Captured Dreams [Closed]

A flock of startled pigeons took to the skies as a dark gray shape raced by proceeded by a loud, deep drone that shook pedestrians to their bone. The sound of a large “sneeze” caused unsuspecting bystanders to jump – their eyes darting back and forth for the source of the offending noise. In the blink of an eye, the mysterious object disappeared around a sharp bend in the road accompanied by the squeal of high performance tires and a puff of smoke. The flock of pigeons returned to continue pecking at the bread crumbs left here and there on the sidewalk. Within a few seconds, all evidence of the invading offender had disappeared.

Seated comfortably behind the small, flat-bottomed steering wheel, a gunmetal haired man with shockingly purple eyes let his amusement show. Crinkles around his intense eyes conveyed a sense of humor and slight mirth. His mouth was covered by the high collar of a fashionable Armani Exchange jacket, its expression hidden to the outside world. With a flick of his wrist and a deft orchestrated movement of both feet, the young man shifted into a lower gear and blasted his way easily through another sharp turn in the bustling business sector of Karakura Town. With tires gripping effortlessly while working in sync with its track-tuned suspension and support braces, the car’s chassis rotated beautifully, bringing another show of joy to the man’s face as g-forces smashed his body into the full race bucket seat with a carbon kevlar backing and gel pads positioned strategically to cradle his body.

The 2.0 liter, 4-cylinder motor delivered a respectable 452 wheel horsepower and an impressive 430 lbs of torque – 300 of it at 3200 rpms. With forged internals and very aggressive cams, it wasn’t a high hp vehicle but it was purpose-built, constructed entirely for running at the track during time attack events. No expense had been spared in its transformation from potent track car to dominating full race monster. The owner was equally purpose-driven and while the car he drove was loud, rambunctious and a handful at times, he was rather cool and composed, drawing very little attention to himself. Quite often times, he flew right under the radar of those around him and that was the way he liked it.

Downshifting before sliding the shifter into neutral and coasting to a stop at a red light, Kage Kiyoshi scanned the sidewalk for a parking spot. Spotting one, he waited for the light to go green before he agilely slid the heavily modified Evolution X into the tight spot, leaving just enough space between the sidewalk and his car. Stepping out in front of the newspaper agency, he shielded his eyes against the midday sun and bit back a yawn. He paused for a moment, as if deep in thought, before shrugging and reaching back into his car to grab a manila folder filled with CD’s and USB’s loaded down with hundreds of processed and raw photographs that he had taken over the course of the charity event last night being held at the National Museum of History.

With an easy, laid-back swagger that belied the hidden animalistic movements underneath, Kage strode purposefully over to the entrance, ignoring the people in his way, pushing through a few of them without even apologizing or giving them a second glance. He was tired and a bit cranky and certainly did not feel like waiting for idiotic people who barred his passage and the shortest distance to the newspaper agency’s main door. Working his way through the revolving door, he slid into a line waiting to talk to the secretary so that he could be directed to the correct employee whom he would hand his photos over to.

This had been the first job Kiyoshi had received from this newspaper and as with any normal person, it was in his best interest to make a good impression. He certainly wasn’t about to just drop the photos off and take off. As much was he wanted to, Kage knew he had to suffer through this bullshit at least for the first few times so the editors would continue to send work his way. It wasn’t all bad, though. Unlike the majority of those employed, Kage was self-employed and enjoyed his work very much. He set his own hours, had no one else to share the profits with and could be as flexible as he wanted to. Plus, in his line of work, it was easy to make contacts in all sectors of business and those were sure to come in handy sooner rather than later.

“What the fuck is taking so long.” He grumbled unenthusiastically. Craning his neck to look over the shoulder of the woman in front of him, Kage grunted when he saw that it was almost his turn. “About damn time.”

Dressed in a pair of dark jeans held up by a dark brown leather belt, Kiyoshi shifted his weight from one white Converse sneakered foot to the other. An indigo-hued v-neck tee shirt similar to the color of his eyes covered a well-toned chest while a steel colored motorcycle jacket with black stripes down its sleeves kept him warm in the cool office building. The high upturned collar of the jacket made it difficult to observe any portion of his face below his nose and Kage used that to his advantage when conversing with others.

The fat, annoying woman in front of him was finally called forward. It was his turn next and his mind started to wander to other…spiritual thoughts as he waited for the secretary to signal him forward…

Filing papers, organizing schedules, taking phone calls, and directing stupid people to other stupid people. Doesn’t sound too bad right? Wrong. It was only her second week on the job and she already found herself hating her decision to work in this stuffy place. The constant noise of phones ringing, co-workers who couldn’t seem to shut up for ten seconds, and a boss who got pissed at her whether it was about the coffee she made (Heck, that crap wasn’t even in the job description!) or for letting people in while he was ‘busy’. In other words stuffing his face with a nearby chicken wing or watching some sports game on the TV he packed in his office. It was all she could do not to lose her temper while she entertained thoughts of burning the place down along with a few annoying co-workers.

Shoving those thoughts away, she decided that it simply wouldn’t do to end up on the news as a wanted arsonist. Besides, she needed the day job and in this was pretty much the only thing she was really qualified for at the moment.

Lifting a hand to her forehead to swipe a few mischievous strands of red hair out of her eyes, she shifted uncomfortably for a moment in her outfit consisting of a red sleeveless button up top, a small red skirt that came up to her mid thigh, and a pair of open-toe stilettos with multi-banded elastic ankle straps for a snug fit which were also red to match her hair; She somewhat regretted dressing this way but it was fun to tease the men in the office by wearing such an outfit; they actually believed she didn’t notice the looks they gave her from the day she started, including her pig of a boss. Pretty damn amusing to say the least and the most fun she’d get to have until she got off work. She had to resist the smile that threatened to appear on her features as one of said perverted men nearly fell back and out of his chair trying to get a good look at her legs underneath her desk as she crossed them smoothly and prepared to call up the next visitor.

“Next…” Namira drawled out for what seemed like the millionth time that day as a large woman approached her desk. “Good morning, Mrs.Takamoto” she let her false cheeriness be absorbed for a moment as the woman returned the greeting and stated her reasons for coming, “Ahh yes, right down the hall and to the right, the financial department should be able to take care of that easily. Have I nice day…” she finished in her mock happy tone and turned her gaze towards the next person in line.

Namira felt a strange feeling wash across her body as her emerald colored eyes locked onto the form of the man a short distance away from her, her brow scrunching up a bit and her eyes narrowing in the slightest as she felt something very familiar akin to static on one’s skin, something she immediately dismissed as just her imagination screwing with her senses. She hadn’t seen another of her kind ever since she left the main districts to live on her own, hollows dared not to mess with her at this point after one too many failed attempts to devour her and avoided her when possible, the quincy almost never frequented these parts of town and were a little more subtle with their spiritual energy, and as for the Soul Reapers and Arrancar…….

She hadn’t seen or heard from one of them ever since that fateful day 2 years ago now…

“Next…” she spoke finally after a moment, catching herself staring rudely instead of speaking. As she waited, suspicion continued to nag at her as she rested her cheek in her palm and watched, curious as to what this next visitor wanted. He certainly didn’t look like the type that visited local news paper buildings.

Kage resisted the urge to roll his eyes and tell that fat bitch in front of him to hurry the fuck up and get her lard ass out of the way. When the secretary inquired as to her reasons for visiting, the plump female inhaled visibly and launched into a long-winded, over-the-top, extraneous description of her day up to this point and why it was that she was here at the agency. The impatient Vaizard behind her furrowed his brow and let a quiet growl escape between his lips as his right foot began a slow, methodical tap tap tap against the tiled floor of the reception area. Kiyoshi never was known for his tolerance when it came to dealing with others. His oddly violet eyes noticeably darkened a shade and one could almost see storm clouds gathering over his spiky, messy gunmetal-colored hair.

Bored, the naturally inquisitive young man – or not so young if you accounted for his “actual” age – began a cursory sweep of the employees of the paper. There was the usual smattering of out of shape, jelly-eating columnists perched on wobbly office chairs with thinning gray hair accompanied by hyper, energetic twenty-something year olds that were vying for a promotion and a favorable repertoire with his or her boss. Old coffee cups piled half a dozen deep littered their desks while papers were scattered every which way. It was an organized type of chaos that only their respective owners could make any sense out of; Kage didn’t even bother to try and decipher it.

What really caught his eye however were the distracting expressions that most of the men wore. The furrow in his brow grew in size as he tracked their line of sight. It was a bit surprising, actually. Nearly every male, regardless of age, physical attributes and mental health had their beady little eyes fixated on the female secretary that was still currently listening to Ms. Lard ramble on and on about her issues, questions and complaints. What was their obsession with her? Wasn’t she just any other scantily clad women in a male-dominated work place? Intrigued, Kage figured he’d take a closer look at her.

Two things about her stuck out at him right away. One, she had flaming red hair that was at once exotic and sultry; it spoke of danger and mischievous nights beneath the sheets. And two…her entire outfit matched her hair color. The effect was overkill in Kiyoshi’s opinion. She was a secretary at a newspaper agency, not a runway model modeling the year’s latest fashion; though, he was sure she had the body to be a model. He inspected her from head to toe casually, neglecting to hide his probing stare.

At the end of his inspection, Kage shrugged and scratched his head in confusion. Were the men in here really that horny that they thought she was such a hot topic? Sure, she was a looker and it seemed as if she could eat you alive in bed – not necessarily a bad thing – but it wasn’t like she was a Victoria’s Secret model. Kiyoshi wasn’t impressed.

It seemed as if Ms. Fatty was finally done. Saying thank you and lumbering off awkwardly down the hallway the secretary had indicated, the woman left and it was Kage’s turn. As his gaze swept back over the secretary, his eyes widened and his lips curled in appreciation. Perhaps he had been too hasty in his physical assessment of her. Without the other woman blocking his view, Kage had a clear look at the secretary’s long, naked legs that disappeared seductively into a mid-thigh length skirt barely appropriate for the work place. With an imperceptible nod, he corrected his flawed opinion of her and admitted that she was a hot little thing.

Noticing that she herself was staring slightly at him, he cocked his head off to one side and glanced at her eyes, interested in the look they were giving him. It was then that a jolt of electricity seemed to shock his senses. There was a familiar feel surrounding her as if she was a long-lost family member. An aura of suspicion veiled both of their reactions towards the other. For a split second, it was as if they were experiencing a Mexican stand-off. Finally, the secretary called ‘next’ and Kage forced himself to focus on the task at hand and ignore her leggy sexiness.

Walking up to her, he indicated the manila folder held in his left hand with a slight nod of his head. He wasn’t being rude, he was just too lazy to do anything else. “Kage Kiyoshi…photographer. Here to drop off some raw and processed photos from the charity event at the National Museum of History last night. Your editor or some other big shot in your office called me early this morning telling me to get my ass down here with these. Where do I go…or who do I talk to?” He asked without preamble or any form of pleasantries. Direct and to the point, that was how he normally operated. It stemmed from his time as a Shinigami…and his occupation back then…

Keeping a straight face, Kiyoshi resisted the urge to ask why she looked like a tomato. He figured that wouldn’t go over to well with her. Still…she was a sexy tomato…if that made it any better.

Ok, now he knew why the line had been moving so slowly. This secretary was slow as molasses. She was sure taking her sweet ass time sitting on that sweet ass while deliberating on how to respond to him. Hell, did this chick do anything here other than act as eye candy for all the men – and perhaps, some of the women – to drool over? Kiyoshi wasn’t amused by her feminine charm or wit and if she thought he was another brainless testosterone-driven male then well, she would be right…just not today because today, he was having a shitty day and wanted to get the hell out of the building and get home to relax. Crossing his arms across his chest in a clearly impatient gesture, he leaned forward a bit, glancing down at her with a questioning look engraved irritably into his features.

Her only response was a short sigh before her hand shot out rapidly and stole the folder right out of his hands. Kage was a bit indignant. Who did she think she was anyways? If he thought this treatment was crass and she was acting like a bitch now, he was going to be in for a rude awakening. Without so much as a thank you or smile, the tomato-colored hooker sitting in front of him dumped the contents of his manila folder onto her desk unceremoniously then proceeded to wave him off as if he was a speck of dirt littering her skirt.

With a vicious grin hidden beneath his upturned collar, Kage bit back a biting retort and graciously took a seat in the lobby, lumped between a sneezing hag and spastic teen that, by the looks of it, had one too many coffees this morning. Mentally, he was sighing and wishing for days of the past. It had been so much easier then. He had been a Shinigami, assigned to the Executive Militia of the Onmitsukidō as one of several bodyguards to their Division Captain…Soifon. Everything was black and white back then. You knew who the enemy was, you knew who your allies were and you knew when you could kill someone. Glancing at the secretary seated at the desk, Kage frowned. These days…your enemy could be the pissed off store employee or a stuck-up female secretary with an amazingly tight body and…a crap attitude towards others.

The evil machinations running through his mind were put on a halt as he heard a few choice words that caught his attention. An eyebrow was arched and his eyes narrowed. So she thought all of his pictures were crap and garbage, huh? Was she fucking blind? Or just soft in the head? Didn’t she know that he was one of the best photographers around? Companies booked him far in advance to shoot for them. Female models sent him skimpy photos to try and entice him into capturing their beauty on film. Anyone that knew anything about media recognized his natural talent at working the lens and yea, he knew it and he flaunted it. He was a dick. He figured people would deal. It was almost inconceivable to him to meet a chick like this. What. The. Fuck. Man.

Trying not to stalk too menacingly over to her desk, Kiyoshi was ready to let the bitch have it when she smirked and began collecting her things, as if she was ready to leave. Seriously, what the hell was her deal? She insults him pretty much to his face then can’t even stay and man up to it? If he wasn’t in a public setting, Kage would have facepalmed right then and there. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Miss Tomato left and weaving her way through the small crowd in the lobby, disappeared into some room that looked like a break room for the newspaper agency. Rolling his eyes, Kage grabbed his folder, shooting the woman’s replacement a melting glare before turning and stomping away, muttering obscenities underneath his breath the whole way.

“Fuck this…I don’t need to deal with this bullshit. The editor can go to hell for hiring a bitch like that.” Kiyoshi was almost at his car when he thought to check the folder and make sure all of his CD’s and USB’s were still there. Opening the folder, he rummaged around and began counting the items. A dark shadow crossed his face as he realized that one was missing. Now that he was out of a public setting, he did facepalm. Shit. This meant he had to go back in. Thinking back to what had happened, he replayed the events slowly in his mind, backtracking until he got to the point where the secretary had slid a CD into her laptop and never took it back out before she took off for the sanctuary of the break room.

Bucking up, Kage stealthily made his way back into the lobby, snuck past the large crowd and finding the door she had gone through, checked the immediate perimeter for anyone eyeing him before slipping in undetected. Closing the door quietly behind her, he scanned the room. Round tables with matching chairs populated the room for the most part. Against one wall were two doorways that led into male and female restrooms. A line of vending machines for both snacks and drinks stood stoic guard against the opposite wall. Standing in front of one of the soda machines was little Miss Sunshine. Strolling up to her nonchalantly, Kiyoshi leaned against the wall and said softly, “I think you have something that belongs to me…and I could do without the attitude this time.”

Purple eyes rolled back into his head slightly. There was that damn aloof tone again. Usually, Kage had a pretty thick skin. He was the kind of guy that wouldn’t sweat the small things. Paltry insults and mocking tunes would be met with a withering stare and he would forget about them the instant his attention was focused elsewhere. It wasn’t that he was overconfident to a burgeoning degree; no, the rather appalling truth of the matter was that Kiyoshi figured most people in the world – whether living or not – were complete, fucking idiots. As Soifon-Taichou once put it, “Out of all of my useless subordinates, you are perhaps the least useless.” Sharing the same general viewpoint as his Captain, Kage truly despised others to a degree. He was a loner at heart, the lone cowboy that would sooner shoot his own partner dead then be forced to fight side by side with him or her. It was and always would be his personality.

So, it was surprise even to himself when he began to realize that this secretary – whom he still did not know the name of – was able to so effortlessly push his buttons. It was like she had a knack for chipping away at the kinks of his mental armor one little hammer strike at a time until she hit a sensitive nerve then proceeded to strum it to her own tune. Brushing aside the tendrils of unease that had begun to worm their way into his thoughts, Kiyoshi straightened up from his position at the wall and arched an eyebrow in question. Guess she really did forget about the CD, after all. If only she hadn’t been in such a hurry trying to get off of work…

“Yeah, I’m Kage.” Gesturing lazily with a hand towards her laptop bag, Kage responded in a cool, neutral tone that hid the annoyance he felt. “I’m missing one of my crap CDs. Seeing as how it’s filled with garbage, I don’t think you’ll want to keep it in your laptop.”

Fixating his gaze on her, the Vaizard studied the woman in front of him, not for her looks this time but instead, he was searching for something deeper that lurked unseen under the surface. Those feelings of edginess had returned again, signaling him that something about her was different…something was wrong. But there was no way she could be a Soul Reaper…there hadn’t been a sighting of one of those in nearly two years in Karakura Town; yet, it was doubtful she was an Arrancar as well. Their kind had even less reason to be residing in the world of the living and they sure as hell wouldn’t be working as a secretary at a place like this. The thought of her being a Quincy was out of the question which only left the final option, an option that Kage, for some reason, had trouble accepting.

His kind had scattered. Well, to be precise, the original core group had dissipated into nothingness after that day. They all just…disappeared. No one knew where they were and no one knew why it was that they simply vanished. To abandon the others like that…it was a decision that Kiyoshi couldn’t fathom and no matter how many times he went over it in his mind, he just could not rationalize his predecessors’ actions. In the two years since, he had made it a point to conceal himself after accepting his new…changes. For his kind, everyone was an enemy and no one was an ally. It was a lonely existence and Kage had never met another like him; though, he knew they were out there.

And now here he stood in front of a saucy, little thing that could be his link to his past and perhaps, an answer to his future. He sighed heavily. Too bad she was a bitch.

“Oh dear” Namira spoke after a moment, wincing slightly at the man’s mention of missing one of his “Crap CD’s”. So he had heard her hmm? Well, that was just dandy! To be honest, she’d expected never to see the guy again after she left and now look where she was: trapped between him and a Dollar-perfectionist soda machine. Flashing back in her memory to the last disk she inserted, she realized that he was right. She never did take the thing back out. Blinking in her realization and fumbling her bags a bit, Namira turned away for a moment and made her way over to one of the nearby tables in the break room and plopped her purse and her laptop over the top of it. Unzipping her laptop bag and pulling the notebook out, she turned it on just long enough to eject the disk case and retrieve the so called “Crap CD”.

Setting the CD in-between her lips for a moment to put her notebook away once more and gathering her belongings together again, she took the CD in her hand once more and turned to Kage, holding it out for him to take back. There was a strange look in his eye as he watched her, not the angry stare anymore but the kind of look that one gives while studying something…or someone. Gods that guy was intense, what the hell was up with him? Did she have something on her face?

“Eheh, well, here it is…sorry about that...” Namira said a bit sheepishly with a smirk and a bit of confliction going on within her. Part of her wanted to apologize for her earlier comments and the other wanted to simply forget about earlier and hurry home to eat and shower. She hated wasting time deliberating on crap, especially the kind of crap that had to deal with drama and ‘who hurt whose feelings or pride’ and all that other tiresome bullshit. She wasn’t exactly a people person but she was a woman of action dammit! Not some perky and emotional airhead.

Oh screw it. What did she have to lose by trying to make small amends? At least she could say she tried right?

“Listen…um….I just wanted to apo…” she began to apologize as her conscience took hold but unfortunately she was interrupted by a certain slave-driver of a boss.

“Crickets! Namira! I know it was you damn it!” A man’s shriek came from outside of the break room, immediately halting her words as she tensed up at the sound of her name before her lips curled into a mischievous smirk. Apparently her boss had finally opened his closet where he stored all of his little snacks.

The man had an inexplicable fear of crickets and she already knew his office would somehow become mysteriously infested with an insane amount of crickets from the bait store down the street. She even shook up their little plastic baggies and make sure they were extra hoppy. The thought of all those excited crickets crawling and jumping all over the man’s bare skin didn’t compensate her for the lost Christmas vacation but it was somewhat comforting.

“Um, well as I was saying, sorry about earlier bud” she spoke casually as she met Kages gaze once again with her smirk turning into a full-blown grin as another not-so-manly scream broke out from outside, “Later Mr.Kiyoshi” she spoke in her usual tone as she stepped outside of the break room and almost laughed at the sight before her: Her boss madly beating his clothes as though he was trying to put out an invisible fire of itching powder and three old women with cell phones out, busily snapping photos.

Her grin still in place, she made her way out of the building and towards the nearby bus stop bench to wait for a ride home. She’d never tried to invest in a car, not yet anyway, and took the bus from home to work and vice-versa. She was starting to regret her decision as she looked up at dark clouds that had gathered across the sky, biting back a curse and her lip as a small crackle of thunder could be heard.

“Oh geez…” Namira mumbled to herself as the first few drops of rain began to fall and the wind began to pick up, it was all she could do to hug her arms to herself as she slouched miserably. She didn’t think she’d need her coat when she first left the apartment in the morning since it was a bit sunny today but apparently mother nature liked to screw around with the weather, never minding the unsuspecting like herself. Perhaps this was a punishment for her earlier pranks and rude behavior?

Oh Karma, what a beautiful bitch.

Kage remained standing while the secretary focused her attention on retrieving his property from her laptop. While his outward expression hadn’t so much as deviated one millimeter from his usual intense look, inwardly he was breathing a sigh of relief. It would have been an understatement to say that Kiyoshi was surprised by the woman’s reaction. He’d fully expected her to contend the matter while tossing more blatantly obvious insults his way and when she went digging through her bag for her laptop in order to extract the CD, Kage covered his pleasant shock by turning his gaze towards the soda machine; all of a sudden, a Cherry Coke sounded like a good idea.

Before he had a chance to whip out his wallet and poke around for a dollar or some loose change, the fiery redhead was already presenting him with his CD. “Thanks.” He said simply while taking it from her and inserting it smoothly into his pant’s back pocket. The curious look returned to his face as he once again gave her a once over, still refusing to believe that she was just a normal human. There was something odd about her; he just knew it. With a mental shrug, he turned and was ready to leave when she stopped him in his tracks.

Already caught off guard by her cooperation the second time around, Kiyoshi nearly stumbled over himself when she opened her perky little mouth and began to apologize. Seriously, what the hell? First, she lets everyone within her office know that she thought his photos were crap and garbage. Apparently, there were so horrible that it wouldn’t even be worth her time to shoot them up the ladder to her boss. She hadn’t even wanted to pass the buck upstairs and now…this; an apology. And, to top it off with the proverbial cherry on top, it actually sounded pretty damn heartfelt. Not for the first time today, Kage felt like an idiot for judging a person too quickly.

Crossing his arms comfortably, he settled in, ready to milk this chick’s apology for all he could when, out of the blue, she was interrupted by a loud female-like shriek that scarily enough had been produced by a man. “What kind of guy makes a sound like that…” Kage mumbled inaudibly under his breath. The indigo pools set into his face suddenly lit up as he caught the female name uttered by the man outside the break room. Namira. So…that was her name. While this little piece of information didn’t come close to appeasing the growing curiosity he had about her, it was something. At least he didn’t have to refer to her as the tomato hooker anymore. Not that he didn’t want to since he found that nickname pretty amusing.

While the not-so-manly shriek had given him a name, it also killed any chance of a full-blown apology. Kiyoshi was disappointed when Namira resumed her normal tone and casually threw out a dime-store apology before disappearing out the break room door and into the crowded lobby. Staring at her back as the door closed on her form, he couldn’t help but admire her curvaceous figure momentarily as any normal, straight male was prone to do. “Meh…girls are just fucking trouble.” Stretching and yawning tremendously, he rubbed the sudden sleepiness from his eyes. “Shit, I might as well get some caffeine.”

Walking over to the machine that Namira was having trouble with earlier, he gave it a good whack with his hand before withdrawing a crisp dollar bill and inserting it into the receptacle. Glaring at the soda machine malevolently as if daring it to regurgitate his money, Kage hit the button for a Cherry Coke and tapped his foot impatiently while the machine rattled, clunked and churned to get him his soda. Grabbing the cool beverage when it was spit out, he was turning to go when he decided to grab another one for later tonight; he never kept much stuff in his fridge anyways. Electing for a Sprite this time, Kiyoshi left the break room much calmer than he had been when he’d first stalked in. Casting a quick look over his shoulder at the commotion that Namira had apparently caused, a small smile snuck its way sneakily onto his face.

Walking outside, he blinked in surprise. It seemed like the weather had gone and performed a one eighty. What had been a pleasant, slightly windy day earlier now seemed gloomy and downcast. Foreboding storm clouds gathered overhead, threatening to unleash an inconvenient storm should they feel like it. The sound of thunder crackling in the distance was oddly soothing to Kage and he nodded appreciatively at the change in weather. Maybe he could just go home and crash; he loved sleeping when it was raining and storming outside. For some reason, it just seemed soothing to wrap oneself in some thick blankets and knock the fuck out, oblivious to the world as the weather raged around them.

Stepping out from under the cover of the building, Kiyoshi strode purposefully to where he parked his car when a flash of red caught his eye. His head turned exactingly and surprise, surprise, there was Namira sitting on the bus stop bench, arms wrapped around herself as she slouched down. There was no mistaking the downright miserable expression on her face and the way her body tried to curl in on itself to hold out against the oncoming storm until her ride home arrived in the form of a public bus touched something within Kage. “I’m going to regret this…”

Hurrying across the street, he jumped into his car and warmed it up. Turning the heater up to a comfortable temperature, he shifted into first and eased into traffic. Driving down to the next traffic light, he made a u-turn and came back towards the newspaper building. Spotting the bus stop and the color of Namira’s clothing, he pulled up alongside of the bench and rolled down the passenger window. The can of Sprite went flying out the window towards her. Kage hadn’t even looked when he’d thrown it and just figured that she would have noticed his car pulling up. Not caring if it had hit her or if she had caught it, he looked over at Namira and said pointedly. “You suck at getting soda out of the machine. Hurry up, get in and tell me where to go. I don’t want to spend any more time with you than I have to.”

Unlocking the doors to his car, Kage wondered to himself what the hell he was doing. He had no obligation to this woman and as of fifteen minutes ago, he had despised her…to a degree. Of course, his motives were providing her transportation were two fold. While he really didn’t want to spend any time with her, the feelings he felt emanating off of her very being raised suspicion in the dark recesses of his mind. The trip home might just be the catalyst he needed to get some answers out of her and put his troubled mind at ease. There was of course, another reason he had caved and offered her a ride home. Those legs of her disappearing into that short mini-skirt was nothing short of pure sex…and he would love to see more of her…

Ok, what the fuck was taking her so long to decide. Holy fucking shit. With the window on his passenger side down, rain was starting to get into the car’s interior and he really did not want to ruin his bucket seats nor any of the electronics he had stuffed into his center console. He debated telling her to hurry the fuck up but resisted the urge to yell at her figuring it’d only make matters worse. The chick seemed to have a healthy dose of in-your-face attitude and Kage was in no mood to set off a female’s wrath; especially, with her in the car. That was just asking for trouble and a sure recipe for disaster. So, there was nothing he could do except sit, wait and try not to let the own storm clouds above his head darken his expression too much as he frowned in annoyance. Women were always a pain in the ass, especially the hot ones. Why the hell was he doing this again? The answer eluded him and Kiyoshi felt like kicking himself for trying to be the ‘nice guy’. It really wasn’t him.

With a sigh of relief, Kage watched as Little Red Riding Hood got her tight ass off the bus bench and walked over carefully towards his car. It was as if she was afraid to get in. It was obvious she didn’t trust him and could he really blame her? Hell, if the roles were reversed, he would be awfully suspicious as well and it only made matters worse that he was a male and she was a female…the stupid bitch probably thought he was going to try and rape her or something. God…why were women so damn difficult? You don’t give them what they want; they make your life miserable. You try and be a gentleman and help out and they look at you with suspicion in their eyes and one hand on an extra-large can of bear mace ready to fuck your shit up if you so much as laid a hand on them. Society had ingrained in them a need to distrust every guy. It didn’t matter who they were underneath…if you had a cock, you were a dick. What a load of bull.

As the door opened and Namira slid herself in, Kiyoshi winced with obvious pain. She’d creased the side bolsters of his bucket seats and her damp clothes weren’t doing his seat's fabric any favors. Still…he was a good boy and bit his tongue. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he had to get the seats reupholstered and this was a good chance to grill her about herself while she couldn’t leave. Before he had a chance to even open his mouth, though, his new passenger launched into a mini-tirade concerning the soda can he’d casually tossed at her. He rolled his eyes as she went on and on about his defects and then touched upon his collar. There was a dangerous glint to Kiyoshi’s eyes as Namira mentioned his habit of having upturned collars which he usually had covering the lower part of his face. Staring back into her own light blue eyes when she looked at him squarely, Kage’s simple response to her rant was, “Maybe you should just have better reflexes.” Turning away, he didn’t bother waiting for a response before he merged into the flow of traffic and accelerated the Evolution X briskly to the speed limit.

Hearing Namira tell him the address for her apartment complex, Kage punched it quickly into his navigation unit and began following the route guidance. He glanced over at her. His companion wasn’t all that bad, really. Maybe she was just having a bad day when she had first run into him earlier at the newspaper agency. After all, you couldn’t base a person’s entire personality on one chance encounter, now could you? An awkward silence fell between the two of them as they made their way closer to Namira’s stop. It was deafening. Even a cricket wouldn’t have dared to disturb the noiseless environment. Finally, Kage decided to man up and say something.

“Look…the soda was for you, you idiot. I saw you trying to get one earlier from the machine and I had one extra so I figured I’d give it to you.” He rolled his eyes again. “I just didn’t think that your reflexes were so shitty that you wouldn’t even be able to catch it.” He gestured towards the unopened Cherry Coke sitting in the cup holder between the two of them, right behind the shift boot. “If you still want a soda…you can go ahead and have that one. I haven’t opened it.” After that, he fell silent.

Minutes passed. The rain intensified along with the flashes of lightning and rumble of thunder. It was a bit nerve-racking to be perfectly honest. The atmosphere inside the car seemed to be just as lethally electric as the one outside. Turning onto Namira's street, Kiyoshi almost breathed a sigh of relief when he found her apartment block number. His plan to interrogate her had failed miserably and at this point, he wasn’t sure what to say so he just kept his mouth shut. The feelings that he’d had before about her were still there…the uncertainty and doubt regarding her possible identity as a fellow Vizard. If she truly was one, well then…they certainly would have a lot to talk about then, wouldn’t they? In any case, they were already here and he didn’t know how she felt but he was sure Namira didn’t particularly feel like hanging out with him anyways.

He depressed the brakes and brought the car to a smooth stop in front of her place. “This it?” Kage inquired quietly.