Chapter Seventeen: Mahogany


Slumps, staggers, dumps, daggers: the compound structured upon such beautiful and traditional architecture was juxtaposed by its second purpose, the one that really brought the family together (the first purpose) more strongly than blood. Red and green were the family's colors, the combination of them painted upon the pillars and walls down the endless halls, lashing freshly at the wide eyed girl's senses. Ayumi couldn't see it back when she worked hand in hand with the Asamanes, yet she couldn't bring herself to be surprised by the bold image the family put up. While slowly and deliberately making her way over to the head family's quarters, her feet following the floor plans the muddy minded girl somehow remembered like the back of her hand, she put on a stoic expression that those who knew her knew all too well. She pushed past deals that were taking place in the front areas of the building, the mission carved into her brain by repetitions upon repetitions of trials and plans leading her deeper into the Asamane's turf. The head family lived within the shadows they created to cover them, deals in the front just one of their conniving tactics. Distractions and diversions seemed to be one of the many things the Bubaigawara name had in common with Asamane.

Gold began to take over the green, the symbol of wealth indicating Ayumi's growing proximity to the brain of the operations. Her blurred time as a trusted partner had carried the bloodshot teen through these halls several times before, the family protective of their stashes and manufacturing operation. It hadn't occurred to her just how valuable a piece she was to them, her success rate being the highest of all plugs they supplied to. She never really thought anything of it, but then again, she never really thought of anything back then.

Snapping out of her pensive mood, Ayumi caught sight of the end of the hall, where two large doors separated her and the second phase of the plan. The doors were mahogany, the reddened wood's color highlighting the gold painted engravings covering them. Images of snakes bearing fangs decorated the wood, the illusion of power and valor given to such a bitter and spiteful creature. Stepping forward, Ayumi knocked twice quickly, followed by a pause, then three slower knocks. On cue, the doors pulled open, an ominous air taking the form of a cold draft floating into the brunette's faced. The draft was familiar.

Through the threshold, across more wooden flooring, down the hall of doors which lined the gut of the building - the Asamane root's living quarters, each door enclosing a room belonging to a prized kinsmen. The Asamanes were big on loyalty and results; not all of the root family were actually connected to the Asamane name by genetics.
Hence, as mahogany clogged the green girl's pores in a forceful way, Ayumi had a feeling she once lived behind the flamboyant wood, too. The bloodshot teen was just another faceless Asamane branching out to corners of the world after being groomed by the root. She used to like it that way. Ayumi couldn't remember it, but she knew she used to like it that way.

The best part of being a branch was falling off.

The aching of her past memories pushed at her mind, free association the only physical way the bruised girl made it through such a pivotal place in her early teen years. Because of such preoccupation, Ayumi could only manage a whisper into the ear piece which connected her to Team Sodapop: "I'm in. Begin Phase Two."

"Oh? You're in, you say?" Although the miniature radio covered her ear, Ayumi knew the words she heard came from beyond the device. For a reason unknown to her, Ayumi's ear drum beat energetically in response to the ambiguous voice, the sickly girl's senses going out of control. She'd sworn she had taken stabilizers before entering, yet the dizzied girl found herself reaching into one of her pouches and popping a couple of stabilizers to suppress her nervous system.

She collected herself, the, again, stoic girl demanding, "Show yourself." Within the brief silence, Ayumi analyzed the masculine voice, trying to recall where she'd heard it before.

The sickly girl's thoughts were interrupted by a chuckle, then, "Why would I do that when I have the Bubaigawara Ayumi in my presence?" The words seemed to echo and bounce off the walls, the mahogany doors succeeding in keeping the mystery man's secrecy only such a dependable wood could. New words bounced at her, the speaker's sliver tongue striking Ayumi: "Better yet, when I have her in my clutches."

It was Ayumi's turn to laugh, as she retorted, "Well, if you really knew me, tough guy, you'd know you wouldn't be able to capture me as easily as you clearly believe."

A flash within the darkness - turquoise eyes that were meant to dazzle. The shade was captivating enough to distract the brunette from her surroundings, as before she knew it, a hand was around her neck, choking her. She could've writhed or struggled, but Ayumi refused to give the man holding her the satisfaction. Pride would always be at the forefront of her nervous system, second to the unbridled anger that always found a way to melt into a headache. As she focused on balancing her oxygen deprivation, Ayumi gave her aggressor the once over with her bloodshot and scrunched eyes, before grabbing at his calloused hand with hers and pumping a depressant into it. With a limp left hand, the man grimaced releasing the bloodshot girl.

Without the lack of oxygen blackening her vision, Ayumi could make his image out more clearly, though it was macabre enough to blend in with the dark scenery, as she pushed herself off the ground. He had coal colored hair, the type that was a dull black, lacking the luster that life usually bestowed upon it. Also black was his long cloak which covered the length of his tall body. A sharp jawline, easy turquoise eyes, and (what Ayumi considered to be) tacky piercings tried to take attention away from the messy state the mystery man's skin was in. Patches of crumpled, purpled skin were stapled to the little healthy skin the man's face had left, the severity of his burns rivaling that of the green girl's hemorrhaging.

Ayumi's dark eyes widened at the man's scarred appearance, the sensation the flames he must've felt burning at her mind. However, it was the pompous smirk he flashed which sobered her memory, the shapeless feelings she felt sharpening into thoughts. The shocked intern's snake bitten lips went agape, the incredulity traveling up her vessels like electricity. Now, Ayumi was awake.

"...Touya?!"

The first thing she noticed about him was the poor stapling holding his skin together.

"Ayumi, meet my bodyguard and right hand man, Touya. You two will be working closely. We can't have my favorite mule getting caught by villains can we?" The boss' slimy tone and demeaning word choice didn't seep into Ayumi's nerves, as her morning hit plugged her senses remarkably. Indifference was the key to ranking high; the high was the key to indifference. Finding the balance between both was what made the bloodshot teen the most valuable drug runner and seller in their root.

Locking eyes with the boy who couldn't be more than two years older than her, the agony she felt radiate off of him spoke volumes, although he remained silent. His crumpling skin sagged, giving his face a dropping effect, its horrific nature doing anything but repulsing the dazed teen. Slowly, the green teen approached Touya, who stood between her and the boss firmly. With an straight face, his posture contorted defensively, as he demanded, "Get back, leech." A shove was sent to Ayumi's right shoulder, but before the sad eyed boy could recoil, Ayumi daringly reached out and gripped his hand. Her application of pressure was distraction as she pressed her other hand to a healthy portion of skin, shooting depressants into the vital limb's blood stream, then amplifying them just enough to shut Touya's hand off completely.

The sick looking teen's flawless paralysis maneuver only brought sick looking smile to the other teen's torn up mouth. "Ah, so she can fight! So cute."

He flinched, though, when Ayumi put a hand to his face, running her fingers along the strained staples that decorated his features. Although he knew he was taller, Touya was overcome with the urge to shrink under her touch, to let her take care of him. He was sent to watch over her, but they both knew who was in control here.

"Let me fix your stitches. I have experience."

"Why would you?"

"I feel like sticking a needle into your skin repeatedly," Ayumi blandly replied, glossed eyes not going unnoticed by the older teen.

He sneered in response, but didn't argue with Ayumi. The only thing he had left to say was, "Don't do a crap job, you stoned creep."

"As if you have room to talk."

Smirk receding, Touya put on a more serious mask; the burnt man had many of them, his true face disguised behind his ever present third degree burns. The man averted his gaze, mumbling, "It's about time you remembered. I was getting worried you were too faded to retain anything from back then."

With her hands at her sides, the green teen scowled. "Of course I remember. It's just hard to decipher." Eyes locking back onto Touya's, she added harshly, "I see you've removed my handy work." Ayumi found herself tempted to rip the staples out of Touya's sagging face, to rip the staples out of his sagging voice. In another life, she might've offered to stitch him back up for old times' sake, yet she couldn't bring herself to stitch the man back up. Although she wasn't intoxicated, Touya still appeared gray in a sense to Ayumi.

"It started to get infected after you left. My face looks bad enough without an infection, don't ya think?" A joke lacking the joking tone - those types of jabs were always meant to create discomfort and paranoia, or even to preface villainy and malice. However, like all stimulants and depressants, Ayumi was inmune, her ability to push past such conversational norms and niceties much like her ability to push past memories and persistent agony.

Scoffing, the bloodshot girl began to close the distance between her and the bodyguard. Striding forward, she remarked coldly, "Might look better with the color the sores would give you."

Onward she walked, Ayumi confidently continuing down the root's hall, that was, until Touya put a hand on her shoulder. Immediately, the bruised skin beneath her suit began to tingle, then burn, smoke invading her nostrils, which previously were enchanted by the scent of mahogany. A wildfire was all Ayumi could feel, the protective mahogany no longer belonging to her, as she'd moved on and so had the wood of the door she used to hide behind. Instinctively, the intern grabbed her old affiliate's scarred hand, this time flipping him over onto his back, a painful crunch emitting from Touya's body. To assure her victory, the brunette pounced, jumping on Touya's stomach and putting a hand to the carotid artery on his neck. They were face to face, this time Ayumi giving the flame user a flash of her true power. She growled, "Thanks for messing up my shoulder, nimwit. Why do you even bother attacking me? We both know who's gonna win, and I'll do it every single time."

"Just making sure you haven't gone soft on me. Especially with the League looking for you and all."

The...League?

"What...why?" It wasn't fear plastered over her naturally stoic expression, but confusion. Rhetorically, maybe to the wood, maybe to the man, Ayumi questioned, "How do they know who I am? I was...so careful..." As she trailed off, the bruised girl put a hand to the snake bites, images of her blood spilling on USJ's floors resurfacing at the forefront of her mind. Her blood had spilled, spilled for anyone to take. Clicking her tongue, she whispered, "Damn it," and tightened her grip on the man's neck.

Touya smirked, further twisting the knife into the wound. "Apparently your blood is really something else! I'm surprised the boss didn't juice it out of you back when you worked here!" A sinister look contorted his features, as the black haired man stated boldly, "I sure would've."

"Shut up." With thoughts racing a mile a minute, Ayumi needed a quick way to get Touya out of the way. Icily, she demanded, "Move or be moved. I'm taking out the boss, whether you struggle or not."

"No one's stopping you." Seeing that he got a rise out of the girl, Touya smirked and put his hands up, effectively surrendering. "I'll let the hero take me in! After all, I am just a measly villain."

"What are you implying?"

"I can't believe you joined those...fakes...You know how corrupt the hero society is." Disgust was prominent in his scowl, a scowl not only directed towards Ayumi, but seemingly to society as well.

"Heart Attack! Hurry and take out the boss! We can only wait for so long before we storm!"

With a grimace, the bloodshot teen looked at the man who's neck was under her fingers. Although it would've been smart to incapacitate him, Ayumi's mind was ignored by her heart, who couldn't let go of the past she worked so hard to push by. "Yeah, well, staying in the gray area only gets you so far. It was just a matter of time until I got claimed by one of the sides. Might as well fight for the good." With a roll of her eyes, Ayumi chose to have mercy on Touya, an itch in the back of her mind having her turn and continue down the hall. She walked away from the bodyguard again, just as she had once before, leaving him in her ashes without a second thought. From down the hall, it was her words which echoed hauntingly this time: "We can't always hide in the gray."

Ayumi was gone again.

Out of the blue - the blue which Touya bathed himself in perpetually - blue flames painted over the red and gold walls, devouring the mahogany of the root he had belonged to for so long. A light smirk graced the patchy man's features, staples and a new resolve the only things holding him together. As the wood burned, he prepared himself for a fight, speaking to himself but wishing Ayumi could hear.

The blaze in Touya's eyes outmatched the one eating away at the scenery around him. "I think it's about time I choose a side."

The flames burned the mahogany to a crisp.

Shaky steps and shaky breaths were what echoed off the walls of the secret passage Ayumi was traveling down. The boss was an easy takedown for Ayumi, as his snake like tongue was untrained and unreliable in the battle sense, though it worked remarkably well in the slime talking department. The bloodshot intern took him out with ease, flirting with the disgusting old man, then proceeding to knock him with one touch to the face. The repeated use of her quirk, however, had caused Ayumi's limbs to begin shaking and spazzing out. The use of some stimulants and depressants from her own supply left an absence in her blood, so as her body would work to refill her reserves, her muscles would shake, not receiving the proper blood they usually did.

Shaking, the bloodshot girl took a look around the hidden hallway, the secret passage in the ceiling the boss would boast about back in her dealing days. It was what allowed him to have an eye on everyone and strike - like the snake he was - when necessary. The walls and flooring were made of metal, the space appearing to be a glorified air duct of sorts. With no color, my body won't go out of wack as quickly. I won't need a high to continue.

As she made her way further down the hall, Ayumi began to realize that her borderline incapacitated limbs weren't the only things shaking. The tunnel shifted slowly from side to side, the image becoming one out of some sort of fun house. Green legs shook more, Ayumi's ability to coordinate lost in the sea of movement, then suddenly, the brunette dropped onto her back, limbs resembling those of an arthritic elder. Around her, wide eyes observed snapping metal beams and screws falling loose, the square of metal Ayumi was on specifically becoming detached from the rest. One side dipped more than the other, but the bruised and newly burned girl couldn't do anything to stop her shaking body from sliding off the metal. Her hands reached out, grabbing for a grip, however, to no avail. There was light beneath her; the battle she was to arrive to, guns blazing, would instead swallow her, shakiness and everything.

"NO!" Real fear, fear of the uncontrollable overtook Ayumi, her inability to help herself pushing her at a slow and agonizing pace out of the tunnel.

And thus, Ayumi slid out of the tunnel, falling down, down through the air, down to the ground, without any way to help herself.