Chapter 7 “Flame of Friendship”
Tasuki pulled his car into an alley that said parking and carefully maneuvered his way back. He winced at all the glass on the ground and prayed his tires didn’t end up flat. It looked like someone had blown up a glass factory somewhere close by and he raised an eyebrow at the ignored danger.
Finding a parking space that said ‘Tenant Parking’, Tasuki shut off the engine and sat there in silence for a moment before getting out. If this was where Kyoko lived… then it would have to do.
He adjusted his jacket over his purple shirt and headed toward the front of the club. Approaching the door, Tasuki put on his best smile and ran a hand through his windblown hair before entering. He was surprised to find the entrance unlocked this time of the morning.
He stood in the threshold for a moment before spotting a large muscle-bound man by the bar. He walked toward the man and stopped a few feet away from him. “Excuse me, sir,” Tasuki began.
“Sorry kid, we’re closed. Doors open at six tonight,” the bouncer told him.
“But that’s not what…“ Tasuki started again but was cut off.
The bouncer looked sharply at him, “We open at six o’clock tonight,” he reiterated.
“I’m here about the apartment,” Tasuki blurted, a bit put off that he was being treated so harshly.
The bouncer looked him over and shook his head, “You look like money kid. Why the hell do you want to know about this dump?”
Tasuki shrugged and buried his hands in his pockets. “My folks told me that I needed to find my own apartment. A friend told me about this place,” he lied as he looked around and wrinkled his nose a bit. “Not exactly what I’m used to but it’ll do.”
The bouncer turned to his partner, “Hey Virgil… takin’ the kid upstairs to talk with His Lordship. I’ll be right back.”
Virgil waved his hand in the air, “Whatever.”
“Come on kid,” he gave him the once over.
Tasuki followed the bouncer across the room to a locked door with a ‘No Entry’ sign on it and watched as the man punched in a code. The door opened and Tasuki followed the bouncer past it and up a steep flight of stairs. They made it all the way to the top floor and stopped at the first door they came to. The man pounded on the wood with such force Tasuki was afraid it would fall in.
“Hey Yohji! Somebody here about the apartment,” the man yelled before leaving Tasuki standing there. “Good luck kid,” he threw over his shoulder as he walked off.
No sooner had the man disappeared from sight did the door fly open revealing possibly the most disturbed-looking man Tasuki had ever seen. He was dirty, unkempt, and obviously had no sense of style whatsoever if that hairdo was anything to go by. He had on a pair of white boxers with obnoxious pictures of stick figures in various sexual positions and a white tank top with several holes that Tasuki could see clearly.
“Who the hell are you?” the man asked suspiciously. He gave the other man just as good of a once over as he was getting.
Tasuki rubbed the back of his head and put on a cheerful smile, “I heard there was an apartment for rent here and wanted to take a look at it.”
Yohji looked him over before smiling, “Sure, let me get the keys. You’re in luck too,” he continued and left the door open for Tasuki to step in. “The last deadbeat that lived there didn’t pay the last month’s rent.”
Tasuki, being polite, stepped inside the apartment and looked around. His eyes widened when he saw various things that would have made one wonder about the man’s sanity. All of the chairs in the kitchen were stacked on top of the refrigerator and stove in a way that would have been very difficult for someone to accomplish. There were clothes stapled to the ceiling and… was the bathroom full of helium balloons with goofy mustachio faces drawn on them?
“Come on and I’ll show it to you,” Yohji stated, reappearing wearing a pair of dirty jeans. “Name’s Yohji by the way.”
“It’s very nice to meet you Yohji, I’m Tasuki,” he said, skirting around to keep distance from the guy. Good lord… what had Kyoko gotten herself into?
“I think you’ll like it here Tasuki. It’s not too bad. The pounding from the club gets to you sometimes, but you get used to it.” Yohji stopped at the last door in the hall and placed the key in the lock. “It hasn’t been cleaned yet but if you want to do it yourself, I can knock off the five hundred dollar security deposit.”
The door swung open and Tasuki stepped inside to a nursing home nightmare. The bottom half of the walls were an institutional shade of pink, with bright yellow duck wallpaper on the upper half. The appliances in the kitchen were older than Moses and the window was being held halfway open by an oddly shaped stick.
Taking his time, Tasuki walked into the bathroom and was surprised at the size of it. The square footage of the whole place would have fit into his living room at home with room to spare. The bedroom was a little better. The walls were painted a light blue with white sheer curtains over the window.
“Is there air conditioning?” Tasuki asked.
“Yeah, central heat and air,” Yohji said. “I’ll show you where the thermostat is.”
After looking over the thermostat, Tasuki took one more look around the apartment and started making a mental list of everything that needed to be done. Nodding his head he turned back to Yohji… he could definitely make this place livable. Paint the walls, redo the carpet and replace the appliances and furniture… he would be good to go. He even saw hook-ups for a dishwasher, washer and dryer.
“I’ll take it,” Tasuki shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Awesome,” Yohji said as they exited the apartment and started back up the hall. “Let’s go back to my place and we’ll get the lease signed.”
“Now, just to let you know a bit about your new neighbors,” Yohji said. “The guy directly across from you owns the club downstairs. He’s kind of on the strange side so you may want to stay away from him. Not very friendly at all… I’ve never even seen him with a woman.”
Tasuki noticed the door directly across from Yohji’s and recognized the number on the door from the address scribbled on the piece of paper in his pocket.
“Who lives here?” Tasuki asked pointing toward the door.
“Only the sexiest woman alive,” Yohji exclaimed then glared at him. “That’s my girlfriend’s place, so keep your distance.”
Tasuki held up his hands as though to calm Yohji down but inside he was seething. How dare this lowlife claim Kyoko as his girlfriend? She would never have him.
“You have no fear from me… I’m gay,” Tasuki blurted not wanting to start a fight before the papers were signed.
Yohji blinked, “You know, I think the club owner is too.”
Tasuki shook his head and smiled, “I’ll keep my distance from everyone.”
They walked back in Yohji’s apartment and closed the door. The spiky haired man took off into the living room and Tasuki glanced over his shoulder at the door. He nearly burst out laughing when he saw unwrapped condoms tacked to the inside of the door filled with what appeared to be shaving cream.
“Say Yohji,” Tasuki said uncertainly. “Are you aware there are condoms tacked to your door?”
Yohji came out of the living room and cursed loudly. “Son of a BITCH! Who the hell keeps doing this?”
“You mean someone is pulling these pranks on you?” Tasuki asked.
“Yeah and when I find them, I’m gonna kick their ass,” Yohji fumed. “Come on, we’ll get this lease signed and get you moved in.”
As soon as the lease was signed, Tasuki shook Yohji’s hand and left with his paperwork. Once the door was closed behind him, Tasuki made a face as he vigorously rubbed his hand on his jeans trying to rid it of the clammy sweaty felt the other guy’s touch had left behind. Looking over the lease again as he started down the stairs, he saw the name of the apartment owner and a contact phone number that was definitely out of area.
Tasuki smiled as a plan started to form. Oh yes… life was good.
***** Kyoko slowly opened her eyes when she heard loud noises in the main hallway. Glancing at her clock, she saw the digital numbers and whimpered when they read six in the evening. Grumbling to herself, she pushed her sheet and comforter off and stalked to the front door.
Yanking it open, she blinked her half open eyes at the men moving back and forth carrying furniture. The apartment door at the end of the hall stood open and Kyoko put her hands over her ears to block out the noise of the workers.
“What the hell?” she demanded sleepily.
Suddenly Yohji’s door opened and he smiled at her. “Good morning, Sexy.”
Kyoko glared at him, “What’s with the noise Yohji?”
Yohji grinned, “Got a new tenant moving in today.”
Kyoko tilted her head to the side, “Really? Who?”
“He’s gay… you wouldn’t like him.” Yohji stated with a wave of his hand.
“And you don’t have a problem with that?” Kyoko asked. “You, Mr. I’m Homophobic?”
Yohji glared at her for a moment before it vanished. “I made it quite clear that I don’t swing that way when I told him that you were my girlfriend.”
Kyoko’s mouth gaped open and she fisted her hand at her side. “Why in the world would you tell him that?”
Yohji shrugged, “Because you are… you just don’t know it yet.”
“You know what Yohji?” Kyoko growled. “Fuck you!”
“Anytime baby,” Yohji responded with a leer as he took a step closer to her.
Kyoko slammed her door shut to avoid killing him and smirked when she heard the furniture movers start ‘oohing’. Seconds later, there was a pounding on her door. Kyoko yanked it open coming face to face with Yohji and he didn’t look very happy.
‘To hell with this,’ Kyoko thought, ‘If I get evicted… oh well.’ After the stress of last night and the night before… she needed to retaliate and he was just begging to be her target.
Kyoko balled up her fist and the next thing Yohji knew, he was slamming against his door with what he was sure would be a nice shiner on his left eye. He growled as the movers started laughing loudly at his misfortune.
“Say anything like that again without my consent and you’ll have more than your eye to worry about. And please, tell these gentlemen to keep it down a little, I have to work tonight,” she exclaimed.
Yohji righted himself and brought a hand up to his left eye already feeling the swelling starting to puff up. “That’s it bitch! Pack your shit and get the hell out.”
Kyoko shrugged her shoulders knowing after having a vampire in her room only hours before… it might not be a bad idea to move on. “Fine!” she yelled giving him a ‘go to hell’ look. “A cardboard box would be better than living across the hall from you!”
“I’m afraid you can’t do that,” a voice said from the direction of the stairs.
Yohji looked to his right and narrowed his good eye. “To hell if I can’t. My brother owns this place.”
“Correction… your brother owned this place,” came the self-satisfied voice.
Kyoko stuck her head out the door and blinked in shock when she saw Tasuki leaning against the wall right next to her door with the deed to the top floor in his hand.
“What do you mean owned?” Yohji demanded as he stepped forward to eye the paper.
“It’s quite simple really,” Tasuki explained while aloofly examining his fingernails. “I bought it from him today. The paperwork has been signed and funds exchanged. As of five o’clock today, the whole top floor is now in my name.”
“Tasuki!” Kyoko exclaimed and bounced out her door to jump up on him in a tight hug. She sighed happily before letting him go and giving him her infamous glare of doom.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “Did Grandpa tell you where I was?”
Tasuki shrugged but his grin faded noticing the not-yet-healed claw marks on her face and shoulder where her nightshirt had slid down a bit. “I’m not sure who told me but it’s good to see you.”
Kyoko frowned and let Tasuki move her out of the way when two men came up the stairs carrying a black leather sectional. “Are you the one making all this noise?”
Tasuki’s grin returned, “Yep, and your place is next. If you’re going to live in a dump… it’s gonna be a nice one.”
“Hold on a fucking minute here,” Yohji interrupted. “First, get your hands off my girl. Second… you can’t have bought this place. My brother would have said something to me.”
“Yes, that is strange,” Tasuki said thoughtfully. “Your brother has been trying to call you all day. He kept getting an answering machine telling him that you had gone to join the circus as one of the elephant caretakers.” His even-tempered expression abruptly changed, letting the little known dark side of his personality emerge. “And furthermore… Kyoko is by far NOT your girl.”
Kyoko blinked again as something Tasuki said finally sunk in. “Wait. If my apartment is next, then where will I sleep?”
“You can stay at my place,” Yohji offered immediately.
“In your dreams dirt bag!” Tasuki exclaimed then turned a soft look on Kyoko. “You’ll stay at my place.”
“Actually, she can stay at mine since she already knows where everything is,” Amni said from behind her. His long blond hair lay in perfection but his blue eyes held a wild look as he stared Tasuki down.
Tasuki looked Amni up and down and arched a single eyebrow, “And you are?”
Amni’s eyes never wavered, “Amni, I own the club downstairs.”
“Ah, so you will be a business partner of sorts,” Tasuki stated taking note of the mental alarms going off in his head.
Kyoko looked between the two of them and could almost see the virtual pissing contest taking place right in front of her. “Tasuki, this is Amni… he’s been a big help to me since I moved in.”
She smiled warmly at Amni, hoping it would calm him down. She knew she would have hell to pay if Tasuki figured out Amni was a vampire. But what did it matter now… now that she had even slept with one. She noticed Amni glancing at her shoulder worriedly and suddenly remembered the wounds that where still slowly healing.
Nervously, she brought her hand up to straighten her shirt and hide them.
Tasuki looked down at Kyoko in surprise then shook it off. His auburn haired angel was going to have a lot of explaining to do. “That’s great Kyoko, you can tell me all about it over dinner.”
“D-dinner?” Kyoko asked very quietly.
“Yeah, dinner,” Tasuki stated and turned Kyoko back toward her door, giving her a light tap on the rump. “So get yourself cleaned up. We got a lot of catching up to do.”
Kyoko squeaked and covered her rear end with both hands before walking back into her apartment and closing the door.
“You’re not gay at all, are you?” Yohji demanded with a disappointed look.
Tasuki smirked at him. “It’s hard to be gay with a woman like Kyoko around. Oh,” Tasuki continued as an afterthought. “By the way… your rent is due by the end of the work day tomorrow.”
“Rent?” Yohji asked fearfully.
“Yes, all six hundred dollars of it,” Tasuki informed him. “That is what you have been charging the others… right? No checks… cash or money order will suffice.”
Yohji quickly went back into his apartment and closed the door leaving Amni alone in the hall with Tasuki. The dark-haired man looked Amni over again making note of his pale skin and bright, almost feverish looking eyes. There was absolutely no doubt left in Tasuki’s mind.
“You’re a vampire,” Tasuki accused in a dark voice as he fisted his hands at his sides. “Stay away from Kyoko.”
Amni smirked, “In your dreams human.”
Tasuki approached Amni and stood toe to toe with him. “I do apologize but you haven’t been invited into my dreams yet… that place is reserved strictly for Kyoko,” he glared at the vampire with narrowed eyes. “Heed my advice and stay away.”
“Why would I stay away from my best friend?” Amni hissed, not at all intimidated by the man in front of him.
“Vampires have no friends,” Tasuki said, “only victims.”
Kyoko’s door suddenly flew open and she stood there in nothing but a towel. “Tasuki, I really need your help with something,” she said quickly and grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket. She dragged him inside and mouthed the word ‘Sorry’ to Amni before shutting the door.
Amni stood there for a moment before smirking at the woman’s apartment entrance. Like hell he would stay away… Kyoko would make sure of that.
He fought the urge to barge in, seeing as the human was now in Kyoko’s apartment with her dressed in only a towel. Shaking his head, Amni turned to look at Yohji’s apartment and smirked. His mind started turning over all the hell he could put the man through now that there were no repercussions to worry about.
Amni walked past Yohji’s door and barely touched the doorknob with his fingertips. A soft click was all Amni heard and seconds later he heard Yohji trying to turn the knob and yelling for someone to let him out.
‘I suppose the human was good for something after all,’ Amni thought to himself as he walked down the stairs to the club.
***** Kyoko smiled at Tasuki and headed toward her bedroom. She knew exactly what would distract him from thinking too hard about Amni.
“What did you need help with?” Tasuki asked following her.
Kyoko turned toward him, holding a dress in front of her, “I need help getting zipped up.”
Tasuki’s eyes brightened at the dress she planned to wear. It was a nice shade of purple with a scooped neck and short sleeves that went just past the elbows. He had bought it for her just a few weeks before she vanished.
“Of course!” he exclaimed. “Slip it on and I’ll be at your service.”
Kyoko gave him a half-hearted glare. “I need you to leave the room for a minute so I can put on my underwear first.”
“Oh… OH!” Tasuki stuttered then quickly backed out of the room, giving her privacy.
“Pervert,” Kyoko grumbled as she shut the door.
“You missed me!” Tasuki yelled at her, happier than he had been in months. He felt like he could finally breathe again. “Admit it!”
Moments later, Kyoko opened the door and turned her back on him, pulling her hair to the side so he could zip her up. To say he wasn’t tempted by the amount of skin she was showing him would be a flat out lie. Tasuki’s hands shook slightly while he closed the zipper causing it to get stuck a couple times before he got it all the way up. It didn’t help matters at all knowing she wasn’t wearing a bra.
“There you go,” Tasuki said. “All set.”
Kyoko turned around to look at him and smiled. “Yes… I did miss you,” she whispered feeling like she was about to cry and knowing she wouldn’t dare. “More than you will ever know.”
Tasuki couldn’t control himself and ducked down… placing a soft kiss on her lips. Before he knew it, his hands were at her waist, pulling her against him. His reaction was instant, and he was in no mood to fight it… he’d waited too long. He wanted her in a way that bordered on desperate.
Kyoko felt the same heat flare up inside of her that had appeared the last night she’d seen Tasuki at the library. She had missed him so much. She’d been in this huge city surrounded by all kinds of people but she’d never felt so alone in her life… because she missed her best friend.
Tasuki took advantage of the situation and ran his tongue along the seam of her lips before deepening the kiss that was already making his head spin. He moaned in appreciation when Kyoko’s arms went around his neck, holding him to her as she let him in. This was where he wanted to be.
Kyoko was breathing rapidly but her mind was going a mile a minute. Her grandfather had one thing right… it should have been Tasuki who helped her with her little problem two nights ago. She felt Tasuki’s hand lift her right leg to hook around his waist. That same hand slowly traveled up her thigh to mold against the roundness of her bottom, squeezing firmly.
Coming up for air, Kyoko studied his eyes with regret that she had abandoned him. He hadn’t deserved that. As she watched, another pair of eyes entered her mind… dark eyes, full of anger and passion.
It was as if a switch was thrown and they released each other. Kyoko stared at him for a moment with a light blush on her cheeks before fleeing back to her room so she could finish getting ready.
Tasuki stood where she had left him, wondering at the sadness that had entered her eyes before she’d pulled away. He lifted his fingers to touch his lips, still feeling the kiss they had just shared. Whatever caused that look in her eyes… he would make it go away.
***** Yohji slammed his phone down on the table and went to get his cell phone. Dialing Hitomi’s number, he frantically waited only to throw it against the wall. Picking up the house phone, again he dialed for the police and got the exact same thing again.
For some reason, he kept getting connected to the state institution for the mentally insane.
Sinking down onto his sofa, Yohji buried his face in his hands and literally screamed in frustration. He was trapped in his own apartment. He screamed again when he heard a click and his front door flew open making the condoms still tacked to the back of it explode, leaving a mess on his wall and floor.
“Yohji?” a sweet voice floated into the room.
Yohji peeked up from behind his sofa where he’d taken cover seeing Kyoko and Tasuki standing in the hall looking strangely at him.
“Watch out!” Yohji yelled. “The door.”
Tasuki glanced in at the door and frowned. “Yes… it’s a door.”
“No…” Yohji said in a horrified whisper. “It’s not.”
Kyoko arched an eyebrow before backing up toward the stairs. Tasuki gave Yohji a look before disappearing himself.
Yohji waited until they were gone before getting out from behind his sofa and running toward the entrance. The door abruptly slammed shut making Yohji scream for the third time that night. It immediately flew open then closed again as if laughing at him. It did this several times before stopping.
By the time the door ceased all movement… Yohji had fainted.
