Author's note: apparently a sloppy cut and paste job on my end left off a short but important scene from chapter 12 (part 2) here it is...
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In PE, the boys stand in two lines, practicing passing basketballs back and forth. My partner, Ishikawa, is tall and lanky. He plays on the baseball team and doesn't care much for basketball. None of us care for this repetitive exercise whose only purpose seems to be filling mandatory class time.
"I think she likes it," Fujita says. "I think she's an M." Fujita is a plump stocky guy. With a little effort, he could have succeeded in a contact sport, but he has asthma, bad eyesight and is a complete otaku. He'd rather play dating sims and fantasize about his "2D" girls than venture outside is room.
His partner, Nakashima, fails to catch the ball. It bounces off his upper arm and he has to chase it down. "What do you mean?" he asks, running back and tossing the ball.
"M — for masochist. Everyone is either an 'S' or an 'M', ne?"
"You think Shizuku likes being abused?" my partner, Ishikawa, asks.
"Yeah." Fujita returns a knowing leer. "I think she actually gets off on being mistreated. That's why she doesn't say anything."
Nakashima looks intrigued. "Really?"
"Yeah. I think she's a dirty girl in more ways than one."
"Ecchi?"
"More like full hentai."
"Shut up!" Kurosawa, standing at Nakashima's other side, scowls at Fujita. "You don't know anything and your ignorance is annoying." His glare sweeps over us, including me. I remember having told him Shizuku was annoying me and Kioko, so he probably counts me in with her tormentors.
Fujita laughs. "Oh, yeah. I forgot Kurosawa-kun likes her."
Kurosawa's face darkens.
"Do you still?" Fujita continues. "Even after the toilet water thing?"
Kurosawa's face flushes. "Well, she is a foreigner. Different countries, different customs."
Fujita guffaws. "Then you better teach her some hygiene, then."
Nakashima snickers. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind getting her in the bath."
Kurosawa's basketball slams off Nakashima's face with a loud slap. Nakashima staggers backward and falls. Kurosawa stands over him, fists clenched. "I said you better shut up. I don't even want to hear you say her name again."
Lying on the court, Nakashima holds an arm up defensively. A red half-circle brightens on the side of his face. "OK. I'm sorry. I won't."
Kurosawa glares at Fujita. "The same goes for you."
Fujita drops his basketball and holds up his hands. "I won't. Don't worry."
Kurosawa stomps off leaving me impressed. I've never seen him this serious about anything.
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COURTING DEATH
Teen FictionTo save his first love, a shy Japanese teenage boy must prove to a Shinigami (Japanese death god) that love exists by making it fall in love with him. When the shinigami invades his life, disrupting all his relationships and even coming in between h...
