Meeting You Under Ugly Circumstances

Inspired by a set of "meet ugly" prompts on tumblr posted by tokiosunset. Decided to post on here because I really love these prompts!

Prompt: "You're the bastard who keeps parking right in front of my house so I retaliated by keying your car and you caught me"

o1a. keying your car (part i)

Sakura pulled down on her blinds as her eyes narrowed at the sight before her. The same car again. A sleek black Lexus parked right in front of her house. And it was blocking her driveway for the third time this week.

She questioned the driver's parking skills. Was it a old granny who couldn't tell that the car was five inches off the mark? Was it a dumb teenage kid who purposely parked in such a way to just piss her off?

Sakura knew what to do. The right thing would be to just call a tow truck and have the company haul that car away. She had let it slide the first time before since she wasn't in a need to move her car out. The second time, she did call the tow company and the car got ticketed and was moved. It caused her to be late to work.

She didn't believe that there would be a third time after having towed the car away before. Yet, here she was. Looking out her window and staring at the same damn car outside her house. She didn't even need to move her car now since she had nowhere to be. But it just irked her. That car. In HER spot.

And so the devil inside her was unleashed. She had a short temper and she could tell that towing did not mean anything to this car's owner. Something drastic had to be done. Sakura could see that the car was well maintained. It was washed and shiny and sparkly and made her lips curl up in excitement.

She grabbed her car keys and twirled it around her index fingers. It would really be a shame if something were to happen to that beautiful exterior of a car. Like if a random passerby with nothing better to do decided to key it. That would be such a shame.

Sakura could almost hear the cackling in her head. It would be sweet revenge. It would also be very wrong. Criminal activity. But by the time that thought entered her head, she was already halfway out the door.

She walked boldly to the Lexus, although her eyes shifted to and from as she scanned the street for any nearby witnesses to her impending crime. There was no one in sight which was expected given the quiet nature of her neighborhood. Even the ice cream truck ignores her part of the block.

With shifty eyes, she proceeded forward as she held out a key in her hand. She crouched down as she stooped by the wheel of the car. A glint filled her eye as she smiled evilly. She had barely dented the car with her key when she heard a voice above her.

"What are you doing?"

Sakura blinked in surprise as she glanced up. The sun was directly overhead so the light was blinding as she raised an arm to shield the light away from her eyes. She could see a shadowy figure and he did not look at all pleased.

Quickly, she gulped as she stood up. Hastily shoving the keys underneath the sleeve of her shirt, she placed her hands back behind her back. It didn't matter because he had already guessed at what she was doing.

"Were you going to key my car?" he asked as if shocked that such a thing could happen in broad daylight.

Sakura said nothing as her eyes stared down at the ground, particularly at the distance between her shoes and his. He had nice shoes. Sleek black dress shoes that matched his car. She had a worn out pair of sneakers on. Sneakers that could outrun his dress shoes to be precise.

But he must have heard her thoughts or maybe he saw her eyes shift to the left because he held out an arm to touch her shoulder. That made her react as she quickly shrugged him off and got into a defensive stance. If she hurt him now, she could always say it was self-defense. Judging from his spiked up locks and nonchalant face, he could easily be mistaken for a playboy. In her statement, she could just replace playboy with pervert.

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you," he said with a smirk.

She knew that. But he might change his mind when he found out that she had keyed the other side of his car first before she went over to the side that he was now looking at.

"If you excuse me, I'll be on my way," Sakura said quickly as she lowered her arms and began to walk around him. She couldn't head back to her house since she didn't want him to know where she lived. He didn't say anything but she could feel his eyes still following her. Just when she reached the end of her block, she made a right turn and then turned her head back to look behind her. What surprised her was that he was right behind her.

With a loud yelp, she screamed as she raised her arms wildly to scare him off and prevent him from coming any closer. He grabbed her and held her tightly and she was sure that he was going to knock her out at any moment to bring her to his stupid car and drive off with her in it.

"LET ME GO YOU PERVERT! HELPPPPP!" Sakura shouted. But it was useless because no one comes to her neighborhood and because it was lunch time, everyone was either at work or out for lunch.

"I'm not a pervert," he stated calmly as he stepped back and loosened his hold of her. "I was watching from afar earlier. You keyed the other side of my car."

Shit. So he did know.

She tried to run but he was still holding onto her. She frowned as she looked him in the eye. Not batting an eyelash, she held her gaze. "I'll pay for the damages I did to your ugly car," she said sweetly. She had slipped in the insult subconsciously and in a whispered tone but he heard it.

"You were the one who towed my car the other day, weren't you?" he asked. Or was it accused? She couldn't tell because he seemed to be smiling. But that could be the sun casting a glare on her eyes and making her see things.

"No," she lied.

"So you're not Haruno Sakura?"

Fuck. How did he know her name? Isn't there some confidentiality agreement with tow truck companies? They can't just announce who called in with a complaint! Eyewitness protection! Isn't that a thing?

"N-no… I don't know who that is."

"Well, do you live in this neighborhood?" he asked her.

Sakura blinked. She was confused. Shouldn't he be mad about her keying his car? Unless he wanted to know where she lived so he could come find her and then kill her in her sleep.

"No!"

"That's a shame. I thought we could be housemates if you were her," he said with a grin.

"Housemates?"

"I'm the new landlord of her place."

"Landlord?" she echoed. Her landlord was a sweet lady named Mikoto. Not this fearsome man with brooding eyes.

"Yes, my mother used to take care of things but she decided to let me handle it since she's going abroad with my father for a year."

"Your mother meaning Mikoto-san?" Sakura squeaked.

"Yes. I thought you weren't Haruno Sakura?" he asked in amusement.

"I wasn't," she answered in a mumble. "Please don't evict me," she pleaded. "I'm not crazy! I swear!"

"But you keyed my car. And call it in to tow."

"It was blocking the driveway!"

"I was lucky that I could prove that the house belonged to me," he stated. "Although you keying my car…"

"I'm sorry. I was stupid and irresponsible and really petty!" Sakura hoped her puppy dog eyes actually worked because she was using it to her full advantage.

"You're right. You were all of those things. I should really be evicting you for being crazy…but I won't."

"Why?" Sakura wanted to bite her tongue off. She should just be grateful he wasn't thinking such thoughts.

"Because my mother likes you… and you're kinda cute."

Sakura wasn't sure if she heard the last part correctly. "What?"

"I said you're cute!" he practically shouted. "Geez, crazy woman!" He turned to stomp off back in the direction of his car. She followed along as she walked behind him, in a bit of a starstruck moment.

"So why were you parked outside the house this whole time?" she asked.

"I wanted to check out the neighborhood before I decide to move in."

"You're moving in?" she asked as she stopped suddenly.

"The first floor bedroom is vacant, isn't it?"

Sakura nodded. That meant she would have to rethink Naked Sundays. Not that she walks around the house naked. But there goes her opportunity to do so.

"It's dangerous for a girl to live all alone," he commented.

"This neighborhood has literally no one walking by," she argued.

"That's why it's dangerous. Even when you screamed for help, no one came," he argued back.

"Are you offering your protection services?" she asked, her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed.

"No," he mumbled. "You keyed my car."

"Right, which I apologized like ten times for."

He smiled as he looked at her. "I take my apologies in the form of dinners."

She scoffed at him. But he was her new landlord. And he wasn't suing her for keying his car. Because in her stroke of craziness, she found someone crazier than her. She rather liked it. Maybe he would do Shirtless Sundays and walk around in nothing but a towel.

A girl can only dream.