Just as he turned to Yusuke to as why, he heard a resounding slap from behind.
Everybody in the vicinity snapped their heads towards the direction of the sound, only to see Tatsuya with a large red hand print on his face. The culprit was currently leaving the scene, her shoes knocking the ground as she walked.
Tatsuya saw that his teammates eyes were on him and couldn’t help but shrug and give a helpless smile.
“Maybe I was a little too forward.” He said, letting out a chuckle.
After he rejoined the group, he received a few jabs from the others. However, Tatsuya didn’t seem to care. With the amount of times he’d been rejected in his life, this wasn’t the first time he’d been slapped.
Around 2 minutes later, the woman returned with another man who seemed to be furious.
“Where is he!?”
The girl scanned the crowd before pointing in the teams direction.
“T-There he is! That’s the scoundrel.”
Jun happened to see the couple coming their way and saw the finger pointed at him.
His eyes went wide and he began to panic.
“M-Me!? I didn’t do anything!”
Clearly the man didn’t listen to his words as he swiftly made his way towards him. His facial expression was enough to know that he meant to deal out some physical punishment in that moment.
However, before he even got close to Jun there were 3 figures who stepped in front of him.
A muscular figure wearing a tight shirt, an average looking kid with wide shoulders and a tall and fit looking figure.
Instantly the man stopped his advance forward, feeling a sense of intimidation from those in front of him.
“W-What are you guys doing? This doesn’t concern you.”
Makoto stepped forward, the sunlight catching on the thin layer of sweat he’d worked up in the morning air. His muscles seemingly glistened as he stood stalwart in front of his team.
Ken smiled in response. It wasn’t often that Makoto did something befitting of his captain status, but when he did, it was great.
“You’ve got the wrong guy. Here is the culprit.”
With a single swift movement, the captain picked up Tatsuya by his shirt with ease and plonked him in front of the aggressor. The giant red hand print on his face was like the smoking barrel of the murder weapon, proving his guilt at a single glance.
Ken’s smile stiffened, feeling all of the good thoughts he had about the captain dissipate in that moment.
‘W-What the hell man?’
[Detecting intent to commit violence]
Mika’s words were not talking about the boyfriend who had come to pick a fight, they were referring to himself who was resisting the urge to Karate chop the idiot Makoto.
However, Makoto’s next move was a little surprising.
He placed his hand on Tatsuya’s neck and forced him to bow. Yet he also bowed at the same time, throwing away any useless pride and apologizing in the open.
“Please forgive my friend for his actions.”
With a nudge and a glare, he prompted Tatsuya to apologize.
“I-I’m sorry for offending your lady.”
The man in question felt taken aback from the whole situation. After seeing the three step forward, he thought that he would be forced to back down and likely receive an ear lashing from his woman for the rest of the day.
However he wasn’t expecting this turn of events. Seeing as the culprit was sincerely apologizing in front of him, he didn’t feel as if he needed to take it further. He could also see that they were High Schoolers, making his decision even easier.
“J-Just be careful how you talk to women in the future.” He said before turning around and going back the way he came from.
Ken could hear the woman begin to bicker with the man, however he merely ignored her, sticking true to his values.
Only after the two disappeared from view did Makoto raise his head and let out a small sigh of relief. Tatsuya tried to raise his head also, but he suddenly felt a crushing weight upon his shoulders.
“C-Captain… What are you doing?” He cried out, truly feeling regret in this moment.
“OOOOFFF”
Makoto delivered a short yet effective uppercut into the teen’s stomach, forcing him into the shape of a prawn on the ground. After completing the punishment, he dusted off his hands and went back to doing his workout routine.
Ken let out a small chuckle, feeling his faith in the captain be restored. Originally he thought that he was just going to give up their teammate like that, but he knew now that he had been too hasty.
It was only now that he finally had some time to go greet Ai. By now she had already noticed his presence, yet she didn’t want to interrupt him with the whole team around.
“H-Hey, nice weather we’re having right?” Ken said.
Yet his face heated up in the next moment, cursing himself inwardly for saying something so stupid.
[Abnormal heart rate detec—]
‘SHUT UP!’
[Tch]
There it was, the attitude that Ken thought he had heard from Mika before. It appeared after he had yelled at her. He suddenly felt a little bad, yet he was in dire straights at this moment.
His face seemed to morph a few times as he debated whether or not to try and start the conversation again.
Ai took one look at his turmoil and covered her mouth, her blue eyes dancing with amusement.
“Pffft”
“Hahahaha!”
Ai’s laughter rang out, filling the air with mirth and causing those who heard it to feel their moods lift.
Ken felt a smile creep onto the corner of his lips, feeling his earlier embarrassment dissipate in the next moment. Having now recovered, he could finally act like a normal person in front of her.
The two talked for a little while but was interrupted shortly after by the coach.
“Alright you lot. We’ll be heading in for the opening ceremony shortly. Head into the bathroom and get changed into your uniforms.”