nineteen
can we stay like this
"Odajima!"
The blond turned around, his face initially showing shock and confusion, but then morphing into the smile I knew and loved.
"Midori? God, I didn't realize you were back." He laughed as I practically launched myself at the boy, wrapping my arms around his neck
"I was only gone for like, a year!" I laughed "It's not like I ditched you or anything."
"I didn't ditch you! My dad got a promotion and I graduated early!" Odajima laughed, slinging an arm around my shoulder.
I looked back at Murayama, noting the displeased scowl on his face as he stared at Odajima and the other guy he was with. "What are you guys doing here?" Murayama frowned
"We aren't here to fight, Yoshiki." The other guy scowled. "As I recall, Housen and Oya settled all debts."
"Sorry." I interrupted the two boys as they moved to stand nose-to-nose, indication that a fight was likely to start "Can somebody fill me in on what's happening here?"
"Sachio Ueda." Odajima's friend introduced himself. "Leader of Housen. A few months ago, Housen and Oya had a small... disagreement."
Murayama snorted "That's a pretty big understatement, Ueda."
"Enough about that." Sachio scoffed "Who are you?"
"My girlfriend." Murayama said at the same time I introduced myself.
"Midori Yamada. I went to Sato with Odajima."
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, scrolling back through my photo library before landing on a familiar picture. With a smile, I tapped on the square before showing the screen to Sachio, Odajima and Murayama. In the picture, Odajima and I sat on the leather couch in our crew's little hiding spot, Shuntaro on my other side trying to play cards with Tatsumi. I had a huge smile on my face as I dragged a paintbrush across his pale arm, a brief foray of mine into tattoo art. I was too scared to make anything permanent, so I settled for frequently using acrylic or watercolor on skin.
"Oh my god." Sachio laughed "Look at your hair!"
Odajima rolled his eyes "Shut up. We don't talk about that. Everybody had the half-mullet thing going on back then."
"It was 2009, not 1986." Murayama snickered
"Fine." Odajima huffed "If Midori can embarrass me with my regrettable hair cut, I get to tell you both about the first time she got drunk."
My face paled as I realized what Odajima was about to do. "Odajima Yuken, I swear to god-"
"It was the summer of 2010, we were eighteen years old." Odajima grinned "And I knew a guy, who knew a guy, who knew a guy who went to Surzuran."
"He said it was his cousin's party." I interrupted "What a bold faced lie."
"But Midori over here had been spending way too much time locked in her room, this was like a week after you came back from that last tournament in Beijing, right?" He looked at me, expecting me to backup his story. I ignored him. "Anyways, so we snuck out, her mom would have killed us both."
"And for good reason."
"Stop interrupting me."
"Stop telling it wrong."
The blond shook his head with a smile "Anyways, this was Midori's first time getting drunk, so I had a feeling it was going to end badly. She was so drunk that she threw up on this hot-shot Surzuran guy's Air Forces. I swear his name was like Serizawa or something. Anyways, pretty soon this all out freaking brawl has started-"
"I would have kicked Serizawa's ass if I was sober." I interjected with a shake of my head "Let's not forget, Odie, that you got beaten by the guy who had a brain aneurysm."
Murayama snickered "His brain wasn't even working properly, and he still beat you?"
"I didn't find out about the aneurysm until weeks later!" Odajima shot back
"Sure, sure." Sachio laughed "Don't beat yourselves up, Housen has been losing to Surzuran for years."
"She had a black eye for weeks." Odajima finished "Made up a story about tripping and falling in the shower to sate her parents' curiosity, but word had spread fast around Sato, and everybody already knew she had gone up against the king of Surzuran."
"Explaining that one to my dad was nightmare." I grimaced "I was grounded for a year. I had to give up my Def Leppard tickets, Odajima. It was all your fault."
"I didn't punch Serizawa."
"What are you guys doing out so late?" Sachio mused "I thought this was Kidra territory?"
"Kidra have gone into hiding." Murayama remarked "I think we scared the crap out of them."
"We were on a date." I answered, taking Murayama's hand in mine. "But Hot Shot over here never told me where we were going."
Odajima chuckled, obviously thinking back to all the times he had stopped me from going on bad dates back in high school. He's told me quite a few times that I have terrible taste in men.
"The batting cages." Murayama said "It's where I go to think."
I shook my head "You just came up with that now, didn't you?"
"It was my plan all along!" The boy defended
"You know," Sachio started, reaching up to mess with the collar of his white uniform shirt "I used to play a bit of baseball in my day. I was team captain."
Murayama snorted "Sure you were. I'll believe that when I see it."
"Fine." Sachio challenged. "You and me, right now."
"Count me in." Odajima laughed "It's not like we have anywhere particularly important to be. Actually, I intend on avoiding Housen as long as possible."
"I guess that settles it!" Sachio grinned widely. "We're coming with you!"
That's. Just. Great.
"Odajima." I said slowly, kissing my teeth as I talked "Can I talk to you for a second? Alone."
Not waiting for an answer, I pulled Odie off the to side, ducking behind the glass enclosure for a bus stop. He looked very confused, as if crashing one of my dates was a fairly normal thing for him and Sachio to do.
"Seriously? I don't see you in five years and the first thing you do is crash the first date I've been on since I left law school?"
"Law school?" The blond raised an eyebrow "Clearly you have a lot to tell me."
Scowling, I kicked him in the shin. "Just because you saved me from one bad date-"
"Two bad dates." He corrected
"That time you set me up with your cousin doesn't count." I scoffed, crossing my arms
Odajima rolled his eyes "Okay, so that was my fault and I am sorry for that, but I haven't seen you in five years, Dori! Forgive me for wanting to spend some time with my best friend. We don't get a lot of free time at Housen."
"Okay." I said, after thinking for a bit. "But you and Sachio stay at least three batting cages away from us, and please don't tell anymore borderline embarrassing stories."
Odie laughed "I can't make promises on the second one."
"Just remember that I have stories about you as well, and I'm sure Sachio would love to hear them"
____
The batting cages in Oya were, quite honestly, less than impressive, and not exactly the best place for a date. They sat right on the border between Sannoh and Oya, bringing some of the strangest crowds from each. Today, they were fairly empty, the stars shining above our heads as Sachio tried to show off.
"Please." Murayama snorted at the Housen leader, with the intention of distracting Sachio. "I can do better with my eyes closed!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Sachio spat, hitting one of the dirty white balls into the far end of the field.
"Tell me how my date turned into whatever the hell this is." I sighed, turning to Odajima. "This is your fault."
"Sachio was the one who suggested we tag along!" Odajima protested
Across the field, Sachio and Murayama hadn't stopped arguing. At all.
"Why don't you spend time with your girlfriend!?" I could hear Sachio shout. Frankly, I was kind of glad because their stupid competition was getting kind of old.
"Maybe I will!" Murayama shouted back before running over to where Odajima and I were leaning against a fence.
"Absolutely not!" I tried to protest as Murayama grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the chain link "This is a horrible idea."
"Come on." He encouraged "You're a former Olympic athlete."
"Never made it to the Olympics, and it was for hitting people, not objects flying towards me at a high velocity!" I protested, turning to look at the automated machine that spat out the baseballs.
"Go on!" Odajima encouraged "Your comfort zone is going to kill you one day."
As much as I hated to admit it, Odajima was probably right. I gave up n my futile protest, following Murayama to the batting cage. And when I say it was a disaster, I mean like tsunami-hitting-the-coast disaster. I didn't even hit the first ball, instead squealing and ducking away before the ball hit me in the stomach.
Murayama chuckled, coming up behind me to guide my hands. "Hold it like this." He said softly, guiding my cold, pale hands across the metal bat.
He stayed standing behind me, unaware of Odajima's burning gaze. The Housen boy was watching Murayama like a hawk to try and determine if he was a good fit.
As another baseball came flying towards us, this one cleaner than some of the others, Murayama kept a gentle grip on my hands as he guided my arms to make the swing.
Much to my surprise, not only did I hit the ball, I hit a home run as well.
"I hit it!" I screamed, dropping the bat and wrapping m arms around Murayama, before pressing my lips to his in a heated kiss.
We broke apart at the sound of another ball being fired by the machine, jumping out of the way to clear a path for the ball to clatter against the chain link fence around us. Neither of us could stop laughing as Murayama backed me up against the chain link and reconnected his lips to mine.
Three batting cages over, Odajima and Sachio were watching us, faint grins on their faces. Truthfully, it meant a lot to the blond to see me happy, especially since he'd seen me at my lowest.
"You sure you're okay with this?" Scahio asked the taller boy "Your childhood best friend dating the leader of Oyakou?"
Odajima chuckled, shaking his head "You have no idea how much it means to me to see her happy, even if it is with one of those yakuza lackeys."
NOTES!
hi so odajima and midori's friendship is so wholesome and i love them very much. also, this is about as much calm as there is going to be, because the shit hits the fan at the birthday cookout.