chapter eleven

act my age

That night I found myself sitting outside the Murder Block, perched on the hood of the same car I had smashed the windows out of. The car was a relic, and it had been parked in that same sot longer than I had been alive. If it was possible for plants to grow out of Murder Block soil, they'd be growing through the seats of the old Hyundai.

It was quiet outside, a rarity past ten pm on a weeknight. It was likely there was something big going down at one of the schools. I had heard whisperings about a showdown between Sato and Katsunari, so it was possible that tensions had finally come to a boil between the two.

I liked the quiet, for it gave me time to think, to ruminate on what my life had become.

My day at Oya had been interesting, to say the least. While on my tour with Yasushi, I witnessed three fights, a part-timer and his girlfriend having sex in an unused classroom and the potential end of the friendship between Shibaman and Tsuji after they came back from wherever the fuck Midori Yamada had sent them and began screaming in each other's faces.

From what I had gathered, Shibaman had gotten Tsuji's sister Shizuka pregnant, and Tsuji wasn't even aware that the two had been in a relationship.

It was almost enough to make me not want to go back to Oya.

But the people weren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be. Fujio was the life of the party, and he was always quick to offer some sort of comedic relief. Nakaoka pretended to be down to earth, but he had dreams bigger than his tiny body.

And Tsukasa motherfucking Takajo. I could fall in love with him without even trying. Everything about him was just so...perfect. He could make me feel at ease next to him just by being there.

"What are you doing out here so late at night?"

Speak of the devil.

Tsukasa Takajo emerged from the cover of darkness ( okay, the shadows of the first floor awning on the Ghost Block ), golden hair shining in the moonlight, to take a seat next to me on the old car.

"I could say the same about you." My heart was pounding out of my chest at how close he was, and I was still shocked that I could form complete and coherent sentences.

Tsukasa laughed, throwing his head back. "You'll see in about ten minutes." He nodded at my sweater. "So, Lando Norris. I would have thought Max Verstappen was more your type."

I flushed red in the half darkness, looking down at the blue sweater I was wearing, sleeves pulled tight over my hands, one earbud stuffed down the collar while I listened to music with the other one.

"You serious? Max Verstappen has the most punchable face in the history of motorsport. Nah, Lewis Hamilton is my be all and end all. Norris is cute though, and that's a major part of the reason that I like him. You watch Formula 1?"

"Honestly, I'm shocked that you do. Fujio and I used to get together every weekend and watch the Japanese Super Formula Series. Seriously, you think F1 pit stops are intense, you should see the Super Formula guys. Absolute insanity."

"Didn't Ralf Schumacher do Super Formula at one point?"

Normally I would attempt to stifle my F1 related nerd-vomit, certain that nobosy wanted to hear my opinions on how much I hated Red Bull Racing, or how Lewis Hamilton truly is one of the greatest drivers of this generation.

But Tsukasa seemed so interested, so enthralled at my knowledge of the sport, and I couldn't help but get butterflies in my stomach the longer we talked about cars.

Yes, that's right: I'm a secret car nerd. Laugh all you want, at least I know how to fix one, even if I can't drive.

"I had no idea you were into racing."

"Most people don't. They look at me and see a quiet girl with her head in a book, when in fact I have many layers." I chuckled. "My dad went to university in Glasgow, in Scotland, and that's where he picked up the sport, the atmosphere, the fast cars. He's been to a British Grand Prix before, and I kind of hoped he'd take me down to Suzuka one day for the Japanese GP. He used to have it on in the house all the time when I was younger, and then the divorce happened. There was like a void on race weekends, when the TV should have been on, and I should have seen my dad cheering whenever a Mercedes moved up the grid by a place. So a few years ago, I started watching it myself, right at the beginning of the 2018 season."

Shit. Way to overshare, Sakura.

"So, obviously we need to talk about Ferrari."

"Ferrari are basically handing Red Bull the championship at this point. I get a chill in my bones whenever Leclerc's radio goes on." I groaned, leaning back against the cracked windshield.

"It's the worst kind of pain." Tsukasa nodded along. "Fujio supports Haas, so every race is a disappointment for him."

"God, I fucking love Haas. They're a meme at this point."

Tsukasa laughed, looking down at his phone. "Hey, come on. I want to show you something." He got up from the hood of the car, extending his hand for me to grab on to.

All my senses screamed at me at once: the thrill of being invited somewhere by the cutest boy I had ever met, the anxiety telling me I was liable to be assaulted or murdered in this part of town this late at night.

And the lovesick teenage girl inside of me who was falling so far in like with Tsukasa Takajo that there was no way in hell she would say no.

What did I have to lose?

I slid off the car, following Tsukasa back towards the Ghost Block, my fingers interlocked with his as my running shoes crackled over the gravel and sand. While I should have been worried about being alone with a stranger in Hope Hills this late, being with Tsukasa gave me a sense of ease, a sense of security as I followed him to the side of the Ghost Block, where he opened an old fridge and took out a jug of milk and a stak of plasti bowls.

As if on cue, multitudes of cats came crawling out of nowhere, mewling softly and pawing at the Takajo boy as he poured out saucers of milk for the strays. A few bolder cats came meandering over to me while I stood there in awe, awkwardly reaching out  and running my fingers through their fur.

"The cats are strays." Tsukasa says softly, scratching a Siamese cat under the chin. "Junji calls me 'the cat whisperer', because they only come out at night, and only if I leave them food."

"So you're the only one that looks after them?" I said quietly, kneeling on the gravel to pick up a smaller cat that had kept pawing at my jeans. He was a short hair, all grey with piercing blue eyes. "Have you ever thought about taking one in?"

Tsukasa shook his head. "I've tried, but my brother's girlfriend lives with us, and she's allergic to cats. The two of them can't afford to move anywhere else, so we can't have them in the apartment. I think my mom would like the company, though."

I adjusted my position on the ground, placing the small cat gently in my lap. "That's a shame. You're good with animals."

"I wish it was a useful skill. You know, one that will actually get me a job." The blond sighed, sitting next to me on the ground and reaching over to the cat sitting on my legs.

"Have you thought about training sniffer dogs? That could be interesting."

We could have stayed there for hours, just talking between the two of us. But the later it got, the more nervous I got about being out, still petrified that Kidra operatives could be in the area.

Look at me calling them operatives as if they're something bigger than a bunch of fuckers who made drugs to get rich.

But still, I was scared.

And tired, apparently.

After yawning mid-sentence, Tsukasa got to his feet.

"You're exhausted. Sorry for keeping you up this late." He chuckled lightly. "I had a great time. Come on, let me walk you home."

Forget butterflies in the stomach, it was a full on warzone, my entire insides melting as I took Tuskasa's hand once again, allowing him to walk me home, every nerve ending feeling warm and fuzzy.

And me thinking that I could get used to this.

NOTES!!

IM BACK BITCHESSSSSS

but maybe not for long because college starts again next week but i swear i will do my absolute best