Looking at the girl's gradually infatuated expression, the black-haired, straight-haired girl sighed.
"Alright, my match is about to start soon. My opponent today... isn't simple. Let me prepare properly."
Hearing her best friend's words, the pink-haired girl stopped reminiscing about that boy and thought for a moment, asking uncertainly.
"Is it the young lady from the Okita Family?"
The black-haired, straight-haired girl nodded, and her eyes sharpened slightly.
For a long time, her family's school and the opponent's family's school shared one characteristic: speed.
Their elders had fought countless times with mixed wins and losses. Now, this rivalry had reached the younger generation.
She didn't have much family pressure, but having grown up immersed in this environment, she naturally didn't want to lose. She wanted to win!
"Was this the surprise Grandpa mentioned? But this isn't a surprise because she and I are from the same school, the same Kendo Club."
The black-haired, straight-haired girl recalled what her grandfather had told her a few days ago but shook her head.
For her, they knew each other inside out, so it couldn't be considered a surprise.
But her grandfather wouldn't say things without reason. The girl thought for a moment and finally concluded that the Okita young lady must have improved her Kendo recently.
'Be careful later, test the waters first,' The girl thought to herself.
Soon, the backstage area was cleared of non-essential personnel. The pink-haired girl looked back three times with every step as she was led to the VIP seats to watch the match.
Each competitor had their own rest room, they weren't all together since there were both males and females, so they were separated.
The final day had three matches in total: two one-on-one semi-finals, followed by the one-on-one final.
Yusei's opponent was a swordsman named Kushin Ryomei, gender male.
That was all the information Yusei had, which was public information. As for match recordings, he disdained them and naturally didn't watch them.
The other two competitors would go on first, so Yusei sat in the rest room, watching the venue on the big screen, preparing to see who his final opponent would be.
…
Meanwhile, Utaha, holding Shiro's hand, left the backstage area and went to the spectator stands to find their seats.
The Metropolitan Gymnasium was very large today, so there were still empty seats, and the venue didn't feel too crowded.
But even though it wasn't crowded, the gymnasium was still huge. Holding the seat tickets, Utaha couldn't find the seat numbers at first glance.
"509, 509..."
Utaha muttered to herself, constantly looking up at the passing seat numbers.
But just then, a soft, pleasant voice sounded.
"If you're looking for seat 509, it's right here."
Utaha was startled and looked towards the voice. A short-haired girl wearing a lace-trimmed beret was smiling at her.
However, Utaha noticed that the moment she turned her head, the girl's expression suddenly changed.
This change left Utaha somewhat confused, but it was her first time seeing this girl, and she didn't think she knew her.
"Thank you. It's my first time here, so I got a bit mixed up."
Utaha smiled at the girl, but she also noticed that this girl was surprisingly beautiful. She had a calm yet exquisite appearance, wore a white dress with a red jacket over it, and overall seemed very quiet and sweet.
In terms of looks, she was on par with Utaha, though Utaha had a better figure.
And unlike Utaha's mature, somewhat alluring charm, the other girl appeared extremely pure and spotlessly clean, the kind of beauty that made you want to protect her instantly.
'Strange, why didn't I notice such an outstanding girl immediately?'
Holding Shiro's hand, Utaha sat down in their connected seats and thought for a moment. Feeling a gaze on her from the side, she looked over.
She found the girl next to her looking at her. Utaha offered her a friendly smile.
The beret-wearing girl quickly averted her gaze and turned to look at the arena. However, beneath her placid expression, there was a hint of disappointment.
Her originally happy, expectant mood vanished completely, replaced by indecision and disappointment.
'So... the school rumor is true.'
'Indeed, he has changed, become more outstanding. Compared to someone like me, it's normal for him to get close to Kasumigaoka-san.'
The short-haired girl's expression as she looked at the arena remained serene, elegant, calm as still water… so peaceful and graceful.
But... the deep disappointment deep in her eyes betrayed the current mood of the owner of these eyes.