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“Number 164.” Yuno watched as Asta took a step in front of the crowd, staring up at the magic knight captains with anxious eyes. A long moment of silence passed, and, surprising absolutely no one, no hands were raised. Yuno held his breath; his battle against Asta to become the Wizard King wasn’t going to end here. It couldn’t.
“I’m not surprised,” the captain of the Black Bulls said suddenly, breaking the silence. He took a step forward, then jumped down in front of Asta. “No matter how high your combat skills are, in the end, the most important thing about a magic knight is their magical powers.”
Asta stared up at Yami with wide eyes, his body frozen with shock. Yuno anxiously shifted his weight from one foot to the other, chewing on his lip as he watched the scene unfold.
“You want to become the Wizard King, yeah?” Yami’s glare hardened. “So you’re saying you’re going to surpass us captains. But how about with me right in front of you now? Can you still say that, even though you have have no magic powers?”
For a moment, Asta stayed silent, staring at the ground. Briefly, Yuno wondered if his rival had just admitted defeat.
“Even if I can’t join the magic knights today... Even if I fail over and over again... No matter what anyone says...” Asta looked up, staring Yami directly in the eye. “One day, I will become the Wizard King!”
Yuno grinned. He was a fool to think Asta had admitted defeat so soon; Asta was far too stubborn for that.
Another moment of silence passed, and Yami began laughing. “I like you, kid. Join the Black Bulls.”
Asta blinked. “Huh?”
“By the way, you have no right to refuse.”
Asta swallowed back his nerves. “Y-Yes sir!”
With that, Yami returned to his place with the other captains, and the choosing continued. Asta was grinning like an idiot, barely containing his excitement, and Yuno felt an overwhelming sense of pride. For the second time, he found himself thinking, As if you wouldn’t be chosen, Asta.
“Number 165.” Yuno now stood at the front of the crowd. There were murmurs coming from behind him, but he was far too concentrated on the captains in front of him to notice.
Nearly instantaneously, every captain’s hand went up. Yuno’s eyes widened for a moment, but his composure was quickly regained. He knew what his choice was.
Yuno took a deep breath.
“I would be honored to join the Black Bulls!”
The silence following that statement lasted nearly half a minute, with everyone trying to comprehend what they’d just heard.
The genius kid with a four leaf clover on his grimoire had just chosen to join the absolute worst of the magic knight squads.
The silence was broken by the heavy laughter of the Black Bulls captain himself. Then, the other captains began murmuring amongst themselves. And then came more laughter, murmurs, and shouts from the crowd behind Yuno. Yuno shut it all out. He knew his choice was borderline idiotic, and that joining the Golden Dawn would have far better solidified his path to becoming Wizard King, but where Asta went, he wanted to follow.
Regardless of the squad he chose, Yuno knew that he would be the one to become Wizard King. There was no doubt in his mind.
Yuno turned to walk towards where Asta had gone, but before he could move, he was tackled to the ground by the boy himself in a tight hug.
“You’re such an idiot!” Asta yelled, somehow managing to simultaneously grin and glare at Yuno. “You got chosen by the strongest squad, and you chose the one with the absolute worst reputation just because that’s where I’m going?”
Yuno pushed Asta away and brushed himself off. “I just didn’t want to leave you so far in the dust.”
It wasn’t the complete truth. Yuno knew far well that whether Asta was put in the strongest squad or the weakest squad, he’d work his way to top in no time anyways. It had nothing to do with leaving Asta in the dust; it was about Yuno not leaving his brother’s side.
Besides, Yuno was confident in his own abilities as well. Strongest or weakest squad, he was going to become Wizard King. He’d have to work a bit harder now that he was joining the lowest ranking squad, but that meant nothing to him. He was going to stand side by side with his brother, and they were going to fight their way to the top no matter what.
-
Yuno didn’t have particularly high expectations for the Black Bulls, but when he stepped into the squad hideout, his face immediately paled.
As if the fact that the wall had just exploded wasn’t enough to put him off, the inside of the hideout was considerably worse.
Two members were sprinting around the walls, shooting fire and lightning at each other, not seeming to mind the damage being done to the building. A woman with pink hair was lying on the couch clad in only her underwear, complaining about a headache, and— Was that alcohol Yuno smelled? A short woman was stuffing her face with food, completely ignoring the fighting going on right in front of her, and a man with grey hair was speaking to someone through a mirror while repeatedly screaming at everyone to shut up. Behind them all loomed a dark, ominous looking figure.
Finral, the spacial magic user who had brought Yuno and Asta to the base, simply mumbled, “They’re at it again,” as if this was a normal occurrence.
Yuno sighed as it dawned on him that this was most definitely a normal occurrence around here.
“Welcome,” Yami said, “to the absolute worst magic knights squad: the Black Bulls!”
“I should’ve joined the Golden Dawn,” Yuno muttered. No one seemed to notice that he and Asta were even there.
“Uh...” Asta stared at the scene in front of him with wide eyes. Clearly, his expectations of the Black Bulls had been a little too high as well. He shook his head, regaining his composure, before shouting, “I’m Asta! I’m from Hadge village! As of today, I’m a member of the Black Bulls! I look forward to working with you all!”
Not a single one of the members heard a word Asta had said. The fighting and yelling continued, and Yuno sighed. He had grown up with a bunch of rowdy children, but this was infinitely worse. Living with these people was going to be a nightmare.