Chapter 40 : Last One Standing

A/N: Feels like I had a light popping above my brain like in those old cartoons when I wrote this chap... lol

Personally I guess it's up to my standards or even better. I mean for the writing; grammar, story, fluidity, etc...

I hope you'll enjoy this chap!

Oh and I had actually forgotten that we had a -1h setback a few weeks ago so I was still posting at 6pm (europe time) when I should've done it at 5... Even though the chapters are ready lol...

Here's the pic of the week.

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When Rumi's body hit the water the first person to react was surprisingly Ryuko.

Sighing, she couldn't help but think that everything seemed to smile to Kurai.

'Again, huh?' Even the bunny girl, who was the best contender, couldn't keep up with him.

'Is he destined to rise above the heavens too?' It made her remember her days as a small girl.

When she discovered her quirk, her father kept on telling her a lot of fairy tales so she could contain her instincts.

Now that she grew up everything was fine but this small moment of nostalgia made her smile.

Above the sea, Kurai was still standing tall. He had a proud grin showing up on his face even though the challenge wasn't that hard.

Seeing the drenched albino girl coming out of the water, his emotions disappeared immediately.

For him, winning or losing right now didn't matter, 'Well, winning is still better, heh.'

But it wasn't the same for Rumi, so remembering her previous state of mind, he observed her more carefully.

He was soon interrupted in his endeavour by immoral thoughts glossing through his mind.

As Rumi was emerging out of the water, her clothes were glued to her skin. He could see quite easily her shapely body.

Even though it looked more or less flat because of her young age, her small mounds were already protubering out of her body. Below, her stomach was as chiseled as his or very close to.

Trailing his gaze further down, his eyes reached her toned buttocks, which were making a small bump already.

After coming out of the water, Rumi put her hair back and felt an intense gaze crawling up on her skin.

Turning back, she saw Kurai from the top of his pole, eyes wide open at her.

'Damn, wake up dude, she's still a kid.' He shook his head, but as shameless as he was, even if he was caught by her he decided to jump.

Diving toward Rumi, he splashed water all over her again.

Immediately after surfacing, he locked her neck in his arms. He knew that he couldn't let her think about another defeat so soon.

Or maybe it was because he didn't want to get caught looking at a kid's body. In the end it was a natural thing since he was now a kid too, he just didn't want to admit it, yet...

"Arghhh!! What are you doing bastard?!"

Instead of getting back at her like he usually does, Kurai showed her a genuine smile from the depth of his heart, "It was a nice fight, Rumi."

"Um?" Rumi, ready for anything, was stumped by his answer.

When she looked back at him though, she was breathless. With water dripping from his hair and onto his body, he looked more stunning than ever.

His majestic purple hair was a shade darker thanks to the water, and it made him even more handsome.

Feeling his breath close to her bunny ear, Rumi couldn't help but feel her heartbeat accelerate and her cheeks redden.

"C-close!" She wiggled out of his 'embrace'.

Kurai was perplexed, "What?"

"I said you're too close pervert!!" The small rabbit shouted after seeing their clothes sticking to their bodies.

Hiding her 'womanly shapes' from his prying eyes, she walked up to the beach where Ryuko was waiting for them with a smile, and coats...

"Welp..." Kurai shrugged his shoulders and followed her.

''I just wanted to make her feel good for once, sigh."

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What followed was a big round of applause from everyone, Ryuko, Araki, and the other participants.

They all had smiles on their faces, finally this game was finished and they could relax more, and enjoy their 'vacation' on the island.

Ms. Ishikawa even came personally to congratulate Rumi and Kurai for their great performance.

She also came to tell them their grades, even though they didn't care much, Rumi had the maximum grade, just a bit above Araki, while Kurai had a grade above it. Literally 21 over 20, so one point above the maximum.

It was the first time it happened but the teachers couldn't just lower it, not after seeing everything he had done.

Right now though, the kids were coming out of the coach that brought them back to the Temple, where they were lodging.

During their way back the mood between the chocolate toned kids was pretty awkward.

Kurai guessed that it must have been related to the previous unfortunate event.

So since the little bunny girl was silent, he spent his time talking with the others about the game.

Sometimes with Ryuko too, who kept whining about him destroying her expectations and game records each time.

As they were entering the shrine's ground, Kurai couldn't help but notice a weird thing between his conversations.

'There are only female priestesses right? Where are the males?' He was looking around trying to find them.

Ryuko and the silent Rumi walking along him noticed his strange behaviour and while the rabbit was still upset because of his 'pervertedness', Ryuko on the other hand straightforwardly asked him, "Is there something wrong, Kurai?"

"Huummm… I was just thinking about something but I'm not sure if I should ask you?"

"Don't worry Kurai! I work here too, did you forget?"

Looking back at her, he shrugged, 'Well, I'll just ask something innocent, I'm 11 years old after all…'

"Alright ahah! I was just wondering where the male priests were?"

After hearing him, Ryuko tilted her head on the side, "There aren't, well on the main grounds at least."

"And your father is the only one allowed in, right?" He couldn't help but think about something the more Ryuko was answering him.

"Yes of course!" She agreed instantly, thinking that it was normal to answer a guest question.

Even Rumi on the side didn't notice what was wrong with it.

"Did your father ever tell you why it was that way?" Kurai didn't want to believe it.

"Ummm… That… He only told me something about 'being the strongest' and 'just a dragon thing' but I didn't understand yet…"

Outwardly nothing changed on Kurai's face but he was clearly impressed by the old man he fought a few days back. 'Daamn old jeezer you really did it, huh? The Japanese man's dream?'

"Ahaha! You don't need to." He rubbed her head to divert her thoughts from that topic, it worked successfully since the blond dragon became red.

And it looked like it stopped Rumi's thoughts too, 'Huh, why is she looking at me like that?'

Kurai misinterpreted her look of jealousy for something else and ended up rubbing her head too.

"Wha—?"

"It looked like you wanted it too." This funny picture of a small kid petting two other ones continued for a while.

In the end, they entered the entrance hall, Kurai in the middle of two beet red girls holding the top of their heads.

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After a rejuvenating bath, everyone was now gathered in the dining hall.

The teachers were all standing, after 4 days of Loh Kanta, the second phase of their trip was finally beginning, so they were giving the instructions for the following final days.

"As you probably know, for the next few days, there will be a non-mandatory volleyball tournament." Ms. Ishikawa's voice was echoing throughout the hall.

As she was continuing Rumi and Kurai grinned at each other, seemingly forgetting the previous events.

"It's a 3v3 tournament, so please after lunch go to the registration table at the entrance."

Making a short pause, she continued, "For the rest of you who don't feel like playing volleyball… Well… you can do whatever you want, we only decided to grade your performance on Loh Kanta."

Immediately, the majority of the kids were cheering! For them free time meant games, sunbathing, the beach, swimming in the sea or even eating!

Although the teachers quieted them down, some murmurs were still going on.

"It's all for now, keep it quiet, we are guests here, don't forget it!" She ended her talk with a sharp glare before sitting with her colleagues.

They then all resumed eating, as always Kurai and Rumi were sitting together next to Ryuko and her family.

Except that this time the bunny girl wasn't talking much, probably because of what happened before or just out of hunger.

She was wolfing down her food like an orc starved for months.

Ryuko's dad was actually impressed but he didn't comment as to not interrupt the little rabbit during her holy moment.

Kurai and Ryuko were now used to her so they were also munching quietly along with her.

So it was her mom who felt the need to engage the conversation.

"Are you perhaps going to participate in the beach volleyball tournament Kurai-kun?"

Swallowing his piece of food, he looked up at the main priestess, "Um, yes! It's one of my favourite sports, so of course!"

Smiling along with her daughter, she even clapped, "Great! It's good to see young kids giving their all instead of lazying at the beach!"

"So have you formed a team yet? I guess that you'll go with your friend here, no?" She said, eyeing Rumi.

The tanned kids stopped eating and looked at each other, "Yes." They both said.

Although Rumi had matters to settle with him, her blood was already boiling when she thought about crushing her opponents.

"And our last member is your daughter!" Kurai added.

This time it was the parents' turn to gaze at each other, they then observed their daughter's large smile and shared a knowing look.

The only person displeased was Rumi, who stuffed her mouth with even more food because of it. 'Tsk!'

Her displeasure remained even after they finished eating when they got in front of the registration office.

One teacher was sitting behind the desk taking notes of the teams. Surprisingly, the trio could see quite a few teams already registered for the tournament.

"Your team name and player names, please." Sighing at their approach the teacher uttured the same sentence for the umpteenth time of the day.

Kurai stepped forward, "Our team is called The Animals." He didn't think of the name before, so he couldn't help but cringe when he heard the laughs on his sides.

Fortunately his shamelessness knew no bounds and he kept his face straight, "First player: Kurai Hizashi, then we have Rumi Usagiyama and finally Ryuko Tatsuma."

"Alright, you're now registered, see you tomorrow at the main beach at noon!"

The trio bowed to the teacher before leaving, although the girls were still laughing quietly at his lame naming sense.

It was now time for them to get into their rooms and get some rest, though before separating Ryuko commented, "Don't worry Kurai-san, the name is fine!"

"Suuure, I believe you with that wide smile." He waved at her.

"Hihi!" Watching the blond leaving Rumi stopped laughing and looked back at him.

"I can go to my room alone."

"..." Kurai only shrugged his shoulders now used to her 'independence'.

As she was leaving, the small rabbit glanced back a last time with her tongue out, "I finally know something you're very bad at!"

"..." She closed her door leaving a rooted cat alone.

'Sheesh… You can't even make a mistake nowadays…' He got into his room while sulking a bit and thinking about the team name.

'It can't be that bad, right?'

'Right?'

His thoughts remained unanswered in the vast void that was his room.

But it was soon cut short by a ringtone.

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Ryuko's room.

The blond just put on her pyjamas and was preparing to go to bed, it was just that this time she was too excited to sleep.

She only needed to think about tomorrow's event and her blood was pumping.

Even though she looked quite calm on the outside, after being in contact with Kurai and Rumi so often, their personality rubbed off on her.

And more than anything, 'Kurai…'

Since she met him, it looked like her world was overturned, and her expectations broken at every turn.

He was unpredictable too, and it brought changes, for the best, to her monotonous life.

She felt too that for once she met someone that may be on par with her, 'That fight! I really hope that you won't be deceiving me!'

In the darkness of her room, she was grinning with all her teeth, some were even sharper than a knife and whiter than marble.

Not far from there, in another dark room, a small tanned girl wasn't sleeping either.

After that 'kiss' or that's what she liked to tell herself, she wasn't able to sleep, but this time it was for another reason altogether.

"Hihih!" A cute giggling sound echoed in the room.

Rumi was curled up around her big cushion with a big smile adorning her face.

She was fondly thinking back to the time when Kurai petted her head. 'Finally, we are going back to how we were!"

All this time she was thinking that he was distancing himself from her because of a certain someone. When truthfully, In the end, he was still as close to her as before.

But it all crumbled to nothing when she remembered that certain someone was in fact…,"Ryuko…"

A low murmur escaped her mouth and she threw her cushion in the air, instantly she got up and landed a back-heel kick on it.

Sending the cushion crashing straight toward the wall, and making a small 'Pouf.' sound.

It looked like it was another rough night for the wild rabbit…

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Back in Kurai's room, he just answered the call.

"Yes? Oh it's you Old Man!" His dad was the one calling.

"So what happened?" Kurai asked on the phone but there was a short blank on the other side.

"Huumm… See… A few months ago something huge happened…"

Kurai didn't know what to say, "Yeah go on."

"And so we thought about keeping it secret to you… That way we could've surprised you later with it."

"I'm not following you, Old Man…" This time he was getting nervous, thinking about all the possible outcomes that could make his dad call him in the middle of the night.

"But it happened sooner than we thought, so we were caught off guard too…"

"Old man…Just get to the goddamn point, will you?"

Hearing Kurai, his dad paused again and took a deep breath, "Your mother just gave birth prematurely to a daughter, your sister…"