Chapter 14

Apollo

Apollo walked outside, rolling his shoulders. He saw Faline outside, tapping his motorcycle to a beat and humming quietly. "Hi dear." he said, gaining the gang leader's attention. He looked up and smiled. "Hi love. Ready to have fun." Apollo rolled his eyes at Faline's excitement. He walked up to the other, leaning over to him. "What do you have planned?" 

Faline shrugged casually, patting the seat behind him. "We're going to Josaien." 

Josaien was an outside shopping mall. Only difference was it had lest to do with malls and shopping, and more to with traditional food and architecture. Apollo had heard it was good, especially at night with the lanterns. 

Apollo hummed, hopping onto the bike. "And what exactly are we going to do there? Eat?" He could hear Faline's eye roll, rude. "No silly, we're going to burn the place down." He scoffed, before zooming off. 

Apollo

Jonsaien was absolutely stunning. They parked near the entrance, where the paved road turns into individual stones, layered on the ground. Apollo looked around, seeing traditional blacks, reds, and whites. With Kanji on the sides of the buildings. 

Today, most likely because people were working, the streets didn't seem all that pack, it actually looked like the crowd would be bearable tonight. Apollo slid off of the bike, smiling. He turned to see Faline taking a picture of the building. Before he could ask why, Faline seemed to already know. 

"It's stunning, isn't it? You know, I'm not the type of person who loves.." He gestures to the buildings. "This. It's not my thing. I like new stuff, not all that old crap. But this is just so…" 

"Pretty?" Apollo asks, trying to fill in the blanks to Faline's thoughts. "No, not pretty. Well, I mean yeah it's pretty. But unique. Like it was made just for us." Apollo shrugged. Technically, it was made just for them. It then meant the people of the Kumamoto Prefecture. 

Faline started walking inside, Apollo following. Lanterns lit the streets, warm lights welcoming you to each store. Apollo wrapped an arm around Faline. "You wanna go look around or eat?" He asked, looking towards the gang leader. 

The boy with the pink hair shrugged. "Whichever. I don't really- oh my god look!" He shouted excitedly, running over and into one of the shops. Apollo watched, intrigued. He had never seen Faline so happy over something, or anything. He walked into the shop. 

It had a warm feel to it. It was a kids store, with toys, puzzles, and learning books. Faline was holding a cute stuffed animal keychain. It was a pink and white cat, with cute beady eyes and soft fur. It could be held in your hand, though Apollo thinks they were supposed to be for cuddles. On the belly of the cat, the embroidered word Feline. 

However, the one Faline was holding, was an accident. It didn't say Feline, but instead, Faline. It was probably handmade and accidentally wrote the word wrong, however Faline was holding it like it was a treasure. He looked up at Apollo with pleading eyes. 

"Can you please by this? Please, Apollo." He smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, of course." They walked up to the register, and Faline gave the lady the accidental cat. " There was a sign at the register that said 'CASH ONLY" That's probably why Faline couldn't but it.

"Oh, you grabbed a bad one." She said, before reaching down to grab a good one. However, Faline stopped her. 

"I know. It's fine, I want it." The lady looked at Faline, before nodding. Alright, that would be  ¥345 please." Apollo nodded, grabbing his wallet and counting the bills.  Faline only stared at the small cat plushie that was being put in a bag. 

He handed the Yen to her with a smile, and she counted it, before placing the money into the register. She handed him a bag, before waving. "Thank you!" She says happily. 

Apollo walked out, before handing the bag to Faline. The boy with the pink hair cheered, sticking his hand into the bag and grabbing the animal. He grazed his hand over the misspelled word. "It's like me." He mumbled. 

Apollo looked at him confused. Like him? "What do you mean?" Faline glanced up at Apollo, before back at the stuffed animal. "Everyone thinks it's a mess up. It needs to be thrown away because no one will want it. But it's not perfect, and that's ok."

Wow, where did that come from? Apollo frowned, back hugging the boy in front of him. "You're not a mess up. That stuffed animal is not a mess up. It's perfect and you're perfect." He could see the corner of Faline's mouth rise slightly. 

"Thanks Apollo." He didn't expect the sudden seriousness of the conversation about the pink stuffed cat, but he wasn't mad about it. He patted the pink cat on the head, before letting go of the hug. They looked around. More people were starting to come as the night went on, probably just looking to have fun. 

He felt Faline grab his hand, pulling him forward. It wasn't forceful, not one bit, but it seemed that he just wanted to go somewhere else. "I'm gonna place this bear on my motorcycle later." 

He chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "It's already so pink. One more pink thing might make me colorblind." Faline shrugged, rolling his eyes. "Pink is my thing. I like the color. Leo calls it branding." Branding? "God, gangs have brands now?" Apollo asked, raising an eyebrow.

He smiled. "They always have. Think about it. Kitty Gang is pink. Black Bloods are black and red, and the Blue Rose Gang are blue. Obviously." He stated it like it was the easiest thing in the world. It made Apollo feel stubid. 

"Shall we go eat?" Faline asked, turning around. Apollo chuckled and nodded. "Of course we shall."