(Wind Breaker) The Green Rose's Thorns

Part 11

"What?"

In a park, beneath a clouded sky with scattered bits of sun peeking through, eight highschool boys sat around a small but impressive spread in the damp mulch and gravel. One of them, a little slower to process, looked from face to face in a frenzy of delayed understanding. One started to make a plate, using the lid of one of their freshly procured food boxes. Another was equally as confused, watching as a third was inspecting and patching up the two top brass of their rival gang. There was yet another watching that, sitting comfortably with a large bottle of tea in his lap. And the last one just sighed and shrugged, defeated in more than one way from the day's events.

"So, we're just friends now? Just like that?," Sakura asked again.

"Yup!," Suo chirped.

"Seems like it," Hiragi seconded that answer. Aoi finished what he was doing and settled down beside Suo. The two still hadn't spoken to each other since the theater, so there was an air of tension there that was starting to get to him almost as badly as it was Nirei.

"Wow, though. Never thought Aoi'd be patchin' us up after a fight! Let alone a fight with Furin," Tomiyama was back to his bubbly self, minus that unsettling bloodlust. Aoi fidgeted with his hands folded in his lap, clearly feeling uncomfortable for a number of reasons.

"Here. You don't have to sit with us, but you should eat. You missed breakfast," Umemiya handed over the small assortment of food he had gathered up on a little tray.

Aoi started to refuse, but his stomach voiced its complaints quite loudly so he accepted. He took the food and stood up, scanning the area and settling down just round the other side of a nearby tree trunk. His fingers hesitated for a moment on the strings of the mask he wore, thoughts overtaking the persistent rumbling of his stomach. He was grateful for the consideration the others had toward him. Appreciated it deeply, but something about it also ate him up from time to time. A sort of heaviness on his shoulders that would creep in every so often, now mixed in with something else as he thought back to the previous two days' events.

"Not gonna eat?"

"Huh?!," Aoi flinched and pulled the mask back over his ear. He hadn't heard anyone approaching, and was startled by how Suo seemed to materialize beside him out of thin air.

"Ah, sorry. I won't look," Suo assured him with a little smile before sliding down against the tree's trunk to Aoi's left. He was angled so that he was facing the main group, and with the eyepatch over his right eye it would be near-impossible for him to sneak a peek. Aoi let the tension out of his shoulders with a long exhale, pulling the mask so it hung off one ear and digging in.

"Sorry," Suo spoke up after several minutes. Aoi nearly choked trying to say something, just to immediately forget what it was when a bottle of tea appeared at his side. He took a hearty swig to dislodge the bit of food stuck in his throat, and wiped away the tears that came with the coughing fit.

"You never really hated them, did you," Suo continued once Aoi's coughing stopped. He had gotten a little angry, and took it out in a pretty unsettling way. Right in front of Aoi, after he had butted in between a conflict stemming from things well out of his bounds.

"It's fine. I could've tried to say somethin' but I didn't," Aoi's voice was lower than normal as he spoke. He wasn't dismissing Suo's concerns, but he wasn't just going to let him take the blame all on his own. The misunderstanding that led to him even being here now, with Furin backing him and the support group he was gaining, it all really was just that. And that's the part that bothered Aoi the most with it all.

Across the way, Sakura sat with a mouthful of food and burning cheeks. He kept glancing up at something that had gained the others' attention as well, though nobody had said anything about it. Nirei finally had enough, curiosity getting the better of him as he scribbled something into one of his notebooks.

"What's their deal? Childhood buddies or somethin?," Sakura had enough too and finally asked outright. Umemiya shot a look over at the tree and the two conversing under its branches, unable to avoid the conversation any longer.

"Don't think so. Tsubaki said he didn't see the other kid around until Aoi switched sides," Umemiya explained sort of properly this time. Tomiyama and Jo also looked over at the pair, then shared a glance at each other.

"Don't think Aoi had any friends over here. He just sorta showed up one day," Tomiyama added his limited tidbit of information. Nirei looked up from his notebook then, confused.

"Wait, I thought Aoi was from here?," he asked, and everyone's gazes returned to their own gathering.

"Nope. He was here for two, maybe three years? No one knows when he showed up or where he came from," Jo answered this one, and Tomiyama nodded to confirm what he said to be true.

"They sure are chummy," Sakura muttered. His face was burning crimson as he tried to redirect his attention elsewhere. Nirei kept the conversation focused on Aoi, wanting to fill in something on his page of notes while he had a chance.

"So, what about those tattoos? D'you know when he got 'em?," Nirei was hoping for something but the four higher ranks just exchanged glances and shrugs.

"Nope. He had 'em when he showed up here. I think the neck tat was pretty fresh when he got here though," Tomiyama said what they all already had with their silence a moment before. There was a shred of something there though.

"Why do you say that?," Sakura asked. His face was almost the normal color now, and he was glad no one mentioned it this time.

"He had bandages there at first. It stood out a lot, with the mask. Were some weird rumors about that," Tomiyama kept talking while the others cleared away the remainder of their little feast.

"Do you know what's under the mask? Or, has anyone ever seen him without it?," Nirei's eyes glittered as he scrambled for anything and everything he could get. Once again, there was a long pause and matching consensus that was overall inconclusive.

"He seems pretty healthy," Umemiya spoke his thoughts, a continuing bad habit of his.

"Why wear a mask then?," Sakura's brow furrowed as he asked the obvious.

"It's because he's got a chipped tooth, I heard once," Suo joined the conversation suddenly and everyone jumped. Aoi glared at him, standing beside him outside the circle of boys.

"Where exactly did you hear that from? Hey, don't write that down!," Aoi's attention shifted to Nirei scribbling away. Aoi reached for the notebook, but Nirei's reflexes kicked in and he managed to keep the notebook just out of reach. Their lunch ended with that silly scramble between the two non-fighters of the group. They were pulled apart after everyone else had cleaned the area up, and on the way home there was a bit of hushed bickering at the back and one meaty thwack where Aoi took a swing at Suo for the careless comment.