The Alias

Twenty Eight

Hello, sorry for the late update! My sister and I got jobs for the summer, and my sister has been sick for the past few weeks. We're trying our best, so please be patient with us. Thank you for reading, and enjoy this chapter!

Matsu and I argued all morning about going to headquarters, he desperately wanted me to stay home and rest, but I refused. After an incredibly long back and forth conversation, Matsu reluctantly gave in. We went to the drugstore across the street and spent about 3,295¥ on powders, foundations, and concealers to try and cover up the bruise on my nose, which had spread to cover not only my nose but under my eyes as well. Unfortunately, neither of us knew how makeup worked, so we ended up smearing it all over my face, washing it off, and repeating until we found one that looked at least presentable.

"There," Matsu mumbled as he dabbed the last bit of concealer on my face. He was sitting cross-legged in front of me, the way he had been sitting for over an hour, and his tongue was sticking slightly out in extreme focus. I started feeling uneasy.

"Does it look noticeable?" I asked nervously. The last thing I wanted was Soichiro causing a scene like yesterday. Matsu sat back and studied my face.

"It looks natural... but... also not?" he questioned. "Just don't get too close to anyone and you'll be fine. I think..."

***

I decided on the ride to headquarters that my best course of action would be to stay behind Matsu at every chance I got, so that's what I attempted to do. But it was becoming increasingly difficult as Misa tried to spark up a conversation with me. No matter how far behind Matsu I hid, she moved to face me, and I was getting extremely frustrated.

"I really need to teach you how to wear makeup, Akihito," she chimed, trying to be what she thought was friendly.

"No thanks, I'm fine," I muttered, trying to cover my face with my hair.

Misa stepped closer and leaned into my face, "You've really got it caked on there." She lifted her finger and wiped a bit of makeup off the bridge of my nose, causing me to violently flinch. She pulled back in surprise and gasped.

"Oh my god! Why is your nose purple?" She squealed. I panicked and hid my face behind Matsu's arm.

"Holy shit, it's really purple," Ide gawked, pushing Matsu away from me. I watched Soichiro's head whip around and look directly at my nose.

I hid my face from his view and lied, "I tripped and fell." Soichiro got off the couch and sped over to me, and I attempted to latch myself to Matsu's arm for protection, but he got to me quicker. Ripping me away from Matsu, Soichiro stared directly into my eyes.

"There is no way falling did this to you, Aki," he sneered. "Did Matsuda do this to you?"

"Oh my-No! Of course I didn't! H-how could you think that," Matsu squeaked, putting his hands up in defense. The three of us bickered for a good ten minutes, and as I was nearing my breaking point, I turned around and made my way to the rooftops.

I opened the door to the roof and was delighted to find myself in the middle of a downpour. Stepping into the rain, I immediately felt a small weight lift from my shoulders and I sighed. I knew coming back to headquarters was going to be difficult, but I never imagined it would be this difficult. I could easily handle Soichiro's anger towards me, but watching him berate Matsu was a bit too much for me to handle. Matsu didn't deserve all the pain I was putting him through. He was a good man with a big heart, and it killed me to listen to Soichiro blame him for all of my problems. I tried fighting back, I tried telling him that all of my problems were of my own making, but I could not get through to him. It was like going in circles, I repeated myself over and over again, but none of my words seemed to stick. He would just dismiss me like I was crazy, like Matsu had somehow planted these lies into me. I just couldn't take another minute of it.

I looked up at the cloudy, grey sky and sighed, closing my eyes. "Why am I such a fuck up?" I mumbled. The rain soaked my face and I used it to scrub the makeup off. The ends of my once black sleeves turned white, and my nose throbbed with each beat of my heart. My salty tears mixed with the cool rain, creating brackish streaks down my face and neck. My chest heaved, sending a shooting pain down my left rib, and I was hit with the realization that the gauze and ace bandage under my shirt were soaked. I cursed into the sky and staggered close to the edge of the roof. I looked down at the city below and felt an intense urge to jump, but immediately thought of Matsu. I swallowed hard and sat on the ledge. Resting my head on my knee, I stared vacantly out at the horizon and listened to the rain drops create an inconsistent melody on the various metal objects on the roof.

Suddenly, the door behind me slammed and I flinched, nearly falling over the ledge. "Ryuzaki, it's pouring out. Why can't you just wait for her to come back inside?" Light whined as their chains rattled on the ground, disturbing the music of the rain. I heard the crunching sound of four feet against the graveled roof approach me from behind.

The pebbles right next to me crunched, and I watched Ryuzaki crouch down in my peripheral vision. We sat in the rain silently for a few minutes before he finally cut through the calming rhythm of the rain. "What happened?" I stayed silent, feeling his eyes burn into the side of my head. "Who did that to you?" I ignored him further, entering the rotten caverns of my mind.

There is no doubt that I will be attacked again, most likely when I go to the library tonight. I also know Matsu is going to try to walk me to 'work' tonight, so I am going to have to prepare myself for another fight like this morning. Perhaps if I find out what this guy wanted, I can try and stop future attacks. In order to do that, however, I fear I'm going to have to meet my real parents.

An open hand holding a bag of Skittles slowly made its way into my field of vision and hovered over my left leg. "A sweet for your thoughts?" Ryuzaki asked. I picked up my head and put my right leg down. Pushing his arm out of the way, I stood up, brushed past Light, and went back inside.

I suppose I'll have to go to that club in Roppongi.