Miyamoto Ryusei sat on the one bench that was covered by a modicum of shade in the whole schoolyard, it was weird sitting alone while everyone was in class, but it felt oddly serene. To his credit, he was not ditching class, he was kicked out after the math teacher asked one too many questions about his homework, he failing to answer one too many. A second year highschool student with an affinity for the creative and kendo, math was not up his alley, seeing it as boring and uninspiring. As such, to him, being kicked out was not much of a tragedy, his only concern with the class being the acquisition of a passing grade, to the dismay of those around him. The real and very immediate concern was a certain someone who he’d never imagined would be seen outside of class while lessons were still underway, namely, his long time acquaintance, sometimes friend and fellow kendo club member, Murata Rin. In many ways, she was the antithesis of Ryusei, a diligent, well put together and hard working student with a knack for physics, her attitude having landed her the position of student council president. Walking up to the bench where a Ryu whose smile vanished after seeing her she looked down at the kendo club captain. “Skipping class, are we?” Her tone was a mix of irony and concern with a hint of superiority as she glared at his fleeing gaze. After readying himself for the inevitable verbal scolding he turned to her. “Maybe skipping was a better idea, I got kicked out, spoofing the teacher about not having my homework failed spectacularly.” Not knowing if she should laugh or scold him Rin let out a sigh and told him to try and not repeat the year, after which she departed, her role in the student council demanding her presence.

With no company and the shade slowly fading from his spot, Ryusei decided that it was time to head to the kendo club room, boredom getting the better of him. Standing in front of the dilapidated shack that houses the kendo club, Ryusei let out a snark, he was both pleased and displeased with the current state of affairs. On one hand, having only three members made managing the club and its activities a non issue, on the other hand, each time discussions came up about funding, not only was he dead last but was threatened with disbandment on a lack of members and participation in sporting events. Pushing his thoughts aside and looking at his phone he realized that it’d be at least a good half an hour before anyone might arrive, time which he could use for training, an activity that brought him peace and satisfaction. Out of the half a dozen shinai that adorned the wall, about three were in a usable state, “Matches the number of members…”, Ryusei thought, as he picked up the one that the letters MR written in sharpie on the handle and headed behind the shack, where a small yard was designated as the practice area.

Swinging was something he mastered a long time ago but it still brought him joy, the simple motion of lifting the shinai above one’s head and bringing all your might to bear as you try to maintain a straight line is something that’s never going to get old to Ryusei and as he swung the door of the shack swung open as well, the half an hour had passed. “Someone got here early!”, a thunderous and excited voice belonging to Kawachi Souta exclaimed while heading to where Ryusei stood. Despite being a year younger, Souta towered  a good head above Ryusei in height, as well as being significantly bulkier than him, he was built like a fridge but had the heart of an oven and was generally a pleasure to be around regardless of who you’d ask. Not long after Souta, Rin also made her appearance, Ryusei, seeing his opportunity to get free math tutoring in hopes of passing pointed his shinai at her and issued a challenge: “Rin, I’ve got something interesting for ya’, how about we go for a spar, winner asks a favor of the looser!”. Rin, never being someone to back down and wanting to beat some sense into what she perceived to be her deadbeat friend accepted his challenge “I hope you’re ready to scrub the shack floor for a month straight!”. Ryusei couldn’t help it, a wide smile plastered itself on his face, spars made his heart race, even more so when the opponent is skilled and something’s at stake. Not long after the challenge was agreed upon, they both donned the protective equipment and got into position  “Ready when you are prez!” Ryusei taunted his opponent, it was super effective, Rin bolted towards him, swinging with killer intent, each strike being either dodged, parried or deflected, despite his attitude Ryusei wasn’t fooling around. Panting, Rin was eyeing her opponent, someone who’s attitude was so nonchalant, it was annoying, yet he just outmaneuvered her each time she tried to put him down “What are you playing at?!” an angry shout left her lips as she readied another assault. The tension in the air was palpable, this had turned from a friendly challenge to a battle of egos, Souta was thankful no such challenge was levied at him, he had a feeling the loser would have hell to pay. Rin’s assault was more ruthless than the last, Ryusei had got what he was looking for, he broke her veil of ice, “it was time to end this” he thought, amidst dipping, dodging and parrying, the opportunity presented itself, Rin overcommitted on a swing, missing Ryusei completely and putting her in a vulnerable position. Like that smelled blood, Ryusei took the opportunity, Rin was off balance and open, pouncing, he struck her head, letting out a loud thud and resulting in her seated fall, the victor was declared. After dropping his weapon he extended a hand that was quickly swatted away by Rin, with her pride wounded she opted to get up on her own and with a look that could kill asked Ryusei if he was always this much of an opportunist, to which he responded while holding back a smirk “Wait long enough, and the opportunity shows itself, wait too much and it disappears.”. With the friendly spar out of the way and a Souta who was shaking his head knowing what comes next. It was time for the victor to claim the spoils, with a devilish glimmer in his eye, Ryusei was about to voice his desire, using a tone that resembled a beggar more than a winner he began ushering the request. “Listen… Rin…, I-I-I’m on the verge of failing math class, I need help! My parents are going to make mincemeat out of me if I get held a year back, that’s why I proposed the challenge…” Rin, the ever devious but nonetheless kind friend of Ryusei was taken aback by the sincerity of his request, a mix of emotions running through her head, from pride to pity to even a sense of embarrassment agreed to help her failing friend. 

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With that bit of drama concluded Ryusei ushered the other two back to the regular training regiment, swings, cuts, strikes and physical endurance exercises continued until the old clock that was barely still hanging on the wall loudly announced the arrival of 5PM, also known as the end of all school and club activities.

Everyone was tired but with a sense of satisfaction on their faces as they wiped beads of sweat off their foreheads and preparing head home. Before departing the three sat in the shade of the old maple tree that was next to the training field, enjoying some cold water and chatting. Souta, with an inquisitive look on his face addressed Ryusei “Ryu, how come you’re nearly flunking your studies but actually good at kendo? You don’t seem like the passionate working type, or is it a secret passion?”. Ryusei, not fond of being called a deadbeat slacker in front of his face, shot  him a glare and cleared up the issue, his older sister who graduated the same highschool before he even enrolled taught him the fundamentals. According to her, it was a good way for her to keep sharp while also bonding with her little brother. Surprisingly, more to Ryusei than anyone else, this question brought him a sense of bittersweet nostalgia of those days, now his sister was studying in Tokyo, she got admitted to one of Japan’s top universities, and with a sigh he let out his thoughts: “Guess that’s where all the smarts went, huh, sis…”. With a bewildered look on her face, Rin, asked the million dollar question: “Ryusei, what’s your sister’s name?”, “Yura”, he answered, visibly confused by the question, he could’ve sworn he told them before. Rin and Souta looked at eachother and unspokenly confirmed each other's thoughts then turned to Ryusei who already let out the question, “Is there something about Yura I should know?, to this Souta started laughing and Rin got visibly ticked off, asking if he was making fun of them but the confusion on his face was genuine and eventually she calmed down and cleared things up, “Miyamoto Yura is a pretty popular figure at our school, surprised you haven’t heard about her, considering she’s your sister.” Souta chimed in to continue: “She’s known to have carried the kendo club to a couple of national level wins, alongside another girl, uhhh, what’s her name … same age as her… ah! Sato Tachibana!”. Thinking about his past when Yura still lived at home, Ryusei did recall her bringing home a few trophies but considering her humble and strict personality she never bragged much about anything. With the confusion cleared up the conversation moved to a more lighthearted topic, namely Souta’s luck with girls. Surprisingly it was Rin who opened the can of worms, remarking that during practice Souta was rather distant and seemingly thinking of something else. Ever the opportunist, Ryusei hopped on the bandwagon, asking Souta if he’d been dumped. With mounting pressure from both a concerned friend and a less so one Souta’s defenses crumbled and after a massive sigh he muttered “I got dumped this morning…Happy now?”. With Souta visibly upset both Ryusei and Rin decided to reassure him that one bad experience is not the end of the world, each in their own unique way of course. Rin, who has a soft side for romance novels and shows got all empathetic and started telling Souta that feeling down is normal and that it takes time to heal from such wounds. Ryusei on the other hand was a bit more calculated in his approach, both figuratively and literally, telling Souta that such relationships while important for the development of people, a lot of them end up the same way his did, in a breakup. Souta, finding neither statements particularly soothing but seeing his friends genuinely trying to prop him up while he was down did bring a smile to his face, giving them a hearty thanks, assuring them that everything is alright.

Picking up their bags from next to the tree under which they’d been sitting it was finally time to head home, but Rin, being the more perceptive of the two couldn’t shake the weird feeling she had all day and decided to pop the question, “Have you guys been feeling weird at all lately, like a sense of mounting dread has been building up ever since you woke up?”. Souta couldn’t help but shrug his shoulders, while Ryusei, who had been feeling something but couldn’t pinpoint it, now had a potential answer. “Say, Rin, I have been feeling something throughout today, but can’t quite tell what it is. I just assumed I woke up on the wrong side of the bed though… Do you have any better ideas as to what it might be?” Rin pondered for a moment but the silence was broken, at first by a distant thunder-like explosion, then another and another ad nauseum and with each subsequent blast the sounds got closer and closer from every side, quickly culminating in a collection of unrelenting and deafening booms. With a quick look at eachother and no words necessary, the trio mutually agreed to run for the shack and once inside they locked the door, reinforcing it with various items like chairs, planks and damaged shinai, saving the usable ones for themselves, what good that would do, they were not sure. With their eyes level on the window that was facing the school gate they observed nervously, at first nothing happened, the blasts took a back seat to the anxiety of the apparent uneventfulness until something snapped all three of them back to reality and the absurdity of their situation. Marching towards the school was something one could only describe as a spawn of hell.