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“Ready, set… go!”
The president of the Gintama highschool’s Fighting Club said, as the other two members started clashing at each other restlessly even before hearing the final syllable. The wind was howling loudly that Spring afternoon, and these three kids were alone in a big backyard designed for playing sports and other games.
On the left, wearing the classical girls’ uniform but adding her own touch by slipping worn-out pants with a few patches covering up some previous scratches, Kagura of classroom 3-Z. If judged by her pair of circular glasses, a potential nerd, but her far from average results told a different story. Possibly her status as a transfer student with constant grammar and vocabulary hazards in written production didn’t help either. Some were wont to say she could eat 5 kilograms of rice without vomiting, pointing out 6 as her limit. People didn’t understand how she was best friends with the most popular girl at school, Tokugawa Soyo, since they had nothing in common —one of the main reasons why Soyo decided to set up the Fighting Club and was currently leading the match on the field.
On the right, breaking uniform norms by wearing a blue t-shirt with a huge S in the center and pretending to ignore the constant remarks about it, focusing on his every move and punch, as if he planned to seriously murder his target with his fists, the self-appointed heartthrob of classroom 3-Z, Okita Sougo. After all, a boy who was commonly known as handsome but so frightening no girl would ever want to date couldn’t be considered “popular with the girls”. Rumors stated he used to be a normal boy until a girl dumped him and he started to show serious sadistic tendencies and mutter “die” while taking a nap on the school’s rooftop.
As the battle came to an end —another tie that Soyo had to interfere in so that they didn’t actually kill each other—, the sun was setting in Kabuki city, and Soyo dismissed Sougo, who took his bag upon his right shoulder and bailed.
“A nice match, wasn’t it, Kagura-chan?” said Soyo.
“A bit boring if you ask me, Soyo-chan. You always cut at the best times!” responded Kagura.
“Well, but if I let you continue, you two are just gonna kill each other!”
Kagura sighed as she picked up her backpack. Soyo was shocked at how dirty her friend’s clothes were, and how she didn’t mind it at all. Many of their classmates usually made fun of Kagura’s appearance, particularly of how her clothes and face looked, often behind her back. Soyo’s popularity entailed everyone throwing these comments at her attempting to split them up, but she decided to ignore them.
“There, let me get that for you,” said Soyo, as she slapped her friend’s back to get some of the dirt away. “Anyway, when are you two going to make it official?” she teased as she saw Kagura leading to the school’s gate.
“Whatchu’ mean?”
“God, you know what I mean, Kagura-chan! I couldn’t believe how hard he was looking at you during the fight, like he actually wanted to kiss you, damn! I got chills myself…”
“Was somebody actually watching me fight or something? Never noticed…”
“Damn it girl, you know what I mean!”
Soyo decided her role as the uniter between these two was meant to be. Both Sougo and Kagura had terrible reputations, but if they could be seen together doing normal boyfriend and girlfriend stuff, everything would change, and people would finally stop talking about Kagura both behind her back and to her face. Kagura had been the first person to talk to Soyo when she had first transferred to Gintama high, when Soyo was too shy to interact, and since then they got on like a house on fire. She felt she had to pay it back —plus, both of them looked so darn cute together, and Sougo was so clearly into her that it was painful to watch from a distance.
“If only you realized how much he’s into you… I mean, he may be a bit scary and everything, but I feel that deep down he’s got good intentions. Why not give him a chance?”
“I have no idea who you’re talking about, Soyo-chan.”
“I’m referring to—.”
The second before Soyo got to utter Sougo’s name, a loud noise interrupted them, as if a huge fruit had fallen from a nearby tree. Both girls were stunned and started spinning their heads looking for the source, until they spotted a huge boy on the floor with indigo hair and a not-at-all-flattering bowl cut, screaming in pain. Kagura and Soyo ran to the boy and helped him up.
“Who are you?” asked Kagura.
“He’s Dai, he’s one year our senior,” replied Soyo.
The humongous kid from class 4-D stood up, and Soyo noticed he couldn’t take his eyes off Kagura. She had noticed him one day when he was trying to steal dessert from a junior and immediately disliked him. What was he doing here after class?
As soon as Dai recovered and cleaned his clothes, he audaciously took Kagura’s hands in both of his and stared at her. To say Soyo was shocked would be an understatement.
“Kagura-san… I’m sorry to worry you… I’m perfectly fine. But I must say I have to ask you something..:” started Dai.
“I wasn’t worried though…” said Kagura, until Dai went on, seemingly not listening to her.
“Kagura-san, please be my girlfriend! I love how you fight and I can’t stop watching you… Please go out with me.”
Soyo’s face went numb when hearing this, her ears suddenly buzzing loudly. Kagura’s face looked puzzled. She looked at Soyo and then back at Dai.
“Okay.” she responded, and then dropped his hands and went her way with Soyo. Dai waved at them and went his own way. Soyo was still trying to process the entire exchange while they were walking towards the school entrance.
“What just happened?” she finally said, trying to catch up with Kagura’s pace as they aimed at the school’s gate.
“You said he had good intentions didn’t you? Maybe I got myself a new fighting partner and we can finally expel that horrible sadist who forced his way through the club,” Kagura answered.
“You got everything wrong!” exclaimed Soyo. “I wasn’t talking about that kid you didn’t even know! I was actually referring to Okita-san!”
“...Who?”
“Nevermind. But you do realize you said yes to this giant, right? You know what that means, right?”
“Of course,” responded Kagura. “He’s supposed to buy me lunch and do everything I tell him to, yes? Ain’t that what boyfriends are for?”
“This is gonna be a hell of a long week,” muttered Soyo, disheartened and with a terrible feeling in her chest.
***
“As I was saying, Kagura-chan, you can’t be serious! You know what boyfriends and girlfriends do, right?”
“Yes, I don’t mind. As long as I get my meals right, I don’t care.”
Soyo had spent the entire morning trying to convince Kagura out of the deal she had struck with the monster of class 4-D unsuccessfully. The Spring breeze engulfed both girls in this chilly morning while they were walking their few blocks up to school, an advantage of living closeby. Soyo wouldn’t say a word to Kagura so as not to worry her too much, but she had spent the whole night worrying over her best friend’s new “boyfriend”. Could he even be considered that? They barely knew each other. Anyways, maybe she was feeling overprotective in vain: perhaps Dai had a striking appearance that resembled a gang leader but wouldn’t hurt a fly. After all, she had seen a few romantic comedies on TV that showed a guy with a mysterious and menacing appearance that ended up being a teddybear.
As they approached the gate to Gintama High School, Soyo sighed in protest to her friend’s stubbornness and started to think of a practical idea that could pull her out of her madness. What could possibly change her mind, given she thought she had basically won unlimited supplies of all her favorite dishes? As they entered the school, an unexpected event took place that made Soyo see a flickering light at the end of the tunnel.
“Good morning, pig.”
In the great school hall, full of colorful ornamental flowers on the walls to celebrate the current season, Okita Sougo appeared out of nowhere (as he usually did, which unnerved Kagura and made Soyo squeal with happiness over her “ship”). Usually, Kagura would yell and call him a “fucking sadist that should mind his own business”. Yet today, she did nothing. Today, she was looking for someone else. And Soyo contemplated for a moment simply giving up: not even Okita-san could get Kagura out of her spell.
“Hey, I said good morn—.”
This second time, both Okita and Soyo noticed, one distant apart, the two-meter-tall giant standing where Kagura’s gaze had stopped a few minutes ago. From what Soyo could actually catch, they were discussing lunch and eating together, Kagura making sure she would get her appointed meals right and Dai granting a full course meal, and yes, that it could have as many courses as she considered appropriate, multiple times, but that she should also fight him and they should train together, because damn, they could be a killing duo and win championships and stuff.
But Soyo was paying attention to something else. Someone else, to be more precise. Okita Sougo had, even if it was for a millisecond, looked down with a disappointed face. But the word “disappointed” may not be enough for the emotion his face had displayed. He looked as if he had asked for a full course meal and got everything right but the main dish. As if he was about to eat lunch but his fries had gotten cold and soggy.
Damn, the whole deal with Kagura was making her deranged with weird comparisons.
To put it simply, the boy looked heartbroken.
Okita Sougo from class 3-Z, considered to be handsome but a bit scary, mysterious and with a constant poker face looked fucking jealous and crestfallen by the situation unfolding in front of him. And so, Soyo saw in him an ally. Someone who would take her out of her misery. After a moment of Sougo leaving and trying to pretend he hadn’t even attempted to strike a conversation with Kagura, Soyo rushed to get him back, pulling her skirt down so that it wouldn’t go up while she ran in the colorful corridors of Gintama High School. The bell rang, and Soyo pulled Sougo by his collar and whispered to his ear:
“I need your help.”
***
“No damn way.”
“Please, Okita-san!” Soyo begged, almost on her knees, “You are the last person who can help me with this!”
“How so?”
Given the corridors in Gintama High School weren’t exactly huge, they had to talk to each other very quietly, but Soyo was struggling not to raise her voice in the middle of the undistinguishable hubbub. After all, her frustration was visible in how she agitated her fists upwards and downwards and her eyes seemed to shoot out of her sockets with every word. As the short break before the next class was coming to an end, she basically tried any manipulation technique she had up her sleeve to persuade Sougo, but nothing would bend the guy. As a last attempt, she uttered:
“Well, I guess it’s a pity,” sighed Soyo, a resigned look on her face. “After all, I saw how you were looking at her, so it’s your loss, really.”
When Soyo looked back at Sougo’s reaction to her statement, she knew she had already won his interest.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he responded.
“Well, I came here to get your help because Kagura is my friend.” she started. “However, I saw your reaction to her brand-new colossal boyfriend, and you definitely weren’t the happiest person in the room.” She thought he would simply deny it, but he was actually listening, pulling his classical sideways glance, closed arms covering his chest tightly. “Which makes me wonder if you may, behind all this bad boy façade, actually like her more than you show.”
After a few seconds’ silence, Soyo went on, this time mischief surrounding her words.
“And, you know, being the class president, and, to top it off, the most popular girl in class, it wouldn’t take me too much to start any rumor involving you and a redhead we both know. With my connections, it would surprise you how much I can gather to do whatever I want with your reputation…”
“Are you fucking blackmailing me? Really?”
She knew this was clearly contradicting her previous statement about being scared of how bad an influence Dai could be to Kagura, but, since she was trying to protect her, it didn’t matter which strings she had to pull, as long as she got what she wanted. For now, at least.
“I know what you’re going to say,” she interrupted. “You don’t care. Rumors about you abound and you’ve come to terms with that. However, if this giant feeds Kagura three meals every day, do you think she would bat an eye at your presence ever again?” she could swear Sougo’s eyes went down for a fraction of a second there. “I’ll make sure she will forever erase your existence from her mind. No more Fighting Club either, of course.” And so she played her hardest card to finish it off. “What I saw back at the school gate when Kagura ignored you wasn’t just spite at being ignored. That was heartbreak, boy. That was love.”
Right after Soyo finished, her chest going up and down in strong bursts of energy, the bell rang for the last class before lunchtime. She had played all her cards, and still no response. Adrenaline down, she headed to the classroom until Sougo, calling back, gave his final response, raising three fingers in front of him to clearly state his terms.
“You will do my cleaning duty for the whole month. I’ve prepared a prank to pull the P.E. teacher and I need your help to set it up. If they catch me, you’ll confess and go to detention instead of me, won’t even mention my name. And most importantly,” he got closer as she turned to face him, still shocked her plan was about to set sail. “You will tell her about all your machiavellian schemes and say I just agreed unwillingly due to your petty insistence.”
After Soyo heard this last point, she was a tad unsure on whether these would actually do more harm than good. After all, she just wanted her friend to be happy and protected from anything that could hurt her. Running the risk of losing the dearest friendship she had ever made, she extended her hand towards Okita’s, which was right in front of hers. Reluctantly, she pressed his hand and thus the plan was set in motion.
***
The dining room in Gintama High School was a huge hall, both in height and area. Its beige walls were decorated with flowers and a huge banner that stated “Welcome, Spring!”. Some kids were getting their meals at the canteen with a tall clerk handing out nutritious dishes in brown trays, while others simply pulled out their homemade food from their backpacks. The hall had plenty of tables with benches to the sides, and students from all grades were scattered through them, sitting in cliques, chatter surrounding the whole room. Rarely could you see students isolated, as most had a few kids they could call their friends. And, even so, there were so many students that monopolizing a table could be considered a school crime, or just a way to be deemed a bully.
But this didn’t seem to bother Dai from class 4-D in the slightest, as he ushered Kagura to a corner and pulled five dishes on the table, lighting the redhead’s face instantly. Instead of wearing the classical school uniform, he had a denim vest, sleeves cut out to make him look more “badass”, and was wearing sunglasses for the same reason. Where were teachers when students so blatantly broke school rules?
“As you requested, darling, here’s your full lunch.”
After thanking for the food, Kagura started munching as if there was no tomorrow, barely getting to savor each separate bite. Soyo was watching from a single table’s distance, baffled by how this guy that came out of nowhere was taking possession of her best friend, and how she hadn’t even noticed Soyo hadn’t seen her since the beginning of the day.
Where was Okita Sougo? Damn, she felt so stupid. How could she trust this idiot would keep his word? Perhaps she had imagined the whole thing, had conjured up an image of him that was simply illusory. Soyo would pride herself in her perception on what people hid, could swear she had caught a glimpse of Sougo’s true feelings behind his whole persona. Sometimes something is simply what it is and there isn’t much to it. A smile can simply be a smile, and a downward glance was simply a gesture that meant nothing more than that. Right?
“Now sweetheart, since you finished your meal, I’ve got something for you to help me with,” Dai started, looking at Kagura, who was devouring the last bit of cake she had received five minutes ago. “You see those two girls right there? One of them tried to get my place on the queue. The other basically took the biggest piece of cake available right before me. What if you gave them a lesson? I mean, of course I would never hit a girl, which is why I wanted to request it from you, my dear.”
Soyo could barely hear their conversation, but she spotted Dai pointing at two girls from class 3-Z, a redhead and a blonde that were always together, their arms linked. Having previously seen Dai’s annoyance in the queue, Soyo could work out the rest. What an asshole, she thought to herself.
“But those are my classmates, I don’t wanna hit ‘em,” Kagura answered.
“After all the meals I treated you, you won’t do this little thing for me?”
Kagura looked down, her expression showing anxious hesitation as she cleaned grains of rice and pieces of cake from her mouth with a paper napkin. Soyo was about to explode: why did this stupid kid think he could manipulate her friend? And why didn’t Kagura refuse more strongly and kick his ass instead? Where was her brave friend, always on the side of justice?
“Come on, Kagura-chan,” he insisted, pulling her arm and pleading with his eyes, trying to look cute but coming off as desperate.
Soyo stood up, leaving her plate of food and dessert untouched, her eyes had such a murderous intent she could almost feel Dai burning in front of them. However, a few meters before she reached their table, a scene seemingly taken from a rom-com unfolded.
“Oi. I may be wrong, but I think the pig-girl said no the first time.”
Sougo’s scarlet eyes were fixed on Dai’s confused look, and Kagura turned around to look at his fighting rival, with a face that looked annoyed at first but betrayed relief. This time it wasn’t just Soyo staring at them, but a good percentage of the students present started elbowing each other and shushing conversations to hear what on Earth was going on with the infamous Dai from class 4-D, and the crazy transfer student and the mysterious handsome boy from class 3-Z.
“And who are you supposed to be? And what’s your business with my girlfriend?”
Right after Dai uttered the last word, the whole hall was mute, and Soyo could almost swear she had seen Sougo flinch at that last word. Even Kagura was shocked by the whole display and the attention it was gathering.
“Damn, you really got the biggest idiot at school to date you,” said Sougo, this time looking at a confused Kagura. “I mean, look at those idiotic sunglasses.”
“Who the fuck are you?! What on Earth do you want?!” yelled Dai, a bit agitated at first but holding back his anger so as not to lose face in front of Kagura.
“I’m Okita Sougo of class 3-Z,” he said, “member of the Fight Club, whose sessions take place at 5 in the afternoon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“And so? Still don’t get why you would get in the middle of something that doesn’t concern you one bit.”
“This is my business because this girl is my fighting partner, so she’s for me to beat, not yours, and I’m told you planned to involve her in unauthorized fighting, which I cannot allow.”
Go Sougo, dammit, thought Soyo. He looked as if he meant every word he uttered, his eyes shining, his words from the very bottom of his heart.
“As if kids didn’t break rules all the time, who even cares—.”
At this, Sougo interrupted the kid, who had stood up previously to make his point clearer and make Sougo feel literally smaller. He gulped and put his chin up to look the giant boy right into his eyes.
“And this concerns me mostly because I am in love with her, and cannot allow you to make her do something she disagrees with. If I didn’t do anything about it, I would be the scumbag here allowing it, and not you.”
At this, the whole hall exploded in a huge ovation and everyone started commenting the whole situation: “Fuck you, Dai!”, “Damn, this boy Okita is hella brave.”, “It must be that the girl did something, she must be a slut!”, “And what does she think of this whole affair?”
The only person who seemingly had nothing to say or comment was the class president, Soyo. She didn’t expect the whole thing would go as far as Sougo fucking saying he loved her right to her face. And now that Soyo had started the whole thing, she had to see it to its end without the blink of an eye.
“I’ve got an idea!” she said, gathering everyone’s attention towards her and getting close to the main scene. Kagura looked at her and muttered her name, but Soyo had a role to play, and she wasn’t going to look back.
Dai tried to complain, but it was too late: everyone was looking at Soyo now.
“As president of the Fight Club and member of class 3-Z, I say we deal with this the old-fashioned way, don’t you agree?” she said, trying to get the audience to cheer or something, getting a few approvals, “A week from now, both boys will be fighting for the right to fight this young lady. Only the one to win will be able to have her as a fighting partner!”
Soyo found cheers from the audience at this proposal, which was met with a standing ovation by multiple students present at the hall at the time. Ignoring Dai’s complaints and not even bothering to look at Kagura’s face, she sealed the deal with a final invitation.
“If you wish to see this develop further, come to the Fight Club’s session at the school’s backyard at 5 PM Thursday next week. Okita Sougo or Dai? Place your bets!”
***
It was a brand new day at Gintama High School and Soyo had spent another sleepless night, this time her eyes displaying a clear black ring that looked as if it were made of tar. One thing was to secretly attempt to make your best friend fall out of love with her current delinquent boyfriend. Another thing was to conceal the fact that you had had a talk with your best friend’s rival and agreed to make him help you with the previous event. But it was on an entirely new level of wrong for that rival to say he loved her and make both guys fight for the right to battle against her (or for her love?) and make the school fucking place bets. What the hell was she thinking?
Yesterday had been a tense day for her and Kagura, as they basically didn’t interact with each other after school. She desperately wanted to apologize to the girl and just tell her to do as she wished, that this wasn’t her business to mind, but Kagura had made it clear that she wasn’t planning on talking to Soyo, or at least that’s what Soyo could gather from her silence. Soyo had attempted to strike a conversation before leaving the school, but Kagura had rushed back home, umbrella in hand due to a few drops of rain dropping yesterday’s afternoon.
Today’s rainy morning meant a Fighting Club session indoors in the gym during the afternoon, since the backyard would be slippery to work on. Given the fact the club’s session didn’t overlap with other clubs, they could take the smaller gym of the school to practice their fighting moves freely. Soyo usually gave utmost importance to these details because of how intense Kagura and Sougo turned when fighting, as if this was the last time they got to battle each other, or anyone at all. This was the reason why Soyo treated them as rivals, and also why she always broke their fights before any other consequence took place. Six months had elapsed since they had adopted this routine, and although they were the only ones to actually fight, Soyo had a terrific time with them every week. Thinking that this may soon come to an end (either because of Dai or because of herself) brought tears to her eyes.
Even so, Soyo decided to concentrate on her daily subjects, looking at Kagura’s direction to detect whether she may get even a fraction of her friend’s attention today. Strangely enough, Kagura spent every single one of her lessons completely focused, taking notes and asking relevant questions to the tutors. Damn, this was affecting her friend more than she had expected.
Time went by that day, and each of the involved in the incident had spent a lonesome evening. Soyo decided it was time to try to mend things up with her best friend for good, even if it meant getting the cold shoulder. With extreme stealth, she followed Kagura until she saw her enter the official Fighting Club venue for today. While she was approaching the heavy wooden door, she noticed Kagura had left it slightly ajar. The moment Soyo put her hand on the door handle to open it for good, she spotted Kagura and Sougo starting a conversation on the other side.
“Yo,” said Kagura, raising her hand and looking in Sougo's direction.
“Thought nobody would join today,” replied Sougo. “Particularly you.”
“Do you think I’d miss the chance to beat your ass for free?” said Kagura, her tone still downcast.
“Well, you don’t sound too convinced by that,” said Sougo as he struck a pose to practice one of his moves. “The girl I know would hit me with her best shot without an ounce of hesitation.”
At this Kagura looked down at her feet for a few seconds, gulped and said:
“Why did you say that?” she finally asked.
“Well, even if I’d love to say I’m the stronger one, I must admit you can easily kick somebody’s ass if you put your mind to it.”
“I didn’t mean that.”
Soyo gasped. Sougo and Kagura turned around, startled by the noise, but Soyo managed to hide herself well enough so as not to be noticed. Dammit Soyo, calm down, she thought. When both of them resumed their conversation, Soyo noticed they were now considerably closer than before, perhaps less than a meter.
“What do you mean then?” Sougo asked.
“You know what I mean.” Kagura said.
“Haven’t got a clue.”
“Don’t play dumb, you sadist.”
“You say I’m the sadist,” Sougo started, getting one foot closer “yet you’re the one playing around the bush and not telling me what you’re talking about”.
At this, Kagura suddenly took him by his shirt’s collar, pulling them even closer to each other.
“Why would you say such nonsense in front of the whole school, when it’s a fucking lie?!”
“I still fail to see your point—.”
“You said you love me!” Kagura finally said, as if she had just thrown a bomb and was waiting for it to explode. She took her hand off Sougo and got closer to one of the gym’s walls, so much that Soyo could barely see the scene displaying as well as before. Sougo, never losing his calm, walked to her and, from what Soyo could appreciate from that awkward angle, put his right hand on the wall and leaned his head closer to hers, their faces centimeter apart, probably feeling one another’s breath from that distance.
“Would it make you so mad if what I said was real?” said Sougo. “I mean, if you’re saying I lied and you’re furious, I wonder how you would feel if it wasn’t a lie.”
“I know you were lying!” answered Kagura, her arms crossed off and her eyes displaying annoyance. “As if I would think you even had feelings in the first place!”
“Think whatever you want about me,” he said, bringing his head back. “I must admit I’m a sadist, for one. I tend to skip classes to take naps on the rooftop too. And I haven’t got many people I could actually call my friends,” Sougo got a bit closer to emphasize the following point: “But to your great disappointment, pig, I wasn’t lying when I said what I said.”
Kagura’s breathing stopped at that moment, her eyes two huge full moons staring at Sougo. Even Soyo didn’t know how to react to such a moment. Before she could recover from the scene, Kagura snapped out and kicked him, getting him on the floor.
“Now who’s talking in riddles, you asshole!”
Kagura stood up in front of him, her feet encompassing Sougo’s hips. Sougo’s astonishment showed all over his face, but suddenly he cracked a smile and burst out laughing the next second, much to Kagura’s puzzlement.
“You must be the only girl out there who kicks a boy that just confessed his love for her.”
“Maybe it’s ‘cause you haven’t met many girls to begin with,” answered Kagura. “C’mon, get up. You’ve got a fight to get ready for in a week, haven’t ya?”
Kagura extended her hand and Sougo took it, a smile playing on his face as she once again started a fight. This time, she pushed his face to the floor and got his right arm trapped behind his back, all while sitting on his lower back.
“Dai is hella strong. You’ll need to make a bigger effort if you wanna beat ‘im,” she pointed out, pushing his arm to his back harder.
“You want to help me? You’ll make me think you actually want me to win this fight,” answered Sougo.
“Who said I did? Maybe I just wanna break your arm so that you can’t compete.”
“Then why are you holding back on me?” said Sougo, and then he easily got Kagura off him and took both her wrists with each of his hands, pushing her to the floor and messing her hair up in the process, as both her buns came undone with the swift motion.
“You said you hadn’t met a girl that would kick a boy that likes her,” said Kagura, “but which boy would push the girl he loves to the floor like this?”
“You would be surprised,” answered Sougo, his face now approaching Kagura’s, and Soyo was shocked as she noticed Kagura’s eyes closing off slightly, as if they were building up a kiss, but none of them were brave enough to actually seal the deal. They are so into each other it physically hurts me, thought Soyo as seconds passed by and none of them did either anything to pull off the other or to simply get the thing done.
But then something came to Soyo’s mind that wouldn’t easily go away. What if all of this was simply Sougo making Kagura fall in love with him so desperately he would later on hurt her by telling him Soyo’s scheme? After all, the boy was a sadist, and he looked quite annoyed when Soyo had proposed he helped her with this whole Kagura and Dai deal. Soyo pictured a very cute and in love Kagura, getting hooked by Sougo’s constant teasing and then getting a completely destroyed heart in return. She definitely couldn’t allow that!
Soyo opened the door but both of them were too immersed into each other to notice her standing there.
“Hey sadist,” said Kagura, opening her eyes.
“Yeah?” answered Sougo, his eyes slightly closed and focusing on her mouth.
“Your breath stinks like a rotten egg!” she yelled, getting the boy off her and going back on her feet.
How idiotic of me to think Kagura would fall for that, thought Soyo.
“Well, I see both of you are practicing for next Thursday’s match!” she said.
***
The week went by in a flash. Hits to the face there, punches full on each other’s delicate areas, kicks on prohibited spots provided by Kagura, both of them, refereed by Soyo, practiced for this whole fight. They had a tacit agreement on just reuniting to fight but not get their feelings involved in this. For Soyo, it meant not going much about the hidden fact that she had made Sougo do this to get rid of Dai (she honestly hoped he had forgotten). For the other two lovebirds, at least from the President’s perspective, it meant not addressing their feelings towards each other, that they so clearly had.
Days passed and the final date for the fight agreed upon was approaching. To Soyo’s astonishment, many students from the school would ask her about the fight, and they tried to place bets on either of the competitors, receiving Soyo’s refusal as a response —she didn’t want to get expelled from Gintama High School, after all. She noticed as well how many students were creating their own banners to support their team, and an abundance of Okita Sougo’s banners surprised her a bit. She knew that Dai had a reputation as a bully, but Sougo wasn’t a saint. When asked about it, many students claimed they found Sougo’s courage inspiring: some wanted a boyfriend as cool as Okita Sougo, others wanted to be as cool as Okita Sougo.
And Soyo could only think: I really hope he has forgotten about the origin of all this.
***
A sunny afternoon was the one covering the backyard of Gintama High School on Thursday at 5 PM, the great day no longer an expectation but a reality unfolding in front of all the concerned.
On the left, a gigantic student, 2 meters tall, who could make someone feel small by simply standing next to them and keeping his chin up. A known bully at Gintama High School, this being his first official fight but definitely not the first time he had gotten into trouble. Dai, Kagura’s boyfriend, from class 4-D.
On the right, the now very famous boy who had stolen everyone’s hearts. Some people wanted to hold hands with him, whilst others secretly imitated his every move. A handsome boy with a simple but effective appearance, still wearing his T-Shirt despite all criticism from school uniform monitors. Okita Sougo, Kagura’s fighting partner, from class 3-Z.
Soyo was in the middle of them, about to tell them to begin this much expected fight, looking at Kagura’s face on the first row of excited spectators before uttering the words that would mark the beginning of the end.
“Go!”
Dai, stating his firm purpose to win this fight, started by crashing his opponent with a direct hit that took him to the floor. Although Sougo was incredibly fast, he couldn’t dodge such a towering figure in front of him, easily falling victim to Dai’s full-on hit to his chest.
Even though it was a full hit, Sougo soon recovered and used both his feet to send him right back to where Dai had previously been, and now they started by exchanging punches directly aimed at their faces. Blows came and went, some successful and some perfectly dodged on both ends, until Dai managed to hit Sougo on the middle of his right cheek, pushing him back a few meters from him with a mighty blow. Sougo’s body hit the floor with a loud thud, and a thin trail of blood went down the injured cheek.
“Not bad for a beast,” he said, cleaning the blood off the area with his thumb.
Without a response, Dai charged once again and sent him flying with a kick, this time making him land on his left side some meters away from the main ring Soyo had drawn with a piece of chalk.
“This is for messing up with my girlfriend!” the giant said. Soyo screamed: she heard a sound that resembled the crash of bones, and flinched. If anything of the sort happened in a battle under her supervision and it was known, she would definitely get suspended, maybe even expelled. She knew Dai would be ruthless: but to get to this degree of aggressiveness was something she couldn’t have predicted.
She moved closer to the fighters and was about to indicate a foul had occurred, but a deafening shout interrupted her. Kagura was getting closer to the fight, shouting at Sougo.
“Now, sadist! It’s time for you-know-what! You can do it!”
And then everything happened in the blink of an eye. As if Kagura’s cheer had brought Sougo back to life, he took advantage of Dai being distracted for a second and went straight at him, picked both his shoulders and kicked him on his chest, sending him to the floor. He made sure to flip him to the other side (a visible struggle since Dai was very heavy) and sat on his back, pushing both his arms to his back.
Soyo counted ten seconds to see how much Dai would last after that, but he was simply unresponsive. He could struggle, but nothing would take him out of this mess. Okita Sougo had won the fight fair and square, and loud cheers came his way. But he was still on top of Dai, urging him to make his promise.
“So, what is it you’re going to promise now that you’ve lost?” he asked, looking at Soyo’s direction.
“I won’t… fight… against Kagura anymore. She’s… She’s all yours, man!” Dai said, his breath almost running out and barely audible.
“And you cannot get close to Kagura anymore! You’re not her boyfriend anymore, got it?!” said Soyo, getting a slight nod from Dai as a response. Well, let’s just hope he keeps his word, she thought.
“I don’t think you want to have to go through this again, right?” asked Sougo. Another nod, this time even slighter.
Finally, Sougo got off his back and stood up, the audience cheering at him once more. Dai’s friends —more like his entourage, really—, took him by the shoulders out of the scene. Before he left for good, he dedicated a few farewell words at Kagura:
“I hope you’re happy about this. No more lunch from me, count on that.”
But Kagura wasn’t looking at Dai, or at the audience, or even at Soyo and her decision over her friend’s destiny. She was too immersed in mending Sougo’s wounds after helping him get to a nearby bench. The audience was starting to disperse after the much-awaited fight, and Soyo released a sigh in relief.
But Sougo decided he had to fucking talk.
“You idiots who just wanted to see two bastards killing each other,” he started, getting up against Kagura’s chide. “Let me tell you one thing before you leave. Everything you have just seen, every single thing you’ve seen since the scene in the cafeteria,” he looked at and pointed in Soyo's direction, “thank her for it. She was the mastermind behind it all. And I was so stupid as to act like her fucking puppet. Now you know: none of this was real. Now you can go back to your miserable lives and leave me alone.”
The cryptic message left the spectators wondering and talking, about how that could be, and how Okita Sougo was simply not cool at all, and that they would date anyone before dating him. Calling them idiots, who had cheered him on throughout the match? And what was wrong with Soyo, who had apparently been behind this fight? She was hella weird too. Everyone involved in this was simply not sane, for real. They were victims in this whole mess.
Soyo could see her whole reputation crumbling right before her eyes. Banners supporting Sougo were torn and dropped to the trash, some people even suggested burning them down if they could get a lighter somewhere. Some students even spit on the ground in disgust.
But, worst of all, her best friend, baffled, sitting on the backyard bench, stitches on her hands one second and the next one on the floor by the shock of it all. And, before leaving the scene, a much spiteful Okita:
“Well, that’s what you get for your actions. I simply got back to good-old-normal, but you have been ruined,” he said, picking up his bag and leaving the backyard, not even a glance spared at them.
Soyo was heartbroken for her friend —this had all been her fault, and she couldn’t be brave enough to tell her friend to her face, that damn sadist had to do it for her instead. She wanted to drop to the floor and scream her lungs out out of frustration, but looked at her friend as she muttered the words:
“Is that true, Soyo-chan?” Kagura said, tears welling up in her eyes.
Soyo gulped and got closer to Kagura. She sat on the bench next to her and started outpouring everything: she had to.
And so she told her friend everything: from the initial misunderstanding they had had, to her talk with Sougo and how he had told him everything she felt, to how they had agreed on getting Dai to fight Sougo to get her back, and finally to how she managed to achieve her goal.
“I know I was a terrible friend… And I’m sorry,” she finished.
Kagura looked at Soyo, both of them with tears streaming down their eyes. Kagura grinned and looked at Soyo, pressing her hand on hers and looking her in the eye.
“You’re not a terrible friend, Soyo-chan. You were trying to protect me, that's all,” said Kagura, “and I really value that. You should’ve just been honest, tho! Why keep up with this whole thing and not just tell me how you felt about it?”
“You wouldn’t listen, Kagura-chan!,” responded Soyo, pressing her friend’s hand tight, “you were too happy about getting the free food!”
“Well, of course,” said Kagura. “But I started dating that boy because I wanted to please you… that’s what I didn’t tell you. I never liked him. But you said I should give him a chance, so I thought ‘maybe this makes Soyo less embarrassed of being my friend’ and just went on with it. I could barely look you in the eye: you know I’m a terrible liar, and so if I let you talk to me I would just spill the beans about this whole thing. But I must admit I was a bit drawn in by the food.”
Soyo chuckled, and looked at Kagura again, both of them smiling once more.
“I would never be embarrassed about you, Kagura-chan! You’re my best friend —never forget it. I don’t care if the school gives me the cold shoulder, as long as you don’t.”
They finished by getting in a tight embrace that lasted long enough to make their faces dry again. Pulling out, Soyo continued:
“Well, I guess that’s the end of our Fighting Club, right?”
“Why?” asked Kagura.
“I mean, I don’t think you ever want to look at Okita Sougo’s face again after all this. I know it was all my doing, but how he dismissed you was pretty cruel, when you were clearly falling for him,” responded Soyo, earning a disgusted face from her friend.
“Don’t be disgusting,” started Kagura, “plus, I know he never meant it, so I never cared for real. We can go back to fighting in no time, now that everything’s been solved, right? And it was pretty fun to train with him, to be honest.”
If you know he never meant it, why are you looking so depressed then? thought Soyo. However, she knew she had learned her lesson: never get into your friend’s love affairs again.
***
A new afternoon approached Gintama High School, another sun too tired to go on with his job of lighting the day disappearing until tomorrow. The backyard was back to the way it always was: simply a green field in which two rivals could throw fists at each other legally, with a referee to stop them whenever they got too intense.
The weekend had gone by after the whole fight, and everything had gone back to normal in Gintama High School, except that now the only person who Soyo actually wanted to be surrounded by was talking to her, and the rest of the school pretended she didn’t exist. The president of the Fighting Club hadn’t been this excited in days, simply looking forward to the routine of them fighting to death and her stopping them so that death didn’t actually take place.
While Soyo was cleaning the ring with a garden broom, she heard footsteps approaching and saw the silhouette of the other two members approaching the Fighting Club area from different directions. Well, just hearing them out one more time doesn’t count as interfering, does it? she thought, right before hiding in the nearest bush.
Both rivals saw each other getting close to the spot they had been waiting to get back to since the whole Dai affair. They looked at each other’s eyes and desperately wanted to pretend nothing had happened and throw fists at each other’s throats, but the feelings were too strong to ignore.
“So you’re back,” started Kagura.
“Excuse me, but I never went anywhere,” answered Sougo. Neither of them were looking at the other’s eyes.
“You’re right on that,” said Kagura. “Look, I talked to Soyo-chan. Everything is fine. I know she asked for your help and you helped her, and that’s all I care for. So I thank you for that.”
“So you wanna let go of everything and pretend nothing happened?” said Sougo. They were both almost whispering, so Soyo could barely hear the conversation, mostly making out the missing bits she lost. But she could see, and Sougo was now looking at Kagura right in the eye, even though her eyes were downcast.
“It’s for the best, right?” Kagura said, raising her gaze to match his. “I don’t blame you. But I don’t get why you would lose your upcoming popularity on this.”
“I don’t care about being popular,” said Sougo, “especially when it entails people I don’t know breaking my rooftop naps.”
Kagura chuckled at this and hid her face inside her right hand. “I can’t believe that’s why you made such a show.”
Sougo crossed his arms. “Well, that and so that you got angry at me. I guess both working wasn’t an option.”
“Why would I get angry at you?” said Kagura, confused by the statement. “I knew from the very beginning you were faking, that your feelings weren’t real at all.”
“I guess I thought you would realize.” said Sougo.
“What exactly? Just be plain, I’ve got no time to be guessing here.”
“Well,” started Sougo, his face in full earnest, no trace of mockery there, “I basically confessed my feelings for you in front of the school and then said I was being manipulated and lied to everyone. In my book, any girl would get mad at that.”
“I suppose I would get mad, if I had thought you were being honest,” said Kagura, “which I didn’t.”
A pause stretched between them. Soyo’s legs were starting to hurt, but she definitely had to see this to the very end.
“So why did you want me to get mad at you then? Why would that be something good for you? I don’t get it.”
“I guess as a sort of punishment for myself,” said Sougo, now looking right at the Fighting Club’s ring. “I knew this whole thing would make you feel bad in some way,” and looking back at Kagura, “so I thought I would simply punish myself for hurting you by making you angry at me.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“Anyways,” said Kagura, “if you knew that, why did you go ahead with fighting Dai and stuff? You could’ve just denied helping Soyo-chan.”
“I guess I was being selfish, that’s all.”
“Selfish about what? I just don't—.”
Sougo approached Kagura and scanned her with his eyes before he went on.
“Remember what I said last time we were this close to each other?” he said.
“Honestly, you say so much bullshit I barely remember what you just said,” she responded.
“Get this inside your small brain then,” he started, “I like you. I am in love with you, and maybe I was acting in accordance to what the President of the Club had asked me to do, but I don’t lie when I say you’re the craziest girl I’ve met and that’s driving me fucking insane,” he continued, his chest going up and down after saying all this, his gaze no longer brave enough to face Kagura’s “and that if I agreed to do such a stupid thing is because I was jealous of all the attention you were giving to that horrible kid and your friend simply convinced me getting in the middle of it was not a terrible idea.”
A few seconds elapsed and then Kagura responded:
“How do I know this isn’t another lie, then? Looks like everyone’s playing with my feelings as of late. C’mon, do something that will show me you’re not bluffing, you sadist,” she said proudly, almost showing off her knowledge of not buying any of that, of being superior and knowing that, yet again, someone was simply playing with her feelings.
Sougo looked at her, his face not betraying an ounce of amusement or mockery at any time. He focused on her face, her disheveled hair and clothes, her porcelain skin and cherry lips, and got closer to her, grabbing her head with both his hands and leveling her gaze at his.
“What if I kissed you, then? Would that shut your mouth off?”
“Wow, so romantic, isn’t it, shutting my mouth off?” Kagura answered, and crossed her arms to her chest. “As if you dared. But yeah, I guess a kiss may change my mind.”
And so Sougo pushed his mouth into hers, a rollercoaster of emotions surrounding them. Both of them closed their eyes completely, and stayed there for some seconds breathing into the other’s breath, their chests moving closer in swift motions. Both of them were blushing hard, and so was Soyo, who was still eavesdropping and now felt like a dirty intruder. As they broke their first kiss, Sougo and Kagura looked at each other, their eyes half-opened and their chests still going through the rush of emotion.
“Do you… believe me now?” asked Sougo between breaths.
“I guess… maybe… I need another one… before deciding…”
Damn friend, you sure are greedy, thought Soyo, and Sougo leaned down once again towards Kagura to kiss her once more. However, this time, Kagura bit his tongue as he approached, and his face went back to normal, a confused expression on his face.
“That’s for playing with my feelings and making me mad at you!” said Kagura. So she was indeed mad at him, thought Soyo. I fucking knew it. “Get back to training. I saw you were a bit out of shape in the fight —you may have won, but would’ve lost if I hadn’t been there. And where the fuck is Soyo-chan?”
“Here I am,” said Soyo, coming out of her bush and pretending nothing had happened. “I was just checking on something, but now I’m all good!” Kagura and Sougo looked at her with an embarrassed expression on their faces, but they silently agreed not to touch the subject. “Now, it’s time for a new fight, isn’t it? Okay. Get to your positions. Ready, set… go!” she shouted, and Kagura and Sougo were once again giving it their all against each other, this time getting even more physical than previous occasions. I guess all’s well that ends well, thought Soyo for one last time, while she grinned towards her friends.
THE END