Deck 104

"Mina thinks I shouldn't mind too much what Joshu-nii says," Shiki said quietly to the still picture.

'Then don't,' Eri advised. 'Why should you listen to anything he says?'

She was right, in a sense. Shiki should be able to make her own choices. "But Eri, Joshu-nii is usually right. Even you listened to him, even if it was reluctantly, sometimes."

'Maybe I did, but you're not me, are you?'

"No..." No, but sometimes, I wish I was. Shiki turned away from the frame. Great, she couldn't even face her own constructions anymore.

Shiki abandoned her room, feeling like the it was starting to suffocate her again.

She was on the way to the living room when she came across Makoto, who was running down the corridor frantically.

"Makoto?" She called out to him and he stopped in his tracks. "Is something wrong?"

"Er...well..." Makoto looked around, as if there was somewhere he could possibly escape to. "...Nimew's kind of gone missing again?"

Makoto (Mick) Miki - Jack of Clubs

"Not again..."


Chapter 07 - Club - The Black Cat

There wasn't anyone in the living room besides herself and Makoto, so she didn't bother trying to smile. She just felt so tired out; she was almost sinking into the sofa she was sitting on. It was strange. She hadn't done much Noise fighting, lately. The only fatigue she suffered had been emotional, and she had already been trying to tackle it, but it didn't seem to be working.

And then there was Nimew, to add to her concerns.

The Suit's resident cat had been disappearing from the the base for days at the time. Most people would say that it was normal behaviour for a house cat, as they were free creatures, but the Clubs were all worried. Nimew was infamous for being a spoilt and lazy cat. It used to just spend the whole day sleeping in one spot, unless it was time to eat. Even then, the cat only ate when it was fed. So it was definitely unusual that it was leaving the base so much.

"I'll go look for him," Shiki decided, to which Makoto made a 'oh?' sound.

"Do you need any help, Shiki?" her Jack asked, shifting in his own seat in the armchair opposite to her.

"No, thanks Makoto. You found him last time. I really shouldn't leave you responsible for everything," she told him.

"If you say so," he said. Shiki didn't miss the uncertainty in his voice. It hurt to think that he wasn't confident that she could accomplish such a simple task as finding their cat. "Are you going to take Mr. Mew along?"

"Of course," she said. She always brought Mr. Mew with her everywhere. She had him with her right now - wait. It was only then that Shiki realised that her arms were void of the stuffed toy. "Whoops, I must have left him in my room."

"You don't usually forget to bring him around," Makoto commented, "You've been leaving him behind more often. You went to the meeting back then without him, didn't you?"

Oh...he's right. "He...Mr. Mew had some damage on him. I had to do some repairs." She stood up hastily. Now that she was conscious that she didn't have Mr. Mew with her, it made her feel edgy.

She parted with Makoto and traced her way back to her room, flicking on the light switch. There you are. She'd left him on the table that she kept Eri's photo frame on. She picked up the black plush-cat. The thread that held his ears atop of his head had been coming undone, so Shiki had to sew it back together, getting rid of all the fraying seams. For a stuffed toy, it was used to dealing quite a lot of damage to the Noise that they faced, though that also meant that it received a lot of blows too.

She picked up her partner and went down to the entrance of the base. She was about to leave when two other Clubs returned.

"Like, hey Shiki! Where are you going? Shopping?"

Nao - Nine of Clubs

The speaker, a ganguro girl with an ever-sunny personality, regarded Shiki with wide eyes. If Shiki said she was going shopping, she knew Nao would have followed, even if the girl had just returned.

"No." Shiki raised Mr. Mew. "We're going to go find Nimew."

"Looks like he's gone again, huh?"

Aily Ueno - Four of Clubs

"Yeah..."

Aily tipped her green cap Shiki's way. "Good luck with the hunt. Hope the little fella's alright. We can't have him disappearing on us all the time. I think our neighbours are getting tired of us going around to ask if they've seen him."

"No, that wouldn't do," Shiki agreed. Besides that, the cat could be in all sorts of trouble...it didn't have the sweetest personality to strangers. If it met any alley cats, it was sure to pick a fight.

"Later then, Shiki. Like, text us when you find him." Nao gave Shiki a small wave.

Shiki returned the wave as the two other girls walked past her.

Well, time to start looking.

xxxxx

The Midori District wasn't as bustling as the centre of Tokyo, but nevertheless it was still fairly busy, especially since it was lunchtime. The local restaurants were good, but it didn't take away from the retail. There were several high-end fashion brands in the nicer areas and also smaller, more unique clothes shops in the quieter areas. Shiki liked the diversity here - it meant that shopping here was never boring. But I'm not here to shop today.

She had finished checking the residential area surrounding the base, and none of the neighbours had spotted the cat in the last few days. The last time anyone in Clubs had seen Nimew around the base, it had been one or two days after they had heard about the fight that the Hearts had.

The news that Joshua had used his ability on the others had spread like wildfire. Tsubasa and Nao had tried to quell the gossip, but it was virtually impossible. Shiki couldn't understand why Joshua had to resort to that. She remembered when Joshua used to use his powers for better things...

Now's not the time to get nostalgic.

She needed to stop distracting herself.

Her ventures took her further away from the busier areas and down to the fringes of town. From the spot she was standing now, she could look over Tokyo Bay. The waters were very much still, there being no wind today, but she could still see a few ships chugging along in the distance. There was a jetty that extended from the concrete shore into the waters, but one wouldn't find anything like fishermen there. Fishing was not a pastime for city-dwellers, after all.

But there might be other things besides people who might try looking for fish.

She smiled as she saw Nimew at the very end of the jetty. It was looking down and staring very intently down at the water. Looks like maybe he does feel like doing some hunting…

"Nimew," Shiki called out gently.

The cat didn't seem to hear her.

"Nimew!" Shiki repeated this a bit louder, and this time the cat's ears did perk up, though it didn't turn around.

The girl stepped closer to the feline. "Let's go home, Nimew. Everyone misses you."

As she neared it, she became aware that Nimew was hissing. Had she somehow angered it?

Wait no...She felt an all too familiar prickle. This is...

Suddenly there was a cry, that Shiki could only describe as a sort of high-pitched honk. She didn't need to wait long to see what made it.

It is! It's the Noise!

A loud splash resounded as a blue penguin emerged from the water and jumped onto the jetty. Nimew growled and jumped back, running towards Shiki and standing in front of her. The J Popguin was joined by three others, all echoing the first's cry.

Four on one...This would be a bit of work, but Shiki should be able to handle it.

I'm not at the top of Clubs for nothing. I can do this.

"Groove Pawn!"

The Queen of Clubs threw up Mr. Mew.

It landed on the ground, face flat.

W-what? That wasn't supposed to happen. Usually it would land on its feet and start moving. She never had complete control of its movements (Mr. Mew usually sort of did its own thing) but she was able to direct it with the general intention that she had. Yet it was just lying there, doing nothing.

"Groove Pawn!" she shouted more loudly. Mr. Mew lay there, unmoving. Her shout did catch the attention of the Noise, though, and they honked at her more excessively.

"Come on! Groove Pawn!"

Nothing.

Why isn't this working? "Groove...Pawn…" Don't tell me that I can't even fight anymore…

"Meow!" Nimew launched forward and grabbed Mr. Mew, holding it in its mouth.

The penguins too, started to move.

Her mind had still not caught up with the situation, but years of fighting drove Shiki's body into auto-pilot, and she followed Nimew as the cat ran away from the Noise.

They ran up the jetty and turned right, continuing their escape along the empty warehouses that lined the path. Her senses kicking back in, Shiki looked back to see the Noise were on their stomachs, sliding from behind in order to chase them down.

They're fast! They're going to catch up with us at this rate. Nimew turned into a small alley on the left, and Shiki hesitated for a moment. She followed a second later, realising that the penguins would have a hard time making that turn when they were sliding like that. Shiki really felt useless now. Even Nimew has better ideas than me…

Shiki glanced behind her and saw the Noise slide right past where they turned into. They would follow them again before long.

She couldn't fight...the only thing she could do was run. But she couldn't lead the Noise to a place that would endanger the public. They still needed to be dealt with. The only thing to do was to call for backup. She reached into the pocket of her green jacket and took out her CARD.

"Activate," she said.. As the screen materialised Shiki opened her mouth to say the command to call for help, but something made her close it again.

...If I call them…If she called them, then they really would know that she was incapable. But their powers really were the only thing that could stop the Noise.

As she and Nimew reached outside the other end of the alley, Shiki saw her chance. They had ended up at a construction site, though there were no works going on at the moment. Good, everyone must be at lunch. I'll try one more time…

"Nimew, stop."

At Shiki's voice, the feline did come to a halt, it turned to face Shiki. It seemed to know what she wanted, because it dropped Mr. Mew to the ground.

"Thanks."

Shiki closed her eyes, pointing her free hand towards Mr. Mew.

She couldn't sense the Noise yet, but she was sure they were going to come back. This needed to work.

Please!

She couldn't let her Suit down.

"Groove Pawn!"

She slowly opened her eyes.

Mr. Mew was as still as ever.

"Why?" she asked aloud. Why can't I use him?

This was hopeless, nothing worked, and she could start to feel the faint tell-tale itch that the Noise were approaching.

Looks like I have no choice.

"Emergency Call!" she spoke through gritted teeth to the CARD. "Requesting backup for current location, ASAP."

They're here!

Sure enough, there was the flightless bird-Noise slid into sight. They got upright, puffing out their chests, their tribal wings stretched out.

Shiki felt a drop of sweat run down the side of her face as she reflected on the situation. Okay, I need to keep them here until the others show up. No one will be in the area so it'll be a while…She scanned the area around her but there wasn't anything useful. Maybe she could somehow use the scaffolding to her advantage...like leading the penguins there. Yes… they'll crash into the poles and hurt themselves. She slowly backed up. If I stand in the middle of the scaffold, I can lure them in.

She felt a sting in her leg.

"Agh...what?" The attacker was Nimew, much to her surprise.

Why was it biting her?

"Nimew, let go!"

The cat didn't let go.

In that time, one of the penguins jumped onto its front, intending to knock them down. Shiki had no choice but to dive out of the way, Nimew still attached to her leg. The Noise collided with the metal columns and there was a ear-ringing clang. The next thing Shiki knew, a steel beam fell from the top, and landed straight onto the penguin. Another one fell too, it bounced against the sides of the other beams before landing right in the centre of the scaffold - the spot where Shiki had intended on standing in.

...If Nimew hadn't stopped me I would have been toast. The J Popguin looked unruffled by the scaffold. Without any O-Energy imbued in it, the beam could have been a pencil for all it cared. I'd have hurt myself and not have done anything helpful, either.

It didn't seem like there was anything she could do...and backup wouldn't reach here for another ten minutes at the very least.

Oh no…

The other three J Popguins were agitated, and now they all charged towards Shiki and Nimew.

In a desperate attempt, Shiki stretched her arm out against the plush on the ground one more time. She squeezed her eyes tight. "Groove Pawn!"

She waited for impact...but the blow never came.

I...I did it!

She opened her eyes, a happy exclamation on the tip of her tongue, when she saw that the penguins were flattened against what looked like an invisible screen.

"Wow, that was a close one!"

She saw three of the Clubs, approaching from the other entrance to the site.

"That would have taken a lot of HP out of you, Shiki."

Fumi Kimura - Three of Clubs

The young man was holding a game console in his hands. He was never seen without one and always had the latest version, and Shiki never could keep up with what he had now. Whichever it was, Fumi always knew exactly how to work them.

His eyes darted from the Noise to the screen. "Damn, this shield function is taking up a lot of MP. I don't think I can score an attack command on this without having to take it down."

"That's why I always say, reading is better!"

Yumi Sheena - Two of Clubs

This Club member had a notepad in her hands instead. "Let's see...my latest piece says...'Penguins have a tendency to become drowsy in the afternoon, as the Tokyo heat is too different than their natural environment.'. Moments later, the Noise that had been hit by the scaffold's eyes started to droop.

"Eh, couldn't you have made a boulder fall on it or something?" said Fumi.

"I have my limits, okay?" Yumi huffed. "But that's not a bad idea...'It was only due to bad luck, that the balance of one of the beam's tilted down onto the ground and landed on the Noise'." Sure enough, there was a creak and another beam tipped forward. This time, the Noise did let out an agonised screech as the beam landed on it. "Whoops, I guess I woke it up."

"Stop behaving like children," said the third Club in annoyance.

Rayca Hoshi - Five of Clubs

"Shiki is still in need of our assistance," said Rayca. The blond, elegant woman stood tall and the jewels hanging off her ears, neck, wrists and fingers all glinted under the sun. "Let's handle this quickly, shall we?"

Rayca adjusted one her rings. "This one is one of my best, you have the fortune of ending by it." It glowed and then flashed, beams of white light reflecting off it and burning the Noise she pointed at. The Noise that were against Fumi's shield recoiled and Shiki took this opportunity to run to her teammates side.

The least she could do was stay out of their way.

With the three of them, the Noise were promptly erased.

"And that's 'Game Over'!" Fumi cackled, as he pressed down on a button, causing an invisible slash to the last Noise.

"Do you always have to say that when we finish?" Yumi asked.

Fumi waved his console around. "Duh. Look at the screen." The screen did indeed say 'Game Over'.

"You two take our missions much too lightly." Rayca shook her head. "Though admittedly, I did not think the Noise we fought warranted an Emergency Call."

"Yeah, I was kinda expecting a mid-level boss fight at least," said Fumi.

"Like the Diamonds and Hearts had, you mean?" said Yumi.

"Along those lines, yes," Rayca said.

She turned to look at Shiki, who had been quiet for a while now. If I don't speak, maybe they won't ask.

"Would you care to explain what happened, Shiki?" asked the older woman, much to Shiki's dismay.

She bit her lip. How can I say it? I'm so ashamed…

"What's Mr. Mew doing here on the floor?" Yumi picked up the plush. She patted the dust off and handed it back to Shiki, who took it with a soft 'thank you'.

"Doesn't look like Shiki's in the mood to talk," said Fumi. "What should we do now? Head back to base? Or help look for Nimew?"

Right, Nimew! If nothing else, she had at least found their cat. "He's right there," she said, pointing in the space she saw him last.

"Um...where?" he asked.

Oh…

The black cat was nowhere to be seen.

"No...never mind."

In the end, I really did do absolutely nothing.

xxxxx

"So, that's what happened…" Aily trailed off. She was leaning against the wall of the Club's living room.

This time the room wasn't empty, Shiki had called in all of her Suit to tell them what happened. As the leader, she had a duty to report to them exactly what happened, as much as she didn't want to.

"Today just wasn't your day, Shiki," said a gentle voice.

Hideki Kikuchi - Six of Clubs

He was sitting down next to Shiki, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. While Shiki appreciated the gesture from her teammate, it did little to lift her mood. Hideki was always the voice of comfort in any situation, however it was unnecessary right now. Her losing her ability to fight was a serious matter, and Shiki didn't think she could chalk it up to just having a bad day.

"Maybe something's wrong with Shiki."

Ayu Hamaguchi - Seven of Clubs

See, they think I messed up too.

"Don't, like, say it like that!" Nao hushed her. "I'm sure it's totally fine. Shiki'll be back to normal in no time. Right, Tsubasa?"

"Yeah, Shiki's goin' to be at a hundred percent soon. She just needs some rest, is all."

Tsubasa - Ten of Clubs

"I'm not too sure about that," said Rayca uncertainly. "If Shiki says that she's not able to move Mr. Mew anymore, there might be a problem we need to resolve."

That's right...I'm a problem now…

Fumi looked up from his console for a moment to speak, "It could be her emotional state. Didn't we already think that she might be in trouble if she was attacked? I mean, that's why we followed her- "

Yumi elbowed him in the stomach, eyes saying 'stop talking'.

It was too late, though, Shiki had heard what he said.

"Followed me…?"

They had been following her that afternoon? Was that why they had answered her Emergency Call quicker than she would've thought? Because they were already near her anyway?

The way Rayca, Fumi and Yumi didn't meet her eyes said it all.

"...You guys actually followed me?" Her voice croaked at the end.

"Don't blame them, Shiki!" Makoto said quickly, and her eyes whipped around to him. "I was the one who asked them to...O-only because I was worried! You haven't been yourself lately, and you know how the other Suits have been in danger lately, so I thought it'd be bad if you went alone…"

Amidst her disappointment, Shiki felt anger bubble up within her too.

"You had me followed? Why couldn't you tell me that I shouldn't go alone? Is it because you don't trust in me?" she accused, hugging the lifeless Mr. Mew tightly.

"Don't turn the blame on Makoto," Ayu said, jumping to his defense. "He was right, wasn't he? If the three of them hadn't been tailing you, you would have been in a lot of danger."

"That's not the point!" Shiki yelled. She knew now that she might be an obstruction, but before today she was at least capable of fighting. "Couldn't you guys have believed in me a little more?"

"It was getting a little difficult to continue taking orders from a child," said Rayca, her words cutting into Shiki.

"A child? I may be young but other leaders of the Suits are just as young."

"Yes, but you aren't suited to be a leader," the woman said.

"Rayca," Nao gasped.

"Hey," Tsubasa warned.

The woman went on though, "A leader shouldn't let her emotions get in the way of her duties. We all suffered a loss too. We suffered a loss of our leader, and yet we can still carry on."

"Eri…" Shiki couldn't stop the name from slipping from her lips. The anger had all but disappeared, leaving her hollow.

No one said anything at the mention of their former leader. It always came back to her - to Eri.

Shiki stood up.

The Clubs waited on bated breaths on what she might say next. They looked surprised, when she smiled at them. Keep smiling, Shiki. "I understand and...I'm sorry."

She turned to leave and no one tried to stop her.

When the door closed behind her, she could hear Nao's frantic panic and Tsubasa's furious shouts. Thanks guys, but you don't have to try so hard...for my sake. Even if they were Blanks, they must be doubting her too.

One step...two steps...after three, she broke into a run and slammed the door to her room shut.

Eri…!

"Tell me, Eri, what do I do?" she whispered. "It hurts but I know they're right. I'm not cut out to be their leader. I've tried everything, but it just keeps getting worse. I can't even be of any use anymore."

'No, Shiki, that's not true.'

"It is. They don't...they don't need me anymore."

'They do - of course they do.'

"They don't!"

'You can't say that. Even if they didn't need you, what would you do?'

What could she do?

If they don't need me...then maybe...No, that's a stupid idea. But...but if it'll stop me from being a burden...

"...I could just-"

The thought made her stomach churn, but maybe it was the only way.

"- leave Deck."


A/N: Tadaa! I finally got his chapter done. I've been deprived from my laptop for about three weeks now, so I've had to do all my writing whenever my siblings are nice enough to give me a turn on the home computer and such, lol. I've been having a summer work placement at the office, so I did a bit of writing on the computer there while I was on lunch breaks. Thank God for Google Docs - it's a lifesaver. With the main celebrations of Eid over, I'm looking forward to (hopefully) getting some downtime. I've really been itching to do some AMV editing, but alas, again, broken laptop. Different self advertising, but if you're into GMVs, search up 'TWEWY- Afraid' on youtube by 'SilentStormfall'.

Oh and of course, Happy Late TWEWY Anniversary :D


A big thank you to Music of Shadows, UltimateParadox, Us3r 100, and The Amateur Fanfic Writer for favouriting and/or following the fic!

And another big thank you to B.A.G-GOMEZ, ElementLegend, XphiaDP, The Amateur Fanfic Writer and Fireminer for the reviews last chapter :D

The poll question last week was 'If you were suddenly confronted with Noise, and you could pick one of the weapons from Chapter 6 to use, which would you pick?' and the results were: Imperium Whip, Shuriken, Bow and Arrows - 1 vote for each. Good choices, I must say. I'd probably go with the 'bow and arrows' too, whoever picked that x3

There's a new poll up this week again and the 'Clubs' section under Suits will be updated within this week. The Q&A is running as usual~


I think that is all for this week! Thanks for reading, and see you next time!

- Dina (31/7/2014)


– Thread 104 –

\\ For Nao Nao. (sotERRa)

-Hey, when are we going to meet up again, sugar? (sotERRa)

-Pick me up at about 12? Then we can, like, have lunch ;D (NaoNAo)

-Can you guys stop flirting online? You're giving us all cavities. (Ai-Love)

-We've got PMs for a reason…(SilverWing)

\\ Shiki's gone to look Nimew. Can anyone in Clubs...kind of...keep a lookout for her? (MickyMouse)

- I've got to go out to buy stuff anyway, so sure, I can keep track of her. *-* (Fumin)

- I also need to buy a book, so I'll come too. My favourite writer just released a new novel. I'll ask Rayca if she'll tag along. (Yumin)

- Hehe, Fumin and Yumin! You guys match, huh? ;D (Blue)

- Yeah, she copied me. -.- (Fumin)

- No, it was a coincidence! (Yumin)

- I always get confused between ya two. (sotERRa)

- It's easy. My name's ''F' for fun, while Yumi is 'Y' for 'yaaaaawn'. Lol xD (Fumin)

- Verrryyyy funny. That was sarcastic, if you didn't catch that. (Yumin)

- Hehe :P (Fumin)

*** I'll be dropping by the Spades' base in an hour. Please may I ask the Court Members to be present in their control room. (Tatsuya Omura)

- A base visit? That's a surprise. (DoubleYuu)

- Wonder what it's for. (sotERRa)

- Looks like we've got to keep our leader from skipping out on us! Since pizza doesn't work, maybe we should try burgers. Isn't that your specialty, Shigemi? ;D (Blue)

- I'll try my best! (ShigemiSun)

\\ That Rayca! She said too much! Shiki won't come out of her room. (SilverWing)

- Someone was saying stuff to Shiki again? (Ai-Love)

- It was, like, really bad! (NaoNao)

- That's not good…(Mina-is-Happy)

- I think she's got 'nough on her plate, what with what Josha said. (kYO)

- The prissy types all of have one thing too much to say…(sotERRa)

- This and that are totally different. Joshua has nothing to do with this. (Mina-is-Happy)

- I'm just saying…(sotERRa)

\\Teru-teru-bozu, teru bozu. Do make tomorrow a sunny day. Like the sky in a dream sometime. If it's sunny I'll give you a golden bell. Teru-teru-bozu, teru bozu. Do make tomorrow a sunny day. (StrawbEri)

- Don't be silly, Kyo, even if it's Eri's account, it's not actually her. (Ai-Love)

- Is it an error? How's her account still active in the first place? Shouldn't her account stop working? (kYO)

- He's right...accounts are deactivated when the user connected to it is...well...you know…(Mina-is-Happy)

- Right...I'll try to find that post…(Ai-Love)


#Hit the Deck – Current Song – Smoke and Mirrors by Skye Sweetnam