Sheesh, now I wish I had started naming my chapters. The format '3: Chapter Two' looks so... awkward. But that would mean I'd have to go back and change everything...
Should I anyway? I'll leave that to you guys.
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Chapter Twelve
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Rhyme hummed softly to herself as she polished the already shining tabletops at WildKat as the group of over-nighters prepared to head home at the end of a long morning. Beat and Hanekoma were moving furniture in the back, and Shiki was seated stiffly on a couch as Joshua and Neku prowled around behind her, bickering as they helped clean in their own way.
"Goodness, Neku, are you really going to use that beast of a vacuum to sweep the floors when you could use this poor, lonely broom? Think of the environment."
"How interesting of you to say that, considering you go through a bottle of hairspray every two weeks, filling the city with further pollutants."
"Tsk tsk. This coming from the boy who spikes his hair every morning with the intent of making it sharp enough to draw blood?"
"I can draw blood without needing to style my hair. Come here and I'll show you, you massive pain in the—"
The youngest of the little group passed the other girl a gentle smile. "Boys will be boys?"
Shiki's shoulder twitched in some kind of nervous halfhearted shrug while Neku vanished into one of the numerous back rooms, growling something about friendships and contracts. As soon as he was out of sight, Joshua flopped himself onto the couch opposite the tutor, still smirking like the cat who caught the mouse.
"Pity we all have so much homework this weekend. We—or perhaps I should say, Neku and the Bitos, usually head out to Udagawa after spending the night here. You and I could have stopped by Spain Hill or Q Floor and done some shopping."
"Maybe next time, then, Yoshiya? Sometime that I don't have loads of homework to do?" She gave a strained smile. "I've been so busy with Neku and...other things, I've been letting my own stuff pile up."
"That would be lovely, and, my dear little seamstress, call me Joshua." He smirked as Neku came back into view. "And I would be more than willing to tutor you in any way that I can."
"Get your lecherous, manicured hands off of—"
BEEP!
A car was idling in front of WildKat, and a slightly portly brown-haired lady was waving cheerfully from the driver's side at Shiki. The girl jumped to her feet like a startled deer, neatly out from under Joshua's arm and grabbed her overnight bag almost at a run. As the door swung open, the lady could be heard teasing her daughter.
"Oh, my, aren't you a shining little star, Shiki? Not only do you have Neku as a suitor, but Madoka's boy seems to have an eye on you. He does look like her, though, doesn't he, but I hear he has his father's brain for business—"
"Drive, Mom!"
Then the door clicked shut, and Rhyme watched the animated discussion as Mrs. Misaki drove away. From close behind her, Neku snorted.
"Poor Stalker. No wonder she doesn't have friends."
"Neku, how can you be so cruel about your giiiiirlfriend?" Joshua leaned seductively against the couch as his longtime friend whirled on him.
"Oh, go f—"
"Hey, what's this?" Stepping back into the cafe front with Beat, Hanekoma waved a black cat plushie in the air gently. "This little guy had fallen behind the futon."
How cute! Instinctively, Rhyme caught the plush as the barista tossed it to her and hugged it. "It's not mine, Mr. H. No tags, either," she observed as she inspected the seams.
"Of course not. That's Piggy."
Beat snickered at Neku's term of endearment for the plush, and the other boy gave him a mild glare. "I mean, that's Stalker's plush. She sewed him herself."
"Wow, no way!" Rhyme held the cat out at arm's length. "So, you're... Piggy?"
"Oh, I think I met him last night," Joshua observed, looking impressed. "But she called him Mr. Mew."
Neku coughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I just call him Piggy."
"Really? You're that familiar with her—"
Hanekoma coughed suddenly. "Josh, easy on the sex jokes. Rhyme's around."
"Thanks," she murmured, blushing self consciously and idly wondering what the silver-haired teen had planned on saying. Hiding behind Mr. Mew, she wondered if Shiki still sewed.
Maybe she could make me something...
"Anyway, I'll call Stalker and tell her she left the pig. I'll probably have to take it to her, so just go to Udagawa without me." He snorted and lapsed into silence, probably complaining internally about his tutor's forgetfulness.
"Heh heh," Joshua chuckled suddenly. "Perhaps, then, dear little Rhyme would like to go with me to Cadoi City for some shopping?"
Beat crossed his arms and snorted. "No way do I trus' you with my lil' sis."
"And your 'trus' is something my life feels empty without," the boy remarked with an air of thinly veiled condescension.
"Whatchu say?"
Hanekoma gently set his hand on Beat's shoulder. "Easy there. Don't fight in my shop. Joshua, if you have time to go shopping, you can stay here with me and help me with a few things. Rhyme, you're welcome to help as well."
He passed her a secret wink.
"If you're gonna be here with Coffee man, Rhyme, I guess it'll be ok. Jus' don't stay too late, 'kay?"
She smiled, warmed by her brother's concern. "All right. Bye," she waved to Neku and Beat as they left together, the former fiddling with his phone and the latter giving one last 'I'm watching you' signal to Joshua, who smirked and waved back with his fingers.
"You're more antagonistic than usual," Hanekoma noted as soon as the other boys were out of sight. The silver-haired boy pressed his lips into a thin line, his smirk growing strained.
"What's wrong at home, Josh?"
Quickly, Rhyme did her best to tune them out and melt into the surroundings, starting up a sink full of dishes.
"Same... expectations... so crushed there, you know? ... Neku... haven't had time for that... and they won't tune the piano either. I just don't know if... right for me. But... give in... to my last breath, I'll..."
Only impassioned snatches made it to her ears over the sound of running water, and despite her own burning curiosity, Rhyme worked steadily and kept her eyes forward.
There's nothing I could do to help, anyway. The last thing they need is some little girl meddling in family affairs.
But... in the shine of a wet plate, she caught sight of the two old friends in serious conversation. Joshua seemed so young and yet world weary, a facet of his personality that rarely saw the sight of day.
... I wish I could get to know him more. The real him. Not the pretty face he puts on for everyone else. Still, she noted as his voice darkened in anger, maybe he wears that mask for a reason...
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On a rough skateboard deck, Hanekoma's design was etched and inked alternately, as he altered the picture and made last minute adjustments. Rhyme studied it with a loving eye as the barista slash designer stood over her, filling her nose with the faint smell of acrylic paint and coffee.
"Well?"
"As far as I can see, it's wonderful," she sighed, toying with the hem of her dark blue hoodie absently. "But I'm no good at art, so I don't think my opinion matters much."
"Don't say that," he chuckled, ruffling her hair with one hand as he sketched in an adjustment with his pencil. "You're his sister. So, it matches his tastes?"
It was a bull, in classic CAT style, tattooed and slender but full of power, charging forward with wings on his feet.
"Of course it does. What's the hidden message?"
Hanekoma raised his eyebrow. "You can't tell? Good. I'm getting better at the subtlety of this."
"It's 'Go the extra mile'," remarked Joshua, appearing suddenly at Rhyme's shoulder. "And the left foreleg is a little thick."
"That's awesome, Mr. H! I hope he feels it every time he skates," she smiled, although she was overly aware of her schoolmate's proximity.
"You can read my images too well," Hanekoma shook his head. "Josh, I won't give up until I devise a message not even you can read."
Joshua giggled, brushing Rhyme's neck with his fingertips as he reached up to flip his hair. "Good luck with that."
"But, you want your messages to come across loud and clear, right?" Rhyme shifted her weight, leaning slightly away from the senior as she addressed the artist.
Hanekoma shrugged. "It depends on what kind of message. Like, take the Udagawa mural. It says, 'Enjoy the moment more', right? I made sure that one was easy to read - subconsciously, of course, as is the trick with subliminal messages - but I also embedded, deeper in, 'Gather'. Only those who can really see into art will be able to pick it up and so the most creative and brilliant individuals can be found in front of the mural."
Joshua rolled his eyes. "You did that just for bragging rights, didn't you?"
"Nah, I was hoping that I could use it to find a couple of brilliant girls for you and Neku and get little artist grandbabies out of you before much longer."
One silver eyebrow arched, and then the artist laughed. "Oh, don't look so miffed, Josh. I expect you to get serious about girls at some point in time."
"Once more, my dear old friend; good luck with that."
Brrrr, brrr.
Joshua shot his pocket a dirty look, then stepped outside to take the call after passing a flat look to Hanekoma.
He dipped his head, and then stepped forward to slip the board back into the special storage cabinet in the back. "And that would be Mrs. Kiryu, demanding her son home."
Mrs. Kiryu... Rhyme remembered, quite vividly, her two encounters with Joshua's gorgeous mother. "I feel sorry for them both."
CAT smiled faintly. "Do you now?"
"I should probably be heading home, too," she added with a sigh, then paused. "And, Mr. H? Maybe, it'd be better for Joshua and Neku to find their opposites than their equivalents."
"That's my Rhyme; seeing the hidden messages in my words." He winked at her again. "Be a good girl and call Beat to take you home, will you?"
"I will. Bye!"
She dipped her head to Joshua on her way out, a gesture he returned stiffly with a plastic smile. A fresh twinge of empathy tugged at her heart as she pressed the speed dial for Beat.
I just wish there was something I could do...
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(Hey, if anyone wants to go give some love to my Beta Reader, Divine Wolfe, I'd be much oblidged. ^^ Thanks in advance!)