Hot Pink Hotshot
Seita was just settling in to his dorm room, unpacking his luggage, when his roommate suddenly spoke up.
“Dude…”
Seita looked up. “What?”
His roommate pulled out a hot pink teddy bear from his luggage and held it up. “What’s this thing?”
Seita raised an eyebrow, then turned around, continuing to unpack his clothes. “It’s a teddy bear,” he said in an obvious tone.
“Did your sister sneak it into your luggage or something?” his roommate asked, smirking.
Seita looked confused. “No… why?”
“Why?” His roommate laughed. “Don’t you think it’s a little… girly to take with you to Karate camp?”
Seita shrugged. “It was a gift.”
“Is that so?” his roommate asked, thinking for a moment. “Was it from a weird relative or something? Or…” He smiled evilly. “Did Mitsuishi give it to you?”
Seita immediately stopped what he was doing and whipped around. “Who’s asking?” he asked harshly.
“Aha!” His roommate crowed, “Got it in one! I bet she got it to embarrass the pants off of you!”
“Shut up!” Seita yanked the teddy bear out of his roommate’s hands and placed it up on a high shelf.
“You are such a pushover when it comes to her,” his roommate said, “Why don’t you just tell her how you feel already?”
“It’s none of your freaking business, man!” Seita retorted.
His roommate lifted his hands in defeat. “Okay, okay, forget I said anything!” he said, chuckling. He walked off, leaving Seita alone to finish unpacking.
Seita sighed, and looked up at the pink teddy bear, remembering Akira’s ridiculous grin as she handed it to him.
“I saw this and just had to get it,” she said, laughing and dropping the bear in his lap. “It reminded me so much of you!”
Seita looked up, confused. “You think I look like a pink teddy bear?”
His response only made her laugh harder. “I dare you to keep that in your room at Karate camp, at all times of the day, where everyone can see it! How many people do you think will take you seriously?”
He picked the bear up, scowling at it, then at Akira. “You’re on.”
Realistically speaking, though, he didn’t care that it was the cutest, girliest thing he owned. The fact that Akira was the one who gave it to him, even as a joke, was the only thing that mattered.
And besides, what was it that his Karate sensei had said? That a warrior should have both strength and sensitivity? He reached up and pulled the teddy bear off of the high shelf, putting it in a place of honor on his desk.
There. How’s that for sensitivity?
He heard his roommate stifle a laugh behind him, and he shook his head, continuing to unpack his belongings.
Notes:
When writing this, I thought about the irony of Seita owning the cutest, pinkest, girliest toy ever and having it be his favorite thing because Akira gave it to him!