Chapter Five: Running on Hope

A thick billow of smoke curled out the car window's slight opening. It swirled against the glass like the caress of a lover then flittered away into the darkness reaching towards the stars. It left the glass feeling cold and abandoned.

Damn he was melodramatic.

He snorted - smirking inward - pressing the cigarette between his lips and inhaling deeply. Pulling it away he exhaled watching the smoke dance through the darkness of his car and out the window, the tiny winter breeze helping it to escape through the small space. Leaning his head against the headrest he glanced at the clock – twenty of one.

With a hefty sigh he rubbed his temple with his right hand, the cigarette still held gracefully between his fingers. Damn… What on earth was he doing here? It was almost one o'clock in the morning and he was sitting in his darkened car, catty corner to the Ohgi apartment, watching the window of a seventeen-year-old boy. He felt like not only a stalker, but a pervert as well. He doubted that the courts would believe him if he said that said seventeen-year-old was over four hundred years old so it was all right to "stalk" him.

He snorted again and took another drag. Blowing the smoke out he squashed the butt into the ashtray along with the other ten. He glanced at the clock again and sighed. Three minutes had passed. He had been sitting here now for more than two hours casually watching the window and smoking away almost all of his cigarettes. Maybe he should have brought a book?

Truly he was afraid he had gone insane or that he was driving himself insane. He honestly was not sitting here stalking his latest sexual obsession, far from it in fact. He had a hunch about that demon feline that was hanging around his lord and master and he wanted to make sure he was right before he went running his mouth about it.

So, in essence, he was stalking a cat.

He smiled some sort of twisted smile and leaned his head against the steering wheel. Not that he could watch the cat and not be forced to watch the man whom the feline resided with. For the first forty minutes of this sting operation he had watched, entranced, as the shadow of his lord had moved behind the sheer curtains covering the window. The first twenty minutes he had sat at his desk, doing homework presumably. Then he had left and went to take a shower and came back clad in nothing. The light through the curtain had cast itself upon the body of that boy so perfectly that it left nothing to the imagination.

That was about the point when he had tried to smoke two cigarettes at once.

Then, mercifully, his master had turned the light off and gone to bed. And that brought him to now; where he was reaching for another cigarette. He slipped the pack into his coat pocket and pulled the lighter from the same place. The golden flame illuminated the dark space of his car. Out of the corner of his eye, a green light caught his attention.

Whipping his gaze to the window he smirked. I knew it. The green light slithered through the curtains and then through the glass finally disappearing to reveal a black cat with white tipped ears and tail standing on the tiny window ledge, back arched. Her green eyes were glowing brighter than any normal cats should. She looked ready to jump off the ledge when, suddenly, her whole body was engulfed in green fire and she took off like a shot darting like lightning into the darkness.

"Damn!" he swore loudly whipping his car out of park and doing a huge U-e, tires screeching, and followed the green blur.

He sped through stop signs and traffic lights almost hitting a motorcyclist along the way, but he could have cared less. The feline was fast and he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to keep his eyes on her and the road. Quickly, making a sharp right, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a seal. Holding it in front of his face he mouthed out a quick chant. The seal lit up and flew through his windshield following after the cat in a blaze of orange fire.

Fifteen minutes from the Ohgi residence he reached the downtown district. His seal was chasing the cat and helping to direct him, but once downtown he had to park and follow on foot. Running along the brick sidewalk on foot he found himself in the heart of downtown. There were several bars lining one side of the street along with young men and women milling about in front, smoking and chatting, staring at him like he was insane. Perhaps I am…

There were small shops – books, clothes, baked goods, art galleries – all closed up for the evening as well as some restaurants that were in the process of closing or had been closed for only a short time.

His lungs burned and his nose and fingers were frozen. He really was in no shape to run like this so late at night, in the bitter cold. His foot hit a slick patch of snow and he stumbled, loosing track of the seal for a moment. A moment too long he realized his heart sinking to his toes as the small piece of paper fluttered down to earth and landed in front of him.

It had lost the cat.

Panting he stared at it in disbelief and blinked up at the sky. "Fuck," he muttered to himself. He bent down and picked up the seal and crumpled it in his hand then stuffed it in his coat pocket. That demon feline was much faster than he thought if his tracking seal could not even keep up with her.

Kicking a clump of dirty snow he walked over to a rod-iron bench and sat down. The metal sent a sudden chill up his spine making him shiver, but he was undeterred as he pulled another cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

He really should have known better than to get his hopes up. She was dead, that poor gentle creature who he loved so dearly. She was so much like Kagetora and yet, at the same time, not. And unlike his lord she actually took the time to understand him. But the feelings he felt for her were always platonic. Sometimes he wished they were more, maybe things would be easier on his heart? But c'est la vie.

He snorted suddenly feeling very disgusted with himself and everyone. Why had that stupid feeling – hope – brought his expectations up again? That feeling was an evil feeling, he knew. Sometimes he hoped he would die and end his hearts suffering, but that never happened. Sometimes he hoped that Takaya was blushing at him, but that never happened. Sometimes he hoped that he wanted and loved him just as much, but that sure as hell never happened. And sometimes… just this once… he wished that hope had been right.

That she was alive.

But he was always wrong, always misreading the signs just like he did with her brother. Fuck hope.

He took another drag and blew it out slowly. Watching the smoke in the air he closed his eyes. Never again will I let myself believe. At least I never said anything to Takaya. I hate crushing that boy's fragile feelings. It was true, he had to admit, and as much as he hurt the teen he really hated doing so.

He really needed to get up and go home and go to bed. His ass was probably blue by now, but for some reason he could not make his legs work. So he just sat there watching the clouds move across the sky. It was going to snow again.

"Heh… still have that same old nasty habit, huh, Naoe?"

All the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he slowly turned to look at the woman who spoke to him. His eyes widened, the cigarette fell to the ground, and he stood slowly never breaking eye contact.

She was a young woman with lush curves and long legs. She smelled faintly like fish; actually more than faintly, she reeked of it. Her long dark hair was pulled into a harsh bun that was coming out at the sides. She wore a happi, a short kimono that fell and tied at her waist. It was navy and decorated with blue and white koi fish. Over that was a dark-gray coat that fell to mid thigh. She wore baggy black pants and black shoes; a white apron with two large pockets was around her slender waist. It was rather dirty covered in many undistinguishable spots. A knife roll was slung over one shoulder while a white cloth skullcap was held in the opposite hand.

She gave him a half smile, placing once delicate hand on her hip. "Hi."

He tried to speak, honestly he did, but no words came out of his mouth. His lips moved as if talking, but there was still nothing. His legs, however, carried him towards her; his dark eyes never left her light blue ones.

Finally he stopped right in front of her. The fish smell over powering his nose and yet it was the best smell in the world at that moment. Quickly he reached out and grabbed the backs of her arms pulling her towards him. He pressed his forehead against hers sharing her breath. It had the faint taste of peppermint, her favorite type of candy.

"H-Hanairo…" he finally breathed out pulling her closer, his hands clamping down unconsciously around the backs of her arms.

Something warm and fuzzy was brushing against his ankles wrapping a long tail around his shins. As much as he had just told hope to fuck off, he was glad it was still, somehow, alive.

His throat tightened and his eyes closed. "Hanairo," he repeated breathing in that fishy, peppermint sent of hers.

"Oh, Naoe, it's good to see you, too," she said softly her voice slightly emotional, but not nearly as much as his.

"Hanairo…" he said once again and pulled away from her to look into her eyes.

She grinned up at him and repeated slowly, "Naoe."

But that grin still remained on her face and then it broadened and there was a saucy little twinkle in her eye. And gods above he could not help himself. Straight faced he said, "Damn… you stink."

She laughed then, a joyous sound coming straight from her heart. And for the first time in four hundred and some odd years he suddenly felt at peace.

"I know, right? I hate how I smell when I come out of work, but Helena loves it!" She beamed up at him and then reached down pulling the dark feline into her arms. The cat purred as she brushed her face against the silken fur.

Drawing her blue eyes back up to him she asked, "Are you parked illegally?"

Blinking he said, "No. Why?"

She laughed. " 'Cause I can write you a parking voucher so you can park wherever you want. I do have that kind of power being the sous chef at the Flying Fighter Fish," she said with a huge grin.

"Is that where you work?"

"Oh, yes, sir!" She turned suddenly and started walking away; Helena cuddled into her arms. Calling over her shoulder she said, "C'mon, Naoe-kun, it's freezing out."

Hesitantly he took a step. "Where…?"

"My apartment, silly. I'm only a block away." She stuck her tongue out at him and continued walking. Naoe could do nothing but follow her. After all he had a lot of questions and the comfort of her apartment would be better than the frozen streets of downtown.

Stay tuned for Chapter 6 - Lovely Lady: Grieving Tears

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