My elite romantic comedy is wrong, as I expected.

VOL 3 Chapter 18 Taekwondo vs. Hybrid

Hachiman POV

I never expected this to happen, no, rather it was unexpected to happen at this time.

Seong Taehoon, he really is a troublesome opponent, he seems to want to settle our scores as early as possible.
But this works in my favor.

I'm running towards the place Satou indicated, the raindrops hit me, the mental and physical fatigue that has been accumulating is taking effect. On the other hand I am a little worried about Matsushita, it was unwise for her to stay. After all Seong doesn't look like he has any mercy for the girls.

A feeling spreads through my whole body, it's not excitement or joy, it's nostalgia.

I feel nostalgic because even though I don't like fighting, I've still been to several battlefields, it's inevitable that they became part of my life. However, I never expected to fight in this environment, I thought that most conflicts would be solved with my head.

It was my mistake, for not taking into account the variables that presented themselves. It no longer makes sense to keep digging into this, I have to give me the idea that I will face very strong enemies, I have to go back to training.

Finally I reached a hillside in the forest.
I see two separate silhouettes, the first one is Matsushita and sitting against a tree is Seong.

When he arrived, the two show very different reactions. Seong looks excited and Matsushita you can tell that worry takes over his delicate face.

Seong: Well, well, looks like we don't have a coward here.

Matsushita: What are you doing here, Hikigaya-kun?!

Hachiman: I had to come, I didn't want him to do something to Matsushita-san.

She runs to my side, Seong just looks at her emotionlessly without making any move.

Matsushita: That's enough, Hikigaya-kun, we have to go.

Hachiman: Go?

Matsushita: Exactly, we can report what happened to the teachers.

Hachiman: Matsushita-san, I only came so you could leave. I'm staying.

My words shock her greatly, then she changes to an expression of complete anxiety.

Matsushita: What are you saying?! This is no time for jokes.

Hachiman: Just calm down and go back to camp, Satou-san is very worried about you.

Matsushita: Maya? I still can't leave you here.

Hachiman: You just have to trust me, I know that right now it's the last feeling I inspired, but I have to stay here and face it.

Seong: You really are someone who understands me.

Hachiman: I guess it's something called pride of the martial artist.

Seong: You are right.

Hachiman: You see Matsushita-san, right now I can't back down. You can rest assured, nothing is going to happen.

Matsushita: You're.....a DUMB......a big, big fool..... you have to make sure you go back.

I can see at the corners of her eyes tears are forming. She knows I'm lying , Airi wasn't bad when she called me a liar, it seems in the end the only one I can fool with lies is me.

How pathetic.

Matsushita: I'll be waiting for you ......... please come back to us.

Hachiman: I will.

I raise my hand to dismiss her, she starts running in the dense forest until I can no longer see her back. Now it's just the two of us.

Seong: How touching.

Hachiman: I should thank you, I didn't think you would let us talk.

Seong: I saw the look on your face, you had no intention of running away, so I let you say goodbye to her.

Hachiman: By the way, why did you go so far? You even took hostages to make me come.

Seong: It's obvious, if I didn't, you would never have shown up.

Hachiman:You're right, I would have ignored him completely.Why so much interest in me, I don't think it was because of something like a love from a past life.

Seong: You have a long tongue, of course not, I just wanted to fight with someone strong.

Hachiman: Even if it leads to your expulsion?

Seong: I don't care about that, I just want to prove that taekwondo is the strongest martial art.

What kind of reason is that? It sounds like a generic line from a shonen protagonist, it's hilarious but I can't make fun, after all you have to have pride in your martial art.

Hachiman: I see, but you marked me, why?

Seong: Simple, you withstood a kick from me, your martial accomplishments are not low, so I just wanted to face someone strong in this school. To then smash him.

Hachiman: You are being very patient answering my questions.

Seong: I don't want unnecessary talk at fight time.

Hachiman: Sorry, unnecessary talk is always included.

Seong: You really are someone annoying.

He starts flexing his body. I do the same thing too, it's not every day that your opponent lets you do something like that.

Seong: Tell me, do you feel the same emotion as me?

Hachiman: Not at all, I'm not a fight maniac.

He takes a traditional WTF taekwondo stance, I see so that's the style he handles.

I take my stance too. It's a complicated thing to say.

Seong: Seong Taehoon, taekwondo.

So let's introduce ourselves, it seems you also have a pride as a Martial artist, like I said it's kind of complicated to explain my style, if I had to call it something, it would be.......

Hachiman: Hikigaya Hachiman, Hybrid.

The silence becomes between the two of us, the concentration we have is reaching its peak. We are in our positions the first move can control the fight and the first attack can decide the winner.

That's when Seong moves in, with good footwork he approaches me. He starts by throwing a spinning kick with his right leg.

I step back to dodge, this guy is very tall, but his height is due to his long legs.
Which gives him an advantage at mid-range.

When I step back he keeps moving forward, now with his left leg he throws a kick to the side, I step back again.

He doesn't give me time to breathe when he tries to give me a front kick. And I continue dodging.

He doesn't give me a chance, the advantage of taekwondo is its incredible offensive power. A well executed kick can be the end of the fight.

We continue with the kicking and dodging, I am slowly falling at a disadvantage, I am giving him control of the fight. That is until he throws a front kick, instead of backing up I move towards him, I dodge his kick but it grazes the left side of my abdomen. I'm inches away from his face.

I send him a hook with my left fist, which manages to impact. The sudden blow surprises him, he tries to move back to open the distance, but I don't let him, I stay glued to him keeping the little distance.

The WTF taekwondo being more focused on the sports world has a big disadvantage, the close combat, besides the fact that they do not use their arms.

I send a fist towards his cheek, which hits successfully, but he is not so affected that he decides to grab my arm.

This gives me an opportunity, I turn my body, while he holds my right arm, his back is turned, and I start to throw it. It was very foolish that he had grabbed me, that way I also grabbed him, and he could not escape from my throw over my shoulder.

He lifted his body no problem, his back hits the grass hard and I start to take distance again.

I wait a few moments, I sincerely hope he will stay there, but we both know this was the warm up.

He gets up with no problem.

Seong: You seem to have good moves.

Hachiman: What can I say? Practice makes perfect.

Seong: Now I see why you called your style hybrid, you don't have a school.

Hachiman: Exactly, I took what suited me best from various martial arts.

Seong: So you're a dirty thief.

Hachiman: Ouch, I wouldn't call it stealing, it would be better to call it adapting it to my style.

I prefer that term, in the end I took various techniques and disciplines to increase adaptability to various situations. Being a street fighter, I had to see myself in various situations, so staying rigid with one martial style only slowed me down. It also has to do with the influence of those two.