Forgetting to Breathe

Reluctantly, I refrain from uttering anything more. Isn’t Rubeus too cautious? It’s not exactly like it’s written “magic holders” on our foreheads in glittery ink. Though… okay. Maybe a ventriloquist together with a girl — a key stuck in her back — aren’t exactly suspicion-free.

“Is he really there to look for Mr. Izawa, like us? Or is he a simple stroller?”

    I can’t hear the sound of his voice any more… He must have hung up the phone. Holding my breath as I focus on the faintest sound, that’s when I hear the echo of his footsteps.

    He’s under the bridge.

    Rubeus and I exchange a glance, a nod, before leaning forward in the same cautious move.

    Standing next to the waterfront, a man in his… late twenties? He seems to be the same age as Longwei. His hair tied in a mid-long braid, a few jet-black strands of hair partly hide his features. Wearing a cloak of the same colour, he holds Mr. Izawa’s fishing rod.

    Not saying a word, he contemplates it for a while. It’s long enough for me to finally notice that he isn’t holding it directly, but through a piece of fabric.

“Unless he’s just obsessed with cleanliness…”

    My remaining doubts are blown away as the man retrieves kind of a thick brush from his coat’s inner pocket. He takes it closer to the rod, a faint bluish glowing on its tip.

    Clenching my teeth, I lean back.

“See? Your typical passerby isn’t so well-equipped.” Poltergeist argues in a whisper.

    I frown.

    I should be rejoicing to see that someone else is finally looking for Mr. Izawa. Whenever I reached for the police, they refused to take me seriously since I wasn’t even able to give them his first name, his address, or whatever. I wasn’t part of his family, and nobody else reported his disappearance. It was enough for them to disregard my yapping.

    They don’t care. Nobody does.

    Still… Instead of pumping a fist into the air, I can’t help but have a bad feeling about that.

“Did you touch it?”

    The marionette’s voice makes me almost jump. I raise my eyes to meet his gaze.

    A nod.

    Mr. Izawa once convinced me to try fishing. He argued that I would experience unmatched inner peace, and somehow I agreed to give it a chance. But, in truth, I was more interested in the simple fact of sharing an activity with him.

    And he was more in taking advantage of the time I spent holding his fishing rod, going on a walk and returning with ice creams. Only to mock me with a smile for trusting his words.

“That sucks.” Poltergeist notes. “You’re gonna be the first suspect on his list.”

    And I can’t afford it. Yeah, I already know that.

    I open my mouth to praise Poltergeist for having at least as many functioning neurons as a five-year-old toddler, when the footsteps resume.

    As they grow closer, we avoid making the slightest sound…

“Come on. Show yourself.” The man’s voice echoes.

    Fuck.

    I can feel my heartbeat increasing. Did he hear us? Reaching for my hood, I put it over my head.

“I can see your shadow.” The man adds.

    A glance at the ground confirms that we’re cooked.

    Before I can turn my attention back to Rubeus, I feel a hand on my arm. The touch makes me stiffen.

    It’s Rubeus. It’s just Rubeus. I know that, but-

    Her hand reaching for me, the worst being her nails. Long enough to scratch my skin.

“Let me go!”

    Unable to resist the urge, I free myself from his touch with a jerk.

“Ohh, the mouse finally dares to step out of her hideout?”

    The moment I realise what I’ve done, it’s too late.

    I stepped right into his field of view.

    Scars spread from his forehead to his cheeks, his arctic blue eyes piercing my hooded silhouette. ‘Like he’s reading everything about me, like he can discover anything about me if he stares long enough.

    Not even letting him have the time to open his mouth again, I turn around and start running as quickly as my legs allow me to, following the shoreline.

“Oi. Oi!” The man’s voice grows louder. “Where do you think you’re going?”

    No need to glance back, I know he’s running after me.

“I’m so dumb I’m so dumb I’m so dumb.”

    Scanning my surroundings, I spot a stairway. Good. If I remain on the shore, he’ll end up catching me. And now that I screwed up everything, acting in the most suspicious way possible, he won’t let me go.

    Part of me wants to stop despite all, to try and explain, to let him know I’d do anything to help him find Mr. Izawa. But I can’t risk letting him find out the truth about me. I have to lose a tail. And my only chance to do so is to lead him into the streets’ maze.

    I climb the stairs two by two steps, risking a glance back the moment I reach the top.

    He’s already midway.

    Shit. I wish I could run at the same pace my heart hammers in my chest.

    Barking.

    Refocusing ahead of me, I notice barely in time a leash held by a granny. A jump saves me from a certain endgame before the granny even processes me passing by.

    Crossing the street, I head towards the buildings. As I search for anything that could help me, I spot a skip and extend my hand to knock it down on the way.

    The ruckus makes a few passersby turn their gaze towards me. But what concerns me more is the thud I hear after crossing a few metres. My pursuer jumped on the skip, closely following my trail.

“Fuck… Who’s that dude?!”

    Should I use magic? But it’s still daylight… I’ll have bigger problems if I get caught.

“Tssk.”

    Taking a sudden shift, I try to lose him in a crowded alley, zigzagging between the passersby. Well, not without earning a couple of surprised exclamations and insults.

“I need something to distract his attention.”

    Breath ragged, I can feel that I’m slowing down when I spot a flower shop.

    For a second, I hesitate. Just for a second.

    As I bypass the shop, I discreetly turn my fingers at the flowers and the next moment a whole bunch of roses, camellias, and other flowers fly over me. Permitting me to disappear behind a thick cloud of petals.

    I turn at the corner of the street, taking a deserted path when my vision blurs. Blinking, I rub the back of my hand against my eyes.

“Guess I should’ve eaten something, after all…”

    My vision seems to clear, but it’s without counting on my feet which fail me in turn. A misstep is all it takes for me to hit the ground. A sudden intimacy I’m not consenting with.

    I lean against my hands, intending to straighten up when a heavy weight pins me face to the ground.

“This time, it’s over for you.” The man’s voice breathes, so close it makes a shiver run up my spine. “Let’s get to know each other. I feel like you have a lot to tell me.”

    I can feel his weight in my back, his arm reaching for my hood, grabbing it…

    Cats growling, hissing. Metallic debris hitting the ground. The sudden commotion stills his gesture. I can feel his weight against me lessen as he takes a glance back.

“It’s now or never.”

    Making the most of his shift of focus, I gather mana at my fingertips. Cautious not to release a too great amount of it… I wait for the bluish filaments to trace the edges of my palms, for my fingers to tremble at the sheer pressure, before suddenly letting it flow.

    The sudden impulse allows me to bounce back, my pursuer losing his balance.

    Not losing that opportunity, I spin round, raising my leg to aim at his back, sending him to the ground with a groan.

“Take that. ‘Hope you like the odour of dog’s piss.”

    But he’s strong… If I hadn’t taken him by surprise, this kick wouldn’t have made him fall. Kinda not willing to linger at his side, I turn away from him, forcing myself to run.

    As I reach a fork in the road, an arm suddenly grabs me and pulls me into a narrow alley. I barely have the time to catch a glimpse of Rubeus’ silhouette that he pulls me behind him, releasing me to extend his arm before him. Mana flows out of his palm, quickly spreading into a thin and flat structure… taking shape of a wall. Soon, as the mana stops flowing, it takes its grey colour as well, concealing the entrance of the darkening alley.

    I don’t even have the time to open my mouth that Rubeus raises his hand in a simple signal. Keep quiet. But we don’t have to wait for long before hurried footsteps echo on the other side of the wall. Holding my breath, I don’t allow myself to let out a sigh of relief until hearing for sure the last echoes fade into the distance.

“Let’s not stay here.” Poltergeist says, turning his back to the wall as he walks away.

    With a nod, I follow him, lowering my hood.

“You’re lucky I was there to distract him.” He adds.

“The ruckus,.. it was you?”

“Yeah. ‘Haven’t thought it was heaven’s blessing now, did ya?”

    I roll my eyes.

“Yeah. I still want to kick your ass.”

“Aren’t girls supposed to fall in love with their saviours?” The white rabbit retorts. “Like, it’s the classic plot.”

“Piss. You read too much bullshit.”

⋆༺♱༻⋆

My only fluke surely is that this cop didn’t see my face thanks to my hood. I knew sweaters were the most convenient thing ever to wear. Glory to them, glory to hoodies.

    We’ve already put an important distance between that man and us, strolling through the shopping district. Numerous shops stretch on each side of the covered walkway, colourful banners hanging from the walls.

“That truly was a bad idea.” I dwell on my stupid reaction. “We should have talked to him. He’s gonna find me anyway, right? With the prints.”

    Did he notice the key in my back? As it doesn’t protrude from my back more than my bag, it’s not that blatant as long as I wear it, but still… He’ll immediately make the connection if he did.

“It’s okay. Not gonna happen.” Poltergeist brushes off.

“How can you be so confident?”

“It’s all about taking advantage of the situation. When you decided to have a race, I made sure to clean any print from dat fishing rod.”

“You… What?!” I exclaim, quickly lowering my voice as some passersby glance at us. “What if there was a hint that would have allowed him to find Mr. Izawa?”

“You sure it’s worth the risk? Besides, we’ve already learnt something interesting.”

    I’m reminded of Rubeus’ look of surprise after inspecting the place under the bridge.

“And what did we learn?” I cross my arms.

    As we cross the alleys, a heady scent of sauce and fried pork belly makes me slow my pace to gaze at a yakisoba pan stand.

“I’ll tell you when we’ll be in a less crowded pl-” Poltergeist pauses. “It’s gonna lose taste if you stare at it that intensely. Just buy it.”

    Realising I’ve stopped in front of the stand, I notice the grandpa behind the counter looking at me, amused, and I avert my gaze. Walking away.

    I don’t have money to buy it. Whatever.

    Shame how food outside of home always looks so tasty.

“Keep the change.”

    The moment I hear the rabbit’s voice a few steps behind, I glance back only to spot the old man holding him out a yakisoba pan.

    Rubeus joins then my side, handing me the bun stuffed with fried noodles and topped with pickled ginger.

    Not saying a word, Rubeus waves it towards me and I finally decide to accept it.

    It’s still warm. I stare at it for a while, almost surprised to feel hungry.

    Then, I take a first bite. The warmth of the meal fills in turn my stomach as I swallow bite after bite.

“Thanks…” I mumble as we walk through the shopping district.

⋆༺♱༻⋆

“As for your earlier question,” Poltergeist begins as he leads the way through Yokohama’s streets, the latters having grown silent by now, “when we were under the bridge, I sensed remnants of an energy which still lingered there. It was faint, but it was still recognisable. Remnants of mana.”

    I frown at his words, turning my gaze at him.

“What does that mean? It’s a magic holder who attacked Mr. Izawa?”

    For a while, Poltergeist remains silent.

“That… or our man himself is a magic holder.”