Disclaimer: Morimoto is a queen among women, Rowling can go sit in a dumpster. Both are the owners of their respective works, and I make no money from the online publication of this free-to-read fanwork.

Chapter Seven

The Bout

Dudley couldn't avoid it any longer. Gill was standing to his left, wearing a shit eating grin and hanging off his shoulder. "I think you might actually have a chance, Dud," said Gill. "The little twerp beat the rest of our asses, but you're so much bigger than he is!"

Yamaguchi was off on the other side of the gym, engaging in warm ups with one of the weaker UEL boxers. She was patient with him, but not brooking any nonsense either. It's a good thing she wants to be a teacher, Dudley thought. She'll be good at it. Gill was watching her like a hawk. "With how gentle he is with the newbies, I almost forget what a demon he is in the ring. Do us proud, Dud! Get a win."

"You know how good he is," said Dudley. "I'm large, and I'll be the first to say that I'm a good boxer, but I somehow don't think that's gonna be enough."

Gill deflated. Then he perked up again. "I know you're probably right, but you're definitely not going to pull out a win for UEL with that attitude."

Dudley looked over at Yamaguchi again. Her wig was honestly god-awful. He wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed it on the first day, how his teammates and coach hadn't noticed in the intervening few weeks. And it was inexpertly put on, too. He could see the bulges where she'd wrapped her typical twintails around her head. But one thing he'd come to realize about Yamaguchi was that she had luck - good and bad - swirling about her in spades. Of course his teammates didn't notice the wig. She didn't want them to, and she blustered through any suspicion with her typical loud confidence.

He watched her nudge her warm-up partner's foot with hers, correcting his stance. She then set about ruining it, depositing the other boxer rather gently on the blue mat. Beside Dudley, Gill winced.

"I don't envy you, Dud."

Dudley snorted. "I'm not set to do anything you haven't already done."

"Yeah, but you have to go to all his classes with him!"

"He might be a demon in the ring, but you realize he's not literally a demon, right?"

Gill sent him a very unimpressed look.

Well, Dudley reflected, maybe he had a point. Gill might have simply passed out upon seeing the Kuroda house. Dudley had realized belatedly that the Kuroda house was designed to be not only imposing in size and stature, but also intimidating through a language of symbols that Dudley just did not know. Gill, with the research he'd done into Japanese language and culture before this exchange, might have recognized them. And the rational response to them, Dudley had learned, was fear.

For the first time since this whole Japan fiasco had started, Dudley was kind of glad he'd gone in so unprepared.

"He's just a little rough around the edges, that's all," Dudley finally said, because that was the closest to the truth he could come without betraying Yamaguchi's confidence.

Gill scoffed disbelievingly. Dudley wasn't sure what Gill disbelieved - that Yamaguchi was 'just' rough around the edges, or that Yamaguchi was rough around the edges at all. True enough, there was something about her that screamed that she kept a record of her pocket money and probably had her lunch stolen in secondary school. But the fact that this was a playacted projection became obvious when she stepped in the ring and took down every UEL boxer with an easy manner and a smile on her face.

The way she was looking at Dudley right now, though, that was not an easy manner. She had abandoned her warm-up partner to his own devices and was making a beeline across the mat. Gill laughed delightedly, said, "Looks like he's done waiting for you, Dud!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Dudley. "I should probably get this over with."

Dudley was not quite sure what his hesitation was, but he'd been avoiding this since the minute a fight between them had started to look reasonable in the eyes of their teammates and coaches. Just yesterday, he'd thought it was fear. But although he recognized that fear would be truly understandable, with what he was pretending he didn't know about Yamaguchi, he wasn't afraid of her. Not really. He was out of excuses.

Just like that, she was in front of him. She tilted her head toward the ring with an expression that said, What are you, a coward?

"Alright," said Dudley.

"Ikou," said Yamaguchi, and Dudley was now fairly certain that it actually meant let's go. There was something about it that had Gill looking mildly surprised, though, some language nuance that Dudley was missing with his cobbled-together understanding.

But that wasn't important - the ring was clear and Yamaguchi was already climbing onto the raised platform and over the ropes. Boxers were engaging in informal spars all across the gym, boxers that might have been vying for the ring space. It occurred to Dudley that their teammates had kept it clear intentionally. They weren't exactly far into practice, but usually there was somebody making use of it by now.

Huh.

Dudley followed Yamaguchi up into the ring, assumed his starting position, and slipped his mouthguard between his teeth. Vaguely, he was aware that both Waseda and UEL boxers were gathering around to watch, but his focus was already narrowing. Yamaguchi was standing across from him, body limber. The red of her boxing gloves contrasted vividly against her white t-shirt.

A whistle blew, and both of them moved.

Honestly, Dudley had been expecting to be on the mat faster than he could blink, but he was either genuinely holding his own or Yamaguchi was going easy on him. He managed to block her first strike. Dudley aimed a hook, going for the side of her face. She dodged, came in close, and put a fist right in the pit of his stomach. Dudley buckled, but managed to keep his feet and retaliate.

Boxing was different from bullying, Dudley had learned during his early days on the Smeltings team. It was different from fighting, too. Boxing had rules. It occurred to him that Yamaguchi was perhaps less-than-used to following those rules. He'd managed to sus out that she wasn't even on the boxing team, not really. It's just that she'd informally joined every single Waseda sports team - men's and women's divisions - and got requested when necessary for her frightening physical prowess.

But that was something Dudley could use. He could see it now, when she wanted to use her elbow or her foot, wanted to treat their bout like a real fight. It gave her the briefest moments of hesitation.

Again, his focus narrowed, watching her form for any tell of what might be coming. His breathing shifted, and though he knew their teams were making a hullabaloo outside of the ring, he couldn't hear it over his own pulse. Not over the sounds of glove meeting flesh, and feet shifting positions on the mat.

Still, it took another minute and a hit to his face before he managed to land a blow to Yamaguchi's sternum. She stumbled backward, but kept her footing and smiled at him.

A shiver went down Dudley's spine.

She'd definitely been holding back, he realized, because suddenly she moved so fast it was like she blurred out of existence. Again, she managed to get him in the pit of the stomach. This time, he went down.

A whistle blew when Dudley was halfway to his feet, calling time, and Yamaguchi's hand, san-glove, appeared in his line of vision. He took it gratefully. He pulled out his mouthguard, tucked it into his collar.

She was saying something cheerful, looking proud of both herself and him. Dudley remembered his mother saying, A wise woman never wins at checkers. Not to him, never to him, but he heard it once or twice when she was chatting on the phone with friends.

But there was Yamaguchi, sweaty and brilliant and smelling like a boxing ring. She'd let him have a bout, but not the bout. Still catching his breath, Dudley couldn't help but grin.

They slipped out of the ring together, Gill waiting for them with bottled water.

"You did great, Dud," he said.

Dudley glanced at Yamaguchi, grinning despite himself. "I think I did!" he said. His father would be horrified, watching Dudley get thrown around by a flyweight, by a woman flyweight. But there was no shame in losing to a superior opponent.

One of the Waseda boxers had rushed Yamaguchi's side, looking exultant for even an informal Waseda victory. "Yamaguchi-senpai!"

"Tanaka-kun!"

Dudley could not even hope to follow that conversation, but he basked in the recognition of a job well done, reveled in the tiredness that was already setting into his limbs.

Off towards the middle of the room, the coaches were calling for attention. The moment broke, and with an affectionate nudge to Yamaguchi's shoulder, Dudley herded his teammates toward the circle of boxers being talked through their next exercise.

The bout was over, but practice went on.

Word Count: 1524
Date Posted: Wednesday, July 13th, 2022

Hope y'all enjoyed this most recent chapter of Dudley in Tokyo. The action is beginning to wind down. Also yes, I changed my username. It's been WolfishMoon for over a dozen years, it seemed like time for a change.