Hey guys! I'm back with chapter two. Granted it's a small chapter, but I do that occasionally. I will not be updating this as often as I'd like, mainly because I will be dividing my time between this and a series of other stories. Still, I hope you enjoy!

"Ow!" Carly glanced down at the fingernail on her left hand. It was the third one she had annihilated, and it was proving painful. Keeping tabs on Akiza for the day was not that hard. She always settled on the same bench after her games, alone. She would always stare at the current duo playing and frown at the bad plays. Carly did not know what to do. The woman should not be intimidating in any sense of the word. She still lived with her parents if the abundance of rumours were to be believed! But the way she held herself, her stature left Carly a wobbling mess.

"And now for the semi-finals!" The announcment took Carly by surprise, forcing a jump and a cry from her throat.

"Already?" Carly shrugged off her brown jacket due to the heat and stared at Akiza as the announcer called Akiza's name. Her purple dress flowed elegantly behind her. Her steps almost...they almost conveyed boredom. Slow, steady. Akiza glanced around at the huge crowd. There were easily forty-thousand people in the stadium, but she didn't even flinch. Her opponent was clearly nervous, constantly glancing around. However, he was a skilled player. His Blackwing deck proved destructive time and time again, even scoring some one-turn-kills. There had been a couple of scenarios where he had his back to the wall and had made a huge comeback.

His orange hair was spiked up, his jeans faded and his jacket was leather. Carly overheard some casual background chatter. She heard a few people murmur about how the guy was 'probably from Sattelite,' and how he was most likely 'a no-good trouble maker.' Akiza leaned on the side of her standing area. She was nonchalant about the crowd that was cheering for her and casually inspected her nails as she waited. It seemed that nobody was cheering for the young man, who was named 'Crow,' according to the announcement.

"Akiza and Crow, you may begin!" As the two drew their cards, Crow tensed up for a second. Someone had just thrown their hot-dog and yelled 'Sattelite scum.'

Crow didn't rage, or even search for the culprit. He simply drew his sixth card and ignored the ketchup on his back.

"Draw!" He yelled. The crowd had fallen silent. It was a rule; players needed to hear each other. His facial expression was neutral, giving nothing away. "I summon Shura in attack mode!" Akiza watched as a large holographic bird appeared on the field. It was a worrying card at that precise moment. "And I'll play one card face-down." Carly stared as Crow Set just one card. "End turn."

"Ok...slow start." Carly murmured to herself. Akiza could beat this thing, surely? 1800 was quite impressive, but this was Akiza. The one who beat her whole field in one turn!

"Draw!" She was so serious. She knew her foe was not to be under-estimated. She analysed her hand carefully. It was solid, but slow. She took one card and placed it onto the field. "Botanical Lion! This monster gains three-hundred attack for each Plant-type monster on the field, including itself!" The monster roared as it popped up on te field. It quickly went to a static standstill. "Battle Phase! Botanical Lion attacks!" The Lion rushed at the bird-like creature. Crow quickly discarded a card from his hand.

"I discard my Kalut! Shura gains 1400 attack points!" The monster on the field met Botanical Lion with a huge fist that burst into flames. The flames grew larger due to the influence of the Kalut. "Shura's effect!" Crow quickly searched out a Kalut and placed it onto the field.

Akiza faltered.

"I play Miracle Fertiliser! Special Summon Botanical Lion! And Set one card. End turn." Crow flipped up his face-down card with a triumphant smirk.

"Icarus attack! I Tribute my Kalut to destroy Botanical Lion and your face-down!" The holographic burst led to Akiza bowing her head.

"I concede." The crowd gasped. Akiza had lost, and Crow was going to the finals! Carly watched as Akiza stepped down the steps, hurriedly leaving. Unsure of what to say, she rushed as well, almost forgetting her bag as she chased after Akiza.

"Wait!" Blue hair in her face, Carly shouted to catch Akiza's attention. She succeded. The stadium was behind them, and the traffic was quite a way in front. It was quiet for the duo.

"You." Brown eyes pierced Carly's glasses, creating a nervous atmosphere. "Can I help you?" Carly panted for a few moments. Purple tresses were smoothed out by a pale hand, the unique hairstyle unchanging. Akiza blinked as Carly drew in a deep breath.

"You...you did well." She drew herself up and tried to appear nonchalant. "He just got lucky."

"Crow is a good player. I beat him in the last tournament. He beat me today. It's how it works." Carly's jaw dropped.

"Wow..." Akiza's eyes widened as Carly began blushing and squealing. "Wow! Wow! You're so cool!" She rushed at Akiza and ran in circles. She had grabbed her notepad in her frenzy and was lost in fangirl mode. "When did you start playing? Have you always been so modest? How about your tournament track-record? What about advice? What's it like being famous? Whe-"

"I don't WANT TO BE INTERVIEWED!" Akiza huffed and stomped her foot. "Jesus! Some people!" She started to walk off, ignoring Carly's dejected posture.

"I'm...sorry..." Akiza glanced back once, arms crossed. She carried on walking. Carly stared after her, with one thought in her head.

'Shit.'

Carly was thoughtful. She was making her bed and was settling down to sleep. She lay down and sighed, staring at the ceiling. She had upset Akiza, failed to get her scoop and even worse, alienated Akiza.

'How can I resolve this?' After a few minutes of thinking, she settled to do it the old-school way. 'I'll just knock on her door and apologise. Tomorrow...'