Ma?l inspected her. Her simple presence stirred deep feelings in him, stronger than any reason he could conjure, a heady mix of admiration for her beauty and her fiery spirit, steeped in compassion for her predicament… and his, he added mentally. Don’t forget that. He just landed in Tokyo and he was royally screwed already.

  She looked absolutely stunning wearing his oversized judogi. Somehow, she had tamed the fabric and he could have sworn it had been tailor-made for her. He envied people who could do that. Him? He could spend hours ironing his clothes and it would still look like something he had thrown on at the last minute.

  Focus, damn it! She started by spinning him some nonsensical fairy tale, and it had come to her as easily as breathing. He would have liked for her to trust him completely, to know he was on her side, whatever side that was, and he felt mildly ashamed as he realized he actually meant that.

  For one who prided himself a rational man, he had surrendered to her charms without the slightest hint of resistance. I’m such a simp, he muttered to himself. She had him wrapped around her little finger already. He knew less than nothing about her but he didn’t doubt for a second he would take a bullet for her and be grateful for the opportunity too!

  He averted his gaze and stated matter-of-factly: “You don’t have to lie to me. We are in this together for now, I’ll help you. Obviously, things didn’t go the way you planned. Do you have a back-up plan?”

  Plan A had been a fairy tale wedding with a “perfect” man she had been engaged with, and living a “perfect” life, at least as far as appearances were concerned. She had money, fame, social standing… but for all that, she was merely a spectator, watching her own life unfold like a story on the big screen.

  She had always gone with the flow and played it safe. Her name had carried her through much, and her natural charisma made her a star, but so what? What was she doing with her life? She did NOT have a plan B and she needed one. Right now.

  The man’s attitude was a surprise at first, but as she tried to look at it from his viewpoint, how could he believe her? Not knowing her, who would believe that a superstar would simply fall out of a window in the middle of the night, dodging gunshots? That it was the truth didn’t make it any more believable.

  She needed to buy herself some time to think, and she needed to know more about the man she had unwittingly dragged into this hellish situation…

  Stupid. I can just ask.

  “You haven’t introduced yourself either, now that I think of it. Who are you and what were you doing under my window in the dead of the night?”

  Ma?l paused. He hadn’t considered that. He thought he was crossing a park, but really, he was trespassing on private property at a time honest people slept. No wonder she didn’t trust him!

  She was up to something exciting, and he wanted in. He assumed she needed his protection as a matter of course, but that might not be the case at all. Maybe she would ditch him to the curb and drive out of his life as suddenly as she entered it. The possibility broke his heart. He couldn’t go back to laying in some hotel room watching TV.

  He had to convince her that she needed him. Whatever she was doing, he was her guy. This was… a recruitment interview? And a date perhaps, if he was insanely lucky.

  He straightened his posture and his shirt, and gave a small bow:

  “Watashi wa Ma?l Desu.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  That was pretty much the extent of his Japanese, so he continued his introduction in English. “I hail from the lands of the setting sun,” he said with a chuckle, “and I am currently traveling to Japan to train Judo, as you can see.” He nodded to the judogi she was now wearing. “Unfortunately my plane landed quite late, and I had to walk part of the way to my accommodations. I thought I could cut through the park to save myself a bit of walking. I don’t know why, but that felt like the right way to go.”

  “But why didn’t you take a cab?”

  “Oh, err… I felt like walking. It wasn’t too far.”

  Ma?l looked embarrassed once more, but in a different way. He had clearly not wanted to spend money on the fare.

  Save for that tiny white lie, his explanation was candid, and made perfect sense at last. Lots of foreigners visited Japan for Judo. His backpack and the judogi inside left her little doubt he was telling the truth. She felt guilty for thinking he might have been there to rob the place or worse.

  The man, Ma?l, had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or rather at the perfect place at the perfect time, for otherwise she would be dead, and she had yet to thank him.

  How do I convince him to help? she wondered. She needed him… Gosh, I’m so stupid tonight. He already offered to help and if his previous actions were any indication, he was hers to command.

  She couldn’t convince him of who she was, but she didn’t need to. What she needed was a plan. She had to get away from all this mess, she needed… a vacation? Far from all her troubles and from that stupid perfect life she wasn’t really living.

  She also needed help and protection. Alone, what chance did she have? Oroshi had a gun, he had guards, contacts… She remembered what her father had said about his membership at Koganei. She might be in far more trouble than she had imagined: this man had forced the former Police Chief to resign! Did he control the police too? She had to assume so.

  Her head was spinning. She felt trapped, desperate. Enough! She forced herself to focus. Ma?l began to speak but she stopped him with a finger.

  “Give me a second; I need to think”

  In this crazy situation, Ma?l was the only one she could truly rely on, precisely because he didn’t know her. He was a perfect stranger. She had to secure his help, but she didn’t want to take advantage of him…

  She spoke after a long minute of silence:

  “Fine. I’ve decided to hire you. You will be my bodyguard. How would you feel about a salary of…” She searched for a number. Money was nothing to her, but what was a reasonable amount? Too little would be insulting to them both. Too much might actually scare him away.

  “Is $20,000 good for you?”

  He looked dejected.

  “I get that you didn’t anticipate the expense, but that isn’t much. Look. I said I would help, you don’t have to pay me anything, but I can’t risk my life for $20,000 a year!”

  Kaori laughed in disbelief. Ma?l stared at her in confusion. What was so funny about minimum wage?

  “That’s $20,000 per week, silly!”

  Ma?l sat there dumbfounded.

  “Per… week? Just to be clear. I’m not going to carry drugs or murder people.”

  “Well, of course not! Who do you take me for? I’m in the market for a knight in shining armor. Can you handle it?”

  If Ma?l’s smile had gotten any wider, it would have left the confines of his face.

  “Sure thing, boss!”

  “Call me Kaori. Oh, and thanks for saving my life back there, Ma?l. I could have died without you.”

  It was the first time she had spoken his name and his heart melted. God have mercy on anyone who tried to hurt that woman, because he wouldn’t.