Episode 4: Sweetness Over Safety

“I understand. Sure, that won’t be a problem.”

“I can, yeah. Wanna get dinner after this?”

“Anything but Italian, actually.”

“Acknowledged. The time is Thirteen-nineteen. Operation: Start.”

From there, the assassin’s call with his handler ended, and he started up on his task for the day. “Bummer she's on my list. Seems nice…I wonder who she’ll donate to…” 

With that, the assassin left his perch and started his slow walk into the building that he’d been eying for the last few hours. A quick hop from the roof to the fire escape, and a few well-placed hops got him to the ground, where he picked up his bags and made his way into the ever-radiant Tsubasa Hotel.

Walking through the large glass doors and to the counter, where he offered up his biggest imaginable smile and dropped his shoulder as much as he could on his long body. The warmth in his voice dispelled all the worry that came with a stranger. “Hi!” He stammered, shaking himself free of the bits of rainwater that accumulated on his jacket. “Sasuke Ishiwatari, I’m meant to be checking in for Miss Momiji Tsunoda? She should be coming in at any moment! Gosh, I should’ve been here so much sooner.” He laughed, offering up information to the concierge, who was far too invested in his paperwork to make a passing note of his charm. After all, a hotel concierge would’ve seen thousands of underpaid handsome assistants. Sasuke’s appearance was no more noticeable than the last model-made-intern for some business executive. What separated him, however, was how he moved through the exchange.

“Certainly.” She said, "A beautiful woman well into the peak of her career. She was dressed for the job she deserved, and wasn’t about to lose a step over another handsome young man. “Thank you. You’ll find her room on the top floor. Here are your keys.” As she handed them over to the young man, he bowed his head quite deeply as he thanked her. Taking her blink to scan the woman from head to countertop, pulling as much information as he could at a glance. “Thank you so much, Miss Matsumoto. I hope we’re not too much of a burden for you to deal with over the weekend.” A single word of kindness, and the woman was sure to raise a brow of curiosity. A gentle nod of her head, and she continued on her task. “Of course not,” replied the woman at the counter. Her hand inched slowly under the counter as Sasuke continued on. Reaching for something she knew this young man should get if he was so unlucky as to be another victim of this hotel’s clientele. After all, who better than elite staff to be able to pick out something as obvious and bumbling as someone pretending to fit in where they do not belong?

“It is our duty and privilege to see customers satisfied with our stay,” Sasuke laughed, removing his damp jacket as Hikari explained herself. “Still, it isn’t easy. We show up and sorta take up space all weekend,” the young man tepidly announced. “I know Miss Tsunoda is a considerate guest for staff, but I still feel like I need to say something. You all do so much for us!” His bright smile seemed to offer only a means to be disarmed. For the wizened hotel concierge, a woman of well-meaning years seemed sure of one thing. Sasuke deserved what was coming to them. A throat was cleared from behind him, and it belonged to none other than the idol of the hour, the jewel in all of today’s affairs. “Miss Tsunoda!”

“Yes! That’s me!” Sasuke left no moment for the exchange to stall out. Nervously handing Momiji Tsunoda the stack of hotel room keys and a piece of her favorite candy. His body collapsed into a right angle under the weight of his responsibility to Momiji. “Of course! My deepest apologies for not returning to the car, Miss Tsunoda. W-we’re all checked in. Top floor, the suite is at the end of the hall as you exit the elevator.” The woman sighed, took the items, and placed a gloved hand on Sasuke’s lowered head. “Heeeey, don’t worry!” She said in her most saccharine voice. “We’ll see you at the top, Sasuke. Don’t keep us waiting~!” The exchange ended with a polite loaded silence, and this, like with so many guests before her, was quite typical. Her piercing blue eyes never once fixed on the young woman, though. Only her ‘help’ and Sasuke’s prostration.

What was clear in this particular moment was how Momiji showed up, and how it was received by Hikari as she watched on. Sasuke was quick to offer himself up to the cold blade of the young woman, and that same young woman’s blade seemed to sever the strings that might’ve held this young man’s head up. With a soft shuffle of his well-maintained brown hair, the dynamic was shifted in a few looks among those who were working and those who were paid to attend. All of them looked at one another, but no one’s eyes settled on Momiji.

Sasuke held his bow until his charge was in the elevator and he was readily out of her sight. After which, he exhaled as he stood. Having not drawn breath for the second that she was here, but his face would’ve certainly suggested it was hours. “S-sorry, ma’am. I promise she’s usually very nice.” It was clear that Momiji was very adept at hiding her displeasure in simply having to interact with staff so directly. A feeling that Hikari had become quite masterful at plucking out of the rarified air of The Tsubasa. “Oh, that’s quite all right.” She ensured, pulling an envelope from under her desk hutch, positive now in what she’d thought before. “She’s not unique in that. Neither are you, covering for her. I’m sure you’re working very hard. Here. If you should find some free time.” Taking the envelope from the concierge, Sasuke sighed, offering up a gentle smile to Hikari, who tipped her head to him in kind. “Surely you must be afforded some time during these things?” The concierge asked, and Sasuke nodded as he set himself upright again, taking the time to tuck the envelope safely into his back pocket before taking up his things and heading towards the elevator. “Yes, ma’am. And thank you, sincerely! I’ll be sure to return the favor!” As he took off to his destination, Hikari covered her mouth and laughed at what she’d done. “Oh, he seems nice. I hope he enjoys it. No idea why he’s working for her; he’s clearly got better stuff going on.” What she had managed to glean tugged a little more at her smile as the next customer arrived. “Hello. Welcome to The Tsubasa. How might I assist you?”

Sasuke, after a moment or so, made it up to his room. As the warm-hearted young man started to unpack his things and settle in, he made a point to take the envelope out and examine it. Not thinking anything of what it could be, he opened it to find two tickets to the Churaumi Aquarium. A sight that Sasuke had been wanting to see for some time. “Oh, sick! Thanks so much, Miss Matsumoto! I’ll have to figure out how to pay her back for these.”

It wasn’t too much time for Sasuke to decompress from the check-in and bumble around his hotel room for a bit before suiting up and joining his co-workers. Tablet, cellphone, Momiji’s favorite flavor of local taffy, and his brightest smile. “Yeah, she’s nice. A little bit…edgey, I suppose. But there’s a good kid in there somewhere. I mean, why else would she rent out the floor for her staff?” He wondered this on the walk to the elevator and as he ascended the floors. As he rubbed the back of his head and the doors opened, he was greeted by a few other people with similar levels of exasperation amongst themselves, dreading the seconds between floors before they reached their overlord.

“There’s my guy!” Momiji called out to the party of young men. “Sasuke, I need a couple of things. Y’mind?” Each of them was handed a list of tasks, all on different edges of the day. “Before that, though, I do need you to hang out with me for this video shoot. I don’t like not knowing anyone in the room…” Momiji’s soft features flashed at the group. While the rest of them were gone before she could even attempt to lie to them, the chipper assassin stood out and ahead as the crew dispersed, “I’d love to, Miss Tsunoda. Whatever you need!” The glint in her soft pink eyes sparkled for a fraction of a second. Taking his arm and gleefully hanging off of it, she squeaked as she ran ahead, pulling him along. “Awesome! Thanks so much, Sasuke!”

Sasuke sat by as Momiji moved frantically from engagement to appointment. A busy schedule by anyone’s standard, and unique in how they were done. A different lived-in hotel room every time, and a different answer to a similar question. As if the intent was to be caught lying in ways that seemed to make no sense. The only bit of consistent patter was that between costume changes and camera time, Sasuke would consistently be popping candy into Momiji’s mouth as she requested. Keeping her energy up as well as her spirits, as many around would seem to notice. As if fixated on her though, much like everyone else, Sasuke felt forbidden from taking his eyes off of her. His mind. fully incapable of separating her smile and shimmer from her sorrow and shadow. As she bounced around him with glee, he could feel the weight of her movements with him and how heavy it sat around her neck. In the face of such pain, he could only smile back. Gingerly popping another bit of taffy into her mouth as they ended their chaotic camera day.

Whatever it was about Sasuke and his presence, it certainly did seem to soften the way people around were receiving the usually chilled and sharp Momiji. A miracle, some could say.

Momiji’s day had finally come to an end, and she sat in her suite alone with Sasuke, free of her many masks and costumes. Now, the young woman sat in earnest, finally. With her face clear of makeup, and her pink and black frilly outfits swapped for shorts and a t-shirt that swallowed her. “Sasuke, can you grab me a box from the fridge? I’m absolutely beat.” Sauntering to the fridge, he grabbed the only box he could see. A white and red box of cheap sake. Without missing a beat, he brought it over to her, bowing and taking a few steps back before she gestured at him to sit. “So, when did we pick you up?” She asked, stabbing the box and starting to sip on it. Sasuke smiled, tapping his chin. 

“Ahh, I’m only on for this one. I was actually only meant to be on the load-in and set up. But your manager said you liked guys like me, so--” She laughed at his words, although given he said them with such uncomfortable trepidation, she didn’t feel too bad. “You’re kidding! That dumbass walked up to you cold and said ‘That jirai loli all over Aiji? She’s way into older brother types!’ Holy heck, that’s wild!’” Sasuke giggled as nervously as he could, casting his gaze to the ground. “Yeah, it’s definitely not like…My thing. I do think you’re an awesome person! The bratty little sister is totally in right now!” She laughed, drinking her cheap alcohol and shaking her head. “It was, like, six months ago. My time’s at about the end. Can’t keep this bit up forever, you know~?”

A sharp and sudden sensation ran through Momiji’s body. It was like the heat of her alcohol had filled her body to the brim with a liquid euphoria. A seasoned drinker would know this was unnatural, and perhaps even that something was amiss. Momiji, however, only drank as she saw fit to offer up courage to those who might need it. “Ahh…They say that kinda stuff about me about…I have ‘complexes’ because of who I hire and what I say to people. I’m just lashing out…But…Well, wouldn’t lash out too, if you knew no one would touch you? So what if there are skeletons in the closet, or people digging up the past? What past!? What skeletons!? I’m barely twenty-two! What’s there to dig up!? What skeletons are there to find!?” Sasuke sat idly by as she finished her carton of alcohol and stood up to get another. “Nothing’s rotten yet!” She shouted. Setting three cartons on the counter of her hotel room, and with her perfectly manicured stiletto index finger, poked holes into the three cartons, and upturned them into a glass. Taking the glass and chucking it, she stomped over to Sasuke and crawled into his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck and tucking her legs into herself.

“Sasuke…No one’s rotten yet. So why are they so mad at me...? They’re all still fine! Look at you…You’re still so handsome…” Her face was flush with the courage she’d dumped into her stomach, and there it could find a collection of sugars, gelatins, toxins, and spices. That taffy Momiji had been eating all day, the stuff that Momiji had been filling herself with all day, she’d been caught by it. From the moment he arrived at her side, he made sure to do one thing perfectly: feed her candy when asked or prompted. Her gentle pink eyes welled up with tears as she felt her body shutting down in a way unfamiliar to her. It was as if in concert, the bubbly song of her life was fading out. Her tears continued, and her smile filled her face. She could barely tell the man in front of her from the memory she saw every time she closed her eyes.

“I love kids, Sasuke.”

“I know, Momiji.”

“I never meant to hurt you…”

“I know, Momiji.”

“Tell your mom I…”

The song of her life had found its end in the arms of a boy she knew. A boy she treasured enough to see in her final moments. Sasuke looked at her body and sighed. Smiling as she wore the gentlest look on her face. “I knew it,” he said. “I knew you were a good person. It’s such a shame I couldn’t have met you outside of this.” Taking up the starlet, Sasuke placed her in bed and set his scene accordingly. An overdose of amitriptyline and alcohol was how it happened. For the wider world, it would make sense. A young woman found the edge and waddled over it while in the miasma of loss. They may not shed a tear, but they may not think at least to curse her. “Goodbye, Momiji. I’ll tell my employer that you send your regards.” Leaving the room was rather simple, given what the myths of Momiji were. That she’d take ‘Sasuke’ and end his evening with him, whatever that meant. And now, it was clear. At least, it seemed clear to him. As he lay her in bed and positioned her cozily, he couldn’t help but feel at ease. As if he’d ended her cold and oxidizing dream for good.

As the evening took hold, the assassin made his way out of the room and down to the lobby. As he started to hustle out of the building, he stopped for a moment to wait in the lobby while Hikari checked in a few more customers. As she wrapped up, he bounced happily to her desk, bowing his head and handing her an envelope. “It’s not much, but I do have these passes we get from the venues. I don’t know if you’re a fan of the theatre, but please! I would be honored.” The woman looked over this young man and smiled, taking his envelope in turn as she bowed. “Thank you kindly, Sasuke. Headed out for the evening?” He nodded, beaming from ear to ear. Hikari looked at him, noticing his only lightly disheveled attire. Special attention to the faintest foundation on his chest. She returned the smile, all too familiar with this scene for young men like him.

“Yes, ma’am. Job’s done for the day! Gonna get dinner with a friend!”