12 Enmity (1/2)

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Jirou regained his composure and took another look at Kazuya. He had to admit that this boy was as reckless as his grandfather which improved the old man's impression of him.

”HAHAHA! I like you even more now Kazuya! Do you think you can win?” he excitedly asked.

”No I don't” everyone nodded and thought that Kazuya wasn't as unreasonable as they thought he was but that ended as soon as he continued. ”My body needs to grow more for me to be sure since your physical advantage is too overwhelming at this time” he added as if it was a simple matter of fact.

”Is that so? Now I'm really interest—” Jirou stopped as Tomoyo moved in front of him and pointed her bamboo sword at Kazuya.

She was used to ignoring children her age, but this was the first time she was ignored by someone altogether. Even worse, the same person challenged the person she cared for and looked up to the most.

Jirou looked on with interest. This was the first time that his granddaughter had ever challenged someone of her own free will and it was his old friend's grandson! He was happy with the current development. He took another look at the confident Kazuya and noticed something. He turned to whisper something to one of the instructors who quickly nodded before rushing out of the dojo.

”I said I'm not interested in hurting you” he simply glanced at her before looking back towards her grandfather. His gaze was immediately blocked by the tip of her bamboo sword. He was getting annoyed. He kept stealthily glancing beside him and found that his mother was sternly gazing at him, so he couldn't help but hold his tongue.

”Kyouko-chan? Is that really you?” a tender voice interrupted the tense situation developing in the dojo. Everyone turned to find an old woman wearing a kimono standing at the entrance of the hall.

”Grandma Kaori! It's been a while” Kyouko ran up to her and bowed.

”Come to the house and accompany this old lady. Leave these smelly fellows to do their things” She smiled as she grabbed Kyouko's hands to guide her out of the dojo.

”But…” She turned back looking worriedly at her son whose gaze was locked with Tomoyo.

”Jirou! You better take care of Kyouko-chan's son or you'll be hearing from me!” the old lady threatened.

”R-right” he replied feeling embarrassed in front of his students. Everyone knew who the real boss was in the dojo,

The disciples held their laughter. Their strict master was a hard man to please, but he couldn't talk back to his wife. She would rarely intervene but when she does, no one could stop her. Kyouko hesitated but ending up leaving with Kaori and headed for the Shiroyuki's main house.

Tomoyo kept her emotionless gaze locked with Kazuya throughout the whole encounter. With his mother gone, Kazuya no longer needed to watch himself so he only waited until it was sure that they were gone.

”Step aside. You don't stand a chance against me” He spoke again but the girl remained unmoved.

The students that were admiring his bravery now thought that he was being arrogant. This was especially evident on the faces of the students close to their age. All of them were afraid of the master's granddaughter but this newcomer didn't even put her in his eyes.

”Kid, if I'm not mistaken, Kyouko-chan said that you are new to kendo?” Jirou decided to break the silence.

”That is correct” he ignored the ire he had invoked.

”I've been training my granddaughter since she could hold a sword. Her style is completely different from textbook kendo and no people from her age has even come close to beating her so I wonder what makes you confident that you can do it” He was curious of what this brave boy's answer would be. He wasn't the only one as all those listening in glanced towards Kazuya.

”Me not knowing anything about kendo doesn't mean I don't know how to use a sword”

”I see… so old Kou… hahaha! This is great!” as if realizing something, Jirou once again expressed excitement.

”?” Kazuya still couldn't understand or get a proper read on him. He realized that it should be mostly this old man that caused the emotionless girl to be as difficult as she was.

”Can you humor this old man and spar with her? I'll let you practice as you wish so you won't have to do the regular exercises the other disciples do if you win” he assumed that Kazuya would want something like this so he tried giving him an incentive. ”What do you think?”

It was truly a tempting proposal. Complete freedom over his training would save him the trouble of convincing them to let him do as he pleases. This means that he could have more training time. He looked at the expressionless girl and could feel her intent to battle. The thought of battling with this girl was slightly interesting but not because he thought that she would pose a challenge.

”Fine…” he nodded.

”Great! Someone go and get a set of protective—”

”There's no need for that. I just need to borrow a weapon to use”

”You can choose from the rack over there”

Kazuya lifted the bamboo swords until he found a suitable one. Tomoyo was already in position and Jirou had taken the position of the referee.

”Please make her wear some protective gear on her arms at least. That way I can just hit her there without worrying about injuries”

Jirou looked at Tomoyo who was shaking her head in protest. She did not want to wear any gear if he wasn't. Jirou smiled since his granddaughter's eyes were clearly showing that she was irritated. Kazuya could only sigh after Jirou looked at him with an expression saying that there was nothing he could do. He prompted both of them to get in position as the duel was about to begin.

”Ready….!” Jirou looked at both sides. Kazuya shifted his body sideways and held the bamboo sword with his left hand. ”BEGIN!”

Tomoyo wasted no time and rushed towards Kazuya. He smiled before taking a step forward to take action. Jirou's eyes widened at Kazuya's simple yet precise movement.

Tomoyo struck down with all her strength. She really wanted to teach this boy a lesson. At that moment, the boy who everyone expected to be clutching his shoulder in pain, motionlessly stood in front of her. Her gaze moved upwards to see a smiling boy with two swords in his hands. This left the students, not to mention her own grandfather speechless. She looked at both of her hands and found that she was gripping nothing but air.

He targeted and successfully hit Tomoyo's sword handle after she had begun swinging down. He really didn't want to hit a child so he disarmed her instead.

”I already told you that you weren't my match” he turned to walk towards Jiro but stopped when Tomoyo grabbed the tip of her bamboo sword to prevent him from taking another step forward.