THE MORNING OF the second day.
The ti was still before 6 a.m.
It was getting a little brighter, but it was hard to say that there was sufficient visibility.
I moved a short distance away from the building to avoid being seen.
Even without worrying, there wouldn't be many people who would co out at this ti.
Soon, as promised, Horikita and Ibuki appeared.
"Yawn... I'm sleepy. And it's cold."
Ibuki yawned and stretched, shivering.
"If you don't like it, you can just go back to your room."
"You're kidding. I can't let you get revenge on your own."
Rather than against Amasawa, it seed that the main driving force wasn't wanting to let Horikita have her way.
"It seems she was happy to accept the rematch."
"Yes. She agreed imdiately. But I faced unexpected resistance."
"Unexpected?"
"I asked for the morning of the fourth day as promised with you, but she negotiated to change it to the morning of the third day."
"She wanted to move it up a day earlier."
"Of course, since the condition for you to cooperate was the morning of the fourth day, I told her I couldn't compromise. In the end, she gave in, but it didn't seem like she was any less inconvenienced. I wonder if she had so plans."
"In the early morning? It's hard to say. Since she accepted it, isn't it okay to ignore it?"
If you hate getting up early, there wasn't much difference between the third and fourth day.
"Since I was the one asking, I didn't dig too much into it since it was a private matter. There might be so problems unique to girls, so if you understand, could you give us permission to change it to the third day?"
Indeed, there was a cycle that could potentially be disadvantageous for won due to their physical structure.
But that was the sa for Horikita and Ibuki, and I didn't think Amasawa would use that as an excuse.
"If the other party has agreed despite the inconvenience, we should proceed as planned. We should not reduce the number of special training sessions."
"You're relentless."
"The morning of the fourth day is the decisive day. If you can't follow that, I can't accompany you in the special training."
"...I understand. I feel a bit guilty, but let's stick with the current plan. Is that okay?"
"Don't think about holding back out of consideration for the other party."
Horikita seed to be troubled by sothing.
"I understand. She probably doesn't think she's going to lose at all. She's even worried about ."
She didn't seem to like that, but there was nothing she could do about it since she was on the side that wanted revenge.
"I'm going to beat her to a pulp."
Ibuki was fanning the flas of revenge next to .
It was up to the individual to fan the flas, but going too far could be a big problem.
"Don't injure her face, okay? It's a hassle if the fight gets out."
"Huh? If it's a weak point, I'll aim anywhere. Actually, the first thing I should do is kick Amasawa in the face, right?"
Even if I warned her here, she would probably still kick rcilessly when the ti ca.
"It's good that you're motivated."
For now, I decided to leave it at that, as she was showing a positive attitude.
"Could you tell the additional conditions for accepting the offer?"
"Yeah. There's only one more condition left. Promise to fight two against one if you judge it's difficult to win. Don't hesitate."
When I conveyed what I had decided in advance, neither Horikita nor Ibuki seed to be able to swallow it imdiately.
"I'm sorry. What do you an by two against one—"
"Of course, you and Ibuki are the two I'm referring to. If you can't accept that, then I'm not willing to cooperate."
When I told them again, Ibuki kicked the ground and thrusted her fist at .
"Huh!? What's this two-against-one in a match? That's so la. It's impossible."
"I'm not saying you shouldn't do one-on-one. I said, 'if you judge it's difficult,' didn't I?"
"It sounds like you don't think we'd win on our own."
"I'd like to sugarcoat it, but yeah, that's about it. I'm sorry, but the chances of beating Amasawa one-on-one are almost zero. I'm not going to go along with sothing that's just a waste of ti."
Honestly, even if they managed to make it two against one, there'd be a higher chance of it turning out like last ti.
"I don't like it. I can't accept that condition."
"I don't like it either. But from the way you talk, it seems you know exactly how strong Amasawa-san is, don't you?"
"That's right. To be honest, it's not exactly a match, but I've seen her strength."
"...And you think there's that much of a gap between us and her?"
When I nodded, Ibuki seed to be even more upset and looked away with a click of her tongue.
"I can't do this. I don't need Ayanokōji's help, I'll do it alone. In fact, you should do the sa."
"Indeed... you've put forward an unexpectedly hard-to-swallow condition."
She must've been planning to accept most things without hesitation before coming here.
It was no wonder she was wavering now, but it was aningless to receive special training without a purpose.
"If that's the case, that's fine. It's easier for if I don't have to cooperate."
"Let ask you again. You understand Amasawa-san's strength, don't you?"
"I think I understand it better than you or Ibuki, at least. Although it's only for reference, I can also fight by estimating Amasawa's strength."
Horikita probably just wanted a simple match, but if she could fight against an opponent of similar strength, she couldn't help but find it appealing.
"—I understand. I'm fine with that condition. But what if Ibuki-san refuses?"
"This conversation is over. It's only possible if the two of you cooperate."
"Will you judge after seeing my improved strength?"
"That's right. Let's give it a try then."
I slowly pulled my foot back and drew a small circle on the ground, about one ter in diater. Then, standing at the center of the circle, I positioned my left hand forward and my right hand back.
"I won't move from here. And I'll only attack with my left hand."
"Huh?"
"If you can make struggle in this state, you should be able to put up a good fight against Amasawa."
"Are you mocking ?"
"You're free to interpret it however you wish, but you're the one who asked to show you, right?"
"Funny. Well, I'll burn that arrogance to ashes first."
What an interesting way to put it.
Ibuki, like the last ti we faced off, fought mainly with kicks.
Her sharpness might've improved, but honestly, it was a negligible difference.
I quickly determined the direction of her foot and dodged.
"How cheeky! If I can grab your left arm, it's my ga!"
Apparently, Ibuki intended to grab my left arm to prevent from attacking.
If that was what she wanted, I'd let her grab it to her heart's content.
When I deliberately held my left hand in an easy-to-reach position, she seized the opportunity and grabbed my left wrist. Imdiately after, I spread the fingers of my left hand and took a big step with my left foot, placed right behind Ibuki.
While drawing my captured hand in an arc from left to right, I used my left foot to step out and free myself.
Ibuki, who was brushed off, was left in a defenseless state with her back fully exposed in front of before she realized it.
"Eh—!?"
I thrusted my clenched left fist into Ibuki's back, who was still catching up on what happened, and lightly tapped it.
"W-What the hell...!?"
"It's a kind of Aikido[9]. The result won't change no matter how many tis you try."
[TL/N: Aikido (合気道) A type of Japanese martial art. The use of twisting and throwing techniques and in its aim of turning an attacker's strength and montum against themselves]
In a one-on-one fight, the difference in ability couldn't be overridden no matter how many tis you fought.
To have a chance, you needed to accept a two-on-one and outnumber your opponent.
"Could you switch with , Ibuki-san?"
"Do you have to experience it to understand it?"
"That's not it. Even with the short exchange just now, I could fully recognize the extent of your strength. That's why I want Ibuki-san to see it objectively. There wouldn't be any progress if you don't know what happened."
She seed to want to let Ibuki gain experience on her own.
"Similarly, I'll also bind your left hand. But I don't intend to let it go down the sa way."
"That's better. It's foolish to co and purposely get defeated in the sa manner."
I let Ibuki step back and now Horikita stood in front of .
"You can start anyti."
"I intend to."
I thought she might take a mont to breathe, but she started moving imdiately.
She quickly tried to grab not my left wrist, but further down.
I guess she wanted to test my instincts before she said anything else.
However, by skillfully adjusting myself and pulling my arm, I forced her to grab my wrist.
"Kuh...!"
Instead of grabbing , she ended up being grabbed herself. Even if Horikita recognized this, she had already started the motion and couldn't stop halfway. Even though she understood in her head that it was a disadvantageous position, she moved in the exact sa way Ibuki did.
Instead of letting her latch onto where she aid, I forced her to take hold of what she didn't want to.
The human mind is a strange thing, and even if you knew you shouldn't grab it, your brain would still judge it would be better than to not do so.
It was because she hadn't accumulated the experience that not grabbing could turn the situation to her advantage.
"So the pattern I was caught in was the sa as just now..."
"That's right."
"...I wasn't going to let the sa thing happen to , but before I knew it, I was forcibly taken..."
While oozing frustration, Horikita's eyes stared at intensely.
"This is the difference in ability between us and Amasawa-san right now, isn't it?"
"Yeah. At least, unless you can make break the rules I set for myself, I don't see any chance of winning."
Whether to drive out of the circle or make use my right arm.
Challenging for revenge without achieving either of those would only be laughable.
"Are you convinced now? How reckless it is to fight Amasawa one-on-one?"
Horikita was still keeping her expression in check, but Ibuki was clearly showing her frustration.
Let's assu that she's stopped boasting about defeating her and made so progress in understanding her situation.
"How much is it...?"
"What do you an?"
"The difference between and Amasawa. Can't you tell in a way that's easier for to understand, like with numbers?"
Indeed, just having a vague feeling of it might not be enough to maintain future motivation.
"If we talk about physical ability, if we treat you two as equals and give you a score of 50, then Amasawa would be 60, so a difference of about 10."
When I answered like that, both of them looked at each other, perhaps surprised that the difference was less than they thought.
"However, if we include technical skills, it's a different story. You two focus on one style of martial arts, while Amasawa focuses on a wider variety of them. Taking that into account, the difference becos even bigger."
I used numbers as a rough estimate, but this was just a guideline.
The outco could change due to the conditions of the day, unpredictable events, misreading, and luck. But the greater the skill difference, the more trials would be needed.
"From now on, you two will fight at the sa ti."
"I don't like it."
"I agree with you, Ibuki-san. But you understand why it's necessary, don't you?"
"I'll definitely make him use both hands. Okay?"
"I wonder about that. I think it's easier to drive him out of the circle, don't you?"
"I don't care. You should adapt to ."
They started arguing about how to fight before they even started.
Horikita and Ibuki were like oil and water. They probably didn't have any intention of cooperating from the very start.
For now, I'd let them do as they pleased without ntioning it.
"We can't adjust to each other. Fine, let's attack as we please."
"I agree."
It seed they weren't going to compromise, but rather attack at the sa ti, each doing their own thing.
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