The next day, I follow Ichika back to her hometown in Kamakura. It’s not that far from Tokyo, and we manage to reach there in less than two hours by bus. In making sure that we arrive before the morning practice starts, we took the first bus that departs.

From the bus station, we walk to the dojo which doubles as her house, which took around twenty minutes. Even though we’re dragging our luggage bag behind us, it’s not that tough a journey. When we are about to reach there, Ichika gives me a warning.

‘Akira, be prepared when you meet my father. He is a nice person but, well… he can be very overprotective.’

‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

Believe me, I know that all too well. Kurogane Takehiko is a well known swordsman who slew three S Rank Destroyers all by himself when he was Sakuya’s age. His prominent sword skill earned him lots of attention. However, he was never interested in power and fame.

After he graduated from a regular high school, he travel far and abroad to test his skill against all kinds of opponents, human or inhuman. He eventually travelled back to settle down at his hometown Kamakura and inherited his family’s dojo from his father. Within half a year, he got married with his wife.

In the anime, he was openly hostile towards Yuuji whom his daughter had fall in love with. It didn’t help that the two families were always fierce rivals.

The closer we are to the dojo, the louder the weird sound I have been hearing all this while. I could be wrong, but it sounds like a sharp object’s making contact with a dull surface.

‘...Are we supposed to be worried about this sound?’ I ask Ichika.

Ichika lets out a sigh. ‘No need. It is just father.’

‘Is he…sharpening his sword or something?’

‘Yes. He does it whenever a new disciple arrives at the dojo in an attempt to scare the cowardly ones away. It also serves as a warning for any potential suitors.’

Ichika says the last part while blushing.

‘Don’t worry. It takes more than this to scare me.’

She hesitates. ‘Do you mean as a disciple, or as a suitor?’

I shrug. ‘Who knows?’

‘Hey, answer me properly!’

I purposely ignore her and walk ahead.

When we finally reach the front gate of the dojo, we are greeted by a beautiful woman that looks a lot like Ichika.

‘Hello mother, it has been a while.’ Ichika greets the woman formally.

Ichika’s mother smiles at her. ‘Indeed it has. Welcome home.’

‘Mother, this is Kagenashi Akira, the one I told you who will be joining the training for the next three days.’

‘Good morning.’ I say to her while bowing.

‘Good morning to you too. Ichika often told us about you on the phone. A bit too often for a certain someone’s liking.’ she turns around and look at the dojo with a tired expression.

‘Akira, you should take out the souvenir you bought for father right now.’ Ichika suggests.

‘Yeah.’ I lay down my luggage bag and opens it.

The eyes of Ichika’s mother widen. ‘Oh my? Are the two of you on first name basis?’

I stop what I was doing. ‘Yes. Is that bad?’

‘Honestly, I don’t know. I sure hope he got his temper under control.’

Before I come here, I bought a box of dark-chocolate-flavored daifuku after listening to Ichika’s advice. According to her, her father loves them a lot.

‘Just leave your luggage here. You can pull it to your temporary room after you did your self-introduction.’ Ichika’s mother tells me at the doorway.

‘Yes.’

We follow her to a hall, where a burly man is sitting in front of a huge whetstone with his back facing us. He is busy sharpening a katana and making a huge amount of noise. On both his sides, there are at least fifty katanas piled on top of each other.

‘Takehiko-san, Ichika and Kagenashi-kun is here.’ Ichika’s mother tells him.

Upon hearing that, he stops his sharpening and turns around to face us.

He looks exactly the same as in the anime: bald, has a bushy beard and moustache, and a long scar directly under his left eye.

He grins at Ichika. ‘Ichika! You’re finally home!’

Ichika bows at him. ‘I apologize for taking so long, father.’

‘No worries! As long as you’re here!’

He then glares at me with a barely concealed anger. ‘And this is the Kagenashi Akira that you spoke of?’

‘Yes, father.’

‘The same one that you always train all by yourselves with?’

‘Father-’

‘The same one that you spend hours to brag about how good his skills in cooking is?’

‘Father, please-’

‘THE SAME ONE THAT YOU WENT TO THE BEACH WITH AND HAD HIS MEMORY FULL OF YOUR SWIMSUIT-CLAD BODY? WHEN I, YOUR OWN FATHER, COULDN’T EVEN CATCH A GLIMPSE OF IT?’

‘Um, you can look at photos if you want.’ I take out my phone.

That somehow calmed his rage. ‘Oh, you took some? Many thanks.’

Ichika’s mother stands beside him so that she could see the photos as well.

‘Look, there’s Sakuya-chan. We haven’t seen her for a while, and she grew up into a fine lady.’ Ichika’s mother remarks.

‘Bah, she’s nothing compared to our Ichika.’

‘You know her, sir and madam?’ I ask them.

‘Oh yes, our family is quite well acquainted with each other, although the two fathers always deny it.’

‘We’re NOT close! That Agito had the nerve to declare in front of me that his daughter is the best in the world! He’s obviously blind to Ichika’s charms!’

They continue to look through the photos. Based on their reactions, they don’t know the rest of the girls. I’m kind of worried that Ichika’s father might meet High Priest Kiryuu one day. They would definitely start a war. And Principal Morifuji will join in and cause a three-way war.

After they are done, I hand Ichika’s father the souvenir I bought.

‘This is for you, sir.’

‘Oh, you shouldn’t have. How courteous of you.’ he accepts it with both of his hands.

It would seem that the sight of Ichika’s swimsuit photos and his favourite snack has calmed him down. I’m very glad for that, since I have to train under him for the next three days. After the pleasantries is over, Ichika’s mother guides me to my temporary room.

The room is a simple Japanese style one with nothing but a futon. Based on the number of futon, I can conclude that I’m the only one that’s staying here.

‘Is everyone else staying at other rooms?’ I ask Mrs Kurogane.

‘Yes, this is one of the guest rooms, after all. Full-time disciples sleep in another side of the dojo. Or would you prefer to sleep in the same room as them? I can arrange that.’

‘Um, no thank you. I’m not that good at socializing.’

‘As you wish. Well, you better get changed. The morning practice will start soon.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

I’m not even a disciple of this dojo to begin with, so Ichika’s father allows me to wear my track suit instead of the training outfit the rest of them are wearing.

When I go to the huge training hall, there are literally hundreds of disciples already there. All of them are practising their swings with their bamboo swords. Ichika is overseeing their practise while holding a bamboo sword and a wooden pole in another.

The moment I made my presence known, all of them stopped what they were doing and stare at me. They quickly continue when Ichika clears her throat loudly. She then walks straight to me and hands me the wooden pole.

‘Here, Akira. This is for you.’ she says to me.

‘Thanks. Man, I feel so weird for being the only spear user among all these swordsmen.’

‘It is true that we cannot teach you in the way of the spear, but you can still join the general training.’

‘Yeah, I guess.’

A few minutes later, Ichika’s father (or should I call him Instructor Kurogane) arrives with a wooden sword tucked into his belt. Everyone immediately stops practising their moves and greets him in a loud voice.

‘GOOD MORNING, SENSEI!’

They were so loud the hall vibrated for a bit. Instructor Kurogane acknowledges the greeting with a simple nod.

‘At ease.’ he tells them. ‘Kagenashi, come and have a sparring session with me.’

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

‘Yes, sir.’

Everyone clear their way so that we could use the space at the middle as a sparring ring.

‘Ichika, you give the signal to start.’ Instructor Kurogane tells Ichika.

‘Yes, father.’

He then looks at me. ‘The match will end if either of us surrenders or got knocked unconscious. Is that good enough for you?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good. Let us begin then.’

‘Both of you, take up your stance!’ Ichika shouts.

I take up a stance that makes thrusting easier for me. As for Instructor Kurogane, he takes out his wooden sword from his belt and takes up a basic Chudan stance.

As soon as Instructor Kurogane took up his stance, he emits out an extremely intense battle aura. All of a sudden, I’m sweating like crazy.

‘Begin!’

I swear I didn’t blink, but the next thing I know, he’s already right in front of me, his wooden sword aimed straight at my chest. I barely had the time to hold my pole horizontally just to deflect the blow.

The impact is strong enough to push me backwards, and I almost lost my balance. Without waiting for me to regain my footing, Instructor Kurogane bends down and leaps forward, once again aiming for my chest.

This time, I side-stepped and thrust my pole at his ribcage, but he deflects the thrust without looking at it. Having failed the thrust, I swing my pole at the back of his knee instead, only to have it deflected again.

Instructor Kurogane aims another thrust at my head, but this time I dodged it by lowering my head and do a thrust of my own aimed at his chest. He dodged it by sidestepping.

This exchange goes on for another few minutes. The problem is, since Instructor Kurogane is much stronger and better-skilled than I am, the longer this drags on, the more tired I got. Eventually, his attack starts to hit me. If he wasn’t using a wooden sword, I would have been killed a long time ago.

A few more minutes have passed. My body is covered in bruises, and I have difficulty in holding my pole. I’m panting heavily, and I can barely see what’s in front of me due to lack of oxygen.

Instructor Kurogane looked like he wanted to finish me off, but in the end he chose not to.

‘Do you yield?’ he asks me instead.

I’m so out of breath that I can’t even speak properly, so I nod twice.

He nods as well, and sheath his wooden sword into his belt.

‘Ichika, get Kagenashi some water. Kagenashi, train with us once you got your breath back. The rest of you, let us begin the morning training.’

While waiting for Ichika to get a bottle of water, I go through the sparring session in my mind. In the end, I couldn’t hit Instructor Kurogane at all. Not even once. As I thought, I still have a long way to go.

‘Akira, here.’ Ichika comes back with a water bottle and hands it to me.

‘Thanks.’

I take care to drink a few sips at a time, or I might choke on it.

‘Well, you take your time, Akira. I will be joining the others now.’

‘Yeah. Thanks once again.’

‘You are welcome.’

After resting for a bit, my breathing is slowly returning to normal. The other disciples are swinging their bamboo swords based on counts, so I grab my pole that I left on the floor and join them. Instead of swings, I practise my thrusts.

After a while, Instructor Kurogane comes over to where I am and starts pointing out my mistakes. At the same time, he instructs me on the correct way.

I’m honestly surprised that an instructor that teaches swordplay knows so much about the way of the spear. He only instructed me for about thirty minutes, but I could already feel that I’m improving.

‘Do you think you can still spar?’ Instructor Kurogane asks me after a while.

‘Uh, yes sir.’

‘Splendid. My disciples will be having a sparring session now. Go and join them.’

‘Yes, sir.’

My body’s still aching all over the place from the sparring I had with him, but there’s no way I can tell him that. And so, I join the others at the sparring session.

Since the training hall isn’t big enough for all of us to spar at the same time, we have to take turns. We line up at random, and wait to spar at one of the ten sparring rings which boundaries are decided by the lines of the tatami mats underneath.

So far, I have sparred with eight opponents, and I somehow manage to defeat them all, even though two or three of them looked like they had been training here for years.

My ninth opponent is Ichika. Instructor Kurogane comes over to our sparring ring at once. Ichika pointedly ignores his existence.

‘Let us begin, Akira.’ Ichika tells me.

‘Hey, no flirting!’ Instructor Kurogane warns.

‘How was that flirting, father?’

‘You called him by his first name! That means the two of you are very close! Kagenashi! Are you calling Ichika by her first name too?’

‘Um…’

‘I knew I should have pulverized you just now!’

‘Let us begin, Akira!’ Ichika repeats what she just said with a firmer tone. ‘Father, could you leave us alone? We are trying to spar here.’

‘Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just observing.’

Ichika sighs and takes up a stance. I do the same (minus the sighing).

Compared to Instructor Kurogane, Ichika is still a bit inexperienced. That said, it doesn’t stop her from giving me a beating. Besides, unlike her father who prefers to settle things with brute force, Ichika uses her speed and agility to her advantage. That makes it much harder for me to block her attacks.

After sparring with her for numerous times in the past, I’ve more or less grasped her movements. As a result, I manage to hit her a few times, although I take care not to hit her too hard. That said, I still lost to her in the end.

‘I think this is my twentieth defeat.’ I say a bit dejectedly.

Ichika smiles at me encouragingly. ‘No need to get depressed. You are getting stronger. I can guarantee that.’

‘If you say so…’

‘By the way, why are you holding back your strength when you are about to hit me? Are you trying to disrespect me?’

‘No no, not at all. It’s just that girls and bruises? Not a good combo.’

‘This is a sparring! You should be hitting me with everything you got!’

‘Sorry but, I just can’t.’

‘Are you saying that you are going to go easy on every female opponents that you will encounter?’

‘No, just you. Cause, you know…’

There’s too many people around (not to mention Ichika’s father), so I don’t dare to finish my sentence. Even so, she seems to get what I’m saying.

‘I…I see. Is that so?’ she got embarrassed all of a sudden.

‘Yeah…’

The atmosphere became very awkward, but it got shattered by Instructor Kurogane’s yell.

‘WHAT DID I TOLD YOU TWO ABOUT FLIRTING?’

That snapped us back into reality.

‘Well, I shall go to my next opponent. Good luck, Akira!’ she says hastily.

‘Yeah, you too.’

The sparring lasted all morning, and Instructor Kurogane stops us when it’s time for us to have lunch.

In this dojo, the meals are cooked by Mrs Kurogane and several women who are employed by Instructor Kurogane. Ater they are done with the cooking, they will serve the food on a tray, which will be taken by the disciples to be eaten at the training hall.

‘Here you go, Kagenashi-kun.’ I got my meal served by Mrs Kurogane herself.

‘Thank you, ma’am.’

She suddenly lowers her volume to a whisper. ‘I’ll go distract my husband. While he’s busy, have your meal beside Ichika.’

‘Um, thank you for the sentiment, but is it really okay?’

‘Of course it is. I’m sure she wants you to sit next to her. Now off you go.’

‘Well, if you insist.’

And so, Instructor Kurogane left the training hall after his wife said something to him, leaving only the disciples and me, the outsider.

Honestly, it was better that I sit next to Ichika, since an alternative option would mean that I have to sit next to a random stranger whom I might have beat up during the sparring.

As Ichika’s mother predicted, her expression brightens up the moment I sit next to her, but she immediately tones down her excitement.

‘Are you not afraid of my father berating you?’ she asks me while eating.

‘Well, you mother took care of him. That’s why he left.’

‘Mother did? What for?’

‘She said you’ll be happier if I sit next to you.’

Ichika blushes.

‘That mother, saying something unnecessary…’ she mumbles.

After we finish our lunch, there’s still some time until the afternoon practise begins, so Ichika offers to give me a tour around the dojo. She showed me where the disciples sleep, she showed me where the storage room is. While we’re inside, the storage room, I found lots of weapons other than katanas like tonfa, nunchaku and naginata.

‘What are all these doing in a kendo dojo?’ I ask Ichika while swinging a nunchaku.

‘Father told me that he used to practise using all kinds of weapons when he was young to find the weapon most suitable for him. In the end, he settled for a katana.’

‘Ah, so that’s why he knows how to instruct me on how to use a spear.’

‘Indeed. Well, the tour is over. Let us head back.’

‘Huh? You’re not showing me your room?’

‘WHAT? Why should I?’

‘This is a tour, remember?’

‘But, I have ever let a boy into my room, much less someone that I…much less you!’

‘Come on, it’s not that bad. You’ve been to my room countless times, right?’

‘That is different!’

In the end, she relents and brings me to her room. Unsurprisingly, it’s very tidy. Surprisingly, it’s full of animal plush toys.

‘Wow, so you’re into these, huh?’ I say while looking around.

Maybe I should have got her a penguin doll at the aquarium too.

‘Yes yes, I know that it does not fit my image! Laugh all you want!’ Ichika says while covering her blushing face.

‘I won’t laugh. Nothing wrong with decorating your room with what you like.’

She uncovers her face. ‘…You truly mean it?’

‘Of course.’

She looks very happy after hearing that.

‘Anyway, we really should head back.’

‘Yeah.’

The afternoon training consists of stamina build ups and increasing body strength. After doing 100 push ups, 100 sit ups and 100 squats, we are to run 10 kilometers outside the dojo.

Hmm, this workout menu sounds awfully familiar, but I just can’t remember where I heard it from…

Anyway, after we’re done, the training for the day is officially done. After I took a shower and got changed into fresh clothes, Instructor Kurogane tells me to follow him to a nearby town.

He didn’t tell me the purpose of going there, and I’m not brave enough to ask him, so I have absolutely no idea what we’ll be doing there.

Soon, we reach the town. He heads straight for a stall that sells sweet dangos.

‘Oh, hello there Kurogane-san. Here for the usual?’ the elderly stallkeeper asks Instructor Kurogane.

‘Yes, please. And get the boy whatever he wants.’

Upon hearing that, the stallkeeper looks at me while smiling. ‘What will you have? I recommend red bean flavor. It’s our stall’s signature.’

‘I will have a stick, then.’

Instructor Kurogane intervenes all of a sudden. ‘Nonsense, you’re still growing. You should eat more. Get him five sticks, Yamada-san.’

‘Right away.’

It’s rude to decline at this point, so I thanked him instead.

‘Think nothing of it. I always bring my newly-accepted disciples here.’

Instructor Kurogane’s ‘usual’ consist of twenty sticks of dangos with all kinds of flavors. There are benches in front of the stall for its patrons to sit down, so we rest our feet while munching down the dangos.

‘What does your family do for a living, Kagenashi?’ Instructor Kurogane suddenly asks.

See, this is why I bothered to research about Akira’s backgrounds.

‘They are rice farmers, sir.’

‘Ah.’ he nods approvingly. ‘An honest work. Not very appreciated, unfortunately.’

He then asks me why I enroll into the Academy. I had to lie here, since I don’t know why Akira chose the Academy over doing the same job his parents are doing.

‘Well, since I was born a bit different from others, I figured I could not live the same live as other normal people, so I might as well put my powers into good use.’

‘You have a noble way of thinking.’

‘Do I? Sometimes, I feel like I’m doing it for the fame it might bring.’

‘And what’s wrong with that?’

I look at him in surprise.

‘All of us only live once on this planet. It’s perfectly reasonable to want others to remember you, for better or worse. Granted, you might stray from your path, but that’s a lesson in itself. If it turned out to be a mistake, you could just start over. You’re still young, so go out there and make lots of mistakes. That’s the only way you’ll grow.’

‘Speaking of which, don't take the sparring just now personally. I was merely accessing your strength, nothing more.’

‘I won’t, sir.’

Once he’s finished with his dangos, we walk back to the dojo. Ichika and Mrs Kurogane were waiting for us at the front door.

‘Father, I hope you did not give Akira a hard time.’ Ichika says to her father.

‘Of course not! Am I that petty?’

Ichika looks at me.

‘Don’t worry. We just ate some dangos, that’s all.’ I assure her.

‘If that is what you say…’

When it was almost dinnertime, I go to the kitchen and help Mrs Kurogane and the other kitchen workers with preparing the dinner. Ichika somehow found out that I was helping, and she came in and helped too.

‘Ichika, what came over you?’ Mrs Kurogane asks with a knowing smile. ‘You were always too busy with your practise to help in the kitchen. What makes this time so different?’

Naturally, Ichika didn’t answer the question, not with me around.

‘D-Does it matter, mother? I am helping now, am I not?’ she stutters with a blushing face.

‘Yes, of course. You’re the perfect daughter…and wife. Am I right, Kagenashi-kun?’

‘You are absolutely correct.’ I answer with a straight face.

‘Geez, with the two of you stop teasing me?’

After dinner is served and ate, the other disciples hang around at the training hall until it’s bedtime. Me, I retire to my room and read some of the light novels I brought.

Just as I was about to go to sleep, I hear someone knocking on the door. It’s Ichika.

‘May I come in?’ she asks.

‘Sure.’

‘How was your first day here?’ she asks me after we settle down.

‘It’s not bad.’

‘I hope my father was not being too harsh on you.’

‘He isn’t. In fact, he’s quite an excellent instructor.’

He’s also a much better father figure than my real father, who spent most of his time working when I was still small.

‘Well, there is only two more days left. I hope you will persevere until the end.’

‘Don’t worry, I will.’

We then had some random small talks, nothing too serious. This went on until I start to yawn.

‘It is getting late. I shall leave now.’ she says while getting up.

I look at her in surprise. ‘You’re not going to sleep together with me?’

Her face turns crimson in an instant.

‘Wha-? Why should I?’ she barely managed to stop herself from shouting.

I shrug. ‘I thought that’s why you’re here.’

‘No, it is not! I was merely worried for your well-being!’

‘Oh. Well, the offer still stands. You want to take it?’

‘No thank you!’

That’s what she said, but her expression tells me that she actually wants to. Even so, she left the room in a hurry. I smile and turn off the light, then go the sleep.