Ch.61The Kiryu Family Vacation (6)

As the wooden sword cracked, it split in two and flew through the air.

‘I did it!!’

Honestly, it was impossible, but I actually pulled it off.

That sensation was unmistakable. This was Issem—the technique that ignores the hardness or durability of the object being cut and forces the slash through.

Anyway, having cut the wooden sword, victory was practically mine.

“Cleanly done, KONG!!!”

I swung my paper sword in a wide arc. I planned to take the match with a clean hit to the head.

But Kana wasn’t so easy to defeat.

Thud-!

Kana closed the distance between us at incredible speed and grabbed my wrist.

“What…?!”

Her approach was so fluid that I couldn’t respond in time.

Plus, her grip strength was substantial. This girl is crazy strong!!

Whoosh-!

Still holding my wrist, Kana immediately leaped toward me.

A flying knee kick connected with my arm joint.

“Arghh!”

With a stinging sensation in my arm, I dropped my sword.

Tap-!

Kana immediately picked up the paper sword I had dropped.

Whack!!!!

Right after, she struck me on the head.

Right. In a real battle, I would have lost. Not only did I lose my sword, but I took a hit to the head.

“I lost.”

After saying that, I crawled over and threw myself at Umi.

“I lost. And Umi is a dairy cow.”

I rubbed my face against Umi’s cushiony chest. Ah… so healing.

“Hahaha!! That’s not funny!! You sound like an old man!!”

Umi laughed brightly while patting my head. Umi… loving me even when I make lame jokes… I love you!!!

I was enjoying Umi’s embrace for a while, but Kana immediately called me out.

“What are you doing in the middle of a match?!”

Kana shouted.

“No. The match is over.”

I replied.

“A match isn’t truly over until we’ve given each other feedback!! You really have no manners as a true swordsman!!”

Kana shouted loudly.

“You sound like an elementary school teacher during a field trip.”

I said.

‘The field trip isn’t over until we get back home!’ They used to say that a lot. As if it wasn’t already over.

“Hehehe. The Thousand-Year Heart Style has other techniques too.”

Kana giggled as she spoke.

I immediately realized she just wanted to show off her techniques.

“There are also techniques for disarming an opponent when unarmed. If you go deeper, there are martial arts fighting styles too. That’s what you fell victim to.”

Kana seemed to have been itching to say this.

“Wow… Kana, you’re amazing. I lost. I didn’t stand a chance.”

I clapped my hands.

“I-I wasn’t trying to brag or anything!!”

Only then did Kana blush and protest.

“I was kindly teaching you, you ignorant frog in a well!”

Kana spoke as if she was doing me a favor.

“Are we done now? Then I’ll be going. See you at the tournament.”

I said as I pulled Umi along. Though we hadn’t lost much time, our date plans had still been disrupted.

“Shota. When are you going to take this out?”

Umi turned to me with a coquettish look and opened her chest.

“Wait… it’s still there? The yokan?”

The yokan I had tried to remove earlier was still nestled between her breasts. Maybe the life of a yokan isn’t so bad after all. That’s what I found myself thinking.

“Shota, take it out~”

Umi acted cute.

“Alright.”

Well… using my mouth would be inappropriate, so I used my fingers to remove the yokan.

Gulp-!

And then I ate it. Well, it would be weird not to eat it. It’s food after all.

Normally, yokan is eaten cold, but due to Umi’s body temperature, it had become quite warm. Umi’s warmth… definitely transferred to my stomach.

“Is it good?”

Umi asked, snuggling up to me.

“Yeah. The best yokan I’ve ever had in my life.”

I nodded as I spoke. This yokan has emotion in it…!

“When we get to the lodging later… I’ll give you something even more delicious?”

Umi narrowed her eyes and smiled.

“Really… our Umi is getting more and more bewitching.”

I smiled with my eyes and stroked her head.

“It’s because of you, so take responsibility. You made me a woman.”

Umi said as she kissed my cheek.

Just as Umi and I were having our sweet conversation:

“HEYYYY!!!! YOU JERK!!! WHY ARE YOU TREATING ME LIKE I’M NOT HERE!!!”

Kana shouted loudly.

“Oh. You were still here? Didn’t you leave?”

I said to Kana.

“The duel is over. Shoo, shoo. Don’t disturb the adults playing.”

Umi waved her hand dismissively.

“Grrrr!!! Don’t you have any impressions or anything?!!! You faced the Thousand-Year Heart Style! You must have felt something!!”

Kana seemed desperate for acknowledgment.

“Um… you’re strong? That’s about it?”

Well, she was strong.

“You’re so arrogant!!! You could at least write a detailed 5500-character review!!”

Kana jumped up and down as she shouted.

She really wants a lot… she’s quite the exhausting type. I silently prayed for the future boyfriend of Kana.

“Anyway!! Prepare yourself for the tournament!!! I’ll definitely crush you!! I’ll fix that arrogant mindset of yours!!”

Kana pointed her finger at me.

Then she immediately started walking away with dignity.

However, that bluster didn’t last long.

Thud!!

Kana tripped over a stone and fell spectacularly.

“Bwahahahaha!!!”

Umi couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“Umi… we should pretend we didn’t see that… hahahahaha!!”

I tried to admonish her but immediately burst into laughter.

Indeed, what would Kana do in this situation?

Hop-!!

Kana immediately stood up and continued walking with dignity as if nothing had happened.

However, she couldn’t erase the memory. Her ears were bright red with humiliation.

“Miss. Let’s go.”

At that moment, her secretary-like kunoichi respectfully followed Kana and attended to her. Her loyalty in maintaining Kana’s dignity as a lady was evident.

With that, Kana made her exit with tremendous impact.

“She’s a funny girl. Doesn’t she seem a bit like Sasitsu?”

Umi said, holding my hand.

“Yeah. Really.”

I wondered if she might be Sasitsu after being hit by a gender-swap beam. That’s how similar they seemed.

Anyway, we couldn’t waste any more time. Umi and I started walking through the streets. Since we were already out, I planned to have a proper date until evening.

——–

At that time, Kana was looking at the broken wooden sword.

“It’s a clean cut.”

Kana’s secretary and bodyguard, Nobuchi, spoke. Nobuchi was also a first-class swordsman and was somewhat surprised by the skill of cutting wood with paper.

“It’s clearly Issem. Without even learning it… he grasped the principle of Issem. Amazing.”

Kana said as she casually collected the broken wooden sword. Since wooden swords aren’t regular trash, they can’t be carelessly thrown in the garbage. Kana showed a strangely law-abiding spirit in this regard. She had a rigid personality.

“At first, I didn’t believe he had never learned and was only a month into swordsmanship… but his skill level was indeed that of a beginner. He’s good but lacks practical experience.”

Nobuchi had noticed that.

Nevertheless, his sense and talent were genuine. Nobuchi was impressed by his ability to predict Kana’s thrust, dodge it, and secure the angle to break the wooden sword.

“And… his fighting spirit wasn’t crushed by sparring with you, Miss. He possesses considerable mental strength.”

Nobuchi said.

“Right? Such an arrogant youngster. He’s so arrogant and unintelligent that he doesn’t even sense the wall in front of him.”

Kana calmly disparaged Shota.

However, Kana was smiling as if she was enjoying herself. Nobuchi immediately caught her intention.

“You seem happy, Miss.”

“N-not particularly?!!”

“There have been many swordsmen who could have been your rivals, Miss. However, after fighting with you, they all lost their fighting spirit and quit swordsmanship. You, practicing swordsmanship alone without a rival… seemed somewhat lonely.”

Nobuchi said.

“N-not at all? I wasn’t lonely!”

Kana’s face turned bright red as she spoke.

“Arigiri Shota… he seems like he’ll be a good rival for you, Miss. Now you’ll feel less lonely when participating in tournaments.”

Nobuchi stroked Kana’s head.

“Agh!! Nobuchi, you’re too imaginative!! You’re overemotional!!”

Kana immediately swatted Nobuchi’s hand away and shouted.

Despite her anger, the corners of Kana’s mouth didn’t turn down. Her gaze was directed at the cross-section of the broken wooden sword.

That broken wooden sword… let’s not throw it away. Kana thought.

‘I-it’s not like I’m feeling nostalgic or anything!’

It’s just to keep a sense of vigilance, to not let my guard down!! Kana decided to convince herself of that.

———-

Back to Shota’s perspective.

Umi and I wandered around the nearby folk market and teahouses. There wasn’t much to do, but just being together was enjoyable.

“…except for the fact that there’s no karaoke.”

I added one more comment.

“Shota!! Hehehe. You really do love karaoke.”

Umi laughed as if she found it ridiculous.

“By the way, Umi. Aren’t you a bit underwhelmed? I just demonstrated the secret technique of cutting wood with paper.”

Honestly… I wanted some praise. It’s a man’s nature.

“Ah… it is impressive. It’s not easy to do that after only a month. My dad would be thrilled if he knew.”

Umi smiled brightly.

“But… separate from that… it’s a trick my dad always uses to get my attention. Honestly, I’m not that impressed.”

Umi said.

From what I heard, when Umi was going through puberty, Gonzaemon tried to get his daughter’s attention by showing off tricks like cutting steel with leaves or cutting steel with sticky notes.

“It was fascinating at first, but…”

But after seeing it so many times, Umi seemed to have lost interest in Issem.

“So? Has your relationship with your master become less awkward?”

I asked about that point.

“No. Every time he showed off his tricks, I got annoyed and went to my room.”

Umi said nonchalantly.

Is it difficult for any father to deal with a daughter going through puberty…? I wiped away a tear, sympathizing with the father’s hardship.