Cardfight Vanguard: Setsuzoku Sensō
Chapter 7
Hell Week's Daffodil Oracle
Imagine that you just went back up the river of time to a few minutes before the Academy's comprehensive written exam only to go down a different river in the form of Ryuga Akaimaru's class. The man himself is hunched over his desk exhausted from all the extra studying he did while the rest of his class slowly trickles in through the door.
"Arghhh… shouldn't have stayed up all night studying… horrible mistake." Ryuga quietly groaned as he forced himself to sit upright for fear of actually falling asleep.
"Awww….. Suzu really appreciates that all of her new school friends would take the time to walk her to class, but she thought that almost all of you have homeroom on another part of the campus." a young maiden said in a cute and pure tone.
Ryuga turns his head towards the classroom door after hearing the familiar "bubbly" voice of one of his classmates. It is there he sees a young maiden surrounded by a small crowd of students, of whom in terms of appearance stand out no more than any other background character. The young maiden herself was of course a simple girl with a bust size only slightly bigger than this story's washboard main character; she's slightly over 5 feet tall, ruby red eyes with a beauty mark just below her left one, hair the same shade of her eyes that also reach down to her waist, and a face filled with child-like innocence.
"It's no problem at all since this last minute exam was probably pretty stressful for such a pure hearted girl such as yourself." A student at the head of the crowd said.
"Of course it's no problem since it is our duty as members of the Suzuran Care Club to protect our goddess, but a shame the Academy cracks down on fan clubs based around students. Otherwise none of us would be afraid of declaring our intent to the world." another student in the crowd thought.
"Now if you'll excuse me I really have to go everyone, and I hope you all pass your tests because I want to play with everyone later." Suzuran said as she made a playful bow before the crowd.
"Remember, you must protect our goddess from the bastard that would dare to taint her." a third member of the crowd whispered to a 4th, 5th, and 6th member.
"To think the anime trope about high school students having dedicated fan clubs turned out to be true, but it's scary how Suzuran is so pure that she hasn't noticed that she actually has a fan club." Ryuga thought as he couldn't help but chuckle slightly due to being a witness to this particular cliché just before he starts rummaging through his bag.
By "Pure", Ryuga means ignorant. At any rate Suzuran stopped right at her classroom's entryway and turned her head side to side signifying that she's looking for someone, and her eyes open up more along with her smile becoming even wider the moment she finds that person.
"Ryu-chi!" Suzuran happily yelled as though he were Santa Claus.
"Wha…" Ryuga mumbled as he lifted up his head only to feel both a light and soft impact on his right side, "Oh no not again."
Ryuga turned his head to his right and saw Suzuran with her arms around him like he were a giant stuffed animal, and her head was rubbing against his shoulder as though she were an affectionate cat.
"I'm so jealous…. I wish a cute girl would do that for me." one of Ryuga's classmates mumbled out of jealousy.
"Damn it…. since school started this bastard has always received such attention from our goddess." A member of Suzuran's fan club thought out of jealousy as well, "Even if Ryuga himself has no intentions of doing anything….. we must make sure his will doesn't break under her charms, and he defiles our goddess."
"Why do I get the feeling someone just accused me of being a pervert?" Ryuga thought as he tries to think of a way to get Suzuran off of him.
"Ryu-chi, Suzu was a good girl as she studied real hard for the test we had today… so could you do that thing you did when we first met?" Suzuran asks as she gazes upon Ryuga with puppy dog eyes.
"You'll… be fine." Ryuga said as he gently patted Suzuran's head like she were an actual puppy.
"Hehe.. thank you Ryu-chi." Suzuran chuckled as an even bigger smile appeared on her face.
"So can you please let go of me now?" Ryuga asks as he prays to god that this adorable little girl gives him the answer he wants.
"No…. memorizing everything in all those books was sooooo hard." Suzuran instantly retorts, "Suzu wants to recharge with as much Ryu-chi power before the test actually starts."
Que a sense of awkwardness appearing in the room at this moment, but thankfully one of Ryuga and Suzuran's female classmates walks up to the two of them after finding the courage to break this situation.
"Excuse me Kitashirakawa-san, but it seems like Akaimaru-san is uncomfortable with you hugging him like that." a female freshmen pointed out.
"Ehh? Really? Suzu has acted like this for all her other friends, and they never seem to mind." Suzu said with tone of shock in her voice as though she just learned Santa wasn't real.
"Of course they wouldn't mind…. such displays of affection is no different than receiving a blessing from our goddess." All the members of Suzuran's fan club coincidentally thought at the same time.
"I… see." the female student mumbled as she wasn't sure what to make of Suzuran's reply.
"But since the teacher should be here soon, Suzu will let go for now so she doesn't get into trouble." Suzuran said as she reluctantly let go of Ryuga.
"Umm… Kitashirakawa-san, if you don't mind my asking…. well…. a lot of us wanted to know why you like Akaimaru-san so much. Would you mind sharing the story?" the same female student asks.
"Wait… let me do it or she'll say something seriously overblown that makes me look like a chauvinist!" Ryuga urgently declared as he raised his hand indicating that the above situation has indeed happened before.
"Ryu-chi was Suzu's super cool and amazing knight in shining armor that scared away bad people that wanted to carry her away." Suzuran interjects as she gazes upon Ryuga like he was her idol after recalling the incident.
"To translate: I was just taking a shortcut home after getting some stuff from the shopping district near where I live, and I saw Suzuran-san being bullied by a few guys." Ryuga explained as one could see how scared he was at that moment based on the expression he had on his face, "After sweating a few pounds from fright, I got the attention of those guys and scared them off after tricking them into thinking the cops were coming."
"Suzu was so scared and so happy when all those bad people left that she couldn't help but squeeze her arms around Ryu-chi like Suzu's favorite stuffed animal." Suzuran explained in a delightful manner, "Ryu-chi's mama came by right after and said something about "taking responsibility", so he invited me over to his house for dinner. Since then Suzu and Ryu-chi have been the best of friends."
At that moment no one noticed Ryuga turn his head away and blush slightly once the words "taking responsibility" came up due to the many ways they could be misinterpreted.
"Ryu-chi helped Suzu feel better when he said "There there…. Suzu is someone that will become a big girl who will do great things, so she shouldn't cry right now."" Suzuran explained, "In fact Suzu was so happy that she thought why she came to this school."
And now at this moment Ryuga wished there was a hole he could crawl himself into after having hearing what he said being repeated to most of his class.
"Why did you come here?" the female student asked.
Suzuran waved her hands signifying that this particular freshman should come a bit closer, and everyone around these two returned to their seats (save for Ryuga who already knows what she's about to say) after they realized that this was something only a few people should here.
"Tee-hee…. Suzu came to this school to find someone special to her, but not the like like kind of special. Still…. because what Ryuga said was similar to what Suzu's special someone said... she hopes he is that person as Suzu wouldn't mind coming to like like him." Suzu explained as she quietly whispered into her female classmate's ears, "Now don't tell anyone as the only one who knows Suzu's secret here at this school is you."
"Of course." the female student declared.
Little did Suzuran know that the female freshman she had talked to was actually a member of her secretive fan club, and her secret as a result would soon be spread amongst the members the moment the written exam comes to a close. Speaking of the written exam, it had started the moment Ryuga and Suzuran's teacher walked into their class a few minutes later.
"I don't follow that religion, but Jesus Christ these questions are hard." Ryuga thought as he rubs his forehead due to the stress.
Ryuga turns and stretches his neck in order to relive some of that stress, and by chance he happens to see Suzuran quietly hum a toon as she answers these questions. Surprisingly enough none of the other students sitting directly around Suzuran seem to mind such an act…. in fact they seem to enjoy the toon as they take this arduous exam, however the young lady who refers to herself in the 3rd person seems to be rapidly tapping her touchscreen as though she were attempting to respond to multiple text messages at once.
"I must be imagining things." Ryuga thought.
"Time is up so phones down, and after a few minutes for the experts we have on hand you'll get your results back. Although I was against this….. if the border around your score is green then you get to stay, but if the border is red then you can consider yourself expelled." The teacher explained, "And since it is too late for any of you to change anything, to pass this test you have to at least match your score on the entrance exam or final exam for middle school seniors."
1 student acts as though this piece of information means nothing to them, a few breathe a sigh of relief, and the remaining students in his class start to go through various levels of freaking out. All of the students would have absolute confidence in passing this test were it graded by normal standards even if they couldn't match their entrance scores, but the shock of that being the minimum standard put many students in a state of despair.
"Oh shit oh shit….. I should have gone back and corrected the ones I knew I realized I got wrong when I had the chance."Ryuga quietly mumbled as he already thought himself to be on the first boat out of the school.
The second group of students wasn't confident enough to say with 100% certainty that they'd match their entrance exam scores; however they were confident enough to maintain the appearance of being calm. The most nervousness they showed was subtle fidgeting with some random object they had at hand or a simple tapping of their fingers. As for the 1 student who seemed completely unaffected by all of this….
"Suzu really needs to get some sleep the first chance she gets, so she wishes all of her classmates would stop yelling." Suzuran quietly mumbled after yawning for a few seconds.
In fact as Suzuran's class was going through various levels of mental breakdowns, the lady herself was killing time by playing games on her fancy school phone when a pop-up appeared. It was the pop-up that nearly all of the high school freshmen were dreading, of which was followed by moans of despair along yells of happiness.
"Ha ha… 92% freaking percent! I matched my score!" Ryuga yelled as he raised his hands into the air like he just doesn't care.
"Hmmph….. as expected." Suzuran thought as she glanced at her phone just before putting it back into her pocket.
All of the freshmen were given a few minutes to take care of any last minute business before heading to their assigned arena, of which Ryuga ends up lagging behind his class by a few minutes due to a long line at the bathroom.
"Ryu-chi, wait up!" Suzuran yelled.
Ryuga turned around and as one might have expected, he saw Suzuran just a few feet away from him, out of breathe, and toting her book bag in her hand.
"Thank you….. Suzu forgot her bag so she ran back to class to get it, and there was no reason for her to walk back alone since she saw you." Suzuran explained as she and Ryuga started walking together.
"Alright then… you alright?" Ryuga asked in a concerned tone, "You seem a little out of it all of a sudden."
Using the words "a little out of it" was putting the description of Suzuran's current state mildly. She of course wasn't anything on the level of a horrid mess, but right now Suzuran looks as though she hasn't slept for a week when compared to her energetic self from the start of the day.
"Suzu is fine. She studied real hard for the test today, but even if it's only for a few minutes she's relieved that she can relax a little." Suzuran explained.
Suzuran and Ryuga's class were amongst the first to arrive at their assigned arena, of which was indicated by the multiple empty seats. This made it easy for the pair of newly made friends to find a seat next to one another.
"Say… how did you do on the test?" Ryuga asked curiously asked.
Ryuga felt a weight on his shoulder before Suzuran could even answer his question, and the man himself turns his head to find that the aforementioned weight was just Suzuran resting her tired head.
"Suzu studied real hard and got a perfect score, but she's tired now so she thinks that she'll take a nap for a bit." Suzuran explained as she already sounded like she was drifting off to sleep, "Ryu-chi, wake Suzu up when something happens."
"You really worked hard… then good job Suzu." Ryuga thought as he couldn't help but pat the sleeping beauty on her head.
It took only another 15 minutes for this stadium to nearly be filled to the brim, and Tsukiyo-senpai didn't start giving her speech until another 10 minutes after that.
"Can I please have silence in the arena?" Tsukiyo asked.
"Hey get up…. something's about to go down." Ryuga declared as he gently nudges the proverbial sleeping beauty next to him.
"Hawwwwh… good morning Ryu-chi." Suzuran said as she both yawned and stretched her arms.
"How are you feeling?" Ryuga asked.
"Suzu honestly wishes she could take a longer nap, but she's recovered enough." Suzuran answered in an energetic manner as she continued to stretch her limbs, "Besides….. Suzu is as much of a strong girl as she is a smart one, but still….. thank you Ryuchi."
"For what?" Ryuga asked in a confused tone.
"Unless Suzu was dreaming it, she could feel someone petting her head….. and it really helped get rid of a huge chunk of the stress she had… so thank you Ryu-chi." Suzuran explained.
"Your…. Welcome." Ryuga mumbled as he felt too embarrassed to look Suzuran in the face due to being referred to in such a manner.
The things that occur from this point on need no reiteration save for the summary of the fight that follows being a one-sided butt kicking fiasco despite Ryuga's valiant yet ultimately futile resolve in his match against Kisaki. The man himself returns to sitting amongst his class completely ignorant to the looks of admonishment and admiration he had gained from the rest of the school.
"Sorry guys…. I couldn't pull out a win for us." Ryuga said as he bows to his class in apology for his failure.
But not a single member of Ryuga's class was mad at him for his failure…. rather they voiced their admiration for his courage. In fact one student pointed out that Kisaki's class has a lot of strong people asides from her, and in order to win they'll need to have his level of guts.
"You were so cool Ryu-chi!" Suzuran said excitedly as her fingers were interlocked together.
"Ha thanks." Ryuga said to Suzuran before turning to face the rest of his class, "But I'll leave it to the rest of you guys to avenge me. Since we're the first ones up… let's show everyone here that we're the strongest freshmen class!"
"Yeah!" Ryuga and Suzuran's class yelled.
Under normal circumstances Ryuga's class would have likely ignored his rallying cry, however between his earlier performance and the thought of seeing one's units come alive….. the morale of his class rises as though they'd be willing to face the armies of Mordor with their small numbers. Kisaki's class has greater skill on average (save for a certain someone) when compared to Ryuga's class, of which should mean that they'd win this contest for certain; however the following matches continued to go back and forth thanks to the aforementioned rise in morale.
"Now beware the wrath of the future king's blade! Stride generation….. Descending Future King, Alfred II!" Kokuo yelled.
Kokuo is currently fighting in the 26th round of this class matchup, and he would have long since won were it not for the fact that his opponent continued to get lucky with defensive trigger pulls. That person's luck however is soon about to run out in the face of overwhelming power.
"Since I have three face up copies of my vanguard in the G-Zone and a full field, the power of my front row units will go up by 10k!" Kokuo declared, "Taste the might of the king's blade! Alfred II will attack your vanguard!"
Kokuo's unfortunate victi… I mean opponent was then forced to suffer through the after effects of a triple critical drive check, however thanks to the efforts of Umi's best friend the record now stands at 13 wins and 13 losses.
"You've improved a bit more than I thought you would in such a short time ruffian." Kokuo said in an admonishing tone, however the subtle grin on her face indicates that she greatly appreciates Kokuo keeping their class in the game.
"It seems that way because I actually move my own arms and legs instead of having someone in a maid outfit do it for me." Kokuo retorts in a snide manner, "You should really try it sometime. It just may help with your complexion, and it may even put a little color in your hair."
"I'll let that go given your performance just now, so consider that your reward for your rude behavior." Kisaki thought.
In truth Kisaki would have preferred to say that aloud along with fighting the opposing class by herself, however since the rules of this competition will likely not allow her to do such a thing; she has to maintain at least the illusion of a unified front so her class will be able to compete with the increased morale of their opponents.
"She's not wrong though Kokuo my friend…. I'm still not that strong, but even someone like me can see that you've improved a great deal." Umi pointed out in a somewhat self-admonishing tone.
"Did seeing the units of Cray come alive and Kisaki showing off a bit of her true ability affect your confidence?" Kokuo sighed as he knew exactly what his best friend was thinking.
"There's no point in denying that I'm one of the least talented fighters here, but I've done all I can to prepare for this so…" Umi mumbled as she glanced around the area right around her.
The reason Umi was checking her surroundings was to make sure that no one hears what she's about to say next, but thankfully there isn't anyone that would due to the fact that they're all focused on the big screen to see just who will be fighting next. Relieved at this fact, Umi moves a little closer to her friend's face.
"Of course this has caused my confidence to take a f***ing blow you dumba**. Why the hell wouldn't it?" Umi whispered.
"If you keep putting yourself down like that…. well you'll never become strong, but….. with how much effort you've put the past couple of days…. if you have to fight I highly doubt you'll win, but you should at least not suck just enough to avoid getting expelled." Kokuo said in a blunt fashion.
"Dick…. Who says I won't win?" Umi retorts as she stops on her best friend's foot out of anger.
"Putting aside… my intense desire to scream from pain…. look over there." Kokuo said as his body starts shivering from the jolt of pain coursing through him.
Kokuo was pointing at Suzuran and the rest of her class, of whom surprisingly enough only has another class sitting between them in terms of distance.
"That's Suzuran Kitashirakawa sitting over there. She's both the only one in her class who hasn't fought yet, and is ranked as the 3rd strongest among high school division freshmen according to the initial rankings." Kokuo explained, "I haven't actually seen her fight yet, but given how strict this school is about standards….. your chances of winning aren't zero though you're still likely to get your butt kicked."
"I see…. well I can only do what I can do in this situation." Umi said as she starts to truly understand just how serious the situation is.
"Well we still have a few guys in our class who hasn't fought yet, sooo…. it's not like it is set in stone that you'll go up. Besides… I'm sure the academy staff has planned something for the few people not lucky enough to be selected to go up." Kokuo pointed out in an attempt to ease his friend's nerves, "So just keep smiling and take what comes with a grain of salt."
"The last match: Suzuran Kitashirakawa Vs Umi Kitagawa!" Tsukiyo declared.
"Shit!" yelled the members of Umi's class who were aware of her rank.
"Yes!" yelled the members of Suzuran's class who were aware of the same information.
"Of course she'd be selected." Kokuo mumbled as he immediately buried his face in the palm of his hand, "I had to open by big stupid mouth and jinx it."
"What was that about me not having to go up? Kokuo my friend, could you please take the time to explain that to me?" Umi asked.
Umi was looking at her friend with a smile at that moment; however anyone with a high enough EQ would be able to tell that hiding behind such a smile is in actuality the wrath of an angry goddess. Knowing that she has no choice but to walk the plank, Umi heads to the stage under the wrath-filled gaze of her entire class. They all have a gaze that says "You better win or else" even though they know the chances are slim of such a scene actually occurring.
"Just take it with a grain of salt….. just take it with a grain of salt….. just take it with a grain of salt... where is this amazing stress relieving thing called salt." Umi nervously mumbled to herself as she failed to notice that her hands were twitching like a blender.
The only ones who noticed how nervous Suzuran was is Tsukiyo and Suzuran given how the latter is only a few feet away from the former, but the only thing most of the crowd sees is how this last match of the class will be an intensive full-contact tie breaker match. The remaining members of the crowd who are aware of the rankings are expecting another slaughter like it was at the start.
"You'll be fine since you've improved a lot as well over the few practice games we've had before today." Kokuo thought.
"Alright Umi…. you've followed those training guides as much as you've could, so just play your normal game and leave it up to fate." Umi thought as she takes out her deck, "Shit!"
The reason for Umi's mental statement of that particular swear word was due to the fact that she had yet to realize the state of her aforementioned nervously twitching hands, and as a result Umi's deck launched out of her hand like a bunch of confetti. Thankfully most of her cards land on the fight table; while only a few end up on the floor, but even so people still choose to laugh at this image.
"Ha ha…. looks like the class of that Ryuga guy will be able to pull off a win after all." a student declared.
"Tell me about it... say that chick is at the bottom of the rankings right? How did someone so weak get into the school?" another student declared.
These were only the start of the derogatory comments being directed towards Umi, and they were far worse that what Ryuga had to deal with thanks to their difference in rank. Umi however doesn't notice these comments as she's more focused on picking up the cards she's dropped, but her best friend does notice.
"Yeah what a total loser." one student whispers into another.
"You bastard!" Kokuo thought as he stands up seemingly with the intent of punching the guy who just spoke.
Then Kokuo sits back down as he realizes that slugging the guy will do nothing to help Umi's image, but rather such an action will only serve to get him in trouble as well as damage both of their reputations.
"I can certainly understand the notion of caring for one's friends." Kisaki thought as she had one eye on Kokuo's short outburst while the other was on the fighting stage below them, "But you don't have the ability to help her now as she can only care about herself."
"Silence!" Tsukiyo yelled in a tone that clearly looked calm and yet exuded small hints of anger.
Everyone in the stadium naturally stopped talking as they wouldn't dare to defy the will of one of the Academy's strongest.
"Practically speaking…. it's perfectly normal for someone fighting in front of a large crowd to be nervous. Previous generations of students who went on to become pro fighters after graduating initially had the same problem when they started attending the academy, and some (like our current first ranker) never completely got over it." Tsukiyo declared in a tone that isn't too different from a mother punishing her unruly child, "So none of you have a right to complan….. especially those of you who have lost or will lose their fights today."
"Thank you senpai." Umi said as she quickly yet gratefully bows to Tsukiyo.
"I'm simply doing what's efficient nothing more." Tsukiyo retorts.
"Suzu just wants to know… is this really your first time fighting in front of so many people?" Suzuran asked in her usual cheerful manner.
"Yes, but…. Who is Suzu?" Umi asked in a confused tone.
"Ah sorry, but Suzu is me and has always spoke in the 3rd person since she was young and has never gotten out of the habit of doing so. Anyways…. If that's the case Suzu also wants to know why you're so nervous." Suzuran said.
"It's a little embarrassing for one ranked so lowly such as myself, but being watched by so many people adds a tremendous pressure to myself especially given the circumstances in which I have to fight." Umi explained like a typical good girl student.
"Sorry if this seems rude for Suzu to say, but she doesn't see how you have a reason to be nervous at all. We're fighting to decide whether or not we are worthy to stay in this school not put on a show." Suzuran explained, "Thus Suzu thinks the people watching don't matter at all right now regardless of which of us wins or not. Though…. Suzu will still win because she's very strong."
Umi takes a few moments to really think about the words Suzuran just spoke to her, and she realizes just how naturally that they apply to her current situation.
"That brat is absolutely f***ing right. I'm certain this school is the right path that will determine my future, so why should I think about anything other than what is in my way before me? Even if it doesn't come as easily to me as it does to Kitashirakawa-san, I'll just toss the people watching me walk on my path aside and fight!" Umi thought as her eyes start to show a renewed resolve."
"Are the two of you ready?" Tsukiyo asks once Umi and Suzuran have completed the usual starting motions of a fight.
"Suzu is more than ready." Suzuran declared.
"So am I, but I'll still win even if I'm ranked at the bottom of the barrel." Umi answered.
One particular detail that no one else seems to have noticed is that this particular arena gained an additional 2 observers to the events going on within as they stay in the entryway to the arena seating. Both are wearing the school's official tracksuit, but one of these two had his hand on his knees as if he sprinted a couple miles without stopping while the other seemed only slightly out of breath. The one standing up was none other than the academy's inhumanly physically fit 10th ranker Aadyn, and the one on his knees was the as strong as he is nervous most of the time 1st ranker Sekai Akira.
"Phew… I was worried she'd be gone before we got here, but don't you think we've arrived just in time like a pair cliché heroes old friend?" Aadyn asked as he directs his gaze to the fighting stage.
"I just….. have…. one response…. to that." Sekai retorts as he raised up one of his hands.
Were the gesture Sekai is currently making with his hand or rather finger be broadcasted live on an American television channel, it would be instantly blurred out due to the offensive nature of such a gesture.
"Yeah….. probably a bad idea for me to show you what that means." Aadyn laughs with a light guild filled tone.
"If you were so…. Phew… if you were so worried about whether or not we'd get here in time…. why didn't we just take a car?" Sekai asked as he finds the strength to stand upright.
"Drat…. If only I had my camera. I could make some serious bank by selling a video of you talking normally to the school newspaper. Why oh why can you only talk normally to be your best friend? Why… it's not fair I say." Aadyn said in a sarcastically dramatic fashion.
"First of all I seriously doubt Tsukiyo-san will accept something like that, and just ask her out man instead of using these round-about methods." Sekai retorts in an annoyed tone as he momentarily buries his face in his palm, "Secondly, don't dodge the question."
"Okay…. to the first thing…. I'VE TRIED SEVERAL TIMES, but it always seems to go over her head, and I don't know…. I think she would take it considering the gossip column discussing the rumor how you're unable to speak normally outside of anything Vanguard related." Aadyn said in a dramatic tone that he wasn't faking this time, "Secondly, why I did it for you my friend. I noticed your physical fitness has been lagging behind a bit recently, so I figured a nice light jog would have been in order."
"Hey I'm in excellent enough condition, but you're just ludicrously fit to the point where our demon king of exercise doesn't think he can do anything. Plus jogging 5 miles over the rougher parts of the campus from our P.E class while wearing a track suit with weights in it doesn't count as a light jog." Sekai said as he looks as though he wants to throttle his best friend witnesses be damned.
"Fine…. I shall accept the opinion of our wonderful school's strongest, but it seems like we made it in time for that girl Umi you see to be so heavily interested in even though the confessions of our other beautiful female classmen failed to move your dainty heart." Aadyn said in a teasing fashion.
"If it wasn't for the fact it would cause a scene, I'd so take off the upper half of this weighted track suit and beat you with it like a flail." Sekai thought, "Still…. I'm curious to see how she'll do after having access to your notes from the past couple years."
"As am I, but if little Miss Umi can't at least show enough improvement to stay in the school then I'll walk around dressed like a Playboy Bunny for a week!" Aadyn adamantly declared.
"Please don't….. I still have nightmares after the last time you did something that rediculo…. Hmmm seems like they're starting." Sekai said after momentarily burying his face in the palm of his hand.
Additional observers aside, the last fight of this class was indeed about to begin.
"Then you two may begin when ready." Tsukiyo said.
"Stand up, Vanguard!" both fighters declared.
Once again the people wonder what it would be like to experience a fight with a truly complete real life Motion Figure System would be like, however they'll have to make do with the normal recently renovated arena like all the matches before.
"Battle Maiden, Tomoe [Power: 5000]!" Suzuran declared.
Appearing for the first time on this motion figure system is a normal looking teenaged girl wearing an equally normal shrine maiden's outfit that wouldn't remotely be out of place here on Earth, with a golden hairclip so close to her left ear that it looks like it's actually clipped on her ear from a distance, and she wields in both hands a simple naginata with a dark red wooden shaft.
"Amazing….. Tomoe-chan looks so cute in person!" Suzuran said aloud like a kid meeting her TV show idol before immediately recalling why exactly she was on stage, "Suzu is sorry…. she just got so excited at seeing her units in person like all of the other students before us."
"It's…. okay." Umi said as she was so caught off guard by Suzuran's sudden outburst that it took her a second to realize that she forgot to flip her starting Vanguard, "Ma… Maiden of Corantos [Power: 5000]!"
Umi's starting vanguard was a young girl with twin-tailed hair just like her though of a different color, she's wearing a dress that looks as though it was made of various parts of a mistletoe, and she has hoisted over her shoulder a shovel that looks as though a beautifully crafted small shield had a shaft stuck into it.
"Suzu choses to ride Cone Magus [Power: 7000], and then she'll move Tomoe to the back row." Suzuran declared.
The appearance of a futuristic looking young maiden with a cone fetish aside, Umi can't help but be amazed how Suzuran is maintaining her energetic bubbly attitude so easily as if this were a casual fight in a card shop rather than one that determines their future. Of course Umi doesn't let this sense of amazement shake her resolve either.
"Suzu certainly thinks that Cone Magus looks really pretty up close and she'd certainly like to see how her attacks look, buuut…. she'll have to end her turn since she went first." Suzuran declared as she was distracted by the appearance of a unit in reality like so many of the student fighters before her.
"Oh dear… I still feel quite nervous, but since I carry the burden of achieving victory for my class I'll certainly do my best. I just hope that they'll accept the results as they appear." Umi said aloud due to the pressure.
Though none would say it aloud and although Umi herself didn't realize it, her words had caused a few people in the audience to start to slightly see her as an underdog akin to a sweet hearted magical girl facing the evil organization (though no one sees Suzuran in that way of course). One person however has a slightly different train of thought on the words of the flower maiden using fighter.
"Ha ha… seriously." Kokuo mumbled as he suddenly yet quietly started to laugh to himself while also thinking, "She'd probably 'I'm already under enough f***ing stress as it is, but since I'm standing here fighting none of you little s***s have a right to complain' or something similar."
"So for the sake of my class, I choose to ride Maiden of Waterpot [Power: 7000]." Umi declared.
Thus the pink haired maiden holding a (likely to be) magical watering can appears once more in the field of battle, but like with all the earlier fights there are far greater details thanks to the power of this real life Motion Figure system. Such details include creases/wrinkles in her clothing, parting in the individual strands of hair, and so on.
"So umm…. What… do you think of this?" Sekai asked in a somewhat nervous tone.
"Awwww… so the adrenaline from the last fight has passed?" Aadyn said as he notices his friend's nervous state of mind acting up while pouting like a child forced to let go of their favorite toy before saying in a serious manner, "Why don't you tell me? You were the one who arranged for her class to fight first after all."
"Ignoring umm…. The excitement, the hologram of every unit in the game has some kind of flaw… when played. For… Waterpot… I don't one….. that should be impossible." Sekai answered as he neither confirms nor denies his friend's question.
"Then there is something different about the copies in her possession." Aadyn said as he sighs and shrugs his shoulders, "Well… maybe we'll figure it out why if and when she plays another copy of her, but for now we can only watch the fight progress. While….. hoping no one talks to you all of a sudden for fear of giving you a heart glare."
Murderous glare between friends aside, Umi takes great pleasure in seeing her own unit come alive like with all of the other students….. though unlike Suzuran who took a few minutes to admire her work, she immediately puts such thoughts aside for the sake of the fight.
"I'll move Maiden of Corantos to the back." Umi said as she took another deep breath to calm her nerves, "Then I'll skip straight to the battle phase and attack your vanguard [Total Power: 7000]!
[Drive Check – Maiden of Polyantha Rose – No Trigger]
"F***ing hell yes… lucky me!" Umi thought as the little confidence she had was strengthened by the presence of the ace of her deck, "But then again that probably doesn't mean much against a clan that can predict the future."
Small jets of water shoot out from Umi's vanguard's magical gardening implement and then they act like whips as they strike the body of Cone Magus, but due to the gentle nature of this flowery maiden she uses the least amount of force necessary as if trying to scare away a wild animal.
[Damage Check – Oracle Deity, Izanami – No Trigger]
"Hmmm?" Aadyn and Sekai coincidentally mumbled together as they suddenly directed their gaze to Suzuran instead of Umi.
"I see…. that's why it seemed familiar." Kokuo thought as he starts to sit on the edge of his seat even though this fight has yet to get to the exciting part.
"That certainly isn't practical." Tsukiyo thought as she suddenly starts scanning the crowd instead of focusing on the fight going on before her.
"Awww….. Izanami-chan is really a good girl. Suzu just wants to know what did she do to you?" Suzuran asked in a disappointed yet slightly frustrated tone as if she were a child who discovered her best friend couldn't come over to play.
"Umm…. I'm sorry." Umi couldn't help but say in a confused tone due to Suzuran's innocent childlike attitude despite the fact they're the same age, "Anyways…. I'll just end my turn.
Umi – Suzuran
6 – Hand – 5
0 – Soul – 0
0 – Damage – 1
0 – Counterblast – 0
F(0) U(16) – G-Zone – F(0) U(16)
Empty / Empty – Empty / Empty
Empty / Maiden of Waterpot – Cone Magus / Battle Maiden, Tomoe
Maiden of Corantos / Empty – Empty / Empty
"Hmph…. well Suzu is mad because she's always had bad luck when Izanami-chan ends up first in the damage zone." Suzuran declared as she pouts as though she were truly a small child.
"How the f*** was I supposed to know that you damn spoiled b****?" Umi thought as she nearly voiced out her internal monologue.
"Get ready…. because of that Suzu is going to put more effort into showing how strong a girl she is!" Suzuran declared as she maintained the aforementioned pouting expression.
As the last if note close to last fights go on in each of the academy's amazing smaller arenas, a certain young man is actually busy at work somewhere else entirely. The camera of your mind's eye can only see the head, upper-body, and a portion of his arms though you can tell from the motions of revealed body parts that he's placing something in the outer wall of another building. This youngster only stops with his work when he realizes his phone is ringing. Still….. to continue working hard despite the history making events going on today is an admirable trait, however the problem is that this person appears to not be an academy student nor is he a member of the staff.
"This is your friendly neighborhood break-in specialist, how can I be of service to you today?" the lone figure said in a cocky manner as he placed a phone next to the side of his face.
If your sense of imagination was there for that small scene in the classy bar themed card shop, you'd immediately recognize this figure's voice to be none other than the one with crimson-colored eyes that spoke to the Yakuza henchman. In fact the sight of that figure's crimson eyes here now only confirm your suspicions, but thanks to the wonders of daylight you can make out two (though still minor) additional details about this person. The first is that he's wearing some kind of crimson red metallic mask that covers his entire head akin in design to Lelouch in his Zero persona from Code Geass. The second is that he's wearing some kind of long trench-coat, but any more details can't be made out due to the shadows of a few other buildings covering him as a result of the bright sunlight.
"I've arranged for the helicopter pilot you requested. He's a war-veteran from the middle-east." the person other end of this phone call said.
Unfortunately it was impossible to tell the gender of this caller due to the fact that like the crimson eyed figure, he too was using a voice changing device. In addition, the voice that came out was high pitched as though he or she were a robotic chipmunk or squirrel.
"Well if it isn't my favorite employer Mr. Chipmunk… it's nice to hear from you in person." the crimson-eyed figure said in a sarcastically flamboyant fashion, "Don't worry I don't need to hear the credentials."
If you could see the crimson-eyed figure's true face with the mask off…. you'd see him laugh heartily as he was speaking a moment ago just before his expression suddenly turns deadly serious.
"You've paid be multiple times my fee before, but for this to be one of the few times where you call in person…. you must want this job to go off without a hitch pretty badly." The crimson-eyed figure said with an almost emotionlessly serious tone.
"You're given those stacks of paper called money to do a service, and not to ask questions." Mr. Chipmunk said in an annoyed tone, "Also, stop calling me Mr. Chipmunk."
"Ha… well you won't give me even an alias to call you by and your voice changer makes you sound like those furry little nut addicts, so what do you expect me to call you?" the crimson-eyed figure laughed before once again saying in a serious manner, "But as for those other arrangements….. have you done as I asked."
"Everything you requested has been taken care of save for sneaking 'that' onto the academy grounds. The size makes it difficult to deal with without being noticed." Mr. Chipmunk said before suddenly pausing as if he or she noticed something unusual, "Hmmm, I can hear a lot of wind in the background. Just what are you doing?"
"I'm just placing those party favors you gave me in order to make my exit a grand one." The crimson-eyed figure said bluntly before in his usual flamboyant manner saying, "With security being focused around the five arenas….. well this is of course my best chance to leave a wonderful present to those that shall host my wonderful performance."
At that moment the camera of your mind's eye zooms out as it rotates 180 degrees, of which reveals that the crimson-eyed figure is working with various tools attached to his waist as though it were Batman's utility belt. What's even more shocking is that this crimson-eyed figure is hanging upside down via a long cable from the roof of one of the towers in the Japanese castle that Umi and Kokuo first saw during the practical exam.
"Are you insane? Didn't you yourself say that trying to pull a job during that fancy-ass school's hell week was suicide?!" Mr. Chipmunk said in a highly agitated tone.
"I'm setting up for the job not actually doing it, and besides…. there's one hell of a distraction going on for me right now, so it isn't a problem." the crimson-eyed figure explained in a cocky fashion, "Besides…. even if it is only a little, all of us humans let down our guard when the thing we want most is right before us. As for the thing the students and teachers here want…. Ha ha ha… it's simply for the day to be over.
"I see….. well we've already prepared alternate party favors for you to use in case what you have in mind doesn't work out. I'll be in touch soon once everything else is taken care of." Mr. Chipmunk said before hanging up the phone.
"I am a thief for the sake of freedom, so of course I won't do something that will cause me to lose one of the greatest desires of humanity." the crimson-eyed figure said even though he knew his employer was no longer listening, "Besides…. I've been looking forward to testing my skills against Setsuzoku Academy's famous young principal."
To Be Continued
Umi: Ha ha… f***ing finally I'm free from all of that s**t, so I can relax.
Kokuo: You're not free yet, but it seems they are the same after all.
Sekai: Umm… it seems like… future itself knows not what will happen in this fight.
Umi: Next time on Cardfight Vanguard: Setsuzoku Sensō "Hell Week's Daffodil Oracle Sprouts"
A/N:Sorry for not posting in the last couple of months, there was a death in the family. No member I'm close to or have met before, so no need to worry about me being personally affected….. though it did keep me from writing for a while. This was meant to be a really long chapter, but given what happened I decided to split it in two as an apology to making you guys wait so long
Oracle Think Tank
O.C Card List
A/N: The following card was created by the submitter of the spunky yet energetic O.C Suzuran, Kappa-tan.
Grade 0
Battle Siren, Tomoe
Power: 5000 Shield: 10000
[AUTO]:Forerunner (When a unit of the same clan rides this unit, you may call this unit to (RC))
[AUTO](RC) Generation Break 1 (Active if you have one or more face up G units in total on your (VC) or G zone):[Counter Blast (1) & Put this unit into your soul] At the beginning of each battle phase, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card, and the Oracle abilities of your cards are active until end of turn.
[ACT](RC)[1/Turn] Oracle (Active when you have five or more cards in your hand):[[Rest] this unit & choose a card from your hand and place it at the bottom of your deck] Draw a card.
Grade 3
Oracle Deity, Izanami
Power: 11000 Race: Noble
[Secret]
Lore: A long time ago Izanami was a young goddess of the Oracle Think Tank clan before it was even established (just barely being past a teenager by the standards of a god's lifespan) born with extremely high precognitive ability to the point where she can even influence her predictions directly to a certain degree, and because of this she was isolated and feared by her clan when all she wanted to do was loyally serve it. Eventually out of fear of her power she was exiled to the Dark Zone nation in order to restrict it.
Now she's sworn vengeance against the clan she once swore to protect, and her chance to achieve this goal came when a lesser goddess that's always been loyal to Izanami alone appeared at her place of exile revealing the existence of a new threat to all of Cray. A new enemy has seemingly "stolen" the ability of many talented people of Cray including the ability to see the future from many of the Oracle Think Tank clan, and now this new enemy is using these stolen powers to launch even greater heists on the nations of the planet Cray. The leaders of Oracle Think Tank hope that Izanami's immense precognitive power will allow them to see through this dark cloud for a chance at victory. Interested by this new enemy's ability to "steal" the future, she feigns the kind hearted yet child-like demeanor of her youth and states that remaining loyalty to the clan despite how she was treated was her reason to accept their call for help.
The first people Izanami meets right outside of her residence of exile was an unknown dryad and a knight of the United Sanctuary who happens to resemble their king, however little did they or anyone know that this dark cloud blocking the vision of the future was caused not only by this new enemy but also the new ally they so desperately sought out.