A Throne Of Greed

IV

Light bunny hops of jingling car keys bounced between the taupe’s hands when the disheveled raven—whose frail form leaned on his car’s rear door—threw them. Once Katou managed to grasp it, his finger pressed the car remote, unlocking the black sleek car and shoving Kambe to the passenger seat while Katou went around the car for the driver’s seat. 

Just like the olden days, the taupe-color haired male once again withheld the title of the designated driver but was granted an unfamiliar mechanization of a car and a passenger he isn’t fond of. He felt like in a spaceship, for he didn’t know how to operate such an expensive car. The usual depths and edges of the keyhole didn’t meet his fingertips but instead met a soft push from a button that made the car’s dashboard to lighten up, and a monotone mechanic voice to prattle.

 “Welcome! please validate the owner.”

“Are you kidding me?!”

As the dashboard screen glowed words that asked for the owner's biometrics, Katou punched his fist on the steering wheel, cursing over the fancy customized car's anti-theft system. His golden eyes turned to the responsible owner in his current bizarre state: askew hair, unbuttoned dress shirt, flushed face, droopy eyes, and slipping off his seat.

“Oi, Kambe! How do you do this?”

The disheveled Kambe groaned as he jittered on his seat and rolled on his side to face the car window. Katou watched the young raven’s curved back who appeared unbothered that it prompted the older male to perform clockwork movements on the car’s dashboard: twisting, turning, and pressing all random buttons on the car’s dashboard like a toddler on his new piano toy.

The taupe activated the windshield wipers as they their arms in rhythmic sync, cleaning the dry surface of the windshield that made a shrilling noise. Creases formed on Kambe’s forehead and his eyebrows twitched.

Rolling to his opposite side, he stretched his arm to grab the driver’s steering wheel while his other arm opened the sun visor to peer into its mirror. Meanwhile, the startled Katou leaned his head on the car window, giving space for the raven to do his task and soon his golden eyes met the blue ones. Seeing eye to eye, their opposite colored eyes filled the gaps of the other for a moment but the cruel streams of diluted swirled noodles debuted from the raven's mouth and crashed on Katou’s chest that trickled down to his crotch. Like a yawning fish, The taupe has his furrowed eyes wide open and mouth gaped while the raven formed a smug smirk on the corner of his lips before plunging back to his passenger seat unbothered by the misery he brought upon his designated driver.

“Validation confirmed. You may start the engine.”

FOUR HOURS AGO

“I’ll be leaving the house to you all weekend, and I’m expecting a lot from you to maintain the house.”

“Yes, ma’am! You can count on me.”

“Please, look out for those crazy fraternity neighbors. I heard they’re having a party tonight.”

“Well, it’s the fraternity rush week.”

“I see. I guess we’re settled then, Katou-san.”

On a Friday afternoon, Katou started his sideline house sitting job. Due to his scholarship rescindment and thus the removal of his on-campus housing past spring, he discovered full time house sittings jobs available around the university—where the university's prestigiousness reflected the same status as their neighbors: rich people who often left their home for summer vacation—that allowed him to live rent-free like a traveling nomad from house to house all summer. With his savings all that summer, he managed to rent an apartment shared with lousy roommates of course, but the quiet ambiance of house sitting jobs allowed him to take a break from his roommates and to study with ease.