Chapter Eight
"That was quite the ride," Keiji said, when Yuito returned to him and Alessia.
"Indeed," his manager continued, "I actually thought you wouldn't make it if I'm completely honest. But glad you did it."
"Thanks for trusting in me," Yuito replied, "but I'm happy I'm in the next round. Where do we go from here boss?"
"Hm, better nickname than Lessie for sure," Alessia replied.
"I'm gonna stick with Ally anyhow. Has a better sound to it. I think," Keiji threw in.
"What I was gonna say," Alessia brushed him off, "tonight there's gonna be the drawing of the next rounds pairings. You'll have some free time until your next match."
"So, my next opponent can be anyone basically?"
"Anyone. Well, anyone who survived the group phase. Or the mystery contender."
"Oh right, Ever White. Any news on that department?"
"Nah. They still didn't reveal it, even though the entire media coverage is that Ever White is it."
"What if the media coverage is wrong?" Keiji threw in
"Possible," Alessia replied, "But very unlikely. If it wasn't Ever White that'd actually be good, since I don't think someone better than them would show up at such a low level tournament."
"You definitely need to step up your pep talk Ally."
"Just shut up for a minute, alright."
"You're not the boss of me."
"She's the boss of me though," Yuito threw in, "so please."
"Fine," Keiji replied.
"So, what I was gonna say," Alessia continued, "you have some free time until this evening. Then I'd advise you to turn on the TV as they will broadcast the drawing in the news, then you'll see when and against whom you have to play."
"Sounds..." as Yuito was about to continue, they heard the door of the room open.
"Heya, lady and gentleman, and Yuito. I'm here because someone owes me dinner," Hatsuko exclaimed as she walked into the room.
"Dinner?" Yuito asked, "oh right, we made a bet, did we?"
"You're one man of honor, even forgetting about damsels in distress. Or well, as the modern term is, girls you owe shit."
"Sure, we can go. You said you'd bring a friend though?" Yuito asked.
"We're gonna collect him on the way out. By the way, don't you wanna introduce me to your friends?"
"Ah, yes," Yuito said, before turning around to the other two in the room, "this is Keiji, my best friend and roommate, and this is my manager Alessia."
"Hi friend, roommate and manager, I'm Hatsuko," she weaved a quick greeting to the boy before shaking Alessias hand, "so you allow him to call you by your first name? I wish my manager was that cool."
"I didn't allow him, but he does anyway," Alessia replied, "but nice to meet you. Also, if Yuito owes you dinner, I'm sure I can put that on the agency. I mean, he made it to the next round, we have to keep our winners satisfied. Yuito, just tell me what you spent and you get it back. Bring a recipe though."
"Sure, and thanks. You wanna come with us?" Yuito asked the woman.
"I'd love to but I still got some appointments tonight, and I should probably write the tournament report for Mr. Sonjun for what's already happened," Yuitos manager replied, "And if I had to have dinner with Keiji after this afternoon, I'd need more cocktails than anyone would be willing to pay for."
"That's a word," Keiji said as he jumped from his seat, "So can we go, yes, great! See you around Miss S!"
As he pushed both Hatsuko and Yuito towards the door, both of whom hastily said goodbye to Alessia, they could hear Alessia mumble "I suddenly prefer Ally" to herself.
"Was that necessary?" Yuito asked his friend once they were out of her hearing distance.
"Hey, she teases me I tease her. It's a mutual relationship."
"I like him," Hatsuko threw in, "If you don't need him anymore one day, tell me and I'll adopt him."
"I'll gladly accept that offer, but beware, I'm wildly expensive," Keiji replied.
"I might sleep about that again then."
"What about your friend, you said we'd pick him up?" Yuito asked.
"Oh yeah. He's right over there," the girl said, pointing to a corner in the waiting hall.
Yuito looked over for Hatsukos friend, and asked: "I don't see him. Is he standing behind Saburo?"
However, his question answered himself and Yuitos previous opponent spotted the group. "You've got to be kidding me Hatsuko," he yelled, "you're bringing him of all people? You said you were gonna get some friends of yours."
"I'm not that excited about this either," Yuito threw in, before Hatsuko could react.
"Hey, he owes me dinner. Besides, after the shit you gave me today you probably deserve a bit of this. And thirdly, they're technically my friends, so I didn't lie to you."
"Here I thought you meant female friends," Saburo exclaimed upset.
"I mean if you get me a wig we can arrange that," Keiji through in, "if you're into that. Besides, you're not really this much of an eye candy either."
"Lovely," Saburo retorted, "May I leave now and end this travesty?"
"Oh come on," Hatsuko cried, "just be a nice guy for once and join us for dinner. And you two," she turned to Yuito and Keiji, "be nice. He got real shit from his father for losing the duel today."
"Would you mind not telling them just because you saw us arguing earlier?" Saburo asked rather uneasy.
"Can we agree on an armistice for tonight?" Yuito asked his former opponent.
"You're paying the food, right? I think I can agree," Saburo answered, offering Yuito a handshake.
"What a lovable person," Keiji said, with Yuito quickly silencing him.
"That does also count for you."
"Who is he by the way, your sideshow?" Saburo asked.
"My best friend. Saburo, that's Keiji, Keiji that's Saburo."
"I'll remember you called me sideshow," Keiji said, before turning to leave the arena, "so, where are we going?"
"I thought you'd never ask," Hatsuko said, "I know a pretty classy joint."
"This is the most awkward dinner I've ever been at," Hatsuko resigned, ten minutes into their evening.
She lead the group to a diner near the towns center, mainly, as she said, because they had live television running the whole time so they wouldn't miss the ballot of the next round and because they made amazing pancakes. As it came to conversation however, the foursome of them has been largely quiet, if it wasn't for Hatsuko trying to make some conversation.
"But hey, I deserve this for setting this whole thing up," she continued.
"You expect me to throw a party with the guy who threw me out of the tournament?" Saburo replied, "shows a lack of foresight."
"What's the actual deal with you two?" Yuito asked, simply to make some talk, "You told me he went to the same school with you and that he's a jerk when we met, so I'm not sure why you invite him over to dinner."
"See why I don't really talk to him?" Saburo threw in, directed to the girl sitting next to him.
"We were kind of a couple for almost a year, but it didn't work out. So we're just friends now," Hatsuko explained, "so I know he sometimes needs some off time from his dad and his manager."
"Another guy with father issues, huh?" Yuito asked.
"Apparently, although we probably have different understandings of the term father issues, have we?" Saburo said, with Yuito not bothering to dig deeper.
"It's just that he wants his son to be successful," Saburo kept going, "but he can be a real ass about it. Like, it's all fun and games as long as I keep winning, but god forbid I lose a game. You can probably tell how angry he was when he saw me losing to you of all people."
"That was mean," Yuito replied, "but hey, at least your father is still alive."
"At least you remember your father," Keiji threw in.
"Oh, that was just a deeply personal quip," he said after a short while of the other three staring at him, "don't expect me to elaborate."
"Can we switch the topic to something else than fathers?" Hatsuko suggested, "Like, maybe the menu because I'm like starving?"
"I don't really know most of the stuff in here, but that's me everytime I go to a restaurant these days," Keiji replied.
"Really?" Saburo asked, "this is, like, ninety percent pancakes and burgers. You've never been to a diner?"
"With what money exactly?" Yuito said, "it's not Iji and me could afford anything before I got my contract."
"Precisely. The fanciest we've ever been to a burger joint and now you expect me to know the difference between… blueberries and raspberries," Keiji elaborated.
"Well the difference is, kinda… Ones red the other ones blue, what am I supposed to say. But I advise blueberries. Or just take ice cream if you like that."
"I haven't had ice cream in forever, I'll have ice cream," Yuito said, "How about you Saburo?"
"I might be the only one here who doesn't eat waffles for dinner. Anyway its gonna be a burger."
"Not the only one, those waffles are confusing," Keiji threw in, "I'll have a burger as well, at least I know what I'll get. To bad they don't serve alcohol."
"You'd still need to be either old enough or need to have a fake ID," Saburo replied.
"I don't even have a real ID, for your information," Keiji retorted.
"Okay, no ice cream, no waffles, no ID, how the hell did you not die?" Hatsuko asked.
"Lots of luck and whatever the garbage can offered," Yuito replied dry.
"So, the entire homeless thing was not just cosmetics?" Saburo asked, "to be honest I was convinced it was just elaborate theatrics."
"No, that was actually us, for, I don't know how many years really," Keiji explained, "And I wouldn't make this up. But telling stories about it ruins peoples appetite, or at least so we figured out lately, so I'd rather not."
"That sounds so horrible, I think you deserve a sip of this," Hatsuko said, pulling a flask from her purse and passing it to Keiji under the table, "My personal fallback option, for all your 'I'm too sober for this shit.' needs."
"I love this girl. Can I adopt you too?" Keiji said, before taking a sip and nearly spitting it all over the table. "This is not alcohol, its soda."
"Oh I know," Hatsuko replied laughing, as the three boys joined in with her, "it makes me look real classy however."
This was just the ice breaker they needed, and, after they got and finished their meal, the four of them were starting to get along quite well.
"And that was when my dad thought it was a good idea to name a star after me for my tenth birthday," Hatsuko finished a story she was telling, "I mean, in hindsight that was a really cute idea and I love him for it, but for fucks sake I was so upset I didn't get the bike I wanted."
"How did we get from 'Can I borrow your napkin' to that story?" Saburo asked.
"I don't know, it just sorta happened," Hatsuko said, handing Saburo her unused napkin, "Can't I tell childhood stories, since I apparently I'm the only one with a functional family?"
"Was that supposed to be mean?" Keiji asked, "If it was, you'll need to seriously step up your game girl."
"It's not supposed to be mean," Hatsuko said, "but you can take it as an insult."
"So, how are you gonna go about the next round of the tournament?" Saburo attempted to change the subject, "since you're basically representing the two of us now."
"Not really having a strategy. Well yeah I have one, but that's just my usual one. Depends on the one I'll get matched too, I guess."
"You'll probably get the mystery guest, I'm calling it now," Hatsuko said, "too bad everyone already knows its most likely Ever White."
"Did you ever play against him?" Keiji asked.
"They're really insistent on being called 'they'. And no, I didn't, and I'm sure Hatsuko didn't either. They're far out of our reach," Saburo answered the question.
"Oh, by the way," Hatsuko threw in, "I'm still looking for someone to accompany me on some kind of field trip."
"That's a very drastic subject change there," Keiji said, "but elaborate."
"Alright. I might need to backtrack a little though. When I was a kid I found this huge book in my dads bookshelf and I loved it. It was about ancient legends and stuff. And one was about special lines of natural energy that were running underneath this city."
"If you're getting to a point there, that would actually be nice," Keiji interrupted her.
"Patience, I said I have to backtrack a little," Hatsuko continued, "Well, those lines of energy cross at exactly six points throughout the city where they are especially strong, although they remain dormant for most of the time. However, once every thousand years, during a small period of time, those crosspoints become active and they are said to grant wishes."
"Like shooting stars or wishing wells?" Yuito asked.
"Probably, as neither of those works. But hey, I have basically tracked down where one of them is and I wanna head out and see if I find something."
"So basically, go somewhere and find nothing?" Keiji threw in, "since, you know, you're talking about magic, and natural energy here."
"I put lots of effort into this, so fuck you. Anyway, one of you guys wanna join in?" she continued, "I'll bring drinks and sandwiches."
"I'm out," Saburo said, "I have a thing called a life."
"I don't have a life but I'm out too," Keiji repeated, "I'm this close to figuring out how to change the station on our radio."
"Looks like we're down to two," Yuito said, "I'll join you, sounds fun. How many are there yet?"
"Counting you, there's us," Hatsuko said, "the rest of my friends basically reacted like those two guys, so, I was already banking on it just being me, myself, and I, and the three of us would have had a nice picnic trip with my brand new stun gun. But now we've got a strong man to support this heap of girls, so yay."
"Well, about the strong man part..." Keiji intervened, with Yuito quickly shutting him down.
"I am male, I am strong by my definition, deal with it," he said, "so, you bring a picnic and your stun gun, and I bring myself?"
"That about covers it. I'll send you the details, mostly because I haven't figured them out myself yet."
"Sounds good."
"Shh, its coming up now," Saburo silenced both of them, before turning his attention to the waitress: "Sorry, can you turn up the volume for a moment? My friends in the ballot."
It took the three others a while to catch on, but when they looked at the television, they saw that they were currently drawing the pairings for the next round of the tournament.
"Did you just call me friend," Yuito remarked jokingly to Saburo.
"It rolls easier of the tongue than acquaintance. And shut up you're gonna miss being matched with Ever White."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Now shut up, both of you, I wanna see this," Hatsuko spoke up, silencing the table.
As their turned their eyes to the broadcast, they saw a young blonde woman in a short skirt drawing pieces of paper from a bowl.
"Emi, Rank 6412, versus," she said while drawing a second piece out of the bowl, "Daisuke, Rank 4689."
Both names then appeared on a tournament schedule, along with their respective ranks. The first two pairings were already picked, the name Ever White not yet on it.
"Third quarter final will be..." the girl grabbed one of the four leftover pieces, feigning excitement, "Yuito, Rank 6978 versus..."
"Come on, Ever White, say Ever White!" Saburo cheered, before Hatsuko hit him on the arm to silence him.
"Noro, Rank 3."
For a second, there was just utter silence at the table as all of the four stared at the tournament table, when the large bronze colored number three appeared next to a line of four digit ones. So the mystery contender was not Ever White.
"Oh my god I hate you even more now," Saburo eventually broke the silence.
"How so?" Keiji asked, while Yuito was still trying to catch his breath, "he's gonna lose big time."
"Yes, but playing against the Spirit Master will do wonders for his Rank. Even losing is guaranteed to shoot him up in the thousands," Hatsuko explained, "same goes for anyone in Top 100, but the three on top are especially rough cases there."
"The Spirit Master? Is that some kind of title?" Keiji asked.
"It's a nickname. The Spirit Master, the Silver Princess and the Northerner, the first three Ranks."
"So, its a win-win situation for me by just losing?" Yuito finally managed to speak up.
"Kind of," Hatsuko answered, with Saburo quickly intercepting her efforts.
"Well, there's always the risk to get humiliated in front of a live audience, which could produce videos that will haunt you for the rest of your life. But no sweat," he said, "just make sure you don't lose too badly."
"It's not that much of a win-win situation anymore now," Keiji remarked, "so how do we go about this now?"
"What if I just try to win?" Yuito asked, but Hatsuko and Saburo just burst out laughing at this.
"Sweetheart," Hatsuko said, "other people have tried, better people than you."
"Same from me," Saburo backed her up, "save for the 'sweetheart'."
"So, just, not make a fool out of myself and lose with confidence?"
"Yes please," Hatsuko said, "and in return I take to a nice picnic trip."