Oya and Housen won the fight against Kidra.
Fujio and Doka's friend returned to talk to them.
And everything went back to normal, or as normal as it can be when you're friends with Oya's boys.
I always wanted siblings since my parents are almost never home and I was alone.
I must thank God, because it was nothing like I imagined when I was a kid.
Jamuo, Fujio and Tsukasa are my brothers and best friends.
Fujio always encourages me to do anything, Tsukasa always tells me to think long and hard before doing anything, and Jamuo tells me not to do anything.
"Go do it!" Fujio told me with his mouth full of snacks.
"Do you really need to do this?" Tsukasa asked me ignoring Fujio.
"No, lady. Please don't!" Jamuo said worriedly.
"Guys...I just want to buy an NCT album..." I said after showing them a photo.
"Yeah but did you see the price?" Jamuo said, worried as ever.
Kyoshi and Yasushi are my overprotective brothers.
"If you look at her that way again..." Yasushi said grabbing the collar of a boy who passed us on the street.
"Better not wondering what will happen to you..." Kyoshi completed, looking at the boy with scary eyes.
"Let..." I said a little nervous with the situation. "Let him go..."
"Sure?" Yasushi looked at me and I nodded.
Nakagoshi and Nakaoka always invited me to listen to Hip Hop with them and their other friends.
And I even got closer to Todoroki, Shibaman and Tsuji, we played cards from time to time.
And my sister, Doka.
She and I are very different, while my voice is a whisper, her voice can be heard from miles away. She is confident in everything she does and I think about everything too much.
But still, she always listens to me, sometimes she scold me me when I think something stupid, we share lunch, we walk together and we are trying to learn new things together too.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to change the recipe?" I asked her when we were at my house trying to make a chocolate cake for her boyfriend.
"I really don't think two eggs are enough!" She screamed and my ears prickled. "Listen to me!"
Also, Furuya and Seki who always support me when I need it. Each one in their own way.
And lastly, my older brother. Who taught me what he knows, inspired me not to be afraid, and gave me the strangest, yet best advices I've ever received.
"Murayama!" I find him in the room we used to train.
"It's a miracle! Oya's 𝒞ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑢 was not late!" And of course he was being ironic.
"I thought you had already stopped laughing at my nickname."
"And I thought you already started calling me Sensei Murayama! Show some respect!" He said raising his voice.
"What are we going to practice today?" I asked changing the subject.
"Ummm..." He muttered turning his back, he's wearing the same jacket he lent me that day. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" I ask in surprise.
"I'm leaving Oya."
It takes me a few seconds to understand what he just said.
Murayama is completely unlike anyone I've ever met, he's wise and a fool at the same time, he's a leader and a friend, an inspiration and also many people's greatest fear, he has many faces. He's the type that if you hate him he'll probably make you hate him even more, but he's loyal so his friends are loyal to him. I don't think you can understand Murayama.
And that's why I'm taking so long to respond.
"What? Why? What about our training?"
"You won two fights, you're ready." He answers me leaning on one of the desks in the room.
"Yeah, but..."
"Do you know why I decided that I would train you?" I stayed silent for him to continue. "Because you look like me."
"Are you serious?"
"No." Murayama laughs, as I roll my eyes and cross my arms."I really don't know...I guess, I knew that you had a lot inside you, so you could get it out fighting. But look, you changed your look, won two fights and even got a nickname."
"I still don't understand, what about the other boys?" I ask.
"Ah! They have a leader, they'll make it."
I looked at the ground not knowing what to say. In some way Oya and Murayama for me were almost the same, because the legacy he left.
"Don't act like that, I'm still alive!" He shouted impatiently.
"It won't be the same! I've always...hated changes..." I tried to raise my voice, but it didn't work.
"You'll have to get used to it... If you want to grow up." Now he was serious."I'm actually sorry to report, but you changed a lot, or don't you remember the scared girl you used to be?"
This time I smiled a little, but I still couldn't look at him. We stand in silence, neither of us knowing what to say, it's like the only teacher I've ever liked is leaving, in fact I think that's exactly what it is.
He walked over to me, that's when i looked up and saw him handed me a dark blue bandana.
"It's my least favorite so I decided to give it to you." I don't know if he was being too sincere, or if he just doesn't want me to think he cares. "You know...just like a black belt, your training is over so you get a blue bandana. You'll be the only one with it, because I'm retiring as Sensei."
I laughed at what he said and accepted the bandana.
"Thank you..." I didn't just say thank you for the bandana, I thanked him for the training, for the jacket and for teaching me that if your reason is really important to you, fear won't stand in your way.
And he understood.
"If you need help with a fight, call me." Murayama said, before walking out the door.
The leader of Housen, who Fujio calls Sachi, accepted a fight against Fujio and we went to watch. The Housen guys were there too, when they're not fighting they don't look so scary.
It wasn't a fight for a reason, but it was a fight between friends, I think that's enough.
Both were incredible, but Fujio lost, I was a little upset of course, but the leader of Housen is a very difficult opponent. I'm not an expert and I noticed how they fight differently, not better, not worse. Only different.
Todoroki helped Fujio to his feet and we cheered even though he lost.
"𝒞ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑢 promised us food!"Nakaoka suddenly shouted.
"Hey! I said 'if Fujio won'!" They all booed me, even Fujio. "It was to celebrate your victory!"
"Let's get something else to celebrate then!" Nakagoshi said with the same excitement as his best friend.
"How about the fact that he's still alive?" Yasushi yelled laughing.
Fujio complained, saying he would win next time for sure, I had fun with this conversation and ended up buying food, I was hungry too.
Maybe I regretted it a bit after the bill arrived...
I saw Suzaki looking at the car with a look that was hard to decipher, maybe lost.
When I realized it was him, the car was already pulling away, but Ryo followed with his eyes.
I approached slowly so as not to make a fuss. "Hey..."
He looked and immediately recognized me. "Hi..."
There was a concrete bench right behind us, I asked him if he wanted to sit down and he accepted with a nod. We sat with some distance between us, not saying anything. I wanted to ask about the car, but that would be intruding so I held back.
"We have something in common..." Ryo said. "We're terrible at starting normal conversations..."
I laughed at that, after all he is right, all of our encounters were completely awkward, I also saw a small smile on his face, almost imperceptible.
"How about...um...the day is beautiful..."It's cloudy, but I like rainy days.
"It is." Ryo nodded and we returned to silence.
"I think this is the first time I've seen you without a bruise on your face."
"I still have some marks…" I said looking at my hand.
"I've never seen you with that bandana either."
I had almost forgotten that I put this up today, Jamuo says that there is a rumor that Murayama trained someone before he left Oya, I'm afraid they will find out it's me, I don't know what some people are capable of doing since Murayama have many enemies out there. That's why I avoided wearing the bandana every day, but I liked how it looks in my hair.
"That...was a parting gift." Not entirely untrue.
"It looks good on you."
I froze.
A lot of things went through my head, maybe I heard wrong, maybe he's just being polite, maybe he just thinks he looks good on me and not that I look good.
My head might try to mess me up, but my heart was beating so much faster.
"Are you coming by again tomorrow?" He asks before I can say anything.
"Yes, it's in my way…" I replied shyly.
"Okay, see you tomorrow." Suzaki waved at me and walked away leaving me sitting on the concrete bench completely speechless.
I don't know what to do, I've never liked a guy before and my books don't have a recipe with right steps to follow.
I try to calm down, I don't even know him well, maybe he's not the the right guy from the books.
But Madoka was right, I have a huge crush on him.
As I walk to Oya I think about how things have changed, how I have changed.
I'm still shy around people I don't know, my voice is still low and I'm still a little fearful. But I like romance books, I like K Pop, I like J Pop, I hate school and people who think they know too much. I also hate sad endings.
That's me.
The same girl who shut up so no one would get mad at her, but that girl wasn't me, she was a disguise to not draw attention.
Now I've discovered that I don't need disguises, those who like me will continue to like me, no matter how I dress or how I speak.
I'm a 𝒞ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑢, who was trapped in a cocoon, surrounded by people who think I'm arrogant just because I prefer to be alone.
Now I'm not alone anymore, now I really know myself.
Now I finally feel like myself.
And that's thanks to...
"Haruka! Come on, let's take the subway!" Fujio said as soon as he saw me, interrupting my thoughts.
"What? Where?"
"For Toaru, Fujio wants to see Rao of Susuran." Tsukasa explained to me, while Fujio ran ahead of us.
"I don't know what else to do, lady. Nobody listens to me!" Jamuo complained with his arms crossed.
I also did things I never would have done in the past, like getting into fights, riding on top of a truck, and now, spying over a school wall and running away when the students there saw us.
This is me, the real me.