Stings Like A Bee [YoruSoi, IchiHime, RenRuki, GinRan, HitsuHina, IshiNemu]

Chapter 31

A/N: Hi I'm back!!! I know it's summer now and I should've written more, but I have summer sessions and other stuff, and I'm now having some problem with my transcript submission, which is really annoying... anyways, here's the chapter you've been waiting for so please enjoy!!

It was the Friday prior to the final exam week, and the track and field team just finished their final training for the term. "It's the finals next week so you won't have practice for the rest of the term, but you'd better do your trainings properly after the exams are over. I'll know if you are training when the Competition comes." Zaraki sensei said to the team, holding his clipboard and looking menacing as usual. "Brace yourselves, don't you dare slack off. You're dismissed now." He finished and walked back toward the school building. "Man... I'm so dead..." Omaeda moaned as he slacked back to the ground.

"Omeda, you'd better do as you're told." Kunieda said with a rather disgusted look on her face. "Yeah, get out of the way you pig." Soifon said with the same look on her face as she kicked him off the tracks. "Alright alright, stop it you two!" He muttered and crawled to the shades under the nearest tree. "Well, Taichou, good luck with your exams and competition afterwards, and you too, Kunieda." Ggio said, waving, and walked off. "Wait, Ggio," Soifon called, approaching him. Kunieda gave them a wave and left the exercise yard with her fellow teammates.

"Yes, Taichou?" Ggio asked, turning back with his usual smirk. Soifon took an steadying breath and started speaking. "I'm... asking you a favor." She said. "Oh ho? What is it? I'm tempted." He said, looking curious now. "I need... some advice." She said, frowning slightly. "Go on, I'm listening." He urged, and Soifon sighed. "I need some advice about getting along with friends. I never really had a good friend until quite recently, and I know you've got tons of friends, so..." She said, turning away now, her expression darkening. Ggio knew that she hated to lower her position to ask favors from him and was rather enjoying watching Soifon struggle with her own ego; but on the other hand, he still regarded her as his friend and, of course, his team captain, and wasn't unwilling to help.

"Okay, first of all, I know that we've both given a rather hard time to each other, so I know you're having a grudge against me, but you wanna get along with your friends again, right? I'll help you, I promise, so stop gritting your teeth and glaring at the ground. We can have a normal conversation, can't we?" Ggio said, gesturing her to follow him and go sit down at the bleachers. Soifon sighed again and gave in. "...Okay, I'm sorry. Let's go." She said and followed him to the bleachers. They put down their stuff and sat down at.

"Alright, what can I help you with?" He asked. Soifon remained silent for a few seconds and started talking. "What do you do when a close friend is suddenly avoiding you?" She asked after a quick consideration. "Hm, well, try and talk to the person. If you can't do that at school, ask the person out on weekends. Sometimes you just need some time to spend together, and that can help solve many problems." He said. "Sometimes when people are avoiding their friends, it is either that they have something bothering them and doesn't want to trouble other people or they have something on their minds that is making them feel embarrassed around their friends." He continued, not smirking anymore.

"Just try to talk to the person first." He concluded. "But what if the person doesn't seem to want to talk to me?" She pressed on, frowning. "Well, this might sound a bit rude, but you can try cornering the person in the corridor maybe." He said, that smirk returning to his face. Soifon clicked her tongue at this, turning away. "...That'd be the last resort if everything goes wrong..." She muttered grudgingly a few seconds later. "Okay," Ggio said, laughing. "Any other questions?" He asked, and Soifon nodded. "How do I... well... start that conversation?" She asked, turning away again, her face a bit red. "Random stuff would do." He said casually. "Like how you're doing and other stuff. Or you can just ask her what's bothering her." Ggio said, and Soifon gave another small hm, looking as if she was in another deep thought again. "I take that as a thank you." He said, reaching down and getting his stuff.