Late, 1/1
[A/N: Just a drabble my brain came up with on my sick day...]
He was late but he didn’t let the thought bother him.
Saga’s gonna kill me.
He accelerated faster, weaving his way through the cars and traffic. In response to his risky behavior, sharp car horns rang through the air. He just smiled.
Come on, come on. I didn’t spend nearly half my college savings building you, you know!
Merging off the highway, his attention went to the decaying plot of land off to his left. There were no tall, glittering skyscrapers here. No, all there was left was chunks of dirtied marble with faded names. They couldn’t even be labeled as gravestones anymore. Humans didn’t use cemeteries anymore. Too much of a risk of creating another plague that had swept across the globe so many years ago.
Now we’re all burned. Just flimsy piles of ash with no distinction to each other except for names.
A small beep sounded directly in his ear, alerting him of an incoming call. While turning a sharp corner into a very notorious district of Tokyo called Higure, he pressed a button on his earpiece.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?” The voice was cool and calm, but he still caught a slight tone of annoyance beneath.
“On my way, Saga-chan.”
“Really, now? How far away?” Saga asked.
“Two minutes, I swear.” He answered, maneuvering his motorcycle down the main strip. Bright, flashing, candy-colored signs illuminated the streets. Groups of just-as-colorfully dressed people lined the sidewalks, shopping, partying and socializing the night away.
“You’d better be, Reita. Or I’ll hang you somewhere from that bloody noseband you wear so much.” Reita grinned.
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh yes, Reita, yes I would. Believe me, I would.”
“Is Tora already there?” Reita changed the subject abruptly. Not that he didn’t mind talking about different ways to torture himself…..
“Of course. He was here early! Why can’t you do that?”
“Because,” Reita grinned. “I’m too awesome to show up early.” He turned down a dark alley in between a loud, roaring nightclub called Ellipse and a quieter bar.
“Took you long enough to get here!” A familiar voice called. Reita turned his motorcycle off and pulled off his helmet.
“Oh don’t get your panties in a bunch. I’m here and that’s all that matters.” He ended the call once Saga shot him a very unnecessary glare.
“Come on. We’ve got business to tend to.” Saga walked over and grabbed Reita by the collar of his leather jacket and pulled him inside the bar.
It was nearly empty except for the bartender and a few men gathered around a pool table.
“God, what got lodged up your-” He was cut off mid-insult by someone calling his name.
“Reita!” The blonde’s attention went to the owner of the voice.
“Aw, fuck me sideways and call me a whore. You failed to let me know that Hiroto was also going to be here!” Saga released Reita’s collar and he adjusted his jacket.
“Most of us are here. We’ve got business to tend to, I told you.” They approached the pool table. Hiroto broke away from the group to greet Reita. Saga took his place next to the, Reita presumed, recently-turned-brunette Byou.
“Hey, long time no see.” Hiroto clapped him on the back and smiled. “Still pissing Saga off I see.”
“Of course. I live for it.” Reita had no dislike for Hiroto; it was the fact that he sort of got on Reita’s nerves from time to time.
“So, you missed a bit. Tora and Byou are laying out the plans for the next attack. It seems Feather hasn’t learned to amp up security yet.” Hiroto summarized, eyeing Byou. The brunette was leaning over a blueprint, running his finger through possible enter and exit points.
“Something up with Byou? You keep staring at him.” Reita muttered, pulling Hiroto over to the bar with him. He ordered a beer for himself while Hiroto passed on a drink.
“Yeah. Ever since Yuuto dropped off the map, Byou suddenly changed. Actually, all of his group changed.” Hiroto said quietly.
“That was a while ago but I see what you mean.”
“Reita, come here.” Byou called him over to the table. Reita rolled his eyes and took his drink with him.
He probably heard us talking about him.
“What?” The blonde asked, letting some of his annoyance slip. He wedged himself between the mischievous looking Kazuki and Saga.
“I would appreciate it if you didn’t talk about me.” Byou’s stare was piercing but Reita’s eyes were on the blueprint.
“You know it wasn’t anything bad if you heard. Don’t worry yourself.” He replied. A slight smirk appeared on his lips. “So, how’s Yuuto?”
There was a small gasp at his side from Saga. The room went more quiet than it was before. The blonde braced himself for Byou’s biting remark.
“I wouldn’t know. He hasn’t contacted me recently.” Byou didn’t look pissed at all. He actually looked…
Bored.
“Okay, can we get on with this? I want to go home.” Jin groaned from the other end of the pool table.
“Anyway, as I was saying, we should contact Takeru and Omi. We should see where they are with this before continuing.” Tora said. “But odds are, we could literally walk in through the front door. I heard that Feather’s having a corporate gala event soon and our inside man-”
“Girl, you mean.” Kazuki corrected, grinning. Tora shot him a look.
“Whatever. And V could get us invited somehow. Or at least one of us to let the others in.” He continued.
“I heard Takeru just made it off with a painting worth millions. He’s probably in hiding until the news coverage blows over.” Saga interjected.
“Hiding? Why would he need to be in hiding? He didn’t leave any fingerprints at the scene at all and he’ll sell that painting with little problems.” Tora commented.
“It’s still Takeru we’re talking about here. He likes to make sure. Omi should be fairly easy to contact. Last I heard, her group stole around 300 new guns from the Razor Corporation.” Byou commented, folding his arms over his chest.
“Well, isn’t she preparing for something.” Reita muttered.
“Omi’s always been one for heavy artillery. Don’t know where she keeps it though.” Kazuki said.
“Probably with her family. Her father runs the only logical company nowadays.” Byou said. “Still, I agree with Reita.”
“Everyone seems to agree with Reita.” Tora grumbled.
“That’s because I know how to really analyze things.” A grin broke over his face.
“Analyze? You can’t even get here on time!” Saga pointed out. Reita shrugged and finished off his beer. Reita glanced at the watch on Tora’s wrist. 7:45.
Great. Kai’s going to strangle me.
“Speaking of time, I need to go.” He was halfway towards the door.
“Reita!” The blonde didn’t even turn back to realize it was Hiroto following him. “Where are you going?!”
“Gotta go talk to Aoi and Kai. They might be useful for the next break-in!” Reita exclaimed. It was half true. He was going to see his old friends but not for the benefit of his Resistance buddies.
“Aoi?! But-” The rest of Hiroto’s sentence was drowned out by the engine of Reita’s motorcycle. Hiroto watched the taillight disappear in to the night.
He’s probably late again.