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Oedo Tai drinks; it's what they do.
"Let's go drinking!" cheered at the end of their backstage interviews, the closest thing they've had to an enduring catchphrase.
"Let's do our half-assed best!" was Kagetsu's.
She's leaving.
Holding up an "O" was Hana's.
She left.
The only thing Oedo Tai gets to keep
is change.
Natsu thinks it's funny that soon she'll be the longest active member of the group.
Wrong, somehow
It feels like it was just yesterday that her inclusion had been so controversial
Kagetsu her only supporter
She's leaving
Kris always happy to have a new friend
She left
Hana and Tam so opposed to her being around
Both gone
At least they'd become friends eventually. For a little while.
Hadn't they?
If you replace all the pieces of your home
If you replace every member of your family
Is it the same?
No.
It's never the same.
But you keep trying.
Natsu, her arm draped across Saki's shoulders
trying to make the new girl feel welcome
trying to enjoy her victory after a year of hard work
She makes eye contact with Natsuko as she sips her drink,
whose smile falters for just a second.
They both know.
Kagetsu's leaving
Martina flies away at the end of the week
Jamie only has a few more months left
And then there will still be time until the draft.
They have so much more building to do
They have so many holes they need to patch
But you keep trying.
Saki laughs and rallies and yells
They toast to The Real Saki Kashima
and she doesn't cry, is not sad, Natsu never casually stretches her arm to cover for her
wiping something away from under her eye.
She complains about being used
Laments about being asked to fit in where she didn't belong
Shouts about the wrongness of giving up who you are for the sake of --
nothing,
she doesn't even know what she was thinking, what she thought might be worth it,
it's no big deal and she's fine and
Natsu casually stretches her arm over again
and certainly doesn't notice that Saki hasn't said anything
about being excited to join them.
It turns out
If you try hard enough
You can say "This is the only place I could go"
and act like you're saying
"I want to be here"
Kagetsu certainly doesn't notice either, hands clasped in front of her with anxiety,
worry,
a sense of duty that she keeps telling herself she has to ignore this time
this one time
that's all it'll take and she'll be done.
She's leaving
And most especially none of them acknowledge the empty space right next to Kagetsu
Oedo Tai is fine
Saki and Natsu stumble back to Natsu's place
awkwardly
clumsily
excited
Saki hollers and yells, throws her bag across the room
"I hate that stupid gear!" she slurs
"I'm not wearing that sparkly shit tomorrow"
she whispers
as Natsu pushes her down onto the bed
kisses her neck
her shoulder
her chest
her stomach
"It's fine,"
she whispers, slithering down, pulling the last of Saki's clothes with her
"You can wear mine"
and finally Saki stops talking
not that Natsu doesn't like her voice, but just for a little while
She'll put it to a different use
And she's so happy to be here
So glad a plan finally paid off
That Saki can't be manipulated anymore
Can't be used for someone else's schemes
Can be who she wants to be
Who she wants her to be
That Natsu won't even tell her friends
How many times
She calls her
Mayu