Good morning!

Pairing: AichixRen

Time: During season 1

Aichi wanted to prove to Kai that he was able to get stronger. He would finally gain the respect from his older friend and he would be his equal once and for all. However, he didn't seem to make any progress and if he did, it were too small steps. He was still way behind Kai. He was learning new stuff and all, but the winning image still wasn't there.

"Aichi Sendou?" asked a male voice, while Aichi was going through his deck to fix his mistakes. Aichi looked up to see Ren Suzugamori, staring at him. He looked quite harmless, but Aichi remembered too well what happened in the fight with Kourin.

"Umm... Y-Yes?"

"Don't fight it. I can feel it deep within you. The power wants out, you shouldn't try to block it away."

"What are you talking about?" asked Aichi, certainly very confused by the situation. He didn't even know this Ren person and here he was saying something about a mysterious power he neved heard of before.

"I'm telling you how to become the strongest among the stongest," replied Ren like it wasn't that big of a deal. Aichi thought for a moment and tried to figure out whenever Ren was mentally ill or something else.

"I still don't understand..."

"Fight me and I'll show you what we're capable of," said Ren, pulling out his deck. Aichi nodded. Ren was a strange guy, but he is the national champion. He wouldn't let such an opportunity slip through his fingers. He put his deck together and followed Ren to a nearby table. But before he got the chance to shuffle his deck, Ren handed him another one.

"Use this one and you'll finally see your true potential as a card fighter."

Aichi took the deck and looked through it. He gasped as he saw that it was the Shadow Paladin clan. He still clearly remembered what a performance they showed at the finals of the Vanguard Championship.

"I'm not really sure about this. I think, I'll stick with my Royal Paladins," said Aichi, not feeling well, while holding this deck. It was a Vanguard deck like any other, but still, there was something wrong with it. However, he still felt the temptation to use the deck.

"Trust me, this will not only make you stronger, but Kai will also acknowledge you as his equal."

"Wha-"

"You wonder how I know? I can see all your desires written on your face," said Ren, chuckling. Ren pulled out a card from his deck as his starting Vanguard. Aichi wanted to get stronger, he wanted it so badly, that he started to believe every word Ren said.

Aichi finally let go.

He felt the power go through his body like there was no tomorrow. He felt strong, confident and like the taker of the world. This was what Ren was talking about. This was the power he owned and there was no way in hell in would lose a fight again.

"I see, you have realized it now."

"I have, thank you... Ren Suzugamori."

REVIEW

A/N I'm really sorry, but I'm just not able to write a decent romatic story about Aichi and someone other than Kai. But I hope you are satisfied with this one, because even though it isn't very romantic I like it a lot.