fourteen

all the rage

In the few seconds it took for me to make my way over to the guy who'd torn apart the final shred of self-esteem I had left in high school, I instantly felt like that scared, bloodied teenager struggling to get up from the roof back in high school. It amazed me how much power Noboyuki still had over me.

"It's your move, asshole." I spat, waiting for him to throw the first stone. I wasn't about to make the same mistake that I made last time.

"Midori!" Naomi had shouted, trying to run towards where I was lying on the roof, Odajima holding her back.

"You can't go over there, you're just putting yourself in the line of fire!" There were many reasons Odajima had never gone up against Noboyuki. I think that the fact he had more common sense than the other six of us was probably a driving factor.

I shakily got to my feet, spitting out a blood clot right onto the poker cards, his friends shouting insults at me as I turned back to face him.

"Is that all you've got?"

I barely dodged his punch, his fist just grazing my ear. I lifted my leg, driving the steel toe of my boot into his stomach with all the force that I could muster. Noboyuki wasn't fazed, bringing his elbow down on my shoulder and sending me crumpling to my knees. I thought fast, using my momentum to take the older man to the floor with me.

I got to my feet quickly, the momentum almost taking me to the floor again before Noboyuki grabbed at my ankle, tugging me back. The force of my fall sent my flying into where Fujio and another guy I recognized form my own Sato days of vying for that top spot were fighting it out with each other.

I got back to my feet again, almost tripping over Fujio as we both tried to get up at the same time.

"You good?" I asked "You're bleeding a lot."

Fujio shrugged "It will lower my blood alcohol level."

I paid little attention to the younger boy as Noboyuki got up from the ground, just for me to kick him in the face again.

"Wait until I'm fully on my feet before you kick me, coward." The blond spat

I was enraged "Coward? What do you call getting your goons to kick me over and over again while I was on the floor until Odie had to forcibly rip your guys off of me!?"

He shrugged "It's all business, baby."

"Don't call me baby." I spat, moving to punch him again. I landed a solid punch to his jaw, but he also landed one on the side of my head, almost sending me right back to the floor again as I sucker punched him in the gut.

I had barely gotten back to my feet to make a move when he threw me to the floor again, kicking me in the face as I tried to get up again, effectively breaking my nose with a crunch. I lay on the ground, coughing. I made brief eye contact with Odajima, his long blond hair rustling with the wind. 

I couldn't hear what anybody was saying, the ringing in my ears too powerful a sound as Noboyuki's friend's came over, kicking me in the stomach and back. I stayed down, unable to do anything as Odajima sent Naomi back inside and ran over to try and get them off me before they did any permanent damage.

I rammed my knee into his stomach, pushing his body off of me and into a wall. I tried to hide my grimace as I heard his head make contact with the concrete, leaving behind a small trail of blood. There was blood streaming down my own face, but it was considerably less than the last time we had fought each other.

"You've gotten better." He wheezed. The wind had been knocked out of him when he collided with the wall. "What, selling  yourself out to these Oya punks?"

I laughed mirthlessly before kicking him in the ribs and bending down to grab his collar, pulling his face closer to mine. "They're better fighters, honest fighters. Well, mostly. But they're my family, and if you come near them again, I will kill you."

"Oh, so this is about Yoshiki?" Noboyuki laughed psychotically. "Protecting your boyfriend's honor? How chivalrous."

"And what would you know about chivalry." I scoffed, slamming the back of his head into the wall "Now call off your dogs, I think they're pretty beat."

I looked around, the sight of Sato bodies on the ground put a weird feeling in my stomach. Even drunk these kids fought well. I was impressed.

"My dogs?" Noboyuki spat "You call off yours first."

I slapped him across the face before continuing, the sound reverberating around the room. "Fine. Because I'm the bigger person here."

I moved to walk away before reconsidering and turning around to kick him in the stomach. He wasn't deserving of fairness today.

"Guys!" I shouted, my voice hoarse. "We're done here. Leave the kids be."

One by one, all the guys from Oya started cheering. They weren't too bad for wear, but they were wobbly on their feet, likely beaten and with hangovers setting in. I swayed on my feet as I walked forward, Tsukasa springing to my side to stop me form falling.

"I think it's safe to say that they all gained a bit of respect for you there." The younger boy laughed, shifting to support my weight.

"I'm glad." I laughed as we headed back towards the warehouse door. "God, that felt good."

"I wish you'd let me punch him at least once." Fujio whined

"You're welcome to go back."

"Nah, moment's passed."

As unlikely as it sounds, I had once again united the warring teams, a sight very rare amongst the full-timers. Todoroki's glasses were broken, hanging limply off his face as he stumbled back to the lorry. I heard a retching noise behind me, simply groaning in defeat.

"Please tell me that was not Yasushi being sick again."

Tsukasa chuckled "He did drink half his body weight in solo cups."

Exhausted from our victory, we all slumped down in the back of the truck, a very different atmosphere from when we were riding into battle. Nakaoka was half asleep, passing out on Nakagoshi's shoulder as the other boy tried to stay awake. Kiyoshi's nose was spurting blood, but it wasn't broken. Yasushi was lying flat on his back, too battered to think about moving as Shibaman kicked him out of the way.

I curled into myself, leaning against Tsukasa as I reached into the deep front pocket of my jeans for my phone.

"What the hell are you doing." Fujio criticized, stealing the device away from me

"Calling Furuya. I want to make sure that Murayama is okay."

Tsukasa shook his head, taking the phone from Fujio and slipping it into the pocket of his uniform pants. "Not a chance. You need to rest. We all do. You can check on loverboy when we get back."

Back at Oya, Nakabayoshi ( seriously, why do so many of them have names that start with Naka? ) looked at us strangely through the lenses of his aviator glasses as Tsukasa and I stumbled through the doors, a beat up Fujio leading the rest of the full timers behind us.

The blond boy and I slowly but surely made it upstairs, the side of my body on fire as bruises started to form on my skin. Letting go of Tsukasa, I stumbled towards the door to the room Murayama was staying in.

"You did great out there, Takajo. Go get some rest, I'll be alright." I said, giving the younger boy a salute before ducking into the unused classroom.

I walked over to the mattress that was lying on the floor, trying my best to be quiet so that I wouldn't wake Murayama as I took off my dirty Doc Martens. I cleaned them regularly, but they'd likely need powerwashing now.

There was a rustling behind me as Murayama rolled over, his eyes opening ever so slightly. "Midori? What the hell happened to you?"

I laughed softly, slipping into the bed next to him "Don't worry about it." I whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "I'm sure you'll hear about it in the morning."

"You're incredible."

"I know." I replied softly before burrowing myself under the layers of blankets and drifting into one of the best sleeps I've had since the incident with Doubt.

NOTES!

this was so much fun to write-

anyways, i hope you're in for the long run bc this book is going to have at least thirty something chapters, maybe pushing forty.