Kurohane Takahashi

“Haah!”

The voice of a young man wearing a white dogi echoes through a dojo as he throws a punch against his opponent.

“Huh!” Easily being able to dodge the strike, a blond boy grabs the young man by the arm and spins him around. “Toh!” He plants his foot right in front of the other male and uses it to trip him.

Now with his opponent on the floor, the blond quickly notices a group of three more people running towards him. They all had their own offensive strategies that by themselves weren’t that good, but together they covered each other’s weaknesses.

Not that it helped them in the end, as the taller boy simply overpowered all of them. Quite effortlessly, in fact.

“See, that’s exactly why you should work on your offensive more!” Says a short woman with a rather large bosom, she too was wearing a white dogi like all the others present in the room. “Thank you for finding the time to help with our training, Kurohane-sama!” She bows in reverence.

“N-No need to thank me, Shizune-sensei.” Takahashi looks away from her generous chest, which she seems completely oblivious to the effect that it has on the boy. “Sparring with the Martial Arts club is always a fun time.”

Indeed. While their techniques didn’t really work in modern times, there was something quite charming about those old martial arts that made them fun to practice in the teen’s free time.

“Still, I feel kind of bad taking time away from your own training.” The woman, named Shizune comments as she stops bowing. “You have a duel coming up and here we are asking for your help with our silly club.”

Putting on a soft smile, Takahashi replies with a wave of his hand. “As I said, no need to worry about that.” Not wanting to engage with this subject, he adds. “Oh, and by the way, I noticed something during the match.”

For the next half-hour, the tanned teenager spends some quality time with this niche little club before it is time for him to go.

He changes out of his dogi and into a gray kimono with a large crest depicting a hawk on the back and shoulders, alongside a black hakama and white socks. The boy also takes the time to undo the bun he had put his hair on, letting it cascade past his shoulders again.

Slipping into his wooden sandals, the blond finishes saying his goodbyes to the martial arts club and makes his way into the larger city.

Walking down the streets of his hometown, Takahashi takes a moment to do some extra shopping, especially for clothes, before going back to the Academy.

He enters the school and wanders down the large hallway that leads to the school proper, but instead of entering the main structure on campus, he takes a turn and goes to the male dormitory, which is one of the smaller buildings, being easily towered by the Academy proper.

It doesn’t take long for Takahashi to find his room, a small one that he used as storage more than anything else really. Not wasting any time, he throws his most recent haul onto the bed and starts doing some organizing.　

Maybe he was weird for it, but the blond really liked to keep his stuff well organized, it helped him calm down and allowed him some time to think and debate with himself about various topics.

Not that he had the time for it today, sadly.

His phone soon began beeping. The alarm he had set up had gone off.

“Time to train, eh?” Takahashi murmurs to himself. “…”

He quickly changed into his training gear, which consisted of a black tracksuit with golden stripes on the sides of the pants, and went off into the main school building.

The long hallways weren’t necessarily confusing to navigate, just boring. The traditionally yellow walls with small lamps hanging from them were such a striking visual for most people that don’t study there, but to those that do, they can become a bit dull.

Soon enough, Takahashi finds himself at the entrance to the school’s stadium, a space used for many large-scale sports events organized by a Kurohane Academy, and soon enough-

-the stage for their duel against that school.

…

Yumehara.

Just thinking of that disgraced institution was enough to put the blond in a bad mood. Why the staff insisted on them having that duel was a mystery to him.

They didn’t deserve a second chance.

“Yo! Kurohane-sama!” The familiar voice of his comrade takes the boy out of his thoughts. “You training today?” Asks the teen with spiky hair.

“Yes, Nakai.“ Looking into his club mate’s eyes, he asked. “You heard, right?

Crossing his arms and nodding, the shorter boy replies. “Yep, Yumehara swapped fighters yesterday.” He scoffs. “As if that’s gonna help!” Putting on a serious tone, he adds. “Somehow I think they are scheming something.”

A school of cheaters was not to be trusted, but because of that, Takahashi also didn’t have any fear of them. “Whatever it ends up being, I’ll just crush it and prove our superiority.”

“Heh, that’s our ace for ya!” Nakai chuckles, before pointing to the stadium. “We should get in now, training is about to start.”

With a nod, the blond follows his club mate inside.

***

Takahashi stands in front of his open closet and stares at it with a blank expression.

As soon as training was over, he rushed back to his room and started organizing everything. Once he was satisfied, the boy stepped back and admired his work.

Only to find out the satisfaction he normally felt wasn’t there. He didn’t know why, but it simply wasn’t there.

The blond sighs, then forcefully closes the door to his closet. “I should get some air.”

Walking out of his room, the muscular teen slowly makes his way to the building’s entrance. He had a lot to think about, but no energy to spare for it.

Whenever he thought about the duel coming up and especially about that blue-haired girl, it annoyed him on a primal level that was hard to describe.

Her faux-confidence and the audacity to try and revive a club that was rightfully terminated after the fiasco her school went through.

Takahashi just wanted to smash her face in and teach that little girl a lesson that she wasn’t going to forget!

But sadly, she got replaced and now someone else is fighting in her place.

Well, no matter. Whoever it was, Takahashi was going to smash their face in and prove the superiority of the Kurohane family once again.

“Takahashi-kun!” A familiar feminine voice calls, making the tall teenager stop in place. “There you are!”

Turning around, the blond comes face to face with the Academy's leader. “Headmistress? Do you need anything?”

The woman chuckles as she circles the boy. “No dear, nothing.” She stops behind him and slowly approaches. “Actually, yes, there is something I want to confirm.”

“Yes?”

“Why aren’t you regularly taking part in the daily training?” She rests her hands on his shoulders. “It’s very important that you are fully prepared for the duel to come.”

“Do I really need to? Yumehara haven’t produced good fighters for a long time now, I don’t think we need to worry that much.” Retorts Takahashi as he feels her hands moving up his shoulders.

“Fair enough.” The headmistress chuckles, a dry laugh that was so obviously fake. “But remember dear, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Her digits rest on the back of his neck. “Especially because you are already on thin ice with our family.” She softly squeezes. “I suggest you take this a bit more seriously~”

“… yes, ma’am.”

“Good~” Letting go of the boy, the blond woman turns around and giggles innocently. “If you need me for anything, I’ll be at my office~” With a wink, she turns around and walks off, leaving the blond boy to ponder by himself.

He truly believed that no extra training was necessary for an enemy so insignificant like Yumehara.

Victory was certain.