Chapter 1 — To Transcend destiny

It was April 7th, just a week after the start of the school year. The streets were imbued with a delicate springtime glow, cherry blossom petals floating in the sun's rays.

The entrance to the prestigious Narukami High School shared this atmosphere, although it was much more festive.

In the swarm of uniforms, one student stopped in front of the grand structure. A young man with purple hair, his deep blue eyes fixed on the top of the façade, part of which consisted of a large bay window.

Beneath a large clock hung a large sign with the following message:

"Narukami High School Recruitment Festival! One week left before the registration period for the Erabareshimono no Kyousou closes."

The Erabareshimono no Kyousou, also called The Tournament of the Chosen. A team fight tournament where the victors are granted a wish, whatever it may be.

Harumaki Yuuki had trained for the past two years in preparation. Regardless of the more than 3,000 other participants, there was only one outcome to this journey: Victory. That was his only belief.

A soft breeze stirred a distinct braid of his hair resting on his shoulder to sway slightly.

His hands pocketed and his bag slung over his shoulder, Yuuki marched through the doors of what would be the theatre of his dearest wish.

The entrance alley was filled with stands around which a few pupils were gathering and dispersing.

"Team Hogurashi has a few remaining spots for their trial session!! Take your invites before it's too late!" A girl shouted through an improvised megaphone. She held up a flyer, swaying it left and right.

A few students stopped to listen to her or took some flyers before carrying on. Another student was handing them to passers-by. Yuuki passed by him, looking at the stands.

"It's really like a festival..." Yuuki thought.

The student side-stepped hurriedly in Yuuki's way and handed a flyer with an inviting smile. Yuuki tilted his head at its sight.

"Come and check out our trials! Maybe you will get a chance and join Team Hogurashi!"

This guy's voice was brimming with false enthusiasm, like a salesperson on the prowl.

Yuuki took the flyer. Quickly skimming its contents, it was just like one you find on the street advertising a restaurant.

"Thanks, but I'm not sure if I'll co—"

Before Yuuki could finish his sentence, a sea of faces surrounded him.

"Come to our trials too!"

"Team Jinshi is the favourite this year, so we'll give you the honor to join us!"

"Liar! You've not even got a single member!"

The budding recruiters around him intensified their bickering. While Yuuki observed the situation with a distant look, something was happening deep within his mind: a discussion with the soul with whom he shared his body.

"This is more like a jungle than a festival. I'm sure you weren't expecting this kind of welcome on your first day, Yuuki-kun." A voice only Yuuki could hear chuckled from within his mind.

A voice known to him since his birth, though he never knew why.

"Certainly not. But it's fine, they'll calm down if I take all of their flyers, so."

"Yuuki-kun, I don't think it's a good idea..."

Yuuki stretched out both arms, stepping between two quarrelers.

"I'll take one of each of your flyers, so no fighting," Yuuki said as he took two of them. "I'm not sure if I'll come, thou—"

A bigger swarm gathered around him as he kept his engagement. They followed Yuuki to the hallways, where he took a crowded hallway and managed to escape.

A little later, Yuuki reached the roof. No one followed him there, so he took the time to read each of the flyers... and none of them were impressive.

Though his facial expression hadn't changed a bit, stuck in this mix of carelessness and distance. Both intentional and not.

"Hmm... Seems like I won't be going to any of their trials."

He carefully folded the flyers and slipped them neatly into his bag.

Yuuki let the wind lift his jacket slightly as he lost himself in the clear blue sky. The rooftop was quiet, with only a couple of students around.

Then, with a loud metallic clang, the roof door opened abruptly.

A girl stepped out, wearing a loose, zipped-open white hoodie that fell to her shoulders. It wasn't Narukami High School's uniform. But the rest of her uniforms were.

She looked around for a moment before meeting Yuuki's gaze. She walked towards him, halting right in front. A little too close, her face was mere centimeters from Yuuki's.

"Is there something on my face?" Yuuki asked calmly, his expression deadpan.

The girl shook her head. "Nah, I just wanted to see you up close."

Then, out of the blue, she tapped his shoulder repeatedly.

"So you are the famous student saying yes to every trial? Aren't you the nicest guy?"

The girl had a light and bubbly voice. Her short, burnt-orange hair, ending in soft curls, added to this impression.

"Don't mind their attitude, though. People here get really pushy when it comes to the recruitment festival. Everyone is so desperate to have the best team they can for the Erabareshimono no Kyousou after all."

She continued, smiling warmly at him. But Yuuki wasn't fooled.

"I don't mind it. I planned to reject all of them anyway." He looked back at the sky. "If you're trying to get me too, I won't come to your trial either."

"Ehh...? You found out so easily!" She stepped back dramatically. Before she almost instantly regained her composure. "There is no point hiding it, I guess. Ahem... I've got some good news for ya. You are already attending my trial!!"

The girl pushed off the ground and delivered a powerful kick aimed at Yuuki. He easily dodged it, almost like he'd anticipated it.

She got back into position and tried to strike from a different angle, without success. After a few failed attempts, she realized her opponent was only dodging.

She changed her approach, closing the distance between them, her kicks becoming increasingly rapid. With a push, she feigned using her feet again to deliver a punch to Yuuki's chest, which he once again dodged.

In turn, he feigned a counterattack, which made the girl protect herself. Taking advantage of it, Yuuki tripped her backwards with a slight kick, and she fell heavily on the ground.

"Haha! Nice move!" The girl jumped to her feet. The smile on her face was bigger than before. Even though she was rubbing the back of her head, trying to brush off the pain.

"I'm Hinata Ryûko! It's super nice to meet you!" She stretched out her hand.

"I'm Harumaki Yuuki. Nice to meet you."

He shook her hand, just like the previous fight never happened.

Ryûko returned his handshake vigorously.

"Harumaki Yuuki... What a nice name! I heard that Spring rolls taste good, so you must be a good person!"

// Harumaki means Spring roll in Japanese.//

Her sentence carried so much enthusiasm that it was obvious she meant it. Both funny and alarming.

After their handshake, Ryûko placed the back of her hand on the back of Yuuki's.

"Ready for round two??"

She kept the same smile glued to her face... Where was that confidence coming from? None of her attacks had hit their mark, and yet... It intrigued Yuuki; this girl was acting just like Marie.

Yuuki evaded another kick, followed by many.

"This girl moves well."

"Yes. Her footwork, her changes of pace... She makes a lot of superfluous movements at first glance. She even manages to use them to her advantage."

"But, you are dodging everything, right?"

"I'm. But that's because we aren't on the same level."

Ryûko took a slight leap forward, then suddenly turned and attacked with her heel. Yuuki deflected the attack, making Ryûko fall again.

"Aren't you fighting back? You aren't even using your Kikai!"

"No need. I'm only observing."

"Observing? I'm the one supposed to test you, not the other way around!"

She pushed off the ground to stand again. Then, she motioned for Yuuki to attack.

Unfazed, Yuuki looked at his watch.

"At what time do classes start here?"

"Ah! Don't worry about that. With the festival, we don't have any classes all morning. So we've got plenty of time left to fight."

"The whole morning... I won't need that much time. It'll take me less than a minute to finish you off."

Ryûko's smile widened.

"For real!? That'd be sick!" Ryûko said with her star-filled eyes

She charged again. Yuuki's arrogance didn't seem to bother her; it was the opposite. She was eager to see what he had up his sleeves.

And in the blink of an eye, Yuuki disappeared.

"Left."

Ryûko reacted to the voice as quickly as she could, blocking a powerful punch that sent her flying meters away, crashing against the railing. She struggled to her feet, her arm numb and unable to move.

"You're finally done holding back!"

"I did hold back. Breaking your arm now would get me in trouble."

"... I see..."

Her left arm refused to move. But no worries, she thought, since she still had her devastating kicks. She charged forward, Yuuki, and attempted an assault. She pushed off powerfully with her right knee before turning around and striking with her left leg. But like a shadow, the attack only passed in front of Yuuki.

"This is the biggest mistake you could've made in this situation..."

Yuuki retaliated with a powerful punch to her chest. A heavy pain was going through her entire body. Thus marking the end of their confrontation.

"...Charging me head-on is a death wish."

Yuuki looked at Ryûko, lying on the ground just in front of him.

"Maybe I should've finished that sentence when she was still conscious."

Later in the morning, the rooftop door opened again. Yuuki had just come back from a little stroll.

Unlike when he left, Ryûko was now conscious. She was resting her back on the rooftop's rails while massaging her stomach.

Yuuki sat beside her and gave her two bottles: a bottle of water and a bottle of frozen green tea, or rather, a frozen bottle of green tea.

"It's just like an ice cube! Where did you get that?"

"I did it myself; it should calm your stomach pain. Just a little." Yuuki replied as he took a sip of his own drink, a box of strawberry milk.

"Thanks! I also have a friend who has an ice Kikai, I'm sure you would get alon—"

She pulled up her sweater and put the bottle where she had been hit.

"Ouch! Ah! It hurts so bad!!"

"Sorry."

"No, no! Don't apologise. I started it after all."

Ryûko kept her smile despite the pain; her willingness to always keep smiling was admirable.

"So... You're gonna sign up for the Erabareshimono no Kyousou?"

Yuuki nodded.

"I'm, but aren't you asking that a little too late? You attacked me out of the blue after all."

"Hum... You've a poi—I mean, I had a small guess. It's not like I start fights with random people... Most of the time..."

Yuuki hummed and looked at her with a deadpan face. Ryûko felt judged, even though the person looking at her was the embodiment of apathy. She hugged her knees, her blue eyes locking in them.

"Sorry... I get overexcited sometimes. The tournament is so so important for me that I can't help it."

Her voice had dropped low, not out of sadness but some sort of nostalgia. Though a smile kept her face bright.

"I get you. I get overexcited too, sometimes."

Ryûko tilted her head slightly, watching his face closely. She couldn't imagine Yuuki overexcited, obviously.

"There is no need to imagine it, I would look the same as now."

"I guess... I can't imagine you with another facial expression... Haha."

Yuuki's gaze turned towards the sky.

"I will sign up to win the tournament. I had someone I was really close to. But because of 'destiny', we were forced to part ways. And I can't accept it."

His strawberry milk box started to float, right before Ryûko's fascinated eyes.

"I, too, was born with a Kikai, as many people say; they serve to achieve a goal; they are assigned to fulfill one's ambition, in a way."

Suddenly, the box folded violently before falling back into Yuuki's hands.

"But I don't think mine was given for that purpose. I was the victim of a fate that was imposed on me in the past... And I don't want to accept it."

His calm voice conveyed words that didn't really correspond to him. Ryûko could feel a torrent of emotion coming from Yuuki.

"I will win the Erabareshimono no Kyousou. I'll transcend this destiny with this Kikai."

Ryûko was speechless at her friend's words. Transcending his destiny thanks to his Kikai—put like that, it seemed almost obvious.

She, too, was a victim; she, too, had the goal of transcending this fate. Hearing these words from Yuuki brought her great joy, accompanied by a surge of courage.

She took Yuuki's clenched fist between her two hands and looked at him with stars in her eyes.

"Me too... I, too, intend to defy my destiny. I, too, intend to use my Kikai to do so. My father... He wasn't blessed to have a Kikai, and one day, he injured himself severely to help someone... and now he is between life and death..."

Ryûko's grip tightened, the smile on her face growing even more.

"But... Unlike him, I have a Kikai. I have the chance to help him! I always wished to be a hero, the type of hero who can bring a smile to anyone's face, no matter the situation. And the first person I want to experience it with is my father."

She grew even closer to Yuuki's face. Her eyes were shining with admiration, with enthusiasm, and with a profound happiness.

"Harumaki Yuuki. I want to transcend destiny with you!! Let's win the Erabareshimono no Kyousou!!"

Her request hung in the air for a few moments. Ryûko waited impatiently for Yuuki's response, practically leaping up and down on the spot. Her words inevitably had an impact on him, a hero who brings smiles and hope—what could be a purer ambition? But... One crucial thing influenced Yuuki's response.

"Ryûko... I will have to refuse your request."

For the first time, Ryûko's face fell.

"Ehhhh? Why?? D-do you have a team already?"

Yuuki shook his head.

"No, I don't have one, but I don't need to risk it with weak teammates."

Yuuki stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

"You should ask someone else."

Ryûko tried to reach out her hands, but the coldness and sheer confidence in his words made her believe him. She could only look at his back and the immense pressure it carried.

Her Kikai allowed her to see some sort of aura that was surrounding every person. Yuuki wasn't like anyone she'd seen. It was pure... Void. The kind of void that could swallow anything in it.

To be continued...