TRACK 7.
Liar - The Sex Pistols.
The commercial zone near Hiyori's school was two parallel avenues connected with each other through small pedestrian streets and regular streets. Hunched in the shadows behind a vending machine -FOR THE THIRD TIME, the store clerks in that zone were a pain in the ass, Yato waited intently the right moment to get out of his hideout.
Hiyori almost died from a heart attack when she saw Yato walking casually by her side after receiving a light knock in her shoulder.
"WHAT TH…" Yato placed a finger over his lips to indicate she needed to be quiet. He again was wearing the scarf, the cap and sunglasses. Hiyori spoke in a normal volume, "What on earth are you doing here?"
"Well, I asked around in a lot of veterinaries if anyone had cured a broken donkey, but nobody could tell me anything, so I thought it was quicker to come check at the street to avoid you jumping in front of another car", smiled Yato mischievously. The girl looked at him, annoyed and amused at the same time.
"I don't write you in a couple of days and the first thing you do is coming to hide at the street waiting for me to get out of school?"
"I can't believe you forgot to write me back!" he cried, faking a pained face, "I'm so charming that anyone would write the next day!"
Hiyori began to walk faster.
"Bye, Yato!"
"Hey, hey, wait!" He said, reaching her, "I j-just…" He blushed suddenly, making Hiyori to blush a little, as a reflex, "wanted t'know if I didn't have ended getting you into more troubles after what happened. If that's the reason why you've not contacted me…"
Hiyori interrupted him with a loud sigh.
"I actually was thinking of telling you everything that happened in just one e-mail after things settled down a bit, that's why I haven't written."
"So you did got into trouble", added Yato, a bit disheartened.
"Just a few…" Cut Hiyori again, "it's really not the time to tell you about it and we're on the middle of the street anyways, it's really not a short story."
"I have all the time in the world!"
What was going on with him?
"Why are you being so insistent? This is just simple teenage girl drama, and you are…" She stopped herself, realizing her entire facade could crumble at the slightest mistake, "apparently a really important person."
Yato doubted for a second, before answering.
"If this is something I caused, I simply want to know if there's any way I can help you solve it."
It was really hard for Hiyori to believe this person who was near the edge of becoming maddening was capable of writing that music. It was too absurd.
"Listen, I promise I will tell you everything that has been going on, but right now I have a class to make it to and I'm already kind of late."
"Wow, so you study after school also? You keep yourself busy, huh?"
"Well, it's not like I'm actually too good with that…" She muttered.
"What's the class about?"
"Painting…"
Yato looked at her in disbelief.
"I don't see you dying to get there", he said, suggestively. Hiyori stopped walking suddenly. He was right. She looked straight down to her feet, thinking. It was something she felt she didn't had the talent for, anyways. The headmaster had told her to make time for a club at school, anyways. Why not just simply forget about painting?
Yato looked at her from a distance. She was bowing down, apologizing again and again with a teacher with loose long straight hair, outside a really tiny studio buried deep in a corner of a shopping mall. When she returned, somehow she looked calmer.
"This is going to sound a little bit crazy", explained Hiyori whilst getting down the stairs, "but I actually feel like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders."
"Why do you do this?"
"Huh?"
"Running around one place to another with hellish schedules, taking lessons of things you don't even like or care about at all". Hiyori tried to answer, but only a short "hm" came out of her lips. "God, being so young the last thing you should be doing is wasting your time in things like that."
Hiyori couldn't say a word after they left the mall and walked a bit along the avenue, apparently aimlessly. The sun was setting, the lights would be turned on soon, and Hiyori had time to spare.
"T-thanks", she said.
Yato halted, surprised. "Aren't you polite by reflex?"
"Says the person who wipes his sunglasses clean when he's nervous"
Touche. Yato laughed, and he was surprised about the sound of his own laugh, about the tension in his jaw and the leant back position of his head. "I have no idea why are you thanking me for, Hiyori, but if you really want to do something for me, I have a favor to ask you".
The girl began doubting this had been a smart idea when they got down the subway in a part of town a bit far from her usual zone. People didn't say a lot of pretty things about this area, and she wasn't even sure of what would happen once they arrived at his house. However, she couldn't help but trust. For some reason to think Yato could do something to harm her felt in her mind really unnatural. Talking to him was easy, a bit unnerving because of his arrogant behavior from time to time and his awful proneness to make really stupid jokes; walking beside him made crossing streets on a neighborhood as dangerous looking as that one felt as safe as walking up and down her house stairs. Between silences, Hiyori tried to unravel this situation in her head, why being with him felt that good? Where was the extra effort she usually had to make to interact with other people? She was used to watch carefully and listen to every inflexion and pause the other person made to know exactly what to say. Yato changed and flowed like water, and she just let him pass along. She answered when he spoke, said things when they crossed her mind and kept silent if the talk was over. What was this?
They stopped before entering an alley and Hiyori could see the stairs leading down to his basement. Yato searched for the keys in his pocket, blabbing something about a TV commercial about kittens he had seen last night that had him puzzled. Right before twisting the knob, his face turned pale and turning around, he sticked his back to the door with his arms spread, like a lizzard.
"Yato, what are you doing?"
Notoriously nervous, he stuttered.
"I-I-I don't have n-nothing to offer you for a d-drink!"
"Huh?"
"Can you go buy… drinks?" Yato smiled, but Hiyori couldn't ignore the fact that all of this was pretty weird.
"O…kaaay" the girl turned around, "Oh, there's a vending machine right there!" She began climbing the few stair steps, searching for some change in her coat, when Yato's yell startled her.
"NOOO, NOT THAT ONE!"
"But why?!"
"I don't like those!"
"…the hell are you talking about?!"
"I want those from there!"
"But I have to walk the entire street!"
"Just go!"
"I don't understand, what kind of drink you want?"
"I don't give a… it doesn't matter! just GO!"
Minutes later, Hiyori came back annoyed from the farthest vending machine to Yato's house with two canned drinks. He was a really strange fellow.
When she made it back to the alley the first thing she saw was the huge pile of black trash bags piled up in front of the stairs. She made her way between the remaining space in order of not touching anything and stepping carefully knocked on the distressed door three times. Yato opened immediately.
"Hiyori! I was about to go searching for ya!"
"Yato, what's up with all this bags?"
"Noth…! I mean yes, I wonder! Fuckin' weird people!" He laughed nervously and right away he pulled her inside from her arm, closing the door behind.
Hiyori made herself confortable in the couch and looked suspiciously around. She knew pretty well the behavior of boys this age. On the days he was being careful and neat, her brother left at least one drawer opened in the kitchen, and his room always showed signs of his way in it. This flat was strangely tidy. With the corner of her eye, she saw Yato working his soul out in the kitchen.
"Is it okay if I brought you iced tea?" She asked out loud, doubtful.
"Oh, don't worry, Hiyori. I'm actually not thirsty."
Unbelievable.
A few moments later, Hiyori was feeling incredibly embarrased about being laughed off by Yato.
"D-don't laugh! It's incredibly unconfortable running into Yama-chan pretty much everywhere when all she does is sticking her nose up high and leave!" She whined, making a sad face, to which Yato stopped laughing slowly, but kept staring at her with a smile.
"Now I get why you haven't written!"
Hiyori had agreed to tell him everything that had happened, and after trying to persuade him not to make a list of all the lies she had told in those past days, she also proceeded to tell him about her friends and the annoying attitude Yama had taken, mumbling bad things about her when she was sure she could hear, and the fact Ami was still trying to middle between them.
"And not just that, apparently no matter how I try to dispell rumours at school, people is coming up with stories about a life I didn't even knew I had!"
Yato finally stretched his arms and legs, and looked at the ceiling, thoughtful.
"People's really a pain in the ass, no?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like that friend of yours, that Yama girl. I kinda get she's mad 'bout you lying and stuff, but going around thinking people owe you an explanation with full detail about their lives is hella damn annoying. Is she always like that?"
Hiyori thought about it for a moment. Yama had always been the kind of impertinent friend they usually ended up getting out of her own troubles, but aside from that she was really a loyal person, capable of running wherever needed in order to help them out. Suddenly Hiyori felt extremely wrong.
"Yama-chan is always paying attention to what Ami-chan and myself need", muttered, "I suppose that's why she's so apprehensive when she finds out about something she's not aware of."
Yato scoffed loudly and Hiyori looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. In that precise moment he seemed cold, distant and completely different to the guy she thought she knew a few days ago.
"What is she expecting to get in exchange?"
"Huh?"
"People is not just good because they can. Proof is she got mad because you're not showing her the reality she wants to see."
Yato was alone. Hiyori looked around. He had deliberately cut himselff off people. Was this about a discussion he had in the past with Viina? The one who made her resign the band? The girl looked at him, sitting with his eyes looking straight to the front, searching solitude to be able to put his pieces together again after a painful break. Hiyori sighed, why did her chest began to hurt? Suddenly Yato seemed to get off a trance, and looked straight into her eyes. His face was different again. This time it was the soft and kind face he had back then in the park after running away form her teachers. He smiled sweetly.
"I'm nobody to decide and judge over your friends, Hiyori. What you think is perhaps more accurate. It's entirely up to you if you go and fix things up with her or you keep on figuring it out by yourself."
Hiyori thought again for a minute.
"What would you do?"
"I would let her rot in hell for the rest of her life" said Yato with a straight up deadly deep voice, and his eyes lit up with something unknown to the girl. Seeing her confused stare he smiled again and got off the couch, walking towards the bottom of his basement. All of a sudden Hiyori asked, curious:
"What was what you wanted to ask me?"
Yato came back with his guitar on one hand and a bunch of crumpled sheets on the other.
"I want you to listen to this"
The couch sunk again under the renewed weight, and Yato began playing. He showed her one tune, and the complementary riff. Hiyori listened intently and threw questions here and there. As minutes went by, Yato became more and more concentrated in what he was doing, speaking less and less. Intrigued, Hiyori noticed his face changing again, this time shining internally with some kind of strange, mesmerizing energy. "How 'bout this?" he would ask suddenly, and she would notice the slight differences between one idea and the other, commenting which had been better. Yato discovered himself making small crosses over the notes instead of furious strikes, shifting the melody over the same idea. He ended with a solid sketch of a song, coherent, fluid, fresh, completely new. The guy took the paper between his hands, staring at it as if it worth a billion dollars. Then he looked at her as if he just discovered how to make fire.
Hiyori tried to dissipate the stupid smile in her face and breathed deep to get rid of that strange fast heartbeat that she was having all the way back home after Yato had seen her off at the station. It had been extremely hard to shake him off for some reason; she couldn't understand why he couldn't stop offering to buy things for her. He tried to buy her a cake in a store near the station simply because she had stared at it, and it was twice as hard to convince he didn't needed to invite her dinner. He agreed to see her off at the station only when Hiyori threatened with not writing ever, and she apologized later with the fact his parents still didn't knew she had ended her painting lessons that same afternoon and they weren't going to allow one more unjustified delay. The sight of Yato staring at her behind the station entrance bars, waving his hand off, was precisely what kept her stupid smile, and somehow when she noticed her face seemed made of rubber, going back to the smile when she tried to chage the expression, made her smile even more, had she lost her head?
"Something good happened to you?", asked a familiar voice right beside her. The sunset light reddened the blond hair and ambar eyes of the boy who reached her at the grove walk in front of the station.
"Tendou-kun!" said Hiyori, feeling lucky, "It's really nice seeing you!"
"Call me Yukine, please!", he answered, with a too sugary voice. Something inside the girl pieced together with a click, and she reacted with caution.
"What brings you around here, Yukine-kun?" There was it again. The extreme attention. Her nerves activating. The quick thinking before any reaction. She surprisingly found herself wanting to be with Yato.
"A friend lives around, but I was already going." After seeing the surprised face Hiyori did by learning Yukine had friends so close to her house, the boy asked, "Where are you coming from, Iki-san?"
Ah, there was it again. She hadn't noticed that tone the last time she spoke with him, what was he planning? Why did his voice sounded so… dangerous?
"Please, call me Hiyori." She didn't know if it was okay to continue. Why did she felt it wasn't a good idea to tell him she had seen Yato? After a brief pause, she continued. "I actually think this is really funny, I just saw Yato a while ago."
Almost immediately, Hiyori regretted saying that when she saw Yukine's grin. In wasn't a real smile. His whole face was a facade, and she felt getting nervous about not being able to see what was lying behind.
"Yato? it is indeed funny, Hiyori." He let out a laugh -"Fake", Hiyori thought right away, and then he said, "where did you saw him? I hope he didn't actually followed you around like a shadow, the way he planned."
"Planned?"
Yukine got closer to her, venomously.
"He hasn't stopped talking about you since he gave you his email. It was actually a torture listening to him complaining about you not writing. Yesterday he decided going to look for you. I tried to make him realize it was a stupid idea, but I can see he actually did found you the way he wanted."
Why was he talking like that? Hiyori decided to leap forward and face him. What was this brat planning?
"Actually, Yukine-kun", Hiyori made sure to state her phrase as precise as possible, "he met with me after school and we spend the afternoon at his flat."
Yukine stopped suddenly.
"Oh, I see", he looked straight into her eyes, with a fiery spark. On that same note, Yukine asked, "did you guys had fun?"
"Lots, Yato is working in new material and he showed me some ideas for new songs"
Hiyori could see, even when the light of the surroundings was getting dimmer, that in the eyes of the boy was building up anger and alarm. A swift look below made her aware the knuckles of Yukine were almost white.
"Listen", he said, with a completely different voice, no suga-coating, no disguises, "I don't really get what are you planning to do, but you can begin to drop your little act with me."
"I don't know what you're talking about", she said, defensively, with a flat voice. Yukine got even closer to her, menacingly. Hiyori didn't moved an inch.
"You know quite well I don't swallow shit about what you say. The rest is also very wary about you, but Yato is much too naive to notice."
Hiyori began to feel anxious.
"I don't know exactly what are you planning, but if you already went joyfully to his house, it means this has gone way too far."
"I don't know what you're talking about", she repeated. Yukine shook his head, furious.
"Stop playing dumb already!"
A third voice got them off each other's focus, and Hiyori looked back at the station, feeling a squeeze in her chest when she saw the black haired guy running towards them, with her pink scarf on his hand.
"Hey, guys!" he waved, merrily, from afar. Hiyori was about to answer, relieved he was there, when she felt a strong pull in her briefcase.
To her utter horror, Yukine emptied the contents of it in the floor right in front of them, in spite Hiyori trying to get it back at any cost.
"What the heck do you think you're doing, brat?!" Shouted Yato, rushing to the place, finding Hiyori trying to pick up her stuff as fast as she could.
She couldn't let him see it.
Yukine tossed her briefcase aside, and Yato looked at him furious, while he kneeled beside Hiyori to help her pick up the mess. "What the hell got into you, asshole?!"
Yukine's answer was a devilish look at Hiyori and a stomp over her composition notebook… and a CD case. The girl's fingers were just millimeters off being crushed against the ground by the angry boy's foot.
"YUKI-!"
"PAY ATTENTION JUST ONCE IN YOUR GODDAMN LIFE, YATO, FUCK!" Exploded Yukine, and pointed at his foot, lifting it from Hiyori's stuff, who was frozen in fear.
Yato's shaking hand picked up the CD. He looked at her with wide open eyes. The same eyes minutes before had looked at her as if she was one of the world's greatest wonders now were questioning her, analyzing her, trying to understand.
"Hiyori?" Dared to ask Yato. The stinging in Hiyori's eyes finally translated into ashamed, angry tears. She quickly stuffed her things into the briefcase, sobbing.
"I'm really sorry" she said with a faint voice, and left the place running. The street lights began to flicker.
Yato followed her whith the sight, with SHRINE's album in one hand, and her pink scarf in the other. He barely listened Yukine talking.
"Hey, dude, leave her. We're much better like this, she could've been a crazy fan or something worse. I think is best for the time being if you stay at home with us…"
Yato refused to talk to Yukine throughout the first week he spent on the house with everyone.
Hi everyone! Is been a while! I want to thank everyone who has been leaving reviews, those are the writers' fuel, really. This time I just want to give a slight warning. This story is still ongoing in spanish, so you just need to wait for me to translate it -It takes time, unfortunately. So the reason I'm writing this is because this time it might take me a bit more time to get something done since I'm finishing my study time in japan and it's time for me to get back home. I will be back at the end of september so I'll try my best to write something during that time and not let you all waiting for ages until I upload something, but without fail I'll post something during october. Until then, please be safe and happy. I love you all!
