It had been a busy week for Sakuya Yuno, and she was finally able to get two solid days off from her interior designing job! Needless to say the twenty-three year old was super excited to host her very first 'Girls' Night' with her two best friends. She hadn't seen them in what felt like years, and they were definitely going to make the most of the weekend!
The cute Brunette pulled her long hair into a messy bun as she boarded the last subway to her neighborhood, smiling down at her bedazzled phone every so often since it was blowing up with texts from not only her two besties, but from the guy she liked as well. Things were finally on the right track, or at least she felt like it was! Of course after working an eight hour day, the young designer couldn't help but silently dozing off on the train.
It wasn't until her phone rang loudly in her lap that Sakuya was shocked out of her sleep, realizing that she missed her stop...about two hours ago. She sighed and frowned as she stepped off the empty subway train, looking around only to find a few creepy people stalking about like what they were doing was a secret. She had never been to this part of Tokyo, so needless to say she was quite terrified. The nervous beauty fumbled her phone out and called her best friend, asking her to pick her up at the station's location. Thankfully someone was going to be there for her! But for now she thought it was best to at least go to the surface since these people were eyeing her like she was something to eat.
Sakuya carefully walked up the pink tinted marble stairs, noticing that something was definitely off about this area. It almost felt like people had been murdered here...and that the janitor didn't have enough bleach or clorox to dissolve the blood stains. This was making Sakuya beyond nervous.
Above the subway station wasn't any better; in fact there were more suspicious people than before! Sakuya was thinking that it was all in her head, and that she was just being paranoid since she had never been here before, but her sixth sense was tingling, and she just knew she was being followed by at least one of those sketchy characters. She carefully turned her head and in fact saw a hooded figure slinking behind her, a crooked smirk was on his face and his eyes were blood red. Who was this guy!?
Without even thinking, Sakuya rushed into the first building she could find, almost tripping down the stairs to enter a hidden little shop. Thankfully the stalker didn't follow her, and it seemed that the store was empty too. She had no idea what the store was selling...but it looked just as intimidating as the world outside the shop's door! Masks lined the room in a neat fashion, each of them different from each other. It was quite impressive to say the least, how detailed and unique the masks were...but the aura was still thick with mystery and a sort of eerieness. It wasn't until the young woman bumped into someone that she was forced back to her senses.
"O-oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to intrude!"
"Intrude? You're not. My store is still open...did you have a mask you wanted to buy?"
The man that Sakuya bumped into looked more than frightening, but the way the sleeves to his black cardigan went past his hands and how his head was gently tilted to the side kind of calmed her down. He didn't seem rude or stand-offish...But was it safe for her to stay with him until her friend picked her up? When the taller man asked her about a mask, she quickly fabricated a lie to make it seem like she purposely stumbled upon his business.
"Oh! Y-yeah! Um...Do you...custom make masks? Maybe you could make one for me?"
Sakuya was blushing a light pink color as she avoided eye contact for two reasons. One: She was embarrassed about the whole situation, and Two: His eyes seemed to be the same red color as the others before...the ones that followed her all the way from the train station.
The tattooed man didn't seem bothered by Sakuya's shy actions and nodded to her previous question.
"Mm. I can do that. Just sit down over there and I'll be right over."
He nodded softly, pushing some of his black hair away from his face as he walked off and grabbed his sketch book and a set of pencils. Sakuya sighed and tried to relax her shoulders as she sat on the leather cushioned stool he pointed to, hoping that her friend would walk in any minute now and save her before she spent thousands of Yen on a mask she didn't even need! That seemed like a farfetched wish though as the Mask Maker walked over to her again, propping himself up on his working station as he started to jott things down on his sketch pad.
"Hmm...What's you're name?"
He once again cocked his head to the side, looking straight at her so he could figure out what kind of person she was.
"M-my name? It's Yuno...Sakuya Yuno..."
The Mask maker nodded slightly, wanting to smirk at her shyness, but at the same time she looked pretty tense...he didn't want to make things worse for her since he was already having to remind himself that he already ate...
"Uta."
"...I...I'm sorry?"
"I'm Uta. Nice to meet you. Do you have any hobbies?"
Sakuya was pretty startled when the Mask maker introduced himself, but at the same time she felt safer knowing his name. Could he tell that she was beyond nervous? More nervous than the time she interviewed for one of the top interior designers in the country!
"Oh...Nice to meet you Uta-San~ And I guess I do...I like to shop and play with my dog...I also design upscale houses and apartments in a different part of Tokyo."
"Ah. Do you shop for cute things? Is your dog cute?"
Sakuya couldn't help but smile and blush when Uta continued to ask about her like he actually wanted to know her. Most of the men she talked to were pretty self absorbed and full of themselves, so it was nice talking to someone of the opposite sex that didn't ramble on and on about themselves.
"Mmhmm~ I like furry and cute things! My dog is so tiny and cute, and my apartment is full of nothing but pastels and cute stuffed animals"
Sakuya's room had always been off limits to people she wasn't close with, so it almost felt like a guilty pleasure that she was a hidden Otaku. It wasn't like her and Uta were going to have a steady friendship, so she felt like it was okay to tell him everything about her.
"Mm. Is this mask for a convention? Do you like to Cosplay as animals or heroines?"
"...O-oh not really~ This is for...a party...but it's a contest too! The one with the cutest mask wins...a dinner...a romantic dinner"
Sakuya was a horrid liar, but Uta seemed to buy it, and he was writing all of it down. He didn't seem affected by any of her weird statements, and soon after he got up and started to measure the width and length of her head.
"A contest. Good luck. I'll work hard on your mask. How long do I have before I deliver it?"
Sakuya blushed a deep shade of pink as she felt Uta's fingers on her head, making her look left, then right, then forward again. He must have been doing this for a long time. Either that or she had no idea how to act around the opposite sex.
"N-no need to rush~ Do you think three days is enough?"
"Sure."
The rest of the consultation was silent as Uta walked back and forth from Sakuya to his sketchpad. Once he had a solid idea of what he wanted to make, he shot his head forward and stared deeply at his shy client.
"COD? Or would you like to pay now? Personally I would rather you wait to pay...just to make sure you're happy with the final product."
Sakuya tensed up when Uta mentioned a form of payment, almost making her break out in a sweat since she had no idea how much this was going to cost! She couldn't ask him how much it was going to be though...that would just make him realize their whole walk-in appointment was for nothing!
"Yeah~ I'll do it your way. I'll have the money by then~"
"Mm. Do you receive picture messages on your phone?"
Once again, Sakuya perked up, unsure of why he would even ask her such a random question.
"Y-yeah it does. Why do you ask?"
Uta furrowed his brow a bit and cocked his head to the opposite side, the hair on the unshaved part of his head fell slightly into his line of sight.
"Oh...I would like to send you picture messages of the progress of your mask. Most of the time I personally visit since this is my full time job, but you said you live in the upper side of Tokyo, I'll settle for text messages instead. Write your number and address here."
Uta carefully placed a pencil and his sketchpad in Sakuya's lap, walking off to gather the materials he needed in order to start on her mask right away. Sakuya on the other hand felt kind of torn about the situation. She had never shared such personal info with a stranger! Still, she didn't want to seem suspicious, so she wrote it down quickly and handed it back to him.
"...I'm sorry for barging in last minute~ But um...c-could I stay here a bit longer? I promise I won't touch anything! It's just...my friend is supposed to be picking me up and she'll be here any minu-"
"Don't worry. You can stay. I tend to stay up late anyways...I'll just be working."
"Oh...Thank you~"
Sakuya smiled as Uta continued to work, shooting a question her way every once in a while. Needless to say, the young designer felt very comfortable around Uta, regardless of his intimidating appearance. So he was covered in tattoos and piercings, that didn't bother her at all since he seemed like a nice person.
After mindlessly browsing through the rest of his mask collection, Sakuya's friend finally appeared, her cheerful voice echoing through the corridor.
"Sakuya-Chan! How the hell did you end up here girl!?"
"Ayaka! I'm so happy you found me! I was so lost! I accidentally fell asleep on the subway and missed my stop..."
Sakuya couldn't help but sigh as she hugged her friend tightly, completely forgetting that Uta was still there making her mask, hearing everything. That's when the cute designer tensed up and turned around, giving straight eye contact to what seemed like an exasperated Uta.
"O-oh...I still need that mask though!"
"So Ayaka is your friend? I wouldn't have guessed that."
Sakuya paused as she glanced back and forth from Uta to Ayaka, wondering how they knew each other. Had Ayaka been here before? Did they go to the same College or something? Either way, Sakuya wanted out before things got too awkward!
"Sakuya...What are you doing in Uta-san's shop?"
"H-huh? Oh...well when I saw that it was here I tho-"
"Sakuya-chan can see me whenever she wants to Ayaka. She wanted a mask as well, and I don't descriminate when it comes to paying customers."
"Oh whatever Uta! You don't tell anyone about her okay? Please...she's my friend"
Uta sighed as he got up and leaned against a nearby wall, Akaya staring him down with much heat in her gaze. Sakuya had no idea what was going on, but what was obvious was that they knew each other...she just didn't know how.
"You're secret is safe with me. I would be careful if I waas you though Ayaka."
With that Uta turned around, walking toward a different door that led him away from the duo. Before he completely disappeared, he turned and winked at Sakuya, waving lazily at her so she could get a glimps of his multiple tattoos. Ayaka was not too pleased though, and it was more than obvious that she wanted to get her best friend out of there.
"Sakuya, don't talk to that guy...he's nothing but trouble."
The poor designer had no idea what was going on, or how her best friend knew that guy, but either way she was going to listen to Ayaka since she had never steered her wrong before.
"...Yeah...He seemed nice though...is he really a bad guy?"
Ayaka shot her a dirty glare as she dragged her out of the shop and into her car, no longer wanting to dwell on the conversation. It was bad enough that She and Sakuya were friends when they had a huge and conflicting difference...she didn't need her to know what that difference was.
While Ayaka was quietly driving them back to their apartments, Sakuya couldn't help but sigh, only perking up when she received a text message from an unknown number. Without letting her best friend see, Sakuya slyly took her phone out, blushing a light pink when she realized who it was from.
"It's Uta. Your friend seemed mad about us talking. We should continue anyways. Your mask will be ready by Friday."
A cute smile appeared on Sakuya's face as she saved his number and texted him back, kind of glad that he wanted to be her friend too! When someone tells her no, she always tries it anyways. Besides, she didn't see the problem with being Uta's friend!
Of course she had no idea how much her life was going to change now that she knew someone like him. Everything the young and naive woman thought was true would soon crumble around her.
