Chapter 3 – Revelations

The whole class suddenly exploded at the remark made by Shiroyuki. What made them even more surprised was the way that Kazuki responded to this claim, he just stopped momentarily before making his way towards the desk once again and just casually sitting down.

“When did I become your fiancé, I don’t remember promising to marry you or ever getting engaged to you like some anime cliché” (Kazuki)

The response to Shiroyuki’s claim was suddenly reprimanded by Kazuki who had no memories of ever promising to marry her in the time he spent in Britain however there was something bothering him as he thought to himself “Did I really promise to marry her, there is no way right?”. However, Shiroyuki’s reply seemed to set his memory straight.

“It is true you know, even though it wasn’t any sort of promise made together it was put together by my Father. When we were in Britain together you lost against my Father and promised to fulfil any request or wish he had in the future” (Shiroyuki)

The sudden revelation from Shiroyuki caused the laid-back youth to widen his eyes in surprise, the remark made by Shiroyuki was indeed true that when he was in Britain 3 years ago he lost match against Shiroyuki’s father Allen Tanaka.

Shiroyuki’s father Allen Tanaka who had very similar features to Shiroyuki, having the iconic blue hair but with brown eyes. He was a handsome man and still looked to be in his 20’s despite being 49 years of age.

He was an expert in many different forms of combat and having a very high and prestigious position inside the British Army and was well respected by his peers due to his achievements and service inside the army.

After serving for many years inside the army and racking up a lot of influence and power from within the army he decided to put his military career on hold and decided to move to his hometown of Cornwall to raise his daughter who was being raised by his parents their due to his wife’s absence.

In the years he raised his daughter he decided to open a small school for swordsmanship in his town and train the people who were interested in basic swordsmanship and to teach is daughter the style he was taught by his family.

(POV) Third Person [Britain 3 Years Ago]

At about the time his daughter was coming close to her teenage years a boy suddenly entered his school and seemed to be looking for the owner of the school for a reason which wasn’t stated. This surprised the man as the boy seemed the same age as his daughter who was still only in the intermediate stages of her swordsmanship which was quite talented for a youth of her age.

When the man looked at the boy he seemed to carry an aloof and intimidating aura with him. The boy’s sharp eyes seemed to carry a hint of arrogance as if looking down on those in his path. The youth’s hair was also a rare colour of white which the man had never seen before.

“Are you the leader of this school?” (Kazuki)

The boy turned his sharp eyes towards the man which made him flinch for a moment due to the coldness of the voice which was directed towards him, the voice sounded as if it was coming from a monster rather than a young boy.

“Yes, I am, what could I do for you Mr – ah sorry I haven’t got your name could you please tell me so I know how to address you by” (Allen)

The man replied in a kind voice which carried a hint of wariness due to the boy seemingly looking for him. “Could the boy want to learn from the school or is he after something else?”. The man was confused to what the boy was after and was thinking of the multiple different possibilities in his head.

The man also seemed wary of the boy due to the aura and way the boy carried himself despite only looking like a 12-13-year-old boy he seemed in his mid-teens due to his well-developed face and stern attitude.

The boy’s aura seemed to be that of an experience fighter and someone who had experienced fighting and warfare and in the eyes of Allen seemed to carry the aura of a seasoned veteran in combat rather than some beginner.

The boy seemed to rudely dismiss the man’s question and immediately got down to the main point of his visit.

“I am here to challenge the leader of this school to a 1 on 1 duel in the weapon art they are most proficient in, let’s see… Looking around this place there are a lot of bokken around the place, I would say you’re a sword school. So, swordsmanship it is huh” (Kazuki)

(TN: Bokken = Wooden Practise Sword)

The young boy stared at the surroundings inside the building which had a lot of bokkens on the floor in scattered piles. There was a chalked-out area where matches between the students took place as well as dummies which were to be used as targets for the beginners to practice their technique on static targets.

Allen was surprised at how the boy casually pointed out the weapon arts the school practise and decided to challenge as if the boy had only just realised that this place was a school for swordsmanship.

“That’s correct this is a school for people to practise the Tanaka style which has been practised by my family for many generations, and I am Allen Tanaka the leader of this school and a user of the Tanaka, could I please get your name?” (Allen)

The man confirmed Kazuki’s claims that the school was proficient in the art of the sword and replied to the youth in a seemingly gentle voice however it seemed to display a sharp tone towards the end as he repeated the previous question he got no reply from.

“Oh, I am Kazuki, and would I be able to challenge you now I have quite a limited schedule and would like to finish this as quickly as possible if you don’t mind”

The boy seemed to be getting impatient which was heard from the tone of his voice which also carried a bit of aggression. By now several of the students of the school were gathered together and were listening to the conversation between their teacher and the mysterious youth, this included Allen’s daughter, Shiroyuki, as well.

“Before you challenge me I would like to test your strength with people who are more within your age group, if you beat your opponent I will gladly take on your challenge” (Allen)

The man responded with a serious tone as he stared at the youth.

They started to make their way towards the arena where the matches of the school frequently took place and Kazuki walked up to the opposing end of the pitch while picking up one of the bokkens which was in a neat stack against the wall.

“Is this sword style one handed or dual wielding, I don’t really have a preference just curious as I want to fight with the same equipment as my opponent” (Kazuki)

The boy glared towards Allen with a bored expression which seemed to carry a bit of interest into what type of sword style this school taught.

“We only train with one sword, if you prefer to use two swords and dual wield that is fine by me” (Allen)

“No, I’d prefer to use what my opponent is using so who is my opponent or are all of them coming at me together?” (Kazuki)

The youth stared towards the group of students who seemed to be angered by what he had said, he turned away from the group as if they were out of his sight which further riled them up.

“You can go against Ben, he is 15 years old and is one of the best students in the school and has trained the sword style to intermediate rank which requires a lot of talent for someone his age” (Allen)

The man seemed to reply with a triumphant and proud expression as he looked over towards a youth who was at the front of the students.

“Why do I have to fight him, he is just some brat who has learned a little sword style and believes he is better than everyone else” (Ben)

The youth glared at Kazuki with an angered expression as he seemed offended by the words and behaviour of Kazuki from his previous statement.

“It doesn’t matter if he is skilled or not he requested to challenge me and I promised the boy if he is able to defeat you I will have a match against him so shut up and take your position” (Allen)

Allen seemed to be dissatisfied with the attitude his student showed towards having a match against Kazuki but he did understand that Ben was prideful like himself and being looked down upon by someone younger and weaker than yourself is quite embarrassing.

The two boys then walked towards the arena and were opposite each other and getting into position, the length of the field was around the size of a soccer field which provided space for the participants to move around.

“Right you seem to be in position are you both ready, on the count of 3 the match will begin” (Allen)

“Yeah sure” (Kazuki)

“Let’s finish this quickly and put this little brat back into place” (Ben)

Kazuki who just responded in a casual tone while Ben was still annoyed which was further filed by the fact his opponent didn’t seem to see him as a threat at all.

“Okay then…”(Allen)

“3”

“2”

“1”

“Go”

And then suddenly a torrent of wind shot out from the arena and the youth with his bokken at an unmeasurable speed suddenly rushed towards the youth who was caught off guard.

In 5 seconds the youth managed to reach his opponent and an event which shocked the entire crowd occurred.

*BANG *BANG *BANG*

End of Chapter 3