Life Will Change

Chapter 39: Mika Strikes Again

Begin!

~Normal POV

7/8 - Friday

Tomorrow was the deadline for Kaneshiro's debt. He had said he called it off and deleted the pictures of them, but it was still too soon to celebrate. They had to be sure. There was still a small possibility he could be released from custody if he didn't confess. No official news had been released about him yet. In fact, aside from Makoto telling them so, they'd have never realized he was in custody... Come to think of it, why did Akechi ask him about it, too? There was no reason for him to guess that news of Kaneshiro had reached Akira at all...

Well, it didn't matter today. Akira had another free afternoon to spend with Ann before the deadline tomorrow. And if everything didn't work out, then at least he got to spend time with her before they all got arrested. He met up with her in the mall.

"Hey Akira... the deadline is tomorrow, right?" She asked.

"Yep... You ok?"

Ann frowned. "No... I need a distraction, or I'm gonna freak out all night! Can we go get some crêpes together? Please?" She even pouted at him for emphasis.

He chuckled. "Of course. I'll pay."

"I told you already, you don't have to do that all the time!" He never let her pay for anything whenever they ate together; not even just her half of the bill.

"Not gonna happen." He smirked.

When they arrived at the crêpe shop, Ann's mood wasn't any better. "They're not doing their double chocolate crêpes today..." She said, with a sigh. "I have the worst luck..."

"We can still get a different kind."

"True, but it's still disappointing-" Ann was interrupted by another email. "Oh. Damn it, it's from the agency again."

"What do they want now?"

"They want me to head over for a shoot today at the skytree. Basically, this men's magazine is running a Mika special to capitalize on her recent popularity. And she apparently wants me to star alongside her for the shoot... But why?"

"It's obvious why! It's a trap to get you in trouble again! But... She might get upset if I say something so harsh even if it's true..."

"Maybe, deep down, she admires you?" Akira said, carefully.

"But why trick someone you admire? ...I guess there's no way to know what she wants unless I go. Do you want to come?"

"Sure." He replied. "I can't let you face her alone..."

~...

The skytree was a tower attraction in the northern part of the city. The shoot was happening on the top floor where one could see the cityscape through the large windows. Mika and the camera crew were already there.

"Oh. You came for my special." Mika said, not even bothering to properly greet the two of them.

"Well, yeah, you asked for me, right?" Ann replied. "And whoa, you look different today. Did you change your makeup? Or lose some weight?"

"The theme for today's shoot is 'The Elegance of Woman." Mika said, proudly. "So, I conditioned my body to be more elegant."

In Akira's mind, Mika looked pretty much the same as the last time he saw her. Except her dress was a different color and she had sunglasses on her head. But then, what would he know?

"I see you brought your boyfriend again," Mika commented, "He'd better not cause trouble."

"He's not my boyfriend," Ann said, sheepishly, "And he won't cause trouble for anyone! And... wait, what do you mean by 'conditioning yourself?'"