you know when i said that the previous chapter have no flow, this one is much much worse than previous chapter. i don't even know what i'm doing here. nonetheless enjoy the story
'Today is sunday, that means i still have 6 days to figure out a way to pass shin-shan. No…. it's i still have 6 days, it's i only have 6 days' juggling between being optimistic and being pessimistic on her approach to defeat shin.
Running around in a park near her neighborhood, she spends her precious weekends tinkering of a way to defeat shin. With her who's only been training for less than a month versus Shin who's a full-fledged athlete. Even with her limited arSenal she's not being dispirited about it. Weirdly the overwhelming odds pitting against her excites her even more.
She's still scared of what will happen to her especially against shin's tackle, the hand that struck her yesterday left an imprint on her, not only mentally but also physically. There's a hand shaped bruise imprinted right below the area of her chest, it no longer hurts but she still remembers how painful it is when the tackle succeeds in stopping her. Even with the possibility of her getting hurt once again, she doesn't want Shin to hold back against her. She's still scared of receiving pain, yet she still looks forward to her eventual confrontation against him. Of course what she's looking forward to is the moment where she'll be able to pass shin without him coming all prepared.
'I have my speed but is it enough?'
While Sena is certainly faster than him, the difference it's not by much. She knew in an open field even the difference between 5 second per yard and 4.9 second per yard is quite a huge difference. But when it comes to clashin what matters the most is her footwork. If she only counts on her speed she'll only be repeating yesterday's failure. Other than footwork she can use her hand to exchange strikes with shin, however with her current mass, reach and her lack of power it would be impossible for her to win in striking exchanges.
'Footwork it is' Having decided to hone her footwork instead of her striking, she stopped her run.
'Let's sort the footwork that i know'
Even though she is new to the sport, she somehow has enough knowledge about American football to call herself a fan of the sport. She knew all the rules, technique, position, plays and everything about the sport. Her knowledge about technique also covers footwork and how to train them.
'Maybe i can spin around him like last time, but last time it's only a fluke, spinning after running at full speed is hard to execute especially to a newbie like who hasn't trained before. Putting if i'll be able to execute the technique, shin-san already saw it once, i'm sure he already has a countermeasure for that technique' crossing spinning from the footwork training she begins listing the footwork she can use against him.
'Pace change, cutting, stepping back so that's all the footwork i can use against shin'
Pace change is the technique of changing pace from normal to fast or vice versa, it can be used as a way to catch your opponent off guard, or to bait them into attacking. Sena can use this footwork to bait Shin into attacking first, then when he strikes her she can increase her speed to shake him off.
Cutting is the technique of cutting to the side of your pursuer while running, this technique is the most basic technique to shake off the pursuer. She can use it to get out of sine line's of target by cutting to the side. Still she has doubts if cutting to the side will make her get out of shin line's of target, shin might be able to strike her from the side too. When cutting you usually decrease your speed and by decreasing her speed shin would be able to take that chance to strike at her.
Stepping back is self-explanatory, to dodge the incoming strike she can simply dodge by stepping back. The technique itself is quite easy to execute but she already saw the result yesterday. She failed to dodge shin strike by stepping back. This technique is supposed to be useful, but due to Sena's speed it would be hard for her to utilize this technique. While Sena top speed is insane, she can't stop it instantly, she needs 1-3 yard to break her speed to a halt. She can only use stepping back if she's not running at her full speed. The other downside is she's slower when she steps back compared to running to the front as usual. The reason why Shin managed to touch her, because she's too slow when she stepped back.
'No matter how i think about it, i can't execute any of these technique flawlessly'
Aside from pace change, there's too much risk with the other 2 techniques. The risk is not caused by the technique itself, but Sena lack of experience to execute them flawlessly. She already tried the cutting technique earlier in the park by running at full speed to the lamp post inside the park. Most of the time she ended up slowing her speed before she made a cut, when she used her full speed she ended up hitting the pole if not tripping on her own leg, which gave more bruises to her body. She wanted to use the momentum of her speed to make the cut, yet it turns out her legs aren't yet ready for her technique.
'I can feel it briefly, the strain on my leg when I tried to cut without decreasing my speed. My leg can't keep up, that's why i ended up tripping myself to the ground'
Failure also happens when she tries to execute stepping back. She failed to stop herself to a halt, which resulted in her hitting the lamp post again. When she's able to stop she needs to run slower than she's capable of and she's still awkward with her step back.
'As expected it would be hard to perfect these technique, that's why it's worth training them'
Facing such a challenge, Sena gets even more excited. Facing shin aside, if she manages to master these techniques she can raise her running to another level. Shaking from excitement she started running again, but now she's running backward.
'But can I master these techniques on time? I only have less than a week until i face shin'
Technically speaking they're not a hard technique to execute. But executing with Sena's speed is quite difficult. Cutting without decreasing her speed, stepping back in top speed without braking is something even a world class athlete would find difficult. Not just the technique, can her leg even handle the technique. The strain it require on her leg to execute these technique is massive, even Sena herself knew her leg isn't ready for it
'No problem i'll just train my leg by practicing the technique, once my leg is ready so does the technique' ultimately she decided to train her leg and technique at the same time.
'My time is limited after all, I have no choice to train both. While my time is limited i can make more time to train by decreasing my time to study'
After deciding not to join ojo Sena can relax her studying schedule, aside from studying in school and working on her homework she doesn't really have to study religiously if she want to enter deimon and if push come to shove she can ask Mamori-neechan to cram her a week before entrance exam. With extra time from cutting her study time, she can maximize her training schedule.
'I don't need to think what if i'll be able to master it in a week, i'll just train for now. Whether I'll be able to do it is for later. I've already waste so much time thinking'
With her doubts slowly fades away she focused herself on her training
'It's not fun nowadays'
Looking at the midget in front of him listing all the items which he and his friends asked to buy
"Is that all? I'll be on my way then" Sena turns around about to start running
'Yeah i know why it's not fun nowadays, the midget is no longer looks funny when she run'
Normally Toda is always amused whenever he sees her run reluctantly to fulfill his order. Nowaday Sena is more than eager to run even if it means being a gopher, she'll see it as an opportunity to train her leg. The reason why Toda likes to order Sena around is because he knew Sena doesn't actually like being used as a gopher, seeing someone doing something reluctantly especially at his command is part of the fun for him. Seeing Sena getting scared whenever he raised his voice is also what makes him keep Sena as his gopher.
'Recently this midget doesn't seem as if she's actually scared of us'
Sena herself doesn't realize it, but after facing an indomitable force known as shin, she no longer fears her bullies anymore. The dreadful pressure that Shin gave her can't be compared to her bully. After lunging herself twice without fear towards a beast of human being like shin, it would take something more dangerous if not more dangerous than shin to shake her up. Even if Sena doesn't realize it Toda who's been bullying her since her 1st year is able to realize the change in Sena.
'There used to be a shakiness in her eyes, now they're staring directly at me'
Sena used to avoid eye contact with her bullies by looking to the ground, by doing so her bully always teased her by ordering her to look them in the eye. Toda wants to instill fear into her once again. He has done anything he can think of to make her fear him, raising his voice, increasing her workload, calling her names yet there's no sign of fright in her can use violence to make her fear him again, but he holds himself from doing that. He still remembers when her parents made some report about their daughter's bullying, he still got away scot-free since there's no evidence of abuse, especially physical injury on Sena. Ever since then he knew he could do anything as long as things were not getting physical. With him in his 3rd year he doesn't want to cause unnecessary trouble that might affect his entrance exam evaluation.
'What annoys me the most, it feels like she's using us instead of using her' Toda suspicion is on point.
"You know what Sena-chan Today i'm feeling generous. From now on i'll dismiss you from your duty" what Toda said surprises not only Sena but also his friend
'After all i have a new toy which i'm sure will entertain me better'
It took Sena a while to process what she's hearing
'If it's true then i guess i'll get away from here before he change his mind'
For Sena who's already getting used to being a gopher, it's the first time someone told her they aren't going to use her anymore. It sounds too good to be true, Sena almost can't believe it. When she noticed a blonde girl wearing glasses next to Toda, she realized why they don't need Sena anymore.
'So it's his newest victim'
Sena is glad she doesn't have to continue being a gopher, but she also feels bad the price of her freedom is someone else's freedom.
'I kinda feel bad, but right now i actually need all the time i have to train, it's more than beneficial for me not being a gopher at the moment'
"Now Karin-chan you heard what the order we've just told Sena-chan why don't you go now?" with a grin on his face Toda already knows she won't be able to remember the order they've just made but for him that's part of the fun, seeing a weakling fumbling and panicking is the reason why he bullied Sena in the first place. The convenience of having someone to be ordered around is only the surplus, the real meat for him is the feeling of superiority he has over someone.
"I-i'm sorry Toda-san c-can you re-repeat your order?" panicking because she doesn't listen to their order, she only came here because she has debt toward Toda, but she didn't expect him to order her right away.
'Why did it have to happen in my 3rd year?!'
Karin is someone who also like Sena, has experience on being bullied. But unlike Sena, Karin has somehow managed to avoid being bullied by erasing her presence and not trying everything to not stand out. By doing so she's able to avoid being bullied in her first 2 year of middle school, the downside of doing so is that she doesn't have a single friend in middle school. For the most part she doesn't really mind it, as long she can draw in peace.
The reason why she got bullied at the moment is also caused by her thin presence. Toda accidentally bumps into her while walking, ending up dropping his phone. The fault is on Toda for playing with his phone without looking at where he is going, but it's partly happen because of how thin Karin presence is.
Looking at how familiar the way Karin panicked after looking at the state of his phone, the gear on his head started kicking. By taking advantage of her guilt, he'll be able to acquire a new slave since the old slave no longer amuse him. By the means of guilt tripping and intimidation he's able convince her to be his gopher.
"You see Karin-chan if I have my phone I'll be able to text you the list, but sadly my phone is broken at the moment" it's a lie. Toda's phone is actually not functionally broken, it only has a crack on the screen and he already bought a new phone since before she bumped into Karin he's planning to buy a new one.
"Ano i'm sorry Toda-san i'm not listening before, i'll make sure to listen this time" Karin said while bowing her head
"Oh…. so you had me monologuing back there Karin-chan, it hurts me knowing that i'm not someone worth listening for you" Toda said trying to guilt-trip and put a control on Karin
"No! Toda-san it's just me who's not a good listener, it has nothing to do with you Toda-san' Karin immediately broke her bow to corroborate her reasoning, oblivious to the fact that Toda is trying to gaslight her. Because of how fast Karin was standing up after bowing herself, she dropped her glasses to the ground. Awkwardly, Karin picks up her glasses from the ground, but for a brief second her glassless face is exposed to Toda and his goons.
'... it kinda hurts when i look at her' looking at how Karin acts kinda reminds her of herself. Sena's conscience took a jab, after seeing the pathetic Karin response of apologizing someone even if she doesn't have to. She knew it better than anyone else's how they'll treat her, for Sena she has her leg, but for someone who's not as fast as her, it would be a living hell. They would scream at her a lot for not doing the job perfectly. The dilemma of wanting to enjoy her freedom and not wanting others to suffer the same experience she had.
Observing Karin behavior with amusement Toda thoughts he hit a jackpot with his new slave, until he saw her face without her glasses covering it. Karin with her round glasses looks like your normal nerd, her braided hair doesn't help but complement the nerd look. With her glasses no longer obstructing part of her face, Toda can't help but bewitched by her appearance. Her pale skin, clear brown eyes and the natural shine on her lips struck Toda to the point of not moving for 3 seconds. The same also happened to his goons, they stopped for a moment mesmerized by the beauty of the blonde in front of them.
'Hitting a jackpot jackpot is the wrong word, i land myself a royal flush' Toda himself doesn't expect the value of his new slave that he acquired, he only wanted to feel superior by ordering those below him. He's already satisfied by having a new slave to make himself feel superior, but even if he's satisfied with the current status quo, the exploding greed urge him to go for more. This never happen before, with his old slave. While Sena is a girl, her small physique looks closer to a child than a teenage girl, and her face while looking cute isn't the kind of beautiful face to make others fall for her.
'Her not having Sena's speed is better after all, that way i'll have more reason to punish her'
Normally Toda isn't someone who can't control himself, while he tries to get what he wants he always makes sure to calculate the risk and reward. While bullying Sena he never broke the physical boundaries, he knew how to have fun while being safe at the same time. Balancing between risk and reward is the usual drill for him when he bullies Sena.
This time the scale of risk and reward is tilted, the rationality he always had is gone at the moment. He can't contain his perverse thoughts from running wild and affecting his actions.
"You know what Karin-chan, it might be too late for you to grab our order if we explain it to you again. Since i'm feeling generous Today, how about we just chill Today" Toda said with an assuring tone while his hand is reaching toward Karin trying to embrace her shoulder.
'Currently we're at the back of the school, there will be no witness as long as I'm being cautious' the vile thoughts have already conquered his rationality, discarding the risk of what will happen with his next action.
Before his hands reach Karin's shoulder there's another hand preventing his hand from reaching its destination, Sena grab Toda's wrist stopping it from moving further.
"Ano… Toda-san i think it's fine if i'm the one who carries out your errand, with her leg i don't think she'll be able to fulfill it…" For a brief moment the cowardly Sena is able to squeeze a little amount of courage to forget the consequence of her action.
'Ahhh screw it, I'll only be seeing them for less than 3 months' in the end Sena chose to sacrifice her freedom instead of the poor girl in front of her. While Sena is prepared to do her bully's errand for the next 3 month, she's only implying the reason they have Karin as a gopher is because they only need someone to run their errands. Sena's implication for their reasons is formerly right, but later they changed their mind after seeing Karin's appearance without her glasses.
"Sorry Sena-chan without being rude to you I have to say, we don't need you anymore" sounds annoyed, his hand being blocked by Sena he doesn't even hide his animosity towards her.
"Or are you going to miss us Sena-chan, i hope that's not the case because we ain't gonna miss you, you know" increasing his tones Toda wanted to intimidate Sena into leaving them with Karin. It's not his usual intimidating yet playful tone, but the tone filled with malice. He's unaware of how scary he sounds at the moment, even Karin started having goosebumps on her skin. The usual Toda's tone is more than enough to scare Sena away, the current tone should've been able to scare Sena even more.
"Uhmm…. I-i just think th-that Karin has another activity she wanted to do instead" even though Sena stutters with her words, she doesn't feel a little bit scared towards Toda.
"Oh what's this? Trying to play hero? My obedient pet is trying to rebel by biting the hand of its owner?" Toda is no longer annoyed, he is angry at the fact that Sena is trying to get in the way of him and Karin. His usual calm face contorted into a scowl, with his rationality gone, he doesn't care what he needs to do in order to drive Sena away from here.
Toda's goons who are less rational than Toda about to grab the back of Sena's uniform to pull her to the ground, but they miss. They tried to grab the back of her uniform over and over again until they realized it's not like they're missing, it's just Sena who's moving around avoiding their hands. Irritated by Sena's action they immediately pounce on Sena trying to grab her, nonetheless Sena managed to avoid them.
'There are 4 of them including Toda, while the area behind the school is narrow it is wide enough to dodge 4 of them at the same time. It would be tricky but i think i can do it'
When they tried to tackle her, she responded by side stepping to the side. When they try to grab her, she'll step back to avoid their reach. When one of them tried to punch her, she dodge it by placing herself at the place where it would be hard for them to follow up with another punch. Just like a mosquito she moves around dodging their attack while placing herself in the position where it would be awkward for them to catch and move toward her.
'Too slow…. If it is shin-san he would be able to catch her without wasting a single movement'
disappointed by their rigid movement, Sena starts experimenting with her footwork. Cutting while she changes her level, feinting stepping back only to increase her speed forward, switching her pace while stepping backward with more footwork she unleashes the more her bullies realize they can't catch her if they don't use their numbers to their advantage. 3 of her bullies block Sena's path by cornering her, with the narrow passage on their advantage they start to charge at Sena without opening any gap where she can't escape. Instinctively Sena jumps over one of her bullies only to realize mid jump, Toda is in front of ready to catch her where she lands. Because Sena is in the middle of air time she can't dodge Toda's hand, if only her leg a little bit longer shen can use it to push herself to the side. With Toda's hand coming to grab Sena's uniform, Sena unconsciously chopped his hand. Caused by forward momentum and bad posture, Toda fell to the ground.
'Ouch…. i don't mean to do that' even for someone who tried to harm her, she still flinches when someone is hurt.
When Toda fell to the ground her goons stopped moving to process what just happened. Sena the wimp who used to be their gopher just knocked down Toda. Their breath is heavy from moving too much to catch Sena, while Sena's breathing is stable. They are baffled at what to do, but in the end they decided to raise Toda up from his falling position.
'Thank god it looks like he's ok without a scratch' relieved because her action doesn't cause any injury towards Toda, she relaxed a bit
"A-are you okay Toda-san, i-i'm sorry my hand is moving on its own" Sena sincerely expresses her concern and apology. But to Toda who had just fallen in her hand it sounds like an insult to him.
Enraged by Sena's gesture he started lunging on to Sena again, but the result he fell again for putting too much weight to his upper body when he tried to tackle Sena. He wanted to put Sena down by putting all his weight on her, yet Sena avoided it simply by stepping back.
'Awawawa he's going to get even more angry after this right? Should I help him stand up or let him stand up on his own?' cautious of Toda's behavior she decided not to help him stand up, she's afraid he'll try to attack her again.
"D-do y-you need h-help standing up Toda-san?" Sena asked only to be answered by glare from Toda
'I need to keep my mouth shut, everytime i talk it'll only agitates him even more'
"Don't think you'll get away with it Sena, this time i'll let it go, but don't forget we're still going to the same school. Let's go just looking at her face infuriates me" after saying that Toda walk away from the scene his goons seeing Toda's figure fleeing from the scene they soon follow suit while glancing at Sena once or twice, before they finally went out of Sena's sight She can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
'Huft that was intense, i can feel my leg will give out at any moment'
Flop, the sound of someone's falling to the ground after their leg has given up
'Wait that's not me, i'm still standing here' the sound of something falling to the ground isn't coming from her.
Karin's leg gave out, overwhelmed by the event she witnessed just now. She can't keep up with the chain event which happens too fast for her to digest. Yesterday she broke someone else's phone, Today she wanted to repay it by doing some errand then all of a sudden a fight broke out. All of this seems unreal for Karin who always lived a quiet life, but what's even more unreal is the fight itself. 1 girl against 4 guys, at first she thinks that they are going to do something terrible to her, but that's before she witnesses the way she moves. Her speed is otherworldly in a matter of second she can vanish from your sight if you blink, and the way she position herself as if she's already predicting her opponent position, while it looks like she only move herself Karin realized that she moves herself in a certain way to put her opponents on the position where she want them to. Looking at someone who can fight against 4 opponents with ease she can't help but be amazed at the same time for a wimp like Karin, she's also frightened by the girl's ability.
Karin's legs is in no condition to move, the fear and shock has paralized to the point she can't feel it. Now she's left alone with the frightening girl who managed to win a fight against 4 guys at once. She wanted to get away from her, but she's already struggling to move her leg. The tears leaked out of her eyes caused by the hopeless situation she put herself in.
Sena took a glance at the poor girl with a tear in her eyes whose body is shaking from terror. Seeing the pitiful state of the girl she can't help herself to walk towards her.
'HIIIII NOW SHE'S WALKING TOWARDS ME, WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO TO ME!'
"Uhm… excuse me are you okay?" Sena said while extending her hands gesturing that she'll help her stand up
"..." Karin remained silent, not answering Sena's question . Her face no longer hints the sign of fear, instead it shows confusion.
'Poor girl…. She's too shocked to even say something, maybe she can't even move her arms too' out of concern Sena wanted to lift her up so she can sit somewhere less dusty.
Putting both of her arms around her armpit, she tried to lift Karin up. With how weak Sena's strength is she's struggling to lift Karin, ending up with her losing her grips and falling to her back. With current Sena's strength and how small her body is, it's impossible to lift someone like Karin.
"Ehehehe i'm s-sorry i-it seems like i-i don't have enough strength to lift you up" patting the dust on her uniform, Sena is embarrassed by how weak she is, she can only cover her shame with her awkward laugh.
"I'll j-just wait here at least until you can move your leg again, how about that?" after failing to lift Karin, right now she's trying to reassure Karin so she can relax herself out from shock.
'She's not scary….?' with her eyes still fixated on Sena, she slowly starts to gain control of her leg.
Karin tried to stand up, but some parts of her leg were still numb. After putting herself halfway from standing up, she fell forward from the numbness on her leg. Thankfully before she hit the ground Sena was there to catch her.
"A-are you okay? C-can you stand up? Do you want to sit somewhere less dusty" you can hear the panic in Sena voice, when she looked at how unstable Karin leg is, she already knew that Karin is going to fall. Positioning herself in front of Karin she tried to support Karin's body letting Karin's body lean on Sena's body. Sena's arm wrapped themself around Karin's body, to prevent her from falling to the side.
With the numbness slowly fades away she finally can stand up by herself without Sena's support. Upon knowing that Karin no longer needed her body to lean on, Sena let go of her arms. After making sure the girl in front of her is not going to fall again, Sena pat the dust on Karin's skirt.
"..." Karin with her eyes glued on Sena still not letting out a single word. She doesn't know what she needs to do or say in this situation.
'Should I say sorry or thanks? Seriously what i need to do in this circumstance'
"I'm sorry! You must be shocked aren't you, i'm sorry it must've been scary for you isn't it" when Sena think about it, what happened just then should be more than enough to scare the blonde girl. Strangely for Sena who more than anyone knows that she herself is a coward, but this time she doesn't even feel scared. When she faces 4 people who used to bully her, she can keep her calm without being intimidated by them.
'Awww I'm gonna regret it later, am i? I should've kept my silence, that way i can avoid this whole fiasco from happening' Sena's brief moment of courage might make her forget about the consequence of her action. But that doesn't mean her action doesn't have its consequences. With how much animosity within Toda's threat, she certainly knew she wouldn't be able to spend the rest 3 month of her middle school lifes in peace, from now on she needs to watch her back.
'If only I could take back my action' she never imagined things would escalate like this. The scenario she imagines that would happen when she takes a fall for Karin is she goes back to being a gopher then they let Karin free. She never expected they would get angry to the point of wanting to tackle her.
What surprises Sena even more than their reaction is Sena's own reaction towards their offense. Sena only has been training for less than 2 weeks, yet she's able to dodge the combined attack of 4 people at once. Toda and his goons might only be a low level bully who doesn't really know how to fight. They pick their target and they make sure their target of bullying won't fight back, for example someone like Sena. Considering not too long ago Sena is someone who can't even win a fight against her own cat, taking on 4 people at once is a huge improvement.
'Still… it's not enough to beat shin-san' while she recognizes her own feat, she doesn't want to get ahead of herself especially when she still has a bigger target in mind.
'Well if push comes to shove I'll just run as fast as i can from Toda and his friends, but what about her?' The reason why Sena is playing tag against 4 guys is because she wanted to help Karin by sacrificing herself.
'I'm sure I can outrun them, but what about her? Are they going to leave her alone' from what Sena saw before Toda and his goons acting kinda strange when they saw Karin without her glasses.
'Their eyes change when they see her face without glasses' Sena is someone who is familiar with those gleaming eyes, it's the eye full of lust.
For someone with a small body like Sena, people often mistake her as a grade schooler. But just because she looks like a child doesn't mean that there are no one who look at her sexually. Every Once in a while there are weird people trying to lure her with candy, chocolate, doll and anything that could tempt a child, because of how often this occurs her parents and Mamori used to accompany her whenever she's going out of home. All of those weird people have the same similarity which is their eyes, it's the eyes gleaming with lust. Just then Sena saw the same eyes she's no stranger with emitting on Toda and his goons.
Sena might not realize it, but the reason why she stepped in to prevent Toda's hand from ever touching Karin, was because Sena had a bad feeling after seeing those lust gleaming eyes. The lust on their eyes are changing into bloodlust once Sena stepped in between Toda and Karin. She tried to diffuse the tension by telling them that she doesn't mind being treated as a gopher, but her effort only agitated them even more which led to Sena playing a game of tag against 4 guys.
Considering Sena's past experience, most of the people who have that lust gleaming in their eyes are quite persistent. The last time someone tried to lure her with candy was back in 8th grade, when Sena declined his suspicious offer he tried to grab Sena by force, thankfully Sena's leg came to the rescue.
'What if they went after her again' Sena clearly knew they don't merely want marin as their gopher, if they only need a gopher they'll probably accept Sena's offer when she surrenders herself as their gopher. Sena can't help but worry about what will happen to her.
'Her name is Karin right? Why is she staring at me like that' Karin might not be saying anything, but her eyes have been drilling holes on Sena.
"Uhm your name is Karin right?" 'aah screw it might as well go all the way through' Sena thought that the reason why the fiasco happened was because she wanted to prevent Karin from becoming their gopher, might as well go all the way through to prevent something bad from happening to her.
Karin nodded her head twice in response to Sena question, while her eyes still glued to Sena
'Seems like she's still shocked, but at least she can hear what i'm saying' satisfied with Karin minimum response Sena proceed to ask her another question
"Do you mind if i ask how do you get acquainted with Toda-san?" to solve a problem Sena need to understand the root of the problem first 'i'm sure they're talking about phone or something'
"..."
'It seem like it's too soon for me to dig out any information out of her, it's better to let this poor girl rest for now' while Sena is about to stop asking more question toward Karin since what happen just then might overload her minds already, and Sena doesn't want to add more load to her head. But when Sena was about to rest her case, suddenly Karin let out a sound.
"Uhm ano…. I-i met t-Toda san the day before yesterday….." stuttering her words she managed to tell Sena on how she got herself indebted towards Toda for breaking his phone, tears came out her eyes again while she told her stories.
'Well…. That's one way to get yourself a new gopher Toda-san….' looking at how similar Karin and Sena timidness, Sena isn't surprised that Karin gets swiped along Toda schemes,Sena isn't even sure if Toda's phone is actually broken.
"Hic… hic… then all of a sudden a fight broke out between you guys hic and i don't know what i should do hic.." Karin ends the story while sobbing
"I guess that must've been too much for you" Sena tried to comfort her while patting her back
"So what are you going to do next, since i'm not sure Toda will let you get away with it" Sena finally address the important question
"Hic… For now i'll probably save my pocket money to buy another phone to replace his broken phone, hic till then i'll do their errand"
"Uhm i don't think they're gonna let you free even after you buy a new phone for Toda-san, they'll come up with lots and lots of excuses to bind you" for Sena who has more experience with Toda and his friends, she know it better than anyone Toda will not let his slave free from duty, he'll try to manipulate or guilt trip them so they can stay being his slave. Spending the last 3 month of your middle school life being a gopher isn't even the worst case scenario for Karin, looking at the way they act before Sena doesn't want to imagine what they're going to do to Karin.
'This is bad, she's not even aware what kind of situation she was in'
"I already know about that hic your friends probably won't let me go even after i repay Toda's phone, but what else can i do?"
'What…. It seems like she misunderstood something, since when did I become friends with Toda and his friends?'
"Karin-san, I think you misunderstood my relationship with Toda-san…. I'm not his friend"
"Eeh really? I assume you're their friend since you hang out with them" Karin express her genuine surprise
"No, in case you didn't realize it i was their gopher before you"
'I guess that makes sense, at the beginning they're listing all kinds of items she needs to fetch in the cafeteria. wait no, it doesn't make sense, if she can win a fight against 4 of them at once, how did she ends up as their gopher'
"B-but just then y-you….."
'Aah… from her perspective it might seem that I just won a fight against 4 guys. Toda and his friends might be a bully, but they're not a delinquent'
"No you misunderstood Karin-san, i've been their gopher since first year, it just i've been training myself lately"
"So you've been training martial arts in order to beat them?" Karin misunderstanding gets even deeper than before
"NO! That's not the reason why I train myself…. But there's someone i wanted to beat" Sena denied Karin's assumption while whispering the last bit of her sentence, even though she was whispering Karin was still able to hear it.
"Setting that aside which class are you in Karin-san, i'm in 3b and i'm quite sure Toda-san and his friends is in 3e"
"Uhm i-i'm in 3a right beside your class"
'That's strange her class is right beside me but i've never seen her before' Sena pondered why she's never seen Karin even though her class is right beside her class, it's all because Karin tried her best not to stand out.
"So you're 4 classes away from Toda-san right" hearing Sena's question Karin answer with a nod
"So… can you avoid him while we are in school" to avoid them doing anything to Karin all she needs to do is avoid Toda.
'If Karin stays in her class, i'm sure Toda isn't going to try anything funny to her no matter how persistent he is' Sena is somewhat right on her guess, Toda is rational enough to not cause any trouble especially when there are possible witnesses around him.
"I-i think i can do that, b-but only at school. When i was discussed with him regarding on how to compensate his broken phone, he accompanied me halfway home"
'Dang it ! avoiding him at school is already quite a chore, but now there's a chance of him approaching Karin-san on her way home'
"Then how about this Karin-san, what if i escort you on your way home. It's not like i can protect y-you or a-anything, but i can at least distract them while you make a run for it"
"Then what about you uhm… ano" 'this is bad i don't know her name, i'm sure Toda-san have said her name before but i'm not paying attention back then'
"Kobayakawa Sena, you can call me Sena since my family name is a tongue twister. And you don't have to worry about me, i might not be able to fight them but at least i can run around them to buy you more time" being confident on her speed Sena tried to reassure Karin
'She's too kind' for Karin who doesn't have a friend. This is the first time someone treats her like this.
"Uhm why are you going this far for someone like me?" Karin ask while being skeptical on Sena's too good to be true nature
'This is far too suspicious, what does she get from helping someone like me"
"Uuh…. I kinda feel bad leaving things this way, especially after I escalated the situation just now. I know it's not my responsibility, but I would definitely regret it if something bad is happening to you. I-it's m-more or less like that Karin-san" truthfully Sena still feel guilty for turning the situation from bad to worse, her intent back then might be coming out of the goodness in her heart, but the outcome isn't something that Sena wanted to happen.
'She really is kind, i feel bad for doubting her good will… she doesn't have to pay attention to my wellbeing, yet she goes out of her way to make sure i'll be fine. I can't take away someone's kindness like this, I also need to do something myself!'
"C-can i-i train with you too Sena-san?!"
"Huh?" Karin sudden request caught Sena by surprise
"i-i d-don't w-want to take advantage of your kindness too much Sena-san, i might be a burden for now but at least i want to stood my ground like you just did Sena-san"
"B-but my training isn't for the purpose of fighting Karin-san, i-it just happen i can use it to dodge anything coming my way" 'i seriously don't know how to fight, riku tried to teach me how to fight by using the speed of my leg, but i only ever use them to do my bully's errand. My current training isn't even for the sake of making me a better fighter but a better runner'
"That's all right, I don't mean that you need to train me how to fight. I just don't want to be a burden to you"
'Aagh what to do, she asked me to train with her? Let's think about it later when I escort her to her home. Lunch time is about to end in a matter of second'
"We can talk about it later Karin-san, for now let's go to our class since the bell is about to ring" upon Sena's suggestion Karin answered with a nod.
"Let's meet up at the school gate once the school is over"
Right now Karin is waiting for Sena near the school gate. There are many students walking past her, but she still keeps her wariness on the lookout in case Toda and his goons approach her. After waiting for no longer than 5 minute she eventually spotted Sena, then approached her. Karin wanted to greet Sena, but before she could say anything Sena already apologized for making her wait.
"I'm sorry for making you wait Karin-san, i have to submit my form to teacher's office before i go home" Sena said while bowing her head
"It's fine Sena-san I don't really wait that long, shall we?" With Karin leading the way they both walk together
"You know Sena-san, i want to thank you for what you did back there. I realized it in the class, you're actually trying to step in for me" back then she didn't notice it because things are happening too fast for my mind to keep up. When in her class she's able to cool her head to think about what happens during lunch time.
'She obviously trying to cover for me but i was too preoccupied with my own thoughts to realize what was happening'
"You don't have to Karin-san, i ended up making things worse for you after all" Sena with her red face trying to deny the credit of whatever it is Karin thinking
"Still…."
'If it's any other people i don't think they'll step in for my sake, what's more she's doing it for a stranger like me' keeping the rest of her sentence to herself, Karin is too embarrassed to say it in person
Once Karin is done expressing her thanks. Both of them went silent, from an outsider point of view you can see the awkwardness between both of these girls. Both Karin and Sena are loners who don't really have friends to begin with, most of the conversations they ever had are usually done with their own family. They don't know how to start a conversation nor hold a conversation. What's worse, they're aware of how awkward the current silence is. Both Karin and Sena are trying their best to come up with some kind of topic to lighten up their trip to Karin's home.
"By the way Sena-san what kind of training do you usually do?" Karin is the one who breaks the silence first. She asked Sena about her training routine not merely for chit chat alone, she is genuinely curious on what kinds of training Sena does since she also wants to train herself too.
"Uhm i usually run around the neighborhood from 5 to 7 am, then at 4 till 6 pm i train my footwork at the neighborhood park, later at night i train my core strength"
"That's amazing…." Karin said with an honest awe
Other than the time she's going to school, she's pretty much spending all of her time training' for Karin who's not fit, doing any kind of exercise for more than 1 hour is more than enough to make her faint.
'There must be something motivating her to train to this degree. If i'm not wrong winning a fight isn't one of them'
"That's not really amazing to be honest, I'm still struggling to keep up with my own training schedule. I'm sure an average athlete can perform better than me physically"
"Do you mind if I ask what makes you train this much?"
"It's actually quite embarrassing but there's something i wanted to do once i enter high school"
"highschool?" 'is this one of those highschool debut thingy'
"Yeah since there's no american football team in our middle school, i'm planning to join one when i enter high school" said enthusiastically
"American football?" having little to no knowledge when it comes to sport Karin doesn't even know what american football is
"Yeah american football, and i'll try to enter as a runner"
'It must've been great to have that much of a passion toward something…. I don't even know what i want to do in the future'
"So…. about the training…. Can I tag along too? I want to be strong like you too Sena-san"
"Well…. Sure you can join me in training but…. I don't think you'll get stronger if you train with me…." Sena said while scratching her neck. She's assuming the meaning behind the word "strong" said by Karin as strong in a fight
"I just think it's amazing that you have something you wanted to do and you're already working hard toward it, while i've only been living my life aimlessly not knowing what i'm going to do next"
'I also wanted to be like her, to be passionate about on something and trying my best to achieve it'
"D-don't y-you h-have something you like to do too Karin-san?" flustered because someone actually praised her Sena stuttered a bit. She's feeling happy that someone thinks highly of her, but she's also embarrassed because she thinks she doesn't deserve the praise.
"I don't know about that…. I guess I like to draw, but more than like i guess it's closer to i'm good at it. Other than that i don't think i have something that i wanted to do"
"You can draw?"
"More or less, do you want to take a look at it?'' Without waiting for Sena's answer Karin took out her sketchbook, then she flipped around some pages so Sena could take a look. The pages are filled with landscape drawing full of details one might be fooled into thinking it's a black and white photograph.
"This is really amazing Karin-san" Sena was impressed by Karin's drawing on her sketchbook. Even though Karin's drawing is impressive, Sena's standard for great drawing is anything better than her Mamori-neechan drawing.
"Are you sure you don't actually like to draw?" Sena is baffled because someone with this much talent in the craft actually doesn't like to draw.
"It's not like I don't like drawing, I just have nothing to do so I draw. I don't hate doing it nor am I passionate about it. I'm sure once i find something that i wanted to do like you Sena-san, i'll draw less than i usually do" for Karin drawing is only a routine just like studying. Because she has no friends, she has more time to spend with herself and rather than doing nothing by herself she spends all of her time drawing.
"Then do you think you'll be able to find what you want to do if you train with me?"
"To be honest I don't know but for now I want to get stronger, strong enough until i don't have to impose on you Sena-san" being aimless most of her life finally she found something she herself wanted to do, which is getting stronger. It might not be something as passionate as Sena with american football, but for now she wanted to fulfill her current wants.
"Aahh Sena-san we have arrived, thanks for escorting me" After spending most of their trip talking, they finally reach Karin's home.
'Thankfully Toda and his goon is nowhere in sight' Sena's expected Today will come to block them on their way home, but contrary to her expectation their walks have gone peacefully without any disturbance aside awkward silence.
'Wait a second! I recognized this neighborhood….' Sena moves her head to look around
"Karin-san… this is your house right?"
"Yes?"
"You see that house across the street" Sena said while pointing her finger to the house not too far from Karin house, only 5 houses away from Karin's house.
"That's where I live…." It turns out Karin and Sena are neighbors but due to both girls being a loner who always spend most of their time in their room, they never see each other around the neighborhood area they live in.
"WHAT?! REALLY?!" surprises and shocks doesn't stop coming for Karin today
this chapter is a disaster, well at least i learn 2 things from writing it
1. i'm suck at writing longer chapter. next time i'll just write bite-sized chapter. so you as a reader can comprehend the fic more easily
2. i shouldn't write this chapter right after i got my booster shot. the side-effect of booster make my head delirious asf i ended up being bedridden for 4 days. when your head is in this state it's better to rest than sitting in front of your laptop typing up fanfic, which partly results on this mess of a chapter.
as always critic and correction is always welcome