He turned his head towards me, his expression changed, becoming more serious and angrier, and he said, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
I could not see how Akiko was looking at me, as my eyes were glued to Kenji.
"I love Keiko. I realized this when I was away, and I wanted to tell you this before pursuing her, as I felt guilty for loving a friend's sister and my friend," I said in a low polite tone.
"You, are you serious, or are you doing it on a whim?" he said, maintaining the same face.
"I am serious. If you don't believe me, how should I prove it?" I said with the same determined and serious tone.
He got up and walked towards me, put his right hand on my left shoulder, and said, "I won't stop you or support you. You need to try your best and succeed. If she rejects you, you shouldn't hold grudges and let it go like a man. If you are okay with it, I am okay with it."
He said it and went back, picked up his mobile, and continued with his test.
Then I relaxed and fell on my back instantly. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and opened them. Akiko was all over my face with the expression of a proud mom looking at her son when he accomplished something.
I pushed her back and asked her what her problem was, and she said that she was just happy knowing that I was trying to woo Keiko, and her face was just glowing like a star. She asked a few other questions which were irrelevant, and finally she told me to ask her if I wanted any help with wooing Keiko. After that, we both talked a lot about how I should behave and talk with her. She even told me to take her out starting tomorrow and said that she would help me in achieving that.
When it was two o'clock, we three decided to sleep after completing our second round of food, and both of them left to their rooms, and I slept there as I felt too lazy to move.
The next day I woke peacefully without anyone waking me up. I got out of the Washitsu, and the whole Minka was silent. I thought that all of them were sleeping, so I went to the restroom and brushed my teeth, took a bath, and came to the dining room to look for something to eat. When I looked at the wall clock, the time was half past nine, and we were supposed to be there at exactly nine. I am late on my first day of return.
My grandpa is going to bury me alive.
So, I hurried out thinking that and hailed a cab, as it was easier than booking one in this situation.
After forty-five minutes, I reached the headquarters. When I went in, the receptionist asked me to go to my grandpa's room as he ordered it.
I thought that I was going to die, but he said that it was okay as it was my first day after a long time and asked me to take it easy today. He told me to go to the basement to get used to blood, as I had not seen it for four months.
I said, "Okay," for everything that he told me to do, and he didn't seem as angry as I thought that he would be after seeing me get defeated yesterday.
I don't understand him.
I then went down to the basement and got changed into the bloody clothes and was given a new work to finish.
In the basement, there will be a receptionist for each floor, and all the codes are cracked within the three floors. These involve some national and international codes, and some are tough to crack and some easy to crack. Some codes need to be submitted quickly, so they are allotted to experienced ones, and codes of low importance are given to interns. I was asked to practice on a broken code.
The whole day is completed. It is five in the evening, and I need to head to the training grounds.
I skipped my bath as I felt tired after losing consciousness five times in a single day, and I couldn't see Keiko today. I should get up early from tomorrow.
I walked out of the building thinking about her. The time was half past five. Now I need to go for another training. Thinking about it made me feel exhausted and weak.
I took a cab and headed to the dome.
I reached after forty-five minutes, and the driver woke me up as I fell asleep. I went into the locker room, and it was empty. I got changed into the training outfit and headed to the training room.
As I moved towards the ground, it was getting noisier, and when I entered, everyone was there except me. Everyone was pairing up to train, and I came late again today. They stopped pairing up in the middle and all watched me as I entered.
It was so humiliating for me, as they all came on time and I was coming whenever I wanted. It feels like they are looking down on me, as if I am arrogant for someone who is weak. I could even hear them whispering,
"He thinks he is some big shot cause his grandpa is a prefecture captain, coming whenever he wants."
I wished I could talk back, but what they were saying was true, so I couldn't talk back. However, not everyone is me. Kenji stepped in for me, saying, "If any of you have a problem with him, you can spar with him anytime," and asked them to stop talking about me like that.
Everyone went silent and carried on with their work. There is a total of thirty students of the same age as me in here. Among them, sixteen are male and fourteen are female.
Kenji waited for me while Keiko and Akiko went back to practice. He asked why I was late for the training, and I shot him with all the things that happened to me that day. As we were going to start the practice, he looked at me with a look that says, "Are you for real?!"
I asked what was wrong with him, for which he replied, "As a brother, I shouldn't say this, but you are not giving me any other choice. You said you are going to woo her, and now you are going to practice with me?"
I said, "I wanted to practice with her, but she is practicing with Akiko, and to spice things up, she didn't speak with me after our match yesterday."
After I finished saying it, Kenji shook his head as if saying, "What am I going to do with this child?"
He asked me to follow him, and we went towards the girls. He asked Keiko to practice with me, as he said he wanted to practice with Akiko, and both of them left.
It felt a little awkward for me to talk to her after what I did yesterday, so I apologized to her, saying that my intention wasn't to humiliate her but to end the match quickly.
She replied, "Why are you apologizing? I can understand why you behaved like that, so leave it, and let's just practice, as you got rusty with your sword."
She continued, "I didn't understand this; you were able to win against the three of us but couldn't win yesterday against me."
"It was not that I went easy against you, it was that you exceeded my expectations in just four months. Now that I know your level, I think I can handle you."
"You sound as cocky as ever, and I want to see you try," she said with her poker face and cold tone. That was so sexy, a girl who doesn't back off and sounds cool with a cold tone.
We didn't talk much after that as we practiced together. She's impressive as always, as she found I got rusty with my sword. That's what I like about her. She keeps an eye on every little detail. She's elegant with every move she makes. It's a pity that I couldn't watch her like this yesterday.
The training came to an end, and tomorrow's a Sunday. There's no training on Sundays. I thought of asking her for a date; however, I didn't have the courage to do so.
Others also started to wrap things up, and so did I.
I left Keiko and went to Kenji. Just as I left her, three male students approached her and asked for a date for the next day, but she politely rejected them. Then she started coming my way with a serious expression while flaunting her thick, long black hair.
She approached me and asked, "Are you free tomorrow?"
I was dumbfounded by what she asked. My mind stopped functioning, and I couldn't say anything.
Kenji came at the right time and said, "He is free."
Then Keiko said, "Okay, let's go out tomorrow. Let's meet at ten, is that okay?"
I nodded my head, still not believing that she asked me on a date.
As I nodded, she left both of us and went to Akiko, and both of them left to get changed, while I was still stuck thinking if it was a dream or not.
From the side, Kenji shouted, "You hit the jackpot! Are you going to propose to her tomorrow?"
I came back to my senses, shut his mouth, and said, "Why are you shouting? Do you want everyone present here to know that I love her?"
"No, I just wanted you to become my brother-in-law quickly," he said, removing my hand over his mouth.
"Why? She just wanted to get rid of them, so she asked me. She is cunning and intelligent. She chose to reject them by making it look like she was interested in me," I replied.
"Whatever the reason might be, just propose to her and let her know of the feelings you have."
"Is this the right thing?" I asked.
"As her brother, I am assuring you, just do it."
"Should I?"
"Dude, go on the frontal attack. The worst she could say is, 'Sorry' ", he replied.
"Aah, this is so tiring. I have decided," I said.
"What did you decide?"
"I will tell you later."
He started saying something, but my gaze shifted to the three boys that came to ask her out. They were looking at me with murderous eyes, so I also looked back with the same eyes.
The baldie came towards the three boys and said mockingly while looking at me with hatred, "Boys, if you want to live, keep your distance from that girl, or else you could lose your hand just like me or even more."
He showed his hand, removing his glove.
Kenji told him to piss off, and he started to leave. With a sly smile on his face, he said, "Just five more days to go, so enjoy and go on dates as much as you want," while going past us, as the exit was behind us.
The three also left without looking at me.
As they all left, Kenji said not to mind his words, but I wanted to know what the others were thinking about me, so I asked him, and he replied, "Arrogant, overconfident, reckless, and a tardy," with a straight face, without a second's delay.
I was shocked to know that was what they were thinking about me.
I asked him when and where he heard this, and he said that all of them were talking about me today and yesterday.
After that, we both decided to leave and went to the dressing room to get changed.
We got out, and the girls were having a chat with the other girls. They left as we approached them.
Kenji told both of them to go hail a cab, and we both stayed behind. It should have been the opposite, but it can't be helped.
He looked at me from top to bottom and said, "You have grown taller; you are now the same height as me," and continued, saying, "Do you have clothes for your date tomorrow?"
"No," I replied with a face that realized it just at that moment.
"And are you going to go with that beard and moustache?" he asked me with a disgusted face.
"What should I do? This is my first time going on a date," I said with a frustrated voice.
He put his hand on my shoulder with a confident face and said, "Leave it to me."