Stealing Spree

“Down!”

DING DING DING!

“Blue side wins!”

Alongside the loud thumping sound that silenced most of the audience, the referee who was probably expecting another slow or close match almost lost stammered upon witnessing a different result than the previous matches.

At the moment, the one who got knocked down had to be helped up by her coach. And obviously, the one who knocked her down was still standing there, triumphant and proud.

“Eh? It’s over just like that? How did that happen?”

Next to me, someone else voiced her bafflement at that result. Saionji blinked a few times as though making sure that she was not sleeping before turning to me for an explanation.

“Senpai, that’s called a victory by knockout. Her opponent was knocked down and could not stand up to fight anymore. Hence, the match was declared over.”

“... H-how strong can she be to knock her opponent down? What are those defensive equipment then?”

“Oh. Do you mean their headgear? It could only mitigate some of the shock brought about by a strong punch. Besides, she’s not just hit in the head. That loud crisp sound when a fist connected to her abdomen was a defining factor. You probably didn’t see it since it’s a result of a quick counter.”

Well, for someone who was watching a live boxing match for the first time, it’s pretty understandable why Saionji was this astonished when the previous matches didn’t even reach the point where someone got knocked down, much less, got firmly hit by a counter.

And sure enough, to say that this third match was a fair fight was obviously a wrong evaluation.

A massive gap between the two boxers had been displayed for all to see. More than being unfair, it was more apt to say that one dazzlingly outclassed the other.

Be it at the speed, endurance, or strength departments, Sena effortlessly showed everyone how much she excelled at it compared to her similarly built opponent.

Right. It was none other than Sena’s win. Was it anticlimactic?

Hell no. I expected it. And as I watched that minute and a half of exchange, the girl was clearly still being lenient to let it run for that long.

If she so wished, the first ten seconds should’ve been enough when her opponent aggressively took a wide swing, leaving herself open for a perfect counter which Sena leniently didn’t take.

Her opponent tried to effectively take advantage of her longer reach by being so aggressive but against a true defense-focused opponent like Sena, it was ineffective unless there was power behind her every punch and she could cover her openings right away.

She should be really thankful that Sena didn’t embarrass her for her reckless abandon of reading her opponent’s stance.

“Sena can take all of their opponents out and not be tired from it. Unfortunately, that’s not within the rules of this competition.”

Validating my thoughts, Akane also calmly commented after clapping and cheering for the girl. Among my girls here, she’s someone who could properly see those subtle signs that were normally hard to be picked up by someone not used to combat sports.

“Mhm. Not to say that they’re not skilled or passionate enough about boxing but Sena was simply just more hardworking than all of them. She never stopped practicing and she already faced a fair share of strong opponents.” I nodded, providing more insight for the flabbergasted girl on my other side.

Whether she’s convinced or not, I had no idea. Nonetheless, that stopped Saionji’s questioning. If I had to guess she was revising her opinion of the sport in her head.

Shortly after that, I continued with my enthusiastic cheering for my girl until she walked down the ring.

With that, they successfully took the lead in the competition. One more win and they’d be declared a winner and advance to the next round.

If I recall correctly, the next round should be the semi-finals already. Only a few schools have a boxing club with sufficient female members fit for a competition.

If, for some miracle, they managed to advance to the prefectural level, that’s where the real challenge would come from as it would be a gathering of well-known clubs that nurtured athletes.

It would be ideal for Sena to advance there, however, with the level of her team, it would be like passing through the needle hole.

Well, let’s not be optimistic about their chances.

The next match soon began and with the opposing team being one loss away from being defeated, they started showing signs of desperation.

Furthermore, the fact that they’re that close to winning also added some pressure for the last two girls on our side.

Thankfully, Sena and Ayu were there to abate those, lifting a bit of the pressure from their shoulders.

Unfortunately, the fourth match failed to decide the outcome as the opponent won by 1 point difference. It was really close and could be called a tie. It went to the judge’s discretion on whether to end it there or continue for the fifth match.

And obviously, they picked the latter. They probably wanted to hype up this match more. That way, they could gather more attention and in turn, lift the public perception of the sport.

For sure, someone already made note of Sena’s performance and I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets scouted right away.

Will that be good for her career? Maybe. Maybe not.

Ayu and Hisa-jii already planned out her road to being a pro, after all. It’s only a matter of time before she debuts on the professional scene.

Anyway, with the hype of the match at an all-time high for the fifth match, the fifth match was watched by everyone with bated breaths.

Both sides had the desire to win and unlike the previous matches except for the third one, the fifth match-up became more of a slugfest and the winner was decided by who had higher stamina and endurance than the two.

By the skin of her teeth, the only third-year senior of their school’s boxing club emerged victorious and won by a knockout as well.

Or rather, her last punch depleted her opponent’s remaining stamina, bringing her down to the floor.

As such, even if they were pressured and became a little pessimistic about their chances, they successfully managed to clutch a victory.

I’m honestly impressed when they looked so hopeless earlier.

“We won. Amazing!”

“Yeah! That’s so cool! They even knocked down two of their opponents!”

Around us, the audience in support of their side, be it students from the same school or just random people who started cheering for the team erupted in more cheers.

Likewise, we stood up and congratulated them for their win.

Sena was immediately surrounded by the other girls in their club who were just so happy that they won the match.

Due to that, I held back the urge to also run up there and congratulate her personally.

There would be a better time and place for that.

For now, with the boxing match concluding in this festive mood, we’d surely be coming to the tennis match of Fuyu and her club with higher energy.

Several minutes later, Akane, Futaba, and Eri led the way, bringing us to the open venue for the tennis match.

It was already quite crowded but with the match not starting yet, we still managed to push through them.

While there were bleachers at the four sides of the tennis court, they could only sit, at most, a hundred spectators. The rest had no choice but to stand at the back, at the side, or in any other spot where they could watch the game properly.

Unfortunately, given that the sport was a bit more popular than boxing, it’s impossible for us to take one area to fit our whole group.

At most, we managed to grab some of those seats close to where Fuyu and the others from her tennis club would be staying when they showed up later.

The girls squeezed in to fit them all on three rows. Naturally, I gave up on taking one, opting to stand next to them instead.

Even if the girls offered to squeeze themselves further, I declined. I mean, while it wasn’t that inconvenient, we’ll definitely gather more attention to our side. It’s not enough that they’re all pretty, if one guy was found in the middle of them, everyone would be wondering.

Besides this was an open space unlike in the previous venue.

Instead, I became like a hawk, ready to intimidate any idiots who would try to bother them.

Perhaps following my example, Eri and Futaba’s boyfriends also opted to do the same. They let their girls sit alongside Akane and the others while they stand with me at the side.

Yeah. They also started keeping an eye out. Good for them, I guess?

Just like this, we waited for a bit before we spotted Fuyu along with her club walking towards the court.

As she already rose to be among their most skilled members, Fuyu was at the front.

Upon spotting Akane and the other two, she instantly beamed a beautiful smile as she waved back at them.

However, when she found the other girls with them, she showed a hint of surprise before her eyes landed on me.

She lowered her hand and turned to the senior next to her, most likely excusing herself for a moment.

As soon as she got the permission, the girl trudged forward to our location.

Without wasting a second explaining why, the girl stopped before me and asked with her tone a little confrontational, “Onoda-kun, can we talk?”