I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Yui Yuigahama argued vehemently: "What can we do? We can't help at all; we're just here to cheer you on... In a sense, isn't this just like a paid vacation?"

"Even if that's the case, please approach this ancient cultural capital with a learning attitude. I suggest you come with me to the Kyoto University Museum..."

"Yuu, you agree, right?" As Yui uttered a word that sent a jolt of headache through her, Yuigahama Yui immediately changed the subject tactically. "Hiratsuka-sensei also told us to have some fun... Yuu?"

After being called two or three times, he seemed to snap out of his daze and looked over.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Yuu Tenkuji blinked, meeting the gazes of the two who were staring at him strangely, and said casually, "Playing around? Of course, we can go wherever we want whenever we have free time. The club fees are given to us to play around with, whether we want to go to a museum or a shrine, it doesn't matter—just across the Kanto region is freedom."

No one paid any attention to his joke; they all looked in the direction of his gaze.

"That is..."

"Kuroyuri Girls' Academy, a prestigious girls' school near Chiba." Yukino Yukinoshita said thoughtfully, her pale fingers gently touching her chin. "Speaking of which, I seem to have seen it in the information. In Chiba Prefecture, the fencing club of Kuroyuri Girls' High School and the kendo club of Soubu High School are frequent participants in the national competition, hence they are known as the 'Chiba Twin Swords'."

"What an cheesy nickname." Tenkuji Yu laughed, and seeing that the group was about to fall behind after chatting for a while, he quickly caught up with the kendo club group. "Let's go, don't just stand here watching them."

"You're the one looking at others, aren't you?" A hoarse voice rang out, and Natsukawa Masui, who had remained silent until now, spoke softly, "Is there a girl you're interested in inside? Want to go and chat her up?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Are the girls there as pretty as you?" Tenkuji Yu shrugged and said casually with a smile, "I'm not that desperate. It's just that I've seen a few of them before at the supermarket near my home. They looked familiar, so I took a few more glances."

Upon hearing this, a noticeable glimmer of light returned to Natsukawa Masaki's eyes, and the gloomy atmosphere lessened somewhat.

Yukino Yukinoshita's expression softened slightly, and Yui Yuigahama chuckled happily.

Then Natsukawa Masuzu turned to Yukino Yukinoshita and asked:

"Is the lie detector over there lying?"

"I guess about 80% of it is the truth, and the rest is just vague and misleading language?"

After speaking without hesitation, Yukino Yukinoshita gave Natsukawa Masuzu a cold glance: "Also, I'm not some kind of lie detector. If you can't tell, it's just that you're not capable enough."

Yuu Tenkuji: "..."

No, no, no, this is almost as accurate as a lie detector, okay?!

No normal person could do something like that, right? You probably know me better than I do, Yukinoshita!

After a brief chat, the group entered the stadium.

Compared to the outside, perhaps because of the added limitation of the ceiling, the atmosphere here is more lively, with shouts from staff and conversations between students and coaches everywhere, echoing like the buzzing of mosquitoes around your ears.

Yukino Yukinoshita and Masuzu Natsukawa, who both preferred quiet, almost unconsciously frowned. However, the gradually gathering gazes and the shifting atmosphere of the conversation made them unconsciously focus on the voices around them.

"It's Zongwu High School, one of the top eight in last year's competition..."

"Isn't their minister known as the Little Sword Saint? Why did he only make it to the quarterfinals?"

"You mean Himura? He's been suspended for a long time and is always causing trouble outside. If it weren't for the fact that it was all considered self-defense and he seems to have someone protecting him, the entire Soubu High School would probably be unable to compete because of him."

"Can they still win like this? Without that undefeated champion from high school..."

"Wait, I remember that bespectacled guy, isn't that Kenzaki, the vice-captain? The top player known for his precision and speed, the coach even said to be especially careful of his thrusts... What happened to his hand?"

"It's said that he was interrupted by a fight and won't be able to participate in this competition."

"Huh? Does that mean the Soubu High School is finished? They don't have any other famous fighters, do they?"

"Stop criticizing them. With that little swordsman's guidance, their overall strength is above average, and they don't have any major weaknesses. It just depends on who they substitute and who they promote to the general's position."

"Is that the newcomer? He's so handsome..."

"Hmm? I feel like I've seen this person somewhere before, but I've never seen a picture of him in any of the previous competitions, and there's no information about him in the records..."

There are many similar discussions. Every team that has participated in the national competition and achieved good results receives this kind of attention and becomes the center of attention for a time.

Chapter 117 From Kansai to Kanto, they converged.

The Kendo Club members who came to Kyoto this time consisted of eight people: one coach, four regular members, one substitute, and two spectators, the captain and vice-captain. They were all regulars in the competition, and their information had been thoroughly investigated since the district competition. Their styles, whether defensive or offensive, and whose strengths needed to be focused on were all clear to others.

Now, a strange face walking in the group wearing the same sportswear immediately aroused the vigilance of the other teams.

"Is it a hidden trump card, or just a deceptive facade..."

An atmosphere of suspicion arose, and countless eyes swept over Tenkuji Yu. He remained calm and composed, showing no signs of being a powerful figure. He simply narrowed his eyes and nodded to the students from other schools who were staring at him with a kind and innocent smile.

So the group became even more nervous—most people who practice kendo like to read shonen manga, and naturally understand the truth that squinty-eyed and smiling monsters are usually monsters.

Immediately, several team coaches suddenly raised their enthusiastic smiles and greeted Zongwu High School, their intention to probe their strength was very clear.

Unfortunately, before that, the coach of Soubu High School had instructed the members to surround Tenkuji Yu. After registering as quickly as possible, the group broke through the encirclement at the fastest speed, giving no chance for other schools to gather information.

"Although I think it's unnecessary, even if they knew the intelligence, they wouldn't have time to formulate a countermeasure."

Surrounded by everyone, Yuu Tenkuji felt somewhat helpless. Although becoming the secret ace was a source of pride, it was ultimately unnecessary for him.

Forced to squeeze next to him, Yukino Yukinoshita hunched her slender shoulders and sighed helplessly as she moved her feet: "But at least we can get to the guesthouse to rest as quickly as possible... I'm starting to hate this place, and the smell of sweat is so strong."

"On my body?"

"If it's yours, then that's outrageous!" Yukinoshita didn't even look at him.

"I see."

Yuu Tenkuji nodded. The meaning of his words was clear: if he also had body odor, Yukino Yukinoshita would probably feel nauseous right now.

I've unintentionally become someone else's air purifier... I always feel a bit cold behind me, is it because a beautiful girl from Northern Europe is staring at me?

"But speaking of which, Yui really did become a captain," Yuigahama Yui remarked. "To become the strongest captain in her very first tournament, nobody would believe it, right?"

"You're wrong, Yui." As they returned to the arena with the kendo club members, Tenkuji Yu casually explained to her, "The normal tournament format is best of five. If the top three positions—vanguard, second vanguard, and center—all lose, the match ends immediately, and even the strongest captain is useless. So there's a momentum-based style of playing the vanguard, and a center-based style of playing to stabilize the crucial rounds. Putting all your hopes on the captain is very easy to get hurt."

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded in understanding: "Tian Ji's horse racing strategy, adjusting the order of combat strength to let the strong win first, the best horse against the middle horse, the middle horse against the worst horse... However, if it is a best-of-five system, the chance of being overturned will be very high, and not every team can apply this strategy."

Yuu Tenkuji shrugged: "Of course, but that's something for those coaches to worry about."

"Hmm... I think I understand!" Yui Yuigahama puffed out her cheeks, seemingly understanding, "So, if the kendo club members lose the first three rounds..."

Then there's no point in talking about Yuu Tenkuji anymore. No matter how strong he is, he can't participate and can only be a mascot. There's no loser's revival match for him to make a comeback. If he loses, he's out.

"Yes, so around the quarterfinals, or when facing strong opponents, the coach would request the 'Jade Dragon Flag' format, allowing me to directly secure the victory."

The reason he didn't fight from start to finish is because the Kendo Club isn't here for tourism or simply to win trophies. Victory is important, but the competition experience is also important!

Even if they were just trying to coast through the competition, they wouldn't make it to the national tournament. They all have their own dignity, confidence in their abilities, and a strong will to personally take victory from their opponents.

"Jade Dragon Flag? What's that?" Yui Yuigahama asked, introducing a term she didn't understand.

Snapped!

Tenkuji casually snapped his fingers. Miss Xue Baike first gave him a cold glare, then explained to Yui Hama: "It's a winner-takes-all format. Team members from both sides can play regardless of the order. The winner continues to play, and if it's a tie, both teams' players leave the field at the same time. The team that remains on the field at the end wins... It's easier to understand if you think of it as a gauntlet."

"That's right, which means..."

Tenkuji Yu pointed to himself with his thumb and smiled easily and happily.

"If the situation allows, I'll take on all five of them by myself and make sure there are no surprises on the road to the championship."

……

We finally arrived at the guesthouse with a hot spring. Carrying the fatigue of the long journey on our shoulders, a dozen or so people gathered in the lobby with their luggage and began to be assigned rooms.

The seven men and one woman in the kendo club lived in two rooms, one group room and one single room.

Although they paid for the room, considering that Natsukawa Masuzu belonged to the Service Club, the Kendo Club booked the three girls' room together, making it a four-person room.

As for Tenkuji Yu, he naturally has his own room.

"Now you have free time. Remember to come back for dinner at six o'clock. You can soak in the hot springs later tonight. Relax on the streets of Kyoto and prepare for tomorrow's 'war'!"

"Oh!"

The cheers from sports clubs are always so unified and resounding, even if it's just the anticipation of having fun.

Tenkuji Yu tossed the keys in his hand and glanced casually at Natsukawa Masuri.

Her long, silvery hair cascaded down her back, and she was as quiet as a daffodil in the winter snow. Her mask and hair covered most of her face, but it was impossible to see what emotions were contained in her sapphire eyes.

She simply followed behind Yukinoshita and Yuihama, dragging her suitcase into the room.

Almost subconsciously, Yuu Tenkuji wanted to use the phrase "I anticipated your actions" to probe her thoughts at this moment, wondering if she had any terrible ideas like wanting to sleep with him again.

But remembering what happened on the bus, he hesitated for a moment, and in the end did nothing, simply walking towards his room.

"Oh, by the way, Xiaoyou, please put your luggage away and meet us in the lobby later!"

"Hmm? What do you want me to do?"

The girl with the bun hairstyle waved her fist and said enthusiastically:

"Of course, we'll go sightseeing in Kyoto together!"

……

In the darkened room, the screen illuminated the corner of her cold smile.

"We've finally arrived... I didn't expect that we would take the bus instead of the Shinkansen and it would take seven hours to get here."

"Seriously, are the people who plan these trips all muscle-bound? I've been waiting since this morning, and shopping alone is so boring. Luckily, I brought my work with me to take care of."

The pile of documents on the table showed how boring her life had been lately.

However, the long wait was not in vain.

Hearing the faint sound of a door closing from the next room, and even feeling the vibrations of her feet on the tatami mat, she cut off her communication with her "informant" and stood up with a "whoosh!"

The afternoon sunlight streaming through the window illuminated the woman's beautiful, mature face, as well as her pair of cunning and lively dark eyes, like those of a fox.

"Hmph, I won't make the same mistake I did on the autumn outing..."

"Yukino and Tenkuji-kun, wait for my big surprise!"

As if she had thought of something happy, in the quiet single room, Yukinoshita Haruno couldn't contain her joy and chuckled softly.

……

With a slight twitch of her ears, Yuu Tenkuji, who had just put down her luggage, turned her puzzled gaze toward the wall.

"I feel like I heard that familiar laughter..."

Chapter 118 Walking in Shimogamo Shrine