4. Sparring
Deureureuk.
The moment the bell rang, I got to my feet without hesitation. I could feel an unpleasant gaze fixed on me from beside me, but I did my best to ignore it.
I was mentally exhausted from arguing with him in the corner of the stairwell earlier, and I wanted to work off some stress by getting my body moving. He'd said enough for now, so surely he'd leave me alone for a while.
Well, it felt like none of it had gotten through to him... but if I just ignored him and kept my distance in class, there'd be no reason for us to get involved. That obnoxious status window going on about a hundred days and being conquered was obviously going to turn out to be nothing more than a hallucination. Maybe I should go to a psychiatric hospital later. Yeah.
I'd just grabbed my shoulder bag and was about to leave through the back door of the classroom when Michiru and Reika came over.
"Yuka-chan, you're leaving already? Aren't you going to the café today?"
Michiru pouted, looking disappointed, while Reika, standing beside her, watched me with her usual indifferent gaze.
Oh, right. During the break earlier, that Golden-Tanned Delinquent had been trying to hit on them, going on about buying them dessert and all that. I'd forgotten to warn them. I glanced at him slipping out through the back door, then put a hand on each of their shoulders and spoke with a serious expression.
"Hey, you two. Don't even think about going to a café with that blond bastard today."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Just look at him. He's obviously a lowlife delinquent. How do you know what kind of trouble he got into in Tokyo before he came here? You can't just follow him off on a whim. Especially you, Reika. You already have a boyfriend. There's nothing good that can come from getting mixed up with a guy like that."
"Mm. Well, you're not wrong."
"But I'm bored~!"
"You went yesterday and the day before, too."
Reika nodded, and Michiru scratched her head with a slightly dumb look on her face.
"Okay, okay~ Then I'll just go with Reika-chan. So what are you doing today, Yuka-chan?"
"Club activities. You two go straight home, okay? Don't go wandering off somewhere else."
"Sure, sure~ See you tomorrow, Yuka-chan!"
Michiru waved cheerfully. Reika quietly lifted a hand to say goodbye, and I waved back at them before leaving the hallway.
Phew. At least I'd made myself clear, so that bastard wouldn't try anything with my friends. I headed toward the judo club's dojo behind the main building with a light step.
Honestly, I didn't feel all that comfortable in the classroom.
It wasn't that I felt uncomfortable around Michiru or Reika, whom I'd known for a long time... but the three of us tended to attract a lot of other girls.
The distinctive smell of cosmetics, their giggly laughter, conversations about things I couldn't understand, like underwear and makeup... As a strapping Korean man in my previous life, the classroom sometimes felt like a place where I could hardly breathe.
By contrast, the judo dojo was comfortable in all sorts of ways. The moment I opened the door, the smell of sweat and the musty scent of the mats hit me. Most girls would have recoiled in horror...
"Oh, Nishino. You're here."
But there was nowhere better for me. The first to greet me was the club captain, whose burly muscles stood out even through his uniform. I gave a little laugh and said,
"Yeah. What are all the corpses behind you?"
"Ha-ha. They're all just being dramatic."
Behind the club captain, I could see the other members already in their uniforms, sprawled out and drenched in sweat. The National Sports Festival was coming up soon, so I guess he was putting them through the wringer.
To be honest, after having to endure all sorts of awkwardness while living in a woman's body, this dojo was the one place I could feel completely at ease.
That was because I'd learned judo as a hobby in my previous life. I hadn't been able to practice often because work kept me busy, but I'd trained for quite a while, so I could easily take down kids at their level.
That meant I enjoyed it, and the club members here treated me like just another member instead of a delicate Gyaru high school girl. I couldn't have asked for a more comfortable place. I adjusted my shoulder bag and headed toward the girls' changing room.
"Captain, put me through the wringer today. I've got a bit of indigestion, so I want to work off some stress."
"Ha-ha. What's got you so fired up all of a sudden? We've already got some good news, and I was just about to start putting everyone through their paces even harder."
"Good news? What, are they replacing our equipment?"
"No. Some incredible guy just rolled in from Tokyo. Apparently, he transferred here on an athletic scholarship. I caught a glimpse of him, and his physique is no joke."
...Tokyo? Scholarship?
A bad feeling flashed through my mind. No way. It couldn't be, right? It couldn't. There was only one judo club around here... but was that bastard really into sports? He definitely had the physique for it.
"It's about time we started placing at the National Sports Festival. Hey! If you're done changing, come on out!"
Oh, please, God.
At the captain's call, the changing room door creaked open. He came walking out, his broad frame slightly hunched and the collar of his white uniform loosened just enough. In the uniform, rather than his school clothes, his wide shoulders stood out. His slouching posture and blond hair were unmistakable.
"..."
I froze on the spot. He glanced at me, then walked over with that characteristically obnoxious grin curling up the corners of his mouth.
"Say hello. Kurosawa, this is Yuka Nishino, our club's ace."
"Hey, Nishino. Fancy seeing you again."
So God really didn't exist. Utterly dejected, I dragged a hand over my face. Ha. So when he said we'd probably see each other again soon, this was what he meant?
"Hm? You two know each other?"
"...We're just in the same class."
"Why didn't you mention we sit right next to each other?"
Oh, shut up. Seriously.
"Oh, that works out perfectly, then. Nishino! Why don't you warm him up with some free sparring? You said you wanted to be put through the wringer."
"Uh... me...?"
The oblivious club captain piled on enthusiastically, apparently not even noticing my stiff expression.
"You're better than most of the members, after all. You'll be a big help to Kurosawa, too."
"Kukuku. Works for me. I'm counting on you, Nishino-sunbae?"
Sunbae, my ass... Kurosawa chuckled as he spoke, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Ha... Give me a minute. I need to change first."
"Sure."
I glared at him like I was about to devour him, then spun around, opened the door to the girls' locker room, and slammed it shut behind me. I tossed my shoulder bag into a locker and started unbuttoning my uniform, but my thoughts were so tangled that a throbbing headache seemed to be coming on.
Why the hell was that delinquent bastard here? He had that attitude and that ridiculous hairstyle, and he was doing judo? Even as I put on my uniform, the questions kept piling up.
Could he have deliberately looked into the judo club and come here to make a move on me? N-no, that couldn't be it. He said he was here on a scholarship. I was seriously getting full of myself. My head felt ready to explode, but I tied my belt tight, grinding my teeth.
...Fine. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. I'd held back earlier because of that status window, but this was the mat. So what if he was an athletic scholarship student? He was still a kid. Now that he'd walked into the dojo of his own free will, I could legally slam him into the ground, and that was that. Nobody in this club could match me except the captain.
Having made up my mind, I slammed the changing room door shut and walked out to the middle of the dojo. He was waiting in the center of the mat, warming up. From what I could see, he wasn't just pretending to know what he was doing. His stance was practiced, clearly the result of real training.
"Ready? Want to warm up first?"
"No. Let's start right away."
I walked up to Kurosawa, standing in the center of the mat, and looked up at him.
"Do you know how to break your fall? I'm not responsible if you shatter your spine, Kurosawa."
"Who knows? Go easy on me, would you?"
His sarcastic tone got my competitive spirit going. When I heard the captain's signal, I grabbed the lapel and sleeve of his uniform hard without hesitation. His solid weight and fierce resistance came through my fingertips. So he was an athletic scholarship student—this was the weight of someone who'd actually done judo.
I took advantage of the moment when his balance shifted slightly, planted my supporting foot deep, and went straight into a throw. But the bastard's core strength was no joke. He held his ground, then wrapped his arms around my waist and turned the tables. In an instant, our bodies tangled together on the mat and rolled to the floor.
Kwadangtang!
He had me slammed to the mat and was trying to pin me, while I struggled to pull my arm free and reverse the hold. Our collars were stretched taut, on the verge of tearing, and our hot body heat and ragged breaths tangled together as we fought fiercely for control. This bastard was way too strong...!
"...Looks like it's over?"
"Nngh...!"
I gritted my teeth and clutched his lapel, fighting to get free. No way. Ten more seconds and he'd have a full point...!
[ Warning: Close-Contact Event with Kurosawa Ren! ]
[ Current Fall Progress: 2% (+1%) ]
A red status window flashed before my eyes and blocked my view.
Fuck! Get rid of this! Get rid of it!
I was dying here, and it was going on about being conquered! Wait, if I lost like this, would that Fall Progress shoot way up? It seemed like the status window counted me as being conquered whenever I lost the upper hand.
I hurriedly made the status window disappear and focused on the struggle. I gritted my teeth and pulled on his lapel, and the taut balance of power suddenly loosened in a strange way. Maybe my desperate resistance had thrown him off, because his body tilted slightly, throwing off his balance.
I didn't let that tiny opening slip by. I grabbed the sleeve I'd been struggling to hold onto from the ground. Then I snapped my hips upward, forcing my upper body upright, and used the momentum of standing to drive my foot deep into the opening I'd made.
'Now...!'
I put my whole body weight and every bit of core strength I had into breaking his balance, and—
Kuung!
With an impact so violent it made the whole mat rumble, his massive body sailed over my shoulder and crashed hard into the floor. A clean ippon shoulder throw.
"Huff... Haa... Haa..."
I did it. He was definitely a little skilled, but he was still nowhere near good enough to beat me. I breathed heavily, exhilaration mixed into my ragged breaths, and looked down at him sprawled face-down on the mat.
But the expression on his face as he lay sprawled on the mat wasn't the surprise or anger I'd expected. It was strangely peaceful.
...That feels kind of creepy.
"Haa... See that? You delinquent bastard. Haa."
At my threat, he got up leisurely, brushed back his hair, grinned, and held out his hand for a handshake.
"Guess the rumors about you being the judo club's ace were true. I learned something."
"..."
To my surprise, he accepted his defeat gracefully.
...Why? I'd thrown him down perfectly with my technique, and he'd even admitted I was better. So why couldn't I shake this uneasy feeling? I gave him a perfunctory handshake, then discreetly wiped my hand on my uniform.
"That's our Nishino! You even beat an athletic scholarship student! You really sure you don't want to compete at the National Sports Festival? It's such a waste of talent!"
"I told you, I'm not doing that. It's just a hobby. A hobby."
I left the excited club captain behind and sat on a bench in the corner. Maybe it was because I'd worked up a sweat, but I was thirsty. I took a drink from the water in my tumbler and checked the status window.
Surely the Fall Progress had gone down after that. Anyone could see I'd won fair and square. If I kept this up, there was no way that gloomy bastard would ever conquer me...!
[ You will be conquered in 100 days. ]
[ Time Remaining: D-100 ]
[ Current Fall Progress: 3% (+2%) ]
...Why the hell is it going up?