The Grand Mistake!

A school week passed since I agreed to help Aki with her training for the 800 meter dash. I watched Aki jog around the track. She opted to take it slow today, she didn't want to repeat what's been happening the last few days with her crashing body. Aki stopped at the starting line and panted then held her knees.

I looked at her then walked over to her and held a bottle of water to her then smiled at her. She looked up at me then gave me a small smile. It was the first she'd ever smiled at me. She grabbed the bottle of water then opened it. She took a few sips out of the water then handed the bottle back to me. I took the water and watched her get into her starting position.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" I asked.

"Yeah...Time me." She said.

I gave her the okay to start and started the timer. She ran ahead and ran like the wind. It was like watching a different Aki entirely. The Aki a few days ago wasn't as fast as this one. She want as focused as the Aki that I was watching now. 210...280....300...350...She was doing it. She made it near the finish line and looked hopeful. I noticed her body began to give up. She grunted and her leg gave out. I ran to her and she tripped and crashed into me. We both fell on the ground and let out soft groans.

Aki sat up and noticed she was on top of me. She looked at me and her face slowly became flushed. "Are..you okay?"

I looked at Aki and nodded. "Are you..?"

She nodded and just sat there, towering over me. She parted her lips to speak, but just decided against it then quickly got off me. I sat up and looked at her then looked at her leg.

"Your right leg gave out.." I said then scooted closer to her.

She looked at me bashfully and watched me. "What are you-"

I gently touched her leg. "Hold still."

"A..Archer- MMPH!!" She started and grunted in pain as I pinched the part of her leg that had the most stress within it.

I released the pressure from her leg and could tell her leg went numb. A few seconds later, her leg began to feel a lot better. I smiled and stood up then helped her up. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah.." She nodded.

I crouched down a bit so she could climb upon my back. She crawled on my back then I had her legs and she held onto me. I began to carry her into the gym so we could get our stuff then walked home. This was our routine for the last few days. We have grown closer to each other, but Aki would still deny the fact that we are friends now.

"Archer.." Aki spoke.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Over the past few days...I just..." Aki started and cleared her throat. She held my shoulders and looked down to her left. "Uhm...Thank you for helping me this far. Not many people would..do all of this for me."

I smiled and kept walking. "You're my friend Aki. I'm gonna always help my friends. I want to see you win. I know how important this is to you. I'm not gonna let you down. I don't want to see you fail."

Aki looked at me and gently gripped my shirt. "Why though? I mean look at what I put you through just for you to be friends with me. I made you suffer just so you could get to this point. I made you so angry...and you still came around and helped me."

"The past is in the past. I've already looked past what you did." I said and stopped walking as I made it to the house.

She kept holding onto me and closed her eyes. "But still..."

I smiled and walked to the door then unlocked the door using my keys. I walked inside then closed the door behind us and set Aki down. She took off her shoes then hurried upstairs so she could change out of her sweaty clothes.

I walked over to the couch and sat down. I sighed softly and looked at the ceiling. Momoko looked at me and lowered her book then smiled.

"I see you and Aki have been growing closer. That's always amazing to see." Momoko smiled.

"Yeah, she still denies the fact that we are friends however. I do believe it's just out of bashfulness, but I do want to grow closer to her." I said and looked at the TV.

Momoko slightly gripped her book tightly. "Really? That's nice. She does need to come out of her shell.."

I looked at Momoko then gently pat her thigh. "I'm gonna clock out for the night. I am pretty tired. Good night." I smiled.

"Good night." She said and smiled back.

I walked upstairs then walked into my room and crawled into bed, falling asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow. That night I slept like a rock.

The next day, I woke up and decided to get ready early in the morning so I could eat breakfast. I yawned and walked out of my room to the bathroom, rubbing the sleepiness away from my eyes. I opened the door and moved my hand to see a flustered Aki in the bathroom. She was naked and had a blow dryer in her hand.

'Fuck...why is she awake this early..? Why didn't she lock the fucking door..?! Not like this, this isn't how things are meant to go..!' I thought to myself and quickly shut the door.

"S-Sorry..!" I apologized then hurried back to my room. "I know she's pissed...I didn't even give her a chance to yell or slap me."

Aki kicked open my door and glared at me menacingly. "I knew it was too good to be true you fucking PERVERT!" She yelled and threw the blow dryer at me.

I dodged the blow dryer and grunted. "A-Aki! It was an accident I swear!"

"You saw my naked body, I'll make your ass forget even if it means KILLING YOU, YOU DISGUSTING ANIMAL!" Aki bellowed and looked at me with the purest form of rage I've ever seen in a woman.

"What's with all that noise..?" Rena groaned and looked outside her room.

"It sound like Aki and Archer arguing...come on...it's literally only 4 in the morning.." Sayaki sighed.

"Don't you have any proper fucking manners?!" Aki yelled and tried to hit me with the blow dryer.

I kept avoiding her attempts to strike my head with the blow dryer. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be in the damn bathroom this early! I'm usually the only one awake!"

"Not an excuse!" Aki yelled.

"The fuck is going on in here?!" Rena yelled.

I looked at Rena quickly. "Rena!"

Aki struck my head with the blow dryer and the only color I saw after that moment was black.

A few minutes go by...

"Is he okay..?" Momoko asked. "Why'd you hit him?!"

"Mmm...that is a nasty bruise. That bump doesn't look very nice." Orime said.

"He shouldn't have been a fucking peeping Tom! I knew he was just going to make a move on one of us! Why did it have to be me?!" Aki groaned.

"It was just an accident, Aki." Rena said.

"HA! He got what he deserved! Accidents like this doesn't just fucking happen!" Suki scoffed.

I heard the women talking and slowly opened my eyes. I grunted and held my head. I felt the bruise on my head, the bruise Aki inflicted upon me. I slowly sat up and looked around.

"Archer! Are you okay?" Momoko asked and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I think so.." I said and looked around. "Ugh. Just go ahead and give me that strike."

"Why would I? It was a complete accident. I wasn't expecting Aki to be awake this early. Usually I see you up this early. I just assumed it was you in the bathroom until I heard the argument coming from your room." Rena said.

"Why the hell are you taking his fucking side?! He walked in on me!" Aki yelled.

"And you assaulted him. You could've seriously hurt him!" Momoko said.

"Lay off her. At the end of the day, it is my fault. I wasn't careful enough. I will hold the consequences of my actions." I said then stood up.

"H-Hold on! You've got to stay down and rest up!" Mitsuki said.

I shook my head and held my head then walked to my dresser. "I'm fine."

"Mmph...alright, but if you need anything you can always let me know." Rena said.

"Yeah..." I said, grabbing my clothes then left the room to go take a shower.

It hurt to take a shower because the water would sting my head. I had to make the shower quickly and get dressed. I walked out of the bathroom and sighed softly. All of the progress I made with Aki was now gone because of my idiocracy. I didn't know how I was going to make it up to her, but I had to find a way.

Everyone had gotten ready for school and I ended up walking to school with Mitsuki and Orime. Mitsuki regularly asked if I was alright and needed anything. Each time I told her I was fine. Orime wasn't really fazed by the situation but she was worried about me since the bruise was extremely painful. Even thinking too hard would cause the bruise to hurt my head. I sat with them and decided to put my head down.

The entire school day, I noticed Aki was ignoring me, she was still pissed off from this morning. I wanted to meet up with her at the track, but I figured she didn't want to see me at all so I just waited at the front of the school. Hopefully by then she would've forgiven me and we can go back to normal. After all it was an honest mistake and accident...

Aki panted and looked around for me then sat on the track. "I don't need him...Hmph! Stupid boy. I knew he would try to score points on me if I let him get close enough. All men are pigs..."

Raidon noticed Aki and walked towards her. "You're out here by yourself today? Where's your partner?"

"Speaking of fucking pigs.." Aki said then stood up.

"Pigs? Aki come on." Raidon said.

"Don't "Aki come on" me! You know what the fuck you did! Cheating on me with Rin Amano and expecting me to be nice to you?! Pfft! I don't know what world you men live in, but the times have changed! I'm not a woman who will submit to a man!" Aki yelled.

"You know, it's very strange to see you without Archer now. You seem angrier than normal. What happened?" Raidon spoke.

"Wouldn't you like to fucking know. You don't care." Aki scoffed and crossed her arms. "I'm perfectly capable without that fucking pervert! That...that FOREIGNER!"

"Pervert? Did he do something to you?" Raidon asked.

"Ugh I already said too much. Look, this morning was horrible for me. He got a look at my naked body when he walked into the bathroom." Aki said then hugged herself, holding her arms. She thought about Rena's words and sighed. "No one but Suki was really on my side. Maybe I did overreact a bit. I was just so em-"

Raidon looked furious and walked towards the courtyard. "A peeping Tom huh? And here I thought he was cool. I guess he's trying to take advantage of you huh."

Aki looked at Raidon. "Eh?! Where are you going?!"

"I'm gonna find him and beat him up for peeking in on you!" Raidon said.

"What?!" Aki asked in shock then ran after him. "Hold on Raidon!"

She stumbled but kept running after him. She gathered her things then hurried after him.

I stood at the gates and scrolled on my phone. I heard the sounds of Aki yelling for Raidon to stop then looked to my left. I noticed Raidon's angry look. "Raidon?"

"Archer!" Raidon yelled out my name.

I looked at him confused. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Aki told me what happened! You're a peeping Tom huh? You like peeking on naked women?!" Raidon yelled.

I looked at him then looked at Aki. I asked myself how and why did everything turn into a downward spiral. Was this God testing me? I genuinely had no answer on why this was happening. "Listen man-"

Raidon walked to me and slapped me. He glared at me. "I don't tolerate perverts!"

I looked genuinely surprised and so did Aki. I was so surprised that I didn't even know what to do. I didn't know if I should hit back or stand there. I looked at Raidon and stared at his angry face. Raidon went for another slap, but I blocked it this time.

"Bro why-" I started then grunted as he punched my stomach. I coughed and groaned in pain when he kicked me onto the ground. I grunted and held my stomach.

Aki ran ahead and stood in front of me and held her arms out. "Stop it! Why are you beating him up?! Do you believe this is going to get me back?! Beating up my friend?! Yeah he walked in on me but...I realized I overreacted!"

"Get out of the way, Aki." Raidon said.

I looked at Aki who was defending me. I noticed another person walking up.

"That's enough."

Raidon looked back and noticed Rena. "Rena..?"

Rena cracked her knuckles and glared at Raidon. "Beating up my friends is your worst mistake, thug. Anyone who messes with my house members while I'm around is up for a rude awakening!"

"Rena.." Aki said.

"But he-"

"I don't give a shit what he did. I already know the truth. It's just me and you now." Rena said and had a menacingly energy around her. Even Raidon was scared of Rena. She is the leader of the house after all and being the leader means she was like the mother of everyone. You mess with the Mama Bear, you're bound to face her wrath.

Raidon grunted and hurried off. He did not want to face Rena's wrath, but he also didn't want to let a mistake I did slide.

Rena walked toward us and helped me up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I think I am..." I grunted. I held my stomach. "He hits hard.."

"He is skilled in Japanese Martial Arts.." Aki said.

"Plus he is an Ex-Gang Member. I still don't know why you dated that bastard. Anyway...Aki as punishment for what you caused today and Archer, I can not let you go unpunished. Suki is right, accidents like that don't usually happen but I have to be fair. Both of you will not be joining us to the trip to Tsukataya Island." Rena said.

"The fuck is a Tsukataya Island?" I asked.

"Rena! Come on! That's not even remotely fair!" Aki yelled. "You know I'm training hard for the race to even help you pay for the trip! Your job isn't gonna cover the finances for the trip!"

Rena looked at Aki and crossed her arms. "Hm...you're right. Alright. I'll offer an ultimatum. If you win the race, I'll let you keep the cash reward and both you and Archer can join. By then I should have enough money to cover everything. If you are to lose, you two are cut from the trip."

"But why me though? I got bashed on my head by a fucking blow dryer and beat the fuck up by Aki's ex boyfriend! Don't you think I suffered enough?" I asked.

"Look, you are the one training her. If she fails, you also fail. You two are a team, but you rarely act like it. That's why you're in the same boat. Think of this as a...bonding exercise. You two are very on and off. I want everyone in the house to get along. So you're stuck with her unless you want to call off and have her take all of the punishment." Rena said.

I looked at Rena. I turned to look at Aki. "I can't do that. She's my friend. If she goes down, I go down with her." I said.

"At least you're loyal..." Rena said then placed her hands in her jacket pockets. "Come on, let's go home."

Aki and I nodded then followed Rena home. With this ultimatum set and stone, Aki and I have no choice but to spend time together and I have no choice but to make sure she wins no matter what. I don't want her to lose her chance to go on a trip she wants to help pay for. I needed to break out the books and fundamentals for this and be the team captain I used to be.

To be continued....