Playing Games

Author's note: hmm, it's been over a month since I've touched this story, but I decided to add another chapter anyway. Oh well, hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 2

"Where the hell were you?"

I closed the door behind me and twisted the lock. Walking calmly to the couch in the living room, I sank into it obliviously.

"Answer me, damn you!" she screeched.

I reached for the remote control on the glass table in front of me and turned on the hi-fi. New Age music wafted gently from the speakers, filling the room with sound.

Fuuko stomped to the hi-fi and viscously turned it off. Her large curls bounced gently as she swayed in the too-tight miniskirt; even in her tantrum, she remembered to take deep breaths and her blouse fairly burst at the seams. Stalking towards me, she grabbed me by collar.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

I rolled my eyes and ignored her. Foolish woman, when would she get the hint that I did not and would not ever care for her?

"What is this?" she asked, pulling my shirt aside to reveal the purple bruise on my collarbone. "Who was she?" she demanded angrily, "Tell me!"

"It's none of your business." I said coldly, pulling my jacket back into place. I tried to push her away from me but she would not budge.

"Like hell it isn't," she said. Pushing her face into mine, she tried to force a kiss on my lips. When I didn't respond, she moved back in frustration and started pounding my chest with her fists.

"I love you Tokiya," she cried, "Why can't you give me a chance?"

"I did." I said, my voice a monotone, "You gave it up when you chose Raiha."

Two bodies intertwined on the couch. Moans reverberating through the house. Shock as I opened the door to my house to find…

"I already said it was nothing," she said, "we were drunk and…"

"In the middle of the afternoon?" I cut her off abruptly, we had been through this discussion before, "Give it up Fuuko, it's over."

I pushed her off and strode down the corridor into my room, shutting the door to her rants and pleas. I leant against it and slid slowly down towards the floor. Rubbing absently at the teardrop mark on my left shoulder, I tried to digest the previous night's revelations, but what filled my thought were a pair of glowing amber eyes flecked with gold…

~

The chair scraped noisily against the floor, the dissonant sound grating in the chic ambiance of the bar. Recca coughed uncomfortably and sat down before me.

"Tokiya-san…" he began hesitantly.

"If it's about her, I don't want to hear anything." I said.

"But…Fuuko-chan…if you would just give her a chance. She really loves you."

I stared at him incredulously. "Is that what you think?" I asked, "If Fuuko has really loved anyone but herself in her entire life, I'd shatter the Ensui."

Recca stared back, shocked at the anger in my voice. Relenting slightly, I settled back into my seat and said, "Perhaps she thinks she loves me. Believe me, she'll get over it."

"Still…" he insisted.

A hand on his shoulder made him look up. Yanagi lowered her head and whispered in his ear, "Leave now, I'll handle this."

Recca nodded readily and got up, more than eager to be without my company when I was in such strange temper. Yanagi slid into the vacant chair, and looked at me thoughtfully.

Finally, she leant forward and gently patted one of my hands.

"I won't force you do to do anything you don't want to," she said.

I smiled at her and relaxed muscles I hadn't even known were tense.

"Thank you." I said, knowing that if she had asked me for the moon, I would have been powerless to resist her.

"Perhaps a week ago, or maybe even yesterday, I would have asked you to give Fuuko-san a chance, but now…" she drummed her fingers on the tabletop, her expression changing to one of puzzlement. "Who is it?" she asked.

I blinked, thrown by the non-sequitor. "Who's what?" I asked intelligently.

"The person you're in love with." she replied.

"What?!" I rose from my seat in one smooth motion. At the reproachful glances of other patrons, I lowered my volume and said, "I'm not in love with anybody."

Yanagi raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "If you say so."

"But I'm not." I insisted, the denial sounding weak even to my own ears.

I cursed the girl for her empathy even as my mind raced with the words that had just been said. I didn't love him, I couldn't, and yet…

The feel of his arms around me…

Silken lips on my skin…

I had never felt so safe, so secure…

So loved.

Flinging my coat over my shoulders, I half-ran out of the bar, thoughts I didn't want to think running through my head.

~

The shock of cold air in my face made me pause, but it didn't do anything for my confused thoughts. Striding briskly down the concrete pavement, I let my feet lead me where they would.

I seemed have walked for hours; after passing several deserted warehouses in the dead of night, I realised that I was absolutely, wonderfully lost.

"Brilliant," I muttered to myself, trying to find my bearings, but at three a.m. in the morning, one large whitewashed building looked very much like any other.

Suddenly, the presence of another intruded itself on my consciousness. Spinning around, I scrutinized the dark around me, drawing the Ensui as I did so.

My careful gaze met with that of glowing yellow-green, as a startled calico raced across my path. Sheathing my blade, I laughed aloud at my foolishness, the sound strangely huge in the surrounding emptiness. Really, who had I thought it would be?

Who had I hoped it would be?

"Were you looking for me?" A shadow detached itself from the darkness of an unlit alley, a small smile its only discernible feature in the night.

I froze at the sound of that familiar voice, my hand halfway to the Ensui.

"What do you want?" I asked, surprised at the calm in my voice, one that belied the slight tremor in my hands.

He walked towards me, and I took an involuntary step back. He paused, and held out empty palms in a gesture of peace.

"I just want to talk," he said.

"I have nothing to say to you." I replied.

He closed the distance between us then, and laid a cold hand on my cheek. I flinched, and tried to draw away, but he caught my wrist and held me fast.

"Oh, but I think you do," he said laughingly, his breath a warm whisper in my ear. "Tell me," he continued, "at this very moment, what do you want most?"

"For Yanagi to be safe," I answered without hesitation.

"What price would you pay to keep her safe?" he asked, and though his tone was still amused, there was an undercurrent of something else running just beneath his words. As he spoke, he moved his mouth down my neck, and I found it hard to draw breath.

"Anything…" I gasped, helpless in his grasp.

As abruptly as he had caught hold of me, he released me, and bounded away into the night. Just before he disappeared from sight, I saw the glint of gold on amber, and a wisp of wind carried his departing words to my ear.

"I hope you never regret it."

© ai 2002

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