*kneels on the ground*
*screams to the sky*
IT LIVES. IT LIIIIVVVVEEESS...
After a lot of frustrating events, I FINALLY managed to finish this chapter.
originally, this was finished months ago. however, because my laptop's job is to act like a dipshit, it shut down on me and didn't autosave my file.
yeah.
to be honest after that i was about ready to give up completely on this story lol
Anyhow I know it's been a while and unfortunately I didn't have a chance to get anyone to proof read this, but I hope I provided a decent chapter.
happy reading~
Chapter 7
Kaden Togoyashi let yet another sigh escape his tired throat as he leaned even further into his desk, the shift in movement knocking over an abundance of stray items in the process. He paid the fallen things no mind, however, merely burying his face deep within the palms of his hands, as if the action would make everything outside of them disappear.
It was late, and as usual the man stayed behind as all the other employees of Togo industries had turned in their time and called it a night hours ago. Most people left without disrupting him, usually being too afraid to do otherwise.
It was his corporation after all, he could stay however long he damn well pleased.
After a few long moments, the man finally found the ability to remove himself from his palms, a scowl planting itself on his features as he gazed upon his office in distaste. The room was quiet and dark, with the exception of an old desk lamp that provided just enough lighting to see the amount of mess at plagued the area.
Due to his frustrated outbursts earlier that evening, most of the furniture was now out of place if not completely tipped over, papers and blueprints from his current project littered the floors, and to add to everything, the air carried a faint smell of alcohol.
Alcohol. God, he could use another drink.
The man rose from his chair, ignoring the annoying squeak that it gave before making his way to the small bar that his private office provided. He chose out a tall, dark, bottle from the counter, not even bothering to read the label before pouring the liquid it contained in a small glass and downing it in one swallow. The bitter drink instantly warmed him as it settled in his stomach, casuing an an almost content breath of air to escape him as he quickly poured himself another glass.
Unfortunately, he was unable to enjoy it, the phone hidden in his pocket interrupting him before he had the chance.
Placing his drink down and fishing in his suit, Kaden quickly located the beeping device, swiping his thumb across the answer key. "Who is this and what do you want?" he questioned in a slightly slurred and overly dry tone of voice.
"Why it's so lovely to hear from you to my friend," a gruff man on the other end sounded with a light chuckle. "Say have you been drinking? Either that or you've been up all night because you sound really shitty right now…"
Unamused, Kaden rolled his eyes, although still unconsciously cleared his throat a little before speaking again. "What is it, Sam?" he asked at the recognition of his friend's voice, not at all entertained by his humor.
Especially not at such an ungodly hour.
"I'll check that off as a both then," the voice on the other line-Samuel- mused casually. "Well anyway, I'm just calling because I thought someone would be happy to hear a progress report on a certain runaway. But then again, I suppose you and the words happy don't exactly mix."
Stiffening his posture, the father immediately felt his jaw tighten.
Going to her room the morning after the little 'dispute,' he had hoped that his daughter had simmered down and pulled herself together enough to face the day. However, with the door being locked and Rikku refusing to open to irritated calls, he ended kicking the door down to reveal an empty bed and scattered clothing.
As livid as it left him, he tried not to let the situation get the better of him this time. Rikku was always one to go running off somewhere when she was upset. Normally, If she didn't come back by the end of the day, it was fairly easy enough to have Samuel (a friend of his who worked in the police force) to find her hanging out somewhere on the troubled side of town and drag her back.
Only in this instance, it has been roughly days since her disappearance rather than a few hours and although worried would be a strong word, it definitely left him with some concerns.
"And? Did you find anything?" The man interrogated, trying to keep desperateness in his tone to a minimum. Already being on edge as it is, this was certainly the last thing that he needed right now. Coming very far in a very short amount of time, it took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get his company to where it was today. In a way, the people of Newbai looked up to him, which meant he couldn't afford to have yet another disconcerting family issue running amuck in the press.
Rikku had already provided enough distractions with the last stunt she pulled revolving the whole spray painting incident, which in fact, caused is public ratings to drop rather dramatically.
Needless to say the man had standards to uphold, and, for the sake of his company, it was most important to get his daughter back.
"Sorry pal, but unfortunately there's not much to report," Samuel responded, disrupting the man on the other line out of his agitated thought process. " The boys and I checked all the places you requested, but we didn't catch anything."
The corner of Kaden's lips pulled down into a frown, his eyes narrowing with a new anger. "You're kidding me, right? You checked each of the coordinates I sent to you? I mean she's bound to be out there-"
"I'm telling you I checked each location that you wanted," Samuel interrupted before his friend could finish, "Even asked some of the deadbeats that hang out around there but still-nadda."
Clenching the bridge of his nose in frustration, the man sauntered toward the large window that sat just behind his desk. His office sitting at the very top of the main building, the vast landscape of Newbai unfolded itself for his viewing, its city lights illuminating brighter than any star imaginable.
Alive and bustling as usual, he couldn't help the way his jaw tightened at the mere sight of the city as he tried to imagine just where his daughter could be hiding in the slur of people.
The line fell silent for a while. Given this, Samuel sighed and used that as a sign to continue with his questioning, "Come on dig deep, man. This is your kid we're talkin' about here. Are you sure there's absolutely nowhere else she could go? I know you guys don't have any other family out here, but a friend's house perhaps? Come on, you can't tell me you don't know any of her friends…"
Silence once again was met from the other end.
"Damn. Well, guess you're disqualified for parent of the year award."
"I wasn't even aware I was a contender in the first place."
Another exhausted sigh escaped the man as the gears in his head began churning harder. He didn't care to meet the acquaintance of Rikku's friends. None of the slum that his daughter often associated herself with we're even worth him getting to know, and much to his previous liking, she tended to keep her social life rather private anyway.
Going deeper into thought, there was only a selected few that his daughter ever constantly spoke of and they…
Of course.
A smirk, dark and almost malevolent, suddenly pulled at the corners of the father's lips as a new realization hit him.
"Samuel?"
"Um, yeah?"
"I need you to check something out for me."
"Alright hair, just work with me here, would you?"
Rikku's eyes narrowed into a look of determination as she gazed at herself in the full body mirror hanging on the wall, one hand grasping a large mass of her bushy brown hair, the other holding a series of rubber bands.
Given her previously failed attempts to control her mane, the scattered remains of elastic scattered the floor around her feet, leaving an agitated Rikku with one last band and a patience level of zero. So, bending over, the teen let gravity do most of the work this time as she finally managed to get enough leverage to tie her hair into a sloppy and partly crooked bun.
"Whelp. I guess this is just as good as it's gonna get," she murmured, somewhat sourly. Positioning herself upright once more, Rikku pursed her lips as she gave herself a quick once over. As usual, she was dressed in casual attire; an old graphic tee, oversized military jacket and shorts accompanied with tights underneath. Most of the time, she wasn't a girl that puts too much time or effort into her appearance. Rikku was simple; caramel skin tone, hazel green eyes, and wavy brown hair laced with blonde highlights. So she tended to keep her style of dress pretty simple as well. (Especially considering tampering in illegal activities such as street art had a nasty habit of messing up her appearance anyway.)
But, as much as she resented putting this much energy into her looks, today was different than most days and required a bit more...preparation.
Waking up earlier that afternoon, she was greeted by a note from Hiro instructing her to meet him at the 'nerd lab' whenever she was ready. And, assuming that he probably wanted to introduce her to his friends and teammates in battle, the teenager felt the slightest bit of pressure while she began to get ready.
It wasn't anything personal against his friends, but if Rikku were to be honest, going to SFIT was probably the single last thing she wanted to do. Growing up, she had attended her fair share of tech schools and in her experience those who expressed such a love for science or mathematics hardly ever shared the same appreciation for art as she did.
They often looked down on her favoring the field of arts over science, and not to say Hiro's merry band of nerds were going to be the same as the kids she was around growing up, but whether she wanted to admit it or not there was still an underlying want for them to like her.
To sum it all up; she just wanted to make sure she left a good impression.
So, with a final huff, the street artist pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear before accepting her appearances as it was and turning her toward her bag. Quickly rummaging through article after article of clothing, she smiled softly as she finally found what she was looking for.
It was an old lathered notebook, small in size yet still vibrant in color. Filled with sketches, doodles and notes of thought, it was the only remaining piece of her art things that Rikku really had left. She normally kept it in the pocket of her jackets or tucked away somewhere safe like by her bedside, ready to use for a late night poetry write or in case a stencil design randomly popped into her head.
Apparently it was a very good decision to do so.
The teen's face suddenly fell in the slightest as images of her other belongings crumbling to ash resurfaced in her mind. It made a harsh lump form in her throat, and chest tighten with an undying amount of anger. But, as easy as it would have been to allow her bitter and resentful feelings consume her and ruin her day, Rikku fought them back. Shaking the thoughts away, she muttered something under her breath before stuffing the book into her pocket and making her way downstairs.
Lined with photos, the girl stopped in the middle of the staircase as a picture that she hadn't noticed before suddenly caught her eye. A picture of Tadashi.
Rikku smiled fondly at the frame, her stomach knotting tightly with the feeling of remorse. It was a somewhat recent photo she figured, him being much taller, muscular and far less noodley than she remembered. A signature crooked grin played over his lips as he stared into the lenses of the camera, eyes bright and youthful.
Full of life.
The news of the young man's passing was a hard and bitter pill Rikku had to force herself to swallow and even now, she still couldn't accept that he was really gone. "Hey dork," the girl spoke with a weak smile, glancing down the stairs for a moment to make sure no one was in earshot of her. She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, feeling somewhat ridiculous for talking to a picture. "Listen, I'm... I'm really sorry for what happened. I wish you were here, wish I could see you…" Rikku laughed softly as she felt her eyes suddenly brim with tears. Wiping them away, she bit her bottom lip and mentally cursed at herself for being so sappy. " i... I just wanted to say I'm sorry for all those stupid pranks me and Hiro used to pull on you when we were kids. Making all your shirts pink, sicking Mochi on you after rubbing catnip in your underwear, oh and that time we replaced your shampoo with purple hair dye. Yeah, reaallly sorry about that one."
Rikku thought back on the memory, a subtle smirk parting her lips. It was a week before picture day, and unfortunately hats were not allowed on premises at the school he attended. which meant his infamous baseball cap was a no go.
It was a comedic moment that everyone was sure to remember for a while, and although at the time it was the proudest moment of the young prankster's life, she couldn't help but feel a little bad for it now.
Sighing, the teenager glanced at the watch claiming her wrist, deciding she probably kept Hiro waiting long enough and should be on her way. "Well, I guess I should get going now. Shouldnt keep the nerd waiting to long. " Rikku gave her neck another rub, a light-hearted chuckle escaping her as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "I'll see ya around, Dashi." And with that, she gave one last sad look at the photo before continuing her way down to the café.
Alright, soooo it wasn't the longest chapter but we are getting into some plot development here. Rikku's dad will actually play an important part in this story, and obviously the next chapter will include her meeting the nerd herd x3 which should be interesting.
Okay guys thats it for now! thanks so much for reading and thank you to all who took the time to review last chapter! *give you big ass Baymax level hugs*
your constructive criticisms and nice comments are like cookies to my soul!. and to be honest...to be COMPELTLEY honest...they make me write faster. just sayin...
(also, those of you who are interested, I finally made a character thing for Rikku which can be found on my tumblr. I'll leave a link on my page.)