Since the Kirigaya household is an old, traditional Japanese residence, not only does it have a spacious garden, but a small pond is nestled beside it, making the scenery quite pleasing to the eye.
However, it's mid-January now, and with snow falling just a few days ago, the garden is still filled with partially melted snow and frosty air, discouraging anyone from venturing outside.
Normally, in this kind of weather, only Kirigaya Suguha, who has been practicing kendo diligently, would consider leaving the warmth of the house to train in the garden.
But recently, there's been another person regularly training in the garden every morning.
"Oh, you're both awake?"
Kirito, dressed in just a tank top and pants, was doing warm-up exercises in the garden. He looked over and smiled at Rozen and Suguha.
Perhaps the worries Kirito had been carrying for Rozen had finally been put to rest. His complexion looked much better than before—his dark circles were gone, and his previously unhealthy pallor had given way to a healthy flush.
However, Kirito's features were naturally soft and youthful, and his smile made him look like a girl.
"Kazuto-nii-san..."
Suguha's expression became complicated. Having an older brother who was prettier than her was not exactly a source of joy for her.
Even Rozen shivered slightly, feeling as if not only had their younger sister grown up, but even the younger brother had turned into a seductive charmer.
Of course, in the Kirigaya household, the matter of whether Rozen or Kirito was the elder brother still hadn't been settled.
Strictly speaking, given how long Rozen had lived, he could have been a grandfather—or even a great-grandfather—by now. However, since Rozen was an adopted orphan with an unknown birthday, and Kirito wasn't Kirigaya Midori's biological son but rather the son of her sister, their family dynamics were a bit unusual.
In other words, Kirito was actually Suguha's cousin.
When Kirito's parents passed away in a car accident when he was just one year old, the Kirigaya family took him in. Since then, he had grown up alongside Rozen and Suguha.
Thus, even though the three of them were family, they were not related by blood.
Besides Suguha, who was undoubtedly the younger sister, the debate over whether Rozen or Kirito was older remained unresolved. Neither of them cared much about it, so they simply referred to each other by name.
Rozen gave a wry smile.
"I can't remember the last time I saw you exercising in the morning. You've always been such a gaming addict."
Kirito rolled his eyes.
"It's not like I have a choice. I need to focus on rehab. If I don't, my muscles won't recover."
Rozen raised an eyebrow.
"Muscles?"
His tone was full of mockery.
"Did Kazuto-nii-san ever have muscles to begin with?"
Even Suguha couldn't help but voice her doubts.
"You two..."
Kirito's expression soured immediately.
To be fair, Kirito had always been on the slender side, with his delicate features making it impossible to imagine him with any significant muscle mass.
However...
"Back then, Aoka wasn't much different from me," Kirito retorted.
Indeed, Rozen hadn't been much stronger than Kirito in the past. At the time, Rozen was still constrained by the excessive transformation of life force through his Magic Circuits, leaving him weak and out of shape. Just running for a few minutes had been enough to nearly exhaust him, making his physical condition worse than Kirito's.
"Now that my rehab is almost complete, my stamina has improved a lot. Plus, all the training I did in SAO sharpened my reflexes. I bet even you can't beat me now, Aoka."
Kirito's challenge was clearly childish, but...
"Fine, I accept your challenge."
Rozen turned to Suguha.
"Suguha, do you have any extra bamboo swords? Lend me two."
His words left Suguha stunned, and even Kirito was momentarily taken aback.
"Bamboo swords?"
Suguha was surprised.
"Are you planning to spar with me?"
Kirito, however, quickly grasped Rozen's intentions. Having fought side by side with Rozen for two years in SAO and grown up with him, Kirito knew him better than anyone else.
And indeed, Rozen intended to spar with him.
"Even though this isn't a game, since you're so confident, let's see how good you've become," Rozen said, walking up to Kirito.
Kirito smiled in return.
"Perfect. I've also been wondering if you've gotten rusty."
The two stared each other down, their expressions filled with the same competitive spirit they'd had during their time in SAO.
Suguha, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel worried.
"Are you two sure about this?"
Her concern wasn't without reason.
In reality, Rozen and Kirito were just ordinary gamers. Despite their prowess in virtual worlds, they were far from athletic, and both had only casually practiced kendo in the past. Add to that the fact that they had spent two years bedridden after the SAO incident, and it was understandable that anyone would feel uneasy about their plan to duel with bamboo swords.
Especially Suguha, who had experienced a rocky relationship with her two brothers before they became victims of the death game. After everything they'd been through, she cherished their reunion and didn't want to see anything happen to them.
The thought of losing either of them again was too painful to bear.
Even though Rozen seemed energetic, having only recently returned from his mysterious disappearance, there was no telling whether his body was truly okay.
Her worry was evident, but Rozen and Kirito's competitive spirits were already ignited.
In every game they'd played, the two had always been rivals. Even during their time in SAO, they competed constantly. Now that they were back in the real world, the urge to test each other hadn't faded.
"It's okay, Suguha. Just let us have some fun."
"Don't worry. We'll be careful."
Rozen and Kirito reassured her, grinning like two mischievous children.
With a sigh of resignation, Suguha fetched two bamboo swords and handed them over.
"Be careful, you two."
"Got it."
Both Rozen and Kirito responded in unison, turning to face each other.
"Go ahead," Rozen said, raising his bamboo sword with one hand and flashing a playful grin.
"Then I won't hold back," Kirito replied with an equally fearless smile, readying his sword for an attack.
Their gazes locked in midair.
Then, without a word, they both dashed forward, charging straight at each other.
At this moment, Suguha was genuinely worried.
"Seriously… How can they still be fooling around in this situation?"
Yes, it was playing.
In Suguha's eyes, the match between Rozen and Kazuto was nothing more than play, leaving her both exasperated and concerned.
Ever since their grandfather passed away, the three siblings had been required to practice kendo at a nearby dojo since elementary school. However, Rozen was never interested in sports. After a few days of kendo lessons to fulfill their grandfather's wish, he quickly quit. Kirito preferred keyboards over bamboo swords, and under Rozen's influence, he also gave up kendo within a year. Surprisingly, the one who initially only went to watch, Suguha, developed a deep love for the sport and stuck with it.
As a result, by the age of 15, Suguha had already achieved a top-eight finish in her last national junior high tournament the previous year. This spring, she secured a recommendation to a high school with a renowned kendo club. Her kendo skills were far beyond those of Rozen and Kazuto.
Furthermore, unlike Suguha, who kept up physical training, her brothers had spent most of their time holed up in their rooms playing games. In fact, Suguha's stamina likely surpassed both of theirs.
Considering the aftermath of the SAO incident, the sight of her brothers recklessly playing with bamboo swords left her deeply concerned.
This concern grew even stronger when Suguha noticed the way Rozen and Kazuto held their swords.
"Who holds a bamboo sword with one hand?"
In standard kendo competitions, both opponents are required to grip the sword with both hands and assume a correct stance. Single-handed swordplay had no place in kendo.
To make matters worse, neither Rozen nor Kazuto was using proper kendo stances.
Kazuto, for instance, held his sword in one hand, adopting a charging posture with the blade pointing backward. To a kendo expert like Suguha, it looked utterly bizarre.
Meanwhile, Rozen's stance, though less strange, was relaxed with the sword tip drooping naturally. His whole posture exuded a casual and carefree vibe, making it seem as if he was merely playing around.
Suguha resolved that if things went too far, she would intervene immediately.
But what happened next completely overturned Suguha's assumptions and shook her understanding.
Suguha had no way of knowing that in the world of SAO, both Rozen and Kazuto, as one-handed sword users, had honed their one-handed swordplay to perfection—developing the most natural and effective way to execute sword techniques.
"Ha!"
Kirito's eyes sharpened, more focused than any kendo expert. With a swift and fluid slash, he swung his bamboo sword, the blade whistling as it cut through the air toward Rozen.
"Clack!"
With a crisp sound, Rozen parried Kirito's sharp strike effortlessly with a light upward flick of his own sword.
Without even glancing at the incoming blow, Rozen's sword moved with an unpredictable twist, following the path of Kirito's strike before shifting into a powerful thrust toward Kirito's chest.
"Whoosh!"
The air trembled as the tip of the bamboo sword shot forward. In the nick of time, Kirito dodged to the side, barely avoiding the thrust, and immediately countered with a fierce three-hit combo.
Rozen responded without hesitation, swinging his bamboo sword with such speed that it whistled through the air.
"Clack! Clack! Clack!"
The courtyard echoed with the sound of bamboo swords clashing—sharp and rapid, like the crackling of fireworks.
Rozen and Kirito fought with the grace and precision of seasoned kendo masters. Their attacks were fast, and the seamless flow between their moves suggested they had repeated these motions countless times before. The bamboo swords collided continuously, creating a dazzling spectacle.
"Well, you're not just all talk after all."
"You're the same, huh…"
The two brothers kept pressing and countering each other, exchanging attacks and defenses. Although their fight bore little resemblance to a formal kendo match, it was thrilling to watch and captivating to the eye.
"How... How is this possible?"
Suguha was utterly stunned.
She had never imagined that Rozen and Kazuto were this skilled.
For a moment, she imagined herself facing either of them, only to realize that she might struggle to win against either of them.
In fact, given how proficient they seemed, there was a good chance she could lose.
"Are these really my brothers?"
Suguha couldn't help but question in disbelief.
What she didn't know was that despite their impressive performance, Rozen and Kirito were nowhere near their peak—compared to their days in SAO.
In SAO, with the advantage of enhanced character stats, their physical abilities had been far beyond what was possible in reality.
Now, Kirito was just a recovering high school student still undergoing physical rehabilitation, and Rozen was fighting solely with his natural abilities, without relying on any mystical powers.
Moreover…
"Without the system's assistance, you really can't use sword skills, can you?" Rozen smiled as he flicked away Kirito's strike toward his face.
"It's not like you can." Kirito panted slightly, glaring at Rozen.
"Who knows.." Rozen smirked mischievously.
Then, with a sudden burst of speed…
"Thud!"
Rozen kicked off the ground and charged straight toward Kirito in an instant.
"So fast…!"
Kirito's pupils shrank as he instinctively tried to retreat.
But it was too late.
"Swish!"
With the sound of wind splitting, Rozen raised his bamboo sword and delivered a two-hit combo in a vertical arc.
This was...
"Horizontal Arc—?!"
Kirito was stunned.
"Clack!"
In the next moment, with a crisp sound, Kirito's bamboo sword was sent flying out of his hand, landing on the ground nearby.
His palm tingled with numbness, and he stared in disbelief at the fallen sword.
"See? I can do it, right?" Rozen grinned, resting the tip of his bamboo sword lightly against Kirito's throat.
"...Fine, I lose," Kirito said with a bitter smile, raising his hand in surrender.
He had no choice.
"I didn't expect you to pull off a sword skill without the system's help. When did your physical abilities get this good?" Kirito admitted reluctantly.
"I've been like this for a while." Rozen shrugged, withdrawing his sword.
Though he hadn't used any magical powers, Rozen's experience and training across multiple worlds had significantly enhanced his physical abilities. While not superhuman, he was now capable of executing sword skills that once required system assistance.
"Don't think I'm the same old me," Rozen said, flashing a confident grin at Kirito, leaving his brother helplessly amused.
At that moment, Suguha finally snapped out of her daze.
"When... When did you two get so good?" she asked, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.
"Haha…"
Both Rozen and Kirito chuckled at her reaction, finding it amusing.
The three of them soon began playfully teasing each other in the courtyard.
The atmosphere was warm and harmonious.
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