It took a little effort recovering her mood, but Tatsuya was able to continue his patrol before people around them started ridiculing them.
But 5 minutes into it, Tatsuya wanted to go home.
He had underestimated things. Even though he heard that things were a bit "rowdy", he still thought it would be within the bounds of a normal high school club recruitment fair. But in reality, it was nowhere near that.
Hm, I see why they need people to police this place, but I don’t think even 10 people are going to be enough.
The mass of tents covering the grounds were filled with people. Across the wall of people, Erika was captured and letting out some kind of scream. Even though she had high agility, she still wasn’t able to push her way through the crowd. Well, it didn't sound too convincing coming from Tatsuya who decided to look on from a distance.
It did not necessarily mean that Tatsuya had more agility; it was just that people targeted her rather than him. Tatsuya had an average height and looks, and at first glance he seemed a bit plain. On top of that, he was also a Weed so people paid no attention to him.
In Erika’s case, she was beautiful. Miyuki is the type of fragile beauty that made people hesitate reaching their hand out to, but Erika is the type of beauty that, even though people know they would be burned somewhat, they would still try to grasp her.
Basically, what happened was that the club solicitations bombarded her. The fact that she was a Course 2 student didn’t help her at all (or as Erika put it, it was useless). They were probably trying to make her join as a mascot figure, something that didn’t require the use of magic. So everything around her turned into chaos.
Tatsuya couldn’t see what was going on through the line of people (he guessed that they were probably, at worst, only grabbing her arm, holding on to her, or even groping her). The atmosphere quickly turned murderous as this went on to a point where Tatsuya could no longer ignore it.
Tatsuya only went ahead of her because he assumed that she would be able to fight her way through. A person would need a lot of training to restrain someone like Erika. He remembered how she was able to quickly flick the CAD out of Morisaki’s hands, and that move was not something that could be obtained in a year or so. Because of that, Tatsuya had confidence in her abilities.
The ones who actually surrounded Erika were all female upperclassmen. It seemed like the males were not insolent enough to go around touching a girl’s body. He assumed that she would be able to break past girls who were only a year older than her, but that seemed to put her at a disadvantage. Erika was hesitant in using any violence.
Just when Tatsuya thought about saving her, it occurred.
"Hey, wait, where are you touching me? S... Stop…!"
He started hearing cries of help from Erika. It looked like playtime was over.
Tatsuya quickly engaged the CAD on his left arm. When the magic formulated, he kicked the ground and made it shake slightly. Physically, the vibrations he made from the shock weren’t visible, but he used magic to manipulate the vibrations he made and directed them towards the crowd.
The vibrations weren’t enough to make a person unconscious. Tatsuya didn’t have the physical strength or the magic capability to make a vibration that large. But the vibrations did make everyone lose their sense of balance.
As he pushed forward in the crowd everyone who was touched by Tatsuya fell over. After pushing a number of people over, both boys and girls, he was able to get to the center and break through the upperclassmen. Tatsuya then grabbed Erika’s hand and said "Run". He pulled her hand and made his way out of the crowd.
After slipping through the crowd like a magician, Tatsuya was able to run to a remote location between the buildings. After letting go of her hand and turning around, he finally realized the mess she was in. Her hair was messed up, her new uniform was wrinkled, her top was undone, and her necktie was in her hand since it had fallen off.
Tatsuya, by pure coincidence, was able to see the skin underneath her uniform as she frantically tried to fix herself.
"Don’t look!"
Even though she was looking down, she was able to tell by the way Tatsuya’s feet were turning towards her. When she got back up to yell at him, his face was already turned the other direction.
"…Did you see?"
He could easily imagine her red face.
"…"
But Tatsuya was unable to give her an answer.
He should say that he didn’t see. That would be the smart thing to do.
But the slightly sunburned skin, her white breast, and her slim body. Even the beige-colored undergarments were all etched in his memory.
"Did. You. See?!"
It seemed like she was done dressing since he could no longer hear any rustling of clothes. At the same time, he understood that he didn’t have any more time to think based on the tone of her voice.
Well, in that case I should be punched in the face then, he thought. Even though it wasn’t his fault, he should at least show some sincerity being the guy and all.
—And so, after briefly escaping from reality, he turned around (now that he thought about it, he was not completely innocent since he left her in the crowd in the first place).
Thankfully she was actually done dressing up. If she wasn’t, then it would’ve probably made things much worse.
Tatsuya was relieved in seeing her fully buttoned up with the neck tie woven tightly. But then Tatsuya thought, if she hadn’t loosened her neck tie and unbuttoned the top button in the first place, it wouldn’t have gotten so bad.
"Sorry, I saw."
But he did not dare say that. After seeing her red face and lines of tears that were left on her eyes, he couldn’t say anything.
Erika glared at Tatsuya from below. She started becoming red again and clenched her fists, probably from remembering the shame she just suffered.
"...Idiot!"
She didn’t use her hands, but instead kicked him in the shin. But then, after she did that, she quickly turned around and walked away.
Tatsuya silently followed her.
Tatsuya couldn’t see her face, but he could tell it was filled with tears.
He trained his shin so it could withstand a full-blown attack from a wooden sword.
Her flexible shoes with no protection to the toes probably felt much more pain than he did. But, if he tried to say anything regarding that, she would probably just lash out again.
All he could do was pretend not to notice the unnatural way she walked.
Even though tents were popped up all over school, it was only on the school grounds outside. Inside the buildings, there were demonstrations going on within the various club rooms.
And also here in the gymnasium.
The two made their way into the 2nd gymnasium, also known as the "Arena", where the Kendo club was performing.
—By the way, at this point Erika had long cooled her head. She already knew that she was blaming him for something that he didn’t do. It also helped that he didn’t make any excuses toward her. Yet, she already started unbuttoning her top button and loosened her neck tie because "it was getting hot". She seemed to already be forgetting what she had gone through.
The two looked down on the arena by the corridor at the Kendo club’s demonstrations.
"Oh… even though it’s a Magic school, there’s a Kendo club."
Erika nonchalantly said.
"Isn’t it common to have a Kendo club at a school?"
Tatsuya nonchalantly answered. But then Erika started staring at his face.
"…Is there something wrong?"
"…That’s unexpected."
"What is?"
"I didn’t know that there was something Tatsuya-kun didn’t know. Anybody who’s had martial arts training already knows about this."
Tatsuya started to worry after listening to her.
"Do I look like a person who acts like he knows everything?"
"Ah, no, that’s not it. It’s just that you have that aura that you know everything."
"Aura you say… I’m the same year as you remember? Oh well, putting that aside, why is having a Kendo club so special?"
"Oh, right, you’re the same year as me… when you put it that way it’s kind of strange… ahhhh, anyway, Kendo right? If you’re aiming to become a Magician, Kendo isn’t something you do at a high school level. What Magicians typically use are magical sword skills based off from "Kenjutsu" and not "Kendo". You probably take Kendo up to elementary school to get the fundamentals of Kenjutsu, but during middle school, those who want to become Magicians already go to Kenjutsu instead.
"Is that right… I thought Kendo and Kenjutsu were the same thing."
"Wow, that’s really unexpected."
After hearing Tatsuya say that, she really was surprised.
"Even though you seem like you have so much martial arts experience… ah, I know!"
"What?"
Tatsuya was surprised by Erika’s sudden outburst.
Well, he wasn’t the only one who was surprised, but Erika just ignored all that and just kept on making faces like "I got it" and "Everything makes sense now".
"Hey Tatsuya, you’re assuming that all martial arts are combined with magic right? Not only martial arts but fighting spirits and things like that. You assume that magic is used to supplement the body when it moves around right?"
"Isn’t it obvious? Muscle isn’t the only thing that makes the body move."
From Tatsuya’s point of view, what Erika said was obvious to him, but Erika only seemed to nod with some kind of understanding.
"Well, for Tatsuya it may be obvious. But in normal competitions that’s not the case."
"I see."
It was a roundabout way of saying it, but Tatsuya was now aware how his common sense was slightly off from hers.
"Putting that aside, why don’t we just quietly watch the performance now?"
This time it was Tatsuya’s turn to make Erika aware. When she followed his subtle glances, she saw that everybody was looking towards her. After letting out a nervous laugh, she became a quiet spectator.
The practice rounds shown by the regulars were in full force. What caught everyone’s eyes especially was the performance by a female 2nd Year student.
She wasn’t large or anything; she had around the same body structure as Erika, but she was fighting on par with a man twice her size.
It wasn't just strength, but she was using graceful skills to parry her opponent’s attacks. She looked like she had some leeway.
She had a certain beauty in the way she fought the practice rounds. All the spectators had their eyes on her.
But there was an exception right here. Right after she defeated her opponent theatrically and bowed her head, Tatsuya heard a snort from beside him.
"It seems like you didn’t enjoy it."
"Huh? Well, yeah…"
She didn’t realize that the statement was directed towards her so there was a slight pause in the answer.
"…It’s so boring watching this though. She’s fighting with an opponent that has a much lower skill level than her, so she’s able to show off like that. Instead of a fight, it seems more like a rehearsal."
"Well, you are right regarding that, but…"
Tatsuya’s face let out a natural smile.
"It’s a performance to promote their club remember? There are always pro martial artists who do showy moves to demonstrate live combat, but you can’t really show live combat to normal people. Live combat in martial arts is basically trying to kill one another."
"…You’re so cool-headed, aren’t you."
"It’s just a difference of opinion."
Erika looked away with an irritated face.
But this is the facial expression she uses when she acts like she’s angry. She’s probably more angry towards the people who use martial arts as a flashy show than what it’s really supposed to be and finds those people dishonest.
Even if Tatsuya puts those feelings into words, it would probably irritate her even further.
He doubted that she would just jump into the fight, but he knew that she would do something similar to that. As Tatsuya was about to lead Erika away, something caught his attention.
Just as the two were leaving the spectator corridor and about to exit the building, he started hearing a commotion. It seemed like someone was arguing.
When he looked to his side, Erika was looking up at him. Her eyes were brimming with curiosity.
The first one to dart off towards the commotion was Erika, while she grabbed Tatsuya’s sleeve.
Tatsuya was essentially being dragged to the middle of the commotion.
As the two pushed past the crowd (the only reason no one really got angry was because Erika smiled at them as she pushed on by), they saw a swordsman and a swordswoman confronting each other.
The girl was the same girl who just participated in the practice round (or rehearsal as Erika puts it). Her chest plate was still on, but her helmet was off. She was a beautiful girl with semi-long black hair. She seemed perfect as an advertisement for the new student recruits with her looks and her skill.
"Tatsuya, do you like those types of girls?"
"No, you’re much prettier Erika."
"…I’m not going to fall for that monotone voice of yours."
Even though she was glaring at him, her face was subtly red.
"Sorry, I’m not used to it."
"…Aahhh! Why are you always…"
She started mumbling something but thankfully, she stopped harassing Tatsuya, so he was able to focus his attention on the swordsman.
He was about the same size as Tatsuya, but he seemed to have a spring-loaded body. He had a shinai in his hand but no armor on. He was going to ask people around him what was going on, but it didn’t seem like he needed to.
"The Kenjutsu club is scheduled to perform an hour later Kirihara! Why can’t you wait?!"
"Wow, how can you say that Mibu? I was just trying to help you guys out since these weaklings you got here don’t seem to be advertising your Kendo club effectively."
"By forcing him to have a practice round with you?! I can’t believe you’re saying things like that! If the Disciplinary Committee finds out that you used violence on an upperclassman, you’re not the only one who’s going to be in trouble!"
"Violence you say? Hey, hey Mibu, don’t be exaggerating things here. I just used my shinai to hit his helmet. If that guy’s part of the Kendo club, he shouldn’t be going unconscious over something like this. Besides, he was the one who started it anyway."
"It’s because you provoked him!"
There isn't much meaning to have a dispute when their weapons are pointed at each other, thought Tatsuya. But since it made clear what was going on, it was convenient for him.
"Seems like fun."
Erika mumbled on the side, Tatsuya wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or not. But he could tell from her tone that she was excited.
"This is much more interesting than that little rehearsal that we just saw."
"Do you know those two?"
"Well, I don’t personally know them."
Seeing how she responded to his question, it didn't seem like she was talking to herself.
"I just remembered about the girl. Her name is Mibu Sayaka. The year before last, in the National Middle School Kendo Tournament, she placed second in the entire country. She was cheered by the media as the Beautiful Swordswomen for awhile."
"…But she placed second, right?"
"Well... the champion’s looks were… you know."
"I see."
That’s the media for you.
"The guy’s name is Kirihara Takeaki. The year before last he placed 1st place in the Kanto Middle School Kenjutsu Tournament. A real champion."
"He didn’t participate in the Nationals?"
"The Nationals for the Kenjutsu tournament only start from High school since there are much fewer competitors for that one."
Well that’s right, nodded Tatsuya in agreement.
Kenjutsu is a sport that combined sword techniques with magic, so the basic prerequisite to do Kenjutsu is to be able to use magic. Even though technology has come a long way in assisting people in using magic, probably only 1 in 1000 middle schoolers are able to use it in a practical setting. Even in adulthood, only 1 in 10 are able to maintain that level of magic. Even though some of them are Course 2 students within the schools, outside of school, they’re basically elites.
"Oh, looks like it’s starting."
Tatsuya was able to feel the atmosphere reaching its breaking point.
Just as a precautionary measure, he took out his armband and attached it to his left arm. The student next to him was surprised, but he glared at him after seeing there wasn’t anything on his left chest. But Tatsuya’s attention was focused on the two.
The female swordswoman was hesitant in attacking an opponent with no armor on. But, as long as they faced their swords at each other and had no intent on backing down, there was no choice but to fight.
It seemed like Kirihara was going to make the first move.
"Don’t worry Mibu, it’s only a demonstration for the Kendo club. I won’t use any magic on you."
"Do you think you can beat me with technique alone? You, Kirihara from the Kenjutsu club who heavily relies on magic, and me, from the Kendo club who relies on nothing but technique?"
?
"You talk pretty big Mibu. I’ll show you. The Kenjutsu technique is used to fight past the body limitations!"
That was the signal of the fight.
Kirihara lunged forward and swung his shinai towards her head.
The sounds of shinais beating each other echoed in the room, followed by screams that came seconds later. The spectators couldn’t tell what was going on. They could only listen as bamboo and bamboo hit one another, sounds so violent that they almost sounded metallic. Most were only able to imagine the intense fighting taking place.
—Excluding a small number of people.
"Impressive. The female Kendo students are at a pretty high level. If this is how good the second place is, then how strong was the champion?"
Tatsuya let out a breadth of admiration towards Sayaka’s skill.
"No, she’s completely different from when I last saw her. I can’t believe how much she’s improved in only 2 years…"
Even though she let out a surprised look, Erika hid her face as she licked her lips while she let out a combative aura.
The two were momentarily locked in place, but they quickly pushed each other and jumped back to make space between one another.
Some took a breath while others gasped for it. The spectator’s reactions were split in two.
"I wonder who will win…"
Erika asked in a quiet voice.
"Mibu-senpai seems like she has the upper hand."
Tatsuya answered in a whisper.
"The reason?"
"Kirihara-senpai is avoiding the head when he attacks. That first move he made was a bluff because he knew that she was easily going to take it. Besides, he’s limited by not being able to use his magic. In terms of technique alone, Mibu-senpai is much better."
"Agreed. But, the question is, can Kirihara-senpai hold himself in until the end?"
"Oooooooooooooooo!"
First time during the match, Kirihara let out a roar while lunging forward and attacks from both opponents struck head on.
"Is it a draw?"
"No, it’s not."
Kirihara’s shinai skimmed Sayaka’s left arm while Sayaka’s shinai was stuck in his right shoulder.
"Ugh."
Kirihara used his left hand to push away her shinai and dove back.
"He lost because he tried to change his aim in the middle of the attack."
"I see, so that’s why he seemed to waver in his attack. It was the perfect timing to make it a draw… but I guess he couldn’t cut off his feelings."
Tatsuya and the others weren’t the only ones who knew the match was over.
Seated towards the front of the crowd were members of the Kendo club and the Kenjutsu club. The Kendo members let out a sigh of relief while the Kenjutsu members clenched their teeth in anger.
"If this were a real fight, then this would have been a mortal wound. The attack you made on me didn’t even reach my bones. Just admit your loss."
Sayaka let out a declaration of victory in a graceful pose.
But Kirihara distorted his face while listening. Was his swordsman side admitting his loss despite what he was feeling otherwise?
"He…heheheheh."
He suddenly started letting out a hollow laugh. Did he admit his defeat? It didn’t seem that way.
Tatsuya’s sense of danger shot up within him. The only person who sensed this more than Tatsuya was the one who was standing in front of Kirihara — Sayaka.
He recovered his stance, pointed his weapon at her, and looked sharply at her.
"A real fight, you say? If this was a real fight, you wouldn’t even be able to cut me. Mibu, do you really want to have a real fight? Then… I’ll show you what a ‘real fight’ is!"
As Kirihara activated his CAD using his right hand, screams came from the crowd of spectators.
There was a screeching sound that echoed the room, like someone was scratching a panel of glass. There were some who even kneeled down with pale faces.
Kirihara jumped forward and swung his shinai down.
He had the same speed, but he wasn’t using as much strength as before. Regardless, Sayaka jumped back.
The attack didn’t even hit; it barely grazed her. But her chestplate was cut open, just by getting grazed by a shinai.
The thing that increased its cutting power is a close combat Vibration Magic, "Sonic Blade".
"How’s that Mibu?! This is a ‘real’ fight!"
As he was about to make another swing towards Sayaka, Tatsuya jumped in front of him.
Before he jumped in, Tatsuya activated his CADs on both arms (using his Psion as "hands" to press the switches) and transferred his Psion within them. He used those CAD to shoot out an intricate web of Psion waves, a type of Non-Systematic magic that he used.
By now, there were many spectators who held their mouths because a symptom similar to motion sickness spread across the crowd.
Kirihara’s shinai and Tatsuya’s arm intersected, but there weren’t any sounds of the shinai hitting meat.
The sound that came out was the sound of a body falling to the floor.
After the spectators recovered from the sound and sickness, they were able to finally see what was going on.
And what they saw was Kirihara on the ground while Tatsuya was keeping him there, by holding his left wrist and using his knee to push down on his shoulder.
Within the gymnasium, a.k.a "Arena", what broke silence was whispers of hostility.
"Who’s that?"
"I’ve never seen him before."
"Is he a new student?"
"Look at it, he’s a Weed."
"What the hell is a Weed doing?"
"But that thing on his armband—"
"Wait, I heard a rumor that someone from the Course 2 made it into the Disciplinary Committee."
"What? Seriously? A Weed in the Disciplinary Committee?"
The whispers originated from the Kenjutsu club and spread from there (from both boys and girls). Within the crowded circle, half stared at Tatsuya with hostility, while others simply gazed while holding their breath.
In this hostile atmosphere, Tatsuya coolly (while holding Kirihara down) took out his communication device in his mobile terminal. His cool face didn’t seem like a bluff. It seemed like he was used to being the bad guy in most situations.
"This is Tatsuya within the 2nd gymnasium. I have apprehended one student. He seems to be injured so please bring a stretcher just in case."
He didn’t speak in a loud voice, but his voice echoed through the crowd.
After the realization of what was happening sunk in, a member of the Kenjutsu club took a step forward and started shouting at Tatsuya.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
He must have been confused, asking meaningless questions like that. Actually, it might not have been a question, but more of a threat.
"I am apprehending Kirihara-senpai because of improper use of magic."
Tatsuya dutifully answered the yelling individual. Well, technically, his eyes were still focused on Kirihara below him so even if it was dutiful it wasn’t exactly respectful. Depending on how you look at it, it seemed like he was looking down on his opponent.
And that’s exactly how the upperclassman Kenjutsu member took it.
"Hey, you! Stop looking down at me you damn Weed!"
He started lunging forward to grab Tatsuya in the chest.
Tatsuya quickly let go of Kirihara and stepped back. He took a look at Kirihara and saw that his consciousness was still hazy from the fall so it looked like he wasn’t going to be running away anywhere. After making that judgment, he focused his attention on the (oncoming) upperclassman in front of him.
Other Kenjutsu members were becoming angered by Tatsuya’s attitude of acting coolly like his opponents weren't even a threat. The upperclassman facing him clenched his teeth to a point where you could hear it grind.
"Why is it only Kirihara?! Mibu over there is as guilty as he is! She was the one to continue the fight!"
The statement came from the crowd. It was a criticism that was shot toward Tatsuya and it was also made to support the upperclassman. But Tatsuya didn’t even budge and said,
"As I said before, I’m apprehending him for the improper use of magic."
Again, with a calm voice he dutifully answered.
You should’ve just ignored them… thought Erika, and at that point, her concerns became real.
"Stop messing around!"
The upperclassman was filled with rage again and lunged toward Tatsuya.
Tatsuya avoided the attacks like a bullfighter in a ring, but this just made things worse.
Now the upperclassman was throwing his fists at him, but Tatsuya was still dodging those.
No matter what the upperclassman did he wasn’t able to touch Tatsuya. Not only was empty handed combat Tatsuya’s specialty, but the upperclassman was also making crude movements because of his rage.
Tatsuya was taking light steps to dodge his opponent’s brash punches. Just when Tatsuya stopped moving because the upperclassman stopped from fatigue, two more members from the Kenjutsu club attacked Tatsuya from behind.
Just when Erika was about to shout "Behind you!", Tatsuya spun around and tangled the two members together. The two Kenjutsu members ran into each other and rolled to the ground.
Silence filled the room again. It was completely silent in the arena.
If there were any sound effects at this moment, it would be the sound of a boiling point reaching its peak.
Because in the next moment, the entire Kenjutsu club started attacking Tatsuya.
Screams arose from the crowd and everyone who wasn’t involved (including the Kendo members) started running away to avoid the brawl.
Sayaka was the only one in the crowd who stepped forward to help Tatsuya.
"Wait, Mibu."
A 3rd Year upperclassman from the same Kendo club grabbed her wrist.
"Ah, Tsukasa-senpai."
She resisted for a moment, but when she saw the person who grabbed her wrist, she let him pull her away from the scene. Her face was overcome with guilt from running away from the fight, but she couldn’t let go of the 3rd Year Kendo Male Club President’s hand.
As the Male Club President took Sayaka away from the brawl, Tatsuya was in the middle of it, getting ready to take the Kenjutsu members head on.
Well, not necessarily "head on" as in counter attacking; all he did was dodge and parry the attacks the "Blooms" unleashed on him.
Tatsuya’s movements were not graceful; they were solid, or even certain if there is a right word for it. It’s almost as if he could tell the order the upperclassmen were going to attack from all directions; all he made were the minimal necessary movements. He stayed calm during the ordeal and showed no signs of being cornered. When they cooperated to drive him in a corner, he merely did a feint and had them hit each other; when they came at him like a wall, he skillfully wove his way through it.
Even though more than 10 people were attacking him at once, they weren’t even able to disrupt his breathing, let alone stop him in place.
The Blooms understood in anger that this insolent Weed wasn’t attacking back not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t even need to.
This caused the rest of the Kenjutsu members to activate their CADs in anger. But when they lit it up to shoot up magic towards him, nothing happened.
Whenever Tatsuya looked in their directions, they were filled with motion sickness and their blocks of Psion dissipated into thin air.
The Kenjutsu members cursed as they couldn't understand what was going on, but they merely proceeded to attack Tatsuya with their fists.
All the while, Sayaka didn’t notice that her Male President was observing the situation out of curiosity.
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