Dual Souls, The Other Half is Bronya

With the clash of metal, the blades crossed, sending up bursts of crimson sparks—Ikki had successfully blocked the attack!

"Heh~ I knew you could do it." Flicking a casual Sword Flower, White Night continued to pick up speed.

Ikki focused as hard as he could, faintly sensing the flow of air currents, but to extract the information he needed from them... there wasn't enough time.

"Clang—!"

After several exchanges... a crisp sound rang out as the Yin Iron was sent flying high, the blade spinning before embedding itself in the training ground floor.

"How do you feel, Ikki?"

"Hah~ A little hard to get used to."

Letting out a long breath, Ikki raised a hand to remove his blindfold, his expression showing slight fatigue. Intense concentration took a heavy toll on his energy.

But the effort was worth it. Though it was tough, Ikki could feel real progress! He picked up the Yin Iron. "Time's limited, White Night. Let's keep going."

"Not resting a bit longer?"

"No need. I can still hold out!"

Raising his hand to put the blindfold back on, his vision once again plunged into darkness. Ikki gripped the sword with both hands, his unwavering will stirring admiration.

"..."

White Night fell silent for a moment, sighing inwardly: And that's why you're the protagonist~ Kurogane Ikki.

The corner of his mouth lifted unconsciously as he wiped his blade. "Ikki, consider this a test. I know a lot of things, and when the time is right, I'll tell you selectively."

"???"

"Don't get distracted! For now, at least, focus on training!" White Night swung the flat of his blade in a fierce strike, sending Ikki stumbling back.

As time passed...

"Clang~ Clang-clang—!"

Ikki gradually adapted to the darkness. In his mind, he could vaguely outline the shapes of the outside world—just lines, but that was enough!

Blades crossed, sparks flying in bursts. It looked no different from their usual sparring? But pay attention! Ikki still had his eyes covered.

"Looks like tomorrow's match won't be a problem."

"Clang—!"

Amid their sword dance, White Night still had energy to spare and mischievously offered Ikki a suggestion. "Ikki, (Clang—!) how about wearing the blindfold in tomorrow's match?"

"That guy's (Clang—!) Hunter's Forest relies on some kind of stealth camouflage, right? You'd just skip using your sight entirely, (Clang—!) and mock him hard."

Ikki didn't reply. Just focusing all his energy on keeping up had drained him completely; he had no attention to spare.

White Night didn't mind, though. He'd only suggested it because he thought it'd be amusing.

"Alright, that's about enough."

Then his sword style shifted, growing more unpredictable. Lacking vision, Ikki was caught off guard as White Night flicked his blade—and the Yin Iron flew from his grasp once more.

White Night sheathed Myriad Phenomena in the same motion. "That's it for today. You've got a match tomorrow, so don't overwork yourself. Head back early and rest~"

Ikki lifted his blindfold to see White Night with one hand in his pocket, waving his right hand over his shoulder as he walked away. "Those people look down on you, don't they?"

"Then use your performance to slap them in the face! Slap them so hard their faces swell up~"

"... Thanks for this, White Night."

15. An Expected Victory

The Seven Star Sword Martial Festival representative selection matches didn't require the use of Imaginary Forms, which discouraged many students.

But as spectators, people were still very interested. Today's selection stage was once again packed to the brim.

"Finally, the fourth match is about to begin. Our commentator, umm..."

Where had the commentator gone? The Announcer paused for a moment, then continued without missing a beat, "Our commentator is Nenene Saikyō!"

"Additionally, both sides of this match are drawing a lot of attention. On one side, we have the C-Rank Knight who participated in the Seven Star Sword Martial Festival as a first-year last year, Kirihara Shiya!"

At this point, the Announcer deliberately sped up his delivery, skipping the part where the commentator greeted the audience.

As Kirihara Shiya stepped out, cheers erupted from the stands. Though he was a scumbag, he was surprisingly popular~

"And on the other side of the match, despite being F-Rank, the one who defeated Famillion in the previous mock battle—Kurogane Ikki!" Following that came another round of cheers.

Kurogane Ikki entered the arena with steady steps. In the stands, Stella arrived late as well.

"Miss Stella, why so late?"

"Ah, well... a little something came up." Stella's gaze wandered, clearly not good at lying.

Rewinding time:

"Stella, aren't you going to see Ikki?"

In the hallway, Bronya stood waiting with her arms crossed. "That guy's on stage for the first time, after all. Even he's bound to be nervous."

"You probably never thought about it, did you? Someone like Ikki could actually get nervous."

With that, Bronya brushed past Stella. "The match hasn't started yet. There's still time to go."

"Yo~ We meet again, Nenene."

On the other side, White Night had also blocked Nenene Saikyō. "This direction... are you heading to find Ikki, Nenene? Knowing you, you're just looking for some fun, right?"

"Oh my, if it isn't White Night. What's up?" Nenene snapped her folding fan shut, speaking in a childish tone.

"Nothing much, really~"

White Night stepped closer, leaning against the nearby wall. "I just think this isn't the time for you to go bothering him. There's definitely someone more suitable for that."

"More suitable?" Nenene thought it over, and images of Stella, Shizuku, and the others flashed through her mind.

With that in mind, it wouldn't be right to go intrude anymore. Nenene shifted her target on the spot.

Even though White Night had seen through her last time, Nenene still habitually used Drawn Foot, pressing her whole body against him. "Speaking of which, I'm pretty interested in little White too~"

"How about it? Interested in coming to my room tonight for a special lesson?"

Emmm...

White Night fell silent for a moment, his mind involuntarily recalling some doujinshi he'd seen. He glanced at the obi sash behind Nenene's kimono.

Considering how well they knew each other, he ultimately gave up on that thought and just flicked the big red bow tied on her head. "If you want to tease me, Nenene, that's not nearly enough~"

"Mmph! Does little White want more?"

Just the bow didn't provoke much reaction from Nenene. Instead, she tightened her kimono and pretended to be shy, teasing him further.

"You're a teacher, at least show some restraint."

"Oh my, what are you saying, little White? I'm just—" Nenene seemed about to say more.

White Night knew her too well to bother with back-and-forth. He went straight for the kill: "But you're not actually planning to do anything with me, are you?"

"Just now too—it looked close, but really only your arm was touching me."

"Boo~ Little White's no fun!"

With that tone, paired with her petite build and youthful appearance, she almost seemed like an adorable little loli. But the next moment, it was clear it was all an illusion:

"Little White, so what you're saying is... if I really did plan to do something with you, you'd accept?"

White Night remained unmoved.

"Let Bronya answer that."

From the corner of the corridor, Bronya walked over slowly. "She may be an expired loli, but expired has its perks—after all, expired means legal."

"But that's impossible, isn't it? No one can replace the Chairman's place in Nenene's heart."

Before Nenene could say anything, White Night spoke first, putting the matter to rest.

"..."

Just then, the Chairman himself came looking for them. He'd expected that walking indecency to be stirring up trouble, but he never imagined he'd hear such a shocking statement. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"Alright, Chairman. The match is about to start. Time to drag our commentator to her post."

White Night and Bronya showed no embarrassment, carrying on as usual as they walked past the two. "Oh, and Nenene, about that private lesson—please approve it."

"Don't misunderstand. It's the gravity course I mentioned last time," Bronya added flatly.

Back at the arena:

"I can't believe you actually showed up."

In the center of the field, the two opponents approached each other slowly. Kirihara Shiya struck first. "So this time, it's fine if I beat you into a ragged mess, right? Fallen Knight~"

"If you can, go ahead and try." Ikki's gaze held no hesitation, only firm resolve.

"What's with that look..."

Meeting Ikki's eyes, Kirihara instantly grew irritated. He summoned his spirit bow, Obscure Moon. "Time to hunt, Obscure Moon! I'll help you face reality."

"Yin Iron."

Ikki remained calm and composed, summoning Yin Iron with steady ease, ready for battle.

"... Acting high and mighty. Are you looking down on me?!" Kirihara saw Ikki as weak. Being treated like this by someone weaker was something his pride couldn't stomach.

A vast forest materialized. Invisible camouflage activated, and Kirihara Shiya's form slowly faded, merging into the Hunter's Forest.

"There it is—'Hunter's Forest'!"

The announcer cheered passionately, drawing a wave of applause from the audience. In contrast...

"What an impressive Hunter's Forest."

"Yeah. Too bad he didn't go into landscaping." Bronya chimed in to back him up.

Their flat, monotone delivery made Stella, Shizuku, and the others glance over. "Are you two really okay with that?"

—That was a seriously deadly technique for fighting people, and they were talking about it like it was landscaping?

"What's the problem?"

White Night tilted his head toward Bronya. Seeing her shake her head, he relaxed and continued, "That guy's just a scumbag. Ikki's got this."

The announcer was still doing his best to broadcast: "Kirihara has vanished from the arena—what will Kurogane do now?"

"Truly a troublesome ability..."

Standing in the forest, Ikki calmly gripped the Yin Iron, spreading his senses wide. "If I hadn't trained for this, I suppose I'd be in a bind too?"

But I'm different now... With a sudden burst of wrist strength, Ikki swung his blade to deflect an arrow, tracing its trajectory back to the source.

"Clang—clang—!"

A volley of arrows came flying, but they were knocked down by masterful swordsmanship. Ikki charged forward at high speed, the Yin Iron in his hand carving a flash of blade light...

"Zing~"

Accompanied by Sword Qi, a scrap of uniform fabric appeared, drifting slowly down through the air.

"That's... a piece of the uniform! Could it be that Kurogane has already pinpointed Kirihara's position?"

The announcer's voice was impassioned—he was really giving it his all~ Then a youthful voice rang out:

"Kirihara's 'Hunter's Forest' can't make arrows invisible. Kurogane simply calculated Kirihara's position backward from the direction the arrows came."

"!!!"

"Nenene-sensei! When did you get here?" The announcer hadn't noticed at all and couldn't help but exclaim.

Good grief, a broadcast blunder if there ever was one! At this point, the announcer could only clear his throat and bluff his way through it. "Ahem~ Thank you, Nenene-sensei, for that explanation."

"Could it be that Kurogane-kun..."

Back on the field, Kirihara Shiya appeared on a tree branch, speaking to Ikki with a rather composed tone. "Are you really trying to defeat me?"

Ikki gripped the Yin Iron in silence. This time, he had confidence, so he couldn't be bothered with a war of words.

"...Tch~"