chapter fourteen

bored

"You were in Sakura Kobayashi's bed!"

"Fujio Hanoaka, keep your voice down!" Tsukasa hissed, smacking his friend in the back of the head.

The Tsukasa Faction were in the Oya High kitchen. After Midori Yamada was hired to work as the student's 'den mother', things had taken a drastic, yet positive change. Midori was teaching the young men how to fend for themselves, including a rotating kitchen schedule as she began to teach the faction members to become better versions of themselves.

"No, no, Fujio." Midori Yamada laughed as she dished out the last of the vegetable and chicken stir fry that she had just taught the group of teenagers to prepare. "Keep him talking, I want to hear more about Romeo over here."

"I would have felt bad leaving her in the apartment alone." The blonde shrugged, going back to the bowl in front of him, enjoying the rewards of the faction's morning of hard work. "I offered to sleep on the floor. She's the one who insisted I get in the bed. And you're missing the point, Fujio. The point is that she woke up hyperventilating in the middle of the night, and I want to make sure that I wasn't the cause."

He didn't mention how when they were lying together in the half dark, he wanted to reach over the pillow barrier and pull Sakura into his arms, place a gentle kiss on her forehead. How he wasn't woken up by the feeling of the mattress shifting next to him but by the loss of contact as her hand slipped out of his. 

"Is she okay?" Midori asked softly before turning her attention to the scrawny boy she had just passed the ceramic bowl to. "Junji, you look like you've lost weight. Are you taking care of yourself?"

"Her mother said it was a nocturnal panic attack, and that it probably wasn't my fault. She actually thanked me for being there. I thought I was a goner after she realised I had been sleeping in her daughter's room."

Fujio hesitated, thinking about a conversation he had with Madoka Ishii that morning. "Madoka said that Sakura didn't go to school today."

"Maybe she just took a mental health day." Midori cut in, attempting to stop Tsukasa from worrying. For a small, willowy girl, her voice was forceful, and she demanded attention from the students when she needed it. "Don't jump to conclusions, Takajo."

Midori turned back to the stove, now satisfied that each full-time student, as well as herself and a few part-timers had been fed, and she put what was left of the meal in a glass Pyrex food storage container. Another thing that had changed since the literature tutor had come to Oya had been that the fridge was constantly fully stocked, so that none of the students went hungry, even when Midori wasn't around.

"I have to pass through Hope Hills on my way out to Rasen. I'll stop in before class and bring her something to eat, and I'll make sure she's okay if that will put your mind at rest, kiddo." She said gently, patting Tsukasa's hand.

"Thanks, Midori."

"No problem, kid." She smiled, packing the Pyrex dish in her backpack and pulling a suede jacket over the baby tee she wore, featuring the logo for an American glam metal band.

There was a knock on the door, followed by a yell that bordered on a whine. "Babe, are you ready yet?"

Midori rolled her eyes, grabbing her backpack and walking across the room, pressing a gentle kiss to Murayama Yoshiki's lips. "Thanks for driving, love. Can we make a quick pit stop in Hope Hills? I just wanted to check up on Sakura, make sure she's doing all right."

The Tsukasa Faction watched the happy couple leave, hands intertwined and laughing together as they left the school, with the teenagers making faces behind their backs.

"So, Tsukasa." Fujio started with a grin.

Tsukasa groaned. He knew the conversation was coming, that Fujio would find a way to make things weird and freakishly uncomfortable. "Whatever you're about to say, mate, I'd rather that you didn't."

"Did you get hard when you slept next to her?"

"Fuck you, Fujio." He groaned as the other occupants of the kitchen began to laugh. "It's a little hard to get aroused when the girl you think is cute wakes up in the middle of the night and can't breathe."

"So you think she's cute?"

"Shut your damn mouth."

Tsukasa didn't want to mention that a small part of him wasn't content simply holding Sakura. That same part of him wanted to make her his in the most intimate of ways, her body cradled under his while he showed her what making love felt like. He wanted to give Sakura the world, show her what being in love felt like.

He wanted to be her everything.

He wasn't going to tell Fujio how, after talking to Sakura's mom and seeing Sakura in those short little cartoon pajama shorts, he had to go home and take a cold shower to wash the thought of being inside her and hearing her moan his name out of his mind.

"Make me."

Tsukasa sprung out of his chair, grabbing for the back of Fujio's bowling shirt as the darker haired boy made a sprint for the kitchen door, almost knocking Junji and Jamuo over in the process.

"You're going to regret that, Fujio!" Junji shouted as the two faction leaders ran out of the room, Fujio's shouts echoing down the school hallway.

____

"Are you really sure this is a smart idea?"

Murayama had parked right in front of the Murder Block, and he was already getting strange looks from passersby. Mothers were ushering their young children along as they stopped to stare at the car. Midori was less worried than her lover was.

"Murayama, she's a seventeen-year-old girl. How much harm can she really do?"

"In this part of town? Lots. And don't forget that she kicked the shit out of some lawn gnomes that deserved better."

She gave her boyfriend a knowing look. "I'll be fine, darling." She undid her seatbelt, reaching for her backpack and leaning over the console to kiss him gently. "Just stay in the car and try not to get into a fight with anybody."

"I make no promises." Murayama grinned

Midori wove through the Murder Block like a pro, keeping her head down and the hand showcasing her shiny new promise ring hidden in case anybody got any ideas about trying to steal it from her. The rickety metal staircase shook underneath her movement, and she clocked what had probably been four or five different building code violations, things she never would have noticed if she hadn't decided to take construction tech in college.

She walked through Hope Hills like she had a purpose, something that not too many Hope hills residents did. Well, the ones who did walk with the confidence Midori had were all pretending to be at school as the inter-school combat rivalry raged on in the background.

When she got to the apartment marked 'Kobayashi', she stopped, ringing the doorbell gently. Lace sheer curtains covered the living room window, and she couldn't see inside the apartment. That was probably for the better, with two women living there alone, especially when Kidra had been allowed to run rampant.

There was a shuffling on the other side of the curtains, as well as the sound of multiple locks flipping open before Sakura Kobayashi slowly opened the metal door, a small tabby cat sitting patiently at her heels.

She was wearing a pair of fluffy checkerboard pants, a baggy long-sleeve shirt with the logo for a British university. "Midori? What are you doing here?"

"The boys were worried. Tsukasa told me what happened, and Fujio said that y9ou weren't at school this morning. I just wanted to check in on you, make sure you were alright. I brought you lunch as well." The older girl smiled, passing the Pyrex container to the teenager, who took it hesitantly.

"This is one of the nicest things anybody has ever done for me. Thank you, Midori-san."

"Of course." She paused before deciding what to say next. "Tsukasa really likes you, Sakura. I personally think he has a little bit of a crush, to be fair. But everybody loves having you around at Oya. I hope you'll come back soon."