a diamond through the rough (last)

Takiko being the calm and collected person of the council acted as such a position deemed of her

She started screaming

"what are you thinking!?!??!"

"be quiet or there will be trouble" Sebastian hissed keeping his voice low. steel reinforced his words as he hung off the ledge. his arms tense

Hearing the threatening voice Takiko was about to shout at him. But when she saw his face she immediately clammed up.

There was fear.

His golden set of eyes screamed of fear darting in directions quickly before settling on her

"Listen, I know hanging off a building isn't the easiest thing to sit through," he said still hanging off said building ledge

"how'd you figure that?" she retorted sarcastically

"but for now trust me, I know what I'm doing, so try and keep quiet," he said slowly pulling the two of them up on the ledge

"can you do that for me?"

She noded.

He jumped.

It had taken about 5 leaps from tall buildings and 3 times they suspended themselves on thin ledges for Takiko to finally get used to it and refrain from screaming each time

She'd wondered what in the hell Sebastian was thinking to take this route through the rooftops with her on his back

But admonished the thought as she remembered what happened on the ground earlier that day

She actually started to find the experience liberating. she felt the wind whip at her face while a rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins. she felt free

The whole trip with him had been silence, silence, and even more silence. She was getting bored despite the jumping and wall scaling going on

Even with her strict personality, she was one for light conversation and banter

"why were you and Sagara here?" she found herself asking while Sebastian was still walking calmly from rooftop to rooftop

"you do know I live here right?" she found an odd comfort in his old way of speaking.

"yeah I know that" she rolled her eyes

"But why was Sagara here?" she asked

"well, we were at Ashima's place for some videogames and food earlier," he said making a small jump to a building

"the hellraiser lives here?" she perked up

"you guys sure give us a lot of weird names" he snorted slowing down a bit

"it's not my fault it's the students who gave you dunces and us nicknames" she huffed

"well as for Ashima he kinda lives here when he wants to" Sebastian leaped over a small metal railing

"huh?"

"We have this place all of us paid for where we go basically to release stress by knocking some thug's teeth in," he said as if such an act were casual

"how barbaric!" she said indignantly

Sebastian shrugged

"and were going there?!" she huffed exasperatedly

"Nah" he stopped and stared at a wall

"that place is west side, we're here at my place," he said making one last jump and grabbing on to a ledge before swinging both of them in a building

Sebastian flicked open the lights causing her a momentary blindness

When her eyes adapted to the light she saw the room of the infamous Madog of the council

It wasn't what she expected.

She thought someone as carefree as Sebastian wouldn't care for cleanliness or organization or heck even a decoration.

He thought his place must be some dump in the slums

But as she began to look around she noticed just how clean the apartment really was. It didn't fit in with the outside of it. It didn't look like an apartment that belonged in the slums

The interior was vibrant and the floor looked newly cleaned. A table took most of the place in the main living room while a couch and a small table adorned each side said table contained a few pictures and little figurines

Sebastian sat her on the couch as gently as he could

"wait here a second, I'm gonna get bandages" he excused himself

She looked at the contents of the table. It was by far the only unorganized thing there

Metal parts of some kind littered the table some in odd shapes and some parts she could name. Gears metal casing and some weird containers on the side with powder and liquid in them

She mentally panicked thinking they might be illegal drugs and hit her injured foot on the table causing a few parts to fall

"try not to break anything there will ya," Sebastian said as he entered

"and no, those are not drugs. They're specific compounds i use to make the smoke bombs from earlier" he said crouching in front of her

"I can do it myself!" she said stubbornly taking the bandages from him

"don't."

It was almost scary how that one word uttered with cold fury could stop Takiko in her tracks as every fiber of her being screamed at her to drop everything and run

"listen here loyal dog of the president!" he hissed barely a whisper but each word hed steel reinforcing them

It sent shivers down her spine

"you were an idiot to come here, you almost got killed today, and you're going to try to fix yourself up when you clearly have no idea what the fuck you're doing," he said the edge to his voice growing ever so sharper

"Now sit down and let me bandage you will ya," he said smiling and taking the bandages away from her

Takiko immediately clammed up. That wasn't the smile she was used to.

she was used to one that was carefree and arrogant. not this one.

That smile was filled still filled with mirth but his eyes gleamed with an unseen threat

Silence passed as Sebastian pulled out the knife in her leg and started bandaging the cut

She tried to not to make a sound just to prove to him that she was strong

"your lucky this didn't hit anything vital. The knife's well cleaned too almost no chance of infection" he said as he wrapped the bandage on her leg

"sorry" she forced herself to say it putting her pride aside Sebastian had earned at least that and more some

"Why are you even helping me?" she asked

"you could've just left me there with a knife in my leg. Or dropped me off outside the slums. So why bother carrying me all the way here?" she finally asked

"redemption"

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Sebastian put an ointment on the wound

"6 years ago I ran into a girl being chased by a gang of thugs. She said her father owed them a dept and that her entire family was killed because of it" Sebastian said eyes focused on the bandaging

"being 12 at the time, not knowing what a family was. I focused my entire life on surviving." his hand clenched

"it made me mad that the girl was running away from her problems. so being the asshole that I was I left her to fend for her self" he stood up and turned around

"the next day there was news of a new murder in the middle of a street. Two bodies lay there strung up on the lampost they're innards practically dangling off their bodies" Takiko felt the urge to gag at the mental image

"one of them was the girl. And the other was a boy about my age" he said tightening his clenched hand

"from the wounds inflicted the boy was defending her." he sighed

"He did what I couldn't do. If I had taken her here or in a safehouse neither of them would have died. It was my fault they died" he finished solemnly

"Even if it wasn't you, I'd have still saved them as means of redemption," he said walking towards a kitchen

"stay there I'm gonna cook us a quick meal"

Takiko was left alone with her thoughts on the couch.

She didn't know if she could look at Sebastian the same way ever again

Where once she saw a selfish, conniving, juvenile, arrogant prick stood a kind serious tortured soul that wanted a respite of redemption

Thinking back on the times they both fought in the fortress, she recalled how Sebastian was always on guard with his body always tense as if expecting an attack at any second and in class, he would always look off to the window in contemplation his eyes in a distant place

It did not help that they were classmates.

Was it the effect of growing up in the slums?

Does he still blame himself?

How much did he change?

A few moments later Sebastian came back with two plates of curry. Handing her one he went back to the kitchen and retrieved two cups and a pot of tea

He seated next to her, a respectable distance

Was he gonna break the silence?

…

…

…

He just muttered a quiet prayer and started eating away at his curry not bothering to talk to her

Was he mad at her?

Did she somehow annoy him?

Did she pry too much into his past?

No!, why is she getting this frustrated at herself for Sebastian of all people?!

"thank you," she finally blurted out. Her voice barely a whisper but it was enough to cut the silence that had enveloped the two of them.

"for what exactly?" he asked after swallowing

"everything, I know you kinda hate me in school but you still carried and helped me anyways," she said pushing aside her pride for now

"well you were kinda heavy," he said casually

Takiko glared at him

"but anyways!" he shouts trying to change the subject "its nothing, heck if Sagara or the other was with me I'm sure the other two would escort you to the den while Sagara hunts down those bastards" he chuckled darkly

"why?"

It was such a simple word yet Takiko never noticed how so much feeling could be put into one word Curiosity, Wonder, confusion, amazement,

"why would you do that for someone in the council? We've been at each other's necks for more than a year now. so why" she stared at Sebastian's eyes

Sebastian stopped for a moment and stared back at her. his eyes gauging her if she was actually serious or not

"what happens in school should stay there," he said pouring himself another cup of tea

"just because the council and the committee hate each other doesn't mean we hate all of you as a person," he said sagely.

huh… she actually found his words calming and reassuring for once

"that and Sagara would kill my ass if I let you die there" he added at the end

Takiko sweatdropped