seven

semi-charmed life

"Oh look, she's finally crawled back out of Oya's clutches!" Daichi mocked as I put my laptop down next to him in the lecture hall as we settled for our Auto CAD lesson. "She finally looks like herself again!"

"Very funny, Daichi." I chuckled, adjusting my beanie and rooting around in my backpack for my glasses "I happen to enjoy spending all my spare time at Oya, sorry that I have friends that aren't you."

Daichi fake gasped, pressing a hand to his linen shirt "You wound me so, Midori."

I chuckled, sliding my glasses onto the bridge of my nose so that I could actually see the projector screen at the front of the room. "I brought you stir fry, but I can give it to Murayama-"

"No!" Daichi cut me off "Please, let me have the stir fry, I skipped breakfast for this!"

Hiroomi turned around from the seat in front of us, a smirk on his face as he looked at Daichi. "You're pathetic, kid."

"Pathetic?" Daichi cried "Please, just because she's boning Murayama Yoshiki doesn't mean that I should have to go hungry!"

"I am not having sex with Murayama!" I shouted back, a little too loud as it seemed to catch the attention of multiple other students in the class. Blushing profusely, I turned away from everybody else, quickly passing Daichi the Corningware pot.

Hiroomi grinned to himself, quickly changing the subject. "Did you hear about the missing heiress? The Iemura family hired some fancy P.I who tracked her outside the S.W.O.R.D District before the trail went cold."

Everybody had heard about Himari Iemura. Heiress to the Iemura family's fortune and crime, Himari was due to wed the eldest son of the Kamizono family to unite the two strongest Kuryu families. I'd heard enough horror stories about the Iemura's from Noboru, who had been recruited while he was in jail, and I couldn't blame Himari for leaving. At least, I hoped she had run away and that this wasn't a ploy from one of the other families to weaken the Iemuras.

"Do you think she ran away?" Daichi suggested "Or was she kidnapped?"

Hiroomi shook his head. "The reports said she's run away before, I think she was trying to get out of marrying the heir to the Kamizonos."

"Where do you think she went."

"Nameless City, probably." I said quietly "That's where everybody goes when they don't want to be found."

"You just stayed with Masaki and Hiroto." Daichi quipped, earning him a kick in the shin.

"That was different! They saved me from Doubt. And I didn't want to face my parents."

Daichi raised an eyebrow, rubbing the area where I had kicked him. "So banging Masaki was also because they saved you from Doubt or was that because you didn't want to go home?"

"Shut up!" I hissed, not wanting the rest of the class to know about my non-existent love life.

Hiroomi's eyes widened "You slept with Masaki Amamiya?"

I was formulating an answer when my phone vibrated on the table. I picked it up to check the message, Daichi promptly snatching it from my hand. "If that's a picture of Murayama's dick, I swear to god-"

"Keep your voice down!" I scolded, reaching for the phone. "It's just Fujio asking what I'm making for lunch."

After I had fallen asleep during the movie the previous afternoon, Nakagoshi and Nakaoka had wrangled the first years and gone to the headmaster about hiring me to work in the kitchen in addition to helping some of the part-timers with their literature homework. I'm not sure what scare tactics Nakagoshi had used, but they seemed to work, because now I was getting paid the salary from tutoring Murayama as well as a decent sum to make lunch fro everybody at Oya Kokoh.

Daichi passed me back my phone, looking incredibly disappointed when he realized that it was not, in fact, a raunchy text message from Oya High's de facto leader. "She was right." He confirmed to Hiroomi "It was simply Fujio asking what's for lunch. Follow up question: who the hell is Fujio?"

I shook my head, averting my attention to my computer screen as the class began, lost in thought about many things.

Things with Masaki Amamiya had gotten really intense really fast. We had both wanted it, and it was a one time thing. He knew that. I just needed a distraction from everything that had happened that day, and sex sure seemed better at the time than cleaning the Amamiya brothers' flat from top to bottom.

"Midori, you don't need to do that." Masaki protested as I carried the now empty bowls of ramen to the kitchen counter, filling the metal sink with water and dish soap.

Hiroto shook his head at his older brother. "Let her do the dishes, Aniki. It just means that we don't have to do them."

"She's our guest."

"Guys, it's fine." I spoke softly, turning back to the arguing brothers. "I want to."

"See." Hiroto huffed, getting up from the table. "I'm going for a shower."

After his younger brother had left, and we heard the shower turn on, Masaki came over to the kitchen counter, watching curiously as I frantically and aggressively washed all the dishes remaining from a dinner that I had cooked.

"Midori, don't listen to him." Masaki began before I cut him off

"I have to, Masaki." I said, feeling my voice crack from anxiety. "I have to keep myself busy otherwise all I'm going to be able to think about is Doubt."

I put another one of the small china bowl into the scalding hot water when Masaki shouted my name and grabbed my wrist, visibly tensing when I flinched.

"Midori." He said, his voice softer this time. "You should rest. Obviously you've been through a lot today."

I separated my wrist from his hand before turning to face the slightly older man, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head above his beating heart. He was surprised at first, but warmed up to the act of affection and security, wrapping his own arms around me and holding me close.

"Think of me as your wall." He had said softly, lips pressed into my somewhat greasy hair

I pulled back slightly, tilting my head upwards to meet his gaze before impulsively pressing up on my toes and pushing my lips onto his. His eyes widened, clearly surprised at first before he eased into it, moving his lips against mine.

I guess Masaki just wasn't used to getting the girl in the end since they all fawned over his brother.

We separated for a moment, the soft amber lighting of the apartment shining off his hair and accentuating his soft features. I reached up boldly to run my thumb over his jaw, settling my hand on the side of his neck before I spoke.

"Help me forget, Masaki."

I snapped out of my reverie, Daichi snapping his fingers in front of my face loudly. The professor had called on me while I had been replaying the strangest day of my life on loop.

"Miss Yamada, please do try and pay more attention."

"Sorry professor." I mumbled, hearing the chuckles form some of the other students. "Won't happen again."

As much as I'd like to pretend I paid more attention, I really didn't. My mind kept wandering, but this time it wasn't going to Masaki, but someone shorter and far more eccentric.

Murayama Yoshiki.

It startled me how easily Oya High had fit into my life. How quickly they became more of a family to me than my currently absent parents and the sister that barely ever calls. How easily I could fall into conversation with Murayama, his joking attitude never failing to amaze me.

Oya High was as much a part of me now as Sato was when I was actually in high school, or as the dojo was when I competed.

I couldn't get Murayama out of my mind. His joking attitude, that stupid bandanna, hair he never brushed. His carefree nature. his adorable smile.

Tsukasa and Daichi were right.

I was falling in love with Murayama Yoshiki.

NOTES!

this was so dialogue heavy oml

So this chapter references Himari Iemura, my OC from my plotted Smokey fic 'Break Into The Dark'.

I plan on making a full series of HiGH&LOW books, so here's what I've got up my sleeve:

If You Think This Is Real Life - Sannoh Rengokai / Tetsu

Break Into The Dark - Rude Boys / Smokey

Swag + Pride - The Worst Episode . 0 / Tsukasa

TBD - Amamiya Brothers / Masaki

If all goes as planned, I want them to all sort of overlap with each other, so you'll see references throughout. I hope. This is hella ambitious, and I really do hope you stick around for those too.