The Irregular at Magic High School: Everyone Loves My Brother?!

Pulled by Erika to the front row, Tatsuya watched the two figures at the center of the Arena with curiosity and asked, "Know them?"

"No direct acquaintance," Erika replied. "The girl's Sayaka Mibu, runner-up at the National Women's Kendo Tournament, as we mentioned. The guy's Takeaki Kirihara, legit champion of the Kanto Swordsmanship Tournament."

"Didn't compete nationally?" Tatsuya asked.

"Swordsmanship nationals are only for high schoolers," Erika explained. "So being Kanto champ is a big deal."

"I see," Tatsuya said.

He recalled Erika pulling out a baton during a scuffle with Course 1 students after enrollment. Her current fascination suggested she might have swordsmanship training herself.

"Kirihara-kun! Why can't you just behave?!" Sayaka scolded.

"That's harsh, Mibu," Kirihara shot back. "I was just helping with the kendo club's demo."

"Don't lie! If the Public Morals Committee hears you attacked a senior, it won't just be your problem!"

"Attacked? I tapped him on the mask with a bamboo sword. If he passed out, that's on his lack of skill."

"Talking clearly won't get through to you," Sayaka said.

"Then what?" Kirihara taunted.

Tatsuya sensed Kirihara's blatant provocation. He couldn't judge whether Kirihara had been violent or if the kendo club member was just weak, not having seen it himself. With the crowd this hyped, intervening would be tactless, so he chose to observe.

"If words won't work, my sword will make you understand!" Sayaka declared.

"Think kendo can beat swordsmanship? I'll go easy and skip magic," Kirihara sneered.

"You think your magic-reliant swordsmanship can beat my pure kendo? That arrogance is laughable," Sayaka retorted.

They seemed to belittle each other's disciplines, but both were dead serious. Tatsuya and Erika could tell.

"It's starting," Tatsuya said.

"Yeah…" Erika replied.

The Arena fell silent as the two took their stances… then Kirihara lunged at Sayaka's mask. Without protective gear, a hit could cause serious injury.

"Starting dirty," Erika noted.

"It's a bluff," Tatsuya said. "Kirihara-senpai isn't aiming to hit."

Tatsuya saw Kirihara's move as a feint, banking on Sayaka dodging. A real strike wouldn't have slowed mid-swing.

"If this is runner-up level, how strong was the champion?" Tatsuya mused, impressed by Sayaka's swordplay.

"No… this isn't the Sayaka Mibu I saw," Erika said.

Tatsuya was purely amazed by the display, but Erika's surprise was different.

"To improve this much in just two years," she said, her eyes gleaming with a belligerent spark. Tatsuya figured she was itching to fight Sayaka herself.

"Who'll win?" Erika asked.

"Mibu-senpai," Tatsuya replied instantly.

"Why?"

"There's no significant skill gap, but Kirihara-senpai's restricted by not using magic and can't target the mask, making him doubly disadvantaged," Tatsuya explained.

"Got it," Erika nodded repeatedly, convinced.

As they spoke, both fighters went for decisive blows.

"Kirihara-senpai's wrist strike is shallow," Tatsuya observed.

"You called it," Erika said.

Sayaka's thrust landed deeper. In a formal match, she'd be declared the winner.

"Give up, Kirihara-kun. In a real fight, that'd be fatal," Sayaka said.

"A real fight?" Kirihara smirked wickedly. "So you want a real fight, Mibu?"

Activating the CAD on his wrist, Kirihara unleashed a spell.

"Here's a real fight, Mibu! This is the difference between kendo and swordsmanship!" he shouted.

Sayaka barely dodged, but her kendo uniform was sliced. The screeching sound, like nails on glass, and the bamboo sword's unnatural sharpness tipped Tatsuya off instantly: Vibration-Type Close-Combat Magic: High-Frequency Blade.

Kirihara raised his sword for another strike.

"Danger—" Erika started to shout.

In a flash, Tatsuya dashed between them. The next moment, everyone in the Arena clutched their heads in agony from a nauseating sensation, distinct from the High-Frequency Blade's effect. Erika felt it too, but the sickness vanished quickly.

"What was that…?" she gasped.

As the crowd recovered, they saw Tatsuya pinning Kirihara to the floor.

"This is Second Small Gymnasium," Tatsuya radioed. "One arrestee, injured. Please send a stretcher."

"Why just Kirihara?! Mibu's just as guilty!" a swordsmanship club member protested, citing Tatsuya's Course 2 status and the unfair tradition of punishing both parties in a fight.

"Kirihara-senpai is being detained for improper use of magic. Mibu-senpai didn't use any," Tatsuya replied calmly.

Unsatisfied, a swordsmanship club member swung at Tatsuya. Without counterattacking, Tatsuya dodged every blow. The attackers' reckless strikes led to friendly fire, and they collapsed.

"Damn it!" another shouted, charging Tatsuya.

Their attacks missed. Blinded by rage and untrained in hand-to-hand combat, they posed no challenge. One tried to activate a CAD, but the spell sequence dissipated before activation.

"Ugh, I feel sick…"

"I'm done…"

One by one, the swordsmanship club members fell, defeated without Tatsuya landing a single blow or injuring them.

"Incredible…" Erika said, awestruck by Tatsuya's movements, while a male student was intrigued by his technique.

The commotion in the Second Small Gymnasium ended.

Meanwhile, Honoka and Shizuku, newly joined to the SS Board Biathlon Club, were heading to a demo with their seniors.

"Huh? What's wrong with the Hunting Club? They look sick…" Honoka said.

Spotting the ailing members, Honoka started to fetch the nurse, but a female student returned with one.

"Teacher Yasuyado, hurry!" the student urged.

"Calm down, Akechi-san," the nurse said leisurely. "Psion poisoning is rare."

"What if this is that rare case?!" Akechi retorted.

Honoka and Shizuku watched as the nurse, moving at her own pace, and the frantic Akechi reached the courtyard. It wasn't psion poisoning but psion wave sickness, so they were relieved.

"Use the eighth practice room on the second floor of the training building to rest. Here's the key," Yasuyado said.

"Okay! Wait a sec!" Akechi replied.

Honoka and Shizuku sighed in relief, glad it wasn't serious, watching the laid-back nurse and the frazzled student.