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Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: The Rival’s Shadow and the Club’s Ultimatum

The gym at 6:00 a.m. was not a training ground; it was a psychological and physical battlefield. Miku, her face sweaty and her hair plastered to her forehead, was launching balls at an inhuman speed, yelling out the colors of the cones Kenji had to hit.

—"Blue! Red! Red! Green! Come on, garbage! I want lightning speed, not turtle speed, so pick up the pace or you'll suffer the consequences, you idiot!" Miku shrieked, exasperated.

Kenji moved with deliberate sluggishness. His mind, however, was executing complex calculations. «Miku-senpai is using a logical formula to hide a repetitive sequence. If my body executes the pattern she expects, fatigue will be imminent. To achieve the least-effort path, I must "simulate" an error at the Red cone, right where the trajectory is shortest, to gain a micro-break.»

Kenji launched himself to the right and stopped one step short of hitting the Red cone, feigning a muscle pull, and dramatically falling to the floor.

—"What the hell was that, Yoshida?! You missed the Red cone, the easiest one! You're sabotaging the drill!" Miku dropped her racket and walked toward him, her Crimson Lightning Aura at its maximum splendor, enveloping her.

—"Excuse me, Senpai. My center of gravity is inherently unstable under your current launch pattern. The trajectory of the last throw exceeded my safe range of motion for that color by 1.7 degrees. I am minimizing the risk of muscle tear. If I get injured, your chance of winning the tournament plummets to zero. It would be an irrecoverable food loss for you," Kenji replied with his most glacial and calculating tone.

Miku, on the verge of fury, snarled at him an inch from his face. —"Don't you dare use your Wikipedia medical logic on me! You don't even have the guts to breathe hard! If you don't put in the effort, we lose! And if we lose, no club! And if no club, no ramen! Do you understand what I'm saying, you idiot?"

Kenji held her gaze, his expression unfazed, but the threat of existential void resonated in his mind. «The threat is valid. The club is in danger. It's time to negotiate maximum benefit for minimum actual effort.»

—"My current performance is 40%, Senpai. I am willing to raise it to 60%, in exchange for an immediate reward. An extra Ajitama egg and a piece of Chashu pork in the next bowl of ramen," Kenji negotiated.

—"Are you negotiating for food while your future is hanging by a thread?! You're a food psychopath!" Miku, full of rage, transformed her anger into a dry laugh. —"I demand 80% if you include the pork! And an extra dessert!"

—"Dessert is excessive and would destabilize my glucose curve. 65% is my best offer for the pork and the egg," Kenji replied.

—"Deal! But in exchange, I demand 70% and if you keep your promise, I assure you the egg will be added to your next bowl of ramen. And if you complain about a cramp or any other stupidity, I swear I will tie you to a pole and leave you to die there!" Miku conceded, her ambition overriding her common sense.

—"The egg is acceptable. 70%. We have a contract," Kenji concluded.

Kazuo, in a corner, whispered into his recorder: —"The battle of negotiation is the most intense part. Miku-senpai just invested a considerable sum in protein. Kenji, the Avaricious Prodigy, won the round without moving a single finger... His apathy is his secret weapon!"

Miku glared at him. —"Now move! And don't complain about anything! If the Dean isn't backing down from threats, neither am I!"

Miku activated her Crimson Lightning Aura.

Crimson Lightning Aura (Miku Watanabe):

Miku's aura is not magic; it is a physical manifestation of her pure will and indomitable fury. It is the explosive energy you feel when you see an injustice and rage gives you a strength and speed you didn't know you had, allowing her to execute movements that are physically impossible. This aura feels like boiling static electricity around her, forcing her opponent to move at the pace she dictates. It's her way of saying: only my ambition exists and nothing can go slower than my desire to win. This is Miku's ego.

Miku interrupted the training to check the list of competitors.

—"If we manage to advance far enough in the tournament, we'll have the great chance to face the Genius. Hayami."

The name hit Kenji in the chest like a hammer. Miku's voice distorted. The Shattered Crystal Wall Aura shot out with devastating violence. Kenji fell to his knees, his hands covering his ears.

[Flashback: Nine Years Ago. Children's Tournament Final]

Kenji, at the age of ten, was about to achieve victory. He felt invincible. He felt unstoppable.

Facing him was Issei Hayami, the green-eyed genius. The most striking characteristic of the boy was his supernatural calm. In that moment, the air turned into a solid, dense block of ice. The Unbreakable Ice Aura manifested.

Unbreakable Ice Aura (Issei Hayami):

This aura does not freeze temperature; it freezes the spirit and sound. It is Hayami's colossal ego that demands an environment of absolute silence. It feels as if you enter a huge industrial refrigerator where the air becomes physically heavy and dense. This deafening silence acts as a psychological depressant: if an opponent has a latent insecurity (a "low morale"), the Ice Aura detects it and literally paralyzes their will.

In that moment, Kenji suffered a crushing defeat.

The roar of the crowd celebrating the Genius's victory was instantaneous, but Kenji couldn't hear all those screams of celebration. His mind, in a state of shock, his hope and effort destroyed in a brief instant, had imposed a sepulchral silence. Only one truth existed, etched into his soul with acid: I wasn't good enough.

Kenji felt the pressure. Hayami muttered: —"Your formula is stupid. You only play not to lose. You are just a nobody who only knows how to swing the racket like an idiot and not only that, but just because you won one or two matches you think you're hot stuff, better retire from this sport, an incompetent like you doesn't deserve to practice it."

Kenji was absolutely furious at the words Hayami said, but. Just at that moment, Kenji's coach approached with the phone, his face pale as snow.

—"Kenji... you have to go... your parents. There was an accident. They were coming."

The world turned into the total silence of Hayami's Aura, broken by the memory of the metallic crunch. Tears suddenly began to stream from his eyes; Kenji tried to stop the tears, but the sadness was so great that he couldn't. Kenji raised his tear-filled gaze toward Hayami. He had a face of total and absolute indifference. There was no pity; he simply did not care in the slightest what happened to Kenji. At that moment, the Shattered Crystal Wall rose.

Kenji was on the gym floor, in shock. The cold emanating from him was so intense that the lights seemed to flicker.

—"Kenji! Damn it! Stop the spectacle and get up!" Miku rushed toward him.

—"Miku-senpai, don't go near him! That aura is going to absorb you!" shouted Kazuo, backing away with the other club members.

Miku ignored the warning. She lunged and activated her Crimson Lightning Aura to the max, creating an intense barrier of heat that collided with the cold of the Shattered Crystal Wall.

Miku knelt down, her face inches from Kenji's. The contrast between Miku's fury and the stillness of Kenji's trauma was violent.

—"Listen to me! Not the ghost of your past!" her voice was harsh, but with a desperate plea. —"You have to come back! You have a contract with me! What did you see? Tell me what hurts! Tell me what that jerk did to you!"

Kenji, struggling to breathe, felt the heat of her will colliding with the cold of his guilt.

—"The... the silence. The cold. He didn't... he didn't care... it's my fault!"

—"Whose fault?! It's not your fault, you idiot! He's just a rival who got lucky to beat you, that's all, nothing more!" Miku grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. —"I am your boss! Your pain is not stronger than my ambition! I order you to return to reality! Right now!"

—"I can't... the void... the cold..." Kenji felt his mind sinking into a pit.

Miku shook him firmly, a touch that was more an order than a comfort. —"Listen to me, Yoshida! You have to come back because you owe me a month of life! You owe me the ramen! I need you to win, you idiot! If you stay here, I lose my investment in egg and Chashu pork! Is that what you want, to ruin my investment?"

Kenji clung to the promise. Miku's heat, the force of her command, and the logic of the food were the only anchors.

—"The... the ramen! The Chashu pork!" he managed to gasp.

—"Exactly! The pork and the extra egg are waiting for you! You have to get up, you must fulfill your promise to give 70%! Come back right now, Yoshida! I order you one last time! Don't fail me! Don't you dare break the promise you made to me!"

The Shattered Crystal Wall retracted. Kenji remained motionless, but conscious.

Kazuo, watching, couldn't believe it, he shouted with excitement: —"He did it! Miku-senpai used her will to invade the great sadness Kenji felt! That was nothing less than the Crimson Empress's Shield! A brutal and pure act of protection at its maximum splendor!"

Miku got up, her breath ragged. She turned away, avoiding looking at Kenji for too long. —"You, Kazuo! Go get towels! And the rest of you, go back to your tables! The show is over!"

Miku helped Kenji stand up. Her tone returned to total authority.

—"Go get some air and don't come near the table. And if you collapse again, the penalty will be much worse than fasting," Miku threatened him.

Kenji headed for the water fountain. But the atmosphere was already toxic.

The gym door burst open. Issei Hayami walked in.

The Unbreakable Ice Aura manifested to the maximum. The other club members stopped, rigid as statues of salt. One of them, young Takeda, dropped the box of balls, which rolled in a terrifying silence.

Miku felt the penetrating cold despite her Crimson Aura. «His presence is an insult to passion. He is a monster of total control.»

Hayami walked up to a table. Kenji returned with his glass of water. Hayami looked up and observed him.

Psychological Breaking Point Vision (Issei Hayami):

Hayami's Vision does not see the ball or the trajectory; it sees the fear and history of failures of the opponent. It is an ability that transcends the physical. He detects the psychological breaking point: the exact moment the person will collapse due to trauma, a forced technical error, or the sheer pressure of his aura. It is a tool of psychic domination.

Hayami's Vision scanned Kenji's face. Kenji felt a chill.

Hayami, however, only saw a wall of apathy. "Total apathy. Not relevant. No breaking point."

Hayami looked away with complete disinterest. Not even a twitch. The indifference was the greatest insult.

Kenji, paralyzed, could only murmur: —"Hayami..."

Miku stepped in, her Crimson Aura throbbing with the force of a small supernova.

—"Come on, Yoshida. We have a club to save, a bowl of ramen with extra pork to win. And he is not going to stop us. Don't allow it. Our contract is still valid."

Miku stood firm, a small but ardent figure interposing herself between Kenji's trauma and Hayami's cold arrogance. She felt the oppressive weight of the Ice Aura; it was as if the air was trying to push her away.

«Damn it! —Miku thought, her Crimson Aura struggling to generate more heat—.* I feel like I'm screaming in a library. This idiot thinks he owns the silence. But my fury makes noise, I won't allow him to silence me!»*

She raised her voice, loud enough to resonate through the silence Hayami had imposed.

—"Hey, Hayami!" she challenged him, her voice sharp and loaded with rage. —"It's rude to invade another club's training space without saying a word! Does your ego forbid you from using language?"

Hayami, who was adjusting the grip of his racket with exasperating slowness, didn't even look up. His fingers moved with inhuman precision, ignoring Miku completely.

«He's ignoring me. He's treating me like background noise that doesn't deserve his Vision» —frustration boiled in Miku.

Kenji, behind her, was motionless, analyzing the scene despite his internal panic.

«Risk of collapse, 80%. Senpai's anger, 100%. Hayami's threat rating: 9.5/10. Hayami's indifference is a psychological nullification tactic. I must neutralize his presence without burning unnecessary energy. The contract demands my survival for the tournament, not my verbal intervention. If Senpai explodes now, I lose the Chashu pork. Totally unacceptable.»

—"Senpai," Kenji murmured softly, barely a whisper. —"Don't provoke him. Stop, please. Avoid unnecessary fights."

Miku clenched her jaw. —"Shut up, Yoshida! I won't let this damn narcissist with a refrigerator complex freeze my gym! He owes me an apology for the atmosphere!"

Hayami finally made a move. He didn't lift his head, but he moved his racket, hitting a ball against the wall, right next to Kazuo's head. The sound was dry and precise, and the echo instantly died in the icy aura.

Kazuo collapsed onto the floor, whimpering. —"Miku-senpai! That was a declaration of war! My life was in danger, I saw my life flash before my eyes! I feel like I'm owed rent for my breath!"

Miku turned toward Hayami, her eyes burning with an intense crimson fire. —"That's harassment, Hayami! Withdraw your presence immediately and respect our space! Get out of here right now, you damned trash!"

Hayami, with a calmness that bordered on the comically exaggerated, raised a hand toward the Dean who had peeked through the door. The Dean, a man in his fifties, nodded fearfully and slammed the door shut, sealing the gym.

«He has connections» —Miku thought, her rage turning into calculation.

Kenji interrupted, his tone of complaint was desperate. —"Senpai. The atmospheric pressure is increasing. According to my calculations, if the Ice Aura persists for ten more minutes, my brain efficiency will decrease by 12%. That will affect the quality of my game and, therefore, the value of your investment. This is a tacit breach of contract due to third-party interference."

Miku slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand, fighting the urge to yell at Kenji to stop being an advocate for laziness.

—"You have ten minutes, Hayami! Ten minutes to do whatever you have to do and then you get out! If you hit a single ball near my players, I swear I will challenge you to a match you'll never forget!" Miku yelled, knowing it was an empty threat, but necessary to save face.

Hayami, unfazed, finally spoke, without looking at anyone, his voice was monotonous and low, but the silence amplified it.

—"I am warming up. You... are... a nuisance, disappear from my sight," Hayami muttered, and then he hit another ball, this time at Miku's table, with terrifying speed, right where Miku usually stood.

The message was clear: You are in the way.

Miku felt the impact in her soul. This was not a rival; it was a force of nature. She turned toward Kenji, her expression a mixture of strategic defeat and burning determination.

—"Come on, Yoshida. Get away. Don't waste your precious 70% on staring at a block of ice. Go back to the fountain. Think about the Chashu pork," Miku gently pushed him, feeling the residual cold on her back.

As they walked away, Kazuo crawled along the floor toward Miku. —"Miku-senpai. You know what? I feel the cold too. I think I need an extra Ajitama to fight psychological hypothermia. Does that count as an investment?"

Miku gave him a look that would freeze hell. —"No! You just pray that the idiot Yoshida doesn't collapse before the tournament! And you, Yoshida! Don't look back!"

Kenji, walking, muttered to himself: «The caloric value of the Chashu pork is approximately 250 calories. The mental energy spent in this confrontation is 80 calories. I am still in the positive. The contract holds.»

The silent war for Kenji's soul had begun. And in that icy gym, under Issei Hayami's contemptuous gaze, Miku knew that to win, she would not only have to defeat a genius, but also have to thaw the heart of her own weapon. However, what happened to Miku after Kenji escaped the gym?

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