Bab 70: Chapter 70: A Crushing Defeat, Jealous Retard, Archery Club!
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'Hikari… you little rascal!'
Miyajima Sakura had initially thought Hikari was a complete newbie. Now, she was so frustrated she wanted to curse.
At this point, Sakura had already realized the truth: Hikari's Kendo skills were not inferior to hers—he might even be better.
At the start, she had underestimated him, treating him like a rookie. She had given him the first move and even fought using her non-dominant left hand.
'How am I supposed to win like this?'
As a result, Sakura found herself struggling to retaliate, barely managing to defend herself.
'If this keeps up, I won't last long. I need to find a way to break through!' she thought.
Suddenly, Sakura spotted a perfect opening to counterattack.
Hikari swung his sword straight at her head, leaving his chest wide open. It seemed like he had made a careless mistake in his haste.
Sakura's eyes lit up. After blocking Hikari's downward slash, she quickly turned her sword and thrust toward the opening in his chest.
But then, with an unexpected movement, Hikari's sword came from below at an odd angle, striking her wrist before her attack could land.
'It was a trap!'
Sakura realized this too late.
With a loud clang, her wooden sword was sent flying from her hand, and Sakura had lost completely.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The wooden sword rolled several times on the ground, producing crisp, echoing sounds in the now-silent dojo.
For a few seconds, the entire venue fell into silence, making the sound of the sword even clearer.
Then, the Kendo Club members in the audience finally reacted.
"Whoa!!!"
A collective gasp erupted from the crowd.
Hikari just disarmed Miyajima Sakura and won?
"President Miyajima Sakura actually lost? That can't be real!"
"Pinch me! Am I dreaming? How could a newbie like Hikari defeat President Miyajima?"
"Do you think it's possible… that President Miyajima let him win because she thinks Hikari is so handsome and wanted to boost his confidence?"
"That makes sense! Otherwise, why would the president give him the first move and fight left-handed?"
"It has to be that. There's no way a rookie like Hikari could beat Miyajima Sakura, who ranks in the top ten of the national high school Kendo competitions."
The crowd found it hard to accept and believe that Hikari had defeated Miyajima Sakura. Most of them concluded that she must have gone easy on him.
But a sharp-eyed veteran member of the Kendo Club shook his head and said slowly, "No, President Miyajima didn't hold back. Hikari… is truly strong."
After this veteran spoke, several other skilled members quickly agreed.
"Exactly. President Miyajima isn't the type to go easy on someone."
"Hikari isn't just a beginner. He has real skills. No… his level is even higher than most of us veterans in the Kendo Club."
Hearing the experienced members' acknowledgment, the rest of the crowd fell silent in disbelief.
Meanwhile, on stage, Miyajima Sakura stared blankly at her empty hand, still processing her unexpected defeat.
Hikari, hearing the murmurs and seeing Sakura's expression, only smiled faintly, unfazed.
After all, he knew his current level of Kendo best.
Only Hikari understood that Miyajima Sakura hadn't gone easy on him.
On the contrary, he had held back. Miyajima Sakura's Kendo skills were impressive, almost at the level of an ordinary master. But Hikari's skills surpassed that—he was at the level of a grandmaster.
With his superior physical abilities, if he had gone all out, Miyajima Sakura wouldn't have lasted more than three strikes against him.
"Thank you for the lesson, President Miyajima," Hikari said, holding his sword in a formal Kendo salute.
Hearing his words, Sakura snapped out of her disbelief.
Hikari had thought she might struggle to accept defeat, perhaps even get upset or discouraged.
However, none of those emotions appeared on her face.
Instead, Sakura's eyes were shining with excitement as she looked at Hikari.
"Hikari, your Kendo is incredible!" she said earnestly.
Being praised by the president of the Kendo Club would have thrilled anyone else in the club, but Hikari felt no sense of pride.
He simply smiled and asked, "So, have I passed?"
Sakura nodded. "Yes, you've passed."
Hikari chuckled. "Then I don't have to chop wooden blocks anymore, right?" [T/N: Guys, never forget, some human once said, I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times]
Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "Of course not."
After all, if Hikari, who had defeated her, still needed to chop wooden blocks, then she—having been defeated—would have to chop them too.
In that case, the entire Kendo Club might as well start chopping wood.
With Sakura acknowledging Hikari, the Kendo Club members below finally accepted the truth.
It seemed Miyajima Sakura hadn't held back after all. Hikari truly had a foundation in Kendo.
No, not just a foundation—his skills were incredibly advanced.
Ignoring the commotion from the crowd, Sakura looked seriously at Hikari and said, "Hikari, I have a favor to ask."
She explained her desire to spar with an evenly matched opponent to improve her skills.
"But aside from competing in national high school Kendo tournaments, it's hard to find such an opponent at school. Hikari, your Kendo skills are at least on par with mine. Even if I used my dominant hand, I might not win. So, I'd like to spar with you seriously."
Sakura looked at Hikari with intense anticipation.
Just as Hikari was about to reply, his phone buzzed.
It was a message from the Archery Club, asking when he would arrive for the newcomer meeting.
Hikari smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, President Miyajima. I have something else to attend to today. Let's leave it here for now."
Although a bit disappointed, Sakura understood. "Alright then. But when you're free, you must spar with me seriously."
"Sure." Hikari casually agreed before leaving the Kendo Club's training grounds.
As he walked away, Sakura couldn't help but watch his retreating figure, her gaze lingering.
Finding a truly worthy opponent at school was just too rare.
At this moment, Miyajima Sakura's pursuer, Vice-Captain Kase Masafumi, suddenly approached her.
He asked in confusion, "Captain Miyajima, why are you so eager to spar with Hikari-kun? If it's to improve your skills, wouldn't it be better to spar with me?"
Miyajima Sakura glanced at Kase Masafumi, who she thought was decent overall and had respectable kendo skills but was far from being a worthy opponent. She shook her head and said:
"Kase-kun, your skills aren't as good as Hikari-kun's. Even if I had used both hands earlier, I might not have been able to defeat him."
Kase Masafumi didn't believe her and shook his head dismissively. "Captain Miyajima, you definitely lost earlier because you carelessly used one hand."
"Hikari-kun is just a rookie. How skilled could he possibly be?"
"The next time Hikari-kun comes back, I'll spar with him to show you his real level."
"I'm confident my swordsmanship is better than Hikari-kun's."
Kase Masafumi's repeated doubts about Hikari's skill level didn't really have much to do with Reihiro himself.
The main issue was that Miyajima Sakura's attention toward Hikari had unsettled Kase Masafumi.
Usually, he would often challenge Miyajima Sakura to spar, hoping to get closer to her, but she rarely accepted, seemingly unimpressed with his skill level.
Yet, Miyajima Sakura had actively requested a sparring match with Hikari, a newcomer.
This left Kase Masafumi feeling deeply dissatisfied.
Thus, he resolved to defeat Hikari next time to prove to Miyajima Sakura that he was far superior to the rookie.
As for Kase Masafumi's remarks, Miyajima Sakura, who had roughly guessed his intentions, simply smiled and shook her head without saying more.
———
Meanwhile, Hikari remained unaware that someone, out of jealousy, was already plotting against him.
At that moment, he had just arrived at the archery club's practice grounds.
Upon arriving, Hikari noticed that the archery club wasn't as popular as the kendo club.
The crowd was modest.
There were fewer new recruits this time, fewer than ten in total.
Including senior members, there were only about twenty people present.
Among them, the only people Hikari recognized were the Sakuramiya sisters and the archery club's captain.
When Hikari arrived, the archery club captain, who knew him, greeted him.
As he had done in the kendo club earlier, the captain introduced him to the archery club members.
Among them were the Sakuramiya sisters, whom Hikari had met before.
They also greeted him.
"Hello, Hikari-kun."
"Good day, Saya-senpai, Hinata-senpai."
Hikari politely responded. After their polite greeting, the Sakuramiya sisters were about to walk away.
The two of them really only enjoyed spending time together and didn't care much to interact with others, especially men.
However, the archery club captain called out to them.
"Saya, Hinata, wait a moment."
The Sakuramiya sisters turned back, looking at the captain curiously.
"What is it?"
Pointing at Hikari, the archery club captain smiled and said, "Since you two know Hikari-kun, you can teach him archery. I originally planned to guide him myself, but I already have several other recruits to coach."
"Besides, you don't currently have anyone assigned to you, right?"
Hearing this, the Sakuramiya sisters were initially reluctant.
However, the archery club captain had always been kind and gave a reasonable explanation.
After exchanging a glance, Sakuramiya Saya nodded reluctantly and said, "Alright then, we'll teach the new recruit, Hikari-kun."
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