I hope you guys enjoyed the first part of "Sixteen." This story serves a romance-drama between two best friends, their relationships, and their struggles of survival.
Synopsis: Izuku lives in a quiet, small desolate town in the outskirts of Tokyo. A place where his sources of comfort are his best friend and his dreams. He wants to escape from his abusive, alcoholic mother but doesn't want to leave his best friend behind. One day, an incident causes Itsuka the strength to challenge his mother, resulting in unplanned consequences. Having no other solution, the only thing Itsuka can think to do is to grab Izuku and run. "Sixteen" explores the deep ties between legacy, loyalty, and love, even as it asks the question: How far would you go to save a friend?
A/N: If reading this story isn't your cup of tea, then please refrain from reading this. Stay tuned for more lemon and vanilla stories soon. As of now, I am reverting back to writing drama (which is my first love) for this particular story.
"I think I want a two weeks notice."
That was what Itsuka told him after screaming in his ear over the past two minutes. She wasn't angry. Izuku never thought of her as an angry person. He knew she can get angry, but the best term of her personality was happy-go-lucky. Be as it may, she pressed him over the last few minutes that she wanted to say goodbye to the ridiculous, murderous, painstaking, backbreaking job they call minimum wage. He couldn't blame her though. She was the kind of person who really went to the last nerve for most people. Izuku called it a gift, to be honest. Woe was the person who received her wrath when that final nerve of the synapse snaps. A lotus flower that turned into a fury of vines and encaptured them until she completely got them. It was funny and cute at the same time. When it was all said and done, she gave him the octopus lips in a form of apology. Izuku believed she meant it; at least when she was finished pelting those people who suffered her wrath. Anyway, Izuku tried his hardest to do what he could with her. She was a tough nut to crack, but she did wear her heart well on her sleeve. She couldn't help it. Too much of her mother in her.
As Izuku stepped out of bed in reach for his boxer shorts, Itsuka continued talking his ear off while lying in his bed about quitting her job at the burger joint. Izuku knew that it wasn't her first rodeo in the world of gainful employment. However, her reason this time was because of the snappy attitude of her boss. From Izuku's perspective, if he looked Itsuka's boss, who was like a combination of Kathy Bates and Louie Anderson, he would be a bitch as well. Be as it may, the Kathy-Louie hybrid gave his best friend more than she can bear. Unlike her previous jobs, she wants to leave in peace. Izuku knew that it was Itsuka's way of grabbing them from hip to foot out of the restaurant. And not in that particular order.
Once Izuku found his pajamas and ventured back into bed, she continued swearing more than the word and vernacular itself if one should get the meaning.
But that was his Itsuka. A woman who was such a knightess. A woman in shining armor. It was amazing with a girl of great caliber and guile; a woman among men; a woman who wasn't afraid of challenges. Another amazing thing that she isn't a lesbian. Just saying, Izuku thought. A tomboy whose hair touches to her neck. She hated shampooing. She opted to ride bikes in the mud instead of playing with dolls. She got down and dirty with their friends when they were drinking cold ones at the quarry on the outskirts of town. She was also a wingman. She could pinpoint any girl who gave it up or is a virgin. An amazing redhead she was.
Itsuka grabbed her skirt from the floor. She took Izuku's bottled water to swallow her morning-after pills. Although they had played it safe, she didn't want to take any chances. At sixteen, the last thing she wanted was to be a mother.
Her mother was sixteen when Itsuka was born.
"Izuku, going to the town formal this weekend?" The town formal was a nickname by his classmates for a mixer. Mixers were nothing more than hook-ups than meet-and-greets. Since they were prone to drink, his classmates avoided the drink bars and karaoke bars. Knowing that it would be sponsored by Katsuki or Yuga, he can already have a guest on the attendance and the usual agenda of their "town formal."
As she was playing with his hair, Izuku didn't answer right away, mostly because he was still digesting the fact that he had slept with his best friend. He looked at his calendar, which displayed nothing but homework assignments and projects. He finally answered, "I would have to see."
"C'mon, Deku," she told him with her typical groaning. She did that when she really wanted him to go somewhere; especially when she didn't want to go alone. "Take a break from this homework. I am beginning to suspect that you enjoy school."
"What else to do in this bottleneck," Izuku interjected with a hint of sarcasm. "School is my one-way ticket out of this God-forsaken dump. My ass wishes I can go and stay in Seattle with my pops. But, that shit is a dream too. Even if I did, would he even give a damn?"
"Look at you with your dreams," she said with her Cheshire Cat grin, or at least he could picture as her bangs currently covered her emerald eyes. "Still thinking of going to the United States for university? Like UCLA or MIT? Alabama State?"
"I don't know," he told her. "Anywhere than here in the field of broken dreams."
"Hey," she snapped. "It is our field of broken dreams." She coughed. "You have been here long enough to be part of this town. I mean, hell, I speak correct Japanese around you to make you feel better. Sorry us country folk don't know no better."
"Says the girl who poorly, I mean, poorly speaks English after many years of watching wrestling and action films," he said. "Kendo, get over yourself."
They both exchanged laughs and witty comments about the matter. After a few moments of grinning, they returned back to the matter at hand.
"So, Icchan," she told him. She only used that name at the point when she wants to make a point. "I would like if you come to the formal with me. Everyone from school will be there." She paused. "Maybe even prissy pants Ochako Uraraka might be there."
Why would she mention Ochako Uraraka again? It was like Itsuka had the quirk of amnesia. Did she just forget that less than twenty minutes ago, they were having sex in his bed? That alone caused Izuku to turn pink. Not only was it because he had slept with his best friend, but Ochako was also a girl he did have feelings for. It did not go with notice and she grinned once again like the Cheshire Cat. "Sorry, Deku, caught you in a bind?"
"I would say the same thing after saving your ass from getting fired. Again!" A great way to change the subject, he thought.
"That boss was an utter bitch. Mean like a damned snake," she told him in a loud pitch voice. "I ask for one day off because of my lesbian cousin's wedding and she refuses. 'Don't want to deal with homosexuals,' she told me. That fucking bitch!"
He cracked his knuckles. "Or, she knows that one, your cousin isn't a lesbian, but bi. And two, the wedding isn't for a few weeks. The only reason why you wanted to miss work because you heard that me and Shouto were heading to the fishing spot with Tsuyu and Minoru and you wanted to go."
She paused for a moment, then sighs. "Ok, that is true. But she did not have the right to prejudge me."
Izuku shook his head. "Quit posting these things on Instagram or Snapchat. You are basically snitching on yourself."
"Hey, whose side are you on?"
"The Tokyo Yakult Swallows and not those weaklings, the Giants."
"Whatever, Deku."
Izuku sat up in bed as he faced Itsuka. He took a breath. "Ok, I will go to the formal with you. Only because you ask nicely and only because you are my best friend."
"So it is not because you want to bone Uraraka," she said while making kissing noises.
"No," Izuku exclaimed to her loudly.
"Relax, Deku. I am only messing with you," she said. "Anyway, there is another thing I meant to tell you earlier in the midst of my bitching about the Kathy-Louie hybrid."
"Shoot. What's up?"
"Dad wants to know if you are free this weekend to help serve the food truck," she told him. "He will pay you up front as usual."
"Sure," he told her. "At the place in Aoyama?"
"Not this time. At the country club a bit further out. In Kanagawa, I think."
"Sure, I have no problem with that. Saturday at ten in the morning cool?"
"Cool!" Itsuka crawled out of bed and began putting on her clothes. As he was looking at the clock on his wall, it displayed to be a few minutes after five in the afternoon. "But I am not going to hold you up any longer. I know you probably have a lot of work to do. See you at school tomorrow?"
"Don't I have much of choice?"
"No, no you don't. Plus, I need you so I can pass Chemistry with C."
"I thought you had a D-"
"Anyway, I am going to let you go. Lates, Deku."
"Yeah, later Kendo."
She gave her trademark smile as she left out the same way she had come in. He put down the window, leaving a bit opened whenever she did come back. He got out of bed to put his phone on his desk to let it charge.
On the wall above his desk was where he saw pictures of Itsuka, Shouto, Tsuyu, Minoru, the few friends he gathered since moving to this suburb. Honestly, he hung close to them than his own family.
Izuku scanned his eye to the photo on his bookshelf. It was a picture of his parents. They were smiling. He didn't recall when or where the picture took place. It was before he was born. What captivated him about the photo was how happy they were. They were in all smiles. He could tell that they were in love. It reminded him that at some point, his parents were a happy couple.
As of now, his parents were unhappy and no, they were no longer a couple.
His eyes strained when he heard the sound of the Pontiac entering the driveway. The loud slam of the door alerted him that his mother was home. Izuku jumped from the chair and instantly locked his door.
His mother was home from work too early. Critical factors for her early arrival: she came to work drunk and was let go or she didn't go to work at all and ended up at the bar. Be as it may, it was now zero hour.
He instantly hit the floor. He took small breaths, not want to do anything to alert her that he was awake or he was even home. His eyes were staring at the bottom slit of the door. A hallway light serving as his guide to see either his mother stops at his door or walk away. He heard the keys in the door. She was now inside.
As he waited while holding his breath, he heard her curse before shoving something into oblivion. As much stuff as she had broken, it was no surprise that they could no longer have nice things. Even if they did, they couldn't afford it. His mother worked part-time at the grocery store. It has only been two months since she had started work. Until then, living off the government's tit has been her sustenance.
Heavy footsteps drew near. She was approaching the hallway. He covered his mouth, muffling the noise to not give her an idea. She stopped at his door. He was whispering a prayer that she continued to go to her room.
Please pass.
Please pass.
Please, God, let her pass.
Please, God, let her pass.
It had been about a minute, but it felt like an eternity. Izuku bit his lip, tucking the bottom into his mouth. After a few more moments, the heavy footsteps went away and into her domain. She slammed the door loudly.
Izuku sighed loudly as he knew she wasn't going to be out any time soon. It gave him a few hours to relax before heading out and getting dinner. As he lied back in bed, he said a prayer to God. Nine times out of ten, he was praying for his mother and his father, Itsuka, and his other friends. He prayed more for his mother than anything.
There was a time she wasn't like this.
There was a time his father wasn't like this.
He shut his eyes with this question: can a town change the mindset of the people? Or, does the mindset of a person can change the town?
Izuku concluded the thought and headed into a second rest.
To be continued….