"~And in the end, We lie awake,
And we dream, Of making our escape,
And in the end, We lie awake,
And we dream, Of making our escape,
Ooh...~"
A heavy sigh escaped your lungs and echoed throughout the air.
That was too close for comfort.
One wrong move and you'd be locked in a vicious battle right now...
And after you felt the Black Dog's presence distance itself further away, the sound of rustling behind you caught your attention.
Oh, right.
Operation conceal your king rather than steal him away was a complete success.
He quickly pulled off the large costume head and inhaled sharply before flashing the feline on his shoulder a nervous smile.
"I managed to get out of that one alive. Next time, though, he'll kill me on the spot." He shuddered as a small meow of agreement answered him.
"Most definitely."
You finally piped up, figuring that he might have forgotten you were standing right in front of him.
A sudden bell in his mind must've rang because now he was staring directly at you.
"Ah, right! Thank you for saving our butts! My name is Yashiro Isana... But, um; who exactly are you?"
Your feet shifted anxiously at his question, afraid he'd eventually ask that...
So what better way than to dodge the real answer?
At least... for a little while.
"That doesn't really matter. For now you can just assume that I'm a friend. All you need to do is focus on laying low for a while until that video can be explained properly." You replied making sure your voice was still low.
He and the "cat" blinked a few times, almost as if your words took some time to sink into their consciousness.
"Okay, but... Can I least see what you look like?"
You reflexively shook your head.
"No... Not yet anyway."
Again he stared at you for a good moment, before suddenly standing up.
Once you noticed him circling around you like an animal would if they encountered someone or something unknown to them, you stayed perfectly still, patiently waiting for him to finish; while admitting to yourself that you were genuinely curious of his actions.
After another minute or so he stopped back in front of you with a baffled look on his face.
"Well, from the looks of it; you're pretty short aren't you? But yet your voice sounds kind of low. That's a little weird."
Then he raised one of his hands and rested it atop of your head, most likely as a manner of comparison between your respective heights and making you flinch as a result.
"Huh, I don't think I've ever really seen that many guys shorter than me. Guess you got the short end of deal. Er, I mean, no pun intended."
'How clueless can you be?'
In the end, you couldn't think of a suitable word to describe how completely dense your king could be at times.
It was like nothing had even changed to begin with.
You sighed and gripped the huge costume covered appendage weighing down your skull before slowly removing it.
"You need to be more serious. There are people out there trying to kill you. This isn't the time to be messing around."
He instantly shaped up once you emphasized that important detail and scratched the bottom of his cheek nervously.
"Right. Um, so what should I do? Is there anyway that I can stay away from those thugs?"
"Please, don't call them that." You snapped.
Somehow, those words may have come out sounding a little bitter...
In all honesty "thugs" wasn't that far off the mark from what the Red clansmen were normally referred to by most regular people; but actually hearing the word leave someone's mouth, let alone Adolf's; well it just didn't sound good to you.
A slightly shocked expression crossed Yashiro's face, but then it softened.
"Sorry, sorry. What I meant to say was, are you going to help us?" He corrected.
"Us?" You questioned. Although you knew he was talking about the furry little creature on his shoulder, you wanted to make sure.
"Yes. Me, and this little fella."
A cute meow was heard after he rubbed it's chin.
Fella?
Well he was certainly in for a big surprise.
In fact you tried your absolute hardest not to crack a smile after thinking about the future look on your king's face once the truth came out. You just needed to witness that moment in person, it would also make the past week at least a tiny bit more bearable...
"So, does your silence mean a no?"
"It isn't a no. But as you've heard, I'm not here to fight anyone. The best I can do is keep you out of sight until we can safely return you back to wherever you live. I'm also assuming that you heard from the man who just left, warn me that the next time we meet he'll kill not only you; but me as well."
You grimaced, thinking about how stressful a situation like that would be to go through. Not like there was anything you could do about it...
"I see. I am curious about one thing though..." He murmured.
"What is it?"
"Well if he does find us; what happens then?"
Good question.
One that you unfortunately already knew the answer to.
"Then I'd have no choice but to defend myself... No matter how much I may not want to." You replied sounding more somber than you would have liked.
He smiled grimly. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that you really can't stand fighting, right?"
A short silence ensued before you reluctantly nodded your head.
"Yes. But I-" Suddenly a strong breeze picked up and managed to blow your large hood back enough for some of your facial features to be exposed; until you quickly pulled it back down and obscured it again.
"A-as I was saying-"
"You're a woman?" Yashiro asked cutting you clean off.
Shit.
The look of pure shock and surprise overtook his features as you stumbled a bit at his (accurate) accusation.
"So that's why you're shorter than me!" He added grinning.
You simply stared at him with a tired expression.
"That's what you thought about first?"
To be honest, you were actually very relieved to know that that was all he was concerned about.
Most guys would have complained that a woman had been their savior, rather it be because of their pride or some stupid stereotype, like how women couldn't fight as well as men could, or something else along those lines...
"Yup. There aren't many boys my age who are shorter than me, but girls of course are a different story. So now that I know your true gender, will you finally give me the honor of showing me a closer look at your face?" He grinned triumphantly.
Geez, why didn't you tie the stupid string attached to the hood for goodness sake?
"Fine but..." You hesitated once your eyes caught a glimpse of the cat still resting on his shoulder.
You pointed a stern finger at the cute (albeit confused) creature.
"It can't look. I know that sounds weird, but trust me... I have my reasons."
There was a long awkward pause,
"Meow?"
And then another one.
Finally the confused boy said something.
"Um... Okay, if you say so... Er, sorry about this." He replied before carefully setting her down and placing the costume head over her.
"Meow!" She cried annoyed.
"Sorry, Neko..." You whispered. It was so light that not even Yashiro heard you.
Once finished, he turned back to you.
"There. Out of sight, out of mind. Now can I see the person I'm trying to thank for saving my life?"
His face was practically lit up with anticipation.
For whatever reason; you didn't understand why he appeared to be so giddy in seeing what you looked like.
Slowly, your hands moved their way back to your hood and gripped the edges; after giving one last sigh you pulled it completely off revealing the identity that you'd hoped you could keep secret a bit longer...
When your tied back locks slipped down against your back and you opened your eyes to the radiant sunlight, a blush tinted the white haired boy's cheeks.
You could've also sworn, that a small gasp or squeak of some sort escaped his mouth.
Apparently your warm bright eyes reflected the rays of the sun in a way that many people believed to be one of the most mysteriously beautiful wonders a woman could posses.
Those who witnessed it had all agreed that it was quite a sight to behold, and that it only added to your already high visual appeal.
A soft wind blew past the two of you, and the feeling of some loose strands of your hair brushing against your cheeks filled your senses. While suddenly all you could think about was how nice the breeze felt now that you were no longer hiding anything.
Once again the air surrounding both of you fell silent.
Your king did nothing but continue to aimlessly stare at you.
His eyes were deep in concentration as he took his time absorbing every single one of your feminine features.
Something then must have clicked inside of his brain, because his blush burned brighter.
He'd finally managed to recover some ground after his brief relapse and spoke up.
"I think I've seen you before! Were you the girl smiling at me on the Ashinaka bridge earlier today?"
Oh, so he did remember.
You lifted your left hand and tucked the stray hairs behind your ear as a small blush of your own surfaced. "Yes. That was me. I admit, you weren't actually supposed to see me in the first place." You grumbled returning your voice back it's normal pitch.
"So then... You really were interested in me?" He asked purely stunned; almost as if the concept was impossible to even dream of.
"That isn't really the case. If I'm being honest, I had already seen the video of you days ago and followed you for a different reason. Which reminds me, we really need to leave; right now."
All of a sudden you remembered your top priority.
This was no time for flirting.
"Ah, I almost forgot about tha-" You cut him off when you swiftly covered your face again, making sure the hood was actually secure so that it wouldn't fall or fly off again, and removed the giant costume dog head from the disapproving "cat" before placing them both back over your king's shoulders.
"Let's go." You replied pulling him along outside the building door.
"W-wait! My parasol!" He shouted frantically.
A smile tugged at your lips. "I already have it. Your eyes are pretty slow for someone who can lie so quickly." You teased handing it over to his free arm.
"Y-You mean you saw that too?"
The crack in his tone almost made you laugh when you left the question unanswered, but no matter how much you wanted to "catch up" with him, there were more important matters to deal with first.
And things soon turned sour once you briefly went out into the open area amongst the other citizens, near the same exact gigantic TV that showed the video of Totsuka's murder.
Which of course, now flashed a gigantic luminescent bounty for anyone who was able to locate and hand over Yashiro.
And in return they would receive an entire sum of ten million yen.
Whoa.
The members of HOMRA were finally becoming desperate.
And a part of you felt a little guilty for getting in their way and aiding the one whom they thought was the killer.
The rest of you however, didn't regret a single thing, because while the man on the screen may look the part; both he and Yashiro were two completely different people.
You'd just have to prove that detail somehow.
The streets then filled with whispers and gossip as the pedestrians around you began to criticize and talk about the authenticity of the bounty, and if the members of a gang themed group like HOMRA would actually be willing to pay that much to locate just one person.
On one hand, it wouldn't have surprised you if they did in fact, stay true to their word, considering how close everyone was with one another in the Red clan.
On the other, now that you really gave it more thought, seeing any of the members (excluding Kusanagi) hand over that much money to some random individual seemed like a sick joke, and a long shot.
"Well that doesn't look too good..." The voice behind you said sullen. Your hand tightened around his arm since he wasn't able to see the small comforting smile on your face.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine, I promise. Now follow me." You assured him as you snuck into a nearby alley.
Your expression hardened the more you though about the situation...
No way.
No way would they take this innocent man away from you.
Damn the current Colorless king for doing something like this. Making it so, only one girl knew the truth. Without a single way for you to prove or convince anyone of their mistake.
Worst of all, he had forced you back into this city. Pretty much giving you no choice to but to stay in this damned place where everything that made your heart ache resided...
And where he was as well...
Unexpectedly, you halted your steps; feeling a few familiar auras close by the narrow space you stood in.
You carefully peeked around the corner; finding the very same hazardous Black Dog you saw only moments ago calling out for your king.
Not to mention the hot headed Yata following close behind.
"Where are you, Yashiro Isana?! Come out!"
His search was interrupted when the angry red and white vanguard sped towards him at a fast pace, swinging that signature bat of his like a fool.
He missed (of course) once the young raven haired man leapt out of the way and gracefully landed atop of a street pole.
You couldn't help but sigh audibly at his reckless advances; until the feeling of the man behind you tugging on your arm caught your attention.
"I think I have an idea. Will you please take me to the top of this building?"
You stared at him for a second, wondering what he could possibly be planning in that carefree mind of his at a moment like this; but nonetheless listened to his plea and nodded your head in approval.
"Hold on tight." You replied gently taking his arms and wrapping them around your waist. "R-Right."
Your feet shifted, making sure to get in a good position so that your king wouldn't fall off the exact moment you moved. You tightened your own hands on his as well; just as a precaution, and applied a small amount of pressure (or at least small to you) against the ground before you flew up into the open air.
The sound of wind blowing past your body and a small gasp escaping Yashiro's mouth resonated in your ears as you softly landed on the objective's edge and neatly stepped down onto the roof.
"Are you alright?" You asked as the boy, whose costume head was now hanging halfway off his shoulders stared back at you with shocked puppy eyes (again, no pun intended).
"Well I actually meant if you could just take me up the stairs, but that works too, heh. Right! Anyway..."
A worried look crossed your face as he quickly removed the rest of his disguise... not that he could see it. "What are you doing?" You inquired, when suddenly he ran to another edge and blatantly yelled out to the clansmen below.
"Hey! Yatogami! It looks like we can escape from up here. Hurry up, quick!"
Your skin felt drained of all color.
"You!" The Black Dog yelled back in annoyance.
"I'm sure you can take out that guy in an instant. Just finish him off and come up here." Yashiro finished.
Ah... So that's what he was doing.
He was tricking the members of the Red clan into thinking that the fearsome Black Dog was actually serving underneath him.
The sound of Yata's swearing and auras flaring signified your own cue to continue onward. You discreetly pulled Yashiro by the arm and returned it to your waist, while also ignoring the small pink tinge surfacing on his cheeks.
"I'm not going to hold back this time, so you really need to make sure you don't loosen your grip, okay?"
"Got it... You hold on too alright?" He nodded flashing the "cat" now inside of his left jacket pocket a smile.
"Meow!"
"Let's go." He added before shyly folding his other arm and setting his hand on your waist as well.
I guess now that he knew you were a girl, he was a little more hesitant to hold you.
Ironic, considering his real alter ego was nothing but inappropriate and sensual whenever it came to touching any part of you...
Great.
Now you were blushing.
To try and shake off any excess embarrassment you once again positioned yourself, pivoting your left foot and taking off with a jump going at a breakneck pace.
Another done, woo!
I almost went over 3,000 words in this one, but then I realized the last few hundred words would look better at the start of a chapter rather than at the end of one.
So I cut out about the last 300 and put them in a new chapter.
But I'm really proud of this one specifically... At least, it's the one I'm most proud of for now anyway. *Laughs Nervously*
I like it a lot though, because you see more interaction between you and the main guy you're in love with.
And honestly, I thought it was very sweet the way I wrote it.
I don't really think I made Yashiro OC, because I've watched K Project at least 4 times, so I understand his personality pretty well.
And so I'm a little confident in the way I wrote him and what he might say or do in a situation like this.
Besides, from what I can tell, he appears to be bisexual, because he not only blushed when Kuroh held him in his arms and saved him; but also when Neko first revealed herself to be a cute (albeit childish) naked woman and tried forcing her to put clothes on...
Anyway, that's it for now.
Please keep on reading! :)