Rachel POV
"Aaaaannnnnddd.... there!" I declared, dropping the trash in our little "fire pit" pile.
Nicki followed closely behind and looked around the roof again before putting his trash down as well.
"You guys seen Michael?"
"Who knows. Knowing him, he probably ditched us to die," Luke said with a laugh.
"How do you find that funny?" Nicki mumbled.
"Who doesn't?"
"I sure don't," I piped up, dusting my hands off.
Michael walked up to us, appearing from seemingly nowhere and leaned down. He flicked on his cigarette lighter, holding up a piece of scrap paper. It caught fire and he waited and waited as the flames licked his fingers.
"Hey, you're going to burn yourself!"
"No I'm not. I'm immune to fire," He replied flatly.
Finally he dropped it onto the pile and we watched the flames flicker to life, creating nice warmth. I sighed, sitting down close to it unlike Luke who scooted away. 'That's strange. It's a bit cold and yet, he wants to get as far away as he can,' I thought.
"Luke, why aren't you enjoying the fire?"
"W-Well... I'm not very cold," He muttered quietly.
"I'm with him on that," Nicki chirped.
"Are you joking? It's freezing," Michael said, rubbing his hands together and looking faint.
I looked at all of us. 'How strange. Luke, the one with ice powers doesn't feel cold. Nicki, the one with Luke's ice powers and fire powers also isn't cold. I'm somewhat cold, and Michael, who's immune to fire, is freezing his butt off. Interesting.'
"So, anyone got food?" Nicki said, breaking the silence.
"Of course not you blockhead. You and Luke go look for some. Here, give anyone this," Michael snapped, throwing him a gun.
Nicki squeaked, fumbling with it. Michael laughed and when I mean laughed, I mean it actually sounded as if he was amused.
"Don't worry. The safety's on," He snickered. "In fact, head down a few blocks and you'll see a Japanese restaurant, a little hole in the wall. Ask for Tsuki and give him that. Tell him you're a friend of Kaito's."
"B-But, isn't that lying?" Nicki stuttered.
"Well, do you want to eat?" Michael said with a raise of one eyebrow.
"Yeah, but-"
"Then do it. It's not a complete lie, right?"
"But, your name isn't Kaito!"
"And?"
Nicki mumbled under his breath in what sounded like Japanese, reminding me that he was Japanese himself. Michael rolled his eyes. Nicki cocked his head curiously at him.
"So what even is your name? Is it actually Michael? Or is it Kaito? Or what?"
Michael smirked at him.
"For me to know and you to find out sweetheart."
"Why can't you do go get food yourself?" Luke grumbled.
"Because if he sees me, he'll probably get ticked off and then you guys can starve tonight. I mean, I've starved my whole life so this night is nothing."
Their stricken faces were pretty hilarious. I wished that I could've taken a picture of them. Michael rolled his eyes.
"Nicki can speak Japanese so you'll be fine. Don't worry, worse comes to worse just click the safety off and shoot a bullet into his ceiling," Michael said offhandedly.
When he saw them standing there, he waved at them.
"Uh, bye. Go get your food and don't get mugged."
Almost in a robotic way, they sauntered off the scene and Michael sighed in annoyance. There was a bit of silence until he pulled out a dagger from his right hip scabbard that I sat first hadn't noticed.
"That's a cool dagger."
His shoulders tensed even more and he stayed silent, staring at the dancing flames.
"Can I hold it?"
"No," He snapped, then his voice softened. "Sorry, but no."
I nodded, understanding. 'It's probably a gift from someone special. But as far as we've seen, such a friend hasn't been around him.'
"Are... Broadway shows as great as people say they are?"
I was a bit taken back by the question before just relaxing and nodding.
"They're pretty good, depending on what you see. Hamilton's pretty great," I said casually.
"Oh... okay then," He said stiffly.
There was another patch of silence.
"Why did you ask?" I inquired.
"Because..." He hesitated. "I had a friend who always wanted to see one. I mean, I've always wanted to too and we promised each other we'd go sometime."
"Oh... is it that Kaito guy?"
"Heavens no," He said with a laugh. "Just a... friend."
"Have you always been homeless?" I asked cautiously.
His smile turned into a scowl.
"Not always, I guess," He muttered sourly.
"So, you've never had a foster family?"
"Once," he answered with a tone that said that he didn't want to talk anymore.
Registering his tone, I stayed silent and stared off at the New York skyline until we heard Nicki and Luke come rushing up with a few boxes of food. Together, we all divided it except for Michael who didn't eat anything. He just separated himself again, sitting on the edge of the roof. Nicki tried to get him to talk, but Michael gave him glares that could kill. Finally we all just started settling down.
"So, ice breaker anyone?"
"Why not?" I said with a shrug.
"Okay. Name and a bit about yourself would be good, since we all don't know each other yet," Nicki said tensely, eyeing Michael.
I cleared my throat.
"How about I go first?"
"Fine with me," Luke and Nicki answered.
"My name is Rachel McCrown. I have three annoying big brothers, Ryan, Randy, and Raymond. Ryan and Randy are twins, and Raymond's the oldest of us. I've always kind of wanted a sister. Anyways, I like to do sports. I do track and field, swimming, and tennis."
"Hey, I've been wanting to do tennis for a while, but haven't found which sport to drop," Luke said. "I'm Luke Tanea and I also do a lot of sports. I do track and field, lacrosse, soccer, basketball, and baseball. Uh, I have a twin sister named Lillian and a big brother named Leo who's deaf and mute. Ummm, I guess I like to learn stuff."
"Teacher's pet," Nicki said in a sing song voice.
Luke pointedly ignored him as he continued to talk.
"I moved here from Chicago, Illinois a few years ago. Uh, I kind of would like to be a pilot I guess. Traveling the world sounds awesome and fun," he admitted.
"Hey, that sounds awesome! Maybe you could fly me to Japan sometime," Nicki joked. "I'm Nicholas Kaito Whyte, but preferred being called Nicki. I'm named after my dad. Anyways, well, I have ADHD and full disclosure here, I had depression."
I noticed Michael shift a bit until he was looking at us when Nicki said that.
"Well, depression sometimes never goes away but it's a lot better now. I like reading, roller blades, and anything to do with computers. I have a lot of siblings. Raina is twenty and married, but she comes around the house a lot and is in college. Matthew who we called Matt is nineteen but single and is in college. He's a bit of a sass master. Then there's the twins who are Sammy and Sarah who are eighteen and they're also in college but they're doing it online so they can stay at the house longer. Uh, then there's Caleb who's seventeen and about to graduate top of his class. Ariana who we called Ari is also seventeen and is about to graduate second highest in her class, aka under Caleb. Then there's me who's sixteen. We have two foster kids, one adopted and one in the process. Nathan is seven years old and Natasha is five years old and she's the one we're trying to adopt. And uh my kaa san's American and my tou San (dad) is Japanese. Oh yeah, I'm also legally blind without my glasses," He rambled on and on.
Throughout Nicki's talk, Michael had came and sat down next to Nicki and me, actually looking interested in what he was saying. I kind of got lost half way through and Luke looked as if he was lost after five words. Then we all looked at Michael who frowned and averted his eyes.
"Michael Tsakuyo. Moved from Tokyo, Japan. I have no idea who my family is and honestly speaking, I've never really had a family. When I was one to about four years old, I was put with this awful foster family. They didn't even want me. Finally, I got fed up with their **** and just ran away. I've lived on the streets now for what... eleven years almost twelve? The only reason I know my birthday is because of this," He muttered, pulling up pant leg and showing us a series of scarred number spelling out 12/14 that had been etched painfully into his skin. "It was one of my birthday presents, you could say. I mean, I guess I like animals. I'm not really sure what I like anymore."
A sort of awkward, grim silence settled over us. He sighed and stood up.
"And this is why I don't tell people about myself. They either think I'm faking it or freak out. If you don't want nightmares, then don't ask," he said quietly before walking off and rubbing his arm.
"Wait, Michael!" I cried, following after him.
We walked together for a while until Michael stopped.
"Listen, I don't mean to be harsh to you guys. It's... just how I deal with my past sometimes. When you're on the streets, you see a lot of stuff that you can't erase Rachel."
"We can handle it," I pleaded. "You don't have to hide!"
"You still don't get it," He said with a hollow look. "Please, just don't ask. Some of the stuff I have isn't meant to be shared."
A tear slipped down his cheek and he wiped it off hastily.
"Just leave me alone."