A/N: This is my first story, so constructive criticism will be appreciated Thank you!~
Prologue
"Atsuto! Hurry up, you're going to be late for school!" a voice yelled as the cerulean-haired boy hurried down the stairs. "Hai, Aika-nee..." the boy muttered as he hastily pulled on his shoes, sprinting out of the door, only pausing to call out "Ittekimasu!" Kagome Aika sweatdropped at her younger brother's actions, before proceeding to lock the door and head to her new school, Hitsue Middle School. The siblings had just moved into the neighborhood the week before, and it was their first day of school. "Hmm... I wonder whether anyone in Hitsue plays Vanguard..." Aika thought out loud, before noticing the time. "Shit! I'm going to be late!" she exclaimed, dashing off in the direction of her new school.
Meanwhile, at Hitsue High school, a lone girl was walking towards a classroom. Her black hair, streaked with crimson, was tied into a simple ponytail, and her piercing silver eyes were almost emotionless as she headed towards her destination. She was wearing the male school uniform, without the tie and had a black sling bag slung over her left shoulder. Cautiously, she stepped into the classroom, noticing that it was empty. Glancing at the clock, she noted that she had about ten minutes until class began, so she made her way to an empty desk next to a window seat, seating down and stowing her bag underneath it. Resting her chin on her arms, she stared absently out of the window, waiting for the teacher and other students to arrive.
"Class, this is Hayashi Atsuto, he is our new transfer student. Please treat him nicely. Atsuko-kun, please take a seat next to Katsuragi Kamui," the teacher addressed the class. Atsuto silently plopped down in his seat, bracing himself for a boring lesson. "Yo, Hayashi Atsuto right? I am Katsuragi Kamui. These are my friends, Uno Reiji and Saga Eiji," his desk mate grinned at him as he introduced him to his friends, who smiled and waved in reply. "Nice to meet you!" "NTMY yo!" Atsuto found himself grinning back at them. "It's nice to meet you too," he replied, before the teacher started her lesson.
"Hello, my name is Aika, and I've just moved here with my younger brother. Nice to meet you!" Aika chirped happily as she introduced herself to her class. "Aika-san, your seat is next to Sendou Aichi," the teacher informed her, before proceeding to begin her lesson. "Hi! Nice to meet you, Sendou Aichi, right?" she stuck out her hand at the surprised bluenette, who shook it shyly. "Nice to meet you too, Aika-san," Aichi smiled slightly. Aika's cheerfulness was very contagious.
"Students, this is Rin Sayomi, our new transfer student... Sayomi-san, could you please stand up?" the teacher announced. The girl, Rin, stood up, her expression bored. Whispers broke out immediately. "Why isn't she wearing the female's uniform?" "Look at her hair!" "Her eyes are weird..." sighing in irritation, she attempted to ignore them, noticing that the seats next to and behind her was empty.
"Sorry we're late!" the classroom door flew open, revealing a blond-haired male with cheeky blue eyes, and a brunette with striking teal eyes, which widened slightly upon seeing his new desk mate. "It's alright, Miwa-kun, Kai-kun. Please take your seats," the teacher warned sternly, "Don't let me catch you again." Miwa nodded vigorously, while Kai grunted in agreement, sitting down next to Rin. "Now, Rin-san, could you please introduce yourself?" the teacher asked. Rin felt herself getting annoyed, she hated attention, but she stood up anyway. "My name is Sayomi Rin, I moved here from Osaka. Nice to meet you," she spoke, her voice bored and monotonous. Kai's eyes widened in shock. He recognised her now, Rin, his childhood friend, who moved to Osaka five years ago to stay with her relatives. He wondered if she recognised him, deciding to ask her later. "O-okay, you may sit down," the teacher was shocked at her indifferent attitude. Rin sat down, her eyes meeting Kai's, and slowly, her lips quirked upwards slightly, before they returned to their usual position. That was all he needed to know. It really was her.
"So, Atsuto, do you play Vanguard?" Reiji asked. It was break time, and he, Kamui, Reiji and Eiji were chatting about their hobbies. "Yeah, I use a Nova Grappler Deck..." he replied, trailing off when he saw their grinning faces. "Aww yeah! We use Nova Grappler too!" Kamui exclaimed as he, Reiji and Eiji attempted to high-five, but ended up missing. Atsuto sweatdropped at their antics. "Speaking of which, would you like to come to Card Capital with us after school? It's our favourite card shop," Reiji added. "Sure, my sister expects me home by dinner, so I should be able to make it," Atsuto laughed as they continued talking about Nova Grapplers on the way back to the classroom.
"Aichi? Whatcha doing?" Aika asked, seemingly popping up behind the blue-haired boy from out of nowhere as he was looking through his deck. "Wahh!" startled, Aichi dropped his cards onto the floor, and he immediately started picking them up. "Oops, sorry, here let me help," Aika apologized, "Royal Paladins huh..." she muttered. "You play Vanguard too?" the bluenette asked as she handed him his deck. Shyly nodding, Aichi mumbled, "I just started playing though..." "No problem! Say, do you know where the local card shop is? I was planning to go there after school," Aika asked, her indigo eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. As Aichi was about to reply, he was cut off. "Aichi! Going to Card Capital today?" a loud voice called from behind the two students. Curiously, Aika turned around, spotting a black-haired boy sporting a V-shaped hairstyle heading towards them, followed by a brown-haired boy. "Morikawa-kun! Izaki-kun!" said bluenette greeted, "I guess so..." he replied, glancing at Aika. "ME TOO!" The blue-haired girl was practically bouncing in excitement as she cheered. Aichi sweatdropped as the bell rang, signaling the end of their break.
"So, Rin Sayomi, right?" Miwa asked, somehow, this girl was a little like Kai, calm and reserved. Mutely, the girl nodded. "Would you like us to show you around the school?" the blonde asked, gesturing to himself and Kai, who, to his surprise, did not protest like he usually did. "No thank you... actually, I wanted to find a good card shop around here, do you happen to know of any?" she asked, turning around to look at him. However, it was Kai that replied, "There is one called Card Capital near the school... most of the players there are boring though." The blackette smirked, resting her head on her hands, "Most of them will be boring to me too, then. In that case, I'll fight you, Kai~" she said airily, her gaze now fixated on the blackboard, where the teacher was writing down the homework for the day. "You know Kai?" Miwa asked, surprised. "We're old friends," Kai said gruffly, as he began packing up his things. Rin nodded mutely as she began packing too. "Miwa-kun, I'd advise you to start packing up now. School's ending in less than a minute," she informed.