Work Text:
It was supposed to be just another ordinary weekday for Aoyama Mamoru. He was walking home from his factory job when disaster struck, hard and painfully. He got hit by a truck. As his vision waned, he saw a young man arguing with an eyepatch wearing old man.
“Now you’ve really done it, Joe. We just hit someone. Idiot. I should’ve never let you drive that truck. Hell, you don’t even have a license.”
“Hey don’t blame me, Gramps. It was an accident. Look, he seems fine… Um…”
Yabuki-san… Danpei-sensei…
“Wait a sec, gramps. Isn’t that Aoyama from juvie?”
“Huh… oh my… it really is.”
“Aoyama… Look, try not to fall asleep, my guy.”
Joe, I’ll try my… best…
…
“Aoyama… Wake up… Aoyama.”
A mysterious female voice called upon his name. He slowly opened his eyes. He looked around for the source of the call. He found out it came from a girl standing beside his futon.
She had a messy short haircut that looked awfully familiar. It reminded him of someone he met during his days at the juvenile detention center. What’s that guy’s name again? He could not fully remember. His mind was still foggy from that peaceful nap. She was wearing a sports tracksuit and had wraps around her arms. Who is she, a boxing maniac in her morning training schedule?
“Aoyama, it’s already six in the morning. Wake up, bro!”
He jumped out of his futon and rolled clumsily on the wooden floor. Just who is this annoying tomboy-looking woman? He took his glasses and rubbed them clean, using his shirt as a makeshift cloth. When he donned his glasses back on, he took a quick scan off the annoyed boxing-obsessed lady standing before him. That was when realization struck him.
Wait a sec, did Joe ever have a sister? “Uh… Miss Yabuki something-what-is-it. Sorry, what’s your name again?”
The young woman put her hands on her hips. She was really pissed.
“Urgh, I can’t believe you forget something as basic as that. Did I punch you too hard in the temple yesterday?”
“What, yeah I guess, but no. I got hit by a truck… wait… Where am I? What did you do to me?”
Aoyama scanned around the room. He noticed there was a sandbag and a boxing ring in the same room as his futon.
“Urgh… You’ve done lost it haven’t you? Fine. We’re in the old man’s gym. All I did was just bandage you after I done beat you real hard in that sparring session.”
Sparring session? I haven’t boxed in years.
“Um… Thanks I guess.” Aoyama really did not know how to process this turn of events. “Miss…”
“Yabuki. Yabuki Junko. The one and only. Hehe… Your very welcome, Aoyama-kun.”
Yabuki Junko? I think I finally lost it. Aoyama thought that a stick of cigarette would be really comforting at that moment.
“Come on, Aoyama. We got roadwork to do. Hurry up at it.”
Aoyama could not find a pair of shoes to wear. “Pardon me, Yabuki-san, do you know where my shoes are?”
“They’re besides the punching bag.”
Aoyama put on the shoes. He noticed that it smelled of a strange soapy mixture.
“Um, I cleaned them, you know. Least I could do after knocking you out cold.”
“Oh, thank you, Yabuki-san.” Aoyama did not care about what sort of strange method this world’s Yabuki used to clean his shoes. Hell, she seemed no different in carelessness than the Joe he knows so well. Still, he felt somewhat touched by the gesture.
…
Aoyama did better keeping up with Junko than he expected. Maybe I still got some of that boxing fire within me. “Keep on going, Ao! No slacking off, ya hear me.” He turned his gaze around to see Tange Danpei on his bicycle. “Oh, Danpei-sensei. Yes, understood, Sir. Won’t disappoint you.”
This brings back memories. Aoyama felt as if just yesterday he was training with Danpei in juvie. “Danpei-sensei, please remind me who my next opponent is.” With the fire in his heart burning fiercely, Aoyama thought to just go with the flow. He was no longer a mere factory worker. He got back to being a boxer.
“Idiot. Ya keep on forgetting, huh? It’s Kim Ryuuhi.”
“You mean that OPBF champ? Creepy guy that trained under the Korean military?”
“Yes, it’s that guy who gave me the chills. Now run, Ao. Run. Run so you can win.”
“Hey, Danpei-sensei…”
“What is it, Ao?”
“When is the match again?”
“It’s tomorrow, you idiot. Why else would I be cycling and yelling so hard right now.”
…
“Let’s eat, everyone.” Junko took large gulps of the miso soup.
“Excuse me, Danpei-sensei.” Aoyama spoke in confusion. “Why is my breakfast just a cup of tea and an apple?”
“Idiot…” Danpei drank another cup of sake. “You need to watch your weight, remember… This Kim Ryuuhi fellow agreed to go down to being a Flyweight, just to fight you. Best thing you can do to honor the deal is to maintain your flyweight status.”
Aoyama sipped his tea. “Understood, sensei.” He muttered sadly.
…
Aoyama passed the weigh in before the match at 110 pounds. Kim weighed in just a bit lower than him, at 109 pounds.
Few hours before the match took place, Danpei decided to treat Aoyama in some fancy cafe. The meal being a single cup of tea, with milk. “Ao, a normal person could just finish that cup in one big gulp, but we still have three hours before the match. Savor the taste. Enjoy it, all right…” Danpei shed a small tear. “I’m proud of ya, Ao.” Aoyama stared at Danpei in disappointment, then at his cup of tea. Why coudln’t I get a good proper meal? Even a bowl of miso soup would be nice…
Danpei left soon after to attend to business arranging the match. Aoyama sat alone. He was playing around with his cup of milk tea, when he heard the door open.
“Yes, can I get a cup of lemon tea, Miss? ...Excuse me, do you mind if I take this seat across you?”
Aoyama looked up to see Kim Yongbi standing next to him.
“Hey, Aoyama Mamoru, right?” Kim sipped his cup of lemon tea. “I wanted to trauma dump on you, but then I thought, nah. You’re such a chill guy.”
“Oh, uh, thank you, Kim-san. By the way what tea is it you’re having?”
“Just Ceylon tea with lemon. Lemon tea. How ‘bout you? What’s your drink?”
“Oh just tea and milk.”
“English Breakfast?”
“I suppose so, Kim-san. It has that strong punch to it that you expect from an English Breakfast.”
“Mind if I have a smell test of it, Aoyama?”
“Uh, sure.”
After just one brief sniff, Kim put the cup back down. “Yes, you’re right on that, Aoyama. It is English Breakfast.” He raised his hand up, signalling to the waitress. “Excuse me, Miss. Can I please get a second cup of lemon tea, but this time, make it an English Breakfast? And another cup of milk tea for the young lad sitting with me, but can you make his a Ceylon blend this time? Thank you.”
“Wow Kim-san. This Ceylon milk tea really does have a good smell to it.”
“Yeah yeah, you get it now huh. When you have it plain with only a slice of lemon, it kind of has this calming feel to it. Like aromatherapy.”
“Oh, yeah I can picture that. Really cool.”
"Hey thanks again for the tea, Kim-san."
"No problem. It was just one cup. See you on the ring."
"Yeah, see you."
…
“Use the chom chom, Kim. Use it now.”
“Understood, Colonel.”
As Kim performed his chom chom, Aoyama dodged all the blows gracefully. Their boxing match seeming like a graceful dance instead of a fight to the last man standing. When the final round came, Kim got instructions to do another chom chom. Danpei yelled to Aoyama in response.
“Remember your konnyaku skills, Ao.”
Another series of perfect dodges by Aoyama.
Their match ended in a draw by points.
Hyun ranted at Kim for his seemingly awful performance. Kim gently pat his shoulders.
“My sincere apologies, Colonel, but I’m just not into it tonight.”
“Kim… What are you trying to say?”
“What I meant to say was I need to rethink some things about my life.”
As Aoyama walked back to his changing room, he slipped on the floor. Junko extended her hand to help him get up.
“Urgh, be careful, Aoyama, you idiot. Here, maybe this will help.”
“Oh, my glasses. Forgot about those… Thanks, Jo... I mean, Yabuki-san.”
“Whatever, idiot. You shouldn't have left it so carelessly on the changing room's seat. I could've crushed it.”
…
Aoyama stood outside the night sky. He pondered about what just happened to him these past few days. In the end, he was happy that the match went well, and that he somehow woke up all fine after being crashed by a truck… and then being transported to this weird alternate world. There was just one problem lingering in his mind. Crap, I’m going to have to sleep next to that annoying tomboy Yabuki knock-off again tonight.