Chapter 4

Minami looked over the assignment at her desk and started to fill out the equations. She didn’t even notice someone whispering to her. “Hey!” She continued to do the assignment until the whisper became a bit louder, “Hey!” She then gave a soft grunt as a balled-up piece of paper was thrown at her. She turned to her right and saw a student wave at her from two seats down. She leaned back and looked at a young man in her class, “Yes, you!”

“What do you want?”

“You’re the captain of the dodgeball team, right?”

“Yeah,”

“I’d like to join!” He said with a toothy and determined grin. He pointed to himself with his thumb and said, “Name’s Ogami Gaoma! I’ll be your wild card!”

“Oh, uh, well-“ Minami was then cut off by the teacher shushing her. She sighed before she turned to the teacher with a slight glare. She looked back to Gaoma before looking back to the teacher. Minami’s hand shot into the air before the teacher pointed to her,

“Yes, Miss Choki?”

“Can I use the restroom?”

“Yes, you have-“

“I gotta pee too,” Gaoma said as he raised his hand only about halfway.

The teacher sighed before saying, “You each have five minutes.”

“Can we combine our minutes and make it ten?”

“Don’t push your luck, Mr. Ogami.”

“Fine, five minutes.” He said with a shrug as he stood up and left the room. Minami got up and started to leave the class before the teacher said.

“Miss Choki,”

“Yes?” Minami responded,

“Make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.”

“Yeah, of course.” She said before she left the classroom and stepped out into the hall. She was greeted by Gaoma, who raised his arms above his head and yawned before they started to walk down the halls. “So, you wanted to join the dodgeball team?”

“Hell yes, I do!” He said before he turned to her, “I’ve been dying for some action since the first day of school! I desperately need to take someone out!” He said as he pounded his fist into the palm of his hand.

“Oh, uh, well…are you sure you don’t want to join the fight club or-“

“Oh no, dodgeball is what I want.” He said, “What’s more badass than learning how to kill someone with a frickin ball?!”

“We don’t kill people,” Minami said as she shook her head, “Do you even know what dodgeball is?”

“Of course I do; it’s the most dangerous sport on the planet!”

She sighed before saying, “I don’t know, you seem a bit….aggressive.”

“Isn’t dodgeball aggressive?!”

“It is, but you need to be smart about it and-“

“That’s totally fine! When it comes to beating up punks, I’m basically Giovanna!”

Minami sighed before saying, “Don’t you mean Giovanni?”

“D-Don’t tell me what I know!”

“Well, first of all, Giovanni was an astronomer; his only huge contribution was the gaps in Saturn's rings and its four moons.”

“Then who the hell am I thinking of?!”

“I don’t know,” she said as she turned to head back to class, “But if you really want to see what dodgeball is about, then come by after school to the gym. Until then, I’m not sure if I want someone as violent as you on the team.” She waved to him before walking down the hall. Gaoma scoffed before he folded his arms and gave a full growl.

“What the hell does she know?! I’ll show her!”

At the end of the day, the dodgeball team stood gathered in the gym. Yaguchi and Ryusuke stood across from each other on the court with a few balls in a line. Yaguchi accelerated forward with immeasurable speed before picking up the balls individually and throwing them. Ryusuke panicked before he ducked and dodged two of the airborne balls before he was then hit in the face with the third one. “Wh-What the hell was that?!” Yaguchi asked, “You were doing so well!”

“Yeah, I know,” Ryusuke said as he rubbed his nose, “I’m sorry….”

“You know, I think you could work on your reaction time.” Pocha said as he approached Ryusuke, “Your dodges are a bit messy, and it’s almost at the last second.”

“How do you suggest I improve that?”

“Well, it’s always good to start slow. When I was training, my dad would do palm thrusts, and I would then move in rhythm with them. Over time he got faster and faster, and it helped me improve.”

“Hey! Sorry, I’m late!” Minami said as she busted into the room, “I had to take a phone call, and man, my mom is super talkative.”

“So this is the gym?” Gaoma asked as he rested his hands behind his head. Shortly after Minami, he had come into the gym, “Not bad.”

“Oh, Ogami-San, you’re here.” Minami said, turning around, “Good, let’s get started then.” She turned to everyone else in the gym and said, “This is-“

“I can introduce myself,” Gaoma said, “I’m Ogami Gaoma; I’m here to be part of the team.”

“Oh, uh…” Ryusuke said, starting to trail off,

“What exactly can you offer to the team?” Daisuke asked,

“I’ll show you!” He said, “Ball me!” The team shuddered before Daisuke sighed and tossed Gaoma a ball. “Alright then!” Gaoma then dashed off at a high speed before he reeled his arm back and said, “NOW DODGE!!!” Before he then smashed the ball against Daisuke’s face with such force that Daisuke flew horizontally before crashing onto the ground. The rest of the team gasped as Gaoma tossed the ball onto his index finger and spun it around. “Who’s next?”

“Okay! That’s enough!” Minami said as she raced over to Gaoma and took the ball from him, “What was that?!”

“Dodgeball, obviously.”

“That wasn’t dodgeball!!!”

“Well yeah, he didn’t dodge.”

“That’s not what I mean!!!” Minami said before she turned to Daisuke as he got off the floor, “Are you okay?!?!?!!”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said as he rolled up his sleeves and started to approach Gaoma, “I’m fine enough to kick this punk's ass.”

“Bring it!” Gaoma said as the two charged one another,

“NO!!!” Minami said as she ran over to them and grabbed them each by the back of their collars before grabbing the back of their heads and bashing their faces together. She then wrapped her arms around their necks and held onto them tightly.

“Aaaaaah, to be crushed by the Captain’s mighty biceps!” Pocha said with a loving smile and a twinkle in his eye. Yaguchi looked at him with a flat expression before saying,

“What the hell is wrong with you…?”

“That’s enough! Both of you!” Minami said to them, “No one is going to kick anyone’s ass! No matter how much he deserved it!” She then looked to Gaoma and said, “What you did was very stupid, reckless, and rude! Now you need to apologize!”

“For playing the ga-ACK!!!” Gaoma said before choking,

“I will pop your head clean off your shoulders, and I think you know for a fact that I can.”

“Y-Yeah! I’m sorry!!”

“And you,” Minami said as she looked at Daisuke, “As my superior and my predecessor, you should honestly behave better!”

“O-Okay! I’m sorry!!!” Daisuke said as he gagged,

“Good,” Minami said, “Now that Ogami-San is here, the least we can do is show him how the game actually works and perhaps even get along. Understand me?!”

“Y-Yes ma’am…!”

“Aaaaah, she really is a lovely woman~!” Pocha said,

“Dude, chill…” Ryusuke said,

Minami let the two of them go as she said, “Now then, you’re going to teach Ogami-San here how to play dodgeball properly!” She then turned to Gaoma and pointed a finger in his face, “And you,” Gaoma then inhaled sharply as chills shot up his spine, “So far, I’m completely fed up with you! Disturbing me during class, assaulting my teammate, and then going to fight said teammate. If you don’t listen and learn how to play the game properly, I never want to see you here again! Understand?!” Gaoma swallowed heavily before nodding,

“Okay…” Yaguchi said to Pocha, “Now I get your thing for her.”

“She’s really got a way with words, our Captain.” Pocha said with a smile,

“She’s got better qualities besides being bossy and strong….” Ryusuke said with a growl as he folded his arms.

“Alright,” Daisuke said as he picked up a ball and walked to the court before turning to Gaoma. “Here are the rules, if you get hit, you’re out, if you cross the line in the center of the court, you’re out, if a ball you’ve thrown gets caught-“

“Let me guess; I’m out?”

“That’s right,” he said, “However if you catch a ball, you get to bring back a team member who was out.”

“Seems fine,” Gaoma said as he came across the court from Daisuke, “Anything else?”

“Yeah,” Daisuke said, “Don’t get hit.” Daisuke then reeled his arm back before sending the ball through the air. Gaoma reached out his arm and caught the ball before he spun and threw it back at Daisuke with twice the force. Daisuke then caught the ball in his stomach before he gave a soft chuckle and said, “Good, very good!”

“Give me your best shot!” Gaoma said as he gestured for Daisuke to attack. Daisuke then threw the ball at Gaoma, this time a little harder. Gaoma quickly performed a powerful sidestep as he grabbed the ball. Minami huffed before she folded her arms and gave a dull growl. He moved quickly behind Daisuke before coming in front of him and throwing the ball at him. Daisuke’s eyes widened before he quickly leaned to the side, barely able to dodge.

“Woah! His agility is really amazing!” Yaguchi said,

“We could use someone like that!” Pocha added, “What do you think, Captain?”

Minami growled before she said, “Fine! He’s on the team! I don’t really care!” She then turned and stormed out of the gym.

“That was strange,” Pocha responded,

“I’ll go talk to her,” Ryusuke said as he then left the gym. He looked around before he saw Minami sitting on the floor beside the door to the gym with her knees pulled into her chest. Her head was leaned back against the wall, and she had her eyes shut, “Are you okay?” Ryusuke asked as he approached her. Minami only shook her head in response. “Do you not want Gaoma on the team?”

“I don’t mind that he’s on the team.”

“Oh, alright.” He said as he placed his hands in his pockets and exhaled softly, “Um…does this have to do with your mom? You said you talked to her earlier.”

“I didn’t talk to my mom.”

“Oh…then, why were you late?”

She then sighed before saying, “I was late because I’m early….”

“Uh, what….?” He responded, “What do you mean you’re early?” He then paused for a second before it suddenly hit him. He gasped before saying, “W-Wait, you don’t mean-“ She then gave a soft nod, “A-Are you sure?! Oh god…what do I do?! What SHOULD I do?! Do you want me to do anything?!”

“Just leave me alone for right now.”

“O-Okay!” He then looked around before he ran back into the gym, “Guys! We have an emergency!!!”

The following day Minami’s walk to school felt longer and more painful than before. She walked through the front gate before going into the school's front doors. She came to the locker room and went over to her locker, where she took her shoes off. As she opened the locker, she noticed a medium-sized box on top of her school shoes with a note attached. She took the box out and read the note.

Captain, we’re sorry you’re having a rough week! We all pitched in to get these for you! If you need time off, then take all the time you need!

Minami then opened the box to see lots of assorted chocolates and a wrapper to a candy bar. She raised an eyebrow at the wrapper before she looked back at the note.

By the way, we couldn’t stop Gaoma from eating the Chocolate Bar he got for you, so we included the wrapper to let you know he at least thought about you!

Minami gave a soft giggle before she closed the box and took out her school shoes, and put them on. She walked through the school eating off the chocolates one piece at a time before running into the dodgeball team standing outside her classroom. They looked in her direction only to be greeted by a smile from her. “Thanks, you guys; this really means a lot to me.” She then looked to Gaoma before approaching him and saying, “I’m sorry I was so hard on you yesterday. It wasn’t your fault, and if you’re still interested, I’d love to have you on the team!”

“Wh-What?! You mean it?!” Gaoma responded,

“Yeah! Of course! Just as long as you play by the rules and promise not to kill anyone!”

“Alright!!!”

A//N

Heyo! I know I said a new chapter would come out on Sunday! However, I’m going to be working all day on Sunday so I wouldn’t have time to update the story! To make up for it I’ll be uploading Chapter 5 on Monday!

Gaoma is very much inspired by Inosuke from Demon Slayer! Though truthfully he has more in common with Garou from One Punch Man! However, the main drive for me to make Gaoma was the character Gauma from SSSS. Dynazenon! Their names are even similar with the difference being the O and the U. Gaoma’s surname Ogami means Wolf and his first name Gaoma is a contraction of the word Gao ガオ meaning roar and Majime 真面目 meaning earnest/serious. In Dynazenon Gauma is a former member of Kaiju Eugenicists who are a group of people who can control Kaiju! If Gaoma could control a Kaiju it would be an original monster which is a mix of Fenrir or Fenrisúlfr, also referred to as Hróðvitnir and Vánagandr, or Vanargand, a giant wolf in Norse mythology and Cerberus, a three-headed dog who guards Hell in Greek Mythology. Gaoma’s wolf monster is named Bruce, after Bruce Willis.

Gaoma is 170 cm or 5’7” which is a few inches shorter than Minami. His hair is a silver color and is really long and covers his face with only his right eye visible. His eyes are blue and he has scars on his face. His teeth are shark-like showing he is a ferocious person, however he’s the opposite and is usually a very good boy! His favorite food is any kind of meat however he really likes oranges and tangerines.