RUNAWAY || HiGH&LOW

6

It's been a couple of days since the meeting about the Redrum situation. Hasumi hasn't been able to do much tutoring due to her picking up her brother right after school and taking him home; neither of the siblings had seen the Jinkawa's. Mrs. Jinkawa seemed busier and Hasumi understood that. Eimei...Eimei, from what Hasumi could tell, was never really home.

Shibaman had offered to ask his sister if she would be able to watch Aijirō when Hasumi was busy but she declined. Hasumi finally decided that she was going to set a schedule just so everything would be easier. She informed the school and Mrs. Jinkawa of the schedule and felt like she could breathe again.

"Hey. It's been a while since I've seen your face around here." Eimei walked through the door of his home to find Aijirō, Hasumi and his mother all sitting in the living room. Hasumi gave a small wave, "Yeah, sure has." Aijirō asked if he could go play a game with Eimei to which his sister said yes to. "School hasn't been troubling you, has it, Dear?" "No...No, it hasn't. I was actually just worried about you. Um..I'm going to start scheduling my work now, so watching Aijirō would be easier for you."

The two of them talked more for a while and eventually it was getting too dark. Aijirō grew hungry on their way back, the two stopped at a restaurant and left when it closed. They thanked the waiters and left. "That place was pretty good, right?" Hasumi asked, glancing down at Aijirō as he swung their hands back and forth, "Mhm! Can we go there again?" As she was going to respond, a noise sounded from their left, causing Aijirō to jump and grip onto his sister's jacket.

The siblings peaked into the corner after hearing the sounds of rapid footsteps. Hasumi squinted her eyes at the sight of someone laying in the middle of the alley. They walked closer and Hasumi's eyes widened in realization, she covered Aijirō's line of sight by holding him behind her as she quickly called an ambulance.

—

Hasumi called Kiyoshi to tell him the news. He'd immediately asked for the name of the hospital and met her there. At some point in time, Yasushi and Kiyoshi opened up to her with several things that she'd rather not repeat. She knew that struggle, she too had to go through it. "Thank you....for calling me." Kiyoshi said, bowing his head. His eyes were sunken, she could tell that he was already asleep at the time of her call but he'd never admit it. "It's no problem. Get some rest, Kiyoshi." She responded, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let me know if he wakes up."

Kiyoshi shook his head and stood up, "Let me walk you home. It's late." "No...uh we're gonna just take a taxi...I wouldn't feel right if you walked back here by yourself." Hasumi gave him a tired smile and went to go pick Aijirō up from the chair. She looked back and watched Kiyoshi put his head in his hands. Her jaw clenched as she turned around and walked out of the hospital.

—

Hasumi couldn't sleep that much last night. The siblings got home late, Aijirō still slept in his sister's arms on the way back. She tried to go to bed but the image of her friend was stuck in her mind. It was as if it had been burned to her eyelids and that was the only thing she saw when she closed her eyes. When it was finally morning Hasumi made breakfast then woke up her brother. She was going to drop him off with Mrs. Jinkawa for the day. She told the woman that there was something she needed to do and it would help if she could watch Aijirō for her.

She found herself at school. She was too worried about everyone and she could feel that Yasushi wasn't the only one hurt. Something was off, the air didn't feel right. Hasumi watched Kiyoshi stare down at something in his hand from where she sat. In the corner of her eye she saw Fujio and a couple of others walk up from another section of the roof. "Why are you here, moping on your own?" He asked as he crouched at the top of the stairs, "How is Yasushi?" Tsukasa asked.

"What? Does everybody already know?" Kiyoshi questioned, he turned to Hasumi, silently asking if she had said anything. She shook her head and looked down at the floor, "How is he?" Tsukasa repeated the question, "He got a few stitches, but..." Kiyoshi paused, "'But'?" Fujio repeated. Kiyoshi scoffed, "The guys who did that to Yasushi were all bald. They were wearing uniforms that were not from around here." He informed. Fujio's brows furrowed, "What? "It's probably-" Kiyoshi was cut off.

Hasumi turned her head and was met with the sight of the Chun Chun faction making their way towards them. "One of ours got his head cracked open by a gang of bald guys on his way here." Nakaoka informed them, "What?" "And..." Nakagoshi held out a rolled up paper, "They gave him this." "Jamuo." "Right." Jamuo quickly took the paper and opened it. "We'll crush everyone who gets in the way of our business. You Oya High morons, we'll settle this with you tomorrow." Tsukasa walked forward and snatched the paper, reading it over, "Housen?"

Everyone stood silent with bated breath, "Well, now we know who they are." Fujio said, "Fujio!" Shibaman yelled as he and Tsuji finally came, "What the hell is going on here?" He asked. Hasumi stood up and made her way to stand by them, "Kiyoshi!" The Yasukiyo guys quickly came in too, all of them panting as they came to a stop. "Fujio." Tsukasa called, "I asked them here." He answered. Tsukasa walked forward, closing in on his friend, "Are you serious? We're facing Housen, you know."

Fujio began to smile, "It doesn't matter who the fuck they are!" He yelled, "You know what happened to our pal." He looked around, taking in everyone's expressions. "We're going!" He declared. "Fujio!" Kiyoshi called, "This isn't just your problem. This is an Oya High problem." Most of them looked around, seeming to have silent agreements, whether it was with themselves or others, "Shit, Our captain doesn't mince words." Tsukasa said, smirking. "Okay, everyone! Tomorrow let's kick some ass!" Fujio announced.

Yells of agreement were put out into the air, Hasumi looked up at her friends and nodded, silently letting them know that she'll join in too. She didn't want to let this go, she might not be as close to Yasushi but he was still her friend. And it was like Fujio said, this was an Oya High problem. Fujio made his way over to the three of them and patted Shibaman and Tsuji's shoulders, "So what about your captain?" He asked. The two shared looks.

"He's getting a check-up," Hasumi informed, pointing to her eye, "I can send you the address." She turned to Shibaman and Tsuji, "I'm gonna go pick up Aijirō. See you guys tomorrow." Just as she was going to walk away, Tsuji put his arm around her shoulder, "No way we're gonna let you go by yourself." He said as Shibaman went to her other side, "We'll go with you. It's been a while since we've seen the kid anyway." Hasumi smiled softly and let out a breath, "Yeah, thanks. Let's go."

—

A/N I want to do major editing when I'm done with this section of the book. I feel like I could add more depth into Hasumi as a character. I tend to make characters who are kinda plain(imo) and I feel like I could do better. I hope you have an amazing day.