Photos: Star

Photos: Family

Artsy shot: Kissing you

Fiction: Yellow Flowers and a Bag of Bones

Chapter sixteen: The Four Sisters

Getting back to Tagetes was a pain, but I managed somehow – I felt incredibly lost and unfamiliar now, but I just had to deal. I couldn’t let the setback stop me. If I did, I might as well admit that The Four Sisters had won. I knew that they had something to do with this, though I couldn’t prove it in any way. I just knew.

“I’ve missed you,” Rei said and hugged me, pressing his face against my stomach. I felt a sense of relief at getting back; I had apparently missed Rei even more than I could have imagined. He was still the same, it made him feel like the one constant thing in my life, even if I knew that if I stopped to think about it, he was probably the one who made the least sense.

“I’ve missed you too,” I replied with a smile, hugging him too. “Nothing has happened while I was gone, right?”

“Nothing. There have been a few parades with lots of colours and music, but I stayed away from them. That was good of me, wasn’t it?”

“Very.”

“Oh, and The Four Sisters are holding some kind of competition soon. Can we go, please please please?” Rei almost bounced on the spot, eager as always when it came to things that involved adventure – and the possibility for some fun and happiness. In the beginning, I hadn’t understood why he seemed so fascinated with all things colourful and happy and loud, but after learning more about his past, I could understand him a lot better. And I wanted him to be happy, but going to a place where the four sisters would be could be very dangerous.

I hesitated, but shook my head in the end. “I think it’s not a good idea, Rei. You know that one of The Four Sisters wants to kidnap me, right? It’s why I wear the rainbow necklace, to stay hidden. It she sees me there, there’s no way I can stay hidden.”

Rei pouted, not giving up just yet. “But there’s going to be tons and tons of people there, and you can wear a disguise or something. We don’t have to participate in the competition; we can stay in the back and out of sight. I just want to see it, please?”

“I don’t know, Rei…”

“Please? We’ll be careful, no one will notice us. And then you can find out more about them as well, right? If they’re there, then you get to see all of them and…stuff.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his eagerness, though I had to admit that he had a point. Even if I knew The Four Sister’s names, I doubted that it was their real names, so actually seeing them might help me in finding out who they were. It would be one advantage I had over Janson, seeing as he had never met them, but only knew their names. “Okay, fine. We’ll go,” I conceded at length, making Rei hug me even tighter. “But we’ll have to be very, very careful.”

And careful we were. Rei didn’t particularly need to hide, seeing as no one was after him, but I still bought him new clothes, very different from the ones he usually wore. Instead of his oversized white top (maybe it had once belonged to his father), I got him a pair of blue jeans and a black and red sweater. It looked extremely strange, and from the look on Rei’s face I could tell that he felt the same way.

“Hey, if I have to, then so do you,” I said, unable to stifle a grin. He sulked for a few seconds, but then smiled as well, probably over my appearance. Instead of the mismatched clothes and rather ugly brown coat I usually wore, I was wearing a stylish black suit with a white shirt so crisp that I was worried I would cut myself on it. I felt incredibly uncomfortable, especially with my hair slicked down and brushed away from my face, instead of being left in the usual state of disarray.

Rei cocked his head, inspecting me. “You look handsome, you know. I’m not really sure you’ll attract any less attention like this.”

“But I’ll blend in and look exactly like the dozens of businessmen that will no doubt be there, right?”

He shrugged, taking my hand to get going – it was a long walk to Xibiri, and if we wanted to get there in time for the competition, we had to hurry. “You still don’t look like a businessman, but I don’t know why,” he answered, stealing glances at me every now and then. Something which, I discovered, several people we met along the way did as well. I wasn’t quite sure whether that was disconcerting or not, but it certainly made me feel nervous. Even more so because most of the glances came from women, and because most of the glances were so obviously appreciative. Suffice to say, I wasn’t used to being stared at like that.

By the time we got there, Xibiri was already crowded. Very crowded. I took a firmer hold on Rei’s hand so that he wouldn’t slip away from me – and thought that we had to look like father and son right now – and made my way through the crowd to get closer to the town square. I had no plans for going to the very front, but I had to find some place for us to stand where we would be relatively hidden, but where we would still be able to see something.

Eventually I found a small podium; there were already a lot of people sitting there, but by letting Rei sit on my lap I managed to get us squeezed in on the top. “Are you sure I’m not too heavy?” Rei asked, shifting a little to get comfortable.

“Of course not, idiot,” I replied fondly, wrapping my arms around him to prevent him from losing his balance. “This provides even better cover; I’m almost invisible now.”

Rei turned his head and smiled at me, but then focused back on the stage that had been set up in the middle of the square. It was built in two levels; one large, and a smaller one behind, which held what could only be described as four thrones. The Four Sisters were apparently going to be there.

Within the next half hour, the city became packed with people. I didn’t even know that there were this many people in Tagetes, even if I had seen the registration lists for most of them. Eventually, I leaned my head against Rei’s shoulder to relax, nearly dozing off when the crowd suddenly started cheering. I lifted my head to see Jensen and Chiyo-sama walk onto the stage; Jensen with five men following him, Chiyo-sama with five women.

To me, the competition itself was laughable, but everyone else seemed to find it extremely interesting. Basically, they competed in a serious of smaller contests, mostly geared towards praising The Four Sisters in some way or another, and at the end of each contest, it was the crowd’s cheers that determined who was allowed into the next round and who wasn’t.

When half the competition was over, leaving only two men and two women, another of The Four Sisters came onto the stage. New cheers erupted, but this time they were far less enthusiastic. From the woman’s calm smile and the way she handed out refreshments to the contestants before taking her place at the throne, I guessed that she was Skye, the one that Janson had described as the motherly one, the one that kept them all together by mediating in fights. I could definitely see that – she looked pleasant and calming. However, I had never seen her before, just like with Jensen and Chiyo-sama. Maybe actually seeing The Four Sisters wouldn’t do me much good.

The rest of the competition was just as inane as the first part, and it really made me wonder why people wanted to participate. From the chatter of the men sitting next to us, I gathered that the ten who were competing had been carefully selected, and that several thousand had signed up. It dawned on me that I didn’t have any idea what the prize was, but well, I didn’t care all that much either. It wasn’t as if The Four Sisters could offer me anything appealing. In fact, if they saw me, I would probably be taken and locked up pretty damn quickly. Better to stay out of their way as much as possible. It did seem like my plan had worked; despite the fact that Chiyo-sama had looked over the crowd several times, even in my direction, she didn’t seem to notice me.

I had almost dozed off again by the time the winner was announced; a handsome man with his hair and clothes in disarray from the contests, but with a happy smile on his face. Once again, the crowd cheered, almost with anticipation. The three of The Four Sisters got to their feet and approached the man, though they paused a few feet from him, waiting.

There was a sudden flash of light that seemed to temporarily blind everyone in the audience, because there was a silence that lasted a few seconds too long, before a noise unlike anything I had ever heard before in my life erupted. Most of the sitting crowd got to their feet, almost screaming instead of cheering. The view to the stage was blocked for a while, and it wasn’t until the people in front of me settled down that I could get a glimpse of the fourth Sister, the one called Mitzi, who Janson had called the leader.

My chest tightened as I looked at her; it felt difficult to breathe. There was no mistaking the slightly chubby figure, the blonde hair, the blue eyes, and the cuteness of her face. I had studied that face and that figure, all too many times over the past few years.

It was Maria.

After that, I missed most of the ceremony, though I managed to understand that the prize was a guarantee to never be expelled, a free-for-all card to all the parades and festivals, and signed pictures of all The Four Sisters. Quite frankly, I couldn’t care less about the prize. All I could do was to stare at Maria, unable to take my eyes off of her. I stared so intensely that eventually, she glanced in my direction. I ducked behind Rei, hugging him so tight that he winced quietly, and hoped that she wouldn’t see me. I would rather not be discovered in a place packed with people who all seemed to support The Four Sisters vehemently.

It didn’t seem like she had noticed me, however, judging by how there was no outcry of “get that man”, and eventually I peeked out from behind Rei again – only to find myself face to face with Maria.

And only her.

I glanced around, but the podium, the stage, the streets, they were all empty. In less than a minute, everyone had vanished. Rei cried out, but with a snap of Maria’s fingers and a flash of light, he disappeared. I could feel my heart racing in my chest as I stood up, looking back into Maria’s icy blue eyes. They had always seemed so warm and kind, but now there was nothing but anger in them, and something bordering on hatred.

“What did you do to Rei?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady. I was terrified, quite honestly, but I couldn’t show her that. Somehow, I thought that would give her the upper hand. Though I had to admit that she definitely seemed to have the upper hand right now. I wondered where the rest of The Four Sisters had gone off to, but I quickly understood that Janson had been right. The other three didn’t really matter. Maria was the leader, the one with all the power.

In this place, she was God.

“The boy’s not your concern. Not my concern either, but he will be dealt with, trust me. He’s yet another person you choose to devote your attention and affection to,” Maria said coolly. Her hand closed around my wrist, tugging slightly, and before I knew what had happened, the town square of Xibiri disappeared and we were standing in the middle of a room.

Or at least I assumed it was a room. Everything around me was completely black, apart from the stream of light we were standing in. I couldn’t see the veiling above us, nor the floor below us, nor any walls off to the distance. Simply put, I had no idea where we were, or now to get out of there.

“Maria,” I said, looking at her almost helplessly. I didn’t know what else to say, really.

She smiled back at me, but it was completely different from the smile I was used to. I was used to having her smile at me with warmth and affection, I was used to Maria looking sweet and innocent and kind, not….this. “You look surprised. Didn’t see this coming, did you? You thought I was just another dumb girl that you could string along with your routine.”

“I… What? I don’t have a routine.” I was dumbfounded, honestly having no idea what she was talking about.

“Don’t play clueless with me, Kai. First you date me, and then you stay with Chiyo, and then I catch you with that trampy little girl. And you live with a little boy, what are you doing to him, huh? How many girls and guys do you have? How many, Kai? Did you really think that you could cheat on me like that?” Maria asked furiously, and I might be stupid, but I was actually relieved. At least she didn’t seem to have any idea about what I was really doing – she was just jealous and angry.

I smiled, taking a step closer to Maria, catching her hands. “You’ve got it all wrong. Chiyo-sama kidnapped me, I ran away the moment I could, so you can’t be angry with me because of that. Rei is what you’re saying, a little boy. I’m taking care of him and he’s a friend, that’s it. But Dakota…” I trailed off, and Maria’s expression hardened further.

“No. Don’t say it. I saw you. I’m not stupid, Kai. But that’s fine. We’re over, and you’re over. I’m confining you to this place. You’ll never get back to Tagetes, you’ll never see the boy again. I’m not even going to expel you properly. This is your punishment for betraying me like this, Kai. And trust me, you’ll suffer,” Maria hissed before pushing me away and walking quickly out of the column of light. I tried to follow her, grab her and pull her back, but she was gone.

I walked along the circle of light on the floor, squinting into the darkness. I tried saying hello, calling it out louder and louder, but all I got back was a distant echo. There was no doubt. I was alone. Completely and utterly alone.


~tbc~

Photos: Master of my domain

Photos: Passionate

Photos: Muted fire

Artsy shot: Diva

Artsy shot: Angle

Photos: Companionship

Photos: Sunny

Photos: Antique

Fiction: Yellow Flowers and a Bag of Bones

Chapter fifteen: The love of a lifetime

“Why haven’t you called me?”

I hunched my shoulders, just shaking my head. I didn’t really have any excuses – in fact all I had was a guilty conscience. Maria was angry and upset, and I couldn’t exactly blame her. However, her rather shrill reaction to seeing me again was a bit too much for me. I liked her much better when she was mellow, calm, and when she smiled at me instead of nearly screaming at me.

“I’m s-so-sorry,” I said, clenching my hands into fists in my coat pockets. Somehow, Maria had the ability to make me feel incredibly nervous, and I had to admit, I didn’t like it all that much. It was a stark contrast to Dakota, who despite her loud appearance and her fear still helped me be calm. Be the strong one instead of some otaku who let his girlfriend take charge.

Like Maria was doing right now.

She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. Pouted. Before, I thought that it was cute, but now it seemed all too childish. “I know you’re not used to having a girlfriend, and I know you’re used to only caring about yourself, but that has to change, Kai-chan. You’re with me now, so you need to pay me some attention.”

“Or w-what?” I asked, the question slipping out before I had the chance to stop and think about whether or not it would be a good idea to ask something like that.

Maria’s eyes widened and for a few moments she merely stared at me. “Are you telling me that you don’t want to pay more attention to me? Are you serious?! I never thought you were so selfish, Kai,” she snapped, and when I reached out for her to calm her down, she shoved me and then walked away quickly.

I sighed. That definitely didn’t go too well. I had intended to tell her about Dakota, about how I liked her, how I had kissed her, and how I was pretty sure that it was her I wanted to be with. But I had no idea how to break up with girls. Maybe it would be better to just leave it for a while.

Instead of going after Maria as I no doubt should, I roamed around the city, trying to figure out the real identities of The Four Sisters. Considering that I usually detested having to go anywhere at all, something like this was a big step for me. I could tell that people were annoyed at me, that they got impatient with me, but unlike before it didn’t bother me all that much. Suddenly I had people who accepted me for who I was, which made random people all that much easier to deal with.

However, I didn’t find out anything whatsoever. Apparently Janson was right – if he couldn’t do it, then I couldn’t either. It was a disappointing conclusion, but also the truth. Maybe I was too confident on some areas.

Defeated, I walked to Rei’s father’s bookstore. I didn’t have a particular reason to be there, but I figured that it was a good a place to be as any. The yellow police tape was gone by now, but apparently no one else had taken over the place yet, because I was able to walk right in. Just like before, I wandered along the aisles, looking at the books. They didn’t give me more answers now than they had before, but for some reason it felt calming to walk there.

I walked over to the stairs, looking at the faint outline in chalk of a body. All that was left of Rei’s father now was a bag of bones down at the police station. A bag of bones with a missing skull, and a missing son – a son that I knew in Tagetes, but not elsewhere. I wondered if there was anything else I could do to solve that mystery, or if I should just leave it be. After all, Rei seemed to be perfectly happy right now, so why mess with that? As long as he was happy with his existence, then I probably shouldn’t go digging up ancient history that might make his life far more miserable. And what if I did find out that he indeed killed his father? He might end up imprisoned and I certainly didn’t want that.

I sighed heavily – somehow my life had become complicated. Things used to be easy; almost too easy. But now… I had too many people that depended on me, too many responsibilities, and too many mysteries to solve. I had to admit it; I almost wanted to run away from it all. Leave everything and everyone behind. It would be the easiest option; it would be the least messy option, at least for me.

There was a small creak in the floorboards behind me, and I whipped around, almost expecting to see Rei’s father, for some crazy reason. This house really did mess with my head. Instead it was Dakota, who smiled at me, almost apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just…thought you might be here,” she said and walked over to me, straight into my arms. I honestly didn’t know what was happening to either of us, but I kissed her, cupping her face in my hands, before looking into her eyes. This time they were dark brown instead of pink, and I wanted to tell her that it suited her, but the words that came out were very different.

“Welcome home,” I said, and my voice didn’t feel like my own. In fact, I didn’t feel like myself in the least bit, and yet – everything seemed perfect. As if something had been wrong for a long time, but that it was right again now.

Dakota smiled, softer than she usually did, and took my hand to lead me upstairs. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered as she pulled me close. We kissed with our eyes closed, bumping into furniture on the way to the bedroom, finding it without problems. I absentmindedly thought that it was strange, because I had only been here once before, and as far as I knew, Dakota had never once been here.

The bed, which had been covered by a fine layer of dust the last time I was here, was clean now. In fact everything looked like someone lived here right now, instead of nearly thirty years ago. I tried to think straight, tried to figure out what was going on, but then Dakota pushed my coat off my shoulders and all I could think about was her.

All I wanted was to be close to her forever.

I could safely say that I hadn’t had much sex in my life, but somehow, I still knew exactly what to do, exactly what she liked. And Dakota seemed to know exactly what I liked as well; better than I knew it myself, in fact. If it hadn’t all felt so good, I would have stopped to think twice about all of this, for several reasons.

Instead I made love to her there, in Rei’s father’s bed, in a house where no one had lived for thirty years, and it wasn’t Dakota’s name I whispered against her naked skin. And it wasn’t my name that Dakota moaned with her eyes closed and her head leaned back.

Afterwards, when we were stretched out on our backs in the bed, holding hands, the spell broke. Dakota’s breath suddenly hitched in her throat, and I shuddered. We both sat up, and I noticed as I looked around again that the bed – and everything else – was still covered in dust, except that a lot of said dust was transferred onto our bodies now. If it wasn’t for the fact that Dakota looked about ready to run screaming from the room, I would have panicked.

“C-calm down,” I said hurriedly, grabbing her shoulders to prevent her from fleeing – considering how naked she was I figured that would be a bad thing. I didn’t exactly feel very calm myself, but panicking wouldn’t help. Easier said than done. I could feel a panic attack coming on myself, my breathing quickening and my grip on her shoulders tightening slightly.

Dakota winced, but moved closer to me, leaning her forehead on my shoulder. “What the hell just happened? We… This house… We really should get out of here.” Her voice trembled, and she was tense in my arms. I couldn’t blame her. Somehow I felt violated, even if there was no denying that I had been perfectly willing. We had both been perfectly willing.

“Y-yeah. Lets g-get out of h-here.” I helped her get up and we got dressed so hurriedly that I nearly grabbed her jeans instead of my own. We were awkward this time, to say the least. Minutes ago everything had seemed so utterly natural, but now we both remembered the fact that even if we did like each other, we were nearly complete strangers.

I wanted to hold her hand as we walked back out of the store, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it – it made me wonder if this incident would ruin all chances we had for a proper, normal relationship. I took a deep breath when we reached the street, and turned to face her, unable to leave things so awkward. “D-dakota---”

“Kai!” The exclamation was so loud that it sounded like the entire city could have heard it, and Dakota and I both turned to look at the young woman storming towards us. Maria.

Oh shit, I thought. Just what I needed right now.

My reaction was nothing against Dakota’s, however. She tensed up and her face paled until it was nearly completely white, and she stared at me with wide, terrified eyes. “I can’t… I’m sorry, but I have to go before something else happens,” she said, and before I had the chance to protest, she kissed my cheek and ran down the street, in the opposite direction of Maria.

I very nearly ran after her, but by then Maria had caught up to me and grabbed my wrist surprisingly hard. If I thought she had been angry before, it was nothing compared to now. I almost expected her head to spin around and explode in sheer rage, a thought which nearly made me laugh, but I had a feeling that laughing right now would earn me a left hook to the face, so I bit my lip and tried to look regretful instead.

“W-what’s up?” I asked innocently, once again almost laughing because it seemed like the most idiotic thing to say right now.

Maria scowled at me and tightened her grip on my wrist until I winced in discomfort. “What’s up? I find you coming out of some house with a slut and you ask me what’s up? What do you think is up? You’re not cheating on me, are you, Kai? You wouldn’t be that stupid, would you?”

I hesitated, unsure of what to say. I didn’t want to lie, but telling her the truth seemed infinitely stupid. “Well,” I said at length, and somehow, that one word seemed to be more than enough. Maria let go of my wrist, but only to slap me across the face. Hard.

“You’ll regret this! You and your little slut,” she spat, and hit me again for good measure before she turned and stalked away just as quickly as she had walked up to me.

“G-great,” I said to myself, looking down the street in both directions. Dakota was long gone, and even if I did want to find her again to talk, I had no idea where she might have gone. She would have to come find me once she was ready, and I just had to wait. Maria, on the other hand, I could easily find, but I was fairly sure that I didn’t want to.

With a sigh, I started walking in a third direction, intending on getting back home as quickly as possible – apparently there had been a reason for why I had preferred staying inside my apartment, shutting the rest of the world out. It was far too much trouble associated with having actual relationships. My apartment had always been my safe haven, and now probably even more so than before. It was the only place Dakota could find me, and it was a place I could lock myself in to escape anyone and everyone else.

Except that when I came home, I found the door wrenched open, and everything inside the apartment wrecked.

Today really wasn’t my day.

For the longest time, all I could do was to stand in the door, staring in on the mess. All my books had been torn out of the shelves and strewn all over the floor, all the furniture seemed to be slashed with a knife, all my plates and glasses had been broken on the kitchen floor. All in all, it looked like a hurricane had gone through there. Several times.

“Yo, Kai, what’s--- Whoa. What happened to your place?”

I turned my head and smiled bleakly at Kevin, my nearest neighbour in the building. I didn’t know him all that well, but we were on first name basis and we usually said hi to each other if we met and otherwise left each other alone. He was a nice guy, though from the clothes he was wearing and the arguments I had overheard, he was a member of one of the many gangs roaming around the city.

“I’m s-starting to think s-someone doesn’t l-like me,” I replied, shrugging a little. It was difficult to know what else to say – what was I supposed to say when my apartment had been turned upside down, anyway?

Kevin laughed and took a step inside my apartment, looking around curiously. “I didn’t hear anything, but I’ve been sleeping, so… Has anything been stolen?”

“No, I… My c-computer!”

I rushed into the apartment and made my way through the mess to my living room, staring down at my now very empty desk. My computer and all my hard drives were gone. “Oh, fuck,” Kevin said and came to stand beside me, patting my shoulder for comfort. He probably knew as well as me that getting the computer back would be next to impossible.

“Y-yeah,” I agreed, feeling a pang of pain in my chest that was partly from panic (what was I supposed to do without my computer?), and partly from actual grief. To me, my computer was my life, to probably unhealthy degrees.

It wasn’t until I leaned forwards with my hands braced against the desk that I noticed the note, small and white with letters in vivid red.

Death becomes you.


~tbc~

Photos: Quiet rocker, part III

Photos: Quiet rocker, part II

Artsy shot: Blur

Photos: Quiet rocker

Photos: Dark

Artsy shot: Pink focus

Photos: Looking up

Fiction: Yellow Flowers and a Bag of Bones

Chapter fourteen: The walk in the park

NaDa’s parting words didn’t help me much. Considering the amount of people I had talked to, both online and offline, especially recently, it was damn near impossible to figure out just who he might be. I was fairly sure he wasn’t Rei, or Dakota, but that was about it. He probably wasn’t any of the girls I had met – he had stated firmly more than once that he wasn’t a girl, after all.

I went for a walk in the early morning hours to clear my head, trying to sort things out. There was too much going on, and the stress was starting to affect my ability to think clearly. Usually I didn’t have any problems with reaching logical conclusions, but this time I was emotionally involved, and apparently, I had been avoiding that up until now for a good reason.

There wasn’t a lot of people around this early in the morning, though as I reached the park there were a few more, as always. I knew why the park was so popular, but I wasn’t here for any of that, even if I got a few offers. I didn’t have the money, or the inclination to take any of the petite boys and girls up on their offers.

For the most part, I hardly looked around me as I walked, breathing in the crisp air and listening to the faint buzz of conversations. However, when I caught sight of a pale woman up by some trees ahead of me, I focused – I had seen that woman before.

Dakota. Even in the near darkness, I was sure of it. Her image had haunted my mind for so long that I was sure I would never forget what she looked like.

Unlike the last time I saw her, I didn’t call out, and instead I approached her quietly. Maybe it would be mean to actually scare the girl, but at least this way I’d be sure that she didn’t have the chance to run away from me. “D-dakota,” I said quietly, and closed my hand around her arm seconds later to prevent her from bolting away.

She had apparently been sleeping, leaned against the tree, because she flinched violently and tried to pull away from me. “Let go,” she hissed, struggling. She was far stronger than I had anticipated, and I nearly lost my grip on her; I had to use both hands to be able to keep holding on. Even then, it was too difficult.

“S-stop, I just w-want to t-talk, I’m not g-going to h-hurt you,” I said, trying to calm her down before she really did manage to free herself.

“I know that, but they will hurt me,” she replied, looking around her as if she expected someone to magically swoop in and beat her up, despite the fact that we were quite alone.

“We-re a-alone, so c-calm down,” I tried, but it didn’t work all that well. Apparently I wasn’t good at calming down hysterical women. Not exactly a huge shock to me, either, but right now it would have come in handy to be able to say and do the right things. “You’ll a-attract more a-attention if you k-keep doing that.”

It worked. Dakota froze and looked around her again with wide eyes, scanning the slight hill down to the pathway. Even if she stood still now, her breathing was quick and scared, and even if I was just holding her wrists, I could tell that she was incredibly tense. This woman was terrified, and I honestly had no idea why.

“Can w-w talk?” I asked quietly, trying to urge her to get in behind the trees so that we wouldn’t be visible from the pathway around the small lake.

Dakota hesitated, but then nodded and followed me, sitting down on the ground with her back against the tree. I followed her example, sitting close to her, but not too close. I looked at her, at the pale face and the features that became more visible as the day grew brighter. She looked exactly like I remembered her, except that she was – if possible – even paler, and that she looked tired, cold, hungry and afraid. Somehow, she reminded me of Rei – they both seemed to be strays, without anywhere they belonged in the world. Much like me, I thought, except that whereas they were uncomfortable with their status as strays, I was perfectly happy with living that way.

“W-who are you? W-why do you k-keep disappearing? W-who will h-hurt you?” I had a dozen questions, at least, but I couldn’t very well ask them all at the same time. Judging by the reluctant look on her face, I wasn’t even sure if I would get answers to any of my questions. “Y-you can trust m-me,” I ensured her, trying to look as trustworthy as possible.

Dakota glanced over at me, and there was a shadow of a smile on her lips. “It’s not you I’m afraid of. It’s the ones that don’t like the idea of anyone close to you who I don’t want to piss off,” she sighed, picking at the grass between us.

“T-tell me w-what’s going on, p-please. I d-don’t like b-being clueless.”

She sighed again, apparently not liking the idea of talking to me. I wasn’t sure just when I had become that dangerous for girls to talk to, but it was kind of annoying. Trying to gain some of her trust, I reached out and took her hand – it was one of the first times in my life that I took the initiative to touch someone else, particularly a girl. Somehow it seemed a lot easier with her than with Maria. I wondered if I should feel guilty about that, but came to the conclusion that holding someone’s hand for comfort was hardly breaking any rules.

“You already know who I am. We’ve met before, remember,” she started, still very reluctantly.

I smiled, giving her hand a little squeeze. “I j-just know y-your name. That’s a-all.”

“And that’s all you should know. But if you must know, I’m a singer at a nightclub during the night, and I do as little as possible during the day. I’m not very interesting.”

“I t-think you are. T-tell me more, w-why did y-you disappear?”

Dakota glanced around, still seeming far too scared. “When I saw you outside of Ixero, I already knew who you were. I’ve noticed you before, in other places, but I’ve never dared talking to you. The disappearance… That wasn’t my doing. There is someone who won’t accept it if you get close to girls.”

I frowned, wondering if my hunches could possibly be true. “T-the Four S-sisters?”

She nodded. “Just one of them, but yeah. I was expelled, and given a warning that if I ever got caught talking to you, I’d be punished, and not just in Tagetes.”

“B-but… How c-can they h-have the power to h-hurt you outside of Tagetes?” I asked, more than a little bewildered. It seemed like this was far bigger than I had originally thought. Maybe I had been underestimating The Four Sisters.

Dakota sighed and pulled her hand away from mine, getting to her feet again, as if she didn’t dare staying too long in the same place. “I don’t know, but they do. I lost my job and my apartment all in one week, and my puppy---”

Her voice broke and she shook her head; I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear the rest of that sentence. Instead I got up as well and took her hand again as we started walking around the small lake. “Y-you could c-come live w-with me,” I suggested, not even knowing where the courage to say something like that came from. It wasn’t as if my apartment was really girl friendly, and I had a feeling that Maria would definitely object to it if I suddenly told her that I was living with another girl. But somehow, I hardly even thought about Maria right now – I was too focused on Dakota to think about the girl who was supposedly my girlfriend.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea, but thank you,” Dakota replied, lowering her head slightly so that her hair fell in front of her face, hiding her from my view.

For a while, we walked in silence, and I watched as the sky turned from dark blue to light blue, breaking in yellow and orange as the sun rose, bathing the park in light and warmth. Most of the seedy individuals disappeared gradually, and instead the park was filled up with teenagers holding hands and families eating breakfast outside. It was idyllic. Perfect.

“I r-really like you,” I said suddenly, not even knowing where the words came from. They were true, however – there was something that pulled me towards Dakota. Ever since I met her, she had been like a song on constant playback, coming back to me again and again. It wasn’t an infatuation, like with Maria, a distant admiration that grew over time. No, this was unlike anything I had felt before.

Dakota turned her head to look at me, and slowed her pace, almost stopping. “I really like you too,” she replied, smiling faintly. “I wish I didn’t like you, it would make my life a lot easier, but I can’t choose this. Especially not if you like me too.”

We stopped altogether and I looked into her violently pink eyes, seeming even more intense by how much eyeliner and eye shadow she was wearing. She was still far from beautiful, but I wanted her nonetheless, and still without knowing where I got the courage from, I closed the slight distance between us and kissed her. Dakota tensed slightly, probably from fear that someone would see, but then I could feel that she smiled.

I didn’t have much experience with kissing girls, and I was pretty sure that I wasn’t particularly good, but it didn’t seem to matter. I was kissing her, and even if it was too dry and too clumsy, it still felt better than any other kiss I could remember having in the past.

When we broke apart, my arm was around Dakota’s waist and her arms were linked behind my neck, her fingers toying with my hair. I smiled at her, slightly bashfully, and got a soft laughter in return. “This won’t be easy,” she said, but I couldn’t understand what she meant. I was lost in her closeness, not registering anything or anyone around us.

I felt stupid, but I couldn’t help it. I had always seen myself as too cynical and logical to be blindsided by romance, but this girl…

This girl.

Quite frankly, I didn’t want to say goodbye to her – Dakota did have this habit of disappearing on me, after all, and I didn’t want to risk her disappearing again. I held her hand tightly and shook my head when she tried to pull away from me.

“I can’t stay with you, Kai. It’ll be too dangerous for both of us. I don’t know for sure, but I think that The Four Sisters might go to drastic lengths to get what they want.”

“B-but we’re not in Tagetes n-now, they c-can’t possibly k-know if we’re t-together,” I said eagerly, refusing to see reason. It hadn’t happened to me often, and I didn’t quite know what to do with it or how to deal with it.

Dakota laughed and kissed the corner of my mouth. “I know where you live, I’ll get in touch with you, I promise. I don’t want to lose you, and I certainly don’t want to disappear, but for now I think we both need to lay low. You don’t want The Four Sisters to mess your life up as well, do you?”

I sighed, but I had to admit that she was right. We couldn’t stay together, especially not if her problems were related to me, and The Four Sisters. I didn’t particularly want to, but after kissing her again, I let go of her. Dakota smiled sadly too me, whispered a “see you later” against my lips, and then she broke away from me and walked hastily out of the gate to the park and down the street.

I wished that she’d turn back to look at me, just once, but she didn’t.

“Well, f-fuck me,” I muttered to myself, and turned to walk back home. Suddenly that idea didn’t seem all that appealing anymore.

It was proving very difficult to think logically – all I could think about was Dakota and how she had felt, pressed close to me. How her lips felt against mine, how her smile made me smile, how intense her eyes were, how I wanted to run my fingers through her hair, how I wanted to hold her hand and walk through the park again, how she---

“Of course,” I said suddenly, so loudly that several people on the street turned their heads and looked at me. I didn’t care, for once, and turned around to head down a different direction, hurrying along.

It was so early that the police station hadn’t even opened for visitors yet, but I convinced them to let me in – there was no way in hell I was going to wait. I had to know if my hunch was right. Maybe I should have gone home and asked online, but I was far too impatient for that.

“Y-you’re him,” I said breathlessly, almost collapsing down onto the chair in front of Janson’s desk. I had walked so quickly that I was flushed and warm, despite the chilly morning.

Janson looked at me with a small smile, not saying anything for a while, waiting until I was able to actually breathe again. “Took you long enough. I had expected you to make the connection sooner.”

I almost felt offended, but now, looking back, the connection did seem to be fairly obvious. NaDa had said that the bones weren’t the point, the police station wasn’t the point – it was merely a clue. Just like saying that he had talked to me before. NaDa was Janson. The reason why I hadn’t deduced it before was probably because it seemed so utterly insane.

“Is it for r-real?” I asked, still having problems with believing it.

Janson nodded. “You bet it is. I was almost expecting you to get in touch with me sooner. You’re being more than a little ambitious, you know, it’s attracting a lot of attention in certain circles.”

It was difficult to find words, any words. On one hand, this could prove to be highly helpful to me, and I had to admit I loved the idea of the hacker most hunted by the police being a police officer himself, but on the other hand; wasn’t the fact that he was a police officer who knew exactly what I was up to a bad thing for me?

“It’s okay, I’m not going to arrest you or tell anyone about your identity,” Janson said calmly, as if he could read my mind. Though I supposed that my mind wasn’t all that difficult to read at the moment. “I normally wouldn’t tell anyone who I really am, but I have to admit, I like you. You’ve got more style than anyone I’ve seen in years.”

“M-more style?”

Janson grinned and poured us both a cup of coffee. I thought that maybe we shouldn’t be talking about these kinds of things in the middle of a police station, but on the other hand, maybe it was safer than talking about it anywhere else – nobody here would suspect that we talked about anything illegal.

“The majority of the hackers I’ve seen over the past ten years have mostly been crude. They don’t play, they don’t take their time. They’re not elegant or sophisticated. You, on the other hand, you take your time. You’re slow and methodical and careful. You want things to be done right, instead of just being done. I like that. It’s how I was when I was younger, and how I got to where I am now,” he said, taking small sips of his coffee. I wasn’t quite sure if the description fit me, but considering that it was so complimentary, I chose not to object.

“I’ve been watching you for a while,” Janson continued. “I know what you’re doing, though I don’t think you’ll be able to. So you were right in approaching me. I don’t think you can possibly do it all on your own. You’re attracting a bit too much attention for that, but I don’t think that’s your fault.”

“I k-know. The Four S-sisters have a p-personal interest in m-me. I d-don’t get w-why. D-do you know t-their identities?” I asked – maybe I should be more apprehensive about trusting Janson, but it seemed impossible not to trust him. I had admired him as NaDa for years and years, and I had liked Janson in person since the first time I met him.

He shook his head, sighing. “I’ve been trying to find that out for a long time, but they’re extremely good at covering their tracks. You’d think it would be possible to find at least one of them, but despite trying for months, I haven’t been able to. What I do know, however, is that The Four Sisters aren’t actually sisters.”

“T-they’re not?”

“As far as I’m aware, they’re not related at all. In fact, one of them is a man, not a woman. Though I guess that The Three Sisters and the Brother would be a bit too long.” Janson grinned, clearly knowing far more about this than I did. Probably not so strange; it seemed like he had been investigating it for a lot longer than me. “I’ve been able to find out their names in Tagetes, but not everyone use their real name, so it’s not much to go on, I’m afraid.”

I took a sip of my coffee, nodding almost absentmindedly. “O-one of them is C-chiyo-sama, r-right? And… J-jensen?”

Janson actually looked vaguely impressed. Maybe he hadn’t expected me to find out even that much. “You’re right. Chiyo-sama is the youngest, as far as I know, and the most spoiled. She has often acted out of her own selfish needs, no matter what the rest of them say. Jensen is the oldest, and quite possibly the richest, but he’s not in charge.”

“H-he’s not?”

“No, the one in charge is called sdfasd. She’s the second oldest, but definitely the one who makes all the decisions, good and bad. I’m fairly sure that she’s the one who founded Tagetes and came up with The Four Sisters in the first place. The last one is asdasdas. Compared to the three others she’s not really a force to be reckoned with. To me it seems like she’s just there to mediate when the three others argue. A motherly figure, you know?”

I nodded, trying to digest all this new information. It was funny how my days were monotone and boring for so long, and then they suddenly exploded with information and things that happened. “I’ll f-find out w-who they r-really are,” I said, and drained the rest of my cup before getting up.

Janson looked up at me with mild amusement. “You may be good, but you’re still young,” I remarked. “Don’t risk anything, don’t go poking around and get yourself caught. What makes you think that you’ll be able to find these things out when I haven’t been able to?”

“I h-have m-my methods,” I replied, giving him a wave before I walked out. I could hear him laugh even as I walked out the door.


~tbc~

Photos: Neon pink