Author's Notes
Finally got this chapter done. It really was snail steps with this, otherwise I would have used it for Camp Nano (not that the fic I did use got anywhere).
I'm also using the alternate names for Junpei's Watt deck archetype, because Elec- sounds a little bit of a mouthful (some cards like Eleckeeper only have the single translation available though). Same goes for some of Tomoki's cards, but that's not related directly to their archetype name. You'll also get to find out Izumi's and Tomoki's deck types in this chapter, although the latter isn't exactly duelling.
Also, I'm using Ananta's manga effect, since its TCG second effect isn't clear as to who's field is affected.
Before the Seal is Broken
Chapter 7
A Girl of Strength – Descent to the Mist Valley
'This spa is the best,' Izumi sighed, tying her damp hair into a loose bun and sinking down to the chin into the warm water, letting her entire body soak it up. 'The schools are nothing like this back home. I could do this every Sunday…and weekdays as well.'
'The perks of being away from the rest of civilisation,' Asuka commented, leaving her own hair, only slightly shorter than the pseudo-Italian's, unbound. 'Peace and quiet, facilities we'd have to pay a regular fortune for…but it's worth it, after the competition to get a place here.'
'Si,' Izumi agreed. 'I'm amazed we all made it in; we had quite the argument about what we'd do if we didn't. The twins especially; Kouji's not the sort that'll let Kouichi out of his sight, and Kouichi's not the sort who'd want to hold Kouji back. Not that there was ever a problem with them though – oh, I'm blabbing.' She covered her mouth as Asuka laughed.
'They must be very good friends,' she commented. 'You seem to know them very well at least.'
'Well…sure.' The bun bounced a little as Izumi shrugged. 'We've been friends for years now and we've spent a lot of time together; it's sort of impossible not to know almost everything about them. Though they can surprise from time to time.'
'I imagine so.' Asuka looked over at her friends, enjoying the spa on its other end, where they could see the lake and the Obelisk boys on the other end. 'Momoe and Junko and I know each other from primary school, and they can still surprise me at times.'
Izumi looked over as well. 'You guys are pretty different,' she commented. 'How did you guys wind up being friends?'
Asuka laughed at that. 'Easy; they begged me to help them with their homework.'
'And you let?' Izumi knew what she would have said.
'They drag me out for much needed fun.' This time, it was the veteran Obelisk's turn to shrug. 'It's an odd sort of relationship; somewhat clichéd, but they're people I can talk to, you know?'
Izumi knew. Her friends were an odd mix after all.
'How about you?' Asuka asked. 'How is it having only boys as your best friends.'
'Awkward at times,' Izumi confessed. 'Mainly when some girl decides to be a bitch and doesn't realise there's more to friends than simply gender. And when we get into awkward discussions…and none of us have sisters either. Good thing there's Mama.' She said it the Italian way, and many a person would have done a double-take on that. Asuka, who knew enough Italian to pick up the earlier slip, didn't.
'Did you always live in Japan?' she asked instead. 'You have a bit of an accent.'
'Unfortunately,' Izumi sighed. 'No, I lived in Italy for a while. Born in Japan though; it's a bit of a long story. Funnily enough, my Italian's perfectly fluent. And my English is pretty good too. I guess it's the ages.'
'Guess so,' Asuka agreed. 'It is rare to hear accented Japanese. Accented English on the other hand…'
They both laughed at the heavy accent of their current English teacher. 'English in Italy is stronger,' Izumi laughed. 'I was having trouble understanding the accent when I came back.'
'Times are changing though; soon enough the English here will sound the same as the English in America.'
'Or Britain,' Izumi agreed. 'Your English is very good though; how come?'
'My brother was planning on going abroad to study in America,' Asuka confessed. 'You saw him right; the brunet almost every girl, including those two – ' She gestured at Momoe and Junko. ' – were chasing after.'
'Oh, yeah.' Izumi remembered. 'I think I was more caught up with the size of this island at the time.'
'Well, come on then.'
Izumi ducked as Asuka splashed her way over to the side, before popping up when she deemed it safe. 'A little warning would be nice,' she coughed.
'Gomen nasai,' Asuka apologised, wringing out her hair. 'But if we spend all of Sunday in here, you won't get to see the other sights at this Academia.'
Now that sounded interesting. 'Coming up then,' Izumi said, working on undoing her bun, now that its purpose had been nulled. 'Any way we can dry our hair out fast.'
'There's a blow dryer in the downstairs bathroom,' Asuka said.
'Ouch. Those things give me a headache.' But it was better than wondering around with a bird's nest.
Kouji knew well enough not to wake his brother, but it was disappointing that he would have to wait for the other's explanation. Kouichi had given him a brief run-down, but if the younger twin was perfectly honest with himself, all he remembered was something about the Royal Knights and a really fuzzy character he had been duelling. He had (hopefully) been awake enough for the duel, but his body had apparently decided to consider it as a walking dream.
Still, there was nothing to be done. Insomnia had kept Kouichi up all night, and he was now catching up on his sleep; it would be cruel to wake him prematurely, and it was Sunday so Kouichi could sleep in till noon if he wanted.
Sadly, by eleven Kouji had done everything he needed to do, and didn't fancy hanging around in the dorms doing nothing but tapping random buttons on his PDA.
'Yo,' Takuya's voice said suddenly, and Kouji noted in some surprise he'd unconsciously dialled the other's number. 'What's up?'
'Boredom,' Kouji deadpanned.
'Just wait till next week.' Takuya grinned. 'Judai-kun says the homework here's a nightmare.'
'I see you two have been getting friendly,' Kouji commented, noting the familiarity in the address.
'You could say that.' Takuya just shrugged. 'You know me.'
'I don't know how you manage to keep track of every person you manage to make friends with,' the younger twin sighed. 'But never mind that; what are you doing now?'
'Considering the tangent, should I take it you didn't mean to call me?' the brunet asked.
'Just answer the question Takuya.'
'Fine, fine.' Takuya thought for a moment. 'Everyone else's still sleeping, no matter how many times I wake them up. Except Sho-kun; he's cramming in the library. But Tomoki's here.'
There was a faint "hey Kouji" from the PDA.
'We're just playing snap.'
'With regular cards?'
'Nah, our decks.'
Kouji didn't see how that would work.
'Come over and we'll show you. It's a lot easier than normal snap, let me tell you.'
'Except when it'll come to sorting out which cards are who's,' Tomoki piped up.
Kouji didn't have anything better to do. 'Yeah, I'm coming.'
'And Kouichi?' Takuya asked, having reclaimed his PDA.
'He's still sleeping…and no, I didn't try to wake him.'
'I didn't say anything,' Takuya said innocently…and rather hurriedly.
'So, have you seen the Card Shop yet?' Asuka asked as Izumi dragged a comb through her hair, glad hers didn't have the annoying habit of fizzing up after getting soaked.
'No, not yet,' Izumi replied. 'Is it a good one? The one back home didn't have a whole lot of packs; we'd always have to wait until we went on day trips to grab some from the larger cities.'
Asuka, who lived pretty central as far as Tokyo went, hadn't experienced that particular annoyance. 'I think it's a good one,' she said. 'We get special deliveries from Kaiba corp, so there's more rare cards available here than any other game store in the country…except maybe Kame.'
'Motou Yugi's home-shop,' Izumi agreed. 'Yeah, that's true. Unless they print another copy of Blue Eyes White Dragon.'
'I imagine Kaiba Seto won't be allowing that in a hurry,' Asuka noted, remembering the history lessons they'd had on him.
Izumi shrugged, finally deeming her hair acceptable and cleaning out the comb. 'Can't blame a guy for wanting something to themselves…though I would think the rights to print go to Industrial Illusions.'
'No, they design the cards and sell the patents to Kaiba Corp,' Asuka explained. 'Though sometimes, like in the case of the Egyptian Gods for example, Industrial Illusion puts their own restrictions on them and distributes them separately to Kaiba Corp. Naturally, there are also other designer and gaming companies, but they're the main partnership…if you want to call it a partnership.'
'You know a lot about them,' Izumi said. 'Learn it all here?'
'Pretty much. Most of the focus here is on the duelling world after all.'
'Hah.' Asuka stared curiously at the pseudo-Italian, before realising she was scoffing over another thought. 'Takuya's father works in the industry, and he doesn't get this stuff.' Izumi chuckled thereafter. 'Not that Takuya's exactly the scholary type.'
'Sounds a little like Judai,' Asuka commented. 'The sort to skip class?'
'No…but only because he's scared of his mother.' She groaned at the thought. 'Oh boy, he'd better not start skipping class now that he has a free reign. And if he corrupts Tomoki I'll –'
She put the comb into her drawer and cracked her knuckles.
'You can ask Pharaoh for help,' Asuka offered with a smile.
'Huh?' The comment caught Izumi off guard, thinking the other was talking about an Egyptian King. 'How would I do that?'
Realising the problem, Asuka amended: 'I meant Pharaoh the cat. He belonged to the old Orisis Dorm-Master and he still stays in the dorms, generally in Judai's room. Tome-san from the Card Shop looks after them now; I guess with all the staffing changes no-one remembered they no longer have a Dorm-Master.'
'Oh?' Izumi was interested. 'What? He just up and left his cat behind as well as his students?'
'Well, it wasn't like that exactly.'
Asuka sounded a little uncomfortable talking about it, so Izumi let it go. 'So how would Pharaoh help?'
That got a grin from the other blonde. 'Can you keep a secret?'
'This is ridiculous,' Kouji deadpanned, sitting on the floor of the Orisis Dorms with Takuya, Tomoki and a Junpei he'd picked up on his way. Their decks were scattered on the wooden floor, looking, at least to Kouji who was used to living in far better conditions (and even Kouichi's apartment, whose was the least well off out of all of them, was better than the Orisis dorms), as though they'd fall through the floor at any moment.
'Relax,' Tomoki said upon seeing the stare, sounding eerily like Takuya when he spoke. 'I think the floorboards would have broken when Kenzan-san jumps from the top bunk if they were going to break any time soon.'
'True enough,' Takuya agreed. 'Though how do you know that?'
'I can hear it from next door you know.'
Takuya shrugged; it could well be true enough; Kenzan was loud enough when awaking to knock him off the bed…if he wasn't already as low as he could go. And everyone (the old gang anyway) knew what he could sleep through.
He wasn't as bad as Kouichi though, for the simple fact that he wasn't taking sleeping pills.
'Snap,' Junpei said suddenly, swiping Takuya's level four Demon Beast of Burning Rock with his own Watt King Cobra of the same level. 'Finally, I get one.'
Kouji half grinned as he threw down his level two Lightlord Hunter Raiko. Tomoki went next, and drew Watershadow of the Ice Barrier.
'Snap,' he said, taking Kouji's canine.
'That card's a pain even when it's not with Wet Grasslands,' Koui sighed, surrendering the pair and falling into third place once again with Takuya heading with fifteen piles. 'Better than Takuya at least.'
'Hey,' Takuya protested, throwing down the equip spell Salamandra, which Junpei failed to match with Eleckeeper. Tomoki was next, drawing Strategist of the Ice Barrier, a level four monster which in no way matched with a normal trap.
Kouji however lucked out, getting Lightlord Monk Eileen and taking the somewhat larger pile, pulling him into a close first.
And by the time they had run out of cards, Junpei surprisingly (who had began with the fewest pairs of all of them) had managed to come out on top.
The sharp knock on the door almost made Judai fall out of bed. He'd been hearing mumbles in his dreams for a while, but hadn't payed them any heed. Knocking on the other hand was far more difficult to ignore and he got up, rubbing his eyes to answer it –
And promptly tripped over Takuya, who'd been spread on the floor playing with his friends.
'Oww,' he whined from the floor, as Kuriboh floated above his head. 'Why'd you trip me for?'
'You walk around with your eyes closed and that's bound to happen,' Kouji said easily, getting up himself as he was closer. Still, even he wasn't fast enough to stop the second round of banging, that ceased as he opened the door to reveal two blondes on the doorstep. Izumi naturally he knew, but he had forgotten the other girl's name.
Judai obviously knew though, as he waved, a little sheepishly from the ground. 'Hey Asuka.'
'Did you just wake up?' Asuka asked with a frown.
'Well…yeah.'
She sighed, and Izumi raised her eyebrows at Takuya. 'I was up,' he said defensively. 'See?'
He pointed at the mess of cards on the floor, which Tomoki was going through to pick up his Ice Barrier monsters. 'Hey,' he said suddenly, picking up Demon Beast of Ice Rock. 'I didn't know you had a water card in your deck Takuya.' He assumed it must be his, as it was a union card with Demon Beast of Burning Rock and it certainly wasn't his own.
'Union card,' Takuya replied, and Tomoki nodded. 'Bit harder to search for than the others, but it works.' He looked back towards the door as Kouji and Junpei tried to find their cards as well. 'What brings you two here?'
'We were wondering if you wanted the Duel Academia tour,' Asuka replied. 'And if Judai, Sho and Kenzan-kun wanted to join us.'
She blinked at the bunks, the middle of which was empty. 'Where is Sho?'
Judai blinked too.
'Library,' Takuya replied. 'Cramming for the promotion exams.'
'Well,' Izumi said with a smile. 'I'm sure you're relieved new students aren't eligible for this round of promotions.'
'Tell me about it. I hate studying for tests. Don't mind the Orisis Dorms though.'
Kouji raised his brow. 'Seriously?' he asked sceptically.
'Sure, it's like a year long camp.'
'Wonder if you'll be singing the same tune at the end of the school ye –'
'Boys,' Izumi snapped as Judai escaped at the mention of tests, probably to freshen up, before groaning and shaking her head at Junpei, who grinned weakly back as he found his last stray Watt under a pile, its tip sticking out. 'You guys going to take long?'
'Probably not,' Kouji said, running through his deck. 'Yep, all here.' He put it back in his case as Takuya and Tomoki compared their Monster Reborn's, before Tomoki found the little sticker at the back of one that marked it as his own. Kouji's too were marked, but only with a white dot in the right hand corner (Kouchi's was black and the left hand one). Since their decks often got scrambled up when planning or just playing around, it was good foresight to have a way distinguishing the common cards. Although it didn't really matter if they had each other's cards; they were all valid after all. And Junpei's were all in sleeves, so it was only Takuya's which were unmarked. Though it was amazing how many times they forgot to check their marks until someone with a cooler head (typically one not a part of the mess) reminded them.
'Okay, done,' Takuya said a minute later, picking up the rest of his cards. 'Thank goodness for this mattress.'
'Can't you play with regular cards?' Izumi asked.
'Not really when there's four people,' Tomoki pointed out. 'Not enough cards to go around.'
'True enough.' She shrugged. 'Takuya's idea or yours?'
'Takuya's,' the first year promptly said.
'Hey,' the addressed brunet pouted as Judai came back and Kenzan finally stumbled down from the top bunk. 'What'd I do?'
'You're up late,' Judai commented to Kenzan.
'Never waste a man's rest day-saurus,' Kenzan replied.
'You guys haven't been to the general hotsprings, have you?' Judai asked. 'We normally head there in the afternoons.'
Izumi groaned. 'I was just in the spa at the Girls dorm,' she complained. 'Let's leave that part of the tour till last.'
That lead to a few complaints from Takuya and Junpei, as neither the Orisis Red nor the Ra Yellow boys dorms had spas.
Asuka shrugged. 'One of the perks of being an Obelisk,' she said. 'Though the Ra girls dorm has a smaller one too, or so I hear.'
'Speaking of,' Tomoki said suddenly. 'Why aren't there any girls in Orisis? Isn't that sexist?'
'Yeah, I was wondering about that,' Izumi said thoughtfully. 'The majority of the girls here are in Obelisk; do they all pay the extra fees or is it just easier for girls to get into Obelisk?'
'No, they either graduated from the prep school like I did or they pay the extra fees,' Asuka explained. 'Most of the girls here come from the prep school actually; it's more common for girls to attend than boys. Girls don't go to Orisis because the dorms aren't really appropriate for women to be living in all year around – unless you count Manjyoume's renovations, but that means there's a higher cut-off for their entry to Duel Academia so that their minimum is Ra Yellow. It's a bit of a bias that's come from the earlier tournaments, with there being so few well-known female duellists.'
'Then why build the dorms like that?' Izumi asked, a touch of anger in her voice. 'That's gender discrimination. Not to mention the lengths of these skirts.' She pointed at her own Obelisk uniform. 'Really, I'm surprised more girls don't wear tights underneath.'
'They are more low cut than the typical Japanese uniform,' Asuka allowed, 'but they're tight fitting instead of the flair; at least they won't ride up in the wind.'
'True,' the other assented, remembering all the times it had happened, much to her embarrassment, in the Digital World.
'Besides, we're all at least sixteen. I suppose Kaiba Seto thought the boys were mature enough to handle us. There's some leeway with the uniforms after all, and dating spots scattered about.'
'There are?' Judai, for some reason, seemed surprised.
'You should know,' Asuka sighed. 'You use half of them as snooze spots when you're skipping class.'
'I do?' The brunet scratched his head, and Asuka sighed.
'The beach is pretty noisy at this time of the year,' Asuka explained, pointing to the high tides where several specks were surfing. 'Especially when my brother's there.'
Junpei had a hard time hiding his snickers when Tomoki innocently asked why. Asuka wasn't quite as amused, but that was probably because of the times she had to deal with her brother's antics.
'A good portion of the girls go gaga over him,' the blonde sighed, pointing at the shoreline where many a girl in bikinis were watching in fascination. A few had surfboards under their arms by the looks of them, and presumably some had actually taken the further step. She stole a glance at her roommate, but nothing she'd seen so far implied Izumi would be one of those girls…and, much to her relief, she wasn't. At least there was another sane girl in a time of crisis.
'Looks like a nice beach though,' Takuya commented. 'Remember the – ouch!'
Kouji, who had stepped on his foot to attract attention, gave him a pointed look before gesturing at Asuka and Judai, and the brunet quickly shut up. Those two didn't know of the Digital World after all.
Luckily, the hazel look of suspicion was quickly diverted by Tomoki's chortle. 'That was when you and Junpei ran in on Izumi changing.'
Three bright faces greeted them, and Izumi growled a little in her throat. Kouji laughed as well.
'And when Takuya and Junpei took of their swimming trunks, forgetting that Izumi was there.'
Asuka covered her mouth and giggled; Judai had no such reservations and collapsed into full-blown laughter. Kenzan, having more experience with co-showers, managed to retain his dignity.
'Company-saurus,' he said suddenly, and everyone turned around to find a group of girls looking rather displeased.
Asuka sighed and mumbled something under her breath. Someone in the gaggle did the same, simply louder, and Izumi glared.
'If you've got something to say,' she snapped, ignoring the other blonde raising her arm in a motion of silence, 'just say it out loud.'
'That's hardly lady-like,' came the quiet reply, although the effect was somewhat dampened from the harsh voice it came from. 'But you wouldn't know much about that, would you?'
A black haired girl stepped forward, flicking the fringe away from her eyes and taking extra care not to smudge the eyeliner.
'Tell me she isn't another Ranamon,' Junpei whispered to Kouji.
Kouji just shrugged; he could say nothing of the sort, but with the adjustments to the Obelisk girls' uniform that made her arrogant form more noticeable, it was quite possible the girl really was like the warrior of water under Cherubimon's control.
'And how would you know?' The warrior of wind's voice was largely calm, but a perceptive person could pick out the slight tremor from insult.
Asuka cut in before the other could answer. 'There's no need to start a fight, Kanakawa-chan.'
Kanakawa sniffed. 'You would say that,' she said daintily. 'Choosing to spend quality time with the…' She paused, before her face twisted into a frown. '…roaches of the Orisis Red Dorm.' The smile melted back into a grin as she added: 'It seems even your skin is crying out for the horror of it all.'
Asuka resisted the urge to look at the parts of skin that showed in her uniform: the majority of her legs, the upper forearms and the face and front portion of her neck. She knew Kanakawa anyway; her snake deck was perfect for her venomous tongue.
Izumi's scowl became more pronounced; she was not as familiar as Asuka was, and even if she were such girls always managed to rub her the wrong way. 'I suppose you wouldn't know much about friends then,' she said, 'if you care that much about material things.'
'I have friends.' The black haired girl smiled pleasantly, though a well-practised eye could pick out the falsity of it all. The tone though anyone could hear, clipped as it was. 'And at least my friends are female; I have to wonder however you manage with so many males. After all, there is only one sort of "friendship" between a man and a woman, and I'll feel sorry for each and every one of them.'
'I don't think you understand at all,' Izumi said frostily, looking between the girl and her precious friends. 'Just because a person of the opposite gender is a friend, doesn't mean there's anything romantic or sexual about it.'
The girl just sniffed, before turning to glare at Asuka who was beside the other blonde. 'You're not the only one, but with all the boys attracted to blonde snobs like you, there's nothing left to us.'
'You know what, you just sound like a spoiled brat who's too used to getting her own way.' Izumi was glad she had brought her duel disk along with her, otherwise she might have resorted to her fists to do the fighting. 'This is a Duel Academy right? We fight with a duel!'
Kanakawa sniffed again. 'How unladylike,' she reiterated. 'However I have no problem with removing the dregs of our female society.'
'Just duel and spare me.'
The boys looked at each other. 'Aren't you going to stop her?' Sho asked, looking somewhat worried.
The four that knew Izumi best shook her head. 'That's like trying to stop the wind,' Kouji said. 'Quite literally, I might add.'
Only the legendary warriors understood the subtlety of that statement, though they all saw the metaphor.
Kouichi found himself up by noon, though it was so comfortable beneath the blankets he couldn't bother himself to get out of them for another half hour. When he did he shivered in the cold air, pulling his blazer on and finding the clouds hanging low in the sky.
'Rain,' he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. The timing was interesting, at least, though he didn't care one way or another as to when it was. As long as he have to run to school in it he was fine…though…
He looked around. The door was locked and the curtains drawn, and Kouji's shoes and coat were gone. Which by extension meant that Kouji was gone. The pair of umbrellas they had were still by the door though, so it didn't look like he was prepared for the rain if he was outdoors.
He might not have been, but Kouichi thought he should ring anyway.
Tomoki was the first to notice the clouds, but little good it did them since both girls had already started their duel, hands drawn and the first turn ungraciously taken by Izumi. A moment later there was an avian on the field as well, attacked by a snake before being picked apart by another bird-like creature – and the cycle went on.
By the time the first splashes of rain fell upon his head he had lost count of how many monsters both sides had lost, but he thought they must be running short. Their life points sure were, though it was a sad truth that Kanakawa was currently 500 life points ahead of Izumi, at 700 and 200 LP respectively.
And yet it seemed as though nothing had happened. A monster was summoned, attacked, destroyed and summoned again. He knew Izumi's field was regenerating, with Divine Wind of Mist Valley in play, but it was limited to Mist Valley Falcon's current battle strength.
'Do you guys think Izumi's walking into a trap?' he asked suddenly, expecting Kouji, Junpei or Asuka to answer.
The latter two looked at each other, but the former was busy typing a message into his PDA and hadn't heard.
'Maybe,' Junpei said thoughtfully. 'While we know Izumi doesn't have any cards that really benefit from having monsters in the graveyard, we don't know if that other girl does or not.'
Asuka frowned. 'I think she does, but I don't remember –'
She was cut off as Kanakawa laughed.
Izumi's frowned deepened as her opponent laughed.
'What?' she snapped.
'It seems I've won after all,' Kanakawa replied. 'And it's a shame too; I thought you'd do a little more than a frontal attack.'
Izumi's brow furrowed; she knew the tone, but she didn't think she had walked into any traps…despite how it looked. Granted, her deck wasn't very responsive that day, as it often wasn't whenever she took a duel in anger or frustration.
It was times like that that made her rethink her deck structure, but for some reason she never fixed the problem. And it was a problem, because it hindered her more than it helped; she was a better duellist and fighter than this, she was sure. But just like the digital world, she could kick a rock and often just come away with a bruised toe.
And she could do better; there was no reason why wind was weaker than the other elements, and she had beaten Ranamon when Kouji had fought her and failed. But she would also recall in that tale that it was been two against one when Kouji had fought, and he had been injured at the time. And she had been stuck on the sidelines in the hardest battles: against Duskmon, against Cherubimon, against Lucemon…and even against Grottmon, because she had lost her spirit to the beast.
She never changed though – because she knew, just knew, that it wasn't her weapons that had to change. There was no reason Wind should be weaker than the rest, just as there had been no reason why the tainted Spirit of Darkness had crushed them so easily and yet become on par with them by the pure end. Which meant it was something in her holding her back…
And yet, she knew the fights she chose were ones she would, and could, see to the end. And did as well, no matter how the beginnings were. And she could hear her friends on the sidelines, even over the sudden rain that assaulted her face –
And stopped as an umbrella appeared overheard. Izumi blinked, wiped her brow, and stared at Kouichi who was offering the handle to her.
'I'm duelling,' she said.
'I know,' he smiled, 'but I know you can manage.'
The umbrella, he meant, as he had Kouji's as well and therefore must have just arrived. But her other friends meant the duel when they said the same thing, even with Kanawata's laugh of victory.
Maybe an epiphany wouldn't be coming to her today, as she hoped every time her deck dragged her down before pulling her back up, but that wouldn't change the outcome in the end. As the lesser of two evils she could handle it – she always did, and maybe a part of her took it as a personal challenge, to always be at ends with the soul of her deck, for even two different paths could pull out a victory in the end.
Even if she couldn't pull out its full potential…
And Kanakawa called out her ace, the monster she could only summon by removing every reptile she had used so far from play.
'Seven precious little snakes,' the black-haired girl smiled, 'moving aside to make way for the Evil Dragon Ananta, who gains 600 life points for each stone that made her path.'
'4,200?' Junpei gasped from the sidelines a moment later. 'Tell me my math is wrong.'
'But it's never wrong,' said Tomoki's voice.
'It has been,' Kouichi's countered, having joined the others.
'Ni-san, how are we all going to fit under that one umbrella?' Kouji. Definitely Kouji.
Izumi shook her head with a slight smile; her friends could always make the frustration ebb away, no matter the root.
'You're smiling?' Kanakawa looked almost horrified at the thought.
'Yes,' Izumi replied, 'because I pity the fact that all you have is that.' She pointed at the monster. 'Your so-called friends have said not one word to support you.'
And it was no overstatement; the other Obelisk girls were just watching, barely interested.
'Tch.' Kanakawa frowned, careful not to let her expression degenerate into a scowl. 'The outcome is what matters, and your feeble Falcon may have taken down my lesser snakes, but not this one.' She raised a hand and her voice. 'Attack!'
'Negate Attack,' Izumi countered immediately, glad she had forgotten about it before. 'The battle phase is over.'
'Then I'll deal with you and your falcon next turn,' Kanakawa said after a brief pause. 'Turn end.'
'My turn then.' Izumi paused for a moment before drawing her card, willing her deck to respond and letting a smile of relief slip across her face when it did. She added the card to her hand before selecting another. 'I return Mist Valley Falcon to my hand to special summon Ally Genex Birdman!'
Kanakawa's brow furrowed. 'That's not a Mist Valley monster.'
'It works well with them,' was Izumi's reply. 'I can special summon this monster by return a face-up monster to my hand, and if that monster's a WIND attribute, it gains 500 attack points.'
'That's hardly enough,' Kanakawa snapped.
'I'm not done,' Izumi grinned, playing her next move. 'Since a monster was returned to my hand, I can special summon a monster from my deck, and I select Harpie Dancer.'
'Another non Mist Valley creature.' The scowl formed, since it was useless to hold it back now. 'Do you enjoy outcasts?'
'Very few people stick to just one type,' Izumi pointed out. 'Even those who play archetype decks often have other supporting monsters. And Harpie Dancer's ability allows me to return a WIND creature on the field to my hand in order to normal summon twice this turn.'
'And the point of that is?' Kanakawa asked.
'You'll see,' was the reply. 'First, I'll use my normal summon to return Mist Valley Falcon to the field.' Izumi paused for a moment, counting her cards. 'Next, I'll return Ally Genex Birdman to my hand and sacrifice Harpie's Dancer and Mist Valley Falcon to advance summon Mist Valley Apex Avian!'
She shouted the last part, and was greeted by an answering battle cry from her monster.
'Still not enough.' Though Kanakawa was now wary of the remaining cards.
'Thanks to Mist Valley Divine Wind,' Izumi continued, 'I can summon Mist Valley Shaman from my deck.' She paused. 'With Ally Genex Birdman in my hands again I can get an additional monster onto the field, so I return Mist Valley Shaman to my hand in order to special summon my Ally Genex Birdman once again, and with it my Mist Valley Soldier.
Both their fields were laid bare; neither had any face-down cards to spring and only the pitter-pats of rain lay between. Izumi was relieved she'd managed to return some of her fallen monsters back to the deck.
'I now activate Inherited Power, sacrificing Mist Valley Soldier to boost my Mist Valley Apex Avian to 4400 attack points – 200 more than your Evil Dragon Ananta.'
Kanakawa bit her lip. 'Brute force,' she muttered. 'That's all it is.'
'Say what you want,' Izumi countered. 'Maybe some fights can't be settled with a duel, but this duel is settled at least. Apex Avian, attack!'
The sharp wings cut through the soft reptile skin, leaving Kanakawa at 300 points.
'And Ally Genex Birdman has 1700 points as well, with the boost it got from its special ability.' Izumi made a fist, ready to punch the air before her and dropping Kouichi's umbrella in the process. 'Go!'
She jabbed her fist; so did the little bird's.
'I don't get it,' Judai said later as the large group walked back up the dirt road to the Orisis red dorm. 'What made you guys start duelling? I mean, it was an awesome duel and all, but…'
Izumi gave Asuka an incredulous look. 'Is he for real?'
'He is.' Asuka shrugged. 'But his naivety does grow on you after a while.'
'I…guess it does.' And she smiled, remembering how Takuya had fallen asleep just as she was spilling her heart out to him.
'But I was wondering.'
Izumi paused as the other Obelisk girl stopped walking. 'Yes?'
Asuka shrugged a little. 'I guess I was just wondering what you were thinking…when you duelled.'
Izumi regarded her. 'I was thinking why I'm weak,' she sighed finally.
'If you were weak, you wouldn't fight your battles yourself,' Asuka said, 'and win.'
'I wonder how much I do fight myself.' Izumi dropped her voice; the boys had gotten far ahead though, so it was barely necessary. 'Considering my friends are always there to support me.'
'But they're your strength. Would you trade them?'
The drops of rain danced upon the slightly dusty umbrella, and Izumi watched as the Junpei tried to manevour up the stairs with Kouji's umbrella, attempting to keep both twins, Takuya, Tomoki, Judai, Shou and Kenzan in its shade. So far, all heads of hair were damp and glistening with little droplets, and Kouji was looking rather exasperated.
Izumi grinned. 'Not for the world,' she said, running ahead to catch up.
She would definitely never trade them for anything; it was they after all that made her strong.
Next: Chapter 8 – Pollinated Insect Garden – Hurdle to Fear
