6/21/2003
02:07
AM
Logfile
from Chase.
The
East River Docks
The
farther east you go in this part of New York City, the darker it seems to get.
Shadows cast by the Brooklyn Bridge and the raised parkway, the F.D.R. Drive,
seem to keep this area in constant shade and perpetual semi-darkness. The air
is somewhat cooler here as well, nearer to the waterfront. Apart from the South
Street Seaport, which is located slightly north of this location, the area is
mostly deserted by the tourist trade. Only hardened New Yorkers come here - the
ones that can fend for themselves.
Dirt
and grime are the keywords as they blanket every dark corner. The smell of fish
permeates the air as a number of old werehouses, each probably garnering at
least ten different building code violations, line the shores of the river.
With so many places to hide and lurk, the dredges of New York consider this a
haven.
Sayuri
is here.
Obvious
exits:
Bowery
St. (WE) The Mended Drum Abandoned Warehouse
Loitering
teens in a bad part of town at night -and enjoying every moment of it. Chase is
leaned back casually against the wall of one of the many warehouses in the
area, toe scuffing at a crack in the walk. He flickers a glance over to Say
before looking back down the street at a pair of men leaned into a car as a
'deal' is apparently being made. "Busy," he comments. "You know,
next time we go out, it is going to be hell for me to figure out a way to beat
this. Always liked the whole... vigilante thing."
Gotta
love their game of one-upmanship.
Sayuri's situated in front of Chase as he leans against the wall,
giggling every now and then as she casually studies the deal going down out of
the corner of her eyes. "Hai,
we'll have our choice tonight, ne Tomi-chan?" And then she grins evilly, turning her attention from the quick
exchange of death for money, and tweaks the seishi's nose. "I'm sure you'll think of something,
lover. You always do." She pauses, pondering something, "You
know, I've suggested two dates so far.
You're behind. You'd better
think of something good, or I may have to go look for my fun somewhere
else." As the deal finishes and
the dealer starts walking away, Say pushes away from the Genbu, following the
man at a discrete distance.
Despite
the time of year, the buyer is wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled
up, casting massive shadows over his face and hiding the identifying item - the
eyepatch. He slowly places the little plastic bag inside the sweatshirt's front
pouch as the dealer walks away, and uses the noise of plastic crinkling to
cover another noise; the sound of a gun being drawn. The cop behind him, the
dealer doesn't realize what's going on until- "FREEZE!" Oh yes, it is
the voice Chase should fear above all others, at its most commanding and
authoritative. It doesn't help things that another undercover cop, dressed in
worn clothes, jumps out from another alley, trapping the would-be muggers and
the dealer between the ones with the badges. And there's another cop coming
from across the street, apparently finished acting the part of a homeless
person. Oh, joy. "NYPD! You are under arrest!"
"Yeah,
and you owe me a dare still, if we're counting and all," Chase is quick to
chime in, giving her a knowing glance. And as soon as she starts walking away,
the boy is rolling his eyes at the 'look somewhere else' comment. The girl says
it all the time. Yes, Say is beginning to become quite predictable in some
ways, but he'd never tell her that -or risk life and limb. As she starts moving
away and he starts following after, hand slipping behind his back to finger the
handgun back there, he finally begins to take notice of that little familiar
tingle at the back of his neck. Finally. Gets so used to it all the time, that
he hardly notices anymore. But here... "Wait..." he murmurs, hand
slipping out as if to try to still Sayuri, "Say, we'd better..." Ack!
Cops! Lots of cops... and worse yet, aniki. "Oh shit."
"Who's
counting," is Sayuri's negligant response as she pushes up off the
wall. "Certainly not
me." And no, he'd better not call
her predictable or she may indeed have to do something to prove that she's
anything but. And Chase probably
wouldn't like what she'd come up with, not at all. She prowls silently after the drug dealer, but there's something
about the buyer that has her on edge.
She's slowing to a stop when Chase stills her with his hand, mere
seconds before the "NYPD" is shouted out. Oh shit is right. She
leans back into the seishi, trying to make the best of the situation. Nothing to see here, just a couple of kids
out for a stoll. In the middle of the
dodgiest area in the city. "Keep
your cool, Tomi-chan." Little does
she realize that the Genbu has a close and personal relationship with one of
the officers.
When
has a drug dealer ever been known to stand still? The guy in the trench coat
immediately takes off, but is brought down by a running tackle by the homeless
cop before he gets ten feet. As he rwrestles to get the guy in handcuffs, the
second cop, gun trained on the dealer, approaches and begins the familiar
litany. "You are under arrest for drug trafficking and resisting arrest.
You have the right to remain silent. If you give up..." And so on and so
forth, through all the Miranda rights as the handcuffs finally go on. Brice is
left to approach the two, but before he gets two steps he has them identified.
"Oh shit," he breathes, unconsciously like Chase. He's got a sinking
suspicion about what they were up to 'round here as well. "Rogers, I've
got these two!" One of the other policeman yells an affirmative back, and
Brice heads right for the would-be delinquent teens, pushing back his hood to
let his hair loose and sticking the gun (once the safety's on again) in the
sweatshirt pocket. "All right, what in all the hells are you two doing
here?" Not pleased, but not exploding yet. Impatient is the word. Also
direct and to the point. If you watch your step Chase, you may just get away.
Chase
was perched upon the balls of his feet, ready to grab Say by the elbow and
sprint the other way. Quickly. Very quickly. His hand is already tightening
upon her elbow, head ducking forward to
try to hide his face as he mutters to the girl. "Say /nothing/."
Notice that gulp at his throat. He finally lifts his head and greats Brice with
a broad grin, both hands drawing to the sides. "Yeah fancy seeing you
here, Brice... I was wondering when you were going to get those guys. Nice to
see you finally at work." Smile. Beaming smile.
One,
Sayuri never does what she's told. Two,
Brice is at /work/?! "Oh good
God," she mutters, casting an accusatory glare towards Chase. There's something important that he's
forgotten to tell her, it seems. As the
bust goes down right before her eyes, she blinks and then smiles up at Brice,
the change in her demeanor quick and almost instantaneous. "Konban wa, Kent-san." She doesn't offer any excuses, taking
Chase's cue at least in that. Of
course, she's rather lucky in the fact that she's not carrying a concealed
weapon. For all intents and purposes, she's
just a normal girl. Chase is the one
who'll have to explain away his gun.
"Kent,
what's going on?" The other cops have the sullen arrestee on his feet now,
and apparently they're waiting for the last of the trio before taking off.
Brice digs into the sweatshirt pocket and produces the bag o' Bad Stuff.
"Here!" Overhanding it to the cop with his hands free, Brice turns a
definite eyebrow-raised Look back on the otouto. "You go on without me,
I've got to talk to these two for another few minutes. I can take care of
myself!" he yells, silencing the
brief protest. Finally the other two shrug and walk off, leading the dealer
between them, and Brice is able to turn his full attention on Chase and Say. If
anything matches his mood and look, it's Desi Arnez's 'Lucy, you've got some
'splainin' to do' idea. "So you finally convinced someone to try that
idea, Chase." He's been tempted to go with the otouto on the exact same
adventure a few times, just to work off frustrations. Part of the reason why he
joined the force. "You know, you're damn lucky they asked me to help out
on this one." Otherwise there would've been that whole idea of questioning
and possibly even searches, which would discover the gun. As it is, Brice knows
what Chase has. He remembers the otouto swearing to never leave home without a
weapon again. And to prove it, he holds out his hand, palm up. "Give it
here. /Give/."
Chase
can easily explain the gun. If he can't lug the bow around, it's the handgun,
because the last time he went somewhere without something like that... well, to
put it lightly, he got his arse kicked. Okay so... Chase is not only going to
get yelled at by Brice when this is all over, but prolly Say too. And, once
more, this was totally not his idea. Well, not directly this time. He fidgets,
flickering a glance to Say before it is all eyes on Brice. Having been found
out, a slow smile creeps across his face, not looking all that remorseful.
"Yeah," he drawls slowly, reaching a hand up to skim through his
hair. He'll sigh though at his last words, smirking, and then reaching a hand
to his back to pull out the handgun and hand it over without an argument.
"But that was pretty good though. Had no clue that one guy was in the
alley. He must have been in there awhile to even fool me."
Did
someone say torture Chase night? That might explain the sudden tingling at the
back of Genbu necks as another one of them edges into the area. This time
coming from above it seems, a subtle presence that doesn't automatically spike
up alarms because it is a familiar one. Kenkichi leans over the rail of the
fire escape, arms crossed over his chest as he watches the scene below with a
smirk on his face. Just because he didn't decide to join in the fray directly
with the trouble twins down below doesn't mean he wasn't keeping an eye out.
Watching Brice chew out his brother though, that's just added comedic value.
Chase
is going to get more than yelled at.
Sayuri's the violent sort, after all.
She steps back from the exchange, still keeping that pleasant, innocent
expression on her face. "Anou...
Chase-kun, I really should be heading home now. It's getting later and otousan must be getting worried." And she'll try to sidle away from the pair,
not at all feeling guilty about leaving the younger Genbu at his brother's
mercy. After all, he's been hiding some
very relevant facts from her. Most
namely his oniisan's occupation. She's
not a happy girl, not at all.
"Oyasumi, Kent-san, Chase-kun."
Cole
comes into the area from elsewhere.
Amazingly,
though, Brice doesn't seem to be in a yelling mood. Very matter-of-fact and
direct, but not yelling. Hmm. Chase might escape with all limbs after all.
Putting the new gun in the pocket with his own, he just shakes his head a bit.
"We've been here since mid-afternoon. The guy usually comes around
earlier, he was late tonight." And Brice has had to act like a scuzzy
criminal for longer than expected. "I'm tempted to burn this sweatshirt.
Disgusting, but it serves its purpose. And no you don't," he says in his
warning tone, reaching out to collar Say - or at least grab a piece of clothing
so she can't get away, probably the shoulder of her shirt. And then he's all
business. "What did you see? Just the bust, or anything before that?"
They get to be witnesses! And no running away before that >.> "You
may be asked to testify against him, if more corroboration is needed."
Every
night is torture Chase night as far as this seishi is concerned. His hand moves
from his hair and on to the back of his neck to rub at it. Inami. Great. Head
will turn about, glancing up at the fire escape for a moment to look for the
other, pick him out, and then sigh. He drops his head back down, only to
startle as Say tries to make a get away. He is immediately reaching over to try
to catch her elbow once more, entreaty briefly making an appearance. "Are
you leaving? Don't-" But Brice is reaching for her, and he'll wince.
"Careful, Brice. She bites." Oh, how well he knows that.
And she
wields a mean dagger too. Chase is definitely not the only one carrying a
weapon around here. Kenny leans further over the railing and meets the Genbu's
eyes for a second before chortling quietly some more as he watches Brice snag
Sayuri. "She bites too? Oh and what were you doing letting her get her
teeth that close to you, Chase?" he finally says at last, directing his
voice down to those below. Slowly he descends down the staircase without
prompting, thinking that he'd only get called to get down sooner or later
anyway.
Damn. Witnesses.
Sayuri's father is not going to be pleased with that development. "See?
Anou, we just arrived Kent-san, we didn't see anything at
all." The night's going from bad
to worse, and it has so much potential in the beginning. She'll continue with the clueless facade, or
would have until Chase opened his big mouth.
Stepping back from the older seishi's grasp and trying to loosen his
hold on her shirt, she just scowls at the traitorous younger Genbu, eyes
narrowing and promising retribution when they don't have such a large
crowd. Yeah, she noticed his brief
glance upwards, her gaze following his to take in Inami. Surrounded by the whole club. All she needs is for Anana to show up and
then their gang's all there. Or what
she knows of them, at least.
"There are you three officers and Chase-kun if you need another
witness, please keep my name out of this Kent-san. Otousan will not be happy if my name is tied in any way to this
drug bust." As Kenny makes his way
down the staircase, she's starting to feel mildly outnumbered here. And she doesn't like it. "Konban wa, Kenny-san."
Brice
doesn't need to look up; he figures he'll know who it is soon enough. After
all, only a few people would get that reaction out of Chase, and only a couple
of those would be in this area at this time of night. But Chase gets a
measuring look at the biting comment. "Yes, you /would/ be in a position
to know that, wouldn't you?" Yes, Say, you may interpret that comment to
mean Brice knows stuff you don't want him to know. "Sayuri, you're already
tied in. With us three, it's unlikely that they'll want to talk to you, but I
have to record your being here anyway. You don't have a choice in that."
Brice lets go of Say's shirt now that he's sure she won't be able to run off,
what with him and Kenny and Chase- and oh look, there's Cole, too. "Hello,
Detective Marks. Everything's fine, they're friendly. Mostly." Yes, he
does have to add that qualifyer on the end ;) "Is everything going all
right? They send him off to jail yet?"
Actually,
poor Kenny more than likely heard a few things that Say was doing with that
mouth of her's in the room next to the seishi's as it is. Does Inami really
want Chase to elaborate? He levels a glance at Kenny before actually smiling
just the slightest. He glances over to Sayuri, and then glances to Brice,
"Yeah, she probably wouldn't be all that good of a witness. After all,
with the cops all around, I'd imagine that would be all you would need,
right?" And yes, aniki is going to be getting the pleading look, 'cause he
is fairly sure he is in enough hot water as it is with the girl.
Just
cuz they're standing around doesn't mean they're crowding Brice, far from it
actually. Sayuri for one was trying to get away, but Kenny's sticking to the
shadows nearest the fire escape, feeling rather edgy with the number of cops in
the area. Sure his record got wiped clean, but that doesn't mean old habits die
easy, so the former convict just sort of stays out the way like any old
spectator. He's not going to elaborate on any noises heard at the apartment
either, if anything he'll just move out and give Chase all the space he wants.
Glancing at Cole coming closer, Kenny steps back further along the alleyway
like any ol'paranoid.
Ah
hell. Sayuri's not in a good mood. Cole's arrival just adds fuel to the
fire. "Another one of you Genbu,
Chase-kun," she asks under her breath.
Damn, they have ties in with the police. She really must rethink her acquaintance with the boy now. "A... position to kn-" She was restraining herself this evening,
indeed she was, but that last comment is the straw that broke this camel's
back. "Damn it Tomi-chan, can't
you keep your mouth shut for once?"
And now she rounds on the seishi, eyes flashing as her temper
flares. "Why don't you take an
advertisement out in the New York Times?
Baka," she mutters, scowling and crossing her arms over her
chest. And she will stare mutely at the
ground, jaw locking in her distemper.
Hey, at least she's not beating on him, but only because she's outnumbered
four to one. She may be mad, but she's
not quite suicidal. But there is a
silent anger building within her. Heck,
steam is all but rising from her ears.
"Friendly?" Funny, they don't look so friendly,
especially that girl over there.
"Riiiiiight," he murmurs dubiously as he shrugs. "He's on his way downtown right now, I
think there's a luxury suite waiting for him." He eyes about the group one more time, "If you're sure you
got this I'll get back, somebody just said something about witnesses and I
thought I'd check and see what we've got." Kids. They're all kids.
Brice
glances over at Kenny, understanding his hesitancy and choosing not to call
attention to it. "She goes in the report. Whether or not the DA calls her
in to testify is his decision." Chase isn't getting away with the pleading
now, not when he's /really/ on the job and this isn't a matter of someone going
to jail or not. Truthfully, with three cops, the likelihood that the DA'll need
Chase or Say is slim to none. And noting Say's reaction to that phrase, all he
can do is shake his head. Chase needs to start facing up to his actions,
Brice's not taking responsibility for this one. "That's why I said
'mostly'. I know them, don't worry. This is my little brother, for one."
He accompanies the declaration with a non-threatening hand on Chase's shoulder.
Apparently Brice isn't going to yell for this escapade. "He wants to come
to the station one day, see what we do." And make sure Lee is a proper
partner for the aniki. Then, to the rest, "Detective Marks and I are in
the same department."
Chase
is going to cringe. Oh, is he going to cringe as realization hits during
Sayuri's reaction to all of this. "No, he isn't," he mutters,
smirking. He levels a glance down at her though, murmuring under his breath,
"Only aniki and nobody else, Say. Really. Heck, I never said a thing about
stuff to Kenny, and I live with him." He watches her uneasily for a
moment, a flicker of worry at he watches her. Most of that worry is going to be
for his own well-being, that is. he shifts his weight from one foot to the
other, "Say? Sayuri? Come on. I'm sure you've mentioned stuff to that
friend of yours you keep mentioning. Nikki. Right?" But he is blinking at
the pressure on his shoulder, glancing up at Brice and then over to Cole with a
blink. "Uh. Yeah." But that really isn't on his mind right now, a bit
more worried at Say's reaction to things. "You want to hit me, don't
you?"
"If
I remember your American legal system, Kent-san, I can choose to testify, or
not. And I choose not." Sayuri's recalcitrant as a mule and she's
not budging. "Put my name in that
report and you'll get no help from me."
She says all this while studying the pavement, her voice low in her
discontent. And she won't be so easily
mollified, shrugging off his explanation.
"Only one person is still one person too many, Chase-kun," she
notes coldly, detached even. And
especially if that person is connected with the police department. "I've told you my feelings about
telling anyone things that I don't want known.
And I told you that I wouldn't tell you again." She lifts her angry gaze finally, the ire
evident in her dark gaze. "I've
never mentioned anything about Nikki except that she goes to school with me and
that she's cute. Nothing that could be
used against her. You..." She trembles slightly with the effort not to
do anything to the Genbu seishi. Turning
her gaze away, she steps away from Chase.
"Kent-san, either take me in for questioning or let me go. Either way, I'm leaving."
Cole
whistles quietly under his breath, "Right then, I'll let you
handle...uh...this." He bobs his
head towards Chase, "Nice to meet you, Detective Kent's brother." He gives Brice a quick wave, "Don't
have too much fun, y'hear?" And then Cole makes his way off.
OOC:
Cole says, "sorry to drop in a hardly play, apparently my job has other
plans for my weekend than...you know...letting it be a weekend. See ya'll later"
Cole
walks several blocks west towards Bowery Street.
"Don't
worry," Brice mutters under his breath in response to Cole's parting wish.
Yeah, Chase may be dead soon. While he wanted the two of them to slow down and
/think/ before doing dumb stuff, this goes beyond that by a lot. Choosing not
to correct Sayuri's view of the American legal system (she has it both right
and wrong), he simply nods. "You can leave if you wish." After all,
knowing her full name means people can track down her address if needs be,
which there probably won't be. "/Think/ before you do anything else,"
Brice comments so lowly only Chase can hear, which is good because only Chase
is meant to hear. He then steps back, removing his and Chase's guns from the
pouch, following that by pulling the sweatshirt over his head to reveal one of
his own old t-shirts that Ash likes to tease him about. Balling up the guns in
the sweatshirt, he leans against the outside wall of the building. "Hell
of a night, ain't it?" is his casual remark to Kenny. Understatement, too.
Chase
is cringing once more as he listens quietly to her. A protest rises to his lips
only to fall off as she continues. A hand lifts to rub at his forehead, but it
doesn't ease the distinctive lowering of his 'brows in dismay. As she moves
away from him, he frowns and then moves around to only try to step in front of
her once more. "Aniki is different, Say. He..." And it is then that
Brice's words are spoken to him, causing him to hesitate. "Dammit... You
wouldn't understand and even if I tried to explain it to you. You'd just call
me crazy again." That and he'd just get yelled at by the others, again.
Amazing how he ends up in spots like this. "You've every right to be
pissed. Sorry," he murmurs, risking a glance at her again.
"Arigato,
Kent-san," Sayuri sends towards the police officer with a wry bow. "Oyasumi, Kenny-san." And then she'll try to head towards the
subway, turning her face away at Chase's words. "I never asked for an explanation," she notes
harshly. "I don't remember asking
for a reason why you felt the need to let anyone else know about our personal
life." She won't meet his gaze,
but there's a hitch in her voice as she adds softly, "It really is too bad
I can't trust you, Chase-kun. We could've
had fun together." And then she'll
try to step around him, try to walk away from the three Genbu who know far too
much about her now. She should have
known that opening herself up to them would end badly. She's learned her lesson, though. She walks away a sadder but wiser girl.
Goddamnit,
/this/ wasn't supposed to happen. Brice knows exactly what the effect of Say's
words will be on Chase - and he can't take that. He can't take having the
otouto's heart broken /again/. So he gets an idea, thinks- and does it anyway.
"Shit," he mutters, tucking the sweatshirt under one arm and taking
off. He catches up to Say, loops her and stops right in front of her, grabbing
that shoulder again so she can't run off. "Look, I don't know what kind of
trust issues you have, but if you're going to blame someone, blame me. I worked
it out of him." True, more or less. His intensely rational internal voice
is starting to wonder what the hell he's doing, but he just tells it to go do
something very uncomfortable and keeps going. Fortunately, he still sounds
sane, like he's just presenting facts. "You can trust him. I just know him
better than anybody, and I know how to get stuff out of him. /You/ obviously
need to learn to forgive, and I'm not going to see you wreck my little brother
because of a mistake. So get the fuck over there and talk to him and /work this
out/ before I /really/ get pissed." Yes, he starts losing control towards
the end, but sighs when he's done and digs a hand through his hair after
letting go of Say. "You two can yell all you want at me later. But now,
talk, and /listen/." And with that, Brice is turning away and heading down
the road, mumbling under his breath and shaking his head. Might've made things
worse, but he tried.
Chase
looks after Sayuri, "Dammit. We did -do have fun together. Sayuri?"
But as she walks away he squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. A pair of breaths
later and he is opening them again and there is the very distinctive glimmer of
anger there. "Son of a /bitch/." In once smooth movement, he reaches
down to scoop up a crushed can on the walk and hurl it hard into the alley, not
quite all that mollified to hear the crash and tumble of debris in there.
"Just once..." he mutters, shaking his head from side to side as he
simply glares at the sidewalk. He draws over to the warehouse, pressing his
back against the wall and then sliding down it to sit at the foot, muttering
quite a few censurable things now and again as his head bows down so that hair
overshadows his face. He doesn't even notice Brice darting after Say or
anything of the kind. Not at all.
Sayuri's
eyes widen as Brice grabs at her shoulder again, and she about snarls as she
tries to twist out of his grasp.
"I can trust him to tell you, Kent-san," she parries
quickly. "Bet he told you all
about the car, didn't he? Did he give a
play by play for you?" She's mad
enough to to pull back, tossing her head in disgust. "I'm not going to wreck him, there's nothing between us
to..." But then she trails off,
looking back towards the alley and the teenager sitting there. She's not soft, she's not... damn it, he's
making her soft. You might as well
skewer her and roast her over an open fire, because she's turning all soft and
gooey. "Shit," she mutters,
disgusted with herself. She's a
marshmellow. "Fine, fine, we'll
talk." As he lets her go, she
shrugs the shoulder that he'd grabbed on to before making her way over to the
seated seishi. And then she'll poke at
him with her foot, and not in a gentle manner.
She's still peeved. "One
more chance, Tomi-chan. I can offer you
that. Take it or leave it."
"All
I know about the car is that he stole it." And they had the usual
threatening with jail over that. "And all I know about you two is it
happened. Go talk." Brice is still heading away, wondering if Chase'll
even wake up to hear her. And he's tempted to yell back 'I said TALK! Not
THREATEN!' but holds the urge back - one chance can lead to others. Maybe with
enough time Chase can break Sayuri down; she needs to learn that people just
won't do exactly what she wants them to all the time. This'd be a good way for
her to learn that.
Chase
is going to take out his frustrations on pebbles right about now. Poor
unsuspecting rocks. With forearms resting on his knees, he'll take up a pebble
from the ground and toss it away with a mutter. Pick another up and do the same
again. Etc... He is in the middle of picking another up when he is being booted
by Sayuri. He brings his head up to look curiously at her, gaze drifting away
to seek our Brice. That moment of confused curiosity deepens while he stares at
the man, but he looks back up to Sayuri. At her words he blinks, plants hands
flat against the cement and pushes himself up til the boy is standing once
more. He dusts his hands off on his thighs and speaks, "You know I'll take
it... but I think that I really do need to try to explain some things to you
so... this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Okay?"
Sayuri's
eyes narrow, but she doesn't walk away.
That's progress. "You're
not going to tell me more about the Genbu and the four gods, are you,
Tomi-chan?" Funny that she's a
marshmellow on the inside, because she doesn't look all that bendable at the
moment. "Look, I don't care what
your reasoning is, you have one more chance.
You know where I stand about you blabbing about my personal
affairs. I won't bend on this, I... I
can't." She stares thoughtfully at
the weathered wood of the warehouse behind him. "I don't care if you're in confessional to your priest, I
don't want you talking about me."
She can't understand why she came back, only knew that she had to, and
now she's just going to have to try to make Chase less of a liablity. "Accepting that is what you can take or
what you can leave. I'll give you the
choice." Or perhaps the illusion
of one when there really is no choice at all.
Chase
looks across to her, slowly shaking his head from side to side and answering
softly, "No. Something else, but I'll explain it more another time
though." His mouth tightens though, flickering a glance over her shoulder
to try to pick out the leaving Brice, features softening momentarily, and then
he is looking back to Say. "Sayuri, there are some things that come first
with me, and always will. They have to be...." Now he'll draw in a deep
breath, "I never told him anything about your family or most of what we
talk about or any of that stuff. That's your business and between us. The car
-that was about me, not you. You and me being together... come /on/, Say. The
guy is my brother in everything but blood, of course I'm going to tell him
that. People are going to figure it out sooner or later. Hell, did you forget
about my roommate? He isn't all that dumb and can figure things out."
"Damn
it Chase," Sayuri growls looking away.
"Fine, you have other things that come first for you." And it hurts like hell to hear it though she
keeps her feelings carefully blocked behind her bland facade. "I only have one rule,
Tomi-chan." She's not going to
bend on this, and even though it kills her, she can't. His brother's a police officer, for heaven's
sake. He may have an attachment to
Chase, but that same protection doesn't extend towards her. She's not foolish enough to think that it
ever would. "And I won't
compromise on it." She sighs
softly, admitting, "I can't. If
things get back to otousan, he'll uproot us faster than you can say sayonara
and we'll be heading somewhere else.
That's why I'm so worried about this police report that'll have both our
names in it. He won't think twice about
moving us away again." And now
she'll step forward, closing the gap between herself and the seishi, lifting a
hand to cup his cheek. "And I
don't want to leave, I've just found something worth staying for."
"When
you say it like that, you make it sound bad," Chase mutters, flickering a
glance away. He's actually tried to tell her something along those lines
before, but she keeps thinking he is insane. "I just... something like an
oath, okay? That I've been sworn to do." He is frowning though, flickering
a glance away, "I've already asked Brice to make sure everything
disappears about the car, and that took... it took a lot, Sayuri. I honestly
don't think I could ask something of that from him again, and I'm not sure that
I want to. I've already asked so much from him." But he is being torn once
more. "Like he said, you probably won't even be called or anything. All
kinds of cops were here, and me. Underage girl won't do them that much more
good." But, naturally, it is her
last words that practically stun him. His arms slip around her though, head
bowing to murmur, "Strings, Sayuri..." he warns.
"How's
it supposed to sound, Tomi-chan," Sayuri replies with a nonchalant
shrug. "Oath or not, sworn duty,
it all comes first, ne?" She
doesn't understand, is there anyway that she ever could? She looks away at the mention of the car, if
her mind had been working properly, she would have wiped down the car
thoroughly. She's not used to major
slip-ups like that, nor is she used to relying on someone else to clean up her
messes. "That's this time,
Tomi-chan. What about the next time, or
something that Kent-san feels that he can't cover up, what then?" She truly doesn't know what to make of
things, and her confusion has her softening against the seishi's warm body as
his arms twine about her. Until she
hears his words, and then she's sighing and pushing away from him. "Hai, I suppose I do come with
strings. And so do you, ne? Perhaps we were fooling ourselves to believe
we could do this without them."
Sheesh, sixteen and she already has baggage. "This is becoming too serious, /I'm/ becoming too
serious. I... oyasumi, Tomi-chan. I'm tired and not thinking correctly. I'll call you tomorrow and we can
talk."
Chase's
lips are going to twist into a fine line, a faint smirk showing, "Then...
we'll just have to make sure that nothing happens that might be... questioned
and that'll involve him." Aka, paying a hell of a lot more attention to
the tickle. He has been getting rather negligent with that lately, considering
how many times he gets tickled anymore. Can't even walk a block and he is
feeling something. Reluctantly, he loosens his hold of her as she pulls away.
Sheesh, what happened to all of the No Expectations, just have fun attitude.
Not even a week... "I'll be waiting for your call then," he replies,
leaning in to give her a kiss and then slip away.