Chapter 14: Sparring
As the sun rose again, Hinata Mansion welcomed a new day.
The architectural layout of Hinata Mansion is situated near the mountains and water. The owner of this land, after constructing Hinata Mansion, did not develop any other areas, and Hinata Mansion only occupies a very small portion of the land.
In terms of land ownership, Hinata Mansion and the mountain behind it to the north share the same owner. The mountainous area to the west belongs to the shrine, but incidentally, this shrine was also built by the ancestors of the Urashima family, though it was later nationalized.
The waterfall behind Hinata Mansion is located between two large mountains. As a river flows between the two mountains, a drop occurs here, forming a small waterfall. The abundant water first forms a lake in the low-lying area to the west of Hinata Mansion, and then continues to flow eastward.
When Aoyama Motoko was young, she liked to practice her sword on the drying platform of the new annex and meditate by the waterfall.
The small drying platform clearly couldn't provide enough space for sparring with Hikigaya, so he brought Aoyama Kyoko here to the waterfall.
The waterfall is about 20 meters high, like a white jade ribbon, pouring down between massive rocks. The water splashes against the protruding rocks of the cliff, and the spray is transformed into a colorful mist under the sun, creating a sheer curtain of rain. The mist and smoke drift gently, creating a white expanse that looks exceptionally serene.
It is called Shiraito (White Thread) Waterfall, and Hikigaya thought the name was quite fitting.
However, unlike his energetic state, Aoyama Kyoko was sporting a pair of dark circles under her eyes.
"I still think something is wrong. Why were three women lying at your door when I came looking for you?" Aoyama Kyoko had been asking Hikigaya this question the entire way, but Hikigaya had consistently ignored her, which made her quite upset.
In fact, what she most wanted to ask was why she herself had suddenly felt overwhelmingly sleepy at that time and couldn't resist falling asleep.
But Hikigaya wasn't ignoring Aoyama Kyoko just to spite her; he was contemplating a question:
What kind of effect would the Light of the Afterlife have on ordinary people?
Moe's words last night reminded him of something. Moe wouldn't randomly mistake Gokou Ruri for Keitaro's doll; she could clearly distinguish who was human and who was not.
When questioned by Hikigaya, she stated that she sensed a faint aura of kinship emanating from Gokou Ruri.
However, Moe's kin are yokai (supernatural beings).
Hikigaya remembered that Tamamo-no-Mae had told him that there were many examples in ancient Japan of yokai and humans marrying and having descendants. The yokai generated by the spirits of foxes, cats, and tanuki were the most common, and the descendants of yokai and humans were usually ordinary people.
Hikigaya knew well that his Light of the Afterlife was a power that caused life to re-erupt from its lowest point. Such an eruption could not possibly have zero impact on the inherent life force of the resurrected person.
God Slayers don't need to worry about this, because the extraordinarily high baseline is already set, and no matter how many times they are resurrected, there won't be much change. But for humans, it might not be the same, especially those whose lineage is slightly mixed with something else...
However, seeing that Gokou Ruri seemed fine, perhaps someone in Gokou's ancestry merely had a romance with a yokai.
Pulling back his thoughts, Hikigaya saw Aoyama Kyoko glaring at him with indignation.
"What's wrong with you?" He was puzzled. They were just sparring; they had agreed to it earlier, so why was she in such a bad mood?
"You ignored me!"
"Uh... Sorry, I was thinking about something." Hikigaya inwardly thought that kids are sensitive. It seemed he would have to let her use her ultimate moves to her heart's content during the upcoming spar to properly pacify her.
Fire away, if you kill me, I lose, something like that. Hmm... that's about the feeling.
"Hmph! It must have been your trickery! I must defeat you and give you a good beating!" Aoyama Kyoko was still righteously indignant in the first part of her sentence, but by the end, she was beaming with excitement.
"Alright then." Hikigaya looked around. This was already the back mountain area. "Come on, let me witness the Shinmei-ryū style."
"Then here I come!" When Aoyama Kyoko placed her hand on the sword hilt, her previous joking expression disappeared, and she exuded a profound calmness that was never seen otherwise.
In an instant, her demeanor plummeted sharply from Super Mario to a firm and tranquil rock.
"She's the 'Tranquil' type, huh..." Hikigaya sensed the opponent's aura and had roughly judged Kyoko's level of skill.
She has already completed the discipleship level and is close to touching the realm of Myōshu (Masterful Hand).
Considering her age, she is indeed an undeniable genius.
She would certainly be captured if she encountered a seasoned kidnapper like the Demon God Fist.
However, this level is limited to the extreme physical training; she is only just beginning to explore chi (life energy).
A martial artist who cannot use chi freely and skillfully in the dark is merely a "soldier."
Hikigaya wouldn't be so demanding. Komachi is going to college, not fighting a Boss. She only needs to be able to drive away those guys who reek of "I want romance."
"Big Bad Guy, here I come!" Aoyama Kyoko's voice interrupted Hikigaya's musings. She utilized a technique similar to Shunpo (Flash Step) and delivered her first strike to Hikigaya, "Rock-Slicing Blade (Zangan-ken)!"
In Love Hina, this sword technique was one of Aoyama Motoko's favorites. It was famously powerful because it could cut through rock. However, Motoko's technique clearly had a method to distinguish between humans and yokai; her standard for a successful Rock-Slicing Blade was cutting through a rock without harming the person standing next to it.
Aoyama Kyoko clearly wasn't that skilled. Hikigaya estimated that if she used that technique, the rock would split, but the person's head would also likely crack open.
So, he raised his hand, flicked his finger, and knocked Aoyama Kyoko's Rock-Slicing Blade to the side.
Sure enough, Hikigaya saw the force of the sword slice blast a hole in the ground nearby.
The power of the Shinmei-ryū sword art seemed immense; this was no longer a typical "weapon fight."
This was clearly a dual talent of Berserker plus Weapon Mastery!
As he was thinking, Hikigaya saw Aoyama Kyoko use the force of his flick to spin in the air and bring down another slash.
"Iron-Cutting Flash (Tessan-sen)!" she shouted.
Hikigaya thought fighting like this was truly embarrassing, even though the power of Shinmei-ryū was genuinely great.
As the names suggest, one splits rock, and the other cuts iron, so the latter must be more formidable.
It was a pity that in the eyes of a God Slayer, they were the same. If power were measured in star levels, assuming the power of this world had ten star levels, then gods and God Slayers were already "Super Star" from the beginning. Therefore, the feeling in their after-the-fact evaluation of a one-star attack or a ten-star attack was the same.
Out of respect for the fond childhood memories of Love Hina, Hikigaya told himself he was really trying hard to judge Kyoko's star rating.
So, he used two fingers to directly clamp the sword Kyoko was bringing down, and then seriously savored the feel to make a judgment.
But Aoyama Kyoko released the sword hilt right then.
"I quit, I quit." Aoyama Kyoko looked very dejected after letting go of the hilt. "I'm simply no match for you."
"Huh? You're quitting already?"
"Of course! I won't be fooled when you're this strong! But I won't admit defeat. I will definitely beat you before I graduate!"
With that, she retrieved her sword, turned around resolutely, and walked away.
She left behind only a helpless Hikigaya.
To be honest, he hadn't even had time to rate that last slash; it was too short a time frame to properly judge...
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