Star Eyes

The creaking of floors in a traditionally Japanese home echo through its long hallways. A middle-school girl runs across the lengthy corridors, her footsteps heavy and fearful.

She ran as fast as she could as thunder roared outside. In time the girl eventually finds her destination, the only room in this mansion that had its door open.

Her feet slowly crawled to a halt just a step away from being bathed in the entrance's light.

Voices.

She heard voices from inside there.

Crying, yelling, pleading.

The girl felt her heart skip a beat, a pit opened up on her stomach and she felt nauseous and tears began forming in the corner of her green eyes. In a way, she knew exactly what was going on inside that room, what was awaiting her-

-but she couldn’t face it, she didn’t want to face it.

Harnessing all the courage she could, the girl steps into the blinding light emanating from the entrance and turns around to look inside.

Right there, in that room, the person she loved the most laid with his eyes closed, chest unmoving and a serene expression.

Her world came crashing down and the girl fell to her knees. Even with her face wet from the heavy rain outside, her tears were unmistakable.

“GRANDPA!”

She cried to the thundering heavens above.

***

“Playtime’s over.”

Umiko doesn’t even have the time to process what happened before a powerful fist hits her stomach. “Kyaaaaa!” A sharp pain spreads across the girl’s entire body, as her back hits the weakened barrier so hard, it cracks.

Still with his hand pressed against the girl’s gut, the silver-haired teen slowly drags her up the magical shield until they are at eye level. “You know, I always believed it was quite cowardly of your school to cheat in the nationals three years ago-“ He finally stops holding the bluenette’s stomach, but before she can slide down to the floor, he holds onto her face. “-But seeing how pathetic your dueling club currently is, maybe that guy had a point.” Without any real effort, Takahashi throws Umiko into the air, then leaps towards her in an amazing display of speed. “Wingless-“ While in the air, he grabs the back of her head. “-Drop!” After yelling that out, his eyes shine and a crimson surge of energy emanates from the silver-haired teen, giving him a boost in strength.

Using that newfound power, he brutally slams Umiko’s head against the wooden floor so hard that it creates a small explosion of wood dust.

And for a moment, complete silence befalls the gymnasium. No one dared to mutter anything as the tall boy came out of the dust cloud.

Everyone was shocked at such a brutal display of strength.

Takahashi smirks. “I believe it’s o-“

“I-“

Surprised, the boy turns around to see a battered Umiko struggling to get back on her feet. The girl’s uniform was torn in a lot of places, and she had bruises all over her body, especially on her face.

“-I-I d-didn’t hear n-no bell!” Umiko whispers, her voice filled with pain and her vision slowly fading, yet she keeps herself standing.

“How!?” He shouts, wearing a confused expression on his face.

That attack should have been strong enough to take her out for at least a day, yet somehow she was still conscious!

Although Umiko’s defiant stance, her entire body burned with a sharp pain that she had never experienced before. The girl was struggling to even keep her eyes open and the little consciousness she still has is barely hanging on.

But she refused to back down.

“I-Is t-this all you g-got… ?” Umiko pushes through the pain and asks in a challenging tone. “… s-so the b-best d-dueling school c-can’t even put d-down a little p-pipsqueak?” Takahashi stares her down, a vein popping up on his forehead.

‘What (bz) she (bzzzz)?!”

‘Is (bzz) insane?’

‘Shouldn’t (bz) end (bzzz) already?'

Even through the loud buzzing in her ears, the bluenette was still capable of picking up some whispers of her peers. She knew it was insane and her body was at its absolute limit and yet-

‘I can’t back down!’ That thought echoes inside of Umiko’s head. ‘I’m going to bring the dueling club back and-‘ She closes her eyes and takes a painfully deep breath. ‘-will keep our promise, Grandpa!' Gathering all the strength she had left, the blue-haired teen flashes a defiant smile. “I-If you can’t even defeat me… I-I g-guess I k-know why your f-family i-is a-ashamed of y-you!” She shouts that last part and suddenly all the whispers quiet down.

If the boy was mad at her comment from before, now he was absolutely livid. Gone was that calm and mocking expression, now switched to one of pure anger. “YOU PATHETIC VERMIN!” He yells in a wrathful tone, a red glow emanating from his eyes.

From his body, a sudden wave of red magical power flies off, hitting everyone in the gymnasium and making the feeble-minded ones paralyzed on the spot.

At that moment, everything slowed down for Umiko, she knew that was the end of the line. That next attack was going to knock her out and there really wasn’t anything she could do about it, her ears did pick up some shouting from the crowd even through the deafening buzz she was constantly hearing.

‘I couldn’t win.’ She thought while closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable impact to come. ‘Sorry grandpa, I couldn’t-‘

Then, she heard Takahashi dash across the gym and towards her, his initial burst was like that of a bullet, too fast for anyone to try and catch, even if they tried too.

“NURSES! DOWN WITH THE BARRIERS!” Orders the Deputy Headmaster while getting up, this has gone way too far, and he needed to jump in himself to stop this ‘battle’.

The nurses that had been completely paralyzed by the menacing aura coming out of the silver-haired boy snap back to their senses.

But, it was simply too late. They wouldn’t be able to pull down the barrier in tim-

Crash!

The weakened shield breaks into multiple pieces as a figure flies past it at a speed that seemed almost impossible.

Umiko feels a powerful gust of wind come from behind her, followed by the sound of a powerful impact and a very loud crash.

With a lot of difficulty, the blue-haired teen opens her eyes. Even with her blurry vision, she was able to comprehend the scene in front of her.

Takahashi has been hit by someone and was sent flying into the damaged barrier from before, completely shattering it.

And standing in front of her was that one boy with a peculiar hairstyle, even through her foggy vision, the short girl was able to see behind his large, round glasses.

The boy’s bright blue star-shaped eyes glow with a beautifully powerful light.

“T-Thank-“ Feeling all her strength finally leaving her body, Umiko whispers right before hitting the floor. “-Yo-“

Then everything goes dark.

***

“He’s gone.”

“NO! I-It can’t be!”

“Umiko… please.”

“NO! G-GRANDPA PROMISED THAT-“

SMACK!

“…*Sniff*…”

“Umiko. Go wait outside.”

“…”

***

“Ah!” Umiko wakes up in a cold sweat, her heart almost busting out of her chest, and she is breathing quite erratic. “Gaaaah!” She suddenly feels a sharp pain across all of her body.

“You idiot! Stop moving! Your injuries are far from healed!”  A commanding voice shouts, making the bluenette turn towards it.

“Yukimura-sensei?”

Standing by the side of her bed was the school’s chief nurse. A tall, beautiful woman with shoulder-length jet-black hair, ghostly pale skin, and purple octagon-shaped irises. She wore a brown skirt with a gray shirt and a white lab coat.

“I’m already used to you getting hurt, but that stunt today was pretty reckless.” Says the senior while coming closer to the bed. “What am I going to do with you?”  She bends slightly down and her eyes start to glow. “Harimasuigan.”

At her chant, the nurse's eyes glow and a batch of needle-like light beams appears around Umiko. They quickly pierced many points across her body. After being hit by the needles, she falls back on the bed with the pain now completely gone. “Thanks sensei!” The bluenette says while staring at the ceiling. “Man! That guy really didn’t hold back, huh? That hurt like hell!”

Sighing, the older woman sits back down. “Why did you even accept a challenge like that anyway?” Yukimura looks at the younger girl, in her face a worried expression. “You got lucky Kanzaki-kun jumped in to save you in the last second.”

“Kanzaki…?”

Suddenly, the memories of what happened came back to the blue-haired teen, making her sit up straight on the bed.

“That’s right!” She shouts while turning to face the nurse. “That cracking sound back then… was it what I think it was?”

The teacher nods. “Yes. He broke through the barriers.” Putting on a brooding face, she adds. “Even though they were weakened, that is quite the crazy feat.”

Shield-type eyes were some of the strongest Mahōgans in existence, and the barriers they can produce were extremely hard to break even when weakened. Definitely not something a student should be capable of.

To break one so easily was-

“So cool!” Umiko yells while practically jumping on the bed.

Her excitement is cut short however as the sound of a door being slid open fills the room.

“It seems she’s awake.”

The Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster walk into the nurse’s office. Their presence made the friendly atmosphere vanish instantaneously.

“…”

“…”

The youngster and the elder looked at each other, an awkward staring competition that no one dared to interrupt.

“That was quite the defeat.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll cut to the chase, Umiko.” Closing her eyes, the older woman states. “You experienced first hand what a real dueling club can do.” For just a second, a bit of regret seemed to fill the woman’s tone, but it soon dissipates. “I think you should be able to understand now. No matter what you do, the Yumehara dueling club could never-“

“I still have until tomorrow, right?”

“Huh?”

“You know, to recruit another member to the club?”

“… y-yes, but-“

“Then consider it done!” Umiko smiles, a confident and determined smile. “I might have lost the duel today, but that’s alright! I can still save the club!”

The blue-haired teenager turns away from a baffled Headmistress and instead looks outside the window.

A gentle nightly breeze invades the office, and while staring at the starry sky, a single thought goes through her mind.

I need to recruit that boy!