The outside of the secret base was, what you would expect a store would look like. A glass door coupled with a big front glass window for displaying goods protected by metal bars preventing intrusion. Although, the walls seemed cracked in places making me worry if this building will even last much longer. There looked to be a second floor with small rectangular windows. Then as I went to push the glass front door, I found that it was locked.

“Oh? This way Kazuya-san… That door is locked” said An-chan as he points to said door then goes to the side of the building

“Is that so… How do you get in then?” I asked with an eyebrow raised

“Haha! You’ll see” Ma bou says as he and mob kun follows An-chan

“Ngihihi, don’t worry about that. Our super secret base, has a super secret entrance” Ageha boasts as she goes into the corner of the building. 

“Kazuya-kun, this way. Though it might be a tight squeeze…” Aoi says as he follows them in.

I squeeze through the gap in the side with Hotaru behind me, to see the rear of the store. Behind the building was a metal back door. But, they ignored it as well and went into a crack barely large enough for someone to pass through.

I look at Hotaru with a skeptical look 

“I-It’s o-okay follow m-me” she says as she musters all the courage she has then goes in and look back at. I find it cute, then I sense the urge to pet her again. I find my hand moving on its own again, so I grab it with the other before it does anything that I might regret.

‘Down boy, down.’

“Okay, I trust you.” I say with a warm smile which makes Hotaru blush, as she then rushes inside. 

‘Hmm…’ Angelica looks at me quizzically ‘Quite the ladies man you are Mr. “My heart only yearns for Amane”, I see your heart is yearning for Hotaru too’ Then switch to a grin.

‘Haaa… Shall I add you in too, A-N-G-E-L-I-C-A…’ I inwardly say with a teasing tone as I look at her in the eye and pat her on the head.

‘No fair…’ she says with a tint of red in her cheeks.

…

“Kazuya-kun, you can come in!”

Hearing that I push through the gap. What I see as I emerge was a place much like “Himegi’s Sports Needs” only without the racks and rows of sports equipment. Instead there were a bunch of boxes and furniture off to the sides of the room, each covered with a white cloth. I see stairs to the right of me going up. And as I look to the floor, I see toys, and other Knick-Knacks scattered about.

“Welcome, to our secret base!” they all shout as I enter

“Quite the welcome, huh?” 

“Of course you saved us after all” An-chan pats me on the back with a bright smile.

 “And, we are all friends now, right?” he asks a bit hesitantly as the others had wryly smiles while looking me as if expecting something.

“Yeah. I hope you take care of me from now on” I smile back and give slight bow.

Seeing that, they all breathed a sigh of relief. As if they thought I didn’t want to be friends

‘Hyahh! I am so proud of you,  you just made your first friends, I am so happy. My boy is finally growing up’ she says with a tinge of sarcasm as she hovers in front of me then wipe an invisible tear from her eye.

‘I have a lot friends in Tokyo, you know…’I retort in my mind

‘Ehhh…  Don’t worry about the small stuff, Kyousuke-kun’ she says with a smile

“Hey, Kazuya-kun want to see the upstairs?” Aoi says as he and the others run up the stairs. I followed to see that it was almost the same as the floor below but with less boxes and furniture covered by white sheets. There looked to be a round wooden table by the windows plus an old looking television, and another set of stairs leading up. On the table some equipment, manga, plus  anime and movie DVDs were strewn about in piles. There were also a few water guns, a couple of measured ropes and a few board games scattered around. 

‘What are the ropes for?’ I wondered.

I go towards the pile of DVDs to see one that read the “The Journey of the Samurai in the Wild West” and think back to the time I watched the movie. 

“This is where we usually hang out and play. We use the water guns on hot days, shooting each other to cool off. And we also watch movies sometimes too.” Aoi explains as he points to the different things in the room

The plot is basically the title, Kenshin, a samurai who wakes up to find himself in the wild west for some reason, and he travels around for a bit, then falls in love with a girl. But that girl was engaged to an evil business man who plans to sell her to the highest bidder. So he makes up a plan and saves her with his mates. But ends up killing the business man in an epic duel. So after being tracked down by the law they fought an epic final battle, killing many with his katana, though he inevitably dies. 

“Oh? have you watched that” Ageha asks as she sees me holding the CD.

“Yeah, I have, a pretty good movie, a bit of a tragic ending though.” I reply, of which after, she looked as if she was contemplating something but just ultimately nods

“Kazuya-san? There is also the roof, come on, let me show you” An-chan says and gestures me up. I go up first and I see in the corner of my eye, An-chan say something to the others and they huddle up, then nod to each other smiling, but I pay no mind to it. 

‘Guess they are still a bit guarded towards me huh?’

As I come up I see metal railings run along the corners of the roof as the afternoon sun shines upon it.

“Not much of a view, is it?” say as walk towards the railing and look to the distance of building all around.

“Yeah, well it will not be much of a secret base if it can be seen easily” An-chan laughs

“I guess.” I smile

“Hey Kazuya, thank you for saving us. And we really appreciate what you did” An-chan says from behind me.

“Hey, like I said do-“ 

…

I turn to see everyone holding a water gun.

“It’s such a hot day isn’t it? Kazuya-san” An-chan says with a mischievous grin.

‘I should have seen this coming’

‘Yeah you should have’ Angelica says among them with a hefty looking water gun wearing a female cowboy attire.

“Why don’t we cools down, it’s such a hot day. Kazuya-kun” Aoi says with a grin.

“Hehe. Even the legendary kendo man can’t dodge my Super Gun” Ageha says with a wide smile. 

“Hehehe! Gotcha man!” Mabou and Taguchi giggle.

“Uhmm… what is this exactly. An-chan?” I eyed him suspiciously

“Let’s call it a welcoming party” An-chan says in a playful tone

“Just for fun really, plus a way to cool off after a good fight.” Ageha adds

I look to Hotaru holding a water pistol.

“So-sorry.” 

I then look to Angelica for support ‘Any help here?’

‘No dice partner, you got careless. Plus it ain’t everyday that I get the chance to shoot you’ she says with a western accent.

Then Ageha looks up as if a light bulb just appeared above her head.

“Surrender now, Kenshin for you are in the presence of the law” Ageha says with a bright smile and a cowboy-esk but cute voice, as she recites the lines from “The Journey of the Samurai in the Wild West”. 

They all looked at her, then giggled.

“All your mates are dead. Put the sword down, samurai and surrender in peace” Aoi smiles and goes along with it.

“Last chance, partner, put the sword down.” An-chan adds, sounding the most cowboy of them all

I look around to see no place to hide behind, I sigh, take off my jacket then my glasses and resign myself to my fate and pull out my jissengata shinai then take the stance of  Jōdan-no-kamae. 

Its advantage is the reach of the strike, the intimidating posture and the speed of the strike. Its disadvantage is the weak defense, since  body is open. In order to protect the vulnerable area, a jōdan user must have a very fiery spirit to "scare off" the opponent. It is also more difficult to judge the striking distance (maai). Therefore, this stance is only used as the normal stance during practice or competition by experienced kendōka. It’s the most aggressive stance.

I put my left foot forward, slightly bend my knees as I raise my shinai up high. “My honor bounds me to die fighting. Do your worst Americans” I say going with the flow in a stereotype voice of a samurai. They all look like they are all trying to hold back their laughter. 

…

Like a samurai facing a firing squad I look to them with utmost concentration. After staring at each other for some time, a noise pierces through the silence.

Cacaw* Flapflapflap*

“Fire!” as An-chan calls the kill order, streams of cold water shoots towards me.

I crouch charge towards them, screaming as I held the sword up high. 

“HAAAA!”

On the way I get hit multiple times. On the shoulders, feet, torso, and the face, a hit which a certain laughing angel dealt. I continue to act as the samurai in the  movie, and slow down as shots get fired into me.

“Uhh…” until I knelt down supporting myself with the shinai as An-chan comes close, water pistol in hand, “Any last words, partner?” 

“Tell Stella, I love her… Bwah…” and I fall to the ground in dramatic fashion

…

…

…

“Pfft. BWAHAHAHA!” 

An-chan and the other burst out laughing

I look up to see Aoi and An-chan holding out a hand as they grasp their stomachs.

I take their hands to stand up and laugh along

“Hahaha! You really went along with it huh?” Aoi says with a bright smile.

“It was funny! Of course I would, but my clothes are soaked now though” I say as I gesture to my clothes.

“Well that just means you are one of us now. Right? I’ll lend you some later” An-chan says wiping a tear from his eye.

“Ageha! Nice job by the way, for coming up with that.” Ma bou says to Ageha with a grin

“Of course, don't you know I am great!” Ageha puffs her chest out. And we all laugh at here boastful remark.

‘Hey… why don’t you laugh when I do that?’

‘Well…’

‘Well?’

“He-here” Hotaru cuts off my train of thought as she offers me a towel.

“Thank you” and I gently pat her on the head with a smile, no need to hold back at her kindness.

“Oho… there they go again” An-chan teases as they all look at us, and Hotaru once again gets flustered, while I wiped my hair. Then…

Clap*

“Well! Now that’s over and done, why not a group hug?” I say to bring attention to myself, as I open my arms  out wide with a bright smile

“Uhmm…”

“Hehe…”

“Maybe later?” 

They all shuddered and back away.

“Well that’s not fun. Then here I come!” I say as I run towards them.

“Run!” Aoi shouts as they all laugh and run down the stairs, while I chase after them…

_________________________________________

“Come here again tomorrow! We will be waiting!” Ageha shouts

“Yeah we’ll be expecting you!” Aoi adds

“Take care on the way home Kazuya!” An-chan shouts, he had dropped using honorifics half way through.

“Come back soon!” Yells Ma bou and Taguchi.

“I will!” I shout back as I walk away. The sun had just began to set, as the I feel the warm sun upon my skin while I carry a bag with my wet clothing inside. An-chan and the others let me borrow some clothes saying, I might catch a cold if I didn’t change into something dry, so, I obliged.

“Well... That was fun!” Angelica shouts while waving as walk away. She was still in her cowboy suit.

‘Yeah it was…’ I say inwardly as I thought back as to what happened.

She flies in front of my face “What’s with the long face?”

‘It was fun, but I am kind of sad? That its over? I think?’ 

‘Hmm… don’t worry about it there is always tomorrow. Plus we are here for an entire month so cheer up!’ she says with a smile

‘Yeah you are right.’

After hearing that she sighs

‘Hey, close your eyes.’ I say to her

‘Oh okay? But you are not going to flick me on the head. Are you?’ she asks skeptically.

‘Nope. Just trust me’

‘Okay…’ she reluctantly closes them. She was trembling, as if scared? I chuckle at that.

‘Why are yo-‘ 

I cut her off by pinching her cheek

‘Hey! I said no flicking’

‘That was a pinch, and you were really enjoying yourself a little bit too much back there, weren’t you?’ I say with a menacing smile.

‘Ehehehe… ehem…’ she looks away as she nervously sweats.

Then…

 I pat her on the head ‘Although, you did help me a lot back there, Angelica, so here is your reward.” I genuinely smile

‘Huh? Oh… Hehehe…’ she giggles as she enjoys my hand patting her head.

‘As promised. And what was your favorite food by the way?’

‘Uhmmm… its… Pancakes with hot chocolate, topped with cream and a strawberry.’ 

‘Sure, I’ll make a whole bunch tomorrow.’ I say with a warm smile

‘Tha...ou…’ she said under her breath

‘What was that?’ I asked

‘Nothing! Lets hurry! I can’t wait to eat Kyousuke’s home made pancakes.’ She says with a panicked cute tone

‘Sure thing’ I chuckled as we walked back home….