Thorns and Roses

Chapter 9

Kei thought he must be punished for what he did last time. He really didn't mean to laugh at his boss at the time, but here he was on his knees on the rubber matted floor, catching some breath, while Riku waited for him to get up, wearing a white and black Jujitsu uniform with his four-degree black belt around him – contrasting his blue uniform and belt.

He thought Riku would give him some orders about his sister, but he was surprised when he was given a set of uniform instead and proceeded to the training floor for some Jujitsu sparring with Riku. They both stood the same height, body proportion almost the same, and although he expected Riku to be someone very good at fighting as he is the acting head of the yakuza, he was still surprised at how good he is in the sport.

Kei didn't have any formal martial arts training, but he could consider himself good in fighting due to his experience in the Arrows. After all, he was still trained, although not professionally. He fairly matched Riku's skills, but obviously, the latter is more trained and experienced than he is, making him always either planks on the matt, or tapping out.

"Last round?" Riku casually asked, looking nonchalantly as if he hasn't thrown and choke Kei so many times. The bodyguard almost thought he's just showing off his skills or simply just pissed at him about last time.

Kei could only heave a deep breath and stood on his feet again, putting his hands on his waist. He couldn't even say no to his boss, could he?

"Okay."

Hearing his answer, Riku walked towards him without breaking his gaze on Kei. His stare somehow made Kei shudder, seeing that look on him as if he's going to end his life right there and then. He dropped his hands to his side and when Riku leaned to him, grabbing the hem of his uniform and around his waist, Kei mirrored him.

But he instantly got chills when Riku almost whispered in his ears, feeling his warm breath against his skin.

"Focus. Or else you'll lose again." Riku smirked and started tripping Kei's legs.

Kei's concentration immediately spiked up and he tried mirroring every move Riku did. The latter started trying the single leg takedown on Kei again, but he was already familiar with this beginning move from Riku, so he easily dodged them and remain standing on his ground.

Riku's lips subtly curled up seeing the improvement on his sparring partner. But he didn't slack off and instantly locked his arms around Kei's thigh to put him into submission. Kei tried his best to slip his arms between them to counter Riku and not lose his balance, so he used his strength to grab Riku by the waist and remove his hard grip on his legs. Fortunately, Riku tried another move on him, making him remove his arms around him so Kei used this chance to do a spin-around. He sprawled his legs part way back and quickly moved around behind Riku. Kei immediately wrapped his arms tightly around Riku's midsection, back hugging his opponent.

Riku smirked, feeling Kei's pounding chest on his back, and expecting Kei's plan on lifting and throwing him on the matt, so he swiftly ducked and tripped Kei's right leg making the man slightly stumbled so Riku immediately locked his head under his arm and pinned him on the ground.

Kei saw Riku smirking on top of him while his arms were tightly locked around his chest.

"You should do better than throwing me on the matt. You need to bring an element of surprise to your opponent so you can put them into submission." Riku instructed with a conceited face.

Kei sharply exhaled and tightly wrapped his arms around Riku and smirked back at him. This only challenged the latter, but the next move totally caught him off guard. Kei leaned towards his face without breaking the gaze and when he thought Kei would stop halfway, the smug look on his face slowly replaced by a slight panic and he was flustered when Kei continued to approach until the tip of their noses touched. Riku could feel the warm breath from Kei and when he saw Kei had no plan on stopping, he pulled back which made his arms lost their grip around Kei.

Feeling unrestrained, Kei immediately used his force to reverse their position while Riku was taken aback. His boss is now on its back on the matt while Kei pulled off a mount on Riku; climbing on top of him sitting on Riku's stomach, locking both legs on his opponent's torso, and was ready to do a finishing chokehold on Riku.

Riku's breathing labored, seeing Kei on top of him with a smug look on his face now. He could feel his chest pounding, not only from the match, but also from what Kei pulled off and now he's on top of him. He tried his best to dodge Kei's choke, but when the bodyguard brought his face down on him again, with that super close distance between their faces, Riku purposedly let him grapple him until he tapped out.

Kei rolled over on his back and tried catching his breath after the sparring. His smile never left his face, feeling the victory from his first and last win. He turned his head to the side where Riku remained lying on his back.

"Did I catch you by surprise?" he casually asked in his labored breathing.

Feeling the cold sweat trailing his face, Riku subtly scoffed and snapped his head to Kei's direction as well. "You can't try kissing your opponent just to catch them by surprise." he teased.

"But it worked on you. So, I guess that's fine." Kei teased back.

Riku could only jeered at him and shook his head. He could still feel his chest pounding so he just gulped the air caught in his throat. He pulled himself up and fixed his belt before standing beside Kei who's still lying on his back.

He flashed a naughty grin at him before saying, "Next time, I won't pull back." He then gently kicked Kei's legs and walked away.

Kei turned on his stomach, watching Riku exit the gym, thinking about his last words. When he was about to step out the door, Riku turned his head.

"Nice match," and he disappeared.

Kei sharply exhaled and planked on his back again, spreading his limbs out to let his muscles relax. But a smile escaped his lips when Riku's flustered face flashed in his head again.

_._._

Evening came and Kei drove to the Kimura mansion to pick up Yui for her dinner plan that night. They only drove less than an hour going to one of the Kimura's hotels in Osaka. Even with his subtly prying, Yui still hadn't mention about her friend she's meeting for dinner, but Kei didn't want to force it. He will be there to see who it was anyway, so after parking, Yui led their way to a fancy Western restaurant inside the hotel.

Before they entered the restaurant, Yui fished out her phone from her purse and dialed a number. After only a few seconds, Kei silently listened to their conversation from the side.

"Senpai! Are you here yet?" // "Okay! I'll wait for you outside the restaurant." // "No. No! It's okay!"

Kei heard before Yui said goodbye to the person she was talking to. The lady then turned to Kei.

"Sakai-san, join us, too."

"Huh?"

Yui just smiled and after a couple of minutes, Kei was surprised to see Jiro from a distance, approaching their direction and even waving at Yui.

"Senpai!" Yui excitedly called out with her big smile.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

The lady shook her head. "No. We just came here."

"W-Wait. Jiro, why are you here?" Kei interrupted and stood beside his brother in confusion.

"He's been helping me and my friends a lot with our research paper, so I invited him for dinner."

Kei looked at Jiro, still not gasping the situation. His brother never mentioned about them being this close even though he could see them both in the university walking inside the campus together every after he drops off Yui. But he didn't expect they were already this friendly.

"You never told me anything." Kei faintly said in his brother's ears.

"I told him not to tell you. I want to... surprise you, too." Yui answered instead.

"Oh..."

"Let's go?" the lady spoke again, and they all went inside the restaurant.

---END OF CHAPTER 9---