Kazuya turned his head to see a girl standing out from the group of female students in the distance. It was the little radish Haruka Sakura. She was bowing politely to the teacher with precise and standard movements.
The teacher, saw it was a petite girl making the suggestion, maintained a gentle expression, "What suggestion do you have, feel free to speak your mind."
"Yes!" Haruka, with a serious attitude, continued, "Now is the break time, and many students only know about kendo as a sport but haven't seen an actual match. How about using this time for an exhibition match to make everyone have a visual understanding? What do you think, Sensei?"
"An exhibition match?" The kendo teacher pondered, pinching his chin. He thought the idea wasn't bad, "This suggestion is quite good, but I didn't bring any assistants today. Perhaps in the next class..."
Haruka interrupted him, "It's okay, Sensei. I'm a member of the school's kendo club. How about letting our kendo club members to take this exhibition match?"
"Sure!" The mild-mannered kendo teacher thought the current situation might be that the kendo club want to showcase their training results. As a senior in kendo, he was willing to support the juniors, "Which student is also a member of your club?"
Haruka pointed towards the group of male students, smiling brightly, "Kazuya Matsuoka from Class B is also the member of the kendo club."
Countless gazes immediately focused on Kazuya. This radish really had a strong grudge against him. She went to great lengths to cause trouble for him, but fortunately, he was well-prepared. He reached out to stop Shin, who was blushing and trying to stand up. Yuma wanted to stand up but hesitated after touched his throat. Beated by a girl here would be embarrassing, especially in front of the female students from three classes. It would become the talk of the entire grade tomorrow.
Kazuya stood up, unfazed by becoming the center of attention, "I'm willing to be Sakura's opponent."
Having said that, he looked towards Haruka. Although he treated her as an imaginary enemy, he didn't intend to hurt her. However, now that this radish had taken the initiative, he had to give her a lesson, making her realize he wasn't easy to mess with.
Haruka flashed him a smile, sticking out her little tongue and licking her lips. The expression was like a small lion looking at a lamb under its paw: cute, smug, and a bit fierce.
Haruka had her gear stored in the kendo club, so she went to retrieve it. Kazuya borrowed the set that the kendo teacher had brought for demonstration purposes and changed on the sidelines. However, he realized he hadn't paid much attention during the lesson just now. He turned back and asked, "Shin, please help me put on the gear."
"Okay." Shin immediately stepped forward, skillfully tying knots, folding headbands. He did it with a servant-like demeanor, emphasizing the majesty of Kazuya sitting there calmly. Shin was very skilled, quickly folding the headband into a special shape and placing it on Kazuya's head. He muttered in a low voice, "Kazuya, why did you agree to her? It's too reckless."
Kazuya replied, "It was inevitable sooner or later. I can't avoid it... By the way, why cover the head? To prevent sweat?"
Shin, feeling even more anxious, answered hastily, "Mainly to reduce the impact on the head when the face guard is hit. Of course, it also prevents wear on the headgear and has some sweat-absorbing effect... Um, Kazuya, how about letting me go instead?"
Kazuya looked at him and jokingly asked, "Are you confident to win?"
Shin lowered his head. He couldn't win. Haruka was indeed strong among high school students. He had lost in the practice in the club. He admired her strength, so in the changing room, he thought about helping Kazuya and Haruka resolve their conflicts in peace.
Kazuya patted his shoulder, "So, let me handle it. After all, it's my matter... Sakura is provoking me, and I have an obligation to let her know there's always someone better than her."
Shin contemplated how to help Kazuya save face. At that moment, Yuma approached, "Alright, I've arranged a few friends. We'll sign up to be referees later. No matter who gets selected, we'll make a cheating call against the shorty. She must lose!"
Kazuya looked at him helplessly, "No need. There are over eighty people here. Getting exposed would be more embarrassing." Despite Haruka constantly causing trouble for no reason, at least she challenged him openly, thinking of a fair one-on-one duel. On the other hand, Yuma was really despicable.
"Don't consider so much but win!" Yuma insisted.
Haruka had already put on her kendo gear. She walked to the sidelines, knelt down, bit one end of the headband, covered her face directly, then used her small but powerful hands to tie the other three ends behind her head and ears. Finally, she stuffed the end in her mouth behind her head, revealing a serious yet excited little face. Her crescent-shaped eyes gleamed brightly, her mouth tightly pressed into a straight line, and two shallow dimples appeared on her face. "I'm ready."
Kazuya put on the gauntlets similar to gloves, holding the bamboo sword to get accustomed. "I'm ready too."
The gazes of the two met across the field, both resembling hunters looking at their prey. Today, he/she would make this little radish/little pretty boy pay the price!
The kendo teacher hung out the referee flags. He was fair, choosing three referees from Class A, B, and C respectively. This foiled half of Yuma's plan to cheat. However, Yuma almost forcibly obtained one of the flags, ensuring a one-third chance to cheat.
Kazuya and Haruka had red and white cloth belts tied behind them, respectively, then they donned the face guards and took their positions at the white line. The students watching were also interested: this was much more entertaining than boring practice. Particularly, observing Kazuya had many female students excited. In the group of female students, someone even shouted, "Come on, Kazuya!"
Haruka cast an annoyed glance for that someone cheered for Kazuya. With so many people around, she couldn't hold grudges against everyone, so she let it go.
Kazuya looked at Haruka through the gap in the face guard. This time her kendo uniform fit well. She wasn't wearing a dragging long skirt but a large hakama, revealing two small, white feet. However, breathing in the air with a slightly metallic and leathery scent from the face guard, he felt strange. It was his first time facing a real person in a duel, but he didn't feel any stress. Previously, Haruka had a great impact on him when she roared like a little tiger. Now He felt that the opponent wasn't as strong as he had imagined.
"Excuse me, could you come first?" The competition was about to start, but the door of the kendo dojo was opened, and a school staff poked his head to greet kendo teacher. The teacher hesitated for a moment: "Sorry, please wait for me. Maybe he has something to do with me." After saying that, he followed the staff outside.
Haruka stared at Kazuya in a ready posture. Observing the bulging on his body, it seemed as if he hid the 2.5 million yen she lost there. "Gigolo, you make me angry. Do you know why I'm angry? Because of you, my stomach hurts every night! But I'm not unreasonable. If you let me hit you to vent my anger, I'll save you some face, and we'll call it quits. How about it?"
Kazuya flatly refused, "No way!" Everyone has a temper. Why should he indulge her? If her stomach hurts, she should see a doctor. Why should he be used as stomach medicine?
Haruka's face became even more unpleasant. "You'll regret it. Get ready to lose face!"
"If you can do it, come at me!" Kazuya stood his ground.
Before the two even crossed swords, the verbal sparring had already begun. Apart from Yuma, the two referees were dumbfounded. This didn't seem like a simple exhibition match. Did they have some personal grudge?
They both forced the referees to begin the match, But other two referees hesitated because of the absent of the teacher. Yuma was afraid that this would be the end of their conflict, so he started shouting.
"Rei(礼)!"
"Ready!"
"Begin!"