BtF - Part VIII

Nikaho, Akita Prefecture, February 6th, 2022

“Really?!”

“Yes…”

“But…how?”

“I do not know. It just happened. Neither do I know why I am telling you, I am compromising you.”

“No. No you are my friend more than Shun. I stand by your side on this.”

“You should not. You should be neutral or be with him. I am not doing right.”

“But Sakura should have already told him. He is her boyfriend.”

“I know has not. But even so, I am his best friend…Well…It seems that we will no longer be such.”

“Forget about him. I will stand with you.”

“What would you do, in my position?”

“I would not tell him.”

“…”

“Still how do you fell about what you have done?”

“Guilty. But still…about Sakura…I do not know. I have always liked her, but I never imagine this would happen.”

“You mind I covered by grief. Clear it.”He gets up from the chair “I will not say anything. And will help you in what I can.”

“Thank you. Sorry for this.”

“Unnecessary. We are brothers. And brothers protect and support each other.”

He closes the door behind of him.

“And are loyal to one another…”

Miya walks towards his room, noticing Sakura getting out of Shun’s room as well, and follows her to the entrance of the dormitories, far from any curious listeners.

“Wait!”

“Yes Miya? What happened?”

“I know what you have done with him.”

She is shocked to his words and remains for some seconds.

“Now tell me? Who do you truly love? Uh?”

“That is none of your concern!”

He pushes her against the wall, and places his left forearm choking her and voiding any scream. He gets near to her face.

“Now listen to me. You will end your relationship with Shun, and decide to begin a relationship with him. And he has no part on this. I am doing it for myself, after all this is what a friend would do.”

He removes his forearm, as she falls to the ground coughing a lot. Miya got his knees down.

“Do what you have to do, unless you want secrets to come to the light.”

He gets up and leaves her. Sakura stood impressed and shocked for what he had done. She had always been good friends with Miya, but it seems that he was no longer the man he was. The blond girl gets up and leaves the dormitories walking wondering about what she would do with this problem.

---

Nikaho, Akita Prefecture, February 10th, 2022

Shun clashes swords with another student, making a powerful downwards strike which is parried by him, and then another attack horizontally. The student then counters with two fast slashes which are parried with ease by Shun. Still the student tried to continue his attack, but the Green Ronin beds his legs, passing the sword inches from his head and then, once he had gotten to his adversaries back, he made a single blow directly to the leg forcing him to the ground.

He notices that he had return to form.

Shun looks to his best friend just sitting at the side of the dojo with his eyes closed looking to the ground.

“Give me a moment.” He says to his partner as he got next to his friend. “hey, spar with someone.”

He looks up at him.

“To what end? If I have no desire to fight I will remain here in the shade.”

Kirei: “Shun, continue training! And send your friend here, I would have words.”

He sights.

Shun offers his hand to help his friend up but he directly ignored it and gets up by himself.

“Go. I will see you later.”

He walks to Kirei and gets in front of him, and accompanies him out of the Dojo, far from other curious ears.

“Do you know how a great warrior is forged? One the combination of years of training. Dedication. Sacrifice.” He approaches him “Your best friend, Shun right there is a testament of such. Would you hold yourself his equal?”

“While fighting every man is equal to each other.”

“A champion is more than the best swordsman of the class. It is also the sum of his actions. Every decision one takes, no matter how small or dim, it speaks about the man. And the balance of his heart and will. And what does your beat for?”

He stood confused for a moment. He did not know what to respond. A matter of no impression to him, as he had been confused over the last ten days and that thought still did not even threatened to get out of his head. He could not remove Sakura from his head. And so neither could he remove shun, nor what had happened between them.

He tries to find a way to excuse himself.

“Four your dojo’s training.”

It was a, lie of course.

“Return to the Dojo. Do as you want.”

He walks back to the Dojo.

Kirei noticed it. He was just searching for words he sought him to hear. Though probably the best swordsman in the dojo, he was no champion of his Dojo.

He walks back to the Dojo, and he notices Sakura staring at him, and they cross sights for a moment, but she parts it rapidly. He sighted with anger and looks at Tai without any opponent.

“Tai! Bring fucking sword to purpose!”

---

“Sakura!”

He runs to get near to him, and approaches her faster than when he tried days ago.

“A word please!”

“I have non to give!”

“It is important. Please.”

“You avoid my gaze, every moment.”

“As you should mine. So fewer suspicions are aroused.”

She tries to get to Shun’s room, but he intercepts her faster, placing his boy on her way.

“Are not they aroused as well if two friends are no longer seen to speak? What happened between us…”

“We must turn it from our mind, and never say anything about it.”

She tries for a second time to pass him but he again stops her.

“My will, it bends to that warning. And the thought of you…has proven troublesome.”

“The memory will banish as time passes. All things born of misfortune do.”

She passes next to him and he does not stop her, he just looks at her avoiding his sight as she entered to her boyfriend’s room.

“Hi how is it doing?”

Fine…I am tired. The day was hard.”

“I can tell. Your foot is alright?”

He shows his right foot to her.

“Like new.”

She sits down on the bed next to him, placing her head on his chest and closes both eyes.

“Your best friend came at me for a moment.”

“Did he…why?”

“He asked me about you.”

“Strange. He seems to no longer embrace me as brother…I do not know why he remains distant from me. What would be the cause for this reaction towards me?”

“No…He heads nothing but his own desires. Beyond all reason.” He looks deeps into his eyes. “You must focus in yourself now. I know you will become the next champion, even if you must face him. Maybe he is a bit focused on this, and tries to set mind towards the future. You should do the same.”

She approaches her lips and they kiss. They remain like that for several minutes, more passionately time for a time, but the memory of him still haunts Sakura, as she began to imagine Shun as him. She tried to remove that thought from her head and continued kissing him, even if that memory came back time by time.

---

She comes out of the room, noticing him still waiting for them to get out.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was waiting for any of you. I am going to the arena today. I would like company, because the others cannot come with me.” He gets up from the floor. “If you could, it would be great?

“Are you never serious?”

“On occasion.”

“I should return to the girls dormitories…”

“You should…” He keeps on staring at her directly at the eye, as she did the same.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because if not it would be a lie, and a deeper one that the one we told Shun. You think I wanted this?!I love him like a brother! Yet what I fell for you…Tell me it does not disturb you breast as well…”

“What I fell mean nothing…”

He places his hand right on her left cheek, moving her blonde hair and touching her soft with skin.

“It holds the world…”

“What would you do if you were my boyfriend and learned of such a thing…”

“I would kill us both!”

He approaches her and they kiss for a sometime, and remain like that for few seconds. They slowly parted for each other looking to each other’s eyes, when at last the parted, leaving him alone.

He walks out of the school going to the arena alone for the first time. All previous times his friends had been with him, cheering for him and at the same time standing beside him. Fighting, bleeding, and giving him strength to continue. But right in that moment, all of them were busy. Not even Miya could come with him.

What had happened, to be so long from each other?

He had distanced himself from all of them on the recent days, after what had happened with Sakura. He could not gaze Shun, but he sheared the same sentiment with any. What he had done was betrayal to all of them in a way.

He continues walking thinking with his shinai at his back, looking down as he was getting closer and closer to the Old Arena, as it was called among the students. Upon arriving, he hears the strange sound of sirens. Police sirens.

He rushes fast to get to the stadium. Just before the turn to the left, he stops placing his back to the wall, and slowly moved his head to get a sneak of what was happening.

“Shit…”

Students were outside, placed against a wall as several cars of the police were near them. His biggest fear was real. The games were discovered. Or someone had told the police. If so, the question was who did it, and why.

He remains looking while hiding himself, as they could think him as member of the Games, what was true; yet, he last wished to be looked down on a cage in the police department.

“Look what we have here?! A gladiator!”

Surprised, he looks to his right noticing two policemen in front of him, ready to capture him. The rush at him but he reacts faster, Getting the wooded sworn out of his back, and rolls around the upcoming police. As the other comes, he rolls in the ground and, after getting up, starts running at his max speed. He could not be and will not be captured.

After a block running, he looks to his back, noticing that even more policemen were running after him, and soon, others appear at his front, as some police cars were also getting to the place. In fewer seconds that he could count, he was surrounded by lots of them. Outnumbered and outmatched, without possibility nor to fight nor escape, he just looks seriously around the place, to the circle officers staring at him against the wall grabbing his still sheathed shinai. Even if he wields it, it would be useless, or worse.

“Maybe…Maybe this is what I get…for what I did to them…But even so…I cannot leave this without a decent fight.”

He moves his right hand and gets it near and nearer to his sword, as…

“HOLD!”

He notices that all the police turns, as he noticed a well known voice.

“Leave him. I shall take care.”

The ten cops leave, turning to go back both the stadium, as when they leave, he notices Kirei. Upon seeing him, he places his sword to his back and approaches him.

“Thank you. I did not know what to do.”

Kirei remain silent, looking to him.

“Are not you going to ask me what I had done, that the cops were surrounding me? Well I have no idea. They were capturing some other students and it seems they confused me with one of the…”

“Enough of lying…”

“eh…!”

“I asked myself why you were late, and did not even come to some classes at the Dojo. And now I finally found out…”

“What do you mean…”

“Stop lying!”

He stood shocked to his words, as his eyes widened. He did not expect this to happen. He was the one that had informed the police about the games….But how? How did he know about them?

He remains looking at him as he was forced back of just the impression of him finding out, a thing he did not expect.

“Now tell me everything you know, Gladiator! Or should I call you…Blue Ronin?”