It is a quiet and calm summer day, the temperature is bearable, and the humidity is low. Tokoha Anjou has just finished up some grocery shopping for her mom as she walks down the street in her usual attire of a white shirt with long sleeves that have been rolled up, a pink skirt, black leggings, and white boots, as she carries bags of groceries in her left hand, while she holds a popsicle in her mouth with the other. She licks off the last of the almost melted treat before tossing the stick away into the nearest trash can. She then takes a moment to bask in the scenery as she passes by the park. The trees are bright, lush green, and she could hear the bird singing away as they soar through the air without a care in the world. She could see children having fun in the park, playing in the jungle gym, or chasing each other in a game of tag. The whole scene makes her happy as she puts on a large smile.

She starts to walk further, until she notices someone slumped over on one of the park benches, however, it wasn't just anyone. She could never forget that iconic swirly red hair, so she immediately knew it was her friend, and fellow teammate, Chrono Shindou. Strangely, he wasn't dressed in his usual attire, but instead, he's dressed very lazily in a plain white t-shirt with purple shorts, and only wearing a pair of red sneakers. She decides to take a slight detour from her route to go and talk to him, hoping to figure out why he's so down in the dumps. She puts a hand on his shoulder, which ends up making him flinch a little as she greets him, "Hi Chrono."

He looks up at her with a slightly surprised face and says, "O-Oh… Tokoha."

She sits down next to him on the bench and asks, "What's wrong? You look upset."

Chrono lets out a long sigh as he leans back and looks to the sky. "I've just had a really bad day today." He explains.

"How so?"

"Well…" he says, starting to tell the story of his day, "First I stubbed my toe when I woke up, then again when I dropped the soap bottle on it in the shower, I burnt my toast for my breakfast, my fridge gave out and now all the food in it is going to go stale, and then I forgot I left my clothes in the washing machine last night, so I had nothing better to wear." She now knows why he's dressed the way he is, "I tried to visit Card Capital, hoping that would cheer me up, but turns out, they're closed today. I texted Kamui, asking why, and he said it was because he had other plans. So yeah… I haven't had the best day today." He puts his head in his hand as he slumps over and lets out another sigh, "I just really want to cardfight…"

Tokoha then goes silent. She wants to help her friend, especially since she deeply cares for him, but she isn't sure how she can help. An idea then pops into her head. She thinks about potentially inviting him over to her house and card fighting there, but then she thinks about all the effects bringing a boy into her house would have. Not only would she feel slightly uncomfortable, but her parents also will not shut up about how she has a boyfriend, even though she doesn't see it that way, and also about how they might try to put them in awkward situations. She tries to think of other ways, but it's really the only thing she can think of. Not that she wouldn't want him to come over to her house, in fact, she actually might enjoy it, despite how awkward it might get.

She opens her mouth to speak, but no sound leaves it, as she is nervous about what he might say to the idea. She finally forces the words from her lips, "W-Why don't you come over to my place?"

Chrono looks over, in mild confusion, "Your place?"

"Yeah." The green-head nods in confirmation, "We can have a cardfight there, and I also bet you're starving because you didn't get much of a breakfast."

Chrono puts a hand on his stomach, and can actually feel it churning a bit. He then replies, "Sure. I guess we can do that."

Tokoha smiles and says, "Great, then let's go. Besides, there aren't many places you can go dressed like that." She points out his lazy attire as he puts on a weak smile and an awkward laugh. The two of them leave the park, as Chrono follows Tokoha to her house.

They arrive at the small traditional-style house, but as they walk up to the front door, Tokoha turns around to face Chrono and says, "Okay, we need to be careful. My parents are home, and if they see I brought a boy home, they will never let me hear the end of it."

Chrono just blinks and says, "Uh… okay."

She grabs the handle of the door and slowly opens it to peek her head inside to look around the living room. She didn't see either of her parents in sight to which she says, "Okay, coast is clear." The two of them enter the house, quietly taking off their shoes at the front door. Tokoha points in the direction of her bedroom, as they then tip-toe their way through the living room. She instructs Chrono to head to her room, and not touch anything while she unloads the groceries.

Chrono makes it to her room and lets out another sigh as he glances around the room. The room is very small, with only a bed with pink sheets, a small desk, and a chest of drawers which sits parallel to the bed with a flat-screen TV sitting on top of it. The walls were painted a nice, faded sun-flower yellow and a pink rug lay on the floor.

Within a few minutes later, Tokoha arrives in the room, carrying a plate with a sandwich, and closing and locking the door behind her, hoping that will give her enough time to hide Chrono in case her parents come barging in. "We should be in the clear now." She looks at Chrono, who is sitting on her bed, as she hands him the sandwich and says, "Here. I made you something to eat."

"Thanks…" he replies, "So when are we going to cardfight?"

Tokoha blushes a little at his question as she puts her fingers together, "We will in a minute, but um… would you mind if I change into something a bit more… comfortable first?"

"Sure, I guess." He replies.

"Okay." Tokoha then instructs him to stand by the door and look at the wall while she gets undressed. He does as he is told, and just stares blankly at the wall, as he can hear clothes hitting the floor behind him. A moment later, he hears Tokoha tell him, "Okay, you can look now." He turns around to see her attire has completely changed. Now, she is barefoot, and all she wears is a lavender-blue t-shirt that has a hard time hiding the shape of her breasts, as well as black shorts with an orange rim around the legs. He blushes a little seeing her in such a lazy outfit. "What's wrong?" she asks, noticing his blushing face.

"N-Nothing." He tells her. He actually wants to tell her she looks kind of cute dressed like that, but restrains himself and asks, "So can we have a cardfight now?"

"Of course." She tells him. She digs around in the drawers and pulls out a Vanguard playmat and sets it down on the floor as the two of them shuffle their decks. "You know, I never thought I'd fight you like this."

"What do you mean?" Chrono asks, a little confused by her question.

"Like, not for training, not with anything on the line. Just a casual fight for fun, and in my own house."

"Hmm… yeah." Chrono says, still in a slightly depressed tone.

"I have an idea! Let's play Grade Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who goes first."

"Sure."

Tokoha takes a grade 1, 2, and 3, from her deck and shuffles them separately. Chrono draws one of the three cards, and Tokoha takes another. When they reveal the cards, Chrono got the grade 3, and Tokoha got the grade 1. "Looks like you go first."

"Alright." He says as they place their hands on their starters and declare in unison, "Stand up… VANGUARD!"

A few turns pass and Chrono ends up getting the upper hand on Tokoha, but she can see a smile starting to emerge on his face. "Generation Stride! Chronodragon Nextage (G4/26000)!" he declares, "Attack the Vanguard!"

"Complete Guard!" Tokoha declares, summoning her unit to block the hit from the giant dragon in their imagination.

"Triple Drive (none/none/Critical)! Critical Trigger! All effects to Smokegear! Nextage's skill! Chronojet is the Vanguard once again (G3/11000)!"

"He's gotten good…" Tokoha thinks to herself, clinching the cards in her hand tighter, "but I'll show him I can stand on his level!"

"Chronojet attacks the Vanguard!"

"I guard!" Tokoha calls her flowery units to create a shield of blossoms from the blue metallic dragon, surprising Chrono. "We're teammates Chrono, and we train together all the time. I know your tricks." Tokoha tells him confidently, making him smirk back at her.

"Drive check (Critical). Critical Trigger! All effects to Smokegear again. Smokegear with 3 critical attacks the Vanguard!"

"Guard!" Tokoha blocks the attack once again.

"Wow." Chrono says, "You really have gotten good."

"I told you," she says, "and… I'm glad you're feeling better."

Chrono sends her back a warm smile and says, "Yeah. You somehow always know how to push me forward when I'm feeling down."

"Hey, what else are friends for?" she asks giving him a wink, and he nods in response. It's funny, they have only been friends for about a year, yet she feels like she's known him all her life. She cares deeply for his wellbeing. She cares about the wellbeing of both her teammates, but… she feels it stronger for Chrono. She begins to think to herself, what if she thinks of him as… something more than a friend?

After a while, their cardfight comes to an end, and even though Tokoha tried her best, Chrono was still the victor in the end. She leans back as she lets out a sigh and says, "Well, you can't win them all. Thanks for the amazing fight Chrono."

"No, thank you." He replies, shaking his head, "After a bad start to the day, I feel a lot better now, although, I still have the issue of my fridge to deal with."

"But I'm sure that can wait, right?" she asks, unconsciously.

Chrono looks up at her, slightly confused, and asks, "What do you mean?"

Tokoha didn't mean to say what she said, but she rolls with it and nervously says, "I… um… wouldn't mind you staying a bit longer." She gets up off the floor to sit on her bed with her hands in her lap.

"Um… okay?" Chrono replies, face turning a little bit red, as he joins her on the bed.

She's only known him for about a year, and yet… right now, she feels like she doesn't want to be separated from him. "I… I'm really glad you're feeling better Chrono." She tells him, looking down into her lap.

"Thank you, but I'm curious," he tells her, "why did you stop to try and help me? You clearly had things to do."

Tokoha giggles and smirks. "Well, I thought that would be obvious dummy," she says, "I did it because… I really care about you." She inches closer to him and slowly moves to place her hand on his thigh.

"Really?" Chrono asks, raising an eyebrow, "I thought you hated me. Given the way you talk to me sometimes."

Tokoha smiles weakly at his statement as she grasps his thigh tighter and says, "We've… only been friends for a year, and we do fight a lot, but… that doesn't stop me from caring about you. I do care about you Chrono, a lot. So, if you ever need me, I'll always be here, by your side."

Chrono looks into her eyes, and he can see the sincerity in her words. Maybe she really does care about him. He looks down at the hand on his thigh and blushes a little. He then feels the energy in his hand to place it on top of hers, as he smiles and tells her, "Th-Thank you Tokoha."

Tears begin to build in her eyes, she moves even closer to the twirly head boy, almost touching shoulders, but while the green-head enjoys being close to him, the red-head finds it a little awkward. Tokoha then takes her hand off his leg and wraps both of her arms around him in a tight embrace.

He is a little thrown off by the sudden sign of affection, but he doesn't seem to mind it, yet he asks, "T-Tokoha…?"

She squeezes him tighter as she nestles her face into his shoulder, as she begins to speak in a softer tone, "Chrono I… I want to always stay by your side. I want to always be there to take care of you. That's why… maybe… just maybe… I wouldn't mind us being… something more than friends…"

"Huh?" He questions as he looks at his friend, who looks up at him with teary eyes, a warm smile on her face, and bright crimson red cheeks.

She knows exactly how she feels about him now, and she can't hold back the urge any longer. Unable to restrain herself, she puts her hands on the back of his head and pulls herself closer to him. She finally makes the move and gently places her lips onto his.

Chrono blinks, unable to fully comprehend what is happening. Tokoha is… kissing him? In all the time they've been friends, he never experienced this level of affection from her.

After only a few seconds, Tokoha pulls away from him, the tears in her eyes now evolving into full rivers down her face. She smiles at him, but this time, Chrono feels like his heart's going to explode. He never really found Tokoha cute before, but now… he feels like he can't control himself. Was it an effect from the kiss? Has he discovered feelings for her he never realized he had?

"Wh-What was that?" he asks, trying to make sense of her actions.

Tokoha simply smiles and says, "That's how much I care about you Chrono. I… I love you." Chrono could feel his heart stop. He never thought he'd hear Tokoha say those words to him. She finally lets go of him and backs away a little saying, "Sorry… I know I probably jumped the gun a little. I couldn't really control myself, and I just had to get it out of my system, but… I fully understand if maybe you don't care about me in the same way."

Chrono searches his heart for an answer. Does he really love her as she loves him, or does he still see her as merely a friend and teammate? He smiles, already knowing the answer.

He scoots closer to her now, catching her off guard. He then pushes her down onto the bed and presses his lips against hers. Tokoha can hardly contain her joy, has Chrono accepted her feelings? Unable to contain her excitement, she kisses him back, pulling him against her as they kiss for as long as they can until they can't breathe anymore.

When they finally separate, Chrono says to her, "You're wrong… I do feel the same way, and all this time, I've been ignoring it. I… I love you Tokoha."

Tokoha smiles as wide as she naturally can as she responds, "I… I love you too, Chrono." They kiss again, this time even more passionately as they confirm together, that this was the beginning, of something truly special between them. The worst day for Chrono had turned into the best day, as he has finally found the love of his life.

The End