Long Way In [Finished]

[calendreahedgerow]

Calendrea closed the garage up for the night with a bit of pep in her step this night. She had been planning to go out and see that new band she had heard of all week long; Friday seemed like it would never get here but it did. She didn't care who stopped by with whatever kind of sob story, tonight she was going to cut loose.

Dressing in jeans and a t-shirt she just let her hair hang down natural. She wasn't one to wear makeup either not feeling like spending money of such nonsense. Locking up behind her she stepped into her Monte Carlo and headed out to the 'Long Way In'. The bar had been in business for several years and had a good crowd of people in it. Every few weeks they even had live bands and dancing and this is what was drawing her from the garage with such excitement. Within 15 minutes she was parking her car and heading for the bar. She had worked up a thirst that day and planned on enjoying herself tonight.

[calendreahedgerow]

Entering the bar she paid the cover charge and showed her id card to the bouncer. He let her pass without trouble and she looked around seeing how things were laid out. She could hear the band had already started their first set and she smiled liking what she as hearing from them so far. Metal bands were a dime a dozen but this one seemd to have some originality to them. The lead singer was Korean and played piano, the drummer had long black hair and was female? male? she couldn't tell from the door. The bass player was a bald man in shorts and supenders with high top tennis shoes. The lead guitar was a short redhaired woman in jeans and a white peasant shirt. Another guitarist looked to be a tall man in his forties with shoulder length brown hair. Everyone else in the band seemed to be in their 20s. They called themselves "Searching for Page 5 Girl" and the name made her laugh. It was a pun on the practice of the rag mag 'The Weekly World News' having a pin up girl on page five for every issue. Stepping into the main section of the bar she sat on a stool at one end of the bar and faced the band. Several people were on the dance floor looking as though they were having a good time. She saw some pool tables set up in another room and tables all around in various locations. A fireplace roared in the far corner around which several tall looking people were conversing. The bartended came and she ordered a Killean's Red Ale sipping it quietly while she listened to the band.

[Hideki Minami]

The air was thick with the smell of burning gasoline and the residue of tire. They were a pair of aromas that he had to struggle with throughout a long period of his life. The same scents were present no matter where he was. Tainted, unclean air was but one of the many unfortunate drawbacks to living in a city, though he imagined it must have been much more an annoyance to "his kind"; if only because of the fact that the senses of a lycan were far superior to any level that a human could have hoped for. His footsteps were drowned out by the roaring of the streetlife around him. His step was paced and controlled as his body swam its way into a good crowd of people. They stopped at another intersection, his eyes rolling up to meet with the flashing signal that seemed to taunt him with its message. This, he grit his teeth over. Had it been possible for him to have predicted that the invention of the automobile would henceforth hinder his right to walk, he would have torn the throat from its maker himself; his destination was only a moment ahead and he could already taste the nicotene and alcohol in the air.

He looked to the right. There stood a mother and her child- no, he couldn't be sure what they were to each other- but they appeared to have been somewhere in the middle of a typical "No, you can't have that," and "But mommy (or whatever), I want it" scenario. Something about a game or toy that he couldn't have cared any less for. The child, whether it knew it or not was expressing a need for greed; if you will. He knew of it all too well: it was the typical aspiration of the human race to endlessly strive for more, squeeze for more until they were finished with whatever or whoever it was they wanted, before setting their attention on to something else. Mortal history was, without a doubt as far as he was concerned, built on and around greed; and as he would openly admit, it disgusted him purely. He sniffed. The conversation had lost its charm, and he turned his attention back on the flashing signal, which had just then given the 'Okay' to walk.

Immediately the crowd began to stir. He had only the time to place one foot on the grimy roadway before the shrill shriek of a woman's rang into the night. To their right was an oncoming (and speeding) car: it was a beat up Lexus of some sort, though he didn't care for its name at the time. The driver had decided with his "best" sense of judgement, to break no less than twelve feet from the 'safe zone'. The old tires screeched to a halt about a foot over the line and the car dipped forward slightly before it recoiled, stopping just short of hitting his side and kicking up bits of debris; to which Hideki's response was an immediate open hand to the hood of the piece of shit. Ironically, that is exactly what the expression on the guy's face seemed to be suggesting; that he was startled to such a point that his bowels literally released. The lycan could only stare at the sweaty, quivering fuck-up seated inside the vehicle. If he had driven the speed limit he wouldn't have scared himself like he did; now he had to live with the shame of shitting himself in public, and with a brand new dent to his car. But, hey, that was a human for you. Minami turned his back on the open-mouthed people (they looked like giant finless fish) and continued to walk to his point of interest --

The Bar. He opened the door and flashed a small white pass: a flimsy paper card that was purchased ahead of time and covered at least a year's worth of entries. Now, was the price he paid worth it? No, probably not. But it saved him the time of digging through his wallet when he showed up. He was showing up more and more often these days anyway. The guy gave a nod and the humanoid passed him without a word as though he were nothing, which in his mind, was not far from the truth at all. The band didn't interest him in the slightest; nor did the people on the dance floor. No. He was there for the drink, and so he passed by the casual, blue-eyed woman in one easy stride and sat himself upon a small stool, seperating them by at least one other stool for cautionary reasons. The bartender came to serve. He was a new one; or as far as he could remember he had never seen him behind the counter before. "Good evening. What are you having?" the young tattooed man asked, in a tone that was a little more pleasant than what was expected. "Water on ice for now." That's right. There was no reason for him to rush into the alcohol; after all, the night was young, was it not? The lycan took his chilled, sweating glass in hand when served, sipped it once and simultaneously rested his elbows on the counter before finally making a thorough sweep of his surroundings. What struck him as peculiar was the same blue-eyed woman he had passed earlier, sitting so composed and sipping on her beverage beside him. Everybody else was dressed up with layers of "paint" on their face and their perfumes (one of which actually managed to make him sneeze at one point). His own vivid, blue eyes roamed over her for only a moment, before decidedly resting on his glass. Let the night begin.

[calendreahedgerow]

Sitting back and listening to the band, Calendrea sipped her beer and finally allowed herself to relax from the day's labor. Preparing the Ford Explorer's engine for pulling was about as far as she had cared to go in one day, despite the fee it would net her. Tomorrow would be time enough to wench it from the body of the vehicle and prepare to replace it with the new motor. In the meantime she would relax, listen to the band, and watch the crowd.

She had a curiosity inside her for people that often times refused to be sated. It would no doubt get her into trouble someday, or so her mother predicted. She let her eyes linger on the group of people conversing back by the fireplace. She marveled that they could seemingly ignore the rock band, the clack of balls smacking into one another arcing in from the pool table room, the conversations and laughter, even the waiters and waitresses that brought them drinks at preordained intervals, so intent were they upon their topic of discussion. She let her imagination run wild for a bit thinking perhaps they were crime lords meeting to discuss territory distribution. Grinning she turned her eyes to the dance floor.

She never did understand the custom of using dance as a mating ritual. She just wasn't the sort to go out on he floor and put the 'come hither' moves to some strange man from across the room. Still, she had to admit, from the looks of things, there were a few women here to night that were quite skilled in just that. It amused her. Whenever she danced, and this was only in private, it was an expression of emotion, not as a means to gain a mate. She turned her eyes back on the crowd and that's when she saw him enter the bar.

She watched him walk through also as if nothing was occuring within this bustling bar. Would he join those in front of the fire to decide the fate of the underworld? No, instead he came to the bar right next to her and took a seat. So, she mused, he was serious about his drink and zeroed in on the bar with an unerring sense of direction. Great!

She was pleasantly suprised though to hear him order ice water. She let her eyes rest upon him momentarily and nodded in greeting before turning back to the crowd. Perhaps tonight wouldn't be so bad after all. The last thing she had wanted to do was to spend her evening next to a drunk. Clearly she had misjudged him.

[Hideki Minami]

He placed the half-empty glass back onto the napkin that it was served with. His black hair hung loosely across his blue eyes, silky and with a bit of a naturally wild detail to it. 'Page 5' played in the background and the crowd of people around the place were dancing or talking, and others were there just for a simple drink. One man stood before the band headbanging; he was piss drunk and out of his mind. But for whatever reason, and even he was far from sure why, he was drawn to the maiden beside him: he felt his mellow gaze pass over her firm frame from time to time, unaware of, but not necessarily caring whether or not she noticed this. Again, he sniffed.

At the back of his mind he may have thought her to be a hunter; something about her eyes revealed that possibility to him. This thought died down, rather than being entirely dismissed, however; through the many various scents in the bar, some of them best left unmentioned, he could "pick up" the unmistakable scent of engine oil and grease. Rather than the casual smell that you could find around people every now and then, this scent clung to her body as though it were a part of her. Then it was at least safe to assume that she worked with vehicles; still, this didn't entirely exclude the possibility of her involvement with the hunter movement, but it made him feel just a little less on edge all the same. How many times had he crossed paths with a hunter that worked within the auto industry? Not once, until this point, as far as he understood.

He made a slight roll of his shoulders, relaxing his deception of a body to a degree before taking another sip of his water and then placing it back on the damp paper afterward. The dark haired man raised a hand to eye level, and with a fluid "hooking" motion of his index finger he beckoned the bartender to come closer. "What can I do for you?" the guy behind the counter asked above the music. "I'll have a mojito with extra mint, and if you can--" he spoke as low as possible at this point "--could you top her drink off for me?" He stressed who he meant by facing the direction of the blonde female with an upward nod of his head and the barkeep simply nodded before carrying on with the order. Soon enough, he had a beautiful lime mojito sitting on a fresh white napkin before him, and she had another beer on her side. The lycan raised the frosty glass to his lips, immediately catching a wiff of the fresh mint, and he sipped a good amount; allowing the cold, burning liquid to run down his wet throat without so much as a wince. The idiot in front of the band finally toppled over, passed out and was subsequently placed into a chair at a table by two other men. Of course.

[calendreahedgerow]

She shook her head to see the bouncers carrying the passed out drunk to a chair. At least they didn't just pitch him out the door. That sort of dispationate response to humanity, despite its deplorable nature, was something she found to be intollerable. Her face momentarily registered her conern for the stranger before turning to watch the men at the fire. Despite where she placed her focus, her body always swayed gently to the beat of the music fluidly shifting from position to position.

The men were still just as deeply in conversation as ever though a short balding man in blue jeans, unlike his suited companions, had joined them since last she looked. She imagined that he would be a snitch come to rat out...Startled by the sudden appearance of the bartender she turned to face him. "Miss..." he spoke in a clear tone to be heard over the music though soft enough she had to lean in a bit to catch all his words. "...the gentleman sends you a refill." He stood there with one Killean held out for her to take. Surprised, she looked to the man next to her who was sipping a frosted drink of some sort. Nodding her head to him in thanks, she took the beer and set it on the bar. She hadn't even finished her first one and wasn't used to men buying her drinks.

Sure that there was some sort of ettiquette involved, but unaware what that might be she said to him, "Thank you for the beer..." her face held questions which she would not voice. But her eyes took in his impassive expression and his dark looks. She drank from the bottle waving away the frosted glass the bartender offered. Looking to his eyes she was startled to see their intense shade of blue which was discernable even in this light. She supposed she should at least offer him her name and a bit of conversation. "My name is Calendrea..."

[Hideki Minami]

That they did not simply toss him out was a little astonishing. It wouldn't have been the first time for the lycan as a witness to such an act. But, far be it from him to concern himself with their welfare; he didn't have the patience nor the will to motivate himself to put a halt to their antics and aside from that, the moron did it to himself. Men cast other men along with their families into the streets, when they could not afford to pay a couple of green strips of paper to secure their residency; mothers were beaten as their children watched, simply because their unsuccessful father couldn't take his hand off the 'bottle' and keep it in his pocket when things went sour. It was a harsh, unforgiving world out there and those situations appeared day in and day out around the planet. Calendrea wasn't Superman; if he had known that she cared so much for the well-being of the drunken joker, he would have told her the same.

Her tender voice piqued his attention, his eyes rotating to meet with hers as she thanked him for his gesture. He deftly waved the hand farthest from her, acknowledging her considerate (though naive) sense of judgement. Again, he brought his hand to his glass, which was then brought to his mouth and tipped to release the chilled liquid past his open lips and into his ruby mouth: again he swallowed the burning substance. Her next sentence stopped his hand, but only for a second before he swiftly placed the glass back onto the hard countertop, fitting it within the moist ring that it had since left on the serving napkin. "Calendrea..?" he mused, voice dripping with a deep and sultry tone. A beautiful name, he'd confess to that. "You can call me Hide, Calendrea."

It was pronounced 'Hee-deh'. The last word- her name, rather- had been inflected with a hint of what she probably would have thought was sarcasm, when it was in fact just an inflection of curiosity. He sighed on the inside. Here he had been studying the human race, for decade upon decade, and yet he still found himself slipping in tone here and there. Perhaps she wouldn't notice? Either way, he still knew that he had made a mistake. "I didn't startle you... Did I?" His vivid eyes focused entirely on her rhythmic body as he spoke, his head rotating to face her with a smooth sway of his raven-black hair. If there was any sign of hesitation or uncertainty on her part, he hadn't notice it; the bar was beginning to flush with people by now and he had to divide his attention equally, lest he be caught entirely off his guard. That wouldn't be good at all.

[calendreahedgerow]

"Hee-deh" She tried his name on for size and smiled brightly for the first time. It was a name she had never heard before and she imagined that he would have had quite a time over it during his life. People always were on her for her name. The inflection in his voice when he said her name was sometihng she was always sensitive to. She didn't have a good solid name from the bible after all, not like most of the people in the country from back home. She explained with a laugh;"My parents were hippies and my mother raised herbs and such for medicinal purposes. Calendula is a flower she was taken with and they mutated it into Calendrea."

When she spoke she did so with a faint accent from the hills. it wasn't a thick southern accent by no means, or a low drawl like from Texas, but instead a rough mixutre of Irish and hillbilly vowel sounds. It wasn't twangy and unpleasant to listen to either. She looked at him ,and his intensely blue eyes, caught for a moment by some sort of paralysis. She pulled herself together and said quickly with all too much honesty, "You did startle me, to be truthful..." She let her eyes drop to the floor for a moment. "...it is unusual and unexpected ..." For some reason she suddenly felt extremely silly. It was not like her to be so effected by strangers. She had been approached in bars before in just such a manner...the buying of drinks for women was as old as the hills from which she came.

Smiling she gathered herself once more, the fleeting nervousness stilled within. "But I feel compelled to return the favor, if I may. Allow me to buy your next?" It was not in her to be owing anyone anything. Not only that but it was a common and distrasteful thing he had done. For her, women who hussled drinks were beneath contempt. She usually didn't accept the offer of a drink from a strange man. Something inside her screamed 'then why did you this time?' Unfortunately she had no answers. She only knew this man was different than the rest of the crowd, and as a people watcher, she found him to be intriguing.

[Hideki Minami]

The thinnest creep of a smile spread across his face. Much like her, it was the first in a long time. He let his hand stray from the glass, resting it on the flat cool surface of the clean counter. He had ripped his name from a scholar he had worked with back in Japan. When you translated 'Hideki' to English it meant "Excellent Trees", which he had not officially adopted until the scholar passed on due to natural causes.

So he had startled her. "My apologies," he said to her, moderately deep and laced with a certain sultry tone as he had come to do throughout his life; but unlike the majority of his life he actually meant it this time. She was sincere and he was taken slightly aback; her personality seemed to wash away the disgust that he generally felt toward her race and he thought that he felt for the first time in a very long time, a feeling, a sense of happiness? or was it merely satisfaction? He couldn't be sure, but he felt comfortable in assuming the latter. That was one thing about himself that he couldn't quite understand: how he could interest himself so much with the human mentality, and at the same time neglect the fact that he did not thoroughly understand his own.

Her accent perked him up: she hadn't spoken enough earlier for him to have caught it, or maybe he was just ignorant (likely), but it was in the open now. If he had any mind to think it, he probably would have thought it was cute; this was not the case, however. The term 'cute' had never really registered with him and it was almost never used unless he was relating a sarcastic remark. There was very little room for the whimsical side of mortal language within his comfort level. Nevertheless, he enjoyed her tone. "Well you're very kind, -- but I think I'll stick to water after this." Strike two. He tried to sound sincere but his voice split up as he formed the sentence, which to him made him sound as though he were thinking of an excuse. In actuality, he had already had an Irish coffee before he arrived and he wasn't looking to be piss drunk like the headbanger, who was at the time moaning at the table and periodically making some unnecessarily loud comments; it was a wonder why they hadn't sent him home already.

It was just after one such comment that the lycan turned his head to scope the room: there appeared to be a heated conversation shaping up by the fireplace and a short, bald man was at the center of it all. His lips parted at what he saw. One of the men had a 9mmL pistol concealed beneath his Armani suit. It was fastened in its holster to his leather belt; he made the mistake of spreading his arms while he spoke on the offensive end of the verbal battle, which had left it exposed for a good three seconds. It seemed like one other person saw it -- she settled her tab and made a bolt. Again, his hair swayed as he turned to face Calendrea. "It's not safe here," he told her, swift and to the point. Even the barkeep was alarmed at the increasing volume coming from the eight men, and the waitresses would stop here and there to see what was going on.

[calendreahedgerow]

As she spoke to him her equalibrium reasserted itself. She really wasn't the nervouse sort and felt at ease most places she went. Her facial expression relaxed into one of honest interest, not in a lude or flirty manner, but rather for the words he spoke, the movement of his body, and the intensity of his gaze. But it was his voice that captured her attention, the inflection of his words, and the way he modulated his pitch that all together created a most pleasing listening experience. She remembered from school how some teachers would put you to sleep despite how interested you were in the matierial being presented while others could make roll call sound like the most intriguing cliff hanger on the best sellers list, all depending on how they used their voice. His was of the latter variety.

She raised her eyebrows slightly at his refusal to let her buy him a drink but was not offended. Often she did not drink when she went out but rather endulged her hobby of watching people in their natural habitats. The laundry mat was another good place to observe others but she hated with a passsion going into the large chain stores. It seemed the worst of humanity was gathered in their aisles, rudely brushing past or blocking your way, abusing their children, and treating the sales clerks as their own personal whipping boys. As a rule she only shopped downtown refusing to patronize the chains.

"That's quite alright...I will leave you to your..." The loud voices coming from the fireplace caused her to leave off with her plans to exit his presence gracefully as she turned her eyes away from him to see the man guesturing wildly. She too caught the sight of the gun so when Hide said that it was not safe there she made no objections whatsoever. She dug into her jeans pocket and threw a five on the counter. "So I see...guess that's a wrap then." She headed for the door slipping through the crowd effortlessly. She had seen enough bar fighting to last a life time and drunks with guns. She wasn't about to linger.

[Hideki Minami]

Hideki watched her with a cool stare as she threw her money on the counter and stood off her stool. "W-wait," he called to her standing to his feet. If he could help it, he wasn't going to let her go that easy. He had to ask himself if he had been starved of communication so long that he could not simply let the woman go. Regular instances would have seen him walking away, not bothering to take a second glance. Not this time. She was different from the others, that much he knew; she had such a "clean" feel about her. What was it...? He wouldn't find out if she disappeared into the night.

He followed her through the crowd, swimming through the sea of people as quickly as his discretion would allow as she continued to slip away from him foot by foot, the bartender shouting behind him for something about his tab that he really didn't care about in the slightest; he'd pay it later if he ever came back. The noise by the fireplace was getting louder and louder, and the pianist of the band stopped playing the song which led to a chain reaction of the rest of the band stopping and staring with pissed off expressions hanging on their faces. Naturally, everybody else began to stare and all that was heard were the deep, accented voices of the strange tall men.

Finally he caught up to her at the door, and just as his lips parted for words a shot echoed throughout the room and the bald man was left screaming on the floor, grasping his foot before another member of the gang shot him in the temple. It was a cluster fuck, to say the least; people began to scream as crimson fluid splattered onto their newest party clothes and soon enough there was what could only be described as a stampede of people charging for the door. "Shit...!" he exclaimed, reaching for her hand to pull her through the door and out of the way. As he did this he could hear the bartender scream and the sound of a shotgun go off; his guess was that he was trying to make a valiant retaliation. If she let him take her, he would run to a nearby cafe that he frequented often; if only to make sure she was safe, before making a hasty retreat. With any luck, he would see her again in the future; but truth be told, he would be keeping an eye on her either way.

The gunfire would continue for a time before the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance.

[calendreahedgerow]

She jolted noticeably at the sounds of the first shot thinking she was a good two hours late for leaving here this night. Turning back to the room ,despite her instinct to flee, she heard Hide's exclaimation an instant before he gripped her handand pulled her from the bar. Too quick for suprise to kick in and object to his actions, for they coincided with her own, she followed close upon his heels into the restless night. The screams from the bar echoed out into the street chasing her with visions of the bloodbath taunting her imagination.

Content for the moment to be lead by him out into the street and away from the mayhem of the once delightful little bar, she tried to get her nerves under control. It infuriated her to no end that people went around with guns anyway. That was just what happened from it too! She focused on the now though and pushed the gun batle inthe back of her mind.

Who was this man anyway? What had made him, of all the people in the bar, feel the need to look after her safety? She saw him pause in front of a little cafe with a neon sing over top that had some of he lettering going dim. She registered that it was supposed to read 'Travelers' but the leading 't' was flickering on and off making it periodically read 'Ravelers'. It was appropo of her state tonight...she was raveling at the edges of reality and pulled against his wrist with her other hand. "Hide..." she breathed his name like a prayer. "Please...wait..." She put her feet together wishing to force their hault. She turned her head back to the bar...

Other patrons were spilling out into the street and she thought she saw a man, one of those who were at the fire walk calmly out the front door. Yes, it was one of the 'mobsters' and as she watched him, some second sense caused him to raise his head and meet her yes with his own. She reflexsively backed up into Hide keeping hold of the wrist of the hand that gripped her own.

[Hideki Minami]

Her warm hand tugged at his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. He stared at her a moment, a clear "What do you think you're doing?" expression held firmly across his face as he searched her own to find the answer. She backed into him and the man inched closer; Hide had only to face the direction she was looking to realize that they had just officially been recognized by the mob. "Go inside, and wait there," he said calmly, releasing his hand from hers and removing her hand from his wrist in order to step infront of her.

The gangbanger removed a cigarette from a flimsy package that he pulled from the inside of his coat pocket and subsequently lit it with a chrome-encased lighter, which shone its pale light onto his face; his expression was oddly serene for a man who had just been an accomplice to murder no less than two minutes earlier. "You picked the wrong night to come out, people." The man reached into his pocket but froze almost immediately after -- Hideki was already behind him, his eyes burning with an intense crimson hue, and a single one of his hands clasping firmly to his arm. "Hey, what are yo--aagh?!!" he started, but was cut off as he felt the bones in his arm being crushed under a tremendous amount of pressure, before he was dragged into the narrow alley beside the bar and out of the view of the public.

"Gyaaagh--!?!" the piercing scream rang into the night once more, but never more, for his throat had been crushed and his spine thus snapped by the lycanthrope's own two hands. Hide held the man by his throat, and feeling his life begin to fade he had to restrain himself from tearing the worthless body to shreds; he wasn't in a position to make a mess out of himself during the ruthless process. His eyes reverted to their original blue hue, and just as that happened he heard the emergency exit in the back of the bar burst open and he could hear three-- no, four-- men running out into the cold embrace of the night. Why this guy didn't use the back door with them was puzzling to say the least. No matter -- he had taken one more piece of scum off the face of the planet.

Hideki straightened out his clothes and went back to the cafe. Whatever had happened inside the bar or with the criminals in the back was beyond him. The most he understood was that four of them were dead and four yet remained, though he doubted that they would have made it very far with the police on their way. For a moment he considered to check on the bartender, but as he passed by the corner of the building (and thus near the entrace to the bar) he couldn't hear even the faintest sound of any living thing left inside; the most he could have heard was the trickling of alcohol or water and some other fluid running down to the floor. Poor fellow. Maybe he ran out with the crowd at some point? Anyway, he had to find Calendrea.

[calendreahedgerow]

She couldn't have said why if he thought about it for a thousand years, but she actually did what this man told her to do only hesitating briefly before turning to go inside the cafe. The ringing of the little bell with its cheery tone as she opened the door seemed sureal and jarringly out of place. Some of the patron in the cafe who had heard the gun fire looked up but went back to their meals acting as if gunfire were a daily part of their lives. The expression of disbelief that crossed her face was only belaid by the disgust in her heart for their indifference to the suffering around her.

She didn't even bother to find a seat but stood at the glass door looking out at the street shocked to see that Hide was already gone. Worry crossed her face; what could have happened to him? She saw the mobster light a cigarette but then the waitress of the diner called to her in a nasal tone of voice. "Are you comin' or are ya goin' deary?" Calendrea turned from the street to look at her with impatience opening her mouth to speak but no wrods would come.

Looking back to the street the mobster was gone and she couldn't see another soul around. Sighing in frustration she said, "I'll be staying. Cup of Joe, black." Walking to a booth that faced the street she sat with the coffee never touching it more than to warm her hands as she kept watch over the night.

[Hideki Minami]

His hand reached out for the door, but froze, his fingers just barely touching the cold metal of the door handle. In the near distance he could hear the sound of vehicles approaching; the hordes of ambulances, patrol cars. It only occurred to him then that he may have appeared suspicious, considering that he was in fact wearing an unsettling black attire and naturally had that "That's right, I'm up to no good" vibe. True, they wouldn't have had any evidence. But it was well known that evidence could be fabricated, if only to ease the freightened minds of the public and calm their suspicions; he wasn't going to be party to that.

At any minute they would be on his heels. Hideki recoiled from his light grasp on the door, taking a step back into the cold, open pavement of the grimy sidewalk. There she was. He could see her through the window, her beautiful golden hair still shining in the dim light of the less than cozy cafe, and the frustration on her face apparent; and he snickered, which was a very first for him. He stepped forward again.

"No. Don't do this to yourself." his conscience warned him. The feelings that she made him experience were confusing in the least. On one hand, he didn't want to be forced to relive the early years of his life; there was too much regret on his mind from that alone. On the other hand, he was able to protect her; something that he had failed to do all those years ago. A sigh escaped his lips. He didn't want to bring her any more trouble than she had already been through; people around him seemed to... pass on... far too often. It would be best if she forgot he even existed, and then vice-versa.

Rather than walk into the cafe, he turned and walked back to the alley, the lights and sirens just then beginning to round the corner. When the police had exited their vehicles and checked the alley he was already gone. Somewhere in the night of the city he kept walking, not once looking back.

After all, she was only a human.