My Prized Possession

by Mirai Haruka

They may think they won the war 3 years ago but they didn't. Their enemy has returned and wants his prized possession at all cost. But...what? It seems like Aichi's mother had hidden something from her son and that secret may have triggered the war in the first place. Yaoi alert! Don't read if you're an anti-Yaoi person!

4. Chapter 4

AN: I'm back, my fellow readers! Once again, I apologize for my late update…but don't fret. I will continue on with this fanfic. So, no matter how long it takes, I hope that you fellow readers would continue to read my fanfic Also, I would like to think you readers for reading my fanfic-this makes me so happy! Arigato gozaimasu~

Now then, let the story commence!

Chapter 3

A few days have passed since the festival ended. Since then, there had been an increase in new vanguard fighters. The heads of the Vanguard council is extremely pleased about it so they decided to give the Dragonic Empire and US Branch members two months break. They would take of the branches while the workers are away.

When Shin-san heard about it, he decided to throw a little celebration. He rented a chalet near a beach for a whole week much to the displeasure of his niece. It was then Naoki suggested to invite their friends along since it was a rare occasion for everyone to be in Japan. Thus, everyone agreed to meet at the first Card Capital Shop before going off to the chalet.

"That sounds wonderful. It's nice to have a reunion with your old friends again…." Shizuka, Aichi & Emi's mother, commented when she heard about it.

"Okaa-san, would you like to come along? Everyone would happy to meet you." Aichi asked.

"Oh, it's alright, dear. I don't want to interrupt your rare reunion. You and Emi should go. I'll be alright…..Shall we go and buy snacks for your celebration?"

…And that is how our little bluenet found himself in a shopping center with his mother and sister. Aichi sweat-dropped upon seeing the amount of snacks Shizuka bought for the celebration. Looking around, Aichi sees many people buying things or carrying wrapped presents. Ah… That's right, it's almost Christmas. Aichi informed his mother and Emi that he would meet them near the shopping center's fountain and ran off. He wanted to buy some presents for his friends, He just hoped that he would find the right one.

Ebony green eyes followed the back of Aichi Sendou as he walked around here and there, carrying many shopping bags. The bluenet has just stepped out of a store with an additional shopping bag in his hand.

'It must be more presents he's buying for his friends,' Ivod thought at the place he is sitting at. He was busy planning something when he noticed a hint of blue hair walking out of the grocery store with a thoughtful expression on his face. Ivod stared at his 'nightingale', immediately forgetting whatever he was doing. All he could focus on right now is Aichi. Oh, how he wished he could take Aichi away and locked him up in his mansion- the bluenet would do nothing but to keep his 'master' company for all of eternity. But alas- the time had not yet come.

The informant snapped out from his thought and noticed that Aichi was now sitting near the fountain. He seems to be waiting for someone. Ivod stood up, picked up his things, dumped the can he had been drinking from into the trashcan, and walked over to Aichi. Aichi was checking on the presents he bought when a shadow fall over him. Feeling the sudden change in the atmosphere, Aichi stiffened. Knowing who it was, Aichi took a few seconds to force himself to relax before looking at the amused Ivod straight in the eye.

"Good evening, Aichi. Buying some last minute Christmas presents?"

"Good evening, Ivod-san. Yes, I am. I've been very busy lately but since we are given a two months break, I finally have some free time on my schedule. I wanted to buy some Christmas presents for my friends."

"Oh? And how are you going to send all of your Christmas presents in time? Christmas is tomorrow."

Aichi looked down before smiling, surprising the white-haired man.

"It doesn't matter if the present is sent in time or not. All that matters is that they manage to get their Christmas presents. Even if their present is simple like a pen, I believe it is still a precious gift given to them by their loved ones. They would cherish their gift no matter how simple it is. That is what Christmas is to me,"

Ivod blinked and laughed. Aichi never fails to surprise him. No matter how dark the world is, he would surely find his way to the path of light. That is the reason why Ivod is drawn to him. He never fails to see the good in everyone. The circle of friends he made – He saved each and every one of them from falling into darkness and in return, they treated him like a precious and rare diamond. Their light, their key. And that is why Ivod MUSThave Aichi in his hand. He wanted to crush their shining light to pieces and smear them all in darkness. And his reward?

Their beautiful light, his nightingale-Sendou Aichi.

"Here."

Ivod blinked when a wrapped box suddenly appeared infront of him. Taking the box, Ivod looked at the younger male in confusion.

"It's your Christmas present. I wanted to give this to you before I leave but since you're here…."

While Aichi explained, Ivod started unwrapping the box. Opening the box, ebony green eyes widen. It seems that Aichi brought him a golden pocket watch. There was a beautiful design on it. It was a picture of two crane.

'To a long and fulfilling life, huh?' Ivod thought in amusement.

"I…errr… I've seen and heard that most of the informer(s) passed away due to stress and too much information. I-I don't want that to happen to you! I-I….."

Aichi started rambling upon seeing the look on Ivod's face. He stopped rambling and looked down. Was Ivod angry? He didn't mean to make him angry. Aichi suddenly felt a cold hand resting on top of his head. Aichi looked up to see Ivod softly smiling at him.

"Thank you. This is a wonderful gift. I will sent to you your gift soon."

Aichi smiled back at him before remembering something.

"Ah! I won't be in town from next week. I'm going out with my friends."

"Oh?" Ivod eyebrow rose. "Where will you be heading to?"

"Manager-ah, I mean, Misaki-san's uncle booked us a chalet near Devin's Park beach (AN:I made the name up~). We'll be staying there for a week. All of my friends will be coming. We'll be having a reunion also. That's why I'm buying them all of their Christmas presents. Oh! But I can take the present from you before I leave."

"No. It's fine. I can give it to you after you came back to town."

"Eh? Are you sure?"

"Yes. It's just like what you say. It's about receiving the present from the person given to them."

Ivod smirked when Aichi broke eye contact and blushed. The silence was broken by Emi's voice.

Both Emi and Shizuka had just finished shopping so Emi decided to go ahead and meet up with Aichi. When she reached to fountain, Emi first noticed the many, many shopping bags surrounding Aichi. The second thing is noticed is the white-haired man Aichi is talking to. She had never seen the man before in her life so Emi assumed it was one of Aichi's new friend. Calling out Aichi's name, she walked towards them with a smile on her face.

"Emi! Where's mother?"

"She's paying for the things," Emi then leaned closer to whisper something to Aichi. "Okaa-san bought a lot of snacks for us. Let's hope everyone can finish everything in a week."

Aichi sweat-dropped and nervously laughed. He then introduced Ivod to his sister.

"Hello!"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Emi." Sharp ebony green eyes stared straight at deep blue eyes. Emi shivered upon seeing those green eyes. Those green eyes seem to make her think that they can see through her soul. She goes to her brother's side and gripped her arm in fear. Sensing Emi's fear, Aichi placed his arm around her, trying to calm her down. He did not know why Emi was feeling scared but his brotherly instinct started to ring.

"Emi-"

"Emi, Aichi. I'm sorry I'm late. The queue is quite long!"

The Sendou siblings turned around to see their mother pushing a trolley full of shopping bags towards them. Aichi and Emi immediately went to help her. Shizuka then noticed Ivod.

"Oh! Are you a friend of Aichi?"

"Yes. I'm Aichi's co-worker, Mrs. Sendou. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is….Ivod."

Upon hearing the name, Shizuka frozed. That name….No, it can't be. Shizuka looked at Aichi's friend. White hair and pure green eyes. No. He looked similar but it is not [HIM]. Shizuka sighed in relief and smiled.

"Would you like to join us for dinner? I can cook something for you."

"…! Okaa-san?!" Aichi nearly dropped the shopping bag he was holding when he heard what his mother had said.

"I must decline your offer, Mrs. Sendou. I'm meeting someone soon. I'll be leaving now." Ivod smiled at the Sendou family before walking off.

"I-I'll see you after the break, Ivod-san!" Aichi called out before Ivod turned the corner. Aichi then noticed that his mother is in deep thought. "Okaa-san?"

Shizuka looked up and smiled at her children. "It's nothing, Shall we head home?"

Upon reaching his mansion, Ivod immediately went to his basement. He had turned half of his basement into his laboratory. He switched on the lab computer and many hologram screen flicker on. Looking around at the hologram screen, he was pleased to see that all of his experiments are successful. Ivod then called someone through one of the hologram screen.

"Ivod-sama?" The call was connected and his second in command appeared.

"Get everything ready. The plan begins now," Ivod tooked out the golden stopwatch that Aichi had given to him.

"Shizuka, you may have changed your child's fate a long time ago but you can never change the boy's destiny. He. Will. Be. Mine.

Eternally. Mine…."

{Let's skip a few days, shall we?}

The day of the reunion finally arrives. As promised, everyone meet at Card Capital 1. The atmosphere was good as everyone chatted about how their life had been so far. Everyone was smiling….well…..except for one.

"Kamui-kun, please cheer up."

The youngest Team Q4 member was sulking in the corner. Apparently the love of life can't make it to the reunion as she had a last minute project to complete.

"Emi is really upset about this too." Aichi patted Kamui's back, hoping that he would cheer up.

The owner of the shop sighed at Kamui's reaction.

"Kamui, you can't just control this type of things. It would just happen. That's how the world goes. We can just have another reunion with Emi next time."

But Kamui didn't even listen to her. Misaki's eyes twitched and her face darken. Aichi sweat-dropped and slowly walked away from his younger teammate when Misaki tooked a few steps forward. Aichi quickly tooked refuge between Miwa and Kai right before Misaki's anger erupted.

"Kamui should really listen to nee-chan when she's talking." Miwa commented as they watched Misaki pulling on Kamui's ears painfully. Miwa winced and rubbed his ear.

"Speaking from experience?" Naoki asked.

"Yeah. I didn't listen to her when we were doing a class project. Nee-chan is quite strong for a woman."

"We know what you mean." Naoki and Shingo agreed.

"Did you say something, Miwa, Naoki, Shingo?" Misaki enquired, still punishing Kamui.

"N-no, ma'am!"

The others laughed. It was then Shin came in. "Is everyone ready? Let's go!"

"H-hey, Manager. A-Are you sure we're in the right place?"

"Hmmmm….? It is."

"You said that we're staying in a chalet, right? A. CHALET. Then how come…WE'RE STANDING INFRONT OF A WHOLE ROW OF BOOKED CHALET?!"

"Oh…..that's right. I never told you all. Someone sponsored me. You think I can spend money freely?"

"…I thought you used the extra money from the shop that I gave to you. What did you do to it, Shin-san?"

"….."

"SHIN-SAN…."

"Ahhh! Our sponsers are here! I'll tell you that later."

Everyone stared after the manager who was speed walking to the parked limo. They then stared at Misaki who was muttering and shaking her head. They looked at one another before heading towards the limo. When the limo opened, they were shocked to see Takuto and the Ultra-rare girls.(Just imagine that they remembered what happened during the link joker war and is still alive.)

"Takuto-kun! Minna! It's been a long time!" Aichi was one of the first to snapped out from shock.

"Shin-san, do you mean-?"

"Yes, Takuto-kun here is the one who sponsored us."

Takuto just smiled at the look of surprise everyone is showing.

"It's nice to see everyone is in top shape even after three years," Takuto said, sipping his tea. Once everyone snapped out from their surprise, they all decided to go to one of the chalet first with all their belongings in one room. Then, they chatted and have some light snacks before listening to reason why the four decided to come back.

"It's just for vacation. We've been travelling all around the world, introducing Cardfight! Vanguard to various part of the world so Takuto decided for us to take a break." Rekka explained.

"It was then we heard the news about the joint program between the US Branch and Dragonic Empire is a huge success. Takuto then called whether it was true or not with Shin-san," Kourin continued.

"Apparently, our break and your break clashes with each other so Takuto and Shin-san decided on this trip." Suiko ended.

Everyone stared at the two masterminds who planned this. Both of them were grinning.

"Okay-now that everything is settled, shall we start our one week trip?" Shin clapped his hand together and looked at everyone who nodded.

The first thing they did was to draw lots. This is to decide which chalet they were staying in. Apparently, Aichi is staying with Kai, Miwa, Ren and Leon. They were all staying in the chalet nearest to the beach. After putting their belonging in their respective chalet and rooms, they were immediately split into groups. One is the cooking group, another is to collect some woods for the fire place if there were to be any outdoor cooking, another is to plan the activities/games and the last group is to catch some fresh fishes.

"Sendou Aichi, why are still here?"

Everyone had started on doing their respective task so Takuto was curious on why the Golden Paladin player is at the kitchen and putting out snacks from the big plastic bags he had bought along.

"Ah, Takuto-kun! Okaa-san bought lots of snacks for us. I'm distributing them in every chalet equally. I just hope that everyone can finish it by the end of the week…."

"I-I see…." Takuto just stared at the amount of snacks Aichi tooked out one by one.

After doing that, Aichi walked towards the small forest. He is one of the people that is assigned to get some woods so he wanted to find his groupmates quickly in order to help out. When he was about to go inside the forest, Aichi felt a familiar sensation. Aichi stopped in his tracks and turned to look around. There was nothing there.

Was it his imagination? The bluenet hoped so. It was a unpleasant sensation that Aichi hope to never sense again. Shaking his head, Aichi went inside the forest. He did not realize that a shadow of a familiar unit watching him from above. It stared at him for a while before flying off to inform its master what it had learned.

Five days have passed since then. Everyone was enjoying themselves. The activities they did were similar to any normal comping activities. They had out-door cooking, played beach volleyball, a test of courage suggested by our famous mischievous shadow paladin player and, of course, played Vanguard. Aichi was pleased at everyone's reaction when they received their belated Christmas present( Aichi had blushed when his crush patted his head and smiled softly at him. Miwa and Ren received a powerful punch on their head by an irritated Kai when they teased him about it. XD).

Aichi had so much fun that he had forgotten about the strange sensation he felt on the first day. He had forgotten about Ivod and his strange link joker deck. He had just let go of everything he was stressing about and just have fun. Right now, he and the others were resting after a nice dinner. Shin-san had went off right after he finished up his dinner so everyone was waiting for him to return. Aichi smiled as he looked around. Everyone had grown but their personality never changed. It was just like old times.

'Aichi…..'

Ba-dum. "Eh?"

'It's almost time…..'

-dum. "Time for what?"

'Time for you to complete your destiny….'

-dum. Ba-dum. "My destiny…?"

'And when that time comes….'

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

'You'll be MINE!'

Darkness surrounds the bluenet, threatening to suffocate him. Aichi can't even move. He couldn't even make a sound.(NONONONONONONONONONONONONO…) He was all alone in this darkness. All alone…..

"No!"

"AICHI!"

The bluenet opened his eyes. He could see all of his friends all around him.

"W-What happened?"

"You suddenly fell and fainted." Misaki replied. Aichi turned to see that he laying on Misaki's lap. He immediately tried to sit up but failed to do so. In the end, Naoki and Miwa helped him to sit up straight. That was when Kamui noticed something.

"Aichi onii-san…..you're crying…."

"Eh..?" Aichi reached out to touched his cheeks and felt it wet. Why was he crying?

"Sendou, what's going on? I felt your wind just now. Your wind shows that you're feeling afraid. And at night, I could always hear you whimpering….."

Everyone stared at Aichi upon hearing that. What was he hiding from them?

Aichi looked down and clenched his fist. He tooked a deep breath before speaking.

"I-I've been having nightmares lately. It first started a few months ago when Kai-kun and Miwa-kun came back. Do you remember, Kai-kun? It was the time when I sleep over at Kai-kun's….I think that was only the beginning because ever since that night, I've been dreaming the same thing over and over again. It got worse after the day of preparation for the joint program. I can't sleep peacefully. Sometimes when I closed my eyes, I would see the same thing again….." Aichi's voice came to a whisper near the end of his explanation. He wrapped his arm around his shivering form.

Kourin and Misaki looked each other before hugging their shivering kohai. Nobody spoke as they watched their frighten leader-their Vanguard. Kai's eyes narrowed. He had noticed Takuto frowning when Aichi told them about his nightmare. Does he know something about this? Takuto who noticed Kai's eyes on him, signal to Kai that they would speak later. It was then Shin burst in. He stopped smiling upon seeing the look on everyone's faces.

"What's the matter, everyone?" Shin asked.

Everyone looked up upon hearing Shin's voice. Aichi wiped his tears away and smiled. "It's nothing. Where did you go to, Manager?"

Shin smiled widely, "You'll see. For now, here."

He gave each one a shopping bag and told to change. Everyone stared at each other and shrugged before going to their respective chalet.

~Later~

"Manager, it's almost midnight. Why are we at the beach?" Kamui whined.

Everyone was gathered at the beach, each wearing a yukata (except for Kai who outright refused to wear it while Leon was forced to wear it by Sharlene and Jillian).

"And why are we wearing this?" Naoki grumbled as he pulled his light red yukata.

"You'll find out soon, Kamui-kun and Naoki-kun." Shin replied happily as he looked at watch.

Minutes passed by as everyone patiently (or impatiently) waited for…..whatever it is Shin wanted them to see. When it strikes midnight exactly, the sky was lit up by beautiful display of fireworks.

"Wow!"

"That's awesome!"

"It's beautiful!"

These were some of the comments that slip out from their lips upon seeing the fireworks. Misaki turned to her uncle with wide eyes.

"Shin-san, this is….."

"Yes! The money that you give to me is used for the yukata and this. I didn't spend it on other stuff."

Shin smiled at the look of amazement and surprise on everyone's face.

"Minna-san, happy new year! I know that we can't see fireworks from over here so I did a mini firework display at the beach just for all of us!" Shin grinned.

Everyone smiled. Now, their reunion is complete.

Kai looked at Aichi who had been holding his hand. Aichi smiled at Kai before looking at the fireworks. Kai stared at his best friend before looking at the fireworks as well. Maybe…..this is the right time.

Aichi followed Kai back to the chalet. He had been playing with the small firework that Shin has also bought when Kai told him that he had something to tell him privately. The pair of best friend then walked back to their chalet, leaving the others who continued playing with the small fireworks, behind. When they reached the chalet, they went into the living room. Aichi sat down while Kai remained standing. He stood near the window and stared at the bright moon. Neither of them spoke. They were both lost in their own thoughts. There was a comfortable silence before the brunet broke it.

"Aichi, there's something I need to confess…"

"Kai-kun?"

"I would still remember how we first met. You were a lonely kid at that time. I wanted to cheer you up so I gave you Blaster Blade .I told you to imagine yourself as a big and powerful person just like Blaster Blade. We met again a few years later. At that time, you were still weak so I didn't pay attention to you. It was when you started to became like Ren, I started to pay attention to you. Back then, I wanted to stop you from becoming like Ren but you didn't. After you sulk came back, you didn't sulk around. You wanted to become stronger. You managed to save Ren from his darkness when I couldn't. Even without me guiding you, you managed to grow stronger and more confident. You defeated Leon when he was controlled by Void and saved all of the sealed clan all on your own. You stood up against me when I was obsessed with the power Link Joker gave me. No matter how many times I pushed you away, you'll always come back-even more determines than last time. Even when you harbored the Link Joker seed, you didn't feel afraid or frighten. You sealed and erased yourself from everyone's memories just for us to leave in peace. Throughout all this, you remain optimistic. You held on to hope when everyone else didn't.

You, Sendou Aichi, became everyone's Vanguard. My Vanguard."

"….Kai-kun?"

"As I watched you become stronger, something inside me stirred. The feelings that I thought were buried when my parents passed away came back-along with something else. The more I spend time with you, the more my feelings grew. What I want to say is…..

Sendou Aichi, I love you…."

Aichi's eyes widen as his best friend, no, crush, hugged him. Is this a dream? Or a reality? Aichi's body shooked. Kai's eyes widen in alarm when he a strangled sob. Did he hurt Aichi? He quickly released Aichi and looked at the younger male. Aichi was crying. Was he hurt by what he said? No, he didn't want that.

"Aichi, I-"

Kai's apology was cut off as Aichi threw himself at Kai. His sob grew louder and he tightly hugged his crush. "Kai-kun! Kai-kun!"

Surprised by Aichi's outburst, kai Hugged Aichi back and tried to calm him down. He wanted to know why Aichi is crying so he softly asked, "Why are you crying? Did I hurt you, Aichi?"

Aichi shooked his head, " No! I'm happy! All this time, I thought you hated me. I love you too, Kai-kun! I love you ever since we meet again!"

Kai's eyes soften as he embraced his lover," I will never hurt you, never again. I promised."

Aichi's sob slowly ceased. He snuggled closer to her lover and smiled at him, "And we will never be apart. That is a promise, right, Kai-kun?"

Kai brought Aichi's face closer to him and softly kissed him. "Of course."

As the lovers hugged in silence, they didn't realize that someone was watching them. The same unit that Aichi sense on the first day was recording what was happening. That recording was being sent to its master

~In another place~

Ivod screamed in anger upon seeing his 'nightingale' in the arm of another man. He threw his glass at the screen in frustration. No!How could this happen?! The nightmare he had given to Aichi was supposed to make Aichi feel vulnerable and afraid! Aichi was supposed to isolate himself from everyone else. Then, he could easily capture him. That was supposed to be the plan but now…..

The white haired man glared at Kai. This is all HIS FAULT! If he hadn't confess, if the brunet wasn't there…..then everything would be according to plan! Now, even if he were to capture Aichi, the younger man would fight back. He wouldn't even love him back! His mind would always be on Kai! Ivod gritted his teeth. Now, he has to re-think his plan. But what was he supposed to do now?

It was nearly time for them to come home. Ivod didn't have time to wait around anymore, The plan has already been set in motion. He needed his 'nightingale' to be locked and chained. Without Aichi, victory will not be assured.

Home…..Aichi's home…..Ivod smirked. He may have thought of something that could work. He will have Aichi under his arm and at the same time…..Everyone will know of his return. Ivod maliciously laughed.

"TIME'S UP….."

AN: And the plot thickens! What do you think will happen next? Anways, Please R&R!

Mirai Haruka signing out~