Teaching Kendo in Tokyo 1980

Hearing Kazuma's words, Nanjo Honami immediately reached for her wallet.

"Wait!" Kazuma stopped her. "That wallet of yours is too much of a psychological blow for me. If you really want to pay tuition, just have your family's steward handle it."

"Oh, okay." Nanjo nodded.

Mikako suddenly sprang to her feet and dashed over. "I want to learn too! I'll have my mom pay the tuition!"

Kazuma was about to respond when he caught sight of Chiyoko frantically signaling behind the two girls—Say yes, say yes—money!

Chiyoko, so this is the kind of person you are now?

Kazuma gave a nod. "Alright. Both of you are welcome. My sister handles the accounts, so just pay her monthly."

After saying that, Kazuma glanced past the girls' shoulders and saw Chiyoko pumping her fist in a little victory cheer.

It seemed that ever since she'd come to think of herself as "the one keeping her brother from selling the dojo," Chiyoko had changed quite a bit.

Kazuma now suspected that if money ever got truly tight, Chiyoko might very well recklessly—

No. That can't happen. I absolutely won't let things reach that point.

Then a strange thought crossed his mind: Taking down yakuza gives me EXP, and they even drop loot—like swords. But why don't they drop money?

If they did, I'd be grabbing my blade and clearing them out like a dungeon.

Shaking off that distraction, Kazuma focused on the two girls in front of him.

Since they were paying tuition, he owed it to them to teach them properly. Otherwise, taking their money would weigh on his conscience.

Right now, the girls were clearly swept up in their feelings for him. They probably wouldn't care whether they were really learning anything or not.

But precisely because of that, Kazuma had to respect the value of what they were paying for—he couldn't profit from their affections with a guilty heart.

He looked at them seriously. "Since you've entered my dojo, I'll take full responsibility for teaching you. You'll be expected to reach a level that won't bring shame to the dojo my father left behind.

"I won't go easy on you just because we're friends."

Kazuma felt he'd made himself perfectly clear. He even stressed the word friends deliberately.

Mikako frowned at that.

Kazuma felt a pang of guilt. After all, they'd come so close to confessing not long ago—more than friends, not quite lovers.

It was only natural for her to be upset by this sudden shift back to "just friends."

But Kazuma had resolved to set clear boundaries. Even knowing it wouldn't stop the girls' feelings, he had to be upfront.

With luck, Mikako might give up and become a bystander.

That would help keep her safe.

As for Nanjo, judging from the level of her bodyguard, the yakuza were unlikely to touch her.

That old man might not have a special passive skill, but at his age, he was probably brimming with experience—and if a fight broke out, he'd likely go full-on flashback power-up mode.

The real concern was Mikako. He needed to distance her from him.

If she refused to back off, though… well, he'd just have to get into Todai.

Training hard in kendo would be the second line of defense.

But for now, with his injury, challenging high-level opponents for EXP wasn't an option—no one would agree to spar with an injured fighter, not without damaging their own reputation.

That route was blocked for now.

He'd have to find other ways to level up.

Nanjo's kendo was ranked eighth level. Sparring with her wouldn't yield much EXP, but even a little was better than nothing.

In that sense, the young lady was a blessing in disguise—paying tuition to solve his financial problems, and doubling as a practice dummy.

Kazuma carefully kept his thoughts from showing on his face. Maintaining his Shihan-dai demeanor, he continued, "Today will be your first official lesson. Technically, I should assess both of your abilities through sparring first. But since I've sparred with Mikako many times already, I know exactly where she stands.

"As for Nanjo-san, I'm not familiar with your level yet. And since we already agreed to spar today, it's the perfect opportunity."

Mikako looked between Kazuma and Nanjo. "Just a kendo spar, right?"

"What else would it be?" Kazuma replied. "I'm going to suit up."

He had originally planned to channel his inner Kimura and say something like "You won't land a hit on me, so I don't need armor."

But on second thought, considering Nanjo's skill rating was higher than his, going without armor wasn't wise. Getting hit by a bamboo sword still hurt.

Chiyoko followed Kazuma. "I'll help you."

And so the Kiryu siblings left the dojo, leaving only Nanjo and Mikako inside the spacious hall.

Mikako glanced at Nanjo and suddenly asked, "A rich girl like you… your parents probably decide who you marry, right?"

Nanjo's expression clouded instantly.

"Knew it." Mikako sighed. "That can't be easy."

Nanjo responded with a string of fluent English.

Mikako blinked. "Eh? Uh…"

"Aren't you trying to get into Sophia? This is basic English," Nanjo tilted her head, watching her. Sophia University's English program was notoriously difficult to get into.

"Uh… you spoke too fast. My listening isn't great, but I caught something about summer and music…"

"'I would that I could be your summer, when summer days are flown, to still remain your melody, when melody is gone.'" Nanjo recited in Japanese. "It's a famous poem by Dickinson. True love, even if it lasts only one summer, is enough—to carry that beauty to the grave.

"It's exactly because I can't choose who I marry that I'm giving this everything I've got. This might be the one summer of my life I can't afford to miss."

Mikako's mouth hung slightly open. She hadn't expected a response like that.

Faced with such sudden, earnest resolve, Mikako felt her breath catch—she couldn't even raise her voice in reply.

Nanjo Honami gazed at her and pressed on, "And what about you? You decided on a whim to aim for Sophia, and now Kazuma has to spend time teaching you English. He's aiming for Todai, the hardest university of all—he's under more pressure than either of us. Is this really okay?"

Mikako was momentarily speechless.

But then, with stubborn resolve, she furrowed her brow. "I… I'm serious now! We're all seventeen—this is my only seventeen-summer too. I absolutely won't lose to you!"

Nanjo and Mikako locked eyes, each seemingly trying to pour their will and determination into the other through sheer force of gaze.

Neither of them noticed that Kazuma had already finished putting on his armor and was standing just outside the dojo entrance—guys did change faster, after all.

Chiyoko whispered to him, "Onii-chan, what do we do? Maybe you should just choose Nanjo-san. That way Mikako… well, I guess she wouldn't give up anyway. She'd probably get even more fired up."

Kazuma gave a wry smile. He could see status effects—and right now, Mikako had a buff over her head reading 'Sophia University, here I come!'—with a duration of 309 days.

Damn. Knowing how this world works, she might actually pull it off.

Was this what Chernyshevsky meant by 'True love inspires people to better themselves, to become stronger'?

If he hadn't seen that buff, Kazuma might have seriously considered choosing Nanjo to distance Mikako from him.

But now, he was afraid that doing so would cut that buff short.

And that would be ruining Mikako's future, wouldn't it? A Sophia University English graduate was an elite, a phoenix taking flight.

Turning a phoenix back into a barnyard hen—he couldn't do that.

Maybe there really are Buddhas watching in this world…

—Damn. What a mess.

Kazuma decided not to overthink it. First, he'd spar with Nanjo—no, not beat her up—and rack up some EXP.

(End of Chapter)