"What's this supposed to mean? I just came to watch the fun!"
Ignoring the strange looks from Mayumi Saegusa and the others, Yunyi said exactly what was on his mind.
Everyone who heard him felt as though countless "divine beasts" had trampled all over their peace of mind.
"Um, sorry, Yunyi. In a sense, the magic everyone here uses isn't very suitable for one-on-one combat, or for disciplinary committee work. Your magic is different, but your circumstances are rather unusual, which is the only reason you can't take the job," Mayumi Saegusa explained.
"Besides, you and Tatsuya are classmates. You want him to be recognized too, don't you?" Mayumi Saegusa added, giving Yunyi a wink.
Yunyi pinched the bridge of his nose and said helplessly, "President, please don't do that to me! I'm still a kid!"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Mayumi Saegusa immediately shot back, her pretty face turning slightly red.
Yunyi ignored him, however, and walked slowly into the middle of the room. Looking at Tatsuya Shiba, he said, "Come on, Tatsuya. Let me be the stand-in for once."
Tatsuya Shiba felt somewhat helpless as well. He couldn't help thinking, I was pushed into this too. Why do you have to look at me like you've got such a grudge?
But when he saw the expectant look in his sister's eyes, Tatsuya Shiba took out his CAD, inserted a "magazine" loaded with preset activation sequences, and walked into the middle of the room.
"Looks like you've prepared a lot of different formulas?" Yunyi glanced at the case Tatsuya Shiba used to carry his CAD.
"They're for using general-purpose magic. My processing ability is a bit lacking, after all," Tatsuya Shiba said.
"Oh? Is that so?" A teasing look flashed in Yunyi's eyes, but no one present except Tatsuya Shiba noticed.
"I'll announce the rules!"
Just as Tatsuya Shiba was wondering about that, Mari Watanabe spoke up.
"Lethal formulas and attacks that cause irreparable harm are prohibited! Direct attacks must be unarmed! If either side surrenders or is judged unable to continue, the match must end immediately! I'll intervene if the rules are broken. That's all!"
"Are both sides ready?"
After receiving confirmation from Tatsuya Shiba and Yunyi, Mari Watanabe promptly waved her hand and announced the start of the match.
But the next moment, neither of the two in the middle made a move.
"Whoa!"
"Tatsuya, this might be a little rude, but I have to ask: are you really human!?"
Yunyi was the first to act. Looking thoroughly surprised, he asked a question that left everyone else baffled.
"Uh..." Tatsuya Shiba was somewhat at a loss for words too. Wasn't the answer to that question obvious?
"What's going on?"
Watching from the sidelines, Mayumi Saegusa couldn't understand why Yunyi had suddenly asked that either. She turned to Mari Watanabe and Katsuto Jumonji, but naturally, neither of them knew what to make of it.
"Come on, my Kotodama Magic probably won't work on you! Let me see how you attack!" Yunyi added, though that left the others just as confused.
Tatsuya Shiba looked puzzled as well, but seeing that Yunyi really had no intention of using magic, he immediately launched an attack.
Tatsuya Shiba charged forward and flashed behind Yunyi at a speed the naked eye could barely follow. He raised his CAD, aimed it at Yunyi, and prepared to fire!
He was using a custom CAD and had chosen an extremely simple formula, so naturally, it activated very quickly.
But to his surprise, before the formula was complete, Yunyi had already turned and sent a whipping kick at him.
Tatsuya Shiba's eyes widened slightly, and he hurriedly raised an arm to block the kick.
"Bang!"
A muffled thud rang out the instant leg met arm.
"Tatsuya, my magic might not work on you, but you shouldn't underestimate me that much, should you?"
Even Tatsuya Shiba's normally unruffled face showed some astonishment. He really hadn't expected Yunyi to be able to keep up with his movements in hand-to-hand combat.
On the sidelines, Mayumi Saegusa and the others were still surprised by Tatsuya Shiba's swift movement when Yunyi's kick abruptly cut their surprise short!
"Come on, Tatsuya, let's keep going."
Yunyi drew back his kicking leg, but the instant his foot touched the ground, he charged forward and attacked.
CAD in hand, Tatsuya looked for a chance to use magic as he parried, but Yunyi's attacks were too fierce and fast, giving him no opportunity to lock on!
Tatsuya Shiba had trained in hand-to-hand combat since childhood, and Yunyi was no slouch himself. Tatsuya Shiba was still training under the ninjutsu master Yakumo Kokonoe, but Yunyi had long since graduated from his own hand-to-hand combat teacher's tutelage.
The two traded punches and kicks in the middle of the room, leaving Mayumi Saegusa and the others on the sidelines dumbfounded.
"Wasn't this supposed to be a magic sparring match?" Mayumi Saegusa quipped.
"These two really are full of surprises!" Mari Watanabe remarked.
While those two made their comments, the others remained silent. Unlike the astonished Suzune Ichihara and the others, Miyuki Shiba clenched her hands, silently cheering her brother on.
As for Gyoubu Hattori, he suddenly felt as though he had narrowly escaped disaster. If he hadn't arrived at the student council room earlier that day and heard Mayumi Saegusa and the others discussing Yunyi's Kotodama Magic, he would already have made snide remarks at the two Course 2 Students who had shown up at the office.
Now that he had witnessed the two Course 2 Students fighting, he put himself in their place and realized that, no matter which of them he faced, the result would apparently be the same for a so-called Course 1 Student genius like him!
In the middle of the room, Yunyi and Tatsuya Shiba continued to clash. Yunyi swung his arm to knock aside the arm Tatsuya was using to block his attack, then dipped his shoulder and drove it toward Tatsuya Shiba's chest!
"Iron Mountain Lean!"
The blow carried tremendous force. An ordinary person wouldn't have been able to withstand it if it landed.
Tatsuya Shiba sensed the force behind the blow too. He pushed off the ground and hurriedly dodged.
Yunyi seemed unable to stop himself in time and simply carried on into the charge.
Their earlier exchange had already brought them close to the wall. When Tatsuya Shiba dodged, Yunyi's Iron Mountain Lean slammed straight into it.
"Thud!"
The dull sound startled everyone. Could someone crashing into a wall really make a sound like that?
"Hey, are you all right?" Mari Watanabe, the referee, hurriedly called out to check.