Episode Ten
Wounded Soul
Rally walked into her bathroom and saw May standing in front of the mirror putting on make-up. "Where are you going?"
"On a date with Kenny."
Rally grabbed her toothbrush and turned on the water.
"You must be going somewhere."
"What makes you say that?" Rally asked as she applied toothpaste to her brush.
"It's a rare occasion when you brush your teeth."
Rally shot a dirty look at May. She ran her brush over the water then started to brush her teeth.
"So where you going?" May questioned, setting the curling iron down and picking up a can of hair spray.
Rally tried to say something with toothpaste in her mouth.
"What? I can't understand you."
Rally spit the toothpaste out. "I'm going out."
"Out? With whom?"
"Devin."
May grinned. "Another date, eh? What, that's the second this week."
"Yeah so?"
May elbowed Rally in the side. "So? That obviously means he likes you!"
"It doesn't mean anything." She finished brushing her teeth. She rinsed the toothbrush off and put it away.
"Excuse me, but any guy who hasn't ran away yet must really like you. Heck, he'd probably have to be madly in love with you not to run."
"Yeah right," Rally uttered sarcastically as she walked out of the bathroom into her bedroom.
May followed right behind Rally. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think it means?"
"I don't know! You tell me, Rally Vincent!" May hissed. "I don't get you, Rally! What the heck do you want? You're never happy! You're always miserable! And you do nothing about it!"
Rally turned around and looked at May.
May wished she wouldn't have said anything. It was that look again. Rally wasn't angry, but deeply offended and hurt. She stood there wallowing in her guilt as Rally stared her down for a few moments.
"Rally?"
"What?" Rally uttered.
"What will make you happy?"
"I don't know." Rally walked over to her bed and picked up the black dress that was lying on her bed. She took it off the hanger and slipped into it.
"Where are you going tonight?"
"Dinner at Marcello's and then the Ford Oriental Theater."
"You don't like the theater! What are you going there for?"
"Well, my caring and understanding boyfriend is taking me there..."
"C'mon, Rally! Give him a chance! You probably never even told him what you like so the poor guy has to go around guessing!"
"That because we're too busy talking about him!"
"How many times do I have to tell you? All men are arrogant. You've just got to learn to deal with it."
"Well, he's the most arrogant of them all."
"You're not so humble yourself, hon."
Rally rolled her eyes as she walked out of her room.
"Wait for me!" May followed quickly behind.
Rally stopped at the bottom of the steps and slipped into her shoes. "Anyway, I'll be home rather late tonight so don't worry..."
May giggled as she grinned widely. "So you're having a little get together with Devin after the show, eh?"
Rally turned her head back and gave May an evil look. "You are such a pervert!" She stomped off into the living room, crossed the dining room and hallway, and entered into the kitchen.
Akira looked up from polishing his katana. He sat there for a few moments as he stared at Rally. He cleared his throat. "You look nice...Rally."
Rally blushed. "Thanks," She uttered. Then took a seat at the other end of the table. She pulled up her dress a little and strapped her leg holster on her left leg.
Akira looked back down at his sword and smirked as he heard the Velcro; however, the black barrier on his face hid it. "Armed and dangerous, I see."
Rally sat up in the chair. "You never know what to expect in this town."
Akira laid his katana down on the table and picked up the smaller blade called the wakizashi. He slid it out of its sheathe and started to polish it.
Rally wracked her eyes over the katana. She held her hand over it almost wanting to touch it. "May I?"
Akira glanced up. "Yes, but please be careful. It's very sharp."
Rally grasped the handle to the katana and lifted it up. "It's kinda heavy." She lifted it above her head. "Yet it's a very elegant weapon." She stood up from her chair and waved it around in the air.
"Use two hands for strength," Akira said glancing up at Rally.
"Okay." Rally placed her left hand on the handle with her right. "Like this?"
"Move your right hand upward and your left down a little more." Akira sat the wakizashi down and directed his attention to Rally. "Good," He uttered as she placed her hands correctly.
"Well, it's something I don't think I could ever learn."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. Guns are more my thing, I suppose."
"A true ninja learns to adapt to complete his task. If I can learn to shoot a gun, you can learn to fight with a katana."
"I guess so."
A knock came to the kitchen door. Rally carefully laid the katana back down on the table and walked over to the door.
"Hey, babe." Devin walked into the kitchen. His eyes instantly darted towards Akira. "What is sock head doing here?"
"He lives here, remember?" Rally said. "His name is Akira Shinagawa."
"Yeah, whatever."
May and Kenny walked into the kitchen all dressed up and ready to go out on their date. "Hey, Devin," May said. "How are you?"
"Fine." Devin said.
"Who's he?" Kenny whispered to May.
"Oh, Devin, this is my boyfriend." May motioned with her hand to Kenny. "His name is Ken Takizawa."
Kenny extended his hand for a handshake. "And you are?"
Devin took Kenny's hand. "Devin Park, Rally's boyfriend."
Rally cringed.
"Oh, I've heard a lot about you," Kenny said.
Devin glanced over at the table and saw the katana. "Hmmm...you sword fight, sock head?"
"What of it?"
Devin smirked and looked back to Rally, May, and Kenny. "I spent a semester in Japan when I was studying criminal law. I had to practice kendo there. Needless to say, I was beating students who studied for years."
Akira half-laughed which caused Devin to jerk his head toward Akira.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"No."
"You are too!"
"I didn't say anything."
"If you think you're so good why don't you grab some swords and meet me in the yard? That is if you're not afraid of me."
"I'm not going to waste my time fighting with you."
"I challenge you! You have to accept!"
Akira sighed and shook his head as he stood up from his chair.
Devin swung his wooden sword around stabbing and hacking at the air to his muscles warm up. Akira glanced over his sword and got a proper grip on it.
"This is all so immature..." Rally uttered.
"Well, I'd like to see Akira get his butt kicked."
"I have a feeling that Akira isn't the one who should be worrying..."
Kenny grabbed his stomach. "I'm hungry."
"Oh, Kenny..." May sighed.
"So how long have you done this?" Devin asked.
"All my life."
"So had all the other men who lost against me."
"Okay, whatever..." Akira tossed his sword across the yard.
"What are you doing, you fool? Won't you even defend yourself?" Devin charged with his sword in the air. He swung down.
Akira grabbed Devin's wrist as Devin swung down. Akira pulled Devin's wrist down and threw Devin to the ground. Devin scrambled back to his feet and swung furiously at Akira which Akira sidestepped. Finally, Akira kicked Devin in the hand, causing the sword to pop up. Akira caught it and gave Devin a swift smack with the butt of the sword between Devin's rib cage. Devin collapsed to the ground and gasped for his breath.
Kenny and May glanced back and forth at each other completely mortified by what happened. Rally did feel sorry for Devin, in a sense, but also thought what happened to him was very humorous.
Devin gasped harder as he started to turn purple. Akira tossed the sword to the side and pulled Devin up to a sitting position.
"Just sit up straight and breathe deep. You'll be okay," Akira said while guiding Devin over to the side of the house.
Devin laid back on the house for support as he gasped and choked for air. Akira stood up straight and looked at Rally who followed them. "Just give him a few minutes, and he'll be fine."
"Alright." Rally said. "You sure he'll be okay?" She glanced down at the purple- faced Devin.
"He'll be fine. It's happened to me plenty of times," Akira said.
"Okay. I'll see you later."
"Yes, I will see you later," Akira seriously said. He walked back into the house.
Rally watched Akira leave then turned her attention back down to Devin once Akira was inside the house.
Rally jerked her head up to keep herself from falling asleep. She watched the actors on stage for a few moments then glanced over to Devin.
Devin's attention was on the play; however, he reached up and rubbed the spot where he was hit earlier. He took notice of Rally staring at him and looked over to her with a small smile.
Rally faintly smiled back. She pondered over May's words. It was true. Devin was the only guy who really took any interest in her and suck around this long. Of course, many would come for her looks, yet all would leave after discovering her aggressive personality. Except, Devin didn't leave. Part of her hated that but a part of her didn't.
Devin raised his right arm and threw it around Rally's shoulders. He then pulled her close to him, making her head rest against his shoulder.
Rally glanced up at Devin. "What if he's the only one who ever takes notice of me? What if he's the only one who's really interested in me?" Rally wondered to herself.
Devin glanced down at Rally and faintly smiled when his eyes locked with Rally's. "If you're tired and want to go to sleep, I won't mind," Devin whispered.
"Thanks." Rally closed her eyes, feeling more relieved that she didn't have to watch the stupid play. She heard him slightly gasp in pain as he tried to breathe too deeply. "I just wish he wasn't so arrogant," Rally thought. "But I suppose I better find something I like about him."
Devin pulled into Rally's driveway and shut the car off. He lifted his hands to his face and wiped his eyes. Rally opened her door and got out which prompted Devin to do the same. They walked on the sidewalk towards the front door together. Rally stepped up on the small cement platform while Devin turned around and flicked his cigarette butt into the yard.
Rally yawned loudly. She looked at her watch. "Geeze, it's already one in the morning. Good thing I don't have to work tomorrow..."
Devin turned back to Rally. "So, I guess we'll have to do this again sometime. How does Saturday look?"
"Uh...Saturday..." Rally uttered. She tried to think of something else to do but nothing came to her mind. So she accepted her last resort. "Saturday's fine."
"Good." Devin pulled out a cigar from his shirt pocket. "You want one?"
"I don't smoke."
"Oh." Devin lit his cigar. "Well, I'll see you later, Rally." Devin stepped down and walked along the sidewalk back to his car.
Rally punched in the code number to the front door and opened the house. She tossed her accessory purse onto the small table in the hallway. Too tired to care, she kicked her shoes off at the base of the stairway and ran upstairs. She quietly walked into her room and turned on the light. Rally went straight to her dresser and pulled out a white tee-shirt and pair of grey, bed pants. She scrambled out of her dress and tossed it in the corner of her room in exchange for her pajamas. She groaned after throwing back her covers on her bed, realizing that she forgot to lock the kitchen door. And she surely knew that May wouldn't have done it.
Rally quietly walked out of her room and headed down the end of the hallway. She took the stairs down that lead toward the kitchen. She felt her way around the dark kitchen. When she reached the stove, she turned on the small light above the oven and continued towards the kitchen door. Yawning, she quickly punched in the code to lock the door and turned to start heading back up the stairs.
Rally stopped. She paused completely and listened closely to the darkness. She heard a noise. Glancing forward to her right, she realized that the noise was coming from Akira's room. She quiet stepped forward making her way to Akira's room. She found that Akira's door was cracked open. Peering in, she saw a silhouette of someone sitting on the bed caused by the streetlights. Not wanting to by nosy, Rally started to turn around but heard the noise again. Then she decided to see what was going on. She slowly opened the door and stepped in. She saw Akira sitting up on the side of his bed looking out the window.
"Akira?"
Akira said nothing.
"Akira, are you okay?"
The room was silent.
Receiving no answer from Akira, Rally slowly stepped forward and walked around the edge of the bed. "Akira, what's wrong?" She stopped once she was around the edge of the bed.
The black mask Akira wore over his face was completely wet and soggy. Drops of liquid dripped from it because it was soaked. He gasped deeply when he tried to breathe, almost being choked.
Rally sat down on the bed next to him once she understood what was happening. "Akira, what's wrong? What's going on?" Rally asked, very concerned since Akira didn't appear to be the emotional, crying type.
It almost sounded like Akira tried to say something, but again he choked on his tears and felt his throat swell as he tried to talk.
"Akira?" Rally questioned again. "Did something happen? What's wrong? What happened to you?"
Again, no words were able to leave Akira's mouth. He looked up towards Rally but turned his head away in shame.
Not even thinking, Rally placed her hands on Akira's cheeks and lifted his head up, forcing Akira to look at her. She stared hard at Akira; however, she felt distanced and alienated by the black barrier between them. Surprising even herself, she found her hands sliding down Akira's face. Her fingers ran down his cheeks, down his neck, and paused at his collarbone. There at his collarbone, the edge of the mask that separated them, rested.
Rally glanced up from her fingers towards Akira's face. She glanced back down to her fingers and gently touched the end of the black material. She slid her fingers under it and took a hold. She gently started to pull the mask up.
Only moving the mask up a few millimeters, Rally was stopped by both of Akira's hands. He firmly grabbed a hold of Rally's wrists, physically communicating that he didn't want her to proceed.
As she felt her wrists being firmly squeezed, disappointment and hurt washed over Rally's face. Her eyes glanced down, not wanting to look at Akira anymore. She felt as if Akira didn't trust her.
Akira released his grip, seeing Rally's facial reaction. He unclasped his hands and slowly placed them over Rally's hands.
Rally looked back up at him. Her face lightened once given permission by Akira. She took a deep breath as she started pulling the soggy, black mask upward again. Slowly his neck and chin were revealed. She paused a moment at the bottom of the nose. She had never seen past this point before. She took another deep breath and pressed forward. The mask ran up the bridge of his nose and nearing the top, a small scar appeared at the upper cheek. She slid the mask up over the eyes and saw them for the first time. As she gazed into his eyes for the first time, she felt a shiver run down her spine. Never in her life had she felt someone's humanity and weakness before. She stared into his deep, brown eyes as she removed the mask completely revealing wild locks of dark, black hair. She dropped her hands to the side and pulled her head back to assess the situation. Expecting May's idea of Akira being a warped mutant, Akira's face gave Rally quite a surprise. He was rugged and handsome. Surprising even herself, she reached up and placed her hands on his cheeks. She ran her left thumb over the large scar that tore vertically down his face. However, she couldn't break eye contact with him. He closed his dark, brown eyes and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Rally's. Grieved with pain, more tears poured from his eyes. His tears fell onto Rally's face and trailed down her cheeks. He gently brushed his nose against her, leaning in more closely. Soon, he brushed his lips against hers. He paused for a moment, physically communicating that he didn't want to kiss her without permission.
This would be her first kiss. It definitely was not the first time a man attempted to kiss her, and she would stop those attempts. However, she didn't find herself trying to stop it. Perhaps too caught up in the moment, she actually wanted it to happen. And of course, it did. He gently pressed his lips against hers. He pulled back in hesitation, and Rally, surprisingly, pushed forward with her lips capturing Akira's. They gently brushed against each other's face as they softly kissed for a few moments.
Akira pulled away from Rally and took a deep breath. He breathed heavily and fell into Rally's embrace, resting his head on her shoulder. She could only manage to wrap her arms around him and hold him.
Rally fluttered her eyelids open. She glanced around, not familiar with her surroundings. Seeing Akira on her right side, she quickly popped up and made sure she had her clothes on. Of course, she did, still wearing her tee-shirt and pajama pants. As she sat up, she looked down at Akira. His pillow and bedsheet surrounding him were soaked wet with tears.
Rally blinked and took a deep breath. She studied Akira's newly revealed face as she turned on her side to face him. She felt her facial expression warm up as she looked down at the sleeping Akira. With her left hand, she gently brushed the dark locks of hair out of Akira's face. Gently, she ran the back of her fingers against his face for a few moments as his chest rose and fell with his heavy breathing. She glanced over at the clock and saw it was 5:47 in the morning. Reasoning that she should probably leave before Akira woke up, she slowly crawled off the bed and headed to the door. She slowly opened the door and stepped out. She turned around watching Akira as she gently closed the door. She sighed as she closed the door completely.
"Ahem!"
Rally's eyes bulged. She slowly turned around to see May standing right behind her with her arms crossed.
"May, it's not..." Rally tried to explain while finding herself blushing madly.
"Oh my God! You slept with Akira!" May's mouth hung wide open.
"No! I would never!" Rally hissed.
"Then what were you doing in there?" May exclaimed quietly.
Rally put her hands up as if she was being accused. "Nothing happened! It's just very a long story!"
May grabbed Rally's wrist and walked her over to the counter in the kitchen. She took a seat at the counter. "You have some explaining to do!"
Rally took a seat across the counter from May. "Look, nothing happened! I don't see why I have to explain myself to you!"
"Irene Vincent, you do have some explaining to do!"
"I don't believe I do, Margaret May Hopkins!" Rally quietly hissed.
May's eyes narrowed. "Tell me, Rally, or I'll be telling my version to all the neighbors."
Rally sighed deeply. "Do you promise not to tell anyone else?"
"I promise."
Rally rubbed her forehead. "I came back from my date with Devin and I went straight to bed. But then I remembered I forgot to lock the kitchen door. I went down stairs and locked the door. Then I heard this noise..."
"Noise?" May got up and grabbed a coffee cup for her freshly brewed coffee.
"It was like a whimpering noise or something," Rally said. "So I saw that Akira's door was open. I peered in and saw him sitting on the edge of his bed. I went in and asked him what was going on, but he didn't answer."
"What was wrong?" May poured Rally a cup of coffee.
"He was crying."
"Crying?"
"Yeah," Rally uttered as she wrapped her cold hands around the warm coffee cup. "I don't know what about though."
"So what happened?" May sat back down and took a drink of her coffee.
Rally paused for a moment. She looked up at May with a serious look on her face. "I saw his face."
May almost spit out her coffee but didn't. "You what?" May exclaimed a little too loud.
"I saw his face."
"I heard you!" May said, shocked. "What'd he look like?"
"I don't know..." Rally fumbled.
"Was he ugly?"
"No."
"Was he hot?"
Rally paused.
"Rally?"
Rally dazed off for a moment as she pondered. "His eyes...so much pain..."
"Hey, Rally!" May hissed.
Rally shook her head and snapped out of her trance.
"Was he hot?"
"I don't know," Rally hissed. "I was a little preoccupied at the moment!"
"With what?"
Rally sighed deeply and closed her eyes. "May, I don't want to talk about it."
"Tell me! Or else!"
"Or else what?"
May crossed her arms. "Or else I'll make up my own version..."
"Fine!" Rally hissed. "He..."
"He what?" May asked.
"He...kissed me..."
"WHAT!" May covered her mouth. "Why?"
"I don't know." Rally glanced down to her folded hands on the counter. "He just did it. I don't know why. But I didn't want to stop him..."
May slapped Rally on the cheek.
Rally grabbed her cheek. "What was that for?" Rally angrily spat.
"You have a boyfriend! You can't be going around kissing other guys!" May exclaimed. "Doesn't Devin mean anything to you?"
Rally held her sore cheek. She glanced up at May with saddened eyes.
"Oh, no!" May groaned. "You like him, don't you?" She asked, referring to Akira.
"I don't know...I...just..."
"Look, Rally! Devin has been faithful and has put up with a lot being your girlfriend. Devin is the guy for you! Don't let Akira break you two up!"
"But May, I..."
"But nothing! It was a fling! Flings happen! Just drop it!"
Rally shook her head. "I suppose you're right, May."
"I am right."
Rally and May sat for a few minutes in silence as they drank their coffee. Rally continually kept her eye contact away from May considering the way May was making her feel guilty at the moment. May sat and pondered over all the ways she'd like to hurt Akira at the moment.
Suddenly, the door to Akira's room opened. Akira walked out, and Rally and May turned to look. May's mouth fell open as she saw Akira without his mask for the first time. They only saw him for a few seconds because he headed straight for the downstairs bathroom.
May looked back to Rally completely in shock. "I suppose he's not such a mutant after all..." May said, not really wanting to admit that she thought he was good-looking. "I wonder why he didn't put the mask back on."
"I don't know." Rally uttered, staring at the floor.
Wounded Soul
Rally walked into her bathroom and saw May standing in front of the mirror putting on make-up. "Where are you going?"
"On a date with Kenny."
Rally grabbed her toothbrush and turned on the water.
"You must be going somewhere."
"What makes you say that?" Rally asked as she applied toothpaste to her brush.
"It's a rare occasion when you brush your teeth."
Rally shot a dirty look at May. She ran her brush over the water then started to brush her teeth.
"So where you going?" May questioned, setting the curling iron down and picking up a can of hair spray.
Rally tried to say something with toothpaste in her mouth.
"What? I can't understand you."
Rally spit the toothpaste out. "I'm going out."
"Out? With whom?"
"Devin."
May grinned. "Another date, eh? What, that's the second this week."
"Yeah so?"
May elbowed Rally in the side. "So? That obviously means he likes you!"
"It doesn't mean anything." She finished brushing her teeth. She rinsed the toothbrush off and put it away.
"Excuse me, but any guy who hasn't ran away yet must really like you. Heck, he'd probably have to be madly in love with you not to run."
"Yeah right," Rally uttered sarcastically as she walked out of the bathroom into her bedroom.
May followed right behind Rally. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think it means?"
"I don't know! You tell me, Rally Vincent!" May hissed. "I don't get you, Rally! What the heck do you want? You're never happy! You're always miserable! And you do nothing about it!"
Rally turned around and looked at May.
May wished she wouldn't have said anything. It was that look again. Rally wasn't angry, but deeply offended and hurt. She stood there wallowing in her guilt as Rally stared her down for a few moments.
"Rally?"
"What?" Rally uttered.
"What will make you happy?"
"I don't know." Rally walked over to her bed and picked up the black dress that was lying on her bed. She took it off the hanger and slipped into it.
"Where are you going tonight?"
"Dinner at Marcello's and then the Ford Oriental Theater."
"You don't like the theater! What are you going there for?"
"Well, my caring and understanding boyfriend is taking me there..."
"C'mon, Rally! Give him a chance! You probably never even told him what you like so the poor guy has to go around guessing!"
"That because we're too busy talking about him!"
"How many times do I have to tell you? All men are arrogant. You've just got to learn to deal with it."
"Well, he's the most arrogant of them all."
"You're not so humble yourself, hon."
Rally rolled her eyes as she walked out of her room.
"Wait for me!" May followed quickly behind.
Rally stopped at the bottom of the steps and slipped into her shoes. "Anyway, I'll be home rather late tonight so don't worry..."
May giggled as she grinned widely. "So you're having a little get together with Devin after the show, eh?"
Rally turned her head back and gave May an evil look. "You are such a pervert!" She stomped off into the living room, crossed the dining room and hallway, and entered into the kitchen.
Akira looked up from polishing his katana. He sat there for a few moments as he stared at Rally. He cleared his throat. "You look nice...Rally."
Rally blushed. "Thanks," She uttered. Then took a seat at the other end of the table. She pulled up her dress a little and strapped her leg holster on her left leg.
Akira looked back down at his sword and smirked as he heard the Velcro; however, the black barrier on his face hid it. "Armed and dangerous, I see."
Rally sat up in the chair. "You never know what to expect in this town."
Akira laid his katana down on the table and picked up the smaller blade called the wakizashi. He slid it out of its sheathe and started to polish it.
Rally wracked her eyes over the katana. She held her hand over it almost wanting to touch it. "May I?"
Akira glanced up. "Yes, but please be careful. It's very sharp."
Rally grasped the handle to the katana and lifted it up. "It's kinda heavy." She lifted it above her head. "Yet it's a very elegant weapon." She stood up from her chair and waved it around in the air.
"Use two hands for strength," Akira said glancing up at Rally.
"Okay." Rally placed her left hand on the handle with her right. "Like this?"
"Move your right hand upward and your left down a little more." Akira sat the wakizashi down and directed his attention to Rally. "Good," He uttered as she placed her hands correctly.
"Well, it's something I don't think I could ever learn."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. Guns are more my thing, I suppose."
"A true ninja learns to adapt to complete his task. If I can learn to shoot a gun, you can learn to fight with a katana."
"I guess so."
A knock came to the kitchen door. Rally carefully laid the katana back down on the table and walked over to the door.
"Hey, babe." Devin walked into the kitchen. His eyes instantly darted towards Akira. "What is sock head doing here?"
"He lives here, remember?" Rally said. "His name is Akira Shinagawa."
"Yeah, whatever."
May and Kenny walked into the kitchen all dressed up and ready to go out on their date. "Hey, Devin," May said. "How are you?"
"Fine." Devin said.
"Who's he?" Kenny whispered to May.
"Oh, Devin, this is my boyfriend." May motioned with her hand to Kenny. "His name is Ken Takizawa."
Kenny extended his hand for a handshake. "And you are?"
Devin took Kenny's hand. "Devin Park, Rally's boyfriend."
Rally cringed.
"Oh, I've heard a lot about you," Kenny said.
Devin glanced over at the table and saw the katana. "Hmmm...you sword fight, sock head?"
"What of it?"
Devin smirked and looked back to Rally, May, and Kenny. "I spent a semester in Japan when I was studying criminal law. I had to practice kendo there. Needless to say, I was beating students who studied for years."
Akira half-laughed which caused Devin to jerk his head toward Akira.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"No."
"You are too!"
"I didn't say anything."
"If you think you're so good why don't you grab some swords and meet me in the yard? That is if you're not afraid of me."
"I'm not going to waste my time fighting with you."
"I challenge you! You have to accept!"
Akira sighed and shook his head as he stood up from his chair.
Devin swung his wooden sword around stabbing and hacking at the air to his muscles warm up. Akira glanced over his sword and got a proper grip on it.
"This is all so immature..." Rally uttered.
"Well, I'd like to see Akira get his butt kicked."
"I have a feeling that Akira isn't the one who should be worrying..."
Kenny grabbed his stomach. "I'm hungry."
"Oh, Kenny..." May sighed.
"So how long have you done this?" Devin asked.
"All my life."
"So had all the other men who lost against me."
"Okay, whatever..." Akira tossed his sword across the yard.
"What are you doing, you fool? Won't you even defend yourself?" Devin charged with his sword in the air. He swung down.
Akira grabbed Devin's wrist as Devin swung down. Akira pulled Devin's wrist down and threw Devin to the ground. Devin scrambled back to his feet and swung furiously at Akira which Akira sidestepped. Finally, Akira kicked Devin in the hand, causing the sword to pop up. Akira caught it and gave Devin a swift smack with the butt of the sword between Devin's rib cage. Devin collapsed to the ground and gasped for his breath.
Kenny and May glanced back and forth at each other completely mortified by what happened. Rally did feel sorry for Devin, in a sense, but also thought what happened to him was very humorous.
Devin gasped harder as he started to turn purple. Akira tossed the sword to the side and pulled Devin up to a sitting position.
"Just sit up straight and breathe deep. You'll be okay," Akira said while guiding Devin over to the side of the house.
Devin laid back on the house for support as he gasped and choked for air. Akira stood up straight and looked at Rally who followed them. "Just give him a few minutes, and he'll be fine."
"Alright." Rally said. "You sure he'll be okay?" She glanced down at the purple- faced Devin.
"He'll be fine. It's happened to me plenty of times," Akira said.
"Okay. I'll see you later."
"Yes, I will see you later," Akira seriously said. He walked back into the house.
Rally watched Akira leave then turned her attention back down to Devin once Akira was inside the house.
Rally jerked her head up to keep herself from falling asleep. She watched the actors on stage for a few moments then glanced over to Devin.
Devin's attention was on the play; however, he reached up and rubbed the spot where he was hit earlier. He took notice of Rally staring at him and looked over to her with a small smile.
Rally faintly smiled back. She pondered over May's words. It was true. Devin was the only guy who really took any interest in her and suck around this long. Of course, many would come for her looks, yet all would leave after discovering her aggressive personality. Except, Devin didn't leave. Part of her hated that but a part of her didn't.
Devin raised his right arm and threw it around Rally's shoulders. He then pulled her close to him, making her head rest against his shoulder.
Rally glanced up at Devin. "What if he's the only one who ever takes notice of me? What if he's the only one who's really interested in me?" Rally wondered to herself.
Devin glanced down at Rally and faintly smiled when his eyes locked with Rally's. "If you're tired and want to go to sleep, I won't mind," Devin whispered.
"Thanks." Rally closed her eyes, feeling more relieved that she didn't have to watch the stupid play. She heard him slightly gasp in pain as he tried to breathe too deeply. "I just wish he wasn't so arrogant," Rally thought. "But I suppose I better find something I like about him."
Devin pulled into Rally's driveway and shut the car off. He lifted his hands to his face and wiped his eyes. Rally opened her door and got out which prompted Devin to do the same. They walked on the sidewalk towards the front door together. Rally stepped up on the small cement platform while Devin turned around and flicked his cigarette butt into the yard.
Rally yawned loudly. She looked at her watch. "Geeze, it's already one in the morning. Good thing I don't have to work tomorrow..."
Devin turned back to Rally. "So, I guess we'll have to do this again sometime. How does Saturday look?"
"Uh...Saturday..." Rally uttered. She tried to think of something else to do but nothing came to her mind. So she accepted her last resort. "Saturday's fine."
"Good." Devin pulled out a cigar from his shirt pocket. "You want one?"
"I don't smoke."
"Oh." Devin lit his cigar. "Well, I'll see you later, Rally." Devin stepped down and walked along the sidewalk back to his car.
Rally punched in the code number to the front door and opened the house. She tossed her accessory purse onto the small table in the hallway. Too tired to care, she kicked her shoes off at the base of the stairway and ran upstairs. She quietly walked into her room and turned on the light. Rally went straight to her dresser and pulled out a white tee-shirt and pair of grey, bed pants. She scrambled out of her dress and tossed it in the corner of her room in exchange for her pajamas. She groaned after throwing back her covers on her bed, realizing that she forgot to lock the kitchen door. And she surely knew that May wouldn't have done it.
Rally quietly walked out of her room and headed down the end of the hallway. She took the stairs down that lead toward the kitchen. She felt her way around the dark kitchen. When she reached the stove, she turned on the small light above the oven and continued towards the kitchen door. Yawning, she quickly punched in the code to lock the door and turned to start heading back up the stairs.
Rally stopped. She paused completely and listened closely to the darkness. She heard a noise. Glancing forward to her right, she realized that the noise was coming from Akira's room. She quiet stepped forward making her way to Akira's room. She found that Akira's door was cracked open. Peering in, she saw a silhouette of someone sitting on the bed caused by the streetlights. Not wanting to by nosy, Rally started to turn around but heard the noise again. Then she decided to see what was going on. She slowly opened the door and stepped in. She saw Akira sitting up on the side of his bed looking out the window.
"Akira?"
Akira said nothing.
"Akira, are you okay?"
The room was silent.
Receiving no answer from Akira, Rally slowly stepped forward and walked around the edge of the bed. "Akira, what's wrong?" She stopped once she was around the edge of the bed.
The black mask Akira wore over his face was completely wet and soggy. Drops of liquid dripped from it because it was soaked. He gasped deeply when he tried to breathe, almost being choked.
Rally sat down on the bed next to him once she understood what was happening. "Akira, what's wrong? What's going on?" Rally asked, very concerned since Akira didn't appear to be the emotional, crying type.
It almost sounded like Akira tried to say something, but again he choked on his tears and felt his throat swell as he tried to talk.
"Akira?" Rally questioned again. "Did something happen? What's wrong? What happened to you?"
Again, no words were able to leave Akira's mouth. He looked up towards Rally but turned his head away in shame.
Not even thinking, Rally placed her hands on Akira's cheeks and lifted his head up, forcing Akira to look at her. She stared hard at Akira; however, she felt distanced and alienated by the black barrier between them. Surprising even herself, she found her hands sliding down Akira's face. Her fingers ran down his cheeks, down his neck, and paused at his collarbone. There at his collarbone, the edge of the mask that separated them, rested.
Rally glanced up from her fingers towards Akira's face. She glanced back down to her fingers and gently touched the end of the black material. She slid her fingers under it and took a hold. She gently started to pull the mask up.
Only moving the mask up a few millimeters, Rally was stopped by both of Akira's hands. He firmly grabbed a hold of Rally's wrists, physically communicating that he didn't want her to proceed.
As she felt her wrists being firmly squeezed, disappointment and hurt washed over Rally's face. Her eyes glanced down, not wanting to look at Akira anymore. She felt as if Akira didn't trust her.
Akira released his grip, seeing Rally's facial reaction. He unclasped his hands and slowly placed them over Rally's hands.
Rally looked back up at him. Her face lightened once given permission by Akira. She took a deep breath as she started pulling the soggy, black mask upward again. Slowly his neck and chin were revealed. She paused a moment at the bottom of the nose. She had never seen past this point before. She took another deep breath and pressed forward. The mask ran up the bridge of his nose and nearing the top, a small scar appeared at the upper cheek. She slid the mask up over the eyes and saw them for the first time. As she gazed into his eyes for the first time, she felt a shiver run down her spine. Never in her life had she felt someone's humanity and weakness before. She stared into his deep, brown eyes as she removed the mask completely revealing wild locks of dark, black hair. She dropped her hands to the side and pulled her head back to assess the situation. Expecting May's idea of Akira being a warped mutant, Akira's face gave Rally quite a surprise. He was rugged and handsome. Surprising even herself, she reached up and placed her hands on his cheeks. She ran her left thumb over the large scar that tore vertically down his face. However, she couldn't break eye contact with him. He closed his dark, brown eyes and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Rally's. Grieved with pain, more tears poured from his eyes. His tears fell onto Rally's face and trailed down her cheeks. He gently brushed his nose against her, leaning in more closely. Soon, he brushed his lips against hers. He paused for a moment, physically communicating that he didn't want to kiss her without permission.
This would be her first kiss. It definitely was not the first time a man attempted to kiss her, and she would stop those attempts. However, she didn't find herself trying to stop it. Perhaps too caught up in the moment, she actually wanted it to happen. And of course, it did. He gently pressed his lips against hers. He pulled back in hesitation, and Rally, surprisingly, pushed forward with her lips capturing Akira's. They gently brushed against each other's face as they softly kissed for a few moments.
Akira pulled away from Rally and took a deep breath. He breathed heavily and fell into Rally's embrace, resting his head on her shoulder. She could only manage to wrap her arms around him and hold him.
Rally fluttered her eyelids open. She glanced around, not familiar with her surroundings. Seeing Akira on her right side, she quickly popped up and made sure she had her clothes on. Of course, she did, still wearing her tee-shirt and pajama pants. As she sat up, she looked down at Akira. His pillow and bedsheet surrounding him were soaked wet with tears.
Rally blinked and took a deep breath. She studied Akira's newly revealed face as she turned on her side to face him. She felt her facial expression warm up as she looked down at the sleeping Akira. With her left hand, she gently brushed the dark locks of hair out of Akira's face. Gently, she ran the back of her fingers against his face for a few moments as his chest rose and fell with his heavy breathing. She glanced over at the clock and saw it was 5:47 in the morning. Reasoning that she should probably leave before Akira woke up, she slowly crawled off the bed and headed to the door. She slowly opened the door and stepped out. She turned around watching Akira as she gently closed the door. She sighed as she closed the door completely.
"Ahem!"
Rally's eyes bulged. She slowly turned around to see May standing right behind her with her arms crossed.
"May, it's not..." Rally tried to explain while finding herself blushing madly.
"Oh my God! You slept with Akira!" May's mouth hung wide open.
"No! I would never!" Rally hissed.
"Then what were you doing in there?" May exclaimed quietly.
Rally put her hands up as if she was being accused. "Nothing happened! It's just very a long story!"
May grabbed Rally's wrist and walked her over to the counter in the kitchen. She took a seat at the counter. "You have some explaining to do!"
Rally took a seat across the counter from May. "Look, nothing happened! I don't see why I have to explain myself to you!"
"Irene Vincent, you do have some explaining to do!"
"I don't believe I do, Margaret May Hopkins!" Rally quietly hissed.
May's eyes narrowed. "Tell me, Rally, or I'll be telling my version to all the neighbors."
Rally sighed deeply. "Do you promise not to tell anyone else?"
"I promise."
Rally rubbed her forehead. "I came back from my date with Devin and I went straight to bed. But then I remembered I forgot to lock the kitchen door. I went down stairs and locked the door. Then I heard this noise..."
"Noise?" May got up and grabbed a coffee cup for her freshly brewed coffee.
"It was like a whimpering noise or something," Rally said. "So I saw that Akira's door was open. I peered in and saw him sitting on the edge of his bed. I went in and asked him what was going on, but he didn't answer."
"What was wrong?" May poured Rally a cup of coffee.
"He was crying."
"Crying?"
"Yeah," Rally uttered as she wrapped her cold hands around the warm coffee cup. "I don't know what about though."
"So what happened?" May sat back down and took a drink of her coffee.
Rally paused for a moment. She looked up at May with a serious look on her face. "I saw his face."
May almost spit out her coffee but didn't. "You what?" May exclaimed a little too loud.
"I saw his face."
"I heard you!" May said, shocked. "What'd he look like?"
"I don't know..." Rally fumbled.
"Was he ugly?"
"No."
"Was he hot?"
Rally paused.
"Rally?"
Rally dazed off for a moment as she pondered. "His eyes...so much pain..."
"Hey, Rally!" May hissed.
Rally shook her head and snapped out of her trance.
"Was he hot?"
"I don't know," Rally hissed. "I was a little preoccupied at the moment!"
"With what?"
Rally sighed deeply and closed her eyes. "May, I don't want to talk about it."
"Tell me! Or else!"
"Or else what?"
May crossed her arms. "Or else I'll make up my own version..."
"Fine!" Rally hissed. "He..."
"He what?" May asked.
"He...kissed me..."
"WHAT!" May covered her mouth. "Why?"
"I don't know." Rally glanced down to her folded hands on the counter. "He just did it. I don't know why. But I didn't want to stop him..."
May slapped Rally on the cheek.
Rally grabbed her cheek. "What was that for?" Rally angrily spat.
"You have a boyfriend! You can't be going around kissing other guys!" May exclaimed. "Doesn't Devin mean anything to you?"
Rally held her sore cheek. She glanced up at May with saddened eyes.
"Oh, no!" May groaned. "You like him, don't you?" She asked, referring to Akira.
"I don't know...I...just..."
"Look, Rally! Devin has been faithful and has put up with a lot being your girlfriend. Devin is the guy for you! Don't let Akira break you two up!"
"But May, I..."
"But nothing! It was a fling! Flings happen! Just drop it!"
Rally shook her head. "I suppose you're right, May."
"I am right."
Rally and May sat for a few minutes in silence as they drank their coffee. Rally continually kept her eye contact away from May considering the way May was making her feel guilty at the moment. May sat and pondered over all the ways she'd like to hurt Akira at the moment.
Suddenly, the door to Akira's room opened. Akira walked out, and Rally and May turned to look. May's mouth fell open as she saw Akira without his mask for the first time. They only saw him for a few seconds because he headed straight for the downstairs bathroom.
May looked back to Rally completely in shock. "I suppose he's not such a mutant after all..." May said, not really wanting to admit that she thought he was good-looking. "I wonder why he didn't put the mask back on."
"I don't know." Rally uttered, staring at the floor.