Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter 3: Lifetime events of 6 years

4 months into 6 years:

Boxing was much harder than Karube made it out to be. The first few sessions were just him using you as a punching bag as Arisu and Chota watched from the outside of the gym. You had chosen one near the central part of Tokyo so that you wouldn't be inconveniencing him much. Tokyo truly did love making all of their buildings be fully visible from the outside to the inside, which just meant some mindless entertainment for the two idiots of the group.

This time around, Karube had grown much softer and let you wear protective gear while he went all out. That didn't stop you from waking up with multiple bruises from the vast amount of hits he put you through, but it meant improvement. Ducking down from another one of his swings, you backed away quickly and shifted back up to land a straight hit to his unprotected side. You should have just gone for his side but in the rush of finally managing to not get hit, your aim went directly to his face and landed the punch on his cheek.

The punch threw him off guard, as well as the loud cheering coming from the other side of the wall. Karube stared up at your sweaty and panicking form as he held the reddened cheek in his opposite hand. His overdramatic face made you ready to fall down onto your knees and apologize profusely in order to evade any sort of punishment he had in store for you; he, however, was overflowing with a completely opposite emotion other than anger. Surprise was one of them since without any muscles your punch had still managed to make him stagger, but the main one was pride.

Taking your panting body into his hands, he lifted you up until he was carrying you over his shoulders like a toddler. He held your calves tightly to prevent you from falling while you gripped his hair as he started twirling around. He started hollering and letting out shouts of victory while jumping near the wall to get you two closer to the other celebrating duo outside.

"That was your first ever successful hit. How does it feel to not be a complete loser after all?" He playfully questioned after dropping you off his shoulders.

"It feels... exhilarating," you replied, clutching your hand into a celebrating fist once again. "How is it going with the lady you mentioned last time?"

"Hmmm. I would say it's all going pretty well. We did the deed, or as you say - the devil's tango." He jabbed your side as you broke out in a small fit of giggles.

Karube had put on a tough exterior for the majority of the days that you saw him. Most of the training sessions would just be plain awkward because of how much he refused to interact with you. All of that changed one day when you went to his supposed workplace and caught him making out with a woman in the corner of the store. You were fast to leave, practically sprinting away, but it did serve as a way to break the ice in your friendship. Now he asked you all about what a woman would like for an anniversary or just what makes them feel appreciated. Normally, you wouldn't assist someone in adultery, but he deserved to be happy before all hell broke loose.

"How about you?" he asked. The question itself confused you since there hadn't been anybody that you've mentioned in a romantic sense around him. "I'm talking about crushes. Nobody caught your eye yet?"

"Oh. Now that you mention it. There was this one really pretty guy that I saw when on my run yesterday. He had shoulder-length black hair and wore these really tight leggings, so I ran faster to be able to catch a better look of their face. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a girl. She was really pretty though."

That wasn't a lie. The girl had been a frequent person you had seen when going on your usual runs around the nearest park, and you had finally gotten the courage to make a move. The only problem was that pretty women make you extremely scared since their gaze just seems to peer into your very soul. At least you had gotten a good run out of it.