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comment_fic's "Yami no Matsuei, Muraki/Miss Hojo, a famous actress tries to get some face time with a handsome doctor"
Kaneko Hojo's companion, Mister Wakabayashi had lead her through the formalities of introducing her to the ship's owner, but the conversation quickly devolved into shop-talk between him and Kakyouin, and she grew bored. Claiming she had to freshen up, she set out roaming through the ballroom, deliberately trying to catch the eyes of all the men, attached or not.
Till she spotted one man seated alone at a table where one could watch the room, a tall, slim, pale-skinned man with a strikingly beautiful face. He looked up at her, a crooked, yet weirdly friendly smile quirking the corners of his delicate yet sensitive mouth. "Good
evening, Hojo-chan," he said, rising.
"Oh, are you a fan of mine?" she asked. "I'm always happy to meet a devotee of good acting."
"I've seen some of your films," the pale man said, bowing to her. "I'm Dr. Kazutaka Muraki, I'm the shipboard physician."
"Well then, I'm glad to see that anyone who gets sick on this ship will have a handsome physician to look after them. Didn't I see you on the cover of a magazine?" she asked, raising her hand to run it through her hair.
A smirk crossed the man's pale face. "No, not unless you've been reading medical journals lately."
"A pity. Have you ever thought of going into modeling? A face like yours would have photographers on their knees asking for you."
He laughed in his throat " I've been asked that question before, but I wouldn't want that kind of life: it's a meat market and I'm rather a private man."
"oh? Would you mind sharing that privacy?" she asked teasingly.
"Doctors are bound to their confidentiality," he said, making a joke of her advances, but the look in his cool grey eye told her he was not interested. Was the man unnatural? Most men laughingly played along with her flirtations, but he was the first to turn her down in a long
time.
* * *
She got an answer sooner than she suspected. She should have been mourning her companion, but she decided to go about her social rounds, while still maintaining a low profile. As she entered the casino, she spotted Dr. Muraki close to a wall, standing against a slender figure
with it's back pressed against the wainscotting. From the white shirt and black dress slacks it wore, she guessed it to be one of the dealers, but she couldn't tell which one. Until Muraki shifted and his companion turned their face aside and she realized it was that pretty-faced dealer with the peculiar violet eyes.
So that explained why the doctor refused had refused her advances: the man really was unnatural! Well, she could use that little known fact as leverage at the first chance she got.
She got that chance a little while later: as she was on her way to her cabin, she happened to spy Muraki striding through the hallway, alone and his irritation palpable. He clearly hadn't gotten lucky with that dealer.
"Are you in need of an escort to your cabin, Hojo-San?" he asked, but from the look in hjs eyes, he clearly wasn't up for anything more than seeing her to her door.
"I saw you in the casino with that dealer backed against the wall, that *male* dealer. Is that why you're blowing me off? Is it?!" she demanded.
He turned to her, taking off his glasses and looking her in the eye. "One rule of being a gentleman is never to kiss and tell," he said. "And one rule of being a lady is never to meddle in the affairs of others, particularly the private affairs of one's betters."
"What? Are you saying you're better than me? Do you know what I am and what I could have done to you?! I could go to the papers and tell them what you do behind closed doors."
He chuckled darkly. "And be laughed to scorn."
"I am a politician's mistress! People in authority know me!"
"As his bed-warmer, nothing more. You are nothing to him and to them but a toy."
"You ingrate! You bastard! I hope you lose your livelihood for that!" she snapped, trying to grab his arm. "I hope that murderer kills you!"
He took her hand in his, and while he did not squeeze it, something in his grip suggested he could crush her hand without much effort. He looked into her eyes, his good eye cold as a winter lake covered with a layer of thin ice waiting for an unsuspecting traveller to cross it at their peril. Even his false eye seemed to stare into her face, a violet light flickering in it. "Be careful, Hojo-chan, we're both easy prey for the killer. I wonder what you'll say if you should get your wish." He kept his voice low and gentle, but there was something in his tone that brooked no argument and chilled her to the marrow.
That stare and those word left her silent and shaken. She did not noticed when he had gone, not till she realized that she stood alone in the hallway, her lips burning. Had he struck her across the mouth or had he kissed her? She tasted something bitter in her mouth, but it did not taste like blood.
comment_fic's "Yami no Matsuei, Muraki/Miss Hojo, a famous actress tries to get some face time with a handsome doctor"Kaneko Hojo's companion, Mister Wakabayashi had lead her through the formalities of introducing her to the ship's owner, but the conversation quickly devolved into shop-talk between him and Kakyouin, and she grew bored. Claiming she had to freshen up, she set out roaming through the ballroom, deliberately trying to catch the eyes of all the men, attached or not.
Till she spotted one man seated alone at a table where one could watch the room, a tall, slim, pale-skinned man with a strikingly beautiful face. He looked up at her, a crooked, yet weirdly friendly smile quirking the corners of his delicate yet sensitive mouth. "Good
evening, Hojo-chan," he said, rising.
"Oh, are you a fan of mine?" she asked. "I'm always happy to meet a devotee of good acting."
"I've seen some of your films," the pale man said, bowing to her. "I'm Dr. Kazutaka Muraki, I'm the shipboard physician."
"Well then, I'm glad to see that anyone who gets sick on this ship will have a handsome physician to look after them. Didn't I see you on the cover of a magazine?" she asked, raising her hand to run it through her hair.
A smirk crossed the man's pale face. "No, not unless you've been reading medical journals lately."
"A pity. Have you ever thought of going into modeling? A face like yours would have photographers on their knees asking for you."
He laughed in his throat " I've been asked that question before, but I wouldn't want that kind of life: it's a meat market and I'm rather a private man."
"oh? Would you mind sharing that privacy?" she asked teasingly.
"Doctors are bound to their confidentiality," he said, making a joke of her advances, but the look in his cool grey eye told her he was not interested. Was the man unnatural? Most men laughingly played along with her flirtations, but he was the first to turn her down in a long
time.
* * *
She got an answer sooner than she suspected. She should have been mourning her companion, but she decided to go about her social rounds, while still maintaining a low profile. As she entered the casino, she spotted Dr. Muraki close to a wall, standing against a slender figure
with it's back pressed against the wainscotting. From the white shirt and black dress slacks it wore, she guessed it to be one of the dealers, but she couldn't tell which one. Until Muraki shifted and his companion turned their face aside and she realized it was that pretty-faced dealer with the peculiar violet eyes.
So that explained why the doctor refused had refused her advances: the man really was unnatural! Well, she could use that little known fact as leverage at the first chance she got.
She got that chance a little while later: as she was on her way to her cabin, she happened to spy Muraki striding through the hallway, alone and his irritation palpable. He clearly hadn't gotten lucky with that dealer.
"Are you in need of an escort to your cabin, Hojo-San?" he asked, but from the look in hjs eyes, he clearly wasn't up for anything more than seeing her to her door.
"I saw you in the casino with that dealer backed against the wall, that *male* dealer. Is that why you're blowing me off? Is it?!" she demanded.
He turned to her, taking off his glasses and looking her in the eye. "One rule of being a gentleman is never to kiss and tell," he said. "And one rule of being a lady is never to meddle in the affairs of others, particularly the private affairs of one's betters."
"What? Are you saying you're better than me? Do you know what I am and what I could have done to you?! I could go to the papers and tell them what you do behind closed doors."
He chuckled darkly. "And be laughed to scorn."
"I am a politician's mistress! People in authority know me!"
"As his bed-warmer, nothing more. You are nothing to him and to them but a toy."
"You ingrate! You bastard! I hope you lose your livelihood for that!" she snapped, trying to grab his arm. "I hope that murderer kills you!"
He took her hand in his, and while he did not squeeze it, something in his grip suggested he could crush her hand without much effort. He looked into her eyes, his good eye cold as a winter lake covered with a layer of thin ice waiting for an unsuspecting traveller to cross it at their peril. Even his false eye seemed to stare into her face, a violet light flickering in it. "Be careful, Hojo-chan, we're both easy prey for the killer. I wonder what you'll say if you should get your wish." He kept his voice low and gentle, but there was something in his tone that brooked no argument and chilled her to the marrow.
That stare and those word left her silent and shaken. She did not noticed when he had gone, not till she realized that she stood alone in the hallway, her lips burning. Had he struck her across the mouth or had he kissed her? She tasted something bitter in her mouth, but it did not taste like blood.