"Aargh!! Oof!! Ugh!!"
"Stop hitting me!"
"I give up, Ran!! I surreeeendeeeer—"
Inside the karate club, a confident Shinichi had stepped up, only to be immediately pummeled by Ran without a chance to fight back. Despite his repeated pleas for mercy, Ran wasn't about to stop. This was a rare opportunity to give Shinichi a beatdown, and she was going to make the most of it.
"We're just getting started. Why give up so soon?"
"Isn't your dream to become a great detective like Sherlock Holmes, Shinichi?"
"Holmes knew Baritsu and wasn't afraid of criminals, but you don't know anything. You'd just get beaten up if you faced a criminal head-on."
"Want me to teach you some karate?"
Hearing Ran's teasing, Shinichi was about to retort when she seized the opportunity and punched him in the face.
Thud. Shinichi fell directly onto the soft mat.
Thanks to the protective headgear and gloves they were wearing, he wasn't seriously injured, but the humiliation was immense. He glanced over and saw Shiraishi E watching with a smile, making him feel like he had lost all face.
"Get up, Shinichi. Let's keep going!" Ran called out, still eager for more. Thinking about all the grief Shinichi had given her over the years, she felt like she could go for another half hour.
"No way, no way. I surrender," Shinichi said, shaking his head decisively. It was a joke. No matter how much he practiced, he was no match for a talented fighter like Ran. Besides, it was the 21st century. Who still practiced martial arts? If you had a problem, wouldn't you just call the police?
After her repeated attempts to persuade him failed, Ran had no choice but to give up. She turned to Shiraishi E and said, "Shiraishi-kun, please go easy on me!"
"You too, Ran," Shiraishi E replied.
After a simple greeting, the practice match began.
Shinichi quickly scooted back, worried about getting caught in the crossfire. His eyes were fixed on Shiraishi E, curious about his strength. Although he had been at the kidnapping scene yesterday, the fight had happened inside the car, so he hadn't seen it clearly. He only saw Shiraishi E throw a couple of quick punches that knocked the two kidnappers out.
I wonder who's stronger, Shiraishi or Ran.
With this thought, Shinichi watched the two begin their match.
"Here I come," Ran announced. She advanced with a few quick steps, throwing several probing jabs. Seeing Shiraishi E easily block them, she felt confident enough to continue her assault more boldly.
Ran threw a lead-hand straight punch followed by a rear-hand hook. When that failed, she followed up with a rear-hand uppercut and a lead-hand hook. She used this rapid sequence of attacks to confuse her opponent and create an opening.
However, she found it had almost no effect.
She decisively switched to a different combination: a lead-hand straight, a rear-hand horizontal hook, a lead-hand hook, and a final rear-hand straight. This combination started with a mid-range straight punch, followed by a close-range horizontal hook, then another angled hook, and ended with a straight punch, creating a multi-directional attack sequence.
Unfortunately, Ran's attacks were futile. Her opponent was a man with an unfair advantage.
Shiraishi E possessed master-level fighting skills and could easily handle Ran's attacks.
When it was his turn to counter, he didn't use any fancy combinations, just a simple mix of straight punches and sidekicks. As the old saying goes, in martial arts, speed conquers all! The key was speed.
With a rapid flurry of strikes, he quickly overwhelmed Ran, leaving her unable to defend. Shiraishi E found an opening and sent her to the ground with a sidekick.
"Ah," Ran cried out as she fell to the mat with a thud.
Shinichi watched, clenching his fists involuntarily. Then he saw Ran get back up, her eyes shining with excitement. "Again, Shiraishi-kun!!"
Seeing them go at it again, Shinichi felt speechless. He had been worried for nothing. However, he looked at Shiraishi E with astonishment, surprised by how skilled he was. Even Ran was no match for him!
That raised a question.
Did this guy... really learn to fight just for a kidnapping?
Shinichi had to have his doubts. He knew Ran had been learning karate since she was 10, practicing without a break for seven years. It was her incredible talent that had brought her to this level. If Shiraishi E had really learned to fight just to kidnap Sonoko, did that mean he had reached a level where he could dominate Ran in less than a month?
Shinichi simply couldn't believe it. He believed in differences in talent, but not to such a ridiculous degree.
"Ah... that was so satisfying!" After the training session ended, Ran felt sore all over, but her face was beaming with a smile of fulfillment. It had been a long time since she had a training session that intense.
"You were getting beaten up the whole time. How was that satisfying?" Shinichi looked at Ran, unable to understand. Does she have some kind of weird fetish?
"It means I still have a lot of room to improve!" Ran said happily. "Ever since Kazumi-senpai left the karate club to focus on her college entrance exams, I haven't been able to find anyone in the club who can make me go all out!"
"But... even when Kazumi-senpai was here, she wasn't as strong as Shiraishi-kun!" As she spoke, she looked at Shiraishi E with a new glint of admiration in her eyes.
"Ran, I can be your training partner until your competition starts," Shiraishi E said. He considered Ran a friend and was willing to help her in any way he could. This way, she could dominate Hina Wada in the ring without needing a dramatic power-up from Shinichi.
"Really? Thank you so much, Shiraishi-kun!" Ran thanked him profusely.
"Don't mention it," Shiraishi E smiled. He stopped at the intersection and said, "See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow!" Ran waved and walked off with Shinichi down another street.
After walking a short distance, Shinichi finally spoke up. "Ran, don't you think... there's something off about Shiraishi?"
"Hmm? What's off?" Ran asked, confused.
"Didn't he say yesterday that he learned to fight so he could kidnap Sonoko?" Shinichi voiced his suspicion. "Even if he had the idea to kidnap Sonoko six months ago, at most he would have only been practicing for half a year. But from what I saw today, his skill level is far beyond that of someone who's only practiced for six months!"
Reminded by Shinichi, Ran finally caught on. "Ah! You're right. And the way he feels... he's even more formidable than my coaches!!" she exclaimed.
After a pause, she added, "But... everyone has their secrets. Shiraishi-kun means us no harm, so we don't need to dig into it."
"...But we should still be a little cautious," Shinichi advised, though he also knew the other boy wasn't malicious.
"You're being too paranoid, Shinichi," Ran laughed, not taking it to heart. She then asked, "By the way, are you coming again tomorrow?"
"No way," Shinichi shook his head decisively. He rubbed his thigh and winced. "I think my leg is bruised from your kicks! I need to rest for a while!"
"No, it's not! I was controlling my strength!" Ran could tell Shinichi was making excuses. She huffed in annoyance and said, "If I used my full strength, it would be like this!" She pretended to aim a powerful kick at him.
Shinichi saw it and took off running.
Ran wanted to chase him, but she was too sore to catch up. "Fine, fine! I won't kick you, come back!!" she yelled.
"I don't believe you! I'm going home... Bye, Ran, see you at school tomorrow!" Shinichi, not falling for Ran's tricks for the first time, waved and decisively ran off.
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