I'm sorry for the late update. Between plot points and story lines I've been trying to keep straight, I'm also trying to come up with ideas. So, hopefully the next update won't take more than a month. Well, fingers crossed. And I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Oh, and conversion for yen to dollar if you don't already know. 100 yen equals 1 dollar.
"Hello Amai! You come in for sushi, yes?" Simon said, handing me a flyer.
"Um, yeah, sure, I guess I could," I said, letting him push me through the door and into the restaurant. To tell the truth, I was planning to ask him about a few things. One being the guy who throws the trashcans and the vending machines. And two, anything he knows about that Shizuo bartender guy. Not like I'm interested in him or anything, I just want to know what his problem is.
I woke up late this morning because Yuumi promised me today off after I had to go in for Valentine's day yesterday. What a day that was. Sadly, Mr. bartender throwing a guy threw the window was the high point of the day. Talk about a let-down. I spent the entire day today looking through every street, back-ally, and danger zone, A.K.A. gang territory, looking for any sign of unusual activity. But I ended up getting chased by a few gang members. I might be able to hurl a guy one block away, and hit with enough force to knock a guy out, when it comes to me, a bat and something I'm hitting, but when it comes to a couple of guys pointing a gun at you and screaming to 'get the hell outta here, bitch!', you have to turn tail and run.
'Overall, I just want this day to be over,' I thought, sitting at one of the stools and looking over the menu. I looked over the top of my menu and checked to see if Simon had followed me in or not. He did, but he was busy talking to an estranged middle-aged costumer who looked on the verge of crying, and his friend, who looked equally frazzled. Simon left them after serving them something that was probably chicken. Well, something that didn't belong in a sushi shop anyway.
"Man, I thought he was going to kill me for sure!" said the guy who looked like he was going to cry.
"How much did you borrow this time?" his friend asked before taking a drink of sake.
'A bit early to be drinking. Must have had a rough time.' I thought, looking at the clock. It was eight o'clock. 'Ok, maybe not early. Really have to get a watch.'
"I think I took two-hundred thousand Yen. But I blew it all at the track, and they're interest rates are too high," he said, taking a long swig off the bottle of sake.
"Jinnai, just be glad you got off with getting hit halfway across the city. But you must've seen it coming, that Shizuo guy doesn't take lame-ass excuses, especially ones that include 'I thought I was on a hot streak'. Come on man, what were you thinking," the friend said, poking at one of the pieces of sushi with a chop stick and a disgusted face.
"You know who's fault it really is? That bakery girl. Ama…Amin…Am-something," the person named Jinnai slurred, already feeling the effects of the sake after multiple drinks off the bottle. "Sh-she just had to go and fight him, and then make him so pissed off today," he said, taking a longer drink of the alcohol this time.
'Make HIM pissed off?! That jackass pissed me off first be throwing a guy through the freaking window! My reaction was justified!' I thought, overhearing their conversation since the drunks were speaking so loudly. I'm actually surprised that Dennis hasn't thrown them out yet.
"Yeah, yo-you know what? Someone should teach her a lesson. Yeah, 'cause she's always throwing people out of that damn bakery of hers, and they never do nothing!" the friend said, jabbing a finger on the counter. By this time, I'd already had enough of these drunkards conversation.
I was mad, but I was too tired of running around the city to do anything. And besides, Dennis's threat still stands. If I break anything in here one more time, he'll ban me for a month. And since this is one of the few restaurants that'll let me in, I can't let that happen.
'Okay, just talk to Simon and then you can go., I thought, bargaining with myself, sighing inwardly, trying not to lose my cool.
"Hey Simon? Can I ask you something?" I asked when he put down a plate of fatty tuna and yellow tail.
"Yes, ask anything! Anything at all! More sushi?" he asked placing another plate next to the first one.
"Uh, what do you know about the bartender guy? Um…Shi-something," I said, eating one of the tuna pieces.
"Oh Shizuo! Yes comes in here often. Good customer, but get in fight too often. Fighting is bad. Makes you hungry, not good when stomach is hungry," he said, walking away to talk to another customer. I'm pretty sure that somewhere in my mind, I knew this would be the response I would get from Simon, since he is one of the vaguest people I know. But still, my mood dropped ten degrees, and I wasn't sure if I could stand to listen to the drunkards next to me any longer.
"Yeah, yo-you know what she did yesterday? Sh-she threw a guy out of that place just 'cause he went through the window. An-and it weren't even his fault! It was that Shizuo's fault," he said, tipping the bottle over when it produced no more of the alcoholic beverage. They got another bottle of sake, and pretty soon, they weren't venting about random crap anymore, they were laughing at practically nothing, which made them easier to handle, but was still annoying. After an hour of listening to it, I decided to just pay my bill and leave. But, before I could do that, they started talking again. Not surprisingly, about me.
"Ya know what her real pr-problem is? Is she's short -temp-perd, and a brat, and that's the reason she cant find a boyfriend. I wouldn't put it past her to even have friends! Ha ha ha!" he said, laughing like an idiot. I might have the shortest freaking temper, but that doesn't mean I'm an emotionless robot. I'm still a girl. A girl with relationship issues. But, as much as I wanted to kick those two bastards' asses, I already promised Dennis I wouldn't cause trouble in his shop anymore. So, instead of kicking their asses like I wanted to, I slammed down my money and walked out of the shop.
I began walking home, with my stomach feeling like it might puke. Too much over emotion, and not enough venting out my anger always did this to me. It wasn't a major health problem, I've already seen a doctor about it when I was in high school, and my emotions started hitting an all time high. He said that it's a result of my constant anger issues. He gave me two options for getting rid of the stomach aches. One, vent out the anger, which I've been doing since then. Or two, control my angry, which, of course, I have been doing since then.
He didn't give me a third option, but I already knew there was. And that option was just being happy. Truth be told, what I really want besides a boy friend, is just a friend. Yuumi is a boss and a friend, although she's more of a motherly/grandmotherly figure. Simon looks out for me, and calms me down when I've lost the patience to do it myself, I guess he's sort of my friend. And Mikado and Masaomi, I'm not really sure about them. I think of them more as two younger brothers than I do my friends. But I already have more than enough brothers at home to last me a life time.
In my reverie, I wasn't watching where I was going on the busy street, just walking along clutching my sick stomach while the people around me avoided me, thinking I might puke up my dinner. I ended up plowing into someone, which resulted in us falling onto the concrete sidewalk. If I didn't feel good before, then having a sore jaw and a bruised stomach that already felt sick didn't help make it better.
I opened my eyes which had closed in pain when the person I had bumped into had smashed the top of their head into my jaw. Laying on top of me was a teenager. A high school girl with light brown hair tied up with flower ties in two slightly wavy pigtails, brown eyes, wearing what looked like a white jacket.
"I-I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going," she said quickly getting off of me.
"Don't worry about it, I wasn't watching where I was going either," I said, getting up, picking my hat up off the concrete and rubbing my jaw.
"Are you alright?" she asked, inquiring towards my hand that was still rubbing my jaw.
"Yeah, I'll be better after I go to sleep. Hey kid, what's your name?" I asked, wondering what a high school kid was doing out at this hour.
"Rio Kamichika." she said.
"Kamichika-san? I'm Amai Tachibana, and yes, I'm also the 'Bipolar Fireball' but I'm not going to hurt you so stop with the look," I said, when I saw her take a small step back when I told her my name. "Besides, I only hurt delinquents who piss me off or cause trouble at the shop. And speaking of delinquents, why the hell is a high school girl out this late? Do you have any idea how many gang members and weirdo's there are here?" I said, a little irritated.
"I'm just meeting someone," she said, walking around me. I grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.
"Do you mind if I tag along? Just to make sure you get to your destination all safe and sound," I said, looking her in the eye with all the seriousness I could muster. She stared back, a little shocked and confused at my request.
"Um, why?" she asked, looking at me questionably.
"Call it being overly cautious, but letting a high-school girl walk around alone on a school night, when there are plenty of dangerous people around here, doesn't look all that good to me," I said, emphasizing each point enough to make her understand where I was coming from.
"A-alright," she said a little hesitantly. I let go of her arm and we walked side-by-side down the busy street. After a while the silence between us got a little awkward. I wasn't sure if it was the lack of conversation or the fact that I forced her to let me come along, but it was pretty uncomfortable.
"Say Kamichika-san, what kind of friend are you meeting?" I asked, hoping to lighten up the atmosphere a bit.
"Well, I'm not really sure, but he's kind of in the same position as me, and…well…we're supposed to be doing this thing tonight," she said, looking away from the ground and away from me.
"What thing?" I asked, wondering what could be so important as to meet at almost ten' O'clock at night. She didn't answer, she just looked away again. I waited awhile, but she still didn't answer or look me, so I decided to ask a different question.
"You said you didn't really know this friend of yours. So where'd you meet him?" I asked, hoping for a response.
"I met him in a chat room online. His screen name was Nakura," she said quietly. Stopping short on the sidewalk, beginning to look around for the person she was meeting.
An online chat room. A person she didn't know. Screen name 'Nakura'. Why did that name sound familiar. "Hey Kamichika-san, what kind of chat room was this?" I said, growing a bit suspicious. She stopped looking around, and looked up at me, seeing how I was only a few inches taller than her. She looked like she was contemplating something, if she should tell me or not. When she finally made up her mind, she simply said, as if it were a regular answer,
"A suicide chat room."
My head started to feel a bit woozy, but I shook my head clear, and looked at her. "Rio…you're not thinking of…committing suicide…are you?" I asked her quietly. She didn't answer at first, making me think she didn't hear me, but then she started to tell me why, and to tell me how. It was a few, short minutes, but ones that made me understand why she was doing this.
She told me about parents. About the note that made her think her father was having an affair. How she began to think her happy family life was fake. How she gave the pictures of her father's betrayal to her mother in secret. How she felt, when everything seemed to go on like normal, like it never happened at all. Her feelings of how, if she was gone, everything would be normal. If they would miss her when she was gone. And about the person 'Nakura' who wanted to 'disappear' with her.
After she told me all of this, in those few short minutes, I asked her, "Why are you telling me all of this,"
And she responded, "Because, you're a stranger, and no matter what happens tonight, you'll keep on living like this didn't happen. Like normal," she said.
I gritted my teeth, and stared at her hard. "Rio, do you know how precious life is, and much your loved ones would miss you if you died? Do you have any idea how much grief you would put them through? How can you think that they'd just keep on living like normal? Like they don't care? Do you have any idea how important you are to them? How important your existence is? When you die, it's over, no coming back no matter what. Your throwing your life away like its nothing. Do you have any idea what your really doing?!" I said, my voice growing louder with each word.
She looked at me for a few minutes, before saying, "It's none of your concern what I do, until ten minutes ago I was nothing but a stranger on the street to you. Why do you care? You don't know how I feel. Just go away and continue living your life, and act like this didn't happen," she said, turning away from me, and walking a couple blocks down from where I was. I stood there, frozen to the ground, looking at the place where she once stood.
Why do I care? She was just a kid who bumped into me on the street. And then I remembered why I cared. Because she was throwing her life away, like it didn't mean anything. It's true, I don't know how she feels, but it's pretty damn close to how I'll feel in a few short months.
The grief. The agony. The depression. The thought of knowing there's nothing you can do. I already have all of these, but they'll all be multiplied ten times when it happens. And there's no way in hell I'm letting this kid throw her life away because she thinks the world doesn't care. The world's not that cruel.
I back down to where she was standing, and saw that I tall thin man with brown hair and glasses, wearing a brown over coat had appeared by her side. He soon began to lead them a little ways further down the street. That's when I started running. I weaved my way past the many people on the streets, often bumping into a few at a time, not sparing a glance the them as I ran past, and not noticing or acknowledging there pointed glares or the string or curses that came from their moths, instead I stared fixedly on the point of where the man and Rio had gone into the ally from the sidewalk.
'Please don't disappear. Please don't disappear!' I thought, still a block off from where they had gone. When I finally reached the opening of the ally, I made a sharp right turn, skidding a bit on some broken glass, but regained my balance when I saw Rio.
She was being held still from behind by the brown haired man, while a another kid in a pink sweatshirt held a gas mask over her face. All too quickly, Rio stopped struggling and her body sagged in the man's arms. The pink shirted kid removed the mask and picked up her feet, helping carry her unconscious body to the back of the van where a third man with curly hair and a cigarette was in the diver's seat.
I snapped out of my shock, and I began running, taking out my bat along the way. "HEY! LET GO OF HER!" I shouted at them, running full throttle towards the van. The pink shirted kid, who had jumped in to the back, turned back around and saw me running towards them.
"Aw shit, is that her friend?" he asked the brown haired guy. He quickly jumped into the back and shut his door, and said,
"I don't know, but we gotta go. She's the only one we're supposed to be picking up tonight." he said, before the pink shirted kid slammed the door, and the van took off, gravel, litter and a lit cigarette spraying me in the face and landing behind me, while I continued running, hoping to somehow catch the van before it disappeared into nowhere.
But, the adrenaline burst, that allowed me to catch up with them in the first place, quickly ran out, and left me gasping for air in the middle of the ally, watching the red tail lights of the van vanish out of sight. "Dammit. Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" I yelled kicking a nearby trash can, the van long out of sight. 'No, what do I do now? I don't even know the people who took her, or who they work for,' I thought, angrily grasping my hat in frustration.
"The coast isn't exactly clear, is it Tachibana-san?" said a smooth voice behind me. I turned sharply and the same wolfish red eyes and smirking smile looking at me expectantly.
"Know-nothing informant, what are you doing here?" I asked him, calming down a bit.
"How rude, I remember your name, and you don't even remember mine," he said, sighing out of mock sadness, "Even though I know where Rio Kamichika is," he continued, casting a sly knowing glance at me.
"You know where they took her?!" I asked excitedly, a smile braking out on my face. He didn't answer, choosing instead to wait until I said the right words. I caught on momentarily to what he wanted from me, and immediately answered, if not hesitantly trying to remember his name, "Izaya Orihara-san," He smiled and continued on.
"Yes, I know where Kamichika-san will be. But, as an informant, my information doesn't come free."
My smile slipped from my face. I'd already spent the last of my money at Russia Sushi, and wouldn't get my paycheck until tomorrow. "Em, about payment Orihara-san…" I started, smiling nervously and rubbing my neck sheepishly.
"Very good Tachibana-san, you remembered my name again. So just this once, this piece of information will be free of charge, as long as you remember my name whenever you need information," he said, his voice lowering in tone to that of one that was menacing.
I swallowed out of the slight fear I felt in this situation, but chose to accept this condition in favor of finding Rio before something terrible happened. "Alright, I will," I said, taking a few steps closer to him.
"Very good. Just follow me, we'll be there shortly." he said, turning and walking towards the sidewalk. I hesitated, but followed, questioning myself if this was really a good idea. And then I thought the worst thing you could possibly think in this type of situation.
'What's the worst that could happen?'
