Starlight (Kojiro Nanjo)

Chapter 22: Sour

        Even when the sun stands high above you. Even when the moon shines its light on the sea. Even when the stars start to peak out, there is still darkness. Lingering in shadows, in the deepest depths of the ocean, in the blackest of night skies. No matter how brightly they beam, there will be surfaces they can't quite reach.. Like in the chest's of those you'd least expect to find it.
     Adam wasn't always like this: full of the kind of pitch-black that flashlights dare not touch. Cherry could recall a time when the Matador of Love hadn't yet existed, when that stupid persona he had crafted for himself hadn't yet been created. A time where the two of them, Adam and Cherry, had skated beside one another in harmony, instead of this dissonance. Once sweet music had turned into a symphony of sour notes.

So why did he playing?

Maybe because any music is better than no music at all.

      Hearts hammering against chests like sticks on drums, a constant question of which one would burst open first. It's build up was gradual, painfully slow for all of those who barred witness to such a performance, but not for the orchestra. Quite the opposite, actually. As Cherry prepared for his part in the piece, Adam had decided the band was better off without him.
     He swung his board around, readying it like a baseball bat, prepared to hit a homerun with that sadistic smirk resting against his lips. Cherry was the unsuspecting victim who had been thrown right into his sights. Despite knowing who his old friend had become, this took him off guard, and as the wooden deck came flying toward him, he wondered what would hurt more; the skateboard that was about to collide with his skull, or the concrete proof of betrayal that he could no longer deny?

"As always, your skating has no surprises. It's over calculated, so it can never transcend." Adam's daunting figure towered overhead. His body surrounded with the streetlights that littered the area, their light shining right past him, not illuminating even the slightest part of his face. "Let me teach you something. The reason I never responded to your challenges.." Cherry's bloodied and shaking frame was hardly a second thought in his brain. His words as merciless as they'd always been. "Was because I simply find you boring."

A grand pause.

A break in the music.

The end of a piece.

"Kaoru!"

     Oh.. That was right. Even back then, there was much more than Adam to skate with, there was more to this life than the darkness he carried. How could Cherry have possibly forgotten? Between the sage locks and tall stature, he really resembled more of a bulky tree, shared the same IQ with one too. But just like that dammed tattoo on his shoulder, he reminded Cherry of the sun; annoyingly bright and difficult to look at, but also.. So full of warmth and energy. And now there was the moon too. Turning tides with the flick of her wrist - speaking of which, the once calm waves were starting to waver as she approached. Staring toward Adam with a hurricane in her hands.

     Those worried tones of theirs acted as a reminder; that there were still songs to be sung, ones that could sound just as sweet. There were still places they hadn't yet seen, more streets to skate on.

      Surprisingly, Joe was the gentle and calm one in this situation. Falling to his knees, cradling Cherry's thin frame within his arms, a shocked expression stuck to his face as the body within his arms began to shake and shiver. Star was standing next to them with such a stark contrast; the fire burning in her eyes only further boiling her blood. She swung at Adam.
      Blind rage was a difficult feeling to deal with. How're you supposed to properly respond and repress something that shoots out of you faster than the speed of sound? Considering the stakes at hand, Star should've been thanking Shadow - the one of them that had fastened his arms around her like a seatbelt, restraining her from trying to throw another punch. But instead of thanking him, she instead threatened him. Throwing a temper tantrum all while Adam gawked at them, a sinister laugh falling from his mouth with a finger pressed innocently against his cheek, the same one that now sported a pretty pink mark. She hoped it would bruise. Eventually match that stupid blue hair of his.