11. Heartbreak Healing

Authors note: Well well well, just as I promised in the last chapter, I have a couple of new announcements to make! Thank you so much for reading up to this part! I know it is really unconventional to see me use another author's update so soon, but I hope the announcement is worth the quick succession of announcements!

First new update is that I now have a dedicated YouTube channel for this story! It is not going to be a full fledged project but it is more of an outlet for me to ramble about the story, its lore and any adjacent topics that interest me and something that I would like to share in general!

the link of it will be posted here: https://www.youtube.com/@AuthorBangfolk

Moving on to another announcement, I will be doing my best to reach a satisfying stopping point before the competition wraps up in January 13th. I have a potential obvious stopping point where I think readers can be satisfied but also can have a peek at the future of where the story can go. It would be impossible to finish the entire story before the date so I will make it finishing the first major arc as the main milestone to reach by Jan 13th. While the updates might slow down past the date due to the new year commitments, I will try and keep updating until the story is fully complete! No guarantees but will try my best!

Now onto the actual story, thank you for reading and let's us get started!

Day: 4

Afternoon

Kenzo POV

"Where the hell is Daiki?"

He was currently standing at the school gates and patiently waiting for his friend to come outside, the stream of students walking by mostly ignoring him.

Kenzo is getting slightly concerned.

Despite the fact that they were in the same class, Daiki was almost invisible in class today, Kenzo was not able to find the guy and was struggling to figure out wherever he was during the breaks.

He has been recently busy because of his new love life but has been radio silent since last night.

Bro gets laid once and now its hoes before bros.

Not that Kenzo thought of Daiki's girlfriend in such a manner, was just reiterating the funny saying.

I mean....something was up with her though.

The girl had seemed really suspicious (he has forgotten her name) and their chemistry whenever he noticed them together was...odd to say the least.

Not that qualifies calling her a hoe of course, but she had something up her sleeve, and Kenzo wanted to figure what exactly was going on there.

He did try and give some pointers to Daiki for his relationship but with the lack of communication it has been hard to get a hold of him and understand how he has been progressing.

Daiki had also tried to send advice for Kenzo's issue but it was more in line with heart-warming quotes or hopecore videos (Kenzo was not even aware that was a genre of videos that existed).

Daiki has always been the only friend Kenzo has had for ages.

He in the same fashion was the only friend Daiki had, and that was much due to Daiki rejecting anyone else who approaches him due to his money and attractiveness.

Kenzo assumed that Daiki felt in debt for what Kenzo did for him when they first met, to which Kenzo always said it was no issue, however Daiki did not listen and always rejected others to make sure he had always tried to repay back that debt by totally focusing on Kenzo and not make him feel lonely.

Not that he would ever feel that, but he appreciated the sentiment.

No matter what though, they always had each others backs.

A guy with black and white hair crashed into Kenzo, apparently not looking where he was going while Kenzo was reminiscing about their relationship. 

"Holy are you blind!? Look where you are walking..." Kenzo yelled, agitated by the crash.

The black and white haired boy growled with furious eyes in his direction, before his face softened after recognising Kenzo's face.

Well plot convenient crash strikes again...

In front of him stood a very frustrated and angry boy, but Kenzo knew full well who this boy was.

"Been a while Daiki...what the hell happened to you?"

Daiki sighed, his anger that he had been bottling up releasing like gas escaping a soda bottle.

"Sorry Kenzo...I have something to share..."

*****

Aoi POV

"This is bullshit..." Aoi muttered to herself as she was currently standing  a few blocks away from school. Her path back home was currently blocked by 5 guys, the one leading them she recognised very well. 

"You'll get what you deserve..." Her ex growled as he now had four others backing him, although they looked like they were dragged here and rather do something fun. 

"Did you really come all this way, with your goons, to intimidate a girl? You are such a pussy..." She sighed as her insult just hit deaf ears and all the guy had was a permanent angry scowl on his face.

His minions were not saying much. Aoi imagined they probably just showed up either to try their luck and get frisky with a girl in a pretence of a 'fight'.

Their faces had morphed from boredom to apparently more focused, that awful thought completely written on their faces.

If I can kick the ass of my ex and a bunch of perverts, that's a good ending for a pretty shitty school day...well...

Her thoughts drifted to her karate helper.

Not all shitty...

"Charge!" her boyfriend yelled as the five boys made their advance.

And just like earlier, her ex had severely underestimated his opponent.

After a minute of an extremely quick tussle, the five of them were now groaning and flat on the floor, rolling around in pain.

"Waste of time and space..." she muttered as she continued her way back home, but before she could leave her now very embarrassed ex called out to her, his face now a criss cross pattern of bruises.

"Listen here Aoi! You are messing with me! My cousin is the head of our gang! You are not going to be ready for any of his wrath here me now!"

Aoi just tossed her head back to address him one final time, having finally gotten her revenge and ending their relationship permanently. "How do you think your boss would think that you have gone and harassed a girl and still lost?"

She was met with silence and that was all she needed as she continued on her path, her mind now just fixated on healing the character regression he made her suffer through and moving on.

And maybe finally getting a chance to properly thank Kenji...

*****

Kenzo POV

Kenzo had a face of contemplation as he sat and listened to the heartbreak his friend was going through. Daiki had just finished bringing Kenzo up to speed what happened the past few days, especially the breakup and the hangout.

"So...even though you guys seemed chill during the movie, you just collapsed after she left?"

Daiki looked awkwardly at Kenzo as he nodded ashamedly.

"Listen, I felt I was playing the nice guy way too straight and I thought I was doing everything right! After that rejection however I was coping and thinking why did she just not find me attractive and all, but then I saw a video on the net and then got into a rabbit hole of acting like a bad boy, and transformed myself overnight..."

"Holy shit man..."

"I know, it is cringe...but love is pretty cringe i guess..."

Kenzo stared at Daiki who looked very vulnerable, looking at his best friend for support.

"Bro...love is not cringe, you made it cringe!" The fact stabbed right through Daiki's heart, the statement so harsh but true, it made him  grab his chest as if he was impaled physically. 

Kenzo continued, feeling that Daiki needed to hear all this.

"This overreaction over a girl you just met over a few days is some anime level cringe and is way below you! You should not crumble and toss aside your self worth over a girl who probably literally just hangs out on the streets..."

"Wait Kenzo, it does not really matter her background..."

"You are getting my point though? She does not genuinely know you! She says she wants to explore and understand what your guys relationship is supposed to be? Let her do that! She and you have just gotten used to each other, while it may seem annoying to see other couples instantly make it, at least it aint all over."

Daiki felt that last statement was about Kenzo's current situation.

Daiki reached out to comfort Kenzo, to return the favour of helping him out today with the talk.

Kenzo slapped his hand out of the way, which startled Daiki.

"Listen Daiki, I will be completely honest, I am fed up with the attitude of yours that you need to be nice to me all the time..."

Daiki was a bit surprised at this but Kenzo continued to explain.

"You have this vibe around you where you always are coming to me with good vibes and always trying to help me out...but I think this entire experience had been a wake up call for both me and you..."

Daiki eyes widened and interjected a question of how. Kenzo ignored it and continued explaining his position.

"I have been way too lenient with you, letting you be a nice guy and all. The problem with that over the years is something that I have fester for too long and it really took a third party to intervene to let me see the picture now. Your character and personality is all about you being good. You don't strive to do more than helping me out because you feel guilty for how I sacrificed my social life to help you out."

The cold honest truth silenced Daiki fully. He now had all his attention directed to Kenzo and listening to what was probably an unsaid feeling he had for a while, which only perfectly manifested due to the current situation.

"maybe I have been selfish using your niceness too, but my bottom line is, you come off too sterile. You lack goals, lack motivation, or lack depth. You are a by-product of the problem of you not having to face your own problems, and rather having me deal with them."

This therapy session was not going the way it usually went for Daiki.

Whenever he had an issue, he would complain to Kenzo, who would smile and give him some insight before they banter and go back to normal.

Daiki however understood this was all true, and with a slow dawning realisation, he realised that his lack of a core personality was a huge issue. All he had as a goal was paying back a debt to Kenzo and thus being the nice person everyone envisioned him to be.

"My last advice bro, it is Friday evening, so I will contact you over the weekend to game and all but really listen to this please..."

Daiki tuned in to hear this.

"Find yourself. Self discover. This girl has her own shit and even though I might be pissed at her breaking your heart, it is your responsibility to move past the block of your past and what happened. Live for yourself, because Daiki, I free you from paying me back. I have relied on you too much but I want you to now rely on yourself...."

This was a profound statement from his usually wise cracking friend. All he could do was nod and say a curt thanks.

Kenzo nodded back and then decided to leave Daiki with his own thoughts, "It is the least I can do as the president of the Electric Heart Club...meeting all these new people and getting all these new experiences is giving me a fresh insight too..."

Daiki mulled over what Kenzo said as his friend left him to himself to contemplate the brutal truths. Daiki felt this weekend was going to be a long one, a weekend of contemplation, but he realised it was something he eventually needed to do.

Daiki then decided its best to start somewhere. A question he avoided asking due to it being seemingly 'rude'.

"What do my parents...actually do with all their time?"

***** 

Day: 4

Afternoon

The Leader saw the bruised members of his gang show up with their heads down, there eyes downcast with embarrassment as they recounted the recent fight they had with Aoi.

"So...you guys attacked an unprovoked woman for what?.." The leader asked, his face showcasing how stupid he found the situation.

They all pointed to Aoi's ex, who just chuckled sheepishly, now that the truth is out in the open.

"You absolute dumbass..." The leader approached the boy and glared, making eye contact at him, which made the guy immediately shrink in fear.

He shook his head at he stared at the sad state of his members, how they have humiliated the reputation of his gang, and he then decided to fix this problem.

He decided to send a final announcement over the PR system in code, like the delinquent gangs normally do. He knew that most students were loitering around school, and if even if the people he directed the message to were not here, they would hear it by Saturday as it would circulate through everywhere in the student body.

"This is to address all the Metal Fang members and Aoi...I have a proposal I will send to the karate club. Some of my members have stepped out of line and made a fool of my brethren. I understand some of you are frustrated by this entire situation and I am putting a proposal forward. I am aware the club is putting together an upcoming karate club tournament fight on Sunday. We are proposing to fight Aoi, or whoever she chooses to fight on her behalf in this tournament. A free for all. If she wins our best fighter, we will concede and reward her for all her troubles. However, if she loses, then we get compensation on our reputation by being declared the best fighters in the school.

Thank you for listening, see you all in two days".