Disclaimer: I do not own NANA.
Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Tori sung quietly under her breath as she walked through the busy streets of Tokyo. It was a cold night with a light dusting of snow, but the whole city exceeded warmth and happiness. The lights from all the shops and billboards cast a golden glow. Tori smiled softly to herself as she walked by couples of all kinds. Old and young and unrequited.
"Bah Humbug," Tori muttered angrily as she kicked at the snow. It made her sick.
Well, at least I got some fresh air instead of being cramped in that cubicle and some new clothes. Tori excitedly hugged her bags to her chest. She again started down the street, taking long strides, and smiling at the thought of wearing her new dress. Just as she was turning the corner, her body made contact with something very hard, and then felt hot boiling liquid all over her chest.
"Ah!" Tori let out a shriek of pain. The burning liquid turned cold immediately, yet the burn remained. She looked down at her white coat, now with a dark stain, in shock and felt anger bubble within her, "look at what you did?!"
"Me? Look at what you did miss!" The man with a balding head and short stature hissed. Before Tori could reply, the man was stomping past her, and down the street.
"Asshole!" Tori shouted after the man. Looking down at her white coat she groaned. She looked horrible! She couldn't go walking around like this.
I could catch a cab...but I don't have the money. Suddenly remembering her new clothes in her hands, she ducked into the nearby alley. I can't change in public...if only there was a bathroom...She then heard the low hum and vibration of music coming from a club down the alley. She walked down the stairs that led to the dirty looking door. She pushed opened the door and was immediately was assaulted by heat and steam. Quickly, she stepped in and closed the door. The club was barely lit with a permanent smell of smoke from all the different kinds of cigarettes being smoked. Dark figures danced and jumped to the heavy rock music that was playing. On the right side of the large room was a bar with barstools. She shoved her way over to the bar and signaled the bartender. A tall, muscular man with large beard waddled over to her and gave her a big smile.
"What can I do for you miss?" He asked with kind eyes.
"Uh, do you have a bathroom? Someone ran into me with their coffee and it got all over my coat." She pointed to her coat and the man nodded urgently.
"Yes, yes! Do you need any balm or lotion for that burn?" The man pointed to the hallway that led down off of the bar, "we have a first aid kit if you need it?"
"Actually, yes, that would be great. Kind of stings, you know." He handed Tori the kit over the bar. Once she was in the bathroom, Tori stripped off her clothes and applied balm to her burn on her chest. Unfortunately, the only piece of clothing that didn't cover her chest as much was her new dress with a v-neckline. She pulled the burgundy dress over her head and shimmed the rest of the way in. The dress was a simple and red that showed off her legs. She stepped out of the stall and looked in the mirror above the sink.
That's a burn and it's going to hurt more later. Her whole chest was red and ugly looking. The dress looked hideous with the burn, but she didn't want any fabric irritating the burn. She sighed and pulled her dark hair over her right shoulder. Tori glanced one more time at the girl in the mirror. She had medium length hair that was wavy and somewhat curly. Her big green eyes made her look innocent, but she was anything but that. Grabbing her bags, she stepped out of the bathroom, and made her way to the bar again.
"Here you go." The bartender turned to her and scrunched his face in pain.
"That's a looker." He told me with sympathy.
"I know. Well, thank you for the balm."
"Hey! Wait!" I turned back to the bartender in confusion.
"How about a drink on the house, you look like you need it?" He asked smiling. I waved my hands and shook my head, "I won't take no for an answer! Anyway, it's Womanizing Woman Wednesday and the first drink for every woman is free." He winked.
She laughed, "okay, deal." She ordered her drink and finally began to listen to the music that was being sung. To her it was all the same. All about anger and not wanting to confine to rules.
"Here you go Miss…" The bartender trailer off looking at her.
"Tori Love." She supplied smiling and thanking him for the drink.
"Nice to meet you, Tori, my name's Kenji. Now, Tori, how long have you been in Tokyo." Kenji asked as he picked up a glass and began polishing it. She swallowed her sip of drink and licked her lips.
"I moved from the United States four years ago." He nodded and continued his, to her, pointless job of trying to make the already sparkly glass even better.
"What brings you here, if you don't mind me asking."
"I took up the language in middle and high school, got good enough that they wanted me to teach English to middle schoolers, but something went wrong with the job. Long story short, I now work in a five by five feet cubical for tech support." Tori gave a thumbs up and took a large swig of her drink. Kenji laughed.
"Man! It's like the universe is out to get you!" He roared with laughter.
"Tell me about it." She mumbled into her glass. Kenji was just about to say something else when someone called his name.
"Excuse me." She nodded and decided that she would go look for a seat where she could see the stage, but no one would bother her. Weaving her way through the crowd, making sure to keep her drink as far away from her as possible, she lucked out with a couch in the corner that had a dog on it! She laughed and sat down next to the big beast that took up most of the couch, The dog was a big St. Benard with all the browns, blacks, and whites. People seemed to glance her way in worry because they thought the dog was ferocious, but she knew better.
"Hey, boy, you hungry and tired." She asked petting him on the head. He gave a low growl stating that he didn't want to be played with. Tori laughed and dig in her purse until she found a big bag of dog treats. He seemed to perk up right away. She gave him a few treats and watch as he happily chewed them. While he was eating those, she placed a couple, on her lap, and waited for him to lean over her lap to get them. When he did, she began to pet him until he relaxed. When the bag was gone, the dog placed his head on her lap, and let her gently massage his ears trying to block the music, "next time tell your owner you don't want to be brought here. Too loud for your ears!" She laughed and looked up to the stage just as a band was getting on it. She was surprised to find a female singer taking the microphone into her hands.
"Hello. We're Blast and we're going to slow things down a bit." The husky, yet feminine voice of the singer surprised Tori. She smiled and glanced down at the dog who was much more at peace now breathing softly. Glancing again at the mesmerizing singer on stage, she was again surprised when she began to sing. Her voice was deep like a musk, yet as sweet as honey. She sang of sweet first love that was bittersweet. Tori had never seen a band like theirs singing songs like that. Tori's eyes glanced over the rest of members of the band and found herself entranced by them too. Tori heard the drums softly playing the background, but could not see the person playing them. Angling her head to the left, she looked around the singer, and the air in her lungs became almost non-existent. In the back on the drums was a beautiful man. He was beautiful, but not in the way of girlish features. He was bald and the shine of his head caused her to giggled because it was so bright. She could tell he was tall from here because of how crunched up his body looked. He was slim wearing black slacks and a black dress shirt with a red tie! Yes! A tie! He wore dark sunglasses, but from the way he was looking at the singer to his body movements it was obvious. He loved the singer. She was his first love. The power behind his body language sent chills of excitement down her back. Suddenly, Tori realized she was envious of a woman she had never met because of the way a man, who she had also never met, was trying to reach out to the singer.
No one has ever looked at me like that...Tori thought sullenly. She sighed and gulped down the rest of her drink, letting the liquid burn her throat.
"Bah Humbug!" She whispered. She suddenly felt very tired and let her eyes droop close.
"ri. ori. Tori!" Tori jolted awake disrupting the dogs sleep who growled in annoyance. She blinked her eyes repeatedly until they came into focus. Kenji stood over her with a smile on his face. "you must have been tired to have slept through that kind of music!" Tori rubbed her eyes and let out a big yawn.
"Yeah. I think it was that band called Blast," she glanced at the stage, remembering the drummer. "I liked their song."
"I agree! I'm sorry, but it is closing time and I have to ask you to leave. I need to finish up."
"Oh! Yes!" Tori stood and brushed all the dog hair off of it, "thanks for the drink." She smiled and held out her hand for Kenji to shake.
"By all means, please come by again! Blast often plays here." Tori nodded, grabbed her bag, and walked out the door. Just as she was walking up the stairs into the alleyway, she heard a familiar voice, laughing and joking.
"Nobuo, why the hell would you do that?!" The singer asked laughing and holding her stomach.
"I thought she needed help! How was I suppose to know she wasn't pregnant?!" Her and everyone's laughter resounded through the alleyway. Tori peeked over the railing hoping to see the man she had seen before. When she saw him she felt herself grow hot again.
What's wrong with me! I'm acting like a horny teenager!
She let out a sigh and checked her watch, "I should go home. Cinnamon is waiting." She sighed and took the next stepped up, but felt her foot slip. She let out a scream as she fell down the stairs with loud thuds and then everything went dark.
A deep voice shouted through the void, "hey! You okay?!" The voice was deep and calming, but at the moment her head was pounding. Trying with all her power, she pried her eyes open, to see the drummer man.
"What a shitty night…" She groaned as she raised a hand to her head to keep the world from spinning.
"Has she woke up? Oh! Good you woke up!" The singer girl let out a sigh of relief while placing a hand on her heart.
"My head hurts." I groaned and reached back to touch the tender area.
"You probably have a concussion." Drummer man said softly. He helped her sit up and suddenly she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She leaned over and emptied her stomach onto the stairs, Once she was just dry heaving, he answered the same thought as her,"yup concussion. We need to get you to a hospital." The man reached under her knees and back and picked her up bridal style. She would have blushed if her head wasn't hurting so much.
"Nobuo, can you open the door for me?" She glanced over to the guy who was the bands guitarist who was opening the door to a black van. The man laid her down in the backseat and then walked around to the other side to get in. Once he was in, he grabbed her head gently, and placed it on his lap. Everyone in the band followed and when the car was moving the man gently held her head in place, so it wouldn't move. "You have to do your best to stay awake, okay?" She groaned and mumbled a 'yes'. "What's your name?" He softly asked.
"Tori Love." She answered tiredly.
"Tori. Are you from America or Europe?" The singer asked as she looked over her seat to look at Tori. "Oh, by the way, the name's Nana. The blonde is Nobuo, the kid is Shinichi or Shin for short, and the baldy is Yasushi or Yasu.
"Yasu…" Tori tested the name out on her tongue. "Yes, I'm American. I'm from Massachusetts to be more exact."
"Cool. How you get the burn on your chest?" Nana asked pointing at Tori's burn.
"An asshole ran into me with his hot as fuck coffee." Tori told them.
"Man you're having a great night!" Nobuo exclaimed from where he was driving.
"I know, it;s great! I'm having so much fun!" She drawled sarcastically. Nobuo laughed.
"We're here." Yasu spoke softly to her. Yasu helped her out of the van and into the hospital.
"Hello. What do we have here?" A plain looking nurse asked Yasu somewhat curious.
"She took a fall and I believe she has a concussion." Yasu stated in a profession tone. The nurse nodded and told them to wait in the waiting room and someone would be with them as soon as possible. Yasu placed Tori in a chair telling her she would be right back.
"Don't worry, we won't leave you until they tell us to." Shin told her softly. Tori thanked them just as Yasu returned carrying two pills, a dixie cup of water, and crackers.
"Here, this should help with the pain." Yasu handed her the medicine and she took the pills gratefully. As she munched on the crackers she couldn't help, but stare at Yasu who was talking to Nana.
I wonder how long he's loved her? Tori thought as she tilted her head and stared at them. Tori turned away and sighed. I should send them home, it's not like they're my family, and they must be tired. "You know, it's okay if you guys go home. I should be in capable hands and you guys must be tired. Go home, please." Yasu and Nana turned to me and opened their mouths to respond, but she interrupted them, "I appreciate everything you've done for me, but now there's not much you can do." They shut their mouths and nodded.
"Come on guys, we're leaving." Nana told Nobuo and Shin as they arrived back with coffee. They nodded and Shin yawned.
"Thank you so much for all you've done." She told them again and smiled. They nodded and then exited the hospital. Yasu was the last one to leave and he glanced over his shoulder at her. Tori waved and once he was out of sight she sighed.
Goodbye, Yasu.