Behind Hazel Eyes

Mystery Girl

Theme: Orange

Seki's phone call had been quite the surprise for Adam. He hadn't heard from his high school friend in over six months and although he knew that Seki's job took him from one part of the country to another, Adam didn't really think the older man would even bother to call him for anything - let alone to help pick up a young woman he had just met today at the train station.

What was even worse was the fact that he had agreed to the stupid request. Adam could only blame it on boredom and the need to do something - anything at all to alleviate it. He had been feeling listless all day - even though he had spent the better part of the morning working on his parents' house, and yet the evening had loomed ahead with nothing much to look forward to. He had debated calling Akari, a long time girl pal of his. She wasn't a girlfriend in that sense. He just wasn't interested in getting too involved with any member of the opposite sex right now. A bitter experience with a woman in his early twenties had scarred him for life and he had vowed never to get too attached again.

Akari, for her part, seemed understanding and was willing to be no more than a listening ear and a source of comfort when needed. She would put no pressures on him for a definite relationship and so far things had been going great between them. They genuinely enjoyed being in each other's company and Adam was beginning to regard her as a younger sister. However, he didn't think she'd be willing to be his companion tonight. She had said something about working on a late night TV show at NHK, so she might be away for the entire weekend. Her stint as a local reporter was beginning to yield some good results and she couldn't miss the opportunity. So, at the end of it all, Seki's hair-brained idea looked like just the thing Adam needed to end his boring evening.

"She is beautiful and American just like you," Seki had said and despite his trepidations, knowing that this mysterious girl was a foreigner had piqued Adam's interest. It wasn't as if he hadn't spoken to foreigners or Americans over the years- he had met quite a few in college - but it really was rare to see a female coming all the way out here for something. What could she want to do in a place like Japan? Be an actress? Or a model? He would have thought that America would be able to give her all she wanted.

"She's got shoulder-length brown hair and hazel eyes...almost hypnotic when you look into them."

Adam had to smile at that. It sounded like good ol' Seki was smitten with this woman. The whole concept of love at first sight had been true for Adam five years ago, but not any more. Love was just a stupid word people threw around whenever they felt they had the need to commit to another person. However, if Seki was head over heels for this woman, it only seemed like the decent thing to do by helping her settle down in the city.

"You can't miss her. She's wearing an orange silk blouse, black pants and a hat over her head."

An orange silk blouse. He blinked at the image that came to his mind. He was no fashion guru but anyone willing to wear a color that bright was either daring or had no sense of color co-ordination.

He checked his wallet for change. He had enough to get them a taxi at least and having spoken to the landlady earlier, she had told him there was an extra room on the second floor for rent. It would have to do for Mystery Girl.

"Her name is Aurora. You can't miss her."

Aurora. The Latin word for dawn or better yet, equivalent in Roman mythology as Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn. Adam chuckled softly to himself - a goddess in orange, the color of the rising sun at dawn. It all seemed to fit somehow. He shook his head rapidly and forced himself to stare at the train schedules before him. Her train was bound to arrive soon and he couldn't afford to space out with his thoughts of some fashion-victim with a fairly uncommon name.

Fifteen (long) minutes later, the train finally arrived as he pushed himself away from the wall he had been leaning against to walk towards the platform. As the passengers spilled onto solid ground, his eyes darted through the throng of people, desperately searching for the elusive female. The crowd was beginning to thin out and Adam felt mixed emotions of irritation, frustration and mild panic as he had seen no woman in an orange blouse step off the train. Cursing softly, wondering if he had missed her when he had turned around earlier, he stepped over a puddle of water and began to make his way towards the other end of the platform.

All of a sudden...WHAM!

It was so fast that he barely had the time to steady himself or the other person. Together, they fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, but not before experiencing dual sensations of pain as his head hit the wet pavement and the subsequent weight of the person on his torso and chest. The person shifted and glad for a little room to breathe, Adam was soon regaled with the most piercing scream of terror he had ever heard.

A flash of orange filled his vision before he squeezed his eyes shut to gain some sort of control over the situation. The police were bound to show up any minute now and all hell would break lose if he didn't get her to shut the hell up. Just what was she screaming about anyway? He was the one with the head injury. He should be the one crying for help.

"I'm so sorry!" she finally managed to blubber out in panic as she leaned closer to him. "I didn't mean to kill you! Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't know that you were behind me and...and..."

A loud whistle, running footsteps and sharp calls of 'Hey! What's going on here?!' had Adam struggling to sit up. He really didn't need the extra attention.

"It's okay," he reassured the two policemen - who were now peering at the couple with skeptical looks - with a small smile. "My wife was just careless and slipped and fell."

He squeezed her arm gently, noticing that she was about to open her mouth to refute his statement. If she denied anything now, it would only make the situation worse.

"As you can see, there's no blood," he said, more to the girl (although he doubted she could understand a word of what he was saying) than to the policemen, although he wasn't even looking at her.

"Hmm, okay..." one of the men said rather warily as they both continued to stare at Adam and Aurora as if hoping for just something to arrest them for. "Well, just be careful and make sure you take her home safely or we arrest you two for disturbing the peace, okay."

"Okay, officers. Thank you."

Adam felt her tremble against him and he had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from pulling her into his arms completely. It was clear that she was still recovering from the 'shock' of the fall. However, he didn't need a rocket scientist to tell him that this was the mysterious Aurora. For one thing, she had yelled in English and then there was the rather nice orange silk blouse she was wearing. He wasn't sure of what he had really expected, but the simple cut, revealing a rather nice cleavage was enough to make him...

"Stop gawking at me, you pervert!" she suddenly screamed, as she held the folds of the shirt together and glared at him. He blinked in surprise, unable to believe she had actually said that.

She's got beautiful eyes...almost hypnotic.

And Adam could see why. Her look of concern had turned indignant and those eyes seemed to blaze with a fire that sent delightful shivers down his spine.

Fuck. This is definitely not what I need now.

"Maybe you should get off me," he said tightly, amazed at how cool and collected he sounded even though his heart had almost skipped a beat just seconds ago. "You're too heavy."

She gasped and opened her mouth...then shut it until her lips became a thin line of infuriation. Without saying a word, she rose to her feet, 'accidentally' stepping on his hand which had him wincing but glaring at her all the same. Wonderful. They were getting off on the right foot already. This night ought to be interesting.

"Don't worry, officers," she was now saying in broken but passable Japanese. It sounded terrible. "My husband and I will be heading off now. Thank you for your concern."

"Gaijin," one of them murmured as they smiled politely at her before making their way back to their stations. They had seen their share of weird foreigners and the lady was just another one to be added to the bunch.

Adam rose to his feet and eyed her luggage. One large suitcase, a bulging carryall bag and her ordinary handbag. He eyed the make of the suitcase and held back a whistle. There was nothing cheap about the Louis Vuitton logo on them and as he dared to stare at her again, he definitely knew that this woman was more than she appeared to be. She didn't look any older than eighteen and even though she was wearing a relatively simple outfit, she carried it off like any model or professional actress. That is to say with class and style. She wore little makeup, but that didn't stop her from looking extremely pretty. Those lips were full and kissable, although they looked anything but at this time. She was still glaring at him as if he had crawled out from under a rock. Shaking his head softly, to get rid of the excess water, he winced as it throbbed with a blinding ache.

"I'm sorry about your head," she said, the anger fading a bit from her visage. "I can compensate you..."

"I don't need your money," he said tightly, feeling something hard twist within his stomach at how flippant she had sounded. Just who was she anyway? She didn't look poor and yet she wanted to live in a place like Kappabashi and in his district no less. It didn't make any sense.

"I'll be fine. Now let's go..." He made a move for her luggage but she dove for it with a look of confusion and annoyance on her features.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked. "Don't touch my things!"

"Didn't Seki tell you I'd be helping you to a new apartment?" he asked impatiently. Their little performance was beginning to gain more attention from passersby. "I'm Adam. He must have told you about me."

"Actually he didn't," she retorted. "But at least you aren't lying about Seki leading me here. How can I trust you?"

"Because I'm the only friend you've got around here now," he replied with a small smirk, watching the conflicting emotions of wariness and fear in her eyes. "So unless you want me to leave you here..."

"Fine, fine, just lead the damn way," she replied with a grumble, allowing him to pick up the heavy suitcase. "Just don't expect me to tip you or anything. I'm trying to save up enough money as is."

She began to walk towards the exits, leaving him staring after her with mild confusion. Saving up money? What was she? The daughter of a fallen aristocrat?

"Yes, your majesty," he muttered beneath his breath, reluctantly admiring the sway of her hips and her rather nice ass(ets). Despite her less than stellar attitude, Adam had to admit that this Aurora was one of the most interesting individuals he had met in a long time.

__


The ride to the apartment building was a rather quiet and slightly uncomfortable one. Adam kept expecting Aurora to fire away with questions, but she remained stubbornly silent and kept to her side of the taxi. He shifted restlessly and peered out of the window, now more aware of the light flowery scent of her perfume with each breath he took. He rubbed a hand across his lips, wondering why he was even thinking about her this much. She was snotty, a loud-mouth and...

(sexy as hell)

...an annoying little bitch. So why couldn't he stop imagining what she would be like next to him...in bed?

The taxi gave a light jolt as it went over a speed bump and this (thankfully) broke through his rather distressing thoughts. However, they came back in full force as something heavy and warm fell upon his shoulder. He started and tried to move, before realizing with surprise that it was Aurora's head. He stared helplessly into her peaceful features which made her look so much younger. Her lashes were incredibly long and those lips were moist and slightly parted - a rather tempting invitation to something that would complicate matters even more.

Seki loves her. Seki loves her. Seki loves her.

Don't even think about doing anything funny, he warned himself while fighting back a groan as she moved even closer to him. He had warned himself off women, hadn't he? He didn't need the complications of dealing with them and having to put up with their mood swings. He had suffered the brunt of a failed relationship with that other woman. He didn't need this to happen to him now.

"Mmm...Tony," she murmured thickly and to his chagrin, she wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him gently.

Tony?

He closed his eyes and fell back against the seat with a soft sigh of relief. Good. She was in love with someone else. It would make things so much easier between them. Knowing that she too would have no interest in a man like him would make them better acquaintances.

So how could he explain this sudden twisting ache in his heart?