Does This Love Suit Your Taste? - Volume 1 Chapter 6.4

Duel 4

“Seriously… I don’t see what’s so great about a delinquent like you… There must be a more suitable man for her. For example, someone like me~”

“——Don’t talk nonsense!”

A single loud shout silences the previously rowdy murmurs. Of course, it was me who fired this signal flare.

“…Oh? If you’re so confident, I might as well listen. Are you, a mere delinquent, claiming that you’re more suitable for the princess than anyone else?”

“That’s not the stupid thing I’m talking about!”

I clenched my fist tightly.

“Correcting the path? Saving her? Like hell those are reasons for you and others to meddle in Shirahime’s life! Who’s suitable to be by her side, how Shirahime should be—aall that is just you imposing your will! Damn it, if you love the girl, then why don’t you understand her!”

“What…?”

“Listen up! If you don’t get it, I’ll teach you!”

I’ll say it over and over.

One is oneself, others are others. That is an unshakable fact, a principle that must not be overturned.

“The feeling of liking someone, the desire to do something—all of it, every bit of it, belongs to Shirahime alone!! It has to be hers, and she’s the one who decides whether the path she chose was right or not!!”

“Wh-what…?”

I stepped my foot forward and prepared myself in a combat stance. I can’t lose to someone like this.

“I’ll never let you have your way with Shirahime! I’ll knock you down so damn hard you’ll never get cocky again!!”

“Th-that’s… that’s what I want!!!”

The same monotonous attack as before.

He ran straight towards me, and when he felt the length of the wooden sword could reach me, he swung it down.

I seized that moment.

“What…!”

In exchange for the pain, I caught the blade’s edge with my bare hand.

“Got you!”

Then, twisting the sword from the blade side, I wrenched the sword out of Tojoin’s hands.

“D-damn it!”

I jabbed the hilt of the sword into Toujouin’s stomach, pushed him out of me, and slid the sword to the side of the dojo.

Tojoin, now without his sword. I don’t miss that moment.

“Kiminami Toui special… The finest spécialité…”

As Toujouin’s eyes quickly shifted to his sword moving away, I leaped at him, aiming my foot at him.

“It’s my special deliveryyyyyyy!!!!!!”

“Ughhhhh…!!”

My full-powered rolling sobat kick hit Tojoin’s chest protector.

Unable to withstand the force of the kick, Tojoin was sent flying and landed on his backside on the judo hall’s tatami mats.

The onlookers at the dojo fell silent, faced with Toujouin’s miserable and pathetic state.

Tojoin struggled to get up, his voice weak and faint.

“G-give me back my sword…”

Apparently, he can’t fight properly without his sword.

I see. I picked up the wooden sword and stabbed it into the gap between the tatami of the judo area and the flooring of the kendo dojo.

“…Hmph!”

It’s the principle of leverage. I snapped Tojoin’s sword with my foot.

“What! You…”

“You picked a fight with me. You better be prepared to die.”

Although it was a wooden sword and not as sharp as a real blade, the broken tip had gained a dangerous point in exchange for its length.

“—Don’t move.”

I thrust it into the gap of Tojoin’s mask. If I were to apply full force right now, the broken wooden sword would reach Tojoin’s protected face. It’s easy to imagine the grotesque outcome that would follow.

“Eekk…”

“Beg me and give up, then I’ll stop. If you still want to fight, then your face is going to be full of holes from now. I’ve said my piece, so I’ll let you choose your own ‘path’.”

Still, Toujouin tried to show bravado.

“As if… you don’t have the guts to do it… Go ahead if you think you can…”

“Aight.”

The tip of the sword pressed further and further into the depths of his protective gear.

“Ah! Aaaahhh! N-no! I’m sorryy, I-I’m just kidding, please forgive meeee!!!”

Finally hearing Toujouin’s surrender, I, with no intention to press further, threw the broken sword aside and continued——

“Don’t you ever lay a hand on Shirahime again.”

My voice that ended the duel echoed in the dojo. And so, my one-on-one with Tojoin came to a close.

But the incident was far from over.

“——Everyone!”

This time, at the entrance of the dojo stood a conspicuously noticeable man.

It was my classmate, the hero-like Kazama, who had once again made an appearance. He pushed through the crowd and made his way inside.

“You…”

“Kazama…?”

For some reason, even Tojoin seemed to know Kazama.

Well, Kazama is treated like the man closest to Shirahime, so it’s not surprising that Tojoin knows him…

“The teacher will be here soon. It’s better to return to the classroom! If they find out about this fight, they surely won’t stay silent! Let’s leave here quickly before it becomes a problem!”

As Kazama conveyed this in the dojo, murmurs of ‘crap’, ‘we’re gonna get scolded’, ‘class is starting already’ spread, and the crowd hurriedly dispersed. 

Tojoin, perhaps not wanting to be scolded by the teacher, began to crawl on the floor like a baby trying to escape from the dojo with an ‘eek…’

If I don’t escape from here, I might get caught by a teacher, and it won’t just be a lecture—I might receive some troublesome punishment from the school.

“Damn… Kazama, that snitch. Ouch… it hurts…”

The dojo was thrown into panic, creating a torrent of people.

I have to escape quickly too, or I’ll become prey to the teacher.

But as the adrenaline wore off, the pain throughout my body resurged, and I ended up sitting on the floor.

Sigh, I’ll be blamed again.

Once again, the hero appears, and I’m cast as the villain.

I no longer have the strength to flee into that crowd of people.

In fact, I can’t even manage to walk. All I could do was sit there cross-legged and hang my head.

I can’t protect the Maison or even myself—I’m all alone.

—Why does it always end up like this?

Then, a girl appeared.