The Kendo Club captain took his stance, holding the bamboo sword ready, while Takamine Rinji stood before him, casually waving his sword twice before holding it horizontally with one hand.
From every angle, he looked like a total novice—like someone who watched a couple anime episodes and thought striking a pose made him cool.
The rest of the Kendo Club paused their training and turned to watch the duel.
"Planning to spend a few nights in the hospital already?" the captain frowned.
"You? Sending me to the hospital? Are you joking?"
"You little..."
The captain's eyes sharpened. With one step forward, he raised his sword and slashed at Rinji's head.
"Oh, by the way—if you injure me, I'm not sure how you'll explain that to the school."
"!"
Hearing that, the captain's sword halted in midair.
At that moment, Rinji seized the chance and tapped his bamboo sword against the captain's helmeted head.
Bonk!
"..."
"Hesitation equals defeat," Rinji said. "I'll take the first point."
"You're unbelievably shameless!"
"All's fair in war. Falling for my 'chat distraction strategy' just proves your focus and IQ need work."
"I've had enough!!"
The captain stepped back, picked up his bamboo sword again, and his eyes turned deadly serious.
"I'm done with your cheap tricks. Even if I have to send you to the hospital, I won't hold back."
"Didn't you forget your real goal was to secure your club's funding?"
"Shut up!"
Whoosh!
He rushed forward, raising his bamboo sword high and swinging it down again.
But just then, Rinji suddenly pulled a pistol from his coat and aimed it at the captain.
"A gun!?"
The captain froze mid-strike.
Bonk!
Rinji lightly tapped his bamboo sword on the captain's forehead again.
"Told you—hesitation equals defeat."
"..."
He didn't say a word, but the way his clenched jaw and trembling shoulders looked made it clear—he was furious.
"…You bastard! Who the hell brings a gun to a match!?"
"Oh, it's just a water gun. A realistic-looking one."
Rinji pulled the trigger, and a tiny stream of water squirted out, spraying the captain's face. Far from cooling him down, it only made him angrier.
Technically, bringing any non-regulation items into a kendo match meant automatic disqualification. But the captain no longer cared about the rules—he just wanted to beat this shameless guy down.
"Aaaaahhhhh!!!"
This time, he charged in again with full force and fury.
He'd made up his mind: no matter what dirty trick Rinji tried next, he would land a blow hard enough to leave a lump on the guy's head.
However, the moment his bamboo sword got close to Rinji, the latter lightly shifted his foot and dodged. He ducked low—and suddenly his bamboo sword had changed into a perfect iaijutsu stance.
"You—"
The strike came so fast that before the captain could react, Rinji's sword slammed into his helmet.
Thud!
The impact launched the captain backward through the air.
Thump!
"Captain!"
"Are you alright!?"
The captain crashed to the ground far away. His club members rushed over to check on him.
Thanks to the protective gear, he wasn't seriously hurt. After being helped up, he just felt dizzy.
Meanwhile, Rinji's bamboo sword had a visible crack in it—evidence of the force behind that last blow.
"I should've shouted 'Hassagi!' to boost my momentum... oh well."
Putting the sword back on the rack, Rinji took out his form sheet and marked down the Kendo Club's budget for the quarter.
"Like I said, your skill level is mediocre. Cutting your funds a bit is fair, isn't it?"
"...Damn it!"
"If you've got no objections, I'm off to inspect the next club. Take care."
With that, he walked out of the dojo, leaving behind the captain and his fuming club members.
Though he'd used underhanded tricks at first, the captain had to admit—Rinji's final strike was pure strength. Even with a rematch, he probably wouldn't win.
He just couldn't understand—why someone strong enough to win outright would intentionally play dirty just to mess with people.
---
At Shuchiin Academy, cultural clubs usually had relatively stable budgets, while sports clubs saw the most fluctuations.
That's because sports clubs burn through money the fastest, and their funding typically depended on recent performance.
The Kendo Club's expenses were originally quite high, but with Takamine Rinji slashing their budget by half, a large amount of funding was freed up—equal to the combined budgets of two cultural clubs.
Among cultural clubs, aside from the usual suspects like Astronomy or History, there were some oddballs. One such oddball was the one Takamine Rinji was currently visiting—the Occult Research Club.
Seated across from him was a beautiful girl with long straight black hair and perpetually closed eyes, making it impossible to read her thoughts.
"I remember you," she said. "You're the one who stood next to President Shirogane at the last meeting, right?"
"Let's skip the whole 'kid' talk, please, Miss Atenbo Yume."
The girl with the closed eyes was Atenbo Yume, a third-year, president of the Occult Research Club, and a member of the student club union (Shuchiin VIP). She came from a religious family and was the granddaughter of the high ranking shinto priest of the religious legal body "Shrine Main Temple."
"I'm here to assess your club and fairly allocate your budget," Takamine Rinji said. "I'm not like President Shirogane. My evaluations are strict. A club like yours with no measurable results doesn't really deserve funding..."
"You can't say that," Yume replied with a smile.
"We actually do have a reason to exist. We give fortune-tellings to students who come here."
"Fortune-telling?"
"Want me to read yours, Rinji-kun?"
As she spoke, Atebbo Yume pulled out a crystal ball and a deck of tarot cards from under the table.
"Tch. You think I'd believe in that hocus-pocus crap?"
Though he said that, Takamine Rinji decided to stay and see what kind of trick she was going to pull.
Atenbo Yume casually flipped a few tarot cards and gave a slight smile.
"Rinji-kun, I foresee trouble with women in your future."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you'll be very popular with girls~ Even if you don't find a girlfriend, you'll still have hookups~"
"...That prediction is utter nonsense. Doesn't match my current situation at all."
Without changing his expression, Takamine Rinji took out his form and wrote in the Supernatural Phenomena Research Club's budget.
"Your club budget is up 10% compared to last year."
"Much appreciated~"