CHAPTER 1: THE RULE OF THE WOODEN SWORD AND THE MA
The afternoon sun dyed the courtyard of the Minamoto family's estate in golden hues. Akane sat there, her back leaning against a velvet-upholstered armchair, one hand holding a thick book on macroeconomics. Her face was placid, her amber eyes merely skimming over the dry numbers without leaving a single ripple of emotion. Her composure created a solemn, freezing atmosphere, exactly like a true Kuudere anime heroine.
Right above the adjacent marble wall, Takeda Ren was squatting, his bare feet swinging arrogantly, the belligerent nature of the Takeda bloodline clearly showing through his eyes that thirsted for battle.
"Reading again? Doesn't your head feel heavy containing all those words?" — Ren asked, his voice overflowing with excess energy.
Akane did not look up, only giving a slight nod, her silence further increasing her cold and captivating aura:
"Yeah. Do you need something?"
Ren jumped down from the wall, landing smoothly right next to her. Seeing the girl still glued to the page, curiosity arose within him. He leaned his face close to hers, so close that the hot breath of someone bearing the Takeda bloodline touched the cold skin of the Minamoto lady.
"What are you reading so intently?"
Akane remained completely unfazed. She calmly flipped to a new page, her voice light, yet containing an invisible suppression that made the person opposite her wary:
"It seems the Takeda family's upbringing didn't teach you how to keep a minimum distance when talking to girls, huh?"
Ren ignored the sarcasm. He narrowed his eyes, even wanting to pounce onto the chair to sit next to her:
"I want to fight! My limbs are itching so much it's driving me crazy."
Akane gave a faint smile, the only expression she reserved for this "belligerent guy," a smile that carried no warmth whatsoever:
"Your bloodline truly carries an untamable aggressiveness."
Seeing that she still wouldn't spare him a single glance, Ren irritably threw his arm around her shoulder, leaning his head in to look at the book's page:
"Read it to me!"
"Why don't you read it yourself?"
"Words are too troublesome, I'm lazy." — He grinned, his face full of the carefree nature of someone who only likes to use his fists.
Akane half-closed her eyes, her lips began to read aloud, but the content was completely different from the economic charts in her hand:
"Since ancient times, Minamoto has been the most powerful family. But in that same era, there was a Takeda family equally as strong. Later, a Takeda married a Hiyori, giving birth to a variant... possessing both strength and a portion of superhuman intellect..."
Ren shook his head vigorously, interrupting:
"Liar! You're holding an economics book, there's no such fairy tale in there!"
Akane closed the book, her gaze looking straight at him for the first time, cold and sharp, the emptiness in her eyes enough to make one shiver:
"If you know I'm lying, then please leave. You're diluting my atmosphere."
Ren jumped to the ground, taking a stance:
"Talking is useless, let's fight!"
He dashed forward like a tornado, his wind-tearing punch aimed straight at Akane's face. But in that moment, the "Monarch's Coldness" skill in her blood awakened.
Akane did not panic at all; she tilted her head with millimeter-perfect precision, causing the punch to graze past her ear.
Quick as lightning, she drew the wooden sword hidden behind the chair, slashing a sharp diagonal line into the air.
Thwack!
The tip of the sword stopped right at Ren's throat.
The Takeda boy panicked, clutching his throat, doing a roll on the grass before he could stand up.
Akane calmly placed the wooden sword back in its original place, sat down, and reopened the half-read page of her book.
"You lost." — She smiled, a smile full of cunning and superiority, the smile of someone who always has their opponent in their grasp.
Ren jumped up, his face flushed red:
"You cheated! I wasn't ready yet!"
Akane did not reply.
She sank back into the world of numbers, ignoring the Takeda boy screaming in bitter defeat right next to her.
To her...
This was indeed the most interesting variable of the day.
**FLASHBACK: THE PACT ON THE STONE WALL**
That year, at the elite middle school for the upper class, there was an immutable rule: No one is allowed to disturb the private space of the Minamoto lady.
Minamoto Akane sat on her familiar stone bench, holding an ancient book, her face as placid as an autumn lake. Surrounding her was an invisible barrier of politeness and fear. Until, a "variable" appeared from above.
— "Hey! What's so fun about reading that?"
Akane looked up. On the branch of an ancient tree, a young boy was squatting, his eyes shining brightly with a thirst for battle. That was the first time someone spoke to her without using honorifics, without bowing their head. That feeling wasn't unpleasant at all; instead... it made her feel amused.
Akane gave a slight nod, a nod of permission.
— "I am Takeda Ren, young master of the Takeda family! Take this!"
Ren lunged down like a fierce beast. But just as his fist was only millimeters away from Akane's face, two dark shadows dashed out. They were the bodyguards of the two families, men who were longtime drinking buddies. They grabbed the two children's heads like scruffing two kittens and forcefully pushed them in opposite directions.
BAM! Ren slammed his head into the wall. Meanwhile, Akane was pushed away, but she lightly launched herself, executing a mid-air somersault and landing elegantly, her skirt not wrinkling in the slightest. The two uncle bodyguards dusted off their hands, muttering: "Kids shouldn't fight," then dragged each other off to drink, leaving the two bewildered kids behind.
**THE REMATCH: POWER OF THE MONARCH**
A few weeks later, Ren appeared again, this time on the towering wall of the Minamoto family's mansion. As soon as Akane saw that familiar figure, her normally frozen heart suddenly skipped a beat. She was about to step forward to greet him when...
BOOM! Her bodyguard appeared again, delivering a lightning-fast push that sent Ren flying dozens of meters away.
This time, Ren was truly angry. He roared, activating the Takeda Bloodline Limit: Borrowing the Future. His entire body radiated a fiery aura, borrowing the power of his 10-years-older self in exchange for a few minutes of outburst.
Before the uncle bodyguard could make another move, Akane stepped forward, the most radiant smile she had ever shown blooming on her lips:
— "Leave him be! This is our battle!"
Akane closed her eyes, activating the Minamoto Visual Prowess: The Monarch's Coldness. The world in her eyes suddenly slowed down; she saw through every vibrating muscle fiber of Ren, predicting every trajectory of his movement for the next 5 seconds.
Ren dashed forward as fast as lightning, swerved left, leaped high, and was about to launch a kick from mid-air. But Akane was already standing at the landing spot. In just a single graceful moment, she swung her wooden sword, an absolutely precise slash hitting Ren's weak point.
— "You lost, Ren-kun."
Before Ren could continue making a fuss, a large hand grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away. The Takeda family's bodyguard had arrived to "withdraw the troops."
— "Let go! I can still fight! Let goooo!" – Ren struggled like a stranded fish, but couldn't possibly escape the bodyguard uncle's vice-like grip.
Akane stood there, watching his figure gradually fade behind the wall, the smile still lingering on her lips. It would take a few weeks for that "tornado" to return, but the memory of that 5-second slash had become a secret pact between the two of them.
