Moving Goalpost

The headmistress of Yumehara stares dumbfounded at both the piece of paper and the duo in front of her. “Huh.” Bewildered, the gray-haired woman glances at the awkward boy sitting on the chair by Umiko's side. “I….can’t believe you actually managed to find someone.”

Grinning, the blue-haired teen proudly puffs her chest and points to herself. “What can I say? I’m just that awesome!” She then adds. “I can keep the club now, right?”

Looking at the nervous boy, the elder asks. “She didn’t bully you to join her club, did she?” At her question, Hiroto shakes his head weakly. “You can be honest here-”

“Hey! That’s too low even for me!” The bluenette cuts in with a cute pout. “I wouldn’t do that!”

“Uh, she did not, ma’am. I joined by my own volition.” Hiroto replies before scratching his cheek and adding. “Although it’s only until she finds more permanent memb-ah!”

Umiko hits his side with an elbow strike, then whispers in his ear. “Shhhh! She’s not supposed to know that!”

“I’m still here and can assure you, I am not old enough to have lost my hearing.”

“Crap!”

Sighing, the older woman rubs the bridge of her nose. “Part of me already knew you would pull some trick like that.” The headmistress looks at the blue-haired girl and inquires. “Let’s say I accept this temporary membership and allow the club to continue. How do you two plan to recruit more members?”

“We can do some exhibition matches to get eyes on our club!” Umiko stands up and explains with an excited tone. “I know at least two people that said they would join, they couldn’t before, but now with Kanzaki-kun I’m sure that-“

“That’s news to me, were people interested in joining before?”

“Not interested exactly but yeah, at least two.”

“Huh.” With a thoughtful expression, the elder leans back in her chair. “I’m still not convinced about reviving the dueling club-“ She lifts her hand just as Umiko was about to protest. “-but-“ The headmistress thinks very carefully about what she was about to propose. “-I’ll reinstate your club if you can beat Kurohane Academy in an interschool 3 vs 3 duel in a month’s time.”

“What? That’s not fair!” Slamming her hands against the desk, the blue-haired girl shouts. “You keep moving the goalpost!”

At her outburst, Hiroto jumps slightly in his seat. “U-Umiko-san?”

She looked genuinely angry at the proposal, and he could understand why. Apparently she’s been trying for months to get the club revived, just for the rug to be pulled under every time.

The boy felt he would have given up after the first attempt.

“I know you hate me, but that’s-.” Biting her lower lip stop herself, Umiko takes a deep breath. “Fine. We’ll do it” She sits back down, understanding that it wasn’t like she had a choice here.

“I guess that’s how it seems, huh?” The headmistress whispers to herself. “Your frustrations are completely valid, but I assure you, this time it is true.” Quickly throwing a glance towards the picture wall, she subsequently resumes. “I’ll even assign you a club advisor and give your club a small budget to work with.”

That takes the blue-haired girl by surprise. “What?”

“Exactly what you heard. The dueling club will be considered an official club for an entire month.” Getting up, the older woman walks towards the window and gazes outside. “And if you win the friendly, the club will stay as an official club.” She turns around and continues. “That should slake all your doubts, no?”

“What’s the catch?”

The headmistress rests her eyes. “There are none, unless you count my own personal feelings towards the matter as a ‘catch’.” Opening her eyes, she locks eyes with Umiko. “I truly believe that it is impossible for you to achieve your dream.”

Hiroto is taken aback by that declaration. From what everyone says, the headmistress is very supportive of the students’ dreams. In fact, that’s kinda the motto of Yumehara School.

A place where all dreams can come true.

Yet here she was, denying a student of her dreams. Although something was very off about this whole interaction, the blue-eyed teen was obviously missing some context.

“Well, I’m gonna make you eat those words.” Umiko says while standing up. “I’ll put together a team that will make Kurohane eat dirt.” She walks towards the door, with Hiroto following close behind. “Oh, and one more thing.” The blue-haired girl turns around and looks deeply into the elder’s eyes. “You’re never going to be like him.”

With that, the two leave.

Now alone in her own room, the headmistress once again looks at the wall full of pictures. Her eyes landing on that of a particular man. “I’m doing the right thing for her future.” While being bathed in the silver moonlight, the woman whispers to herself with an uncertainty in her voice. “Not all dreams are worth pursuing-” She bites her lips, before looking back at the picture.

“-right?”

***

The quiet streets of Sakuhama were now bathed by the beautiful light of the moon.

Walking down those quiet streets, the two teenagers couldn’t exactly find the right words to say. Those last couple of minutes had been quite the roller-coaster for them.

Umiko suddenly stops on her tracks. “I-“ She spins around and bows apologetically. “-I’m really sorry for dragging you into this!” Tightly grasping at the hems of her skirt, the blue-haired girl continues without looking at the boy. “You said that it was only until I found more members, but now we need to defeat a whole other school.” Finally, looking up at him, she asks. “I know it’s selfish of me to ask this, but could you still help me?”

Hiroto didn’t know what to say. Truth be told, that challenge had taken him by surprise just as much as her, and he didn’t exactly know what to make of it.

“I understand that is a tall ask, and it’s way out of your scope.” She pulls something out of her bag and hands it to him. “So I thought of a way for you to help me and not have to fight against Kurohane.”

Grabbing the piece of paper she handed to him, he stares at the instructions written on it. “What’s this?”

“Directions on how to get to my clubroom.” Umiko adjusts her bag strap and smiles softly. “Be there tomorrow after classes, and I’ll explain my plan in more detail.” With that, the girl turns around and starts running. “See you tomorrow!” She waves before disappearing into the night.

The brunet boy looks down at the scribbled paper and sighs. “Man, what did I get myself into this time?”

***

Getting home late is always a pain for a youngster. The moment you step into the house, your family comes in like hungry hawks and won’t stop asking you questions. It’s understandable, but also kind of annoying.

The Kanzaki family was no different in that regard, the moment Hiroto stepped into the house, his mom came in like a hurricane and bombarded him with questions about where he was and with whom.

Seeing the commotion, his sister joined in and started teasing him about going out with a ‘secret girlfriend’, which was mildly embarrassing.

Of course, he had to confess to joining a club, but Hiroto wasn’t entirely truthful. He threw in a little white lie, saying that he had joined the chess club. His sister was suspicious of something, but his mother bought it completely and was over the moon that her boy was finally getting some hobbies.

He felt really awful for lying, but the boy simply didn’t know how his parents would react if he told them the truth.

That he joined a club that involved fighting.

“Argh.” Tossing himself at the bed, the brunet groaned into his pillow. “I really shouldn’t have accepted that.” Hiroto turns around and stares at the ceiling. “Maybe I can quit tomorrow if I-“ He stops himself when the memory of Umiko’s face came flooding back into his mind.

The way she looked at him when pleading for his help. There was a certain determination in her eyes when she asked him to join, alongside a hint of fear.

Maybe the fear that he would refuse, or maybe something else, Hiroto couldn’t possibly know.

What the boy did know however was how that look made him feel.

“It was just like that time.” He says to himself while closing his eyes. “Urgh. I just can’t say no to cute girls!” With a sigh, the brunet turns to face the wall. “Although-“ Grabbing onto his chest and opening his eyes,  he whispers. “-This feeling in my chest…”

Tossing around again, he turns the lights off and snuggles underneath his blankets.

Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.