(Wind Breaker) The Green Rose's Thorns

Part 48

"Qing? Hey, you alright?"

Qing was staring hard at the drink mix in her hand, head swimming in a sea of jumbled up thoughts. Kanji didn't get a response at all when he tried to get the girl's attention, on several occasions. She had been a mess all night, spilling drinks and tripping over her own two feet. The old man that frequented Ougi just smiled and quietly assured him that it was fine, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Qing?," Kanji placed a hand gently on her shoulder, startling her enough that she nearly stumbled backward. She blinked at him wide-eyed, then fumbled around for her notepad.

Sorry. I forgot the drink order. I'll get it ready, can you take it out?

"It was for him," Kanji pointed to another regular, watching the gears slowly click back into place for Qing. She quickly prepared the drink, handing it over to him and cursing herself for her clumsiness.

"Did something happen today?," the old man asked quietly. From her reaction, it was pretty obvious Qing had forgotten he was there entirely as well. She checked over her notes, to see if she had missed anything else, before turning to engage in a conversation with him.

You...I saw you this morning. -_-

"Ha, you're right. You're right. Sorry about that," he chuckled back. If anything, he was the one person in the bar tonight who knew full well what was on Qing's mind. At least, the part that was making her flush far easier than usual. There seemed to be something else there, too, that was bugging his favorite barmaid.

"Did something else happen?," he noted the hesitation when Qing took his empty glass, waiting patiently for both answer and refill.

Kanji's been...weird. And, well. There might be a bit of a gap in patrols for Bofurin, so I'm supposed to be asking him about ways to cover for it.

"Oh? Got yourself a little liaison role set up now do you?," the man beamed at her, but Qing felt anything but happy about her newest assignment. As luck would have it, or wouldn't, Kanji returned to his seat beside the old man for his five minute break.

"What's up?," he caught just a glimpse of Qing's note before she managed to turn the pad around. Qing's face fell even further, resigning herself to whatever fate awaited her within the next few minutes.

Furin's about to hit summer break. There may be some thinning out for patrols for a week or two. Would you be able to help fill in a little bit? Just in case something comes up.

"You're askin' me about Furin stuff? Last time Sakura did, he busy?," Kanji sounded a little disappointed. Qing shot him a look, and he corrected his course a little bit.

"Right. I guess we can spare one or two guys. It's during the day, right?"

Qing nodded, confirming that assumption to be correct. Kanji thought for a good bit, giving time for a drink to be made and slid in front of him.

"We can. How'd you end up gettin' roped into askin' though?," Kanji's eyes narrowed at Qing as he took a sip of his drink. His memory was still fuzzy, but he had the vaguest recollection of seeing Qing's doppelganger mixed in during the battle for the city a couple weeks prior. Qing had been pretty good at deflecting his attempts to question her on it, but her behavior tonight and that question gave him the in he needed to pressure her.

?

"Don't play dumb. You looked like you knew them the first time Tsubaki invited those first years out here, too," Kanji's deductive skills were playing in his favor for once, Qing shooting a pleading look briefly at the old man to his right before letting out a quiet huff.

Do we have to do this now?

"So you are hidin' something," Kanji celebrated a little early at his little victory. "So, how do you know them? Got a boyfriend over there after all? Sibling?"

"Ah, well you're warm," the old man chimed in. Qing shot him a dirty look as she held her pen to the pad in front of her, silencing him.

Classmates.

Qing looked away as she flashed that single-word note to her interviewer. Kanji nodded, then his eyes went wide and he spat out the drink he was about to swallow. Qing handed him a napkin to clean himself up with, grimacing at where the stray droplets landed on her arms. The old man just sat there laughing away as Kanji sputtered and choked on his own air.

"Isn't...ain't that an all guys' school?," Kanji finally got his question out. Qing wouldn't meet his gaze at all, face burning hot as he prayed for literally any excuse to get away from the conversation.

"So, that was you I saw then! But, you had way more tattoos. Wait, wait wait. You're...you're a-?!"

"You're a little slow on that one, boy," the old man patted Kanji's shoulder and stifled another laughing fit. Qing carefully dabbed the moisture from her skin, cursing herself for not getting a waterproof foundation after all for the coverup of her tattoos there. Kanji's face went through nearly the whole possible range of emotions as he processed all the information he had about the one standing in front of him, almost comically fast.

"Wait. But, you..with Shizuka..you little shit!," Kanji finally hit his normal idiotic presumptions and raised his voice. Qing's face went somewhat pale, flinching from the anger that was present there. She stared down, feeling a little ashamed and struggling to figure out how to explain away all the times she had helped Shizuka in the changing room. Tsubaki had, too, and Shizuka had helped her on more than one occasion with her outfits. There was a sort of silent understanding between the three, though that wouldn't be anywhere near a good enough explanation for Kanji's bitterly jealous fury.

"Kanji, boy," the old man placed a hand on the other's shoulder once more, speaking in a slightly hushed way. Qing glanced his way, but didn't lift her head at all. The old man cleared his throat, feeling a little bit bad that Qing's secret identity was spilled out like that.

"Qing...isn't into girls. So I wouldn't worry about that sort of thing."

"Wh-"

"They've got a boyfriend. Don't seem like the type to have multiple lovers. Following?," the old man released Kanji then and returned to his own drink. Kanji just blinked up at Qing, who stared ahead with equal exasperated shock. Her face was so red she looked ready to explode at any moment, either in a fiery supernova or into tears.