Hi! Sorry for the long hiatus! This was NOT my year, I had to hit the hospital twice, I couldn't work for some months, doctors appointments, lost my job and a whole lot of other stuff. Everything is alright now, though! So no worries :D I will start next year with a right foot this time and so I finally forced myself to finish this. Although my long hiatus was not only because of my personal problems but because I had trouble with the chapter itself. It just kept going in a completely different direction and totally random stuff kept happening. So for many months it was write and delete as well as studying Aki's deck.
Anyway, without longer ado, I present you the new chapter. I had a bit of help coming up with the title. I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 29: Queen vs Queen
After lunchtime was announced, Ren guided the guys to the roof where he had prepared a small feast for them. It was one of his acts of good will in order to make amends not just with them but with his younger sister. Although the guys had already forgiven him since they saw how harsh Yori was being with him.
Once at the roof, they found a tablet full of food. They all quickly sat down ready to do dig in on the succulent meal served before them.
"This looks so good~!" Crow's mouth watered over the delicacies.
"I don't know where to start." Chimed in Rua.
"I am quite glad. Anyway, let's dig in." Said Ren pleasantly and without giving it a second thought they did.
They were enjoying their meal and a bit of small talk. Mostly about the duel they had just seen.
"By the way," Ralph said after he swallowed some water. "Where is Yori?" he asked curiously to Ren.
Ren froze.
Ralph sighed. "Still as forgetful as always…." He continued eating.
"I'll just call her." Ren took out his phone from his jacket as he was sweat-dropping from Ralph's comment.
A ringing melody came from Aki's side where she had two bags – hers and Yori's.
"I guess she left her phone in the bag." Aki said as she took out Yori's phone and showed it to her brother.
The older man paled.
"So, what kind of music would you like for your funeral, Ren-nii-san?" Ralph asked with a cheerful smile.
/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\
Cindy was slightly fidgety. Since there were no more classes, she had told Aki to take her bag but she had forgotten to take her cell phone. Now, she couldn't find her friends and Yori's brother at all. She had gone to the cafeteria, the lobby and even outside but they weren't there. 'Maybe they went to the roof.' She heard Yori's thoughts and made her way to the top floor.
As she got out of the elevator she saw a certain dark haired guy coming from the guys' bathroom near it. She looked away pretending to not have seen him and made her way to the stairs at the far end of the corridor.
"Hey!" Aoi called her as he followed her. "Yori-chan!" He called again as he grabbed her wrist a few paces away.
"What?!" Cindy spat and glared at him. 'Let me take care of him.' Yori said to her and switched like they had done during the duel earlier. Yori's body became surrounded in a pale white light as they two girls switch places but Aoi didn't notice.
"I just want to talk to you." Aoi said.
"I do not. Release me at once!" she yanked her arm out of his hold.
Aoi became irritated at her attitude. "Just listen to me!" He snapped pushing her against the lockers and holding her wrist against the metal.
Sayori glared at him and the look away towards the elevator; a security camera was filming everything. 'Great.'
"Look, I know you are upset but-"
"Let me go! Release me!" She started pretending to yell and struggle. 'Anyone who sees that footage will see it as he is the one assaulting me.'
"No one will hear you!" Aoi replied and pushed her harder with his whole body.
Once his face was covering hers in front of the camera she whispered while still pretending to struggle. "Smile for the camera."
Aoi froze and looked towards she was looking. "You cunning, little fox!"
"You mean vixen." She taunted. Aoi put an arm against her throat.
She struggled to get out of his hold, this time for real but she had already given him too much of an advantage and just pushing against his arm was hard. "You idiot!"
With his free hand Aoi started undoing her braids. Getting rid of the hair bands at the bottom was the easy part but now that her hair looked like pigtails it was harder since it was so long.
"S-someone please! H-help!" Yori yelled this time for real although it was hard and painful. Even if he wasn't actually trying to asphyxiate her and just keep her in place, it was a little hard to breathe.
/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\
From the men's bathroom Kiryu Kyosuke was trying to get some of the grape juice off his shirt – from a little accident earlier. It included an almost comic argument between two guys he had just met and a certain psychic user getting annoyed. The girl, Aki, actually doing something about finding the girl he had met yesterday, Yori.
As he was trying futilely to get the stain out he started hearing voices. He didn't pay attention at first since they weren't loud enough to hear and simply thought someone was passing through. After a few minutes and finally resigning himself to not getting the stain out he put his shirt back on. As he exited the bathroom he saw how a dark blue-ish-haired man was holding a girl against the locker. The girl was struggling and yelling for help, without hesitation he approached the teenagers.
"Hey, let her go." Kiryu glared at the younger guy.
Aoi looked at the tall man exasperated and then at Yori and back again. With a frustrated grunt, he let her go and left.
"Are you alright?" Kiryu asked the young girl with the long hair. She was breathing a little hard.
She looked familiar. Then it hit him, it was Yori. The girl he had met and just seen duel except that now she was not wearing her braids anymore and her hair was made a mess by that guy.
"Thank you," the girl said meekly not looking up. She then proceeded
"No problem." He replied. 'So different from yesterday. Maybe I got the wrong person?' He wondered.
'That nincompoop! He ruined my hair!' Yori raged in her head. 'I really should cut it. This is such a nag.' She continued to brush her hair with her fingers trying to fix herself up as much as she could. She finally took out the last hair band that was holding one of her pigtails she had had leaving her long hair down.
She looked up at the man who had helped her. "You are -!" Yori exclaimed surprised as she pointed at him. Her heart started beating fast as she remembered her attitude from the day before.
Kiryu looked at her. "The name is Kiryu Kyosuke." He introduced himself.
The brunette ignored him. "What are you doing here?" she asked confused. 'I should apologize for yesterday…. He did help.'
Kiryu sighed. "Just came to watch some duels." He replied. "Yusei invited me."
"You know where they are?" her tone changed to a gentler one.
"Yusei and the others are waiting for you in the roof." Kiryu said to her as he turned around to go.
Yori grabbed his coat from behind, like a child who is afraid to get lost. Kiryu turned his body midway since she was still holding him. "Something wrong?" he asked as she was looking down and away.
Her face was red. She closed her eyes and very timidly forced herself to speak. "I…I…I am sorry." She said in a low but clear voice as she let go of his jacket and kept her head hanging low.
"Hmm?" he looked confused at the girl, not understanding why she was apologizing. "About what?"
Meekly she looked up at him, her face still flushing. "How I…behave…yesterday."
"Oh. Ah, ok," he said awkwardly. "Yusei explained, so don't worry about it."
She nodded, feeling very embarrassed. Her heart was thumping wildly, it was always so hard to apologize and mean it. Actually it was because she was really sorry that it made her nervous. He was Yusei's friend and as such she was sure he was a good person. Of course, Cindy's memories helped although he did not seem to be as depressed as he appeared in the other girl's memories. Still, it made her regretful of her behavior although she didn't know at that time. Even so, she shouldn't have let her temper get the best of her. He had after all, helped and recovered her precious card.
"Come, they're waiting." He put an arm around her shoulders, instinctively. "Sorry!" he withdrew it when he realized.
She looked away again but continued walking by his side. "…I don't mind…"
"Yori!" Aki called her as they were turning around the hall.
"Aki!" Yori said surprised at seeing the girl run and a little out of breath. "Were you looking for me?"
"Yeah, your brother-" Aki made a pause as she gasped for air.
"Is an idiotic fool?" Yori ventured. "If that was what you wanted to say, I agree."
"No, but he is sorry." Aki said trying not to smile at the comment. "Oh, Kiryu-san did you find the restroom alright?"
Kiryu nodded. "I couldn't get the stain out completely but it'll do." He shrugged. "Thanks."
Yori looked at Kiryu and she noticed the stain on his shirt for the first time. "Just use a bit of vinegar; it will get it out in a jiffy." She commented.
"Oh? Hmm. Ok, I'll try it." Kiryu smirked.
The three of them returned to the roof to finally eat in the last fifteen minutes they had left before retuning to the gym for the last duel.
"Hello, people." Yori greeted everyone with a smile. Ren tensed and everyone else greeted her back.
Aki and Kiryu returned to their seats - Kiryu next to Rua and Aki next to Kiryu and leaving an empty seat between her and Ralph for Yori.
"Hi to you too, Ralph." Yori said as she patted his back while seating down next to him but reclining against the table instead.
He looked at her confused. "What? I am not a person now?"
"Nope." She smirked. "You are penguin. Remember?" she laughed.
The boy shook his head trying to suppress a smile from forming. "You and your silly jokes." He nudged her with his elbow.
"Yori?" Ren called her as he noticed she was not even attempting to eat anything despite all the food being her favorite dishes. She glared at him. "Are you not…hungry?"
"Remember what happened seven years ago on my first tournament?" she asked rhetorically as she knew her brother would remember. "I am not eating." She turned back to look away from the food and to the sky. "Idiot." She added.
"Hey, what happened?" Rua asked curiously.
"Don't say it!" Ralph said strictly. "We are eating; you do not want to know."
"Aw." Rua groaned dejectedly.
"That was a good duel, by the way." Crow commented just to change the subject.
"Yeah, it was great!" chimed in Ruka.
"Thanks." She turned towards her friends partially to thank them but not too happy. Her mouth was watering at the sight of all the food.
"Yori, about yesterday-" started Ren.
Yori groaned. "Gosh, just let it go! I got the card, I am fine. End of story." She said annoyed. "Stupid!"
"That man was dangerous." Ren tried to reason.
"Is he talking about the same man you mentioned yesterday, Yori?" asked Yusei.
She nodded reluctantly. "Look, I only went after that card because it was mother's. She created the Naturia monsters for me. It was the first gift I received that was solely mine and not to share with my foolish brother."
Her friends look at her sympathetically. "You should have told us." Yusei said. "We would have helped you."
She looked down. "I know but… I am so used to not relying on anyone but myself. I could not tell you. More so after -" she glared and pointed at Ren "-this moron did what he did."
"Sayori, must you really insult me in every single sentence?" Ren pointed out slightly annoyed.
"I will stop when you stop being a ninny." She smiled sweetly at him.
"Even if you insult me, it does not change the fact you are being too reckless. You are leaving me no choice but to hire a bodyguard for you." Ren said as calmly as he could.
"You really think anyone will be able to keep up with me?" Yori asked rhetorically.
"I will find someone."
"Right." She smirked. "No one can even touch me without getting hurt."
At that moment Kiryu grabbed Yori from her sides and lifted her up as if he were carrying a small animal or child. Yori instantly started laughing and struggling a bit although not like her usual self which would include hitting him. She was just unable to act because she was too ticklish.
"Let me go!" She kept laughing and curling up in the air trying to stop laughing.
"I don't see what the big deal is." He said as he saw Yori laughing, not being able to do anything.
Ren blinked. "You're hired." He told Kiryu.
"Huh?" Kiryu put Yori down and she felt on her knees.
From the floor she glared at him. "I hate you."
Ralph smirked at Kiryu. "That means she really like you."
Yori's face turned red. "I do not!" she protested childishly. "Idiot!" she punched Ralph on his shoulder.
She stood up and hit Ren on the head too. "Stupid, brother! Besides, you cannot do that!"
"Why not?" Ren argued.
"It goes against your own logic, duh!" She went back to her seat, reclining on the table. "Sure, hire the first guy you meet who happens to have a criminal record and make him watch over your younger sister 24/7 where she will be stuck with him alone." She added sarcastically. Yori crossed her arms and pouted, looking away from her brother. Ren sighed.
"I really do know what to do with you anymore," Ren sighed sadly.
Yori gazed at him from the corner of her eye. She sighed. "I will stop now before I say something I regret." She looked down, her hair covering her face.
"So, Yori, are you ready for our duel?" Aki asked just to make conversation and get rid of the tension.
The girl nodded her anger off. "As ready as I will ever be. I will not hold back." She promised.
"Good. I won't either." Both girls smiled.
"Aki, can I borrow your hairbrush to fix this mess?" Yori asked as she pointed at her hair. The psychic duelist opened her bag and from it procured the hairbrush and handed it to her. Everyone continued eating while Yori brushed and brushed her hair, untying knots. "By the way, what did you tell Aoi, Ren?"
Ren looked confused.
"Let me connect the dots for you," Yori said slower. "He…messed…up…my…hair."
"…I just told him, you act like yourself when you have it down." He replied, slight annoyed at Yori's constant insults.
Yori grimaced. "I do not have split personality."
Ralph chuckled. "You are just bipolar."
"I have a lot of issues and I am really messed up but no. I am not bipolar or have split personality." She rolled her eyes.
"So, Tenma-san, you admit you are crazy?" Ralph teased her while pretending to hold a microphone in front of her.
"Shut up," she flicked him in the forehead.
Ralph chuckled.
Yori kept brushing her hair quietly now. As the time was getting closer she was getting nervous. "It is ironic." Yori thought out loud. "Everything I did was so I could duel against Aki for real and here we are… about to have that duel." She said sardonically and somehow hollow look in her eyes. Self-loathing, Aki recognized.
"Yori…" Aki touched her hand gently.
"I will duel my best," The brunette snapped out as she looked at the red-haired girl. "I promise. My sense against your powers." Yori finished putting her hair in pigtails as it was almost time for the duel.
"A duel worthy of a queen."
The guys by this point already knew there was some baggage between them, something Yori had done to Aki but still remained without knowing what it was. Aki had forgiven her, so to them it did not matter and did not ask. They would not prey into the girls' past.
/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\
"Here we are!" the MC announced. "The duel you all have been waiting for! The two strongest duelist of Neo City's Duel Academy! Izayoi Aki and Tenma Sayori! Who will become the Queen of Queens?!"
"Queen of Queens?" Kiryu asked confused since it was a mixed school after all.
"They started calling it that because after the semi-finals only girls who had been Queens at least once were left." Ruka explained.
"I thought Yori and Aki had been winning all these tournaments." Crow commented.
"True but Aki-nee-san left for awhile and Yori-chan was absent for awhile too." Rua continued.
"Now, let the duel begin!"
"I draw!" Aki drew her first card. She wasn't sure what Yori was planning at all but she would duel her best to win. "I summon Evil Thorn!" she placed the 300 attack point monster in attack mode. "Now, I use its effect!" she proclaimed. "By tributing it I can inflict three-hundred points of damage to my opponent and special summon another two in attack mode," she explained as she sent the first to the graveyard and from her deck summoned the other two. "However," she continued "these two lose their effects. I place two face-down cards and end my turn."
Aki: 4000 LP
Yori: 3700 LP
"The duel has barely started and the Princess has already lost life points!" the MC announced, making Yori cringe at the word princess.
"Do not call me Princess!" Yori shouted - a sign to Aki and her friends she was showing her true self in this duel.
The MC flinched for a moment but quickly recovered just as the audience from being taken by surprise by her outburst.
"This duel has only started!" Yori grinned. "I draw!" she closed her eyes for a brief moment. Her heart was racing but she was no longer afraid; the excitement was too great for fear. She looked at her hand and at the field. 'One of them is probably Wall of Thorns.' She had Heavy Storm on her hand. 'Should I do it?' she hesitated for a moment. "I use the spell card Heavy Storm from my hand!" she announced. "It can destroy all spells and traps on the field. Be gone!" she pointed at them.
A tornado manifested on the field and Aki had to put a hand on her skirt to keep it in place as she covered herself with the other while keeping her cards safe. Everyone in the audience was forced to cover themselves from the wind as well. Aki's face down cards was revealed just as it was getting destroyed: Blossom Bombardment and Wall of Thorns
'Knew it.' The older girl thought as she proceeded with her next move. "I summon a face down monster in defense mode. Next, I play Wave Motion Cannon from my hand!" she smirked.
"Wave Motion Cannon?" Aki repeated trying to remember the effect of that card.
"Now, you should not worry about it much, Aki. At least, not right now." Yori smiled. "However, you might want to get rid of it soon. You see, when I decide to send this card to the graveyard, you will take 1000 points of damage for each of my stand by phases it remained on the field."
"That's really bad for Aki." Crow commented.
"To think Yori had such powerful card," Luna said. "Is this what she meant by showing her true strength?"
"It is as Yori said: this duel has only started." Yusei said to his friends and they continued watching.
"I will be finishing my turn by placing a face down." Yori placed Solemn Judgment and ended her turn.
Yori: 3700 LP
Aki: 4000 LP
"I draw!" Aki drew Twilight Rose Knight. 'I have to get rid of that spell card.' She thought. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight in attack mode!"
'It's coming.' Yori thought.
"Now, when Twilight Rose Knight is normal summoned I am allow to special summon a level four or lower plant-type monster." She followed up. "I special summon Phoenixian Seed to the field!"
"I tune Twilight Rose Knight with my two Evil Thorns! Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"
The beautiful dragon appeared.
"Alright!" Rua cheered. "Now Aki-nee-chan can use its effect and-"
"I activate my trap!" Yori revealed her face down. "By sacrificing half of my life points, I destroy your monster! Bye, Black Rose Dragon." She smirked as Black Rose Dragon disappeared and her life points were down to 1850.
"Black Rose Dragon…" a shocked Rua spoke.
"…was destroyed." Ruka finished for him.
"You are too eager, Aki. It makes you predictable~" Yori said with a sing song voice.
'She's right. I summoned Black Rose Dragon without taking on account her face down.' Aki reflected. 'Still, this isn't over yet!' She looked at her remaining two cards in her hands. "I use Phoenixian Seed's effect and special summon…Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis in attack mode!" The flower monster manifested on the field replacing the smaller version of its look alike. "I place a face down and end my turn."
Aki: 4000 LP
Yori: 1850 LP
"I can't believe Yori looks so in control yet she is the one who has less than half of her life points." Ralph said without taking his eyes of duels in front of him. "She never- this strategy she's using is…different."
"I remember." Ren added. "She would always try to keep her life points safe or add more."
"What's your point?" Jack asked be baffled.
"Dueling while acquiring more life points is the kind of dueling she found safe. It was a way to keep her sense as much as in-control as she could without getting anxious or excited." Ralph explained. "That's why she could never enjoy dueling, because if she got into it she would go all out and her opponent hurt. Right now, she is showing us her true duel." He smiled.
"I draw!" Yori drew Magical Cylinder. "Turn one." She smirked as Wave Motion Canon began charging and became ready to launch at moment's notice.
Yori looked at her hand – her only monster was Warrior Lady of the Wasteland. "I place two face downs and a set monster." She announced as she placed Magical Cylinder and Bottomless Trap Hole face down. "I end my turn."
Yori: 1850 LP
Aki: 4000 LP
"Draw!" Aki drew Giant Trunade. "I play Giant Trunade!" A strong wind invaded the field once again forcing all spells and traps to return to the owner's hands.
"Looks like you found a way around it," Yori smiled excitedly.
"Looks that way," Aki replied. "Now, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis attacks your monster! Flame Petal!" She pointed to the monster on the right.
Yori's monster appeared on the field revealing it to be Marshmallon. "Marshmallon cannot be destroyed in battle," Yori announced. "Also, my opponent takes one thousand points of damage because it was attacked while it was set!"
Marshmallon remains on the field in defense mode as Aki's life point suffer.
"Phoenixian Amaryllis is destroyed after attacking. Flame Scattered!" Aki called the effect. Yori life points went down again. "I place a face-down and end my turn. At this moment, the other effect of Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis activates and returns to my field in defense mode."
Aki: 3000 LP
Yori: 1050 LP
"Looks like Izayoi Aki is taking the lead on this duel!" announced the MC. "Will she come out victorious?"
"I draw!" Yori looked at the card: Darkworld Shackles. "I change Marshmallon into attack mode."
"What's this? Tenma-san is attacking with Marshmallon who only has three-hundred attack points?!" the MC yelled in surprise as he got up from his seat in an overly exaggerated manner.
"Destroy Aki's flower!" Yori said and Marshmallon ate Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis.
"Don't forget, you take damage for destroying it." Aki reminded her.
"Yeah, yeah." Yori shrugged as her life points went down to 250.
"By the way, I activate my trap now. Call of the hunted!" The face down appeared. "Thanks to this trap I can Special summon Black Rose Dragon to the field." Aki explained.
'I'm glad I did not place my face down, otherwise she would have used its effect.' Yori thought. 'Still, I have not drawn a decent monster to attack. I will just have to continue defending until I do.'
"You will not get rid of Black Rose Dragon that easily, Yori." Aki told her.
"That is one of the differences between you and I - I do not depend on a single card to win a duel." She said seriously. "I rely on my entire deck! Now, I set three cards and set a monster in defense mode. I end my turn."
"What do you mean?" Aki asked, slightly confused just as the twins who were wondering the same.
"You rely too much on Black Rose Dragon. You have other cards too but you do not let them shine properly. It makes your dueling predictable. You are still green." Yori explained.
Aki looked shocked.
"Yusei, is what Yori-chan saying true?"
"Just keep watching." He replied vaguely.
"Aki, you are my true rival." Yori smiled at her. "So, show me your true power!" She was excited about the duel.
Aki nodded.
Yori: 250 LP
Aki: 3000 LP
"Draw!" Aki drew a new card and added it to her empty hand. "I will now attack with Black Rose Dragon! Black Rose Whip!"
"Reverse card open!" Yori called out. "Magical Cylinder!" The cylinder reflected Black Rose Dragon attack at her infused with Yori's powerful sense.
"Gyah!" Aki yelped as she was thrown and rolled over on the floor. Aki's life points going down to 600.
Yori gasped. "Aki!"
"Aki! Izayoi!" she heard her friends shout.
"The monster has awaken!" someone said.
"She hurt even her so called friend." The voice of another said.
"Scary!"
"Monster!"
"She is the daughter of evil, alright."
"Despicable!"
Yori looked at the crowd for the first time since the duel started. They kept saying bad things about her, her heart was beating so fast and she was paralyzed. The worried expressions on her friends' face for Aki only made her feel worse.
'No…this is not…' Yori thought sadly, full of self-hate.
"Don't do it!" Aki calls out to Yori as loud as she could as she weakly start getting up. "We promised…to duel seriously."
Yori noticed then she had unconsciously almost placed her hand on top of her deck - a sign of surrendering the duel.
"Yori, don't surrender!" Crow yells.
"Keep going, Yori-chan!" Rua and Ruka cheered.
"Yori, keep dueling!" Yusei called out.
A girl wearing a pony tail runs to the rails, the closer part to the arena from the audience as she shouts at the top of her lungs. "You are not allow to surrender!" Everyone looks at her, the girl who had just lost to Yori, Mishima Yui. "A Queen can't give up!"
"Mishima-san…" Yori murmured.
"It's true. You are still the queen, the duel can't end like this!" A girl from Mishima's group shouted.
"We won't accept Aki as queen this way!"
Soon, everyone, some more reluctant than others, started cheering so the duel wouldn't end just yet.
"This is a great duel! Do not let it end this way!"
"Everyone…" Yori said touched since for the first time someone was supporting her.
Aki nodded with a smile. "At this moment, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis's effect's activates."
Aki: 600 LP
Yori: 250 LP
'Everyone … stopped calling me a monster and Aki…I finally can duel with all my heart. The chains are lifting, dueling like this… when I am so close to losing…I never thought it would be…. so much FUN!' Yori thought. 'However, this last draw will decide who wins.' She closed her eyes focusing on her deck. "Draw!" She drew what she believe was the last card she would draw in the duel. 'Come!'
The card she drew was Trust Guardian. "I flip my face down monster to attack mode. Show yourself, Warrior Lady of the Wasteland!" the blond warrior stood up. "Next from my hand I normal summon, Trust Guardian!"
"You are going to summon it?" Aki asked. "It will be weaker." She pointed out.
"I tune Warrior Lady of the Wasteland and Trust Guardian. Awaken from your slumber, my guardian, Synchro summon, Ancient Sacred Wyvern!"
The light attribute serpent-like monster manifested with a glow but it's original 2100 point of attack went down to 1750.
To everyone's shock Yori summoned her signature card knowing perfectly well, it would be weaker.
"I equip your Black Rose Dragon with this," Yori showed Aki the card on her hand: Darkworld Shackles. She placed it on her duel disk. "Darkworld Shackles changes the attack and defense of a monster to one-hundred and the monster cannot attack. Also during each of my stand-by phase you take five-hundred points but…I do not think we will get there."
"Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack! Holy Smite!" The wyvern let out a ray of light and attacked Black Rose Dragon also depleting the remaining of Aki's life points.
"…And we have a WINNER! Tenma Sayori is once again, Queen of Duel Academy! Congratulations!" the MC shouted.
Everyone in the audience started leaving and some clapped with the announcement. It was obvious that while they appreciated the duel, they still were not fond of either girl. Still, a few, including Mishima stayed clapping. She had been beaten by Yori completely and while they would not become instant friends, now Mishima respected her a little.
The guys exited the auditorium as well to meet up with the girls.
"That was a great duel, Aki." Yori smiled as she walked towards her.
"I thought I had you." Aki admitted. "Still, why summon Ancient Wyvern when it's so weak?"
"I was trying to teach you that. It is not about power. It is about teamwork." Yori replied. "When was the last time you summoned Angel of Roses? Gigaplant?"
"Eh?"
"Black Rose Dragon is a precious card but your deck does not revolve around it. You can make a deck to revolve around it but you are missing many opportunities."
"I see." Aki said. "I lost because I was focused on using Black Rose Dragon."
"Yes, you did not lose to me. You lost to yourself." Yori finished reprimanding her.
"Is that why you did not use other monsters to attack me?" Aki asked as they started making their way back to meet everyone.
"Actually, I just did not draw any proper monster to attack." Yori sweat-dropped. "Now, we should go back to everyone and eat something. I am starving!" Yori pulled Aki by her arm as she ran to meet with everyone.
This is the longest chapter yet! 16 pages (15 full pages and a bit on the 16th, really.) I hope you found it entertaining! Now, if you read what I wrote at the top you know I wrote extra scenes that didn't make it. Well, here is one! My friend thought it was really funny and capture Ralph's and Yori's relationship so well and insisted I kept it even if it didn't make the chapter. Hope you like it too: This is how I wrote it to my friend so it's really rough.
(This scene takes place prior the duel: Ren starts nagging Yori again for going behind his back and she gets annoyed)
They are sitting it's kinda like a bench so she stands up and looks at her brother "you know, what? I'm tired of listening to your nagging. I'm out!" and as she says that she trips and falls on her face. She holds her forehead.
Ren calmly says "and that's why I don't want you to. You are clumsy and you get hurt enough as it is without adding anymore danger."
Yori gasped not listening at all to Ren. "My uniform is dirty! I can't duel like this."
"why not?"
"there are enough rumors about me as it is. Duh!" rolls eyes
She turns and looks at Ralph. "Ralph~" smiles sweetly at him.
"Heck no!"
"aw, please?"
"No way. I am NOT wearing a skirt."
"It would look good on you." She smiles at him.
Ralph doesn't look amuse. "read my lips. NO."
Yori stands up. "Ralph, come on. Give me your pants."
"No. Besides, it's against the school rules!"
Yori thinks about it. "No, it isn't."
"the school rules say boys have to wear the boys school uniform and girls the girls school uniform." Ralph says.
"yeah, but I would be wearing the pants of the boy's uniform. It doesn't say we can't combine them. Technically I would be wearing the girl's school uniform." she smirks.
Ralph sighs. "you do realize they changed the school rule book 3 times because of your technicalities, right?"
"it's their fault for not doing it right, the first time...or 3 times..." Yori replies off-offhandedly. "Now, give me your pants or I will take them myself!"
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