Kanzaki Hiroto

“I’ve already given a basic introduction to the star-eyes, but now we should be able to dive a bit deeper into the topic.” George says while making sure that Laura was comfortable on his lap. “There is quite a lot more to go over, so let’s begin at the many disadvantages the star-eyes have, like bad eyesight.”

The blue-haired teen looks at the shorter boy. “You have bad eyesight, Kanzaki-kun?”

He nods. “Yeah, but not enough for it to be more than an annoyance.” Hiroto pauses for a moment, then adds. “I do use contacts nowadays. Oh, and yes, this is my real eye color.”

“How poor one’s vision is depends on a couple of characteristics that are tied to how the condition is acquired.” The blond man says, while gently caressing his daughter’s hair. “Judging by the notes on his school records, Kanzaki seems to have been quite lucky when it comes to his disability.”

At his words, Hiroto looks away and bites his lower lip, a conflicted expression rested on his face

“Something wrong?” Asks the black-haired delinquent that has been quite quiet for a while.

“…” With a sigh, the brunet forces a smile. “Nothing, I just don’t like to call myself ‘lucky’.”

“I take that it is because of your sister.” George guesses and the boy nods in acknowledgment.

“So what does that sister have to do with anything?” Questions the silver-haired girl while taking on a thoughtful expression. “Unless…” She snaps her fingers. “Is she directly tied to the condition?”

Hiroto doesn’t say anything, but the advisor nods. “That is correct. The sister, or twin sister in this case is part of the reason why he even has the star-eyes condition in the first place.” Pulling another lollipop out of his pocket, he starts unwrapping it. “These specific conditions can only be present in twin siblings, as it is born out of a problem during the gestation period.” He pops the lolli into his mouth and continues. “Both children are born with malformed magic circuits, with one of the newborns having a worse condition than the other.”

“So in other words-“ The bluenette looks towards the boy and adds in a low tone. “-your sister got the short end of the stick, huh?”

George opened his mouth to continue his explanation, but a sudden knock on the door interrupts him.

“Excuse us.”

The vice-headmaster's voice echoes inside the clubroom, making Umiko groan in annoyance.

“What do you want?” Asks the black-haired teen as she stands up and moves towards the door. “We are in the middle of someone important here!” Unlocking the door, the short girl puts a hand on her hips and stares down the two authority figures.

An understandable reaction, seeing that every time those two interacted with the dueling club, was to throw some obstacle in front of them.

Inviting themselves inside, the older woman greets. “Good afternoon. We apologize for the sudden visit, but we have finished sorting out the details for the duel with Kurohane.” The headmistress’ eyes quickly lock with Umiko’s. “I believe that is something you would be interested in, no?” Almost as if she could sense the annoyance of the bluenette, she smirks as said youngster sighs in defeat.

“Yeah, yeah, out with it already.”

“Lacking manners as always, I see.” The elder comments then quickly clears her throat. “Ahem, now that we have your attention. Vice-headmaster, would you please?”

“Yes ma’am.” Stepping forth, the tall man explains. “The duel will be held at the Kurohane Academy’s stadium in four weeks.” There’s a small pause, before he resumes. “The battles will be done with the usual ruleset of 1-on-1 battles between two teams of three, the first school to win two fights will be crowned the victor of this friendly.” The vice-headmaster once against stops, then adds. “There’s one more thing. The duel will be televised to all of Sakuhama.”

That takes the youngsters by surprise and Kayoko is the first one to questions. “Isn’t this a little too much for just a friendly?”

Popping the lollipop out of his mouth the club advisor replies. “Not really. Kurohane and Yumehara are two of the biggest schools of Sakuhama, it makes sense that a duel between them, even if it is something as small as a friendly, would be considered quite the event.” He opens his mouth to continue, but stops himself.

Now was not the time to bring that up.

“Still, that is just-“ The blue-haired teen is interrupted by the headmistress.

“If you believe that to be too much, there’s always the option to give up.”

“Never.”

The two stare at each other, before the older lady sighs. “That would be all.” She turns to face the other members of the club. “You may now resume your club activities.”

Just as suddenly as they appeared, the authoritative duo had stepped out of the room and presumably returned to their office.

With a tense silence now filing the small clubroom, Umiko is the one to break it. “Gah! That hag!” She shouts angrily. “We’re gonna show her what we’re made of! Right guys?” The shorter girl turns around expecting her club mates to match her energy, but instead is met with lots of unsure expressions.

“Kurohane really is taking this seriously, huh?” Hiroto brings it up, saying what the others were thinking.

“I guess they are doing it for payback.” Comments the blond, making everyone glance in his direction.

“Payback?”

Now that both the headmistress and her right-hand man are out, George felt comfortable in talking about that specific subject. “Payback for the humiliation they suffered three years ago.”

The brunet boy makes a thoughtful expression. “Three years ago? I believe Takahashi mentioned something about it during his fight with Umiko-san.

“Yes.” The man nods. “That was during the last Duelist National Championship, the dueling club of Yumehara had received a last chance to save itself by winning the tournament.” He sighs and once again strokes Laura’s hair. “They fought against Kurohane in the finals and won but-“

“It was found out later that they cheated by using a performance-enhancing drug.” Umiko suddenly interrupts the teacher and continues the story herself. “The school had to make a public apology and dissolve the old dueling club immediately. A one-year ban was also put on Yumehara where we couldn't have a dueling club until it was over.” Her voice was filled with sadness and seemed at the brink of tears. “But that was unfair! Why should we pay for the mistakes of the older club?!”

Now it made some sense as to why this type of extracurricular activity seemed so… taboo among the staff.

“Calm down, getting angry now won’t change anything.”

“You’re right, sorry.”

“But that doesn’t answer my question exactly.” All eyes go back to Hiroto. “What exactly are they paying back?”

“For traditional families like the ones behind Yumehara and Kurohane, losing to a cheater is just as much of a smear to their family’s name as it is losing to a weaker family.” The advisor responds. “So I would assume that they plan on broadcasting their payback to the entire city. Proving once and for all that they are better than the cheaters.”

That was quite the situation they had been put in to say the least.

Once again an unnatural quietude took the room as everyone had a lot going through their heads.

“Do you have a plan, Umiko?” Asks George, finally breaking the silence.

“…” The blue-haired teen takes a deep breath and puts in her usual smile. “Well, first I need to do some research on our opponents, then we should formulate a strategy and-“

“I was talking about your duel line-up.” The blond gazes towards the brunet. “Seeing that Kanzaki won’t be partaking in the battle, we need to find-“

“I’m gonna do it!” Exclaims the bluenette while smacking her own chest, or lack thereof. “Even if I’m not strong, as long as Izumi and Onimaru win their battles, we have a chance!” Her eyes sparked with a fire of determination that she had demonstrated before.

George chuckles. At least she had lots of spirit. “Alright then, while I can’t make you into a champion in four weeks, I can at least prepare you three for the battle to come.” Yet again his gaze moves to Hiroto. “And you Kanzaki-“

The brunet stares confusedly at the club advisor before hearing his proposal.

***

Hiroto found himself lying in his bed, staring against the at ceiling, a familiar sight from the previous night.

The proposal George made to him was pretty simple, while the brunet wasn’t going to be partaking in the battle against Kurohane, he was going to help them prepare by being an assistant to the advisor.

Basically a manager, seeing that Umiko had to drop out of the position in order to become a fighter.

Hiroto was… conflicted about that proposal.

One side of him is happy that he was going to spend some more time with Umi- ahem, the dueling club, but another side was very sad that he wouldn’t be fighting.

Well, at least he could be happy that he was going to spend some time with frien-

*Knock, Knock* “Hey, mom’s calling!” The voice of his sister echoes inside as the boy sits by the edge of his bed. “Dinner’s ready.”

“Thanks Ayame, tell her I’m coming.” Replies the brunet, still a bit lost in that chaotic world that was his own head.

After a couple of seconds without the sound of her moving away, the girl’s voice asks. “Are you okay, bro?”

“Uh, yes, why?”

Suddenly, she pushes the door open and stands in front of the door with an unimpressed expression. “Doesn’t seem like it.” Her face then morphs into a mischievous little smirk. “Man, I totally was expecting you to be doing something lascivious here. I was totally gonna tell mom about it!”

The brunet rolls his eyes. “Shut it.” He grabs a pillow to throw towards her but stops halfway through. “…”

His gaze wanders down to her body, where he sees a couple of bandages wrapped around what seemed like random parts of her legs, arms and even thighs. “…” She stares at him, before sighing. “C’mon, don’t be a coward. It’s just a pillow. I can take it.”

“… sorry.” He drops the soft object, making the girl click her tongue.

“Hurry up, mom’s not gonna let me eat until you’re there too.” With one last trade of glances, the brunette turns around and grabs the doorknob. “But really, if you need to talk, I’m here, okay?”

With that, Ayame closes the door and her footsteps can be heard going downstairs.

Again the star-eyed boy is left with the darkness of his room. Throwing himself back onto the bed, the brunet boy takes a deep breath.

It takes a couple of minutes for him to push his thoughts back into the deepest parts of his mind, but it was just a question of time until they came back.

They always did.