Isao opened his mouth to respond when the desk phone went off. Answering it, he nodded along, the vague chatter on the other end of the line just barely audible across the desk.

“Yes, that’s fine. Escort them up. Thank you.” Dropping the receiver onto its cradle, Isao’s expression turned stony. “If I reassign it, I would. They’ll be here shortly for introductions, so be on your best behavior. She’s the daughter of a very important man.”

 Ash crossed his arms. He wondered how much Isao had likely been fighting to get the orders changed, the veneer of frustration doing nothing to cover the exhaustion behind his dark eyes. Turning his gaze toward the window, Ash stared at the clear sky outside, watching the wisps of clouds blend with the vast expanse of blue. He sighed. “Fine, I’ll do it, but you owe me.”

A faint smile appeared on the older man’s face, a hint of jovial intent shining in his eyes. “We’re even. You owed me from when I got you out of that write up.”

Ash stifled a laugh, turning toward the sound of a knock at the door. The door opened to reveal Ono. “Sirs, Suzuki Kei and Suzuki Masako are here to see you.”

Waving their guests in, Isao shot Ash a glare, daring him to do something stupid. Knowing that Isao would kill him if he made even one wrong move, he straightened up and let an expression of indifference settle on his face. As Isao came out from behind the desk to greet them, Ash stood, studying the two women walking into the room. The younger dressed in more colorful attire than the elder, though both looked fashionable. They had a certain poise to them, prim and polite in a way that seemed almost condescending. He hoped he was wrong, but with the way Suzuki Kei’s mouth curved down, it felt unlikely.

Ash made a deep bow in greeting. “Good morning,” he said.

Finally acknowledging him, the older woman bowed back. Rising, she stared at him. “Good morning. You are?”

“This is Agent Toyama Fuyuki,” Isao interjected. Exchanging glances with each other, Ash curled a hand into a fist behind his back, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He always created his own aliases, poring over names and characters to find one he felt matched the mission. Isao creating one for him, pulled completely out of thin air, left a nasty taste in his mouth. With a brittle smile, Ash bowed his head.

“It’s good to meet you.” He pushed back on the errant thought that he really wanted to go home and crawl back into bed instead of dealing with the pair. Watching both women, their eyes conveying an unspoken conversation between them, Ash cleared his throat. “And may I presume this is your daughter?”

“You may. This is Suzuki Masako.” 

Waiting until they sat, Ash and Isao returned to their own chairs. Feeling eyes on him, he turned his head. Masako’s mouth drew into a frown, her derisive scoff heightening his annoyance with the teenager. He didn’t even know what she was judging him about, but as her gaze moved to Isao, he forced his focus back on the conversation happening between his commander and her mother.

“This is the guy? Him?” Her shoulders tensed. Her voice taking on a bored tone, Masako rolled her eyes. “Really?”

Ash bit back a retort, his insides twisting. Turning his attention to Isao’s burning gaze, the one daring him to respond to the young woman, he shook his head. He didn’t care to find out what manner of death, or worse, the elder man would inflict on him if he opened his mouth.

“I assure you, Agent Toyama is one of our finest people. As long as you’re with him, you’ll be safe. Let’s make sure we’re on the same page. Agent Toyama’ll be protecting Suzuki-san for at least the next month? With additional duties, including assisting with security at the house and during events?”

Kei nodded. “It is. Are you certain someone this… young… is capable?” A subtle sneer crept into her voice.

Ash bit the inside of his cheek, putting on a serene smile. He could taste iron.

Despite his mouth visibly tightening, Isao maintained his polite composure. Motioning to himself, his voice took on a firm but reassuring tone. “I would never put your daughter’s safety into incompetent hands. I trust him with my life.”

The older woman crossed her arms, looking away and pursing her lips. Masako subtly, but visibly, relaxed at Isao’s words despite the still sour frown remaining on her face. As the three of them continued to exchange details, Ash gradually tuned out the chatter. His eyes focused on a spot above Isao’s head, his mind reeling. Even a single day with this teenager sounded like one too many, yet they wanted him to babysit her for over a month? Her small noises of disapproval and vague glaring in his direction spoke loud enough that she felt the same as him, the idea of it bringing up the bitter taste of bile. He’d rather eat glass.

A loud sigh brought his attention back to the meeting.

The teen’s mother stiffly settled a hand over her bag. “I would’ve assumed an agent of his supposed caliber would be too busy to take on this kind of case...”

“Mother, please. I have places to be! Can we wrap this up?” Masako rolled her eyes. Hand sitting stiffly over her opened bag, she fidgeted with her phone. Kei gave her a disapproving glower, but ultimately ended up nodding and standing.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief.

“Fine, but if this doesn’t work… well, I hope I don’t have to say it. I would hate being disappointed after hearing about the prestigious reputation of your people.” Isao stood along with her, nodding. Following his lead, Ash could barely keep a fake smile plastered on his face, his blood boiling hot enough that he thought he might burn to cinders in front of them. It was bad enough having his own competency called into question, though it wasn’t the first and he knew it certainly wouldn’t be the last time. Having Isao’s questioned, however, wasn’t something he would normally tolerate. He considered saying something until his commander gave him another warning glare, a promise that he’d be on the receiving end of one of the training sabers if he opened his mouth for anything that wasn’t oxygen in that gaze.

“I look forward to working with you, Suzuki-sama, Suzuki-san,” Ash said, keeping his voice even. 

Masako snorted. “Right. If you’re going to be around me all day, could you… look like you belong or something?” The young woman gave him a quick once over. It took everything in him to keep his jaw from falling, stunned by her gall. Turning to leave, she dismissively waved a hand.

Feeling heat burning up his neck, chest and shoulders tightening, Ash held back a scowl. His already thin patience being pulled to its end, he stepped back to give them space to walk away from the wooden desk. Isao led the pair out, giving him a concerned look before the door shut behind him. Ash sank into his seat. He ran a hand down his face, groaning.

Looking down at his outfit, black jeans and a belt-crossed black top, he sighed. If he’d told me what this meeting was for, I could have worn my dress uniform, he thought. Leaning his head back against the chair, he stared up at the ceiling. He didn’t even know why it bothered him. He’d been called so many worse things—even as recently as the week previous—yet the young woman’s words set his teeth on edge.

I really need a vacation.

When Isao returned, Ash shot up in his seat. “Isao, what the hell? A little warning would’ve been fucking nice!”

“That went well,” Isao said, sitting down behind his desk. 

Ash stared at him, his eyebrows nearly disappearing into his dark fringe. Choking on his words, he whipped his hand out toward the vacated chairs. “…what?! How did that go ‘well’ in any way?!” He couldn’t believe that the other man sounded as cheerful as he did. In all the meetings that they’d been in together, he’d never seen someone question Isao with as much presumption as they had. If his commander actually thought it ‘went well’, he was afraid to know what a bad introduction would’ve looked like. 

“I know they’re… different, from the type of people you usually handle. I’m not asking you to like them. Ashu…” He paused for a moment, pondering his words. “It won’t be easy, but I need you to tolerate them. For a while, at least.”

“So you want me to suck it up?” Ash asked flatly. Isao’s suffering smile returned with a shrug. “Fine!But this is annoying as hell. I haven’t even had a chance to recover from Kochi yet.”

“You’ll make it work. You always do.” Isao gave him a grim, but knowing, look. “Now, about the mission protocols…”