Just a disclaimer to say that Yu-Gi-Oh and all it's associated properties (including GX, 5D's, Zexal, Arc V and Vrains) don't belong to me. All characters, materials, etc. are owned by others. I'm merely using them in this fanfic for fun.
A Maiden's Quest – Heart One
"Go, Blue Eyes, finish them off with White Lighting!" Konami roared, as his legendary dragon reduced Chazz and Alexis' Life Points to zero.
The holograms disappeared as the sun shone high above in the sky. The midday sun hung high up above. Duel Academy's famous waterfall glistened beneath it, as it gently cascaded water down. There was little noise around as most students enjoyed a lie in on Sunday morning. The calm setting contrasted sharply with the intense duel that had just concluded.
"I can't believe I lost to a couple of slackers!" Chazz muttered, his face pale from the shock, looking as if he would faint any second.
His partner seemed to take the loss in her stride compared to the Slifer. "Hm, I guess that proves that you can't just tag out of the blue."
"Yeah! Now we can continue to the top of the legendary rocks." Blair exclaimed, nearly bowling Konami over with her excited hug, bearing her face in his chest, causing her partner to blush slightly, as her blue-purplish hair tickled the underside of his chin.
He knew they were partners and all but he found it to still awkward to have the girl he had a crush on hug him like that, especially when she was so oblivious to his feelings for her.
"Konami, are you OK?"Blair asked looking up at him. "You look all flushed. It's not the heat getting to you? Did you eat well this morning? I told you, your oversleeping can't be good for your digestion!"
"Oh…. Um … Yeah, I'm fine … it's just…..-"
"Ah, come on!" Chazz barked loudly, Konami thankful for once for Chazz's temper. "You were lucky! I could beat you in a rematch. And besides that, I thought you were after Jaden…"
Blair looked both angry and confused by Chazz's remark. "Well, of course I am! Why do you say that!?"
The rich Slifer student's face quickly turned from annoyed to smug. "Huh? You came this far and you still haven't figured it out? You dork!"
"Hey, Chazz! Watch it." Konami yelled, not liking the way Chazz spoke to his partner. "Just say whatever it is that you know."
"No need to get upset, Red Hat. And just so you know, you could fill the school library with the amount of stuff I know that you don't." Chazz was clearly revelling in knowing something the other two Slifers didn't. "Oh well. You two are lucky I'm such a nice guy. I'll point out the obvious for you two slackers. You're supposed to come here with the person the person you want to fall for you, Blair! And you're coming here with Konami!? Ha, ha, ha!"
"Ah! I didn't think of that! ..." Blair exclaimed, as small tears started to form in her brown eyes, "Maybe he's right ….."
'Jeez,' Konami thought, 'don't look that upset, Blair, I might take offence.'
"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" Chazz was looking extremely smug now, with a grin that might just split his face in two. "Looks like you wasted your time! So go on and get outta here!" Nothing could ruin his mood now!
"Uh, Princeton … What is this you're talking about?"
Chazz whipped his head around with such ferocity Konami was surprised he didn't break his neck. Alexis had stayed silent up until that point and Chazz clearly forgot about her. As much as Konami wished his sometimes friend, always rival well in his romantic endeavours, it was hard not to enjoy the situation he got himself into.
"Ah! Oh, shoot!" A clearly horrified Chazz stammered, searching for some way out of the hole he dug for himself. "D-Don't get the wrong idea, Rhodes!"
Unfortunately for him, Alexis wasn't in a mood to hear his excuses, after losing and then being ignored for so long. "I'm leaving." She said as she walked off without a backwards glance.
"W-Wait! Rhodes! This is just a misunderstanding. I wasn't trying to hide anything!" Chazz yelled, leaving to give chase to her.
As they left, Konami let out the laugh he was holding in. Chazz could be annoying but his failed romantic advances always were amusing to Konami. He always found ways to mess up the situation.
"Man, people say Chazz has no sense of humour. That couldn't be further from the truth. He's the funniest guy I know. Just a shame for him it's all unintentional." Konami said, as he turned away from where they departed back to see his partner, who didn't share his good mood.
"I-I'm sorry, Konami." She weakly said looking severely disheartened. "I just ended up wasting your time again."
"Wasted my time?" Koami looked genuinely surprised at that. "Blair, if it wasn't for you I'd still be asleep right now. Instead I got to have a sick duel against two tough opponents. And besides," he continued his voice getting slightly weaker as a blush crept up his cheeks, "hanging around with you is never a waste of time."
Blair seemed taken aback by Konami's words before she broke out into a big grin. People always assumed she partnered up with him because of his great dueling skills, which was initially one of the reasons she choose him (along with the fact he was friends with Jaden). However, what kept the team together was his ability to raise her spirits even after every set back, be it duelling or love related.
" ….. I guess nothing comes easy, huh? Good thing this Maiden in Love always has her brave knight by her side, right?"
Konami's heart skipped a beat at Blair's smile. It hurt him to know that she loved Jaden like she did but he still vowed that he would do everything he could to help her. Even if she didn't feel the same as he did, he promised to protect that smile that lit up his whole world, even if it meant seeing her with someone else. She had always had his back and always raised his spirits over the years, no matter how bleak a situation he found himself in was. Now he had to have her back and repay her. That's what it meant to be a good partner, right?
"Of course. Right by her side. Where he always will be."
"Promise?"
"Pinky Promise." The partners locked pinkies, signalling their bond. Konami didn't know if he held on too long but for now he wasn't going to over think it.
"Well, seems like this plan for winning over Jaden was a bust. But seeing as we're here, let's continue further before we head back!" Konami's eyebrows shot into his hairline at that suggestion (not that it was noticeable with his hat obscuring his face). "Come on, Konami! It's probably all superstition anyway! Next time I meet Jaden, I'll give him a direct attack to his heart!"
"With what? You're 'special recipe' that seems to be dangerously high in cholesterol?"
"Jerk!" Blair yelled, giving chase to a fleeing Konami who took off up the mountain.
(A few hours later)
"Phew….. I'm gassed." Konami sighed, collapsing at the sight of the legendary rocks.
The sun had started to fall in the time it took them to reach the summit of the mountain, where the legendary rocks were. It cast an orange hue over Duel Academy Island. The climb up the mountain had taken much longer than Konami had expected. It was made much harder by having to run part of the way up to avoid Blair's wrath.
"Maybe if you didn't choose to run all the way up the mountain to escape the beating you know you deserve, you wouldn't be so out of breath." Blair countered well naturedly, moving past the jibe at her cooking abilities long ago and only continuing to chase Konami to get the heavy sleeper to do some exercise.
"Yeah, yeah," Konami muttered, "so these are the rocks?"
"Yup. Although they don't seem too legendary to me." Blair said, looking disappointed at the landscape.
"Maybe those rocks aren't great but you can't deny the view from up here." Konami pointed out, looking out over the whole of Duel Academy Island. "Just a shame you'll never be able to keep Jaden's attention long enough to get him to climb up here."
Blair turned to look at the view he was pointing out when she suddenly did a double take. From the mountain top, all of Duel Academy's famous landmarks were clear. The waterfall, the volcano, the respective dorms and, of course, the main building were all visible. It showed just how beautiful and varied the island was. The smell of the sea, Duel Academy's trademark odour, was gone replaced with a much more pleasant smell of fresh, pure air.
Konami took off his hat to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. The sunlight shone in his bright blue eyes in a way that was unusual for him, as he rarely took off his hat. The gentle breeze from atop the mountain danced through his mousy, brown hair, slightly ruffling his red jacket as well. He felt an overwhelming feeling of contentment fall over him. Up by the legendary rocks all his feelings and worries slipped away and felt less daunting.
Whatever Viper had planned, whether the Shadow Riders rose again, a cult of Light came back or any other challenge this world threw at him, he felt he could handle it.
Blair also shared this feeling of content. She sat beside her partner and gently rested her head on his shoulder. Konami let out minor yelp of surprise but didn't protest any further. Blair sat there silently, as she thought of all her concerns. As long as her brave knight was by her side, she felt that nothing could drag her down.
The team sat together as the sun continued to fall into the sea. Konami had that about leaving a few times but he didn't say anything. This moment was perfect for him. Spending his day watching the sunset with the girl he cared about more than any other, isn't that what life was all about?
Surprisingly, Blair shared his feelings. She could have stayed by her partner like this forever. Konami's shoulder was quite comfortable and the feeling of his soft breathing brushing her skin was relaxing. This was usually something you do with the person you love, but to Blair, Konami felt so natural and right in this situation.
Eventually, Konami spoke up. "I suppose we should start heading back. If we don't we'll get in trouble for missing curfew."
Reluctantly, Blair agreed. As much as she wanted to stay, she was a person who prided herself on being the ideal Duel Academy student. She slowly stood up and quickly dusted herself down before offering her hand to help Konami up. The brunet reached up to except, grateful as his legs had gone dead from sitting down so long.
As soon as their hands touched, Blair felt a weird feeling come over her. She suddenly became conscious of how nice Konami's hand felt in hers. Heat ran into her cheeks as her partner's face came close to hers as he stood up.
"So got any ideas for what you'll do next time?" he asked, walking off.
"Huh?" Blair asked, still blanked out.
"For the next time you try win Jaden over?" Konami clarified as he saw a small signpost by the trees.
Blair stood there silently as Konami sweat dropped when he realised that there had been a stairs they could have taken to reach the mountain top faster.
For some reason that Blair couldn't quite explain, the idea of getting Jaden to like her suddenly seemed less appealing now….
