Chapter 3

Minami stood outside the school's front gates with her phone held to her ear. “Yes,” she said, “Yes, I understand…” she sighed before saying, “Don’t worry, I’m finally on a good sports team. We’ll be able to compete, and I’m sure there will be some kind of reward.” Her eyes saddened before she said, “I know…I’m still going to try my best.” Ryusuke walked up to the school as he took notice of her, “But this time I-” She then gave a heavy sigh before responding, “Yes…I understand. Okay, I love you, bye.” Minami lowered her phone and tapped on the red phone to hang up. She sighed before she turned to walk into the school,

“Ah! Choki-San!” Ryusuke said as he caught up

to her,

“Oh, hey,” she said as she looked at Ryusuke, “I uh, just got here.”

“Me too.”

“Cool,” She responded as she cleared her throat. As she wiped her eyes, he then asked her,

“Are you okay?”

“Hm? Yeah! I’m fine; I was just on the phone with my mom. She just wanted to know how I was doing.”

“Ah, that’s nice. What’s your mom like?”

“She’s very kind and loving, and she’s honestly the best mother anyone could ask for.”

“She sounds lovely!”

“She is.”

“Anyways, I was thinking of this one guy who could possibly recruit to the team! He used to do track and field, but now he’s in an automotive club! However, he is a third-year, so I doubt he would want to consider how we’re in lower grades, but I figured let’s give it a shot!”

“Oh, uh, yeah, okay. Sounds good.” she said as they drew closer to the school, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you want to do dodgeball?”

“Oh, that’s simple; it’s because my brother is doing it.” He smiled before saying, “Growing up, it was just me, my brother, and my father. My mom died when I was little. Anyways, I’ve always looked up to my brother like a god, and someday I really want to make him proud of me.” He sighed as he said, “I was picked on a lot; as such, I always thought he was embarrassed by me. So now that I’m doing dodgeball, it’ll be something I’ll do that’ll make him proud of me.”

“That honestly sounds really nice,” she said with a smile, “I mean, not the part about you being picked on, but your brother being the reason you want to do dodgeball.”

Ryusuke laughed before saying, “Yeah! I get what you mean!”

“That’s a relief!” She said with a sigh,

“So, just letting you know, you don’t have to wear a Bunny Costume if you don’t want to.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, you just seemed uncomfortable with it; I figured you were shy about your body.”

“Oh, I’m not.” She said, “I just,” she blushed as she looked away slightly, “I just don’t know if I want Yakuza to see me like that, ya know? I mean, I like him, and part of me wants to wear a Bunny Costume for him, but at the same time, he is our rival, and I don’t want him to have some form of blackmail on us.”

“So you really aren’t shy about your body?”

“Well, I mean, I am about certain things, but most of the time not really. When I practice my Kata at home, I don’t wear a shirt.”

“Oh, so like a sports bra and-“

“No, I don’t wear a sports bra either.”

Ryusuke’s face turned red as blood sprayed from his nose, “Y-You don’t wear anything to cover yourself?!”

“No, not really. Most of the time, having clothing on when practicing is very restricting.”

“Y-You aren’t going to be topless when we have a game, though, right?!”

“No, of course not.” She said before she grinned and leaned into him, “Unless you want me to.”

“N-No! I’d rather you wear your jersey!!”

“You sure? Your face is bright red!” Minami laughed before saying, “Alright! Alright! I’ll keep my clothes on!” She sighed before saying, “So you’ll take me to that one guy after school, right?”

“Yeah, of course!”

“Alright,” she said with a smile, “I’ll see you then!” And with that, Minami went into the school. The school day went by as any regular school day was—homeroom, then science, math, philosophy and ethics, and so on. Ryusuke waited patiently for Minami before she eventually ran over to him; her school bag seemed a bit bigger than usual.

“What do you have there?” Ryusuke asked,

“Oh, it’s nothing much, don’t worry about it.”

“Alright,” He said as he took her through the school, “There’s a lot I don’t know about this guy; the only thing I know about him is what he used to do and what he does currently. So just try not to offend him; we have no clue what could set him off.”

“I see,” she responded, “And what’s his name?”

“Takarada Yaguchi.”

“Hmm, Yaguchi.” She said, “Alright, got it!” The two wandered down the hall in silence for a while. Ryusuke then finally decided to speak up,

“Hey, so, Choki-San, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?”

“No, not really.”

“Why not?”

“Well, there’s never really been anyone stronger than me.” She said, “However, he doesn’t have to be stronger than me; it’s just a preference. So if any guy that likes me asked me out, I’d probably say yes. It just depends on who it is.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah,” she said, “However, I have my mind and heart set on Yakuza, so I likely wouldn’t say yes unless he beat Yakuza in a fight.”

“O-Oh…I see…”

“Why do you ask?” She responded. Ryusuke then jumped as he began to panic, “Do you want to be my boyfriend or something?”

“W-Well, n-no, I-”

“Well, do you?” she asked as she stopped in front of him, “I don’t mind! Maybe you should give me a kiss!” She teased as she leaned forward as if she were going to kiss him,

“N-No! I-I’m okay!!!”

“Well, alright.” She said with a giggle as she turned and walked down the hall, “It’s a shame; you would’ve been my first kiss.”

They then came to a stop as they stood in front of a large garage which was part of the school. Loud music and the sound of tools could be heard from the other side of the door. “Wow, is this it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Sweet!” Minami said as she opened the door and walked inside. She was instantly taken back by all the girls in bikini tops and low-hanging shorts. “Oh…uh,” she looked around before she found a switch. She moved the switch downwards, which caused the music to shut off, and the eyes in the room then turned to her.

“Ch-Choki-San-“

“It’s okay,” Minami said as she looked at Ryusuke. She then walked to the middle of the room and said, “Hi! I’m looking for Takarada Yaguchi! Is he here?!”

“Depends on who’s asking,” a voice came. A boy stood up and walked over to her. Minami gasped as she said,

“Wow! Are you a transfer student too?!”

The young man scoffed before saying, “No, I live here in Japan.”

“Oh,” Minami said, a bit embarrassed, “I just…well…the color of your skin…I uh,” she then squealed before saying, “N-Not that there’s anything wrong with it! I d-don’t discriminate or anything or-” she bowed to him and said, “I’M SORRY FOR ASSUMING THINGS!!!!!”

“You’re fine,” he said, “Yeah, you don’t find many black people living in Japan. So I don’t blame you.” He then folded his arms as she straightened herself out, “So tell me, why are you looking for me?”

“Oh, you’re Takarada-Senpai?”

“Call me Yaguchi,”

“Oh, well, uh…” She cleared her throat before she turned and looked at Ryusuke. Ryusuke only shrugged in response, not knowing what to do.

“Listen, as much as I appreciate you coming in here and turning off the music. I’d like to know what-“ Minami then quickly opened her bag before she spun and threw a dodgeball at him as hard as she could. At that moment, time began to slow down. Yaguchi looked at the ball before turning and looking down the room to see the ball was headed for a collision course with his latest work. He sighed before quickly reaching out and palming the ball before he spun and threw it back. Minami then caught the ball into her stomach as she stumbled back a bit.

“Wow,” she said, “You’re pretty fast!”

“Are you with the Dodgeball team?”

“I am! I’m the captain!” She said, “We’re trying to get new team members! This year we really want to go all out so we can compete! We’ll even take down Yakuza and his team!”

“I see,” he said as he reached one hand in his back pocket and the other in the pocket on his side. He pulled out a cigarette and a lighter, which he then used to smoke. “Interesting.”

“Uh…are you supposed to be-?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said before he nodded his head to the side, “Come with me.” He then took Minami and Ryusuke into an office where he sat across from them at a desk. Minami closed the door as Yaguchi said, “Did you know I attempted to go out for the dodgeball team my first year?”

“What happened?” Ryusuke asked,

“The current captain at the time was racist,” he said, “However, I did track and field, at least until the end of my second year when I tore my ACL, now I’m here.”

“Oh, well, I assure you it’s different. I’m certainly not racist!” Minami said, “However, I still apologize for assuming you were a transfer student!”

“It’s fine,” Yaguchi said with a chuckle,

“Um…where are you from? If you don’t mind me asking?” Minami asked,

“My father is from right here in Japan; he was born in Kyoto, my mother is from Nigeria, and her mother is from Jamaica.”

“Oh, that makes sense why you did track and field.” Ryusuke said, “Some of the fastest people on the planet are from there! They’re so cool! I watched the summer Olympics one year! It’s crazy how fast they are!”

“Yeah, it’s crazy.” Yaguchi said as he extinguished the cigarette in a crystal tray, “Did you know Dodgeball originated from Africa?”

“Really?!” Minami said, absolutely shocked, “When I did my research after I went home, I always assumed it was from China!”

“That’s what some people believe; it might actually be true. However, the first solid bit of evidence that we have and the first recorded history of the game was in Africa. It was a little over 200 years ago, and instead of balls, they threw rocks at each other.”

“Ouch…” Minami said,

“They said it was a game to build endurance in their warriors, but sometimes it was to the death.”

“Sounds intense…” Ryusuke said,

“It might have been,” he said as he leaned forward and smiled, “Either way, dodgeball is in my blood. So if you want me to play, then you’ve got my attention.”

“Uh, yeah! Yeah! We’d love that!” Minami said as she reached in her back and pulled out some papers and a pen, “Uh, just fill these out, it’s a sign-up sheet, consent form, and you’ll put your shirt and pants size so we can get uniforms and stuff.”

“I see, and is there anything else you need from me?”

“Nope! Not really!”

“Good,” he said with a smile as he began to fill out the forms, “With this, I can finally show the school what I’m really made of. I’m often overlooked and steered away from due to the color of my skin.”

“Well, I assure you that no one on the team is like that.” Ryusuke said, “Well, at least from the team we have so far. After you, we still need about one to possibly five more members.” He paused before he looked at Minami and said, “Wait, how many members do you think we’ll need?”

“I think seven will be fine,” Minami responded, “It would give us two substitutes, plus it’s the perfect number.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, in America, it’s considered a lucky number. However, I really like the number because my favorite movie of all time is Seven Samurai. So I think seven players to reflect the samurai would be great.”

“Oh, that actually sounds pretty nice.”

“It does,” Yaguchi said as he then handed Minami back the papers, “Anything else?”

“Not really,” Minami said, “Practices are usually after school, however, there’s no practice today. So I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Sounds great,”

“See you then!” Minami said as she took the papers and stood up, “Come on, let’s go.” She said to Ryusuke as she left the room. Ryusuke followed shortly after her, and they began to walk back through the school.

“Say, Choki-San?” Ryusuke said as he grabbed onto the straps of his bag,

“What is it?”

“Since there’s no practice today, I was wondering…would you like to go somewhere with me?”

“Where would you want to go?”

“Oh, uh, I haven’t really thought that far. I figured since you transferred here, there might be somewhere you want to go.”

“Hmmm,” she said to herself as she put Yaguchi’s papers into her bag, “Actually, I’ve got to head home today.”

“Oh, I see…”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, but thanks for asking me. We can hang out some other time, okay?”

“Yeah, sure!”

A//N

Chapter 3 complete! When I first posted this story I didn’t think it would be very popular! However in the first day of the contest this story for over 500 reads! 500 READS!!!! When I started writing it took MONTHS to get to 500 reads and now I’ve done it in less than a day!

Well, guess this means I have to share things about the characters now! Lol!

To get this out of the way for the people who will want to know in the long run…Minami’s chest size is 87 cm which in Japan is a 65 E and in America is a 30 D. When I planned her out, I knew I wanted her to be busy, but I didn’t want her to be so busty she was out of proportion. I knew she was going to be muscular, so I tried to give her breasts in proportion with the rest of her muscles!

Her birthday is July 10th and her favorite food is whatever’s closest to her and whatever she can get in her mouth. She’s also a fan of Super Sentai, with her favorite seasons being Denshi Sentai Denjiman and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, she plans to marry Gokai Red once they invent inter dimensional and inter universal travel.

Minami is also inspired by Ushio Hinomaru from Hinomaru Sumo. A lot of my friends think she’s inspired by Hibiki from How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Lift, but really she’s inspired by Hinomaru. Hinomaru has a fire in his eyes and a drive to become the best. He never gives up in a match, and when he’s beaten he acknowledges that he loses and he goes right back to training. I knew if I ever made a sports series I wanted the main character to have a similar drive.

Yakuza is inspired by Kazuya Mishima from Tekken. However, unlike Kazuya, Yakuza was not thrown from a cliff by his father as a child. The main reason for his inspiration was Kazuya’s design. I really like Kazuya’s hair and how he’s tall and muscular and really has that whole “he’s a huge f***ing jerk” look. Another person with this look is Kazuma Kiryu from the popular game series Yakuza, who Yakuza is also inspired by, and it’s the same franchise he’s named after. I still haven’t played Like a Dragon…

Ryusuke is 166cm or 5 foot 5 and a half, which makes him 3 and a half inches shorter than Minami. His favorite food is Onigiri which he likes to put Teriyaki sauce on. Despite me having him planned out and having him written, I still don’t have a design for him. One of his earliest concept designs had him looking like Deku but with glasses. When Pacho described him as pretty I then pictured him with longer hair. I’m still having troubles with a design…

Pacho is about 167 cm or 5’6” making him three inches shorter than Minami. Like Ryusuke, he still doesn’t have a design, and doesn’t even have a concept design! His strange infatuation with Minami is that she’s bigger and possibly stronger than him. Being a big guy himself he’s always been worried about having a normal girlfriend because he doesn’t want to accidentally hurt her, the fact that Minami is so tall and really muscular is quite attractive to him!

Daisuke is 172 cm or 5’8” making him only an inch shorter than Minami. He greatly admires Minami for her strength and athletic abilities. Despite Minami being the Captain of the team he still sees himself as the main father of the team. He’s bisexual and has a boyfriend! His boyfriend will appear later in the story!

Yaguchi is 180 cm or 5’11”! He’s two inches taller than Minami but an inch shorter than Yakuza who is 182 cm or 6’0”! Like he mentioned, his mother is from Nigeria, and his father from Japan! He’s the same type of mixed race that I am, except both my parents were black, so my biological grandfather or grandmother must’ve been Japanese since it’s not as big of a percentage as everything else, but still in the majority! Yaguchi is named after my favorite human character in the Godzilla franchise, Rando Yaguchi from Shin Godzilla. If the dodgeball team were the Justice League, Minami would be Superman, Ryusuke would be Green Lantern, Daisuke would be Martian Manhunter, Pacho would be…uh…

….and Yaguchi would be the Flash respectively!

Next chapter hits on Sunday! Make sure to go follow me on Twitter @geisha_official where I’ll post updates and even drawings! Once Minami’s team is fully assembled there will be a character popularity poll!