Chapter 147 - Even A Slip Of Foot...

With Nee-chan gone now, I had one less problem to worry about. Though I actually enjoyed her company to some extent since she came to visit after so many months, I can't blame her since she is busy with her university.

Also, the amount of praises I was receiving from my classmates were a bit odd to me since I was never used to being the centre of attraction before. Apparently I'm the second fastest guy in the school now.

More than two hours have passed since the sports festival has started, but the uproar of the surrounding crowd was as lively as ever. I just got out of the archery club after watching Tsūmen's stunning performance at his event.

Though I remember him being all nervous and stuff in the morning, he was rather calm during the event itself. Kosaki was present there too, but she didn't mind Tsūmen much as if he wasn't even there.

I don't understand her actions sometimes. She acts like she acknowledges him and cares for him sometimes, and then there would be times when she would just straight up act like he doesn't even exist.

Also, the fact that Tsūmen doesn't hit on other girls but Kosaki literally has a harem of boys around her is concerning. But well, no matter how much I tell Tsūmen, he is in love apparently, so my words won't cut through to him.

I was now heading towards the Kendo club since Senpai's event was about to start. Though when came to invite me a few hours ago, well she didn't directly invite me, but I pretty much had an idea what she wanted looking at Yuna's expression.

Though it's a bit weird considering the type of person she is. I thought she would resolve to a more direct approach rather than making someone else talk instead of her. Also, somewhere in her eyes, it felt like she didn't really want me to come, but at the same time, her agitated body language was saying otherwise.

Well, someone said it right, that it's really difficult to understand women.

The area near the club was rather peaceful compared to that near the tracks. The girls were on the tennis court since it was Kana and Kizhashi's event. I would've loved to watch them against each other, but Tsūmen's event was more important.

Gaisen was sitting there with his other friends from the football club as he was trying not to move much to recover faster, considering the next day was his match.

I strolled through the main door, and there was quite the crowd inside, but they weren't shouting as much as the people outside were. I was slowly making my way through the crowd, and judging by the sound of the bamboo stick hitting against each other, I could tell that the event was already ongoing.

I was holding my jacket in my hands as I finally made my way out of the crowd. I could see the arena clearly and people were observing from afar. On the far left side of the corner, the participants were sitting in silence with their eyes locked on the two people going against each other.

I could see Vivian, Ryuhan and Yuna sitting together side by side in an organised way. Rather, it looked like an odd pattern as they were sitting in groups of two. Judging by the two people fighting, I could tell that it was Naoto, since she wasn't there.

Also, by the way, Vivian and Yuna were sitting. It seemed like they won the last round and were against each other in the quarterfinals. Yuna noticed me and subtly waved towards me. I also gave a small wave, and following her gaze, Vivian looked at me, too.

But maintaining our apparent grudge against each other, neither of us did anything. I shifted my gazes towards the fight happening in front of me. It was rather interesting to watch Naoto fight seriously.

Nonetheless, her swift movements and precise footwork were absolutely remarkable. But the person she was fighting was also good, since he was putting quite the pressure on Naoto.

With a fast swing of the stick towards her head, her opponent went into his offensive mode. The exchange of hits went on for quite some time as her opponent was really good, too.

Of course, I was regretting the fact that I couldn't see Ryuhan and Yuna fight because I was actually quite curious about their style. Especially Yuna, since she looks like a softie, but I imagined her with some badass style literally beating the shit out of her opponents.

She swung her sword towards the left side of his stomach but I looked at her feet and could tell that it was feint, as she quickly pulled her sword back and swung it towards the right but her opponent parried it and started putting pressure on her.

Naoto was stepping backwards slowly, as her opponent was constantly aiming for her head or the side of her stomach. But in doing so, he wasn't leaving any openings for her to strike back.

With a strong back swing of the bamboo stick, both of their swords collided and made a loud noise, which echoed through the closed hallway and everyone inside the room went silent for a few moments. The pressure in the atmosphere could be felt by the audiences, too.

Naoto parried his next swing, but he instantly attacked back with an under swing, which she barely got out of the way and again started stepping back. Something was unusual about her that day.

She turned her head a bit for an instance before she took another powerful blow from her opponent. Looking at this, I could see restlessness in Yuna and Vivian as they were practically staring into her soul.

I assumed that if she kept pacing backwards, she would hit the boundary of the arena. But she had an excellent sense of her environment while fighting, so evasion was no big deal. Or as I thought at the moment.

The very next moment, after some more evasion and 'excellent' footwork, Naoto tripped on the boundary and fell outside the arena, hence disqualified from the match and a default win for her opponent.

Her opponent quickly removed his helmets and stepped forward to her aid. I went towards her too, as I could see Ryuhan and others rushing from the other end of the arena too. Even their sensei was baffled at the moment.

The crowd was confused too, as their nervous comments could be heard all around. As quick as the silence spread over when she fell over, the loud of noise chatter filled the room too. Naoto was sitting with her hand on her right ankle.

Her opponent immediately removed her helmet, as her dark hair flowed out of it and her distasteful face could be seen clearly. Her sword was lying next to her as it went flying out of her hand in the process.

He quickly pulled her up, but her lips twitched in pain, as it seemed like she couldn't stand properly and was limping. He gently put her down and told her to straighten her leg, but she was having trouble doing that.

Now I actually liked the fact that she has such caring club members. After a bit of examination, their Sensei came to the conclusion that she also sprained her ankle and it seemed like it was rather serious since she couldn't stand at all.

I could see the clear disbelief on Vivian's face as he kept staring towards Naoto, who was blankly staring at the floor in front of her. I could understand how frustrated she must be after being disqualified from the event she was trying so hard for.

Yuna offered to help, but they were at the event. They couldn't help her much, as it would delay the event, so the Sensei requested other's to help and, since no one came forth, I took the responsibility on myself.

I gently picked her up by the shoulder as she stood up, but was trying to walk on her own. She was as prideful as ever. Her eyes locked in front of her, as I whispered, "Lean on me, you'll damage your ligaments more if you do that."

She glanced at me with a surprised look, which was odd, and quickly nodded in silence as she slowly pressed her body against me. 

I could feel the warmth of her body as it touched against me and the way she was breathing heavily, as her shoulders were moving rapidly. Her messy black hairs falling on arms as I slowly started walking her out the room.

It wasn't much of a hassle to get through the crowd since there was another door towards the back of the room, for instances like this, which the Sensei showed me. I could feel all the eyes on her as we walked out of the room.

I guess a lot of people were expecting many things from her. And all this while Naoto slowly pressing her body even more with each passing second. Was she tired? Was she fatigued? Or was something else the reason?