Carried in by the Gentle Wind

CHAPTER 6

     Kazuha was having problems keeping his own breathing under check, but he had to pretend he was fine, if not for his, then for your sake. He noticed your concerned expression, and raised a finger to his lips. It would be bad if you called him by name, and vice versa. 

     "Um.... Miss. Why don't you go home now? It's pretty late, y'know."

     He gave you an apologetic look, while you sent him an odd stare, although you eventually decided to play along. It didn't matter that you met him that day, you knew you could trust him.. Even though he was acting a little strange at the moment. "Oh, you're right...?"

     "As much as I'd love to hang with you longer, I have to go to the office tomorrow... I have to wake up early y'see, and that's horrid if I stay up too late."

     "Ah, my apologies, I'll get going now."

     "Thanks. Oh yeah, Miss! Make sure to hand in your proposals before the deadline today.. we don't know what kinda mood Director Fu will be in."

     You internally cringed. You had no idea why this man was changing up his speech mannerisms, nor what he was going on about, but you took the hint and realized he wanted you to leave. And quick. So you waved goodbye, leaving Kazuha alone on the bench, who waved back rather painfully. You had no idea what changed in the past few minutes, but you only hoped it wasn't too serious.

     Kazuha wished he could explain the situation to you, but he knew he couldn't, if he wanted to resolve it. If he had told you that someone was there taking pictures of you, he knew that you could potentially have a mental breakdown like all those years ago. Then he would have had to take care of you, console you, while the photographer would run off scot free. So instead, he pretended he was an office worker, that you were his colleague, that you were an innocent civilian who wasn't Y/n, and definitely not the mysterious singer Stellis. That was the first step in making the culprit second guess their photo's subjects. The next would be to chase after them. So as soon as you started on your way back to your car, Kazuha's ears perked up, waiting for a certain, distinct sound. The soft rustling of the cool night's breeze overwhelmed him, and though he would rather drown in it peacefully, that would have to wait for another day. The light footsteps were you, and so he carefully tuned them out. That's not what he was looking for. An even softer set of four feet was heard scampering across the trees. No, that was but a squirrel out much too late. Hm. A heavy pair of hastened steps... that was it. Kazuha ran off into the direction that sound was coming from, but he soon realized that the footsteps had ceased. Whoever they were, they had boarded a vehicle, and could no longer be chased by feet.

     Skidding to a halt, Kazuha realized that if he didn't act quick, his and your faces might end up the unfortunate headlines for an obnoxious tabloid. His next best course of action was to hail a taxi from the main road, so he ran from the park to the nearest street, which was at least fifteen minutes from the bench. Hastily boarding the back of a waiting taxi, Kazuha grabbed the head rest of the passenger seat as he leaned forward, almost as if he were going to whisper into the driver's ear.

     "Yashiro Company, main office downtown, please." No point in chasing after the photographer. It's likely that they would have sent a soft copy to their coworkers.... It's probably best to prevent the spread instead.

     "That might take an hour or so from here, is that okay?"

     "Kind sir, it couldn't matter less... though faster would be preferable." 

     The taxi driver observed Kazuha's frenzied, panicked state, and his eyes crinkled as he smiled with a tinge of worry. 

    "Hm.. just so we're clear, young man, you didn't witness me driving recklessly, alright?" The driver stepped down hard on the accelerator, making a hard swerve to the left as he drove in frightening speeds down the dark roads.