Chapter 1: How It Began
"Hey there Misaki! How is it going?" said a boy with blond hair. His smile was clear on his face, his arms on the countertop supporting his weight.
"Oh, hi there Miwa…" said a bored Misaki. Her silver purplish hair was tucked behind her ear as she sat behind the counter, reading a book. Assista-cat was sleeping on her lap.
"So, um y-y-you know we have been g-g-getting c-c-closer to each other so I've been wondering if y-y-you would…" muttered Miwa, sweat starting to roll down his face from nervousness.
"You were wondering if…?" replied Misaki, curious on what he had to say. Assista-cat woke up as well, wondering what the energetic boy had to say.
"I was wondering if you would like to go out with me…I can totally understand if you don't want to, with your school's cardfight club and work and…" Miwa said quickly. Misaki raised her hand to stop him from talking.
"Yes, I would like to go out with you," Misaki said with a smile.
Miwa was taken aback at her response, clearly not expecting her to say that.
"You would?" asked Miwa. His worried and nervous look was then replaced by one of confusion. Misaki put Assista-cat down along with her book and kissed Miwa on the cheek. Miwa began to blush as he held the spot where Misaki's lips made contact.
"So does that answer your question?" Misaki said, clearly flirting with him.
"Why yes, yes it does. So I guess I'll pick you up at 8 tomorrow?" Miwa said.
"That's perfect. See you tomorrow." Before he left, Misaki kissed his other cheek, earning cheers from everyone in the store. Well, except for 2 people.
The first being Shin, the overprotective uncle that he is. He was currently lecturing Miwa on what he can do with Misaki and what he can't do. It was normal for him to be like that. The other person was someone who everyone thought wouldn't care for such a matter. Sure, it was true that he rarely showed emotions, but he still had some.
The said person was sitting in the very back, arms crossed and head down. Not much people were in the store, just the gang, meaning that he had a clear view on what happened between Misaki and Miwa.
'What kind of sick game are you playing here, Miwa? You, of all people, should know how I feel towards her' the person thought. He shut his eyes, trying to hold back tears.
"Hey, what's wrong Kai? You should be cheering for your best friend," said the young cardfight prodigy, Aichi.
"You know how he is bro, never showing emotion. 'Ooohhh I'm Kai and I don't have any emotions ooohhh,'" Kamui said. His friends agreed.
"That's right yo," said Eiji.
"Kamui is just the greatest, isn't he?" said Reji.
"But Kai had won all of his cardfights against you, like during the shop tournament," replied Aichi, who was remembering the day Team Q4 started.
"You don't need to bring that up you know," said Kamui.
Miwa noticed how his best friend seemed down so he made his way to his table and took a seat across from him.
"Hey buddy! Well? Aren't you going to congratulate me on getting myself a girlfriend?" asked Miwa. He didn't notice how Kai cringed at the word 'girlfriend.'
"Well done. Now if you don't mind, I have something that needs to be done so I'll be on my way now," said Kai, getting up from his seat. He put on his black vest and red scarf, put his deck into its holster, and walked to the doors. He glanced at Misaki, who was blushing from Emi's teasing, and frown. 'You were so far away from me and now, you're even farther. I don't think I can ever reach you now…'
The latter exited Card Capital and ventured out into the wintery streets. He needed to clear his mind. Kai calmly walked towards the playground bench where he always takes his naps. As he approached the bench, a memory flashed in his mind.
Kai had just came back into town, making his way to the only card shop that he knew of. Deciding to take a shortcut, he cut right through the park, mentally enjoying the scenery as he walked by.
'Fall sure is peaceful,' Kai thought. 'It sure does make a guy tired. Wonder if there are any benches where I can sleep on?'
Alas, after wandering around the park for some time, he finally managed to find one. As Kai walked towards it, he saw a girl around his age looking down on her lap. He got closer and found cards in her hands, Vanguard cards to be precise.
"How do I even use this?" she said to herself. "Why is this here? What does this do? Ahhh, I'm so confused."
"What's there to be confused about?" Kai said, taking a seat besides her. She looked up and her eyes wandered around his body as if she was analyzing him. Deciding that he seems trustworthy, she looked up and started to tell him of her problems.
"Well you see I don't know how to use this deck properly and it's the only one I got; it was from my parents."
"Can I have a look at them?" Kai asked, his hand held out.
"Sure," she replied, placing her deck in his hand. Kai examined the deck thoroughly, reading each card's skill and noting the amount of a certain card is used. He handed back the girl's deck.
"The deck that you are using is Oracle Think Tank, the clan that focuses on draw power. To effectively use that clan, you need to be able to use your hand size and drawing to your advantage. The deck focuses less on power so don't play too aggressively. Other than that, this deck should be fairly easy to play," finished Kai. What was he doing? He, Toshiki Kai, giving advice to a beginner? Has he gone soft?
His thoughts were interrupted as the girl smiled and cheered with joy, her dilemma now solved. She hugged Kai and walked off. She then abruptly stopped and turned back.
"Oh yeah my name's Misaki Tokura. It was a pleasure meeting you," Misaki said before running back. She didn't even wait for him to say his name. Kai sat there on the bench, confused on what just happened. He smiled, which was quite uncommon for him to do.
'Misaki Tokura. Hope we meet again,' he thought, lying down to take a quick and much needed rest.
Kai gritted his teeth, irritated that his favorite resting spot had connections to his crush. Continuing down the street, he constantly stopped to think, look up, and walk again. Taking a turn, he hadn't noticed that he was now in front of the Foo Fighters' headquarters, also known as Fukuhara High School.
Too preoccupied with his own thoughts, Kai hadn't noticed a little commotion going on between the school's top 2 cardfighters.
"Leave now! Anyone who loses to someone on that skill level doesn't even deserve to be on this team or this school!" yelled a boy with long crimson hair. The girl had her hands to her face, clearly crying. Her azure colored hair was a mess, along with the clothes she was wearing. Her bags aid next to her feet, containing her clothes and other personal belongings.
"Well? On with you! Go, get on out of here!" yelled the boy.
"But, Ren-sama…" said the girl.
"Don't you Ren-sama me, Asaka. It's getting annoying because you know why? Because you're annoying. You're too clingy and I don't like. Now…GET OUT OF HERE AND NEVER COME BACK!" yelled Ren. Ren grabbed Asaka's suitcases and threw them out towards the gate, right in front of where Kai was. He then proceeded to push Asaka as well, causing her to fall on the ground.
Satisfied, Ren walked back inside, locking the doors behind him. For a while, everything was quiet. Nobody said a word, Asaka lying on the ground and Kai staring at her with eyes wide. Never had he thought Ren would act like that, much less to Asaka, his ever-so-loyal follower and teammate.
That was when the tears really started to come out. Asaka continued to lie down on the ground, now hugging her knees together as her sobbing became louder with each passing second. Kai was really at a loss of word, what with Ren kicking out one of his teammates.
Didn't he know of Asaka's crush on him? Does he not return the feeling?
Deciding to comfort the girl, Kai kneeled down and patted the girl's head. He didn't want there to be two heartbroken people. Asaka looked up, hoping it would be Ren, who came back to apologize and tell her it was all a joke. It turned out to be his old best friend, Kai.
"Kai? What are you doing here? Did you see what just happened?" Asaka asked shyly. It was normal for her to act this way, what with she and Kai never being close to each other.
"I saw part of it. I just happened to be taking a stroll through the town, trying to clear my mind of something," Kai replied. More like someone, his conscious told him. The next part really confused Kai: Asaka was now hugging him tightly, crying her heart out on his chest.
"Why would Ren-sama do this? It isn't like him to do that. He would never do that to me. He would never. Why now? The world is so mean, taking away everything that I love and care about. Do you understand?" Asaka asked, still crying.
Kai thought carefully on what he should say next. The girl in front of him was fragile so he had to be careful on what he would say next. He then wondered if he should pour his heart out as well. Should he do it? She did ask him if he understood. But would he break down if he were to talk about it? Deciding to take a chance, he responded back.
"I do understand," Kai said, surprising Asaka that he was actually listening. "Just recently, the girl that I have a crush on – no, the girl that I love was taken away by none other than my own best friend. It pained me to see them together; never had I thought I'd be betrayed by the two people who are the closest to me."
Asaka was taken aback. She had not expected Kai to be one who has someone he loves. 'This must be all new to him,' she thought. 'Sad that it ended so painfully for him.' She nuzzled her head closer to Kai, hoping it would somehow lighten him up.
"I'm so sorry to hear. The scene between me and Ren probably reminded you of it. I'm sorry," apologized a guilty Asaka.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. It was just bad luck for me to be here at the same time as the fight. Don't blame yourself for this," assured Kai. He hugged Asaka closer, the girl not minding the closeness of their bodies.
"That doesn't help for the fact that I got kicked out of Team Asteroid; plus I have nowhere else to go. I don't know what to do with my life anymore," said Asaka.
Kai, who hated to see a sad girl, decided to help her with all of her problems. Hey, he wasn't on Team Q4 anymore and his apartment was big enough for two people to share so it wouldn't be much of a problem. Actually, it could be beneficial for him. Maybe this is what he needed: a fresh start. Deciding to give the idea a shot, he broke the hug. Asaka opened her swollen eyes only to have Kai hold onto her shoulders, staring directly into her eyes.
"How about this: we start our own team. I'm not on Team Q4 anymore and there's nothing in the rulebook that says a team can't have only two members. As for your living conditions, you can live with me in my apartment. It should be big enough for the two of us and don't worry about rent, it's not that much," suggested Kai.
Asaka was amazed at Kai's offer. He was saying for her, no, both of them to have a clean start. It was so nice of Kai to offer that. She would just be a burden for him to carry, so why ask her anyways? However, the look in Kai's eyes showed care and determination, assuring her that he was serious.
"Okay! Thank you so much!" cheered Asaka. She hugged Kai once again and kissed him on the cheek. "That's for being such a gentleman, helping a lady in need."
Both Kai and Asaka got up and started to dust themselves off. Kai grabbed each of Asaka's suitcases and started walking away, causing a scurrying Asaka to catch up. The walk was silent, however, it wasn't an awkward silence; it was a silence that lingers around when both person reached a comfort level where no talking is necessary.
"So, for the team name, what should it be?" asked Asaka. "It should be something that represents us and why we started the team."
"Hmmm, how about Team Shard then? You know shards from a broken window or glass. How about it?" suggested Kai.
"That's perfect! Team Shard, the team made from broken pieces," smiled Asaka. Kai returned the smile and continued to walk, not realizing how Asaka was beginning to lean closer to him.
A/N: Yay, third story not that anyone cares. Anyways, you know what I'm going to say: Love it? Hate it? Have a suggestion? Then put it in a review if you are ever so kind. Now then, on to chapter 2 of this story!