My Perfect Lady 48 Ah, Mouse. You Are Too Cute.

"You're hurting me."

Miya frowned.

"What?"

Jim looked in the direction of his injured hand, that the little lady was holding, albeit with not too much strength. Had he intended, he could have thrown her off, just like that. He was feeling weak somewhere else, was the problem.

"My hand," he said, choking on his voice.

Too close, woman.

"You are too close!" His brain yelled.

Miya's expression immediately softened and she quickly let go of his hand. Before she could do anything else though, Jimmy rapidly relieved his other hand from her grasp. Then holding her by both shoulders, he firmly pushed her away. Once she was at an arm's length afar, and staring at him in confusion, Jimmy heaved a sigh of relief.

His private parts weren't happy, but he felt much less depraved.

Oh, boy.

He must be a vile, sh*tty man to have that kind of reaction to his wife.

Oh, no. It was normal for people to have that kind of reaction to their wives. Even healthy!

No, he was a vile, sh*tty man for having that kind of reaction to a woman, he had randomly picked up as his wife. Yes. That was it!

That was why he was a sh*tty man!

No, wait. What the h.e.l.l was he thinking?!

Argh!

Meanwhile, Miya stared at Jimmy with a lot of annoyance and impatience. Why was he looking at her with such a bland expression, when seconds ago he was howling? Why did this man, whenever they met, made her reach a whole new level of intolerance?

Why?

Why did she feel like hitting him so much?!

She was already annoyed with herself, and when she saw Jim intruding in on her period of self reflection, it made her angry. She knew she was being unfair, but really, Mr. Hunter as such had no sense of time and place so to say. He had already managed to wreak havoc in her life in just three days!

Meanwhile Jimmy couldn't help but notice the outrage in her eyes, now that his mind was slowly starting to clear up and she was some distance away. He was also drawn to how pretty she looked right then, all clean and smelling of cocoa… and honey? He couldn't put his finger on it, but she smelled nice. She must have washed her hair too, for it was still damp and some of it fell into her eyes. She was again in her brown and white pyjamas.

Ah, mouse.

You are so cute.

And Jim hit his head.

Why? Why? Why?!

Why was he doing this to himself?!

And just as his heart was a fl.u.s.ter of a thousand emotions, he noticed something from the corner of his eyes. Behind the missus, some distance away from the bed, was kept a rather huge basket wrapped in blue. It had white paper roses stuck all over it, which somehow looked so nauseating, Jimmy wanted to puke.

To his horror though, the basket seemed to be moving.

Instinctively, Jimmy, who was still grabbing Miya by her shoulders, pulled her by the arm. She almost fell into his chest, when he twisted her slightly, so she was half hidden behind his gigantic back.

"Careful!" he shouted, immediately on alert, "There's something in that basket. It's moving!"

Miya was shocked.

Mr. Hunter's sudden act had surprised her, but when she heard him speak, she rolled her eyes. And even though she was half hidden behind him, the young master never let go of her hand. The gesture somehow, warmed her up.

She glanced at the man as he stood protectively before her, glaring fiercely at the moving basket. She almost laughed at the expression, then checked herself. She kind of wanted to see his face when he discovered what was inside the carrier.

Jimmy had taken up a karate posture with one hand, a stance he had seen in several movies. He didn't know a flying f*** about karate though. And just when he thought he should go ahead and kick the basket first, his eyes almost fell out of their sockets.

He screamed in horror.

"It's a rat!" he bellowed, aghast, as an oversized white beast with a pink nose stepped out from within the blue realms of the towel, "It's a f***ing rat!"

Miya laughed out loud.

The young master's expression was priceless! He had visibly paled and was now pointing at little Mochi in horror.

She couldn't let him continue to howl though, for Ben was still asleep. So she stepped in front of him and with both hands, pull his arm down, the one that was pointing at Mochi.

"It's not a rat," she told him, looking delighted somehow, "It's a possum."

"Awesome?!" Jim's voice was still high-pitched and horrified, "What's awesome about this rodent?!"

Miya almost hit her head.

"I didn't say awesome, I said possum!" she tried to tone down her voice, "That's Mochi, my new pet!"

"P-et? What? When did you get a pet?"

"I… well, it was sent by your father."

Jimmy's jaw dropped.

That old man had actually lost his mind! Why would he send his wife a rat?!

Was he looking to pick a fight?!

And then an idea struck him.

"Miya!" he said, immediately on alert again, "You didn't touch it, did you? It might be infected with some disease! d.a.m.n it, I didn't think the old man would resort to using rodents!"

Miya rolled her eyes.

"He sent it as a present. Years ago, I used to have a possum as a pet. It's name was Mochi. I guess he found that out."

Jim looked foully at the big rat, which had begun to bare its non-existent teeth. He scowled. Possum, huh? Why was it looking angry? Didn't it just play dead when it sensed danger? What a stupid beast. Stupid and cowardly.

Like the Chairman!

The thought made Jim happy, when suddenly, he remembered something. Once he had seen a child… the head maid, Kyouko's boy run around with a rat like that. Hm… so these creatures were actually kept as pets. Wait a second though, now that he thought about it, how did the old man get hold of the possum anyway? He had investigated Miya, naturally, it was expected. And even if it was a gesture of friends.h.i.+p, considering he had been spouting that creepy nonsense about friends at the table, how did the old man find the time to get a possum?

They had been in a meeting from the afternoon till the evening! And then, they had moved in for dinner at his place. He could have ordered someone to get that rat, but there was also the more potent possibility that he had simply stolen from Kyouko's boy.

Because he had done that before.

Once, in his orchard, Jimmy himself had planted a blackberry tree, which was a rarity in this city. Simon Hunter had simply plucked all of the fruit, just to impress some high-end guest of his. And he had also claimed them as his own!

The Chairman didn't go through a lot of unnecessary trouble, if he could resolve the matter quickly.

Jimmy almost rolled his eyes, sure now that the kid's rat was stolen. And to confirm, he made a call to Kyouko.

And indeed, he was right!

The next sequence of events left Miya shocked and p.i.s.sed off. As it turned out, the Chairman had simply got someone to pick up a small boy's pet, wrapped it up and gifted it to her. When the child found out where his possum was, he came rus.h.i.+ng in to Miya's room and thanked her profusely for taking care of Tari, his pet.

Miya let go grudgingly.

The insolence of that old b.a.s.t.a.r.d though!

He dared to trick her like that!

And to think he'd simply steal from a kid, what kind of a person was he?!

Miya couldn't believe she had agreed to be friends with that old dude. Argh! She hated herself right then.

However, when Jimmy saw the flicker of emotions in Miya, he couldn't help but feel restless. The girl didn't know how eccentric his father was, but he did. He should have taken care. It was all his fault!

The good thing, however, was that Simon Hunter's good impression was no more.

His wife was safe!

That alone made Jimmy want to dance, but when the girl before him started looking depressed, he immediately felt his heart drop. Boy, was there something he could do to cheer her up?

And just then, a golden idea flashed through his head.

Of course he could cheer her up!

He still had his trump card.

The Hayabusa!