Sorry for the late update. This semester seems to not to be working in my favor that much, that I can barely keep on working with my stories. Still, even though the pace will be a little slow in my end, I'll definitely keep this one going.
This chapter is considerably longer than the previous one, since Umi's personality is better and easier to tweak with a lot of paragraph, I guess? Chapter title and quotes are from the ending of Rurouni Kenshin anime, Heart of Sword by T.M. Revolution. It is one of the retro anime songs that I still keep on my phone due to how catchy it is x3
"We, who are closer than affinity.
Pass by each other without paying heed."
IIb. Umi Sonoda ~Heart of Sword~
With the sound of bird chirping from the outline of her window, the young daughter of Sonoda calmly opened her eyes. Yawning for a moment, she then neatly rose from her bed. Thank goddess the weather was so nice today, which mean Umi could hopefully go to the designated stadium for the competition with ease.
As she walked to the bathroom and washed her face, Umi managed to see a good view of her own face.
"…"
She had to admit, she was far from her current condition at the moment (especially her mentality, no thanks to yesterday's discussion with her two best friends), yet Umi had seemed to catch her determination enough. Even making an ear-to-ear smile was not that hard at all.
"Yosh, let's do this."
Just from watching her own reflection's smile, Umi had figured everything. There was no need to look back and be all sappy about what had happened. There was going to be a competition today and she might as well put all of her everything there instead.
Well, at least, for today, that was the best decision.
…
"We're here, everyone."
Umi, as the acting president of the archery club, calmly lead the fellow members of clubs down from the bus that had taken them to the place, Nippon Budokan. Behind her, five girls of the clubs were lining up as they stared at the building right before them. Two of them, who were still in their first year, seemed to be way more surprised than the rest.
"U-Uwaaah… So this is the famous Budokan…"
"So big…"
The blue haired president couldn't hold her chuckle inside. It was not like they were to blame, Umi herself still remembered how she acted two years ago when she was here. Her reaction was more or less similar to her juniors.
"Now, now, there's no need to get overwhelmed like that," she assured, trying her best to sound as soft as possible. "Well, since we're here earlier than expected, should we warm up a bit?"
The whole crew made a simultaneous nod. Indeed, warming up and relaxing now might boost their performance later.
After a quick of administrative things with the coordinator of the competition, the Otonokizaka's archery clubs were shown where their designated lockers were. Even though that there were still around 2 hours more for the archery competition, they didn't take that long to slip into their hakamas and training gears.
When they were about to head over to the training hall, though, loud cheers from the main stage put their attention to a quick halt. Umi, in particular, blinked her eyes as she tilted her head to the side a little, expressing her curiosity.
"What's happening over there?" one of the members managed to take the words right out of Umi's mouth. "Umi-senpai? Do you know anything about it?"
It only took ten second of the girl's time to remember it. Well, if any, it was more of a wild guess than anything.
"I suppose there's another event going on," she halted her words, a little unsure. "Probably."
At that point, the girls were thinking but the same thing. Umi was no different.
"Shall we take a look? It won't do us any harm."
Her suggestion was deeply appreciated by her friends. Without further ado, using their relatively short statures, the girls of Otonokizaka's archery team managed to slip in even in the wildest of crowds.
When they managed to see what it was, it was unsurprisingly something that most of them was rather unfamiliar with.
Just on the center of the hall, there were two people fighting head-on against each other. Dressed in hakamas, their well protected arms were gripping tightly on the bamboo swords that both tried to push at each other. Right after that, one of them pulled his weapon back and stepped forward to slash his opponent right on his head. As it made a loud thud, one of the judges stepped in with a shout, as well as raising the white flag on his right hand.
It didn't take a genius to figure what was happening down there: There was a kendo match ongoing. Umi in particular, being trained in kendo herself, quirked an eyebrow at the sight, her interest clearly showing from her expression. As the two kendo practitioners on the field went to their respective side, Umi went on and turned her glance right at the score board.
The once '1' just above the name Jindai High was quickly erased and changed into '2' on the board. That made it 2 : 2 score for the Jindai High and their rival, Azabu High. However, as Umi looked on the corner of the arena, there were only four guys (now five with the latest fighters joining them). So, if her assumption was correct, this was probably a best of three matches, which means that the match after this was going to be the last one.
The Jindai High, who had just won the latest round, seemed to be cheering rather loud since they seemed to find a light of hope to win the competition, as they had managed to tie their score up. High fives were traded between two of the members on the side.
On the other hand, the one in the other corner, Azabu High, didn't even let out a cheer. Still, their expression didn't seem to be troubled at all, even though the latest competitor was bowing his head slightly in apology for his disability to ensure their victory.
As the final competitor from both sides walked to the center of the arena, the audiences couldn't seem to control their hype. Female audiences in particular were louder than the male one. It wasn't really that confusing, considering how the one from the Azabu High side looked.
Indeed, both of the final competitors were very good looking, but the one that emerged from the Azabu's side was on a whole different level, as even Umi had to silently admit. How should she explain this… The radiating silver spiky hair that the Azabu's practitioner possessed was too eye-catching especially. Not only that, even as he walked to grab his head mask,he seemed to let out this charisma of an absurdly cool person. It was as if Umi was watching a model.
As they grabbed their swords and stood before each other, the audiences fell dead silent. Not because they wanted to, but simply because they had to. They all knew that the fighters there need to concentrate on either landing a hit on opponent's body or blocking their enemy's attack, or both.
The moment they had finished with their greeting and they entered their stance, Umi was in awe at the sight of Azabu's competitor already, and any other kendo expert would probably fell into the same state as her. Noticing the difference between the two fighters was not that hard at all. The one from the Jindai High was good, but how the one from the Azabu was beyond excellent. His default stance was absurdly calm for a high school boy and how he did his footworks from the greeting was giving about how agile his steps could be already. The way he held his sword without showing any opening left no spot to be questioned as well.
Umi's guess was not that farfetched, in fact. As soon as the judge gave the signal to start, the practitioner from Jindai immediately lunged forward and swung his bamboo sword vertically, aimed right at his enemy's head. The audiences had already held their breath down at this.
However, as much as the Jindai's competitor wished, his sword never hit his target. Instead, just right before the sword could even halfway move, a bamboo sword from the other side seemed to be cutting his effort in an instant. The one headgear that was connected to a sword was Jindai's to Azabu's sword.
Before the Jindai's fighter could even react, the competitor from the Azabu High twirled his sword, circling it around his opponent wrist. As he continued to move in a split-second, he used one of his feet as pivot to spin around the arena, capturing his enemy right on his back.
The audiences, even the Otonokizaka's archery club members, were totally in shock at what happened before them. It took a judge raising a red flag that was on his left hand for them to notice that the match had ended, as fast as it had started. The kendo fighter of Jindai stood there just right that, very highly unsure of what just happened while the fighter of the other side was already giving a small bow as the etiquette to closing a kendo match.
The crowds were getting into cloud nine as the winner of the match was now official. Cheers were following soon from every side of the hall. The rest of the competitors from the Azabu High School were exceptionally excited at the glorious victory that just happened.
"W-Whoa…" one of the Otonokizaka's archery members opened her mouth wide, totally in awe. "T-that was amazing!"
"Y-yeah!" another one commented back. "I've never seen someone that fast, not even in television."
It was no need to be said that Umi was pretty astonished as well. She had seen a lot of fast and good kendo practitioners in her own family's dojo, but nothing could even compare to the one that she just saw. Probably not even Umi herself could even swing a shinai that fast.
This just further proved to Umi that the world was vast, indeed. There were a lot of more skilled people compared to her already-high skill.
To be honest, Umi would love to just watch how amazing the performance of the Azabu High's fighter once again, but she had arrived here to do another competition. She had her job to show the world about how amazing the Otonokizaka's archery team could be… Or in simpler words, she shouldn't be dillydallying anymore.
"Alright, alright," she clapped her hands together twice, mainly to grab her friends' attention. "That was an amazing fight, but we need to remember what we're here for. We should go and warm our hand up so that we might be able to give our best shot, alright?"
It was more than enough to motivate the archery members to move their legs to the training hall again.
Inside the competitor's locker room, the Azabu High was still cheering on their victory by having a small party on their own. Snacks bore open on the benches and drinks were out from the cooler boxes. Even the non-kendo members had joined the fray.
Which was pretty ironic, considering there was a certain person who seemed like he was not all that interested in joining the party. That certain person was the one who brought them to their victory, furthermore. Instead of paying attention to the loud crowds, he was busy wiping the sweats off of his face while making a glance at the mirror occasionally.
"Tatsuya-senpai! Tatsuya-senpai!" one of the kendo members called, clearly addressing the distanced man. "Come drink with us!"
The silver haired young man merely gave a dismissive wave back at his friend's call. "No, thanks. I'll be going home now. I have a work to do."
A short answer was all he did before he went for his own locker, quickly grabbing his belonging as he did so. His friends could only let a sigh at him. Granted, they had realized how independent and loner Tatsuya could be (which was most of times, probably), but they still couldn't get used to it. Not even the junior members of Azabu Kendo Club. It was really hard catching up to him, both physically and mentally.
"The competition's reward is going to be held in afternoon after the archery competition," an older man, the kendo club advisor, interjected. "And you're probably- No, you're definitely the MVP, Tatsuya-kun."
"I'm not really interested in both," Tatsuya countered calmly, finishing his packing. "Just grab them for me and put them in the club room by tomorrow, sensei."
More sighs. Good grief, there was just no helping it with this certain pupil of him. He knew that there was no way he could win this debate with him.
"If you said so, Tatsuya-kun," the older man replied. "Be careful on your way home, then."
Tatsuya didn't respond with anything for he was focusing on packing instead. Honestly, he found no point in wasting his time for unnecessary party, let alone having more than nutrients and vitamins needed for his growth. With a soft creak, the teen closed the locker as he was done with putting things in his bags. He turned around to leave, but he was welcomed with a sight that he didn't really expect.
The rest of the kendo members were bowing at him.
"Thank you for the three years, senpai!"
"We would never be able to make it here without you!"
"We promise that we'll defend the trophy for the next and upcoming years as well!"
Tatsuya blinked his crimson eyes at the scenery before him. When he was able to register what just happened, he made a small shrug back at them.
"What are you guys talking about?" Tatsuya said. "It's not like I'm not going to attend club anymore tomorrow."
There was literally no change by his expression as he let out his straight answer, not even a muscle from his face was budging. The only movement that the young man did was keep moving his legs forward.
"Oh, and—" Tatsuya made a halt when he consider that he had enough distance from them, before he opened his mouth. "You'd better be."
The last sentence seemed to light his juniors' face, however.
"Of course, senpai!"
"We will not disappoint you!"
His juniors' ecstatic answers made the corner of Tatsuya's lips form a smile, although barely. He was no team player… Probably the farthest from it, but he admitted that this was probably the moment that he was genuinely proud of the members of the club. For his last tournament in high school, they had given him the best cooperation that he could wish for. Waving yet another handwave back from his shoulder at them without looking, the third year of Azabu High walked past them to the door.
"Tatsuya-kun."
Once again, before Tatsuya could leave the room, he felt someone was mentioning his name. This time it was his teacher.
"I know that I've said this numerous times, but-" the kendo advisor smiled. "-I want to let you know that you're the best student that I've ever had. I've never felt prouder than having someone as you under my wings."
The person mentioned seemed to freeze for a moment, before he made a bow, a grateful one, at his teacher. "Sensei."
As his teacher accepted his bow with a nod, Tatsuya strode off from the locker room, leaving the experience and the memory of his final high school tournament away.
"Hey dude," when the room fell silent after Tatsuya's leave, a second year member spoke. "The archery competition is probably already on right now, wanna see?"
"You bet, man. Let's go."
A short answer from his friend, and they were off to the main hall to witness the next ongoing competition.
Finally, it was the time for the archery competition.
Umi let out one final sigh as she sat on the lined up cushion for the competitors. Otonokizaka's final opponent this year was Kyoshin High, a newcomer to the archery tournament.
However, being a newcomer wasn't exactly a disadvantage. People would think that Otonokizaka would get the upper hand due to their experience. From a point of view, that was agreeable. Umi would agree as well to that, partly. The other part? She totally disagree. The fact that Kyoshin, a newcomer, could reach the final stage could only mean that they had superb archery skills to best even the experienced ones.
"Otonokizaka, you may start first," the competitor's judge shouted at the center of the battleground. "Get into position."
Still, Umi Sonoda was confident that she, alongside with her friends, would not go down without a fight.
…
As the silver haired man walked around the audience seats to his way out, his mouth made out a big yawn that he covered with his right hand, while his other hand was busy balancing the bag that contained his entire kendo gears. Groggily, he closed his eyes and rubbed them.
…Guess this concluded his last tournament in high school? As anticlimax as it sounded, Tatsuya was honestly a bit grateful that he could stop putting his concentration on the school club and he could put all of his focus elsewhere; Workplace, to name one. He would now have more time to spend on his job, and he could go full-time than part-time as well.
Speaking of workplace, Tatsuya reckoned that he was assigned a new job starting today. He was about to see the memo that he had written on his cellphone when the corner of his red eyes captured something interesting. As he trailed his gaze at his side, his ears managed to catch what the occurrence was as well.
Ah, the archery competition was already starting. Not that it mattered to him.
Or that was what he would like to thought. Odd as it seemed, there was something that piqued Tatsuya's interest, who normally paid little care to anything in particular. Four of the archers down there were pretty average for his standard, but there was an archer who he could consider above the clouds. He didn't know much about archery's rule, let alone its etiquette, but the way this one blue haired girl moved her arm to grab the arrow and put on her shooting position was an epitome of elegance. The way her ponytailed hair moved smoothly in a wave as she moved was utterly beautiful.
Before he even knew it, Tatsuya had shifted his position so that he was leaning against the steel railing on the side, his eyes were locked tight at the girl that he was… interested to, for the lack of better terms. Really, this girl was something else. Compared to the seemingly subpar performance of her friends, her accuracy already said everything that was needed to be said about her competence. Out of three arrows that she had shot, all three of them hit right on the middle circle.
"Senpai? You said you were going home?"
The young kendo practitioner was a bit too captivated at the competition before him that he didn't even notice that three of Azabu kendo members had approached him. As his eyes fell to his side, his expression stayed as stiff as ever. "It's you guys."
"Yeah, it's us," one of the members stifled a chuckle. "Haha, I should say that I am a bit surprised though. I didn't know that you are into archery, senpai?"
"I am not," Tatsuya replied bluntly at his junior. "Though, there are certain cases."
As he said that, his eyes returned to gaze at the blue haired girl, who grabbed her next arrow before she nocked it against her bow. As fast as she set it up, the arrow was launched quickly at the target, stabbing it perfectly in the center.
Tatsuya definitely was not the only one who was mesmerized by her performance, of course.
"That's her, right?"
A member spoke from Tatsuya's side, capturing his interest a bit. After that, another voice joined in. This time it was from another different member.
"Yeah, Umi Sonoda. Gosh, she's really cute in person, even from this distance," the guy chirped. "Hey, let's go talk to her after this, shall we? It's not everyday that we can meet her like this."
"Uh, man… Don't you think that's pretty blunt?"
"Oh, come on! Or are you saying that you don't want to befriend her? The stage's pretty much set already!"
"That's not what I'm saying!"
The gossips slash bickers between the two (who soon became three because another one joined) junior members of Azabu continued.
Unsurprisingly, there was a dumbfounded Tatsuya staring at their conversation.
"You guys know her?"
The three stopped their chats to stare in unison at their senior.
"Senpai…" One guy finally voiced what was going in their head. "…You can't be serious, can you?"
"…Do I look like I'm joking right now?"
Tatsuya's direct answer made the three of them question their entire opinion on this senior in front of them. It took a while before one of the younger member decided to speak.
"Tatsuya-senpai, do you know what μ's is?"
There was a somewhat long silence between them, before the oldest of bunch opened his mouth to answer the previous question, bluntly.
"A soap brand."
The three of them let out a sigh in accordance. Tatsuya just quirked an eyebrow back at them. What? Was that a trick question or something?
"Tatsuya-senpai…"
"We can't believe you…"
Two of the three members rolled their eyes aside at that, while the last one was scratching his cheek awkwardly.
"…Well, there surely was someone worse who can't tell the difference of ramen and udon out there, right? It's not exactly the worst—"
There was officially a grumpy Tatsuya on their side now, who was grunting and tapping his fingers restlessly against the railing. "Whatever, just explain."
The one who scratched his cheek just now was now letting out a sigh as his scratches moved from cheek to the back of his neck. "It's a school idol group, senpai. You've at least heard of it, right?"
Oh? Yeah, even he would know about them, at the very least. Still, there was still the main question that he couldn't even consider hiding it for later.
"And what's a school idol doing in here?"
Actually, he should reverse the question a bit, shouldn't he? It should be 'what was a good archer like her doing in this idol thingy' instead of that.
"Who knows?" his junior shrugged back at him, before making a small grin. "Why don't we ask her after this, senpai?"
That was the least correct offer to the least correct person ever.
"Go ask her if you want," he replied in a relatively cold tone. "But count me out of it."
There were but another unsatisfied whine coming from the others. "Come on, senpai. No need to be that cranky all the time."
"Call it having better priorities."
Another blunt counter from Tatsuya and he made a quick turn to walk away from his friends. Waving his hand without even looking over his shoulder, the third year of the Azabu High made enigmatic strides off the place.
As he was about to leave the building, though, his cellphone just had to rang. From the catchy tone, it was an e-mail instead of a phone call. Barely surprised, Tatsuya's arm reached for the communication device from his pants' pocket.
When he flipped the phone open and read the e-mail, there were small twitches on the corners of his lips as he made an almost-invisible grin.
From: Hiro
Subject: (empty subject)
How's the tournament? Did we win?
That grin of him slowly turned into a small smile, although Tatsuya didn't reply the e-mail with anything yet and decided to close the phone again for now. A thing like this, according to Tatsuya himself, was to be told directly instead of through this kind of messaging.
Tatsuya's phone fell into his pocket with a flop as he started his steps again. After he was done with his part-time job, he should pay Hiroaki a visit.
But for now, he made one last glance back at the huge building behind him, a smile trailing over his youthful lips as he made a mumble to no one but himself.
"Thanks for the match."
With that, there was no trace of Tatsuya Sasaki around Budokan building anymore.
"See you tomorrow, Umi-senpai!"
"Be careful on your way home!"
As her juniors parted ways with her to go in the opposite direction to their respective houses, Umi returned their farewell with a slight wave, a warm smile plastered by her lips. "Yes, see you tomorrow. You guys be careful, too."
When they were far enough to be seen, Umi turned around to walk to her own house while letting out one exhausted sigh.
They lost the competition, even though she had done her best.
Group competition was pretty different from singular, after all. The points were racked by the amount of arrows hit divided by five, where one person shot ten times at the target. Umi herself managed to actually hit nine out of ten shots, but in total, the Otonokizaka's points were not high enough to surpass their opposition. They had lost 39 to 41 in the end.
Not that she let anything got into her. Umi was always the rational girl and nothing could convince her otherwise. Things about losing and winning were number two, what mattered were the process and effort.
…Well, she still had to admit that if they won, everything would be better.
As she walked to her home, she grabbed her phone from her pocket, narrowing her eyes at the screen.
She wanted to talk to Honoka and Kotori so much; about what happened yesterday, about what happened today, and probably about what should they do tomorrow. Those things, or just random things in general.
Another sigh escaped the gap between her mouth. No, perhaps now wasn't the best to talk to them. Both her body and mind weren't really at prime right now. She couldn't tell what kind of things she would say to them with this kind of mentality.
Not to mention that she still had to do the usual evening practices as soon as she was home. Ever since last year, her father always pushed her to train harder, since she was going to inherit the dojo soon. Her daily training was getting more intense as days passed. That wasn't even counting the training from her mother, much to her bogged down body.
When the third, final sigh came out from her lips, Umi had reached the gate of her house. The day was far from over for her.
As she bowed down her head to enter her dojo, she, however, was welcomed in the oddest way she had ever experienced.
"GAAAAAAHHH-!"
"EEP—"
Unconsciously, Umi had let out a yelp at the sudden… falling body in front of her. There was a disciple of her dojo falling flat on his face before he rubbed his head when he had recuperated enough.
"Alright, next!"
There was an unfamiliar voice coming from the middle of dojo, whose face was not really that unfamiliar to Umi.
Silver spiky hair, piercing red eyes which were focused at the incoming opponent, and well-built arms. It was… that guy from Azabu High from earlier.
And exactly just like what she had seen on Budokan, he just casually dodged his sparring partner by moving his feet to the side a bit, before he swept his foe's bamboo sword by surprise and smacked him to the floor without much fuse.
"AUGH-!"
"Your attack was too obvious, try to aim where your opponent would not expect," he stated sternly before he turned his head to another kendo practitioner on the side that was waiting for his turn. "Next!"
The next one charged at him, but he simply made a short work of him. Another footwork mind games and he disarmed him off his kendo sword with his own, clearly displaying the difference of pure strength.
"GYAAAAAH—"
"Next!"
Another one charged at him. Same result.
"AAARGHH!"
"Next!"
And another one.
"UWAHHH-!"
…And another one…
"OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!"
Umi could hardly catch what just happened anymore. The more people charged at him, the more bodies piling up on the dojo mat. It… wasn't even close to kendo anymore. It was an outright one man onslaught.
"Welcome home, Umi."
As she heard her name being called, the blue haired girl turned her head to issue the person back. It was none other but her father. "I am home, father."
"Interesting young boy, isn't he?"
Her father quickly addressed the matter that she wanted to ask, gesturing a bit at the sight of the silver haired boy who was singlehandedly curbstomping another kendo practitioner. Umi made a small nod to that, knowing fully-well the extent of the swordsmanship of the Azabu High Schooler. "Who is that, father?"
"Tatsuya Sasaki, he's to train the junior starting today," he amusedly said. "You still remember Uemasa-san from Hattori dojo from the other side of Tokyo, right? He asked me to keep him since he said that young man couldn't improve anymore by being in his dojo."
…Was he some sort of stray dog or something!?
"Training the junior?" Umi finally voiced her curiosity for her father. "But he's still around that age himself, isn't he?"
"That is true for general case," her father replied back as he watched Tatsuya kept his training. "But I've seen him for a while, and Tatsuya-kun is very strong for his age. He can be trusted with the juniors while I can take care of the rest."
Not like she doubted him in the first place.
"WAAAAAHHH—"
Her train of thought was put on a terminal when another, who was probably the last, kendoka was slamming the dojo's wooden floor right in front of Umi's eyes, which surprised her a bit.
"Get on your feet and go back to the side," Tatsuya's stern voice came from the other side.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
That evening was the first time their eyes had met. Dark crimson eyes met sugary amber eyes. The former, which were Tatsuya's, evaded further encounter as fast as they had met, per contra. His head was directing straight to the messed line of the junior practitioner of Sonoda dojo.
"Out of five stars," he spoke again, putting his arms on his sides. "I'll give you guys three stars. Not what I expected, but still good nonetheless. Some of you are probably stronger than you would like to think, but on the other hand, some of you are very questionable."
Before his 'students' could react to him, the silver haired young man continued his speech.
"I don't know what kind of method Sonoda-sensei took to taught you guys, nor do I care about it," Tatsuya blatantly continued, making Umi's father quirked an eyebrow in amusement. "I'll just put this straight, kendo match is not a basketball, football, or other kind of team sport. You're in for a surprise if you expect a helping hand out of nowhere. You can only cling to yourself for help, and so does your opponent. This is the world where there is only one winner and one loser."
"There's no miracle, talent, or all that fantasy things in kendo matches, only determination and hardwork," he finished. "And from tomorrow onward, I will see to it that you will have that determination. You guys following me?"
"SIR!"
Ah, an unison answer. Tatsuya liked it. "Good, let's wrap things up with thirty kotes, mens, and dos respectively and then you guys can go home."
"SIR!"
As they put on their positions and started swinging their swords, Tatsuya turned on his heel to approach the owner of the dojo, bowing his spine slightly formally. "Thank you for today, Sonoda-sensei, and please accept my apologies should my method of teaching seems to contradict yours."
"You are their teacher now, Tatsuya-kun," the middle aged man responded, obvious entertainment coming from his tone. "They are just a little younger than you in personal, aren't they? You should know how to handle them better than me. Please do teach them your ways."
"My gratitude for your trust in me, Sonoda-sensei."
"It's not a problem. Raise your head, Tatsuya-kun," he ordered. "Oh, this is my daughter. She's about the same age as you. She is-"
As he raised his head, Umi's eyes once again met with his, the second time today. Being the well-mannered girl she was, Umi made a small smile as she bowed her head slightly. "How do you do, Sasaki-san? I am-"
"-Umi Sonoda, right?"
…Okay, that surprised her a bit. Before Umi could ask him herself though, her father was the one who inquired the young teacher. "Oh? Did you two know each other already?"
"Not exactly so," Tatsuya retorted back as he wiped sweats off his forehead with a towel that he had in his hand. "I only saw her earlier today in Budokan when she was competing and I happened to overhear my juniors talking about her school."
Umi's father made a barely audible 'Oh' at that as Tatsuya continued.
"You won, right?"
…
"No, unfortunately, we didn't," Umi smiled as she answered the young man's question, although it was pretty obvious that she was forcing it. "I sincerely hope that next year they'll be able to do that, of course."
Tatsuya fell silent at Umi's response. How could she lose with accuracies that were almost on bullshit-level of perfect? Tatsuya swore that he had never seen a more perfect archer with his own eyes before Umi Sonoda's performance earlier today.
Ah, wait, team competition, huh? Guess she couldn't carry the tournament by herself. She wasn't as lucky as him.
"That's such a waste," he stopped for a moment before he continued his statement. "…Regardless, I'm Tatsuya Sasaki. Pleased to meet you, Sonoda."
He definitely couldn't call her with '-san' since there were two Sonodas in front of him and calling her with her first name would definitely be the least professional thing that he could ever do.
"Yes, please take care of me too, Sasaki-san," Umi responded with her formal smile intact.
And that was officially the third time their eyes met again.
Just like they said, third time was the charm. Tatsuya had seen what he wanted to see from Umi. She had something that nobody else in this room had.
"Sonoda," he addressed Umi again. "Are you still tired from the tournament?"
That was Tatsuya's first question that even Umi would deem too random. "I would be lying if I say that I'm perfectly okay," she tilted her head questioningly to her side. "Why are you asking that, Sasaki-san?"
Even though Umi was moving her head to her side a bit, Tatsuya's eyes were not running away from hers. They were still locked on her. "Am I right to guess that you do kendo as well, Sonoda?"
"Oh, she does," before Umi could answer, her father chimed in to answer for her. "She's Dan-2 in both kendo and archery."
"…Good, then."
Witnessing a small grin plastered on Tatsuya's lips, Umi could halfway guess what the issue was here.
…
Umi knew that it would come to this.
Before she knew it, she had changed her outfit into her hakama. Her unsaid guess was right: Tatsuya challenged her for a quick match of kendo. Well, it was not that she didn't want to test her might against his, to be honest. As someone who had done kendo for years, meeting someone who could do kendo as well as Tatsuya excited her, a bit. She was definitely not as excited as the guy, though.
As she walked in to the dojo, the guy that Umi was thinking was sitting thigh on the center of the dojo, his bamboo sword resting on his side. Although as soon as he hear Umi's footstep, he rose from his seat and stared at her.
"Are you ready, Sonoda?"
"When you are, Sasaki-san."
With the rest of the practitioners watching over them, the two of them bowed at each other as the bread-and-butter of the formal kendo match. After that, the two quickly positioned themselves in their respective stances after the referee, Umi's father, gave them the signal to start.
Umi knew very well from what she had witnessed that she needed to keep her guard up all the time to fight on par with the silver haired man. Tatsuya was strong… very strong, and saying otherwise would be a blatant lie. It was safe to assume for Umi that he was far stronger than her.
From the way Tatsuya set up his stance, he was assuming a defensive position. Technically, Umi would have to find any opening around his figure, hit him for a point, and then proceed to win the match… At least that would be that way in theory. In reality, however, she couldn't do it as simple as that. She knew that should she attack carelessly, Tatsuya would be able to counterattack her, taking his agility that he had shown him in the measure.
Both of them were not at their prime conditions, but she should not underestimate him. At all. Perhaps, she should try to make a lot of side steps, feinting him a bit and then—
"Stop."
—Her halfway devised plan was put on a halt when Tatsuya spoke, lowering his stance down as he stared at her.
"Sonoda, wear your protectors, all of them," he said coolly, which almost came out as an advice if not an order. "I'll wear mine as well."
"…Huh?"
Tatsuya didn't seem to hear her question as he walked back to get the bogu from the side.
The rest of the practitioners were probably as confused as Umi. They were chatting with themselves, genuinely curious of what Tatsuya was trying to pull. Umi's father was the one who went straight to the young man to know his answer on this.
"Sorry, Sonoda-sensei, but I can see it on her eyes already," he said casually, chucking dryly a bit to himself. "I don't think I can pull any punches on her if I want to win."
His answer was simple, but it was more than enough for Umi to gulp on a lump on her throat. He was not going to play around like he did to the rest of the kendokas. He was going to show her his true worth.
After good five minutes of pausing the match to wear their armors, the two returned to their positions right after the referee told them to resume the match. Umi's hands were holding tightly on her sword as she watched Tatsuya with her eyes. In front of her, he was standing still, while being enigmatic enough to give her the vibe of not having any open spot to be attacked, which he literally was.
He was obviously waiting for her to attack like that. The questions for Umi were where and how should she do that.
She then decided to do what she had planned earlier. Letting out a battle cry that surprised Tatsuya slightly, Umi lunged forward with two big steps. Like she had predicted as well, however, Tatsuya quickly made a horizontal slash aimed to her forearm in order to keep his distance… Which Umi had predicted as well.
Feinting the third big step, Umi spun on her heel instead and swung her sword diagonally… Which surprisingly managed to hit Tatsuya's head protector, hard.
"Ippon!"
There were applauses from the watchers as the referee indicated Umi's advantage of score over Tatsuya's. Umi panted for a moment as she watched her gripping hands… She could actually do this!
Like in every kendo matches ever, it would be at least best of two. Umi was one to Tatsuya's zero. She needed one more point to secure her victory.
She was about to walk back to her position when she noticed Tatsuya's expression on the other side of the field. He looked genuinely surprised from the way his eyes widen as he touched the spot that Umi just hit him, probably gesturing about what just happened to him.
"Second round!"
Umi returned to her spot quickly to resume her starting stance, while Tatsuya was a little bit slower than her at doing that, probably since he was still recovering from the surprise.
As the blue haired girl positioned herself, the corner of her eyes managed to see the drastic change of expression of Tatsuya beneath his mask. Instead of the shocked face that was on his facial like just now, he was… smirking, a rather unusual grin, even. Which made her shiver a bit.
Umi had just probably fanned the flame, more than she should.
"Start!"
For this round, she probably should—
"HAA!"
"Kyaah—"
—Be a little defensiv— Wha!?
Nobody in particular expected to see what they were seeing, more considerably Umi, since she felt a sword had just crashed right on the front side of her mask, sending her stumbling two steps back as she tried to balance her legs in surprise. Her eyes went wide in wonder as she tried to register what just happened.
Tatsuya had just hit her in the matter of split second. The spectators definitely couldn't see it at all, while Umi herself could just barely tell; Tatsuya didn't do any tricks or sort. He simply lunged at her with a perfectly timed dash, positioning his sword in a stabbing motion which he directed right to her face.
"Ippon!"
The swordsman did not say anything as he returned back to his position, leaving a bedazzled Umi in her spot. They were even now and both of them need but one more point to win the match. However, instead of thinking that, she could only stare in awe at Tatsuya.
"Final round!"
No, she shouldn't give up yet. Her opponent was fast. So fast that there was no spot for her to find an open hole to strike. However, it was not like there was no other option to take.
As the third round started, Tatsuya made a quick vertical slash with the same speed as before as he let a battle cry out from his mouth. That would definitely hit her if she hadn't made a countermeasure for that. Her shinai moved quick enough to block the slash before it hit her.
Umi was able to see Tatsuya's expression clearer with this proximity. He was… obviously amused by the occurrence?
"Nice move, Sonoda," Tatsuya said as he pushed his sword in the deadlock between them. "Close, but not quite, unfortunately."
Umi couldn't even mutter her surprise when her opponent quickly pulled his arm back, before setting up a smooth footwork to reach her undefended right side, and then proceeded to hit her right hip.
"Ippon! We have our winner!"
While it didn't hurt at all for Umi, sadly that concluded their match, with Tatsuya's victory. The spectators were applauding their performances as the two competitors went back to bow at each other in order to close the match.
"W-Woah…"
"That was crazy."
"Did I just watch an anime fight?"
The spectators' loud thoughts were not all that questionable. If Umi hadn't watched him in Budokan earlier, she would have gone speechless like those people right now. That was saying much, since she was still left speechless right now, nonetheless.
"Guess I was right about not pulling any punches against you, Sonoda."
Tatsuya's voice came as he removed the mask from his face. He didn't have the grin that she saw before, his facade returned to the cold and cool expression once again. "You should be at least Dan-3 like me with that skill."
If she could have a say in that, though, Tatsuya would be at least Dan-6 like her father with that kind of kendo mastery.
"Thank you very much, Sasaki-san," she responded with a smile, a business one, after she snapped out of her reverie. "But I don't think I can fit in that level yet. I still have a long way to go."
Tatsuya fell silent as he heard that. Both of them were still standing straight on their previous position with little to no fuses. Only the sound of the rest of kendo practitioners packing up to go back home could only be heard between them.
When most of people had left the dojo already, it was then when Tatsuya opened his mouth to let out his blunt tone again. "You can be as modest as you want with your words, but your sword is speaking otherwise."
It was Umi's turn to fell silent for a moment.
"Well, I guess you do have a point, Sasaki-san," Umi countered. "It's still not something worth bragging about, though."
"It's not bragging when it's stating the fact, also-" he calmly reacted. "Drop the -san already, Sonoda."
"Eh?"
"You heard me," Tatsuya made a small sigh, probably to let out his tiredness with it. "There's no need to be so formal with me when I am barely older than you."
Actually, it would sound a little bit odd for Umi's taste, but Tatsuya had his point across again. It would be only fair that if he didn't use any prefix to call her, she should not use one for him as well.
"Very well, Sasaki it is, then."
"That's better."
It was then when the male of the two decided to turn around and grab his belonging before he walked out of the dojo. After giving proper excuse, of course.
As he walked to Hiroaki's home, the silver haired man stared idly at his hand silently. His palm still could feel the pressure of crossing sword with the young daughter of the Sonoda dojo.
His advisor in both of school's club and Hattori dojo kept on telling him that there was probably nobody else in his age that would prove to be a match for him, but after meeting her, Tatsuya was damn sure that they were wrong. There was someone out there that could stand up to his swordsmanship.
Umi Sonoda, huh?
Tatsuya made out a grin to himself. He had never thought that he would ever be this excited to know about someone, moreover a girl, further.
After there was nobody else but herself in the dojo, Umi carefully dragged and closed the door tight. She then stared a bit at the middle of the dojo, where she had battled Tatsuya, before she glazed over at the ceiling, sighing for a moment.
Tatsuya Sasaki… Being Dan-3 with that age could only mean that he started it pretty young, probably since he was still six to seven years old. Umi didn't know that there could be someone so dedicated to kendo that much. That guy had definitely been giving his all in sowing his future, which he probably had already reaped a bit.
Not that she would consider that as a bad thing.
Compared to herself actually, that was pretty admirable. Especially when she was still not crystal clear of her future.
"Though I'm alone, I think I can cross over the distant tomorrow, as long as it's still dawn."
There are a lot of kendo terms that I used in this chapter for the obvious reason. There's nothing that advanced that I used here, I hope? A bit of googling would show you what you might be curious at in less than one second. Feel free to ask me if there's still something that you don't understand, though!
The second OC, Tatsuya, made his appearance in this chapter, although this is definitely not the full extent of his characterization. He's… Well, endgame pair with Umi, which will take slowest progress of all considering how both Umi and him are pretty awkward at interacting with other gender in general. What I can say for sure is that it's not really that rare to see a high schooler to have Dan-3 (or even Dan-4 in some special case) in martial artist. Some people in Japan are really that dedicated and I admire those people so much that I used as the basis for Tatsuya.
Name: Tatsuya Sasaki (written as 竜也 佐々木, literally means 'The help of an assertive dragon ').
Age: 17.
Birthday: May 4 (Taurus).
Blood Type: O.
Height: 168cm.
Appearance: Unkempt hair with unusual silver color. Pretty well built figure, although he's almost always covered them with long-sleeved clothes. His skin is a little bit tanner than your everyday Japanese, possibly due to his tendency to stay outdoors. (Reader's visual reference: Logix Fiscario from Atelier Escha & Logy).
Favorite Food: Seafood.
Least Favorite Food: Sweets.
Ideal VA: Mamoru Miyano (Setsuna F. Seiei from Gundam 00, Kida Masaomi from Durarara!, Riku from Kingdom Hearts).
Personality: Hiroaki's childhood friend who lives literally next door to him. In contrast to Hiroaki, though, Tatsuya is more 'less-talk-more-action' than him. He tends to do things alone, especially if he can handle it himself. Not that good with words and twisting his tongue when it comes to conversation unlike his childhood friend, however when he does speak, his nature is nothing but straight to the point, if not very cynical and rude. Despite being the other side of the coin with Hiroaki, they're best friends and they go to each other a lot when there's any problem. Very dedicated to kendo, swordsmanship, and anything related to that.