Chapter 18 - Taken
"Look guys, if Demyx dies then I'm not taking the blame" said Axel as he looked at Demyx clamber onto the stage with that excited look he always has.
"I can't believe this is happening..." groaned Xigbar.
"Is this girl even worth it? She just seems like a trouble causer..." Luxord asked the others
"You haven't even seen the other one yet..." laughed Xigbar
"You've seen her fight Axel, what's she like?"
"She's good... Could do with more training cos she has the accuracy of a drunken goat" he looked over at Keiko who was already singing, he caught her eye and she winked at him, "but she's a handful that's for sure" he looked away smiling.
"So... When do we capture her?" Xigbar rested his forearms on the table
"Not tonight... We need to catch her by surprise.
"Let's RTC as soon as Demyx stops playing" Luxord gave Demyx a dead eye.
"WOWZA KEIKO YOU WERE AMAZING. You were sassy and oh my goooooooodness you have an amazing voice!" Hiyuki was bouncing on the spot.
"You have an interesting effect on people" Mr Burton said as he rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Thanks" Keiko giggled.
She felt strange, it was like she was a different person when she sung, but when she stopped she was back to her usual self….
"Keiko stop gormin' out!" Hiyuki was bouncing around her flailing her arms and legs around.
"Every day pon
Every time is pon
Merry-go-round noritai no
Every day pon
Every time is pon
Tabun sonnan ja dame desho" Hiyuki sung to Keiko, grabbing Keiko and spinning her in a circle.
"I get motion sickness please do not do that!" Keiko laughed
"I've gotta let you meet my friends, you're a maniac, they'll totally love you!"
"Really?!" Hiyuki screamed
"Yeah as long as you don't do that!"
"OKAY YAY"
That night Keiko laid in bed alone… thinking. She felt different, she felt… darker.
It was a few days after, now Thursday night, and neither Keiko nor Hiyuki were working.
"O.m.g… I'm super excited to meet your friends PON PON PO…"
"Don't sing that song Hiyuki, it kills me"
Keiko was walking to Miya's house for the gathering, Hiyuki bouncing down the street with her with her blue bunches bouncing as she did. People looked at them as they walked, a girl in a super short red dress with matching heels and a bow, and a girl in a neon pink skirt with multi-coloured hair and shoes with a one inch high sole.
"Ah Keiko. Don't cha just love life?!"
"Sometimes I do…"
"How HOT was that guy with the red hair?!"
"What?"
"That one in the club the other night!"
"Uh yeah… sure…"
She thought about the cocky spikey red head for a second… Axel. Hiyuki started to ramble about the guy with the sitar. Why did they come to see her? Why did they come and do nothing? And who was the freak with the spikey blonde hair with that giant key thing? All these questions were floating round her head and Hiyuki interrupted her.
"Hey! Did you hear me?!"
"What yeah it's great!" Keiko said mindlessly
"So you'll come?!"
"Uh…"
"OHMIGOSH you're totally gonna love it. I'm slightly unknown at the moment but one day I'll make it big and I've got my best friend to come and see me?! Make sure you bring ALL your friends it's gonna be great yay!"
"Sure" Keiko agreed to whatever and wherever she was going...
*****
"Hi I'm Hiyuki!" squawked Hiyuki as she hugged Luke and Leo, who were slightly shocked.
"She's crazy…" whispered Miya to Keiko
"You'll love her. Seriously…"
"HEY MIYA! Nice to meet ya!" she grabbed Miya into a typical Hiyuki-hug… a big one that made you feel like your ribs were about to crack and cave in.
The night went on and the friends drunk and laughed, telling Hiyuki all the stories about Keiko and their adventures together. Someone knocked on the door.
"It's the pizza guy!" Hiyuki yelled
"I'll get it" Keiko got up off the plush carpet to answer the door.
After she answered the door she went into the kitchen to put it all on plates… there was a lot of pizza…
"Who the hell ordered all that pizza?"
"Fuck Redd you made me jump…"
"You're so jumpy lately! What's up?"
"This is between us, but I have the feeling I'm being watched…"
"You've watched too many horror films" Redd laughed with a beer in his hand, almost spilling it.
"Piss off" she said with a stern face and returned to the pizza
"Aw you know I love you really"
"How cute"
"I do"
"Shut up Redd you're being cringey"
He stood behind her and put his hands on her waist rubbed her sides gently.
"Get off me!" Keiko laughed trying to push his hands off
After all that had happened to her in the past, Keiko felt like she couldn't love anyone. The thought made her feel sick, she felt like she was destined to hurt people, she thought she was better off without loving someone. She felt like she wasn't meant to love.
"Love is stupid" she said, cutting the pizza up
"Mhmmmm" Redd nibbled her neck, not paying attention
She turned around to face him, leaning against the counter with his hands on her waist. She couldn't look at him, she just couldn't. He slid his hands up to her face and went to kiss her; the kiss was the kind of kiss you give someone when you love them. It's soft and gentle, not filled with just pure sexual attraction like the one they shared a month and a bit ago. She felt some of the darkness inside her briefly leave her body and disappear… she hadn't felt this good in a while.
"Come home with me" he whispered in her ear
"Redd you're so drunk it's embarrassing" Keiko laughed
"I'm not!"
"You are!"
She shoved a slice of pizza in his face and he wrestled with her.
"Where's our freakin' pizza?" Leo walked in, he always got angry if he was hungry, "stop having sex and give us the pizza!"
"Obvs having sex, Leo" Keiko laughed, she grabbed the other pizza boxes and walked into the sitting room with them to find Hiyuki having a laughing fit at something.
"I'd love to be a pole dancer" Miya slurred
"Bit tacky" said Keiko
For some reason tonight, Keiko wasn't drinking as much as everyone else. She felt good as she was right now… the sight of her friends laughter made her feel happy inside…
"I best get going" said Keiko
"Let me walk you home" suggested Redd, gaining a few laughs from Luke and Leo
"It's fine, I'm full capable"
He wasn't listening anymore anyway, he was too busy wrestling with the twins.
"Are you sure you don't wanna stay over, Keiko?" Miya asked
"It's fine, I have work in the morning anyway!"
Keiko left Miya's house and into the cold night air… it was starting to get a little cooler compared to the hot summer's nights that she'd been experiencing for the past month or two. She felt a breeze brush her ankles making a shiver go up her spine.
"Get her…" a stern voice whispered.
Before Keiko knew it she'd been knocked to the ground and was laying on the cold cobblestone street… all the lights had gone out and she felt a little dizzy…
"Ouch…" she groaned in pain
She passed out…
"Keiko!" Redd shouted and ran up to her.
Three men in black coats stopped him and he froze on the spot… watching one of his best friends get picked up and thrown over the shoulder of some stranger, her dress hitched up to reveal too much of her skin… before he knew it they'd disappeared through some dark portal. They'd taken her. He walked over to the spot where her body laid; she'd dropped her bow.
Miya burst into the shop already nattering about nothing in particular
"I've been wondering when you'd show up! Where's that friend of yours?!" the florist barked
"She isn't here…" Miya said, her heart sinking
"She hasn't showed up" she replied, slightly concerned now
"I… I don't know where she is…" Miya said, then she ran out the shop.