Chapter 19: CHAPTER 18: “The Boxer goes at it alone”

   Wednesday was boring. The science museum in Bayamon was boring, and now we were going to another science place in Arecibo. DON’T THEY KNOW THERE ARE COOLER THINGS TO WATCH? But I have other plans. There is a free ‘Lucha libre’ fight on Arecibo today. ‘Lucha libre’ is fake wrestling, like the GWE (Global Wrestling Entertainment), but it’s still cool, it’s like the fake version of what I want to do in real life.

   There is something important I have to ask, but it can’t be at the Arecibo observatory. I need to ask John something important. Something that might change everything between us. I don’t expect an immediate answer, but I have to do this, and it has to be here, I can’t wait for Japan.

   The problem is, if I do this, I’ll get in trouble later, and how will I get John to agree? John may be my favorite guy to be around, but he is a wuss when it comes to breaking school rules. IT PISSES ME OFF HOW OBEDIENT HE IS SOMETIMES, but that is part of what makes him, him.

   Nio said I could ask him for help whenever it came to matters such as this. I know he is willing to take risks and bend rules when it comes to this. I don’t know why, but he does. After all, I was there when he messed with traffic to get Chowa and John a more romance-inducing trail on one of their hangouts. How he got out of that one is beyond my knowledge.

   I know he would help. But I don’t feel right using him like that. He can be an annoying midget, but he is nice, he just really likes to help when it comes to romantic stuff. NOT THAT I PLAN ROMANTIC STUFF WITH JOHN NOW… At least not now. My relationship with Nio is as strained as it is, but after the camping trip, we sort off made up, I don’t want to ruin it by getting him in trouble for being an accomplice. Like it or not, I have to do this on my own.

…

   Yesterday was kind of boring. We did learn a lot of cool stuff, but we didn’t get to have much fun. Tuesday however was a blast. Miko, Nio, and me having fun just like we used to back when we were kids. Today we are going to the Arecibo Observatory. It used to be home to a very large Radio Telescope that suddenly fell and was destroyed. I was excited, but not as much, since it is more learning about science stuff. But besides that, I am worried about something else.

   Panchikky has been oddly quiet ever since Tuesday night. Normally, she would have insulted me 3 times by now. In the past, it would have been more, but she has become better, I think thanks to hanging out with Nio. But I’d rather she insults me than she be sulky about something. She is my friend; I don’t like seeing her like this.

   After some more time traveling, the bus finally came to a stop, we had arrived. I decided I would wait for Panchikky, I just had to ask what was going on. Students were slowly leaving. Miko was talking with Chiru about something, honestly, her expression to Miko’s manner of speech was priceless. Nio was with Yuuki, I’ve never seen them together. I wonder what they were talking about, I know Yuuki likes basketball, but it’s not like Nio plays sports. And Chowa was with Ryo, they were both in the school's music group so that is understandable, Kiken was with Nari, he plays Dragons and Dungeons, he was constantly talking to her, maybe he wanted to be friends.

   All the students were outside the bus with exception of Panchikky, she was seating quietly, it was like she hadn’t noticed we were here already. I decided to call her.

- “Hey, Panchikky… We’re here already. Get your butt in line!”

- “DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO NITWIT!”

Hehe… Got a reaction

   We made a line just as the teacher instructed, both of us were the last onws on the line. I was about to discretely ask her what was wrong, but I felt her tug my shirt. I turn my head slightly, the teacher had said no talking, but this seemed important, I couldn’t just ignore it.

- “What is it Panchikky, need to go to the bathroom?”

She looked at me briefly before looking away. Strange, no comment to my perfect attempt at teasing?

- “John…”

- “Yeah…”

- “Do you mind… Sneaking out with me?”

…

There I asked it.

- “It’s fine if you don’t want to!”

I tried to hide my fear of his reaction like I do most of the time, but I couldn’t keep dancing around my feelings and brushing them off in favor of pride.

- “But I, really wish you would.”

   John is really easy to read. He is dense as a rock but as expressive as a mime, he talks without talking. As his face contorts into shock, I can see his gears turning. By the point his final reaction is set, he probably visualized us in prison for some reason, he’s the worst-case scenario type of guy, despite his optimistic personality… Kind of contradictory sometimes honestly.

- “I want to show you something… And ask you something important, but it can’t be here…”

   Honestly, I was scared. This was very important, but it would mean nothing if John didn’t come with me, I wanted to hear it from him. In my life, no one’s opinion mattered more to me than his. I looked away because I felt my eyes begin to sting at the possible rejection of my proposal, I know this is petty but it’s how I feel. John may have noticed how I was getting because he decided to speak.

- “Ok… Let’s do it Panchikky…”

   I looked at him straight in the eyes, I was so happy I couldn’t help the blush that came to my cheeks. His voice was wobbly, and his posture make me think a gentle breeze would be enough to topple him, but his support made m want to hug him. But I couldn’t be that weak, it’s not who I am. So I make a proud smirk to make up for the huge need to smile ear to ear that I have right now.

- “Thanks, John.”

- “W-what i-is that… a-a t-thank you? … Ha-ha Panchikky…”

- “Look… A teacher…”

- “WHERE?!”

- “Mr. John Henry, be quiet!”

- “Yes Mrs.!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. It was a joke at first, but John’s scream alerted the teacher alright. He was very jumpy.

- “Ok class, let's go inside, follow the guide at all times!”

- “What do we do know Panchikky?”

- “Let’s break the line.”

   As the students start to move inside, me and John, start to sneak out. The teacher was looking ahead at the students going in, so now was our shot, but I didn’t count on Chowa. She saw us. We froze, the teacher just finished seeing the students go inside, all except Chowa, John, and me, but she didn’t tend to count... The main reason why we didn’t realize Nio was gone until the school called her. But if the teacher saw us now, we would be in trouble without even getting out. It was all up to Chowa.

   She looked at me. Then she looked at John. I knew how she felt about him, and she knew how I felt about him. I don’t know if it was the unspoken emotions behind my face, or if it was John’s un-hidable fear expression, but she gave a sort of sad-ish smile. More like accepting. I will never tell it to her, but Chowa was very caring, too much for her own good. No wonder Nio and her were such good friends.

- “Teacher, I’m the last one!”

- “Ok, thank you, Miss. Gita. Let's join the others.”

We were in the clear, it was time to move. We blended in with the rest of the visitors and slowly walked out of the observatory.

…

   We had been walking for a while. I did not know why Panchikky wanted to sneak out, or where she planned to go, but she seemed so apprehensive about telling me. Not once that I could remember had I seen her like that. She is always first to speak, and last to shut up. The only similar time, was when Nio was in disagreement with her and the others, so considering the magnitude of that moment, whatever this was had a similar magnitude.

   I decided to annoy her a bit. It always seemed to cheer her up when her parents were at her throat. My trademark, ‘poke the small gal’ was doing the trick. As we walked I kept poking her back, which prompted her to turn in my direction, only for me to advert my gaze. We both knew how the game went, if I got caught I would-

<WAPAM>

… Get a jab… It was a light one, it hurt, but it was the friendly kind, not her trademarked: “I’m pissed at you so I'm gonna hit you” kind of jab. So I laughed and she did as well. The tension was broken.

- “So where are we going?”

- “You’ll see.” (Smirks).

- “You think you’re sly. You must be this tall, to try and be sly.”

- “Talk about my height again… We’ll see how you reach your destination.”

   Her aura was threatening. Like Nio, height was a touchy subject for her, barely a few inches taller than him, she didn’t like to be made fun off because of it. Which made me want to poke more fun at it. But I wanted to be able to use my legs for when I reached whatever place she wanted to show me, so I shut up.

   We picked up the pace, we knew our class was going to stay in the observatory almost all day, but I guess Panchikky was on a schedule. In thirty minutes we reached an intersection of multiple roads, that connected to avenues, and even expressways.

- “Where too now?”

   Panchikky picked up her phone and looked at her GPS and started walking. How she can walk and stare at her phone at once is a superpower I do not understand.

   Eventually, I was able to pick up where we were headed. A large coliseum could be seen at a distance, and despite being so early, a large number of cars were headed in that direction. My curiosity was spiked.

…

- “Señoras y señores. Personas de tooooodaaaaas las edades. PREPARENSEE PAREA UN ESPECTACULO INPRESIONANTE!”

   The presenter kept talking, as we found a space to watch. I didn’t know if it was a common thing for shows like this to occur in this stadium, as it seemed more prepared for basketball tournaments, but today, it was a ‘Lucha libre’ match.

- “What is he saying Panchikky?!”

- “I have no idea; I don’t speak Spanish.”

   I leaned on the railing trying to look confident. Thanks to Nio, I knew that John liked fighting stuff, but I didn’t know if he would like this particular type of show. Like the GWE, ‘Lucha libre’ went so over the top that one knew that they were not, really hitting each other. From using baseball bats, to chairs; it was clear that if this was a real fight, they either wouldn’t be able to use those, or many would end up in the hospital, or maybe dead.

- “So this is what you wanted to show me?”

- “Umm… Yes… Is that ok…?”

- “Yeah, of course. I like wrestling! I watch the GWE every Sunday with my dad!”

- “OF COURSE, YOU LIKE IT. I INVITED YOU AFTER ALL!”

I’m so glad he is not disappointed.

   Just like that, we focus on the match that is going to start. We didn’t seat down, we just stood there cheering for our preferred wrestler. As usual with most things between us, we disagreed on who we rooted for. He rooted for the one with the mask, he said he reminded him of an anime character. I rooted for the one that came with the hood.

   The masked one won the first battle, which caused me to have to deal with smug John, the worst type of John. But really, I was glad he was having fun with me.

...

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{15 minutes had passed}

- “TAKE HIM OUT!”

- “Umm… Panchikky…”

- “TAKE HIM OUT DAM# IT… I SAID TAKE HIM OUT…”

- “THIS IS WRESTLUNG PANCHIKKY, NOT MORTAL KOMBAT!”

- “SHUT UP BEFORE I TAKE YOU OUT!”

{John proceeded to shut up}.

…

   Half an hour had passed, and various matches had occurred already. The drawback was that we didn’t understand any of the trash talking between the contenders, since it was all in Spanish. We talked a lot amongst ourselves, but as more matches kept coming, we began to fall into a natural silence. I decided to look at Panchikky while she wasn’t looking. Hands in her hoodie, and short hair fully away from her face, I saw the glistening of her eyes. She was enthralled. A different person from how she was back at the bus, she was happy she was excited.

In a moment she looked at me with such a genuine small smile on her face that it took me off guard completely. I could only respond in kind. She turned her face back to the ring but she decided to speak.

- “John… Can I ask you something?”

- “Sure thing Panchikky…. What is it?”

- “Do you think I could do something like that?”

I was taken aback completely. Panchikky wants to try this type of wrestling? I thought she was more about the real thing.

- “You want to join the ‘Lucha libre?’

- “AAAAAKAAAAANGANAAAAAA!!!!!”

   Suddenly the moderator made a weird sound when one of the wrestlers slammed the other against the floor of the ring.

- “No… Sorry, I didn’t explain myself…. I want to do that, but in real life… Something similar. Mixed Martial Arts. I want to be a Mixed Martial Arts fighter at the UFC!”

- “Waoh…”

- “You know how my parents are about this stuff… They think I should be more practical. ‘If you want sports, try gymnastics, athletics, or acrobatics. I do enjoy athletics and acrobatics, but you know how they got when I wanted to join boxing at school. They flipped. They still don’t agree.”

- “I remember that…”

   Panchikky’s parents have always been like that. It’s not that they are not supportive of her athletic dreams, it’s that they don’t support the fighting. Maybe it’s due to her personality and violent tendencies, or maybe they are just worried about their daughter. But whenever the subject came, they were always at each other’s throats. It came to the point that by her third-year high school, she decided to move on her own. I always supported her, if that was what she liked then fine, but I was a little confused right now.

- “UFC? But didn’t you want to do boxing as a career?”

- “Yes. That is still my main goal. But I also want to try this. I don’t know if it will be possible to do both, or if I’ll eventually have to pick one of the two, but that is what I want.”

…

   There… I said it. I asked what I wanted to ask. John’s opinion means everything to me. He has always supported and encouraged my dreams. He has helped me every time he could, and when he couldn’t he gave a reason. He has always been respectful of my dreams and never called them unrealistic, or unachievable. He has expressed concern for my safety, yes, but he has been there always supporting me.

   If he says I can do this, I know I’ll give it my all. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do both and if I have to choose one, I will. But I very much wanted to know. Because a battle with my parents is in order, and I’ll need all the support I can get.

I looked him in the eyes. I wouldn’t back down. Not even my own pride would stand in my way.

- “Panchikky… I’m really worried. If I’m honest… I’m scared. I’ve seen them fight, they can get really hurt…”

   I lower my gaze slightly. I know I’m asking a lot. He is my best friend, I don’t like worrying him, so if he says no, I’ll understand. I love him after all…

- “Do you, really want to try it?”

I could only nod.

- (Sigh).

   I see a fist lowered to my eye level. Gasping for air I look at John’s smiling face, total genuity. His smile is wobbly due to worry, but he is granting me his support. I felt like I could almost cry.

- “You know I support you no matter what.”

We fist bump.

…

   The matches were over, and we were walking back to the observatory. I was surprised by her question, but I could see why she was nervous about it. It is a dangerous career choice. But she’s the best fighter I know. Telling her parents though... Is going to be a pain. But I agreed to be with her when she does.

The observatory is in sight, but suddenly Panchikky stops and turns to me.

- “What is your dream, John…?”

- “Me… I want a normal office job, and to start a family.”

I smiled as big as I could. For me, there is no bigger joy than a family. That’s what I wanted. No question about it.

Panchikky smiled at me, a sweet smile a few times see on her face.

- “Your dream sounds wonderful John…”

   I always liked how Panchikky validated my dreams, as much as I validated hers. Once every couple of months she would ask me the same question, and I would reply the same way. She would give me the same smile, and answer me along those same lines. But this time… She didn’t stop there… She said more…

- “I want that too…”

- “Huh?”

- “I want a family too…”

- “That’s great Panchikky! You’ll be a great mom! Probably, shouldn’t yell at your kids though…”

She smiled, and got ready to turn around when suddenly she stood right in front of me… I took a step back and looked at her in confusion.

- “I want that with you…”

- “P-Panchikky…”

- “John… I love you… I wish to have a family with you someday.”

- “…”

- “YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING! I just wanted you to know. You know all of my dreams now. What you do with that knowledge… It is up to you. I will support you just as much as you’ve supported me. Whether together… or apart. I love you.”

   I didn’t know what to say. My hearing sometimes is selective. If I’m doing something else, like talking, playing, fist-bumping, or even hugging someone, things like these can slip by me. But Panchikky had my full attention. Her gaze told me she meant it, her body was shaking slightly. But I didn’t know how to respond.

The moment she finished, she sped away and disappeared behind the bus.

- “MISS PANCHIKIKKU. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL DAY?! EXPLORING THE AREA ON YOUR OWN. DON’T TELL ME YOU GOT LOST LIKE MR. TOYOHAMA HERE? HEY… WHERE IS MR. TOYOHAMA?”

   I could hear the teacher’s indignant screams. I knew Panchikikku, wouldn’t tell where we had been, but she wouldn’t lie saying that we were lost. Whatever happened now, we certainly would have detention once we got back to school. But I couldn’t think about any of that.

I want that with you…

John… I love you… I wish to have a family with you someday.

I look to my right and I am even more surprised by what I see.

   Nio… Nio was there, he was standing with eyes that looked like they would pop out of his head. His pupils had shrunk, and his mouth was wide open. His red notebook was on the floor, spread out…

He heard everything…

He heard it all.

…

Well… That happened. The cat’s out of the bag for the boing ‘tsundere’, but she did it on her terms. What will this mean for the future, and the other ships?

AN: Just when I think I’m going one way, I go another.

Next time. Eagle High students embark on their final destination in Puerto Rico before they need to fly back. What will occur on the special tree house in Aguadilla? Will Gita make a move, or be left in the dust? Find out next on “Protagonist is a Shipper” part 2.

>  ‘Lucha libre’ does exist in Puerto Rico

> The word Akangana, is a word my dad used when we played wrestling back when I was a kid.

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