Paradise (MikaYuu)

54

(Mikaela)

"Hello, Raymond!" I waved cheerfully as my long time —frenemy, but with a little more violence mixed in, walked toward me.

He has wanted to meet somewhere public, probably guessing I already had some things figured out, so I humored his request and we met at a local cafe. Much more local to me than Ray could ever guess, but he'd only have to find out if things weren't working out for me... or if they work out perfectly.

"You sounded a lot less cheerful over the phone. I'm kinda surprised." He said.

"I like to think I'm a ball of sunshine. Why would that be surprising?" I knew why he thought it was surprising, but he didn't know that I knew that and I was about to rock his world.

"You're just usually a grump, didn't think today would be any different." He shrugged. I maintained eye contact with him long enough for his eyes to briefly shift away. Lying piece of shit. For the record, I was aware that I was also a lying piece of shit but this was different because he was lying to me.

"Right? Well," my smile became even friendlier, "are you sure it's not because you know a reason I might be angry? Because I can't seem to think of a single one."

"I-"

"Oh! Wait! Could you possibly be referring to the abduction of my partner?" I asked condescendingly.

"What?" He shot back, poison filling his voice in place of shock, "You were supposed to be watching him!"

"Ok, Mom," I smirked, "I'm genuinely upset with myself for not seeing the connection as soon as I figured out it was more than one person. It was you and Asher, wasn't it? Thinking about it logically, there's seemingly no link that makes sense, but after adding both you and Asher into the equation, the answer is so clear."

"What the fuck are you on?" He asked.

"A psychotic breakdown," I replied, "I don't do too well when people fucking take him away from me. He's too sweet for his own good, so he wouldn't tell me where Asher is, but you're going to. Aren't you? My guess is that if I find Asher I'll also find Yuu."

"I don't know what you're talking about! Why the fuck would I know where he is? The whole point was to get him away from me." He defended.

"No, it was to get him away from me," I informed him, "spreading misinformation is bad, it makes people not believe you. I know I don't," I scanned around the room, ready to see the horrified look once I drop the bomb, "I don't think they do either."

There it was, the pale, blood-drained look I was hoping for. His eyes flicked to the door and I reacted faster than he could, griping his arm down on the table, "Mikaela, I'm serious, I don't know anything!"

"Shh, I know, I know. Even if I did believe you, I still need you for one very important thing." I reached my free hand into my pocket without him noticing.

"What do you need me for?" He asked anxiously, two different colored eyes shifting back and forth, I could swear his eyes were vibrating.

"I need you," I gripped his arm tighter, making sure he couldn't move it too much while slowly readying my other hand, "to send a message." Before he had time to react, I slammed the blade through his ring finger.

His blood curdling scream relived all the tension in my body, the 'patrons', which were members of some of my less well renowned businesses, sat in absolute silence.

"Well then," I said as I wiped the blood off of the discarded limb, "you're bleeding quite a lot, there's napkins on the table, you should put pressure on it."

He did, still writhing in agony, "YOU'RE FUCKING INSANE!"

"Like I haven't heard that one before, unoriginal and uninspired," I sighed, "Anyway, be glad. If I didn't need you, I would've done much more. Now be a good puppy, and run along home. Make sure everyone there understands my priorities."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" He was shaking, trying desperately to grip the cloth over his wound, "I can't believe this is actually happening!"

"Really? I can. Yuu's been gone for 16 and a half hours. Normally, I wouldn't be this confrontational after less than a day, but somethings different about this. And because you asked so nicely, I'll tell you what!" He was huffing in his chair which I found incredibly fitting, "You're right, I was supposed to be watching him," I face palmed, "I was so distracted by all of the other things happening around me that I didn't protect the thing I was doing it all for! How fucking stupid am I?! Aren't I just the disappointment of the century?"

"I-I really don't know what you want me to say, man. This is not the time for a therapy session- oh my fuck. I know that you have your issues but this fucking weird," He was really staring to sweat, a lot, "if this is a sharing circle, I'm fe

"Ew, get out of here before you die or something." I gagged.

Ray did get up, and I knew exactly what he was thinking, because I was thinking it too: Things were going be worse than last time. I couldn't handle that, so rarely was I overwhelmed that I was shit at keeping face when I was.

My ears started to fill with static, my body felt numbed and my center of attention shifted, I felt like I was high out of my mind. I sat there for a good 30 seconds before finally getting up, feeling like I could take on anything.

"Alright," I clapped my hands, "fantastic job, everyone! Feel free to eat whatever you like, I'll foot the bill on this one. Your help was very much appreciated."

My hand was clenching and unclenching next to me, I wasn't particularly anxious, but something about me just felt off. I felt like if I looked in the mirror my reflection would do something I didn't. Like it wanted to switch places with me... I didn't want to switch places with it. Paranoia and anxiety were filling me to the point I felt they would run over, I needed to find Yuu.