Chapter Eighteen

“These young people, these pathetic sacrifices, did any of them die thinking of liberty and decency and glory?” - Johnny Got His Gun

* * * *

Yuri Yagami grumbled as she stalked through the streets of Kabukicho with her arms folded across her chest, almost pushed by a grinning Selina, with Sunny, Tohya and Ren trailing behind them.

‘Why am I doing this again?’ she thought grumpily.

It was Friday night, and it just so happened that the five Phantoms do not have any missions scheduled. Tohya had the brilliant idea for all five of them to go down to Starlight’s Hall, as Mizuki usually had Friday Night Specials.

And so, before Yuri even knew what was happening, she soon found herself dragged by her friends all the way to Kabukicho where Starlight’s Hall is located. The neon lights of the signboard above the bar were flashing with different colours.

There was even a ‘guard’ standing at the doorway of the bar, checking for identification. Yuri knew him as one of the bouncers of Starlight’s Hall.

The bouncer recognised them as they approached, and grinned, waving them inside without even bothering to check for identification, especially since all five of them were regulars at Starlight’s Hall, not to mention that they were friends with Mizuki.

Yuri sighed as Selina half-dragged and half-pushed her into Starlight’s Hall.

‘Here we go.’

* * * *

‘I’m going to kill Selina. And Tohya. And Sunny. And throw Ren into the mix as well.’

Yuri had never been a fan of bars, pubs or even nightclubs.

Soon, the teen found herself sitting at the bar counter of Starlight’s Hall with a cocktail in front of her which so far had been left untouched. Yuri was also suffering from a major migraine the size of Mount Fuji. The loud music blaring throughout the entire place, and the flashing lights that switched from light to dark were only making her head hurt more.

Yuri groaned to herself, massaging her temples, while some unknown Japanese rock song blared through the amplifiers and the giant speakers of the bar.

She was never a fan of Japanese rock.

The strobe lights of Starlight’s Hall illuminated a circular dance floor in the dead center of the room where several of the patrons of the bar were dancing with each other. And from her seat at the bar counter where she could get a good view of the entire bar, Yuri watched as her companions made a complete fool of themselves.

Selina was laughing as Tohya dragged her onto the dance floor to dance, though Yuri thought privately to herself that Tohya danced like a squirrel getting electrocuted. Not far away from that scene, Sunny is preoccupied, trying to charm some young ladies his own age with his smile. Ren was standing in a corner with a cocktail glass in one hand, a rather bored look on his face, and several young ladies were surrounding him, seemingly trying to ‘chat him up’.

Yuri’s eyes flashed murder as one of those…hussies was bold enough to press her body close to his so that her breasts were almost touching his chest. And it didn’t help matters that the girl was wearing a black mini-skirt which showed off her legs, as well as a dark orange tube with the material just covering her breasts, and she obviously didn’t even wear a bra.

Yuri turned around in her swivel chair; not wanting to see the scene any longer than necessary. And then again, just why is she so angry anyway? It isn’t like Ren is anyone special to her. He is just her friend. Nothing more and nothing less.

Yuri tried to convince herself that she was angry because Ren stands a chance of revealing Hati’s existence to that poor excuse of a slut if he interacts with her much longer. But a very small voice at the back of her head told Yuri that that was not the truth.

If that was so, Sunny would have been more of a concern as he flirted callously with the girls, and have had at least a few one-night stands with some of them.

Not that Sunny is a playboy.

No.

Being in Hati builds up one’s stress level, and probably, seeking female companionship was Sunny’s way to relieve some stress as he is a young man after all.

Yuri shook those thoughts out of her head, taking a small sip of the cocktail that she had ordered earlier.

“Not dancing or anything?” Sunny took a seat next to Yuri before snapping his fingers and ordering a martini. When the drink came, Sunny instantly took a sip.

Yuri rolled her eyes. “And what about you?” she asked sarcastically. “Not chatting up some poor unsuspecting girl?”

Sunny grinned. “I’ll rather not try my luck with those girls,” he said.

Yuri sighed.

Obviously, some girl must have gotten angry over one of his advances, and most likely, must have bitched at him.

“Sunny, what did you do?”

Sunny grinned. “Apparently, she doesn’t enjoy cheap motel rooms as much as I do.” He muttered, and Yuri nearly choked on her drink when she heard that.

“It’s a wonder that you didn’t get slapped,” she muttered beneath her breath.

Sunny grinned before turning around in his swivel chair with one leg thrown over the other, his glass in one hand, shaking the contents of his drink slightly. They were both silent for several moments, each contemplating their own thoughts until Sunny broke the silence.

“You should go and dance with Ren.” He nudged Yuri in the side, and gestured with his chin towards Ren’s direction. Yuri looked back at Ren who had a pained expression on his face.

“I don’t want to give him the wrong idea.” Yuri muttered beneath her breath.

“It’s called ‘having fun’,” said Sunny, either not hearing what Yuri had said, or if he did hear, he ignored it. “I swear that you work too much as it is. Come on, there are times to let loose. You should give it a try. What on earth did you come here for anyway?”

“What are you talking about? You guys dragged me here by force,” said Yuri, disgruntled.

It was true in a way.

The moment Yuri had woken up that morning, Tohya and Sunny had both cornered her in the small breakfast store that she always frequented. She swore that those two should have been siblings instead, as their personalities were so alike, it’s nearly frightening.

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And before Yuri even knew what was happening, Selina had dragged her to her room and had picked out several of her street clothes for her to wear. She had obliged, knowing perfectly well that she could either put it on herself, or Selina will dress her herself if she needs to.

She’ll rather do the former as it’s the lesser of two evils.

And so, Yuri compiled by wearing the clothes that Selina had picked out for her- a black and white slightly off-shoulder shirt, a black jacket to pull over it, leg-hugging black jeans, and a pair of black track shoes.

All this just to be dragged off by her friends to a bar.

“You work too much as it is.” Sunny grumbled. A girl walked past them just then, and Sunny was off again for the millionth time. Yuri shook her head at this.

“Great place, huh, Yuri? Mizuki-san sure did wonders on this place. I can barely recognise it.”

Speak of the Devil…

Yuri gave a small smile which she hid behind her cocktail glass as Ren immediately occupied the seat that Sunny had just vacated. He looked very handsome in a white shirt, black blazer, and black jeans.

“The girls not enough for you?” asked Yuri, trying to sound uncaring.

Ren shuddered. “Just keep me away from those vultures,” he muttered.

Yuri chuckled to herself. “I thought that you liked the attention?” she stated more than asked, and Ren muttered something beneath his breath.

His eyes then shifted to the drink in front of Yuri, and he smirked. “A cocktail, huh? Try again, Yuri.” He then waved to Mizuki, catching his attention. “Mizuki-san, two double shots of tequila please!”

“O-Oi, Ren!”

Ren grinned as the drinks were poured and slid into their hands. “It should taste better than the stuff that we usually drank,” he said as he took a quick swig of his own drink. “Friends forever, right?”

“Yeah,” said Yuri, managing a small smile as she followed Ren’s lead. The venomous acidic taste of the tequila slid down the back of her throat and burned in her stomach, causing her to feel a little light-headed.

Friends…that’s probably all that she would be to Ren. Just a really good friend.

* * * *

“Get out!”

Tohya Tanigawa was jolted from his sleep while in the middle of a particularly pleasant dream for two reasons that Saturday morning.

One reason being the notorious object otherwise known as an alarm clock that went off at eight in the morning, and the second reason being a shrill cry that had sounded from somewhere beyond his bedroom door.

The previous night had been one hell of a night, and Tohya winced, resisting the urge to bury his head beneath his pillows. He was suffering from a massive hangover. Finally, the teen groaned as he sat up to stretch, getting the kinks out of his body until he heard a satisfying crack, before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He then headed over to the door and opened it so that he could stand in the doorway and eavesdrop on whoever had the nerve to yell this loudly so early in the morning.

“I couldn’t care less! I said, remove yourself from my room, Kamizuki!”

Tohya arched an eyebrow.

If he’s not mistaken, he was fairly sure that that was Yuri’s voice.

The last time that Tohya had heard her raise her voice like this was when he’d done something stupid on a mission several months back when he had just became a Phantom, and Yuri had tore into him good and proper.

But even then, she had never been this loud.

Her bedroom was also quite a distance away from Tohya’s, so it would have to be one heck of a yell.

Meanwhile in Yuri’s room, Ren was slowly backing away towards the door, stumbling over the occasional furniture or book in the process. But no matter how much he tried to explain himself, Yuri seemed to get even angrier.

And seeing Yuri angry isn’t a sight that anybody would like to see.

The gun wielder had woken up in her room that Saturday morning wearing nothing but blue night shorts and a white spaghetti strap shirt, with a pounding headache that almost seemed like jackhammers were hammering away at her temples, and a peculiar sensation in her stomach made her feel like she wanted to throw up everything that she had ever eaten in her entire life.

A severe sinking feeling plus dread filled her when she realised that an arm was draped over her body. And not just anyone’s arm, but one belonging to a wire wielder who slept peacefully beside her.

And naturally, Yuri reacted the same way any girl would who woke up in the morning only to find some guy sleeping next to her in the same bed!

The first thing that she did was to scream, a scream that threatened to bring the entire dormitory building down around their ears.

And not only that, but she’d also sat up so fast in her bed that she’d actually lost her balance and fell backwards off her bed. A loud thump echoed throughout the entire room when the back of her head connected with the bottom part of the bookcase in her room.

And not too long after that, a rather confused looking Ren was leaning over the side of her bed, repeatedly asking her if she was alright.

Yuri just sat there staring blankly at Ren for several moments before she began to recall bits and pieces of the previous night when by some miracle, she had gotten herself hammered with the number of drinks that she had taken.

And thus, it was only natural for Yuri’s mind to jump immediately to the conclusion that they…

No, they couldn’t have…

Please, somebody other than Ren please tell her that they didn’t…

“Y-Yuri, calm down!” Ren said nervously as he backed away from an angry looking Yuri. “I-I swear that I didn’t do anything to you!”

“Then kindly explain to me just why I’m close to being naked, and woke up only to find you with me in the same bed?” Yuri inched closer to Ren, glaring dangerously, almost backing him against the wall, one hand clenched into a fist. Ren prayed to every god that he ever knew that Yuri doesn’t suddenly decide to use her gun. “You know what? I don’t care anymore. Just get out now!”

“Y-Yuri, I swear—”

“Just what part of ‘I don’t care’ do you not understand, Kamizuki?!”

Ren winced. Yuri must be really mad if she’s using his last name.

And seeing the dangerous look on Yuri’s face comparable to seeing Medusa herself, he actually edged closer to the door, trying to find the doorknob without allowing Yuri to leave his sight. Mind you, Ren isn’t usually this afraid of Yuri as he knew that she wouldn’t attack him, save for perhaps that one time awhile back.

But this is actually the first time that he’d actually seen her angry. Truly angry. And it was kind of scary.

Yuri wasn’t even this mad at Tohya all those months ago when he’d just joined them as a Phantom, and the guy had made some kind of blunder which had nearly cost them the entire mission. Yuri had tore into him good and proper, after taking out their mission target herself. And that was the first time that Ren had actually seen her so angry that she raised her voice at someone.

Yuri’s wild accusations had pushed Ren to try to defend himself.

“Y-Yuri, I-I swear that I didn’t do anything to you!” Ren tried to explain himself, ignoring Yuri’s Medusa glare. “W-When we returned to the dorms last night, you could barely walk back to your own room by yourself, and so, I brought you back myself as Tohya was kind of smashed last night too. B-But as it isn’t exactly comfortable sleeping in street clothes, I took off some of your clothes. It was for your own good!”

Ren suddenly blanched as he realised that those words kind of came out wrong, and Yuri’s eyes flashed murder, her right hand clenching into a tight fist by her side. If looks could kill, he’ll be a hundred feet under! She looked as if she would like nothing better than to punch him right now.

And Ren wished that he was anywhere but here right at that moment, not that anyone could blame him.

“Are you trying to tell me that you actually took it upon yourself to undress me? As in, you saw me naked?” Yuri flared her nostrils, and Ren would not have been surprised to see smoke come out of her nostrils like a dragon. “Why the hell didn’t you get Selina’s help? She’s a girl, for kami-sama’s sake!”

Ren can only stare. Now that she had mentioned it…it does seem quite obvious…

“I-I didn’t think…”

Yuri nearly groaned, holding her head in her hands, on the verge of collapsing. She slowly made her way back to her bed, but not before shooting a very dangerous glare at Ren, pointing one finger at her door.

“Kindly just leave my room right now, Kamizuki!”

Ren gulped and nodded, turning to find the doorknob. He then turned back with one hand on the doorknob to see that Yuri had already pulled the bedcovers over her head.

“Yuri, for as long as I’ve known you, you’ve always indulged yourself in work,” said Ren, speaking in a low tone so that he wouldn’t aggravate Yuri’s headache. “I understand that you have your own reasons for being in Hati. But last night was the only time when I’ve actually seen you having some fun, and seeing you laughing like the rest of us. I just care about you.”

With that, he was gone, and Yuri was left alone.

Yuri groaned beneath her bedclothes, pressing the heel of her palm against her forehead.

Just why had she allowed herself to be talked into going to a bar by Selina last night? Then all this wouldn’t have been so damn awkward!

She pushed herself out of bed and turned on the compact disc player. It was of course a classical CD, and for a few hours at least, Yuri forced herself to listen to the music, and tried to steer her thoughts elsewhere rather than towards one Ren Kamizuki.

* * * *

Ren walked quickly through the hallways towards his own room so that he could get dressed for breakfast, and be prepared for whatever mission the Elder would probably assign him that day. And even if he wasn’t scheduled for a mission that day, maybe it is for the best if he just hang out in Shibuya or something for the day until Yuri’s anger at him was sated.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice that he’d passed by Tohya who happened to be standing at the open doorway of his own room along the way.

“You do know that Yuri will probably be mad at you for quite awhile, don’t you?” said Tohya with a grin as Ren passed by him. From the parts of the argument that he had overheard, it had sounded as if Ren had somehow forced himself onto Yuri while her guard was down.

Though Tohya doesn’t think that Yuri will actually mind…much.

Ren glared at Tohya. “You know that I would do no such thing!” he snapped. Tohya smirked, and he sighed. “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you about this.” He muttered. He then made a rude hand gesture. “I’m going to take a shower, and then I’m going to bed!”

Tohya shook his head as he watched Ren disappear into his room which was just located a few rooms away from his. Relationships between Phantoms were discouraged and frowned upon, but it doesn’t mean that it’s entirely forbidden. And being Phantoms, both Ren and Yuri knew this well.

Tohya sighed.

It’ll be a miracle in the making the day that he actually sees those two blocks of wood get together. He and Sunny actually have an ongoing bet about this.

* * * *

Yuri didn’t talk to Ren for a whole month after that.

But it didn’t really matter anyway, especially since Ren was sent by Riou to the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan to investigate a case of several of the Drifters, the regular assassins of Hati, who have gone missing mysteriously. It was like they had just disappeared into thin air as no one had seen hide nor hair of them.

Finally, Riou had had enough and sent Ren to investigate the disappearances. Finally, when two whole weeks had gone by and Ren’s return was long overdue, Riou and the Elder summoned Yuri and Tohya for an emergency mission.

* * * *

“And?” Tohya frowned. “What’s the mission?”

Beside him, Yuri was frowning as well. She had a faint idea what the mission might be about, as she had been hearing rumours about several of their members and agents who have gone missing mysteriously. Those missing were those Riou had sent out to scout for the whereabouts of the base of Raven’s Gate.

“We want you to locate Kamizuki,” said Riou simply. He sighed at the looks that Tohya and Yuri were both giving him. “It’s not just some of the Drifters who have gone missing in Kanagawa. Kamizuki has gone missing as well.”