Chapter Seventeen: Prelude
Rejoice. Cannon is finally near. Probably next chapter or the one after. M' starting to run out of fillers.
Inside a hall.
Two people stood apart.
Squeak~
A sound was made, due to their feet sliding lightly against the polished wood of the dojo floor.
... it was none other than the two.
The president and so called vice president of the Kendo Club.
"Haruka. I'll have you know I've gotten a lot stronger than before."
Leveling his bokken towards her, Morgan muttered that with a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
As though to respond to that, the girl cracked a grin of her own, rolling her shoulder as she picked up her bokken.
"I see you've grown complacent, haven't you?"
Yes.
Unlike before, this wasn't a simple spar with shinais.
This time, both were doing this with a bokken, a wooden sword that greatly resembles an actual sword.
Rather, a wooden prototype of it.
Its length was about 101.5 centimeters, which was about 40 inches long.
While Morgan didn't know the full details,
She had personally requested this match as a form of a tournament match between the two.
This was already the month of April.
Specifically. 3rd April.
Sometime this week, they would take their leave from school to do just that.
And, it was a relief, or at least what Morgan thought.
"Still, what's with the crowd."
"Oh? No idea. But that's no problem, I take it?"
From the circle of onlookers gathered at the gym's edge,
Morgan could see some familiar faces, classmates, club members, even Shidou among them.
Morgan sighed.
"Well, probably not."
Haruka's grin widened as she slid her front foot forward with both hands tightening around the hilt of her bokken.
And on her face was an expression that seemed to say,
Let's enjoy ourselves.
'Yes, today, let's go all out.'
In a sense, today's battle meant more than just a spar.
Unlike the usual, both were always holding themselves back, learning from the other to improve.
Even Haruka learnt alot from their spar.
But against Morgan's inhuman reflexes, there was only so much she could grasp.
Her eyes had gradually adapted to his speed, but for someone who mostly focused on a strength-focused style,
…that was one of her weakness.
"Now then–"
"Yeah. Let's go."
Both nodded, and immediately,
the distance separating them was closed instantly as they both brought their bokken down simultaneously.
Clak~!
Sounds of two wooden swords clashing were heard, followed by a squeak caused by them adjusting their bare feet.
…since the wooden floor was polished clean with wax, even the slightest force against the ground made noise like this.
"Nngh. Get blown away."
Bam!
Haruka slammed her dormant right foot, as though to gather strength in that manner, pushing against his bokken with brute force.
In response, he grunted,
"Kuh .. ha, you should know I'm about techniques like this."
Those words slipped out from Morgan's lips as he twisted his grip, sliding his blade along hers.
And in one smooth motion,
He appeared behind her, however.
"I already knew you'd do that."
Without even turning her head, Haruka swung wide, her bokken slicing a perfect semicircular arc through the air.
The wooden blade whistled past his face, grazing close enough for him to feel the wind pressure.
No, Morgan dodged it right in time.
...right.
Other than her insane strength, she also had good balance.
Even though he had faster reaction time, her good sense of balance will always help her regain her balance.
Squeak~
Morgan dodged it, arcing his body to the back, flipping over, finishing it by landing cleanly after the backflip.
"So, you baited me, huh?"
"Hmph. I've watched you long enough to know how you move."
The female replied with a wide wolfish grin which, however, prompted the male to shake his head.
Of course, she wouldn't be fighting him in the tournament.
Perhaps it was just her being selfish; however, the male seems to want it just as much as she also wanted this.
In hindsight, however,
Haruka didn't think she would come across someone as strong as Morgan.
They have both improved in skills, techniques, movements, reaction, and in all possible aspects of improvement.
And that alone earned that confidence.
"Since that's the case then…"
Bam!
Squeak!
Morgan planted his foot shooting straight at her, appearing in front of her.
He swung his bokken.
Straight at her left sides which she blocked with a flexible twist of her bokken positioned at that direction.
"...heh!"
A grin crept up her face,
Shua!
Morgan blinked; he felt a rustle. Immediately, he spun his head to see her right foot heading towards him.
"Nngh."
With a grunt, he released his left hand from the grip of his bokken, blocking her right leg.
Thwack!
"Crap."
Despite blocking it, however, the force of the kick caused him to stagger, slipping into a moment of vulnerability.
And the female seemed to realize it.
Using that momentum, she twisted her body midair and brought her leg around again.
The same left arm that blocked her first kick caught the second—
Wham!
—and this time, the impact sent Morgan skidding several meters across the floor.
"…What crazy power."
Despite training like crazy, in terms of physical strength, or rather, striking power, he was still behind.
"Sinclair, you're distracted!"
Her voice jolted him from his reverie, followed by a squeak.
Squeak—
In an instant, she was right in front of him, with her bokken raised high overhead.
Without hesitation, she swung down with a roar.
Tch!
Morgan clicked his tongue, raising his weapon horizontally to meet her strike.
Clack!
But instead of taking the hit head-on, he adjusted his stance at the last moment, letting her blade slide off his own.
Doing that, he also raised his right leg, straight for her shoulders.
He caught her exactly where he wanted her.
Wham!
Bam!
The kick connected; however, it felt shallow if anything.
It felt like the Gorilless had in one way cancelled most of the shock she would have received.
Ye. It was at that moment when he attacked.
Haruka instantly slammed her foot on the ground.
'...na, what the hell!?'
Morgan sweat dropped as he jumped back.
In theory, was such a thing possible?
He didn't know.
But somehow, her slamming her foot against the ground sent a different impact.
It probably canceled out his own, and the fact he could feel it in his legs.
That was proof.
What sort of unreal technique is that?
Morgan's expression darkened, but immediately dismissed it.
"Hahahaha. This is what I like. More and more! Let's continue."
Haruka laughed wildly.
A grin filled with mania as she braced her legs against the ground, tensing her muscles before shooting straight at him.
There was no time to think.
Morgan furrowed his brows.
He was finally going to take this a bit seriously.
If he remembered correctly, the best way to deal with a charging bull...
Yes, if he went with that method.
With that in mind, Morgan leveled his head, clearing every distraction from his thoughts.
By emptying his mind, sharpening his awareness, as long as he could predict her movements.
…even if it were a second faster. That would be enough.
And true to that,
Bam!
A sound, rather, the sound of her feet firmly planted on the ground.
She was already in front.
Whoosh!
The sound of the bokken cutting the air was made in a thrust; however, Morgan sidestepped calmly.
From under, he swung his bokken towards her outstretched bokken.
Clak~!
Despite landing the hit, she didn't let up; instead, she endured the numbness, gritting her teeth.
With a wide grin, she welcomed the pain and swung at him horizontally.
Morgan blocked, his feet skidding against the floor, yet neither of them backed down.
Both lunged in and clashed again.
Squeak—
Their feet scraped across the polished floor as they exchanged blow after blow, before Haruka suddenly leapt forward.
Morgan dodged, dashing back before countering and moving in.
Clak—
"Hahaha! This is exactly it!"
No longer was the fierce expression on her face; rather, it was replaced by mania.
And in that moment,
"That's enough! Both of you stop now!"
Just right as both were aiming for serious strikes, a voice called out to them, stopping them in the process.
It was the P.E teacher.
He strode forward, shaking his head with his hands on his hips, followed by a long sigh.
"No matter how much you look at it Haruka, Morgan, isn't that already not going too far."
"No! I want to continue!"
Haruka stubbornly made a gesture, pointing her bokken towards Morgan,
But, she was immediately silenced by him.
"Eh? You? … seems like a certain someone's gotten a little ahead of herself and forgotten something important."
The P.E teacher suddenly seemed to have grown some meters taller, glaring down at Haruka.
Finally, as though coming to realization.
An 'ah' word slipped out of her lips as she cowered, shrinking back, looking left and right.
… then her gaze fell on him, Morgan.
"Psst."
She whispered, calling out for help.
But the male only waved his hands with a smile before turning back, walking away with a quickened pace.
"Hey, don't leave me hanging."
Morgan knew.
She was going to get scolded, for sure.
Let's not get involved. Mhm.
Naturally, this was a familiar sight for most of the Kendo club members.
Even a normal spar between those two tended to escalate to this level of madness.
Comparing themselves to the Gorilla Pair?
Mhm. They were better off staying within their own lane of skillsets.
"Is this how it usually goes?" one of the students asked.
"Yup. Pretty much," came the weary replies from the club members in question.
"...and you vice-president, where do you think you're heading off to—!?"