Reika has a boyfriend? So early? Who the hell did she fall in love with so fast? I mean, I did ask her if she has any boyfriend but it was supposed to be a joke.
Did she find one after our fight? If that guy is a womanizer, I'm gonna break his freaking legs.
"Didn't Reika tell you about that? She would always tell you everything first about what happened to her, then talk with the rest of us. Did something happen?"
"No. It's nothing. But what's this? Are you perhaps worried about me?"
"Don't get me wrong. I'm only asking because I care for only Reika. I don't want her to be influenced by you."
"Yeah... I also don't want that. Either way, thanks for the information mom."
"Tch."
I ate dinner and went to bed while thinking that there is another unexpected problem which arose.
'This is gonna be tiring.'
...
I woke up pretty late the next day as I was thinking about those matters and didn't find any sleep until late. Reika would have tried to wake me up but it was not possible due to our relationship right now.
'Who is she in love with?'
While drowning on this thought, I prepared myself and went to school. I met with Aki near the shoe lockers.
"Morning Tenma. I brought you what we promised."
"Keep it. I'll take it in lunch break. I don't want anyone to see us."
"That's alright."
We were walking down the corridors and students would start whispering. It was a daily routine for us but.
'Aren't they being much louder and more in quantity. And they seemed to be more afraid of us.'
Aki also noticed this irregularity but kept quiet. We made it to our classroom and we sat in our respective seats.
Now that I got a good look at the class, they seemed to be more distant from not only me but also Aki.
'Is it because of Miyake?'
A few minutes later, Kinoshita came and sat in his seat which was in the first row and at last place. It was easy to get a good look at him.
He looked pretty exhausted. So he really did heed to my orders. The effect of Miyake on him is pretty good. I must use that kind of method more often.
Kinoshita looked at me and I waved at him, with a smile on my face, as a response. He quickly averted his eyes and looked forward while panting.
...
It was lunch break, that means the start of the training for Kinoshita. I signalled Kinoshita to follow us. Kinoshita understood it and stood up nervously.
Miyake, who was sitting at the front, turned back and looked at this scene helplessly. Kinoshita met her eyes. I looked towards Kinoshita to see what will be his response.
He just.....smiled at her. That same smile that I hated. I whispered something into Kinoshita's ear.
"Oi. Didn't I tell you that I hate that smile? This is the last warning so be careful when you are around me."
Kinoshita nodded to what I said. Then he followed us to the rooftop. I was thinking about what should we teach him.
'Maybe I should leave it to Aki.'
We arrived at the rooftop. Kinoshita was getting nervous.
"Kinoshita, I'm happy that you listened to me for the warm-up exercise. So, how did you find it? The 1 km run."
"It was really tiring. I even felt a bit dizzy when running."
"It happens the first time you start doing this. If you do this every day, you will be fine. It is necessary for what's to come. Don't skip a day of training or I'll come to your house and drag you out. "
"O...okay."
I went to Aki and said
"Do you want to teach him or want me to do it?"
"You do it. You came up with it yourself. I don't want to be part of it."
Is she angry? Oh well, that's fine. I'll make Kinoshita the perfect pawn for me.
"Now Kinoshita, let's start with the training. Do you know how to throw a punch? Give me a demonstration."
"Like...a punch at you?"
"Yeah. Don't be afraid. I won't be angry."
Kinoshita readied himself and threw a punch at me. I caught it with my left hand. I squeezed his hand tight while Kinoshita was in pain.
"Your punch is slow and weak."
"...i-it hurts..."
"First of all the stance you took when throwing that punch is awful. We need to correct that first."
I released Kinoshita's hand and took a stance. Kinoshita was holding his hand which had a little scratch.
"Watch me closely and attentively. "
I was in a proper stance in front of Kinoshita. I threw a punch by moving all the joints in my body to support my punch's strength.
That punch went near Kinoshita's face. He was stunned but at the same time was amazed. He had eyes full of expectations.
"...Why are you amazed by it? Weren't you scared earlier?"
"The thing is... I always loved watching fight scenes in the movies. I was amazed by the moves they used in fights. I always wanted to try it too."
That's good news for me.
"And, what is your favourite fighting style?"
"...Karate."
"That's a coincidence. I'm good at Karate so I can teach all those cool moves you saw in the movie if you want."
"Please, I want to!"
Kinoshita was begging for me like a child. He is really a die-hard fan of action-packed movies. That's really advantageous for me.
"You saw how I threw that punch? Master it and you will be stepping forward to your objective. It is the most basic move but can be the most fatal if used correctly."
"Yes."
The rest of the break was me and Aki, watching Kinoshita practising that punch and sometimes I would correct his postures.
He seemed pretty excited about it so he had a hint of a smile on his face. But not that same smile that I despised.
...
5 minutes before the break was almost about to end, we started to pack up and go back to class. Kinoshita was a bit displeased by that fact.
We were on our way to our class with Kinoshita.
"Thanks for the hoodie, although I'm not able to guarantee that I will return it to you."
"I don't mind it."
Right after our talk just ended, we went around a corner. I caught a glimpse of a female school uniform but I could not avoid that student in time. I ended up bumping into her.
That girl almost fell down but Kinoshita grabbed her hands which prevented her from falling. The girl that Kinoshita helped was lifting up her hair as it was all over her face so we couldn't see her face.
But once she unveiled her hair, a beautiful face appeared.
'Reika...?'