There were several clicking noises then the sound of gas leaking out from something which was followed by the sound of clicking again. After the final click, a light erupted from the item that had been making the clicking noise, and with the light that it gave off, you could tell it was a lighter. The flame died down as whoever was holding it let go of the button and stuffed it hurriedly into her jacket pocket. A deep inhale could be heard in the silent alley, then an exhale as the person started puffing at the cigarette she had put in the corner of her mouth.
'It's been too damn long,' the girl said, taking a deep puff off of the cigarette then took it out of her mouth, blowing smoke out afterwards. She soon replaced it at the corner or her mouth and ran a hand through her long red-brown hair. Her green eyes glinted as she watched the smoke slowly disperse in the air, then stood up and walked out of the alley, deciding she didn't need to be secret at the moment, her room mate was asleep.
'You said you were going to quit,' a voice said from the right side of the alley. The figure the voice belonged to was a girl, who had crossed her arms over her chest and was tapping her foot angrily. 'Give me that.' She snatched the cigarette out of the rusty haired girl's mouth and dropped it on the ground, stepping on it to put it out. Brown eyes were narrowed into a glare as the girl continued to tap her foot angrily, her dark brown hair falling into her eyes. 'Ayame, you said you were going to quit smoking, what happened?'
An exasperated sigh came from the girl called Ayame and she just passed by her room mate, 'I did quit. I quit smoking for three months, and now I'm smoking again.' She ran her hand through her hair once again and tugged a bit at the small spaghetti strap she wore, pulling it to her stomach. 'Get over it; you can't change me, Sango. It's hard enough with my parents nagging me about my smoking; I don't need my best friend to do it, too.' As she walked, she could hear the scraping of the bottom of her jeans on the ground, dragging along the ground since they were too big for her.
Sango rolled her eyes and followed Ayame down the street in the opposite direction of their apartment. 'Ayame, come on, three months is good! You can't just give in to the temptation!' She grabbed a hold of her friend's shoulder and spun her around, watching the emerald gaze of the girl in front of her avert to the ground. 'Why did you start smoking again, anyway?'
The question remained unanswered as the rusty haired girl tore her shoulder out of the brunette's hand and stalked down the street, stuffing her hands into her pockets. Her fingers wrapped around the lighter and she pulled it out, and the grabbed an extra cigarette from the side of her boot, lighting it up. 'I don't need to hear this shit… I'll smoke if I want to,' she sighed to herself, rolling her eyes at the ground.
Sango sighed and rolled her eyes; walking back towards their apartment then opened the door and walked to the phone. 'He should know…' she said as she picked up the receiver and hit the speed dial for Kouga's house, hoping he was home to pick up.
One ring. Two rings. Three rings. A fourth ring followed by the bleary voice of someone just waking up on the other line. 'What… what time is it?' the voice asked into the receiver, yawning as he did so. 'It's three in the morning, what in all hells are you calling me for?' Obviously the person had found a clock and figured out the time on his own. 'If you're someone selling something, I don't want any.'
'You're normally awake at this hour, what's with you sleeping now?' Sango asked, laughing as she sat down on the counter and looked around the kitchen. 'You're very lovely when you first wake up, I don't see why Aya says you're beautiful first thing in the morning.' That was all the joking she had time for, so she sighed deeply and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, 'Speaking of her…'
Kouga remained silent for a while, trying to figure out whose voice he was hearing since it didn't seem to hit him and he hadn't looked at his caller I.D to find out. 'Wait… who is this?' It was right after he asked that he realized who he was talking to and made a kind of loud 'oh!' sound. 'Ignore my last question,' a yawn, 'you just woke me up. Anyway, what's up with Ayame that you have to call me at this hour?'
A sigh escaped from Sango's slightly parted lips as she played out how the conversation would go in her mind; it wasn't taking a very good turn for sure. 'She's smoking again.' She groaned and put her head into her hands, rubbing her eyes with her palm while she held the phone up to her ear with her shoulder. 'She refused to tell me why when I asked her; she just went off towards town and lit up another one. Did you know she started smoking again?'
There was silence from the other line and then a snore signaling that the person had fallen asleep while being spoken to. 'You're useless,' Sango said and hung up, wondering how long it'd take for the boy to realize no one was on the line. 'Probably until he wakes up with afternoon,' she laughed, hopping off of the counter.
It was three in the morning, where was Ayame going to go this late at night? The local bars had closed, that was where she normally went, and there was no where else she usually went, except maybe to Kouga's place. That was it, Ayame was probably heading towards Kouga's house at the very moment, so that was where Sango was going to go and hope that her friend was at.
Half an hour of walking later, Sango approached the door to Kouga's house and knocked on it several times. The first time no one answered, so Sango knocked again, but the door remained unlocked. 'Argh,' she groaned and started banging her fists on the door, hoping that she'd wake up the damn guy soon enough, it was starting to get cold outside!
'First the phone and now the door,' Kouga mumbled, hanging the phone up after hearing the dial tone. He undid the lock and opened his door, staring at Sango through half closed eyes, 'What this time? Didn't you talk to me enough on the phone? That's twice in half an hour you've disrupted my sleep.' Yawning, he opened the door completely and let Sango in, closing it afterwards.
'She's not here?' she asked, quirking a brow as she looked around the small house. 'Where did she go then?' That was the last thing spoken to Kouga before Sango opened the door and let herself out, closing it behind her. If Ayame wasn't there, where was she exactly?
Several moments of blinking passed before the raven haired boy walked to the door and locked it, tossing himself onto the couch to sleep again. 'Next time someone wakes me up, I'll kill them,' he grumbled angrily to himself as he curled up. 'Don't people understand I need my beauty sleep?' A few minutes later, Kouga was back to sleep, snoring soundly, out for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, despite any phones ringing or doors being knocked on.
While Sango had been calling and going to Kouga's house, Ayame had been walking through the city, not really sure where she was going except to get another pack of cigarettes. 'She should be effing happy,' she mused to herself, walking into a gas station. 'Give me the normal,' she said, pulling out her wallet and the proper amount of money.
The clerk nodded, obviously knowing what her regular was, and went to the glass case with the cigarettes and grabbed a pack of Camels. 'Five dollars and sixteen cents,' she said and took the money from Ayame, putting it into the cash register. 'Your… change?' she began to ask, but when she turned around, the girl had left and was back to walking around outside.
'I don't need her shit, I quit all the other stuff she asked me to, I don't need to quit smoking, too,' she grumbled angrily to herself, kicking a soda can that was in front of her. She put the pack of cigarettes into her pocket and rubbed her eyes, yawning a little bit while she did so, and ran her hands through her hair, a habit she had picked up when she was in middle school, thirteen years old to be exact. That habit had been with her for seven years, and Ayame was extremely surprised she hadn't grown out of it.