Strawberry Duel!

*I own neither Strawberry Panic nor Yu-Gi-Oh, in any of its forms. Otherwise the series would probably go almost exactly like this and we'd have more Dueling chicks.

Chapter Sixteen

"There are more students here today than usual."

Ohtori Amane had refused to join any club activities that her fans could follow her at, so the walk to her classes every morning was usually the only time they could see her. She clutched a hand over her forehead and rubbed her temples.

Everything was going so well at yesterday's dinner…until that girl showed up. I don't know what it is, but I could swear that she has something against me. She just shows up out of nowhere, beats me in a Duel and then starts preaching those weird ideas about love. Kusanagi Makoto…who are you?

Apparently, the correct answer was "Spica White's new idol." Even as Amane passed through the crowd blocking the gate, surprisingly few of her fans even gave her a second glance. It felt like an out-of-body experience, watching someone else go through what was almost her exact daily routine. The only difference was that Makoto warmly greeted all who cheered for her. The throng of schoolgirls raised their voices with glee as she passed by.

"Kyaah! Makoto-sama!"

"The new star of Spica White!"

"We love you!"

Every step the elegant young emperor took seemed both graceful and perfectly placed. Her mind completely bewildered, Amane passively allowed herself to be pushed to school by the crowd like a salmon going upstream.

Rumors of Makoto's newfound popularity soon covered Astraea Girls.

"Hey, have you heard about the Emperor? Kusanagi Makoto?"

"You mean that transfer student who defeated Spica White's Prince Amane?"

"Yeah, her! They're saying that she's going to enter the Etoile Tournament, come the next round, that is."

"What? But that's impossible. Round One is already over, and we've already declared a winner in Prince Amane."

"Trust me: if anyone can find a way to enter the Tournament at this point, it'll be the Emperor. Almost makes me wish that we Lulim Pink students had a viable Etoile candidate."

"Yeah…"

News was even beginning to reach the ears of Miyuki Rokujo. Not only was this girl a great Duelist, but she was also attractive and full of energy. Her androgynous face certainly didn't hurt her chances at Spica White, where only the most forceful of women could be found. If Makoto had any weakness at all, it was her love of showboating. Some might even have considered her little "card protector stunt" to be almost a sort of bribe, to get people to follow her. A truly troublesome person had just appeared, that much was sure.

Miyuki lowered the dusty box of documents from the library shelf. Tsukidate Chiyo stood by, eagerly awaiting her chance to search and help aid her Onee-sama. Miyuki read the letters of her desired book with reverence in her voice.

"A Brief History of the Etoile Tournament…"

Elsewhere, Spica White President Tomori Shion sat drinking a strong and bitter tea. A tea that matched her present mood perfectly. Her mind raced with thoughts of Makoto. She wondered what could make such a promising young Duelist up and leave North Acadmey like that, just to come here to Astraea. More importantly, how did she know what was going on with the Etoile Tournament?

She had mentioned something about a contact right before the Duel started. But Shion was sure that she'd been the only one to recall that. Everyone else had been immediately swept up in the excitement of the ensuing Duel. But such infighting was not to be permitted, particularly at such an important time for Spica White.

Shion knew she had to get rid of this problem, but how?

Out in the garden, Minamoto Chikaru had called Rokujo Miyuki out for a meeting. The former offered the latter a can of sweet red bean drink, but Miyuko decided to cut straight to the point.

"Are you the one who called her back?"

Chikaru giggled like a schoolgirl.

"It's awfully hard to fool you, isn't it, Miyuki-chan? That's right, I'm the one that did it. I even sent a special white messenger dove all the way to North Academy."

Miyuki's mouth gaped open in shock, both at the revelation and at Chikaru's behavior.

"B-but why? Didn't you know that something like this would happen?"

Chikaru lowered her head and looked down. Her tone was apologetic.

"I actually…called you here to apologize. I had no idea that Makoto-chan would blow everything out of proportion the way she did. All I ever really did when I wrote to her was to tell her about the goings-on here. So, when I told her about the Tournament…"

Miyuki took a sip of her drink, trying desperately not to grimace at its cloying sweetness. She cocked her head to one side.

"Is that really the reason?"

Chikaru gestured over towards her three sleeping Lulim girls. Kizuna, Remon and Kagome all lay sleeping beneath shady trees in the warm sun.

"Just look at them. Those three are still too young to seriously enter a tournament like this. Like it or not, this battle will basically be between Spica White and Miator Green. We of Lulim Pink will just have to suck it up for now and find ourselves good places on the sidelines. But, maybe someday, the day will come when we can lock horns with the best of them, no matter whose school they come from.

"I would love to see that during my time here, but I know that, in all likelihood, that may not happen. We are no threat to you now, Miyuki Rokujo. Please believe that."

Nagisa leant over the rooftop guardrail. Her mind whirled with vertigo at the thought of the high drop. In her hand, she clutched the hastily-written note that she had found in her shoe locker.

"Meet me on the roof after classes today."

The obvious culprit here was Shizuma, but Nagisa knew better than just to blunder into a trap. That whole business with the library letter had made her once bitten, twice shy. She'd almost decided against not going to the rooftop. But something had told her that this message was true.

All of a sudden, a thin but strong pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. A mature woman's voice giggled in her ear.

"Guess who, Nagisa-chan?"

Nagisa could not decide whether she was happier to see Shizuma or to learn that the letter wasn't a trick. The two girls turned until they faced each other and Nagisa buried her face in Shizuma's breasts. All worries seemed to melt away.

"Nagisa…Did you really miss me? I missed you."

Nagisa could feel it in her bones that a kiss was coming. So she was quite surprised when Shizuma decided to nibble her ear instead. A cold breeze whipped the moistened area to an almost stinging cold. The older girl slowly and reluctantly let go. She walked a few paces away from Nagisa and spoke again, not turning to meet her gaze.

"Not seeing you for two weeks…that's going to be really difficult for both of us. But let's try to put all of our energy into fending off the Rare Hunters. That way we'll both be too busy to think about loneliness."

Shizuma spun around with a smile on her face. But Nagisa could tell that her onee-sama was merely putting on a brave face for her sake.

"Oh! Something else we could focus on is the Amane-Hikari pair. It'll be interesting to see how those two handle this round. Amane is just going to lose it, I know it!"

Whether it was her place or not, Nagisa couldn't help but reprimand her onee-sama a little bit.

"Shi-Shizuma-oneesama! How can you say that? Hikari-chan is already having enough trouble, like back at the Turbo Duel! She was almost the one who fell off the tower, you know! I mean, granted, things are okay for now, but still-"

Shizuma embraced the other girl from behind to silence her. Nagisa's head now rested in the reverse of its former position, Shizuma's breasts now cradling the back of her head.

"Oh, you're too nice. But I guess that's one of the things I like about you. But just worry about yourself for now. If I catch word that some Rare Hunter has defeated Tamao and is only a few steps away from defeating you, I will not hesitate. I swear that I will run to your side, tournament or no tournament. So please be careful, unless you want to let down all our Miator Green friends."

"O-onee-sama…you'd really do that?"

"Of course I would. Tournament or no tournament, my only wish is to be with you."

Peck.

A small spot of warm moistness appeared on Nagisa's neck. The younger girl rolled her eyes inwardly.

Onee-sama…you're hopeless…

To be continued…