Once he’d donned his protective gear, Hoshina faced off with Aoi, standing on his toes with his knees apart, his hips low, and his upper body straight. The officer who was refereeing the match gave the signal to start. The air was charged with tension. Other officers dropped what they were doing and started watching the match between these two intently.
They approached one another until they were close enough for the tips of their swords to make contact. Aoi was the first to make a move.
“Ueiyaaa!”
Letting loose with a rip-roaring shout, Aoi charged forward. Instantly, he narrowed the distance and went in hard, striking faster at Hoshina than the untrained eye could follow. Hoshina caught the blow with the blade of his bamboo sword, though, and deftly parried. Aoi’s attack failed to score, and the two swords’ handguards ground against one another as each tried to push the other back. Both Aoi and Hoshina stepped back, once more putting some space between themselves.
This time it was Hoshina who closed the distance. In response, Aoi swung his bamboo sword over Hoshina’s in an attempt to go on the offensive. Hoshina didn’t miss the opening. By sweeping Aoi’s blade upward from below, he made him vulnerable. The clear sound of bamboo smacking plastic rang across the dojo. Aoi had been hit on his mask.
“Point!” the referee’s voice called out. The two bowed to each other, and the match came to an end. Aoi removed his mask. He had large drops of sweat on his face. Hoshina, on the other hand, wore an indifferent expression.
With the same severe expression on his face, Aoi bowed low and said, “Thank you very much, sir. I’ll keep working on it.”
“No, that was really something. No wonder you got where you are.” Hoshina was honest in praising Aoi. Even in the JGSDF, he’d been one who was expected to go places, and his skill at kendo was considerable as well. He was likely in the top class of the Third Division’s officers.
This year’s new recruits really are an exceptional bunch, Hoshina mused.
A round of applause rose up, lauding the match between the high-level pair.
Meanwhile, a match that was its polar opposite was going on in the front of the dojo.
“Do-ryaaaaaa!”
With an awkward and hasty charge, a man swung his bamboo sword wildly. His preparatory motions were large, however, making his attack easy to avoid. The officer who had been under attack went on offense. He raised his bamboo sword high above his head and swung it down hard.
“Gwah!”
The shinai struck so hard that it seemed as if his mask would surely split in half. The man dropped to one knee.
“Killing Strike: Iharu Blade! Whaddaya think of my downward swing? Pretty strong, eh, old-timer?”
“C-come on, man! At least cut me a little slack!”
As Kafka was getting to his feet, he pulled off his mask. Iharu, who had charged him, cocked his head sideways. “A love tap like that is cutting you slack. Even so, old-timer, any way you look at it, you’re too much of an amateur.”
“I’ve never practiced kendo before,” Kafka explained. “Everyone around me, Ichikawa included, has experience, right? I wonder if everyone who shoots for the Defense Force is doing martial arts.”
Reno came over and spoke to Kafka. “You say you don’t have experience, but didn’t you take judo as an elective?”
“Huh? No, I’ve never done judo either.”
“Oh? What about your required course?” Reno asked.
“What’re you talking about?” Kafka said.
“I mean, weren’t either judo or kendo a required class? In junior high.”
“Whuh? What do you mean?”
Holding his mask under one arm, Hoshina came over to where Kafka and the others were. “Due to revisions to the National Guidelines for the Course of Study, one martial art is a required course now. That’s why, well, practically all of this year’s new recruits have experience, except Kafka.”
“Hey, is that true? S-so even here there’s a generation gap?” Kafka rose to his feet and clenched his fists. “Crap, if that’s the case, it’s all the more reason I gotta practice. Sir, can I ask you to teach me too? Please, sir, let me have one match!”
Reno chimed in, “Vice-Captain, can I have a match too?”
“Whoa, Reno! You tryin’ to get ahead of me? Me too, sir! Me too!”
“Iharu, I didn’t really mean it like that.”
Seeing the newcomers with their hands raised, Hoshina nodded.
“All right. I’ll take you on, so line up in order.”
A loud thwack rang out.
“Gah!”
A loud thwack rang out.
“Gwah!”
A loud thwack rang out.
“Ugh!”
“All right, good work, everyone. For now, what you need are basic drills.”
Kafka, Reno, and Iharu lay on the dojo floor like a pile of corpses. Their levels were so far below Hoshina’s that it hardly seemed like they’d fought him.
The director, who’d been watching from a corner of the dojo, approached Hoshina. “Ahhh, you use the sword better than anyone else! Just what you’d expect of someone from the leading kaiju-neutralization force, here or even in the Kansai region. Come to think of it, you didn’t join the force here, but over in Kansai, right?”
“Yes, I was scouted by Captain Ashiro and transferred here,” Hoshina said.
“I see! So your reputation was spreading far and wide from the time you joined up, eh?”
Hoshina gave a pained smile and replied, “It wasn’t anything like that.”
The director cocked his head, unsure of what to make of Hoshina’s response.
“Vice-Captain Hoshina?”
When Hoshina turned toward the voice from behind, Kikoru was standing there in protective gear. A sharp glare could be glimpsed from between the bars of her mask.
“May I go next, sir?” Kikoru asked.
“Uh, sure.” Hoshina agreed.
Kikoru balanced on her toes, lowered her hips, straightened her back, and raised her shinai. The phrase “right at home” suited her demeanor well. As with Aoi, you could tell just by looking that she possessed extraordinary ability.
Proficient in the use of swords as well as guns, eh? Outstanding. Absolutely nothing like me.
As Hoshina watched the newcomers approach, a certain memory flitted across his mind. He started to recall the time before he was assigned to the Third Division.