Disclaimer: I can never own the rights of Tokyo Revenger. I only want to stretch out and play with his plot for a little bit(lies...)!
Warnings: I thinks this chapter is somewhat wholesome. Slight hinting, to complicated family problems go brrrr~
Drinking coffee as I make Arai suffer.
ψ(._. )ψ(._. )
"So about the nickname…" Shinichiro continues, brushing off any sense of unease from the earlier mention of my sunglasses gone M.I.A.
"Mn, go on," I guided him, lightly tapping my foot against the stony pavement.
"I wasn't the one that thought of it. Wakasa, you know, the lean blond guy who was standing right beside me? Yeah, he just blurted it out of nowhere, when he saw you walking towards us,"
I nodded my head, "Yep, I'm familiar with him, the dude with the pretty lashes and he has a fluffy hair-do. But the question is, why did he give me that nickname?"
"Don't get mad, but then, Waka made a remark on how…" And just when I thought I'd get the answer, Shinichiro hesitates and his eyes avert from meeting my gaze.
Shinichiro's shoulders drooped and his neck tucked into his chest as his head cast downwards. Judging by the unpleasant look, I take it that he was aware that what he was about to say might generate a bad response from me.
Considering that being called a 'kitty' isn't so bad of an insult or even much of an insult in the first place, and that I hadn't decided to throw hands at him, I don't see why he's being so reluctant on telling me how I became known for that nickname.
Kami, he probably thinks I'd kick up a fuss once the truth gets out.
Every passing second he wastes, I quickened my hitting against the hard cobblestone floor which I know can get irritable.
It's to get a point across since he's too caught up, blankly staring at the onigiri in one hand and it didn't look like he was about to eat it anytime soon.
"Before I tell you…" He swallowed hard as if he was going to confront a difficult challenge.
"Can you please stop staring at me like you're about to chow me down?! I swear! I'm not even going to be that appetising!" Shinichiro takes off screeching, generally afraid that I'd actually devour him whole.
I'm left baffled and with wide eyes as I bite back the urge to fall on my back and start howling at the sheer logic of his statement.
It got me thinking about what happened to the young man professing his love shamelessly to that girl earlier. Where had that courage gone to?
Though he was not entirely wrong, I am sort of getting hungry. And an onigiri can only do so much to fill up the gap that is my appetite.
Should I terrify him some more? Or assure him I won't get offended… much?
Oh, well… There was one way to go about this.
"Sadly, you're not the kind of meat I'd be into. And nevermind that, go and spill it! Do I need to go and find Wakasa, and interrogate him about such a cute nickname?" A cheshire grin forms, sending mixed signals to Shinichiro.
Good, I intended it to.
"Fine…" He finally gives up the futile stalling. "You're, you are, Wakasa said you were really short! Mind you, these were his exact words, that you look like a maniac with the unruly orange hair! It's him! Imaushi Wakasa, who said it, and NOT me. I'm sorry if he offended you but it was at the spur of the moment and I know it's-"
My tongue made a clicked sound and he instinctively screwed his mouth shut.
I shaked my head then brought it to my rear, briefly closing my eyes.
Wakasa sounds like Aoi, she doesn't like the choice of my hair colour either.
A condescending smirk finds its place across my lips.
"Hmm, it isn't the first time I've heard that. I thought it was something way worse. Turns out, it's just a comment about my height and appearance. Nope, not offended at all here," I gave him a thumbs up to show him I wasn't bothered.
"Wait, you're seriously not mad?" He peeps, surprised that he wasn't receiving any hostility.
I gave him a reassuring look with the lazy smirk still intact. "I get that often actually. Plus, you're not Sute. If anybody else made the same comment, I wouldn't mind. But man, that girl. If it's her, I'm somehow provoked to strike back, you know?" At the thought of it, I channelled a bit of rage to a clenching fist, the one holding the rose and almost broke the stem of the wild flower.
"Ah," He lowers his neck, huffing out a sigh of relief, probably reminiscing his own set of friends that would tease him. "Well then, Takeomi pointed out you were the leader after Wakasa unintentionally said that. I was shocked, and it caught Wakasa off-guard to consider that the Lioness's leader was, um, going to be your height…"
I flaunted my hand at him, unbothered in the slightest. "Eh, I didn't think much when I saw you either. I thought to myself, 'how can this scrawny man with a hairstyle like that be in charge of the mighty Black Dragons?' "
"Haha, alright, I deserved that," He acknowledged, pointing to me with a goofy grin.
It takes a moment for him to completely digest what I've said.
And when he did, Shinichiro shot up, with a straightened back and in stiff movements, slowly turned to face me.
"You. Think. My. Hairstyle. Is. Cool?" The raven haired boy said as if he were a robot.
Okay, so he probably misinterpreted my dissings.
He brought one hand up and shaped it into a ball. Swinging it forward, however, mid-way redirecting its motion to his face.
There came a solid clash, akin to the sound of thick slabs of mochi being pummelled.
I'm not sure why he did that but I subconsciously scooted away from him.
He quickly covered the spot with the same hand from his intended self-harm.
"I didn't say that," I justified.
"But you kinda did. As I recalled, you said something along the lines of, 'it suits you.' You meant my hair, right? You think my hairstyle is cool, don't cha?" He was so sure that he even started to wiggle his brows.
"No wonder that girl rejected you. You assume on what she thought of you. You're quite narcissistic, Shin-chan," I pointed out, putting a dent in his ego when I stated the reason for his rejection(s?).
It was probably just me hallucinating but I heard a puppy's whimper come out from him as he settled back into his seat.
"Self-love is important but not to the extent that it makes you seem too much of a narcissist. I can guarantee you that the ladies won't like that kind of attitude," I started.
(once again, I am a hypocrite for telling him these things that I myself would do. But will he ever find out? Nope!)
It was finally time to begin the short lesson about 'wooing women.' I'm mentally prepared for all the nitty-gritty aspects I'll have to go through with this fella who was a hopeless case in that particular field.
But to be honest, most of what I'm about to say weren't originally to my own knowledge. In fact, my own twin sister was the one that made a hardcopy list on 'How to get to know a girl,' so I'm remembering whatever she'd written on that list.
She brought up the list to me, for no apparent reason one day. It was out of the blue, during a conversation about our irksome male classmates. I still don't get how we got from that to talking about the 'how to get to know a girl' list.
At the time, she herself was giving out advice to assist her guy friends in their endeavours at 'wooing women'. I didn't believe that such a list would even be proven useful but things happen, and I sure as hell won't know how to ask a girl out with romantic pursuits if it's not playful flirtings.
Despite what they all say about me, I'm only ever casual with the ladies as an ally of the same gender and friend!
"Please, don't call me Shin-chan, it sounds weird coming from you," Shinichiro murmured. However, growing cocky he added to his defence. "But you did admit to liking the way I styled my hair,"
His overconfidence is gnawing at me.
"There you go again, I didn't even specify that it's your hair,"
I mentally sighed. This young man right here, is going to need a lot of help if he ever gets to have a girlfriend.
It's okay to be here, right?
I was a foreign entity in the present atmosphere.
Etching to the very centre core of my being as my presence disrupts the flow of everything that was natural within the room.
In the living room that was twice the size of my entire apartment home, I sat on the wooden frame sofa as my duffle bag rested next to my bare feet, brushing against the floor.
I'm not even sure if Shinichiro still has the sunglasses but he stubbornly insists that it's somewhere lying around in his bedroom.
I'll hold him to his words, so I waited in the hopes that he would be able to recover them.
Oh, my precious cool shades…
From the nature park to the current household, the distance between them was considerably close.
Now, I'm no architect like my older sister but I am left absolutely astonished by the traditional styled house (minka) that the leader of Black Dragon resides in.
As you walk in the compound, from the entrance you would be greeted by the wooden brown torri with the headings, "Sano dojo," in kanji engraved on it.
From the title, you can also tell that the household also encompasses an old-fashioned dojo. On my way to the living room, I had taken a brief look into the dojo and it seems, training for tiny people inside was still on-going.
Though the martial art that is being taught here is different from what I went through for training a few hours ago.
The minka was able to maintain its historical features, albeit with a keen eye, you would see that there was some modern adaptation incorporated into the well-aged home, so it isn't too far behind in modern technology.
For example, a heater was built into the thin wall, then there was also a standing fan near the sliding door, and right in front of me, a huge 4-dimension box that when switched on, reveals a brightly lit screen of entertainment known as the television: All of which are daily electrical appliances.
A sudden tingle wrapped around my neck, and I was attentive to the sensation coming from behind me. However, it was not a tangible touch.
It made my being here feel even more out-of-place as someone was probably watching me.
I adjusted my head slightly to catch a glimpse of the stranger.
"Eek!" There let out a small shriek in the voice of a child.
The transparent sliding door outlines a petite shadowy figure and I was met with the gaze of a little girl who was staring back at me.
Churning up a smile, I raised a hand up at eye level and waved to the little girl peeking through the slit of the shoji boards.
However, as soon as I made the small gesture, she hurriedly scampered away from my line of view.
"And, there goes another one," I muttered under my breath.
I guess no matter what I do, I'll always have a bad affinity with children.
Maybe that's why I don't get along too well with my own younger sisters. Or it could be their plain annoying personalities.
My ears perk up to the sound of a male's chuckle from a distant corner.
"Haha… That was my little sister, Emma. She's a shy one," Shinichiro said, coming out from his hiding.
"Noted. And how sure are you, if it isn't because I scared her?"
"Nah, she's always like that when we have guests around. Wait! You're not gonna ask about why her name is…" He squirmed about for a bit as he fidgetted his long digits.
"On, why does her name sound like a foreign? Not at all, but it seems like you want me to ask,"
The story behind the young girl's naming does spark some curiosity.
That, I won't deny.
His sister doesn't really look like him at all except, their face shape. It is the only thing that I can pick up as a small resemblance. So far, I mean, I can't be the judge of it if I don't take a closer look.
Nevertheless, I could be very wrong.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to let someone know…" He said.
I shaked my head. "Stop right there buddy, you don't just tell things like this, so easily to someone you only know little about,"
"What do you mean?" He gave me this look of confusion, wondering what I was rambling on about.
I mentally sighed. "Hah, you see here, Shin-chan, there's this one thing, I'd like you to know about, since we're both gang leaders. When I feel like I'm about to dawdle on an iffy subject, I… I don't really want to talk about it. Please, don't make me talk about it.
"Things like personal family matters or people you want to rant about is something I'd stir clear from, since I want to stay in the neutral zone. There'll also be a chain effect if I get too entangled in it, that's when it becomes a huge problem. It's a problem I really wanted to avoid.
"One thing can lead to another, and that's when we unintentionally start a war for ourselves. Besides, I don't want to delve into matters that don't directly concern me or if it's with people I don't know all that well either,"
I'd very much focus on other things.
Shinichiro brings his hands up and clasps them together, with his eyes fixated to the floor. Though he seemed hurt, the silver lining was that he now understands the boundary that I've set so that he could not cross.
"Ack! Apologies," He nodded. "I get you, but maybe I thought you'd be curious and a little bothered by it, cause others thought of the same thing,"
"Curious, but not bothered,"
Preferably, I'd like to stay on the fence and accept things as they are, with or without knowing. (most of the time)
"Ehem!" I forced a cough. "Anyways, going back to the reason that brought me here… I don't see my sunglasses. Got them tucked away on you somewhere?"
And the next thing I knew, the leader of Black Dragon had vanished from my sight.
Woosh!
That is until instead of looking up, I had to look down, and I realised that he'd dropped to his knees as his hands clenched above his thighs with his head ducked down to the floor.
I had to blink my eyes several times to register the image that had presented itself to me. Shinichiro was in seiza position, and I don't know if he was tired from standing or the fact that he might want to start bawling his eyes out.
"I lost it… Pleasedon'tkillmeIdon'twanttostartawarbetweenLionessandBlackDragon!" He issued an entire sentence of words conjoined without a single pause, leaving him to take in large gasps for air.
"Slow down, you'd actually die if you don't breathe,"
That was not meant to be a threat but he literally went as far as to beg for forgiveness.
No shit, I saw this coming.
Shinichiro lost it. My sunglasses.
All the clues were already laid out.
From a mile away I always had expected that this would be his answer.
But screw that!
Those glasses were very, very, very important to me.
I looked really awesome in them!
So badass!
Chewing my inner cheek, on a wet and soft flesh helps me ruminate on what to do with the current predicament. My eyes trail over to Shinichiro who was still seated in seiza with a face moulded into guilt, though the real culprit who was at fault here was me.
But I wasn't going to let him know that.
Grabbing my duffle bag, I sling it over my right shoulder and proceeded walking to the shoji with no intention of explaining my action. My hand reaches for the handle yet, through some unexplained phenomenon, the door began to slide open by itself.
The stunning revelation almost left me in shock… I thought I had awakened telekinetic power out of pure annoyance, until I saw an older man who was the cause of the pulling force that slid the shoji open.
Our eyes locked for a long second, and throughout that second, I stoned.
"Good heavens! I don't believe it. Shin-chan, you actually brought a girl home?! And what are you doing on the floor?" The older man bellowed in disbelief to Shinichiro.
Chining up, Shinichiro looks at the older man and in a split second his face shifts from the colour of pale snow of his skin, to a deep reddish hue.
"That's her…" I heard a familiar little girl's voice as she bobs her head from behind the older man's back.
"Aniki really brought a girl home, this time?! Are you sure this isn't like last time when Wakasa had to be disguised as a girl so that he could show-off?" Interjected a younger boy with blond hair with a face that greatly resembles Shinichiro.
And why am I not even surprised to hear about that one bit.
"First of all," He gets up from the ground, dusting himself off the access dirt. "I can score a girlfriend if I wanted to. When I want to, Manjiro,"
I highly doubt that.
I laughed at that, not bothering to hide the expression as I almost got tearful over the lie.
"So is she the one you wanna brag about?" The blond boy shoots back, unapologetically to his brother.
I commend Shinichiro for exercising self-control and patience with his brother because if it's up to me, let's just say, I'd be the kind to exercise a lot of tough love upon my siblings.
Shinichiro scoffs at his younger brother. "Pfft, no. She's just an acquaintance of mine,"
"Aha! I knew it! She isn't your girlfriend! You're a loser who's going to die alone, hahaha~"
"Hah! The day you get a girlfriend is the day I kicked the bucket," The older man joins in and nods his head in agreement, adding on to the spunked remark from his younger grandson.
That's harsh to hear, coming out of a child's and grandparent's mouth.
Well, like grandfather, like grandson, as they say, they're both alike, in a sense when it comes to putting a dent in Shinichiro's pride.
I'm convinced that Emma is the epitome of what you'd call a pure and innocent child in the family. She had these big cutesy round honey gold-colored eyes shimmering with hope, and a buttoned nose that was so small the size of half my thumb(I want to pinch her small nose so badly!). Her smooth blond hair is somewhat curled and done up into a bouncy high ponytail.
In comparison, the punk standing right beside her had glazed dark eyes like their older brother, which reflected a cold and distant gaze. He too was a blonde but the colour of his hair was much more of a lighter shade then Emma's and he styles his hair similar to his older brother which was short and unkempt.
Seeing as how both of the kids wore a discoloured gi attire, it would seem like they had just gotten out from training at the dojo.
"Then who is she?" Emma crooned.
I was tempted to reply with, 'a cat,' for the fun of it but I feel that joking around with the kid was a really bad idea and possibly would get me in trouble.
The last thing I want is to emotionally scar Shinichiro's little sister with my sarcasm and then have the entirety of Black Dragon after me and for the godforsaken bounty on my head.
"My name's Hinode Araya. I'm here to retrieve something of mine only to learn that Shinichiro had misplaced it. Losing probably. And bravo to that by the way!" I clapped loudly, as the sole person while all attention was turned to Shinichiro.
Shinichiro was not amused.
Stopping in my applause, I made my hands into finger guns and pointed to the Sanos as I whistled. " And then, I was about to leave… So yeah,"
Awkward silence fills the air of the spacious living room, as none of the humans dared to continue from my very woeful introduction. All that I'm hearing is the sound of creaking crickets and the whirling made by the fan.
Finally, a saviour comes to the rescue and revives the almost dead conversation, but at the cost of nitpicking on his pitiful older brother. "Shin-ni, you suck. You know that?"
"Oh, shut up, Manjirou! It's just sunglasses!" Shinichiro explains but his younger brother was having none of that.
"I feel hurt that you think they're just sunglasses," I faked a sniffle, rubbing my nose with the sleeve of my bomber jacket.
"See! Aniki, you're just the worst!" The boy exaggerates, while Emma giggles.
As amusing as it was to watch their whole family banter, I really must get going.
Well, technically it wasn't so much of a must since I had nothing pending to do later on, other than catching some sleep after a long bath but it's more leaning to a need.
The feeling of displacement in this place is strong and nauseating.
It was once a feeling of warmth and wholesomeness that I'd craved. However, over time it's evolved into something unattainable, out of reach, and painful to look or feel.
It's something I see the Sano's have, and it makes me envy them for it.
Damn it! It seems the world just doesn't want me to catch a break on how much I screwed up in making that decision just by looking at the happy family.
I really needed to leave this place.
I opened my mouth. "Since there's nothing else, I think I'll take my-"
But right before I could get all the words out, I was interrupted.
"Sunglasses, sunglasses, sunglasses…" The older Sano chanted as if it were a mantra, furrowing his eyebrows as if deep in thought.
He then jolted.
"Oh! I remember now. My irresponsible grandson over here had left it on the dining table. If I am not mistaken, I placed it somewhere inside the warehouse there, with the motorcycle,"
"Kami, bless your soul!" I cried out in joy, ignoring the gloom I had hung over me with the good news. I lean in forward for a slight bow to show gratitude. "Thank you! It means so much to me,"
Marching to the tall young man in the room, I grabbed Shinichiro by the arm and nudged him to lead the way.
"Before you two go off,"
I stopped.
"May I inquire on how Hinode-san is acquainted with my grandson?"
Kami, the question I had very much wanted to avoid came up.
What am I even supposed to say?
I can't casually just drop the bomb on him and say that I was involved in a gang, can I?
There are kids present!
I really don't want to answer that question but if I must-
"Gang matters. I had to oversee Arai's match against another rival gang. From there, we coincidentally met an hour ago," Shinichiro said, displaying great nonchalance.
It automatically causes my mind to spin violently.
For a while, my head goes blank and turns into a white screen, processing the anti-climatic way he went about making the opened book declaration that was meant to be kept a secret.
He wasn't supposed to say that!
As if witnessing my groundwork in action wasn't enough, I think sitting him for one of my throws would give him an eye-opener and a good reason to not piss me off.
You will never be able to gauge how mortified I was at that point in time.
I looked at the kids, expecting their horrified looks. However, instead I was plenty disturbed to find the relaxed muscles on their small faces. In fact, they were astonished and turned to me with admiration showing in their bright eyes.
My sights darted to the older man standing beside, who nodded thoughtfully without a hint of disappointment or whatsoever.
There was judgement.
No, it looked as if he had expected this.
"Hmm, not so surprising. I don't expect a girl his age to actually be acquainted with my grandson through normal circumstances,"
Shinichiro was terrible around women. He can't talk to them with direct eye-contact without getting so easily flustered.
That's pretty much self-explanatory. (I think?)
I can see the connection to why he says so. But it also means he's fully aware of Shinichiro's status as a gang leader and… he's okay with it.
Gosh, I hate it here.
It's making me despise myself even more than I already have.
On our brief journey to the warehouse I had made it clear that I refused to speak despite his great efforts, Shinichiro couldn't get me to budge and throughout the short walk, it was filled with an excruciating silence that pained him even more then it did me as tries his best to make small talk.
Resulting in me, giving him the cold shoulder, so he gives up halfway through and the awkwardness ensues.
"We're here at last…" I hear Shinichiro declaring more to himself than to me.
He invited me into his garage and I complied.
Once we were inside the storage room, I spilled. "You know, I'm incredibly pissed at you," I leaned against a wall.
Shinichiro a few feet away from where I stood, turns to look at me and brings a hand to his neck. "Well, I know you're mad because of what I've said earlier… But why?"
He's face generally shows concern, and it gets me worked up.
"JUST find the sunglasses…." I snapped back and he put his hands up defensively.
"Alright. Alright. Alright. I get, it's an iffy subject,"
And off he went to look around for the shades and I stayed leaning on the wall, in deep thought.
I am not ashamed of being a gang leader, let that sink in.
But he cannot just announce that fact when I'm off-duty without my permission. I have a personal life outside of that life which I've worked so hard not to clash with my commitments as leader of Lioness.
If the two intertwined, then I'd have further complications to deal with and my personal life would get mixed in with gang matters that could potentially become dangerous.
As a result, I get my loved ones involved in something serious just because I wasn't being cautious enough.
The former leader of Lioness, my own twin sister, made a huge slip-up once and everything came crashing down on her. It affected her so much that she was pushed to go overseas to safe-face.
I didn't want history to repeat itself.
(Well, it was also because she had a special scholarship overseas. Lucky…)
"Oi, Arai I found it,"
As soon as I heard the voice, I bolted into the direction that I heard him come from.
"Where's it?" I hastily demanded.
"Slow down there, kitty-"
I hissed.
"Damn it! What I meant was, 'Arai' !" He corrected himself as he smacked his head.
Shinichiro turned to me with eyes strained and warry as he pressed his lips into a line. "Kami, you know you've always terrified me." He meekly admitted, shivering as he said so.
Taking a deep breath in, and breath out, I released the unnecessary bottled up stresses I had consciously given myself. "Um, sorry about that…"
That explains all the frightened expressions I've been receiving from him. Everything, from his first reaction at the mention of my precious shades to the reluctance for the fear of making me even more furious at the reason behind the nickname 'Wild Kitten,' that I was alias with.
I should lighten the mood.
"Well, that is the many impressions people would have about me. Being scared, overwhelmed, might I add a tad egotistical but not even close to your level of ego-ness, and I'm definitely charming," I listed as I pulled out my fingers to elicit each point.
Shinichiro scoffed. "Sometimes, I wonder if you're Manjirou's incarnate within a girl's body. Just thinking about it gives me the chills,"
"Don't compare me to that brat. I'm a million times better than that punk in so many ways!"
"I see no difference. You both act childish, are good at fighting, AND but most of all, tch, you two just love making me feel pathetic about myself!"
I gave a low hum in response, playfully tossing my head left-to-right. "On the contrary, can your little brother give you such concrete advice on how to woo women like, your's truly?"
Courtesy of my twin sister's 'How to get to know a girl' list. (trademark)
"And I don't like it when you say I'm, 'good at fighting.' I'm not a prodigy,"
I'll have to stop him right there.
I'm not naturally gifted in it. I'm not like Sute who was the main cause of most of my beat downs during sparring sessions. I've grind my body half-way almost to the brink of death, enduring and enduring so much to get to the level where I currently stand.
And it's still not enough…
"Hmm? Well, I think you were pretty skilled during your match against Gyuki. And the way you handled the Gyuki's representative was very professional,"
My eyeballs would have definitely popped out of its embedded sockets and all because of a small genuine compliment.
I had opened my eyes, so wide that it began to sting.
I don't know how to take it.
Head empty, my lips twitched and I blink my eyes.
"Dududududududududududu-!"
CRAP
Before I knew it, I was singing the opening of doraemon.
"-Pepepepepepepe-"
Shinichiro looked perplexed.
"Arai, are you seriously singing the opening of doraemon?!"
Being the bigger nuisance here, I can't find myself to stop singing the ever-so catchy theme song, so I carried on despite his plea. "Duhdududududu-"
Well, we're going to be here for a while.
Shinchiro really tried. He really did try his best to stop me but I prevailed and sang the off-tuned ballad until I was left tired at exhausting my vocal chords for the kiddy show's theme song.
So to sum up that horrible experience, I've finally retrieved my hippie shades.
As it stands, I'm wearing them now.
With the duffle bag sling over my right shoulder, I was ready to leave the household. The whole Sano family, with the exception of Emma, stood at the gate for a farewell for me.
I kind of felt quite valued if they had to go out of their way for this small gesture.
"Thank you very much for helping me find my stuff," I said to the older man, once again leaning my head forward to show gratitude.
"Not at all, Hinode-san. It was a pleasure to have met you as now I'm well assured that my useless grandson isn't just goofing around with his gang,"
"Gramps!" Shinichiro groaned, annoyed at his grandfather's prodings.
There it is again.
The acceptance for something that's usually frowned upon.
But a nagging thought tells me that this isn't just a normal happy family.
If they allowed Shinchiro to be a gang leader and the fact they didn't judge me for being the same, I'd take a huge guess that something worse had occurred to them before.
"Hah— Please, call me by my given name, or 'Arai' is just as fine," I politely asked.
Like it or not, I had to force a smile. Though my eyes couldn't quite follow the expression I was making.
Calling me by my family name only adds more salt to rub into the wound.
"Then Araya-chan, if I'm not mistaken," The older Sano continues. I nodded my head, letting him know he got my name right. "Do you live nearby?"
A peculiar question, but I'll have to give an honest answer.
"I'm afraid not. I live in the Tsukishima district, and I usually go here and there by train. I only come here for special training every once a week,"
"My goodness, that's really far from Shibuya. Araya-chan, you certainly are a hard worker unlike my good-for-nothing grandson," He hits hard onto said grandson's back, and Shinichiro doesn't appreciate it.
"Ugh! What was that for?" Shinichiro squeaked.
"For once, make yourself a gentleman and accompany this young lady home,"
I chuckled. "That wouldn't be necessary. I'm used to going home on my own,"
The kid points to me. "Shin-ni, you really are useless if you're not needed," Manjirou sniggered, showing a taunting smirk.
"Fine, I'll do it, if it'll get you to shut up," Shinichiro says to his irksome younger brother.
But Manjirou could care less and laughs heartily..
I clapped my hands together to gather their attention. "Then that settles it. Thank you for having me here," I gave a final bow. "And Shinichiro, keep up if you're going to walk me to the train station,"
"Goodbye," I cheekily smiled to myself and immediately turned my back and started to briskly walk.
With the sunglasses on, the swagger mode was activated.
I really wanted to rid myself of this cheery place.
"Keep up," I yelled at Shinichiro who was trekking a couple of metres behind me.
"Gosh, you're just a fast walker," He stated, sounding tired.
"Excuses. A side note, work on your stamina. It'll help you in a lot of ways. In the future you'll thank me,"
"Huh? You mean in a fight?"
"Well, I wasn't going for that particular benefit, but you could say so, loverboy,"
I paused in my step, so as to let Shinichiro catch up.
What a slow walker.
"You're still gonna call me that?"
"Why not? It has a nice ring to it. Or would you rather prefer I call you, Shin-chan instead?"
"Oh KAmi! Please, no. Anything other than those two. It's so embarrassing,"
Deciding on the right titles was hard to come by, but I was a pro for such things. As I stroked my chin in deep contemplation, I thought long and hard of the Black Dragon leader's nickname as a sort of revenge for my own rather cute 'wild kitty'-now renowned alias.
There were a lot of things to consider, that being; personality, age, individuality, and or including, but not limited to, what the individual was known for.
Then the epiphany descends upon my overly twisted mind.
"How about a 'Lizard,' eh?" I smirked.
NOTES_
Arai has a lot of issues going on in her personal life, particularly with her family that's why she lives by herself in the apartment. She supports herself by taking on numerous jobs. So, we'll see more of that in the future.
Thank you very much for the reviews and views for this fanfic! It REALLY means so much! It's a joy to read them all as it motivates me to keep on writing, I you love guys so much! Keep the reviews coming, I wanna know your thought's so I can improve my writing!
I give free kisses so muah, muah muah! (○` 3′○)
Also, to clarify Cloudyskyhunt, yes, Arai along with Sute does have experience with martial arts. Though, I won't say what martial art it was that I vaguely mention in this chapter. CHEERS, to the person who can tell what martial art it was!
Happy (Late) New Year!
So things happen and the next chapter will take longer then 1 month before I can upload. But I swear it won't take more then 2 months to publish the next chapter. Ah almost forgot to mention, I do post a small comic strip in Wattpad and drawings about 'The wild kitten and lizard,' and I'll mostly post my art there, about this fanfic so feel free to check it out!
(Wattpad user is on bio)
