Chapter 68: A Certified Distinguished Teacher
Yukinoshita Yukino pressed her lips together, as if there was something difficult to say. The dim light from outside the window filtered in, casting thin shadows across her face.
"Yukinon, what is it you want to say? If it's a burden for you, then there's no need to say it."
Yui's hand landed on Yukino's shoulder, offering a careful bit of comfort. Her reddish pupils radiated a sense of sympathy.
"Thank you, Yuigahama-san."
Yukino brushed the hand off her shoulder and shook her head gently toward Yui. "Don't worry, it's not a bad thing."
The furrow in Akishin's brow deepened. Yukino finally looked up at him, as if she had just set her resolve, and said with a serious expression: "Chishima-sensei, could you teach me Kendo?"
"Yukinon!!"
Yui's mouth hung slightly open. She hadn't expected at all that the thing Yukino wanted to discuss was that.
"Yukinon, why are you thinking about wanting to be with Chishima..."
"Your older sister asked you to find me, didn't she?"
Chishima Akishin's eyes narrowed. He took a step back, looking at Yukino's face, which appeared both insistent and confused.
Because that fact had been guessed so accurately, Yukino was startled: "Sensei knew about it!!!"
"You didn't know that your sister went with us to the Kendo tournament arena last week?"
"...I didn't know."
"Yukinoshita-kun, you know far too little about your older sister, and you're always living in your own world." Akishin shook his head. "Your sister already spoke to me about this that day. She hoped you would learn Kendo with me so you could experience a change. Even though I told her this would actually harm you, she remained insistent. I turned her down."
"..."
Yukino fell silent, her head lowered slightly. Her hands involuntarily clenched at her sides. She finally knew the reason.
—Last Friday, the day the Kendo Tournament pre-selections were held, she had seen her older sister, Haruno, already at home when she returned.
Haruno had been very unusual that day. Aside from being talkative, she had asked various questions about Yukino's life.
For instance, was there anything bothering her?
What activities did the Service Club do?
What was her opinion of Hikigaya Hachiman?
Haruno did indeed talk a lot, but her tone that day wasn't bad. It even contained a deep sense of concern, which had briefly made Yukino think that her sister had returned to how she was when they were children.
That day, Yukino felt very happy and cooked many dishes. During dinner, Haruno even had someone deliver a bottle of high-quality Red Wine.
Yukino accompanied Haruno through the lavish dinner, drinking juice as a substitute for alcohol.
As it turned out, Haruno finished the entire bottle of wine that day, and consequently, she got drunk.
After getting drunk, Haruno started talking to her. She hoped Yukino would learn Kendo from Chishima Akishin.
In her words, she stated that Chishima Akishin was an excellent teacher and a great person who was capable of changing her...
At the time, Yukino was very surprised. She didn't know why her sister was bringing it up and reflexively dismissed it as drunken ramblings. She didn't—or more accurately, didn't want to—believe it.
When Haruno was truly wasted back then, she was still mumbling about something like, "The mask, it won't come off, it won't come off...".
For some reason, after helping Haruno to bed and seeing her glassy eyes, Yukino felt her older sister looked truly pitiful.
She had tried to ask a few things, but her sister didn't give any clear answers. Not daring to think too far into it, she quickly cleaned up and went to sleep.
The next morning before leaving for school, her sister hadn't woken up yet. By the time she returned from school, her sister was gone, leaving only a note explaining that there was urgent business at home and she had to return immediately.
Regarding Haruno's abnormality that day, although Yukino felt puzzled, she had no desire to investigate it.
Because in her eyes, her sister was far superior to her, and she wasn't capable of interfering in her sister's life.
After that, Haruno didn't visit for several days. She only managed to call once with a calm tone, so Yukino didn't think much of it until last night...
Haruno came back. This time, in a sober state, she said the same things she had said that day. Whether it was just her hallucination or not, Yukino caught a pleading tone in her older sister's words.
Haruno spoke of many things, all of which contained concern. Toward others, Yukino could be cold, but this was her own sister.
Even though their relationship had deteriorated over the last two years, she couldn't forget her sister's care in the past.
She had always made her older sister her target and wanted to become as great as her, and she had exerted every effort toward that end.
Unconsciously, she lost to the pressure of Haruno's words and agreed to meet Chishima Akishin to learn Kendo. That was the cause of her daydreaming during class earlier.
But after arriving here, she had only just found out that her sister had actually spoken with Sensei before and had been rejected.
It turned out that day her sister had gone to watch the Kendo match. Did her sister feel sad because she was rejected?
No, that's impossible. Her sister couldn't possibly be that weak. So what was the reason?
...
A bunch of kids who spend every day thinking about nothing but complicated things. If you were thrown into a poor area where even eating is difficult, you wouldn't have the energy to think about all this. In short, this is a problem that arises because your stomachs are too full.
Perhaps this is what they call youth.
Hard to understand.
Akishin sighed and said to Yukino: "Yukinoshita-kun, you are not suited for my Kendo. You've seen how I train Hikigaya, and I will not teach you Kendo. You yourself are aware that you don't actually want to learn Kendo; you only came looking for me to follow your sister's request. This doesn't align with my principles of the sword, and it wouldn't be good for me or for you. Didn't I give you a Shinai before?"
Akishin raised his sword and pointed toward the corner of the room near the window. Leaning there was a Shinai that, due to being untouched for so long, was covered in a thin layer of dust.
Akishin said: "Yukinoshita-kun, I'll give you one piece of advice. Take that Shinai home, speak openly and honestly with your sister, and have a good discussion. Then, every day before bed, perform one hundred swings with the Shinai. While swinging, you can think about the unpleasant things that happened during the day and imagine you are cutting them down. Reflect on yourself, get to know yourself; or you can just think about nothing at all, it's up to you."
Yukino stared at the Shinai. She had almost forgotten about it.
Akishin added: "You already took notes on the Breathing Method I taught Hikigaya before, right? Have you ever tried it?"
Yukino nodded hesitantly. "I have tried it."
"What was the result?"
"It is very suitable for helping one sleep."
"..."
Akishin waved his hand and said: "That's not important. In the future, after you swing the Shinai, you can try using that Breathing Method to recover physically. It's good for physical and mental health. If you don't do the sword swings, then just pretend I never said anything."
Yukino thought for a few seconds, let out a long breath, then nodded and said: "Understood. I will perform the sword swings. Thank you for the guidance, Chishima-sensei."
Akishin stopped looking at Yukino and turned toward Yui instead.
Yui was watching Yukino walk over to pick up the Shinai, then she suddenly realized Akishin was staring at her, causing her to reflexively take a step back.
"Sensei... Sensei, is there something you need?" She still felt afraid of Akishin for no clear reason.
Akishin held his Shinai horizontally, walked up to Yui, and held it out in front of the girl with a smile: "It's nothing. I just thought that since I gave a Shinai to Hikigaya and Yukinoshita-kun, as a member of the Service Club, I should give you one too."
Yui immediately waved her hands. "No, no... there's no need, Chishima-sensei. I don't study Kendo."
"Who said anything about asking you to study Kendo? Even if you wanted to learn, I wouldn't teach you. This is just a gift—a gift I'm giving to all of you. No other motive, it's just that this gift is a bit different from the usual. Think of it as a specialty of Sensei's."
"Really... is that really so?"
"Of course."
"In that case... thank you, Chishima-sensei."
Yui carefully accepted the Shinai with both hands. This was the first time she had ever held one.
Her first impression was that this thing was incredibly heavy.
Even though it looked light, when held, it was quite a burden on the hands. She conservatively estimated its weight to be at least three kilograms.
In reality, it weighed four kilograms. It was made of dense bitter bamboo, so it was only natural that it felt heavy upon first holding it.
"I'm off. See you later."
Since his business was done, Akishin opened the door and left the Service Club, leaving Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui staring at each other.
Yukino's thought at the moment was: Did I just receive guidance again?
...
In the afternoon during physical education, Hachiman brought up the incident at the Service Club. He was surprised because Yui was now carrying a Shinai too!
Hachiman also asked Akishin if he intended to take Yukino Yukinoshita and Yuigahama Yui as disciples. Akishin gave a firm answer: "No. They are not suited for my Kendo."
Hachiman asked: "So what about me? Am I considered suited?"
Akishin said: "I didn't say you were suited. I only said you have the qualifications and I have acknowledged you, but that doesn't mean you're suited. Let me ask you once more, Hikigaya, what do you think a true sword is?"
"...I don't know."
"Well, there you have it. You can keep thinking about it, or just treat it as a mere joke. The most important thing is one's true self. Regarding technique, as long as you're willing to learn, you'll master it eventually... I feel like I've said this kind of thing quite often."
"You certainly have said it often, yet every time it feels different... Chishima-sensei, are you really a teacher?"
"I am a teacher, of course. A certified distinguished teacher, even."
Hachiman: "..."
It seems like we aren't talking about the same thing.
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