Truth (Part 1)

The next day comes and with it, even more training.

Once again the group had been divided into duos, this time Kayoko and Umiko went on to spar together while Ken and Hiroto worked on the taller boy’s weaknesses.

Or at least, that’s how it was supposed to go.

“Hah!” The delinquent comes in close with a direct dash that goes into a grab. That should be quite the easy dodge to the star-eyed boy, but strangely enough, the usually quick-on-his feet Hiroto got held in place by the taller teen, before being completely flipped over and slammed against the ground.

“Gah!” Groans the shorter boy while his opponent lets go of his shirt. “T-That was very good, Onimaru-san…”

Wiping some sweat away from his forehead, the black-haired teen offers his hand to the fallen one. “You good? I feel like you could have dodged that.”

Holding onto his club mate’s hand, the brunet pulls himself up. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He chuckles awkwardly. “Maybe we should-“

As they discuss how to continue their training, the girls on the other side had just stopped to take a break. “Hey Izumi?” The bluenette called her partner, who was drinking from her bright-pink water bottle.

“Yeah?” Replies Kayoko in between gulps.

“Don’t you think that Kanzaki-kun is acting a bit weird today?” She pushes a strand of hair behind her ear and adds. “He doesn’t seem… in the zone, I guess.”

It was a little hard to explain, but something about the brunet’s rhythm wasn’t clicking today. He had a very specific flow to his movements that was fluid and very hard to catch up with, yet somehow the incredibly slow Ken was keeping up with Hiroto’s speed.

Something was most certainly wrong.

Finally, done with her hydration, the fashionista nods. “Yes, he is definitely not doing that well.” Putting on a thoughtful expression, she continues. “Maybe something is on his mind?”

A distinct possibility, if there was something the entire group learned during these training sessions, was that Hiroto was someone who pondered a lot.

It was to the point where his club mates could pinpoint the exact moment when he stopped to think about something.

“Gah!” Yet again the brunet gets hit with a blow that was easy to counter. “Crap!” He finds himself yet again looking at the sky with his back against the floor. “One mor-“ The boy jumps to his feet, but a sudden clap of hands stops him from finishing his sentence.

“That’s enough, you two come here.” George’s serious tone instantly caught the male duo’s attention.

“Yes sir?”

The blond man stares at the brunet for a couple of seconds. “Kanzaki, you’re dismissed for the day.”

Making a surprised expression, the shorter boy asks. “H-Huh, but why? It’s not even close to-“ He is interrupted by the club advisor’s glare.

“Kanzaki.” The man’s voice is stern, but filled with concern. “It's quite obvious that your mind just isn’t focused on training.” Explain George with a sigh. “And simply put, the way you’re going now, it’s more of a hindrance to their training than any help.” Closing his eyes, the blond finishes. “Go home for the day, clear your head and tomorrow we’ll see if you’ll do better.”

“I-I see.” Hiroto chuckles awkwardly. “Well then, I’ll be going now.” Bowing apologetically, the brunet quickly says goodbye to his club mates and goes home, leaving a worried dueling club behind.

***

On the way home, Hiroto sighs sadly as he once again goes on one of his thinking spirals.

He was having fun with the club, but at the end of the day, the short boy wasn’t really a part of it. He was just an asset for them to use in order to get stronger, and he couldn’t even be mad about it, since it was basically his own decision to be like this.

Part of him didn’t want to think of the current situation like this, but there was no other way to see it. He was just an asset.

It’s at times like this, when doubt clouds the boy’s mind, that his sister’s words come back to the forefront of his mind.

Your life would be so much easier if you just stopped being a coward.

Hiroto wondered if that was true. Would his life truly be better if people knew about that other side of his?

What would his classmates think? His parents?

Umiko?

The boy blushed at the thought of his blue-haired schoolmate, before shaking his head and going back to the more important subject.

Would his parents really accept him being part of a dueling club?

He doubted it, after all, it was because of that little problem of his that they were forced to change homes.

There simply wasn’t a way they would allow him to be part of the dueling club… right?

Seeing his house at a distance, the brunet pushes those thoughts away to the back of his head and runs up to the entrance door.

He takes his shoes off and goes inside. “I’m home!”

“Welcome home, dear.”

There was his mother’s usual greeting, except that it carried something more this time.

A tone of unease.

“Mom?” The star-eyed boy had a hunch of what was about to happen. His mother only sounded like that when they had something serious to discuss. “Is something wron- oh, hey Dad!” The brunet walks into the living room, where Mrs. Kanzaki is sitting on the largest couch by her husband’s side.

Mr. Kanzaki looked intimidating at first glance, being a very tall man with a muscular physique thanks to his job as a construction worker. His hair was a lighter shade of brown compared to his wife or kids, and his eyes had square-shaped irises that are in the color blue.

But even through his imposing figure, the patriarch of the family always wore a soft, friendly, smile on his lips, a proof of his gentle nature.

That fact, however, made it all the more uneasy when he put on an expression that was hard to read. It was like Hiroto was walking into a pitch black room without a torch. The boy just didn’t know what to expect.

“Hey, champ.” The boy’s father says in his usual cheerful tone, but it was very obvious that he was somewhat tense. “Can you please sit down? We have something to discuss with you.”

Nodding, the brunet boy slowly makes himself comfortable on the smaller couch they had. Ayame had claimed this one as her personal seat, so anyone who wasn’t her hardly ever got the opportunity to sit on it.

“Y-Yes?”

Closing his eyes, the older man takes a deep breath. “Hiroto-“

Normally he only referred to the short teen by affectionate nicknames, so hearing his name being called put into perspective just how serious that conversation was going to be.

“-why did you lie to us?”

And with just that question, the boy’s heart stopped for just a second, before beating faster than ever.

“H-Huh?”

***

Ayame sneaked out of the house through the backyard, making sure to dodge underneath the living room’s window, so her parents wouldn’t be able to see her silhouette.

While she would absolutely love to see what she set up for her brother pay off, the brunette had something else to do in order to complete her plan.

It was sad that she had to intervene and actually put Hiroto on the right track, but his stubbornness knows no bounds when it comes to blaming himself for stuff that doesn’t even make sense.

Leaving those thoughts behind, Ayame walked out of the house and began making her way into the city.

The brunette has been sneaking out of the house for a couple of weeks now, but the thrill of it never gets old. At the start, it was just some walks to the park in order to deal with her boredom, but it soon became more of a hobby.

Her parents would be so mad when they found out, but realistically, what did they expect?

You can’t just keep a teenager inside a house and don’t expect them to try and break free, that’s just not how that works.

And sure, it is for her safety, she understands that. But man, that only made her desire for a normal youth even bigger!

Of course, he would need to put those desires away for now, as her objective was something else.

Seeing that her dumb brother needed some help, she came up with the hopefully perfect plan to give him just the nudge that he needed to stop being a moron.

And for her plan to work, Ayame needed her parents to cooperate, which wasn’t hard seeing that she was 99% sure that they would act exactly as she predicted.

The second part of her scheme was the hardest, as she would have to deal with someone that she had never met before and thus was completely unpredictable.

That person being a certain girl her brother seemed to be very infatuated with, named Umiko.

***

After the star-eyed boy left, training resumed. They had to change their routine, with Ken and Kayoko sparring against each other, while Umiko was doing some solo workouts.

As she worked her muscles, the blue-haired teen couldn’t stop thinking about the brunet. She wasn’t exactly sure why, though.

Umiko wanted him to stay at the club by her side, but at the same time, she could see how sad and conflicted he looked when their training was over.

Part of her believed that it was because she was forcing him to do something that he didn’t wish to, yet the happy expression he wore when actually sparring with the others said otherwise.

The bluenette wanted to understand him better, but she simply couldn’t find how to do it.

“Okay, that’s enough for now, break time.” George announces, making the group stop their activities and approach him.

As they got closer, Laura came from behind her dad. She was holding a cute little pink plastic tray with each member’s respective water bottle in it.

It was pretty adorable.

“Thanks Laura-chan! I was needing that!” Umiko winks while grabbing a bright-blue bottle. That makes the little girl giggle cutely.

Soon the other teens pick up theirs and go on to hydrate themselves, well, the girls do.

Ken just takes off his tracksuit and dumps the cool liquid over his head instead of drinking it. “Much better.” He lets out a relived groan.

“Your overall performance today has taken a decline.” The blond advisor comments, while watching his team taking their rest. “It really puts into perspective how much Kanzaki is important to the team.”

Umiko nods. “Yeah. He has a way of guiding us through the training with his movements.”

It was like a dance teacher doing his teachings with demonstrations instead of just talking. While George’s instructions were clear and concise, Hiroto managed to use them to adapt in the middle of a spar and create scenarios that allowed the others to learn new strategies on the spot.

The blue-haired teen also had something similar, she had great observation skills that could replicate what the boy was envisioning. Sadly, her physical capabilities didn’t match his, so she couldn’t fully capitalize on them.

“I wonder what’s going on with him?” Asks the fashionista after taking a big gulp of her water. “Yesterday he was fine.”

Umiko tightens her grip on the bottle. “I wonder…” Maybe something at his home? If so, there was nothing they could realistically do about it. The brunet was very reserved and probably wouldn’t say it if that was the case. “I just hope it isn’t anything bad.”

“I can guarantee you, with 99% certainty that it ain’t that bad.”  A new voice replies, taking everyone’s attention.

Standing atop the riverbank’s hill was a short girl with brunette hair tied into two odango style pigtails in the forms of stars. She wore an oversized black jacket, baggy blue pants, red shoes, and sunglasses that rested on top of her head.

“And who would you be?” Ken asks as the girl scoffs.

“That idiot brother of mine didn’t tell you?” She asks while moving closer to them. “How cruel!” A little smirk forms on her lips.

Now that she was close, the group was able to get a better look at her face and more specifically, her eyes.

Star-eyes, just like-

“Wait!” Umiko points at the girl. “I remember now! Kanzaki-kun mentioned you-“

Yes, that was it! The twin sister he talked about in their messages!

“-Kanzaki Ayame!”