Chapter 16

 Minami slowly woke up in the bed of the hotel room. She stretched out her hand and felt the empty space beside her. She gave a soft huff before she sat up and stretched her arms above her head. She scratched the back of her head before she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, she paused to notice Yakuza on the floor doing push ups. “What’re you doing?” She asked,

“Getting ready,” he responded,

“Oh, well uh…okay.”

“Here,” he then sat up before he walked over to his bag. He unzipped it and passed her a jersey, “This is yours.”

She caught it and looked it over, it was like his but smaller and had the number 0 on it. “Oh, uh…thanks. Can’t I wear my own jersey?”

“You’re here with me and my team, you’ll wear our jerseys.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” She said, “So when’s the first game?”

“In about a a half hour.”

“What?! A half hour?!”

“Yes.”

“Shit!” She rushed over to her bag and unzipped it as she pulled out her shoes, shorts, a new pair of underwear, and a sports bra before she ran to the bathroom. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?!” She slammed the door as she started to get ready.

“You have a schedule.”

“Yeah but I didn’t look at it!! Arrrghh!!! I wanted to shower before we left…”

“The games are usually back to back, you’ll have time to shower at the end of the day.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to smell all day!”

“Didn’t you bring deodorant?”

“I-“ she then paused before she gave a soft scream, “I forgot my deodorant!!! I knew I was missing something!!!”

“You’re welcome to use mine.”

“What?! No! I don’t want to get your armpit hairs on me or whatever!”

“It’s a spray kind.”

“Oh, well that’s fine.” After a few seconds she came out of the bathroom and raced to her bag to put her nightshirt and last night's underwear away. She grabbed her gym bag as Yakuza grabbed his before they headed out the door.

“Here,” Yakuza said as he handed her a plastic card, “It’s a room key.”

“Oh! Thanks!” She said as she took the key and put it down her jersey between her chest and bra strap. His eye twitched at her simply putting the key in her bra, he then said,

“We’ll be taking a luxury bus that’s provided by the school. The other team members will be there, so make a good impression. Don’t try to start something, and please behave.”

“Yeah, sure, do I normally not behave?”

“I don’t know, I’m just telling you to behave.”

“Well…alright,” she said with a sigh. They came to the elevator and pressed the button to go down. Once it opened they stepped inside and Minami asked, “How’d you sleep?”

“I slept fine, and you?”

“Yeah, I slept fine too.” She said as he pushed the button and the doors to the elevator closed. “So…um….” She said now beginning to stroke one of her pigtails, “Since we’re going out and all…um…I was wondering, can we um…” She blushed as she then said, “Hold hands…?”

He sighed before he folded his arms and said, “Maybe later. Focus on the game for right now.”

“Oh, alright…” She said a bit saddened. She gripped onto the strap of her gym bag before the two of them walked through the elevator doors as they opened once again.

“Just letting you know this won’t be easy,” he said as they walked through the lobby, “These players are dangerous, and have worked their whole lives for this.”

“Oh, okay…” She said as they left the lobby and started to approach the bus, “So uh…why is Regionals so long? It’s 3 months, and with some sports it’s only 3 days.”

“The Regionals for this game are a lot more intense. There are teams from all over Kantō in every prefecture, not to mention there will be teams from the Kansai regions. Specifically Kyoto and Osaka.”

“So how many teams is that?”

“We are Tokyo.” He said, “We’ll be facing Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Kyoto, and Osaka. Not to mention Kanagawa has a few teams, Yokohama, Yamato, Yokosuka, Zama, and Hadano.”

“So…13?” She asked,

“Yes,” he responded, “However, like Kanagawa, Gunma, Ibaraki, and Tochigi have multiple teams. Each has anywhere from five to seven.”

“Wow…that’s a lot…”

“Yes, and Saitama usually has 15 teams out of their 40 city prefectures, and Chiba has 10 teams from their 37 cities, 16 towns, and one village. Overall it makes-“

“62 teams…” Minami said in disbelief

“Plus Osaka and Kyoto, so 64, if we add ourselves, Tokyo, there’s a grand total of 65. Everyone plays against each other once, which takes a little over two months. Afterwards, it comes down to the win and lose streak, that are the semi-finals. The semi-finals take place over five weeks but we'd only play on one day. It would take about a month, and the last few days are the finals. So overall, a little over three months.”

“Wow…” Minami said feeling a bit overwhelmed as they came to the bus. As they got on the eyes of the team turned to Minami.

“What the hell is this?!” Rasen said as he stood up and approached them. Minami swallowed heavily before Yakuza stepped between them. “Explain yourself!”

“She’s here to play,” Yakuza informed him, “Nothing more and nothing less. You know for a fact her school plays American Dodgeball, how will they ever learn if she doesn’t experience it?”

“Is that even allowed?!”

“It’s fine,” Yakuza said, “Unless you’d like to challenge me.” Rasen glared at Yakuza as the two looked into each other's eyes. Minami looked up at Rasen, he seemed a lot scarier upclose than when he was at the qualification match. Rasen scoffed before saying,

“Whatever, just make sure she doesn’t get in our way.”

“She won’t, she usually keeps to herself anyways.” Yakuza said as Rasen walked back to his seat. Yakuza then walked through the bus before sitting down. As Minami sat beside him she turned to her left to see Kyutaro. She glared at him and went to speak,

“Kyutaro,” Yakuza said as he folded his arms and shut his eyes, “What are Osaka and Kyoto looking like this year?”

“Different,” Kyutaro said as he swiped his finger across the tablet in his lap. He looked over lots of photos before saying, “Being the richest of the prefectures, Osaka has gone all in for this years team. Their team is entirely made up of foreign exchange students outside the team captain and his right hand.” He then passed Yakuza the tablet and Yakuza took it from him and started to look everything over. “They have Mongolians, as well as North Korean and Chinese players.”

“I see,” Yakuza then began to watch a video. Minami leaned closer to him and started watching with him. First was footage of the Mongolian team members. They threw a ball and it caused a medium sized crater in a concrete wall followed by numerous cracks. The next video was showing the North Korean players durability, most of what was shown was often insurance displays for the North Korean military.

“My god…” Minami said softly as she put her hand over her mouth. When the footage of the Chinese students played they were able to do that trick that Yakuza was able to do where he threw the ball and it bounced off multiple players before it came back to his hands. “Wait…how did they do that…?”

“It’s a long and complicated explanation,” Yakuza said as he handed Kyutaro back the tablet, “But we’ll be fine.”

“What?! Fine?! I won’t! Those players will kill me.”

“Then you’re welcome to stay at the hotel during the game.” Yakuza said as he folded his arms once again before closing his eyes, “Like it or not, Choki, this is the game. It’s dangerous, and sometimes people get unrecoverable injuries, or even killed. If you can’t handle that then let me know, I’ll call Didymus and he’ll take you home.”

“W-Well…” She then sighed before saying, “Fine…” She then slid down in her seat as she folded her arms. “So…um….” She said, “Really, what was that? I saw you, my brother, and now this other team do that one trick. The one where the ball bounces off others. How do I do that?”

“It’s not easy,” he said, “You’re still a beginner, I wouldn’t attempt something like that just yet.”

“What do you mean beginner? I nearly had you at the qualification match!”

“You really didn’t,” Yakuza said,

“Yes I did! All the balls were on my side of the court!”

“I would’ve caught it.” He said, “I saw you would’ve stepped over the line, as such I let the ball hit me.”

“What if I hadn't stepped over the line?!”

“You still wouldn’t have beaten him,” Kyutaro said looking down at his tablet, “The entire match Yakuza was holding back.”

“What?!” Minami said socked,

“Going into this match he prompted us all he was going to hold back. If he hadn’t then the match would’ve ended as soon as it began.”

“Th-That's a lie!”

“It’s no lie,” Rasen said as he walked back to them, he chuckled before he leaned on the seat in front of Minami and grinned. “Yakuza, why don’t you tell our guest what kind of intense training you went through before that first match?” Yakuza scoffed as he turned away from him. “If I tell her she won’t believe me.”

“What did he do…?” Minami asked,

“You ever watch World's Strongest Man?”

“Isn’t that just a TV show…?”

“No, it’s a real thing.” Rasen said with a chuckle, “They train their entire lives to pull off immense feats of strength. One of them is a vehicle pull.”

“…um, what kind of vehicle?”

“Should I tell her?” Rasen asked Yakuza,

“Do what you like, she’ll know the difference in our strength eventually.” Yakuza responded,

“A jet,” Rasen said, “And not a little jet, an 88,000 pound C-130.”

“Wh-What….?!” Minami asked in total shock, “A-Are you-“ She turned to Yakuza and said, “Are you serious?! You’re joking,” she turned back to Rasen and said, “You’re joking right?! Tell me you’re lying to me!!!”

“He’s not lying,” Yakuza said,

“Damn…” Minami said as she looked down a bit, “I’m so weak compared to him…”

“Yeah,” Rasen said with a chuckle, “I don't even know why he brought you around.”

“I brought her around because she’s good at the game,” Yakuza replied, “Afterwards you won’t hear from her again.”

“Wait…what’s that supposed to mean???” Minami asked a bit annoyed,

“You won’t be on this team anymore,” Yakuza responded, “Unless of course you transfer schools.”

“I-“ She sighed before she then reached into her bra and pulled out her phone as it buzzed. She smiled to see a text from Ryusuke

Ryusuke: Good luck at Regionals today, Minami! I’m gonna watch it from my phone!

Minami: You don’t have to! You should focus on class!

Ryusuke: No!!! It’s fine! I can’t wait to see how you do!!

Ryusuke: I believe in you!!!

Minami have a soft gasp as her cheeks began to turn red before she typed,

Minami: Awww, I love you too!

She inhaled sharply before she quickly erased the message before texting in another message,

Minami: Awww, thank you!

She then quickly stuffed her phone back into her bra before she leaned back and tried to fall into her seat. “D-Did I…?! W-Was I about to tell him that I love him…?!?!!! And while my boyfriend is right next to me?!?!?!!! Minami!!! What have you gotten yourself into?!?!?!!!” She placed her hands on her cheeks as they began to burn red.

“Choki,” Yakuza then said, causing her to shriek and partially jump in her seat. She then turned and faced him before saying,

“Y-Yes?! What is it?!”

“I need you to be sharp today. The people we’re about to face are in a whole other league of their own. I don’t know if you’ll be able to handle it, but I could be wrong. So be ready.”

“Y-Yeah, okay…” She replied softly before she then sat back and folded her arms. “Why doesn’t he think I can do this…?”

Kiryu Academy

Ryusuke sat at his desk in the classroom as he went through several pages in his phone. A few girls then suddenly came over to him, each one giggling and a few of them whispering. “Go on, ask him!” One of them said,

“Oh, I don’t know, what if he doesn’t-“

“Hm?” Ryusuke then turned away from his phone and looked at them, “Can I help you?” The girls gave a soft squeal before they pushed a girl with light brown hair forward.

“Um…well,” the girl with light brown hair began, “Basically…uh…” she cleared her throat before saying, “We saw that game, and uh…you’re really cool, so we thought…well, I mean, I thought…if maybe…can I have your number?”

“I-“ Ryusuke then paused. This young woman was asking him out, and his first response was to turn her down. He was still in love with Minami…but he suddenly remembered, Minami was now dating Yakuza. He then gave her a smile and said, “Sure, why not?!”

“Eh?! Really?!” She responded

“See, I told you he’d said yes.” One of her friends said,

“Yeah, I don’t really have a reason not to.” He said as he went through his phone before pulling up his Line number. After the two exchanged numbers she said,

“Thanks a lot,”

“Yeah, of course.” He replied, “What do I call you?”

“Oh, uh-“

“Her surname is Takahara, but you can call her by her first name, Konomi!” One of her friends then blurred out,

“What?! No! Shut up!!” Konomi replied as she turned to fight off her friends,

“Konomi,” Ryusuke said, “That’s a nice name, if I can call you Konomi, then you can call me by my first name too, it’s Ryusuke.”

“Hm?!” Konomi replied as she turned to him with bright red cheeks, “O-Oh, okay…! Yeah, sure!” She then turned to Ryusuke’s phone as a chime went off.

“Ah! Yes! Finally!” Ryusuke said as he turned to his phone,

“What is it?” Konomi asked,

“Our team Captain, Minami, she’s currently at Regional Matches for Dodgeball with our rival team. She went so she could help us improve! I found an app that lets me watch the games she’ll be in, and the games will be starting at any moment!”

“Oh wow, you can do that?”

“Yeah!”

Osaka

The Regional event was being held in the gym of a large recreation center. Minami stood in the back of the room as the coach of Yakuza’s team gave them a rundown of how they were going to play. Yakuza sat in the front of the room which was rather far away from Minami, but she personally didn’t mind a whole lot. She wasn’t entirely sure what the team as a whole thought of her, so she did her best to stay out of their way. However…she really wanted to be close to her boyfriend. She played with her hair a bit before one of the team members spoke to him, “Hey, Yakuza brought you to the team right?”

She looked over at him before nodding, “Y-Yeah, he did.” He was very handsome, with wavy shoulder-length brown hair and thick black framed glasses.

“Nice to meet you,” he said with a smile, “I’m Kitamura Aizawa, but you can call me Aizen.”

“I’m Minami.”

“Minami, that’s a nice name.” He said as he leaned on his hand, “So tell me, do you have a boyfriend?”

“Oh, uh, I do.” She said with a nod, “He’s actually very sweet, at least when he wants to be.”

“Sounds like you don’t like him.”

“I do, I love him, I just…” She folded her arms as she leaned back against the wall. She looked across the room to the back of Yakuza’s head as she said, “I just feel like maybe I’m not worthy of him. He did something beyond generous and kind for me, and quite frankly I’m too poor to actually repay him in any way. Plus…before we started dating, I think I was falling in love with someone else…with my best friend, and it’s the most real I’ve ever felt about anything or anyone or-“

“Then why go out with your current boyfriend?”

“Because he’s hot,” she said with a shrug, “He’s tall, he’s strong, he’s kind, and he was there for me when I thought I couldn’t go to anyone else. Not my best friend, not my mom, not my brother…but him. He saw a side of me that…in all honesty I refused to show anyone, especially with how my dad tried to beat it out of me.” She turned to him with tears in her eyes as she said, “And I love him.”

“I’m sure he’s a lucky guy,”

“Yeah,” she responded as she wiped her eyes. “You know, part of me wishes I could have both of them.” She cleared her throat as she leaned back against the wall. “Anyways, how well do you know him?”

“Know who?”

“Ya-“ She then paused before saying, “Kanamori-San.”

“It really depends,” he said as he turned and looked back to the front of the room, “However, I know that he’s a quarter Italian on his father’s side. At least his biological father’s side.”

“How’d you find that out?”

“There was a genealogy section in our biology class. All students were given a DNA test to find out what parts of Japan they were from. It was rather surprising to see, however, Yakuza wasn’t too impressed with it.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, “Perhaps the fact that he’s adopted bothers him, or maybe he hates the idea of what his biological parents were like, or who they might’ve been, and why they didn’t want him.”

“I see…”

“Alright,” the coach said as he wrapped up the lecture, “We’ll begin with our starting lineup. With that we should be able to easily take this first one, so let’s go out there and show them what you’re made of.”

“YEAH!!!” The team said in unison as they stood up and began to leave the room. Minami watched everyone walk by before she then went to the front of the room where the coach was.

“U-Um, excuse me, coach?” Minami began,

“Ah,” he said as he looked down at her, “Kanamori told me about you, did you need something?”

“Well, I was just wondering if I was part of the starting lineup?”

“You’re not,” he replied bluntly, “To put it simply, I don’t know much about your playing style, not to mention Kanamori told me you were here simply to learn the Japanese version of the game.”

“Yeah, but I’m more of a hands-on learner.”

“Then perhaps you can start next week, we use Sundays to practice, if I can see what you can do then I might consider it. For now, you’re just a guest.”

“Oh…” Minami said with a pout, “Well, fine, I guess…” She sighed before she turned and raced out the door following the team. She raced past them and up to the front where Yakuza was, “Hey, can I talk to you a sec?”

“About what?” He responded as they came to the doors leading to the gymnasium,

“Well, I was wondering if there’d be any way for me to get some play time?”

“Did you ask the coach?” He responded as he opened the door and let the team go through. Minami stood beside him as she said,

“I did,”

“What did he say?”

“Well, he said wait until next week.”

“Then you wait until next week.”

“Oh come on,” she groaned, “You know I can handle myself.”

“I do,” he replied, “However, you barely survived our first encounter, at the qualification match you dislocated your shoulder and hyperextended your arm because you were reckless. If the coach says you aren’t ready then you aren’t ready.”

“Yeah, but…” She then paused before she turned to him and asked, “What about you? Do you think I’m ready?”

“I don’t know,” he replied as he walked through the gymnasium doors with her, “Are your shoulder and your arm better?”

“My arm is-“ She then stopped and gasped as she looked around at his huge the gym was. She saw several people and several mounted cameras as well. “Well…it’s fine.”

“If you think you can do it then go for it.” Yakuza said,

“Wait, really?!” She asked rather excited,

“If you think you can do it.”

“Yes!!!” She cheered,

“Well well,” the captain from the opposing team said as he approached Minami and Yakuza. He wore a red and blue jersey with gold trimmings on the neck, shoulders, and hem. He sneered as he said, “I’m impressed, you actually somehow got a cheerleader.” Yakuza glared at him as he folded his arms.

“She’s a member of this team, nothing more and nothing less.”

Minami glanced at the two of them and could feel nothing but strong and threatening auras from them. “This is intense…I can almost feel some kind of heat from them. Could this be Yakuza’s rival…? What team is he on…?”

“Hm??? You mean you of all people actually got a girl to be on your team. Don’t you remember how this is a mens sport?!”

“She’s a lot better than any man I’ve ever played against.”

“Hm?? And why’s that?!?!?!!” He then turned and looked Minami in the eyes. Chills shot up Minami’s spine as his violet glowing eyes looked deep into her soul. He her over before saying, “Ah, I get it now.” He placed his hand on her chin and turned her head to the side before saying, “I see you’ve finally taken the liberty in investing in a Mongolian player.”

“Um…what?” Minami said a bit offended as she slapped her hand away, “I’m not Mongolian, I’m Japanese, if anything I’m Ryukyuan.”

“How sure are you about that, hm?” He asked as he raised an eyebrow, “You’re unnaturally large stature, your cheekbones, even your nose.” Minami growled as she clenched her teeth and made fists. “Hmmm, your teeth aren’t the same, they’re more Japanese than anything, it’s possible you’re mixed race.”

“Leave her alone.” Yakuza said, causing his rival to turn back to him and grin, “Your beef is with me, Tezuka, not with her.”

“I just find it interesting is all, your first girl teammate, and she’s Mongolian, perhaps you’ve gone a bit soft.” He then waved as he said, “Anyways, I should get going, our game is about to start.” He then turned and walked off.

“That guy…” Minami growled, “Saying I’m Mongolian just because of what I look like…”

“Don’t let him bother you.”

“How can I not?!” She replied as she turned to him, “Yakuza, look at me! No matter how you look at it I’m clearly not like your average girl! I’m above average height, I’m extremely muscular, and I weigh well over 200 pounds! I’m abnormal and because of it he thinks I’m something I’m not! People have always seen me as some kind of freak because of what I look like and no matter what I do I can’t change that! My dad literally conditioned me to look like this and I-“

“The way I see it, you look perfectly normal.” He said interrupting her. She then froze as he looked into his eyes and continued, “There’s really nothing abnormal about you, even so being in shape isn’t abnormal. Don’t let what Tezuka said get to your head because you’re better than that. To me, Choki, you’re as normal as they come.”

Minami blushed as she looked down a bit before saying, “Um…thanks, that means a lot to me.” She then turned and looked out to the gymnasium before she asked, “Can those cameras see us…?”

“No,” he responded, “We’re still on the corridor just beneath the blea-“ Before he could finish Minami quickly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He lowered his head a bit as she said,

“It really does mean a lot to me…thank you…”

“Yeah,” he replied before saying, “I really need to get out there.”

“Yeah, of course.” She said as she pulled away from him and followed him out to the court. On the way there Yakuza looked to Rasen and said,

“Rasen, you’re out, Choki is taking your place.”

“Wh-What?!?!?!!!” He screamed as he got to his feet, “Why?!”

“She’s a hands-on learner.”

“So you’re sacrificing me for her?!”

“Let’s be real, you’ll likely be struck out the moment the game starts.”

“That’s not true!!!” Yakuza then glared at Rasen causing him to sit back down on the bench, “Y-Yeah, I can sit this one out.”

Yakuza then turned to Minami before asking, “Ready to give this a shot?”

“I-“ She then smiled as she nodded and said, “Yeah!!!”

“Good, then let’s go.”

Once the court was filled with their players Yakuza and Tezuka walked to the center of the field for the tip-off. The two looked into each other’s eyes intensely as the referee went over the rules before he held the dodgeball in his hand. “Alright, ready?!” He then blew a whistle before tossing the ball into the air. Yakuza and Tezuka’s feet seemed to dig into the ground before they formed large craters beneath them as they lunged into the air. They each raised an arm before Tezuka turned and hit the ball back over to his side of the court. “Woah…” Minami said to herself as she had ever seen anyone jump so high before,

Minami watched Yakuza as he landed before he accelerated back to his respective side. She was in utter shock, did he even move his feet?! It looked as though he had slid backwards on his toes! One of Tezuka’s teammates caught the dodgeball before he then hurled it towards Yakuza’s team. Kyutaro moved rather quickly and caught the ball before he then passed it to Aizen. “Kanamori!!” Aizen said as he then passed the ball to Yakuza. Yakuza held his arm and caught the ball before his slips slowly parted into a small grin. He tossed the ball to his right hand before he then hurled the ball through the air. The dodgeball struck one of Tezuka’s teammates in the side before bouncing off of him and hitting another in the back. The ball then soared into the air before another one of Tezuka’s teammates caught it.

“Wow…” Minami said to herself as she turned to Yakuza, “This is like I’m seeing a whole different side of him…even when I was playing against him before I don’t think he was going all out like this.”

“Look out!!!” Aizen said as he then slid to Minami’s side and the ball struck their shoulders at the same time. He caught the ball before it hit the ground as the player who threw the ball moved to the outfield.

“Wait, he’s out…?” Minami asked, “But we both got hit!”

“Yeah,” he then passed the ball to their teams outfield player before he passed it to one of the other players, “If you hit two people then the person who threw the ball is out.”

“But, Ya-“ she then paused before saying, “Kanamori hit two people.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t hit them at the same time. If two people are hit at the same time then you’d be out.”

“Oh I see,” Minami said as Aizen bumped away from her and the ball was then passed to Yakuza.

“Choki!” Yakuza said as he then tossed the ball to her,

“Yeah!” Minami turned and caught the ball before she threw it as hard as possible. The ball spiraled through the air before Tezuka then caught it in his palm. Minami’s eyes widened as the ball spun Tezuka’s palm. He grinned as he bounced the ball and said,

“Yakuza taught you well, however, I don’t think he taught you everything.” Minami saw Tezuka reel his arm back but suddenly her eyes then widened as the ball was mere inches away from her face. She didn’t even see him throw it! She went to move but it was too late. She was struck so hard in the face she flipped backwards through the air a few times before she crash landed on the ground.

“Gah!!!” She groaned as the referee then blew his whistle,

“Foul!!!”

Minami placed her hands on the back of her head as she groaned and rolled onto her side. “Ow..my head…” The referee raced over to Minami before he knelt down and asked,

“Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah….I think so…”

“Can you stand?”

“Y-Yeah…” she gently took his hand before he began to help her off the ground. She winced as a searing pain pulsated from the back of her skull. “Ow…!!!” She rubbed the back of her head before she then looked down at her hand. She froze and began to shake a bit as she saw the red color of her finger tips. Her vision became blurry as she looked around the gymnasium. The sounds of the gym were muffled but at the same time rather loud. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was her knees beginning to shake. 

A//N

And so it begins! I'm super excited to be working on this story again! This has been a long time coming and I honestly feel I should really finish out this story the way it was intended! I can't wait to show you all what I have come up with!

As I was writing this story I began thinking about if it ever got an anime, and I really think a good voice actor for Minami would be Ai Fairouz! For Yakuza I have been battling myself over what he might sound like, but in the end I think Yuki Kaji would do a really good job at it!