PALE MAGENTA VERMILLION THAT BLED INTO TAWNY BROWN HAIR SWIRLED LIKE A VORTEX AROUND A SLENDER INDEX FINGER. HAIR THAT REPRESENTED THE IMMATURITY THAT SWIRLED ALIVE IN THE SEAFOAM GREEN GAZE, flickering and taunting the wall that she had a staring contest with.
Judging by the unsettling twitch of her nose that occurred whenever another stifled snicker rung out-- said pinkette wasn't in a good mood.
The table was cold as she rested her cheek against it, head turned away from Pah-chin as the rest of the members sat awaiting the arrival of two more people, Kazutora and Baji who were running behind schedule.
The summer of 2003 had an air to it, every second, every hour was poured into the dedication and loyalty that laid in their new founding gang. A chilly breezy day, cloudy with gales strong enough to nearly knock someone over as the howls of the wind brushed against the small café they took refuge in.
"Pah, I'm going to throw your surprise into the damn incinerator and push you in after it if you don't stop laughing!" Anari snapped at him, kicking his leg while the boy continued to laugh, only louder this time as tears sprouted at the corner of his eye. The boy had slit brows matching Mitsuya, and his sense of humor? Broken.
"I-I can't! It's pink! It's a strawberry pink!" Pah-chin slammed his hand against the table, cackling as Anari heard another remark about her new hair-color that not yet anyone else had seen except for the Sano family and Draken. "That's not strawberry you dumbass, it's bubblegum." Mitsuya corrected.
"It's neither! It's blush pink, you both are stupid!" Anari grabbed the clip board and hit Pah over the head, but as she reached over to hit Mitsuya he ducked, scooting his seat backward.
No one said a word about her brother, or the private funeral. Everything was as it should be, normal as could be.
Anari huffed angrily and plopped her head onto Mikey's lap with folded arms and a dazing frown. Mikey who was snacking on a parfait offered a spoonful of the chocolate dessert to Anari in which she opened her mouth and accepted, breathing out a sigh.
Draken shrugged, "I was pretty damn surprised when I saw the new style too. I didn't think you'd get straight bangs." Her cousin cracked, looking over at the girl who was hidden underneath the guise of the tables, using Mikey as her personal pillow.
"I'll wait till my bangs grow out and I'll curtain them and dye it again, screw you Pah." Anari simply kicked her feet up, intentionally using the table as her foot rest.
The clock ticked past for the next few minutes, a quiet and warm atmosphere in which the old man who owned the shop didn't mind their rowdiness and instead he himself was on the verge of snoozing away while reading a newspaper magazine.
Anari herself was on the verge of sleep, turning her head away from the light, embedding it into Mikey's abdomen. Mitsuya stared off at his phone, while Pah's head was tilted back letting out light snores.
When suddenly, the welcoming bell jingled, ringing out and awaking everyone who slowly opened their eyes at the arrival of the two boys. Steps that sounded rough with squeaking shoes as weight shifted onto them and slowly grew both louder and closer.
The shadows they casted danced among the walls of frames.
"Sorry we're late, Baji tangled with some punk." Kazutora offered a innocent smile while his companion scoffed. The ravenette deadpanned, "don't act like it was only my fault, asshole!" Baji was always a tardy party member, forever and always, the unlucky and the last one.
"You all are so loud .." Anari mumbled, sitting up as her back ached. The two boys flinched, taking a step back, "no way in hell that's Alice." Baji blinked once, and then twice, rubbing his eyes to make sure that the very emerald eyes glaring at him were real, before he broke out laughing on the floor.
"Oh piss off!" Anari flipped an unlady-like finger in contradiction to her bubbly pink hair. Kazutora gaped as he stepped closer and touched the straightened locks of hair that cascaded down her spine without fail. It was streaked with cerulean blue like butterfly kisses. "Damn it looks cool as hell!"
"You're a good man, Kazu." Anari pat his shoulder as he chuckled at her.
Finally settling down from the burst of laughter, pushing aside the small jokes Baji and Pah-chin made with one another about the girl's hair, they bought her mint chocolate ice cream to make up for it. After having her dignity stripped away from her multiple times that day through the humiliation of her hair, Anari burned out every last ounce of energy she'd saved and sat down quietly.
Pulling out a carefully wrapped box, out came the surprise Anari had mentioned. Anticipation eluded the air like a bunch of hungry howling wolves scampering at their prey as the girl peeled off the paper and displayed it onto the table with a proud smile, nodding a head at Mitsuya.
"Whoa! Awesome!" Pah-chin was the first to express his initial excitement as their eyes gleamed. This was their mark of a gang. "This rules Mitsuya!" Kazutora turned to the male who only clicked his tongue.
"No it doesn't, I'm the one who got pushed into making 'em .. Anari made the flags though." Sheepishly scratching the back of her head, Anari folded her hands in delight. Mitsuya had just turned thirteen, making him the second and only teenager beside Draken.
He'd spend the last week or so tirelessly working on the uniforms with nothing else to do while Anari had generously made the base for him and gathered the fabric material. Although when it came down to it, he still did most of the work.
"Alright! Let's change into 'em and take a commemorative photo! Right Mikey?!" When the tall blonde turned his head to the leader, who had chocolate stained on the side of his lips, he looked up curiously, having not paid attention the slightest bit, "huh?"
Draken, realizing that it was his dessert that Mikey had been eating the whole time .. he stomped over and grabbed the boy by his collar, "You fucker! Why'd you eat all my chocolate parfait!"
Mikey who looked down into the cup and shrugged, licking his lips tactfully replied, "whoops! I didn't notice!"
"You said you only wanted a bite!"
Anari wiped away any stains of chocolate she might have had too before Draken noticed. Handing each of the individual boys their uniforms, with a grumble they headed to the bathroom.
Standing in the middle of a busy city cross walk, the perfect spot for a picture, Anari held the camera in her hand. "Just take the damn picture already!"
"Hold on! Pah-chin move to the right more!" Anari waved her hand. He quirked a brow, "you've told me that three times now! The hell you mean you want me to move more!?"
"If he scoots out anymore he'll be out of the picture.." Mitsuya commented as Anari let out a childish grin, "that's the point!"
Letting out a low grumble, Pah-chin scooted to the left, back into the frame and toward Mikey, "here goes!"
As the camera shuttered, the picture triggered, the hands of fate began to weave together their story, one thread, one memory, and one moment at a time, a story that would soon grow dreary and cause the sky to weep and flowers to wilt, beautiful things would come to an end and a cycle of death would occur.