Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan - Volume 2 Read online

  That's why Ikki had no reason to decline.

  "I understand. Leave it to me."

  Ikki gave a trustworthy smile, and touched Ayase's arms.

  "Fuwahaa~! K-Kurogane-kun!?"

  Suddenly being touched so tightly, Ayase's face went red and she let out a strange moan.

  As for Ikki, he had a completely stern expression. That was obvious, because from now, he was going to adjust Ayase's sword style. If he messed up after having wicked thoughts or feeling awkward, then that mistake couldn't be reversed. The teacher couldn't be forgiven for mistakes. That's what Ikki thought. Ikki didn't have the luxury of feeling reserved.

  "From now I am going to change Ayatsuji-san's form to the correct one. It might be embarrassing, but bear with it."

  "Y-Yeah… I'll… try my best."

  Even though her face was steaming red, she endured it and bit her lip.

  Ikki, who didn't even drop a sweat while sparring with Ayase, was now sweating from his forehead. He was touching all over her body while having an expression so serious that it was scary. Seeing that, Ayase understood just how much Ikki was trying for her sake.

  There's no way she wouldn't understand. So she couldn't be so selfish as to be feeling embarrassed. That why Ayase killed off her shyness, and entrusted her body to Ikki.

  "I'll only adjust a little, so feel that change and concentrate to remember that location."

  "R-Roger~ Nn~"

  Ikki moved his hands as if he were touching glassware, and carefully adjusted Ayase's posture. Lowering the shoulders a little bit, he fastened her side. Next, he touched the healthy looking thighs coming out of her skirt. Finally touching the inner thighs, he opened up her posture a bit.

  "Fu… ah, hyan~ uuu….~"

  "The thing women benefit more from than men is the flexibility of their joints. Specially the hip joints. When they become pregnant, their pelvis widens. So their hip joints have to be that flexible. In other words, they have higher mobility in that area than men. This is the weapon of a woman. If Ayatsuji-san makes all your movements with the joints of your hip, then your actions will definitely speed up."

  While lecturing her, Ikki stroked his fingers from her thighs to her knees as if he could read the flow of her muscles. From the shame of having her hips stroked by a man, Ayase's knees trembled. Ikki had the feeling he was doing something very rude to her, but without minding that and keeping his concentration fixed, he continued the work of minute details and finally….

  "Yeah. This should do it."

  After completing the job wherein a miss wouldn't be forgiven, he looked at Ayase.

  …Ayase had an expression that made him think of an octopus.

  "I was the one who did it but… are you alright?"

  "I'mbokkay…"

  And she was half crying.

  "Err… sorry. I should've stopped."

  "N-Nooo! That's not true! In the first place I was the one who asked, Kurogane-kun shouldn't feel sorry!"

  After wiping of her tears, Ayase smiled.

  "…And besides, Kurogane-kun's hands, they were so big, and gentle, and strong…. Like father's, so I didn't hate it."

  "Haha, who could've thought that these dirty hands would be helpful like this."

  Ever since he was young, Ikki had been studying swordsmanship. So the skin of his hands were quite rough. Maybe because no matter how much the skin peeled, or calluses formed, he kept swinging his sword without rest. But even with that comment, his hands definitely couldn't be called beautiful. So he shook his head in denial.

  "That's not true… I, that kind of hand, I think it's very cool. I love boys who drive straight forward."

  "Eh?"

  Ikki became speechless at those unexpected words.

  "Ah…."

  And after seeing Ikki's response, Ayase realized what she had just said and panicked.

  "That, now! I didn't mean it in an indecent way! Only as a personality! That's it!"

  "Y-Yeah! I get it. Don't panic so much or the posture will break!"

  Ikki fixed the posture of the distressed Ayase. If it fell apart after all that work, that would be too unfortunate.

  "Nn… but Kurogane-kun… this feels a bit tight."

  "That's because the habits you've built in your body cannot be reformed right away. You have to practice and get used to it."

  Saying that, Ikki took out Intetsu and stood before Ayase.

  "From now onward, I'll slash at you with my sword just like before. I've changed the angle in your knees, elbows, and hip joints. Move based on these three points and try to parry my strike just like before and counter attack."

  "R-Roger."

  Ayase, who took out Hizume, had looked tense. Guessing that she was ready, Ikki brought down his sword with the exact same speed and angle as before.

  Then….

  "…!"

  Just like before, Ayase parried the strike diagonally, and with the opening, she countered. However, whether the actions really were the same… it could be confirmed just by seeing that the strike was definitely faster.

  At that fact, more than anyone else, Ayase herself was at a loss for words. As if she couldn't believe her own movements, she looked at the Hizume she grasped in her hands with terror, and then at Ikki.

  Whew. Seems like it was a success.

  Ikki was relieved that his corrections were right on spot.

  Until now, Ayase had used her upper body-she put strength in her arms to block the strikes.

  But that was an error. If it was a male, then he could follow up smoothly after that action, but with a female's physique, putting strength in her arms would not be enough, and after that it would just break her stance. As a result, the body would only stiffen, and the reaction would also be slower.

  But after Ikki's corrections, she now received the attack by relying on her lower body. A female's tender thigh joints were suitable to absorb the shock. She could block most of the attacks just by putting strength on her legs. And since there wouldn't be strain on her body, she could react to the next attack timely.

  That was the mechanism that resulted in a sharp adjustment to Ayase's fighting.

  "A-awesome… awesome awesome! This is awesome Kurogane-kun!!"

  Perhaps she had finally grasped the changes to her body. She made a bright smile and grabbed Ikki's hands firmly while waving them around like crazy.

  "To be able to solve the problem I've been troubled with for two years so easily! Kurogane-kun's almost like that right!? A PhD in swordsmanship, right!"

  "I'm also relieved to find out that I'm not mistaken."

  Not too happy about such a shady degree though.

  Other than Shizuku, for people who come to the lecture during the lunch break, he could not guide them so directly like this. For Ikki, this was the first time he had taught someone directly. But, after seeing Ayase who was skipping in total delight while her body screamed ‘I did it! I did it!' with all her might, despite being tense he was glad he did it.

  *Foom*

  Honestly, he was more tense than when he was in a match. It was also around ten times wearier, but it paid off.

  *Foom*

  Maybe this kind of job wasn't so bad after all.

  *FoomFoomFoom*

  "…Erm, Stella."

  "What is it, Dr. Swordsmanship?"

  "For a while, an amazing amount of wind pressure has been blasting this way, but…"

  Ikki turned sideways and looked at the origin of the wind pressure that was hitting his face for a while. There, he saw a Stella swinging around Lævateinn with a pouting face so grand that it was amazing.

  "Oh, sorry about that. After seeing a pervert who was brushing a girl's thighs in the name of training, I got a bit too irritated. Thanks to that, seems like my swordsmanship is all messed up. Since it's come to this, would you be kind enough to fix that for me now?"

  "O, O-Okay."

  Ikki was overwhelmed by Stella's force which wouldn't allow him to refuse, so he n
odded.

  ….But I really don't want to mess with Stella's sword.

  After all, Stella's sword was 'a sword of the strong' meant for mowing down her enemies. Compared to Ikki's 'sword of the weak' which was for outsmarting the enemy, it was fundamentally different. He didn't feel like there would be any results even if he tried to help. But if he didn't comply here, her irritation would only grow and grow, causing a period of incessant pouting.

  Without any choice, but without extracting his hands, he observed Stella's swings.

  …Huh?

  At first glance it might look like her swings were totally messed up, but looking carefully he could see that from her toes, to her knees and hips, her movements were completely synchronized. There weren't any useless actions at all. Stella had probably intended to mess up those swings, but because of her superhuman perception of motion, she subconsciously corrected the movements of her joints and muscles and created the most suitable form where the least energy is wasted. This was truly strength deserving of pride.

  To be able to find faults with such perfect swordsmanship, was impossible for Ikki.

  "As expected of Stella. Someone like me can't possibly find a fault in you."

  "WHY!!!"

  "Uwah! Why're you getting mad even though I praised you!?"

  "IT'S NOTHING, YOU IDIOT!!!"

  Ikki's demon-like perception for swords and swordsmanship were of no use in examining the heart of a maiden.

  Well, that could not be helped. His brain was filled with only pure thoughts for battles.

  Part 6

  "What's with him!! Only looking at that sempai!"

  After going crazy and chasing Ikki around for a while, Stella sat down on the bench in front of the lounge beside the plaza. Shizuku, who was conducting magic training on the next bench, looked at Stella, who was obviously fuming.

  "Maybe he didn't want to touch the princess's faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat thighs."

  "I-It's not so fat that you had to drag it out that much! It's only a bit chubby! And it's not like I can help it, it was trained that way!!"

  Stella protested that sudden and totally unexpected evaluation with a high-pitched voice, but Shizuku averted her face with an ‘I don't know anything' expression and made an action figure out of clay that looked just like Ikki.

  "I mean, it totally looks like Ikki. Like Ikki. Cool! I want one!"

  "Now now, you don't have to get so nervous. Unlike Ayatsuji-sempai, Stella-chan is on a completely different level. I don't think there is anything he could instruct you on."

  "Mu―!"

  Arisuin's follow up was spot on, and Stella's brain was also in agreement. In reality, Stella did not need Ikki's guidance at all.

  ―But that was that, and this is this.

  …Maybe my heart is the narrower one.

  If her arms and thighs were also squished and stroked by another man, would Ikki also feel the same way?

  Wait! What the hell kind of rotten thing am I thinking! That's definitely wrong! T-That! Squishing and stroking! That's only for Ikki! I'll only allow Ikki to squish and stroke me!

  It was disgusting just to think about it. Stella kicked out that delusion from her mind, and asked Shizuku.

  "Hey… is Shizuku okay with this?"

  "Okay? What do you mean?"

  "I mean…. Ikki touching and stroking another woman all over the place."

  "I was wondering what you'd ask. Onii-sama is teaching Ayatsuji-sempai swordsmanship. Unlike some other sow, she's not trying to seduce him, so is there a reason to snarl at her? I'm not a rabid dog you know."

  While answering that, Shizuku started to paint the Ikki action figure with the acrylic paint she had brought out of her bag. This was already art so training had nothing to do with it.

  "And which mouth was the one who snarled at me so much?"

  "This mouth."

  Shizuku pointed at her mouth with her two index fingers. Truly an irritable face.

  "Stella-san, you seem to have misunderstood something."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "You seem to have thought that I want to monopolize Onii-sama, but that is a regrettable misunderstanding. My love for Onii-sama isn't something so cheap and selfish. To me, the thing that matters most is Onii-sama's happiness. If Onii-sama becomes happy, then I don't mind if his partner isn't me. If that person truly brings Onii-sama happiness without betraying him or making him feel sad, then I'd be glad and bless them."

  This confession was something completely unexpected to Stella, because she thought that Shizuku loved Ikki as a woman.

  "Well, I don't think there is a person other than me who could do that anyway."

  Saying that, Shizuku smiled at Stella provokingly, and then looked towards the square where Ikki and Ayase had again started to spar.

  "Onii-sama seems so happy after Ayatsuji-sempai came. The other students and I aren't strong enough to learn solid sword techniques while Stella-san is too strong for Onii-sama to teach anything, so maybe he was feeling a bit unsatisfied. The Onii-sama who is having fun guiding others is also very cute and fabulous. So I guess I should actually be thankful to Ayatsuji-sempai."

  "…Shizuku sometimes seems so mature. Even though you're so small."

  "Maybe you're the one who's too much of a child, even though you're big in so many places. And your thighs are too fat."

  "They're not fat! You're the one who's too tiny!"

  It's enough if Ikki's happy.

  Certainly, if Ikki was happy, then that was happiness for Stella too. But still, she can't help but think that she wanted to be the one to make Ikki the happiest.

  …But in reality, it was not going too well. After they became lovers, she would become tense just by being near him. And they hadn't done anything lover-like at all. Specially the nights they spent together alone; those were severe. Just by meeting his gaze, her spine would go numb, and she would be unable to even see properly.

  Was Ikki restraining himself too? He would never break their personal boundaries.

  For Stella, she actually didn't hate that slow going time too much. Even though she'd feel kind of itchy and embarrassed, her heart would beat faster just by being near him. But she had that strong desire to take the next step as lovers.

  She also heard that girls who make boys wait were soon hated. 「In the past month, we haven't done anything like lovers at all have we? Then wouldn't it be okay if we returned to our previous relationship?」

  …No, definitely NO!

  She would cry just by imagining such a thing. If that really happened, then she would never be able to bear it.

  But, this kind of thing, should the girl be the one who makes the first move? What if she was thought to be indecent, or if she was hated? No matter how she thought, the wild delusions would come up again. She just couldn't figure it out.

  And the worst thing was that even if Ikki made the first move, she wasn't confident that she would obediently comply. She understood her perverseness the best. She was sure, that she'd give excuses like how a princess should act, or what a princess shouldn't do.

  "Haa…."

  Even though it was so easy to fly at an opponent with her sword, why was it so hard to dive into her lover's chest? The couples around the world, her mother and father, why could they do it so easily? They have way too much courage.

  While thinking something so hopeless, Stella looked up towards the sky which was dyed in a mad red and thought―

  Haa… I really want to kiss him….

  It was the millionth helpless sigh that she had let out in that one month alone.

  Lorelei: A siren-like female creature from a German poem, whose beauty and song lead sailors to crash upon the cliff she sits on. The Japanese text uses the kanji 深海の魔女, "Witch of the Deep Sea".

  Zanbatō (斬馬刀, literally meaning "Horse Killing Sword") are fictional blades commonly used in anime and manga, known for being large.

  Yamato Nadeshiko: A term for those whose
appearance and behavior matches the idealized Japanese woman.

  Hizume, 緋爪: "Scarlet Claw"

  Chapter 2: Twilight of Disaster

  Part 1

  "Let's go to the pool tomorrow."

  After getting his tenth consecutive victory at the selection matches, Ikki had said that to Ayase. It wasn't like he had the intention of playing around. While Ayase might not have realized it, because of the training she was having with Ikki every day, her body was stressed all over, especially because of her posture. It was corrected just a few days ago and she was not used to it yet… In other words, she had to repeatedly use various muscles she hadn't used before.

  That was why today was going to be a rest day. And in order to make the best of it, Ikki had prepared the perfect menu. He was going to the pool for that very reason.

  Besides Ikki who was waiting for Ayase that morning, Stella, who wore a white one piece dress reminiscent of a frigid early summer, was also there.

  "Of course I'd come. If I took my eyes off you, you might sexually harass Sempai again."

  "But I didn't sexually harass her."

  "Lies. On the contrary, you did it just the other day. Who'd normally go and touch a girl's inner thigh?"

  "I only did that to correct Sempai's posture. It was a critical action which if I by any chance messed up… well, I absolutely didn't have any free time to think about anything frivolous."

  Stella's mood had turned for the worse over these few days. Naturally, Ikki knew the reason for it. It was because he was only paying attention to Ayase these few days… That's probably what she thought. Well, it couldn't be helped. If Stella, Ikki's girlfriend, was going around flirting with other guys, naturally that wouldn't feel very good to him. That's why he understood how Stella felt. But still―

  "Hey Stella, I haven't looked at Ayatsuji-sempai pervertedly even once, believe me. I'm only helping Sempai out a bit as a fellow swordsman. That's all there is… there isn't anyone who doesn't need the help of others from time to time."

  Ikki hadn't even been helped once like this. The adults who should've helped him all ganged up on him like enemies. That's why, if he ever saw someone who was in need of help and couldn't solve their own troubles, he strongly desired to help them. He would help them climb the wall they couldn't climb alone because he knew how hard it was to climb it alone.