Chapter 154: Did she really betray us?

Seeing Mika suddenly swing her wooden sword down toward her head, Yukina turned pale with shock and instinctively took a step back, narrowly avoiding the silent, sudden assault.

But Mika’s attack didn’t end there; she continued to swing her wooden sword, forcing Yukina to desperately parry and dodge in a disheveled defensive stance.

“Aiba Senior, stop it! Now is not the time for us to be fighting! Stop attacking me!”

Yukina tried to use words to stop Mika’s excessive behavior, but Mika acted as if she hadn’t heard a thing, continuing her relentless assault.

Facing such a fierce onslaught, Yukina struggled to keep up; after all, Mika was her grand senior in the Kendo Club and far more proficient in sword techniques.

Seeing that Mika had no reaction to her words, Yukina couldn’t help but suspect she was being controlled by someone.

Her suspicion naturally fell upon Qin Shion.

“You’re too despicable, actually controlling my senior to attack me!”

Yukina shouted at Shion, who was standing a short distance away, happily watching the battle.

Shion, however, put on an innocent face; having a massive amount of blame thrown at her for no reason naturally didn’t sit well with her.

“Hey, I’m not controlling your senior to attack you—I had nothing to do with this!”

“Then it must be the work of your accomplices, you’re still involved!”

“We don’t even have any Espers with mind control here, so stop trying to pin it on me! Can’t you just think for a second—could it be that she wants to attack you herself?”

“How is that possible? She is the senior I trust most!”

“But she is also the teammate we trust most!”

“What did you say?” Yukina stared at Shion in shock, having just taken a heavy blow from Mika that forced her several steps back.

“Did you really not know? I thought you were with her because you knew. She is the strongest Esper in our organization besides the boss; her win rate is much higher than that gravity manipulation kid.”

“Hey, Shion, don’t just blurt it out! It won’t be as fun if you tell her!”

Mika scolded Shion for being too talkative.

Shion made an apologetic face that said, [My bad, my bad].

“Well, I originally intended to wait a while before telling you.”

Having said this, Mika’s gaze returned to the shocked Yukina, who seemed unable to accept the news that Mika and Shion were on the same side.

“Aiba Senior, you… was everything you said just a lie? Why would you do this? Is toying with a junior’s feelings really that fun for you?”

To Yukina, Mika was like a real older sister, someone who always provided support and propelled her forward during crucial moments.

Yet now, her most trusted senior had suddenly positioned herself as an opponent, becoming a stumbling block in her path.

This sense of betrayal caused Yukina deep heartache.

Facing Yukina’s heartfelt interrogation, Mika didn’t answer directly but countered with a question of her own.

“Yukina, what exactly is your reason for hiding the fact that your brother is dead?”

Hearing Mika’s counter-question, Yukina froze on the spot. “Senior, how did you know…?”

“I’m sorry, Yukina, but I’ve already investigated. Your brother met with an unfortunate car accident and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.”

“I found your brother’s name on the hospital’s list of deceased, and I’ve even visited his tombstone. I was quite shocked myself when I discovered this. While I’m very sorry, I can’t help but ask: why are you hiding this? What is it you’re so afraid of?”

Having her inner secrets exposed by Mika, Yukina fell into a long silence, unable to offer any answer for a time.

Seeing Yukina’s silence, Mika didn’t intend to harp on the issue; after all, everyone has unspeakable secrets buried deep within, and there was no need to forcibly dig them up.

“Forget it. I suppose you must have your reasons for doing so, so I won’t ask further. Now, let me properly answer the question you asked me.”

“As you can see, I, Aiba Mika, am also a member of this Esper organization called the Five Element Agency. As for my ability, it’s quite simple: Hardness Manipulation. I can increase the hardness of any object I touch, and air is no exception. That’s how I was able to easily slice through the steel pillars Aya threw earlier. Of course, the range of this ability is limited; I can’t turn the entire world’s air harder than steel.”

“Did you know? My actual swordsmanship isn’t actually that strong. During normal kendo matches, I use this ability to increase the hardness of my wooden sword so I can easily snap my opponent’s blade. It’s through this cheating ability that I secured the first-rank seat in the club. Every opponent I’ve faced eventually lost because I broke their sword—except for you, Yukina.”

“In our matches, even when I increased the hardness of my sword to ten times its original state, you still broke it easily. There was nothing special about the sword you used, so why was it mine—the one reinforced with an Esper power—that snapped when they collided? I’m truly curious, Yukina: just how do you do it?”

“Being able to effortlessly snap a sword I’ve reinforced makes it seem like your superpower is quite formidable; no wonder you’ve been targeted by other organizations. But what exactly is your power? I’m truly dying to know! I trust you won’t mind if I test you a little!”

With that, Mika gave a slight smile and launched her attack again, forcing Yukina to use her superpower to counter.

However, Yukina simply continued to defend; she had no desire to engage in a meaningless battle with Mika.

Merely defending was not enough to block all of Mika’s strikes, and soon, Yukina—having lost her will to fight—was covered in bruises from Mika’s blows.

Although Mika wasn’t delivering lethal blows when she struck Yukina’s body, the accumulation of these bruises still caused Yukina agonizing pain.

Ultimately, Yukina was forced to one knee, gasping for breath and unable to speak.

Looking at her dazed face, she seemed completely unsure of what she should do next.

Was it possible to reconcile with her senior?

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