Green Eyed Dollar (Prince of Tennis)

Chapter VI: Problem-o

"You know those friends who stick by you even when you fall off the face of the earth? That. I was friends like that."

-Hanna

I stared back for a good minute, not believing who I was seeing. 

"Celty!!" I sprinted like a mad woman over to her. We collided in a bear hug with Celty squeezing the life out of me. But that's okay; this was just how she expressed herself.

"What are you doing here?!"

Celty began to type her response out on her phone. After a few seconds, she held the screen up to my face.

'Your brother asked me to deliver your cell.'

Celty reached back and opened her lock box. She handed me my phone with a portable battery attached to the end of it. She knew I would want to use my phone immediately and charged it for me. Bless her. She is too good to me.

"Thank you!" I told her, crushing her in another hug. I could hear the clacking as she began to type out her next question. When I pulled away, I was met with her screen once again.

'Not at all. What are you doing here? I saw you walking around downtown just a few days ago.'

I looked at her seriously for a few moments while deciding on my answer.

Should I tell her everything now? Or should I wait to tell her over chat? And how much can I tell her?

I trusted Celty with my life. She's saved mine plenty of times in the past. But even so, that doesn't mean I've always told her everything.

Telling her the truth wouldn't hurt, I'll just leave out the personal stuff.

For instance, it was getting harder for Kida and me to stay civil around the others. I needed to get away.

"Too many slashers and gangbangers," I said simply. "They said it was getting too dangerous." I threw in a shrug for extra measure.

'You know it's because he cares.'

I thought about it, and Celty was right. Ever since he started his job at the collection agency, I noticed he looked over his shoulder more often. The job meant more people would come looking for him so they would be able to put a face to their problems. It was easier to blame my brother instead of admitting they fucked their own lives over by borrowing more than they could pay back, or gambling it all away.

Celty, however, misread my silence as doubt.

'We all know you can handle yourself. He wouldn't send you away unless he was really worried.'

I gave her a small smile and turned my eyes to the ground. Ugh, it was kinda embarrassing.

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

I looked back up when I heard Celty rev her bike.

"You're going already?" I asked.

'Got another job to take care of,' she wrote. Celty looked at her screen and hesitated as she wrote out the next sentence.

'Some idiot thought it would be a good idea to steal guns from the Awakusu-kai. They've asked me to find them.'

I read her answer and gave her a nod. I told her once a long time ago that I considered the Awakusu-kai allies. One of the members approached me one day and asked me to go to a meeting with their boss. It was all really hush hush. I met him and he told me my godfather was one of their business partners. Surprised? Yes, most definitely. He called in a favor for the Awakusu-kai to look out for me.