The Heroines Want to Confess.

By the time Sakurai realized he had been tricked by Kaguya, several hours had already passed.

However, he didn't dwell on it too much—there would be other chances in the future.

But was he really not dwelling on it? No way!

Saying he didn't care would definitely be a blatant lie!

On the shinkansen, the kendo club captain Kojima looked at Sakurai and felt there was a trace of resentment on his face.

Sakurai: ᕙ( ︡'︡ 益 '︠)ง

"Sakurai, didn't you sleep last night?" Kojima asked.

"I couldn't sleep."

Not getting to see Kaguya in a Miko outfit dancing—could you guys sleep after that? I couldn't sleep at all.

Sakurai's heart was full of frustration.

At that moment, the notification about the grading error was only a few millimeters away from his cursor, but a miss by a hair is as good as a miss by a mile. Because he was in a rush to check his exam results and didn't notice the notification, Kaguya managed to escape.

Moreover, Sakurai couldn't even regret it afterward, because he was the one who suggested it—he was the one who requested changing the bet condition.

Last night Sakurai thought about it for a long time. He felt that as an Esper and as a man, he absolutely could not wear a Miko outfit and dance for another girl to see—that would be far too humiliating.

"What elementary school did you come from? We're not going on a field trip." Kojima said with a laugh.

"You wouldn't understand." Sakurai sighed.

There were still more than three hours left before they reached Hakata—the seat of Fukuoka Prefecture's government—and the train had already been running for two hours.

"Alright. Once we get to the station, we'll have lunch first, then go check out the dojo." Kojima introduced the schedule.

"The matches start in four days, on the 28th. The tournament lasts four days: two days for the preliminaries, two days for the knockout rounds. The bracket is split into left and right halves—we're in the left bracket. Our first opponent is a high school from Fukuoka."

Sakurai: "Only two days for the preliminaries?"

"One venue, dozens of match areas. It's only in the knockout rounds that things get more formal, where two schools face each other per match." Kojima explained.

Otherwise, with hundreds of schools this time, if they fought one school at a time, when would it ever end?

[Ka ka~, this game of these weak humans is so boring.]

Shinobu, inside Sakurai's shadow, gave her assessment.

If only there were some excitement. Otherwise, a one-sided slaughter really has nothing fun about it.

————

Hakata was famous for mentaiko, which is cod roe, but Sakurai had no interest in that.

So, after leaving the station, Sakurai went into a ramen shop and ordered a very standard bowl of chashu ramen, with extra meat.

Seeing him order an extra portion of meat, the kendo club members also started ordering extra portions one after another.

Of course, the expenses were covered by the kendo club. At the start of the term, during the inter-club union meeting, Shirogane allocated a decent budget for the sports clubs, especially the kendo club.

Sakurai didn't expect this to be available for him too. He originally thought he wouldn't get to benefit from it.

In the afternoon, everyone arrived at the dojo that Daimon Saburou had reserved in advance.

As soon as they entered, the kendo club members felt a cold breeze and all turned to look at Daimon Saburou.

'Why does this place have air conditioning, but our club doesn't?'

They only dared to protest with their eyes. They didn't dare speak, or else they'd definitely get lectured later.

"Alright, stop standing around like idiots. You've rested enough after lunch. Pick up your swords!!" Daimon Saburou roared.

"Hey! Kondou! Turn off the air conditioning!! It's only 38 degrees outside! Let these brats tough it out with grit!!"

He shouted at the dojo owner beside him.

"Grit? Captain Kojima, do you believe in that stuff?" Kinoshita Youta asked while rubbing his shaved head.

This isn't the Showa era anymore—who still talks about grit? Who even understands that?

We're not in the navy, you know? Why are we doing this crap?

"I do. Back in the day, when I trained in kendo during summer, we never turned on the air conditioning." Kojima nodded as he spoke.

When he said that, his expression didn't change, as if he was completely serious.

"Have you ever heard of the unity of mind and sword? My father told me, the sword also has a soul." Kojima spoke very solemnly.

"Really?" Kinoshita Youta asked in surprise.

"I'm this strong all thanks to training under the summer sun and cutting falling snow outdoors in winter."

Sakurai, standing nearby and listening to their conversation, rolled his eyes.

Anyone who believed that was an idiot.

"Great! I'll train like that too!"

It's over. There really is an idiot here.

...

Halfway through practice, a group of people entered through the dojo door.

They were carrying kendo gear bags, so it was obvious why they were here.

Then Daimon Saburou walked over to that group and exchanged a few words with the leader.

A moment later, he came back to the team members.

"Alright, brats, you'll be doing practice matches with another school soon—don't embarrass me!" Daimon Saburou glanced at Sakurai Saki and saw he didn't have a shred of fighting spirit: "Sakurai, you'll be Taishō (last player in a team match)."

After saying that, he assigned a few more reserve members, looking like he was preparing to drill the team.

The Shuchiin kendo club was pretty solid overall, so Sakurai Saki didn't think he would need to go on the floor—at most, he was just there as the closer.

A few minutes later, the practice match began.

"Best of three! First match!" Daimon Saburou served as the head referee.

Off to the side.

"Sakurai, why aren't you even bothering to put on your armor?" Kojima glanced at him and walked over.

"You think they're going to lose?" Sakurai yawned.

Shuchiin's reserves were all second-dan players. Keep in mind, the age limit for third-dan was 18—high schoolers reaching second-dan was basically the upper limit.

They couldn't possibly lose. There was no way they would lose.

"The opponent is a team that made the top 4 in last year's Gyokuryuu-ki tournament, Shimabara High School from Nagasaki Prefecture. They've even won the championship before—don't underestimate them." Kojima explained.

This guy Sakurai was way too confident.

"According to Gyokuryuu-ki rules, one person can take on all five and still win. Even if I'm the only one left, I can still pull the team to victory." Sakurai squinted his eyes—he hadn't slept well last night.

All thanks to Shinomiya Kaguya—he had been thinking about her all night.

His head was filled with her, even more than when he first fell for Ai-chan.

"Besides, they can't send out too many starters either—they'll probably just put one main player out to hold the line." While Sakurai was saying this, Shuchiin's reserve—Koyama—had already lost.

"What an aggressive style." Kojima muttered.

A few strikes in, and Koyama's sword was almost knocked out of his hands.

In kendo, if your sword falls, you lose.

The sword is a swordsman's life—losing your sword is no different from losing your life.

"Alright then, I'll go put on my armor."

Sakurai said as he walked away.

By the time he came back, Shuchiin's entire reserve team had been wiped out.

Their opponent was a school that had once won the championship—their strength was no joke.

"You finally showed up. What's this? Earlier you didn't even bother putting on your armor—are you looking down on me?" The boy in kendo gear looked displeased.

Sakurai held the shinai in his hand and walked to the starting position. "You're not going to introduce yourself first? Though I never bother remembering the names of people who lose to me."

"Yagyuu Munehide, third-dan in kendo!"

"Sakurai Saki, no dan rank."

As soon as Sakurai said that, he saw the other guy's body tremble slightly, looking a little off balance.

Maybe he was wondering why they would let someone without a rank be the closer.