Sunday, November 12th

Normally, if someone told Ryuji he'd have to wake up at 6am on a weekend to go to an institute of learning, he would think it was a joke and laugh, and then learn it wasn't a joke and cry. But, as he took in the magnificence of Waseda University's running track, all the sour morning mood that hung onto him like a leech instantly shrunk away and vanished into the void. Beside him walked a crabby, far less enthusiastic woman in her late-40s named Ms. Kitaguchi, the head of the university's athletics department and the one who had personally invited Ryuji to train today.

"This is our track, Sakamoto. For the foreseeable future, it and the rest of our facilities will be yours to enjoy as a part of the team." Ms. Kitaguchi said flatly.

Ryuji wanted to say something, but had to keep his mouth closed to prevent the drool from leaking out.

"The team meets every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 7, though you'll be exempt from all weekday sessions. Should you perform well at the upcoming inter-city track meet, I will personally guarantee you admission for the 2019 academic year, all expenses covered as per the contract."

Ryuji followed her over to the start line, where a group of students were warming up under the watchful eye of an older-looking man in a well-worn baseball cap and a t-shirt and shorts unbefitting the morning chill. Ryuji saw him and the other athletes stiffen at their approach.

"Coach Yamagata, good morning." she said.

"Mornin', Ms. Kitaguchi." He removed his baseball cap and bowed welcomingly before making easy eye contact with Ryuji. "Fresh meat?"

"Indeed." She placed a bony hand on his back to shuffle him forwards. "Ryuji Sakamoto, from Shujin. 11.09 in sneakers."

"Hmm." Coach Yamagata nodded approvingly as he eyed the boy. "Mighty impressive, young lad." He stuck out a wide hairy palm. "Coach Yamagata, call me coach."

"R-Ryuji Sakamoto…" He returned the handshake, trying and failing to match Yamagata's squeezing power, and internally slapping himself in the face when he remembered that Ms. Kitaguchi had already told the man his name.

"We're doing suicides today, lucky you!" there was a suppressed chuckle in his voice. "I recommend ya warm up nice and good. Both durin' meets and durin' practice, every millisecond counts."

"O-oh, right!" Ryuji tossed his bag onto the dew-covered grass and inserted himself into the group of students, following the lead of the girl in front of him and definitely NOT stealing glances at her ass.

In total, there were around 15 students in the track division, with the number of boys slightly less than doubling the number of girls. A surprising number of them waved at him with inviting though somewhat rigid smiles, but tensions seemed high with Kitaguchi still around. As soon as she finally left, however, Ryuji felt the air around the track relax substantially, with students now more casually complaining and gossiping to their hearts' content.

He considered himself lucky to be at Shujin, surrounded by literal supermodels like Ann and 0.1%ers like Haru, but even those beauties failed to hold a candle to the girls here. Even through unflattering shirts and tracksuits, Ryuji could see that the average body-fat percentage here was in the single digits! He wondered to himself: could the girl from his vision be amongst these? Just remembering the still snapshot of the future Luciano had shown him nearly sent the boy into a frenzy every time. He had the image burned into the back of his brain: a bottomless woman, wearing only a hoodie that on the back read "Kora", presenting to him a pair of toned and completely bare booty cheeks. Yes, at some point in the future, as guaranteed by LuckyLuciano17k, Ryuji would find himself in that spot. It was a scene he would never have predicted for himself, and one he will never forget.

A hand slapped him on the back like a brother might do to his younger sibling, snapping him out of his daydream; It forcefully dragged him into a conversation with some of the other athletes, who were refreshingly warm and amicable. Now that the boy had a bit of adrenaline coursing through his system, he started to loosen up, and it didn't take long for him to make friends with basically the entire track team. They sat on the grass by the track, finishing up their static stretches in preparation for today's regimen.

Kazuma, a shaggy haired junior, gritted his teeth "So, yeah, Kitaguchi's a real thorn in the side. Don't matter how hard we work, if she catches you slacking, it's kkkhhhhh!" He dragged his thumb across his neck in mock execution.

"Seriously!" Aki, lanky and louder than he looked with patchy facial hair, blurted out as Kazuma pushed on his back to help him touch his toes. "We came third at nationals last season and Kitaguchi dragged us into this 2 month boot camp in the middle of nowhere! AAKKHH! TOO FAR, KAZ! TOO FAR!"

Miyabi, a soft-spoken girl nearly a head taller than Ryuji, was finishing up a quad stretch, leaning on another girl's shoulder for support. "Hehehe. You really gotta pick your water breaks when she's around."

"Oh! And before you get any funny ideas," Emi, the much shorter blonde girl Miyabi was using for support said, "don't even think about dating! Especially not anyone in the field events. Or at least, don't tell anyone if you do." Her eyebrows suddenly rocketed up her forehead.

"Haha…" Ryuji chuckled as he pulled his elbow to his shoulder. "Looks like a lot more goes on around here than just running."

"Yup, it's a 'look but don't touch' sort of thing, you feel? Like a zoo. Don't make eye contact with the beasts." Aki chimed in, a devilish smirk crawling onto his face. "Specially not Emi, I hear she likes 'em young."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that from the grad student still trying to pick up freshmen." Emi said. "You're just mad that your lanky middle distance muscles can't keep up when it comes to the sprints!"

"Why do you think they always put you as anchor for the mixed relays?If I were up against your BBL'd ass in those short shorts they make you wear on race day, I'd come in second on purpose. Kazuma sighed.

Without thinking, Ryuji said. "Hahaha, same," and immediately panicked when he remembered that he was in the real world and not talking with his usual serial squeezers Akira, Morgana, and Yusuke.

"Hey, a win's a win!" much to his surprise, she waved it off with a chuckle.

"Ryuji! Don't let your girlfriend hear you say that!" Miyabi teased.

"W-wh…? I uhhh… Don't have a uhh… a girlfriend." His face flushed even redder and he looked down in embarrassment.

"Really?"

"Well, you're not gonna find a single woman in a 4 kilometer radius of Aki." Kaz shrugged smugly. "Obviously these ostriches don't count" he pointed vaguely in the girls' direction.

"You know…" a vein appeared on Emi's head. "An ostrich can kick twice as hard as a pro boxer can punch."

"They also have a brain the size of a ping pong ball." He smirked, undeterred.

"Oh, I'm gonna crush your ping pong balls!"

A kick to the nads was about as severe a pain a man could withstand, and he knew it, but for some reason Ryuji's brain lingered on Emi's threat to Kaz's dingleberries for longer than he realized. When he blinked the odd introspective moment away, he saw Emi chasing the young man, the two of them waddling on their heels frantically as to not damage the delicate metal spikes on the balls of their shoes against the grey concrete that enclosed the edges of the track. Aki was not far behind, recording the whole ordeal with his phone and cheering Emi on.

"Hehehe," Miyabi scooched up next to him to watch the show and finish stretching her hamstrings. "Wish I had some popcorn."

"Hah, I'll say. I'm usually the jumpy one in my friend group, but these guys make me look like a sloth! Is this just the regular vibe for you guys?" Ryuji turned to look at her and his eyes widened.

Much like Yusuke, the young blond's neck was perpetually craned forwards to minimize the amount of effort required to look at the chests of women walking by. While completing his warm-ups, Miyabi's tall stature and relatively few words disallowed him the opportunity to get a good look at her face. But now that she sat at eye level with him, she was gorgeous, with silky black hair tied up into a loose ponytail, a long shapely nose, and narrow eyes that glowed a brilliant auburn against the morning sun. As she pulled her knee back around her elbow in a perfect pretzel stretch, Ryuji saw the fabric of her top tighten against the curvature of her breasts and two small protuberances suddenly stood out; It was cold, after all. Ryuji feigned a glute stretch to hide his own protuberance, which was rapidly forming in his pants due to the sudden heat in his groin.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you much. This is only my third time running here." She replied.

"O-oh, really?"

"I'm on the same scholarship program you're on, I'm actually really relieved to have someone else my age here."

"W-wait, we're the same age?" he stammered. "B-but you're so…"

"I don't look it, I know. And before you ask, no, the weather is not fine up here." she put on a slightly pained smile, but giggled nonetheless.

"Shit, S-sorry, Miyabi! I-I didn't mean…!"

"It's fine, honest." She turned back to the three stooges in the distance. Kaz had stumbled over, and Emi was hovering a menacing shoe over his crotch. For some reason, Ryuji found himself transfixed again.

"Some things you just can't change. No matter how hard you try." Miyabi added. Her voice almost got lost in the wind.

An unsatisfactory apology was still all that separated Kazuma's balls from Emi's spiky stomp. Ryuji looked down at his right hand. The same one that had seen a thousand strokes. The callouses that normally lined his palm had begun to fade now that he wasn't deathgripping his chub on the daily anymore, and the dull pain that always followed his wrist had grown so faint that Ryuji couldn't even register it. He was honestly amazed that he'd managed to make it so far in No Nut November without cranking one out. In a moment of delusion at the beginning of the month, a part of him thought that, just maybe, this ridiculous challenge would force him to change. Maybe, if he managed to make it to the end, he would wake up on December 1st and pick a morning walk instead over a morning wank. How foolish he was to hold onto that hope for so long.

Even the semi-frequent trips to Maruki's office for more of his magic CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and his own private attempts to stave off the urges with video games, movies, and exercise had proven distracting at best. The moment he gave himself time to think, his brain wandered back into lustful imaginations and his hand gravitated back to his zipper. Ryuji had always been a firm believer in second chances, that anyone could own up to their mistakes and grow into a better person, but maybe Miyabi was right. Maybe some things just can't change, after all.

"Good morning." An unfamiliar voice from behind him said sternly. It carried a similar inflexion to Ms. Kitaguchi's voice, but sounded substantially less raspy.

Craning his neck up, he saw a pale, dark-haired girl with enormous, blue, western-looking eyes that surpassed even Ann's looming over him, perhaps a bit too close for comfort. It was clear that she was not a member of the running team not only because of her different jersey, but also because of her top-heavy build, with broad shoulders and muscular limbs compared to the more svelte girls in the running team's colors. Lastly, unlike the much friendlier folk in the track division, she did not look pleasant.

"O-oh…! Hi, Haruko." Said Miyabi.

"…Hey." She said, still glaring at Ryuji. Her gaze was paralyzing. "You're the new kid, right?"

"Y-yeah, R-Ryuji Sakamoto…"

Haruko's brow furrowed as she slowly and silently scanned Ryuji. She squatted down wordlessly to get to his eye-level. He briefly thought about sneaking a peak at her cleavage, but seeing as how she looked like she could throw him about as far as she could a baseball, and the fact that there wasn't much breastage there to begin with, he instead elected to stay still and quiet as if facing a t-rex.

"W-what's up?" He whimpered, frozen.

"I heard you're pretty quick." She said, venom in her voice. "That's good. You'd better keep that up, boy."

"T…that's the plan…?"

She blinked for the first time since their meeting and stared deep into his soul, as if trying to wring out his entire life's story through his eyes.

"Good."

The girl slowly rose to her feet, and after a final condescending eyeball at Ryuji, she calmly walked away with balled fists. As intimidating as she'd tried to be just then, Haruko struck Ryuji as looking very alone as she shrunk away towards the infield.

"I think Haruko likes you, Ryu-chichi," Kazuma's sudden voice made him jump. "She didn't even chew you out for flirting!"

"F-fli-!?" Ryuji stole a glance at Miyabi, who was sheepishly tugging at her ponytail.

"Yeah, hahaha. You're lucky you got a cutesy baby-face." Emi snickered.

"W-what's that supposed to mean!?" Ryuji picked himself up.

"Haruko is what you'd call…" Aki crossed his eyes and spun an index finger around his ear. "…A bit kookoo."

"Oh. I for real thought she was gonna start shootin' laser beams at me…" He wiped a drop of sweat off his forehead.

"Bah, you'll get used to her. She's just pissy 'cus the only javelins she's ever grabbed are… uh… javelins…"

"She'd break you like a twig, dude. Not even a javelin." Emi closed her eyes as if imagining the scene; she looked strangely happy.

A ringing whistle taps at their eardrums.

"Alright! Track runners, line up for suicides!" Coach Yamagata claps his hands to get everyone's attention.

Ryuji looks down at Miyabi. She is still sitting on the grass, awkwardly fingering her hair. It looks like Haruka's sudden appearance left her flustered, but for what reason Ryuji could not tell. The young man extended his hand to help her to her feet.

"Let's go." Ryuji smiled.

With their bodies fully warmed up and stretched, Ryuji and the other runners began their exercises. Earlier, he hardly reacted to the coach's description of their routine for the day, but the level of intensity here was far, far greater than anything he'd ever done at Shujin. Even with his knee now fully healed and operating at 100% efficiency, Ryuji was barely able to slot himself into the middle of the pack. However, none of that managed to make a dent in his mood, which shot back up to the moon the instant he felt the wind in his hair and the nostalgic burning of lactic acid buildup slowly overtaking his entire body.

Miraculously, the boy managed to survive Yamagata's cruel routine. He knew he'd be hurting for days, likely completely bedridden tomorrow from the soreness, but he really didn't care. There were two things Ryuji was good at: Running and Jerking Off. Though Luciano and his demonic challenge would deprive him of his self-pleasuring, being able to run again like the good old days might give him just enough of a reason to persevere through the remaining weeks.

"Ryuji! You did really well today!" Miyabi, cheered up from the exercises as well, jogged up to the blonde.

"Whew…" Even the cool-down lap had been taxing on his poor legs. "Thanks. You did good too, Miyabi."

"So, can I, umm…" the tall girl tapped her thumbs together. "Can I ask you a favor, Ryuji?"

"Sure…!" He replied instantly. At the prospect of more interaction with her, he straightened his back and lowered his voice as charismatically as he could. "Anything."

"I… I want to improve my form. For the long jump. Can you give me some tips? Your running technique looked really good."

"Oh! Def! Come, let's go to the sand pit. I've been watching lots of old Carl Lewis clips these days." Ryuji's eyes sparkled. As much as he hated mathematics, physics, and geometry in a classroom setting, something about the nitty-gritty and technicality of sports kinetics and kinematics always brought a smile to his face. He could gush endlessly about any number of runners' techniques, from Usain Bolt's earth-turning drive phase to Asafa Powell's millimetric accuracy to Marita Koch's inhuman speed endurance. "So, the trick is to keep all of your movements in a straight line…" he started lecturing her ear off, failing to notice that though most of the words went over her head, Miyabi was smiling softly. The truth was, she found his passion very cute.

"Alright, why don't you give it a shot?" he gestured to the long jump lane. "Remember, everything in a straight line! Back to front to back to front! And pump your arms!"

"Okay… Here I go!" Miyabi took a deep breath and built up speed on the track, taking Ryuji's advice to heart.

"YOU!" A different voice called out from behind. Ryuji whipped his head around, it was Haruko, and she was pissed. "WHAT do you think you're doing?"

"H-Haruko!? I-I was just showing Miyabi some-"

"I thought I TOLD you to take this SERIOUSLY." She shoved a finger into his chest, hard.

"W-wha!? I am!" he took a defensive step back.

"Then WHY are you FLIRTING on the track!?"

"I-I-I'm n-!"

"I know your type! All you stupid kids are the same!" She yelled. "Always thinking with your tiny-!"

"WATCH OUTTT!" Miyabi screamed.

Haruko's shoves pushed the two of them backwards onto the long jump lane, but whereas Ryuji had cleared it to the other side, Haruko stood right in the center of the red rubber. Miyabi was going too fast to stop, she was set to slam into Haruko at full speed!

"Haruko!" Ryuji planted a palm onto the girl's sternum and pushed as hard as he could. Time slowed as she fell backwards onto the nearby grass, and for a second, Ryuji could see a tsunami of guilt wash over the girl's face.

In a desperate attempt to slow down, Miyabi had stumbled over her own ankle, dislodging the shoe from her foot and sending her bare leg careening upwards to Ryuji's manhood at top speed.

CRUNCH!

Ryuji had a vision.

In the heart of an ancient woodland, where the sun filtered through a verdant canopy, there lay a serene spring, its waters a crystalline mosaic that beckoned with the allure of forgotten tales and whispered legends. Here, amidst the soft embrace of a gentle zephyr, a tableau of ineffable grace unfurled. Ryuji behest a coterie of women familiar. Ann, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, Kawakami… Contrapuntally distinct and yet harmonically complementary to the rustle of leaves and the laps of the babbling brook, their laughter caressed his every bone down to the sub-molecular level. Ethereal movements reflected upon the shimmering surface like apparitions atop liquid silver, as fingers danced, and bodies swayed against the dancing mist from the mighty roar of a waterfall behind. Damp stone tickled the soles of his bare feet, the afternoon rays kissed his skin, a marvelous scent of flora filled his sinuses, and the cascading waters deposited a thin layer of moisture on his bare arms, chest, stomach, and trunks. In that instant, there was no war. No suffering. No pain. Ryuji saw the planets align and the hand of God descend from the heavens to envelop him in the warm embrace of enlightenment, inviting the boy up to the cloudy paradises of heaven with Him. Woodland creatures, faeries, gnomes, wisps, and pixies harmonized in echoed chorus forests over, and animals across the world bowed at Ryuji in respect as his peaceful rapture caked the sky in holy light. His mind expanded out into the fourth dimension, then the fifth, sixth, and eternally onwards to the infinities as his vision encompassed universe after multiverse after polyverse, each bubble of existence shrinking into microscopy and painting eternity in lavish watercolors unknown to any being mortal.

A voice in his head, his own voice, whispered to him from beyond existence:

'C…B…T…! COCK AND BALL TORTURE…!'

This was it.

The ripples of pain and pleasure reverberated within his body blissfully as he lay face up on the ground; A gentle smile and a single tear of pure joy rolled down his cheek as the divine hand returned his soul to his vessel and his consciousness collapsed back into reality how the unsacred humans and their primitive minds understood it.

He just got kicked in the balls by Miyabi. And he loved it.

"OH MY GOD!" Miyabi, his angel, knelt down next to him. "Ryuji! A-a-a-are you alright?! I-I-I'm so sorry!"

"Worry not, Miyabi dearest. For t'was but a slight err. No harm hath come from it." His vocabulary had improved.

He finally got to his feet and sent a small prayer to the sky as humble gratitude – A 'thank you, God' for showing the boy a glimpse of enlightenment – and blinked the remnants of his fantasy away.

"Where'd Haruko go?"

"She ran off, can you believe it!" Miyabi grumbled. "W-wait! Slow down! Your knee, you're bleeding, Ryuji!"

"Oh, shit… Guess I am." Indeed, a small streak of blood trickled its way down his shin.

Miyabi insisted he lean his weight on her if he struggled to walk, but surprisingly, his knee only itched with the familiar burn of a shallow graze. To think that not even 3 days ago, a clap to his knee like that would probably have gotten him hospitalized. Of course, the blonde chose to accept Miyabi's generosity regardless, and together they waddled over to a faucet tucked away in a corner of the building's exterior to wash off the scratch and tie his knee up with a spare, clean towel from her gym bag.

"You're sure you're okay, Ryuji? I'm really really sorry!" the way she worried for him tugged at his heart strings.

"It's cool! Honest! I'm good! I could probably take on the Ginyu force, right about now!" He flexed like a superhero to reinforce his claim, earning a chuckle from Miyabi.

"Hehe, okay." She nodded, hints of worry still appearing in her brow. "Make sure you ice it when you get home. I-in fact… Give me your phone."

Perplexed, but unwilling to say no to her, Ryuji obliged and looked up in awe as Miyabi sent herself a missed call from his cell.

"Call me when you ice it. Don't forget! And… you can keep the towel." She blushed.

He blinked twice. Who knew that all he had to do to get a girl's number was have her accidentally kick him in the balls. And speaking of, who knew getting kicked in the balls could feel so good! He took the phone back and gently slid it into his pocket, as if afraid a sudden movement might wake him up from whatever dream he was going through.

"I-I-I'll remember!" He nodded a little too hard.

With a slightly awkward but extremely adorable waggle of her fingers, Miyabi jogged away. When she was far enough that the risk of her turning around to see him was low enough, Ryuji bit his lips and scrunched his nose in a triumphant sneer. "What the fuckkkkkk! I just got a girl's number…! And she's hot!" It was harder to hold back that scream than it had been to hold back the urge to masturbate.

Feeling 3 inches taller and 12 inches longer below the belt, Ryuji puffed his chest out and made his way to the gates. It was only around 10 in the morning, and the Mementos expedition wouldn't even start until the late afternoon, but he needed to go home and pop open a victory Monta grape soda in his underwear. This was a high he intended to ride out for as long as humanly possible.

Both the track and the field were completely empty now that the morning session was long over, save for one girl. Haruko. She must have thought that he'd gone home already, because she was throwing javelin after javelin out at the field, cursing herself for every microscopic mistake in form or power.

Ryuji should have been furious with her. She caused him to get kicked in the balls, after all, but that ended up being just about the best thing that's ever happened to him, and he was currently in a fantastic mood. So, instead of chewing her out for violating basic track safety rules, he approached her as non-threateningly as he could to attempt to make peace.

"Haruko?" he said.

"Y-you again!?" She whipped her head around. Her face was wrinkled up in panic, but her stern resting-bitch-face returned an instant later, as did her sour tone. "Why are you still here?"

"I uhh…-"

"Spit it out, already. I don't have all day, you." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot loudly on the ground. How she could act so stuck-up after chopping off his branch of the family tree was beyond him.

"Hey, I'm trying to patch things up! I don't wanna make enemies on my first effin' week! And my name's not 'you', it's Ryuji Sakamoto!"

She scowled. "Yeah, sure. Sorry for getting your nuts kicked in or whatever, Ryuji Sakamoto."

His eyebrow twitched. This girl was beyond reason, immune even to the simplified types Ryuji defaulted to when forced to be diplomatic. He considered turning tail right then and there, leaving Haruko alone since she seemed to want it so bad, but he just couldn't. Whether it was the dopamine from his exchange with Miyabi, or a deep desire not to let his past mistakes with Shujin's track team repeat themselves, Ryuji swallowed his pride and sighed.

As much as he hated to admit it, he did see a bit of himself in the standoffish girl. Angry at life, pushing others away, unsure of who she really is or what she's doing and distracting her mind from the important questions by training her body instead. But whereas Ryuji was given the chance to meet Akira, Morgana, Ann, and the others to help drag him out of that self-destructive whirlpool, Haruko hadn't been so lucky, and for what must have been years and years was simply fighting to stay afloat in a confusing world that neither her nor anybody could ever hope to truly understand.

Ryuji picked up a javelin and gave it his best shot. It wobbled comically in the air before flopping down onto the grass maybe 15 meters away.

"What are you doing! Don't touch them!" Haruko fumed.

"Show me."

"…" she stopped mid-stomp. "What?"

"How to throw these things."

Ryuji returned her frown with an expressionless face, and for a long time they just stared, daring the other to back down. Words weren't going to work on this girl.

Silently, she picked up another javelin and motioned out the throwing technique, glaring at Ryuji the entire time. Ryuji mirrored her movements, enduring slaps to the knee, elbow, and shoulder whenever his positioning didn't match hers precisely. For nearly 10 minutes, and in spite of the fatigue of the day's routine beginning to catch up to them both, they quietly threw javelins out at the field. By the time his arm could do no more, he'd managed to throw one to nearly 35 meters; a far cry from Haruko's consistent low 60s, but a marked improvement worthy of praise.

Ryuji nodded at Haruko one last time and made off. He wasn't entirely sure if he'd managed to level himself up from "mortal enemy" to "tolerable nuisance" in her eyes, but figured that they should now at least be able to peacefully ignore each other for the rest of the year.

"Sakamoto." She said.

He turned back wordlessly, challenging her stare with his own. But in a surprise twist, she quickly looked away like a scared puppy and her cheeks turned red in a way that completely shattered his view of her.

"Sorry. For real."

"…Heh." He chuckled. "No sweat."

Just as he thought the exchange was over, and the two would be able to go on with their lives forever apart, a hand tugged spun him around by the shoulder.

"R…Ryuji…" She was still blushing. As rough around the edges as she was and as violent as she had been to the young blonde the entire morning, even Ryuji couldn't deny her flustered expression was surprisingly cute, if not entirely unbefitting her.

"Yeah?"

"…M-" she stammered. "Miyabi…"

"…?"

"Do you… L…l-like her?"

His head tilted on its own at the bizarre question, so out of nowhere. Unfortunately for him, his brain was still in caveman mode from interfacing with Haruko, so his response was woefully unfiltered.

"Uh, yeah. I got her number and allat."

He saw her eyes widen and her throat swallow a lump. With every heave of her chest, the shy girl who had reared her head ducked further back under the covers, and the angry Haruko he'd learned to fear emerged once again.

"Tch. You boys really are all the same. And here I thought you were different." She spat under her breath.

Anger began to stir in his stomach again. Even after that genuine moment of friendship between them, she still found a way to be pissed off over nothing. the air got tense.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Ryuji controlled his volume.

"You know exactly what I mean! Just thinking with your dick. I bet that's why you walked up to me, too."

"Huh!?" he could hold back no longer. "What the actual hell are you on about?"

"I saw you!" she pointed accusingly at his pants. "You had a damn stiffy the whole time you were throwing! Perv!"

"WHAT!? No I fucking did NOT!"

"Yeah, you did! I bet you still have one right now!"

"Look at my fuckin' pants! smoother than your damn brain!"

"Two-incher or not, it still counts! You're disgusting!"

"You're loco! What the hell do YOU know about MY dick!?"

"I'll PROVE it!"

Without warning, Haruko lunged for his pants. Ryuji was barely able dodge with a reverse thrust back.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, LADY!?" He avoided several more attempts with his superior lower body strength, but his already-fatigued muscles screamed at him with every move. Before she could catch on and really mess his day up, Ryuji turned and bolted. Even carrying an entire gym bag full of clothes and towels, Haruko wasn't able to catch up and he put a good 30 meters between them before turning back to her.

"I'm gonna call the effin' cops on y-WOAH!" he narrowly dodged a flying javelin aimed straight for his head.

"STOP…! MOVING!" she yelled.

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE!?" Ryuji sidestepped another one, this time aimed for his legs. Somehow managing to avoid getting impaled, he ran off to the faucet where he and Miyabi had washed off his knee. The narrow alleyway between the gym and the main building was small enough that he should be able hide here for a bit, hopefully long enough for Haruko to calm down.

Twoioioioioing!

A javelin pinned Ryuji's shirt against the wall, somehow Haruko had managed to get behind him and throw from his blind spot, and try as he might he could not pry the thing free from the concrete wall. He was stuck.

"Finally caught you, damn mosquito…" she had another in her left hand, pointed straight at his dick. "Take 'em off!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM ME, MAN!?"

"You took advantage of my kindness to teach you javelin! So you could gawk at me! You're sick! Despicable! The garbage people come at noon… They'll find you here with your pants down, and you'll be kicked off the team!" She grabbed his shorts' waistline and tried to pull them down with her free hand. Ryuji fought back with all his might, but her grip and forearm strength surpassed his, even after a whole morning of chucking javelins down a field.

Her face was bright red. His was, too. Never in a million years did Ryuji ever think he'd find himself against a wall with a girl pulling his pants down and not have it be the highlight of his day. He scrambled for a way out, and saw the leaky little faucet dripping obliviously nearby; He summoned up the last of his leg strength and kicked it as hard as he could.

A torrent of water drenched Haruko's legs, the pressure was enough to send her left foot sliding back against the mossy floor, and she finally released her iron grip on Ryuji's pants to catch her balance.

"You…!" She was even angrier now. Ryuji was almost sure her hair would turn yellow and she'd start shooting ki blasts at him. With both hands this time, she leapt for his shorts again.

'Wait, both?' he thought, 'wasn't she holding a…?'

A narrow shape briefly blocked out the sun. Somehow, Haruko had managed to throw the javelin almost perfectly straight up in her stumble, and now it was careening down at full speed, headed straight on a collision course with the back of her head!

"LOOK OUT!" Ryuji shoved her out of the way with a kick straight to the chest.

In a miraculous, or perhaps catastrophic, series of events, the javelin planted itself directly into the ground just between Haruko's legs, missing her body by a hair but piercing through the fabric of her pants and pulling them down to her knees, fully exposing her teddy-bear underwear for Ryuji to behold.

Even though a life had just been saved, Ryuji had the distinct feeling that Haruko was determined to see at least one soul join Hell today. Her fury was almost indescribable, the muscles on her face contorted her expression beyond recognition and stained her skin crimson, and her eyes looked like they would burst in their sockets.

"I'LL KILL YOUUUUU!"

'Fuck the shirt! Fuck the shirt! Fuck the shirt!' Ryuji wrenched himself free of the javelin pinning his top to the wall by abandoning the thing entirely. Shirtless and afraid for his life, he sprinted towards the gate fast enough to earn himself a world medal at the Olympics.

He swore he could still hear Haruko screaming when he finally made it home nearly an hour later.

A/N:

First Ryuji chapter in a hot second! After finally getting his knee healed, he was able to run again and got scouted by a university track team! Of course, this is still my story we're talking about, so I couldn't let everything go smoothly, so I had to throw a few wrenches into the boy's plans! You can expect a similar level of insanity for the upcoming Ryuji-centric chapters, so I hope you're excited! A lot of new characters were introduced in this one, but all the relevant ones were already shown off here, and I won't be adding any more to this already convoluted plot. Well, maybe 1 more later. The only people you need to worry about right now are Miyabi, Ryuji's new love interest, and Haruko, Ryuji's new hate interest.

I had a good time throwing this one together, I really focused on streamlining things as much as I could, since there are going to be a lot of moving parts in the future. You can consider these Ryuji chapters (and the Yusuke-Futaba chapters, too, to a lesser extent) to be sort of 'extra content.' I actually debated putting these in a separate series as to not interrupt the flow of the main story, but I kind of like the chaotic, jumpy back and forth I've gotten myself into a rhythm to with this, so I think I'll keep it as is. Don't worry, these aren't going to eat up the spotlight and there aren't going to be very many of them, the main focus of it all is still going to be NNN and the PT's quest to put an end to it, but I think these fun asides will keep things interesting, and I hope you think so too! See you next time!

As always, feel free to leave any questions in the comments just in case I gloss over or miscommunicate something. And, of course, here is the drawing for this chapter.

Picture: /a/EzA7Ky8