It was the last night before the match on Saturday. Satomi took a breath as she prepared to use the kuzure kesa gatame mat hold on Chika. She faked a grapple, grabbed Chika by his left arm and threw him down to the mat. She managed to pin him down while maintaining her grip on his arm.
"1...2...3! Mi-chan won!" Satoshi chirped.
Immediately Satomi released Chika and jumped up with delight. She grinned from ear to ear as Satoshi crushed her into a hug. It was weird to think that it had only been a few weeks since she started to talk to Satoshi. She changed from blushing whenever he called her name informally to allowing herself to be held by him.
He released her from his firm grip. "You and Chika must be tired. I'll go get us some water bottles!" He shuffled out of the room and headed towards the locker rooms.
Chika, who had gotten off the ground as soon as the two started hugging, dusted his gi off. "You've gotten better."
"It's all thanks to you, thank you so much for training me," Satomi said as she bowed respectfully to Chika as he replaced his spectacles on his face. "Is there anything I can do to repay your kindness?"
Chika stared the strange girl, really looked at her. He never studied the girl's face as much as he did now. From a glance, he knew she was pretty.
But up close, it was a different experience, especially now. Her face was colored red from their spar, contrasting with the blue of her eyes. Her pulled back hair made her sweat droplets more visible. Her pink lips were slightly parted as she tried to regain her breath.
Everything about her made him feel uncomfortable; especially the way her blue eyes expressed her sincerity in wanting to repay him.
"Who's thirsty for some ice cold water?" Satoshi cried out. As soon as Chika grabbed a water bottle, Satoshi flew over to Satomi and began to fuss after her. He started to dab at her sweat drops with a towel and compliment her progress.
"Are we calling it a night or do I have to stand here and watch you two lovebirds flirt all night?" Chika grumbled.
Satoshi struck him accordingly for rudely interrupting a conversation.
"If it's okay with you, I'd love to have a spar, a proper spar, not training," Satomi said bowing her head.
"Fine, but don't expect me to go easy on you," Chika said as he removed his glasses and placed them on the sidelines with Satoshi.
The two middle schoolers stood in the square mat. They bowed to each other and began to spar. They approached each other cautiously, each observing the other's action carefully. Noticing a hitch in Chika's breath, Satomi launched herself forward and tried to grab him into a drop. He easily deflected and responded by flipping her over on to the mat. She noticed she was an inch away from rolling off with Chika approaching fast.
She rolled towards him and began to get up quickly. Just as she was rising, she felt Chika's hands grasp her and ready to throw her down to the ground again. She held on to Chika and somehow managed to bring the boy down with her.
Chika had Satomi pinned down to the mat underneath her. She struggled underneath him and tried to throw him over, but since they weren't in the same weight class, he easily overpowered her. In his relaxed state, he noted her facial expressions again.
Her sapphire eyes were determined. They sparkled with the shine of the judo room lighting as they scanned him for a weakness. He looked down at her pink lips, they weren't parted this time. They were tightened together as she tried to use her upper body strength to throw him.
Satoshi awarded Chika with a waza-ari, although his technique was definitely worthy an ippon. But that would have ended the match. As Chika released Satomi from his grip, he noted how her lips loosened and parted to release a sigh of disappointment. Her lips seemed to entrance him more. He broke his glance. The uncomfortable feeling returned.
Chika jumped off of Satomi and dusted himself off. Satoshi rushed over and helped Satomi to her feet, whispering advice to her. The two looked cute together, but his discomfort didn't settle when he was away from her.
"Are the players ready?" Satoshi asked. Chika grunted and met Satomi in the middle of the mat. She took a deep breath and put a determined look on her face. The two bowed and backed away from each other. Her moves were more precise and clear, but still predictable to Chika. She would always hold her breath before she tried to throw him.
He tried to keep from staring at her face and focused on the rise and fall of her chest.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Pause.
He prepared to deflect her throw, but instead Satomi used the move she learned a few days ago, ushiro mawashi geri, a reverse roundhouse heel kick. Chika was shocked to find himself on the ground pinned down by Satomi. Her triumphant smile made the discomfort within him increase by tenfold.
Satoshi cheered with delight when he saw Satomi succeed with the advanced kick. It was executed perfectly. Definitely worth an ippon if she can pin Chika down for at least 20 seconds. Imagine the face of a defeated Chika! He moved his gaze away from Satomi and down on his cousin.
Chika's face was red. Not just the ordinary shade of red from a good workout. Chika was blushing. Satoshi smiled at the thought of Chika blushing from embarrassment. The boy who was too good to stay in the judo club was going to be defeated by the judo captain. Ten seconds.
Chika couldn't look anywhere else, but at her face. Eleven seconds. The feeling was rising. Twelve seconds. He couldn't stand it anymore. Thirteen seconds.
He threw her across the mat. A loud thud echoed through the room, but what struck Satoshi's ears was the sound of a crack. He rushed over to Satomi immediately.
Meanwhile Chika was inhaling deep, shaky breaths. What was that stupid feeling? He squirmed about. It was the strangest feeling that began in his chest.
"Chika! Give me the first aid kit, NOW!"
Chika shook himself out of his haze and followed Satoshi's directions. When he approached, Satoshi immediately snatched the first aid kit. His hands were quick and swift, but gentle as he handled Satomi's hand.
Chika's eyes flicked over the girl's arm. He immediately knew that her wrist was fractured. Satoshi was trying to carefully put her hand into a splint.
"Chika, what were you thinking?!" Satoshi shouted. "She's a girl! Are you so prideful that you would strike down a girl? Satoshi kept yelling at him.
Prideful. Stupid. Cruel. Insane. Idiot.
Satoshi's words crashed down on Chika. They were attacking him at a mile per second and he couldn't recover. Chika was accustomed to being struck when he did something wrong. Physical pain was not as damaging as his words.
"Satoshi-san," her voice broke through.
Satoshi whipped around and returned to the fallen girl's side. "Please don't yell at Haninozuka-san. It was my fault."
"It's not your fault," Satoshi insisted. "He was the one who threw you."
"Yes, it was. I told him I wanted to spar with him, knowing he was outside of my weight class. He even warned me that he wouldn't go easy on me."
Satoshi was quiet for a bit before saying, "He still shouldn't have thrown you," which made Satomi smile.
The room was silent.
"What are we going to do?" Satoshi said. "Your wrist fractured, no doubt about it. You can't spar with it!"
The two boys stared at the girl expectantly. All the time that was invested into training would be wasted.
Satomi took a breath and smiled, "We're going to win."
I don't play judo, so most of the information used was found via Wikipedia and various judo websites.
Judo matches consist of one round, in which the players try to earn one full point. If a move is executed perfectly, for example a throw, the player is awarded an ippon, which is the full point.
If it is close to perfection, like the person is thrown down on their back, but not with the correct amount of force, the player is awarded a waza-ari, half point.
If it is not correct, but effective, like the person is thrown down but on their side rather than their back, the player is awarded a yuko. A yuko is not worth any points, but can be used as a tiebreaker.