An Onigiri's Rock Collector (Bo x Masao)

Chapter 7 | Good Luck

The next week had arrived. Bo, Masao, and Nene were in their homeroom, talking away in high spirits. Masao held tightly a manila envelope in both his hands and excused himself to submit it after so many weeks of hard work.

Before he left Bo tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Good luck." He whispered.

Today was also the day of Shinnosuke's boxing match, though he hadn't arrived to school yet as well as Kazama.

"Bo-chan, why didn't you join any competitions? They only come once a year." Nene asked.

The reason why was because he was supposed to begin his uplifting journey to find something he was truly passionate in, but the entire time he had forgotten all about it because he was already occupied keeping Masao company after school so he could complete his manga.

"I was helping Masao-kun, so I didn't have much time to do anything else." He replied.

Nene gasped in surprise. "Really? I didn't know you were into drawing, too!"

Bo shook his head. "I was just letting him borrow my pencils."

"Oh."

Just then, the two heard a shriek of terror. Masao came running in as if he'd seen a ghost. "Guys! There's trouble!"

"What's wrong, Masao-kun?" Nene wasn't as worried as him, but she was still concerned.

"It's Kawamura-kun! I overheard that...he's the one going against Shin-chan tonight!" Masao exclaimed. "And he looks serious!"

Nene rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous! He hasn't gone against a literal boxing king and won, has he?"

"No! It's even worse!" Masao said. "I'd gotten a little curious, so I decided to look at the awards display to see if he had won any matches in the past. Of course, I saw Shin-chan's trophy from last year, but below his was Kawamura's!"

"And...?"

"He didn't have just one trophy...he had three! All of them were solid gold, too! His name was on all of them! Yasuo Kawamura! They were all his!" Masao was panicking badly. "Shin-chan's so screwed!"

"You're lying..." Nene was in disbelief.  "How can someone like him have so many trophies?"

"He's a very competitive person." Bo said. "Perhaps you were looking at trophies from different accomplishments, Masao-kun."

"No! They were all from boxing!" By the way Masao had been talking so terrifically about Kawamura's accomplishments, one would've thought he was the one who had to go against him. "I'd hate to see Shin-chan lose."

"If you're so afraid, maybe you should come cheer for me instead." Nene told him, trying to ease his worries. "Besides, even if he does lose, he won't take it to heart."

Bo nodded in agreement. He knew there wasn't a way Shinnosuke could lose against Kawamura: he had both the strength and the spirit. And of course, he also had Kazama.

The school day ends. Masao and Bo decided to hang out in the art room until the boxing match began because they knew there was no point in going to the riverbank since it was getting darker and colder outside, preparing for winter. Bo voyaged to the vending machine to get two cartons of chocolate milk again; one for himself and one for Masao since he loved it.

They were hard at work free-drawing with the art supplies. Bo only knew how to draw rocks while Masao drew different kinds of superheroes. Every time he felt like his drawing didn't turn out right he would crumple the paper into a ball, throw it behind him and miraculously make it into the trash can.

"Since you're finished with your manga, could you tell me what it's about?" Bo asked.

"Oh, I haven't told you?"

"You told me it was going to be an action story with an exciting plot."

Masao stopped to think about how to describe his manga. He couldn't tell him exactly what it was about. "It's a story...about a typical salaryman who falls into a river full of radioactive chemicals...he goes to the hospital for treatment, but then he finds out he has abnormal strength and flies from his hospital bed! He uses his new powers to...to...make the world a better place and stop bad guys from destroying his town. However, I only drew the story of him preventing a crime at a river—no, not river—a bank! Like, where money is and stuff!"

"It's a heroic story." Bo analyzed, though he didn't understand why Masao had a hard time describing the manga he created himself.

Masao nodded vigorously. "Mangas with superheroes are popular nowadays, so I decided to join the trend! There's nothing weird about it!" He awkwardly laughed it off and continued drawing.

"I'm surprised you didn't write it about Ai-chan." Bo said this passive-aggressively.

"No way! Why in the world would I write about her?!" Masao said almost too quickly.

"Because Ai-chan-" Bo stopped because he gave the other a stare of shock, realizing what he just said.

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Meanwhile, Kazama and Shinnosuke realized they had one last hour alone. After the boxing match, they won't have to practice anymore. They sat in the locker room for a while just talking to one another.

"Shinnosuke...don't lose, okay?" Kazama reminded him.

"I wont!" He replied with a determined face. "Especially after all the practicing we've done. And you're gonna be on the sidelines staring at me, too! Your lovingly gaze makes me so anxious, Toru-chan~!"

Instead of being annoyed like he would before, Kazama laughed at him out of pure amusement. He could finally admit that Shinnosuke always had a way to make him feel better, even if he didn't need to. He tightened his grip on their already intertwined hands and rested his head on Shinnosuke's shoulder, to remind him that he'll always be there for him, even if the match takes a curveball and makes his opponent the talk of the school.

"Kazama-kun, as soon as I win, let's elope." Shinnosuke said.

"To where?"

"Wherever we'll both be happy."

"Shinnosu-...Shin-chan, I'm already happy being with you right now. Eloping would be asking too much of you."

"Then..." Shinnnosuke looked to his side and blushed, "We can go to a convenience store and buy Chocobi tonight."

Kazama smiled. "Sure. We'll do that."

Suddenly, Shinnosuke jumped up from the bench, alarming the other. "Oh shoot, I gotta pee!" He said before he started speeding off to the restroom. The other also left in order to catch up with him.

Kawamura had entered as the two lovebirds were running away. Being alone in the locker room, he took a long glance at Shinnosuke's water bottle which was left idle beside the bench they were just sitting on.

He stared at it while sniggering deviously. This day was going in his favor.

"I'll show you. I'm wearing a cheetah print, you idiot, and you better remember that." He said. "I'll make sure you become the laughing stock of this school, Shinnosuke Nohara."