Original Published Date: 2016
Edited Date: January 22, 2018
July 20, 2016 - Morning
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
Another kendo team member was sent flying and rolled down onto the tatami mat flooring of the large dojo of Gil's vacation home.
Gil swung his shinai to the side, an irritated expression etched on his face. He already defeated seven male members in training and no one was really stepping up to his league.
"You mongrels!" He taps the tip of his shinai onto the floor. "This is what you get for slacking off yesterday by going to the beach!" Gil turns into a raging dragon, swatting his shinai lightly onto the defeated trainees. "I'm going to make sure you all get a taste of my wrath!"
Asuto releases an anime sweat-drop as he looks at his best friend. A faint laugh escapes his lips while seeing his captain's burning demeanor.
"It's early in the morning but Douji-senpai sure is fired up," Hinako comments, looking at the same direction as Asuto.
"Well, I think it's my fault on why he is like that," the pink-headed man laughs mechanically, realizing that it was his fault for not having any training yesterday.
"Well, I'm glad that you admit to your mistakes, senpai," Hinako states plainly, an imaginable arrow striking her senior by the head.
"Y-You didn't have to put it that way, Suzuhana-chan," he cries chibi tears.
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
Gil just sent the eighth male member to the ground and lightly swats him with his shinai.
"How the hell are we supposed to choose a candidate for the regional competition, huh?! You mongrels are weak; how pathetic!"
"Hey, hey, Gil-kun, calm down," Asuto walks over to his friend, putting up his hands in a calming manner.
The golden-headed man snaps his head to Asuto's direction and gave him a death glare. Asuto stops walking with a cold sweat running down from his forehead, and fear escalated within his whole body. He shook uncontrollably at the gaze of his angry friend.
"Who the hell's fault is this, huh?! Don't try to act like you didn't start this whole mess, Asuto!"
"No, stay away from me!!!"
Gil and Asuto were like cat and mouse; Gil was the cat and Asuto was the mouse. Gil chased after Asuto with a burning aura behind his back, swinging his shinai left and right, up and down, hoping to hit Asuto, especially in the head.
Hinako releases an anime sweat-drop as she watches her upperclassmen chase each other on the training floor. 'This is quite the lively day,' she thought.
"Suzuhana-san," Koujiro walks up to her and smiled. "do you mind training with me for a bit?"
"Oh," Hinako smiles, turning her head towards her vice captain's direction. "sure. Juniyushi-senpai is, uh, occupied, all of a sudden."
Koujiro watches at the two who were chasing each other and stifles a mechanical laugh. "Really occupied."
The two of them walked outside, towards a spacious and grassy backyard that was connected to the dojo. Hinako wore her protective head armor and so did Koujiro. They wore their bogu properly, making it seem like it was an actual fight.
Koujiro took the first swing of his shinai, in which Hinako immediately deflects with her own and sends it upwards. Koujiro was open, vulnerable, and Hinako was about to aim for his side until he immediately shields his body, fast on his reflexes. Hinako smiles under her head armor, impressed on how her upperclassman developed such a fast reflex in his years of doing kendo.
The two crossed shinais with one another, strength versus strength. But Koujiro, with all of his developed muscle and excellent swordsmanship, was able to overpower Hinako. He pushes his underclassman's shinai towards the side, making her swing sideways and losing her balance. She looks back at Koujiro and her eyes widened as his shinai taps her head armor. She fell flat on the grassy ground.
"Suzuhana-san," Koujiro immediately takes his head armor off and walks up to Hinako. He kneels on one knee and extends a hand to her. "are you all right? I'm sorry about that."
Hinako pushes herself up by propping her elbows on the ground. She takes off her head armor and smiles at her senior, taking his hand. "I'm all right, Sasaki-senpai," he helps her up. "Why are you so frantic about me getting hurt?"
"I hit your head with my shinai," he replies, worry spreads across his face.
"It's all right. I was wearing head protection, senpai," Hinako replies sweetly, brushing off some dirt from her bogu. She looks back up to the worried upperclassman. "I'm perfectly fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure," a pink blush slightly painted her cheeks as she sends another smile towards her upperclassman.
Koujiro, seeing Hinako smile like that, made his heart drop to his stomach. He thought that it was an angelic smile; a beautiful smile. He can't help but blush when he thought that he wouldn't mind seeing Hinako smile like that for him everyday. But, he shook his head, brushing off the thoughts away, thinking that he sounds like a pervert. He does not want to be labeled like Asuto.
"Come on, Gil-kun! Lay off of me, will you?!" Asuto cries, still being chased by the angry monster of the kendo team.
"Like hell I'll do that!" Gil hisses, still swinging his shinai.
"I said I was sorry! I'll make it up to you, I promise!"
"Then let me beat you to a pulp first! Why you little...!"
Gil and Asuto ran outside, towards the grassy space of the dojo. Gil, in one quick swing, threw his shinai at Asuto's direction. Asuto turns around and his face sunk in horror as he saw a flying shinai towards him. The tip of Gil's shinai hits Asuto's forehead and sent him walking backwards.
Koujiro saw that Asuto was about to hit Hinako, so he shielded her. Unfortunately for them, Asuto tripped onto a very, very small rock that was on the ground. As Koujiro held him by the shoulders, he was outweighed and fell on his back in the process. Hinako shrieked as two of her seniors fall helplessly over her.
"That hurts," Asuto mumbles, rubbing his forehead. "Gil-kun, you meanie!"
Gil hurriedly walks up to Asuto and grabs him by the hand. Asuto smiled at his friend's friendly gesture.
"Oh, thanks, Gil-kun. You're a-" but Gil pulled too hard onto Asuto and sent him flying, falling onto the grassy ground, face flat.
Gil proceeded to take Koujiro's hand, to his surprise, and was given the same treatment as Asuto. "Hey, what gives?!"
Hinako's lower body was in pain as her legs were bent when she fell. 'That hurts,' she thought in pain but felt relief when the weight over her disappeared.
"Suzuhana, are you all right?" A familiar voice asks.
She opens her eyes and slowly looks up, seeing the golden-haired upperclassman kneeling on one knee and a hand was extended out to her.
"Oh, I'm all right, Douji-senpai," Hinako blinks, taking Gil's hand and he pulled her up. "Thank you."
Asuto and Koujiro were still on the ground. They looked at each other and had a plain expression.
'Why were we treated differently?' Asuto asks.
'Beats me. He could have just pulled us lightly,' Koujiro replies.
'Woah, are we psychic? I can totally hear your voice!' Asuto's eyes sparkled.
'Nah, not really. Author-chan is making it look like we're psychic.'
The two helped themselves up and brushed off the unnecessary dirt from their bogu.
"Okay, that's enough horsing around, Asuto. Let's get back to practice," Gil plainly states, walking back inside the dojo.
"Me?! You chased me off, Gil-kun! You're horrible!" Asuto shook and he cried chibi tears.
Hinako looks at Gil from behind his back and a confused look furrowed her eyebrows.
'Did Douji-senpai just...had a worried face?'
July 20, 2016 - Lunchtime
Everyone in the kendo team were seated around a long dinner table at the dining room. They sat on plush zabutons while each member soothed the aching muscles of their backs, arms, and legs.
"To all members, listen up," Gil said with authority, catching all members' attention, their face sinking in horror. They sat on their heels with straightened backs. Hinako and the other three female members sat up properly, unfazed. "Training resumes one hour after lunch. We will be conducting a skill test in order to determine on who will be joining the prefecture competition."
From his statement alone, it was enough to add fear and pressure onto the other members. It was quite intimidating, seeing as how Gil looked at each and every one of them with an irritated look. He thought to himself that they had wasted enough time relaxing during the whole excursion. How can they win the prefecture competition and go to the national tournament if most members aren't that well-trained?
Yes, to Gil, winning was everything, especially in kendo. He takes pride in it. Even back in middle school, he surpassed his captain and vice captain in training, winning both the prefecture and national competitions. Gil was like a demon inside a human body when it comes to kendo. Every time he takes ahold of a shinai, automatically, that shinai becomes his weapon of mass destruction.
"But, until that one hour passes, rest up and eat well. In war, a good soldier needs to rest and eat."
And that was one side Asuto and Koujiro didn't expect from Gil. That added statement was too soft for the hard-headed and powerful kendo captain. The other members felt that it was normal, but to Asuto and Koujiro, it was a first.
Lunch was served and the kendo team enjoyed it. They also enjoyed each other's company, talking about school and the upcoming prefecture competition. The four girls debated on who will be chosen for the female selection of the competition.
"It's definitely going to be Hinako-san," one female member said, taking a chopsticks-full of rice.
"I think it's you," another said.
"Maybe...the both of you?" A shy female member said, holding up a teacup filled with green tea.
"I think it could be any of us," Hinako said as she took an egg roll. Pretty weird to be serving that even though it's lunchtime. Usually, she haves it for breakfast.
"You're right. After all, we're still rookies," the second said.
"But I saw Hinako-san and Koujiro-senpai training together earlier," the shy one replies. "She was really good."
"Oh?" The first one grins. "I didn't know you had a one-on-one traning session with Koujiro-senpai, Hinako-san," she nudges the first year class rep awkwardly.
"W-What's this about?" Hinako's lips tugged nervously.
"Come on, tell us. Which of the three senpais do you like or have an interest in?"
Heat slowly rose from Hinako's feet up towards her head. Fumes were released from her ears as she thought about the person she likes.
"What? Why are we drifting towards this conversation?" Hinako stutters, dropping her chopsticks onto her lap.
"Whoops, there it is."
"Oh, my, Hinako-san," the shy member places a hand over her mouth. "You do like someone among those three."
"What? No! W-What makes you say that?!"
"You're blushing, you're sweating, you're extremely nervous, and you just lost your composure," the first said as she counts Hinako's obviousness with her fingers.
"A-Am I?" Hinako lowers her head and tries to calm herself down. She looks over at the front, her eyes fixated on the ever popular golden figure. She smiles, remembering the times when that person would come to her aid. He was the one of the reasons on why she was able to move on with her life. "I do like someone."
"Eh?!" The three said in unison.
"For real?!" The second asks.
"Yes," Hinako regains her composure and a smile grazes upon her lips. "But maybe this is only admiration and a small puppy love. I'm thankful to him for making me feel better most of the time but I don't know why he does that for me."
"Maybe he likes you back?" The shy one replies.
"Impossible," Hinako waves her hand. "There's no way that he likes me."
"Come on, tell us who it is!" The first member was itching to hear Hinako's reply.
"Well..." Hinako just smiles. "it's really a secret."
"EH?!?!"
July 21, 2016 - Evening
Hinako walks around her neighborhood with a yawn escaping her lips. The excursion has ended and it was a good experience for her. They left Iriomote island last night and arrived back in Fuyuki City in the evening, the following day.
"Oi, you're still sleepy? You were asleep the whole trip," the golden-haired man said in an irritated tone, holding a plastic bag full of sweets and souvenirs.
Hinako glances to her side and wipes the tear off of the corner of her left eye. "I'm sorry, senpai. The trip back home was exhausting."
"Heh, your stamina is too low," Gil insults with a grin.
"Well, excuse me for having low stamina," an irk mark pops out from Hinako's cheek.
Hinako and Gil arrives at the two-storey apartment complex. Hinako takes out her key and places it in the keyhole, turning the knob, and opening the door.
"Would you like to have something to eat before going?" Hinako sends a smile to the person beside her. "I can still make something in under fifteen minutes."
"No, thanks. I just wanted to walk you home," Gil replies, ready to leave. "And Suzuhana?" He has his back facing her.
"Yes?" She eyes at the back of Gil's head.
"It's an unanimous decision from the three of us. You're going to compete in the female category of the kendo prefecture competition."
Hinako's eyes slowly widens in surprise. Her heart started to beat as loudly as it could and it can jump out of her body at any time. "A-Are you serious?"
"Yes, we are serious," Gil turns a little to meet the surprised expression of the underclassman behind him. "Personally, I believe that you can do it."
And a blush paints Hinako's cheeks. She places a hand over her chest to contain the fluffy feeling within her. Then, her face softens and gave a smile to her respected and loved upperclassman. "Thank you, Douji-senpai. I will do my best."
"I know you will," Gil said as he walks, about to go home. "Suzuhana."
To be continued: (Summer) Chapter 23
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Author's Notes | 2016
Hello, everyone. HanaYume23 here!
I'm sorry for the late updates. I still have two more exams left but this is my way of relaxing. *laughs*
Also, I'm busy updating Red, Plagued Skies, my Attack on Titan fan-fiction. It already has 11 Chapters and on-going. So, I hope you guys take the time to read it, as well. (^_^) (EDIT (03/24/2017): I deleted this series due to writer's block and confusing plot-line.)
Thank you for reading Fate/Stay Gakuen! Two more chapters left and the Autumn Arc will commence! As much as possible, I want to write 12 chapters per season and once the new school year starts, it will be down to six left. I hope you all stay tuned to read Hinako and Gilgamesh's blossoming relationship! (\^o^/)