Standing on the wooden floor in the middle of the Kendo room, three shadows came at me from different directions.
I didn't show much care however as I dodged the first attack- a kick to the back of my head, with a single tilt of my head to the left.
"That was pretty sloppy, Kiana."
I grabbed the offending limb before throwing her towards Bronya.
Kiana let out a frantic shout, but I noticed that she gave a brief nod to Bronya who immediately blocked with Project Bunny's shield.
With a quick backflip, she landed on the shield, before using it as a springboard to strike at me once more.
A punch was pushed away with a clean tap to the side.Her followup spinning back heel kick was dodged with a simple lean back.
Then, her roundhouse kick using the momentum of the previous attack was blocked with my arm.
That made Kiana blink as I took advantage of her distraction to get in close.
Unfortunately, Mei and Bronya came to help as both their attacks- one strike with a shinai and a downwards punch from Project Bunny made me retreat.
"Ai yo. I'm being jumped right now."
I sighed with a sad look of my face.
"How the turns have tabled…"
"Ermm akshually…"
"Mei. That's my line."
Her gentle laughter was the only reply I needed to know she was feeling herself right now.
Noted.
I hope you know how to dodge well, Mei.
My ominous stare immediately made the purple haired girl zip it as she took a step back with a cough.
"Snitches get stitches, Gojo! You betrayed me 13 times in our jumpiings with Bronya! So now, I'm organising a beatdown on you!"
Kiana looked very smug as she said that.
In fact, she was looking so smug that she decided to point at herself with her thumb.
I hope she realises that she's doing the 0% winrate pose.
"Gojo. The Bronya and sister Mei have no stake in this. Kiana Idiotka made this plan herself."
"What? Why am I being betrayed by my teammates again?"
"In addition, snitches get stitches is the wrong term to use in this situation."
I nodded. "That sounded like another 'Ermm akshually', but you're right."
"Can Subject Gojo spare Sister Mei and The Bronya?" The gray haired girl asked hopefully.
"No."
But I am the crusher of hopes.
Hahaha.
Without letting them get another word in, I charged.
Each of them frantically got into their stances, but I was just too quick.
By the time they blinked, I was already in front of them.
Kiana, being the loudmouth, was the first to be sent flying.
My fist slammed into her crossed arms, causing her to grit her teeth as her feet left the ground.
Mei and Bronya didn't even have the time to see what was happening to Kiana before I turned my attention to them next.
I slapped my arms outwards, as they were sent flying as well.
The first step when doing a 1v3 is to isolate the fight into a series of 1v1s.
It didn't matter if I was overwhelmingly stronger. It was a good practice to do in general.
Now… as promised.
You first, Mei.
To her credit, she did not flinch.
Despite seemingly being a normal student before all of this, she held strong, trying to block, weave and dodge my attacks.
The keyword was 'Try'.
She wasn't anywhere near quick enough, nor was she anywhere near skilled enough to overcome the disparity between me and her.
I landed several strikes to her body, causing her to wince, but she didn't just break down. She actually held strong.
Maybe her sheer chuunibyou-ness is helping her overcome the pain.
That's good.
Given her situation, there was no time to baby her.
Just as I was about to hit her in the stomach however, I felt a sudden increase in her Honkai energy.
And that allowed her to dodge my attack.
The corners of my lips stretched upwards..
It seems that Mei is coming along quite nicely.
At this moment, however, Kiana was already back and so was Bronya.
The three of them shared a quick glance, and then pounced on me together.
And I was there in the middle of all of them, about to get completely demolished(in their opinion).
I could already imagine the amount of payback I would be getting if they got their hands on me.
A laugh almost came out of my throat when I thought of that.
But guys…
I'm sorry.
It's still a bit too early for you guys to do anything to me.
Standing straight, my grin just became bigger as I only did one thing in response to them.
I raised a finger in front of me.
And then…
"Cursed Technique Reversal:
Red"
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cursed Technique Reversal: Red
It was a culmination of my ability to use Blue, along with my increased mastery over Honkai energy.
I thought that I would need an adaptation to get this ability, but in the end, it was far more simple than I thought.
Honkai energy allowed for me to easily reverse the flow of attraction of my technique. After all, the rules of this world were different.
I don't need Reversed Cursed Technique to do these things here.
And that was great.
But it also made me more curious…
What in the world was this energy?
Perhaps, I would only find out in the distant future.
Please… please no extraterrestrial power planting energy sources on earth for a takeover please…
I shook my head as I let go of the possible existential threat.
"So… how are you guys feeling?"
"Terrible."/"Atrocious."/"Betrayed…"
"That sounds wonderful. You guys are coming along nicely!"
I offered to help each of them, which was taken. They were covered in black soot and their hairs were as if they had just been in a category 5 tornado.
However, they weren't hurt.
What?
Did you think that I'd use any considerable amount of output here?
"Subject Gojo. The Kendo Club room seems to be demolished now…"
Ok… maybe I did, but not on them!
Mei didn't say anything but she was looking at the ground. Her eyes were covered by her bangs, making me feel a little bad…
Well… it was her club after all.
Maybe I should apologise?
I took a deep breath.
"Mei…"
"I made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgement, and I don't expect to be forgiven. I'm simply here to apologise."
Ignoring the sound of Kiana spitting out water at the side, Mei just raised her head and blinked innocently.
"Huh? Why are you apologising?"
"Why did you look so down?"
"N-nothing?" She looked away.
The three of us narrowed our eyes at her.
"Chuuni?" I whispered to the other two in their ears.
"Chuuni." They replied with nods.
After a quick bid of goodbyes, each of us left back to our own homes.
Mei, for one, would have a lot of explaining to do when she entered her limo though.
Finally, when we returned home, I let out a sigh as I sat on the sofa while Kiana went to take a shower.
She gave a quick warning about not peeking, but I just brushed her aside.
Now that I was alone again, I needed to think of my next step.
At this point, I've found out the mastermind behind the Honkai devices. Found her likely true target, and found out about the powers that rule the world in the background.
So… what could I do next?
Contact Schicksal to make the waters even more murky?
They were described as the strongest organisation in the world, one that even Anti-Entropy feared.
Thus, it could work, but who knows what measures they could take…
Look for Cocolia? But no one knew where she was hiding right now. Looking for her, even with adaptation to help me, was still like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Ryoma?
He thought he could handle her, but he didn't realise what usually happens to a guy who likes to think that he would win.
Should I just wait then?
But… I don't want to be on the backfoot…
"Gojo."
The moment I heard those words, I felt my head clear up a bit. Letting out a deep breath, I turned around to look at the speaker.
"What is it, Kiana?"
She had finished showering at this time. Dressed in a white singlet and black pants, she rubbed her wet hair with a towel.
"We… haven't gone out much together recently, haven't we?"
"What do you mean by that?" I asked. "Don't we hang out everyday?"
The white haired girl seemed hesitant to answer the question for a moment, but she came to a decision quickly.
"I… don't mean as a group…"
"?"
"It's just that- Ugh, never mind! I just thought maybe it'd be fun to hang out, just like back then y'know? It's been a while…" She looked away.
Kiana shifted awkwardly, glancing at the floor before looking back at me.
"Also… you've been frowning a lot lately."
She crossed her arms with a grin. "We should go punch something! Or, y'know, eat a mountain of ice cream. That always makes me feel better."
Really?
I feel like I've been smiling quite a bit.
I had a dull expression on my face for a moment, before I let out a sigh.
Might as well humour her.
"In that case, why don't we go out tomorrow? Just the two of us?"
"Really?" Kiana perked up. "Can we go to the theme park?"
"Yes."
'Homuland?"
"Yes…"
"Your treat?"
"Ye- Wait…"
I looked at her now grinning face suspiciously.
"Hehe, just kidding." She flopped on the sofa beside me before cheering. "Let's gooo!!!"
I just shook my head in mirth as I watched the show on TV.
Tomorrow, then.
A theme park.
Just the two of us.
I guess…
It really has been a while…
(A/N: Just to be transparent guys, the deal was up to 1800 powerstones. I can't really write anymore without decreasing writing quality. So, I'll post one more extra chap.
How was the chapter? Please give powerstones and comment. If possible, please review as well.)