Work Text:
December 3rd, 2009
"So… are you excited?" Kotone asked with a wide smile on her face. The two walked down Iwatodai's Main Street before turning left. A cold gust of winter air pricked their faces as they shivered.
"I guess. I mean I'm glad you're coming with us." Akihiko responded. "I'm also a little surprised as to why the volleyball team was picked to go with to a boxing tournament with us, but I'm not complaining."
"Me too. It really seems like neither of the two sports have a connection."
"Well, now that you mention it, theres a lot of connections between the two sports. Volleyball uses a lot of back, arm, core and leg strength, meanwhile boxing mainly uses arm, core, and legs. Boxing also does involve some back strength, but mainly from the lats. Upper leg strength does seem to be more important for— I'm boring you, aren't I?"
"…Yeah. But that's still pretty cool to know. You know, I really want to try rowing. It seems so fun and easy compared to volleyball."
"Rowing is absolutely not easy. It's arguably one of the hardest sports out there. It's a sport that involves a lot of core, back, and legs—especially legs. It's one of the toughest sports out there."
"Nevermind, I think I'll stick to volleyball, then." She said sheepishly.
Their chatter extended until they got to the bus, where they were met with a certain fan club.
"Oh my god, there he is!" A girl squealed from somewhere nearby the bus. Suddenly, a flock of girls crowded around the two.
"Good luck on your match! No doubt you'll win though because you're… so strong…" A girl with heavy makeup said.
"Yeah! Yeah! You're going to do so awesome." A short girl added
"Um…thank you?" Akihiko replied hesitantly
"Of course! Anything for you…" the supposed leader replied in a miserable attempt at seduction
The girls continued with their bombardments of unnecessary compliments, and it wasn't until Kotone nudged him that he realized that those girls were even more bothersome than he thought they were.
"What's she doing with you?" The short girl asked, noticing her little nudge.
"We live in the same dorm, so we thought we might as well leave together." He replied
"Nothing else?"
"No..?"
"I don't understand how she got picked to live in his dorm meanwhile we didn't." the leader said with a pout and crossed arms.
"Ah… haha… it's just pure luck!" Kotone replied with an awkward laugh
"Yeah, I'm sure it is. Pure luck my ass…"
"She was actually placed into our dorm by accident, but they couldn't find anywhere for her to stay, and we had room, so she lives in our dorm now." He defended, brushing his hand with hers lightly.
"Oh wow, that's so kind of you. Taking her in… that's so like you, senpai. So kind… and nice…" the leader panted
"You're so… benevolent." A girl with box-blonde hair added
"Yeah, I'm sure." he said tiredly and sarcastically. "Come on, Kotone, let's go." he grumbled, taking Kotone's hand and pushing them out of the way.
"…why can't he be a little nicer?" The short girl whined.
"Yeah! I don't get why he's so mean to us! And he's always defending that Shiomi girl…" the blonde fan added.
"I don't like how she's always hanging around him either…" the leader snarled.
"There's a rumor going around that they're dating." The short girl mentioned.
"No way!" The leader gasped.
"Didn't you know that? Apparently, I heard that they were caught making out in the stairwell!" The blonde girl gossiped.
"No way!"
"Are you serious right now?"
"Dead serious!"
"God, I wish she'd piss off…"
"She's amazing at volleyball, though." The blonde girl added.
"Yeah, she's one of the best on the team!" Another member of both the volleyball team and the fan club said.
"Well, go tell her to fuck off! He's mine!! I mean.. ours!" The leader grumbled.
"I can't tell her that! She's so kind and amazing, so beautiful too…Her eyes and hair, the way she moves, the way she talks…she's just so gorgeous! Oh and her personality… She's… like a goddess…" the fan preached.
"I didn't know you swung that way." The short girl said.
"No, no, no, no, no, no! I'm just trying to say that—" the volleyball player defended.
"Enough! God, I can't believe he would choose someone like her though. It should've been me!" The leader pouted.
"But that's only a rumor…" the short fan said.
"Well I sure hope it is! Regardless, I'm gonna make him mine! I want him and his big beefy biceps so… bad…" the leader groaned.
"Hey, keep it in your pants!" The volleyball player exclaimed.
"Who are you talking to right now?" The leader snapped.
Akihiko fidgeted around in his seat on the bus. The more he seemed to try and sleep, the more in appears like he couldn't. Kotone took her eyes off of the window for a moment and glanced at his frustrated face.
"You can't sleep?" Kotone asked
"No…" Akihiko sighed, "I can't sleep sitting up."
"Well we still have a few hours to go…" she muttered to herself, "…here." Kotone said confidently as she pulled her skirt down a little and brushed off whatever dust and crumbs might've been on there. "You can sleep on my lap."
"…You're not going to sleep?" He questioned with a light shade of pink on his face.
"No, I'm not tired."
"Okay then… thank you."
He slowly and nervously put his head on her lap. Soon, he felt some fingers place on top of his head and felt them lightly brush through his hair. His body lay tense, nervous at if the others would see. Soon, those gentle fingers began to rub his shoulders.
"Relax, you're gonna do great" she said tenderly, "There's not a single championship you haven't won before."
"I'm not really worried about the championship…"
"Then what are you worried about? You look so stressed, it's making me worried."
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing if you're acting this way. Seriously, tell me what's going on."
"Don't worry about it. Its really nothing at all."
"You're sure?"
"Yes I'm sure."
"Alright then… whatever you say." She sighed reluctantly. She wore her headphones, pressed 'play' on the mp3 player. She moved her hands back to his hair, and she combed his hair with her fingers as he tried to sleep.
His hand, covered in bruises and scars, rested on her lap as he tried to sleep. His shoulders eventually relaxed and he gave into sleep. Even though she had the window seat, she'd rather look at him. It was strange to her, how someone like him, someone known for being tough, the very captain of a boxing team, could ease into what she saw before her. The way he spoke with her, and treated her, it was so gentle for someone like him. It wasn't that façade he put on for everyone else, it was truly how he was.
"He's so adorable when he's asleep."
She leaned over him to catch a glimpse of his face. She lightly moved her hand on top of his, before he suddenly turned around and faced up towards her, and she had to retract her hand. Instead, she placed on his cheek, rubbing it gingerly, not wanting to wake him up.
As the trip stretched on, she understood what he was worried about. Eyes from the boxers and teammates alike flickered at them judgementally. She also knew that a few of her teammates were in his fan club, and that things would end badly if she didn't handle the situation well. Thankfully, they were in the last row and were generally away from that groups' sights.
The four hour trip came to its end, and those last two hours seemed so short.
"Aki, wake up, we're here." She sung, tapping on his face.
"Mmh? Good mornin', Kotone…" he said drowsily, getting up and giving her a quick kiss. As he pulled away, he realized where he was and noticed that a couple of his teammates just noticed them, and his face began to burn a tinge but he tried to play it off coolly, though he failed. At least it wasn't anyone from his fan club that saw.
"Aki! Good job!" Kotone squealed as she ran into a room, jumping on him to give him a big hug.
"Kotone, you're here!" Akihiko exclaimed, holding her "…How'd you get in? Isn't this the men's locker room?" He asked suspiciously, holding her away and looking into her eyes
"Nevermind that. It's not like anyone's in here anyways . Forget that, I'm so proud of you! You did amazing!" She cheered, latching back onto him.
"It was only the first match. I felt bad for that guy. He was only a first year."
"Listen, do you care about the shadows you fight in Tartarus?" She said in a stately manner, taking a few steps back.
"What? No!"
"Then don't care about them! They're our opponents and we have to win! But don't hit them too hard, we don't want to land someone in the hospital."
"Right!"
"I believe in you! You'll do great on your next round!"
She went up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and stole a kiss from him.
"Win for me!" She shouted enthusiastically, turning around and pumping her fist in the air as she ran back to where she was supposed to be. After taking her secret route back to where she came from, one of her teammates came up to her with a worried look on her face.
"Senpai..! We were looking for you." One of Kotone's first year classmates fumbled, "Um, coach wants to talk to you for a moment." She said, lowering her head and looking at their coach.
"Shiomi-san, one of the boxers recently called out sick for the first round and we need someone to fight. Cancelling a match, especially in the first round, is bound to lead to disaster. Now, this is completely unexpected but would you be willing to fight?"
"Me? Why me?"
"You're one of the best volleyball players on the team, and you have a lot of athletic potential in any sport you do. If you're afraid about being hurt, then I can understand, but we really need someone to step in. Everyone else on your team is unwilling to play, so you're our last hope."
"If that's the case, then I'll do it." She said hesitantly, "I brought my uniform with me, so I'll just wear that. What about the gloves?"
"We're going to take care of that."
Akihiko had just won his 2nd match, but Kotone was nowhere to be found. He saw her in the stands, but now he didn't know where she was. She was probably zipping all over the place trying to find him, he thought.
Akihiko walked past the line-ups to get to a vending machine, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard a name that caught his attention.
"Kotone? Isn't that a girls name? I thought this was a guys-only tournament." A tall boxer said, reading the list.
"I heard she was a last minute addition. And she's fighting up against—" the short athlete said, his eyes skimming the list again, before making a pained expression. "Oh…That's not going to end well."
"'Scuse me…" he mumbled aggressively, pushing the two other competitors away to take a closer look at the listings. He squinted his eyes and began to skim the list. All the way down in the bottom left corner of the sheet, saw an unknown name scratched out and a familiar name scribbled in. "…Is this some kind of joke?" He asked, furrowing his brows.
"Uh, no, a coach wrote that name in." The tall one responded.
"He was from your school, actually. Gekkoukan high." The short one added after looking at Akihiko's shirt that read 'Gekkoukan Boxing' in big, bold letters.
"Dude, their match is about to happen. Want to go look?" The short one asked, tapping his friends' shoulder and glancing at him.
"Yeah, sure. I feel kinda bad for that girl though, going up against Satayoshi… she's bound to get hurt."
As the two athletes walked to her match, he took the time to read the list more carefully: "Takeda Satayoshi vs. Kotone Shiomi - 14:15, Ring 3".
The first thought that came to his head was that he needed to get her out of there. He knew her opponent well, as a matter of fact, he was his primary opponent. It was always him that he fought against in any finals round. He started to run over there, fearing the worst for her. Passers by looked at him strange, but he didn't care. Ring three was coincidentally the farthest ring from where he was.
After running for a few minutes, he finally reached the big two doors with a plaque on it that wrote "ring three". He pushed opened the doors and called out her name.
"You need to get out of there!" He yelled. Despite his utter volume, his warning was silenced by to the noise of the cheers coming from the spectators. All the Gekkoukan students and even those from another school chanted her name loudly. Cameras flashed from spectators, more than he'd ever seen.
"A girl participating in a guys only tournament? There's no way."
"She must be good, then."
"I heard she's never fought before and that she's only stepping in for someone."
He rudely pushed himself into the stands along with the other spectators.
"Entering the ring are contestants Kotone Shiomi and Takeda Satayoshi." The referee in the ring announced on his microphone. As Kotone slid in between the bands of the rings, her opponent seemed a little flustered. His cheeks began to tingle a shade of pink and his eyes always looked away from her, before shaking his head and taking a deep breath.
"Get 'er ass!" A student from Takeda's school cheered.
"Kotone! Kotone! Kotone!" A fellow teammate of hers yelled from the stand rhythmically.
"I hope she doesn't get hurt."
"May the best one win." Takeda said stately, holding out his hand and shaking hers.
"Yeah..!" Kotone replied. The two got into position, and the referee started the match.
Kotone managed to dodge the first swing from her enemy and land a hit on his chest. Immediately getting up, she pulled her arm backwards before immediately getting hit in the shoulder. She winced and quickly ducked underneath him, and swung three times before getting blocked. Takeda punched her stomach twice, and soon landed a hook on her side as she was coughing from the damage. While her body tried to recover from the blows, she felt a punch in her upper chest, near her lungs and soon an uppercut underneath her chin, leading her to almost fall down. She knew she couldn't win, but she had to give it her all. She stood up tall, and immediately as his fist retracted from her face, she landed three strikes to his core, following up with two jabs to the side, before the last one getting blocked.
"No…this can't…" Akihiko muttered under his breath. Fighting in Tartarus with her was never an issue, since they both had mastered the way their weapons worked. He knew he'd get hurt there, but it never mattered as much as it did now. She was going to get hurt badly and he knew it. He knew he couldn't help her or save her, and it was his fault entirely, he believed. He was meant to fight Kotone's opponent. For the past few years, Takeda had always been his opponent — They were even acquainted outside the ring.
Despite how Kotone was able to keep a constant flow of strikes, two strikes to the stomach and a rear uppercut brought her down.
"No!" He muttered through his teeth
"Yeah! Go Takeda! Rip her down!"
"Get up, Shiomi! Come on!"
By the referee's count of number 5, Kotone got back up on her feet. Her head spun and the lights began flashed brightly, practically blinding her. her stomach ached from the inside out, riddled with bruises. She winced as weakly got up on her two feet and got back into position.
"She's just getting beat! There's no way she's winning."
"Poor girl, she's just going to get hurt."
She barely blocked two incoming blows, delivered one of her own. Her opponent moved back, and while she took a step, she fell on the ground.
"She's too tired. They need to get her out of there!" Akihiko announced intensely
"10… 9… 8…"
"Why is the ref still going? He needs to call a TKO!"
"7…6…"
October 24th, 2009
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Kotone asked silently, holding his hand with both of hers, gently playing with his fingers. She looked down on them morosely.
"Hm?" Akihiko asked
"Why do you let yourself get beat up just for the sake of a sport?" She asked, looking up at him. "Your hands, are covered in blisters, your knuckles are peeling and they're covered in scars all over. You have bruises everywhere on your chest and stomach. It hurts to see you like this, you know." She added, eyes filled with tears.
"They're just things that come with the sport. I didn't choose to get them, I simply did." He answered gently.
"Just to win? Is it just about the wins?"
"It's not always about winning, but it's how you get back up. It's resilience, and it shows that you have a will to fight — really, it's shows you how strong you are. Sometimes, the weakest person can win even if they're determined."
"Fine, just — please be more careful… I don't want to see you get injured."
December 3rd, 2009
"Kotone, get back up! You can do this!"
"No…no…! This can't…" Akihiko muttered
"3..2.." the ref counted down. Out of frustration, Kotone slammed her fist on the ground of the ring, knowing she couldn't get up. "1! Knockout!"
She weakly got up with the help of the referee's hand. Seeing this chance to talk to her, Akihiko pushed through the crowd of spectators again and bolted to her corner.
"Kotone! Kotone!" He yelled. Hearing that distinct, familiar voice, she turned her head around slowly. Two of the girls tending to her on the side of the ring halted him.
"Hold on, what do you think you're doing?" Kotone's teammate asked with a powerful stance.
"I need to talk to her! Get out of my way!" He shouted, trying to shove the two girls aside, "Letting her fight is only going to get her hurt! I can't let that happen!"
"Leave her alone!" The wavy-haired teammate defended.
"You're letting your teammate get injured! How is that—-" Akihiko argued.
"Aki… is that you? Come here." Kotone asked softly. The match had worn her down and weakened state that you would only expect to feel after a long session in Tartarus.
"What do you think you're doing up here?! You're getting beat up!" Akihiko yelled
"Ah…They wanted me to fight. Think about it, it's just like that one thing you said a while back. It's about determination."
"That doesn't apply here! Please, just quit the round! Go to the ref and say you want to drop out!"
"I'm sorry, I can't. It's too late…"
"No it's not! For someone like you, it's not! Please, tell the ref you want out!
"Ah, my round is starting soon. I—I have to go. Love you lots!"
"Wait, Kotone, come back!"
"…'love you lots'? What's that supposed to mean? Are you two-?" One of the girls from her corner interrogated with crossed arms
"Now's not the time!" he snapped
The referee called the two up again, and Takeda looked at his opponent with a sorry expression on his face, and Kotone shook her head with a smile. The referee raised his hand into the air, and dropped it. The second round had begun.
Despite her weakened state, Kotone landed the first few hits; though the last few were blocked. She ducked her head underneath Takeda's strikes, popped back up and jabbed his sides. She used his guilt as an advantage, moving up on him as he moved back. She blocked two hits before unexpectedly getting hit in the jaw. With all her strength, she was able to knock him down, albeit he got up after "10". The crowd chanted her name the more she advanced.
"This isn't going to end well."
Her knees barely could keep up with her weight. Her arms shook simply holding them in place. She knew she would lose, but she at least wanted to lose with dignity.
Her opponent reciprocated her movements with anger. He started moving towards her, gaining speed until he punched her in the shoulder. She let out a pained scream as she hit the floor. The crowd went silent.
The ref called a time-out, and she could hear her name being called by a familiar voice. She wondered why everything stopped, why the crowd looked at her that way, and why her shoulder had hurt so much — even her opponent was in shock. Tears streaming down her face, she glanced over it and saw that it was removed from its socket. An ugly sight to see, she was initially met with fright; but Kotone had dealt with this before. She got up carefully, and moved up to one of the corners of the ring. She raised a hand to the ref and the coaches, and even the bustling crowd quieted down into murmurs.
"Is she going to-?! No."
"Kotone, are you insane?!" Akihiko yelled "Don't do that here!"
"There's no way she's gonna do it."
Her breathing got heavier and quicker. The air was filled with tension and suspense and the thick air entered and left her lungs rapidly. With an quick slam of the body and a yelp, she put it back into its place. Kotone yelled like she had been stabbed, tears mixing with sweat, both dripping down her face. She covered her shoulder with her hand, only removing it to give a thumbs up with a large grin. The crowd burst into cheers.
"That's so badass!"
"I never knew she could do that!"
She rolled her shoulder around, and decided that she could go on.Akihiko felt an immense amount of pride, but knew that this wasnt the right time to celebrate.
"This referee sucks!"
They continued the match from where they started. Kotone tried to keep a constant flow of hits, though they were mostly blocked. When her opponent made advances, she would evade his punches and jab his side. The two went back and forth, blocking, evading, and exchanging blows.
Deciding he had enough of this squabbling, he gave this last-effort tactic a try. He didn't want to waste his time going one step forward and one step back.
As she evaded his right punch, a red herring, he immediately jabbed her head with his left arm.
Her mind went dark the second his fist hit her head, right on impact. Her eyes were wide open, but all she did was lay still on the floor.
"10…" The referee counted down
"Come on, get up! "
"Kotone! Get back on your feet!"
"9…"
No blinking, no movement. Simply breathing.
"She's unconcious!"
"8…"
"You can do this! Get up!"
"7…"
Her breaths became shallow, almost like gasps.
"6…"
"Ref! She's unconcious!"
"…That doesn't sound good."
"5…"
"She needs help!"
"Someone get her out!"
"4…"
Takeda simply stood there in disbelief.
"Kotone needs to get outta there now!"
"3…"
"This is Takeda's fault!"
Kotone continued to see nothing but darkness.
"Why won't the ref do anything?"
"2…"
"No..! This isn't.."
"We need an ambulance now!"
"1… Knockout!" The ref cheered. Finally hearing the concerns of the crowd, he goes over and check on one of the two fighters. "Kotone? Kotone? Can you hear me? …She's unresponsive! Someone, call an ambulance!"
"Thank you, sir, for coming along with her. After some final examination, we found out that she was simply exhausted after receiving her concussion. Whatever she must've done put a lot of stress on her brain and herself. She should be waking up in a bit." The long-haired doctor spoke calmly.
"Thank you, doctor. And her shoulder..?" Akihiko asked, with a hint of worry in his voice.
"It's just fine. Seems like she did a great job of putting it back into place. That young lady is extremely impressive." The doctor replied with a smile on her face. "I really appreciate you being by her side. That was really nice of you to come."
"…I just thought I'd save the school some money by going back with her…especially since we live in the same dorm." Akihiko muttered, obviously coming up with these statements on the spot.
"I'm sure that there's a better reason than that. Well, whatever it may be, I'm not going to pry. Anyways, we think that she should rest here overnight just so that we can monitor her condition. You can leave if you want to, or we can set you up with your own room—"
"It's okay, I'll just stay with her."
"You're sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Okay then, have a nice night."
"You too, doctor. Thank you."
As soon as the doctor left the room and shut the door, his eyes were on her. She looked she was made of porcelain, freshly cracked. Her jaw was lightly swollen on one side and her hands were too. It was all his fault, he believed, that she was in this state. He couldn't do anything about it, so he fought back tears and held her hand and look at her, the mess that he'd made. Eight long hours, he waited, for her to say that nickname of his again, for him to see her smile again, and for her to just be by her side and say that everything was alright.
Suddenly, a quick sharp breath came from her, and a wincing expression.
"Kotone, are you alright? Can you hear me?!"
She opened her eyes, just like she was waking up.
"I'm alright. I can hear you. What's going on though—?"
He stood there in shock, before immediately lunging at her and put his arms around her. He held on tight, as if she she would fade away soon.
"I was worried. So worried…"
"I'm fine now, it's okay. I was in the ring but then I hit the floor… and I…"
"You passed out! For god's sake, you passed out! You're concussed and you slept for eight hours! You're not okay, Kotone! Don't say that you are just to make me feel fine! Its my fault! "
"No, no, it's not your fault at all. It's all mine. I was the one who accepted the invite to get in the ring and...I'm concussed too?! Damn it! Why'd I even agree to this?"
"It's my all fault..."
"Aki, no! Stop saying that! Please, stop it. I don't want to see you beat yourself up over something that you didn't cause." she slowly brought her head to his, "Don't say it even if it makes you feel better. Please, just don't." She sighed, "It hurts me to hear you say that.", and her eyes gleamed sadness like he's never seen before.
"I'm sorry, Kotone. If only I hadn't—"
She quickly brought her lips up to his, she sat up straight, and held him. Just as he would indulge, she pulled away tenderly.
"Don't. Don't say that anymore. Stop saying it, for me."
"…okay. I'll stop." he said reluctantly, before going back in for more. Their heads swung back and forth lightly, until they broke away for a split second to catch their breath.
"I'll stop." He muttered, out of breath, going for more. "I'll do it…for you."
They pulled away one last time, and she gleamed a gentle smile, which said a soft 'thank you'.
Simply because he said he would stop saying it didn't mean he wouldn't stop believing it.
"…What time is it?" Kotone asked quietly, with a sort of rasp in her throat.
"It's about 11:30" he replied, looking at the clock on his phone.
"Aren't you tired?"she asked, "You know, I'm not letting you sleep in that chair even if you wanted to."
He reluctantly got out of his chair, and lied down next to her.
"Your final match is tommorow, right?" Kotone asked.
"Yeah." Akihiko replied.
"I'll be sure to watch. Do you know who you'll be fighting?"
"Takeda Satayoshi. Suprisingly, we always end up being finalists in a few competitions."
"That's a familiar name... What are you two? Life-long enemies?"
"Actually, we're pretty good friends, but we're gonna have to talk about what happened today in the ring." he declared, and Kotone let out a soft snicker. "But-But forget about me, what was that move you pulled in the ring? The one with the shoulder?"
"My special shoulder-relocation move, of course!"
"It looked kind of familiar."
"Maybe I pulled it in Tartarus before, and maybe the person who taught it to me is right in front of me."
"…Are you feeling okay now?"
"You don't have to keep on checking in. I feel fine, but I feel even better now that you're here." she smiled. "You seem really tired. Maybe you should sleep.", she suggested, letting out a yawn.
"You should get some shut-eye too."
"I was out for 8 hours, I'll be fine. Maybe I'll sleep too, because I am a little woozy right now… Maybe though… I'm not too tired." she nestled herself in between his neck and head. "Good night…" she muttered before almost dropping into sleep. He lightly kissed her forehead and held her tightly. The back of her head and body were highlighted by the moonlight, which shone perfectly over her.
"She's so cute when she's asleep."
Her light breathing felt warm against his neck. He was glad to know that she was safe. All of the many troubles on his mind seemed to disappear when she was around him. That guilt never seemed to pass, though. That guilt of what her landed in this very room was because of him was a feeling that he was never able to shake off. That feeling was something he'd known well, especially with the death of his sister. He brushed her hair out of her eyes and placed it behind her ear, soon moving his hand to her cheek and cupping it lightly. She was right there in his arms, and that's all that mattered — those were the wins he truly counted. To be with her, to be by her side, that was a victory in itself, and to always be with her would be the greatest reward of all.