The sky was high and clouds were light, the wind was mild and the sun was shining. The clouds were soft like a girl's legs, lifting one's spirits with just a glance.
Among the three people on the rooftop of Chiba Academy, the purple-haired and white-haired girls were confronting each other, while Fuli, probably disliking standing for too long, condensed a Trailing Shadow plastic chair and sat on it, holding his sword.
Facing the worry from her friend, Mei smiled slightly. "I remember you said, Kiana, that with Mei by my side, it's like having the strength of a hundred people."
Someone interjected with a sarcastic remark from the side: "Right, right! With ten Meis by your side, it's like having the strength of the Herrscher of Dominance!" (Legion/Thousand People)
"You shut up! Let Mei speak!" The white-haired dumpling glared at him angrily.
"What else is there to say?" Fuli rested his chin in his hand, looking utterly bored. "Isn't it just friendship, hot blood, bonds, and whatnot? After a bunch of grand principles, both sides look at each other with a smile, shake hands, make peace, and face the future battle together."
He spread his hands. "Anyway, the result is the same, so why waste so much saliva?"
"Uh..."
Mei was rendered speechless by his edging theory. Who asked him to make sense, and it perfectly matched the upcoming development?
Kiana wasn't as easy to deal with as her. "What do you know! This is love!"
She hugged Mei, kicking up her little legs like a deer, and pressed her face hard against that pair of fullness that far exceeded her peers. "Hmph, a mere Ah-Li definitely doesn't understand the importance of me and Mei in each other's eyes. Even if there is a little doubt, we will communicate seriously to avoid misunderstandings!"
Mei pushed her a couple of times but couldn't push her away because Kiana was too strong.
She could only sigh and shake her head at Fuli, indicating that she was not a lesbian girl.
"I indeed don't understand love, nor do I understand the state of being in a relationship." Fuli apologized quite honestly. "In my opinion, any romantic relationship not aimed at marriage is hooliganism. Monsters like us might die at any time; starting a family is just being irresponsible to the other half."
This wasn't made up on the spot, but his true thoughts after stepping into the Honkai side.
Everyone was a desperado licking blood on the edge of a knife, so don't disturb other people's peaceful lives.
"Ah this..."
Hearing such heartfelt words, Kiana's groping movements became unnatural.
She let go of Mei and scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "S-So Ah-Li, you think like this..."
It is said that sincerity deals critical hits. If Fuli had replied with "I love your f*cking twisted love!", Kiana could totally treat him like a losing dog and let him bark wildly there.
However, once these words came out, it made Kiana appear petty and narrow-minded, only caring about getting drunk today and ignoring others' feelings.
Moreover...
He stopped chasing me, could it be because of this?
Did such thoughts fill the girl's brain, making her muddled for the next period of time?
No, not at all.
Because Fuli, whose strength was unknown and grew stronger when meeting the strong, started using his mouth that had a limitless ceiling again.
"I didn't use these words to mock a certain Miss Kiana, okay? Nor did I have any thoughts of elevating myself and belittling others." He pointedly said, "I stopped chasing her simply because I look down on the current her. Even if I hadn't obtained the inheritance of the ancient Sword Saint, I planned to give up on that smelly white-haired lesbian whose brain is full of muscles and has been ravaged by the Gorilla Emperor's path."
"Smelly Ah-Li! You!"
Although Fuli didn't name her explicitly, Kiana felt so angry!
She wanted to beat him up severely! Use her sharp teeth to bite down hard on his most vulnerable spot!
Seeing that these two enemies were about to have a big battle on the rooftop again, Raiden Mei, set as a cold and aloof eldest miss, hurried over like a mother hen to separate them:
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. let's discuss the various matters of the exploration."
Unfortunately, as the fuse, her doing so only had the opposite effect. It was like black powder and gasoline at daggers drawn, and a lighter insisted on running over to mediate.
Thus, the verbal dispute officially escalated into a full-on brawl.
27 · March · A.M. 10:04
"Hey! Ah-Li!"
Kiana pulled out the Galactic Baseball Bat from under her skirt and rested it on her shoulder.
She waved her hand, full of fighting spirit. "Your days of showing off are over. I've always been curious about who is the best fighter between the two of us now."
"Hard to say. After all, we only joined hands to repel the sealed Jizo Mitama."
Fuli stood up. Beneath him, the plastic chair formed by the Trailing Shadow Sword decomposed with the wind.
"But I believe I will still be the superior one in the end."
Kiana smiled devilishly. "I knew you would say that."
(Meaningless drum beat) (DMC reference)
"It's time to end this, Kiana, once and for all."
Fuli picked up Mikazuki Munechika, pushed with his thumb, and the blade unsheathed.
(Meaningless drum beat)
"Hmph~"
"Hmph~"
"Eh?"
The meaningless drum beat was interrupted by a slight suspicion from a third party. Mei came to Fuli, who had drawn Mikazuki and assumed a stance, her fingertips stroking the texture on the blade.
"This stance is... One Blade Severing?"
As the daughter of the ME Corp president, Mei, who possessed a certain Imperial status in the Far East, used to mix in the so-called upper-class circles.
Therefore, she recognized at a glance that the weapon Fuli used was the famous sword Mikazuki Munechika that should have been preserved in the Far East National Museum.
But compared to this, the girl was more concerned about the starting sword stance Fuli instinctively assumed when drawing the sword.
That was exactly the secret technique of the Raiden family, the opening move of Hokushin Ittō-ryū—Floating World Three Thousand One Blade Severing.
...
Above the rooftop, below the white clouds.
Mei raised her flawless face and looked at the boy close at hand with curious eyes, seeming to ask why he could use the transcendent ancient swordsmanship passed down solely in the Raiden family line.
The girl was quite tall. At 1.72m, she was only half a head shorter than Fuli.
As she actively leaned over now, Fuli didn't even need to lower his head to clearly see Mei's exquisite eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings.
He raised an eyebrow.
Not only because of the pitch-black malice constantly released by Ms. White-Haired Kiana in the distance, but also because of Mei's words just now.
Many martial arts novels have such content: bystanders can tell who the protagonist's master is from a few sporadic moves.
At first glance, it might be hard to understand, but the fact is, as soon as center-parted hair and suspenders are mentioned, people instinctively think of the Kun style derived from "Ji Ni Tai Mei."
Even if the user doesn't equip the iconic idol trainee three-piece set of the Kun Style, the moment he turns, bends his knees, shrugs his shoulders, and does the Iron Mountain Lean (Tieshankao), the screen will still be flooded with countless joyous bullet comments like "Missed you, Prison Kun," "Chicken You're Too Beautiful," "Aiyo what are you doing," "Why put chicken essence in fried noodles," and so on.
Precisely because of this, even though Fuli only used the opening stance of a slash, Mei still recognized the similarity with Hokushin Ittō-ryū at a glance.
And if the girl hadn't interrupted the 'battle' between Fuli and Kiana, she would have been surprised to find:
Cutting, sweeping, parrying, hacking, pointing, stabbing, picking, lifting, hanging, chopping, pressing, pushing, piercing, collapsing, entangling, wrapping, intercepting, stirring, hiding... Every move and style of Fuli actually showed a shadow similar to her own.
The reason for this was simple.
In the end, even if it was only for a few short days, the teaching from Mei in the previous loop was the first time in Fuli's life that he was systematically taught transcendent swordsmanship by a big shot hand-in-hand.
Plus, Fuli at that time hadn't formed his own fighting style yet, so in terms of sword technique construction, he indeed referenced Mei's family Hokushin Ittō-ryū to a considerable extent.
How does the saying go? Breaking... The first time often affects a person's life?
That's roughly the meaning.
But the problem is that Mei herself certainly didn't know this. In her view, Fuli clearly learned her family's secret from somewhere unknown.
According to the dregs of tradition in ancient families/sects, to put it lightly, his tendons should be severed and his martial arts crippled; to put it heavily, he would have to marry into the Raiden family and become Mei's husband!
Eh? The latter seems pretty good?
...