46 Chapter 44 : Ok Ok (2)
A/N: ayo small update, I failed the Spanish exam lol, got 3/20… Ahem anyway as the teacher likes me enough she said she'll look into the test to try and find some points here and there…
On the other hand I decided to skip most of the volleyball part, seeing that some people don't like it that much, so might as well not spend so much time on it as it might become redundant.
And yeh this mini arc is ending very soon too.
Don't forget the stones ma guys!
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'Ooof what a game!' Kurai trimmed his wet hair back.
He was now in the men's bath, enjoying the warm water after the final, and his thoughts kept going back to it.
It could easily be said that it was one of his most intense volleyball matches. 'Damn, I shouldn't forget *that* tomorrow.'
The game ended one hour ago, the score was 27-25. In his team's favor. Normally it should've ended at 25, but in volleyball you need at least a 2-point difference in the score to end the game.
Therefore the game was close until 24-25, the Animals were unexpectedly losing at that time, but they managed to score 3 points and bring the total to 27!
Kurai kept analyzing the game but he didn't find many flaws in both teams. 'They were very strong…'
As always Ryuko started to serve, but this time the Ninjas made a perfect reception, followed up by a smash, which left them frozen with their mouths agape.
Not expecting this kind of return, the Animals had lost their first point just like that.
'...But we were stronger.' It was also a kind of wake up call, after that they stopped underestimating their adversaries, and played like always with all their might.
For the first time in the tournament, Kurai's or Rumi's smashes weren't scoring directly, for the first time ever too, they had to defend and make strategies to score.
At the end of the game, they were full of sand after diving plenty of times, being sweaty didn't help at all either. Hence the direct shower, or bath in this case, after the game.
Even though the crowd was going crazy, the teams left quite quickly because of that, they obviously all shook hands as a sign of fair play and Kurai's team was promised a prize. 'A fruit?'
Still, the trio wanted to meet one last time to debrief, and simply spend the last hours of the day together before the fateful 'spar'. Well, Rumi wasn't aware of what it consisted of, but she knew it had something to do with Kurai and Ryuko.
And she intended to discover it by any means, after all she thought that her spying skills were unparalleled since they had 'worked' once already.
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"Ah, it felt good!" Stretching his limbs after coming out of the bath, Kurai felt rejuvenated.
'Old traditional Japanese baths are the best!' He was now drying himself and putting a towel over his naked lower body when someone entered the men's bath.
"You!"
Astonishingly, it was Ryuko's dad, the old priest, who also had a towel draped over his family jewels.
"Damn, Jeezer! You're pretty well maintained for an old man!" Kurai also reacted strongly after seeing him.
He knew that the man was jacked after fighting with him, but now that he actually saw him it was another matter altogether.
"Talk about yourself first yeah, this ain't a normal kid's body, heh." The priest was like minded, he knew after his fight that Kurai was far from the average kid.
And with his experience, he now knew better why Kurai was so strong, just by seeing his body.
Likewise, for the first time, he thought that there might be someone who had reached perfection. 'Those chiseled and raffined muscles are the work of many painful hours, huh?'
"Ahem." Kurai faked a cough.
"Thanks for the compliment, but I should leave before it becomes gayer." He then quickly took off toward his room leaving a puzzled old man behind.
What he didn't notice in his hurry to flee some weird rainbow vibes coming from the old man, was a certain's blond hair look.
Ryuko, who had come out of her bath earlier and was waiting for her father a bit further, actually saw him leaving.
'W-w what!' She was totally stunned by his Adonis-like body; it could be said that she was enraptured by it after seeing the blush that was covering half of her face.
Lightly slapping her cheeks, she told herself, 'P-put yourself together, Ryuko!'
She knew she had to stop overreacting like that, but it was easier said than done, fortunately she had time alone until her father finished his bath.
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A few hours later, the group got back together in one of the gardens of the shirine.
It looked like a harmonious mix of a typical Chinese garden and a Japanese one.
The garden was enclosed by white walls blocking the view from the inside and the outside.
Kurai was the first to arrive, he was resting his head on his arms looking over at the scenery.
From where he was standing, the pavilion, he could see the small hill, which was the source of the running water.
Ponds and other small currents of water originated from it.
Koi fish were almost everywhere. 'Peaceful, calm and undisturbed by the flow of time.'
It seemed that the beautiful view could give poetic enlightenment too.
All elements were placed to harmonize with nature and each element had a different meaning.
There were stone lanterns, gates and fences with a dragon head at each corner too. It obviously wasn't a coincidence.
In the end, this was a strolling garden with a series of paths that people had to follow and that they could enjoy from a variety of viewpoints. 'I could wait here all day…' He thought, yawning.
Even the air seemed purer to him. Undisturbed, Kurai truly felt at peace, the mind freed of worries.
In spite of everything that was happening around him, he tried to be as level headed as possible.
'I'll get that fruit from the prize for Rumi, and see if it cures her. Then gotta have that fight with Ryuko. And finally do something for the school, I can't spend a whole year apart from my new sister.'
He tried to reorganize his thoughts now that he was in this free kind of state.
*Sigh* He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. 'So many things to do, huh?
From behind him, Ryuko had quietly arrived at the rendezvous point so as to not disturb him.
"Are you that tired, Kurai-san? Why the sigh?"
Kurai had already felt her presence but ignored it since it was harmless, still he acted as if he only discovered it now.
"Hum? Ryuko? Nothing, I was just admiring the view." He answered, only turning his head lazily to take a look at the dragon girl.
She was wearing her Shinto Priestess dress, the red one with golden dragon ornaments.
It really emphasized her eyes a lot, and made her seem more regal than ever.
"Beautiful, isn't it? It's always one of my favorite places when I need some time alone, or simply to rest." She rhetorically asked, joining him at the edge of the pavilion.
Ryuko had a peaceful smile on her face too, she couldn't never get tired of this view.
Kurai too couldn't get tired of the view, "Beautiful indeed." Although his gaze was somewhere else.
"Yea—" Noticing what he said Ryuko looked down at the lazy cat who was resting his head between his hands.
"You…!" She obviously knew where his gaze was pointing.
Her cheeks reddened like ripped cherries and she looked elsewhere to avoid the awkward moment she was feeling.
At that moment, they heard small footsteps joining them, so Kurai didn't say anything and only showed the dragon his trademark feline smirk.
Pouting, Ryuko tried to not look at him again.
That's the scene Rumi stumbled upon, a grinning Kurai and an embarrassed Ryuko. Even though she found it displeasing, she didn't break up her pace and continued forward until she reached her friends.
Lately, she was already struggling a whole lot with her dreams, not having enough sleep and more frequent mood swings so the appearance of this 'rival' of hers didn't make things easy.
She was also tired of the tournament, hence Rumi let it slide for now, though she knew that she had to show the dragon her place some time.
"Yo." Still, she saluted them as she was now at their level.
"Aye, you look tired!" Kurai glanced on his right side, nodding at her.
"Ummm... Must be because I had to cover more field thanks to a certain someone." She maintained eye contact for a while with the blond while saying this.
The latter returned her gesture with an innocent and grateful smile. 'Tch. How can you be so kind when I'm literally mocking you?'
Another part of Rumi was reluctant to confront Ryuko, after all the dragon never did something mean.
"Alright! Let's get started! I want to sleep so badly!" This time it was Kurai who intervened, not wanting to let Rumi spark something.
Though Rumi's small gesture when he mentioned 'sleep' didn't escape his eyes.
'Man… It's great time for me to do something about it… I've so much matter at hand though… No, let's do it tomorrow after the fight with Ryuko.' After firmly deciding to resolve Rumi's dreams, Kurai told them his last tips concerning volleyball.
He brought up how the girls weren't analyzing the game.
How they weren't at the right places to intercept the ball.
Or even how they had forgotten to block some smashes.
Kurai also gave them advice for the next time, about serving, passing or tipping behind the block. Although he wasn't sure if Ryuko would ever play volleyball again, he knew that Rumi was a big fan of the sport.
It helped her keep her mind somewhere else, brought her fun and enjoyment, while keeping her competitive side bruning.
He also congratulated them for never giving up and giving their all during the match, mainly because at a certain point of the encounter any normal person would've given up. But they showed that they had resolve and envy.
Envy to win it all.
"And that is all I guess!" Kurai had his hands behind his head, grinning sheepishly.
He then concluded his monolog with sweet words, "It was fun to play with you two, I don't think I would've enjoyed the tournament like this with anyone else."
Ryuko bowed out of politeness, which Kurai didn't stop, knowing her intentions, "Thank you too Kurai, and you Rumi-san."
Even the small bunny couldn't help but nod at their words, when she thought back at it, the tournament was truly fun.
Kurai then looked up at the sky, night was slowly approaching, "We should head back to the group before they start worrying about us."
The trio left the garden's ground and each of them started going to their rooms to end the day.
Just before leaving, Kurai looked at Ryuko one last time, "Don't forget about the prize, bring it tomorrow for our fight."
It was obvious in his tone that the claim was more of a challenge to the dragon than anything.
"Don't worry about it!" Which she responded with her own grin.
Finally only Rumi was left standing alone.
She stayed silent, in the hall, reminiscing about what they said. In the end, it looked like she reached a conclusion too, before she entered her room to rest.
And her conclusion definitely looked like something that wouldn't please Kurai…
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