After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

Hosaka Yui looked at him sharply, her eyes widened in disbelief, and the corners of her mouth drooped, "Kagura junior, are you straight? When a girl shows her weaknesses in front of a guy, she is looking for comfort, not for you to insult her!"

"But you are indeed weak. Not physically, but emotionally," Kagura Hikaru said, "Everyone feels weak at times, but how you face your own vulnerability is the fundamental reason that creates differences between people."

Unmoved by what he said, Hosaka Yui curled her lips and retorted, "You're probably trying to encourage me to keep going, right? But if you know you can't do it and still try, isn't that a waste of time?"

"I won't deny that possibility, maybe at the end, it all turns out to be in vain."

Kagura Hikaru nodded to Ayakoji Chiyoko as she came back, handed her a bottle of sports drink, then turned to look at Hosaka Yui, "But if you do nothing, that possibility will collapse to zero."

"That's sophistry...."

Muttering under her breath, Hosaka Yui looked down with a complicated expression.

How nice it is to be troubled by youth.

Watching her, Kagura Hikaru felt somewhat emotional.

Compared to them, Kagura Hikaru was just a person who had lost his dreams, a grey dot amidst the vibrant colors of energetic students.

Living without ideals, without goals, he spent his days dwelling on the past.

Living like a dried-up old man.

At the age of barely over ten, he was already full of scars and had lost the motivation to move forward.

He always looked with envy at those who could still worry about their futures.

"Kagura, it's almost your turn."

Teacher Yamazaki tapped Kagura Hikaru's shoulder from behind.

He nodded, picked up his head cloth to wrap it around his head, put on his faceguard, donned his hand protection, grabbed his bamboo sword, and walked toward his match area.

"Mr. Kagura, good luck!" Hosaka Yui called out from behind.

Kagura Hikaru turned his head and nodded slightly.

He might no longer have a dream, but perhaps, he could still provide a bit of courage for someone lost to take a step forward.

Maybe that's why he was here.

In his match area, the competitors were still fighting, but the time was nearly over, he just had to wait a bit longer.

At that moment, Kagura Hikaru's opponent approached, it turned out to be someone from the Kyoto Ward team they had encountered earlier.

The man passed by and glanced at Kagura Hikaru, scoffing intentionally, "Look at how serious you are, must be your first time, huh? Want me to go easy on you?"

"..." Kagura Hikaru looked at him without saying a word.

"What's up? Cat got your tongue? Looking all dumbfounded."

"I'm just thinking, if you lose later and run into me again, will you feel embarrassed."

"Ah? Me lose?" The Kyoto Competitor laughed, showing his teeth, "You sure have guts to think that, who do you think I am?"

"Oh."

Kagura Hikaru ended the conversation with one word, not only because he felt talking to this man was a waste of time, but also because the match on the field had just ended, and it was their turn to compete.

The Kyoto Competitor shut his mouth, walked to the other side of the field, and stood in silence.

During a Sword Dao match, apart from the Spirit Focus, one is not allowed to speak, otherwise it's not just disrespectful to the opponent and the spectators, but the referee also has the right to deduct points for it as a foul.

Kagura Hikaru thought that the provocation he had just experienced might be one of the opponent's tactics, to distract him and affect his performance in the match.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

After all, once the match started, there could be no talking.

Whether or not this was correct didn't really matter, since Kagura Hikaru hadn't been affected anyway.

This level of malice was something he could scarcely be bothered to respond to unless he didn't want to be seen as weak and incompetent.

Arguing and bickering must be one of the most meaningless things in the world.

Kagura Hikaru's heart was calm, as if standing at the center of a mirror-like lake, his serene demeanor continuously drawing the attention of those around him.

What he didn't know was that before the match began, before Kagura Hikaru had put on his faceguard, the broadcast cameras had already been fixed on him.

The cameras had originally intended to follow Ayakoji Chiyoko back and capture her drinking water and talking with teammates, but they hadn't expected a handsome young man on Ayakoji Chiyoko's level to come into the frame, boosting the viewership by several percentage points in an instant.

People were surprised to find that this youth with a tranquil air was actually on the same team as Ayakoji Chiyoko, both from Tokyo Uka High School.

Does Tokyo especially produce beautiful women and handsome men, or is it just this school?

Uka High inadvertently received attention once again, with just the faces of Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko likely to raise the school's application rate next year.

The match began, and the two referees waved their flags to signal the start. Kagura Hikaru and the Kyoto Competitor, with bamboo swords tied to their waists, slowly entered the arena, coming to a halt at the starting line where they crouched down, sword tips facing each other.

The next moment, both rose to their feet simultaneously.

"Yaah!!" The Kyoto Competitor started with a roar to intimidate, violently swinging down his bamboo sword.

However, Kagura Hikaru remained unmoved, as if on a different frequency, leisurely maintaining distance and footwork, holding a middle guard stance.

The Kyoto Competitor's several probing attacks all failed to make an impression, and several times when he wanted to truly strike, he seemed to lose his nerve, hesitating uncertainly.

Facing Kagura Hikaru on the field of competition, he felt an immense pressure.

The opponent did not use deception or probing approaches, merely waiting in silence, like an insurmountable mountain standing in front, with intuition telling him that even if he attacked, he would not land a hit—there seemed to be no openings.

In Sword Dao, there are four taboos: Surprise (panic), Fear (terror), Doubt, and Confusion.

When these four emotions emerge in the opponent's heart, that's the best opportunity to strike.

"Men!"

Without any warning, Kagura Hikaru struck rapidly, hitting the top of the Kyoto Competitor's head, moving past him with quick and steady steps, maintaining a Lingering Spirit posture.

The latter was stunned, taking a moment too long to realize what happened, and then quickly turning to look at the referees, only to find they had already raised the red flag.

The red flag signified Kagura Hikaru—he had scored.

The Kyoto Competitor hit his right hand in frustration, dissatisfied with his own lapse in concentration that had allowed the opponent to exploit an opening.

The two returned to the line behind the starting point, swords facing each other, the Kyoto Competitor's gaze fixed firmly on his opponent.

The referee shouted to signal the start.

This time, Kagura Hikaru launched the first attack, tapping the opponent's sword and aiming for the wrist of his right hand with a second strike.

The Kyoto Competitor narrowly sidestepped, maintaining movement, as the two circled with broken steps and swords engaged. Suddenly, both made their moves simultaneously.

The Kyoto Competitor thought Kagura Hikaru was going to strike the faceguard again, and he shared the same intention—to take advantage of the opponent's attack with a faster strike to the faceguard.

"Kote!"

But he had misjudged. As soon as he raised his sword, Kagura Hikaru's bamboo sword struck his flank, with Kagura swiftly bowing and slipping by, turning around to maintain Lingering Spirit.

The referees quickly raised the red flag.

The score was valid, Kagura Hikaru won 2:0.

The normally indomitable team from the Capital City suffered a sound defeat!

The Kyoto Competitor dumbfoundedly lowered his bamboo sword, recalling Kagura Hikaru's words before the match, asking whether it would be embarrassing to meet again after losing on the field.

...Damn it, isn't that obvious!

Eventually, without saying a word, he maintained a bowing position and left the arena, faceguard still on, and slunk away dejectedly.