Street Dreams

Chapter 8 - Fallen Angel

    It had barely been a week and little was exchanged between Ren and Hana. Her room had been established; Ren had, luckily, not forced her to share his room, though she did live in his small house. She had learned, to Americans, it was a small building, but in most parts of Japan, it would have been a very expensive house. Her room was large for her, a guest room that Ren had turned into more of a storage room. He had it cleaned out, quickly, and set up in rather plain furniture. He had allowed her to decorate as she saw fit, but she had not taken the time to shop.

    Hana felt ill at ease around Ren, now. She wasn't wholly certain why, except for the weird half dream she had. It didn't make sense. Why would a dream bother her? The room around her was unlit, short of the slowly creeping sunlight, crawling away. She looked out of a window, watching the central driveway and garden area from her bed. The men were going about their daily business. She had found an old friend, Yashiro, whom she had grown up with. They spent much of Yashiro's free time playing video games. Though, she thought of it as time spent kicking his ass. He was a bit of light in this world. He hadn't changed much at all. He'd grown up a little from what she remembered.

    She smiled seeing him heading out with a group of men to buy some alcohol. In their video game playing, she learned he ran a pawn shop. He was a college drop out, as many of the mid-level and lower tier members were. Even Hana had dropped out after years of getting in trouble. She hadn't ever made it to college. Her eyes briefly refocused to see her face in the glass, and shook her head. No, the wife of an oyabun didn't have to be educated, she just had to know how to keep her mouth shut and look the other way. Those were skills that Hana developed early on.

    She saw a car returning. It was one she had become far too familiar with. When it parked, Ren emerged. He didn't bother scanning the surroundings. A small chill went through Hana. Why did a dream bother her that much? She knew it was just a dream, because her clothes were perfectly fine when she actually woke up. She wanted to go out to a club. She had been all but locked up since she got here.

    Except, she realized, that it wasn't that she was locked up. She just hadn't bothered trying to go anywhere, because she had never been here. But, she wanted to go out, and she would. Picking out one of her favorite clubbing outfits, she made sure that the short, black skirt still hugged everything like it should with black thongs on either side to tie the two pieces of fabric together. A fitted t-shirt with a splash of color across the front, complimented by a black faux fur vest and a couple long silver chain necklaces, completed the look. She just needed to put on her boots, but she knew that it wasn't going to be possible until she was at the door.

    She took a bit of time on her hair, giving it some volume, pulling and teasing it in a ponytail with a couple small braids. Her make-up, she thought, was suitably Western, emphasizing her cheekbones, instead of the fullness of her cheeks; a much more Eastern habit. When she decided that she was done, Hana walked downstairs, letting a black, Givenchy bag dangle by its strap over her shoulder. It was the Obsedia Coney, the metal cross ending in a large hoop complimented it all.

    Hana got downstairs just as Ren was walking through the door. With her boots in hand, she took a steadying breath before continuing on her way. He must have paused to do something before coming in. She had expected him to already be inside. He was quite handsome, a fact that assaulted her every time she looked at him. It made her a little self conscious for the danger that his image projected. The darkness of his casual suit only served to emphasize the picture.

    Ren paused when he got inside, looking at her, "Going somewhere?"

    "Yeah, I felt like going dancing and drinking."

    "Where were you planning on going?"

    Hana considered that, "I don't know. Do you have any suggestions?"