After the Entrance Ceremony, Tennoji Kaede didn't rush off to the Convenience Store to mooch off some potential plot event. Instead, he headed to the High School Club District.
He pushed open the door to the Sanda Club. The place was surprisingly spacious, with punching bags, barbells, and other workout equipment everywhere.
Two well-built, cheerful upperclassmen were chatting inside.
"Oh? We've got a visitor... You're a first-year New Student, right? The club orientation's tomorrow afternoon, after classes officially start. You're a bit early." The close-cropped Second Year Class B club member reminded him.
"Thanks for letting me know, senpai. I'm not here to join the club." Tennoji Kaede put on an expression of guileless stupidity.
The other man, a composed Third Year Class A student, frowned. "Looks like you came prepared, junior. Why don't you get straight to the point?"
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Tennoji Kaede, from First Year Class C."
"I'd like to spar with you, senpais. Of course, I won't ask you to do it for free. I'll put up 90,000 points. Would the senior members of the Sanda Club be willing to take me on?" Tennoji Kaede finished, then loosened his collar.
The senpais exchanged a look, their gazes deep and unreadable. The Second Year student spoke up:
"You sure are confident, junior. You just got 100,000 points when you enrolled, right? If you lose, you'll only have 10,000 left for this month. You'll have to watch your spending after that."
The senpai's tone was rather mocking, but that was exactly what Tennoji Kaede wanted to hear.
"10,000 points should be enough. I'll be fine as long as it lasts until next month. So, senpai, are you taking the bet or not?"
The Second Year senpai finally broke into a smile. What a clueless rookie. He'd make short work of this easy mark.
For one thing, in his eyes, this junior was a complete newcomer. He had no idea about the Hidden Rule, and he was only in Class C.
He thought he had points to spare because he didn't know any better, and that he'd get another 100,000 next month. He was so reckless it almost made the experienced senpai laugh.
Then there was his exposed skin and muscles. He didn't look like someone who trained seriously.
Maybe he'd spent some time at some no-name sanda school outside Gao, but he couldn't possibly be a match for someone like him, a seasoned fighter with two years of training under his belt. The physical training at this school was no joke.
And finally, as a Second Year, most of his points had been confiscated by Nagumo of Class A. Even as a Class B student, he was broke!
He really had to seize this chance to make easy money.
The Second Year Class B club member's thoughts raced. He'd made it into Class B by knowing better than to take risks without a good chance of success or a worthwhile reward.
"All right, no problem. Since you're so eager, junior, I'll put up 90,000 too. Consider it your first lesson at this school."
The Second Year senpai put on an air of generosity, as if the points were trivial and teaching his junior was what mattered.
Tennoji Kaede nodded eagerly, genuinely delighted.
Seeing this, the Third Year Class A senpai said nothing. He turned and fetched the club instructor to witness the match, and they signed a competition contract.
"You're taking this pretty seriously, senpai." Tennoji Kaede glanced at the contract and casually looked away.
That only made the senpai happier. This junior didn't seem to have any respect for contracts, either. He really had no idea what points were for.
At this school, points were meant to be gambled!
He smiled. "There are plenty of confident, clever people like you at this school, junior... Challenges like this are common. You'll get used to signing contracts like this before long."
Tennoji Kaede caught the barb in his words, but still put on an expression of having learned something. After all, this was his adorable money-senpai. He absolutely couldn't slight him!
On the club's practice floor.
"This match will be best two out of three. Valid scoring areas are the torso and thighs. The first to score three valid points wins a round. Both sides, get ready."
Tennoji Kaede put on blue boxing gloves and stood calmly in position.
"Begin!"
Tennoji Kaede casually assumed a hanging guard, while the Second Year senpai quickly stepped in and threw a straight punch!
He fought with striking confidence.
Tennoji Kaede turned slightly to block. After two rounds of close-range exchanges, the senpai had easily scored three points to the torso, while Tennoji Kaede had only scored one point on his thigh.
The Second Year senpai won the first round.
Tennoji Kaede acted nervous and rolled his joints. "You're pretty good, senpai. Let's go again!"
The Class B Second Year felt victory was in the bag. He waved a hand, signaling to continue.
For the second round, Tennoji Kaede launched a rapid attack, while the Second Year senpai wore a look of absolute confidence and took up a defensive stance.
The junior had panicked, just as expected. Those 90,000 points were as good as his!
Tennoji Kaede smiled to himself and suddenly increased his punching speed by a third.
Torso—point!
The Third Year Class A senpai watching from the sidelines narrowed his eyes and thought, That punch was fast!
Taking advantage of his opponent's shock, Tennoji Kaede scored, stepped back to defend against a punch, then closed in with astonishingly nimble footwork and struck the senpai's left ribs and left thigh in quick succession.
The whistle sounded. Tennoji Kaede had won the second round.
"How could this junior... punch so fast?"
The Second Year senpai was still stunned, completely unable to believe that the same person had fought both rounds!
Should he have added a drug test to the contract?
"Thank you for the match, senpai. Let's keep going."
The club instructor, who was acting as referee, had already seen the gap between them. He announced the start of the third round without changing expression.
The whistle blew. This time, the senpai rushed in, convinced that the junior was good at attacking, not defending!
He'd take the initiative this time. He was sure to win!
Facing the attack, Tennoji Kaede displayed exceptional control over his body. He slipped back to defend, then followed with a hook—another point to the torso!
This time his punch was even faster. One blow left the Second Year senpai's whole body numb with shock, giving him no room to counterattack.
Three points in a row!
"Wheeet! The match is over. Tennoji Kaede wins!"
"Impossible... Junior, you were holding back!?"
No matter how much the Second Year senpai had taken things for granted, he couldn't deny the brutal reality: he'd been completely outclassed.
The club instructor was already thinking about how to recruit him. This kid had a real talent for boxing!
"Don't be silly, senpai. I just got lucky."
Tennoji Kaede approached with a grin and collected the 90,000-point bet as stipulated in the contract. His total had now reached 190,000 points.
"I admit defeat. Junior, you're way too practiced at transferring points to be a New Student. Looks like I really took a beating this time." In the end, the Class B senpai left with a smile.
The instructor laughed at the sight. "Vice President, what do you say? Want to come up and test out this New Student's skills too?"
At the edge of the floor, the Third Year Class A senpai was already warming up.
"Of course. You're Tennoji, right, junior? On the first day of school, you already know how to earn points with your own ability. You've got a pretty sharp mind."
"...How about this? I'll put up 210,000 points, bringing the total to an even 400,000. You won't have to put up anything, junior."
"If I win, come straight here for the club orientation tomorrow. I promise I'll give you 100,000 points on the spot. How does that sound?"
Now that was a money-senpai!
Tennoji Kaede naturally agreed. And the Third Year Class A senpai was certainly clever about how he handled things.
If he won, he'd gain a strong club member. If he lost, he'd just be giving a junior some points to spend. He'd even rounded the total up, and since it wasn't a point-for-point wager, losing to a junior wouldn't be quite so embarrassing.
"Begin!"