強い人と弱い人
The Strong and The Weak

Chapter 18 : A Moment with the Enemyー

"Were you trying to kill me?" She snapped and handed the knife back to Fushimi, handle first. She observed the loner sucking on a juice box as he flipped through a shounen manga. Without bothering to look up at her, he took it back and slid it down one of his sleeves.

What the heck.

She blinked twice and realized that just happened before seating herself across from him at the table. Who keeps knives in their sleeves? It's like he's always prepared for battle or something. Haruna sighed inwardly and prepared to open her shoujo manga. She sputtered and began to laugh uncontrollably. Her laughter rang throughout the shelves of books.

Haruna's sudden outburst must've irritated Fushimi. She heard the distinct crushing sound of his juice box followed by a sudden squirt noise and his chair legs dragging on the floor. Curious, her eyes glided upwards to his standing figure and what she saw made her laugh even harder.

"Sashimi..." She managed to sputter before going back into her fit of laughter. There was a huge splatter of pink juice soaked into the front of his white shirt and blue zip up jacket. More juice continued to drip from the lens of his glasses.

With a darkened expression he passed her and started toward the exit. Briskly, she stood up aftet him and followed him outside the library.

"Sashimi-kun." She repeated this annoyance for a bit as she walked behind his slouched form.

"Saruhiko." Haruna bumped her nose into the back of his sweater. She stepped back a bit and rubbed her nose. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

Her chocolate eyes shifted from the polished floor to his face that stared back at her with no emotion. Behind the lens of his glasses, his dark eyes were blank. Before she could seriously ask if he was all right, Fushimi walked away and continued down the hall.

Haruna didn't follow and watched him disappear. She pondered a little more to herself. As void as Fushimi's eyes were, it held a flame. That flame was a dark blue color and it grew every time she called his name. It seemed sad. She shrugged to herself and clicked her tongue, a certain Monkey's habit.

"Weirdo."

Her PDA gave a ring in her bag. She fumbled through the zippers and glanced at the caller ID. Her eyes brightened. She placed the phone over her ear with a smile.

"Kusanagi-san!"

"Haruna-chan, you should drop by the bar sometime." The sound of clinking glasses could be heard on the line,"You know, to catch up."

Haruna smiled at his words.

"I miss having you around here. You make my day, you know."

She clutched the phone tighter and replied with enthusiasm,"Ah, me too! I'll head over right now!"

Saruhiko walked the streets of Shizume City. Haruna was annoying as ever. She had stopped following him after he left the library. She reminded him of his dearest Misaki. Goofy smiles. Ringing laughter. A tendency of not leaving him alone. Refreshing feelings he once had with his best friend. His frown slowly faded as he thought again. Haruna was like his Misaki. Strong willed, laughed at the stupidest things and troubled him. When they call his name he would wince inwardly.

Ironically, Saruhiko actually pined for her company. His eyebrows knit together at the thought. What was wrong with him? He thought he was finished getting close to stopped in his tracks and noticed a girl walking towards a bar with an idiotic smile. She's a bit too young for that, isn't she?

Saruhiko had walked around Bar HOMRA of all places and watched her step inside. He watched as the girl bumped into a man who was exiting the bar. The girl's smile fell and immediately she bowed apologetically. The man walked past her and walked out with his hands in his coat pockets. That was when he saw the man turn his head in his direction and glare at Saruhiko before walking off again. He swallowed the large lump in his throat and stepped out from the darkness of the street. It was Haruna and Mikoto Suoh.

The sight of the red king made his heart palpitate. The man was held captive at their quarters... right?

Haruna bumped into another person for the second time today and stepped back to apologize to the person. When she looked up to apologize, her eyes widened. She bumped into a very intimidating man. His eyes were like slants, as of he glared at her, burning her through her irises. His scarlet hair was the color of a furious fire and she's never seen anything quite like it. The man noticed her staring and tilted his head back a bit. Haruna quickly casted her gaze towards the floor and bowed apologetically.

"Mikoto-san, don't leave yet! Can't you stay?!" A boy's voice called out frantically from the bar and upon reaching the scene his next sentence became a mess,"W-Wha?! Y-You! It's you?!"

"Take care, Mikoto." Haruna's form sprung back up to the sound of Kusanagi's voice.

Mikoto? As in Mikoto Suoh? Wasn't he detained at headquarters? He was the red king, wasn't he?

She passed a nervous smile. What could she do in this situation. In the worst case, he might've broken out. Mikoto eyed Haruna for another second before walking around her and exited the bar with a deep sigh.

"Mikoto-san, where're you going?" Yata prepared to follow and crashed into Haruna. Haruna took a step back and tripped over the door entrance, falling back first into the cement outside. She grunted and rubbed the back of her head lightly with one hand. Wincing, she retracted her hand and observed some red, sticky liquid running down her fingers. There was also some added weight from Yata who planted himself atop of her body during the fall. His neck was mere inches from her nose, his left leg dividing the space between her thighs. Thankfully, the boy's pressure on the floor prevented him from smooshing her down even further.

Kusanagi leaned on the counter and smirked at the display.

"Aren't you quite forward today, Yata-chan."

'"It was accident!" Haruna denied the comment and basically shrieked,"Yata-san, get up!"

Recovering from the fall, Yata opened his eyes and flushed immediately after realizing their compromising position,"S-Sorry! My b-bad..." He lifted himself off and dusted the bottom half of his shorts. With a bit of hesitation, he offered his hand to her. She had expected the vanguard to compose himself immediately and chase the king, but she was surprised to see him being courteous towards her first.

"Here."

Her laughter made him glow an even brighter shade of pink,"Thanks!"

She drew a hand to take his, but she noticed his outstretched hand clenched into a fist and grimaced at something behind her. Kusanagi rubbed his temple and appeared to grow tired. The hostility the vanguard displayed caused her to shiver.

"Saru." Yata growled, eyes burning.

"Saru..." The name rolled off her tongue and before she looked behind her shoulder, a rough hand grasped her arm tightly and yanked her off the wood floor. She yelped and glared up angrily at the sudden motion,"Fushimi!"

Her frantic gaze shifted back to Yata who stared back at her with wide eyes. His eyes narrowed back to Fushimi who stared back lazily.

Kusanagi waved his hand with a strained grin.

"Maybe another time, Haruna-chan." The bartender laughed,"It seems you're prescence is requested."

"Kusanagi-san..." Haruna pleaded.

The tension was growing and she shot the blonde a sharp look. The situation at her apartment could repeat itself. As if he understood her thoughts, he gave a shrug and smiled. Somehow, it reassured her. Kusanagi knew it wouldn't get out of hand under his watch, so there was nothing to be concerned about.

"We'll be going now." Fushimi said promptly and yanked Haruna outside. She struggled against his grip, but he managed to drag her out into the front of the empty street.

"What are you doing...?!" Haruna asked in disbelief.

His hands encircled her small wrists and continued tugging her forward. She stood her place and attempted to wriggle free again,

"Let go of me. Why are you here...?!"

"I can say the same to you. You're fratenizing with the enemy."

The word enemy was emphasized. Fushimi was quite strong. Too strong for someone physically weak like her. A heat simmered just past her arm and engulfed Fushimi's.

"S-Sashimi!" Haruna cried in alarm. He let go of her briskly, stepped in front of her and extinguished the flames with his blue aura.

Clicking his tongue he slid two knives down his left sleeve and threw them towards Yata who dodged them with ease. They were at it again. Even if Kusanagi wasn't worried, Yata always looked intent to kill Fushimi. Fushimi, who always looked excited, didn't look like he was in the mood for a fight.

"Oi, Saru." Yata hissed through his teeth,"I thought you blues were vowed to protect order."

"I never vowed to anything."

The boy with the beanie growled and lunged towards him. The knives that had fallen to the ground began to glow with a blue aura that rose up to separate Yata from the two of them. Fushimi took Haruna's wrist again and continued to walk off. As much as she was distraught with how things turned out, it was better to go along with what was happening. It was best to avoid any conflict between the two.

"I need to tell Yata something."

He stopped in his tracks, but he didn't release his grasp on her wrist. Haruna turned back to see Yata still staring back at them with hostility, skateboard in hand.

"Yata-kun." She called out to him, catching his attention,"He's not kidnapping me or anything... if you're concerned about that. Fushimi is my co-worker."

If they weren't as far away as they were now, she would've sworn she saw his jaw drop. Haruna hoped that working beside the third in command wouldn't trouble the vanguard or her relationship with HOMRA.

At least not too much.

Her last words hit him like a blow to his stomach. Co-worker? That would only mean one thing.

She was a blue.

Yata grinded his teeth and watched the monkey and Haruna disappear into the alleyway. She was a growing friend to his boys of HOMRA and someone Kusanagi-san was very warm to. Even he would have been fine with her regular company at the bar. Somewhere inside, the vanguard felt betrayed.

A/N: usagi-strike - Thank you so much for pointing THAT out. You know what I mean, haha.

Bet you guys couldn't believe it was an update, ahahahahaha-

AND THAT'S A WRAP BECAUSE WOW I NEED TO TRY HARDER AT MAKING BIGGER CHAPTERS, JUST WOW. I also posted this too hastily *cries* I'm such a wreck. I MISSED YOU ALL THOUGHHH-

I want to apologize for the really long hiatus, after all it's been over a year now. I'm still getting back into writing and my friend and I are a bit disappointed in ourselves for being so lazy. Don't worry, we'll be okay. Also next week is the anime convention, Sakura-con, in Seattle, Washington! I'll be attending and cosplaying my heart ouuuuuuuuut! WHOOHOOOOOOOOO- The week after Sakura-con is my spring break, so I'll do my best to write the next chapter. Toodles.