chapter five

swag & pride

It was safe to say that I was in more trouble than I had been in a very long time.

I, Sakura Kobayashi, was officially grounded. Of course, it's not like it did much anyways, and if I bribed the nice old lady next door with baked goods, she was sure to leave me alone. It was more the whole 'knowing my mother was mad at me' thing. It's not like I enjoy having people be mad at me, it just sometimes works out that way. Or at least, I think they're mad at me when they're actually not.

No, the real issue was that I was being forced to socialize. Forced to go places, and to see people. Forced to attend an Oya High keg party-cookout-birthday paryt situation with the bane of my existence: my mother's boyfriend.

Seki Kotaro would never replace my father, even though he's the one that chose to leave town. I was young when it happened, and I chose to stay because I didn't want my mother to be on her won, but I think I would have been happier in Tokyo. I'd have been out of Hope Hills, I wouldn't have to worry about Kidra.

But I would have had to leave Madoka and Yasushi behind.

I don't think there was one version of the situation where I would have been completely happy.

"Sakura, are you ready to go?"

No, not really. I meekly applied the eyeliner to my face the way that Yui had shown me and hoped I looked okay. I'm hopeless with a makeup brush.

I was dressed in dark colors, a sharp detour from my usually somewhat-colorful array of t-shirts and washed jeans. But I needed to make my displeasure obvious somehow as I grabbed a black jacket embroidered with golden birds up the sleeves. A jacket that I wore once, then left alone for two years. Yasushi had stolen it, thinking that I wasn't going to wear it anymore.

He could be a real shithead sometimes.

I grabbed my phone off my desk, reluctantly stalking out into the kitchen. I jsut wanted the whole ordeal over with and finished.

"Not really. I'd rather stay here." I mumbled, blowing a strand of hair out of my face.

Seki sighed. "Well, you can't. I think this might do you some good."

"Oh yeah? Bringing a helpless teenage girl to a school full of ruffians?"

"I think you've proven that you aren't helpless, my darling." My mother chortled pinching my cheek. She was dressed in bright pink scrubs, another night shift on the horizon.

Seki and I barely talked the entire car ride. He tried to makes conversation, asking me about school, about Yasushi. Life in general. If I'd talked to my dad lately. I gave short, clipped answers, icing Seki out every chance I got. He would never replace my dad.

When the pickup truck came to a stop, I leapt out, slamming the heavy door behind me as I headed towards the imposing, heavily graffitied building in front of. The closer I got, the heavier my limbs felt. Every bone in my body was telling me to turn back to Hope Hills.

This was a horrible idea, and I knew it.

"Let's go, kiddo." Ski chirped, patting me on the shoulder as he strolled towards the building entrance. "The sooner you get in there, the sooner it's over."

I made a face at the man behind his back before begrudgingly making my way towards where the speakers boomed Doberman Infinity songs at full volume, sending Yasushi and emergency text. He didn't know I was coming, but at least I knew somebody that was trapped in this hell with me, even if he was actually enjoying it.

The courtyard was packed, legions of full-time and part-time students mingling with each other. Kiyoshi was upside down over a keg stand, two older guys egging him on while a shorter boy with dreadlocks (Nakaoka, I thought) and a boy that looked a little like Micheal Jackson booed the YasuKiyo leader.

Closer to where we were, Seki powered up a barbecue. A tall man with his hair pulled back in a sad excuse for a ponytail controlled the music while Oya's infamous leader Murayama Yoshiki- a face everybody in town knew, either willingly or not- sat cozy with a young woman dressed in black, a ditzy daisy pattern dotting her shirt. Murayama's bandana was tied around her hair, making it quite obvious to everybody around that they were a couple.

I felt out of place, hiding behind the long folding table as I stared at my phone, waiting for Yasushi to respond to my desperate cry for social interaction with somebody that I actually knew.

My heart was beating louder, and the negative thoughts came creeping in.

What if they laugh at me? What if they think I'm weird? Look at them, in their tight-knit little groups. You don't have that. You're always second best.

I shook my head, trying so hard to stay positive as I messed around with my phone case before checking the time.

I hadn't even been at Oyakou for five minutes.

"I see you idiots put more money into stereo equipment than actually fixing up this hellhole." The girl sitting next to Murayama laughed, his hands firmly around her waist as he all but pulled her onto his lap.

Once again, I wondered why the fuck I was here as I nervously tapped my nails against my phone case. I had painted them last week, but the sky-blue paint was chipping, and pretty soon I'd need to take the polish off completely.

"Hey, who put the Doberman Infinity on?" A boy shouted, his voice nasal as a result of the white cast over his nose. He swayed on his feet, likely more than a little drunk, messy black hair pushed out of his face with a sweaty headband. He looked like the off-brand version of one of the Doberman Infinity singers. "You fucking dinosaurs, Sway is where it's at now!"

If the kid had been maybe a little more sober, he would have remembered that Sway was actually a part of Doberman Infinity. I should know, I had the biggest crush on Kazuki Hayashi when I was in middle school. His poster was still on my wall, just replaced with a newer one.

"Hey!" Yasushi fought back, his voice carrying as he ran over and shoved the other boy, beer spilling everywhere. Obviously he hadn't gotten my text. "I like Doberman Infinity! Seen them live twice!"

"We like Doberman Infinity!" Seki shouted, his booming voice choing over the crowd.

I don't belong here.

"Y'all are old!" The boy who started everything said "That's different!"

"Old?" The girl on Murayama's lap shouted back, eyes wide open "I'm twenty-four, you tosser!"

"Christ." Seki mumbled "You guys are making me feel old."

"How old are you?"

"You'll never know." The older man answered with a grin. I knew. Well, sort of. He was at least thirty-five.

I pulled out my phone, wondering who I could text to rescue me from this place. Madoka didn't have a driver's license, she she'd have to get her grandmother to pick me up, and no offense, but I wasn't about to get in the car with Grandma Ishii. She couldn't drive if her life depended on it. Yui was out with Sawamura, I could see it on her Instagram stories before I left the house. She wouldn't be any help, and there was no way I was calling Sachio. He'd start another gang war if he showed up here.

"Christ, Sakura!" Seki mumbled, leaving a barbecue to come over to me"Who are you texting?"

"Yasushi." I lied quickly, pulling my jacket sleeves over my hands. It's not that I was scared of Seki, no freaking way, but I didn't want him to know that I was trying to weasel my way out of the party. I wanted him to think that I was trying.

"What are you texting him for?" He rolled his eyes, snatching the bright yellow iPhone from my hands and pointing to where Yasushi was laughing with a group of other people who were trying to kick empty solo cups off each other's heads. "He's right over there, why don't you go talk to him?"

I'm gonna take a pass. They looked like people who would bully me. "Because he's with people."

"Come on." The girl sitting with Murayama turned to face me. She had soft features, and a kind face. Part of me wondered how she ended up here. "They're nice kids when they can get along. They don't bite. Well, Yasushi does but you already know him."

That at least got me to crack a smile. But there was still no way in hell that I was going over there.

"I'm Midori Yamada." The girl introduced herself, sticking her hand out for me to shake. Nervously, I got to my feet and shook her hand, introducing myself as well. Midori turned back to the courtyard, looking around at the sea of faces. "Talk to Tsukasa, he's really nice." She suggested, pointing out a blonde in a green velvet shirt. He looked nice enough, I supposed.

"Nakagoshi's alright when he's not drunk." Murayama shrugged "Honestly, they all annoy me."

Midori rolled her eyes with a chuckle, before pressing a kiss to his head. "Babe, you're not helping."

I looked back over at the crowd, trying to see them as teenagers instead of the degenerates the town made them out to be. It was a difficult, considering the drunken antics of the crowd. Yasushi reached into his pocket for his phone, presumably to record some shithead doing something stupid, and his eyes widened. He turned in the direction of the barbecue, eyes widening when he saw me.

"Sakura!" He shouted

"Go on." Midori said gently, nodding her head in Yasushi's direction. "He'll look out for you."

I knew she was right. Here goes nothing. I mumbled something resembling a thank you to the woman before I started making my way over to the group. Yaushi saw me coming over and cheered, taking another large gulp of whatever was in his cup. The boy midori had referred to as Tsukasa was here, along with the Doberman Infinity wannabe and a tall boy in a white and black striped shirt.

"Hi". I said shortly, waving my hand. 

A few of the boys raised their eyebrows, but they all nervously said 'hello' back to me as Yaushi pulled me aside.

"What are you doing here?"

"Seki made me, it's part of being grounded. They're not going to kill me, right?"

'Sushi chuckled. "Not a chance. They'll be too busy flirting horribly."

"Fucking hell. That's just great. Who's the Walmart Doberman Infinity?" I asked nodding towards the boy with the headband.

'Sushi doubled over in laughter. I didn't think I was that funny. I was dead serious. "That's Nakagoshi." He finally said. "He's our age, don't be fooled. He just has  a babyface."

This should be interesting.

NOTES!!

better introductions in the next chapter I was just super excited to finally have Sakura meeting some of the Oya boys, plus her future bf tsukasa