Hey guys! So get this, I totally didn't want school today, though we may have the day off due to weather! Anyway, this here is chapter 9, and as much I want to upload 10 tomorrow, I can't. . . probably. I don't like what I've written for it at the moment, and I will probably change a lot of things in it. Basically re-write it. *Sighs* Like I really have that kind of free time. But seriously, here we go!
Warning: Nothing too bad, the whole abuse thing (but that's not as prevalent this chapter), swearing, the usual.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Square Enix, I do not own them, I can pretend to own them because I write Fanfiction, but that's as far as I'll ever get.
Read, review, and fangirl on!
Chapter 9-
I wake up the next morning slightly disoriented and in searing pain. Looking around I notice that I'm warm and heavy and sitting on something soft. With a start I jump, realizing where I am, and land with a muffled 'thump' on the floor.
The air leaves my lungs and I let out a small noise at the pain in my arm and ribs. When did I fall asleep? What was I doing? Shit, that hurts, take deep breaths. In and out.
Soon I get my breathing back to a normal level, shallowing it out with every breath of air gained back into my lungs, to lessen the pain. Standing up I look at the bed. Neku lays on one half, head buried in his pillow, still asleep. I breath a sigh of relief- then regret it because of the twinge in my ribcage. I turn my gaze to the clock, noon, it's that late already. He should have school- isn't he going? Oh, right, Saturday. No school. Parents? I scan the area and don't find either of them in the house. Where are th-
"They have a game going on at his friend's house. Booze provided. They'll be there all day." Neku's sleepy voice carries over to me, I whip around to look at him, ignoring my torso. He's sitting up rubbing his eyes, gaze fixed in my direction.
"Aww. Does Neku think that he can read my mind?" I ask sweetly, hopping up on the desk once again.
He glowers, "No, I don't. But that's not the point."
"So what is the point?" I cock my head, and grin at him.
"You always like to keep tabs on them. Where they are, what they're doing, when they'll be back. It keeps you informed."
"And how do you know that my dear."
"Mr. H mentioned something about it."
I pause for a second, "Sanae?" I shrug my shoulders, "Why that sneak. Oh well, I guess that cat is out of the bag."
"He's giving me more information than someone else I know." Neku mutters and I pretend not to hear him.
"So what's on the agenda today, dear?" I ask, pulling out my phone punching a few buttons.
"It's not 'dear'," He protests, standing up, "what are you doing. I didn't know that Angels had cell phones?"
"We do, and it's very important, Neku-dear. I have to cancel plans for a lunch date, he'll be very disappointed."
"It's not 'dear'. Stop acting like a dick and tell me. . . wait with a guy?"
"That's not the way to get anything, dear. Let's clean up your language before you go any farther."
"Guy?" He prompts.
"Angels don't have an assigned gender, Neku. We can take any form when we live on earth with our charges. Sexual norms are essentially non-existent where I come from."
"That was way too much information." He groans, pulling on a clean shirt, "I guess that makes sense why he seems so flamboyantly gay most of the time." he mutters.
"Aww! You think that I'm flamboyant and happy. That makes an Angel feel loved."
The look on his face was worth all fourteen words that came out of my mouth.
"Neku? Neku-dear? Did I break you again?" I peer at his face, considering poking him, when he glares at me.
"I think that I'm going to spend the day wandering around Shibuya."
"Sounds like a plan." I smirk, "Did you eat anything last night, or would you rather find something in your unmanned kitchen before heading out?"
"I'll find something downstairs." He tells me, as I hit send, "Wait for me down there."
I clip my phone closed and hop off the desk, "Your wish is my command, oh master." the smirk is evident on my face.
"That's not amusing." He glowers at me.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I open the door and sweep downstairs.
"Command? Ha, if only it was that easy." Neku sighs as I leave.
Life's never that easy, my dear.
Looking around the kitchen I notice that it's almost bare. No one's gone shopping this week, and from the disarray, no one planned on really cooking anytime soon. Sighing I open up the fridge and peer inside. Taking out a few things, I set them on the counter, and after rummaging through a couple cupboards I find just enough ingredients to make basic curry- something that Sanae had taught me to make years before. I hear the shower turn on and I place my attention on cleaning the utensils needed to eat the food.
Cleaning a cup I quickly down some pain medication. Hearing the shower turn off I dump the rest of the water down the sink, and put the food on a plate- setting it down on the table.
Several minutes later Neku comes into the kitchen and stops at the sight and smell.
"What the hell?"
"Tsk. Neku, what did I tell you about cleaning up your language?"
"That's- what is going on?"
I roll my eyes, "Just eat- it's going to get cold."
He sits down and looks at it warily, "It's not poisoned, is it?"
"Neku, why would I bother to keep you safe from the rest of the world if I was going to poison you myself?"
". . . Point taken." He picks up the spoon and takes a bite, "This isn't half bad."
I don't comment, just hoist myself onto the counter, lapsing into a comfortable silence.
"Do you like sitting on places like that?"
"What do you mean?" My eyes lock onto Neku's easy-going face.
"The counter." He waves a dismissive hand, "You sit on my desk upstairs, the windowsill at school, the stools at the Wildcat are higher up than normal, and you stood on the fountain's edge in the 104 building. Do you have a thing for heights?"
". . ." I gaze out into the distance,should I tell him? It's not too indulgent in the information. . . I suppose.
"It reminds me of where I grew up."
"Where was that, heaven and all that jazz?"
"No, it was someplace else."
"Really? Where?"
"Of course, Neku. Would I lie to you?"
"Yes."
"No hesitation? Neku, you wound me."
"Seriously? Just answer the question."
"Tsk, tsk. You know me better than that. I don't take those kind of directions."
"Please."
I sigh, "I guess that I can indulge you a little."
"Really?!"
"Just a little." I remind him, "But you have to eat while I do."
"Sure." He starts to put food in his mouth and I can't help but smirk at his poorly hidden eagerness.
"God didn't create me, I was born on earth a long time ago. I don't remember where I was born, but it was a place filled with hills and trees. My parents were often away on business ventures, and I spent my time reading."
"That doesn't sound bad. It sounds peaceful."
"Yes. It was."
"But what does that have to do with high places?"
"I'm getting there. Hold your headphones." I tease, and he glares at me.
"As I was saying, I read a lot. I had an elder brother, but we didn't get along very well. To escape the fighting I'd take whatever books I was reading and head out into the forest. I'd search for the largest tree that I could find and climb up high into the branches- until I could see over most of the others, and read until the light was too dim to see the book and I could just see the branches on my way down."
"So you associate high places with a feeling of content and safety."
I grin, "I guess so. But then again, you do the same thing with music."
"Yeah." He smiles, "So why did you become a Guardian Angel?"
"I wonder." I tell him, tapping my chin, pretending to ponder the question, "Oh well." I shrug, "I don't remember."
Neku looks like he's going to kill me.
"You are infuriating."
"So I've been told."
Neku sighs and puts the dishes in the sink, "Whatever. Let's bounce."
"Whatever you wish, oh master."
"Quit that."
"Sure, sure. Where to?"
"Wildcat for now. I think coffee sounds like a good idea and we never have any."
We're halfway out the door when Neku stops and turns to me, "Did you eat before I got out of the shower?"
"Yep." I lie through my teeth, "Now are we going to spend the entire day in this house or not?" I tease, ignoring the conversation, and pushing him the rest of the way out the door.
"I'm going, I'm going." He protests, walking on his own.
"Good, good." I smile. This day'll be interesting.
"You guys are out and about early for a Saturday."
"Really?" Neku sits down at the counter.
"It's only just after one." Sanae replies, and I head towards the backroom.
"What's back there anyway?" Neku asks.
"An associate." I tell him, "I need to discuss a few things with them."
Neku shrugs, and turns back to Sanae and orders coffee.
I slip into the backroom. There's no one there, I made that up. I grab the gauze and more painkillers. I wrap my ribs carefully, but tightly. Making sure that if my shirt was to come up a little bit you wouldn't be able to see the wrappings. I have to leave my arm- trusting that it will heal in place on it's own without me doing anything. I can't cast or splint in it, he'll just worry and make my job that much harder.
"Almost done back there, J?" Sanae calls from the front.
"My associate just left." I tell him, coming back up front. Neku's standing at the door, ready to go.
"That was quick." Sanae comments.
"It was an easy problem to fix."
"I guess so." He shrugs (he knows there was no other person).
"Let's go." Neku tells me, and waves at Sanae.
"Sure." I follow after him.
"Seriously, be careful, J." Sanae whispers after me, but like to Neku before, I pretend not to hear him.
"So, where to?" I ask, striding beside the other boy.
"I was thinking of checking out that new CD shop over at-"
"Yo! Neku!"
"Huh?" Neku turns and is face to face with Beat.
"Talking to yourself, huh? Didn't think that you'd be out here now. I guess that I was wrong. We tried calling you, but got nothin'. I think that your phone's dead."
Rhyme comes up behind him, "Hi, Neku." she smiles and nods in my direction.
"I guess I didn't charge it last night." Neku grins, "Hey, Rhyme. Beat, when you said 'we' did you mean you and Rhyme, or-"
"Neku!" Shiki and Eri come up from behind him, and give him a hug.
He scowls, but his eyes don't show it.
"Oh, get off of me." He snaps, but there are no malice in his words. He really doesn't mind, he's happy to see them.
The girls know this too, and giggle as they let go of him.
"So," Shiki pries, "are you here with anyone?"
"A girl maybe?" Eri smoothly adds, nudging him in the side with her elbow.
Neku shoots me a glance, and I shake my head.
"I was, but he disappeared into the chaos."
"He? Awwwwww." Both of the girls show disappointment, but Neku just shrugs.
"That's what you get for raising your hopes."
"So you weren't by yourselves, huh, Phones?" Beat asks.
"Nope."
"S'ry 'bout that, dude. I didn't know, didn't see them."
"It's okay. Maybe I'll catch them in the crowd again."
"When you do, introduce us!" Shiki beams, "Any friend of Neku's is a friend of ours!"
"He's more of an acquaintance or interested concerned third party." Neku shrugs again.
"Hey!" Eri speaks up, "Is the 'J' guy?"
"Is it?" Beat looks at Neku.
"Yeah. He's the guy."
"And you're walking around with him?" Beat looks dumbstruck, "This dude could be serious trouble, Phones. You could get killed in some back alley or s'mthin'!"
"I don't think I that'll happen." Neku tells them at their concerned faces.
"How do you know, dude, anything can happen?"
"Just trust me on this one. Okay?" Neku asks.
". . . Sure, fine. But if this guy gets too much just tell me and I'll rough him up for ya!" Beat tells him, mimicking pushing up his sleeves.
"Was it the blonde guy, Neku?" Rhyme decides to add, and I shoot her a look.
"What?" Shiki, Beat, and Eri gasp, looking at her.
"It was just for a second, but I thought that I saw a blonde guy standing next to Neku when we came up, but as soon as I saw him he was gone. I didn't get a good look at him, but his hair was blonde."
"A foreigner?" The three of them exclaim.
I glare at the small girl, and Neku shoots me another look. I nod at him, letting him know that it's fine to confirm, "She's already let the cat out of the bag." I tell him.She's trying to get me to reveal myself. What does she really want?
"Yeah, that was him." Neku tells them, and they gasp excitedly, "But I don't know if he's a foreigner. He speaks Japanese."
"Either way, I hope we see him." Shiki comments, "I'd love to see what colors go well with his skin tone."
"Dressing up a foreigner would be fun." Eri continues, and the girls start chatting about patterns and designs.
"Lets head to Hachiko. We can decide something to do when we get there."
"Hachiko is far away though. Can't we just go into that cafe you came out of?" Eri protests.
"Sure." Neku grins, "I think that Mr. Hanekoma will appreciate the business."
"Lets go then!" Shiki pulls on Eri's arm, leading her toward the store. Rhyme and Beat follow, but Neku hangs back for a minute.
"Will you be joining us this time- so they can see you?"
"Not this time, Neku dear."
"Not this time?"
"Maybe eventually, but not now."
"Oh no," Neku grins, "I feel like that's going to be a nightmare."
"Really?" I raise my eyebrows at him, "Then I guess I better gather the bandages."
"That's not funny."
"It's entertaining." I grin, "I'm going to up my frequency, you don't need me bothering your date."
"Wait!"
It's too late, I'd already upped my frequency. He stares at the place I'm standing for a minute longer then sighs and heads inside with his friends. I trail after him, but now only Sanae and Rhyme can see me.