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That morning before the first day of school could officially begin, Tachihara had been taking a walk though the neighborhood, particularly because his Rottweiler, Angel, has made a daily routine out of it. Even her owner had to admit that the fresh air at such early hours is rejuvenating, and certainly does the trick in waking him up when the colder months hit.
Michizō, like Akutagawa and Atsushi, will be starting his second year of high school once 8:45am rolls around. To be quite honest, the guy is surprised he's even made it this far, because if you would of spoken to him back in seventh grade, he'd tell you without a slip of hesitation that he'll be a drop-out before completing his senior year. It's not like Tachihara was failing or anything, his grades are decent enough, but all of this just feels like a huge waste of time when already he could be out there working a full-time job and building up a bit of bank for himself. He may not know how to plot functions on a graph or write an entire essay on the depths of famous literature as his teacher Mr. Bram Stoker always enjoys to throw at them, but his street smarts are impeccable, and that's all he needs to survive out in the real world.
It's his grandfather, Hirotsu, that's pushing for him to regularly attend class and try his best, which is ironic coming from a man that dropped out at a young age to become a gangster, particularly dealing with the underground drug trafficking operations. The elder isn't one to fuck with, considering how stained his hands are with the blood of his enemies, but he makes for a damn good parent without a doubt. Despite the criminal life he lead, Ryūrō moved him without second thought after his daughter, a single mother, died of sickness and had nowhere for her eight year old son to go. After all, Hirotsu already had a little girl the same age as Tachihara living with him at the time, who would be Gin, believe it or not.
From as much as Michizō had been told, which is very brief, Gin's father had secretly been involved in Hirotsu's occupation as well; the two worked side by side like partners, actually. Almost as if expecting his life to be taken at any time, considering their division of business, the man had begged of Hirotsu that if tragedy were to befall both him and his wife, could he be willing to take care of his children for him.
Ryūrō had been very on the fence about this idea, considering his daughter is all grown up and he hasn't had a kid in the house since she moved out fifteen or so years ago, let alone had two running around at the same time. But when the proposition had been changed to just taking in Gin, he managed to be swayed only because the old man had raised an only daughter before and assumed nothing bad was going to happen anyway. It wasn't a weigh between which child Akutagawa and Gin's father loved more, but that he simply believed Ryuunosuke would be more capable of taking care of himself over his younger sister. That was when, after finding out three years later about the death of Mr. Akutagawa after they lost touch when their father quit to escape the danger, he decided to track down Gin and make true to his promise. After all, Hirotsu thought a lot over the man, so the least he could do was fulfill his dying request.
Despite not wanting to raise two, let alone one, Tachihara's coming into the picture was an exception simply because that was his grandson through and through; his flesh and blood, and a reflection of the daughter he could only now see when he looked into those big amber eyes. Hirotsu helped her raise that boy, considering his father had never been in the picture, so there was no way in hell he was going to simply give up that responsibility because it became a solo gig. Sure, they might have been left home by themselves at much too young of an age and exposed to some illegal things a child should come nowhere close to, but it simply meant that they grew up faster. Many parents wouldn't be impressed by the lack of rules and restrictions they've had all their lives, but it wasn't theirs to live, so why should it be of any concern to them anyway? That's the way Tachihara has always looked at it at least.
Michizō lives in a pretty shitty neighborhood anyway, so at least there isn't much stress about a neighbor reporting them to the police. Actually, to be quite honest, most of their neighbors are Hirotsu's clients anyway, so of course they would be out of their mind to throw their dealer under the bus. Tachihara has slowly been getting more and more involved in the business, though technically still and probably never will be a proper employee for as long as Hirotsu remains alive. If he gets caught in a messy situation and ends up in the slammer, or perhaps even dead in a worse case scenario, that would rest on Ryūrō's conscience, despite this all being of his grandson's own free will. He doesn't support his involvement, but has come to tolerate it only to a very short extent.
While Gin hasn't kicked up any protest in regards to what Hirotsu chose for his method of income, she herself doesn't want any part of it. Gin has a part-time job at a bar she scored using a fake ID the old man hooked her up with, and Tachihara is employed there too, considering the owner is an old friend of Ryūrō's. From a legal standpoint, teenagers under the age of eighteen aren't allowed working between the hours of 10pm and 5am, regardless of the establishment, but considering none of this abided by the law anyway, that regulation was also thrown out the window.
The weather is beautiful this morning, the sun having just begun to rise at a quarter to seven. Angel was panting heavily, her swift strides having been reduced to a peaceful trot after the initial hyper spurt had tired her out. Tachihara is glad, because that had certainly taken a toll on him too.
Somewhere along his trip, he spots Chuuya on the opposite sidewalk, jogging in the opposite direction. This is a daily occurrence, but with his sights set on the route ahead and the wireless earbuds in his ears, not once has he ever spotted him and waved.
But Michizō doesn't jump to the same conclusions as everyone else; the everyone else that were all smiles when Chuuya talked to them but called him an attention whore behind his back. High school is the habitat of those with two faces, and while some shed theirs after graduating and keep just the one, others hold onto it through their transition to adulthood.
Naomi certainly will, is the bitter thought that crosses Tachihara's mind as him and Chuuya pass each other unknowingly, Angel barking at a swarm of birds that flew overhead. The girl will finally be attending high school with them now that she's a tenth grader, and by god did Michizō ever appreciate that glorious year of being in separate buildings. The two of them have had bad blood since he transferred to the same school as everyone else in junior high after his mom died and he moved in with Hirotsu, and over the years as Naomi got worse, so did the tensions between them. What's worse is that their consistent banter have caused rumors to swarm around that the two of them have a thing for each other, and the mere thought of it just makes him want to throw up.
He is so not looking forward to running into Naomi, though her brother, on the other hand... Boy, would that be a treat. Michizō has only had the biggest crush on him since fifth grade.
By the time Tachihara finishes his loop, Gin and Hirotsu are already up, the latter smoking a cigarette at the kitchen table all the while the only woman of the house sat across from him, finishing up some last minute homework that had been assigned over summer break; homework that Michizō did, in fact, not complete. She worked a pretty long shift last night, and by the time Gin returned home, all the poor thing wanted to do was get a bath and go to sleep. Thursdays are the busiest week night, and they seem to always dump that shift on his sister, probably because she's such a hard worker all the while good at what she does.
As per usual, the house smells as it usually does in the mornings; like burnt toast and cigarette smoke. That's certainly one thing the three of them have in common, for if their bread isn't burnt to black, they don't want it. Their breakfasts are never anything big or elaborate, not the way they should be, but no one has ever kicked up a fuss about it. That's just another aspect of their usual lifestyle that they've no desire to change, and as Tachihara takes a seat alongside Gin, he grins at the tower of stacked toast on a plate in the middle of the table like some sort centerpiece, the height slowly getting shorter and shorter as each of them plucked a slice all the while busying themselves with what they were doing.
"Mornin', people. Anything new and exciting in the agenda for the day, Gramps?" Michizō asks not just to initiate casual conversation, but because he was genuinely curious to know. One of them must have already brewed his coffee for him, because already it was poured in a mug and laid ready and waiting at the place he always sits. And in taking that first, cautious sip, he knows damn well it was prepared by Gin, because no one knows better than her that he needs an embarrassing amount of sugar in it to be tolerable.
There's a pause between Tachihara's question and Hirotsu's response as the man takes a draw of his cig, the latter catching the box he tossed across to him for a roll of his own. Gin also had a cigarette pinched between her teeth as she quickly scribbled in her notebook, and at 7:30 in the morning, already the trio were indulging in the unhealthy habit without a single care in the world.
Hirotsu blows out a cloud of smoke with a shrug, replying nonchalantly, "Who knows, boy. Boss has me run ragged lately."
"Well I'll be sure to pick something up for dinner on the way home from school to put away for later. Tachi, it's your shift tonight right?" Gin asks, to which Michizō nods his head in confirmation. "Then I can put yours away with his. Even though I'll be off, I probably won't eat until tonight anyway. I don't get many days like this all to myself, so I want to at least spend it with Higuchi if I can."
"You may as well stop wasting your energy on her, sis. She's way too blinded by the male version of you to ever bat an eyelash your way anyway," Tachihara snickers, and the glare Gin throws his way is menacing.
"Oh, so things are going well with Tanizaki then I take?" Gin chimes in all the happily, and it's without a doubt a dig to get back at him with. "You might want to specify which one it is for me though, since the one you hate can't stop obnoxiously flirting with you all the while the one you actually want has barely looked your way since junior high."
Hirotsu, clearly fed up with the growing tensions in the room as his kids started to mutter insults back and fourth to each other, groans before piping in, "Can you youngsters give it a rest already? It's much too early for me to deal with listening to this shit again."
"Sorry, pops," Gin sighs when she rises from her seat, sounding sincerely apologetic as she gathers up her materials and squishes the cigarette bud on the table using her thumb, plopping it into the ash tray where they are laid to rest. "He and I are much too old for these childish banters, yet we can never seem to stop."
"Who cares, we need something exciting to keep this old man alive," Tachihara hollers, and Gin also can't fight the smile that rises to her lips, giggling as their guardian huffs and stands up to leave. "Listen, we don't like having to listen to you snoring away on the recliner at three o'clock in the day, but we're enduring it. This considers us even."
"Well if I hear from the principal again that you've been skipping off class again, I'll be showing you a real definition of how it means to get even," Ryūrō threatens without stutter, and Tachihara just barely refrains himself from speaking his following comment out loud, considering Hirotsu has never once actually stayed true to his word and punished them. Gin and Michizō can't even say they know what it feels like to be grounded or disciplined, because their caregiver believes more in lectures and honest conversation rather than just making them feel horrible for their actions, which he says is meaningless and accomplishes nothing except make children more inclined to do it again to get back at their parents; an endless cycle of punishment that becomes toxic after so long. After all, you can't teach someone a lesson by locking them up like animals, or else all you're expected to receive in return is retaliation.
"Hurry up and go get your uniform on," Gin kicks the leg of Tachihara's chair as she runs along to collect the rest of her belongings with Angel following along like a shadow, particularly her cellphone that has more cracks in the screen than her bedroom window that faced some unfortunate circumstances over break, considering it was now boarded up with wood. "We've got a long walk ahead and I'm not afraid to leave you behind."
'You say that, but you have yet to do it' is another retort on the tip of Tachihara's tongue he just manages to bite down, considering that would be his second close call of the morning. Still, despite how amusing it would be to inconvenience his dear sister, he didn't feel like being a total ass today. Not when she's been so looking forward to going back to school and seeing Higuchi more regularly, given how little much of their mini friend circle has seen of each other over the holidays.
All summer long, Tachihara has been beating himself up trying to work up the courage to simply message Jun'ichirō, let alone have the confidence to actually ask him to hang out. It's agony, especially since it should be so easy considering his friends are friends with his own. Tanizaki is close friends with Atsushi, and Tachihara is close friends with Akutagawa, and Atsushi and Akutagawa are best friends with each other. It should be so easy, should be so many opportunities for them to have the excuse to hang out in a group, yet it's so damn impossible to even get a chance given everyone's schedules.
Throwing on his uniform, Tachihara sighs drearily, his mood only worsening when he realizes he put one of his buttons in the wrong hole and had to start all over again. Life had certainly been less frustrating before he fell in love, and yet at the same time, he's never felt so warm and fuzzy inside. That's the magic about having feelings for somebody, and it's a magic Michizō never wants to lose.
He probably should have taken the time to iron out the wrinkles in his clothes, but with how much spare time Tachihara gets, why waste it on that of all things? He manages to spray some cologne on and mess around with the comb for a few minutes, brush his teeth and deodorize, then it's finally when he clips his chain around his neck that Gin is yelling from downstairs to come on, which is when he grabs his things: a single notebook and a pencil.
Today will be a good day, he reminds himself as he slips his cell phone that remains in just as bad a condition as Gin's into the back pocket of his pants, trotting down the creaky stairs to meet her in the porch. He'll get to catch up with Akutagawa and Higuchi again, annoy his favorite teachers, and even find out who will be in his classes this year. Tanizaki had been put in a different homeroom previously, but there's always hope for now. Though considering how often Gin and Higuchi tease him about his little 'crush', it will be no doubt dangerous to put the four of them together. Let's pray he's not that out of luck.