Soul for a Girlfriend?

Gripping my collar tightly, the angered eyes for Vivian were piercing into me. Even though he was a dude with a big physique, he was exerting a weird sense of intimidation into me. I couldn\'t help but answer his question.

As I opened my mouth to answer, I noticed a fist flying towards me at full speed and it contacted my nose and a sting of pain surged through my face, as I lost control over my sense of balance and staggered backward.

Looking down at the ground, I noticed a few drops of blood dripping from my nose. I looked back at him, as he was still glaring at me. Covering my nose with my left arm, I regained my posture.

I wasn\'t actually expecting him to punch me this hard. And at that range, it was impossible for me to evade that fist. But even if I could avoid it, I think that taking that to that face was a better choice.

I didn\'t have my handkerchief with me as the only thing stopping my blood from flowing was my palm pressed up against my nostrils. Looking in silence for a few seconds, he clicked his tongue and walked towards me slowly.

"You good?" He asked me in an authoritative tone, but it was a bit softer than before.

"Yeah, it seems like I\'m good." I said with my muffled voice and nodded.

Averting his eyes, he took out his handkerchief from his right pocket and handed it over to me, "Here…"

I narrowed my eyes on him, as it was weird taking help from the person who was really close to knocking me out cold. I hesitantly took it from his hands, and said in a confused voice, "Thanks…?"

He rolled his eyes and ordered me, "Wash it, and give me back when you\'re done!"

What a Tsundere!

Taking a deep sigh, he looked at and said in a wry tone, "You know… Naoto… umm, she has her fair share of problems…"

"I understand that…" I nodded, and it seemed like there were many things he was contemplating on whether or not he should say it. He continued, "She… wasn\'t always like this."

"Yeah, I\'ve heard it from Ryuhan Senpai too." I said, as he pointed his thumb up and raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner, "That day?"

"Yeah." I nodded, and somehow judging by his behaviour at that time, I couldn\'t help but ask, "Tell me one thing, Senpai…"

"Hmm?" 

"Do you still have feelings for her?" As I asked that question, his frown slightly dissolved into a small smile as the corners of his lips raised and a soft expression formed on his face.

"Ora!" He exclaimed, and after a slight pause continued, "I don\'t… at this point of time… she doesn\'t feel like the Naoto I fell for anymore."

I could feel the emotions behind his eyes, as they seemed rather distant. He continued in his raspy tone, "She just feels like a completely different person now. She… she doesn\'t…"

Looking at his face, it seemed like I knew exactly what he was thinking but couldn\'t put into words as I said, "...have the spark inside her that she once had?"

His eyes widened for a bit and a sly smile formed on his face, as he stated, "I know you like her… I know you\'re observing her too…"

"...too? What do you mean?" Emphasising on the last word, I asked as his face clearly illustrated his embarrassment, "Um…"

"That slipped out of your month… didn\'t it?" I chuckled at him as he tried to defend himself. "Okay! Yes… sometimes when I look at her, I can\'t help but… nevermind!"

Looking at him cutting himself off, I find it funny, as he was quite immature regarding his feelings. "Senpai… are you not honest with your feelings?"

"Well, it\'s not as you think…" Looking into my eyes, he sighed as those words left his mouth. Running his hands through his thick hairs, he continued, "I just want the best for her, as a friend…"

Focusing on the phrase he added at the end, I gave him a slight nod, "Understandable."

He smiled at me in a silly way as he went on, "And to be frank with you… I hate you."

Pointing his index finger towards me, he continued, "I didn\'t like it when you came out of nowhere and suddenly asked her to date you."

"I was pissed at you."

Looking at him going on a rant about me, I sighed, "I know you don\'t like me, Senpai…"

He just chuckled, but soon his tone changed into a serious one, as he said, "You said terrible things to her… though some of them were true, I would\'ve to agree with you."

Clenching his fist, his face expressed a sense of defeat he might\'ve been feeling at that time as he said, "Seeing her crying pissed me off really bad…"

"I can tell…" I said, shaking the handkerchief he gave me in front of my nose, as he laughed and continued, "But… I noticed you…"

"Eh?" I looked at him in confusion, as I wasn\'t expecting that he had more to say. His eyes shifted at me as he went on, "I noticed you… genuinely trying to help her out. It may be from your own interest, but at the end of the day, you\'re trying your best…"

I was looking at him with my mouth slightly open in astonishment, "Well… I wasn\'t expecting to hear this from you…" 

"Shut up!" He exclaimed and added, "And it doesn\'t matter to me whether or not she likes you…"

After taking a slight pause and looking at me, staring at him with a dumbfounded look, he said, "Your way of getting close to her with me as an intermediate was an absolute failure… wasn\'t it?"

"Huh?" I was a bit taken aback, since I wasn\'t expecting him to get a rift from that. I may actually have misjudged him.

With a sly smile, he cracked his knuckles while saying, "You weren\'t expecting that things would take such a turn."

"Despite you being stupid, you might actually be a little smart." After listening to him for a while, I commented, and it immediately pissed him off, "Yea… wait! Ora!"

"Hai Hai…"

We shared a peal of laughter as he suddenly went into serious mode, and with a calm yet commanding tone, he said, "See Sakamaki, I will just tell you one thing… if you\'re getting involved with Naoto, be prepared to face some shit that you might not have faced before."

I just gave him a nod, and he made a cringe face at me, "Well of course… I… actually kind of went overboard yesterday…" 

"I feel bad about it too." I admitted my mistake, because he was being quite honest with me, so I didn\'t see any point in hiding that from him.. As a man, lying to another man who is being honest with you is a complete violation of the bro code.