A Lovely Shade of Red ~ Mikoto Suoh

Chapter 12

Fang's POV

                Fushimi wanted to me to find out who Mikoto had following me. Asking Mikoto would get me nowhere. I have no desire to speak with him since the conversation we had the other day. There's only one other person I could possibly ask. I just hope that he'll be straightforward with me.

                Walking to Homra bar didn't take long at all. As soon as I walked in Izumo caught my eye. He was standing behind the bar smoking. I walked up to him leaning across the bar.

        "Izumo my friend," I chimed, "I have a favor."

        "Oh really now what would that be?" he questioned.

        "Mikoto and you are great friends," I began, "so you must know who he has following me."

        Yes I do," he replied, "but sadly I can't-"

        "It's Yata," Tatara said cutting off Izumo.

                Izumo glared over to him without saying a word. The look Izumo gave him spoke enough words as is. "Dumbass. You weren't supposed to say anything," Is what I can imagine him saying with a sigh and a groan.

                I turned away from Izumo while went back to smoking. The smoke from his cigarette

clouding his face as I turned away.

        "So, Tatara," I said while slamming my hand onto the part of the bar he was at.

        "Hey! Watch the bar!" Izumo snapped as he smoked. I ignored him.

        "So it's Yata following me? Why?" I asked while leaning into him.

        "Oh- uh about that. I uh made a mistake. See, Yata and I were just playing a game and I thought you were playing to," Tatara said with a nervous look on his face. His hand waving back and forth trying to defuse the situation.

        "Uh huh. So what game was it?"

        "Uh..Hide and seek?" He let the seek trail off into a question. He's obviously lying.

        "So why is Mikoto having him follow me?"

        "I..I don't know. I just know it's him." Tatara looked defeated. He knew he messed up.

        "Thanks Tatara. No hard feelings, right?" I said smiling.

        "Yeah. I just hope Mikoto doesn't kill me for this."

        "Good luck with that," I replied.

                I walked out of the bar. The early morning sun was being blocked out by the sun. It was a cool morning. I looked around me. I know if Mikoto really did tell Yata to follow me he'd be close by. I started moving down the street. If I keep walking he'll show up eventually. I walked a few more meters and suddenly spun around. Nothing. I know I'll catch him. I walked down the street a bit more. A crowd of people began crossing the street at the same time I did. Perfect cover. Using the crowd to my advantage, I quickly spun around again. Just out of the corner of my eye I caught him. Got him.

                He hid behind a corner, thinking I didn't catch him. I stopped in the crowd and switched directions, now heading towards him. He wasn't peaking around. I stood right beside him just out of view around the corner.

        "Hey Misaki, what are you doing here?" I called out, lowering the tone of my voice to mask myself.

        "Who the hell just called me Misaki?" He said while spinning around the corner. His eyes caught mine and he nearly fell over backing up.

        "Hey" I replied.

        "O-oh uh Fang. Hey there. I didn't see you." He said while tripping over every word. He's nervous. Was it because I caught him? Or is it something else...

        "So, Misaki."

        "It's Yata..." He said while barely looking up at me.

        "Oh, Yata. My bad," I said using the most seductive voice I could muster up.

        "Y-yeah.." His face was as red as a tomato. So it's because I'm a girl. I wonder if I can use that to my advantage more. I leaned in close to him, letting my shirt fall just a bit extra.

        "So, Yata...Why did Mikoto have you follow me?" I asked.

        "Oh-uh he didn't. Why would you think that?" Yata replied while looking away. His face only got brighter.

        "Yata, We both know he is. So why don't you make it easy for the both of us and we can be on our separate ways," I sad with a bit more force behind it. He tried backing up but he was already at the wall. His grip on his skateboard tightened and his hand felt the cement wall as if he was trying to find an escape.

        "He made me do it!" Yata blurted out.

        "He said you'd get yourself hurt!"

        "I didn't really want to do it. It's not like I was stalking you like a pervert or something. I was just making sure you were okay for him. I swear that's all it was!" He slid from under my arm and started to back away.

        "I'll stop, I swear it,"

        "Yeah, you will stop," I replied

        "Oh, and tell Mikoto not to have anyone else follow me,"

        "Got it! No-no more following!"

                Yata quickly turned his back towards me and jumped on his skateboard. He quickly rode away not looking back a single time. So, that's who Mikoto had follow me? He'll have to do better. I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Fushimi's number.

        "I found who was following me," I told him. No hellos or any greeting.

        "Yeah? Who was it?" He asked.

        "It was Yata,"

        "Who?" He questioned.

        "Oh, Misaki," I could hear Fushimi laughing in the background.

        "Good work Fang" Was that actual joy I can hear in his voice?

        "I'd start using that information I provided if I were you," Fushimi started speaking more seriously now.

        "I don't know how long it'll be useful. But more importantly now that you can catch the people following you, I need you to do some real work for me."

        "What do you want me to do?" I asked him.

        "First, I want you to find out the extent of the relationship Seri and Izumo have."

        "Reisi's bitch?"

        "The one and only," He said.

        "I need to know the type of information they share with each other. More importantly I need to know if I'm ever mentioned. I need to see the whole board before I make my next move."

        "What is this, chess?" I said annoyed. This dude really is creepy.

        "It's just a metaphor. Figure it out and report back. Don't take too long." He hung up as soon as he finished. What does he actually want? Because there's no way This is all of it. I'll have to be careful with him. I can't rely on him too much. I need to go home and use the information he provided me.