We continued to shoot each other questions as we drove to my apartment. I would never have guessed that he was this friendly and funny guy by the way he quarreled with Suze earlier. And he looked like a stuck-up rich kid, but he turned out to be more insightful than any of my seniors in the Kappa. We got to know each other a little better before he dropped me off outside the complex gate.
"Thanks again for the food and the ride," I bowed.
"My pleasure. You're pretty interesting. See you in the next event, then."
"You're not so bad yourself. Drive safe," I waved.
"Take care, Ren" he drove off.
I unlocked the door to my empty apartment and tossed my bag on the floor before getting ready to shower. I recalled every moment of the day as I wiped my make up off in the bathroom mirror.
Everything had been unexpected, winning second place on my first debate competition, befriending a nice group of powerful contenders, free dinner, a ride home from a kind young man; it felt like a dream.
*****
Two months had passed since our last encounter, I had not seen nor heard anything from Team Alpha. But today they had the notorious Team Alpha debating event. Every debate club would have an annual event as a mean of recruitment and friendly competition with rival teams.
Potential applicants were made to go against each other or a rival team. Accepted candidates were chosen by the seniors according to their arguments, confidence, tactics, and teamwork. Host team were not allowed to acquire existing members of rival teams. Winning team would automatically be recruited.
"Welcome to our Alpha lair dear participants, guests, and honorable rivals! We will be starting our event soon. For those who aren't registered yet, our reception desk is still open. Thank you for your patience," Michael announced.
The twins and I were the only representatives of our club as we had a limited number of active members. We slithered our way through the crowd to meet our friend at the judging panel. No sign of Hiro or Suze.
"Hey Michael! Still remember us?" Claudia tapped his shoulder.
"Claudia! Of course, how could I forget? Suze is upstairs with the rest of the seniors," he smiled at the familiar faces.
"It's good to see you again. It's a shame we won't get the chance to beat your team this time," Clause gave a sullen look.
"I bet you'll have fun with our new team. The event's about to start, I'll catch up with you guys later," he smiled and took his place at the panel.
The event went on smoothly with groups going up and down the stage as rounds went by. Still no sign of Hiro. Clause had a pep talk with his sister while I reread my notes. It was finally our turn to take the stage. Our debate club was not as popular or prestigious as the other ones on campus.
The founders of the clubs used to be friends and decided to form debate clubs of their own to preserve a friendly yet challenging culture between the faculties. Our founder and his successors were not on the popular spectrum. Alpha, on the other hand, formed a lineage of winners. Today was the day we made our presence known.
Without Hiro in the team, we had an easy victory. The participants who had lost would still be individually assessed by the panel. A list of new member/s would be produced and posted on the message board. Until then, we decided to visit our old friends once more as Suze joined Michael next to the kombucha dispenser.
"Hey Suze! Lookin' good," Clause finger-gunned.
"Clause, flattering as always. Good job out there. You really improved your timing," Suze turned to face us.
"Thanks. We reviewed from our last match with you. Learnt a lot," I complimented.
"That's so sweet. I wish the juniors would learn as fast as you. If you weren't from Kappa, I would've taken you," she folded her arms as she eyed her juniors.
"Oh yeah, where's Hiro? I thought we might be going against him or at least see a glimpse of him somewhere," Claudia eventually asked.
"He's having some family problems. We haven't seen him in a while either," Michael whispered.
"I heard that his dad's health has been declining," Suze whispered along.
"Yeah he might die soon," Michael added before Suze smacked his arm.
"Why are we whispering?" I asked.
"Don't you know who his dad is?" Suze asked, appalled.
"He said his dad's family were lawyers."
"Not just any lawyers! They are some of the best in the country!" Michael got excited.
"Let's have hotpot for dinner and continue this conversation there," Suze suggested.
Everyone nodded in agreement and dispersed to different areas. We regrouped at the hotpot restaurant and we were kindly guided by the waiter to the private dining area we dined in previously.
"So, who is this notorious lawyer family of his?" I asked.
Suze turned up the volume of the TV, "ever heard of the Tanaka clan? The oldest Asian mob family in Shang-Francisco. They've branched out to owning and running the biggest law firm here."
"He's related to Shao Tanaka?" Clause jutted in.
"That's his grandpa. Now the Tanaka law enterprise is under his dad. Who knows what would happen if he was to pass?" Suze's eyebrows curled with concern.
"Might be a bloodshed," Michael retorted.
"Why?" Clause questioned.
"You see, Hiro's uncle controlled most of the underground business of the family while his dad managed their family law firm. His dad trained all of his sons, including Hiro, to take care of the business," Suze explained.
"Sounds pretty simple to me. His dad can just pass it down to Hiro and his brothers. What's the problem?" Clause asked.
"Well, we don't know for sure if his uncle would let that happen so easily. He might want to acquire both aspect of the family empire."
"That's messed up," Claudia commented.
"He is the younger brother, after all. Now we need to wait for the will or appeals after his dad's inevitable death."