Chapter 24: Back Home

Takabi opened his eyes, the sound of the plane's muffled engines filling his ears. He stared at the ceiling, sitting up at the stinging feeling on his back. His gaze moved all around until it fell on Nana. She was asleep, hair a mangled mess and hickies trailing down from her neck to what was visible on her chest.

"Oh. Oh yeah," He muttered, rubbing his head as steam rose from his back, the deep scratch marks closing themselves up in the blink of an eye as he stood and stretched.

Quickly slipping on a pair of shorts, he moved behind the bar, opening the mini fridge under the counter and pulling out a milk jug and a small container of vanilla ice cream, pouring them both into two cups and placing them back in the fridge. Takabi capped them both and shook them up for a few minutes each, before taking off the caps and picking a can of whipping cream, spraying it on like a swirl.

"Morning.." Nana's tired voice filled his ears. As she got up and strolled towards him, rubbing her eye exhaustedly, his eyes scanned over her bare body as she redressed herself, and felt his heart skip beats in nervousness.

She was perfect to him. From her beautiful yet tired face and messy hair, to her flawless skin aside from the hickies he left on her. Her perfectly round brown eyes that looked gently under any light, and the way she subconsciously swayed her hips and rubbed her thighs together to show the faint anxiousness that she held inside. She grew up amazing, and Takabi was glad she was his now.

At least he had hoped she was.

"Morning. How are you feeling?"

"Stuffed." She rubbed her stomach as she sat at a bar stool, "Yet empty at the same time, not to mention very, very sore. I think we might have overdone it a bit."

Takabi glanced behind her at the bed, and nodded, a faint blush touching his cheeks. "No kidding," He slid her one of the cups and she looked at it strangely, before taking a sip. "This has such a weird taste. I don't hate it though. What is it?"

"You're kidding, right? You've never had a milkshake before?"

She shook her head. "No. I haven't had the pleasure of sitting down and putting milk together with frozen milk."

"Well it's good. You can mix different ice cream flavors and make your own unique taste. It works out very well in the summer, people can't get enough of it." He said, sipping from his own cup. Nana raised an eyebrow at him, giggling, "You know an awful lot about this stuff."

"I work on call in an ice cream shop. I would hope I know a decent amount about this kind of work."

"That's your main job," She asked quickly and he shook his head.

"No. Actually, I deal with a lot of electronics. From fixing phones to working on TVs or something. I don't exactly love it, but hey, it's money and it pays the bills."

"You should be loaded by now then, shouldn't you? Sounds like it pays a lot," She said, taking an even deeper drink from her milkshake. Swallowing, she asked, "How did you even manage to get a job like that?"

Shrugging, he placed his cup down and stretched wide. "Recommendations mostly. Orphanage had to get rid of me somehow. They paid for my own house and stuff until I turned sixteen. They lined the job up for me and made me work to support myself." Takabi glanced at the clock overhead and followed with, "How much longer until we get there?"

Nana followed, then moved towards the cockpit and knocked on the door. There was a pause and she came back around, saying, "We have another hour."

"Good," He said, walking from behind the bar and taking her hand. "I'm a bit nervous, honestly. Should I expect anything?"

"Not really," She replied. "Like I told you, just act like you haven't seen anyone in a month and you'll be perfectly fine."

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The airport was quiet when they stepped off the plane.

Takabi had his hair combed neatly, and was dressed in flimsy black shorts and a blue shirt with grey sneakers. His eyes scanned around, feeling something suspicious lingering around in the air. There were no people around, and the terminals themselves seemed dead.

Nana adjusted her shirt buttons and brushed her leggings, before moving to her hair and fixing it into a ponytail. "Where is everyone? Is the airport closed?"

"It's eight," Takabi said, checking his phone. "You'd think they'd be running all day and night, unless there's unexpected maintenance." He placed his phone in his pocket and grabbed his suitcase, pulling it along behind him.

Nana kept her steps closer, her eyes glancing around at the dark and silence. The cold air disturbed her, and it was obvious something wasn't right. "I don't sense anything odd though," She said suddenly as they exited the airport without a single issue. "The ambiance in there just felt… Strange."

"No kidding," He admitted, his eyes glancing back at the front of the airport doors and trying to push back the ominous feeling that was left over. For a split moment, he swore he saw something in the reflection of the doors. Difficult to make out, he chose not to mention it. What stuck with him as they hailed a cab and began making their way to Takabi's home was the single dim lights of red.

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"So. What now?" Takabi asked Nana as they reached his house an hour later. The boy looked across the street, making a note of the Martinez's car and that he should stop by later that day.

"I'm going home to report to my parents," She said bluntly. She stopped a minute and cleared her throat, before resuming what she was saying. "I did tell them about this little trip before we left. I don't think I still have to report about your conditions and things like that, but they do deserve an update. They wanted me to keep in contact with them while they were in heaven, and I didn't exactly let them know when we were leaving or how long we'd be gone," She muttered under her breath. "You gonna be okay by yourself for a little while?"

"Yeah, I should be fine." He pulled out his phone. "If not, I have your number."

Nana looked a bit surprised and asked, "When did you get it?"

He laughed to himself a bit, before putting a key in his door lock and opening it, saying, "I got it before we got off the plane. Thought it would be the smart thing to do."

Nana nodded to him, and placed a swift kiss on him.

While taken back a bit, he soon returned the action until they separated and were left gasping for air. She smiled and hurried down his porch stairs and down the road. Takabi stepped into his home and tossed his suitcase aside by the stairs. He turned fast on his heel and jogged across the road, up the steps until he was knocking on their door quickly.

Mr. Martinez graced his vision from behind the marble, not particularly in response to the knocking, and was shocked to see Takabi standing there. "Oh. It's you. Why are you here so early in the morning?"

"Oh. I forgot, it is early," He said, running a hand through his hair. "I apologize. I just got back so I was hoping to say hi to R-, I mean Mrs. Martinez and Jewel, Sir." Takabi straightened his body upright, looking Mr. Martinez directly in his eyes.

"Yeah, I heard you were oddly close to my wife, boy." He said, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms.

Ignoring the fact at how he was addressed, Takabi merely smiled and bowed, showing his respect and apologies. "I can come back later then. Can you at least let them know I came by to say hi and collect my schoolwork?"

"I can give that to you right now actually." Mr. Martinez reached behind the door and pulled out a pile of papers, all stacked in a three ring binder inside a thin green folder.

Takabi took and looked the papers over, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Wait. These are all done." He commented. His eyes scanned over the neat writing, from his name to math work shown in beautiful handwriting, as well as the english papers and science work. Nothing for history. "This looks like Jewel's writing."

"Yeah. She insisted on doing it all over the week. While I don't approve of her risking her education for you, you should be all settled for the week." He tapped his finger against his arm and touched his door. "Now, do me a favor, and don't come back until noon or so. I would like my rest." He slammed the door shut, Takabi jumping slightly in place.

"Nice to see you too then, I guess."

He walked down the porch stairs and across the street. As he looked over the last of his homework and walked inside his house, a voice greeted him from the kitchen table. Looking up, he was surprised, and a tiny bit creeped out, to see Carlos sitting there and drinking from a coffee mug.

When did he get here, Takabi thought.

"Hey. What's up, Carlos?" He asked, not exactly rushing over. Dropping the papers on the table, he bumped fists with his best friend and sat down near him. His eyes quickly fell on the small scar on his cheek, and he took notice of the long sleeves and jeans he was wearing. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Decided to see if you were home and got lucky. You never text me back the other day, and I thought something might've happened to you." Even as he said the words, for some reason they didn't sound or feel completely genuine. Takabi pushed that idea down and shrugged.

"Kinda got wrapped up in my leave. I didn't mean to leave you high and dry like that." He glanced at the mug and continued, "I see you helped yourself to my tea."

"Tea calms the nerves, you always said that." He smirked and pointed to the cup sitting on the counter, still steaming. Takabi thanked him with a returning smile and went to grab it, before coming and sitting back down.

"I gotta ask, what happened after you went home from the hospital? You didn't show up at school, at all. Or say anything to me."

"Like I said, a lot of shit I had to handle… But I did start hanging out with this chick Ariel. She's fucking hot, dude." He smiled to himself, eyes shimmering slightly with a slight happiness. "We went on a double date the other night and had a blast. She's hilarious too, probably one of the funniest girls at Un Ala."

"Ariel? Ariel Atlantic? Isn't she the cheer captain, and way out of your league?" He asked. "Wait, that's Jewel's best friend isn't it?" It took a minute for it to click in his mind, but when it did, a look of complete shock settled on his face. "YOU went on a double date with Jewel and Blake?!"

"Is that so bad," He asked. "Jewel asked me the one day I came back and I said fuck it, why not? Besides, I had made plans to ask Nana out instead, but I guess Ariel isn't a bad choice either."

Takabi felt his eye twitch with a twinge of jealousy, but ignored it.

"Going by that look on your face, I'd say you were jealous there, Yamishito."

"Not in the slightest," He lied, sipping from his mug.

Carlos knew him all too well though, and it didn't take much to piece it together in his own mind. "So, did you do it?"

"Do what," He asked and Carlos gave him a sly look.

"Don't play dumb with me. Did you sleep with her? Nana I mean."

His eyes widened and he looked into his tea. Carlos patted his back quick and laughed proudly. "My little boy has finally become a man huh! Welcome to the cool kids club!"

"Oh, screw you," He replied, chuckling a little before taking another sip. When he placed his mug down, his face and posture relaxed. "Nana isn't some casual conquest… I really like her. A lot."

"Yeah, I could tell from that passionate kiss earlier." The emphasis on passionate hung in the air.

Takabi touched his lips, smiling warmly to himself before he shook his head and looked Carlos square in the eye. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw it with my own eyes." He said. "The way you two were grinding on each other before she left. That was the 'we just got done getting down and dirty' kiss." He made air quotes around his statement. "I've done it myself. I'm proud of you though, you two seemed really drawn to one another."

"T-thanks.." He said, truly unsure of what else to say. His eyes moved back to the scar on Carlos' cheek. Carlos looked at Takabi then, really and deeply looked, as if he had seen a ghost and his eyes went dark.

"You okay, man?"

Carlos nodded. "Yeah. Just good to see you're home again. Oh, before I forget, dance is coming up." He pulled out a folded flyer and handed it to Takabi, who in turn opened it up and read over it.

" 'Un Ala's annual celebration dance. All students and plus 1s welcomed to this wonderful night. Dress formally, and nothing too revealing. Come down and have a blast with us'. " Takabi handed the paper back to Carlos. His friend took it, wincing minorly as he did. Takabi took another look under his arm, noting the bandaid over his vein but decided not to question it.

"How's Anna?"

"Shaken. She was brought to a psych ward a week ago because of what happened." He sighed, tapping his finger against the table. "I've been preparing for Carrie's funeral. It's a lot more difficult than you may think, having to handle the invitations, the goodbye party and shit."

"Well you're not doing it alone. Your mom is helping too isn't she?" He asked, and based on Carlos' reaction instantly regretted it.

"She and my pops split. Well, they are splitting. He refuses to come home and she simply hates him because she feels if he was around, he could have kept Carrie safe." He tightened his hold on his mug. "She's blaming him for it all, and it's just bullshit."

"For real," Was all Takabi could really say.

He felt sorry, he truly did, but he understood hardships and getting over it. Well, at least he had a better idea of it, now that he told Nana about his past. "I don't think your dad would up and abandon you guys. Everyone has their own ways of dealing with death, especially if they feel partly responsible." He paused a moment and closed his eyes to think, resting his chin on his palm. "Maybe, just maybe, your dad is just trying to accept everything before he comes back and faces it all."

"When the hell did you become so wise about this stuff," Carlos quickly replied and Takabi shrugged.

That's right. I never told him why I left the orphanage.

Carlos looked at his phone and stood, bringing the mug to the sink and placing it inside. "I gotta go. My mom wants me to come back to help put things together. The funeral isn't going to be ready for a while, seeing as how there wasn't much left to Carrie's body to begin with." Gritting his teeth and walking by, Takabi's eyes followed him to the door. As he opened it and looked back, he kept his gaze locked on Takabi before the white head spoke.

"What is it?"

"You just… You just look like someone I met a couple days ago, that's all. Small world, huh?" He said, before closing the door and leaving Takabi alone in silence, pondering his friend's final words and simply wondering what he meant. After all, the chances of anyone who looked like Takabi was so small it never occurred to him. At least, not until then.