19 Setting Up Shop

He didn't quite understand why, but Hikaru and Mamoru were walking home together with him. They had waited at the school's station together, stood on the train together, and were now walking in the direction of his apartment together. He had found himself in quite the weird predicament, as this was all new uncharted territory for him.

"I didn't know Lily lived around here too," Mamoru said, as he sipped on the juice box he balanced on one hand, and his bag on the other accompanied by lots of papers in between his torso and forearm.

'So that's why I keep running into him,' Akira surmised as he walked beside Hikaru who stood in the middle of the three of them. He had just realized Hikaru lived this way as well, which explained why he ran into him quite often on his way home, but still left him blank as to how he ended up finding him during the kidnapping the other day, as it was in the opposite direction from home.

"I just moved," He stated flatly, looking at the ground as he walked.

"That's cool," Mamoru continued. "Since most students don't live around here, or even get off at this station."

'That was the point,' He thought as he stalked by. He had chosen an apartment in the closest neighborhood to the school, where he knew no students lived around. He had not accounted for oddities like Hikaru and the class president. He hoped they at least lived further away from his apartment.

Thankfully, Mamoru and Hikaru were not only cousins, but neighbors who lived in the same penthouse complex. Mamoru seemed like he came from a rich household as he carried an air of prestige, and cleverness around him, but Hikaru's surprised him a bit, though he supposed that made sense as they were related. They lived about 1 mile up from his apartment building.

He waved them good bye, and stared at their lush building complex for a bit before continuing on his way. His apartment was also quite expensive, but that didn't really faze him. Of the few emotions he could still feel, only one mattered to him the most. The desire to live a lavish life of money, and fame was not something he aimed for.

He continued on his trek home, though he had somewhere to be after he changed out of his uniform. He was only stopping by his apartment because it would be quite troublesome to be seen in his school uniform.

He typed in the numbers to the security lock on his apartment door after using the elevator to go up to his floor for the first time, turned the key and then entered. He made sure to lock all the bolts on the door behind him before walking into the living room through the narrow hallway that connected the room to the front door.

"Oh! You're back!" The individual that was hiding in his apartment exclaimed as he hurried over to welcome him. "Welcome back!" Like always, he had been lounging in the living room, stuffing his face with snacks, and watching tv.

"Get ready," Akira said, not stopping his motion as he plodded down the next hall to his room. "We're going out."

"Huh?" Satoma exclaimed, taken aback at the sudden need to leave. He had assumed because he had been made out to be a fugitive, he would have to stay hidden indoors at all times. "Really?"

"Yes," He stated from the distance down the hall, as he opened the door to his room. "And pack your stuff too. You'll be crashing elsewhere."

"Eh?!"

*

"You can't be serious right?" Satoma continued to whine, even after they had already reached the station, and stood waiting for the train. "Why can't I stay with aniki anymore?"

"Because you're a risk," Akira said bluntly, just as their train had arrived. "I'm taking you to somewhere safe. I'll be visiting everyday so, please stop making such a fuss."

Their destination had been announced over the intercom. Kabuki-chō, Shinjuku. The announcement startled Satoma a bit, and made him stare at Akira for a while. 'How very unlike his character,' He thought to himself, as he followed Akira inside the train anyways.

Even though Akira had assured him he would see him everyday after he was done with school, he still whined about not being able to live with him anymore throughout the entire train ride. They had reached their destination. Akira led the way, to a quaint shop in the middle of several lit up buildings, at the end of a small but busy alleyway. The sign on the top read, 'Devil's Halo'. It was a bar and restaurant. The restaurant took up shop in the day, and the bar raged from the evenings. 10:00am-5:30pm; and 6:00pm-1:00am respectively.

"Devil's Halo?" Satoma mumbled as he read off what was written on the sign that hadn't been lit and shone, unlike the rest of the shops on the street in that corner. "Aniki, aren't we underaged?"

Akira ignored his question and walked in. The bell on top of the door rang softly as they entered, alerting the people who were setting, and sorting through heaps of cardboard boxes around the wide space- contrary to how it looked on the outside- of their arrival.

"Looks like our store's face finally decided to show up," A snarky scoff was made by a familiar tone setting up shot glasses on the bar counter. It was Lesley.

"Oh, Akira!" Oliver's voice exclaimed from his squatting position behind the counter, that hid him before he popped up while cleaning his hands with a dishrag. It seemed he was fixing up the plumbing on the two sinks on the counter. "Just in time, please set up the black router at the back."

Every member of their team was present, except for Katri and Jin who were out advertising the store's opening before time, and staking out the competition. It gave Akira a nostalgic feeling watching Lucien behind the counter, wiping up bar glasses and placing them gently on the glass shelves behind him, while simultaneously grilling up some cheese sandwiches to eat for dinner.

"So wait," Satoma started, gazing at everyone present with utter confusion. "This isn't really a bar then?"

"No, it is," Luck replied, laying down a medium-sized box on a dusty empty table that had just been fixed up, then returning to help Damien set up the high stools by the counter before the big open window at the corner. "We're still setting up so we won't be open for a day or two though."

Halo was an organization that had chosen to use a string of restaurants and bar businesses as their cover for covert work behind the scenes in various cities outside the location of their headquarters. The bars or restaurants were used secretly as a base of operations and a good cover up. It was also useful occasionally to pick up customers and information about Holders.

Oliver took the time to explain this to Satoma as he ushered him up the hidden stairs at the back that lead to the empty rooms upstairs so he could place his bags down.

Akira felt another nostalgic feeling as the gathered to eat dinner together after helping out to set up backdoor connections to Halo's servers. The grilled cheese sandwiches Lucien had prepared were delicious and familiar, but what gave him that rare feeling, was the full and noisy table with everyone gathered around it. It painfully but warmly reminded him of the family he had lost.