Since you're all going to be confused and wondering about Mitsumi's backstory, I might as well put it in this chapter right here and now. After that, I wish for you all to give me some really good filler chapter ideas! If, by any chance, that I can't think of any good ones, then I'll skip ahead to the anime!
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!
"Yuya! I'm totally going to defeat you in this duel!" shouted Yuzu. "And when I win, you better buy me a new milkshake!"
"Alright, alright!" said Yuya. "But if I win, you buy me a milkshake!"
"Grrrr! Fine!"
"Um...Gongenzaka? What happened?" wondered Mitsumi, looking at Gongezaka, who sighed and shook his head. "I just got here, so...?"
"There was an accident involving Yuya making Yuzu spill her drink and well...this happened."
"So...what should we do?"
"Die, Yuya! I activate this card!"
"Well, I activate this card!"
"Then, I activate this card!"
"Then, I activate this card!"
"Then, I activate this!"
"...Might be best to let this play out," answered Gongenzaka.
Mitsumi nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. If all else fails, I guess I can buy the both of them milkshakes myself."
Gongenzaka smiled and patted her on the head. "You're too kind, Mitsumi. You don't have to do that."
"Ahaha...I know."
Mitsumi wasn't kind. She knew that deep within her heart, but still maintained that smile every single day. Sure, she was willing to help others and be the peacemaker in her small group of friends, but she always knew that she wasn't kind.
No, she always thought of herself as worse.
It all started when she was a child. Her parents were Pro Duelists, and they expected their only child to be just like them; beautiful, strong, intelligent, and so forth. They had no money problems, and in fact, Mitsumi used to be rich, but what she absolutely desired was her parents' approval and love.
But even with all the money and fame they had, her parents couldn't provide her that much.
Instead, they held too much expectations for a child her age. They forced her to stay up late to study more, improve her dueling, become a proper lady, and many more that would obviously put too much pressure on a child. Whenever she got a problem wrong, messed up a move, lost even a few Life Points, she was punished and forcibly disciplined, making her somewhat like an obedient robot meant to do her parents' bidding. She had be strong, both mentally and physically, so she could be prepared in Action Duels where luck and skill were everything.
They sometimes took her with them to dueling tournaments to watch them duel and set an example as how a Pro Duelist duels someone as elite as powerful as their rank. Because of her rigorous training, she became a talented and skilled dueling prodigy, not just from the blood of her Pro Dueling parents.
If Mitsumi cried, she'd get punished. If she made a single mistake, no matter how small, she'd still get punished. If she got a problem in her homework wrong, she'd still get punished as well. Everything she did had to be of upmost perfection. Her parents were pretty much planning her whole future without her consent.
Hatred doesn't even begin to describe the feelings she had for her parents.
No, she absolutely loathed them. There were many times where she wished they were gone, be it mysterious disappearance or death. She wanted to have friends and have a normal life, but no, her parents wanted, no, were forcing her to be just like them; arrogant perfectionists who cared about fame and money.
They had her participate in children tournaments, going up against other child duelists, and she won every duel. Every opponent she faced was far too arrogant, too simple to read, and always commented on the strong surpassing the weak. But that's what made it easy for her to beat them. Not just their inexperience in dueling, but their stupid, annoying, arrogant ways which always ticked her off.
One time, when she went against a kind duelist who was none of those traits, she hesitated and threw the match for him, watching him reunite with his parents and happily cheer with them for his victory. However, her parents were nothing like the kind boy's parents, as they gave her a severe punishment for losing.
For a child her age, she was perhaps one of the strongest duelists in the world in terms of child age, but she never wanted to be the strongest. All she wanted was love, love that her parents never gave her even to the bitter end.
Perhaps the first one to ever introduce her to love was her kind-hearted grandmother. She knew her grandmother argued to her parents about their cruel and unfair treatment towards her, but even so, her grandmother couldn't persuade them to change their minds and be kind to her. Even so, Mitsumi was grateful that her grandmother stood up for her, even if she failed to convince her parents.
One day, her parents left to head for a dueling tournament in Germany, but on their way there, they got into an accident which cost them their lives. Her grandmother grieved for their deaths, but Mitsumi herself?
She simply smiled.
Mitsumi wasn't sure when the first time she smiled, but she clearly remembered that when she heard the official deaths of her parents, she was gleaming with happiness. Perhaps it was relief that her parents could no longer do anything to her? No more punishments, no more harsh training, no more staying up late to extend training. The people who made her like a robot were gone, no longer able to do anything to her.
Mitsumi's smile that day was pure and full of happiness. Thinking back on that day, if she smiled in a scenario such as passing a grade, or getting ice cream, she would understand, but no.
She smiled at the death of her parents.
Nobody knew, not even her grandmother, and honestly, Mitsumi was relieved that she never told her grandmother what she was feeling that day. During the funeral, it took everything out of her not to stomp disrespectfully on their graves with a huge grin on her face. Instead, she remained silent, unmoving, emotionless.
Because her parents were dead, her only living relative was her grandmother, so all rights were given to her grandmother, who cared for her deeply and made sure she was healthy and well-fed. Because her grandmother sold the large house her parents owned, they lived off the money sold afterwards for a long time until her grandmother had to get a job to provide for Mitsumi and herself.
Mitsumi didn't mind their living conditions because all she wanted was love, and her grandmother gave her more than enough of that. It did take a while, but she was able to become friends with Yuya, Yuzu, and Gongenzaka, whom she considered them all as her best friends. She warmed up to them throughout the years, but as a result of her harsh conditions when she was with her parents, she grew up shy and quiet, which her friends didn't mind, luckily.
Still, some traits remained within Mitsumi. For instance, she still maintained her strong strengths in dueling, but she managed to put up a façade of pretending she was a weak, third-rate duelist who didn't know anything because she didn't want to draw attention to herself. She actually was physically strong in strength and acrobatics because of her training with her parents as well as doing errands and gardening for her grandmother, but she pretended to be frail and weak to put up the impression that she was weak. She didn't care if it meant she would become weak, because all she cared about was her grandmother and her friends. They mattered more than some stupid dueling.
Another thing was that she despised arrogant people who thinks the weak should be trampled down, such as people who thinks certain cards are weak. She refused to acknowledge that sort of ideology, and if necessary, would like to trample down on those who think such things. Bullies are no exception, which is ironic considering that she's been bullied ever since she was young.
The reasons why she was being bullied was simple; she was becoming beautiful and elegant. In fact, many in middle school tried to go out on dates with her, especially Shingo, but she always declined out of politeness and sometimes because some of those people were the very same arrogant people she despised. Some girls bullied her because of her increasingly beautiful looks and smarts, but she didn't want to bring any trouble to her grandmother or her friends, so she simply smiled and endured it all. That didn't stop her increasing resentment towards her bullies.
Shingo...she couldn't exactly figure him out. She didn't know if she liked him or not, but out of all of the bullies, he had to be...the nicest? Sure, he still bullied her from time to time, but he always had the time to flirt and compliment her and he never once hit her. His goons were also nice to her to some extent, but always insisted that she date him. Because she didn't want to bring trouble, she always politely declined his advances and was always nice to Shingo.
Her friends sometimes state that she's the cutest in their group, as well as beautiful, but Mitsumi refused their claims and always complimented Yuzu to be much more cuter and beautiful than her, saying she herself doesn't deserve the credit. Though she enjoyed the compliments, Yuzu still thought Mitsumi to be cuter than her and vowed to get Mitsumi a boyfriend someday.
Most of the pain from the past faded away, but there were sometimes flames inside her heart that lingered on even after years of spending with her grandmother and friends. They further increased whenever she dueled an arrogant bully or sometimes, someone worse, and she had to be careful not to draw attention, because if it were revealed that she was actually a strong opponent in dueling, her reputation would further increase as well as the bullying.
Her true nature while dueling was...cold and calculating, like a machine. She was merciless in her moves, just like she was taught. Completely the exact opposite to when she put up a façade while dueling, while during that time, she pretended to be hesitant and often lost in that nature. When dueling truthfully, mercy wasn't in her description, and she would always find a way through.
Before, she used an insanely strong deck to win her fights, but now, she stuck to just her Ritual deck called Gishki. She always favored WATER Attribute decks, and Gishki seemed fitting for a supposed weak person like herself. Out of all the Summoning methods, many people considered Ritual to be the weakest and worthless because of its tough conditions, but Mitsumi wanted to prove them wrong by being one of the few Ritual users.
Mitsumi is self-conscious. Yes, she was shy and quiet, as well as willing to help out her friends and provide them support like cooking for them or giving them fruits and vegetables time after time, but she never once thought of herself as kind. She thought that her true nature when dueling seriously prevented her from thinking she was kind.
Maybe when more time has passed and the past was forgotten, she would be properly healed. Perhaps then, she would actually get a boyfriend. It was pretty obvious to anyone that Yuzu and Yuya liked each other, and because of that, Mitsumi wouldn't go after Yuya. Maybe when they're older, she and Gongenzaka could go out on dates, or maybe she would date Shingo or some other boy.
"Yay! I won! You owe me a milkshake, Yuya!"
"Awww! Heart of the cards, why have you failed me so?!"
But for now, she was going to enjoy life the way it is. Taking care of her grandmother, passing tests at school, avoiding bullies, hanging out with her friends, and so forth. Even if she ends up being a weak duelist for life, she didn't mind that one bit.
However, what she failed to predict was that this peace wasn't going to last forever.
Finished! Read and review! If you have any questions or ideas, please tell me! See ya! Night, night!