Chapter 21

Minami laid in the bed back in the hotel room. She heard voices coming from outside the room which would get loud and soft before they then stopped. The hotel room door then opened and Yakuza walked into the room and into Minami’s view. Minami sighed as she closed her eyes and said, “I’m sorry…you gave me a chance and I blew it…”

“I don’t think it was really your fault,” he responded, “Tezuka knows he’s not supposed to aim for the head and face, and this is why.”

“I promise I’m fine…”

“You have a minor concussion.” He replied as he folded his arms, “I told you to stay sharp, but you let something like this happen, and now-“

“I didn’t let this happen…”

“Well you didn’t move.”

“I really had no time to react…” Minami groaned,

“All of this is falling back onto me. I’m the one who brought you along, but-“

“I said I’m sorry…” She said as she opened her eyes softly as she began to feel like crying, “What more do you want…?”

“I want to know it won’t happen again.”

“It won’t…I promise…I’m sorry….”

He sighed before he walked to Minami’s bedside, “How’s your head?” He asked as he examined the small bruise below her right eye,

“It’s fine…”

“They have you stitches,” he replied as he gently lifted her head and looked at the back of it, “Try not to exert yourself, the stitches could pop, and then they’d need to put staples in your head.” He dig through her hair before she winced as he suddenly found her stitches, “You’re lucky it’s such a small crack.” He then laid her head back down and rested it back on the ice pack she had behind it.

“I’m sorry I’m not as strong as you…I thought I could handle it but I’m just nowhere near your level…”

“That’s not true,” he said as he gently opened her eyelids with his fingers. Her pupils were back to a normal size which was good.

“How would you know…?” She asked as he then sat down. He sighed before he then grabbed onto the collar of his jersey and pulled it down showing off his chest. Minami blushed before she then paused to see a small dark spot on his chest. “What’s that…?”

“You don’t remember?”

“No…” she replied as she shook her head,

“This was from the qualification match, near the end, when you hit me in the chest.”

“I gave you that bruise…?”

“You did,” he said as he then pulled his shirt collar back up, “You’re a lot stronger than you think you are, and you don’t need to be stronger than me to be good at dodgeball. With proper training I’m sure you can be really good at it.”

“I see…”

“So what was with you?” He asked, “I asked you to be focused and you seemed distracted.”

“Oh uh…” She blushed before saying, “Well…in all honesty…I was distracted….”

“By what?”

“You…” she replied as her eyes began to softly dazzle, “I’ve always thought you were cool….but today, seeing you in action…it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do…and top of that you’re my boyfriend as well so it was a little extra cool for good measure…”

“I see,” he said as he then stood up and stretched his arms above his head,

“How come you didn’t tell me you were a quarter Italian….?”

“I-“ he then sighed, “It’s just not something I like to talk about. I take it Aizen told you.”

“Mhmm…”

He then turned and went over to his bag where he started to dig through it, “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah…” she said as she began to tear up again,

“What’s wrong?” He asked as he looked over at her,

“Why didn’t you want to hold my hand this morning….?” She said as she began to cry a little, “I thought…last night you said I was the only thing you were able to focus on, and I really wanted to hold your hand this morning….” She sniffled as she said, “I’ve never had a boyfriend before….and before you I never kissed anybody…so why…?”

“She must still be on those drugs.” Yakuza said to himself. He sighed before he walked over to the bed and sat down, “Look, I’ll go grab us some food and then after that we can hold hands if you want.”

“No…”

“No?”

“Why can’t you just call it in on the phone….? That way I can hold your hand until it gets here…. Why don’t you want to hold my hand babe…?” He sighed before he better positioned himself to sit on the bed. When he sat beside her he moved his left hand across the bed before giving a dull growl. His fingers touched hers before he lightly blushed and looked away from her. He placed his hand on top of hers before he slid his hand into her and interlocked his fingers with hers. Minami’s eyes sparkled as her face turned and even darker red. “Does this mean you love me…?” She asked as she turned to him hoping he would answer,

“I-“ He responded before he cleared his throat, “Y-Yeah, sure…”

“I love you too…” she said as she began to sob,

Love? The two barely started dating and Minami was asking if he loved her. Truthfully he didn’t know what it was he felt for her, but he felt something. He reached into his pocket and began to go through his phone for food delivery places. He then paused as he turned to see Minami swirl her thumb around the knuckle of his own thumb. He then looked over at her to see her starting to nod off. He looked back to his phone. He cleared his throat before asking, “What are you in the mood for?”

“What-“ she then yawned, “Whatever you’re in the mood for…”

“Alright,” he replied as he continued to look for different restaurants.

“Ya know….today with Tezuka….it really hurt my feelings….” He paused before he turned and looked at her as she began to slide towards him, “I’ll never have a normal body shape…I’ll never have a normal height….everyone sees me as this freak…” She then tested her head on his shoulder before he looked back at his phone. “I just want to be a normal girl….a normal girl with a normal body and a normal life….”

“If it means anything to you, I know how you feel. I was always blamed for things that were out of my control, then I became strong, and soon my overbearing strength drove people away. I’ve always wanted to be seen as human by anyone other than Didymus.”

“I think you’re a great human being…”

His eyes softened before he said, “Thanks.”

“Mhmm….” She responded as her eyelids started to get heavier, “You’re also…” yawn, “A great…boyfriend too…”

Kiryu Academy

After school the dodgeball team all joined up in the gymnasium. They gathered around Ryusuke’s phone as he began to replay the match from earlier that day with Minami. “Ouch!!!” They all said in unison as the footage showed Minami getting hit in the face before she crashed onto the ground.

“My God, those Regional players are in an entirely other league.” Daisuke said,

“That’s really saying something because Captain is in another league of her own.” Pocha replied, “That being said, Yakuza and the other players all seem to be going at the same pace.”

“God damn, how are we going to get from where we’re at now to where they are?” Yaguchi asked,

“The way Minami would,” Ryusuke said, “Hard work and determination. If we look at Minami we know that she didn’t just get those muscles over night.”

“I’m pretty sure it took it her years dude,” Gaoma said,

“Yeah,” Daisuke added,

“Yeah, but we have to do this for her.” Ryusuke said, “I mean come on, Minami got us all together in the first place. I think we owe it to her to improve! I mean, she brought her brother here from Okinawa to help us, I think we-“

“Dude, Rentaro’s not here.” Yaguchi said,

“What?! He’s not?! Where is he?!”

“He’s going on a date with the Chibi Chubby Chick.”

Rentaro’s Apartment

Rentaro spat into the sink as he finished brushing his teeth. After a quick rinse he moved from the bathroom to the living room as he heard a knock from the door. He then stopped and turned to the kitchen counter where he then grabbed a small pamphlet before he smiled and headed back to the door. He opened the door and looked down at Mitsuri as she greeted him with, “Hi!”

“Hello,” he responded as he stepped outside and closed the door behind him,

“Your new apartment isn’t super far from my place. I’m glad you’ve now got your own place instead of staying in a hotel.”

“Yes, my new apartment is very nice. I don’t have much furniture but it is a nice place to call my own!”

“That’s great! So what did you have planned for today?”

“Ah, it’s simple,” he said with a beaming smile as he handed her the pamphlet, “I want to go to this amusement park! They have theme and amusement parks in Okinawa, but none quite like these! The best we have is the Pineapple Park!”

“What? A pineapple park?”

“Yep! If you ever visit it’s something you have to see!”

“Well, alright then!” She replied with a smile, “Shall we get going?”

“Of course!” He said as he turned and quickly locked his door before the two headed off. As they walked Mitsuri blushed from shyness as she tried to find the words of what to say.

“So uh…what’s it like at home?”

“In Okinawa?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s quite alright,” he replied, “As Minamimōto and I grew up things could be difficult. After our father left our school life got a bit easier. However once I started going to junior high and even senior high Minamimōto felt a bit left out. She felt forgotten and sometimes she’d come and sit with me in class because she missed me so much. However she stopped showing up to my classes once our mom developed cancer.”

“That’s awful,”

“Minamimōto began skipping school to take care of her, and she even sold some of her things to help with treatment. After a little while it became too much to handle for me, so I decided I needed to find something to clear my head. I told Minamimōto that I would be going to a different school which was more in the countryside, and I did end up transferring schools.”

“That sounds scary,”

“It was, however, our mother is fine now. Recently Minamimōto told me she had fallen upon a large sum of money recently, so it’s helping pay for our mother’s treatment.”

“Oh! Well that’s wonderful!”

“Yes, however, whoever gave my sister the money should know that she’ll do anything to pay them back. It makes me wonder what type of person they are, which makes me worried about her.”

“She seems like a rather tough girl,” Mitsuri said as they came to a bus stop, “If she needs help I’m sure she’ll come right to you.”

“She certainly will.” He replied with a smile, “What about you? What’s your home life like?”

“Oh! Well, currently I live alone, however every now and then I stay with my parents. I also have a little brother who was born about three months ago.”

“Ah! So a baby brother! What’s his name?”

“His name is Shusuke, and he’s the absolute cutest!!!” She quickly pulled out her phone and went through her images before she found a picture of her holding her baby brother. “Look!!” Rentaro turned before he bent down and looked at the photo. He smiled as he said,

“He’s very cute! You look very good with him! I’m sure you’ll make a fine mother some day!”

Mitsuri blushed as she then said, “I-I-I…y-yeah,” she then turned away from him before she put her phone back in her purse. As she did the bus came to the stop and the two of them got onboard. They walked through the bus before sitting down. Rentaro sat by the window and Mitsuri sat beside him on the aisle. She pouted as she began to fidget and play with her blouse, “Why am I so nervous? It’s just Rentaro, I had class with him today…so why do I feel like my heart will burst out of my chest?” She then turned and looked at the profile of Rentaro’s voice before she noticed a scar on his left cheek starting from his jawline. “Hey, how’d you get that?”

“Hm?” He responded as he turned to her,

“On your face,” she said as she pointed to the mark on Rentaro’s face, “Did you get in a fight?”

“No, I didn’t.” He replied, “It’s actually a birthmark.”

“What? Really? It looks like you got cut though.”

“No, it’s a birthmark.”

“Your sister doesn’t have one.”

“Minamimōto has her own birthmark, and even so it’s not in the same place as mine, or even the same shape. This birthmark is for all the men in my family on my mom’s side. Her brother had the same birthmark, and her father had one just like it, and his father before that and so on.”

“Woah! That’s super cool!” She said as her eyes dazzled, “What’s Minami’s shaped like?”

“Hers is more heart shaped, and it’s a bit red and kind of looks like a rash. It’s on her-“ He then paused, “Hm, I better not say. I think it’d be immodest if I talked about my sister’s body like that.”

“O-Oh! I-In that case, I-“

“Ah! Wait! Actually, that’s a beauty mark, not a birthmark.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Her birthmark is on her jaw, just beneath her earlobe.”

“Ah, I see!”

“What about you? Do you have a birthmark?”

“Oh, yeah! I do!” She pulled her leg up onto the seat before she rolled down her sock a bit to reveal a pink mark on her ankle, “It’s right here!”

“Wow!” He said as he looked at the birthmark, “It’s almost heart shaped like my sister’s!”

“Yeah! I guess it is!” She looked at her birthmark as she said, “Although, I think it looks more like a Peach! One of my friends likes to tease me and say it looks like a butt!”

“Hm,” He said as he began to examine it more, “Yeah! I suppose it does look like a butt!”

“Yeah!” She replied with a smile. The two continued to converse until the bus arrived at the amusement park. Once getting off the bus Rentaro’s eyes dazzled. He was used to the Pineapple Amusement Park, so seeing something brand new and not like what he had at home was exhilarating! “Woah…!” He said in awe,

“Ready to go?!” Mitsuri asked,

“Yeah! Let’s go!” He said as the two then entered the park. They went from attraction to attraction at a rather fast pace! The first ride they got on was the carousel followed by a ride with spinning teacups! Following that was the Haunted House attraction then the Log Flume Ride! Then came the Rollercoasters! The pedal powered one was loads of fun, then there was another one where they got to both sit and stand up in, then Rentaro’s favorite which was one where the cars on the train resembled that of motorcycles! As the day began to wind down the two of them eventually got onto the Ferris Wheel. The two of them sat beside one another as they began to move up and away from the ground.

“Well?” Mitsuri asked, “What do you think?”

“It was amazing! I didn’t think an Amusement Park could be like this! There was so many fun attractions and rides! It was a day well spent!”

“I’m glad you had fun,” She replied with a smile, “When you said you wanted to go, I was a bit worried, but I’m glad you enjoyed it!”

“What do you mean by worried?”

“Well, after that one game, I was worried maybe the noise at the Amusement Park would be too much for you.”

“No! The amusement park is fine! It’s much like being at school or an airport! What happened at the game was a much louder sound than it is here! Even so, it was more of a very sudden loud noise, so it mostly startled me and I became a bit vulnerable!”

“Well I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I appreciate you worrying about me, it’s very considerate of you!”

“Well, yeah, of course, I li-” She then paused as her face began to boil. She cleared her throat as she then looked down at the floor, “A-Anyways, you’re welcome!”

“Of course.” He responded before he began thinking, “Would you like to go out with me again sometime?”

“Yes-” She responded before she then realized, “WH-What?! W-Wait! I mena, no-WAIT! I mean-”

“You don’t have to.”

“I-” She began before her face became an even darker red, “Yeah, I’d love to..”

“Then it’s settled then!”

“Y-Yeah…” She responded, “hey…um, can we hold hands…?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Okay,” She then slid her hand beneath his before she interlocked their fingers. “Wh-Why does he have to be so darn cute…?”

A//N

Hiya!!! I am so sorry for the delay! I didn't mean to make you guys wait months for the new chapter!!! I promise I'll update at a much faster pace!!!