46. Holding on

I tell people "It's all right, I can do it", but the truth is, I'm always trying to convince myself.

-Kyokugen Fighter / Extreme Fighter (Sasagawa Ryohei's Character Song)

-----

"Hiiiee!!" a shrieked woke me up. "Rei-san! Kyoko-chan! What are you DOING??"

Hm? When did I doze off?

I yawned, stretching myself awake and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Trying to wake myself up from my ditzy state of I wanna sleep, I noticed Kyoko had fallen asleep as well, on my lap.

"Kyoko," I called, "Kyooooko," I whined.

Takeshi laughed, "haven't seen this in a while!" he joked, "Since fifth grade, maybe!"

"Y'mean they've done this before??" Gokudera scowled. "Seriously?"

"Eh-" Tsuna spoke up slowly, "Rei-san and Kyoko-chan are pretty close?" he questioned. He was probably confused, seeing as I've never actually talked much with Kyoko in class.

"What, are you jealous?" I teased. I put my hand at Kyoko head, brushing her hair briefly, patting her head soothingly as she slept on soundly.

Tsuna's face flushed. "NO!" he quickly denied, "no, not at all-- No, I'm not!"

I laughed.

-

"My arm's gonna be alright in a week or so, don't worry too much!" I assured the girl as we walked home together. "It's already in good condition.  It's just pretty fragile for the time being."

"That's great news!" Kyoko said, "Onii-chan's been pretty worried about you too."

I gave a chortle. "Tell him I appreciate his concern."

We stopped as we reached the Sasagawa residence. Kyoko turned to me and gave me a bright, happy smile. All the anger from the morning had dissipated, and all that was left was the forgiving side of my childhood friend.

"Thanks for walking me home, Rei-kun." she told me. "Good night."

"Well then, see you at school tomorrow." I smiled back at her.

------

-----

Sooo, this is kind of an awkward timeskip, but let's just say that it's after school the next day now and well--

Basically, yesterday I had the prettiest girl in school lay on my lap the whole lunch break. and then I walked her home, side by side, with her adorable face smiling her sweetest smile at me.

I knew something bad would happen when a nobody like me spends so much time, shared so much space, and dared to act all intimate with the most popular girl in school. I knew something bad would happen, but I didn't expect this.

"So," the upperclassman with the biggest build in the five corner me, "Your name's Ninomiya Rei?" he interrogated, the sick, twisted grin on his face as he asked me a question he didn't really need me to answer.

In the entirety of both my lives, I've never been stupid enough to anger the big boys in school. Never have I ever been bullied, and half of the reason for that was Rei's body condition. No one I knew had ever been enough of a daredevil to shove around a ticking time bomb.

"You deaf, mutt?" the one on my left mocked.

This is not good, I found idiots!

-

"Seriously, you piss me off."

I chortle. "Maybe it's because I got to talk with the girl you don't have the balls to approach?"

I was instantly shacked in the face with a hard fist.

I lost footing, my back hitting against the wall hard before I slid down towards the ground.

"Oh, seriously? For a fuckin' smartass comment?" his companion snapped at the first guy, "And in the face! Dude, are you trying to get us all killed by Hibari?"

"Hibari ain't gonna be here for another five minutes, at least!" the guy retorted, "and HE asked for it!" he argued, pointing accusingly at me.

His companion rolled his eyes, "What happened to 'we're just gonna give him a scare'?" he groaned, "I'm not involved." he sighed. "Not if we're gonna be bitten to death by Hibari."

I smirk. Hibari, huh?

Might as well.

"Hey, morons," I picked myself up, staggering a bit but supporting myself with the wall, "If you're gonna start a fight, why don't you fucking finish it?" I challenged.

And Mr Hothead took the bait.

-

-

"It's alright, Hibari-san." I assured him, "I'm virtually unharmed."

And I wasn't exactly lying. I honestly held up the battle for a good while-- but it didn't take them long to realize my injured wrist was a definitive weak spot. After that, I had been knocked out by a hit to the head, and next I knew, Hibari was waking me up as he was done biting a few imbeciles to death.

My head throbbed and my ears rang, but I don't think I have a concussion, at least. I had no injuries aside from my head and the dull throb at my ailing wrist.

"Weakling." Hibari spat.

I winced at the call.

"Go," it was like an order, "Get your weak face out of this school."

And if you're gonna come back, come back stronger.

-

-

Weak.

That's what I was.

I thought I'd come to terms with it, but being called that was still quite a sting to my pride. I acknowledge that I'm weak. I acknowledge that I'm unable to overpower them.

I acknowledge, but losing still hurt.

My bangs hanging loose over my face, I made my way home. My face downcast, my mood solemn now-- I bit my bottom lip.

If only my wrist wasn't this bad. If I reacted a second earlier to that grab-- or maybe kicked that guy? Should I have flipped at that moment? No, I could've settled it with a headbutt.

There were so many countermeasures, now that I thought about it. I was running simulations in my head, unable to cope with the irritation of that lost. It was annoying. So annoying. So annoying. I could've won it. I could've won it.

Losing feels terrible.

I thought and thought and thought-- And on that day I vowed in my heart with spite. I promised myself that I will never lose again. Not to them, not anymore.

-

I bumped into someone.

"Oomph-"

"Oops! I'm sorry!" the man quickly apologized to me, grabbing my arm so I wouldn't fall, "You all right, kid?" he asked.

"Ah, yes I am--" I looked up, and my voice was stuck in my throat.

The blond, gruff man grinned back at me. His construction coat tied around his waist, he looked more than familiar to me. "That's a relief, but--"

I noticed he was eyeing me in scrutiny.

"Uhm, boy," he called me, "Why do you look so roughed up?" he questioned.

Self-consciously, I hid my face and the huge bruise that was probably already purpling at my cheek. "Oh, this is-!" I tried to think something up, avoiding his eyes, "Nothing, really, I just, uh, tripped! I tripped and uh-"

I was already being tugged at by the back of my collar towards somewhere.

"Wa-Wait, sir, uh??"

"Don't worry, my house is just 'round the corner! Let's get you patched up!" he grinned toothily at me in some sort of assurance.

Before I knew it, we were at a house. A quite familiar house, in fact--

"Nana! Could I have the first-aid kit?" Iemitsu called.