CH 56

Chapter 56 – Haircut and Training

In the end, Haruko-chan quieted both of us down and stopped the apology fight, but we had no choice but to cancel the study session and I decided to leave.

Moriyama-kun, who always walks me home, wasn’t feeling well, so I planned to go home alone, but Haruko-chan was worried about me and agreed to walk me home.

I walked with Haruko-chan and Dozle-kun on the road I usually walk with Moriyama-kun.

The clock shows it’s just before 11.00 am.

Haruko-chan would sometimes talk to me with a smile on her face, but I couldn’t smile and could only give a straight answer.

When I arrived home,

“Himeka-san, you can’t keep blaming yourself. My brother had an unhappy middle school years because of that. As I said in the bath yesterday, I’m rooting for you, Himeka-san!”

“Thank you, Haruko-chan. I will thank you and apologize again for this.”

“Yes, please come and visit us again!”

Haruko-chan said cheerfully and left.

When I went up to my house, I went straight to my room.

I took off my coat, then got a mirror and scissors and sat upright on the floor.

While checking in the mirror, I run the scissors through my long hair.

My long hair kept falling to the floor, and in about 10 minutes my head was a short, shaggy mess.

I brushed my hair from the floor and threw it in the bin, then left the room, this time carrying a sports bag containing my sportswear.

◇

I ride my bike to the dojo.

When I arrived at the dojo, it was lunchtime and there was no one there.

When I looked into the back break room, there was a teacher, one senior, and about five juniors eating lunch.

“It’s been a while. I’ve come to ask you to train me. Please,” I said as I bowed.

Then a senior colleague (a woman, five years my senior) came before the teacher.

“What’s wrong with your hair, Himeka!?”

“I have cut it to remind myself of my immaturity.”

And now the teacher…

“There’s a reason you’re here. I’ll handle the training.”

“Osu! Please take care of me!”

I bowed and left the break room to change in the changing room…

I went to the dojo first, because everyone was still eating, and sat down and waited for everyone else…

After half an hour or so, everyone came to the dojo.

Normally, practicing right after eating is dangerous, so you shouldn’t do it.

That’s why we all just did the bow, and the actual training was just me and the teacher.

After about 10 minutes of flexibility training, we equip ourselves with headgear and a mouthpiece and start practicing in a match format.

We faced each other, bowed, and took a stance.

The moment I tried to close the distance with the intention of taking the first move, I was kicked from the top of my headgear to the side of my head and blown away.

I didn’t get the guard in time!

Am I this weak???

It hasn’t even been ten seconds since we started!

When I desperately tried to get up on my knees, I stumbled and landed on my buttocks.

It’s not the time to go down so easily.

I can picture Moriyama-kun waking up from a blackout and standing up.

“Not yet! I can still get up!”

While screaming, I slammed my fist into the floor, clenched my teeth, and put all my strength into my legs.

I managed to get up and put the mouthpiece back in my mouth to face the teacher.

I bowed again and assumed posture.

My eyes couldn’t focus properly and the kick I had just received was stuck in my head as a horror.

My breathing was ragged and my heart was beating so loudly that it was almost like a thunderclap.

◇

I was then repeatedly kicked down and found myself blacking out.

I tried to get up to continue practicing, but my senior held me down and stopped me.

“Himeka, it’s over. You can’t go any further.”

“I can still do it! Let me continue!”

“No. It’s been a long time since you’ve done this, so don’t get too cocky.”

“But!”

I looked at the teacher and the older students as if to appeal to them, but they didn’t seem to agree with me.

Giving up, I managed to stand up and thank them.

I went alone to the shower room and removed my sportswear and underwear.

Yesterday, I was wearing the underwear that I wanted Moriyama-kun to see.

My chest becomes painful, and I quickly remove my underwear…

I showered with cold water over my head.

My body was hot and sore all over.

It was hard to even stand up.

I checked myself and found bruises on my thighs and arms.

When I checked my face in the mirror, the eyelid of my left eye was swollen.

I have school tomorrow and I look terrible.

I wonder if Moriyama-kun would make a fuss if he saw this.

I’m sure I’ll make him worry about me again.

When I held my swollen eyelids with an ice pack prepared by a junior colleague, I couldn’t stop crying in frustration.

◇◆◇

The next day, Monday, I did poorly on the test, but it didn’t matter.

But when I saw Moriyama-kun’s sad expression when he saw my changed hair and swollen face, my heart was incredibly painful.

“I’m making him worry again.” It felt like my heart would burst.

When today’s test was over in the morning and it was time to leave school at noon, Moriyama-kun came to my seat with an anxious look on his face that I had never seen before.

Just as I thought, I can see that Moriyama-kun feels responsible for seeing me like this.

So before Moriyama-kun could open his mouth.

“I suddenly had the urge to restart my karate training yesterday! Because I’d been slacking off quite a bit, my body didn’t follow me at all and I was a wreck from day one! Tehehe.”

I laughed and showed it to him.

I also apologized for not being able to leave school with him or talk with him after school because I wanted to concentrate on karate for a while, and for not being able to make him lunch every day.

Moriyama-kun said, “Don’t worry about me. Please take care of yourself. It’s painful to see you injured and battered. If there is anything I can do, please do not hesitate to ask me.”

Moriyama-kun’s kindness seemed to seep into my heart.

Once again, I was able to confirm that I like Moriyama-kun.

All that’s left to do now is to beat myself up for my inadequacies.

I set myself one goal.

In order to realize this goal, from that day on, I went to the dojo every day after school when there was no student council and continued to practice.