"That's a rather long face."
It had been a week since the carnival, and things had pretty much gone back to normal at this point. Well, somewhat close to normal. People still buzzed a little about it, but they were all more focused.
Of course, Yuzu would be blind to not notice the differences. Yuri and Rin used to hang out with each other the most out of all of them, but now, Rin was spending more time with Yugo as well, considering that they had both apparently found out that the other was interested in technology as well. Serena and Yuri had also begun hanging out more, and Yuto and Ruri, obviously, had carried on going on dates.
However…
"Tenjoin-sensei," she said with a nod as her blonde teacher approached her. Asuka smiled, taking a seat at the table with her.
"So? Is something wrong? Your results on the last test were pretty good, so it can't have anything to do with academics, right?"
Yuzu shook her head. "It's nothing too important," she said. "You don't have to worry about it."
"My students' wellbeing is always important to me," Asuka said. "Is this about Yuya?"
Yuzu's eyes widened before she could stop herself, and as she let out sputters, Asuka smiled, letting out a sigh.
"I thought so. It's always like that."
"How did you know?"
"Oh, I had a similar thing going on back when I first came to school here," Asuka said. "With Judai, actually. I don't exactly have those feelings anymore, but the time we spent together was still a very good memory… even if there were some struggles. It was pretty easy to recognise those feelings in you too."
Yuzu nodded. Curious, she asked, "is it always like that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… do you always lose those feelings?"
Asuka smiled. "No," she says. "It depends on the person. Do you think that you will lose those feelings?"
Yuzu shrugged.
"It just feels too good to be true," she said. "Like there has to be something else, something more to him that I'm not getting. Otherwise, how could I like him so much when it's only been a few months? It feels like I've known him for so long, but… well, I always have a lot of doubts."
"That's normal," Asuka said. "Maybe it's just my bias as your teacher, but… I still feel like it might be worth it for you to try anyway." She patted Yuzu's shoulder, before pulling her hand back. "You're both good kids, after all. And I do think that you would make each other very happy."
"I don't exactly know if he likes me though," Yuzu said. "The others are all hanging out more, but me and him... we haven't really hung out much since the carnival."
Asuka gave her an understanding look. "It'll be fine," she said. "Just try to be friends with him for now, yeah? If anything happens, it happens. There's no need to rush it. You have a lot of time."
Did she though?
She was worried, but…
She would try to put it aside for now.
"Yuzu!"
She glanced away to see Yuya coming over, and Asuka let out a soft giggle.
"I'll leave you two be," she said, and with a nod to Yuya, she stood up and walked away. Yuya came over, his smile as bright as ever.
"Hey!"
"Hi," she said. "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing much… it's just that… well, Ruri and I are going to duel! So I thought that it might be nice to have you there." Yuya gave her a large and hopeful smile, and Yuzu immediately got up.
"Alright," she said. "Sounds good."
She wanted to ask Yuya if he wanted to hang out more, but she couldn't actually voice the words. Eventually, they made their way to the front of the Ra Dorms, where Ruri and Yuto were talking.
"They're so cute," she said, and Yuya nodded.
"I'm honestly a little envious that she makes him so comfortable," he said, and then, he made a flustered sound. "Though obviously, I am happy for him. Ruri makes him smile a lot, and I'm really grateful for that."
Yuzu did know that. If there was one thing that everyone knew about Yuya Sakaki, it was that he always wanted the best for everyone, and he wanted to see everyone smile, whether they were his friend or just a stranger. It was a level of empathy and compassion that not everyone could muster. At the same time though, he also carried a clear weariness, similar to his brothers.
In a way, Yuya was both optimistic and yet realistic, and that was something that Yuzu liked a lot about him. She liked a lot of things about Yuya Sakaki.
Ruri and Yuto finally noticed them, so Yuto stepped over to the side. Yuzu walked over and joined him, as Ruri and Yuya prepared for their duel.
"Who do you think is going to win?" Yuzu asked.
Yuto paused. "Is there an answer to this that isn't disloyal in some way?" He said, and he and Yuzu shared a chuckle. "Well, either is fine. Both of them are pretty strong, even if they are our youngest siblings."
"Duel!" Both Yuya and Ruri called, and the two of them turned back to watch as the duel begun.
Yuya Sakaki: 4000LP
Ruri Kurosaki: 4000LP
"I'll start!" Ruri declared with a bright smile. "I'll activate Lyrical Luscinia - Bird Call! And with its effect, I will send Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow (1*/0/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect) from my deck to the graveyard, and then, I can Special Summon a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from my hand! Come on out! Lyrical Luscinia - Turquoise Warbler!" (1*/100/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)
The girl with green feathers appeared, letting out a loud and trilling noise.
"And with Turquoise Warbler's effect, I can Special Summon a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from my hand or graveyard to my field! Come back to the field! Cobalt Sparrow!" Another monster appeared on her field. "I can then use Cobalt Sparrow's effect to add a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from my deck to my hand. And now, I'll Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow (1*/100/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect) from my hand with her effect!"
Three monsters, but that's Ruri. There was no way that she was even close to done.
"And with Sapphire Swallow's effect, I can Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail (1*/200/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect) from my hand too. And with Celeste Wagtail's effect, I can add a "Lyrical Luscinia" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand." Ruri smiled. "I'll overlay the Level 1 Celeste Wagtail, Sapphire Swallow, Cobalt Sparrow and Turquoise Warbler!" The four birds turned into streaks of light that flew upwards. "Lovely night performer dancing in the sky! Now, with the power of the winds, turn this field into our world, here and now! Xyz Summon! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Ensemble Robin!" (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:4)
A strange blue performer appeared, letting out a haughty laugh.
"That's a new Xyz Monster," Yuto said. "I always assumed that she was pretty reliant on the other three that she used before."
Yuzu nodded. "She has Ensemble Robin and she has one more Rank 1 monster that she hasn't used yet. She's probably using Ensemble Robin purely because she's facing Yuya."
Ruri smiled confidently. "Ensemble Robin's effect. She gains five hundred attack points for every Overlay Unit she has!" (Lyrical Luscinia - Ensemble Robin: 0 + 500 x 4 = 2000ATK) Her younger sister glanced at her hand. "I'll set a card and end my turn!"
"Draw!" Yuya declared. "I'll set the Scale 1 Performapal Monkeyboard (6*/S1/1000/2400/EARTH/Beast/Pendulum/Effect) in the Pendulum Scale!" A monkey with a keyboard appeared in his left Pendulum Scale, glowing brightly. "I'll activate Monkeyboard's effect, and I'll add a Level 4 or lower "Performapal" monster from my deck to my hand. I'll add Performapal Skullcrobat Joker (4*/S8/1800/100/DARK/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect) from my deck to my hand and Normal Summon him! And with its effect, I can add an "Odd-Eyes", "Performapal" or Pendulum Magician monster from my deck to my hand!"
Funnily enough, Ruri and Yuya probably had the best hand advantage compared to the rest of them, since most of their cards searched for completely new cards.
"I'll then set the Scale 8 Black Fang Magician (4*/S8/1700/800/DARK/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect) in my other Pendulum Scale."
Yuzu blinked in shock as she saw the new magician.
"It looks like you," she said to Yuto. It had the exact same black and purple colour to its clothing as Yuto's hair and eyes.
"Yeah," Yuto said. "He has one for each of us." He was smiling with that odd fondness, what everyone in their group of friends called the 'Yuya smile'.
"Since the other card in my Pendulum Scale is not a "Performapal" monster, Monkeyboard's Pendulum Scale changes to 4. However, that doesn't really matter! Swing, pendulum! Cast your light across the aether! Pendulum Summon! Emerge! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon! (7*/S4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect) Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon!" (5*/S1/1200/2400/DARK/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect) The two dragons emerged, letting out roars.
Ruri looked unfazed. "Ensemble Robin's effect!" She responded. "By detaching an Overlay Unit when a monster is Special Summoned, I can return all monsters that were Special Summoned back to the hand! Chorus Gale!" Blue winds whipped up around her.
"I knew it," Yuya said. "I was wondering why you'd bring that out over Assembled Nightingale… I'll activate Persona Dragon's effect! I'll negate Ensemble Robin's effects until the End Phase!" Persona Dragon let out a pulse of dark energy, but Ensemble Robin simply flew above it as Ruri smiled.
"Nice try, Yuya. But Cobalt Sparrow stops targeting effects."
The masked blue woman let out a trilling laugh, and both of Yuya's monsters vanished from the field. (Lyrical Luscinia - Ensemble Robin: 2000 - 500 = 1500ATK; OU:4 - 1 = OU:3)
"Oh," Yuya said. "Well, that's a little awkward." He held out a card. "Wavering Eyes!" Both of his Pendulum Scales shattered. "I can add a Pendulum Monster from my deck to my hand, and inflict five hundred damage to you!"
An orb of light shot out and hit Ruri in the side.
Ruri Kurosaki: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP
"And now, I'll replace my Pendulum Scales with the Scale 4 Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon and the Scale 8 Odd-Eyes Arc Pendulum Dragon!" (7*/S8/2700/2000/DARK/Dragon/Pendulum) The two pillars of light rose around him.
"You can't Pendulum Summon more than once on the same turn though…"
"Yes," Yuya confirmed. "But I can still do this! I'll activate Terraforming!"
Ruri nodded in understanding as Yuya plucked a card from his deck.
"Now, I'll activate it! Sky Iris!" (Spell/Field) He smiled brightly. "I'll activate its effect! By destroying Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, I can add an "Odd-Eyes" card from my deck to my hand!" One pillar exploded, blue shards from the holograms flying over them. "And since an "Odd-Eyes" card was destroyed, my Arc Pendulum Dragon will Special Summon another "Odd-Eyes" monster from my deck!"
He swiped out a card, the smile on his face so unmistakably bright that it exposed what the monster was going to be.
"Emerge now! Dragon with the heterochromatic eyes, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" (7*/S4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect)
Ruri reacted immediately. "I'll activate Ensemble Robin's effect!"
"It's not once per turn?" Yuya said, gasping loudly.
"Yeah," Ruri said. "I can keep on doing it. Chorus Gale!" (Lyrical Luscinia - Ensemble Robin: 1500 - 500 = 1000ATK; OU:3 - 1 = OU:2)
Blue winds knocked Odd-Eyes off the field. Yuya grimaced. "I'll set Persona Dragon in the Pendulum Scale and set a card," he said. "Over to you."
"Draw!" Ruri declared. "I'll activate the effect of Lyrical Luscinia - Beryl Canary (1*/0/200/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect) in my hand! I'll target Cobalt Sparrow in my graveyard, and by doing so, I can Special Summon both Beryl Canary from my hand and Cobalt Sparrow from my graveyard!" A yellow bird girl appeared, with Cobalt Sparrow letting out a joyful cry as she emerged from a portal in the ground. "I'll then activate Cobalt Sparrow's effect! I can add a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from my deck to my hand! And now, I'll activate Sapphire Swallow's effect. I'll Special Summon her and Lyrical Luscinia - Emerald Nuthatch (1*/0/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect) from my hand! And with Emerald Nuthatch's effect, I can add another "Lyrical Luscinia" monster to my hand!"
"You filled up all your Main Monster Zones," Yuya said. His gaze turned to Yuzu for a moment, before he smiled at Ruri. "Good job."
"It's just my playstyle," Ruri said. "I'll overlay the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Emerald Nuthatch, Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow, Lyrical Luscinia - Beryl Canary and Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow!" The four bird girls flew into the air, turning into light. "Birds with beautiful wings! Gatherer on the battlefield and take brilliant flight! Xyz Summon! Dance in the sky! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale!" (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:4)
Her ace emerged on the field, letting out a loud laugh.
"I'll activate Sapphire Swallow's effect! I can attach Celeste Wagtail from the graveyard to Assembly Nightingale as an Overlay Unit!" Another orb rose up, joining the orbit around the beautiful bird woman. "I'll activate Beryl Canary's effect too! Assembly Nightingale gains two hundred attack points and her control cannot switch. And with Assembly Nightingale's own effect, she gains two hundred attack points for each Overlay Unit!" (Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: OU:4 + 1 = OU:5; 0 + 200 x 5 + 200 = 1200ATK)
"Ah," Yuya said, his face clearly full of some regret.
"I'll activate Lyrical Luscinia - Bird Nest! And with its effect, I can draw one card since I have a Xyz Monster with three or more Overlay Units!" Ruri pointed forward. "Assembly Nightingale! Avian Gale - One!"
"I'll activate my set card," Yuya said. "Drowning Mirror Force."
Oh.
Ruri looked slightly taken aback, before she shook her head. Her entire field was wiped out.
"Oh," Yuto voiced quietly. "That was a good counter." He sounded very proud.
"I'll end my turn," Ruri said.
"She's just ending it like that?"
Yuzu shook her head. If Ruri was just ending her turn, that meant one thing. She had Citrine Asity in her hand.
"Draw," Yuya said. "Swing, pendulum! Cast your light across the aether! Pendulum Summon! Come back from the Extra Deck! Black Fang Magician! Performapal Monkeyboard! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon! And now, from my hand, come out once more, my ace! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
The four monsters all emerged. The magician that looked like Yuto, the playful monkey, the bone-white dragon and Yuya's favourite monster.
"And I'll activate Sky Iris's effect. I can destroy Black Fang Magician, and I'll add an "Odd-Eyes" card to my hand!" He flipped over the card. "And now, since I have two cards in my Pendulum Zones and at least two monsters on the field that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can Special Summon Performapal Odd-Eyes Music Angel (6*/S10/2400/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect) from my hand!"
Oh? Yuzu watched as the monster appeared. Pink hair in beautiful curls, angel wings spreading out behind her. The pretty angel held up a keyboard, letting out a bubbly laugh and floating down next to Odd-Eyes, who nodded to her.
Oh.
That was…
"Yes," Yuto said. "You're not good at hiding your blush. That is based on you."
Ahhhhh—
Yuya looked over, and he gave her a nod, seemingly oblivious to her internal crisis.
"Then again," Yuto continued with a sigh, "Yuya is far too oblivious."
Yuya turned back to the duel. "I'm dedicating this duel to Yuzu," he said cheerfully, and Yuzu screamed internally as Ruri laughed. Her younger sister shot her a look of sympathy, but at the same time, she looked far too amused.
"Well then, I'll dedicate it to Yuto!"
Yuto glanced away, but there was a small red blush on his cheeks as well.
"I'll have Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attack you directly! Spiral Flame Strike!"
"I'll discard Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity (1*/100/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect) from my hand. This turn, we both don't take damage, and our monsters can't be destroyed by battle!"
"That's broken," Yuya said. "But even with that, I'll have Music Angel attack you directly, and with her effect, I can banish your Citrine Asity from the graveyard! And now, I'll end my turn."
"Draw," Ruri declared. "I'll Special Summon another copy of Beryl Canary, and I can revive Cobalt Sparrow and add another one of my monsters to my hand. And now, I'll activate my set Lyrical Luscinia - Phantom Feathers! I can change all your monsters' attack points to Beryl Canary's."
"Huh?" (Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 2500 - 0ATK) (Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon: 2500 - 0ATK) (Performapal Odd-Eyes Music Angel: 2400 - 0ATK) (Performapal Monkeyboard: 1000 - 0ATK)
Ruri giggled. "I'll overlay Cobalt Sparrow and Beryl Canary! Bird of stars that sings in the glowing sunset. Appear before us! Xyz Summon! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling!" (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged-Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2) She pointed to Recite Starling. "She gains three hundred attack and defence points for each of her Overlay Units! Gift of the Stars!" (Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling: 0 + 300 x 2 = 600ATK/DEF) She smiled brightly. "I'll activate Celeste Wagtail's effect. I can attach it from the graveyard to Recite Starling as an Overlay Unit!" (Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling: OU:2 + 1 = OU:3) She grinned. "Bird Nest's effect! I'll draw one card! And I'll detach Cobalt Sparrow to add a Level 1 Winged Beast from my deck to my hand! Nest Calling!" (Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling: OU:3 - 1 = OU:2)
"So you went from two cards to four cards?"
"Have you seen Rin?"
"... ok, fair enough."
Ruri revealed a card in her hand. "I'll Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow from my hand!" The third copy of Sapphire Swallow appeared, flying around her. "And you know the drill! Emerge! Lyrical Luscinia - Turquoise Warbler! And since Turquoise Warbler was Special Summoned from my hand, I'll revive Cobalt Sparrow!"
Probably for the immunity to targeting effects, huh?
"I'll overlay the Level 1 Turquoise Warbler, Cobalt Sparrow and Sapphire Swallow!"
That was her fourth Xyz Summon this duel. Wow. Usually, she could end it in one. It just spoke to how… well, equal their skill was. Before they had come here, their only 'rivals' had been each other, since Shun was still considered undefeatable to them. However, here, they had the Sakakis, and they also had Sora and Gongenzaka and Sawatari and Dennis (though she still hadn't talked to the Performage duelist that much. She should probably do that.) It just felt nice, to be on equal ground with such a large group of friends.
Ruri smiled. "Descend for the second time this match, and carry me to victory! Xyz Summon! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale!" (OU:3) The kaleidoscopic bird appeared. "I'll activate Sapphire Swallow's effect! I'll attach Celeste Wagtail from the graveyard!" (Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: OU:3 + 1 = OU:4; 0 + 200 x 4 = 800ATK)
So that would be three thousand four hundred damage, right? But unfortunately for Yuya…
"I'll activate Bird Nest's effect! I'll convert Recite Starling and her Overlay Units to Overlay Units for Assembly Nightingale!"
"What?" Yuya called in surprise as Recite Starling dissolved into light, before it and its two Overlay Units drifted over to Assembly Nightingale, forming three more Overlay Units for Ruri's ace. (Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: 800 + 200 x 3 = 1400ATK; OU: 4 + 3 = OU:7)
"Go, Assembly Nightingale! Wipe out the three of his monsters that don't represent Yuzu, and end the match!"
Yuya sighed, and he did nothing as the match did, indeed, end.
Yuya Sakaki: 4000 - 1400 x 3 = 0LP
"I wanted to win really badly," Yuya said. "But you did great."
"You did great too." Ruri smiled sweetly. "Now, why don't you and Yuzu go and hang out?"
Huh?
Yuya stepped over, and he smiled at her brightly. "Uh, I noticed that you've been a bit down lately," he said. "And a bit anxious! So I guess I wanted to show you that monster… uh, and say that you can confide in me if you need to, yes? Because we're friends!"
… oh, this guy.
"Yeah," Yuzu said. "I'll be sure to remember that. Thank you, Yuya."
Now could Yuto and Ruri stop laughing at her expense? Her face was not that red, alright?
"He's never going to realise, is he?" Yuto said amusedly.
"Not unless Yuzu tells him directly," Ruri said. "And we all know how she is with that."
That day was… interesting. Yuya and Yuzu had walked off to talk, so now it was just the two of them there.
"Anyway, Yuzu has been struggling for a while, so I just wanted to help."
"You always do."
"Mmm." Ruri leaned on his shoulder. "I do."
A/N:
Guess who wrote the entire duel between Ruri and Yuya before remembering that Cobalt Sparrow stops targeting effects? That's me. I'm the idiot. So I had to rewrite the whole thing.
So hi. It's been a long time since I updated, for… a bunch of reasons. Firstly, I had exams for more than a month, and well… that's a pretty stressful thing. National exams and all. So I had to spend quite a lot of time just studying. Immediately after the exams, I also caught a pretty bad disease (read: Covid.) So I just recovered, and I decided to finally finish this. Thanks for waiting, everyone. I know this is a pretty plotless and short chapter, but it helped me to get back into the groove of writing for this story again. As you can tell, we're getting Ruri as the focal character next chapter, with a bit more plot and like… generally, more content. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that we're going to get some Numbers next chapter.
I can't guarantee that the updates will be too fast. I started this story three years ago, and many of my original plans are no longer viable as a result, and I've been redoing some of the plot points that I set up. For example, I wrote Chapter 7 a few years ago, and I'm probably going to have to do some edits there to keep up with the plot. (Also, I can't believe I'm past 100000 words now. Damn.) For now, the chapter previews have not changed.
Chapter Preview: Chapter 23—Whimsical Musings
While going out to take photographs of birds, Ruri runs into a surprising figure taking care of a flower patch in a forest. They talk, before a strange animal emerges from the flowers…
Chapter Preview: Chapter 24—Sweet Relief
Sora Shiun'in knows that he doesn't cause nearly as much fuss around school as the Sakaki brothers. He likes to avoid the crowd. But when he finally starts associating with them, he ends up having to actually deal with one of the loudest people ever… and one of the most responsible.
Chapter Preview: Chapter 25—Stirring Shadows
Serena, feeling a little tired, goes to the beach to rest under the night sky. As she is stargazing, a certain someone shows their face, and she decides that now is as good of a time as ever to ask what she wants to ask…
Chapter Preview: Chapter 26—Speeding On!
The school announces its newest event, and thoroughly filled with hype, Yugo decides to try practicing with his D-Wheel after it gets shipped to the school. He ends up bumping into one of West Academy's teachers there, however… and the rest is history.
Once more, thank you for sticking with me so far. I know I haven't been the most reliable, but I am still committed to finishing this story, so there's no need to worry about that. Thank you to those who sent supportive reviews and messages, and those that followed or favourited the story. I appreciate it. The next chapter will definitely be longer than this.
~ Blaise
OC Cards:
Lyrical Luscinia - Emerald Nuthatch
(1*/0/0/WIND/Winged-Beast/Effect)
If this card is Normal or Special Summoned from the hand: You can add 1 "Lyrical Luscinia" monster to your hand, but for the rest of the turn, you can only Special Summon WIND monsters.
Performapal Odd-Eyes Music Angel
(6*/S10/2400/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect)
Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, if a Dragon or Fairy monster(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect: You can pay 500LP; that monster remains on the field.
If you have 2 cards in your Pendulum Zones and you control at least 2 monsters that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card declares an attack: Banish 1 monster from your opponent's GY.
Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity
(1*/100/100/WIND/Winged-Beast/Effect)
You can discard this card from your hand: Until the End Phase, neither player takes any damage, and monsters cannot be destroyed by battle. If this card is Special Summoned: You can target 1 "Lyrical Luscinia" monster that is banished or in your GY; Special Summon it. You can only activate this effect of "Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity" once per turn.