THIRD PERSON
A year has passed since the clash of Oya and Housen against Kidra. Things seemed to have settled down for both groups. They've found peace and somewhat normal day to day lives to live.
Like today for example.
It's bright and sunny and not a single cloud in the sky.
Why of all days does Hanaoka Fujio (the leader of Oya High), decided to visit Suzuran to meet the man of legends, Rao.
Hearing the stories from Todoroki really piqued his interest and he did catch a glimpse of the infamous man (after a heavy fight with the rest of the school) but that was it.
He didn't get to talk much to the man but Fujio got one good look at him and true to his name, he looked really strong.
He was tall and bulky. He wore a white wife beater, black uniform pants and a long black coat was draped over his shoulders, covering his back. An embroidered logo with Suzuran's name was sewn to the back in yellow thread.
"Hey! Dumbass! What you looking at?" The shorter man behind him yelled as he looked at Fujio.
Fujio didn't answer as Rao called the man back, running up the stairs and entering Suzuran.
The day could have ended with Fujio going back to Oya.
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"What the hell are you thinking?!" Jinkawa Eimi, ¼ of Housen's 4 Four Heavenly Kings angrily yelled.
"We're the Killer Corps! Are you mocking Housen?" Shida Kenzo added, standing beside Eimi.
"Think you can just walk in here like it's nothing? Huh?!" Sawamura Shojii yelled as the leader of Oya calmly sat in front of them with a bright demeanor.
"Umm, long time no see." He greeted looking at the 4 men in front of him. " I was in the neighborhood, so..." He finished, a hint of a smile on his face much to the complaints of ¾ of Housen's leaders.
"Now, now. What's the problem? It's not like he's a stranger. Right?" A teasing voice added and Fujio smiled as the friendly face of Odajima Yuken welcomed him to Housen, placing a hand on his shoulder as he crouched down next to Fujio.
"Hey, who is that guy?" A second year Housen student named Tokuyama Monji asked fellow second year Sabakan beside him, keeping his voice low as to not interrupt his seniors' conversation.
"While you were in the hospital after crashing your bike, we fought with Oya High in the SWORD area, remember? That's Hanaoka Fujio from Oya High." Sabakan explained, gesturing to Fujio who was conversing with Ozawa Hitoshi like they didn't just try to kill each other the year before.
"Umm..." Sabakan started, taking a step forward.
"What?" Jinkawa asked.
"Just so you know... before coming here, I hear Fujio made a scene at Suzuran." Sabakan revealed as Ozawa Hitoshi looked at him in disbelief.
"No way!" Jinkawa yelled in shock, looking at Fujio.
"What? Seriously? You're beyond dumb, aren't you?" Kenzo joked, crouching to Fujio and Yuken's level on the floor.
"That's kind of you—"
"It wasn't a compliment." Kenzo clarified as Fujio dropped his smile, mistaking what he said as a compliment.
"Don't tell me you were looking for Rao." Shojii said as Fujio nodded.
"I was, but some guy named Mashii told me I had to get a ticket and wait in line if I wanted to see Rao." Fujio explained, prompting Yuken to laugh beside him.
"Hahaha! That's just like Mercy." Yuken commented, a sly smile on his lips.
"Hey, Sabakan!" Jinkawa yelled, causing the younger male to stand upright.
"Give this dimwit an education, will you?!" He ordered as Sabakan nodded before turning back to Monji, prompting him to help.
And thus came the 10-minute lesson on Suzuran, particularly the Rao faction. Suzuran has numerous, varying-sized groups since it lacks a leader. The Rao faction is the smallest of those, with fewer than ten members. They have 6 members with Rao himself included.
To say that Fujio wasn't intimidated after the impromptu lesson was an understatement.
He was excited.
"Rao's real name is Mario?!" He exclaimed happily.
"Fujio, watch what you say. Rao's the one guy you don't insult." Eimi reminded, placing his hands on top of Fujio's shoulders.
"He's been through stuff none of us can begin to understand." Kenzo added as if he knew something.
"Sachio is an intense guy who never gives up..." Yuken added, getting up from the floor.
"But even he can't beat Rao, as a brawler or as a man. " He finished, looking at Oya's leader.
"Really? Now I'm really getting excit..." He looked around the room for the only person missing.
"Huh? Where is Sachi, anyway?" Fujio asked Shojii who had now taken a seat beside him on the floor.
"Sachio is.." Shojii paused, looking at the other 3 before continuing. "He's taking care of some business overseas." He concluded.
"What?! Overseas?" Fujio exclaimed in surprise.
"His mother is really sick—
"Sabakan!" Jinkawa yelled, cutting off the sophomore as he stood upright once more.
"You don't need to give him all the details!" He reprimanded further, prompting the younger to apologize.
Fujio sat up and frowned as he sadly thought of what his friend was going through. He hadn't seen him for so long and to hear about this was very upsetting.
He just wished that Sachio and his family would be fine.
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The sound of soft piano tiles was heard throughout the studio as the young ballerina twirled around gracefully, not breaking a sweat. She glided across the hardwood floor as if she was floating on air, her skirt flying around like petals.
The music slowed down as the girl gently sat on the floor in a crouching position, wrapping her arms around herself like she was cold. She closed her eyes before hiding herself behind her arms, sighing in contentment.
CLAP CLAP CLAP
The girl's head looked up from behind her arms, eyes darting towards the dark corner where she could faintly see the silhouette of a man.
"Beautiful. As expected of Watanabe Honoka."The person admired as the girl stood up as person walked a bit closer, still hidden.
"Who let you in here? This is a private studio-"
"I may have bribed Madoka-chan with a few gift certificates for Sana-chan's new ice cream parlor." The person teased as he stepped into the light, letting the girl see him clearly.
Odajima Yuken stood before the younger girl who finally smiled once she saw him. The elder walked closer and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Good work today." He told her, patting her head and handing her a bottle of water.
"Thank you, Yuken-kun." She gratefully said, grabbing the bottle as she smiled.
"I have something for you." Yuken told her, prompting the girl to raise her eyebrows in curiosity as he handed her a small blue velvet box.
"What's this?"
"Open it." Honoka proceeded to do so as it revealed a silver and blue beaded bracelet. The beads sparkled in the sun and hanging in the very middle was a small silver diamond encrusted swan.
Honoka smiled at the pretty gift as Yuken smiled as well, grabbing it from the box and fastening it on the girl's right wrist. Honoka giggled as she held it up in the air, the light catching the beads as it gleamed prettily.
"Do you like it?" Yuken asked, looking at the smiling girl who nodded cheerfully.
"I love it. Thank you Yuken-kun~" She thanked the elder who froze as she hugged him. Her eyes widened when she realized what she was doing and slowly pulled away, looking at Yuken in the eyes. Yuken was looking at her as well, his arms around her waist as he continued to look as if he was memorizing every part of her face.
"S-s-sorry Yuken-kun, I was just-" She was taken aback when Yuken suddenly kissed her forehead.
"Not a problem at all Honoka-chan~" She blushed as Yuken pulled away, laughing at her shyness.
"Wanna get some food?" He gently asked as the girl nodded.
"Let me just change senpai." She excused herself as she scurried out of the room with her dance bag.
She headed for the locker room and changed into a black off the shoulder knit long sleeved top and a pair of light blue straight-leg jeans. She grabbed the black combat boots in her locker and took the tie out of her hair, letting it fall freely over her shoulder. It was now curled loosely from keeping it in a bun too long.
She applied some light pink lip gloss on her lips before grabbing her dance bag and headed back to the dance studio.
"That's so funny Yuken-kun~"
She stopped in her tracks as she spotted Amagai Kaori giggling and sad to say, flirting with her..
Boyfriend?
Yuken wasn't exactly a boyfriend..but she liked him and he liked her so that's gotta count for something right?
Yuken had reassured her that he wasn't planning on pursuing on any other girls except her and he hadn't dated any other girls in the past year.
He picked her up from school and between training with Housen and fishing with Todoroki Yusuke, he pretty much spent the rest of his free time with Honoka.
But she couldn't help but feel jealous at how Yuken played along as Kaori laughed at something he said. She looked down at the bracelet on her right wrist, sighing as she walked over with her head held high.
"Oh~ Honoka-chan~" Yuken exclaimed, a look of relief on his face and a smile on his lips as the younger approached which quickly dropped when he realized she was upset. He immediately stepped away from Kaori and walked closer to Honoka.
"Ready?" He asked her as she nodded gently. Kaori looked at the two, quietly looking at Honoka in irritation.
"Oh? You know each other Yuken-kun?" She sweetly asked Yuken who looked annoyed as she continued to call him that as if they were close. Yuken nodded before grabbing Honoka's hand, holding it up and showing Kaori the bracelet on Honoka's wrist. Honoka's eyes slightly widened when she saw a similar looking bracelet on Yuken's left wrist. It was a silver and gray beaded one with Housen's name as the center charm.
"Of course. I'm dating her."
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Honoka
"WHAT?" Kaori screeched in annoyance as I looked at Yuken-kun in shock. He grabbed my dance bag, carrying it over his shoulder, smirking at Kaori. He then turned to me, smiling gently.
"Shall we go, darling?" He teased as he pulled me closer, letting me lean against his chest. I didn't answer but nodded as he raised an eyebrow, sending me a small smile.
"See you later, Amagai-san." Yuken-kun told her and I could see Kaori frown as Yuken-kun didn't even use her first name as we walked out of the studio and out of the school.
"Darling?"
"Yes darling?" Yuken-kun answered as I held back a laugh.
"What's with the sudden pet name, Yuken-kun?" I asked and he just smiled at me.
"Are you not my darling, Honoka-chan?" He teased as I jokingly glared at him. I lightly hit his arm as I walked further than him, ignoring his laughter and calls for me to wait up.
A few more minutes of walking went on before we arrived at the ice cream parlor.
"One strawberry cone and a chocolate sundae please," I told the attendant who kindly smiled before proceeding to prepare our order.
"So darling-"
"Don't start with me senpai." I threatened jokingly as he continued to call me darling. I ignored him even as he whined, grabbing onto my arm and asking me to answer him. As he continued to do so, I felt a pair of eyes looking at us. I turned my head towards the window and spotted red-clad figures across the street.
There were at least three of them, smoking and looking at us through the window. I turned back to the counter as I felt Yuken-kun let go of my arm.
"What's wrong Honoka-chan?" He asked, his voice now low as he grabbed our orders from the counter.
"Don't look back yet but I think we're being followed." I whispered as he frowned. We walked to an empty booth, our orders now placed on the table. I slid inside the booth first while Yuken-kun sat across from me.
"Where are they?" He asked, in all seriousness as he kept his eyes on me and I did the same before grabbing my ice cream.
"Across the street," I answered as he slowly turned his head, his face morphing in confusion as he peered his eyes.
"There's no one there Honoka-chan." He answered and I whipped my head around to see that he was right. No one was there. I could have sworn I saw some people.
"But there really were people looking at us. They were wearing red uniforms." I explained and Yuken-kun frowned before placing a hand on top of mine that was on the table.
"Maybe I'm just hallucinating. It is pretty hot these days." I reasoned and Yuken-kun nodded before gesturing for me to eat.
I was trying to convince myself that I was seeing things as we ate our ice cream. But something just didn't feel right.
It was like Kidra all over again.
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Guess who's back <3 How is everyone?
I'm very sorry for being so busy. Finals are coming up and I've been doing my best to keep my grades up because they are a requirement in order for me to proceed with my year long medical internship. So please keep me in your prayers everyone <3
Hope the next 3 chapters make up for my absence for the past few weeks <3 I will be uploading them separately and not at once.
I'd also like to ask for everyone's prayers for our dear Moonbin. Honestly, the news shocked me so much because I never expected him to depart for the stars so soon especially since he had so much to live for <3. I may not be that much of an ASTRO fan but I did love their music especially Moonbin (his happy energy, love for his fans, friends and family and that infectious smile).
To those who haven't checked yet, suicide and murder HAVE BEEN RULED OUT (meaning it's been eliminated for his cause of death). According to Moonbin's family statement, he died of a stroke. He has also had health issues lately (as we saw during the world tour) with high blood pressure and heart problems. All other rumors are not true especially the ones stating that he died of suicide, stop circulating them out of consideration for the feelings of his family, Astro, those close to him, and the fans and allow him to rest peacefully.
My heart goes out to those who loved, are loving, and will love him forever. May you all heal in time and cherish his memory forever.