manufactured in Germany, with its chrome black coating and leather seats. It was quite the treat, really, having only driven old cars herself due to her financial situation.

It was at times like these that she felt a tinge of jealousy towards her younger colleague, and perhaps a small amount of hate as well. Why couldn’t she have been such a successful bioengineer? Well, the answer to that question was painfully obvious, but it was still a notion she oftentimes pondered upon when she found herself in situations like these.

“Will you be travelling directly,” the driver asked her as the engine roared to life, “or would you prefer I take a little detour first, ma’am?”

“Though I would love a little detour,” Miki countered, sighing softly, “I’m afraid I have pressing matters with miss Bryce.”

“Very well, I’ll make it quick then.”

With that, Jonathan the driver put his feet on the pedal and floored it. This almost came as a shock to Miki, who wasn’t generally used to this kind of driving, but she knew that Scarlett liked to employ rather... energetic types and as such it wasn’t as much of a shock as it normally would’ve been. It was still kind of a feeling she hadn’t felt in quite some time, really. The last time she had felt such a rush was when Aragon was still alive and well, carrying her on the back of his motorcycle.

“Err,” she began, trying to catch Jonathan’s attention as he rounded corner after corner, “aren’t we going a little fast?”

“Ahaha,” the brunette responded with a chuckle, “don’t worry miss Yoshikawa, we’ll be fine!”

If you say so, she thought to herself as she resigned herself to the fact that the man wasn’t going to slow down even if she begged him to. Normally she probably would’ve, but for some reason - despite her fears of getting pulled over - she didn’t feel unsafe with the man at all. Or, well... perhaps it was the car that made her feel safe. It felt like quite the sturdy vehicle after all.

As such, seconds passed into minutes and minutes become... slightly more minutes and, before she knew it, Jonathan pulled the car over on a familiar driveway and Miki could see the place Scarlett stayed at in full glory. To call it a castle was pushing it, but it was certainly close to being one - what with the drawbridge and castle-esque architecture. It didn’t have much style or tradition to it, though.

It felt more like something build on the spot, rather than well thought out and planned ahead for in advance. Luckily for her, she didn’t have to live in it and because of that revelation she rather liked the way it looked. Not because she wanted to live in it and thought it looked cool, but because she didn’t live in it at all. That gave it its odd charm. Turning back to Jonathan, who had unloaded her belongings, she thanked him for his time, grabbed her stuff and made her way up to the front doors.

Before gunslinger could so much as knock on the door, or ring the bell, the doors opened and Kurt - one of Scarlett’s confidants - greeted her through the door’s threshold.

“Ah, Yoshikawa-san,” the raven-haired man said. He was trying his hardest to sound like an actual Japanese person, but despite his best efforts he was failing miserably at it.

“Kurt,” Miki responded in her own, thickest English accent. “How is she?”

“She’s... well,” the man responded, reverting back to his own American English, “not too bad, but not too good either. She’s kind of hanging in-between. Anyway, come in, we’ll talk more inside.”

Not one for waiting, Miki complied to the man’s request and entered the imposing manor. Soon, a selection of maids and butlers came to take her bags off of her and within no time at all the young Orpheus agent found herself walking with Kurt to Scarlett’s room. They remained walking in silence for a few minutes, with only the sound of their footsteps breaking through this vacuum.

“What exactly happened?” Miki finally asked, just before they’d rch Scarlett’s room. “She sounded pretty... upset.”

Coming to a halt in front of the blonde’s door, Kurt’s face took on a grim look, said, “Take a look for yourself,” and opened the door.