Pure Magic
Chapter 21 – Chance Encounter
He cursed to himself as he drove down the "wrong" side of the road throughout the New York City streets. Apparently American's drove on the opposite side of the road than the people of Japan and most of Europe and he found it to be quite frustrating. He kept having a strong urge to drive on the left side, where cars traveled opposite of him, but he didn't want to be roadkill, so he followed the American rules of the road and traveled down the right side.
He'd arrived at the La Guardia airport located in one of the five Burroughs of New York City; Queens. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea there were five Burroughs when he had arrived in New York. Since he'd lived in Japan his entire life, he didn't pay much attention to what lay beyond his own country because it didn't matter to him. He never believed he'd leave his country and how ironic it was, that he was now in another country and it was because he was chasing after the "love of his life", as Tomoyo put it.
He grit his teeth, growing more and more frustrated as he punched the horn of his rental vehicle as the cars in front of him suddenly came to a halt. New York traffic was worse than that in Tokyo, he thought, and according to a man he'd met on the long, 14 hour plane ride, afternoon hours were the worst time to drive through the streets. Of course, as luck would have it, it was just turning noon by the time the plane touched ground, so he found himself stuck in the most claustrophobic cluster of cars he'd ever been in.
The small, green compact car, sitting in front of his rental, jumped, and a small head popped up into view of the back window.
The young girl smiled at him from her seat and waved. Her hands were brown and her face was covered in a chocolate mess. Kurogane suppressed a snarl of disgust and chose to fiddle around with the many buttons and dials on the dashboard, turning the heater up to 75 degrees, and at the same time, learning how to turn on the radio. A woman screeched through the car speakers as she won a fashionable Louis Vuitton purse. Kurogane grunted as he turned the radio off, deciding he'd rather not have a headache.
What was it with women and purses? He remembered Tomoyo once telling him that it was a woman's life because it carried all the essentials. Essentials being lipstick in case you're about to kiss someone, lip balm when your lips crack, mascara if you have a sudden date, blush to add to your complexion, combs in the bunches for those windy days, napkins in case a mess is made, and a whole list of other things. Despite all the possible uses for each and every item in the bags, Kurogane still saw no need for them. He believed women had an unnatural fixation on those cowhides and Tomoyo was no exception. Even Souma, before she died, had well over thirty purses locked away in her room. All those purses are now in the loving care of Tomoyo, shoved away in the deepest, darkest depths of her closet, collecting dust.
A horn blared behind him.
Believing that the traffic was finally moving, he looked up, only to be faced with an ocean of cars still frozen in place. Gazing back towards the green car in front, he saw the small child smashing her entire face against the window; her nose pointed upward in a pigs snout and, as she pulled away, left an imprint of her mouth and nose with the chocolate residue, as well as a few snot bubbles, which, due to the gravitational pull, was now oozing down the window. Disgusting.
Kurogane let out a sigh and reached up with his left hand, rubbing his temples firmly in an attempt at quelling an oncoming headache.
The cars ahead of him finally moved and he flicked on his turn signal, changing into the left lane when he saw an opening. The car behind beeped just for the hell of it and Kurogane reached back to give him the one finger salute.
How he wished he could just be in Manhattan already.
After he'd collected his single black suitcase from the spinning machine at the airport, he'd quickly asked a few people wandering the outside, wondering if they knew where Ashura & Co. was located. Unfortunately, he'd spent fifteen minutes stumbling around like a fool and no one seemed to know where it was, probably because the people he'd asked were obviously foreigners, just as he was. Eventually, he'd asked a kind lady at the reception desk to do a quick Internet search for him and he found that he was just over an hours drive from the building, which wasn't located in Queens, but in the popular city of Manhattan.
He cursed Fai for being so elusive with his location in New York.
The car ahead of him braked quickly and Kurogane narrowly avoided a rear-end collision, slamming his foot on the brake pedal, scaring himself when the truck behind him almost collided with the rear bumper.
A startling revelation hit him after he slapped the horn and allowed a stream of curses to flood from his mouth. Not only did he had the worst headache of a lifetime, but he also had a newfound problem to add to the list of things he needed to see a therapist for...
Road Rage.
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He'd abandoned his car at a hotel parking lot on 57th street in Midtown Manhattan after driving aimlessly for half an hour.
He realized that the best chance he'd have of finding his blond idiot was by walking, not driving.
The traffic, no matter where he was in New York, was horrendous; cars backed up for miles and moved at a snails pace with horns blaring, people cursing from their rolled down windows, and finger signs in the dozens being flung out for everyone to see.
Walking, however, had its downsides as well. The air circulating around him was like touching ice, his nose was numb with a light shade of pink appearing at the tip, and his ears burned and stung on the inside and out. For the time being, he wished he had earmuffs, even if they made him look ridiculous. He briefly imagined Fai wearing earmuffs in the shape of cat ears before shaking his head and focusing his attention forward, just in time to avoid tripping over a young child who'd fallen and tripped on a raised portion of the sidewalk.
He cursed as he too, tripped over the raised edge.
Currently he was walking down one of the many streets nearby the theater district, which he wanted to avoid at all costs because he didn't want to get lost in the millions of people gallivanting through the streets, shopping to their hearts content. He just wanted to find a library or some place where he could have access to a computer with Internet. He needed to find the address of Ashura & Co. and see which part of Manhattan it was located; Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Greenwich Village, Lower East Side, the Financial District, or Midtown, where he was currently located.
A string of curses flowed from his mouth in a jumbled song as he realized he managed to get himself lost. Something he wanted to avoid doing because, for one, he couldn't read a map, two, he wanted to be in control of his position, and three, he just wanted to know where he was.
His red eyes darted from the left to the right and upward to gaze at the tops of the buildings that reached the skies and back down to the cement sidewalks, where he saw a dried piece of pink chewing gun awaiting a fool to step on it.
He made a quick left turn into a large building and found himself welcoming the warm heated room. He rubbed his hands together furiously to conduct heat before wandering around the store full of gadgets and technologies, wires and screws.
A computer store.
He sighed at the irony of the situation. He wanted computers and he got computers, unfortunately, they weren't ones that were currently accessible to the public. Instead of seeing full monitors with keyboards, there were hard-drives and disk drives, chips in the dozens and darkened glass pieces for the monitor screen; Computer parts.
Reaching into his front pocket, he pulled out his cell phone, dialing Tomoyo's number, and adding the extra numbers in when calling out of the country. He pressed the phone to his ear and waited. Not a single ring was heard, even after a minute of waiting, so he pulled the phone away from his ear and tried again.
Nothing.
It was then, that he remembered, cell phones were useless when they are brought out of the country they're originally from. He had to either buy a new one or call Tomoyo from a pay phone or call from the hotel room he'd got himself earlier on before he set out for the long walk. He chose the latter, stuffing his cell phone back into his pocket, waltzing out of the store and made a right.
It was going to be a very long day.
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Two hours of walking and he'd finally found a public library, which was, unfortunately, in the Theater District on 40th Street. Despite being on the street he wanted to avoid, he was pleased that he'd at least found what he was looking for.
Seated at a computer in the far right corner of the library, Kurogane did a quick search for Ashura & Co. Sadly, he realized there were more than one in Manhattan. There was one located in Midtown, where he currently was, but also one in the Financial District, the very bottom of Manhattan, plus another one just being built in Brooklyn, but thankfully he could cross that one off the list. No one was working there yet.
Now, the only problem he had was figuring out which building Fai was working at. He could call, but would they even tell him who worked where? It could be a violation of employee privacy if they gave away where a person worked, plus, they may keep such information confidential for employee protection. What if they had a violent spouse or ex-husband/wife? He could understand that, but if that were the case, then calling would be a waste of time. If he were to make a public appearance at the Ashura & Co, here in Midtown, then he could speak with some of the employees as they left for their lunch breaks, ask and see if Fai worked there. That should work.
He nodded to himself.
"My, aren't you handsome?" A sultry voice sauntered through his ears.
Kurogane turned his attention to the tall, thin, voluptuous woman who took a seat beside him, in front of a vacant monitor. Her long black hair hung around her shoulders lazily and her skin-tight red dress pushed her breasts upward, almost to the point where they would pop out at the neckline.
"What do you want?" Kurogane asked.
"Well, aren't you the charmer?" She smirked with her luscious red lips.
She leaned towards him and snaked her long, naked arm across his shoulders, landing her palm on the opposite side her breasts touched, raking her nails through his black leather jacket. She brought her lips to his left ear and whispered,
"Looking for a job?"
He shrugged her off with a grunt before turning his deep red rubies to her own black orbs. She crossed her legs before leaning her elbows on the edge of her knees, pillowing her chin on the backs of her hands, gazing at him through sly, cats eyes.
"I don't believe that's your business." He growled.
"So, Tough guy, you want to buy me a drink? I know a good place we can go."
"I'd rather not."
He turned his attention from the flirtatious woman and back to the bright computer monitor, scrolling down the list of websites for one that would possibly give him more information in order to find Fai. He felt her hand run up the side of his leg, barely touching, before it reached up to his shoulder once more.
"Look, lady, get your hands off me. I'm not interested." He snapped, turning his glare towards her 'innocent' expression, "I'm looking for someone, so back off!"
The woman remained undeterred, as though he hadn't said a word, however, she did nothing more to catch his attention. She grinned slyly before reaching into her black purse that sat on her lap, pulling out a little black book. No title graced the cover.
"And who might you be looking for?" She asked, voice husky.
"Mind your own business."
"Hm. I don't believe I've met someone by that name before."
He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair, combing out a few small knots, before letting his arm drop heavily onto his lap, "What do you want?"
"To help. You're a foreigner, are you not?"
She let her eyes travel up and down his figure, her gaze stopping to observe the leather jacket he wore, before staring at the top of his head. Her gaze was that of a predator and Kurogane didn't like it one bit. He was no ones prey.
"Now you want to help me? I thought your first intention was to seduce me." A deep low growl escaped through his clenched teeth, his diaphragm vibrating with it.
"It was, however, I realize you're not interested."
"Yeah? What makes you say that?" His voice was laced with sarcasm.
"Who do you have business with at Ashura & Co.?" She asked, voice serious, all flirtation gone.
"What does it matter to you who I've got business with?"
"It could be the fact that I work there."
That caught his attention.
He looked up, watching her eyes for any sign of deception. When he saw none, he nodded slightly, giving her his full attention, which was exactly what she wanted in the first place. He saw the small smirk that formed when his eyes met hers.
"You work here in Midtown, right?" He asked.
"Yes." She nodded.
"Do you know Fai D. Flowright?"
"Rings a bell. Why do you ask?"
"I need to find him."
"State your business." She ground out in a voice that led no room for question.
"My business is my own."
He leaned back in his chair, resting his back against the hard cushion. His arms crossed in front of his chest as he stared her down, not allowing himself to blink. She seemed to understand the little game he was playing and did the same. Not a single blink, even as she spoke.
"Then I cannot help you."
He growled.
She smiled.
"Fine!" He gave in, "I need to speak with him."
"About?"
"None of your damn business."
"Whatever business he has with you is with me as well."
"How so?" He challenged.
"I believe this is where I say, 'none of your damn business'." She mimicked.
Kurogane pushed his chair backwards, turning back to the computer and closing down the sites he was visiting, deleting the history of his searches, before he stood up from his seat. He walked around the woman, finding her to be a complete annoyance, but he didn't make it far when a hand curled around his elbow and stopped his retreat.
"Are you from Japan?" The woman asked, almost knowingly.
He looked back, glaring down at her hand before trailing his eyes to her face, "Yes."
He watched as her eyes widened, almost as though as mystery in her mind was solved, before those eyes narrowed in deep concentration. She smiled, closing her eyes a moment, before allowing them to gaze deeply into his own irises.
"You wouldn't happen to be Kuro-bu, would you?"
Kurogane's eyes widened at the surprise he'd been given, but they narrowed instantly and his mouth turned down in a scowl.
"What has that idiot said about me!?"
"Not much, actually." She smirked, "But enough for me to know."
"Who are you?"
"Yuuko Ichihara."
"Kurogane." He introduced.
"Last name?"
"None of your damn business."
She released his elbow with a finality before standing up from her seat, securing her purse strap on her left shoulder. She stood a a few inches shorter than Kurogane himself, but she was definitely taller than Fai, even with the two inch heels she wore on her feet.
"Buy me a drink, Kurogane?" She asked, the flirtatious tone returning to her speech.
"I'll get a drink with you, but I can't promise I'll pay."
"Oh?"
Her lips wormed their way into a small, knowing smirk.
"I've got to be satisfied with the information you give me or I won't be paying for your drink."
"You're not as dumb as you look." She complimented.
Taking no offense, he stepped forward, "Do we have a Deal?"
She smiled.
"We have a deal."
I hope you've enjoyed Chapter 21!!
R&R Please!