Yo, author here
Enjoy reading, rejoice and...
See you all on next time
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(...Continuing)
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Resisting the urge to sigh like a tired old man, Saji questioned him.
"What are you doing?"
Without taking his eyes off his cell phone while his finger slid across the screen, Micael responded to him in a simple tone.
"What do you mean what I'm doing? I'm feeling the vibe and singing, duh."
Saji just looked at him with a blank expression, then placed his hand on his nose as he spoke.
"Whatever, anyway-"
"Wait, let me play just one more."
Being interrupted before he could finish, he asked Micael in disbelief.
"Are you serious?"
Micael didn't respond, instead he scrolled his finger across the screen looking for a song until he found it, speaking.
"Look, pay attention to this one."
Saji just watched in silence as the song started playing and, of course, Micael started singing along.
"Devo lutar com setenta, espera, setenta? Aonde eu me meti, eles vão me matar."
("Should I fight at seventy, wait, seventy? What did I get myself into, they're going to kill me.")
After that first sentence, he watched Micael approach the bar on the floor while taking the strap off his wrists.
And he continued singing while putting away the weights, while Saji himself paid attention to the lyrics.
"Lutar não irei, cedo partirei. Covarde? Eu não ligo como vão me chamar."
("I'm not going to fight, I'm going to leave soon. Coward? I don't care what they call me.")
"Devo estar louco para sacar... Pelo visto estão todos aqui..."
("I must be dying to draw... Apparently they're all here...")
"Algo grandiso vai começar...
São setenta homens contra mim!"
("Something big is about to begin...
There are seventy men against me!")
"Micael..."
Saji interrupted him once again, the music was cool but he wasn't interested in listening.
"Wait a minute, let me just hear the chorus."
Micael spoke, finishing putting away the weights and picking up his cell phone from the floor, then changing the song to the chorus, he spoke.
"Listen, this is the best part."
Starting to sing along
"Seguindo o caminho da espada ou morte? Tem outro caminho, outro caminho...Para Musashi Myamoto!"
("Following the path of sword or death? There is another way, another way...For Musashi Myamoto!")
"Ei, saque sua espada, mas não contra o mundo.
Caminho da alma, de um vagabundo."
("Hey, draw your sword, but not against the world.
Path of the soul, of a vagabond.")
"Wooh~, Ilu...
Wooh~, -mina!
Wooh~, A...
Wooh~, Mente!
("Wooh~, Enligh...
Wooh~, -ten!
Wooh~, The...
Wooh~, Mind!")
"O que é ser forte, te pergunto.
Cê vai saber quando se tornar um!"
("What does it mean to be strong, I ask you
You'll know when you become one!")
Finishing singing, he stopped the music and, placing his hand over his eyes, wiped away the non-existent tears as he spoke.
"Very good, a goat song for one of the greatest goats, simply subarashi."
Micael commented to himself as he looked up with an emotional look, a look full of intense emotions.
"Okay, was this song about Musashi Myamoto?"
Saji spoke, ignoring Micael's melodramatic behavior, approaching and taking the cell phone from his hand, seeing the drawing of a manga character on the cover of the song.
Micael stayed in his pose for another moment, until he came out of it acting as if nothing had happened and responding to Saji.
"Yes, the Myamoto Musashi, specifically a manga based on him, by the way, I recommend it, I'll give you the link later."
He said giving a thumbs up to Saji, after which he took out his cell phone.
"Hmm."
Was the answer Saji gave him.
Approaching the bag near the wall, he crouched down, putting away his cell phone, he took out a bottle and stood up while taking a sip, asking Saji afterwards.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
Upon hearing this question, Saji felt nervousness return to him, this strange moment from Micael made him momentarily forget why he had come here.
Looking completely fine on the outside, Saji said with a slight smile.
"Okay, we can talk about this later, but first, how about we do a little sparring?"
Taking the bottle away from his mouth, Micael looks at him with a raised eyebrow as he asks.
"Do you want to fight me?"
Saji responds calmly, still with a slight smile on his face.
"Yes."
Closing the bag and placing it on the floor, he gets up, starting to put on a pair of gloves and talking to Saji.
"There's another pair of gloves here, get the head protector too."
"No need, we can fight without protection."
Stopping putting on his gloves upon hearing him speak, Micael looks at him with an eyebrow raised again as he asks.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's okay."
Seeing how Saji still had that calm smile on his face, Micael shrugged his shoulders as he responded, taking off his gloves.
"Okay, if you say so."
After throwing the gloves on top of the bag, he walked to the red mat, turning to Saji and placing his hands on his waist as he spoke.
"Come on."
Accepting the invitation, Saji takes off his shirt and throws it on the floor, walking to the mat facing Micael while stretching his arms.
As Saji approaches, he hears Micael questioning him.
"Are you training?"
Stopping in front of Micael, he asks calmly.
"So you noticed?"
"Of course I noticed, before you looked like a cricket, now you look like a slightly bigger cricket."
Saji just gave him a dead look and suppressed the urge to hit Micael.
Smiling, Micael pointed at him as he said.
"But seriously, now I can see the outline of abs appearing on your belly, not bad, keep it up and you will achieve your goal, whatever it may be."
Upon hearing Micael's words, he unconsciously looked down, seeing the slight outline of his abdomen under the white skin of his belly, something he had noticed before.
And naturally he was happy to realize that, just like any other guy would be, however, compared to Micael himself, he still had a long way to go.
Looking at the muscular bastard with light brown skin, Saji looked at his own arm and saw the slightly tanned white skin there, he wondered if he should adopt a gyaro style, maybe that way he would attract more girls?
Anyway, putting aside the two's physical disparity, Saji adopted a basic fighting stance when speaking.
"Alright, enough talking, let's fight."
Acting in accordance with Saji's words, Micael adopted his own stance, saying.
"Attack me whenever you want."
Squinting at Micael's words, Saji contemplated Micael's simple and relaxed posture, his arms were raised loosely, his hands weren't even closed and his legs were barely apart, he hadn't even lowered his center of gravity.
Micael clearly didn't take him seriously, which was also completely understandable, after all, if a friend of his that he knew who didn't have knowledge or experience in fighting or even enough physical condition to fight called him for sparring, he wouldn't take it seriously either.
But well, that's exactly what his plan is based on, Micael certainly doesn't expect that he is now much stronger than him, and not just in strength, he surpasses Micael in every aspect except technique and experience.
And his plan is also simple, he wouldn't use his superior strength to beat Micael, that would be an exaggeration (and he also knew that the retaliation that would come later would be worse), no no no, his plan was to cause maximum emotional pain possible!
After all, just as Micael himself taught him, if he wanted to cause as much damage as possible to someone without physically hurting them, aim for the emotional aspect, leaving the person traumatized to the point that even the psychologist who treats them is traumatized as well.
In Micael's own words, this way it is more lasting.
But he doesn't intend to trumatize his friend, no no no, that would be very cruel of him.
His plan was to pretend he was still a normal human, but he wouldn't let Micael hit him in any way, making him fight gradually more and more seriously.
However, when Micael realized that he couldn't touch him, he would start to tease him, making jokes and mocking him to make him lose his temper, then when Micael started to seriously attack him...
This is where Saji will show his superiority, showing that no matter what Micael does he is unable to touch him.
This is the objective of his plan to cause emotional damage to Micael, a hard-working man who, despite all his effort and dedication over the years, was completely surpassed by his lazy and bum best friend.
Is there greater emotional damage than this for someone like Micael? Saji could already imagine the look of disbelief on his face as he asked how that was possible.
But of course, just like the great friend he was, he won't let Micael stay depressed for long, obviously, first he'll make fun of him and only then he'll help him.
One plan he had in mind was to use magic to make Micael stronger, after all this world was dangerous and he wouldn't leave his best friend to the mercy of fate.
But anyway, that's all for later, his current focus is humiliating Micael and making fun of him, so, feeling his heart race in anticipation and suppressing the shit-eating grin that wanted to appear on his face, he approached Micael with slow steps.
Arriving close to him and stopping, they stood face to face, without moving, remaining in their positions, until Saji attacked first, throwing a weak punch towards his face.
Dodging effortlessly, Micael just moved his head away without getting hit, and with that first attack, they began to move, keeping a close distance from each other as they moved.
With Saji jumping like a boxer and Micael just walking, they moved, paying attention to each other, waiting to see what the other's next move would be.
And neither of them had to wait long, as Saji followed up with another weak punch to Micael's face, which, like the previous one, was dodged.
Saji then attacked again, this time aiming for the chest, with Micael not dodging, but deflecting it with his arm.
And the situation continued like this, with Saji attacking and Micael just dodging or deflecting the attacks, a stalemate that lasted a few seconds.
And when Saji was thinking about making a joke to provoke Micael and make him attack, he already did it, throwing a weak punch towards his face.
In fact, calling it a punch was an exaggeration, his fist wasn't even closed, it looked more like he wanted to shove him in the face than punch him.
But in the end it didn't make any difference, as effortlessly, practically watching his hand slowly approach his face, Saji calmly dodged it.
And he could immediately see a reaction, with Micael raising an eyebrow, certainly surprised that he had dodged the attack with apparent ease.
Allowing himself to smile, Saji looked relaxed at Micael in his own fighting pose, he didn't say anything but his act already spoke for itself.
Despite Saji's clearly provocative way of acting, Micael didn't comment anything, regaining his calm expression and proceeding to attack.
Continuing with weaker attacks, without much strength and still with his hand open, Micael continued his attack without taking it seriously, but impressively, Saji continued to dodge his attacks effortlessly.
Dodging the attacks and not even trying to dodge or block them, Saji moved fluidly, still smiling, and also without trying to retaliate or launch a counterattack.
And so the fight continued for a few seconds, Micael launching attacks to the head or torso, and Saji calmly dodging with a relaxed smile on his face.
Pausing after another failed attack on Saji's head, Micael looked silently at him, seemingly processing this strange situation.
Jumping up and down in his boxing pose, Saji was still smiling as he asked nonchalantly.
"What's wrong~? Are you tired yet~?"
Keeping a calm and silent look on his face, Micael did not respond to his provocation, but readjusted his pose, saying.
"Pay attention, I'm going to take things a little more seriously now."
And Saji could see it immediately, his fighting pose was now no longer sloppy, his hands were actually clenched into fists and even the air around him seemed to gain a heaviness.
Feeling the real tension that came from a Micael really prepared to fight for real, Saji just kept the smile on his face, still acting carefree when he spoke.
"Don't worry, you can come."
With his words serving as a signal, Micael immediately advanced.
Reaching Saji, his fist traveled at high speed directly to his chest, a hissing sound produced by his nose as he exhaled forcefully in unison with the punch.
Pfss—
And just like before, with a smooth movement, Saji dodged it by moving his torso and taking a step back.
Unaffected by the failed attack, Micael threw another punch, this time to the head and also accompanied by a sharp exhale through his nose.
Pfss—
But once again, Saji dodged, still smiling smugly.
After this other failed attack, Micael continued in a sequence of attacks, Jab or straight, even cross and hook, using both arms, he attacked continuously without a break.
But, unsurprisingly for Saji himself, he dodged each punch with ease.
And he noticed that with each deflected punch, Micael attacked with more strength and speed, becoming increasingly serious, which made the smile on his face increase.
Realizing that things were developing exactly as he wanted, Saji felt excitement fill his body as he prepared to take the next step.
'Kukuku~ step two, initiate!'
Avoiding once again a punch aimed at his face, he said in a deliberately pompous tone as he walked away.
"Now, what is this~? Big Micael can't even beat a skinny boy like me, your impotence also seems to be affecting your physical performance, my friend."
Then, adopting a warning expression, as if scolding a child, he continued.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what did I tell you about taking steroids, Hm?"
Without deigning to respond to the clear provocation while looking at him in silence, Micael returned to the attack, following up with a quick sequence of punches.
And even while he still dodged the punches thrown with speed and precision, Saji still didn't stop teasing him without losing his smile.
"Well, well, those are some pretty quick punches, those steroids are really working, but tell me, it's made you a "quick shooter" too, hasn't it?"
He spoke in an amused and insinuating tone, the meaning of his words quite obvious.
However, once again, Micael didn't deign to respond or react, he just maintained a calm expression while appearing completely focused on just attacking him.
And Saji also knew that he wouldn't get a reaction from him so easily, there are few things that can make Micael lose his cool, but he knew a very simple method of making him angry, and that is of course, annoyingly comment on something that Micael has already explained.
So, with this simple but effective tactic, Saji continued to irritate him with comments of a questionable nature.
"Come on, Micael, I'm sure you can do better than that, after all, what is all that testosterone from your anabolic steroids for, for sexual performance, which it certainly isn't, hahaha~"
"Where did all those hormones from your anabolic steroids go? They certainly didn't go into your balls, as they are certainly too small now to be of any use, they must look like raisins now, small and shriveled, right? hahaha~."
"But tell me something too, your testosterone is so high that it want to compete with your own body, right? After all, it "killed" your dick, it "killed" your balls and now it's in the process of "killing" your hair too because, damn, fifteen years and you're already balding? I'm glad I'm not you, hahaha~."
With irritating and insidious comments one after another, Saji without any hint of remorse continued to roast Micael until he got some reaction, and he, as expected, did so.
Despite still having a calm expression, the presence of a dilated vein on Micael's forehead was clearly visible, this being the only indication that the provocation had worked.
And Saji knew that although outwardly he didn't seem much different, internally he was definitely cursing him in every way and form he knew.
And, in addition, the other thing that pointed out his change in mood was that his attacks became much faster and more aggressive, demonstrating that he was using all his strength.
And Saji also knew that even with his inner anger, he was still cool-headed enough to realize that even with all his strength, Saji was still dodging effortlessly.
And he was sure that along with all that internal anger, a feeling of disbelief would also be present.
And being completely sure of this, Saji knew that now was the perfect time to begin the third and final stage of his plan.
This step would feed that little seed of disbelief to the point where it would be the only emotion he would have, which would result in a likely loss of self-confidence and that would result in a small existential crisis, but hey, like Saji said, he would be here to help him after a good dose of self-deprecating jokes about both parties.
Then, preparing to put this third step into practice, he dodged an attack one last time before changing tactics.
The third part of his plan consisted of completely defeating Micael in an indisputable way, and for that he couldn't just dodge, so he would go on the offensive, which in this case would just be taking him down.
That's right, his next step plan to make him lose his temper more and more and suffer emotional damage is to continually knock Micael down, a punch or a kick wouldn't have the effect he wanted, but knocking him down several times would.
Because this was the simplest and most infuriating method he could perform, being knocked down so easily on a constant basis was humiliating and shameful for anyone, and Micael is not exempt from this.
With his plan already being put into practice, Saji approached Micael without prior warning, intending to take him down directly by changing his sparring style, to increase the effect of the attack.
Getting close enough, Saji moved his arms and grabbed Micael's right arm, intending to throw him over his shoulder.
'Kukuku~ don't worry my friend, this will hurt you more than it will hurt me, hehe~.'
Executing the intended movement, Saji threw his arm over his shoulder and...
Slam—
...Eh?
'...Eh?'
Blinking his eyes in confusion and feeling a slight pain coming from his back, Saji questioned himself internally.
'...Why am I looking at the ceiling?'
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(Continue...)