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The Flags were... strange, to say the least.
There was Pianoman, who Chuuya was pretty sure doesn't even how to play the piano. Lippmann was a famous actor who worked in the Port Mafia. Albatross was his obnoxious upstairs neighbor whose favorite hobbies were A: vehicles and B: making sure that the gravity user didn't get a wink of sleep. Doc was (surprisingly) a legitimate doctor, and Iceman who was actually pretty neat.
They were technically called the Young Bloods, a support group for members of the Port Mafia who were under twenty-five.
Right now, all six members were at Old World, their usual meeting place.
For being his seniors, some of them were quite irresponsible as he was being given booze, despite being four years under Japan's legal drinking age.
They were playing billiards, Chuuya being taught how to play by Lippmann.
"Okay, so you're supposed to hold the cue stick like this, then angle it and hit the white ball to knock your team's balls into the pockets..."
Albatross snickered, and Pianoman swatted him over the head with a rolled up pamphlet he found in his pocket. Rolling his eyes, Chuuya redirects his attention back to Lippmann's instructions.
Hours pass, bottles of alcohol empty, and the long summer night continues on as the sun goes away, everyone's coats and jackets discarded. Tonight was also unfortunately the night that Chuuya discovered that he was a lightweight, teetering back and forth after his second drink. Someone yelled over the general chaos of the ongoing billiards games that they should seriously all go home because it was nearly two in the morning. Chuuya looks at the clock, and discovered that whoever they were, they were rght.
He nods in agreement, looking around at the others. Everyone finishes up, and they're all walking together ten minutes later, Iceman carrying all the coats.
Chuuya trips on a stray pebble, and Pianoman catches him. Chuuya smiles, and breaks out into a tipsy giggle.
Before he knew it, everyone else was laughing as well, their laughter cutting through the gentle warm breeze and buzzing of insects, then Chuuya remembered that they were all walking because nobody could drive right now and he laughed some more, looking up at the star-spotted sky.
Tonight, they seemed to shine just a bit brighter.
The stars were beautiful. More beautiful now than ever. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was something else.
Whatever it was, something seemed to bloom inside of his chest. Something small.
A start.
The start of... a friendship?
Maybe the Flags weren't so bad after all.
The stars seem to smile down at him as he arrived to the apartment complex, entering his place, Albatross's feet thumping above him like the rhythmic hits of a drum.
Okay, Albatross was still pretty awful.
But the rest of them weren't.