The Fire Shadow

TAIGA

Taiga had been taught, ever since he was little, that staring at people was bad manners. Doing so while they ate, was doubly rude.

Still, he couldn't help but stare at the man in front of him as he gobbled down his fifth bowl of white rice. Ryuu, he had said his name was. When he had opened his assigned room's door to find him there, Taiga had for one moment, been scared to death. The man's head was shaved close to his scalp; both his ears were covered in an array of earrings and piercings, and his left nostril, his right eyebrow and his bottom lip were also pierced. There was a massive tattoo of an Oriental dragon in red and black covering all of his right arm, from shoulder to wrist, and Taiga could see another pattern inked in green and red climbing over the skin of his neck. Over his sleeveless shirt he was wearing stained black overalls, and heavy working boots.

Then he had smiled at him, and even though one of his front teeth was chipped, his face had suddenly taken on a much more friendly manner.

Now, after fifteen minutes —in which Taiga had eaten half a banana and Ryuu had gone through one greenish energy drink, one hot dog, two fried-eggs, one gooey colorful purée, four bowls of rice and Taiga's other half-banana— Taiga had discovered three more tattoos on Ryuu's body: a couple of cogs under his right ear, a fingerprint on the inside of his left wrist, and some strange symbols on the knuckles of his left hand. Taiga had also seen the glint of another piercing in his tongue.

Ryuu opened another can of the green-colored energy drink to wash down the last of the bowl of rice, and then sat back with a contented sigh.

"I was starvin'," he said, patting his stomach. "You sure you don't want something else?"

Taiga shook his head.

"Jeez, no wonder you're skinny," said Ryuu, taking another sip of his drink.

"It's a wonder you're not fat, though," answered Taiga, eyeing the pile of plates over the yellowish table.

Ryuu barked a laugh and shrugged, and then stood up from his chair and walked over to the counter behind of them. After introducing himself and having a small chat in his room, Ryuu had handed Taiga a cap and a cycling scarf. Once he had put them on, Ryuu had led him to a garage, where he had urged him to get in top of a motorbike.

During the drive, Taiga had clutched Ryuu's waist as hard as he could, the rumbling of the motorbike echoing in the underground tunnel.

"Where are we?" had asked Taiga, once they had walked out of another garage and into a narrow alley. lined by metal doors similar to the one that Ryuu was closing behind them.

They had walked out of the side alley and into a bustling street lined with restaurants with open doors and windows. The street smelled of food and was full of unintelligible chatter.

"Circle Three," had answered Ryuu. "Since it's lunchtime and the place is busy, people won't remember you even if the Executors come around here asking for you."

As Ryuu paid their lunch at the counter, Taiga looked around. It was a shabby cafeteria, similar to those he sometimes went to after school with Ted and Osamu. He heard the bleep of Ryuu's phone as the payment was made, and stood up to follow him out of the door.

"I wish they installed some of those fancy fingerprint systems they got in Circle Two and One here," said Ryuu, as they walked outside the establishment. "They say they're so much faster, and you don't need to introduce a secret number and all that."

People strolled by them, getting in and out of the small bars and restaurants, shouting at each other from one end of the street to another, smoking cigarettes and throwing them to the floor, not bothering to put them off. A noisy motorbike made its way through the crowded street, leaving behind a trail of black smoke. A middle-aged woman carrying a plastic bag bigger than herself bumped into Taiga and swore at him without even looking at him.