Chapter 21: 10th Dan Black Belt! I Know a Smidge—a Hundred Million of Them
'What the hell?!'
Standing in the doorway, Makoto couldn't help but suck in a sharp, cold breath.
'No wonder Ran has such insane stamina.'
'Every time he wore himself out, she still had another round left in her.'
"Check in!"
Makoto opened the System and tapped the [Check In] button.
"Hei!"
Just then, her shout rang out.
Her leg swept sideways in a kick, the force cutting through the air like a blade.
The boy holding the boards couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut.
"Crack!"
The ten boards shattered in an instant, the force so immense that the boy couldn't even hold his grip.
The impact jolted straight through his hands, and the boards blasted outward like shrapnel from a blast.
One shattered piece shot straight toward Makoto's face.
"Makoto, watch out!"
Ran cried out in alarm, her face going pale with fright.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on a successful Check-In at the Karate Club! Reward: the power of a 10th Dan Black Belt in Karate!]
'A 10th Dan Black Belt?'
'That's the highest rank in the World Karate Federation—practically a legendary grandmaster of the karate world!'
In an instant, Makoto felt every single one of the forty-eight thousand pores on his body snap wide open.
Every rustle of wind, every stir of grass around him turned crystal clear.
His muscles swelled, his whole body brimming with strength that felt like it would never run dry.
The board fragment hurtling toward him seemed to slow down more and more, like a scene playing back in slow motion—slow enough to make him want to cough up blood.
'Makoto?'
'Could he be... Mouri Ran's boyfriend?'
In an instant, every boy in the Karate Club shot him a hostile look, now edged with mocking scorn, eager to watch him get what was coming.
Even the coach, well past thirty, sneered with open disdain.
In his eyes, a pretty-boy trust fund kid who was nothing more than good-looking and a bit rich had no business being with Mouri Ran.
"Clack!"
Just the faintest, softest click.
Makoto pressed two fingers together and caught the board clean out of the air.
Like something out of a dream!
Just like a classic scene straight out of a Hollywood movie.
The protagonist didn't move an inch, didn't even blink, just held out two fingers.
Light as a dragonfly skimming water, graceful as a swallow returning to its nest, he plucked the incoming bullet clean out of the air while everyone stared on in stunned disbelief.
Except this time it wasn't a bullet, but a shattered board fragment kicked with everything the Karate Club's captain, Mouri Ran, had.
"This..."
Yamamoto Ichiro froze.
Even he, the Karate Club's only coach, the highest-ranked black belt in all of Teitan High School with his 4th Dan, was stunned speechless.
Nobody knew better than him just how strong Mouri Ran really was.
Her rank was one level below his, only a 3rd Dan, but that was purely down to seniority restrictions.
A 4th Dan Black Belt in karate required being at least thirty years old, having practiced karate for at least eleven years, and having held a 3rd Dan for at least three years.
If not for those restrictions, Ran would probably already be a 4th Dan by now, maybe even a 5th.
A board kicked with the full force of her strength, coming at him without warning.
Never mind an ordinary person, even he wasn't sure he could have dodged it.
Let alone standing stock-still and catching it out of thin air with just two fingers!
What kind of strength did that take? What kind of speed, what kind of reflexes, what kind of skill, what kind of nerve?
After all, any normal person's first instinct facing a board flying at their face would be to dodge, not catch it—let alone catch it with two fingers.
"Makoto, are you okay?"
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
Ran hurried over to him.
She looked him up and down carefully, terrified he might have gotten hurt somewhere.
"I'm fine!"
Makoto ruffled her hair, smiling.
"Good, as long as you're fine. You scared me half to death just now!"
Ran threw herself into his arms, holding on tight.
Close enough that they could each hear the other's heartbeat.
"Unbelievable!"
"Damn it!"
"So jealous!"
"Why couldn't that be me?!"
…
The scene left every boy in the Karate Club burning with envy.
After all, Ran wasn't just the Karate Club's captain, she was every member's dream girl.
Nine out of ten boys who'd joined the club had done it because of her.
"Mouri, who is this?"
Coach Yamamoto asked, brow furrowed.
As if by pure male instinct, hostility surged through him at the sight of Makoto.
"Coach Yamamoto, he's my..."
Ran's pretty face flushed red, and in a small, shy voice, she got the word out—"Boyfriend!"
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Glare after hostile glare, sharp as blades, locked onto Makoto without mercy.
Every single boy in the Karate Club, thirty or forty of them, felt his fighting spirit boil over, fists clenching one after another.
"Higashino Makoto!"
Makoto gave a slight nod.
Looking at the crowd of high schoolers cracking their knuckles before him, he realized he'd walked straight into enemy territory.
"Higashino Makoto?"
"Mouri's boyfriend?"
Yamamoto looked him over, an inexplicable urge rising in him.
'If I could beat this guy in front of everyone—especially in front of Ran—'
He glanced at the delicate, lovely Ran and couldn't help but swallow hard.
"That's right!"
Makoto nodded, admitting it without a trace of hesitation.
"Makoto!"
Ran gazed at him, eyes brimming with affection.
'He really was different.'
'Kudo Shinichi, her whole life, had never once dared to say he liked her.'
'But Makoto—no matter where he went, no matter who stood in front of him—always dared to admit it outright, to tell everyone that she was his girlfriend.'
"Judging by those moves just now, have you studied karate before?"
Yamamoto asked with a smile.
"Wouldn't call it 'studied.' Let's just say I know a smidge—a cool hundred million smidges, to be precise."
Makoto said flatly.
…
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Dan — The ranking system for black-belt-level martial artists, including in karate. Ranks begin at 1st Dan and increase with seniority, experience, and demonstrated skill; higher Dans (4th and above) typically require a minimum age and years of training set by the governing federation.
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Higashino Makoto — Protagonist. Transmigrated.
Mouri Ran — Shinichi's childhood sweetheart. Series: Detective Conan.
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Translated by CheapBiscuit.
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