Nishimura Sensei stepped forward and grabbed Reiji's head, turning it multiple different ways to check for an injury.
"Strange.....Is it internal?" he mumbled under his breath.
Reiji's mouth twitched with exasperation as he pried himself free.
"Quit messing around, at least hear me out!"
"Hear what out? What dumbass would suggest fighting with one hand!?"
"I didn't mean literally! I've been working really hard on my lower body techniques, including kicking, sweeping, and so on. And even though my arm is injured, it doesn't mean I can't use it at all. I can still perform movements like parrying to keep the opponent at bay, and combined with a normal left arm and kicks, I feel like I can fight for the most part," Reiji explained in one breath, preventing Sensei from cutting in prematurely.
".....You have improved a lot, considering you kicked like a 5-year-old girl when you first started. But it's too risky. What if you get hurt? You can't rule out the possibility of your opponents targeting your injured side, which could reopen your wound."
"How about this? Let's spar for the entire session today, and I'll try fighting like I just suggested. If you think it's not worth it, then I'll back down, but at least give me the chance to see if I can do it."
Nishimura Sensei paused, his brows furrowing in deep contemplation as he used the document in his hand as a fan.
The focused shouts of the other students in the background prevented complete silence, but Reiji clenched his fists hopefully as he tuned all the noise out.
"...Why do you want to fight so badly? Even if you proceed like this, it's impossible to win the championship without your full strength," Sensei asked.
"If I miss out on this chance, I won't be able to join the national tournament in the second half of the year, right? I can't accept that."
"Well, I could just sign you up for this tournament, and then even if you forfeit the first match, you'll still be eligible to continue representing our school as long as we make the Top 10, which is a given."
"I can't really explain it, but I kind of want to earn my right to participate."
Nishimura Sensei pursed his lips, studying Reiji's determined expression closely.
"Fine...Let's spar, and then I'll decide what to do."
Reiji's smile widened, and he rushed to the sparring ring before Sensei could change his mind, doing his warmup exercises within it just to make his stance clear.
The old man chuckled at the sight and followed behind after a moment, stretching his arms with a grin.
***
"Weak!"
"Put some strength into it?"
"Panting like a dog already?"
"I can do this all day, and I'm an old man! Think about that!"
"Raise your leg higher!"
"Hmph, I couldn't even feel that!"
Sensei's taunts kept coming at a speed that could be called unrivaled, but Reiji kept silent and ducked a punch with focused eyes as he countered with an uppercut.
But his fist only met wind as his opponent leaned back.
"If I know that only your left arm is useful, I don't even need to guess where the attack is coming from. You're still overly reliant on punching, so you need to get rid of that habit!"
*WHAM*
"Ugh....."
Reiji reeled back from the knee he received with his stomach, finding it difficult to breathe for a second.
They had sparred for over an hour, and although he improved his coordination drastically in that time span, he still wasn't a match for Nishimura Sensei.
This was mainly because he was concentrating too much on not using his right hand aside from basic parrying, which wasn't easy when his instincts were screaming at him to do it.
But he was slowly getting the hang of it.
He leaped forward and sidestepped the punch from Sensei and lowered his body, his left foot gearing up for a powerful kick when he saw the opening.
The old man's eyes flickered, and he raised his leg to meet the impact head-on when Reiji lifted his foot.
However, he saw a fist growing bigger in front of his face the very next second.
Sensei raised his hands hastily, barely blocking the blow with his forearms, but he still stumbled back at the power.
Reiji didn't stop moving, continuing with his onslaught as his right leg shot forward and made strong contact with Sensei's calf, who couldn't dodge it with his balance being off.
He grunted and hobbled sideways to regain his footing, which gave him the chance to parry Reiji's subsequent jab.
They both stopped suddenly, sweat rolling down their tired faces as Sensei clicked his tongue at Reiji's unabashedly wide smirk.
"See? I told you I could do it!"
"Don't get cocky, kid. You're lucky I'm this old, or you would be wrapped up in bandages right now."
"Tch, would it kill you to give me a compliment?"
"....You did well," Sensei sighed, rubbing his grayish-white hair with irritation.
They both climbed out of the ring and wiped the sweat off with towels that Fujita Senpai handed to them.
"Junior....I don't think I'll be able to sleep without dreaming about this. It's too exciting!" he muttered.
"Senpai.....You seriously need to think before you speak," Reiji grumbled.
"What do you mean?"
".....Nothing."
Nishimura Sensei downed an entire bottle of water before walking over to Reiji.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he stood just a meter away from him and nodded with satisfaction.
"That feint at the end was quite good. I couldn't even tell until the last moment, which makes a world of difference."
"Then, can I participate in the tournament?" Reiji asked, his face lighting up.
".....Fine, but you still need to be careful. You should only join the team division this time; you're still not ready to go up against judo practitioners and other grappling martial arts, especially with your injury."
Reiji wanted to protest for a second, but bit back the words as he realized he was right.
Let alone the fact that going up against grappling would require the use of his right arm, regardless of his plans, he had no experience with fighting against people who practiced it.
The team division would allow them to only go up against MMA members, compared to the individual tournament, which had no limitations.
Of course, MMA still includes grappling techniques, but it wouldn't be the main focus, giving him some leeway for the most part.
If the opponent gave him no choice, he could forfeit the round if necessary without throwing away the chance to move on, since his team needed to win rather than relying only on him.
"I'll be participating in both, so don't worry, Junior! I'll look after you!" Fujita Senpai reassured, patting him on the back.
"Oh, thanks then."
"Alright, start your cooldown routines, and make sure not to stop training at home over the weekend! The tournament will take two days, starting on Monday, so you'll be exempt from classes," Sensei announced with a clap, shooing the gathered seniors around him.
While Reiji was stretching, his gaze wandered over to the Taekwondo group and saw Yui chatting with her instructor while wiping her face with a towel.
She seemed excited, her red eyes twinkling under the sunlight streaming through the windows across from her.
'I guess it's time for the test.'
***
"You didn't overexert yourself, did you?"
"Nope! The coach just made me stretch and guided me through the foundations again. A little annoying, but I wasn't allowed to skip it," Yui giggled.
The hall was slowly emptying out, with very few people still hanging around.
But even those remnants would soon be asked to leave once the exam began, aside from Reiji, who had received permission to stay out of Yui's request.
"Was the written test hard?" Reiji asked curiously.
"Hard? Not exactly. It was more tiring than anything else. I had to memorize the right answers because I would've had no clue otherwise. I mean, how would I know shit like the 'ethical use of force' and the 'meaning behind moves'??"
The Black Belt promotion exam was actually a two-day process, and Yui took the written exam yesterday in a closed room with a supervisor.
It tests the candidate's awareness of why Taekwondo exists and whether they know the 'right' way to use their skills, to ensure they don't misuse the art and also have a general appreciation for it.
Reiji himself had a headache just imagining it, let alone Yui, who's a 'kick first, think later' type of girl.
It probably wasn't as easy as she was making it out to be.
"Tachibana! We're ready for you!" a voice called out.
"Coming!" Yui yelled before turning to Reiji one last time. "Wish me luck!"
"Break a leg," Reiji smiled.
"Huh? I think I'd rather break theirs....."
He laughed at that and watched as she ran off towards the long table that had been set up at the end of the hall.
Seated behind it were the panel of judges, who would conduct the practical test over the course of the next hour or so.
The judges were all familiar faces, since they were the respective coaches of each martial art that was being taught at school.
Apparently, they were all licensed to conduct the exam, and the presence of all of them was required to ensure fairness.
The practical test was also far from simple.
It was sectioned into three phases, each testing different aspects of the candidate's skill, experience, and foundation.
The first phase was the Precision Basics Test, where Yui would have to prove absolute control over fundamentals, such as core stances, blocks, strikes, etc., each performed slowly under heavy scrutiny.
The judges measured balance, alignment, breath control, efficiency, and other relevant details.
The second phase was called Forms and Adaptability, revealing the candidate's internalization of each technique.
Yui would have to perform each technique perfectly three different times. Once while blindfolded, once to an irregular rhythm, and once while interrupted by random verbal commands at varying speeds to test adaptability and discipline.
And the last phase was the most obvious one.
Combat Reality.
Where she would spar against every instructor, who would each use their respective martial art.
She didn't have to win, of course, but it tested her distance control, timing, recovery, emotional control, strategies, adaptation to different opponent builds and techniques, etc.
Reiji exhaled with a hint of nervousness as he thought about all this.
'God, that sounds exhausting.....'
***
A/N
The advance chapters have increased to 40, with a bunch of fun arcs, so check it out if you're interested! :)