Awaiting Sunset

"Okay kid, NOW... you look stunning." Glen chuckled.

Natsumi nodded, clapping quietly at Kai's appearance. Glen had sought her out, asking for her assistance. She'd helped him find the right shoes and wig that would fit Kai - simply by guessing his size.

Natsumi had helped him put on a silky black wig with long luxurious hair, as well as found him similar black sandals to the one Glen had previously given him. The only difference was that the ones Natsumi found, actually fit him. Now, Kai not only had a nice outfit but rather, he had fully transformed into a marvellous... trap.

"This guy's a natural, eh?" Glen winked at Natsumi. "Does he even need makeup?"

She simply smiled, and responded, "His skin is already quite fair and does not need much coverage. I would, however, recommend wearing some eye makeup to both enlarge his eyes as well as make him seem more appealing to most men."

How Natsumi said all that with a polite, expressionless voice, Kai will never know. He left like an absolute idiot, standing there fully dressed as a woman, hair and all. He turned away from them to face the mirror once more. As much as he despised dressing up like this... he couldn't deny that his disguise was good.

Maybe a little too good.

"Good idea," Glen piped up, responding to Natsumi's suggestion about the eye-makeup. "You know any good places we can go to, to get his eyes done?"

Natsumi gave him a slight bow. "If you'd like, I could give this young man the makeover for free. I do not mind, and does not take much time either."

Glen immediately accepted the offer, not bothering to wait for Kai's opinion.

"Sounds good, we'll come back here tonight when we need you to apply the makeup," Glen responded affirmatively.

Kai thanked her and slid back behind the velvet curtains, eager to change back into his own clothes. He had already embarrassed himself long enough.

When he had finished changing, he folded the garments neatly and headed to the front desk, where he would then pay for the clothes.

Except... he didn't have any money.

Unfortunately for Kai, he forgot about this little detail and had to learn about it the hard way - embarrassing himself further in front of Natsumi. His rather awkward conversation went something like this:

"Are those the only two pieces you would like to buy, sir?"

"Yes."

"Alright, the price comes to a total of five silver and four bronze coins."

Kai, after taking out his wallet and finding out it was empty, "Five silver and four bronze coins... are you sure that's not a bit much? Perhaps we could lower the price to... free?"

"Five silver and four bronze coins, sir." Natsumi smiled, ignoring Kai's feeble attempt at 'haggling' the price.

"I've got to have money on me somewhere, damn it." Kai cursed under his breath.

Fortunately for Kai, he did not need to suffer looking like a fool for very long, as Glen slid up to his side.

"Don't have enough?" He teased. "Let me pay."

Kai nodded and stepped aside, giving space for his partner.

He turned to Natsumi, "How much will the total be?"

Natsumi took the clothes and responded, "five silver and four bronze coins."

Glen pulled out his wallet from the bag slung over his shoulder and dug out five silver coins along with four bronze ones.

"Here," He said, handing them to Natsumi.

She took them and placed the coins into the cash register, smiling politely at Glen and Kai.

"Thank you, and please come again!"

Kai and Glen exchanged glances knowingly, and Natsumi gave a quiet huff of amusement.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon."

Glen responded with a click of his tongue. "You bet."

Natsumi nudged the clothes towards him and he, in turn, shoved them into his bag hastily. He waved goodbye to Natsumi and walked out the door, pulling Kai along with him.

"You not gonna thank me?" Glen chuckled.

Kai sighed. "Thanks."

"Hah, now that's more like it!"

The two partners walked back to the inn, Glen whistling all the way back, with Kai following close behind. They walked in silence for a while up until the inn where they were staying, came into view.

"You know, kid, you remind me of my younger brother."

Kai lifted his head to meet Glen's gaze. He knew how it felt to have a younger sibling... comparing a stranger to them would certainly be something difficult and strange - in Kai's eyes, at least.

"Oh? And why is that?"

Glen's eyes seemed to glaze as old memories flooded his mind. "He was always so... unprepared." He smiled.

Kai rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"He was a feisty boy, you see. Always getting into trouble and refusing to ask for help even when he needed it." Glen closed his eyes, letting the sunlight wash across his face. "Always a strong kid, that one."

Kai glanced at his partner. It seemed as though Glen's real self was cracking through the surface for the first time. He had such a happy, serene look, as he remembered his younger sibling.

He knew the feeling.

"But despite what a troublesome boy he was, my little brother always cared about me. He always did his best to make sure I was doing alright, despite how grudgingly he would act whenever he did something nice." He laughed quietly to himself and continued, "He was a determined boy - just like you."

Kai stared at Glen, unsure how to respond. This man who he barely knew, was able to compare him to his most loved one - his younger brother. Kai didn't respond, keeping silent for the rest of the walk.

Yet nonetheless, he felt himself trust his mission partner a little bit more.

Just a little.

. . . . . . .

When they arrived back at the inn, Glen was back to his usual self - all trace of sentiment seemed to have disappeared with the wind. With a simple twist of the knob, Glen opened the door to their inn room and hurried in. He had an eager, childish grin on his face as he slung his bag to the floor. Aito was still sleeping soundly on the bed.

"It should be prepared by now..." Glen whispered with glee.

Kai entered behind him and closed the door, tilting his head in silent curiosity.

Glen opened his dark grey bag and gingerly reached into it as if he were performing delicate surgery. The look on his face made it seem like the balance of the world was resting on his success or failure - it was kind of amusing.

"Aw yeah... now this is beauty," Glen breathed, holding up a small transparent vial not much bigger than his finger. He smiled. "Those silk clothes really helped keep this baby safe over our little trek."

Inside the vial was a substance that looked something like oil. It had a faint orange hue, similar to that of the oil used for cooking. However, Kai knew that the liquid inside that little vial would be far more dangerous than cooking oil.

Kai stared at his partner, waiting for an explanation. He dared not disturb Glen while he was holding a dangerous substance.

Glen seemed to notice Kai's tense gaze and chuckled.

"It's ricin dissolved in water." He smirked and closed his fingers around the fragile vial. "With this, Naoki will be dead within three days."

He placed the vial back inside his bag cushioned by the clothes they had just bought. He gave it a gentle little pat then turned towards Kai, the one who would be carrying out the assassination.

"Alright kid, here's the plan." He paused, taking a moment to think. "You're going to go into that club dressed all pretty, then you're going to find Hideaki Naoki and... seduce him!"

Glen explained it in such a cheerful, carefree manner, that Kai almost missed what he had said. It took a moment for the words to really sink in.

"Seduce him? Why would I do that?" Kai made a 'tch' sound, then continued, "I thought the plan was simply for me to dress up as a woman, blend in with all the other girls lurking at Naoki's side, then inject him with the poison."

Glen shook his head. "With that many people around, someone's bound to see you do that. It's better to lure him off somewhere where the two of you are alone."

Kai paused, thinking. Glen had a point. The fewer witnesses, the better - especially with the delayed effects of ricin, even Naoki himself would not realize what had happened until it was too late.

If he carried out the plan flawlessly, that is.

"Now that that's settled, get some rest, kid. The plan starts the moment the sun sets." Glen's voice trailed off as he slipped into the restroom.

Kai could feel a small bead of sweat form at the side of his face. The success and failure of the mission relied on his performance tonight.

He, a newbie at the art of assassination, as well as completely inexperienced, would need to kill one of the most skilled nobles in the kingdom. Adding onto the fact that he would not even have any sort of weapon to wear with him, the whole plan seemed as full of holes as a block of swiss cheese.

The success and failure of the mission would not be the only thing determined by Kai's performance tonight.

His own life would be hanging by a thread.