𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝚁𝚃𝙱𝙰𝙶 ,, high&low

chapter five | big machine

the found family i am about to create with midori murayama and tsukasa-

five

big machine

Over the course of the next two weeks, I found that I was spending more and more time at Oya Kokoh, training with Murayama. Seki even tried to teach me how to barbecue once, but I ended up burning everything. They treated me like one of their own, or at least, the part-timers did. The full-timers and the first years did not like the fact that I fought Muryama once and suddenly I was 'in'. Like it was some exclusive club or something.

Everybody noticed the changes in my behavior. Noboru remarked that I seemed less stressed, and that he had never seen me leave the house this much. Like, ever. Daichi seems to think I spend so much time there because, and his words, not mine, I'm 'banging Murayama'. As if.

Even my dad noticed when he Skype called me from Florence. Aldon Yamada was hardly around when I was a kid. My father was in the freighting business, driving tractor trailers all around Japan. When I was in seventh grade, he started sticking around more, and I was the closest to him out of everybody in my family.

"You're glowing." He had remarked "I don't know what you're doing that seems to be cheering you up and giving you purpose, but keep doing it."

If I had told him I was at Oya, he would have disowned me, but I appreciate the sentiment.

Muryama was getting better with literature. Either he was smarter than he looks or I'm a damn good tutor. I would literally put money on the second one.

Today I was training on my own. All the part - timers had gone to fight Daruma Ikka, something about a 'grudge match' between Murayama and Hyuga. I had no idea why they couldn't just be like Sannoh Rengokai and get along with everybody. Being a hot-headed idiot must come with the territory.

I had a Velvet Revolver album on in the background, head pounding from my usual dehydration headache as I continued to beat the crap out of the punching bag Todoroki had hung from the ceiling. While Murayama was gone, he was in charge and he was loving it. That also meant that his little hangout was empty and I had free rein on the punching bag until he noticed.

Outside that small room, the blond from yesterday was roaming the hallways, stopping in front of the open door as he heard the music. He cleared his throat, rapping quickly on the door.

I fired off a quick roundhouse kick, startled when I heard the noise.

"I thought the halls were mostly empty. Hell, for a second I thought you might be Todoroki." I chuckled sourly, grabbing my tie dye sweater from the floor and pulling it over my sports bra. "He doesn't know I'm in here, it should probably stay that way."

The blond boy laughed "Yeah, he's something else. I would have thought he went to Daruma, seeing as how he was a part of the Container Fight."

I chuckled, shrugging my shoulders as I let down my hair, still trying to figure out where I'd seen this kid before. "Who knows. Things in S.W.O.R.D have always been outside the realm of my understanding."