Boss Yui: returning home
The car pulled up in front of the main gate. The woman at the gate watched as a woman in a suit got out of the backseat, and held the door for another woman, wearing a kimono and holding a graceful posture. The two walked to the gate as the others in the car began removing luggage. The woman in the kimono lead the woman in the suit in bowing to the woman at the gate.
“Okaasama, I’m home.”
Rie, the girl in the suit, looked across briefly at the woman who had spoken. There was no genuine affection in the way the girl had spoken to the woman who lead them in. That wasn’t too surprising though, this was only their third time meeting. The way Minami had responded suggested to Rie that the woman had not detected the coldness of her step daughter’s greeting.
“Should you not have come with some bodyguards?” Minami asked as they made their way to another room to sit. Rie observed a man guarding each door, each bowed as they passed. Rie observed a measure of surprise in Minami’s movements, while Yui was unmoved by the bowing. She matter of factly answered the question.
“Rie is the only protection I need.” Rie smiled a little hearing that. She didn’t think it wise for the mistress to rely on just her for protection, but she appreciated her confidence in her.
Yui and Minami took seats, Yui pointedly choosing a different seat to the one opposite her step-mother. Rie stood, guarding the door.
“Where’s Papa?”
“Away on business. He’ll be home tomorrow night.”
“I see.”
Rie knew that seeing her father was the reason the mistress had returned to the family home for her birthday. At least he’d be arriving before the day itself. As for her step mother, she wasn’t sure if Yui hated her or just needed time to form an opinion about her. The boss had been injured 18 months previously in another groups attempted hit, and spent the next 9 months in hospital. By the time he’d recovered that gang had been completely destroyed by his daughter’s efforts, with the one who actually attacked him being better off just dead than what had happened to him. A few weeks later the boss had surprised everyone announcing he was going to marry one of the nurses who had been attending him during his hospital stay, especially since the girl was only a year older than his daughter. That had been the first time they’d met, the second being at the wedding itself. And now this was the third.
Yui didn’t speak to Minami at all through dinner, except to excuse herself when they had finished. Yui lead Rie straight to her own room at the estate, now only rarely occupied by her. Rie entered alone while the mistress told the man guarding that if he or any other male member of staff was at the door when she returned he would personally regret it, asking for Miyazawa. She got her wish of course, and wouldn’t have needed to threated the guy anyway seeing as her word was law. Rie suspected she got a sadistic pleasure out of threatening people who would already obey her.
Once they were alone in Yui’s room the mistress ordered her to stop guarding her. This wasn’t something she could actually do, for Rie it just meant she was now to talk with her.
“What are you going to do?”
Yui, sat on the bed, having changed into sleepwear, looked up at her.
“Wait for Papa to get home and then enjoy my birthday with him, then head back after another day or so. Work isn’t going to stop for my birthday.”
“That’s not what I meant. What are you going to do about Minami-san?
"Oh her. I’ll think of something. Make sure we understand each other.”
“I see.”
“But before anything else, I confirmed with Miyazawa that that woman normally sleeps in the room next door to us. So you’re task for right now is to use whatever you can find in that bag,” she indicated a bag the contents of which both were intimately familiar with, “and myself,” she laid down on the bed, her shirt not fully buttoned up, “to make tonight as uncomfortable for Okaasama as possible. Make sure I make a lot of noise OK?”