Hey everyone. This chapter has been re-done. Beta-corrected. Yay the others will come along soon.
Couples-AichiXOC and KaiXOC
TaishiXOC and ShinXOC - Sibling. Brother and Sister
I am a rookie at writing. Please do tell me if I've wrote something wrong, I will fix it as soon as I see your message^^
A big fat thank you to my lovely beta, StuffStuff! Thank you so much^^
Enjoy
Chapter 1
"You're back again?" an indifferent voice called out, as a plain, young girl stepped through the sliding doors. The plain girl always visits Card Capital. She stands quietly and runs her large green eyes over the stacks of cards. Always seen in her Hitsue Middle School uniform; a white and grey sailor-like sweater and skirt. The girl has shoulder length black hair with a tint of purple at the top 'a pair of bug-like antennae hairs poked out of her locks', the black hair frames her unusual big and round green eyes which she tries to hide behind her hair.
Holding her book bag tightly in her hands, the dark haired girl smiles brightly and nods her head, locks bouncing around her face, "Hai!"
"I've got new cards, want to play 23?" the same voice questioned. The girl looks at the beautiful young woman sitting behind the counter. Misaki Tokura; the woman is beautiful. Much more beautiful than herself.
Unlike herself, Misaki has long pure lavender hair with curls at the end, her hair frames her sparkling blue eyes. She has pale skin and is normally seen in her college uniform. A black blazer with a red strip around the shoulders, a white shirt with an untied ribbon and a long black skirt. The woman works at the store, Card Capital and despite working in the store, she isn't interested in games, but she plays small games such as 23 with the young girl for obvious reasons.
Embarrassingly, the young girl never talks to anyone at her school, people believed she is mute because all she ever does is nod or shake her head.
Miaski was the one who had snapped at her for being impolite, a couple of days after she had started to come to the store. The dark head girl had been surprised and scared when the older woman glared at her and said that she had been talking to her and she hadn't received an answer. Flushing, the younger girl squealed out her problem with panic boiling within her stomach; she had feared that she had upset the woman. Surprisingly Misaki had understood her feeling and problems and admitted that she wouldn't mind as much if the girl comes to the store and talks with her. The 15 year-old had been doing ever since. Misaki had become her only friend and she would tell her everything. Despite what people believed, Misaki had learnt the girl wasn't shy or timid, she was bubbly and out-going, she just had problems talking to people she didn't know.
"Ume." Misaki spoke monotonously, watching the girl take the stool next to her. The little black kitty quickly leaped into his favourite bed, Ume's lap, and laid on his back, allowing the girl to pet his stomach. Ume hummed while she took the cards Misaki held out.
Swiftly, the sliding doors opened and two boys from her school appeared. Ume jumped in surprise at them and Misaki just gave an annoyed look.
One boy had curly brown hair with large amber eyes. He appeared to be worn out as he leaned over with his hands on his knees. The other boy had dark black hair formed into a pair of spikes with bright crimson eyes. Both boys are dressed in the Hitsue Middle School, male uniform.
"They're from your school right?" Misaki asked, looking at the dark haired girl who numbly nodded with a confused expression on her face, "Why is he so worked up?" Ume's eyes widened as she frowned. She knew the black haired boy from school. He is a bully, he picked on everyone. Katsumi Morikawa. What an ass! She doesn't understand how a boy like Yuta Izaki could be friends with him. Unlike Morikawa, Izaki is actually an alright guy. He is kind and helpful; he gave her advice with math at one point. It frustrated her to know he follows after Morikawa like a lost puppy.
The black haired boy ran towards two other boys sitting at a table. Both boys are from another school with their navy blue blazers. The former had unusual blonde hair that spiked out everywhere with baby-blue eyes and tan skin, and the later had chocolate brown hair that was swiped to the side with narrowed green eyes and pale skin.
"Challenge!" Morikawa growled, throwing his finger out at the brunette.
"You're no challenge…" the brunette trailed off with a uncaring expression.
Ume stared at him before realizing it is Toshiki Kai. The boy would come to the store every now and then, he is also considered to be a very good card-player in the card game Vanguard. A game she, herself has played a couple of times. Her eyes sparkles as she turns them to look at the blonde, if Kai is here than so is his friend Taishi Miwa.
Suddenly Morikawa sneered angrily, he swung his fist around while his red eyes narrowed darkly at Kai, "You talk like a big short! I want a rematch!" he demeaned, "To decide who is the best in this shop! Once and for all!"
"Thanks, but no thanks…" Kai sighed, turning his head away from Morikawa and rested it against his hand. Ume giggled to herself, the somewhat older male doesn't look too interested in Morikawa, she hadn't seen anybody ever stand up to the boy, "You're not very good at this game. You have no foresight. Your style is pretty weak. All you care about is force. Playing you again will just be a waste of my time, so why bother?"
Taishi blinks his bright blue eyes, they shimmer as he ducks his head with a soft chuckle, "Dude~ that's harsh~"
Ume tilts her head, finding herself completely drawn within the conversation. Her green eyes widen in surprise when Morikawa let out another shriek, she briefly wonders why he is so dramatic, "You won't get anything out of it, huh! Then what about this!" he yells loudly and rips out a card from his coat, "If you beat me, you can have this card!"
His blue eyes widen with wonder, Taishi pushes himself up in amazement, "Whoa! That's Blaster Blade! Cool man, that's great!" he grins brightly at Morikawa. Ume frowns, she swears she had seen that card somewhere else, somewhere back at school and the more she tried to remember, the more she found her chest tightening and her heart thumping harshly within.
"Be quiet!" Misaki suddenly cut through the boys conversation; Ume almost fell straight of the stool from the woman's sudden words. Blushing, she rubbed the back of her head and shyly glances at the lavender head woman.
"Misaki?" she began but got cut off when the girl places a card down on the counter.
"I'm winning Ume." Misaki stated, almost proudly. Ume blinks, dumbly at first before it all came rushing back to her and she remembered the small game they were having.
Gasping, she looked down and whined loudly, "I want a rematch! Misaki!" the other simply smirked and began to shuffle the cards once more.
"Fair enough."
Ume pouted, her head ducked once more. Mentally sobbing loudly to herself about how bad she is at card games, "I can believe I got it wrong both times! Curses!" she sighed to herself.
Misaki smiled and pats her on the head, "It just means today isn't your day. Remember yesterday? You beat me three times in a row." the woman commented on last nights game, remembering how the girl had cheered so loudly that a few of the costumers had left. Misaki is pulled from the memory of yesterday when she noticed Ume had suddenly frozen. With a troubled frown, the older woman lightly pokes her shoulder, "Ume?" she calls out softly, waving her hand infront of the girls face and frowns at the soft mumbling that escape her lips. Ume's face turning redder every minute.
"So, that's Sendou Aichi?"
Almost tumbling of the stool again, Ume snaps out of her embarrassing thoughts and shook her head, "M-Misaki! Shh, he'll hear you…" she whispered, her cheeks turning redder, "But why is he here?" Ume thought, peering at the boy who had just stepped into the store. He never comes here. Sendou Aichi, a boy in her year and sadly, the two weren't in the same class. Aichi is a shy and timid boy 'he doesn't talk as much either' he had shoulder length blue hair that had a white tint at the tip, the blue locks frames his bright blue eyes. Embarrassingly, Ume had a massive crush on him in middle school and it had only gotten stronger since the two had been in the same class. Ume was sad but yet relieved when she found out the two wasn't in the same class this year, she wasn't sure if she could have handled seeing him while feeling this way. Like her heart would leap from her chest. Closing her eyes tightly, feeling her heart thump harder in her chest, she had told Misaki about the boy she had fallen in love with when the two had somehow gotten onto the topic of it.
Breathing deeply, Ume felt goose bumps run up and down her arms and legs, after a couple of seconds she opened her eyes to see the bluenette in the grey uniform out of breath as though he had been running. Becoming overwhelmed with concern for the boy, Ume watches as he approaches the table with the Vanguard game.
"G-Give me my card back!" Aichi cried out helplessly, staring at Morikawa making the other boys to jump startled and look at him. Ume frowns, she ducks her head allowing her hair to cover her face as she finally remembers where she had seen that card before. The card belongs to Aichi, she remembers seeing him look at it for no reason, during class or after class, "Morikawa, give it back. Come on! It means a lot to me."
Ume frowns deeper, feeling frustration itch up in her stomach, "So that is it. Morikawa took it from him and then bet it away." she thought to herself, her eyes closes and she pushes herself from the stool, "Morikawa! That is the lowest thing I've ever seen! Taking a card from somebody and then dealing it away." she found herself say, her voice high that it even surprised herself, especially when her body moved to stand next to Aichi with her hands on her hips. Ume couldn't believe what she is doing, normally she would have stayed in the shadows and just wanted, why in hell is she doing this!
"Whoa! That is low dude…" Taishi agreed with Ume, nodding his head and crossing his arms, "I'm guessing that card would be yours?" he asked, pointing at Blaster Blade. He felt disappointed with the black head male student.
Aichi shook, his eyes looks down at the card and he gasps, "yes. That's my card." he breathed and moved to take it when Kai suddenly lifted it before he could touch it, "please give it back."
"This card belongs to me." Kai spoke, almost without care. Ume's eyes widen with surprise, she thought Kai would have given it back when he found out Morikawa was being a rat. She just stared with an unbelievable look on her face at the brunette, she had watched him play, he always seemed fair during his games. Her heart dropped at the look that crosses Aichi's face, he looked broken almost like he had just been slapped. Lowering her eyes, not wanting to look at the expression, Ume sighed and wondered what to do. Both Ume and Aichi jumped, startled as Kai stood up and looked at them, "It is important that we respect the rules of the battle. Don't you think? This guy bet me the card and lost."
Ume stared up at Kai, searching his face for any signs of seriousness and she found her stomach flip with disbelief, "Fine then. What if Aichi plays you for the card back? That's alright, isn't it? It follows the rules of the battle." she snorted, making air quotes as she spoke the last sentence.
The young black haired girl jumped and blushed lightly when Aichi suddenly grabbed her shoulders and Ume found that she is actually taller than him now, only by a bit, "W-wait! I don't even know how to play Vanguard." he cried out, depressingly with wide blue eyes and Ume had to remind herself what is going on and not to end up losing herself within the pools of blue.
"Do you have a deck?" she questioned, ignoring Morikawa who had leaped to his feet, "Why don't you just sit down." she snorted, looking at the red-eyed boy who growled and sat back down with his arms crossed.
"…U-Um…" Aichi blinks his eyes, his cheeks a little pink as he pulled his book bag to his chest and unclipped it, "I…I…It is t-true…I've n-never played V-Vanguard before…" he mumbled softly, rattling around within his book bag and gently pulled out a red card-case and handed them to Ume who flipped them over and quickly looked through them, "I b-build this deck just in c-case if I ever got the chance…"
Ume listened and nodded her head and smiled gently at Aichi, Ume held the deck back, "Your deck is good; it's well balanced. Don't let somebody who is false scare you away." she smiled at him and bit her bottom lip hard when Aichi nodded with his own smile and gently took deck back, "So? What about it? There isn't any harm in trying right?" Ume then asked, turning to look at Kai.
Kai's green eyes flashes in the light above him, he turns his body around and tilts his head back, "Alright then. You've got yourself a battle." he smirked and Ume smiled thankfully at him. Kai sighed and closed his eyes, "Take a set and get comfy." he spoke, pointing at the chair. Ume steps back and allows Aichi to walk towards the other side of the table.
"Move it along loser boy~" Taishi grinned wider, moving Morikawa roughly out of the way and comes to stand next to Ume. He glances down at her and hums, but keeps quiet. Morikawa growls and stands on Taishi's other side with his arms crossed over his chest, he looked beyond annoyed, such a swore loser.
"Why are you so happy about this?" he questioned, looking at Taishi with narrowed red eyes.
Taishi laughs gleeful, his eyes sparkles as he places his hands into his pockets, "I'm excited about this battle. We're just about to witness a battle between the best player in the store and a guy who has never played the game. This is going to be hilarious."
Morikawa lets out a puff of air, his shoulders hunched with annoyances, "Stop saying he is the best player!"
Ume groans and glares up at him, cutting the dark haired boy off, "shut it! The battle is about to start!" she snaps and Taishi laughs at the fact Morikawa had backed away from such a small girl.
Ume barely reaches Taishi's shoulder, he easily placed his hand on top her head, "Calm yourself, little red riding hood." Ume blinks bewilderment appears on her face. Why did Taishi call her red riding hood? Last time she checked, her hair is black not red. With a crooked frown, she looks down at the battle, deciding to ask him about it later. Right now, she is more interested in the battle between the boy she admired and the boy she had, well loved.
"Since you've never played before, I'll explain the rules as we go along. Alright." Kai began, shuffling his card and looked at the bluenette with wide green eyes and Aichi nods his head in understanding, "Oh yeah. You won't stand much of chance against me without Blaster Blade in your deck." he spoke, holding the card up. Ume smiles, she tilts her head to the side, "So you can borrow it before I beat you and take it back." Kai spoke, looking up at Ume for a brief second and then turned his attention back to Aichi, Ume laughed nervously to herself wondering if that had to do with her calling him 'false' earlier.
"B-Blaster Blade…T-Thank you…" Aichi smiled happily, his cheeks turning a pale pink colour as he shovelled his cards.
Ume found her eyes softening at the expression that Aichi wore, it made her stomach fill with butterflies, "You're letting him borrow a card and you're going to explain the rules? How unusual sweet of you, Kai." Taishi spoke, leaning more on Ume, treating the incredibly short girl as a stand.
"Are you finshed? I'm going to explain this once, so pay a attention." Kai spoke placing his deck down onto the Vanguard mat on the table, "Let's start. Place a level zero on the middle circle." he placed down a card onto the middle card, "This is our Vanguard. Now listen." the brunette began, his green looked directly at the bluenette who nodded and quickly placed a zero monster onto the card mat. Kai breathed deeply, "our spirits have just been transferred to place similar to Earth called Cary. In this form there are only two powers we're allowed to use. The first allows us to summon the monsters of this planet. The cards in your deck are your units, call upon them as you will. But first we need to draw our first hand. The cards you draw can both attack and defend for you." Kai explained, holding up five cards in his left hand and pointed at them, a wide smirk settled across his face, "these's are your units. Each card has its own grade and powers, the other abilities will be on the card." Ume blinks her eyes and looks at the cards Aichi had drawn, she bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from smiling at them, Aichi had such cute cards, "And then there is our second power of our form. The power to ride is to posses one of our units."
"Oh really?" Morikawa spoke with bewilderment and both Ume and Taishi looked over at him with raised eyebrows, "Dude."
Kai sighed to himself, he looks at his card quickly before speaking, "The units we merge with is our Vanguard. You follow?" he asked, eyeing the bluenette who nods, "The word Vanguard means the one that leads the way."
"…the vanguard…leads the way…" Aichi repeats, his bright blue eyes burns with determination.
"Now, the object of the game is to land attacks on the opponents vanguard. The card in front you, is a grade zero, right?" Kai asked and nodded his head when Aichi let out a soft 'yes' "okay! Flip it over! Read? Stand up, the vanguard, Lizard-Stand-Zoon-Zoon!" he bellowed out and Ume blinks her eyes as she swears she had seen a blast of red light erupt from the card that Kai had flipped over.
Ume looked towards Aichi and watches as he flips his own over and like Kai a blast of blue light erupted from the card, "a-and for me, Stardust trumpeter! S-Stand up!"
Kai nods his head, "Our vanguards are ready to battle. It will be easier for me to explain if I go first. Okay?" he more demeans then asks Aichi, "you start each turn with drawing another card, each turn you can promote your vanguard just by one grade above. Stack that unit on top of the vanguard." he spoke, placing the new card over the other card, "Ride, the Embodiment of Armor, Bahr! Now, while your vanguard is promoted, you can summon lower-grade monsters to support them. They are called the rear-guards. I call the Flame of Hope. I now have two units on the field and with them I attack."
Aichi reeled back in shock, his blue eyes widen with disbelief and Ume puffs out her cheeks. Shyly she placed her hand onto his shoulder, "You can't attack on the first turn." she smiled down at him while the other boys next to her laughed at the relief expression that appeared on his face.
"The down side of going first." Kai added in, his green eyes closing with a flick of a hand, "It's your turn."
Aichi nodded and picked up a card from is deck, "R-right. I'll draw first. Ride, Little Sage, Marron." he called out, his voice hitching gently as he placed the card above his Stardust Trumpeter, "a-and W-Wingal too."
"Well, we've both got two units on the field. Are you attacking?" Kai asked, almost mockingly at the bluenette who breathed deeply in thought, and nodded.
"I'll…I'll attack you.." he called out bravely, almost unsure of the decision he made, "okay. Then do it. Turn your vanguard to signal the attack." Kai explained and watched as Aichi reached down to Marron's card and turned it to the side, "I'll attack your Bahr, with Marron."
Kai pointed down at Aichi's rear gaurds, "You can support your monsters attack with the rear guards power." he explained. Aichi nodded in understanding, "in...in that case I'll a-add Wingal's power to Marron's attack." he mumbled softly, his eyes flickering over his card, "when you attack, you need to turn the top of your deck to see if you have trigger card. Look for a mark in the upper right corner, if there isn't one add it to your hand."
Aichi blinks his eyes and gently places the card into his hand, "T-then? Does my a-attack go through?" he asked meekly and Kai nods his head with a 'uh-hu'. Aichi nods a 'okay'.
Ume smiles down at him, at least the boy is having fun, "Your attack overwhelmed my vanguard, this is the damage it coursed. Now if you can deal me five more damage, my barriers will vanish and you will win. Does it all make sense?" Kai asked and smirked wider when Aichi nodded slowly, "Well, it is good you're catching on. It's my turn. Ride the Dragon Knight, Nehalem! I call Bahr!" the brunette said, placing two cards down, one on top of the vanguard card and then Bahr on one of the rear circles.
Taishi chuckled loudly, his blue eyes flashes in the light above them, "No more mister nice Kai, ah." he smiles brightly. Ume breathes deeply, concern crawls around in the pit of her stomach, "Aichi."
Kai turns Bahr on it's side and than points out, "I attack Marron!" he says loudly and almost darkly, Aichi looks down at the two cards, he frowns in confusion, "um….Marron and Bahr have the s-same amount of power…" he mumbles softly, his eyes sparkles brightly with confusion, "When the power's the same the attack goes through." hearing such words, Aichi gasped and looked at Kai with wide eyes, "but if t-the attack goes t-though, t-than you'll be able to a-attack with Nehalem. I'll t-take two damage, right?"
"Yes, but you can weaken the attack by defending with the cards in your hand." Kai explained, lowering his head with his green eyes closed. Aichi looks at his cards and places a card out, "t-then I guard with the bringer of luck." he spoke, placing the card down.
Kai smirks, "the number on the side of the card becomes your shield. Bahr's attack isn't high enough to go through. My attack has no effect but now, that card you defended with has to go into the drop-zorn." Aichi blinks his eyes and looks down at the numbers, Bahr's attack is 8000 and Bringer of Luck's defense number is 10000, "Next I attack with Nehalem combined with Hope of Flame, Aermo's power. Not that I need it, but I'll check for a trigger." Kai spoke, lifting a card of his deck and held it up revealing no picture in th corner and placed the card into his hand.
Aichi breathes deeply and looks along his cards and took a card from his deck, he placed it into his damage zone on the mat. Now it is his move, Aichi takes another card and places it into his hand, "R-ride the Knight of Silence, Gallatin!" he cried out, placing his card over his Mallon card, "also, Marron and Pongal. I use Gallatin with the support of Wingal to attack Nehalem!" both boys lifted a card and Kai places a damage card into his damage bar, "Next Marron with the support of Flogal will attack again!"
"Can't let you do that!" Kai places another Flame of hope into his shield, "Your attempt fails." Aichi looks down at the cards and frowns, almost helplessly before ducking his head and letting out a meek 'I guess it's the end of my turn…'
Kai watches Aichi's face and lets out a snort, "Why do you look so relieved? Did you seriously believe I'd let it end this way?" he chuckles darkly and takes another card, he looks down at it and his eyes flashes brightly, "Time for your final lesson. I call Demonic Dragon Mage, Kumara and Wyvern Strike Tejas." he says placing more cards onto the rear guards, "Picture it! The assault I'm about to place upon you. First I attack Marron with Bahr!"
"I guard with Flogal!"
Kai sorts, he chuckles and throws his hand out, "Then I'll come for Gallatin with Kumara supported by Wyvern Strike Tejas!" he smirks while Aichi gasps, "I can't stop that…" A smug expression runs across Kai's face, his green eyes flashes dangerously, "that's right! And they get a special bonus for supporting each other! Each gets 40000!"
Wincing, Aichi places another card on his damage bar, "n-now I have two damage as well. Guess we're the same."
Kai rolls his head to the side, his green eyes half-lidded he turns his Nehalem to the side, "Who says I finished attacking? I attack Gallatin with Nehalem supported by Hope of Flame, Aermo!"
The smaller boy looks at the card and gasps loudly, "Over 16000!"
Kai picks up a critical trigger and smirks wider when he looks at it, "You sure that is all?" he asks, revealing the card to the boy, "Look what is in the corner. Nehalem gets 5000 more points! When this mark appears, it gives you a 5000 bonus attack, it also increases the damage of the attack by one point."
"T-Then that means…" Aichi gasped, his eyes widening in shock.
"This attack is going to hit you for two! Once I get the lead, I don't give it up!"
Ume gasped, it is almost like the real battle is right in front of her, a high-pitch scream ran within her ears, the scream of Gallatin, "Whoa! Red riding hood!" Taishi chuckled catching her before she could tumble over, blinking her green eyes, she smiled at him before looking over at Aichi and gasped in concern when the boy almost fell of his chair, his face pale as a ghost, "Did he hear it too?" she thought, gently helping him back up to his chair, "Aichi! Take it easy." she said, comforting the bluenette, her own heart thumping harshly.
Aichi let out a small frustrated growl and pats her on the hand thankfully before placing two cards onto his damage bar, his lips pressed in a thin line, "Two damage. Putting me at the total of four, this is…bad…."
Kai smirks, he tilts his head to the side, "You were able to picture it I see. Witness! True Vanguard!"
"I guess this is over…" Taishi spoke, finally pulling fully from Ume, Morikawa smirked with his arms over his chest, his crimson eyes half lidded, "If it was me, I would still be able to make a come back." he spoke while the two boys next to him chuckled with sarcastic smiles, "Of course."
Ume stared at the boy she loves, the one she had rooted for. Looking down and allowing her hair to cover her face once more, she felt stupid for pushing Aichi into this, she felt stupid for actually talking to people she had only watched from a distances, "This is all my fault…" she thought sadly, her heart sinking to her stomach. After a couple of seconds, she looked up through her hair, "It's your turn. Unless you've lost the will to play…" Kai purred out, Ume bit her bottom lip and looked back at the depressed bluenette. Gathering her courage, the girl stepped up to Aichi and gently placed her shaking hand onto his shoulder, "Aichi-?" she began but yelped in surprise when he snapped his head around to look at her, at first she thought he was upset but she found her cheeks turning bright red and her heart bust with feelings at the warm smile on his face.
"I've had a lot of fun!" he spoke happily and then turned his head to look at Kai, "You're really good, but still…this battle has been a lot of fun."
Ume blinks her eyes and looks at Aichi and Kai, "do you know him or something?" Taishi asked her question.
Aichi breathed deeply, his eyes closing with a pleased smile on his face, "I hoped that one day I'd get to battle you."
"So then, you're Aichi….Sendou right?" Kai asked, rolling his head with a grin, Aichi nodded as he raised a card up.
"That is right Kai and you gave me the power to stand before you today." he spoke, twirling the card around to show Blaster Blade, "Let's go! Rise my Avatar! Ride!" he cried, placing it over his vanguard, Ume smiled and stepped away noticing a blue blast of light erupt from the card, "Blaster Blade!"
Taishi looks down at the card, his eyes sparkles, "Blaster Blade, huh?" he mumbles softly, "What luck, with a card like that, he actually stands a chance." Morikawa pouts, obviously upset that the smaller boy is doing better then he had down in his own fight with Kai.
"I activate Blaster Blades ability!" Aichi spoke, touching the cards and turning two over, "I counterblast two and I retire one of your rear-guards." Kai nodded and lifted one of his card and placed it into the drop-down part.
"I remember now. You were the kid with the cuts all over your face." Kai spoke, looking at Aichi, said boy nodded.
"Yeah, in those days, I was getting beaten up so much that I didn't want to go to school anymore. I felt like the world around me was crashing down, ever since I got that card from you, life had been a little better everyday. From the moment you gave this to me, I wanted nothing more than too battle you, I even made my own deck, but then, you moved away. You know while I was building this deck, I managed to forget all the horrible things around me…I still can't picture myself being any stronger, the person who showed me how to be happy again, is you Kai."
Ume found herself smiling at the bluenette, she admired him so much, especially after finding out about how hard life was for him. Ume had met the boy in her first year of middle school, she had transferred into the school from America, Aichi wasn't being beaten up then. Ume isn't sure if he remembered or not, but they did play together during middle school, "I call the Night of Silence, Gallatin to rear guard!" Aichi called out, placing the card down, "this battle is my way of saying thank you. I support Blaster Blade with Wingal and attack Nehalem!" he yelled out and watched as Kai lifted a card from his deck and placed it within his damage bar.
"Whoa…Kai took another damage…" Morikawa mumbled with amazement, Ume felt herself wheel up with excitement, "Next I support Mallon with Flogal and attacking Nehalem again." this time, Aichi spoke gently as Kai laid another damage card down into his damage bar, "I'll attack Nehalem one more time with Gallatin!"
"Whoa! A tripple attack! Taishi grinned widely, Morikawa gasped, his crimson eyes widen with disbelief, "This can't be the same Aichi Sendou from school." he wheezed out, watching as the brunette placed another damage card within the damage bar, "one more and it's all over. Kai's finally going to lose!" Taishi pouted, he looked over Kai and sighed, "Not likely, he hasn't even broken a sweat. Look, he's got some plan."
Ume smiled, her hands gripped her sweater tighter, she couldn't help but admire the bluenette much more, every passing minute she found herself falling more and more for the boy. Everything she had done once the two had been put into different classes had been ripped up, she had thought she had been getting over Aichi but apparently not. Today not only had she spoken to the boy she loved, but she had fallen for him even more. How embarrassing!
"It's your turn Kai." Aichi spoke softly, Kai let out a soft breath from the back of his throat, "I think you've miss understood, I didn't care about your feelings one bit, I just wanted you to start playing vanguard so I could beat you in a way those's bullies never could!"
"No wonder why I couldn't beat him! This guy is pure evil!" Morikawa grunted out, annoyed with Kai. Ume looks at Kai, she scans him before looking up at Taishi, she breathed out softly when she noticed the unbelieving expression on his face, the blonde obviously doesn't believe him.
Aichi shook his head, he looked at the brunette with large round blue eyes, "That's a lie! The Kai I know would never have done that!" he almost hiccupped as he spoke, Kai let out a snort and looked at the bluenette.
"I'm not the person you admire." he spoke, his eyes narrowing as he lifted a card up, Ume blinks when she noticed a flaming fire erupt from the card he lifted, she frowned in confusion and looked to see if anybody else noticed it, but found nobody had, "I guess it's about time I show you who I really am! Rise to Vanguard! Burn everything in sight to ash with your fire! Dragonic Overlord!"
"That's what he used on me…" Morikawa inhaled, looking at the card. Ume looked at the glowing red card with a small frown, "It's a grade 3. Aichi doesn't even have any grade 3's in his deck!" she thought, looking back at the bluenette, his eyes are narrowed in thought, already searching for an escape root, "hmm, this battle is over. I call two Manaka's!" Kai said, placing two cards onto the rear guards, "and then, I pay three cards to use Dragonic Overlord's special ability, his power just went up by 5000! I support Bahr with Manaka's power and I attack your Blaster Blade!"
Aichi's eyes widen before narrowing and he placed a card out, "Stardust Trumpeter guard me!" he begged, placing the card into the drop-zone.
"I'm not through yet, I support my other Manaka with Kimnara and attack your Blaster Blade again!" Kai yelled and once again, Aichi guarded with the last card in his hand, "I guard with Gallatin!"
"Whoa, he survived it!" Taishi grinned, his eyes widen with disbelief.
"Hmm? You used up your whole hand to hold me back? To bad for you that my attacks aren't even close to finish yet! Dragonic Overlord, it's your turn. I support Dragonic Overlord with Flame of hope! Attack Gallatin!" he ordered out, "G-Gallatin, why?" Aichi thought, removing the card from the field, "Dragonic Overlord? Stand up!" Kai chuckled, narrowing his eyes, almost evilly at the small bluenette, "Oh my, did I not tell you about his ability? When his counter attack is activated after he defeats a rear-guard than he stands back up. I won't stop attacking until all your units are burnt to a crisp! That is Dragonic Overlords' ability! Eternal Flame! Attack Mallon!"
Aichi blinks and gently places the card in the drop-slot, "M-Mallon is also retired…" he mumbled, chewing his bottom lip lightly.
"Remember last time? He stands back up!" Kai said loudly.
"Now we're talking…" Taishi sighed, looking at Morikawa who had thrown his fist out, "Can you image what it'd be like if I had one of those card's in my deck!"
Kai smirked his eyes narrowing more, "and now here's the last swing, I attack Blaster Blade!" Kai growled loudly, Ume shook from the horrible screams that rang through out her ears, she wanted to cover her ears and noticed Aichi is doing the same thing, she wondered once again if he heard them too, "I'll check my trigger! Look, I've got another sweet trigger! This adds one more to damage!" Kai hums, tilting his head, smugly, "but then that means…" Aichi trailed off, eyes widen, "Two gets added to the four you've got, it's over!"
The small raven head boy placed one damage down and lifted another card, Ume gasped upon seeing the card glitter, "W-wait, this is…" Aichi trailed of looking at the card with such a beautiful female on it, "Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine!" Kai spoke with amazement.
"What is that?" Morikawa cried out, dumbfounded.
Ume smiled brightly and placed her hands together in front of her chest, "Elaine is a healing card, she removes one damage from the damage bar as long as you have more damage than the other player! She is such a beautiful card…" she hummed softly and found herself blushing when Aichi turned to look at her once more.
"Then that means?" he asked slowly and she nodded,
"You're still in the battle, Aichi-kun."
Aichi nods his head and looks back at Kai, "My turn…" he mumbled softly to him and draw a card.
Morikawa grinned, "Aichi's turn. Kai has five damage, one more hit and Aichi wins!" he chuckled to himself, Taishi looks between the two boys, "it's to close to call. Kai's such a good player that you never know what's going to happen."
"I don't believe any of the things you said to me earlier." Aichi spoke, looking at the card he had just drawn,
"Oh yeah?" Kai said in surprise, looking up at the boy,
"You expect me to believe that you only gave me this card so you could bully me later? If that is the case then I don't think this card would have made me become stronger or have given me the courage that it did." Aichi smiled and shook his head when the brunette snorted, "No. No matter what you say. Blaster Blade has been really important to me and that will never change. I'll always remember how pathetic I must have been, but you was kind enough to give me this card, and because of that I really looked up to you. My memory tells me the truth." he says softly and holds the card up, "I can picture how this battle is going to end. I can picture my Blaster Blade and how he's going to lead the way to victory!"
Ume gasped, the boy looked as if he was glowing a bright blue colour and swiftly a flash of a boy with amour appeared over him. She shook her head, believing that she is just seeing things, "I call Elaine. I support Elaine with Pongal! And I attack your Dragonic Overlord!" Aichi yelled out, Kai quickly blocked the attack with a Tahr, Ume gasped loudly her hands pressed against her chest with wide eyes, she felt herself swelling with amazement while everyone began to cheer on Aichi. Ume was surprised to find Misaki had came over to see how this will end.
"This is it!" Aichi breathed, turning his Wingal onto its side, "I attack you with Blaster Blade!"
"I guard with Tahr!" Kai yelled, holding another Tahr out. Ume stared wide eye at the small bluenette, she heard him mumbled a soft 'please' underneath his breath and reached out to pick up a card, "I check for a drive trigger!" he called out, clenching his eyes closed and slowly looking at the card and gasped upon seeing the card, Ume's eyes widen upon the card, "attack trigger activated! Rising the attack by 5000 and adding 1 damage." Ume gasped out.
"That attack has been to much from my Dragonic Overload. I am now a spirit again. I have…lost…"
"Then that means-" Taishi added in, throwing his arms over Ume's shoulders and leaning over her to get a better look at the mat. Ume's face bust with happiness.
"Aichi-kun wins!" she squealed, suddenly running forward and without thinking, throwing her arms around the bluenette shoulders, knocking both down to the ground. Because the black haired girl had moved, Taishi tumbled to the ground also, "You did it Aichi-kun!" Ume beamed at him to which the boy returned it with his own smile.
Taishi pushed himself up and looked over the table at the blue haired boy, "Dude! You did it!"
Ume and Aichi pushed themselves up to their knees when the brunette stood up, holding his deck. He smirked down at the raven head boy and snapped his fingers down at him, "looks like it was your card after all." he said, turning around with his hands in his pockets, "Hey Kai! Thanks a lot!" Aichi called out, watching as the brunette walked towards the sliding doors.
"Hey! Wait up!" Taishi yelled, running after the brunette. Aichi smiled brightly as the two boys left the store and turned his head around and looked directly at Ume, "I remember you, Ume Hikari. We used to play together in middle school after you transferred into our school, that was a year after Kai gave me Blaster Blade." Ume blinks her eyes, her heart thumped loudly and she panicked that maybe the boy could hear her heard thumping. It is then that she realized she is still pressed against the boy. Staring blankly ahead, it slowly began to come together in her head of what she had just done, her face turning redder and redder as the images flashes in her mind.
"Ah! Ume-chan. You are going a bit red, are you getting sick?" Aichi asked, worrid. and moved to touch her forehead when Ume let out a sudden squeal and leaped to her feet, she ran towards Misaki and hid behind her, "I'm…I'm fine…" she squealed embarrassingly, waving her hand out from behind Misaki who had a pleased smile on her face, filled with amusement.
"How embarrassing!"
~#~#~
Ume walked down the long high-school halls the next day. Even after the whole night, her heart is still thumping at least her face had cooled down to a soft pink colour. She clenched the books tightly to her chest as she almost ran down the hallway, it is the end of the day and she just wanted to go home and hide underneath her bed again like she did last night. Her face had turned into a tomato and her younger brother had stood in the doorway with a confused face. Now he won't let that go either, he'll hold it over her.
Swiftly, she turned to walk down another hallway when she saw Izaki and Morikawa walking down the hallways, talking about going to Card Capital, "Morikawa!" a familiar voice cried out, Ume found herself shudder at the voice, her face turned red as Aichi ran towards the two boys.
"What do you want?" Morikawa asked, eyeing the boy.
Aichi breathed deeply, he looked as if he is gathering up as more courage as possible, "I was wondering if y-you and I could have a-a vanguard battle, sometime?"
"You wanna beat me too, huh?" Morikawa asked with a large grin and Aichi shook his head, his blue eyes lowering shyly, "I'm still really new to Vanguard, I was hoping you c-could play me and m-maybe teach me a couple of things…" he asked, hopeful. Ume thought Morikawa was going to accept it, he looked happy about being a teacher before the girl glared at him, "I don't want to waste my time teaching a shrimp like you how too swim."
"O-Okay….thanks…"
"Man. Kai's so lame. He acts like a big shot but then he goes and loses to a rookie like Aichi!" Morikawa laughed, "I wouldn't be surprised if he never shows his face again in the store."
Ume rolled her eyes, she had seen Morikawa play. He was far from perfect at this game, he is no way near as good as Kai is, "It should be the other way around! Aichi-kun should teach him how to swim!" she pouted to herself, unaware that she had just spoken out loud. When she looked up once more, she frowned with concern, "Where'd he go?" she thought, looking around for the bluenette and pouted. Running her fingers through her long hair, she began to walk from the school.
"Misaki! I've come again!" Ume greeted, entering the waving her hand up happily at the woman, while entering.
"Welcome back Ume." Misaki hummed, turning the page of her book, she eyed the happy-go-lucky girl who played with the little cat, "Aichi's here. He's been here for awhile. Waiting for you and the other two boys."
Ume blinks and lifted her head with wide eyes, her cheeks turned pink and she looked down at the tables to find Aichi alone. He looked so sad, looking down at the table as he sat. Blinking, she walked towards him and stood to his side, "Are you waiting for the three from yesterday?" she asked softly, wondering if the boy is really waiting for herself, Kai and Taishi. Aichi nods his head without looking up, he didn't realize that it is Ume, one of the three he is waiting for. He thought it must have been Misaki.
"Yeah, I'm hoping…we could be friends…but….they probably hates me now anyway…they won't turn up…nobody ever likes me…"
Ume's eyes soften, she breathed deeply feeling sadden herself. She lifted her head up, "I wouldn't be so sure about that." she grinned.
Aichi turn his own head up and gasped upon seeing the girl, "U-Ume-chan!" he gasped, his blue eyes widening as she smiled brightly, "and I'm not alone!" she cheered loudly, throwing her hand towards the door in time for Kai and Taishi walk through the doors.
"Hey there little red riding hood!" Taishi grinned at Ume who pouted and crossed her arms.
"Why do you keep calling me that! I have black hair Blondie!" she snapped, Aichi laughed at her while the two boys walked to the table.
"Ha! You don't remember? When I first met you, I tried to talk to you, the more I tried, the more you hid behind a book. That book? Little Red Riding Hood!" he smirked, poking the girl in the forehead. Ume pouts and rubbed her forehead with narrowed eyes. Okay. So she doesn't remember that, but still, Little Red Riding Hood? Come on!
"Hey there, Aichi, Ume. Glad to see you guys." Kai spoke, walking up the table with his hands in his pockets, Taishi looked at Aichi and poked him on the forehead too, "Hey there new-guy!" Aichi blushes, he nervously shakes and looks at the three around him and smiles at them.
"I was…hoping that…"
Taishi grins wider at his new timid friend, "Say no more! How about you play me today?" he asked when the doors opened once more and Morikawa with Izaki cut in, "no way! I've got dibs on that small fry!" he cheered before noticing Kai and gasping loudly who tilted his head.
"What's the matter?"
Ume grinned, her eyes flashing, "pay back!" she thought to herself and walking up next to Kai, she leant forward with her arms behind her back, "Morikawa was saying today that you wouldn't ever show your face in this store again!"
"U-Ume!" Morikawa gasped, looking at the girl.
Taishi bust into laughter, holding his stomach, "So good! Did you seriously think we wouldn't come back after yesterday?"
"What are you doing back here?!"
"These days, Card games are becoming apart of our lifes… the biggest game so far is Vanguard! And now…" Aichi thought, looking at the five teenagers around him, he smiled at the cat that rubbed up against his leg and bent down to pet him.
"I don't think I'll ever be alone again! I never thought a game would change my life forever! I really am lucky!"
Well? What do you think? Is it alright or plain bad? I hope to hear from you soon!
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