8 A Deep Seated Hatred. Seriously.

Yamato, Kazuko, and Nikolai entered the cafeteria, and surprisingly there weren't many students around. The canteen looked old but well maintained. There were a few rows of tables and chairs on each side of the room.

"It's a good thing we came early. There is barely any soul around." Yamato glanced towards a certain table and earned himself a few frowns.

Nikolai looked at the menu and couldn't help but salivate at the food on top of the counter.

"Damn, this steak looks delicious. So, what now, can I just waltz in and take everything?"

"It's not complicated whatsoever. All you need to do is to pick up a tray, put the food that appeals to you on top of it and then after you are done eating, go to the counter, and give the woman in charge the exact number of tickets as the meals you've picked."

"What about the alcoh--the drinks? Is there something else other than green tea and coffee? I can't stand the latter."

Yamato noticed his small slip and smiled, "They don't sell those kinds of drinks here, better buy them elsewhere, but if you want to grab something good, then try the cold drinks from that refrigerator." He pointed towards the refrigerator behind the counter and continued, "I personally prefer Kawakami Water. It tastes good, and it's healthy, but unfortunately, any drink is considered one ticket as well, so even if you wanted to replenish your coffee or tea, then you would have to spend another ticket."

Nikolai looked at the ten tickets in his hands and thought, 'Ten tickets can only suffice for only about two days, maybe less.'

Yamato took a spicy winged chicken, and Kazuko bought a banana. It was soon Nikolai's turn, "Let's see...Oh well, I haven't eaten anything whatsoever, so I don't care. I am going to worry about stuff like finances later." He picked up three trays and fully loaded them up with food, and added two Kawakami Water bottles.

Kazuko and Yamato both looked at him with jaws wide open, "Hey...Wanko...Isn't this just Nee-san all over again? Why did he pick up so much food?"

"Yeah...I eat a lot of food as well, but this seems a bit too much. I wonder if eating a lot is the key to growing stronger. Maybe I will try eating more than I can handle as well to grow." Kazuko mumbled and looked at her small breasts. 'In both strength and body! To grow like my older sister. I will only be satisfied once someone asks me, Hey, is your body a fruit shop? Cuz you have a pair of nice melons on you! Hahah! At that moment I will know I succeeded!' She silently giggled at her child-like fantasies.

"Who knows, maybe eating too much would actually make me stronger. But isn't that just a way to get fat real fast?" Yamato stated as he munched on his spicy chicken wing, "Well, you train a lot, so I guess excessive eating wouldn't hurt you as much as it would an average person like me."

"I thought you trained yourself as well?" Kazuko said with a hint of confusion behind her words.

"'Train'. Not running a marathon with seven car tires tightened around my waist with a rope. That's simply too stupid to be true. Gakuto tried running with three of those and almost collapsed after a few meters...and he is the muscle freak...The legendary STR 95 character. No point in continuing this conversation, the women of this University are monsters."

Kazuko giggled and replied, "That's the Kawakami Temple training regimen! Nee-san did it before as well. She worked hard until she was able to carry a truck on her back without a problem. She is so amazing!"

Yamato almost choked on his chicken wing.

"*Cough*, *Cough* S-Seriously!? Saying that is kinda scary...I always end up imagining that I would have to do that someday if I piss her off...And assuming that she is most likely the strongest person on the planet doesn't make it any better."

Nikolai sat down on the opposite side of the table and started munching, ignoring their discussion. Kazuko sneaked a look at him and not long after, she stood up from her seat and sat next to him. Nikolai glanced at her and said nothing. You could say he acknowledged her endurance and partially even her strength. Her attitude was nice and she had the spirit of never giving up. She was good in his book. If only her weird nickname sensation came to stop.

Meanwhile, Yamato now sat alone. Words couldn't describe his disbelief. He knew Wanko better than anyone. This was definitely a weird behavior, and she was making her 'Advances' really apparent. It was kind of cute.

"Wanko is growing up. I am so proud. Keep it up and you will pass Nee-san eventually. Only in the mindset that is..."

"Hey! Are you picking a fight? Don't take me too lightly! I will not only match her in strength, but also in the figure!"

Kazuko growled at him with a dark expression, thinking she finally shut him up.

"...But...that's not..." He looked at her up and down, then imagined Momoyo's body.

Her firm body had no unnecessary fat, and her big bunnies stood out even more because of that. She had graceful legs and a slender waist...She was simply full of stunning charms.

Well, she was not the most beautiful girl in the school for nothing.

Numerous guys would have hit on her if she wasn't a crazy battle maniac that would break your limbs just by using a tiny bit of her strength. Yamato was sure that if she wanted, she would defeat him just by blowing the wind at him.

Even he tried to hit on her in the past yet she regarded him as her little brother. Which saddened him, as she didn't seem to regard him as someone of the opposite sex most likely due to him not being strong enough.

'She is simply in another dimension.'

He glanced at Nikolai and slightly frowned, he could definitely consider him a rival in love. He was tall, good looking and about as strong as Momoyo, maybe slightly weaker. 'Haah, so troublesome. I better leave it at that.' Yamato thought and got back to eating his chicken wings, not yet noticing the enigma in front of him.

Nikolai started devouring things from steak to lamb, turkey, and other delicious meals. He gulped down both of the freshly cold Kawakami Water bottles and let out a satisfied burp. He had to admit this Kawakami Water drink really hit the spot. Especially after leaving it in the refrigerator for so long. It was probably one of the best non-alcoholic drinks he ever had.

"W-What...Just...What!?" Yamato exclaimed, obviously amazed by the sheer display of gluttony and speed of Nikolai.

Nikolai managed to eat everything faster than Yamato ate his one chicken wing. "Seriously!?"

"Hm? What is it? Ah, you don't have to worry, I still have two more tickets left." He showed him the two tickets with a satisfied face. He kind of wanted to get more of them but wasn't the type to extort it from people who acted kind to him and definitely not the type to beg for something.

'Maybe if I go and beat up that maid again...Her master seemed to be rich...A few...a few thousands of meal tickets shouldn't be a problem. The reimbursement fee for attacking me earlier... That's exactly right!'

Even Wanko who was slowly eating the banana was surprised as he ate as much as her big sister, but he was much faster. She was honestly really full but for 'some' reason still wanted to follow him here.

"Niko-kun, you sure eat a lot."

"The name is Nikolai and of course. Eating a lot is a must! If your 'Captain' wishes to donate some more meal tickets, I would definitely not turn it down."

"...There is actually something like a mission ceremony that is being held by the school and its important people every now and then. For doing something like 'Quests' like in a video game, they reward you a handful of meal tickets for each completed request. For example if there is a thief to catch, or if they need to wipe windows or something."

"Sounds good enough. An easy way to survive."

"But Man...You are incredible. Seriously. But I feel like this way you won't savor the amazing taste of your food. Also...There might be a few complaints..." Yamato frowned and looked at a trio of students from class 2-S, who were sitting not that far away from them.

They were talking loud enough for everyone to hear.

"How disgusting to eat next to these gutter rats. Commoners sure are undeveloped. One of them looks dumb, the other one is a noisy dog, and the last one is a disgusting foreigner who has no table manners whatsoever!"

"Yes, did you see how vulgar his eating was? Repugnant! The school shouldn't allow foreigners to sign up in here."

Yamato furiously stood up and started shouting, "What did you say you stuck up elitists!?"

Wanko was also angry, "He did nothing wrong to you, guys! Why are you being so mean? Apologize!" She pointed her finger towards them in an adorable way.

"Apologize? Then will you and him apologize for being born?"

The temperature in the room hit rock bottom.

"Wh-Wha..." Kazuko staggered and took a step back. "How can you say something like that..." She thought about her own past, where she grew up in an orphanage before her grandpa adopted her. It still hurt her till this day.

"You nasty little!" Yamato knew better than anyone what Kazuko has been through. These sub-humans had no right to talk to her like this. He really wanted to pinch his arm and release his stored up energy, but then he realised that fighting in the school was prohibited.

This technique was taught to him by Nee-san. He could partially increase his speed and power but the backlash hurt like a bitch and he couldn't use his arm for more than two hours, alas, the school rules were school rules and he had to successfully finish it. His father ordered him to do so. So he swallowed his anger and just glared at them.

"Say what you want commoner. She never had any real parents in the first place, we know of her origin, she was so useless she was even abandoned by her family! To think Kuki Hideo likes her..."

Kazuko looked down in grief. It wasn't her fault.

"And as for him, he is disgusting indeed, have his parents no shame for bringing up such a leech? He doesn't even have a basic etiquette! A foreigner waltzed onto the sacred grounds of samurai school! If I had known that I would give birth to such a disappointment, I would rather abort the chi--." The woman's face was met with a knee strike of none other than Nikolai.

He disappeared from his seat, and attacked her with the intent to kill.

But unfortunately someone's hand blocked his attack.

"Ohohoho...Now now, calm down everyone. This is getting too heated." Principal Tesshin appeared and defended the girl by catching his knee. He had to admit it had quite the power behind it as his hand was trembling. If he were to hit her with it, the impact could very easily knock out all of her teeth or worse.

Nikolai looked at him with a disgusted expression, "Why did you stop me!? You wanna die too? I don't know how many tricks you have up your sleeve, old man, but if you don't step away, they won't be enough."

"Haaah, youngster, relax a bit, will you? You can't attack anyone on the school grounds. What happened to the calm and nice youngster from the morning?"

"He was punched in the face by none other than himself and realised it wasn't the real him talking. If you think I care about school rules, then you are very mistaken." He brute forced himself out of his grip and threw a nearby table at him. In one swift motion, Tesshin grabbed it, and peacefully put the table on the ground. "I didn't want to be here in the first place."

"Just as fierce as Momoyo...Kids with too much power never change. But you know what? This might be for the better. You still didn't receive your new uniform and the 'Badge', right?" He winked at him and it took Nikolai a while to understand his intentions.

He grabbed the uniform and the badge from his hands and threw the badge in the face of the girl from class 2-S.

"Fuck...Pick it up, Сука."

The woman got a bit startled by the cryptic last word of his sentence, but she quickly recovered, "You seriously want me to embarrass you that badly? Sure, I accept!"

"W-Wait he is--"

"Mayaro you shouldn't--"

Before her friends could stop her she placed her badge on top of his and they both walked away with the principal.

"Niko-kun is going to fight again? I really want to see it from the audience seat this time." Kazuko said.

Yamato nodded and pulled up his phone, "I am gonna call our group to see if they have time. I am sure they wouldn't want to miss the show."

***

"Now then, Mayaro Shima, your primary weapon is a sword, right? Then Nikolai has the right to pick up a sword as well."

The woman scoffed and glared at him, "You think I will need a sword to beat him? I am going barehanded, if he wants, he can pick a sword." She walked out of the principal's office looking forward to the fight.

Tesshin sighed.

The students of class S were too conceited. No matter which year. Maybe this will serve as a lesson to others. It also appeared that she didn't watch his fight this morning so she had a lot to look forward to.

Of course, her remarks hurt Tesshin as well. Kazuko was his dear granddaughter, but as the grandmaster and as the principal of Kawakami University, he wouldn't attack someone on such a low level so in his stead, Nikolai was going to release his pent up frustration.

"What about you Nikolai-kun?"

Nikolai stared at the wall and said,

"...I choose the sword."

Tesshin was surprised. "Didn't you use your fists before? Why pick a training dummy sword?"

"Because, if I were to go barehanded, the student of your academy wouldn't survive." He reached out for the dummy sword. It was a practice sword, made of wood.

Tesshin stroke his beard. "Good luck in your bout. If this match were to go to extreme...I will... probably... stop the match."

Nikolai gave Tesshin one more thoughtful look and left the office.