chapter eighteen

good girls go bad

"Come on, Nakaoka! You can do better than that!"

"I'm fucking trying!"

The classroom that the NakaNaka faction used as their home base was a wreck, as were most classrooms in the building. A tattered neon yellow flag with the school's logo dangled from the ceiling, and the faction leaders were sitting on the desks that were haphazardly thrown together in the middle of the room, drinking cheap beer that Tsuji had picked up on his way here.

The boys were buzzing at the prospect of getting involved in a SWORD matter, of proving themselves as worthy fighters in Murayama's eyes. The wireless speaker in the corner of the room was blaring hip hop music as loud as Fujio was able to get it without causing a ruckus, and everyone was singing.

"Guys, guys, if we beat the Mighty Warriors, do you think that Bianca Tsumeragi will agree to go out with me?" Yasushi mused, crushing a beer can under his feet as he jumped down from the desk he was sitting on

"Fat chance." I laughed, dropping to the ground and using all of my strength to spin my body weight around, knocking Nakaoka over with my legs as if he were a bowling pin.

I got back to my feet with a smile, blowing a strand of hair out of my face. "Better luck next time, Nakaoka."

"Tsumeragi-san is the leader of the Sato Seven." Todoroki reminded Yasushi, leaning against the back wall with an untouched beer in his hands and something bordering on a mile on his face. "She would be seriously lowering her standards if she went on a date with you."

The boys burst out into laughter as Yasushi grumbled under his breath, sticking his middle finger up at the faction leaders.

They were eager to kick ass, but I had a sneaking suspicion that their hopes were about to get crushed. Midori had sounded deadly serious when we spoke the other day. She sounded like she was willing to grandstand that fight, lay down her own life, even, if it meant that she could keep those damn kids safe.

"Hey, can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

The room went deathly silent, music cutting abruptly as the boys snapped to attention, hiding beer cans and kicking trash under tables. Midori Yamada stood in the doorway, hands in the pockets of her corduroy jacket, a blue Oya bandana covering her hair.

"Sure thing, Cap!" Fujio shouted, throwing his arm up in a mock salute before Shibaman slapped his wrist out of the air.

"What time do we roll out?" Kiyoshi questioned, smacking his fist into his palm.

Yasushi bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, swinging his arms animatedly in a series of mock punches. "Yeah, when do I get to go out there and hand them a serving of whoop ass?"

Sometimes I wondered why I was still friends with him.

Knowing what was coming next, I leaned back against a desk, crossing my ankles and trying not to make eye contact. I hated confrontation, even when I wasn't directly involved.

"You're not coming."

Outrage rippled across the room, faction leaders losing their cool and detached front as they shouted. Midori stood in place, closing her eyes and biting her lip as the boys yelled over each other, trying to find a reason why they should be allowed to go and risk their lives fighting the Mighty Warriors.

The answer should have been simple enough: they were too young, with lives and futures to look forward to. For Midori, this was redemption, this meant something bigger to her. But it still wasn't something that she was willing to risk innocent lives for. And the part-timers? This is what they had signed up for when they became a SWORD power.

"Everybody, shut up!" Nakagoshi shouted, sending a shock of feedback through the speakers, the boys rushing to cover their ears. "How are we supposed to think when you keep talking over each other?"

"Not coming?" Shibaman grumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "What do you mean 'not coming', Midori-san?"

"Exactly what I said." Midori was struggling to keep her cool, I could see it in her eyes. It was the same look that I got when I was about to blow my top.

"But we've been training all week for this!" Nakagoshi protested. "They almost killed Nakaoka!"

"Ten stitches! I needed ten stitches in the side of my head." Nakaoka added, lifting up his dreadlocks to point at the jagged scar where his head had hit a piece of brick after he had been punched by Pearl.

Word about Mighty's ambush of Oya had travelled fast. It was supposed to have been a routine fight with Katsunari. Word on the street was that most of the Katsunari foot soldiers had no idea that Nao had made a deal with Ice. I'd even noticed that his girlfriend, Ryokou, had stopped talking to him. I never saw them together around the complex any more. 

"That's exactly why you're not going!" Midori insisted, slamming her hand down on one of the desks by the door. "Don't you get it? This fight is bigger than you know, and it could change SWORD as we know it.

"They marched in here and hit us when we were down!" Fujio shouted "You expect us to just let them do that?"

"I've been up against these guys before, Hanoaka." Todoroki spoke for the first time, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. I felt out of place, like it was wrong to watch. But I knew I would bring more attention to myself if I tried to slip out of the room now. "You don't know what you're getting into. I do."

"Which is why Todoroki is coming with us. So is Tsuji. They're both adults, and they've both been in this fight before."

Ifthe faction leaders weren't pissed off before, they sure were now. Yasushi hadexplained that the Todoroki Faction was the least popular because they gotspecial privileges. They had been allowed to participate in the Container Fightwhile the rest of the factions had been left to fight among themselves, nonethe wiser that one of the most important battles in SWORD history was going downat the docks in Senomon.

"What about me?" Shibaman insisted. "I was there last time, I've been up against Doubt before!"

"You're about to be a father, Shibaman!" Midori's shout cut him off. "That changes things! Shizuka needs you to stay alive. She can't raise that kid on her own."

"What about me?" Kiyoshi prodded. "I'm twenty-three, I see no reason why I shouldn't be included in the adults' fight."

"Because you act like a child." Nakaoka suggested.

"Shut up, Tiny."

"Croissant Head"

"Hey!" Midori shouted, trying to gain their attention back. "Fine. You're an adult, I can't stop you. But please, I need the rest of you to stay put. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you." Her voice went soft, threatening to break on that last word. "Please."

She was on her way out, with Todoroki, Tsuji and Kioyshi behind her. They were almost out the door when Fujio stopped her.

"Let it go, Fujio." Tsukasa said quietly, reaching for the other boy's wrist.

"So what was all that about showing them we belong in S.W.O.R.D?" The Hanoaka boy said gravely. "Was that just for show?"

Midori paused, throwing her head back in crazed laughter. The faction leaders exchanged looks. Nobody had ever seen calm, level-headed Midori look like this. "What is wrong with that tiny little brain of yours? What I was trying to do was to get you all on the same side. To see that there's no goddamn point in fighting each other. To get you to work together like you did against Kidra. But it was all a waste, I see. You were back at each other's throats the next chance you got."

The NakaNakas cast their eyes at the ground. Yasushi closed his eyes, running his hands over his face.

They knew that she was right.

"I was eighteen when Surzuran and Housen went to war, and Genji had divided that damn school more than anyone thought possible. But you know what? When it really mattered, the rest of those damn kids were there. Because they had each other's backs. I don't see that loyalty here. Not anymore."

The silence was thick and heavy as Midori walked away. When she was out of earshot, Nakaoka cursed, kicking over a freestanding table. I flinched at the disruption, scrunching my nose up and shutting my eyes as I waited for my heart to calm down again.

Quick as a flash, Tsukasa was at my side, gently grasping my hand in his. "It's okay, Kiri." He said quietly, so that only I could hear. "You're safe here."

"Its a suicide mission." Shibaman said, voice shaky. "She's going to get herself killed, even with the extra support from Katsunari."

"Katsunari are going?" Fujio grumbled. "That's bullshit and you know it."

"Midori is right." I shook my head. "We're not allowed to get involved with SWORD for a reason, Fujio."

"I don't like the idea of sending her in alone!" Fujio shot back. "She's the best thing to ever happen to this place. What are we going to do without her?"

"They're outnumbered." Nakagoshi added. "What are the chances that Midori and Murayama don't come home?"

The room went quiet, a grim silence settling over everybody as they weighed it out in their minds. Their expressions were forlorn, sky darkening outside and bringing the classroom into darkness with it. We heard the lorry start up from the courtyard, part-timers wailing as the truck vacated the premises.

"What are you going to do?" Jamuo asked softly. "This could be the last time we see Midori-san."

Fujio shook his head. "No. I'm not letting this be the end."

I weighed the options around in my own head, coupled with the extra information I knew from Midori. She was getting the Daruma and Housen involved. And if they had Katsunari, then we had numbers. We had strength.

"There might be a way to make it work." I said, dropping Tsukasa's hand and going to stand in the middle of the room. "We might be able to do this. She's getting other gangs involved, and she's going outside of SWORD as well. She has connections in Torau City."

"Housen." Yasushi breathed. "She knows Odajima Yuken, he has sway over the skinhead army."

"And they have Katsunari." Tsukasa mumbled. "Sakura is right, we can do this!"

Shibaman whooped with resolve. "Better re-open that can of whoop-ass, Yasushi-kun. Share some with the rest of us, will you?"

Tsukasa looked over at me with a smile. "What's your plan, Sakura??"

I grinned, looking around the room. "Boys, rally the troops. Shiba, do you know where the other lorry keys are?"

Shibaman nodded. "The front office by the main entryway. You know how to get there."

I snorted. "Do I know how to get there? I memorized the layout on my first day. Fujio, grab the flags. We ride in twenty minutes, make sure all the boys are in the truck bed. And find me someone with a driver's license who you'd trust to drive us to Kendou."

The boys cheered, shouting as they ran out of the classroom, almost knocking me over.

"You're the man, Kiri-chan!" Fujio whooped

Tsukasa smiled. "I'll meet you downstairs. You just accomplished something that hasn't been done since Kidra. Good job, Sakura."

I smiled to myself, blush dusting my cheeks as I pulled a floral button down on overtop my black baby tee. Did I think that I was ready for this? Not at all. But these other guys? When they worked together, they could make things happen. I had seen as much when I watched thier fight against Kidra from my bedroom window. It had literally happened on my doorstep.

The Oyakou Factions were a force to be reckoned with.

"Sakura." Yasushi said gravely, grabbing my arm as I tried to leave the classroom. "You know that you don't have to do this to impress Takajo, right? He likes you enough as is."

I turned back to look at him, softening at his concern. He didn't care this much about very many people, and when he did show his softer side, it was disarming. "This isn't about Tsukasa, Yasushi. This is about finding myself and proving something to myself. This is about showing up for Midori when she needs us most."

'Sushi nodded. "Okay. But promise me that if it all becomes too much for you, you run inside Midori's house and you stay there, you stay safe."

"I promise, Sushi."

Deadly serious, he stuck out his hand. "Pinky promise. Right now."

I grinned, looping my pinky with his. "Pinky promise."