Orca Ramiris was the firstborn of the Ramiris family.
She did have a younger brother as the second child, but the Ramiris family kept his existence hidden, so very few people knew about him.
Because of this, Orca introduced herself as an only daughter and lived that way.
I hadn't expected to be invited to their home, but I figured it didn't matter since the second child probably wouldn't come out anyway.
The Ramiris family mansion was extremely spacious.
It had a separate yard with manicured grass, and stone pathways connecting the buildings made me naturally think what an impressive household this was.
As expected of a young lady from a wealthy family, her expression always seemed to contain a gentle softness that exuded composure.
In a secluded area of the property.
A space had been prepared for training, and I stood there wearing the uniform Orca had provided.
Wearing the pure white uniform with a black belt around my waist made me feel like I should be meditating or something.
The black belt suited Yoon Ha-min and Orca, but I felt like a white belt would suit me better.
Since these were used by the Ramiris family, there were no other colors available besides black.
"Take this."
At those words, I turned my gaze to Orca's outstretched hand.
I blankly took what looked like some kind of string, and Orca removed a band from her wrist and tied her hair up.
Ah, so I should tie mine up too.
I carefully followed Orca's example after confirming how to use this hair tie I was receiving for the first time. I tried to pull my hair into a ponytail, but I couldn't understand how all this voluminous hair could be tied with such a small band.
Was there some law of physics I didn't know about?
As I fumbled with trying to tie up all this voluminous hair, Yoon Ha-min beside me was staring intently.
What are you looking at?
While I was wondering this, Orca, who had already tied her hair up, was also staring at me.
"Kanna, hold still. I'll do it for you."
"...Ah, okay."
I removed my hands from my hair and stood at attention.
Then Orca grabbed my hair and began to arrange it.
"Owww..."
"Bear with it a little. It needs to be tied tightly like this."
I squeezed my eyes shut and waited as Orca tied my hair together.
I'd washed and dried my hair before, but I'd never styled it like this, so I guess I was too clumsy.
"That looks good. Now shall we start training? Beginning with the most basic techniques."
"Yes, that sounds good."
I nodded and shook my head from side to side once.
The gathered hair felt heavy, which was strangely addictive.
"...So what should we do first?"
When I asked with some enthusiasm, Orca glanced at my hand.
She seemed interested in the mottled burn marks that remained even though I'd removed the bandages.
Come to think of it, she had been concerned about my injured hand yesterday and the day before, so it made sense.
Orca took a deep breath and stood in front of me.
"Yoon Ha-min, please explain from the side how to do this."
"Ah, sure."
Yoon Ha-min, positioned like a referee, nodded.
"First is defense—breakfalls are important. When you're grabbed and thrown, you twist your body to reduce the impact. When your opponent releases your arm, you can roll to minimize the shock."
As he spoke, he glanced toward Orca.
Orca turned her head and extended her hand toward Yoon Ha-min.
"It'll be easier if you see an example first."
Yoon Ha-min gasped and extended his hand.
In that moment, Orca's hand quickly reached out, hooked Yoon Ha-min's arm, and flipped him over.
With a whoosh, Yoon Ha-min's body arced through the air toward the ground.
If it had been me, I would have crashed into the ground, but he didn't.
As he approached the floor, his body twisted slightly, and Orca's grip on his arm wavered a bit.
The thud was inevitable, but I was impressed by how much the sound was reduced.
I knew this was how you had to perform to get decent scores in the practical exam, but I'd never actually done it myself.
"Did you see that clearly?"
Orca asked while dusting off her hands, and I nodded.
Then Orca gestured with her hand.
"We start when I grab you."
After saying that, as soon as I extended my hand, my vision violently twisted.
"Whoa, ack!"
Before I could even react, I was slammed to the floor and squeezed my eyes shut while grabbing my backside.
"Owww. That hurts too much..."
I felt like complaining about this body that couldn't properly use abilities and was physically weak too.
"Kanna, you're not completely in the air—you're held by my arm, so you need to twist your body from there."
"Ah, I understand."
My eyes were welling up with tears from the pain, but there was nothing I could do.
Martial arts techniques involve using your body, so I had to get used to it somehow.
At least here I could fall as many times as needed, which was fine.
If I were to look this pathetic in front of judging eyes where scores matter, with people thinking, "Of course, she's at the bottom rank anyway," I'd just get mocking looks that say, "See? What did you expect to change?"
Determined to do better next time, I suppressed the pain and stood up again.
I straightened my uniform by moving my shoulders slightly and took a deep breath.
After observing Orca and steeling myself, I extended my arm.
Thud!
"Ow!"
Thud!
"Ugh!"
Thud!
"Owww..."
I truly felt tears forming.
I tried my best to twist, but it seemed like only the part of my body hitting the ground changed.
Far from reducing the impact, my pelvis was throbbing from the last collision.
"...Kanna."
Unable to watch anymore, Yoon Ha-min called out to me.
"Huh?"
When I stopped and turned my head, Yoon Ha-min cleared his throat and suggested:
"If breakfalls are difficult, want to try attacking first? That might be easier."
I considered his suggestion for a moment.
Orca also seemed to think about it before nodding.
"That's true. Maybe attacking would be better. It might be easier. But if Kanna is physically weak, your opponent might resist, which could make it difficult."
"What?"
I had thought attacking would be easier. Yoon Ha-min had said so too.
But Orca advised otherwise.
"The martial arts exam is practical, right? Yoon Ha-min might not realize because he's strong, but in practical exams, people desperately try to avoid giving points to their opponents. For example, they might deliberately take awkward stances to prevent being thrown, or they might dodge sideways."
I focused on her words.
"Then there's no opportunity to practice breakfalls, so there aren't many deductions, but the side that fails to attack suffers quite a loss. Ideally, partners should cooperate and receive techniques properly, but in Kanna's case probably..."
Orca trailed off, but I got the general idea.
Not wanting to dwell on it further, Orca shrugged.
"Would you like to try with Yoon Ha-min? Since he's solid, it'll give you the feeling of working against someone who's resisting."
"Huh, me?"
Yoon Ha-min looked surprised, but I thought it was fine either way.
If my opponent was going to try to slam me to the floor, I needed to stand up to them firmly.
If I could steadily improve both my written and practical scores, I might be able to raise my rank at least one level.
I quietly looked at Yoon Ha-min.
Having apparently made up his mind, he looked at me with a bitter smile.
"I won't resist."
"...If you did, I probably couldn't throw you at all."
I replied as I looked at the arm he extended.
Orca took the referee position and began explaining each movement.
"Turn halfway around so your right shoulder connects with his arm, then bend your waist like a lever...!"
Processing each instruction, I took a deep breath and put in maximum effort.
I grabbed his arm. I spun around to press my body against his.
Extending my wrist forward, bending my waist while pushing with my hips to lift his feet, then decisively driving him to the floor.
I didn't need to worry about hurting him, so I could go all out.
Hesitating at this moment would be the moment my back gets injured.
With that thought, I tried to throw him, but I got stuck with our bodies pressed together, unable to complete the move.
His feet never left the ground.
"...Ugh."
I trembled slightly.
Wondering if this was what resistance felt like, I carefully withdrew my hands.
Orca explained again from the side.
"See? You can feel it getting stuck sometimes because of weight and height differences, right?"
"Yes..."
"That's probably how it feels when an opponent of similar weight deliberately resists."
"Then what should I do?"
When I asked, Orca went in front of Yoon Ha-min again and asked for his hand.
In a half-resigned state, he extended his arm with a bitter smile.
At that moment, Orca grabbed his arm and moved smoothly, just as she had explained earlier.
The difference was that I couldn't throw Yoon Ha-min, but Orca could.
"Can you see the difference?"
"...Ah, no. I can't tell."
When I answered, Orca demonstrated the throwing motion against an imaginary opponent.
"When you stick your hips out like this, Kanna, you just lower your head, but it helps to hook your opponent's foot slightly at this point. If they're not going down easily, you can hook more forcefully."
I see.
Of course, weight differences would normally make this difficult, but it was impressive how such techniques could compensate for that.
"Let's try again. Once you can throw Yoon Ha-min, you'll easily be able to throw your exam opponent. They pair women with women anyway."
"That makes sense. I'll give it a try!"
I felt motivated.
If I could really escape from the bottom rank here, maybe I could leave my current situation behind.
"...Sigh, I wondered why you called me, but it was to use me like this."
"Do you mind?"
When Yoon Ha-min sighed, Orca shot back.
He immediately shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"No. I know how to breakfall anyway, so it doesn't matter. Besides, helping someone who's trying hard—what's difficult about that?"
Yoon Ha-min said this while looking at me.
I pressed my lips together and nodded.
That was my way of renewing my determination.
"This time I'll do it properly."
"Sure."
Responding casually to my words, Yoon Ha-min extended his arm.
I grabbed it and twisted my body again.
Stuck!
But it was disappointing that I still got blocked when trying to throw Yoon Ha-min.
I tried to hook his foot, but something was blocking me, so the best I could do was press my hips against him and bend my waist.
"..."
A brief silence fell over the training hall.
Orca continued her explanation, and Yoon Ha-min stepped away saying he needed a break.
"Kanna, when you turn, position your leg like this..."
It seemed like improving my practical score would be quite difficult.
Or rather, the content was simple, but my body couldn't keep up.
"Y-yes."
I nodded, and Orca took Yoon Ha-min's place as the resisting partner while he was away.
Orca didn't go down easily either, but when her body started to lift slightly, I began to see some hope.
"...!"
"Now it's starting to work. You need to do it faster from here. If you pause or slow down, the weight will prevent you from completing the throw."
"Yes!"
For the first time, I felt excited at the thought that I might be able to escape from the bottom rank.