𝓞𝓪𝓴 | ʜɪɢʜ & ʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀꜱᴛ

Chapter 2: Oakleaf

She opened it and her eyes met the photo of her grandfather, her mother, and an eleven-year-old Fujio smiling at the camera. On the other page, it was Fujio and his childhood friends.

She barely has photos of herself in the album since she was always the one who took the pictures.

She smiled when she saw the cold glare of Hiyori looking at the camera. She was a friend from Oya High. They both attended the school but Fuyumi left after a month to pursue her studies abroad.

The girl wondered how her friend is doing now. The last time she heard from her is when her grandfather died and that was a long time ago.

Fuyumi stopped flipping the pages when she saw a photo of one of the people she cherished the most back then. Her thoughts came back from when she first met that person and their memories together.

And how she regretted leaving that person without a word. But she left for a good reason.

She only hopes that that person can understand her and will listen to her when they meet again.

The girl took the withered and pressed oakleaf hydrangea and stared at it. It carries a lot of memories from that person.

Fuyumi smiled at the thought but quickly went back to reality and looked out the engawa as the rain began pouring outside.

"Does Fujio have an umbrella?" she thought.

"What about Mom?" she asked herself. Then, she realized that her mom's workplace is a bit far away from home than Fujio's school.

Fuyumi left their house when she suddenly felt hungry. She grabbed two umbrellas just in case she will see Fujio on the way and she can give one of them to him if he forget his own.

The girl walked on an empty road and just a few blocks away from home, she spotted the convenience store that her brother was talking about.

She went to the store and picked up some snacks. The girl noticed that the rain stopped already and let out a sigh.

Fuyumi went to the counter and paid for the snacks. She picked up her two umbrellas on the other hand and left the store.

While walking, she spotted Fujio not far from her direction. She walked towards him and when she was near, the girl called for his name.

"Fujio?" the said teenager turned around to look at her.

"Aneki?" Fujio called as the girl approached him.

"What the heck happened to you?" she asked as she noticed that he was covered in mud as if like he rolled around on it.

The girl then glanced at the blonde teenage boy who is apparently with Fujio and in the same state as her brother. The boy was staring at her in confusion.

"Ah, it's just..." Fujio trailed off as he tried to explain the situation.

"Is he your friend?" Fuyumi asked and smiled lightly at both of the boys.

"I'm Takajo Tsukasa," the blonde introduced himself and lightly bowed at her.

"I'm Fuyumi, Fujio's sister," she smiled. The teenager looked at both Fujio and the older woman.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you," Tsukasa stated with a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you, too," Fuyumi replied with a gentle smile on her face. "So, did you guys roll around the dirt or...?"

The two teenagers suppressed their laugh at the woman's question.

"Something like that," Fujio replied with a smile.

"I should really get going," Tsukasa told the two.

"Are you sure? I mean, you are covered in dirt. Don't you want to come to our house for a while?" Fuyumi asked with a look of worry on her face. Tsukasa can feel the big sister atmosphere in her.

"No, it's fine," he said and bid his farewell to the siblings.

"Let's go," Fujio told her sister and motioned to turn in the opposite direction.

"Are you sure your friend will be fine?" Fuyumi asked.

"Yes, Tsukasa's fine," Fujio told her and tapped her shoulders reassuringly as they began to walk home.

"Okay. Well, are you hungry?" she asked, shifting the conversation.

"Yeah, are you going to cook?" Fujio questioned.

"I'll make something," Fuyumi shrugged.

"Can you even cook?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the girl glared at her brother.

"Nothing, I was just asking," Fujio muttered and held up his hands defensively. Fuyumi chuckled and shook her head in amusement.

"Of course, I can cook, idiot. I was living alone before, in case you forgot," she said and walked past him when they reached home. She went inside first but stopped and turned around to look at her brother.

"I'll be making something to eat while you take a bath and then we can treat your wounds," she said.

"Wh—"

"Fujio, I'm not stupid when it comes to fistfights," she said with a gentle smile on her face. She already noticed the bruises on his face and arms while they were walking.

After that, she left her brother completely speechless. 

---

Hey, guys! Quick fun fact.

My OC faceclaim, Nishiuchi Mariya, and Murayama, which is Yamada Yuki, both starred in the 2012 Remake of Great Teacher Onizuka.

I loved that series because AKIRA from EXILE (also played Kohaku in HiLo) is Onizuka Eikichi.

Shirahama Alan and Noboyuki Suzuki were there, too!