The value of a true friend

[One day later] [Sunday - 9:00 p.m.]

Oboro woke up suddenly and the first thing he did was... roll over and go back to sleep.

Or at least that was until he heard someone's voice from downstairs.

"Oboro-chan! You'll be late for your martial arts classes!" Oboro's mother's voice was heard from the first floor, making him remember his classes and get up quickly.

"It's true damn it!" Oboro said, getting up energetically and getting ready to go out, who was only dressed in a red boxer with white dots.

After brushing his teeth, Oboro took a shower and noticed that he seemed to be gaining a bit.

After this, Oboro dressed in his typical dark blue Gi and went downstairs to eat breakfast made by his mother.

Oboro's home was quite elegant and cozy, with two floors and everything that would be needed in it, even a small gym.

"Hey Okā-san, you think I'm getting fatter, I feel bigger" said Oboro with curiosity and trying to verify his suspicions with his mother.

Oboro's mother was a woman with cloud-white hair and blue eyes, whose appearance made her very adorable in the eyes of everyone.

"Don't worry Oboro-chan, even if you are a little fatter I will always love you" said Oboro's mother as she smiled broadly and pinched her cheek.

Although Oboro appreciated the gesture he did not get the response he wanted, so he was still not sure on the subject.

Oboro's father works early in his company so for now he was not present at home, and because of this Oboro would have to walk to the Dojo.

"See you Okā-san! I'll go visit Doryoku later so I'll come back late!" Oboro said as he waved his hand saying goodbye to his mother with his right arm and ran towards the exit.

"Be careful and send my regards to Doryoku-kun, let's see if you learn something from him and become more responsible" said Oboro's mother with a warning tone as she said goodbye making Oboro smile nervously.

Oboro left his house and ran to the Dojo at full speed because he was late.

The Dojo was not far away, so the best thing would be to simply run to it as quick as possible.

Oboro ran through the streets and looked around at the heroes with quite a bit of admiration.

Oboro could also see around that there were some birds that he had never seen, as well as a pretty gray cat sleeping on the wall of a house quietly.

Oboro remembered Doryoku's advice on not losing concentration looking around as it was dangerous, so he focused on his way to the Dojo.

The Oboro's Dojo focused especially on Okinawa martial arts, so Oboro specialized in karate and the handling of the bō staff, although he also knew a bit of tegumi which specializes in grappling and submission.

Oboro entered the Dojo and there were already several students sitting on his lap while listening to Sensei's words.

"Ohh, Shirakumo-kun, you were late as always, you can come in" said Oboro's Sensei calmly (a bald man with black eyes), not very surprised by Oboro's delay and then let him pass.

Oboro bowed slightly in respect and apology, then sat down next to one of his companions.

"You were late as usual Shirakumo, it is becoming a habit" said one of Oboro's companions with green eyes with a mocking smile.

"I'm sorry sorry, but this beauty doesn't stand alone" said Oboro apologetically and smiling proudly making his companions around him giggle slightly.

"Well as I was telling you! Today we will practice a little more with the bō staff and you will have some confrontations with each other, so I want you prepared" said the Dojo's Sensei with a serious and professional tone making the rest agree with understanding.

"Yes, Karuma-sensei!" all the students said in unison making Karuma nod in satisfaction.

The first thing that had to be done as always, were stretching and small warm-ups before the matches obviously.

"Hey bud, I feel like I got a bit fat, what do you think?" Oboro asked curiously to his green-eyed partner.

"Pfffff, good joke Shirakumo, although a bit generic I would say" said Oboro's green-eyed partner without taking his question seriously and laughing slightly.

After the stretching and warm-up, the confrontations began and everyone took a bō staff for their practices.

The fighting was very interesting to watch and some of the students showed much more control and handling of their bō staff than others.

The bō staff was basically a fairly sturdy wooden stick and 1.80 meters long more or less, so handling it required a lot of practice given in previous classes, although for the confrontations they used a staff made of another material that was less painful when hitting.

"Remember, you must use the bō staff as an extension of your body and always keep in mind that when you use a staff the enemy will always approach believing that they are useless at close range and that will be the moment in which the training will pay off" Karuma-sensei said in an explanatory and serious tone as he watched the clashes of his students

The confrontations continued until it was Oboro's turn, who had to face his companion with green eyes.

"Let's have a good fight Shirakumo" said the green-eyed young man with respect and excitement, as he adopted a spread-legged battle pose for balance and put the staff in front of him holding it with both hands.

"Same here Hideki-san!" Oboro said quite excitedly as he put his staff behind his back with his right arm and leaned forward in his own attacking pose.

"The match ends if you surrender or are defeated by your opponent, begin!" Karuma-sensei said in a serious tone as he raised his arm and then lowered it, starting the fight.

"Here I go!" Oboro said excitedly as he charged towards Hideki.

Oboro stand in front of him and attacked him with his staff from above being blocked by Hideki with a bit of difficulty.

Oboro then held his staff in both hands and lunged again at what Hideki moved to the side to dodge.

In the Dojo you could only hear the exchanges between the two students, each time with more speed and strength.

Hideki blocked up, right, left and dodged with full balance but without being able to attack at any time.

Oboro didn't just attack without thinking, he avoided being predictable at all costs and always maintained his advantage over his opponent with his incessant attacks.

But this didn't last long and Oboro left an opening for a second, which was quickly taken advantage of by Hideki.

Hideki caught Oboro by surprise by attacking from the left side of him, but the latter ducked nimbly and lunged into Hideki's stomach, sending him back several steps.

After this Oboro charged towards Hideki in what appeared to be an attack from above again, so Hideki placed his staff horizontally in front of him to stop him.

But it was a feint and Oboro threw his staff against the ground with great strength, causing great confusion for a moment which was perfectly used by Oboro.

The staff touched the ground and bounced with great force as Oboro jumped up, caught it in the air and lunged from above at Hideki causing him to fall back in shock and winning the match.

"Shirakumo-kun is the winner, a magnificent display of control, strength and surprise effect" Karuma-sensei said quite satisfied with the battle.

"As for you Hideki-kun, your defensive skills and balance are wonderful, but with that alone you will never be able to win" Karuma-sensei said to Hideki with a serious tone but quite proud of him as well.

"It was a good fight! For a moment I almost thought I would lose!" Oboro said happily and with his usual big smile as he helped Hideki to stand up.

"I have no idea where so much energy is coming from, but next time it will be different" said Hideki quite tired but with determination in his face after being defeated.

After this, the fighting continued until all the students had participated and were tired, so Karuma-sensei made everyone sit on their knees again to say goodbye and leave then go home.

"You all did wonderfully today, see you next weekend, and don't forget to exercise on your own" Karuma-sensei said with a satisfied smile and a warning tone.

"Yes, Karuma-sensei!" all the students said respectfully and then got up one by one and went home.

"See you Hideki-san! See ya guys!" Oboro said excitedly as he ran to the exit and said goodbye to his companions.

"See you Shirakumo!" all his classmates said excitedly as they said goodbye to Oboro.

Classes ended at 4:00 p.m. like every day, so Oboro started running to visit Doryoku.

But suddenly, Oboro smelled the aroma of something sweet and quite delicious, so he decided to take a little detour first.

This was already becoming a custom in Oboro, a few weeks ago a small shake stand opened near his home, whose shakes were a delight to Oboro.

Oboro went to the small stall and ordered two chocolate shakes while drinking one on the way to Doryoku's home.

Doryoku's home was quite small and with only one floor, but it was quite cozy and pretty both inside and outside and everything always seemed very organized.

Oboro arrived in front of the door and held one of the glasses with his forearm to knock on the door.

*Knock**Knock*

"Doryoku is me!" Oboro said aloud, causing the door to open a few seconds later.

"And what are you doing here? I was having a good look competition with the ground" Doryoku said with a bit of annoyance causing Oboro to have a drop of sweat on the back of his neck.

"I came to visit, and I brought you this!" Oboro said as he offered Doryoku a chocolate shake.

Doryoku stared at the milkshake in consideration for a moment and then went into the house looking for something apparently, to which Oboro was left a bit confused.

"Here, thanks for bringing it" said Doryoku calmly leaving his home again with money to pay for the milkshake.

"Hey man it's a gift!" Oboro said, refusing to take the money with a smile.

"Take it" Doryoku said seriously causing Oboro to let out a tired sigh and take the money.

"By the way Oboro, you look fatter, you should stop drinking these milkshakes" Doryoku said with a slight mocking smile as he drank his chocolate milkshake.

"I knew it! I have to stop being tempted by these delicacies!" Oboro said with realization as he continued to drink the milkshake without any shame or regret.

"You can come in, but don't make a mess with your milkshake" Doryoku said with a warning tone as he entered his house and continued drinking his milkshake.

"Hey Doryoku I had a little problem with a math exercise!" Oboro said excitedly as he entered the house.

"I knew you would have one, tell me what it is" said Doryoku not very surprised looking for his math book to help Oboro.

And for the rest of the afternoon, both friends studied on the subject in which Oboro was failing, in addition to other subjects for the future.

And as always, Oboro made Doryoku laugh several times, resulting in an equivalent exchange between the two friends.