“Sigh~ Alice got tricked…”
“… What?”
He sighed then explained to me while placing his thumb into my sleeve, pulling it as if to show me something,
“See this grip? This grip is called Gun Grip, and because it has the risk to break or twist the finger, it’s banned from competitions.”
“Alright… And? Just because of this she lost?”
“No, no. Remember the two Shido announced just now? I already told you that at three shido you get a mild form of a hansoku-make, which takes you out of the match. The referee saw her pulling out a Gun Grip, so she gave her another Shido.”
“But she didn’t do that! That other woman placed her own sleeve on Alice’s thumb.”
“That’s Alice’s fault for being taken by surprise. Nothing we can do.”
“Oh my Lord…”
I was just so pissed, I turned around while covering my face with both hands. If there was a bench in front of me, I surely would have flipped that piece of s***.
“Ahahahaha~! Look at you being so mad! It happens, you know?”
Marina came to me and laughed amused, making me only more annoyed. I then turned to her and pinched her cheeks, veins popping up on my smiling face,
“And now you came to laugh at me? Eh? Wanna fight, brat?”
“Chmoun bhigh ghuy! I’ll takechu wn!”
She lightly punched my chest playfully while I had her cheeks stretched, making for a comic show. Mira also came closer and laughed at our comic show, attracting my attention while releasing Marina.
“How are you, brat? Feeling better now?”
“Yeah… I’m sorry for my actions till now…”
She bowed her head with a pained smile then turned to leave. However, she had no time to do so as my big hand patted her head, making her sway left and right because of the hand’s motion,
“I don’t get why everyone thinks I’m mad at them. I might have a crude gaze but cut me some slack, will you? I have no reason to be mad at you.”
Mira then turned at me surprised and quickly asked,
“B-but didn’t you pulled your arm away from me because you were annoyed-“
“I did so because it was improper for me to have another woman cling to me when I already have a girlfriend. I understand that you two are friends and what-not, but you gotta understand that you’re still a girl, and quite pretty at that. I can’t have you so close to me for obvious reasons.”
I explained myself with a troubled smile and Mira turned red after hearing me, locking her hands behind her back while her eyes wandering about, at times glancing at me,
“I see… So you think I’m pretty.”
“… Is this all you heard? Brat, don’t make me knock some sense into you.”
“Kya!”
I raised my hand irritated but then she shouted cutely, faking a defensive behavior by covering her head. Marina was looking from the side, her glare puncturing my back.
“What is it?”
I turned her way and asked, troubled. Glancing away while crossing her hands and pouting cutely, it was obvious that she was waiting for something as she commented as if to herself,
“You called Mira pretty and I bet you already think that Alice is beautiful. Then what does that make me? I guess I’m the ugly duckling from the team…”
Am I supposed to give titles now? Goddammit…
I sighed annoyed then looked at Marina intently, a blush appearing on her face shortly after,
“W-what is it?”
“Rather than ugly, you are looking good. You could say that you look cute as well. Your many facial expressions are showing a lively air to you. In short, I can at least guarantee that you’re cute. Happy now?”
“Ehehe~ I knew it. You are a real gigolo.”
“Or you girls are too easy-going.”
She giggled happily while holding her cheeks, annoying me with her satisfied smile while calling me what-not.
After a bit, Marina got a message from Alice that said to meet up at a restaurant near the dojo where the competition was taking place. Deciding to go, the three of us arrived there first and after we learned that there will be more people, we decided to occupy the largest table in the restaurant that had around 20 seats.
In a bit, Alice finally arrived and, together with her, some people from her dojo. To my surprise the woman named Ana also came with us together with a group from her own dojo, now the total being around 15 people. I didn’t expect for us to be so many, but I guess it was fine as we formed smaller groups to chat, rarely everyone listening to just one conversation.
Right after they arrived, Alice introduced her rival as an old friend,
“Ah, yes. The tricky woman. Good day.”
I crossed my arms still annoyed at what happened just now and Alice smiled awkwardly at this, scratching her cheek somewhat guilty. The woman then chuckled amused and greeted me happily,
“Good day, Leon. I’m sorry for the first impression, but you need to learn that this behavior of a tricky woman has been invented by yours and only, your girlfriend Alice.”
“… Say what?”
She presented Alice with gracious moves and my eyes became huge as I turned towards her, a dumbfounded expression on my face. She smiled at me somewhat guilty then explained the situation,
“Ehehe~ yeah… Ana and I are old rivals, so whenever we’re one against the other, I tend to try tricks on her. I was surprised to see that this time she was the one to play tricks on me. Ehehe~ ops~.”
“Ops~ my ass, you punk. Trying to play tricks at competitions? Next time I’ll see you play games with the referees.”
“B-but you’re also cheating at exams! Don’t talk to me about fairness!”
“That’s that and this is this!”
I reached out to her cheeks annoyed and Alice then shouted lightly as she laughed, trying to stop my claws from reaching her cheeks again. Ana, Marina, and Mira laughed at us amused as we sat down at a long table. Besides us, there were also many guys and girls from Ana’s dojo, now people from both dojos looking at me curiously.
Although many were curious, nobody knew me well enough to ask, but Ana didn’t seem to be as reserved because of Alice, asking what others wanted to hear,
“I’m still surprised at how this thick-headed girl finally got a boyfriend. I’m quite curious as to how it happened?”
“It was her fault, from start to finish. I did nothing until we actually ended up together.”
I shook my head while pointing at Alice and she smiled playfully, giggling with a wide smile,
“Not going to lie, I did pester him now and then-“
“All the time. She even came to my house once to give me homework… When I thought I got the excuse to have a good sleep, there she comes with damn homework in the second week of high, making me stay awake until I finish them.”
“Hey, you also gave me a flower that one time, forgot?”
“That was because you got so mad for no clear reason. I swear, I thought that if I don’t get you to calm down, I’ll get thrown like Simon.”
“Ehehehe~.”
She smiled widely while staring at my embarrassed face, remembering the flower and my flustered face. On the other hand, Ana got distracted by another detail,
“Wait, you skipped school for no reason?”
“Had some things to resolve at work.”
I answered directly and she was even more surprised after hearing about this, prying even further about this subject,
“Oh? You’re working part-time? What do you do?”
“It’s fulltime the moment I get back from school. My working hours finish when my job is done at night and I work as a blades-master, a blacksmith.”
“Eh?”
She froze in place as if unable to believe what I just said and the others around also looked at me surprised. Still unbelieving, she looked at Alice, only to have her smile and nod together with Mira and Marina.
“It’s exactly as you imagine. He works with red metal near the furnace and with a hammer, he smashes it until he takes out a whole sword.”
“The process it’s more complicated, but the whole picture it’s something like that.”
Ana remained with a benevolent smile on her face while her eyes were spelling shock and surprise, not sure what to say.
“W-well… if your parents are fine with this, then I guess is-“
“Nah, they can’t really have any say in this.”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
“W-wait, Leon.”
A guy that was listening asked confused and Alice quickly stopped me, not really wishing to turn the mood for the worst. I understood what she meant and I left her deal with it as she got closer to the guy and whispered in his ear, making his eyes open wide while staring at me shocked once again,
“So you’re an orphan now?!”
He shouted out baffled and the girls face-palmed while the rest stared at me shocked and even with some sympathy.
I was already used to this type of reaction so while they gazed at me like that in heavy silence, I just drank some water calmly and answered with a plain face,
“Theoretically, yeah. But It’s fine. It happens.”
I brushed it off as if it was nothing while the girls smiled wryly, not really able to accept my words, the guys also having now dumbfounded faces not sure how to react.
It doesn’t just “happen” to lose both parents when you’re still a minor, right?
Ana then looked at me more intently and she nodded approvingly,
“I’m quite impressed. You went through so much yet don’t seem to be blaming the people around you, nor do you seem filled with hate. Do you have any idea how many criminals are born simply by suffering only one side of what you’ve gone through? Let alone all of that.”
“Yeah, mate. I also knew someone at school who lost his father. Dude dropped school and started doing drugs.”
“Yeah, yeah. I also know a girl who lost her mother while her father became an alcoholic. That girl completely lost it and wanted to take her life, only to later turn to drugs and alcohol. She kinda kept her life, but now she’s sleeping with every dude that provides some comfort.”
“That’s sad, man…”
The people around started chatting with heavy faces but I simply chuckled amused as I thought numerous times to start drowning in alcohol and drugs. I then thought for a bit about Ana’s words and smiled,
“Criminal, eh? I don’t quite see myself as very different from them. I do get in trouble most of the time and maybe even end up in fights, I skip and cheat at school, as for hate… To be honest, not long ago I was unable to control my anger. Just like them, I still have my problems and I don’t see myself with anything better. The only thing that kept me going until now was something that gave me the possibility to keep me focused, blacksmithing being my only reason for going forward without losing my mind, maybe the only factor that would differentiate me from thugs or criminals. And to clarify it, criminals are just another set of people who’ve lost in the face of pain. So I’m really not that different in some aspects.”
“I-I see. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
She smiled apologetically and I waved my hand, not minding it. She then looked at Alice and asked again,
“What about Alice? I suppose she also helped you in one way or another?”
“Oh yes, she taught me just how persistent some people are. I still have no clue how to deal with her. And also just how clingy she can get, and how she’s so ticklish or-“
“Alright, alright! That’s enough out of you! Geez~!”
She quickly covered my mouth embarrassed and the other girls chuckled while the guys laughed out loud amused. However, from all of this, there was one guy who didn’t feel like laughing.
“C’mon, Mike. No need to feel so sour. You simply didn’t have what it takes for Alice.”
Another guy with dreads beside him patted his shoulder amused and a girl from his other side also tried to soothe him,
“Yeah, you can’t help it. You can’t quite explain how love works.”
“I don’t get it… just what does he have and I don’t?”
“I just told you that it’s not about that…”
The girl sighed helplessly and simply shook her head after seeing how he gave her no mind. The other guy also shrugged his shoulders and drank some beer again, seemingly uninterested. Mike frowned while looking at me then gulped the beer down his throat.
“Oy. Leon, was it?”
Suddenly the guy named Mike looks at me irritated and called me out. I looked at him confused while anyone else, Ana included, sighed out troubled as if knowing what would happen.
“Yeah, ‘tzup?”
“C’mon outside. Wanna ask ya somethin’…”
“Eh? What is it?”
Alice was also confused and had a bad feeling about it, but she soon was stopped by Ana who had a wry smile on her face.
“Better just leave them be…”
“Yeah~ just Mike being a sore loser. Don’t mind it, Alice.”
The guy with dreads who drank his beer in a relaxing manner affirmed and Alice looked more and more confused, staring at our backs as we went outside the restaurant.
As I followed him, he then suddenly asked after we got further away from the restaurant,
“Oy, how did you win her heart? Mind telling? Used some kind of trick or something?”
He turned and stared at me questioning while I smiled at him amused, looking at him like at another clown.
“You ask me what you should ask her? I have no idea what she saw in me, but at this point I don’t really mind anymore as long as she’s fine with me.”
“You sound like some half-assed m***********, you know that?”
“You don’t like it?”
“No.”
“And why should I care? Are you my girl?”
He snorted irritatedly and I simply chuckled as his logic was rather funny. Seeing how I wasn’t in the slightest shaken by his threatening eyes, he pointed at me and growled,
“I don’t approve of you. Alice deserves better.”
“I agree.”
“You-… what?”
Suddenly he heard something baffling and looked at me dumbfounded but my face was unchanging, my eyes calm as if I was dealing with a brat, simply shrugging my shoulders I continued with a meek face,
“I agree. Alice deserves better than to be with some idiot that hammers the metal day and night. However, this is not something I or you can choose. It’s her own choice, and nobody shall tell her what’s better for herself.”
The guy stared at me dumbfounded for a while then he recovered while clicked his tongue, glaring at me again,
“Tsk, so you’ll continue to drag her down?”
“If she feels like she’s being dragged down, then she’ll be able to leave whenever, I’ll never chain her down. However-”
I then walked closer to him and my face turned fierce, making him sober up after feeling how his inner bell was ringing from danger as my aura changed drastically,
“-I will be sure to smash the first idiot that dares to manipulate her mind into doing however they want. If she wants to be with me, then it’s her own choice, and the first who pesters her over this will be sure to meet me right after. You included. I understand why you don’t like me, but you’re not the one who has to like me, neither the one to choose for her. If you think otherwise, then you’re not deserving of her either while what you feel is not love, but the desire to possess.”
“….”
I brushed past him and he turned my way as if in a daze, now completely sobered up as he gazed at my back that was now slowly distancing. He then looked down at himself, suddenly feeling smaller,
I… Sigh~ God damn.
Lifting his head and looking at me with some irritation yet also respect, he couldn’t help but frown while trying to quiet down his inner conflict, my words resounding loudly in his head while he followed behind me back to the restaurant.
As we went back and after the others saw how nothing happened between us, everyone raised their drinks at us and we then sat down to continue drinking, me drinking only some water as I had no desire to consume more money on alcohol.
“I expected for you to start fighting. How come there are no bruises on either of your faces?”
Mike’s buddy asked while drinking but Mike simply shook his head, looking at his beer with a deep gaze,
“Nah, it’s just like he said. I’m undeserving of her.”
“Eh?”
“Wha-?!”
“I was thinking of myself and not about her. Someone so selfish like me does not deserve her.”
He shrugged his shoulders with a smile and his buddy almost dropped his beer while the girl by his side looked at him frozen, a slight blush appearing on her face after observing his composed gaze.
“Y-you are indeed selfish at times… But I don’t think it’s such a bad thing.”
“Haha~ thank you.”
Mike knocked glasses with her and she smiled brightly. His buddy looked intently at the two then smiled calmly, glancing at me again who was now simply listening to the girls chatting between themselves.
To change someone’s perception after only exchanging some words… Sabin was right, if only he had more ambition, he would become someone big… or dangerous.
Feeling his gaze, I looked at him and simply nodded my head, surprising him then answering back the same way with a smile.
