The score ended 107-105 in Chong Hua's favor.
Undeniably, Lian Hua's presence had galvanized the team and motivated them to turn the tables on their shellshocked opponents. Led by a resurgent Yun Shan, they battered past their defenses, converted their rebounds and made daring shots from range that paid off. By the end of the match, they were screaming in joy and congratulating each other. The girls embraced each other tightly, cheering and weeping.
The seniors, in particular, were in ecstasy. This was their last game of the semester, for they were due to graduate soon, and now their efforts had paid off.
In the midst of their celebration, Yun Shan broke away from her team and rushed over to Lian Hua, her eyes brimming with tears.
"You…you came!"
"Of course I did, silly." Lian Hua was unable to hold back tears of her own. She smiled, despite her eyes streaming uncontrollably. "There's no way I can miss your victory. You said you would show me your cool side."
"Thank you." Yun Shan hugged her, sobbing. "Thank you!"
I looked away and backed off, giving them a private space. Glancing at the crying basketball team members, I saw the seniors conveying their gratitude to their juniors.
"You girls will be leading the team when we're gone."
"Make sure to uphold the pride of Chong Hua High!"
"I'm counting on you girls to defend our crown next year too!"
"Seniors…!"
Damn, this was so cheesy. I had to turn away or I would find myself crying along with them. In fact, Shu Hong Qiu was giggling beside me.
"Are you crying?"
"No. It's raining. This match's draining."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Shu Hong Qiu stared up at the clear, bright skies with nary a cloud. I didn't care, staring at the wall and shielding my glasses with a single hand.
"Correction: the sun was too bright. I was protecting my eyes, all right?"
Shu Hong Qiu smirked. "Fine. Of course."
"Well, my job here is done. Time to pull a fast one. Best to leave them alone."
"…are you serious?"
"Yeah, I am. It's not a sham."
Then I was gone, leaving everyone to celebrate.
*
The weeks passed, and I continued to train under Hao Jian Fa in the kendo club. Jiang Shi didn't show up again, and my school life proceeded peacefully without incidents. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.
"We'll be graduating soon," Hao Jian Fa told me. "I won't have much time to teach you. But I'd say you're doing well. You've picked up most of the techniques I demonstrated very quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if you surpass me in a year."
"I doubt it, I'm not good enough. I wish I was extremely tough."
"You'd be tougher if you stop rhyming."
Somehow I doubted it. Everyone just wanted me to stop rhyming for some reason. Yeah, maybe they found it annoying, but that was kind of the point.
"Anyway, do your best when we're gone. Don't slack off."
"Yes, senior." I bowed gratefully. I knew from Shu Hong Qiu that the student council was busily preparing for the third-year students' graduation. I was going to miss them a lot.
Then I would be left alone. Well, not exactly alone, but I hadn't spent much time with other kendo club members. I had been busily training under Hao Jian Fa that I ended up neglecting social interaction with the other members in my year. So much for my goal of making friends.
Apparently, none of them dared to spar with me because I had built up a notorious reputation by beating up the SSS and Hen Xiong. Only Hao Jian Fa volunteered, and he was the only senior who did so. At first, I thought all the third-year students were on the same level as him, but it turned out that he was the most skilled and strongest.
None of the other third-year students wanted to spar with me or train me.
This sucked. Once Hao Jian Fa graduated, I would no longer have any reason to remain in the kendo club. I would probably quit in the next semester. Once again, I felt lonely. I wanted to become popular in my redo, make more friends and avoid being socially ostracized like last time, but no matter what I did, nothing worked. I found myself increasingly isolated. Solitude was not a very nice thing.
Suppressing my frustration, I performed one last salute. Hao Jian Fa guffawed and waved my salute away. Instead, he reached for his bamboo sword and pulled on his headgear.
"Let's have one last spar," he said, strapping on his chest armor. "I want to see how far you've gotten."
"Not very far," I admitted. "Still short of the bar."
Despite my lack of confidence, I followed suit and put on my gear, getting ready for one last duel.
As expected, I lost. But not as badly as before, or at least that was how I consoled myself…
*
"Ouch…"
Rubbing my head and rotating my shoulders after a rough duel, I grimaced.
"Senior Hao could go easy on me, especially since this is his last day in the club," I complained. Then I went still and sighed. Yeah…I wouldn't be seeing him in the dojo again after this. The third-year seniors would be halting their club activities in order to focus on their entrance examinations. They were getting ready to apply for whatever universities they wanted.
In a way, I admired them. I had yet to decide what my path after high school was. I planned to go to university because my parents wanted me to, but I didn't know what I was going to major in. Definitely not math – even though I scored well on that, I wasn't fond of the subject. That left literature and history. Definitely humanities. Also, I was looking forward to the opportunity to make more friends and improve my social skills when I get into university. Hopefully, I would have better luck in university than in high school, but I couldn't help becoming increasingly pessimistic about my chances.
Despite making a couple of good friends, such as Yun Shan, Lian Hua, Shu Hong Qiu and even senior Hao Jian Fa, the majority of my schoolmates actively avoided me. I doubted that would change even when I went to university. Just what did I have to do in order to become popular?
Well, no point thinking about it. I would worry about it when my turn came next year. For now, I should focus on the present.
I passed by the gymnasium along the way, noting that the basketball team was still practicing. Their ace was no longer present –Yun Shan had either left early to accompany Lian Hua or she was still nursing the injury she sustained from practice a few weeks ago. As empathic as her victory over the team from Wu Shuang was, it came at a cost. Her sudden revival and superlative performance ended up aggravating her wound.
"Even so, classmate Yun Shan is still so hardworking."
"She still shows up for practice all the time."
"Senior Yun Shan is so sweet. Did you see how she always looks after her best friend?"
"Ah…I'm so jealous."
"Yeah, she would always be the last one to leave after basketball practice. She's the one who works and practices the hardest and the longest. I wish I have her drive…her motivation."
"We should help her out once in a while. I feel guilty leaving all the locking up to her."
Seemed like Yun Shan had continued to work hard even after the basketball tournament finals almost a month ago. It made me ashamed of myself. Despite the stakes of my mission, I was complaining about Hao Jian Fa's training regimen. I hadn't learned my lesson from my defeat by Jiang Shi, huh?
The basketball club was already packing up and leaving. By the time I reached the main school building, I saw them lock up the gymnasium and leave the campus grounds.
Good. The earlier they left, the better. Even though there hadn't been any incidents recently, it still wasn't safe. I didn't know when Jiang Shi would return. So I had best hurry.
Feeling sore and bruised, I proceeded to the main school building to check on the student council. Thanks to preparing for the third-year students' graduation ceremony, the student council had to stay back and work overtime.
This was why I was glad I didn't join the student council. I would probably need to be counseled.
The outside was yellowed, the sun slowly setting over the horizon and gracing us with the last of its warm rays. Spring was coming, so the weather was mercifully getting slightly warmer and the days a bit longer. At least the sun no longer set around 5pm.
That allowed us to work a bit longer without having to worry about Jiang Shi and other ghosts preying on us when night fell.
Unfortunately, the moment I ventured toward the student council room, I felt a chilling premonition. I reached for the peach wood sword slung over my shoulder and scanned the corridors. It wasn't totally dark yet, the shadows kept at bay by the golden illumination, but already I could feel something was lurking inside the building somewhere.
I had best tell the student council members to leave early.
Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long. The door clicked open, and Shu Hong Qiu and her fellow student council members filed out. The Red Rose raised an eyebrow when she caught sight of me.
"Were you waiting long?"
"Uh, no, not exactly. I just finished kendo practice."
"We'll be going ahead," one of the student council members told Shu Hong Qiu. The girl I rescued that night. She was grinning, placing an encouraging hand on her fellow student council member's shoulder. A flicker of fear crossed her eyes when she glimpsed the shadows in the corridor, but the memory erasing medicine ensured that her trauma was suppressed, and she was smiling again after a second. "You should spend more time with classmate Ming Cong."
Then they left, leaving the two of us alone in the corridor.
"Before we go…" Shu Hong Qiu turned to stare at the corridor. By now, the last of the sunrays were fading away, the sun dipping under the horizon and retiring for the day. Darkness was encroaching upon the school building, the corridor being rapidly devoured by ravenous shadows. Unintimidated, Shu Hong Qiu continued to watch the end of the corridor. "We have one last thing to deal with."
"Should I thank you for waiting for me?"
Jiang Shi stepped out of the darkness, her crimson eyes glowing brightly. For a moment, I could only see her predatory gaze, as well as the slight glisten of her blood-red lips, then her pale features slowly came into view.
She ran a hand along her side and grinned, showing that she was fully healed. Stretching her hand, she allowed her nails to extend, the lethal, sharp claws gleaming in the darkness.
"I've been looking forward to this rematch," I said, unslinging the peach wood sword and holding it in the stance that Hao Jian Fa taught me. "I'll prove that last time was just a bad patch."
"Still coming up with those awful rhymes, I see." Jiang Shi cocked her head. Then she lunged toward me.
Twirling my peach wood sword about, I swung it forward to meet Jiang Shi's slash. Sparks scattered between us, and I parried her next strike before sliding to the side to avoid a kick from below. While Jiang Shi's foot whistled past the space where my jaw was, I twisted about to slam an elbow into her chest. She dodged, but my blow caught her in the shoulder and sent her spinning. Unfortunately, before I could press my advantage, she whirled around and made use of her momentum to throw a kick at my face.
Blocking the blow with the guard of my peach wood sword, I allowed the force to send me skidding back. Even as I withdrew to a safe distance, I refused to lower my guard. That saved my life, for I was able to deflect another slash before countering with a riposte that glanced off the nails of her other hand. Wood screeched against keratin before the both of us broke apart, sparks flying between us.
Flicking the yin energies off my peach wood sword, I watched as Jiang Shi recovered quickly and redid her posture. She straightened and pointed her nails at me.
"I'll admit…you've certainly improved during the short time I didn't see you."
"Well…" I shrugged before adopting another aggressive stance and pointing my peach wood sword at her. "I may not have an isekai cheat, but I'm sure there's no one I can't beat."