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Behind the announcers' desk, the fighters were all gathered as they cheered incessantly.
None of them wanted to miss a single second of this fight, so they tried to get the best seat to watch it.
"Go, Yuji! You can do it!" Himuro exclaimed. Although none of the fighters had entered the arena, he and the others had already started to motivate them.
"Don't you dare lose, Yuji!" Akira and Kaneda cheered for the boy, waving to the corridor from which he should emerge.
"Show him your howling spirit, Yuji!" Saw Paing roared from the stands, which startled some of the people around him. Kaolan just smiled at this, cheering in his mind for the boy's victory.
"Don't you dare lose to that brat, Tokita!" Lihito shouted in cheers. Ever since Kuroki had been defeated by Yuji, and after having his trademark technique copied, he had developed a bit of enmity towards the boy.
"If you lose, I'll kill you, Tokita." Sitting away from the other fighters, Raian commented nonchalantly, startling the spectators around him.
"Even though Yuji is a real monster, I think Ohma will win. He's considerably less injured." Wakatsuki spoke between the cheers, Julius, sitting in the chair just behind, nodding in agreement.
"I agree." Julius crossed his arms over his chest.
"Ah, you two stay put. That kid's gonna kick ass!" Okubo turned to the two fighters, before turning to the arena to cheer. "Go all out, Yuji!"
In seats even closer to the arena, Mokichi and Kou were sitting together, the man holding the girl's small hand while smiling like a proud father. Even though he had adopted the little girl some time ago, he had never before had the chance to have such a "father and daughter" moment with the girl, so he ended up getting quite excited.
"Are you excited to see Yuji fight?" Mokichi suddenly asked the little girl, which made her turn to him thoughtfully.
"Hm... Kou's excited to see Yuji win!" Opening a small smile, she turned to the arena again, leaving a perplexed Mokichi to see her smile for the first time.
"The fans are very excited! And the fighters haven't even entered the arena yet! It's like the whole grandstand is shaking!"
Sayaka commented through her microphone, which only served to increase the crowd's excitement.
"Holy shit!"
"..."
In the corridor leading to the arena, Yuji and the girls were looking at the audience with smiling faces. Everyone was in high spirits, and that pleased Yuji very much.
He enjoyed fighting, but when it came to fights with an audience watching, it was always rewarding to entertain them.
There was no anger or envy on their part, just the purest excitement to see the two fighters face off.
That was sportsmanship in all its glory.
"How are you feeling?" Hiyama suddenly approached him, making him turn to her with a thoughtful look.
"I'm fine." He turned to his right hand, seeing it covered in bandages. "Maybe not so well, but it could be worse."
Hiyama nodded, her face filling with concern as she took a step closer to the boy, suddenly grabbing his right hand.
"Uh, what?" Yuji raised his eyebrow at this gesture, but didn't stop her. At no time before had the woman tried to approach him in this way.
"I... I'm just worried." She said simply, stroking his hand as her gaze seemed to wander in thought.
Previously, she hadn't stopped to think about all the events of the last few days.
But after spending some time in the infirmary, she was able to devote some of her time to it.
Ever since Akoya had come into her life, Hiyama couldn't remember ever feeling genuinely happy. She had memories of it, but now that she was free of her possessive thoughts about Akoya, she could tell that they were just fake moments of happiness, created by her own mind, to make her see Akoya as her only savior more and more.
She was depressed to realize this, after all, she had wasted five years with that man.
But that feeling quickly went away when Yuji and the girls visited her.
Seeing them there, genuinely caring about her, made all the depressed thoughts disappear in the blink of an eye.
It made her realize that Yuji hadn't saved her just to use her like Akoya had.
He really cared about all the girls around him, to the point of jeopardizing his victory just to save any of them.
It made her...
Genuinely happy.
"Thank you so much for saving me, Yuji." Feeling tears forming in the corner of her eyes, the woman bowed her head as she said it.
"Uh?" Feeling confused, Yuji just scratched the back of his head, his eyes resting on the other girls, who seemed to be preoccupied with watching the stands. "You don't have to thank me. That happened because of me, after all. They tried to find a way to get me on their side."
"No! I'm not just talking about that, I'm thanking you for everything! For saving me from Akoya, for taking me in, and for making me happy!" The woman suddenly raised her head to show her tear-filled eyes, which caused Yuji's gaze to soften. "Thank you for everything."
"Oh... I understand now."
Smiling, he suddenly pulled her into a hug, which made her eyes widen in surprise.
"As I said, you don't have to thank me."
Feeling caresses on her back, the woman immediately relaxed.
"Didn't you hear it before?"
But hearing the boy's question, the woman turned to him in confusion.
"You're one of my girls now, anything I do for you needs no thanks."
"..."
Feeling her cheeks heat up, Hiyama looked away and buried her face in his chest, which made him laugh slightly.
"If you two have finished, the fight is about to begin."
Hearing Senju's voice behind him, Yuji turned to see the girls staring at the two of them, which made him raise an eyebrow as he disengaged himself from the embrace, an embarrassed Hiyama cracking a small smile.
"You look annoyed. Don't worry, I have a moment for all of you." Yuji teased, which made the girl roll her eyes.
"Stop acting like a stallion, you don't fit that role." Senju frowned, which made the boy scratch the back of his head as he started walking towards the arena.
"I know, I know." Laughing, he stopped inches from the line dividing the light of the arena with the darkness of the corridor, turning to them one last time. "Oh, I almost forgot."
"I love you all too."