Step #9:
Even Old Faces Should Be Approached With Caution
...\~/...
January 18th, 7:14 A.M.:
"Goooood morning, New York, New York! This is your host, Kevin, and I have to say that it is a simply BEAUTIFUL day today! The sun on the snow makes it sparkle, people walking around with their significant others, and the month of love is just around the corner. Not too much longer now and Cupid will be flying around with his bow an' arrows of love. Now, before I get to today's weather forecast and sports, I have to announce that Kao-"
"Can you please turn that annoying shit off? I can't handle that right now."
Hikaru paused in taking a sip of his coffee, peeking over the top of his paper.
Syd was standing in the doorway, fingers scratching her stomach slowly. Her light brown eyes were droopy with sleep, crust still snuggled in the corners, and she rubbed it away sluggishly. Syd's blonde hair was a rat's nest, Hikaru grimacing at all the tangles that her hair was caught in. He noticed how she was dressed in one of his T-shirts and was still wearing his boxers. And to think he thought she was gross-looking before; she was hideous in the mornings.
"Not a morning person, I presume?" Hikaru asked, taking a sip of his coffee, dropping his paper to the table.
Syd shuffled over to the fridge, "I'm a nothing person. I'd rather have a day where I can just- hey, where's the milk?"
"Most likely sitting on a shelf at the store, waiting to be bought, and taken home."
The blonde yawned, rubbing the back of her neck. "Can you go get me some? I need to go...mmmm...what was I saying?"
"You were saying something about going and getting groceries for me."
That woke her up. It seemed that the slightest mention of her possibly doing labor really turned her brain on. Syd turned towards him, eyes wide. "What? Why in the hell would I do that? Why would I get my host, who is supposed to take care of his guest, which is me, groceries? I don't even know the city that well. What if I get raped or murdered or - or worse, I-I could be forced into labor? What if I get kidnapped and sold through the human trafficking system and whipped every night by my new-"
"I'll walk around shirtless."
"What if I get tortured and strung up in- wait, what?"
"I said, I'll walk around shirtless." Hikaru repeated, resting his cheek in his hand, narrowing his gaze at her. This always got her.
He sat there, practically watching her brain malfunction within her skull. Syd telling him her weakness had been a terrible mistake and now he was going to use it against her at every chance he got. Syd's jaw went slack at the thought of her being able to see his gorgeous torso agan. He hadn't been lying when he said he had been working out. She remembered the year Hikaru had attended her Boston school and he hadn't been very muscular back then, but over the years, he had changed for the greater good. She now remembered the day before when Hikaru had come rushing in with his plunger in hand, his defined torso exposed to all its wonderful glory. And now he was offering her a chance to see those delicious abs and pecs again, his toned arms flexing at everything he did. Syd's whole body went weak at the pictures in her mind.
"Write down a list."
Hikaru smirked.
Hook, line, and sinker.
...\~/...
It was snowing again, covering every reachable surface in the city. Syd popped her collar, trying to block the cold, blustery winds that hit her face viciously. Her face hurt and was red from the lashings and she couldn't feel her nose. She had planned to sleep all day with the occasional getting up and snacking, plus feeding Zag dead frogs. But Hikaru had to ruin her plans and persuaded her to pick up milk and other groceries from the 24-hour convenient store three blocks away. Along the way, people bumped into her without an apology, and kids screamed to their parents to get them the newest toy that came out. Little things like that reminded her why she despised human civilization; humans were so damn annoying. "Hikaru..." she growled. "Instead of shirtless, you better walk nude for me."
Syd's brown eyes read all the signs that she passed under.
Endless Treasures Antique Shop.
Slick Willy's XXX Store.
Wrap A Ribbon Around A Gift Shop.
Bob and Ted's Car Repair and Restoration.
Syd glimpsed into the open-door car garage for a moment when she passed. All she saw was sweaty men bent over engines, spitting out balls of tobacco juice and drinking black coffee. She heard the clinks of tools and the bangs of hammers from outside. And something about the warm, inviting glow from the overhead lights made her want to slink into one of the garage's corners unnoticed and revive some of the feeling in her face and hands. But she walked past, looking at each face of every mechanic.
Something made her stop and double back.
Wait, was that...? No, it couldn't be... No, it was...
A young man around her age was standing in front of one of cars, dressed in nothing but a simple white tee that bore grease stains, a pair of worn jeans with holes in the knees, and faded brown work boots. She could see that his thick, brown hair was slicked back with a large amount of gel, grease was smudged on his face, almost getting into his dark eyes, and his features were still the same, sharp and handsome. He was still handsome. Syd didn't realize she was staring until the young man was nudged by one of the older ones, and he caught her stare. Oh God, awkward...
Syd started to walk away, quickening her pace when she heard a loud, "Hey!"
She jumped when someone grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, "Hey, do I know you?"
"Uh, no, sorry." Syd said, lowering her voice. What if he was good at remembering voices?
The blonde started walking away again, but she heard him say, "Wait, no, I know you. You're that girl that almost flunked out."
Syd stopped, not turning to look at him. Great, that was what people thought of her, not the fact the fact that she redeemed herself in her final year of high school and managed to graduate in the top ten percent of her class. That she had reluctantly worked diligently with Kyoya all that year. All that work had gone unnoticed by everyone; she even remembered how no one clapped for her at her graduation, besides her sister, Leanne, and little brother, Michael. It had been awkward, it had been embarrassing, and she had been stared at with wide eyes from all her classmates when she had walked up to receive her diploma. She was so happy that they remembered her for all the good things she did...yeah right, there was a reason she didn't miss high school.
Oh, but you'll miss high school! Once you get out in the real world, you'll wish you were back!
Whatever, Leanne, you have things to miss; I don't. I hated that place and still do.
"What was your name? Uh...Sydney?" the man asked.
"No, it's Syd; I don't go by Sydney." That name was abused while growing up.
"Uh...you remember me? You probably don't; we didn't talk."
Johnny Summers. If there was one thing he could be remembered for, it was definitely the fact that his parents had been thrown into jail for selling crack around Boston and him being left behind to take care of five younger siblings- three boys and two girls. All throughout high school, he worked three jobs, and struggled through school because he couldn't keep his eyes open during class. No one had been there for him, he had survived on his own. From what she remembered of all the rumors she had heard growing up, Johnny had had plenty of girlfriends, but they had been skanks looking for a good time. After awhile, he gave up on trying to find someone, breaking the hearts of many of his admirers. Syd had to admit that she found him attractive; there was something about men working on cars that was a major turn on for her.
"Johnny Summers. We were in the same class." Syd wanted nothing to do with him.
"You look cold. Want some coffee and warm up? Ya know, catch up and everything." Oh, now he wanted to talk to her.
"Yeah, fine, but only for a few minutes."
...\~/...
He wasn't actually going to go shirtless for her. She'd done what he wanted and that's all that was going to happen. Hikaru smirked as he pressed the power button on his Xbox, watching it glow green. Syd had been putty in his hands when he said that and he had loved watching her melt to mush right in front of him. It was too cold to walk around with no clothes on; was she really that stupid to think he'd do such an idiotic thing like that? Hikaru plopped himself down in front of the TV, rubbing the pads of his thumbs over his wireless Xbox controller. Hikaru couldn't wait to see the disappointed look on her face when he would announce that he'd been messing with her. Total payback for trashing his apartment.
Hikaru looked through his messages with a bored look. People from his high school days, the teenage boys that had wanted so desperately to be him back then, had sent him tons of game and party invites. Why would he want to talk to them? They had all pretty much been boring anyways and he really didn't want to waste time catching up with them. The only people that he had stayed in touch with were the ones from the Host Club, although two particular Hosts were out of the question. One message caught his eye, though.
~ThexGhostxBehindxYou~ has sent you a friend request.
Hikaru accepted it, despite that fact he had no idea who they were. He just liked their gamertag.
~ThexGhostxBehindxYou~ has sent you a party invite.
Sure, what the heck? It was a good way to pass time.
Once he had accepted it, a burst of noise filled his ears. The party consisted of five people: SlitherKiss101, ~ShadowxXxSting~, lllllViperlllll, ~ThexGhostxBehindxYou~, and LoLwita:D. Four of them were men and one was female. From what he could hear, the men were pretty foul-mouthed and loved to bash each other with insults, but for some reason, they all seemed to be light-hearted insults. SlitherKiss101 had a tenor-based voice and sounded the most gentle out of all of them; ~ShadowxXxSting~ had the highest voice of them all and he was the one that was mocked the most, mostly for having to be revived all the time; lllllViperlllll had a deep, commanding voice, and he was the one that told the others to knock it off when they were getting too harsh; and LoLwita:D had the deepest voice of them all and he was the one that seemed the most compeititive out of all of them, shouting a string of curse words every time something didn't go his way.
"Hey, Hika, what's up?" And that was ~ThexGhostxBehindxYou~. Ripley's voice.
"Who the hell is...LoneTwin007? Stupid name." came Lolwita:D's rumbling voice.
"Joey, shut up and leave him alone. Also, take a look at your gamertag and then shove your previous words up your ass."
So LoLwita:D was Joey, the eldest brother.
A chorus of 'Oooo's came through his TV. Then, lllllViperlllll said, "Ripley Elizabeth Barrett, potty mouth much?"
"But, Dad..."
"Ah, ah, ah, I don't want to hear such language coming from your mouth again." lllllViperlllll was Mr. Barrett, her dad.
"Yeah, sissy, watch your fuckin' mouth!" ~ShadowxXxSting~ commented, laughing. Hikaru heard Ripley laugh and he smiled himself. Her laugh, he had come to find, was a bit contagious. She had told him on numerous occasions that she hated her laugh and that it sounded like a mixture between her uncle's high-pitched squeal and a dying hyena. Her description had made him laugh when she told him. After she laughed, so did everyone else. "Jesus, your laugh is so fucked up."
"Thanks. So is your face, Mark."
"Help! I've been wounded by Rip's lame insult! Really, sissy, I thought I've taught you better."
"You did, but you've gotten dumber over the years and you probably don't have the brain capacity to understand my insults."
Another chorus of 'Oooo's. ~ShadowxXxSting~ was Mark, the second oldest, and the one Ripley argued with most. So that must've meant that SlitherKiss101 was Quin; fitting name since he liked creepy crawlies. Hikaru searched through their profiles and discovered that they were playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Luckily, he already had that game in there, so he didn't have to get up and mess with anything. Rip invited him to their game and he accepted.
"Seriously, though, who is this guy?" Joey asked.
"Um...well, this is Hikaru Hitachiin, the guy I met over Red Hue."
There was an eerie silence, a very eerie, awkward silence. Ripley had seemed hesitant in introducing him and he wondered if she was embarrassed or ashamed by him. He had told her some asshole things he'd done to previous girls, but she had never seemed bothered by them, but that didn't mean her brothers had the same reaction. Maybe she had never talked much about him to them and maybe they were just reacting the way old brothers do when they meet their younger sibling's boyfriend or girlfriend. Not that he and Ripley were actually dating; they'd only known each other for about a month. Hikaru's mind switched over to the time he met Kaoru's girlfriend for the first time. He had also given that eerie silence when he realized that his younger brother was being taken away by a total stranger. Hopefully Ripley had said nothing but good things...hopefully...
"Kick him." Quin's voice hissed. So much for being the most gentle of the group. "I don't want to hear his fuckin' voice right now."
"Rip, what are you trying to do, make him cry?" Mark asked, that laugh still in his voice, now being more malicious.
"Let's kill him mercilessly." Joey growled, his baritone voice sounding dangerous.
Shit, this was not good. Hikaru could practically feel the hatred radiating through the TV. He had imagined his first encounter with her brothers being one of light-heartedness and humor, not one of death threats and mockery. He could only imagined how they looked in real life. Joey looked like a steroid-induced gorilla in his mind, while Mark looked like a snickering, bloodthirsty hyena and Quin was in the shape of vicious, venomous viper. Mr. Barrett had gotten offline earlier, so Hikaru had no idea how to picture him. And he was their prey and they were ready to play with him before killing him. The lone twin, much like his gamertag hinted, gulped, trying to swallow down the lump in his throat. He'd much rather be at the end of Psybro's fist than Ripley's brother's cutting words. God, was he in for it.
And the game began.
"Guys, why did you kick me out? Hey, don't gang up on him! Sorry, Hikaru..."
Did he mention it was him against her three animalistic brothers?
There was twenty minutes on the clock...twenty minutes of pure, video game hell. It hadn't been three seconds when someone came up behind him, blowing him to smithereens with a grenade launcher. And to think he was good at this game; these guys were pros. Three minutes and he'd already been killed eleven times with him managing to stab Quin with his combat knife. However, he'd been exterminated with crossbows, sniper rifles, P90s, machine guns, predator missiles, a swift sweep of helicopter bullets, everything. Hikaru felt like a powerless bug and the three Demonic Brothers were the exterminators, trying to kill him off permanently. Four thousand and seven hundred and fifty to his measly three hundred. There was no use... But there was one thing that made him snap: Ripley's loud encouragements.
"C'mon, Hikaru, they're all assholes! Nothing but insignificant, heartless cowards! C'mon, win for me!"
It was from those rants that caused his masculine pride to swell and finally catch up to the Demonic Brothers' high score. He had to be sneaky, though, taking their avatars' lives from behind with quick sweeps of his guns and rushed swipes of his knife. He could never stay in one spot for too long or they would corner him and shoot him down, so he was constantly on the run. Then, when he released his ferocious pack of German Shepherds, all hell broke loose. And when he got his hands on a cockpit ride in a helicopter, that was the wonderful end of the game.
Mark's devious snicker came through the speakers, "Too bad, you lose, fucker."
Joey added, "And to call yourself worthy of our sister's attention. Get lost, asswipe."
And Quin finished viciously, "What the hell was up with your technique? All you did was camp."
Hikaru had never felt so humiliated in his life.
xXxHell's~Personal~HarpyxXx has joined your party.
. ::Shadow::King.::. has joined your party.
"Who the hell are these people now?" Mark asked. God, did that laugh ever disappear?
"Hey, Tara-senpai, Kyoya-senpai." Yeah, he had been surprised when he had learned that Kyoya played Call of Duty.
"Oh shit, you guys are soooo going to die now!" Rip's voice rang out. She knew about these two.
"Seriously, who are they?" Joey questioned.
"Hmmm, what would they call us, my love?" Kyoya's voice asked smoothly. "Reinforcements?"
"I would think so, but add bad-ass before reinforcements, and you've pretty much got it."
After that, Ripley was allowed back in the game, and the round two began. Now, it was four against three: he, Ripley, Tara, and Kyoya vs. the Demonic Brothers. More of a fair game in his opinion, especially since both Kyoya and Tara were kick-ass at Call of Duty. When the countdown ended, Tara and Kyoya ran off in one direction while Hikaru and Ripley went off in another. Explosions went off, grenades caused debris to fly in every direction, and enemies dropped due to Kyoya and Tara sniping at different sides of the map. Hikaru soon found out that Ripley was pretty damn good at the game; she was straight-forward and went right in for the kill. It was difficult keeping up with her at times. But it felt good playing with her, fighting alongside her, even if it was just a game.
He found himself laughing.
"Wow, Hikaru, haven't heard you laugh in awhile." Tara's southern drawl said through the TV. Another enemy down.
"Never had much of a reason to."
The front door creaked open and slammed shut. Syd was back.
"Who are playing with?" Syd asked. Was that a pinch of happiness in her voice?
"Tara, Kyoya, Ripley, and her brothers. Grab a controller and-"
"So, are you going to tell her about the other woman?"
Hikaru froze.
"Other woman? What other fuckin' woman? Shit, I knew he was a rotten bastard!" Quin's voice yelled through the speakers. And he sounded MAD...
Then, the worst thing happened. His stomach jumped to his throat when he heard Ripley ask in a small, hurt voice, "Hika, what is she talking about?"
That was the last thing he wanted to do to her- to hurt her.
Hikaru stood up, shutting the Xbox down without a good-bye. He then turned to meet the cold, mean stare of Syd.
...\~/...
"What the hell are you trying to pull saying stuff like that?" Hikaru yelled, hot on Syd's trail as she rushed to the kitchen. Dropping all her bags, she just stood by the fridge, hands curled into tight fists. She was shaking, her whole body quivering like she was trying to keep the anger in. He was pissed at her, angered that she had tried and probably succeeded in starting something. Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut? He was having such a good time and he even thought he was gaining the respect of Ripley's brothers before Syd had to come in and ruin it all. All the questions Syd had asked the day before came rushing back to him.
"What gave you the right?"
He saw her mumble something, but it was too quiet.
"Speak up!" He wish she hadn't.
"I...think you're pathetic..."
He stood there, feeling dumbfounded.
"I think you're pathetic, pitiful, and...disgusting. You're a prime example as to why I hate humans. You...you find a toy, play with it, and get rid of it when you're bored." Her glare sent a shiver up his spine. Spending all those long hours with those animals had rubbed off on her. "That woman is nothing but a play thing to you. She's just a distraction, that's it. You're...you're revolting..."
"Then why the hell are you here if you find me that disgusting?"
Syd growled, "You shouldn't be asking that question! You should be defending that woman! I just called her your play thing!"
"She isn't, though! I care about her! I told you that yesterday!"
A small laugh came from Syd, then she flicked her gaze in his direction. "You know, all my life, people have called me lazy, unenthusiastic, and that I don't put any effort into anything." She pointed at him. "We're a lot similar than you think we are."
"Wha-? What in the world are you-"
The blonde stepped towards him, "You don't put any effort into anything either! If you did, you'd already be over Haruhi! But yet, you're not! That's because you don't want to! You may call it stubbornness, but I call it laziness. You may say you're so in love with her that you're love for her is screwing up your judgment; I just think you're putting absolutely no effort into finding someone else." She snarled. She actually snarled at him. "You disgust me. Playing with a woman that might want to be your mate in the future and you're too lazy to get over Haruhi! All you're going to do is break that woman's heart due to your selfish wants, you sick, disgusting bastard."
"And what does it matter to you, huh? Why are you so upset about me still being in love with Haruhi?"
"But that's it, I've never cared!"
"Then, why-"
"But now, it's personal." She gestured between herself and Hikaru, slouching a bit. "You want to know what I had to do on Christmas Day after you went off on your little temper tantrum? I had to sit there and watch Tara cry! Do you know how hard it is to watch the person you look up to, who is known to not cry, cry?" She pointed at him again. "That's when it got personal. Before then, I never gave a shit about you. I always thought you were stupid for being hung over on a girl that could never be yours!"
"But I-"
"Hikaru, you selfish bastard, give her up! She can never be yours! Haruhi is in love with someone else, she'll never want you! You think you're the only one that's hurting, but you're too blind to see that you're not! You're causing pain for everyone else, too! Tara's worried about you, Kyoya is as well. You're own brother is scared to death that you'll do something stupid-!"
"What is stupid? 'Hikaru, don't do something stupid!' That's all I ever hear!"
"You dunce! Stupid means suicidal!"
Hikaru froze. "You really think...they really think I'd-?"
Syd nodded, "Yes, they do." She sneered at him, "Everyone's beat around the bush, trying to protect you, but I'm not going to. That's how bad you are. Moping around, pining for a woman that you can never have. Pathetic..."
He couldn't let her go just like that. Haruhi had been his first. She had been the first to see he and Kaoru as individuals, two separate halves of a whole. Yeah, she may had been blunt when listing the ways she had figured them out, but it was just the concept that she had broken through the wall he and his brother had spent so many years building, trying so hard to make it unbreakable. No one had ever done that before; no one had ever gotten under their skin like she did. That's when he started falling for her. When she had been in danger, he felt like part of his world was going to disappear. It was no longer him and Kaoru, Kaoru and him; it was he, Kaoru, and Haruhi. Even when she had rejected him, he still wanted her. Even when she had said the word 'yes' when Tamaki asked her for her hand in marriage, Hikaru still yearned for her. Even when she said the words 'I do' to that idiot, he still loved her.
"She was the first one to tell us apart. No one had been able to do that before..."
"That's because you and Kaoru didn't put any effort into making yourselves different. Everyone else tried to get close, but you didn't let them, yet you hated them for it. They gave up. You two were a lost cause after they failed trying to connect with you for so long."
Damn it... Why was she so spot-on?
"We were unfortunate..."
Syd snorted, "Unfortunate...? Unfortunate...? Hikaru, you don't even know what that word means."
Then, he said something that he immediately regretted saying.
"At least my mom never made a living on her back."
He didn't know why he said it; it just slipped out.
Syd looked taken aback, but she immediately charged after him, tackling him to the ground. She was straddling him, the front of his shirt in her fists. Their faces were so close, he could smell the coffee she had earlier in her breath. Syd looked like an absolute animal. Her hair was a mess again, her lips curled back in a ferocious snarl, and her eyes were narrowed and full to the brim with anger. But he felt like he partially deserved this for what he said. It had been a low blow, but he wanted to take her down a peg with something about her past she'd always felt insecure about.
And that was her mom being a whore, a streetwalker, a slut.
"The dictionary definition of 'unfortunate' is not fortunate, characterized by bad fortune; unsuccessful, unhappy, inauspicious, or unlucky...a...an unfortunate person." The grasp on his shirt tightened. "I...I would remember. I was three years old when...I-I read that in the dictionary. Mom...she...she had called herself an unfortunate person for me being born. I was a mistake, she said. She hated all three of us- me, Leanne, and Michael. Did...did your mom ever say things like that to you?"
He didn't answer.
"Answer me! Did she?"
"N-no..."
"No, she never did. You've always had a loving mom, a caring dad; I don't even know who my dad is. All three of us don't. You and unfortunate don't belong in the same sentence. Kaoru has always been healthy while my brother has been diagnosed with leukemia. You've always lived in a nice house while Leanne and I had to cuddle together on the couch because our mom was too busy fucking strangers to even give a damn about us. That's why I never cared about you. You treat people like dolls, flinging them to the side when you're done with them...like...like all those goddamn bastards that treated mom like a toy..."
He couldn't see her eyes anymore for they were hidden by a curtain created by her blonde bangs. She was shaking, salty tears sliding to the tip of her nose, falling to his shirt.
"I...I always wanted to impress her, though. But I never could, even today nothing can make her smile."
I bet your mom was proud of you.
Yeah right, all she did was tell me I stunk of fish and threw me out of the house.
"Nothing could impress her...nothing... I wanted her to love us...we loved her so much..."
"Syd..." He really was sorry. He reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, but she slapped his hand away.
"I don't need your sympathy." she growled. "I want you to stop hurting her..."
"Who?" he asked gently.
"Tara...I care...I care about her so much. She...she acknowledged me..."
"I know she did."
Now the tears were really starting to fall and she was shaking uncontrollably now.
"I want you to love that woman. I want you to move on so you won't hurt her anymore. Love her..."
That's when she got up off of him.
"I hate you, Hikaru."
She left without another word...
...\~/...
Syd didn't have anybody to go to. She was alone in this big, empty city. Everything was foreign to her; the buildings, the people, the laughter she heard, the love she saw, everything. All around her was nothing but unfamiliar faces, faces that didn't show any concern. People didn't stop to ask why she was crying, why she was sobbing. Why was she crying? Was she crying because of what Hikaru had said? No, she'd gotten used to the torment people gave her about having a whore for a mother. No...she was crying for Tara, and all the pain her idol felt. Whatever that woman felt, Syd felt too. The worry, the fright, the sadness...and it was all because of that scumbag. That scumbag that was too selfish and lazy to get over something he could never have. It was all so pathetic...
There were people everywhere. Wouldn't one of them stop to ask if she was okay.
No, they wouldn't... That's why she hated humans.
"Shit, kid, are you okay?" Wait, what was that? Someone actually asked her...
Syd looked up to see she was under the sign that said, 'Bob and Ted's Car Repair and Restoration'.
She hadn't even realized that she was standing right in front of the open-door car garage, revealing her tear-stained face to everyone. She watched through misty eyes as Johnny approached her quickly. Syd just stared at his chest when he stood in front of her, afraid that if she looked up at him she'd break down crying again. She was wrong, there was one person she could go to in this big, empty city.
"J-Johnny..." she whimpered, sniffling.
"Damn, kid, you look like shit." Johnny said quietly, whipping out the red rag from his back pocket. Syd felt one of his large hands on her shoulder, the other dabbing her face with his rag, trying to rid away the tears and snot. The man in front of her had a serious, yet gentle look on his face as he gave her all of his attention. Then, a crooked smile appeared on his face, his thumb pressing and moving against her cheekbone. "Heh, sorry, I just got grease all over you."
"T-that's o-okay." She'd never sounded so pitiful before.
Then, she did something unexpected. Something so unlike her character.
She threw herself into his arms, reminding her of all those women in those romantic movies.
"I...I-I'm s-sorry if t-this is a-awkward for you, b-but..."
She felt his hand on her hair, his other arm encircling her. "No, it's fine. Can I get you something to drink?"
"C-can y-you...?"
"Yeah, c'mon, you look cold."
His arm was around her shoulders, keeping her close to him. This contact...was so weird to her...
"And then afterwards, I'll kick the ass of whoever did this to you."
...\~/...
Hikaru stopped running when he was in the middle of Central Park, allowing himself to catch his breath. He had no idea where Syd was and he looked in all the possible places she might've run off to: the many zoos in the area, Alexander's Café, but she was nowhere in those locations. He asked random people from different directions if they had seen a blonde woman with a Skrillex T-shirt on, but all they did was give him weird looks and walk away. Why did no one seem to care? Was people lacking compassion the reason Syd hated humans so much? Is that why she hated him so much? She was all alone in a foreign city with a tear-stained face and a foggy mind right now. There was no one else she could run to, so where the hell was she?
She wouldn't answer his calls.
She wouldn't reply to his texts.
She couldn't hear his yells for her.
Where the hell was she?
"Hiya, Fruitcup."
Where was- Fruitcup? Oh God no, not him...
"It's been awhile, hasn't it. Have to admit that I've kind of missed you...missed tormenting you that is."
Hikaru reluctantly turned towards the voice, eyes narrowing at the sight of Salem Warsaw, who gave a mocking sort of salute. "What do you want, Salem?" Hikaru growled, his fists clenched. He was definitely not in the mood to hear Salem's rude jabs towards him about his sexuality and "obsession with his twin brother". First his argument with Syd, now this? Lady Luck was just not with him today, was she?
"I'm just wanting to know why you're running around? Mmm, wait a minute, I know. Trying to catch your dignity again?"
"Not in the mood, Salem." Hikaru muttered, holding up a hand to stop the man from saying anything else.
The ash-haired twin started to walk away when he heard, "If you're looking for that blonde chick, she went that way."
Hikaru spun around, "Which way?"
"The way I pointed towards. Maybe if you had been paying attention rather than being rude and walking away without a goodbye kiss, you would know where to go."
"A goodbye kiss? And you call me gay."
All Salem did was smirk. "She looked pretty upset. You should leave her alone for awhile. I'd rather face a raging wolverine than a upset woman."
"Fine, be that way. I'm leaving."
Salem chuckled, "How about I get you a whiskey- the key to solving all problems."
"With you? No thanks. Maybe never."
"Aw, c'mon, Fruitcup. Oh wait, you're probably one of those apple martini kind of guys, aren't you? Don't drink the big boy stuff yet?"
That was it. He'd had it. Time to prove himself as a man.
"Fine. Whiskey. Go."
...\~/...
Bars were disgusting, that's what Hikaru pretty much thought all throughout his and Salem's whiskey break. Sweaty, old, hairy bikers were gathered in clumps across the small, dim-lit room. Women wearing sleazy costumes threw themselves all over anything that pretty much moved and they were particularly fond of him and Salem, but the both of them rejected every woman's advances. And Salem had fun tormenting Hikaru in different ways. Like slapping Hikaru's back painfully when the younger of the two took his first gulp of whiskey. Hikaru's eyes had watered from the potency of the amber liquid, a burning sensation taking place in the back of his throat, causing Hikaru to cough up the alcohol back up roughly. Salem had gleefully exclaimed that whiskey was for real men anyways. Now, Hikaru was used to whiskey (well, just a little bit), and he could knock back small amounts. The golden-eyed man took a tentative sniff; sweat, booze, and B.O. What a great aroma...
"I know about your dilemma, Fruitcup."
That snapped him out of his thoughts. "What did you say?"
"I know about your problem with women- the one back in Japan, the one on Red Hue, all your failed dates."
"Who told you?" Hikaru asked.
"Cassidy."
"And you're not going to laugh at me? Not going to poke fun at my problems or...or destroy my dignity or pride?"
Here it comes; the insult... "Wasn't planning on it."
"You're such a bast-! Hold on. You're not going to make fun of me?"
"Nope."
"Not question my preferences?"
"Nope."
"Never call me Fruitcup again?"
"Hey, let's not go too far."
Hikaru narrowed his gaze, unsure on how to react. He was suspicious, of course. This was Salem that he was sitting next to; the cold bastard that loved to make people squirm. He cared about no one and everyone returned the same feelings. Salem was not a nice person, but neither was Hikaru on most occasions. Maybe they were more alike than he liked to admit. Let's see: they were both bitter, both had problems with women, and had at least one person that they cared about- Salem with Cassidy and Hikaru with Kaoru. Hikaru tilted his head to side, watching Salem sip his whiskey casually, the burning liquid having no affect on him whatsoever. Salem Warsaw was attractive, Hikaru had to admit. The man had slicked back, dark brown hair with intense, stormy gray eyes. His body was muscular and tall with broad shoulders. How a man like him ended in a kitchen rather than a model was something Hikaru had no answer to.
"The only real failure in life is the failure to try. Do you know who said that?"
"No."
"Neither do I, but do I really need to explain it?"
No, he didn't. It kind of reflected on what Syd was trying to tell him earlier. About how he was lazy and wasn't putting an effort into moving on. She was right; he wasn't trying at all. All his thoughts that related to Haruhi, all his memories he had of her was keeping him back. He'd always been aware of it, but he never wanted to admit that piece of knowledge to himself. And now Salem was telling him the same thing. Hikaru never realized this, but he had to be the most thankful towards those two- Salem and Syd. They were two individuals that didn't candy-coat situations.
"Here's another one: If you love somebody, set them free. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were. Richard Bach, whoever that is, said that."
Haruhi loved him, but never in the same way he loved her. She loved Tamaki and Tamaki loved her. Hikaru remembered when he had confessed his love to her, during their class 1-A trip to the ski resort. Even then, he couldn't handle rejection. The gap between his confession and the time Haruhi would return her answer, he had been terrified of the word 'no'. He had wanted her so badly, wanted the privilege to hold her in his arms when she was scared during a thunderstorm or when she was sad every time the anniversary of her mother came around. He had wanted to protect her from everything wicked, mean, and evil, even if it killed him. He had felt her pain and sorrow when Tamaki had yelled at her, every single time. He loved the way she could see right through his walls, right through his fake smiles, and read his thoughts. He loved her. He had set her free, but she never came back.
"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."
"Buddha."
"Exactly."
Haruhi was in his past. He wanted her in his future. She wasn't with him at the moment, though. He had Kaoru, his dear brother; he had Tara and Kyoya, two people who had always been there for him; Hunny and Mori, those two always had his back, even if they were thousands of miles away; he had everyone at the café, who were all ready to pick him up when he fell again.
And he had Ripley. Oh God, how was she now? What was she thinking? Did she still want anything to do with him?
Haruhi was the other woman.
"In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. Robert Frost said that."
Life. Goes. On.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Hikaru asked.
"Because I made the same mistake, too. And look how I turned out. Bitter, mean, a twisted sense of humor. I don't want you to have to suffer the same fate, Fruitcup." With that, Salem sighed, knocking back another shot of whiskey. "You still have time. Use it."
"What happened?"
Salem was quiet for a moment, making Hikaru feel like he was out of place for asking.
"I let the death of my love ruin me."
Just like Hikaru was allowing his love for Haruhi do to him.
"At one point in time, I was in love with a woman named Diana Hart. She was beautiful; had a smile that warmed my heart every time it was pointed in my direction. I was crazy about her. She fell for my best friend, though, a man I owed so much to. He had pulled me out of the gutter a few times in my life and even today I feel like I never did pay him back. They got married; watching them kiss at the end of aisle had been a blow to me. So there I was, in love with a woman that I couldn't have, and a hatred for a man that I both cared for and owed a lot to. Sound familiar?"
"Yeah, like me."
"Hn, well, things didn't turn out good in the end. I had pushed them out of my life completely, thinking that maybe if I forgot about them, I could move on in my life. One day, I get a phone call from the hospital, saying that they had something for me. So, I went, and they dropped a baby in my arms. A baby! What the hell was I going to do with a kid? Well, that baby had been named Cassidy, the daughter of my best friend and the woman I pined for. They had died in a car accident earlier that day. So, all in one day, I learned that two people I owed a lot to died and I was a father. And I let it all tear me apart. It made me bitter and foul-tempered. But there was one shining light in my long, dark tunnel."
"Cassidy?"
"Yep. That kid is my life. No, she saved my life. Cassidy gave me something to live for, something to wake up in the mornings for. I tried my best raising her to be the complete opposite of me, but in some aspects, I failed. Like her fucked up taste buds. I will never, ever forget the day he asked me for frog leg ice cream. That had been a definite 'WTF' moment." That's when Salem smiled...he actually smiled. "But it seems that you already have a light at the end of your dark tunnel. Actually, you have a lot of lights trying to guide you out. Heh, you could say I'm one of the lights..."
"I always thought you hated me."
"Well, no, taking pleasure in tormenting you and hating you are two totally different things."
Salem was there for him. No freakin' way.
"So, what I guess I'm trying to say is, is that I care for you, in an odd sort of way. We all do."
They were there for him.
"So, we're all rooting for you in the background, Fruitcup. Don't you forget it, either."
"Thanks, Salem...thanks for everything."
"Now, now, Fruitcup, don't get all mushy on me now. I'm not letting you cry on my shoulder. This shirt's a hundred percent cotton; it'll shrink."
So much for that touching moment.
...\~/...
"Are you feelin' better now, Syd?"
"Yeah. Thanks for that pep-talk."
"My offer to kick his ass is still up for grabs, ya know?"
"Heh, that would be pretty funny. Hikaru's kind of a shrimp; you could take him."
Silence.
"Hey, Syd, I get out of here at six."
"Uh...I'm...happy for you?"
"No, um, let me finish, okay? I was wondering it you'd want to get something to eat with me."
"Like...l-like a date?"
"Yeah, like a date. I'd pick you up at around seven. I'll take you somewhere fancy, so dress up, alright?"
"U-uh, y-yeah. Seven...got it... Y-you can pick me u-up at the Alexander's Café."
...\~/...
Hikaru was left in this disgusting bar all on his own. Salem had said something about taking Cassidy out for lunch, so he left Hikaru to fend for himself against testosterone-loaded biker dudes, slutty women, and the sickening stench of sweat, booze, and cigarette smoke. He'd gotten used to whiskey now, Hikaru now being able to gulp down the amber alcohol without his eyes watering or his throat feeling like it was on fire.
He hardly noticed a young, petite woman slide herself onto the barstool beside him, ordering a scotch on the rocks.
He hardly noticed her gaze shift towards him slowly.
He hardly noticed the way she tilted her head to the side, like she was trying to figure out who he was.
He did, however, noticed how she said, "Hikaru...?"
MUHAHAHAHA, cliffhanger! Any guesses to who she might be? You'll never guess. *cough* Chapter 3 *cough*
Sooo, we had a bit of nostalgia, a bit of a reality check, and a bit of intensity. Also, anybody like the Johnny/Syd so far? And did anybody like the Salem/Hikaru-bonding that went on in this chapter? I did! So, I hoped you liked this chapter, and I'm hoping that maybe chapter 10 will be up soon. It'll be the last chapter that has Syd as a main character. And then chapter 11 will be the Valentine's Day chapter! I have something very special planned for that! Chapter 12 will either be a Hikaru/Ripley message-based chapter or something else I have planned. Also, I have to thank zerofourone and her idea that inspired me to write some of the events in this chapter.
By the way, LuxenShadow123, I listened to that song you mentioned in your reviews. Let's just say, I loved it~!
Author's Note - Fin