Concert

   After a stop at the nearest gas station, we made it to Azumi's house. Azumi's mother was home; passed out on the couch with a beer bottle in her hand, and the tv on. After turning the tv off, taking the beer bottle, and covering her up, we headed to the house in the back. Azumi's mother had gotten tired of them blaring music and being up 'till all ours of the night. Apparently building a house in the backyard was good enough for her.

   Walking through the backyard, we walked around to behind the house. Grabbing the dog, we went through the door. After the boy's had grabbed their clothes, and gone into the bathroom, we went into the bedroom and changed.

   Azumi had changed into a black T-shirt with the words 'Do Not Give This Person Anything Sharper Than A Crayon' with blood dripping off of every letter on the front with the word 'DANGER' in big red letters on the back, her black shorts stopped just above her knees.

   I changed into black shorts that ended at my knees, and a black T-shirt that had the words 'I really wish you were a pinata' on it with a little red devil with a bat in his hand. We had both pulled our hair into ponytails.

   Waiting in the livingroom for the boys', we grabbed a couple cans of soda from the fridge.

   " So what really happened in the principals office?" Azumi asked, opening her can of Pepsi.

   " Why do you want to know?" I retorted, opening the can of mountain dew she gave me.

   " Because she asked Osamu and me if something was wrong at home."

   " Yea, she asked me the same thing."

   " Well, what'd you tell her?" Azumi asked just before the guys came out.

   " So . . . How do we look?" Kenji asked standing in front of us, with Osamu right beside him. Osamu and Kenji were both dressed in a pair of jeans and a concert T-shirt.

   " Yea, you guys look so much different, but I have one question. Why is it that you take longer to get ready than both of us together?"

   " Let's just go already." Kanji said, walking to the back door to let the dog out. Coming back to the living room, he grabbed Osamu by the back of his shirt, and dragged him out of the little house.

   " Who has the tickets?" Osamu asked, looking among the three of us.

   " I do, here in my pocket." Azumi shouted, holding up her hand and waving it.

   " Okay, who has the money?" Kenji asked.

   " I got it." I said, pulling out a wad of money from my back pocket. Counting it, I came up with two-hundred dollars.

   " Who votes on getting some soda and a pound of candy?" Azumi asked, grabbing the money and walking toward the nearest gas station.

   " Hey, she's right. We have to walk four more miles, I say we get hiped up on sugar." Osamu said, following his sister, leaving Kenji with me. Waiting until they were in the store, I sat down on the edge of the side walk. Kenji sat beside me and asked,

   " What happened to us Mizuki?"

   " What do you mean?"

   " We used to hang out all the time, now the only time we see each other-"

   "-is when there's a concert. I know, and I'm sorry, but my life isn't as easy as it used to be before. Having to watch my father drink, my mother always at work, and my sister is always afraid. School, work, and basically everything else in my life I feel like I’m growing up too fast. I really have no idea what to do. I'm sixteen years old, but I act like an adult? But life is a b***h, and you have two choices, you wanna know what those are?"

   " What?" He whispered, throwing his arm over me.

   " Get over it, or die. And I don't feel like doing that just yet. Not when Misaki still needs me."

   " Hey, we still need you too. What would we do without our Mizuki?"

   " I am not property!"

   " Of course you're not, but you know we could always get our own place."

   " When you say 'we', you mean those two too, right?"

   " Nope, just you, me, and Misaki. And 'those two' as you so nicely put it, can get a place of their own."

   " No. Me and you? No, no way, not around my little sister."

   " You know that those two can always watch her."

   " I can't believe we're talking about this." I said, putting my head in my hands.

   " Hey, you know Dad would sign for us, we'd just have to pay the bills." Kenji said, pulling me closer to him.

   " I know, but I'm only 16. I wouldn't be aloud out of the house if my parents thought I would move away."

   " We could always add onto Azumi's place."

   " That's a good idea, we'd need some more money though, I know the seven-hundred I make can't cover all of it, and we can't forget about the bills I already have to pay, which takes about, I'd say, three-hundred. So how much do you make a month?"

   " Around eight-hundred."

   " Where do you work?"

   " Online."

   " Lucky! Here comes the other two." I said, looking to my left.

   " I guess you're right." Kenji said, standing up, pulling me with him, not letting go of my hand.

   " You two have a nice talk?" Osamu asked, handing us mountain dew.

   " Yea, what took you so long? The concert starts in two and a half hours." Kenji said, releasing my hand and taking a bag of candy from Azumi.

   " Cashier couldn't cash a hundred-dollar bill. Please tell me again why we're not getting a cab?"

   " It's day light out and if Kenji's dad can't pick us up, then we have to call a cab." I said, taking some candy from Kenji's hand and walking behind him.

   " I'm sure Dad can pick us up." Kenji said, walking toward me.

   " I don't think he could pick all of us up." I said, looking at Azumi, who was standing next to her brother.

   " Mizuki, are you calling me fat?" Osamu said, thinking I was looking at him.

   " No." I said, pointing at Azumi, I added, " I was calling her fat."

   Hiding behind Kenji, I looked over his shoulder at Azumi. When she looked my way, she had a look of hurt in her eyes.

   " Azumi, you know I'm just playing, hell, I weigh more than you do." I said, jumping onto Kenji's back.

   " But you're so much cuter, Mizuki." Kenji said. Smacking him on the head, I took more candy from his hand.

   " Why are you two acting so friendly with each other? You haven't acted this way for . . . " Azumi trailed off, over the fact that I called her fat.

   " Since my father became a drunk? Yea, I know."

   " So, why?" Osamu asked.

   " We talked." Kenji said.

   " About what?" Azumi asked.

   " Why so interested?" I asked, looking at her, daring her to argue with me. I was tired and everyone knew it. And when I got tired, I snapped at everyone.

   " Cause, you two never talk."

   " Yes, we do. You're just never around." Kenji said as I laid my head on his shoulder.

   " Yes we are, so what did you talk about?"

   " Stuff." I said half asleep.

   " Mizuki, go to sleep, I'll wake you up when we get there." Kenji said before I passed out. I rarely ever get to sleep at home.

   "...ign say's we have another half mile till the battle of the bands concert." Osamu said. I scared them when I said,

   " Anyone else feel like we're being watched?" I lifted my head off of Kenji's shoulder, and looked at the three of them.

   " See I told you I felt something" Azumi said looking around.

   After getting off of Kenji's back, we ran the rest of the way to the concert.

   " Wow, that was fun, we should do it more often." Azumi said walking to the entrance.

   " No... we...should...n't" I said out of breath, my hands on my knees.

   " Why not?" Osamu asked, looking back at me.

   " It takes a lot of energy for me to do that." I said, falling to my knees and holding my stomach. When Kenji picked me up, I said, " And it's painful. I'm not active like you guys are. I sit on my fat a*s and eat chips all day, playing video games."

   After our tickets were checked, we found our seats in time for the concert to just start. After the first three bands were finished, another band set up and started, but was kicked off the stage for using a song that was unoriginal. After a few more bands played, I needed to use the bathroom. Azumi came with me. There was a long line when we got there. Deciding to go to the other one across the, we saw a girl with a gun pointed up onto the stage, where the lead singer was standing. Running to grab the gun before she shot the man, Azumi was right behind me. Grabbing the woman’s hand just as she pulled the trigger, I pulled causing the gun to point down and her to pull the trigger.

   " You b***h! What did you do that for?" The woman said as everyone looked at her. It was the woman that was kicked of the stage earlier.

   Before I could do anything, Azumi had gotten Kenji and Osamu.

   When we surrounded her, she dropped the gun, and backed up until she had hit Osamu. Then tried to run. She didn't get far before Azumi grabbed her and slapped her across the face.

   " If you ever speak to her like that again, you will wish you were never born." Azumi said in a whisper.

   " So, who are you to defend someone like her?! She's one of his children? Who are you, w***e?" The woman said, making Azumi back up until she was next to Osamu. That was it for me. Walking up to the woman, I grabbed her shoulder when she tried to walk away.

   " Listen here you fucked up, b***h. No one calls my sister a w***e." I said, punching the woman in the face. Before she stood back up, I kicked her in the stomach, and sent her flying back a few feet. If Kenji hadn't held me back, I would’ve killed the woman right there, in front of all those people. Walking over to my best friend, I walked her to the bathroom, while the boy's called security.

   " Hey, you gonna be all right?" I asked, grabbing a paper towel. Wetting it down, I gave it to her so she could wash her face. The last time someone had called her a w***e, it was her father, and I almost killed him when I heard about it from Osamu the next day.

   " Yea, just some really bad memories. I'm just glad everyone's all right." She said rinsing her face with cold water, then drying it with a new paper towel.

Soon there was a knock on the door. Looking out I saw Osamu and Kenji, waiting to be let in. After getting permission from Azumi, the two joined us in the bathroom.

   " The woman, Launa, was kicked out. Apparently she was harassing other people." Kenji said, sitting next to me.

   " You gonna be all right, Azumi?" Osamu asked, looking at his sister with worry in his eye's.

   " Yea, I'll be fine, but I need to use that bathroom. So everyone, OUT!" She said, literally pushing us out the door.

   Osamu said he would wait for Azumi, and that the two of us should go back to our seats. Walking to our seats, I couldn't help, but feel that something was wrong with Azumi. Running back to the bathroom, there was a strong smell of blood. Kicking the door down, there was Azumi on the floor with a knife in her hand a cut's on her arm.