thirty

lover, leaver ( taker, believer )

Shibaman and Tsuji stood just outside the gates of Katsunari Industrial, the co-ed high school they had both previously attended, looking around nervously as the track team, dressed head to toe in sunflower yellow rushed past them in a flurry of wind and kicked-up dirt. Many kids from their part of Hope Hills attended this same school, which was considered to be one of the better ones in the neighborhood, ranking just above Sato.

"Dude, I can't be caught dead here." Shibaman hissed at his comrade. "I'm like eighty percent sure I'm still suspended."

Tsuji shook his head with a sigh. "What did you even do?"

A better question would be what Shibaman didn't do. With a reputation as the class clown, the boy was always getting himself into some sort of chaos, and by the time he almost accidentally blew up the chemistry lab, the teachers were done putting up with him.

Tsuji on the other hand was a model student, graduating almost at the top of his class, and six months earlier than his other classmates.

"Blew up the science wing." Shibaman answered quickly, clambering over the fence. "Let's just find Nao and get this over with."

Katsunari industrial was a large building, divided in half by a large auditorium. The two sides were a sharp contrast: the side that Tsuji attended with the other students who had futures and potential was gleaming white and modern, happy looking students milling about. The side that Shibaman had attended with the other burnouts was noticeably different. Some windows had bars over them, after an unfortunate incident in which a student was kicked out of a third floor window and broke both his legs, and the building was lost under a sea of spray paint.

Two of Tsuji's three sisters attended Katsunari. The younger one was a freshman, still learning the ropes but doing pretty well for herself. The older was a senior set to graduate in three months. Shizuka was the shining star of the Hanging District: honors student, track star, always putting in time for volunteer work.

And behind Tsuji's back, she was dating his best friend.

The two best friends rounded the corner of the building, scanning the sea of yellow jackets and debatable fashion choices for their unofficial red-headed leader. Well, the dye had faded in the weeks since, so Katsunari's buzzcut-clad leader now looked like he had more of a salmon pink tone to his once blonde-hair. When Shibaman had been in school, he and Nao were good friends. Nao also came from the Hanging District, but never spent time at Hope Hills if he could avoid it. His brother had been involved with Kidra, casting a shadow over the entire family.

The two boys found Nao sitting at a picnic table, the collar of his sweater pulled up high over his neck as he lit a cigarette, a dark haired girl with lots of piercings poring over a calculus textbook. The girl was one of Shizuka's friends, Tsuji noted, though he could not remember her name.

"Oi, Nao!" Shibamn shouted "Can we have a minute?"

The girl's head snapped up from her textbook, eyes widening as she anxiously ran her tongue over the piercing in her lip. Nao took a drag of his cigarette, blowing out smoke with a smile as he looked at his old friend.

"Shiba! Nice to see you, man. Sorry about the other week, the fight was nothing personal. Nothing against you." Nao said with a laugh. "That chick dating Murayama is a good fighter."

Shibaman laughed, high-fiving Nao. "I see this place hasn't changed. They rebuilt the chem lab yet?"

Nao howled with laughter, his friend giving up on her homework. "Nah, man. They don't do shit for us in this part of the school. I think they're glad to be rid of you."

"About that fight." Tsuji said, clearing his throat and attempting to redirect the social visit to the reasons the students from Oya were actually there. "Shortly after you guys left, we were ambushed by the Mighty Warriors. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Nao's face fell. "Yeah, we might. Why do you want to know?"

"Because they almost killed one of our guys, and they're threatening Midori." Shibaman said "The entire bordertown is at risk, and you guys got played big time."

"I told you not to make that stupid deal." The girl grumbled, hitting Nao with her textbook. She looked like the kind of person who would study on the burnout side of the building, but her textbook begged to differ. If Shibaman's memory served him correctly, she was one of the smartest.

"They were offering us a lot of money." Nao said with a sigh. "They gave us a date, and told us to storm Oya. Promised us free admission to the Funk Jungle and said they'd handpick people to induct. A one-way into S.W.O.R.D."

"Baka." The girl mumbled, packing up her books. "I've got to go, but we need to have a serious talk about this later."

"Is that your girlfriend?" Shibaman asked, nodding in the direction of the girl as she walked away

Nao nodded. "Yeah. She's really something, isn't she?"

"You should probably know that the Mighty Warriors lied to you. They're mercenaries." Tsuji said, tucking his hands into his pockets. "They're trying to break up S.W.O.R.D."

"Bastards." Nao hissed, taking another drag from his cigarette. "We've been played like a cheap violin."

"There's a way to get them back. A way to get Katsunari's honour back." Shibaman said. "And it's a way for the two of us to fight on the same side again." He smiled, thinking back to the days before he had been so unjustly kicked out of the building.

"Ace." Nao nodded "Count us in, what do we need to do?"

Shibaman was about to elaborate when the track team came thundering by again, one girl who normally ran at the front of the pack falling behind, keeling over as the rest of the team continued on their run.

"Shizuka?" Tsuji shouted, confused and concerned for his sister, who was slowly ambling over, her face a pale grey.

"Tsuji?" She gasped, lungs screaming for air. "What are you doing here-" The brunette had barely finished her sentence before she keeled over, throwing up under the picnic table. Nao jumped to the side with a curse, desperately trying to keep his Timberland work boots clean.

"Never mind that." Tsuji said, reaching out to help his sister. "Are you okay?"

Shizuka shook her head, standing up straighter and turning to the two Oya boys. As she swayed on her feet, Shibaman reached out to catch her, and the girl was torn between who to look at when she spoke next: her brother, or the lover that was helping her stand.

"I'm pregnant." She said slowly, Tsuji's eyes widening. Shibaman swallowed, knowing exactly what that meant for him.

"Who's the father?" Tsuji asked, voice low as his gaze drifted to Shibaman.

The younger boy coughed, pulling his girlfriend closer. "I am."

"You're a dead man."

____

"You're driving the wrong way, baka."

"That's baka-san, I'm still your senior, even if the general opinion is that I'm an idiot!"

The last place Murayama Yoshiki wanted to be on this fine summer morning was trapped in a car with the one person on the planet he couldn't stand even more than Hyuga Norihisa himself: Todoroki Yosuke.

"The Daruma temple is in the complete other direction!" Todoroki complained from the passenger seat of Mrs. Yoshiki's dated Acura that she had passed down to her son more years ago than anybody could count. The car was a wreck, which is why it was barely driven.

"I'm taking a detour." Murayama snapped

"A detour clear up the other side of the district?" Todoroki responded, raising an eyebrow

Murayama rolled his eyes. "I need to pick up something in Sannoh, okay? But Midori can't know and I wasn't about to walk again."

Early that morning, after he was finished whatever the hell you wanted to call the fight with Odajima Yuken, Murayama had texted the S.W.O.R.D group chat, with a very important question. Something that had made him the laughing stock of every single leader for a good five minutes.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Todoroki sighed "What is so important that it's keeping me away from the prime fishing real estate?"

"I'm buying Midori a ring, okay!"

Todoroki stared at his senior "You're doing what? Murayama, you've been together for like, a week."

"Not a wedding ring, you baka. Junko-san said it's called a promise ring." Murayama explained, turning down the radio as he crossed into Sannoh. "It's meant as a promise to taking the relationship seriously, or at least, that's how I understand it."

Todoroki simply shook his head, returning to staring out the window as Murayama parked the car in front of Itokan.

"If I let you come inside, do you promise not to laugh at me?"

Todoroki laughed "Seriously? You do realize that outside of Oyakou, you have no power over me? I can make decisions for myself. Also, I need a coffee."

"Fine." Murayama grumbled, pulling his keys out of the ignition. "But not a word."

"Scout's honour."

Inside Itokan was exactly how Murayama assumed the guys in Sannoh spent their downtime. Underneath a chandelier made from empty beer bottles, Yamato was playing cards with Cobra and Noboru. At a table in the corner, Dan and Chiharu were laughing about something, Tetsu likely off cavorting with his Canadian girlfriend. Naomi was behind the bar, talking and laughing with some of the girls from Ichigo Milk.

When the two leaders of Oya walked in through the diner's front door, everything seemed to stop, all eyes floating towards Murayama and Todoroki as Murayama kept his head down, walking straight for Ichigo Milk's leader Junko, and doing his best to avoid Oshiage.

"Did you get it?" Murayama asked the girl nervously.

With a smile, Junko spun around in her barstool, floor length pink satin jacket sweeping at the dust on the floor. "Of course I got it, you nimrod."

"Junko." Nonoriki warned "Be nice."

Shaking her head with a small laugh, Junko reached into her pocket, pulling out a small white box embossed with the Pandora logo.

Curious, the rest of the diner's occupants slowly dropped what they were doing to gather around the Yoshiki boy as he pulled the lid off the small box, smiling when he saw the ring inside. It was rose gold, made up of small metal flowers.

"It's beautiful."

"You're really serious about her." Junko answered back. "You don't buy just anybody a promise ring."

"I've never bought anybody a promise ring."

Cobra chuckled, patting Murayama on the back. "Good on you, man."

Murayama rolled his eyes, hastily stuffing the ring box into the pocket of his blue bomber jacket. "How much do I owe you?"

Nonoriki shook her head. "You don't owe us anything. Asahina-san just took the money out of the college fund Yamato never used. You can't put a price on true love."

Yamato's head snapped towards the girls at the mention of his mother. "She did what now? I needed that money!"

"For what?" Naomi laughed "You still live with your mother and I don't see you buying me any jewellery, baka."

Noboru shook his head as the couple continued to lovingly bicker. "You should know for next time that Midori isn't really the jewellery type. She'd actually probably be happier if you bought her a book form the never ending list of books she wants to read before she turns thirty."

Murayama's face fell. "You tell me this now? After I bought her a ring."

"Correction." Yamato but in "After my mother bought you a ring to give to her."

"Whatever. You guys are mean. What if she doesn't like it?"

"Don't listen to them." Chiharu said "Girls love pretty things, so I don't really know why she likes you."

At that, Todoroki snorted. Murayama felt defeated, realizing that as the youngest leader ( and the shortest, ) he would always be the butt of the joke.

"Whatever." He muttered "At least I'm getting laid."

Junko rolled her eyes. "Is that all men ever think about?"

Cobra laughed "Who said I'm not getting laid?"

"Tetsu is definitely getting some." Dan remarked "He's got a hot foreign tourist staying in his guest room, and he's head over goddamn heels for her."

"Wait, Cobra, who are you sleeping with?" Chiharu raised his eyebrows

"I don't kiss and tell. Nice try." Cobra said with a grin.

"Are we the only one's who don't have girlfriends?" Chiharu said in a low voice, turning to Dan

Dan's eyes widened. "Oh dear god, I think we are." He turned around in his chair, looking at the girls from Ichigo Milk. "Nonoriki, will you go out with me."

Nonoriki snickered. "Not a chance, Dan."

"What about me?" Chiharu added, a little bit too desperately.

"You're too young for me, kid." Nonoriki smiled, turning back to her latte

Murayama laughed, reaching for the takeout coffee cup Naomi had put on the counter. God knows he needed to triple his caffeine levels for the conversation he was about to have with Hyuga. He passed the other coffee to Todoroki, who he honestly hadn't seen laugh this much since he had arrived at Oya. 

He found it to be very unsettling.

"Come on." The shorter boy said. "If we get going now, and Hyuga doesn't attack me with fighting birds again, you might get to the lake before it's dark."

"Fighting birds?" Cobra raised an eyebrow

"Nope!" Murayama shouted, heading towards the door "I am not having this conversation again!"

NOTES!

the second half of this chapter was so much fun to write-

also shibaman is in some deep shit there. 

yeah, lots of stuff went down this chapter.