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Author Topic: Kate's OS Box ~ Untitled [SayaMilky] - Update (15/5/16)  (Read 194643 times)

Offline katekyohit

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  • My heart beats for Yukirin <3
Replies:

Sherin: LOLOLOLOL  :deco:

gek geki: Hm?

Kairi65: Hope you'll enjoy this :)

Kirozoro: Hope you enjoy it!

kurogumi: Here is more :)






Love is a Battlefield
~Pairing: WMatsui~

~Part 3~
Silence before the Storm

-

On weekends the young boyish Matsui received a message from her friend to go out again to Shibuya. She dressed up in her favorite indigo jeans and red Scott t-shirt while glancing at the clock every now and then. Of course she didn’t want to be late again since this friend would always be on time…or actually being there early. She can’t predict or expect what could or would happen today at all. Her friend is already unpredictable enough.

“You’re early this time~”

Jurina heard that familiar voice and turned around seeing that tall raven-haired girl with her signature friendly smile. It made the Matsui girl shivered slightly from that creepy grin. That tall girl was wearing her casual clothing comparing to the first time they came out for hangout. She was in her plain long jeans and simple cute shirt. Also, she let her hair down so it could drift through the winds freely without restrain.

“Having an appointment with a kendo player means you need to be here before time…I got it right?”

“Hehe, yep. You won this time!”

Yuki smiled energetically as she seemed to be enjoying what she was doing. Obviously she did find pleasure in teasing and bullying Jurina by using the secret she held in her hands…and made use of it really well. The tall raven-haired girl came to her side and wrapped her arms around her without saying anything. Despite her suddenly approach, it seems Jurina is used to this already.

“Shall we go?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“How about the café? I haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“Sure.”

Both of them went to the café as Yuki requested so she could have her brunch. They were spending their time again at Shibuya as Kashiwagi demanded, and Jurina didn’t have a choice but to obey it. The young Matsui ordered a drink while Yuki ordered her meal of the day. As they were waiting, Yuki seemed to be staring at Jurina and made her feel slightly awkward.

“W-What is it?”

“Nothing~ get used to it, since I’m making you going out with me for the time being until the intense training is done for good. I need some accompany during my free time.”

“…And you picked me?”

“Why not? You are Rena-chan’s best friend.”

Yuki had that unreadable smile again and Jurina didn’t know how to deal with her friend at all. She sighed softly again and didn’t realize that Kashiwagi was actually staring back at her with such a straight face. In that midst of silence, Jurina just sat there in silence without saying a word too and just waited until Yuki would make some sort of move first. Then suddenly she smiled out with relief before looking out of the glass wall and just stared at the people passing by.

“We never hangout just between the two of us before, didn’t we? Both of us would be brought together when there’s Rena-chan around.”

“Now that you mentioned it…that’s true.”

“I’m glad I’m able to spend some private time with you. I actually do enjoy your accompany!”

Jurina was slightly surprised with how calm and friendly Yuki was speaking right now. Usually she could feel some tinge of sadist in her voice but not this time. She seemed to be honest with what she was saying and it made her realized that Yuki was just creating such an opportunity like this so they could be spending some valuable time together to enhance their friendship. They might be able to discuss some things that they wouldn’t want Rena to know…and obviously Jurina had that secret too. Despite the food they order arrived, Yuki went straight to the point to what she wanted to talk to Jurina. 

“Can I see your hand? Your left hand.”

“E-Eh?”

“Let me see.”

“…Okay.”

Jurina gave her left hand to Yuki and the raven-haired girl rubbed her thumb across her palm as if she was trying to feel something. She nodded her head without uttering a single word and Jurina obviously knew what thoughts were running in Yuki’s mind. Few seconds later she pulled her hand away after she clarified her doubts.

“Why did you hide this from Rena-chan? You have a reason to do so?”

 “…I would tell her if I could tell. I really have a reason I can’t tell.”

“Is it really something that could affect the stability of her mental state?”

“H-Huh?”

“The secret you’re hiding. If Rena-chan knows, will it affect her mental stability for training and the competition?”

“…I would say, yes.”

Jurina remained in silence but Yuki didn’t say anything further. She leaned back against her chair and had a soft sigh before she decided to put down that matter to the side for the time being. As the team captain, she didn’t want any matters to affect her team member’s metal stability because it would have an impact on their judgments and performances during competition.

“…Very well then, I guess Rena-chan can know this later.”

It was too easy for Jurina to even believe that Yuki just dropped this matter as if it was nothing. She blinked with surprise and couldn’t help but to ask back to the team captain about her thoughts.

“T-That’s quite surprising for you to…drop the matter down so easy?”

“I’m the team captain you know? I need to prioritize my team members before my own selfish curiosity.”

“Hehe, I think I like this ‘team captain’ side of yours.”

“Don’t try me, Jurina!”

“O-Oops sorry!”

Both of them looked at each other and let out a smile of relief. Jurina had felt more relaxed being around her and they began to exchange more words with each other on many private matters that Jurina couldn’t possibly share with Rena. The raven-haired captain listened quietly and nodded with a sweet calm smile. Their conversation kept on going and they were actually discussing about their own future career that they were aiming for after they graduated. Jurina wanted to become a writer, a fictional writer.

“That’s quite some interesting hobby you have. Writing stories are not as easy as people say, as it requires so much creativity. I admire that strength of yours.”

“Wow…you’re the first one to say that to me. Everyone that I told this always look down on it.”

“I guess it’s created from nothing. It’s hard for people to accept things that are created from a place they can’t understand or see.”

“…Yukirin, you should go be a counselor or psychologist or something! You sound pretty darn wise over there.”

“Haha! Surprisingly…that’s close to what I actually aim to be~”

Yuki talked about her future goal to become a psychiatrist. Partially because her father was also a psychiatrist and he’s running his own clinic. She’s actually interested in the concept of psychology. Her passion seems to be running in her genes. She did a lot of studies on her own time as well as things she learned at school. However, Jurina wasn’t able to see through that side of hers since she’s always quiet and hide behind her friendly smile. It seems today she had a chance to see a new side of Kashiwagi and it made her happy that she’s willingly to share her thoughts, ideas, and goal with her. They spent most of the time in the café and talking about many things together. It seemed Jurina was able to consult Yuki with several things she have in mind and was able to get the answer she wanted too.

“Damn, you should be my private counselor.”

“Take me out and buy me a meal, then I’m at your service for the day.”

“Haha! That’s a great deal. I’ll take that~”

“I’m glad to help you out Jurina~”

Both of them chuckled softly and it seemed they enjoyed each other’s accompany for the day. Jurina felt that coming out with Yuki isn’t as bad as she thought it would be. At first she believed she would be bullied and become her slave by using her secret, but they ended up spending time together chatting about many things that they seem to have in common. After they felt that they had stayed outside long enough, they decided to go back home and separated at the train station.

“I’ll see you at school on Monday, good luck with training.”

“Thanks, and I’m happy for you that the stress is gone from your face.”

“…Huh?”

“You looked really stressed out these past few days as if you have some dilemma in your mind, but now its gone. I guess you found your way and answer.”

Yuki just read through her completely and that amazed Jurina. However the sadist persistent captain didn’t push any further with her personal matter and just have that friendly smile across her face. The young Matsui only nodded softly and thanked Yuki back for concern. She seemed to underestimate Kashiwagi’s observant skills.

“Thanks Yukirin, it’s all thanks to Mayu for giving me some help.”

“Mayu? I see. I’m glad she can help you out.”

“You two are good friends, are you?”

“You can say something like that, we knew each other for quite a long while.”

“Oh~ Ah, I guess I have to get going now.”

“I’ll see you later Jurina, I enjoyed our talk today!”

“Me too! Let’s do it more again sometimes?”

“Sure~”

Jurina get on the train and headed back to her home. She checked her cellphone and she had received a message from Rena. The young raven-haired friend was busy with helping her parents doing the shopping and was sent pictures of cute little things that Jurina would like. The shorthaired Matsui couldn’t help but to smile with contentment while thinking about her love, but then she was interrupted by a call from her old friend. She sighed softly before she picked it up since she knew what her friend was calling her for.

“Hey, what’s up?”

[Hey I just want to let you know I sent you the information you needed to know through the email. If there’s anything you want to know more just let me know okay?]

“Yeah, I’ll check it out when I arrive back home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

[Yeah! Do you need a pick up?]

“I believe I will, I’ll send you the details tonight.”

[No problem.]

Jurina had another soft sigh before she started moving on with getting back home before her parents would scold her. She had many things to do and to starting tomorrow. She still feel bad that she didn’t tell Rena or her friends about what she was doing…but she didn’t how to tell without giving burdens to her. She’s horrible with conveying her thoughts into words properly to Rena without making things end badly. Sooner or later Rena would know what’s Jurina hiding from her, but Mayu’s advice made her felt relief with the decision she made. Even though her young Watanabe friend said she did nothing wrong…but somehow she couldn’t get rid of that guilt she had.


~XXX~


It has been few days later since Jurina and Yuki’s meet up. In Akiba High School, Jurina and her friends spent their quality time together on the roof deck of school. Everyone planned to go watch Rena’s competition in Annual P48 Championship and cheer for her matches. This championship is indeed one of a popular annual competition of Project48 School. Akane was the one that’s especially excited since this year would be first time she watched the kendo competition.

“I can’t wait to go watch! It will be my first time seeing Rena-chan compete.”

“I bet your coming this year again right Jurina~”

“Ah? Oh. Yeah. Well, of course I’ll be there.”

Jurina was slightly caught out of guard since she was busy eating her lunchbox. Airi kept talking about going to watch some other sports as well since she have a lot of friends that were competing as well. The Annual P48 Championship would be running for a whole week due to many sports competing. Martial arts would be the first in line in the early days of the championship. So Airi was inviting everyone including Rena to come join her as well since her match would be over in the early days of the championship.

“You could possibly join us right Rena-chan?”

“I guess it should be alright. I’ve been curious to watch other sports compete too, Jurina are you coming too?”

“Eh? Oh, yeah! Sure! Why not?”

“Aw Jurina, you’re just going anywhere Rena-chan is going!”

Airi teased her friends and Jurina just laughed out with a bright smile. She wasn’t embarrassed to admit the truth that she just wanted to go wherever Rena would be. The raven-haired Matsui just watched her Jurina’s radiant smile and it made her mind drifted off elsewhere. She’s unconsciously mesmerized by her smile and the life in those eyes without didn’t realize that her friend is calling her countless of times already. 

“Rena-chan!? Are you listening?”

“Eh?? What?”

“Jeez Rena-chan! We’re talking about going out for ice-skate on your next day-off from training. It’s good that once in a while to relief some stress!”

“I don’t have any plans at the moment…it should be okay.”

“Awesome! Let’s go this next Sunday!”

Airi and Akane seemed to be excited with the plan. It made her realize that she barely has the chance to spend time with Jurina after she started her intense kendo training. The only times she get to spend time with another Matsui would be in school and rarely after school at their usual cafe. This would be a good time that she would at least have some time with Jurina again. The young shorthaired Matsui is quite excited with the plan she since she loved skating.

“I can’t wait for it~ I missed skating! I can teach you again Rena-chan~”

“I might need some help, I don’t think I remember what you taught me last time.”

“No worries~! All for you.”

Jurina giggled with excitement and obviously her two friends knew how the she felt towards another Matsui. If it is for Rena, it is obvious that Jurina would do everything for her and never get mad or annoyed. They couldn’t help but to wonder when would Jurina make a move on her childhood friend…or whether when would Rena realize her feelings for Jurina. If they couldn't wait they might try to speed things up for the two of them in the next hangout together.


~XXX~


Akane and Airi called Jurina to meet with them earlier before their appointment time with Rena at the front of the department store. Of course the shorthaired Matsui was wondering what was going on and thought that Rena would be here as well. They were sitting in the café having some light breakfast before they have some serious talk with each other.

“Uhm…so what did you want to talk? You guys are looking so scary today.”

“We’re going to have some serious talk Jurina.”

“Eh? Now I’m scared…did I do something wrong?”

“Yes! You did! Why are you being so slow!?”

Airi went straight to the point as they both told her that it’s obvious that Jurina loved Rena. They were already betting whether Jurina would make a move first or not. Since Jurina never told anyone about her romantic feelings for Rena, so she’s shocked that both of her friends knew about it for a long time already. The shorthaired Matsui sighed softly and ruffled her head with slight frustration across her face.

“So it’s…that obvious?”

“Of course! I didn’t think much of it at the beginning because you playfully kept asking her to be your girlfriend…but after we see how you look at her…it become pretty obvious.”

“Ah…do you think she knows about this?”

“Someone dense and naïve like Rena-chan? Hell no! So you better make it clear with her! Tell her you love her and seriously ask her out!”

Airi and Akane are suggesting how Jurina should make a move on Rena so that their ambiguous relationship would come to an end. It seemed young Matsui realized that she was called over earlier to have this love counseling. If she refused to make any progression with Rena today, she believed that both of her friends would come hunting her down. They gave her many advices of what to do and what they should do with Rena by the time she arrive.

“You get it? We’re giving you a hand here, so you better make use of it!”

“Y-Yes ma’am! Oh you guys are much more serious than I do…”

“Well, since you’re amazingly slow with this!”
 
“Oh shut up…I’m just not good with this!”

“That’s why we’re here for you Jurina, so better make a move.”

“…Yeah, I will.”

They waited for Rena to arrive at the time they made an appointment with each other in front of the ice skate ring. As Jurina went up and she saw Rena leaning against the wall waiting for them to come…she was slightly nervous with how her raven-haired friend was in her cute pink dress. Airi and Akane called her and caught her attention immediately. So after they all met they went to check the rounds and realized that the round is available 10 minutes ago. Without further ado they went straight in to enjoy skating. Jurina was really fast with wearing her rented ice skate boots and had to wait for her friends to finish up. While Airi and Akane were to be done with wearing their boots, she could see Rena struggling how to tighten it up so it wouldn’t be too lose while skating.

“Let me help you Rena-chan.”

“O-Oh, thanks.”

Jurina kneeled down and helped Rena wearing her ice skate boots. Airi and Akane realized how the puppy Matsui girl was slowly making a move with Rena. When they’re done, both Airi and Akane went straight into the ring since they are pretty good with ice-skating. Since Rena have a trouble walking on the floor, Jurina has to hold her hand and escort her princess to the ice ring. She looked over and saw her other two friends just somehow ditched them so they could have their private time together. Without further ado Jurina started teaching Rena how to skate easily.

“Do you remember how to walk?”

“I’m not so sure…I think I do?”

“Here, hold my hand. I’ll help you.”

Jurina came to stand in front of Rena and held both of her hands while she slowly skated backward to allow her raven-haired Matsui to slowly move forward. The boyish looking watched Rena struggling like a child and she couldn’t get rid of that smile across her face. She kept encouraging Rena and it didn’t take that long until Rena could be able to walk on her own. At least her body still remembered the lessons she took with Jurina.

“Not bad~ you’re getting there Rena-chan!”

“Thanks to you, I’m getting a hand on it.”

“Shall we go a little faster? Here, hold my hand.”

“Don’t bully me okay?”

“Of course I won’t! Trust me.”

She gave Rena a sweet soft smile and held her hand gently before Jurina took her out from the edge of the ring. The shorthaired Matsui adjusted her speed according to Rena’s pace. She made sure that her lovely friend is relaxing while skating. Without both of them realizing, the two little stalkers were watching both of them enjoying their little lovely moment together and was proud that she’s making a move on Rena. They just stayed on the side of the ring and watched both Matsui girls having their lovely moment without interrupting.

“You’re doing good now Rena-chan! Shall we go a little faster?”

“I guess so? Just don’t let go okay…?”

“Of course, I won’t let you go! Never~!”

She replied back energetically and held Rena’s hand tighter. She slowly guided her around the ring while making sure that the raven-haired wouldn’t lose her balance for going too fast. Jurina watched her without blinking and smiled the whole time. She could see Rena was enjoying the breeze brushing against her face and let out a huge smile of enjoyment.

“Ah~ this feels amazing…!”

“Hehe! I’m glad you like it!”

Rena saw her big wide smile and made her heart skipped a beat. The warmth is passed to her from her hand and just captivated her mind. However, she didn’t really question that feeling that bloomed inside her chest. They continued skating until the round is over. Then the next place they headed for karaoke before they dispersed and start heading back home.  It was a long and enjoyable day for everyone and Jurina had her sneak peek at Rena and could see her having that relaxing smile across her face. Obviously it made the shorthaired Matsui smiled with relief and was happy that her love is smiling.

-

Right at the train station, Airi and Akane suddenly just came up with a crazy excuse to make Jurina and Rena go on the train first. It seemed Akane and Airi had to go buy a birthday present for their close friend and so they would take later trains instead. It automatically forced Jurina and Rena to go alone on the crowded train. However, the raven-haired girl felt that they should stick together since she could stay late anyway.

“Are you guys going to be okay? Are you sure you don't want us to accompany you two too?”

“Don’t worry Rena-chan! You need to have a good sleep right? You have training tomorrow!”

“But…”

“We’ll be good! Just go home with Jurina first ok?”

Both Airi and Akane were persisted to make the two Matsui girls go ahead of them. The raven-haired sighed without a choice and went onto the train with Jurina. They gave each other their farewells before they boarded it, and that was when Jurina caught a glimpse of Airi’s wink. That instance she realized that her two friends was trying to create an opportunity for her to be alone with Rena once again. However…things don’t always happen according to the plan. The train was too crowded that both Rena and Jurina were standing against the door.

“Its just so packed…are you okay, Rena-chan?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Don’t worry about me.”

“I hope Airin and Churi won’t get such a crowded train too…?”

“It would be a lot worse after us. So I guess we’re lucky in a way.”

“Hmm…I guess so—Whoa!?”

The train had a surprise turn without the two girls aware of it and the moment of people pushing Jurina from behind made her crashed forward to Rena. Her head literally banged against the glass window behind Rena and at least she managed to push her hand against the door. However, Rena was right in front of her. Her body literally pushed Rena against the door and as she slowly pushed her head away… she realized that their face was just so close to one another. Their eyes grew wide with surprise and they blushed at the same time in sync without realizing it. Rena could feel Jurina’s body pushing against hers and she could feel the warmth emitting out from her body. She could feel her breath against her lips and they didn’t know what to do because it was too crowded…Rena couldn’t move at the slightest and neither Jurina could. However, the shorthaired Matsui broke the silence first and whispered softly to Rena.

“Uh….s-sorry, that I can’t move right now…”

“It’s okay…neither could I.”

“M-Mmm…”

Jurina didn’t want to make Rena uncomfortable, but then the raven-haired girl didn’t mind it since it couldn’t be helped. However, she enjoyed the sound of Jurina’s heartbeat…she could feel it leaning right against her body. She tried to hide the chaos inside her stomach and chest when she thought about the position that the two were in. She actually tried to not think about it but she couldn’t possibly do that…the more she tried to ignore the more she couldn’t refuse the turbulence that kept on going inside her endlessly.

-

Even it was a short while on the train, it was insanely endless for both of them. A second being in that awkward position felt like forever. The moment the door was about to open, Jurina pulled Rena in towards her to make sure she wouldn’t fall on her back when the door opened. Loads of people would be squeezing themselves out through the tiny little door. After the huge load of people went out, Jurina and Rena followed right after them and were finally freed from the crowd. They could see that the sun was about to set soon and decided to head back home before they would worry their families.

“I’m glad I came out with you guys today, I enjoyed it a lot.”

Rena spoke up and Jurina could obviously tell. She had been observed the raven-haired girl the entire time, for countless of years they were together. Jurina could tell whenever Rena was upset, angry, happy, or excited. She would be the only one to know everything that’s going on inside the raven-haired’s mind. The shorthaired Matsui only nodded firmly with a big energetic smile across her face.

“Me too! I’m happy that you’re able to come out with us. It’s good to relax once in a while during your hard training months.”

“Yeah…it’s all thanks to you. Jurina, I wonder what would I do without you beside helping me like this.”

“Aw Rena-chan~! You’re just being too sweet!”

“I mean it though!”

“Rena-chan…?”

“I’m really naïve with a lot of things people find it as a common knowledge…you know that. I always think that just know and understand kendo is more than enough, but things doesn’t work that way.”

“…”

“But with you always there to cheer me up I feel like I have the courage to challenge myself in many things…I’m able to come this far because of your help. I wouldn’t have such a wonderful day like this if it wasn’t for you.”

Rena spoke up softly and left a deeply touching speech to her. It made Jurina’s heart skipped with how much her love flattered her. Comparing to the past, the current Rena knew a lot more of things than her past self. She used to be way naïve than this, but she would always be naïve with Jurina’s romantic love towards her.  The puppy face Matsui couldn’t help but to pat Rena’s head gently and caught her attention.

“I promise didn’t I? That I will always be by your side no matter what, and I will always be.”

“Jurina…thank you for everything. You’re the only one I could trust and lean onto at times I needed help.”

“I’ll be there even though you don’t need one!”

“Hehe, I know you will, silly.”

Time flew by so fast when they were enjoying each other’s accompany. This was the first time Jurina actually heard Rena’s actual thoughts towards her like this and never thought that she would feel that way. It gave such warmth to her heart and she couldn’t hold back her smile at all. By the time they were done with their emotional conversation, they have arrived at Rena’s place first.

“Then…I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

“Yeah, have a good dinner, bath, and sleep!”

“Don’t worry I will.”

Jurina watched Rena walked back into her house but then a feeling inside her guts made her stop the raven haired before she wouldn’t hear her call. She did receive a lot of push and encouragements from Airi and Akane who tried to push those two together. Since the two of their friends gave them the chance to be together…Jurina decided to take the risk and just speak it out. She called her out and with utterly nervous inside her guts.

“R-Rena-chan!”

“…Hm? What’s a matter Jurina?”

“…”

“Jurina?”

“Rena-chan! Won’t you be my girlfriend?”

Jurina popped the question and Rena froze at that instant. Despite she heard it so many times…but this time it’s different. Usually she wouldn’t feel anything. She knew that Jurina was just being the typical Jurina, but she couldn’t get rid of this weird breathtaking feeling that’s consuming her. She looked back into Jurina’s eyes and felt a tinge of seriousness behind those lively eyes. She froze at that spot and is not responding to anything, eventually it made Jurina slightly worried about her.

“…”

“Rena-chan…?”

“…”

“Uh, Rena-chan?”

“…”

“Rena-chan?? Could you hear me?”

Rena snapped back to reality realizing that Jurina had been calling her so many times. She blushed instantly and just suddenly had the urge to rush into her house. She felt like wanting to run away from that situation as quickly as possible. She didn’t turn back to look at Jurina and just left the poor puppy girl dumbfounded in front of her house.

“I-I’m sorry!!”

~BAMM!!~

She apologized and slammed her door hard. Jurina was left in confusion for the very first time…and she thought that Rena would be giving her usual response. She reacted differently than usual and it seemed as if she was nervous or embarrassed. Jurina wasn’t sure what was going on but she knew that she’s making some sort of change. She started having hope once again that her naïve Rena-chan would start to realize her romantic feelings. Since there’s nothing that she could do, Jurina headed back home for now.

…On another hand, the raven-haired Matsu was leaning against the door and she felt her heart beating hard against her ribs. She felt like tons of butterflies were roaming inside her stomach and had this weird aching pain in her chest. She could feel the heat rushing up her cheeks and she tried to calm herself down.

“W-Wha…why am I panicking? Ah…this feeling…uh…”

The feelings she was experiencing was so complicated that she couldn’t understand it at the slightest. She never had these feelings towards anyone before and let alone Jurina. However, she couldn’t run away from these feelings when Jurina asked her out…it felt as if her heart would burst out from her chest. She decided to dip herself in the hot bath to cool her mind down and at least it calmed her nerve down.

“Rena-chan, it’s time for dinner!”

“Y-Yes! I’ll be there mom!”

Despite of all the efforts she tried to understand this crazy feeling blooming inside her chest, she couldn’t come down to any conclusion at all aside from the fact that she used to have this feeling before. It only happened when she was about to be competing in a big match…it's a feeling of extreme anxiousness. However, she still didn’t understand why she was having this insane nerve wrecking feeling like this when there’s nothing to be nervous about at all…


~XXX~


“Rena-chan, are you okay? You seemed to be anxious.”

“It’s nothing much…I just have several things to think?”

The next morning, Rena had been wondering what was that mysterious feeling she felt yesterday. She couldn’t help but to be curious despite she didn’t have that feeling anymore. Her mother sighed softly and tried to figure something out that could make her beloved daughter smile again, and obviously using her favorite food is the best choice.

“Just make sure you don’t stress out too much dear. It’s best to be at your best shape before the big competition since you always have that crazily anxious feeling before matches. How about this? I’ll go buy melon pan for tonight’s snack?”

“Eh~ that will be awesome mom!”

Rena became cheerful once again after her mother mentioned her favorite ‘melon pan’. It made the older lady smiled with relief to see the bright expression on her daughter’s face once again and it was about time for Rena to depart to go to school.

“I’ll be leaving now! See you later mom!”

“Have a good day sweetie.”

Rena wore her shoes and left the house with a good mood. However, she didn’t expect this one person to be waiting in front of her house at this early morning. That shorthaired Matsui friend of hers waited for her out of blue, and Rena didn’t expected it at the slightest. They made an eye contact with each other and Rena suddenly felt her heart skipping again…she flinched back slightly before she could’ve said anything to her. However, she wasn’t as nervous as yesterday. She wasn’t panicking over this unknown feeling unlike yesterday.

“Morning Rena-chan! Let’s go to school together!”

“You’re up pretty early today…?”

“I had a morning run, it always good to keep yourself healthy every now and then~ shall we get moving?”

“Y-Yeah!”

Rena quickly closed the door and the gated before she left with Jurina. It was as if nothing happened yesterday and Jurina was in her usual cheerful mood as always. She told her about Airi and Akane sending loads of complaining texts regarding how packed the train was. Rena just kept listening to what her friend despite her mind was gradually drifting off. Time sure flew by so fast when she’s just with Jurina, by the time she realized it again they already arrived at school.

“Ah right…by the way are you free right after school? Like, today.”

“Today? Well…not exactly, I have to go somewhere.”

“Oh okay, then that’s alright.”

“What’s wrong? What did you want to do?”

“Just…I think you could come to the dojo again?”

“Ahh, I rather not…the competition would be in 2 weeks. I think I shouldn’t be there to keep interrupting you guys.”

“…You do have a point. I’m sorry that I’m not thinking that straight.”

“Don’t worry! Let’s get going to class before we’re going to be late!”

The day went on in its daily routine. Every one sitting in their seat and writing notes down from the board onto their respective notebooks. Having a short small break before their school days continued until lunch period. Rena was still thinking about that anxious feeling inside her chest and she couldn’t get rid of it, and that was when she decided to pay a visit to one of her friends that was in a few rooms down the corridor.

“I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just…going to meet with Yukirin.”

Rena left her friends and Jurina could feel that her raven-haired friend wasn’t at her best condition. It seemed she had something in mind and she couldn’t possibly share with them? Airi and Akane wondered what’s wrong with Rena and Jurina couldn’t give them an answer. However that was when the two girls started to interrogate Jurina about their moments after they separated. Part of Matsui felt that Rena should’ve left her behind with these two nosy girls that wanted to know every single detail about her progression.

“How did it went!? Did you make a move??”

“Uh…I think? I stupidly popped the question again. I didn’t really think that straight at that moment…”

“What’s her reaction?”

“She apologized and then ran away.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah?”

Airi and Akane giggled softly and Jurina wasn’t sure what those two were thinking. However, they loved the respond that Rena had and kept interrogate for all the physical hints that the naïve raven-haired could possibly gave out. The shorthaired Matsui did her best to give an explanation and it seemed to satisfy the two of them even more.

“Good job Jurina~ push harder!”

“Uh…okay? I’ll try?”

“You need to make her realize your feelings!”

“But guys…she’s having a competition coming up. I don’t think this is the right time to just make her confuse. She needs to focus.”

“Wah~ you’ll be a good girlfriend to Rena. Since she have someone so understandable and sweet like you to look after her.”

“O-Oi! Cut the crap out!”

Jurina blushed with the compliment that two of her friends gave. Just hearing people saying she is Rena’s girlfriend made her embarrassed and nervous. Airi and Akane couldn’t help but to tease Jurina even more as they made used of the time very efficiently while Rena was still away. Despite it would be Jurina’s dream to be in a romantic relationship with her childhood friend…she would still want to prioritize Rena’s feelings above herself. She would love to be with Rena, if she shared the same interest and feelings as her.

-

Rena finally arrived at Yuki’s classroom and she saw her sitting with her friends. She went it without further ado and that was when she caught her team captain’s attention. They had an eye contact and Yuki realized that Rena had something she wanted to talk to her. She slowly got up and turned to her classmates.

“Sorry guys, I’ll be right back, maybe?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I forgot that Rena-chan and I have something to talk about our Annual P48 Championship.”

“Ah okay! Take your time!”

Yuki lied with such a poker face and the two raven-haired ladies went up to the roof deck to have a private talk with each other. The moment Rena came in to see her she felt like she had something she wanted to talk to her about and wondered what could it be about. She could tell that something was on her best friend’s mind very easily, since Rena isn’t a good liar like her.

“So…what’s wrong Rena-chan?”

“Well…I’m quite nervous since yesterday…and I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Is it about the competition?”

“I don’t know…I think so? I think it is.”

“…Don’t worry about it Rena-chan, you’re strong. We prepared for this together didn’t we?”

“Yeah, but still—”

“—it is hard to shake off that feeling, right?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“I was thinking of trying something nice and relaxing today. We need to release those stress and tensions we have. It’s not good to push yourself too hard and just make you stressed out even more.”

“…Hehe, you’re just amazing Yukirin. Just by talking to you calms me down so much. As expected from our team captain…you’re the best, do you know that?”

“Aw! That’s so sweet of you Rena-chan. You’re flattering me too much!”

Yuki giggled and ruffled her head with hint of embarrassment. Sometimes she isn’t good with accepting compliments from sincere people like Rena, but it made her much happier than receiving any other normal comments. She knew that her best friend was speaking the truth without trying to impress her or anything, and that’s why she could trust Rena completely without doubts.

“I trust you, Rena-chan, and I trust everyone in our team. Let’s do our best, without regrets. Okay?”

“Hai, taisho*!”
(Taisho* = captain)

“H-Hey! Cut it out! It’s kind of weird to hear that from you. Yuko-chan, you, and I have the same rank though!”

“Speaking from someone who skipped the previous grading examination. You could’ve become a shodan* if you didn’t skip it!”
(shodan* = 1st Dan / 1st level black belt)

“Oh, whatever~ I just want to be shodan* when I’m in my senior year, not now. ”

Yuki just shrugged it off and it made both of them laughed together. It seemed their little talk had calmed Rena’s anxiousness down and she was able to focus on the upcoming training and competition once again. She smiled with contentment to have Yuki as their team captain…with their current team, she believed that Kashiwagi would be the most suitable team captain. Rena was not sure what it was but she’s certain that Kashiwagi had this special ‘something’ that made everyone united under her presence. How coincidently the bell rang and it was about time they have to head back to their class. They headed back together and returned back respective classroom until the end of their school day.

-

“Ok, competitors for Annual Championship! Gather up here!”

Takahashi called everyone up together after every team members gathered up at the gym. Today was one of the days that the AKC has a regular training, which means that all current members of AKC and beginners came for their usual training session. Only Sashihara didn’t join because she was leading the regular training, and she’s likely to hear this information brief for over countless times from Takahashi-sensei. 

“Your team captain has something to tell you guys.”

She passed the talking to Yuki instead and then she turned to all her team members with a friendly positive smile across her face. The competition would be in two weeks from now and it would be crucial to maintain a proper diet and nutrients to keep the members healthy. All those little details were things that she kept reminding them.

“Guys, let’s do our best. Let the hard training we did show its results out on our match…and we will win. I believe our team is awesome so let us kick some asses out there!”

“Haha! What a badass team captain~ Let me join the fun too Yukirin.”

Yuko laughed out loud and tightened her fist with excitement. Other team member’s spirit was built up and Rena could feel a lot of encouragement and motivation given from Yuki. That was when Takamina and Yuki made sure everyone take care of herself and do their respective shinai maintenance before the competition day. Soon after they finished the preparation talk, Yuki moved on to telling the plan to everyone about the training today.

“It would be our fun training today~ I made sure that everyone will have a good sleep tonight so… Sasshi~ we’re going to start now!”

“Oh? Okay~”

Sashihara turned to the members and only the current ones went to wear their men armor while the beginners stepped aside to watch the rare training that would happen once a year. That was when the members realized what Yuki was referring and they knew that they’d be gone after the training is done. 

“Guys, men o tsuke*, and make your line~ Takahashi-sensei, you’re joining us right?”
(men o tsuke* = put on your men)

“Obviously, I won’t miss the fun.”

The members watched their teacher skipped away with a smile and sighed with anxiousness. Only Ikoma didn’t know what was going on but other members that were here last year would obviously know what was going on.

“Oh dear, this is going to be tough…”

Rena sighed softly, but Yuko and Sayaka seemed to be excited to get to spar with their teacher when she’s trying to bash them into a pile of meat. They hurried to the line and wear their men on to get ready for the tough day today. Ikoma seemed to be puzzled and that was when Rena went to her side and told her what would be happening. She felt slightly bad for her but nothing could be done…it is a good experience in a way. She told her that each member that would go to the Annual Competition would make their own line while other non-competitors would be sparring with them. It would be a sanbon-shoubu* match for every single partner. They needed to fight until they could score the point.
(sanbon-shoubu* = 3 points match)
[/i]

“Uh…so when would it end?”

“Through out the whole training.”

“E-Eh!? Two hours of sanbon-shoubu!?”

“That’s why Yukirin said… we’re going to have a good sleep tonight.”

“Ahh…this is scary…”

“Don’t worry, it is a good experience. You might enjoy it like Yuko-chan and Sayaka…maybe? Let’s go put on our men on.”

“Hai, senpai.”

They went to the line and quickly wore their men as others were waiting for them. With a total of six members forming their own row, other non-competitors stood in front of them in a line before the match would start. Takamina came out quickly and she was already in her gi-hakama and the only armor she wasn’t wearing was her men gear.

“Okay guys, here we start! 2 hours sanbon-shoubu! HAJIME!”

She called for the start and the first match of each line and the match began…only thing that people could hear were clashes of swords and powerful kiai echoing in the dojo. All the non-competitors had a chance to fight with all members but there is no such thing as break time for the competitors. It’s a long continuous match with every single member in AKC. The young member dove in and tried to aim for the men but he was too slow. Yuko deflected his sword and slashed through his torso from the right. It’s a loud clear and clean cut for kendoka Oshima.

“DOOOOOUUUU!!!!!!!”

~BAAAAAAMMM~

“Ahh! That’s Oshima-san’s signature men-kaeshi-dou*!”
(men-kaeshi-dou* = block and counter men strike with dou strike)

The fellow juniors were excited to watch their senior fight seriously like this. It’s not that easy to be able to fight with your own senior seriously because they’re not under the pressure of ‘MUST WIN’. This would be the only time they could get close to a feeling that they’re actually competing against their fellow seniors.

“MEEEEEEEENNNN!!!!!”

~BAAAAAAMMM~

Another row struck a loud clean cut and that was kendoka Yamamoto. The juniors watched in awe with how fast she and powerful her cuts were, her style was very similar to Oshima. She had won her match and another player came in line. She murmured to herself softly and had a smile across her face.

“Here we go…the 7th wins!”

Yuko and Sayaka literally won every single match with 2-0, which was a clean win to the two of them. Despite they fought powerfully and swiftly in a flash, their stamina had not dropped yet…they’re still waiting until Takahashi-sensei would come into their line to obliterate them into a lump of meat. However, they suddenly heard that familiar kiai* from another row…which was on Ikoma’s row. It seemed the Red Ogre of Akiba had joined the sparring. It’s so easy to tell that Takahashi-sensei was being very softy and lenient on Ikoma, however, she still looked brutal. She didn’t let her run through and she only kept pushing the young girl until she’s cornered against the wall of the dojo. Even though her nickname is ‘midget’, her kendo battle style was no different from an erupting volcano. Her spirit would burn her opponent down as well as crushing them. Only thing she did was doing swift combo cuts on Ikoma while she was cornered against the wall. She was utterly helpless on what to do until Yuki yelled out loud to cheer for her teammate.

“Ikoma! FAITO!!!!!”

After her yell, other members started to cheer for Ikoma who was being bullied and smashed by Takahashi-sensei. All non-competitors started to cheer for her as well as the competitors who were focusing on their respective match.

“Faito! Faito!! Ikoma-chan!!!”

“Ikoma-chan!!!”

“C’mon you can do it Ikoma!”

That allowed the young helpless girl pushed back against her teacher and struggled to strike back. She didn’t know what to do but she had to do something. She needed to do something to get out from here. That’s when she realized that she needed to win against her teacher if she wanted the match to be over. She dashed in forward right after she pushed Takahashi away and went in for that straight men cut.

“MEEEEEEEENNNNNNNN!!!!!”

~BAAAAAM!!~

It gave a nice pop sound and she crashed straight into Takahashi who ran back so to allow Ikoma to do her follow up zanshin* through. That was when the teacher nodded and patted her head. She let Ikoma won the match and she was dreadfully drained from those 2 minutes against Takahashi-sensei.   
(Zanshin* = remaining spirit after the cut is executed.)

“Good job, remember that feeling, Ikoma-chan.”

“H-Hai sensei!”

The minutes continued…even though Ikoma was dreadfully tired, she wasn’t allowed to stop until the training session was over. The non-competitors were starting to get some sore legs and arms despite they’re not on consecutive sanbon-shoubu* for two hours straight. Then suddenly an unexpected guest had arrived at the dojo that was so loud and filled with spirit. She took off her shoes and dragged her bogu bag onto the dojo floor, and that caught the young member’s attention.

“’A-Ah! Maeda-senpai!”

“Hi everyone~ It’s been a while isn’t? Where’s Takamina?”

“Takahashi-sensei is in the line waiting to fight with Sayaka-senpai.”

“Ah I see, I guess I’ll get change.”

She went to the changing room as she put her bogu bag onto the side so that it wasn’t blocking anyone’s path. That made everyone excited that they would get to see Maeda Atsuko’s kendo skills. She’s one of the rare returning members of AKC. She had been busy with her job and so she barely have time to drop by during the training hours. However, today was one of the days she wouldn’t want to miss this chance, as she wanted to see how everyone improved since last year. She changed pretty quickly and wore her armor immediately. She smiled with this familiar stinky sweaty scent engulfing the whole dojo and she still have that old zekken showing that she’s affiliated to Akiba Kendo Club.

“Hm~ Let’s see who should I warm up with? Ah! There’s a new girl here too? Ikoma-chan hmm…? I guess I’ll warm up with Sasshi first.”

She went in line and thankfully there weren’t a lot of people. After Sashihara finished her opponent in less than 30 seconds, she saw her next opponent walked towards her. The name of the zekken made her slightly surprised and realized that her senpai finally arrived. They bowed in and then Atsuko approached her young junior.

“Is that alright if I do a round of kiri-kaeshi, and then we do sanbon-shoubu?”

“Hai.”

The beginners and young juniors watched the old member did her relaxing warm up before the real intense match. Then suddenly, Maeda smiled and then bowed her head to her in order to ask for permission for a condition during their sparring.

Tsuki*, ok?”
(tsuki* = thrust to the neck)

“Ah…Hai.”

“Onegaishimasu~”

They bowed in and then finally started their match. Without further ado, Atsuko thrust her sword in to stab at Sashihara’s neck but then she quickly deflected out to counter her with a men strike…but then she saw that coming and just charged against Sasshi so they would be in tsubazeriai*. They made a very powerful opening for their match and Maeda was impressed with how much Sashihara improved in a year. 
(Tsubazeriai* = hand guard fighting area)

“Eh~ Good…I’ll get serious, Sasshi!”

“I will too…Maeda-senpai.”

They shared their short moment before they both stepped away into a distance away from one another. Then suddenly she kiai loudly that it made everyone stunned except Takahashi-senpai. That signature kiai that only belonged with Maeda Atsuko made her realized that she finally had arrived to the dojo again. She leaped in and her men cut was so fast, but then Rino closed the distance by crashing against her and both felt like they just ran into a brick wall. Sashihara yelled like a banshee back as her fighting response. Without further ado, Maeda pushed her away to leap backward in order to do a backward cut at the torso.

“DOOOOOOOUUUU!!! / TSUUUKIIIIIII!!!!!!!!”

~BAMMMM!!!!! / THUDD!~

That was a loud crack on the dou but then it didn’t make Sashihara stop at the slightest. She slid her right hand away from the handle and thrust forward with her left hand gripping on the end of the handle to extend her strike. Everything looked as if it happened within a blink of a second. Both of them clashed with pure confidence in their strike and both strikes were powerful enough to be scored. Atsuko didn’t see that coming and was pushed back with that powerful tsuki on her and Sashihara immediately pulled her shinai back into her hand. She immediately backed off with a zanshin, ready for the next clashing second against her senior. Everyone watched in shock and realized how the two strikes would be counted as a score…Maeda was about to award that to Sashihara but then she refused, because the dou strike was more than powerful enough to be awarded too.

“No, that’s not good enough. I will not lose to you Acchan!”

“That’s what I like! Bring it Sasshi!”

-

Atsuko and Takamina surely enjoyed their fights with their little juniors and get to bash them up even more. As time passed by they realized they needed to get more serious or else they wouldn’t be able to win. The more serious they were the more it showed how much their little juniors had grown up. However, Atsuko didn’t seem to show any mercy to anyone except the new member, Ikoma. After she enjoyed bashing everyone up, she started giving out more openings for them to try to strike and score the point.

“Guys! This is your last match, show what you’ve got!”

“Hai!!”

Takahashi-senpai yelled out loud and caught the competitors’ attention. Yuko dashed in immediately towards her opponent and swiftly strike the right wrist before her opponent could react to anything. She finally won her last match and she’s deadly exhausted. She could feel her body aching and then she could hear loud clashes from another row away from her. Despite it’s almost two hours, the fierceness of that match didn’t drop at the slightest.

“TSUUKIIIIII!!!!!! / TSUUKIIIIII!!!!!!”

Both thrusts missed and grazed passed the side of their necks as they missed their target at the same time. Both of them held their center strongly and made both strikes deflected from one another. They went into hand guard distance and Kashiwagi suddenly leaped back and flicked her shinai down to aim at her opponent’s head. However, her senior realized that hit coming and so she deflected it out. In a blink of second, she leaped in and thrust her sword with both hands towards the target.

“TSUKIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!”

~THUDDDD~

Kashiwagi got pushed back but she managed to regain her balance, however Maeda didn’t hold back and she leaped in one more time to do one-handed thrust right at her throat.

“TSUUKIIIIIIIII!!!”

That ridiculous momentum made her fell back onto her bum immediately. However she got up immediately but she wasn’t fast enough since Atsuko flicked her wrist to strike the head while Yuki was still lying on her back. She tried to block it but then her senior hit her right wrist when there was an opening. She showed no mercy on her junior and another young kendo players froze with fear and shock.

“KOTE!! MEN! DOU!! MEN!!! KOTE!! KOTE! KOTE! DOU! MEN!! TSUKI! TSUKI!!”

However, Yuki got up while ignoring the fact that she’s being bashed down onto the floor. She controlled the center once again before she ran in to strike for a men, but that was just too naïve of her to underestimate her senpai. Atsuko smacked the sword out from Kashiwagi’s hand and then swiftly get the score on the men.

“C’mon Yukirin! Faito! Faito!!”

“You can do it Taisho!!! C’mon Yuki!!”

Yuko cheered for her team captain that was fighting and finally they were having a distance apart…it was a calm before a storm. The young junior was panting after her short battle with her demonic senior…she dashed in for the head again but Atsuko knew that was coming, she planned to disarm her for good but then the direction of the sword changed. It curved down from the right and slashed onto her torso.

“DOOOOOU!!!!”

~BAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!~

Yuki still dashed forward and crashed into Atsuko with full force. It made her lost her balance and had to jump away from Kashiwagi as the junior stole her position. That made the senior smiled and awarded that strike to her without any doubts. That was the end of her match and she was dreadfully tired. Finally the two hours finished and every single member was dead on the floor except Sashihara and Yuki. Their stamina was ridiculous like a beast. They were exhausted but they’re not at the very of death yet. As Maeda and Takahashi went for a round with every single member, obviously they obliterated everyone… literally every competitors. Everyone had taken their men armor off and had a long relaxing break for chitchatting and feedbacks. Sayaka and Yuko were talking about how many matches they won today and it seemed Oshima-senpai had more wins by two matches.

“Dammit! I won’t lose next time Yuko-chan!”

“Bring it on Sayanee!”

Atsuko went to Yuki’s side and gave her a tap on the shoulder with much proudness in her heart. She was excited that her cute favorite kouhai was able to use her signature strike, katate-tsuki, with that kind of power. She was proud that she taught that technique to captain Kashiwagi back in those days when she’s still busy in AKC.

“Yukirin! Your katate-tsuki* is amazing! As expected from my cute kouhai~”

“No one could beat your tsuki though, senpai…I could even remember that feeling right now…Gah.”

“Aw, oops, maybe I just let my stress out a little?”

“That’s not little at all Acchan!!”

Yuko went up to her and sighed with how painful the tsuki thrust that Maeda did on Yuki, Rena, Sashihara, and herself. For every single one of them, she literally thrust them powerful onto the wall, following up with continuous men strikes and more thrusting strikes until they find a way to break off…It was as expected as the Blue Ogre of Akiba. Also, Maeda gave them advices that could be a great tip to their fighting, but generally she didn’t advice what to improve. It’s more about what they should focus during their match.

“Okay! So everyone…that’s a very tiring day! We die in training but at the competition…we will be a boss and kick everyone’s ass!”

“Yeah!!”

Yuki gave her last speech before they decided to head back home. They would be no more extra training and only just regular training next week. They would do normal exercises with everyone to cool themselves down. As they were packing their stuffs, Atsuko went to see her junior and had a little last chat with her.

“By the way…that last cut…who taught you to do that gyaku-dou*? That timing, power, and that zanshin…that’s definitely not something that someone in Akiba kendo club taught you, right?”
(gyaku-dou* = reverse dou strike, a strike on the left side of opponent’s torso, as usually its on the right side.)

“Ah…yeah, a good friend of mine from the dojo I used to train taught that to me.”

“She must be really good! I wish I could have a fight with her!”

“Maybe some day, senpai.”

They all headed back home together as Takahashi and Atsuko offered to drop them at their house instead. Yuko, Yuki, and Sayaka went with Takamina while Ikoma and Rena went with Maeda. They took their bogu and shinai back home to clean it up before the important competition. As soon as Rena arrived back home, she just wanted to take a shower immediately. She was more than thankful that her mother already prepared her bath for her and allowed her muscles to relax in the hot tub. She had a very relaxing and casual family time. After her shower she had her dinner with everyone, and then enjoying her melon pan in front of the TV show with her parents. After this day, it would be her recovery day until the competition. She didn’t forget to dry out her bogu and kept her shinai in the bathroom in order to keep it moist in the steam. She lied down in bed and felt that she could fall asleep anytime…she’s dreadfully tired from today, but she enjoyed every second of it. However, before she had the change to fall asleep…the cellphone in her hand vibrated and it was a call from Jurina. She picked it up immediately with surprise and contentment inside her chest.

[Evening, Rena-chan! I hope you’re not sleeping yet?]

“Not at all, how are you?”

[I’m good~ I heard from Yukirin you had that 2 hours sanbon-shoubu? Maeda-san came too didn’t she?]

“Yeah we did, and she came to obliterate us into a pile of meat.”

[Aw! I missed my chance to meet with her! It’s been a while. I wonder how’s she doing.]

“I guess she’s busy as usual, with her job that is.”

[Anyways, I want to tell you…stay healthy, have a fresh positive mind, and I wish for the best for you!!]

“Aw…thank you Jurina.”

[You must be tired, I shouldn’t be bothering you anymore. Good night Rena-chan!]

“Good night Jurina, see you tomorrow.”

[Yup! Sweet dreams! Love you~]

She blushed softly and smiled with happiness. Those words that Jurina spoke her to warmed up her heart and she felt so relaxed and comforted. Those words didn’t seem to surprise her at the slightest as if she knew that her childhood friend cared a lot about her. Jurina didn’t hang up her call yet and Rena finally gave her respond to her.

“Sweet dreams to you too…and me too.”

She hung up the call first and smiled with contentment. She was happy that she’s able to talk with Jurina before she went to bed. Rena decided to go to bed early since she needed to wake up tomorrow for school. She knew that she would have a terrible sore and made sure she applied some cream before hitting the bed. She hugged her little side pillow and smiled to herself quietly…as she had a great feeling that she would have a very good sleep tonight.


~XXX~


Meanwhile, Jurina was still holding her phone at the balcony after Rena hung up on her. She was blushing and felt her heart bursting out from her chest. She wondered whether Rena actually said that she loved her too? Ever since that day they went out for ice-skating, Rena seemed to be different somehow. But in the back of her mind, she felt that Rena wouldn’t be interested in having a romantic affection to anyone. She doubt that her friend would even realize that if she ever have one… Out of blue, her phone rang out loud and disturbed her little daydreaming moments.

“Hi, what’s a matter?”

[Hi Jurina! Just want to check on how are you feeling now?]

“Well…I’m pretty okay, I think my body still remembers how to do many things.”

[Ah, I’m glad that it is with you. I’ll pick you up tomorrow as usual.]

“That will be great though, thank you.”

[Don’t worry! We’ve prepared all the documents already so…just make sure you’re at your top shape. We’re worried about your…yeah.]

“Don’t worry about me…I’ll be fine. It’s getting better than before and I just need to be careful.”

[Just don't push yourself, and good night.]

“Thank you, good night.”

She hung up the call and Jurina only sighed softly. It seemed that call had ruined her lovely fantasy since it pulled her back to the reality. She looked up into the sky worrying about the inevitable future, as Jurina knew what was going to happen. It seemed that it’s still worrying her despite she made her decision already. She had a lot of things to think about, but the day would come in much faster than what Jurina expected…two weeks would feel like nothing to everyone when they’re all occupied with their own problems and duties to deal with.

Time flew by so fast that by the time they realized it again…tomorrow would be when the day that P48 Annual Championship would begin, and the day that the martial arts category would be competing. Obviously, Kendo is one of them. All kendo members of Akiba headed to bed earlier than usual as they had a plan to meet in front of their school before they all headed together to Nippon Budokan…. They met up at 5am in front of the gate and the members that arrived earlier were full on covered to protect themselves from the incoming morning winter. They were all also wearing their team jacket as well. Everyone had arrived except for Rena and Sashihara, and Yuko seemed to be a little impatient. Mayu also came with them since she was invited by Takahashi-sensei to come watch the kendo matches with her.

“Damn! Sasshi is always slow!”

“Don’t worry, Rena-chan texted me that she would check on Sasshi for us. We still have to wait for Takahashi-sensei to get the van to pick us up.”

Yuki leaned against the wall of the school with such a calm expression, as if she wasn’t so nervous about this competition at all. Yuko, Sayaka, and Ikoma showed signs of restlessness and nervousness. It would be weird that they wouldn’t have this feeling since it's a big competition after all. After waiting for a while, it had been 10 minutes past 5 and it made others wondered where were the other two members and their kendo instructor.

“Where is sensei and others? Aren’t they taking too much time?”

“Don’t worry Yuko. We’ll arrive at the Budokan before time.”

“But—!”

Then suddenly, they could hear the sound of the van coming towards their direction and they knew immediately that it was Takamina that came.  It was as Yuki said and then she grabbed her stuffs while the little freshmen walked by her side to load their stuffs onto the back of the van. The moment everyone was done loading their bags, they jumped into the van and spotted the other two members that were waiting for them. Obviously they were surprised since its Sashihara and Rena, the two members that were running late. Yuko couldn’t help but to start yelling at the two of them because they were making everyone in the team worried about them.

“Oi! You guys are late!”

“Ah~ I bet Takahashi-sensei picked you guys up right?”

Yuki entered right after Yuko and seemed to predict that this could happen. It was as she thought after all. Takamina got a call from Rena to pick them up at Sashihara’s place since they wouldn’t make it in time if they walked from her home to Akiba High School.  So that was why Takamina was running late to pick up the other members. Sashihara was not a morning person and so she had her pillow so she could sleep in the car before they headed off to Nippon Budokan. The team captain didn’t say a word and allowed her members to prepare their own mindset before they’re going to compete. Rena just looked out through the window of the van and remained in silence just like what everyone was doing…and no one uttered a single word through out the whole ride, not even Takamina. Everyone needed this precious moment to mentally preparing themselves for the battlefield that awaited for all of them.

-
-

~END PART 3~
« Last Edit: June 26, 2015, 09:17:39 AM by katekyohit »

Offline kuro_black29

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  • (´∀`)♡ WmatsuixMayuki (Blackdawnindisguise)
That sure was interesting "thumbs up
Waiting for the battlefied moment~
Haha..acchan sure are scary~
who taught yuki the movement??..mayu??
Whoaaa..rena...finally aware a bit her feelings~
Jurina has an illness??..nooooooo~

Waiting for next~ :on drink:
Thanks for the update katekyohit san~ 'salute
Live in the land of mist..nahh just kidding..
Live in the land of Wmatsui and Mayuki...
World of fantasy..World of Lalaland~

            (っ´▽`)っWmatsui~Mayuki ♡ (。’∀’。)

Tend to forget things but not mah fav author and fics

Offline gek geki

  • 松井玲奈 松井玲奈 松井玲奈 松井玲奈
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  • 松井玲奈 looooooooooooooove~
What happen to jurina left hand?

Offline Raizel

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That was epic.. :on GJ:
What is those call for Jurina? What is the offer about? Oh so many mysteries..  :dunno:
Is jurina some kind of assasin? Is she going somewhere far?  :err:
Oh my god those wmatsui moment.. In the train.. :on bleed:
Kate-san, Where is Rena's part when they do the shanbon-shoubu?  :fainted:
Waiting for the next update..  :kneelbow:

Offline purnamazaki

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Eeehhhh .. What happen to jurina ?? Still waiting for update . Thanks author-san

Offline junrena

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update please  :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

 :deco: :deco: :deco: :deco:

Offline katekyohit

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  • My heart beats for Yukirin <3
Replies:


kuro_black29: The stabbing move is taught by acchan to Yuki. Jurina having an illness or not…we’ll see soon~ We should know in part 5. Thank you for waiting the update! :)

gek geki: Haha, about Jurina’s left hand, we’ll see soon in part 5 when the real fight happens. :P

Raizel: I’m glad you enjoy this! The offers and things happening in Jurina’s life is showed in the end of Part 4.2 :P That’s one heck of a hint. Oh I ddin’t write Rena’s training scene, she has a biggest role in part 5 (team competition), not the individuals.

purnamazaki: I’m glad you enjoy the fanfic! I hope the update satisfies you.

junrena: Here’s the update :) Hope you enjoy it.









PS. Hi guys, thank you for those who waited for the update patiently :) I just finished with my exams and so I'm free as a bird! I decided to separate into two parts for quite a number of reasons. I'll reveal why at the end of part 4.2  :deco: I should be done really soon since I'm free now, but I still have several things to do. I hope you'll enjoy this first half for now! It is rather difficult to convey a kendo fighting scene without you all know how it does look like. Also, its hard to understand why female kendo players yell like a banshee if you never heard of one before.

The competition format: Final of 16th World Kendo Championship Women Individuals 
[Start at 2:00]

Maybe it could help with some visual imaging? and...

About 1:30 minutes long, of a banshee scream and fighting  :thumbup


Hope these links will help!! :)









Love is a Battlefield
~Pairing: WMatsui~

~Part 4.1~
Silence before the Storm

-


Takamina and Mayu went to look at the draws while the Akiba kendo competitors went to their assigned station. They could see other members starting to arrive at the stadium, as well as other early head players that were already warming themselves up for the competition. The team captain gathered everyone and told the competitors to go get change and be ready. They still needed to do competitor and shinai registration before the competition. It’s the usual regulation to do shinai registration in a big official competition to ensure proper length and weight of the equipment.

“Do whatever warm-ups you needed to do warm yourself up.”

“Hai!”

Everyone went to change while Takamina took Mayu to check on the details that the competitors needed to know. After everyone was done changing, they got into their armor and started doing their own stretching and warm ups. They had a lot of things to do as they needed to register that they’re here at the competition as well as doing their shinai registration to see whether its allowed to be used or not. After all of that was done, everyone gathered and did there group warm up together leaded by captain Kashiwagi. They continued with couple exercise to prep and warm them up enough for their matches. The first one off would be the Kyu individuals, which would be everyone except Sasshi. Today would consist of only individual matches, while tomorrow would be a team match, which was the highlight of the whole championship. 

“Everyone, make sure you’re focusing on yourself. We might end up meet each other in further matches. However, don’t forget, this is your win, your game, your lose. All good?”

“Yes!”

Everyone replied in unison back to the team captain before she told everyone to do her own thing to be at her best shape. For example, Yuko would always wander around the place before the competition to create a perfect mindset for the fight.  For Sayaka, she went to do her own suburi* and warm up to shake off the tension in her mind and body. Sashihara, she simply wandered off somewhere and no one knew where she went. However, they weren’t concern of it because Sasshi knew what she was doing. Lastly, Rena, she was actually with Ikoma helping to calm and encourage her to fight with all she got. They trained hard for it, and no matter what they need to go out confidently without any fear.
(suburi = practice-swinging)

“It will be okay Ikoma-chan, do your best out there okay?”

“Yes, I’ll be okay. You should do your own prep, senpai.”

“I’m good. Don’t worry.”

As Rena was talking to her junior, she realized a young girl approached and had that smile across their face. She would obviously be surprise to see her here early at this morning after all. The moment her eyes met with her puppy friend, it made Rena’s mind calmed down instantly. It was Jurina’s presence that can sooth her mind and body despite how intense the situation was. However, she didn’t come empty-handed, she had a plastic bag in her hand as well.

“Prepping aren’t you? Did you do enough warm-ups?”

“Well, a little of stretches…you know my style.”

“Yeah~ that’s why I brought you this.”

Jurina giggled and revealed a melon pan that was in the plastic bag. Obviously Rena’s eyes glowed instantly for her favorite snack and Jurina couldn’t help but to laugh while passing it to her. She knew that her best friend would always eat melon pan before her matches…and it had always been like that ever since Jurina knew Rena.

“I got your favorite drink too. I bet you’re worried since you probably didn’t have time to get it!”

“You know me the best Jurina, thank you so much…I was actually worried about it.”

“You and your love for melon pan. Anyways, I got a call from Churi and Airin and they should be there soon.”

“I see, thanks Jurina.”

The shorthaired Matsui only smiled to her before she approached Rena and gave her a fist bump into the middle of her sternum. She was slightly surprised but then the moment she saw that confidence smile across Jurina’s face, it felt as if she passed on her courage, hopes, and will to Rena through that contact.

“…Fighting Rena.”

“I won’t lose.”

“…”

“Definitely.”

“Hehe…I know you won’t.”

Jurina got all excited despite it wasn’t her match at all, however she decided to leave since Rena should focus on her prepping herself for the match. It didn’t take that long until Mayu came back to tell them the individual matches information. In Kyu individuals, there were a total of eight pools of three players. Yuko was the first to from AKC in 2nd pool, followed by Yamamoto in 5th pool, Ikoma in 6th pool, Rena in 7th pool, and Yuki in 8th pool. At very least they did not have to fight each other off in the pool matches, but there would be a high chance that if they get into quarterfinals they would face against one another. Yuko was quite the lucky one to be the furthest one away from the team and the chances she face against a member from AKC would be in the finals. Takamina came up to all them telling that the opening ceremony was about to begin and Yuko would have to prepare immediately after the 1st match start.

[THE OPENING CEREMONY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN, MAY EVERYONE PLEASE LINE UP AT YOUR DESIGNATED LOCATION ACCORDING TO YOUR SCHOOL]

Everyone formed their own line based according to their own school: Akiba, Sakae, Namba, and Hakata. Finally, Hakata had joined the kendo championship after they started the club last year. They were quite new faces to the championship but they couldn’t be underestimated due to the fact that they never fought in PJ48 Annual Championship before. The hachi-dan* sensei came up and gave a speech to everyone about their match today and that for them to fight with pride and honor, as well as having fun. The director of PJ48 school, Akimoto Yasushi, came up and gave his speech as well to wish for all the best to everyone that worked hard to come over to Tokyo and hoped they enjoy this priceless moment.
(hachi-dan = Black Belt level 8)

After the speech was done, the first match would start in five minutes and Yuko was jumping around warming up and getting ready for her match. Sayaka went to her side and gave her a tap on the shoulder to give moral support.

“Good luck Yuko.”

“Heh, you bet.”

Oshima went straight to her gears and put on her men without further ado, it made Ikoma wondered since Yuko’s match wouldn’t even start until the 1st pool was over. Yuko didn’t actually answer as she was really focused on this match at the moment. Rena went to her side and explained the situation…and that was when Ikoma learned about how Sakae were rivals with Akiba. One of the promising member that came 4th last year, Yokoyama Yui despite she was just a 4th Kyu. She was exactly the same as Ikoma’s current grade, and she couldn’t help but to look over at Yui, who was wearing on her men gear at the mat beside the shiai-jo*, which was prepared for the competitors that were up for their match.
(Shiai-jo = match square ring)

Since it was Ikoma’s first match ever since she joined the kendo club, Takamina went through the competition regulations with her. The kyu individuals would be 3 minutes long whilst women’s dan individuals would be 4 minutes long. The player to obtain first two points would win the match and each time someone scored a valid point, they reset their position and restart again. It would be easier to call it 2nd round called “nihon-me”, and if another side scored instead and led to 1:1 it would enter the 3rd round called “shoubu”. Ikoma listened to it carefully to make sure she didn’t miss any explanation.

The first match of the day was Yokoyama against Suda from Sakae. How ironic the members from the same club were fighting against each other, obviously everyone embraced that chances of happening. They waited for the three shinpans* to do all the bowing etiquette before the two players stepped in and sonkyo* to the middle of the shiai-jo. Waiting for the referee to call them to start.
(shinpan = referee)
(sonkyo = crouching)


“Hajime!”

“KYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

“KYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”


Both of them got up at the same time and yelled out loud against each other. The Sakae members cheered each other; it’s all about doing their best…not about what club would win. Rena told Ikoma to watch Yui carefully and how she fought against Akari. Their swords clashed one another and then they got into a position that their swords were locking against each other. Loud kiai echoed the whole stadium and then Yui started to become slightly more serious due to how Akari was being really defensive. She kept coming in and intimidated her opponent with her aggression until she started to let her defense down from tiredness. Yui had this remarkable stamina and wasn’t exhausted after all the cuts she executed out to Akari. Despite they’re on the same team, she didn’t see the need to take it easy on her. She was going for the arm and Akari saw that instantly. She pulled her arm back and flicked it out to counter her without further ado.

“MEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!!”

However, Yui anticipated that coming. She jumped and pulled her head back to evade the attack and that literally caught Akari off guard. It was long more than enough timing for Yui to flick her wrist and did a clean cut right on Akari’s right armguard.

“KOTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!”

The tip of Yui’s sword flicked accurately right on Akari’s arm, followed by tackling forward right into her, and consequently pushed her opponent backward powerfully due to her momentum. All the three judges raised the red flag and called the end of the 1st half of the match.

Kote-Ari*!! Yame*!
(Kote-Ari = Kote score)
(Yame = stop)


The crowded clapped for her and then they went back to their initial position. Ikoma was still new to this and she couldn’t help but to turn to Rena and asked what was going on. Rena explained all about how to score a point was to get two approvals out of three judges. The flag indicates an approval; while the color indicated what side the player was on. Each judge would hold one red and one white flag to perform signals and commands within the shiai-jo. In this match, Yui was the red player, while Akari was the white player. Both players went to their starting position waiting for the judge to call for the 2nd round for them to start.

Nihon-me*!
(Nihon-me = 2nd round)

“KYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

“KYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”


Yui intimidated her opponent but kept moving in and made Akari backed off, at that split second she saw an opening and she went for it. She dove straight in and got that clean men cut on Akari once again. Obviously the younger one didn’t expect that and Yui really did caught her when her mind wasn’t ready to react.

“MEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!!!!!!!”

“Men-ari!”

Everything was happening so fast and three red flags were raised up. The cheer got loud as well as the claps before the two went to their initial position to wait for the judge to call the end. The head judge raised the red flag and called the end of the match, indicating the red player won her match.

Shoubu-ari*!
(Shoubu-ari = Winner in a match)

They bowed out and the matched the next match of the pool was about to begin as it was between Jonishi Kei in red, and Suda Akari in white. Rena and Ikoma watched the match and while Yuko was getting ready for her match in the 2nd pool. The winner of first would meet the winner of 2nd, and obviously Yuko was confident with her skills that she would get out from the pool…and would meet with Yokoyama Yui from Sakae.

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS YOKOYAMA YUI FROM SAKAE]

Sayaka accompanied Yuko as her kendo butler for her match and held Yuko’s extra shinai just in case she managed to break it during the competition. They went to the position on the red players, which was on the right side of the shiai-jo. The staffs announced the players for the next pool to get ready at their position.

[THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE JONISHI KEI FROM NAMBA IN RED, AGAINST SUDA AKARI FROM SAKAE IN WHITE.]

The two of them went all out realizing that they needed to get two:nil score in order to catch up with Yui’s current score. They needed to at least be equal to her in order to have a playoff against her to move on from the pools. The crowds supporting Sakae and Namba went wild and the real fever and crowd insanity finally began. However, the match had been running for a very long while that made the two sides afraid that the time would run out. They became more restless and aggressive than before. They threw executed cuts in towards each other but none of them was able to score anything at the moment. Jonishi kept tackling in again and again while Akari was playing very safe. However, because Jonishi was rushing too much and losing the concentration of the fight, Akari easily made a comeback against her. She scored a point from tsubazeriai by breaking her center and whipped her sword to hit right on the head.
(Tsubazeriai* = hand guard fighting area)

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!!”

“Men-ari!”

The crowd of Sakae members cheered for their school and they reset their position to start the 2nd point match. However, before they could move, the bell rang and the time of the match was over. Each match had three minutes to fight and the match ended with the judge announced the winner by raised up the white flag for Akari.

“Shoubu-ari!”

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS SUDA AKARI FROM SAKAE]

[THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE JONISHI KEI FROM NAMBA IN RED, AGAINST YOKOYAMA YUI FROM SAKAE IN WHITE.]

Due to the points, it was likely that Yokoyama Yui would be leaving the pools to the quarterfinals. However to secure her win she needed to at least win her next opponent from Namba. Rena and Ikoma watched the match and before they realized again how strong Yui was as she swept two:nil from her opponent once again.

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS SUDA AKARI FROM SAKAE]

[THE WINNER OF POOL-1 IS YOKOYAMA YUI FROM SAKAE]

[NEXT POOL WILL BEGIN WITH MORIYASU MADOKA FROM HATAKA IN RED, AGAINST YAMADA NANA FROM NAMBA IN WHITE.]

Yuko was the 2nd red player of the pool and thus started jumping and hopping around to get physically ready for her match. She observed her opponent closely so that she could study their fights, the moment the judge declared for them to start, the two girls clashed in each other. It wasn’t their first time and it was their 2nd time in the P48 Annual Kendo Championship. Yuko watched their match closely and they seemed to have a remarkable improvement comparing to last year. However, their loud and banshee kiai did not make Yuko moved at the slightest. She seemed to be rather calm and was doing a little more stretches before she was ready for her fight. While she was preparing, the red player was doing a backward cut and accidentally ran out from the shiai-jo without realizing it. The head judge called for a stop and pointed the red flag down onto the flow diagonally from his side.

“YAME!”

They came back to their starting position and then the judge turned to the red player, Moriyasu and gave her a warning.

Hansoku ikkai*.
(Hansoku ikkai = first penalty)

“Hajime!”

She got the first penalty for walking out from the shiai-jo. Ikoma was confused with the penalty points and so Takamina explained to her instead that once a player received two penalties, a free point would be awarded to their opponent. Such things that allowed a player to receive a penalty was stepping out from shiai-jo, dropping their shinai, buying time without any intention to fight or things that were inappropriate to do during a fight could lead to that. Both of them were equally matched and then Moriyasu pushed opponent away and swung powerfully with confidence right at the right side of her opponent’s torso before running out. However, Yamada ran after her and threw in a decent men cut right on the head.

“DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!!!!”

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!!!”


“Dou-ari!!”

It was pure unfortunate that Moriyasu’s score sold out more than hers. Yamada was obviously surprised and had no choice but to accept the score from the judges as they all raised their red flag up. The match continued and Yamada was become really aggressive towards her. She literally cornered her opponent and then shove straight into her with full momentum of her body.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!!!!!!”

~THUD~

Moriyasu had a weaker balance than Yamada and thus she was literally pushed back. She couldn’t match against Yamada’s center of gravity, but at least she wouldn’t fall…but her foot was fully out from the shiai-jo and the judge called for a stop once again. Everyone did muttered out ‘ahhh’ at the same time knowing what was the consequence of the 2nd penalty. After the two of them went back to their initial position, the judge declared the second penalty and awarded the point to Yamada while rising up the white flag on his left side.

Hansoku nikkai, ippon ari*
(Hansoku nikkai, ippon ari = 2nd penalty, point awarded)

Just one more point and the winner of the match would be declared, the two started fighting much harder and more aggressive to score that one past point to at least secure their position in quarterfinals. Yamada kept tackling in with her powerful center and Moriyasu was having a difficult time, she wasn’t making it obvious but she intended to push Moriyasu out from the shiai-jo again. Everyone heard tons of clashing sounds of the tsuba and the bamboo blade as if it was a round of machine gun.

“MEEEEEN!!! KOTE!!!! MEN!! MEN!!!!”

~THUD~THUD~THUD~THUD~THUD~THUD~

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!”

“DOOOOOOOOOOU!!!”

“MEEEEEEEEEEN!!!”


Their scream was mixing and it was hard to distinguish which was which if one were to not use to hearing their kiai. She kept charging in recklessly while Moriyasu tried to hold her ground, she hopped around so to make sure she would fly out from the shiai-jo again. However, Yamada kept talking her very hard and then she used that opportunity to use that force to run outward right at that second she executed the cut.

“KOOOOOTEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

She scored but then she did lost some balance and then fell onto her back. Yama expected the judges not to score, but two of them did. The poor girl finally got up as she got her victory from a very hard fight. They returned back to their center before the stepped out for the next match to begin.

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS MORIYASU MADOKA FROM HAKATA]

[THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA IN RED, AGAINST YAMADA NANA FROM NAMBA IN WHITE.]

Once the pool finished, they would sit on another mat to take out their men and bow to their opponent, which was on the mat of the opposite side of the shiai-jo. Once they were done with the formal bowing to one another, they left while the next pool start.

“Faito Yuko.”

Sayaka cheered her from the side holding her extra shinai in a shinai bag saying AKIBA KENDO TEAM on it. Oshima didn’t speak anything and then went into her position. The moment eh player came out from the shiai-jo, they bowed to each other before she took her place to fight against Yamada. That player that lost to Moriyasu was actually strong, Yamada had a very powerful center and she would be able to push anyone out of the shiai-jo if their balance were horrible. Also, she’s an aggressive player too. They went in and sonkyo down to wait for the judge’s call to start.

“Hajime!”

“KYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

“EIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”


Both of them kiai at the same time and then a swift men cut right into the Namba girl without her realizing it. That cut was very fast that she couldn’t even react to it at all. They were both in tsubazeriai and Yuko was constantly on her toes all the time. She kept moving around dynamically and not giving an opportunity for Yamada to even react or do any techniques at all. Yuko suddenly pushed her and jumped away at the same time creating that gap between them. Oshima did a lot of movements, raising her arms to the right, left, up, and down, as if she was going to strike from any possible direction. Straight or diagonal men cut? Kote? Dou? It was unpredictable for Yamada. With her actions, it made Yamada panicked too and she reacted to the tip of Yuko’s sword as it was coming for her men. She blocked it…but then the tip changed its direction and struck right at her right side torso cleanly. Yuko had her left foot kept as a spring, ready to laugh herself out to get that cut.

“DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUAAAAA!!!!”

“Dou-ari!”

She sprinted forward diagonally to the left and passed right by Yamada’s side. The judges gave three flags and the 1st half of the match ended in less than 15 seconds. Ikoma who was watching was amazed with Yuko’s dynamic accuracy and swiftness. She could do all those crazy movements and still manage to strike accurately and hastily without any slight hesitation. She was in surprise and then she turned to Rena immediately as it seemed Rena knew what she wanted to ask. The judge called for the 2nd match while they began to talk between the two of them.

“That is Yuko for you, the shiai-version of Oshima. That’s why, she is known as the red tiger of Akiba.”

“Red Tiger?”

“Red is AKIBA’s color, and tiger is a symbol of born-talented fighters…just like tigers that are natural hunters. Yuko can naturally do these techniques without needing much effort like others.”

“Wow…”

“You should get ready as well, the match might run pretty fast so you don’t want to stay cool down for too long.”

“O-Okay! I will, right after Yuko-senpai’s match. I want to watch until the end.”

“No problem, take your time. ”

Ikoma would be in pool 6 so she still had some time to prepare, but at least she would want to witness the end of this battle first. After seeing Yuko fighting seriously like this it made Ikoma realized how much Yuko was being lenient and nice to her for the entire time at the club. If she wanted she could obliterate her in few seconds. As the 2nd half started, the Namba player became much more cautious about Yuko’s approach. As Oshima kept moving forward, she kept moving backward and pushed Yuko’s shinai forcefully out of the way so she wouldn’t be able to do any flashy moves…but that was a rookie’s mistake.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!!!!!”

Yamada was in shock as before she realized it again…Yuko’s wrist swiftly spun the shinai out from her control and then whipped it straight right onto her men armor before she dashed in to tackle her with her own body momentum. The judges raised 3 flags and called the end of the match. Yuko got a clean win less than 30 seconds and she seemed to be very confident with her strikes.

“Men-ari! Shobu!”

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA]

[THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA IN RED, AGAINST MORIYASU MADOKA FROM HAKATA IN WHITE.]

That player from Hakata was very dynamic and very swift with using techniques. If not, she wouldn’t be able to beat Yamada that easily. Her style was opposite from the Namba kenshi, and the Hakata kenshi believed that she could fight equally against Oshima since their style was quite similar. They’re both technique-orientated kendo fighters.

“Hajime!”

Both of them kiai loudly and started their fight. Moriyasu played passively to ensure that she wouldn’t fall into Oshima’s trap. She tried to lure her in so she could perform counter-attack techniques on her like how she did against the Namba kenshi. However, before she could think of anything, Yuko charged in straight at her and did a clean men cut on her.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!!!”

It was pretty clean, but only one flag was up so the point wasn’t awarded to Oshima. These situations happen when the points were actually good, but the judges didn’t give it at all. To score a point it really depends on the judges and how much each kenshi sold their strikes. It wasn’t about able to smack the target and one would get the point.

“EEEIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!”

Oshima roared loudly against her opponent as she aggressively shove Moriyasu away with her body instead of her arms. Then she suddenly diverted to the side and smacked her sword down onto the floor powerfully that it made the Hakata girl flinched. She pulled it up with reflex but then Oshima knew it already…she already fell into Yuko’s trap. That instance, she could literally see her opponent’s sword came from the side and attacked her right on to of her head. Yuko did a diagonal cut right on the head and then she ran backward to zanshin.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIINNN!!!!”

“Men-ari!”

Two judges gave the score to Oshima. She didn’t let Moriyasu reacting to the situation at all. Oshima was being really serious in her fight and she went to the starting point to begin the 2nd half of the match. It made the Hakata kenshi realized that Yuko was a terrifying person…she realized that she’s scared of her. She felt as if a tiger jumped onto her and kill her instantly before she could react to it.

“Nihon-me!”

“Fighting Madoka!!!!!”

“You can do it Madoka-chan!”

“YUKO!!! FAITO!!”

“Yuko-chan!!”

The judge declared the start of the 2nd half, and Moriyasu went a little more aggressive. She went straight for the men but then Yuko calmly deflected her cut and she used that momentum to ducked away…and the second thing that she realized was that her opponent ran pass her left with that clean cut executed onto Moriyasu.

“DOOOOOOUUUUUUAAA!!!!!”

“Dou-ari!”

Yuko countered her with men-kaeshi-dou*, which was a technique that she deflected the men strike and do a dou cut through her opponent. It actually was Yuko’s specialty technique. It was very clean and it was obvious that even the audience would give that score to her. It was beautiful and perfect. They went to the starting point, and waited for the judge to call the end before they bowed out since Akiba kenshi got her two points against Moriyasu. As that was the last match of Yuko’s pool, it was obvious that she went through and into quarterfinals.

“Shobu-ari!”

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA]

[THE WINNER OF POOL-2 IS OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA]

[NEXT POOL WILL BEGIN WITH TASHIMA MERU FROM HAKATA IN RED, AGAINST KITAHARA RIE FROM SAKAE IN WHITE.]

Once Yuko finished with her bowing, she carried her men armor on the left arm and then walked towards her teammates that were waiting for her. Takamina gave a nod and a tap on her shoulder without saying a word. Sayanee, Ikoma, and Sasshi came to congratulate Yuko’s clean win in her pools…and then her eyes met with Yuki who was standing way at the end of the line. They had that silent eye contact with each other and that grin of victory flashed across her face.

“The first place is mine this year.”

“I look forward to see you in the finals, Yuko-chan.”

Both had a silence intense stare and it seemed both of them have a rivalry past with one another. Ikoma remembered Sasshi and Rena telling her before that both of them are prodigies of the club…and thus, they were both tigers that were forced to share the same cage. Two years ago it was their first P48 competition and they met each other off in the semi-finals, as Yuko just started kendo in that same year she couldn’t possibly beat her…despite Yuki didn’t win in her finals Yuko still have that rivalry attitude towards her. Last year, both met in the finals and Yuki won her in 15 minutes enchou*. As both of them could only score 1 point from each other and thus made the match enter enchou, which means that the match doesn’t have any time limits until one was able to score a point. It was a very intense match and Yuko was deeply vexed by it. She was very closed to win. Despite she got 2nd place and was famous among the sensei as a rising prodigy…she wasn’t satisfied with herself as she was yet to beat Yuki. However this year, Yuko was more than ready to take her down this year.
(Enchou = extension)

“You better not get eliminate before I can do to you.”

“Eh~ I look forward to that, you or I…will be taken down first.”

Yuko didn’t need to be ready for her match until the pool matches were over, Sayaka would be the next player from AKC to go out but her match wouldn’t be until the 5th pool. Everyone simply sat down and watch the match that was going on since one of them would enter the quarterfinals and likely to meet them later too. In 3rd pool was consisted of Tashima Meru from Hakata, Kitahara Rie from Sakae, and Ichikawa Miori from Namba. The girl from Hakata was from Year 9 and she was a kenshi that just started this year, so she had a very difficult time to fight against Kitahara in her first match, but then she was able to pull it off as a draw without letting the Sakae kenshi win, it was a 1:1 draw.

[THE MATCH ENDS WITH A DRAW]

[THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE ICHIKAWA MIORI FROM NAMBA IN RED, AGAINST KITAHARA RIE FROM SAKAE IN WHITE.]

“Watch Ichikawa very closely, Ikoma-chan.”

Takamina spoke up as she explained to the young kenshi that Ichikawa had a very similar fighting style as hers, but much more stronger and adept than her. She was one of the top players of Namba as well…such things as one being in the same pool with such a strong player like Yuko and Miori would be quite an unfortunate thing in a way. Last year, it was Miori that got 3rd place last year with Yuko as 2nd and Yuki as 1st.  Without further ado, the kenshi from Namba managed to dominate her opponent and score that point quickly and roamed straight into her opponent like a wild horse.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!!”

“Men-ari!! Nihon-me!”

The match went by quickly like a flash; everyone did expected Miori to win due to her reputation and achieving 3rd place last year. It wasn’t that long before the pool was over with her as the winner. She would go to the next round and after that, they could see Miori having a little chat with Rie and Meru from Sakae and Hakata. Despite Miori was a senior and much more stronger than them, she actually gave a lot of respects and bows to the two of them. She displayed a very high sportsmanship towards anyone that she fought with.

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS KITAHARA RIE FROM SAKAE]

[THE WINNER OF POOL-3 IS ICHIKAWA MIORI FROM NAMBA]

[NEXT POOL WILL BEGIN WITH WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE IN RED, AGAINST FUJIE REINA FROM NAMBA IN WHITE.]

“After the competition during free sparring, you should fight with her, Ikoma-chan.”

“Y-Yes Takahashi-sensei!”

The next pool started and everyone didn’t seem to pay much attention since Sayaka was preparing herself since she’s coming up in the next pool. However, Mayu was standing at the side silently while watching the match…and then Yuki came up to her side with her usual friendly smile.

“You’re quite keen to watch this pool.”

“…”

“Can I join you?”

“…You really don’t have to ask that.”

Mayu replied calmly and looked at the red player that got into the shiai-jo, she swore that there was a moment Watanabe Miyuki turned to her…and had that eye contact with her. She didn’t show any facial expression at all, but Yuki could tell that there was this intense air around her. She knew the reason so well that she did not let out a single word from her lips…she was only there to stand by Mayu’s side and watch the match with her. The winner of the first match was Watanabe Miyuki, and it was as both Mayu and Yuki anticipated. It seemed both of them knew her very well prior to this annual championship. The young freshmen Watanabe walked away towards Takamina and spoke with her for a short while before leaving the Nippon budokan. Yuki just remained in silence, and went up to Takamina to figure what Mayu told Akiba’s team coach.

“Sensei, what’s up with her?”

“Nothing much, she told me to let Sayaka get ready now…and she went out to take a break.”

“…I see.”

“She seemed cautious and alert, something happen?”

“Not exactly, we’ll see though.”

Yuki didn’t seem to know what was going on in Mayu’s mind, but all she knew was that the young freshmen needed some privacy alone. As the team captain, she went to her teammates and let Sayaka get ready for her match. Despite it was just the 2nd match of the pool…she knew it would end very quickly once the 3rd match started. In the 2nd match, it was between Fujie Reina and Tomonaga Mio, and it was quite a long match as well. Both of them tried to score a point on one another and then as they clashed in again for a cut, the judges suddenly raised the red flag up for Hakata kenshi for her score.

“Men-ari!!”

Some people didn’t expected that coming since the cut wasn’t exactly clear…but such things like this happen, and no one could influence the judges’ decision once it was made. The two of them went to the starting point and began their next round. However, about few seconds after the judge resumed the match, the timer rang and the match was over with Tomonaga’s victory. The Hakata crowd cheered loudly with excitement and the 3rd match was about to start. Yuko partnered with Sayaka for her to warm up before the fight. This time, Yuko was Sayaka’s kendo butler this time and before Rena could go to watch the match in a closer view, Mayu returned and gave a tap on her shoulder.

“Hm?”

“Jurina is calling you, she’s on the 2nd floor of the stadium seating. There are two other people with her.”

“I bet that’s Churi and Airin…okay, thanks for letting me know!”

“Ok.”

Rena rushed up to the 2nd level before the match would start, at least she could catch up with both Airi and Akane that especially came to watch her fights. The three of them were waiting for her and they were all excited to see Rena in her kendo-gi and armor. It was actually Akane and Airi’s first time seeing it too. They rushed up to her with excitement and poked her dou armor constantly.

“Eh~! So this is how it is like! It’s pretty hard.”

“It is, well, its for protection after all.”

“I saw Yuko-chan fought! She went into next round right??”

“Yup! Quarterfinals, and then the next pool would be Sayanee.”

Airi and Akane heard about Yamamoto Sayaka before, through Rena. She was a year 10 and a member of Akiba Kendo Club. She was sort of Yuko’s favorite kouhai and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise she picked some of Oshima’s kendo tricks along the way. While they were talking, Rena heard the starting command and knew it was the beginning of the last match of the 4th pool, but in just few seconds…she heard the judge called out for the point already.

“Dou-ari!!”

“W-What?”

Rena quickly turned to the shiai-jo below and saw that the white player got the point straight after the judges called for a start. That was a member from Sakae, Watanabe Miyuki. They went to the starting line again and the judge called for a start again for the 2nd round. Jurina went up to Rena’s side and watch the match with her and realized that this new face Year 9 girl from Sakae was something that they can’t underestimate.

“…She’s strong. I bet she had done kendo for a while already.”

“Yeah, but Yuko-chan will beat her, if she manages to go through into semifinals.”

“I guess Sayanee’s match is coming up shortly.”

 Jurina and Rena had their own talk while Akane and Airi wasn’t so sure what they were talking about though. Then Jurina made it short that Sayaka’s match would start much quicker than they anticipated. In just a few seconds after that…Miyuki scored another point on the arm and went through into quarterfinals. 

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE]

[THE WINNER OF POOL-4 IS WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE]

[NEXT POOL WILL BEGIN WITH KOTANI RIHO FROM NAMBA IN RED, AGAINST MURASHIGE ANNA FROM HAKATA IN WHITE.]

The Akiba kendo members and Rena’s friends watched the match, while Sayaka was waiting on the side getting ready for her fight. The match went on…and it took a while for the pools to be over. What people were actually waiting for were the quarterfinals, and after that it would proceed much faster.

-

It did took quite a while but Pool 5, 6, 7, and 8 were done and finally the pool matches were over. There was a 10 minutes break before the quarterfinals. As a result of each pool… The results were that from pool-5, Sayaka was beaten by Murashige Anna of Hakata. In pool-6, Ikoma was beaten by Umeda Ayaka of Namba. The pool-7 winner was Matsui Rena, followed by Kashiwagi Yuki from pool-8. The whole team assembled and Takamina-sensei gave some few words to everyone about their effort today.

“For those that go on in their matches, keep doing what you’re doing okay?”

“Hai!!”

“For those that unfortunately didn’t get out from pools, it happens when you encounter a much more senior player, but do value that opportunity to be able to fight with them. Such chances like this do not happen that often.”

“Hai sensei!”

“Make sure you’re ready and know when you’re out, Mayu had the draws of the quarterfinals and those that are now free please assist and cheer for the current competitors.”

“Hai sensei!!”

Everyone went on their own way for their own preparation. Yuki went up to Sashihara and asked her to be her sparring partner for the time being until her quarterfinals match would start. Meanwhile, all of Akiba members went to Mayu who had the draft of the next match ready in her hands. Ikoma thanked Mayu for helping Akiba team out today but the young freshmen responded that it was all for her resume. Since Takamina promised to sign it for her, that was why she was willingly to assist Akiba during the duration of the competition. The 1st match of quarterfinals would be between Oshima Yuko [AKC] and Yokoyama [SKC].  The 2nd match is Ichikawa Miori [NKC] and Watanabe Miyuki [SKC]. The 3rd match is Murashige Anna [HKC] and Umeda Ayaka [NKC]. Lastly…the 4th unfortunate match was between Matsui Rena [AKC] and Kashiwagi Yuki [AKC]. However, everyone didn’t seem to be surprise by that since they all knew that if both Rena and Yuki got out from their pools, they would confront each other in the quarterfinals. As Rena looked around…she realized Yuki had gone off with Sashihara for warming up.

“Where’s Yukirin? Do you know?”

“I suggest you don’t go after her.”

“Eh?”

Mayu stopped her but then she sighed again and continued where she left off, since she didn’t want to hold responsible for anything that would happen. If Rena still wanted to go see Yuki, then that was her choice and it’s at her own risk.

“…But up to you.”

“It should be okay? I just want to talk to her a little bit.”

“Go ahead.”

Mayu didn’t say anything further and Rena wasn’t so sure what the young year-9 girl was actually thinking. They both came far, into the quarterfinals already and it was not so far from the finals at all. Yuki obviously was preparing herself for her match and then Rena walked up to her…to have a personal talk with her. Just watching her team captain being so calm like this somehow freaked her out…she wondered what was Yuki thinking behind her head. To be honest, Rena was quite worried that she would have to fight a fellow kenshi from Akiba in the tournament. It was pure coincidence that both of them had to confront each other…and out of all the opponents Rena had to face, it had to be her closest friend Yuki. Mayu told her that Yuki would be training at the warm-up zone that was provided for them behind the tents. She went straight to find Yuki and saw her stretching her arms and was about to carry her men armor.

“…Yukirin?”

“What?”

“You’re…very calm, even right now, and all the time.”

“Heh, what is this all of the sudden?”

“…Nothing really.”

“You’re lying, Rena-chan.”

Rena was shocked as if she was seen through completely. She witnessed that cold eyes of her own teammate giving to her…and it gave a chill down her spine. Those cold merciless eyes…no wonder she was known as a BLACK Tiger. It was the first time she felt those eyes glaring and being directed to her like this. The last time she saw was in the PJ48 Annual Championship two years ago… after she came and obliterated everyone completely and became the winner of Kyu Individuals she received a fame title as the BLACK Tiger of Akiba. Those that had the chance to fight her seriously were extremely terrified with her presence…and Rena was witnessing it right now.

“Poor Rena-chan…it’s sad to not know anything about your childhood friend, right?”

“E-Eh? What??”

“…I do know a lot of things about Jurina, maybe much more than you do. I doubt you know what is troubling Jurina’s mind right now, since you rarely care about it…so you never realize it at all.”

“!?”

“Poor Jurina-chan, trying to not be a burden to you but the worries is killing her instead. You must be training kendo so hard you neglected her.”

“N-No I never—”

“Show me the skills you traded with your friendship times with Jurina, but I can see fear in your eyes. Scared to fight me? With that half-hearted determination, you have no chance against me even before we stepped into the shiai-jo.”

“Yukirin…”

“Even we’re from the same team, today is our own day, my day…and my win.”

She walked away with that smile of confidence on her face. Indirectly, Yuki had declared a war against Rena and it actually made her angry…the fact that everything Yuki had said was true. She was just so busy preparing herself for this important competition that she didn’t have the chance to spend time with Jurina like before…and it seemed Yuki had used that period to get closer to her precious childhood friend. She felt that her team captain knew Jurina much more than her…after she had talked with such amount of confidence like that.

“I wonder why Jurina even bothered wasting her effort on you—”

“Yuki!!”

“…”

Yuki turned out and saw Rena glaring at her, and that made her dark side smiled out with excitement. As if that was what she wanted from her…as if she expected that coming. If it was Yuki’s intention to piss off Rena then it actually worked very well…especially when she used ‘Jurina’ as the topic. She could see Rena was not pleased and glared back at Yuki with those eyes filled with anger and determination.

“Heh…bring it on, Matsui Rena. I look forward to our worthy battle.”

“…We’ll settle our match.”

“Very well then, we shall.”

Yuki smirked and walked away with full confidence. This was the first time Rena was scared and trembling in fear. Her mind wasn’t afraid of Yuki…but her instinct was telling her that she’s dangerous. Rena finally had a glimpse of a feeling to be Yuki’s opponent and she began wondering that Yuko had always confronted with this feeling every time she fought with Yuki in the competition? While she was having a moment daydreaming, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see whom it was. However, what welcomed her was an unexpected short-haired Matsui.

“J-Jurina??”

“Yo! Why do you look so tensed up?”

“N-Nothing…”

Rena couldn’t possibly tell Jurina what was going on since it was between the team members. However the short-haired Matsui could see through Rena’s expression and sighed softly before she held her hand tightly. The tall Matsui looked into her eyes and only saw those calm sweet eyes looking at her adoringly. She felt captivated by those eyes and warmth started to envelop her heart. She couldn’t believe how she managed to calm down after that nasty talk she just had with Yuki.

“Its quarterfinals, you can do it Rena-chan.”

“…Jurina.”

“I believe in you.”

“…Mmmhm, thank you.”

Jurina finally let out a big smile and she threw her arms around Rena to hug her tightly as if there would be no tomorrow. Rena could feel her heart skipped a beat and started racing a little when she felt Jurina’s body making a full-on contact with her. However, Rena was worried that her friend wouldn’t like her smell right now because she would have a stinky sweaty smell right now.

“Jurina I’m not exactly that… I’m quite sweaty!”

“Whatever~ I’m used to that smell already. Anyways, I got to go! Give me high five!”

Jurina brought her palm up and Rena gave a hit with her hand too. She felt so much more comfortable with her best friend being close by to her like this…but then Yuki’s words started to haunt her again with how she didn’t know what was going on in Jurina’s mind at all. She couldn’t help but to sigh and admit the truth of it…she was too busy with kendo and neglected her best friend…and she felt that tinge of jealousy in her chest when Yuki acted all haughty as if she knew Jurina for her entire life.

[QUARTERFINALS IS ABOUT TO START IN 2 MINUTES. THE FIRST MATCH IS YOKOYAMA YUI FROM SAKAE IN RED AGAINST OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA IN WHITE]

Rena was caught off guard and realized that it was the time for her to go back to everyone. Yuko was playing in the first match and she wouldn’t want to miss that. She slapped her cheeks to grasp her senses back again. It was as Yuki said… today would be our own day, and it is her day and her win. She needed her mind to be at top form if she wanted to go through to the semifinals. The real fight merely just began. 

-
-

~CONTINUE PART 4.2~
« Last Edit: July 02, 2015, 02:49:43 PM by katekyohit »

Offline daichi matsui

  • Silent reader 95% - Wmatsui_timemachine
  • Member
  • Posts: 40
  • If i left comment = Congratulation you are a great author!!
Author san thank you for update
This is my first comment in here XD
I love your fanfic so much! actually i read all of them  :luvluv1:
Please update as soon as posible  :kneelbow:

Offline purnamazaki

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 226
  • i'm just a trash !
thanks for the update. I'll be waiting to see how it goes
I'm very impatient waiting LOL

Offline gek geki

  • 松井玲奈 松井玲奈 松井玲奈 松井玲奈
  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 967
  • 松井玲奈 looooooooooooooove~
Yuki provoke rena!!

Jurina secret mission,why so long....

Offline katekyohit

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 235
  • My heart beats for Yukirin <3
Replies:

daichi matsui: Oh hi nice to meet you, I’m glad you enjoy the stories! :)

purnamazaki: Thanks for the wait, here’s the update :)

gek geki: Yup, Yuki indeed provoke Rena, and it will be intense when they fight :P







Love is a Battlefield
~Pairing: WMatsui~

~Part 4.2~
My Day...My Win


-


[QUARTERFINALS IS ABOUT TO START IN 2 MINUTES. THE FIRST MATCH IS YOKOYAMA YUI FROM SAKAE IN RED AGAINST OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA IN WHITE]

The crowds roared loudly with excitement. Also, Sakae and Akiba had been rivals ever since in a lot of sports. Last year, Akiba High won most of the category in Kendo but the year before it was Sakae High. Definitely the Sakae team would redeem their kendo throne once again.

“Yui-han! Fighting!!!”

“Ganbare Oshima-san!!”

“Yui-senpai!!”

“Yuko-chan! Faito!”

The shinpan bowed in respects to the shiai-jo and went to their positions before both players get in. Both of them took three steps in and bowed to each other before stepped in closer to the starting line followed by crouching down. 

“Hajime!”

The two stood up followed by loud cheers and claps from the crowd. All the young excited high schoolers of each school came to watch with excitement. They obviously cheered for their own school, and especially for their friends. Without further ado, the two clashed in at the same time and none was able to land a point.

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

“EIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”


Both are in close range and pushing their fist against each other. Yuko roared again and was much louder than the first one and the audience felt intimidated by it instead of Yui. The Sakae kenshi didn’t hold back and tried the score the point as quickly as possible… but not underestimating Yuko. She remembered meeting Yuko before and she won 2nd place last year, if she isn’t that good Yuko wouldn’t be one of the top three players. Yui started to fight with Yuko seriously and she dodged out of the way and scored a men cut as she ran backward.

“MEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!”

Only one judge gave that and that was a close call for Yuko. The Akiba kenshi managed to divert the cut away before Yui could strike her, thus made the cut less accurate. After that, Yui started to make much more carefully to secure her win against Yuko. Despite that Yui almost got that point…Yuko was amazingly calm and collected, but very intimidating. She was like a tiger observing her prey before the kill.

“YAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!”


“MEEEEEEEEEEEEENNN / KOTEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!”

The moment Yuko moved for a cut, Yui’s sword dove in to strike at the arm and that blink of a second…all three judges raised their red flag for Sakae.

“Kote-ari!!”

“Faito Yui-senpai!”

“Yuihan!!! One more!!”

“Yuko!! Ganbare!!!”

“You can do it Yuko-chan!”

Team Akiba and Sakae cheered for their respective teammates while the 2nd half of the match was about to start. Ikoma and Sayaka were both cheering Yuko from the top of their lungs. They both went to their starting line and despite Yui was in a lead with one point already…she could feel that cold intimidating from Yuko. Her spirit didn’t diminish down at the slightest.

“Nihon-me!”

“Fighting fighting Yui!!!”

Yui went in without further ado to catch Yuko off-guard but then Oshima suddenly ducked away to the right and she could feel a cut right on her right wrist before her opponent ran passed her with a exploding kiai that could ring her opponent’s ears.

“EIIIIAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Kote-ari!! Ya-me!”

The crowd roared as Yuko literally got her point straight after Yui got hers, and it was the same counterattack they both did too. It was Yuko’s sweet revenge against Yui and she calmly walked back to her starting line, followed by Yui. That just made the intensity of the match increased drastically. The two of them had one point each and the one to score the next point would win immediately. 

“Shoubu!”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

“EIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”


Ikoma and Sayanee were cheering so loud without concerning for their own throat, but it was because they were so excited and nervous for Yuko. They both tried to strike but they clashed into close range contact…and tried to break their opponent’s guard. Yui suddenly pushed herself off to score a point on the head. It was a cut, but at that instant the Sakae kenshi ran backward, Yuko suddenly ran after her and did a huge clean dou cut right on the right side before ran pass her with utmost confidence in her strike.

One of the judges gave a point to Sakae, but the other two were too convinced by Yuko’s amazing clean cut.  However, the main judge held both flags in his right had and raised it up.

Gougi*!
(Gougi = consultation)

Both players went back to their starting position and kept away their sword before taking 5 steps back and crouched down. The three judges walked to the center of the shiai-jo and had few seconds of discussion regarding the scoring and it made everyone very nervous. Whoever that the judge gave the point to will win, or would the scores cancelled each other? They stepped away and then it was a signal for both players to come back to the starting line again…and the judges raised the flag for the white player, and it was that Dou-strike that was awarded to Yuko. 

“Dou-ari! …Shobu-ari!”

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA]

The crowds clapped for both sides and the two bowed out from the shiai-jo before going to the prepared mat to give their bow to their opponent on the opposite side of the shiai-jo. They sat down and took off their men before making an eye contact with each other. That soft smile exchanged before each other had caught audience and other kenshi’s eyes and then bowed to one another.

“Arigatou gozaimashita!”

They both replied out at the same time and left the mat. Obviously Yuko’s teammates went up to her, but it was Takamina that spoke up. The teacher told her to be alert since there would only be three matches before the semi-finals, and the winner of this 2nd match that was about to start would be the one she would fight with.

“Very good cut, keep it up Yuko.”

“Hai.”

“Good job Yuko-chan!”

“I will win, I told you didn’t I?”

Yuko smirked as she gave Sayanee a shove on the chest, and then she suddenly made an eye contact with Rena who was waiting for her too. Without words, Yuko fist bumped in the middle of Matsui’s chest before giving her words of encouragement.

“Good luck with your match, it will be very challenging.”

Rena and Yuko maintain the eye contact but in silence for a short moment before Matsui nodded softly in response. She could understand the message Yuko was passing to her…because her next opponent was Kashiwagi Yuki after all. She sparred with her countless times during training and knew her fighting style really well, but vice versa. The opponent that could understand her kendo would be no one other than her best friend, Kashiwagi.

“…Thanks Yuko-chan, I will see you in the finals though.”

“Oh~ How sassy, I like that side of yours.”

“Hehe, I guess I learn from the best.”

“Hey quit flattering me already! Oh right, do you need a buddy to help with warm-up? I’m still pumped here.”

“Is that actually okay? Aren’t you tired?”

“That’s nothing! Let’s go to the warm-up area.”

Suddenly the young freshmen that was wearing the AKC Team jacket stood in the way and looked and both Yuko and Rena with such emotionless eyes, but it was as if trying to convey something to them. Before Yuko could speak up, the younger one interrupted her first.

“Are you sure you don’t want to watch your next opponent?”

“Its not my style, whoever it is, I’ll beat them up.”

“I understand your logic, but are you sure?”

“Why do you seem to be so concern?”

“…”

[THE NEXT MATCH OF QUARTERFINALS WILL BE ISHIKAWA MIORI FROM NAMBA IN RED, AGAINST WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE IN WHITE.]

Mayu remained in silence and decided to just walk away. Yuko tried to get the reason out from her but then the young freshmen shook it off and told her that she needed to go tell Yuki and Sashihara about the end of 1st match. The cyborg-expression girl just walked away and didn’t tell her hidden intentions at all. However, Yuko would still do her own style despite the advice was filled with good intention. Rena and Yuko went to the warm up area to make Rena get ready for the competition, and that’s where they met with Yuki. She wanted to watch the 2nd match of the quarterfinals and she was heading out to watch with others. Their eyes met and then Yuki gave such a sweet friendly smile to Yuko and Rena, but after the raven-haired girl witness the real demon side of Yuki she felt terrified seeing that smile.

“I heard about your win, congrats Yuko-chan.”

“Beware for your match, if you underestimate Rena-chan she will bite you!”

“Now I’m so terrified. I guess I’ll do my best.”

“Jeez, you can be such a bitch at times.”

“…And you can be such an idiot.”

Yuko and Yuki glared at each other and their intimidating aura leaked out, but then someone interrupted them and that was Rena. She did not care what Yuki had to say and tapped Yuko’s shoulder to get her attention. She showed more of her serious side out and it made Yuki unable to hold back her smirk. It seemed what she had been doing was making Rena become serious with her fight.

“Nice~ I love that seriousness in your eyes…I look forward to our fight.”

“Be afraid Yukirin, because you will be.”

Both of them exchanged stares at each other and Rena was not intimidated by Yuki’s pressure at all. She was fighting back and did not wavered when Yuki was intimidating her. With a silence between the two, Yuki eventually walk passed by the two of them along with Sashihara and Mayu. They were all heading out to watch the match but before they went off, the young freshmen turned back to Yuko and Rena for a second.

“I’ll let you know when the 3rd match starts.”

“That will be very appreciative Mayu.”

“…That is my job here anyway. Good luck with your match.”

Mayu followed up after Sashihara and Yuki and left both Oshima and Matsui alone. Without further ado, the two of them put on her gear and started their warm-up. Rena was quite restless since she was up with a very terrifying kenshi after all…and Yuko could sense it through each cut Rena executed. She couldn’t help but to speak up to snap her friend’s mind back.

“Relax Rena, you’re tensing like crap.”

“…!”

“If you want to fight Yukirin at your best, then relax.”

“…Right, thanks Yuko-chan.”

“Anytime! You’re strong, and I believe in you.”

Rena was flattered that Yuko complimented her this much despite she started kendo way before Oshima did. In just two years, Yuko had become very strong that she could beat Rena in free sparring at occasions. The whole club knew about the top three pillars of AKC are Yuki, Yuko, and Rena due to having the same age. However, the raven-haired Matsui was passively not confident in her kendo like the other two friends of hers.

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE]

Both of them were in shock to hear the announcement of the winner from 2nd match. They swore that they just started their warm-up and did several cuts. The whole thing proceeded very fast and that was when Mayu came to call them out. The 3rd match would begin shortly and the next match would be between Yuki and Rena.

“Takahashi-sensei is calling you two out.”

“Alright, I guess let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Rena nodded in response to Yuko and they followed Mayu from behind. As soon as they were walking back to join with their team, they could see that the 3rd match was about to start.

[THE NEXT MATCH OF QUARTERFINALS WILL BE MURASHIGE ANNA FROM HAKATA IN RED, AGAINST UMEDA AYAKA FROM NAMBA IN WHITE.]

“Go see sensei, I need to grab something.”

“Okay, thanks Mayu for informing us.”

“…That’s fine, it’s my job here.”

The young girl walked away and Yuko sighed softly with curiosity. She surely couldn’t understand what was going on inside the young freshmen’s head at all. As both Yuko and Rena went up to meet with their coach, she told Rena that she would need to be on her position now, whilst Ikoma and Sayaka would accompany her as her kendo butler. Then suddenly, Yuko realized that Yuki was gone and was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t help but to ask out to her coach.

“Eh, by the way…where’s Yukirin?”

“She’s already on another side, Mayu is her kendo butler.”

The AKC team area was quite on the side of the area and they were on the red side. However, Yuki was playing on the white side. Yuko had a peek across the shiai-jo and then saw that familiar kenshi sat down on the mat to wait for her opponent. Rena didn’t wait and went straight to her mat. The moment she looked up, she made that eye contact with Yuki…her eyes were cold, and had that smirk across her face. They bowed to each other before they wore then men armor to be ready for the fight. Others could see Mayu holding Yuki’s shinai bag and sat down by her side beside the mat. 

“Men-ari! Nihon-me!”

The 1st point was scored by Namba kenshi, and the 2nd round began. Yuki and Rena got up and started doing their own quick warm up for the time being until the 3rd match would end. Yuki kept stretching her legs and arms to ensure she would have that flexible to fight against Rena. The raven-haired was doing the same thing too and she was too focused to realize that Jurina was watching her from above along with Airi and Akane.

“It’s going start soon! Waaah…its Akiba vs Akiba too! I want the two to win…”

“Haha, but only one would go through…”

Jurina watched Rena from above doing her warm up while the 3rd match was going on. She could see that her raven-haired friend was tensing up and she couldn’t hold back, but to grad Rena’s attention despite she was up here on the auditorium. She rushed to get as close as she could get to Rena and yelled out from the top of her lungs.

“GANBATTE!!!!!!!”

It somehow blended in with the crowd who was cheering for Namba and Hakata. Jurina hoped that Rena would hear and it seem she could pick up her friend’s voice out of all the yells. She flinched and looked up to find the origin of the voice, and that was when she made an eye contact with Jurina. Those words Jurina yelled was meant for her…not for the competitors that were currently fighting. Her shorthaired Matsui friend was looking at her and the message from her eyes reached Rena.

“Ganbatte!!”

“…Jurina…”

Rena felt her heart warming up and felt relaxed again. For some reason, ever since they’ve been together, Jurina’s presence and smile always soothed her mind and heart. She nodded with a smile as her reply and it made Jurina felt relieved that her words and thoughts reached Rena.

(You can do it Rena-chan!! Ganbare!)

With just hand signs, Jurina gave thumbs-up sign before she ran away to join with Airi and Akane again. That was more enough to make Rena ready for her battle. However, another Akiba kenshi on another side of the court smirked silently as she saw Rena and Jurina having their moments together. She couldn’t hold back her evil smile at all and it made Mayu sighed softly.

“You can just be mean at times…”

“I’m just having fun~”

“Your definition of fun is just weird, Kashiwagi-senpai.”

“Aw, you don’t have to be so formal with me like that when we’re in public?”

“Kote-ari!!”

Both Mayu and Yuki turned their attention to the shiai-jo and it was Murashige Anna that scored the point, it seemed the match was dragged onto the 3rd round, which is ‘Shoubu’. Then as the match went on, Yuki could see that the new face from Hakata was very quick and very do a lot of flashy cuts on Umeda. Despite she was tiny, but speed and good timing compensated with that disadvantage. While Mayu was watching, she observed the competitors carefully and cautiously while maintaining that poker face.

“…Men cut.”

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!!!!!”

“DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!!!!!!”

“Men-ari!”

Both cuts happen at the same time, but the men cut was seen to strike and cut first. The judges raised the flags up for the red player and the match ended with Murashige Anna as the winner. The two went back to the centerline once again before the head judge gave the signal.

“Shoubu-ari!”

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS MURASHIGE ANNA FROM HAKATA]

[THE LAST MATCH OF QUARTERFINALS WILL BE MATSUI RENA FROM AKIBA IN RED, AGAINST KASHIWAGI YUKI FROM AKIBA IN WHITE.]

The two went into their position and the atmosphere tensed up immediately. Both Akiba players face off in the quarterfinals and one of them was the kenshi that created a terrifying legend behind for the past years for being the BLACK Tiger of Akiba.

“Hajime!”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”


That blink of second, Yuki came straight at her and went for her head, and of course she defended herself and went into tsubazeriai immediately. They tried to steal each other’s center in order to find a way to do a backward strike.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNN!!!!!”

Rena went in for it, but then Yuki dodged her head to the side to evade the cut so she wouldn’t score it. They both were staring at each other and finding the timing to strike in against each other. Yuki kept moving forward but she wasn’t striking…its observing her opponent’s reaction and style.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!”

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!”

They crossed at the same time, but it seemed Yuki was slightly faster and so she stole the centerline first and scored that cut. It was a clear pop and exploding kiai followed by all the 3 judges gave the score to the white player, it was just few seconds that the match opened and the white player. Very quickly, Yuki had already score her first point taking the lead in the match.

“Men-ari!”

“C’mon Rena-chan! Faito!!!”

“Ganbare Rena-chan!!!”

Yuko cheering from the side, obviously she knew Yuki was overpowering… especially when she was deadly serious. The moment they walked back to their position, Rena saw that evil smirk from her friend… it reminded her what Yuki said about her having a half-hearted determination and she would lose to Yuki if she can’t fight seriously at her best potential. Without any words, Rena knew that Yuki was reciting the same thing to her inside her head.

“Nihon-me!”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

~THUDDDD!~

Both of them clashed again and were in tsubazeriai and it was an increasing tension between the two of them as they kept pressuring each other. Obviously Rena had sparred with Yuki many times, probably countless of times…but never once when Yuki was actually serious like this. While Rena was so focused on trying to get away from the tsubazeriai, Yuki used that chance and pushed her hard with her body.

“Ooph—!”

“KOOOOTEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!”

Yuki struck the arm and tackled into her again and that made Rena fell back onto her bum. The moment she did, the merciless BLACK slashed her on the torso on the left side and left a shocking impression with everyone including the judges as well…who would expected a kyu grade player to pull off such a move like that? If she wasn’t that confident she wouldn’t be throwing it out. 

“DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!”

~BHAAAAAAAAAAMMMM~

Rena landed on the floor and she was shocked with how fast Yuki struck her. Her friend and did a torso cut on her. It’s a very powerful one and she could create a huge crack sound. Yuki was not doing it for the sake of scoring at all, but it was to provoke or intimidate Rena even more.

“Yame!”

Rena got back up on her feet and went to the starting position. Yuki was not showing her any mercy and it was as she said… with her half-hearted determination, she would not stand a chance against this demon in front of her. She could see through Yuki’s mask and she was smiling…with that confidence in her eyes, she was so sure that she would win this.

“Haijme!”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!”

Rena went in for kote-men combo but then Yuki just went in for a straight men cut, and it actually cut through her cuts completely. Her attack landed on her head but there was not enough zanshin so that Yuki didn’t gain point from it. However, Rena realized how much her friend she could start to feel that fear in her heart was cornering her. She attacked in and got into tsubazeriai again…and this time Yuki whispered softly so only the two of them could hear.

“…I really thought you’re a fighter.”

“H-Huh…?”

“This sucks… I don’t enjoy kendo if you fight half-assed like this.”

“Y-Yuki—?”
 
Kashiwagi suddenly shoved her away to be in a good distance from one another. That moment, Yuki’s words started to sink into her heart and she had a feeling that her friend would end this fight as soon as she could. Yuki was certainly confident that she would win it and that made her afraid of Yuki. Rena was afraid but mad at the same time. She ran in again, recklessly without thinking and Yuki just stood there maintaining her center. She had to stop as she almost stabbed herself in the throat with Yuki’s shinai that just simply held center. Her center was just so strong she couldn’t fight against it at all. She was forced to step away but that moment, Yuki was just moving in and the tip of the shinai was pointing at her throat. It was so fast that her natural reflex was to back off…but that was a rookie mistake. Kashiwagi twisted her wrist and slashed right at the right side of the torso so hard that it gave a loud clear sound… the loudest strike that anyone ever did in the whole competition so far. Everyone’s eyes were just wide open with shock especially with that move Yuki had pull out…and it was indeed a perfect clean gyaku-dou strike.

“DOOOOOOOUUUUAAAA!!!!”

~BAAAAAAAM~

She ran passed by Yuki’s side and nudged her away as well. The three judges did not hesitate and gave their flag up for Yuki. It was indeed a very clean gyaku-dou cut that even grabbed most of the kendo instructor’s attention to her skills, to her straight orthodox kendo. The victor was determined. Yuki literally beat the crap out of Rena and she went back to her position immediately without even waiting.

“Dou-ari! Shobu-ari!”

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS KASHIWAGI YUKI FROM AKIBA]

[THE SEMIFINALS WILL START IN 2 MINUTES BETWEEN OSHIMA YUKO FROM AKIBA IN RED, AGAINST WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE IN WHITE.]

They both stepped out from shiai-jo, sat down on another mat platform that was prepared for the players that played already, taken off their men armor…it was the most intense moment of Rena’s life. Yuki looked completely normal, without a smile, just her calm serious face as usual…but it felt too different. She wasn’t smiling, and that meant a lot to Rena. Her best friend, Kashiwagi Yuki, she always smile no matter what. Yuki took the lead and bowed first and then Rena quickly followed her lead, and before she realized it again she stepped out from the mat already. Yuki’s kendo butler went to her side immediately with Kashiwagi’s extra shinai in the bag. The moment the winning player stepped out from the prepared mat, Mayu went in and gave a tap on the shoulder. That was when the freshmen girl could see something hidden within Yuki’s face and she sighed softly to herself.

“You really went all out…didn’t you?”

“A little.”

“Pulling out gyaku-dou? You don’t normally use that unless you’re hitting certain peaks.”

“Hmph, I guess so? But I hope that it will make her realize something.”

“…I wonder, and you have to go get ready now. I’ll come with you.”

“Aw, thank you Mayu, you’re still going to be my kendo butler?”

“…It’s my job.”

“Haha aw~ you’re so sweet!”

Yuki’s smile returned back as she enjoyed teasing the young freshmen girl that came to help Akiba Kendo Team out today as a volunteer. Since Yuki was under Mayu’s care already, coach Takahashi and others were with Yuko who was preparing to fight against Watanabe Miyuki in two minutes. They welcomed Rena and showered her with good work out there. Rena took part in the group with supporting the current Akiba kenshi that went into semifinals, which are Yuki and Yuko. The first match off would go to the finals, and Yuko would be the first off followed by Yuki in the second match. As the coach did the brief talk, it was easy to see Rena was upset with her fight. Its not about losing to Yuki, but it was about she made Yuki disappointed in the match when she was looking forward to fight with her at her best form. 

“Rena-chan…!”

Jurina ran straight down from the auditorium to the AKC team area and that was when Takamina knew that Rena needed some time off a bit. She turned back to the other teammates and ordered Sayanee and Ikoma to look after Yuko while asking Sashihara to go support Yuki on another side. Lastly, she turned to Rena and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

“You did well, go rest and don’t make your friend wait.”

“…Sensei.”

“Go, she’s waiting for you, and you’ll need to cheer up too.”

Rena was in silence until Takahashi-sensei gave her a nudge on the shoulder to go to Jurina who was waiting for her. The coach walked away to be with Yuko and others…and that left Rena in silence and she was not moving at the slightest. She clutched onto her own shirt and then she suddenly felt a hug embracing her. That moment Jurina sprinted in and embraced her tightly in her arms… Rena couldn’t hold back her hidden emotions and her eyes started tearing.

“It’s okay, I’m here…Rena-chan. I’m here.”

“Jurina…Jurina…!”

Rena hugged her back and clutched tightly on her shirt. She buried her face onto her warm shoulder and let her tears run out. Jurina didn’t have to ask why Rena was crying…it was just that she knew she needed to be there for Rena no matter what. That was when Jurina escorted Rena to the back so no one would see her crying, but at least they wouldn’t miss Yuko’s important match. They sat down and leaned against the wall as Jurina wrap her arms around her tightly…The tighter the shorthaired Matsui hold onto Rena, the more she was trying to tell her that she was here for her.

“It must feel so horrible isn’t?”

“Mmm…”

“It’s the pain worse than losing.”

“…”

“I saw Yukirin’s expression…and I think I know the reason behind your tears.”

“Jurina…”

“…Rena-chan, you’re very different from Yuko-chan and Yukirin.”

“…?”

Jurina continued where she left off and told Rena what she thought about her and other kendo players in the team. Matsui Rena was as strongly competitive as Yuko or Yuki, and that made her different from the other two. The two tigers of Akiba took competitions much more seriously and they were naturally talented than Rena. However, Matsui became just as strong as them because of countless trainings through years in Junior High and that was the reason why Yuki was upset in the match.

“I bet Yukirin knows that you’re much stronger than this…that’s why she’s sad that she didn’t get to fight with at your best form.”

“…”

“…And I actually agree with Yukirin too. You’re not at your best potential in that match. You’re not just physically skilled, but you’re mentally strong too.”

Rena was speechless and couldn’t believe that was how Jurina felt towards her. It made her heart skipped a beat and she could feel that funny warmth around her heart. She leaned in closer against Jurina’s shoulder and allowed her eyes to rest. Rena could feel that warm up embracing her and held on her tightly. In the midst of silence between the two of them, Rena felt as if there were the only two in this world…but then the sudden yell from the judges caught their attention.

“Men-ari!!”

The two of them flinched and Rena literally sprinted forward to go see who got the score. Was it Yuko or her opponent? The moment she saw the color of the flag that the judges raised…she realized that the declared score was actually for the Sakae kenshi.

“Nihon-me!”

Rena didn’t expect this at the slightest that Yuko wasn’t the first one to score the point and she could tell that her friend was struggling to win. Jurina came to her side and watched the match cautiously to understand the situation. The battle kept going and Yuko executed several good cuts but it wasn’t enough to get a score since only one flag went up. Rena went in a little closer and cheered for her friend from the top of her lungs like others did too.

“Faito Yuko-chan!!!”

“Akiba fighting!!!”

Jurina came to her side and cheered for Yuko as well. The match went on and the intensity of the atmosphere. Despite Rena was the audience; she could feel that stressful air coming from the two of them. Yuko was never this serious and anxious in a fight like this before aside from fighting with Yuki in the competition. It showed how much she was struggling to win against Miyuki.

“MEEEEENNN!!!!!”

“Men-ari!”

Yuko leaped backward and struck right on the head and the point was sold to her. Three judges gave the flag for her and now they were on a tie with each other. The crowd clapped their hands and cheered louder for their respective team. They both went to the starting position again and they looked into each other’s eyes again…having a very intense glaring at one another. However, Miyuki seemed to not be bothered at all. She was so calm and had that tinge smile across her face.

“Shoubu!”

Both of them looked for that opportunity to strike in and observing each other’s reaction and response. In that blink of second they went in at the same time and went for a men, but both of them have a strong center so it deviated one another out of the way. They ran into each other and were struggling what to do this time. While Rena was watching the match, from the corner of her eye she could see both Mayu and Yuki talking to each other and suddenly the older senpai giggled energetically whilst Mayu was blushing with a sigh. Rena began to wonder about their relationship as it seemed Yuki and Mayu knew each other prior to kendo. Suddenly Mayu whispered into her ears and that it made Yuki surprise slightly and a big smile flashed across her face. She looked so happy and made her curious what Mayu said to her. 

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

“EIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!”


The loud yell grabbed Rena’s attention once again. Both of them yelled against each other’s face. They just needed one more point to win and Yuko was going nuts against Miyuki. She was pouring all her heart and soul into this match, but her opponent was handling it very well. Miyuki simply observed Yuko and didn’t allow her to score any single cut on her. However the moment she backed away and ran in again she got that clean cut right on Yuko’s head in that split second she let her guard down. All three judges didn’t hesitate to award that point to Sakae and the victor was decided. Yuko was kicked out in the semifinals and would be up for 3rd place play-off match against the one that lost in another semifinals that would start shortly right after them. Obviously Yuko knew whom would she fight already and she still needed to be mentally ready for another battle before the finals.
 
[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE]

[THE NEXT MATCH OF SEMIFIANLS WILL BE MURASHIGE ANNA FROM HAKATA IN RED, AGAINST KASHIWAGI YUKI FROM AKIBA IN WHITE.]

After Yuko had exchanged a bow with her opponent, she stepped out and saw her teammates gave her a warming welcome. The coach came up to her and gave a pat on Yuko’s head with a smile across her face. She didn't say anything but telling her that she did a good job and she already got equal 3rd place already. She didn’t need to fight anymore for today. This time Takamina stayed by Yuko’s side and gave her advices directly.

“Stay and watch Yuki’s match, and the finals. Despite you don’t like watching matches.”

“…Hai, sensei.”

Yuko was still upset and mad from the match she had against Miyuki, but deep down she admit that the Sakae kenshi was very skilled and knew that she was very strong…and could possibly be stronger than Yuki too. Meanwhile with the two Matsui ladies were still watching the fight but Rena was in a state of surprise that Yuko lost to Miyuki. However…she could see the difference in level between the two. It was easy to see that Miyuki had been doing kendo for a long while already, her forms and strikes showed how much countless training she went through to attain this kendo.

“Hajime!”

“EIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!”


Rena watched closely and she was praying inside her heart that Yuki would win and go through to the finals. She got really anxious for her best friend instead and suddenly she felt a hand holding hers. She diverted her eyes and saw that it was Jurina’s hand that held her hand tightly. Rena gripped back and made Jurina held her hand firmly and tightly. That instant Yuki pressured her opponent, the Hakata monkey girl went in for the arm to catch her off guard but then that was what Yuki anticipated. She pulled her hands above her head and then swung down right on Murashige’s head.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!”

“Men-ari!”

In just few seconds in, Yuki scored her first cut and it made everyone stunned. Yuko watched with such a calm face, as she knew that her Akiba rival would go through into the finals. She could tell how much Yuki improved within one year of training.

“Nihon-me!”

“EIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!”

Yuki pressured her in again and it was working well against Murashige. She felt as if she was about to crush by the Akiba kenshi and her body was responding naturally to fear. She didn’t realize that she was keep moving away as Yuki kept pressuring and moving in to her…and suddenly, the judge raised two flags up and called for the match to stop.

“Yame!!”

Murashige was shocked and realized that she stepped out from the shiai-jo. They both walked back to the starting line and gave one penalty with the youngster Hakata kenshi.

Hansoku-ikkai!

“Hajime!”

Yuki was in a lead with one point and one penalty. As Kashiwagi kept being mean and pressuring the young Murashige, she went in for a safe men cut but she wasn’t aware for the counter attack at the slightest. Yuki smacked right at her arm and two judges gave the score for the white player.

“Kote-ari!”

The match ended in a blink of a second, it showed how serious Yuki was right now as she was getting ready for the final fight against Sakae. She’s back to reclaim her 1st place position once again. Only some people were not so surprise of it but majority of them are though.

“Shoubu-ari!”

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS KASHIWAGI YUKI FROM AKIBA]

[THE FINALS WILL BEGIN IN 5 MINUTES WITH WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE IN RED, AGAINST KASHIWAGI YUKI FROM AKIBA IN WHITE.]

Yuki and her opponent got out and exchanged bows with each other before they returned back to their respective team member. However, Yuki just went straight to Mayu and exchanged some few words before she walked away. The young freshmen sighed and then she took a short break before she needed to return back to the competition ground. As for Kashiwagi, she approached Rena to tell her to pass the message to the coach.

“Please tell them I’ll be back soon, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“A-Ah, okay. Ganbatte Yukirin.”

“Thanks Rena-chan. I’ll talk to you later, we got a lot to catch up.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Yuki smiled before she placed her gears beside her bag before she walked away to the bathroom. Other Akiba members came to join with Rena and it was the same time Jurina decided to leave since this would be Akiba team’s moment. Rena felt bad since she felt like as if she chased Jurina away, but the shorthaired Matsui was not bothered by it at all.

“Don’t worry! I’ll come watch finals with you.”

“Mmmhm, okay.”

“Is it okay if I come back here?”

“Of course!”

“Sweet~”

Jurina left with a smile and the team coach began her talking. Also, Rena passed the message to Takamina and she just simply nodded. She talked to the teammates and congratulate for getting equal 3rd place, and the showdown between Akiba and Sakae would begin shortly. After a few minutes passed by Takamina asked Rena to go get Yuki from the bathroom since she needed to get ready for the battle.

“Please make it quick Rena.”

“Hai sensei.”

Rena ran to the women’s bathroom and looked for Yuki. She hoped that her friend was here and she suddenly heard a very suspicious noise. She automatically remained in silence and started to tiptoe so that she wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention. The noise started to get louder and louder and it seemed the voice was very familiar to her too. However she didn’t know what was this weird sound effect she was hearing…she was not familiar with the sound of the kiss.

“Mmmgh…Nngh…”

(W-Who’s that…? W-What’s going on?)

“Aagn…Y-Yuki—Mmmgh…”

(Y-Yuki!? Yukirin!?)

Rena peeked over the edge and looked deep onto the changing area and saw Yuki there with another person…and they were kissing each other passionately, with the young Akiba freshmen. Her face flushed horribly and couldn’t hold back her voice of shock. That instant, it caught Yuki’s attention and she seemed to be slightly surprise to see Rena here.

“Oh? Rena-chan?”

“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t meant to—T-Takahashi-sensei called you and I—”

“Ah okay~ I guess the time is up.”

Yuki smirked with happiness and contentment before she bent down to kiss the girl’s forehead and left the bathroom. She looked very happy and replenished, but the reality hit in that only the freshmen girl and Rena was left behind in the bathroom alone. Mayu suddenly got up and she sighed with a blush while covering her face with humiliation.

“That’s why I hate doing this in public ugh…!”

“A-Ah…S-S-So you and Yukirin are? D-Dating?”

“…I hate making a big fuss of it…but Yuki just wants to announce to the whole world! Ugh, I told her that someday someone would caught us…”

Rena was in shock to learn the truth, since she couldn’t tell how the two were dating at all until she saw them kissing passionately like lovers just now. Suddenly the announcement that the finals would start in 2 minutes broke the silence between the two and then Mayu decided to leave the bathroom to go watch the finals.

“Are you going to stay here or what?”

“A-Ah! No, I-I’m coming with you.”

Rena followed Mayu and the image that Yuki was having an intense kiss with Mayu…and she couldn’t imagine that side of her best friend at all. It made her blushed thinking about it and she began to wonder how it felt like… and suddenly had a thought of doing that with Jurina. She had a thought of Jurina being in Yuki’s position and her being in Mayu’s…and her face flushed immediately. The thought of kissing with Jurina drove her mind nuts and she couldn’t think straight at all. Her expression was clearly shown on her face and before she realized it again, Mayu was staring at her.

“W-Wha…??”

“Your face really shows what you think…its about what happen in the bathroom is it?”

“I-I-I mean…U-Uh, no!”

“…You suck at lying, Matsui-senpai. If you want to know, Yuki will eventually tell you after the competition since you saw us.”

“A-Aaah…”
 
“But keep it quiet, I hate making it public, since its too annoying.”

“R-Right, I promise I won’t tell anyone!”

“…Very appreciated, senpai.”

Mayu was being quite cold and acting very usual comparing to the moment she was blushing and being docile under Yuki. It made Rena learned that relationship was such a complicated thing that can change people so much. By the time they joined with other Akiba members, the match was about to start and Jurina was already waiting for her.

“Hey Rena-chan!”

“O-Oh…J-Jurina…”

“Hm? What’s a matter? You seem…odd?”

“N-Nothing! Just nothing!”

The moment Rena saw Jurina…the image of Yuki and Mayu kissing each other appeared in her mind. Mayu could see Rena blushing horribly with Jurina worried and wondering what was wrong with her. However, instead of being occupied with thoughts of kissing, Rena realized that the finals were about to start. Everyone sat down formally on their knees to respect the final match of Kyu individuals.

“Hajime!”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

“EEEEEIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”


“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!”

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!”

Both swords clashed against each other and both of them were in tsubazeriai zone…which they were studying each other’s style. Yuki was being quite serious this time since her opponent is Watanabe Miyuki after all…Kashiwagi personally knew her and she would consider being Yuki’s senior as well. The fight kept going on and they were struggling to win a point from one another. However, in that instantly blink of a second she let her guard down…it was as if Miyuki could read her, she came in and flicked her wrist right on Yuki’s head.

“Men-ari!”

“Faito Yukirin! Faito!”

“Sakae fighting fighting!!!”

“Ganbare Akiba!!”

Mayu startled trembling and she hated to see Yuki lose, especially to Miyuki…who had a long history with Mayu and Yuki in the past. She took a deep breath before she yelled out loud to cheer for her Kashiwagi.

“Ganbatte Yuki!!! Ganbatte!!!”

Yuki could recognize that voice out from the crowd of cheers…she heard Mayu’s voice and it gave her an instant boost for her. The moment they went back to the starting line, Yuki glared back at Miyuki with such confidence.

“Nihon-me!”

“KOOOOOOOTEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

Yuki sneaked under her sword and smacked right at her arm and immediately push Miyuki’s sword away while she roamed in towards her. That instant clean cut was awarded to Yuki by all three judges.

“Kote-ari!”

They’re both on a tie now and went back to the starting line again. Mayu’s voice reached her and gave a big boost to her in an instant.

“Hajime!”

“Ganbatte Yuki!!! Ganbatte!!”

Mayu cheered out loud for the first time ever since the competition started, and it was giving Yuki such a big boost to her spirit. The Akiba kenshi became much more aggressive and spontaneous during the last minute in order to score that one last point from the Sakae girl. The most she got was one flag of approval from the judges, and the same applies to Miyuki as well. She was actually struggling to score one last point on Yuki.

“KOOOOOTEEE!!! MEEEEEEN!!!! MEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!!!!!”

“EIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

Yuki pushed back and did a backward dou cut, followed by doing two consecutive forward men cuts against Miyuki.

“DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUU!!! MEEEEEEEENNN!!! MEEEEEEENNNN!!!!”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

The battle between the two was becoming so intense and suddenly, the bell rang as a signal that the match was over. However due to having equal points against each other, they went straight to enchou for unlimited time until someone was able to score a point.

“Enchou!”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

“EEEEEIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”


“MEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Both of them were pressuring each other, as long as one of them could score a point that would be the end of the match. They were playing cautiously and aggressively…while Mayu was praying for her on the side. A mix cheer for Akiba and Sakae team got louder and louder, but when there was a broke of silence…it felt tremendously intense. Even audiences could feel the tension accumulating. That moment Yuki flinched when Miyuki approached her, the Sakae youngster ran in and did clean gyaku-dou right on Yuki’s left side of the torso.

“DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!”

~BHAAAM~

“WHOOOOOAAAA!!!!!!”

Everyone yelled out loud with how nice it was, but it wasn’t clean enough to get a point. As Miyuki ran passed her, Yuki chased after her and the moment her opponent turned she shoved her forcefully away and then did the same exact gyaku-dou on her as well, a little sweet revenge from Kashiwagi against Miyuki. A loud crack against her dou as Yuki dashed backward and kiai with confidence.

“DOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUAAAAAAA!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

~BHAAAM~

“Faito Yukirin! Faito!!!”

“Akiba Fighting!!!!”

“Sakae! Sakae!!!”

“Yuki ganbatte!!!!!!”

The match went on for about five minutes and it was exhausting for the two of them…despite it was a short match, it was still stressful and frustrating for the two players. The two didn’t let their guard down at the slightest and it was exhausting for the two. Their minds were constantly being alert and that put strains on their muscles. It was a very exhausting fight for the two but there were always a blink of a moment that there was a perfect opening to strike in. That moment had arrived, and that blink of a second…the two found the perfect timing and went in for the men at the same exact time.

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!”

“MEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!”


The loud clear pop on the head, and it was happening in a split second and it was so hard to see who it was. However the judges were able to see through that ridiculous speed and the victor was decided. All three flags were raised for the red player, the winner of the match was the Sakae kenshi.

“Men-ari! Shoubu-ari!”

[THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE]

[THE WINNER OF KYU INDIVIDUALS IS WATANABE MIYUKI FROM SAKAE]

[THE KYU INDIVIDUALS CATEGORY HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED, AND THE OPEN DAN INDIVIDUALS WILL BEGIN IN 5 MINUTES.]

As Yuki left the shiai-jo, instead of going to the prepared mat the two ran around to meet with one another before sitting down onto the floor. They took off their armguard, and their head mask before revealing the smile on their faces.

“Hai, arigatou gozaimashita!!”

Both of them said in unison and stood up before giving each other a handshake and a hug. Audiences and other kendo players clapped hands for the wonderful match they had. Both of them were smiling with contentment because of how much fun they had in the match.

“We’ll talk later. We need to catch up a lot of things.”

“Of course Yukirin! I saw Mayu here as well…?”

“Yes, she’s here as a volunteer for Akiba Team.”

“I see, it has been a long while it’s just the 3 of us.”

“Yes…you’re right.”

Both of them bowed to one another once again before they grabbed their gears and return back to their teammates. As Yuki returned back, her teammates gave her a warm welcome and the coach gave a pat on the shoulder to congratulate Yuki for her 2nd place. She went up to Sashihara and gave her best of luck for her upcoming match in Dan Individuals.

“Ganbatte Sasshi.”

“You did well Yukirin, that gyaku-dou is nasty! One flag came up though.”

“Aw! I was close then!”

“Go rest Yuki, you did really well today.”

Takahashi-sensei gave Yuki a pat on the head before she went to put her gears at Akiba Team area before she took a break for today. She could see Mayu came to keep the paper files on her bag and suddenly she felt Yuki’s arms wrapped around her waist. It made the young Watanabe flinch with surprise and blushed slightly.

“Yuki, no PDA.”

“...I heard your voice cheering for me, thank you <3”

“…That match is amazing. You had fun didn’t you?”

“Yeah!”

“I’m glad you did.”

Mayu sighed with a smile and then it seemed Yuki wanted to spend time with her freshmen girlfriend for the time being. Sneaky Kashiwagi decided to leave the area to go relax with Mayu, and Rena could spot them leaving and she only gave a wink to her. That moment she saw her best friend holding Mayu’s hand; it reminded her of when she walked on them kissing each other. It made her wonder how many people knew about their relationship, and how long had it been going around too. While Rena was blushing alone, Jurina tapped on her shoulder to grab her attention and she didn’t expect that.

“Rena-cha—”

“Y-YES!?”

“Whoa? You gave me a shock!!”

“S-Sorry! I didn’t expect that one…”

“Anyway do you want to grab some lunch?”

“Y-Yeah, sure.”

Both Jurina and Rena left the area and went to look around the food stalls that were everywhere in the hallway. They bought a bento box and drinks and they had their lunch outdoors instead. After her last fight with Yuki, she felt much better now after Jurina was there to comfort and be with her. She wondered what would she do without Jurina around her. If Jurina were not to be here to comfort her when she was down, she would still be all depressed and frustrated right now.

“…Thank you for today Jurina.”

“Eh? What did I do?”

“For being here with me, I felt so calm with you close by…I guess I really need you around after all.”

Jurina blushed slightly as it sounded as if Rena confessed to her, and she let out a big smile across her face. She couldn’t be any happier than this already. She simply nodded and replied back to her childhood friend.

“I promise I’ll always be there for you! Isn’t it always like that?”

“…Hehe, yeah. You’re always there, in both good and bad times. I’m grateful that it is you…Jurina. You’re just so strong…I feel like I’m hindering you in many ways.”

“It’s never like that at all. You will never ever hinder me.”

“Jurina…”

“I’m not strong at all, and I was able to stand strong because of you. Can’t you remember I’m the crybaby and you’re always the one comforting me!”

Jurina laughed out loud reminiscing the past she shared with Rena back in those old days.  It made Rena remember always hugging and patting Jurina’s head to comfort her whenever she was crying. Almost anything can make the little Jurina cried, but Rena never got annoyed or bored with comforting her at all. As Rena had a flashback of her past, it made her smiled out unconsciously. 

“You always protect and look after me, and you always keep your words…”

Rena’s eyes grew wide as she saw that natural smile across Jurina’s face. She seemed to be very happy and felt nostalgic remembering the old times they used to have together when they were kids. Just seeing her smile reminded how they were always together ever since they were kids…they are never separated and neither one of them want that to happen. Back in those days, Rena was the one that always protect and comfort Jurina…but it seemed they’ve switch roles.

“This time…you’re the one comforting me now.”

“Hehe~ Of course! I will be strong enough to protect you, isn’t that we promised?”

Rena remembered that childhood promise they made. Jurina gave her vow while crying her eyes out that she would become stronger to protect Rena as well. The raven-haired Matsui was surprised that Jurina still held firm to that promise…even until now.

“You managed to remember that promise? How could you still remember that?”

“Of course I wouldn't! Because I always love you ever since we’re little~”

Jurina always said ‘I love you’ to Rena all the time, but it felt much more special than usual. Her heart started to beat faster and her face felt hot. She placed her hand on top of her chest and could feel it beating against her chest ribs. That moment, she didn’t realize she was blushing and showing her embarrassed expression out. Jurina never have seen that expression from Rena before and it seemed her words started to reach her beloved friend.

“R-Rena-chan…?”

“…?”

“Is something a matter? You just…got quiet all of the sudden?”

“N-Nothing, its nothing…its just…”

“Just…?”

Jurina moved in closer and Rena felt much more nervous. Just the warmth from her shorthaired Matsui’s hand on her shoulder made her became frustrated with this unknown feeling growing inside her heart. Obviously Jurina was worried about Rena for being so quiet, and she hoped to get her attention.

“Rena-chan?”

“Y-YES!?”

She flinched and turned face to her…but what welcomed her was Jurina’s face so close to her. Those eyes staring at her with worries gave butterflies in Rena’s stomach and she just froze on the spot. She didn’t know how to respond to Jurina…and her feelings was clearly expressed on her face.

“R-Rena…chan? Are you okay…?”

“…!”

“Rena-chan…?”

“J-Ju…Ju…rina…”
 
Jurina could feel the blood rushing across her face as Rena stared back at her intensely. She felt that this was the moment to make a move on her…but if she made a bold move she wondered whether Rena would reject her or not. Jurina was very tempted to kiss her despite there were people around, but she had so many dilemmas going on inside her head. She moved her face in closer and Rena didn’t resisted…she just diverted her eyes down onto the floor before she looked up to Jurina again.

~CHU~

The shorthaired Matsui gulped before she moved in closer and gave a peck on Rena’s cheeks instead. She resisted the temptation out of fear for rejection. Despite she became much more courageous and stronger than, she’s still scared of rejection from Rena. She returned her with a smile to hide her nerve-wracking expression.

“I’m always going to be by your side. I promise~”

“M-Mmm…I know you will.”

“W-Well…shall we head back to watch the match? If I remember Sashihara-senpai’s match is the 2nd match?”

“Y-Yeah, we should.”

Jurina grabbed all the empty bento boxes and drink cans into the plastic bag so she could throw it into the trashcan. Rena offered to do it herself but Jurina didn’t allow her to do so. It seemed the young shorthaired Matsui was pampering the raven-haired one much these days. As they were walking back into the building, Jurina suddenly felt a grab on her wrist and got pulled away into the corner. She didn’t expect she would be pinned against the wall by Airi and Akane who had that disappointment glare on their face.

“Y-Yes…?”

“Why DIDN’T you KISS her?!”

They both hissed in unison, they were actually watching both Jurina and Rena having their lunch together. Also, they witnessing the prime moment Jurina could just kiss Rena already, but she didn’t make a move. Jurina didn’t know what to say to the two as they looked as if they were going to shred and eat her any second. 

“B-But…”

“Oh WHY Jurina? WHY?”

“W-What if Rena-chan doesn’t like it? This is competition time and I don’t want to do anything to make her lose focus!”

“No pain no gain, also it is so bloody obvious Rena loves you!! She’s just too naïve to understand her own feelings!”

“But…”

“Ugh, you’re just as much of an idiot like Rena-chan too! Ugh, go be with her now! This time make a proper move!!”

“A-Ah…okay…”

Both Airi and Akane shoved Jurina before she took off to catch up with Rena. The two friends were so exhausted with helping the two of them get together and didn’t expect that they needed more than just an effort to make it work. As Jurina united with Rena again, they watched the whole match together and Sashihara went through into semifinals, but Nakanishi Yuka from Sakae Kendo Club beat her. At very least, she got equal 3rd place with Miyawaki Sakura, followed by Iriyama Anna from Namba for 2nd place, and Nakanishi Yuka from Sakae for 1st place. Since they were only 8 Dan grade kendo players in the competition, the Dan Individuals ended much faster than the Kyu Individuals. By the time the individual competition was over, it was already 4pm. The next day would be the team’s competition, which was one of the biggest highlights of P48 Annual Kendo Championship. The awards would be given on the last day after all the categories were done. At least, three members of Akiba received a medal already. 

-

Everyone started to head back home and the team members of Akiba got on the same bus and headed to Takahashi-sensei’s home to rest together for tomorrow. At least the team members could spend time together and discussed about the team orders for tomorrow. Jurina, Mayu and others headed back home since they’re not invited for a sleepover at coach Takamina’s place. As soon as everyone arrived at coach’s home, they unpacked their bogu bag and uniform to dry off the sweat for tomorrow’s competition. However, they would need to prepare dinner and Takamina had a menu in mind already. After everyone had their turns with the shower, Takamina started to assign tasks to each member so they wouldn’t be too bored.

“We’re doing beef hotpot tonight. Ikoma-chan, Sayanee, and Yuko-chan, you guys are helping with cutting the ingredients. Yukirin and Rena-chan, go buy some drinks and snacks at the convenient store down the road. Sasshi and Yuko-chan, go prepare the table and check everyone’s shinai for tomorrow.”

“Hai.”

Everyone replied in unison and then everyone followed their duty that they were assigned. Other members came up with a list of things they wanted from the convenient store so that Yuki and Rena could buy it. As the two headed out, they walked down the road together and it seemed to be slightly awkward between the two. Rena felt really bad but she kept remembering the fight she had with Yuki…she felt guilty that she made her best friend disappointed.

“Hey, Rena-chan.”

“Hm?”

“Sorry for being very mean to you today though…I think I overdid things.”

“T-That’s okay! It’s my fault that I didn’t fight you all out…it would be usual for you or anyone to be unhappy.”

“…For tomorrow, let’s do our best. Let’s all win, together.”

“Yeah, we will.”

“…We win together, and lose together.”

Both of them said in unison. It was a motto of Akiba kendo team and the two laughed out together since they shared the same exact thoughts. That moment, Yuki stopped and turned to her while extending her hand towards Rena for a handshake. Obviously, Matsui was slightly surprise but the moment she saw that gentle eyes and smile of confidence. She took her hand firmly and smiled back to her best friend.

“At least, our opponent doesn’t know your true potential yet…so we better win this.”

“Hai, team captain.”

“Hey that’s quite awkward to hear that from you! You might be a better captain than me!”

“I think you’re still the best team captain though.”

“Aww, thank you Rena-chan!”

They had their friendly chat after they destroyed that awkward silence between the two. As soon as they bought everything they needed in the list, they headed back home and the dinner welcomed them. Other members just finished preparing the hotpot in the middle of the table and they ate all together without further ado. After the stress and nervousness from competition disappeared, the hunger started to kick in quickly. Everyone had quite a big appetite to recover from today’s exhaustion and had a random chitchat with one another until they finished their dinner. Once they did, everyone sat down on the carpet in a circle and Takahashi-sensei brought up the topic regarding the team order.

“For tomorrow’s team competition, we’re in both Kyu team and Open team. Our team captain, Yukirin, will decide the order. Are you ready to tell everyone?”

“…Pretty much, yes.”


-///-


 “Tomorrow is the team competition and we’re up against tough competitors, especially Team Akiba.”

The coach of Sakae, Shinoda Mariko, opened the discussion at the restaurant after they had their good dinner for tomorrow. She turned to Nakanishi, who was the team captain to announce the first team order for Kyu team competition. She had a sip of water before she took a deep breath before she turned to her teammates.

“I’ve decided the team order based on everyone’s performances today… Yokoyama Yui as senpo… Shibata Aya as jiho… Watanabe Miyuki as chuuken… Suda Akari as fukusho...”

 Everyone nodded in silence as they accepted their team order and position as their team captain decided, however the only position left was ‘taisho’ of the team. That person didn’t exactly have to be the team captain to be taisho as everyone expected. However, there were certain expectations that were placed in that position. They’re the last player out and their match could determine the victory of the whole team. 

“Lastly—”

“I’m sorry I took my time. I was held back by my parents.”

Another member finally came back from talking to her parents on the phone. She was wearing the green Sakae Kendo Team jacket. She walked towards everyone and that was when she sat down on her seat beside Nishishi and Mariko asked whether she wanted any desserts since everyone ordered their own already.

“I’m good, I’ll just ordered another glass of lemon soda. So…what did I miss?”

“We’re currently announcing the team order.”

Mariko told the returned member the team order and Nakanishi was about to announce the taisho player of Sakae Team.

“So yes, lastly our taisho for Kyu Team will be…”


-///-


Yuki took a deep breath before she made her final decision with the team order based on everyone’s performances today in the competition. It seemed the order had changed slightly from what she originally planned.

“Our senpo is Yamamoto Sayaka…followed by myself as Jiho… Matsui Rena as chuuken… Ikoma Rina as fukusho…and lastly…”

“Our taisho for Kyu Team will be Oshima Yuko. She would not change her position throughout the whole Kyu team competition.”

Yuko got a little shock and realized how Yuki looked at her with such confidence in her eyes. She gave this position to Yuko knowing that she would make the time shine and outstand every other team in the competition. The excited Oshima pounded her fist against her palm with a smirk of excitement. She could tell from the team order that they’re playing to win by sending both Sayanee and Yuki first to win the game, followed by Rena manipulating the flow of the game.

“I’ll beat the crap out of Sakae, I’ll make sure I give my revenge back from today!”


-///-


“So our taisho, will be you…Matsui Jurina. You’re the most suitable one to be in that position.”

The shorthaired Matsui nodded silently and slowly looked up to her teammates who she had been training with for the past months secretly. They accepted and acknowledge Jurina to be their taisho for the team, as they knew she’s capable to be in that position based on her skills. Mariko was still worried about Jurina being on Sakae team and so she patted the young girl’s shoulder to ask her for her mental condition.

“Are you okay? With fighting against Akiba…”

“…I’m doing all of this as a favor for Ricchan, this is what I can do to repay all the things I owe her.”

“I see, if you’re alright, then that’s all good.”

The team competition would be tomorrow morning, and the day that Jurina didn’t look forward finally came…that she would have to confront against her Akiba friends in the competition. However, competition is a battlefield and there’s no such thing as mercy to your friends if they were to be on your opposite side. At least, Sakae wouldn’t have to fight against Akiba in the first round, but she’s certain that they would advanced to the finals…and that’s when they would confront each other to find the victor team. It would definitely be a very long day, and a tough day for both Jurina and Rena…she couldn’t stop wondering how would Rena felt when she learned the cruel truth tomorrow…

-

~END PART 4.2~







Information of Team positions:

先鋒: senpo - advance guard / vanguard
次鋒: jihou - secondary (next) guard
中堅: chuken - main body of the army
副将: fukusho - second in command
大将: taisho - general/admiral (team captain)

In team formats, for example if you're "senpo" you will fight with only "senpo" from the opposition team. "Jiho" against opposite "jiho", and so on. 

Also... Thanks for your patience to this part :) The reason this took me a while because I'm actually in a kendo competition! Also, pretty much trainings everyday so it wasn't able to write in one go. So what I wrote in Part 4 and 5 pretty much includes my experiences in the competition :) Thank you to everyone that reads this kendo fanfic!  :deco:
« Last Edit: July 04, 2015, 03:34:16 PM by katekyohit »

Offline nickyololol

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JURINAAA!! :D author-san this fanfic is so awesome!! and wow u sure know a lot about kendo XD

Offline Raizel

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Finally.. I know the reason behind the call from Shinoda to Jurina..
And why she troubled with it and can't tell Rena... :shocked
Oh My God.. Jurinaaa.... :banghead:
I can't believe she is the taisho, I think this position is the most important in team matches..
I don't remember Jurina has experienced in Kendo while reading this fic..
So please author-san give me light.. Is Jurina really good in kendo?
Is Jurina some kind of a secret weapon that make Shinoda ask her personally? :panic:

Thanks for update.. its really awesome. And good luck with your competition or is it over already? hehe.. XD

Offline niineechan

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AH~`` an update...
the waiting has been paid off... :P
A very Nice payback after all... ^^

The WMatsui moment never failed to make grinning like crazy.. (///'_'///)
This story is so coooolllllllllll...
As cool as you, author-san.. ;)
BIG THANKS to u...

P/S: I think I can wait forever for Katekyohit-sama's fic... I don't mind.... Really...
Ganbare`````~~~~~~~~~~ :D (>o<)
everyone
means
everyone
JKTroll48

Offline xerone914

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  • my girlcrush JurinaRena || WMATSUI <3
JUURINAAA~~~ WHY DONCHUU KISS HER??!!!!! AAAAARRHHH ><

Offline kuro_black29

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Quote
Rena ran to the women’s bathroom and looked for Yuki. She hoped that her friend was here and she suddenly heard a very suspicious noise. She automatically remained in silence and started to tiptoe so that she wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention. The noise started to get louder and louder and it seemed the voice was very familiar to her too. However she didn’t know what was this weird sound effect she was hearing…she was not familiar with the sound of the kiss.

“Mmmgh…Nngh…”

(W-Who’s that…? W-What’s going on?)

“Aagn…Y-Yuki—Mmmgh…”

(Y-Yuki!? Yukirin!?)

Rena peeked over the edge and looked deep onto the changing area and saw Yuki there with another person…and they were kissing each other passionately, with the young Akiba freshmen. Her face flushed horribly and couldn’t hold back her voice of shock. That instant, it caught Yuki’s attention and she seemed to be slightly surprise to see Rena here.

“Oh? Rena-chan?”

“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t meant to—T-Takahashi-sensei called you and I—”

“Ah okay~ I guess the time is up.”

Yuki smirked with happiness and contentment before she bent down to kiss the girl’s forehead and left the bathroom. She looked very happy and replenished, but the reality hit in that only the freshmen girl and Rena was left behind in the bathroom alone. Mayu suddenly got up and she sighed with a blush while covering her face with humiliation.

“That’s why I hate doing this in public ugh…!”

“A-Ah…S-S-So you and Yukirin are? D-Dating?”

“…I hate making a big fuss of it…but Yuki just wants to announce to the whole world! Ugh, I told her that someday someone would caught us…”

Rena was in shock to learn the truth, since she couldn’t tell how the two were dating at all until she saw them kissing passionately like lovers just now. Suddenly the announcement that the finals would start in 2 minutes broke the silence between the two and then Mayu decided to leave the bathroom to go watch the finals.

“Are you going to stay here or what?”

“A-Ah! No, I-I’m coming with you.”

Rena followed Mayu and the image that Yuki was having an intense kiss with Mayu…and she couldn’t imagine that side of her best friend at all. It made her blushed thinking about it and she began to wonder how it felt like… and suddenly had a thought of doing that with Jurina. She had a thought of Jurina being in Yuki’s position and her being in Mayu’s…and her face flushed immediately. The thought of kissing with Jurina drove her mind nuts and she couldn’t think straight at all. Her expression was clearly shown on her face and before she realized it again, Mayu was staring at her.

“W-Wha…??”

“Your face really shows what you think…its about what happen in the bathroom is it?”

“I-I-I mean…U-Uh, no!”

“…You suck at lying, Matsui-senpai. If you want to know, Yuki will eventually tell you after the competition since you saw us.”

“A-Aaah…”
 
“But keep it quiet, I hate making it public, since its too annoying.”

“R-Right, I promise I won’t tell anyone!”

“…Very appreciated, senpai.”

Mayu was being quite cold and acting very usual comparing to the moment she was blushing and being docile under Yuki

THAT WAS BLOODY HOT MOMENT AND RENA YOU JUST HAVE TO BLOODY INTERRUPTED THEM


 
Quote
Everyone nodded in silence as they accepted their team order and position as their team captain decided, however the only position left was ‘taisho’ of the team. That person didn’t exactly have to be the team captain to be taisho as everyone expected. However, there were certain expectations that were placed in that position. They’re the last player out and their match could determine the victory of the whole team. 

“Lastly—”

“I’m sorry I took my time. I was held back by my parents.”

Another member finally came back from talking to her parents on the phone. She was wearing the green Sakae Kendo Team jacket. She walked towards everyone and that was when she sat down on her seat beside Nishishi and Mariko asked whether she wanted any desserts since everyone ordered their own already.

“I’m good, I’ll just ordered another glass of lemon soda. So…what did I miss?”

“We’re currently announcing the team order.”

Mariko told the returned member the team order and Nakanishi was about to announce the taisho player of Sakae Team.

“So yes, lastly our taisho for Kyu Team will be…”

“So our taisho, will be you…Matsui Jurina. You’re the most suitable one to be in that position.”


Yep...storm coming~

________________

Kate sannnnnnnnnnnn...ur awesome.....

Thankssss for fast updataeeeeeeee 'cry of joy

Continue spazzing

 :on gay: :on gay: :on gay: :on gay:
« Last Edit: August 30, 2015, 01:53:24 PM by kuro_black29 »
Live in the land of mist..nahh just kidding..
Live in the land of Wmatsui and Mayuki...
World of fantasy..World of Lalaland~

            (っ´▽`)っWmatsui~Mayuki ♡ (。’∀’。)

Tend to forget things but not mah fav author and fics

Offline gek geki

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  • 松井玲奈 looooooooooooooove~
Aww hot mayu and yuki

Rena must be wondering how come they dating...you know they somewhat opposite lol

Oh so this is the jurina secret,is that okay if jurina is akiba student but play for sakae? I dont get it must be missed some on the story, i think i need to re-read from the start again.

So jurina vs yuko that's interesting, but why the taisho not miyuki? Since she won over yuko, im expected that jurina is more strong than miyuki then

Offline Haruko

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OMG!! JURINA!!!! WOOT!! REALLY!!!

Offline gek geki

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When kate sama update this,then the others thing that i love must happen soon...very soon


Yeah

Offline purnamazaki

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  • i'm just a trash !
I really like thisssss fic
Thankyouu for update ..

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