Just as his fist swung out, a whip kick struck toward his face like a gust of wind!
Sano reacted immediately, forced to abandon his final blow to Chinatsu and quickly step back to dodge the whip kick.
Appearing before him was a man also wearing a training uniform, with a white belt tied around his waist just like his own.
Clearly, he was undoubtedly a new student as well.
"You damn brat, you sure are meddlesome!"
Sano glared viciously at Kenji, his eyes filled with rage.
"Miss Chinatsu, are you alright?"
Kenji ignored him, looking at Chinatsu with concern.
Chinatsu struggled slightly to climb up from the ground, her brow furrowed; clearly, that heavy fall just now had been very painful.
"I... I'm okay..."
"Leave this guy to me now."
Having already watched Chinatsu's Karate demonstration from below, Kenji's eyes revealed confidence; he had naturally completely mastered Karate by now.
However, he didn't adopt Chinatsu's more feminine starting stance. Instead, like Takuma Sakazaki from The King of Fighters, he raised his right hand and took the most classic Karate stance, standing as firm as an immovable mountain.
"Hmph, meddlesome brat," Sano glared viciously at Kenji. "Then I'll give you a taste of pain for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!"
With that, Sano lunged forward, throwing a left straight punch that streaked toward Kenji's face like a cannonball.
Kenji didn't dodge. He slammed his raised right hand out like a hammer to parry the left straight punch, while simultaneously snapping his left foot out, aiming directly for Sano's shin bone—the front of the lower leg.
The strength and speed provided by the 'Sturdy' skill worked in perfect coordination, making this strike swift and powerful.
A sharp crack was heard.
A single strike had caused a bone fracture!
The intense pain caused Sano to collapse to his knees, clutching his leg and screaming!
Not letting Sano continue his crying, the kind Kenji followed up with a forward step punch, sending Sano off to a peaceful sleep like a flash of lightning.
It proved that... strength combined with technique is truly invincible.
Sano, who had been gloating just moments ago, was sent to sleep by Kenji in just a few moves.
Even Ichijo Chinatsu found it unbelievable at this moment.
Is this guy really a white-belt beginner?
But why were his movements just now so standard and full of lethal force?
Chinatsu couldn't figure it out.
Kenji called the police, and soon officers arrived to haul the 'deeply sleeping' Sano away.
With such an incident occurring, today's lesson had to come to an end.
After expressing her thanks, Chinatsu still intended to treat him and invited Kenji to dinner. However, as soon as they reached the parking lot, she saw Kenji get into a ferrari... "What is it, Miss Chinatsu?"
"I... I originally wanted to invite you, Kenji, to have dinner together, but now it seems you probably wouldn't care for a small restaurant like that... haha..."
Chinatsu looked a bit embarrassed; her family almost never gave her money, and her living expenses were all earned through her work as a coach.
Chinatsu naturally couldn't afford to treat him at an expensive place.
"It's okay, Chinatsu. Wherever you want to eat, I'll take you. Get in?"
Kenji naturally wouldn't refuse Chinatsu's kindness, so he opened the car door and invited her in.
"Then... how about the BBQ restaurant near the entrance of Nakacho Street? Is that okay?"
"Sure, if it's that close, let's not drive. We'll walk over. Does your back still hurt? Do you need me to take you to the hospital later?"
"No need! Don't be fooled by the fact that I'm a girl, I'm very tough and can take a hit! Hehe~"
The two of them walked toward the BBQ restaurant while chatting.
The all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant that Chinatsu highly recommended was indeed more popular than imagined.
It was just starting to be dinner time, yet the first-floor hall was already almost completely full. The noisy chatter of people and the aroma of grilled meat intertwined, filling the air.
Under the warm greeting of the waiter, the two went up the stairs to the second floor, finally finding a place in a traditional Japanese tatami private room.
Eating BBQ naturally required the company of ice-cold beer.
Soon, the waiter brought over the chilled beer and various BBQ ingredients.
The two of them chatted casually as they feasted on the BBQ and enjoyed their beer.
"Judging by your performance earlier, Kenji—both your agility and your technique when applying force—you must have practiced Karate before, and probably at a high rank? Otherwise, you wouldn't have such skilled movements. But why would someone with your background sign up at this dojo as a new student?"
Chinatsu tilted her head slightly, her eyes full of curiosity. After draining her glass of beer, she threw her question to Kenji.
The corners of Kenji's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a gentle smile. He picked up his glass, took a large gulp of beer, and then said slowly, "What if I said I came here specifically for you?"
He paused, looking at Chinatsu with a tender gaze. "I had long heard that the coach at this Karate dojo was a very impressive beauty, so I came specifically to see. I didn't expect to actually meet you."
A blush instantly rose to Chinatsu's cheeks. She lowered her head a bit shyly and said softly, "Well, if you put it like that, I'll get embarrassed. But anyway, thank you for stepping in today, Kenji. Come, cheers!"
As she spoke, she raised her glass toward Kenji.
"Don't mention it. Come, cheers!"
Kenji also readily raised his glass and lightly clinked it against Chinatsu's.
Chinatsu was about to clink glasses and drain it, but as soon as she raised her arm, a surge of sharp pain hit her. She couldn't help but frown and let out a painful groan: "Hiss..."
Seeing this, Kenji quickly asked with concern, "As I thought, did you get injured from that fall?"
He knew that the dojo used wooden floors; soft mats were only laid out during wrestling or similar training.
How could Chinatsu not be injured after being lifted over someone's head and slammed hard onto the floor?
Even so, Chinatsu endured the pain and feigned a relaxed tone, saying, "It's... it's nothing. I'll just apply some liniment when I get home..."
She knew in her heart that going to the hospital would cost much more than applying liniment herself, and her current finances were not exactly abundant, leaving her with no funds to spend recklessly.
Seeing her persistence, Kenji didn't say anything more, but he silently noted it in his heart.
At that moment, the background music in the BBQ restaurant suddenly switched to the next song, which happened to be Kenji's 'One Last Kiss'.
As the familiar melody and vocals echoed in the air, Chinatsu was stunned when she heard the familiar voice in the music, then looked at Kenji in front of her with a face full of surprise.
"Wait... wait wait wait!"
Chinatsu hurriedly put down her glass and frantically took out her phone, opening the 'Thunderfire Cloud Music' app. She carefully checked the songwriter and composer credits for those songs, muttering to herself, "No... no way!"
The handsome man before her was named Kenji, and the songwriter and composer listed in the playlist was also Kenji!?
No way?
These two Kenjis were actually the same person!
Chinatsu looked up at Kenji with a look of disbelief and asked, "Are you... the creator of these songs, the same Kenji?"
Kenji nodded with a smile. "Yes, it's indeed me. If you don't believe it, you can search online; you should be able to find my stream clips and such."
There was nothing to hide about this, so Kenji admitted it quite openly.
Chinatsu immediately started searching on the app. Sure enough, she soon found Kenji's original stream recordings. They were even on the first page of the short video rankings, visible at a glance.
"It... It really is Kenji..."
Chinatsu looked at her phone and back again, comparing the Kenji on the screen with the real Kenji in front of her, still finding it somewhat hard to believe.
After a long while, Chinatsu finally managed to squeeze out a sentence with a red face: "Kenji, I'm your fan! Please give me an autograph!"
Kenji hadn't expected that the Chinatsu before him would actually be a loyal fan of his.
Usually, whenever she had free time, she would immerse herself in the songs he wrote, playing them on loop.
Kenji could tell from Chinatsu's expression that she truly liked those songs, rather than just putting on an act.
This was quite a surprise to him; after all, in real life, this was the first time he had encountered a female fan who sincerely liked his work.
Smiling, Kenji signed his name stylishly in the notebook Chinatsu handed over, getting a taste of what it felt like to sign for someone like a celebrity.
In return, Kenji used the excuse of going to the restroom to quietly leave his seat, go to the front desk, and secretly settle the bill.
In the end, it resulted in Chinatsu's dissatisfaction.
Chinatsu stood with her hands on her hips, frowning as she complained, "Really, Kenji, we agreed it was my treat! But you went and paid the bill secretly! You're making me feel so bad."
"Well, don't be angry. Let's go, I'll take you home."
He said that, but Kenji didn't drive toward Chinatsu's rental apartment. Instead, he turned the steering wheel and drove straight to the hospital.
He knew in his heart that the injury on Chinatsu's back couldn't be handled so carelessly; he had to let a doctor see it to be at ease.
Upon reaching the hospital entrance, Chinatsu stood there hesitantly, muttering, "Really, I said I'd just apply some liniment myself. Why bother coming to the hospital? It's so much trouble."
Without waiting for her to say more, Kenji took her hand and walked into the hospital.
"Stop dawdling. Your health is important. I'll feel better after a doctor sees you."
As Kenji spoke, he led her through registration and to see a doctor.
"Really, I said I'd just apply some liniment myself..."
Although Chinatsu complained like that, when she looked up at Kenji, there wasn't a hint of resentment in her eyes. Instead, she felt a bit of... joy at Kenji's thoughtfulness?
The slight upward curve of her lips betrayed the little happiness in her heart.
Unknowingly, the young girl seemed to have begun slowly falling for Kenji's delicate care.
It was fortunate they came to the hospital; after the doctor's examination, a large area of Chinatsu's back was bruised purple, but luckily it was all soft tissue damage and hadn't hit the bone.
The doctor prescribed some medicine to promote blood circulation and remove stasis, and applied a medicated patch for her.
Only then did Kenji feel relieved as he led her out of the hospital.
On the way back, Chinatsu sat in the passenger seat, thinking to herself: 'If only an outstanding and thoughtful man like Kenji could be my partner...'
But at the thought of her father's orders, her heart instantly turned dark again.
She knew in her heart that her father wanted to use her as a bargaining chip, pushing her into a transaction devoid of emotion and filled only with interests.
She had always known this; she just wasn't willing to face it.
On one side was the responsibility and pressure placed on her by her family, and on the other was her inner longing for happiness.
The scales in her heart kept swinging back and forth, leaving her pained and lost.
The car slowly stopped in front of her apartment building. Chinatsu took a deep breath, forced a smile, and after saying goodbye to Kenji, was about to open the car door when... Kenji suddenly grabbed her hand!
His hand was warm and powerful, as if giving Chinatsu an inexplicable sense of courage and security.
"Hey, Chinatsu, just be yourself."
Kenji's gaze was firm as he looked Chinatsu in the eye, saying each word clearly.
"Eh?"
"Don't forget, Chinatsu, your happiness is more important than anything."
On the way back, Kenji made a phone call.
"How is it? How are the preparations going?"
...
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GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.