More Drama...

~ Ayano's Pov, after school ~

.

.

.

"Yo! See you later Ayano."

"Yeah, see ya'." I waved him off goodbye. Now it's time for me to get home and finish my workout. I had a lot on my plate to do...

"Hey! Wait up! K-Keiji-san!!!"

I stopped mid-step, turning at the sound of my name. I recognized that voice immediately—it's that Makoto guy. And sure enough, when I turned, there he was, jogging toward me. But he wasn't alone...

Beside him, keeping pace, was a girl I didn't expect to see—Sekai something, I didn't remember it. I raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two of them. What now?

"Ah, hey... What do you need?" I asked, keeping my tone neutral.

Makoto slowed to a stop just in front of me, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just wanted to properly thank you for earlier," he said. "You really helped me out."

I shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal."

Sekai, on the other hand, was staring at me, her expression unreadable. Then, she sighed, crossing her arms. "Makoto told me what happened. You really stuck your neck out for him, huh?"

I tilted my head slightly. "Not really."

She scoffed, but there was no malice in it. "Still, thanks."

I glanced at Makoto, who seemed almost relieved by her words. His shoulders loosened a little, and he smiled—an awkward, guilty kind of smile.

Man, this guy…

"You guys done?" I asked, already thinking about heading home. I had a work out to do and didn't want to take up too much of my time here, plus I had that new passive to test out as well after I finished exercising...

"Yeah." Makoto said quickly, nodding. "I just… yeah. See you around, Keiji-san."

I nodded at him, but on the other hand, Sekai gave me one last look, like she was debating saying something else, but in the end, she just followed after him... I felt like I recognized the look in her eyes when she turned back to him, something I used to feel a long time ago...

I exhaled, shaking my head as I turned back on my path. 'Still... Whatever's going on with them, I have a strange feeling to not get dragged into it.'

.

.

.

I made my way home without any more interruptions, slipping through the streets as the evening crowd began to thin. My mind flickered back to that silver key, to the new passive I had gained. Martial-Arts Mastery, huh? It wasn't flashy, but it was useful. If I was serious about getting stronger, then it was exactly the kind of thing I needed.

The moment I got inside, I tossed my bag aside, changed into my workout gear, and got straight to it.

I did my push-ups, then moved onto my squats... Those were the easy ones, but the run and crunches were absolute killers to me...

After about an hour, I finally let myself collapse onto my back, catching my breath. My body ached in that satisfying way, but my mind was still left on what happened today...

Makoto. Sekai. That whole situation. Why did the system even want me to help him exactly? It didn't even feel random either.

'Well, no use in thinking of it... But...'

I could still hear the way that guy from earlier shouted at him, that raw anger in his voice...

If that whole thing was true… then maybe Makoto truly deserved that beating. Maybe he really was that kind of guy. The kind that played around and left a mess behind. And if that was the case, I wasn't about to feel bad for him.

But at the same time… Sekai's expression stuck with me too. The way she looked at him was, interesting...

'Why am I so focused on this exactly?' I exhaled, staring up at my ceiling. 'It's not my problem.' I reminded myself of that fact again. And yet, something told me this wasn't the last time I feel like I'd get dragged into it...

I got up, stretching for a bit, I went out to get my run in...

.

.

.

After half an hour of running my entire ass off, I'm finally done... 

"I... I need a fucking break~" I feel absolutely wasted, I'd need another hour of rest before I started my new training because of that new passive...

Speaking of new passive, 'Status' after a week of experimenting... I realized I could mentally summon the system panel as well which is pretty convenient.

___________________

Name: Ayano Keiji

Class: The Little Chosen One

Height: 168 cm

Age: 17

Health: 1000 / 1000 [50000 / 50000]

Energy: 100 / 100 [10000 / 10000]

Strength: 1 / 1000

Defense: 1 / 1000

Agility: 1 / 1000

Spirit: 1 / 1000

Passive Skills;

1. Martial-Arts-Mastery

Skills; -

____________________

How did my stats NOT grow for an entire week straight? Is... Is this thing broken or something? The only thing I could see that genuinely changed, was my height. And even then, I only grew an inch taller, but that's it... I'm still super weak. Which makes no sense to me.

I was even getting some decent definition in my muscles too, but still. There's no changes in my stats...

'Gah!!!' I'll just have to keep going and hope that whatever that awaits me by the end of this is worth it.

...

I rested for another hour and some to do that martial arts training... 

But, through this. I just realized how truly alone I am in this world... and it doesn't seem like I even have a family either... Man... This, kind of sucks. No use in dwelling on that either I guess.

I got up for one last round of exercise, this time, going on the laptop I had in my room. Fortunately for me, technology was on the same level as it was back in 2025 in my last world, and what's even better, that had Youtube too.

So of course, I researched martial arts, but on second thought... which one should I even learn? 

I placed a hand on my chin, "I'm not so well versed in the arts like some are, and If I had to choose, and I think I'd prefer defense techniques, or techniques that would subdue any of my opponents through knockouts..."

I scrolled through various martial arts styles, trying to figure out which one suited me best. With my current physical training, I didn't want something that would just burn me out—I needed something effective, something that would let me handle fights efficiently.

Striking styles like Muay Thai and Boxing were tempting. They focused on power and aggression, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to rely solely on trading blows. My endurance was decent, but I wasn't built like a tank.

Then there was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo—both seemed like they were about using an opponent's strength against them. Grappling, submissions, and takedowns… That could work for me. If I got good enough, I probably could drop someone and end a fight fast without taking too many hits myself...

I leaned back in my chair, thinking it over for a few... "Yeah... Something like that seems more my style and alley."

Knocking someone out quickly, controlling a fight with as minimal effort as possible—that was the smartest approach I could think of at the moment. It wasn't just about brute force, right? Plus, to me, It was more so about being efficient than anything else.

I started searching for tutorial videos, bookmarking a few promising ones. Of course, learning through a screen wasn't the same as having an actual teacher, but with my Martial Arts Mastery passive, I had a slight inkling that I'd pick things up faster than normal, despite it saying it's a slight increase...

Regardless, this was a start at least. "Alright… Let's see how far I can take this."

I clicked on the first tutorial, one that spoke about chokes.

I clicked on the first tutorial, a video titled "Effective Chokes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu". The thumbnail showed a well-built instructor demonstrating a basic rear-naked choke with a calm expression, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

I hit play, listening to the instructor's calm voice. "The rear-naked choke is one of the most effective submissions in BJJ. You can finish a fight in seconds if you have the position and the technique right…"

He explained the proper positioning: securing the back, wrapping the arm around the opponent's neck, and locking it in with the other arm. It sounded simple enough, but there were so many little details, so much to get right.

I paused the video after a minute, rewinding it to take another look. "Hmm... I need to be sure I understand the mechanics."

The video was full of nuances—how to squeeze properly, how to control the opponent's body, and the timing. I couldn't afford to make mistakes when trying something like this. It could be the difference between victory and failure.

But the more I watched, the more I felt that subtle shift in my mind. It was like a natural instinct was kicking in, not so much as if I was learning the steps, but it was definitely about understanding them. Each movement, each detail seemed to fall into place, as though my body was already preparing to execute it properly...

'Hmm? Why does my brain feel all, weird.'

I shook my head, trying to focus. I wasn't just going to let the passive do all the work. I had to make the effort to learn and apply these techniques in real situations. But still, even a slight increase in learning speed and understanding gave me a little confidence that maybe this wouldn't take as long as I thought it would.

I took a few deep breaths, and hit play again, watching the tutorial closely. It was time to learn for real.

____________________________________________________________

~ The next day, third person Pov ~

.

.

.

Ayano walked into the classroom... However anyone could tell that he seemed like a walking corpse instead... 

Renji looked at his friend from afar, waving, "Hey Keiji... You, alright man? You seem a litt-"

"Tired? Malnourished? Pale? Sickly? Anemic? Yeah... I know."

"I was gonna say great, but~ I guess that works too."

Ayano scoffed, "Yeah, real funny sunshine."

Renji laughed it off before asking, "So, mind telling me what you did to look like a walking dead?"

'Well... I guess it wouldn't hurt to say anything to him...' Ayano thought, "I was just doing some research in Grappling and Judo all night yesterday, and it was well worth it."

Ayano's voice had a tired edge to it, but there was a spark of satisfaction hidden underneath. He slouched down into his seat, resting his head on his hand as he rubbed his eyes. He hadn't slept much, if not much at all, but it was clear that the knowledge from last night's research was something that had truly stuck with him...

Renji on the other hand, had tilted his head, eyeing Ayano with a mix of confusion and concern... "You? Researching... fighting techniques? Man, I didn't think you were that into stuff like that."

Ayano smiled, though it was more out of habit than genuine amusement... "Yeah, well, people change." He sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. "Just… don't ask too many questions right now... I need something called 'sleep', unlike you.

Renji raised an eyebrow but didn't press the issue. He knew Ayano was a bit of an enigma sometimes. "Alright, man. Just take care of yourself, yeah? You do look like you could use a na-"

"AYANOO!!!!!"

Ayano blinked, his head snapping up at the sudden shout. His hand was still pressed to his forehead, the pounding headache he'd been nursing all morning intensifying with the noise. His gaze darted to the door, where the source of the disruption stood, and stood tall...

'Ah, shit...' He thought, recognizing the guy who he had almost fought yesterday, 'Here we go again...'

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

END