Apparently the Gal who Bullies me Likes me

Chapter 11

Friend

I finally changed to commuting using the train.

Unlike bicycles, trains are great.

I don't get tired of pedaling and if I'm are lucky, I can sit down.

There are many people inside the train, but it is not crowded, and eventhough it's summer it's very cool inside the train.

I am glad that I chose to go to school by train.

Although it is not every day, I sometimes go to school with Tachibana.

It seems we take the same train at the same time.

Tachibana always rushes towards me whenever she sees me at the ticket booth or on the way to school.

I am very happy to go to school with her, but sometimes, when I'm really sleepy in the morning and I cannot keep up with her energy, I'm taking the train at a later time than I usually do.

At the art club I belong to, I'm almost finished with the painting that I kept working on.

Maybe it will be finished by the end of this day.


...


After school, when I was about to leave the classroom after class, I heard someone calling me saying "Hey"

Someone had stopped me from behind.

I turned around and saw three boys in the same class as me.

The one in the middle had a short brown hair and an earring, he seemed to be the leader as the other two guys were behind him.

He was taller than me, so he looked really intimidating.

"Follow me for a minute."

The short-haired man says in a low voice.

I wonder what do they want from me? Did I did something to draw their attention to me?

This sucks.

I walk behind the three of them.

I might take a chance and run away.

But I can't do that because if I run away, I don't know what they will do to me later and because of that I followed the three of them quietly.

They took me to the back of the gym.

Against the wall of the gym, the three guys are staring at me.

Somebody please help me!

The man with the short hair opens his mouth..

"Are you going out with Tachibana?"

What?

"No, I'm not."

"Then how come you two are so close?"

"I always saw you walking together in the morning going to school, you seat next to each other and you look so close when you are talking to each other."

I see so that's how it is.

I guessed this short-haired man likes Tachibana, and because of that he's not happy with the idea of me being so close to Tachibana.

It is true that I have not seen Tachibana getting along with the boys in the class except me.

"Don't get too carried away, you know what I'm saying, right?"

Does that mean that I shouldn't be friends with Tachibana anymore?

The short haired man aprroaches me and I braced myself quickly but he went into my ear and whispered to me.

"I'm warning you, you know what I'm capable of right?"

After saying that the three guys left.

Ah... a troublesome thing had happened.


...


The next morning, as I exit the station ticket gate and walk down the long road to school, I heared someone running up behind me.

"Good morning!"

It's Tachibana.

After what happened yesterday, I think I will hold myself back.

"...Oh, good morning."

"What is it? Why is it that it seems you don't have any energy?"

It seems Tachiba noticed it.

"It just that I'm just a little sleepy."

"Oh, if that's the case you shouldn't stay up so late."

"Yeah, that's right."

It seems those three guys aren't around right now.

That's what I thought.


...


The first period for this day is PE and we are playing baseball.

The P.E. teacher told us to pair up and to play catch.

I hate this kind of thing the most. The kind where you have to find your own partner.

I looked around for a partner.

I spot a person a little further away who also doesn't seem to have a partner, so I run up to him and called him out.

"Would you like to play with me?"

"Ah"

This person is Kurama-kun (Kurama Ren) a student in the same class as I am.

He is tall with lightly permed brown hair. He looks like a delinquent, but he is quiet so doesn't stand out that much in class.

I played catch with Kurama-kun.

Kurama-kun has a very cool face. It's the kind of face that I really want to have.

And he has that kind of atmosphere that it feels like he won't move no matter happens.

After we finish playing catch, Kurama-kun says, "It seems a lot of people are staring at you."

I look in the direction Kurama-kun is looking and I saw three guys, one of them is a short-haired man, staring at me.

Oh, no! They must have seen me with Tachibana walking towards the school this morning.

"Why are they staring at you? What exactly did you do?"

Maybe it's fine to say it to Kurama-kun

So I told Kurama-kun that I was being watched by those three because I was friends with Tachibana.

"If you ask me it looks like those three are ready to beat you up anytime."

What he said is indeed true as they are staring at us without any intention of hiding it.

...


A baseball game have begun.

I was on the same team as Kurama-kun.

Kurama is playing the role of the pitcher and he is brilliantly beating the other team.

After striking out the last batter, Kurama-kun came back to the bench.

"Kurama-kun did you used to play baseball?"

"Yeah, back then on the little league. Though I'm sure you used to play baseball too."

It is true that I also played baseball on the little league but how did he know that?

"Wow, yeah, it's true I also played baseball back, how did you know that?"

"I knew that when we were playing catch."

The game continues.

It is a close game that neither side is willing to concede.

Finally, the batting order came around.

I received a bat from the guy in the previous batting order and stood in the batter's box.

The pitcher is the short-haired guy who was previously staring at me.

For some reason he was grinning.

I was a little concerned at that but I held up my bat.

I caught a glimpse of the girls playing softball on the other field.

Maybe Tachibana is watching.

....I used to play baseball too, you know.


The first pitch.

The guy with the short hair throws a pitch, it's a fast ball.

That was really close.

The ball passed close to my face and I involuntarily leaned back.

The short haired man is grinning again.

Was he doing it on purpose?


The second pitch.

When the short hair man throws the ball, I'm quite certain for sure that he is complety aiming for my face.

I quickly turn my face away, but I can't avoid it and the ball hits my shoulder.

That hurts!

"Oh, sorry, sorry, my hand slipped."

He says that while grinning, I can really tell the malice in those grins.

I then proceed to the first base while holding my shoulder. I'm pretty sure he did it on purpose.

Then the next batter strikes out and that ends our inning.


It's our turn to play defense.

The batter is the short-haired guy who hit me with a dead ball earlier.

Kurama, the pitcher, then said "Kato, change with me and be the pitcher."

I'm surpried by his sudden words

"Why me?"

Kurama-kun then approache me then he whisper "Throw it high, right into his face."

What is he talking about?

"What will I do if it hits him?"

Then Kurama-kun said "Are you not mad at him for what he did earlier?"

His words shook me to my core.

"Ok, I'll do something about it."

Kurama-kun grinned and went on to the defense. He looks cool, but he's also very aggressive.

... I don't care what happens now. My frustration from earlier outweighed my fear of being beaten up later by these guys.

I don't want to lie to my feelings anymore.


The first pitch.

I throw it close to his face the same way he did with me earlier.

The short-haired man bends his body.

He then glared at me but I pretended that I didn't see it.

I look at Kurama-kun.

He nods at me, as if he wants me to do it again.


The second pitch.

I throw it close to his face in the same way.

The short-haired guy bends over again.

"You fucker! You're doing it on purpose!"

Strangely enough, I wasn't too scared.

The girls playing softball on the other side of the field heard that voice and they are now looking at us.

The short-haired guy grabs me by my chest.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Kurama-kun rushes over to intervene.

"Well, well, don't be so angry, you did the same thing earlier, didn't you?"

The girls stopped playing and are watching us.

The short-haired guy notices them.

"Tsk, you guys won't get away with this."

Then Kurama-kun says "Pitcher change, somebody take his place."

We ended up losing the game 5 to 4.

...


After class Kurama-kun and I were in the locker room.

"Nice pitching!"

"Thank you"

"If you can do it now then you can do it again in the future."

"I guess so."

I was able to do it today because Kurama-kun was there, but I'm sure I won't be able to do it next time.

When I left the locker room, the short-haired guy together with his two friends were waiting for me.

"Well you really did it earlier, huh!"

"Both of you, come to the back of the gym after school." He said that then they left.

I look at Kurama-kun.

"What are we going to do?"

"Of course, we're going."

Kurama-kun looked really cool when he said that.


...


After school Kurama-kun and I are waiting behind the gym?

"Ah... I wonder when will they get here?

How can Kurama-kun be so calm in this situation."

It's as if he was looking forward to it.

Maybe it's because Kurama-kun is so calm that I wasn't too scared either.

"Hey!"

I can hear someone yelling.

It's the three guys from earlier and they are coming closer to us.

"How dare you did that to me in P.E. class?"

Kurama-kun answered "It just happens, doesn't it?"

He then taps my shoulder.

"Uh, that's right."

"Also you were with Tachibana again this morning. Did you already forgot what I've said to you?"

"Yeah, I forgot it."

It seems Kurama-kun's presence makes me feel more brave.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"I'm going to beat the two of you together."

It was ok for him to beat me up as I faced him and I said what I needed to say.

When the short-haired guy raised his arms, Kurama-kun kicked him into his stomach.

It was so sudden that I didn't know what happened.

He groaned and cowered to the ground.

Kurama immediately knocked the other one down with a crescent kick from the side.

The last one saw what was happening and threw at punch at Kurama-kun but he dodge then he threw a counter punch to his face.

The three who had been standing earlier were rolling on the ground.

The one with the short haircut tried to pick himself up and stand up.

"You still want to do this?"

Kurama-kun crouched down and challenged him.

"I'll get you for this!"

The short-haired guy stagger back to his feet and runs away, the two guys with him also did the same.

Kurama looks cool as if nothing happened.

"Phew! I guess we're all good now."

I am so surprised I don't know what to say.

"You're amazing. Kurama-kun you're really good at fighting."

"Just call me Kurama."

"If they did anything like that again, just call me, also next time, Kato we should beat them up together."

We both laugh at each other.

After entering high school, I made friends for the first time other than Tachibana.