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Heizou stared at the man in front of him. With an eerily gentle smile, his graceful movements conquered the black and white tiles on the table. They play in tandem, one on one in a dance of wits— But Heizou could tell that there was something off.
The dance was calculated, controlled, and not in the way one would expect. It was as if the plot had been decided from the start, the result set in stone long before their game had begun. The dance’s end was clear, no matter how many twists and turns they go through—
“Checkmate.”
It was always Heizou’s win.
“Ah, it seems I’ve lost again.” Kazuha laughed, a sound like fluttering leaves in the wind. “You truly are one of a kind, Shikanoin-san.”
But never at his own hand.
Kazuha’s smile held no vitriol. He had been content— No, satisfied with his loss. Heizou knew. No matter how many times Kazuha would deny it, he couldn't hide from him.
Kaedehara Kazuha was holding back.
“I think you're one of a kind yourself, Kaedehara.”
Kazuha’s toothy grin looked awfully child-like in comparison to the well-thought play he had performed. It was one of those things that made Heizou remember how despite everything, his opponent was just a boy his age who follows through with his peculiar antics.
“Such high praise from criminology’s star student! I’m flattered.”
“Hmm, hearing those words from someone like you is much more rewarding, I feel.”
“My, aren't you quite the smooth talker today, Heizou?”
“Well—”
“That's it! I’ve had enough of you two!”
Heizou turned his head around to see none other than Lumine with a face that rivals the angriest of bears. Her brother stood behind her, shaking his head in disappointment. That’s right, it was supposed to be another day of university that started off with him getting coffee with Lumine. ‘Supposed to be’ being the main point here. Heizou saw Kaedehara Kazuha’s scarf in the corner of his eye and Archons, who knows how they got to this point? Every time Kazuha is involved, Heizou can’t seem to think straight. Ironic for someone of his reputation.
Kazuha had been accompanying Lumine’s own twin Aether when he showed him that soft expression of his, the one that contrasts with his sharp answers to Heizou’s challenges. The one that makes Heizou’s heartbeat a little faster than usual. Lumine couldn’t blame him for wanting to stay with him a little longer, now could she?
“Why is it that whenever you two are in the same room together, you just have to compete with each other like this?” Lumine sighed. “I don’t get it.”
“Same here,” Aether chimed in.
Red started to flush Heizou’s ears. In all honesty, it did start out as him being curious as to the other’s motivations.
Their first meeting wasn’t unlike any other meetings, as much as many around them would like to fantasize. No, it was just two Inazuman students finding themselves talking over a shared birth place in a room of people with various backgrounds. Kazuha at that time was simply someone he found a common link with. And then again, again, and sometimes they would diverge and meet at such peculiar points that Heizou would laugh just remembering it all.
That was all there was to it.
But at some point, he started to have… other motives. Motives that include seeing his partner laugh and watching the tilt of his head when he called his name. Heizou didn’t even know when his private investigation turned into, perhaps, personal matters. It surprised him more than most things he had encountered, and he had seen a lot.
But the feeling he experiences when Kazuha looks his way, that was what he hadn’t known before.
“Sorry, sorry! You’d have to excuse us, Kazuha is just such a fine opponent that I can’t help myself!” “You don’t often meet people this talented after all!”
“Didn’t I just play with you yesterday?”
“Well, yes…”
“What gives! So when I ask to play we finish in one round but you get to bother Kazuha
“I think it’s because you aren’t a ‘fine opponent’, Lumi.”
“Shut up!”
“Oh dear, should we stop them?”
“Nah, let’s go for another round, shall we?”
Kazuha’s laughter rang again through the confines of his mind. “Alright.” The bandaged arm started to clean up his end of the chess mat. As he leaned to grab his queen away from Heizou, his gaze turned upwards. “If I’m late to Professor Venti’s class, I know who to blame.” His eyes gleamed as he graced Heizou with that damned smile of his. “Don’t I?”
Heizou gulped. This should not make him this nervous. Caught slightly off guard, he tried to laugh it off. “By all means, name drop me as much as you’d like. I’ll take full responsibility!” He leaned in, feeling like testing the waters– or rather, diving straight into it. “Think you can win next time?”
Kazuha blinked. A lithe chuckle followed.
“Now where’s the fun in that?”