強い人と弱い人
The Strong and The Weak
Chapter 10 : Dinner with HOMRAー
Of course, Yata was the first to disagree,"That's not possible!" He threw down a fist onto the counter and shook his head in denial,"H-He's not losing control of anything!" He raised his hand back into the air and swung it back down forcefully,"Mikoto-san is invincible!"
How old was he again?
Kusanagi's expression didn't seem to change though, neither did he make any reaction. He had remained silent. Haruna knew that the man was out of it once she entered the bar and maybe he was just too tired to care about an outrageous opinion of a girl that he just met only this morning.
"Well, he gave himself up to the blues..."
Yata whipped around from the bar and held the large man by the collar of his white jacket,"What was that? Are you doubting Mikoto-san?! Kamamoto!"
"I didn't mean anything by it." Kamamoto admitted.
Still on the couch, the foreigner spoke up again; this time in Japanese,"Impulsive brat."
Haruna couldn't agree more.
Yata removed his grip on Kamamoto's collar and pointed angrily at the other blonde,"I actually understood that!" He beamed with pride,"I know some English!"
Bandou pat Yata's head lightly,"Sure. You probably spent all night learning that one sentence."
"Don't treat me like a kid!"
Haruna had to take this one,"It's hard when you act like one."
Another voice was heard accompanied by a whistle,"Yata just got whipped by a female. I'm starting to get jealous." Four other men entered the bar and greeted everybody with 'yo' and 'we're back'.
They all dispersed in the bar; their arrival stirring up a bigger storm of chatter between one another. One of the men strode up to the bar and sat in one of the seats next to Haruna,"What's for dinner tonight, Kusanagi-san?"
Kusanagi brought out all the plastics and searched inside each one of them.
"Seems like tonight," He brought out a stalk of a vegetable shaped in a 'Y',"We'll be having leek stew."
"Vegetable soup?!" The man next to her complained beside her,"Kusanagi-san! I thought we were going to have meat!"
Kusanagi placed the leek back into the bag with the other vegetables and soup condiments. He shrugged and started to prepare a drink,"It's best that we catch up with the other food groups."
Kusanagi slid the drink over to the man with the short brown, wavy hair. "While you're at it, could I get another drink for the lady here too?" He turned to Haruna and gave a quick wink to her,"Yo Chitose."
Ew. Gross.
The bartender laughed nervously and refused,"That I can't do for you, Chitose-kun." Eyes still locked on her's he asked him,"And why's that?"
"Aigasa-chan is still under aged." He bent down slightly and folded his arms on the bar as he smiled at Haruna,"She's eighteen."
It didn't sink into his mind right away, so when the drink Chitose had started to sip slowly found its way into his lungs, he was thrown into a fit of coughs.
Haruna placed her head into her hands and sighed,"Do I really look that old to all of you?"
The whole place grew silent and she turned around to see the other men nodding slightly as they exchanged their ideas about how old she looked.
"At least twenty-one."
"With that face, I'd go with at least twenty-five."
"Hah? Did you look at her chest?"
Did that just come from Yata? Damn it, I.. I have breasts!
Upset, Haruna stood up from her chair and went up to Yata who continued,"Hardly developed! Their as flat as a wash-"
She pushed him into a table and shouted out all flustered,"I-I'm not going to be told that again! Ever. Again."
'Zero sex appeal!'
Sashimi's words were coming back to her now and it made her even more conscious. The other HOMRA members just watched their comrade fall to the ground with the elevated table. Mouth open, Kusanagi was rendered speechless as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. A piece of his bar (his whole heart and soul) landed to the ground with an unpleasant crash.
Beanie-less, Yata sat up from the floor placed a hand on his head,"Fuck that! You're no w-wo-woman!"
"W-wo-woman? She inquired smugly,"What's a w-wo-woman?"
The room erupted in laughter. A clearly embarrassed Yata retrieved his beanie and pulled it over his eyes. A loud slam of palms on the bar caught everyone's attention. Angrily, Kusanagi put Yata on the spot,"Oi! You better pull yourself together or you'll be paying a lot more than the monthly rent you're already paying for your apartment!"
"Did you not just see what she just-"
He slammed his hands on the wood again and articulated,
"Pick. Up. The. Table."
At Kusanagi's request, Haruna decided to stay for dinner. Yata ended up making the dinner tonight and once he had finished cooking she was impressed. The soup looked pretty well made and it gave a mouth watering aroma of sourness and pure goodness, but the vegetables looked like floppy rubber that floated limply on the surface.
"How did you cook the vegetables?" Rikio poked a section of the leek stalk in his soup.
Yata continued to pour the contents of the large pot of soup in each bowl for everybody. Each person took a bowl and scattered across the room: some sat on the coach, the bar and the other tables in the middle of the room. "Hah? Are you complaining Kamamoto?" He questioned. "I cook pretty damn good food!" The impulsive brat added.
Kusanagi still stood behind the bar as he took a sip of the soup. "Yata-chan is the cook around here." He told Haruna,"Aren't you going to eat? It tastes much better than it looks."
Her senses beckoned her further and she brought the bowl to her lips. The seasoning was just right and she swore she could've tasted soy sauce. The combination of sour and salty was amazing. Kusanagi and Haruna gave out a simultaneous sound of approval. Yata crossed his arms with a look of delight and pride Of his work. The pleasant emotions that he felt were short lived when he heard the complaints of his fellow HOMRA members.
"Ugh! Too salty!"
"Man, how many lemons did you put in here?!"
"Are you trying to kill us?!"
"My blood pressure is in danger..."
Pissed, Yata snatched the bowls from Kamamoto, Chitose, Dewa and Bandou respectively. Haruna giggled at the sight; Yata put up the greatest expression of hurt and anger. She almost felt bad for laughing. Sitting on the couch together, Kousuke and the foreigner didn't say a word and continued eating their dinner. At that moment, for the fourth time today, the door chimed signaling another visiting customer. It was another man with the letters 'HMR' on his cap and a little girl with white hair in a red Lolita dress. She clutched the hem of his red jacket and made eye contact with Haruna. Her crimson eyes had contrasted with her pale skin and they seemed even more stunning when they made eye contact.
"We're back!" The man removed his cap and placed it under one of his arms.
"Ah. Akagi." Kusanagi greeted,"Welcome back. How's Basashi?"
Akagi plopped into the unoccupied seat next to Haruna and rubbed the back of his neck,"It was a lot easier bringing Anna, but those Blues still gave us a hard time." He supported rubbed the back of his neck nervously,"That woman ended up vouching for us and told me that you owed her two drinks now with three scoops of... anko?"
"Awashima-san?" Haruna asked Kusanagi who nestled his face into a palm.
Akagi turned his head to Haruna and looked at her curiously before greeting her,"Oh hello, miss. What brings you here today? I'm Shouhei Akagi."
"Shouhei." Chitose warned,"Don't."
Walking up from his seat, Bandou placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and whispered quietly into his ear. She watched as the blood slowly drained from his smiling face. When Bandou pulled away and returned to his seat, Akagi broke eye contact with her and silently ate the bowl of soup that Kusanagi placed in front of him.
Strange.
Haruna felt a light tug on her pea coat and looked down to meet the girl's mysterious gaze again. She held a blood, red marble to her eye. The colors seemed so similar to each other it seemed as if they blended together. Through the marble she looked into Haruna's eyes as if she were evaluating her. Instinctively, Haruna placed a hand on her tiny head and stroked it; lightly brushing the soft, ivory strands of hair. After what seemed like a minute or two, Haruna removed her hand and the little girl made light steps up the set of the stairs at the end of room. Besides Haruna, no one seemed to notice.
"Aigasa-chan?" Kusanagi stared at her expectantly.
"I'm sorry, what was the question?"
"I was wondering how your apartment is doing."
"Oh."
She stared down at her hands and admitted,"Not... Too good actually." She elaborated,"You see, I'm not from Shizume City originally; I actually moved here to attend Ashinaka. My parents send me money monthly for rent, food and etcetera. Just enough to get me by."
Indicating he was following along, he nodded his head. Kusanagi lit up another smoke with his tiny lighter and added,"Even if you save money for a year, it isn't enough to pay off those damages?"
"Sadly, it's true."
Sitting beside her, Chitose noticed the frown that started to form on her face and he pat her on the back lightly; attempting to cheer up. Akagi, who had also been listening commented,"That sucks." He asked,"What kind of damages are they?"
"Ah..." She trailed off a bit as she started to remember,"Puncture marks on the wall, broken furniture, smashed light fixtures, overthrown wood boards from the flooring, ruined carpeting, more knife marks..." She stopped herself. Each detail she recalled and came out of her mouth was excruciating to her poor mind.
Akagi turned around to Bandou who sat by himself at a table,"San-chan! This is so sad! You have to listen to this!"
"Shut up." He grumbled before going back to his food.
He patted Haruna's back and gave her a thumbs up,"What's your name?"
"Haruna Aigasa."
"Okay! How about this Aigasa-san." He removed his hand and grabbed his hat from under his arm. He placed it on his head and proposed,"We'll make sure they pay." He smashed a fist into his palm and she felt the sweat starting to drop from her forehead.
A few seats to her right, Haruna heard someone spurt their soup from from their mouth followed by the slam of a bowl onto a table.
"So, who did it?"
"I'm not sure you'd be able to carry out the job, Akagi-kun."
Haruna and Kusanagi leaned forward. Both stared at Yata who looked back at them like a deer caught in the headlights. She thought it was a little cute. "Hah? What the hell are you looking at Akagi?" The cute expression didn't last long and it turned into an intimidating scowl once Akagi was looking as well.
"Nothing at all, Yata-san." He replied followed by nervous laughter.
Realizing that it was getting dark, Haruna looked up at the clock hanging on the wall behind Kusanagi. She hasn't had this much fun in ages, but she had to go. Her parents were going to make their monthly call. As she stood up to go, she left her bowl on the counter and the men she had conversed with briefly at the bar asked,
"You're leaving already?"
She read the clock again and nodded sadly,"It's past my curfew. Thank you for having me." She smiled at them,"I'm glad I met you guys."
The boys looked at each other before Chitose fanned his hand at her and shook his head,"You're making it sound like we won't see you again after this. We're enjoying your company! Its only nine. Stay a little longer."
Right next to him, Dewa bonked him on the head with his the base of his palm,"Which gives her even more of a reason to leave, idiot. It's already dark out."
Kusanagi gave a startling whistle. Apparently that was directed at Yata when he leaned over the counter and groaned,"What, Kusanagi-san?"
He clasped his hands together and placed his chin on top as he beamed at their vanguard,
"Escort our young lady home, Yatagarasu."
A/N: Scary, Scary Kusanagi-san and Yata-chan.
It's Yata's turn to escort Haruna back home. What will happen?
I hope I'm not boring any of you with this chapter. This was mainly for introducing the other HOMRA boys into the story. Yata, Haruna and Fushimi moments will come about soon.
I always look forward to your guys' reviews.
pammazola: Thank you as well! Haha, the way he invades people's spaces makes him look even more like a hentai. D8
SmileRen: And that question will remain in Haruna's mind until she makes the final decision. ;)
hakezu: I'm glad I gave you a good laugh!
Happyrice: Someone had to say it, haha. She will meet the Scepter 4 members as well. When? Who knows, haha. Don't cry yourself to death! XD
Buahaha, I said that I was going to update last weekend, but I didn't! I was unable to update on Sunday because it was just too quick for me. I need to take a little more time on this one. I'M HOPING I DIDN'T MAKE THE OTHER HOMRA MEMBERS TOO OOC EITHER. RG(#$*%(#$C)#) MCPWERO)#(%-
See you guys next time. C: