Author's Note:
These characters belong to Gonzo.
. . .
"So by now you've confessed your deep love for her and slept with her, right?"
"Bob, if that's all you called to say—"
"I wish, Saiga. That crazy police chick has been all over your apartment today. She stopped by my place and asked if I knew anything about you, but I told her I'd never talked to you before."
"Ginza." Saiga sighed. "Stay as far away from her as you can, Bob."
"Well, now that my news is over, update me, love muffin. What about the girl?"
Saiga tossed a couple packs of cigarettes and a bottle of alcohol onto the store counter. "I can't do it, Bob."
"What are you doing? Are you in a store?"
"I'm getting a drink, maybe that'll calm me down."
"Where's the girl?!"
"She's waiting in the car. I told her I needed a couple things."
"I take it things aren't going well."
"No…" Saiga paid the cashier and gathered the paper-wrapped groceries into his arms. "It's going…. Damn it, Bob. I don't want to talk about this."
"Things are going
that well, huh?"
"Look, why don't you just talk to her and
tell her how disgusting I am and all. Besides, she wants to talk to
you." Saiga opened up the car door and handed Kagura the phone.
"It's Bob."
"Hi, Bob!" Kagura cried. "Yes, it's been perfect. Uh huh. Oh… Yeah," she giggled. "He does. He won't admit it, but he does. Haha."
Saiga glared. "What's he saying?"
Kagura shook her head. "Uh huh. Okay. Heh heh. Love you, too, Bob!" She flipped the phone closed and handed it back to Saiga. "He said to give you his love. So what'd you get from the store?"
"Oh, uh… Just some cigarettes." He studied her expression. "What did he say to you?"
The cretin was poised on the floor, ready to accept the Goddess' gift. Drool hung in strings from his grisly mouth, and his breath came in heavy, rasping laughter. Kagura was terrified of him. She stepped forward against her will, wrestling her white-heeled boots with every step. Suddenly his mask was stripped away, and the monster disappeared—leaving Saiga in his place. Kagura's body stopped moving, and she found herself able to move freely, but she continued forward. Saiga looked dazed, enraptured by the unfolding scene in front of him and petrified at the same time. She knelt and tipped his chin towards her. The fear melted from his features. Slowly she dipped her head. His eyes gradually shut.
Kagura sat up abruptly. She panted as reality rushed to attack her senses. She smelled cigarette smoke, heard a TV chattering, saw the dim light flashing under her door, felt her hands touch her lips. Had that really been what happened? Guiltily, she wished she could remember just that one moment.
She crept out of her bed and tiptoed towards the door. The TV was turned down low, which met Saiga was either asleep or not actually watching. She cracked open her door to peer out.
He was slouched on the couch, sipping from a glass and flicking ash from his cigarette onto a tray perched on his knee. Kagura shut her door, gathered her courage and parted the door slightly again. She waited so long that when she shut her eyes, she could see his form in negative colors on her eyelids.
"I can see you, you know." He said gruffly.
Ashamed, she stepped out into the light and waited for him to further address her. He said nothing, only sipped more of his glass and stared at the TV. Kagura sat on the edge of the couch.
"Saiga, I was wondering if you could tell me more about the night we met."
He leaned his head against the wall.
She glanced at the bottle on the table. "Is that juice?"
"It's rum."
"Rum?" She wrinkled her nose. It had a terrible smell. "What are you watching?"
Saiga rolled his neck to look at her. His eyes seemed heavy. "Why do you want to know about that night?"
"I had this dream." She tugged her hair nervously. "I've had it before: there's a scary man with braces and slobber and… he wants me to kiss him. I always wake up before I do, though. But tonight. . . " She faltered. "He took off his mask, and it was you sitting there."
Saiga turned back to the TV.
His cell phone, lying on top of her magazines on the coffee table, lit up and began vibrating. Kagura leaned forward to read the name of the caller: Ginza. She shrank back.
"Are you going to answer that?"
"She's been calling all night. I don't want to pick it up."
"Saiga, I know I said I didn't want to hear it, but—" Ginza called again. "I do now."
"I'll be honest, Kagura: I'm a little drunk."
Her eyes widened.
"I don't want to say something I'll regret in the morning," he explained. "I'll tell you what happened; but if I say something out of line, you'll have to forgive me."
He had always seemed so strong to her. Ginza's number buzzed through his cell. Now, all of a sudden, he was just as fragile and vulnerable as she was. Kagura was curious to know what kinds of things he would say that he would regret, but she tried to forget that particular fascination.
She took a shallow breath. "Go for it."
He flicked the TV off and stood, moving to the dining table. She followed him and sat catty-corner from him, examining his exhausted face as she reached above her to turn on the light. A cigarette dripped from his lips. He took a few puffs, exhaling curls of translucent smoke.
"I used to work for a newspaper. Bum assignments: political figures, prostitution busts, new store openings. That kind of crap. My boss gave me a new project—something he knew I could handle and would enjoy." Saiga took a small swig of rum, then, noticing Kagura's grimace, capped the bottle and set it away. "He gave me a small snapshot of Suitengu, telling me he was head of a secret club. I was to get into the club for the scoop: who was in it, what was the object. I had a feeling I knew one of the senators involved, so I trailed him.
"We ended up in a parking garage. He put on some mask and a cape, so I jacked those from him and tied him up. The other club members were assembling in front of this train track. There was a huge silver train."
He paused to light another cigarette, and he wished Kagura wasn't watching him so intently. "The club members were scanned in, and I got in easily. The club… I'd never seen anything so disgusting in all my life. Higher-ups getting all they couldn't get in the public eye, lapping up every demented thing their fucking money could buy them.
"I finally found Suitengu, and I followed him to an open chamber. A lot of other members were standing there, waiting. Suitengu and his goons came out onto a balcony and spouted some bullshit about the Goddess. Then she—you—came from the ceiling." His face darkened, and he didn't continue speaking until he had finished the entire cigarette and started on the next.
Kagura ached to interrupt him and ask questions, but she held her tongue.
"I raised my camera and took the last picture and probably the best picture I've ever taken. I wish you could've seen it." He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. "The guards grabbed me and held me on the alter. They ripped off my mask. You leaned down and kissed me. I have a feeling you weren't supposed to because Suitengu started screaming orders, or maybe it was someone else. Hell, I don't know. The rest is a blur. All I remember is that I got cut up pretty bad by the guards; and the next thing I know, I've got this bloody girl in my arms, running blindly through some halls."
"Do you regret it?" Kagura whispered.
"No." He stared her in the eyes. "I'll never regret meeting you, Kagura."
He allowed her to squeeze his hand for the next few minutes while silent tears slid down his cheeks, then he shuffled to his feet and sat on the couch, slouching in the same manner as Kagura had found him. She sat next to him and began to cry as well.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they fell asleep there, weeping together and grateful for each others' presence.