Hey readers,
The next chapter will be coming out in four days instead of the regular three days. This is because I need some extra time to write, as the next chapter will be a pretty big one.
Sorry for the delay, and as always, enjoy!
Mitsuri led Tamaki down the road, bright festival booths bordering the dirt path up ahead.
She skipped happily, humming and pulling him along. "Oh, we're here!"
He nodded. She looks beautiful in red.
They stopped at the entrance, where a man stood next to a large amount of bright red balloons. "Welcome to the festival!" he said cheerfully. "Would you like a balloon?"
"Ooh, I want one!" said Mitsuri. "Can I have one please?"
Tamaki shrugged. "I guess I'll get one too."
The man took two balloons from the cloud. "One for you," he said, handing one to Tamaki, "and one for the lady," he said, giving another to Mitsuri.
She giggled childishly. "Balloons!"
As they stepped into the festival, the loud sounds of frying food and happy cheers deafened Tamaki's ears. He walked sheepishly alongside Mitsuri with an unimpressed, emotionless face.
Mitsuri, on the other hand, held a dango stick in one hand and was eating the dumplings off of the one in her other. She mumbled something with her mouth full, swallowed, and tried again. "Tamaki, do you want this one?" She held up the dango stick she hadn't eaten yet.
"Sure," he said, taking it and slowly eating.
She frowned. "Tamaki, you don't look like you're having much fun."
He gave her a slight grin. "As long as you're happy, I am."
She gasped. "What's that?"
There was a large crowd of people up ahead of them. They were hollering and cheering. What's going on there?
They passed a beefy looking man on his way out from the crowd. "Hey, what's happening over there?" asked Tamaki.
"There's a sumo tournament happening right now," he said. "The prize for the winner is an all-you-can-eat buffet!"
Mitsuri's eyes gleamed with excitement. "A buffet? I want one!"
"The chances of winning aren't high," continued the man. "There's a lot of pro sumo wrestlers there. If you sign up, you'll be the next competitor up in the ring, against whoever won the previous match. The last person standing without any new challengers is the winner."
"Oh. Sounds interesting," said Tamaki. "Maybe we'll go watch."
The man continued on his way, and Tamaki and Mitsuri continued walking.
Tamaki felt a tug on his sleeve. It was Mitsuri. "Hey, Tamaki, I could really go for a nice buffet right now," she said.
He frowned. "Really? I don't even know the rules of sumo wrestling."
"You can figure them out!" Mitsuri pursed her lips. "If you don't win me the buffet I'll be really sad."
"You heard the man earlier. Some of those guys competing are pros! I wouldn't stand a chance against them!" protested Tamaki.
She pressed her index fingers together, making a cute face. "Pwease?"
He sighed. The things I would do for her.
Tamaki made his way through the crowd, stopping at the sign-up table. "Hey. I'd like to enter the tournament."
The man at the front of the table frowned. "Are you sure? The man in the ring right now has defeated eleven consecutive opponents. He's a real pro, called "Juggernaut". You would stand almost no chance."
Tamaki narrowed his eyes. "Let me enter and shut up."
"O-okay! You didn't have to get all aggressive!" He wrote down something on a sheet of paper and then turned it towards Tamaki. "Stamp here, please."
Tamaki took the stamp and stamped it, leaving a red mark on the paper.
"You're up next after this match," continued the man. "It's about to end."
Tamaki rejoined Mitsuri, and they waited at the front of the crowd.
"You're gonna do great, Tamaki! I just know it!"
A man suddenly went flying, and landed on the dirt outside of the ring. A bell dinged, and an announcer called out, "Juggernaut wins again!"
The crowd erupted into cheers as a huge man with jet-black hair done in the style of a pro sumo wrestler flexed and smiled at them.
"Tamaki, you're up now! I'll cheer you on from the side!" Mitsuri kissed him on the cheek.
Alright, let's see how good this "Juggernaut" guy is.
Tamaki stepped into the ring, shrugging his kimono off his shoulders and letting it dangle from his waist, exposing his muscular upper body.
"Now, place your bets in, people, before we start this exciting match! The odds of this new challenger winning are one in three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two!"
Oh. I guess the odds aren't in my favor then. But there's always that one.
Juggernaut flexed his arms, the crowd oohing and ahhing at the wrestler. "What do we have here? A puny little man! Victory should be easy for me!"
Tamaki shrugged. "Good for you." I'm not gonna let this guy provoke me.
The announcer rang the bell, signaling the beginning of the match. "Three, two, one, go!"
The crowd roared, and Juggernaut grinned. "How fast can I knock you out?"
Tamaki remained silent. Let's see…how am I gonna go about this? I'm considerably faster than him, so let's use that to our advantage.
While he had been thinking, he hadn't realized that Juggernaut had already charged forwards and was pushing him out of the ring. Whoops! That could have been bad!
Tamaki freed himself from Juggernaut's grip and slid under his legs faster than the sumo wrestler could react. "I'm over here now!" He gave Juggernaut a slight push, and his foot fell outside of the line. I win.
The crowd gasped and went silent. "I-I don't believe it…the l-little guy beat Juggernaut!" the announcer stammered.
Tamaki sat down and exhaled. "Phew! I almost lost there because I got all absent-minded!"
The crowd was still completely silent except for Mitsuri, who cheered loudly. "Yay! Go Tamaki! Win me a buffet!"
Then, a deafening roar erupted from the crowd. "The new champion…who is this man? His name is…Utaka Tamaki!"
"Utaka! Utaka!" chanted the crowd.
"However, now's too early to be celebrating Utaka's win. We have another incredible challenger coming in now, another pro sumo wrestler! Many of you may know him by name! Please welcome…Boulder!"
The crowd cheered at the name, apparently knowing who "Boulder" was.
What's with these guys' weird wrestler names? An even beefier man than Juggernaut stepped into the ring.
Tamaki stood up again. Well, here I go again.
Boulder glared at Tamaki. "This is my opponent? Where's Juggernaut? Is this a warm up?" He spat on the ground. "Bring me Juggernaut!"
"Oh, that guy? I beat him," said Tamaki nonchalantly.
"Pathetic," scowled Boulder. "Juggernaut got beaten by a weakling like you?
Tamaki titled his head side to side, cracking his neck. "Sure."
"Hmph. I guess my buffet will be easier to obtain than I thought."
The crowd was quiet now, murmuring about who would win. Only Mitsuri's voice stuck out, as she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Gooooo Tamaki! Win the buffet!" She swung the balloons they had gotten earlier around excitedly.
Boulder chuckled disdainfully. "Looks like you have a fan. Who's she, your sister or something? She's so annoying, I bet she's super dumb!"
Tamaki clenched his fist tightly. Keep it under control, you're a Hashira. Don't let this guy get under your skin.
"Oh, maybe when I'm finished with you I'll pay her a visit! She might be stupid, but she's got a pretty face! I'll force her to be mine!" Boulder burst out in arrogant laughter.
Alright, that's it. Tamaki slowly got to his feet, his eyes narrowed. "The hell did you just say?"
"Ooh, are you angry now? Why don't you cry?" taunted Boulder. "Cry, little man! Cry!"
The bell rang. "Three, two, one, go!" shouted the announcer.
Boulder cracked his knuckles menacingly. "I'm gonna pound you into mincemeat!" He charged forwards, his huge feet thumping on the ground loudly.
Tamaki stood his ground, waiting for Boulder to collide with him. This time I have a better plan.
Boulder's hands met his shoulders, and Tamaki gripped the sumo wrestler's shoulders back. "Get outta here!" screamed Boulder, pushing furiously. Tamaki kept him at bay, not breaking a sweat.
Heh. He's heavy, but I should be able to… grabbing Boulder by the waist, Tamaki lifted him over his head and threw him backwards easily.
The sumo wrestler hit the dust as Tamaki exhaled with relief, alone inside of the ring now.
The crowd exploded with cheers at Tamaki's victory. The bell rang once again, signaling the end of the match. "We have a winner! Utaka Tamaki has managed to defeat not one, but two professional sumo wrestlers in a matter of seconds!"
"Utaka! Utaka!" Mitsuri led the chant, her face red with excitement and from screaming too much.
Tamaki grinned at her. The buffet will be yours in no time!
Fifteen more challengers attempted to knock Tamaki from his position as champion, but he defeated them all extremely quickly. By the end of the seventeenth match that Tamaki participated in, the crowd was still going strong with cheers.
"This man, Utaka Tamaki, showed up out of nowhere, and yet, he has defeated so many opponents! He's incredible! Even the most seasoned pro sumo wrestlers don't stand a chance against him!"
Tamaki had not gotten out of breath at all. He sat calmly in the ring, waiting for new challengers. But no more came.
"I think that's it for today, we haven't had a new challenger in a while now! Utaka has scared away all potential challengers, and all who dared to go against him have already tried! I think it's safe to say that Utaka Tamaki is the winner of our tournament…wait, it says on this list that there's one more challenger. Who could this brave soul be?" The announcer paused to read the name on the list.
"The last challenger…is Kanroji Mitsuri!"
What!? Tamaki's eyes, which were closed, opened with shock. He glanced over to where Mitsuri was in the crowd. "What are you doing!?"
"Oh yeah," she said, "I forgot I had signed up for this!"
She climbed into the ring, the crowd murmuring nervously.
"Well, this should be another awfully quick one," said the announcer, a hint of pity in his voice. "I hope this poor lady gets a good rest when she heads home."
Meanwhile, Tamaki had frozen due to fear. A flashback of when Mitsuri had sent him flying when they arm wrestled popped up in his mind. Damn it. This isn't gonna end well.
The bell rang, followed by the announcer's countdown. It wasn't until the word "go" was shouted that Tamaki was able to move.
Mitsuri stretched her arms. "Tamaki, why aren't you attacking?"
"I-I don't wanna attack you!" he stammered, although there was another reason.
"Oh. Should I attack you then?"
The crowd began yelling at them to get fighting. Tamaki sighed, exasperated. I'm not getting outta this one, am I?
Mitsuri suddenly darted forwards. Tamaki, whose body was completely frozen, couldn't do anything. Shit. I'm dead.
With a simple push, Mitsuri sent Tamaki flying back towards the entrance of the festival. Before he could even fathom what had happened, he was already lying in a heap of broken wood and deflated balloons.
Oh well. I lost.
Oh no, I accidentally pushed him too far! Mitsuri hid her face with her sleeves in horror.
The crowd was completely silent again, as it was when Tamaki had unexpectedly won.
"D-did I get the buffet?" asked Mitsuri timidly, her voice barely above a whisper.
The bell was weakly rung, as if the announcer had already suffered from too much shock and lost all strength. "Y-yes," he said.
"Yay!" Mitsuri jumped up with excitement. "Free food!"
The crowd began to dissipate, their jaws wide open and their hands over their hearts.
Tamaki was making his way back to the ring, rubbing his back. "Man, that hurt."
Oh, please don't be too mad at me! Mitsuri ran up to him, flinging her arms around him and sobbing into his chest. "Tamaki, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to push you that far, it's just I can't control my strength, and I…" she trailed off, bracing for his anger.
Instead, he just smiled. "It coulda been worse. Good job, Mitsuri."
Thank goodness! Mitsuri exhaled with relief.
A small tent had been set up next to the ring, with all of the food that Mitsuri won from the tournament. She was excitedly grabbing plates of food and setting them down on the table.
"Don't rush," said Tamaki. "You'll spill something. Besides, it's not going anywhere. The food's all yours."
She frowned. "You're not gonna eat any?"
"Oh, you're okay with that? You're the one that won the food, you rightfully get all of it."
Mitsuri pursed her lips. "Tamaki, you're my boyfriend. Of course I'm gonna share with you! It's not gonna be fun if I'm not eating with you anyways!"
Oh. Tamaki took a seat next to her, his heart warmer from her words. "Th-thanks."
She rested her head on his shoulder. "Today was so fun!" she breathed.
He chuckled. "I'm glad you had fun."
"Well, did you?"
"Of course," he replied. "Remember what I told you earlier? If you had fun, then so did I."
She giggled. "Yay!"
Tamaki placed his arm around her. "Mitsuri, I'm so lucky to have you," he said.
She met his eyes, a blush spreading on both of their cheeks.
"I'm lucky to have you too, Tamaki," she whispered with a smile. Leaning forwards, she kissed him. The sweet flavor of her mouth made the taste of the food even better.
She pulled away. "I wanna eat now."
Tamaki smiled. "Yeah, me too."
They ate in silence for a few minutes, Mitsuri lost in the taste of the food and Tamaki lost in his thoughts.
The tent suddenly opened, and two familiar figures came in and sat down at the table. Hana and Misaki? Oh, right, they were here too.
"You two having fun in here?" teased Hana.
"Go away," said Tamaki jokingly. "I wanna spend time alone with my girlfriend."
"Me?" asked Misaki hopefully. Tamaki shook his head, and she hung her head sadly.
"You guys can stay," said Mitsuri. "We're a family, and families eat together!"
Hana and Misaki smiled, sitting down with them.
"So who's the dad? Who's the mom?" asked Hana teasingly.
Tamaki and Mitsuri blushed. "I…uhh…I guess we're the parents," said Tamaki awkwardly.
Hana giggled. "You guys would make awesome parents!"
You know…I think we would, thought Tamaki with a smile.
Tamaki had to drag Mitsuri out of the tent after an hour of eating. She protested angrily, kicking and screaming like a little kid all the way home. This drew a lot of attention from people that they passed, and by the time they arrived at Tamaki's house he felt like he wanted to crawl in a hole and die.
Misaki and Hana wisely kept their distance, and so they came a little later. When they got there, they arrived to a scene of Mitsuri crumpled on the ground and sobbing her heart out.
"It was all-you-can-eat!" she cried, tears pouring from her eyes. "I coulda eaten more! Why, Tamaki, why?"
Tamaki was crouched down next to her, patting on the back reassuringly. "Mitsuri, enough is enough. You'll get a stomachache if you eat too much."
She continued to wail, pushing Tamaki past the limit of his patience. "Stop crying! You're like a little girl! You know what? Fine! Go back and eat as much as you want, and don't come crying to me when your stomach hurts!"
She sniffed. "I don't want my stomach to hurt."
"Then stop crying." Tamaki sat down next to her. "Sit up. If you lie down after eating that much your stomach will hurt."
"Why does everything make my stomach hurt?" She obeyed him, pulling herself up and sitting down in his lap. She leaned backwards against his chest despite his protests.
"Mitsuri, don't sit on me! You…" he trailed off as he heard her begin to snore. He sighed. I guess I'll have to take her to bed soon. Honestly, sometimes you act like such a kid, Mitsuri.
Mitsuri almost toppled off of Tamaki's lap, and he caught her before she could.
"Tamaki-kun, it's almost morning. You should go to sleep." It was Hana's soft, quiet voice who spoke.
Tamaki yawned. "I guess you're right. But what about her?" he pointed to Mitsuri. "Do you think it's been long enough since she's eaten?"
Hana shrugged. "I don't know. The walk back was maybe half an hour, so I would say so."
"Alright," nodded Tamaki.
Picking Mitsuri up in a bridal carry, Tamaki placed her gently down on the bed and laid down next to her. She turned and snuggled against him contentedly in her sleep. Tamaki wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, he found himself drifting off to sleep.
It's been a long day…
To be continued…
Next chapter releasing 6/1/23
