NOTE: There was a lot of debate in my mind for a certain part of this chapter, but I think I have things figured out now.

Chapter 7: Regrouping

Four days…

It's been four days since Emi went into a coma and Ibuki disappeared off the face of the planet. Emi had been transmitted into a nearby hospital. Things haven't been easy at all, especially when Tetsu called Shizuka Sendou, explaining to her that her youngest child was in the hospital. When the grief stricken mother arrived at the hospital she began crying about losing her child and cursed up a storm at Tetsu. He had already been blaming himself for the incident and has been trying to track down Ibuki since then.

Misaki unwillingly went back to Card Capital, since her uncle required her to be there for some guest who was arriving this week. Before leaving Misaki left Rekka her phone number to call if Emi woke up at any point.

Rekka hasn't left Emi's side since being admitted to the hospital, afraid that Emi could suddenly disappear at any moment. The young idol gripped Emi's hand tightly and started praying. She was never one for religion, but at this point she would rely on anything to help her best friend.

"Please, wake up Emi," Rekka whispered.

KNOCK KNOCK

Her eyes shifted to the door and saw Asaka standing there with two trays of food in her hands. "Come on, you need to eat," Asaka sat the food down on the small table in the room. Reluctantly letting go of Emi's hand, Rekka went over to the plate and started eating. "Yuck! Hospital food sucks!" Rekka complained, biting into the mush on her plate.

"Stop complaining! We're not allowed to bring in our own food," Asaka snapped, biting into her own meal, before gagging at the taste. "See! It is bad!" Rekka's laughter didn't go far before Asaka smacked her in the head.

"Shut it!"

"Meanie! Why are you even here!?" Rekka pouted.

"Someone needs to keep an eye on you. Speaking of which, where's Mrs. Sendou?" Asaka asked the idol.

Rekka's face turns into sadness. "She's outside at the moment. At random times she just goes out there and stares into the sky for hours. So, it's usually just me in here with Emi." Rekka looks back at her comatose friend and clenches her fist in anger. "If I ever see Ibuki Kouji again, I'll make sure he suffers!" Rekka's tone is filled with venom as she thinks back to Ibuki.

Asaka didn't like the look on Rekka's face, knowing that the anger didn't fit the young girl's beautiful features. "Let's...talk."

Foregoing her own thoughts Rekka looks back at Asaka. "Talk? Talk about what?"

"Anything. How about Kourin? How has she been?" Asaka figured it would be fine to ask about. To her shock however the blonde's name only brought a look of apprehension onto Rekka's face.

"How about we talk about something else? Like, there's rumors of a National Tournament floating around online. I'm sure you're much more interested in hearing abou-"

"Don't avoid the subject."

Rekka's face darkened immediately, her feet shuffling on the floor as her eyes were covered by her bangs. The only sound in the room being Emi's heart monitor beeping continuously. "There's nothing to talk about, concerning her. Kourin's doing fine, not let's talk about something else."

She was lying, Asaka was well aware. The blue beauty was even tempted to drop the subject, but her mind flashed back to her conversation with Misaki.

"I'm not sure if I love someone as strongly as you do. I know that Kourin loves Aichi to her very core and is suffering greatly."

"Why aren't you helping Kourin?" Asaka asked.

"She doesn't want my help. She doesn't want anyone's help...all she cares about is Aichi," Rekka mumbled the last part of that sentence. Though, not quietly enough for Asaka to not hear.

"All I care about is Ren," Asaka admits, without hesitation.

"Huh?"

"I mean I do care about Tetsu and my family, but my love for Ren outweighs almost everything else. When he died I pretty much shut out Tetsu, my parents, and the world. The only thing that concerned me were my feelings for Ren. Even now all I want is to hug him tightly and never let go," Asaka explains to the young idol.

Rekka stares blankly at Asaka. "Is there a point to this?"

"What I'm trying to tell you is that I know where Kourin is coming from, and that the mental state she's currently in is unhealthy for her. Allowing yourself to only focus on the loss and not what's still left is the worst possible scenario. Especially if it ends up hurting those you love. You have to help her, Rekka." Asaka hugs Rekka closely. The young idol hugs her back, gripping Asaka's blue dress.

"I-I don't know how to help her...every time I tried she kept shutting me out, until she finally had enough a-a-an-an…" Rekka didn't finish the sentence, but it was enough for Asaka to understand.

"Then don't do it alone," Asaka told her, brushing the girl's back.

"What?"

"You, Emi, and Misaki together can save her."

"But...Emi's…"

"Do you really not believe that she'll wake up?" Asaka stared into Rekka's eyes with curiosity. Rekka widened her eyes at that and slapped herself in the face. How could she even think like that for even a second. Of course, Emi will wake up! She has too!

"You're right, Emi will wake up and when she does we'll go save Kourin," A hopeful smile graced Rekka's lips. She looked out the window to see the sun starting to peek through the cloudy sky.

"I won't run away anymore. I'm going to save you Kourin, I promise!"

A small van pulled up in front of Card Capital. The sliding door opened up and a young boy stepped out of the van. An older man also got out of the truck and walked towards the trunk to grab the boy's luggage. The boy's red crimson spiral hair blew in the soft breeze as he looked unsure at the building in front of him.

"Are you sure this is the place I'm supposed to live at now?" The boy asked the grown man. The gruff man placed the luggage right next to the boy and hopped back into the van.

"Yup! The directions and address your aunt left led directly to this place. Anyway good luck with your life, Chrono." With that the driver pulled off into the busy streets, leaving Chrono to stand outside.

Chrono Shindou sighed in exasperation, grabbed his luggage, and walked through the doors of Card Capital. As she stepped through the threshold of the shop he noticed how plain and empty it looked compared to what he had expected prior.

"What is this pla-"

"You must be Chrono."

Chrono jumped in surprise at the sudden voice that interrupted his thoughts. Turning to his left he saw a lavender haired teenage girl sitting behind the counter with a book in her hands. Clutching his chest to slow his heartbeat. "W-who are you?"

"I'm Misaki Tokura, Shin's niece. It's nice to meet you again, Chrono." Misaki stood up and walked over to the boy. Chrono's face showed confusion at Misaki's statement.

"Um, I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've ever met," Chrono told her. Misaki smiled softly at him and shook her head.

"We met when you were pretty young at the time. So, it's understandable that you wouldn't remember me or Shin," Misaki explains to him as she leads Chrono upstairs to their home.

"Speaking of him, where is he?" Chrono asked as he pulled his suitcase up the stairs.

"He's been taking care of some business for the past couple of days. I don't know what it could possibly be, but he should be back soon," Misaki thought back to Shin rushing out of the store as soon as she returned from the Hospital.

The two walked into the apartment and Chrono couldn't believe how small the place was. "Woah, it's smaller than my old home."

"Well it is designed for two people," Misaki laughed a bit.

"Ah..s-sorry for imposing on you guys!" Chrono stammered, feeling bad for his comment. Misaki waved off his apology playfully.

"It's ok, Chrono. You're not imposing on anyone, you were adopted by Shin. You have as much of a right to live here as us," Misaki patted his shoulder.

After setting Chrono's belongings into his room they sat in the dining area, since Chrono admitted to being hungry. As Misaki cooked some lunch, Chrono decided to break the awkward tension that sat around them. "Soooo...what is that shop about?"

She turns her head to give Chrono her attention. "The shop? It's a card shop for Vanguard."

"What's Vanguard?"

Misaki paused as she blinked surprisingly at Chrono. Her staring made the boy shift nervously in his seat, thinking he may have said the wrong thing. "Is that bad? Sorry if I upset you or anything!"

"N-no no there's nothing wrong with it, Chrono. It's just that the game is very popular all over the world, so it's a bit surprising to hear of someone who doesn't know what it is." Misaki chuckled, nervously. Silently berating herself for making Chrono feel bad again.

"Hm, Mikuru never mentioned Vanguard to me. What does the game look like?" Chrono asked.

"The cards look like this," Taking out her deck, Misaki placed her cards on the table in front of Chrono. His eyes widened in shock at the design of Misaki's cards.

"Wait! These are the-" He didn't finish the sentence before bolting off towards his room, much to Misaki's utter bafflement. He came back seconds later with a deck of cards in his hand and placed it onto the table.

"So this is where these cards came from!"

"C-Chrono? What's wrong and where did you get this deck from if you didn't know about Vanguard?" Misaki questioned him. He looked into her eyes with his own bafflement .

"I-I don't know! When Mikuru disappeared there was a bright light that appeared seconds afterwards. After the light died down this deck was sitting in front of me and I could hear some voice call out to me." Chrono explained in a hurry.

Misaki listened to his words and looked back down at the deck. She picked it up and her face turned into one of amazement. "Gear Chronicle? I've never seen or heard of this clan before. Chrono said it appeared out of a bright light, could Cray have something to do with this? And if so, why did they choose Chrono?"

"Do you know anything about it?" Chrono asked, seeing Misaki deep in thought. The lavender teen came out of her thoughts and looked down at him. "No, I don't. I've never seen or heard about this clan before, sorry, Chrono." Misaki apologized.

"It's fine. I tried getting rid of it, but it kept coming back to me no matter where I left it," Chrono explained with a tired sigh. Misaki pondered a thought, before deciding to take matters into her own hands.

"Chrono."

"Yeah?" He noticed that she placed the deck back into his hands.

"After we're done eating, I'm going to teach you how to play Vanguard. If this deck keeps appearing around you, then that means you're important Chrono," Misaki explained. Chrono nodded his head at her words. Deciding that it couldn't hurt to learn what this game was.

Misaki couldn't help, but think that this was eerily similar to Emi's story of getting her Royal Paladin deck. A deck appearing out of nowhere means that Chrono will have to fight opponents who are strong enough to bring ruin and he doesn't know anything about Vanguard. Misaki hoped that she could prepare Chrono for whatever fate lies in store for him.

"Emi's hospitalized and Chrono might be taking her place...why is all of this happening so soon and so fast. Where are you when we need you, Kai?"

On an island that floats near Hong Kong a young man with blonde hair sits shirtless in a meditative position. His breathing matches the cool breeze that sweeps past his body. Slowly he opens his eyes as another young man with spiky brown hair stands across from him.

"Hmph, so you've decided to grace me with your presence, Toshiki Kai."

"It's said that answers between fighters can be communicated thoroughly through Cardfights, Leon Soryu."

Both fighters walk over to a table sitting outside of the Soryu home. As they placed down their decks, Leon noticed something about Kai. However, he pushed the thought back and focused on the Cardfighter in front of him.

"STAND UP!"

"THE!"

"VANGUARD!"

Chapter End

NOTE: Chrono is 11 years old here and he will not get Psyqualia, since he never had it in G. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to give Chrono Gear Chronicle at this moment, but I figured a way for it to fit. And Kai finally makes his reappearance along with Leon, so enjoy what these two have in store next.