And now, finally, we have Ryu, as well as the other Kurogin boys! :]
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Chapter 3: Kurogin
Ryu stretched in his seat, before slouching down in it again and placing his hands back into the warmth of his pockets. He watched as his friends played a round of darts. He didn't really like darts, and it didn't really matter, anyway. Hayato always won.
Tsucchi's dart landed in the inner ring.
The other boys gathered round the dart board hollered, and the familiar gush of cool air from Tsucchi's fan hit Ryu before the tall boy sat down.
That reminded him. His phone was still under repairs, and he hadn't heard from Aoi for a long time. To be truthful, his biological mother was an outright airhead. She was a beauty, but outward looks were deceiving and she was shallow minded inside. He had no idea how Aoi could deal with her, her stepfather and her stepbrother all in the same house.
Aoi was his younger sister. She was that one that had been there with him since birth, who endured through the hard times with their parents before they filed for divorce, who brought him food even though he told her not to. Of course, none of his friends other than Hayato and Take knew about her, and that was only because they'd been there before their parents split and before they were forced apart.
Hyuga's dart swerved off course and ended up in the third innermost ring.
He swore. There were jeers from his fellow peers, and Take patted him on the back encouragingly as he returned to his seat.
The bell rang in the distance, and some people groaned. They'd hammered off the school bell next to their classroom, but they could still hear the bell from the main building.
Ryu sighed, standing and picking up his school bag, before slinging it over his shoulder. The others also gathered their things, as per their normal routine. As he walked out the door, Hayato fell into step next to him easily enough, and the other three goofed off behind them.
It was their normal day, and they faced no resistance waltzing out of school, as per usual. It was strange how the teachers were so against delinquency but didn't place guards at the school gates to prevent truancy. It didn't matter anyway, because teachers were easily threatened and taken care of. They continued on without interruption. Well, until they saw someone at the gates of their school.
It was a boy, with shoulder length black hair with brown tinges. He was wearing a hoodie underneath his school blazer, as well as coloured sneakers. He was obviously a delinquent, and shiny earrings up one of his ears glinted in the sunlight. He kicked about the soil once, before returning to leaning on the thin black gates of Kurogin.
The other thing that drew their attention was the blazer her was wearing, of a lighter shade of blue than most schools. He was from Ara High, and he looked incredibly familiar too.
"Oi, who's that?" Hayato asked, somewhat quietly so that the mystery student wouldn't hear. Ryu remained silent, though Take chimed in. "He looks really familiar."
"Well, he's from Ara high." Hyuga shrugged, and Hayato gave him an exasperated look. "Baka, we already knew that. Their blazer is so goddamn ugly not to remember. It's his face!"
"I got it!" Tsucchi exclaimed, but was quickly shushed by his four friends. Ryu rolled his eyes, cracking a small smirk. "He's one of Saitou Takumi's gang. He was there during our… almost war with Ara."
Saitou Takumi was the name of the leader of Ara High. He was the same age as them, in the same grade. Just like Hayato and Ryu, Takumi had a group of close friends that he surrounded himself with. Apparently, the boy at the gate was one of them.
"Oh, oh yeah!" Take snapped his fingers. "I remember. He's one of the better fighters of the group. I can't remember his name, though… Ta… Tanaka something."
Ryu's heart clenched, even though he remained stoic on the outside. It couldn't be. If it was, why the hell was he even there in Kurogin?
"It doesn't matter. He's from Ara, so we're sending him back in bandages today." Hayato announced, none too loudly, either, drawing the attention of the boy himself. He turned to face them, squinting slightly to identify each boy.
As if drawn in by an unspoken command, all five boys walked forward towards the school gates in a straight line. They were two steps away when Hayato spoke up. "What're you doing on our turf, Tanaka of Ara high? Do you think you're very brave from coming here all alone?"
"Tch. I'm not as arrogant as you fools." Sho retorted smartly, crossing his arms.
A growl like noise came from Hayato's throat. "Why, you-" He, as well as Take, Hyuga and Tsucchi, had gone into offensive positions and started to advance towards the Ara high boy when Ryu extended a hand in front of them, and stopped them in their tracks.
His friends all gave him incredulous looks, and he sighed. "Let's listen to what he has to say first."
Hayato jerked his head slightly, before looking back at the boy in the light blue uniform. Sho took this as a sign to continue speaking. "I'm here to talk to Odagiri Ryu, no one else. Privately." He met Ryu's eyes. "Please."
Hayato, Take, Tsucchi and Hyuga seemed to be shocked. Take recovered first. "What! No. You're from Ara high. What do you think we are, stupid?"
Hayato glared at Sho, while Tsucchi crossed his arms and Hyuga nodded. "What makes you think we're just gonna do as you say?"
"Because it's important." Sho declared, matching Hayato's glare with his own, before he took out a pink piece of paper folded neatly in origami style. Ryu's eyes narrowed. What was he up to?
Tsucchi laughed, albeit a little cruelly. "What's that? A love letter? Don't tell me you like Ryu!"
Hyuga and Take laughed, while Hayato smirked. "Sorry, man, but he doesn't play for the other team. Besides, you're from Ara, and even if he did play for them, I'm sure he wouldn't accept it."
Sho glared at the four boys, before looking at Ryu. "It's from Aoi."
In a split second, Ryu had shot forward, and shoved Sho, before pulling him along till they were under the shade of a tree. The four Kurogin boys looked bewildered, while Ryu signalled them to stay away.
"Nani?" Ryu demanded. "I can't believe you still hang out with her! Doesn't Ryohei try to beat you up?"
Sho cracked a grin. "Ossu! You know, I was never too good at following rules. Yeah, that guy's too wound up, I swear, but Aoi never lets him." He paused, passing Ryu the letter. "I was out with Aoi downtown last night" – he stopped to raise his arms in surrender when Ryu shot him a sharp look – "And before she left, she passed me this letter to pass to you, by today. I guess she never knew about the relationship between Ara and Kurogin."
Ryu nodded, keeping the note in his bag immediately. Sho hesitated, before speaking again in an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry. I tried to persuade them not to fight, but… When you came, I didn't watch."
The eldest Odagiri child clenched his hands. "It's fine. I've resolved it with my friends."
Sho nodded. "You know… I haven't spoken to you in ages. I've missed the both of you."
Ryu started walking away, but paused. "Don't come again. Next time you might not be as lucky… And I've… missed you too."
Sho smiled, nodding, before he jogged away, pulling out his cell phone as he did so. Ryu opened his bag to look at the note again, as his friends neared. He wondered what was inside, which was so important Aoi couldn't wait for him to get his phone back.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Please tell me what you think! Especially about Aoi and Sho!
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