Life so often has a way of destroying what could have once been so beautiful. They'd all been a bit broken from the very start of, they'd found a level of solace within each other. Then life had ripped them all apart, sent all of them down their own paths of darkness. Would they be able to walk down their separate paths and into the light one day?
Rei Hasegawa sat quietly in her highschool classroom, she watched out the window as the teacher rambled on about one thing or another. She felt a pair of eyes burning into her back which she tried to ignore. Ever since Kazutora had been put in the same class as her he'd been watching her. She studiously ignored him for the most part, pretending he didn't even exist. 'That was a different life.' she kept reminding herself, the boy who she had once known had changed drastically. While he'd only been back in school for a week she had noticed things about him had changed. His hair was dyed with blonde streaks now, but the change that had bothered her most was the light from the sandy eyes she had once so adored was entirely gone.
A memory pervaded her mind, the three of them hanging out at the park together sitting on top of the jungle gym talking about what they wanted to do in the future, laughing together. Things had really changed so much since then, they used to plan on owning a pet store together. Looking back on that moment now left a bitter taste in her mouth, the two of them had come back from juvenile detention far different than the people she last remembered them to be.
Granted she had changed as well, and not necessarily for the better. Baji didn't even seem to notice her anymore, though thankfully he was in a different class than her so she didn't have to face him every single day. Kazutora meanwhile had heard her name in roll call and she'd felt him zero in on her in an instant.
So now here she was, one of her friends just flat out ignoring her and the other watched her like a hawk from only two seats away. It was the last thing Rei needed right now.
The bell rang signifying the end of class and she quickly gathered her books to leave, sticking her headphones in her ears and starting her music as she weaved through the crowded halls. It had become almost like a game to her, seeing how long she could avoid Kazutora. So far she was going on a week, he'd yet to actually catch her. She managed to make it outside, only to find Kazutora was already out there. 'What did he jump out a fucking window?' she wondered to herself, he damn well knew she was avoiding him. He had to know, he'd tried to call out to her in the hall his second day at school. That was why she wore the headphones now, she couldn't be blamed for ignoring him if she couldn't hear him.
Clearly though he wanted her attention, as he moved to fall into step with her. Rei though wasn't about to just give him what he wanted, so she kept her eyes ahead of her. As if he wasn't a mere few inches from her, he could reach out and grab her if he wanted to. She wondered for a moment why he didn't. It was only once she moved to cross the street to get to her van that Kazutora tapped her arm. She took a breath and removed her headphones from her ears, turning to look at him. "Can I help you?" She asked, actually looking at him had her heart racing. He looked so different now, he had grown up a lot. "Ah, so you can speak. Was worried you may have gone mute while I was gone." He said and she rolled her eyes, moving across the street and he followed his steps still synced with her own. "What do you want?" She asked, she wasn't going to entertain any of his bullshit. "I just want to talk to you Rei." She sighed, continuing forwards towards her van. She just had to get to the end of the parking lot. "Isn't that what we're doing now?" She asked calmly, every single part of this unnerved her. She'd really never thought she would see him again, a part of her had hoped she wouldn't. They'd both changed, seeing the changes in him hurt although after everything she wondered if he had really changed. Or if perhaps she never really knew him at all. "Why did you stop writing to me?" His voice sounded so friendly but she detected a slight edge to it.
She'd written to both Kazutora and Keisuke while they'd been in juvie, but that hadn't lasted long. "Life happened." She knew full well the cryptic answer wouldn't satisfy him. Kazutora had always been perceptive even when they were children. "Rei." He grabbed her arm and forced her to stop her forward progress. His eyes fixed on hers and for once she didn't look away, despite the constricting feeling in her chest. "My mom died." His eyes widened slightly at that, his hand loosened and she attempted to pull away but it tightened back up. She was hoping blunt brutal honesty would be her saving grace but he was as quick as he ever was, she knew in a battle of strength she stood no chance. "I'm sorry." He almost looked sad for her, she hated it. This was why she'd avoided him, he knew too much. Her moms depression, her shitty father, he knew it all. No one in her life currently knew anything about her, and she found she much preferred it that way. Rei Hasegawa the ice queen was a moniker she didn't mind having, if she was cold to people, got good grades, no one would try and get close to her. It was better that way.
She could tell by that look in his eyes her answer had only spawned a million more questions. "Let me go Kazutora." She didn't respond to the apology, it had been years since her mother had died. She didn't need his apologies, all Rei wanted was for him to leave her alone. "I thought about you a lot while I was locked up." The words sent a knife through her heart, she'd tried her hardest not to think about him or Keisuke. The thoughts had attempted to invade her mind but she quashed them as quickly as they came. She found smoking and drinking were the easiest ways to make them go away, though when it wore off they came back with renewed vigor. "You look so different now." The comment made her bark out a laugh, he was certainly one to talk. "Time does that to people." She said once again trying to tug her arm away from him, but still he held firm. It was honestly starting to piss her off. "Listen I let you talk, but I got things I need to do." She was lying, there was nothing she had to do. Nowhere she had to go, granted she could be making money right now but she needed to go shower and change first at least. "You know there's a lot of rumors going on around school about you." While he didn't ask the question outright she knew what he was getting at. He wanted to know if they were true. She stared at him blankly, she wasn't about to give anything away, she didn't know what specifically he'd heard but it was more than likely to be true.
They stood in silence for a moment, it was unnerving being so close to someone she used to know but no longer did. "What does it matter to you what people say about me?" She asked, she was getting frustrated at this point. This was the exact reason why she had avoided him, the exact reason why she'd been happy when Keisuke hadn't even attempted to try and talk to her. A part of her didn't want the people she was once so close with to see exactly how badly life had broken her down. She also didn't want to see how their time apart had changed them, it hurt. "You're important to me Rei. So are you seriously some kind of whore now? Tell me you aren't that fucking stupid." His eyes burned into her, there was no judgement in them though, just the need for answers. Answers she knew damn well he wouldn't like. "Guess I'm fucking stupid, funny because most of the people I fuck are also stupid." She laughed a little bit at her own joke. She had hoped he would let her go but his grip on her arm tightened significantly. Rei felt a little bubble of panic well up in her. The longer she stood here talking to him the deeper she was digging her hole. "Yeah they are pretty stupid, I figured once I had kicked the shit out of three of them they'd stop talking about nailing 'Hasegawa the Ice Queen' But to my surprise they still haven't stopped and I'm up to eight already." Rei refused to let herself get angry, he could kick the shit out of the guys at school for all she cared. It wasn't like there weren't plenty more men in the world, besides the adults paid more anyways. Rei stood there silently not giving him any level of reaction. "I don't care what the fuck happened to you, what the fuck kinda stupid shit you're doing. I'm not just going to let you keep avoiding me." He let go of her arm and she took a few steps back from him so he couldn't grab her again. They stood like that for a moment before she finally turned away from him, making her way to her van. She unlocked the door and got in, starting it up and quickly making her way out of the parking lot.
Once she'd gotten far enough away from the school she parked her van, moving into the backseat she grabbed the small box that she kept her weed in. Quickly pulling it out and packing her small pipe with a bit of the green bud and taking a few hits. For as much as she had remained calm and apathetic as possible towards Kazutora, having him that close after so long had been like a jolt to her system. She tried so hard to turn off that part of herself, the part of her that cared about him, but it had been easier when he wasn't around.
Baji coming back had fucked her up for awhile, she was thankful he never tried to approach her. But then again knowing Baji it was more than likely because he didn't know what to say to her. She knew Kazutora wasn't bluffing when he said he wasn't going to just let her keep ignoring him. Rei found herself worried about what the next day would bring. So she smoked, trying not to think about what Kazutora was intending to do in order to make good on his words. 'Why did he have to come back.' The main thought running through her mind was what might happen if he figured out she was living out of her van. He was smart and she knew it probably wouldn't take him very long to figure out.