"Thanks a lot. I'll buy you dinner sometime." Ivan slipped the key into his pocket.
When the final bell rang and the rest of the class shuffled out, Ivan deliberately hung back.
"Teacher, I dropped something. I'll find it myself real quick," he lied, waving the female teacher off.
She didn't suspect a thing and walked straight out of the classroom.
Once she was gone, Ivan rummaged through the glass cabinet and pulled out two thick glass bottles of concentrated sulfuric acid. He gave them a quick once-over. Good quality glass, solid seal. Unless someone deliberately smashed the fuckers, the acid wasn't going anywhere.
With this shit in hand, he finally had a real shot at killing that goddamn parasite in one clean go.
By five in the afternoon, Tokyo West High was emptying out.
Ivan zipped up his jacket and headed toward the kendo club.
The training hall was huge. Dozens of students were already swinging wooden swords at each other, all of them wearing basic protective gear so nobody got seriously fucked up. Still, getting cracked with one of those things stung like a bitch.
"Ivan," Yuji spotted him instantly from the crowd.
"This is Ivan Greevs, my classmate. He just joined the kendo club today," Yuji told the others.
"Welcome, welcome."
Nobody gave him shit for being the new guy. Everyone looked genuinely chill about it.
Ivan greeted them one by one, then stepped aside and watched the sparring.
"We only use wooden swords here?" he asked when he noticed every blade in sight was made of wood.
"We've got metal ones too, but we don't train with that heavy crap. Only for official matches."
While they were talking, a group of tall seniors swaggered over.
The leader had bleached yellow hair and stared at Yuji and the rest with open contempt. The second they showed up, the whole room went dead silent. Ivan frowned, not getting it, and leaned over to mutter to Yuji.
Yuji's jaw clenched hard. "Those are the third-year assholes. Blondie's name is Aso Koji. Word is he hangs with actual street thugs. They love picking training partners from us underclassmen, and when they do, they swing like they're trying to break bones."
"Why the fuck aren't you greeting your senpais properly?"
Under Aso's nasty glare, Yuji and the others forced out stiff, humiliated greetings.
"See that?" Aso Koji burst out laughing. His buddies joined in right away, but they quickly noticed Ivan Greevs standing there like a mute. The new face was completely ignoring them, treating their words like background noise.
Aso narrowed his eyes, flashing a fake-as-fuck smile. "Looks like someone doesn't respect his senpais."
"Just a little lesson. Bullying the newbies is basically tradition around here."
The guys next to him turned their nasty stares straight at Ivan.
"Eh, forget it. Guy just joined today. Don't scare him off on his first day," Aso said, slapping the shoulder of the one who'd spoken.
Then he picked out a few victims from the crowd for today's "training."
Yuji was one of them.
Everyone in the kendo club knew Yuji's group had bad blood with Aso and the third-years. Someone always ended up hurt. But humans love a good show no matter the country, so the rest of the club swarmed around the ring like flies on shit.
Inside the roped-off training area, two guys were buckling on their gear. Compared to the big, bulky third-year, Yuji's friend looked scrawny as hell. The way he gripped his sword screamed he was already shitting himself.
Sure enough, the second the match started, Yuji's side got stuck on pure defense. In under a minute he ate several hard cracks across the body.
Watching from the side, Ivan just shook his head slowly. It wasn't that the third-year was some sword god. Yuji's buddy had zero killer instinct.
All he did was cower and block. No fucking way he was winning like that.
Exactly as Ivan expected.
The poor bastard took a nasty hit to the back of his hand, yelped in pain, and dropped his wooden sword. Match over.
The next few fights went the exact same way. Total one-sided ass-kickings.
"My turn," Yuji muttered. He gripped his long sword tight, sucked in a deep breath, and stepped into the ring.
Yuji's opponent was Aso Koji himself. The bastard looked relaxed as hell, lazily swinging his wooden sword with a smirk.
"You underclassmen really haven't improved one bit. I'm so fucking disappointed. The thought that you lot are supposed to take over from us someday is actually hilarious."
"Shut the fuck up with the trash talk, Haa!" Yuji snapped.
He launched first. His speed wasn't bad. One big step and he was right in Aso's face, sword coming down hard.
Too bad Aso blocked it easily.
Gotta admit, being the third-year leader meant the guy had some actual skill. At least compared to Yuji and the rest.
To Ivan, though, Aso's technique was full of holes. Painful to watch.
"Too slow. Did you skip lunch or what?"
Aso spun around, stepped in close, and cracked Yuji hard across the left arm. The pain made Yuji clench his teeth so tight his jaw looked ready to snap.
"Still charging in like an idiot. Kendo isn't for reckless morons."
Aso kept throwing out the insults while circling him. Yuji was clearly getting pissed off now. Veins bulged on his forehead as he swung harder and harder, his once-decent form turning into wild, sloppy hacks.
Seeing Yuji lose his usual cool, Aso's lips curled into a nasty grin. The second Yuji's momentum died and he couldn't bring the next swing fast enough, Aso lashed out and smashed the wooden sword right across the back of his hand.
Bang! The spot swelled up red and ugly instantly.
"Give up already. This ain't Anime. The gap between us isn't something you can close by muttering about bonds, friendship, or revenge in your head."
After several more hits, Yuji was stumbling all over the place, barely staying on his feet.
Even the referee standing nearby looked like he couldn't watch this shit anymore.
The referee stepped straight into the center of the ring and announced Aso Koji's victory.
Aso, still grinning like an asshole, looked down at Yuji and said, "Sorry, bad luck. Looks like I win again."
Yuji gritted his teeth against the pain and climbed down from the platform, head hanging low. He muttered to Ivan, "Sorry you had to see that embarrassing shit. But one day… I swear I'll beat that fucker."
"Go rest up," Ivan told him.
He took the wooden sword from Yuji's hand, glanced at the fresh bruises and welts already blooming across the kid's body, and just shrugged.
"My turn to put on a show," Ivan said, gripping the sword and walking straight onto the ring.