Chapter 191: The Club Qualification Tests Come to an End
With Ichinose and the others following along, Yuto first visited the kendo club, where Yajima Mariko was a member, and competed against her in kendo.
After winning cleanly and decisively, Yuto gave her the evaluation of "remain in club under observation" rather than forcing the kendo club president to expel her.
Afterward, the group headed to the archery club, where Yoshimoto Kousetsu was waiting, and Yuto competed against him in archery.
Once again, Yuto won with an outstanding performance.
And once again, his evaluation was simply "remain in club under observation."
This left Katsuragi completely confused.
Wasn't Shimizu supposed to kick all those Class D students out of their clubs after defeating them?
"Vice President, why is everyone only being placed under observation?" Katsuragi finally asked.
"They lost, but I still think they possess enough ability to contribute to their clubs. That means they're qualified to remain members."
Yuto answered casually.
"General Affairs Officer Katsuragi, do you see some problem with that?"
"No. I don't."
Eventually, Yuto's group arrived at the boxing club.
Unexpectedly, Ryuen and Ishizaki were already there.
"Oh? What are you two doing at the boxing club?" Yuto asked with a smile. "Neither of you is a member, are you?"
"Hmph. The boxing club isn't the student council. Even the vice president has no authority to kick us out of here," Ryuen replied coldly.
"Who said I wanted to kick you out? Don't assume everyone is as domineering and barbaric as you. Clearing a place just because you feel like it is something only delinquents do."
Ishizaki wanted to argue.
He simply didn't have the courage.
Albert, one of Ryuen's subordinates, was a member of the boxing club.
That was precisely why Ryuen had come—to personally watch the qualification test between Yuto and Albert.
In truth, Ryuen couldn't actually defeat Albert in a fight.
The only reason Albert had eventually submitted to him was because Ryuen had relentlessly hounded him until Albert finally gave in just to make him stop.
Yuto looked toward Albert.
"I'm the one testing your club ability, so you can decide how we determine the winner."
Albert pointed toward a ring without ropes.
"Free fighting. Whoever leaves the ring, surrenders, or becomes unable to continue loses."
"Free fighting? Fine. I accept."
Free fighting wasn't restricted to a fixed set of techniques.
Punches, kicks, knees, and other forms of striking were allowed, so there were relatively few rules.
Naturally, attacks against vulnerable areas such as the throat or groin were prohibited.
Yuto and Albert put on boxing gloves and stepped onto the ropeless ring.
Kei, Kikyo, Ichinose, and Suzune all looked slightly tense.
Albert was enormous, built almost like a small mountain.
Yuto, meanwhile, looked nearly half his size.
They couldn't help worrying that he might get hurt.
"Albert, get him!" Ryuen shouted. "Beat the hell out of Shimizu Yuto and knock him out of the ring!"
"Yes, Boss," Albert answered in a deep voice.
Yuto raised an eyebrow.
The boxing club president merely smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Knock Shimizu Yuto out of the ring?
Impossible.
Albert might have an enormous frame and powerful muscles, but the boxing club president knew perfectly well that he wasn't actually skilled at fighting.
He had never received professional boxing training.
His only real advantage was his naturally exceptional physique.
The boxing club president himself was almost as large as Albert, but unlike him, he was genuinely skilled at boxing and combat and possessed considerable practical experience.
And yet...
When he had previously wagered personal points against Yuto, he had lost.
He had been defeated in a fair fight by a first-year student barely half his size.
And because Yuto had beaten him openly in the ring using the very boxing skills he prided himself on, he had accepted the loss completely.
If even the boxing club president couldn't defeat Yuto, how could Albert, who merely possessed a powerful body, possibly win?
Unfortunately, Albert, Ryuen, and Ishizaki knew none of that.
All three were looking forward to seeing Albert beat Yuto badly and knock some of the arrogance out of him.
Katsuragi stared closely at Yuto on the ring.
He had already watched him win at kendo and archery.
Now came boxing.
Katsuragi wanted to see with his own eyes whether Shimizu Yuto truly was someone who could excel at practically everything.
"All right. Take your positions. Ready..."
The boxing club president raised his whistle.
"Tweet!"
The free-fighting match officially began.
There were no flashy techniques at first.
Just heavy strikes meant to overwhelm the opponent.
Yuto and Albert exchanged punches, their boxing gloves colliding with dull, thunderous impacts.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The heavy sounds echoed throughout the room, making everyone's hearts pound.
Kei and Kikyo were especially tense, barely daring to breathe for fear of somehow distracting Yuto.
After a fierce exchange, Albert retreated two steps and created some distance.
Underneath his gloves, he briefly loosened his hands.
They had gone numb from repeatedly colliding with Yuto's punches.
At that moment, Albert's mind was filled with disbelief.
He simply couldn't understand how someone with Yuto's much smaller frame could possess such tremendous strength.
His hands were actually numb from blocking him.
Yuto watched him calmly.
"What's wrong? You're not attacking anymore?"
He smiled faintly.
"Then it's my turn."
The moment those words left his mouth, Yuto surged forward and appeared directly in front of Albert.
Startled, Albert immediately raised both arms in front of himself, trying to shield against the incoming strike.
Yuto drew back his right fist.
There was nothing fancy about the motion.
The muscles in his arm tightened, and he threw a straightforward punch.
The strike carried such overwhelming force that the air produced a low, explosive sound.
Yuto's fist slammed directly into Albert's crossed arms.
Bang!
The impact sounded almost like a cannon going off.
Pain exploded through Albert's arms.
The force drove his entire body backward, lifting him briefly off his feet before he crashed outside the boundaries of the ring.
Ryuen, Ishizaki, and the boxing club members stared in stunned silence.
Shimizu Yuto had just punched the huge, heavy Albert straight out of the ring.
Albert had to weigh well over two hundred pounds.
And Yuto had sent him flying with one punch?
Was that really something a human being could do?
While Ryuen and the others stood there in disbelief, Kei and Kikyo threw their arms around each other and cheered excitedly.
"Yes!"
"That huge guy got knocked out of the ring! Yuto won!"
"That was amazing~!"
Because the ring had no ropes and Albert had been sent entirely outside its boundaries, Yuto had won the free-fighting match.
Yuto removed his boxing gloves and shook his slightly numb right hand before looking toward the boxing club president.
"I think I may have cracked something in his arms. Go check on him."
"Right!"
The boxing club president immediately nodded.
As the referee, he had been standing nearby and had indeed heard a faint, strange cracking sound when the punch landed.
Boxing club members were accustomed to injuries because of regular sparring, so many of them had learned basic injury treatment.
Still, bone fractures were comparatively rare.
The president immediately ordered several members to help Albert up.
Albert's face had turned pale, and both of his arms trembled slightly from the pain.
To him, they felt as though they were burning.
Yuto stepped down from the ring and placed his boxing gloves on a nearby table.
Kei approached with a sweet smile, holding out the towel she had been clutching.
"Yuto, let me wipe your sweat!"
"I'll do it myself."
Yuto took the towel from her with an amused smile.
There were far too many people around.
If he let Kei personally wipe his face, he would probably earn the hatred of half the room.
While wiping away the sweat, Yuto looked toward the boxing club president.
"Yamada Albert's club qualification test is complete. On behalf of the student council, I judge that he has sufficient ability to remain in the boxing club."
"Huh?"
Ryuen and Ishizaki stared at him in surprise.
This demon wasn't going to kick Albert out?
Yuto ignored their expressions and led Ichinose and the others out of the boxing club.
After they left, Ryuen looked grimly toward Albert, whose arms were being treated with cold spray by the boxing club president.
He hadn't expected the enormous Albert to lose.
And certainly not like that.
Albert had been punched straight off the ring and possibly suffered fractures in both arms.
Watching that match had given Ryuen an even clearer understanding of Yuto's physical power.
As for Ishizaki...
He had become even more convinced that Shimizu Yuto was a demon who absolutely could not be provoked.
There was no way his smaller body could withstand the punch Albert had just taken.
If Yuto hit him like that, Ishizaki suspected he might actually die.
...
After leaving the boxing club, Yuto looked toward Ichinose, Suzune, and Katsuragi.
"The qualification-test work is completely finished. You three are free to do whatever you want now."
Then he looked specifically at Katsuragi.
"But Katsuragi-san, come sit at a café with me for a while. There's something I want to discuss with you."
Katsuragi's heart sank slightly.
For some reason, he had a feeling that whatever Yuto wanted to discuss wouldn't be good news.
Ichinose and the others, however, already knew what Yuto wanted to talk about.
Naturally, it was the discipline committee member position he had mentioned earlier.
"If the Vice President invites me, I naturally won't refuse," Katsuragi replied.
"Good."
Yuto nodded, then turned toward Kei and the others.
"Kei, you girls don't need to follow me."
"Okay."
Kei obediently nodded.
Since Yuto was going to handle official business, she naturally wouldn't keep clinging to him.
Yuto and Katsuragi left the group and headed toward a nearby café.
Ichinose smiled brightly at the remaining girls.
"Why don't we find somewhere to sit for a while too?"
"I'd be happy to," Kikyo replied sweetly. "What do Karuizawa-san and Horikita-san think?"
"I don't mind."
"I'm fine with it too."
Huh?
Kikyo looked at Suzune in genuine surprise.
From everything she knew about this woman, Suzune hated pointless social gatherings and considered them nothing but a waste of time.
So why had she accepted Ichinose's invitation?
Had her personality completely changed?
Not really.
Suzune was simply making an effort to change herself.
She knew her brother had always been disappointed by her poor social skills.
And aside from Kikyo, who inexplicably disliked her, Suzune considered both Kei and Ichinose people worth interacting with.
So she accepted Ichinose's invitation.
Yuto and Katsuragi went left.
Ichinose and the other three girls headed right and settled into another nearby café.
With two warm and sociable "little angels" among the four of them, the gathering never became especially awkward.
There were plenty of things to talk about.
Although, in the end, nearly everything they discussed revolved around Yuto and his impressive performances during the club qualification tests.
That was hardly surprising.
After all, Yuto was the reason the four of them had ended up sitting together in the first place.
…
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