Chapter 5:
With the darkening sky, and the streetlamps flickering on I managed to catch my breath. Leaning my head back against the building I gulped the cool air into my lungs hoping to clear my mind. For the last three years I had imagined thousands of scenarios of how it would be to see Totsuka again, or Yata and Fushimi, but never Totsuka and Yata. I hadn't prepared for this combo. Where was Fushimi when I needed a straight forward and extremely blunt answer.
"I forgot my bag," I groaned in recollection.
Rubbing my temples I looked out towards the street where cars passed and people hurried by. I didn't want to go back to Homra, but that backpack had everything I owned in it. If I had been a better student I could have finished high school and gotten a better job than all the part-times, and consulting gigs I had. I could have had my own apartment by now with no worries.
"Stop it," a tiny voice yelled.
I flinched when a set of red eyes impeded my vision of the street. Anna stood before me with her eyes narrowing at me. She stepped into the alley with her deep red eyes staring right at me like she could looking right into my soul.
"Anna, you shouldn't be out this late," I said.
"Stop distorting your red. You're killing it," she ordered.
"I don't know what you mean," I said.
Stomping her foot she said, "Stop being so negative. It doesn't like your dark thoughts."
"So you found her," Mikoto appeared behind Anna. His hands were in the pockets of his black jacket, and a cigarette was pinched between his lips with a trail of smoke disappearing in the air over his head. "Ready to go?"
"Anna what color do you see when you look at Mikoto?" I asked.
The curiosity was getting to me. Mikoto was the leader of Homra, the gang that freely fought in the streets, that sent fear into the heart of underground business men, that was known for having bad tempers. Red was the color of anger, and intensity, but also red was used for warnings.
"Mikoto has the prettiest red," she answered.
"Then why are you concerned about my red?" I asked.
"Reds belong together," was her reply.
I glanced up at Mikoto who released a puff of smoke into the night air. "And what are your thoughts?" I asked him.
He placed his cigarette back between his lips and the end flared up red with his inhale. "Ready to go?" he asked again.
"King?" someone called. "Did Anna find her?"
Mikoto looked off down the street at someone I couldn't see, and nodded. I looked back to Anna who still seemed to upset with me, but had definitely calmed down. I must have stopped distorting my red.
"We're going back to Homra," Anna said.
"You're going back to the bar?" I inquired. Why were they out here if they were just going back to the bar?
"You too," panted Totsuka. A grin on his face though he looked exhausted. "Anna was really upset when you left." He stood at the mouth of the alley with Mikoto, his chest heaving like he had just run a marathon.
Mikoto shoved him slightly with his elbow as he removed his cigarette from his mouth. Totsuka chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
"We were all kinda worried," Totsuka admitted.
Anna grabbed my arm trying to tug me to my feet. I stood like she wanted, and once I was up she nodded in approval before she trotted to Mikoto's side. He paid her no mind as she took hold of the hem of his jacket looking more like his daughter than just some girl. . . Was she his kid?
"You all didn't go out looking for me did you?" I asked.
I knew how self-centered the question sounded, but Totsuka had been running around, and Homra's leader was even here. Was it too much to think that maybe they were all looking for me because they were worried?
"It was all Yata and Anna's idea," Totsuka grinned.
Something in my core tightened and twisted leaving me breathless for a moment. Mikoto and Anna turned leaving the alley while Totsuka guided me out to the street. We followed after them as my breath came back to me. Mikoto smoking, Anna now holding his free hand, and Totsuka rambling merrily at my side. It was never a scene I pictured myself in. It was warm like those moments I've seen on TV shows when friends just make up, or when they just reached a milestone in their relationship. Could I consider these people friends? I barely knew them.
"By the way," Totsuka broke through my reverie. "Kusanagi said you can stay at Homra until you can find your own place."
"No that's not," I paused. "Wait, why would he offer that?"
Totsuka suddenly adverted his gaze, and his face turned a dark shade of red. "You see when I grabbed your bag to return it to you it, sort of, ripped."
"Then," I stuttered for a coherent thought. My own face heating when the connection was finally made. "Then all those guys saw my. . ."
"We picked it up," Totsuka tried to mend.
With my heart going into overdrive, and my cheeks on fire I took off towards the bar. Breezing past Mikoto, who -I thought- was chuckling, desperate to see what the damages were to my dignity. "That makes it even worse," I yelled over my shoulder as I went.
"Nao-chan! I said I was sorry," Totsuka called.
He was knocking on the other side of the door, while I was curled up in the far corner of the spare room above the bar feeling absolutely mortified. My things had been put into this room after being stuffed into a paper bag by both Totsuka and Kusanagi. All my personal belongings had been in that bag; pictures, wallet, even my underwear.
They saw my bras. My plain-Jane undergarments. I wallowed.
"Come on out. I have cakes waiting for everyone," Totsuka offered.
"Bribery won't work," I said.
I hugged my legs tighter to my chest as I stubbornly stayed in the locked room. There were dozens of guys downstairs, their voices drifting up through the floor broads. How many of them were going to laugh at me because of the backpack failure? I couldn't have asked for a worst second impression right after a pathetic first encounter.
I gingerly touched the wrappings at my side, though it was just a graze it still stung like hell if I bumped it just right. By the end of the week I should be fine, but I still had to thank them probably for saving my sorry butt.
"Nao-chan!" he whined.
But now wasn't the time.
"Go away Totsuka-kun, you pervert!" I said.
There was s solid thud against the door along with what sounded like a sigh of defeat. A moment later I could hear Totsuka shuffle away down the hall leaving me in peace. I spent most of the night in the corner nursing my embarrassment until I was able to calm down, and my stomach decided it was starving.
I peeked outside the door making sure Totsuka wasn't loitering in the hall again. Seeing that the coast was clear I grabbed my wallet from the paper bag and quickly left the spare room as quietly as I could. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I checked around the corner into the bar to make sure it was closed like I figured it would be at this hour.
After the quick glimpse I b-line for the door. As I reached the door the lights flipped on startling me still. Behind me I could feel a set of eyes on me, so with my wallet clutched to my chest I slowly turned around to see who had caught me, only to be completely confused.
"Mikoto?" I questioned.
He was sitting at the far end of the bar, by the light-switch with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. His amber colored eyes slide over to where I stood while he held a loosely fisted hand to the end of his cigarette. A flame rose out of nowhere lighting the cigarette before he dropped his hand back onto the counter. I probably should have been more surprised at his trick; like falling to the ground demanding answers about his sorcery, or just fleeing from Homra all together, and never thinking about it ever again. Instead I tried to remain calm as I stepped over to the bar. I had heard plenty of rumors of Homra's power, but I had thought "the glowing redness," was just an exaggeration of their anger and strength, not their power actually manifesting itself in front of people.
"Why were you sitting in the dark?" I asked.
"Running again?" he questioned back.
"No," I said. Stopping at the opposite end of the bar I stared at him as his gaze slid from me and to something on the wooden surface. "I was just going out to get something to eat."
"Cake," he said.
Gesturing over his shoulder he pointed to the coffee table between the two couches, on which was something in saran wrap. Stepping across the room I saw it was indeed cake with a small folded card next to it. I grabbed both and made my way back to the bar where I sat two stools down from Mikoto.
'We're glad you're here, Nao-chan,' was what the card said.
With a "pfft," I set it aside to uncover the cake which had a fork on the plate next to it.
"Totsuka-kun really hasn't changed," I muttered to myself.
"Still a fool," Mikoto said.
Glancing over at him his expression was still blank, making it impossible to tell if he meant what he said in a rude way or nostalgic like I did. Mikoto seemed to be the stoic type, the complete opposite of Totsuka, or even Yata. . .
My stomach knotted at the thought of Yata. He was still mad at me, and I doubt he was ready to make up. I wouldn't if I were him. I wasn't exactly the greatest of people when it came to talking to others, but I had thought I had come a long way since middle school. Pushing the plate aside I sat my head down on the bar and grabbed my belly that was now doing unsettling flips. I needed to get my mind off of him otherwise I was going to starve and Totsuka's chocolate cake looked really good.
"Can everyone in Homra do that trick of yours?" I asked.
I peered up at him with my head still on the counter as he released a cloud of smoke out. At my question he looked at me raising a crimson brow like my inquiry was obvious to answer.
"Are you asking to join?" he said.
I couldn't lie, his offer was appealing, but I didn't belong in Homra. They didn't need a runaway like me around.
"No. I was just curious, besides I don't think I'm really wanted around here. Nothing new I guess," I laughed under my breath.
My stomach was still in a giant knot, and it was only growing tighter. I really wanted to eat the cake, pervert or not it looked like Totsuka knew his way around a kitchen.
"Yes," Mikoto said pulling me away from my cake ogling.
"Huh," I said.
"They all have a form of my power," he clarified.
"That's interesting. Why?" I asked.
Mikoto placed his cigarette back into his mouth and took a long drag from it. Removing the cigarette against he shrugged as he released a steady stream of smoke into the air over his head. He didn't say anything in reply.
"You don't know," I said. Tightening my arms around my midsection I tried to settle the flips. "So you've never tried to find out why you can do what you can do?"
"I don't care," he said without pause.
"And yet you do," I commented.
His eyes peeked at me with a brow raised. I don't know why I said that, but I could see something in the way he held his shoulders when I asked the question. He had gone slightly tense with the question, and his voice sounded irritated when he answered. Mikoto looked away from me as he stubbed out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray.
"Sorry. I have a habit of speaking out turn. It's gotten me in more trouble than I care to count," I chortled.
"Cake," was all he said.
Reaching across the bar Mikoto grabbed the plate with my slice of cake, and pulled it towards himself. I jerked up with my eyes widening. Did he really just take my cake? He picked up the fork on the plate and began eating it without hesitation.
"That's my cake," I whined.
"You weren't eating it," he stated.
"My stomach was being stupid," I said. I could feel a pout coming on, but I doubted the leader of Homra would be effected by some stranger's moping. "I was still going to eat it."
Mikoto was using the small fork to cut another piece from my slice, but inside of stuffing his face he held it out towards me. "Then eat it," he said flatly.
I fell silent. Was he offering to share my cake with me? Totsuka had left the cake for me, and it was chocolaty delicious looking. King of a gang or whatever I wasn't going to let him eat my snack by himself. So I hopped from one stool to the next until I was sitting in the one directly next to Mikoto's. He was still holding out the fork with the cake speared onto the end, and I ate it.
It was light and fluffy and sweet. Underneath the chocolate I could taste a bitter swirl of cherry flavoring. It was a good balance of sweet and sour in a dessert. After swallowing I muttered, "Not bad."
"Hmm," Mikoto said.
I couldn't tell if he was agreeing with me or was just making noise to show he heard me. It didn't really matter since he took another piece of my cake, and it was bigger than the chunk he gave me. I wasn't about to have him finish it before I had barely eaten any of it.
Pointing to my mouth I stated, "Sharing."
"Yeah, yeah," Mikoto muttered.
He cut another piece from the cake, but this time dropped it into my mouth like I was a dog he was giving a treat too. I would have commented on it and stolen the fork, but I was enjoying the cake too much to really care. When it was gone I sighed wanting more though the guys probably ate the rest. Mikoto pushed the plate away as he pulled out a new cigarette and placed it between his lips.
"You ate more than me," I pouted.
Stretching my arms out in front of me I prepared to leave and get some real food before I made my way back up stairs to sleep. The cake was delicious, but it hardly filled up my empty stomach, especially since I shared it with a fully grown guy.
"Whatever," he said.
He lit his cigarette with the red flame that rose from his hand. I don't know what possessed me to test to see if it was hot, but I did it and regretted it immediately. Before he let the flame go out I reached across the small distance danced my fingertips over the top like I've done before with candles. The heat was so much greater than an ordinary flame that when I retrieved my hand with a hiss I was surprised that my fingers were still there at all. My skin was scorched red and bleeding on my pointer and middle fingers.
"Damn," I hissed. "That was stupid."
I got up from the stool, leaving my wallet on the bar as I moved to the side hall so I could run water over my own stupidity. I paused when I heard Mikoto scoff.
"What fool just reaches for fire?" he muttered.
"A fool who that's not afraid of getting burned," I replied before disappearing down the hall.
If I was given the choice to that again, or just walk away I wouldn't hesitate to through my whole body at the open flame. My embarrassment aside Homra was an interesting place that I wasn't ready to move past yet. Even as the water stung against my fingers my mind didn't change with the pain.
As I left the bathroom I grumbled to myself, "Now I need bandages and food, great."
Please leave a review :)