ʏᴀɴɴɪ | ᴏ.ꜱʜᴏᴛᴀʀᴏ

-A Fair Trade-Off-

January 16th, 2023
8:11 PM

Your little "exchange" with Shotaro continued for about a week or so, and it always seemed to play out the same.

He'd hit you up shortly before you'd head out for work – you'd wait outside your apartment building for him to pull up, give him his pills, and he'd disappear into the night. Quick and simple – never really stopping to converse other than to ask if you were alright or needed anything.

So, seeing Shotaro's Rolls Royce stop in front of the bench you were sitting on didn't surprise you, but the fact that he hadn't stepped out of the car did. You stood up anyway, grabbing your backpack and draping it over your shoulder before approaching the vehicle.

When you walked around to the driver's side, Shotaro's window was rolled down, and you could see him smiling up at you. "Digging the fit." He complimented you.

"'Preciate that." You cleared your throat, reaching into your pocket for the pill bottle. "You want two or three?"

"I'm cool with two." Shotaro held out his palm while you dropped two pill capsules into it. Then he looked at you again. "Say, do you have anything planned for the weekend?"

"Nah, not really. Why?"

"Well, I did some thinking after seeing you yesterday, and I was wondering how you'd feel about spending the weekend with me...at my place."

You blinked and nearly scoffed at the boy; you couldn't even remember the last time somebody had ever...invited you to spend time with them, let alone in their home.

"How'd you start thinkin' about that?"

Shotaro chuckled softly. "I don't know. I guess you can say I was...thinking about you. I noticed that most of the time, you're like a lone wolf, handling shit on your own. I just figured you'd want some company this weekend, that's all..."

The corner of your mouth quirked slightly upward while Shotaro continued to talk.

"It's okay if you don't want to, though." He assured you, shrugging. "It was just a thought anyway..."

"You ain't let me answer yet..." You paused to think for a moment, about the actual gravity of the situation you could get yourself in.

But as you continued to think, you reluctantly realized that there really wasn't anything bad that could come with spending a weekend with Shotaro. You also realized that another upside to that was that you wouldn't have to put up with Mark for a few days.

So, you sighed. "Fuck it...Alright, I'll come."

Shotaro smirked. "Cool. Pick you up at eleven?" You nodded, and you could've sworn you heard him giggle under his breath.

"Alright then. See you, Yanni." Shotaro rolled up his window but not before you caught him winking, then he drove off like he always would. Your eyes followed the pattern of his rims until they were out of your sight.

Then you blinked, really taking a second to think about what you were about to get into, genuinely confused with yourself. So confused that you ended up chuckling.

With your pill bottle in one hand, you used the other to dig into your left jeans pocket, slowly pulling out Daiya's chain.

Your thumb ran over the nameplate. "Is this nigga your brother or some shit, Dee? It's like y'all are connected..." And that was a real thought you had.