#sekibayashi

“Welcome!” Kanami exclaims to the first client of the day. And smile more when she realizes who he is “hey, honey!”

“Hello,” he nods, approaching with a smile.

“Hi my Angel” Hiro greets, and Ohma snorts.

“I'm not Angel” he looks at Kanami.

“Okay, but you are definitely not Satan’s Spawn, hon.”

“I'm nobody's child” he chuckles a little “Oh yea, there's no bread at home.”’

“Yes, I already prepared the bag, later I'll take it” she kisses his forehead as he sits down at the counter “don't you have training today?”

“And you want me to go with an empty stomach?”

“But I made breakfast at home…”

He raises an eyebrow and she sighs. Oh sure.

Hiro and Tomori laughed. Paikon was asleep, as usual.

“Hey, Doro, take the cakes out of the oven, Gin, would you please decorate the donuts? These ones sell a lot” Tomori was giving orders in the kitchen, now much bigger than before, and with more people working, things got a lot lighter - “Kana, everything is ready, will you need anything else?”

“Give me a plate full of donuts with some muffins and a milkshake, I have to make my offering to this Cthulhu here…”

Tomori laughs “roger that!” and winks.

“Offering?” Ohma grimaces “Don’t I always pay?”

"Yes, but the joke remains." She leans over the counter to look at him and smile, but then she’s hit with a pang of pain. He immediately gets up.

“Hey, Kana, be careful, you're still recovering…” he says, alert.

“And you shouldn't even be working, you're still walking on crutches and all” Hiro scolds, for the seventh time today “it takes a long time to heal broken ribs and a slashed leg, you know…”

“Oh, leave me be, you!” She grunts “I didn't want to miss the opening of our new spot!”

“No, you’re stubborn as fuck, that’s the truth” Ohma grunts.

“You have no right to call me stubborn, honey, as you’re one too”

“At least I am already healed, you’re not”

“I don’t have your miraculous metabolism…”

“I love you all so much” Tomori says, making everyone laugh embarrassed. Except Ohma, who still holds his ground.

“Aaaaawwwnnnn you're a cutie” the cashier hugs the Second Cook, who laughs out loud.

“Be Careful, spawn of satan, I have a boyfriend now too... and a jealous MMA fighter one…”

“He's the one who has to watch out for me, baby. I'm also one who eats muscle for breakfast you know…”

Kanami laughs, watching the scene. And the smile fades as she looks into Ohma's gray-brown eyes. They were hard and serious.

“Oh, okaaaaaay, I'm going to stop for today, sit at the table and you guys pamper me until we close for today, okay?”

He nods, satisfied, and helps her to reach the back table. She starts fiddling with her phone, and Ohma saw that on the home screen wallpaper was a picture of the camp two months ago. She smiles when he notices.

“I still want another one of these,” she says, as Ohma sits down beside her.

“When you heal, I'll take you again with me…”

“But from here to there it will be in the middle of winter!”

“And who said I’ll go with you be in the winter?” He raises an eyebrow.

“I won't take thaat long to heal.”

“I won't let you do anything like that, until we both heal, after the end of the tournament this year” he counters, “even because I'm going to get screwed too, so…”

“Ahh, I get it.” She smiles a little. Fighting was what he did best, and she had no right to stop him… It was his profession, so she let him do what he wanted, well, unless he was in danger of dying, that was her limit.

She heard the bell ring at the entrance and took a peek, craning her neck. She smiled.

“Koga! Ryuu!” she waves to the two, as they approach smiling.

“Heyy, Kanaaa” Koga greets “I knew you had been discharged, but you’re already here and everything…”

“By her stubbornness” Ohma makes a face at her.

“Leave me alone, that's what I do best.” She sticks her tongue out at him.

Ryuki smiles, “So it means there is a vacancy today, Sis?”

“Yes, there is, my dear, you can put on my apron, I'm forbidden to do heavy work for now. Your “cousin” here won't let me out of here until next year.”

He smiles a little, heading towards the kitchen and pulling on the apron.

Koga smiles, “I'm so happy for you guys.”

“My shipp became canon!” Hiro exclaims from the counter, making Koga and Kanami laugh.

“Thanks” she leans her head on Ohma’s shoulder “I got completely fucked up to get it, but I won the battle for this one, eheheheh.”

“Oh wow, I didn’t know I was a prize for a Female Kengan fight” he jokes, sarcastically, and more laughter erupts.

Koga nods, still smiling, and goes to the counter to order something.

Later, the four idiots appear. Lihito's eyes widen like two full moons.

“Himuroooooo!” he exclaims, grabbing the collar of the white-haired one.

“Ow, what the hell, dude?!” Ryo grumbles, almost bumping into Kaneda. Okubo already went straight to the counter, to greet whoever interested him.

“Whyyyyyyy?!”

“Why the fuck, be specific!”

“WHY DO I HAVE TO BE THE LAST ONE?!”  he points to Ohma and Kanami, in the back of the bakery “Worse yet, I'll always be reminded of the guy who got a girlfriend AFTER THE SEAWEED HEAD!!”

“‘Oww, my ear, dude, get off me!” he pushes the other, who was in tears “it's your fault that you don’t have one yet.”

“He's right, Lihito.” Kaneda smiles “How about you be like Ohma and be confortable on your own?”

“Look on the bright side” Ryo adjusts his shirt back “Kaneda and I are single too. There's still a chance to give it a go. But I'll tell you soon” he raises an eyebrow “I don’t wanna fight for this.”

Lihito smiles “Bet, you chimney mouth!” they sit at another table. Okubo stayed at the counter, ordering something, then after joined the group, so as not to disturb Tomori during work.

Ohma shakes his head. He wasn't much for public displays of affection, but Kana knew from his close proximity, letting her lean against him while he ate, was proof enough. The whole thing became really special when he offered her a donut, but today she declined out of politeness, just wanting to be close to him today.

Kanami watched as more and more people arrived. The overwhelming majority were the SJPW people and the academy ones, who were just arriving from morning practice. Protein milkshakes were sold in droves at that time, and Ryuki instantly got the hang of it, he and Koga were talking well, which was good, they seemed to have come to some sort of agreement. Or don’t, she would still have to know about that, soon.

Sekibayashi arrived, laughing out loud, with Jose

“Ah, look what we have here, so finally the two are coming out as a couple. It was more than time.”

“It was a complicated situation, Seki” she smiles “so, are you ready for the tournament too?”

“No, I’ll pass this one on, there will be another one later, and I’ll be getting ready for that other one…”

“Me too,” Ohma smiles. “this first one is for the small fries, as I was told”

“I won't let you get ahead of me again, Tokita.”

“I want to see you try” Ohma snorts. Kanami smiles. This was a healthy rivalry.

“Hey Chica.” Jose addresses Kanami “don't work too hard yet.”

“Thank you, Jose, but leave the worrying talk to one guy, this one doesn't even let me walk alone anymore. He's even offering me food…”

Ohma grunts, letting out a huff, cheeks heating up. Sekibayashi and Jose laugh out loud, then they go to sit at the counter to make fun of Koga.

“Hey Kanami, do you still have that black forest cake?” Haruo asks, his silhouette covering the high double door, made to fit people his size.

“Yes, there is, sweetie, ask Hiro and he'll get it for you.”

“Over here, big guy!” Hiro shows the way.

Ohma watches the bakery getting more and more crowded. Tomoyo, the waitress, and about three of her friends, hired by Kana, were now gliding smoothly through the larger space on their skates, serving tables and others further away.

“Yeah…” he comments “This place has become really busy.”

“Yeah, and that's great” she was distracted on her cell phone “The more we grow, the better…”

“Yeah… and I feel calmer too…” he sighs.

"Yea, why tho?" She looks at him. He pulls her along, putting his face above Kana’s head.

“Because with this amount of strong people around, I feel more relaxed thinking about traveling to participate in things. You will be safe.”

“As if I couldn't knock one of these down with a punch…” She rolls her eyes, but blushing at what he said.

“Of course you can, that's a huge part of why I'm calm. Nobody messes with you… or your friends… or me. I'm protected here. Thank you Kanami.”

She smiles, blushing and hugging him. He accepts the hug, one arm tugging her slowly.

…

“You're late, Dumbass” the blonde crosses his arms, getting up from the Harley Davidson motorcycle he was leaning against.

“Sorry” Ohma arrives, calmly, in the abandoned park in the suburbs, where they arranged to meet “I still haven't gotten a license to have my motorcycle either. Here”, he hands over a bag “Kanami said to give it to you. You said your birthday is coming up.”

“Huh, and now you give gifts?”

“She gave it, I just played the pizza delivery guy.”

Raian takes the bag suspiciously, and looks. There was a package inside, it looked like a small cake. He frowns, looking at his friend.

“What is it?”

“How will I know?”

“Don't you know?”

“I know it’s edible, if you don’t want it, I'll eat…”

“No!” he extends his arm putting the bag away from the seaweed-head “it's MINE!”

“See how I felt when you stole my cake, Asshole?”

Raian laughs mischievously “That was fun, and I already paid you the other one almost a year ago, you fuckin rancorous.”

“Hnf” he takes a step away “just don't let Fusui see it.”

“Nah, okay, I’ll say it has peanuts, she hates peanuts” he laughs, putting the bag securely on his bike “But, why this tho? Karla pretty much ‘got her… I’m a Kure too”

“She won the fight” he grimaces “and we have a problem with your cousin, not with you. You didn't do anything…" he raises an eyebrow “Not that we can prove...”

“Heh” he smiles mischievously as usual “Okaay, I respect it…”

“There, the cake is delivered, now…” he throws a punch that would have been right in Kure's face if it weren't for the guy's superhuman reflex. Raian pulled away, and chuckled low.

“Wooow, flat-footed, man?” he laughs a little more “That's what I like about you.”

“Don't start with those perverted comments at this time of the morning.”

“So come shut my mouth, then” he challenges, in the pose of combat.

And the two started their training, even though it has decreased in frequency due to the distance, they still did it religiously. It was a very unorthodox program between friends, but that's what they had.

…

Later, after he got home, Raian opened the package, curious.

The cake was a miniature, about a third of the size of the one the seaweed-head had once brought to the village, with a well-frosted Happy Birthday, full of those frivolous shenanigans. He chuckled low at the idiocy, but hey, it was a cake.

Inside the bag, Raian soon noticed it, saw it had a note, and the assassin read it.

“Don't think this fixes things with your cousin, but you're friends with my boyfriend and I know he's happy when he fights you. Consider it a peace token.

Happy Birthday!

Oomori Kanami.”

And on the card, the bakery’s logo. He huffed, tossing the card into a corner, shrugging, and started to eat. That lucky motherfucker seaweed head, this thing was really good…

“Hey, Raian, do you know where my silenced gun is? I remember you took it the other day and…” Fusui enters the room and then widens her eyes “Hey! Is that a cake?!”

Raian stands up as if he has springs in his legs, backing away in panic at having been caught in the act.

“Get out! It's mine!” He says with his mouth full, the cake still in his hands.

“You bought a whole cake and didn't offer to share?” She frowns “Dude, really, you're selfish just like Ohma…unacceptable” and tries to get it from him.

“Get out, Fusui! I won this!” He puts the cake box up, trying to push his sister away with one leg.

“It doesn't give you the right to eat alone, it gives you a stomach ache…” she tries to reach, tickling him to lose his grip. He grunts, pissed off now.

“Leave me be, it's for my birthday, I eat whatever the fuck I want!”

Raian had to fight for the possession of the cake. Not that it was a real challenge for him, but it sure was pretty annoying.

…

Somewhere in the city of Tokyo, Kanami laughs to herself, imagining this situation happening, kind of upset that she didn't see it.

“What's it?” Ohma asks her, as they took a taxi back home, since she couldn't make an effort to walk all the way back.

“Oh, nothing… I'm just happy” she laughs a little more, leaning against him. She would soon learn the details of her mini-revenge, but for now, she was satisfied.

…

The bakery was one of those on a busy corner of Tokyo, but not one right in the center of the city. Due to the number of gyms in the region, several people of different weights and physical shapes gathered there. On the sign, a logo of a strong arm showing the biceps, and another hand holding a basket of bread.

It read “The Heavy Bakery”.

END

THANK YOU FOR READING!

I'm so happy to finally have finished this, it was an utterly nice fanfiction project, I had a blast writing! Hope you liked this journey <3

Love, AneenaSevla

“Ready?” she was already out of the house when Koga arrived, with his sports bag in tow. He seemed in a better mood than when he was at the table.

“Yes” Koga adjusts the bag, focused “I'm ready now” he straightens up and sees her wearing a pair of black leggings and a blue tank top over a purple top. Colorful running shoes completed the look.

“Uh... - he blinks, as he watches her warming up "Miss Kanami, it looks like you're going to run..."

“Oh, not exactly. I've already been told that you and Mr. Kazuo likes to go to work on foot. So I just got the gym clothes already on. And I have an extra outfit for after training, so…” she sighs, “huff… I haven't exercised in a while, that stab really killed me. But it doesn't hurt as much anymore, and at least I can stretch now.”

“I'm glad you healed quickly, but don't you think it would be better to take it easy for now?”

“Yes, I will, I will not mess with the muscles of the region when working out. Not yet.” She picks up her own bag, one in her shoulder. She observes his manner, still a little shy, “ what is it?”

“Oh, no, nothing” he starts to walk. Kanami follows him, wondering what it could be. "Maybe he's the type who isn't used to seeing women at the gym, I've seen this type before, especially when Kazuo-sama said that the matches he attends don't have a women's league...". She decided to take a risk.

“Hmmm… are the clothes revealing too much? I can change if you think so.”

“No, no, you look great” he smiles sheepshly, “it's just that I'm kind of…”

“He only sees women of your body type in american magazines, you are just like some of them”, Says a voice behind them. Koga looked like a cat jumping in fright.

“Oh, really?” She laughs, looking at the other boy cringe in shame.

“That's not all true!”, Koga growls, red “And where did you come from, you bastard?!”

“I was here the whole time” Ryuki says as he walks to be with them, wearing normal clothes and carrying a bag on his back, “I checked those zines out last night, they're pretty, but they have the same bad taste in clothes as you, Koga.”

“You who are basic!” Koga frowns, he wants to bury his face in the ground.

“Guys, don't need to make a fuss about that”, Kanami laughed, “in fact, women's gym attire is kind of revealing, but it's simply because, unlike you, we can't be shirtless. And as women are beautiful in whatever you put on them, they end up attracting attention anyway”, she sighs, thinking about the experiences she has had the past months she started to workout in Japan, “maybe one day I'll go with you to a mixed gym, then you can meet other buff girls…”, she smiles mischievously, “they would love to know you.”

Koga widens his eyes, and then smiles. He seemed to like the idea a lot, scratching the back of his head, “Ohhh, do you think so?”

“The only thing that spoils him are these ugly clothes” Ryuki blurts out, making Koga catch fire with rage.

“Oh, you're asking, kid!”

“Calm down, firey boy”, Kanami holds his shoulder, “and clothes don't define character, Ryuki-san. He just looks aesthetically ugly, but I'm sure with a good personality, his muscles will jump out.”

“That sounded very wrong,” Koga mutters, grimacing.

…

Kanami, Koga and Ryuki arrived at the academy. Kanami's eyes widened.

“ But… but this is the SJPW training center!”

“Yea, it is”. Koga turns his head, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“My God… Tomori will really be jealous…” she smiles, already thinking about her friend's screams.

“Is she a buffy girl too?” Ryuki asks, having a popsicle he bought on the way.

“No, but she is crazy about Wrestlers, she loves watching when they have a match on TV.”

“Heh, apparently she'll be even more jealous when she finds out that you at least saw them training.”

Kanami smiles. Koga went first, Ryuki right behind. She stared at the entrance, a little intimidated, until the brunette turned around.

“Hey, are you okay?”, Ryuki raises an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah… I’m just mentally preparing…”

She almost didn't see him approaching, only saw when his fist was inches from her face, Kanami almost didn't dodged in time, her eyes wide.

She felt the slash of air, that wasn't a light punch!

“HEY! Are you crazy, man?”, Kanami exclaims, she had dropped her bag, now instinctively in the strike pose. She is surprised.

The boy's face no longer had an innocent and cute face, it was the complete opposite, it was cold and calculating, making Kana jump back, shivering.

“There’s no mental preparation in combat” he says, with the same expressionless voice, which made her more alert, “or in life.”

“What the fuck, man, what happened to you?”

Suddenly Ryuki blinks, eyes returning to “normal” for a moment, “Hey, didn't you say you wanted to get ready? Now you seem well prepared now”

Kanami blinks too, not quite understanding, until she notices that her body is tense, muscle memory immediately asking her to move her feet.

“Damn.” She tried to stop the combat pose, but felt like she would have more.

“You should have more confidence, almost got light-punched by me. Usually bad guys have no mercy”.

Light punch?! Was that force a light punch? If she hadn't swerved…she looked at the guy, he was absolutely calm, he didn't move an inch less than necessary, his feet were moving as if they had specific marks. He really was the type that was made for the thing.

“Ryuki! Jeez, she's not our level yet, and she's a lady, goddamn it!”, Koga exclaims, approaching.

Kana soon notices that it's not just the three of them in the scene anymore. Other fighters heard the commotion and came to watch, or help if necessary.

“Lady, Woman, Man… does it matter?” Ryuki shrugs “fighting is something everyone should learn.”

“But that's not how you start to teach, damn it…” Koga sighs.

“What's going on up there?” they hear a deep voice, and the footsteps of a giant approaching draw the attention of the fighters. Kanami looks away for a second, and almost loses sight of Ryuki, giving him time to at least prepare for the high blow with a defense, but he quickly spins around to be behind her and trips her, causing her to fall if he didn't have holded her arm. Suspended in midair, she looks at him, unsure how to react, and Ryuki slowly drops her to the ground.

“Koga told me not to take the fight seriously. But if it were, you'd be scrunched up in your face” ,he calls attention to the opposite fist, ready to strike.

“Damn, I know”, she sits down, when he walks away “I know I'm not strong, but don't humiliate me.”

“That wasn't humiliation, you managed to see my blows this time.” he smiled.

“Ryuki!” she only sees one arm, no… a wooden log, holding the boy by the shoulder and shaking him lightly “What did I say about getting into trouble in the gym?!”

“Hi Mr. Sekibayashi”, he lets himself be shaken, adjusting the glasses that had come out of place.

“Don't say "hi" kid, it's the third time”, he then looks at Kanami, who finally looks at his face, “hey miss, are you ok?”

She'd seen big guys before, but this… no, that was a mountain made of meat. That's when she saw the brown dreadlocks and the already middle-aged face she recognized.

“Ah, yes… I…”, she gets up without ceremony, “I am…”

“Kanami, are you okay?”, Koga asks, a little worried, “Ryuki is a little unpredictable sometimes, sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? I didn't really attack her”, Ryuki breaks free from the giant “she said she wanted to prepare, I was helping.”

“Guys, calm down… I'm fine” she defends herself, gesturing with her hands, “it's not like I've never been punched either. I came to train, not to admire.”

“Ahhhh… So you are the girl that Koga said he was going to bring to meet our training…”, Seki approaches, “Nice to meet you…I am-”

“Jun Sekibayashi, recurring SJPW wrestler…” she bows. She wouldn't even want to shake that guy's hand, “my friend is a fan of yours and told me a lot about your records.”

“Heh, my fame precedes me” - he smiles immensely, “And you are?”

“Oomori Kanami, sir…”

The giant gave her a quick glance, nodding in satisfaction.

“Well, Miss Oomori, I can already see that there's something already conditioned, we can start doing some exercises without teaching you something very basic.”

“Hey boss” one of the men starts to say something.

“What?”

“Sir, she is a lady…”, One of them turned red.

“So what, you chicken? She has muscles, and here, we work them.”

“But we don’t…”

“Are you telling me that a grown man your size is afraid of a woman?”

“It's not that…”

“Sir, I think it's because of the rules…”, Koga tries to start.

“I know the rules, I'm no newbie to this gym, you morons”, he laughs “ok, she's going to have a separate area, satisfied, you fags?”

“If I'm bothering you, sir, I’ll go somewhere else…”

“Relax”, he says more quietly, “I know the details. The seaweed was careful and told me personally this morning. It's all arranged, your custody is safe.”

Kanami blinks, unresponsive. So at the end of the day, Ohma wasn't that dense for some things.

“Since you're part of the gym rat crew, you're safe with us and won't get bored, right?”, Jun smiles, giving her a light pat on the back.

“Wow, thanks… If there's anything I can do to help you too…” She blushes.

“Just stick with me, do your work, help me motivate them, and then we'll all have curry for dinner. Is that good?”

“Perfect. I love Curry”

“Excellent.” he turns to the others, “What are you doing standing there, you bitches? The recess is over, let's pull iron bars!”

He claps his hands once and everyone else - except Ryuki - walks in as if they've been running from a monster - which, given the circumstances, was actually true.

Kanami lags behind a bit. Ryuki looks at her.

“There it is. Introductions made with success” he smiles.

“Did you plan all of this?”, She raises an eyebrow.

“No, but at least it worked out in the end”, he shrugs, “I'leaving now, Miss Kanami.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have other things to take care of, I'll meet ya’ll later at home.”

“Okay…thanks,” she nods, as he reciprocates and turns away, taking his bag, which he'd dropped on the floor. She stops, “Hey, Ryuki”

He turns around.

“Next time, I won't lose to you.”

He laughs softly, waving his hand as he heaves “All right, let’s see then...”

She then, finally with her bag, headed to the gym, feeling strangely more at home after this ruckus.

…

“Aaannnd… thirty!”, a fighter named Jose counts, removing the bar from above Kanami's chin,  “Haha, that’s nice to see, chica. Three sets of ten with forty kilos, not bad.”

He was one of those Lucha Libre fighters, in fact, he was even wearing a typical mask, and even the name, he had confirmed, was indeed of Mexican descent. He had a long, black hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was smiling at her, with a hint of pride.

“Ugh…” - She smiles, standing up, flexing her shoulders, “Thank you, but I'm still out of shape…”

“You used to lift even more than that? I'm already starting to like you”, he laughs, “I think it's good for today. The boss told you to take it easy after he found out he had just been stabbed, but we know you can handle it.”

“Actually, it's been a few weeks since I even set foot in a gym…” - she catches her breath, “so I'm still not in my top shape, but I'm happy to know that I'm not a beginner anymore…”

“And I'm proud of that”,he smiles,“in a little while it will be dinner time, let's go inside to rehydrate, enjoy and see how the pendejos are doing.”

“I'm in,” she smiles, following the guy to the main area.

She hears Sekibayashi's screams before she even sees him "instructing" the other fighters (and Koga), and in a very witty way.

“Come on, girls, I want to see how you sit!” He did the squats together with the others, but seemed way less tired than the rest.

Kana struggles to keep from laughing, seeing the guys, in fact, groaning from the physical exertion. “Indeed” she thinks “riding is no joke” and lets out a small snore.

Sekibayashi couldn't help but notice this, and turned his head to her. Kanami's eyes widen at the mischievous smile he lets out.

“Apparently it's hard today for you, huh?!”, the giant makes fun of the others “Miss Kanami, do you want to come here and show these soft-butts how it's done?”

Jose holds back a laugh, giving the girl a light push on the shoulder.

“Me?!”, Kanami exclaims, her voice suddenly getting high.

“Yes, you, kid. Stay here on my side, see if it raises the morale of this bunch.”

“Oh my god,” she mutters, suddenly embarrassed. Ending up approaching, staying next to the giant.

“Hell Yeeah!”, Seki celebrates, making a “yes!” with the arm, “Jose!”

“Send it, boss.”

“Put on “that” music, to warm things up.”

Some fighters growled and groaned but with sudden shame and protest, Koga scratched the back of his head, his face already red from the exercise, now even more, muttering something like 'oh maan, not that…'. Kanami raises an eyebrow.

“Song?”

Then suddenly a sound of trumpets in a danceable rhythm and well… embarrassing, for the male audience.

“Let’s goooooo, folks, I want to see you doing well now!” - he starts the exercises again, Kanami laughs very loudly before starting to imitate him.

“Let's go boys! One two three four…!”, she yells, joking along, laughing while imitating Sekibayashi, who seems to be having the time of his life, “Y.M.C.A!”

The men had no choice but to do it, some suddenly letting go of their fear and riding along. Soon, some began to laugh together, first with friends, then with their own misfortune, then with adrenaline.

The song ended and she was left celebrating with the others, Sekibayashi laughing at the top of his lungs.

“Hey guys, I enjoyed seeing it! That’s the spirit”. he smiles a lot, “That's today’s lesson! Who is macho doesn't need to be cringing because of a song, put Britney Spears there, chamaco!” he imitates Jose's accent, who laughs loudly while everyone protests, but this time from fatigue.

Kanami laughs a lot, and congratulates the others for their effort, receiving smiles and a red cheek in return.

“Relax, damn it, I'm kidding. Well done guys, you deserved today's Curry! To the cafeteria!”

A joyful collective scream sounded through the gym, especially the largest of the students – whose name she recognized as “Haruo” – jumped up for joy.

As everyone made their way to eat, Seki caught Kanami's attention:

“Thanks Kana. It was starting to get awkward around here with these guys commenting shit about our no-women rules and stuff, even you being a really different exception.”

“Thank you, Mister Seki. I appreciate your effort to break the ice.”

“Show up here whenever you can, when you're on your toes again, we can even have some spares.”

“I would really appreciate it. I'm unable to go to my regular gyms due to circumstances, so that would be most welcome.”

He let out a half chuckle.

“Did you see how they started to show off?”

“Yes I did. I'm not a novice at this male shit. One even kissed the biceps thinking it was a good way to woe me. I even saw the little heart coming out.”

The two laughed out loud, finally walking to join the others.

Of course Kanami took the opportunity to get his autograph. Tomori was going to rip her head off if she didn't.