CH 36

36. Showdown

“Hey, Souya-kun. That’s…”

Kikuie-san was at a loss for words.

And Aono-san, she went to ask if I could participate or not.

Kikuie-san’s hand was reaching out to her, probably going to stop her, but her hands only grabbed the air.

“Seriously? You’re so brave.”

“When I look at it, I feel like even I can do well at it.”

Or rather, I’m confident that I’ll win!

The problem is, is it okay for a man to participate…

“Yuu asked them, and they saidー it’s okay!”

Aono-san came back and said so.

As for the other side, it became noisy.

The women waiting for their turn were all surprised, perhaps they were thinking that it was rare for men to want to participate, or perhaps it was the first time, for men to want to participate.

When I tried to line up at the end of them, for some reason they stepped away, letting me go first.

I thought that was too much special treatment and refused, but they never give up.

With a troubled look, Kikuie-san approached me.

This isn’t my intention but, it can’t be helped then. Shall I take advantage of their goodwill?

When I thought so, Kikuie-san who reached my side then quietly told me,

“Everyone wants to play against Souya-kun.”

It seemed that was the real reason why they handed over their turn.

Anyway, I accepted it and so, it was my turn, but I realized that I didn’t even know the name of the competition in the first place.

When I asked Kikuie-san, she told me it was ‘Fall Line’.

Shortened from ‘Falling from the line’, really an easy-to-understand name.

The rules were simple. The start would be in the middle of the balance beam, and if you dropped your opponent, you win.

Prohibited things were the use of tools such as weapons, and grabbing the opponent’s body or clothes.

Pushing was okay, but pulling was not

Kicking was okay, but punching was not.

“I understand the rules. Then, the players are betting money, right? how much is it?”

“Two.”

2,000 yen, is it? [TN: About 20 $]

It seemed to be a knock-out match, and you could actually participate from 1000 yen, but the current winner had been fighting while betting 2000 yen, so the challenger needed to bet the same amount to fight her.

“Got it.”

When I took my wallet out of my pocket, Kikuie-san and the other three stopped me.

According to the norm, usually, the girl would pay for the date, so it seemed that they wanted to say that.

“No need, this kind of thing is fun because I do it with my own money. So, please listen to my selfishness this time, okay?”

Saying that, I handed over 2,000 yen to the referee.

The referee would make judgments on fouls and simultaneous falls (draw). They also had the role of temporarily keeping the participants’ money.

“Souya-kun, don’t overdo yourself.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m going to have fun”

My opponent’s woman seemed to be good at this Fall Line. Her face was full of confidence.

Having already heard the rumors, many spectators had gathered.

Some people were operating their smartphones, perhaps contacting others they knew. And if that were the case, the number of spectators would likely increase even more.

There was no one who was taking pictures of me, probably because of self-restraint.

No one looked as if they were trying to do so, perhaps a thought of “Isn’t it okay to take one or two?” crossed their mind, but probably the thought that they might get arrested and banned from the Special Ward overwhelmed any other thoughts.

In the Special Ward, Women had to be extra careful when it came to men after all.

So, looking at my opponent, I thought that she sure had a nice body.

Not in a sense as a girl, but as an athlete.

I was taller than her, but she looked to have more weight than me.

Even taking into account the difference between men and women, I was at a disadvantage due to the difference in experience and physique, but I used to do this kind of balance-oriented training in the original world.

And no one here knew that, except me.

Also, a man’s muscles were much stronger than a woman’s. Such as a little difference in physique, was something that could be overturned.

Once we reached the center of the balance beam, we showed the backs of our right hands to each other.

“Then, are you ready… Start!”

With the referee’s signal, the opponent approached.

Once you fell off the balance beam, it would be your win, so it made sense that the heavier weight would be more aggressive. And, running backward would only leave you cornered to the edge of the balance beam.

Of course, I didn’t plan to be so defensive.

In the original world, I repeated the foot sweep of judo, tens of thousands of times.

It was a piece of cake to mow down the legs of the opponent who approached aggressively without thinking of defense.

What I prepared to do was a throw called, ‘Kouchi gari’ [TN: In English, it would be, Small Inner Reap]

At the right timing, I cut off the leg just before it landed.

“Woaaa!?”

Her foot that stepped forward wasn’t able to step on the balance beam, and she lost her balance and fell.

It’s an abrupt ending, but a victory is a victory.

I had guided her gaze to my shoulders, so she neglected to pay attention to my feet.

” ―― First win.”

When I raised a finger toward the sky, cheers rose up.

“Ouch…… what, happened?”

“I interrupted your foot so you failed on stepping. Can you stand up?”

“Oh, so that was what happened… You targeted that from the beginning.”

“Exactly”

“I’d like to have a rematch, but I don’t think I’ll get the chance.”

The woman dropped her shoulders at the sight of the long line.

“I might win every match.”

“If that happens, your name will be put into the Hall of Fame…. Anyway, I’m rooting for you.”

“Thank you”

This competition was a series of battles.

The initial 2,000 yen plus 2,000 yen from the prize money. So now, I had 4000 yen.

From now on, it would be a defensive battle, and I would need to decide the amount of bets.

“The same, two”

When I said that, I raised two fingers to the referees.

The next opponent would need to pay 2,000 yen to go up to the balance beam.

This would continue until I lost or decided to step down myself.

The first challenger was a tall woman.

Tall enough that it wouldn’t be strange if she was actually a volleyball athlete.

Looking at the women lining, all the women seemed to be some sort of martial artist, or an athlete. At the very least, they all had a physique good enough to be called so.

“This… it’ll be tough to beat all of them.”

” ―― start!”

The challenger lowered her waist and approached while lowering her center of gravity.

Similar to a fencing stance, but with a lower center of gravity.

It was close to that of a sumo wrestler.

She must have learned her own way of fighting after being defeated here many times.

In any case, I thought she was going to approach me like that, but she stopped before getting too near and didn’t try to move further.

In judo, it’s going to be your end once your bosom and your inner thighs approach too near without some sort of defense. Well, how should I end this…

It’ll be hard if her bosom is that solid, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.

The fact that her body is leaning forward must be that she’s trying to settle the matter by pushing.

The woman got closer and right when our knees touched, as expected, she tried to push.

In judo, making your opponent’s attention focus on the upper body would be the best move. So, her move was in my best interest.

“Good!”

I took half a step closer and put one leg between her crotch. Then, I just need to put my weight and…

“Woa, woa, woaaa…”

Pushed her calf with mine. And since I pushed first, it would most likely be my win.

And sure enough, the opponent lost her balance and fell below the balance beam.

” ―― Second!”

When I raised two fingers, the audience was even more excited.

In the end, the winning streak continued, and after the seventh person, my lower body began to tremble, so I stepped down there.

The profit this time was, 14000 yen.

“Souya-kun, you’re amazing! To beat all those people.”

“Everyone had their own way of fighting. Their abilities were also good.”

“That’s right. All the people here are like those who set records in sports when they were in high school.”

“Is that so? No wonder they all have a good physique.”

It seemed that sports girls who had so much energy came here to release their energy night after night.

Then, one day, the time was changed to the day. Since then, famous athletes appeared, and the competition seemed to have become more sophisticated.

Now, it was said that there were those who couldn’t compete if they only had a little skill.

And I, jumped in there and knocked down the regulars one after another, sure enough, it was attracting much attention.

“You’re getting too much attention, it’s dangerous. It’s better to get out from here quickly.”

Toono-san told me so.

Looking around, the number of spectators had become ridiculous.

“You’re right”

Precisely because they were refraining from approaching men aggressively, they were happy enough just to hear my voice.

But, if one of them were to go out of control, the other might do the same, and people would surge toward me in crowds. And that would be bad.

“Yuu went to get the money.”

“Thank you, Aono-san. Then, let’s go”

Thus, leaving the women who seemed as if they wanted to talk to me, we left the place in haste.