Clubs and the Ways of the World

Seeing their attitude, Tanaka Yukishin regarded the two upperclassmen with a little more respect.

He had expected to run into some brainless villain from a low-IQ novel, someone who would challenge him without thinking, get taught a lesson, and be publicly humiliated.

Then they would hold a grudge and plot revenge, only to be dealt with by the Child of Destiny—or sent to paradise by Yukishin after he caught on early.

Instead, though they still had doubts, they hadn't shown their ugly side.

It seemed the Advanced Nurturing High School's education was having a marked effect.

Unlike the oddballs in his class, most of whom had a clear, foolish look in their eyes, beautiful in a way that suggested their brains were missing and knowledge had yet to sully them.

Once they had agreed on the rules, the two men took their places at opposite ends of the ring.

Kiryuin Fuuka stood in the middle and slowly backed away.

"Are you both ready?"

"Ready."

"Okay."

At the call to begin, the fight was underway.

A few seconds passed. Tanaka Yukishin looked at the man in front of him, who hadn't moved an inch, and felt a little puzzled.

Another unexpected turn of events.

Were you even a brainless villain?

"Are you looking down on me, senpai?"

Charle shook his head.

As a Black American, he'd survived this long by being cautious.

"No. I'm just observing you. You seem suspicious."

So he was the cautious type. In that case, Yukishin would make the first move.

He couldn't waste time on a boring standoff.

Tanaka Yukishin took a stride, covering several meters. After a few quick steps, he appeared at Charle's side like a ghost.

His speed and strength were beyond ordinary. Before Charle could react, Yukishin knocked him down with a punch.

Feeling the sharp pain in his waist, Charle sucked in a breath.

What kind of monster was this? He was so slender, yet he'd knocked Charle down in one hit.

Still, as Vice President, Charle managed to force himself back to his feet.

"Senpai, my speed and the force of that attack should have made the gap between us clear."

"I'd like to try again."

Yukishin knocked him down a second time. This time, Charle didn't try to get back up.

The people below the ring began to murmur.

"That's it? I didn't understand a thing."

"That underclassman was just too fast."

"The Vice President may not have great technique, but his physical abilities are ridiculously good. In past sparring sessions, combined with his decent fighting skills, he's been pretty much unbeatable. I can't believe he got knocked down twice today. Was that even a minute?"

"I thought that underclassman was all technique, but now it looks like he's got both talent and technique."

In the lounge, four people sat around the conference table.

"Senpai, I've proven my strength. Now, can we follow through on the terms we agreed on?"

Seeing the points that had just been transferred to him, Tanaka Yukishin nodded with satisfaction.

But that was only part of the deal. They still had to sign the agreement.

Matsuzaka Tomohito suppressed his displeasure and patiently explained.

"Your strength is more than enough, underclassman. We can pay you two million points for your coaching. In exchange, to protect the club's independence, you won't ask the school to establish a similar club."

"But the MMA Club is different from clubs like baseball, judo, karate, kendo, and boxing."

"Baseball has Koshien, and kendo has the Gyokuryuki. Other clubs have similar nationwide competitions."

"But MMA has no path to take it further. So paying half our monthly club budget as a friendship fee is out of the question."

Chapter 13: Clubs and the Ways of the World

Tanaka Yukishin rapped his knuckles on the table a few times, hitting the nail on the head as he pointed out the part Matsuzaka Tomohito had deliberately left unsaid.

"Senpai Matsuzaka, let's briefly consider what benefits the club could gain from putting together a team and leaving campus to compete."

"First, competitions are another path to advancement besides further education. Their importance is obvious."

"Second, the right to leave campus could also be called the right to communicate."

Seeing Matsuzaka Tomohito about to speak, Yukishin raised a hand to stop him from objecting, then continued.

"I know what you want to say, senpai. The school would have the students who leave campus sign confidentiality agreements."

"But there's more to communication than that."

"This school operates under a fully closed system. During your three years of high school, you can't contact the outside world except if you drop out or in special circumstances."

"So the right to communicate becomes a channel between students and the outside world."

"Even if it's only once a year,"

"that's enough for people on both sides to learn how each other are doing and find comfort in the connection."

"Besides the basic points income, the benefits include greater personal influence and a wider network."

After a moment of silence, Matsuzaka Tomohito stood up.

"That's incredible. No wonder you're a genius. No, Tanaka-kun, you're different from those who never fulfill their potential. You should be called a truly powerful person."

"You've laid it all out so clearly. There's no point in arguing."

"The MMA Club is willing to pay a friendship fee of five hundred thousand points once a year for the right to communicate."

"On top of that, Charle and I are willing to contribute five hundred thousand points each, for a total of one million personal points as a gift for our first meeting."

"Shall we be friends?"

Charle operated his student ID terminal to transfer the points again, his eyes flickering subtly.

In the end, he said nothing.

"Matsuzaka-kun, I hope our friendship lasts. As a friend, could you help me contact the other clubs?"

"I'd be glad to, though I have a small suggestion."

"Go ahead."

"Contacting them one by one would take too much time. If all you want is points and you don't care about influence, Tanaka-kun, you could do it this way."

The MMA Club could contact the Track and Field Club, and Tanaka Yukishin could go through the formalities.

Then those two clubs could contact the Swimming Club.

Finally, the three strongest clubs could jointly endorse him and provide various forms of proof of Tanaka Yukishin's strength.

That way, he'd only need to challenge a few stubborn clubs to accomplish his goal.

Tanaka Yukishin considered it for a moment. The plan was certainly more efficient.

So he accepted the suggestion and left with Kiryuin Fuuka.

Charle saw them out and waited until they were out of sight before speaking.

"Tomohito, wasn't one million points a little low for a first-meeting gift? We could've cut back on our normal spending for a few months and put together three million."

He'd felt Tanaka Yukishin's strength firsthand and was happy to make friends with him.

But a gift should be generous. Better to make a good impression from the start.

If he hadn't been trying to preserve Matsuzaka Tomohito's dignity in the lounge, he would've spoken up earlier.

"Charle, you need to understand one thing. The MMA Club is strong because we have a lot of members who can fight."

"But our club budget is average. Financially, we can't compare with the other clubs."

"If we can't make our gift the best, then there's no point trying to make it stand out. It's enough to give an appropriate amount. We should show Tanaka-kun our value in other ways."

"Like the suggestion I just made."

Seeing Charle's look of understanding, Matsuzaka Tomohito changed the subject.

"After club activities, get in touch with Hanai, Sakura, Kaoru, and Kudo. Tell them what happened."

"Friendship is like a plant. You have to care for it regularly, or it'll wither and die."

"After graduation this year, Kudo will be Club President."

"I hope they can get along."

"Then, if they ever need help, they'll have someone they can try reaching out to."

"I almost forgot. Remember to tell the restaurant owner this news, too."

"Tell him—actually, never mind. I'll write it up and send it to you later. Don't do anything extra. This information will only be valuable if it's accurate and timely."

Charle nodded and turned to leave.

Matsuzaka Tomohito stood there for a long while, murmuring to himself.

"Tanaka-kun, you have to climb even higher."

"Then my gift, my suggestion, and all my attempts to win you over will bring greater rewards."

Everyone had gathered at the track.

"Hello, Tanaka-kun. I'm Matsushita Kazuo, Club President of the Track and Field Club."

"Everything's ready. You just need to go through the tests."

"Running, weightlifting, high jump, long jump, javelin throw."

"These events measure different physical attributes, including speed, strength, jumping ability, and flexibility."

"Afterward, the three clubs will send the results and the videos along with their notices."

"That way, no one will get their hopes up and waste your time."

A hot gust swept across the track, and the sun had warmed the synthetic surface until it gave off a faint rubbery smell. Tanaka Yukishin accepted the race bib Matsushita Kazuo handed him.

"You can start with the short-distance run, Tanaka-kun." Matsushita Kazuo pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. The electronic stopwatch gleamed in the sun. "The distance is one hundred—"

The sharp crack of the starting blocks cut him off. Tanaka Yukishin shot forward like an arrow, the muscles in his legs tensing beneath his running shorts and gleaming a honeyed brown in the sunlight. As his shoes crossed the finish line, three speed-measuring devices at the side of the track all beeped.

"10.21 seconds!" The assistant coach nearly dropped his clipboard. "Last year's national high school boys' hundred-meter record was 10.75 seconds. Is the equipment malfunctioning?"

Matsushita Kazuo stared at the slow-motion footage, his throat bobbing with difficulty. "9.7 meters per second. Peak instantaneous speed..." He suddenly turned to look at the boy stretching nearby. "Tanaka-kun, how much strength did you use just now?"

"Ninety percent?" Tanaka Yukishin tilted his head, then decided to keep the number within the bounds of what a normal person might accept. "I need to save some energy for the other events."

The entire Track and Field Club fell into an eerie silence.

In the distance, the MMA Club members who'd come to "observe" struggled to hold back their laughter. A spiky-haired boy secretly filmed Matsushita Kazuo's stunned expression on his phone.

The weightlifting test that followed was more like an absurd farce.

When Tanaka Yukishin lifted a 120-kilogram barbell with one hand, the two burly club members assigned to spot him instinctively took half a step back.

The javelin traced an outrageous arc through the air and stuck into the safety net, its metal shaft still vibrating rapidly.

When the high jump bar reached 2.4 meters, Matsushita Kazuo finally called a halt.

There was no need to continue testing.

The earlier results had been somewhat reasonable. After that, there was no point even pretending.

"Is he a monster?" The Track and Field Club's star athlete tugged at the assistant coach's sleeve. "He didn't even cushion his landing!"

Kiryuin Fuuka leaned against a parasol and smiled. "Do you understand now why the MMA Club took the initiative to cooperate?"

Matsushita Kazuo pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away his sweat. His eyes flickered behind his lenses. "We'll encrypt the video footage, but..." He suddenly raised his voice and called to everyone in the Track and Field Club. "Put your phones away! The results of today's tests must not be shared!"

"Club President, it's already spreading on the forum." A girl wearing wrist guards timidly raised her hand. "Someone anonymously posted a video of the sprint three minutes ago..."