First comment: Hello guys! Well...since one person asked for a second chapter saying more about Ayase-chan I agreed that an explanation was needed and decided to write one. I hope everything it's in order now.
Disclaimer: I do not own this beautiful story or its characters (No.6), only Ayase-chan is my creation.
AYASE POV
My name is Ayase. No surname. I don't know who my own parents are. My oldest memory is the one that I was abandoned close to a very dark alley when I was about 7, never knew by who. But one thing that I'm sure of is that it was hard to figure out how to survive in this huge world. Soon enough I considered myself the luckiest girl ever to be found and welcomed by a sweet and poor family at an old neighborhood of West Block. They were for sure very nice to me, however, I couldn't stand that forever. My place was determined since I was born and it was the streets. Where I didn't have to worry about limitations or any kind of tasks. Where I could do whatever I wanted to without any further consequences. I was like a rat, being agile enough to get the basic things in order to have a reasonable life (for someone in my conditions, obviously). I even managed to find an old unoccupied house where I could at least sleep peacefully for the remaining time I had left.
One day when I was already 10 years old and right after the cities were brought together again like they once were in the past, I went you to find or even better, to steal something nice to delicious myself with for breakfast. With time I got used to that kind of life and eventually learned a lot with so many tries in vain. It's good to remark that never once since I was born I was caught. Little did I know that the marker was close to zero again...
Heading slowly to my favorite tiny stand where they had the most wonderful apples I have ever tasted in my life. Like a blissful sensation to my mouth I was glad I could have the chance to feel this at least once. Getting there the clients were showing up slowly, since it was pretty early. I hid behind a tree near my target and watched the circulation of people in and out the place, waiting for the perfect time to strike and snatch my food. Without anyone noticing my presence, I found the ideal moment and took two enormous red fresh apples, returning right after the definite blow to my house so I could enjoy them at my own. But in the way to my delighted home I felt a hand grabbing my shoulders from behind and dragging me to the closest ally. I didn't even have time to react and found myself trapped between the suspect's arms. His eyes were piercing and hypnotizing at the same time. I had to admit I was scared. Being this the second time this happened.
"I saw what you did right there young lady." He was too serious for my own taste. And I kept myself in deep silence.
"So you are a quiet one now, huh? How about you give me those apples and I let you go?" Proposing a deal.
"No way! I took that with my own effort and I'm not just giving it to a stranger like you!" My pride was speaking louder than the other recent emotions.
"Oh. So the lion is out of its cage now." He said teasingly, in a more relaxed way than before, smiling briefly.
"Shut up." I said through my teeth, frowning my face.
We stood there just watching ourselves for a few minutes, until he decided to speak up, finally.
"You make me go back to the past and think about the old me. Always acting impulsively to survive, exactly like you." Oh come on, he didn't seem to be that old.
"So...? Go straight to the point" Something in him made me interested.
"Look, I don't pretend to fight with you or anything like that. What I'm trying to say id that you and me are the same, we are street rats. Like siblings we should stick together and help each other." Expressing his opinion.
"Right...and what do I get with that kind of deal?" I didn't admit losing in any way.
"You have to agree with me, young lady, that two brilliant minds can do better when they are together." His words full of confidence in a positive reply.
"It's a simple case of survival. I bet you have been through that already, right?" Complementing.
I thought about it for a short time. At this moment he had already released me from his grip and backed away, laying casually at the other side of the wall (which wasn't very far from where I stood, considering the tiny space.) After a moment of reflection I looked at him and his full image, realizing he didn't seem to be a bad guy at all. I dared to say he was feeling as nervous as I was and even a bit crushed, with a hint of sadness behind those beautiful gray eyes.
"Well, we'll never know the answer if we don't try it out first." I said vanishing the other thoughts away.
"A wise girl you are. I'm starting to think this will be the beginning of something great." He said while extended his hand, like a friendly shake as a truce.
"Yeah...who knows..." I locked my hand with his to seal our personal promise.
And since he didn't have a place to stay I let him get accommodated in "my" house. Well, it is mine, since there was no one there when I arrived. Furthermore, it's fine, it was too big for me alone anyway. He was all by himself too, didn't even have a bundle of clothes brought along with him. I had the feeling he was running away from something, but I was too afraid to ask more about his personal subjects, better leave it alone for a while. After all, I wasn't his friends, just a nice room mate.
Eventually I got to know his name, Nezumi. It was a different one (not that Ayase was pretty or anything like it), but it was good to get to know him a little better, even if it's only knowing his name and nothing else.
I, as the one with the smartest personality here, started to watch his routine during the times I had nothing else to do at home. He spent most of his time reading inside of his room or wandering around the streets. At least twice a week he came back with something new and tasty to eat, good quality things, I wondered how he got them. Seems like my intelligence was being defeated, for more hurtful that it is admit it.
One day he left the place early in the morning looking very anxious, like he was going to the most important event of his entire life. That day I decided to stay at home all day, the food was enough for the whole month so there was nothing much to do left. Nezumi only came back at night, his eyes gave away the feeling of concern
"Hey. Good night to you too." I said politely.
"Hi there" He answered back coldly, like always.
"Where have you been all day? You could have told me something." I spotted a small bag he was holding way to close to his body as if it was a precious thing.
"You're not my mother, I don't own you any excuses. It's none of your business." He wasn't in the mood for talking.
"Can I see what you brought there?" I pointed to the beige fabric.
"No. This is personal, sorry." He climbed up the stairs ready to lock himself inside his room like every single time.
"What a strange guy..." I thought out loud.
The following day I slept too much and ended up waking up in the middle of the afternoon. Gee, I wasn't even tired yesterday. Guess I'm a big fan of my own bed. Nezumi was nowhere to be seen. At least this time he was kind enough to leave me some breakfast at the table, even managed to get a nice and fresh loath of bread. He wasn't that bad. I ate the food happily and smiling to myself when suddenly thoughts of yesterday events came to my mind and the image of that boy holding that useless bag. Curiosity came rushing through my veins and I rushed to his bedroom, hoping to find the one thing he protected the most. He wouldn't even notice. And plus, what is so important that he have to hide it from me? I saved him from the streets, he should show a little bit of gratitude.
Opening the door slowly I found myself inside his own little cave. I've been there a few times before, it was a plain room with a bad, a wardrobe and a desk. The sack was found pretty quickly, hidden under the bed. (could you be any less obvious Nezumi?) Anticipation rushing through my whole body as I opened the bag and found many papers, most of them very old, looking like documents or something like that. However, in the middle of the mess, there was a picture. My room mate was smiling...that really shocked me, since I thought he wasn't really capable of showing such sincere emotions. Beside him there was a boy, about the same age as him, with light gray hair and red eyes. He had a peculiar face, marked by a red scar, which seemed to continue along the waves of his body. It was a pretty scene to look at, I couldn't take my eyesight away from it. Both of them looked so carefree, without any worries or problems, just having some pure and enjoyable fun. Calm and peaceful, even refreshing at some state.
It's like that old dictate isn't it? Curiosity killed the cat. I heard the only voice I was most afraid of at this very moment. What a timing, with me in the middle of the scene of the crime, I was ashamed.
"What do you think you're doing here Ayase? He sounded mad, damn it.
I felt my whole body going numb for a second. I didn't have words to say, I knew I was wrong.
"I'm...I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to." The first words that came to my mouth.
"The hell it wasn't! And still you're here, messing with personal objects that doesn't belong to you." He wasn't calm yet.
"Look, I'm sorry okay? I got curious, that's it." I looked at the ground.
I had this need to ask more about that person in the picture, but I knew I shouldn't.
The one standing next to me gave a long and heavy sigh, tired of everything. If it wasn't worth the fight why did he make all that commotion yesterday? Boys...
"Put that stuff right where you have found it and I'll forget this ever happened." So he left to the kitchen.
"Wait! Nezumi! Now that I know, won't you tell me more about him!?" I screamed, not fully satisfied yet.
He turned to me very slowly with a sarcastic smile printed on his face. Oh, there he goes, here it comes the brilliant idea. I hated the meaning behind that smile.
"So, do you want to help me?" He simply stated.
"Stop with those kind of questions and get to the point already." I wasn't a big fan of his twisted games.
"Fine, your wish is my command. I ran away from this guy, Shion, a long time ago, right after the wall was down for once. Yesterday I met him again by accident and now I want to keep an eye on him, in order to prevent further dumb decisions of his part."
"And what's my part in this big mess?" Oh, an adventure. Interesting.
"It'll be your task to watch him from now on and never ever let him find me or even search around." He told me coming at my direction and giving me a box full of strawberries, my favorite!
"Get this as a payment" He said after seeing the sparkle in my eyes.
"When do I start?" Let's agree that this seemed much better than going out to steal something safe to eat.
"Tomorrow. I'll leave you the address and everything else you might need later." He was leaving again, but I couldn't care less, with my mouth now full with the sweetest taste I could ever feel.
In the next morning Nezumi woke me up and said it was time to get me into the character. I needed to look the most invisible possible. Fine by me. I took the directions and he told me to be careful. Easy like that I left to my journey, if I could dare to say that to a simple trip across cities.
I arrived at the destined place barely quickly without getting lost, I was born to do this.
I found myself next to huge bakery. I've never seen one of these, only in movies or such things. I was truly amazed staring at everything I could find when I detected a car arriving at the store. Two persons came out of it, a boy and a beautiful woman, probably his mom. The teen, Shion, was truly pretty. Some of his features reminds his progenitor. I hid behind the closest tree I've found and watched the scene unfold discreetly. Looked like a normal day of work for both of them, happy and willing to do what they have been assigned to do they got inside, leaving me alone again. The clients were arriving as the clock was ticking, always smiling and with an expression of pure joy.
It came to be pretty annoying to do this every single day. That specific family was too boring to watch. Sometimes the pretty boy went out to make a delivery, but he ended up coming back the fastest as possible, I wondered if it was worth it to follow him so strictly.
Another day had come and I stared at the birds flying around the electric wire, counting them. When suddenly I felt a hand grabbing my shoulders lightly. I let a tiny scream pass through my lips and turned around to see who was there, maybe it was just a police officer like last week. Yet, I wasn't expecting to be Shion, staring at me with a nervous silly smile and wide eyes, scared of my surprise.
"Were you looking for me? Don't worry, I just want to talk a little" He said making motions with his hands to calm me down.
Oh no, this was bad, really really bad. I don't know what to do. Should I run and leave him here? Should I stay and wait for his words? What I mess I put myself in to.
"How…how did you find me?" I asked.
I wasn't saying anything, only this and I'll be gone. Nezumi wouldn't want things to go further than that. Actually, if he finds out about this I'm probably going to end up dead, I hope he choose a pretty coffin for me, at least.
"It was pretty easy since I have been noticing you for a while." He laughed nervously, trying to break the tension.
Damn, I didn't know my plan was so fallible. I should have planned something better, I don't know, pretending to be his friend or a client, but I don't have any money so that would have been difficult. A thousands of phrases and words coming inside my head and I couldn't speak out loud any of them, It was extremely frustrating.
"Can you tell me your name?" He had a friendly personality.
Looking at him properly, this boy was so cute. Yes, that's the perfect word for him. Since his appearance to his way of acting. It wouldn't be bad if I told him my name, will be?
"Ayase" I said bluntly.
"Well, hello then Ayase-chan. I'm Shion, but I think you know that already right?" If you think I was agitated you haven't seen this boy yet.
I breathed in deeply. Say or hide the information in the darkest part of my brain? Maybe the rat wouldn't be so mad...he wanted to see him after all. If he didn't he wouldn't pass through the trouble he did just to get a silly picture. Yeah, that's right, screw it all. I'm going to tell him for once, he deserves to know the truth.
"Look. I'll go straight to the point okay? Yes, I'm here because Nezumi told me to keep an eye on you so that you wouldn't do anything stupid. And I know where he is, but I don't feel like telling you." The plan was okay, but the whereabouts...he needed to try a little harder than that.
"Wow, wow. Wait a second. We could make a deal here, don't you think so? You know I work in a bakery full of sweets right?" Sigh, my life was so full of deals. One less, one more, who cares?
"What kind of sweets do you have in there?" I'm a kid, addicted to sweet things, don't blame me.
"Oh, it depends on which of them you like the most. Would you like to take a look?" He invited me in in the most docile way possible.
We got inside the place from the back. It was amazing, it smelled so good once you're in, like sugar. My mouth was watering at the thoughts of what he could have there to offer me. Everything seemed great and I just wanted to have a taste of heaven with this now. He made me sit in a wood made stool while he prepared something for me, it was a surprise. But I could feel that already, I was dying with such anticipation.
After an hour or so he went to the oven and picked up a cake, decorating it happily, always smiling, what a silly boy. He put some strawberries on top; my favorite! How did he know? They were looking so tastier than the ones I ate at home. Once that fluffy cake came in contact with my mouth I could die happy. It was pure bliss, from far the best thing I've ever felt. I thought I was in another dimension and I couldn't stop myself from devouring this delicious desert. Without noticing, I ate half of it, my belly was so full I thought I wouldn't be able to walk towards the door.
Well, a deal is a deal, so I was prepared to tell him Nezumi's hiding-place.
"Okay, I think I can lead you to where Nezumi is now. But don't tell him I did it okay? He's going to kill me if he finds out" I put my hands around my belly.
"Don't worry. I won't say a word." He sounded happier as the good news were coming.
We decided to go with his motorcycle and I escorted him just to make sure he was going to be safe. West Block it's not the perfect place to live. People would love to find a little innocent boy like him wandering around the dark streets, Moreover, I was the only one who knew the way exactly as it is. It was my home, right? During our trip I started to think if what I was doing was right, believe me, it wasn't that simple. A bunch of consequences were waiting for me when I arrived and he sees me. Shion was a sweet boy, if he wanted to see that rat so badly, he must be important to him, and who am I to keep them apart? They looked so comfortable close to each other...like they were home, finally. Sighing happily I set my mind at ease and decided it was fine, I should keep going to get there as soon as possible.
I asked him politely if I could stay on the corner, I was really afraid of the sight of Nezumi right now. He understood and followed ahead, knocking lightly on the door. And the last thing I've seen was he coming inside. I hope everything ended up okay...
Waiting, waiting, waiting, seems like it was my new pastime huh? Just like making deals. He was for sure taking a long time wasn't he? Could it be that Nezumi killed him silently and threw him on the back of the house? No...he wouldn't dare to do that with someone he cared so much about. Wait...did I just say he cared about him? Suddenly a blush came through my cheeks along with the strangest thoughts. No, no, no, it can't be, stop with that Ayase, stupid girl. They are both men for lord's sake! Shion it's too good for him anyway.
I was too tired of being still there so I decided to go to the house, slowly. However, I saw the door opening and Shion coming out of it with the other boy. They looked happy and settled, good. The brat was smiling a lot with a secret blush, that's a miracle!
The red colored eye boy looked from one side to another, spotting me quickly. I could hear him saying to the one besides him.
"There she is! Come Nezumi!" He grabbed the other's hand forcefully and he responded with a stronger grip without complaining.
They were so cozy around each other. I dared to say they even looked cute, like a young couple madly in love.
My room mate stood right in front of me and I could see his blush clearly. Taking a quick glance to the pretty boy, who was encouraging him somehow he said the most extraordinary words I could ever hear from him as I felt his arms circling my shoulders, like a hug. Oh my, he was really doing this wasn't he? I bet Shion had something to do with this disturb of personality.
"Even though you ended up doing something I didn't ask you to...thank you Ayase. Get inside and pick up your stuff, we're living with this guy here -" pointing to Shion "- from now on." Smiling briefly as he spoke.
I did as he said, I ran to my house and packed up with the light speed. This was the beginning of a brand new life for everyone.
Final comment: GUYS! I hope you liked this too! And don't expect for more chapters, this time I won't write anymore, sorry.
Please leave some reviews, suggestions, critics or anything like it, just to let me know how you are feeling, it's important to me /
Thank you for reading (and here it goes Yukio87, this one was specially to you ^.^)
See you next story, bye 3