(Wind Breaker) The Green Rose's Thorns

Part 2

"I'm looking for someone-"

"Didn't ask, don't care! Get off our turf, Eyepatch!"

Suo sighed, stepping out of the way of another wild swing. He was in Shishitoren territory for the third day in a row, looking for some strange kid at the behest of an even stranger highschooler. He took down the small group he was interrogating with relative ease, then started down the street.

He had hit several dead ends and false leads, at one point attempting to follow the blood trail just for it to disappear down a dark alleyway. No one there saw the kid, or would admit to it if they had. As he walked, Suo overheard all kinds of whispers and accusations from the locals. Nasty things about Aoi's supposed deeds around the city. Everyone he fought looked terrified at the mere mention of his name. Despite that, they refused to reveal any information without a fight. Either they hated the idea of a Furin-side kid poking around more, or there was an odd reverence for the kid's private life.

"Hey, Eyepatch!," someone called out to him from behind, sounding rather cheerful. It wasn't the response he had gotten so far, so Suo was a little surprised. He turned around and saw a small group of boys in orange jackets. The one who called out was short, with blonde hair and a bubbly look. Beside him was a much bigger boy, with odd round glasses and messy black hair.

"Me?," Suo pointed to himself.

"Yeah, you!," the blonde bounded over, bouncing all around as he spoke.

"You've been askin' around about Aoi, yeah? Why's that? You ain't from this side, lookin' for a fight with 'im? Revenge? Got a bone to pick? Hm?," he spouted out so many questions it would be hard for just about anyone to keep up.

"Tomiyama, slow down," the black-haired guy finally made his way over. His speech was way slower, almost comically so. Suo acknowledged him, keeping a soft smile on his face.

"So, which is it? Lookin' for a fight?," the slower one honed in on one line of questioning.

"Nope. Why, you his friends?," Suo took a shot in the dark. The way the other guys flinched and shuffled said they were anything but friends.

"Nope! Don't think Aoi has any, he's kinda crazy even for here. Oh! We're not gonna fight you for him or nothin'. Right, Kame?," the shorter one, Tomiyama threw out a ton of information just then. The taller guy with him nodded his head as if to agree with what the other declared. Suo recognized him from some rumors, Togame jo

"If you're lookin' for him, good luck. None of us know where he stays," Jo raised a hand as he grabbed the collar of the other boy's jacket. They started moving toward the group they were with before, Jo dragging Tomiyama along.

"Oh! Good luck with the fight too! You'll need it!," Tomiyama called out before breaking free and bounding into the group of boys.

"Excuse me, young man."

"Hm?," Suo let out a sigh as the others left him there. He turned his gaze down as something tugged at his sleeve. There was an older woman, all hunched over with a concerned look in her heavy eyes.

"You're looking for Aoi. Is it really for a fight?," the woman asked. She looked deeply worried, and gained Suo's curiosity.

"Not for a fight," he answered honestly, and the woman's features relaxed somewhat. She let go of him, and he felt something brush his palm.

"Good, good. Well, good luck then," the woman bowed and scurried off. Suo raised his hand, looking quizzically at the scrap of paper that had found its way there. It was folded up, and the writing on it was obviously scrawled in a hurry. It was a set of directions, though somewhat cryptic, that led Suo through winding roads and alleyways to a large building in a lot by itself. The grass was way overgrown, and the building looked awful. All the buildings in town were worse for wear, but this one looked like it had been abandoned for years. Vines completely overtook one side, and were threatening the other three. The old bricks were cracked and faded, and several windows were completely broken out. There was an old metal door, rusted out and screaming on its hinges as Suo pulled it open.

"Coming in," he called out softly to an empty entryway. There were rickety stairs leading up, caked with dust that piled up at the edges of the steps. Ahead was what appeared to be a hallway to some other area, but the floor was completely caved in and the walls were peeling and cracked. Suo could see that the dust on the steps had been disturbed in the middle, and near the battered railing in a few spots, and decided to try his luck there.

He tried and failed to snuff out several sneezes as he climbed up each set of stairs. Most of the rooms didn't even have doors anymore, and it was obvious that they were unoccupied. Some even had missing floors. He kept going up until the next set of steps looked completely undisturbed, then checked that floor's rooms one by one. He was just about to give up when he opened one door and saw the golden evening sun reflecting off a much less dusty wooden floor. There wasn't any response from inside when he opened the door, or when he stepped inside and onto the creakiest floorboard he had ever heard.

He pressed on, stepping more carefully to avoid falling through the old floor. There was no furniture, and the kitchenette was covered in dust. He stopped at what must have been a sitting room at one point, his mixed feelings of pity and dread reaching their peak. Right there, laying on the bare floor with only a jacket for a blanket, was the crumpled heap that was Aoi's form. The boy's long hair was a tangled mess, making it hard to tell which way the boy was even facing there on his side with a crumpled duffel bag as a pillow.