𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝚁𝚃𝙱𝙰𝙶 ,, high&low

chapter forty | break into the dark

forty

break into the dark

The aftermath of the fight was possibly even more chaotic than the actual fight, and I blame Futa. I think everybody blames Futa, even though Agyo was the one who actually paid for the keg.

I was exhausted, collapsing on the porch steps as Noboru and Daichi came outside with trays of water and medical supplies to patch everybody up. Sakura was a little more attentive once she had some sugar in her, downing a glass of juice quicker than I'd seen Fujio chug beer at the cookout.

I graciously accepted an ice cold glass of water from Daichi, wincing as he tried to look at the bruising on my side.

"Jesus Chrust, Midori." Daichi grimaced. "What happened to you?"

"What do you think?" I snorted "You should see the other guy."

Odajima nodded in agreement. "She hit him with a car door."

"You what?" Daichi shouted. His astonishment reminded me that he'd never actually seem me fight before, or show any signs of aggression until I put my elbow through the wall the night of the cookout.

The Daruma Babies and some of the Oya kids had gathered the trash lying on the roadway and piled it in the center of the road. Futa had a crazed expression on his face as he doused everything in gasoline, Nakaoka pulling a tiny lighter out of his pocket. Within seconds, they'd created a dumpster fire, but without the dumpster. It probably wasn't going to burn for long, but the bonfire was nice.

"I love this guy!" Nakaoka shouted, pointing at Futa

"I think I found my protege!" Futa agreed, slinging an arm around the younger boy's shoulder

"Speaking of protege's!" Hyuga shouted, grabbing a red plastic cup from Shu Kato, who had just finished setting up the keg with Raita. Within seconds, Fujio had flocked to it, and was now suspended upside down and drinking half his boy weight in cheap beer. "I heard I have my own protege here somewhere!" His eyes scanned the crowd. "You. Kobayashi, right?"

Sakura stood stock still, like a deer in headlights. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. I know some guys in construction, they all talk. Shinya Orochi seems to think you stand a fair chance of becoming the next me. I think you'd look good in red."

Sakura's face turned red, and I could tell she was nervous. "Shinya was just kidding, seriously."

"What did he say?" Nakagoshi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was the night I got arrested, Shinya was holding me back, trying to stop me before I did any more damage. Then he said 'you'd better pull yourself together before you end up like Hyuga Norihisa."

Yasushi raised an eyebrow "I've known you almost ten years and you have never been as bad as Hyuga, even when you went through that awful emo phase."