'Tick-tock' went the clock outside the Principal's office as a young Hideki, covered in bruises and bandages on his arms and face, sat on a chair opposite to the wooden door of the room where his mother was talking with the Principal. With his fingers coiled and his lips quivering, it had been an hour since the encounter with the same bullies that had been picking on him ever since he came to this school. 30 minutes since his mother had came to see the Principal, and his stomach still felt sore from a hard kick he had received.
The wooden door creaking open makes the boy tremble and his sunken gaze moved to the floor. Hideki's mother, Hairi Hakamichi, came out of the office, sighing in relief as she flicked her long, dark blue hair from her eyes and looked down on her son, "The Principal's says you're off the hook. But-" she crouched down to Hideki's level, his head hung, and brushed a finger on his bruised face, "-From what he told me, you didn't even try to fight back. Why?" her tone was gentle and soothing to his ears.
Hideki rubbed his thin, sore arms, speaking softly, "I can't do anything to them... I'm too weak... I..."
"Give me a break," Hairi clicked her tongue disapprovingly and took out a wet napkin from her hand-purse, clutching Hideki's cheeks to wipe the dry tears that were under his eyes, "So, you're saying that just because you're smaller, that means you don't have the right to stand up for yourself?"
"But-"
"No 'buts', Hideki," she spoke kindly and patted him on the head. Ruffling his hair and bringing his forehead to hers, Hairi whispered, "Listen: As much as I hate to say it, I won't always be here for you. So you have to stand up for yourself someday, understand? You've got become stronger, if you want to make this world and I proud. I don't want you to remain like this anymore. Do you understand me, Hideki?"
Hideki's eyes looked left, then looked right, and then he gave a small nod with a frown.
"That's a good boy," she gave him a kiss on the forehead and walked him to the car with their hands holding each other, "One day, you'll be able to distinguish yourself from the others and be someone that can inspire others."
"Can I be like you, Mom?" Hideki curiously asked, "You've won so many competitions to make money for Dad and I. I want to be like you."
Hairi chuckled and picked up the young toddler, giving him a ride on her back as she smiled, "Of course. But, no matter what you do, I'm sure you'd make me proud. Come on, your dad's waiting in the car. Let's have some dinner on the way back."
In the dark, moist locker-room of the gymnasium, Hideki placed his foot on the wooden bench and tightened the training pads that covered his upper and lower legs. He checked the ones on his torso, elbows, shoulders and cheeks before inserting a plastic gum-shield inside his mouth. It tasted like grass as Hideki closed his mouth over it. Tateyama sat further down the bench, controlling and maintaining the pace of his breathing with his eye shut closed to help him focus.
As he made the final preparations, Hideki pondered about the past few days and the incident that had kept him mentally and physically occupied from focusing on this test: Homura's accident. He knew it wasn't completely his fault, he knew that he shouldn't blame himself, but he let guilt took him over as usual and offered to help out of willingness to do so and how he sympathized with her.
Now that he saw Homura, brighter and more active than the past 2 days, Hideki had felt the guilt lighten from his chest and he could once again focus again on this important matter. He swore the moment his mother had gave her last breath, that he would enter and win a tournament just like she did multiple times before him. It was her that what made him the reckless, cocky teen he was now. Hideki was relieved and thankful for whatever helped Homura become like this, but he somewhat felt a bit guilty for ignoring Homura in class just now to focus on this test. Maybe he should make it up to her by treating her to something later after this.
Hideki looked over to the white-haired boy and went up to him to shake him out of his concentration, "Hey, 'Teyama, you took your medicine yet?"
Opening his eyes, Tateyama took out a small canister of pills from his pocket. The small pills shook inside it as eyed it reluctantly, "I don't need it..."
"Take it," he said, slightly stern, "We both know what'll happen of you don't take it."
Tateyama scowled a bit there and opened up the canister, taking a small pill out and swallowing it with a muffled grunt. Hideki smiled and patted him on the back to ease up his friend, "We can do this. Trust me," his confidence got him a small smile from Tateyama, which Hideki mirrored. They had a moment of silence until Takehito came over to their section of the locker room from the other side, dressed in the same training gear as he grinned.
"I'm not surprised that you two came," Takehito said, cracking his eager, ready knuckles, "In fact, I'm actually glad, since now I get to pummel your faces in and show why you two don't belong in this tournament or this team."
Hideki shot him a cocky smile and quipped, "Sorry, Saeki, but we're the ones who're going to send you crying back home. We're not leaving this gymnasium without hearing something about joining this team."
A member of the Student Council entered the dark locker-room with a clipboard in hand and a headset on his ear. He was unfazed by the intense glares given between Takehito and Hideki, "Alright, guys, you're up."
Tateyama got off the bench and went out first, followed by Hideki, then Takehito. The uneasy silence between them gain didn't gaze the Student Council member as he ticked down Hideki and Tateyama's names on the clipboard, telling Yuri over the headsets to begin with the test. He followed them out of the locker rooms after double-checking the place for anyone else.
Tateyama lowered his pace to be by Hideki's side and whispered, "I'll go first."
"What? Why?" Hideki raised a brow, "I thought I-"
When the three came out of the locker room and into the large gymnasium's court, they were greeted by the waves of applause and booing from the people sitting on the bleachers as Yuri announced their names over the microphone. Tateyama raised his voice to try and get Hideki to hear him over the noise, "We don't know his patterns. It's better if I go first. You try to memorize his patterns when I fight, in case I fail. Got it?"
Hideki hesitantly nodded and looked over to the gymnasium's entrance to see Homura, Mamoru and Takuya standing there. He was about to raise a hand to greet them, but he looked away when he saw Miki Sayaka in the crowd with her friends beside her. He turned back his view to the training mat in front of him. Hideki didn't have time to be thinking about her or anything else, as he needed his full attention here.
Even though it's been a while since he's seen here directly, the girl still lingered at the back of his mind. He couldn't remember the last name he's tried confessing to her, and he was grateful for not being able to. Nevertheless, he shook his head and continued with starting the test.
At the entrance, Mamoru, Takuya, Homura, along with Madoka and her friends, stood among the crowd of injured students and gym members that were taking notice of the three boys heading towards the large training mat in the middle of the court. Some booed at Hideki and Tateyama, who ignored them to the best of their abilities, while others cheered at Takehito, who loved the increasing attention and let out exclamations of thanks. Narita continued to tend to the students, preparing a few more bandages and wraps just in case as Mamoru climbed onto the bleachers and tried observing the situation with Takuya on a seat below him.
"This isn't going to end well," Mamoru grimly muttered, bringing a thumb to his chin and nervously biting on it, "Takehito is the team's best fighter and we don't have any info on his patterns nor movements. Can they even do this," hands tightened, Mamoru looked down to Takuya and ordered, "Takuya, I want you head back and head over to the Nurse's Office. Ask Mirai to prepare two beds, just in case the worst happens. Understood?" worry could be seen seeping through the cracks of his calm facade.
"R-Right," Takuya nodded, jumping down from the tall bleachers and landing onto the wooden floor with ease to leave the gymnasium. He ran out of the double-doors as Homura went up to the club leader sitting on the bleachers.
"Tezuka, what's going on?" Homura was worried as she saw that Mamoru's smug smile was replaced with a calculative look that scanned the situation. She could see his hand trembling while he nervously bit down on his thumb to calm himself.
Without looking down at Homura, he explained to her, "Hideki and Tateyama are trying to enter Makoto's team, but, it seems we reached a problem here," he climbed down from his seat and landed next to a unconscious student lying on a stretcher. His landing was a bit off, but Homura helped him regain his footing, "We had expected the Captain himself to be the one testing the recruits and we thought it would be easy to pass this test," Mamoru furrowed his brow, angry with himself, "It seems we were wrong."
"Then what are you going to do?" Homura asked and worryingly looked over to Hideki and Tateyama, standing on one side of the mat with Takehito on the far side, "If you didn't know about this, then can we do to help?"
"We can't do anything," Mamoru bitterly stated, annoyed by this unseen error as he bit his finger again to calm himself, "The best we can do is watch and see what happens. You can go help Narita with the injured students, or just head back to the club-room and wait for us. I'll be observing the match."
"No. I'll be watching as well," Homura refused, shaking her head, "Ikezawa and Hakamichi are my friends, just as much as they are to you. I want to see if they get through this or not."
Mamoru raised a brow at the edge her tone carried and promptly nodded. Her dedication to her friends impressed him, "Very well."
Meanwhile, Sayaka, Madoka and Hitomi were wondering if they should stay here and watch the match or just leave. Sayaka wasn't so keen on staying since she didn't feel like watching and neither was Hitomi. They also didn't want to see the brutal sight that would be unfolding in front of many students, "Madoka, shouldn't we head back to class?" Sayaka asked, taking a few steps to the door.
"Ummm... You and Hitomi go ahead," Madoka politely declined with a bow, "Miss Narita looks like she needs help with the injured students, so I wanna stay."
"Are you sure?"
Hitomi nodded and placed a hand on Sayaka's shoulder to cut her off, "Come then, Sayaka. If Madoka wants to help the Nurse with her job, let her. she is the Class Health Inspector after all," she brought a hand to her cheek and chuckled.
Sayaka frowned and sighed, "Fine, we'll see you at class then," Sayaka shrugged and the two walked to the double-doors of the gymnasium. At one point, she turned to look back to see Madoka helping the nurse with a few students, and she also saw Hideki standing tall and trying to stay calm with hands tightly clenched at his sides. Sayaka thought a bit about what Hitomi said, the rumor about his crush on her, and quickly threw the thought away before leaving.
"The test will now begin," Yuri announced, using a microphone as she sat in front of the table on one side of the court, a Student Council member sitting next to her as her assistant and partner. Homura and Mamoru went up to her and stood next to her to observe the fight. Homura gave her small wave as a greeting before turning her attention to the fight. Mamoru bit on his thumb again and began observing the situation with eyes glued to the three boys at the sides of the large, black training mat.
The tense air between them was almost palpable and Mamoru knew this wasn't going to be a clean fight.
Takehito eagerly cracked his knuckles, flexing his muscular arms which wooed a few of the cheerleaders at the bleachers and jokingly, a few of the other male members of the team, "So, who's going to get sent to the sidelines first?" he asked with a low chuckle and Tateyama stepped forward, chin high.
"I will."
Hideki patted him on the back, "Good luck."
Taking of their shoes and socks, they stepped onto the black mat and their bodies dropped to a fighting stance. Takehito was the tallest member of the team and his tense muscles showed that he had the experience to back his ego. Tateyama's stance was more relaxed in his stance as he was slimmer and a foot shorter than Takehito. Feet widened, Tateyama let out a long, drawn-out breath, waiting for the match to start as the Student Council Member beside Yuri explained the rules.
"The test is to survive 10 minutes in the ring with Takehito Saeki. if you drop unconscious and/or knocked out of the ring, you will immediately fail and thus, be disqualified and rejected from the team. Last out the 10 minutes and you get a spot on the team. End of line. May the test begin."
'Clang' went the match bell.
"Come on, Ikezawa, show me your moves!" Takehito lunged forward like an animal and threw a straight punch. Narrowing his eye, Tateyama moved slightly to the left and let the punch smoothly slide past his head. Takehito then skid to a stop after closing the distance between them and struck at Tateyama with a quick knee. Tateyama leap back a second before the knee could strike his abdomen and the two were in now each other's starting positions. Tateyama let out another drawn-out breath and brought up his fists up to his chest.
"You got this, 'Teyama!" Hideki cheered.
Another attack, this time, a flurry of quick punches that Tateyama blocked simultaneously with his forearms. Feet dug into the ground, Takehito's hard punches pounded on his forearms until and Tateyama proceeded to dodge with quick, but tender, movements instead. In the middle of this barrage of punches, adrenaline rushing through him, Tateyama spotted an opening and launched a right hook at Takehito's face.
His fist slammed into his flesh and punched Takehito across the cheek, bruising his face and even drawing bits of blood that stained the mat below their feet. Pushing him a few meters away, Tateyama jumped back to keep his distance as Homura, Hideki and Yuri gasped in surprise.
"W-Woah," Homura's hands cupped her mouth, "He got him."
Hideki tightened his fist, chuckling, "That guy's still got it."
Mamoru, though, wasn't optimistic as he kept his gaze on the match and brushed his chin with a finger. Homura questioned this and Mamoru explained his observations, "A punch like that was good, but it wouldn't affect someone like Takehito significantly. Tateyama would have to be careful in his defensive strategy here, as well as pay attention to the pace of his breathing. Any mistake would cost him this match."
Three minutes in and Takehito spat some blood onto the mat, grinning, "Not bad, but can you block this?"
Tateyama narrowed down his eyes as Takehito began chuckling, both of them circling each other around the edges of the mat. Tateyama took in another deep breath and as soon as he let it out, Takehito lunged forward faster than just now and closed the distance in a second. Takehito skid to a stop in front of Tateyama, lowered his stance and central balance and began to aggressively weave his body in a pattern similar to the shape of a figure eight.
His quick weaving was difficult even for Tateyama to accurately trace with only one side of his face being a blind spot. Knowing that Takehito was going to take full advantage of that, Tateyama pulled back his arms to throw another hook at Takehito's face when Hideki suddenly warned him to block. Takehito then suddenly fired a series of rapidly-executed punches aimed at Tateyama's blindside whilst continuing his bobbing and weaving.
Tateyama was suddenly caught in a high-paced barrage of punches as he felt his arms weakening from the force behind them. Tateyama could feel the full body weight of Takehito behind them each punches as they slowly began to push him to the side of the mat. Even though he wore the pads on his arms, he could feel them slowly breaking from the force of Takehito's punches.
Takehito then suddenly jumped back, to the white-haired boy's surprise, before Takehito then threw his body sideways and into the air for an aerial cartwheel.
His arms and legs pumping battery acid and his breathing thrown off, Tateyama couldn't react despite Hideki's warning shouts as Takehito connected his cartwheel into a harsh kick that struck Tateyama in the face with the force of a sledgehammer. He felt the blood vessel above his right eye pop as Tateyama's back and legs give away and his chest tighten too much for him to scream in pain. The cartwheel kick threw him out of the mat and Tateyama landed on the wooden floor with a loud thud, followed by the ringing of the bell and the cheering of the crowds.
Yuri clenched her teeth as the sound of the kick echoed through the gymnasium, the girl wincing along with a few of the crowd members.
"Tateyama!" Hideki exclaimed, sprinting to him with Homura and Mamoru at his sides, "Tateyama! Tateyama!" Hideki shook the boy who curled up his legs and clenched his chest and face in pain, his chest feeling tight. When he noticed Tateyama's breathing dangerously beginning to go into disarray, he shouted over to Narita for help, "Miss Narita, it's Tateyama! His heart's acting up!"
Carefully, Narita came over and took him away as Tateyama gasped for hair and clutched his chest. He took out the canister of pills from his pocket and gulped down one of them before he was carried away to the bleachers. Mamoru helped the nurse carry him over to an empty spot, with Homura wondering what was wrong with his health.
"Come on, is that all you got?!" Takehito mused, laughing along with a few other Gym members who sat on the bench.
Hideki clenched his fist with a furious scowl growing on his face, his bulging nerves visible on his hands. His teeth clenched, Hideki's eyes narrowed down on Takehito as he spat at him, "Bastard!" he looked behind to see Narita and Mamoru settling Tateyama down on a bench, Madoka helping her put his head on a small cushion. Feeling his palms sweat, Hideki stepped onto the mat and raised his fists, his emotions a mixture of eagerness and anger while his opponent only laughed at his aggression.
"Let's do this," Takehito chuckled, grinning evilly, "I've been waiting all year for this."
Suddenly, silence enveloped the large room as everyone in the gymnasium was now silent. As the fight began, onlookers knew this was not going to be a clean, instant defeat like Tateyama had received. These two boys had been at each other's necks for months, and they now finally got the chance to dish out on each other with all they had in the 10 minutes given to them. With every second that passed without bloodshed, it seemed like a waste of time to the two boys.
Hideki instinctively relaxed his limbs, standing on the tips of his toes to allow easy access to a jump or dash as he didn't take his flaring glare off his opponent. Takehito smashed his fist into an open palm, grinning again as he slammed his foot on the mat and widened his legs. Like a hungry animal, Takehito launched at him, "Hakamichi, it's time to settle this!"
"You're gonna fucking pay!" Hideki jumped to the left and out a heavy straight punch as Takehito went pass him. Braking with his left foot, Hideki connected the dash to a clockwise roundhouse kick and crashed his left leg into Takehito's shoulder. Hideki gasped as Takehito ignored the pain and used this as an opportunity to grab Hideki by the leg.
Takehito picked him up almost effortlessly and threw Hideki overhead to slam him into the floor. An action like that had left Takehito a bit drained, but still ready to fight, he then dragged him across the mat and threw the boy back in his starting position. Hideki rolled as he landed, coughing and wiping his face with one hand. Takehito rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles one more time, waiting for Hideki to get up.
"Why didn't he just throw him out of the ring?" Homura asked, wanting the match to be over with less injuries as possible.
"Because he doesn't want to," Mamoru explained, crossing his arms, "These two are not going to just waste this match by a ring-out. They're going to savor every second of this match and make sure both of them don't leave here without a broken bone or two," he grimaced, closing his eyes and looking away from the match, "The two have been at it for months. This will be the worse beating Takehito is going to give."
"Stand up, Hakamichi!" Takehito bellowed.
Hideki got up to his feet, wobbling, blood leaking from his nose due to landing hard on his face. He wiped the blood away and cracked a cocky smile which enraged Takehito. The taller boy then charged forward at him again, attacking in a blaze of punches that Hideki zipped pass through ducking and quick evades. The damage to his face just now had woke up Hideki, as he was now at the top of his senses, feeling light and ready for everything that Takehito was going to give. Everything seemingly slowed down as if time had slowed to a crawl.
The attack went on and on, almost as if Takehito had enough stamina to go on for hours until Hideki shot a left hook through an opening he had seized and socked Takehito in the face, ending his barrage and sending him reeling back. Shaking his head, Takehito then grinned at lunched forward, only to skid to a stop in front of Hideki and lower both his stance and central balance. He started aggressively weave his body left and right, using the same attack he had used to ring-out Tateyama just now.
With focused eyes and adrenaline pumping in his veins, Hideki stood perfectly still as Takehito revved up his punch. His eyes watching his movements, Hideki drew in a deep breath and waited for a moment to strike, "Almost there... Almost there..." he had seen this move before and waited for the perfect moment to strike. Hideki readied his fists, prepared to put every single ounce of energy he had left in his body for that moment, "There!"
To everyone's shock, as Takehito finally threw his punch, Hideki mirrored his movement and almost simultaneously, both fighters crashed their fists into each others face with a loud smack ringing throughout the gymnasium. Everyone was left in awe as blood spilled onto the mat and the two boys were sent reeling back. Hideki could barely stand one his wobbling legs, panting fast and hard. He had put everything into that move, his fist now bleeding from the impact, and his forearm now sore. Takehito had dropped to one knee and clenched his face.
"D-Did... Did he do it?" Homura whispered, Mamoru completely silent beside her.
Hideki gripped his arm, feeling like his hands were splitting in two. But, he shrugged off the pain and shot a smile at Mamoru and Homura. Some of the gym members booed at the boy, some even having left the gym as Takehito still had not moved. It was 7 minutes into the match and Hideki felt like he could win.
But the match was not over, as a groan escaped Takehito's lips. Slowly, he stood up and gripped the side of his head, blood leaking from his nose. Hideki wondered if he was still going to continue, some of the leaving gym members having got back to their seats as Takehito suddenly let out a small laugh. The tall boy looked at Hideki and grinned, "Was that all you got?" he mocked, wiping the blood from his nose, "Ikezawa may have been a damn turtle, but at least his blows at least did something!"
Hideki ordered his legs to move, but he fell to one knee, completely drained of his energy. Mamoru scowled in frustration, knowing this would have happened. Homura on the other hand, cupped her mouth as she was not ready for the sight that was going to happen in front of all these people.
"You didn't do jack shit!" Takehito cracked his knuckles once more, walking up the boy kneeling on the mat, "It did excite me, but that was lackluster, boy!" he then threw a right hook at Hideki, who was too exhausted to as Takehito's fist connected with his stomach. Hideki felt bile rising up to his throat and stomach collapse. He was about to fall to the floor on his back when Takehito grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air, "Come on, Hakamichi, fight!"
"I-I..."
Another punch into the stomach came, followed a scream of pain as the crowd went wild. Even if Hideki managed to get back his spirit to get up and fight, the two punches were already enough to immobilize him to a point to where he could barely stand without feeling pain in his ribs. It's was too much for him to handle. He could barely breath. The gum shield in his mouth prevented him from throwing up on the mat as his face contorted in pain.
"What's wrong, Hideki? Scared shitless?!"
Another punch connected, this time with Hideki's face. And another, and another, with each impact creating a sound that echoed through the hall like gunfire. Mamoru turned away with Homura to spare her the sight and Yuri covered her eyes with her hands. All three were unable to look at the brutal beating that was being done without mercy or restraint. Tateyama still remained unconscious on the bench as Narita and Madoka were tending to him and the others to look away from the fight. But they could still hear the screams of pain.
"Whew, this feels good," Takehito said while he flung his tired wrist, "Haven't felt this good for a looooong time. How about you, Hakamichi?" still in his grip, Hideki couldn't reply. His feet were shaking in the air, his arms lifelessly by his sides, most of the protection gear around his body had either loosened or came off from Hideki being beaten and thrown around like a punching bag in a gym. But during the pain that he was registering in his body, Hideki muttered something inaudible between his lips, blood trailing down the corner of his mouth, "What's that? Speak up!" Takehito put his ear next to Hideki's mouth, "I can't hear you!"
The boy then spat his gum-shield out of his mouth and into Takehito's cheek. The plastic was nearly broken and covered in both saliva and blood as it slowly slid down from Takehito's cheek and dropped to the ground, covered in blood-stained drool. Vomit leaked from Hideki's mouth, a smirk growing on the injured boy's face, "I've been through... Worse..."
"Y-You...!" Enraged, Takehito gave him one final punch to the face that finally threw Hideki out of the ring. His unconscious body landed on the wooden floor as Homura, Mamoru and Narita ran up to him, trying to help, "That's what you get for pissing me off, boy."
"Enough!" a stern voice suddenly rose and all the gym members in the gymnasium stood upright at the appearance of Captain Makoto who had just arrived to see the brutal fight that was going on. When he came in, everyone was almost too busy cheering at the fight. The senior stood tall and walked up to Takehito, who bowed in respect, "You did your job, Saeki. Now get changed and head back to class," he ordered.
"Alright, I'm done here anyway," Takehito smiled and walked pass his senior. Hands in his pocket, Takehito then heard a gasp from his Captain and turned around to see what the fuss was about, "What the...?"
Behind him, Hideki stood upright, panting heavily, clothes rugged and bloodied, hair messy, and eyes begging to be closed. Blood trailed down his forehead, his cheek was sore and Hideki coughed as he slowly stepped towards the baffled Takehito. Grunting in pain, Hideki then threw a punch at his chest which barely lacked any force, earning a scoff from Takehito as Hideki kept throwing his exhausted jabs.
"Damn, still putting up a fight, huh?" Takehito raised his fist to strike him, but Makoto gripped his arm and prevented him from doing so.
"That's enough, Saeiki, you may go now."
"B-But-"
"Now," Makoto said, glaring at the boy.
Released by his Club President, Takehito moved back and bowed, quickly leaving the gymnasium and an exhausted, bleeding Hideki behind.
"G-Get back here!" Hideki tried to shout, but he could only whisper. Makoto stopped him in his tracks and gestured his junior to stop. Once again, Hideki tried to shout, only to collapse due to exhaustion in Makoto's arms. The captain promptly handed the unconscious student to Homura and Mamoru before turning to the remaining students that were in the gymnasium.
"Break had ended minutes ago. All of you who aren't injured or helping with Miss Narita, get back to class now. Show's over."