My Girlfriend is an Evil Woman

Hyakujirou temporarily made itself at home with Kitahara Hideji. Ono Yoko was right; as far as dogs go, this one was considered intelligent. It didn’t make a fuss, and didn’t cause much trouble for Kitahara Hideji, so he let it stay. Over time, he found the dog’s fawning expressions quite amusing.

Every afternoon, Ono Yoko would come after school to play with Hyakujirou for a while and bring it some inexpensive food. He wasn’t sure if she saved money from her own meals or collected scraps again. She was well-behaved, only running around and playing with Hyakujirou in the hallway, never entering Kitahara Hideji’s apartment. Perhaps she felt awkward going in without bringing any gifts or wanted to avoid disturbing Kitahara Hideji’s study, not wanting to cause him any more trouble.

Kitahara Hideji practiced both sword techniques and studied when his body and energy allowed it. After half a month, although he had dark circles under his eyes, his spirit remained high. There was no suffering in the world that a person couldn’t endure. As long as you could bear the pain and not let inertia control your body, you would discover that you could achieve more in a day than you could imagine.

As for the little troublemaker Fukuzawa Fuyumi, these days she couldn’t help but pick on Kitahara Hideji whenever she saw him. She seemed to have an inexplicable grudge and behaved indifferently towards him. It was as if she saw Kitahara Hideji as her punching bag, taking out her frustrations on him.

However, there hadn’t been a real opportunity for a conflict to erupt between them, so the tension remained unresolved. Nevertheless, it was enough to annoy Kitahara Hideji, and he was starting to find Fukuzawa Fuyumi somewhat irritating.

…

Late at night in the apartment, Kitahara Hideji gently put down his pen and picked up the test paper to check it. Satisfied with the results, he nodded. His academic performance was recovering, and he seemed to have no problem dealing with the foundational content of the first year. However, he couldn’t be complacent. In order to pick out students with potential for the special advanced class, there were reportedly numerous additional questions in the later part of the final exam for the first year. It wasn’t time to let his guard down yet.

Especially when it came to subjects like Japanese history, he was far behind his classmates. After all, he was unfamiliar with Japan’s history and had to start from scratch. Japanese literature was also a bit troublesome; when encountering poems like “Forgot about the Kawashita River, the river’s forgetfulness and the water’s forgetfulness, forgetting and worrying, and then forgetting,” even his [Japanese] language skill felt dumbfounded. It seemed that his skill level wasn’t sufficient, and he would have to continue leveling it up.

He rubbed his temples, turned off the desk lamp, and activated the {Meditative Battle] skill, preparing to give his brain and eyes a rest.

Moments later, his vision turned black, and the scene changed from the small apartment to a dark and eerie forest. He had grown accustomed to this; he took large strides forward, actively seeking traces of enemies.

The forest floor was covered with layers of pine needles, soft and cushion-like to step on, but they made strange rustling sounds. The light in the forest was extremely dim, and the shadows between the trees seemed to hide countless enemies, ready to ambush him.

The wind also whistled through the trees, emitting sharp and eerie howls. Kitahara Hideji remained calm and focused ahead, trying to make each step stable.

Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared, and a sharp blade of light slashed towards his back from an angle. But Kitahara Hideji seemed to have eyes on his back. He squatted down on the spot and turned, unsheathing his sword to strike back – a technique to respond to sudden attacks.

His rotation while crouching was a movement technique from the Niten Ichi-ryū style, called “Whirlwind” Unlike other schools that focused on sword control, Niten Ichi-ryū emphasized footwork, enjoying a variety of peculiar body movement techniques.

The opponent’s blade missed, and before they could recover, Kitahara Hideji used the “Whirlwind” to enter their blind spot and struck with his sword from below, slicing through their body smoothly without encountering any resistance.

Having successfully attacked, he didn’t quickly leave the opponent’s counterattack range. Instead, he chose to follow up with another strike, slashing diagonally from the upper left to the lower right, leaving a huge “X”-shaped wound on the opponent’s body before stepping back.

The opponent stumbled back a few steps, dropped their sword, and slowly knelt on the ground, but they didn’t die or collapse immediately.

Kitahara Hideji walked over, kicked them down, and stepped on their head before delivering a fatal blow with his sword, ending their life. He then shook off the blood from the blade, took a deep breath of the cold air filled with the scent of blood, and turned around slowly. Two more swordsmen emerged from the shadows of the forest—one wearing a bamboo hat and the other with their hair tied messily with straw.

Without saying a word, the two opponents spread out, unsheathed their swords, and began to circle around, moving faster and faster. Kitahara Hideji lowered his body and sprinted swiftly, calmly adjusting his relative position with the opponents to ensure he could keep both of them in sight.
He positioned himself at a 30-degree angle relative to the two opponents, so that no one would disappear from his sight. He held his sword in a Hassō-shiki stance, ready to face the silent attackers as they charged towards him.

In the dim forest, flashes of swordlight illuminated the scene, accompanied by the intense sound of metal clashing and occasional bursts of sparks.

Kitahara Hideji launched a fierce attack against the swordsman with the bamboo hat, constantly moving sideways to avoid exposing his flanks to the other opponent with the straw-tied hair. He had learned the hard way that “the best defense is a good offense.” When facing multiple opponents, if he lost his courage and remained on the defensive, he wouldn’t even have the time to die; they would overwhelm him swiftly.

He had experienced the consequences of losing his attacking spirit when confronted with a two-pronged attack before. He couldn’t defend against two swords at the same time, and in a matter of 0.2 seconds, one of the enemies would have him on the ground if he got entangled with one of their blades even for a brief moment.

The more enemies there were, the more foolish it was to focus solely on defense!

He kept this experience in mind and continuously moved swiftly around the swordsman with the bamboo hat as the center, delivering rapid strikes. He wanted to take him down quickly before dealing with the other opponent. The swordsman with the bamboo hat also unleashed his ferocity, attacking viciously without caring whether his blade got damaged—often, the sword was more precious than a person, and they wouldn’t act this recklessly unless it was a do-or-die situation.

For a moment, Kitahara Hideji couldn’t gain the upper hand, feeling a bit anxious. He was about to attempt a feigned strike to test if he could break through the opponent’s defense, but he saw the swordsman with the bamboo hat stumble, seemingly running out of energy.

“A vulnerability!” Kitahara Hideji’s eyes narrowed sharply, and he swiftly lunged forward with a sudden thrust. However, the swordsman with the bamboo hat seemed to be prepared and twisted his body at the moment of being stabbed, avoiding the vital point.

Kitahara Hideji immediately realized what had happened—it was a self-sacrificing technique. The opponent didn’t expose a vulnerability; he baited him into thinking there was one! He fell into the trap!

He quickly pulled his sword back to defend, but it was too late. The swordsman with the straw-tied hair suddenly emerged from underneath the other opponent’s legs and swiftly stabbed Kitahara Hideji in the abdomen.

………………
Kitahara Hideji’s vision blackened as his head banged against the desk, and he gasped for breath, clutching his lower abdomen—painful! He had been hasty and greedy, and the opponent had caught him off guard, dealing a fatal blow.

His lack of combat experience was evident; he hadn’t anticipated that someone would willingly sacrifice themselves using a self-sacrificing technique. He needed more practice, faster strikes, and quicker recoveries. He needed more combat experience.

Kitahara Hideji caught his breath for a moment, trying not to dwell on the uncomfortable feeling of a cold foreign object inside his body. Supporting himself on the desk, he stood up and went to the corner, picking up the Training Stick and assuming a stance. He recalled the recent scenario, contemplating how to handle a similar situation in the future. He had once encountered an opponent from the Taisha-ryu style who moved like a monkey, using both the wooden sword and punches and kicks. That encounter left him bruised and disoriented, leading him to develop a habit of analyzing “death experiences.”

The pain was too intense; it felt worse than being struck by a sword. He didn’t want to experience it a second time.

Moreover, the recent Meditative Battles had become increasingly intense—either he faced a siege or fought in a free-for-all. They wouldn’t stop until they made him fail. His best record so far was defeating one opponent, then two in a pincer attack, and even achieving a one-on-one exchange amidst a four-person onslaught before being “cut into pieces.” In the free-for-all, he fought until the seventh round before being exhausted and “dying” alongside his opponent.

He needed to be faster and stronger. Fully devoted to his training, his competitive spirit was ignited. He almost forgot that the purpose of practicing Sword Technique was to deal with Fukuzawa Fuyumi’s continuous provocations.

Performing a quick retreat and jump, he swung the sword towards the imaginary enemy, and the Training Stick made a resounding sound in the air.

Hyakujirou cowered in the corner, trembling with fear. Its life as a dog was short, and it couldn’t comprehend why its temporary owner would sometimes close his eyes for a moment, only to stand up like a completely different person, exuding a strong killing intent that made it feel terrified.

Kitahara Hideji didn’t notice Hyakujirou’s fearful gaze. After landing, he held the Training Stick at the side of his head, the tip pointing forward, forming a defensive posture known as “Ko gasumi.” He believed that even if he missed his previous retreat and strike, with this stance, he could quickly switch to a thrusting attack to counter the opponent’s pursuit.

He was fully focused on his thoughts, completely unaware that the experience points for [Ancient Swordsmanship] were slowly increasing in the lower left corner of his field of view, and he was not far from reaching the Middle Rank.