Chapter 4
A Strange Discomfort
THE MORNING OF the second day.
The time was still before 6 a.m.
It was getting a little brighter, but it was hard to say that there was sufficient visibility.
I moved a short distance away from the building to avoid being seen.
Even without worrying, there wouldn't be many people who would come out at this time.
Soon, as promised, Horikita and Ibuki appeared.
“Yawn... I'm sleepy. And it's cold.”
Ibuki yawned and stretched, shivering.
“If you don't like it, you can just go back to your room.”
“You're kidding. I can't let you get revenge on your own.”
Rather than against Amasawa, it seemed that the main driving force wasn’t wanting to let Horikita have her way.
“It seems she was happy to accept the rematch.”
“Yes. She agreed immediately. But I faced unexpected resistance.”
“Unexpected?”
“I asked for the morning of the fourth day as promised with you, but she negotiated to change it to the morning of the third day.”
“She wanted to move it up a day earlier.”
“Of course, since the condition for you to cooperate was the morning of the fourth day, I told her I couldn't compromise. In the end, she gave in, but it didn’t seem like she was any less inconvenienced. I wonder if she had some plans.”
“In the early morning? It's hard to say. Since she accepted it, isn't it okay to ignore it?”
If you hate getting up early, there wasn’t much difference between the third and fourth day.
“Since I was the one asking, I didn't dig too much into it since it was a private matter. There might be some problems unique to girls, so if you understand, could you give us permission to change it to the third day?”
Indeed, there was a cycle that could potentially be disadvantageous for women due to their physical structure.
But that was the same for Horikita and Ibuki, and I didn't think Amasawa would use that as an excuse.
“If the other party has agreed despite the inconvenience, we should proceed as planned. We should not reduce the number of special training sessions.”
“You're relentless.”
“The morning of the fourth day is the decisive day. If you can't follow that, I can't accompany you in the special training.”
“...I understand. I feel a bit guilty, but let's stick with the current plan. Is that okay?”
“Don't think about holding back out of consideration for the other party.”
Horikita seemed to be troubled by something.
“I understand. She probably doesn't think she's going to lose at all. She's even worried about me.”
She didn't seem to like that, but there was nothing she could do about it since she was on the side that wanted revenge.
“I'm going to beat her to a pulp.”
Ibuki was fanning the flames of revenge next to me.
It was up to the individual to fan the flames, but going too far could be a big problem.
“Don't injure her face, okay? It's a hassle if the fight gets out.”
“Huh? If it's a weak point, I'll aim anywhere. Actually, the first thing I should do is kick Amasawa in the face, right?”
Even if I warned her here, she would probably still kick mercilessly when the time came.
“It's good that you're motivated.”
For now, I decided to leave it at that, as she was showing a positive attitude.
“Could you tell me the additional conditions for accepting the offer?”
“Yeah. There's only one more condition left. Promise to fight two against one if you judge it's difficult to win. Don’t hesitate.”
When I conveyed what I had decided in advance, neither Horikita nor Ibuki seemed to be able to swallow it immediately.
“I'm sorry. What do you mean by two against one—”
“Of course, you and Ibuki are the two I’m referring to. If you can't accept that, then I'm not willing to cooperate.”
When I told them again, Ibuki kicked the ground and thrusted her fist at me.
“Huh!? What's this two-against-one in a match? That's so lame. It's impossible.”
“I'm not saying you shouldn't do one-on-one. I said, ‘if you judge it's difficult,’ didn't I?”
“It sounds like you don’t think we’d win on our own.”
“I'd like to sugarcoat it, but yeah, that's about it. I'm sorry, but the chances of beating Amasawa one-on-one are almost zero. I'm not going to go along with something that's just a waste of time.”
Honestly, even if they managed to make it two against one, there'd be a higher chance of it turning out like last time.
“I don't like it. I can't accept that condition.”
“I don't like it either. But from the way you talk, it seems you know exactly how strong Amasawa-san is, don't you?”
“That's right. To be honest, it's not exactly a match, but I've seen her strength.”
“...And you think there's that much of a gap between us and her?”
When I nodded, Ibuki seemed to be even more upset and looked away with a click of her tongue.
“I can't do this. I don't need Ayanokōji's help, I'll do it alone. In fact, you should do the same.”
“Indeed... you've put forward an unexpectedly hard-to-swallow condition.”
She must’ve been planning to accept most things without hesitation before coming here.
It was no wonder she was wavering now, but it was meaningless to receive special training without a purpose.
“If that's the case, that's fine. It's easier for me if I don't have to cooperate.”
“Let me ask you again. You understand Amasawa-san's strength, don't you?”
“I think I understand it better than you or Ibuki, at least. Although it's only for reference, I can also fight by estimating Amasawa's strength.”
Horikita probably just wanted a simple match, but if she could fight against an opponent of similar strength, she couldn't help but find it appealing.
“—I understand. I'm fine with that condition. But what if Ibuki-san refuses?”
“This conversation is over. It’s only possible if the two of you cooperate.”
“Will you judge after seeing my improved strength?”
“That's right. Let's give it a try then.”
I slowly pulled my foot back and drew a small circle on the ground, about one meter in diameter. Then, standing at the center of the circle, I positioned my left hand forward and my right hand back.
“I won't move from here. And I'll only attack with my left hand.”
“Huh?”
“If you can make me struggle in this state, you should be able to put up a good fight against Amasawa.”
“Are you mocking me?”
“You're free to interpret it however you wish, but you're the one who asked me to show you, right?”
“Funny. Well, I'll burn that arrogance to ashes first.”
What an interesting way to put it.
Ibuki, like the last time we faced off, fought mainly with kicks.
Her sharpness might’ve improved, but honestly, it was a negligible difference.
I quickly determined the direction of her foot and dodged.
“How cheeky! If I can grab your left arm, it's my game!”
Apparently, Ibuki intended to grab my left arm to prevent me from attacking.
If that was what she wanted, I'd let her grab it to her heart's content.
When I deliberately held my left hand in an easy-to-reach position, she seized the opportunity and grabbed my left wrist. Immediately after, I spread the fingers of my left hand and took a big step with my left foot, placed right behind Ibuki.
While drawing my captured hand in an arc from left to right, I used my left foot to step out and free myself.
Ibuki, who was brushed off, was left in a defenseless state with her back fully exposed in front of me before she realized it.
“Eh—!?”
I thrusted my clenched left fist into Ibuki's back, who was still catching up on what happened, and lightly tapped it.
“W-What the hell...!?”
“It's a kind of Aikido[9]. The result won't change no matter how many times you try.”
In a one-on-one fight, the difference in ability couldn’t be overridden no matter how many times you fought.
To have a chance, you needed to accept a two-on-one and outnumber your opponent.
“Could you switch with me, Ibuki-san?”
“Do you have to experience it to understand it?”
“That's not it. Even with the short exchange just now, I could fully recognize the extent of your strength. That's why I want Ibuki-san to see it objectively. There wouldn’t be any progress if you don't know what happened.”
She seemed to want to let Ibuki gain experience on her own.
“Similarly, I'll also bind your left hand. But I don't intend to let it go down the same way.”
“That's better. It's foolish to come and purposely get defeated in the same manner.”
I let Ibuki step back and now Horikita stood in front of me.
“You can start anytime.”
“I intend to.”
I thought she might take a moment to breathe, but she started moving immediately.
She quickly tried to grab not my left wrist, but further down.
I guess she wanted to test my instincts before she said anything else.
However, by skillfully adjusting myself and pulling my arm, I forced her to grab my wrist.
“Kuh...!”
Instead of grabbing me, she ended up being grabbed herself. Even if Horikita recognized this, she had already started the motion and couldn't stop halfway. Even though she understood in her head that it was a disadvantageous position, she moved in the exact same way Ibuki did.
Instead of letting her latch onto where she aimed, I forced her to take hold of what she didn't want to.
The human mind is a strange thing, and even if you knew you shouldn't grab it, your brain would still judge it would be better than to not do so.
It was because she hadn't accumulated the experience that not grabbing could turn the situation to her advantage.
“So the pattern I was caught in was the same as just now...”
“That's right.”
“...I wasn’t going to let the same thing happen to me, but before I knew it, I was forcibly taken...”
While oozing frustration, Horikita's eyes stared at me intensely.
“This is the difference in ability between us and Amasawa-san right now, isn't it?”
“Yeah. At least, unless you can make me break the rules I set for myself, I don’t see any chance of winning.”
Whether to drive me out of the circle or make me use my right arm.
Challenging for revenge without achieving either of those would only be laughable.
“Are you convinced now? How reckless it is to fight Amasawa one-on-one?”
Horikita was still keeping her expression in check, but Ibuki was clearly showing her frustration.
Let's assume that she’s stopped boasting about defeating her and made some progress in understanding her situation.
“How much is it…?”
“What do you mean?”
“The difference between me and Amasawa. Can't you tell me in a way that’s easier for me to understand, like with numbers?”
Indeed, just having a vague feeling of it might not be enough to maintain future motivation.
“If we talk about physical ability, if we treat you two as equals and give you a score of 50, then Amasawa would be 60, so a difference of about 10.”
When I answered like that, both of them looked at each other, perhaps surprised that the difference was less than they thought.
“However, if we include technical skills, it's a different story. You two focus on one style of martial arts, while Amasawa focuses on a wider variety of them. Taking that into account, the difference becomes even bigger.”
I used numbers as a rough estimate, but this was just a guideline.
The outcome could change due to the conditions of the day, unpredictable events, misreading, and luck. But the greater the skill difference, the more trials would be needed.
“From now on, you two will fight me at the same time.”
“I don't like it.”
“I agree with you, Ibuki-san. But you understand why it's necessary, don't you?”
“I'll definitely make him use both hands. Okay?”
“I wonder about that. I think it's easier to drive him out of the circle, don't you?”
“I don't care. You should adapt to me.”
They started arguing about how to fight before they even started.
Horikita and Ibuki were like oil and water. They probably didn't have any intention of cooperating from the very start.
For now, I'd let them do as they pleased without mentioning it.
“We can't adjust to each other. Fine, let's attack as we please.”
“I agree.”
It seemed they weren’t going to compromise, but rather attack at the same time, each doing their own thing.
[9]: Aikido (合気道) A type of Japanese martial art. The use of twisting and throwing techniques and in its aim of turning an attacker's strength and momentum against themselves.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login