Bond of the Striking Thighs

"Look at those forearm lines, those deltoids, teres major, lats. They're not massive, but the physique is just perfect..."

Inside a practice booth, Ririko was touching and squeezing Uesugi Tetsu's body, looking utterly amazed.

Why is he so focused on weird muscles like a gym bro? Uesugi Tetsu thought to himself. He then took off his school uniform shirt, picked up his dogi, and held it out to Ririko with a shrug. "Come on, don't go easy on me just because I'm a delicate flower!"

Ririko's small face flushed slightly, but she quickly took the dogi and meticulously helped Uesugi Tetsu put it on. While dressing him, she asked, "Uesugi-kun, how did you train to get like this?"

The answer was Brahma's Ghost God Power and Ki-ai Technique.

Of course, Uesugi Tetsu couldn't say that. He casually replied, "Maybe it's talent."

Who would have thought Ririko would nod in complete agreement, sighing, "Talent, huh..."

"Talent hogs should all die."

The girl turned her head and muttered very quietly.

Uesugi Tetsu stared at her. "Did you say something?"

Ririko blinked and, with a blank expression, tightened Uesugi Tetsu's hakama and belt. "No, nothing at all."

"Since this is your first time holding a sword, Uesugi-kun, I won't have you wear protective gear."

Uesugi Tetsu recalled the club members inside the dojo wearing protective gear and sparring with bamboo swords. He said, "Ririko, if you want to hit me, you can just say so."

"If I wanted to, I'd just do it."

Ririko picked up her bamboo sword, trying to calm herself. However, her peripheral vision caught Uesugi Tetsu's perfectly proportioned physique as he turned around.

She thought that even after training since childhood, over a decade, she was still far from achieving such a physique, while Uesugi Tetsu seemed to have accomplished it in just a few months.

So, subconsciously, Ririko swung the bamboo sword in her hand.

Crack!

Uesugi Tetsu stumbled and fell to his knees, feeling a searing pain in his backside.

He turned his head in confusion and met Ririko's blank gaze.

—Seriously, you just went for it?

Ririko, on the other hand, opened and closed her empty hand, as if just realizing what she had done.

She suddenly understood. "Uesugi-kun, so jealousy really does make people unrecognizable."

Uesugi Tetsu's eyebrow twitched. After a moment of silence, just as he was about to speak, he saw Ririko hand him the bamboo sword, then turn around and lie face down, presenting her full posterior.

Uesugi Tetsu: "Huh?"

Ririko turned her head back and said earnestly, "Uesugi-kun, you hit my butt hard too, so we're even!"

Uesugi Tetsu hesitated slightly. "Uh..."

Ririko raised her eyebrows and forcefully slapped her own butt. "Come on, hurry up! Don't let this little thing bother you, Uesugi-kun, and delay our training later!"

Since she had put it that way, Uesugi Tetsu couldn't refuse.

He gripped the sword with both hands. "Then I won't hold back."

The girl gritted her teeth. "Do it!"

Uesugi Tetsu showed no mercy, swinging the sword like he was playing baseball, striking the center of Ririko's posterior with all his might.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

Ririko couldn't help but cry out, her face contorted in pain, her eyes rolling back.

Just then, a voice from outside the booth faintly approached. "Tokugawa, it's time for everyone to practice with you..."

"It's Teacher Kondo!"

Ririko had intended to stand up immediately and put on a blank expression, but Uesugi Tetsu's strike was so unsparing that she was now in too much pain, her legs weak and unable to straighten her back.

Swish~

The wooden door of the booth slid open, and the Kendo Club's instructor, Kondo Hideya, stood at the entrance, staring dumbfounded at the scene inside.

The middle-aged man, over forty, opened his mouth and suddenly found his vocabulary lacking, unsure of what to say.

Uesugi Tetsu put down the bamboo sword. After a moment of thought, he tried to explain, "Uh..."

Kondo Hideya looked at the two silently. He first glanced back to confirm no other students were paying attention, then put on a stern face and said in a low voice, "You two, tidy yourselves up! Come to my office immediately!"

The two exchanged a glance and hobbled out of the booth, clutching their rear ends.

After watching them enter, Kondo Hideya closed the office door himself.

"You, what's your name!"

As soon as the soundproof door was shut, Kondo Hideya loudly asked Uesugi Tetsu.

Uesugi Tetsu answered truthfully.

Kondo Hideya frowned upon hearing this and looked at Tokugawa Ririko. "Is this the 'new transfer student' you mentioned this morning?"

"Yes."

The pain in her backside had mostly subsided from walking, so Tokugawa Ririko answered with a blank expression. "Since we're already here, I'll trouble you, Teacher Kondo, to help him with the paperwork."

"Paperwork!?"

Kondo Hideya slammed the table in anger. "Tokugawa! Do you even understand the situation!?"

He shouted, "Before class this afternoon, go do 1000 sword swings for me!"

"And you!" Kondo Hideya looked at Uesugi Tetsu, who was secretly pulling out his phone to check how much time was left until the afternoon class. "You want to join the kendo club, right? Go run laps on the field until class starts this afternoon. Let me see your grit!"

Uesugi Tetsu raised an eyebrow. This advisor's way of speaking has such a Showa vibe.

This is the 21st century. Not to mention this is a complete misunderstanding, but even if Ririko and I were hugging in a stall, what's the big deal? It's just normal interaction between a man and a woman.

Ririko raised her hand. "Teacher Kondo, this actually has nothing to do with Uesugi-kun. I'll run an extra twenty laps."

Holy crap.

Ririko is even willing to take on physical punishment for me. She's a true friend who'll stick by me through thick and thin.

I'm definitely taking Ririko out for hot pot or barbecue in the next couple of days.

Kondo Hideya's gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them, and he sneered, "Since you two are such good friends, why don't you both run laps under the sun? It'll be a good way to heat up your relationship."

Ririko frowned, about to say, Don't waste his time. I'll do fifty laps and 2000 sword swings later.

However, Uesugi Tetsu answered loudly first, "We'll complete the mission!"

"Very good, very spirited!"

Kondo Hideya's expression softened slightly. "Don't let me catch you slacking off. Now, go!"

Uesugi Tetsu pulled Ririko out of the office. Just as they were about to reach the field, the girl asked in confusion, "Uesugi-kun, time is precious right now. Why did you take the blame for my mistake?"

Uesugi Tetsu patted his chest. "When there's trouble, we face it together, man. I wouldn't sell you out."

Ririko fell into deep thought. Uesugi Tetsu, seeing the [Enter Tokoyo] option suddenly light up again, didn't disturb her and just kept running laps.

After a long while, the afternoon class bell rang.

Tokugawa Ririko, her dojo uniform soaked with sweat, fanned herself and suddenly asked:

"So, what kind of relationship do we have now?"

Uesugi Tetsu, on the verge of collapse from exhaustion, replied weakly:

"A Bond of the Striking Thighs, perhaps."

Ririko, who had maintained a blank expression all this time, froze for a moment. After replaying the phrase in her mind several times, she finally couldn't hold back and buried her face in Uesugi Tetsu's shoulder, giggling softly.