Tougen Anki Gaiden, chapter 11 translation
11 Mock Battle
Tsukuyomi: Now, charge! Show him your "Strength"! Uhh... that's strange. Could it be that you didn't hear me? Okay then... let's try this one more time. Now, charge! Show him your "Stre--"... Ouch! Oh.
Ousuke: And Tsukuyomi is down~~ Which means next is my turn~~
Tsukuyomi: Hey~~
En'ya: (That must the rules they operate on between them, huh.) Anyway, Tsukuyomi-kun. I gotta say I'm surprised you're unscathed after taking that oni's attack head-on.
Tsukuyomi: I managed to defend myself with my bacteria at the last moment. It still hurt a bit though.
En'ya: Speaking of, what is even that lion...?
Ousuke: Take this! And this!
Tsukuyomi: Oh, that. An experiment. Related to my Momo ability. While I can make almost any object with my bacteria, I still lack skill necessary to control my creations. And I had this thought that maybe if I created something I feel very strongly about, I might be able to manipulate it right away... so I tried making the lion with the image of one of my favorite tarot cards in mind. But as you see, it still didn't work and I wasn't able to manipulate it. It feels like I'm almost there, but something is still missing...
En'ya: (So basically, he tried to do some ability training right in the middle of a death-match with his life on the line...?! He gotta have a few screws loose.. That's way past the level of what can be explained with a stoic personality... These two really are... pure and unadulterated battle maniacs...!)
Kotake: A...ni...ki...
Tsukuyomi: What, you already beaten him?
Ousuke: Yeah, and I had some decent fun in the process.
RandoMomo1: Crap! Is the ambulance still not here?!
RandoMomo2: C'mon, enough! Hiruma is already d....
RandoMomo1: Shut up, Oumaga! Better help me!
Ousuke: These dudes... They're the ones I gave a thrashing to on the rooftop, no?
En'ya: Y-Yeah.
Ousuke: Hey, are you okay~?
Oni: God dammit... Kotake...
Narration: 2 weeks later... In order to recover from their wounds, the two refrained from leaving the school grounds for a while.
Ousuke: Agh, I'm so bored.
Tsukuyomi: Yes, and we can hardly hope that those - Oniyanagi Association, was it? - guys would be stupid enough to infiltrate the premises of the Momotarou Agency affiliated facility just to attack us. That aside, what could have happened to warrant the entire student body assembly all of a sudden...?
Principal: Ehem, everyone. There is an important announcement for all of you cadets from someone on the active-duty squad. Please take over.
Ukyo: Ah, ah. Ehem. Dear students, nice to meet you all. I'm vice-captain of unit 15, and my name is Momogiwa Ukyou.
Students: Who? | Oh, I know him. | The vice-captain of the Suginami unit, I think?
Ukyou: Let's dispense with the formalities and get down to business. At the moment I'm in charge of an operation to wipe out a certain oni organization... but we're suffering from personnel shortage. It's so bad that we could use any help - any at all. So... I'm here to recruit helpers for our operation from among you cadets. The target is a certain Kantou crime gang. More than half of its members are oni... The gang's name is 'Oniyanagi Association'. This organization is of much smaller scale than the Oni Agency, but they've been gaining more power lately. And our top brass finally ordered their annihilation. Well, that said, they're still just a bunch of stray oni that banded together. HQ has their hands full battling the Oni Agency, so only a small number of troops including me were spared for the operation in question. Tracking down those gangsters with so few of us is backbreaking, that's why... I want to enlist your help. I got permission from my bosses, of course. You're free to decide if you want to join in or not. Those of you who have confidence in their abilities, come and see me. Oh, and by the way... apparently, just by participating you'll get the opportunity to join the unit of your choice after graduation.
Students: Eh?! | For real?
Ukyou: It comes with another perk: an authorized leave of absence from classes for the duration of the operation! You get to ditch boring classes absolutely legally!
Students: Ooooh!
Principal: (That bastard...)
Ukyou: However! First, you gotta pass a test on your ability to fight oni. The role I want to entrust in this operation to you guys is simply tracking down the enemy, but if you happen to encounter them while on it, fighting will become unavoidable. Normally, you cadets will only be required to fight oni after graduation. If anyone without actual fighting ability engages an oni, certain death is all that awaits them. So I ask anyone who can't fight not to bother participating so as not to add unnecessarily to the dead body count.
Students: Makes sense... | What kind of test though?
Ukyou: A very simple kind. A mock battle against me, and if you can land even a single hit, you pass!
Students: Eh?! | A mock battle against a vice-captain?!
Ukyou: Anyway, during the day you can usually find me here at school, so anyone who wishes to participate is welcome to have a go at me anytime. That's it! Dismissed!
Students: What're you gonna do? | Going up against an active-duty vice-captain is, uhh... | Landing even one hit sounds kinda impossible...
Ukyou: (Well then... Let's see how many of them will come to see me....)
Ousuke: You said anytime is fine, yeah? So let's go at it right now, Mr. Vice-Captain, siiir.
Tsukuyomi: Tch~ He beat me to the punch.