Rules Were Made to be Broken

‣ scene 24 [confess it to the dark]

Kiyotaka snorted. Anything, indeed.

"...Sonia just left a couple of hours ago. With that other man. She ran away from her family and is living with him now. He runs an animal rescue in the woods. They, uh... got engaged, actually! I let them use my old ring. Sonia wants me to be her maid of honor, whatever that means."

"Sounds like you've had a pretty eventful evening! And ya didn't even hafta crash your car or punch anybody." Had Mondo made that comment about a week earlier, Kiyotaka might have gotten angry. Now, though, he just laughed it off. "Y'said he runs a rescue... That's great. If he ever needs any mechanical help, tell 'im to give me a call, alright?"

"I'll do that. I... told them both that you'd probably like to visit. ...What did you do today?"

"Me? ...I was in the truck for a while, did some repairs for customers, n' then I got offa work early enough to have lunch with Akane n' the guy she's seein'... Wanted t'meet him in person n' make sure he's good enough for her. She's had some real losers— ya know how it is. Men can be the fuckin' worst."

Kiyotaka groaned and rolled his eyes. He was all too familiar with that reality. He'd tried using a "dating app", which would remain nameless, for about two hours once. Never again. He'd been frightened away from online dating as a whole.

"They certainly can be," he agreed.

"Yeah. This one seems like a hell of a guy, though, so I'll step aside n' let them do their thing. He's her instructor down at the community center, actually. She takes advanced kickboxing classes there."

"Is he really, REALLY huge, by any chance? With an intense aura?" Kiyotaka remembered Akane being with such a man when he'd run into her near the bar, and he had never gotten an answer as to who that guy was. He'd been too busy fleeing to ask for introductions.

"That... sounds like him, yeah. Didja meet 'im somewhere?"

"He was with her when she caught me running from the bar and called you. I only spoke to him once, and it was because he called me out on a blatant lie. I had said that I was in a hurry to get somewhere, and he then reminded me that I had just told Owari-san that I was only taking a walk. I was less than pleased with him at the time, but I suppose he was trying to help."

Mondo laughed brightly at the story.

"Yep, that's the guy, alright. He can tell when Akane's worried. Probably wanted t'help her get to the bottom of things." Kiyotaka could hear Mondo's smile in his voice. "It's... pretty cute, I gotta admit. Down at the center, they do all kindsa classes n' shit. Akane grew up pretty rough, n' fightin' has always been her way of gettin' the frustration outta her system, so somebody suggested she take a proper class insteada startin' brawls. But this poor instructor— he said she was always beggin' him to stay after class and spar with her. N' then she'd go at him with everythin' she had and just laugh and laugh while she was throwin' punches."

"And that somehow led to a relationship?!"

"Guess that's just how Akane flirts? I don't fuckin' get it, either, but she was real excited about findin' a strong opponent. Guess it turned into a little crush at some point n' blew up from there."

Kiyotaka had been smiling as he contemplated the surprising innocence of the story, but frowned as his brain snagged on a particular detail.

"...You said that Akane had a rough upbringing?"

"Yeah."

"Even by, er, your standards?"

Kiyotaka hoped that his phrasing didn't come across as rude, but it was a valid question. If Mondo was saying that someone else had had a really unpleasant childhood, it was probably horrific. He was somewhat curious, but he wouldn't ask for specifics— he hardly knew the woman and it wasn't any of his business. Mondo didn't answer right away.