My Girlfriend is an Evil Woman

Fukuda Private Academy is a newly established high school with a very short history of only seven years. However, it is backed by the textile industry giant, Fukuda Industrial Group, in Nagoya City, which provides ample funding. The kendo hall is naturally built on a grand scale. With traditional wooden architecture, raised half a foot above the ground to prevent moisture and pests, it features wooden corridors, red pillars, and white lattice windows, giving it a simple and elegant charm.

Shima Rei led the way and opened the door, taking off her shoes at the entrance—a troublesome custom in Japanese schools. They had to change into indoor shoes upon entering the classroom building, then switch back to regular shoes when exiting the building, and finally remove their shoes and socks in the kendo hall. It was quite inconvenient.

Kitahara Hideji followed behind Shima Rei, observing the situation with curiosity. Kendo was a unique sport in Japan, and his knowledge of it was limited to two people wielding fake swords and engaging in mock combat. Now he had the opportunity to see how it was actually practiced, which was a chance to broaden his horizons.

In the entrance, he glanced at the kendo hall and noticed its simple yet spacious structure. The main hall, covered with polished and gleaming wooden floors, alone seemed to be around 700-800 square meters—equivalent to almost two basketball courts. The decorations were minimal, with a solitary certificate hanging on the wall directly facing the entrance. On the walls to the sides, there were some calligraphy works displaying Chinese characters such as “Wuyue Chunqiu” (Spring and Autumn of Wu and Yue), “Tingba Zhi Zi” (A Sturdy Stance), “Ren” (Benevolence), “Zhi” (Wisdom), “Yong” (Bravery), and “Li” (Etiquette). The overall environment appeared grand, but there were only a handful of people inside, wasting such a large space.

Within the designated area marked by white lines, two individuals were engaged in a fierce exchange, vigorously clashing their bamboo swords. The spectacle was impressive. After observing for a while, Kitahara Hideji noticed that it was not an entirely fair contest. One of the participants was tall, while the other was excessively petite.

Kitahara Hideji focused on the small figure and felt a sense of familiarity. The height resembled Fukuzawa Fuyumi, who had taken a sip of his soup in the cafeteria at noon. After all, there weren’t many high school students that short. However, the person wore a face mask and was dressed in armor and hakama, making it difficult to see their face and figure clearly. Kitahara Hideji couldn’t be sure, but he heard Shima Rei calling out to a male student, asking, “Senpai, is the club president here?”

That person turned his head and, upon seeing the three newcomers, immediately displayed a big smile. He warmly greeted them, saying, “Are you here for a visit? Welcome, welcome… I’m Hasegawa Ryo. Nice to meet you. The club president is currently attending the Student Council and Club Recruitment Assembly, but I can show you around. Not to brag, but our kendo club has excellent facilities! Look, we have such a spacious training hall that can be freely used, as well as communal protective gear. The changing room even has showers with hot water in winter and warm water in summer…”

He continued talking nonstop, doing his best to boast about their club, leaving Shima Rei somewhat amused but unable to interrupt him. Hasegawa Ryo was a Senpai student, and the hierarchical relationships between upperclassmen and underclassmen were strictly observed in high school. In Japanese schools that adopt a student self-governance system, many matters revolve around the Senpai students. If one were to cross the line and incur the collective animosity of the Senpai students, it would be as easy as slipping on dozens of small shoes to make their life miserable.

Shima Rei patiently waited for a moment until Hasegawa Ryo paused for a breath, then quickly interjected, “We have already decided to join the club, so there’s no need to trouble you, Hasegawa-senpai. By the way, since the club president isn’t here, could we wait here for a while… Are they practicing right now?”

Changing the topic, Shima Rei was afraid that Hasegawa Ryo would continue his lengthy speech. Upon hearing that they had already made up their minds to join the club, Hasegawa Ryo became even happier and cooperatively pointed towards the field, saying, “There’s a first-year student who just arrived. She is currently being tested by Taisho-senpai! The quality of the freshmen this year is quite good to be able to endure this long… Ah?”

Before he could finish his sentence, something happened on the field. The petite figure had already broken through the opponent’s defensive circle with a series of rapid strikes, closing in with a powerful blow directly aimed at the opponent’s face. The strike was incredibly forceful, causing the opponent to be thrown to the ground. Hasegawa Ryo was dumbfounded and stuttered, “So… so impressive!”

The temporary referee, another member of the club, was also taken aback. After a momentary pause, he shouted, “Valid strike to the face, victory for the red side!”

The petite figure sheathed her sword and took a few steps back, then bowed her head and loudly said, “Thank you for the guidance, senpai!”

Although she was small in stature, her presence was overwhelming. The entire dojo turned their attention to her. The person lying on the ground waved his hand as a gesture of acknowledgement, seemingly still trying to recover from the sudden storm of attacks. The petite figure didn’t mind and directly retreated to the sideline of the competition area, kneeling down. She carefully placed the bamboo sword by her right side, with the tip of the sword level with her knees. Then, she removed her face mask, revealing a small face about the size of a palm, wearing a serious expression.

Kitahara Hideji focused his gaze and indeed confirmed that it was the soup thief Fukuzawa Fuyumi. Fukuzawa Fuyumi removed her white head wrap, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and began organizing her protective gear and hakama. The borrowed gear was adjustable, which was fortunate, but the hakama was loose and large, making it look like a long trailing skirt on her.

Hasegawa Ryo called out to the person who had just gotten up, “Vice President, we have new members joining!”

The person took off their face mask, glanced in their direction, and walked unsteadily over, supporting their forehead. They greeted, “So, you’re Rei. Your sister told me about you. You’ve worked hard.”

Shima Rei bowed slightly and continued the introductions, “These are my two friends, Kitahara Hideji and Uchida Yuma. Both of you, this is Taisho Hori, a Senpai in the third year and currently the vice president of the kendo club. He is highly skilled and serves as the main player for the men’s team in team competitions.”

Taisho Hori bowed slightly towards Kitahara Hideji and Uchida Yuma, saying, “Welcome to the kendo club.”

With that, he considered the introductions complete. He didn’t pay much attention to those who were in name only, focusing more on club-related matters. However, he cast a wary glance towards Fukuzawa Fuyumi, still feeling some trepidation, and asked, “Rei, are you familiar with Fukuzawa?”

“Not really, we’re not in the same class,” Shima Rei replied. “Is there something you’d like to know, Taisho-senpai?”

“Nothing in particular. It’s just that this new member has impressive skills, and I’m curious… It seems like she didn’t train at the school’s dojo. By the way, did you hear the name Fukuzawa Fuyumi during your junior high competitions?”

Shima Rei shook his head directly but remained curious. “Did Taisho-senpai hold back during the match just now?” he asked. Coming in late, Shima Rei thought that Taisho Hori might have only focused on testing the newcomer’s abilities and didn’t go all out, eventually losing the match. This was normal since kendo emphasizes proactive attacks, and defense is more challenging than offense.

Taisho Hori smiled bitterly and replied, “Initially, I did plan to hold back, but later on, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. There was simply no opportunity for a counterattack.” However, he quickly regained his composure and expressed his satisfaction with the newcomer’s strong skills. He said, “With you and Fukuzawa joining this year, maybe we’ll have a chance to aim for the national tournament… Sigh, this is our last year, so I hope we can achieve good results.”

Shima Rei comforted Taisho Hori softly, saying, “We will definitely achieve good results, so please don’t worry, Taisho-senpai.”

Taisho Hori patted his shoulder and smiled, saying, “Thank you!” But then he had a peculiar expression and added, “It would be great if you could switch personalities with your sister.”

Shima Rei immediately furrowed his eyebrows, while Uchida Yuma muttered under his breath from behind, “Please, let’s not.”

Kitahara Hideji glanced at his watch, concerned about waiting for too long. He asked in a low voice, “Do we have to wait here indefinitely?”

“We’ve already come this far, so let’s wait a bit longer. We can’t ignore Rei’s face,” Uchida Yuma replied. Then his expression changed, and he smirked, saying, “Fukuzawa Fuyumi is coming. The rumors were true after all. She’s at most 145 centimeters tall and even goes barefoot.”

(Note: 145 centimeters is approximately 4 feet 9 inches.)