Tokyo: Love Begins with Controlling the Rich Girl

The activity room was deathly quiet.

Kiryu Ichiyo staggered back two steps before barely regaining his balance.

She glanced down at the back of her right hand where she had been hit; a shocking red mark had appeared there.

The skin surface was slightly swollen, the force of the bamboo knife seeped into the back of my hand, and my entire forearm was numb.

She gritted her teeth, gripped the bamboo knife tightly, and glared angrily at Shimada Sho.

In the silence, the kendo club students nearby all stared wide-eyed at the scene before them in disbelief.

"Kiryuu-senpai... got hit?"

"Not just hit, but twice in a row..."

"Did you see how he made his move? I didn't see it at all."

"That's too fast... his sword is even faster than Kiryu-senpai's!"

"Impossible! Kiryu-senpai is the successor of Kiryu Kendo, she's been practicing it since she was a child."

"This guy..."

They were shocked by what they were seeing.

I simply cannot understand why this was the result.

"So, do you want to continue?"

Shimada Sho stood in the center of the room, his hand holding the bamboo sword hanging at his side, the tip of the sword resting on the tatami mat, and asked casually.

Kiryu Ichiyo did not answer.

Her grip on the knife tightened, and anger welled up in her eyes.

The sudden attack, perhaps due to the pain, caused a burning rage within her chest, making her somewhat irrational.

She gritted her teeth, re-assuming the middle stance, raised her bamboo sword towards Shimada Sho's throat, and forced out the words through clenched teeth: "Again!"

“Fine.” Shimada Sho said indifferently.

Kiryu Ichiyo took the initiative.

She pressed down on him, and the bamboo sword cleaved down from the top with more force than any of the previous blows.

She didn't care about any techniques or methods anymore; she just wanted to hit him with all her might.

The bamboo knife made a whistling sound as it cut through the air, carrying with it the humiliation she had suppressed in her heart for so long.

It's falling, heading straight for your head.

But Shimada Sho did not dodge. He only took half a step forward and gently flicked the bamboo sword upwards, hitting the base of the falling blade with perfect accuracy.

This is an extremely tricky angle. It doesn't require much strength; you just need to find the right spot to make the opponent's force completely miss.

"Smack—"

Kiryu Ichiyo felt a numbness in his wrist, and the bamboo sword almost slipped from his hand.

She gritted her teeth and held on, trying to change her strategy.

But at that moment, Shimada Sho's bamboo sword slid up along her blade, the tip pointing directly at her face.

"noodle!"

He shouted this, his voice filled with breath, like muffled thunder.

The tip of the bamboo knife rested on her forehead, less than a finger's width away.

If he wanted, he could have stabbed her right in the face.

Kiryu Ichiyo froze on the spot, his bamboo sword hanging in mid-air, his posture frozen just before he was about to strike.

Her breathing became rapid and erratic, and through her falling hair, one could see that her lips were pressed tightly together.

She lost.

The three cuts represent three different parts of the body: the arm, the hand, and the face.

Every cut was precise and clean, without any hesitation.

Her attacks never touched him even once.

The activity room fell into an eerie silence.

"Kiryu-kun's foundation doesn't seem to be that great either."

Shimada Sho sheathed his bamboo sword, took a half-step back, lowered the tip of the sword, and spoke in a half-teasing tone.

In one sentence, he returned her previous evaluation in full.

The members looked at each other, their expressions complicated.

The teacher stood to the side, wanting to say something, but couldn't find the words to say for a moment.

"Should I continue teaching?" Shimada Sho asked her to herself.

Kiryu Ichiyo's lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

"Kiryu-kun?" Shimada Sho called out again.

She exhaled and slumped down, as if all her strength had been drained away at that moment.

“…No need.” She shook her head, answering in a low voice, and turned to put the bamboo knife back on the knife rack.

Then, under everyone's gaze, he silently walked towards the changing area in the corner of the activity room.

Shimada Sho watched her straight back without saying anything more, and put his bamboo sword back on the sword rack.

There was a silence that lasted for several seconds in the activity room.

The boy with the buzz cut was the first to react, carefully bending down to pick up his bamboo knife that had fallen to the ground.

The people nearby exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

The way they looked at Shimada Sho now was completely different from before.

All the previous contempt and disdain vanished without a trace after this confrontation.

Looking at Shimada Sho in front of him, his eyes seemed to be filled with disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost.

A boy who had just cheered for Kiryu Ichiyo turned his head away fearfully when he met his gaze, as if afraid of being punished.

But in reality, Shimada Sho didn't care about any of that.

He walked to the window, picked up the water glass in the corner, took a sip, and came back to ask, "How much longer is training today?"

The bespectacled teacher snapped out of his reverie and glanced at the wall clock: "Forty minutes to go."

“Okay.” Shimada Sho walked to the sword rack, picked up another bamboo sword, and stood by the window in the activity room.

He didn't look in Kiryu Ichiyo's direction again, nor did he pay attention to the gazes behind him that hadn't completely withdrawn.

After adjusting the grip on the knife, I continued practicing the basic vibration technique.

Training must continue.

Even those who possess expert-level kendo skills must integrate and apply them through practice.

Moreover, he only knows the real combat style of kendo and is not familiar with kendo competitions.

I only have a superficial understanding of the competition format and such.

To win a competition, you need to know these things.

Once training began, Shimada Sho stopped thinking about anything else.

Once, twice, three times.

Time slips away quickly amidst the monotonous, repetitive movements of wielding a sword.

His movements were much smoother than at the beginning, with a steady rhythm, and each strike landed at the same height with perfect accuracy.

The bamboo sword cut through the air, producing a steady whistling sound that created a rhythmic pattern in the quiet activity room.

I practiced from morning until noon, only logging into the game once during a break between meals, and then continued practicing.

In the afternoon, the members who went to class returned.

Upon seeing that Shimada Sho was still practicing, they all showed expressions of disbelief.

"This guy is terrifying!"

"You've been practicing for so long, you must have done thousands of repetitions by now, right?"

"No wonder she was able to defeat Kiryu-senpai, her perseverance is incredible."

"If he's already this good, why does he still need to train with us?"

They didn't understand why Shimada Sho was so serious.

The boy with the buzz cut, who had been there since morning, whispered to his companion, "Are we still going to practice?"

"Keep going, everyone practice your own. The competition is in two days, so we need to bring out the best in our kendo club!" The bespectacled instructor answered on their behalf.

So, the members also joined the ranks of those wielding swords.

The sound of bamboo knives slicing through the air echoed in the activity room again, much quieter than before, and no one spoke anymore.

Shimada Sho focused intently on his own work.

He wasn't a member of the kendo club, and he didn't care about those members.

The training was just to familiarize myself with the venue and equipment in preparation for the sports festival.

As for teaching Kiryu Ichiyo a lesson, it was just a side effect.

He was not interrupted for the rest of the time.

Time passed quickly, and as school was about to end, the training in the activity room was drawing to a close.

Shimada Sho put down the bamboo sword, walked to the window, picked up his school uniform jacket, and put it on.

He glanced at the changing area; Kiryu Ichiyo had left after being defeated and hadn't reappeared all day.

At this time, he should be serving the young lady.

Thinking to himself, Shimada Sho took out his phone.

There were several messages above, including one from Yuki Ayase asking where he was.

There were also tentative inquiries from young idols, and a missed call from Auntie Island Flower.

Ms. Yonekura assured us that we could practice as much as we wanted, and the school would arrange for us to attend classes.

Therefore, after immersing himself in practice, Shimada Sho ignored it.

Now that I have some free time, I can reply to a message.

He first messaged Yuki Ayase and Chizuru Amami, explaining why he didn't go to the activity room at noon and why he wasn't in class.

Then I checked the call log and called Aunt Island Flower back.

The call connected, and Shima Hana Runa's voice came through the receiver, accompanied by the sound of a bicycle horn, indicating that she was outside.

"Xiao Xiang? Are you coming home for dinner today?"

As Shimada Sho walked toward the school gate, he replied, "Auntie, you don't need to save any food for me. I've changed to a part-time job helping out at a bar. I won't get off work until after nine o'clock, so I can just buy a bento box on the way."

"A bar?" Shimahana Runa's tone clearly paused for a moment. "Why did you switch to a bar? Isn't that place unsafe?"

"It's a new store opened by the manager. It's open during the day, the environment is quite quiet, and it's not far from the school," Shimada Sho reassured him. "And the salary is much higher than at the convenience store, which is a good fit for me."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, probably because Shimahana Runa was hesitating.

A moment later her voice rang out again, with a hint of helpless laughter: "Then take care of yourself. If you come back too late, call Auntie and I'll come pick you up."

"No need to trouble you, Auntie, the bus is very convenient."

"Then remember to eat, don't work on an empty stomach."

"Okay, got it."

After hanging up the phone, Shimada Sho put his phone back in his pocket.

As I walked out of the school gate, the setting sun had already painted the streets a warm orange hue.

He ran to the Imperial Garden as usual.