A/N: Hi hi!! Um... hehe... I know that most of you want to beat me over the head with a spoon because of how long I took to get this chappie up. BUT HEY! I said I'd get it up in November sometime...But, thanks for all of the reviews! I love it when you guys review, which I know I've mentioned before, it makes me so happy!! So keep doing it! (P.S- Hey you never know if 50 Cent is going to be played on the radio in Japan! You just never know! Its not likely, but hey! PRETEND! Haha..)
Anyway...on with the story...
Ch. 14:
---------------------
Mimi. Church
I looked at the path in front of me, not paying any attention to the people around me, not even to the people that Gram was introducing me to. The crowds of people formed around me like a cloud of mesquitos, nearly sufficating me. I continued to walk by them, smiling fakely as I passed and with the occasional 'hello.' The brown pieces of my hair fell in front of my eyes when I looked at the pew in front of me, looking down, I moved past the narrow isles to a seat for us. I sat silently, waiting for Gram to take her seat next to me, but at that moment she stood talking to many people around her.
"Your granddaughter is beautiful, Sina-san!" I overheard one woman say to her, having such a voice of gentleness. "She'd be the perfect match for my daughter's boy, Jamie."
Gram smiled at her gesture, and nodded slightly. "Mimi would make the perfect girl for any boy." She said proudly, making me sigh. As much as I loved knowing that Gram is so proud of me, I hate remembering about what she doesn't know about me. If she knew about the things that have haunted me for so long... she would hate me. She wouldn't be proud anymore. I tightened my knees together, almost gnashing them into one. I looked down at them, my elbows locked tightly insisting my shoulders raised, and my hands pressed harshly against my thighs. I could've sworn that I felt my eyes swell up with tears, but apparently I was wrong, because none came out.
'Why wouldn't Sora go to church..' I thought in my head, hearing myself saying it over and over until the pew cracked slightly when someone sat next to me. 'Great.. more people trying to talk me into dating a relative... JUST GO AWAY!'
I looked up slightly, not happy. The gentleman next to me smiled at me, sitting VERY close. I almost moved over, until I finally looked up at this guy, wanting to know who he was. "Hey!" I said cheerfully, my day brightened by his presence, considering he was the only person I knew here.
"Hey.. Mimi?" He asked, I guess trying to remember my name. I nodded politely.
"So Tsumi, I didn't know you went to church here." I explained, shifting my position to cross my legs. He smiled, leaning back to get comfortable.
"Yeah, I just figured I'd check it out. I started here two weeks ago." He started, "It's nice."
"Yeah, I'm sure it will be once people stop complimenting me on how 'pretty' I am, or how nice I look." I said with a hint of annoyance in my tone. He chuckled softly and looked around for a moment, and then straigtened his back suddenly, looking over in the corner where a man was standing rather nonchalantly in the dark. If you ask me, he looked creepy, like he was some kind of assasin. Which in anyone elses life, it would be nearly impossible to see, but considering my past, it's not too far from normality. Tsumi's sudden movements not only brought attention to himself, but to the situation that he was pretending didn't exist.
"Hey, I'll catch up with you later. I've got to go talk to one of the council members." He told me, nodding to me before he walked off in the direction of the man.
Wow, he really makes mistakes when it comes to being secretive! First off, he thought I didn't notice that he was staring at some freak in a corner. Secondly, he all-of-a-sudden got up and left without even explaining as to why he needed to talk to this 'Council Member.' When I knew that he was far enough away from me, and close enough to the freaky-creepy guy in the corner, I stood up from the pew and walked across the church, passing by different pews and people who smiled at me. Tsumi and the man had gone behind the corner, in a door that I had no idea was even there, or at least I assumed that's what happened considering they were no longer standing in the corner! I reached the dark corner that they were standing in, noticing that it was the perfect place to stand because you were blocked by the organ and the platform. I crouched down and began to look for a door in the wall, but found none. 'They had to go somewhere through here!' I yelled in my head, trying to find any exit. I finally felt the floor, feeling that there was a different texture between two spots in the carpet. I bit my bottom lip, and felt around on the floor. Lifting up the carpet, I found a handle on the wooden floor beneath it. I lifted it up slowly, careful not to bring any noise or attention to me. 'How in the heck did they get down here without anyone knowing!?'
I crawled down into the opening in the floor and pulled it shut silently after me. 'And why in the heck do they have a freakin' trap door in a CHURCH!!!' There were no lights in the area that I landed. It felt cold and damp, like an underkept basement, or more like a prison. I had no clue where I was, and I apsolutely no clue where Tsumi had run off to. But I was determined to find him, and get his secret! It was hard to see without any lights, and an unfamiliar environment. I walked slowly in front of, using all of my senses to make sure that I didn't blow my cover or bruise a knee. Hehe, thats just what I need! A bruised knee for my new pink jean skirt! ^_~
With my hands out in front of me, I walked for a long time, waiting to touch a wall. No wall came when I wanted it to, but as soon as I dropped my guard, I smacked into one. 'Oh you've got to be kidding me!!!' I yelled at myself again, holding my nose. I put my ear against the wall when I heard voices behind it. I searched around for a minute, until I found a handle. It was large, and felt more like a blade, and I was very unsure about how I was supposed to open it. But sure enough, after about a MILLION trial and errors, I figured out how to open the door. I lifted the latch and pushed it in slowly, opening the door a crack. A bright light flew in through the crack in the door, spreading light into the pitch black area behind me. The floor was made of dirt and dried blood, which didn't make much sense to me, considering that upstairs was a church. But none the less, there was dried blood on the powdery floor. I couldn't see the walls because the light didn't spread that far. I looked out through the crack, and saw Tsumi sitting in a chair casually, talking with the freakish creep. At first I couldn't hear any words from them. But as I listened more intently, I heard more of the conversation.
"What are you doing here Kiryma?" Tsumi asked harshly, a tone I hadn't heard from him before. The large creepy guy stood with his arms folded in front of him.
"Crawford wants data, Tsumi." He said in a low voice.
"Whats your point? I'm working!" Tsumi started, "You interrupted me so that you could tell me that Crawford wants information? I knew that already!"
"He sent me. It's not like I came on my own will." He cut out again, earning more anger in his own tone. Tsumi grunted loudly and stood up.
"Back off, Kiryma. Crawford will get his data soon enough. I just need to add a fix a few things before I send it in for the files." Tsumi walked over to the door that I stood behind, placing a hand on the spike-like handle. "Next, be more discrete. You nearly cost me my cover, you ogre."
Seeing that Tsumi was about to enter back into the passage way to the church, I quickly searched for a place to hide. I didn't really find any place in particular to block him from seeing me, just my luck right? So I decided I'd take a chance and run to the door and stand next to it. 'Oh man... I hope this works..' I thought in my head, praying that he wouldn't see me. That's the last thing I need right now, for some guy, whom of which I have no idea of what he is capable of doing, to find me and take me to this Crawford guy. Wow, and I thought I could figure people out!!! Sheesh, I was definitely wrong.
The door flew back at me with the full force of anger that Tsumi had shown toward Kiryma, I caught the door silently so that the clunk of the door wouldn't make any notice to me. Tsumi walked casually through the frame and disappeared into the hole of black. Kiryma soon followed after him, muttering words in Chinese that were difficult to make out. The only phrase that I caught in the midst of his walking was "I can't wait until this crappy mission is over and we get that girl outta the way.."
Well then! I don't know who THAT GIRL is, but I wish I had known about this psycho-man that I've been hanging around with. An echo of metal hitting rock rang through the long tavern, leaving a reverberating sound to meet me. I guessed it was Tsumi and Kiryma climbing out of the door to the church. Certain that they had left and were nowhere in sight, I walked around the door and into the area that the two boys had talked in. It was a large clearing in the surrounding of trees, I had no idea as to where I was. How far had I walked? How long was that tunnel? There were no trees anywhere near the church. Walking a little further into the clearing, I turned around to look at the wall I had just come out of. It was pure rock, a boulder the size of the Empire State Building in New York. It was huge, and I nearly cracked my neck trying to look up at it. The door I held open for so long to hear the conversation between the men was the same texture as the rock. If someone had been Bouldering, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the mountain and door. 'Where is this place..' I stood in awe of the site surrounding me, not just about the beautiful trees and green grass, but because of the fact that there was a completely different world held together with a huge city just by an underground passage. It was incredible how such seperate worlds were so close in location.
I placed a hand on the white metal chair that I had seen Tsumi sit in minutes before. It didn't make sense, why would Tsumi be acting like this? I mean, sure I've only known him for a day or two, but it just didn't seem like him...
"Well...I suppose I should get back before Gram sends out the police and special forces.." I whispered to myself as a command to leave. Stepping one foot past the door, I turned to look at the clearing again. I had a long walk ahead of me, perfect to think about what I was going to do. Well obviously I couldn't stop hangning with Tsumi, then he would know that something was wrong and I was onto him. I have to find out who this girl he's after is. Somehow...
Michael. NOSotros.
Apparently Matt acted himself around everyone. It didn't matter who they were, he acted the same in front of everyone. He proved this by making a complete fool out of himself in front of me. He didn't even know me and yet he was singing at the top of his lungs in his car to a song on the radio. But me being the kind person that I am, I started singing along with him. Actually, I wasn't really singing... it was more of just mummbling incoherent words..
"So what is this place?" I asked him as he pulled into the long drive way that led down a field of trees. Matt hadn't taken his eyes off the road, nor did he stop singing. Over the hill that was ending was a large building that seemed to take the blue skies into a dark cloud. A rain cloud formed around the building, keeping it in black air. "Matt, what is this?"
He laughed, I guess sensing some uneasiness. I looked over at him when I heard his chuckle.
"Something funny?"
"What are you thinking Mike?" Matt inquired, taking one hand off of the steering wheel and running it through his gel filled hair. "You think I'm taking you to some deserted warehouse and then I'm going to rip off your head and beat you with your arm?"
I don't know what made him laugh again, because personally, that analogy pretty much killed any thought of wanting to trust this guy. "Well, honestly, I don't know what to think. Considering that there is a huge WAREHOUSE. And we're heading for it!"
"Chill out, Michael. I'm not going to beat you with your arm." He reassured me, still laughing. "I already told you. We're going to a car shop called NOSotros."
"NOSotros?.. it sounds more like a strip club.." I muttered silently while I turned my face to the wind. The car drove past the last aisle of trees as the drive way arched into a circle with a fountain in the middle. The tall grey building was fortified with stone and plaster and had the title 'NOSOTROS' sprawled out in black lettering above the white french doors. The tires of Matt's Miata screeched to a halt in front of the large enterance. He climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind him. Just as I hopped out of the car, a beautiful woman walked out of the building wearing blue jeans with rips on the thighs and knees and a revealing black v-neck halter top. Her blonde was pulled back into a messed up bun, half of it hanging out of the ponytail. She smiled and placed her thumbs through the belt loops of her faded jeans, pulling the front down while showing off her tan hips.
"Hey hot-stuff." She said smoothly, obviously talking to Matt. Although, I wouldn't mind if she had been talking to me... hehe. She continued to talk as Matt walked closer to her, "What took you so long to get here? D'you get lost?"
"With as many times as I've been here, I don't think it's possible." Matt charmed, pulling her into his arms for a hug. "How ya been?"
"Busy." She told him as her face was still muffled in his chest. She pulled back, "We've been getting so many customers lately, mainly from gangs."
Matt's eyes looked in caution, making her groan. "Don't do that! You know I can't stand it!"
"I know I don't need to warn you, but it's just something that I feel like I need to do. Ya know, just to make sure that I warned you if something happened." He told her, watching her roll her eyes. He ruffled her hair. "'Cause you're just soooo cute."
"Whatever." She muttered to him, pulled her ponytail out and prepared to fix it. She turned her head over toward me, not seeing much interest, I guess. She eyed Matt for a moment. She dropped her arms back at her side once she finished with her hair. "Who's he?"
Matt looked over at me and grinned. "That's Michael." He told her, she raised her eyebrows, I guess she heard the name Michael before. Matt chuckled a bit at her puzzled expression. He folded his arms over his chest and relaxed, smiling. He leaned over toward the girl a bit, saying something in Chinese. Japanese, I knew somewhat... Chinese... um, no.
"Mike, this is Meia. She's a close friend." He told me, finally giving some sort of intro. I nodded and smiled at her, Meia just gave a half smile. "She works this place, she pretty much in charge of it all." Matt squeezed Meia to him with his right arm, "And she's only 19! What a shock."
Meia jerked away from his loose grip and glared at him. "Shut up." She said sternly, not wanting to deal with his jokes at this point. "Now what do you want for your car this time?"
Matt laughed, "Ooh, getting straight to the point! Where is he?" He said looking around the huge building. "There has to be some guy here."
Meia just grinned and walked inside. "Thats for me to know and you.. need to get a life." She giggled sarcastically and walked through the doors, leaving them open for us to follow behind her.
The inside of the building looked just as fancy as the outside did. 'This is a car shop?' I asked myself, looking around at the incredible furniture. "Why would you make a car shop this decorative? Aren't you nervous that someone would steal something from you?"
Meia stopped in her tracks, her hands on her hips seductivelly. "Anyone who tries to steal something from this house has a death penalty headed in their general direction." With that she left the room that Matt and I stood in.
Matt sat on the black leather couch and rested his feet on the coffee table in front of it. I stood against the steel wall and folded my arms over my chest. The walls were forned of pure steel which gave a silver glow to the entire room that was decked out with black leather and black marble tables. Pictures of cars that had Meia standing by them covered selective areas of the silver walls.
"She's part of a gang, Michael." Matt said randomly, not looking at me.
"What? I didn't ask if she was."
"I know, I was telling you that for your own protection." He claimed, bringing eyes over to look at me. "She's in a gang called the Wolves. One of the top gangs in Japan and China."
"Is that what the silver wolf on her back represents?" I asked him. My hand reached over my left shoulder and felt my shoulderfelt, pretending to itch.
"Yes. Every member of the Wolves is required to get a tattoo. Different styles of the wolf means rank. Also with color." He informed me. "Well, technically every gang in China and Japan have tattoos for representation. Its not a requirement by law, but by the gang itself."
"I know."
Matt looked up at me from the couch and gave me a look of confusion. "You know?"
I nodded. "I live in New York City, Matt. I know what gangs are like." Though I couldn't see myself, I knew that my eyes were growing colder. Matt's eyes followed mine and grew harsh and cold like ice.
Matt stood up and walked to the doorframe where I was standing. He walked in my direction, about to walk through the entrance he stopped, but didn't look at me. "If you've got secrets about yourself that are going to make me want to hurt you, you'd better tell me now..." Matt then walked past me and into the foyer.
'Is that a threat...' I grinned menacingly and walked through the doorframe and followed Matt to the garage.
Tsumi. Church.
Kiryma and I waited underneath the hatch in the ground until we heard the minister dismiss the church. It was dark, too dark to have a decent conversation in. For that matter, why would I want to have a conversation with that lug anyway? I lifted that hatch silently and peered through a crack, the congregation was talking and laughing in the aisle between the pews. I climbed up and stood up, looking over in Mimi's direction. 'Where is she!?' I asked myself, looking for her. 'She probably left already.'
I walked over to her grandmother and left Kiryma to climb out of the hatch by himself. I casually stopped next to her, waiting for her to end her converstaion with another elderly woman. "Hello."
She looked confused, for she had never seen me before. "Hello.."
I chuckled and held out my hand, "I'm Tsumi, a friend of Mimi's."
She took her frail hand and linked it with mine, smiling. "Oh, well that makes sense! It's nice to meet you Tsumi, you can call me Sina-san."
I laughed and placed my hands together behind my back. "And do you know where Mimi has gone off to, Sina-san?"
"She left some time ago, I'm sure right after church."
I nodded seriously and bid her goodbye. I smiled and walked off, heading toward my car. 'I missed her again... dang it. This will be harder than expected.' I scolded myself for even paying attention to Kiryma in the first place. 'So much to find out.. too little time.'
I left the church, pushing the doors open and walking down the steep stone steps to the pale sidewalk. My face had no emotion on it, not even the frustration that swelled up inside of me. At that moment I was concentrating too hard..
'Soon Ishida.. soon.'
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
A/N: HOE! It took me long enough to finish that chapter... I AM SO SORRY!!! And from now on I'm not going to make any promises as to how soon I will get a chapter out, that only leads to disappointment. Haha. Okay then! Review please, because I had the hardest time with this chapter as it was, so make me feel like I did a good job!! LOVE YA ALL!!
--Me
Anyway...on with the story...
Ch. 14:
---------------------
Mimi. Church
I looked at the path in front of me, not paying any attention to the people around me, not even to the people that Gram was introducing me to. The crowds of people formed around me like a cloud of mesquitos, nearly sufficating me. I continued to walk by them, smiling fakely as I passed and with the occasional 'hello.' The brown pieces of my hair fell in front of my eyes when I looked at the pew in front of me, looking down, I moved past the narrow isles to a seat for us. I sat silently, waiting for Gram to take her seat next to me, but at that moment she stood talking to many people around her.
"Your granddaughter is beautiful, Sina-san!" I overheard one woman say to her, having such a voice of gentleness. "She'd be the perfect match for my daughter's boy, Jamie."
Gram smiled at her gesture, and nodded slightly. "Mimi would make the perfect girl for any boy." She said proudly, making me sigh. As much as I loved knowing that Gram is so proud of me, I hate remembering about what she doesn't know about me. If she knew about the things that have haunted me for so long... she would hate me. She wouldn't be proud anymore. I tightened my knees together, almost gnashing them into one. I looked down at them, my elbows locked tightly insisting my shoulders raised, and my hands pressed harshly against my thighs. I could've sworn that I felt my eyes swell up with tears, but apparently I was wrong, because none came out.
'Why wouldn't Sora go to church..' I thought in my head, hearing myself saying it over and over until the pew cracked slightly when someone sat next to me. 'Great.. more people trying to talk me into dating a relative... JUST GO AWAY!'
I looked up slightly, not happy. The gentleman next to me smiled at me, sitting VERY close. I almost moved over, until I finally looked up at this guy, wanting to know who he was. "Hey!" I said cheerfully, my day brightened by his presence, considering he was the only person I knew here.
"Hey.. Mimi?" He asked, I guess trying to remember my name. I nodded politely.
"So Tsumi, I didn't know you went to church here." I explained, shifting my position to cross my legs. He smiled, leaning back to get comfortable.
"Yeah, I just figured I'd check it out. I started here two weeks ago." He started, "It's nice."
"Yeah, I'm sure it will be once people stop complimenting me on how 'pretty' I am, or how nice I look." I said with a hint of annoyance in my tone. He chuckled softly and looked around for a moment, and then straigtened his back suddenly, looking over in the corner where a man was standing rather nonchalantly in the dark. If you ask me, he looked creepy, like he was some kind of assasin. Which in anyone elses life, it would be nearly impossible to see, but considering my past, it's not too far from normality. Tsumi's sudden movements not only brought attention to himself, but to the situation that he was pretending didn't exist.
"Hey, I'll catch up with you later. I've got to go talk to one of the council members." He told me, nodding to me before he walked off in the direction of the man.
Wow, he really makes mistakes when it comes to being secretive! First off, he thought I didn't notice that he was staring at some freak in a corner. Secondly, he all-of-a-sudden got up and left without even explaining as to why he needed to talk to this 'Council Member.' When I knew that he was far enough away from me, and close enough to the freaky-creepy guy in the corner, I stood up from the pew and walked across the church, passing by different pews and people who smiled at me. Tsumi and the man had gone behind the corner, in a door that I had no idea was even there, or at least I assumed that's what happened considering they were no longer standing in the corner! I reached the dark corner that they were standing in, noticing that it was the perfect place to stand because you were blocked by the organ and the platform. I crouched down and began to look for a door in the wall, but found none. 'They had to go somewhere through here!' I yelled in my head, trying to find any exit. I finally felt the floor, feeling that there was a different texture between two spots in the carpet. I bit my bottom lip, and felt around on the floor. Lifting up the carpet, I found a handle on the wooden floor beneath it. I lifted it up slowly, careful not to bring any noise or attention to me. 'How in the heck did they get down here without anyone knowing!?'
I crawled down into the opening in the floor and pulled it shut silently after me. 'And why in the heck do they have a freakin' trap door in a CHURCH!!!' There were no lights in the area that I landed. It felt cold and damp, like an underkept basement, or more like a prison. I had no clue where I was, and I apsolutely no clue where Tsumi had run off to. But I was determined to find him, and get his secret! It was hard to see without any lights, and an unfamiliar environment. I walked slowly in front of, using all of my senses to make sure that I didn't blow my cover or bruise a knee. Hehe, thats just what I need! A bruised knee for my new pink jean skirt! ^_~
With my hands out in front of me, I walked for a long time, waiting to touch a wall. No wall came when I wanted it to, but as soon as I dropped my guard, I smacked into one. 'Oh you've got to be kidding me!!!' I yelled at myself again, holding my nose. I put my ear against the wall when I heard voices behind it. I searched around for a minute, until I found a handle. It was large, and felt more like a blade, and I was very unsure about how I was supposed to open it. But sure enough, after about a MILLION trial and errors, I figured out how to open the door. I lifted the latch and pushed it in slowly, opening the door a crack. A bright light flew in through the crack in the door, spreading light into the pitch black area behind me. The floor was made of dirt and dried blood, which didn't make much sense to me, considering that upstairs was a church. But none the less, there was dried blood on the powdery floor. I couldn't see the walls because the light didn't spread that far. I looked out through the crack, and saw Tsumi sitting in a chair casually, talking with the freakish creep. At first I couldn't hear any words from them. But as I listened more intently, I heard more of the conversation.
"What are you doing here Kiryma?" Tsumi asked harshly, a tone I hadn't heard from him before. The large creepy guy stood with his arms folded in front of him.
"Crawford wants data, Tsumi." He said in a low voice.
"Whats your point? I'm working!" Tsumi started, "You interrupted me so that you could tell me that Crawford wants information? I knew that already!"
"He sent me. It's not like I came on my own will." He cut out again, earning more anger in his own tone. Tsumi grunted loudly and stood up.
"Back off, Kiryma. Crawford will get his data soon enough. I just need to add a fix a few things before I send it in for the files." Tsumi walked over to the door that I stood behind, placing a hand on the spike-like handle. "Next, be more discrete. You nearly cost me my cover, you ogre."
Seeing that Tsumi was about to enter back into the passage way to the church, I quickly searched for a place to hide. I didn't really find any place in particular to block him from seeing me, just my luck right? So I decided I'd take a chance and run to the door and stand next to it. 'Oh man... I hope this works..' I thought in my head, praying that he wouldn't see me. That's the last thing I need right now, for some guy, whom of which I have no idea of what he is capable of doing, to find me and take me to this Crawford guy. Wow, and I thought I could figure people out!!! Sheesh, I was definitely wrong.
The door flew back at me with the full force of anger that Tsumi had shown toward Kiryma, I caught the door silently so that the clunk of the door wouldn't make any notice to me. Tsumi walked casually through the frame and disappeared into the hole of black. Kiryma soon followed after him, muttering words in Chinese that were difficult to make out. The only phrase that I caught in the midst of his walking was "I can't wait until this crappy mission is over and we get that girl outta the way.."
Well then! I don't know who THAT GIRL is, but I wish I had known about this psycho-man that I've been hanging around with. An echo of metal hitting rock rang through the long tavern, leaving a reverberating sound to meet me. I guessed it was Tsumi and Kiryma climbing out of the door to the church. Certain that they had left and were nowhere in sight, I walked around the door and into the area that the two boys had talked in. It was a large clearing in the surrounding of trees, I had no idea as to where I was. How far had I walked? How long was that tunnel? There were no trees anywhere near the church. Walking a little further into the clearing, I turned around to look at the wall I had just come out of. It was pure rock, a boulder the size of the Empire State Building in New York. It was huge, and I nearly cracked my neck trying to look up at it. The door I held open for so long to hear the conversation between the men was the same texture as the rock. If someone had been Bouldering, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the mountain and door. 'Where is this place..' I stood in awe of the site surrounding me, not just about the beautiful trees and green grass, but because of the fact that there was a completely different world held together with a huge city just by an underground passage. It was incredible how such seperate worlds were so close in location.
I placed a hand on the white metal chair that I had seen Tsumi sit in minutes before. It didn't make sense, why would Tsumi be acting like this? I mean, sure I've only known him for a day or two, but it just didn't seem like him...
"Well...I suppose I should get back before Gram sends out the police and special forces.." I whispered to myself as a command to leave. Stepping one foot past the door, I turned to look at the clearing again. I had a long walk ahead of me, perfect to think about what I was going to do. Well obviously I couldn't stop hangning with Tsumi, then he would know that something was wrong and I was onto him. I have to find out who this girl he's after is. Somehow...
Michael. NOSotros.
Apparently Matt acted himself around everyone. It didn't matter who they were, he acted the same in front of everyone. He proved this by making a complete fool out of himself in front of me. He didn't even know me and yet he was singing at the top of his lungs in his car to a song on the radio. But me being the kind person that I am, I started singing along with him. Actually, I wasn't really singing... it was more of just mummbling incoherent words..
"So what is this place?" I asked him as he pulled into the long drive way that led down a field of trees. Matt hadn't taken his eyes off the road, nor did he stop singing. Over the hill that was ending was a large building that seemed to take the blue skies into a dark cloud. A rain cloud formed around the building, keeping it in black air. "Matt, what is this?"
He laughed, I guess sensing some uneasiness. I looked over at him when I heard his chuckle.
"Something funny?"
"What are you thinking Mike?" Matt inquired, taking one hand off of the steering wheel and running it through his gel filled hair. "You think I'm taking you to some deserted warehouse and then I'm going to rip off your head and beat you with your arm?"
I don't know what made him laugh again, because personally, that analogy pretty much killed any thought of wanting to trust this guy. "Well, honestly, I don't know what to think. Considering that there is a huge WAREHOUSE. And we're heading for it!"
"Chill out, Michael. I'm not going to beat you with your arm." He reassured me, still laughing. "I already told you. We're going to a car shop called NOSotros."
"NOSotros?.. it sounds more like a strip club.." I muttered silently while I turned my face to the wind. The car drove past the last aisle of trees as the drive way arched into a circle with a fountain in the middle. The tall grey building was fortified with stone and plaster and had the title 'NOSOTROS' sprawled out in black lettering above the white french doors. The tires of Matt's Miata screeched to a halt in front of the large enterance. He climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind him. Just as I hopped out of the car, a beautiful woman walked out of the building wearing blue jeans with rips on the thighs and knees and a revealing black v-neck halter top. Her blonde was pulled back into a messed up bun, half of it hanging out of the ponytail. She smiled and placed her thumbs through the belt loops of her faded jeans, pulling the front down while showing off her tan hips.
"Hey hot-stuff." She said smoothly, obviously talking to Matt. Although, I wouldn't mind if she had been talking to me... hehe. She continued to talk as Matt walked closer to her, "What took you so long to get here? D'you get lost?"
"With as many times as I've been here, I don't think it's possible." Matt charmed, pulling her into his arms for a hug. "How ya been?"
"Busy." She told him as her face was still muffled in his chest. She pulled back, "We've been getting so many customers lately, mainly from gangs."
Matt's eyes looked in caution, making her groan. "Don't do that! You know I can't stand it!"
"I know I don't need to warn you, but it's just something that I feel like I need to do. Ya know, just to make sure that I warned you if something happened." He told her, watching her roll her eyes. He ruffled her hair. "'Cause you're just soooo cute."
"Whatever." She muttered to him, pulled her ponytail out and prepared to fix it. She turned her head over toward me, not seeing much interest, I guess. She eyed Matt for a moment. She dropped her arms back at her side once she finished with her hair. "Who's he?"
Matt looked over at me and grinned. "That's Michael." He told her, she raised her eyebrows, I guess she heard the name Michael before. Matt chuckled a bit at her puzzled expression. He folded his arms over his chest and relaxed, smiling. He leaned over toward the girl a bit, saying something in Chinese. Japanese, I knew somewhat... Chinese... um, no.
"Mike, this is Meia. She's a close friend." He told me, finally giving some sort of intro. I nodded and smiled at her, Meia just gave a half smile. "She works this place, she pretty much in charge of it all." Matt squeezed Meia to him with his right arm, "And she's only 19! What a shock."
Meia jerked away from his loose grip and glared at him. "Shut up." She said sternly, not wanting to deal with his jokes at this point. "Now what do you want for your car this time?"
Matt laughed, "Ooh, getting straight to the point! Where is he?" He said looking around the huge building. "There has to be some guy here."
Meia just grinned and walked inside. "Thats for me to know and you.. need to get a life." She giggled sarcastically and walked through the doors, leaving them open for us to follow behind her.
The inside of the building looked just as fancy as the outside did. 'This is a car shop?' I asked myself, looking around at the incredible furniture. "Why would you make a car shop this decorative? Aren't you nervous that someone would steal something from you?"
Meia stopped in her tracks, her hands on her hips seductivelly. "Anyone who tries to steal something from this house has a death penalty headed in their general direction." With that she left the room that Matt and I stood in.
Matt sat on the black leather couch and rested his feet on the coffee table in front of it. I stood against the steel wall and folded my arms over my chest. The walls were forned of pure steel which gave a silver glow to the entire room that was decked out with black leather and black marble tables. Pictures of cars that had Meia standing by them covered selective areas of the silver walls.
"She's part of a gang, Michael." Matt said randomly, not looking at me.
"What? I didn't ask if she was."
"I know, I was telling you that for your own protection." He claimed, bringing eyes over to look at me. "She's in a gang called the Wolves. One of the top gangs in Japan and China."
"Is that what the silver wolf on her back represents?" I asked him. My hand reached over my left shoulder and felt my shoulderfelt, pretending to itch.
"Yes. Every member of the Wolves is required to get a tattoo. Different styles of the wolf means rank. Also with color." He informed me. "Well, technically every gang in China and Japan have tattoos for representation. Its not a requirement by law, but by the gang itself."
"I know."
Matt looked up at me from the couch and gave me a look of confusion. "You know?"
I nodded. "I live in New York City, Matt. I know what gangs are like." Though I couldn't see myself, I knew that my eyes were growing colder. Matt's eyes followed mine and grew harsh and cold like ice.
Matt stood up and walked to the doorframe where I was standing. He walked in my direction, about to walk through the entrance he stopped, but didn't look at me. "If you've got secrets about yourself that are going to make me want to hurt you, you'd better tell me now..." Matt then walked past me and into the foyer.
'Is that a threat...' I grinned menacingly and walked through the doorframe and followed Matt to the garage.
Tsumi. Church.
Kiryma and I waited underneath the hatch in the ground until we heard the minister dismiss the church. It was dark, too dark to have a decent conversation in. For that matter, why would I want to have a conversation with that lug anyway? I lifted that hatch silently and peered through a crack, the congregation was talking and laughing in the aisle between the pews. I climbed up and stood up, looking over in Mimi's direction. 'Where is she!?' I asked myself, looking for her. 'She probably left already.'
I walked over to her grandmother and left Kiryma to climb out of the hatch by himself. I casually stopped next to her, waiting for her to end her converstaion with another elderly woman. "Hello."
She looked confused, for she had never seen me before. "Hello.."
I chuckled and held out my hand, "I'm Tsumi, a friend of Mimi's."
She took her frail hand and linked it with mine, smiling. "Oh, well that makes sense! It's nice to meet you Tsumi, you can call me Sina-san."
I laughed and placed my hands together behind my back. "And do you know where Mimi has gone off to, Sina-san?"
"She left some time ago, I'm sure right after church."
I nodded seriously and bid her goodbye. I smiled and walked off, heading toward my car. 'I missed her again... dang it. This will be harder than expected.' I scolded myself for even paying attention to Kiryma in the first place. 'So much to find out.. too little time.'
I left the church, pushing the doors open and walking down the steep stone steps to the pale sidewalk. My face had no emotion on it, not even the frustration that swelled up inside of me. At that moment I was concentrating too hard..
'Soon Ishida.. soon.'
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
A/N: HOE! It took me long enough to finish that chapter... I AM SO SORRY!!! And from now on I'm not going to make any promises as to how soon I will get a chapter out, that only leads to disappointment. Haha. Okay then! Review please, because I had the hardest time with this chapter as it was, so make me feel like I did a good job!! LOVE YA ALL!!
--Me