Noboru walked toward the stadium with his buddy by his side. Quixote walked with his tamed dragon currently in his dog form.

The boy checked his deck and said in his mind what the effects of each spellcards were and when it would be the best moment to activate it. He then thought about Gao style and which spells he should expect him to use, but grumbled when he remembered that Gao could put some variety and took someone by surprised. He put the cards in the deck and sighed.

"Is there something wrong Noboru?" Quixote asked, turning his head toward him.

Noboru answered, "I'm trying to figure out a strategy to beat Gao. Today is the day to show him I'm better than him."

Quixote nodded, but wasn't satisfied by the answer. He lightly grunted and asked, "Anything else you want to talk about?"

Noboru didn't reply, No. I don't want to talk about it.

"Today is the day you leave the city. You didn't tell any of your friends about it. Why didn't you say anything?" Quixote pressed the matter.

Noboru clenched his fist around the deck and didn't reply.

Quixote didn't press it more and waited for the boy to answer as they walked closer of the stadium.

Noboru eventually decided to answer the question, "Because I don't want Gao to be distracted during the tournament. He might have been worried about me or thinking about how I felt during his matches. He could have lost some of them because of that," he turned toward his buddy, "I also want to fight him at his best if I want to show him that I'm the best. Once it's over... I'll tell him the true."

Quixote smiled at the response, "Good. You are worried for your friends and you don't want to give Gao an handicap. Do not worry, I won't tell them anything until the match is over. When do we leave?"

Noboru replied, "18 P.M. I'm glad I'll have the time for the match and everything is packed."

"Noboru. Let's focus on the match only, then think about the rest when it's over like a warrior," Quixote suggested.

"I will," Noboru said. He felt relief telling his buddy about it and was now ready to defeat Gao with everything he got.

Chapter 76: Tiger Vs Sunfighter

Tasuku and Jackknife joined Gao's friend and his family after reaching the final. Jackknife felt his wings being lightly painful after the fight, but it wasn't a complex one. Gao was already gone for his match against Noboru.

"You did great you two," Suzumi told him.

Tasuku chuckled nervously and replied, "We did our best Miss Suzumi."

"I appreciate the compliment," Jackknife replied.

"You seem hurt Jackknife. Maybe you need to cool off your wounds," Joker told him.

Kiri lightly giggled and added, "I'm sure you meet at the final. It's too bad my headache made me miss the chance to participate."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you and Joker would have climbed high in the tournament," Tasuku replied.

"That's right. Nobody can stand my cool and Kiri's coolness," Joker expressed before shivering, "There is just too much cool."

Kiri chuckled at his joke, I'm so glad he's in a good mood now. I missed his joke when my head hurt like hell.

They sat at their respective place. The boy with blue hair thought, I hope Gao and Drum win this match and we faced off during the final. This promise to be exciting if it is the case.

Jackknife saw his buddy getting excited by the thought of facing his friend. He smiled and was also nervous about the upcoming battle against Drum, if he won against Quixote.

"Hello there," a girly voice said. They turned toward the voice and saw Kazane and her buddy Phoenix in the hood of her shirt. She came by their side and asked, "Can I sit with you?"

"Of course," Hanako replied.

She sat with them, "Hello again Tasuku. I am happy I've found you here."

"Yeah... Why did you search for me?" he asked her.

"I enjoyed fighting against you. I knew you were of the buddy police force and you are clearly a nice guy with your friends here," Kazane answered.

"So you want to offer your friendship?" Jackknife asked.

She smiled, "Of course. It's always fun to have more friends with kind people like you."

"Even if she is your friend, you cannot offend Kazane in any way possible or you'll have to deal with me," Phoenix warned them.

Tasuku didn't comment, but saying that they were friends wasn't enough, but she was a kind girl, so he wouldn't close it.

"What about those two?" she asked as she pointed to Ironchain and Cat Sith arguing again.

"My buddies," Kuguru replied before sighting, "They are always like that... Almost."

"Hey!" a voice shouted coming at them while the match was about to begin.

They saw Zanya and Akatsuki reaching them, panting in exhaustion.

"What is it?" Tasuku asked.

Baku saw something missing, "Where's Tsukikage?"

Axia looked around and saw no one, "You're right. He's not here."

"Did you see Tsukikage?" Zanya asked, not hearing their comment.

"He wasn't there this morning and didn't leave any message," Akatsuki said, clearly worried.

"He's gone?" Jackknife asked surprised.

"Did you see him here?" Zanya asked looking around.

"It's not that easy to see a ninja Zanya, but I do not sense him," Tenbu answered.

"He never did that before," Zanya commented. He then ran outside of the arena.

"Wait big brother," Akatsuki commented exhausted before running after him.

They were now worried about it.

"Buddyfight!" Paruko yelled, interrupting their thought and watched the match, even if Tsukikage disappearance in the back of their mind.

Meanwhile, as the battle begun, Hinako, Kyoya and Azi turned toward the place the man was usually there.

They thought at the same time, Tenchi isn't here.

They knew he had something in mind or might have taken action without them noticing it. Hinako wondered what his plan was. Tenchi was her most dangerous opponent for her future plans.

"The minute is already over and the best might come soon! Is Drum going to change form?" Paruko asked.

Drum pushed Quixote away and took a safe distance. He had a few bruises on his scales, but his wounds were minor. As for Quixote, his dragon had a few bruises and his armor was lightly dented by the impact of the drill when he failed to completely block it.

Gao and Noboru drew their card and gazed at each other's with a small smile.

Is Gao going to use a spellcard to transform Drum or not? Noboru wondered himself.

Gao watched his friend and thought, He's ready to give everything to win this match. I already talked with Drum about our strategy.

Drum activated his drill and charged once again toward Quixote. He tried hitting the elf, but his drill was blocked by the spear. He tried piercing the guard, but the dragon jumped backward by the simple command of Quixote feet. Drum grumbled in frustration and prepared his drill.

Quixote dragon opened his wings and flew in the air, taking advantage of the sky against Drum.

Drum stayed on the ground and turned off the thrusters of his drill. He scratched the ground with his feet as he prepared for the fight.

Gao and Noboru prepared their spellcard, ready to use it at any time.

"Your buddy is good Gao. But mine has more experience in battles compare to Drum," Noboru commented with a teasing grin.

Gao also grinned and replied, "Drum is a powerful dragon Noboru and with me as his friend and partner, we are going to defeat you."

Quixote dragon charged at Drum. The red dragon jumped to the left and rolled on the ground before activating his thrusters and flying behind Quixote. Drum flew over the old elf and grabbed his helmet. He tried to pull him off his dragon back, but he failed when Quixote hit his snout and hit Drum's flank with his spear.

Drum landed on the ring and was ready to keep fighting.

"Dragon Spell!" Noboru yelled as he activated his spellcard.

Gao immediately reacted, "Blue Dragon Shield!"

The blue shield appeared and blocked the fire spell.

Drum was hidden in the smoke and charged. He tackled with everything he had the chest of Rocinante, the dragon of Quixote. Drum spun and hit Quixote with the side of his drill and threw him off his dragon. The old elf landed on his feet and Rocinante immediately flew by his side. He climbed back on him and pointed his spear at Drum.

"I am not going down that easily Drum," Quixote warned the dragon while Rocinante let out a grunt in agreement.

Meanwhile, Kiri stood up and yelled, "You can win this match Gao!"

Hanako did the same, "Win this match big bro."

The rest of the family did the same when Quixote and Drum resumed their battle.

Kazane didn't pick a side since the two were friends.

Kiri heard his cellphone ringing and answered, "Moshi Moshi," he recognised the voice calling him, "Dad! I'm at the stadium now and watching the match of my friend Gao," he nodded and gasped, "A-again?" his good mood went away. Joker noticed it and listened to the phone call, "But I made many friends and-... Okay. When are we moving? That soon! It's just in a few days dad," he was then depressed, "I'll prepare everything when I'll have to go," he hung up.

Joker asked, "So you are moving again?" knowing he never stayed long in the same town.

"Yeah. Dad had to move again for his job," Kiri whispered, looking at his new friends, unaware of what happened. He hid it with a smile as he continued watching the match, thinking how much he already missed Gao and the others. What was worse was the fact that Tsukikage was also missing. He couldn't help, but feel like a jerk to leave them behind with their trouble.

"Kiri. You have to tell them after the match," Joker warned his buddy before lightly tapping his shoulder.

The boy nodded, believing it was better he was honest with them.

"And remember that I'm your buddy," Joker added before one of his red eye disappeared, meaning that he was winking at him.

"Gao and Noboru picked their second spellcard of the match!" Paruko brought them back to the match.

They checked their card and were ready to use it at the right time.

Drum blocked Rocinante charge with his drill and countered by kicking the dragon face. Drum was hit by the spear on his chest and lost his balance. He felt on the ground and rolled to the left. He returned on his feet and activated his thrusters and flew in the air. Rocinante chased after Drum, but the thrusters of the drill was more powerful than the wings of the yellow dragon.

Drum deactivated his drill and turned around before reactivating it again. He charged at Quixote and aimed for the chest as the drill spun at great speed. He was about to hit when a blue dragon shield blocked his assault. Drum bounced on the shield and lost control of his flight. Quixote jumped off Rocinante and hit Drum's back and crash on the ground. Drum grabbed Quixote with his tail and threw him away before standing up.

A fireball appeared and it blow against Quixote. Rocinante returned by Quixote side and the elf climbed on his back once again.

Drum and Quixote gazed at each other's panting in exhaustion by the violence of the battle. Drum and Quixote clenched their wrist on the handle of their weapon and prepared for the final strike. They put everything they had and waited for the moment to strike.

Gao and Noburu checked how much time before they picked the next card and they had to wait for 20 seconds.

"It's over!" Drum yelled, activating his thrusters and charging.

Quixote remained on his position. When Drum was close, Quixote gave the signal to Rocinante and the dragon dodged to the right. Drum wasn't expecting it and continued forward. Quixote swung his spear with everything he had and hit Drum's snout.

The red dragon was thrown away and landed on his knee. Drum panted and tried to stand up, but lost his balance and remained on his knee.

"Looks like the victory will go to Quixote!" Paruko yelled with excitement.

"I'm... not done!" Drum yelled as he stood up, legs shaking with almost no more strength.

Rocinante walked near Drum and Quixote was ready to end the battle.

Noboru smiled in satisfaction. He yelled what he wanted to say as victory was in his grasp, "We surrender."

Everyone was silent in the arena.

Even Azi was taken off guard by what he heard.

"W-w-w-w-w-what? Why did you surrender Noboru? You were about to win your match!" Paruko yelled her question.

Noboru turned toward Gao and said, "Gao. I won the match against you."

Gao didn't reply and was still surprised.

"Why did you give up a battle you were about to win? That makes no sense!" Drum asked instead of Gao.

Noboru lips went down as he replied, "Because even if I win the match today, I cannot participate in the match of tomorrow."

Gao finally talked and asked, "Why?"

Noboru replied with a hint of sadness in his voice, "Because I'm leaving Tokyo today and I cannot attend the final even if I wanted too."

Gao said nothing, just like his friends who heard it.

Kiri gasped and put his right hand on his forehead, Noboru is also moving away, He looked at his friends who were like Gao, surprised and hurt that their friend was leaving today.

AC: This is the end of chapter 76.

Next chapter: There Is More Than One Good-Bye