Kendo Club.
Two girls in protective gear stood in the center of the dojo, holding shinai (bamboo swords), separated by a few steps and staring at each other.
Along the edges of the dojo, a group of students in kendo uniforms were intently watching the match that was about to begin.
While the two were locked in a tense standoff, the students below began to whisper.
“Who do you think will win?”
“It should be Senior Aiba, after all, she’s our number one!”
“But Yukina isn’t bad either! She shouldn’t be defeated that easily!”
The two opponents facing each other were the Kendo Club’s number one captain, Aiba Mika, and number two captain, Bai Shen Yukina.
They had never seen the two of them spar before, and facing the impending exciting battle, they were all impatient.
Not far from them, Charlotte was also watching the match.
On one side was her good buddy, and on the other was her cutest little sister. Honestly, she didn’t know who to root for.
Mika and Yukina stared at each other. Then, after a moment of tense silence, both simultaneously rushed toward the other.
After a flurry of sharp cuts, their bamboo swords locked together tightly. Clearly, the winner couldn’t be decided this way, so they both spontaneously retreated a few steps, pulled apart, and prepared to regroup and charge again.
Nervous sweat dripped from Mika’s neck.
The instant the sweat hit the floor, Mika took the initiative and charged toward Yukina.
Yukina did not move rashly; instead, she intently watched Mika’s movements.
The moment Mika rushed close to Yukina and brought her bamboo sword down in a chop, Yukina raised her sword to meet it.
The sound of a bamboo sword snapping suddenly rang out.
After a brief moment of silence, the broken bamboo sword fell onto the floor not far from them.
Seeing this, the entire room fell into a deathly silence, as if they couldn’t quite believe something like this had happened.
Seeing only half a bamboo sword left in her hand, Mika sighed and removed her protective mask.
“As expected, Yukina’s skill is still superior!”
“No, I just happened to break Senior Aiba’s sword by chance. In terms of swordsmanship, I still have a long way to go.”
Yukina removed her protective mask, responding while drenched in sweat.
“If you can break my sword by chance every single time, doesn’t that prove you’re incredibly skilled? Stop being so humble, Yukina. Why don’t you just take the number one position?”
“No, no, no, Senior Aiba, please don’t joke around. I’ve only been in the Kendo Club for less than half a year. I don’t have enough experience or anything else. How can I take the number one position?”
“By defeating me just now, you naturally deserve to take this position!”
“I told you, it was just by chance.”
“Then why don’t we try again? If your sword breaks mine again, then you have to obediently take the number one position.”
“Aiba, stop messing around.” At this moment, the Kendo Club president, who had been silently watching from the side, spoke up. “Our Kendo Club doesn’t have much of a budget to begin with. Every time you practice, you break our precious bamboo swords in half, and now we barely have enough left to practice with.”
Realizing that her willfulness was causing trouble for the president, Mika gave an embarrassed laugh.
“Sorry, I’ll hold back next time.”
Although Mika was their Kendo Club’s number one captain, every time she sparred with someone, she would break her opponent’s bamboo sword in half within five seconds of the fight starting.
Yet, in the match against Yukina, she had done the exact opposite and had her own sword broken by Yukina, which was quite puzzling.
“Next Wednesday is our match against Clover Academy. If you break all our bamboo swords, how are we supposed to fight them?”
The president continued to lecture Mika, who could only stand there and obediently take the scolding with an apologetic look.
“I apologize, President. It was my fault. I won’t dare to do it again.”
Yukina, who had escaped the scolding, breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked down at the bamboo sword in her hand, inwardly starting to wonder, “Was that really just by chance?”
****
The Kendo Club practice soon ended.
“Alright, that’s enough practice for today. We’ll continue practicing tomorrow.”
Led by the president, the club members left the dojo in small groups.
“By the way, Yukina, are you really not considering taking my place as the number one captain?” Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around to restrain her, Mika once again whispered a devilish suggestion to Yukina.
“Senior Aiba, stop teasing me! I know very well that I don’t have the skill to comfortably hold the number one position. Stop putting me on the hot seat.”
Yukina continued to decline.
“Really? Are you really not considering it even a little bit? Becoming the Kendo Club’s number one is a huge accomplishment! Your brother would be so happy, wouldn’t he?”
“I’m not practicing kendo for him. Why are you dragging him into this, Senior Aiba? Besides…”
Saying this, Yukina subconsciously looked at Charlotte, who was wandering around the dojo.
“Besides what…”
“No, it’s nothing.”
It seemed Senior Aiba didn’t know that her brother had died in a car accident yesterday.
Of course, she couldn’t possibly know that her deceased brother was currently wandering around the dojo, looking at God knows what.
“What a shame! If I had time, I would definitely spar with you properly. But unfortunately, I have something else to do now, so I have to leave. See you tomorrow, Yukina!”
“See you tomorrow, Senior Aiba!”
Mika quickly left the dojo. Now, only Yukina and Charlotte remained in the dojo.
“Alright, brother, we should go too!”
Yukina called out to Charlotte while tidying up her belongings, preparing to leave.
“Hey, Yukina!” But at that moment, Charlotte suddenly blocked her path. “Do you want to spar with your big brother?”
“Huh? Spar with you, brother? Are you joking? How could I possibly defeat the strongest witch from another world?”
“Of course, I meant with swordsmanship! After watching your match with Mika just now, I suddenly got the urge to have a round with you.”
Yukina immediately showed a look of disdain.
“Aren’t you a witch, brother? Do you even know swordsmanship?”
“Of course! Witches aren’t the only ones who can fight in the other world. Your big brother once took on commissions from the Knight Order to work with them, so I know a thing or two about their swordsmanship.”
“You dare to challenge me with only ‘a thing or two’ of knowledge? You really are something, brother…”
“It looks like you accept my challenge, Yukina?”
“On the condition that you don’t use magic to cheat!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t use magic! I’ll rely purely on swordsmanship to win! Don’t let your big brother’s small size fool you; it won’t be easy to beat me!”
“You’re small, brother? What nonsense are you talking about?” Yukina found it difficult to pair the words “brother” and “small,” but after a moment’s thought, she accepted the combination. “Oh, you’re right. You are quite small in that area!”
“Yukina, you’re bullying me again! I’ll chop you to death!” Yukina’s words landed a critical hit, instantly causing Charlotte to lose her composure.