Chapter Text
“Hey!” Akane greeted simply, a hint of nervousness lacing her tone. Although she knew the two of them were the same as they’d always been, she still felt a bit embarrassed because of the thoughts that had been running through her mind for a little over an hour and a half now.
“Hey,” Nekomaru echoed back before gaping at her and saying “you look nice.”
“Thanks,” she replied, her voice almost a whisper, tucking a strand of hair that’s fallen in front of her face behind her ear.
“You ready to go?” he asked.
Akane’s stomach suddenly growled at the promise of food and the two shared a hearty laugh. With a bright smile still plastered on her face from her recent laughing fit, she responded simply by saying “yeah!”
The two left the building together and began to stroll the streets of Japan, searching for a place to eat. She glanced over at the man who was wandering beside her and blushed when she sees he was watching her with a small grin on his face. She looked away quickly and blamed her reaction on a conversation she had with Mahiru earlier that day:
School had just been let out and the photographer had asked to speak with her about something important.
“When are you going to tell him?” Mahiru asked.
This only made Akane more perplexed. Who was this him that she was talking about and what was she supposed to tell him?
“What’re you talking about?”
“I’m not usually the type to get involved in these things, but you two have been dancing around each other for months now.”
“I don’t-”
Mahiru let out a loud and almost exasperated sigh, cutting Akane off before she had the chance to finish her sentence.
“When are you going to tell Nekomaru you like him?”
“He knows I like him, we’re best friends.”
“That’s not what I mean!” She almost shouted. She paused for a moment, gesticulating with one hand, and added “I mean when are you going to tell him you’re in love with him.”
“What?! We’re just friends!”
“Look, I’m not saying you have to do anything, I’m not even saying you have to take my advice if you don’t want to, but I’d at least like for you to think about it. I just want to see you two happy.”
Akane was snapped back to the present moment by the smell of delicious food that came from a restaurant not too far from them. She hastily grabbed Nekomaru’s hand without a second thought and headed over to it.
“You want to eat here?” he asked.
Akane simply nodded her head rapidly in excitement.
“It does smell good. Alright!” he agreed.
Akane didn’t even realize that they were still holding hands until Nekomaru dropped hers to hold open the door. The realization caused another small flush to line her cheeks, something she attempted to hide from her companion.
“Thanks,” Akane uttered shyly while entering the restaurant.
Once they were inside, the smell of broth and meat instantly hit Akane’s nose. It would’ve been almost overwhelming if it didn’t smell as mouthwatering as it did. An employee was quick to notice the two and perk up.
“Table for two?” She questioned with a sweet smile.
“Yeah, it’s just us,” Nekomaru replied politely.
“Follow me,” the woman requested, grabbing two menus and beginning to lead the way to their table.
The two were escorted to a small table by a window with a gorgeous view of the city. In a word, Akane would describe it as romantic. She shook her head rapidly as a tiny blush made its way to her cheeks, reminding herself that this was just a friendly outing with absolutely no romantic context behind it. The greeter placed the menus down on top of their table and made her leave, leaving them to their own devices. They plopped down in the wooden chairs seated across from each other and Akane was quick to notice how small the table was as well as how close the two of them were to each other. It’s not like they were on top of one another, they were simply closer than she expected them to be. She tried to push the thought from her mind, knowing that at this point it was a pretty useless endeavor. She picked up the menu on the table and quickly created a rather long list of things she wanted to eat to distract herself. She pretended not to be aware of Nekomaru peering at her in confusion before picking up his own menu.
After a few minutes of sitting in silence, a woman with a dark green apron and a nametag reading "Mizuki” strode over to their table.
“Good evening, I’m Mizuki and I’ll be your waitress today. Are you ready to order?” She introduced herself with a pleasant smile, giving off an air of friendliness.
Nekomaru peeked over at Akane and she simply declared “I’m ready,” not even bothering to look up from her menu.
Nekomaru then faced the woman and replied “then I guess we are.” His voice was quieter than Akane was used to but she was not all that surprised. Whenever they ate out somewhere, while he was still pretty loud compared to the average person, he had learned to quiet his voice to not disturb the other patrons. If they acted the same as they always did in public places like these, they would have been kicked out plenty more times than they already had been.
The two of them ended up ordering one of everything off of the menu and while the waitress’s face conveyed her feelings of sheer shock that two people could possibly eat so much food, she didn’t complain or even question it, instead of writing down their orders on her small notepad and collecting their menus, leaving the two of them alone once again before they could change their minds.
Now without the distraction of the menu, Akane was having a difficult time pretending as though everything was normal, pretending like the conversation from earlier wasn’t causing her to question not only previous interactions between herself and Nekomaru but their current actions as well. She ran a hand through her hair, pulling some strands from the ponytail she had put it up in earlier. She gazed at the man sitting across from her and could sense that there was something on his mind, something he needed to say but is not sure what. Just as she was about to ask him about it, he gently clasped the hand that wasn’t currently playing with her hair and held it in his own. Akane blushed fiercely, another thing she blamed on Mahiru, and quickly glanced toward and away from their hands several times.
“Are you okay? You seem nervous,” he asked, his voice as soothing as he could make it.
“Yeah!” Akane responded quicker and louder than she meant to.
Nekomaru simply stared at her for one long moment and it wasn’t long before Akane was speaking up once again.
“Well… actually, um...”
“It’s okay, you know you can tell me anything,” he affirmed, trying to calm her nerves. It was rare to see the woman in such a state, normally she was so confident and straightforward about everything. He tried to maintain his composure and comfort the woman across from him in the process, however, the longer Akane stalled, the more difficult it was to do so.
Akane turned over her hand which was covered by his own and squeezed it softly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before telling Nekomaru about the conversation she had with Mahiru. Her eyes were fixed down at her lap while doing so, anxious about what he might’ve been thinking or feeling about something so simple having such a big impact on her mood. After she was finished with her story, there was silence for a moment and then the laughter of the man across from her reached her ears. Her head quickly shot up from her lap, unsure how to feel about such a reaction. A few seconds later, his laughter died down and he questioned incredulously.
“That’s what you’ve been so worried about?”
“Yeah! Of course!” She shouted, throwing her hands in the air, including the one still holding Nekomaru’s own. “Isn’t it embarrassing that they think we like each other?” She set her hands back down on the table, relaxing after finally saying what’d been on her mind the past few hours and her feelings behind it.
“Not really,” he replied simply. He paused for a moment, seemingly considering how to phrase what he wanted to say. “I don’t really care what they think,” he said with a shrug and added, “all that really matters to me is our friendship not how other people see us.”
A small smile made its way to Akane’s face and she let out a soft sigh. “Why’re ya always the logical one?” She asked.
“One of us has to be,” he teased with an affectionate grin.
Akane hit Nekomaru lightly with the back of her hand that was once running through her hair in nervousness. Despite seemingly annoyed, her other hand continued to hold onto his own, at least until the waitress came over with their food in hand. He was the first to move, separating his hand from hers and busying himself with making room for the food on the table.
The two were pretty quiet for the next half an hour or so while they stuffed their faces with food. Once their hunger was more or less satiated, they began to make idle chatter, talking about everything and nothing all at once. They didn’t have too much of importance to say considering how often they were around each other but they found it fun nonetheless.
Nekomaru was the first to sit back in his seat, Akane continuing to pick at the very little food that was left. As he watched her eat, he smiled to himself, something she noticed.
“What?” She asked, her mouth full of food.
“Nothing,” he responded before adding “it’s just nice to see you eat so much, that’s all. It’s relaxing.”
“That’s a weird thing to say,” she commented, poking his arm lightly with her wooden chopsticks.
Nekomaru let out a soft laugh, responding with “maybe, but then again since when are we normal.”
Akane chuckled to herself and shook her head gently. If today had taught her anything, it was that what Nekomaru is telling her was nothing short of the truth. After a few minutes of calm silence, she set her chopsticks down, seemingly done eating and it was not long after that the waitress came back to collect their plates, setting the check down on the table in their place. While Akne reached into the pocket of her pants to pay for her half of the meal, Nekomaru beat her to it and ended up paying the check in its entirety.
“Ya don’t have to do that! Ya know I can pay,” she protested.
Nekomaru simply shrugged his shoulders and responded with “eh, you can always pay next time.”
Akane sat back in her seat and said “ya better count on it,” knowing full well neither of them expected her to.
Nekomaru stands up slowly from his seat and reaches his hand out to Akane to grab. “You ready to go?” He asked.
She clutched his hand and hoisted herself up to her feet. “Yup!” She responded, then added, “let's go!”
They made their way out of the restaurant and when they were outside, they saw that the sky was pitch black. The only light they had to guide them back to campus was those of the city. They walked closely alongside one another and every once in a while, the two would accidentally touch, whether it be the back of their hands brushing against each other or Akane’s shoulder bumping lightly into Nekomaru’s arm, and every time she’d get a weird feeling in her stomach. She wasn’t quite sure what it meant, so she merely shrugged it off, not giving it too much thought. It only took them a few minutes until they were back on school grounds and by the time they were, neither of them was as overwhelmingly full as when they left the restaurant. They leisurely sauntered over to the courtyard so they could finish their Friday night ritual by fighting one another.
The two stood opposite one another, facing each other, about twenty or so feet away. They both knew that Akane was going to be the first to make a move, she always was. She was the one who wanted to get stronger, who wanted to fight, who wanted to win, and Nekomaru would do all in his power to make her wishes into a reality, which was why he indulged her as often as he did, wanting not only to support his athletes but to support her in whatever she chose to do. Whenever Akane said she wanted to fight, it wasn’t long until they were doing so. These were their lives, this was their friendship, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Akane took a single step forward before rushing him at the speed of lightning. If he wasn’t used to how fast the woman could be, he’d certainly be caught off guard, however, he managed to block strike after strike that she threw. Her movements were effortless, as though they took no energy whatsoever. He realized that the woman was a very strong opponent and should in no way be taken lightly but he also understood his own strengths and as long as he played to them, this should’ve been an easy fight to win. Every once in a while, there would be a punch or kick he wasn’t expecting but it wasn’t enough to throw him off his game, and for every hit she landed, he was able to land one, much stronger, of his own. She received each of them just as well as he knew she would, not stopping or even slowing the pace of her attacks.
As she landed one particular punch, Nekomaru noticed that Akane’s footing was sloppy and that had left him an opening. He swiped at her legs with one foot, using the other to keep himself balanced, which caused her to fall to the ground.
“You left yourself open! Your footing is very important!” He shouted, instructing her on things she should be working on, understanding that if she did, it would only be a matter of time before she finally defeated him.
Akane got right back onto her feet, charging at him once again, not giving his advice much thought at all.
“I just gotta attack you harder!” She yelled back.
It wasn’t long before she was on the ground once again but every time, she got right back up. It was something he admired about the woman, that no matter how many times she was knocked down, she would always get back up again. Her boundless energy and determination were truly her biggest assets both when sparring and in her everyday life. However, after a few more attempts to defeat him and her subsequent failures, she sat on the ground her knees tucked under her body. It seemed that she had finally given up, at least for now. They both knew she would try again and again and again until she finally beat him, even if it took the rest of their lives to do so.
Akane’s breathing was labored and there was blood pouring from numerous wounds lining her bronzed skin, but her body and mind felt amazing. There was honestly nothing like a good fight to get out all her pent-up emotions and stress, especially on a day like today that had her thoughts in a tizzy. Nekomaru slowly ambled over to Akane, a few scratches and bruises were marking his form but it wasn’t anything that wouldn’t heal up in a few days. He held one of his large, calloused hands out for her to take, which she almost immediately did, and he helped lift her back onto her feet.
“You must be mindful of both your and your opponent’s bodies during a fight. That is the only way you will win,” he stated, giving her advice he hoped she would take to try to beat him, or at the very least to become a better fighter, in the future.
Akane nodded, responding with, “I’ll get ya next time!”
Nekomaru let out a loud laugh at the absolute confidence that the woman had. “I’m sure you will!” he replied with a smile.
Akane glanced down for a brief moment and realized that she was still holding onto Nekomaru’s hand. A blush quickly spread across her face and she quickly dropped it in embarrassment.
‘I thought we got that sorted out,’ she thought to herself, wondering why she had such a reaction to the small touch. She shrugged her shoulders, slightly wincing in pain. She was used to all this, however, as this wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last time she would face off against the man in front of her. It appeared she was becoming stronger, if how few injuries she’d sustained during their heated battle was anything to go by.
She looked back up at him with a bright smile and said, “Thanks for everythin’ today.”
He beamed back at her just as brilliantly. “Of course, anytime!”
The two of them parted ways, knowing that they would see each other again on Monday or perhaps even sooner if they happened to run into one another in passing. They walked back to their respective dorm buildings, Akane with a slight limp. While this wasn’t completely unusual, perhaps if Nekomaru took his own advice and had paid better attention to his opponent, it might’ve been something he noticed.