Across the other side of the loft, Suga was lying down on his bed with his hands behind his head, eyes staring at the ceiling, while a memory from waaaay back ago was playing in his head like a movie.
"Any news?"
Nanami's eyes were focused on some contracts on her desk, smoke was lingering in the room from a forgotten cigarette on the ashtray. Heavy rain was crushing on the windows, making the day dark as night and filling the room with the echo.
Suga was standing in front of her desk with his hands in his pockets, his ash blonde hair soaking wet, and his leather jacket dripping on the white tiles.
"A few guys followed her..." He gave his report to the woman.
"How many?" She said without taking her eyes from the contracts, moving a pen along the line she was reading.
"Four. They knew her route from work to home and waited in a dark alley behind Gamla Stan."
"And the result?" She asked while signing at the right bottom of a contract, the pen making a scratching sound on the paper.
"A few broken ribs, internal bleeding, sprains, and multiple bruises. Didn't make it through the night..."
He continued with the same tone, as now Nanami immediately left the pen down and raised her eyes to him.
"Not hers." He smirked, and the woman smiled proudly.
"Is that all?" She reached for the pen again and turned a page to read the next contract.
"I wanted to ask... For how long will this keep going." He said reluctantly, burying his hands deeper in his pockets.
"None of your business."
She replied, taking a puff from the forgotten cigarette. Then she left down both pen and cigarette and took a long sigh with her fingers on her temples, closing her eyes.
"Go on. Tell me what's on your mind." She slowly opened her eyes to meet with Suga's, with a commanding stare, even though she actually cared about his thoughts.
"It's not fair for her."
He narrowed his eyes on the floor with respect, with combat inside him that he might say too much, but also wanting to express his opinion. "She thinks she chose to be this way, yet she has been manipulated into it. "
"Training is for her own good, and for everyone else's here sake. She will have to be strong and tough to face this world when the time comes. Not everyone hates their heritage, the way you do, Suga. And after all, if she doesn't like it, no one is forcing her into it... Even though I doubt that she doesn't enjoy it." A smirk was formed on Nanami's face.
Suga was standing still, his eyes still on the floor, while forcefully biting his inner cheek.
Nanami then stood and crossed her arms in front of her.
"Why do you care anyway?"
She looked at him with a playful smirk, indicating that his interest might have gotten out of hand.
"It's just a job for you, Suga."
She leaned to half-sit on her desk, lighting a new cigarette.
"And by the way..." She narrowed her eyes while taking a long drag from the cigarette, "you also are not forced to be here. You can go back anytime you want."
Then she sat back on her desk to continue what she was doing as Suga opened the door to leave.
His report was over.
Nanami smirked alone in the empty now room, knowing two things.
One, her plan was working.
And two, Suga had noticed that she was transferring all her properties and belongings to Rei's name.
Now, he was smiling to himself, still wandering his eyes on the ceiling, thinking how stupid he was.
"Bitch had everything planned all along."
He murmured, words filled half with admiration and half with contempt for the master manipulator that was no longer with them. But the truth was behind her words.
No one was forced to play along, only those who wanted.
He smirked, succumbing to the challenge in front of him all along, still unsure how this was going to unravel since he wanted to play but not to lose.
Defeat meant admitting. And his sole purpose was to make Rain admit first.
He got up to start his plan, ignoring that playing along meant he had already caved in.
Rain's ball posture got tense and broke, the second Suga entered the room without knocking. He looked at her with his indifferent eyes, even though his mind was into some kind of ecstasy from determination and anticipation.
But that wasn't what caught Rain's attention.
He was standing there tall, in front of the closed door, and shirtless. With his jeans hanging low, revealing the top of some black boxers and his pelvic bones, making her did something she had never done before.
She looked away.
She felt her cheeks flushing, questioning herself why her heart was suddenly beating again at that annoying, alert pace.
She had seen many guys without shirts, or anything for that matter since she worked at a tattoo shop. The human body was not a taboo to her. Male or female.
Suga noticed her humble reaction, which was a rare thing to come from her, and containing his smirking with all his strength, he apathetically directed to her.
"Get dressed. We are going out."
And he turned to leave the room, but Rain's response kept him.
"I am dressed."
Life has suddenly returned into her body, while vigorously raised eyebrows accompanied the smirk on her mouth corners.
"You, on the other hand..."
She looked at him from top to bottom, reminding him that she would not be considered pray. Only predator. That was all she needed to make her ready to play the game again—just a reminder.
"Be ready in 5 and take a jacket."
And he closed the door behind him, without giving a sign that he noticed the new tattoo she had.
"Ready to lose, Suga?" She grinned with pride, knowing that her mind and instincts will not let her down in the end.
"I thought I told you to take a jacket."
He mentioned apathetically as they were walking beside the black cars in the parking.
"Are you kidding me? It's literally a hundred degrees outside." She rolled her eyes.
"Fine." He said, and they stopped. "But I won't give you mine." He smirked arrogantly as he was holding a black helmet for Rain to take.
She looked beside him.
They had stopped next to a black street motorbike.
Her heart had stopped, as well. There was a Japanese logo on the front of it. A fucking Hayabusa. The second fastest bike on the planet. And she knew it because she had ridden one once before.
Did he know that she loved motorcycles? They just have that undefinable sense of excitement she wanted and begged for.
The faster they got, the more they made her heart pound.
This came with a realization.
The fastest they got, the tighter you have to hold on to the driver.
She hopped on, after him, with ease like sitting on a chair, grateful for one thing.
With the helmet, he wouldn't be able to see how hard she was smiling. Maybe for the first time since... ever, she could let go. Just be.
When it is dark out on the open highway, there are speeds that you can see, only lights rapidly passing next to you, making you feel that you are going with the speed of light. That you are a falling star. Those are the kind of lights that Rain loved, and yes, it was because of motorbikes. That mean was the way to spark this feeling. This amazing feeling that this time was mixed.
She felt fascinated but also nervous and angry at the same time cause this little bitch didn't give her a choice but to hold on to him tight like literally, her life depended on it.
She was distracting herself from time to time with the beautiful scenery of the starry sky and city lights, only to have her attention brought back to presence, from the hard curves of his abs under her strong grip, which she did not have the option to let go.
Then her eyes wandered to his exposed neck, revealing his gang tattoo and bringing the scent of his skin from time to time depending on the wind.
This was it. All she wanted from the second she laid eyes on him.
All her plots were specifically made to get rid of the rotation the others have made to guard her until she reached him, and finally, as he had promised days ago, spend the day with her.
She knew she didn't even ask where they were going, but she didn't forget.
She just didn't care.
A/N:1
Why is this story ranking?
Who are you all that you are secretly reading it?
How did it get 200 more views only yesterday?
I want to see your comments!
Thank you all for your time and support! You have no idea how much this means to me! <3
A/N:2
Also, if you made it this far into the story, congrats. I probably owe you eye surgery after the distress I put your eyes into from all the misspellings and errors.
Second also, thank you for your patience, thank you for putting up with me till I found a voice and got better at writing, cause seriously, I cringe every time I reread the first ten chapters.
For me, from this point and after is the point where the story gets good.
chapter mood: