Hi people! I've gotten really into Crows Zero again, after almost three years, and I found this old chapter that I never finished. So I worked it over a bit and I think it turned out alright!
For those of you waiting for updates on my Vikings-fic: It's coming so be patient with me! I'm just trying to find my muse for it again ^^
I hope you enjoy this, even though it's not much!
As soon as the school bell rang Kaori headed out the classroom-door.
Ancient arts had been her last lesson of the day and as much as she had enjoyed sleeping through it she was glad her school day was now officially over.
Most of her boring classmates still had more classes so they were either just sitting around waiting for the next lesson to start or talking to their friends.
But not Kaori.
All she needed to do was to make sure she had the pack of cigarettes at the bottom of her schoolbag and the half-finished history-assignment that was due the next week.
.
People gave her strange looks as she sprinted past them. Somewhere along the way her dark hair had escaped the rubber band holding it together in a high pony-tail and was now flying behind her as she kept on running.
"Please, God. Don't let me be late!" Kaori thought to herself as she ran past a familiar face, too caught up in her own thoughts to notice.
His dark eyes followed her until she took a right onto the schoolgrounds and he had an idea as to why she was in such a hurry. He smirked to himself as he started the bike's roaring engine and left the street to meet up with his troupes at the docks.
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"Looks like I got here just in time." Kaori panted at the black graffiti-signature on the wall. She had spent many of his birthdays there but this was the first year she was there alone.
She carefully ran her fingers over the spray-paint, remembering the day her brother had placed his mark as the ruler of Suzuran on the wall.
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"I see you made it."
Kaori smiled at the familiar voice and looked back at the older man, her hand still on the wall.
"Of course I did. I couldn't possibly miss my brother's birthday." She paused and scanned the considerably taller man from top to toe. "And by the looks of it neither would you, Rinda." She looked at the lit cigarette between his fingers, recognizing the scent of her brother's brand.
Rinda-man glanced down at the cigarette then looked back at her with that expressionless face before finally cracking one of his rare smiles.
"He's the only man who has ever beaten me in a fight so I figured I should pay my respects, don't you think?" He brought the cigarette to his lips and sat down on an old locker laying on the ground.
.
Stretching out his long legs with a small groan he looked like an over-sized cat stretching out its limbs even though Kaori was never ever going to tell him that.
"And the fact that I'm here has absolutely nothing to do with your presence?" Kaori flashed him a sweet smile but she was only playing. She knew that the older man had no interest in her whatsoever but she liked playing games with the otherwise so quiet and serious man.
"No offense, Kaori. You're cute but if Takeshi knew I said that he might rise from the grave just to kick my ass again." He ran a big hand through his messy hair with a smile still on his lips.
"Hey! You'd better watch out for me if you call me cute one more time." Her hands were on her hips and the serious look in her dark eyes made him chuckle.
"Then what do you prefer?" He asked seeing as she was very serious about that particular subject, some things never changed after all.
"Well..." Kaori made an effort to appear deep in thought. "If you're looking to compliment me go with undeniably sexy or extremely gorgeous." A moment of seriousness then a big grin spread across her lips.
.
"Hai, hai." (Okay, okay.) Rinda-man chuckled as he stood up again and dropped the finished cigarette to the ground before stepping on it with his boot-clad foot. He ruffled Kaori's hair before walking up to the signature on the wall and looked at it for a moment with a sad look in his eyes.
"We miss you, buddy." He mumbled before walking away, raising his hand in goodbye as he did.
.
Kaori watched him leave, a sad smile playing on her lips. Every time she saw him she was reminded of her big brother who had passed away exactly one year ago today.
She sat down on the locker that Rinda-man had just left and pulled out the pack of cigarettes from her bag, the same brand her brother used to smoke.
.
She looked down at the chrome-lighter in her hand, still remembering the day her brother had given it to her, saying that he was going to quit anyways so she might as well keep it safe for him.
She lit the cigarette and brought it to her lips, shivering slightly as she did. It was getting colder and it looked like it was about to rain any minute.
Kaori cursed herself for not bringing the jacket of her school-uniform with her but in the big scheme of things what did it matter if she got a little cold?
The nicotine that rushed through her blood as she breathed the smoke down into her lungs brought tears to her eyes, she hadn't cried all day but now they were finally catching up with her.
She hated herself for the tears that were now rolling down her face but she made no attempt to brush them away, she just drew in another breath of smoke and looked up the cloudy sky.
.
A whole year had she been without him. A whole year she had woken up to nothing but silence in their once shared apartment. A whole year without anyone to welcome her home after school
.
The cigarette, or what was left of it by the time her head had returned to where it was supposed to be, was dangerously close to burning her fingers but she didn't drop it. Not yet.
She didn't want to let him go just yet. Didn't want the memory of him to fade away...
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"You really should drop that cigarette before you get burned."
Kaori let her eyes travel to where she had heard the unfamiliar voice. A blonde man, probably taller than her by a couple of inches was staring at her from the corner of the building.
Kaori didn't know who the man was nor did she actually care.
"What if I want to get burned?" She asked, her voice as cold as the wind that blew through her long hair.
The man remained silent for a few seconds, as if contemplating her words carefully in his head.
"That's not something you should aspire towards." He said, the hint of a smile playing at the corner of his lips as he walked past her, leaving as quickly as he had shown up.
.
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"If Take saw me now he would definitely kill me for not wearing a jacket." Kaori mumbled angrily to herself as she walked home a couple of hours later. The sun had set and the cold wind made her shiver in her thin uniform, she was so cold and still so far away from the apartment where there would be no one to greet her. The whole situation made her heart ache again and the tears threatened to fall down her face again.
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But something made her stop.
The sound of a roaring engine was making its way towards her, headlights temporarily blinding her and the faint scent of smoke and leather covered her arms with goosebumps.
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"Kaori." The calm, domineering voice spread warmth through her shivering body and the girl looked into his dark eyes. They stared straight at her, past her facade and into her heart where her deepest darkest secrets seemed to unravel under that confident gaze.
"Get on."
Two simple words, that were more an order than a request and Kaori felt herself being drawn to him once more, her arms finding their way around his waist as the bike roared down the street.
.
.
The ride to her apartment was torture, the mixture of the cold wind and the warmth of the biker's back made her shiver for so many different reasons and she could feel herself wanting him.
Images flashed through her head as they turned the corner to her building and when he dominantly claimed her lips at her doorstep she was pushed over the edge of sanity.
.
She'd been in this place before with him, her thoughts in darkness whilst her body shivered and tremored at his touch. All of her boundaries and morals chased away by that addicting scent of leather, cigarettes and danger.
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She allowed herself to slip away, to push away the painful memories of her brother's passing until all she saw were the dancing lights of ecstasy provided by the biker on top of her. His rough hands made her feel weightless in a way that nothing else ever could, his breath mingling with hers made her shivers worsen and the harder he pushed himself into her hot core the louder her moans sounded through the dark apartment.
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It was as rough and demanding as always, his vice-like grip on her hips tight to the point of bruising and his lips and teeth marking her body in more ways than one. By the first light of day she was a trembling mess, panting and whimpering as her body wanted more but was too exhausted to actually move.
.
She needed him. They had nothing in common, they barely even liked each other but nobody but him could ever do this to her. No one but Bando could comfort her without actually meaning to and no matter how she tried to she could never deny her body the sensations he brought her.
She was his and his alone.