Chapter 4: Fourth Shot

She choked as she stared at the familiar boy before her.

There was a hint of victory in his orchid eyes, lips pulled into a ghost of a smile as they eyed each other. Chisato didn't know why she'd come to him, was it fear of Hanma? The idea of having to deal with a ghostly face of her past - her secrets she kept hidden from her brother and Toman - was nauseating to Chisato.

A hidden part of Chisato wondered how would her brother react if he were to know all her dirty secrets, all her dirty, dirty connections within the underground world she tried to keep hidden. She was fairly certain that Draken, at the very least, suspected the girl knew more than she let on. He'd caught her in the company with the Haitani brothers, once.

Rindou and Ran had found her loitering in their territory and proceeded to pester as they always did, whenever the trio ran into each other. There were times when Chisato would do favours for certain folk, reminding them that they owed her in return. Only cashing those favours in when she had no other choice.

She'd gone on silent mode on Toman, expertly ignoring the countless calls and messages, not trusting herself around them right now. Chisato did not expect to run into Izana. Or for Izana to come seeking her.

Her green eyes watched as he sauntered closer to her, his orchid eyes never leaving her as the girl lazied on a chair on top of an abandoned building situated too close to Yokohama. And out of Toman's territory. It was a good distance away.

The nightlife in Tokyo was noisy.

It was made up of never-ending sounds that made her get the impression that the city never slept. It was never quiet. If you knew where to go, you could always find something to do here. Even in the middle of the night.

This building was a place she'd found with Tora and Baji, during one of their many but short adventures as the Devil's Trio. Baji wasn't amongst those who'd called her. Despite her own countless messages to him, each in a more rapid sense of shouting and promising threats.

"Why are you here, Izana?" Her voice was tired, she'd been on the rooftop, hugging her jacket to gain warmth, for a while now. A while meant several hours. She came here to think - to get away.

Izana came to stop near her, close enough that he was able to reach out to her hair and play with a few long blonde locks. Something boiled in his guts, an ugly searing green monster. Why would she choose to follow Sano Manjiro instead of him? Izana knew he could never have her as Sano Manjiro did, but a desire was an ugly, fickle little thing.

"You pocket-dialled me," he settled on the half-lie.

She blinked, hand instantly pulling out her silent phone and flipped it open. He watched her frown as she stared at the call logs. She smelled of cigarettes. Menthol and something else he couldn't quite pinpoint, rosemary? No, that wasn't quite it.

"Ah, seems I have," her words lacked the usual spite.

He tugged on her blonde hair, her head rolled backwards to rest against his stomach as he now stood behind her. The lights resonating in the air made her look a bit more innocent than she was. Kurokawa Izana was no fool, he knew who she was and what she's done. He wonders if Sano Manjiro knows it too.

Or her brother.

Or anyone from Toman.

Did they even know her? Did they have an idea how many gangs wanted her by their sides? And yet, she'd chosen them out of everything else.

He bent down, brushing his lips against the girl's forehead. Her green eyes widened, but she didn't pull away. A faint trail of pink appeared on her cheeks, it could've been from cold or his unexpected action. He wouldn't know which unless he were to ask her, however, the girl would likely answer him with a lie.

As it was her habit.

"What happened?"

"What makes you think something happened?"

He gave her a long look, neither had pulled back. Izana's fingers kept playing with her hair as he stared down at her face, and she up at his. There was a weird sense of feeling resonating around them, something that neither of them was willing to acknowledge. Izana was no fool. Chisato was no fool.

"You only ever come here when something hasn't gone your way or if you need to get away from the people, who don't know you," his words carried something heavier which she ignored.

"And you think you know me?" She snorted, remembering when Hanma had claimed the very thing before their paths stopped being the same. He'd chosen violence over everything, and while she did too - Chisato still believed there had to be a greater purpose to the things they did.

Or it would carry no meaning.

Violence without a meaning wasn't what she enjoyed, or liked to see. She knew that Izana didn't hold back from doing what he wanted to get whatever he desired, she'd just gotten lucky to avoid death. Her being alive was nothing more than pure luck. She knew that.

"I know what you've done," he conceded, fingers pressing on her lips. They were soft and long. Something, something, coiled within her. "More than anyone else."

There was Hanma, who probably knew her better than Izana did, Chisato thought with a grimace. Her brother would most likely get a heart attack if he were to see what she did outside Toman - outside him - or heard even a whisper of her secrets. Her fear of losing the people she loved was what made her ask Mikey to leave Toman, he'd yet to give her permission to do that.

She found ways to avoid them, ways to prevent from being found by the Captains to be dragged to the meetings, and Mucho…Mucho had been easy to deal with.

Izana's finger moved on her lips, his orchid-coloured eyes were watching her intently. She wasn't a fool, Chisato could tell he desired her for more. She knew that Mikey wanted her for more and that her words to Mitsuya, that night, had been somewhat of a lie. She knew Hanma, probably, liked her more than Mikey did. Because he knew her. Because Izana knew her.

"What about now? Who do you like now, Chisato?" Mitsuya's question wasn't an easy one to be answered. She let the currents drag her where they took her, and while there were times when she showed a sign of protest, Chisato let the scene around her play out as it was meant to.

She parted her lips, sucking Izana's finger.

She heard him release air he hadn't known he had been holding. It was easy to get lost in all the forbidden places, especially if it was done right - properly. Her mind would cease thinking and annoying her with countless memories. In moments like this, she could fool herself into believing.

Believing what was a question she didn't bother to answer.

Nor think about it.

He yanked her up, crushing his lips against her in a hungry desire of lust. Her hands wrapped around his neck, gazing against his silver hair and tangling her fingers within them. Inside her pocket, Chisato's phone rang. She ignored it, relishing in the feel Izana's lips gave her as he seemed to attempt to devour every part of her. Her back was pushed against something solid, covering the teens from unwanted eyes and attention, giving them enough privacy on the rooftop.