Red like Fire, Azure as the Sky
(Morinozuka Takashi P.O.V.)
It was a rainy Sunday afternoon; Mitsukuni had dragged me to a new cake shop that had opened up close to Haruhi's home. While he drooled over the wide selection of pastries I stood in the window staring at the monochrome sky as it poured down. I often watched rain, it helped me relax. Keeping an eye on Mitsukuni was a tedious job.
Suddenly something caught my eye; a flash of brilliant red. It was coming from someone that was walking past the shop. They were wearing a hoodie that prevented me from seeing the person's face. Following not far this person was a small group pf suspicious looking men; probably from the local yakuza faction. The owner of that bright red hair was about to find themselves in deep trouble. I still don't know what gave me the idea to follow them. Maybe it was general curiosity or the familiar feeling I felt hit my chest when I saw the red hair. Next thing I knew I was leaving the shop and Mitsukini to see just where the hooded person was going.
Not far from the shop the person of interest turned down an alleyway, the gang members not far behind. This is where I began to worry a little. I had no idea what could have been running through the person's mind making the decision to go down a dead end. I stopped and stood with my back pressed on the wall just outside of the alley. Peeking over my shoulder I tried to get a good look at what was happening, only to be stunned by what I saw. The hooded person stood with their hands in their pockets and head down to hide their face. The three men that had followed him had surrounded him and were talking.
"Listen buddy we don't want any trouble. Just give us your money and we'll go easy on you." The obvious leader said. I should have figured it was a typical mugging in process. The man to his left then gave the leader a strange look. A sinister smile crossed the man's face.
"Wait, are you a chick? Lift up that hood and let me get a look at ya'!" He hissed in a lustful manner. He then reached out a hand towards the victim's hood; only for his and to immediately be swatted away.
The hooded person then spoke.
"Try that again and you boys are going to find yourselves in over your heads." Said a woman's voice from under the hood; making her attackers smile. They started moving in closer. One of the men pulled out a knife.
'This girl is crazy! What does she think she's doing?' I thought. I looked around quickly for signs of a police officer but to no prevail. It looked like I would have to step in and help. Peeking back down the alley I waited for a chance to jump in a play the hero. The men were only a couple feet away from the mystery girl. I could just barely make out the shape of a smile in the shadowed part of her face that peeked out from under her hood.
Suddenly one of the men lunged at her. Swiftly she dodged him and grabbed his shirt and threw him at a pile of trash. Doing this caused her hood to fall back revealing her face. I was dazzled by her. She had long red hair tied in a ponytail; her eyes were as blue as the azure sky that was covered by clouds that day. She then took a stance that spoke that she was trained in the fighting style of Kenpo. The man she threw in the trash pushed himself out and looked furious.
"You little bitch! Now you're going to get it!" He yelled. She just smiled. The other two men in the alley way tried to jump her. Once again she evaded and hit the "leader" in the nose with her palm causing him to fall back holding his possibly broken nose. It was time for me to step in. I ran down the alley to help her. By the time I got close she was holding one of the men with his arm bent behind his back as he cried out in mercy. Another man tried to come at her from behind, which she kicked in the chest, knocking him out. That's when the leader of the group pulled out a gun and pointed it at her.
"Let him go and put your hands up! I've had it with you little bitch!" He shouted. His hands were shaking. The girl saw me and seemed to freeze. I grabbed the man with the gun's shoulder, getting his attention. He jumped and I could tell the color was draining from his face. Slowly he looked over his shoulder. As soon as our eyes met I threw a punch into his face, knocking him unconscious. The girl then let go of the man she had been holding. He got away as fast as he could. Once it was just the two of us the girl gave a pained look and slumped onto the wall behind her holding her chest. She was obviously in pain. I asked if she was alright and approached her. She only pushed away from the wall and shoved past me.
"I'm fine! Don't worry about me, Takashi~" She gasped and covered her mouth. She had said too much. I turned and grabbed her arm.
"How do you know my name?" I asked. She tried to get away and ended up falling to her knees. I crouched down next to her to try and help. The girl hid her face from me.
"Figures that you wouldn't remember…" Her voice sounded sad. She then turned to look at me with those blue eyes of hers. Next thing I knew her lips were pressed on mine. It was only for second, and then she was up and running away from me. I stayed where I was, frozen. I had never seen that girl in my life and yet she knew my name and kissed me. I shook myself free of the shock and got to my feet. It was time to return to my cousin. I left the alley and turned back towards the bakery I had left Mitsukuni at. He was ready to leave and looking for me. Once he saw me he came running over carrying an umbrella. The mystery red haired maiden had disappeared.
"Takashi! Where did you go? You're soaking wet! Let's get you home and dried off before you catch a cold." He said, handing me the umbrella. The two of us then got into our Bentley we were driven to the shop in. As we drove back towards home I tried to get the girl off my mind but couldn't. I was quite vexed. So I decided to ask my small cousin who was already chomping down in the cakes he had bought.
"I girl with bright red hair? I didn't see anyone like that and I was waiting outside for quite a while. Why do you ask?" He responded. My face grew hot as the image of the kiss flashed through my head once more.
"N...No reason." I tried to play it off as just curiosity. But Mitsukuni is smarter than he looks and often proves it like his next comment did.
"Something happened with the girl you asked about, didn't it?" He asked as he stared at me with those wide brown eyes of his. I just sighed and tried to ignore the red on my cheeks by covering my cheeks and mouth with my hand and looking out the window. Maybe it was all a dream. I said nothing in response so the subject was dropped.