Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Trapped In Purgatory ❯ Lesson 2: Cloud Nine ( Chapter 2 )

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Trapped in Purgatory

By: Melissa Norvell/Revamp

Lesson 2: Cloud Nine

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"Perhaps we should investigate the anomalies regarding this school if there's a reason for you all to think that it's out of the ordinary, then you should look into it," Kasuga wasn't opposed to a little investigation. In fact, the idea was highly entertaining.

"Doesn't it bother you that this school has strange rules?" Izayoi found it odd that Kasuga didn't seem to care much on the matter. She acted like she could care less that the school's functions were out of the ordinary.

"Why should I be bothered by it? Everything has its own special way of running. As the top percentile we don't have to abide by the rules. We don't have to wear uniforms, we can have jobs as long as we squeeze our school work in and submit it on time. You have to admit, we have a lot of special privileges." Why would she question something that was giving her so much freedom? Kasuga thought that it was a little two-faced to investigate the strange things when it was probably odd in general that they had the perks that they were given as a result of the school being non-conventional.

"Why do we have to take a physical education class? Not just any physical education class, one where you use a weapon, like a self-defense course. I don't find that it's needed in our curriculum," Roxy wasn't just saying it because she was the least in shape of the group, she genuinely didn't know why it was mandatory to take a class where they were required to use weapons.

"That and living on campus before graduation, even if we live near the school. That doesn't make sense and it seems like a waste of money," Shiko folded her arms over her chest. Why couldn't they just live close to the school instead of being required to live on campus? Also, why did they have to take up residency in the dorms before graduation? That seemed really pointless.

"Why should we question what rules we have?" Kasuga didn't see her point. They barely had any rules at all. Why were her classmates being so anal about things?

"I feel like it's a little weird right now. We're the only ones in school," Liam didn't get why they graduated later than the other classes. It bothered him. "There's maybe, what? Two-hundred of us here at most?"

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but that is just weird. You'd think the faculty would all want off at the time," to Kazoo, it was just a pain in the ass to have all those different schedules. It made no sense.

"It makes y'wanna look into it, anyway," Raiga intended on doing just that, even if no one else wanted to.

"Ah, who gives a shit?" Monica waved in dismissal. "We'll be outta here by the end of this week. Why bother caring now?"

"Monica is kind of right," Kazoo agreed. They were about to leave this school behind. What was it worth to look into things at the end of their term?

"I care," Raiga wasn't going to back down. "My little bro will be in this school next year. Shit's weird." He didn't want Taiga being subjected to some strange happenings at Shinjinku. He wanted his brother's graduating year to be the best year of his life, not some strange crap like his was.

"The rules aren't hurting the student body, but I am curious," Roxy placed a chubby finger to her painted lips. She supposed that she could at least research it. While the rules weren't hurting anyone, their research wouldn't hurt anyone, either.

Ryuunosuke pumped a fist into the air. "Let's form an investigation group!"

"Sweet ass! I'm in!" Kazoo raised his fist in excitement.

"So am I," Raiga followed suit.

"We can spend our free time looking up stuff. We'll have to dodge the student council, though. We'll be in big trouble if we get caught," Akagi didn't feel like getting tangled up with any of those guys. They were the teacher's pets and they would surely uncover their plans.

"I think I can squeeze in a little investigation," Osmond still had a lot to do before graduation, but he was down for it. "We should have a meeting place to discuss things."

Raiga looked thoughtful for a moment, before an idea crossed his mind. "What about the cafeteria? There's a sofa...booth thing over there. We should use that as our discussion area." He thought it was a great idea. They would be comfortable, and they could gaze out of the window. It had perfect ambiance.

"Are you sure we should do this?" Arata's voice quaked. "I mean...I'm all for further exploration as every action cause reaction, and I admit the school environment is mystifying, but there could be really didn't want to get caught up in something that would get them held back or keep them from graduating entirely.

Akagi put his hands on his hips and leveled the scientist with a look of displeasure. "Are you chickening out on me?"

The fact that Arata could feel those, slanted eyes glaring daggers into his soul only made him more nervous. "I am merely suggesting that such actions are foolish."

"Let us be fools," Raiga waved. "Some people don't figure it out unless they learn it themselves. That's what kind of people we are."

"I'm trying to s-save you the trouble, Mr. Daifumi," it was especially intimidating to talk to the yakuza. No matter how fun-loving he sounded, Raiga had killed people before, and that was enough to send Arata trembling into a corner.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Arata?" Shiko leaned down to the shortest student in her class.

"It seems I am outvoted on this affair," the silver-haired scientist didn't like this at all.

"Come on, Arata," Kazoo gave him a flashy smile, "what man of science ever made anything successful without a little exploration?" As an engineer and architect, Kazoo understood that people had to take certain risks. In many aspects, his profession was similar to Arata's. Surely, he'd understand what he was getting at.

"I suppose you're right," Arata hung his head. He knew he was going ot hate this.

"What are you? The nerd support group?" Monica scoffed.

"Man, why do you have to call me that?" Kazoo grumbled and adjusted his handkerchief atop of his head.

"I don't even need to explain that," the sukeban eyed him up and down.

"We'll all meet tomorrow and tell each other what we found," Raiga looked to his classmates for confirmation.

"Sounds like a great idea," Leo agreed. That gave them enough time to research and see what they came up with. Since all of them had dorms at the school, they were all close enough to go into the main buildings whenever they felt like it.

"We only have one day before graduation," Akagi reminded them of their time crunch, "so, let's make it count."

"I didn't care to have more homework before graduation," Roxy still didn't like this whole investigation idea, and she wasn't looking forward to having more work than she already had before graduation. It was hard enough being an heiress and looking over countless piles of paperwork, but now she had this as well.

"I think it might be fun," Liam disagreed. He didn't have much to do before graduation and he had some time to kill.

"Not another member of the nerd squad. I got better things to do," Monica rolled her eyes. She didn't like playing investigator at all.

"Come on, Monica," Akagi held out his hands to the sukeban. "I'll tell you what. We can be research partners. How would that be?" Maybe she wouldn't feel so pressured if she had someone with her, splitting her work load.

"Go to hell," the wavy-haired girl shot.

"That's harsh," Akagi slumped dramatically.

"We're wasting time hanging around here. Let's hop to it," Ryuunosuke clapped his hands as they all separated.

They had little time left to find as much evidence as they could. Each of the teens was unsure where their investigations would take them, but they all hoped that this was just a strange preference by one or all of the staff members, and not some kind of strange plot with dark consequences.

This was a school for the privileged and rich. It couldn't be the center of something malicious. Could it?

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In the library, Kazoo and Izayoi found themselves sitting in front of a computer. The two of them stared intently at the screen as they sifted through programs. After a while, Izayoi moved away from the computer and began to search through old record books that were made public.

Taking a stack of them, she sat them on the table and sat down in her chair. The pop star began flipping through pages, glancing over symbols and names, scanning countless forms of documentation. It all yielded the same results.

Nothing.

As Kazoo continued to scan through the computer files, he arched an eyebrow. "Man, this is weird."

"Huh?" Izayoi glanced up from her parchment in question.

"These files must be private because I can't find anything about the other students here," Kazoo had been trying to find the files for a good hour and no matter where he looked, he couldn't come up with anything. The files of the student body should have been public, but it wasn't.

"What do you mean?" That didn't make any sense to her. Izayoi remembered when she first came to Shinjinku that Mr. Mandio had told the student body that they could look up anyone's general profile who was in the school to see their talents and a short biography about them.

"I mean, there are no student files," Kazoo looked back at her with a serious expression. "No staff files, no anything files. I'm not a hacker but, it's like they don't exist."

Izayoi stood up and placed her hands on the table, leaning in. "How can they have no student files? I mean, the grades here are done electronically, so there should be files at least."

"We do, but the last class to graduate here doesn't. You'd think they'd have files for transcripts, but they don't. It's like they don't exist." Didn't anyone come back to Shinjinku to get copies of their grades for later? The last thing he knew about student files were that schools kept them for a certain amount of years at the very least before getting rid of them. These files were just gone.

The long-haired girl placed a finger to her lips in thought. "Maybe they're paper files! We could check the filing room."

Getting up from the computer chair, Kazoo faced her. "The door's locked and only the student council members have keys. It's not public access." How were the two of them going to gain access to something like that? They were just normal students. Sure, they were in the top percentile but that meant nothing compared to members of the student council. They were the elite.

The girl held up a bobby pin that she'd taken out of her hair and smiled deviously. "I have an alternative method." She could pick the lock with it and easily gain access. It wasn't below her to get a little down and dirty when it was called for.

The long-haired male's face lit up. "You can pick locks? Amazing!"

Izayoi winked, "never doubt a woman."

The two walked over to the door that led to the storage room and Izayoi unfolded the bobby pin, fashioning it into a functional lock pick. She then took it and put it inside of the door handle, jiggling it around, waiting for the click of victory while Kazoo glanced around and acted as a sentry.

When the lock was picked, she stood up and turned the handle, opening the door. Inside of the room, the two glanced around. There were walls and walls of files, file cabinets, and a table stacked with unsorted files. There were also boxes of files stacked on the floor below the shelves.

"Whoa," Izayoi glanced around at all of the parchment. "There are so many files. Where do we even start?"

"We've got our work cut out for us, if there was a paper trail, it would be here." There was no doubt that they had a lot of files to sift through. It was going to take time for Kazoo to do it alone, much less with someone at his side.

"Let's start with the files we know that are close to the graduation dates and see what we get," Izayoi deduced that doing that would be the path to take. It was best that they searched around those dates before they went back too far into the past.

The two of them grabbed boxes of files and began looking through all of them. They took out the various files and flipped through them, skimming through all of them to see if they could find any trace of the graduating student's information. It was silent between them as they both looked through countless documents together.

"Hey, Kazoo?" Izayoi looked up from her files, over to the long-haired male, who glanced up from reading through paperwork.

"Did you find something?"

"No," she turned away, "I just wanted to ask you something." It had been far too quiet for her liking. The pop star felt unnerved and a little paranoid, so she decided to start a conversation.

"Sure, anything for you, babe," Kazoo smiled. He didn't mind it if they carried on some small talk between them.

"We've been friends since we both came here," she began, bringing up nostalgia of the past.

"Yeah," Kazoo smiled, "we met when I did that stupid thing in science class." He remembered that day as if it was yesterday.

"You really scared me!" Worry crossed Izayoi's face, followed by a pouty expression. She didn't think his actions were funny at all.

Putting a hand behind his head, Kazoo laughed a little. "I'm really lucky I got both hands. I put dry ice into a bottle and I didn't think it would explode so I kept shaking it up. When I thought nothing would happen, I went over and picked it up," he threw his arms out suddenly. "Bam! I'm lucky only the top blew off."

"I seriously thought you were hurt," the girl continued to pout. It scared the life out of her when that experiment went wrong. Kazoo could have blown his hand off easily. It was far from funny.

"You became friends with me because I was being a dumbass." If it wasn't for that, the two of them would have never met, so Kazoo was happy that his mistakes gained him a friendship with a beautiful girl like her.

"Boy," Izayoi rolled her eyes, "I swear."

"I'm glad I met you," the architect's voice morphed into a sincere tone.

"You are?" Izayoi was a little confused that he would say something like that. Was he getting sentimental on her?

"We talk a lot. I mean, every night for hours. We'll talk about nothing and everything," Kazoo could recall many nights on the phone with the girl. Half of the time, they didn't talk about much. They shared silly jokes or talked about funny videos they saw on the internet. There were times when they would have serious conversations, or talk about things that happened at school, but most of the time they just acted like normal, teenaged friends.

"We sort of clicked, didn't we? Usually, people grow apart when they make different friends but somehow you stuck to me. I remember whenever I was feeling down, you'd make really ugly faces and I'd double over laughing hysterically. Man, people stared at us like we needed help." Thinking back to those times, the girl with streaks held a hand to her mouth and giggled. Those faces that Kazoo made were still fresh in her mind, and she could never get over them.

"Yeah," Kazoo smiled, "you know, you're not anything like I imagined you to be. Pop idols are usually prissy and aloof. You're pretty nice, like the girl next door." Then, his expression turned serious. "To be honest, when you started dating the student council treasurer, I never thought he understood you like I did. When he dumped you on White Day and you came to me in tears, that's what made my heart ache the most."

The image of the girl, looking at him with glossy eyes, brimmed with tears shot him through the heart. The sound of her sobs and chokes made him want to protect her, and the feeling of wet tears soaking through his clothes and landing on his skin made Kazoo want to go and beat that guy to a bloody pulp. He couldn't stand his friends crying or hurt, but Izayoi was a special case. It was especially sad when she was the one crying.

She paused a little, the painful memories surged through her mind. The moments of heartache and pain with a guy that she truly thought loved her ripped through her senses like claws through delicate flesh. "Those...were dark times. I learned a lot about you." Her voice lowered and she tilted her head down, staring at the parchment in her hands. "That your father was killed in a construction accident, that his last words were that you were a disappointment. All the girls you dated that you thought genuinely liked you were only there for your money. That it's hard for you to sleep at night, because you hate the way the darkness looked. Everything that haunted you. Your whole life."

Memories of loneliness and anger flooded his senses. Kazoo didn't have the best life, but he tried to make do with the hand that destiny had given him. He wasn't going to let it get him down, just because he met with a series of unfortunate events.

"You told me that when you look past the glaring lights on stage, if you focus really hard, that you could see the crowd. That obstructs always stood in the way." If there were more memorable words that the pop idol had told him, those were it. She taught him a valuable lesson and turned it into a perspective that he could understand. When you see the past the bad, to the goal that it looked easily obtainable. That was how Kazoo wanted to live his life.

"You aren't alone. You never were," Izayoi's words were comforting to him, even now.

His cheeks stained red as he averted his eyes, "Izayoi..."

"People talk about us. You should hear the rumors," Izayoi turned the subject a different direction and smiled at her saddened friend. She didn't like seeing him look so solemn. "We've been dating since we met. We made out at the fountain in the school yard. We kissed in the garden. You only liked me because I made you look smarter. I only liked you because you had money. We had sex in the public bath. Someone even said I was pregnant. Pretty funny, huh?"

She couldn't help but giggle at everything. Students made up some pretty ridiculous stories up about them. Izayoi could hardly believe that anyone would actually think they were true. Even if Shinjinku was the home of the elite, gossip was still gossip. They had talked so much about her that she learned things even she was aware of.

Kazoo just turned a darker shade of red. "I never cared what they thought," he was unaware that all of those things were said, however.

"People make fun of my fame all of the time. I want us together. I probably shouldn't cling to you," she went back to sifting through paperwork.

"The student council treasurer...he had everything I wanted," Kazoo said those words after a pause.

"Huh?" Izayoi looked at him in confusion.

"Including you," his words turned serious as he looked away. Kazoo didn't even want to know what kind of response he'd get from her.

"What?" She was caught off guard by that comment.

"I love you," Kazoo's words were soft. If there was ever a time to tell her his true feelings, it was before graduation. Who knew what was going to become of them after that. This was his one chance.

"Kazoo," Izayoi's attention was drawn to the architect. She paused for a moment, looking both endeared and thoughtful. "I feel the same way."

"What? But why?" He didn't think that she would actually tell him yes. Kazoo was in disbelief.

"Does it matter why?" Honesty, Izayoi didn't get why he was questioning her. She told him yes. Who cared why she agreed? Wasn't it important that she said yes in general?

"I don't deserve someone like you," Kazoo didn't think it was that simple. He couldn't believe a super beautiful and famous pop star would want to be with someone like him. Izayoi was a role model for girls everywhere. She was an icon. He was just an architect and engineer; it was a job higher than most but his talent didn't require him to look a certain way.

"That' actually really sad," Izayoi commented. "I think you deserve me. I was going to ask you what you planned on doing after graduation, because I wanted to ask you out." It was her plan all along. It was kind of funny that he ended up admitting his feelings before she got the chance. Izayoi was nervous about him feeling the same way, but it turned out that their feelings were mutual.

"Are you for real?" Kazoo's eyes widened and his already small pupils shrunk more. Was she being truthful or was she yanking his chain?

"Is this for real?" Izayoi got close to him and pressed their lips together. Kazoo was so shocked that he dropped the parchment in his hands. The papers dispersing over his lap. He was stunned for a moment, unable to do anything. It was as if her kiss paralyzed him momentarily. Then, he melted into the action and closed his eyes, kissing her back.

The kiss lasted several minutes, starting out gentle and turning passionate. Soon, they pulled back, panting heavily. A moment of silence passed as they both caught their breath. A deep blush stained the architect's cheeks as he placed his fingers to his lips.

"That was definitely real." It was all he could say in a dumbfounded voice. Part of him was still trying to decipher whether that really just happened, or if that was a dream and he'd wake up soon.

"Well," Izayoi pushed.

Kazoo smiled. "I'd be honored to be your boyfriend."

XxXxXxXxXx

The gentle breeze felt nice against his pierced face as Leo walked out of the cast iron gates and began to advance down the concrete sidewalks that led out of the school. Blue eyes cast their gaze to the sky as a few birds flew overhead and a cloud floated lazily by. Many thoughts ran through his head, about graduation, the weird things that went on at school, and what he was going to do about his future gigs.

He was so enveloped in thought that he didn't take note of the motorcycle that sped by him. Whoever was riding it was so close to him that they nearly hit him. Leo had to jump out of the way, nearly landing in someone's trashcan.

Who the hell was that?

The bike skidded to a stop a few feet away and turned around.

"Hey! You blind son of a bitch! Watch where you drive that thing!" Leo shouted angrily with his fists in the air, jumping up and down. He was livid.

"I was gonna give ya a ride, but I'll just try t'hit ya next time," Raiga pulled the bike to a stop to see the punk rocker glaring daggers into his soul. "I can get ten points if I smack y'r skinny ass against the pavement." The yakuza laughed at his own joke.

"R-Raiga," Leo just stared at him in shock. Unbeknownst to him, he was cursing out his best friend.

"Baby, why would y'curse at me like that? You broke my heart," Raiga place a hand to his chest dramatically and wore a look of faux sorrow.

"Man, it's not cool to drive like a jackass," Leo frowned, putting a hand behind his head.

"Hop on," Raiga patted the leather seat of his black motorcycle.

Leo looked over the ride. How in the world did he even get away with driving that thing? It had bosozoku modifications: a high seat and tail pipes that were so long they jutted skyward and rattled with the rumble of the engine.

"Why?" He cast him a skeptical look. The last thing he wanted to do was get on a high-powered bike like that and get pulled over by the cops for disrupting the peace.

"You can get to where y'r goin' faster if ya do. Damn, you act like y'r gonna have t'suck my dick if y'do," the yakuza winked at him suggestively. If he wanted to, he was more than welcomed, but such actions weren't needed.

Leo stuck out his bottom lip and glared him down. "You'd like that."

"I think about it when I'm pleasuring myself at night," Raiga joked.

"Sometimes, I wonder if you actually do," Leo sighed and hopped on the back of the bike, wrapping his arms around the yakuza's waist. He wasn't even going to pursue his curiosity on either of his sexual remarks. He just wanted a ride.

"It's my secret," Raiga smiled as he took off. "So, where are y'going?"

"I was just gonna head home," Leo shouted through all of the wind noise. It had been a long time since he'd been in his house. He wanted to visit it for a little while and chill there. Luckily for him, it wasn't too far from Shinjinku.

"We could hang if y'want," Raiga would rather have done something productive.

"Sure," Leo had time to kill. Why not?

"Taiga would like it, anyway. He likes seein' y'around," Raiga zoomed in and out of traffic as the wind rushed through his pompadour. His suit flapped in the wind as Leo's grip on him tightened.

"The three of us seem to make a habit of hanging around together. It's like we're our own gang," Leo had a lot of good times hanging out with the two yakuza brothers after school. When he first joined Shinjinku Academy, most of his after school life was spent either making songs, performing or hanging out with the Daifumi brothers.

The bike soon stopped at a huge, black mansion with a cast iron gate. It reminded him of one of the old mansions that he would see back in the days of ancient times, and it was in perfect condition. The Daifumi abode was always fascinating to him. How could they live in such a beautiful place?

Putting the kick stand down on his motorcycle and walked up the driveway to the doors. He had one of the guards at the door punch something into a keypad and request Taiga's presence at the door. His brother's voice came through the system and Raiga elbowed Leo playfully.

"Watch this," Raiga snickered. "He will hate me, but y'gotta see his face."

Just then, the door opened and out peeked Taiga. He looked a lot like his brother and wore black eyeliner with an elongated line pointing down from the corners of his aqua eyes. His curly, blonde pompadour poked through first and his stern, perpetual scowl was the first thing that everyone had seen. "Yeah, what-"

He was cut off by Raiga, putting a hand on the back of his head and violently shoving him forward with a toothy grin. Taiga stumbled out, nearly biting into the concrete. He quickly turned around as rage seeped through his visage.

"Y-you asshole!" He pointed and belted out the insult.

"Look who's here," Raiga smiled, putting their cheeks together and stroking his curly, blonde hair affectionately. "It's Leonardo. He's my hot, new boyfriend."

Taiga looked shocked and irritated all at the same time. "You're shitting me?" He sounded like he sincerely hoped that his brother was joking about the two of them being together.

"Yes," Raiga purred, placing a hand on his well-muscled stomach.

Taiga held up his fist in a threatening way. "I'll hit ya so hard I'll knock off your shitty, black eye shadow!"

"I have to fuck with ya. Y'know I love you," Raiga smiled playfully.

"Like I love being stung by a jellyfish," Taiga grumbled.

"Y're being rude t'Leo." With that, the black-haired yakuza shoved his brother over to the rock star.

Taiga glared down the other blonde. "Why are you even here?" His voice was dark, and menacing.

"He wants a threesome," Raiga put his hand to the side of his mouth, as if whispering. However, he wasn't whispering at all.

Leo and Taiga blushed simultaneously. "What?"

Raiga laughed a little, "y're both cute."

"Don't call me that shit!" Taiga screamed at the top of his lungs, his face was as red as a stop light.

"Okay, okay," his brother held up his hands defensively. "Leo came t'hang with us today. That's all."

Taiga arched an eyebrow and folded his arms over his barrel chest. "You mean he came to hang with you." Every time they hung out, it was Raiga who occupied most of Leo's time and he who was always the background man.

"Let's all hang together," Raiga was determined to make his brother see that they were going to be legit about it and he wasn't going to hog the rock star's attention.

"You aren't gonna ditch me?" Like hell Taiga was hanging out with them to be stuck as the third wheel. If they were going to act like that, they could forget about bringing him along at all.

"Man's honor," Raiga promised. "We'll even go where y'wanna go." It was the least he could do for his dear little bro. If it made him feel more included, then he didn't mind catering to his needs. Family meant everything to the older yakuza.

"Let's go to the park," Taiga suggested.

XxXxXxXxXx

They found themselves at the park after a while. Remarkably, few people were even there. There were a few teens that walked around on the walkways, and a couple sat on one of the benches, in front of the water fountains. There were a few trees, swing sets and an area where younger kids played with various jungle gyms and spring rides.

Raiga, Taiga and Leo sat on one of the concrete railing that decorated the park for aesthetics. The black-haired brother sat on one side of the blonde and the blonde brother sat on the other side.

"Hey, Leonardo," Raiga turned to the rock star, "what do y'wanna do after y'finish high school? Do y'plan on bein' a rock star forever?"

"Hell yeah!" Leo smiled brightly and said with enthusiasm. "Rock is my passion. It burns in my soul red hot. What about you, Raiga? Gonna be a yakuza forever?"

"They're my brethren. Gotta take care of my guys. At least until Taiga takes my place." Raiga grinned at his brother.

"Yeah right, I could never be as good as you," Taiga begged to differ. His brother gave him way too much credit.

"Sure y'can," Raiga tried to give his brother a sense of empowerment. "Stop bein' a girl."

"What did you call me?" Taiga fumed.

"A girly madam," his brother teased, batting his eyes like a flirtatious woman.

"Go drown in your own fecal matter!" Taiga shot callously. He was many things, but a girl wasn't one of them. Fuck Raiga and his idiotic insults!

"Y'r makin' Leo feel awkward," Raiga gestured to their friend. Honestly, Taiga was embarrassing the poor guy. All the rocker could do was look between them awkwardly.

"Like you don't?" Taiga shot back. Raiga had no room to talk. He was the one responsible for making Leo feel the most uncomfortable. In fact, he almost always made Leo feel uncomfortable every time they were together.

"He loves me. Don't y'Leo?" Raiga gave the other male the best pleading look he could pull off. He looked as if he would break if Leo told him no.

"Well," Leo started to say, but trailed off. Why did Raiga insist on putting him in these weird positions?

"Y'know what I want for my birthday?" Raiga asked.

"What?" The rock star was a little afraid to ask.

"I want y'to write a song about me." That wasn't quite the request he thought that the yakuza was going to make. Leo thought it was going to be something sexual, and it turned out being something that was heartfelt.

It threw him off guard.

"Ya don't have to wait for that. I can write one for ya in a jiffy." Just then, an idea struck him. "Hey, I know! I'll sing it for ya at graduation. It'll be my graduation present!" Smiling, Leo beamed with pride and excitement. He couldn't wait to start putting something together for his best friend. It was going to be great! He was sure that Raiga was just going to love it.

"We only have a day," Raiga blinked. "Can y'really come up with everything like that?" If he could, then Leo was impressive at making last minute preparations. He knew that Leo was gifted and outstanding, but doing something that fast blew his mind.

Then again, he was no music artist.

"Don't underestimate my imagination," Leo gave him a confident smile. Raiga had no idea. Songs came to him like nothing and it was easy to make one from thoughts alone. Make some good lyrics and a catchy beat and he'd crank out something worthy of being a hit in no time. Raiga was a nice subject, and easy to come up with some good lyrics about.

"I'll do something for y'in return," Raiga's grin couldn't be any wider. At this rate, he looked like a Cheshire cat. Then, he noticed his brother scowling at him. "Nothing nasty. Stop lookin' at me like that."

Honestly, what kind of person did Taiga think he was?

"But, I wasn't-" Leo was cut off.

"I'm talking about little bro. He's lookin' at me like I'm gonna buy ya a dildo or something," Taiga could cast some of the most incriminating looks he'd ever seen. Raiga felt himself being blasted to smithereens by his brother's gaze.

"Not like you haven't done that shit," Taiga growled. There was nothing that Raiga wouldn't do for a sexual innuendo or for a laugh.

"Are y'talkin' about that one time I bought you a sucker shaped like a penis?" Raiga asked that question in all too innocent of a manner.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Taiga shouted in embarrassment. If there was one thing he didn't want out in the open, it was his brother talking about that incident.

"You ate it when you were bored," Raiga chuckled.

"That was our secret!" Taiga's face turned red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Reaching over Leo's lap, he tried to punch his brother in a fit of rage, but Raiga dodged his punch and shoved him backwards, causing him to lose his balance and fall from the wall backwards, tumbling into the bushes on the other side.

"You bastard!" The blonde yakuza shouted as his feet kicked around in the foilage.

"I like pickin' on him. He gets so mad. It's hilarious," Raiga couldn't hold back his laughter. Watching Taiga tumble down the other side of the wall was priceless. His feet were the only thing he could see in that bush, which made it all the more funny.

He then turned to Leo. "By the way, Leo, that song I want. I want it to be how you feel about me. Do y'think y'can do that?" It was his last request before they went their separate ways.

Blushing a little, Leo blinked in confusion. "What are ya getting at?"

"Can y'do that for me?" Raiga pressed the subject.

"S-Sure," Leo still wasn't sure what exactly he meant by that. Was Raiga trying to insinuate something?

"I want it to be real," Raiga gave him a serious look, "no bullshit."

The rocker's face morphed into a stern expression. "No bullshit, man's honor."

That was a promise he could keep.

...To Be Continued