I have read each and every comment you all left me and it means the absolute world to me! Your comments are the reason I keep writing this fic, and gives me the confidence to pursue my work as a writer too. I continue to ask for your patience as I do my best to update this fic as often as possible. I am pacing myself out to make this weekly, but I may skip a week or two depending on work and other obligations.
For updates, I recommend checking my Tumblr: cherrytiger10. Until then, enjoy this chapter!
Youichi and Mamori stood by the monitor in the train station, checking the timing and which platform the bullet train Mamori had to take. It was now 9.30am, and the train would be departing at 10am on platform 10.
"Remember to put the hamburgers and croquettes I made in the microwave when you're ready to eat them," said Mamori. "And remember to eat your vegetables, it's good for you."
"Stop mothering me now," Youichi grumbled. "I'm an adult, I know what to do."
"I know but someone has to with you," Mamori pouted. "You're so forgetful when you're busy."
They remained silent, just standing there. Mamori needed to head to the platform soon, and Youichi needed to head back to college. But for some reason, they both stayed there, unsure of what to do now.
They had worked so hard together for so long, and had rushed to prepare for everything for this moment, that the fact that they have now reached the point of parting felt numbing.
They didn't think about emotionally preparing themselves for this.
"I… I guess this is goodbye," said Mamori, her voice shaking. They both refused to face each other.
"Not for long, I'll see you soon."
"I know, but-"
"Don't."
The harshness in his words made Mamori look at him. He was still looking away from her. "I won't leave you alone for long. So don't say it."
"Ah…" Mamori could haphazardly guess Youichi's emotions at that point. Anger. Guilt. Sadness.
She reached out her hand to gently touch his face, and move it to look at her, smiling. "What's that catchphrase you like to say before a game? Fucking… erm..." Mamori stammered.
He grinned. "Did you just say the f word?"
"D-don't look at me like that!" Mamori blushed. "I was trying to say it myself but I guess I don't have the same zeal as you."
"We'll fucking kill 'em."
Mamori smiled again. "That's right. Well, of course if I won't literally kill them, but I'll have the same mindset and do everything I can to win this as soon as possible. So you have to win, too, okay?"
Mamori then wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. Youichi stiffened at first, but slowly relaxed into her and returned the hug. They stayed there for a good minute, holding each other close. "I'll see you soon," she whispered into his ear, before pulling away from him to give him one more confident smile.
His face remained blank as she picked up her bags and proceeded to walk to the platform alone.
"Oi, Mamori!" he called out to her.
She turned around. "Yes?"
"Say it."
"What?"
"Say my catchphrase."
"EHHH?" Mamori got embarrassed. "Out loud? Here?"
"Come on, say it!"
Mamori blushed deeply, looking at the people around her. There weren't many, as most of the crowd would already be at work. But there were definitely a few people within earshot.
"You can cut out that word," Youichi egged her on, grinning from ear to ear now. "Just say it!"
Mamori clenched her teeth. Must he really embarrass her like this before she left? "W-we'll kill 'em all."
"Louder!"
"WE'LL KILL 'EM ALL!" she cried out loud, everyone now looking at them. But Youichi cried out "YA-HA!" and began to shoot to the ceiling with his rubber bullets to get the public's attention instead, and due to how scary he looked everyone rushed away instead. The sight, the chaos, the sensation of crying out, made Mamori laugh.
"Soon," was all Youichi said in the midst of the chaos, looking at her with a maniacal grin.
Mamori nodded. "Soon." And she left once again to the platform, leaving Youichi behind.
That little burst of chaos did make her feel better. But the moment she got on the platform, she turned around and realised he was nowhere to be seen.
For some reason, the fact that Youichi wasn't following her broke her heart. Stupid, she told herself. He has to rush off, he has a lot to do today. Of course, he won't follow you this far.
The bullet train was approaching the platform now. And it was at that moment that she heard a familiar voice.
"MAMO-NEE!"
Mamori's jaw dropped as she saw a familiar petite woman rollerblade into the platform, phone in her hand. "Suzuna-chan?"
"Sena, I found her! She's on Platform 10! The train just arrived, hurry!" She skated right up to Mamori, and literally threw herself onto her that she almost fell on the floor. Mamori clung on to Suzuna as the younger woman slowly slid down, obviously exhausted. "S-Sena is coming soon, so stay here…"
"Suzuna-chan, that's so reckless! Are you hurt?" cried Mamori, as she bent down to let Suzuna sit on the floor.
"I'm fine but… but…" Suzuna scrunched up her face. "But Mamo-nee! There's no way we'll let you leave without a proper goodbye from us!"
"What do you mean? I-"
"Mamori-nee-chan." Sena was now panting before her, sweat dripping from his face, obviously having run as fast as he could.
"Sena… but why? How?" Mamori looked at Suzuna and Sena.
"Hiruma told me you would be here."
"Eh?" Mamori's mind scrambled. How much did Hiruma tell Sena? Why tell him? Sena would obviously tell that she would be in Akita based on the train she was boarding!
"We don't know much details," Sena continued, his breathing getting less ragged now as he took in more deep breaths. He approached her as Suzuna stood up alongside Mamori. "But I begged Hiruma to at least let me see you off. I promised not to question anything, so I won't."
"Oh!" Mamori gasped. Is that why Youichi didn't follow her all the way to the platform? So as not to raise further suspicion of them both being together?
"You've gone through so much lately," said Suzuna, holding on to Mamori's arm. "We were so worried about you. We know you're leaving because of Kurosaki Eric, but we didn't realise you would go so far away because of this..." Suzuna trailed off, looking at the train with the sign Akita obviously on it.
"Suzuna-chan, Sena, it's not that bad," said Mamori, smiling assuringly. "It's pretty much like a holiday for me so-"
"We won't question any further," insisted Sena, cutting her off quickly. "The only reason we came all the way here is to see you off safely. Those of us from the Enma Fires are on your side, and we'll protect you too by not sharing any information on your whereabouts. You know you can always depend on me, too, Mamori-nee-chan."
The doors to the train opened at that moment. The announcement that the train was boarding now blasting through the air. It was time to go.
It was time to leave.
Mamori did her best to hold back her tears. She had planned to cry in the train's restroom once everything had settled down. But seeing Sena, her childhood friend, and Suzuna clinging on to her… the tears began to fall.
"We love you, Mamo-nee," assured Suzuna, wiping Mamori's tears. "No matter what."
Mamori couldn't hold back her tears anymore and began to sob. She covered her face. Suzuna hugged her, as Sena stood by her side, hand on her shoulder. "Sena…" Mamori sobbed. "Sena… please… take care of my mother for me. I've been a terrible daughter. Please… help me take care of her..."
Sena was shocked by what she said. But he nodded. "Ah, I'll take care of Anezaki-kaa-san. Don't worry."
Mamori slowly pulled away from Suzuna, tears stained her face, but she smiled. "Thank you, Suzuna-chan, Sena."
"Mamo-nee, you're so strong! Do your best!" Suzuna cheered her on, wiping Mamori's tears again. "I know you'll be fine!"
Mamori nodded, as she grabbed her bags. Suzuna then stepped towards Sena's side, holding each other's hands. "Remember, if you need help, contact me," Sena reminded her.
"I will! Take care, you two!" Mamori waved at them as they waved back. She entered the train and sat on her designated seat by the window, where Sena and Suzuna continued to wave at her with bright smiles of comfort.
As the train began to depart, Sena and Suzuna followed, continuing to wave as they followed the train's pace, shouting words of encouragement, up to the point where Sena had to run and Suzuna skated faster and faster… until the platform ended.
Mamori weeped a little more now, sighing as she relaxed into her seat. "Is that your parting gift to me…" Mamori whispered to herself.
"Youichi?"
The announcement of Anezaki Mamori's departure sent a shockwave to the Saikyoudai Wizards. Hiruma announced it before their official practice, not long after Mamori had left for Akita. Standing on a platform in the clubroom as he made the announcement with the members surrounding him, he watched as everyone went silent, unsure on how to react.
Hashimoto was the first to make a noise by sobbing loudly in disbelief, a reserved member patting his back proved little comfort. "But I still have so much to learn from her!" he cried.
"Stop snivelling, fucking skinny boy. Your role is now more important than ever," cackled Hiruma. "You will need to pick up the slack she left behind. In fact, she left behind a folder of instructions for you by your locker. Be sure to read it."
Hashimoto sniffled and nodded, drying his tears as best as he could. As murmurs among the members began to escalate, Yamato took it upon himself to speak up for everyone. "Are you sure this was the right thing to do?" he asked out loud, for everyone to hear.
Hiruma narrowed his eyes, glaring at Yamato. "Is this really the best solution, to hide Anezaki away instead of keeping her safe with us?" Yamato continued. "You know we could protect her. In fact, you're the best at protecting her from Kurosaki. So why does she have to leave?"
"Most of the team won't question you outright, even though they will find your reasoning doubtful. But there are three people in the team you will need to really handle," said Mamori.
They had been discussing football strategies just prior, and have now moved on to how to handle the team once she had left. "Banba, Agon, and especially Yamato. There's no way they would see this plan as the best solution, no matter what logic you throw at them. They'll just see it as a failure on their part, especially yours."
"So the best way to fend them off is to give them a half truth?" Hiruma asked.
"Well..."
"Good question!" Hiruma grinned. "But protecting her or even attacking that Fucking Asshole won't stop him from his stalker ways. We're instead trying a different strategy to fool the Mendou Fighters; have them believe she's completely removed from the picture. That she even went as far as to leave Saikyoudai, leaving me as the sole control tower of the Wizards with no support."
The murmuring grew louder. "But she didn't actually leave, right?" Banba spoke up.
"Kekeke who knows? Maybe she's holed up in her basement with plenty of cameras to observe everyone, even when they're taking a shit!"
"Sounds a lot like your basement," Agon spoke up from the back. He rarely got involved in these discussions, but as they predicted, Agon was bound to question them. "Sure you didn't trap her as your own little sex slave?"
"Kekeke would you like to check yourself?" Hiruma cackled, brandishing his AK-47 now. "I'm sure you would love to see the way I dressed her up in her little maid outfit, waiting for me at every beck and call."
Agon glared at Hiruma, obviously doubtful at everything he said. But he chose that moment to leave instead. Banba and Yamato also shared a glance, but kept to themselves. It was obvious they didn't believe him, almost everyone who knew him didn't. Ikkyuu, Taka, Akaba. They all gave him the heaviest glare of doubt, but Youichi sneered at them all.
Ask me more, I dare you.
To everyone's surprise, especially Hiruma, Taka spoke up. "I believe you," he said. "I know you're doing this to protect her. If this is the best way to do so, then I support your actions."
The rest of the team continued to talk with each other, and it was obvious that was the end of that. Hiruma shot a few bullets into the air to shut them all up. "Enough! We don't have the luxury of worrying about the Fucking Manager any further! As you know, we have to win the Koshien Bowl to get to the Rice Bowl! And do you really think we have what it takes to win if you're all snivelling and talking shit? GET YOUR ASS ON THE FIELD!"
"YES SIR!" the team roared, exiting the clubroom.
"Yamato," Hiruma called out to the Runningback. "Stay."
Yamato looked at him suspiciously, but stayed nonetheless. The moment everyone left, they both walked to a corner, out of earshot. "What is it?" Yamato asked.
"Kekeke I need your help with something."
"That's a surprise."
"First, I know you're still doubtful over Anezaki's departure. But we've reached an extreme situation. Kurosaki Eric is now actively harassing her, which means he's got our code of communication cracked and is even utilising other teams to shake her."
"Understable but…"
"Second," Hiruma cut him off. "You may be thinking why couldn't I protect her by using my little black book or even just beat the shit out of him. There are three reasons for this; one, he's not wrong to play mind games on her. It would be hypocritical of me to stop him on that aspect. Two, beating the crap out of him is too easy, and won't stop him from thinking he has the upper hand. The third reason is where you come in."
Yamato's eyes widened. "You need more dirt on him."
"The better option would be to get Yamato and the others involved in some way to solve this," said Mamori. "Our hands are way too tied to do any further research on Kurosaki Eric. And by giving them this task, they won't focus too much on my disappearance and rather on a solution to ensure my safety. It would work for us, too, because the more information we have on him, the easier it would be to find a way to defeat him.
Which is a lot better, don't you think?"
Hiruma grinned. "I'll send you whatever information I have so far. You can choose whoever you want to help you in this, just be careful not to get caught."
"Of course," nodded Yamato. "Though… I can't help but comment that for you to depend on me and not do this yourself, it means things really are serious. Is everything okay?"
Memories of his father, the wedding, and the fact that Mamori had likely reached Akita by now and is facing the Sato family by herself, flashed in Hiruma's mind. "Of course not. Anezaki had to leave," he replied with a grin. Yamato caught the mask Hiruma was wearing, and the seriousness of the situation really kicked in.
"I'm sorry for doubting you earlier."
"Then get fucking to it," said Hiruma, leaving Yamato as he received an email from Hiruma at that very moment. With a quick glance at the info, he put his phone away and began to plan who to recruit for this little "project".
If you're wondering why no security personnel went after Hiruma or even Suzuna and Sena for the chaos at the train station, let's just say Hiruma took care of that before it all happened haha.
The next chapter will finally cover Mamori and the Sato family, so do continue to support this fic!