Glad you all like and understand from both Yuto and Mitsumi's perspective! And, I know that you're pretty much throwing dirt at Mitsumi because of her attitude and her fears, but trust me when I say that she does eventually get better and improve, but now's not that time. It'll be like, many chapters after. I do have plans for her, and her attitude will be explained a lot more than simply being bitter about her past.
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!
"Fear not, Mitsumi-chan!~ I, your charming white knight in shining armor, am here to help you!"
'...Fuck me,' Mitsumi thought, already suffering a migraine the moment she laid eyes upon Shingo and his stupid introduction. She was escorted by Nico to head towards the location of her fifth duel, the Unison Raid Duel School, where, upon getting to the entrance, the two of them encountered Shingo and his three friends.
"Mitsumi-chan, you should be happy!" Shingo said, walking up to her and clasping his hands onto hers, holding them close to his chest. "We get to participate in an official duel together! As Tag Team partners!"
Behind him, Shingo's three friends cheered on their ringleader. "Yeah, you go, Sawatari!"
"It'll be another step towards your love life with Mitsumi-chan!"
"You've got this!"
'...What?' Mitsumi thought, suppressing to urge to throttle Shingo and demand answers aggressively. Instead, she settled the best she could do at the moment...crushing Shingo's fingers slowly and yet, painfully.
Shingo quickly caught on to the slow, painful pressure on his fingers. "Oh, that's quite a tight grip you've got there, Mitsumi-chan!~ I didn't realize that you enjoyed my proposal so mu-OW! OKAY, OKAY, YOU'RE TOO STRONG! LEMME GO! LEMME GO!"
Mitsumi quickly released her "frail hands" from Shingo, stepping back to wear a sorrowful, guilty expression on her face. "O-Oh, I'm so sorry, Sawatari-san...I didn't mean to squeeze you so hard...I guess I was so excited. Please forgive me..." She turned away, looking more pitiful while internally, the devil inside her was snickering maliciously, not regretting one bit of what she did.
Already falling for her meek, sadden self, Shingo panicked and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "What? No, no, no! You didn't do anything wrong! In fact, I like girls who are strong! You're definitely a strong and kind girl, Mitsumi-chan!~"
"R-Really...?"
"Yes, of course!"
In the background, Shingo's three friends were softly weeping and sniffling at the "romantic" scene before them, as Nico just stood by, sweatdropping. If he didn't already know Mitsumi's true nature, then he would have been in the same state as Shingo's three friends.
"S-Sawatari-san...you're getting a bit too close there..." Mitsumi said, edging back a bit as she saw Shingo leaning in towards her with his lips puckered up. 'I swear to God, Shingo! I SWEAR TO GOD! I will bash your face against the ground!'
"Hmm? Oh, I just wanted our first ever kiss to be that of good luck before we go together as a Tag Team for our official duel," spoke Shingo smoothly, now leaning in much more closely.
'You know what? Screw this,' thought Mitsumi before smashing her foot against his as deep as she could, even adding more pain by twisting her foot in.
Shingo's eyes popped wide and he practically shot up 3 meters in the air before crashing back to the ground, hopping on one leg. "Ow, ow, OW! My foot!"
Mitsumi immediately retreated to her shy and kind façade as she hurriedly tended to Shingo's side. "Oh, no! Sawatari-san! Are you okay?!" She turned to Shingo's friends and told them, "Hurry! Take him inside and ask for medical aid! They should have an infirmary there!"
"R-Right!" The three of them scooped up Shingo's body as he was howling in pain, quickly taking him inside, leaving both Mitsumi and Nico alone by themselves.
Nico straightened his collar. "Whew! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd made a terrific actress!"
Mitsumi merely glared at him, crossing her arms. "What. Is. Going. On?"
Nico knew better than to play dumb, and he knew what Mitsumi was referring to, so he began explaining himself. "Right...I owe you an explanation for this...unforseen circumstance, do I?"
"You're damn right you do! What's going on?! Why am I suddenly Tag Team partners with that pompous prick?! Ugh! I don't wanna do this! Just...why?!"
"I can understand that you're quite frustrated," started Nico. "Well, your next duel was scheduled to be inside this Duel School, no doubt. That hasn't changed. However, this Duel School is well-known for hosting Tag Team duels, and sometimes, they like to add in a theme for entertainment. Your partner wasn't supposed to be Shingo Sawatari. It was supposed to be someone else who took the must-win-six-duels condition, but unfortunately, he failed because he lost his last duel."
"Okay, then how did Shingo get involved into all this?!" wondered Mitsumi, rubbing her forehead.
"Well, he took the same challenge as you and young Yuya Sakaki, So far, he's won three duels, and this is going to be his fourth, whereas this is going to be your fifth official duel! Just two more, and you'll be free to enter the next stage of the tournament!"
"I'm less concerned about that dumb tournament and more of how exactly he became my partner? I would have happily accepted dueling two duelists at the same time rather than having him be my duel partner!"
"Well, the Duel School wouldn't accept you dueling alone and required you to have at least one partner. I was going to ask Yuya-kun, but right now, he has his duel with some girl named Mieru, so when I asked Sawatari-kun, he immediately agreed. That, and he paid me, so-"
Mitsumi's eyes narrowed coldly at him. "Oh? So that's the main reason, huh? In the end, you just accepted his demands because he paid you? Tch...you're just the same like those corrupted filth who took bribes back when I was still...Never mind."
Nico got curious as to what she was going to say. "What? What?"
"It's nothing...So, can you at least tell me who my opponents are?"
"Right, well, even though this is a Tag Duel, this is still going to count as one official duel, not two. You two opponents are twins. The older sister is Tatsuki Nimira, while the younger twin is her brother, Tatsumi Nimira. They're the undefeated and top Tag Team in the Unison Raid Duel School. As always, I can't tell you about their decks, but I can tell you that they are an excellent team, similar to that of the Paradox Brothers!"
"That other famous Tag Team duo? Yeah, I don't get why they like rhyming a lot," said Mitsumi, sighing. "Alright, let's go in."
"Wait," stopped Nico. "I mentioned before that this Duel School usually consists of a theme."
"Yeah, and? You mentioned that it had something to do with entertainment. Why? Is there something wrong?"
"Well...I just thought I'd give you a heads-up. Depending on the theme, they're going to make you and Sawatari-kun do something. Nothing harmful, but it's something to add to the theme of the duel before the Tag Team duel begins."
Mitsumi tilted her head. "Okay...?"
"Y-you'll see, now let's head inside!"
At the dueling field, Mitsumi and Shingo were standing side-by-side right next to each other, facing against identical twins who happened to be their opponents, Tatsuki and Tatsumi Nimira.
Mitsumi glanced at Shingo and saw he was slightly limping on his foot that she "accidentally" stepped on. "Sawatari-san, are you alright?" asked Mitsumi, immediately expressing her concerned look at him.
Shingo smiled and nodded. "Of course! This foot wound is nothin-Ow, ow, ow! Uh...Like I said, it's nothing!"
"If you and your girlfriend are done chatting, we'd like to get this duel started," spoke the older twin sister named Tatsuki.
'He's not my boyfriend!' Mitsumi wanted to snap. Instead, she stayed her tongue and reverted back to her polite persona. "Uh...I apologize, but Sawatari-san isn't my boyfriend."
"Yet." Shingo just had to add it in.
'Not helping, idiot!' Mitsumi wanted to say to him. "S-So, it's nice to meet you, Nimira-kun, Nimira-san! My name is Mitsumi Nazuno, and this is my-"
"Greatest and most handsomest boyfriend, Shingo Sawatari!~" bragged Shingo proudly.
Mitsumi mentally groaned. 'I so wanna kill him right now.'
"It's nice to meet the both of you," said the younger twin, Tatsumi. "We're so glad to have two new challengers in a new, official duel! But, before we get started, there's one more thing we need to do."
Tatsuki snapped her fingers, and descending from above, a wheel of fortune sprung down to the same grounds as them, being held up by ropes from the backstage crew. The wheel of fortune had various options to choose from.
"Alright, so before we begin, we're going to spin the wheel," explained Tatsuki, placing her hand on the wheel. "Whichever it lands on, we're picking that theme, which will affect not only us, but the Action Field as well."
"Uh...What do you mean, 'us?'" asked Mitsumi.
"Oh, we're all going to be dressing up for the part."
The audience cheered upon hearing such an interesting revelation and grew excited over what's to come. Shingo himself, was especially excited, because Mitsumi is his Tag Team partner, and if they got a romantic theme, then they could be more than just partners. No, they could even be like a power couple!
Mitsumi, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled about this. Yes, she has knowledge about Entertainment Duels, considering she attends You Show Duel School, and she has cosplayed before in different roles, like a princess, but...considering her partner is Shingo...she really, really, REALLY wasn't too happy about cosplaying with him. Tag Dueling with him was one thing, but doing so in a theme that required them to change into costumes that fits the theme? She can only hope that the theme wasn't anything romantic and would indicate something of the sort.
"Here we go!"
Tatsuki spun the wheel of fortune as fast and hard as she could, letting go as everyone watch the wheel of fortune spin rapidly until it started to slow down. At long last, the wheel of fortune made a decision, and with its arrow, pointed towards...
'Of. Freakin'. Course. My. Luck. Is. SO. Good. To. Day.' Mitsumi thought, resonating each word thought by slamming her head against the wall as she, Shingo, and their twin opponents were in the dressing room of the Duel School. There was a wide variety of costumes to choose from in the large dressing room, as well as private spots where one could change behind curtains.
The theme that the wheel of fortune chose? Knight and Ruler.
It was pretty clear for Mitsumi's team of whole role was whose. And now, Shingo was trying to pick out the most beautiful dress for his "lovely princess" to wear, all while Mitsumi was busy banging her head against the wall for her misfortune. Mitsumi wanted to try and screw Shingo over by trying to find the worst possible knight outfit she could find, but even the most basic knight costume was pretty impressive. This wasn't just a Duel School for Tag Teams, but also on entertainment, so naturally, they would have top-notch costumes.
Besides the fact that Mitsumi didn't want to be some damsel in distress or some princess because of Shingo, she knew that she shouldn't dare wear a princess costume for another reason. Dresses tend to get stuck in something and in the way. The length of the dresses would hinder movement while leaping and running around, affecting her dueling greatly. Therefore, she needed to find a way to talk Shingo out of making her become the princess and for them to somehow switch roles.
And she had an idea.
"Sawatari-san?" Mitsumi walked up to him as Shingo was still scrambling around, trying to find the perfect dress for her.
"Hmm? Yes, my lovely little princess? Don't worry; your knight in shining armor shall find the perfect dress for-"
"Actually, I have a better idea," interrupted Mitsumi. "I was thinking...we should switch roles."
Shingo blinked at her, and then laughed. "Oh, Mitsumi-chan! You're so funny! I can't play the princess role, because I'm a boy!"
"Oh, nothing like that. The theme did say Knight and Ruler. It didn't specify that the ruler had to be a princess. So, why don't I be the knight, and you be my..." She internally shuddered as she leaned in closer and stroked her nimble fingers under his chin, focusing his attention on her as she whispered lowly, "Prince?"
'It's almost scary at how good I am at this,' Mitsumi thought, stepping back to give the lovestruck Shingo some space. 'Either I'm just that good...or Shingo's really that dumb. Eh, probably the latter.'
"Prince, hmm?" muttered Shingo, allowing his imagination to cloud his thoughts for the moment. "Yes...that does sound pretty enticing...And as much as I want to do that, I can't. After all, who would be your knight in shining armor, if you become my knight? Mmm...my knight...That does sound pretty sweet..."
'Ugh...' Mitsumi thought, a disgusted and annoyed look on her face before she quickly replaced that with a false smile. "Sawatari-san, you said you like strong girls, don't you? If I become your knight in shining armor, wouldn't that make me strong?"
"Well...I guess..."
"Besides, your foot is hurt! How can I, your humble princess, order my own knight in shining armor to head into action when he's so injured? As repayment for injuring you, I shall become your beautiful and strong knight in shining armor! ...At least, until this duel is over."
Shingo brightened up. "You know what? You make very good points! Yeah! Alright, then! You shall become my humble knight, and I, your prince, shall reward you with a kiss, should we win this duel together!"
Mitsumi mentally made very quick plans of escape the second the duel was over.
"Now, let's get to seeing your knight costume! There has to be some female knight costumes around here somewhere...Aha!" Shingo pulled out a rather revealing bikini knight costume from the female knight section. "How about this?"
'LIKE HELL!' Mitsumi wanted to scream; her entire face turning red from both anger and embarrassment. One thing she did keep true within both her fake, shy personality and her true, rough personality, was the fact that she HATED revealing clothes. V-lined shirts, see-through clothes, short mini-skirts, clothes that don't completely cover the chest and ass areas? She hated them all because they were too revealing, too inappropriate, too vulnerable, and too seductive.
Suddenly, Tatsuki came over and snatched the costume from Shingo's hands. "Oops! Sorry, this wasn't supposed to be here. Such inappropriate clothing is intolerable here at this school. Ugh, I'll have to file a report to the principal about this later."
Mitsumi silently thanked Tatsuki for the save and held Shingo's hand, much to his joy and much to her disdain as she only did this to appease him, assisting him in finding some pretty good costumes for the two of them.
Later...
"Everyone, thank you for your patience!" announced Nico, who was standing in the announcer's podium and holding onto his microphone. "Now, today, we're going to be featuring a very special Official Duel! That's right! It'll be a Tag Team official duel! Whichever team wins earns another step to completing one of the winning conditions required to enter the Arc League Championship! Now, from my left are this Duel School's famous Tag Team duo, the twins, Tatsuki and Tatsumi Nimira!"
Stepping out, Tatsuki and Tatsumi appeared in their new costumes as prior to the Knight and Ruler theme. Tatsumi had light, white mage-like robes on with golden bracelets and other small golden accessories including a golden crown. Tatsuki, on the other hand, had dark-colored armor on, hiding her face behind a dark helmet and appearing quite menacing. It was quite clear who was playing which role.
"And from my right, we have...Oh...Uh...Another Tag Team duo, Shingo Sawatari and Mitsumi Nazuno!"
The reason why Nico seemed to be so hesitant was because of...Shingo's outfit. He got carried away and combined an assortment of different kingly clothes into one, making him stand out a lot and hinder his movements greatly, especially with the long cape and the large, golden crown on his head. Right besides him was his "knight," Mitsumi, who donned a basic, light-weighted blue knightly armor with no helmet or cape, facepalming. The audience could agree that in terms of fashion, she faired better than Shingo.
'I don't know this idiot, I don't know this idiot, I don't know this idiot,' Mitsumi repeatedly thought in her mind as she was still flabbergasted at Shingo's fashion sense. He had been so eager to show himself off and was so enticed by the many outfits back in the dressing room that he went overboard.
"Ahem! I guess both teams are ready! Action Field, on! Conqueror's Castle, deploy!"
The dueling field transformed from a widespread normal dueling field to a large battlefield within the top of large castle walls with lots of stone-like bridges, flags, battalion-like areas, and so forth. From the audience's point of view, it almost seemed like the two teams were like two separate armies, trying to capture the one huge castle they were standing on.
"Let's get started! Duelists locked in battle!"
"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their Monsters!" spoke Tatsuki excitedly.
"They storm through this field!" Tatsumi said.
"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling!" exclaimed Shingo, raising his arms in the air. "ACTIOOOOONNNN-!"
"DUEL!"
- DUEL -
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 8000 LP
VS
Mitsumi and Shingo - 8000 LP
"Ha! This'll be no problem at all!" Tatsuki said, fully confident in herself. "I'll start things off! First, I Normal Summon Noble Knight Artorigus!"
Noble Knight Artorigus - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV4 - (1800/1800)
"I now activate Noble Knight Gawain's effect from my hand! If I control a LIGHT Normal Monster, I get to Special Summon him to the field!"
Noble Knight Gawain - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV4 - (1900/500)
'Crap, crap, crap!' thought Mitsumi, turning around to make a run for it only to be halted when Shingo grabbed her arm.
"Wait, where are you going?" asked Shingo.
"Well, uh...we need to go get some Action Cards, don't we?" Mitsumi said politely.
"Ahem!"
"Eh?"
"We have to go along with the theme, remember? We're roleplaying! I'm the Crown Prince, and you're my guardian knight, sworn to protect and stay by my side at all times!"
'You can't be serious,' Mitsumi mentally groaned as a sweet, yet bitter smile formed on her face before she forced herself to get into her role. She got on one knee and bowed her head. "As you command, my Prince."
Shingo smirked. "Mmm...I like the sound of that already..."
'I really wanna throw this guy off the walls!' Mitsumi thought, twitching slightly.
"Hey!" shouted Tatsuki impatiently. "If you're done with your stupid romantic act, I'd like to continue my turn and for you guys to pay attention!"
Shingo got mad and turned to her. "Well, excuse me! I was just having a romantic conversation with my dearly guardian knight, so-"
"U-Um...Sawatari-san, why don't we listen to her for the time being? As in, let her do her turn?" suggested Mitsumi, getting all shy for him. "After all, you can show off your skills when it's your turn and leave her gobsmacked."
Shingo smiled widely. "That's an excellent idea! Alright, pathetic knight! Continue your turn!"
"...I'm gonna enjoy knocking that crown off your head," said Tatsuki, grinning evilly behind her helmet. "Alright, I activate three Equip Spells onto my Noble Knight Artorgius! Noble Arms - Clarent! Noble Arms - Caliburn! And, Noble Arms - Gallatine!'
'While I do understand strengthening her Monster, isn't this a bit too much? I thought she was going to XYZ Summon,' thought Mitsumi, standing back up and rubbing her chin suspiciously.
"Alright, time to shine! I Overlay my two Level 4 Monsters in order to build the Overlay Network! XYZ Summon! Come forth! Rank 4! Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights!"
Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights - (LIGHT/Warrior/XYZ) - Rank 4 - (2000/2000)
Shingo clenched his fist. "XYZ Summon...! Just like that Yuya-lookalike did to me...!"
'Yuto and Yuya don't even look alike!' Mitsumi wanted to protest before realizing something. 'Hold on...last night was the perfect opportunity to ask him questions, like why he even came to mine and Yuzu's rescue? And what the heck is Academia? God, I'm such an idiot!'
"Artorigus' effect activates!" continued Tatsuki. "When he's XYZ Summoned, I can target up to 3 Noble Arms Equip Spell cards with different names in my Graveyard, and then equip those cards onto him! I equip Noble Arms - Clarent, Caliburn, and Gallatine to him!"
'So that's why she activated those cards before XYZ Summoning!' Mitsumi thought. 'Damnit! Equip Spells don't just increase Attack Points, but they have devastating effects as well!'
"I'll explain the first Equip Spell, Noble Arms - Clarent!" declared Tatsuki. "First, the equipped Monster gains 200 extra Attack Points!"
Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights - (LIGHT/Warrior/XYZ) - Rank 4 - (2200/2000)
"Secondly, each player can only Special Summon once per turn!"
"What?! Sis, what about me?! I have to Special Summon lots of Monsters, too!" whined Tatsumi.
"Oh, don't worry about it! I doubt you'll have to do too much, because with the way our opponents have been acting, we'll be guaranteed another easy win," assured Tatsuki, patting her twin brother on the head.
"O-Okay...I guess."
Mitsumi took note of this short, but somewhat important conversation. They claimed to be a tight-strong Tag Team, and she didn't deny that it might be true, despite the duel only just starting. However, Tatsuki's action in disregarding her partner's wishes may prove to be an advantage for both her and Shingo.
"Hey, hey, hey! What about those two other Equip Spells?! What about them?!" shouted Shingo.
Tatsuki turned to them. "Oh, right. Noble Arms - Caliburn! This cards allows Artorigus to gain 500 extra Attack Points!"
Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights - (LIGHT/Warrior/XYZ) - Rank 4 - (2700/2000)
"Now, once per turn, I gain 500 extra Life Points!"
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 8500 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 8000 LP
"And now, Noble Arms - Gallatine! Artorigus gains 1000 extra Attack Points!"
Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights - (LIGHT/Warrior/XYZ) - Rank 4 - (3700/2000)
"But, during each of my Standby Phases, he loses 200 Attack Points, which isn't that big of a deal for me. I end my turn!"
"Then, it's my turn!" said Tatsumi, the younger twin brother of the duo. "From my hand, I Normal Summon Kirion, Lightsworn Lancer!"
Kirion, Lightsworn Lancer - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV4 - (1700/1000)
"His special ability activates! When he's Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Lightsworn Monster from my hand! I Special Summon Jenis, Lightsworn Mender, in Defense Mode!"
Jenis, Lightsworn Mender - (LIGHT/Spellcaster) - LV4 - (300/2100)
"Ha! You can't even XYZ Summon like your sister because of her stupid Equip Spell's effect!" taunted Shingo.
Mitsumi placed a hand on Shingo's arm. "Sawatari-san, I don't think it's a good idea to provoke them. Besides, a good prince should be kind to others, don't you think?"
"Ah...you're totally right, Mitsumi-chan!~"
Mitsumi turned to the other Tag Team duo and bowed her head. "I apologize for my partner's actions."
"Ah, it's alright. What he spoke was true, after all," assured Tatsumi kindly.
Tatsuki, however, was not quite as forgiving. "I'm gonna beat you so badly for insulting my baby brother."
'You know, in other circumstances, I would really have loved to be friends with her,' thought Mitsumi. 'We at least have one thing in common; our mutual hatred towards Shingo.'
"I set a card," said Tatsumi. "And end my turn! At this moment, Kirion's effect activates! Once per turn, during my End Phase, I must send the top two cards from my deck into the Graveyard! And now, Jenis' effect activates! During the End Phase, if a card was sent from my deck to the Graveyard, by the effect of Lightsworn Monster this turn, I get to inflict 500 Points of Damage to my opponent, all while gaining 500 Life Points!"
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 9000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 7500 LP
"Damn...looks like they've got some pretty big advantages on us," commented Shingo.
"That's not all," said Tatsumi. "One of the cards I sent to the Graveyard is Lightsworn Judgement, and that Trap card's effect allows me to add 1 Judgement Dragon from my deck to my hand only if this Trap was sent from the deck to the Graveyard by a Lightsworn Monster's effect."
'Judgement Dragon...I've never really seen that Monster, but if such an effect allowed him to add that to his hand, then it must be an incredibly powerful Monster,' Mitsumi thought.
"Mitsumi-chan, it's your turn!" said Shingo. "Don't worry! I know you're weak and that I'm like, ten times stronger than you-"
'Eat a dick, asshole!' Mitsumi thought, wanting to yell that to him. She was already ticked off that he forced his way to become her Tag Team partner, something that he didn't ask permission for, nor would she even give him permission in the first place, but now, he had the galls to say something like that in front of their opponents-no, the entire audience? The only reason she pretended to be so "weak" was to keep up her appearance as a meek, shy girl, not to stroke his ego!
"-But, I truly believe you can do this! You're my knight, and as such, I know you will bring glory and victory to me, your beloved Crown Prince!"
Mitsumi turned to him, pretending to look touched by his words. "Sawatari-san..."
"Plus, it would be pretty humiliating if we lost because of you, so don't be such a disappointing knight that failed to serve her prince and try your absolute hardest to win!"
'I swear to God, Shingo, I will THROW you off the castle walls!' Mitsumi thought, nodding and smiling at him while clenching her fists.
"I ended my turn, so I guess one of you will have to go next," called out Tatsumi. "Oh, and remember, we all have to take our first turns, so prior to the Tag Team dueling rules, nobody can attack on their first turn!"
"Got it!" called back Mitsumi, drawing her card. "Alright, I activate the Spell, Giant Trunade! This forces all Spell and Trap cards on the field to return to the hand!"
"What?!" Both twins exclaimed as gusts of wind blew over the playing fields, forcing their set cards and the Equip Spell cards to return back to their hands.
"Aha! Nice move, Mitsumi-chan!" praised Shingo. "Now, those annoying Equip Spells that knight girl had on her Monster won't be getting in the way!"
"So what?!" called out Tatsuki. "When my turn comes again, I'll just equip them back onto my XYZ Monster! You just wasted a good card!"
"Not necessarily," said Mitsumi. "I think I remember...one of the cards preventing us from Special Summoning more than once?"
Shingo knew what she was referring to. "Hey, yeah! One of your Equip Spells made it so we can only Special Summon once per turn!"
"And I'll happily equip that Spell back onto my knight, once I-"
"And before that, it's fair game for both me and Mitsumi-chan! Now, we can Special Summon however many Monsters we want!"
"..."
"Ha! Yeah, that's right!" Shingo spoke, smirking. "We can Special Summon more than like, three Monsters in one turn! And there's repercussions!"
Mitsumi raised her hand, catching her partner's attention. "Um...isn't there one more thing? Now that the Equip Spells aren't on the field anymore, doesn't that mean that Tatsuki-chan's XYZ Monster won't be getting any stronger?"
Tatsuki's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, no!"
Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights - (LIGHT/Warrior/XYZ) - Rank 4 - (2000/2000)
"Ha! Your XYZ Monster just got a lot weaker!" taunted Shingo.
'Shingo, taunting the enemy has got to be a really bad habit for you,' Mitsumi thought, sweatdropping.
"Ahem!" said Tatsumi. "We've still got a duel to continue. Nazuno-san, will you continue?"
Mitsumi nodded. "A-Ah, yes! I'll continue! Um...Okay! I activate the Ritual Spell, Forbidden Arts of the Gishki! Using Monsters on the field, I can Ritual Summon a Monster whose total Levels equal the Level of the Monster I'm Ritual Summoning!"
"But, you have no Monsters on your field," pointed out Tatsuki.
Shingo glanced over to Mitsumi. "Mitsumi-chan, I know you're pretty dense and not that strong, but even I thought you'd at least have some sense."
'Oh my God, I'm not even finished explaining, and everyone already thinks I'm stupid,' Mitsumi thought, annoyed. "Well, everyone, this Spell lets me Ritual Summon a Ritual Monster using Monsters on the field-"
"Yeah, and you don't even have any Monsters on the field."
"That ALSO includes Monsters on my opponent's field."
Tatsuki smirked. "Ha! Sucks for you, because XYZ Monsters don't have Levels! They have Ranks!"
Mitsumi quickly stated, "I Ritual Summon the Level 8 Soul Ogre in Defense Mode using the two Level 4 Lightsworn Monsters on Tatsumi-kun's field."
"Wait, what?!"
In a blink of an eye, both of Tatsumi's Lightsworn Monsters converted into orbs of light that fell into the ritualistic magic circle surrounded by candles as sacrifices meant to Ritual Summon Soul Ogre.
Evigishki Soul Ogre - (WATER/Aqua/Ritual) - LV8 - (2800/2800)
"Oh! I see!" gasped Shingo. "Wow, I never knew that your Ritual Spell could be used that way! I knew that you've gotten a lot stronger under my guidance! Good job!"
'You didn't even do anything, you idiot,' Mitsumi thought. 'And didn't you say that I was dense and not that strong? Ugh...'
"My field's empty!" said Tatsumi. "Well, luckily, it's the first turn, and nobody can inflict a Direct Attack so long as their partner still has Monsters on the field."
"Even so, remain cautious," warned Tatsuki. "We still don't know how much danger we're in, and we still haven't seen that other guy's deck. Stay sharp."
"Right, okay, big sis!"
"There's more!" Mitsumi said. "Forbidden Arts of the Gishki makes it so I can't conduct my Battle Phase this turn, and my Ritual Summoned Monster loses half his Attack Points!"
Evigishki Soul Ogre - (WATER/Aqua/Ritual) - LV8 - (1400/2800)
"Why'd do that?" Shingo said. "Now you can't ever attack with that weak-ass Monster!"
"But...His Defense Points are a lot higher. I'm just going to keep him in Defense Mode," Mitsumi pointed out. 'Thank God this effect doesn't apply to Defense Points as well.'
Shingo grinned. "Oh, I see! That's why you put it in Defense Mode! Ha! Guess me constantly reminding you to put your weak Monsters to good use is finally paying off!"
'...I wanna push you off,' Mitsumi mentally commented before glancing down at her hand. 'Damn, I don't have any other Gishki Monsters in my hand, so I can't activate Soul Ogre's effect to get rid of Tatsuki's XYZ Monster. For now, all I can do is play a solid defense.' "I set a card and end my turn!"
"Alright, it's time for the Neo New Sawatari to shine!" exclaimed Shingo, drawing his cards as three very familiar voices, most likely his friends, cheered on his new nickname.
"Neo...New Sawatari?" wondered Mitsumi.
Shingo nodded. "You gave me the idea, Mitsumi-chan!"
"I...I don't recall ever giving you that nickname." 'A pretty stupid one, at that.'
Shingo shook his head. "Nuh-uh! You told me that people have been spreading rumors about me using my influence to try and cheat my way into the tournament! Well, I'm here to prove that wrong! I'll go to the extremes and work as hard as any other duelist! ...With some added bonus, like my soon-to-be newest appearance and new nickname I personally made up! How about it, Mitsumi-chan?"
'No, the whole nickname thing is all on you, idiot!' Mitsumi thought, sweatdropping. 'Although I did have a hand in telling him about those rumors...I mean, they're not wrong, but I did add in some details that weren't there...'
"Yosh! Here I go!" said Shingo. "From my hand, I activate the Continuous Spell, Yosen Training Grounds!"
Rising from behind both Shingo and Mitsumi, a large shrine appeared with several unlit candles at the main table in front of the temple-like shrine, as though something was required to lit those candles.
'Yosen? That's a new card. I suspect he used his Daddy's money to buy himself a new, rare deck,' thought Mitsumi, unfazed, as she has experienced dueling Shingo's many different, rare decks, usually with her losing, though they were on purpose.
"And now, from my hand, I activate the Spell, Yosenju Oroshi Channeling!" continued Shingo. "Because I control no Monsters, I can activate one of the following effects, and for the rest of this turn, I can't Special Summon any Monsters except for Yosenju Monsters! I choose this effect: I add 1 Level 5 or higher Yosenju Monster from my deck to my hand! I choose Yosenju Oyam!"
'Definitely a new deck, that's for sure,' Mitsumi thought. 'I hope it's better than that WATER/Ice Attribute deck he used against Yuto. Honestly, I could have wielded that deck better, considering I did used to duel with an ice deck before.'
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" cheered Shingo. "Here's the first part of my performance that Neo New Sawatari will show you! First, from my hand, I summon Yosenju Kama 1"
Yosenju Kama 1 - (WIND/Beast - Warrior) - LV4 - (1600/500)
"Kama 1's effect activates! Immediately after he's Normal Summoned, I can Normal Summon another Yosenju Monster from my hand! I Normal Summon Yosenju Kodam!"
Yosenju Kodam - (WIND/ Beast - Warrior) - LV1 - (0/0)
"There's more!" said Shingo. "Yosen Training Grounds' effect activates! Each time a Yosenju Monster is Normal or Special Summoned, I can place 1 Yosen Counter onto the Spell! Since I already summoned two Yosenju Monsters, I gain 2 Yosen Counters!"
Yosen Training Grounds - 2 Yosen Counters
"I now activate Yosenju Kama's effect! Only when I control another Yosenju Monster, and only once per duel, I can target 1 face-up card my opponent controls and return that card to their hand! I choose Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights!"
"What?!" exclaimed Tatsuki. "That means I have to return him back to my Extra Deck! Damnit, all of my hard work!"
'Whoa, that means that neither of our opponents have any cards on their field! The combined efforts of both me and Shingo did this much!' Mitsumi thought, bearing an actual, shocked expression as she turned to Shingo. For the first time, she was actually impressed by him. 'As much as I'm reluctant to say this...Actually, I feel he does deserve this, but Shingo actually did some good for a change!'
Shingo noticed Mitsumi staring at him with an awed expression that held a curt, cute smile and felt flustered. 'Mitsumi-chan looks quite impressed with me! Well, of course she does! I'm awesome! But...this time, I feel like she genuinely feels much more impressed with me than anything else!' he thought before focusing back to the duel. 'Alright, then it's time to show more of my cool side to her!'
"Now, I activate Kodam's effect! I Tribute him in order to target 1 Yosen Training Grounds I control, so I can place 3 Yosen Counters onto it!"
Yosen Training Grounds - 5 Yosen Counters
"Now I activate Yosen Training Grounds' effect! I discard 3 of the Yosen Counters in order to add 1 Yosenju card from my deck to my hand! I choose...the Pendulum Monster, Mayosenju Daibak!"
Yosen Training Grounds - 2 Yosen Counters
"W-WHAT?!" screamed Mitsumi, swiftly turning to Shingo with a shocked expression. "H-How did you get a Pendulum Monster?!"
Shingo smirked. "Why, I'd be more than happy to tell you, Mitsumi-chan! As it so happens, I got them from LDS, specifically from Akaba-san!"
"What?!" Without thinking, Mitsumi suddenly marched up to her partner and grabbed him by the collar, shaking his shocked self back and forth rather harshly. "Oh, that is total bullshit! There's no way you of all people-"
Mitsumi paused, stunned by even her own actions and at what she just said. She dropped Shingo and turned away, silently cursing at herself. For just that moment, she allowed her emotions to get the best of her, and as a result, she accidentally let out her true self, the one she feared others would dislike upon. The shock of him suddenly having Pendulum Monsters and the harsh memory of the first time he used Pendulum Monsters, which was by taking them away from her by force must have gotten to her, so she needed a moment to cool down.
Shingo himself was shocked by both Mitsumi's words and actions. NEVER did he expect her to react in such a...harsh and violent manner. It was like witnessing a new side of her that he's never seen her in all the years he's known her. Just where did this come from, all of a sudden? Well, he certainly expected her to be shocked, that's for sure, but he didn't expect her to suddenly spout out foil language and get so aggressive.
"...I...I'm sorry. I...this new revelation reminded me about the last time we dueled...When you first used your Pendulum-Well, Yuya's Pendulum Monsters for the first time," Mitsumi apologized, forcing herself to revert back to her shy and kind persona. "I hope you can forgive me, Sawatari-san."
Oh, so that was it! Bad memories caused his dear Mitsumi-chan to react such a way! Yes, perhaps he wasn't acting like a true gentleman back then, and their last duel must have dug up some really horrible memories, which is why Mitsumi-chan acted that way! Well, it was fine if it's like that but...what is this sense of unease he's feeling in his chest?
"N-No, it's alright! Ahem! I set a card and end my turn! At this moment, Yosen Kama 1's effect activates! During the End Phase, if he was Normal Summoned this turn, I have to return him back to the hand!"
'How's he supposed to defend himself with no Monster at all?' wondered Mitsumi. 'Unless that Set card he placed down earlier might help bail him out?'
"Finally, my turn!" said Tatsuki, drawing her card. "I activate the Spell, Reinforcement of the Army! Now, I get to add 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior Monster from my deck to my hand! I add Noble Knight Medraut to my hand and then Normal Summon him!"
Noble Knight Medraut - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV4 - (1700/1000)
"Right now, Medraut is a LIGHT Normal Monster, but his effect allows him to become an Effect Monster, as well as gain 1 Level and change his Attribute to DARK! Therefore, I equip him with Noble Arms - Caliburn, which will increase his Attack Points by 500!"
Noble Knight Medraut - (DARK/Warrior) - LV5 - (2200/1000)
"Now, I activate the additional effect of Caliburn! Once per turn, me and Tatsumi gain 500 extra Life Points!"
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 9500 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 7500 LP
"Now, I activate Medraut's other effect! Once per turn, if I control no other Monsters, I can Special Summon another Noble Knight Monster from my deck in Defense Mode, but if I do, then I have to destroy 1 Equip Spell I control, so in exchange for Caliburn's destruction, I'll Special Summon Noble Knight Eachtar!"
Noble Knight Medraut - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV4 - (1700/1000)
Noble Knight Eachtar - (DARK/Warrior) - LV5 - (1600/2000)
"I activate the Equip Spell, Noble Arms - Gallatin to Medraut, thus increasing his Attack Points by 1000 and made him activate his secondary effects all over again!"
Noble Knight Medraut - (DARK/Warrior) - LV5 - (2700/1000)
Shingo snorted. "Ha! So, what? Last I recall, you said that Gallatin decreases Medraut's Attack Points by 200 for every Standby Phase! What's that going to do? You can't even attack because my dear Mitsumi-chan's Monster has higher Defense Points! All you've done is degrade yourself even further!"
"...Sawatari-san, she's going to XYZ Summon."
"Hah?" Shingo turned to Mitsumi. "What are you talking about?"
"I mean, she's going to XYZ Summon! Look, she has two Level 5 Monsters!"
"That's right, rich boy," taunted Tatsuki. "And now, I Overlay my two Level 5 Monsters! XYZ Summon! Come forth, Rank 5! Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus!"
Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus - (LIGHT/Warrior/XYZ) - Rank 5 - (2200/2200)
Shingo placed a hand on his chest, sighing. "Whew! For a sec, you had me worried, but it's no big deal! We've still got higher defense!"
Tatsuki smirked. "Oh, yeah? You might want to reconsider after this! First, when he's XYZ Summoned, I can target up to 3 Noble Arms Equip Spells with different names from my Graveyard and equip them onto Artorigus! I equip Noble Arms - Gallatine and Caliburn to him! That means that he gains 500 from Caliburn, and 1000 from Gallatine, making a grand total of 1500!"
Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus - (LIGHT/Warrior/XYZ) - Rank 5 - (3700/2200)
"Now, I activate Artorigus' effect! Once per turn, I detach an Overlay Unit in order to target 1 other Monster on the field to destroy that Monster! I target Soul Ogre to destroy him!"
Artorigus raised his swords and clinked them together, pointing straight at Soul Ogre and firing beams of light from the tips of his swords, utterly obliterating Soul Ogre and leaving Mitsumi and Shingo's fields wide open.
"You two are wide open!" shouted Tatsuki. "But, just to be on the safe side, I equip Noble Arms - Clarent to Artorigus! Now, I attack you directly!"
"Not so fast!" spoke Shingo triumphantly, standing in front of Mitsumi, as though to shield her. "I'll have my triumphant return yet! I activate the effect of Yosenju Oyam from my hand! When your Monster declares a Direct Attack, I can discard a Yosenju Monster from my hand to the Graveyard and Special Summon Oyam from my hand in Attack Mode!"
Yosenju Oyam - (WIND/Beast) - LV6 - (?/?)
"Why is it unknown?" wondered Tatsumi.
"Simple!" explained Shingo. "His Attack and Defense Points are equal to the Original Attack Points of the Monster he's battling!"
'...Shingo, you're a goddamn idiot,' Mitsumi thought, as the calculations quickly proceeded, showing the results of Yosenju Oyam's Attack and Defense Points.
Yosenju Oyam - (WIND/Beast) - LV6 - (2200/2200)
"What?! Why's he so much weaker than that XYZ Monster?!"
"Sawatari-san...his Original Attack and Defense Points were like that," pointed out Mitsumi. "Right before Nimira-san increased his Attack Points with her Equip Spells."
"...Shit!"
"It wouldn't have mattered, anyways!" said Tatsuki. "I activate the effect of Noble Arms - Clarent! By paying 500 Life Points, I get to have the equipped Monster attack directly this turn! That means Artorigus attacks you both directly!"
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 9000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 7500 LP
Artorigus bypassed Yosenju Oyam, instead slashing his swords down onto both Mitsumi and Shingo, causing them to crash and slide across the castle wall grounds harshly.
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 9000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 3800 LP
"Ugh! My princely outfit got all dirty!" complained Shingo, remarking about the dust and dirt that got onto his robes.
'You're more concerned about your appearance than the difference in our Life Points?' Mitsumi thought, sweatdropping as she got up, not minding nor caring about her armor getting dirtied. 'But, this is seriously bad! We're having seriously bad luck, and next up is Tatsumi's turn! If all goes well for him, he may finish us off in his next turn!'
"I end my turn!" said Tatsuki confidently. "You're up next, little brother!"
Yosenju Oyam - (WIND/Beast) - LV6 - (?/?)
"Yes, big sis!" Tatsumi said, drawing his card. "I draw! Now, I activate the Spell, Soul Charge! I can Special Summon any number of Monsters from my Graveyard, but I have to pay 500 Life Points for each Monster summoned this way! I Special Summon 2 of my Monsters and give up 1000 Life Points!"
Jenis, Lightsworn Mender - (LIGHT/Spellcaster) - LV4 - (300/2100)
Kirion, Lightsworn Lancer - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV4 - (1700/1000)
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 8000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 3800 LP
"Next, I Overlay my two Level 4 Lightsworn Monsters in order to build the Overlay Network XYZ Summon! Come forth, Minerva the Exalted Lightsworn!"
Minerva the Exalted Lightsworn - (LIGHT/Fairy/XYZ) - Rank 4 - (2000/800)
"Now, I detach 1 Overlay Unit to send the top 3 from my deck to the Graveyard! If there are any Lightsworn cards within them, then I get to draw cards equal to the number of Lightsworn cards sent to the Graveyard through this effect! One of the cards was Felis, Lightsworn Archer! Therefore, I draw 1 card! And now I activate Felis' effect from the Graveyard! If she was sent from the Deck to the Graveyard through a Monster effect, I get to Special Summon her!"
Felis, Lightsworn Archer - (LIGHT/Beast - Warrior/Tuner) - LV4 - (1100/2000)
"Now, from my hand, I Normal Summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin, to the field!"
Jain, Lightsworn Paladin - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV4 - (1800/1200)
"I tune my Level 4 Felis with my Level 4 Jain to Synchro Summon my Level 8 Monster! Synchro Summon! Judgement, the Dragon of Heaven!"
Judgement, the Dragon of Heaven - (LIGHT/Dragon/Synchro) - LV8 - (3000/2600)
"Crap! They've both got really powerful Monsters on the field!" cursed Shingo.
"Sawatari-san! I think now's a good time to try and find some Action Cards!" urged Mitsumi.
"Y-Yeah! Sure!" Shingo turned and started to make a break for it but stopped, hissing in pain as he knelt down. "S-Shit! My foot!"
'His foot?' Mitsumi thought, eyes widened. 'Oh, crap! That's right! I kinda crushed his foot earlier! Damnit! Of all the times to unleash my anger out on him, why'd the consequences have to be now?!'
Quickly, Mitsumi wrapped Shingo's arm around her neck, helping him up to his feet as they started wandering around in search for any Action Cards. Because of his somewhat limp leg, Mitsumi had to half-carry, half-drag him around while roaming around.
"Ah...this feels nice," commented Shingo, snuggling his head against her neck.
'If it weren't for the fact that we're in a duel, and that he's injured, I would have 'accidentally' made him fall,' Mitsumi thought, annoyed as she ignored Shingo's attempt of cuddling.
"What are you doing, Tatsumi?!" called out Tatsuki. "Don't just stand there and watch! Continue your turn!"
"R-Right! Sorry!" apologized Tatsumi. "Now, I activate the effect of Judgement Dragon from my hand! He can't be Normal or Set, only Special Summoned from my hand by having 4 or more Lightsworn Monsters with different names in my Graveyard! And I have Lightsworn Felis, Jain, Jenis, and Ehren in my Graveyard!"
"Ehren? I don't remember him using that card during his last turn," commented Shingo as both him and Mitsumi continued searching for Action Cards.
"He probably put that Monster in his Graveyard during his last End Phase. Kirion's effect made him discard the top two cards of his deck, after all," answered Mitsumi.
"Now, with all of the conditions set, I Special Summon Judgement Dragon!" announced Tatsumi.
Judgement Dragon - (LIGHT/Dragon) - LV8 - (3000/2600)
Mitsumi and Shingo stopped where they were to gaze at the powerful Monsters now on their field. They were at a huge disadvantage at the moment, since they barely had any cards on their field, while their opponents had 4 very powerful Monsters ready to absolutely destroy them.
"...Move!" cried out Mitsumi, picking up the pace with Shingo quick to agree with her.
"Battle! Minerva attacks Yosenju Oyam!" shouted Tatsumi as he rushed towards his sister. Clasping her hands together, Tatsuki boosted her brother up and helped him elevate to one of the higher grounds of the Field Spell in search for an Action Card. Tatsuki leapt up to the higher grounds to join her brother as they both attempted to search for Action Cards.
Yosenju Oyam - (WIND/Beast) - LV6 - (2000/2000)
"I activate the effect of Yosenju Tsujik from my hand!" shouted Shingo as his Yosenju Oyam's effect activated. "During either Player's Damage Step, when a Yosenju Monster I control battles an opponent's Monster, I can discard Tsujik, and that Yosenju Monster gains 1000 extra Attack Points until the end of this turn!"
Yosenju Oyam - (WIND/Beast) - LV6 - (3000/2000)
Minerva attempted to send out her magic to finish off Yosenju Oyam, only for Oyam to casually fling the magic away, reflecting it back towards her, thus destroying her.
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 7000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 3800 LP
"Minerva's effect activates!" called out Tatsumi. "If she's destroyed in battle, I can send the top 3 cards on my deck to the Graveyard, and then destroy cards on the field up to the number of Lightsworn cards sent to the Graveyard by this effect! One of my cards was a Lightsworn Monster, so I get to destroy your Monster, Oyam!"
Mitsumi, knowing that the destructive effect was coming, contemplated what to do. They were utterly helpless if their only Monster was destroyed, meaning they were up for grabs the second they were vulnerable for two Direct Attacks, which she was certain they would not survive. She could always use her Set card and then maybe, they could survive-
"I got it! The Action Card, Set Seal!" called out Tatsuki. "I select 1 Set card on the field, and it can't be activated for the rest of this turn! You, blue-haired girl! I choose your set card!"
'Well, fuck me sideways, we're doomed,' thought Mitsumi, forced to resort to a slightly more drastic measure as she suddenly tossed Shingo on her shoulder, making it easier for her to move around much faster.
"Whoa, whoa! Hey!" exclaimed Shingo, bouncing slightly up and down with Mitsumi's rash and swift movements making them go all over the place. "Hey, put me down! This is so embarrassing!"
"Can you see any Action Cards?"
"What?"
"Right now, I can only focus on what's in front of me. I need you to see if you spot any Action Cards from behind."
"No way!" protested Shingo. "Besides, it's embarrassing for a man to allow a beautiful lady like yourself to carry him around! It'll be more easier if you put me down and-"
Suddenly, an explosion stopped short of Shingo's sentence, causing him to go wide-eyed when he saw that his Monster was destroyed because of Minerva's effect, thus leaving the two of them defenseless.
"...Okay, you win."
"Now, I attack!" declared Tatsumi. "I attack you directly with my two dragons!"
"Mitsumi-chan! Look! An Action Card! At that wall!" pointed out Shingo before shrieking when he saw two very strong and large dragon soaring towards them, thus causing him to cling tightly onto Mitsumi. "EEEEEEEKKKK! HURRY!"
'My God, you scream like a girl,' thought Mitsumi, wearing an annoyed expression as she turned around and ran around, spotting the Action Card Shingo was referring to. Judgement Dragon was the first to attack, firing off a light elemental dragon's breath at the two. Mitsumi managed to snatch the Action Card before she and Shingo were struck by Judgement Dragon's attack, causing them to crash and spread out throughout the Action Field.
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 7000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 800 LP
"I-I activate the Action Card, Big Escape!" called out Mitsumi. "It ends the Battle Phase!"
Tatsumi's Synchro Monster, Judgement, the Dragon of Heaven, ceased his breath attack and flew back to his master's side alongside his other counterpart, Judgement Dragon.
"If that's the case, then I end my turn," said Tatsumi. "At this moment, my two Dragons' effects activate! For Judgement Dragon, I have to discard the top 4 cards of my deck to the Graveyard. As for my Synchro Monster, I have to banish the top 4 cards of my deck to the Graveyard! Whew! We're close to victory, big sis! I can feel it!"
Tatsuki nodded, though she held a concerned expression behind her helmet. 'I guess so, but we need to end this duel quickly. A major weakness for Tatsumi is that he's forced to send so many of his cards to the Graveyard. It's a major problem because sometimes, that tends to be the reason we lose at times, so next time it's my turn, I'll have to end it all. We won't lose! We'll prevail to the tournament!'
"I draw..." panted Mitsumi, getting back up. "I play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two new cards! Now, I activate my set card, the Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted! This lets me Special Summon a Monster in Attack Mode so long as this card remains in play! I Special Summon Evigishki Soul Ogre in Attack Mode!"
Evigishki Soul Ogre - (WATER/Aqua/Ritual) - LV8 - (2800/2800)
"Oh! Amazing!" said Shingo, who managed to stand up by himself. "At least it's not weak anymore! ...Why is that?"
"Originally, he was Ritual Summoned using Forbidden Arts of the Gishki," explained Mitsumi. "But after a Ritual Monster's been Ritual Summoned to the field and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon that Monster from the Graveyard using any methods I want. Forbidden Arts of the Gishki's effects were only valid when he was Ritual Summoned the first time, but they ended after he was sent to the Graveyard."
"So now, you can go all out! Whoo! Mitsumi-chan, as your handsome prince, I command you to attack the enemy!"
"I can't do that because the 'enemy' also has 2 3000 Attack Point Monsters. The sister has a 3700 Attack Point XYZ Monster, so I can't target her, either...Unless..." Mitsumi paused and glanced at her remaining cards. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Twin Twisters! I discard a card in order to target up to 2 Spells/Traps on the field and destroy them! I now target Noble Arms - Gallatine and Clarent!"
Gusts of wind formed into one twister that made its way towards Tatsuki's XYZ Monster, vacuuming away the extra strength he held with those two Equip Spells that gave him strength. Once they were gone, he was still standing strong, but slightly more weaker.
Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus - (LIGHT/Warrior/XYZ) - Rank 5 - (2700/2200)
"Shit!" cursed Tatsuki, realizing that her Monster was as good as gone should Mitsumi attack her Monster. With that knowledge in mind, Tatsuki made a break for it, attempting to find an Action Card.
"I'll go find one, too!" Shingo said, trying to run as well before the pain in his foot caused him to trip and fall. "Gah!" He curled up, clutching his foot and hissing in pain.
"Shi-Sawatari-san!" Mitsumi caught herself on time and rushed to Shingo, kneeling down near him. In a haste, she removed his shoes and saw that even though his foot was bandaged up and already treated, she could still see signs of his injury. Without thinking, she grabbed some of his ridiculous kingly-like clothing and ripped them to shreds.
"Eep!" shrieked Shingo, turning red in the face. "H-Hey, what are you-?!"
"Shut up, I'm trying to help you!" snapped Mitsumi, forming the shredded clothing into bandages to help soften his foot's injury. Once again, without warning, she scooped him up in his arms and took him to a corner, making him lean against the wall for support. "There. You should sit down and rest and leave everything else to me."
'Why? Why am I helping him?!' Mitsumi thought, still trying to sweet talk and comfort Shingo. 'He's a pompous asshole, that's for sure, but...I guess it is my fault that he ended up this way. Maybe I did go a bit too far with him this time, and this is kinda my way of making up for what I've done...'
"You know...I normally would have complained about the whole princess carry thing, and how I'm supposed to carry you, but just this once, I'll let it slide," said Shingo. "After all, it's not everyday that I get to be nursed by a beautiful, cute girl like yourself, Mitsumi-chan-OW!"
'Okay, maybe it's okay to 'accidentally' press down a bit,' thought Mitsumi, slightly amused at seeing Shingo's pained expression and yelp that came with it. Both glanced at their other opponents and saw, with the twins' spectacular teamwork, they managed to grab an Action Card.
"Okay, I'll go continue my turn. I won't be far, so you'll definitely be able to rest from here. Just rest, okay?" Mitsumi said kindly. And this time, it wasn't a fake kindly tone, she genuinely did express concern and softness towards Shingo before focusing back on the duel.
Mitsumi, after waiting and seeing how she's gotten the twins' attention, resumed her turn. "From my hand, I Normal Summon Gishki Abyss!"
Gishki Abyss - (WATER/Fish) - LV2 - (800/500)
"And when he's summoned, his special ability activates! I get to add a Gishki Monster with 1000 or less Defense Points from my deck to my hand! I add Gishki Vanity to my hand and then discard him! I now activate the Ritual Spell, Gishki Aquamirror! I can Tribute Monsters from the field and/or hand whose total Levels equals the same as the Ritual Monster I'm about to summon! I Tribute my Level 8 Soul Ogre along with my Level 2 Gishki Abyss in order to Ritual Summon Gishki Zielgigas!"
"At this moment, I activate the Action Spell, Reinforcement Reject!" shouted Tatsumi. "If you Special Summon a Monster, that Special Summon is negated!"
"Then, I activate Gishki Vanity's effect!" countered Mitsumi. "This turn, you can't activate Spells, Traps, Spell/Trap effects, or Monster effects when a Gishki Monster is being Ritual Summoned!"
"Oh, no!" cried out Tatsumi.
A barrier shielded the effects of Reinforcement Reject as it surrounded a magic circle surrounded by lit candles as Mitsumi's Gishki Abyss and Evgishki Soul Ogre were sent to the center of the magic circle. The magic circle glowed blue before illuminating brightly, summoning forth Gishki Zielgigas.
Gishki Zielgigas - (WATER/Aqua/Ritual) - LV10 - (3200/0)
'With Zielgigas, I could finish off one of the Judgement Monsters Tatsumi has,' thought Mitsumi, glancing over to Tatsumi's side of the field. 'But when it comes to Tatsuki's turn again, she might power up her Monster, and there's that special ability that I'm worried about. She still has one more Overlay Unit, so it's most likely she'll use that again. Okay, then I'll target her Monster!'
"I activate the Spell, Dian Keto the Cure Master, so now, we gain 1000 extra Life Points!"
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 7000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 1800 LP
"Now, I use up those 1000 Life Points in order to activate Zielgigas' effect!" said Mitsumi. "I draw a card and then reveal it, and if it's a Gishki Monster, I get to shuffle 1 card from the field onto the deck! I draw!" She drew her card, revealing it to be Gishki Noellia. "I draw a Gishki Monster, so I target Judgement Dragon!"
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 7000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 800 LP
"I won't let you!" shouted Tatsuki. "I activate the Action Card, Detour! I negate the effect of a Monster you control, and if I do, I also get to inflict 500 Points of Damage!"
The Action Card appeared and shot out a ray of light, negating Zielgigas' effect as well as inflicting damage to Mitsumi once the light shined onto her.
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 7000 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 300 LP
'We're almost out of Life Points! This is pretty bad!' Mitsumi thought. "I attack Artorigus with my Monster!"
As Zielgigas charged up a water-like attack with his many palms, Tatsuki surged into action, as well as Mitsumi, with both trying to find an Action Card. Almost simultaneously, the two girls spotted Action Cards of their own and chased after them.
Mitsumi proved to be faster because she was closest to her Action Card. Once she saw Tatsuki was close to getting her own Action Card, Mitsumi read through the effects of her Action Card and activated it. "Action Card, Dynamic Dynamite! You lose 800 Points of Damage!"
Just as the Action Card was within Tatsuki's grasp, the Action Card's effect caused the spot she was standing on to explode, sending her farther away from her intended Action Card. Luckily for her, she spotted an Action Card near a flag, causing her to regain her momentum in the air and snatch the Action Card.
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 6200 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 300 LP
'Damnit!' Mitsumi thought. She had the perfect timing and had activated the Action Card to not only inflict Effect Damage, but to also make sure she didn't get any Action Cards! While it was good that their Life Points decreased, it was now bad because she unintentionally got an Action Card!
"Action Card, Miracle! If a Monster on the field battles, it can't be destroyed by that battle and Battle Damage is halved!"
Zielgigas unleashed the pulsing water attack he's been charging up onto Artorigus, effectively damaging him, yet thanks to Miracle, he still remained standing, though the other Tag Team did suffer Battle Damage, even if halved.
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 5950 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 300 LP
"Whew! Your Monster survived, big sis!" complimented Tatsumi.
"Not so fast!" exclaimed Shingo, who was now standing up, using the wall to support him. "I activate the Action Card, Second Attack! One Monster can attack twice, and I choose Mitsumi's Ritual Monster! Go, Mitsumi-chan! You can do this!"
Although Mitsumi wanted to help Shingo rest at this very moment, she was grateful for his assistance. "Right, thanks! Zielgigas, attack Artorigus once more!"
Zielgigas charged even faster and effectively than before, firing off a full-powered water blast that destroyed the XYZ Monster once and for all.
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 5700 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 300 LP
"I end my turn," said Mitsumi before turning to Shingo. "Sawatari-san-"
"Don't worry, I'm alright!" assured Shingo, walking next to her while still slightly limping on one leg. "I can't let an injury get down Neo New Sawatari! Now, let's get this show on the road!"
"Hmph, what's your next turn going to be?" questioned Tatsuki confidently. "I doubt you can even finish things off. We have the higher ground here, so naturally, with mine and my brother's combined efforts, we'll be able to win for certain!"
"We'll see about that! I draw!" Shingo drew his card and grinned. "Alright! I'm so lucky today! I set the Pendulum Scale using Scale 3 Yosenju Shinchu L and Scale 5 Yosenju Shinchu R!"
Two Monsters with identical, yet differently colored faces rose up high in the air in reflected light pillars, showcasing the start of a Pendulum Summoning as their Scale Numbers appeared beneath them.
'Yeah, I should have expected him to Pendulum Summon, but with those Pendulum Scales, he can only Pendulum Summon Level 4 Monsters,' thought Mitsumi.
Shingo raised his arms triumphantly and announced, "And now, I'm going to reveal something fantastic! I activate Yosenju Shinchi R's effect! Once per turn, if I have a Yosenju card in my other Pendulum Zone, I can make R's Pendulum Scale become 11 until the end of this turn! And I can't Special Summon any Monsters except Yosenju Monsters!"
Just as Shingo said, the Scale Number underneath Yosenju Shinchi R immediately changed from 5 to 11.
"With this, I'm able to summon Monsters from Levels 4 to 11 simultaneously! Pendulum Summon! O wind-clad chief of phantoms! Gouge these lands with your raging cloak! Come forth! Mayosenju Daibak!"
Mayosenju Daibak - (WIND/Beast/Pendulum) - LV10 - (3000/300) - Scale 7
'That's an extremely powerful Monster!' Mitsumi thought, impressed. 'He's on par with the two Judgement Dragons, but he still needs an extra boost if he wants to beat them! I should go find an Action Card just in case, then!'
"Daibak's effect activates!" said Shingo. "If he's Special Summoned or even Normal Summoned, I can target up to 2 cards on the field and return them to the hand! I choose the 2 Judgement Dragons on the field!"
"What?!" exclaimed Tatsumi before flinching from the overwhelming gusts of wind coming from Shingo's newly summoned Monster.
"There's one more thing I'd like to point out," said Shingo. "I activate my Continuous Trap, Dizzying Winds of Yosen Village! This can only be activated if I control Mayosenju Daibak! If a card, except a Yosenju card, would be returned from the field to the hand by a card effect, one must shuffle that card back to the deck! And, combined with Daibak's effect, you have to return Judgement Dragon to the deck instead of the hand! Well, except for the Synchro Monster, of course!"
"He's right!" pointed out Tatsumi, flinching from the overwhelming winds of Mayosenju Daibak as the large Beast-Type WIND Monster activated his effect to forcibly return his two Monsters away; one into the deck, and the other back to the Extra Deck. "We're completely defenseless!"
Shingo narrowed his eyes. 'This is a great opportunity to attack them directly, but even if I attack them with my Monster, it'll only be 3000 Points of Damage, not enough to take them down. Still, I-'
"Action Card, Double Attack!"
"Huh?"
Everyone glanced up and saw Mitsumi on top of a bridge above Shingo, having rushed up as fast as possible and activating the Action Card she found on the bridge.
"Double Attack...It targets 1 Monster on the field, and its Attack Points are doubled its current Attack Points this turn! I target Daibak!"
Mayosenju Daibak - (WIND/Beast/Pendulum) - LV10 - (6000/300) - Scale 7
Shingo gasped and his eyes shimmered with stars. "Wow, Mitsumi-chan! Good job! As expected of my future lo-"
"Just hurry up and attack them directly!" called out Mitsumi, clutching the railings of the rope bridge.
"Oh, right, right, right!" Shingo faced the two twins and commanded, 'Mayosenju Daibak! Attack them directly!"
Releasing a roar that echoed throughout the Action Field, Mayosenju Daibak inhaled a deep breath before letting it all out in the form of a tornado-like dragon's breath, all directly towards the two twins and literally blowing them away, leading to their defeat.
Tatsuki and Tatsumi - 0 LP
Mitsumi and Shingo - 300 LP
Winners: Mitsumi and Shingo
The moment the Action Duel concluded with two clear winners, the audience applauded and cheered loudly, the most loudest being Shingo's three friends, as the Action Field vanished, leaving four very exhausted duelists.
"The Tag Team duelists that won this official match is Mitsumi Nazuno and Shingo Sawatari! Congrats to both of them!" announced Nico through his microphone.
"Sawatari-san, that was amazing!" exclaimed Mitsumi, rushing up to him and helping him properly stand.
"Ow, ow, ow...I know, I'm amazing!" bragged Shingo, puffing his chest out. "But, it was all thanks to you finding that Action Card for me, Mitsumi-chan. Without that, I never would have won this duel without your help."
"You two are pretty good," said Tatsuki as she and her twin brother walked up to them. "I guess Tag Teams are also effective not just with siblings, but with a couple as well!"
"O-Oh, we're not a couple!" assured Mitsumi.
Shingo smirked. "Oh, are we? I know I'm pretty close to stealing your heart, Mitsumi-chan.~"
'Shut up, dude, before I feel REALLY tempted to smash your foot in again.'
"Still, even if you two aren't a couple, your teamwork was pretty good, though I admit, it still needs a bit of work," advised Tatsumi. "Me and my big sis has a lot of work to be done for our teamwork, as well."
"You know what?" Shingo said, turning to Mitsumi. "I think this calls for a little reward, like...a celebratory kiss!"
Mitsumi anticipated he would try something like that, so she was prepared by stopping him; smushing her open palm against his lips before turning to the twins. "Oh, would it be okay if we used your school's infirmary and visit there again? I'm worried Sawatari-san may have accidentally opened his foot wound, so I want to make sure he's in good hands."
Tatsumi nodded. "Of course! Let's get him to safety! Follow us!"
"Hey, Mitsumi-chan! What about my kiss?"
"Your injury is more important! Yeah! Let's just hurry up!"
Later...
'From what the doctor's been telling me, Shingo's going to be alright after receiving a full day of rest, which means he'll be back and up by tomorrow,' Mitsumi thought, leaning against the wall near the infirmary. 'He's annoying and gets on my nerves a lot, but...I'm glad he's alright, unlike that one time his injuries weren't even that serious against Yuto.'
"Nazuno-kun!" This time, it was Nico Smiley who approached her with a huge grin. "That was truly a fantastic Tag Team Duel! You've won 5 duels thus far, so you've only got one more to go before you're qualified to enter the tournament!"
"Okay, then."
"But, I have to ask, why did you win?"
"Uh...what?" Mitsumi tilted her head in confusion at the question. "Come again?"
"All this time, you've held disdain and disinterest in this tournament, showing no signs of wanting to participant whatsoever, and yet, you still pushed yourself to win, especially since that Ritual deck isn't the one you used 10 years ago," replied Nico. "You could have easily thrown in the previous matches, and yet you didn't, why?"
"...I promised my teacher that I would try my best in this tournament," explained Mitsumi. "Not like I wanted to participate in this, but I did say I would give it a shot."
"Oh? But didn't you hate Sawatari-san? If anything, this was the perfect chance for you to throw in the towel while dragging him down with you. That way, one less rival for your other friends to deal with and no repercussions for you since you weren't even interested in the tournament to begin with."
'...Fuck, I could have done that,' thought Mitsumi, placing a palm over her face. 'I could have done that, but...but it wouldn't...'
"...It wouldn't have done any good for Shingo," answered Mitsumi. "And I don't hate him, I just dislike him and find him really annoying. As much as I would find Shingo losing really satisfying, it wouldn't feel...right to just drag him down with him because of my own personal problems."
"So, you do care for him," said Nico.
"You saw me trying to care for him during the last duel. I guess, in some deep, hidden way, I still do kinda care for him, but not that much. I mean, if he got into a car accident or something, I would help him but other than that? I'd rather push him down some stairs than listen to his hourly talk of romantic poems towards him."
Nico winched. "Ouch."
"...Hey, Smiley, can I...ask something personal?" asked Mitsumi.
"Depends, I guess."
"Well, it's more towards your opinion of me than anything personal about you."
"I can answer to the best of my ability."
Mitsumi nodded. "That's more than enough for me. I...what do you really think of me? I'm not this fragile and shy daffodil everyone thinks I am. That's just only a front because people would be more friendly towards kind individuals like that. But people like me? Cold, insulting, vulgar people aren't really well-received."
"Oh...That's why you held up such a front all this time?" asked Nico, surprised.
"Yeah. It's extremely straining, but it's well-worth it if I can see genuine smiles from my friends, not like those fake smiles from those corrupted businessmen and sponsors back during my Junior Pro Duelist days. Everyone back in that life was all fake smiles just to gain something, whether it's money, power, influence, something something something..."
Nico knew exactly what Mitsumi was referring to. Child prodigy duelists like her who were on the path to becoming Pro Duelists tend to be taken advantage of so easily by corrupted adults like the ones Mitsumi described. Pro Duelists have to deal with more than just dueling; they must also make public appearances, organize strict schedules, train, participate in photo shoots, TV commercials, shows, and so forth. Children are often victims to corrupted, unsuspecting people who want to take advantage of them for their own benefits, fake praising them and, if worst comes to worst, abandon those innocent children for themselves. Mitsumi is one such victim who suffered hardships, stress, and betrayals when she was a little child from such people; worst coming from her parents, who arranged and forced her to do many stressful things, making her becoming one of the many betrayed children who would have been abandoned had it not been for her smarts and refined dueling.
"Nazuno-kun," spoke up Nico, feeling sympathetic towards her. "Throughout the years as a manager, I've seen many things, both good and bad. I've witnessed child prodigies like you being emotionally and physically abused at young ages when they don't deserve to, yet I, like many people, can't do anything about it because of influence, connections to powerful people, and money. I'm not going to lie; you're quite a rude and insulting young lady who's easily annoyed and quick to temper. You're also pretty cold at times and, probably when given the chance, will probably resort to violence as well. But, even so...I can understand where this sort of harshness came from. But, on the inside, I know that you've still got a caring heart inside. I mean, you helped out Sawatari-san earlier."
"...No, I'm definitely still an asshole," Mitsumi sighed. "And, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm an even bigger asshole than Shingo."
"If this is about your true self-"
"No, not just that. It was what I was about to do earlier that I'm calling myself that."
"Earlier?" wondered Nico.
Mitsumi took a deep breath and sighed. "I...I wanted to screw over Shingo. I was going to call Yuya and the others...and tell them all about Shingo's new deck, especially the part where he somehow got Pendulum Monsters. If that happened, they would have an advantage over him. I was so close, and I was about to call the Call Button...but I stopped."
"You stopped?"
"Yeah. I didn't like Shingo, but...I guess I was horrified at how much I wanted to screw him over, that I stopped and reconsidered my choice before deciding not to tell them."
Nico brightened up. "Well, that's good! That just proves even further that you have a kind heart."
Mitsumi shook her head. "No, the fact that I was willing to and I even thought about telling the others about Shingo's deck makes me an even bigger asshole. I mean, Shingo did steal Yuya's Pendulum cards and even took some of my friends hostage just to have a duel with me that one time, but...I dunno, I think I'm just antagonizing myself, but it doesn't change the fact that no matter how close I am with my friends, no matter how many desserts I bake for them, no matter how much time I spend with them, it doesn't change that deep down, I am a horrible, horrible person."
"...Then just talk to your friends," suggested Nico. "Tell them who you are and everything else. I'm sure they'll understand."
"...I dunno," sighed Mitsumi. "I've kept this secret up from when I was a kid and met them. I can't just suddenly change from the sweet and delicate girl they know to this rough and tempered girl they don't know. I...I don't want to hurt them."
Nico scratched his cheek, wondering what to do for her. He's no good comforting others. In fact, one of the things he's good at is managing new duelists that have the potential to reach the top, just like he did with Strong Ishijima, and now with Yuya! The Dueling World is rather harsh, and he's witnessed lots of bad sides to the Dueling World, so he can understand Mitsumi's pain, something no child should have gone through, being manipulated and taken advantage of so easily.
"Well who else knows about your true self?"
"Recently, my teacher, and...Well, Grandma's known for a long time."
"Maybe talk with her and try and sort things out? I apologize, but-"
Mitsumi shook her head. "No, no, it's fine. It feels like such a refresher, talking to someone else about this. Anyways, when's my next duel?"
"Your 6th and final official duel takes place tomorrow. You look like you need to rest, so I'll give you the details later today."
Mitsumi nodded and started walking off. "Alright, then. Thanks."
"You're not going to stay and watch over Sawatari-san?" wondered Nico.
"Nah, his three goons can take care of him. See ya."
Nico frowned as he watched the young girl leave the hallways of the Duel School. 'Nazuno-kun...You've clearly suffered a lot in the past, and though you try very hard to move past that, it's obvious that large remnants of that are still lingering in your mind, deeply affecting you everyday. I hope you find people to help you...and to help you realize that deep down, you DO have a kind heart.'
Okay, so I made Nico a bit OOC at the end here, but it's only for a little bit! So yeah, more of Mitsumi's past is further revealed and why she's like that, so it's not just her abusive parents that influenced her from the beginning, but others as well. Come on, you have to admit that there are indeed corrupt people willing to use children for their own means.
And another duel ended, with Mitsumi winning, alongside Shingo! I decided to mix things up and make it interesting by performing a long duel! Originally, I had planned for the two opponents to have an EARTH and a FIRE deck, because Mitsumi's deck is WATER Attribute, and we only saw Shingo use the Yosenju deck ONE TIME during the anime, and it was WIND Attribute. I had planned for this duel to be elemental based, like Mitsumi and Shingo both having a WATER and WIND deck together, while their opponents had FIRE and EARTH decks, thus forming the whole four elements concept.
However, I changed that at the very end, because the last four duels Mitsumi had were already elemental based. Her first official duel, I tried to focus on WATER Attribute. After that, Sakura's deck was full of EARTH-related cards. Clover's deck was WIND- based, and in the last duel besides this one, Mitsumi faced off against a FIRE Attribute deck, thus this completed the four elemental duels.
For this duel, however, I decided instead of the four elements Tag Team duel, I would make her opponents DARK and LIGHT Attribute decks, though in this duel, it was more towards LIGHT Attributes than DARK. So, that makes 5 duels down, and one more to go.
And yes, Unison Raid is a reference to Fairy Tail. You'll understand if you know what kind of magic it is and why I named the school that.
Before I forget, I'd like to say that in the next chapter, there won't be a duel. Nope, just more development on Mitsumi and her inner conflict. A heads-up, if you're more curious about Mitsumi and you want to know more about her, ask your questions in the comment section, and I'll try to answer them within the next chapter.
And before you guys say anything, no, I'm not going to change her fake shy and polite personality so suddenly during the tournament. She's still going to keep that fake personality even after the tournament. Sometime later, in the story, there'll be a midpoint where she'll definitely revert to her true self and stay like that, but for now, she's keeping her inner thoughts to herself while keeping up the fact that she's a shy daffodil who's good at baking sweets.
Also, just to tell you guys, I will give you guys a hint of her opponent's deck in her last official duel. It...is a recently new deck made by Konami, kinda. There. That's all the hint I'm giving you.
Well, with that said, read and review!