Impossible Preparation

Everybody went back to their rooms after we came home except for Saki. She wanted to cook me something light to eat after exerting much energy from Sword Aura.

"You didn't need to do this, but thanks. You always take good care of me." I sat at the dining table, observing Saki as she did her magic in the kitchen. 

"Mhm! How're you feeling?" Saki asked as she diligently washed the rice with her soft hands.

"Better. I just can't seem to get a break," I frowned.

"It's been a while since I saw you being frustrated like this. So cute!"

"You find anything of me cute. Anyway, what're you cooking?"

I could already tell by the rich aroma reaching into my nose. The strong umami flavor with a hint of earthiness and nostalgia seeped into my heart as it warmed my whole body. It was a specialty Saki made whenever I felt unwell. 

"Miso soup with rice and an omelet. Eat this and your soreness will disappear completely! Trust me," Saki chuckled.

"You should eat with me. I don't like eating by myself."

"Of course! You think I'm gonna let you eat all of it?" 

I smiled inwardly at her sarcastic tone. "Good. You've had a long day too, and we should start training soon. It's been a while since you've picked up your sword, right?"

"Haaa~ My skills may indeed be rusty now. I was gonna ask you to start teaching me tomorrow, but it seems impossible right now with the attention you gathered."

"Just one more day, and then I'll focus on only you and myself. Deal?"

Saki turned around and approached me. She looked at me for a while before leaning down to meet my face. "Pinky promise," she asked with a serious expression. It seemed she was troubled that she wasn't the sole focus of my life anymore. I found it funny.

"Alright. Pinky promise." Our pinky fingers wrapped each other up, signifying one promise out of thousands we made in the past. 

And just like that, the day of my second spar came. I finally had a good night's sleep for a while. It was always the case after a day of harsh training. Yesterday was a little bit different as I tasted my first victory in this academy, so I couldn't ask for a better way to start the day.

The lessons were boring today as the schedule was full of Gen Ed subjects like maths and literature. I was aware that we were still students but was it necessary to study these subjects?

'I guess we still need some normal knowledge so we don't go astray from humanity,' I thought to myself.

The good thing was that the class only lasted until noon. Right when the clock struck noon, we would be released from hell and roam everywhere from the mall to the basketball court.

The highlights of my day would be eating with the group. It had become a ritual before I knew it, and the four of us would either go out and eat somewhere or come into my room and cook up a feast.

Honestly, I loved all of it. It was like reenacting every scenario that came from movies I watched at home. The hangouts, the gossip, and especially the food. All these memories were etched into my stash of historical collections.

"What the hell?" I raised my voice in surprise. I was shocked by the scene in front of my eyes.

'Why are they taking a nap on my bed?' I didn't have a mirror in my hand, but I remembered making all kinds of distorted faces.

I got on my knees and prayed that this wouldn't become a ritual. This bed was my only sanctuary, and it was violated quickly by these three girls.

I had to nap outside on the sofa with my spare blanket and pillow. Just like that, two hours had passed, and it was 5:12 PM. I woke up to see three of them sitting below me on the carpet and watching TV.

'Is this their room now?' I was scared of that thought. They had their own rooms, but most of the time they used mine as a place to live. 

"You're awake?" Ichinose said.

"Yeah. Excuse me." The girls moved out of the way so I could get off the sofa. Well, an advantage to having them here was that the room was always clean and sweet-smelling.

I grabbed a drink from the fridge and said, "Can we talk about Meihui-senpai now? The spar is in three hours, so I need to prepare."

"We got everything ready. We were just waiting for you to wake up! Yui-chan kept staring at you by the way, hehe."

"W-what? That's some serious allegation!" Yui grabbed Saki's cheeks again and squished them until they turned bright red.

"Ow!!" After that torturous punishment, Saki kept rubbing her puffed cheeks to alleviate the pain. 

Yui quickly collected her composure and spoke, "Ahem. Hiyori-san, please pull up Yuan Meihui's Pseudo-Grade."

"Copy that."

—————————————

[Class 2-A - Yuan Meihui]

[Evaluation (as of April)]

[x4] [Combat Prowess: A+ (98)]

[x3] [Adaptability: A+ (100)]

[x3] [Tactical Acumen: A (88)]

[x2] [Intelligence Gathering: A (93)]

[x2] [Leadership: A- (84)]

[Communication: A- (81)]

[Discipline: S (108)]

[Charisma: A+ (101)]

[Academics: A+ (97)]

[Final Grade: A (94.3)]

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"T-this is not real, r-right? They're all A- or above..." Saki's mouth dropped to the floor.

"She's what you call a monster. It's only the start of her second year, but she reached second in the academy's ranking already. Her combat abilities are second to none. It's said that nobody has ever beaten her in close-range matches."

"Who's standing on the top?" I asked.

"A third-year named Asano Kazuhiko. Apparently, he's the older brother of Asano Yuki, a member of our 12th generation. The Asano Family is one of the five noble families in Hakuryuu, so it's a given that he's strong. Meihui-senpai is still considered stronger, though. Kazuhiko-senpai only ranked first because he scored well on other statistics."

"I see. In terms of combat, Meihui-senpai is considered the strongest in the academy," I concluded.

"Correct. She started her winning streak when the second term of her first year came around, and she hasn't tasted defeat since," Hiyori spoke with a grave tone.

"Well, what do you have for me?" The more we talked about her, the more restless I felt.

"You can't beat her at this level yet, but I can tell you that she's an offensive-focused combatant. She doesn't have any defensive skills to rely on, so she'll try to close the distance and attack you relentlessly. Don't be on the defensive and be active."

"It's not like she can't defend, right? She's a martial artist at the end of the day."

"That's right. I'm only saying that it's her biggest weakness, but when the gap is too big, that weakness seems like nothing."

I could foresee my first defeat here. It was embarrassing, to say the least. I dedicated my whole life to swinging the sword, but there were people whose talents seemed extraordinary.

As I pondered about what I should do, Saki silently sat next to me and smiled like an angel. It was her telling me that, 'It's going to be okay.' Her presence always helped me in times when I doubted myself.

'Alright. I'll pour in everything I have to win,' I declared in my mind. 'To hell with winning. Just don't get killed,' I fell into despair again.