Chapter 48: The End of PE Class
Hayama Hayato was stunned. The students were stunned. What the hell just happened?
"Hehe... Hahaha!"
Chishima Akishin laughed loudly, walking over to Miura Yumiko to pick up the fallen shinai before returning to Hachiman's side.
Hachiman pulled back the shinai from Hayama's neck, took a few steps back, and bowed his head to Hayama in the manner Akishin had taught him.
"Hey, hey, Sensei, that's not fair! Hachiman used a surprise attack! Hayato wasn't ready!"
Finally, the students snapped out of it. Miura Yumiko cried out, her voice dripping with resentment.
"Yeah! Sensei, that's totally unfair! Hayato hadn't prepared himself yet, that was a sneak attack..."
"Sensei, do it over..."
"Chishima-sensei, let Hayato and Hikigaya go again. There's no way Hayato would lose..."
Several students who usually hung around Hayama began shouting in his defense. Among them, Miura Yumiko and Tobe Kakeru were the loudest.
"Quiet!"
Akishin's shout boomed through the gym. His gaze was sharp, sweeping over the students one by one, watching them shut their mouths in fear as silence returned.
He scolded them: "Are you done talking? Let me tell you something—regardless of whether Hayama was ready or not, he lost. That is a fact. I announced the start of the match; after that, winning or losing is between the two of them. Besides, were you even looking clearly? You have no idea what actually happened, yet you have the nerve to talk big."
The blunt reprimand echoed in the enclosed basketball court. The students were floored; many of them had probably never been scolded like that even by their own parents, yet here they were being torn apart by Chishima Akishin.
Sensei is pissed!
Hachiman turned to see Akishin's cold expression and thought to himself.
For a moment, no one dared to breathe. Akishin looked at Hayama, who had finally regained his senses, and said sternly: "Hayama, explain the situation to them. And after that, don't bother me again. I am your teacher, after all."
Hayama certainly knew what 'explain the situation' meant. He looked at his palms, which were red and trembling slightly, and let out a bitter smile. He bowed to Hikigaya, then walked over to Miura Yumiko and the others.
"Hayato~"
Miura Yumiko stared at Hayama's dejected expression. It was the first time she had ever seen him like this, and her heart ached for him.
"It's okay, Hayato, it was just a small mistake," Tobe Kakeru added, followed by other students trying to comfort him.
Ebina Hina, standing on the sidelines, kept her eyes on Akishin and Hachiman.
She saw Akishin place his sword on top of Hikigaya Hachiman's head and ask: "Hikigaya, what is the true sword?"
Hachiman shook his head. "I don't know. I've thought about it for a long time, but I still don't know. Can you tell me, Sensei?"
"I can't. That's something you have to figure out for yourself. And even if you don't figure it out, that's fine too! Honestly, a part of me wants you to understand, but at the same time, I don't want you to." Akishin shook his head with a smile. "Well! The answer isn't absolute, anyway. Everyone's perspective is different. If your understanding ends up being different from mine, I'd actually be quite relieved."
"What does that mean?"
"Figure it out yourself."
Akishin pulled the shinai away, turned his head, and locked eyes with Ebina Hina. He gave her a small nod and a smile.
Ebina's eyes widened slightly. By the time she looked back, Akishin had already turned away, making her doubt if it had just been her imagination.
Besides Ebina Hina, three others were watching them closely: Yuigahama Yui, Totsuka Saika, and—unexpectedly—Kawasaki Saki.
"I'm fine, Yumiko."
Hayama shook his head, took a deep breath, and returned to his usual bright smile. He explained to everyone: "Guys, don't misunderstand Sensei or Hikigaya-kun. I really did lose just now. When Chishima-sensei announced the start, I was actually the one who attacked first. Hikigaya-kun counter-attacked and managed to strike the shinai right out of my hands!" As a swordsman, having your sword knocked away is the ultimate failure.
He didn't say that last part out loud; he kept it buried in his heart. Even for him, some things were just too hard to admit.
"No way! Hikigaya is that good? He knocked your sword away even though he moved second?"
Tobe Kakeru was so shocked he nearly bit his tongue. He kept staring at Hikigaya Hachiman as if he were seeing a ghost. The other students couldn't hide their shock either.
"That is exactly what happened. Alright, let's get out of here and stop bothering Chishima-sensei."
Hayama waved them away to stop them from crowding around, then turned back to Hachiman. "Hikigaya-kun, has Chishima-sensei really only been teaching you for five days?"
"That's right, exactly five days." Hachiman nodded. Technically, it was only five sessions, each lasting less than an hour.
"I see." Hayama nodded, then looked at Akishin and apologized. "My apologies, Chishima-sensei. I misunderstood you. You are truly impressive, but I still have to say that your training method is far too dangerous."
Akishin replied: "It's not an issue. Hikigaya is my student; would I really let my own student get crippled? Besides, my guidance of Hikigaya has been approved by Hiratsuka-sensei. If it weren't, do you think I'd dare treat her favorite student like this? I wouldn't dream of it; she'd definitely kill me."
"...If Hiratsuka-sensei is aware, then I'm at ease." Hayama smiled, then led the others back to the center of the court to play basketball.
The atmosphere grew quiet again, leaving only Yui and a few others nearby.
In the eyes of Hayama and the rest—or more accurately, in the eyes of all the students at this school—Hiratsuka Shizuka was a good teacher. Even if she smoked, drank, and was a bit prone to "physical correction," she was still a good teacher.
If Hiratsuka-sensei knew Akishin was teaching Hachiman like that and didn't stop him, it meant she trusted Akishin completely.
"Um... Hikigaya, you..."
"What is it, Yuigahama-kun?"
Hachiman was confused. Yui hesitated, let out a breath, and shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Just be careful."
"...Ah. Thanks."
Hachiman nodded awkwardly, feeling a bit out of place with the genuine concern Yui was showing.
Akishin glanced at Yui, gave a faint smile, and went back to supervising Hachiman's training and sparring.
The tak-tak-tak sound of clashing shinai continued to echo through the space. The other students kept stealing glances toward them, unable to even focus on their basketball game.
Every time they saw Hachiman get knocked to the floor, they winced as if they were feeling the pain themselves, hissing through their teeth.
Time and again, Hachiman was downed by the wooden sword, yet he kept dragging himself back up despite his wobbling legs, like some sort of invincible iron man.
Conversely, Akishin held his sword with a single hand and never seemed to retreat a single step.
In their eyes, what Hachiman and Akishin were doing wasn't "practice"—it was a life-or-death struggle!
And it was a completely one-sided fight.
They didn't understand how Hachiman could endure it.
Wasn't he scared?
Didn't it hurt?
If they were in that position, they would have been paralyzed with fear.
At the very least, none of them would ever have the guts to do it.
Have we been underestimating Hikigaya-kun this whole time? They thought with mixed emotions, and the entire atmosphere of Class 2-F began to shift.
Fifteen minutes before the period ended, Akishin called a halt to the training. He told Hikigaya Hachiman to sit cross-legged and use the Breathing Method to recover his physical and mental state.
There were still two more periods of class later this afternoon.
If they kept going, it really could lead to trouble.
Today's training—was over!
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
50 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter (Up to 5 bonus chapters per week).
Read ahead and support the story on Patreon: patreon.com/FaaanzKun
✅ 90+ chapters ahead of WebNovel
✅ 6 new chapters every day (Monday–Saturday), exclusive on Patreon
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —