I was looking at the young woman waiting for me under the unbudding sakura trees. She was sitting down at the bottom of the stairs that led to the old temple that served as Shiwazaki sensei's dojo and house. She was anxiously looking at her phone.
I watched it like I would watch a painting, a strange feeling growing inside me. I could almost see what it would look like with the pinks blossoms falling from the trees.
She looked up, anguish filling her eyes.
And the painting suddenly breathed life as she stood.
« Sias ? Are you alright ? » Frei asked me.
« Yup, a bit tired and anxious at the idea of getting all our stuff up this hill. » I answered calmly, showing all the bagage I had had to move from subway to subway.
« I mean, dad told me somtehing had happened in the hotel we were staying at. I looked at your message and tried to contact you, but you didn't answer. » She watched me closely. « What's all this on your clothes ? »
If I told her the truth she wouldn't be worried, she would be furious.
« You tried to contact me ? » I looked at my phone, trying to dodge the subject, and saw multiple phone calls I had missed. I didn't notice them, my ears were still ringing a bit.
« Sorry, I didn't hear them. What happened at our hotel ? » I asked innocently.
« An explosion, they said they found a dead man in an appartement. You want me to believe you were not involved in this at all ? »
I grimaced. I hated lying.
There was a long silence. I was pondering what it would mean to hide the truth. What it would mean to our relationship, our friendship.
But how could I ? In front of those eyes ?
I sighed for the hundreth time this month.
« It was one of the assassin. He won't bother us anymore. »
Frei took a step back.
« Did you... ? »
I stared at her.
« Do you really want me to answer that? »
That made her shut up. She thought for a while.
« I told you you should come with me ! »
« Yes, but I couldn't go away without showing were I was. They were going to go after my friends and my family. Now that I got their attention, they'll only go for me. I know how those people operate, you need to make them act out of emotions, whether it's anger, fear, or curiosity. Never let them think. »
As expected, she was getting angry.
« Did you EXPECT this to happen ? »
« I planned for it to happen ».
A gust of wind made my hair fly in front of me, something I wasn't used to, maybe I never will.
I cleared my vision, passing my fingers through my long hair.
I saw my friend change expressions multiple times.
It finally settled to calm, which was probably good news for me.
« You could have lied to me. »
I didn't see her point.
« Yes. » I simply stated.
Silence anew.
« Why didn't you involve me in your plan ? I'm supposed to be your bodyguard. »
YOU ARE READING
Swept Away
AksiAfter being subjected to a strange drug while on a language trip in Kyoto, Young adult Sias Jourdin is forced to go on the run, his semblance of a normal life reduced to nothing by the tremendous force of the wave called fate. Even worse than the se...
