𝐋𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 | Hajime no Ippo

two

CHAPTER TWO: WEEKLY CATCH-UPS

NIGHT

When Anya made it to the Matsui Gym, she greeted everyone before going to see her father. He was training one of his boxers. "Sorry to interrupt, Dad, but I got your response." He took off the mitts and grabbed the paper. "Thank you, Anya." He quickly scanned over the paper, and the more he read, the clearer the look in his eyes became. The neutral look was now fierce and determined.  The boxer that he was training was about to leave, but he stopped him. "No," he sat the paper down and put the mitts back on. "keep up the one-twos." 

Anya stepped back, watching the boxer work. From the way his attitude changed, she assumed that the boxer he was training was the boxer who was going to fight. She decided to go change and start her usual training. 

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 "I'm about to close up, Anya. Is everything off?" Ryoto questioned, earning a groan from Anya. She's been at this gym ever since she discovered her love for kickboxing, and she was there until they closed every time. "Yes, Dad. Everything is off. I've done this a million times since I've been at this gym." 

"You can never be too careful." He spoke, locking the the door. "I never got a chance to ask you--how was it at the Kamogawa Gym?"

"It was...definitely a trip, I can tell you that. They're very nice." Some of them were too nice, but she would never mention that to her father. "Have you ever thought of...painting the gym?" She saw the look on his face and quickly began to elaborate. "Not that the gym isn't nice how it is, but it's been like that since I was born. Maybe a change would be good for it..?" 

"I'll look into it, but I'm already looking into a lot of things. More matches for you and the rest of my boxers, and--boxing has nothing to do with how the gym looks, alright?" He suddenly became defensive. "A belt hasn't been brought back to the gym in almost a decade. My boxers are going to bring one back this year, and I need to focus on that."

"Okay, okay. Sorry, I ever mentioned anything."

The rest of the walk was silent. Anya looked everywhere but at her father's face as they walked, deep in thought. She could understand his reaction. Her father never liked to lose, victories were one of the things that could really get him going--give him confidence. She grew up in that gym, and she had a special place in her heart for it, but it lacked passion. There wasn't any love for the sport in that gym, it was just people who were keen on winning. Not caring about what you could learn from the fight, or what you could do moving forward. 

Soon, it came to the point where Anya had to part ways with Ryoto to go back to her apartment. "Same time tomorrow, right?" She asked, and her father nodded. "You know it." He spoke with a slight smile which Anya returned. He hugged her and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Anya. Never forget that I'm proud of you." 

That was one of his ways of saying sorry. He'd never really admit that he was wrong, but over time, she learned the ways that he did say it. She walked up the stairs and took the key out to unlock her apartment door. She walked in and closed the door behind her, sighing. She did her end-of-the-day necessities and wasted no time getting in bed. 

She opened up the boxing magazine and went back to where she left off. Famous boxers winning matches and losing matches. She never wanted to go through the mental and emotional turmoil of losing a match. She knows her father went through it, and despite the injury, he was going to quit boxing regardless. He never told her exactly what he felt, but she felt like it had to be terrible. 

If only he had given it another chance, maybe things could've gone better. She was close to drifting off to sleep with those thoughts in her head, but the barks of her dog and the knock on her door alerted her. "Hana, calm down..!" She brushed it off. She always barked at the littlest things. She put the magazine back onto the nightstand and closed her eyes, finally getting some sleep...

Until there was another knock on the door. 

She groaned before getting up and making her way to the door. She looked through her blinds and saw her friend. She opened the door and rubbed her eyes. "It's late, Doremi..." 

"I know, I know. But I worked the late shift at the hospital today, and you know we always have our weekly catch-ups." She informed her. Anya stepped aside to let her in, and she closed the door behind her. "Anything exciting happen, Anya?" 

"Today? Well, I went to a new gym. Those guys were funny. Takamura, Kimura, and Aoki. They were trying to win me over--probably thinking that I'm an easy catch. I met Makunouchi too, he's a new boxer. He's kind." 

"Hm, sounds eventful. I don't really have anything to say. There's this one patient that completely works my nerves, though. I can't stand him. Every time I check up on him, he flirts with me. I don't think he understands that it's my job to check up on him." She spoke, annoyed from even thinking about him. 

Anya laughed. "Maybe you could give him a chance?" She teased, and Doremi immediately fake-threw up. "No, no, no! Ew! Never! How about you give one of those boxer boys a chance?" She retorted back. 

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm alright, thanks. I'm fine right where I am." This time, it was Doremi's turn to laugh. "Yeah, okay. You always said you wanted a man with muscles, here's your chance!" 

"Ugh, no!" Anya shook her head. "I can't believe I woke up for this. Have you found anyone who's preferably a kickboxer? A female one? That would intrigue me." 

"No, I didn't. It's your fault for choosing such a specific sport. I can really tell you're about to start moping and whining--don't worry. You're good where you are right now, and with the way you've been training? You'll get a KO in the first round." 

Anya smiled. "Thank you, Doremi. But please, if you find someone, tell me." 

"You know I will."