33 The Robot Girls Program 1.2 (1/2)
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Despite the signal to begin, both girls did not move a single step. Their last match too started as such. An invisible pressure began to grow from Ayame's side. This was the same pressure that made her unable to perform properly in their last bout.
”(This girl… she's different from last time)” Ayame felt something. Her enemies would usually have a reaction whenever she was serious in a match.
Ayame inched closer. She sensed something amiss. This was the Shiroyuki dojo's successor so she wanted to be careful. Tomoyo watched intently whilst under the pressure Ayame was involuntarily releasing. She was thankful towards Kazuya for showing her how to deal with it.
Ever since the incident with her parents, Tomoyo had started to fear and distrust everyone around her. The grandparents that took her in were the only ones she relied on. Jirou was especially nice to her so her interest in Kendo started because she could see her father's image whenever she watched Jirou practice.
Of course, she was praised a lot for wanting to learn and practice kendo. She was even called a genius by everyone and had no one near her age beat her at the dojo. It was because of this that her grandfather told her to join the kendo club in Sacred Forest Academy so that she could pit her skills against people outside their dojo.
Tomoyo was initially afraid of the challenge after being doted upon by her grandparents. She joined the last tournament of her first grade and found that it was more or less the same as with students in the dojo. The only difference was that there was no unnecessary banter or praising. She actually preferred this over the praises she received in the dojo.
It was then that she met Kuronuma Ayame. A girl that looked at her the same way she looked at people. She first appeared in last year's tournament and is the defending champion. Tomoyo, being a first grader gained everyone's attention but this girl saw her as just another stepping stone.
Ayame had the right to do so as Tomoyo lost without putting up much of a fight. This was the first time she had lost so badly and she didn't even know what it was about Ayame that made her feel fear. This bewilderment lasted for a while and caused her to lose focus as she lost to Akabane Nanami as well which placed her in third place.
People had consoled her for the loss and even praised her for getting ranked third in the tournament. This made Tomoyo believe that her loss was just a matter of fact and had been inevitable. Reasons like ”they were older or they were bigger” and similar other reasons made her believe that she could not have won anyway. This only lasted of course, when a strange boy walked into their elite class' dojo accompanied by his mother and her grandfather.
At first, Tomoyo did not really pay attention to this person nor was she interested. The only stranger she was curious about is about a child that was supposed to be the grandson of Jirou's very close friend. Her opinion changed only moments after he was introduced as the same person who she had been curious about followed immediately by a shocking statement. The boy had challenged her beloved grandfather without a hint of hesitation.
This agitated her because this bold boy was her age and immediately ignored the hierarchy she had been led to believe. She refused to allow him to have his way and immediately stepped forward to show him how things were.
The boy reciprocated her good intentions by ignoring her. He even went as far as belittling her abilities and overestimating his own. Tomoyo, who had been praised by everyone was now being looked down upon by someone her own age. This the very first time someone did so and the pride she never had she knew compelled her to teach him a lesson.
She didn't quite understand how this boy thought. He himself said that he didn't stand much of a chance against her grandfather but he still insisted on dueling with him. He even admitted that he knew nothing much about kendo but still stood confidently while ignoring her. She wanted to see what this boy was capable of but did not notice that this was the first time she actually wanted to directly challenge someone.
Her persistence finally paid off as the boy accepted her challenge albeit reluctantly. He had expressed that he did not want to hurt her more than once but she only realized it to be true after experiencing his skills for herself.
Tomoyo had been utterly defeated. Defeated by a boy who she found out later was even younger than her. Her defeat was unlike the one she had suffered before where she didn't understand what was happening. He did so convincingly and without even showing the slightest bit of effort. Her thoughts were in disarray even though her expression didn't really give it away.
She had been reminded by her grandfather of his identity. Jirou would usually tell her stories and a lot of them involved tales with his old friends. Kouzuki Kou was one of them and probably the most significant one. He had told her about the unreliable person but reliable friend of his. One story in particular was told to her multiple times because it had involved her in a way.
In a gathering of all friends, Jirou's old friend Kou, talked about his grandson being born. He was proud to have a grandson because most of them had granddaughters. He promoted his grandson and wanted to make sure that he grows up with ties to the Kouzuki family's most trusted friends.
As reliable as Kouzuki Kou was as a friend, he was considered somewhat of an enigma even amongst his peers so they all tried to get each other take up his offer only for it to end up in a game which Jirou had lost.
Jirou of course didn't want to accept his loss just like that so he put up several conditions to give his granddaughter a way out. A few of them which is that Tomoyo had to like him and since the Shiroyuki household is known for their kendo skills then he had to possess talent in the field. Kou and everyone of course did not find this unreasonable and thus a betrothal was agreed upon.
Being a six-year-old, Tomoyo had looked at this like a child would. She had never met this person and often wondered what kind of person he would be. She wouldn't have cared if he had not been good at kendo because even she got good by simply practicing. Her expectation to meet this person grew since she heard all about her grandfather's most trusted friend and hoped she would be able to share a similar relationship. In short, she wanted a friend she could rely on.
Kazuya was not aware of her thoughts of course. If he did, he wouldn't have hated the older version of this girl so much in his previous life. Without the memories of his own family and their relations, he was not able to even think of this conclusion nor did he make a connection when he viewed his previous life's memories countless of times. His inability to understand her and Tomoyo's own persistence paid off in the end as Kazuya decided that he would change this girl and prevent her from turning into the version of her that he hated.
Both Tomoyo and Jirou then heard what he had experienced. She herself had a similar experience but in her thoughts, he had to endure for a long time that even caused him to lose his own memories. She envied that part, she wanted to forget what she had experienced but she immediately changed her mind when she heard that he was not able to remember his own mother.