"Rise and shine, Rio!" Ryouga's loud and rather annoying voice cut through the house. "If you don't, we're going to be late!"
I grunted into my pillow, irritated. I'd already been awake, enjoying that lull right after getting up where daydreams felt so warm and fuzzy. Ryouga just had to go and ruin it, of course.
I sat up in my bed slowly, putting a hand over my eyes to block out the bright morning sun. It was a nice day out. A perfect day for what we had planned.
My door opened and I turned to see Ryouga leaning against the doorframe, a smug look on his face. "To be honest, I don't really care about being late. Or even going at all. Only thing is, I don't want you to miss any precious moments with your boyfriend."
I blushed against my will, and Ryouga laughed cockily. With lightning speed, I pulled up a pillow and hurled it towards him. With reflexes borne of years of such squabbling, he shut the door just in time for the pillow to hit the doorframe and fall to the ground harmlessly. I heard him continue to laugh as he retreated down the hallway.
I sighed and finally decided to get off the bed. I stretched, yawning, and checked the clock.
Today was the day of our second Sports Duel Tournament among friends. Ryouga, as usual, was confident he could thrash everyone at the tournament and - like last time - was not too interested in participating. He'd decided to come in order to have a field day doing stuff like he'd just done – namely, teasing me.
Hm, we were supposed to meet near the school grounds at 10 for the tournament. It was around 9, which was ample time to get myself ready.
Once I'd brushed and showered, I pulled out a bag and stuffed it with as many types of attire as possible. Beach, swim, sport, you name it, I packed it. From my experience at the last sports duel tournament, I knew I had to be ready for anything.
I slung my pack over my shoulder and walked downstairs to meet Ryouga for breakfast. He'd already started eating, absently shoving cereal in his mouth while watching some kind of rock concert on TV. That guy and his guitars…
I got myself some cereal and was about to fall into my own thoughts when Ryouga suddenly spoke up.
"You ready?"
I stiffened. It sounded like a serious enough question, but I knew Ryouga himself didn't think of the tournament all too seriously. Likely, he was going to get me to give a serious answer and make fun of me for it.
"What do you mean?" I played dumb.
Ryouga rolled his eyes. "Come on, Rio. Ever since we went over to his house you haven't been able to stop thinking about him. Today could be your chance to duel with him, and you know what that means."
No skirting it now. I moved my spoon around in my cereal mechanically, knowing Ryouga was right.
That boyfriend he'd teased me about? He'd been referring to Yuma.
And as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Ever since we'd gone over to Yuma's house and a game of Truth and Dare had almost led to us to, well, um, kiss… I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him. It didn't help that I saw him every day at school and he made a point to acknowledge me and be friendly. It especially didn't help that Yuma was good friends with Ryouga already (although Ryouga would never admit it), which caused me to like him off the bat, not to mention spend a lot of time with him due to being around Ryouga.
And Ryouga was also right – unfortunately, but as usual – about the last part. I knew exactly what being able to duel with Yuma today meant.
They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. In Yuma's case, however, the way to his heart was through dueling.
Well… To be honest, considering Yuma it could actually be through his stomach, but still, the point stands.
"Why are you smiling?"
Darn it. I quickly wiped the absentminded grin off my face, trying to clear my head. See? This is what Yuma had been doing to me for a while now.
Ryouga rolled his eyes again. "That's sick, you know?" He shook his head. "Daydreaming about that loser. Sick."
Ryouga stood up and put his bowl in the sink, turning his face away from me. I grinned to myself. As harsh as his words sounded, they were all bark.
I knew Ryouga approved of Yuma.
How? Because, firstly, Ryouga hadn't yet tried to punch Yuma's face in. And secondly, because Yuma was one of the few people who had ever bested Ryouga in a duel. It was one of my brother's few and fierce sentiments that a person's dueling prowess was a reflection of the strength of their character. I knew for a fact that Ryouga would never state the implication of those two facts out loud, but I knew what it was for myself, which was enough.
Ryouga respected Yuma.
I finished my breakfast, picked up my pack, and joined Ryouga on his motorcycle.
"So? You still haven't answered my question." Ryouga said, revving the engine but not moving.
"Huh? What question?"
"Are you ready?"
I smiled. I didn't know why he had to be so callous most of the time, but whatever the reason, this was what mattered. When it came down to it, Ryouga always supported me.
I thought genuinely about his question. Yuma would be there, but so would Kotori, and Cat as well – both of whom had expressed a rivalry with me. To be honest, I wasn't completely sure of the exact nature or strength of my feelings, or how they stacked up to the feelings of those two. But there was one thing I did know.
If there was any way to resolve these feelings, it was through dueling.
So the question was, was I ready to duel?
I grinned. "Of course."
Ryouga grunted, speeding the motorcycle onto the main road. It was a short ride to the school grounds. On the way, I reviewed my deck and strategies.
Honestly, the most helpful change this time around was that Girag wouldn't be scoring this one. All girl teams getting extra points? Talk about a dirty ref.
When we pulled up onto the grounds, I found that the other 6 competitors were already there. Just like last time, they were Yuma, Kotori, Cat, Tetsuo-kun, Tokunosuke-kun, and their class rep Takashi-kun. Shingetsu-kun was also present to be the MC and ref.
I slung my pack over my shoulder casually, making my way over with Ryouga. They all waved in greeting, and I waved back. (Ryouga didn't. Back to icy mode, I guess.) As I got close, Kotori winked at me, and Cat, erm, purred… I think.
I looked sidelong at Yuma, who seemed excited as ever. He was dressed in his casual attire: the red vest with buckles and the fiery bell bottom pants. He suddenly caught my eyes grazing over him and smiled. I tried my best to act nonchalant. Luckily, he didn't call me out on it.
"Hey, guys! What kept you so long?" he asked.
Ryouga snorted. "Ms. Princess over here. Wouldn't get out of bed, and after she did she just daydreamed about – GAH!"
I stomped on Ryouga's foot as discreetly as possible to stop him from spoiling everything. He looked at me angrily and I met his gaze, trying to send him the message silently.
"Um, ok…" Yuma said, relieving the awkwardness quickly. "Anyway, let's get started! Shingetsu, pick the teams!"
Shingetsu-kun produced a microphone seemingly out of nowhere and began announcing. "Alright, hello everyone and welcome to Heartland's second Sports Duel Tournament!"
We all clapped good-naturedly – except for Ryouga, that is. I guess it was a little cheesy, but come on, nothing wrong with some spirit.
"Now, teams of two will face off in various sports duels, each themed by a different sport. Teams will tag duel while playing the specified sport. A point goes to the winning team of each match, and at the end of the matches, the two teams with the most points will face off in the finals! Without further ado, let's pick the teams!" Shingetsu-kun fumbled around on his duel computer, probably inputting our names into a random team selector.
"Alright!" he said after a minute. "Here are the teams! Team 1: Tokunosuke-kun and the class rep!"
The two fist-bumped; they'd worked together the last time around and were obviously happy with their team.
"Team 2: Cathy-san and Tetsuo-kun!"
Cat looked a little peeved – I'm sure she wanted to be paired with Yuma. Tetsuo-kun didn't look too happy either, but the two looked at each other and shrugged. The nice thing about having a tournament with your friends was that any pairing was nice.
"Now, team 3: Shark and Kotori-san!"
Now, that would be interesting. Kotori's dueling experience was minimal, but with Ryouga paired up with her that'd still be a strong team. Kotori didn't seem ecstatic about the pairing, but she wasn't sour about it either. She looked over to Ryouga to acknowledge him, but Ryouga had his eyes closed, seemingly uncaring.
"Doesn't matter who I'm paired with. I'm going to win." He said haughtily. I felt my eyebrow twitch. Sometimes his attitude made me want to…
Wait… This left –
"And the final team! Team 4: Yuma-kun and Rio-san!"
I felt my heart beat a little faster. Yuma looked at me excitedly, running over immediately.
"Ready, Rio?" He asked, inflamed.
I grinned genuinely despite my nervousness. His excitement was infectious. "You bet. Let's win it all."
Yuma stood beside me as Shingetsu-kun spoke again. "Now, for the first match-up!" He clicked his duel computer furiously, and then looked up. "It'll be Shark and Kotori-san versus Yuma-kun and Rio-san in beach volleyball! Teams, get ready to play!"
I looked to Yuma and did a double take, sweatdropping. He and Ryouga were already locked in a fierce staring contest, silently promising to take one another down. I realized that Ryouga had expected to be bored because at the last tournament, paired up with Yuma, there was no real challenge for him. Now, though, on an opposing team from Yuma, Ryouga might actually get into it in order to beat him. I laughed to myself.
I met eyes with Kotori. She looked back at me, smirking. It wasn't cocky; it was more like challenging. I liked it. I nodded and grinned back.
It was on.
I went to the dressing room and changed quickly. Like last time, I donned some some short black bottoms and a red top that cut off before my midriff. I put on my purple duel gazer as well as my duel disk so I was all set to go. I came out of the dressing room to see Yuma waiting.
Like me, he went with his attire from last time. Simple blue shorts with red streaks on the side. It fit him nicely. My eyes moved up over his bare upper body. Not bad at all. Must be all the jump-
I mentally slapped myself. What was I doing?
Hmph, stupid hormones.
I moved my eyes to Yuma's face (where they should be). Unlike what I'd been doing, his eyes were square on my face, not wavering at all.
…Which I really should appreciate, but for some reason I felt kind of disappointed.
"So, ready to take them down?" He fingered his Emperor's Key, which he'd kept on despite taking his shirt off, and which in turn my hormones found intensely aggravating. Something about the idea of that single piece of cool metal laying against his bare -
I shook myself out of it. Right now, Yuma was counting on me to duel with him at my best. And we needed to, going up against Ryouga. I was sure Kotori wouldn't hold back, either.
"I'm ready," I shot back at him.
"Let's go, then, partner." He said casually. The way he said the word gave me good shivers, which was stupid seeing as he meant it innocuously.
"Ready to lose?" Ryouga asked coldly as Yuma and I stepped on the sand court. Kotori stood next to him, ready to go.
I grinned, about to retort. Yuma stole the words from out of my mouth. "You wish."
Shingetsu-kun was sitting in the ref's chair. "Alright, now that the trash talk is out of the way – " Yeah, right. That was like the tip of Ryouga's trash talking iceberg. "– let's get down to the duel. Are both sides ready?"
I looked at Yuma. He looked back at me intensely and pointed a finger towards the back in a silent question.
He'd take back and I'd take front? Sounded good to me. I nodded to him, and we took our places.
"We're ready!" I called.
"We've been ready for a while." Ryouga said coolly from the other side. Like Yuma, he'd taken the back. Kotori was up front, pretty close to me. We smirked at one another.
"Alright then," Shingetsu-kun called. "Begin!"
Everyone drew five cards.
Ryouga & Kotori: 4000 LP
Yuma & Me: 4000 LP
"We'll take the first move!" Ryouga called, drawing a card. "I summon Big Jaws, in attack mode! I'll then equip the spell card Xyz Crown to it, which allows me to use Big Jaws as two monsters while Xyz summoning!"
Uh-oh.
Ryouga tossed the volleyball high up into the air. "I overlay the two level 3 Big Jaws! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Emerge from the bottom of the ocean, Submersible Carrier Aero Shark!"
The two conjoined sharks, boasting 1900 attack, appeared on the field. The volleyball was rushing back down towards Ryouga now.
"With that, I place one card facedown and end my turn!" Ryouga smashed his right hand into the ball, sending it sailing over my head.
"Yuma!" I called.
"Got it!" Yuma drew a card. "My turn! I summon Achacha Archer!" I smiled, knowing what that meant.
Yuma received the ball and then passed it over to me. "Rio!"
"Yup!" I jumped up and hit the ball at Ryouga as hard as I could.
Achacha Archer had materialized on the field, its arrow on fire, burning to leave its bow. Yuma punched the air with a fist. "When Achacha Archer is summoned, you take 500 points of damage!"
Ryouga cursed, receiving the ball and passing it as quickly as possible to Kotori. "Here!"
As soon as the ball left him Achacha Archer's arrow hit him in the chest, throwing him back.
Ryouga & Kotori: 3500 LP
Yuma & Me: 4000 LP
The ball was still in play, though. Kotori received it and passed it over. Yuma, meanwhile, was continuing his turn.
"Now, since you control a face-up Xyz monster, I can special summon Bite Bug!" The little critter materialized, which meant…
"Due to Bite Bug's effect, one monster you control loses 300 attack points!" Yuma hit Kotori's ball straight back to Shark.
Ryouga gritted his teeth and returned the ball, grunting. Submersible Carrier Aero Shark's attack fell to 1600 as Ryouga returned the ball in a high arc, coming for me. Hmm, both Achacha Archer and Bite Bug were level 3 monsters, so…
As the ball came over I tossed it up high and moved aside.
Yuma grinned at me and jogged in. "Thanks, Rio!" he called. I smiled back.
"I overlay the level 3 Achacha Archer and Bite Bug! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Come on out, Temtempo the Percussion Djinn!" The dwarfish creature appeared with its drums, sporting 1700 attack.
Yuma jumped. "And I'm activating his effect right off the bat! By detaching one of his overlay units, he gains 500 attack and your Xyz monster loses an overlay unit!" Yuma hit the ball towards the other side.
Kotori grunted and took the edge off it, passing it to Ryouga. Submersible Carrier Aero Shark lost an overlay unit while Temtempo's attack rose to 2200. Ryouga had no choice but to hit the ball back straight to Yuma, who was ready for his next move.
"Now, Temtempo, attack! Make Shark face the music!" Yuma grinned cheekily and spiked the ball back to Ryouga hard and fast. The ball hit him square in the chest, pushing him back as Temtempo's music took Ryouga's monster down in an explosion.
Ryouga & Kotori: 2900 LP
Yuma & Me: 4000 LP
Yuma pumped his fist and we high-fived. On the other side, the smoke was clearing, and it seemed Ryouga had activated his facedown card.
"My trap card, Ghost Salvage, returns a Water Xyz monster destroyed by battle, along with its Xyz material monsters, back to the field with their effects negated." Ryouga's Submersible Carrier appeared with its old 1900 attack, as well as Big Jaws with 1800 attack.
Ugh, that guy always has something up his sleeve. Kotori passed the ball under the net back to us.
Yuma served it back. "I end my turn."
On the other side of the net, Kotori drew a card. "My turn!" Kotori jerked a thumb at Big Jaws, and Ryouga nodded seriously.
Impressive. Kotori was actually working with Ryouga.
"I summon Little Fairy!" True to its name, a little fairy – attack 800 – appeared and hovered next to Kotori.
Wait… Level 3? Was she going to…?
Sure enough, Ryouga received Yuma's serve and threw it up high.
Kotori's face became serious. "I overlay the level 3 Little Fairy and Big Jaws! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! I'm calling out Wind-Up Zenmaines, in defense mode!" Kotori spiked the ball towards us.
A large and complex robot appeared on the field, with an imposing 2100 defense points. Not a match for Temtempo, though.
Yuma hit the ball back, making time to compliment the Xyz summon. "Nice one, Kotori! That monster's looking strong!"
Kotori found my eyes. "Thanks, Yuma! I place one card facedown and end my turn!" She returned Yuma's ball in a high arc, all the while maintaining my gaze.
She was challenging me.
The ball sailed over to Yuma, who hit it up high for me. "You're up, Rio! Go for it!"
I locked eyes with Kotori, accepting her challenge.
"You got it, Yuma! Here I go!" I drew my card as the ball arced above me.
Showtime.
Author's Note
While this story is intended as the sequel to "Rivalry in Love," it may also be read on its own. If you are interested in "Rivalry in Love," it can be found through my profile page or the general archive.
Next Update: 04/10/14, by 4:00 AM UTC (Postponed Again)