(Wind Breaker) The Green Rose's Thorns

Part 9

The sky was dark and overcast the next morning, matching the mood of the six boys gathered and waiting at a certain cafe. They were minutes away from heading out into enemy territory, and already down one member of their group. Finally, one of the six stepped outside while the others interrogated the waitress.

"Kotoha, where's Aoi?," Umemiya asked as if that was a perfectly normal thing to say, while Sakura's face went bright red with yet another wild assumption filling his head.

"Hm? He was up when I left this morning," Kotoha answered like it was nothing as well. Nirei decided against calling Sakura out for this instance, while Hiragi groaned in anticipation of the much needed explanation.

"Aoi lives with you?," Sakura finally put words to his thoughts, getting two surprised looks from both Kotoha and Umemiya. He had been given a shock the day before when Umemiya called her his sister, and vaguely remembered the explanation from that.

"Yeah," Kotoha answered flatly, a smile playing at her lips as she understood the misunderstanding plaguing Sakura.

"Did he grow up with you guys, too? Like, he's like a kid brother to ya?"

"Nope," Umemiya answered. His answer was far too short, prompting another round of sputtering questions and tired explanations.

"Tsubaki brought him in here about..a year ago? He didn't have anywhere else to go," Kotoha relented and explained the situation a little better. Sakura calmed down somewhat, but still had a lingering worry in his head and heart.

Outside, Suo listened for a second time to a dial tone in his ear. The first time it went to voicemail, but he knew better than to bother leaving one. He was just about to give up and tell the others to go ahead when the crackle and sleepy acknowledgment came through the speaker.

"Mm? Suo? 'Sup?," Aoi's voice was low and groggy, confirming Suo's suspicions that he had overslept.

"Aoi, good morning," Suo started with just that. Just that, and the shriek of panic and bumps and bangs told him that Aoi had just realized his error. There was some rushed shuffling, then a loud thud as the phone hit something, then a string of barely audible curses as Aoi searched for the phone.

"Don't..tell Hiragi. I'll meet up at the border," Aoi half-pleaded with Suo and the line went dead. Suo headed back inside, unable to contain the strained grin when all eyes moved over to him.

"Where'd you go?," Nirei was the first to speak up.

"Ah. Aoi said he'd meet us at the tunnel," Suo didn't say why, but it was obvious from Hiragi's facepalm and Umemiya's and Kotoha's expressions that everyone knew what had happened.

"Let's get going then," Hiragi stood up first and the others followed. They walked in relative silence through the winding streets, all painfully conscious of the way Hiragi's jaw was clenched. It added an extra layer of unease as they reached the tunnel leading into Shishitoren's turf. They stopped there for just a moment, seeing no sign of their missing party.

"Why's Aoi goin' anyway? He doesn't fight, right," Sakura was feeling antsy. Suo just smiled at him, and Umemiya actually took some time to mull over his thoughts before speaking. His mouth just opened when a crash of metal and plastic nearby caught their attention. All six heads turned toward the street corner across from the tunnel, where there stood an extremely out of breath Aoi and a toppled over trash can.

"Sorry," he wheezed out as he kicked the garbage back into the can. His hair, while typically messy, was in a typhoon-like state and hung down well past his waist. He had a mask, and his usual tshirt and bulky shorts combination. His jacket was once again missing though.

"You overslept, didn't you," Hiragi's gaze cut deep and made Aoi flinch as he approached the group. The upperclassman just sighed, and they continued over the border. They had been given the vaguest of directions for their destination, likely under the assumption that Aoi would be able to guide them with his history in the area.

"I told you not to tell them," Aoi hissed at Suo as they walked. He was making an attempt to run his fingers through his long hair, hitting several snags and getting increasingly frustrated at it.

"I didn't, but it's pretty obvious," Suo muttered back. Aoi gave up on his hair with a huff, scrunching it all into the usual messy bun and yawning.

"Aoi," Hiragi called for his attention, making him flinch again.

"Yeah?"

"Where are we?"

"Eh," Aoi blinked back at that. He expected a lecture, and instead got a question. A question that he wasn't really able to answer even if he wanted to. He looked around, not recognizing any of the buildings lining the street.

"Uh," Aoi attempted to stall with something and came up blank. Sakura got worked up at that, though it was more his nerves than the actual situation.

"Ya-ho! I figured you guys might've gotten lost, you're pretty late," Tomiyama's voice broke the awkward silence. He stood on the opposite side of the street, waving cheerily at the boys his squad was about to fight with. Jo stood with him, one brow cocked and a little smirk teasing his cheeks.

"We'll show you the way," Jo explained. With that, Tomiyama started down the street babbling like crazy. The others followed, through twisting alleys to what used to be an old theater.

"It hasn't been that long since you were here, right?," Nirei asked as they took their seats. A marked off spot off to the left side of the stage. The stands were packed with other Shishitoren students, who leered and booed at the group from the moment they entered the building.

"Shut up," Aoi spat out beside him. Suo, sat on the opposite side of Nirei, butted in with a comment that made Aoi's face burn hot red.

"He's pretty bad with directions, apparently. He actually got lost on the first day of-"

"Suo, enough," Aoi snapped at Suo, which surprised everyone. Before they could address that, though, Tomiyama kicked things off with an introduction and pisspoor explanation of the day's show.