𝙸𝙵 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙺 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙸𝚂 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴 ,, high&low

chapter twenty-three | parachute

chapter twenty three

parachute

Three SWORD territories over, on the border between Oya and the White Rascals' territory, Midori Yamada and Murayama Yoshiki were preparing to celebrate the first big milestone in their relationship: Murayama's twenty-fifth birthday was fast approaching, and Midori was scheming the best weekend getaway she could possibly plan. Currently, the college student was hovering around her kitchen, listening to classic American rock music and preparing a fresh chicken pot pie, her favourite American dish, while she waited for Murayama to come home from work.

The brochure was trapped underneath her glass mixing bowl, a set imported from Italy that she bought when she graduated high school. A classmate in her construction engineering class with ties to Daruma Ikka had suggested the resort, located in a small hot springs town.

Singing along to the Skid Row song that played out of the small speaker placed on the granite countertop, Midori ran a pizza cutter along the length of dough, using the long strip to create the latticework pattern on the top of the fresh pie.

"Baby, I'm home!" Murayama Yoshiki shouted, his voice carrying across the main floor as the front door slammed shut behind him. He'd only been living with Midori for two weeks, and they were just starting to rearrange the Yamada household to accommodate a second person ( and the renter in the basement ), but Murayama was fully ready to spend the rest of his life with Midori.

"In the kitchen!" Midori shouted back, laying another strip of dough to complete the pie topping

The leader of Oya High strolled into the kitchen, leaning over the island to kiss his girlfriend sweetly, before she pulled away to put dinner in the oven.
"I talked to Hiroomi today," Midori began, wiping flour off the granite counter as she turned the music down. "He told me a very entertaining story about how Futa tried to steal Hyuga's good weed, and when none of the Babies would throw Futa under the bus, they all got sent to this hot springs town out by Housen. It was a very long story that I don't entirely remember, but he did give me a flyer for the resort they stayed at." Midori reached for the cardstock flyer, wiping off the pie filling and flour before passing it to her lover. "What do you think for this weekend? After that party at Oya that the part-timers are throwing, we can get on the road and make it out to Housen by dark if we take the major highways instead of the scenic routes, and we can stay overnight with Odajima's parents, and then it's a full weekend without the chaos that you bring into my life."

Murayama rolled his eyes as he thought of Odajima Yuken, his girlfriend's high school best friend. And a member of the Housen Academy, Oyakou's sworn enemies. "Do we have to stay with Odajima? Why can't we just keep driving through the night?"

Midori chuckled. "Would you like to fall asleep behind the wheel and drive us off a cliff?"

"Good point."

"I know." Midori laughed, dusting her hands off on the cropped Polo shirt she was wearing before taking a seat next to her boyfriend at the island. "You need the break as much as I do. Those damn kids make you want to pull your hair out."

By kids, Midori meant Oya's rowdy crew of full-time students, and army of teenagers with no self control, or emotional stability. Or brain cells, for that matter. The four factions- YasuKiyo, Todoroki, NakaNaka and Tsukasa- were constantly at war with each other, and it was getting exhausting.

"Oh, God." Murayama whined, throwing his head back and throwing his arms in the air. "Just one day where I don't have Nakakuki knocking on my door to tell me they're shoving each other off the roof. Just one day."

Midori grinned, reaching to pull a fleck of sawdust out of Murayama's hair. "Am I gonna have to go down there and tell those damn Orochi brothers to stop working you so hard? I can yell at Seki's dad too, that's no biggie."

Murayama smiled, leaning over to kiss her. "You're cute when you get protective."

Midori smiled into the kiss, both hands on Murayama's cheeks, cradling his face gently. "So is that a yes on the Hot Springs weekend?"

"What do you think?"

"I think it's gonna be the best weekend of our lives."

___

I was still sitting with Naomi in the townhouse's living room when Tetsu came home after his shift. Naomi and I both had mugs of steaming hot chocolate, plates dirtied with scraps of uneaten onigiri lying on the coffee table. We had been talking for hours, about the stages of grief- she'd been through many of the same things as I had when she lost her brother Tatsuya-, about Itokan, about Sannoh Rengokai. Law school, my ex boyfriend Keith and all the trouble we used to get up to. My plans to apply for permanent residency. Naomi suggested asking Tsukomo to be my sponsor. After Tatsuya, Tsukomo was the surviving member of Mugen's core four who was the closest with Yuki.

"Have you told anybody you're planning on staying yet?" Naomi asked, tapping her fingernails on the side fo the ceramic mug

I shook my head. "Not yet. My mum is the only person who knows, and she's going back to New Mexico anyways."

"You should probably tell Tetsu." The other girl pointed out, taking a sip of her hot drink. "If you ask me, he's a little scared of commitment. I don't think he realized that this whole thing with the two of you was suposed to be short term."

"I was going to tell him this weekend. He's got this whole romantic dinner thing planned, I'm gonna have to go out to the W District and get a dress or something." I laughed

Naomi was about to respond when the front door clicked open, Tetsu's voice carrying through the main hallway as he announced his return.

"Hey baby." I said sweetly as Tetsu strolled into the living room, a bright smile on his face. "Is everything okay, you're later today."

Tetsu grinned, leaning over the back of the chair and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Everything is great, actually. Scratch our plans for this weekend, I;ve got something better planned. I talked to an old friend of mine, Dan, Chiharu and I were actually the reason she met her husband-"

Naomi raised an eyebrow "Is that the old lady Chiharu was in love with?"

"She's like, thirty-eight, so she's not that old."

"Old enough for it to be a little creepy."

I grinned, amused at the banter. "Go on. What's possibly better than our romantic dinner?"

"How about a romantic hot springs weekend?" Tetsu beamed, pulling a folded up brochure out of his coveralls. "Two nights, great scenery, a bit of romance?" He raised his eyebrows at that last statement, and I had to suppress a giggle.

"Sounds wonderful." I grinned, getting to my feet and giving him a gentle kiss

NOTES!

i can't wait to have gillian and midori meet-