attakai | a. haruchiyo & k. nahoya

the sunshine girl | backstory part 1

Inside the Sano Dojo, five rows of children wearing their gi* mimicked the movements of their teacher and trainers. Though it was hot inside, the sliding doors were left open for fresh air to be ventilated. And in the very back of the room, a small girl with peach hair color stood behind the bodies of her male classmates. It was none other than Tachibana Hinari.

"Oy!"

"Oy!"

"Oy!"

Nari is the only girl in this class and the shortest one too. But given that she has a short hair that stops under her ears, she is often mistaken as a boy with soft features and voice and short legs.

"Pst!"

Nari was distracted when she heard someone calling for her attention, turning her head to the left side, she saw her mentor's eldest grandson, Shinichiro.

"Shinichiro kun!" Nari brightly greets him to which made Shinichiro chuckle.

"You're oddly bright today. Hm, are you finally falling for me?" Shinichiro asks, sitting with his legs bent down in front of her.

"Huh?" Nari asks, tilting her head slightly to the side. "You're not even my type." Nari adds. "Your hair looks greasy, smoking is bad and you always smoke, teacher always complains about you not being home and he told me not to become like you!"

"Okay okay, I get you kid!" Shinichiro says, immediately hushing her before his eyes scanning the room, grinning to himself and then raising his hand and makes a come here motion.

"Keisuke, take care of this one! Seems like this one could be easily beaten to shreds!" Shinichiro says, pointing Nari.

A boy with black hair and fangs came closer to them. He smiled and extended his hand out for Hinari. "I'm Baji Keisuke!" He greets her. "What's your name?"

"Tachibana Hinari! You can call me Nari!" Nari says, smiling with her eyes closed.

"Hinari? Isn't that a girl's name?" Baji asks

"Hey, kid. Don't tell me you're-"

"I'm a girl!" Nari huffs, eyebrows furrowed as she eyes Shinichiro and Baji.

"Spar with me then!" Baji declares at Nari. But as soon as he had his back turned on her, Nari was quick to push him down on the ground, tackling him from behind while raising his right arm up, twisting the joint of his right hand.

"Ack! Okay stop! You win!" Baji says before Nari immediately lets him go. "You're quite fast and good for someone little in height, huh?" He spoke, getting back up on his feet.

Nari's eyes glimmered as she heard a compliment from him. "My height aside, thank you, Baji kun! But a wrist lock is nothing! I still have a lot to learn!" She says. As she stood up, they heard their mentor, Grandpa Sano, shouting and grumbling to himself.

"Shinichiro!!!" Grandpa Sano shouted which made Baji and Nari turning their heads to look at him, Shinichiro casually leaving through the gates with his bag slinging behind his shoulder.

"He spends his time outside to avoid the dojo." He grumbles to himself before turning to Baji and Nari. "You have no reason to end up like him, Keisuke! Hinari!"

"Yes..." Baji uneasily said.

"Yes!" Nari responded.

Their attentions were then shifted to Grandpa Sano's second grandson, Mikey training with one of the assistants.

"Sensei, why is he still training when he's already strong?" Baji asks.

"He's a prodigy. My grandson after all." Grandpa Sano spoke. As the three of them watched Mikey flying through the air, kicking the kick pads, Nari's eyes glimmered.

"Hey, Sano! Train with me!" Baji declares, pointing at himself.

"Hm? No thanks, I don't wanna get all sweaty!" Mikey reasons. Though Nari could already tell that it was just his reason not to spar with him.

"Your kick is so cool!" Nari compliments him. "I want to train with you too!" She tells him.

"Nari, are you serious?!" Baji asks, bewildered by her words. "Sano, don't mind-"

"With your short legs, I'll be able to tackle you down in seconds-" Before Mikey could even finish his words, Nari immediately twisted her body and lifted her right leg up, back kicking Mikey to his stomach. Mikey dropping to his knees on the floor, clutching on his stomach.

Grandpa Sano and Baji gawked with their eyes and mouths wide open. Both couldn't believe that someone as short as Hinari could take down Mikey in one single move.

"One more!" Mikey declares, getting back up on his feet, however, as soon as he got back up on his feet, Nari is quick to raise her left leg, kicking from the left to the right side, causing Mikey to tumble and fall down on the tatami floor of the dojo.

"You're amazing, Nari kun!" Baji says, complimenting her.

"My teachings are good." Grandpa Sano spoke, complimenting himself. "Hinari, don't ever become a lazy butt like Shinichiro. You got that?"

"Yes!" Nari responded.

"Hey" Mikey begins to say, standing up on his feet as he walks closer to Nari. "You're pretty good. What's your name?"

Nari blinked twice before smiling. "I'm Hinari! But you can call me-"

"YOU'RE A GIRL???" Mikey shouts, startling Nari.

"Yeah...is something wrong?" Nari asks, looking at Mikey with curiosity in her eyes.

"Your kicks are pretty good." Mikey complimented her. "You should be my friend!" He says, smiling at her.

On that day, a friendship of three was formed.

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

"Hanging out with Sano and Baji again? You're good friends with them aren't you, Hinari?"

"Yes!" Nari cheerily responded to her mother's question after finishing a bowl of cereal.

"I've put your shoes by the doorway. Come home by five, okay?" Her mother asks.

"Yes mommy!" Nari responded, hopping off the chair before running out the kitchen, passing by the living room.

"Bye bye Hinata! Bye bye Naoto! I'll see you two later!" She says, passing them by as she rushes to the doorway, putting on her shoes and then leaving the apartment.

"Nari's here!" Baji shouts, immediately smiling as he sees a peach hair colored girl walk through the gates.

"Nari bo!" Mikey greets her, the two rushing to her side.

"What are we going to do today?" She asks, excitement already beaming and coursing through her.

"Were going to play soccer!" Mikey says, holding the ball in his hands. "I also invited my other friends!" Mikey then turns behind him.

"You guys, meet Senju and Haruchiyo! They're siblings too!" Mikey says, introducing each two together.

Nari happily waved at Senju but as she turned to face Sanzu, her eyes widened and glimmered, as if hearts and flowers were popping out behind Sanzu as she looks at him. She could feel her cheeks heating up as she shyly waved her hand at him.

"H-Hello Haruchiyo..." Nari shyly greeted him.

Now it was Sanzu's turn to blush as Nari greeted him. Gulping, he looks away while rubbing the back of his head. "Hello, Hinari." He greets her in a small tone.

"Hurry up you two! Let's play already!" Mikey shouts at Nari and Sanzu.

This brought Nari and Sanzu back to their senses. Nari immediately took the opportunity to hold his hand and rushed towards them.

"Coming!" Nari says, happily shouting. Unbeknownst to Nari, Sanzu's face still heated up. The very first time he felt like this.

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gi - karate uniform