I became the Strongest Minus's mother!

Chapter 32:A truly underwhelming Second Stage

Saki jumped in joy, on the inside that is. However, she had to keep her comlosture on the outside.

Kumagawa:[So, by the rooftop, which one did you mean? And what's the best way to get there?]

Saki:Um...

Since he'd only just transferred in and didn't have a grasp of the geography and layout of the academy, she gave him the directions to reach the rooftop.

Saki was acting like a navigation system, but actually, she chose not to tell him the shortest route.

As if there was a bug in the navigation program, she intentionally taught him a route that took a lot of detours. And, of course, she did it all so that he wouldn't notice.

Kumagawa followed her direction like a child without the sense of doubt, still being unfamiliar with the school. She did felt a bit of guilt seeing this.

However, she knew that if the game would continue like usual Kumagawa would no doubt bring great harm upon Kushi. So her sense of guilt wasn't that bad in comparison.

Kumagawa:[I see, I see. Got it, I've perfectly understood the route I need to take to reach that rooftop. There's no one who understands this route more than I do. All right, then, good luck with the rest, Saki-chan.]

Saki:Y...Yeah. I'll follow after you as soon as I'm done with work.

Kumagawa:[See ya!]

And Kumagawa, spinning the Hero's Sword around in his hands, left the Student Council office. He was treating an unsheathed sword as if it were an umbrella.

Seeing him leave Saki began to make her preparations as well. On their conversation Kushi made it clear to her why the younger girl was not suited for such a task.

People gave Kushi a grandiose title of the Sword Dancer, but her only expertise in handling a sword was performing katas. She really was just a manager after all, when it cane to actually fighting with a swird she was pretty much a novice.

Kushi also revealed that this Anshin'in-san also placed a rule upon her. She was to face Kumagawa by using a sword the gamemaster herself gave Kushi, the Fool's Katana.

A battle of trandition, a swird versus katana showdown. If Kumagawa would lose the battle that was it, but if he won he'd ve given the Fool's Katana and go to the next stage weilding bith swords.

Kushi said it didn't have to be her to do it, but she doesn't want to pass it to another terminal also. That's where Saki cane with the plan of her fighting instead of Kushi.

Kushi herself was not combat oriented and Saki wasn't either. However, there laid a key difference.

Unlike Kushi who only heard about Kumagawa, Saki knows Kumagawa personally. So Saki can put that knowglede to use to get away with, probably, only half the damage Kumagawa would have done to Kushi.

That's why Saki quickly went to the changing room where the Fool's Katana was stored. She took it with her after changing in sportwear.

For this to work she'd also have to cover her face for Kumagawa to not recognize her and for him to think he was fighting Yakeishi Kushi. Unfourtunately time was not on Saki's side, so the only thing she could get was a cheap plastic anime mask.

As she arrived at the rooftop she was the lock of the door was destroyed with a screw. There was no doubt he was already here.

She hid her presence to the best of her ability and looked through the window at the layout of the rooftop of which Kumagawa was stading in the middle of. He was swinging around a double-edged sword, its sharpness having been confirmed, with a smile on his face.

Really, looking at him from a distance objectively like this, it really felt like it wasn't an exaggeration that this was quite a dangerous character. Kushi had said that she was just a manager who specialized in kata movements with no actual fighting experience, so she was troubled if she was made to take part in a sword fight.

But in that case, it wasn't like Kumagawa had any knowledge in swordplay, either, so why was he so full of enthusiasm? He truly was a novice that could shame experts.

Kumagawa:[Ah.]

Kumagawa's hand slipped as he was doing another practice swing, and the sword fell from his hands. So he was still pretty sloppy in the end.

Still, she had no intention to win this fight. So Kumagawa would go to the next stage wielding both the Hero's Sword and the Fool's Katana.

Kumagawa Misogi's dual wielding style. It felt like that would also make for a good picture.

Kushi's understanding of Kumagawa-kun as a guy that was always losing was correct. But if Saki was to add one more thing, it would be that he was a guy that was always losing, but kept going until he won.

The only one who should have it rough should be Saki alone. And that was the reason for this substitution strategy.

Saki did feel anxious, wondering if things would really end well with her trying to sneak around Kumagawa-kun like this, with her trying to perform a sneak attack on him like this. However, she had an equal amount of curiosity as she did hesitation.

Upon being betrayed by someone close to him what sort of reaction would Kumagawa display? She couldn't help but find it thrilling.

He was the one that seemed like someone who'd make betrayal a hobby, so if he was betrayed, if he was stabbed in the back, or perhaps stabbed from the side, what sort of reaction would he give? It would be a lie if she said that she wasn't interested.

Saki:Well...Although I gotta try and make sure my betrayal isn't exposed...

She had her own personal agenda, to keep the piece of Suisou. Well, rather than just not having her identity exposed, it actually seemed harder to lose to Kumagawa.

If a contrarian like him found out that she had lost on purpose, he'd probably say something like, "This doesn't count as a victory, it's practically as if I lost", after all. Really, this Student Council President was at an age that was hard to please.

As the clock hit 3:40 she kicked open the door and threw away the scabbard of the Fool's Katana. After this she leapt towards Kumagawa's front.

Perhaps this was just hee being sentimental. Despite being about to stab Kumagawa- in the back, at least in physical terms, she was about to cut him through the front.

Saki:Kumagawa Misogi! Prepare yourself!

Kumagawa:[Huh. Saki-chan, what are you doing?]

Saki may have understmated her lack of experience at using a sword. As she tried to attack Kumagawa, she fell flat on her face.

And at that point, the Fool's Katana that she had carelessly let go of spun wildly as it flew towards Kumagawa before impaling him in the chest. Not even slightly off from the point where the Hero's Sword had impaled him.

Kumagawa flipped around from the impact. As expected of a Japanese katana, it cut into things rather well without folding or bending, even without any nationalism involved, it was rather impressive that it could pierce through a person with its weight alone.

Saki:...Or rather, oh no! I ended up killing Kumagawa-kuuun!

Even in this situation, he should be able to properly use All Fiction. Thinking that, she quickly rushed over to Kumagawa.

He showed no signs of stirring as he hemorrhaged quite a lot of blood on the floor, but she was more surprised by the fact that Kumagawa had figured out her identity in a single blow. As for what that meant, she couldn't figure it out in that moment.

Saki:Eh? Huh? Does this mean...Then, Kumagawa-kun...The game Anshin'in-san prepared for him...He...Failed to clear Stage 2?

Regardless of what anyone's intentions were, this was supposed to have been a match that was rigged from the start. And, even in the midst of betrayal and treachery, he should have been able to see a glimpse of victory.

Kumagawa should have. But, of all things, he'd managed to see through her true identity.

Kumagawa:[Once again, I couldn't win.]