VOLUME 5
Chapter 2: Part 2
I rushed outside without remembering to put on my jacket. I was so sure that Dai-sensei was going to get really p.i.s.sed at me and force me to bow to the floor.
And I mean, as I trembled from the cold outside and stared at the twintailed girl in front of me, it’s not like I could ask her to allow me to go back inside.
After all, I was completely to blame here.
But seriously, it was cold today.
“Ayumu-san~~.”
That same smile was still carved into her face. Even if it was a smile, the fact that her expression hadn’t changed at all was terrifying.
Well, here it comes. She was going to lecture me. I took a deep breath and steeled myself. I was prepared to endure any attack she sent in my direction.
“Here I go~~.”
Suddenly… the world turned dark.
The two-lane road in front of the shop, the buildings all around us, the beautiful cloudy sky above us… everything around us became swallowed in darkness, and I found myself alone with Dai-esnsei.
I really didn’t even know what my feet were stepping on right now. I had been pulled completely into this strange, dark s.p.a.ce.
“Well then~~, until you make me surrender, we’re going to be in here forever~~.”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
“I’ll only let strong people s.e.xually hara.s.s me~~. Do you really think my pride would let me get caught off guard by someone weaker~~?”
“… I see. So it’s like that.”
“So, Ayumu-san, please fight me here and win.”
… Seriously? How the h.e.l.l had it come to this? I really had no idea what these masou shoujo were thinking. I mean, sure Haruna would always come and attack me when I s.e.xually hara.s.sed her, but that would be the end of it.
“W-Wait just a bit! Let’s stop this! You can punish me however you want! And… what do you mean ‘win’?”
“This battle will continue until you can land a hit on me. Doesn’t that… seem like punishment~~?”
… Indeed, it seemed like a terrifying punishment.
“Ayumu-san’s specialty is hand-to-hand fighting, yes~~?”
Saying that, Dai-sensei kicked off the black ground beneath our feet. I actually didn’t know whether it was appropriate to call it a “ground,” but either way, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming at me.
I saw a flash of Dai-sensei’s pale, silky skin, clear enough that I could almost see the veins running through her hand, as her fist gouged right into my stomach.
So fast! I couldn’t make a single move of my own before her attack had landed.
I bent forwards at her attack, when she sent down a fierce strike on the back of my head with her elbow.
Haruna probably would’ve been satisfied with that and would’ve stopped there.
“Come now, if you don’t fight back, you’ll be here for your entire life, you know~~? Well, I won’t kill you though.”
This was h.e.l.l. This was pure h.e.l.l.
For now, I aimed for her head and sent out a light punch.
Dai-sensei grabbed my arm mid-attack. I heard a sharp snap, and saw that my wrist was now bent into a really weird direction.
“Ayumu-sann~~, you can heal yourself, can you not? I don’t have to heal you myself, yes~~?”
Ahh, I see. She was going to break me and then fix me over and over again.
“By the way, I just wanted to ask…”
“Yes?”
“How long did it take the last guy who s.e.xually hara.s.sed you to get out of here?”
“He landed a punch on me after a week~~.”
Seriously? He fought in this kind of place for an entire week?
“You’re seriously not going to let me out until I hit you? Come on, we have to keep guard over Kyouko.”
“If Ayumu-san comes at me with all he has, then I’m sure it’ll be over soon~~.”
…. I see. Okay, I got it. I had to try. It made me feel a bit bad to hit someone that I had just s.e.xually hara.s.sed, but if she was asking for it, then I had no choice but to oblige her request.
And this was also a good opportunity. Chris was probably around as strong as Dai-sensei, after all.
I was a zombie, so I didn’t feel any pain and my body recovered quickly. I had to take good advantage of those traits and pressure her.
Even if I was no match for her, it was important for me to keep attacking. That was something Dai-sensei had taught me before.
“I’m… going to fight seriously now, okay?”
“Okaaay~~.”
Dai-sensei happily nodded. I rushed right in front of her and thrust out my fist.
“Too slowww~~.”
Dai-sensei kicked her feet up and hit my fist. This gave her the opening to place her hand softly on my chest.
Boom. Something exploded.
Well, it’s not like the explosion actually made a sound. But I felt my heart rupturing inside my body.
Just by putting her hand on my chest… ugh, I might’ve been a zombie, but couldn’t she ease up just a bit?
Someone more naïve might think that he had killed me and would’ve let down his guard… but that wasn’t going to happen here.
“By the way, should I try to imitate Chris’s fighting style for a bit~~?”
“… You can do that?”
“Well, they do call me ‘the strongest,’ after all~~.”
She chuckled. She let out a cute chuckle, with her hand covering her mouth. But then… Dai-sensei blurred in front of my eyes.
The next moment, she had jammed her fingers into my Adam’s apple. I opened my mouth in surprise… but this was a chance.
“Hah!”
She had gotten too close. At this distance, there’s no way she could dodge my right hook.
My fist definitely dug right into Dai-sensei’s soft cheek.
But… Dai-sensei just kept on smiling. My attack had caused nodamage?
I rushed right at her. But none of my attacks had any effect.
What the h.e.l.l? I frowned, when I felt an attack land on the back of my head.
That attack sent me flying for thirty meters. There weren’t any walls or other obstructions in this dark s.p.a.ce, so I just kept on rolling and rolling.
“Don’t let down your guard~~.”
I heard the pitter-patter of Dai-sensei’s footsteps behind me. Hm? What happened to the Dai-sensei I had punched a second ago? Ah, no, there she was back where I had been sent flying. Wha-… there were two Dai-sensei?! What the h.e.l.l?!
The Dai-sensei who had punched me suddenly vanished into smoke.
“This is magic that lets you split into two. That was just a double~~.”
A double. I see… there was also magic like that.
“But, I don’t remember Chris using magic like that.”
“The doubles Chris makes are nothing more than dolls~~. She fights with lots and lots of them stacked up on her own body.”
“Why in the world would she want to-“
“She likes to control the battle~~. Everyone might say she’s the strongest, but there are still lots of nasty attacks that she can’t deal with. For exampleee… Ayumu-san, say you send a really nice attack at her. But, you hit one of her doubles instead, and you end up thinking that your attack doesn’t work~~. Now, a question! If punches don’t work, what do you do?”
“If I can’t punch her… I guess I’d try to judo hold her or something?”
“Yes, something like that~~. And so, one of your most effective attacks has been sealed~~”
Clap clap clap clap. Dai-sensei applauded me.
I see. That was the true nature of the invulnerable monster.
Now that I thought about it, it all made sense.
Even if she was cut or impaled by a sword, she didn’t have a single wound to show for it… that was impossible.
If you get impaled by a sword, then at the very least your skin should break a bit.
So for her to escape that completely unwounded was completely impossible… or, in other words, the attack hadn’t reached her in the first place.
“But, that isn’t the real problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just like the name sounds, but double magic lets you become two people~~. But in Chris’s case, she can make dozens and dozens of copies all at onceee~~. And then, she casts lots of illusions and can even make them half-transparent~~.”
“Umm, sorry, but that was too technical. Come again?”
“In other wordsss… no matter how much you punch down her doubles, your attacks won’t ever reach the real person~~.”
Ah, I see. Even if I push one double out of the way and try to attack the real person, there were still dozens of doubles there waiting for me… geez, facing the strongest was no joke.
“Also, Ayumu-sann~~, you put too much power into your attacks. Let’s try for a few more counterattacks~~”
“Counterattacks, huh…?”
“Yes yes. For example…”
Dai-sensei kicked off the black ground again. Her small fist soon appeared in front of my eyes. It was a straight punch with her right hand. I instantly dodged. She was just full of openings right now… I had my chance.
… Okay, time for a counterattack.
I thrust my fist out, trying to cross Dai-sensei’s arm with my own, but before I could do that her other fist sunk right into my face.
“See that right now~~? I sent out a light attack, and then you tried to attack backkkk… but I used that chance to counter again and caught you off guard~~. When you’re attacking, all your opponent is thinking about is guarding and dodging… you can’t expect to do any damage. So you wait… and try to lure your opponent into attacking~~. When your opponent is attacking, they’re not thinking about guarding at allll~~… all you have to do is find that timing to strike.”
“I see… I’ll take that into account.”
I bent my broken nose back into place and readied my fists.
“Well nowww… try hard and land that single blow~~!!”
She gave me a brisk smile, looking like some fired-up baseball coach talking to his team.
Okay, first you send out a light attack…
I closed the distance between me and Dai-sensei, my left shoulder headed right for her. I launched a light jab, and she came back at me with her own attack…
Uwah! Her super-fast attac grazed my ear.
I twirled to the right to get out of the way, and taking advantage of that, launched a high kick right at Dai-sensei.
The heel of my sneakers connected with Dai-sensei’s forehead.
“Eh?”
I… hit her?
“If I didn’t use a double there, this fight would already be over~~. How unfortunate. But… I am somewhat surprised.”
Dammit. I had hit a double.
My shoulders drooped, but Dai-sensei spoke to me with joy in her voice.
“That speed back there… even I couldn’t follow it~~.”
Seriously? Hm? Wait… I see!
“Can I try again?”
“Please please, go ahead~~.”
I did almost the same thing; I went at her from my left side, and then sent a jab out with my right fist. Dai-sensei countered. Maybe she caught on to what I was trying to do, but she sent back almost the same exact attack as before.
I dodged her attack, and then sent a straight punch with my right hand sailing for Dai-sensei’s face.
I stopped my fist though, millimeters before the attack had reached Dai-sensei’s nose.
“My my, but you could’ve ended it right there~~.”
As I thought. The time it usually took for me to intensify my physical strength had been shortened. h.e.l.l, my attacks may have also breached the 600% limit they had before.
Usually, I would have to attack after acc.u.mulating my strength.
To make a baseball a.n.a.logy, it was like telling your opponent that you were about to throw him a 150 km/hr fastball.
But, this was different. In an instant, I could feel my strength explode, to the point where it completely disoriented my senses.
It was like planning on throwing a 10 km/hr pitch, but suddenly throwing a 150 km/hr fastball.
… I had certainly grown strong.
“Ayumu-san seems to be doing much better than expected, so I’m going to get serious now too, ‘kayy~~?”
“Sure! I’d ask for nothing less!”
I wanted to practice what I had learned just now over and over again, to the point where everything had completely sunk in. So, I responded like that and with a smile.
Dai-sensei took out a cheap-looking j.a.panese katana, and…
“Nomobuyo, woshi, has.h.i.tawa, dokeda, gunmiicha, dei, ribura!”
Noooooo! Anything but thaaaaaaaaaaaattttttt!!!
END CHAPTER 2
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES