My Maiden's Number
First ZEXAL fic, main pairing, Yuma x Kotori~!
I don't own yugioh Zexal.
Chapter 1: I want to be perfect.
Kotori POV:
Where am I? There is nothing but a dark sky and a ravaged battlefield. I could feel that nothing was left here.
"This doesn't feel right."
I looked at the ground; it was full of black dirt and mostly burnt cards and rocks.
"Black Ray lancer!"
I then found myself on a cliff.
"What the?"
I looked at who was on the other side.
"Shimmering Spear Slash!"
It was Ryoga Kamishiro, or as people nicknamed him, "Shark", and he was attacking me with his monster! I cried out in help, hoping someone would save me.
"Rising Sun Slash!"
A large silver/yellow warrior then leaped out of nowhere and had blocked the attack with his sword.
"That's…Utopia!"
"Kotori!"
"Huh?"'
A boy around the same age as me, light skin, red eyes, and dark blue and pink spiked hair that pointed out and upward then fell from the sky, landing right in front of me.
"Yuma!"
"Are you ok?"
"Look out!"
A clash then started between the two Xyz monsters, which had then created a bright white glow.
"What is this?"
The bright flash of light blinded me, and by the time my eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that she was in a room full of purple cubes, where the floor was also in purple highlighted cubes.
"Now where am I?"
"Magic Cylinder!"
I then snapped out of looking around to see a beam of white energy collide with my body.
What was that?"
A picture of Yuma's face then showed up, along with the label saying that he had won.
"We were dueling?"
I looked at my arm, seeing a duel disk, a green one in fact, on there. I was then looking at the boy in front of me, who had a look of disappointment.
"Yuma?"
He then turned around, with his back towards me.
"Later Kotori."
He then started walking away.
"What? Where are you going?"
"Away from you. You're not perfect to me."
He then kept walking away.
"Perfect? How can I be perfect?"
I stood up, seeing him to keep walking farther away from me.
"Yuma! What do you mean perfect to you?"
He just ignored me, and my heart ached in time with his footsteps.
"Wait, come back!"
I reached forwards to grab his arm, but as soon as I made contact, everything just went a white color again.
3rd Person:
"COME BACK!"
When she said that, she was sitting up in her bed, in her Pajamas no less and sweating profusely.
"That dream…it happened again."
She then got out of the bed to look through the window, seeing the secluded and lit up city of Heartland.
"And tomorrow, it's the one and only perfect chance I will get…"
She then looked at the bedside table near her window, where she then saw a small box and letter on there.
"I don't remember that being there…"
She then looked through the box, where it was showing a small necklace with a peculiar jewel in the shape of a heart, surrounded by diamonds.
"Well, this is quite pretty nonetheless."
She then looked at the letter that was put on her desk.
"To someone who could use a boost…"
Inside the envelope, she looked at what was inside, which was nothing more than a blank card.
"A blank card?"
The number "13" then flashed in a blue color, which then transferred a blue aura around her.
"This is a number card!"
A low female voice soon whispered to her.
"What do you desire the most?"
Kotori was looking around to see who was whispering to her, but saw no one.
"Get out, you number!"
"I will cause you no harm. But with what I see inside your heart, you have holes that need to be filled. State what you desire the most. Simple as that."
"I…I…"
As she started stuttering, her heart was aching from even the thought of him.
"I…want, him…"
She then clutched onto the spot where her heart would have been.
"I see…let the number's power sooth your pain, and fill those holes with hope…"
As Kotori struggled, she kept her eyes closed, while the blank card was then becoming an image.
"Let your aching heart be filled with the number's hope, for I will help you…"
As Kotori opened her eyes, she saw the card no longer blank, but was replaced with an Xyz Monster.
"It's…"
Her necklace jewel then started glowing, which made her shield her eyes, and a pink humanoid with long hair, a small chest similar to Kotori's, a thin body with a few curves, and blue eyes then floated in front of her.
"And you're, just like that being!"
Meanwhile, a couple of miles away, probably the same time at night, which is like 12:10:
A blue humanoid with gold eyes, a set of spiky hair, and a thin body shape was looking at a small box that was glowing, which was known as a TV.
"But, you can't!"
"There isn't any choice. I must confront him alone. He has them, and we can't afford to. I'm sorry Burstinatrix."
"Avian, it's too dangerous! If you truly do care, then don't go alone!"
The person, or spirit in question that was watching the television set, would be Astral.
"What emotions am I experiencing? I feel a substance that could be forming within my eyes, which is nearly impossible for someone like me."
"Astral, those would be tears."
Astral looked above him to light skin, red eyes, and black and pink spiked hair that points out and upward by which most fans (and more importantly Yusei) called it ridiculous, who was looking down on him.
"Yuma, what are these, tears?"
"Tears are when you feel very emotional, whether good or bad, you cry them out as a sign of that emotion. I didn't know it was possible for you to have tears Astral."
Astral then mused to himself as he looked at the screen.
"Observation #20, anyone can form a fluid in their eyes called tears whenever they are overwhelmed with emotions, so they cry as a sign, letting them flow. It is also possible for someone like me to have these 'tears'."
Yuma then leaped down from his hammock to land in front of the TV next to Astral, lying down looking at the ceiling.
"Don't tell me you're watching that Soap Opera Stuff."
"Soap Operas?"
"They're really boring, Akari and Grandma make me watch them it with them."
Astral just looked at the TV.
"Actually Yuma, I find these 'Soap Operas' more interesting than you think."
"How so?"
"For one, these more involve the lives of cards, and more likely than not, monster cards."
"What? Akari never showed me anything like that!"
"So I assume that you only had watched the ones that are about human live? Sad, these 'Duel Monster Dramas' are very intriguing."
Yuma however was ignoring Astral's statement, as he was too wrapped up in the program to answer. What he was watching was a Harpy Lady and E-Hero Avian on screen together.
"My hero…"
"It was nothing ma'am."
"Avian?"
"Burstinatrix! I'm sure this doesn't look like what it looks like!"
"No, it it's over, I can't stand this!"
"Wait, come back!"
Yuma and Astral were staring at screen, soon overcome with sadness.
"Tissue?"
Yuma was holding a tissue box, giving it to Astral.
"Yuma, I can't use tissues."
Yuma then blew his nose into the sheet of paper, and used another to dry his tears.
"Observation #21, humans use tissues to help themselves in comfort when they cry."
The two kept watching the soap opera on the TV, until Yuma fell exhausted and was sleeping. However, Astral kept watching the rest, for he was pondering deep in thought.
"I wonder, would I ever experience the emotion of love? I have observed other humans where they would become united under ceremonies. However," he then looked back at Yuma. "Yuma could feel for some of the females of this world."
As he kept watching, more questions rose up when he saw certain other movies.
Morning, 7:37 AM:
Yuma yawned in the presence of his room.
"Agh…Astral?"
Yuma looked next to him to see Astral still watching the TV.
"Alright Astral, fun's over."
The screen then went blank with one button from the remote.
"Yuma, what do you plan on doing today?"
"Well, today is the Heart Connection Celebration!"
"Heart Connection Celebration?"
Yuma then looked at him.
"Yeah! It happens every year! After everyone has a half day of everything, we get paired up with someone, and for us, it's someone from school. After that, we spend the entire day with them, where you get to connect and know each other better!"
Astral nodded at the explanation.
"I see…do you have anyone that you hope to be with?"
Yuma then quickly blushed at the question.
"No! No I don't! No hope with Kotori or anything!"
"So, it's your green haired female companion?"
"I don't like Kotori!"
"I never said I did. Is there something you need to say?"
Yuma then turned around, not facing Astral.
"I…I…I, I can't say it in front of you!"
Astral then looked away from Yuma his back facing Yuma's.
"As you wish, if you want privacy, I shall drop the subject."
The golden key around Yuma's neck glowed, making Astral suck back into the key.
"I wish I could tell her."
The D-Gazer next to his bag then started ringing.
"Hmm?"
He picked it up, answering the call.
"Yuma!"
"Hey Kotori!"
"Listen, you know today's the Heart Connection Celebration right?"
"Yeah, I know, I always choose Tetsuo and we go to a museum about dueling."
Kotori on the D-Gazer screen had a look of extreme giddiness, but then regained her composure as she spoke again.
"Um...I was wondering, could you choose me as your heart connection partner today?"
Yuma then tried hiding some blush that he had, quickly responding to Kotori in a nervous voice.
"Sure! No problem, we could go to a museum instead, and stuff!"
She smiled brightly.
"Great! It's a date!"
The D-Gazer screen then flipped off, showing it become blank.
"It's a date…"
He then looked at the clock.
"Gah! I'm not gonna make it!"
Yuma quickly put on his usual set of clothes, grabbed his duel disk and packed all of his items and leaped from the attic to his room, and zipped down the stairs.
"Gotta go, see ya Akari!"
"Yuma."
He then froze in place.
"Yes?"
"Good luck."
Yuma then shook his head and started running out.
"What does that even mean?"
Yuma bursted through the door, racing outside into the open road shouting his signature phrase.
"Kattobingu daze, ore!"
He leaped off a set of stairs, meeting the ground and once again taking off for the school doors.
"Yuma, what is this 'date' you speak of?"
Yuma just kept running, ignoring his partner's question.
"I'll tell you later Astral, right now I'm almost late!"
He reached the school, on his knees breathing heavily and panting.
"You ok Yuma?"
He looked up to see a girl with silver hair and a pair of cat ears that were shaped from the hair.
"Cathy! I'm fine, gotta go!"
He then leaped up, taking off and meeting various students before reaching class.
"Hey you guys!"
The "numbers club' was all there, Tetsuo, Tokunosuke, and class representative, Takashi. There was certainly one thing missing.
"Hey, where's Kotori?"
"Sorry, but I got here!"
Yuma turned around and backed up, startled by the girl's unexpected appearance.
"GAH! Don't do that!"
"Alright, everyone take your seats."
The class settled down, gathering into their seats.
"Now, for today's 'Heart Connection Celebration' we are going to go over something different! Maiden in Love."
Everyone then looked at the instructor confused.
"It was a card that was used in the past. It was known as a deadly field crippler."
As the lesson continued, Yuma started sleeping through the lesson. Kotori was however more interested in the card than anyone in the class.
"A card that can earn love from pity…that's an amazing concept!"
She then raised her hand for the teacher to see.
"Ah, yes, Miss Mizuki?"
"Has anyone ever used this card before?"
The teacher then beamed with her question.
"Excellent, I was about to get there anyway! This was used by one known person, she was a Duel Academy Graduate, known as Blair Flannigan!"
A picture of an older looking, most likely eighteen year old woman that wore a white uniform, dueling a random person, appeared on screen.
"She had used this card so much; fans called her the 'Maiden who kept falling in love'. She was on the pro circuit before receiving a proposal after one of her duels. She and one of her opponents who won against her had a child that had been part of time when Synchro Monsters were rising, cheering for Jack Atlas." (The picture of the Blair Flannigan clone in 5ds)
The screen then shifted to a picture of a museum.
"There's also a very rare shot at a copy of her deck. You just needed to answer the man who holds the deck's riddle, and it could be yours. It's right here at the Heartland Duel Academy Museum!"
"Wonderful!"
The bell then suddenly rang.
"Well, class is over. The Heart Connection Celebration begins! Choose your heart partner!"
Kotori then started shaking Yuma.
"Yuma! Yuma!"
"Huh? What?"
"Pick me as your partner, now!"
"Is it happening right now?"
"Yes!"
Yuma then quickly grabbed her hand, showing that they chosen each other as their partner.
"Hey Yuma, what gives?"
The both of them then saw a very peeved Tetsuo, and a very agitated Cathy.
"Explain yourself right now Yuma!"
"Well, sorry Tetsuo, but this year, Kotori's my heart partner ok?"
Tetuso then changed his expression to a wide grin.
"Oh…I see, you have the hots for Kotori!"
"That is totally not true! We have nothing going on!"
Cathy just got more annoyed, while Tetsuo walked away, laughing his head off.
"Let's go, classes and the school day is over. We have the whole day to spend together Yuma."
Yuma then snapped back into reality to look at Kotori.
"Right, let's go."
They then started walking away, still hand in hand.
Kotori, however was thinking.
"The first part is in place. Just keep the same interest as him, and there's only one deck that could help me."