Ch.53Date with Taiga (2)

“Hey, buddy. Back off before you get hit. Huh?”

The biker trio immediately started their motorcycles and began circling around Taiga and me.

Vrooom-! Vrooom-!! Vraaang-!!

Having removed their mufflers, the exhaust noise was incredibly loud.

I was honestly surprised that there were still bikers like this around… It’s so outdated.

“From the look of it…”

VRAAAAAAANG-!!!!!!

“…seems like they’re going to…”

VRAAAAAAANG-!!!!

“…get lost.”

VROOOOOM-!!

They seemed to be saying something insulting, but I couldn’t hear it over the exhaust noise.

“Hahaha… you’re scared…”

VROOOOOOOM-!!!!!!

The three of them circling around me on their motorcycles was making me dizzy. More importantly, I couldn’t hear any of their important lines.

VROOOOOM-!!!

As one motorcycle circled in front of me, I immediately launched myself forward.

“Either ride your bike!!! Or speak your lines!!! Just pick one!!! You bastards!!!”

My full-force dropkick hit the leader square between the eyes.

CRASH-!!!!!!

“GUHAAARGH?!!!”

With that, the leader immediately fell face-first onto the ground.

CLATTER-!!!!

The motorcycle falling over and disrupting their formation was just a bonus.

“Goddammit!! Nothing pisses me off more than assholes who remove their mufflers!!”

Why would you deliberately remove a perfectly good part? Does making your motorcycle louder somehow increase your masculinity? Huh?

“Boss!!!”

“You bastard!!!”

The two thugs immediately stopped their motorcycles and helped their leader up.

“Kuhurgh… this bastard… finally showing his vulgar true nature.”

The leader got right back up. His body was fine.

Well… this is a game-based world after all. People’s bodies are strangely durable here.

“You understand what it means to have struck us, right?”

The leader picked up a wooden sword that was lying next to his motorcycle.

“What, you want to fight?”

I glared at them.

This was an event that appeared when you built up intimacy with Taiga in the game. Taiga’s gang members would test the player. As part of the procedure to determine if the player was suitable as Taiga’s partner, the player had to prove their strength against the bikers. During that process, the player would get hurt, and there would be a scene where Taiga nursed the player.

That event had triggered for me.

However, I didn’t want that. Once a fight broke out, the date with Taiga would be ruined.

‘I know…’

How much Taiga had been looking forward to this date. She’d been constantly checking her phone, searching for date spots. I couldn’t ruin it with a fight.

“Very well!!! We shall judge you ourselves!!! All talk and no substance, you playboy!!!”

They all grabbed wooden clubs.

“You idiots!!! Back off!! What are you doing?!! Seriously!!!!”

Taiga immediately shouted at her gang members.

“Sister. This is a conversation between men. We have no intention of handing our precious sister over to some nobody.”

The leader spoke seriously.

“Hey. Give me a wooden sword. You’re not expecting me to fight bare-handed, are you?”

I said to the leader.

“Sure. Not that it’ll make any difference.”

The leader smiled and handed me a wooden sword.

I took it.

“You guys stand back. I’ll fight him alone.”

The leader told his gang members, then walked toward me with his wooden sword.

“But you know, if we fight or cause a disturbance here, won’t the police come? Besides, no one should get hurt. I’ve been looking forward to my first date with Taiga. I can’t let it be ruined.”

I raised the wooden sword into a stance. It was the middle stance, the basic posture of Kiryu-style swordsmanship.

“Shota…”

Taiga looked at me with slightly moved eyes.

“Uhahah?! So what are you going to do? I’m going to beat you to a pulp!! That won’t change!!”

The leader shouted.

“Fine. Do as you please. However!!”

I looked straight at the leader.

“I won’t hit you even once.”

I declared.

Twitch-!

A vein popped on the leader’s forehead at my audacious attitude.

“Let’s see how long that bravado lasts!!!”

The leader immediately charged at me with his wooden sword.

Whoosh-!!

Having trained in swordsmanship for so long, I could already see the trajectory of his sword.

Swish-!

I immediately created distance by stepping back, avoiding his strike.

“Are you just going to dodge?!! Let’s see how long you can keep that up!!!”

The leader thrust his sword wildly.

Whoosh-!!

As befitting the second chairman of a biker gang, he was quite strong, but still too crude. I twisted my body to avoid his strike.

Zap-!!

At that moment, I felt a sensation like lightning running down my spine. Simultaneously, time around me seemed to slow down slightly.

My gaze was fixed on the wooden sword the leader had swung. Being a wooden sword, it was fundamentally solid.

However, in this moment, it looked incredibly brittle. I could clearly see how to strike it to make it break.

‘Now’s the chance…!’

Swish-!!

I immediately swung my wooden sword.

CLANG-!!!!!

My strike cleanly hit his wooden sword.

Crack-!! Snap-!!

Immediately, the leader’s wooden sword shattered into pieces.

“Wh-what…!!”

The leader looked at his wooden sword in disbelief.

I realized something… I was certain about that. However, there was no sign of my status window vibrating.

I had realized something, but it felt like I hadn’t fully acquired it as a skill. If I got another chance… I felt like I could clearly understand what insight I had gained.

“Satisfied now?”

I said, holding the wooden sword.

“Then go.”

I immediately said.

“This guy!!!”

“Boss!! Let us handle this!!”

The other bikers intervened.

“Stop. You’re no match for him. I’ve… completely lost.”

The leader said with a dejected expression.

“Let’s go, Taiga.”

I said to Taiga.

At that moment, the leader shouted.

“W-wait!! Aren’t you going to mock me?!! Huh?!!”

The leader shouted with wounded pride.

“Hit me instead!!! Don’t just leave!!”

The leader shouted.

“I have no reason to mock you.”

I said that, then looked at the leader.

“Fighting, you see, is something you do to protect something.”

“……..!!”

At my words, all the bikers, including the leader, wore surprised expressions.

“You fought to protect Taiga. I have no reason to mock that. I’m actually relieved. I realized that Taiga has good comrades.”

I said that, then shrugged my shoulders.

“Th-then… what were you fighting to protect?”

The leader seemed to want to ask that.

“Me?”

Let me just spout some cool-sounding line.

“I fought to protect my bushido. That’s all.”

After saying that, I immediately turned around.

Weeb media special) Say it’s because of bushido and they’ll accept it.

“Bu-bushido…”

The leader kept muttering, then burst into laughter.

“Uhahahahaha!!!”

I was surprised by the leader’s laughter.

Has this guy gone crazy from the fear of having his name written in a Death Note…? Get a grip!! Sobu-taku!!

“I’ve lost. In strength… and as a man.”

The leader said in a relieved tone, then looked at Taiga.

“Sister. I give my approval. He’s a good man.”

The leader said to Taiga.

“You guys…”

Taiga looked at her gang members.

“We won’t say anything. Sister, be happy.”

The bikers all bowed their heads in unison.

“You guys…”

Taiga’s eyes reddened.

Now was the opportunity, while the atmosphere was warm and fuzzy.

Grip-!!

I immediately raised the wooden sword.

“Hyaaaah!!”

Right after, I struck the motorcycle.

CRUNCH-!!

The motorcycle’s body crumpled significantly. Getting scratched was just a bonus.

Crunch-! Crack-! Crunch-!!!

I beat the motorcycle like a madman.

“Hey!! What the hell are you doing?!!! You crazy bastard!!!!”

The leader immediately ran toward me.

“I just can’t stand the sight of this noisy motorcycle.”

I said as I struck the motorcycle hard.

Screech-!!

Right after, I scratched the chrome-plated frame part with the wooden sword. The motorcycle got a clear scratch.

“KYAAAAAAAH?!!!”

The leader was shocked, even foaming at the mouth. Can’t stand scratches on a painted body.

“Why!!! Why are you doing this!!!”

The leader shouted.

“I said I wouldn’t hit you, not that I wouldn’t hit your motorcycle.”

I had already decided to take care of this eyesore of a motorcycle. I actually didn’t care about Sobu-taku or the others. My target was just one thing: the motorcycle.

“Wh-what nonsense!!!”

The leader shouted in shock.

“Whatever the case, you guys ruined my romantic date with Taiga. Accept the consequences.”

Right after, I struck the exhaust pipe part of the motorcycle.

CRUNCH-!!!

The exhaust pipe crumpled and bent into an L-shape.

“GYAAAAAAAH?!! You crazy bastard!!!!!”

The leader collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

“This bastard…!!”

“We were going to let you go nicely…!!”

The others were about to rush at me.

At that moment, Taiga burst into laughter.

“Hahahahahahaha!!! Shota!! What are you doing?!!”

Taiga roared with laughter, clutching her stomach.

“Sister…..”

At that laughter, all the bikers stopped.

“That’s right. You guys ruined our date. A few scratches on your motorcycles are your responsibility.”

Taiga, like the former leader she was, immediately exercised her authority.

“…..Understood, Sister.”

So the bikers couldn’t say anything more. They immediately became submissive.

“Sister!! Please come visit us sometimes!!”

“Sister!!! Be happy!!”

Afterwards, all the bikers rode away on their slightly dented motorcycles.

“Shall we go then?”

I put my hand on Taiga’s shoulder and kissed her forehead.

“Yes……”

Taiga, with no trace of her earlier bold tone, immediately became just a woman and leaned into me.

‘But… it’s not working.’

That feeling when I broke the wooden sword wasn’t replicating. I tried to test it on the motorcycle too, but it didn’t work. It seems it was just a temporary insight.

Well… I’ll have to think about it more as I train. That’s what I thought to myself.

Anyway, I decided to focus on my date with Taiga for now.

——-

At that moment, Taiga was already out of her mind.

‘Fuck…’

A vulgar curse naturally came from Taiga’s mouth.

‘My boyfriend… is so fucking cool…’

Taiga was already heated up and out of her mind.

‘Should we just skip the restaurant and café and go straight to a love hotel?’

That’s what Taiga was seriously thinking.