Pursuit

“Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”

A child's cry echoes in a dark void where a young brunette boy stands. He has tears forming at the corner of his eyes while those loud, guttural screams of panic continue to torment him.

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?” The voice of an angry woman rings in his ears. “WHAT DID MY BABY DO TO DESERVE THIS!?”

“MONSTER!” Another voice shouts, this one closer to his age. “Y-YOU MONSTER!”

He steps back into the darkness, tears now running down his face. “NO! I-I DIDN’T MEAN TO-“

MONSTER

MONSTER

MONSTER

MONSTER

HE’S NOT A MONSTER!

***

“Good morning Hiro-chan!” A short and chubby woman with circle-shaped irises, shoulder-length brunette hair, and fair skin. She is wearing a white apron, a green shirt, and denim pants.

“Good *Yawn* morning Mom.” He weakly greets her back.

Worriedly, the woman approaches her son and puts a hand on his forehead. “Are you feeling alright? Did you catch a cold or something?”

The brunet chuckles and pushes her hand away. “I’m good Mom, just had a poor night’s sleep.” He sits down at the table and yawns again.

“When aren’t you getting a bad night’s sleep?” A third person comments, making herself known.

That voice belongs to a girl around the same age, height, and skin complexion as the boy. Just like the other two, she also has brunette hair that is styled in a pigtail odango hairdo where the two buns have been made to look like stars. Her eyes are also blue-colored and have star-shaped irises.

The new arrival puts on a mocking smirk and sits down by the boy’s side at the table. “You’re probably reading one of your naughty magazines all night long, weren’t ya?”

Hiroto doesn’t give her the dignity of an answer and instead turns to face his mother. “Where’s Dad?”

“Oh! He’s already gone to work.”

“I see.”

“But he did leave a list of some stuff he needs for you to buy on your way back from-“

With that, the Kanzaki's breakfast went on like it always did.

***

Hiroto had some very awkward morning classes.

From the moment he stepped into the classroom, virtually all of his classmates glanced in his direction. They said nothing but their curious gaze already explained everything he needed to know.

They are curious about yesterday.

And naturally, who could blame them? It’s not every day that you jump in the middle of a duel and kick a student from another school right in the face.

Still, they could at least try and not glare at his back while classes are still in session.

Sensing a wave of discomfort, the star-eyed boy grabbed his bentō and ran off the classroom before anyone could even approach him. He wasn’t the best at dealing with people.

He went on to the roof where he knew not a lot of people would be. Sitting down, he breathes in a sigh of relief. “Finally, some peac-“  Suddenly a shadow looms over him.

“Are you Kanzaki-kun?”

Standing in front of him was the girl from yesterday, her long blue hair swaying in the wind as she stared him down.

“Y-Yes?”

The two awkwardly stare at each other, before the girl suddenly falls to her knees and bashes her forehead against the floor. “PLEASE! JOIN THE DUELING CLUB!”

“W-What?”

Creeping closer to him like a monster in an old horror video game, the bluenette holds onto his shoulder and looks deeply into his eyes behind the round glasses. “Please! Join the dueling club!” She repeats as his cheeks turn into a bright shade of pink.

‘S-She’s-‘ Hiroto shakes his head and gently pushes her away. “S-Sorry but I’m not interested!” Quickly sealing his bentō again, the boy runs past her and down to the school properly.

Stopping at the hallway, he sighs and whispers to himself. “That was clo-“ In the corner of his eye, he caught that same girl standing just a couple steps away from him. “…” Without trading any words, he spins around and starts walking away.

After a dozen more steps, the brunet glances back and-

-there she was, standing still just a couple of feet away from him.

He turns and resumes his walking, now at a higher speed.

Her steps echo behind him, following him at the exact same speed.

They continue to repeat this routine a dozen more times until Hiroto gives up and starts running across the hallways with the blue-haired girl right behind him in pursuit.

‘Crap, she’s getting close!' Desperate, his eyes land on the door to the male’s bathroom and an idea pops into his head. “Of course!”

The brunet quickly makes a turn and dashes into the washroom, bolting straight into a stall and locking himself in. There was no way a girl would dare to enter the boy’s bathroom.

Sighing in relief, Hiroto opens his bentō again. “Never had I thought I’d eat my lunch in a bathroom.” He stares at his food and groans. “Urgh. This feels way too pathetic.”

Not exactly how he imagined his high-school life would be going. That’s for sure.

While he was getting ready to finally eat his lunch, quick, precise footsteps go into the stall right by his side, and after the door closes, a familiar face pops up from over the wall separating the two booths. “Join my club!” Says the girl with the blue hair while staring directly into the boy’s eyes.

“Gaaaah!” On pure instinct, he grabbed his lunchbox and tossed it against her head, spilling the contents of said box and making the girl fall back into the stall. “Leave me alone!” Now with an annoyed tone, Hiroto bolts out of the bathroom.

Safe to say, she did not listen to him after that and continued to pursue the poor hungry boy throughout the entirety of their break. She only stopped once the bell rang, informing them that it was time to go back to class.

***

Growl!

Hiroto sighed while walking into the city, his stomach loudly crying in discontent for the lack of food it had received today.

Today was quite exhausting. From everyone staring at him wherever he went, to that blue-haired chick continually stalking him. The boy just wanted to go home and throw himself at end this tiresome day already.

But, sadly, he couldn’t do that. He still had to buy some stuff for his father. Well, at least he could enjoy this time at peac-

“…*Stare*…”

At the corner of his eye, he managed to see his pursuer sticking out from behind a post.

…

How could she possibly believe that was a good hiding spot? Her hair is literally bright blue and stuck out like a sore thumb.

“I can see you.”

“No, you can’t.”

“…”

“…”

“Urgh! Just come here already!” Hiroto exclaims with an exasperated sigh. “Let’s sit down by the park and have a talk.” She nods and the two teens make their way into the recreational yard.

They both sit down in silence and look at the empty playground in front of their bench. The orange tint of sunset bathed the normally crowded area and created an atmosphere that was mostly pleasant but carried a certain melancholy with it.

Before any of the two can say anything, the boy’s stomach growls again, making his cheeks turn a bright shade of red.

“…”

“…” The bluenette opens her school-bag and pulls out a bentō of her own. “I kinda screwed you over, didn’t I?” She chuckles awkwardly while opening her lunch box and offering it to him. “Here, you can have min-“

Groooooowwwwwwllllll!

She blushes at the unholy sound that came out of her tummy. “U-Uh.” Suddenly the typically rash girl was feeling very self-conscious.

Hiroto can’t help but chuckle to himself. ‘I can’t be mad at her when she also skipped lunch over this.’ He holds onto the lunchbox and says. “Let’s share.”

The girl silently nods and the two start eating the surprisingly stuffed bentō. Apparently she eats a lot because there was enough food there for at least two people.

As they continue to eat, the brunet finally breaks the silence. “Why do you want me to join this club of yours so badly?”

She gulps down on a good chunk of food and turns to face him, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Are you kidding me? Why wouldn’t I want the guy that broke through a barrier to save me, in my club?”

Blushing and facing away from her, the boy shakes his head to make his reddened cheeks go back to their normal color. “It wasn’t anything that impressive. Anyone could have don-“

“I don’t think they could.“ The bluenette cuts in. “And even if that was true, they didn’t.“ She smiles. “You did.”

“Sorry, but I’m not interested.” Hiroto closes his eyes and sighs. “I-“ Stopping himself from saying more than he should, he takes a deep breath and continues. “-I just don’t like dueling.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Huh?”

The girl gulps down on another portion of her food, then gets up. “That look in your eyes when you saved me.” She walks towards the playground with her hands behind her back. “Those are the eyes of a fighter, I’m sure of it.” Quickly turning around, her blue hair sway in the calm afternoon breeze.

“U-Uh-“ He blushed at the sight and quickly looked away. “-Ahem! W-Why are you so obsessed with the dueling club anyway?” After clearing his throat, the boy glances back at her. “You even fought against a guy that was so obviously out of your league. That was very- urgh, I-I mean-“

“Yeah. It was pretty stupid of me.” She turns around again. “Tell me Kanzaki-kun, do you have a dream?”

“I don’t have any. Why?”

“I’ve always dreamed of becoming a duelist, but sadly I was born with a weak constitution.” The wind blows again, making her hair gently fly up. “My reflexes are pretty poor and my Mahōgan ability isn’t that great for combat either.” She turns around. Her serious expression made the boy’s heart skip a beat. “But!” Looking up at the orange sky, she continues. “That’s not gonna stop me from getting to the top. If not as a fighter, then as a manager.” Her green eyes met with his blue ones. “And a youth dueling club is the first step for me to reach the top.”

The two stare at each other for a while, only the howls of the wind could be heard in the park as none of the two looked deeply into each other’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, but I really can’t-“

“Please!” Once again she bowed, this time without getting on her knees. “I can’t possibly know why you don’t want to fight, and I know it’s very selfish of me to ask this, we don’t even know each other, but-“ She looks up at him, her eyes filled with tears. “Please, join my club! At least until I can find more members!”

For just a second, the boy’s vision was filled with a passing memory.

“Please, can you protect me just for a while?”

In that single second, the blue-haired girl had been replaced by a young brunette, doing the exact same pose.

“I-“ Hiroto’s lips began moving without him noticing. “-s-“ He closes his eyes and thinks. ‘Why am I so weak to cute girls?’ With a sigh, the boy looks away from her. “-s-sure.”

The bluenette’s face fills with such joy that the brunet thought he was going to melt by just looking at her. “Really!?” She asks excitedly.

Now was the time for him to back down, he just needed to-

“Y-Yeah.” He simply couldn’t refuse her when she was looking that cute. “B-But only until you find someone else!”

“Done deal!” The girl rushes to her bag and pulls out a small form for him to sign. “Oh! And before I forget. “ She cutely pushes a strand of her behind her ear. “My name is Umiko!” The blue-haired teen extends her open palm towards the boy.

“M-My-“ Hesitantly, he grabs her hand and shakes it.

“-My name is Kanzaki Hiroto, a pleasure to meet you.”