There was anger in the heavens. The deep gray skies roared and flashes of lightning struck the Earth. Drops of water pattered the outside world, littering the ground in pools. The wind blew its cold and sharp wind. Haruna tried her best to not get wet, but in weather like this there weren't very many options.

In front of her was the chilling and dreary weather, and behind her was the baron empty school. While leaning against the open doorway, she quietly pressed the icepack harder against her cheek, praying the pain in her face would fade so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself crying again.

There was a brief period of silence. Omo was taking in the soothing noise of the rain to ease her muscles and bring herself back to absolute serenity. But, her heart still remained defiant, beating harder and harder. Her focus became clouded, and her throat started to swell… soon enough, she too was crying just like the heavens above her. She couldn’t handle the pain anymore.

When she thought she was alone, a shadow loomed over her. From that shadow came a soft deep voice of a man, but not just any man, her knight in shining armor.

“Tears don’t fit you, princess. It deeply saddens me seeing you in such a way.” He gently smiled, handing his umbrella he was holding over to her.

“D-Damian…!” She smiled, holding arms out and hugging him, “Thank goodness you’re here!”

“Seems like you had a long day…” He replied. “Shall we go for a walk, then?”

Damian led the way and Haruna followed shortly behind, both trudging through the storm and making their way down the sidewalk. “What is troubling you?”

“Uhhhhhhh…”

“Come on, you can tell me.” He pressed on, “I’ll tell you what’s troubling me if you tell me what’s troubling you…”

Haruna paused, then began to anxiously sweat. He wasn’t going to bring up what happened yesterday, was he? “O-Oh- is that right?”

“Ms. Cumber’s been a pain in the ass. That art teacher won’t let me express my artist expertise! Tch, I thought art was about creativity, but she restricts me to only a specific type of drawing and color. She has a lack of artistic taste I say,”

“Ah, I figured it wasn’t something important, you looked like you were in a good mood…” She slowly replied with some relief, unaware of his advances. Suddenly her hand is snatched by Damian! “H-Huh- WAAAA–” He spun her around like they were dancing in the tango, then leaning her back in his arms. “Wh-WHAT- HEY!” Omo grunted, “STOP! YOU’RE WEEET!” She laughed, the water soaked Damian dripping water all over her.

Damian playfully smiled. “Just sharing the weather is all! Come on Omo, a little rain won’t hurt.”

“What’s the big ideaaaaaa?! Why did you give me the umbrella if I was gonna get wet anyways?!”

“I guess you could call it… a false sense of security.”

Omo sheepishly smiled, “O-oh… is that right?”

“Just the kind of security I give Blue Star and Supernova. You don’t happen to… know of them, do you?” He leaned forward, asking in a chillingly calm voice that both soothed her heart and flustered her even more.

“N-nope! Not a clue! Heh… sorry.”

“Hrmmm, that’s too bad…” He nodded, letting her out of his grasp, “I would have loved to meet those two. They were strong from what I’ve heard, I wonder if they’ve taken part in my Boxing Clubs. Lucy’s a good club leader, I wouldn’t be surprised if they came from her.”

“Speaking… of that…” Haruna segued as the two began to walk along again. “I’ve been curious, why do I have to join the boxing club? Why is it so… you know… necessary that I be a part of it– and-and it’s not like I think it’s BAD, oh no! I’m happy you’re wanting to get girls like me into shape and enforce good fitness habits but- why me?”

Damian kept silent, his brain focused on adjusting his fancy suit and tie over answering Omo’s question. The odd thing about Damian is that he never wore the mandatory gakuran boy’s school uniform, in favor of a black suit, slacks, and a long white tie. He looked like he was dressed up for a corporate job over school.

That’s because… he was part of a corporate body. Damian Stradale is a member of the Stradale Corporate Dynasty, an international trading business whose main quarters were located all the way in Rome, Italy. Damian was the heir to the business when his father would inevitably pass, until his father denied him the throne for reasons undisclosed to her. Now that she was thinking about it, it was strange that he never talked into detail about where he came from or what his aspirations were. Not even his delinquent pals knew, let alone his own significant other.

The only reason she could assume for why he never got in trouble for defying Maguro High’s dress code, is that he most likely paid the teachers to keep silent. For someone so rich though, why did he go to such an average public school instead of a private school out of town? There were quite a few questions Haruna had unanswered, and that is what made her so afraid of him.

Damian only talked about what he wanted to talk about, and everything else was just a shadow.

“You’re not… quitting out on me, are you? Although, I guess it was unfair of me to not explain myself last time. I thought you’d share the same sentiment I do about fighting, but I forget that sweet hearts must be ‘broken in’ first.” Damian finally answered, facing Omo.

“I’m sorry, ‘broken… in’?”

“Nevermind that,” Damian shook his head, reached over, and gently clasped his hand over her shoulder. “I need you to be strong, my princess. Your health is of utmost importance to me. You’re weak and rather fragile. When I first met you, you cried so easily over the most trivial of matters. A broken pencil, a friend saying something mean, or presentations in front of the whole class just to name a few. You have to be able to help yourself. If you can’t do so much as keep your mind, body, and spirit in shape, then what good will you do in your future? What good will you do for me? Have I wasted my effort with you?”

“N-no, of course not!” She instinctually replied, “forgive me, I’m just… yeah, very easily scared…” She looked at her shoes, hanging her head in shame.

“Besides, the Boxing Club means a lot to me, and I’d like for my princess to represent me. The symbol of my pride, my love, and my joy for the future of this school… and you know what would be even better?”

“Wh-what…?”

“For my love to win the upcoming tournament I am setting up to advertise the club. But, I can’t give more details than that because it is still in its beta stage.”

“Me? A tournament?!” Haruna gasped. “This is all so sudden! I-I can’t do that!”

“Of course you can!” He chuckled. “You can do anything you put your mind to… a mentality like yours now screams weakness.”

Nooow he was really pushing it, Omo was for sure. She’s only spent a little under a week in the Boxing Club! How can she go from an absolute novice to being good enough to compete, let alone win in the tournament? This made no sense… he made no sense! Her?! Combat sport?! She never wanted to fight in the first place!!! Omo’s eyes started to water, tears rolling down her cheek. She ditched the umbrella, buried her face into her hands, and ran off from Damian, yelling: “YOU’RE SO CRUEL!”

“W-wait! Omo!” Damian outstretched his hand, but she was too far away for him to reach. He lowered his hand, sighing, “Damn…”

-_-

Bursting through the front door, Haruna ran so quickly that she forgot to take her shoes off! Her mother grabbed the newspaper and gave a mighty THWACK! over her head, scolding: “MANAKA! What have I told you about taking your shoes off before going inside!? I JUST cleaned the floors!” Her mother bit her cheek and tapped her foot, impatiently waiting for an answer.

“S-sorry! I just- I was in a hurry! It was raining so hard!” She nervously laughed while slipping her shoes off, setting them by the doorway, then rocketed for the stairs. Her mother, however, wouldn’t let Omo leave just yet.

“How was the Boxing Club, Manaka?”

“It…” Haruna was puzzled, shown by her fumbling her hands over each other. She didn’t have the guts to lie to her mother’s face, no, it’d make her too guilty. She faced the stairs and fibbed: “It was good! I learned a lot!”, then she rushed to her room and locked herself in.

Haruna lived in a relatively wealthy middle class family. Her father was a hard worker at a nearby construction plant and her mother worked in financing. The two parents hoped their daughter would grow up to follow in their footsteps and get a good paying job, but Haruna really didn’t know if that was what she wanted.

She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with herself. Did she grow up and join construction like her father? She wasn’t very good with her hands. How about financing? Well, math is her weakest subject, so that’s out of the picture. Doctor? She was afraid she’d be too clumsy and harm her patient more than helping them. A teacher? She didn’t have the energy to mentor children either.

But, fighting?

The thought of getting into an argument made her sick, but running her fist into someone’s jawline made her want to vomit. She couldn’t handle violence. Not for the life of her. When her fight or flight system kicks in, she always chooses flight. Who knew the heir to the corporate that owns both her mother and her father’s companies had a coward for a girlfriend, or, that’s at least what she thought.

The rest of the afternoon went by rather quickly. Haruna spent her time doing homework, making herself dinner, playing with her cat, and then showering and preparing for bed. But, the words “tournament soon” still remained in the back of her mind. This impeding subconscious made sleeping nigh-impossible. She grew restless, tossing and turning and fighting her eyelids’ wishes to stay open.

(“I can’t sleep. This stinks! I need to calm down… I need to return to absolute serenity, and put my mind to ease. Maybe… talking to someone would help.”) she thought while rolling out of her covers. She lazily rubbed her face, pulled out her smartphone, and dialed a number. Before the call was made, she noticed her finger hesitating to press the ‘call’ button. (“Just do it. Just do it, Omo.”) she forced her finger to tap that ‘call’ button.

Riiiiing….

Riiiiiinnnng…

“Hello?” A female voice spoke up on the other end.

“Is this Akane?” Haruna asked, “It’s Omo, Omo Haruna!”

“OMO?! You know, you were the person I was least expecting to call, hehehe. What’s up?”

“H-hey– So,” Haruna took a moment to structure in her head what she was going to say, “I was talking to Damian Stradale earlier… and he said that there was a tournament coming up?!”

She could have sworn there was a period of silence, followed by some laughing. “Yeah, we talked about that during the club! Were you paying attention, silly?”

“You- YOU DID?!” Omo exclaimed in a growing red face, “I- I-...”

“Oh wait, I think Lucy knocked you out before that happened… yeeaaaah… but hey, if you don’t want to compete, then don’t! No one’s forcing you–”

“--that’s not true! Damian wants me to participate! He says if I don’t get stronger, then he won’t be there for me!”

“-okay someone is forcing you! Well shit, huh…” Akane thought for a bit, though her tone sounded rather troubled, “So what are you wanting to do? Think you’re ready for this tournament?”

“N-no… that’s why I went to you about it…”

“So you want my help?... are you sure?”

“Well, you’re the only person I know in the club…”

“Remember, Omo. I’m not a teacher, I can’t just stand in front of you and lecture you about your form, technique, and every nook and cranny for the boxing style. I won’t teach you boxing, you’ll have to learn it on your own.”

“O-oh…”

“What I can do is train with you. Maybe spending time working out together will get you to catch on, huh? But, before we get into that, I need you to answer a question for me.”

“What is that?”

“What are your real thoughts about fighting? I never noticed it at first, until Lucy brought it up to me that you always turn pale when you slip on the gloves. I know we had this discussion before, but I think there’s something you’re not telling me…”

“I…” Haruna stuttered… “I-”

“Don’t lie to me, Haruna.”

Haruna sighed with defeat, “I hate fighting… it makes me very ill. I have a tendency to throw up from getting into arguments, let alone fights.”

“If-if you get sick from it– then why did you join the club!?-- wait, Stradale forced you, didn’t he? Damn…” Akane sighed, “Actually, that’s both the problem and the solution. You’re viewing this club like a terror that you’re forced to live through, and not a gifted opportunity to try something new. He probably wanted you to join to help overcome that sickness you have. Let’s face it, you can’t run from fights forever. You have to learn how to stand up for yourself, and that’s the whole point of the Boxing Club.

“He wants you to grow into a better person than you were yesterday, and sometimes you have to be locked into that dilemma by someone else, but the key to that lock is your commitment.”

“My… commitment…”

“Training with me will NOT be easy, and quite frankly I am about to put you through a wringer so hard that the Sahara will look like an ocean. I need you to make your promise to me that you will stay committed and will train with me EVERYDAY. If you miss ONE DAY of training, I will abandon you.”

“Abandon me?! Is-isn’t that a bit harsh–”

“Not as harsh as the head injuries you’d sustain if you competed without any training.”

“B-but what if I have orchestra practice–”

“Even if it takes us into the night, we will train! Self-defense is more important than a violin. Now I’m not asking you, I’m commanding you to pledge me your commitment. Right here. Right now.”

“I… I-” Haruna shakily sputtered for words to say, squeaking out an anxious, “I-I’ll… try..”

“Not TRY! You WILL! Because if you don’t, what will happen?”

“You… will abandon me…”

“Good! See you tomorrow!” Akane then hung up. Omo pocketed her phone, rubbing her face in stress filled tears. She just signed a contract for daily commitment to the very thing she hated… if hell existed, this was her image of it.

What has she done…