The Sword of Darkness

12 "Friend"

Two days later Maverick had arrived back in Tokyo. He had one hand on the wheel. He glanced at the metal claw. At Silv. It had remained hidden since Maverick had arrived to Earth but Maverick could still tap into its ability. This thing, this creature if you wanted to call it that was just a weapon for destruction. A parting gift, but was it really a gift? It just made Maverick better at killing. He could never escape that fact about himself. He always felt like there two parts of him. As if, when he fought he was looking out from another person’s eyes. He could see and feel it but unable to direct his hands. Though he wasn’t ignorant, he knew Silv was behind this fact he just couldn’t explain how. Except this time Maverick overcame that tendency, at least sometimes.

 Maverick reached the Yakatski tower, a building that dwarfed everything by it. A valet, dressed in a suit similar to Maverick’s but less polished and expensive approached the car. He waited for Maverick to step out. Maverick wore only black slacks and a white buttoned long sleeved shirt that caressed his skin.  He left his coat in the back seat. He got out.  The Valet wore a fake smile for a mask and it was obvious to Maverick it wasn’t genuine. The Valet though continued to smile as he drove off in Maverick’s Bentley. He was then amongst a crowd of pedestrians in a stone plaza. There shoes clattered against the pavement and there indistinct voices created a swarming cacophony around Maverick.  Several strings of business men and women rubbed against him as they walked by to the point it felt like his clothes would turn to shreds like rubbing wet paper between your fingers.

 Maverick put his metal claw hand in his pocket carefully not wanting to tear the suit. He didn’t want the unnecessary attention the claw gave. With all the people in this place he still felt alone.

 Inside the main lobby there were fewer people but the rattling of shoes continued and echoed more. Maverick looked at the receptionist named kikkoku.  She was young with a silk like face, smooth and soft. Maverick wondered if it would feel like that if he touched it but he restrained himself. She had Black hair that shined with rays in the sun the same way Maverick’s metal claw did. She had all the curves in the right places; it was probably why she was hired. She was eye candy for the local businessmen to put them at ease before a meeting with the boss. And it worked, it made the anxiety that Maverick bottled up inside for the past two days fizzle away, leaving him feel at peace like a cloud on a soft breezy day. His walk became less rigid and he floated by and around people. He turned and waved and said “Thanks kikkoku.”

She only bowed her head and had more of a smirk than a genuine smile. But Maverick was too caught up in her splendor to notice such a little detail. It could have given away everything being planned. If, there was such a thing.

 There was a man waiting for the elevator. He was tapping his foot. Maverick noticed the top of his head and how his hair was beginning to thin and he wore a tan bomber jacket. There was a little steam trail rising past the Man’s shoulder that Maverick could see as he neared him. Both men now waited for the elevator. The little red dot dropped down from circle to circle.

 Maverick peered briefly as not to bring attention to himself. The man was not Japanese but American, Maverick almost knew everybody who worked in this building. This man had a cup of coffee in a bamboo tray he carried with both hands. The coffee didn’t have a lid and he could see the black liquid of energy. The man’s eyes were open but begged to be closed and dark crescents stacked below. This man needed his coffee. Maverick peeked again and noticed two cups. Then he noticed the little plate with three pink glazed doughnuts. The glaze, still warm, slipped down the rings on the plate. The aroma of cinnamon, chocolate filling and strawberry glaze embraced this small vicinity near the elevator. All that Maverick could think of was.

 “We have doughnuts?” Maverick whispered.

“Yes you do.” The newcomer smiled taking in a gigantic whiff.