Oh, shoot... I needed to get over to Shinra's. Due to a mass amount of homework during the week, I hadn't had the time to get over to his house. I'd promised Mom and Dad over text that I'd go over today. I threw on some of my dance sweatpants, quickly made some tea, and jogged out through the city. It was slightly foggy and extremely quiet at the early hour in the morning. Sort of eerie...
Well, it was quiet, until I heard the faint sound of both a motor revving and horse whinnying. I grinned to myself and waited for Celty to come around.
When she did, I waved her down and she pulled over. Celty slipped her phone out of her sleeve and quickly typed something.
Hey there. Want a ride?
"Yeah, that'd be great."
I hopped on the back of the motorcycle, she formed a black helmet around my head, and I held on to her for dear life as she took off again.
So, how's everything? I haven't seen you in a while.
"Eh..." I leaned into her, sighing. "It's okay, I guess. I'm a little worried... I keep seeing more and more people in yellow..."
You know, worrying's not going to get you anywhere.
"I know, I know... Anyway, how's everything with you and Shinra?"
Celty tensed, and I'd known her long enough to be able to read her body language; she was embarrassed about something.
"Ooh, what happened?" I teased.
I'll... let Shinra tell you about it.
"Heh, okay."
Hey, actually... there is something you should probably know before we get there.
"...Yeah...?"
Your Uncle-
I didn't read the rest. I just saw that and groaned loudly. "God, no! Why is he back in Tokyo?"
Celty shrugged, clearly a bit irritated. Well, he's back.
"Friggin wonderful. I'm so sorry you have to deal with him, Celty..."
Again, she shrugged.
. . .
Rika has joined the chat room.
R: Hey guys!
R: How is everybody?
R: Oh, I'm all alone... :(
Kanra has joined the chat room.
K: Hello Rika!
K: Rather empty today, isn't it?
K: How are you?
R: I'm doing pretty well. Yes, it is, kinda weird...
Taro Tanaka has joined the chat room.
T: Looks like I'm a little late to the party, huh?
R: Just a bit. Welcome anyway!
Saika has joined the chat room.
S: Love
S: Mom
S: Why is love
S: mom
S: Love
S: Love love love
S: Love Shizuo
S: Love love Shizuo love love
T: Wait, like... Shizuo Heiwajima?
S: Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo
S: Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima
Saika has left the chat room.
R: Well, that was terrifying.
K: What the heck was that about?
R: I should get some sleep, goodnight everybody!
Rika has left the chat room.
I pushed back from the computer with a sigh. "We really need to figure out how to block that darn troll..."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"What the-" I scrambled to pick up my phone and answer it. "Yeah, hello?"
"Aida!" It was Masaomi, and he sounded like he was running or something. "Hospital... you've... got to come...!"
"What?!" I had my phone pinched between my ear and shoulder as I grabbed my shoes and coat. "Why?"
"Anri... Slasher... just come, okay?"
"I'm coming out the door right now, be there in ten." With that, I ran out the door and sprinted as fast I could down to the Raira hospital.
I came to a halt right outside the main doors, where both Mikado and Masaomi were waiting.
"What... in the hell..." I panted, leaning against a tree and trying not to wheeze. "Happened to Anri?"
"It sounds like Anri witnessed a Slasher attack," Mikado told me. "Those three girls who were bullying her got hurt pretty badly..."
"Yeah, but... I-is Anri okay...?"
"That's why she's here, they're making sure." Masaomi answered.
"Oh, god..." I groaned, putting my head in my hands.
At that moment, Anri walked out of the giant double doors, and the three of us ran up to her.
"Anri, you're not hurt, are you?" Mikado asked worriedly.
She shook her head. "No, I'm fine." Fine, maybe, but definitely spooked.
"Did you see the Slasher, or what they looked like?" I asked.
"Not really..."
Masaomi looked around. "It's pretty late... we should walk you home." He'd dropped the playboy facade for now, and actually looked serious for once.
"N-No, you don't have to bother yourself, I'm fine..."
"But it's dangerous out!" Mikado protested.
I observed Anri for a moment. As much as I'd never really seen her as any sort of fighter, for some reason, when she said she'd be fine... I believed her.
"Well... if you're sure..." I said slowly.
Masaomi turned to me. "You can't be serious."
In turn, I raised my eyebrow. "I am. I still think we should walk you to your neighborhood though."
Anri paused, then nodded slightly. "Okay. Thank you."
So, we did. We walked her all the way back to her neighborhood, and after Masaomi and Mikado double, heck, triple-checked that she'd be alright on her own, the three of us walked Mikado back to his little apartment. Then, Masaomi walked me home.
"You know," I said after a while, looking at his hair closely. "I think the dye is starting to wash out again."
"Aw, seriously? Guess I'll have to go get more."
"You could just let it go back to brunette."
"Nah, the blonde's grown on me."
"Heh. Why did you even decide to go that far and go blonde anyway?" The first time I'd seen him with his hair dyed, I'd been pretty surprised, and had found it a little funny. No one would hopefully ever know how hot I'd found it, though.
"Well, you said that blondes were your type, so here we are!"
"You know I was joking, right?"
"Like I said, it grew on me."
"Well, I guess we can say that you fit the dumb blonde stereotype now~!"
"You wound me!" Masaomi put a hand to his heart dramatically. "Fair lady, why would you hurt me in such a way?"
I giggled. "You should join drama club, if this is how you're gonna act."
"I'll join if you join! That way I can be the dashing prince and you can be my damsel in distress."
"Yeesh, if you're my prince, maybe I don't wanna be saved. Speaking of hair dying though, I was thinking about going purple, thoughts?"
"Eh, I don't really care. You'll look smokin' hot no matter what crazy thing you do to your hair."
"Heh, thanks."
We both fell into a comfortable silence, but in the silence I started noticing what was around us; an increasing amount of people with a yellow scarf around their necks or arms.
"There's more of them out," Masaomi suddenly muttered next to me.
"Huh?"
"Yellow Scarves wannabes." He paused for a second, as though considering whether or not to tell me something. "Some of the older guys came to me a few days ago, asked me to join again." He paused again. "I told them that I wasn't going back to that."
I gave an internal sigh of relief. "That's good."
We walked on in silence for another few minutes, before Masaomi started talking again.
"Do you remember the night that you yelled at me?"
"O-Oh, that...?" I blushed in embarrassment. "I-I'm still really sorry about that..."
"Don't be." It took me a few seconds to realize he'd stopped walking, so I turned to him. He was looking at me seriously. "It was one of the things that made me realize what an idiot I was being. And now that I know, I'm not going to be like that anymore. I don't want Mikado to end up seeing that dark side, and... I don't want you to see it anymore, either."
No, stop...! You'll just end up making me fall for you harder, dummy...
"I appreciate that, Masaomi." I told him, smiling slightly. Hopefully it was dark enough that he couldn't see how pink my cheeks were.
To be perfectly honest, while I would've been unhappy-actually, extremely angry-to find out that Masaomi was considering joining the scarves again, it wouldn't have entirely surprised me; the guy was sweet, yes, but his will when it came to certain things was a bit weak. If anything happened to anyone around him, he might dive in headlong just to help out.
"Well... looks like I'm home. Do you want to do anything tomorrow?"
He shrugged. "I'll think about it. See you, Aida."
"Alright."
Is this just always going to be my life? I wondered as I let myself into the house. Worrying about Masaomi Kida because he's an idiot?