Chapter 107

Suddenly, Hasegawa Izumi stopped in her tracks, standing still, perfectly blocking the attack distance.

The meteor hammer missed its target and instead spun back, striking the girl herself on the head.

"Ouch."

"In close combat, you must be familiar with your attack methods and attack range, otherwise... the stranger the weapon, the faster you'll die, understand?"

Hasegawa Izumi stretched out her finger and flicked the girl on the forehead, teaching her a lesson.

Next, Nibuya Morika and Natsukawa Masuzu also took to the stage, but the result was the same: they were defeated in one move.

"You guys are so weak."

Hasegawa Izumi put her hands behind her back, looked at the sky, and shook her head with a sigh.

The girls knelt on the ground, all with their heads bowed, obediently following their teacher's instructions.

"The Club President is just too capable."

"How could Dekumori possibly defeat the Lord Sage's Death?"

Natsukawa Masuzu and Dekomori Sanae each offered a compliment.

"I think I should teach you the more basics first, which is the concept of close combat..."

He slowly explained the facts.

What he was talking about wasn't anything profound; it was probably something that most dojos teach. But even so, through his teaching and example, the girls gradually began to understand, going from being completely clueless.

In the subsequent training, they gradually developed a basic understanding of combat.

More than an hour later, the sun began to set, and the girls collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

Through their tenacious and tireless challenges, their movements have finally become more methodical and they can barely be considered fighting novices.

This is clearly because they have a good teacher; otherwise, they could never have become proficient so quickly.

However, this is still far from enough.

"He needs to practice more; his foundation is really too weak. Even the average person might not be able to match him."

Hasegawa Izumi made a mental estimate.

But tomorrow is the weekend, so this should be considered personal private time, right?

As an excellent organization, it is certainly not possible to force others in this regard, so he turned to ask the girls for their opinions.

"Of course!"

"No problem. Since I entered Shuchiin, I haven't known anyone else besides the members of the Far East Magic Society. I have plenty of time now."

"Of course, Dekumori is willing to die!"

"I'm so sorry to have troubled you, Club President. Please take care of me tomorrow."

This was unanimously agreed upon by the girls.

Although the process was arduous, leaving them covered in dust and sore all over, they naturally didn't want to miss a single moment of such an opportunity to strengthen themselves.

"Okay, I understand. I'll post the meeting point in the group chat."

Hasegawa Izumi nodded.

On my way home.

He tilted his head back, looking at the sunset glow on the horizon, and stretched out his right hand.

"Speaking of which, summer vacation starts next week. Time flies! Although it feels like so much has happened this semester, it's never felt so real before..."

After returning home.

After thinking it over for a moment, he sent a message and his location to the group chat.

Sage: Meet me at 2:30 PM in the shopping street near Shimokitazawa.

This news quickly received responses from everyone in the group.

Saturday morning.

"Kōko, it's time to get up."

Hasegawa Izumi entered her Little Sister's room, pinched Little Sister chubby baby face, and woke her from her deep sleep.

"Kukuku, thank you for the guidance of my My other half, otherwise I would have needed a lot of effort to break through the curse of eternal night."

A few minutes later, Kōko came out of the room wearing a thin red nightgown. When she saw her brother, she immediately stopped yawning and said in a pretentious manner.

"Alright, come and eat breakfast. I haven't even bothered you about staying up all night watching anime last night."

He glanced at it and said.

"Nighttime is the time when we, the Night Blood Clan, are most active. Avoiding the sun is the proper survival instinct... Although I am no longer afraid of the sun, I still find it somewhat annoying."

Kōko pouted, but still sat obediently in her seat.

Not long after breakfast, the doorbell rang.

"Is this person a traveler from another world?"

My Little Sister, who was watching TV, suddenly became alert.

"I'll go take a look."

Hasegawa Izumi opened the door, and there stood her Childhood Friend, whom she hadn't seen for a while.

This time, her appearance wasn't sloppy at all. She had her hair tied in pigtails, similar to when she was in school, and wore a white T-shirt and denim shorts, revealing a pair of slender, fair legs.

"Hey, Eriri, you look great!"

He gave a casual greeting.

"It's alright. This must be thanks to the prescription you gave me the other day. I've been taking it recently and my health has definitely improved a lot. I can even be among the top runners now. I never imagined your medical skills were so superb."

Eriri looked serious, and then expressed slight surprise.

It should be noted that her poor health has only improved slightly in the last two years, but her health is still worse than that of the average girl.

Over this period of time, her physical condition seemed to have become similar to that of the girls in the sports department.

"I feel like I could punch you so hard you'd be whimpering right now."

The girl clenched her fists, looking eager to try.

"Are you serious, Eriri?"

Hasegawa Izumi said with a half-smile.

"Uh, just kidding."

Eriri, recalling her Childhood Friend's previous display of strength, silently withdrew her fist.

The two walked inside.

"Kōko, it's been a long time."

"Long time no see, Eriri."

After greeting Kōko, Eriri went to his bedroom for a private chat.

"I see you didn't bring any tools. You didn't come here to paint today, did you?"

Hasegawa Izumi spoke first.

"My work is done, and I can finally take a good rest."

Eriri sat in her office chair, turned around, and then stretched.

Could this be hinting at something?

Hasegawa Izumi remained silent.

The girl, lacking patience, pouted and said, "Izumi should be quite free during summer vacation, right? There should be a lot of great game announcements at this year's anime convention, and some collectible doujinshi..."

"So, Eriri is planning to invite me to the anime convention?"

He said it directly.

"Uh, um, I guess so."

The girl lowered her head slightly, concealing her subtle expression.

"If I have time, I can go with you."

He thought about it for a moment.

"What do you mean by 'have time'? Give me a precise answer!"

Eriri's gaze sharpened, and she suddenly became assertive.

"I mean, our Far East Magic Society might have some events going on..."

"It's just a club activity, is it really that important?"

That's a question that stumps me.

"Are you still hesitating?!"

The girl was furious.

So many years of friendship, can it really be worth less than a few months of fleeting romance?

"Alright, alright, I promise you."

He still gave in to the girl.

"Then it's a deal! If you go back on your word later, you're finished!"

Eriri's eyes lit up with joy, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly.

"Oh, Eriri, give me your hand."

Hasegawa Izumi suddenly spoke.

"... oh."

Eriri paused for a moment, recalling her earlier action of taking his pulse, then slid her office chair over to his side and extended her delicate, fair hand.

"Alright."

Hasegawa Izumi held the girl's arm for a while before letting go.

In addition to sensing the girl's physical condition, he also planted a "Seed of Spiritual Power" in her. However, compared to the others in the organization, his methods were much more covert, and he also set up more defensive measures.

He didn't tell Eriri on his own initiative because he didn't want his Childhood Friend to worry too much about unnecessary things and hoped she wouldn't get involved in various disputes to avoid any unforeseen events.

After all, the outward appearance of normalcy can be maintained for a considerable period of time, while the undercurrents only surge beneath the surface.

But he also hopes that one day, if a girl encounters danger alone, she will have the ability to protect herself.

"Let's explain it to Eriri then."

Inside a luxury apartment in downtown Tokyo.

Natsukawa Masuzu had just changed her clothes and was getting ready to go out.

"Ding-dong."

The doorbell rang.

"Oh, it's you!"

When she opened the door, she saw her Little Sister, Mana, but this time, Little Sister came alone.

"Hey, Xiao Liang, are you really sure you want to rebel against Dad? If he decides to take everything back, you won't be able to resist, will you?"

Mana's tone wasn't as sharp as before; it was tinged with worry.

Does threatening me mean I have to give in?

Natsukawa Masuzu cold.

"Ah?"

Mana was taken aback by her sister's firm stance and took a step back.

Natsukawa Masuzu glanced back at the apartment's layout, her mind filled with fond memories of her time with her mother.