It's early morning in Tokyo Japan, as the alarm from Yuji's phone goes off, playing the most annoying beeping noise. Yuji, who lies sprawled out on the bed in only his dark-gray boxers, reaches over to grab his phone and disable the alarm, and then sits up in the bed and stretches to the ceiling before looking around the room, still a little disoriented from sleep. He then remembers, "Oh yeah. I moved in with that girl yesterday…" It's only been a day since he officially moved in with Saki, and he's still unsure about the whole thing. Yuji gets up off the bed and throws on a plain white t-shirt and some gray sweatpants, which he grabbed from his duffle bag, and leaves the room.
Upon leaving his room, he immediately sees Saki come out of her room, to whom he says, "Oh, 'morning Saki."
"Mmm… good morning…" she replies, rubbing her eye, still half asleep. Yuji ends up taking a glance at the rest of her body and realizes that, while she is wearing a pink t-shirt, she is not wearing any pants, just the same underwear he saw her in last night. Noticing his blushing face, Saki looks down to see her pants-less bottom, sighs, and says, "Oh yeah… I can't just walk around like this anymore. Give me a minute." And then closes the door to her room. A few seconds later, she comes back out, now wearing a pair of blue shorts.
Yuji sighs and says, "Look… I uh… I'm sorry for walking in on you last night. I didn't think I'd be rooming with a girl."
Saki thinks for a moment and responds with, "No… I'm sorry. I kind of overreacted, and to be honest, I thought the same thing. I thought you were a girl through our texts."
"So… you forgive me?" Yuji asks.
Saki ponders the situation for a moment and says, "Yeah… I'll give you, but let's try not to make this a reoccurring thing. Okay?"
"Uh, yes ma'am." Yuji replies, slightly shaken by her words, and what would happen if he accidentally walked in on her again.
Saki then fully walks out of her room and down the hall slightly before turning back to Yuji, putting her hands on her hips and saying, "Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, I guess official introductions are in order." She puts a hand on her small chest and says, "My name is Saki Tagushi. Age 16. 1st year at Miyaji Academy High School division."
Yuji bows slightly and introduces himself as, "I'm Yuji Kyouto, also age 16, and first year at Kodokawa High School."
"No way! You're the same age as me?" Saki asks, "I thought you'd be a little older."
Yuji chuckles and replies, "Well, people have always said I look a bit old for my age. Meanwhile, you look pretty young."
"How young did you think I was?" Saki asks him, to which he examines the height difference between him and her, and realizes that the top of her head is up to his nose.
To which he says, "Uh… 14 or 15?"
"Hmm… not that far off." She replies and then extends a hand to him saying, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. Yuji Kyouto. I hope we can become good friends."
"Yeah." Yuji takes her hand and they shake, ready to tackle living together, despite how awkward or uncomfortable it might get. Yuji then rubs his stomach and says, "Okay… I'm hungry. What's for breakfast?"
To which Saki smiles awkwardly and says while scratching her cheek, "Ummmm… well you see…"
Opening Theme – RISE OF SOULS (Battle Spirits Burning Soul Op1)
Turn 2 – Beautiful Mermaids
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?! You don't have any food?!" Yuji exclaims, shocked by Saki's statement.
She sits on the couch, hands in her lap, and replies, "I live day by day with what Card Capital pays me. After rent costs, that's barely enough to afford food. I just live off what I can afford from convenience stores.
"So, what are we going to do?" Yuji asks, growing concerned.
"I'd think it'd be obvious." Saki tells him as she stands up, "We go down to the convenience store and grab something for breakfast."
"Are they even going to have anything? Every time I've went, I've only ever seen lunch and dinner stuff."
Saki smirks and tells him, "You just haven't gone early in the morning. Just trust me."
"Uhh… okay." Yuji replies. The two of them then throw on some shoes and leave the apartment, the morning sun almost blinding Yuji, as they head to the nearest convenience store to pick out their breakfast.
As they arrive at the store, Yuji looks at the sign and says, "You go to 'Lawsons'?"
"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Saki asks him.
"Not really, I just prefer Family Mart." He tells her, and then the two of them head inside the store. There were shelves lined with various products, such as bags of chips, and other kinds of ambient items, others not food, such as clean supplies or hand sanitizer. There was a display case for hot foods, such as croquettes, meat buns, and even hot dogs, near the counter, as well as a shelf for preprepared, microwavable means toward the back, such as pork and beef bowls and even sandwiches. Lastly, there were refrigerated bunkers and cabinets at the very back of the store for cold and frozen items such as drinks, both alcoholic and not, frozen dinners, and even a small selection of produce.
As soon as the two of them set foot into the store, they are greeted by the deep yet charming voice, "Saki!" it exclaims. They look over to the counter where the voice came from, and find a middle-aged man, about in his late 40s, with buzz-cut black hair and a stubby beard that went from ear to ear.
Saki replies to the man with a bow, "Mr. Nobunaga. It's so nice to see you again. How's the kidney?"
The man chuckles and says, "It's quite fine. The surgery was a success. So, who's your friend?"
"This is Yuji, my new roommate." Saki tells him, gesturing toward the green-haired boy, "he moved in with me just last night.
"New roommate huh?" Nobunaga responds with a smirk, "So when's the wedding?"
Both Yuji and Saki step back and blush at this comment, to which Saki replies, "Ah-ha… Never. He's just my roommate. Nothing else."
"Haha, sure." Nobunaga cackles. Yuji and Saki then begin exploring the store looking for something to take home for breakfast.
Saki walks over to the sandwich section and takes down a sandwich that's filled with scrambled eggs. She holds it to Yuji and says, "I usually go for the egg sandwiches for breakfast," before pointing at the meat bowls a few shelves down, "and then I'll get one of those beef bowls for dinner after work."
"What about lunch?" Yuji asks her.
Saki glances away and replies, "I don't usually eat lunch. I'm getting through by the skin of my teeth, so I had to sacrifice lunch every day." She puts a hand on her tummy and adds, "Though I wish I didn't have to. I'm practically dying by the time I get off work."
"Well here." Yuji says as he reaches for another sandwich, this time it's filled with tuna rather than egg, "Why don't you take this to school for lunch? I'll pay for it."
"Are you sure?" Saki asks him, unfamiliar with the kind gesture.
"Yeah. I've still got enough for another sandwich, don't worry." Saki thinks for a moment and agreeing to take the sandwich.
They head back to Nobunaga to check out, buying 3 sandwiches in total, 2 eggs, and 1 tuna for Saki's lunch. "Have a good day kids! Don't forget protection!" Nobunaga tells them as they walk out the door, earning him a scowl from Saki before the automatic doors shut behind them.
They then eat their egg sandwiches on the way back to the apartment while making idle chit-chat, and once they arrive at the apartment, they head into their respective rooms to get changed into their school uniforms, before leaving once again, ready to officially start the day. After they reach the 1st floor of the apartment, Yuji and Saki wave goodbye to each other as they walk their separate ways to their separate schools.
At Miyaji Academy, Saki goes about her day, starting with homeroom and 1st class, then going to the gym, and lastly swimming class, before heading to the roof for lunch. She looks at the tuna sandwich Yuji bought her for a moment before finally sinking her teeth into it. "Mmmmmm." She hums at how tasty it is.
Just then, she hears a voice call out to her, "Saki!" she looks over to see three girls, who are her friends, walking up to her, "What are you doing after school today?" one of them with long brown hair asks.
"We were gonna go to this party someone invited us to." Another with short pink hair asks.
"You wanna come along?" the third, with light blue hair in pigtails, asks.
Saki puts on a weary smile and says, "Sorry, but I've got work tonight."
"Aww that's too bad." The blue-haired girl says, "We were really hoping you'd be able to come."
"Oh yeah!" the girl wink pink hair adds, "We heard you got a new roommate recently. So what are they like?"
Saki looks down at her lunch and says, "Well, I only met him last night, so I don't know much about him yet."
"Him?!" the brown-haired girl exclaims.
"Yeah." Saki nods, "Don't get the wrong idea, I only just met him, but… he seems like a pretty nice guy."
Meanwhile, at Kodokawa High School, Yuji walks down the halls, lumbering like a troll as his stomach growls intensely, "Ugh…" he moans, "Maybe I shouldn't have bought Saki that sandwich.
"YUJI!" he hears a voice call out to him. He looks down the hall to see Stella waving him down.
"Stella…?" he questions as she runs up to him.
Before she can even ask how he's doing, she immediately notices him in pain, "Are you okay? You don't look so good."
"I… I'm fine." Yuji tells her as he stumbles forward, before attempting to collapse, to which Stella catches him in her arms.
"You don't sound fine." She tells him, then she hears his stomach growl.
"I'm just starving…!" he tells her with a bit of a whine in his voice. Stella takes him to the school courtyard where they sit on a bench together and she shares her lunch box with him. Yuji takes a bite of the chicken, and his hunger is immediately curved. "Phew… that hit the spot. Thanks a lot Stella."
"My pleasure." She replies with a big smile on her face, then changes the subject and asks, "So what do you think of your new roommate?"
"Hmm?"
"You're new roommate. The one you moved in with yesterday?"
"Oh, right." Yuji responds, "We um… are getting along."
"What does that mean?" Stella asks.
"Oh, nothing. It's just… we kind of got off on the wrong foot."
"How so?"
Yuji blushes remembering back to the night before when he saw Saki in her underwear, then smacks his face and tells Stella, "It's nothing. We're getting along now and that's all that matters." He gets up from his seat and walks off, saying, "Thanks for lunch." To which Stella just looks at him with a raised eyebrow.
Later, after school, Yuji and Saki reunite at Card Capital, but when they arrive, they notice that there is a line backed up out the door. "What the heck is going on here?" Yuji asks Saki.
"I'm not sure." She answers. They manage to squeeze past the customers, and when they finally get into the shop, they see Taiyou frantically handing a piece of paper to the customers at the counter, some of them getting slightly ticked off at him for taking too long.
"Taiyou!" Saki calls out to him as they walk behind the counter to greet him, to which a big over joyous smile comes over his face.
"Oh thank goodness you two are here. Listen, I really need you guys's help right now!" Taiyou tells him, putting his hands together.
"What's going on?" Yuji asks.
"There's a shop tournament going on today, and there were a lot more people than I expected. I can't do all this by myself. I seriously need your help in getting all of these people organized." He can then hear people complaining in the crowd.
Saki then puts a hand to her chest and says, "Say no more. That's what we're here for."
After clocking in, Yuji and Saki immediately get to work handing out applications to the people for the tournament, able to get through them all very quick. Once they've figured out how many people are participating, Saki brings a large whiteboard out of the backroom and hangs it up on the wall in the back of the shop, and draws a tournament bracket on it, encompassing everyone who's fighting, and soon after, the tournament begins. The three of them supervise the fights, with Taiyou supervising two at a time, and eventually, the fights were finishing very quick, and after a few hours, they finally have a winner. Saki hands the trophy to the winner, and after the celebrations, the entire crowd leaves the shop.
Yuji and Saki then end up flopping down on the couch as Taiyou buys them drinks from the vending machine. "Thanks a lot for your help today, guys."
"No problem." Saki replies as she takes a sip of her melon soda.
"Is it normally that busy on tournament days?" Yuji inquires.
"Well…" Taiyou explains, "it was a bit busier than average today because we had to close the first shop."
"I see." Saki responds, then smiles, "well I'm glad we could help out."
Yuji then remembers something and asks, "Oh by the way, is everything okay about that call you got last night?"
"Yeah," Taiyou responds, "My twins just got a little too rambunctious during dinner, and my daughter ended up stabbing my son through the hand with a fork."
"Oh my gosh! Is he okay?" Saki asks in shock.
"Yeah, he'll be fine. Took him to the hospital last night and got it all sorted out."
"That's good." Yuji says, then remembers, "Oh! Right!" he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the Vangaro key, and hands it to Taiyou, "You wanted me to give this back to you."
"Oh right, thanks." Taiyou says as he takes the key and puts it into his pocket.
"I was wondering why you had that key." Saki tells Yuji.
"You knew?" Taiyou asks them.
"Yep, Yuji's my new roommate."
"Are you serious?!" Taiyou exclaims, "Wow, who would have thought the guy you met last night would end up as your roommate?"
"Yeah… exactly." Saki says glancing away, blushing.
"Well, you two are free to go home if you want. I doubt we're going get too many more customers after that tournament. Besides, I usually close the shop early after a tournament."
"Thanks, but I'm fine. I don't mind staying." Saki tells him.
"Well, if you say so." He replies, then looks toward Yuji, "What about you?" He thinks for a moment, then remembers he still has to unpack all his stuff. Yuji tells Taiyou this to which replies, "Alright then. You're free to go. Saki and I can handle things on our own."
"Thank you." Yuji says with a slight bow, before turning in his apron and grabbing his jacket. He asks Saki for the key to the apartment, which she gives to him, and he tells her, "Thanks. I'll see you tonight."
"See you tonight." She responds as her roommate leaves the store.
Yuji finally returns to the apartment and heads to his room to begin unpacking things from his duffle bag. He puts his clothes, which consists of just a few t-shirts, jackets, and pants, into the closet, as well as putting some of his favorite books into the drawers of his nightstand. These books were manga of mechs, which Yuji found a great interest in. His toiletries were already put in the bathroom this morning as he was getting ready for school. The whole process took him about an hour, and once he was done, he decided to have a short walk around the apartment to get himself familiar with the place. He takes a look around in the kitchen, checking in the fridge and cupboards, and, just as he suspected, there was nothing in sight. "Yeesh, Saki was right. She really doesn't have any food." He then decides to look inside the pantry and is shocked by what he sees. Stacks upon stacks of cup Ramen were the only thing in the pantry, yet nearly completely filled it, ranging in a variety of flavors, from chicken to beef, to pork, even some odd flavors like "fish and soy sauce" and even bacon. "How much cup ramen does one person need?!" Yuji exclaims. The amount of cup ramen in the pantry could feed Saki by herself for a year.
He shuts the pantry and decides to look elsewhere, but the rest of the apartment was pretty empty, aside from a couch in the living room, which he thought was odd. On his way back to his room, he notices Saki's room door was slightly open.
He knows he probably shouldn't, but if he's going to be living with this girl for the next couple of years or so, he better figure out what she's like. He grabs the doorknob, still hesitating, but he swallows his pride and forces his arm to push the door wide open. Upon entering the room, he is immediately greeted by posters on the wall which were from popular anime at the time. Some have epic key art, featuring the heroes in various poses or fighting, while some others feature girls in… suggestive poses. Just then, a sweet smell hits his nostrils. He is unsure why, but the scent is calming to him, and he becomes infatuated with it.
He then quickly realizes what he's doing and smacks himself in the face, "No Yuji! You shouldn't go around smelling a girl's room! That's just creepy!" As he was going to leave the room, he spots something, an entertainment center with a TV on top of it, both of which Saki probably took from the living room. Just next to the TV was a stack of books that looked like manga, but not the same kind of manga that Yuji had. "Does she like manga too?" he asks as he picks up the top-most book and opens to a random page, only be shocked and flustered by the scene. It depicted a girl with pigtails sitting on the floor as she had just fallen, wearing basically nothing, and only a few scraps of fabric cover her lady parts. Yuji flips through the pages, and sees that a majority of them are of a similar ecchi fashion, "Is this what Saki's into?" he asks himself.
Just then, he hears a surprising voice call out to him, "Yuji?!" he looks to the doorway to see Saki standing there with a frightened expression on her face.
"S-Saki?!" he exclaims, "I didn't hear you come in."
"Y-You left the front door wide open," she stutters, and Yuji becomes dumbfounded with himself.
She then looks at the manga in his hands, then at him, then glancing away, with her face turning bright red. Yuji sets the book back down and tells her, "Um… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go snooping."
"I-I-It's okay…" she mutters, holding her hands in front of her, "You were probably going to find out eventually."
"Find out what?" he asks.
"Th-That I like erotic manga." She replies, "I'm a little embarrassed about showing off my… hobby to others. Not even my best friends at school know. So… I fully understand if you hate me now. You're free to move out if you want."
After a few seconds to process what she said, Yuji responds, "Why would I do that?" which surprises her, "I may not like this kind of stuff, but I like manga too."
"You do?"
"Yeah," he replies, "I read a lot of those mecha series, which I think is also a pretty niche genre. So, I don't hate you for it, in fact, I find it admirable you have something that you really enjoy."
"Yuji…" she mutters, "You mean that?"
"Of course, I do." He replies, "I don't know who would actually hate you for it, but I don't."
Saki thinks for a moment, then looks up at him and says, "Th-Thank you… Yuji. All my life, I've been ridiculed for liking this kind of manga, but to find someone who doesn't hate me for it, it makes me really happy. So, thank you. Yuji." She then gives him a very innocent and cheerful smile, which causes Yuji's heart to skip a beat. The way she smiles at him it's so innocent and so charming, he felt like he was going to faint with how cute she looked. "Hey, Yuji…?" she says, breaking from the smile.
Still having it stuck in his mind, he replies, "Um… yes?"
"Can we… have a cardfight?" She asks, "Taiyou says you can learn a lot about a person through a cardfight, so I want to learn more about you Yuji."
"Sure, why not?" Yuji accepts, "I'd love to learn more about you too."
"Okay then!" Saki exclaims. Saki then pulls a playmat out of the drawer beneath her TV and sets it on the floor as she pulls her deck out of her school bag. They then sit on the floor across from each other as they shuffle their decks. After drawing their first hands, they declare in unison, "Now stand up… VANGUARD!"
"Extreme Battler Zashid (G0/5000)!" Yuji declares.
"First Note, Aria (G0/5000)!" Saki declares.
"Bermuda Triangle…?" Yuji asks, seeing the clan Saki uses.
"Yep," Saki responds, "I play this clan, because it symbolizes everything I love about otaku culture." Yuji then nods in response as Saki draws a card from her deck, "Now then, I hope you don't mind me going first."
"Go ahead." Yuji offers.
"Okay, then ride! Glittering Light, Ako (G1/8000)! I use Aria's skill. Look at the top five cards of my deck, and add a Symphony unit to my hand. I also use Ako's skill, to discard a card and draw a card."
"My turn then!" Yuji announces, "Ride! Extreme Battler Banguet (G1/8000)! Using Zashid's skill! Look at the top five cards and add an Extreme Battler to my hand. Attack the Vanguard!" Banguet fires its gun at Saki's mermaid, which hits (Saki: []).
"Ride! Friends with the Fishes, Rimi (G2/10000)! I call Happiness Swimming Sophia (G1/8000) and Tropical Kiss Loa (G2/10000). I use Loa's skill (Soul 2-1)! I superior call Magical Waters Corrin from my hand, add 5000 power and 1 grade (G2-3/10000-15000)."
"You're increasing your unit's grades?" Yuji questions.
"Loa attacks the Vanguard!" Saki declares, making the green-haired mermaid whip Yuji's robot with her tail (Yuji: []). "Rimi now attacks the Vanguard! Using her skill ([X]) Symphony 7!"
"What's Symphony?" Yuji questions.
"Symphony is an ability that can be activated, if the total grade of all of my units is a certain number or higher. I have a two grade 2s, a grade 3, and a grade 1, that's 8 grades in total. Add 5000 power and 1 grade to herself (G2-3/10000-15000) and Corrin (G3-4/15000-20000)!"
"I'll guard that attack (15000+15000)."
"Drive check (Critical). Critical Trigger! I give all effects to Corrin (G3/20000-30000/Crit 1-2)! With Sophia's Symphony 5, add 5000 power to herself (8000-13000). Boosted by Sophia, Corrin attacks the Vanguard (30000-43000)!"
"No guard." (Yuji: [][]). "Ride! Extreme Battler Tempest Fist (G2/10000)! I call Extreme Battler Dosledge (G2/9000) and Extreme Battler Malyaki (G1/7000)! Tempest Fist attacks the Vanguard!"
"I guard (15000)!"
"Drive Check (Draw)! Draw Trigger! Power to Dosledge and draw (9000-19000). Dosledge attacks the Vanguard!" Saki chooses not to guard (Saki: [][]), "Tempest Fist's skill ([X][])! I stand him! Minus 1 drive and add 5000 power (10000-15000/drive 1-0). Malyaki's skill! When a unit stands, add 4000 power (7000-11000)! Malyaki attacks the Vanguard!"
"Corrin intercepts (10000)!"
"Tempest Fist attacks!"
"No guard." (Saki: [][][]).
"I end my turn." Yuji declares, leaning back, "You're pretty good so far."
"Oh, come on, I'm not that good." Saki mutters, not accepting his flattery.
"So far you are."
Saki just gives in and replies, "Sure, I guess…" then draws her card and begins her turn, chanting, "Heir to the Mermaid Kingdom! Let's sing a beautiful song about a happy future! Ride!" On Cray, Rimi's body is shrouded in light, and when it fades away, in her place, is Saki as a mermaid, dressed in a frilly red dress with a red rose headband. She swims around before stopping to strike a pose. "This is my avatar! Bermuda Princess Tsukimi (G3/12000)!"
Yuji stops to imagine Saki as her avatar, picturing that same innocent smile from before, and he can't help but say to himself, "Whoa… she's… so… cute…" as his heart feels like it's about to explode from his chest.
"I call Rimi (G2/10000), and with the skills of both her and Sophia, they become grade 3s while Tsukimi is my Vanguard (G1-3/8000) (G2-3/10000)! I call Glittering Light Ako (G1/8000)! Using her skill, I can put a unit from my drop zone on bottom of my deck, and Ako's grade increases by the grade of that unit until the end of the turn. This is the unit I choose to return." Saki holds up the card, and Yuji is shocked by its grade.
"Grade 10?!" he exclaims.
"With that, Ako becomes a grade 11 (G1-11/8000)!"
Board State
(G3/10000) (G3/12000) (G2/10000)
(G3/13000) (XXXX) (G11/8000)
"Let's go! Tsukimi attacks the Vanguard! Using her skill ([X][][]) (Soul 2-1)! Symphony 20! All units in my front row gain 10000 power (10000-20000) (12000-22000) (10000-20000)!"
"No guard…" Yuji declares hesitantly.
"Okay, Twin Drive (none/Critical). Critical Trigger! I give the power to Loa (20000-30000), and Critical to Tsukimi (22000/Crit 1-2)!" (Yuji: [X][][][]) "Boosted by Ako, Loa attacks the Vanguard (30000-38000)!"
"Complete Guard!"
"Boosted by Sophia, Rimi attacks the Vanguard (20000-33000)!"
"No guard…" (Yuji: [X][][][][])
"I end my turn." Saki states, "You're at five damage."
"I know, but I'm not worried." Yuji says with a confident expression, "Whether I win or lose, I'm glad I got to fight you."
"Awww, thanks Yuji." Saki swoons.
"Okay! Here we partner! Let's show her our fighting spirit! Ride! My ultimate champion!" On Cray, a glimmering star shines in the sky, as a comet-like object begins to hurl toward the ocean. With a loud splash, making huge waves, a giant white robot with blue armor plates lands like a superhero behind Yuji. He swims upward, all the way up to the robot's head, and gets inside the cockpit. The room is black, until Yuji says, "Status Check!" and pushes some buttons to make several green virtual screens appear around him, as he sits in his chair, hands on the handles, "All systems green! Let's do this! My Vanguard!" the robot roars to life, brandishing twin silver blades, as Yuji declares the robot's name, "Exxtreme Battler… RAXIS (G3/12000)!"
Saki stares in awe at the robot, completely lost for words.
"I move Malyaki back and activate Raxis's skill (Soul 3-2)!" On Cray, he pushes some buttons and swipes on a pad before saying, "Calling for Backup! Rest Dosledge and look at the top three cards of my deck. Superior call Extreme Battler Ganbarugun (G1/8000)! I now call Unknown Adamski (G1/8000) and activate his skill ([X][X][][][]), I stand Dosledge and he attacks immediately, and with Dosledge's skill, add 10000 power since he's stood once this turn (9000-19000), and add 4000 power to Malyaki for a unit standing (7000-11000)!"
Saki looks at her hand, and with a stout face, she says, "No guard." (Saki: [X][][][])
"Finally, I call Extreme Battler Banguet (G1/8000), with his skill, stand Dosledge, and with Dosledge's skill, Soul Charge (Soul 2-3), and once again, add 4000 to Malyaki (11000-15000)!"
Board State
(G1/8000) (G3/12000) (G2/19000)
(G1/15000) (G1/8000) (G1/8000)
"Let's do it! Dosledge attacks the Vanguard!"
"I'll guard (10000)!" Saki exclaims.
"Boosted by Unknown Adamski, Raxis attacks the Vanguard (12000-20000)! With Raxis's skill ([X][X][X][][]), I stand Dosledge, and since he's stood 3 or more times, add 10000 power, and you can't guard his next attack with sentinels (19000-29000)! Also add another 4000 power to Malyaki (15000-19000)."
Saki thinks for a moment, looking at her hand, and declares, "No guard…"
"Twin Drive (none/none). Huh… looks like I got nothing." Yuji says, making Saki breathe a sigh of relief. Raxis slashes through Tsukimi, causing her to float through the water screaming.
Saki reaches for the top card of her deck declaring, "Damage Check (Heal)." Her jaw then drops from the pull, "Heal Trigger!" she smiles with joy as she removes a card from her damage zone, keeping her at four damage. (Saki: [][][][]) Yuji's eyebrow twitches, thinking it's a little unfair that he didn't pull any triggers, but Saki did. "I also add 10000 power to my Vanguard (12000-22000).
"Dosledge attacks!"
"Guard (10000)!"
"Boosted by Malyaki, Ganbarugun attacks (8000-27000)! Ganbarugun's skill (Soul 3-2), stand Dosledge and add 5000 power to Ganbarugun (27000-32000)!"
"I guard (15000)!"
"Boosted by Banguet, Dosledge attacks one more time, this time, I attack Loa!"
"No guard." Saki states as Loa is retired.
"I end my turn."
Saki then wipes her forehead, relieved she managed to survive that onslaught of attacks, but now she has no cards in hand. Despite that, she begins her turn anyway. "Stand and draw." She smiles as she looks at Yuji with a pair of determined eyes. "'Time I show you what I'm really made of!"
Yuji smirks back at her and responds with, "Bring it!"
"I retire Rimi and Ako, as the sum of their grades is 4!" Saki holds her hands close to her chest as she chants, "I won't run away anymore! I'll show you my true self! My true pride! I activate Tsukimi's Soul Drive!" On Cray, the entire ocean goes dark as Tsukimi strikes an idol pose and stage lights appear out of nowhere, shining down on her. She points at Yuji's robot with a winking face as flower petals begin to swirl around them like a tornado in the water. "Add 3000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive (G3-4/12000-15000/drive 2-3)! I activate Tsukimi's skill ([X][][][])! I look at the top five cards of my deck. Superior call Tropical Kiss Loa and double her current grade (G2-4/10000)! Using Loa's skill (Soul 1-0)! I Superior call Rose Princess Phalaina, add 5000 power and 1 grade (G3-4/12000-17000)! Phalaina's Symphony 10 ([X][][][])! I choose two units in my drop zone. I put one of the bottom of my deck, and call the other one. I send Loa to the deck, and call Rimi from the drop zone and add 1 grade (G2-3-4/10000)!"
"Calling from the drop zone?!" Yuji exclaims, "I thought only Granblue could do that."
"Don't underestimate the power of Bermuda Triangle." Saki tells him, "Next I use Rimi's skill ([X][X][][])! Add 5000 power and 1 grade to Tsukimi and herself (G4-5/15000-20000) (G4-5/10000-15000)!"
Board State
(G5/15000) (G5/20000) (G4/10000)
(G3/13000) (XXXX) (G4/17000)
"Thanks to Loa's Symphony 15, all of my units whose grades are different from their original grades get boost!"
"Ehhh?!" Yuji exclaims.
"Boosted by Phalaina, Loa attacks the Vanguard (10000-27000)!"
Yuji looks at his hand and declares, "Guard (10000+10000=20000)!"
"Tsukimi attacks the Vanguard!"
Yuji, unsure of the situation, grits his teeth and declares, "Guard (10000)!" taking a chance. If Saki gets 1 trigger, it's over.
Saki declares, "Triple Drive! First check (none)." Yuji sighs, but knows it's not over yet, "Second check (none)." Yuji crosses his fingers under the table, anxious about the next card, "Third check (Draw). Draw trigger!" Yuji's heart sinks at the outcome, "Add 10000 power to Tsukimi and draw a card (20000-30000)!" Tsukimi breaks through the card and smacks Raxis, making Yuji flinch in the cockpit.
"Damage check." Yuji nervously reaches for his deck and flips over the top card, revealing… (Heal). Both he and Saki are surprised by the pull. "Heal Trigger! I heal one damage and add 10000 power to Raxis (12000-22000) (Yuji: [X][X][][][])!"
"Boosted by Sophia, Rimi attacks (20000-33000)!"
"Guard and Intercept with Dosledge (10000+5000=15000)!"
Saki then pouts at him and says, "That was kind of unfair… pulling a heal at the last minute."
"Hey, you did the same on my turn." Yuji retaliates, and Saki giggles back.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
The two of them then share a laugh together, laughing at each other's antics in this fight, as well as talk about their fighting styles, until Yuji chimes in asking, "Now, what do you say we end this?"
Saki assumes a fighting stance and says, "Bring it!"
"Okay!" Yuji exclaims, "I activate Raxis's Soul Drive!" wings made of pure light then sprout out of Raxis's back as his twin swords become engulfed by pure light energy. "Let's GOOOOOO!" Yuji screams, gesturing Raxis to fly straight at Tsukimi.
"I won't lose! HAAAAAAA!" Saki also screams, gesturing Tsukimi to swim forward, ready to take the attack head-on. The two then clash as the entire field fades to white…
Later, Yuji lies on his bed in his room, dressed in black shorts and a white t-shirt, reading one of his mecha manga. The time on his bedside clock reads 9pm when he hears a knock at the door. "Yuji? Can I come in?" he hears Saki's voice from the other side.
"Sure." He responds. Saki then enters the room, wearing her nightly attire of a pink t-shirt and some dark blue shorts.
She is carrying two cups of ramen that she had just prepared as well as a pair of chopsticks for each. She hands him one of the cups and says "I thought I'd bring you some dinner." She says, "It's not much, but it's all I've got. I hope you like it."
"Oh, thanks." He says, putting his book down, sitting up, then taking the cup from her, "What flavor is it?"
"It's pork." She responds, "I didn't know which you liked best, so I hope you like it."
"Actually, I love pork ramen." He tells her, after giving thanks and slurping up some of the noodles.
Saki smiles at him and says, "That's good. I was a bit a worried you wouldn't like it." She then sits on the bed next to him and tells him, "You know, it's funny. I actually don't even really like ramen."
Yuji takes another slurp and questions, "You don't?" his mouth still full of noodles.
"No, I'm actually more of a soba person."
Yuji swallows the noodles and responds, "That's fine too, I like all kinds of noodles. I'm not that picky."
Saki then looks at him and says, "Th-That's not to say I don't like ramen period. It's just not my first choice."
"If you say so." Yuji says, continuing to slurp his noodles.
Saki then unconsciously scoots closer to him and compliments him saying, "You're such a strong fighter Yuji. Where did you learn to play?"
Yuji finishes his noodles and says, "I actually haven't been able to play much until I moved out here. Where I grew up, Vanguard hadn't been popularized. I only learn to play because of some kids, at the time, that were staying at my family's inn for a school trip. They taught me how to play, and I was hooked ever since."
"I see…" Saki replies, "You did say you moved from the country side, but it's really amazing how far you've come, given how little you've played." She looks at her cup, which she hasn't touched yet, and says, "I've been playing Vanguard my whole life, and yet you managed to beat me."
Yuji sets his cup down on his nightstand and says, "Well I sometimes play against myself, and that's how I learned to develop strategies and fine tune my deck. I used whatever allowance I got to go to the 1 card shop in my entire home town, to buy new cards for my deck." He then looks at Saki, who looks at him, "However, I've still got a long way to go, and maybe, just maybe, I can find a true passion for card fighting in the city. I want to get stronger and experience more cardfighting. I want to see what the rest of the world has to offer me. I want to see the true limits of Vanguard. That is my desire in life."
"Yuji…" Saki mutters, scooting a little closer to him, "Well, we are roommates now. So… I'll be by your side. We'll see the limits of Vanguard together!"
she then gives him another one of her cute and innocent smiles, making his heart skip a beat, but quickly regains his composer and responds, "Yeah." And so officially began Yuji's new life and his journey into the limitless possibilities of Vanguard.
Ending Theme – Ne ba gi bi la! ~ Never Give It Up (by Psychic Lover)
[Next Time]
Yuji learns about a competition being held between his school's Vanguard club, and the Vanguard club of Fukuhara High school. Some members of the Fukuhara Vanguard Club come to Yuji's school in preparation for the competition, including the club's leader, Yusuke Katsunori. After an unfortunate mishap, Yusuke demands Yuji for a cardfight. Next time on Vanguard Exodus – "Demons in White" Don't miss it!