Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Zexal. I do own Ami.
I am so sorry about how late this is! I can't believe myself. I'll try to make the next chapter as soon as possible. However, I am happy about one thing. I'm a year older! August 19th was my birthday and I'm so happy about that. Thank you to all my reviewers/favouriters/followers/friends. This is also around the time I started fanfiction :)
Please enjoy this chapter and all bold cards are created by me.
The next morning, Black Mist woke up before Ami. He undid his arms from her and floated off the bed. He sat on the side of it, arms folded on the mattress as he watched his card-holder sleep. 'She seems more open this way. She looks less guarded, I wish she would be a little more like this.'
Black Mist remembered when he questioned Ami about that 'teddy bear' she had.
~Flashback~
"Ami, what is that?"
Ami looked at him, "What is what?"
"That," Black Mist pointed to the object in question.
"That's a teddy bear," Ami spoke, turning her head away from Black Mist.
Black Mist stared at Ami, "Then why did you look so sad when you gave it to me?"
He saw her stiffen in response. What was it so hard to answer the question?
"…It's nothing."
Black Mist could tell she was lying. "Why are you lying to me?" he accused.
"Because it is none of your business!" Ami snapped as she turned to him angrily. "It has nothing to do with you, so stop asking!"
"It does have to do with me because you are my card-holder!" He retorted.
"Stop asking! It shouldn't even matter to you!"
Black Mist paused. Those words sounded full of anger. Black Mist felt angry himself, how dare she?! He had tried to be civil! What was he supposed to say?! He used what he had heard on the streets, "Fuck you then!"
Ami fully stopped then. She stared at him before looking away. Black Mist instantly felt bad. Her eyes were full of hurt. "Sorry…Black Mist," she said softly.
He wanted to hit himself. He didn't even know what those words meant! He shouldn't have said them to Ami, they could mean anything! Before he could speak, Ami went to lie down on her bed. "Good night," she said, leaving no room for him to speak.
He opened his mouth before closing it. He would apologize in the morning. He didn't want to bother her more. Once he was sure she was asleep, he curled up beside her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
~Flashback end~
He would make sure he never said that word to Ami again. He had only wished to know about the teddy bear and why it had made Ami upset. He looked to the teddy bear on the shelf. What was so special about it?
He turned to Ami once more as he heard her move.
Ami opened her eyes slowly, blinking the sleep away. Once her eyes focused, she saw Black Mist staring at her. She let her barriers come up. She was still upset about him saying such hateful words to her but he didn't need to know that. He was just curious about things, she couldn't blame him. When something is new, it's natural to be curious, right?
She sat up and glanced at her clock. She stared at it in surprise. Had she really overslept?! It was already lunch time! She groaned and fell back onto her mattress, she couldn't go to school now.
"What is it?"
Ami looked at the ceiling, "It's no use going to school now. I should just stay home for the rest of the day."
They both remained in awkward silence.
"Are you…upset at me?"
Ami shook her head, "No."
"I don't hate you, you know?"
"If you're sure."
"I mean it, Ami," Black Mist bit his lip. "I was just angry. I just wanted to know about that teddy bear."
Ami sighed and finally looked at him, "It belonged to my little brother. I just miss him a lot, so please stop asking." Ami could feel her eyes watering. She stood up and ran into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
Black Mist stared at the door before looking away. A little brother? Ami had a little brother? If that is the case, where is he now? Deciding to obey her wishes, he wouldn't bring up the topic again unless it was important.
Ami smiled at Black Mist, "Do you want to go searching for numbers? We have nothing else to do at the moment."
Black Mist couldn't believe how strange Ami was. She was able to get over her sadness in mere moments. He stared at her, "Observation #7: You are strange."
Ami anime fell. She stood up, "Why?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.
"We should go find numbers," he said as he ignored her question.
"Alright then…?" Ami said and they both exited the house.
After a while, they decided to take a break. Ami walked through the park, Black Mist by her side. She went to sit on one of the swings. Sighing, she let the wind blow her hair around.
Black Mist leaned on one of the swing set's poles. "I suppose we can rest for a while before going back to searching."
Ami made a noise of agreement as her swing started swaying. "We have two numbers and there are ninety-nine. So, there are ninety-seven more numbers to go."
"A rather large number," Black Mist sighed. He made a noise of irritation as he looked at the direction of the wind, "I wish it wasn't so strong. It's quite annoying."
"Really? I rather like the wind."
"Why?"
Ami moved her legs back and forth as she started swinging. "Well, it keeps me on my feet. It keeps me from thinking too long about unimportant things. Like a wakeup call, you know?"
Black Mist tilted his head as he watched Ami go a bit higher, "Well, I suppose."
"I used to wish I could fly," Ami laughed. "It's strange, but it always seemed like fun. You know, escaping reality and flying in the wind."
Ami blinked in surprise as she felt hands start to push her higher. She glanced back at Black Mist as he pushed her on the swing. She smiled, feeling like a little kid.
"Maybe I could just carry you and fly in the air later," Black Mist mused.
"I'd like that," Ami replied. She grinned happily as she went higher.
Black Mist watched his owner as her eyes filled with childlike happiness. 'Calm, cool, and collected, she's not like that at all right now. There's much more to this girl than meets the eye.'
He froze, realizing a familiar presence. Ami glanced back at him, no longer feeling him push her. She blinked at his cool demeanor now.
"Ami," he whispered.
She swung further from him before coming back.
"There…"
Again, she swung away and back.
"Is…"
Again, the same thing happened.
"A…"
She had a feeling she knew what he was talking about.
"Number," he finished quietly.
Ami let her feelings be guarded as she carefully looked around without looking too curious.
Black Mist impatiently stopped Ami's swing. She got off and looked to him. She looked around and spotted a boy with short, brown and white hair. Their eyes met and she could instantly tell he had a number. The possessed look in his eyes, the weird vibe coming off him, it added up.
"You there!" Black Mist shouted, "We can see you! We know you have a number!"
The boy merely smirked as he walked up to them both, "Well, no beating around the bush, huh? I want your number. And you know the only way, right?"
Ami stood her ground, "A number duel, I know." Ami took out her D-Gazer and D-Pad. The boy took out his dueling equipment as well.
She threw them up into the air, "D-gazer, set! Duel disk, set!"
The boy did the same. "My name is Ichi."
"Ami," she announced. Black Mists' left eye seemed to glow a little bit before dying down.
A/R Vision Link Established.
"Let's duel!"
Ami drew her sixth card, "Ladies first. My turn, draw!" She smiled once she noticed it was one of her new cards. Giving Black Mist a chance to stop her if he wished, she placed a card on her D-Pad. "I summon Black Beauty – Messenger!"
A small, black being with short, blue hair appeared with a small letter in her hand. She waved the letter as she giggled lightly (Atk: 500-Lvl: 2).
'That's enough for now.' Ami brought her arm down, "I end my turn."
Ichi looked up at her before drawing, "My turn, draw!" He hummed before saying, "You know, I don't even care for numbers that much."
Ami stared in confusion. Black Mist was also puzzled, "What was that?"
Ichi looked at Black Mist, "I don't really care for a numbers' powers."
"Then why did you ask to duel?" Ami questioned.
Ichi laughed and his number mark showed on his left cheek. It was the number 14. "I feel that it is my duty to make sure people have good friends. You do not have a good friend right there. He's such a burden, no? I'll take that burden away from you."
Ami just looked at Ichi with an unreadable gaze.
"Are you talking about me?!" Black Mist shouted. He was friends with Ami…right?
Ichi snorted, "Of course I am. Do you really think you're a friend to Ami? I don't think you would know what a friend is so let me explain it to you. A friend is someone who never makes their friends cry-"
Black Mist tensed. Ami was definitely crying when she went to the bathroom that morning.
"Someone who never loses their temper at their friends-"
Again, Black Mists' eyes widened. Yesterday he had…
"Someone who never walks away from their friends-"
Yesterday, he floated off before Ami could walk with him.
"And especially someone who never forces their friends to do something they don't want to do," Ichi finished.
He was making Ami collect number cards for him…Black Mist lowered his eyes, was he really being a burden to Ami? Was he really not being a friend to her?
"Ichi, finish your turn and stop bothering Black Mist!" Ami exclaimed.
Ichi shrugged and placed a card on the field, "I summon Fire Keeper!"
A man with a cloak appeared with a sword. He had fire surrounding his whole form (Atk: 1400-Lvl: 3).
"Fire Keeper, attack Messenger!" Ichi ordered.
The monster went forth and struck the small being. She merely laughed as the sword went through her. Fire Keeper then returned to his side of the field.
Ami bit her lip as she fell onto her back.
Ami: 3100LPS
Ichi: 4000LPS
She stood up, "Black Beauty – Messenger's effect is that it cannot be destroyed by battle."
Ichi nodded and placed two cards face down, "End turn!"
'Is it true?' Black Mist thought to himself, 'I…I am not friends with Ami? I asked her to be my partner but…'
Ami drew a card, "My turn, draw!" She looked at Black Mist to see if he was looking at her cards but she was surprised when he was merely looking at the ground. "Black Mist, what's wrong?"
"Are we friends?" He asked quietly.
Ami stared at him, "Yeah, of course." She tilted her head, 'Black Mist doesn't look like he's up to dueling. I'll duel without him for now. I have to focus on dueling.'
Black Mist just stared blankly at the ground.
Ami looked back to Ichi, "I activate a continuous spell card, Rejuvenated Strength. If I draw a 'Black Beauty' monster card, I can show it to you and gain 400 life points." She played another card, "I activate Pot of Greed. Thanks to this, I can draw two cards."
Ami drew. She showed Ichi both her cards: Black Beauty – Seer and Black Beauty – Doll.
Ami: 3900LPS
Ichi: 4000LPS
She glanced at Black Mist and felt worried for him. She looked back to Ichi and slapped a card onto her D-Pad, "I summon Black Beauty – Doll!"
Rising from the ground, a cute doll showed up with shining glass eyes (Atk: 700-Lvl: 2).
The more Black Mist thought about it, the more he was convinced he was acting so horrible to Ami. He fell to his knees silently, not even paying attention to the duel. 'A friend? I thought I was one but now that I think about it…It seems I am just causing problems for Ami…'
His inner plight went unnoticed by Ami as she looked at Ichi. "I activate her effect! Every doll has its' playmate, so I am allowed to special summon a level 4 or lower monster to the field. So, I special summon Black Beauty – Seer (Atk: 600-Lvl: 2)!"
Black Mist felt lower than dirt. 'How are we supposed to be partners if I can't even be a friend to her?'
"Now I have three level 2 monsters!" Ami announced. She'd be able to summon Black Mist now. "I overlay Black Beauty – Messenger, Doll, and Seer! With these three monsters, I create the overlay network!"
An overlay network appeared as all three monsters swirled into it. Ami felt weird as her number mark felt cold. 'What the…?' She grabbed her number card from her deck-box and brought it up to her face. Her eyes widened when she noticed the No.96 card was completely blank.
The overlay network dispersed and the monsters all fell onto their bottoms. They all looked to Ami with matching confused looks.
Ami herself was confused. She looked to Black Mist and silently gasped. He looked so…so sad! "Black Mist, what's wrong?" she asked as she knelt down in front of him.
He didn't meet her eyes. Ami bit her lip, what was wrong? She wasn't able to summon No.96 Black Mist for some reason. What was wrong with Black Mist?
"Pull yourself together!" Ami urged. "I need your strength, Black Mist!"
Black Mist barely looked at Ami before turning away. "I'm sorry, Ami…"
Confusion stained Ami's features. "What are you talking about? Is something wrong?"
He didn't answer her as he continued staring at the floor.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Ichi called from across the field. "I mean, what kind of Xyz summon was that? Were you just trying to confuse me?" Ichi questioned in irritation.
Ami turned to glare at him.
He stepped forward and pointed at the duo, "Just hand the number over now if you're not serious about this duel!"
Ami's not able to summon Black Mist because of the state he's in! What will happen if Black Mist doesn't pull himself together?! Find out next time on He Had To Start Somewhere.
Next chapter:
"Keepers…They're strong, aren't they?"
"I'll never…"
"Attack her directly!"
