The following day, Honoka had the guts to send us out shopping.
"It will be a good time to build each other's trust" , she had said, smirking at me as if I was her new partner in crime. "Plus" , she added. "Noah needs a smartphone, doesn't he?"
"Do you think I'm not smart enough to handle a normal phone? Is that what you think?" Noah lashed at her.
For the first time since we met the angel, I laughed along with her.
"You've got a lot to learn, my boy" , she said.
Noah's eyes turned scarlet red, his cheeks flushed the same color as he clenched his fists and fell silent, showing us his teeth, like a wounded animal about to attack.
I lift my arms up in surrender. "She's all yours, I'm not the one who started this." I said that, but I couldn't contain a smile.
Noah's ignorance about the world can be so cute.
"Tomorrow morning it is!" , Honoka beamed, her wings spreading in response. She pointed at the chained Aoki-sensei. "I will take this demon back to her own house. She has kids to take care of, doesn't she? Then I'll watch over you guys as you sleep."
"Gross" , I pouted.
"Says the girl who will let Noah sleep in her house. A boy and a girl alone together"
Now it was my turn to blush from head to toe. "Who said I will allow him?!"
"Hitori '' , Noah interrupted, his voice so on edge we both turned to look at him. His irises lost their color once again.
That's when he isn't feeling anything, is he? , I realized. Noah's base-emotion. Emptiness.
I don't know why that stung a little. For spending the night with a girl meant nothing to him.
"I need to keep you safe. Who knows when another demon will come and threaten us like your teacher did?"
Honoka raised her hand as if she was in a classroom, and without waiting for permission, she retorted. "Technically, I will be protecting you both, but let's not let Noah be uncomfortable, shall we?"
It very much sounded like she was implying something, although I doubt either of us knew what it was. I decided not to bother with such an unpredictable creature.
"Have fun, you two!" , she sang.
And on that happy note, she took off in flight, Aoki-sensei tied and unconscious, floating behind her as if bound by an invisible rope.
*******
Shibuya's crossroads was, as usual, bustling with people. It occurred to me that this was exactly when I first met Noah. At first glance, I had thought he was just a heartless kid, no friends, no family, just a big hole of darkness ahead: an unrecognizable, easily forgettable nobody.
How wrong I was. It seems so far away now that I think about it, despite it being a few days ago.
If only for a moment, I could guess what Noah felt through the color of his eyes. Red for anger. Honey for understanding. Gray for calm. Colorless for whenever he put down his guard, allowing himself to feel nothing at all, putting his own heart at rest. And blue...
Blue was the one color I had not yet found a meaning to.
What was the point of turning his eyes into my dyed hair shade? What could possibly be going on in Noah's mind whenever---
"--ori...--itori...Hitori!"
I was suddenly pulled from behind by my wrist. Seconds later, a giant colorful bus passed by, inches from my face. I looked down at our...intertwined hands?
What was Noah doing..?
Before I could fathom the very possibility of such a feeling ever existing in the boy's heart, I felt his death glare on me, and I couldn't even lift my gaze to meet his.
I had been so distracted by my own thoughts that I did not notice the street lights were red.
"Don't go wandering like that with your head. Only fools die from car accidents. So don't be one"
With that, he let go of my fingers, only to grab my palm normally.
Like a disobedient toddler, I realized.
"Sorry" , I faked a laugh. "But don't you think Honoka was being a little crazy? thinking she can order us to just go shopping when the world is about to be subjected to war?" , I ventured, while leading Noah to the closest tech store. "This way" , I pointed.
Colorful light bulbs decorated the entrance, tied by a single thread taking the shape of an old telephone. It was glued to the glass-made door. Despite it being transparent, one could not distinguish a thing from the inside of the store, for the fluorescent lights were so bright that they allowed no one to stare hard enough to see what was beyond the door.
It was as if the store owner screamed Keep Out and Welcome at the same time.
"I think Honoka did the right thing" , Noah replied, his tone as dead as it always is. "We need more clothes if we are going to travel for long distances, or stay the night outside our homes. And we need to be in contact, if we ever have to split up. Although I don't see the need for our phones to be smart in order to do that."
Unfortunately, the store inside was nothing like one would have thought, for it was so empty that echoes resonated on every corner, and Noah's words were amplified ten fold as he said that last sentence.
..our phones to be smart in order to do that
be smart in order to do that
smart in order to do that
order to do that
do that.....
"Who is speaking? Who is mocking me??" , the boy's eyes flared scarlet, their heat reaching my skin, pricking me a little.
The echoes resonated again, which worsened Noah's mood even more.
"Noah, calm down!" , I screamed in whispers. "It's just the sound being repeated, like in a cave!"
"Did someone say smartphone?" , a man's voice echoed, so many agonizing times.
For the first time since we entered, I could look around the shop.
It was no ordinary place.
A perfectly squared wooden table stood in the middle of the room. With nothing but a counter machine on top, seemingly a thousand years old. Dust piled on it, one would never believe this was a shop for selling high technology devices.
On every wall hung countless weirdly-shaped phone cases. From freaky green monster eyes that looked as if it followed your every movement, to the lava erupting volcano that dripped a liquid on the floor, a gooey substance that reminded me of nearly coagulated blood.
I knew we were pretty much screwed when I felt Noah's now -sweaty hand let go of mine. I didn't have to look behind to realize that he had drawn his golden needle out of his flesh.
I willed my face muscles to remain neutral. I had no idea how the result came out, but I was sure as hell my voice was shaking when I said:
"E-Excuse me, sir. We are looking for a smartphone for my...friend"
I felt Noah twitch beside me. Strange how the boy I've known to act so calm despite everything could lose his composure at the word friend.
This isn't the time for daydreaming, Hitori! Focus! I mentally slapped myself.
We heard footsteps next. Slow at first, their pace quickening afterwards, as though someone went from walking to running to sprinting. It resonated in our heads just as much as the echoes did, sounding exactly like the ticking of a bomb very nearly exploding.
As they became louder and louder, I felt my heart about to break free of my ribcage, bursting the glass door open and running for its life.
I couldn't bear it anymore.
thump thump thump
thumpthumpthumpthumthump
As sudden as they appeared, the footsteps quieted down. However, my head wouldn't stop recalling the noise, as if it was a broken record.
A man stood behind the square shaped table.
My blood froze as I realized he had been standing there for a couple of minutes, however I had not noticed him until now.
Until he allowed me to.
His eyes gleamed scarlet red, making the dim light of the store seem like darkness in comparison.
The man had a black goatee, his cheeks hollowed out, as though he was starved for a thousand years. Eyebags lined the upper border of his cheeks, making him look more sleep deprived than any gamer out there.
He wore a red flat cap that cast shadows on his forehead, making his irises burn brighter, and a butterfly-necked black shirt that was too big for his skinny body, over gray cargo pants with pockets inside which he kept his hands safely tucked, with God knows how many killing tools he had in there.
His mechanical smile sent a chill down my back.
"Hello, Lovelies" , he declared. "Welcome to Typhon's Technopath Smartphone Store, where Technology storms in and out!"
Just as he said it, we heard a familiar sound behind us.
That of a key turning inside a lock.