Chapter 39

Upon waking up, I dressed and headed out for PT. As I walked up to the platoon forming up, Sgt Le Pesant cut me off.

“Go eat then go see Gunny Owens.”

I didn’t know if I was going to eat again before my bout, so I had a big breakfast, just hoping that I didn’t puke it back up later.

As I walked into the Platoon Office, Gunny Owens exited the building.

“Let’s go.”

We drove out to the hangar gym. Things had been moved around. Now there were three sets of bleachers surrounding the ring on three sides. The fourth side had several tables; for the judges was my guess. Gunny Owens had me follow him around to the side.

“Your fight today is at sixteen hundred. As much of the platoon is going to be here as we can get. We concluded that you should wear your normal PT gear for the first two fights. I’ve also got a pair of boxing shoes in my car for you to try on after the fight.”

“OK.”

We went back to the office, and I asked him something he wasn’t expecting.

“You know of anyone taking bets on the fights?”

He just kind of looked at me and sighed. Then he said he did. I gave him two hundred bucks to place a bet for me. Then I was told to meet him at least an hour and a half before the fight. I now had bets placed through Gunny and Grandfather.

I called the house and talked to Kiku for a few minutes. She was going to pick her parents up, and after they got settled, then would come to the fight.

I pulled out the tub as I had a couple hours before I needed to be at the fight. The ice bath felt good and woke me up. Afterwards, I got cleaned up and went over to the Mess Hall. I was able to get some grilled chicken, rice and vegetables but didn’t eat a lot, just enough to tide me over till after the fight.

Packing up my PT gear, I looked over at Norbert and Mutellip.

“You guys don’t get into any trouble.”

“You don’t be a loser. I want to get out of duty on Wednesday.”

“Way to be an asshole.”

“Just following your lead.”

“I do my best to be a role model for the peons Norbert.”

Arriving at the building, I met Gunny just inside the door. There was already a bout going on, a light heavyweight bout and the cheering was fairly loud. I wasn’t paying close attention as I made my way to the dressing area.

I changed into my PT clothing and began a slow warm up process when I saw Gunny and Grandfather enter the dressing area. They both let me know that my bets had been placed. They’d gotten three to one odds on both bets for me to win the whole thing. I then was called to get my hands wrapped.

I zoned out as they started wrapping so I could get myself centered. I was a little upset that I forgot my Walkman, but what could I do. Centering myself before a fight was a little different than my normal centering routine.

It was bringing both my mental and physical faculties together for the fight. Once the wrapping job was complete, I had a short session with the mitts. It was about another twenty minutes before I was called for my bout.

We walked out to the ring and Grandfather got on the ring apron as I got into the ring. Martinez, my opponent from the Air Force was walking to the ring as I began looking into the bleachers.

Kiku was in the stands sitting in between Norbert and Mutellip. There had to be at least twenty guys from the platoon sitting around them. The bleachers across the ring from them was where the Air Force fans were seated. Guess it was smart to keep them separate. They didn’t want a brawl being started by the Marines, or that’s what I figured.

To ensure that didn’t happen, the bleachers in between the two held officers from both branches. Even the Officers’ bleachers were split between Marine Corps and Air Force officers. There were officers from Colonel on down.

As I leaned against the ropes, a Colonel came down off the bleachers to the ring. I kind of thought it was Lieutenant Colonel Cotilla from the Chain of Command photos I had seen in the Platoon Office. He was the Third Battalion Commander if I remember right. I got down on a knee so that I could listen to him.

“Lance Corporal ... Do the Marine Corps proud and ground this little Air Force punk.”

“I’ll take care of it sir.”

“I know you will Marine.”

Turning back, I saw Martinez was getting in the ring. After he got in an Air Force Staff Sergeant got in the ring. He motioned for both of us to come to the middle of the ring and the ref began giving us our instructions and then the Staff Sergeant announced us. Upon returning to my corner, Grandfather was waiting for me.

“Now remember the game plan. Don’t go nuts. It’s a long tournament, so don’t get hurt.”

He put my mouthpiece in, and I turned back to the center of the ring. The bell rang and we both moved towards the center.

I was in a conventional fighting stance. Martinez took a couple of steps towards me then sped up and almost half ran at me. This caused me to mistime a jab and caught him on the shoulder. He clipped my jaw with a jab.

I stepped back to reset and to return to the end of my range. I had to give Martinez credit as he tried to come right with me. I flipped out two jabs and then circled out to my right. He was still coming with me as I tried to circle out. I did what I felt was the right move.

I planted and launched a right hook. This time I connected square on his cheek. That staggered him a bit, so I pushed forward throwing jabs. Every third or fourth jab, I’d throw a right hook or straight right. I just about had him backed into a corner when the bell rang for the end of the first round.

Going back to the corner, Grandfather was waiting. He took my mouthpiece out.

“Now listen up. For the first half of this next round, stay on the defensive, though don’t let him do any damage. When I tell you to go, pour it on.”

“OK.”

I was given some water and then my mouthpiece. Turning around the bell rang, and I rushed out this time. I kept moving until I was in his range taking a jab to the face and then covered up. Martinez kept it up; I held my ground for a couple of seconds before giving way.

I was taking the majority of the blows on my arms. They were going to be sore. My back touched the ropes when I heard Grandfather’s voice.

-“Now.”_

Martinez threw a straight right that I was able to slip. I uncorked a right uppercut that just barely caught him. He had been off balance when I hit him, and he went down to a knee. The ref stepped in to administer a standing eight count. It didn’t count as a knockdown but looked good in the eyes of the judges.

He was fine and the ref restarted the fight back. We’d both thrown a jab when the bell rang, end of 2nd round. Going back to the corner, Grandfather was waiting for me.

“So that was good.”

I got more water as I leaned against the ring corner.

“All you need to do is not get knocked out at this point. Don’t reveal too much but go out and win the round.”

“I’m on it.”

Mouthpiece back in, I turned around. I knew that over in Martinez’s corner, they were telling him that he had to lay me out. I wasn’t going to give him that chance.

We came together and Martinez was throwing everything he had behind his punches. I could see him winding up for every punch. Not a single one was set up. Every time he would wind up, I’d hit him with a jab.

I didn’t want to just go out there and ride out the round. That would have been insulting to Martinez and everyone that showed up. I just bided my time until an opening showed itself. A jab landed square causing Martinez to stumble, so I hit him with a right cross. That put him on his ass. The bout was pretty much over at that point even though he wasn’t knocked out.

The final bell rang not long after that, and I went back to the corner. My mouthpiece was pulled out.

“Water.”

“You did a good job.”

I had Grandfather unlace and pull my gloves off. After being handed a water bottle, we were called out to the center for the announcement of the results. I was the unanimous winner thirty to twenty-four. As soon as the decision was announced, the bleachers holding the Marines went absolutely insane.

I shook Martinez’s hand and got out of the ring heading straight over to the bleachers where the platoon was. That’s when they all started chanting “Weapons Platoon”. Raising my hands, I shouted the chant back at them. That made them yell even louder.

Moving next to Kiku, I leaned down and gave her a kiss. This fired the Marines up again and they started chanting again. They kept chanting as I walked off.

Getting into the dressing area, I had to wait as Martinez was already getting his wraps cut off. After taking a shower, I got my clothes on and went out. Kiku was waiting for me when I exited, she ran over and hugged me.

“Watching was so stressful.”

“It’ll only get worse from here. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“This is important to you, so I’ll be here to support you.”

I guess that it was my turn to show her the same.

“And I’ll support you in whatever you decide to do.”

The look on her face was worth every hour studying and penny spent. She was speechless for a moment. Then before I realized it, she was wrapped around me. We were like that for a moment before I was snapped out of it.

“That appropriate Marine?”

I put her down and stepped back a bit from Kiku to turn and see who said that. This wasn’t a good thing, as standing there was Lieutenant Colonel Cotilla. I just whispered to Kiku that I’d meet her at the car. I turned back to the Colonel.

“No sir. I’ll make the appropriate changes sir.”

“Relax Marine. I had hormones when I was young. Though that was a long time ago.”

I thought better than to make a comment.

“So, you’re not going to watch the last two matches?”

“No sir.”

“That seems a little odd. Don’t you want to scout your next opponent?”

“Sir, I’m going to do whatever is necessary to win no matter who the opponent is. My corner man will most likely watch the bouts. He’s the one that comes up with a strategy.”

He stood there and looked at me for a moment. Then it was as if a light bulb went off.

“You’re the Marine that Sergeant Major Perkins told me about.”

Fuck, again it’s not a good thing being on the radar.

“This Marine doesn’t don’t know what you’re referring to sir.”

“You’re the Marine that Gunny Ortega is having issues with. Before you say a word, I know everything that is going on. Things always work out the way they are supposed to.”

That didn’t make me feel any better.

“Have a good evening, Lance Corporal. I will be looking forward to your next fight.”

“Thank you, sir. You have a good evening as well.”

The only thing I could think was this was going to cause me to have a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. I went out to the car and immediately gave Kiku a hug. She looked up at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t give me that.”

“Look. We don’t have a lot of time, and I don’t want to ruin it with my issues.”

She looked at me, staring me in the eyes.

“Don’t you dare pull that macho bullshit with me. We help and support each other. So, what’s going on?”

“I’m really hungry. Let’s go eat and I’ll explain it all.”

“Don’t think that I’m letting this go.”

“No ma’am.”

I took her to the Saimin Palace. Just the joy on her face looking at the menu was worth it. Ordering, we sat at a table in the back. I didn’t think this was going to go well.

“So, we’ll start off easy. Why didn’t you tell me that you were learning Japanese.”

“I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case I couldn’t pick it up. Plus, I wanted it to be a surprise. How good was it?”

“You sounded pretty good.”

“Ms. Miwako said I was ready. I wasn’t so sure.”

“Ms. Miwako? Do I need to worry?”

“Nope. I’ll give you her number so that the two of you can discuss me.”

“OK. So, you’re going to meet my parents this week. I’m not sure which day, but we’re going to go to dinner.”

“Great.”

“It’ll be good. He said he might actually go to watch your fight. Though we’ll see about that one.”

This wasn’t how I figured things would be going though I’d just have to deal with it. As we ate, we discussed what was going to happen tomorrow. I could just imagine what Gunny Owens had in store for me. Then she looked like she realized something.

“You got more tattoos?”

“Yes. I got my sleeve finished.”

“Oh. Do you plan on getting anymore?”

“I do, but it’s probably going to be a few years before I even think about it.”

“Well, that’ll probably be a bone of contention.”

“You lost me with that.”

“Well, my father believes only the Yakuza has tattoos.”

“Great.”

“It’ll be okay.”

That was one thing I hadn’t really thought about. And now thinking about it, I was surprised that Ms. Miwako hadn’t broached the subject. Tattoos weren’t mainstream or accepted as they would be ten or twenty years later. Just something that I’d have to deal with. This already had me even more behind the eight ball with her parents. I guess Kiku knew what was going through my head.

“Don’t stress about it. We’ll work through it.”

“I know, but I don’t want it to be the reason there is an issue between you and your parents.”

“There won’t be. Those issues had been there for years unresolved. You just brought them to the surface. This will just cause them to be dealt with sooner rather than later.”

“I don’t know, that really doesn’t make me feel better about it all.”

She had a determined look on her face.

“Well, you better suck it up Sally.”

Kiku couldn’t hold back a giggling fit. The fact that she was trying to inject humor into it wasn’t lost on me. A year ago, it would have been a straight analytical introspective response. She was growing in the relationship, and I needed to as well.

“You need to suck it up as well.”

“And what are you talking about?”

“The fact that you seem determined that no matter what I say to throw females at me.”

I could see her kind of shrink a little when I said that.

“Look. I get what you think that you’re trying to do, though you’re trying too hard. You and I need to keep the lines of communication open and listen to each other.”

She just sat there staring at me.

“I don’t appreciate you trying to shove Kiese down my throat. That is not going to happen. I would rather keep that part of our relationship isolated away from our core relationships and family.”

Kiku just stared at me. I could tell that it may not have been the right way to explain it from the way she was looking at me.

“Let me try that again. I would prefer to keep that part away from our normal everyday life. Both of our families would lose their shit if they found out. I’d just rather not deal with that level of drama.”

I could see that Kiku was thinking about what I said.

“Look sweetheart, as I’ve repeatedly said, I’m perfectly fine and happy with just you. Though I want you to be happy and fulfilled, I just think we need to be careful about how we go about it. It could be detrimental to both of our careers.”

Things were quiet for a moment.

“I understand Barnim. Those were things that occurred to me. I guess I was so wrapped up in us being together, I didn’t think about how that aspect would affect the other parts of our lives.”

“It’s OK. We just need to talk about things and make decisions together. I think if we are able to do that, we’ll be OK.”

“I do too. I’ll stop pushing women on you, especially when I’m not there.”

“That’s appreciated. So, let’s talk about tomorrow.”

There wasn’t much going on during the Duty Day tomorrow and Gunny Owens had said that I could cut out early. I was going to take Kiku to the beach. I thought about doing some fishing but decided against it.

Finishing dinner, it was kind of late, so we returned so that I could be dropped off at the barracks. I gave her a repeat performance of the previous night. I could tell that she was on the edge of coming when I stopped.

I leaned into her.

“That’s all. Though I’m going to take care of you tomorrow.” I got another asshole comment as I walked away.

Norbert looked at me when I walked in the room.

“I see the girlfriend has got you worked up.”

“I didn’t know you cared enough to be a meat watcher Norbert.”

He started stuttering and I saw a bit of red blush creep into his cheeks. I took a step closer to him.

“You’ve got the wrong parts Norbert. Stop being a meat watcher, it’ll never happen.”

For the second time tonight, I got called an asshole. I took another shower and called it a night.

It was good being in the tournament, though it wouldn’t last. I really only had to join in the PT run and opted to do anything that didn’t involve an obstacle course. I wasn’t sure if I would enter the tournament next year, as it had caused a lot of drama this year.

After PT and breakfast, I headed over to the Platoon Offices to be Gunny Owens’ gopher for the rest of the morning. I was filing some paperwork in a back office when I heard two Marines walking by the door talking about some hot chick that was in the building.

As I made it to the outer office, there were about six Marines circling her like a pack of wolves. God, she looked hot as hell.

Kiku was wearing a baby crop top shirt, and you could see a few inches of midriff. There was just that hint of baby fat, but at that amount that was sexy as hell. I could tell just by looking that she had a bikini top underneath. To top the whole thing off, she had a white and blue wrap on that perfectly framed her ass.

The guys from the office were trying to flex and peacock in front of her. That’s when Gunny Owens came out to see exactly what was going on. He stood next to me for a moment.

“You idiots get back to work before her boyfriend breaks you idiots in half.”

They all whipped their heads around when she called out my name and ran over to me. There was then a parade back to the offices. There were apologies being given as they walked past me. Gunny Owens stepped towards Kiku.

“It’s good to see you again. Take him out of here, and I don’t want to see him for the rest of the day.”

“No problem.”

He turned to go back to his office.

“Get her out of here, you lucky bastard. She’s going to distract all those horndogs from getting any work done.”

Kiku sauntered next to me, reaching up and grabbing me by the back of the neck. I slightly pulled back.

“I’m in uniform at work. I also know that you won’t keep it PG.”

“You’re no fun.”

“And you’re just trying to get me in trouble.”

As we got to the car, I noticed all my spear fishing gear in the back.

“So, what’s the deal with all my gear in the back?”

“You’re supposed to feed me fresh seafood on the beach.”

“So, who’s idea was this?”

“Mine. I figured since you fed me seafood after your Infantry School graduation, it was a new tradition. I mentioned it to Sameulu and he told me what to pack.”

“I bet he did.”

“I even have my own snorkel gear, so I can help.”

“Where did you get that from?”

“Sameulu and your grandfather took me to a store. They said it was a Christmas gift.”

“Right.”

“Let’s go.”

“Alright. Though we need to stop by the barracks so that I can change.”

“Do I finally get to see where you stay?”

“Yes, but absolutely no hanky-panky. I’m not even supposed to have you in the room.”

“That’s no fun.”

“It is what it is.”

Heading over and getting changed didn’t take all that long. As we were coming out of the room, Cpl Pearson from First Squad happened to walk by. He immediately started to question me as to what I was doing. It was then a ten-minute conversation about regulations and why they were in place. He finally relented and said we’d let it slide this time.

We quickly made our way back to the car. Putting the aluminum foil and bag of things we’d need in the back seat, it was then a quick trip to the commissary to pick up a couple of things and then to the beach.

As we pulled into one of the beaches on the Northside of the base, the parking lot was empty. It took a couple of trips to get everything onto the sand and set up. As it turned out, Kiku had never gone snorkeling, so I gave her the same instructions Sameulu had given me.

After that, we spent around forty minutes swimming around the reef. As we got out and dried off, I noticed that Kiku’s shoulders were starting to look a little pink. That led to searching for the sunscreen. All I needed was for Kiku to get sunburnt, I’d never hear the end of it.

We slathered sunscreen on each other, with both of us taking liberties with the other one. Then she took it a bit farther. Before I realized it, there was a hand sliding inside the waistband of my board shorts.

“Really? We’re in a public place in the middle of the day.”

“Being in a parking lot didn’t bother you.”

“Not the same. It was completely dark those times.”

She didn’t say anything but kept sliding her hand along my cock. Her thumb rubbing along the head of my cock caused me to moan. After another couple of moans, Kiku pulled her hand out of my shorts, got up and headed to the water.

“How’d you like it?” She shouted back to me.

I adjusted my cock and waited. When she was about halfway to the water, I took after her. Catching up, I scooped her up and made my way into the water with her kicking and screaming. Once we were in the water waist deep, I threw her into the water.

She broke the surface sputtering and coughing.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Such dirty language from someone so beautiful. You know you love me.”

“I do and you’re still a brute.”

We went back to our stuff, and I started to get all the spear fishing gear ready. I then began to explain what we were going to do and what her part in it was. I’d already been scouting out the reef as we were snorkeling. There weren’t a lot of fish, but I did see some places that looked like they could hold lobster.

The next three hours were spent just moving around slowly, just taking my time on dives, not rushing. When we were on one of the breaks between dives, she decided to bring up dinner with her parents.

“Your fight is at one in the afternoon and dinner with my parents is going to be at seven.”

“OK. Do you know where this dinner is going to take place?”

“Yes. We’re going to Yohei Sushi. So, you’ll need to dress nicely.”

“That’s not a problem. So, am I picking you up or meeting you there?”

“I was told that we’d meet you there.”

“Well, I think things will go fine.”

“I hope so.”

By the time we walked back up to our stuff, there were five lobsters in the bag. Kiku decided to recline on a beach towel as I started getting all the food ready. I lit the fire pit and got the grate placed on it. The lobster then got split and slathered with butter and garlic.

Pulling out a small Pyrex dish from the bag, it got set on the edge of the grill grate. As the lobster got placed cut side down, the rest of the butter went into the dish, which got moved closer to the coals. Flipping the lobster, they cooked for a couple minutes, then I pulled out the meat and placed it into the dish to poach in butter for a few more minutes.

We sat sharing chunks of lobster using toothpicks as utensils. No silverware to wash, just throw them in the fire. We talked about what was going to transpire on Thursday night. She really was wondering how I thought things were going to go. I assured her that I was going to do my best not to offend her parents.

That’s when Kiku had one of her steel spine moments, telling me that she was going to live her life as she saw fit. I pointed out that if she was using the funds her father had set aside for her education, it was sort of a contract. Kiku didn’t like my assessment. I was supposedly taking her father’s side. I told her that I would always be on her side, but she needed to be prepared for any possibility that her father could come up with.

We lay back watching the sun set. With the sun below the horizon, we both were in awe as the sky filtered from orange to yellow to pink to purple. It was made even better with Kiku lying snuggled next me.

Once it began to get dark, she started rubbing her ass into my crotch.

“I have a fight tomorrow. No alcohol and no sex until the tournament is over.”

“That’s not what your grandfather said.”

“And how do you know what my grandfather said?” I could feel her skin heat up from the blush that I couldn’t see.

“A woman never reveals her methods.” My laugh came out as a snort.

“Well, it’s not dark enough for anything to happen.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t tease you until it is.”

Which she did. I was continuously hard for the next hour or so. When it was dark enough to mask what was about to happen, I reached down to slide her bikini bottom to the side. Her breathing got heavier, as I started to play with her pussy to get her wet. A minute later the head of my cock was wedged into her pussy lips.

I’d forgotten just how tight she was. It took a bit of work and a good bit of pushing to get my cock wedged deep. I wasn’t going to last all the longer as it had been a long time since we’d had sex, and I was breaking my own rule. It only takes one time to slip past the goalie.

We were both moaning and groaning as I finally started to slide in and out. I kept a slow and steady pace, trying to hold off the inevitable. Gripping Kiku’s hip with one hand and her neck with the other, I slid in and out from tip to root. I leaned towards her head as I felt the conclusion coming.

“I hope you’re on the pill, cause I’m not pulling out.”

There was a loud moan and then in a low voice she replied.

“I am. God this so hot.”

I began picking up the pace and intensity of my strokes. She began moaning and breathing faster. That was when I heard her moaning.

“This feels so much different, so much better.”

I had to agree with her, though we were playing a game that had serious repercussions. Tempting fate was never a good idea, but people did it all the time, with mixed results on the baby lottery.

All of a sudden, she started rolling her ass into me as I thrust forward. That pushed me over the edge, slamming into the root as I blew my load. God, it felt so good, Kiku felt the same by her mumbling.

“Oh shit, I can feel it in me.”

She leaned back into me as we lay there.

“That was intense and different.”

“Yes, it was, though not the smartest move.”

“True, though we’ll deal with life as it comes.”

“Yes, we will.”

“There is one big immediate downside to this.”

I was clueless at this point.

“It’s messy. Do you have a disposable towel?”

“Oh, yeah I do.”

Digging through my bag, I found a towel that I used at the gym. It was used to soak up the leakage. We snuggled there for a while continuing to talk about how dinner was going to go. Kiku was overly worried while I thought it would be fine. I realized that she was going to worry until it was all done.

We lay there for a bit and then began packing everything up. The drive back to the barracks was interesting as she was going on and on about how great the sex was. Though she was even more excited about the week-long sex fest coming up.

Getting out, I gave her a kiss and made my way to my room.

Norbert was sitting at the desk when I came in.

“Do her parents know that you’re keeping her out late and doing dirty things to her?”

“I’ll let them know when we have dinner tomorrow.”

“Well, that should be interesting.”

“Yep.”

“Well, I’ve enjoyed this banter but I’m going to lay down.”

“Nope, you’re going to stay up with us.”

“Look. I have another fight tomorrow afternoon. If you try to keep me up, I’ll have another fight tonight.”

“No need to get violent.”

I grabbed a snack of fruit and was in my rack within the hour.

I attended PT to get a decent workout, followed by a big breakfast and then started cleaning our room. It was just something to occupy my morning.

Grandfather and Kiku picked me up and we went over to the Mess Hall for lunch. Kiku thought this was a fun thing to do. Marines were staring at us when we came in. I ate a very light lunch and then we made our way over to the converted aircraft hangar.

There was a fight going on when we walked in. It was one of the lightest weight classes. Damn those guys were fast, you could barely distinguish individual punches when they threw combinations. I went back to the dressing area and got ready.

Kiku directed me to bring over a workout bench then had me take my shirt off and lay down on my stomach. I then got a shoulder and arm massage.