I have time to sit down and edit today, so here's chapter 5. We've passed the halfway point. Yayyy! Enjoy~!

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"Ugh..."

Riku looked ready to cry, sitting amongst scattered papers, scrapped or crumpled. Most of them contained notes and ideas for making music. Yes, the student was expected to compose a piece as his final university project. His supervisor recently reminded him to deliver a demo soon.

The upside to this was that Riku would own the rights to the piece he created. The downside? It made him feel like he had to make music that rang true to his heart. Just submitting a random piece to get a pass would not be right. The problem was that he had yet to find inspiration.

He'd tried making a cheerful tune, which Iori found was not bad at all, but Riku wasn't 100% happy with it. He wanted something that made his heart yearn for. Something that reminded him of a moment inside his fantasy world, memories, or reality. He sought emotional attachment from his music, especially when he might turn it into a song, writing lyrics for it and singing it himself.

Feeling tightness in his chest, Riku coughed. He took a moment to lean back on the sofa, put his hand on his chest, and tried to slow down his breathing so it wouldn't get out of control.

"What should I do...?" He muttered, feeling trapped in a black box that drained his creativity.

~~++~~++~~

"Ah! That's a relief."

Such a simple line, yet it had stuck inside Gaku's head since yesterday. It was rather nice to hear that someone was cheering him on, even though Riku did not look like the type to watch Muay Thai shows.

"Today was really fun!"

And there was that cheery face. That was also super nice to see. The man was proud that he was able to make someone's day just by doing what he knew best: fighting. He would grin like an idiot if he wasn't sparring right now. Instead, he converted his feelings into fighting fuel.

The Crescent Wolf aggressively attacked his sparring partner, Momo, who kept dodging hit after hit at fantastic speed. But Gaku possessed terrific stamina. Momo dodged Gaku's body round kick only to be hit by another one to the head during the last three seconds of their last round.

"Time!" Yuki shouted, his hand clicking the stopwatch button. The fighters dropped their guards, bowed to each other, and took off their mouth guards and gloves.

"Owowow, my head." Momo wore a pained expression, touching the side of his head. His usual quick feet wobbled as he made his way towards Yuki. He fell right into Yuki's hold when he gave Gaku a sulky look. "Who does another round kick right after missing the first one? And to the head as well!"

Gaku sighed when he knew Momo was only acting to appeal to Yuki. "My foot touched your head, Momo-san. It can't be painful," He said, deadpan.

"Didn't I say light to moderate contact only? Jerk." Yuki glared at Gaku before turning back to face Momo with a much kinder expression. "Are you okay, Momo? Let me have a look." He gave Momo a few gentle head pats. "There, there."

Sunohara Momose, or Momo, was Yuki's partner. He started off as a Thai boxer but switched to mixed martial arts, or MMA, later in his career. Because of that, he adopted a high-mobility fighting style. Even though Gaku was considered swift as a Thai boxer, Momo proved to be a challenge for him. The man was way too loose and slippery.

"I'm feeling much, MUCH better now, darling~!" Momo beamed after getting special treatment. Then he turned his attention to Gaku, as he'd heard some juicy tales. "By the way, Gaku, something good happened, didn't it?"

Gaku appeared confused. As far as he recalled, his life was as quiet as it could get.

"A little birdie told me you've been personally and privately training a young man to fight. I wonder if it's related to that, hmmm~?" Momo put an index finger on his chin.

Gaku's eyebrows raised. "You've even heard about Nanase. Nothing gets past you, huh?" It always fascinated him how fast and thoroughly Momo obtained information in the fight business.

"So that's the name of your energy source." The MMA fighter nodded twice, committing the new information to memory.

Crossing his arms, Gaku asked, "Energy source?"

Momo nodded again. "How do I put it? It's like you've gone on autopilot for a while, but now the real Yaotome Gaku is back."

Gaku snickered because all of that sounded totally ridiculous. "Autopilot? Momo-san, you of all people know that almost anything can happen inside the ring."

"But like," Momo proceeded to explain further. "The Crescent Wolf always pushes his opponent into the corner with a flurry of hits, yeah?" He did four jab-crosses while talking. "Like that double round kick you did just now. For the past few months, you've been sticking to fighting, uh, traditionally and quietly?"

"Seriously...?" Gaku did not realise he had stopped doing what defined him as a fighter. He was always hard on the attack. Gaku was proud of it. The magazines talked about it. Other fighters feared him for it. It was his signature, his pride and joy.

Momo spread his arms wide. His smile extended just as far. "What I'm trying to say is, I've missed Yaotome Gaku's fighting style. So welcome back, Gaku!"

"Momo is right, you know?" Yuki touched Momo's shoulder in a cool, loving way. "You have a unique fighting style that hardly anyone can copy. Your power, your stamina, and your endurance are bottomless. I, or even Momo, could never do it." Momo nodded along with that last statement. "How you fight is entertaining, if not inspiring, Gaku-kun. You possess the power to move thousands of people in the arena."

"You should go out there." Yuki touched Gaku's shoulder briefly, directing his attention to his finger pointing at the ring. "Put on a show. See how those people go crazy for you."

~~++~~++~~

Even after sparring with Momo, Gaku couldn't get himself to say he would appear in BLACK or WHITE. The pro fighter hated the unsure version of himself. He had come prepared for Yuki to nag him endlessly about it again, but in the end, Yuki only said:

"Why don't you watch some amateur matches? Maybe it'll remind you of youth. Might make you laugh. Or who knows, it might even bring about an eye-opening experience?"

And so he entered a small pub hidden in one of the alleyways one evening, got a pint of beer, and stood at one of the small, round tables. The pub tables were moved out of the way to make just enough space to set up the ring in the middle of it. The area wasn't packed, but almost everyone had their eyes on the two fighters standing in the ring.

The moment the fight bell went off, clearly, the blue corner fighter took control of the match. His opponent from the red corner could hardly do anything other than block the incoming hits. Gaku kept a close eye on it. They weren't hitting each other super hard, but the techniques were there.

By the time the second round started, spectators were already judging the fight. They were saying the blue would win for sure. They weren't wrong if the red still fought like that in the next three 1.5-minute rounds.

However, Muay Thai was fun because it was unpredictable.

Having used too much energy in the first two rounds, the blue fighter appeared to have lost focus in the third round. The red was able to land more clean hits. People cheering for the red fighter screamed louder.

During the fifth round, the red fighter cranked out all his combos, dominating the blue and gaining the victory he deserved. People clapped and shouted for him in excitement. Even Gaku did. He got one more drink and chatted with some people nearby to celebrate the occasion. To think even just a local match could entertain this many people. Major fight matches were broadcast throughout Japan, so whenever pro fighters like himself fought, he could take the entire country to the world of ultimate entertainment.

This fight reminded Gaku of when he fought his first match. He had been 19, a first-year university student. At that time, he'd only trained in Thai boxing for three months at the university club. The coach saw his potential during sparring and decided to put him in a match. There, he tasted his first sweet victory.

Too bad his father had called him a fool instead of celebrating with him.

The pub calmed down a short while after the event ended. Most people left with smiles on their faces. Gaku decided to stay longer to do some quiet thinking.

"Gaku?"

Hearing an unfamiliar voice, the fighter hesitantly turned to his right. Two men were sitting at the table in the farthest corner of the pub. One was wearing a blue cap, a mask underneath his chin, and thick glasses. Gaku thought he'd seen the guy somewhere before but it must have been his imagination. As for the other guy, Gaku recognised him right after meeting his eyes.

"Ryunosuke!"

The Crescent Wolf, Yaotome Gaku, and the Sea Dragon, Tsunashi Ryuunosuke, had met each other a few times in the ring and exchanged a few words. It was probably the work of fate that brought them together here in a random pub.

"Did you watch the match?" Ryuu asked as Gaku joined them at the table.

"Yeah. Those kids did well." Gaku replied. His eyes drifted to Ryuu's companion. He looked even more familiar up close.

"It's rude to stare, you know?" Said the pink-haired man when he saw how Gaku did not even try to hide that he was checking him out.

Surprisingly, Gaku also felt like he had heard that voice somewhere. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"You probably do." Ryuu grinned before leaning forward and whispering into Gaku's ear. "This is Kujo Tenn."

"Kujo Tenn? That super idol?" Gaku turned and looked at Tenn again, this time not holding anything back. Who would believe Japan's top idol was sitting here in front of him in the flesh? He didn't even buy a fan meet ticket! Flabbergasted, he faced Ryuu. "What's a celebrity doing here, and why are you with him?"

"Why can't I be with Ryuu?" The idol answered with a voice full of annoyance. "And it's not like you aren't a celebrity yourself, Yaotome Gaku." Through the fake glasses, he glared as if he were holding some sort of grudge against the fighter.

"This brat... he's nothing like the guy on TV." It was a good thing Gaku wasn't Kujo Tenn's fan or he would have been sorely disappointed.

"What did you just call me?" Tenn frowned.

"Easy, you two." The gentle fighter intervened before all hell broke loose. "L-let's try to get along, okay?" Ryuu then faced Gaku with a more serious expression. "Gaku, there's something I'd like to ask."

"Sure, ask away." Gaku took one big gulp of his beer.

"You aren't injured or anything, right?"

Confused, Gaku put his glass down. "No. Why?"

"I heard you haven't fought this year. From what I know, you normally do 2 or 3 big fights a year. So I was wondering if something happened..." Ryuu explained, appearing concerned.

"..." Ashamed, the fighter couldn't say directly what was troubling him.

"But if you aren't injured then that's good!" Seeing as Gaku had gone quiet, Ryuu continued. "I'm hoping we can face each other again in BLACK or WHITE. I enjoyed our last match a lot. Your moves were hard to predict. I felt like if I lost focus even for a split second, I'd end up on the ground." He said it with a big grin on his face.

It made Gaku happy inside that he posed a threat to a formidable opponent like Ryuu. "Thanks. It means a lot coming from you. You were great yourself. There were many moments when I had to rethink my strategy." Having said that, Gaku felt weird. It didn't sound like Yaotome Gaku. It sounded like someone who had accepted defeat. The true Crescent Wolf would be saying something along the lines of 'Heh, you just got lucky this time' even though he deeply respected Ryuu as a fighter.

"Oh, I don't mean to pressure you into fighting this year, though," said Ryuu. "I heard you opened up your own fight gym. That must have kept you busy. Any promising fighters there?"

"Most people come for fitness." Gaku leaned back, trying to relax in the wooden chair. "One particular guy is pretty interesting, though."

Intrigued, Ryuu waited for Gaku to continue.

"He seems to have been through something terrible in the past. Worse, his health is giving him a lot of trouble." For the first time tonight, Gaku smiled. "Despite all that, he's always eager to learn. His willpower is insurmountable." A bit of alcohol made it easy for Gaku to ramble on. He was about to say more when—

"You're the worst."

Gaku straightened himself, feeling sober in an instant. Did he hear that right? He checked Ryuu's expression. Yup. Ryunosuke also went wide-eyed after hearing the words that came out of his best friend's mouth.

"What the hell did you just say?" Gaku glared at Tenn, ready to explode. If it was a fight he wanted, he would get it. From the start, it felt like Tenn had been trying to pick a fight with him.

"I said you're the worst." Ready for a verbal attack, Tenn pushed aside his glass of apple juice. "In other words, you're a pathetic loser who abandons his fans to play with some kids."

"Abandon my fans? I'm not an idol!" The fighter raised his voice. He used all his energy to stop himself from slamming the table. Just what was Tenn blabbering about?

"Fans are fans! The people who are eagerly waiting for your appearance." Tenn refused to back down. As a solo idol, his fans made his world. With fame came responsibilities. Yaotome Gaku was famous. He was just as deep in the world of entertainment as Tenn was, meaning his fans should always come first. "You avoiding fight matches is pure negligence. Aren't you ashamed? Calling yourself a pro fighter when you don't even step into the ring."

Gaku opened his mouth to argue, but no voice came out. Tenn hit the mark, hard. Yes, he was ashamed. Him, a fierce wolf who refused to hunt because of a poor excuse of fading passion.

"That's enough, Tenn! You've said too much." Ryuu stood up and shouted at his friend. "I'm sorry, Gaku. Tenn can be too harsh sometimes. I'm sure you have your reasons." He eyed Gaku sympathetically.

Gaku stayed silent. Reasons? Yup, he had them all right. He couldn't force himself to fight when nothing felt fun anymore. It was just as Momo had said, he had gone on autopilot: fighting small bouts, running his gym for money and nothing more.

The idol huffed. "Don't apologise on my behalf, Ryuu. I'm not the least bit sorry."

Gaku's head flopped. It felt as if Tenn was much bigger than him now, staring him down with disgust. Where did that prideful fighter go?

"Even for me, I fight because I have to put food on the table for my family, yeah?" Ryuu sat down, still trying to defend Gaku. "Once my father's debt is cleared, you know I'll likely quit fighting."

Tenn shook his head, refusing to accept the argument. "That's a different situation. Idols can retire too. But this guy is simply fooling around and not doing his job." He pointed at Gaku's face.

"Tenn-"

"It's okay, Ryunosuke. What Kujo said isn't wrong." Accepting defeat, Gaku got up, excused himself and walked out of the pub.

For the first time in years, he looked up at the blackened sky with blurry vision. It was just as Yuki said—maybe he was here for a reason. Perhaps what he needed was this painful touch of reality.

~~++~~++~~

An hour later...

"Welcom- Oh! Hello, Gaku." An old man inside a soba shop greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, Grandpa." The fighter bowed to the man. "I'll take care of the shop tonight."

This place was called Yamamura Soba, owned by Gaku's grandfather. Whenever Gaku had free time, he would help out here. As of this moment, he needed some distraction. Had he gone back to his gym to hit the punching bags now, he'd be clouded by intense emotions and never be able to properly process the conversations that had happened recently.

"Fans, huh?" Thoughts ran through Gaku's head as he served bowls of soba to the last customers at the counter. "How I fight is inspiring, huh?"

He went back to the kitchen to wash the plates. "Me? Fighting for other people? Ridiculous." Having said that out loud, he chuckled. Gaku first thought of his childhood memories.

Kid Gaku showed his mum a school test result he'd aced. She smiled warmly and complimented him. His dad didn't say much but nodded in approval.

A few years later, young Gaku won a gold medal on school sports day. His father didn't say anything. His mother—

—was no longer there.

Yaotome Gaku tried his best to make his mother and father happy. Yet they still ended up divorcing.

"Damn you, Dad." Alone in the quiet kitchen, the ever-so-tough fighter's eyes turned red. "I started my fight career, he called me an idiot. I lost, he called me a fool. When I won," He snickered, wiping his face with his shirt sleeve. "He still called me a fool."

There's no point in fighting for someone else. Win or lose, it's all on you.

All my life, I've fought to become Yaotome Gaku; to become the version of me that I love.

But now that I've come to accept myself, what's the point of fighting any more?

What's the point in climbing higher when it only grants self-satisfaction?

"Excuse me, are you still open?"

A customer's voice snapped Gaku out of his memory. "Yes. I'll be with you in a second!" He wiped his hands, grabbed a menu, and rushed to the counter seat. As he was handing the menu to the customer, his eyes opened wide. "Nanase?!" The menu slipped out of his hand.

"Yaotome-san?!" Also surprised, Riku failed to catch the menu with his shaky hands.

Having noticed Riku's face was a little pale, Gaku asked "Supper?", eyeing the younger man with worry.

"Um, very very late lunch, I guess? I haven't eaten anything since this morning." With a hoarse voice, Riku replied as he browsed through the menu, staring at the featured item pictures.

"What? That's no good." Gaku placed his hands on his hips.

Riku didn't seem to hear him. All his focus went to the fancy bowls of soba. "Uwahhh! Everything looks delicious."

"Everything is delicious," said Gaku with confidence. Judging from Riku's troubled expression, he bet Riku had trouble choosing between hot tempura soba or the set menu.

"I'll get the zaru soba!" Pointing at the picture in the furthest corner of the menu, the customer ordered with a big smile on his face, sending Gaku stumbling backwards internally.

"You can't just have plain cold soba after not eating all day. You need meat!" The coach scolded the boy for neglecting his body's nutritional needs. "This is why your punches and kicks are weak. You lack the muscles to support them."

"I'm broke, Yaotome-san!" Frustrated, Riku shouted. Good thing he was the only customer inside the shop by that time. Of course, he wanted to eat an extra large portion of hearty soba, but he couldn't afford that luxury. "I just got paid for my part-time job this evening but I have to save it to pay rent." He moped.

Ugh, now Gaku felt bad for giving the poor boy a lecture. He hadn't even gotten a chance to recover from the event earlier. Why did everything go wrong today? Taking the menu, he disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes before coming back with a tray of extra large tempura soba. He set the tray down in front of Riku, who was giving him a confused look.

"It's on the house," Gaku said as he sat across from the redhead.

Riku wanted to refuse, but when the tempting aroma hit his nose, he couldn't resist. The hungry boy thanked Yaotome several times as he savoured each bite.

"So how come you're working here?" Seeing as Gaku wasn't busy, the student thought it was a good opportunity to talk. Suddenly, he dropped his chopsticks on the tray and covered his mouth in shock. "Don't tell me you quit fighting...?"

"I said I'm too young to quit, didn't I?" Gaku denied it quickly before letting out a sigh. "Why do you care anyway?"

"Of course I do!"

The way Riku answered with certainty drew Gaku in. "You're not only cool and strong, but you're kind as well. When you found out about my health condition, instead of making me quit, you gave me another chance." His gaze drifted off a little bit. "Even after I had a panic attack, you didn't give up on me. You said I could trust you."

Riku kept a small, sad smile on his face. "Even though I've never told you anything, you've been supportive of me." Must be the relaxing atmosphere and warm food that put the red-haired man in a chatty mood. "I knew nothing about Thai boxing when I first came to you." He scratched his face shyly. "But now that I've seen you demonstrate techniques up close and experienced how you teach, I've become more interested in the art."

"Before our last session, I looked up one of your fights after seeing a magazine article on BLACK or WHITE." Riku looked up, his eyes glittering as he recalled how Gaku moved in a fight. "You kept pressuring your opponent. It was like you didn't know how to get tired. You were invincible!"

"I lost that match, though..." Reminded of the outcome, Gaku felt sad, but he couldn't help smiling a little.

"But I'm sure you won people's hearts," Riku said confidently. "Well, you won mine at least. I couldn't take my eyes off you." Seconds later, a light blush appeared on his face, only realising now how embarrassing that sounded.

Gaku's mouth opened in awe.

"Um, w-what I mean is—how great it would be to see you fight live. I'm sure I'll end up crying happy tears seeing you win." Riku's face turned even redder. "Ah!! I-I'm not putting pressure on you. It's just- why is everything coming out wrong?" Flustered, chopsticks fell from his loose hands.

The fierce fighter burst out laughing. There was a tear in the corner of his eye, but he laughed. Was this what Yuki meant by being able to move people? The soba man found himself covering his face with his hands. How ironic. He was supposed to be inspiring to his trainee, not to be touched by him. The innocent redhead had no idea how much of an impact his words had on him.

After he had calmed down, he went back to the kitchen, grabbed a new pair of chopsticks, and handed them to the customer.

When Riku grabbed the chopsticks, Gaku did not let go. "Thanks, Nanase." He made sure Riku saw his emotional face and heard his heartfelt gratitude loud and clear before he let them go.

Riku turned soft. "Are you okay, Yaotome-san? You seemed troubled the other day, too." The way Gaku relentlessly hit the punching bag with his knees and shouted at him at the beginning of the last session bothered him to this day. Riku resumed eating, not wanting to waste any of the precious free soba.

"It's just been one hell of a day." Gaku sat back down, resting his chin in his hand. "Or one hell of a year. As you might have heard, I haven't fought major matches at all."

Riku's arm froze, noodles halfway in his mouth.

Gaku came clean. "Don't look so shocked. It's true that I don't enjoy Muay Thai as much as I used to. I wake up, train, spar, get in the ring, and repeat. Every day, I go through the same motions. It's tiring me out." Allowing a moment of weakness, the tough fighter placed his forearms on the counter, letting his shoulders drop. "Someone told me I've gone on autopilot. Then I had an idol tell me I've been fooling around and not doing my job."

"That's-" Riku thought the last bit was harsh and unnecessary.

"They're right." Gaku shook his head, shaking the lingering sadness off with it. "But this year, someone else showed up at my gym one day. He's weak, but he makes up for it with his willpower. How he tries so hard despite how tired he gets motivates me. I especially love it when he goes home with a smile on his face, saying he enjoyed the class." The fighter gave his warmest smile to the precious boy. "And now he's telling me I'm invincible and saying he wants to see me win."

Riku shakily pointed at his face. "Y-Yaotome-san, are you talking about me?"

Gaku nodded, speaking loud and clear. "Yes, you. You remind me that what I do has meaning."

Yuki, Momo, and Kujo were laying out for him why he should fight. Nanase Riku was the physical version of those reasons. The frail man, who could not even run at first, was slowly growing into a proper fighter. From a stranger, he turned into a fan by watching the Crescent Wolf's fight. Yaotome Gaku was spreading joy and changing people's lives by putting on a show of art.

That was the last push he needed.

The first person he would undoubtedly fight for was himself.

But he could definitely fight for Nanase Riku as well.

"Glad I could help..." Riku gave the man a polite smile. For the first time, he was useful to someone else. Tears welled in his eyes, but he would never let them drop since he could never believe he was truly useful to anyone. He should have been jumping for joy, but that felt wrong. Everything that had just happened must have been a dream. He had been weak, and his mind was playing with him. Gaku smiling at him was only an illusion.

Feeling his chest tightening, Riku gave it a gentle rub. The boy shook his head internally in an attempt to snap out of his negative thoughts. He needed to change the topic or he'd end up having an attack. "T-the udon is delicious, by the wa—"

"Udon?!" Gaku looked ready to kill the ungrateful customer.

"Sorry! Sorry! Soba! I meant to say soba! Really!" Flustered, Riku bowed his head repeatedly, almost touching the bowl of food. Curse him for being too damn exhausted. "Is this your part-time job?"

"I'm just helping out here. It's a family shop."

"Family shop?" Riku took a quick glance at the menu placed nearby. "Why is it Yamamura and not Yaotome?"

"My mum's shop, to be precise," Gaku answered without thinking much. "My parents are divorced."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Riku's face fell. He couldn't believe he messed up again. Perhaps he should just stay quiet.

"You don't have to look so sad. It was a long time ago." It was adorable how Riku wore his heart on his sleeve.

"But it is sad!" Riku chowed down the last bit of his food. "My mum and dad clearly prefer my brother but if I'm really, really in trouble, I at least have a home to go back to. They'll sit together on the sofa and hug me if I ask. But you-"

"Hold on, what the fuck?" The whole sentence just now sounded so wrong on so many levels. "Kids shouldn't need to ask parents for love. You deserve love just as you are, Nanase."

"..." Too weary to argue or continue any sort of conversation, Riku did not say anything else.

~~++~~++~~

Just after Gaku left, back at the pub...

"I'm going after Gaku-" Ryuu stood up, but just as he was about to leave, Tenn tugged on his arm sleeve.

"And leave me here all alone? Unforgivable."

Sighing, Ryuu sat back down. No, he wasn't Tenn's bodyguard, but he was too nice and responsible a man to leave a super idol best friend alone in an underground pub. "What's gotten into you anyway? It's not like you to tell someone off." By someone, Ryuu meant strangers. He'd received countless 2-hour lectures from Tenn.

"I might be drunk." Tenn sighed as he stirred a near-empty glass in front of him.

"Isn't that apple juice?" The fitness instructor panicked. Tenn was just that bad with alcohol.

"Do you remember the day we met five years ago, Ryuu?" He eyed Ryuu expectantly.

"Huh? Well, I sure do." Ryuu tapped into his memories. "Your father arranged for us to meet at one of the fight events after he hired me. Hmm. Which one was that again?"

"It was Yaotome Gaku's pro debut," answered Tenn. "In an open stadium, under a pretty crescent moon."

"Right. We watched that fight. That's how you came to know Gaku, huh?" Ryuu remembered the fight well. It was a year after Ryuu's pro Muay Thai debut. Gaku's show of prowess had sent a shiver down his spine. Ryuu had known they'd meet someday, and when that day came, he would have to be on guard.

"I knew nothing about martial arts," Tenn said, recalling what he saw, which granted him joy. "But the moment the fight started, I was sucked in."

"I know what you mean." Ryuu also smiled. "Gaku's eyes were sharp. When his opponent moved, he moved. No wonder why he earned the Crescent Wolf nickname."

"During the last round, he dominated the ring and knocked his opponent out flat with a flying knee." That beautiful finish remained imprinted in Tenn's memory. "I thought it was bold, flashy, and arrogant, even. How he dished out such a complicated move in that split second amazed me. I thought normal people would stick to safer punches with higher accuracy." He blushed a little. "I admired him as an entertainer."

Ryuu's mouth formed an 'o' shape when he finally understood his best friend's intention. "So that's why you said those things. You're Gaku's fan! You want to see him back in action. Should have told him that."

"T-that's not it." Tenn looked away from Ryuu, his face flushing redder. "You've always said you wanted to fight him again..."

"Aww, Tenn." A pink tint was painted across Ryuu's face. "How very caring of you."

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Chapter Notes
- Of course Tenn and Gaku would argue :P
- Pretty sure we all know where "I'm broke!" Riku is from XD

Thanks again for reading lovely ppl~! I'll see you on the next update!