"Can I at least give you a gift?" Fukuoka asked, with a nervous smile, his heart pounding.
"I don't know..." Britney replied, hesitating.
"Go on, friend, accept it!" Jade encouraged, giving her an elbow.
"Okay, I accept your gift," Britney relented, reluctantly.
"Close your eyes!" Fukuoka commanded, holding his breath. He leaned in...
When Britney closed her eyes, Fukuoka pulled her into a deep, clumsy French kiss!
"That's the spirit! Now that's attitude!" Yagato shouted.
Yagato laughed uncontrollably while taking a beating from Nobaru.
Everyone was speechless. The silence was so dense you could hear the wind.
"Yoshi, I want one too!" Jade demanded, blushing.
"Next time! Today I have pickle breath!" Yoshi said, totally embarrassed, hiding his face.
Britney raised her hand and delivered a SLAP to Fukuoka's face! The sound echoed!
"YOU GODDAMN PERVERT! LET'S GO, FRIEND!" Britney exploded, tears of fury and humiliation streaming down her face, and ran away.
"And there goes my only chance of having a girlfriend..." Fukuoka muttered, touching the painful spot of the slap, his soul practically leaving his body.
"Don't worry! There are plenty of girls nearby! Less stressed ones!" Yagato tried to console him.
"You never said, Fukuoka, that you were part of the LGBT Community!" Nobaru shot out.
"LGBT Community?!" Fukuoka asked, confused.
"That's: Gays, Lesbians, Trans, and etc.!" Yagato explained.
Fukuoka's eyes BULGED until they almost jumped out of their sockets. His face went white, as if he had just been accused of theft.
"I AM NOT GAY!" Fukuoka yelled, his expression that of someone who had just been wrongly accused.
"You're not?" Nobaru asked, doubtful.
"No!" Fukuoka shook his head frantically.
"Then why did you go on a date with Britney?" Nobaru questioned.
"But Britney is a WOMAN!" Fukuoka shouted, pointing his finger.
Yagato began to guffaw, rolling on the floor.
"Actually, Britney is trans. Sorry, I thought you would realize. I didn't think you were so dense. Didn't you see her steel muscles?" Nanai revealed, shrugging.
"I thought she just liked to work out hard!" Fukuoka defended himself, almost crying.
Yagato started jumping up and down, shouting: "YOUR FIRST KISS WAS WITH A MAN! YOUR FIRST KISS WAS WITH A MAN!"
"My first kiss was with a man..."
Fukuoka repeated, with a calm and frighteningly empty voice, not believing the sound coming out of his mouth.
And then, the realization hit him. He understood the dimension of the tragedy and yelled loudly, as if the world was CRACKING IN HALF:
"MY FIRST KISS WAS WITH A MAN! NOOOOOO!"
In his room, he kept repeating the same thing, touching his own lip, as if it were contaminated.
"I kissed... a man," Fukuoka repeated, his voice choked, like a child having a tantrum for candy.
"GO TO SLEEP, YOU ANNOYING GUY!" Yagato grumbled, throwing a pillow.
"What are you doing here?" Fukuoka asked, startled.
"Nobaru kicked me out of the room! So, I'm sleeping with you tonight," Yagato explained. Yagato slept in the same single bed as Yoshi.
"Move over, you annoying guy! Is the whole bed just for you, or what?!" Yagato complained, pushing Yoshi.
"Actually, the bed is mine and was made for one person, not a couple!" Yoshi replied, annoyed.
Fukuoka slept on the top bunk. Yagato and Yoshi, on the bottom.
Until Fukuoka woke up screaming:
"NO.....!"
"What happened?! Did a thief get in here?! And my wife, is she alone and so defenseless!" Yagato yelled, getting up startled.
"It was just a nightmare..." Fukuoka said, panting.
"So my wife is safe?" Yagato asked, almost falling asleep again.
"Yes," Fukuoka replied.
"Then, if my wife is safe, I'll go back to sleep," Yagato declared, collapsing back onto the bed.
Yagato started snoring like a jackhammer.
"Are you really okay?" Yoshi asked, his voice low and genuinely concerned.
"Yes, I'm fine," Fukuoka lied, the tremor still in his voice.
The Arrival of the Twins
In the morning, very early, Sensei Yagato ran to his and Nobaru's room. He knocked on the door urgently.
"NOBARU! NOBARU, MY LOVE! OPEN THE DOOR!" He pleaded.
"Let me in, I have to change clothes to teach!" She opened the door with an expression of fatal judgment.
"Did you apologize to the boys?" Nobaru questioned, her arms crossed.
"I did!" Yagato whined, feigning tears and dropping to his knees on the floor.
"Then, you can come in," Nobaru conceded, with a minimal smile.
"Let's do that thing quickly, there's still time!" Yagato whispered, with a malicious gleam in his eyes.
"NO," Nobaru replied dryly.
7:00 AM.
Fukuoka, Nanai, and Yoshi were walking through the courtyard when they saw the scene: Ryo and Ixigu's training.
The synchronization of the two's movement was perfect, as if the two were a single being. They moved in a combat dance, shirtless, their muscles defined and their sweat gleaming in the morning sun. Their long hair flew in the wind, giving them a savage appearance.
Fukuoka, Nanai, and Yoshi looked at them, and a nervous laugh escaped Nanai's lips.
"Who are they?!" Fukuoka asked, his eyes glued to their unbelievable strength.
"They came from an indigenous village in Brazil. They say they have a superhuman strength that transcends," Nanai explained, her tone of voice full of admiration.
"Incredible! So much lightness and brutal strength!" Fukuoka murmured, but quickly shook his head.
"But I still don't forgive you for yesterday, Nanai!"
"Sorry, but it's not my fault if you like my trans friend!" Nanai said, distilling mockery and giving a wink.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I LIKE A TRANS?! You're the one who tricked me! I'm... I'm..." Fukuoka choked, unable to say the word "straight" with conviction.
Nanai stepped forward, grabbed Fukuoka's hand, and held it tightly, looking deeply into his eyes.
"We are in the 21st Century, Fukuoka! You don't have to hide who you are anymore!" She said, with a false, dramatic seriousness.
And with a mischievous smile, Nanai released Fukuoka's hand and ran off like lightning!
"NANAI, WAIT UP! I'M GONNA GET YOU! You're gonna regret that teasing!" Fukuoka shouted, comic fury propelling him to run furiously after her.
"WAIT FOR ME! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" Yoshi shouted, desperately running after the two.