Ingredients in a Deck Recipe
Chapter 11: A mouse with a Lion's mane
"Get out of my way! You Scrubs!" Kuro and the two obelisk girls heard as they were deciding on what to do today, some Students were pushed aside and even pushed to the ground by the very wrathful hands of the newcomer.
"Sean Suavington Coming through to buy everything in this Deck store! Hahaha!" The boy proclaimed carrying a black briefcase, most likely containing real money, instead of the duel tokens that you're given by the academy, declaring his name in an extremely needless angry and booming voice, Kuro winced slightly from the sudden tone shift of friendly and amiable to annoyed and genuinely triggering.
Kuro hates loud noises, alarm clocks, gunshots, literal anything that was loud and sudden...It also doesn't help that the student's voice...Despite being a dude, almost sounded like his sister, a voice of arrogance? With a tinge of ignorance? Sprinkled with a pinch of stupidity? Definitely like his sister.
The Student known as Sean Suavington came into the card store wearing the usual long coat-tailed Obelisk Blue uniform, except the white outlines being replaced by a gaudy splash of gold and black, looking like a bumblebee wearing a blue business suit, his hair was as red as his temper, looking like a flaring flame, most likely caused by not brushing one's hair in the morning.
Despite the student's high ranking in the school...His height begged to differ.
"Get out of my way you Slifer Slacker! You're blocking my way! So...MOVE IT!" Sean shouted to Kuro as the Sushi-themed Duelist simply stared at Sean, the Obelisk Blue Boy clearly trying to stir up trouble, Kuro wasn't even in front of the guy's way, in fact, he wasn't anywhere near the shop counter, at least, five feet away, and yet this little snot was trying to dirty Kuro's afternoon.
'He must be at least...five feet...' Kuro thought to himself as Sean didn't even reach Kuro's neck, trying to bully and coerce the taller and just plain bigger Kuro Helheim, sure Kuro was abnormally tall, but he knows the difference from a normal person to a short person, Kuro, despite his somewhat passive nature, the Sushi-themed duelist was perfectly willing to shoot back at the Obelisk Blue Student.
"Granted...With your height...Anything can block your way..." Kuro said in a light whisper.
"Was what that scrub!?" Sean asked in a angry tone, Kuro quickly thought of a quip to lash at the Overly aggressive student.
"I said I can't hear you from down there..." Kuro said, avoiding eye contact from the flame-headed Gaudy Sean.
"Speak up Scrub! I can't hear you from up there!" Sean responded with a glare, clearly over-looking Kuro's retort due to the lack of volume.
"He doesn't have to listen to you Sean!" Jasmine intervened, getting in between the Sushi Samurai Duelist and the Obelisk Blue student and pushing Sean away, viewing Kuro's silent witty remarks as an inability to stand up for himself, despite the fact that Sean couldn't really push Kuro down to the ground if he wanted to.
"He has to! He's a Slifer Scrub! Only idiots are in the Slifer Red Dorm! I'm just letting them know their place!" Sean hissed back to Jasmine with the same angry tone he spoke with to Kuro, proclaiming his actions as if they were noble acts that should be commended and respected.
'Well...Jaden IS in our dorm...So I guess he's half right.' Kuro thought to himself, somewhat agreeing to Sean's words, he began to blush and even twiddle his fingers slightly once as he saw Jasmine defending him.
"That sounds ridiculous! Seriously, aren't you being a little to...I don't know...Crazy!?" Jasmine questioned Sean, the unreasonably angry Sean looked genuinely hurt by Jasmine's words.
"...And I thought a bond was building between us Jasmine...You're just as low as this giant dumb oaf! This boy should be kissing the very earth you walk on just being in near your presence! You're a diamond in the rough and yet you resist my amazing charms and tale of tragedies!" Sean shouted back,Jasmine only glared back although she had a curved eyebrow, it was rather clear that Sean was just talking pure insanity...Kuro on the other hand was different.
"Don't ever call him that! He isn't a Oaf, and he isn't dumb, unlike you! And whatever you just said was just plain idiotic!" Jasmine said pointing a finger at the Obelisk Blue student, the fiery Strawberry Blonde heard her best friend Mindy's giggle, clearly liking Jasmine's stinging remarks.
"How...Dare you..." Sean whispered, heavily offended by Jasmine's sharp tongue.
"And nothing would ever happen between us!" Jasmine added, adding more salt to the slashed pride of Sean Suavington, causing Sean to grind his teeth in irritation.
"Not in your dreams anyway!" Mindy chimed in, earning a laugh from Jasmine as Kuro Helheim was in silence.
'...And I thought a bond was building between us Jasmine...' That single sentence rang in Kuro's mind for at least five seconds, almost as if it was a echo of doom for the Sushi-themed Duelist, he didn't know why but he was suddenly filled with a desire insult the unreasonably angry Sean.
"Uh...Jas-" Kuro was quickly interrupted by the irrepressible Sean, the Gaudy-attired Obelisk Blue student quickly huffed out a growl, quickly going to the card shop counter.
"EVERYTHING! I want Everything you have! No matter how common or rare!" Sean demanded with a shout from the Plump Card Shop-owner, showcasing his suitcase that was full of dollar bills, earning a round of jeers and complaints from several students that were already fuming from Sean's roughhousing and general bullying.
"You think I'm just going to give you everything we have in our shop after that discretion? I may like my card shop getting customers...But not customers like you!" the Shop-keep replied, folding her arms in front of the Snotty Obelisk Blue in defiance, fed up by the fact that his day was going absolutely horrible, he quickly slammed his suitcase with extra gusto and proceeded to walk out of the shop.
"Whatever! I have every card that was created for duel monsters! I don't even need the trash that you're selling! Good-day!" Sean proclaimed, as he walked out of the Card shop, a sudden small devious smile crept on Sean's face, something that Kuro noticed quickly as the Obelisk Student left the Card shop in a impatient hurry.
"What a loser..." Jasmine summed up as Mindy giggled, putting her hands on her hips, Kuro was still silent, something that the Strawberry Blonde could tell from.
"You alright Kuro?" Jasmine asked the Tall Slifer Student, Kuro sighed deeply in response, Jasmine only frowned at Kuro's sigh and silence, taking it as a sign for explanation.
"I know...Sean is a Madman, that part where he said about a relationship? That was honestly nothing, don't worry about it okay?" Jasmine said with a little smile on her face, it was enough for Kuro to believe her with a hundred-percent certainty.
"If you want to know, I just gave him some pointers on how to build a good deck, I stopped talking to him once he decided to bake me a cake every single day..." Jasmine inquired with a light shrug, Kuro once again sighed out a deep heave.
"Alright...Sorry for freezing like that...I thought it was a whole lot worse...I mean! I mean...As in he did bad things to you..." Kuro said as he looked down to the ground, twiddling his thumbs like a shy little kid and fumbling his words as if he was a highschooler reciting a play, causing Mindy to giggle once again at Kuro's awkwardness.
"You know, despite looking the part, you sure don't act like the part." Mindy chimed in, Kuro honestly didn't know what Mindy was even talking about.
"Don't judge people by Appearance Mindy!" Jasmine lectured her best friend, Mindy only shrugged, almost as if she can't help it.
"Its not my fault people who look like Zane act like Zane, or anyone that looks like Syrus would act like Syrus." Mindy defended herself.
"What...Do you mean Mindy?" Kuro asked sheepishly, Jasmine looked at Kuro with some pity in her eyes.
"Well, I mean, you're tall and kind of hot Kuro...But, you don't really have the coolness and stoic nature that someone like Zane has...Its like having a Prince Charming...But without any of the charm! Its a major turn-off for some girls..." Mindy said, unintentionally insulting Kuro, who only looked more deterred than ever.
"Mindy!" Jasmine called out, already noticing that Kuro looked absolutely defeated, his arms slumped to the side, his back slouched and his eyes staring at the ground.
"Not that you need to be though! You can be you and anyone will accept that!" Mindy added on in a somewhat dishonest manner, trying to do some damage control from her little mistake.
"I understand." Kuro just suddenly said, a little to quickly and a little to loud, quickly regaining composure, Jasmine looked at Kuro with a tinge of worry, Kuro glanced at Jasmine's face, noticing that his vision was getting blurred, was he going blind from Jasmine's prettiness? Kuro rubbed his eyes, realizing that he just suddenly shed a tear.
'...You're better than this Kuro...' A sudden thought came up in the Sushi-Themed Duelist.
"You...Do?" Mindy said, even she was a little confused from Kuro's sudden mood swing.
"Yep...I'll see you two later, I'm just going to go back to my dorm, my room is messy..." Kuro said, turning away from the two Obelisk girls and leaving without another word, leaving the two girls to themselves.
Jasmine glared at Mindy, clearly frustrated at the Black-haired girl and her occasional shalloweness when it came to boys.
"You know...You can be a real Ditz sometimes..."
"Jesus Kuro...Why did you even came here in the first place..." Kuro asked himself as he walked back to the Slifer Red dorm, he felt like a million eyes were staring at him...Despite walking through a dirt path with no one except himself, he can't believe he even bothered to go to this dueling academy...He was a cook, a chef...He wasn't a duelist, that's something his sister is, not him.
"Should've stayed home...I should've stayed home..." Kuro repeated to himself, he felt weak, feeble and brittle, such small remarks from Mindy caused him to break down like a machine without oil, but then again, what she said was true for the Shadowed Helheim Sibling.
His sister had everything that Kuro doesn't have...Confidence, fortitude, a will made of iron and a tongue that was sharper than a kitchen knife, she was a true duelist...And what was Kuro? A cook trying to desperately convince himself that he deserves people like Jasmine and Mindy to be his friends, a fake duelist who focuses more on the style rather than the substance,
A fake ultimate hero, this is what Kuro is, he sighed to himself in a depressed manner, the Sushi-themed Duelist continued on his way, trying to continue on his way, bottling his emotions and trying to suppress them like a pillow to someone's face, he didn't want to look like what Mindy described, if he expressed his doubts and insecurities, then that just means he's proving her point.
Suddenly...He heard a loud scream coming behind him, garnering the Shadowed Helheim Sibling's attention as he turned around, instantly Kuro frowned when he saw the Gaudily-dressed Sean Suavington, running towards with flaring nostrils.
"SCRUB!" Sean said with a shout as he confronted Kuro, the Shadowed Helheim Sibling took a deep breath...
'You just had an emotional breakdown Kuro...Learn from it...Try and act cool for once.' Kuro reminded himself, calming down from his triggered state and entering a different kind of moodset.
"...What do you want?" Kuro questioned the much-more shorter Sean, getting close to the Obelisk Blue student to intimidate him.
"I want to duel you! For Jasmine's hand! Only I! Sean Suavington! Deserve her and her only!" Sean said with a shout, Kuro was silent, but he glared at Sean, he was genuinely getting tired of this little Obelisk blue-blooded snot
"Fine...Bring it on." Kuro beckoned.