(Wind Breaker) The Green Rose's Thorns

Part 45

"Excuse me, young man."

"Hm?"

Suo turned to see an older man, dressed in a casual suit, addressing him. He felt like the face was familiar but he couldn't quite place it. Someone he had seen recently maybe?

"I'm looking for someone. I believe you know them, they go by what was it..Aoi?," the man's innocent inquiry got a lot more suspicious when he fumbled the name. Suo's brow pinched together somewhat, a hardly tangible display of his rising suspicion. The old man seemed to pick up on that, hatching a new little scheme all on his own.

"They recommended a little cafe around here, but I seem to have gotten turned around. It had an odd name, Pothos was it?," he pressed on with his roundabout way of asking for a favor from the young boy he had stopped on the street in the early morning hours.

"He recommended it?," Suo cocked a brow at that. He was sure Aoi wanted to boost business, and well aware how far the boy was willing to go to get a little extra cash. Recommending a place to a stranger didn't really fit his usual behavior though.

"Do you know the way? Or not?," the old man glanced at a watch on his wrist. It was more a facade than anything, he was never pressed for time these days. Suo let out an uncharacteristically drained sigh and pointed down the street. He had already been heading that way, and at least for now the man didn't appear too dangerous.

"Sorry about that," the old man apologized as they walked, though Suo didn't really get why he did so.

"I saw you and Aoi at Ougi a couple weeks ago. I've helped the kid out here and there, so he told me about his other job. I wanted to see what kind of establishment he had settled down at," the man smiled under the brim of his wide hat while he explained.

"Ougi?," Suo thought aloud, trying to fit some pieces together. Aoi did work there, but didn't use that name on that side. He was at least able to figure out why the man might have been familiar, but another memory was clogging up that space in his head as he thought back to that day. Several, actually.

"Ah, my son runs it. Lets that Roppo kid run things during the day," the man grinned as he delivered that piece of information and watched the high schooler's face twist as he processed it all.

"So, you knew?," Suo asked about a certain elephant in the proverbial room then. Aoi was pretty careful about his day and night lives mixing, though there had been the occasional slip up recently.

"Knew what? That Qing isn't his real name?"

"That 'Qing' is..um," Suo for some reason faltered in his questioning as they rounded a corner onto a long stretch of road. Windchimes clamored overhead as they passed under the entrance of the shopping district. The man tagging along with him chuckled a little bit, then bowed his head somewhat apologetically.

"I know. Well, I wasn't one hundred percent sure. I knew his dad, before he went..south," the man's tone changed just at the end of what he said. Suo relaxed his shoulders, where the tension built up before he realized, and listened as the man talked the rest of the way to their destination.

"So, did you know Aoi from before?"

"No. His dad used to work at Ougi. Helped him open up a tattoo shop next door. But after our singer at the time got knocked up, the two of them ran off. I heard she didn't make it, but the kid did. Tried to go pull him back, but by the time I got there," the man shook his head. He recalled the dirty room inside that shack, the rose emblem fading out to rust on the door. The hum of the tattoo machine and the smell. The awful smell as he peeked inside and saw the man inside with lifeless eyes and an array of needles strewn about.

"Aoi was long gone by that point," the man finished off his explanation there. Suo paused at the Pothos' door, bracing himself for the possible reactions from Aoi. The man smiled up at him like he hadn't just delivered a horrific tale mere seconds before, so Suo opened the door and led him inside.

Kotoha greeted them both, in the middle of making a fresh cup of coffee. Sakura sat at the counter, joined by Aoi just one seat over. Aoi was still wearing the apron, but had his mask pulled down and hanging off the ear opposite the door. He glanced over, reaching up to pull the mask over his stuffed cheeks but letting it drop when he realized who had come in. He cocked a brow at Suo, who smiled sheepishly back.

"Why don't you join me for a little bit," the old man tugged at his unwitting companion's sleeve just then. Suo caved and indulged the request, giving up on his initial plans for the morning. He had been heading to Aoi's workplace, on a day he knew the boy would be there, with a very specific goal in mind. A goal he had been trying and failing to manage for two weeks since the big battle for the town and his failed attempt on the stairs that stormy day. Kotoha took their orders, sliding a cup of coffee in front of Suo as she did so. Then she slipped behind the counter, Aoi hopping from his stool and disappearing into the back to retrieve something for her. The old man watched Aoi closely, smiling to himself once he was out of sight.

"He really does have more tattoos," the man's eyes looked deeply troubled as he thought aloud for a moment. Suo let his curiosity get the better of him, a bit of Nirei rubbing off on him.

"I've been wondering. I've heard some things, as I'm sure you have. But isn't it a little strange that Aoi's dad never came looking for him? He hasn't been back there for at least a few years now, right?," Suo wanted to confirm something while he had the chance. He heard some more rumors from different members of Suzuri's gang, and none of it was pleasant. He also wanted to try and ease his own fears somewhat, if possible.

"He's passed on. Doubt anyone from that part of the kid's life will try to turn up, if they even remember him," the man picked up on the slightest twitches of Suo's facial features and offered what assurance he could. There was something more there as the boy's face relaxed, but he didn't pursue it.