178. The Black Belt Genius (4)

Reiji was taken aback, but he saw an opportunity.

If the documents were to be sent in tomorrow, Tadano would likely hide them today or very early in the morning before she came to school. That's how it was in the game, at least. But if he held onto the documents until then, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

'Then again, I don't think Tadano would be stupid enough to try something after all that happened.'

There was a reason why he was able to avoid getting caught or face serious consequences for a long time, so it felt unlikely that he'd do this anyway.

But precaution is better than cure.

"Sure, I guess. Do I need to tell them anything specific, or just ask them to sign it?" he asked, taking the documents from Noa.

"They're already expecting the documents and will know what to do, you just need to hand it to them"

"Alright, you can get it from me tomorrow."

Noa nodded gratefully and turned to leave, clearly wanting to get back to finish any other work that was remaining.

But then she paused and turned around.

".....Are you participating in the tournament?"

"Yeah, sort of. Why?"

"No reason," she replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll be at the venue for a while to coordinate some things from our end, so maybe I'll see one of your fights."

"....That's cool, I guess. I doubt you'll find it interesting, though," Reiji laughed wryly, his brows raised in surprise.

To which Noa chuckled softly.

"On the contrary, I think it'd be very interesting to see what your poor victims went through back then."

"..."

Reiji's eye twitched in exasperation, but he didn't have a proper rebuttal to the joke.

If it was a joke in the first place, since he still wasn't sure where her sudden humor came from.

"ACK! What the hell??"

The sudden cry from the other side of the hall interrupted their conversation, and they both looked over at the ongoing spar.

Yui had become a lot more energetic for some reason, her speed and power increasing visibly as she somehow started to push back her current opponent.

There was a glint in her eyes, which even Reiji could see from a distance, though he couldn't tell if it was anger or frustration.

'What's up with her?'

"...She really is impressive," Noa muttered before shifting her focus away. "Either way, I need to get going. Thank you again for your help."

"Oh, sure. No problem."

***

*BANG*

The taekwondo coach backed away a few steps, her arms aching from the powerful impact they had just received.

She lowered them away from her chest and grinned, her face lighting up with immense satisfaction.

"That's enough, Tachibana," she said.

Yui, who had raised her leg for a subsequent kick, put her foot down while panting.

They simultaneously bowed to each other, but once they lifted their heads, the coach came running towards her and gave her a back-breaking bear hug.

"I knew you could do it! HAHAHAHAHA! I can't wait to brag about this to everyone! Haha, did you see that, all of you? That's my student right there! A 17-year-old black belt! I raised a 17-year-old black belt master! Can any of you say the same? No, right? Impossible! That means I'm the best at coaching, there's no disagreement to that, right? If you deny it, do the same and get back to me! Until then, call me Master Coach!"

Yui, smothered within her coach's chest, let out a muffled groan and pried herself free as the other judges at the table rubbed their heads with irritation.

"Oh dear god. This insufferable woman is going to get even worse....." one of them said.

"Don't get too cocky! You just lucked out with a genius! Any of us could have done the same if Tachibana had joined us instead of you!" another retorted.

"I wish I were deaf.....Only then can I not listen to her crap in the future."

Only Nishimura Sensei was quiet, letting her enjoy this moment.

Reiji watched all this with amusement, not expecting such a drastic reaction from this coach.

"Nyah Nyah, you're all just jealous. Tachibana, come, let me get you your certificate and uniform! I had them made in advance, you know? I knew you'd ace the exam!"

The taekwondo coach grabbed Yui's hand and guided her towards the table, picking up a box from under it and placing it on top.

Inside lay a framed certificate as well as the uniform with the black belt already on it.

Yui picked the frame up first and brushed her hand along the glass casing, her small smile highlighting her inner joy.

At the same time, the coaches glanced at each other and stood up at the same time, their chairs squeaking across the floor.

And then they bowed.

"Tachibana Yui, congratulations on becoming a black-belt taekwondo practitioner!"

***

"....Isn't it cool?"

Reiji took the frame from Yui and stared at the intricate writing on it with a proud expression.

"It really is," he replied.

The martial arts hall was now empty, with the coaches clearing out once the exam was over and all the formalities such as taking a group picture and submitting the official result were done with.

Reiji even got their signatures for the file Noa gave him before they left, which didn't take long.

When he first gave the file to them, Yui let out a sheepish exclamation, and only then did he realize why she'd gotten so worked up during her spars.

Now it was just the two of them in the large building.

He saw Yui leaning over with an expectant gaze, her eyes practically screaming 'PRAISE ME, PRAISE ME!'

So he ruffled her hair dotingly and congratulated her.

"You did really well! I actually felt bad for the coaches when they were sparring you," he chuckled.

"Hehe, I think I might be able to beat them with another year of training!" Yui replied.

"A year? Nah, I think it'll be earlier than that."

"You think so?"

The two of them just kept chatting while sitting right next to each other, with no regard for the time and how late it was getting.

Neither of them seemed to want to leave.

Yui was even resting her head on Reiji's shoulder, her legs swinging playfully.

"Are you tired? Stupid question, I know, but I'm asking if you want to go home and rest," he whispered, sweeping aside the hair on her face as she blinked slowly, barely managing to keep herself awake.

"I'm exhausted, but I want to stay a little longer...Can I?" she asked, looking up at him with somewhat watery eyes.

"Sure, I don't really mind."

Yui giggled happily and leaned her entire body against him, closing her eyes shut while drifting off to dreamland.

Reiji stiffened, realizing he needed to stop any movements that could wake her up.

It was an awkward posture for him, but he was so distracted by her adorable sleeping expression that he didn't even notice the discomfort.

He smiled as he stared at her squished face, her right cheek pushing into her through his shoulder.

'.....Guess I'll be here for a while.'

***

"Yo, Riku! Can I get a selfie?"

"I'll get a selfie with your mom instead."

"What the hell? I just wanted a selfie! Don't bring my mother into this!"

"I brought myself into your mom."

".....I'll slap that last tuft of hair off your head."

"What a coincidence, your mom had one tuft of hair down there last night."

"YOU!"

Riku ran as fast as he could, his 95% bald head reducing the air resistance and boosting his speed as he evaded the manic student chasing him through the hallway.

Reiji couldn't help but laugh at the comical scene, only because it was so out of the ordinary that it caught him off guard.

As the two speedsters turned the corner and disappeared from his view, he clutched the document in his hand and headed towards the Student Council instead of his class, hoping he could see Tadano and guess his intentions from there.

Today was Friday, so if he wanted to make a move, it was now or never.

Of course, there was the chance that Tadano might just delay the event out of precaution, but he'd think about that possibility later.

He entered the first door of the Student Council and went straight for Noa's office, walking past the ones on either side of him that were still closed.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

".....Come in."

Reiji walked in and saw Noa behind her desk as usual, but she was simply tidying up some papers since it was still early in the day.

"I was just taking a chance, but you really do live in this office, don't you?" he shook his head.

".....I can't tell if that's an insult or a compliment," Noa frowned.

"That fact that you can't tell says it all....."

"I don't get it, but okay. What'd you come here for, though? I told you I'd pick it up from your class."

"Just wanted to get it over with. Here, they all signed it. But still check to see if there's any issues," Reiji shrugged, handing over the file.

Noa took it and rifled through the papers.

".....There are no issues. Thank you, and I apologize for troubling you with this in the first place."

"Nah, it's all good. I was there anyway."

And then there was an awkward silence.

Reiji just stood there with his hands in his pockets, seemingly waiting for something, and Noa had shifted her focus back to the document.

She only looked up after a few seconds, realizing he was still there.

".....Do you want a cookie? Why aren't you leaving?" she asked.

'.....There's the random humor again.'

He thought about what he could say to wait until Tadano walked in, but thankfully, he didn't need to.

The door behind him was knocked on again, and the man of the hour entered after receiving confirmation.

His wet, slicked-back hair almost gleamed under the lighting, and he adjusted his glasses habitually when he saw Reiji in the office.

"What trouble did you get into this time?" he snorted.