Hagun Academy Student Council President, Raikiri, Toudou Touka! Currently, she is Hagun Academy's top-ranked Blazer, and its strongest Blazer in plain sight.
She was a semifinalist in the previous Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival, losing only to last year's Seven Stars Sword King, Moroboshi Dai. She was the strongest swordsman in last year's Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival. She was also the competitor who previously eliminated Shizuku.
"Looks like there's a good show coming up, Ikki!" Standing up and patting Ikki's shoulder, Shirou said with a smile,
"Good luck, Ikki!"
"Ah! I understand!" Hearing Shirou's words, Ikki clenched his fists tightly. Ikki certainly knew Toudou Touka's strength. But even so, Ikki felt no worry or fear in his heart, only endless excitement. If you ask why, it's because!
"The moment I saw her, I already wanted to duel her!" Ikki declared resolutely.
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At night, in the dormitory. Lying on his bed, chatting on the phone with someone at the sweet shop, Shirou glanced at Ikki, who was sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting, and suddenly asked, "How's it going? Do you feel confident?"
"Do you think you can defeat Raikiri Toudou Touka and earn the right to represent us at the Seven Stars Sword Dance Festival?" Hearing Shirou's question, Ikki opened his eyes and said calmly, "Not at all. Senior Toudou's title as the strongest is definitely not false."
"Facing someone like her, even I would feel unconfident!"
Saying this, Ikki once again recalled cooking with Toudou Touka in Okutama. At that time, a conversation he had with Mibuchi Foobar still remained unforgettable.
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"You said you want to know the source of Touka's strength? I can tell you!" Facing Ikki's question, Mibuchi Foobar stopped his work and said seriously to Ikki, "What kind of place do you think an orphanage is, Junior?"
"It's where homeless children live, right?"
"That's the literal meaning, but 'homeless' can mean various situations. Some children lose their parents due to accidents or disasters, or are abandoned by their parents."
"But those are still the better cases. Worse, some children were even almost killed by their parents and were forcibly removed by public institutions. In short, there are all sorts of situations."
"By parents?"
"Yes. And then, there was a child with a rather complicated background who came to our orphanage.
Because of him, the atmosphere in the orphanage wasn't very good at the time. Even though they were children with similar circumstances, they would hurt and curse each other over small things, and everyone was suffering."
"And Touka, despite having very similar experiences to them, always tried her best to smile at them. She would read picture books to the younger children, or cook delicious meals in place of the director. The director was a good person, but her cooking was unbearably bad, so everyone was happy, hahaha."
"Senior Touka is very caring, isn't she?"
"She was always like that, tirelessly taking care of everyone. She also treated the child who was almost killed by his parents without any prejudice."
"That child was very violent; no one else could handle him, he was on the verge of breaking down, and he even hurt Touka again and again, but Touka never abandoned him until the very end."
"Thanks to Touka, that child was able to return to the right path and regain his human emotions. So that child is still very grateful to Touka to this day and loves her very much." Mibuchi Foobar lowered his head, narrating the scene from back then in fragmented sentences. And his tone would occasionally revert to the first person.
Ikki knew very well that the child who was almost killed by his parents was most likely Mibuchi Foobar himself.
"And one day, that child asked Touka. Why was Touka so strong? He was curious. Touka's experiences were similar to his own, who had lost his parents, and to the other children in the orphanage, and she was still a child herself, so why could she still love others like that?"
"And Touka replied to him: 'My parents gave me so much love. Although the time I spent with them was very, very short compared to ordinary families, my parents gave me so many smiles and affection.'"
"'These memories continued to support me even after my parents passed away. The most important thing my parents taught me was to deeply love others, and that is also my favorite thing.'"
"'So I also want to be like my parents, to make other children smile happily, to give them beautiful memories, hoping that these memories can become their pillar.'"
And so. "Touka, as she said, even though she has now left the orphanage, she continues to bring smiles and courage to the children of 'Wakaba House'."
"She became the nation's leading powerful student
knightRaikiri, continuously active on the battlefield, and proving with her own being that even if we lose our parents, we can still become amazing people." Ikki finally understood Mibuchi Foobar's meaning.
The source of Toudou Touka's strength was 'goodwill'.
She could unleash unparalleled power not for herself, but for others. This was Toudou Touka, the very soul of this girl.
"Junior, you are indeed very strong, beyond my imagination. I am no match for you, and even Kanata might be in some danger against you. But even you cannot defeat Touka."
"Touka's resilience is on another level, because that girl deeply knows that if she loses, many people will feel sad.
So she absolutely cannot lose, absolutely cannot back down. The burden that girl carries is something you cannot compare to." Ikki fell silent upon hearing this. He merely shifted his gaze from Mibuchi Foobar to Toudou Touka nearby. He watched Toudou Touka happily cooking, quietly contemplating. Those slender shoulders carried the expectations and wishes of many people. And Toudou Touka had responded to their expectations.
"I indeed have never carried the expectations of others."
Ikki had walked this path by firmly believing in his own worth. Ikki neither relied on others nor fought for others; he simply fought to achieve his ideal self. Therefore, Ikki's sword did not carry the burden that Mibuchi Foobar spoke of. His sword had never harbored the hopes of others. This fact transformed into an invisible black mist, gradually spreading, then tightly??ing Ikki's mind. And it questioned Ikki:
Can your feather-light sword truly defeat her?
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That past question left Ikki very confused, because his sword indeed had no expectations from others. But that was before. Now, Ikki could clearly sense the expectations gathering on his sword. That's right, those were the expectations of his comrades and the people influenced by his sword. Their expectations resided on Ikki's sword, awaiting his response.
"Although I don't have much confidence in defeating her, I will not be defeated!" Ikki's voice was full of certainty.
"Is that so?" Looking at Ikki's back, Shirou said with a smile, "Do you need me to give you some pre-battle coaching?"
"No need!" Looking at the moon outside the window, Ikki's eyes were filled with fighting spirit. "I've simulated the mock battle with Senior Toudou countless times in my mind. What I need now isn't information about her, but to break through myself!"
"And then evolve in battle!"
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--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter