Reckless

15. Inked

Masaru arrived back to the house quickly from picking up the list of makeup I gave him. I argued with him to let me pay him back, but he insisted that Ran said not to worry about it. I eventually gave in and headed back to Rans room. He was still talking to Rindou so I took my time trying to cover up all the visible marks on my body. Thankfully I had chosen a long sleeve sweater yesterday, so my wrists were covered. I did a no-makeup makeup look once I looked like I hadn't been kidnapped. 

I searched Rans room for my purse and checked my phone. It was mostly just Happy New Year texts from all my friends. Hina and Emma sent a few messages to check up on me, so I let them know I was okay and left it at that. I don't know how much longer Ran and Rindou are going to be, so I laid down in Ran's bed and scrolled through my phone.

About two hours later Ran entered the room. "Sorry about that love. I didn't think it was going to take that long, so I cut it short once I got bored." He said sitting on the edge of the bed. He was only in sweatpants so I couldn't help but stare at his tattoos. Seeing them up close and sober made me want one. I scooted to the edge of the bed to be closer to him. "Do you and Rindou have matching tattoos?" I asked. Rindou was wearing a zip-up jacket with no shirt underneath earlier, so I was able to see that he was tattooed as well. Without staring to hard I was able to make out that they looked similar. "Yeah, we each have half of the designs. The snakes on the back and the spider on the front." He turned towards me so I could get a better look. I ran my fingers along the tattoo. "Love if you keep touching me like that, I may not be able to control myself." He smirked at me. I smirked back at him without stopping. "I want to get a tattoo."

"You do?" He looked at me in amazement. "Yeah, I've always thought about it, and I have a few ideas that I drew that I thought about getting." His smirk widened as he stood up. "Then let's go today. We can go to Rin and I's artist Aki. He's the best in all of Japan." I stared back at him in shock. Is he serious? "Ran I don't have the money for that. Don't I need an appointment too?" He put a finger under my chin and lifted my head. "I'm going to need you to stop worrying about money. If you want something, I'll get it for you. No arguments. And as far as an appointment, Aki will get you in. He's a good friend of ours." His tone was serious as he kissed me, then walked to the closet. "Do you have photos of your designs with you?" He shouted as he pulled a light grey sweatshirt on, not changing his black sweatpants. "Uh yeah they're somewhere on my phone." He was in front of me now with his hand held out. "Good. Pull them up on the ride over. Ready?" Still trying to process that he didn't think twice about paying for my tattoo, I took his hand and we headed out.

Ran drove as I scrolled through my phone looking for the designs, I made a while back. It was about a thirty-minute drive with traffic. "We're here." He said as we pulled into the back of a plaza. Ran parked the car and took us to a back door. This looked a little sketchy, but I had all my trust in Ran. Inside, to my surprise, was a very nice tattoo shop. The walls were covered in artwork. Four stations were set up throughout, each filled with an artist and a client. The buzzing sound of the tattoo machines and music filled the area. A receptionist sat up front at a nice desk. "Mr. Haitani what a pleasure to see you again." She said smiling at both of us. "Hey Nozomi. How busy is Aki?" She turned around to look at the artists. "I'm pretty sure he's almost done with this client and has another one right after. Not sure I can get you in today but can clear something up for you tomorrow." She started flipping through a book. "It won't be for me this time. You free tomorrow if today doesn't work love?" Ran asked looking at me. "Uh yeah I can be." I can't believe we are actually here. I know I should be nervous, but I'm actually thrilled at the thought of finally getting tattooed.

"Ran Haitani!" A man shouted from across the room, waving us over. Ran guided me by the small of my back over to the station. "Hey Aki." He said shaking the man's hand. "Man, it's been a while. Hope you and the brother have been doing good. Who is this beauty?" He said looking me over. "This is Kiyoko. She wants to get tattooed, so I thought I'd bring her here since you are the best." Akis smile took over his face. "Ran, you scare me when you're nice. Rindou is supposed to be the one throwing out the compliments." He joked, " What are you looking to get?" He questioned me. "This is something I designed a while back," I said showing him the picture on my phone. He looked it over shaking his head in approval. "Got yourself an artist I see," he said winking at Ran. "If you give me tonight to get it drawn out and ready, I can get you in first thing tomorrow morning." He said looking at Ran and me. I sent the photo to Aki and answered a few questions he had about it. Once we were done, we headed back out to the car.