Sakamo looked back and all the boys were staring at him, completely dumbfounded. Tadasaburo Sasaki, the tallest and more muscular boy of them approached and poked Sakamo’s forearms and stomach. He slowly nodded:
“He is not even flexing his muscles, and he is like this, so buffed! I can tell you went through some serious training to get this body, Sakamo-kun! That’s a nasty scar on your leg! Both legs! Wait, your shoulder was pierced from one side to the other? What happened to you?”
Sakamo quickly put his t-shirt on while explaining:
“Most of this was during training at the Shrine where I was raised. I got pierced by a spear or got a slash from a sword when I lost focus or my training partner was faster than me, or more wicked.”
Tadasaburo Sasaki widened his eyes:
“It was you that time with Tomoe-chan at her concert! You told us you didn’t see her fighting that ninja because you went to the bathroom! Shintaro-chan will go nuts when I tell her! She does Kendo since she was very little, and the moment she finds out you learned how to fight with real swords, she will for sure challenge you!”
Sakamo pulled his shorts up and spoke with a serious face:
“It’s better if she doesn’t challenge me. She will lose, and she will lose badly. I am way above her level, for sure. She may be a Kendo fighter, but I am a Master level. She is used to fighting with a bamboo sword for points, I am used to fighting with real swords to defend my life. That’s why I have so many scars, my training was overly serious.”
Shintaro Nakaoka gulped, and he pointed to the pendant that Sakamo was hiding again under his t-shirt:
“You can’t wear that during gymnastics. If the Teacher sees it, he will tell you to take it off.”
Sakamo shrugged:
“Then I won’t attend class, that’s easy as that. This pendant was a gift from my father, and I swore to never take it off. I won’t take it just because of a class.”
“Then he will tell you that you can’t attend, and if you never do gymnastics, your grades will suffer because you will fail this class.”
“Don’t worry, I can compensate with my grades in the other classes. What about if we get out from here? Unless you want to continue drooling all over me. Not that I mind, you are rather attractive, but class is about to start and we can’t be here all morning, you know?”
Sakamo went to the door, and Shintaro Nakaoka made a slight smile and followed him:
“Why you… If I didn’t know any better, I would think you go both ways, Sakamo-kun! Let’s go, you guys, I want to see the girl’s faces when they see his body!”
The other boys rushed to change, and when they were ready, they ran after Sakamo and Shintaro Nakaoka. The moment Sakamo stepped his foot on the pavement, a few girlish screams were heard. He leisurely went to the bars on the far right wall while stretching and flexing his arms, as a warm-up. He stopped under the tallest bar and jumped, grabbing it with the tip of his fingers and pulled himself up a little, for a better grip. When he was about to do a few pull-ups, Hangaku Mae spoke from his left:
“Darn, I knew you looked good, but I didn’t know you were that hot! I really hit the jackpot with you! Tomiko-chan, look at all those muscles! I bet he can crack coconuts with those arms!”
Sakamo looked to where the noise was coming and saw Hangaku Mae staring at him with dreamy eyes, right next to all the girls in his class that were almost drooling all over the floor. Then, the Teacher, a middle-aged woman, tall, slender and with a stern look on her face, clapped her hands:
“Hello, everyone! I am Oki Koma. You can call me Oki-sensei. Since everyone is looking at that student that is already on the bars, what about if you all joined him after warming up for five minutes? Let’s see how many everyone can do before giving up.”
They all complained because that would for sure be tiring, and Sakamo pulled his legs up and over the bars, hanging upside down while held by the back of his knees, and he crossed his arms over his chest. He began to do pull-ups, and Hangaku Mae gulped at the sight of his leg muscles, flexing with each movement.
Oki Koma noticed the pendant that was hanging on Sakamo’s neck, and she approached him with a frown. When she was stretching her arm to touch it, Sakamo let go from the bar and landed with his palms on the ground, and made a flip, getting up immediately in a continuous movement. The teacher blinked from the surprise and she then said:
“You can’t wear that pendant in class. Go take it off.”
Sakamo slowly shook his head:
“I am sorry, but I can’t. This pendant is part of my faith, and if I recall correctly the rules of this School, no student can be harassed, scolded, or mocked because of his beliefs or religion by anyone, be it a student, or a Teacher.”
“And what religion is that, that has such a pretty piece of jewellery?”
“This is just a simple pendant, representing the lives lost of two hundred kami to protect millions of people. As for my religion, it is Shintoism.”
Oki-sensei grinned for a while, but she then exploded in laughter:
“Ahahah! Don’t make me laugh! Are you really trying to convince me that a youngster like you, in this day and age, is a Shinto follower?”
“I am not trying to convince you of anything, Oki-sensei. You asked, I answered.”
Oki Koma pointed to the men’s locker room:
“You either put that pedant in your locker or get out of this gym. I won’t let you attend my class and risk an accident because you got strangled by that string around your neck.”
Sakamo had an inscrutable face as he asked:
“You are saying that I can’t attend your class if I have this pendant, is that it? Even when I said I can’t take it off because of my faith?”
“That’s exactly what I am saying. I won’t risk an accident in here because you are too stubborn to do as I ask. I have to remind you that if you don’t attend this class, you will fail and your grades will suffer.”
Sakamo raised one eyebrow:
“Why every Teacher in this School likes so much to diminish his students? First, it was Kaishu-sensei, now you. Well, I don’t mind not being allowed to attend this class, it will give me time to study for other classes.”
Sakamo made a deep bow and went in the direction of the locker room, and Oki-sensei mumbled:
“Such a waste. With that body and flexibility, he could very well be an Olympic athlete, instead of a spoiled brat.”
The girls saw Sakamo Ryu leaving, and they all complained. Above all voices, Hangaku Mae was shouting:
“Not fair, Oki-sensei! I was hoping to take a good look at all those muscles, and you had to make him go away! Thanks a lot!”
Even the quiet and normally silent Hojo Masako joined the complaints, because like everyone else, she was both astonished and marvelled for realizing that Sakamo not only had a pretty face, but he also had a body to go with it. The noise of the complaints and requests to let Sakamo join the class was going on forever, and Oki-sensei clapped her hands and shouted:
“Silence! No matter how much you say it’s not fair, rules are rules! No student can attend gymnastics with earrings, pendants, strings, piercings, or rings, for safety reasons!”
Hangaku Mae crossed her arms and asked:
“What about the rule that no student can be discriminated for his beliefs or religion? Because I noticed the grin you were making when Sakamo-kun said he was a Shintoist as if you were mocking him. Your reaction also means that you didn’t do your homework before coming here, or you would know that he was raised in a Shrine by Shinto monks. That doesn’t paint a nice picture of your character, Oki-sensei!”
Oki Koma was puzzled and faced the angry look of her new students. She remembered hearing something about a certain student that was a first-year raised in a Shrine, but she couldn’t guess that Sakamo was that student. The day was not going well for her. She was hoping to start her first class with a new group of students, but everything was quickly going down the drain because she underestimated a student that only now, she realized was doing some very difficult pull-ups and landed on his palms from that height. Even with all the pull-ups he did, he wasn’t sweating or panting when he was talking with her, and that could only mean that his muscles were not only for show, he was a very serious athlete.
Oki Koma raised both open palms asking for silence and said:
“Perhaps I overreacted, but it is very dangerous for a student to do gymnastics with a string around his neck. Even if my reaction could be seen as disrespectful, I was just surprised by what he said. Nevertheless, he can’t attend this class while he wears that string, it’s dangerous! Imagine if one of you pulls it during an exercise? Or if it gets wrapped on something?”
Hangaku Mae frowned:
“Dangerous? He has a gym in his house, way better equipped than this! There’s a wooden dummy in a corner, and the walls are full of weapons! He did a fighting routine with Tomoe-chan at her concert last Friday, for crying out loud! I seriously doubt any of us could put our hands on that string, even if we all attacked him at the same time! But hey, who am I to tell you all this anyway? Oh, I know, I am another student getting out of here! See ya!”
Hangaku Mae turned her back at the teacher with a final wave and ran for the girl’s locker room.
Oki-sensei stared at Hangaku’s back while she was running, not believing what just happened. She enforced the safety rules as she was supposed to do, and now she had another student leaving the gym. The day couldn’t go any worse, or, so she thought, because then she noticed the entire class whispering, and they then walked towards the locker rooms. She ran to be at the front and spread her arms, asking with a frown:
“Where do you all think you are going? The class didn’t end!”
Hojo Masako looked around and all their classmates nodded, encouraging her. She faced the dumbfounded teacher and said:
“Oki-sensei, I am Hojo Masako, the class representative. I must inform you that we all disapprove the way you acted with Sakamo-kun, for mocking and not believing in him without any reason whatsoever besides your discrimination. Not to talk about the absolute lack of disrespect for his faith. As a consequence, we are all leaving and we refuse to attend any other of your classes until you apologise to Sakamo-kun for disrespecting his faith and beliefs. If you excuse us, we are going to join Sakamo-kun in his studies for other classes where teachers don’t mock their students.”
Oki Koma slowly lowered her arms, too surprised to even say anything, she just watched hopelessly as her students were going past her towards the locker rooms. When the last student entered the men’s locker room, she mumbled:
“I don’t believe this! Are they really going to stop coming to my class? Don’t you think this ends here, you brats. I will have a talk with the Principal, let’s see who laughs in the end. When I am done with your insubordination, I will have all of you kneeling and apologizing to me, and I will make you sweat and cry every time you come to this gym, just you wait…”