but it gets worse
A/N: I admit, Cancerous, my first full-blown fanfic ever was a trainwreck. It's been, what, five years since I last wrote for this fandom? Wow. I was still studying back then. Anyway, let's see if I've learned anything about writing and if my memory serves me right because I have no intentions of rewatching or rereading the entire series. But I might soon since I have plans on rewriting/rehashing the entire "Cancer-verse" into something I'd like to call the "To Kill a King" series.
But, to be honest, I can imagine that as a standalone story, so...
Consider this as a sort of prequel to that, I guess.
Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.
"Some people call you a menace."
A smoker and an alcoholic in a city that just wants to sleep.
It's not every day that someone stumbles into HOMRA already drunk, especially someone who has done so for the past three days in a row.
"I need an eye-opener."
It's two in the afternoon and such a line could only come from the mess of a person that is Mayonaka Akari.
"We don't serve drinks until five." The bartender spoke, but his response falls on deaf ears.
She sits by the counter, props up her head with one hand. Kusanagi Izumo, the resident and only bartender, is already familiar with this scenario, given that they've been at it for more than a few months now. She would stumble in at one or two in the afternoon, inebriated and sputtering about how "shitty" or how "shitastic" her day has been as if they're close friends, she'll sit at the counter and order Irish Coffee, or Green Tea Highball, or her personal favorite, a Reverse Screwdriver.
But there's something different about today. Perhaps it's because she's wearing a blazer, a pair of slacks, and leather loafers, rather than her usual attire of loose shirt, denim shorts, and flip-flops.
"I'll pay double." She smiles lazily, as she always does, and slides a few bills towards him.
"Of course you will." He pockets the money without a second glance. "Wouldn't be proper to ask you to pay triple."
"But I can today." She fishes a few more bills from her pocket. "Here."
He simply stares at the money laid in front of him. It begs the question, what the hell does she do, anyway? She's dressed for a business meeting, but she looks like she just woke up. Her clothes are wrinkled and there's a noticeable stain on her blouse...
"I'm not doing anything illegal or unethical." She adds, "I'm a broker."
For what?
The question falls silent on his tongue. He's not the type to prod into the lives of his patrons, and she's not the type to say more than she wants to. She'll tell him about busted traffic lights, delayed trains, wrong delivery addresses, and spoiled food, but she won't tell him where she went, what she ordered, or how she failed to notice the smell of rotting meat.
And that's fine.
He asks her, "So what's the drink of the day?"
"Green tea."
Perfect.
"Highball?"
"Plain."
He's surprised at her answer.
She continues, "I'm due for a meeting today."
"Ah." He mouths. "A buyer?"
"Seller."
She doesn't say anything more, and he then wonders what kind of broker she is, or for what company she works for, or who she's meeting. But then again, it's none of his business what his patrons do in their day-to-day lives. He's just there as a listener, a crux of some kind for them to ease their way through the heydays of life.
She's just another one of his patrons.
"Green tea coming right up."
And he's just a bartender.
Her phone rings at the exact moment that he places the drink in front of her. She doesn't answer it, instead lifts the cup and inhales the fresh, grassy scent.
"Nothing like the smell of something green." She mutters before taking a cautious sip.
The ringing stops. She closes her eyes and drinks slowly, carefully.
The ringing begins again, but she ignores it.
"I think it's best you answer that." He suggests. "Might be something important."
She lowers the cup and sighs, following his suggestion. She takes her phone from her pocket and narrows her eyes at the screen.
"It always is."
She declines the call and continues drinking, albeit a bit more quickly.
"Thanks, bartender." She says when she lowers the empty cup onto the counter. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
The ringing begins again when she slides out of her seat and makes her way to the door.
"Yo, Izumo."
But there at the door stood the stoic, heavy-eyed Suoh Mikoto who had a half-consumed cigarette in his mouth and a phone to his ear as if he was calling someone.
She stops dead in her tracks.
Mikoto doesn't drop the call.
Akari's cellphone continues ringing.
Izumo puts two and two together.
"It can't be." He says to himself.
How awkward.
But Akari straightens herself, huffs, and makes her way past Mikoto without so much as a polite greeting.
Has she no fear?
"Hey." Mikoto says and she jerks to halt halfway past the door.
She must be so terrified.
"You owe me." He says. "You owe HOMRA."
"I know." She nods stiffly before bolting to a run.
Izumo watches this with a terrified curiosity, questions coming to life in his head, wondering whatever has transpired between his friend and that woman, wondering whatever deal they had made, and whatever she apparently owed them for.
"Mikoto." He greets him, seemingly calm and casual. He doesn't think it's the right time to be asking such questions, but he ought to know. Mikoto had always been the quiet type, but he was never one to keep secrets between them.
"That woman." Mikoto says as he slouches on the couch. "She owes us."
"What exactly does she owe us?" Izumo denies the possibility that she had anything to do with HOMRA besides being a frequent patron at the bar, and denies the possibility of her ever interacting with their King even more so.
Mikoto takes one final drag of the cigarette before disposing of it in the ashtray.
He breathes out hot smoke and says, "Cigarettes."
A/N: So instead of going all-out in one sitting, I have decided to cut this into pieces and see where it takes me. Don't worry, I don't think there will be too much drama or romance or anything of the sort. But I think there will be? Let's see...
I just wanted to explore writing for this series again before I dive headfirst into the massive AU that is To Build an Empire (which features new strains, a Bronze King, and a... Black King!) I'm so excited for it that I haven't had the time to write for my other stories!?
Again, feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading.
