Hollow Point

Noire smiled at the sight of Daelen, still sound asleep in their bed. Being careful to not wrinkle her dress pants, she sat down on his back. "Goodness, Daelen. Your back is quite comfortable."

Daelen groaned, rolling over and knocking her down under him. He smiled triumphantly down at her. "I win.'

"Hey hey hey! Don't ruin my clothes. Did you forget that I have that job interview today?" She punched his stomach playfully.

He rolled over onto his back and yawned. "Yeah, I forgot."

"Well you shouldn't have. This is a really important job for me, Daelen. I'd actually be working with computers again. It would be wonderful if I got it."

"I'm sorry," he replied earnestly. He kissed her on the cheek. "I really hope you get it."

Kissing his nose, she let out a small sigh. "I do, too. It pays well and we could help Scott get his own place here if he wanted, just so he wasn't bothering us so much." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Daelen blushed. "Maybe Scott should get his own job to pay for his own apartment," he teased.

"I'll send him out to look for a job eventually. Poor guy barely knows the language here and I don't have the patience to teach another person. Besides, it's time for me to start working."

"I should get a job as well...if they stop looking for me." He frowned, feeling permanently trapped in this apartment.

"Of course, Daelen. You're a grown man. Once the doctors finally leave you alone, you can try to get a job." Noire ruffled his hair slightly and kissed his lips swiftly. "Since I have a little extra time on my hands, do you and Scott want to go to the park we went to when we first came here? He hasn't been before, so you could show him around."

"That sounds like a good idea. That way I can make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Daelen smiled.

Noire smiled back to him and stood up. "Well, you better hurry up and get ready. I'll go let Scott know." She grabbed his hand and squeezed gently, before heading out into the living room.
--
Noire cursed under her breath. "People need to learn to drive." she said as she sped past the car in front of her who was going twenty under the speed limit.

As they neared the green light at the intersection, Daelen sucked in a breath. "Noire!" he yelled. "Stop!"

She slammed on the break, loud squeals coming from the tires. Luckily, no car had been following them. "What the hell, Daelen?" Noire screamed. She quickly quieted down as she saw a large truck fly through the red light. Her eyes widened. "How..how did you know that?"

Daelen, who had sunk against the chair in relief, suddenly stiffened. Scott leaned forward, eyes wide. "I...I'm just really observant." Daelen finally answered.

Noire shook her head. "No, there's no way you could know that unless you were-..nevermind." She turned her attention back to the road and didn't speak until she dropped them both off.
--
Daelen lagged behind Scott, feeling paranoid and uncomfortable. Scott kept glancing back at him, giving him confused looks. He didn't want to explain anything.

Scott coughed weakly. "We could've gotten into a bad accident, right?" he asked, his nerves audible in his voice.

Daelen didn't look up at him, staring at the pavement that was starting to crack. "Yeah," he replied.

"Well, do you want to show me around?" he said, nudging Daelen in the ribs.

"Oh, uh. Sure." Daelen gestured around. "This is the...park," he finished lamely.

Scott sighed. "Is there anywhere nice we could sit? Is there food?" he said, his voice picking up at the last idea.

"We don't have that much money," Daelen pointed out. "It's nice to sit under the trees, though."

He groaned, trudging over to one of the cherry blossom trees. "I wish I knew more people around here. I need to mingle."

"Go ahead," Daelen replied, plopping down against the rough bark. "I'll stay here."

Frowning, Scott shook his head. "I can't leave you, Daelen. I don't want something to happen."

"Then don't," he snapped. "I don't like the feeling of being babysat, okay?" he replied with a milder tone.

He looked around, still frowning. "I'm going to go get us some food."

"Fine. I guess I'll have to come with," Daelen replied with a likewise frown.

"Fine." he said with a bitter tone.

They walked in silence towards a food vendor selling all sorts of things. Daelen ordered, as Scott did not understand Japanese yet.

Scott stood at the side of the food cart, scanning the area. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It's too hot out in the sun.." he said to himself. He looked at the ground, shielding his eyes as he walked towards the nearest tree. As he felt the air around him get cooler, a man suddenly appeared before him. "Oh, I'm really sorry." Scott said, hoping the person in front of him spoke English.

"Oh, no, it's okay," the man replied in a thick accent, smiling with blindingly white teeth. "Do you speak Japanese?" he asked.

He felt himself blushing. "No, I don't. I just moved here with my friend. She's from around here."

"Oh, okay. She must be teaching you then." he smiled again, but this time it seemed less genuine.

"No, not exactly." Scott let out a nervous laugh. "I've been trying to teach myself." He paused, before holding out his right hand. "I'm Scott, by the way."

The man laughed richly. "I'm Tomo. If you like, I'll teach you." he dropped a wink.

"Nice to meet you, Tomo. That's really nice of you to offer, but I don't want to be a bother." Scott twisted his head in an attempt to look for Daelen. "I need to go though. I need to find my friend. Again, it was nice meeting you." He rushed off back to the cart.

Turning the corner, he couldn't seen Daelen anywhere. He considered calling his name, but was frightened that the doctors were around and would be alarmed that Daelen was close. He ran back over to the cherry blossom tree they had sat at earlier, but no such luck. Daelen was gone.
--
"And finally, why do you feel that you deserve to have this job?" the interviewer asked, scrutinizing Noire in an unhealthy way.

Noire wiped her sweaty palms along her pants. "Well, I have attended one of the best technology schools in Japan. I passed with flying colors in all of my classes. I have an incredible interest in technology and have since I was a small child. I think that your company would greatly benefit from my work I would willingly put in."

The interviewer finally smiled tightly, scribbled something onto a sheet, and closed the folder. "Well, Ms. Aurelia, I do believe we are finished." She stood up, holding the folder. "You will be contacted soon."

She stood up as well, smiling sweetly. "Thank you, Mrs. Mion. It's been a pleasure." She held out her hand and shook Mrs. Mion's hand firmly.

Mrs. Mion's bony hand gripped hers briefly before she turned on her heel and strode out the door.

Noire let out a sigh of relief before fixing her blouse. She grabbed her purse and quickly walked out the door and back to the parking lot. She opened the door to her car and picked up her phone, pressing a button. On the screen, she read, "Scott - 15 missed calls." Noire's heart skipped a beat as she quickly dialed in his number.

"Noire?" Scott's panicked voice broke in mid-ring. "Noire, I'm so sorry-"

"-What happened to him, Scott?!" Noire interrupted.

"I don't know!" Scott's voice cracked. "It was a decoy, a flippin' decoy! He was- and then, just gone! Somehow...Noire! I don't know what to do!"

"Who was a decoy, Scott? Who was so important that you took your eyes off Daelen?!"

"A uh...a really good looking Japanese man bumped into me. Then he kept talking and--" Scott trailed off with a moan of despair.

Noire tried her best to stop the tears, but the dams behind her eyes had broken. "What are we going to do? I need him, Scott. I don't know if I love him, but it's pretty dang close. I can't let him go back to Hollow Point."

"I know. I'm so sorry. We have to find him." Scott's voice had dropped to a whisper. "We just have to."