Everyone soon arrived at Tarin Hotel, where they placed their reservations. Even though it was not a five-star hotel, Tarin Hotel in Fukuoka was relatively well-known, and it was only a street away from the Fukuoka Budo Gym.

“I forgot to mention to all of you the reason we could get a reservation at Tarin Hotel. It was the Tarin Hotel that voluntarily contacted our school,” Mr. Matsumura proudly explained while walking, “The owner of Tarin Hotel is from Tokyo. When they found out that Sakura Kyu High School was crowned champion of the Tokyo District Qualifiers, they immediately contacted the school and expressed their desire to host us while we were here.”

Seeing everyone’s amazed expression, Mr. Matsumura continued, smiling, “That is why our accommodation rates are at half price. The owner of Tarin Hotel also said, if we were to win the championship of the Jade Dragon Flag National Competition, we would all be given presents. They would even return the accommodation fees. On the other hand, the Headmaster has also mentioned that, if you guys are crowned champions, the funds can be used to buy things that you like!”

Of course, Mr. Matsumura also knew that the champions of last year’s Tokyo District Qualifiers had also been contacted by Tarin Hotel. It was not a secret to some people.

However, the students of the Kendo Association were apparently oblivious to such facts. Their eyes widened upon hearing that. Iwai Hokuto was just about to speak, closely followed by Ikioi Ito who opened his mouth dramatically. While looking at the teacher who was taking care of Aoe High School, Ikioi Ito said with an air of resentment, “Miss Komiya, how come Aoe High School does not get such treatment!?”

Miss Komiya was the accompanying teacher for the team from Aoe High School, who had also placed a reservation at Tarin Hotel. Since Ikioi Ito had run over to the Sakura Kyu High School team the moment he got off the tram, other people would have easily mistaken him as a Sakura Kyu student.

Miss Komiya, who was rather displeased at Ikioi Ito, huffed slightly, “You were the one who boasted about becoming the champion during the District Qualifiers. If you had been crowned champion, we would also have been contacted by the owner of Tarin Hotel.” Miss Komiya was not very old, around her twenties, so she was able to mix well with the Kendo Association of Aoe High School. The way she spoke was also like that of speaking with friends.

Ikioi Ito sighed. “I am merely human. Unless I were to forgo being one, I would not be able to defeat the weirdos of Sakura Kyu!”

Kimura Kazuki glared at him without saying a word, but Ikioi Ito was startled and his body shuddered, causing everyone to laugh heartily.

Upon entering the hotel, they were quickly received by the front desk, and the hotel room access cards were distributed. Kimura Kazuki was stunned when he was given a single access card.

As Kimura Kazuki was curious, Mr. Matsumura explained with a smile, “It is the Kendo Association’s suggestion. Iwai Hokuto and the rest think that it is your credit that they could come to Fukuoka, so they proposed that you should have a room to yourself. You can then rest better during the competition!”

Upon hearing this, Kimura Kazuki nodded lightly. He did not decline the offer but said casually, “Don’t worry, the champion of the Jade Dragon Flag National Competition can only be Sakura Kyu.”

Such a high level of self-confidence emanated through everyone else and caused the blood of all members of the Sakura Kyu High School Kendo Association to be boiling. If anyone else were to say something like that, they would definitely snort at them, assuming the person was exaggerating and self-complacent. However, the ability of Kimura Kazuki was something everyone recognized, so no one objected. Ikioi Ito initially wanted to ruin the atmosphere, but kept quiet after he thought about it. A person who could not “read the air”, meaning unable to understand the unspoken rules of a group, would be beaten up.

“This is something I would not agree to!”

Ikioi Ito did not say a word, but he heard a familiar voice from behind. He turned his head and his expression darkened. “Miss Weirdo, even you are staying here?”

Upon hearing the nickname, Mizuki Sugawara’s face also darkened, speaking through gritted teeth, “You useless defeated-person, do you believe that when I return to Tokyo, I will go right to the door of the Ito family to challenge you?”

Ikioi Ito cursed in his heart, but seeing Kimura Kazuki standing by the side, he approached him. He then turned to Mizuki Sugawara disdainfully. “You better defeat the Demon King first.”

Although the Ito family was not really welcomed amongst the great families, it was something only between the families. The younger generation had not much grudges or resentment. Even though Ikioi Ito had lost to Mizuki Sugawara at the Asahi Competition in the youth category, both of them were counted as friends who bickered a lot. When they were free, they would bicker online via Line, a messaging app. It almost seemed as though these two were sworn enemies.

Mizuki Sugawara scoffed, unbothered to deal with Ikioi Ito. He then looked at Kimura Kazuki, stretching out his hand. “Hello, Kimura-kun. I am Mizuki Sugawara.”

“Hello.” Kimura Kazuki stretched out his hand, and the two of them briefly shook each other’s hands. There was no overly dramatic scene of them flexing their power.

“I have seen all your videos, Kimura-kun. You are very capable, and you terrorize people.” As he was speaking, Mizuki Sugawara lifted his head slightly, staring straight at Kimura Kazuki. “Therefore, if we met in either the Group Competition or the Individual Competition, I would give my all to defeat you. The champion of the Group Competition will be Akira High School, and the title of champion of the Individual Competition will be mine!”

Kimura Kazuki said nothing. He really did not know how to respond to such immature declarations. While he spoke nothing, Kumoko stepped forward, huffing slightly and pouting, “The champion will definitely be onii-chan!”

“That’s right! Kumoko-chan, I support you!” Ikioi Ito had just opened his mouth when his ear was immediately squeezed by Miss Komiya. Pulling him to the side, her expression went cold. She said with the corners of her mouth twitching, “Student Ito, are you a spy sent from Sakura Kyu?”

Upon seeing this, Mizuki Sugawara scratched his head. Such a wonderful atmosphere was messed around by these people.

Did no one feel the slowly-rising, fate-like atmosphere that surrounded him and Kimura Kazuki? Sigh, such mortals!

Mizuki Sugawara did not linger as soon as the atmosphere was weakened. He straightaway excused himself.

Only after Ikioi Ito asked around did they know that Mizuki Sugawara was not staying at Tarin Hotel. Upon seeing Kimura Kazuki, he silently followed them, wanting to say hi, but was unable to find a chance. He only stood out from the shadows when Kimura Kazuki finally made a declaration. He had even asked others to secretly film them to record the scene of their “fates crossing.”

When he found out about this, Ikioi Ito could only scold Miss Weirdo as an attention-hungry faker. He would complain about Mizuki Sugawara in front of Kimura Kazuki, irritating the latter.

After the brief incident, all of them went back to their rooms to put their baggage. Chiba Shiori was sharing a room with Kumoko. Even though they did not know each other well, Kumoko did not refuse. As Harunaka looked at her three tails, she could not help but sigh. She originally wanted to share a room with Kumoko so that they could talk about senpai at night, but it seemed impossible now.

Once everything was settled, it was already four or five o’clock in the afternoon. Mr. Matsumura then led everyone to dinner, with Kimura Kazuki bringing Chiba Shiori along.

Chiba Shiori had come here on her own without a companion. As a friend, he felt that he was responsible to protect her safety. Since the Jade Dragon Flag National Competition was held in Fukuoka, the human traffic was very large. The hotels nearby were packed to the brim. During their walk, they saw that apart from Japanese tourists, there were a lot of foreign travelers. Some of them had even come specially to watch the competition. Besides travellers, there were also many students wearing uniforms, each of them feeling exuberant.

Being able to come to Fukuoka for the competition meant that the team was in the top three during the district qualifiers. Their abilities should not be underestimated.

Of course, that was in the past. Since the Ancient Kendo Community had meddled in the competition this year, some people knew that it was enough to just observe particular contestants.

Everyone would not oppose Kimura-san to bring Chiba Shiori along. It was clear that the young lady, Chiba Shiori, was here for Kimura-san, and the Kendo Association was able to come to Fukuoka because of Kimura-san, who led them to victory. That was why no one objected. Moreover, Chiba Shiori’s beauty was pleasing to the eye.

Chiba Shiori did not refuse as she had already followed him here. She accepted Kazuki’s arrangements.

Although Harunaka did not say a word, she felt unsettled internally. However, she had finally noticed that Kimura Kazuki did not have odd feelings when he looked at Chiba Shiori. His gaze to Chiba Shiori was the same as it was to her.

Her heart was relieved. Apparently she and Chiba Shiori were both just friends to senpai. She was thankful!

Moreover, Chiba Shiori was from a different school, whereas she could still meet senpai at school everyday. Her current Kendo skills and power were also taught by senpai. She knew the secret to senpai’s power. Chiba-san didn’t. Thinking about that brightened up Harunaka’s mood.

Sometimes, happiness was really that simple. If one were to think that one knew more than one’s love rival, one would naturally feel blessed.