Chapter 176: I Don't Want to Know (Long Chapter)
Swoosh~~
A fairly strong gust of wind blew past. Amidst the rustling of leaves overhead, a comfortable, natural 'hissing' sound could be heard.
Hearing a sound like this while lying on soft grass, blown by a gentle breeze and warmed by the sun, one could certainly fall into a peaceful sleep.
Countless maple leaves fell from above, floating with the wind like snowflakes made of leaves, piling up in various places...
The wind also dispersed the fishy scent of blood at the scene, fluttering the hem of Akishin's shirt and his fine hair. The blade of [Rebirth] in his hand reflected the thin sunlight.
"Huff~~"
Akishin exhaled, completely concealing his killing intent. Seeing Shizuka and the other two standing frozen, he showed a warm smile, chuckled, nodded to them, and asked, "Are you guys okay?"
Half of Noma Naru's body was still pinning down Takeda Konao. He nodded dumbly: "N-no problem, Senpai, you..."
"That's good then."
Akishin took the scabbard for [Rebirth] from the backpack on the ground, then slowly inserted [Rebirth] back into its sheath.
Sret~ Click!
He put [Rebirth] back into the backpack, no longer making it disappear instantly, and then zipped it shut.
"A-Akishin..." Shizuka finally snapped out of the string of shocks. She ran stumbling toward Akishin and immediately hugged him: "Hiks hiks hiks~, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? What was that sword just now? That was so dangerous! Why didn't you just run...?"
Tears poured uncontrollably from Shizuka's eyes. She hugged Akishin for a moment, then hurriedly released him to check him thoroughly, looking for any wounds...
Just like after the disaster in Itomori Town.
"I'm fine, I'm not hurt. Don't worry, Shizuka, I really don't have any problems at all..."
Akishin shook his head, placing his right hand on Shizuka's head and stroking it gently.
Once Shizuka confirmed there were no injuries, she hugged him again: "Thank goodness you're okay, thank goodness..."
"Chishima-sensei, Hiratsuka-sensei..."
Noma Naru and Takeda Konao also ran closer. They glanced at Akishin, then at the boar corpse behind him that was now truly dead. Their faces were full of lingering terror.
Akishin shook his head with a smile: "Don't worry."
Takeda Konao asked: "Then Senpai, that sword just now... Eh??"
For some reason, Takeda Konao couldn't quite remember the details of the long sword from earlier. It was a very strange feeling—the sword seemed to exist in a very distant and ancient time; her memory became fuzzy.
When she first saw it, she thought she would never forget it for the rest of her life—that dark purple blade...
Eh?
Was the blade actually dark purple?
"That is my sword. I usually carry it with me." Akishin didn't say much, not even having the desire to explain, only mentioning it briefly.
"But, but that was a real sword (Shinken)..."
Noma Naru expressed his shock. That was a real sword, right! It had to be real! The kind that could kill living things! With one strike, it could kill that giant wild boar!
But as he spoke, he remembered Akishin's identity as a famous Kendo figure. Noma Naru couldn't bring himself to continue. For a famous Kendo figure, wasn't it perfectly natural to own a real sword?
If he didn't have one, that would be considered strange in those circles.
He remembered watching an interview once with a famous Kendo master. The man's house was incredibly luxurious and classic, with a special room for storing swords.
In that room, besides a large number of bamboo swords (Shinai), real long swords occupied an entire rack at the very back. There were dozens of real swords, each a masterpiece by a master smith, spanning over three hundred years...
What that Kendo master was most proud of were those dozens of real swords; the look in his eyes when he saw them was even softer than when he looked at his own grandson...
"Alright Shizuka, that's enough. I'm really okay."
Akishin gently pushed Shizuka back. Seeing her slightly flushed face, her watery eyes, and her figure that evoked a sense of pity, he leaned down and softly kissed those small lips.
It was just a brief touch, followed by a slight lick of the corner of her lip.
Shizuka blinked her eyes, and suddenly like a cat with its fur standing up, she jumped away quickly. Both hands clutched her chest, and she stared at Akishin angrily in a state of extreme embarrassment—Idiot! There are other people here! How could you just kiss me? If you wanted to, wait until we're home!!
"Eh eh eh!!!"
Sure enough, Noma Naru and Takeda Konao were so shocked their faces turned red with embarrassment, but...
They realized their hands were still joined!
They hurriedly let go!
—Noma Naru had pulled Takeda Konao's hand when he stood up. It was a completely unconscious action.
To break the tension, Noma Naru asked Akishin: "Senpai, what should we do next?"
"Tidy all this up. We probably can't play anymore. Contact Tenshi-sensei and the others; once they're back, we'll head straight home." Akishin pointed toward the mess on the ground from the boar's impact.
After speaking, he put down his backpack and started tidying up, putting trash and food that could no longer be eaten into a trash bag to be taken away. What was still edible was put back into the cooler.
Noma Naru pointed at the boar corpse and asked cautiously: "Then Senpai, this boar... what about it?"
Akishin looked at the boar corpse, frowning slightly. What he wanted most was to just leave it here, but there were witnesses. After the boar rotted, the air within a thousand-meter radius would be polluted...
The biggest fear was the emergence of some virus.
Cursing the hassle in his heart, Akishin said to Takeda Konao: "Takeda-sensei, could I trouble you to contact the nearest police station? Or the fire department. Tell them... tell them we accidentally killed a four-hundred-pound wild boar. Explain the chronology. You can mention my name... just say that."
"Ah! Right, right, immediately...!"
Takeda Konao hurriedly took out her phone to call the police, but there was no signal here. She had to walk up to a higher spot for a moment.
But having just experienced a wild boar attack, she didn't dare go alone. She gave Shizuka a pleading look.
'Shizuka-senpai, come with me~'
Just as Shizuka was about to agree, Noma Naru jumped out and shouted loudly: "Konao-senpai, I'll go with you! I'll definitely protect you well!"
His expression was extremely serious, as if he were a knight protecting a princess, making Takeda Konao subconsciously feel a sense of security...
Seeing the two of them walking up cautiously, Shizuka silently rooted for them and joined the process of tidying up the gear.
Twenty minutes later, after Takeda Konao finished calling the fire department, she also called the five people who had gone to the sea, and they had returned.
Seeing the giant boar corpse on the ground, they were naturally very frightened. After hearing that the boar had been killed by Akishin with a single strike, their gaze toward Akishin was no longer just admiration, but a sense of awe.
Though they wanted to see Akishin's sword, no one dared to say it, and Akishin had no intention of showing it to them.
As for Shizuka...
She didn't ask!
She was the one who had packed the picnic gear that morning; she could be sure that sword hadn't been there. She had lived at the Chishima Residence for a long time and had never seen Akishin's real sword either!
Let alone a real sword—besides kitchen knives and fruit knives—there wasn't even a single blunt practice sword (Uchigatana) at the Chishima Residence.
So, where did that sword come from?
She didn't know.
But she knew this was likely Akishin's secret. Just like before, she wouldn't pry into his secrets; if Akishin was willing to tell her, she would naturally find out. If Akishin didn't want to say, forcing him would be disrespectful to her partner...
To say she wasn't curious would be a lie, but...
Shizuka understood that Akishin truly loved her.
She also truly loved Akishin.
That was enough!
...
They waited at the site for half an hour. The boar's blood flowed into Lake Aokusa, staining the clear water at the edge a reddish hue.
The depths in the dark center remained unchanged.
The fire department arrived driving a small pickup truck.
They asked for the chronology of the event. Their attitude toward Akishin was very good, and they praised him for successfully killing such a large boar. Afterward, they looked at [Rebirth] as a matter of official duty; even the scabbard wasn't opened.
—In fact, even if it were confiscated, it wouldn't matter, because even if [Rebirth] fell to the other end of the world, Akishin could still make it disappear instantly and reappear in his hand a second later.
The fire department personnel had the same thought as Noma Naru.
Afterward, Akishin and Noma Naru, working together with six firemen—eight people in total—used ropes and poles to transport the boar out and load it into the pickup truck.
The boar's corpse would be taken to a suitable place for burial.
At least at the scene, not a single person wanted to eat that thing.
After exchanging phone numbers, Akishin and the others parted ways with the firemen and set out on their way home.
Inside the car, the women were still discussing the previous event.
"I really didn't expect we'd actually run into a wild boar and get attacked. This luck is just too bad..."
"To a certain degree, this could be considered good luck. There's never been news of boar attacks in this area..."
"I'd rather not have this kind of luck..."
"That's true. Takeda-sensei, you were face-to-face with a live boar, right? Were you scared? And then, you saw when Chishima-sensei cut down that giant boar—wasn't he so cool...?"
"Ah! That... I was indeed very scared at the time... Chishima-sensei was indeed very cool..."
Takeda Konao glanced briefly toward the front, where Akishin was concentrating on driving as if he hadn't heard their conversation. Her face flushed; she felt a bit embarrassed talking about someone's cool factor right in front of them...
Instead, she remembered Noma Naru.
Actually, compared to the shock of Akishin cutting down the boar, Takeda Konao was more impressed by the situation where Noma Naru had protected her.
Even facing a charging boar, even knowing he couldn't protect her, Noma Naru had stood firm in front of her without backing down a single step...
Takeda Konao suddenly felt a bit dazed, subconsciously glancing back. The white van behind was still following steadily, as if she could see Noma Naru between the two layers of swaying glass...
...
The original plan for the day was to play until four in the afternoon, but they returned home at two. Surely, the initial goal wasn't met.
But for the others, the result they got was likely more than playing for an entire day.
As promised, Akishin invited everyone to the Chishima Residence and personally cooked a full table of delicious dishes to host everyone.
Naturally, the seven of them ate with great satisfaction. When they left, they felt reluctant and together promised to come back for another meal a few days later.
Unfortunately, the menu prices hanging on the wall made them hesitate!
After tidying the kitchen, washing the dishes, and wiping the dining table thoroughly, then brewing two glasses of tea, Akishin and Shizuka returned to their usual relaxed state.
Drinking tea, reflecting on life, then drinking tea again.
"Shizuka..."
"Yes, Akishin? What is it?"
"About that sword earlier..."
"Ehm..."
"I can't tell you about it. Please forgive my selfishness. But Shizuka... this won't affect our lives at all. Just pretend it never existed." He really wanted to explain a bit—even if he couldn't tell the truth, he still wanted to explain, fearing a misunderstanding, fearing loss...
Akishin realized his heart was in a mess!
"I understand, Akishin. I don't want to know. As long as you love me forever, that's enough."
"Of course! Ah, I mean, for sure. No, absolutely, absolutely love you..."
"Haha, no need to be that serious. I absolutely believe in you, Akishin."
"...That's good then."
Akishin could imagine his face must look very awkward.
Sigh~
He couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
"Really, don't worry Akishin. I like you, I like you very much. Like you once said, as long as I don't leave you, you won't leave me. Now I'm telling you too—as long as you don't leave me, then I, Hiratsuka Shizuka, will also never leave you."
After speaking, Shizuka stood up and sat on her knees beside Akishin. She placed one hand on his shoulder and took the initiative to kiss Akishin.
This kiss was heavy, deep, and lasted a long time, unlike the light peck from before... Akishin was stunned, then subconsciously took the initiative to return it.
Both of them were amateurs, afraid they would hurt each other yet longing for one another. It was very messy...
Half a minute later they pulled apart, a clear silver thread breaking between them.
Both of their faces were flushed from the brief shortness of breath; their breathing was heavy.
"Like this... is it okay?"
With watery eyes, Shizuka wiped her mouth while staring at Akishin. Her lips looked pink and moist, very tempting.
"I-it's okay..."
Akishin nodded dumbly.
"Good then, Akishin. I will never leave you. Whatever you're hiding, as long as you remain the Akishin Shizuka knows, that's enough." This could explain why Akishin was in the middle of that heavy rain back then. Akishin had a big secret, but...
So what?
Opening her arms, Shizuka hugged Akishin, holding him tight, listening to that familiar and calming heartbeat.
A sense of emotion appeared in Akishin's eyes. He smiled faintly, spreading his arms to embrace Shizuka gently.
"Hey Akishin, that sword is very important to you, right?"
"Not as important as you."
"It really is very important, you're actually comparing me to a sword, hehe. But why am I so happy~"
"Akishin, does the sword have a name?"
"Of course. Its name is [Rebirth]."
"Eh! [Rebirth]? That's a really nice name..."
"Do you want to see it?"
"What?"
"See [Rebirth]."
"May I...? Ah, no. I don't want to see it. You don't need to take it out either."
...
"Alright, everyone memorize these few common phrases and translate them into Japanese. Submit them to me after the lesson ends. Next is self-study."
Inside the classroom, Akishin gave a small assignment. There were still twenty minutes before the lesson ended. He let everyone study on their own—during this period, every class had to prepare for the School Anniversary, so things were very busy, especially since Class J was an elite class with a heavy study load already. He wasn't a core subject teacher, so during this period, he was very lenient with the students.
"Sensei, I heard that yesterday you cut down a giant wild boar and used your own katana—is that true?"
During this period, the students had also become 'bolder.' As soon as self-study was announced, a student below mentioned the rumor from this morning.
Once this question came out, all the students in the class turned to look at Akishin in unison. Even the 'coldest' Yukino couldn't help it; her pure pupils broadcasted the words 'I'm very curious.'
The autumn wind outside the window blew just right, chasing away the summer heat.
"Study well. Don't believe rumors," Akishin gave a simple reprimand first, then his tone changed and he chuckled: "However, that incident is indeed true."
"Eh eh eh!!!"
"It's true! It's for real! Chishima-sensei admitted it...!"
"Amazing! That's so cool! Truly awesome...!"
"Hey, look at this! A photo appeared on the school forum. It really is a wild boar! A huge wild boar, the size of a small car! So cool...!"
Bang! Bang!
"Quiet down, please. It's lesson time now. And no playing with phones. Iori-kun, bring your phone to the front..."
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