DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except: Angel aka Diablo, Aunt Suki, Uncle Jah, Kei, Jose, Catherin, and the plot line.
Angel's temper hadn't decreased in the slightest since the classes had started. She had hoped that the work would help her relax and take her mind off of what was happening at home but all it did was start another peak in her already unbalanced mindset. It had started a fear driven panic, the two could be plotting and planning against her now, not to mention they could be destroying all of her hard work, her designs and ideas. They could be destroying everything that she tried to keep perfect in her own room. They could be doing 'it' on her bed right then.
She shook slightly at that thought her stomach flipping unsettled by the thought of them doing that on something she considered sacred and important to her. Angel must have looked like she was dazing off because Takashi's hand moved onto her desk and over her hand.
"Hey Angel?" he asked his voice soft trying not to draw any attention to them.
"What Taka?" she asked in reply settling back deeper into the chair, suddenly drawn to the need to be assured that her panic and fears were generally unfounded.
"Are you doing okay? I mean you look like you're going to be sick."
"I'm just probably working myself up over nothing…" Angel said softly trying not to think about the knot she had formed in her stomach.
"Well I know you don't do the caring is sharing thing, but if you need an outside party to talk to I'm here."
"You just want in my pants… I appreciate the offer but I got this, if I need help I know where I can go at least," she scoffed softly under her breath almost feeling his telltale smirk focused at her back.
"I do but I'm actually worried about you. So I hope you take me up on that offer sooner rather than later."
Angel nodded but didn't respond as the bell rang and she stood trembling slightly as she closed her laptop down and slipped it into her backpack. Her hands were actually shaking though she couldn't say any more if it was anger driving that tick or if it was panic and fear.
Takashi's hand covered her own as he gripped her backpack and swung it over his shoulder, "Come on we have the same class. I know you don't need or probably want my advice or help but if you don't stop thinking, you aren't going to make it through the rest of the day."
"Easier said than done," she griped at him grudgingly letting him carry her bag as the other students started to whisper around them, their eyes digging into her like they had done the first day she had gotten here straight from America.
When they arrived at their next class Angel took her bag back and slipped into a seat as far away as she could possibly get from all the other girls, sitting deep into the territory she considered Takashi's and his little gangs. It was a spur of the moment decision but that's what made sense to her. Taka was a safe zone, sure he had his possessive moments but for the most part he really was just trying to look after her for Han.
By the time class had started Angel knew that she was shaking because she was angry, and this time it was at the girls who were looking at her like she was some two bit tramp from Hollywood Blvd.
School couldn't have ended any faster as she nearly stormed out, feeling every inch of vehemence she could possibly possess all at once. From her fingers, which were twitching ready to throw something, to her feet which were all but pounding the ground under her, to her head which was about to spit fire and laser beams at the next person who crossed her. But there standing in the courtyard like an unshakeable mountain was her step cousin, her Han.
He just watched her storm towards him, allowed her to nearly violently slide her fingers into his as she squeezed his hand tightly, and allowed her to drag him towards her work. Less than halfway there she stopped and looked at him.
"Tell me that I'm crazy for thinking that my father is plotting against me and using my bed to do unspeakable things."
"I would but I know that's not really the answer you want. You really don't want an answer to go either way. If I tell you you're crazy then you are going to start going hysterical, and if I tell you you're not then it's just going to make you blow your top. So honestly I don't know, for all I know he's an ogre or an elf in human form hell bent on making you lose all your self confidence. But what I do know is that either way you're letting him win. Every ounce of pissed off Diablo you got running around your brain is making damn sure that he wins this, makes sure he wins you. But the Diablo I know doesn't take shit from anyone. She does what she wants, when she wants, with whomever she damn well pleases," Han said calmly looking at her as he gripped her other hand with a serious look on his face.
Angel just looked at him watching him as she processed his words, those words that made complete and entire sense to her, "See this is why I love you cous. I could be at the end of my rope in any random direction and you know how to push me back into the balance of things."
"Glad to be a service," he said with a warm smile as he wrapped her into a hug and started walking her once more to her work, "But if you're late, that will not be me sticking my neck out for you."
"I don't expect you to be sticking your neck out for me in the first place; after all one of us has to look after you, Mr. Accident Prone."
"Very funny Angel, very funny… now this is as far as I go, so good luck and have a good time at work, and yes I will gladly do your homework."
"Did I mention that I love you?" Angel asked looking at him as he swung her book bag over his shoulder and waved his good bye before heading off to the train.
Grinning for the first time that day she slipped into her work and curled her arms around Kei, "Hey boss man. Sorry I'm late; I've had a bad day."
"I figured since normally you're here as soon as humanly possible," Kei said as he wrapped a paint smeared arm over her shoulders, "Now if your done loving up all over me, get your monkey suit on and let's get you working on the insides of these two bad boys. Oh and just to let you know I cashed in the check you wrote me and sent the money to everyone that it needed to go to already."
"I think you already know that I love you and think you are the best boss ever but there it is in case you missed it," Angel said with a wide cheesy grin before she planted a kiss on his cheek and called back over her shoulder as she headed into his office, "And you've made my day worth getting out of bed this morning."
She sighed softly as she pulled the monkey suit on over her uniform, usually she had a decent day at school and then coming to work with Kei was like a bonus. But today… there had been no bonus. He was the only reason she had really made it out of bed instead of trying to play the deathly ill card and forcing Han to stay with her. Well the fact that her dad was still going to be there did encourage her to try and enjoy the fact that she was at least out and about.
Angel slipped out of the office zipping up the front of the suit as she walked towards Kei as he softly kept beat fixing some of the work she had done the day before, "Everything look okay?"
"You flipped a few of the connections but I fixed it, after these are Japanese cars and not the American ones you probably grew up around."
"Well I learned on American muscle so I can only imagine that these cars are a bit different then my normal ones," She said shrugging as she looked over his shoulder at his changes realizing that she had plenty to learn until she thought she was good enough for a garage of her own some day, "So can we work on putting the insides in today?"
"That was the grand plan, after all we have to finish these bad boys in the next couple of days so you can paint them for your cousin's birthday," the wild haired Asian said with a cheerful shrug.
"Did I mention you are the best?" she grinned rubbing her hands together as she grabbed some tools Kei following her so that he could grab everything that she didn't think of.
The plan was to finish all the work in Han's birthday present first before they finished the inside of Angel's car, considering only Han's car had a deadline for them to make. The only hitch in her plans was that neither she nor Han actually had their licenses yet, but she at least knew how to drive stick.
The hitch would be fine though, it wasn't like her Aunt would have a major problem with her 'children' driving illegally for a little bit until they got their licenses officially. Of course that hitch came with another one, the one that could mean their entire lives, knowing how to drift. Of course Kei was once again going to be their life saver, he was going to teach them how to drift; it was his birthday present for Han.
Angel shook her head pulling herself back to the garage and the car she was working on as she helped Kei drag a bucket seat to the car slipping it in over the carpet they had put over the car bottom. As they bolted it down she pulled back into herself thinking about home, both of her homes.
She missed her old room with its baby blue walls with the dorky flowers her dad had stuck to the walls trying to make it more girly having lost the fight in trying to make it a princess room. She missed the space she had, considering she could fit a dresser, a desk, a full size bed, a full length standing mirror and a bookcase in her room and still have floor space to move around in. Unlike here where she had a twin bed, a tiny closet, a desk and just enough walking room to be comfortable. But it was a different lifestyle here, no one wanted big spaces here, it was cramped and friendly just like the Japanese people seemed to love. Which was the exact reason why she never painted the walls of her room, just covered them floor to ceiling and wall to wall with posters, making sure not an inch of white was shown unless it was around her desk where the wall above it was covered in her hand drawn work.
But more than the space she missed, it was the people and the familiarity of Cali that she really missed. The heat with its sun and beaches filled of locals and tourists all year round, the sounds of music all day with cars and motorcycles buzzing by all day adding their own beats and rhythms to the mix. Even though she had lived basically in the 'country side' of LA that never stopped Angel from enjoying the sounds of an easy pleasurable life.
In Japan life was always going, there were the same sounds but they weren't the same. It was like listening to two different rock bands play the same song, sure it was the same but everything was different. Japan was always work, the people worked and kept at it firm determination in a city of lights, fashion, and the cutting edge of technology. She did like that about her second home, but there wasn't an escape from that here, an escape that wasn't Kei's garage where Angel worked her butt off to make ends meet before it was necessary for them to. But at least here the people were much friendlier, you could stop and ask directions and next thing you know you have a tour guide happy to lead you to your destination and show you all the local hotspots along the way. The people made Japan her second home, some place she knew that if she needed a getaway she could come and be happy for a really long time.
Angel bit back a swear in Spanish as her finger got pinched between the frame and the dash she was installing. Without thinking she slipped the dirty finger in her mouth trying to lessen the pain despite the taste. Her eyes flicked to Kei who was now laughing, holding his stomach as he tried to breathe normally again.
"What?" she growled pulling her finger from her mouth, "I hurt myself and you laugh, damn closet sadist."
"Hey now, I was trying to warn you. But you were off in lala land, blank stare and everything," Kei said between growing fits of laughter, "You should have seen your face, went from brow furrowed in annoyance to a Mr. Yuck."
"Yeah I love you too Kei," she griped at him as she shook out her hand.
Angel turned her head away so that he wouldn't see her half smile as she focused on hooking up the electrical work. That was another reason to love her boss, she could be injured and he would find some way of taking her mind off of her pain and have her focus on something more enjoyable.
She glanced at the clock and swore, "I was supposed to be home a half hour ago. Kei can you drive me?" as he nodded she bolted out of the car and into the office unzipping her suit as she went, wiping her hands on the material, "I'm gonna strip then we can go. I am so screwed!"
In less than a minute she was out of her suit, it was hung up and she was heading to the sink to scrub the dirt off her hands, "So screwed, so, so screwed…" she mumbled as she could hear the car starting in the back ground as she finished cleaning her hands and dried them off nearly tripping herself as she moved towards the car.
"I am so sorry about bolting Kei, thanks for driving."
"Don't worry; I should have had an alarm on or something. I wasn't looking at the clock, I like you was just trying to get the work done. I'll finish up what you and I were doing when I get back," Kei said shrugging as he shifted and drifted through the traffic blazing his way to her house.
"You are the best Kei; I don't know what I would do without you."
"You'd be in someone else's garage working for them because you have more natural talent then I've ever seen in someone before. I'm proud that you get to hone your skills under me, and I'll be even more proud when you get to stand on your own two feet without me to help you on your way. You and Han are like the kids I never had, you know I'll love you no matter what happens. Now good luck, and tell your Aunt to blame me for not watching the clock like I should have been doing."
Angel swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around Kei, throwing her upper body over the gear shift as she forced herself not to cry, "Thank you Kei, that means more to me then you could ever know," kissing his cheek she forced herself out of his car and into her house knowing if she looked back she'd be a puddle of tears, and Demons didn't cry.
She didn't pause to steel herself up as she slipped inside and slid off her shoes, "I'm sorry I'm late Aunt Suki, Uncle Jah. I wasn't paying attention to the time; I promise it won't happen again."
"You're right it won't happen again," her father said as he came into sight a frown on his lips, his naturally tanned arms folded across his chest, "You're quitting and going to focus on your school work."
As fast as lightening striking across the sky her tearful joy turned to fury. Her eyes darkened as her jaw clenched, lips muscles twitching as she could hear someone getting up in the other room.
"LIKE HELL I AM!" she roared glaring at her father as she pulled herself up to her full height, "YOU MAY BE MY FATHER BY BLOOD, BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE MY FATHER! HOW DARE YOU EVEN THINK FOR A SECOND THAT YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO EVEN BE IN MY LIFE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, YOU GAVE THAT UP THE DAY YOU DISOWNED ME!"
He raised his hand to hit her and was stopped by her Aunt, "Don't you touch her Jose. This is my house and you are my guest, you would do well to remember that I raised her and took care of her."
"She is my daughter Suelita! She will do as I say," Jose snapped turning to his sister.
"No Jose. Angel's right, you gave up that privilege the day you decided that she was too much trouble for you. She's already apologized for being late and since this is the first time that it's happened I trust her to not let it happen again," she snapped back hands on her hips.
"This isn't over Angel."
"It's over, and the next time you see after you go back to your house, I'll have my own garage and then you can call me Diablo," Angel seethed shoving past him throwing her 140 pound self into his side as she raged like a hurricane down the hall into Han's room.