The cool evening air was calm around the city. The lights of street lights and business signs created an illuminating aura through the streets. It was early spring so the air was cold but not bitter. A delicate frost gently coated the small patches of grass and small places on car windows. The streets had several people walking around shopping and talking to each other. It was just another average night.
Sitting on a bench just outside the bus station was a young girl with long brown hair that went down to the middle of her back with several thin black streaks through it. She was wearing skinny jeans with a few tears in them along with a black tank top under a black leather jacket. Around her neck was a black choker. Her skin was smooth and pale, her lips curved to a small almost painful smile. Her deep blue eyes hid a painful past that she yearned to forget. On her lap laid a small notebook which she continued to draw in. She peered up from her notebook and looked at the clock which sat in the window of the small liquor store across the street from the bus station. Her name was Kita and had been living in Japan since she turned 19, she had just turned 22 just a few weeks ago and was still struggling to become an artist. The clock read 8:45pm in bright red numbers. Oh I have to go meet Kei… She quickly closed her notebook and walked down the street to a bar where her long time boyfriend was drinking with his band mates. It was one of the few places Kei could go without the paparazzi following him. The bouncers were very strict when it came to who could get in, the only reason she could get in was because they knew her as Kei's girlfriend.
She walked down the street for five minutes until she reached a bar called Otori. Two tall muscular men motioned her towards the door past the crowd of people who wanted to get in. She opened the door and saw that it was fairly crowded with people laughing and drinking. She looked around for a familiar face. She walked around until she saw a friend of hers.
"Hey Koki where is Kei?" She looked over at the medium height female behind the bar. Kita knew Koki well since the two had been friends since Kita came to Japan. Koki had been working at the bar for just over a year now and had been enjoying it. Koki was young, about the same age as she was. She had long light brown hair with a few blonde highlights in it. She was wearing blue jeans and a red t-shirt with the bar's name across the chest.
"I think he is in the back lounge." Koki pointed towards the back of the crowded bar.
"Thanks." She maneuvered her way through the crowd of people. She finally made her way to the back of the bar and opened the door to the lounge. Her brain could not process what she was seeing. She saw Kei, but he was not alone. All she saw was bare skin and blonde hair as well as Kei's short black hair. Kei was on top of the girl as they laid on the couch, being the only two in the room, or so they thought.
"Kei" Kita forced herself to speak. She was in a state of shock, her body felt unsteady beneath her feet but she forced herself to stay standing.
The girl gasped and quickly picked up her dress off the floor to cover her bare body with the fabric. She was young, probably 19 or 20 years old. She had long blonde hair and piercing green eyes.
"K-Kita" Kei stuttered as he quickly began to pull his clothes on. "Let me explain. I-" He began to attempt to come up with some excuse as to why he was having sex with this other girl.
"Don't bother…" Kita turned and ran out of the back and through the bar, not caring if she bumped into people. She wanted to get out of there and fast. She ignored any call of her name whether it was Kei or Koki's.
As soon as she felt the refreshing night air on her face she felt tears run down her face. She could no longer hold them back. She had been with Kei since she was 16 and now she discovered that he was cheating on her. She had never thought it would happen. But suddenly the past week had been making sense. Kei had been more distant and distracted. She simply brushed it off that he was stressed with the band's tour coming up. She had always supported him and tried so hard to make him happy, but now she realized that her attempts were not good enough to keep him happy with her.
Kita walked through the streets, avoiding bumping into people. She soon reached the apartment that she and Kei had been sharing since they moved to Japan together. It was a large luxury apartment with white carpeting and leather chairs and a matching leather couch sitting in front of a large window that overlooked the city skyline. She walked into their bedroom and grabbed a black drawstring backpack. She then began filling it with her clothes and other belongings which was not much. She knew she could not stay here, not as long as Kei was living here. She lastly stuck her notebook in her bag when she heard a voice.
"Kita let me explain." Kei's voice spoke from the doorway.
Kita refused to turn around, not wanting him to see her tears. "Don't bother go back to your new girlfriend."
"Lera meant nothing." Kei began to explain.
"I don't care Kei!" Kita spun around, tears streaming down her face. "I'm leaving." Kita brushed past him only to be grabbed by her arm.
"Dang it Kita listen to me!" Kei shouted.
Kita then saw Kei's hand and then felt a sharp pain across her face. Kei then release her arm and she fell to her knees.
"K-Kita I-I'm sorry" Kei reached down to help her up but she quickly got to her feet, grabbing her bag and running out of the apartment. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her not knowing in Kei was following her. Kei had had hit her before so this was not new but she could not stand being hit when he was the one who made her leave. Every other time he had hit her she always saw it as her fault in some way. He was very good at convincing her that it was her fault.
Kita ran out of the apartment and down the quiet city sidewalks. She turned down an alleyway and leaned back against the wall. She allowed her body to slide down the cold stone wall till she was sitting on the cold ground. She felt throbbing pain in the side of her face from where Kei had hit her followed by a small amount of warm liquid drip from her lip. She pulled out a small mirror from her pocket and looked at herself. The side of her face was bright red and her lip was split open and bleeding.
"Hey, are you alright?" a calming voice spoke from the entrance of the alley.
Kita looked up and froze as she saw a face she never dreamed she'd see. He stood at about average height and had short spiked blonde hair and soft eyes. He was wearing jeans and a black button up shirt. He had many piercings in both ears. Kita knew exactly who this man was. He was her favorite guitarist she had ever listened to. He was Nobu, lead guitarist in her favorite band The Black Stones or BLAST for short. They were very popular when she was a teenager but fell hard from fame.
Kita quickly wiped her tears away. "Oh yes. I am fine." She lied.
"You don't look it." Nobu knelt down to her level, a soft smile on his face. Nobu had always been a kind and caring person, not liking to see anyone sad.
"It's nothing really." Kita forced herself to stop crying and put on a fake smile. She was so used to putting fake smiles on her face to mask the true pain that she felt. The pain she kept hidden from the world, fearing rejection or pity from those who knew the truth.
"Alright, but it's pretty late. What are you doing out this late?" Nobu asked, still knelt down beside her reached into his pocket and pulled out a single tissue and handed it to Kita. Kita nodded her head 'thanks' and placed the tissue gently to her split, throbbing lip.
"Just had to get away I guess" Kita shrugged.
"Need a ride home?" Nobu looked over as a black car stopped just outside the alley. "I'm sure we could give you a lift." Nobu smiled.
Kita then realized she had no where to call home anymore. She could not go back to the apartment now that she had left Kei. "Um sure." Kita then got to her feet, keeping her backpack on her back.
Nobu smiled and got up and walked to the car and spoke to a man with a shaved head sitting in the driver's seat. Kita knew who this was as well. He was Yasu, the drummer from BLAST and in the passenger's seat was a faded blonde haired man who was the bassist of BLAST name Shin. He no longer had his signature blue hair but Kita knew it was him. She was surprised to see them all together considering the band supposedly fell apart after the lead singer Nana's disappearance.
Nobu smiled at her "Come on" He opened the back door and allowed her to get in first before he too climbed in.
"Hello" Yasu spoke as he began to drive. "I'm Yasu."
"And I'm Shin." Shin smiled brightly.
"Oh I forgot to introduce myself, I am Nobu." Nobu smiled.
"I'm Kita." Kita spoke shyly.
"So what happened? Looks like you were in a fight…" Yasu spoke as he continued to drive.
Kita put her hand on the side of her face. It had swelled a bit ad still felt warm. "Oh, it's nothing." She took the tissue way from her lip for a moment and saw the bright red blood staining the tissue.
"Tell us." Shin shifted in his seat so that he was looking back at Kita.
"Please?" Nobu looked at her, his eyes full of concern.
Kita sighed. She wanted to vent and these guys were willing to listen. "Well I went to surprise my boyfriend on his break at his work…I ended up finding him in the closet having sex with a co-worker…" Kita noticed the guys look shocked. "I went home and collected my things he tried to explain but I refused to listen to him. When I first tried to leave he grabbed my arm and backhanded me…Then I ran out of the apartment and here I am…"
"Are you alright?" Shin looked shocked upon hearing that she was hit by her boyfriend.
"I'm fine, I have been hit a lot harder." Kita painted another false smile of her face.
"So where are you staying?" Yasu spoke keeping his eyes on the road.
"I don't know yet…" Kita shrugged "I'll just get a hotel room for the night and start looking for an apartment tomorrow." Kita had taken all the money she had saved up when she left the apartment so she had enough to stay in a cheap hotel for a bit before she could find a job and apartment.
"How old are you?" Shin looked at her he was obviously the youngest of the group, looking about her age.
"22" Kita smiled still holding the tissue to her lip.
"Hey we're the same age." Shin chuckled.
"We are definitely going to have fun tonight." Nobu smiled brightly.