thirty - three

fake your death

"Are you sure Sachio will come around? We need you guys." I said quietly, feeling defeated as I walked back across the parking lot with Odajima

The blond nodded "I think Sachio's forgetting that I grew up there too. I might need to remind him, and it might not be pretty. But I'll be there for sure."

"We're going to lose if we don't do this right. Noboru and I have nowhere to go. My parents will deflect again like usual, but losing that town would be like losing part of my identity."

The two of us stopped walking when we got to my car. I wondered why we had parked so far away from the building, but in a way I was glad because it scored me some extra time to talk to Odajima before I left.

"Take care of yourself." Odajima said, bringing me in for a hug. "I know you told my mother you would, but I'll be there to hold you to it."

I laughed. "Don't I know it. Thank the moms again, will you?" I said, gesturing to the plastic bag filled with cinnamon rolls, Mrs. Ueda's home-cooked ramen and Mrs. Kenzo's mochi. "And see if Mrs. Ueda wouldn't mind sending me that recipe."

"Mrs. Ueda doesn't do recipes. She'll want to teach you herself."

"I'm okay with that. Call me later, yeah? I've gotta go make sure two of my kids don't kill each other."

Odajima laughed. "The things you do for those punks."

"Shut up!" I shot back with a huge smile on my face, playfully flipping him off as I pulled out of Housen's front gate.

_____

It was past five when I got back to Oya, most of the kids already streaming out through the front gates, done tormenting each other for the day and learning next to nothing. I caught Sakura laughing with Yasushi as the two headed back in the direction of Hope Hills. Something told me I'd be seing more of her. Nakaoka and Nakagoshi were chasing after another one of their Faction members, their shouts and laughter audible over the radio.

It made me a little nostalgic, to tell the truth.

I found Murayama sitting in a shaded corner, a torn-up and duct-taped couch pressed flush against the concrete wall. He was talking and laughing animatedly with Furuya and another one of the guys, who tipped his hat and walked away when he saw me heading towards my lover.

"Please tell me you had more luck today than I did." He groaned, flopping back onto the couch.

I shook my head sadly "Nada. Sachio's not convinced. His mom makes good ramen though." I nodded towards the bag in my hand, assuming that aside from fighting over leftovers (in plastic containers for that very reason) not too many people had eaten while I was gone, other than cheap takeout or instant noodles

Murayama frowned deeply, reaching for the box of mochi Shida's mom had packed "Hyuga's more concerned with the Iemura heiress. Said to give him 'four to five business days', whatever the hell that means."

"So, no Daruma, no Housen, but did Tsuji and Shibaman get anywhere at all today?"

"No idea." Furuya shook his head. "When they came back from Katsunari, they just started screaming at each other. From what I can gather, Shibaman's been sleeping with Tsuji's younger sister, a senior who was supposed to graduate in three months."

"I'm sensing there's more to this than a secret relationship."

Furuya whistled. "Oh yeah, it gets better. Shibaman got Tsuji's sister knocked up."

"Holy shit." Murayama and I said in unison

I was about to say something else, when the two parties in question started screaming at each other again. Shibaman was leaving the school, probably to head home, when Tsuji came running out after him, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"We're not done talking about this! What happens now, tough guy? You've put Shizuka's entire future in jeopardy!" Tsuji screamed

Shibaman spun around, his tear-stained face bright red. I could only imagine what today had done to him. "It takes two to tango, jackass! It's as much her fault as it is mine!"

"You son of a bitch!" Tsuji shouted, lunging for the other boy before Nakauki jumped in and pulled the twenty-year-old back, struggling to keep Tsuji under control.

"This isn't helping anything!" From what I had heard, Nakauki had wised up a lot since he got sober. If this had happened three months ago, he likely would have let the kids beat each other to a pulp. "Take a breather, Tsuji. Go cool off."

Although he wasn't happy about it, Tsuji eventually took Nakauki's advice, stuffing his earbuds in and storming off through the gates. Clearly not okay, and close to crying again, Shibaman turned and ran, ignoring all of Nakauki's attempts to talk to him.

"You put up with this all day?"

Furuya nodded. "Those kids are something else, I'll tell ya. Most aggressive class we've had so far."

I got up from the decently-comfortable outdoor couch with a sigh, reaching for the box of mochi. When I pulled the dessert away from Murayama, he whined like a small child despite having eaten for in the last ten minutes. "I was eating that!"

"Let me go talk to him. Be back in ten, maybe twenty depending on how not okay he is." I said, ignoring Murayama as I went to go and find Shibaman.

The eighteen-year-old was perched on one of the upper floors, in a covered outdoor walkway where he could slump down and let his emotions out without being seen. I could tell how much this was wrecking him.

"Mochi?" I asked softly, sitting down next to him. "It's not my favourite dessert in the world, but Shida Kenzo's mom is a genius with rice."

"Midori-san?" He choked out, turning to meet my gaze. "what are you doing here?"
I shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright, that's all."

"I've screwed up, Midori." The boy said, picking at the brightly-colored dessert. "Tsuji won't talk to me unless it's to scream at me. I've put Shizuka's entire future in jeopardy. In three months she would have been home free. Now she's probably going to have to give up track, possibly college. I talked to her earlier, and she said she wants to keep the baby, and I'm goddamn terrified. I never knew my dad, and my mom was a little older than Shizuka when I was born. She gave up a lot of things for me, and I don't want to do that to Shizuka."

I sighed, shaking my head as I put my arm around his shoulder. Truth be told, I had no idea how to make him feel any better. "Everything you're feeling is normal, Shibaman. This is a big thing."

"I love little kids, but having one of my own scares the shit out of me."Shibaman said through tears. "And don't get me wrong, I love Shizuka so much, but I don't know if either of us are ready for this."

I smiled a little, reaching for one of the little mochi cakes. "I know you're scared as hell right now, but the two of you will get through this. Once you see that little kid in her arms, you'll know you made the right call. As for Tsuji, I really don't know what to say. You are the father of his sister's baby."

Shibaman cracked a small smile, reaching up to wipe away some of his tears. "Thanks, Midori-san."

"Please." I scoffed "Drop the honorifics. They make me feel old. Now, go buy Shizuka some flowers or something. It's the least you can do." I laughed. "I don't think Hope Hills is ready for a kid that shares DNA with you and Tsuji."

Shibaman nodded, pointing at the mochi box. "Can I bring her these as well?"

I nodded before pressing a quick kiss to his hair. "Knock yourself out, kid. Everything will be alright."

I headed back to the main area of the school, a small smile on my face as I watched Shibaman leave. I knew in my heart that he and Tusji would figure it out, and I had no doubt that Shibaman would be a great dad.

"You really care about these kids." Nakauki remarked.

"As if they were my own." I agreed

Murayama frowned. "You gave away the mochi."

"Shut up, Hot Shot." I laughed, turning to face him. "I'll make you stir fry or something."

"I, uh.." Murayama went quiet, averting his eyes as he reached into his jacket pocket. "I got you something today. It's not much but I, uh.."

Furuya chuckled, holding his phone at arms length to capture the entire moment on his phone. "Spit it out, Murayama-san."

Murayama's face went pink as he pulled a small white cube out of his pocket. "Shut up, Furuya." He snapped sheepishly, pulling the lid off the box. "I bought you a promise ring."

I smiled widely, reaching for the box. A small rose-gold ring made up of small metal roses sat on the soft silk padding. I took it out of the box gently, running the pad of my finger over the delicate handiwork.

"It's beautiful, baby."

"AWWW!" Nakauki and Furuya shouted in unison, causing us both to avert our eyes out of pure embarrassment.

"Shut up." I giggled, trying to stop my face from going pink as I fingered the ring.

"Can I?" Murayama asked quietly, reaching for my hand. I nodded with a smile, allowing the shorter boy to take my hand in his and slip the ring onto my middle finger before bringing my hand up to his lips and planting a gentle kiss on my knuckles.

I laughed, throwing my arms around his neck and jumping up, wrapping my legs around Murayama before pressing a kiss to his lips. We didn't stay upright for long, the momentum from my jump, as well as the height difference causing us to both tumble over. I rolled over onto the grass, convulsing in laughter.

"Are you okay?" Murayama asked in between hysteric laughter of his own

"I'm fine." I breathed "What about you? I probably crushed your tiny body."

At that, Furuya and Nakauki convulsed in even more laughter, Furuya stopping the recording on his phone. "I hope you realize that entire interaction has been immortalized."

"Oh god." Murayama groaned, covering his face with his hands.

I shook my head with a smile, pressing up onto my forearm "Lay off him, guys."

"Let's give the lovebirds some space." Nakauki chuckled, backing up and gesturing for Furuya to follow

Once the two had vanished, heading back inside Oyakou to do god knows what, I turned back to Murayama with a grin. "Thank you for the ring. It's gorgeous." Not giving him a chance to answer, I leaned down and pressed my lips to his. He hummed contentedly, burying one hand in my hair as I swung one of my legs around so that I was on top of him, my forearms on the ground beside either side of his head, never once breaking the kiss.

I broke away for a minute to catch some air when my phone started ringing on the grass next to us.

"Ignore it." Murayama whined as I got up to grab my phone.

"Come on." I smiled, nudging his side with the toe of my sneaker. "It could be important."

I answered to call holding my phone up to my ear as Murayama came up behind me, resting his chin- and all of his weight- on my shoulder.

"Hey, Midori." Noboru began. "We have a small problem."

"What kind of problem?" I said nervously, swatting at Murayama's wandering hands

"Your dad's home."

NOTES!!

there are a lot of things I love about this chapter-

there are only ten more parts to this book (including this one) and it's making me kind of emo....