Chapter 4: Spar with Yaegashi Shizuku (2/2)

I looked in Hajime's direction and saw the girl 'Kaori Shirasaki' was trying to talk to Hajime, I was amused to see him flustered, he was not used to pretty girls talking to him. Hajime looked in my direction and gave me the signal to help him in this situation, so I did what every best friend would do in a situation like this, I gave him a thumbs-up. He looked at me like I threw him in front of a shark.

I was having fun watching Hajime blush like a little girl trying to answer Kaori's questions. Of course, fun things never last, unfortunately. With a sigh, I looked at the other three coming this way. The Dumb-ass hero was the first to speak.

"There you are Kaori, we lost you for there." Telling her that, he looked at me, "Do you want something from Kaori."

"No, she was the one who came here to talk to us," Rihito replied.

"Kaori do you need something from them," Kuoki asked in confusion.

"No, I just wanted to talk with them," Kaori replied.

[Talk to me? She didn't even look at me, her entire focus was on Hajime,] I thought in my head.

Hearing that I looked at the three newcomers, Kouki was like, oh, I see Kaori just wanted to make friends, Shizuku was a little suspicious of Kaori, they are best friends she should know her the most, and the…. damn I still don't know his name, let's just call him muscle head was looking at me, why? Then he focused his attention on Kuoki.

Then Shizuku asked, "Are you here to join our club." The moment Shizuku said that Hajime took those words as a lifeline and uttered them. "My friend wanted to check out your club. So, I came with him." Shizuku then looked at me and then raised her eyebrows.

[Oh, Did she notice that I am also a swordsman just looking at me once? That's impressive if she can notice it then she might be able to fight me for a few minutes. If I am not serious or if I not trying to end it quickly that is.]

Shizuku asked so what do you think of our club. Rihito did not hold back his thoughts "Not much, Honestly, I thought I would find a challenge here but I was disappointed instead," Hearing my words both kouki and Muscle Head were displeased.

"..."

Hearing those words Shizuku puzzledly asked, "Why."

"From what I can see, you are most skilled in swordsmanship in this club, even upperclassmen might be unable to defeat you, and I can say with 100% surety you are weaker than me. So why should I join this club where everyone is weak?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

Hearing those words coming out from Rihito's mouth everyone was dumbstruck, even Hajime was shocked, the whole club was silent for a minute, and then an angry voice came from Rihito's side, "You dared to look down on my friends."

[Oh, I thought dumb ass would be the one to snap, but it was the musclehead who snapped first, maybe because he a musclehead, 'hehehe',] I laugh at the joke in my head. He tried to grab my collar, so I grabbed his hand and twisted it in his back and then kicked him in his legs and locked him on the ground. You know it is very rude to assault someone. After seeing his friend on the ground dumb ass hero snap from his dase and tried to help his friend, but before he could do something I released his friend, "You see if you try to assault someone stronger than yourself, you will get hurt so be careful from now on."

"Let's go Hajime I am getting bored now, we should go home," just as I was about to leave the Kendo clubroom, a clear voice came "Wait, how about having a spar with me?" Shizuku asked.

"Oh, and why should I do that," I asked with a lazy smile. "I can see that you are strong so why not prove it by beating me? If you beat me, it will not be some supposed hox everyone will claim." I looked at everyone present there they were displeased and some of them were even hostile.

"..."

"Fine let's do this", hearing my answers Shizuku smiled, and said you should get dressed, but I rejected it instead. "I don't need protection gear, a sword is all I need," Hearing my dismissal an upperclassman snapped. "You are looking down on us too much." In response to his outburst, I said with a lazy smile, "You don't need to worry about someone stronger than you." Hearing my words veins bulge on his head, get ready, the match between Rihito Sakai and Shizuku Yaegashi is about to begin.

Match start.

"..."

"..."

Neither of us moved from our place.

Shizuku was trying to find an opening in Rihito's posture but there was none, he was standing there lazily, but Shizuku could tell he was ready to attack, he was waiting for her to make the first move. He suddenly holds his wooden sword with one hand and pushes it forward parallel to the ground. Shizuku thought it was an opening, no it was a trap, Shizuku was so focused on the match that she did not hear all the profanities directed towards Rihito.

"Beat him up, break his bones, fuck him up, etc." Hearing so many profanities Rihito quote back "Fuck you too, bastard." At that moment Shizuku thought now is my chance and she swung her wooden sword. Just as she tried to swart Rihito's wooden sword away, at the same time, Rihito twisted his wooden sword dodged her wooden sword by a hair and tapped on her forehead with It, "I win."

"..."

Everyone was stunned silence to see Rihito win in one blow. Even Shizuku was surprised that she lost so easily, she knew, she was weaker than him. But still she at the very least can put up a fight against him or so she thought. She was a swordswoman, and even in her family dojo, no one except her father defeated her. But from the looks of things, he didn't take her seriously, he still had that lazy smile on his face, and the way he twisted his sword at the last moment told her he might be even more skilled than her father, that sword moved as if its part of his own body. At that moment it finally dawned on her.

"..."

[Could it be he is a master? I didn't hear of anyone so young who is a master.] Then Shizuku heard her best friend's voice calling out to her "Shizu are you ok you are not hurt, are you?" "No, I am fine." Shizuku then declared that she had lost to Rihito, and as a respected swordswoman, she would accept her loss gracefully. The referee who was as stunned as the audience declared "In the sparing match between Yaegashi Shizuku and Sakai Rihito, Sakai Rihito won the fight." Hearing the words of the referee all the students didn't know what to feel, just minutes ago they were cursing profanities at Rihito but now he had beaten Yaegashi.

After hearing the announcement Rihito shrugs his shoulders "Let's go Hajime we are getting late for home."

After listening, Hajime snapped to reality "Yes let's go." Hajime did not want to stay here anymore, he was a simple guy, and he wanted to graduate peacefully, but after today's incident, he didn't know if that was even possible now, his best friend attracted more attention than he was comfortable with.

"..."

The next day in school at lunchtime, Rihito thought there were a bunch of rumours spreading about him in the school. Some say he was a delinquent who beat up anyone, few say he threatened people for their money, and some say he was a member of the Yakuza.

It was clear that the rumours were spread by the people who were dissatisfied with the previous day's sparring match. As for Rihito does he care about some silly rumour, 'hell no,' as long as people close to him are ok with it he doesn't care about silly rumours but instead welcomes it? "So now I am a certified delinquent, hehehe?" Rihito thought while chuckling creepyly.

"So, you are here" a sudden voice came from his left side.

Hearing a familiar voice. Rihito turned towards that voice, "Oh, Yaegashi why are you here." 

"I have a favour to ask you," Shizuku said. I raised my eyebrows with surprise "What do you want" I asked.

"I want you to train me," Shizuku requested.

"..."

"Request denied" Rihito instantly replied.

This time it was Shizuku's turn to surprise then asked "Why will you not teach me," Shizuku asked.

"I mean we only met yesterday, and then fought each other, and the most important thing are we even friends."

"..."

"Then let me introduce myself my name is Yaegashi Shizuku, it's nice to meet you."

Hearing her introduction in a situation like this I was amused, I should introduce myself to "My name is Sakai Rihito, It is also nice to meet you Yaegashi,"

"Then can you teach me now," she asked again.

Was she always this straightforward, I didn't know about her character that much, I only knew her from anime.

"Honestly, why even you want to train under me, I know I am good with the sword, but you already have a teacher, so why not continue learning under your teacher?"

"Yes, I do have a teacher, but with the last spar we had I can tell you are far stronger than any of my instructors, even my father might lose to you, so I want to improve my swordsmanship under you," Shizuku answered.

"So will you teach me?," Shizuku asked again.

"Before I give my answer, I have a question for you, depending on the answer I might reject your request again. So, think before answering."

Then all the laziness from Rihito was gone, the current him had a sharp look. His sharpness reminds Shizuku of her father when he teaches swordsmanship in the dojo.

"Tell me Yaegashi, what is a sword?"

Hearing Rihito's Question Shizuku narrowed her eyes.

Shizuku questioned, "What do you mean Sakai."

"I am asking you what is a sword after removing all the unfiltered Bias. If you can't answer that then you should go back".

Just as I was about to go back to class, Shizuku answered, "It's a weapon to protect people."

Hearing the answer Rihito Chuckle, "hahaha Not a bad answer, but not the one I wanted. So let me tell you, a sword is nothing more than a weapon to kill people. It is as lethal as it is pretty. Take your Yaegashi style as an example. It's quick and deadly, that style was made to kill people. I am pretty sure in your Yaegashi style there are some deadly techniques to kill people."

"..."

Shizuku was shocked hearing those words. She never thought of it like that, I mean who would, in this modern world there are deadlier weapons than swords. 'Guns' It's obvious who would win in a fight between a gun and a sword, and a gun is fast and efficient, easy to use with little training and even with no training one can use it. But when it comes to swords, a long time is needed, need to learn a proper sword style, and train daily or you might get rusty, taking care of your sword and more. Then why is Sakai talking like that it is as if he is preparing himself to kill people.

"..."

Rihito smiled seeing Shizuku pondering, "I think you have caught on to my thinking by now."

Shizuku snapped out of her thoughts and asked, "Are you seriously thinking about". Before she spoke the last word, she hurriedly checked, if anyone was nearby. After making sure there was none she spoke the last word "Killing people."

"..."

"You know after we graduate from school, I will join the military as a soldier. I think you know these soldiers are not just to guard countries, sooner or later I have to... So, why not prepare my mind from now?"

Hearing those words Shizuku fell silent, she didn't know what to say anymore. 

Then suddenly school bell rang.

"We should get going, class is about to start, and about your request, I will accept it."

After hearing my last words, Shizuku's eyes were wide.

"I like your answer, a weapon to protect people," I said with a genuine smile.

Hearing those words she blushed. She asked again "Are you sure."

I replied lazily, "Yeah yeah. Hurry up or we will be late."

Saying that we walked towards our classroom. While walking Rihito thought [With this push, Shizuku might resolve herself sooner than the cannon series. Shizuku is one of the characters that I liked in the anime. She was determent to save her friends, from harm she almost acted like their parents in the series.]

[If I help her improve her skills, it will be less hassle for me once we get there.]

...

"Chapter end"

 [a/n: Thank you for all of your support. I am honestly having fun writing this fanfic and please give me some reviews. It will help me greatly]