“Did you hear? Shion scored first in our year again.”
“Must be nice, being able to get everything you want with just the power of luck.”
“Seriously. Speaking of, do you remember that fire that happened a few weeks ago? Amamiya rescued us, but what if he also started it to make himself look good?”
“I could see it. He got a medal from the mayor for it and everything.”
“Meanwhile, we’re just bit players in his life. God, he’s disgusting.”
“His luck lets him be the best at everything he does. He’s living life on easy mode. I’m jealous as shit, but it’s not like we can be mean to him since then we’re the ones who’ll get screwed.”
“Yeah, that power’s scary. Let’s just keep pretending to be his friends so we can stay on his good side.”
“Agreed. I wouldn’t want my house catching fire.”
“...”
No one ever believed me. No matter how hard I tried, no matter what I accomplished, my efforts were never recognized. Everything just slipped through my fingers like sand. Everyone wished they could have my power, but I just wished I’d never been born with it...
“Ngh!”
Amane cradled his head as painful memories washed over him. He’d tried his hardest to forget that past. Back then, he’d been foolish enough to believe that hard work would be rewarded, and he’d tried his best at everything. But now wasn’t the time for a trip down memory lane.
“Why do you know that name, Ikki-kun?”
He was certain he’d erased that name from all records when he’d joined Rebellion. Ikki had nothing to do with his past, so there was no reason for him to know it.
“I heard it from Prime Minister Tsukikage,” Ikki answered, not bothering to hide it. “He told me that you would try and forfeit the match today. That would put Akatsuki in a tight spot, though, so he told me your secret. He wanted me to rile you up so you’d be willing to fight. Then, he told me about the life you’d led up to this point.”
Amane had spent his childhood being jerked around by his power. It was truly strong, since it let him get anything he wished for. But while it gave him everything, it also took everything from him.
Because of what his power could do, no one had ever believed that anything he’d accomplished was the result of the work he’d put in. No matter how hard he’d studied, no one had believed he was responsible for his good grades. No matter how much time and effort he’d put into his clubs, no one had believed he was responsible for his victories. Even when he’d courageously saved his classmates from a disaster, everyone had thought he’d caused the disaster in the first place.
Despite his best efforts, he’d never been able to hold on to anything important, like family or friends. All that remained were results. His power truly did bring him nothing but nameless glory. No one cared about him or his potential. All they cared about was the goddess of luck watching over him. Their eyes were on her, not him. That was the life Shinomiya Amane—or rather, Amamiya Shion—had led.
“After I heard that story, I finally understood why it was that I instinctively hated you from the moment I met you.”
At first, Ikki had thought he’d met Amane somewhere before. The boy’s eyes held the same darkness as those belonging to the figure that lived in the depths of his memories. But now, he realized that the face staring up at him hadn’t been Amane’s. It had been his own. That was simply who he had been back when everyone had denied him and his potential, treating him like he wasn’t there. It was the Ikki who’d existed before he’d met Ryouma and learned to believe in himself. In other words, Ikki had seen his past self in Amane. The version of him that didn’t have the courage to believe in himself and had retreated inward.
“I get now why we’ll never see eye to eye, and why I hate you so much,” Ikki went on. “You’re the very embodiment of the resignation and defeatism that I’ve been denying most of my life.”
“Ah!”
“And I imagine that’s why you hate me too, Amane-kun.”
Tsukikage had told Ikki that Amane was jealous of him. Like him, Amane was someone that no one had been willing to acknowledge. However, because Ikki had never given up, he’d managed to prove his worth to everyone and was now known as Another One, the famous Uncrowned Blade Master.
It was only natural that Amane would be jealous of that. Ikki had earned the one thing that he’d never been able to no matter how much effort he’d put in. Therefore, it came as no surprise that Amane wanted to ruin everything Ikki had accomplished with the very same Nameless Glory that had so ruined his own life. That was why Shinomiya Amane had agreed to help Tsukikage with his plan. All of it had been to bring Ikki down.
“Honestly, though, the more I heard, the more pathetic you seemed,” Ikki said bluntly. “In the end, you’re just venting your frustrations on me. You’re jealous of people who got rewarded for their hard work and pity yourself because you didn’t. You’re a child throwing a temper tantrum.”
The chastisement didn’t end there.
“Prime Minister Tsukikage asked me to provoke you so you’d want to fight. I was planning to do that even before I heard his story for the sake of my duel with Stella, but frankly, I don’t care anymore. If you want to forfeit, be my guest. If you want to try and influence our duel, go ahead. I’ve never had any luck in my life to begin with. I’m already haunted by the god of misfortune, so what difference will it make if the goddess of luck starts messing with me too? Besides, neither I nor Stella is so weak that a petulant child like you can truly influence our battle. We’re on a completely different level from the likes of you.”
Ikki wasn’t saying that to be boastful. Now that he knew Amane’s true nature, he didn’t consider him a threat anymore. He wasn’t even worth fighting. To Ikki, Amane was nothing more than a pebble on the side of the road.
After hearing all that, Amane started laughing hysterically.
“Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I see... Even though I never told anyone about my past, I guess that doesn’t matter considering what that man’s Blazer powers are. I never thought he’d betray me, but since I tried to betray him first, I can’t really complain. But yeah, if you know everything, then I may as well drop the act.”
Amane continued his monologue.
“Yep, you’re right. Everything you said is true. I hate people who believe in hard work. I especially hate people who get rewarded for it. It’s not fair. I worked hard too, but what did I get in return? A whole lot of nothing! And you’re supposed to be like me—someone everyone thought was worthless! That’s why I planned on ruining your stupid duel. I wanted to make everything you were striving for turn to ashes in your mouth. But fine. If you know the truth, there’s no point in waiting for the finals.”
He summoned his Device, Azure, and cross-shaped blades appeared between each of his fingers. Then, he threw them all into the ground.
“I take back what I said about forfeiting,” he declared. “I don’t care one bit about the Seven Stars Battle Festival, but now I’m curious if you really can beat Nameless Glory, Ikki-kun. Let’s see how well you fare against the goddess that ruined my life!”
The referee frowned.
“You can’t just take back—”
“I don’t mind,” Ikki said before he could finish, summoning Intetsu. “Go ahead and start the match.”
“Are you certain, Kurogane?”
Ikki nodded.
“If he ran away, I wouldn’t bother chasing him, but if he’s coming at me, I’ll fight. I do still need to pay him back for what he did to my sister, after all.”
“Heh. Classic Ikki-kun. You’ve got no talent, but you still talk big. I know I said I loved that about you, but really I hate that drivel so much that I wanna kill you.”
“Ngh!”
The referee trembled at the naked bloodlust in Amane’s gaze. All of the crows started cawing at once, and thunder rumbled in the sky. For a moment, he wondered if it was really safe to let the two of them fight. He had a feeling something horrible would happen if he did. But since both parties had agreed to the match, he no longer had the right to stop it.
“All right, let’s go ahead!”
Thus, the second semifinal match began.