InterLife

Chapter 10

He looked straight through me. As if I was a crystal clear glass window and he didn't bother to make an attempt to see the glass. Like I once again was that one girl in the back of the class and I was pretending to be non-existent, without realising I actually was. Hinode and Velocity had all of the twin brother's attention and for the first time since I had met him, I found out I was not the person Hinode disliked the most. Hinode's jaw clenched and he crossed his arms as he stared at the man.

Athanase nodded and spoke up: "You're late, how disappointing. Hinode, since you needed Maeve's help, our deal is not done yet. Maeve, Malik is looking for you," he hesitated for a moment and he frowned, "and what is this?" He gestured at me.

Once again, Hinode cursed something in Japanese and glared hard at the man in the middle."You shady sc-"

Athanase cut him off. "Watch your language Akiyama."

"You got me to move from Japan to America to spent weeks living in a crappy apartment to keep an eye on this girl," I somehow knew Hinode meant me, "then you suddenly ordered me to bring her here, I did, and our deal is still not done? Kusso, no, you can't do that."

"This girl?" Athan's eyes finally found mine, but no emotion was to be found in them. His next words were like a punch in my gut. It didn't feel like he had stabbed his knife into my heart like people had often assured me a heartbreak would feel like. No, it was worse than that. It was like he had turned my heart into a piece of glass and dropped it. No, smashed it. On the ground. Watched it shatter into a million pieces, and then walked over the fragments. Listening to them crush into even smaller pieces, making absolutely certain I would never be able to piece them back together.

"I have no idea who she is."

I stood there, unmoving, staring back at him as Hinode fell quiet. Suddenly I felt chilly, like a cold breeze was brushing past my neck and freezing my heart. I raised my hand and pulled my hair out of my ponytail, letting the dark auburn strands fall down to my shoulders. Athan's eyes trailed from my eyes, to my hair, down to my shoulders and landed on the bandage around my hand. He said nothing and concentrated on Hinode once more.

"You're a loose cannon Akiyama," he continued, "you asked for this deal and I make the rules. You either follow them or not, up to you."

I knew if he could have, Hinode would have not only pulled his gun, but most likely emptied the entire barrel into my former friend. Instead, he turned around and walked away. Away from the man he appeared to deeply distrust. Not having any better options, I followed him. Hinode was not the only one that needed to get away from Athan.

Maeve watched us, but except for a deep sigh, she didn't respond either. Hinode entered the elevator and much to his displeasure, I entered right before it closed. Hinode clicked on one of the buttons, number 38, and the elevator started moving up. None of us spoke the entire way up. When we reached Hinode's chosen floor, he marched out instantly. He turned left, twice, until he reached a door with the tag "38NN" on it. It opened after Hinode scanned his lenses in a small device on the right side of the door. He stepped inside the room and didn't bother to wait for us to enter as he slammed his fist against the wall, continuing his habit of cursing in another language. I finally knew that the language had to be Japanese, considering he said he had moved from Japan to America.. to keep an eye on me, apparently.

"Mattakumou, mattakumou, mattakumou," he groaned as if he was in agony.

"What just happened?" I asked him.

"That manipulative scrap." Hinode closes his eyes and shakes his head. "He is never going to leave me alone, I should have known he would never make a fair deal. I should have-" he cursed a few more times "-I should have killed him."