"Okay, surrender."
"Not yet... ugh!"
Ash reached out and patted the dazzling blond hair, patting back the half-sentence that the girl could not say.
"If it were according to the fighting rules, would you have lost now, or do you still have any secret tricks to be confident?"
"Well..."
Itsuki lowered her head in despair. Just as he said, she had lost the means to fight back. She just held on and refused to admit defeat.
I... lost.
After being let go, Itsuki stepped back continuously. The blush on his face slowly subsided until he was some distance away from Ash. The slightly unwilling girl cupped her hands and bowed to him.
"If you are not as skilled as others, you will be defeated."
However, the unwillingness in his heart was not directed at his opponent, but more towards himself.
It's really strange. Before the fight, I obviously hated this person and thought he was a member of the evil party. After the fight, I felt that the other person didn't seem so annoying anymore.
How should I put it, while the opponent felt the intention of her fist, Itsuki also felt the emotion coming from the opponent's fist. Although it was not fierce but not malicious, it actually made this power appear more pure.
No matter how much one says, one's actual actions will never lie.
"Yeah~ That's it."
Ash seems to enjoy other people's compliments... well, it doesn't seem like it, he does enjoy it very much.
"Do you know why I deny the perfection in your boxing skills?"
"Please guide me!"
Itsuki bent down even more this time than last time. Ash, who originally just wanted to be polite, felt a little embarrassed, but it was not easy to fool the other party's sincerity.
I'm obviously a stupid guy, so it's okay to learn those bad things to deceive people when I'm in a cafe, but let me be your best friend or something like that.
"Your style is called Meidoin-ryu, right? Technically speaking, it is completely correct. Beast-Fist Style's routine will only be counterproductive for you..."
Ash rubbed his chin, feeling the other person's gaze observing him, which made Itsuki nervous.
It seems that I can only use the principle of Fierce Beast Fist. Fortunately, I also learned this part secretly. Who calls me a genius?
"Hands out."
Itsuki obeyed Ash's instructions and obediently stretched out his hand. Ash pinched the hard-trained hands without any care, and the man's thumb pressed against the knuckles.
"It is indeed a cocoon left after a long period of practice. Training every day is very hard, right?"
"Yes." Although it was a bit embarrassing to be held by a man and squeezed and rubbed, that was not what he should be concerned about now. "As a foundation, punch a thousand times a day."
"But." After hearing this, Ash put her hand down and shook her fingers left and right to express her denial. "Perseverance alone is useless."
"..."
His long-term efforts were flatly rejected, and even the good-tempered Itsuki couldn't help but start to get angry in his heart.
"What's wrong with perseverance... What about you? Your beast fist, which incorporates countless animal characteristics, doesn't rely on perseverance?"
"I'm sorry, I'm a genius. Isn't it natural to be able to do such a thing?" He raised his fingers and flicked the other person's forehead. When he heard the whimpering in the other person's throat, Ash let out a hearty laugh.
After all, I am a three-minute hot guy, but I am not used to trying to stick to this kind of words.
Hearing Ash's words, Itsuki felt even more aggrieved. The other person seemed to be talking about negative energy topics such as talent being more important than hard work. The key was that she couldn't refute him. After all, she didn't even see clearly the other person's flick on her forehead just now.
"As for why you have been led by me during the battle, this is the gap in actual combat experience. Have you ever fought with someone to the death and only one person survived?"
From Ash's point of view, the Meidoin-ryu played by Itsuki is indeed beautiful, but it can only be regarded as a performance.
"Obviously...Meidoin-ryu is not a martial art used to hurt people..."
Mr. Timons means, has he ever killed anyone?
Thinking of this, even if there is no real evidence, it is enough to make Itsuki feel scared.
"Maybe you'll be able to understand it later... Never mind, it's okay if you can't understand it."
After all, not everyone has this awareness of getting their hands dirty, and they don't want to repeat such a bad deed again.
"If you don't talk about this, it would be digressing. Let me ask you -"
"For you, what is the most important thing in martial arts? Is it the will or the sense?"
"It should be unwavering determination!"
Even though Ash just denied perseverance and determination not long ago, Itsuki still has no intention of changing his opinion.
Itsuki still remembers that her grandfather, who is the head of Meidoin-ryu, once said before formally teaching her that spiritual practice is not only a physical exercise, but also a mental exercise. As a woman, these are even more challenges for her. If she cannot bear it, she should not accept it from the beginning.
And she also proved with practical actions that even women can do this! And the only reason she was able to persevere was because of her determination to help her brother and her family's inheritance.
"No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about something simpler and more basic."
Ash's words suppressed Itsuki's words to prepare for the next step.
"Do you like the Meidoin-ryu you practice?"
"Of course -" Itsuki not only blurted out in thought, but Ash frowned and loudly interrupted her words.
"I'll say it again, listen to me. What I'm asking is, do you really like your martial arts?"
"I..."
Chapter 32: Practice brings true knowledge... and lives
This...
Itsuki I don't know what to say for a moment. Is there any other answer? Since she chose this path, she naturally likes...
As she was thinking about it, she suddenly froze. The girl's eyes unconsciously glanced at the schoolbag placed in the corner. There was a clothing design draft she had drawn in private. She came to school just to get these things she had left behind.
From the very beginning, I chose to work hard in martial arts in order to take the place of my seriously ill brother. Until I achieved the results I have achieved today, I gave up my female side. However, even though I was used to dressing up as a man, I still couldn't overcome my natural love for cute things.
Not long ago, Erika took the initiative to invite her to join his "Fashion Club" at school. Naturally, she refused, but she did not refuse completely. In the end, she was "instigated" by Erika to draw these pictures by accident. She was clearly burdened with "responsibility" but still did it. I am afraid she only really liked this answer.
For the "responsibility" that "takes away" the right to like things, can I still say that I really like Meidoin-ryu?
She couldn't answer.
"Your boxing skills are very exciting. It is definitely not something that a beginner can do, but for me, there is one thing about you that is worse than even a beginner."
"Every punch you throw is like the standard answer to a problem given in the textbook. You are too rigid in the highest standard of one move and one move. You are indeed punching in a precise manner, but whether it is the question on the examination paper or the punching path in the battle, there is no optimal solution."
Unwavering determination is indeed important, but the world is not so simple that determination alone can reach the highest peaks.
"I don't see affection in your eyes, only the numbness of practicing a routine."
"That's why I said: I can't feel myself in your fists!"
Facing Ash's tight grip, Itsuki was speechless for a moment and couldn't help but think.
Seeing Itsuki's thoughtful look, Ash also showed a "cowardly" expression and began to prepare for the next meeting. He casually kicked up his backpack in the corner and took it in his hand.
Ash did not pull out the paper rolled up and inserted on the side. He picked up the student ID tag hanging next to the person's expression of relief.
"Itsuki Meidoin... oh, that's a pretty good name."
Meidoin Academy Student Council President, gender female... wait!
Ash quickly looked up at Itsuki, and then at the ID in his hand.
Gender female?!
"What, what's wrong?"
It was normal for them to be observed by their opponents when they were fighting each other, but under other circumstances, when the opponent's aggressive eyes were swept from the top of their head to their feet, Itsuki still felt goosebumps all over his body.
Gender... Female?
Ash continued to stare at her with narrowed eyes. She had short brown hair. Her face was indeed tougher than Lei's, but considering her martial arts background, she was pretty cute. Her voice sounded more neutral. It's normal for her age not to have an Adam's apple... How should I put it?
No matter the performance or the appearance in the Daoist uniform, there are no distinguishing features. It doesn't look like it no matter how you look at it... So, is she really a woman?
Mainly because I took the initiative to challenge myself and so on. I thought that after a lot of hard work, a man who could fight finally appeared in the world of Pretty Cure.
Inexplicably, I felt like my mood was wasted. The more I looked at the "boy" named Itsuki in front of me, the weirder his mood became. An inexplicable impulse surged into Ash's heart.
"I want to make sure."
Facing Ash who was talking to herself and walking towards her, Itsuki didn't understand the situation for a while. She thought Ash was going to say something again.
"Um, Mr. Timons?"
Then, with Itsuki's doubtful smile, Ash's hand reached under the girl's neck without any care.
"Crack."
With a crisp sound, time seemed to freeze at this moment
Itsuki's smile froze on his face.
Ash held his palms empty, with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"No... No, although it can't be seen from the outside, it turns out it is there."
Ash sighed deeply.
"Itsuki Meidoin, sounds like a man's name."
"What, it turns out to be a woman."
The mystery is solved.
When this sentence was finished, Itsuki's expression could be said to be extremely wonderful. From the moment Ash put his hands on her, and even... the sense of shame began to flow out continuously, and his whole face was as embarrassed as a big cooked crab, and it was red from the neck to the roots of the ears.
The short-haired beauty with tears in her eyes burst out with an expression of shame and anger that she had never seen before!
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!"
Hearing the shocking screams coming from the school, Lei and Erika, who looked unhappy, looked at each other and quickened their pace.
Itsuki, wait for us, don't let anything happen!
However, what they were worried about had already happened to some extent. When the two of them arrived to stop Timons's evil deeds, the expressions and lines they had prepared for stopping were all swallowed up when they saw their Student Council President punching the masked man's head away.
"Itsuki She... is so amazing."
"Yeah..."
At this time, Itsuki instantly showed his strength that he had never seen before. At a speed that Ash couldn't see clearly, he hit the man's rattling jaw with a standard Shenglong Fist.
Ah, this punch is pretty good.
Ash, who was flying in mid-air, was thinking about this for some reason.
"Itsuki is a woman's name. What's wrong with that?" Itsuki, who was holding her hands tightly on her chest, was filled with tears. Her eyes were red and her voice became shrill because of the shame and anger in her heart. "I'm a girl!"
Ouch.
A bright red color dripped from his nose.
"It's bleeding..."
Are you really angry? As expected, I still can't grasp the distance in this aspect...
"I apologize if I was wrong... Ouch!"
Before he finished speaking, Ash was punched on the back from top to bottom again, and he lay on the ground in the shape of a human being.
Oops, I was careless... Could this be your tactic? Wonderful...
What this man did before, whether it was actions or words, simply pierced Itsuki's girl's heart.
It turned out that when Ash guided her like a mentor, Itsuki had an inexplicable liking for him who showed his wisdom. However, it didn't take long for Ash to give her a hard job on the spot.
Mr. Timons, I thought you were different - but it turns out -
"I hate it!"
Itsuki, who snatched his backpack from the other party's hand and endured unimaginable humiliation for the first time in his life, ran away in tears, leaving behind only the two petrified Pretty Cure and the fallen cadre Desert Apostles.