chapter2 · 019-ep19

Episode 19: You've Been Doing Something This Whole Time, Haven't You?

"Sparring — begin!"

Even after the call fell, Rio didn't move right away.

He didn't take a stance, either.

If anything, he tilted his head slightly and looked my way.

"You're a year below me, huh."

"Uh — yes."

"So that makes you my kouhai."

Heck, he was even smiling a little.

Wait, didn't the thing already start?

I thought so, but nobody around us said anything either.

Rio went on, without a hint of tension.

"You know, this is my first time sparring with someone my own age."

"Huh."

"So I'll start with feeling you out, 'kay?"

What is this atmosphere, like a first meet-and-greet at a school club?

That's not something a guy who was just getting told 'expedition this' and 'don't hurt him' should be saying.

The moment I thought that —

The warmth drained out of Rio's eyes.

The smile vanished.

The air changed.

"—Okay. Here I go."

Fast.

"...!"

I half-step back on reflex.

Rio's fist whistled past the side of my face.

Dodged it.

I dodged it — but.

What was that?

Didn't he say he was feeling me out?

He did. He said it.

And that was the speed anyway?

The second one comes.

I block it.

Heavy.

No — less heavy than properly loaded.

Not a hint of a sloppy swing anywhere.

Third strike.

Fourth.

Dodging, blocking, I somehow reset the distance.

Rio doesn't overcommit to the chase.

But he doesn't let me go, either.

By this point I already knew.

"...He's strong."

It slipped out of my mouth.

This wasn't a same-grade-level thing.

He's genuinely strong.

And on top of that — clean.

The linking between strikes, the way his weight shifts, all of it is sorted and organized.

It stood out all the more because my last opponent was a sloppy one like Sakagami.

That guy was momentum and arm strength.

This is different.

Every single strike means something.

Even when I read one, it feels like he's just plain got the move after it ready.

The reason I was still barely dodging at all was the passive skill, Enemy Observation.

His step-in habits.

The way his shoulders open.

The slight weight shift right before the power loads in.

Things like that were visible to me, right at the edge.

Without them, I'd probably have eaten two or three more clean hits by now.

"Ren-kun."

Rio's voice was quiet.

"Have you done martial arts or something?"

"Huh?"

"You look used to fighting."

"No, no — this is me giving it absolutely everything, okay?"

It's the truth.

I've got zero composure to spare.

What I see is only, at most, the part Enemy Observation picks up.

Posture Control+ is all that's keeping me held together.

Let my focus slip even a little, and I'd crumble, plain and simple.

"...Though going all out and stopping everything, in itself, is pretty amazing."

He's attacking me at a ferocious pace while chatting like we're making small talk at a café, though.

What is this guy?

"You might actually put up a decent fight against the expedition folks."

Right after that, he stepped in again.

Fast.

He seemed to be complimenting me and all, but I don't exactly have the leisure to sit and listen.

In a flash, I opened my right hand.

Palm.

Not a fist.

I deflected, resting it lightly along Rio's arm.

Once more.

Next was a roundhouse kick from up high.

Neither dodging nor catching it on my forearm, I just flowed it away, deflecting with both palms.

The punches after, the kicks too — all of it, the same.

Damn it.

What did I do to deserve bap-bap-swatting away a strongman's attacks with my palms?

But it can't be helped.

This too is all for achievements.

I mean, is this even actually counting?

Half in doubt, I checked "a certain achievement entry" floating at the edge of my vision, out of the corner of my eye as I dodged Rio's next strike.

—It's moving.

I see.

Attack, defense — doesn't matter. Apparently every single touch gets picked up as a count.

From the sidelines it probably looks like, what's that guy doing sticking his palms out,

but that's got nothing to do with me right now.

What matters is achievements, achievements!

Nine.

I count inside my head.

Still far.

As long as I can't land anything properly into his body, this is the only way — stacking count through thin contact.

At first, I'd meant to get them onto his shoulders and torso.

But no. Impossible.

There's no way I'm landing deep hits that conveniently against this speed and precision.

It's all I can do to make them work for defense.

Matching Rio's next strike again, I opened my hand and flowed the fist off.

Eleven.

"...?"

Rio's eyes narrowed, just slightly.

Had he noticed something?

Or did he simply decide I was out of my mind?

Honestly, it is straight-up weird.

Palms out, bap bap bap bap.

And I'm the one getting pushed.

Getting pushed, and doing something weird anyway.

From the outside, it had to look like I'd panicked and my blocking had gone strange.

And in fact, I could hear the voices.

"What's that guy been doing this whole time?"

"Isn't his blocking kinda weird?"

"Hey, take it seriously, maaan!"

"Is he freaking out?"

All kinds of voices reach me.

But no time for that now.

Rio's barrage comes again.

I dodge the fist aimed at my face and flow off the strike to my torso that follows.

He chains that into a low, base-breaking sweep, and I barely escape it by shifting my stance.

In the gaps between, I forced a palm in.

Arm.

Shoulder.

The outside of his fist.

Nothing goes deep.

But if just touching is enough, then this was the only way to stack the count.

Thirteen.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

...No, still far.

Was thirty always this far away?

No — it's because my opponent is the real deal.

As expected of an Awakener who stands on the front lines.

Not a single gap to touch.

The best I can manage is, riding the timing of my defense, a quiet brush of the palm.

What a shamelessly vile groper's technique, if I do say so myself.

...Wait, who exactly is the sex offender here?

"Ren-kun, you've been doing something this whole time, haven't you?"

Rio said it, taking just one step of distance.

His voice was calm.

"Well, yeah."

But there was a shade more scrutiny in it now than at the start.

"You don't seem to be messing around, but I'd like you to come at me seriously soon... there!"

The next exchange.

I parry Rio's right outward, take the returning left, and shifting my weight, slip a palm into that tiny opening.

No depth anymore — that's just how it is.

Arm, shoulder, the outside of a fist — anything.

Touch, and stack the count.

Eighteen.

Nineteen.

Twenty.

Finally, that far.

But right around past the halfway mark, it actually started making me dizzy.

Half of it still left?

No, that's not it.

Two-thirds now, huh.

Either way — far.

Rio's attacks were as fast and heavy as ever.

The fact that I was being pushed hadn't changed.

Even so, having come this far, I couldn't stop.

Set the palm.

Deflect.

Touch mid-flow.

Shift off the next one again.

Every time Rio's fist skimmed past my cheek, a chill ran through me.

Close.

Genuinely scary.

But inside that fear, a different sensation had started mixing in, little by little.

I wasn't seeing it.

I hadn't captured all of it.

But I was keeping my eyes on it.

I was keeping the count stacking.

Twenty-two.

Twenty-three.

Twenty-four.

Only the numbers, like a thin thread, kept me tied to moving forward.

Almost there.

The moment you start thinking that is exactly when these things drag on.

I know.

I know from experience.

Twenty-nine.

Next one does it.

Or will it?

That was when Rio changed his striking, ever so slightly.

The angle was different.

The way his elbow came in, the depth of his step-in — subtly out of sync with everything up to then.

No — not out of sync.

Just where I was finally getting used to things, he'd changed his approach first.

Truly not just strong.

Even at a juncture like this, Rio properly takes the upper hand.

Damn it — no room to even touch.

And with his next move, Rio came in one step deeper.

Fast.

And close.

Clearly the distance to finish me, more so than before.

I twist half-body to slip it.

But I can't slip it fully.

A heavy shock bites in deep past my arm, and my stance floats, ever so slightly.

Bad.

At this rate, the next one comes.

Even so, from my half-collapsed posture, I forced my right hand open.

Not a clean palm strike.

Less 'slipping it in' than closer to 'screwing it in.'

I caught at Rio's forearm, grazing it from fingertip to the edge of my palm.

Shallow.

Normally it wouldn't even count as a proper strike.

—Even so, the objective was achieved.

"Thirty!"

In that instant, the edge of my vision flashed.

【B: Land 30 consecutive palm strikes on an Awakener whose Level is higher than yours】

【Achievement Unlocked】

"...All right."

My fist clenched without thinking.

Finally I can stop with the bap-bap, senpai.