eighteen

disarm

Masaki had fallen asleep a long time ago, his soft snores distracting my mind from all the dissecting and worrying I knew was going to happen at some point. I had given up on sleep a while ago, settling instead for curling into Masaki's side, breathing in the comforting scent of his hair. A heavy arm was draped across my torso, his hand warm on my sweat-covered back, matted hair clinging to my face, clothes scattered around the room

With a sigh, I untangled myself form his comforting embrace, quickly getting out of the warm bed and gathering my clothes. Fully dressed again, I grabbed my jacket from where I had haphazardly thrown it across the back of the couch, pulling the cavernous material over myself and opening the screen door to the balcony. The outside air was nice, especially this early in the morning, before the sun was even up. The cool breeze blew my hair across my face, highlighting the small marks the older Amamiya had left on my neck. My entire body ached with fatigue, but I knew it was going to be another bad, sleepless night.

The door slid open behind me, signalling that somebody else was joining my quiet introspection on the balcony.

"Usually when people go out on balconies at two in the morning, it means they want to e left alone." I hummed, turning to face my visitor

"So you were going to leave me alone in my bed like a loser? I'm the one that leaves, not the other way around." Masaki joked, leaning against the railing "Come on, something's bothering you. I can tell."

I held up my phone. "Nothing from my parents. Not a single call, or a text or a 'I noticed you aren't home yet, have a nice night' or anything. Shows how little they care." I scoffed "The only person worried about me is the ex-Iemura dude who's renting our basement. I've put up with this my entire life, falling second to my sister."

"Well, I know all about that. Hiroto is probably the better one of us to talk to, he always felt the most left out. But family is a tricky thing." He said, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chest against my back, reminding me for a brief second about what we had done mere hours earlier: his bare chest against my back, the side of my head pressed into the pillow, harshly moaning his name.

"I haven't slept properly in almost a week now. I got maybe five hours the other day, but usually I get less. Chronic insomnia, I've had it since I was ten." I spoke quietly "Again, it had nothing to do with you. Sorry for waking you."

Masaki shook his head, gently turning me to face him. "Don't apologize. You went to hell and back today, and you are so brave for it. Stay with us as long as you need. Hell, maybe this place will actually be clean for once."

I took a sip of my piping hot drink as I sat on the window ledge outside Itokan, briefly turning my head back to watch Murayama argue with Cobra and see Smokey coughing harshly into a napkin, the underside of the thin paper-like material turning a bloody shade of red. Rocky had vanished, and Hyuga was yelling at somebody over the phone. Somehow I had a feeling that S.W.O.R.D meetings usually ended in screaming matches.

With a resigned sigh, I rested the back of my head against the window, staring aimlessley at the sky as the sun began to sink behind the horizon line. I had left my phone and my purse inside the diner, and I resented the idea that I'd have to go back in there. In all honesty, there was no non-awkward way to do that.

"You're a brave girl, you know that?" A voice said behind me

Turning my head, I met Rocky's gaze. Or at least, my eyes met his purple John Lennon-esque sunglasses.

"I've spent my entire adult life trying to stay out of S.W.O.R.D, and in the space of three months I've been almost kidnapped by Doubt, slept with Masaki Amamiya and now I'm dating the leader of goddamn Oya High." I grinned sadly

"And you just beat Hyuga Norihisa in a fist fight." Rocky added

"And I just beat Hyuga Norihisa in a fist fight." I agreed sadly, shaking my head. "You know, the entire time I stayed with the Amamiyas, I didn't get a single call from my parents, and then as soon as I told them what had happened, they went to Europe."

With a sigh, Rocky sunk down to sit next to me. "You're right, that is a decidedly bad reaction, but did you ever think that maybe your parents didn't know how to properly process it?"

"My mom has been distancing herself from me since my sister was born. I spent most of my teens feeling so alone, and then when I graduated I cut my sister off. I don't think I can fix things with them, Rocky."

"Maybe you can't make things right with them, but I think now you might have something better."

I looked at Rocky, a confused look on my face. "What do you mean?"

"Oya." Rocky said simply. "From what Murayama has been saying in there since you walked out, those kids love you. You have an entire building of people there who would look out for you no matter what, and you can't tell me that you don't think of everybody there in the same capacity they think about you."

I smiled slightly, taking another sip of my drink. "When everything happened, my first instinct was to run back to Okinawa. Drop everything I was doing and leave Oya and S.W.O.R.D and my past behind and start over somewhere familiar. But my parents left and I didn't get that option. But S.W.O.R.D is growing on me, not gonna lie. I've felt more myself since I've been a part of it."

"You did a brave thing, coming here tonight and telling us about Doubt." Rocky said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "That's something you have to relive over and over again. It's never going to go away, but it will hurt less."

"You'd be a good father." I nodded along

Rocky chuckled "So I've been told. How long have you and Murayama been together, if you don't mind me asking."

"Officially, two days." I chuckled "But emotionally, probably since the day I got there. There was a lot of pining, and more than one of the full-timers made fun of me for it."

"I think you guys are really good for each other."

I looked at the man in white, an amused expression on my face. "You could tell from the five minutes I spent in there before things got insane?"

"I can tell a lot of things." Rocky hummed, sidestepping the question "Like how unsure both of you are about relationships."

I laughed slightly, hiding my mouth behind my hand. "I haven't dated anybody since I left law school two years ago. I think I'm scared I'm going to screw this up like I did last time."

"Love is a difficult thing, Midori. It looks different for everybody. And it's really early on for you two. I'm sure you'll work it out."

"Thanks, Rocky. This was a good talk." I said softly, getting to my feet. "We should probably get going before he punches somebody." I chuckled, tilting my head towards Cobra and Murayama's increasingly heated argument. Yamato had now stepped between the two of them so that they wouldn't attack each other.

Rocky nodded. "If you ever need anything, I'm always around. Come find me at Club Heaven."

"Will do."

Back inside Itokan, it was pure chaos. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. Smokey looked dead on his feet, ready to collapse at any given moment, Hyuga was still in a screaming match with somebody, and Murayama was seconds away from punching Cobra. Probably about the whole Mighty Warriors mess.

"Hey Hot Shot!" I shouted, grabbing my purse and checking the time on my phone. "Let's get out of here, I've got class in the morning."

It was a lie. Hiroomi didn't need us all at the building site until later in the afternoon, but the rest of the diner's occupants didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, we're just about done here." Murayama said, somewhat calmer now that I was here. "See you later, Cobra-chan."

"It was nice meeting you." I said to Smokey and his friend as I turned to leave. Hyuga was still in a screaming match, so I figured I'd better just leave him be.

"Hey Murayama!" Cobra called as the shorter boy pushed the door open. "Hang on to her, she's a good one. But if you hurt her, she'll kill you before the rest of us do."

"I'll keep that in mind." Murayama chuckled before following me outside.

We were quiet for the first part of the walk. I didn't really feel like talking about my conversation with Rocky, and Murayama clearly didn't want to talk about why he was ready to punch Cobra. I simply intertwined my fingers with his and we walked in a comfortable silence, being in each other's presence was enough.

When we did start talking, I told Murayama the full story about how I kicked Dan down a flight of stairs. It was right before exams for our first semester, and Dan wanted to end the semester on a high note: beating the seven of us for a higher place in the hierarchy. I had just come back from a nationals win, and was feeling pretty great about myself. We didn't realize how close we had gotten to the stairs until Dan went over. He took the fall better than I expected, getting up after hitting the landing with a few bruises, but nothing too serious.

"You're more badass than I thought, Midori Yamada." Murayama chuckled, tightening his grip on my hand

"No I'm not." I chuckled back "No, I'm just average. Wasn't good enough for my coach. He replaced me with my sister Yumeko as soon as I left. Wasn't good enough for art school in Okinawa either. I was living in my grandmother's basement, tired all the time. Pulling all nighters to try and improve my technique. I almost failed out. Being a great artist by Sato standards meant nothing when I got there. I was simply average."

"You are anything but average, Nerd Girl." Murayama chuckled, pecking me gently on the cheek

Walking through the streets of Oya Township at night used to be one of my favourite things. I'd grab my bike and just ride, taking in the lights and the setting sun. Until you got to Hope Hills and the Districts. Kidra territory. That was the last place you wanted to be after dark, and I worried for the Oya kids that lived there sometimes when I heard just how bad things there could get. I loved the tiny shops lining the streets, the cobblestones and quiet streets. Part of me wished I had never left in the first place.

We were walking along a guardrail to the river dividing Oya and Sannoh territory, a place I used to go to think a lot in high school when two guys in shades of grey and white emerged from a nearby diner. My first thought was Rascals, but then I wondered what they'd be doing in Oya of all places.

But then I caught a look of the blond. The glasses chain, that stupid smirk. There was no way I could forget that face.

"Odajima!"

NOTES

i literally cannot wait to write midori and odajima's friendship, especially considering the whole housen-oya rivalry.

also, points for rocky stepping up and being a father figure