I don't need you anymore

      “Ooh, you know how hard it is for me to get sick.” A gentle smile as her hands came up, gently sliding his fingers away from her features. She knew Craig far too well, even with their time apart. Something similar to this feeling happened before—And that was when she left him at the airport, during the end of that summer. He wouldn’t let go until she did first…How n i c e.

Slowly releasing his fingers, the blonde gave one final pat to his cheek before breaking away. Idly backing up, twirling around to dance toward the apartments she called home..

      “Text me tomorrow~ I expect a really nice photo of wherever you end up. You know how much I love your photos.” 

                                 Trot, trot….

And like that, the girl stopped at the apartment gate, turning to glance over her shoulder.

      “See you someday, American Boy?”

It’s still very safe to say that Kurosaki Riku, right here? Was not used to things like this, platonic or not. What was thought to be a tiny sheepish peck took longer than any time limit she predicted, warmth pooling into her cheeks and nearly stinging against the Tokyo winter wind. There was no reason to ask why that is, though. All predictions of possible reasons or future comments about this exact moment just flew away for a moment, allowing the blonde to stay in the moment for now.

Of course, later she’s probably going to fall over and die from a shamelessly fluttering heart. There’s no stopping a girl’s heart once it gets started, no matter the logic. 

As expected of a singer with iron lungs, while Craig tried to catch his breath, she just stood there with a meek grin on her features, trying to hide it with lips pressed into a thin line. Thanks to his grip on the chullo’s arms, there’s no way she could just hide her face even if she wanted to.

Aah, gentle eyes, the many grins….I wonder how much people would pay to see him like this?

      “….”

A sweet laugh, sweater sleeve reaching up to wipe off the gloss that had transferred onto him. If he drove off with that on during winter, his lips will go right back to being as cracked as hell’s road. They’ve gotten better from the time back in South Park, where she’d constantly tell him to borrow her chap stick. It’s a nice thought, knowing he’s taking better care.

      “Leave it to me! I’m the most trustworthy, aren’t I~?” 

      “Goodness, only Prince’s talk about ‘whisking away’ someone!” She wouldn’t have said “yes” anyway, that was something they both knew. She loved Leo and Ren far too much to even joke about such a thing, had too much to handle in this city of hers. Still, her lighthearted voice was just her attempt to make the situation easier for the both of them.

Riku had always been the one left behind—Without words, without any sort of warning, without any sort of contact again. Somehow, she felt like that cold separation was much easier to swallow down than this; however odd that may seem to other people. Although, it’s not like they were going to stop talking forever. They’re close friends, even still…

Well, if this isn’t a surprise. All that could be seen as a ‘shocked reaction’ was the sudden squeeze of pressure onto his fingers, lips pressing together for only a moment. She’s always a collected girl, after all.

But, a smile soon blossomed.  

        “You know, no one’s ever asked me before.” A new little tidbit for Craig to know about her.

      “—Alright.”

      “Of course~ I love motorcycles. Besides~ I always have fun with Craig.” Playful in tone and actions, Riku hopped off the Harley and fixed up her wind-ruffled clothing. But, when reaching out to take a hold of Craig’s sleeve, the girls’ expression turned to something reminiscent of melancholy.

      “—I don’t want you to go. I really don’t. I just got to meet you again. Is an hour or two nearly enough to make up for the time we haven’t talked?” Hearing herself speak selfishly about her wants was a bit…Bizarre, to say the least. So much so that she couldn’t help but let out a sigh, shaking her head. 

      “No matter what roads you take, if it brings you here, you’ll come see me first—Won’t you?”

      “…Take me back to Leo’s place.” That’s essentially “home”, after all. God knows how long they’ve been riding around like this, and no matter how much she wanted to say “a little more”; the time to let go once again was drawing near. You can’t really escape the inevitable, after all.

But the fact that she could see it coming a mile away made it more gentle than something bitter. 

      “We must stay on the main street, though. There’s a lot of old couples in the area and I don’t want to wake them up. Besides~ That’s the most lit up place. I must see your face clearly one last time before you leave.”

Landmarks Riku constantly walked by whizzed by slowly; Tokyo Dome, Rikugi-en Garden. She would point it out to Craig, if she weren’t enjoying this quiet time. If anything, she was more worried about keeping this memory as in tact as possible. Try to memorize everything before it comes to an end, speaking only little—other than pointing out roads to take, or giggles in a response to comments.

When the Harley finally halted to a stop, the blonde perked up, sitting up straight from her original position.

      “So, how do you like my home~? It’s really awesome, right? I wish I could show you all the cool non-tourist places, one day.”

      “Yes, sir—!” You don’t have to tell her twice, because Riku was already clinging to his back without much prompt. That wasn’t really a strange thing, now was it? After all, this is the person who pretty much made a home planted right at his side, hanging onto his arm. A hum of an unnamed song left her as she situated herself, hugging tightly around his waist.

It was only when the Harley was started up did she mutter something else, under her breath and muffled against his shoulder.

       “Even this back changed, too…”

And somehow, it’s far from a bad thing.

      “I thought you’d never ask! I’ve never actually ridden on a Harley before~” Only Japanese brands, like Suzuki’s and Honda’s. Not really shocking, since those were more common here than American brands. But we’re not here to talk about motorcycles right now.

A few moments of enthusiastic wiggling later and Riku was patting the space in front of her. A little too comfortable and free-moving for someone who’s supposed to act like a lady, right? 

      “Let’s have one last date under the stars?”

She’d much rather spend their last moments riding around that cutting it short here. 

      “Ah—Right.” You say ‘don’t ask’, but now she’s more curious about that story. Whoo, new phone! Fancy, he’s moving on up. Now, how to work this sort of thing….Ah, the contacts, there we go!

      “I told you way back when, right? Leo’s a little awkward, but really amazing all the same. I knew you two would be get along well; you’re alike in a few ways. You two should keep in contact, too.”

With a few more taps on the screen, and Riku went to hand it back to Craig—Only to pull it out of his reach right when he was about to take it.

      “Never forget. You don’t have to keep to yourself. If you ever think about me, I’m forever a number away. I’d never miss your call. I may not be able to run to your aid like before…But I’d like to be there in spirit and through the phone.”