Chapter 6: After the Battle

"A-amazing! Kousaka Takeru has done the impossible! They have beaten the world champion Souryu Leon!" the caster declared as the people took a bit of a while to register what happened, before small instances of clapping started.

"T-thank you for the match Leon-san."

"Your wind blew magnificently." Was all the Souryu said as he left, while Takeru was left scrambling trying to interpret what in the world he meant. Still, he won, so he at least was able to return to his friends with a smile on his face.

"Great job Takeru-kun!" Sakuya cheered as she hugged him immediately upon his returning.

"Kiss later will you?" Claire teased as the two instantly pulled away from each other before smiling. "Still, great match Takeru, worth the effort we went into training."

"Thanks," he replied.

"Also, I won the bet!"

"Oh ok, wait what?!"

"Yeah, Claire-chan won…"

"Really Sakuya? Awww man." He sulked a bit at that.

"Cheer up man." Satoshi added. "At least you were able to face Souryu Leon, and win."

"Yeah, you're right." A nod came in addition.

"I'll… join you all later." Bella added. "I have things to do…"

"…Ok?"

After a few minutes, Rekka had returned on stage and began her next announcement.

"Coming up in a few weeks, we will be having a Vanguard tournament! For the first time, we will be mixing the Under 20 Championship and the Vanguard High School championship into one full on tournament!" She announced. "High school teams, or teams dreaming to become pros are eligible to enter! So sign up now people! Also, we will be having a special entrant! Now what that team will be?" She asked as she winked. "You'll just have to find out!"

"… We're joining right?" Takeru asked.

"Yeah you bet." Satoshi replied. "We're joining for sure."

"But first off." Sakuya smiled. "We're celebrating!"

As school came a few days later, the Royal Paladin player entered Fukuso Academy in his uniform, not expecting this kind of reception.

"Oh hey Takeru! Great win!"

"Takeru-kun! You were awesome!"

"Takeru, fight me! I want to see those Imaginary Gifts!"

"W-well, y-you see… I-"

"Hey Takeru-kun! Group meeting!" He had never been so happy to hear Sakuya's voice as she took his hand and got him out of it, eventually meeting the other two in their classroom.

"Man… thanks Sakuya."

"How many ARE asking you for matches?"

"Every single Cardfighter here Satoshi…" He shivered. "EVERY SINGLE ONE. Like I get it, I kinda expected it but like, come on man? Really? Can't I like, take a break first?"

"Apparently not." Claire commented. "Feel my pain."

"… Right… everyone used to be like that when…" He could not finish the counter quip, as the last time that happened, Kai was still with them.

"Anyway, guess we need to keep you from getting bombarded with match requests, right?" Satoshi asked.

"Yes, please."

"Then let's do that."

As the school day passed, Takeru had to settle with not only taking notes from class but also the incessant requests of people around them. And while he accepted some of them, he could not accept everything as he felt overwhelmed.

"You ok?" Sakuya asked as she was walking home with Takeru.

"Yeah… I… think I'm fine?" He admitted. "Really didn't expect that to happen."

"You and me." She replied as they walked through the shopping district. Sakuya had thought it was a good idea, and so far, it seemed to work well.

"So, Sakuya, have you thought about that thing yet?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, you mean about when I told you that I wanted to be an idol right?" She made a soft smile. "I mean, yeah I'm sort of still interested. Rekka-san agreed to mentor me when I made a choice but…" She sighed. "So much stuff, and a lot of restrictions."

"Hey, if it's what you do, you'll be fine." They then stopped in front of a TV as they saw a commercial.

"HOP! STEP! CONQUER THE UNIVERSE! Hi everyone! I'm Yatomi Saya! Let's Conquer the universe together Myu~!" Was what the idol in the commercial said, she had cyan colored hair and pale skin, and she stood a bit taller than Sakuya, but in her white idol outfit, she really seemed to be in her element.

"Isn't she the new idol of the Esuka group?" Sakuya wondered.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, just like wondering is all."

"Oh." The two then continued on before they saw a girl running and being chased by a bunch of people.

"Saya-san! An interview please!"

"Saya-sama! May I please have your autograph!" Another asked.

"Well thank you everyone! But Saya is busy right now!" The girl smiled as she was chased. "So sorry!"

"Should we-" Takeru got cut off as Sakuya was already on the way.

"This way!" She called to the girl as Saya ran towards her, with Sakuya then having the girl run with her into the food court.

"Well guess there's nothing to it." Takeru shrugged as he went with the two. And once they had found a seat, Sakuya pulled out a small cap from her bag and handed it to Saya who immediately put it on.

"Aww man," one of the people groaned. "Oh well, move on!" With that the people left as Saya had a sigh of relief.

"Whew! Thank you so much!" The young lady smiled. "I'm Saya! Yatomi Saya!"

"Yes, we heard." Takeru replied.

"So, Miss Saya. Mind if I ask why you were running all the way like that?"

"Well, Saya was supposed to have a day off so I had a disguise on, but a gust of wind came and my disguise flew off."

"A cap was your disguise?" The royal Paladin player asked.

"ONLY ONE I HAVE ON HAND MYU~!" She retorted.

"S-sorry… so, that's when you started running from them, and then Sakuya signaled you right?"

"Yep! Thanks so much Sakuya-chan!" She immediately smiled.

"I-it's no worries." However, the Cyan haired girl then turned to Takeru and after eyeing him carefully her eyes widened.

"Hey! You're Kousaka Takeru aren't you?"

"Y-yes?"

"Ooh! You're that guy who faced Souryu Leon right? That's perfect! I'm supposed to have my idol debut, but they told me that it's better to have a Vanguard match to go along with it! And they told me to pick my own opponent. So please have a Vanguard match with me! I want my Bermuda Triangle deck to start of with a bang!"

"H-huh?"

"I mean come on, you faced Souryu Leon right? You would be the PERFECT opponent!"

"Yeah you should do it Takeru-kun." Sakuya encouraged, although when he looked at her, he could see that her eyes were hiding a hint of sadness, something that he picked up.

"W-well, how about you face Sakuya instead?"

"M-me?"

"Yeah, didn't you say you wanted to be an idol? Sounds like a good opportunity to me. And you use Bermuda Triangle too and-"

"She uses Bermuda Triangle?" Saya smiled as she looked at the girl. "Sakuya-chan! Please have a game with me!"

"W-what? I-I mean…" She started fidgeting. "A-are you sure, I-I mean, Takeru-kun has the Imaginary Gifts a-and-"

"Nonsense Myu~!" the idol replied. "They told me I can play against who I want to anyway! And I choose to play against you, besides, since you want to be an idol anyway! This idol debut match will be perfect! So you can get started on as well if you still want to!"

The girl though just took a bit and thought about it.

'Should I?' Sakuya thought. 'Could I do it?' She then looked at Takeru who gave her an encouraging smile and thinking back to when she and the others supported him, slapped herself a bit and looked at Saya.

"Ok, I accept, Saya-chan."

"That's great myu~!" The girl cheered as she pulled out her phone and started texting. "The match will be this weekend in the same arena Takeru-kun had that match! I'll send you the details later."

"Uhhh, how do I get it, we don't exactly have each other's numbers." Sakuya pointed out as Saya facepalmed.

"R-Right, l-let's do that myu~!" The two then exchanged numbers. "Anyway! Time to go myu~! Nice meeting you, Takeru-kun, Sakuya-chan! Bye-bye!" With that she bolted off.

"… A match this weekend huh?" Takeru smiled. "You can do it Sakuya."

"You and the others are helping me, she doesn't have a match record, but since she uses Bermuda Triangle."

"You probably will have some idea and want other decks to face against to practice right? Ok." Takeru smiled. "I'll inform Satoshi and Claire."

"Thanks Takeru-kun!" Sakuya smiled as she hugged him and then left, leaving the Royal Paladin player alone.

"Guess we got another matchup then." He commented as he texted their other two friends before he walked back home. Looks like the entire week will be spent helping Sakuya prepare.

Initially at the end of this in the original story, we had Naoki face Takeru... that's... not going to happen, at least in that way, anyway, Saya vs Sakuya in the next chapter, see you there everyone.