October 28th 2017

While five couples strengthened their bonds and enjoyed their time together miles away in the vast forest, the rest of the literature club members who didn't meet the requirements to be there continued in their quest to find love.

Some of them preferred to give time to time, enjoy what they were building with that special person or just wait until the right moment comes but others would never rest and such is the case of the twintailed girl.

Humming happily while she put the finishing touches on her always stunning look, Erika was almost ready to go out and look out for love once again.

"Perfect! This skirt is so pretty, I'm definitely gonna get this girl's eyes on me today~ ..... Unfortunately boy's eyes too... Ew... Maybe I should wear that coat until I get there...?", Erika talked to herself while evaluating herself in the mirror. Whenever she was alone at home she tended to monologue.

"I wish I had a car... That way I could avoid a lot of problems... And I could give a ride to cute girls... Go and park somewhere away from people and... Ehehehe~", Erika kept monologuing.

"I seriously gotta find some part time job to save the money for it... But what kind of job could allow me to work with and for girls only...? I gotta keep looking on that matter", Erika said while grabbing her keys and making sure she didn't forget anything before leaving her apartment.

"Ah~ what a nice day! Sun's shining, birds are chirping and the janitor finally mopped this floor properly. It smells like citrus~ it feels like an eternity since I last went out like this... With... Ruri always waiting for me and dumb me hiding from her, it always got too late to be out as highschool girls...", Erika sighed as she continued her monologue although in a lower voice, mostly mumbling to herself.

Erika's method to find love was simple, an app. Being out there so many apps to find dates, with so many filters and options for her to focus it only on cute girls was a bless for the twintailed girl.

Despite what most people could think of this method, Erika was very careful on who she met with, always being able to find out beforehand if it was a sneaky boy trying to deceive her. However, whenever it was actually a girl, most of the times worked out fine and ended up in a more private place but until then, nothing permanent had come out of that as her luck on that specific matter didn't seem to be that good, always meeting girls just curious to try it once.

But Erika never gave up and now free again to do as she pleases now that it was the weekend, she was on her way to meet with yet another cute girl that useful app hook her up with.

"Well, at least that's solved... She's in the club and the girls can make her some company so I can continue with my own business~ and for business I mean go and meet cute girls~", Erika happily mumbled as she headed to the stairs, however a small surprise was in store for her there.

Erika was about to put on her earphones after successfully finding a nice song to listen to on her way to find love, but a families dark green color was caught by the corner of her eyes, causing an odd feeling on her.

"Uh...", Erika muttered as she noticed a small girl sitting on the stairs she was about to go down to. Her short slightly curly green hair and that apparently sketch book on her lap were unmistakable for her at this point.

Erika stopped, noticing the girl hadn't noticed her presence. She looked around, as if there could be a different path for her to take and not cross it with hers, however, Erika knew well those stairs were the only mean to go down to the street unless you coule safely jump from a height of 4 floors.

"Hopefully she'll be too distracted drawing so I'll just...", Erika thought and continued descending slowly and quietly, like a thief at night careful not to wake up the family living in the house he was about to rob.

"Almost theeeeere- shut", Erika thought but as soon as she was about to pass right next to her, the small girl quickly stood up and blocked her way. Erika could now see the light blush on her not so gifted face, the sketchbook left on the step and her usual phone being clutched against her chest while not daring to look at her in the eye.

"Hey, Ruri-chan...", Erika smiled awkwardly. Ruri shyly waved one of her hands to then keep clutching her phone against her chest with both of them. "Umm how's it going? What were you up to-!", Erika asked but as soon as she finished that question, Ruri quickly showed her the phone, as if it was some kind of shield while closing her eyes and looking quite tense.

Erika then read what Ruri had to say:
"Hello, my grandma and I made cookies! If it's okay with you, we would like to invite you to come over and eat some ^^
I promise I won't take much of your time but if you happen to have some time though, we could do something together or watch a movie 🍿
Also, sorry for intercepting you like this >.< I didn't have the courage to go and knock on your door to ask... Please forgive me if it looked weird, it wasn't my intention ⊙﹏⊙"

Many thoughts crossed Erika's head at that moment. From questioning the universe on why her, excuses to make, slight disappointment to just say "sure, why not?", but unfortunately for the artistic green haired girl, Erika already had plans she thankfully could excuse herself with.

"Ummm I really appreciate the invitation but I already had plans with someone ahaha...", Erika said and for a moment almost regretted it as she saw Ruri's small hands relax along with the rest of her body, putting down the phone and keeping her head low to hide the sorrowful disappointment in her eyes.

Ruri however, quickly typed something else on her phone and showed it to her with one hand, doing her best to lift her face a bit.
"I see, it's okay. Like you always say, don't sweat the small stuff!
Could you wait here just one minute? I wanna give you something, I promise it won't take long (人 •͈ᴗ•͈)

"Sure...", Erika said and Ruri rushed upstairs presumably, heading to her apartment. The black haired girl sighed as she looked at her usual sketchbook, honestly feeling a bit bad for saying no but she just couldn't cancel her date now, specially when it promised to be quite the cutie.
Or so she had thought.

In less than 3 minutes, Ruri came back almost running, making Erika a bit afraid she could stumble and fall off the stairs but in the end, she safely returned with a small cotton bag in hand which she immediately offered to the twintailed one.

"What's this...?", Erika asked curious as she carefully received it, just in case it could be something fragile, feeling various things inside. Ruri had begun typing in the meantime and soon answered her question.

"Just some of the cookies my grandma and I made, it would make us happy if you could enjoy them with the person you're going to see or if you wanna eat them by yourself that's fine too ^^.
Have fun and take care (人 •͈ᴗ•͈)"

"Oh so these are the cookies! Thanks a lot, I'll make sure these don't go to waste! I'm sure she'll be glad to eat homemade cookies hehe", Erika said smiley. Ruri couldn't help but feel a bitterness on her throat but still did her best to put on that on little smile.

Finally, Ruri and Erika waved hands at each other to say bye. The twintailed girl turned around and continued downstairs while Ruri picked up her stuff and went back upstairs heading to her apartment.

Almost at the end of the stairs, Erika's curiosity got the best of her and opened the little bag to try one cookie, plus she hadn't had lunch yet. It was then that her eyes went wide open and her heart almost shrunk as she pulled out a small chocolate cookie with the shape of a crow.

Crows were her favorite animal and despite not directly saying it to others, she usually reflected it on her writing when the literature club demanded her to write a poem, always using her favorite poem from her favorite writer, Edgar Allan Poe's Nevermore, as a reference for her own poems, constantly having a raven as a the protagonist of them to express different metaphors.

That week when Ruri had joined the club was no exception and the poem exchange wasn't either so soon, Erika guessed why Ruri knew, or rather had guessed something she'd like.

"This... Isn't this why I always wanted... For a girl to do something sweet for me...?", that thought crossed Erika's head as she took the first bite to that raven cookie, as sweet as she'd expect.

"What are you doing? Stop, stop, stop! You have a date already!", Erika thought but her heart and body were saying otherwise as she turned around and rushed upstairs.

"What the heck am I doing?!", Erika thought to herself as she reached Ruri's floor, panting a little bit but deep down, glad to have caught up with her as the small girl slowly walked through the corridor with her head low, clutching her sketchbook.

"Ruri-chan!", Erika shouted and as soon as her voice reached Ruri's ears, she turned around half scared, half in disbelief, but the hopeful shine on her eyes and the smile that escaped her mouth, for a brief second, made the twintailed girl's chest feel warm.

"Seriously, what are doing, Erika??", the black haired girl kept questioning herself in her mind but that didn't stop her from walking towards Ruri with an awkward smile. "Ahaha... My... Friend, cancelled me in the last minute so I guess I now have time... It's the invitation still up?", Erika asked.

Ruri was able to see the lie somehow, but this time, probably the first time in her short life, a lie had made her happy. The dark green haired girl nodded repeatedly.

"Alrighty then! Let's go~", Erika said smiling a bit more natural to then follow the now excited Ruri, who turned around and walked with her head up high.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Coming to school on Saturday feels... Weird. Well, it's not like I have anything better to do hehe...", quietly said to herself the mint green haired girl of glasses who had just arrived at the school gates, wearing her uniform and all.

The reason for her to be there that day was simple, as a first year, she'd eventually have to come and help with some of the school events and this time was her class turn to do so, now having to come and  help with the decorations of the upcoming Halloween event along with other volunteers of different clubs as well.

"I wish Ryuko-senpai was a first year... That way she'd have to come hehe. Though, I wonder what she'd do about her part time job on weekends...", Omiko thought to herself as she walked into the school, frankly enjoying the calm atmosphere when not many students were around.

"If she could come, I wonder if we would actually do something... I know I said I wanted to take my time with a relationship but... Aren't we taking too long? Or am I too impatient? Hmmm...", Omiko continued her inner monologue as she headed to her classroom, which ended not too long after she arrived there.

Once some of her classmates greeted her, the work to be done for the Halloween party soon occupied her mind and body, having her making and hanging decorations all over the classroom she was assigned to with a team of other classmates of her.

Having to use so much tape that day would eventually cause them to run out of it but as expected, anything they could need would always be provided by the school and in this case, the teachers assigned to come, supervise and help the students.

Something so apparently insignificant as being the one who had to go to the teachers room to ask for more tape would become a great twist in Omiko's fate that day as she carefully knocked on the open door and got inside while saying, "excuse me...".

"Come in", replied an oddly familiar female voice from the very back of the room, who apparently was the only teacher there working on her desk behind a computer and who Omiko thought things of.

One, that she probably was the teacher in charge of handing the students anything they needed from that room and two, that her familiar voice was probably from one of her teachers she just failed to recognize at first.

However, as soon as Omiko walked to the back of the room and her eyes looked at the woman sitting there, with her beautiful, silky long black hair, long perfect legs, delicate and gorgeous facial features, small and glossy pink lips and those golden eyes that looked back at her with the same sparkle of surprise hers had, her only reaction was for her face to blush and her hip to hit the nearest desk as her body unconsciously tried to step back.

"A...A-A-A...", Omiko stuttered but that name she remembered well, just couldn't escape her mouth. "Miko...", Airi however, didn't hesitate and certainly hadn't forgotten hers.

"...I suppose you have a lot of questions hehe", Airi said after a brief moment of silence of Omiko only looking at her all flustered and unable to say a word. Omiko finally replied by nodding slowly. "Unfortunately, this isn't the place to talk about that, I work here as a substitute for now but...", Airi stood up.

The moment she saw her walking towards her, Omiko certainly thought of turning around and run away but fortunately or unfortunately for her, her body wasn't responding to her as she wanted, simply staying there almost paralyzed but somewhat enchanted.

"How about...", Airi said in a low voice as she looked around one more time to make sure no one was around, then leaning down a bit for her to be able to reach Omiko's ear with her mouth, whispering to her, "we go out sometime and have a nice talk?".

The sound of her soft voice right on her ear immediately brought back all the memories she hadn't forgotten but tried not to think of, making Omiko's body temperature rise and her face to turn completely red, making her squirm a little.

"Sorry about that hehe, I forgot how sensitive they are... Or maybe I didn't?", Airi giggled and winked to then turn around and head to the closet in the corner, similar to the ones each classroom had, soon pulling out a roll of tape.

"I guess you came looking for this? It's what most people come for hehe", Airi said back to her sweet self, offering the tape to the glasses girl who took a bit but shyly took it. "...You should go back to work, your classmates are probably waiting for you to bring them that", Airi said after 30 seconds of Omiko looking at the tape in hands.

Finally, Omiko shook her head a bit and said two words, "thank you". She then bowed in gratitude and left the room, while Airi simply looked at her go with a smile.

As she walked through the hallways, Omiko hurried to remove the little cardboard circle on top that served to indicate the tape specifications, on which a phone number had been written.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That one!", exclaimed the focused white haired girl who kept leading the way, her golden eyes scanning her surroundings for that Sayori's head sized rock.

Behind her was the literature club president who honestly enjoyed seeing her having fun with that but at the same time, couldn't help but feel a little disappointed on how her time alone with Mayu was going.

Mayu turned to the left and approached a zone less crowded by trees, where a few rocks laid around a muddier ground. Monika stopped to not get her shoes too dirty, waiting for Mayu to inspect the zone.

"Any luck there?", Monika asked with a smile. "I'm on it, wait", Mayu replied while crouched next to a bunch of piled up rocks, which looked like someone sometime tried to make a pyramid with.

Mayu brought down the construction, first putting the smaller rocks aside until she finally got to the base where three big rocks were and then, Monika's emerald green eyes opened wide and well.

The moment Mayu picked up the biggest of them with both hands, Monika saw how her slightly toned arms thanks to the effort tensed nicely, allowing her to see her bicep curling beautifully, making her unconsciously bite her lower lip.

Monika was a bit upset with Gensai pulling them all into the mud earlier but now, she couldn't be happier as that event had caused all of them to have to take off their jackets and sweaters all covered in mud, which of course included the white haired girl who now was just wearing a black tank top there with a logo of a man with a hat and the letters "Los Ingobernables de Japón" below.

Mayu then walked back to where she was, which Monika barely realized as her eyes kept looking at her curled biceps carrying the big rock.

"What do you think?", Mayu asked. "It's... very nice...", Monika said as her eyes barely looked at the rock and took the chance to get a better look at Mayu's arms from up close.

"I see, it seems like it'll work then, let's go, we still need to find 3 more items", Mayu replied always focused, but Monika suddenly got a much better idea. "We should hide that rock somewhere here and come back for it last, it'd be bothersome having to carry it around for the next two hours", she said cleverly.

"Hmm... I guess you're right... I'll go hide it then", Mayu replied serious and went behind some nearby bushes to hide her rock, to then come back to a smiley Monika who didn't waste another second.

"Wha-?!", Mayu barely got to say, surprised as the brunette quickly clinged to her arm, one hand grabbing her forearm while the other grabbed her upper arm, gently stroking it to feel her muscle.

"Heh~ you really do work out, eh Mayu?", Monika asked, having a blast. "W-Wasn't that obvious?", Mayu asked now blushing profusely but somehow enjoying Monika's soft hands caressing her skin.

"I guess ninja Mayu didn't just come up from watching YouTube videos", Monika giggled. "Eh, I-I wouldn't call myself a ninja, but I do know ninjutsu so...", Mayu tried to remain cool but Monika's hand was starting to make her feel like the burning summer heat had returned.

"You know Mayu...", Monika then let go of her arm, only to stand face to face with her, take Mayu's hands and put them on her waist to then wrap hers around the girl's neck. "W-What are you doing?", Mayu asked nervous but gladly accepting everything that was happening.

Monika couldn't help but find it cute how easy it was to fluster the student council president, a girl who always looked so serious and strict in the eyes of everyone else but that whenever they were together, her true more passionate and sometimes shy personality emerged.

Monika had just had a revelation moments ago. She realized her white haired crush's shy nature still laid within her. She was sure, from that day at the bar, that Mayu truly felt something for her but after seeing how things had been going since then, she also realized Mayu's lack of experience with people and particularly in terms of love, was severely holding her back.

Ever since that day, Monika continued giving hints to her, always trying to spend most time with her and innocently flirt with her from time to time, hoping for her to do the same but in that last matter, Mayu seemed completely clueless.

All her attempts only got her white haired girl to blush lightly and frown, as if she was just messing with her. Even if Mayu had done something herself to get close to her first, bribing her into a date and all, Monika had thought about it better, realizing how innocently cute her attempt of flirting with her had been.

Seeing as Mayu had zero experience on that, she figured out that the white haired girl probably thought of that based on romantic movies or shows, most likely still not understanding the full meaning of "date" even, but that in the end, all she wanted was to get close to her again and make her notice and remember her, which Monika failed to do if it wasn't for that story at the bar.

Monika now had a better idea of what to do. She knew she had to flirt in a more serious way with her, avoiding Mayu kept thinking she's just messing with her and could maybe start answering her attempts with some of her own.

"I don't know, just looking at you~ You're very pretty, Mayu", Monika said, looking into her crush's golden eyes. Mayu then frowned again, her eyes looking to the side, which let Monika know clearly that Mayu was thinking she was messing with her.

"I mean it, I really do. Just look at you...", Monika said as she gently brushed the back of her hand against Mayu's cheek, feeling how warm and soft her skin was at that moment, but what she loved the most, was the soft, shy look those golden eyes dedicated to her.

"Stop the jokes...", Mayu mumbled, unsure, wanting for her to confirm she wasn't joking, which Monika did as she replied, "what jokes? I'm being serious here, Mayu~".

"What's with you all of sudden?", Mayu asked. Monika could feel her hands still on her waist, barely touching her as if she was touching something hot and was afraid to get burn. "Do you think I'm pretty too, Mayu?", Monika asked, smiling sweetly at her.

"... I'd be lying if I said you're not...", Mayu muttered but Monika's sharp ear could hear everything from her at that moment. "What do you like the most about me?", Monika asked now getting more eager.

"Seriously, what's with all these weird questions?", Mayu sighed, still red. "Your hair, your eyes, your face, your nice body... Your adorable tsundere side... Those are some of the things I like the most about you", Monika said, not taking her eyes off her white haired girl's face to see all of her reactions.

"... Your eyes, your smile, your bossy but cool leader like personality, your...", Mayu began saying, which brought a bigger smile to Monika's face. "My??", she asked, eager to listen to more of what Mayu liked about her.

"That's enough questions for today", Mayu fully red to her ears even, said as she let go of Monika's waist. "We made some progress~", Monika smiled and let go of her as well, satisfied with the significant progress made, hoping now Mayu could be more sure of herself to try and flirt with her or at least understand the signs better.

"Huh?", Mayu asked a bit feisty. "Let's go, we still have items to find", Monika giggled as she held Mayu's hand, keeping it like that the rest of their search.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I see you're not as naive now", those were the words he had said and that he expected a clever answer to. An answer made of words but that was far from what he'd get as the school cap boy vanished in front of his very eyes after a strange smile.

In less than two seconds, the masked man found himself leaving the earth but it was not gravity or something of the sort that caused it.
The second he vanished, the masked man soon got on alert but not in time as Gensai ducked and advanced through his blind spot at an insane speed to then wrap his arms around his legs and carry him over his shoulder.

"What the-AGH!", the masked man barely exclaimed as Gensai lifted him and drove him right onto the nearest tree, smashing his body against it making its foliage and branches above rustle and some of them to fall.

The school cap boy didn't stop there however as he turned around quickly, using the momentum of the last attack to slam him into the ground with a brutal spinebuster.

Luckily for him, the masked man knew how to reduce the damage of that slam and reacted in time to avoid am injury to the cervical spine, clutching his chin against his chest and opening his arms, still feeling the impact hard though.

Still, Gensai wasn't nowhere near as done as the masked man realized his legs were not under his control yet. The school cap boy had quickly adjusted them under his arms to then lift him up disturbingly easy, considering the masked man was slightly taller than him and just as muscular.

Shades of the swiss cyborg, Gensai went for a swing, spinning around three times before throwing his opponent onto the thickest tree nearby. The masked barely curled up in time in midair to avoid serious damage but his body still hit hard, making the tree shake.

"Shit!", the masked man exclaimed as he saw just in time Gensai's boot coming to squash his face onto the tree, finally avoiding him and trying to get back up however, he didn't go that far.

The masked one gulped unconsciously as Gensai caught him by the crest of pale red hair his mask had. Gensai then quickly smashed his head onto the tree, which again, the masked man managed to reduce the damage from, using his hand and shoulder to protect himself but not avoiding it completely as the shaking of his brain left him a bit groggy.

The school cap boy wasn't wasting anytime as he pulled him closer still by the crest and shot a viciously sounding palm strike onto the man's kidneys. "AGH!", the masked man arched his back from the impact, his body unconsciously trying to escape the same pain maybe coming again, however this pain was just what he needed for his mind and body to react as one.

The masked man quickly shot a back elbow to Gensai's face to break free from his grip. He quickly turned around and followed with a left hook that landed right on Gensai's jaw and that's as far as the masked man comeback would really go.

With his big punch still on Gensai's jaw, the masked one gritted his teeth nervous as he saw it didn't even move his head one inch. The man quickly retreated his punch and followed with a right uppercut that again, impacted hard but just stayed there on Gensai's chin, still not moving his head an inch.

The masked man could now see Gensai's face, he wasn't smiling anymore, cold and dead black eyes just looking back at him. The mask one, although feeling more disturbed, still continued his onslaught attack, throwing punches and kick to Gensai's head and body but not moving him the least bit, it was like trying to move a huge boulder with a baseball bat.

"Listen", Gensai said death serious as he stopped the masked one's attack like it was nothing, simply grabbing him by the jaw, gripping it hard enough for the pain to force him to stop, feeling it about to shatter.

"I don't care what you do to me", Gensai said serious while the masked man tried kicking his gut to break free from the grip, failing miserably as Gensai gripped it harder to make him stop midway to then pulling him in and take him down with a vicious clothesline that turned him upside down.

"You can insult me, attack me, hurt me and kill me if you want", Gensai said as he took a few steps backwards while the masked man shook his head and tried to get back up.

"But if you dare to tarnish her name again...", Gensai lowered his head and gritted his teeth while lowering his base like a marathon runner about to take off as the masked one was almost back on his feet.

"I'll make sure you wish you were never born!!", Gensai shouted as he took off and almost broke the groggy masked man in half with a striking spear that drove his body onto the tree again, this time making a crack on the tree bark, while countless yellow leafs fell from its shaky foliage.

The masked man falled bluntly on his rear as his body just slid down the tree, feeling all of his bones and particularly his spine still vibrating while his spinning head made him look double, seeing two school cap boys taking a few steps back again.

"Why... What's with this speed... This power... This... Violence... It's completely different from what I remember, almost like he's an entirely different person... Have you always been like this? Did you always hold back back then? Or is it that these years you've been away have changed you this much?", the masked man tried to focus on his thoughts to regain some control and ease that disturbance in his body, while Gensai was calmly taking his jacket off.

"God damnit... It's happening again...", as his vision readjusted, or so it seemed, the masked man thought, now seeing a giant school cap boy standing in front of him, feeling like an ant next to an elephant.

"How many years it's been since I last saw you like this...? But with time, my efforts and your advice, you shrunk little by little until I was able to see you eye to eye... was that just an illusion then? Didn't I improve anything after all?", the masked man thought as he weakly stood up again.

"Or is it that you were always too strong?", he thought as that 15 foot tall school cap boy stood across from him, cracking his neck and looking at him death in the eye. "Don't you even think I'm done with you", Gensai said. The masked man gulped as he took his stance nervous.

Gensai then charged with a shoulder tackle which the masked one moved aside to avoid. The tree again shook and its foliage rustled from the impact Gensai caused with his failed attack. The masked man took the chance to throw a roundhouse to the head of the school cap one, which again did nothing as Gensai turned to him and grabbed his ankle while his foot was touching his head.

Gensai pushed it to the side to break the man's balance but the masked man used this momentum to jump on one foot and continue to counter with a dragon whip kick to Gensai's face.

The masked man landed on his back and immediately kipped back up a bit more confident as the kick made Gensai's head turn to the side, however that confidence was shattered in the next 3 seconds as Gensai spoke.

"Your attacks last time were much more powerful... Are you even trying?", he said as looked back at him serious. The masked man got nervous again and gritting his teeth, punched Gensai right in the nose but it did nothing as his face remained with that serious expression, not even blinking.

"Ngh!!", the masked man was grabbed suddenly by the neck and slammed onto the tree. His head bounced a bit before he could protect himself to avoid the damage and this brief moment of grogginess was enough as Gensai landed a vicious brain chop on his head, making everything inside his head shake like jello as the man quickly fell awkwardly. "You're panicking", Gensai said as he stomped the masked man's chest onto the tree.

"That happened because you started panicking".

The masked man then noticed how breathing became more difficult even though he had already got used to the mask, realizing it was indeed nothing but panic. The masked one quickly pushed Gensai's boot off his chest and stood up trying to punch him again but the school cap boy easily caught his arm into a classic fujiwara armbar.

"A man's battle ends as soon as he loses the will to fight", Gensai calmly said as he applied pressure, hyperextending the man's arm, who quickly tensed and gritted his teeth for the upcoming pain of a dislocated shoulder.

"See? You already gave up there, I can't feel any resistance from you", Gensai said as he continued but didn't dislocate it yet, staying on the verge of doing it. "Aaaagh!", The masked man felt the harsh pain on his shoulder avoid to be dislocated.

"Nnnngh! ...I-I wasn't that strong...", the masked man mumbled as he accepted his fate. "It's not that you're weak, you simply lost your confidence... How pitiful", Gensai said as he kept applying pressure.

"It's you who gives yourself no credit"

The masked man gripped his fist, burying his face onto the ground ashamed. "To be honest, unlike the Head, I still have issues with killing people, however, I'm certainly not afraid to hurt you to send the message needed", Gensai said gritting his teeth to, ready to dislocated the masked man's shoulder and continue with the other limbs.

"You can do great things! Just believe in yourself!"

"Huh??", Gensai then couldn't continue. That arm as flexible as a rubber stick, suddenly became as stiff as a pillar, seeing the fist now gripped as it started flexing off his grip. He quickly looked at the masked one who untile then had his face buried onto the ground, now with his free hand on it, one leg flexed upwards and the other fully extended, lifting his head.

"Always hold your head up high, look forward and charge!"

Gensai tried to dislocate the shoulder but the masked man quickly shifted his body into Gensai, using the momentum to shake him off him, making the school cap boy roll backwards to get up.

And as soon as he did, Gensai was welcomed with a powerful flying side kick to the mouth he didn't even see coming, to finally fall from the impact while the masked man kept soaring through the sky in his eyes.

"See? There's nothing to be afraid of! Always maintain that confidence!".

Gensai quickly kipped back up and turned around ready for whatever was coming his way this time, only to find the masked man with his back turned.

"Do you see your limits? Cause I certainly can't see mine anymore", he said serious as he looked over his shoulder at him to then turn around and even if his mask didn't let him see it, Gensai knew he was smiling.
The school cap boy didn't smile, he simply spat some of the blood that kick caused to come from his mouth and wiped it to then take his stance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Erika... Seriously... What are you even doing...", The twintailed girl mumbled to herself as she waited at the small couch for Ruri, who was helping her now smiley grandma put all the cookies made on a plate.

Ruri soon came back a bit nervous but with a face that Erika thought would probably shine in the dark if they were to turn off the lights, carrying a plate of cookies while her grandmother followed with two banana milkshakes in hand.

"Thank you", Erika said with a smile. "Thank you, sweetie, for coming to play with my Ruri. She's been looking forward to when you could come since that day hehe", the old lady said which made Ruri turn to her all red and agitate her arms panicked, trying to tell her not to talk about that. Erika couldn't help but chuckle at Ruri's reaction.

"Okay, okay, I get it hehe. Anyways, I'll have to go buy some things I need for the dinner, please make yourself at home Erika. Have fun both", the old lady said and soon grabbed her keys and left the apartment while Ruri awkwardly watched her go, realizing she was at home alone with that gorgeous twintailed girl, getting more and more nervous the more her grandma walked away, reaching her peak the moment she closed the door behind her.

"So... What now?", Erika asked while eating another of those chocolate raven cookies. Ruri jumped a bit startled and turned to look at her. Ruri's eyes couldn't help but glance at Erika's crossed legs, showing off nicely thanks to that cool skirt, feeling her body a bit warmer.

Erika smiled to try to ease Ruri's obvious nervousness, patting the empty side of the couch next to her. The green haired girl opened her eyes wider, clutching her hands against her chest, feeling funny as Erika smiled sweetly and nodded to tell her she wasn't mistaken on what she had to do.

Ruri gulped and shyly sat down next to her, leaving a considerable distance between them however. Erika rolled her eyes with a smile and dragged herself closer to her, making Ruri blush deeply and panic as she was internally debating herself between get up or not, knowing the bad impression she'd give if she did. In the end she froze there.

With Erika now next and so close to her, Ruri could smell her citrus perfume better, look into her pretty light brown eyes better, see her pretty face better and notice her always silky and shiny hair better, making her chest tickle and her heart beat like crazy for some reason.

Erika kept looking at her with a smile while she took another cookie and took a bite. Ruri saw almost in slow motion how her soft red lips parted, the head of the raven shoving between to then be decapitated, a strange sight that somehow just made Ruri felt warmer and blush more profusely.

"For other girls to react like this... I usually have to touch them or say certain things... And it's still a bit of a forced reaction... Ruri-chan's however... Her reaction is so natural...and all I have to do is look at her...", Erika thought, seeing Ruri look to the side all embarrassed.

Erika let out half a smile, product of the irony she felt, to then sit properly and keep eating cookies and drinking milkshake. Ruri soon realized she wasn't Erika's focus anymore, feeling ashamed of herself as if she just did something bad, seeing her friend quietly eating the cookies while looking at some invisible void in front of her.

Ruri quickly typed something on her phone and shyly poked Erika's shoulder to get her attention. The twintailed girl looked at her, being met by the usual screen.
"Would you like to watch something?".

Ruri then handed Erika the controller. The twintailed girl turned on the small 32" TV in front of them and played some random quiz show, to then keep eating cookies.

Although the TV made the much need noise, Ruri could still feel the awkward silence that had fell between them. Not too used seeing Erika so quiet, she realized she had no idea how to entertain a friend who came to play with her, deep down hoping Erika would be the one deciding what to do.

Erika soon felt the gloomy mood, after being a bit absorbed in her thoughts, seeing Ruri sitting there with her head low, obviously anxious and sad, gripping her red shorts.

"Ruri's isn't exactly cute but she's still a girl... Her hair that day... I wonder...", Erika thought and then made her curious move, wrapping and arm around Ruri's shoulder, pulling her closer, feeling the girl tense for a moment after being caught off guard, but soon relaxing and giving in to the embrace.

"Her body is so soft and delicate... It's warm and she smells nice too...", Erika thought while Ruri's chest felt warmer and warmer, her heart pounding like crazy and overall, happy to be able to feel the warmth of Erika's body.

"Hey, Ruri-chan", Erika said after carefully letting go of her. Ruri looked at her shyly, cheeks still red. "Could you draw me?", Erika asked. Ruri opened her eyes wide in surprise but after two seconds, she shyly nodded as it was something she had already done but having the model right here with her, was something she could only dream of until now.

Ruri got up and pointed at something, which Erika guessed was the direction of her room or wherever she had her tools for art, knowing she was trying to say, "just give me a second, I'll go get my stuff". Erika chuckled and nodded.

Ruri came back with her sketchbook and a couple of pencils. The small girl put them on the floor and rushed into the kitchen, coming back dragging a chair which Erika quickly helped her with when she noticed it, finally placing it between the couch and the TV.

Erika went back to the couch while Ruri sat on the chair with knees up, her size making her able to put her feet on the chair to use her thighs as easel, just like she did everytime she sat on the floor.

Erika then laid down on the couch, having to put her feet on the couch and then cross her legs like that due to it not being wide enough for her to fully lay down, but still being able to strike a sexy and artistic pose like that, laying on her back and her head slightly turned to see Ruri, one arm under her head as pillow and the other comfortably resting across her stomach.

Ruri fought through that strange sensation that wanted to force her to stare at her eternally, doing her best to focus on drawing her so she could really do that later.

Soon, Ruri got to work and with a silence only broke by the sound of the pencil against the paper, the small girl gave it her all on doing the best art possible of that sexy girl posing for her.

"How long I've been wishing for a girl to look at me like that...? Many times I thought or wanted to think I've got it but now... I can't help but think I was just deceiving myself... This look, her look, is nothing like all those others...and it feels good...", Erika thought as she lost herself in that extremely focused yet soft look of the green haired girl, who constantly stayed on her.

Erika wasn't sure if Ruri was just bad at it or if she wasn't even aware, but she was able to see at times how the artistic girl's right hand stopped drawing, her lips stayed slightly parted and her gray eyes were fixated on her, almost as is she was hypnotizing her, seeing well her light blush always on her face.

Neither of them knew how long it took, but time passed and eventually, Ruri was done.

"Done?", Erika asked with a smile as she saw Ruri exhale softly and put her pencil down. Ruri looked at her still blushing and nodded. "Let me see!", Erika stood up excited, so much she forgot about her skirt, throwing her legs in Ruri's direction to sit up and get up, allowing Ruri to see her black lace panties for a brief second.

By the time Erika approached her, smoke was almost coming out of Ruri's red head. "Let's see... Oh-my-gosh...!", Erika said as her eyes went wide open when she saw what was on that paper.

Erika knew Ruri's style was mostly manga/anime-ish art, which made her  believe she'd see an anime style version of the titanic drawing only it'd be her and not Rose, however, she didn't know that although that was Ruri's predilect style, the small girl was perfectly capable of drawing realistically, immortalizing her on paper for years to come.

Ruri shyly lifted her gaze to look at her. In her eyes, Erika understood the question she wanted to ask, "do you like it?". Erika smiled sweetly at her and patted her fluffy hair as she replied, "I love it".

Ruri smiled happy as she lowered her head for Erika to keep petting her, while her tingly chest and the butterflies in her stomach made a mess of her feelings.

The small girl was about to try ripping the page off her sketchbook to give it to Erika but the twintailed girl stopped her. "Nope, I want you to have it", she said. Ruri blushed hard but nodded. She actually wanted to keep it to look at the image of that beautiful girl everyday.

"What do you say we play Monopoly? I got the app in my phone", Erika said winking. Ruri hurried to type her reply.
"I don't know how to play that but I hope you can teach me! ( ╹▽╹ )".

Erika chuckled at Ruri's cute emojis. "Of course, come here", Erika said as both walked back to sit on the couch, teaching Ruri how to play that and other classic board games her nerdy self liked but never mentioned afraid of being judged. When she was with Ruri, she didn't feel that need of keeping appearances and she liked it.

And so it went their afternoon, playing board games on Erika's phone, eating cookies and drinking milkshake, time went by like a fallen leaf blown by the autumn wind.

For the first time since they met, Erika was enjoying spending time with Ruri and wasn't even thinking of wanting to run away somewhere anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You would never be a maiden of Yamato to me".

With those words playing inside her head over and over again, the conflicted Kiyomi wandered aimlessly around the quiet forest, leaving a track of tears that soon disappeared as the noon sunbeams became stronger.

"I'll never be a maiden...", she said to herself. "I was a fool... No matter how much makeup...", Kiyomi said as she wiped the make up off her face roughly using the back off her hand.

"No matter how many hairstyles I try", she said as she took the wig off her head and dropped it to the ground, removing the next to let her original red wine hair free.

"No matter how many pretty outfits I wear", she said, ripping off the black and white striped blouse, leaving only a plan white tank top covering her.

"I wasn't born a girl... I could never be one. I'm not Kiyomi, I'm just Ryou, a shy, weak boy or... A fag like they say...", Ryou dropped to his knees sobbing and furiously wiping the rest of the ruined make up off his face.

"Aaaaaagh!!", Ryou drowned his scream with his shirt, crying rivers as he curled on the ground until his eyes were almost dry from it.

"He would never love a coward like me... He... He's shown me the spirit of a true man... He never gives up, he always marches forward and charges head on to any challenge... If he could love a boy... I'd be the last one he'd consider...", Ryou said to himself, gritting his teeth and gripping his fist, forcing more tears out of his eyes.

"Maiden of Yamato...", Ryou said as those words came to his mind again for some reason, seeing his eyes didn't have any tear left. "A true maiden of Yamato...", Ryou muttered as he started getting back up.

"Can't I really be one?", Ryou asked himself. He then gripped his fist lifted his face. "Or can I?", Ryou then ran, and ran and ran.

Somehow, he could feel the burning spirit of man getting closer, letting it guide his steps, sorting trees and bushes, he soon was able to devise that school cap from behind.

"Togashi-k-!", Ryou shouted as he came out of the trees, running into an unexpected scene as two muscular men now looked at him. "You...", said the man of strange mask and red crest who Ryou remembered well.

"Ryou...???", Gensai however, was now the personification of confusion. "...it seems you didn't know... I guess I was mistaken", the masked man said, to which Gensai just looked at him arching an eyebrow.

"What do you mean...? Ryou, what are you doing here and why are you wearing a skirt? Is this your doing?? Do you know him??", Gensai asked non stop as he switched looks with both, one after the other.

"Speak you... What was your name... Ah, yes, Kiyomi", the masked man said with crossed arms. "Kiyomi?!", Gensai shouted as he turned to the red wine haired boy.

Ryou didn't understand what was going on, neither did he know how that masked man knew his secret, but it didn't matter, after all, he had come here to take the first step out of cowardice and into the world of a true maiden of Yamato.

What was more, Ryou now could feel the confidence coming back to him, the beautiful feeling of hope as he realized he was mistaken just by looking at the now confused school cap boy, who he believed had told him all those things and acted like that because he found out his secret somehow and got disgusted with him, but he also now had the perfect chance to tell him the truth despite the chaotic circumstances and show him his true spirit of Yamato.

"That's right, Togashi-kun, I'm Kiyomi and I'm not gonna hide my true self anymore! Watch me as I cast aside that part of me I never asked for", Ryou said as he quickly fixed his hair, combing it to the right nicely, fixing his skirt, pulling out some lipstick from one of it's pockets and applying it on his lips, smiling sweetly with a girly peace pose.

"From this day on, I'll show the world the girl that's always been within me, eager to emerge like a beautiful butterfly from its cocoon... I will fight and overcome every obstacle that comes with it, always marching forward and never ever going back again!", Kiyomi exclaimed excited, giggling from the wonderful sensation of freedom, embracing herself fully this time.

"I may not be able to do it now, but I promise you I'll become a true maiden of Yamato!", Kiyomi finished with that cute peace sign, smiling happy.

Gensai's confused expression, little by little softened with every word the red wine haired girl said and by the end of her speech and liberation of herself, embracing the true spirit of Yamato, the school cap boy was able to see her there, behind her, smiling.

"Osu! That's the spirit Kiyomi-dono!!", Gensai exclaimed, back to his passionate, smiley and loud self. "Osu!", Kiyomi exclaimed in response, happy to see him smile at her again.

"Oi, oi, are you even paying attention?", The masked man asked confused. "To what?", Gensai turned to him grinning.

"He's a boy... Who was dressed up as a girl... When he was around you...", The masked man said a  bit exasperated. "Wait a minute... When you told me not to trust her... You meant this?!", Gensai asked as the pieces connected, judging by the way the masked one acted.

"Yeah...", He replied sighing. "Oh shit...", Gensai realized all his recently done wrongs to someone he called a friend, ashamed of himself.

"I see you haven't changed... You may know a lot of things, but on this matter, it seems I'm still ahead of you. We'll settle this some other time", the masked man said and with that, he turned around and calmly walked away into the forest.

"Umm, Togashi-ku-!", Kiyomi tried to approach him as she saw him there frozen, looking at the masked man now barely visible and soon to disappear from their sight, however, Gensai quickly made his move.

"I'm so sorry!!", Gensai turned around, got on his knees and head-butted the ground to beg for forgiveness on his awful actions. Kiyomi smiled softly, confirming indeed that it had all been a misunderstanding and with hope and confidence now on her side, there was one thing left to do.

Kiyomi got on her knees, grabbing Gensai's head to make him lift it from the ground and look at her. She smiled softly, closed her eyes, gently pulling his head closer as she pucked her lips.

Gensai's lips felt much more colder than she thought, they were hard and tasted like metal, wondering if it was because of those traces of blood he had but when she opened her eyes to see him, all she saw was black.

Kiyomi then realized what she was kissing was Gensai's cap, specifically, that little metallic pin on the center with the Kanji of man on it. Gensai then pulled back his cap and put it on again.

"Why...?", Kiyomi couldn't help but ask, sad again as her hopes weren't as high as she thought they were. "Sorry", Gensai said with a strange smile.

"Is it because I'm a...", Kiyomi tried saying but Gensai denied with his head before she finished. "No, not at all. It's just... It's complicated...", Gensai then sat down on the ground in the lotus position, patting a spot next to him. Kiyomi went to sit down next to him, hugging her knees.

"Years ago, someone saved me. I was in a very dark place and this person pulled me out of it, showing me why life was beautiful and reminding me of my forgotten creed... No matter the obstacle, a true man must overcome them and keep marching forward", Gensai said with that mysterious smile that captivated Kiyomi even more.

"Who's this person?", Kiyomi asked curious. "The true and last maiden of Yamato", Gensai replied as he took off his cap and looked at it. Kiyomi's heart felt like being squeezed a little but she fought through it.

"Where's she?", she asked. "Somewhere out of this world...and as long as her spirit lives within me... There will always be a spot for her in my heart", Gensai replied.

"So, it wouldn't be fair to you or anyone, understand what I mean?", Gensai asked with a smile. "...yes", Kiyomi smiled back sad. It was easy to see in Gensai's eyes and the way he smiled that whoever that person was, it had been everything to him.

Kiyomi wouldn't give up however, she swore to herself to overcome every obstacle and she was willing to live up to her word, otherwise, she would never be able to compete against the last Maiden of Yamato, living within Gensai's heart.

She would keep fighting, but for now, she would just respect their memories until she could earn a special place there too.

"Osu! We should keep going then! There's still time to find those items", Kiyomi said excited as she got up and offered a hand to Gensai, smiling sweetly. "Items?", Gensai asked a bit confused, with all that happened he forgot about the scavenger hunt.

"Yeah! We are supposed to be competing against the other girls! Don't forget a true man never backs down from a challenge!", Kiyomi said as he stood up. Gensai smiled big. "You're right!", he exclaimed and punched himself.

"I'm all good now! We will win this battle!!", Gensai shouted passionately. "Yeah! Let's show them what the Yamato spirit can do!", Kiyomi exclaimed loud too.

And with that, both headed into the forest, not willing to lose and set to keep marching forward.

Gensai knew, somewhere, she was smiling.