Chapter Two
Spy Games

 

            It was really too late to be out wandering around the streets, but Toji was just too keyed up to sit still.  It was too early to go to bed, and he couldn’t even think of concentrating on his homework, and simply sitting there doing nothing was just downright boring.  So, he’d finally decided to sneak out of the house and go for a walk, if only to get some fresh air and to clear his head.  He supposed it was dangerous to wander around, there were a lot of unsavory people out and about when dark fell, but at this point in time, he didn’t really care if anything did happen to him.  He felt…dead inside.  He couldn’t remember a time anymore where he actually felt happy, or at peace.  Not since he broke up with Momo those months ago, crushed her heart under his feet.  He’d never be able to erase her haunted eyes from his mind, the way she’d looked up at him; so stricken, like a puppy that had trusted her owner with her entire heart, only to have that owner turn around and viciously beat her for no reason at all.

 

            Toji gritted his teeth and clenched his hands at his sides as he remembered how he’d seen her just yesterday, walking with Kiley Okayasu and looking…well…happy.  Or, as happy as he’d ever seen her look since their breakup.  She’d been holding a large shopping bag, and was looking up at Kiley and smiling as she spoke to him…a lot like she used to look at him, in fact.  And at school today, when they’d been split into study groups, Momo had seated herself right beside Kiley.  He’d watched as they laughed and talked with each other like old friends, and he couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed.  He’d been worried sick about her when she’d been absent due to the illness that he in part had caused, but he’d never dared to go visit her, to see for himself that she was okay, for fear of Sae finding out.  That would have been the end of everything for Momo, and Toji was not about to sacrifice everything he’d put her—had put both of them—through just to ease his worry.

 

Word had it, though, that Kiley had gone to visit her nearly every day, a thought that did not sit well with him, at all.  He kicked a stray stone viciously out of his way, imagining that it was Kiley’s head as he scowled at the sidewalk.  He did not begrudge Momo the happiness she finally seemed to be regaining.  More than anything, he’d wanted the lingering sadness to be erased from her eyes…but damn it, why did Kiley have to be the one to help take it away?!  He recognized that he was jealous, even as he recognized that he no longer had any right to be.  Whatever he was feeling, he’d brought on himself, after all.  But Kiley was a playboy; he was never serious, and he’d probably end up breaking Momo’s heart all over again, just like he did with every other girl he dated.  He wasn’t any good for Momo.  Momo deserved someone better.  Someone like…like him.

 

Yeah, he thought bitterly.  Someone like me, who keeps messing with her emotions far worse than Kiley ever messed with them.  At least Kiley is honest about what he wants.  If he was in this situation, he’d probably just tell Sae to go to hell, and screw Momo’s reputation.  He’d have the guts to do something that I’d never be able to do…

 

Which only proved, he thought a moment later, that Kiley didn’t care half as much about Momo’s feelings as he claimed to!  If he really loved her, he’d do whatever it took to protect Momo, just like Toji was doing!  If he was selfish enough to still be with her, no matter what Sae did to her, then he didn’t deserve her at all!  Toji sighed in frustration, running his hands through his short, spiky hair before linking them behind his head, turning his gaze skyward as he walked.  He was thinking in circles, and his head was beginning to ache.  He felt worse now than he did before he left! 

 

The sound of a door opening, and a sudden, familiar laugh caused his eyes to jerk abruptly downward, fixing a wide-eyed gaze across the street toward a large building.  It looked like some kind of school; most likely it was an art studio, if all the colorful pictures hanging in the windows was any indication, but that wasn’t what captured his attention the most.  Momo was the one whose laugh had caught his notice, as she sauntered out from the building swinging an art satchel from her hand.  What was more, Kiley Okayasu was walking out with her, a small duffle slung over his shoulder as he held the door open for her, gazing down at her with his usual happy-go-lucky grin plastered on his face.  He said something—his voice was too low for Toji to hear him, but he could clearly see the blush spread across Momo’s cheeks, and his hands clenched again—and Momo responded with an indignant reply and a light swipe at his arm, causing the boy to dance away with a laugh.

 

Toji’s eyes narrowed as he watched Momo’s half-hearted attempt to smack the irritating pervert.  For some reason, she seemed to be lacking her usual oomph when it came to beating the crap out of Kiley for his remarks.  Normally, he’d be laying face-first in a pile of cracked pavement by now, but he was still standing, and he didn’t seem to be half as cautious about Momo’s retaliation as he normally was.  The wind picked up suddenly, tossing Momo’s hair into her face, and she irritably brushed it aside.  Toji was reminded quite suddenly of another time she’d looked like that, when they’d been studying together at the school and the breeze had tossed her long hair around.  He could still recall the way it had danced past his nose, caressing his face softly whilst giving him a good whiff of its sweet, heady fragrance…and how he’d nearly lost control after that and had tried to kiss Momo, only to have her forcefully shove him away.

 

Now it was Kiley who was reaching out to her, gently tucking some wayward strands behind her ear as he smiled down at her with a soft smile that made Toji’s teeth grind together.  Smack him, he thought at her angrily.  Smack him away for daring to lay his perverted hands on you like that!

 

But Momo didn’t smack him away.  Instead, she offered him a hesitant smile in reply and turned to begin walking down the street, in the direction of her house.  Kiley fell into step right beside her, and then to Toji’s absolute horror, he reached out to sling a friendly arm around her shoulders, giving her a small squeeze as he grinned down at her.  Now she would smack him, Toji thought with vicious satisfaction.  If there was one thing Momo hated, it was to be touched by perverted pumpkins like him!

 

But she didn’t.  Toji stared at them in disbelief, unconsciously falling into step several yards behind them (still keeping to the other side of the street) as he waited for Momo to turn and yell at Kiley for laying his hands on her…only she never did.  She merely kept walking, allowing Kiley’s arm to drape comfortably around her shoulder, and she even talked with him as they walked, in a low, somewhat intimate tone.  The kind of tone she’d use whenever she and Toji walked together, holding private conversations.  But even Toji had never touched her like that in public…

 

He trailed them the entire way to Momo’s house, hiding in the shadows of a brick wall just across the street as they paused before her gate, where Kiley finally removed his arm from Momo’s shoulders and stepped back, smiling down at her and running a hand through his unruly hair.  “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Momo,” he told her.

 

“Yeah,” she replied.  “Thanks, Kiley.”

 

“For what?  Walking you home?  Don’t mention it!” he replied, waving aside her protests.  “I’ll walk you home all the time from class, just so you’re safe.”

 

“You don’t have to, Kiley.  I mean, I’m sure you don’t live around here.  I hate to make you go out of your way…”

 

“Momo, I told you, if it’s for you, there’s no problem,” he told her patiently.  “And besides, I don’t live that far away.  You should come visit me sometime.”  He shot her a suggestive wink.  “Hey, if you need any extra credit for the class, just give me a call anytime.  I’d be happy to help out, Pussycat,” he added playfully.

 

“Kiley!”  Momo turned bright red; Toji, who had managed to overhear the conversation, realized that he had just missed something, but he couldn’t for the life of him imagine what it was.  Still, it was obviously something perverted, if Momo’s reaction was any indication.  He fought the urge to go out there and beat the crap out of Kiley for saying such a thing to her, and instead settled for glaring at him with all the intensity he could muster.

 

Kiley shivered, suddenly feeling a chill creep up his back.  “Brrr,” he shivered, “it’s getting cold out here.  I’d better be getting back then.  Still got homework to finish, anyway.”  He winked at her again.  “See you at school, Pussycat,” he added.  “I actually had fun tonight, especially at the end, there.  I bet you kind of enjoyed it, too, huh?”

 

Momo’s smile was frozen on her face, and an eyebrow was beginning to twitch.  “You’ve got three seconds to be out of my sight before I brain you with this bag,” she replied sweetly through clenched teeth.  Kiley laughed and saluted her, making a hasty retreat before she could act out on her threat.  Momo glared after him for a moment, then huffed an exasperated sigh and shook her head, a small, half-amused smile playing about her lips as she turned and headed into her house.

 

From the shadows, a rather mystified Toji sadly watched her go.  He straightened up, gazing intently up at her bedroom window, waiting until the light clicked on and he could see her slender frame moving about the room.  Holding up one trembling hand, he formed his finger and thumb into the shape of an L, superimposed against the bright yellow square of light streaming from her window, before sighing heavily and dropping his hand to his side again.  With one last, longing glance at the house, he shoved both hands deep into his pockets and turned to slowly make his way back to his own home.