"Shuuji! Shouji! Wake up!" My mom's voice suddenly broke through what could've been the best dream I've had in a long time. I lazily got off my bed and stretched a bit before a loud 'thud' resonated through the room. The floor shook very slightly, and I glanced behind to see my brother, Shouji, sprawled on the floor, face first.
The reality of my mother's words soon dawned upon me, and after my shower, I dragged my body downstairs. Today was the first day of school. What's worse is that my mom insists on making sure my brother and I wake up at an obscenely early time for school.
"Aren't you excited?!" My twin chirped. He'd always been somewhat of my opposite. He was the rebel, the kid who you could never tame. Shouji will be Shouji, I guess. I'm the guy who's bored of majority of what happens. Strikingly similar on the outside, yet opposites on the inside. And what's frustrating is that he's the older brother.
"No. What's there to be excited about? It's just school." I nonchalantly mentioned as I began munching on breakfast, slurping the soup from my bowl. Though we were complete opposites, we could agree on one thing; we both love Cardfight! Vanguard.
When we finished, we decided to excuse ourselves and go off. School was a 10 minute walk from home, and we decided to be off on our merry way, even though we knew that class was an hour away. When we got there, the classrooms were open, and we were surprised to see that we were in the exact same class.
Well, this is my first year of High School in Hoshizora Gakuen. It's normal to be nervous, but at least Shou is in the same room with me. At least there's someone I can talk to. I decide to take my seat in the backmost row. The classroom is very large neatly arranged, with 6 rows. Each row had 2 tables, and a large parting in the middle.
Shou takes his seat in the row right in front of me, and after 5 minutes of stretching, fidgeting and randomness from him, he decides to turn around and asks me "Hey Shuuj, wanna cardfight?!"His voice was energetic and enthusiastic, as always. And since I'm bored, I decided to just agree.
"Alright. Fine. Let's play here on my table." I replied cooly. He flashed a wide smile before taking his deck out of his bag and laying it on one side. He stood up, tall and proud, and put on a smug look.
Of course, this was a challenge. And I couldn't just turn down a challenge from Shouji. I pushed my chair back a bit and stood up. I had a stern look in my eyes, but my lips curved into a smile. He recognized this look as me getting serious and decided to start. Our starting vanguards were in position, decks shuffled and cut, and just about everything was perfect.
Placing our hands on our starting avatars, we both voice out the classic phrase.
"Stand up, my Vanguard!"
"Stealth Beast, Evil Ferret!" I spoke. He already knew I was going to go first.
"Stealth Beast, Kuroko!" He responded.
"I'm going first, stand and draw!" I voiced out, as a drew the top card of my deck. My hand was just right. I could go for the top strategy of this deck right now and finish this early, but I knew he wouldn't let me do so without a fight.
"I ride, Shijimamaru. The ferret moves back, and with that, I pass it on to you." I said a bit flatly as I placed the card from my hand onto the field. I moved ferret right behind my vanguard circle, before ending it there.
He drew a card, before smirking at me and performing the rest of his turn. "I ride, Stealth Rogue under the Moon, Sakura Fubuki. Kuroko moves back, and I'm smashing your vanguard with Fubuki boosted!" He voices all of that out with energy.
"No Guard."
"Drive check...Aha! Critical Trigger!" He says in excitement as he revelas his draw to be a Kurogane. I sigh before performing my damage checks. To my displeasure, the first one wasn't a trigger. But the second one was a draw trigger, which kind of makes up for it.
"Draw trigger. Power to vanguard, and I draw a card. Now...my turn. I stand and draw!" My speech wasn't wavering in the slightest. I did my draw, and rode to the next grade. I placed White Mane on the vanguard circle, before returning the smirk he gave me earlier.
"Evil Ferret's skill activates. I send him to the bottom, and superior call, Million Rat!" I declared as million rat was placed on the rear guard circle right behind my vanguard. "And the Rat's skill is activated!" I follow up as I flip down a card from my damage zone before searching my deck for a copy of him and superior calling it.
"Wow, Shuu. Using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu this early, huh?" He replied as he crossed his arms. He was teasing my playfully, like he always would whenever I did something he didn't expect, but knew he could circumvent.
"I'm not done yet. I call, Midnight Crow, and activate his skill" I placed the crow on a rear guard circle and use his skill to search out another crow. I call the clone to a rear guard circle, all alone, without a booster.
"Now then, my rear guard crow attacks with a boost from million rat!" I state as I rest those units, signalling the beginning of my offensive. He nonchalantly guards with the critical trigger he drew earlier. I then attack with my vanguard, boosted by the rat, to which he declares "No Guard".
"Drive Trigger Check..." I utter as I reveal the top card of my deck.
"Critical Trigger, Online. Giving the power boost to the other crow, while the critical stays with my vanguard." He cringed slightly before performing his damage checks. It wasn't anything notable, so he placed it into the damage zone without any complaints. White Mane's skill lets me unflip my damage, so It's pretty much a nice trade in my opinion.
"And to wrap it up, I attack with the Crow!" The crow rests, and he places 2 grade 1 units on the guardian circle, signaling his defense. I sigh, before muttering a small, "Turn end. The rat's skill, the crow's skill, and the ferret's skill take place". 2 cards from my field are sent to the bottom
By the end of his next turn, things weren't looking to bad for me. He was winning by 1 point of damage, leaving my at 3 and him at 2. But my field isn't really at its peak. I have nothing but my vanguard on my field.
"Stand and draw!" I announce as I perform my turn's initiation step. I pulled a card, and surprisingly, it's exactly what I needed. Though I'll admit, I've been running all 4 copies of this guy since 2 days ago, it's still a relief to see it here in my hand.
"I ride! Stealth Fiend, Gashadokuro!" I speak, brimming with confidence. It was time to turn the tables around, and see how far I could push him. I've broken so many combos with this card before, and this is the first time he's seen Gashadokuro in action. He had an Oboro Sakura as his vanguard, with a Tamahagane in his rearguard circle.
I saw his eyes widen at my declaration, which was somewhat expected. He's never faced Gashadokuro before, so I could take advantage of this moment. The Midnight Crow that his Tamahagane returned to my hand was turning out to be beneficial.
"I call Midnight Crow and Million Rat. Activating both of their skills..." I was getting a bit more excited now. It's time he saw what my new avatar could do. My field was now semi-full. But then it wouldn't be. My damage is completely spent, so i can't clone anymore this turn. Might as well make use of it.
"I activate Gashadokuro's Skill! I rest a 'Murakumo' unit on my field, send it to the bottom, and give it's clone 5,000 power!" I energetically voice out. I get like this sometimes whenever I cardfight, I guess. I become livelier, cheerier, more confident and more energetic. It's the adrenaline, I guess.
"WHAT?!" He burst out. His surprise makes this all the sweeter. I use the effect of Gashadokuro to rest the clones I brought out, and give a stage of power to the originals. I now had a 13,000 power attacker and an 11,000 power booster, ready to melt faces. I called a shijimamaru behind the crow and a Bloody Mist in front of the rat and began swinging in.
He visibly cringed as he declared "No Guard" on my first swing, from my vanguard, hoping to scrape a trigger. I pulled a heal, much to his displeasure, while he pulled a dreadmaster as his initial damage check. His second check held no trigger as well, and he was forced to guard the third attack with a trigger and a grade 2 unit from his hand.
I ended my turn smugly. He had 2 rear guards and was sitting at 4 damage, while I had a full field at 2 damage. Maybe fate would smile upon me this time. I might just beat him. His annoyed expression was soon replaced by one of pride.
"Well well, my little brother actually improved his deck AND his playstyle. It's too bad I'm not just gonna let you win." He smirked as he stood up all of the units on his field and drew a card.
"I ride Shura Stealth Dragon, Kujikiricongo!" He triumphantly flashed an expression of passion as he rode to grade 3.
"Now, I call, Stealth Beast, Tamahagane, Storm Stealth Rogue, Fuuki and Stealth Dragon, Dreadmaster!" Tamahagane's on call skill lets him bind a unit from my field, to which he chooses to bind the crow. "I also activate Fuuki's skill. Counterblasting 1 and soulcharging him, I get to bind a unit from your hand!"
I lay my cards face down, and he binds what I recall to be an Oboro Cart. I'm left with 3 cards in hand. One of which is a heal, and the other is a copy of the rat. He starts swinging in at that point, with Tamahagane first. I guard it with my heal trigger, and he immediately switches to his next blow: his vanguard, boosted by Kuroko. I decide not to guard, and he luckily does not pull any triggers. I take damage...and it's nothing as well.
"Kuroko's skill. I get to soulblast 1, to send 2 cards from your bind zone to the drop!" I twitched slightly as both of those units were sent to the drop zone. Well, there go my plans. I'll have to survive this turn if I wanna scrape anything resemblin a win. I don't guard the next attack, and end up with a draw trigger. I perform the draw, as well as my turn's starting draw, before seeing just who I wanted to see.
"Perfect Timing..." I slightly whisper, before quoting my Avatar's honorable mention.
"The leader of demons, whose silver fur glistens in the night sky. Unleash your flame and burn your foes to ash! I RIDE! Platinum Blonde Fox Spirit, Tamamo!" I speak as I ride my long-term avatar. I called his persona booster right behind him, hoping to make a decent mid-line and I use his skill, cloning my Bloody Mist.
I start swinging in, and he blocks all but the first hit. He's at 5 damage now, while I'm sitting at 4, yet I have a feeling that the odds are going to turn against me any time now. He performs his stand and draw...and I was right. He starts to chuckle slightly.
"I BREAK RIDE! Shura Stealth Dreagon, Kabukicongo!" He seemed so charged up that he somewhat slammed the table as he performed his ride. People began to let their curiosity take over, and a small crowd was formed around my brother and me. I didn't mind them, and kept my head on the game. His signature eye expression was unmistakable, and the card effects began triggering.
"Kujikiricongo's Skill. You have to discard a card and bind one from your hand face down. My vanguard also gains 10,000 power!" He fistpumps, as if he'd already won. Somehow...I could tell that he was going to. I discarded a card and bound a grade 3 unit, yet I'm left with nothing but a perfect guard and another card in hand.
"And now, to finish you off, Kabukicongo attacks your vanguard. LIMIT BREAK!" And suddenly, I'm thrust upon the cruel reality of his unit's skill. All of my rear guards are now bound until the end phase, and since he bound 4, he gans 10,000 power... To top it all off, I have no intercepts, and no reliable way to survive his next attacks.
"No Guard..." As my voice trails off, he knows he's sealed the deal. His twin drive however, is much more painful. He pulls a double critical, effectively expecting me to sack 3 heals in a row if I wanted to win. My first damage check...
Revealed nothing.
And suddenly, reality was back. My fiery passion was then extinguished as the bell rang. The teacher was apparently watching us play, as well. I look around, and can't help but notice several people. One of those people, is a blonde-haired girl with green eyes. She looked as if she was longing to play us, yet she hid herself in the shadows. I felt an observant glow radiate from her, but decided to brush it off for now.
The teacher was in front now, and began the class casually, by introducing himself.
"Yo class~!" Wow...he was a lively one. I'm sure he'd get along with Shou nicely.
"I'm Taishi Miwa, and from this day onward, I'll be your class advisor."
-To Be Continued-