The Irregular at Magic High

Chapter 25

Kirihara used his left hand to push away her shinai and dove back. "He lost because he tried to change his aim in the middle of the attack."

"I see, so that's why he seemed to waver in his attack. It was the perfect timing to make it a draw... but I guess he couldn't cut off his feelings." Tatsuya and the others weren't the only ones who knew the match was over. Seated towards the front of the crowd were members of the Kendo club and the Kenjutsu club. The Kendo members let out a sigh of relief while the Kenjutsu members clenched their teeth in anger.

"If this were a real fight, then this would have been a mortal wound. The attack you made on me didn't even reach my bones. Just admit your loss."

Sayaka let out a declaration of victory in a graceful pose. But Kirihara distorted his face while listening. Was his swordsman side admitting his loss despite what he was feeling otherwise?

"He...heheheheh."

He suddenly started letting out a hollow laugh. Did he admit his defeat? It didn't seem that way. Tatsuya's sense of danger shot up within him. The only person who sensed this more than Tatsuya was the one who was standing in front of Kirihara — Sayaka. He recovered his stance, pointed his weapon at her, and looked sharply at her. "A real fight, you say? If this was a real fight, you wouldn't even be able to cut me. Mibu, do you really want to have a real fight? Then... I'll show you what a 'real fight' is!"

As Kirihara activated his CAD using his right hand, screams came from the crowd of spectators. There was a screeching sound that echoed the room, like someone was scratching a panel of glass. There were some who even kneeled down with pale faces. Kirihara jumped forward and swung his shinai down. He had the same speed, but he wasn't using as much strength as before. Regardless, Sayaka jumped back.

The attack didn't even hit; it barely grazed her. But her chestplate was cut open, just by getting grazed by a shinai. The thing that increased its cutting power is a close combat Vibration Magic, "Sonic Blade".

"How's that Mibu?! This is a 'real' fight!"

As he was about to make another swing towards Sayaka, Tatsuya jumped in front of him. Before he jumped in, Tatsuya activated his CADs on both arms (using his Psion as "hands" to press the switches) and transferred his Psion within them. He used those CAD to shoot out an intricate web of Psion waves, a type of Non-Systematic magic that he used. By now, there were many spectators who held their mouths because a symptom similar to motion sickness spread across the crowd. Kirihara's shinai and Tatsuya's arm intersected, but there weren't any sounds of the shinai hitting meat. The sound that came out was the sound of a body falling to the floor.

After the spectators recovered from the sound and sickness, they were able to finally see what was going on. And what they saw was Kirihara on the ground while Tatsuya was keeping him there, by holding his left wrist and using his knee to push down on his shoulder.

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Within the gymnasium, a.k.a "Arena", what broke silence was whispers of hostility.

"Who's that?" "I've never seen him before." "Is he a new student?" "Look at it, he's a Weed." "What the hell is a Weed doing?" "But that thing on his armband—"

"Wait, I heard a rumor that someone from the Course 2 made it into the Disciplinary Committee."

"What? Seriously? A Weed in the Disciplinary Committee?" The whispers originated from the Kenjutsu club and spread from there (from both boys and girls). Within the crowded circle, half stared at Tatsuya with hostility, while others simply gazed while holding their breath. In this hostile atmosphere, Tatsuya coolly (while holding Kirihara down) took out his communication device in his mobile terminal. His cool face didn't seem like a bluff. It seemed like he was used to being the bad guy in most situations. "This is Tatsuya within the 2nd gymnasium. I have apprehended one student. He seems to be injured so please bring a stretcher just in case."