15
"Only do not forget, if I wake up crying
It's only because I'm a lost child
Hunting through the leaves of the night for your hands"
Pablo Neruda- Cien sonetos de amor ( 100 Love Sonnets)
Z
"So if I'm standing across the street from a very crazily elaborate art building and in front of a busy ramen shop, where I am?"
"Lost." Han's amused voice came through the ear piece of my phone. I groaned in annoyance.
I had a very rough night. After the race, I had gone on a run to far North Japan. I had gotten back at two in the morning and then tossed and turned with nightmares all night. They had slacked off for a while when Sean came to Japan, but now they were coming back worse than ever. I had thrown a thin sweatshirt over my sweatpants and tank top I slept in and went for a walk. It was an unusually warm day and the people swarming on the sidewalks seemed to be walking slower to enjoy the sunshine.
"Very funny." I griped sarcastically. "I know you know this part of town."
"You're also stuck there considering the guy you usually call for directions has his phone off and is in the middle of a huge calculus test." He drawled with smooth amusement. I sighed tiredly. The one day I needed help Twinkie decided to care about graduating. "Don't you have a GPS in your car?"
"I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk."
"It's almost lunch time. How long have you been wandering around Tokyo?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. He made it sound like I had been wandering around since 4 in the morning instead of 10. Why was the fact that I was almost nocturnal hard for people to grasp? It shouldn't be in this city.
"Are you going to help me or not?" I said grumpily.
"Alright. Stay there." The line clicked.
I sighed and stared at my phone for a second. I was really too tired to care if he called back to help or not. I took a seat on a bench outside of the ramen shop and ran my hands through my messy bangs before propping my elbows on my knees. I wanted to just lean my head back and go to sleep, but that would just bring more nightmares.
I was waiting for my phone to ring for almost five minutes when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped from the sudden contact and jerked my head up to see Han's smiling face. He had a grocery bag in one hand and a case of beer in the other. His smile slipped a little when he noticed how tired I looked.
"Told you I couldn't sleep." I stated.
"Come on." He jerked his head to the right in a follow me motion and walked away without looking back. I scrambled up to follow him. It was pretty easy considering he was taller and build a lot broader than the usual Japanese citizen. He glanced back to make sure I was behind him every once and a while.
Before long we were at the toxic blue Supra I hated so much. I quirked an eyebrow at his choice but slid into the passenger seat without commenting. He took us off some random roads until the buildings started to look familiar. He pulled off at corner restaurant that I had never noticed.
"Where are we?" I asked sleepily.
"We're getting lunch. It'll make you feel better." He reached to open his door and I followed suit.
"I'm not sick; I'm just exhausted." I told him.
He held the door for me and I was assaulted by the smells of Japanese cooking. I breathed it in deep and my mouth started to water. I hadn't realized how hungry I was.
"I'll order for us." Han said as he slipped in behind me.
It briefly crossed my mind that that might be a bad idea, but I ignored the thought and grabbed us a table. I rested my head on my hand was almost asleep by the time Han came back with two cartons of food. He pushed it towards me with a smile.
"Thanks." I said quietly as I picked up my chopsticks. I glanced at the food and breathed a sigh of relief when it was just chicken. I was used to Twinkie trying to force feed me nasty things.
"You know people have been bugging Twink trying to figure us out." Han said before he got a mouthful of noodles. I felt a smirk spread across my face.
"Neela pretty much guessed everything. Was he mad that he wasn't at the race?" I asked as I attempted to grab a piece of chicken.
"Just a bit." He smirked. " He's trying not to ask, but with people talking it's driving him crazy." I started laughing.
"I can't believe he hasn't called me."
"He knows you won't say anything." He answered. He had a mischievous smirk stuck on his face. "And Neela thinks it is hilarious that he is dying to know and won't tell him either."
"I love that girl. I just wish she'd find me longer skirts for the races." I poked at a shrimp with my chopsticks before deciding it was safe and eating it.
"There was nothing wrong with the last one." I glanced up to see him grinning in amusement.
"You, Jackass, and several other guys were all in agreement on that one." I pointed out. His grin faded a little.
"Sean wasn't happy about that." He stated. He pulled out what looked like greasy tentacles out of his food carton. My jaw dropped in horror. Han noticed and started smirking.
"Is that squid?" I shuddered.
"Try a bite." He extended his chopsticks across the table with a slimy tentacle hanging off it.
"No thanks." I leaned back to keep it from touching my nose.
"Come on. It's not that bad." He wiggled the chopsticks so close to me I got cross eyed. After ten seconds of that I got annoyed.
"Okay." I reached for the chopsticks.
He pulled them back out of my reach and smirked even wider. I rolled my eyes and let him feed me off his chopsticks. The squid wound up not being that bad. A quick glance around the small restaurant showed all of the older couples looking scandalized at him feeding me off his chopsticks. I felt my face turn bright red.
"Good, wasn't it?" He asked between enormous bites.
"Yeah, I guess." I answered as I picked at the rice on the bottom of the carton. I was hungrier than I realized and still embarrassed that everyone was staring.
"They aren't staring half as bad as the race rats were when they thought I punched Morimoto."
"What?" I asked.
"You're as big around as my pinky. Most people don't think you could take him. Plus no one is going to admit what happened."
"I had Brent and Sean and was surrounded by convicts. If pushed, I can throw down." Han snorted and started to chuckle through a bite of squid. "Careful, you don't want to snort a tentacle." he grabbed for a napkin and his shoulders started to shake with laughter. I couldn't help but join him.
"I can't really see you fighting anyone unless it was completely, life-or-death necessary." I stated after our laughter died down a little. He chewed thoughtfully for a second before answering.
" I used to in high school, but you're right; though I have no problem decking Morimoto." I felt a blush cross my face as I caught his real meaning: if hadn't done it, he would've.
Before long we were finished eating and heading out side the restaurant. It was still very early afternoon so I had time to get a nap before Sean's drifting practice started.
"Thanks for lunch, Han" I gave him a quick hug and tried to step away.
"Where are you going?" He asked after he stopped me from leaving.
"Home. I know the way from here." He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the passenger side of the Supra.
"Come back and hang out at the garage. It'll save you the trip in a few hours." He opened the door for me, but I hesitated getting in.
"I need to change out of my pajamas." I told him.
"You keep clothes in the garage." He reminded me. "You think being alone's going to make them stop?" He added. How'd he know the nightmares came back?
"Fine." I caved and slid in the passenger seat.
Z
The road snaked in hairpin turns and winded downward front of me. The rain smashed against the windshield with a vicious ferocity. I yanked the wheel roughly and downshifted into a drift. Every once in a while the headlights of the car following me would hit my rearview mirror and blind me..
The headlights weren't half bad as the lightning. A bolt turned the air an electric blue as it forked over head and crashed somewhere to the ground in the valley. I got a good look at my white knuckles that were overlaid in marbled bruises. They were still bleeding.
I was terrified. I had no idea what was behind me, but I had an overwhelming sense of urgency to run away. I could feel the ragged breathing in my throat as I tried to get air into my lungs. Everything felt paralyzed like the fear was weighing me down completely.
I hit a slick spot on the road and overshot the right angle to take the turn. Ice cold terror surged through my veins as I yanked the wheel to try to correct myself. The person following me used my mistake against me. They gave me a tap that sent me reeling towards an embankment. The car shuddered as it slipped to the ground below. For a brief moment, all I saw was light.
Z
I shot up in cold sweat. I jerkily looked around to see where I was. The familiar sight of Han's loft came into view. The movie still played in the back ground. Alden was talking to me, but I was too freaked out to listen. I saw two beer bottles on the coffee table, one on my side, and started trying to remember if I was drinking.
It took what I thought was one of the overstuffed pillows that were scattered across the couches moving under my face for me to realize I was half on top of Han. I had a death grip on his sweat shirt. I pried my hands away and moved so I was beside him.
"You know you drive in your sleep? You twitched your foot like you were hitting the clutch before you moved your left hand like you were shifting." Alden informed me. I shook my head slowly. He slipped off the couch across from mine and walked down towards the garage floor. He tossed a concerned look over his shoulder, but didn't ask.
"How bad is it?" Han murmured quietly. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me like I was laying before.
"The nightmares aren't bad. I'm just driving, but- I'm always afraid." I mumbled into his rib cage. I felt like a little kid running to her dad for help. At least Alden stepped out so no one else saw this side of me.
"You think you're running from Kamata?" His voice rumbled deep in chest.
"Yes." I finally cracked and nuzzled against his chest. I took a deep breath and inhaled his cologne "He loosened up on me a lot when I wasn't the troublemaker he expected. Just a little bit more and I can go without getting caught."
We slipped into a comfortable silence. I almost dozed off against him again while he watched the movie. I could vaguely hear Twinkie and Sean laughing on the floor below with Earl and Reiko bickering over the repairs to be made on Sean's car from practice today beside them. I briefly wondered when Han had joined me on the couch, but I decided just this once I'd let it slide.