The five men are enjoying a card game surrounded by women.

(So why the hell did they call me to this weird party!?)

Ota: "There's the toy right now."

Soryu: "What took you so long?"

(Are they talking about me!? What does he mean, did he's going to play with me!?)

Soryu: "I'm out."

Mamoru: "Huh? But we're not done yet!"

Baba: "Sor has something way more fun to do than a card game."

Ota: "If it's that fun, I'm interested."

Ota: "Let me play, Soryu!"

Eisuke: "Ota, let Soryu have his fun."

Soryu ignores the men as they tease him and he approaches me.

Soryu: "Let's go."

I raise my eyebrow when I spoke.

Meimei: "Go where?"

Soryu: "My room."

Meimei: "Your room?"

(So what if he's really going to try something with me!?)

(But he doesn't seem to like women very much...)

(So he wouldn't go to the trouble of making a move on me, right?)

Soryu: "Hurry up."

Meimei: "Ugh, okay."

Soryu: "I can't hear you. And you're walking too slow."

Baba: "Now, now, Soryu."

Baba: "You're scaring to Meimei."

Meimei: "Mr. Baba..."

Baba: "You need to treat women nicely."

Baba: "Gently, carefully, as if they're fragile.."

Ota: "Those gestures are kind of perverted, Baba."

Soryu looked at me and motions for me to follow him. But I groans.

(Please let me be safe!)
_______________________________________________

Meimei: "Kyaah! What are you doing!?"

As soon as we enter the room, Soryu pushes something towards me.

Meimei: "A dress... and a mask? Seriously?"

(Woah... this dress is my size!)

Soryu: "You're going to wear that when you help out at tonight's auction."

Meimei: Auction...? Like the one of yesterday?"

Meimei: "There's going to be another one today?"

Soryu: "There's one every day during the I.V.C."

Soryu: "Since the I.V.C. is actually a front to cover up the auctions, of course."

Meimei: "A front?"

Soryu: "I'll explain later. For now, I want you to memorize this."

Soryu hands me a pile of documents from the desk.

Meimei: "Is this the list of things being sold at the auction?"

Soryu: "You're going to be on stage showing off the products tonight."

Meimei: "What!? Wait, hold up, this is really sudden and..."

Soryu: "..."

(Ugh! He's not going to listen to any excuse...!)
__________________________________________

Meimei: "Entry number 21... a stuffed Bengal tiger..."

Meimei: "Entry number 53... uruguay's national secrets!?"

(Seriously! How's everything up for sale sounds dangerous!)

As I look over the list, I glance at Soryu, who's reading a book next to me.

(He's been here the whole time... but doesn't he want to go back to the others?)

(I feel like I'm being watched, so it's hard to concentrate.)

I sighed when I spoke.

Meimei: "Like I told you I'm not going to run away, got it?"

Soryu: "Of course you won't."

Meimei: "So you can leave me alone, is that clear?"

Meimei: "Still, we'ren't you in the middle of a card game?"

Soryu: "..."

(Tch. He totally ignored me...)

Soryu: "...I'm not going back in there."

Meimei: "What? Seriously?"

Soryu: "Smells too much like a perfume and it makes me nauseous."

Soryu: "Baba's always bringing strange women up in here..."

(Wow.... Soryu does hate women?)
_________________________________________________

Auctioneer: "And now we'll start the bidding!"

Auctioneer: "4000,000 to number 68! One million to number 340!"

As bathed in the spotlight, I carry items for bid on stage... at the auctioneer's request.

Auctioneer: "The next item up or bid is an artifact stolen five years ago from the Metropolitan Museum of Art..."

I stare absently as each rare item gets sold off one by one.

(I can't believe I was sold off yesterday to one of the sponsors.)

(You never know what might happen in life.)

Soryu's watching me from a gap in the curtain on the side of the stage.

(But I wish this was all just a dream...)

As sweats slides down my cheek, as telling me everything when I see before me is reality.
_______________________________________________________

Soryu: "So now you're an accomplice."

After the auction, I'm still not allowed to go back to my apartment.

Meimei: "That was your insurance policy so I wouldn't run or turn you int to the police."

Soryu: "Even if you did go to the cops, it'd be easy to get rid of you. It's just a pain."

Meimei: "..."

He takes a bundle of bills out from the piles of cash in front of him... and flips through it to inspect it.

Meimei: "But you said the I.V.C. is a front for the auctions."

Meimei: "So what did you mean by that?"

Soryu thinks for a moment and then speaks.

Soryu: "The people participating in these auctions are some of the richest... most important people in the world, invited specially by us."

Soryu: "So don't you think it would seem a little strange if all those people came together for no reason?"

Meimei: "So that's why you came up with the idea for the I.V.C."

Soryu: "Right. The I.V.C. is our front."

Meimei: "And your real purpose is the auction."

Soryu: "It started out as a way for Baba to get rid of things he stole."

Soryu: "And Eisuke agreed to the plan."

Meimei: "So why are you participating in the auctions?"

Soryu; "Because of the enormous profits I can make... without having any of it taxed."

Soryu: "That's what I'm after."

Meimei: "So what you're after... does everyone in the mafia do this?"

Soryu: "It's takes money to run a large-scale organization like the mafia."

Soryu: "Taking a hand in Tres Spades' operation was a great opportunity to do business in Japan."

Meimei: "..."

(I heard when this hotel was built... there was a lot of pressure put on the people opposed to the casino idea.)

(But I had no idea those rumors were true.)

(Looks like the source of that pressure was Soryu...)

(I bet he went to great lengths to silence the anti-casino groups.)

Soryu: "You look like you've got something to say."

Meimei: "Uh!? Well... committing a crime is wrong... and I don't think it should be easily forgiven."

Soryu: "What is a crime?"

Meimei: "Huh?"

Soryu: "A crime is a violation of a law, right? So who decides those laws?"

Meimei: "But people..."

Soryu: Powerful people."

Soryu: "People with money and power create rules to protect their assets, and those are called laws."

As he's done checking the bundle of cash and tosses it back into the pile.

Soryu: "The right and wrong you speak of is a value system creacted by powerful people."

Soryu: "Don't push those values onto me."
_____________________________________________________

The next morning.

(I hardly slept last night at all...)

(But I was too worked up from the auction and what Soryu said...)

Meimei: "Right and wrong is decided by powerful people, huh..."

(I've never thought about it before, but I guess that's one way of looking at it.)

(At any rate, today's the last day of the I.V.C.)

(So now I won't have to help with the auction anymore...)

Baba: "You sure look tired."

Baba: "Was Soryu too rough on you last night?"

Meimei: "B-Baba! Good morning..."

Ota: "It's first thing in the morning, Baba. Stop with the innuendo, it makes you look like an old man."

Baba: "Really? I don't think I'm as much of an old man as somebody else we know."

Mamoru: "...Huh?"

Baba directs his gaze at Mr. Kishi, who is reading the newspaper with a cigarette in his mouth.

Soryu: "I'm going to be out on business all day. Call me if you need anything."

Eisuke: "Oh, about 'you-know-what'?"

Soryu: "Yep."

Meimei: "You-know-what...? What the heck is that?"

Baba: "Hey, that sounds pretty fishy. Is it a date?"

Soryu: "..."

Baba: "Hm? Sor's not denying it."

Ota: "You bought Meimei for $20 mil and you're already done with her?"

Ota: "Mind if I have her, then?"

Meimei: "What!?"

(What the hell is going on!?)

(But maybe it wouldn't be so scary if I was with Ota instead.)

Meimei: "Sorry, I'd prefer to stay with Soryu, if that's possible..."

Ota: "Oh, am I not good enough for you?"

Soryu had been listening quietly to our conversation, but now he's scowling.

Ota: "Waah! Chill out, it was just a joke!"

Meimei: "Quit scowling your face, Soryu!"

Soryu: "..."

I sighed when I looked away as Baba spoke.

Baba: "Yeah. You know what they say, haste makes waste!"

Baba: "You could learn a lesson or two from Mamo in that regard."

Mamoru: "..."

Soryu walked over to me and he studies my face.

Meimei: "N-Now what!"

Soryu: "Don't be getting an ideas just because I'll be gone."

Meimei: "I know that! Sheesh..."

After another firm warning, Soryu leaves.
_______________________________________________________

Everyone: "We look forward to your next visit!"

Now that the I.V.C. is over, we say goodbye to the departing guests. I feel conflicted as I watch all of them in their high brand clothes... climbing into their hired cars.

(Before the auction, I used to dream about the glitzy I.V.C. parties.)

(But now that I know all those people were secretly enjoying the black market auctions...)

Meimei: "Hm?"

I see a woman wearing a cheongsam is walking this way as the guests depart.

(Is she an actress from China or something? I don't think she's gorgeous...)

???: "Do you want to go out to eat tonight?"

Soryu: "Sure."

(What the hell? Did Soryu's with her!?)

(I thought he hated women! So what's with that huge smile on his face!?)

Ota: "Hey, is that her?"

Baba: "I'm totally jealous... he gets to walk around with such a beautiful woman..."

Baba: "And she's wearing a cheongsam, too!"

Meimei: "Ota and Baba! What are you doing here?"

Meimei: "Do you know that woman?"

Ota: "I've never seen her."

Baba: "Sor's a pretty secretive guy."

(Oh... but they make a very attractive couple...)

I feel a piercing gaze on my back when I turn around...

Erika: "Why are you being so friendly with the VIP guests, Meimei?"

Rina & Kana: "Meimei?"

(Tch... how dare them to glare at me with really scary looks on their faces! That's it!?)

I evil glare at Erika, Rina and Kana when I takes out my grandfather's gun to point at them.

Erika: "Why are you pointing your gun at us!?

Rina & Kana: "Your gun at us!?"

Meimei: "Let me tell you last warning... if you 3 keep bossing me? I'll shoot you in your head!"

Meimei: "GOT IT!?"

They nodded their head when I keep yelled.

Meimei: "NOW GET OUT!?"

They run away from me.

Ota: "You're looks like Soryu's woman."

Meimei: "I'm not Soryu's woman, so hush."

I said when I put my grandfather's gun away and I sighed to make calm down.
_____________________________________________________

After work... Soryu's called me up to the executive lounge.

Baba: "Hey, gorgeous."

Baba: "You're as beautiful as a rose shining with evening dew."

???: "Heheh... you're funny."

In the center of the room... Baba is kneeling down in front of the woman from before.

???: "You have many strange friends, Soryu."

Soryu: "Baba's... special."

???: "And who is this?"

Meimei: "..."

I ignore the girl in the cheongsam motions to me and Soryu turns his gaze towards me because I stare at the window when I was waiting for my friends.

Soryu: "She's basically an employee."

???: "Oh... nice to meet you."

Mei Ling: "I'm Mei Ling."

Meimei: "Uh-huh..."

I turns around to walk past to her when the door are open...

Meimei: "Mulan! Lei Fang!"

I glomps hug my girls best friend when we giggles.

Ota: "Um... Meimei? You know those two?"

I turn my head to look at Ota when I spoke.

Meimei: "Well duh, Mulan and Lei Fang is my best friends. Because I met them when I went to the china and they gave me a lot of cheongsam~!"

Baba: "Wow."

Soryu and Mei Ling look at me with my two best friends.

Mulan: "I'm Mulan and I'm Meimei's best friend."

Lei Fang: "I'm Lei Fang and I'm Meimei's best friend."

Lei Fang: "Mulan and I met Meimei Yae."

Baba: "I see."

Mei Ling: "..."

Soryu: "Mei Ling is the only daughter of the boss of the Bell Crickets... an organization close with the Ice Dragons."

Soryu: "She came here from Hong Kong to take care of something urgent."

Meimei, Lei Fang & Mulan: "Urgent?"

Ota: "Oh, I thought she was your girlfriend..."

Meimei: "..."

Baba: "In any case, a beautiful woman like you is always welcome here."

(So, she's not his girlfriend, but she's the daughter of another mafia boss...)

Meimei: "So your Japanese is really good."

Mei Ling: "Oh, daddy made sure I started learning at a young age."

Soryu: "Woman, I called you here to take care of Mei Ling."

Meimei: "I have a name! It's Meimei Yae! And why am I taking of her!?"

Ota: "Soryu doesn't know the first thing to do with a girl..."

Ota: "So I bet he's going to make Meimei do it."

Baba: "Let me take care of her."

Baba: "I'll make sure your time in Japan is something you'll never forget..."

Soryu: "...How about her, Mei Ling?"

Mei Ling: "I think she's fine. But I'll go with her and her two friends."

Soryu ignores the two men as he talks with Mei Ling. I look at Mulan and Lei Fang who nodded their head to me.

(Well I don't mind helping her out, but...)

Soryu: "She's a very important guest of mine. If anything happens to her, consider yourself dead."

I rolled my eyes when I spoked.

Meimei: "Whatever."

Mei Ling: "Thanks."

(I don't know why am I really take care of a mob boss' daughter!? I want to go with my friend Mulan and Lei Fang to go the shopping!)

~End of Chapter 2~

TO BE CONTINUED...