Ugh, this chapter feels so short compared to the last one :P They're technically the same length, but the last one had more meat in it. This chapter is just one plot-scrambling event.

I was in a hurry to get this out to you guys, so if there are any mistakes, please forgive me! :3

Oh, and I have no idea how Japanese ambulances work so I just assume it's all the same deal :P

Watching the first years pile from the bus was a sight to behold. They jumped off the steps like a herd of elephants, one by one, and came to stand in front of me in neat rows. Their chins were held so high the sun blinded them, but they didn't seem to mind. No fun with these kids, that's for sure.

I have to teach them everything, don't I?

"Listen up kids!"

They squared their shoulders and stared like an expectant herd of deer waiting to cross a road.

"You know what we're here to do?"

No one answered.

"Well, I told your families we were working on our arm strength." I said with a smile. None of the first-years had yet suspected my master plan.

A dark-haired boy in the back, looking dashing in his school track suit, raised his hand tentatively.

"Katsuo!"

He wanted to glance at his peers for assurance, I could tell by the way his knees shuffled, but instead he held my golden gaze. "Captain, what does boxing have to do with improving our strokes? It's not exactly a swimmer's workout —"

He paled at my glare. I figured that little squirt would be the one to rat me out. "Exactly, it was just an excuse."

Katsuo's brow furrowed. "Captain —?"

I was smiling. "Why are we really here?"

He thought. "So you can get a discount by bringing members?"

My laugh frightened them out of their impeccable structures. "Kids, we're here to have fun! If any one of you doesn't have any sort of fun, I'm not buying your lunch!"

"Hai, Captain!"

There they went, back to being an army. If I asked them to find a way onto the roof of the gym without the use of ladders or rope they'd probably do it. I sighed; this was going to take a lot of work.

I paced the ring quietly, watching the boys dance around each other and throw glancing, non-threatening blows. They were both smiling and the rest of the boys situated around the ring were laughing and cheering. This was good; they were learning how to have fun.

Some of my second- and third-years didn't know what to do with themselves if I told them to stop frowning. Rin, the newbie back from Australia, was definitely one of them. That guy was never happy, and I'd be lying to myself if I said it didn't bother me. Plus, his attitude was souring Nitori's! The last thing that little grey-haired squirt needed was another thing to worry about. He was like a hamster. No, worse.

A gerbil.

I shuddered from the third-grade flashbacks. War flashbacks.

The boys in the ring called it quits, removing their practice gloves and flexing their hands to make sure their joints still worked properly. Handing off the gloves to the next two participants, I noted Katsuo was up against the gerbil.

That's good, I thought. They'd go easy on each other. At least it wasn't Gerbil against Rin. I shuddered at the image.

Oh! Speaking of the sour second-year, there he was! Strutting angrily across the window overlooking the rest of the gym. He didn't seem to notice any of us, with our black and white track suits and stunning physiques.

I ran to the door, opened it, and flagged him down, calling his name over and over incessantly and waving until he — rather embarrassedly — walked over. "What?"

"I didn't know you worked out." I teased, leaning against the door frame, my arms crossed.

Rin huffed. "Why are you here?"

"I took the first-years out for some fun."

"You call boxing 'fun'?"

He obviously wasn't good at making his own conversation, so I just ended up asking the question that seemed to be haunting my mind for the past three weeks: "How's your sister?"

Rin rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. Stopping him with a hand on his shoulder, I made sure to make my voice extra sincere. "Matsuoka, I'm serious." And I was; Gou was a cute little lady, bound to have a few other competitors chasing after her. It was only right I be concerned.

"Fine," he all but growled.

"Well, I'll agree with you there, but how is she doing? Managing a swim team isn't an easy job."

I brushed off Matsuoka's dagger-like glare and clenched fists, waiting patiently for his answer. His shoulders lowered but didn't release their tension. "I don't see her very much."

I cocked my head. "Why n—"

At that moment there was a resounding clang! that rang across the entire gym, bouncing of the walls and making the window shudder. Oh no, what'd they break now —

I stopped.

Nitori.

"Get the desk help. Call an ambulance." I said to Matsuoka, pushing him towards the front of the gym. He hardly needed to be told. I was utterly surprised by how quiet my voice was.

My eyes were glazed. I couldn't be seeing this right.

The next instant I found myself jumping through the bars of the boxing ring and yelling at the first-years just standing around, staring with gems for eyes, cold and lifeless, to go get some towels. My throat swelled as I held his delicate face in my hands. "Nitori?"

His bright blue eyes were rolling like foggy marbles.

"Nitori can you hear me?"

Someone in the background said the ambulance was on its way, but I hardly heard them. I was too focused on the little first-year, whose life I held in my fingers. "Nitori, I want you to stay awake. Can you hear me? Nitori?"

I think he'd already lost consciousness, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to stop calling his name.

I was told later that Rin and a few of the first-years had to pry me away from Nitori's pale, nearly lifeless body. They took him away on a stretcher and the sirens soon faded in the distant hills. A couple of gym attendants came in to clean up the blood before it stained the ring. We were ushered outside in a flurry; we moved like drones, herded outside by the attendants, our piles of belongings bundled up in our arms.

Someone had to wash my hands for me; I'm not quite sure who. All I know, even in my comatose state, was that I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Nitori.

In that moment, I felt so useless. All I could do was hold him and try to stop the blood rushing from the crack in the back of his head.

I thought of my sisters. What would I do, if I let them box against an opponent of unknown skill? What if they were injured, and I had been the one to let it happen? What if they—

I stopped there. No, I would not let that happen to Aiichiro.

He was my responsibility. I had let him down.

There was only one thing I thought after I arrived at my home. Pushing my little sisters and their bright plastic toys away, pushing away their babysitter and her unremitting nagging, pushing open the bathroom door and locking myself behind it.

My internal structures were beaten down. All I could do was slump down in the tub and think.

Blame.

There was only one thing I thought.

What did Katsuo do?

Oh noes! D: What happened to our precious little Nitori? Will he survive? Stay tuned!

Reviews are welcome!

(Oh, and idk if you guys know this, but "Gatekeeper" [the name of chapter 1], "Kissing Canvas" [the name of this chapter], and "Haymaker" are all actuall boxing terms :3 I love doing research XD

Gatekeeper: Term used to describe a fighter who is not a threat to be champion, but opponents can establish themselves as a legitimate contender by beating him.*

Kiss the Canvas: When a boxer is knocked down face first onto the canvas. In the old days they would say His face was in the resin of the canvas."**

Haymaker: A haymaker is a wild swinging punch thrown with all of the person's weight behind it in an attempt to knockout the other person. You usually see haymakers in street fighting or in the movies. Haymakers are also used in boxing as a last resort. They deliver enough force to break a man's jaw. The term first appeared in 1912, perhaps from the 1880 "hit the hay" or "go to sleep."**

*Definition taken from predictem (d-ot) com

**Definitions taken from ringsidebygus (d-ot) com)