บท 29: Team Matches
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The first match was against an unfamiliar to school. That is until both teams were able to see their competitors.
"Kouzuki?" One of the students from the opposing team called out. Both teams turned towards Kazuya whose face remained unchanged. "You're competing?"
"You know who I am?" Kazuya was genuinely surprised and tried to scan his memories. He came up with nothing which caused a frown.
"So the rumor was true. You lost your memories. You don't even recognize that the school you're up against is where you transferred from" the boy confidently smiled at him.
"Is that so? I don't think I've been significant enough to be known to people above my grade"
"Are you kidding? Who doesn't know who you are now? Stockton-san made a big mess trying to find out where you disappeared to. Who would have thought you'd go to Sacred Forest and joined the Kendo club"
"Is that a problem?"
"Not at all. We're actually glad. Seeing you being a regular tells us how your team is in desperate need of good members" they all started laughing.
"Is that so? Good luck to your team then. Seeing you guys so confident, I hope you make me stand from the general's seat" Kazuya smiled and proudly sat on the fifth seat.
"Bluffing already I see. No matter how athletic you may be, you're underestimating Kendo too much. A basketball player can't just learn and win in kendo in just a month" they laughed and went back to their side.
"(So I was a member of the basketball team? Why didn't mom tell me about it? I didn't even see a ball in my room…)" he tried thinking about it but nothing came to mind. He only remembered playing it during his first life as a form of exercise in school.
First up was the short haired girl Ainu from their team. It was a close fight but she lost with a score of 2-1. Their smug faces were immediately erased after Nishida and their captain won with 2-0 scores. The person who talked to Kazuya was their fourth contestant. The boy entered the duel area glaring at Kazuya who had been sitting peacefully the whole time.
The boy's glare immediately got interrupted by the emergence of a sudden pressure and took a step backwards. Tomoyo had entered the dueling area.
"(This robot girl… is she nervous? She's starting to leak out her own pressure)" Kazuya was a bit surprised. He decided to put some of his attention in changing this future violent robot girl into a decent robot but contrary to his intentions, she was growing in strength more than anything.
"READY!" The referee was expectant to see how this girl had grown since the last tournament. "BEGIN!"
A quick dash to the boy startled him. There were two people that almost everyone here knew and that was the individual tournament's Kuronuma Ayame and the 1st grader who took 3rd place like a storm; Shiroyuki Tomoyo. He involuntarily took a step back due to the pressure and held his sword up horizontally to block the incoming strike from above.
"(I'll parry this little girl's strike and counterattack)" he thought.
His expectations however was ruined after their swords came into contact. Shards of bamboo exploded in different directions as Tomoyo's sword passed through his own bamboo sword.
*BAM!*
"POINT SHIROYUKI!" The referee shouted. "Point Sacred Forest Aca—"
*THUD*
The boy fell to his knees. His vision was blurry. He was scared out of his wits. Looking at the blurry image of his opponent who wasted no time to get back to her position, cold sweat poured down his head. She wanted to begin the next round right away so he fell on his backside and backed away to his team.
"Get away! I forfeit! I forfeit!" he shouted.
The referee along with everyone couldn't say a thing. A sword breaking can happen but it was even rarer in a competition with elementary students as competitors. The perpetrator was a mere 7-year-old so he couldn't believe it himself and thought that the boy's sword may have been too worn out.
"(This robot girl can now make use of her mana even though she's doing it unconsciously... Interesting)" his mouth arched upward to form a slight grin.
"Victory goes to Sacred Forest Academy! 3 wins to 1!"
Both teams lined up against each other one last time. The other team's faces were looking downwards, they had been humiliated after they bragged. Mahiru shook the other team captain's hand but looked towards the boy who mocked their team.
"You only have yourself to blame for incurring the wrath of our team's princess" She said.
"I have to say; you guys were pretty dumb to get us riled up you know? You wouldn't have looked so weak if you just greeted our team's King with respect. We would have gone easy on you for being acquaintances" Nishida huffed as he chimed in.
"Your team's… 'King'!?" They all looked at the quiet Kazuya who sighed.
"A bunch of nonsense" he quickly turned to head back to the waiting area. The rest followed except for Nishida who wasn't done. He had been pretty docile recently so he didn't let up the chance to add a few parting words to those who underestimated them.
"Can't learn Kendo in a month? You better open those blind eyes of yours and watch Kouzuki-san if he ever gets the chance to get on stage. You will wish you won't meet him in the individual tournament" Nishida mocked. He really looked forward to seeing them drop their jaws once Kazuya gets up on the dueling area.
Tomoyo's startling performance garnered a lot of attention towards their team. They couldn't wait for the individual tournaments to see if she could make it to 2nd or even 1st place this time. Thanks to her, Kazuya was able to stay under the radar. He only gained a little attention because of his unusual one-handed stance but because of the lack of skill from his enemies, there was no need for him to show off.
"Mahiru!" a person called out to their captain on the audience stands. It was a woman who looked just like her wearing an office uniform.
"Mother…" She bit her lip as she looked at her. The two stared at each other for a while before their captain sighed.
"What's wrong captain? Isn't it good that your mom made it this time?" Nishida who had known her for longer asked.
"I guess so" she slumped her shoulders.
Kazuya who had just finished winning his match and sealed their team's victory looked at Mahiru's mother. They were only one match away from winning their block. A sudden thought popped into his mind as he looked at the matches on the big screen above the stands.
"Miyamoto-sensei. There's something I want you to do" He whispered to the coach's ear.
Kyouko and Mei were seated at the center of the cheering members from their school per his arrangements. They cheered for him loudly whenever he would step into the dueling area and he would wave at them every time afterwards.
"I think something is wrong. Kazu didn't wave at us this time" Mei's eyesight had already improved so she could see the serious expression on Kazuya's face.
"He's probably just feeling tired. He doesn't need to do it every time you know"
"But he still would do it. Is he hungry? It's almost lunchtime. Did we bring enough food for him?"
"I asked granny to make extra so there wont be any problems. I don't think it's hunger if there's a problem. He was looking at the board for a while. Probably a strong team is next"
"I'll look it up one my phone"
Back at the waiting area, Miyamoto looked towards Jirou who had his arms crossed. What Kazuya had told them was disturbing. There was only a little time left before the next and final match for their block so they had to reach a decision soon.
"Shiroyuki-san what do you think?" he consulted with Jirou after hearing the shocking news from Kazuya.
"It is indeed possible but I'm still unsure about some things. What he said also matches some of my observations. After having someone else see it too, I say it's accurate" Jirou crossed his arms. "It's your team so it's your call Miyamoto"
"We'll find out soon" Kazuya didn't mind Miyamoto's hesitation.
"I certainly hope you're wrong about this Kouzuki-kun. I'll go submit the next order of participants so we can talk about this later" he left with a gloomy expression.
"Don't blame him for doubting you boy. He's a good lad" Jirou patted the boys shoulder.
"It doesn't bother me. What I said was based on my own observation and speculation" he remained unmoved.
"Well you better get back to your teammates. You're their pillar whether you like it or not and it's up to you to get them that championship" he got pushed by the hand placed on his shoulder.
"I would fight the 5 matches by myself just to give it to them if that were possible" he sighed and moved back to where the others were seated. He called out to Nishida unexpectedly. Tomoyo who was still restricted by their agreement could only watch as the two boys of their team sat to the side.
"What is it Kouzuki-san? Do you need me to get you something?" He looked eager as this was the first time he had personally called out to him. His respect for him only grew as time passed by so he was not the same person when they first met.
"Why are you being so polite senpai? You're an upperclassman and you're treating me like I'm older" he asked. He really didn't mind whatever they called him but this was a good time to set things clear with the team.
"Then K-kazuya-san?" he nervously looked at Kazuya's reaction.
"I guess that would do. Anyway, how are you feeling? You've been fighting in all the matches. Some of them even ending with all the time consumed" he patted Nishida's shoulder. This wasn't supposed to be his job but the captain wasn't in a state to motivate anyone right now.
"I-I'm fine. I can still go on" he was suddenly nervous. Kazuya never talked to him nor anyone in the team unless they talked to him first. They all knew that he could spot their flaws and one of his was his stamina for not taking things seriously until recently.
"Sit in front of me and let me teach you a breathing technique. It will help replenish your stamina faster. You're a key member to us in winning the rest of the matches so I'll show you a few tricks" he placed his hand on Nishida's back and slowly cast a basic recovery spell on him under the guise of a breathing technique. He also taught him a few tactics that he could use to his advantage but the most help Nishida got was a huge boost in morale.
"(A key member… Does this mean that he thinks I can be stronger?)" Nishida wanted to show that he wouldn't let Kazuya down. His determination rose that caused his body to recover even faster with Kazuya's help.
The last match in their block started with Mahiru this time who unfortunately lost with a score of 0-2 followed by Ainu who also lost with 1-2. The other team had guessed that they would have no problems as long as they didn't make it to the fourth member which had always been Tomoyo but their expectations were crushed.
Tomoyo easily won. She protected her streak of a 2-0 win record. Everything for their opponents rested on the 4th match but unfortunately for them, Kazuya was the one who stepped in. His record was also the same as Tomoyo but she had her reputation and her dominating style to keep him in the shadows for a little longer.
"Go win it for us" Kazuya placed a hand on Nishida's shoulder after winning his own match with another 2-0 record. He was not disappointed. The energized Nishida also won with a score of 2-0 and they took first place for the team match for D block.
"We did it! We're in the final four!" Nishida jumped and gave a victory pose. His excitement was through the roof as they were not able to get this far as a team in the last tournament. The other block matches ended not too long after theirs and it was announced that there would be a short break as they made preparations for the team matches.
"Mahiru-senpai?" Kazuya called out to the captain looking dazed as she looked towards the audience.
"Kazuya-kun do you have a moment? There's an intermission and I want to introduce you to my mom"
"Your mom? Why?"
"You'll find out soon" She pulled him and headed out of the stadium. "There's still a lot of time left so there's no problem"
They arrived at the back of the stadium. Kazuya broke free from her grasp after she stopped. A Mahiru's crying face appeared when she turned to face him. She was usually cheerful and went along with his strange humor but there was no sign of it. Right now, she was but a girl who looked like she was in pain.
"What's wrong Mahiru-senpai?" Kazuya's expression was gloomy.
"It's about my mom… she—" She stopped as numerous figures came from the direction they came from.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't two of the winners from D block" they were from the team they had beaten in the third round. The rough looking competitors that only knew how to swing hard with intent to injure.
They surrounded Kazuya and Mahiru. The rough looking group held their wooden swords instead of bamboo swords used in the competition. They looked at Kazuya with hostility as their team lost after he beat their captain.
"Is this how it's supposed to play out? You guys aren't even a real Kendo club right?"
"You're pretty smart kid. There wasn't a kendo club in our school so we decided to make one"
"Just for little me? I'm flattered"
"No hard feelings kid, we don't know who you pissed off but someone wants you beat. This wouldn't have happened if you just let me hit you a couple of times inside you know"
"You and I both know that that's not true. The person went through all the trouble to make you guys come here just to beat me up so a little beating will not be enough"
"Smart. Too bad being too smart isn't going to do anything for you at the moment. We'll probably get banned from the competition and punished for being 'sore losers'"
"Clever plan. No one would believe even when I claim that you were hired in normal circumstances. So someone who isn't Lee really is after me"
"No need to try digging for information. Even we don't know who requested it. The money is good and that's enough for us"
"Then you have just lost your only value to me?" The atmosphere instantly changed. Kazuya's eyes narrowed as he looked at each of the people surrounding him. "I just have a small request before we begin"
"We cannot hit you in the face. It would be the proof we'd need to show we did what was asked"
"I don't know how long it's been since I didn't hold back in beating someone" He gave them a chilling smile. "So please try not to die"
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