Anything you recognize probably doesn't belong to me. All I own is the plot and Tai, and even then, it's iffy at times.
She knew she was being followed the moment she heard the bell above the door ring. In any other store, this would be no cause for alarm, but in this one, where everyone who knew anything used the back door, the sound of a bell could only be a sign for one of four things, each progressively more worrisome. Tourists came in every once in a while, curious to see 'the real face of Ikebukuro!', and were known to cause trouble when they were disappointed with the lack of hospitality, often demanding loudly to see a manager in their broken Japanese. They were few and far between, however, and generally left within a few minutes of catching the sight of the shady locals. Cops occasionally made their rounds here too, but Itou, the owner, made sure to keep his establishment clean, and was rumoured to have made a kind of truce with the local police department. He kept his nose clean, and the cops didn't linger for long on his threshold. The clients also knew to be on their best behaviour if any of the fuzz dropped by, and confrontations or arrests were rare. The worst type of person to walk in through the front door was an idiot. The ones who asked too many questions and lingered too long in places they weren't welcome. They were the ones who caused the most trouble. While it was possible to have an idiot tourist, an idiot cop or a tourist cop, the simple idiots tended to create the greatest waves. That being said, there was nothing worse than the men and women who disregarded the unspoken law of the establishment. Here, the underbelly of Ikebukuro came to relax, and to find the tools of their trade without fear of confrontation, persecution or surveillance. Gang members set aside their allegiances when they walked through the threshold, and shifty members of society kept to themselves. Itou's shop was a safe haven, and those who ignored its unofficial status as neutral ground often found themselves six feet under it, or in back alleys and abandoned warehouses. The scale of punishment was a sliding one, and one enforced by the customers themselves, not by Itou.
The person who walked in was nothing more than a boy. With cropped hair and clothing intentionally devoid of any colour-gang related symbols, it was easy enough to see he wasn't a tourist. He knew enough not to look too long at any of the locals, something the tourists who came around never seemed to understand until it was too late. He wasn't a cop, either, or a protégé of the force. He didn't have the trained posture of a black belt or the confidence to hide behind the .38 revolvers the force favoured. He was smart enough to keep his head down, and he knew to disappear into one of the aisles before he took out…
His camera phone. He snapped a quick shot of her, before sending it to whomever it was that he reported to.
Damn it.
She felt bad for the kid. Truly, she did. Whoever put him up to this was either a sadistic bastard, or was unaware of the death warrant that had just been signed. She shot a look at Itou, pity for the boy evident in her eyes. He merely shrugged, knowing that it was now out of his hands. There was nothing either of them could do now, except warn the police to keep an eye out for a boy of his general description, and pray that nothing too horrid happened to him.
The boy shot a nervous glance out the dusty front window, fingers tapping a staccato beat on his thigh.
Who the hell could have sent him?
She'd made sure to keep her return quiet, only contacting those who she deemed completely necessary. While it was perfectly likely that Izaya might have sent this poor boy into the wolves den, she doubted it. He wasn't usually that sadistic… Was he?
The motorcycle that roared to a stop in front of the store answered her question. She couldn't help the curse that escaped her as she recognised the driver.
Damn it all to hell.
She waved at Itou before walking out the front door, eager to protect the Dullahan from the quiet rage of the other clients. She couldn't do anything for the boy, but she could at least help keep her friend safe. The man who got off the back of the bike made her freeze in place, though.
It was Kadota, his eyes hard and his fists clenched. He was understandably angry, and despite the apprehension and regret that had stilled her body, she couldn't ignore the familiar rush of butterfly wings in her stomach and the smile that tugged at her lips. Here was the man who had been by her side through thick and thin, who had always been able to cheer her up, who had always been a steady force in her life.
"Kyohei…" His name came out in a whisper, her voice strangely hoarse. She'd missed him so much more than she'd realized. She was so wrapped up in the rediscovery of her feelings that she didn't seem to notice the way his expression faltered, nor the way the Dullahan had come to stand protectively behind her old friend, a hand placed comfortingly on his shoulder.
"Tai." Their friendship had long since passed the stage of honorifics, although the look in his eyes was anything but friendly. "You're back."
She swallowed the nervous laugh that threatened to break free. "Sure looks that way, doesn't it?"
"You didn't tell me. Couldn't be bothered, right? What did I expect, considering how you left?" He could barely stand to look at her. Here was the woman he'd loved; the woman who'd left without a word or fair warning; the woman who didn't care enough to leave a note.
"Let me explain!" She wanted him to understand; needed him to understand.
"Why? So you can just run off again? You fucking left me, Tai. You left, and you didn't even leave a note. You just took off and you didn't say a word." Kyohei felt the hand on his shoulder tighten, although he wasn't sure if it was a meant to comfort him, or to serve as a warning.
Tai made to reply, but he cut her off quickly, too eager to unload the anger he'd kept hidden for so many years. "Not only that, but you came back." His voice cracked on the last word, but he kept on talking. "You came back, and you didn't even think to tell me. You kept me in the dark again.
"Why?" The question came out as a strangled whisper. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you leave?"
Tai began to explain, but stopped when Celty's hand came up, PDA glowing. Tai squinted to see what the Dullahan had written.
You two are drawing a crowd. Why don't we go talk somewhere more private?
Tai nodded reluctantly, while Kadota merely looked away.
We can go to Russia Sushi.
Kadota didn't even look at Tai as he walked away. She made to follow him, but she was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder, and another message scrawled quickly on Celty's PDA.
He deserves the truth.
"I know. I'm just not sure I'm ready to tell it."
Sorry for the delay in updating this, guys. I've been super lazy. I've had the chapter written out for a year, but I just never got around to typing it out. If there are any typos or grammatical errors, let me know.
I'll try and update more often, but no promises.
And if anyone cares; the woman in the beginning of the last chapter is not Tai. I'll elaborate more later, and it's not entirely relevant at this point, but if anyone wants to speculate, go for it.
Lemme know what you thought of the chapter~!