(Prett Y. Crawford POV): 

“Not bad, not bad Garridan-kun~” I licked my lips at the memory of the fight, the way he fought was simply marvelous~! I could feel the excitement burning underneath my skin, a knot of fire growing in my navel—phew. Calm yourself now Yantsey, none of the others can see the real you now ya hear? 

“Hmph, I’d sure hope he could win against Souta-san, the man only has the job because of his title as regent of the Yamazaki clan.” I tried to block out the incessant droning of the little pissant, but the littlest flies always buzz the loudest. Never mind him, he has his uses and I can't throw away such a useful tool~!

“Any news on the fence-sitters~?” I whispered with a conspiratorial voice, my ears already tingling just waiting for dirty secrets. If anything Yuto-kun was most useful when it came to gathering information on the ins and outs of Japan’s exorcist politics. The man had his own bias, but by simply knowing that he despised the clans and the Kyoto school I could interpret his words and make sense of what was really happening. He really was so eager to prove his intelligence~.

“Ugh—the bastards threatened to pull their kids out at first, but with some strong reassurances and a few greased palms the incident was swept under the rug easily. That doesn't mean however that Kyoto isn't plotting to further the divide between the school and the clans, and no doubt they see the tournament as the perfect time to make a statement on their ‘superiority’.” I nodded at his assessment, the exorcist politics of Japan were likely the messiest of any country with an affiliation to the Exorcist Corp.

 The traditional faction, the remnants of the Onmyōji of feudal Japan were still bitter about their defeat at the hand of the Exorcist Corp. They had never expected the Exorcist Corp to abandon tradition and work with their sworn enemies in Salem, the witches. The occupation was and continues to be a stain on the legacy of the storied clans, a sin in need of being cleansed. Their desire is to destroy the current order and return the state of the country to before the foreign exorcists arrival, killing off any who would oppose the return of feudal tradition. If any more clans joined under this banner it would be rather troublesome for people like me so I take a keen interest in their movement. 

“Don’t worry Yuto-kun, it isn't like we can't show them why being stuck in their ways is harmful. Let's give it our all in this fight, the winner will make sure we show them the power of a United world~!” The way his blood red eyes gleamed with determination put a smile on my face. You’ll get your wish to destroy the clans Yuto-kun, but it may come at the hands of the man you hate. My eyes followed the young man exiting with Souta-kun’s arm wrapped around his shoulder. If the world is going to change, it’ll be at the hand of men like us. 

The outsiders. 

***

(Homura Yuto POV): 

I was born to a mundane family in Matsushima, Miyagi prefecture. Everything up until the moment of my kidnapping is all but a blurry memory now, but I remember being happy. I had a mother and father who loved and doted on me, an older sister who teased and played with me, and friends at school who brightened my day. All of that ended though when the Homura clan discovered my talent for using geist. 

They tore me from my home in the middle of the night. The bastards easily subduing my family as they fought desperately to prevent my abduction. I can still hear the sound of their cries, they had only ceased when their minds were wiped with a memory-erasing technique. From that day forward I was no longer Sugawara Yuto, but an adopted son of the Homura clan. They told me I should feel honored to have been invited into their ranks, that I should thank them and serve them and their wishes. 

“Bullshit…” I mumbled the word under my breath as I walked out onto the gym floor, the broken tiles and rubble that had once littered it were gone and replaced. The only thing I wanted to thank them for was giving me my life’s goal, tearing down this rotten system! To achieve this I will teach the next generation the error of their family's ways, and shape them into clan leaders that won't kidnap little children in the middle of the night to ‘adopt’ them. It will be a revolution, a casting aside of the tradition that harmed me and so many others and not even a drop of blood will be spilled to achieve it. 

“Hmm, did you say something~ Yuto-kun?” Prett-san asked as he cleared the tunnel leading toward the stairwell, his effeminate voice echoed as he stepped out of the darkness.

“Sorry Prett-san, I was just mumbling to myself.” I rubbed the back of my neck, the chuckle leaking from my lips was a little too nervous sounding for my liking. The man’s amethyst eyes narrowed, and for a moment my heart stopped until he gave me his signature goofy grin.

“That’s perfectly fine, I talk to myself all the time~! But please drop the formalities, my friends call me Pretty and in my book, you’re definitely a part of that club~!” I found my cheeks heating up at his sappy words, my face turning to hide the shameful display from the dandy man. Despite my every intention to win this duel between us I couldn't bring myself to hate the man. 

He had a charm unlike Souta-san who was too absorbed in eating and talking incessantly about his daughter. Prett-y was a man of refined taste, an intellectual not born from the clans and their haughty superiority complexes. No, the flamboyant exorcist was a true Renaissance man knowledgable in every topic of exorcist history and the study of geist. Our conversations would drag on into the night, the mauve-haired man putting up with my constant chatter. I enjoyed those talks even if he was the one humoring me.

“Thank you Pretty, I consider you a friend myself so please don't take it hard when I win again okay?” I grinned back as I finally crossed over to the other side of the gym. Turning around I began cracking my knuckles, my hands shaking left and right to loosen them up. 

“Hoh, so confident are we~?” The man rather than stretching removed his top hat and thick purple overcoat. Underneath was an immaculate plum-colored pinstripe suit that showed off his lithe and wiry frame. Pretty was tall, and his lanky arms grabbed hold of his cane that had taken to floating in the air all on its own as he gave it a few experimental thrusts like it was a rapier.

“I’ve matured since the last time we fought, my geist has blossomed into something wonderful.” I turned my head toward the viewing booth as I spoke, my eyes narrowing on the figure sitting next to the headmistress. That filthy cur was flirting with her, wasn't he? Gritting my teeth I gave the headmistress who was busy ignoring the disgusting stain of a man next to her a thumbs up. 

“Excellent~Yuto-kun, please show me what you've got! I won't hold back either!” The man gave the booth a nod, a lopsided grin plastered on his face at the sight of an exasperated headmistress trying to scooch away from Garridan on the couch. I had never seen the woman so put off by a man before, her stone-cold face grew even more frigid as she spoke into the intercom. 

[*Pssht*—The match will begin in three, two, one, Hajime!]

“[Flash Flower]!” I flicked my fingers as flame aura painted my hand crimson. A strand of geist led toward Pretty like a a fuse, the flaming red elemental aura devouring it as it sped across. The man smiled, I had opened last years fight with a similar attack and yet he made no effort to dodge. The flame aura devoured the last of the thread before igniting the geist around him in the air. A thundering explosion rocked the gymnasium and yet I was already prepping another attack.

“Impressive, your aura really has grown stronger~!” Walking out of the explosion was a completely untouched Pretty, his own body radiating a pale blue aura. The flames around him coming into contact with the strange elemental aura flickered out with a hiss in the blink of an eye. 

“Hmph, it doesn't make me feel any better when you say that and come out perfectly unscathed.” I snorted before my body was dyed red as I released my aura. Behind my back crimson wisps of flame detached from the veil of fire aura surrounding my body. The vermillion flames spread out into the shape of a rose in bloom, the petals flaring out into searing white edges as the fire grew hotter than the sun. 

“How cruel Yuto-kun~!” His languid words were followed by a lazy swipe of his hand holding his cane. The pale blue aura raced towards me as the air condensed, ice forming on the ground. 

“[Blooming Rose: Thorn Swarm]!” I yelled as the outer petals of the flaming flower behind me detached from the center. The crimson aura condensed into dozens of flaming spikes, the projectile's deadly tips facing Pretty. Without so much as a command the thorns whistled through the air toward the wave of freezing aura. 

*Boom*

On contact the thorns burst into flaming balls of napalm, the air heating up around the blue aura causing it to fizzle out. Steam filled the air as the ice melted and evaporated, a thick blanket obscuring me from where the eccentric man stood. I could feel this is exactly what he wanted as a blade of ice sailed past my face, the stinging cold radiating off of it made the area where the icicle nicked me freeze. The blood that would normally streak down my cheek from such a cut had frozen solid, the numbness growing as the ice aura fought against my own flame aura for control of my body’s temperature. 

“It seems you are finally taking me serious Pretty!” I grinned despite the pain, my aura flaring to life as the rose petals behind me peeled off the core of the flower. Molding the vermillion aura it coated my body like a suit of armor, the feeling of the ice aura melting inside of me brought a sigh of relief from me. That was until the silvery blade hidden under the man's cane came dangerously close to skewering me. 

“I always took you seriously Yuto~kun, but destroying your confidence would be silly! You've got so much room to grow, I refuse to stifle you~!” His blade sliced at my throat, my gauntlet of fiery aura blocking the blade with a hiss. Water dripped from the condensation created by the clash of temperatures, the man’s blade defying all conventions of standard metal as it didn't chip or warp at the extreme temperatures it was subjected to. In fact, the blade seemed to grow sharper the colder it got, the cracking sound of it shattering the vermillion aura of my armor filled the air. 

The blade bit into my skin, metal meeting bone as it glided through my flesh like butter. A hiss left my lips as the pale blue aura once again began freezing me from the inside out. Pretty smiled back at me, his purple-painted lips quirked in a lopsided grin. He hadn't even used a technique yet, just raw elemental aura, and yet still I was the one on the back foot. I guess it's time to break out the final flower in the bouquet.

“[Blooming Rose: Petal Beam Cannon]!” The flaming rose behind me dyed the world crimson, an orb of vermillion flame forming in front of the center of the flower as it rose into the air. The mauve-haired man smiled at the sight, his grin not even twitching at a technique I've used to slice through mountains. I could feel my teeth grit as I poured more and more geist into the attack, the elemental aura crackling with fiery sparks of electricity as the ball of pure flame grew. This was an all-or-nothing attack, and Pretty seemed to notice this, a serious gleam growing in his amethyst eyes.

“Very well, I will honor your resolve by showing you a trump card of mine.” His voice lacked any of the flamboyant flare it normally held, the pale blue aura surrounding the man grew larger and larger. A circular ring formed around me and him, the [Geist Field] taking shape began chilling the air at a rapid pace. My fiery rose still blazed onward, the attack now ready to deliver its molten payload.

“[Frozen World].” Everything ceased to move in that moment he spoke, a white dome of ice covered us and obscured the sight of the others in the viewing booth. The vermillion aura of my attack froze solid, white frost paradoxically growing on top of the fiery construct like bark on a tree. My body stiffened, even twitching my eyelids felt like I was pressing against the universe itself. I could only stare blankly ahead, my eyes gazing at the only thing moving in this icy hell.

“To you, it probably feels like time has stopped doesn't it~? I can assure you I am not that powerful yet as all I’m doing right now is slowing down the molecules in the radius of my [Geist Field]. Don't worry you won't feel a thing as I'm preventing the flash freeze from killing you, the worst you will experience is a bit of a cold later on.” As he spoke he walked behind me, the point of his blade resting in between my shoulder blades. At that moment the world resumed movement and my attack landed where the man had once stood.

*Boom* 

“I-I surrender,” I muttered, a deep weakness setting in my bones. My entire reserves had gone into one attack that completely missed. In fact, not one attack had landed on Pretty as his clean-pressed suit didn't even have a wrinkle on it. I had so thoroughly lost that it made me question why this man chose to hide his abilities, and why he would reveal them to me.

“Don’t act so glum Yuto-kun, that was a great performance. Had I not been blessed with my particular bloodline you would have won handily.” His conciliatory words did little to take away the sting of defeat, but I found myself grinning anyway. My dream of changing the world of exorcists for the better was still burning bright, but I need more power if I’m going to achieve that lofty goal. I need a teacher, it's ironic that a teacher would need his own teacher, but with how outclassed Pretty made me feel can you blame me for coming to that conclusion? 

“How did you get so strong?” 

“I’ll tell you in due time Yuto-kun, but now’s not the time with all the prying eyes~.” He gave me a wink as his shoulder nudged toward the viewing booth. That bumbling idiot Garridan looked down at us with wide eyes, his tan face growing unnaturally pale. I couldn't help but grin at the sight, my eyes flicking over to an impressed headmistress made the scene all the better. How could this man make me feel like I won the match when he was the one who beat me?

“I’ll hold you to it Pretty.”

“See to it that you do because the world is changing. Whether it will be for better or worse will largely depend on people like us. I hope you help me make the world into something we can both be proud of.” His tone was serious, lacking any of his usual cheer. The man walked in front of me, his hand outstretched in an offer of a handshake. My eyes glanced down at my own hand, squeezing my fist in a white knuckle grip I nodded. Taking his hand in mine we shook firmly, our eyes meeting as both of us smiled. The partnership between Ice and Fire had begun.