Two days later, at Teitan High School.
In less than two weeks—next next Saturday—the long-anticipated Kendo event would finally arrive: the Kanto Tournament.
When the time came, elite kendo practitioners from Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures would gather at the Tokyo National Gymnasium, drawing their swords to compete head-to-head.
The tournament would feature high school, university, and adult divisions, all held simultaneously. In the adult division especially, there would be no shortage of already well-known and established swordsmen.
It was easy to imagine how intense the event would be—likely rivaling, or even matching, the excitement of the New Year's Day football match.
Because of this, Teitan High's Kendo Club had been drawing more and more attention in recent days.
Of course, most of that attention came from students within the school. After all, this was Teitan's first time in ten years challenging the Kanto Tournament again.
Rumor had it that even some members of the school administration were paying close attention—but that had little to do with ordinary students.
As a result, the Kendo Club—and every one of its members—had become the center of attention lately.
"Men!"
"Kote!"
"Do!"
After school that afternoon, even before entering the gymnasium, one could already hear powerful shouts echoing nonstop.
Sonoko and Ran paused briefly at the entrance when they heard the sounds, then entered the gym and made their way toward the Kendo Club area.
Under normal circumstances, even just passing by outside, two beautiful girls like them would have instantly changed the atmosphere of the entire club.
But today, despite Ran and Sonoko standing right at the entrance, no one noticed them at all. If it weren't for someone training alone near the doorway, they might've gone completely unseen.
"Everyone's so serious," Ran said, looking around the training area. "It feels like they're all really giving it their all for the upcoming tournament."
The atmosphere felt familiar to her. The karate club was often like this before major competitions.
Still, it wasn't usually everyone training so passionately.
Seeing a scene like this all at once even made her feel a bit fired up.
Sonoko, however, reacted differently.
She could feel the heat in the air, but it didn't really move her. Instead, she craned her neck eagerly, searching for a specific figure.
Her goal had been clear from the very beginning.
Besides, with the training atmosphere so intense, everyone was fully geared up in protective armor—even those training alone. To Sonoko, they were all just masked figures, and she had no interest in paying attention to anyone else.
"Hey! Ran, look—could that be him?!"
"Uh… I don't think so…"
"What about that one over there?"
"Um…"
Ran hadn't really wanted to come in the first place—at least not for this reason.
Seeing Sonoko act exactly as expected still gave her a headache.
"Well, Sonoko, calm down a bit," Ran said. "Shimizu-kun is basically the Kendo Club's poster ace. And with his personality, there's no way he'd be training in the middle of all this."
Even though Ran had never been here before and hadn't heard much about the Kendo Club, her words were surprisingly accurate.
From their very first meeting, she'd sensed something distinctive about Shimizu Koji—an aloof quality unique to the strong.
Using a saying from an Eastern country: it's lonely at the top.
Ran had seen plenty of people like that before—completely different from her own personality.
She guessed that Shimizu Koji was either training alone in a separate room or watching from the sidelines. No matter how she imagined it, she couldn't picture him sweating it out in the middle of a crowd.
As it turned out, she wasn't far off.
At that very moment, Shimizu Koji was in the rest room, facing Naoto Nohara and several upperclassmen—who were all kneeling in a full dogeza.
"I already told you. You don't need to do this."
"We're doing this voluntarily!"
"Shimizu! Everyone wants you to be the team leader for this tournament! I simply don't have the ability to shoulder that responsibility!"
Naoto Nohara looked like he was on the verge of tears. He truly had sacrificed and given a lot for the Kendo Club—but none of that had ever been demanded by Shimizu Koji.
At first, Shimizu Koji had been annoyed that Nohara had registered him for the tournament without asking. But after that desperate, all-out plea—with full prostration and heartfelt begging—he'd agreed to compete.
He just hadn't expected that it still wouldn't be enough.
Perhaps because Shimizu Koji hadn't said much even after agreeing, Nohara thought he still harbored resentment. That was probably why he'd returned today with several upperclassmen for another round.
And this time, they had a new request—no, a new plea.
They actually wanted him to be the team leader.
What a joke.
Not only was he just a first-year, he had absolutely no interest in being anyone's leader.
"Sorry. Please get up. I can't agree to that. The team leader should be you, Captain Nohara."
Seeing how firm Shimizu Koji's stance was, Nohara and the others didn't push further. After all, once Shimizu Koji made a decision, he rarely went back on it.
To be honest, the idea of making him team leader wasn't an absolute necessity. They just felt that the strongest person should naturally take the role—it was a matter of respect for strength.
"Shimizu!"
Nohara stood up, his face full of emotion—though Shimizu Koji had no idea what he was supposed to be touched by.
These people were all a bit… abstract, especially Nohara. Maybe it was because of that recently overused slogan about "restoring Teitan's former glory."
Lately, Shimizu Koji heard them shouting it all the time—voices blazing with passion and overwhelming momentum, almost embarrassing to witness.
Still, there was one thing that puzzled him.
The Kanto Tournament wasn't like the Gyokuryu Banner Tournament, where individual strength alone could determine victory.
If it were a ladder-style format like that, judging from the match footage he'd recently watched (provided by Nohara and the others), their excitement would've made sense. With his strength, there really was a good chance he could carry the team to strong results.
But the Kanto Kendo Tournament was a major regional event with very formal rules. The team matches consisted of three-person squads.
In other words, even if Shimizu Koji could reliably secure one point every time, they'd still need at least one more powerful fighter for the team to go far.
And honestly—did Teitan's Kendo Club really have someone like that right now?
There was still the individual competition, of course. If no one like that girl from last time showed up again, Shimizu Koji felt his chances of winning were actually pretty good.
Normally, he wouldn't think this way—he was cautious by nature.
But he couldn't withstand the constant "pep talks" and morale-boosting brainwashing from Nohara and the club veterans lately.
Don't worry, Shimizu. Even if we're weaker, the other schools aren't that much stronger. That girl last time was a total anomaly, and so on.