Everyone was shocked. I think no one expected me to do something like this. Even Keiko was shocked.
My grandpa shouted, "Satoru! This isn't some kind of joke. You should take it seriously and fight her properly!" from the stands.
Keiko walked towards me and said, "What do you mean by doing this? Do you think that I won't be able to fight you properly because you think I am weaker than you? Why do you look down on me?"
"It's not what you think, Keiko. I am not looking down on you; it's always an honour for me to fight you," I said with a soft voice, which was cut off in the middle by Keiko, saying,
"Then fight me properly. If you do something like this, what will the others think of me?"
I cut her off, saying, "I am tired after travelling, and that old man is making me fight you, so just understand me. We'll have a proper fight some other time, okay?"
"Don't lie. I know you aren't tired, so just fight and let me see if you have gotten rusty," my grandpa shouted from the stands.
This old man can't be quiet for a few minutes.
This isn't like him at all; he is butting into my matters a lot today, but I don't feel like fighting at all.
He just wants to see if I have gotten dull. That's the best bullshit that I have ever heard, but I will show him.
I picked up the sword and said, "Okay, I will fight her. Let's start again, Keiko. This time properly. Will you use ki?"
She replied, "I won't be using ki."
"Aren't you the one who is looking down on others?" I said, smiling.
"No, it's just that it has been a while since you had a spar, so—"
"You are going easy on me?" I cut her off in the middle.
"No. You said that you were tired, so I was thinking of not pushing you. Don't get the wrong idea," she said with a gentle tone.
"I was just kidding. Don't mind it, and use your ki," I said.
My grandpa asked us to head back to our positions, and Keiko seemed a little happy.
We both went back to our places, and the referee gave the signal to start the match again.
This time I made the first move.
I moved to the right and released my ki quickly and thought of using a slash to disturb her balance when she moved.
But she stayed at her place.
I thought she was waiting for me, so I rushed towards her.
She suddenly released her ki and took her stance when I was getting closer.
But I didn't plan on backing down, so I continued going towards her.
Both of us slashed using our full strength. Both our attacks got cancelled out.
She quickly got back into a perfect stance, and I decided to use my clan's second form, but she covered the distance between us as she was quick.
I had to defend myself from her attack, and she continued to strike continuously without giving me any time to counter.
So, I decided to use my full strength to push her back.
When she attacked and both our swords clashed with ki, with my full strength, my sword went flying, and when it was falling, it broke into two pieces.
I was shocked by how much she had grown in the past few months.
She's incredibly powerful. It's not easy for me to hold back while fighting her.
I was still looking at my hand. That shock I felt when both of our swords clashed was still lingering in my hand.
While I was dazed, the referee announced the match result.
Everyone was shocked seeing me get beaten up without giving a tough fight.
My grandpa was clearly disappointed in me; I could tell just by looking at him, although I don't give a shit.
Keiko walked away without even looking back.
I thought she was also disappointed in me.
My grandpa got up and said, "This is it for today's training, so everyone can leave, and from tomorrow he will be joining you, so get along with him well."
After that everyone left, even my grandpa, Kenji, and Akiko.
I thought they would be angry, but they didn't give a damn and left just like that.
It was noisy for a while as everyone was leaving, and I stayed back.
I felt like staying alone for some time.
They even turned off the lights, and I sat down and lay on the ground.
I closed my eyes, and the silence felt wonderful and peaceful.
Nobody was around to make me do anything against my will or judge me based on what I do while knowing nothing about me.
I felt a little dizzy and slept there.
After sleeping for a while, I woke up naturally without anyone waking me up.
I got up, picked up the broken sword, threw it into the recyclable waste, and got out of there.
The time was eleven, and I felt a bit hungry, so I decided to order some pizza and got myself into a cab to return home.
I finally reached the Minka after travelling for half an hour.
I should say I reached pretty quickly as the streets were empty.
I felt like the Minka was empty, though he said that they were staying here.
It didn't change much.
The night was pretty cold, and my hands were freezing.
I should have ordered something hot other than pizza.
The pond had few fishes compared to four months back.
I walked to the main door and opened it.
It was quiet, to my surprise.
I thought they had all gone to sleep, so I went to the Washitsu to turn on the heater and wait for my pizza while watching a movie.
After ten minutes the pizza arrived.
I picked it up and went into the Washitsu, buried myself under the Kotatsu, and when I was about to eat, the door suddenly opened, and it was Kenji and Akiko.
They both looked furious.
I think I understand them for being like that.
I returned and didn't even say hi or thanks to them, even when they defended me.
They both walked in, sat on either side of me, and raised their hands and picked a pizza piece each.
Kenji said, "What are you doing eating alone without calling us?" while stuffing the pizza into his mouth.
"Yeah, you tried to monopolize this tasty pizza," Akiko said while chewing on the pizza.
"Well, I thought that you all were angry at me for leaving without saying a word, so I didn't want to disturb you, but to my surprise you aren't angry at all," I spoke.
"We were angry at you for ditching us like that. We even thought of hanging you upside down and came up with other ideas as well, but after seeing you like this without a haircut or shaving your beard and moustache, we realized that you were the one who suffered these past few months, so we decided to forgive you. And you didn't tell us because your grandpa took your mobile from you, right?" Kenji explained himself elaborately.
"Right, he took my mobile from me. That's why I couldn't inform you," I said solidly, even though it wasn't true.
My grandpa didn't take my mobile from me. It was with me all this time. I even called my mother daily, as she told me to give her a call every day.
"Enough with the sad moments. Just watch the movie, and Kenji, order some more food to eat," Akiko said.
"Where is Keiko?" I asked.
Akiko replied, "She said that she was feeling sleepy. She went to bed quickly. Don't worry, she isn't angry at you at all."
"Really?" I asked with slight happiness.
"Yes. She was the only one who was against the idea of punishing you. Be grateful to her," he said while looking at his mobile, ordering food.
"Kenji, I need to say something to you," I said in a serious tone.
"What is it? Say it fast," he said while getting irritated thinking about what to order.
He's taking the ordering way too seriously.
I guess I understand why.
When we were in our third year of high school, Akiko asked him to order food just like today, and he ordered something that she doesn't like, and she felt like not eating at that time.
Both of them didn't talk to one another for a week.
After that, Kenji apologized, and both of them reconciled.
"I want to become your brother-in-law," I said seriously, looking at him.
"What do you mean? You will become my brother-in-law? Did you forget about my little sister and your little brother?"
He was still looking at his mobile as he was ordering.
"I am not talking about them. I am talking about me and Keiko," I said with a sincere and serious look and tone, looking at him.