強い人と弱い人
The Strong and The Weak
Chapter 14 : Rambles, Not Woesー
Haruna found herself wandering in the quiet part of Shizume city until her feet began to ache. As long as Saruhiko was still in her apartment, there was no freakin' way she would go back yet. His gloominess and stupidity was contagious; and not only that, he was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable again. She looked up at the looming building before her with its large sign and uppercase letters spelling 'HOMRA'.
Without a second thought, she made her way up the steps and slipped inside.
Everybody was out again and Haruna found the blonde bartender, shades and all; wiping his precious glasses that he had used to serve his recent customers.
"Hey." She closed the door behind her accompanied by another tiny chime.
The man set the glass down on the wood bar before his hands moved beneath it to store the cleaning cloth,"Welcome back, Aigasa-chan." His hands moved back to the surface of the bar as she moved to sit down in one of the red seats in front of him.
Izumo started with another one of his charming smiles. He turned to his shelves of alcoholic beverages and brought out a slim, beer-toned bottle. Haruna's eyes lit up as she watched him uncap the fragile bottle and pour the drink into the glass he had recently cleaned.
The high school girl wasn't expecting a drink, but she'd always been curious about one.
When he was finished pouring, he recapped the bottle and watched him expectantly as he leaned forward onto the bar.
She took one more look at him before raising the fragile glass to her lips. She downed the glass quickly and looked through the empty bottom of the cup at him with her glass still raised to her lips. His smirk was about the only thing she could see. A little let down, Haruna placed the glass back onto the bar slowly to eye the bartender who was chuckling to himself.
"Apple juice? What a clever bastard you are, Kusanagi-san." She pouted; putting her hand under her chin and poking the rim of the glass with a finger.
"I don't serve alcoholic drinks to minors, miss." Izumo removed the glass and placed it back under the bar,"I'd like to keep my bartender license."
"No one has to know." Haruna mumbled frustratedly.
"Speaking of no one knowing a thing," He folded his arms across his chest and looked up to the ceiling lazily,"Did you know what happened to Yata-chan yesterday? He never came back after escorting you back home."
Oh shit.
"Really?" She raised a brow and successfully appeared to seem curious,"I assumed he went straight back here."
"It's alright, Haruna." He assured her.
Huh?
"I already know he stayed the night at your place."
Shit, shit, shit-
"L-Look," She stuttered in her seat, extending her arms out in front of her and waving them around,"Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened." Her arms came around to form an 'X',"Nothing."
"He would never lay a hand on a woman." Haruna managed to hear him mutter.
"Hah?"
"What brings you here again, Aigasa-chan?" Izumo managed to steer the conversation smoothly,"What could I really help you with today?"
Now that she thought about it, Haruna didn't exactly come here with a purpose. She just wanted a place to go. Somewhere. Anywhere. It then occurred to her that she didn't know any other place than her apartment, Scepter 4 and HOMRA.
"I... Could you listen to me for a bit?" She managed to say.
Izumo took up one of the many egg shaped object that were scattered around the countertops of Bar HOMRA and nodded,"If I can listen to a drunkard's woes, I can certainly listen to an eighteen year old's."
"Hah. I wouldn't classify this sort of ramble as my 'woes', but I do believe as well that you can handle this." She tilted her head down and drew invisible circles on the wood surface,"After all, it's all about landing a job of a life time."
"Hm?" He seemed to finally give his full attention,"Someone employed you?"
"Not officially," Her head fell to the hands that were placed and clasped on her lap,"I declined it at first and Munakata gave me more time to consider-"
Haruna shot up suddenly and quickly shut her mouth. She just had to go and reveal that she was going to be working for Scepter 4- In front of a HOMRA affiliate!
However, the Red clansman was Izumo and even if she's known him for over a day, he wasn't the type of person to hassle someone harshly. Maybe a little fatherly chastising, but with his overall kind demeanor Haruna couldn't see Izumo hassling her too much. Still a little nervous. Haruna tilted her head back up to stare up at him.
"The Blue King...?" His expression showed he was pondering a bit; not even a trace of contempt at the thought of the King of their rival clan.
"I'm not going to try to stop you," The keen bartender seemed fit the pieces together,"But I'm not supporting you either."
"It's alright," Haruna accepted relieved,"I didn't expect it." Her body moved put of the chair and she made her way to jukebox at the front. Delicate fingers trailed across the dials and buttons of the large, retro device. She could tell that it wasn't used often, but it was easy to tell that it was well cleaned and maintained.
"I found something, a job, that might be right for me- as ridiculous as it may sound... to someone like you." Her eyes squinted a bit in curiosity as she clicked the various buttons that would play the different kinds of music,"I was in student council back in Ashinaka before I was taken out just days ago- I filed paper work, I put in data into the computers and planned student events... just to name a few."
Haruna heard him hum in comprehension.
"I watched the Blue clansmen work at their desks the day I went back to talk to Munakata." She continued; her hands moving up to mess around with the dials,"It reminded me so much of the duties that I was so familiar with, so... why not? I'm not in school anymore, my apartment is a piece of shit now and I have no money to pay rent or pay for the damages for that matter."
"And I'm really lazy at times." Haruna sat on the couch with a forced smile on her face,"You're not... going to hate me now, are you?"
She heard him laugh at that moment,"I don't think I can ever bring myself to hate you. As far as I can tell, you're just a simple girl who's trying to get by in life- I was the same way at your age. However, you're always getting caught up in the wrong placed at the right time." He asked with even more curiosity,"How do you do it?"
"You tell me." The girl began to laugh as well,"That's all I have. Thanks for listening-"
She was lying to herself there. Her own curiosity about the Red king grew, but as much as she wanted to ask Izumo about what he was like, Haruna didn't bother to bring him up in front of him.
"Could I still come back to visit you guys?"
"Anytime, Aigasa-chan."
Even if Izumo didn't care as much about her being affiliated with Scepter 4, her other recent acquaintances of HOMRA- Chitose, Bandou, Dewa... Maybe The Big Baby, Anna-
And Yata.
Yes, Yata would definitely despise her for this.
Haruna closed her eyes and remembered the vicious, spiteful expression the nineteen year old boy had put up at the sight of Fushimi; who was clearly a blue clansman. When she saw them in battle, she felt that it ran a little more deeper than that. The mysterious blue and red auras were smothered together violently.
Once she started her employment at Scepter 4, would she have that blue aura too?
"Thanks for everything, Kusanagi-san."
He had watched Haruna leave without another word. It was a short visit, but he felt like he saw more of her today than her last visits. All she wanted to be was practical and proficient. She wants to solve her problems. The lazy part of her was yet to be proven to him, however.
'You're not... going to hate me now, right?'
He chuckled to himself again,"It's not something that friends would do, either."
Izumo's gaze moved over to the keepsake the girl was admiring only minutes ago.
"Right, Tatara?"
She was still young and he didn't want her to become entangled in the current mess that would eventually grow larger-
Along with HOMRA's future plan.
A/N: I just need to say that I love my family.
And I love you guys.
I'm sorry the updates are taking forever even thought its summer break. ; u ;
(Just... let me do annoying caps for this A/N... please... Don't murder me later.)
I HAVE $%^%^&$^&$%#$% AP HOMEWORK FOR BIO AND LANGUAGE AND I SPEND TIME WITH MAH FAMILY. ; u ;''
My heart always beats with excitement and anticipation everytime I get a review. The feeling ends up in my head and I just start to gush. (I love how I cry so damn much)
Diclonious57: PROBABLY SOME HARDCORE FUSHIMI LOVER. O U O''
indrani: Bwahaha, I guess you can say that. I really don't intend to make Saru into some diehard... YANYANYANYANDEREEEEEIMAKILLUCAUSEILUVYOUUUMARRYME-
sereneskydragonslayer: I don't blame you. Maybe cause I totally botched his character there, bwahahaha. 本当ごめんなさい。
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