chapter twenty-three

fired up

The hour and a half before Madoka came to pick me up were absolute torture.

I stood in front of the mirror, wringing my hands as I questioned my outfit for the third time: the Michael Schumacher ringer shirt from Midori hugged my frame, tucked into the high waist of my seventies-style jeans that flared out at my calves. The recurring theme with the outfit seemed to be red, aside from the navy headband in my hair, a few stray tendrils still falling in front of my face, and I was questioning the choice of shellac for my nails.

The midnight blue didn't match.

Would Tsukasa notice? Would he think it was strange? Was he the kind of guy who would even notice that my nails didn't match the rest of my look?

Pierre mewled from behind me, pawing at my leg. I sighed before reaching down and picking up the cat, cradling him in my arms as I took a mirror selfie. The shorthaired cat begged to be put back down, so I set his paws on the ground and he scampered away, likely to the litterbox, as I flopped down on the bed.

Something about my conversation with Madoka and Yui stuck with me, clung to the fabric of my brain matter.

Was Tsukasa going to expect anything from me tonight? Was he expecting to get laid? Is that a conversation that we need to have?

In all honesty, that conversation scared me. I never had been particularly good at saying no to people.

I grabbed my phone, staring at my lock screen with a small smile. It was a picture of me and Tsukasa that we had taken on our third date, when we had gone to the beach in Sannoh. We set his laptop up on the picnic blanket and watched Tokyo Drift while we ate takeout from the restaurant in Oya where Arata worked. It had started to rain just as the end credits began to roll, and we stuffed everything hastily into the grocery bag he had brought before running back to the bus stop as fast as we could to avoid getting soaked. That was before he got his driver's license, so we hardly had to worry about bus shelters anymore.

My phone buzzed in my hand. It was Madoka, and she was already waiting outside.

You're overthinking this, Sakura-chan. He loves you, you love him. And you're going to go out there and have a good time.

"Seki-san!" I called out, grabbing my backpack and heading out to the apartment's main room. "I'm going out with Madoka, Tsukasa is going to drive me home. Don't wait up, and let my mom know when she comes home, yeah?"

Seki was on the couch, a few of his friends from Oya were with him, watching a baseball game on the small flat screen. My relationship with my mother's boyfriend had strengthened since we defended Midori Yamada's hometown. I wouldn't say we loved each other just yet, but I didn't completely hate the idea that he made my mother happy.

"Don't stay out too late, kiddo. And be safe, yeah?" Seki nodded, taking a sip of his beer.

I smiled at my feet. "I'll be fine, Seki. It's just a birthday party. Tsukasa planned it all, it's top secret."

"Just don't get pregnant, you'll be fine." Furuya snorted. "We saw how that worked out for Shiba-chan."

"Furuya!" I scolded as Seki smacked him in the back of the head. "I'll be back in a few hours."

I walked down the four flights of stairs, watching the sun set over the Hope Hills horizon line as my footsteps shaking the metal staircase as I reached the ground floor. Madoka was parked near the old Kidra unit, two tyres up on the sidewalk and her hazard lights blinking.

She never had been good at parking.

Laughing to myself, I pulled the passenger side door open and slipped inside. Barely looking up from her phone, Madoka reached over and turned the volume down, a CHANMINA song playing now at a regular volume instead of the car-shaking pitch that it was at before I opened the door.

"You remembered your blinker this time." I laughed as Madoka put her cell phone in the cup holder and flicked off her lights.

"Fuck off." She laughed, reversing away from Murder Tower. "I don't see you making any effort to get your own driver's license."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll worry about it over the summer. Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope." Madoka grinned, popping the "P". "You're going to love it."

I shook my head, cracking a smile as Madoka pulled out of the apartment complex.

We must have been driving for at least twenty-five minutes when we left the Oya Township, passing into Ebara, the large township formally occupied by the Daruma Ikka. There was a small hamlet just outside of Ebara that bordered on Oya, which was where Bara Biz Technical High School was.

"What are we doing in Daruma territory?" I asked, rapping a knuckle on the Civic's window. "If Hyuga and his guys recognize me from Kendou, we're fucked."

"Don't worry about it! Fujio said that Nakaoka said he knew a guy."

I groaned, thinking back to the bonfire that the Nakas had lit at Midori's. I knew exactly who Nakaoka's connection was.

Frankly, we'd have been better off either with Midori's connection, or flat out taking our chances with Hyuga Norihisa.

"I swear to god, Doka, if the Daruma Babies had anything to do with this-"

"Just relax." Madoka cut me off. "You worry too much. We wouldn't let anything happen to you, babes."

Madoka turned off the main road, surrounded by mostly open space on all sides, dotted with small, scattered buildings and larger, traditional style homes, instead of the bustling open-air market we would have met if we kept driving. A few feet down the road and through the treeline, we found ourselves surrounded by small bungalows similar to the one that Midori lived in in Kendou.

Ebara was a homely town, and if I didn't have to worry about the Daruma every time that I looked over my shoulder, maybe I would have enjoyed the scenery more. One of the colleges I had applied to was in Ebara, but the program that I really coveted was located in the middle of bustling Tokyo.

While I had never seen myself fit for city life, and Tokyo seemed a long way to go just to study to become a librarian, it would bring me closer to my father, and one step closer to seeing the world.

"Isn't the main Daruma building around here?"

"Semantics."

Madoka turned down another side street, into a commercial area dotted with restaurants, their parking lots and patios buzzing with activity. But she just kept driving, past the udon chain, past the sushi bar, past the Irish bar and grille.

Until she pulled into the parking lot of a massive grey building, the flashing green neon sign above the door spelling out "Ebara Arcade Complex and Karting Track".

"Are we going go-karting?" I laughed. "Madoka, I haven't been here since before my parents got divorced."

Madoka grinned, parking crookedly but still within the white lines as she cut the engine. "It was Tsukasa's idea. I just helped to book it, get all the invites sent out, run the group chat. Actually, I did end up doing most of the work."

I followed Madoka through the parking lot, the pale moonlight of dusk sinking into the sky as we made our way up the front steps of the arcade complex.

"Sorry we're late, Kiri-chan!"

I turned around, laughing to myself as I saw the two leaders of the NakaNaka faction stumbling to the sliding doors under the weight of the wrapped boxes they were carrying, helium-filled foil balloons above their heads.

"My dad didn't get off work until like an hour ago, and we had too much stuff to take on the bus." Nakagoshi explained, trying to peek over at us from behind the cupcake box he was holding. "I got the good cupcakes from my aunt's bakery, though!"

"Happy birthday!" Nakaoka added as the two younger boys slipped inside.

I stood on the front steps with Madoka, laughing to myself as I watched them struggle to get out of the foyer and into the actual main area of the arcade.

"You really did invite everyone, didn't you?"

"I realize now that I might have overdone it." Madoka admitted, linking her arm through mine as we headed towards the automated doors.

Tsukasa was waiting just inside, the red LED lights from the entryway bathing his skin in a pale shade of pink. I let go of Madoka, a huge smile on my face as I walked over to my boyfriend, kissing him softly, his warm hands cradling my waist as he smiled into the kiss.

"Happy birthday, Sakura." Tsukasa smiled, passing me the bouquet of tulips I hadn't even realized he was holding.

My heart swelled with affection for the boy in front of me as I took the bouquet in my hands, an unbreakable smile on my face as I inhaled the fresh, floral scent.

"You didn't have to." I said quietly, reaching for his hand and holding it tightly. "Really. Planning this for me was more than enough."

He smiled, pulling me in for a hug and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Come on, there's a whole group of people back there who want to see you. If you get overwhelmed, just let me know and we'll find somewhere quiet to sit, yeah?"

I smiled up at him, kissing him quickly and gently. "Sounds perfect."

I took his hand in mine, following the faction leader through the main foyer and through to the back end of the complex. I can see the karting track circling above us, the entire thing is Mario Kart themed, three storeys on the fastest go-karts in the S.W.O.R.D district.

A big table sits in the middle of the eating area, clearly formed from four smaller tables that had been pushed together. The table is piled with gift bags and wrapped parcels, foil helium balloons floating above. A bright pink '18' was suspended at the head of the table, a small tiara sitting in front of the chair.

"Happy birthday, Sakura!" The group around the table chorused, the two Nakas setting off party poppers that spat metallic confetti in my direction as I laughed.

"Guys, I don't know what to say. This is incredible. Thank you so much." I tried to stop myself from crying as I placed the bouquet on the table, reaching to hug Arata tightly, Bakogou the therapy dog springing to attention before pawing at my leg, demanding a scratch behind the ears.

"This is for you." Yui chortled, picking up the small plastic tiara and placing it on my head. "You'll have to take it off for the main event, but right now, you're golden."

I made my rounds around the table, hugging boys and thanking people for coming. Madoka and Tsukasa truly had pulled out all of the stops: all of the faction leaders were there (save for Todoroki and Kiyoshi), as well as Arata and the Orochi brothers, Jamuo, Yui and Sawamura, and even a very pregnant Shizuka.

"Shizuka, what are you doing here?" I gushed, leaning over her chair to give her a tight hug, mindful of her baby bump.

"I told Shibaman that I was done sitting around the house. I may not be able to go go-karting, but I can still play a few rounds of whack-a-mole at the arcade. I'm pregnant, not crippled."

"I'm just trying to keep my favourite girls safe." Shibaman rolled his eyes, pressing a kiss to Shizuka's forehead.

"Girls? You're having a baby girl?" If I wasn't already smiling so much that my face was starting to hurt, the smile would have grown three sizes.

Shibaman nodded. "I'm going to be the best fucking girl-dad that Hope Hills has ever seen."

"Shiba-kun!" Shizuka scolded with a laugh. "No swearing around the baby!"

"The baby is going to grow up in the Hanging District. She'll hear far worse than that before she can even walk."

"I'm so happy for you guys!" I smiled, leaning against the table. "So, where are Todoroki and Kiyoshi? Too important for little old me?"

Yasushi snorted. "Kiyoshi has a cage fight tonight."

"A cage fight?" I had to admit, the image of Kiyoshi Yokoyama wearing MMA gear and bouncing around in a big metal cage was comical, laughable, even, with his croissant hair matted to his scalp.

"And Todoroki went fishing with one of the Housen guys." Tsuji shrugged. "I had no idea that they were even friends."

I chuckled. "Todoroki goes fishing?"

"So," Madoka cut it, clapping her hands together. "who wants to go karting?"