Previously:

I was never a protege but ever since I fainted I can barely put up a fight against anyone...

She sat up and walked over to her dresser. Opening the top shelf, she reached inside and grabbed a second deck case. She held the case in her shaking hands and began to cry.

James... I'm so sorry, I couldn't be the sister you needed.

A tear dropped onto the case, and more rolled down her face.

A few days later...

December's POV

School had just ended, and I was at my cubby retrieving my outdoor shoes. I made sure I had all the homework assigned for the day and waited for Tsushima. She had somehow talked me into walking home with her, and I knew that if I ditched her I pay for it later.

I soon saw her running up to me, but she was wearing athletic shorts and a team jersey. She bent down, catching her breath.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No... Nothing... Is wrong... But..." She spoke between gasps. After a few deep breaths, she was able to stand upright and talk normally.

"I... I can't walk home with you today. ELP."

I looked at her, completely lost.

"Emergency Lacrosse Practice. Our game against Miyaji is coming up, and our team needs another practice to get ready."

I'll admit, I felt a little disappointed, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

"That's fine," I mumbled.

"Hey, a-are you feeling okay? You've been acting strange these past few days." She asked, worry evident in her voice.

"I haven't been getting much sleep." It was true though. I spent the past few nights crying, but I wasn't about to tell her that.

"Still? You're gonna hurt yourself."

I crossed my arms and looked away.

She sighed, knowing there was no point in continuing.

"Well, I don't want you to walk by yourself. Is there anyone else?" She swiftly switched the topic of conversation.

"Where's Sukio at?"

"He has rep duties." She pouted. "What about Miwa? Or maybe Kai?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen either of them since school finished."

Suddenly she slid over to my side with a cheeky look on her face.

"Ooh, are you worried about them?

"Not in the slightest."

"Really, cause your face tells me otherwise."

"You're delusional," I protested.

She wrapped her arm around my back and completely ignored me. "I get it, I know Miwa has an awesome personality, and he's pretty cute. But don't think you can make a move on the guy just because you live with him."

"Huh? W-when did this become about liking one of them?"

"Hey, I never specifically said it had to be about romance, you basically admitted it yourself."

I pushed her away. "So making a move on Miwa wasn't something specific to that?"

"So you're not denying it?"

She was starting to get on my nerves.

"Look, if it'll get you to stop bugging me, I don't like Miwa "like that". And even if I did, I would never do something like that."

She nodded, hand on chin as if contemplating my words. "True, true, you aren't that kind of girl. But that means," she placed her hands on my shoulders, "Kai has a chance!"

"Okay, now you've officially lost it. Why on earth would I have any sort of romantic feelings for that guy, or even the other way around for that matter?"

"Because that's how it always starts in the manga! The two main characters start out hating each other, but then slowly grow to become madly in love with each other! It's one of the oldest plot devices in the book."

"Oh great, my life is a shitty manga. Can't wait for the issue where people start shipping wars and complain about underdeveloped characters."

"You know it!"

I couldn't tell if she got my sarcasm or not.

"Whoops, I gotta go! See ya!" She called out as she ran down the hall.

I waved back to her and turned back to my cubby. I sighed, put back my indoor shoes, and closed it. I walked out to the front of the school to see if they were out there by chance, but of course, no such luck. At this point, I had to wonder where they were. Well, I never saw Kai after school, except at the card shop, but Taishi? He'd be the one to come find me after classes ended.

I walked out to the front of the school to see if they were out there by chance, but of course, no such luck. At this point, I had to wonder where they were. Well, I never saw Kai after school, except at the card shop, but Taishi? He'd be the one to come find me after classes ended.

I sighed, trying to figure out what to do when I heard footsteps behind me.

"Come on."

I looked back and saw Kai, who had begun to walk past me. But what was he doing?

"What?" I was finally able to mutter, confused by his gesture.

"You heard me," he said as he kept walking.

Once I finally understood what was going on, I caught up with him, still confused.

? POV

I saw the two of them walk off together. An unexpected turn of events, but nothing that would change anything of significance.

"So, I'm guessing your plan has something to do with this May girl, right?"

"You have a keen eye." I turned around. "Once things get moving, everything will fall into place," I smirked, feeling something powerful growing within me.

"I see. Call me when you get there," she said as she left the room.

I decided to take my leave as well, but not before looking back once more.

"December May... I hope we become allies very soon."

Kai's POV

May began walking with me in silence, but my mind was somewhere else. That idiot Miwa, where did he go?

10 minutes before...

The bell rang, signalling that the school day was finally over. I couldn't wait to get out of the classroom.

"Hey Kai!" An annoyingly cheerful voice called out to me. "Can you meet me at the front of the school in 5 minutes?"

"Why would I do that? I have better things to do than waiting around for you." I snapped. Miwa pretended to be hurt by my words, grasping at his chest like he had been shot. I rolled my eyes.

"Later."

"There's a chance that Deca will be waiting for me too."

I stopped for a brief moment before I started walking again. Even though I was looking ahead, I knew Miwa's face was sporting one of his goofy smiles.

I grabbed my things and headed outside. I stood in the shade of the school building. 10 minutes passed, but no Miwa. I was about to leave when I noticed May in front of the building. I hadn't noticed her earlier; she must have just gotten out. I looked at her closely. She looked...lonely. I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. I sighed, walking in her direction.

"Come on."

December's POV

After wandering around, we ended up at the mall. I had my school bag in my hands, fiddling with the handle. Kai just walked with me in silence. Only 15 minutes had passed by, but it felt like 3 hours. In short, it was awkward. But it wasn't any different than what usually happened. I mean, if we weren't arguing, we were completely silent. But I still felt compelled to say something. Then I saw a poster, advertising the National Championship, and I thought back to the shop tournament.

"So... It's cool that you guys get a chance to compete at Nationals."

"Yeah, I guess," he responded, his face still expressionless.

"Yeah." I looked down at my bag. "Glad I didn't enter."

"What does that mean?"

I didn't expect him to respond. But I tried to keep my cool.

"Well, you know what happened after the shop tournament, I lost every single match I played. I wouldn't even stand a chance at Nationals, or even Regionals at that rate."

Even though I tried to sound like I didn't care, I felt myself sinking into my own self-doubt.

"You'll get over it."

I looked over to Kai, who was now looking right back at me. He spoke in a stern, but somehow caring tone.

"Well, I wouldn't really expect you to understand," I returned.

He looked at me disapprovingly. "You beat me at every card fight we had all those years ago. But that didn't stop me. I decided to train hard, so that one day if I ever did see you again, I'd be able to win. Winning matches, losing matches, none of that matters unless you learn from them. You lost your matches, try to figure out why. Learn from your mistakes, and become stronger because of them. You have more power than you think, you just need to unlock your potential, but you never will if you keep moping around."

I just stared at him, speechless. Not just because he spouted an entire paragraph, but because he was completely right, as much as I didn't want to admit it. I couldn't feel sorry for myself, what good would that do? If I wanted to get better, I had to make an effort, instead of just feeling useless. Obviously easier said than done, but it was nice to hear it from someone else for once.

I smirked. "You give decent advice, surprisingly."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He insisted.

"Anything you want it to, TK," I said with an air of smugness. He grunted in return.

Unexpectedly, a boy riding a skateboard through the mall was coming up from behind, and he wasn't slowing down.

"Look out!"

I didn't react quickly enough, but luckily, I was pulled out of the way by Kai. When I began to process the situation, I blushed. He had his hand wrapped around my upper arm, and we had ended up side by side. The others around us were more focused on the freak accident that had just occurred up ahead with the same kid, mall security guards showing up one at a time.

"Idiot," he said as he let go of my arm. I wasn't sure if he was saying that to me or the guy, but either way, he wasn't happy with what had just happened.

Just then, I became light headed and felt myself beginning to sway. I instinctively grabbed Kai's arm. I felt him jolt, he definitely wasn't expecting it.

"...I need to sit."

He said nothing but started over to the cobblestone fountain in the middle of the mall with me still holding his arm, sat me down, then went somewhere. I didn't look to see where he went. Instead, I looked behind me. The fountain was currently in time with the soft music playing through the mall. The water slowly rose up and down, an occasional drop of water hitting my cheek every now and then. It was simple, nothing too fancy, but it interested me. I would enjoy watching it for a while if I absolutely had to.

"You're really that thirsty?"

I turned around. Kai was holding a water bottle. I took it without a word and proceeded to drink. I chugged half of it in one go.

He sat down beside me, looking down to his feet. "...you alright?"

I was stunned for a moment.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just, y'know, sleep issues, nothing unusual," I replied, trying not giving away the uncertainty I felt from his sudden concern.

"I see."

The way he was acting, it was so unexpected, so... nice; kinda like how he used to be.

"If you weren't feeling well you should have gone home. The last I need to hear is you complaining."

Well, I shouldn't have expected that to last long.

"Well, forgive me for following you in the first place." But that brought up another question. "Why did you bring me here anyway?"

He didn't respond. I wasn't really expecting an answer, but you couldn't help me for being a bit curious. As I lifted the bottle for another drink, an upbeat Idol song came on in the ambient music, the fountain rising and falling more rapidly to match the beat.

"...I don't-...same position."

I looked over at him. He was looking away, not making any eye contact whatsoever.

Did he say something?

I shook my head, then drank the rest of the water. As I went to throw the bottle away, I looked back and ended up seeing Kai looking back at the fountain as well. I smirked. Don't take what he says seriously... Amazing.

I walked back and grabbed his arm again.

"Come on."

He didn't have time to respond as I pulled him from the fountain edge and started through the mall.

"Since we're here, I do have a couple things I need to pick up, and I'm sure you didn't come here without your reasons, so let's get at it, or we'll be here until dark," I said.

"Whatever."

I loosened my grip but didn't leave my side. We traversed past dozens of stores, some I remembered from way back and others that were brand new to me. I picked out a couple things, but strangely enough, I found myself looking at Kai. Something about him being in a situation like this didn't seem...right? But it was amusing. He himself didn't express much interest in anything, but we ended up finding a card shop and spent about a good hour and a half there, me reworking my deck while he obliterated everyone one at a time. I had just bought a couple more packs, and was looking at some of the units I thought I'd switch out, but wasn't exactly sure about.

That's when I began to feel sleepy. I rested my head on my crossed arms, still looking at the cards. I could feel my eyelids getting heavier, my breathing slowing down...

Third person

And just like that, December fell asleep in the card store. Kai was so busy fighting, when he got to her table she had been asleep for about 5 minutes. He decided to let her be. At first, he glanced at her cards every now and then, looking at the different units she was putting into her deck.

So that's the kind of build she's going for. It's decent enough, but without more Battle Witches Collette will never reach her full potential.

The memory of that card lured his eyes towards her forehead. He noticed her scar seemed bigger than before and began to wonder if something else happened to it. He also noticed that her expression was much softer, and sweeter.

She looks... Kinda cute-

That's when she snorted loudly, catching the attention of the fighters around them. Kai crossed his arms and tilted his head to the floor, silently praying for December to wake up soon.

After about 20 minutes, her eyes fluttered open.

"Hm?" She let out a soft yawn.

"Finally," Kai stated. All at once she realized what she had done. She stood up abruptly, obviously embarrassed.

"Y-you could have woken me up."

Soon after, they decided to head home. Kai escorted December back to Miwa's, before going back to his place. Neither of them said anything, but they weren't in a bad mood. If anything, the two of them might have even enjoyed themselves a little.

As they reached the front door, she remembered something.

"Have you seen Miwa around, by any chance? I didn't see him after school."

He looked at her, slightly confused. "He said that you'd be waiting for him."

"What? I told him that Tsushima and I would be walking together. But she had a last minute practice, and couldn't make it."

Suddenly, Kai began grumbling about something.

"What is it now?"

He just shook his head. "Later." He turned and began to walk away.

"Bye," she said although she wasn't sure if he heard her. When December entered the house, she breathed a sigh of relief.

That was exhausting, I didn't think I'd make it through the afternoon! But...it was kinda nice.

December's POV

I went to my room and changed into some comfy sweats, then came back downstairs and crashed onto the couch with my deck. A few minutes later, Taishi entered.

"Hey, Deca!" He cheerfully greeted.

I sat up. "Hey, where were you?"

He smirked. "Oh, nowhere."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing."

I knew he was up to something, but before I could say anything else, my stomach made a loud noise.

"Sounds like someone needs some food." He smiled cheekily, as he headed into the kitchen. "Does ramen sound good?"

"With beef broth, and onions?" I mumbled, embarrassed.

"Of course."

"Curse you, stomach," I grumbled to myself, which got a chuckle out of Taishi.

I came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to say anything about his whereabouts, and picked up my cards. I started to think back to our afternoon together, about what Kai said to me, to not to let my past losses weaken me, but to make me stronger instead. It was harder than it sounded. But why did I feel so happy when I thought back to today? Talking, walking around, holding me, accidentally falling asleep, I felt... safe. Maybe... Maybe Tsushima was right- whoa, wait a minute! What was I thinking? That guy's a complete jerk, there's no way I would have any sort of feelings for him, except maybe hatred! ...No, I didn't actually hate him...jeez.

Miwa's POV

She sighed, lying back on the couch so that her head was parallel to the ceiling. I was watching her from the kitchen. I smiled, knowing exactly what was on her mind. Kai wasn't the only one who needs to be more honest. Oh well, it would take time, I guess.

(Disclaimer: I do not own Cardfight! Vanguard or its characters. All I own are my OCs. Credit goes to Bushiroad)