The next morning, when Gōjun and I met with each other again, we both avoided each other's looks.
I wondered why he had kissed me.
Can it be that… he feels attracted to me?
No! It's not possible.
I shook the idea off immediately.
Why would he feel attracted to me? This idea is so absurd!
As we were about to head to class after having taken lunch together, we found ourselves alone with each other for a minute, as Shunsui moved away to speak to a group of girls who had accosted him.
Gōjun spoke to me at that moment.
'Listen! About last night...' he told me, grumpily, 'Don't go imagining things! It was only to thank you for the meal! You had really outdone yourself. It was the most excellent meal of my life!'
EH?!
Who kisses anyone on the mouth to thank them for a meal?!
And that was my first kiss! He stole it!
Shunsui caught up with us again, and he slipped back into silence.
'What did I miss?' the reddish-brown-haired young man asked us, smilingly, but we didn't answer him and simply turned our faces away, Gōjun and I avoiding each other's looks again.
***
Only sometimes later...
Gōjun Shoran paused down to gaze at the dark-haired girl from where he was in the distance. Today, their art and design class had taken place outdoors. They were supposed to draw a part of their school- a tree, a building, anything- and all the students had spread across the institution to work individually.
The course was over by now and everyone was returning to class.
When Gōjun had noticed that the dark-haired girl was not in the cohort, he had parted with Shunsui and his classmates to go looking for her, expecting to find her at their usual spot for lunch.
And indeed, she was there. The dark-haired girl had fallen asleep under the tree!
As his eyes fell onto her lips, he felt a powerful urge to kiss them, and this surprised him.
I don't understand what's happening to me! How can I feel sexually attracted to this girl who wears long, cotton nightdresses with strawberry and cat motifs?
But irresistibly, he found himself drawn towards her, and sitting himself down on the floor by her side, facing her, he gazed at her sleeping face for a minute, before he lifted his hands up to cup her face, and leaning in, he kissed her on the mouth.
When he pulled away, he wiped the saliva off the corner of his mouth a little and got to his feet to walk away, without waking her up.
I'm convinced that it's purely physical! he said to himself. Once I would have had my way with her, it'll pass!
***
I was awakened by a sensation of warmth on my lips.
Opening my eyes, I caught sight of Gōjun who was walking a small distance away, with his back turned into this direction.
My hand moved up to touch my lips instantly.
Why do I have this strange sensation on my lips? And why is my face so warm?
My lips were damp.
Did he just… kiss me?!
My eyes went wide at him.
I had no doubt about it.
But why did he kiss me?
It's the second time that he's stealing me a kiss!
I don't understand.
What's happening to him?
***
Turning around on himself, Shunsui Shigeizumi backed up against the side wall of the gymnasium, a large grin spreading over his face.
'Gōjun, you cagey devil! This is what you were hiding, eh? I know exactly what to do now!'
The reddish- brown-haired young man remained standing until a whole minute has passed, before he rounded the corner to make towards the dark-haired girl, pretending as if he had not witnessed anything, calling out to her, 'Hime, hurry! You're going to be late for sports! The others have already left to submit their works to the teacher, and are returning to change their clothes!'
Breaking into a panic, the girl grabbed her sketchpad and all her materials very quickly to jump to her feet and make a rush for it.
***
I arrived late in sports.
The teacher had already arrived when I reached the outdoor playground and all the students were grouped in front of the latter.
Apparently, we had a new sports teacher.
The man was in his early forties. He was extremely tall and muscular, with slightly tanned skin and mid-chest, red hair. His eyes were of a gray, and he had three cartilage piercings on his right ear.
'My name is Saien Natsume. And from now on, I'll be your new sports teacher,' he was announcing to the students.
'Excuse me, Sir! I'm late!' I told him, bowing down in apology, while panting hard for having ran so fast.
'What's your name?' he demanded at me in cold displeasure, turning to face me.
'Hi- Hime Kirigakure,' I stammered.
'Maybe your ex-sports teacher would tolerate such behavior, but not me!' he stated. 'Twenty rounds of the playground and that in running! That'll be your punishment! Otherwise, I'll mark you absent!'
I cringed.
Tw- Twenty rounds?!
'Oi,' Shunsui declared, suddenly, intervening, 'Don't you think it's a little too much?!'
'Who are you?' the red-haired man demanded at him, with a grimace. 'Ah, you must be Shunsui Shigeizumi, right? The director has told me a lot about you! Maybe your other teachers and the director feel intimidated by you, but it's not my case! That'll be twenty rounds for you too, you little impertinent! That'll teach you for discussing my decisions!'
Eh?!
I cringed again, while the reddish-brown-haired young man's mouth went agape at the man for a second, before his face scrunched up angrily.
Shunsui!
I panicked.
Shunsui, calm down-
'Who do you-' he began, taking a step towards the red-haired male, but before he could go any further, he was retained by Gōjun, who sent his arms under the reddish-brown-haired young man's armpits from behind, to mutter, 'Come on! Leave it! I'm going to do it with the two of you!'
Oh, Gōjun…
'But, Gōjun!' Shunsui started to complain, but already the latter was dragging him away and asking me to get moving.
I stared at their faces, then at that of the red-haired man, and back again, uneasily.
This is all because of me!
'Make those forty rounds!' the new teacher declared. 'Your name is Gōjun Shoran, right? The director has told me a lot about you too! Since you seem to like punishments so much, it should not pose you any problems!'
I literally flinched this time.
For- Forty rounds?!
Shunsui's mouth had gone completely agape now, while Gōjun gave the red-haired man an austere look, exhaling sharply.
'Gōjun, we're not going to accept this, are we?!' Shunsui exclaimed, but the latter didn't respond and simply continued to drag him away, stoically.
'What is this teacher?!' Shunsui and I cried together, and I almost broke into bitter tears.
It was not a piece of cake to make forty rounds of the playground in running and that without marking a pause. The field was so large. I never thought I would be able to make it. When we finally did it, we were not out of the bush yet. It was only the beginning. The new sports teacher had decided to check everyone's aptitude in each single discipline in order for him to have an idea of our respective levels in sports, and there was no way for me to escape it.
'I can't believe it!' he shouted, as he stared at the results on my sheet. 'Kirigakure! You have the worst grades of the class! I'm even starting to wonder if you're not doing it intentionally! How can anyone be so bad in sports?! You're not good in even one single discipline! I don't understand how your previous sports teachers could have closed his eyes on something like this! My first intuition about you was absolutely right!'
He had put his hand down onto the top of my head now in a grip to stare at me closely in the face with an execrable look.
I looked up into his eyes, afraid and feeling tearful.
'If you think that I'm going to meddle with your school records by giving you good grades just to be kind, you're dead wrong!' he warned me.
'Oi! That's enough now!' Shunsui told him, sullenly, stepping in closer to me, and grabbing the man's forearm with both of his hands, he pushed it backward, not violently, but firmly enough, to get him to release my head.
Gōjun had shifted in closer too.
'You, again!' the red-haired man muttered at Shunsui, his eyes tightening at him, unhappily. 'Che! I understand better now why she's so weak! You two, you pamper her too much! She's your little protégée, am I wrong?! Well, continue like this and she's going to have to repeat the year just because of her sports grades!'
And on these words, the man started to walk away. The bell was ringing now.
Riled, Shunsui was about to jump at him, but again, he was retained by Gōjun, who told him to just ignore the red-haired male.
On my side, I was completely fazed.
Re- Repeat the year?!
This time, I really thought that I was going to sob bitterly.
'Dammit! What is that guy?!' Shunsui roared, and Natsui drew up to us with Yūsei Nishoji to put their hands down onto my shoulder in a supporting gesture.
Sometimes later, when the final bell rang, all the members of the Kendō club were convoked to the gymnasium by the new sports teacher, Saien Natsume, who presented himself to us as the teacher assigned to the club as sponsor.
At this, all color drained out of my face and I broke into cold sweat. But this news was not that surprising since our ex-sports teacher was also the sponsor of the Kendō club. It was most evident that the new teacher would replace him.
All the scholarship students- including Natsui and I- as well those who were not all so good in kendō, exchanged an anxious look with one another.
If he had tormented us in sports, Kendō was going to be a real séance of torture!
Shunsui and Gōjun weren't all that thrilled about having him for sponsor either.
'I can't believe my eyes! Hime Kirigakure in this club?!' the man stated, with a grimace, as he bent down into my face, deliberately ignoring Shunsui and Gōjun. 'It's truly unbelievable! And what's even more surprising is for me to find the weakest of our elements in sports in this club just as well!'
His eyes had traveled across the faces of the some of the other students now.
'I'm not like the other teachers of this school!' he declared at everyone, straightening up. 'I won't act as a simple sponsor. I have the intention to invest myself completely in the activities of this club! And I'm going to start by eliminating the weakest elements of the group! Starting with you, Hime Kirigakure!'
He turned to face me again, his eyes tightening on me.
Eh?!
Natsui and Yūsei Nishoji looked at each other to gasp in shock, while Gōjun and Shunsui put their hands down onto my shoulders tightly from behind.
'I'm going to keep only the best of you!' the man continued. 'As for you, Hime Kirigakure, I won't put you to the test. You're being eliminated outright! You may leave!'
'Oi!' Shunsui groaned, pulling me backward by my shoulder to step in front of me with Gōjun. 'You don't have the right to expel her from the club!'
The reddish-brown-haired young man was angry, while Gōjun's expression was more than severe.
'Oh? And who is going to stop me? the man demanded, with a defiant smile. 'You, maybe?'
Lifting the Shinai he had in his hand, Shunsui pointed it at the older male's face, telling him, 'If you are a real man, dare to confront me in a match! If I win, she stays! And if it's you who win- Feh! It's never gonna happen!'
The atmosphere had become electric between the two of them by now. A little more and sparks would form.
My heart accelerated in my chest with panic. I moved up to the reddish-brown-haired young man's side to put my hands up at him pacifically and tell him, 'Shunsui, it's okay! It does not matter if I stay in the club or not!'
It was only due to circumstances that I had initially joined the club. I would never even have thought to join a sports club in my life. It didn't really matter if I continued to be part of it today, did it?
'What are you saying, Hime?!' he demanded at me. 'Have you forgotten what this discipline has helped you to achieve?'
My heart skipped beat.
That's true! I had never thought about it in that way. It was through this discipline that Gōjun and he had been able to stop the other scholarship students and I from continuing to suffer from Ijime.
But still, I didn't want him to oppose himself against the red-haired man and that, just because of me.
'I know, but Shunsui-'
Ignoring me, he sent his arm in front of me to grab me by my shoulder again, this time to push me slowly out of the way, telling me, 'Now, stay out of the way, Hime! You might hurt yourself!'
His eyes were fixed on the red-haired male.
The latter had pointed his own Shinai at him too and was fixating him back with a cocky grin, to declare, 'Eh?! I'm going to show you, you insolent!'
I was dead panicked now.
They're not really going to fight, are they?!
Clasping my hands in front of myself, I stared at the two of them. They seemed perfectly serious. And Gōjun didn't seem to want to stop them.
The new sports teacher and Shunsui decided to fight with the Bokutō instead of the Shinai, and not to wear their Men. They decided to keep it free-style. The first one to send his opponent to the ground would be the winner.
Every member of the club was eager for the start of the match and they moved into the bleachers to watch it, while Gōjun, Natsui, Yūsei Nishoji and I remained by the side of the fighting field to watch the match.
We were all amazed, as well as anxious, to find that the red-haired man was as good as Shunsui in Kendō, but the latter successfully managed to take the upper hand and send his opponent to the ground!
'It's over!' Shunsui stated, as he stopped his Bokutō just in time over the throat of the man. The latter had fallen on his back on the floor.
The red-haired male stared at the tip of the wooden katana, then at Shunsui's face, without breathing. He had been defeated.
Putting his Bokutō away then, Shunsui straightened up, and started to make towards me, telling me, 'Come, Hime! That's enough for today! Let's go home now!'
I nodded, giving him a small timid smile.
Just as he had reached me and had been about to send his arm around my neck, unexpectedly, the new sports teacher jerked at him from behind to throw him on his face on the floor and pin him there in a tackle, only to bring his katana over the side of the reddish-brown-haired young man's neck in one single movement.
We were all astounded.
'You should never leave your opponent of the eyes! Because it gives him the occasion to do this!' the man hissed at Shunsui, with another cocky grin.
Letting go him then, the red-haired male stood up, and started to walk away, declaring, 'It's me who has won this match! But don't worry! Your little protégée can stay in the club! But she sure is going to suffer!'
'What the hell!' Shunsui shouted, peevishly, pushing himself off the ground into a sitting position and flinging around. 'The match was over! You didn't have the right to do that, you big cheat!'
'I've changed the rules a little bit, you see! But that should not bother someone like you, who is so fond of flying in the face of conventions in everyday life!'
Riled, Shunsui jumped to his feet and was about to surge at the man, but Gōjun stopped him, telling him, 'Ignore him! He's just a cheater!'
We followed the man with the eyes. He was laughing loudly to himself. And soon, he had gotten out of sight.
'DAMMIT! WHAT IS THAT GUY?!' Shunsui shouted on top of his voice, and Gōjun, Natsui, Yūsei Nishoji and I were asking ourselves this same question.
That night, when I returned home after work, my mind drifted off to Tsubasa-sama for a moment. I had wanted to call her after the incident at the bar. But I didn't know what to tell her. I didn't know how to bring the subject of Shunsui's departure from the mansion, without it causing her pain. And therefore, I decided to bury myself in silence.
Oh Tsubasa-sama… Shunsui…
Thank you for reading!
Glossary
Bokutō - wooden katana