"So, what do you think?" Aster asked Alexis as he watched her gaze around the small, yet somewhat exclusive restaurant that he had brought her to for their first date.
"It's like a sports' bar for duelists…" Alexis trailed off in amazement.
Not long after breakfast, Aster and Alexis had left the penthouse for their date. The small restaurant was set back behind a lake of sorts that connected to the bay area of Domino City, making it harder for people to get to it on foot unless they were willing to take a little walk. It was an ideal place for a date if you were trying to avoid too much of the public eye like they were. The restaurant itself was a modest establishment with the usual tables, booths, and a small bar. However, the real attraction of it was the various large flat screen televisions on the walls. All of them were set to play coverage of dueling matches in all levels of the professional dueling circuit. There was also a connecting shop selling Duel Monsters' cards and products, as well as lots of official Pro League memorabilia. In short, it was a paradise for duelists and dueling fans alike.
"Yeah, that about sums it up. I thought you might like this with how much you like dueling, and it's also good research for our project. And the best part is that since this place is a little out of the way, not too many people besides Pro League watcher junkies come here. So, we probably don't need to worry about getting a spot on the six o' clock news just yet." Aster explained casually.
"You couldn't have picked a better place for a first date if you had tried to. But it's not like I expected anything less from you, Aster." Alexis said with a smile.
"That's good to hear. After all, I am always aiming to do whatever pleases my lady." Aster said in a tone that combined just the right amounts of charm and flirtatiousness.
"Well, you are succeeding so far." Alexis said slyly. She was all too aware of exactly everything that Aster was referring to.
Xxx
Once they had ordered their lunch, Aster and Alexis watched the match that was being aired on the screen closest to their booth. As if by coincidence, it was Zane himself who was dueling now. Normally, Alexis never liked to watch Zane's matches ever since he had adopted his new ruthless style of dueling that came with his recent transformation into "Hell Kaiser". Whenever it had been announced on TV that a duel with him would be airing next, Alexis had always either changed the channel or shut her TV off entirely. Seeing Zane changed so radically from the kind and respectful boy who had been like a second big brother to her during her first year at Duel Academy was painful for Alexis. But now here, trapped at the restaurant table while they had their lunch, there was no escaping it.
"Why don't you hurry up and play another shitty monster so that I can end this sorry excuse for a duel already!? I don't have all day!" Zane taunted his opponent with a malicious edge to his voice.
Alexis frowned in sadness and disapproval at Zane's words. While Aster liked throwing out smart-alecky insults during his matches to affect his opponents' psyche, he at least added a sense of humor to it. But Zane was just downright mean.
"I-I- play one monster facedown and end my turn." Zane's opponent stuttered nervously. To his credit, he wasn't surrendering despite his fear. Zane was well known for abusing the duel disk's technology to the point of causing actual physical injuries to his opponents. It wasn't uncommon for the loser in his duels to have to be taken away to the hospital for treatment after losing to Zane. None of the injuries were serious, but it didn't exactly give Zane a good reputation among duelists either. Some of them even ended up forfeiting their duels with Zane beforehand once they found out that they had been matched up with him.
"That's it? What a disappointment. You've been cowering behind your monsters throughout this whole duel. A true weakling through and through. Not that it would have mattered if you had tried to end this differently since you would have lost either way with your pathetic lack of skills. I only respect victory! Now, attack, Chimeratech Overdragon!" Zane said as he commanded his monster to make its first attack.
"Twice in a row! Three times! Four times! Five times!" Zane yelled repeatedly as he continued to use his monster's effect to mercilessly blow up each one of his opponent's monsters on the field. The force of the attacks caused shockwaves to blast around the monsters, almost making Zane's opponent lose his footing. Alexis watched with growing dread, knowing full well what was coming next. Even Aster-who had been watching silently the whole time-looked a bit uncomfortable with Zane's ruthlessness.
"Time to finish this loser! Cyberdark Dragon, attack him directly!" Zane roared.
"No, wait! I-AAAGHH!" Zane's opponent screamed in pain as he took the full force of Cyberdark's attack head-on. Zane laughed cruelly as he watched his opponent fall unconscious to the arena floor.
"AND WE HAVE A WINNER, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HELL KAISER HAS DONE IT ONCE AGAIN WITH ANOTHER INCREDIBLE, CRUSHING VICTORY! IS THERE NO ONE LEFT WHO CAN STEAL VICTORY FROM HIM!? UNTIL NEXT TIME, FOLKS!" The announcer yelled excitedly as Zane's obsessed fans cheered like crazy in the background.
Alexis felt slightly sick as she watched Zane relish in his victory, standing tall and proud with his arm raised up to the air with a twisted smile on his face as he gazed around the arena. He didn't even spare a glance at his opponent as the medics carried him away on a stretcher. Her only consolation was that since Zane's match had already ended for the day, it meant that there was no chance of Aster being matched up with him for his duel tonight. After what she had just witnessed, Alexis feared for Aster's own safety if he ever had to duel Zane again.
Not much longer afterwards, the scene on TV switched to another area of the Kaiba Dome. A reporter was interviewing Zane.
"We're here live at the Kaiba Dome after another breathtaking duel! And with us is the victor himself, Mr. Zane Truesdale! Tell us Zane, how do you feel about your latest win!?" The reporter asked eagerly as she practically shoved a microphone in Zane's face.
"Bored as hell. It was just another loser who barely even attempted to put up a good fight. It's the same thing every day here. I've pretty much lost hope when it comes to finding an opponent who can pose a challenge for me. It's been ages since I've had a duel that got me excited…" Zane said dully.
"Oh, really? But from what I've heard, the duelist who caused your first true defeat in the Pro Leagues-Aster Phoenix-still has quite an impressive winning record in the league. Don't you think that he could at least prove to be worthy challenger for you?" The reporter asked casually. Aster raised his eyebrows slightly in interest at the mention of his name.
"Aster? Heh. He's barely even here anymore. Obviously, he believes he has more important things to do nowadays instead of actually working on his dueling career anymore. Frankly, I'm disappointed in him. That's the only loss left that I still need to avenge." Zane complained.
Alexis couldn't help blushing a little at Zane's remark. One of the big reasons as to why Aster didn't duel nearly as much as he used to was because of his relationship with her.
"But haven't you heard about Mr. Phoenix's victory from last night? And he's also scheduled for another duel tonight as well. It appears that he is at least trying to get back to his weekend schedule for dueling." The reporter persisted.
"Maybe. But it doesn't matter either way. Aster won't be able to defeat me again. Nobody will!" Zane insisted.
"Yeah! Aster sucks! We want Hell Kaiser for the new world champion!" A fan yelled excitedly in the background. More started yelling and cheering in agreement. Alexis glared angrily at the screen and muttered something under her breath due to the insult to Aster. But Aster simply chuckled good-naturedly at the comment. He was obviously used to hearing this kind of talk in the league.
"All in good time." Zane said calmly with a knowing smile on his face. He seemed to be enjoying the attention he was receiving.
"So, are you saying that you aim to take the title of champion for yourself eventually, Mr. Truesdale!?" The reporter pressed.
"I will keep dueling and winning until I stand above all duelists in this world! The champion is no exception. My thirst for victory won't be quenched until then! Because make no mistake, I am the best duelist there is and I will prove that to the world!" Zane vowed determinedly. The crowd around them erupted into cheers and chants of, "KAIS-ER! KAIS-ER!".
"Well, if anyone can achieve such an ambitious goal under the stiff competition that inhabits professional dueling circuit these days, it is you, Mr. Truesdale. Now, is there anything else you would like to say before we wrap up this interview?" The reporter said.
"Yeah. You can fuck off now. I have other things to do." Zane said dismissively. He then walked off without another word.
"Well… There you have it, folks! That was our interview with the Kaiser himself, Mr. Zane Truesdale! Always quite the character, that one. And now, a word from our sponsors before we get ready for the next rollercoaster ride of a duel that I'm sure we'll have! This is Rika, reporting live from the Kaiba Dome in Domino City! Until next time!" The reporter finished. The footage then cut to a commercial break.
"I still can't believe how much he's changed. The Zane I knew would never treat his opponents like that. He's just so…cold." Alexis said miserably.
"Trying to stay competitive in the Pro Leagues is a challenge for a great number of duelists. The pressure to win so many times to advance, knowing that your career is always on the edge of a knife between so many victories and defeats… A lot of people end up dropping out when the pressure affects their physical and mental health too much. And even the ones who do well usually have their stress level increase ten-fold. Insomnia, anxiety, depression, drug and alcohol abuse… You see it all here. A fair number of duelists end up needing therapy and even medication just to cope with it all. And when they fall out of the Pros, they almost never come back. To do what Zane has done after how many losses he had is almost unheard of. He found his own resolve to bring himself back up again not just to a regular Pro League record, but as one of the highest-ranking duelists in the whole league right now. It is impressive, but the price he paid to achieve his success may have been too high, I'm afraid…" Aster explained somberly.
"Yeah… I guess I didn't think too much about it like that before. You make it all look too easy." Alexis said.
"I'm not a good model for you to base on how life in the Pro Leagues normally goes. Of course, I worry a little about the possibility of losing and am always trying to do what I can to prepare for my duels in advance. But on a whole, let's just say that I'm what you would call an exception to the rule here. But there will certainly be no exceptions for Zane if he ever duels me again. No matter what he brags to the crowd, he can't defeat me, plain and simple. He's free to dream, though." Aster explained nonchalantly.
"It's definitely something for me to think about if I ever consider a career in the league. But putting that aside, I don't think that you should underestimate Zane, Aster. He's gotten a lot better since your duel with him. Win or lose, I hope you never have to duel him at all. I don't want you to risk getting hurt…" Alexis said worriedly.
"You don't need to worry about me, Alexis. I'm tougher than I look. Zane's already forgotten what he was fighting for, and more than anything else, that is why he would lose against me. And he's even crazier for believing that he can defeat the world champion." Aster scoffed.
"And why is that?" Alexis asked carefully.
"Because even I can't defeat him. And I doubt that anyone else can either." Aster answered.
"You? But how did you even duel him to begin with? There's no record of it in your Pro League dueling history." Alexis said in confusion.
"Of course, there isn't. That's because those were private, non-competitive duels between us." Aster said.
"But…how?" Alexis asked, struggling to understand.
"Hm, looks like this is something I left out during our little "getting to know each other" time we had for those two weeks before we started dating. Although I'm kind of surprised that you didn't know about it already since its certainly not knowledge about me that was kept from the public. Anyway, the world champion, Kyle Jables, or as he is commonly known in the ring, "The D", also happens to be my legal guardian. He adopted me not long after my father was killed." Aster said.
"Wait… WHAT!?" Alexis asked in surprise. Looking at it now though, she couldn't see how she had never considered this detail before. Of course, Aster had to have been taken in by someone after his father's death. But for some reason, she had just never thought about it before. Maybe it was because she was used to seeing Aster being so independent with living by himself on his yacht and being a successful pro duelist. Or maybe she had assumed that that had been a role that Sartorius and Sarina had officially taken over some time ago with how close they had used to be to Aster.
"It's true. And believe me when I say that he is not someone that you would want to go up against in a duel. I've dueled him and seen enough of his matches in the league to understand just how he is undefeatable. It's not just how he uses his cards. At the start of every duel with him, he will begin his turn in the exact same way: doing absolutely nothing. No monsters, no facedown cards, nothing. You would think that that would put him at a huge disadvantage, but it is actually quite the opposite. He always manages to come back and win duels faster than you would think. And no one has ever managed to defeat him in one turn before he starts putting cards on the field either. Some people even go so far as to say that he must have made a pact with a demon to acquire such luck to avoid any chance of a one-turn kill." Aster explained, his voice conveying a sense of both awe and pride at the same time.
"That sounds…impossible." Alexis said honestly. As much as tried to, she just couldn't picture it in her mind. Didn't all duelists always have to try their hardest on each of their turns if they wanted to win? Was this some kind of intimidation tactic, or was the D really just that confident in himself?
"Not for him, I'm afraid." Aster said.
"So, I guess this makes him your adoptive father. Why wasn't he at the house? Does he know that we're staying there for the weekend?" Alexis asked curiously.
"He's off on tour for the league. So, no. He doesn't know I'm staying in town or about you yet." Aster said.
"Shouldn't you tell him?" Alexis asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the arrangement now that she knew the truth.
"Why should I? He's busy enough right now at this time of the Pro League season. And besides, I don't need his permission to bring guests there. The house is mine. I put the money down for it and rent it under my own name, not anyone else's." Aster clarified.
"What? But you just said that the D was your legal guardian! Shouldn't you be living with him?" Alexis asked in confusion.
"He is. But that doesn't mean that I have to live with him anymore. Once I started in the league, I was travelling around the world enough as it was, and so was he. Between our schedules, we didn't have as much time to see each other anymore, so we both ended up deciding that it was for the best. I moved out a couple years ago and got the penthouse to start living in whenever I dueled in town not long after I turned fourteen." Aster explained casually, as if it was a completely normal thing for a fourteen-year-old to do.
"But does he still come to visit you?" Alexis pressed.
"Every once in a while, when we can make the time, yes." Aster answered.
"And just how often is that?" Alexis asked skeptically.
"A few times a year or so. It depends on things like when and where we'll both be dueling." Aster said, trying to sound casual.
"That doesn't sound like very much. He should be taking more time off to see you." Alexis said bluntly. Her words must have touched a nerve, because she noticed Aster stiffen slightly.
"Look, he's busy enough as it is, so there isn't always time for him to do everything he would like to. That's just how it is, and I respect that. It's not like we don't still talk to each other a lot. And besides, I'm old enough to look after myself now." Aster said defensively. He almost sounded as if he was trying to convince himself of his own words instead of Alexis. As it was, he was already stretching the truth quite a bit when it came to how often he even just talked to the D.
Too busy for his own son!? Alexis thought to herself in frustration. While it was true that she had never met Aster's adoptive father herself, she still couldn't help disliking him already just from what Aster had told her. But Aster seemed determined to defend this so-called parent of his no matter what, so Alexis decided to just let the subject drop for now.
Xxx
After they were finished with lunch, Aster took Alexis next door to the adjoining card shop of the establishment so that they could browse around and possibly buy something if they wanted to.
"Wow. They really have everything here, don't they? I don't even know where to start…" Alexis trailed off as she looked at the shelves of different card packs on display.
"Well, since we need to pick out a set number of different decks to test out for our assignment, why not try picking out a theme for something new that you'd like to try out if you really want to buy new cards. I have plenty that we could use, but this way, you could find something that you might want to keep just for fun even. How about it?" Aster suggested.
"Well… I have been wanting to try out something new lately." Alexis admitted.
"What did you have in mind?" Aster asked curiously.
"The other day, I was thinking about the day when you first came to Duel Academy. I guess that was technically the first time we saw each other. I remember your deck from back then. You seemed to have made a pretty good fairy deck with Archlord Zerato. So, I want to try putting together a deck like that." Alexis admitted.
"Oh, you mean my test deck. Ah, yes. I remember that day. Now I feel even worse that I listened to Sartorius and threw that duel. I could have used that opportunity to impress you with a win and started getting to know you sooner if I had known where we had ended up now." Aster said amusedly.
"Don't flatter yourself. It would have taken more than a good duel to get me interested if you had tried for me back then." Alexis said somewhat exasperatedly.
"Yes, I guess that's true. After all, we both know what really impressed you when we first met." Aster teased Alexis with a devious smile. She couldn't help smiling and blushing at Aster's reminder.
"You're incorrigible." Alexis said wearily with a shake of her head.
"It makes things more entertaining. But why don't we get your new deck now? And don't worry, I'm buying, so feel free to go all out and get whatever you think you need." Aster said.
"You don't have to-" Alexis started to say before Aster cut her off.
"But I want to. This is a date, our first date. And I want everything to be perfect for you, Alexis. Besides, this stuff costs an arm and a leg, so you'll be able to get everything you need a lot easier if I'm paying." Aster insisted.
Alexis sighed, but at the same time, couldn't help smiling at Aster's words. "Alright. You win again. But I do appreciate it all the same." She said.
Xxx
Not long after they were finished shopping at the card shop, Alexis and Aster were walking back to where their ride was parked, finished with their date for the today.
"So, how did I do? Did you enjoy our first date together?" Aster asked casually, yet at the same time, genuinely curious.
"It was wonderful. You couldn't have made a better first date for us even if you had tried to. Today was really special, Aster. Thank you…" Alexis said softly.
"Good. I'm glad that you feel the same way as me. And I have plenty other ideas for more. I want us to see and do lots of new things together from now on, Alexis. There's still so much to show you… Thank you for coming here with me this weekend. I've really enjoyed being with you, I mean it." Aster said seriously. He then drew her into his arms for a slow and gentle kiss.
"Well, don't forget that we still have the rest of today and tomorrow left. Let's make the most of it." Alexis said.
"And tonight, too… Of course, we always manage to make the most of that either way if you ask me." Aster said slyly.
"I couldn't agree with you more about that." Alexis with a smile that mirrored Aster's.
"But right now, we'd better get back. I need to start getting ready for my duel." Aster reminded Alexis.
"Alright, let's go." Alexis agreed. She slipped her hand in Aster's before they started walking back to the car.
Aster felt his heart clench from Alexis' simple gesture of affection. By now, he understood his own heart enough to be able to know what it was telling him. He was in love with Alexis and it made him feel both elated and terrified at the same time. Love was something that he tended to try to avoid when it came to other people in his life. So far, all the people who meant something to him had been taken from him in some way or another and he didn't want it to happen again with Alexis. It was so easy to want to just hide her away from the rest of the world when they were together by continuing to see each other in their own private little space here with less obvious dates like the one they had just had and being together on his yacht. He was afraid that once everyone started to find out about them being together, the easier it would be to lose her. Sartorius and Sarina turning away from him should have been the last straw. It was as if fate was telling him to not get greedy and start expecting anymore happiness from other people anymore, whether it was from family or a lover. He should just be satisfied with dueling and travelling, making others happy with things like his autograph signings and projects for children. He wanted to tell Alexis the truth about how he felt about her. But he was afraid that saying the words would make the situation all too real. If he said nothing, she would be safe from whatever cruel fate destiny may already have in store for her just for simply getting too close to him. Aster still hadn't forgotten Sartorius' prediction for the future if he continued to be with Alexis. But at the same time, he wanted to take a chance. Alexis made him happier than he had ever felt in a long time, but in a much different way due to the nature of his love for her. But for now, he decided that he would keep quiet for a bit longer and let himself enjoy the peace and happiness that had entered his life because of her.
AN: Sorry for the wait here. This chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. And that was even AFTER I had split it up. Next time, a certain older brother is going to find out about Aster and Alexis' little secret here. And he's not going to be a happy camper about it…