.

"This girl wasn't the Champion for show. She has incredible reflexes" Kazuya commented.

"Yeah she used Shiroyuki's excellent observation skills and executed a marvelous feint" Miyamoto added.

"Not only that, because of her size, her opponent has the advantage in reach. (What are you going to do now robot girl?)" Kazuya didn't know. He could understand this girl sometimes but her thoughts were still a mystery no matter how much he spent time with her.

Tomoyo glanced at her arm. She hardly felt a thing through her guard but it had made a convincing sound similar to the one that Kazuya had used before.

"…" determination filled her eyes. Both girls looked at each other not intending to back down.

"BEGIN!"

This time, both had stepped out immediately. An intense fight of reflexes begun. Left, right, top, a flurry of their bamboo swords' clashing noises echoed through the arena. The first match is truly suitable to pick this year's champion. Only one mistake would change the difference between winner and loser. The two continued their furious clashes without caring for their remaining stamina. This duel had just been the two of them.

Ayame stepped back. She was surprised at the little girl in front of her. Tomoyo's strength surpassed hers. That didn't get her down however as she still had the slight advantage in agility. She took the previous stance which gained her a point and immediately struck before Tomoyo could have the time to think if it was another feint.

Tomoyo of course was cautious since this was the strike that made her lose a point. She immediately raised both her hands to avoid a possible feint and to prepare to meet her strike. Time seemed to have slowed down for the both of them. Both of them instinctively knew that this would be the final strike.

"!! (These two actually achieved initial ignition at the same time…)" Kazuya was shocked. He knew that Tomoyo was a talent but he never knew that she would be able to achieve this already.

She was younger and her opponent had trained longer. Ayame even vaguely made sense of mana so it wasn't much of a surprise for her to achieve this.

"(Is it because of what happened to you in the past?)" He wondered as he had no idea why the robot girl sought strength.

Kazuya smiled. If he could teach her how to freely use it, there would be no need to look far if he wanted to have a suitable sparring partner to compete with while utilizing mana. He knew that with how hardworking and stubborn the robot girl was, it wouldn't take her that long to make him break a sweat.

She was able to complete the strike he asked her to complete the moment he came back to school after his absence. He thought that it would take her at least a month but she proved her talent and determination. This made him change his method of teaching her how to handle pressure. Instead of slowly doing it, he chose a rougher approach.

Pressure was one thing but bloodlust was another. He still hadn't completely let go of the grudge he had with the version of Tomoyo in his previous life so he made use of it on this version. Tomoyo had fainted multiple times at first but as she woke up finding that nothing happened to her, the trust she had in Kazuya grew.

She indeed feared this version of Kazuya and never wanted to experience it for real. He was really scary when he was angry but she knew that she wouldn't be worthy of standing beside him if she failed his expectations. Kazuya had finally paid attention to her and she was happy to have received his praise when she completed the first task he asked of her. Above anything else, she wanted Kazuya to praise her for her efforts.

Kazuya would shift between the normal pressure and follow it up with bloodlust so she would be able to tell the difference. This girl was extremely sensitive to how people felt so it did not take much explaining for her to know the difference. She wasn't stupid, she knew that he was teaching her the difference so that she could tell if people were being sincere or harbored ill intentions.

It took a few days but she was finally able to move despite the heavy pressure she felt. Her trust in Kazuya made her ignore the hesitation of her mind and finally overcame his test. He praised her efforts and even remembered the promise he made to give her a gift but since she progressed earlier than he expected, he still hadn't prepared it.

Kazuya didn't really think much of it but Tomoyo's mind would go blank whenever he patted her head. She was attached to that feeling and wanted him to praise and pat her more. This is why she was determined not to disappoint him in whatever he asked of her.

Ayame and Tomoyo were now standing at where the other started their strike. With back against each other, neither looked up right away. Both competitors' eyes were on their own hands. Both of their bamboo swords were broken. Ayame's sword was in pieces while Tomoyo's was snapped in the middle.

Tomoyo gripped the handle of her broken bamboo sword hard. She didn't want to lose. She didn't want to not receive his praise after he had called out to her today. Tomoyo raised her head and turned towards the judges. She wanted to know the verdict.

Two judges raised both red and white flags while the referee in the middle raised a white flag.

"Point Shiroyuki!" He declared as he gestured a hand strike to the two judges. The audience looked up at the big screen for a replay on the last strike.

The screen played the scene where Ayame's sword clashed with Tomoyo's. Ayame's sword started to break the moment their swords touched. Tomoyo's lasted until it was near the handle before it snapped. The other half of her sword bent and was able to cleanly hit Ayame's arm guard. That was not all, Tomoyo also successfully hit Ayame's side using her broken sword as she passed through. She had been shorter so she used the advantage and momentum to land an even more convincing blow.

Tomoyo had gained the first victory. She only needed two more to be crowned the new champion while Ayame would be stuck in second if Tomoyo won all of her matches. This unexpected change riled up the audience as cheers erupted from the crowd. She took off her helmet and proudly walked towards Kazuya and gave him an expecting look.

"Good work. Looks like there is some value in keeping you around" Kazuya patted her head and used his own mana to let her recover. Her stamina should be drained after unconsciously activating her potential so he helped her out.

*n..od* this was what she was looking for. She longed for this warm feeling. Not even Jirou made her feel this way whenever she would pat her head.

"Looks like Kazuya and Tomoyo-chan have become good friends" Kyouko smiled while watching the two children. She glanced at the unusually quiet Mei and was surprised that there was no reaction coming from her.

"What? Did you think I would freak out or something?" Mei smugly smiled. Indeed, she would have reacted as such if she hadn't talked to Kazuya about that girl. "That girl deserves praise. It was a great match".

She wasn't the only one who thought so. Everyone had applauded the second grader who had successfully started a rivalry with the seemingly invincible Kuronuma Ayame. Now both of them had one win and one loss against each other. Everyone was looking forward to the national tournament should these two meet each other there.

"Kouzuki Kazuya and Akabane Nanami to the stage!" the referee announced. Kazuya was surprised to see a familiar face. They had already met in the team matches, he didn't pay attention to her name but this rough looking girl had lost to him already.

"We meet again pretty lady" he casually greeted her.

"Y-you won't be able to distract me this time!" she stuttered.

"Distract? Please forgive me, I had no such intentions. I will keep my mouth shut from now on" Kazuya bowed to apologize.

"d-don't! Err… I mean… we can talk after the match. I have something to ask you" she fidgeted. She was warned that he was only distracting her earlier to get a win but after he apologized and promised not to talk to her anymore, she quickly took it back.

"As you wish" Kazuya got in position.

This was their second match already and everyone was still hung up on Tomoyo and Ayame's amazing match. Kazuya was basically an unknown contender who in their opinion was lucky enough to make it to the final four after beating last tournament's seeded 4th place.

"This is going to be boring. Looks like that little boy's luck has run out"

"Yeah. I heard some guy from the other team say that he threatened them"

Some of the audience's words reached the members of Sacred Forest. They were displeased by this and knew it was the work of those scum from Kazuya's previous school.

"I dare you to say that again" Mei stood up and gave them a chilling look. "My Kazu's luck ran out? Are all of you thinking this blind? No contender he's faced has even landed a solid hit. Bunch of sore losers spreading rumors" They were stunned. No one dared talk back to her they wondered if what they said was true so those who heard, turned towards those who recorded the previous matches.

"What that lady said is true… it was strange. No one has ever landed a hit on that boy before and he made it look easy doing it" One of them said. All the others who paid attention also mentioned something similar so interest in the current matched had been sparked.

Those who didn't pay attention immediately turned towards the dueling area to find out if this was true.

"Winner Kouzuki!" the referee declared. Those people quickly turned to the people already on the move to watch the replay. The match ended quickly and like earlier, Akabane had failed to score a single point.

The four were given a short 10-minute break. Kazuya used that time to help the robot girl recover more of her strength. Her next match would be against Akabane and although she was not as good as Ayame, she was still a qualified contestant.

"Next contestants Kuronuma Ayame and Kouzuki Kazuya get ready!" The judge announced.

Apart from everyone else, the group from the Sacred Forest Academy was waiting for this matchup the most. They had confidence that Kazuya would have no problems but still wanted to see how he would deal with Kuronuma Ayame.

Those who have seen the replays of his fights also paid close attention. This person had breezed through the tournament without any problems and they didn't even notice. Even Tomoyo had to block with her sword every now and then but Kazuya just scored points almost instantly. They all wondered if he could do the same thing with last year's champion.

"Kouzuki Kazuya… I won't let you deny the connection. I heard your reply in my mind so you heard me in yours" she looked at him with determined eyes. She trusted in herself and what happened earlier. She believed that no matter how he denied it, she wouldn't imagine him replying to her just by herself.

"Connection? (This girl may look mature but she's a bit naïve)" he knew that this girl was referring to the whisper skill.

"You will not be able to ruin my concentration like you did with Akabane" Ayame raised her stance and got in position.

"I think you have misunderstood me. I have no need for such tricks. As to whether the 'connection' you speak of exists or not. I don't really have much interest" Kazuya casually raised his sword with his left hand.

"BEGIN!"

Ayame wasted no time to dash for a strike. Kazuya was aware of how fast she was so he quickly dodged. He actually grew a little interested in what this girl can do since she did unconsciously activate her hidden talent. He wanted to make sure that her current physical state was enough to control it.

It was at this point that Ayame had a thought. Kazuya had refused to acknowledge the connection they shared earlier. Now that he was paying attention and couldn't afford to ignore her, it was the perfect time to test it.

"[Slash to the left]" a voice sounded in Kazuya's mind.

"(This girl… unconsciously telegraphing her moves?)" He grinned. He had to admit that she had multiple talents but without controlling them properly would do more harm to her than good.

"[Strike to the body]" Kazuya evaded another strike flawlessly. This left the audience speechless. The match was fast paced enough as it was yet the contender they hardly paid any attention to until now was making it look like he was strolling around the park.

"(Looks like her breathing changed)" noticing Ayame's stamina dwindling, he decided to make a move.

"[Strike to the right!]" Kazuya heard this and immediately dodged left to prepare for a counterattack.

BAM!

"Point Kuronuma!" the referee shouted.

"(I was tricked…?)" Kazuya gave a wry smile and scratched his head. He had to give Ayame some credit for pulling one over him. This made his fighting spirit rise up a little.

"You won't be able to deny it now right?" Ayame tried to regain her breath as a triumphant smile beamed towards him. She felt accomplished but that suddenly changed when the atmosphere around Kazuya changed.

"Congratulations, you have made me consider you a little seriously"

.