TBATE - Brother's Once More

The Amphitheater

It was like the world had come to a complete stop. I knew the phrase "you could hear a pin drop" was just an expression but this had to be what it really looked like.

The only thing that could even be called sound was the light breeze hitting my face and the burning wicks of lit candles near the outer walls.

But as expected, the silence was short lived as a wave of cheers invaded my ears.

There were a couple of students who exchanged coins like they'd really been betting on me coming here but most others just laughed at their friends.

As we walked out to the platform, a bunch of people came up to greet me, like I'd been a limited edition item or something.

After reaching the front next to Theodore, Claire pointed to the fighter on the left, wearing some plate armor that climbed to his shoulder wielding a sword lined with gold and blue.

"That's Lenny, he's another friend of ours! He's a Water affinity Augmenter and uses a sword like me!"

I smirked at her and Theodore.

"Kind of ironic, no?"

"People like to say we were destined for each other," Theodore commented.

"They don't think a friendship like ours was a coincidence, so obviously the only answer they can think of is fate."

I smiled inwardly, thinking about how ironic those words were.

"Fate, huh..."

He cocked an eyebrow, glancing at me.

"What about fate?" He seemed kind of invested but kept his focus on the duel, which seemed close to its end.

"It's ironic bringing up fate. A dual-element mage makes friends with a Gravity deviant and water mage so automatically, people assume it's fate. Is it really?"

He shrugged, pulling his gaze towards the red-haired girl as she shouted her cheers of support in front of us.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Thing about Claire, she doesn't even realize how she just... pulls people towards her.

Fourteen years I've known her and she's always been the same old Claire, courteous to even the poorest commoner and equally as aggressive in front of the snobby nobles flaunting what they like to call influence.

More times than I've bothered counting have I needed to back her up and every time, I've done so without fail. I don't trust anyone more than I do her."

Might as well call yourselves siblings. To do that without even a sliver of doubt shows their experience and relationship with each other.

Just as Theodore finished speaking, the sound of a blade stabbing into the ground was heard.

Looking at the platform, the boy Claire introduced to me as Lenny threw his sword arm up and shouted victoriously, paying no mind to his disheveled blonde hair.

His plate armor was covered in scratches and the edge of his blade looked about as sharp as Arthur's latest sense of fashion but nonetheless, a win is still a win. Even that had to earn my applause.

As the crowd died down and cheers subsided, Claire jumped onto the platform like some kind of stage announcer.

Materializing what I assumed to be a mic from her Dimensional Ring, she brought it up to just below her mouth.

"And that right there is what I call a duel, everyone!! Can we get some noise for our winner?!"

A wall of shouts and cheers responded, most everyone cheering in congratulations.