The usual warm-up fight simulation was a bit longer between Eiji and Kana because Eiji was not that tired.
Kana detected the change so she continued training with him. Eiji did not object so they were at it for a while.
".....I think.....that's enough!....for me..."
Kana stopped her high kick just in time before it could make an impact on Eiji's neck.
She also noticed that his reaction time has increased a bit so he needed a break.
"Is that so? Take a rest then."
Kana proceeded with her training by repeating varieties of kicks and punches until she also feels fatigued.
Eiji's stamina was low and he needed to build on that. Light bruises on his forearm and thighs, small calluses on his hands showed how much he was investing his time in Karate.
Though Kana did not have such conspicuous injuries, she was progressing physically too.
Eiji sat at the edge of the room and placed his tired back slowly against the wall. He could feel the pain kick in when his body was motionless.
".....That hurts..."
His heavy breaths dampened as he got time to rest his body. Whilst his heart rate was starting to stabilise, he observed the surroundings and wanted to confirm the doubts that he was having during his fight simulation with Kana.
'Why are they peeking at me?'
From time to time, the other freshmen and sophomores club members would throw a glance towards Eiji. If he met with one of them, then they would immediately look away.
'Seriously have I done something wrong?'
After Eiji was keeping his eyes on the other members, they changed their focus to Kana.
She was one of the few female members of the Karate Club. And she is definitely the strongest amongst the females. And to boast, she had an apathetic beautiful face that could render a man charmed by her coldness.
In all, she was everyone's favourite member.
And the Eiji that always practice with her because he always gets stuck with her on behalf of the captain's orders, they felt jealous.
Since Eiji was accustomed to Kana's company, he did not think of her as anything other than a friendly but strict guide on the path of becoming strong.
Though he gets scared sometimes whenever Kana is annoyed and lash out at him.
Like right now.
"Oi Kisano! Break's over. Come here."
"But I barely rested!"
"Come over or else!!"
"Yes Yes!!"
Eiji frantically stood up and went straight into a fight with Kana.
Whilst they were training, Eiji snuck a glance at the others and it seemed to him that they were more envious than ever. Blood lust emerged from their body.
".....I will get killed..."
Not by Kana's training, but those jealous members.
The reason that Eiji could not come up with was that Kana called Eiji by his first name and without honorifics.
For them, that is blasphemy and they could not believe the truth.
It signalled their closeness. Some even thought that their relationship went that far into a lover's one.
And so, false but plausible rumours spread out amongst the club members. Soon it will be all over the school.
Kana knows that this will happen sooner or later. Even if it is the truth or not, her annoying brother Harue would pester her more frequently.
She does not want that!
That is why she was pissed off. He called Eiji over and wanted to vent out her frustrations.
She could stop calling Eiji by his first name but then she thought that Eiji would notice it and tease her about that.
Saying that she changed it because people think they are lovers or anything of that sort. So, she wants to clear the rumours.
And by the way, she would constantly overwhelm him with her strength and be as strict as possible, then the rumours of their relationship will dissipate.....right?
With that in mind, a barrage of attacks rained down on Eiji.
"Oi Oi! Calm down!!"
He was having difficulty keeping up as he was already tired from the initial fight he had.
*Bam* *Bam*
Her hits became heavy which made Eiji worry. Was he going to be alright? He also noticed the micro change in Kana's facial expression.
Her glare was piercing and that caught Eiji by surprise. She was being serious but why?
In an instant, his guard was blasted away by Kana's right punch.
'Shit!'
Kana swiftly closed the distance and drove her foot into Eiji's stomach.
"Guhaa-!!??!"
His mouth was agape from the agape and could not hold the pain. Eiji was launched at the edge of the room and got his back slammed to the wall.
"""?!?"""
The onlookers were shocked by the display of strength but more so, they were concerned about the situation.
The coach and Jirou did not expect Kana to be so unforgiving. Their eyes could not believe that a short girl like her could have such explosive power.
Eiji's body lost its strength and fell to the ground.
"Agh!!"
He gritted his teeth and clutched his stomach. He was fidgeting from the agony whilst his feet were agitated.
"...I...hur...!"
The words would not come out properly. His grip on his stomach tightened and he could not be accustomed to this kind of anguish.
The coach and Jirou immediately knew something was wrong. They both rushed to his side as quickly as possible.
Seeing how the 2 most important people in the Karate Club acted, all the other student members grouped around Eiji.
"Oi! Eiji-kun!"
His legs were flailing about and could not handle the pain. The eyelids were tightly closing his eyes harder than usual.
Jirou informed the coach, "Coach, we have to take him to the infirmary."
"Okay, help me."
Jirou aided in Eiji getting on the Coach's back. When all was good, Jirou gave the thumbs up and the coach hurriedly took him to the infirmary with a piggyback ride.
While all of this was happening, Kana just happened to snap out of her thoughts and come out to reality.
And what she saw truly shocked her.
"Huh?"
She saw the coach running with Eiji on his back. She realized what she has just done.
"Kana!!"
Jirou's voice caused the onlookers that were flocking around him, to disperse slowly. They made way for Jirou to confront Kana.
"..." Kana was still dumbfounded at what she had done.
"You.....What were you doing?"
Jirou slowly walked towards Kana. Everyone knew that Jirou was angry judging from his tone.
"....Training." She gave a brief answer because she was still reflecting on why she has not controlled her strength.
"That was what I thought. But the circumstances say otherwise. What do you have to say about that?"
He continued approaching Kana with heavy and imposing steps.
"...I.....could not control my strength..."
Kana also was getting tired as sweats drowned her face.
Jirou stopped right in front of her and looked at her madly. The anger transmitted through his voice as he could not see these types of behaviours in the club.
As a Captain and President of this Karate Club, it was his duty to investigate this matter and solve it.
"Could not control your strength? Do you take me for a fool? Tell me the real reason or..."
He did not complete his sentence, instead, he let his fearful stance and his hostile glare complete it.
Now that Kana thinks about it, when Jirou is acting this way, he thought about the multiple times that he would be annoying to her.
"Heh!"
She scoffed and thought, 'Yeah, he pisses me off too.'
Jirou's veins in his forehead were showing. He clenched his fists to her response that lacked seriousness.
Kana expressed her thought which is equivalent to an insult as well as an arrogant warning.
"Am I supposed to be scared, Captain?"
Her indifferent tone hit hard and the majority of the other club members were displeased with her attitude. They did not know she was like that.
She is known to be a quiet and reserved girl but had a strong air to her.
Now that she was confronted with a problem against her favour, she was acting like this.
It felt like she was showing her true colours.
Kana cracked her neck frivolously, uncaring about what others perceived her as.
"So? What punishment will I receive?"
Her apathetic voice made Jirou angrier than usual. The fact that Eiji got hurt by her and she was not even moving an inch to take care of him or see him to the infirmary was mean.l
Not even a glimpse of that intention. As the one responsible for this incident, she should show her compassion.
She was wiping most of her sweat with her hand and the white Karate attire she was wearing.
"Be prepared because I am not going to be lenient towards a girl."
Kana scoffed again and jokingly encouraged him.
"Shoot your best shot."
"That rude attitude needs to be addressed properly."
Jirou calmed down by stabilising his breath. He was getting frenzied but he managed to control himself. He regained his usual but cold order.
"Go run around the football playground. Do not stop until I say so."
"Yes yes."
She nonchalantly veered towards the exit and headed to the huge football field.
Soon after she stepped out of the club, murmurings behind Jirou multiplied and became louder. Most certainly they were gossiping about Kana's behaviour.
Who would have thought that behind the quiet Kana, there was a sleeping lion that no one should nudge?
Deepwater knows no depth.
Back to the infirmary, Eiji was laying on the bed. The coach was standing next to the bed and was talking to the nurse.
It was not anything serious but he still needed to take care of his body. Rest was a necessity.
"No club activities until you feel much better. That is an order, Understood?".
".....Yes sir."
Eiji was feeling a little bit down after he reminisced about Kana. The coach detected that and wanted to keep some positive vibes around him.
"Still, now that I recalled the fight, you held out pretty nice. I would say that at the level you are right now, you have exceeded all the freshmen and the majority of the members of the sophomore too in terms of skills."
".....Is that so?"
His lips curved upwards thinly as he sounded happy about his progression. Although he does not notice it himself, there was huge growth.
"I am telling the truth. To be in this state in just a short period, you are really gifted."
"...Haha...I don't think so. Maybe it is because I am a quick learner."
"That is also a gift. Eiji-kun, you are really strong. Don't ever give up halfway. You have a treacherous path ahead but never give up, okay?"
Words of encouragement motivated Eiji and made his objective very clear. He bowed slightly while still on the bed.
"Thank you very much!"
The coach patted his shoulder and then took his leave.
Eiji put his hand on his stomach. The remnant of the kick was still there. It had been quite some time since he rested on the bed and the pain was still there.
The orange rays intruded through the windows of the infirmary. That caught his eyes and he gazed out of the window. It was good for him because his bed was near the window so he did not have to move much.
But much to his surprise, other than the cries of the soccer and baseball club members, he caught the sight of someone else.
Around the football playground, Kana was jogging around.
Eiji gasped in shock.
He also saw Jirou was standing at the sideline and supervised Kana. Eiji knew this was punishment but still.
Kana was already getting tired after the fight with Eiji. Now, this?
Buckets of sweats on her face blinded her vision sometimes so she had to wipe it off occasionally with the back of her hand.
Jirou stood authoritatively and watched on Kana as she just completed her 21st lap around the huge football field. His arm crossed and his index finger slowly tapped rhythmically on his hand.
He still had that serious face on so he was still not satisfied with the punishment.
"Jirou-senpai!"
Jirou looked over his shoulder and saw Eiji run to his side.
"Eiji-kun! Are you alright!? You should be on the bed resting!"
His worried face took over as Eiji was clutching his stomach as he arrived near Jirou.
"I am better. More than that, don't you think that this is enough for her?"
"Are you trying to defend her?"
"I just think that this is enough for her. Besides, I am not angry at her."
Eiji flashed a bright smile at his Captain. Jirou was hesitant on whether to release Kana from this punishment.
He still has not forgotten about that bad attitude towards him. But still, Eiji did not harbour any hatred or any of the sort.
Kana was running and she lacked oxygen to continue any further. Just then, Eiji's voice could be heard.
"Fukuyama-san!!"
Kana saw Eiji waving, telling her to come near him with a wide smile on his face.
That stung Kana because she did not expect him to react this way. She did kick him and made him experience anguish. So she was ready for him to get angry at her.
But the opposite happened.
'Kisano....Are you different...?'
She was reluctant and did not know if she should go to Eiji who was waving her or should she continue running.
Should she object to Jirou's punishment and he can be more annoying than ever to her?
However, Jirou put one hand up and signalled her to stop and come to them.
Kana herself was surprised.
'Wasn't he so angry before? What's with that expression?'