It was a perfect, cloudless day. Outside seemed like a distant pleasure, with only days counting down until the summer break. The schoolyard was empty as it reached midday. For Kiyomaro Takamine, summer would be no break. The Mamodo Fight was all he could think about. He and his mamodo partner, Zatch would have to endure more mamodo fights in order to survive. He was too busy daydreaming to worry about the fight itself but in the back of his head he kept it as a top priority.
"Takamine! What is the answer to this question!" a loud yell came from the head of the classroom.
Kiyomaro stood up and stared back at the teacher. Kiyomaro always had this look to him, as if he was constantly bored. Up until he met Zatch, Kiyo was constantly skipping school because of his genius IQ. "The answer is square root of three". The teacher looked like his blood was about to boil. "Good answer Takamine" he uttered, gritting his teeth.
Kiyomaro sat down and resumed his previous thoughts on the Mamodo Fight. The fight to be king would be tough and harrowing decisions would have to be made, but he was ready for anything – well almost could never seem to come up with right excuse for explaining to his friends why he was always absent or why he came to school with cuts, bruises and bandages. Even Suzy seemed to be oblivious to this. Then again, Suzy was oblivious to everything.
Summer vacation started the day after tomorrow. He would have to travel to England and see his father so he could figure out who Zatch really is. His fight with Rhonos left him with a lot of questions. A voice came from below Kiyo's desk, interrupting his thoughts. "Psst, hey Kiyo! Play with me."
It was Zatch, hidden in a duffel bag. How Zatch managed to infiltrate the school every single time, without notice perpelexed Kiyo. Even someone of his genius couldn't figure it out. Kiyomaro shook up from his chair. "ZATCH! What are you doing here? How many times have I told you not follow me school?!" Zatch gave him a blank stare, doe eyed as ever and simply replied "But I was home all day helping your mom and I got bored so I decided to play with you instead."
"I can't play with now Zatch. I'll do it later.", he muttered, desperately focusing on the teacher, making sure his attention didn't avert to Zatch. Yea, that's it. Keep talking. Don't look over here, Takamine thought to himself. He went to see if Zatch was still beneath his desk, only to find the duffel bag empty. His face froze with fear. Great! Now where could he have gone?!
--
At the end of the school day, Suzy Mizuno, his classmate, approached Kiyo. Suzy greeted him with a smile. "Hey Takamine! Are you going to help me with my math homework?"
"Sorry Suzy, I have to find Zatch before he gets into any trouble." Kiyomaro slung his backpack over his shoulder and proceeded to search the school grounds. Leaving the classroom, he saw Suzy in front of him with a pear with sad face drawn onto it. "But you said you'd help Suzy with her math homework, Takamine. And if you don't she'll be very upset", Suzy said in mock voice for the pear. "Yea Kiyo, you gotta help me!" She gave Kiyo the puppy dog look. You can't be serious he thought.
"C'mon Suzy. Help me find Zatch and I'll have plenty of time to help you with your homework."
Suzy instantly followed Kiyomaro in hopes of finding Zatch somewhere in the school.