Summer vacation started tomorrow! I was going to forget about those days filled with nothing but studying and just play my heart out. The beach, festivals, fireworks displays, maybe even a trip! What should I do first...?
"...And yet, what on earth is this place?"
"It’s my house, isn't it?"
"A house... a mansion? No, a house...?"
If I had to say what house it resembled, it was close to the Isono residence from that one famous cartoon. If someone asked which Isono residence, I could only say that one. Even though we were at the dawn of a new era, it looked like there would be a Showa-style storehouse on the property. Total Heisei Jump.
More importantly, shouldn't going to the house of a high school girl—even if she was my senior—be more, well, heart-pounding? It was the exact opposite of the feeling I got when I went to Natsukawa's place. What was with this total lack of excitement? Besides, I could feel an incredible heat emanating from a certain direction.
"It is a house, but the grounds are certainly unusual. Look, there is a dojo over there."
"There's a dojo over there?!"
"I just said that."
I wished she wouldn't expect me to process that on the first strike. I only managed to grasp its existence after parroting her. Wait, what? I could hear a lot of really deep, manly voices coming from that building. Was her family massive?
"Wait a minute, why am I at a dojo right before summer vacation?"
"No, it isn't anything that grueling. You might mistake it for some kind of martial art, but it's different. Just think of it as giving it a try, like a trial run."
"..."
There was no way I was going to say, "Oh, if that's the case, then sure!" A dojo without martial arts sounded even more suspicious. In the first place, what was I going to experience? Wait, whoa, don't just open the door so suddenly—
"Pardon me!"
"Wait, pardon m—wa-wha-whaaat?!"
I felt like she should have taught me the proper greeting for entering beforehand. What surprised me most was that Shinomiya-senpai didn't open the sliding door in front of her, but the one in front of me. Was it really necessary to shout that loud? Thanks to that, an old man who looked like a master instructor and a group of burly men all looked our way at once.
"Hahaha, Sajou. Hahaha."
"Senpai. For the first time in my life, I'm considering raising a hand against a girl."
"My mistake, my mistake! I do this to every friend I bring here for the first time. Yuyu and Ayano made hilarious faces too. Especially Yuyu."
Who was Ayano...? Ah, given the usual pair, she meant Mita-senpai. What was this person doing? Look, even that old man who looked like a master instructor was staring with exasperation. Actually, he was glaring at me. Why? Sajoo was going home.
Please, let me go home.
"Um, Senpai? This isn't what we talked about. There are people who look like hardcore karatekas or judokas grappling with each other!"
"Don't describe it so crudely. It's true that there are martial arts instructors here, but those people are visitors. only those who wish to do so take their special training."
"I-I can't believe it...!"
"Believe it."
To choose such a painful path of one's own volition...! Aside from being forced by parents as a child, who would actually choose martial arts?! What could possibly be good about going out of your way to get hurt after reaching the age of reason? Even Olympic athletes had said it—they weren't particularly interested, but they couldn't back down, so they aimed for the top!
"We do not teach martial arts here; we teach Seishindo."
"‘Seishindo’?"
"It's something that also applies to martial arts, but doesn't a person's condition change depending on the time and situation? Some are good under pressure, while others are weak."
"Ah, yeah, that happens."
"Seishindo is about being able to adjust that balance to the state most suitable for the situation. It's more like a classroom than a sport."
"So it's studying? I'll pass."
"I heard from Kaede, you know. That you do nothing but play games at home. You won't get stronger by only facing a screen."
"No, that's—hey, don't grab me! Shinomiya-senpai?! What on earth are you planning to do with me!!"
"You'll get better at games too!"
"You just made that up on the spot, didn't you!!!"
I tried to turn back and go home, rather than just running away. But the Disciplinary Committee President grabbed my sleeve firmly, refusing to let me escape. Why was she smiling so defiantly? This was Seishindo, right? Besides, when she was around Inatomi-senpai, she didn't look like she'd been trained at all!
"Let go of m—YIPES?!"
The sudden crack of a bamboo sword striking the floor rang out. We both froze in surprise. I probably could have broken free at that moment, but I was too terrified to move. When I turned to check, the old man who looked like a master instructor from earlier was glaring at me, his bamboo sword still resting on the floor.
"...You two over there. You're too close."
"Yes, sir!"
I was certain that, in that moment, I gave the best response in the world. The foot I stepped forward with to get away from Shinomiya-senpai carried as much weight as the sound of the bamboo sword hitting the floor.
"I won't ever get close to her again!"
"Hey now, Sajou."
Hey, your head was too high, Shinomiya-senpai! Lower your head or you'll get killed, seriously. Look at that intensity. It felt like he could kill a sparrow or me with just a look. Wait, was I dead...? Was I already dead...? Note: Still alive.
"Rin, who is this lad?"
"He's my junior, Sajou. I'm thinking of having him join the Disciplinary Committee."
So that was your ulterior motive, you scoundrel!! I knew it was suspicious, bringing me to a place like this out of the blue! I was wondering why I had to train my spirit! Also, wasn't it too early?! How many months away was that?!
"Ho...? I thought my granddaughter had brought a man home, but he is just a junior."
"Hey, don't get the wrong idea! I just thought I'd have his flimsy spirit toughened up!"
"!?"
Wait! What was that? That slightly normal high school girl-like tone just now! Shinomiya-senpai, you could talk like that?! I could get behind this! I could really get behind this, Senpai! Turning back into a regular granddaughter in front of her grandfather was great! Keep that vibe going from now on—
"You."
"Eep!?"
I was a sparrow! I was standing before a terrifying grandfather right now! His gaze was so sharp I felt like my spirit was going to break! I felt like a salaryman in the middle of the week on a Wednesday! The company was the Demon King's Castle!
"Lad... did you say Sajou?"
"No, I'm Yamazaki—"
"Hah?"
"I'm Sajou."
I made a slip of the tongue. I felt like I was about to be purged from life itself. This was bad.
The old man looked me up and down, and his eyes gradually shifted into the kind of look one gives a bug. I wondered how he could look at someone he just met like that, but when I thought of him as someone born in another world called a "Martial Artist," it strangely made sense. So, I decided to think of him as a veteran champion who had achieved great feats on his own. At least from the neck up. If I looked at just the veins in his arms, I was definitely the one who looked like an old man.
"A weakling, I see."
"That's why I'm going to train him."
"Do you think this one can become strong?"
"That's why I'm trying to go home."
The argument went back and forth from Senpai to me. If anything, I wished this old man would just hate me to the core. However, it felt like things had moved past that into dangerous territory. Also, where was this old man looking...? At the spot where Senpai was grabbing my arm?
U-Um, let's stop gripping my arm so hard, Senpai. It felt like a beam was about to fire from the glare he was giving us. Contact—let's stop the physical contact first. What kind of Disciplinary Committee President were you? This was impure boy-girl association.
"Lad, what is your relationship with Rin?"
"My sister is her gal friend."
"That's not it!"
...Wait, it wasn't?
When I explained that Senpai's best friend was my older sister and I was her younger brother (after a long internal struggle), he changed his attitude. "I must show respect to the relative of the best friend of my granddaughter, who used to have few friends," he said. He then spun a mysterious theory that "The 'first a girl, then a boy' type of man is the type to be henpecked and weak, so he's safe," and I ended up undergoing the extremely stoic training of "strengthening the heart" while my heart was already covered in wounds.
"Seishindo is something that can be utilized in modern times, giving one an advantage in all sorts of situations. When standing before a crowd, when debating, when giving a presentation, or when facing an irrational and unpleasant superior—most people's minds go blank, but here, one can learn to maintain their composure."
There was a lot of personal experience packed into the old man's words. What happened to him in his youth? This man was definitely a late bloomer.
But well, based on what I was hearing, it sounded like a good deal. Being able to not panic would make me invincible. Now that he mentioned it, it was a mindset that seemed useful even in toxic online games. I was starting to get a little interested.
"How long have you been training, Shinomiya-senpai?"
"I can only say since I was a child. I don't remember."
"For someone like that, you really cut loose when you're around Inatomi-senpai—"
"That is a completely different matter, Sajou. Things that should be cherished must be cherished. Wouldn't it be boring to look at a small bird or a flower with a straight face and no emotion?"
Small birds, flowers, and Inatomi-senpai. I felt like I could write a poem. When I tried reading it in my head in Inatomi-senpai's voice, it quickly turned into a tongue-tied voice. That was strange. Why did a childish voice fit her so well even though her appearance didn't change?
Inatomi Yuyu (CV: Inatomi Yuyu)