Close Quarters Combat Training
October 1, 2026. Thursday. 15:20.
UCIA Japan Branch Investigation Base
Ground Base. Training Room.
After changing into our close quarters combat training wear, we headed to the training room. In the dojo at the center of the room, the Chief was already sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed. She seemed to be heightening her concentration. A black tank top and camouflage pants. A fairly serious outfit.
”She looks even more dangerous than usual…”
Chris whispered softly into my ear.
”Now then. Saving Hayama for last, first Himemiya and Chris, the two of you come at me. The rules are no attacks to the head and no thrusting. It’s mostly the same as Kendo, but you can use your legs and choking techniques are allowed. Take whatever weapon you like. Though I think shinai (bamboo swords) would be best for you two.”
Saying so, the Chief took a pair of tonfas from the weapons hung on the wall.
”I suppose I’ll use these for the first time in a while. I believe offense is the greatest defense, but this might not be bad occasionally.”
The Chief readying a tonfa in each hand. Chris and I held shinai and faced the Chief.
”It’s my first time fighting alongside you, Asami, but if this place is attacked, there’s a high chance we’ll be acting together. Let’s do our best together. Though I think we’ll lose.”
Chris said so with a small laugh and readied her shinai.
”Yeah. It’s frustrating, but I’m probably not counted as a fighting force. At the very least――let’s score one hit.”
And I also readied my shinai.
”If you ladies can score even one hit, it will be your win. Conversely, my victory condition is if you cry uncle, or if I determine you are incapacitated.”
Then Hayama stepped between us.
”Well then, are you ready?”
We and the Chief nodded.
”Ready――begin!”
Along with Hayama’s starting signal, the Chief ducked down and instantly entered our range. The target she set her sights on was me.
(――Fast!)
I had anticipated it to some extent, but my body couldn’t keep up with the Chief’s swift movements, which were like a black panther’s. Perhaps my body was unconsciously terrified by her spirit, my movements became stiff. I swung my shinai down from the upper right to the lower left. But the Chief guarded and parried the attack with the tonfa readied in her left hand.
”Your strike is weak, Himemiya! Come at me with the intent to kill!”
As the Chief dashed to my feet, she unleashed a powerful leg sweep with a spinning motion. It landed as if scooping my legs out from under me, which was more than enough to destroy my balance. I fell hard on the spot.
(Not good!)
I quickly stood up and fixed my posture. However, in the opening created by my fall, the Chief had approached to a distance where she could reliably take down Chris.
”Don’t let me enter your space so easily, Chris! Take backsteps to create distance while making small sweeping cuts!”
The Chief leisurely guarded Chris’s desperate attacks with her tonfas and continued to close the distance. Eventually, when Chris slipped and lost her balance, the Chief did not miss it.
”I’ve got you!”
The Chief stepped in all at once, forcefully spun her tonfa, and knocked the shinai Chris was holding away in one go.
”Kyaa!”
Chris, who let out an involuntary scream at the impact, fell squarely on her bottom onto the floor.
”Good grief… Are you really a soldier? Close quarters combat is the foundation of battle in any era. You need more training――”
Showing her back to me and beginning to lecture Chris, I mercilessly assaulted the Chief from behind and slashed at her.
”I’ve got you, Chief!”
I swung the shinai horizontally at the Chief’s torso with all my might.
(Eh!?)
She disappeared from right in front of me… No, she jumped. The Chief had predicted my attack from behind and executed a backward somersault. What jumping power.
(Not good! She’s taking my back!)
The moment I thought that. From behind me, the Chief firmly held me from the upper chest to the neck with her left arm. With my stomach pinned by her right arm, I was completely immobilized. Like a giant snake constricting its prey to death, the Chief’s robust arms constricted my body.
”I’ll praise that spirit of mercilessly attacking from behind. But you project too much presence of aggressively attacking. Don’t think about anything. Calmly and swiftly――focus only on reliably taking down your opponent.”
The Chief’s words were like whispers in my ear. I lost strength in my body, and the shinai I was gripping fell to the floor. Just as my consciousness was starting to fade, I heard Hayama’s voice.
”Stop! That’s enough! Those two can’t fight anymore!”
Suddenly, the strength left the Chief’s arms, and my body became free. Perhaps because my airway was eased, I instantly coughed. It’s no use, I’m absolutely no match for her…
”Himemiya, you have almost no experience in practical close quarters combat, right? It would be better for you, and Chris as well, to learn close combat along with the members of AMGE. Even though those girls are students, their swordsmanship skills are quite high.”
Certainly, although I had learned arresting techniques in the past, I’m honestly not used to fighting an opponent right in front of me without using a gun. Or rather, I’ve almost never encountered such a situation. I always carried a handgun in my holster, and that was the norm.
”Yes. If I can get permission, I would also like to receive close quarters combat training with everyone from AMGE.”
Chris also reacted to my words.
”Me too. I’m always holed up in the system room, so…”
Looking at us, the Chief smiled.
”Both of you. We won’t always be able to cover you. In the end, the only one who can protect yourself is you.”
The Chief said so gently. She is strong. Both physically and mentally. She also has quite a big-sisterly side. There are various strict aspects to her, but I truly think it’s wonderful to have such a wonderful person as my boss.
”Now then, next is Kamikura.”
The Chief’s voice dropped a register. Her eyes looked quite serious. She wore a fearless smile like a carnivore that had found its prey.
Kamikura took a shinai in hand and stepped up to the dojo. Kamikura’s eyes were also completely serious.
”Sorry, but today――I’m going to go all out. My body is just about fully healed.”
Now that he mentions it, when we were first assigned here a month ago, Kamikura was still not in top form. He suffered serious injuries from an explosion in the NS (Night Striker) unit and managed to return about four months ago. Come to think of it, his muscle mass and facial expression feel much closer to his FBI days than they did a month ago.
”Interesting. Come at me with all your strength. With the intent to kill.”
Hayama looked at both of their faces. They both already seemed to be in a battle-ready state.
”Well then, ready――begin!”
At Hayama’s signal, they both moved swiftly forward. The two closed to point-blank range in the blink of an eye. Kamikura’s shinai, swung through as he approached, caught the Chief.
”Not bad, Kamikura! Good strike!”
The powerful swing caught the Chief and assaulted her. Although she guarded with her tonfas, perhaps the power was stronger than expected, as the Chief couldn’t immediately counterattack. Kamikura skillfully unleashed swift strikes, attempting to break down the Chief’s guard.
”You said to come with the intent to kill! Then I’ll do just that!”
Kamikura thrust his left hand forward for an instant. At that moment, the Chief’s body was blown backward. Kamikura rapidly approached the Chief, who had suddenly lost her balance, and forcefully swung his shinai up from a diagonally downward position.
With a fierce sound, the tonfa the Chief held in her left hand flew away.
”That’s one hit!”
Hayama’s loud voice.
(Amazing. It was an overwhelming assault intertwining psychokinesis…)
Apparently, it was judged as a strike to the forearm (kote). Perhaps the Chief also sustained damage to her left hand, as she was holding it with her right hand.
”Not bad, Kamikura… If you’re including psychokinesis, then I suppose I’ll get serious too.”
The Chief took two wooden daggers from the various weapons hung on the wall. They were about the same length as the white oak daggers of the Alsard Church. She held them in a reverse grip, just like before.
”Come. Kamikura.”
At the Chief’s words, Kamikura readied his shinai once again.
”Ready――begin!”
The second set started with Hayama’s signal. The Chief usually closed the distance right at the opening, but this time she didn’t move, keeping her daggers readied. Was she waiting to see Kamikura’s move――?
Little by little, Kamikura was closing the distance. Staring straight at the Chief, he closed the gap using sliding steps.
Eventually, the moment he entered attack range, Kamikura quickly stepped in and swept his shinai upwards from a diagonally downward position. The Chief evaded it with a backstep, but Kamikura, as if predicting that, quickly slashed downward with the shinai he had just swept upwards.
The Chief guarded against the trajectory of Kamikura’s downward swing by crossing her daggers. Then, spinning swiftly to the side, she unleashed a powerful low kick at Kamikura.
”You’re naive, Kamikura!”
The low kick, which had gained momentum from the spin, landed a direct hit on Kamikura’s leg. Having his leg swept out, Kamikura floated in the air for an instant. Not missing that moment, the Chief slashed down at Kamikura with her daggers.
”I’ve got you!”
The one who shouted that was Kamikura. Kamikura, having lost his balance and floating in the air, somehow changed his posture on the spot as if doing a somersault, and knocked away the descending daggers with a somersault kick.
”――Impossible!?”
Simultaneously with landing, he swung his shinai horizontally, scoring a clean hit on the Chief’s torso. It was a scene I had seen somewhere before; he probably incorporated the technique Kirimine-san had shown. However, it was a movement that forcibly ignored gravity; was it the result of manipulating his own posture with psychokinesis…?
”One hit! That’s enough!”
The Chief was holding her right hand. The damage from Kamikura’s somersault kick landing a direct hit on her right hand was probably greater than the attack to her torso that scored a clean hit. Kamikura walked up to the Chief and offered his hand.
”Using psychokinesis wasn’t exactly fair, was it. Are you okay?”
The Chief taking Kamikura’s hand.
”Good grief… Perhaps because of all the desk work, my mind is duller than my body… So your psychokinesis can manipulate your own body’s movements too, Kamikura…?”
The Chief looking frustrated.
”It was a split-second decision, but… I just tried doing what Kirimine did to me before. In that sense, I have to thank her.”
Kamikura said so quietly. Then the Chief spoke to Hayama.
”Hayama! Change of plans. I was supposed to be your opponent, but you’ll have a mock battle with Kamikura.”
Hayama, surprised by the sudden words.
”Wait a minute. Facing Kamikura-kun with his psychokinesis is a bit too tough, isn’t it…?”
Hayama floating a wry smile. To such a Hayama, Kamikura spoke.
”You. How long do you plan on hiding your true colors…? If the enemy attacks this place, combat is unavoidable anyway. Stop just worrying about women and make up your mind already.”
Kamikura’s sharp, glaring gaze.
”Still, couldn’t you phrase it a little better…? I came here to the UCIA strictly as medical staff and a material procurement officer. It might sound bad, but I didn’t come here to kill people. Can’t you understand that?”
With a troubled face, yet never losing his smile, Hayama answered.
”――Even if you abandon fighting, you can’t change the past. Do you think that serves as atonement? Neither I, nor you, nor the Chief can escape from fighting. As long as Himemiya and Chris are in the UCIA, they will eventually have to fight and kill someone. If you hate fighting, quit this place and go back to our home country. We don’t need dead weight. Whether in our home country or in Japan, you can chase after women’s asses all you want.”
Kamikura spitting out his words. There was a sharp sting to his words.
”Kamikura. Isn’t that way of speaking too harsh, no matter what? Hayama is doing his job properly. You are always――”
Interrupting my words, Hayama opened his mouth.
”Himemiya-san, thank you. For caring about me. Kamikura-kun is still in his 20s. He’ll be 30 soon, but everyone has youthful indiscretions.”
Hayama, smiling amicably… or so it seemed.
”Kamikura-kun. If you’re going to provoke me that much, I’ll take you on. However, if a provocation goes too far, you’ll get hurt. Your usual attitude towards your superiors is lacking. You should show a little more respect to the Chief.”
Hayama slowly approaching Kamikura.
”――I’ll go all out too. This is my first time challenging you seriously like this. Let’s start with a handshake, shall we?”
Hayama offering his right hand.
”Fine. Just what I wanted.”
The two shaking hands.
”Well then, shall we begin? Himemiya-san, could you give the signal?”
I stepped between the two. As the Chief handed Hayama two wooden daggers, Kamikura readied his shinai, and Hayama readied the daggers just like the Chief had.
”Well then, ready――begin!”
Along with my signal, Hayama retreated greatly. Kamikura was carefully observing his behavior.
What could it be… When Hayama shook hands with Kamikura with a smile, I had a very bad premonition. I want to think it’s probably just my imagination, but…
”You――do you have any intention of fighting?”
Kamikura asked Hayama, who had taken a large distance. Hayama maintained that distance with his two daggers readied.
”I’m serious. Kamikura-kun. That’s why I’m keeping out of the range of your psychokinesis like this. What do you do――in a time like this?”
Hayama’s expression… is completely different from usual. He, who is always calm and never loses his smile, is floating an eerie smile and capturing Kamikura with his cold gaze. Did he create such a large distance to be wary of Kamikura’s psychokinesis and probe its range?
”If you’re not going to come, I’ll go to you!”
Kamikura swiftly dashed forward and thrust out his left hand.
”Whoops, that was close.”
Hayama evaded to the side with a side step, as if predicting that action. Although Kamikura repeatedly thrust out his left hand from that distance, Hayama took evasive action against all of it with skillful side steps. Perhaps Kamikura’s psychokinesis only acts on the straight line where he thrusts his left hand. That’s why he can keep his distance and evade with side steps.
Eventually, when Kamikura stopped unleashing his psychokinesis, he quietly readied his shinai again. His breathing felt a little rough. Does using psychokinesis also consume energy after all? For Kamikura, he must want to try to recover a little now.
”――Oh, out of breath already? Is the power of the ‘Wizard Killer’ only this much? Don’t disappoint me.”
Hayama was provoking Kamikura while laughing eerily.
He’s a different person. Like a person with a split personality, I feel like he’s emitting an eerie aura like a murderous fiend.
”Well then, shall I come at you now!”
It was an instant. Hayama rushed in quickly with a low posture. Swinging the two readied daggers at high speed, he violently shook Kamikura’s guard.
”Hey, hey, what’s wrong Kamikura-kun! For all your bravado, you’re quite docile!”
Hayama’s attacks unleashed with overwhelming momentum. Although Kamikura was somehow fending them off, he was entirely on the defensive. Or rather, something was wrong. Kamikura’s complexion was terribly pale. And it was obvious at a glance that his breathing had become quite rough.
”You bastard…!”
Although he desperately parried Hayama’s attacks, the attacks gradually began to catch Kamikura’s body. Like a wolf biting into its prey, Hayama began to toy with Kamikura. Legs, shoulders… he continuously inflicted damage that wouldn’t be judged as a clean hit.
”――Kamikura!”
I involuntarily screamed. The match was already practically decided. Kamikura could no longer even guard satisfactorily. Receiving a succession of tormenting blows, he was in a state where standing was all he could do.
”It’s over. Kamikura-kun!”
Hayama’s high-speed roundhouse kick landed a brilliant direct hit on Kamikura’s torso. And Kamikura mercilessly collapsed on the spot.
”That’s enough! It’s over!”
The one who announced that was the Chief. Then, the Chief rushed over to Hayama and grabbed him by the collar.
”Hayama! What did you do to Kamikura!?”
Hayama immediately shook it off.
”――I’ll go all out too. That’s what I told him. A real battle begins even before it starts. When he shook hands with me, the poisoned needle hidden in my ring――he didn’t seem to notice it at all. A neurotoxin I concocted that strips away physical abilities for an extremely short period of time. His defeat was sealed the moment he was injected with it.”
Hayama spoke matter-of-factly, without the slightest hint of remorse.
”Hayama! Don’t you know how to hold back! Even if it’s a short-acting effect, what is the meaning of poisoning a comrade!”
The Chief was yelling.
”Then let me have my say too. Originally, this is what fighting is. Words like unfair or cowardly are the nonsense of losers. If you’re going to fight, you kill and annihilate in a surefire way. Since leaving the unit, haven’t you forgotten the true nature of battle? The one who drilled this into me was――you. Hardy.”
Hayama declared so with cold eyes.
”For now, I’ll carry Kamikura-kun to the infirmary. The poison will naturally neutralize and disappear in about 30 minutes, but I’ll give him an antidote and recovery medicine just in case. I got a little too carried away as well. I’ll ice the areas where I inflicted too many blows.”
Then Hayama drew close to Kamikura.
”Sorry about that… Can you stand?”
I also drew close to Kamikura, who couldn’t stand, probably because of the poison.
”Let’s carry him to the infirmary together…”
And so, along with Hayama, I carried Kamikura to the infirmary…
After carrying Kamikura to the infirmary, I was drinking iced tea in the cafeteria.
‘I want to talk with Kamikura-kun for a bit. My bad, Himemiya-san, but please leave us.’
Being told so by Hayama, I was kicked out of the infirmary. That’s why I’m drinking iced tea in the cafeteria like this. Since it was after moving my body, the cold drink felt pleasant on my throat.
It was my first time seeing Hayama fight, but I recalled the words the Chief and Stephen had said.
‘He’s like that now, but he’s considerably scarier than me. He had considerable medical knowledge and his knife fighting was tremendously strong. For a time, he was evenly matched with Hardy. His torture is the one thing――I’d rather die than endure.’
‘――Well, I’m glad Hayama isn’t an enemy. I’m the one who trained him, but he has an insane combat sense. Placing him in an environment away from combat as much as possible is probably the right answer.’
The meaning of those words. I understood Hayama’s terrifying nature for the first time today. He instantly saw through the characteristics of Kamikura’s psychokinesis and sealed it. Thinking about it now, creating distance at the beginning was partly a countermeasure against psychokinesis, but he was also buying time for the poison to circulate through Kamikura’s body. Kamikura hadn’t exhausted himself from overusing psychokinesis. The poison circulated through his body, and he exhausted all at once. Come to think of it, Kamikura’s psychokinesis should be a unique ability that can be used without the resources of spiritual power or magic power. There’s no way he’d be exhausted for that reason in such a short amount of time.
Hayama probably accurately grasped the time until the poison circulated. Right around the time Hayama shifted to the offensive, Kamikura’s complexion deteriorated rapidly. Anticipating that Kamikura couldn’t counterattack, he launched a rush, repeating attacks as if to torment him and chipping away his will to fight. And finally, he delivered the finishing blow with a powerful roundhouse kick…
From the very beginning, Hayama carried everything out just as calculated. During the fight with the Chief, Hayama had also calmly analyzed Kamikura’s fighting style. At that time, the Chief was originally supposed to fight. Considering that, it’s highly likely he was analyzing both of their fighting styles at the same time.
The Chief, Kamikura, and Hayama. The combat abilities of these three are outstanding. To be honest, I can’t help but feel that my presence here might be quite inadequate.
But I am also someone selected for the UCIA Japan Branch. I am here because there is a need for me to be here. Right now, I want to strongly believe that.
The amethyst ring Asagiri-san gave me. Looking at its brilliance, that was what I thought…