Other Side

Raiden Mei stood inside the Kendo dojo while holding a shinai and wearing a kendo uniform.

*Swoosh* 

She swung her sword and started practicing.

After the class was over, she immediately went to the Kendo club and started practicing in the dojo.

Unlike others, as the president of this club, the entire thing is paid by her family, therefore the school can't really do anything here unless they disband it.

After her father was arrested and the entire school isolated her, the members also left one by one, leaving her.

So now…

*Swoosh*

Swinging her sword furiously as if venting all her frustrations, she completed all the steps of her swordsmanship, Hokushin Itto-ryu.

"Haah…hah…hah.." Raiden Mei breathed before grabbing a towel and wiping her sweat.

"Again."

After wiping her sweat, she put on a stance to resume her practice.

"Daniel?" She looked at a familiar man in surprise.

He's currently wearing a white t-shirt and black pants.

Since he entered the Kendo hall, he's now barefooted.

"Sup."

"What are you doing here?" Raiden Mei asked, confused. 

"It's late, I'm here to pick you up in case Kiana goes berserk again." 

She chuckled hearing that. 

That seems something that Kiana would definitely do.

"Do you have a solution to your dilemma?" Daniel sat on the ground and stared at Mei.

Raiden Mei heard this and slowly put down her arms.

"I don't have…" She replied, her voice getting smaller.

"I see," He stood up and picked one of the wooden swords and pointed at her.

"I can't really do much since I'm not a student but I can help you relieve your frustrations." 

"What do you say? Up for a spar?" He offered.

Hearing this, Raiden Mei was in daze before asking hesitantly, 

"C-Can you do kendo?" 

"No." 

"T-Then.." 

"You can teach me. It just so happens that I want to develop an anti Kiana technique." Daniel said with a joking tone.

Raiden Mei giggled softly hearing that.

"Kiana-chan will be angry if she hears that." 

"She's always angry anyway." 

Both of them laughed.

"In any case, I may have no experience but I think I can learn and I'll definitely not burden you." Daniel looked at her with a serious expression.

Seeing this, Raiden Mei didn't doubt him as she also saw him fight.

"If that's okay. I'll accept." 

Facing each other, Daniel took a deep breath and held the wooden swords in a sloppy stance.

"Let's begin." 

—

"Where is Daniel?!" Kiana scratched her head as she walked.

She's been doing this for the past thirty minutes and whether it's on the rooftop or at the back of the school, she couldn't see a shadow of him.

"Wait, why am I even looking for him?" Kiana stopped as if she realized something.

Come to think of it, there's really nothing to find him for…. Maybe except for eating.

Could it be…? 

She's actually enjoying his company?!

No! Never!

"Hmph! Forget about that guy, let's just go to Mei-senpai." Grumbling under her breath, Kiana shook her head and went to find Raiden Mei.

She should be at the Kendo club now. Even when she was with her "friends" back then, she never missed a day of training.

As for why Kiana knows? 

Some things are better left unsaid.

With this knowledge in mind, Kiana ran to the direction of the Kendo club to find Raiden Mei.

Maybe she can ask her to cook some delicious food for her.

Hehehe…

Wiping the drool in her mouth, she found the Kendo club.

The usual lively place has now been replaced with gloominess and the noice of shinai hitting something has been replaced by quietness.

Kiana, who is usually optimistic, couldn't help but sigh when she saw this place.

If only she could do something….

Daniel did say that it could be a frame up to Mei-senpai's father but it's just a guess.

"Come on Kiana, just be there for Mei-senpai and you'll eventually get her." She lightly clapped her face and entered the kendo club.

As she entered, she saw Raiden Mei's shoes and praised her genius for knowing her beloved's habits.

Removing her shoes and placing them on the cabinet, Kiana walked quietly. She wanted to surprise Raiden Mei and give her some comfort.

This is what her cheap dad told her. If a girl is in trouble, you must be there as her emotional support, this will create a form of bond and will evolve into something more romantic as time goes on.

She nodded at herself and thought that even though her dad left her, he gave her the important wisdom of picking up girls.

With this, even Daniel who's good looking by male standards will never beat her!

As Kiana approaches, she has a bad premonition and her feet quicken up while maintaining its silence.

After arriving at the door, she sneakily opened and entered her head scanning the place.

Spotting two familiar figures on the ground with the male on top of the female, Kiana's heart almost jumped in her chest and she suddenly wanted to rush forward and demand an explanation.

How did this happen?! 

Wooh… My Mei… (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

Daniel you bastard!

—

Few minutes earlier.

"Daniel…. Are you sure you haven't learned swordsmanship before?" Mei asked with a trembling voice.

Just now, they exchanged a few moves and as Daniel said, he was really new to this.

His posture, the way he swings the wooden swords, even his footwork, all of it points out that he's an amateur in learning kendo.

Knowing this, Mei plans to teach Daniel the steps.

Even if he doesn't learn her swordsmanship, the traditional kendo used for sport should be enough.

This is what Mei was thinking but as time goes on.

*Clack*

"Looks easy enough" 

*Clack*

"So that's who it works,"

*Clack*

"The sword is too blunt… wonder where I can get a real sword." She heard him mutter.

Daniel, who was a complete amateur earlier, has started suppressing her, a national champion at kendo.

She wasn't weirded by this, especially after seeing his martial prowess.

On a scientific note, men are generally stronger than women physically. She may not be like other girls due to her martial arts background, if she's face to face with someone like Daniel, she's not sure if she can win even if she's holding her shinai.

She may be able to beat five adults but she may not win against one Daniel.

But that's not the case anymore.

If it's just the absurd physical strength she would have no problem with it but…

*Clack!*

Daniel's wooden sword spun hers and threw it away, disarming her.

"Want to try again?" Daniel said with a smile. He's happy he's not gonna lie, the swordsmanship he learned has really improved his skillset.

He's wondering what he can do if he actually wields an edged weapon.

Raiden Mei saw his smile and due negative emotions piling up inside her, the happy smile of Daniel for learning has turned to mocking in Raiden Mei's eyes.

Pushing those thoughts away, Raiden Mei forced a smile and nodded,

"D-Daniel is really talented, just one exchange is enough to disarm me." 

"Thanks, but when are you going to stop holding back?" 

"Huh?" Raiden Mei's messy thoughts were interrupted and were replaced by confusion.

"I noticed it. The calloused in your hands isn't suitable for this gentle way of swordsmanship, from what I can see, your own style is more brutal than this…. As if it's designed to kill." 

"I-I see…" Raiden Mei nodded. So that's what he means.

Hokushin Itto-ryu is a swordsmanship used in the Edo period where samurais are still walking in Japan.

She didn't know how her coach got it or if it's allowed to teach others but he insisted and some time later on, she became proficient enough on the art.

Although Raiden Mei has never killed before, she could tell that Hokushin Itto-ryu is indeed a lethal sword art that shouldn't be used casually.

"Then please be careful." Raiden Mei took a deep breath, picked the sword on the ground and put an Iaido stance despite the lack of sheath.

Daniel had a serious expression.

Seeing that Daniel is ready, Raiden Mei rushed forward, completely surpassing her usual speed.

Daniel wasn't surprised by this and also used his sword to parry her attacks.

*Clack* *Clack* *Clack*

Two wooden swords hitting each other at high speeds.

If a normal person saw this, their jaws would have probably dropped due to the inhumane speed of the two, causing others to only see blurs.

*Clack* *Clack* *Clack* 

After a whole minute of exchange, Raiden Mei's movements are getting slower.

Daniel on the other hand still has that calm expression on his face while slowly adapting to her attacks, to the point of even copying it making her grit her teeth.

Was she going to lose? Although she was a champion and has been undefeated ever since she joined the club and participated in tournaments.

Her talent and her unusual strong physical strength gave her a sense of pride and security, even when she stopped training for three years due to an incident, her skills have not deteriorated.

So why? Is this what they call a monstrous talent?

Is that compared to what her coach said about her talent, in front of Daniel, she's a waste?

If that's the case then what am I even doing here?! 

Negative thoughts started brewing in her mind again and her purple eyes started to have a faint red hue on it.

As if feeling something, she pointed the sword at Daniel and stabbed it at unimaginable speeds.

Daniel was caught off guard by her sudden acceleration and blocked the tip of the wooden sword, sending him three steps backwards.

"I-I'm sorry!" Raiden Mei snapped out of her thoughts and wanted to reach out until Daniel held his hand in front of her.

"I'm fine," He waved his shoulder, "Although I can see you suddenly increase your strength, I could still tell you're holding back." 

"I'm not!" Raiden Mei shouted in reflex, "I-I'm sorry…. But I'm really not holding back, I think Daniel misunderstood something about me." She lowered her head.

That's right, until now, she's been going all out but due to Daniel's strength and skill that is closing near hers, it wasn't that obvious.

Even this sudden outburst, she can tell that it's just her frustration going out of control and even her body was tired after doing that.

Thinking how she, a prodigal swordsman, was cornered by an amateur, Raiden Mei couldn't help but show a self-deprecating smile.

How useless…

"I'm sure of it." On the contrary, Daniel insisted on his opinion, " You may have been going all out in swordsmanship but not on others." 

"Huh?" Raiden Mei looked at him with a confused expression, "But we're just practicing swordsmanship."

Seeing that Daniel didn't get his point across, he gestured to Raiden Mei again, "Let's go again."

"But I'm tired. I'm afraid my body would pass out in exhaustion."

"This is the last one, you'll see what I mean." 

After some thinking, Raiden Mei reluctantly nodded and went back to her previous stance, this time, wanting to finish the fight as soon as possible.

Daniel didn't put any stance and just gestured at her to come, making her frown.

Not hesitating further, she stepped forward and swung her sword to his head.

Seeing him not blocking, Raiden Mei was surprised but didn't stop, determined to win this spar.

As she was about to make contact, she suddenly found herself on the floor.

"Eh?" Looking at Daniel on top of her, her face became red and wanted to push him away.

"W-What do you want to do?!" Raiden Mei thought of the worst, her body was exhausted and she couldn't resist.

With Daniel's strength, even if she's at her peak condition, she isn't sure if she can overpower him.

Daniel leaned closer, almost touching her ear and whispered, "This is why I said you're holding back, you're too limited on your swordsmanship made by humans."

"If you continued doing that, you would never win a fight. Right, Miss Raiden Mei?" Daniel looked at the eldest lady of the ME Corp and to no surprise, the gentle eyes belonging to a Yamato Nadeshiko are gone, replaced by a cold look befitting of a Queen.

"When did you notice?" 'Raiden Mei' asked with a cold expression, unbothered by the position they are in.

"Just earlier," It's not really hard to see her changes especially when her eyes turned red from purple.

Combined with her sudden outburst of strength, even an idiot can see that something has changed.

Well, except if you're color blind or you're Kiana.

"Hmph," 'Raiden Mei' snorted softly, "So? What are you going to do? Are you going to kill this coward?" 

"No," Daniel shook his head, "I'm just interested in the other Raiden Mei." 

"Raiden Mei?" She narrowed her eyes at him, "I noticed, why do you call the paramecium with her first name but this coward with her full name?"

Daniel didn't answer her question, "By the way, I thought you'll be more aggressive and try to kill me. Unexpectedly, you are easy to talk to." 

"Everyone will be easy to talk to if they are here being suppressed." She looked at her body and saw that her kendo uniform was slightly opened, showing her cleavage.

Due to the spar earlier, her body is now sweaty, making her uniform stick closely on her skin, hugging her curves.

"Sor—?" As Daniel was about to apologize, he heard something that made him freeze.

"AHHHHHHHH!! DANIEL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"