After seeing off Sakurajima Mai, Kuzeha looked up toward the distant sky.
He could faintly make out several silhouettes gradually disappearing over the horizon.
"…It's over?"
Kuzeha withdrew his gaze, thoughtful.
While at the shelter earlier, he'd heard explosions from artillery and missiles. Judging from the combat style, it was most likely the AST's unit stationed at Tenguu Base.
"Looks like this spatial quake actually had a Spirit involved…"
Judging from the scale, though, it didn't seem to have amounted to much.
"Kuzeha-kun, what are you looking at?"
Behind him, Busujima Saeko tapped his shoulder.
As he turned around, she held up her shopping bag in front of his face with a cheerful wave.
"I finished shopping. Let's get back to school and train!"
Saeko was clearly eager to get started.
But Kuzeha shook his head.
"Today, I'd like you to help train my younger sisters."
"Your sisters?"
"They practice kendo too?"
Kuzeha nodded, and Saeko's interest was instantly piqued.
"Mmhmm. They're participating in a kendo tournament in a couple of days. We've been doing special training at home."
Her eyes sparkled.
"If they're being trained by you, they must be pretty skilled!"
"Come on, let's not keep them waiting!"
She pushed Kuzeha along excitedly. The thought of getting to visit his house only made her more excited.
Ten minutes later, they arrived back at the orphanage.
Saeko paused in surprise.
She hadn't known Kuzeha was from an orphanage.
Looking at the somewhat run-down facility, she didn't ask questions—but her gaze toward him softened.
Kuzeha had already notified Suguha and Kanao in advance, so he led Saeko straight to the dojo.
"Nice to meet you, Busujima-senpai! I'm Kirigaya Suguha!"
"Kanao Tsuyuri."
Saeko was taken aback by how stunning the two girls were.
But what impressed her even more was their swordsmanship.
Even for her, going one-on-one against either of them required five parts of her strength.
Two-on-one?
She had to go nearly full force.
A single misstep, and they could land a hit.
Her own club members couldn't even draw out thirty percent of her ability.
Yet here were two middle schoolers—one third year, one second year—whose kendo far surpassed the rest of Sobu High's club.
Saeko estimated silently.
Even her younger self—the "genius swordswoman" before she ever met Kuzeha—would likely lose to these two.
Their stances and movements…
She could faintly see Kuzeha's shadow in them.
"As expected… Kuzeha-kun is incredible."
"To train them to this level in under a week…"
"Kuzeha-kun, if you ever opened up to accepting students, you'd have people waving money at your door nonstop!"
After getting a feel for the girls' abilities, Saeko looked at Kuzeha with heartfelt admiration.
As one of his own disciples, she knew better than anyone—Kuzeha's strength wasn't just personal.
His understanding of kendo was peerless.
After every training match, even the most casual of his corrections would leave her mind blown, opening new doors to mastery.
It was as if this boy held the endless truth of swordsmanship in his hands.
And Saeko… just kept wanting more.
"All credit doesn't go to me," Kuzeha waved it off. "Suguha and Kanao are extremely talented on their own."
He wasn't some kind of miracle worker.
If he were asked to teach someone totally hopeless, even he couldn't do much.
Then he had Saeko spar with the girls in turn.
That was the point of her visit anyway—to give them experience fighting opponents with different strengths and styles.
They took turns sparring.
Kuzeha acted as coach, giving advice after every round.
Match after match—
Eventually, Saeko began to feel pressure even in one-on-one situations.
Her heart tightened. A hint of anxiety surfaced.
At this rate, Suguha and Kanao might surpass her before she even caught up to Kuzeha.
Off to the side, Suguha looked at Saeko's sharp movements with admiration.
"Busujima-senpai is amazing…"
She'd thought her growth had been pretty fast recently.
She'd even thought she might place well in the high school division.
But seeing Saeko in action made her feel just a bit discouraged.
"So the high school division is really that competitive, huh…"
Kuzeha gave her a side glance, a bit exasperated.
Her competitive streak was stronger than he thought.
Saeko was already leagues above the average. For someone like Suguha, with only a few days of special training, to be able to even keep up—her talent was undeniable.
He gently patted her head with a towel.
"This is just your starting point. Your stage is much bigger than some kendo tournaments."
Suguha nodded, though her gaze drifted toward a shopping bag nearby—eyes gleaming with curiosity.
She didn't recognize the brand, but it was clearly for clothing.
She remembered Saeko had been carrying it earlier.
After a moment of thought, she turned to Kuzeha.
"By the way, Kuzeha-nii… were you shopping with Busujima-senpai earlier?"
"Yeah, I helped her pick out some new training uniforms."
He replied honestly.
Suguha didn't doubt him.
He'd mentioned before that Saeko often came to him for training.
training uniforms, huh…
But…
Having practiced kendo since she was young, Suguha couldn't recall any uniform brands with that kind of logo.
Slightly confused, she ended her training for the day and headed home.
"I'm back!"
"Go wash up quickly, dinner's almost ready!"
"Okay!"
Suguha went straight to the bathroom, hearing her mother call out from the kitchen.
She started running the bath water—then remembered Saeko's "uniform."
That logo… she remembered it perfectly.
Pulling out her phone, she searched it up.
And then—
A cascade of images popped up.
Her wide eyes locked onto the screen.
"T-this is a kendo uniform?!"
Each outfit was more blush-inducing than the last.
Her brain practically short-circuited.
It was clearly a spicy clothing brand.
"Kuzeha-nii said Busujima-senpai wears this stuff for training…"
As she stared at the images, her mind began picturing Saeko training in them—with Kuzeha watching…
"Mmm…"
She covered her now-flushed face.
But her fingers parted slightly, peeking through them to look again.
She glanced down at her own chest—now quite full for her age.
Her imagination shifted.
What if I wore this… to train with Kuzeha-nii…
"…Would he like it?"
Her finger seemed to move on its own.
She added several of the items to her cart.
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