Chapter 2: Memories
"I was about half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty... you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are." J.D Salinger
Crickets chirped senselessly in the moist, damp grass as if to warn the inhabitants of a nearby apartment complex that a pair of strangers were coming. Or stranger, the blue haired man looked over his shoulder; he had asked Igor's assistant if he could make a diversion from their little trek to…wherever and surprisingly she had agreed.
He took a deep breath as he stood beside a large oak tree, the icy cool air sliding down his larynx like sweet, sweet tonic. The blonde stared at him as he took deep gulps of the cool, smog infested air. The blunette reached up and hoisted himself onto one of the lower limbs. He looked down at her, his gray eyes still as blank as ever.
"What" He ground out, it wasn't that he didn't like being looked at, and it was just that her eyes were just a little too...intense.
"I do not understand, is it not customary to use a door?" She asked her golden eyes studying the flex and pull of his skin as he lifted himself onto another branch.
"I have someone I need to talk to." He mumbled, pausing only a moment to flex his fingers before starting his climb again.
"Would it not be easier to use the door? They may believe you're a thief if you go through the window." She stated matter-of-factly, the young man looked down at her, totally unsure of how to place the thoughts running through his mind -most of which revolved around telling her to fuck off. He grunted and shimmed further up the tree, from what he remembered about their long talks of the future, she was going to be renting an apartment in Iwatodai, so they wouldn't have to "sneak around as much" the next year.
He reached the middle of the tree when he saw it, pink curtains floating out into the mild summer breeze. Hands reached for a ledge and the young man's fingers dug into the cool concrete, he pulled himself up and over. His tail bone connected with the soft, light colored carpet. He stood up, brushing his bark covered hands on the shirt he was wearing. Blue-grey eyes surveyed the dimly lit room; a straight nose picked up the airy fragrance of clean sheets and polished wood. A soft sigh echoed off the walls and reached the young man's ears he jumped slightly his eyes coming to rest on the small lump buried beneath the sheets on the nearby bed.
The blunette approached it cautiously, his eyes sliding over the pale face he had studied so many times before, his breath catching slightly as he reached out a hand, his rough calloused fingers tracing lightly, almost tenderly over the soft familiar flesh.
The lump mumbled something incoherent as his hand slide over her jaw his eyes fixated on a pair of pink lips that he remembered all to well. His thumb traced over a high cheekbone and her face twitched just slightly.
"Minato" She breathed and he felt a smile tug at his own lips. She was thinking about him, she was dreaming about him, she remembered him.
If she was awake he would have kissed her, right on the mouth and everything, even if she would have slapped him and asked just what the hell he was thinking, he would have done it. But she was asleep and that, unfortunately, changed things, so instead he pressed a kiss to her forehead before moving back toward the window.
"See you around." He murmured before he left out the window; camouflaged by the inky stillness of the night.
When he had managed to climb down the tree; the blonde was waiting for him. She studied his hazy expression with a vague disinterest before taking out a silver pocket watch from the folds of her dress. The time read half past eleven. She turned her gaze towards the young man.
"May we go?" The word now was left unspoken but it hung there none the less, he watched as her eyes flicked towards the watch before turning into something slightly more urgent. "You need to be taken to the safe zone before midnight." Minato nodded, his mind suddenly clear from whatever thought it had been thinking.
The rest of the way was traveled in silence, until they got to a street corner seven blocks from were they had made their stop. The blue clad woman shut her eyes the silver watch making yet another reappearance. She clicked the small silver knob on top of the object. The area beside the curb shimmered and rippled before, out of the navy blue sky, came a navy blue limousine.
The young man felt his jaw drop and the woman opened her eyes, letting out a small sigh of relief. She turned her head towards the awestruck man.
"Into the car please." He flashed her a skeptical look.
"You're joking right?"
"Yes, my orders are to see you off as safely and quickly as possible." She explained slowly, as if he was somehow deaf, blind, and mute.
"It's going to be blue on the inside too isn't it?" He asked his mouth settling into a firm line. The woman's lips twisted into a wry smile.
"Undoubtedly."
The young man groaned but ducked inside anyway, completely unsurprised to see that Margaret was right.
It was blue.
Margaret sat down beside him, legs primly crossed at the ankles. She watched as he ran a hand over his face.
"Jesus."
"I do not believe an ethereal being has anything to do with this."
"You can say that again." The blonde opened her mouth. "Not literally god." The smile twitched at her features that didn't go unnoticed, "Where is this safe house anyway?"
"Somewhere safe." She answered cryptically. He grimaced raising his thumb and forefinger to rub the bridge off his nose.
"This is going to be a long ride."