Watanabe ran out of the school. She burst onto the streets and kept going.
“Baba-san isn’t in any clubs, so he should be on his way home. Thankfully, I know his route from when we were spying on him.”
She saw Haru and rushed to him. Watanabe went too fast, resulting in them colliding with each other. He rolled across the ground, crashing into a bunch of trash cans.
Haru stumbled out of them, “Okay, who wants to die?”
“I’m sorry,” Watanabe said. “I just wanted to get to you faster.”
“Why do you want to do that? Does Keiko need my help?” he asked.
“No, I do,” she answered.
“And I should care about that…why?”
Watanabe replied, “You’ve helped us in the past, so I thought you would do it now.”
Haru said, “I only helped you then because we had a common enemy.”
“Oh, come on! Please!”
“No, now go away or I’ll taunt you,” he turned and started leaving.
“Hey, do you know what Keiko’s favorite food is?” Watanabe said.
Haru admitted. “I don’t.”
She smiled, “I’m the head of the journalism club. We could find that out for you.”
“Or I could just ask her.”
“Oh, come on!” Watanabe groaned. “There must be something I can give you for your help!”
Haru scoffed, “You don’t have anything I want, and I don’t trust you.”
“I can’t argue with that. We did spy on you after all,” she sighed.
Then an idea came into her head.
“You want to make Keiko happy, right?”
“Of course, I do,” Haru said.
Watanabe replied, “Well, it just so happens that my parents run a hot spring. I could arrange for you can Keiko to be able to spend some time there, free of charge.”
He stated, “That’s a pretty tempting offer, but I’d rather eat fried rat pudding seasoned with cactus needles than trust anyone.”
“If you don’t trust me, then I’ll give you insurance,” she told him.
“My grandmother’s already insured us.”
“Not that kind of insurance,” Watanabe sighed. “I’ll publish a story in the paper saying that I’ll take Keiko there and she can bring anyone she wants. That is, after I clear it with her. Then if I go back on my deal, everyone will know it.”
Haru said, “Publish that story first, then I’ll help you. But tell me your problem right away so I can start coming up with ideas.”
She nodded, “Alright. A journalism club member is going to publish satire cartoons with me using pro wrestling movies on various things.”
“And you think that pictures of you in a skimpy wrestling outfit will get rid of your dignity?” he asked.
“I’m a journalist. I don’t give a crap about my dignity. What I’m worried is that if people realize that I like wrestling, I’ll never get a boyfriend,” Watanabe answer.
“You’re hopeless,” Haru sighed. “Plenty of guys are fine with a woman who likes wrestling. For some, that’s even a bonus.”
“Hey! You don’t need to lie to me! I know what guys like.”
“Then just tell that club member to not publish those pictures.”
“I can’t do that,” Watanabe said. “I believe in complete freedom of the press. It’s an American ideal, but one I embrace with my whole heart.”
Haru replied, “Mainly because you’re a journalist and you personally benefit from that ideal.”
“Don’t be so cynical. I joined the journalism club because I believe in that ideal, not the other way around,” she stated.
“Alright, then. When I see the confirmation in the school newspaper, I’ll help you with this,” he told her.
Watanabe walked away before realizing that she needed to find a way to tell Keiko this.
“If I told her the truth, she’d think that something is up,” she thought. “I need to think of some convincing lie.”
Keiko was walking out of the kendo club when Watanabe found her. The journalist’s mind raced as she thought of a plan.
“Congratulations, Mae-san!” Watanabe made as big a smile as she could. “You’ve won the Journalism Club’s special reward!”
“I didn’t sign up for anything,” Keiko narrowed her eyes.
“It was a contest for all students, and your reward is a free hot springs trip with a single person of your choice!”
“This is a trick, isn’t it?”
Watanabe assured her, “No trick, just a genuine prize with no strings attached.”
Keiko moved around a corner and opened her phone, “Haru-kun, has Watanabe-san been bothering you? She’s saying I won a contest, and I’m worried she’s trying to spy on you again.”
“Wait, she said that?” Haru sighed on his end. “Watanabe wants me to help her with something stupid, and she’s offering to give the two of us a free trip to some hot springs.”
“Oooh,” she nodded, “Well, I’d be happy to go to the hot springs with you, Haru-kun. I’ll accept her offer.”
Keiko walked back over to Watanabe.
“Haru-kun told me everything. I accept.”
The journalist groaned, “So, I didn’t have to make up a story and could have just told you the truth from the start?”
“That about sums it up,” Keiko said. “But it wouldn’t be right for just Haru-kun to help you since I’m involved too. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
Watanabe did so.
Keiko was confused, “How is that a problem?”
“Because any girl who does any martial art, or even watches any martial art, other than naginatajutsu is a pit of testosterone lacking any femininity or womanly charms.”
“You know that I practice kenjutsu, kendo, kickboxing, krav maga, kanabojutsu, and judo, right?”
“See? My point exactly,” Watanabe stated.
“I feel like I should kick your ass right now,” Keiko replied.
“No, no, calm down! There’s nothing wrong with being a manly woman. If anything, I’m happy that you’ve found a man who doesn’t mind that you have no feminine charms.”
Watanabe felt Keiko’s fist slam into her head. She collapsed onto the ground and rubbed her scalp.
“I’m not helping you,” Keiko declared. “You’ll have to rely only on Haru-kun.”
“Me and my big mouth,” the journalist sighed.
Later on, Watanabe was writing in the school newspaper.
“A contest?” Chitose read it over her shoulder. “I never heard of that.”
Watanabe explained.
“And you need to say it’s a contest so you can put it in the newspaper without losing face?” her friend asked.
She answered, “Yes. Please don’t tell anyone.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t like Baba-san. He’s clearly nothing but trouble; however, he kept his word with the Akechi situation,” Chitose stated.
“Then you’ll trust my judgement?”
“Of course, I will. You’ve pulled me out of some pretty big messes before, and I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”
“Thanks, Chitose-chan. Have you come up with a design for our festival stand?” Watanabe wondered.
Her friend said, “I sure have. I’ve got most of the club together and we’ve made a design that we think will be great.”
She handed her the design. It was a normal stand except that everyone was dressed as a different type of fruit.
Watanabe facepalmed, “That’s what you went with?”
“Our original design had us in pro wrestling suits,” Chitose told her. “But I know how you’re sensitive about that, so…”
“The fruit design is fine. Let’s…also keep trying to come up with something else.”
Ved'ma Story 