𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝚁𝚃𝙱𝙰𝙶 ,, high&low

chapter thirty | lover, leaver ( taker, believer )

thirty

lover, leaver ( taker, believer )

Shibaman and Tsuji stood just outside the gates of Katsunari Industrial, the co-ed high school they had both previously attended, looking around nervously as the track team, dressed head to toe in sunflower yellow rushed past them in a flurry of wind and kicked-up dirt. Many kids from their part of Hope Hills attended this same school, which was considered to be one of the better ones in the neighborhood, ranking just above Sato.

"Dude, I can't be caught dead here." Shibaman hissed at his comrade. "I'm like eighty percent sure I'm still suspended."

Tsuji shook his head with a sigh. "What did you even do?"

A better question would be what Shibaman didn't do. With a reputation as the class clown, the boy was always getting himself into some sort of chaos, and by the time he almost accidentally blew up the chemistry lab, the teachers were done putting up with him.

Tsuji on the other hand was a model student, graduating almost at the top of his class, and six months earlier than his other classmates.

"Blew up the science wing." Shibaman answered quickly, clambering over the fence. "Let's just find Nao and get this over with."

Katsunari industrial was a large building, divided in half by a large auditorium. The two sides were a sharp contrast: the side that Tsuji attended with the other students who had futures and potential was gleaming white and modern, happy looking students milling about. The side that Shibaman had attended with the other burnouts was noticeably different. Some windows had bars over them, after an unfortunate incident in which a student was kicked out of a third floor window and broke both his legs, and the building was lost under a sea of spray paint.

Two of Tsuji's three sisters attended Katsunari. The younger one was a freshman, still learning the ropes but doing pretty well for herself. The older was a senior set to graduate in three months. Shizuka was the shining star of the Hanging District: honors student, track star, always putting in time for volunteer work.

And behind Tsuji's back, she was dating his best friend.

The two best friends rounded the corner of the building, scanning the sea of yellow jackets and debatable fashion choices for their unofficial red-headed leader. Well, the dye had faded in the weeks since, so Katsunari's buzzcut-clad leader now looked like he had more of a salmon pink tone to his once blonde-hair. When Shibaman had been in school, he and Nao were good friends. Nao also came from the Hanging District, but never spent time at Hope Hills if he could avoid it. His brother had been involved with Kidra, casting a shadow over the entire family.

The two boys found Nao sitting at a picnic table, the collar of his sweater pulled up high over his neck as he lit a cigarette, a dark haired girl with lots of piercings poring over a calculus textbook. The girl was one of Shizuka's friends, Tsuji noted, though he could not remember her name.