Ranmaru Kirino, A Sassy Girl

Chapter 13 (Kariya 2)

"Kirino" yelled Endou as he tried to stop the commotion. "Should I end it here? Should I not punish him? Why are they stopping me? This brat deserves a beating. He has been onto me for a while now, I can't take it anymore. What have I done to him to hate me so much?" thought Kirino as she was restrained by three teens now.

Shindou was there, holding Kirino by her waist. Kirino jumped at the contact. She let her hand fell and sigh deeply. In all this commotion, she has completely forgotten that her shirt is damped and sticking to her body. She quickly released herself from the multiple grips.

"Fine, let go," yelled Kirino as she sat on the ground across Kariya. After that, they rushed to Kariya to see if he was okay. He wasn't. He was shaken up and trembling a little. It was the first time that his chin has suffered such pain. Kirino looked at him and saw his wound. She felt guilty but she was still angry.

Kariya is the reason she is in such a messy situation. Her clothes are wet. Everyone could tell she was a girl if it wasn't for her spell put on her body. "Kirino take Kariya to the infirmary," ordered Endou as he asked the rest of the team to go back to their position.

Kirino grudgingly held Kariya by his arm and pushed him to walk along with her. The team was concerned since Kirino was the one who hit Kariya. "If anything more happens to Kariya, you will be suspended from the team for a week," said Endou as he eyed her.

"Kariya will also be suspended for a week if his pranks cross the line again," said Kidou. Endou and Kidou nodded to each other in agreement. Kirino was extra cautious of Kariya's health now.

"What if he acts to be more wounded to get me in trouble?" thought Kirino. "Not a good way to treat an injured person," remarked Kariya as he was being dragged. Kirino glared at him, shutting him up. Kariya lightly smiled as he overcame his dilemma.

"Your chin is injured not your legs. I should punch you again since you seem to talk just fine," said Kirino as she looked ahead. Kariya giggles darkly, "Well, that's fierce."

Kirino was creeped out. Did she hit his head by any chance? He was trembling a moment ago and now he was acting like a tough guy.

"Quit it. Once we will be in the clinic, you will have an antiseptic on your wound," said Kirino bitterly. "Whose fault is it?" asked Kariya. "Do you want to get hit again?" asked Kirino.

"This won't do, get on me"

"What?! Why?" asked Kariya.

"You are intentionally delaying our errand," said Kirino as she was getting irritated.

Kariya obliged since Kirino was already sitting down to give him a piggyback ride. Kariya flushed a bit with close contact but Kirino kept a straight face and walked fastly. The pace made Kariya hold onto her tightly.

"I don't get it why they fight if they are that close," thought Endou and Kidou. They sighed together. They saw them vanish from the road path to the building.

They arrived at the infirmary and opened the door. The teacher wasn't there as expected since it was overtime. "Come to think of it, managers could've taken his care," thought Kirino as she seated Kariya down on the bed.

"Maybe coach wanted me to own up to my mistake?" she scoffed as she thought about it. Kariya just ignored Kirino. "Now let me look at your ugl-," coughed Kirino as she corrected her words. "Let me look at your injured chin," ordered Kirino as she held Kariya's chin gently.

Treat injured person well because what goes around comes around. Kariya averted his eyes. The wound on his chin wasn't deep but it was bleeding. "I think the water bottle's keychain hit him pretty hard," Kirino thought.

She opened the medical box. She took some cotton and sprayed antidote on it. Kariya winced as it came in contact with his wound. The guilt was eating Kirino now. She should have slapped him instead. "Since I have a better conscience than you, I will say it once," said Kirino in a firm voice. Kariya looked at her confused.

"I am sorry," Kirino looked away after telling him her feelings. Kariya was startled because of her sincere apology. Kariya knew he went far this time even the coach was angry at him. Kirino gently put cotton on his wound again, Kariya winced.

"Oh, sorry. Tell me when it hurts," Kirino said as she eyed his wound. After cleaning the wound she looked in the box for a band-aid. Kariya looked down not meeting Kirino's face.

"I am sorry too," Kirino heard Kariya say faintly. She looked back at Kariya whose head was down. She was in a tough position. Kariya looked guilty and she was scowling. "What should I do? Should I forgive him? He even looks like he realized his mistake. Shouldn't I forgive him since apologized with his true heart? Is it with a true heart?," Kirino internally growled.

"Okay, I accept your apology." Kirino snatched a band-aid from the packet and gently covered his wound with it. Kariya smiled weakly, "Thank you senpai."

It was the first time Kirino has seen Kariya smiled so weak or even smile. "Welcome".

"So, is there anything I need to hear from you?" asked Kirino.

"If you are talking about the prank, I pulled it on you because I was wary of the team. You were praising everyone and it made me feel foul and jealous. I will admit it this once," said Kariya making Kirino a little flustered. Kariya wasn't this honest.

"Why-," Kirino was too flushed to answer. "I have been working hard since the 'Holy Road' but you haven't complimented me even one time like you once did," Kariya pouted.

"So, you will go this far just to get attention?" asked Kirino bewildered.

Kariya shook his head. "No, I don't want attention, you misunderstood me. It frustrated me that you were looking eagerly at our players in expectation while you ignored my skills. It made me angry. We both are midfielders, so, I thought you would notice my skills before others," said Kariya as he stood up and started walking towards the door.

Kirino sweat-dropped. "Why do I feel like a parent whose kid wants appreciation?" Kirino thought. "Yes, yes."

"If you wanted that you should have just kept on showing it to me until I noticed instead of some stupid prank."

Kirino walked behind Kariya. "Seriously, getting bullied for such dumb reason." Kariya looked offended but let it go. "You will understand this feeling when you wish someone to notice your skills too, senpai," said Kariya as he scowled.

"Yeah, yeah brat, keep moving," said Kirino as she brushed Kariya's hair. It made him smile but he didn't show it. Kirino had mixed feelings. She couldn't be angry nor too soft. The bitterness of being treated ill because of a stupid reason was still there.

Kariya felt disheartened at Kirino's repulsive rude remarks. She could have been nicer but she was to blame. The tension between them was still there but it was internal now.

They walked in silence till they reached the ground to practice for the remaining time. "Also, I think your body is all okay, since, you can walk just fine, so, you don't have to act anymore," said Kirino as she winked at him.

Kariya soon realized that he broke his body ache act. He could no longer use it against her now since the whole team witnessed it. They will bombard him with questions.

"Clever," said sheepishly.

Even though they confronted each other on triviality, yet they played badly at the game.

Meanwhile, Tsurugi was staring at Kirino for a couple of minutes before focusing on the game. "It's weird."

"I thought senpai was going to hurt him more despite the warning. I guess soccer is dearer to him than disciplining a brat."

Shindou looked at Kirino warily but she ignored his gaze, multiple gazes. 

Written on: 1 May 2020

Published on: 1 May 2020 

Words count: 2,005

previous view: 92

Do you like my writing style or should I change it? Maybe shorter chapters?