Friends

“Shiroishi-san!” The black-haired woman exclaims while approaching the blond man. “I understand that you’re their club advisor, bu- uh, uh!”

Putting a finger over her lips, the man seemingly named George says. “I just need five minutes, then I’ll be done.”

Yukimura just stares at him incredulously, before sighing and pushing his finger away from her mouth. “Urgh, fine.” She then walks up to the bed and gently helps Hiroto to his feet. “Let’s go finish your check-up.

“U-Uh, sure.” Standing up from the bed, the brunet accompanies the nurse out of the room, leaving the blond alone with the other three teens.

“You-“ Umiko looks up at the man, her eyes taking in every detail of him. “-have I seen you before?” He was weirdly familiar to her, but the bluenette couldn’t exactly put her finger on why.

“Probably.” George replies with a shrug. “But that is not why I’m here.” His eyes glance around at the group. “I’m here to talk about the star-eyes.”

“I’ve never seen eyes like those before.” The fashionista comments while crossing her arms. “They sure did look special but-“

“They were a disability.”

That sudden bombshell left everyone speechless.

“What?” The blue-haired teen asks in complete shock.

George leans against the wall and explains. “Star-eyes are a delicate and complex matter, so we don’t have the time to go into details.” His face turns serious and that makes the atmosphere in the room heavier. “That ability you saw him use? That is called Burst, and it isn’t his unique Mahōgan ability, in fact everyone that has those types of eyes share the exact same power.” Looking away from them, he adds. “Moreover, that power hurts its user every time it gets used.”

“Wait, wait, what do you mean by that?” Asks the silver-haired teen. “How does that work?”

“First, you all understand what a magical circuit is, right?” He watches as the trio nods.

Of course, they did. Even for a non-studious person like Umiko, that was a very important subject to know.

A magical circuit is a set of special nerves that spread out of a person’s eyes and into the rest of the body. They were responsible for carrying and distributing a unique type of energy called Magica, with it being responsible for many functions on the body, but mainly for their ability to enhance things like the natural endurance of humans and the usage of special eye powers known as the Mahōgan.

“People born with the star-eyes have a faulty magical circuit that does not allow them to develop unique visual powers.” Explains the man with a somber tone. “That ability that you three saw him use is another side effect of his condition. He basically forces his body to send Magica to any of his limbs, but because of his defective circuit, the energy explodes inside his limb causing it to gain a boost in power but damaging it from the inside.”

“S-So that means that-“

“Yes, he probably collapsed thanks to a combination of damage from Onimaru’s attacks, alongside his own power.”

“He certainly didn’t seem to be in pain.” The black-haired delinquent comments while glancing at the older male. “Not that I’m doubting your word Shiroishi-sensei, but he looked almost excited during our battle, not hurt.”

“Both could be true.” Kayoko replies with a thoughtful expression. “Adrenaline can make you forget about the pain for a couple of minutes, and I’d assume that an exciting duel would generate lots of it.”

Nodding, the other teen retorts. “I know, but to make you ignore the pain of having an explosion inside your limbs?”

“Unless he is already used to that pain.” The blue-haired girl intervenes. “It is his power, so who can say if he hasn't used it?”

A fair point, realistically speaking, they knew nothing of the brunet’s past but he most certainly had used this ability of his before. Especially seeing that he was pretty good at using it.

“…”

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence falls between the group, with Umiko’s expression having a subtle change to a more guilty one.

“So that’s why he wouldn’t want to fight offensively.” The silver-haired fashionista whispers. “But, why wouldn’t he tell us anything?”

George shrugs while popping a lolli into his mouth. “Who knows? What’s going on in his mind is something only he can tell you.” Turning around, the blond cracks his neck. “There’s a lot more about star-eyes that I have to go over, but let’s do that in tomorrow’s meeting.” Pulling out his phone, the man quickly checks his messages and starts walking away. “Tomorrow after school, we’ll do some proper introductions and set a course of action for the club. Be there.” After saying this, the man walks out of the room leaving only the teenagers to ponder by themselves.

All of them had many thoughts going through their heads, but the bluenette clearly was the most conflicted of the group.

‘Kanzaki-kun I-'

***

“-I’m sorry!” Umiko bows as the brunet confusedly stares at her.

Once the final check-up was done, Hiroto had been discharged. Seeing that everyone, minus Onimaru, had already gone home, the brunet boy decided not to waste any more time at school.

But to his surprise, the blue-haired girl was waiting for him at the entrance.

“U-Uh… apology accepted?” He replies unsure. “…”

“…”

A very awkward silence falls between the two teens. It was obvious what they wanted to say, but that didn’t make the conversation any less difficult.

“… why didn’t you tell me about your condition?” The blue-haired girl asks while scratching her arm.

“I-“ Hiroto looks away. “-I just didn’t feel like it was necessary.”

“I… I kinda forced you to go all out, didn’t I?” She asks with a dry laugh. “Urgh, why am I so stubborn!?” Grabbing her own arm and tightly holding onto it, Umiko looks almost on the brink of tears. “This always happens.” She whispers to no one but herself, even though the brunet could hear her.

Ever since she was a child, Umiko couldn’t keep a close circle of friends because of her hyper personality and stubbornness, eventually, they would always leave.

And yet again, her own selfishness led the girl to completely ignore all the warning signs and move ahea-

“I’m kinda to blame too.” The boy says, taking her out of the trance she locked herself in. “Sorry for not saying anything earlier.”

“No! I-“ She was about to protest, but something downed on her at that exact moment. “-heh, better stop there before going on an apology spiral.” Umiko giggles cutely.

With how mulish she could be, they would be here saying sorry to each other for a while.

Seeing her happy puts a smirk on the boy’s face. “That’s better, a smile looks way cuter on you.” He says without really thinking about it, until a couple seconds later when his cheeks turn slightly red. “U-Uh, I-I mean-“

The blue-haired girl blushes softly, but quickly puts on a teasing smirk. “Oh, going straight for the kill, eh tiger?” At her words the boy turns to a stuttering mess while swinging his arms from side to side. “Hehe, chill out, I’m just kidding.”

Staring at each other, the two teens proceeded to break out giggling.

Umiko is the first one to stop with her chuckles. “But still, I’m really sorry for pushing you so hard. I would hate myself if a friend got hurt for real because of me.” Her tone once again saddens and her smile softens.

With a surprised expression, the brunet questions. “Friend?”

“Yeah, why?”

“…” Hiroto looks away from her. “We’ve only known each other for two days, and I’m not even a permanent member of the club.”

“And?” Retorts the blue-haired teen. “I like talking with you, not just as a member of the club but as a friend.”

That one night where they traded messages was the most fun she had in a long time!

With a small smirk, the bluenette adds. “No point in tying our friendship to the club or anything like that!”

While part of his brain thought that they didn’t interact much to be considered friends, the other half pointed out how much fun he had messaging her late at night.

“Uh… thanks, Umiko-san.” The brunet smiles softly, and she gives him a thumbs up.

They just stare at each other in a comfortable silence before the shorter teen suddenly remembers something. “Oh, and the club advisor said we’ll have an important meeting tomorrow.” She smiles. “You technically already helped me out enough, but if you want to come, you’re always welcome there!”

“… I’ll think about it.”

With that, the two say their goodbye and the boy goes his way.

***

Now that Umiko was lying in her bed and wearing her mermaid themed-pajamas, the bluenette thought back to her last interaction with Hiroto and noticed just how forward and self-centered she probably came out.

Calling him a friend without knowing if the opposite is true was yet another demonstration of her stubbornness.

Still, it was true on her part.

‘I would love to know more about him once the duel with Kurohane is over.’ She thinks with a soft smile on her lips, before her thoughts wander to the situation at hand.

While she would love for Hiroto to continue being a member of the club once this trial was over, it would be too selfish even for her to force him to stay.

Then there are the other two members.

Onimaru was a wild card. While he would be with them for a bit, somehow Umiko knew he wasn’t fond of dueling as a sport, so it was just a question of time until he eventually dropped out.

And without the other two boys, Kayoko would have no motive to be part of the club, so she too would be gone.

In the end, Umiko would always stand alone.

Shaking her head, the bluenette takes a deep breath. “That’s something for me to think about it later.” She slaps both of her cheeks and hypes herself up. “First we need to beat those Kurohane losers!”

With Hiroto out of the picture for the fight, Umiko would have to step in and take his place.

Unless some surprise super strong student just dropped from the sky and miraculously decided to join this doomed club, she would have to serve.

“Time to do some research!”

While the blue-haired teen wasn’t the strongest, she was fairly confident in her ability to do research on opponents, as all managers should be!

Hopping out of the bed, the bluenette skips towards her desk where her bright-blue laptop was charging.

Before she could turn the device on, however, her phone emitted a loud *Ping* sound.

Moving back towards the bed, the short teen grabs it and flips the device open, seeing a message from Hiroto popping up on top of the screen.

Without noticing, her mouth turns into a smile.

‘The research can wait a little bit!'

***

She ended up not researching anything.

Her nightly SMS session with Hiroto went on until three in the morning, and after that, she fell asleep and didn’t manage to learn anything about the Kurohane students.

She did, however, learn more about the brunet.

Like how he was terrible at cooking, had a twin sister, and the biggest surprise of all.

It took him 30 whole minutes to style his hair like that every day.

It felt nice, and that exchange only cemented in the girl’s mind that she shouldn’t cut ties with him just because he left the club.

Plus, the brunet didn’t seem to mind her more geeky side, and that was always a plus in her book!

While she wasn’t paying attention, the short girl had reached her destination, the arcade.

She came here to discuss some things with the newest member of her club.

Making her way inside, the bluenette finds a familiar black-haired boy playing at one of the machines more on the back. “Yo!” She greets, making the other teen pause his game.

“Shouldn’t you be at school?” He asks while turning around with his usual calm smile.

“I could say the same about you.” She retorts and the boy laughs out loud.

“Touché.”

“I’m going straight to business, there’s something I need to tell you before you fully join the club.” The bluenette then explains the current situation to the black-haired boy.

“That is quite the pickle you got yourself in.” Onimaru comments while leaning back against the machine.

“Hope that isn’t too much for you.” At her words, the taller teen chuckles.

“Nah, it’s alright.” He cracks his neck and his knuckles. “While I don’t particularly like the whole ‘fighting with rules’ thing that dueling has going on, it still can be a good challenge. Count me in.”

“Thanks, that means a lot to me!” Umiko bows, before pulling a piece of paper. “Here, directions to our clubroom!” With that, she walks past him and puts a coin on the arcade, unlocking the second player in the fighting game he was playing.

“Huh? You aren’t going back to school?” Onimaru asks as the small girl flashes him a confident smile.

“I’m not feeling like a good girl today. Now, come here to get your ass kicked in something I’m fairly confident at!”

The black-haired boy smirks. “Feeling confident, aren’t we?” He positions himself by her side and presses the start button. “Let’s go then!”

With that, the two teens hang out until the time to meet with their club advisor comes.