Chapter 193: Officially Joining the Club
This match started unexpectedly and ended just as quickly.
It felt like an abrupt ending. Although the development wasn't very clear, everyone could see Miyazaki Kazuki kneeling flat before Sakurai as if he were doing a dogeza to beg for mercy.
'What a disgrace.' — that was the common thought among the students watching.
Most of them didn't understand the rules of kendo, so they didn't find the match particularly impressive.
But those in the kendo club understood very well — in just a few short seconds, the two had engaged in an intense battle of wits.
"Hey! You guys over there, take him to get some rest!" — Daimon Saburou called a few male students to help Miyazaki Kazuki off the field.
Miyazaki's technique wasn't bad, but his temperament was too arrogant. This time being defeated by a new member was, on the contrary, a good thing.
As for whether there was some grudge between the two, these personal conflicts — as the coach, Daimon Saburou didn't care.
To put it more accurately, having a little rivalry was actually good; it helped promote improvement.
Instead of being like a fly buzzing aimlessly with no goal, it was better to have an enemy to keep striving to defeat.
After giving instructions, Daimon Saburou turned to Sakurai, who was removing his armor, and praised:
"Your seme just now was very good, you completely fooled him."
"In a normal kendo match, attacking the throat almost never succeeds. He probably didn't expect you to target that spot, so he dropped his guard."
What he referred to — seme — was a term in kendo, referring to the technique of applying pressure, making the opponent feel like they're about to be attacked, thus exposing an opening.
It sounds profound, but in reality, it's just feinting an attack — in other words, a fake move.
Kendo isn't some sort of divine art; it's just a sport, nothing mysterious about it.
"He's not going to be hurt, right?" Sakurai was actually concerned for someone else's safety — a rare sight.
In truth, he was worried that he might have caused trouble by accident. If that happened, the rumors about him at school would have another headline.
Honestly, that confession incident last time had already sent his reputation soaring to unprecedented heights. If another legend like "stabbed a regular member of the kendo club to death with one strike" got added, it would be a real headache.
Originally, the image Sakurai set for himself was that of a cheerful, handsome young man.
Not turning into the Great Demon King who kills without blinking and despises school rules.
That wouldn't be good at all.
"No worries, there's a protective layer under the headgear. If he hadn't panicked and raised his head just now, he wouldn't have fallen over." Daimon Saburou felt he should probably have the members practice scenarios of being thrust in the throat.
However, in regular matches, no one aims for a spot with such a low success rate anyway — it feels like a waste of effort.
There's only half a month left until the tournament; there's really no time.
"That's good then." Sakurai let out a sigh of relief, his face full of guilt.
...This man is just pretending!
What he was really thinking: Motherfucker, you dared to hit my shoulder without restraint? Not sending you to the hospital is me being generous already, bitch.
Sakurai: (｡Ó﹏Ò｡)
Sakurai inside: ┌∩┐(๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)┌∩┐
General Affairs Sakurai was very vindictive, and on top of that, an Esper, so he felt zero psychological burden about this sort of thing. Fortunately, he was in love lately, so he'd toned himself down a bit; his acts of revenge weren't life-threatening anymore.
Otherwise...muahahaha.
So does this count as a positive change? Umu, probably, at least he seems more like a normal person now.
"Fill out the application form to join the club." Daimon Saburou added: "Practice starts every morning at 6 o'clock, and continues after class until 7 p.m. When summer break begins, there'll be special training. Can you handle that?"
"..." Sakurai was silent for a few seconds, then turned to Kojima beside him: "Kojima, I might not be able to help you with this."
"You're talking about having to tutor those five sisters, right?" Club President Kojima wanted to confirm.
"...Yeah."
Actually, that wasn't the main reason.
Sakurai's ability changes every day at exactly 6 a.m., more accurate than an alarm clock. He was worried that if he switched to a new ability he couldn't control well, he might cause trouble with the members of the kendo club.
If that happened, forget about the tournament—there'd probably be a few casualties.
"In the mornings, we mostly just practice suburi and basic stances. Before practice, we go for a long run. Whether you come in the morning or not is fine." Kojima narrowed his eyes in thought, and as he pondered, his expression gradually became more menacing.
He and Shirogane were quite alike, always unconsciously revealing an intimidating look.
But both of them were actually very kind and warm-hearted.
"But after class, you'll have to do sparring practice. Plus, you've got student council duties and tutoring work." Kojima sighed after saying this: "That's really tough."
At this moment, Daimon Saburou—the one serving as the advisor—interjected:
"Even if he just keeps his current level, he's more than enough as chūken."
Senpō, jihō, chūken, fukushō, taishō—that's the official order of positions in the kendo club.
Usually, in a five-on-five team match, the senpō faces the senpō, the jihō faces the jihō, and so on.
As for this Gyokuryuu-ki tournament, it would be held in half a month.
As long as you keep winning, you can continue competing, so positions don't matter anymore. The club members also aren't divided into upper, middle, or lower ranks.
"Until final exams, just come practice on weekends. It's not long—only two weeks." Daimon Saburou made the decision.
Spectators watch for fun; only those in the field can see the essence.
As the advisor, even he found it hard to fully grasp the speed of Sakurai Saki's overhead strike just now.
That strength was completely unlike a normal human. And that dodge—such an unbelievably fast reflex, as if he were possessed by a youkai.
Sakurai nodded.
If it weren't for wanting the mission reward, he wouldn't bother joining this kendo stuff at all.
"And also, take a shinai home. If you have time, don't stay idle—practice suburi."
————
After changing out of his kendo uniform, Sakurai Saki picked up his things, ready to head out and tutor the Nakano quintuplets.
But… wasn't this crowd getting a little out of hand?
Everything that just happened was barely twenty minutes ago.
Sakurai was honestly surprised at how fast humans could gossip and spread rumors.
What surprised him even more was that the Nakano sisters were waiting for him right outside the kendo club room.
"So handsome! Sakurai-san! That was super amazing!" Nakano Yotsuba exclaimed, raising her right hand as the big green ribbon on her head swayed like bunny ears.
Yotsuba: ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
"What's so handsome about that?"
That question caught Yotsuba completely off guard.
"Uh… Sakurai-san's face is very handsome!" Yotsuba knew that when you couldn't compliment someone's inner qualities, just praise their looks as much as possible.
That was still better than saying nothing.
"Wasn't my yama-arashi move earlier awesome?"
"Of course, it was also..."
Before Yotsuba could finish, Ichika reminded her casually: "Yama-arashi is a judo move, you know."
"Oh, so Sakurai-san knows judo too." Yotsuba gave an awkward smile to cover it up.
Itsuki came to her rescue: "Sakurai-san, what subject are we reviewing today?"
"Classical literature and English."
"Two subjects?!" Yotsuba held her head and cried miserably.
For a ditzy girl like her, this was a total disaster!
Sakurai gave her a glance.
Final exams were right around the corner—there was no time to slack off.