Chapter 22 – The Rampaging Battle Junkie

“Ahahahahahaha!!”

Letting out a laugh as if she had lost her mind, Kaoru unleashed a one-handed horizontal sweep. Her strikes possessed neither mercy nor form, and she continuously swung her blade with one hundred percent pure violence. Faced with a surging onslaught like a fierce storm, Shinta was steadily being forced entirely on the defensive.

(Damn it, was this woman always this strong!?)

Her revealed, highly aggressive true nature was surprising enough, but the resulting formless fighting style was forcing Shinta into a tough battle. To be frank, he had experienced countless real street fights against armed delinquents before, facing two-by-fours, iron pipes, and sometimes even absolute idiots who brought out knives. That was exactly why he had underestimated her. He figured that even if a sports athlete adopted a no-holds-barred tactic, their ingrained sportsmanship would instinctively hit the brakes when push came to shove, making them easy to stop. But he was currently in the process of revising that assumption—she was not such a naive opponent. If anything, her current style of discarding all form made her overwhelmingly stronger.

“Come on, come on, come on! What’s wrong, what’s wrong, what’s wrong?!”

Shinta continued to guard against the tempest-like barrage of strikes with his bamboo sword.

(She’s fast, I can’t keep deflecting these forever…)

Breathing heavily, Shinta barely managed to keep blocking the relentlessly driven bamboo sword. Without a doubt, she was a far more formidable foe than any of the punks he had faced before. For a while, Kaoru had worn an expression of pure elation, but seeing Shinta’s refusal to launch a counterattack, dissatisfaction gradually began to seep into her features.

“Hey, how long are you planning to cower there! Don’t hold back, come at me!!”

Her irritation mounting, Kaoru shouted as she unconsciously reared back for a massive swing.

(Alright, finally a wide swing. This is the timing I’ve been waiting for!)

By intentionally devoting himself entirely to defense, Shinta had successfully lured out an opening from Kaoru, causing him to chuckle inwardly. He could see the trajectory of the massive strike cutting through the wind, and he moved to catch the blow, using his arm as a shield.

“Ngh, but just as I expected!”

He could never use a tactic like this against a real steel sword, but against a bamboo sword, he could forcibly stop the attack if he just endured the pain. Of course, blocking a bamboo sword with an arm was a foul in an official match, but this was hardly the time to worry about that.

(First, I’ll disarm and neutralize her.)

To stop the rampaging Kaoru, Shinta prioritized taking away her weapon. While guarding the unleashed strike with his arm, he reached out his free hand to snatch the bamboo sword from Kaoru, whose movement had momentarily stopped. However, Kaoru displayed an even more unexpected move.

“Aiming only for the weapon instead of striking me directly? Don’t show me such a gutless way of fighting!”

“Guh!?”

It happened the very instant he grabbed the bamboo sword resting against his arm. A tremendous impact shot through his abdomen, sending Shinta’s body flying backward.

“You… you actually kicked me…”

“Kuhahahahaha, you’re full of openings!! And here is an Ippon!!”

Completely caught off guard by the unexpected kick, his abdomen took the brunt of the blow before a flowing downward strike smashed squarely into his head.

“Damn it, snap out of it already!!”

Partly because his opponent was a woman, Shinta had been avoiding striking her directly, but judging that staying passive like this would likely land him in the hospital, he finally went on the offensive. Although Shinta was a complete amateur at swordsmanship, his physical abilities were top-tier, allowing him to unleash his fastest thrust with the bamboo sword almost simultaneously with the blow to his head.

“Whoops, heh heh… you’ve finally gotten motivated…”

Even as the sudden thrust grazed her cheek, Kaoru laughed. Pressing one hand against her throbbing cheek, a look of pure ecstasy washed over her face.

“Ahh, this is it… this pain in my cheek, you can’t experience this in safety-oriented sport kendo. Heh heh… this merciless offense and defense is simply irresistible♡”

“Jeez, that’s not a face the head of the Disciplinary Committee should be making. What do you mean, ‘keep me company for practice’? Were you hoping for this outcome from the very beginning?”

“Yeah… there’s no point in hiding it anymore, so I’ll confess. I… wanted to taste a pure duel. Whittling down each other’s bodies like this purges all unnecessary thoughts. It feels so good.”

As she said that, she vented the pent-up frustrations she had kept hidden inside, directing it all at Shinta.

“Born to strict parents, receiving a rigid education… At school, the envious and expectant gazes from students and teachers are so bothersome. I don’t know how the people around me view me, but before I knew it, my entire being had been molded into a ‘good little girl’ by everyone’s excessive expectations, and my way of life was decided for me completely regardless of my own will!!”

With those words, she smashed her bamboo sword against the dojo floor with all her might. Along with a dry cracking sound, Kaoru spewed out the pitch-black emotions she had accumulated inside her.

“Everyone expects high ideals from me! What do you mean, ‘That’s our daughter for you’?! What do you mean, ‘As expected of the Disciplinary Committee Chair’?! What do you mean, ‘The Captain really is strong’?! Because all of you uselessly raise the bar, my mind is constantly wearing away!!”

With an expression of absolute rage plastered on her face, Kaoru slammed her continuously accumulating, muddy true feelings into Shinta.

“Inside my home, in the classroom, during club activities—it’s all too suffocating for me! Just how high of an expectation do you people need to force onto me before you’re satisfied!? Haa… Haa… Haa…”

Having spoken at length about all her psychological burdens without taking a breath, Kaoru took one large, deep breath. Once she had calmed her breathing, her face returned to that madness-tainted smile.

“Every single day, I feel like I’m suffocating. I can’t find any meaning in my life, but… it’s different only when I’m wielding my strength like this. Every time the weapon in my hands strikes the flesh of another, my pent-up heart feels lighter. And vice versa, the impending danger to my own body makes my heart burn hot. So, Kamiji Shinta… why don’t we whittle each other down until one of us can’t move? Please, fulfill this suffocated heart of mine♡ That’s exactly why I invited you here, the one called the Legendary Ex-Yankee who’s accustomed to the world of violence♡”

Saying that, she readied her bamboo sword with an ecstatic smile.

(Damn it, this is bad. I can’t stop this woman with brute force alone.)

Shinta realized that, driven wild by the heavy pressure from so many people, she wouldn’t be stopped by half-hearted measures, yet he currently couldn’t think of a way to safely resolve this situation.

(Worst case scenario, am I going to have to subdue her by force, just like she wants…?)

However, shortly after this, the match would be brought to an end by an accident completely unexpected by both of them.