Chapter 2: The Scarlet Soul Duelist
A day has passed since the Abyss Weiss prelims. Ten participants were finally chosen to enter the next stage where duelists will be chosen to represent the Aoi Faction of the North. Since the events of yesterday, the winners of the preliminaries had been the main subject around Doriado City. Today was now a new day; a normal day, however, it seems it won't be entirely normal for Maira and Sugar Yune.
Maira and Sugar Yune were close siblings who lived alone together, although at most times, their grandparents would help out with taking care of Sugar while Maira was away. Maira was obviously the eldest, and was always making ends meet so that they would both be happy. She had long purple-outlined hair with her left bangs pointing upright, while her right faced down. Maira wore a small shirt decorated with small chains, sleeves around her arms, and long boots. She also had an academy uniform, but only wears it at school. She was intelligent, friendly, competitive, and most of all strong-willed, though sometimes unexpressive of her true feelings to anyone other than her sister Sugar. Maira is a veteran duelist and her main goal was to become the strongest female player, to earn the title of the Empress Duelist and create a a better life for her and Sugar through the DT Grand Championships.
Sugar was years younger than Maira. She wore a hood, a skirt that complimented it, and a small dress. She had big eyes, rosy cheeks, and long pigtails that almost extended to her knees. She was well known for her excessively cheery, energetic, and wild personality. Anyone who has met Sugar had rarely ever met anyone more hyper-active and enthusiastic then her, adult or child alike.
"Okay! We're good to go!"
Maira carried Sugar on her shoulders as they made their way to the school to drop her off. "Okay Sugar, now remember, I'm going to be hanging out with my friends for a while. Were heading to the Duel Arena, so head straight home and don't talk to any-"
Sugar put her finger to Maira's mouth. "Come on sis! I'm old enough to know what to do. Have fun, and don't forget to rub it in their faces that you won! "
Sugar smiled as she continued to praise her sister, whom she was very proud of. She wanted to show Maira that she was mature enough to take care of herself so that she wouldn't be too worried.
"Show off your new and totally cool duel disk to them too, okay!?" Sugar seemed really excited for Maira, and Maira turned her head to try and hide her laugh.
"Okay, okay. But I shouldn't be too snotty like that Lionel guy." she teased, but was just kidding around.
"Sugar! is that..?" a group of Sugar's friends came running up, and all were asking for duels and autographs from Maira.
"Hey! Can you fix my deck miss?"
"Wow! You're pretty!"
"I wanna duel you!"
"Me too! Me too!"
"Can I get your autograph?!"
"Uh... sorry kids gotta run!" Maira bolted as a teacher tried to stop the kids from running after her.
"See ya later sis; Wish Kageru luck for me too!" Sugar waved and giggled as she watched her sister dashing rapidly away in the distance.
"Phew! That was close! Those kids would of made me late for my own school... wait.. What time is it?"She looked up at a large clock a distance away. "OH NO!' she booked and ran anxiously to school.
Once there, she panted her way in to the school's homeroom, slowly opening the door and leaning against the side frame, exhausted. "H-hey...I'm... here..." she fell on her friend's desk, which was close to the entrance. One of her female friends laughed and poked her limp body.
"My, my. And THIS is the famous Maira Yune that conquered Block H huh? " The class began to tease her playfully.
"Doesn't seem like she's changed much to me."
"Still the ordinary Maira I know and love."
"Maira blushed and gave out a look of apology."
"Well, it's not easy dueling professionally and taking care of your little sister at the same time. " By the way, how's your sister anyway?" one of the girls asked.
"She's at school right now; my grandparents will take care of her for a couple of hours though." Maira replied. She looked around, looking for Gai, Tetsu, and Riski who were nowhere in sight.
" Hey, where's the rest of the gang?" she asked.
"At the practice field." one of the students replied. "The teachers exempted them from class so Kageru can get ready for the prelims."
Another of the students humorously added in to the conversation "In exchange for skipping classes, however, those guys have to make up a ton of extra work."
Maira reacted with a skeptic look on her face. "What? They allowed them to do that? Well I guess Riski, Gai, and Tetsu may be fine, but I doubt Kageru will actually make it all up, especially history work."
"Oh you're too hard on him Maira." Ms. Shimura; the science teacher replied. "Kageru is a decent student. Well, as long as he isn't so focused on dueling, and if it isn't history."
"I guess so. Well, I'd better meet up with them. Thanks for the warm welcome guys." Maira rushed out of the room. Ms. Shimura and the students waved and congratulated her before her exit.
Maira skipped quickly and quietly, not wanting to bother the other classes in session. She soon saw a familiar face in the distance looking like she was waiting for someone. That person was her friend, Riski.
"Well! Look who it is! The next Duel Empress I see. I feel honored." Riski greeted her friend with welcoming praise.
Riski Daita is one Maira's closest companions. She had short hair, green eyes, and wore a light green academy uniform with a long-sleeved shirt underneath and a skirt. She had a vibrant, civilized, gentle, and somewhat cheery personality that almost all her peers have come to adore. Maira approached and greeted her.
"Hey Riski! Gee thanks, but it's just to prelims, so you really don't have to make too much of a deal about it." Maira replied in modesty.
"Oh I think the boys will think otherwise. Come on, they're just inside training with Kageru." Riski invited Maira and walked in the practice field with her. "Let us grace them with your lovely presence."
"Ehehehe, you flatter me. So who's dueling who at the moment?" Maira asked
"Well right now Tetsu is dueling Kageru. They started 10 minutes ago."
The two girls were close to the field. Maira had suddenly concluded the result. "Tetsu huh? Well let's see….That means that the game should be done in 3…2…"
"Alright then! Flame Tiger; finish him off!" a voice shouted out, a tiger roared, and Tetsu was now on the floor.
"Owww! Aww geez, I can't believe I got my butt whooped again." Tetsu remarked as he got up from the floor.
18 year-old Tetsu Karaka was one of Maira and Kageru's close friends was the mood maker of the group. He had spiky blonde hair big eyes with short blue pupils, wore a brown academy uniform with grey pants and was fairly clumsy, energetic, and competitive, yet mature in most situations. He is often at times like a rival to Kageru when he isn't cheering for him in duels. Next to him was Gai who was spectating the match.
"Man; 4-0!? Seriously Kageru, I think you may as well be ready. You still wanna keep going?" Gai asked.
Gai Omogawa was another member of the group. He had short and well groomed blue hair, wore goggles, every now and then and had a white academy uniform with grey outlines and blue pants. He had some traits similar to Tetsu, like his energetic enthusiasm and some of his clumsiness, but was also the techie of the group. One of the higher educated students at Doriado Academy; he had a wide array of knowledge pertaining to Duel Monster technology, hardware, and other subjects. Though not as skilled a duelist as Kageru and Maira, he still has plenty of information about cards and tactics and is an overall skilled player.
Kageru pulled out his cards from the slots and shuffled them again. "I'm ready if you guys are! Come on Tetsu."
"No thanks man! I'm done getting trashed today. Gai you go duel him."
Gai replied in shock "Whhhat!? Not today thank you very much. I lost to him 7 times today until you came in. Besides, shouldn't we be waiting for-"
"Ello, gents." Maira stated, smiling to them as she waved. "Have you missed me so?"
Gai and Tetsu went and welcomed her back in excitement. "Totally! You were like owning the competition out there!"
"Oh really?" Maira looked back at the boys with the same smile and took a seat.
"You bet! The entire school was completely wowed! We were all talking about how you showed that Lionel guy what for."
Maira just stayed quiet and let the boys praise her; she smiled and tried not to blush at them. "Tetsu, Gai, stop it. You're gonna make it all go to my head." she teased, though she was kind of afraid it really was.
The two boys praised her continuously. Kageru went up and greeted her as well. "Hey Maira! You kicked butt out there! Congratz!"
Kageru Hinodama; the son Ken Hinodama, had short black hair, a bandage of his cheek and his nose that he obtained from fights, and wore a red academy uniform with white outlines, black jeans, and an orange shirt underneath. Kageru was short-tempered, very competitive. not the best with words, and gets himself into arguments (and brawls) fairly quickly. Deep inside however, he is sensitive, caring, and kind, and would often be the first in the fray to risk himself for someone else.
Tetsu and Gai commented at their reunion. "Kageru here hasn't taken his eyes off you the whole time."
"Yeah he was actually getting worried his fiancée getting thrashed." The two teased.
"Worried? RREEALLLY!?" Maira gave a sly glare to Kageru.
"Hey how bout you two idiots shut up! We're not like that! I-I just respect Maira as a duelist, t-that's all, and I wasn't worried a bit!" Mamoru was caught off guard by their comment, as he began to stutter. "I totally knew you were gonna win Maira. Ehehehe." Mamoru tried convincing her."Besides, the only person you're allowed to lose to is me anyway!" Kageru stated proudly. So there is no way I'm letting some punks win against. You got that?!"
"Are you indirectly challenging me to a duel Kageru? Considering I usually beat you up every time you do anyway." Maira remarked in defense. "What's the score again Riski?"
"7 to 13. I think." said Riski, trying to calculate it in her head. "I'm not sure who the 13 is though..."
"In that case, we should definitely duel again some time. Start off with a clean slate again, even if we do know who's gonna be ahead anyway." Maira replied.
"Rrrrr! Just wait! I'm gonna crush the competition, and when I'm through with the tournament, I'm goin after you next!" Kageru replied to her in resolution. He certainly had plenty of unwavering spirit. The group quickly changed the subject and were looking at Maira's new device.
"So is that the new DT Disk we've been hearing about!?" The boys turned their attention at Maira's newly won DT Duel Disk in awe.
"That's so cool!" Kageru was also amazed."Man I'm jealous...Still, have you tested it out yet? I'm kinda curious on how that thingy works?"
"Uh, well I've only done a few runs with it last night, though not any duels yet though. So yeah I tested it out, but this one was kind of complicated. It was hard getting used to not touching the actual cards and stuff." Maira still seemed somewhat perplexed at her new device.
Gai shared some information regarding the disk. "I heard it was designed that way to prevent trick shuffling, which was definitely becoming a problem. Also I heard it comes with an encyclopedia with all the current cards, and rulings. As for the card projections though, I hear that they'll add some new equipment and patches to fix that issue. I also heard that the main tourneys are gonna have an extra piece of hardware designed for those disks too."
Maira took out her notes and books for her next class of the day. She knew the bell was going to ring soon.
"Can't wait till after school... you coming Riski?"
"Where to again?" Riski asked.
"The Western Arena; did you forget?" Gai asked.
"Oh.. OH! Yeah! I'll be there. Gotta give some support too you know.. Teehee, sorry for forgetting it a second there." she made a face and then laughed.
"Good luck, Kageru!" she chimed.
"Hehehe thxanks a bunch!" Kageru gave Riski a confident smile.
The group then went on to the Red Nova Qualifier prelims arena, where it was Kageru's turn to show off some dueling. They arrived fairly early, as the tournament was still finishing set ups. The announcer and crew were checking for last minute bugs in the audio and other tech nearby. A few duelists also arrived before them and were fixing their decks. Kageru took a look at his deck too.
"Heh. he hasn't really done too much edits on that deck of his, except for spells and traps, and about 2-3 monsters." Tetsu commented, watching his friend at a distance.
"You mean Akane's deck more like it." Maira and Riski looked a bit puzzled, wondering who Akane was
Maira was just watching diligently, she felt a tinge of worry when they said he hadn't edited the deck much. She just kind of hoped he had planned out his strategies before hand, and had worked with the deck before.
Since Maira wasn't really speaking up about it, Riski decided to have a go at it, "Whose this Akane? Someone we should know about?"
"Oh yeah that's right. We haven't told you yet. Well good thing Kageru isn't near, wouldn't want to spoil his big day mentioning it."
Maira and Riski moved closer to Gai, as he prepared to tell them. "You see. The deck Kageru has been using the whole time, the Flamvells belonged to Akane or used to...Akane is...Kageru's older sister."
Tetsu while not directly looking at them added "Deceased older sister."
Akane Hinodama, was Kageru's older sister who was a talented duelist training under their father Ken. Akane was the possessor of the Flamvell tribe, and was known for passionate and stunning offensive strategies. She was once a finalist in the previous Red Nova Tournament several years ago, until an unknown fatal accident occurred during her match. She mysteriously disappeared and was found deceased later on. Akane, before Maira was the duelist he admired the most, and now possesses command of her deck in memory of her.
Maira looked away; she once had an older brother who died in archeological findings in an ancient pyramid in Egypt. She tried not to show any personal emotion within the statement, but replied, "I'm sorry, I didn't know he had a sister..."
"Neither did I, poor thing." Riski said, sensing the mood, she let the conversation drop there.
"Well come on, let's go take our seats and cheer him on from there!" Riski suggested.
"Sounds good." replied Maira.
The stages were set. The crowd filled up the seats, and the prelims were about to begin.
"Welcome, one and all to the Red Nova Qualifiers!" The announcer came and racked up some excitement to set the mood. As you all know we have 4 tournaments in the making. The Abyss Weiss, Shooting Star, Aspiring Hope, and Red Nova Tournaments. We are here to remind everyone that whoever wins these tourneys gains participation at the great DT Grand Championships. We already have the 10 chosen for the Abyss Weiss, as you all have known yesterday."
The group turned their attention at Maira who was blushing nervously. The crowd soon recognized her. "Hey!? Isn't that Maira Yune?"
"Yeah she was that chick who beat that Lionel guy!"
"Aww man that was the best duel I've ever seen!" The crowd cheered her on.
"Okay now now folks, let's just gave her a round of applause!" Everyone in unison clapped and cheered to congratulate her. "
"And let's congratulate everyone else who earned a victory at all 10 blocks." The announcer had added in support, and everyone gave their applause all around.
Kageru was proud to have known Maira. He felt envious of all the praise she was gaining. His attention eventually turned to a group of players who commented mockingly against Maira.
"Hmph! I can't be believe that we have women earning the winnings for these tourneys. But I guess that shows how weak the Aoi Faction is."
"You said it. Everyone knows women are soo weak at dueling."
Kageru and the group, despite in all the cheering heard them. Kageru himself couldn't allow a person he deeply respected to be bad-mouthed like that."What did you say punk! You ought to take that back!" he was steaming red.
"Hey calm down man! These guys ain't worth it." said Gai who was trying to cool his temper.
The group insulting Maira turned their attention to Kageru. "Why don't you make us?"
Kageru clenched his fist tight. "Oh I would love to! I'm gonna put your own feet in each of those moronic mouth o yours!"
Tetsu felt worried "Oh dear, don't tell me he's gonna get into another brawl again." Kageru's temper usually had the tendency to get him into fights.
The opposing sides were now staring at each other trying to intimidate the other. It seemed a commotion was about to start until the staff nearby soon had to split them up.
"Okay you guys, you either stop this or you're all disqualified!" Kageru and the other boys then followed and dispersed to their respective fields.
"Hey you!" The head of the group called on Kageru and introduced himself improperly."The name is Daigo Amakusa. Tell me yours!"
Kageru returned the favor. "Name's Kageru; Kageru Hinodama."
The two glared at each other, and turned away. Daigo before walking away added "If you got somethin to say, then how bout settlin this with me in the tourney. Better not lose too quickly. Loser." Daigo's friends snickered and chuckled with him.
Kageru countered his statement."No problem. But you oughta worry about yourself first moron."
The announcer soon went on finishing the rest of the details. "Now that we have all participants ready; let's proceed to our special rule for these prelims. Players who are able to attack with at least 3 monsters in one turn can get a second battle phase! Also whoever deals at least 3500 damage to a player can inflict extra 500 damage OR a 300 point ATK boost to their current monsters on the field. This tourney will test competitors' strength and power shown in a duel, but let's all not forget to add some strategies. Anyone can go wild, but can you go wild with style?" The announcer challenged the duelists with this question.
"Sounds good to me! Time to pound some heads!" Kageru was excited, especially as the duels fit his style. Fast paced, strong, reckless, and effective. The Flamvells he is about to use, favored reckless speed and passionate power to overwhelm the opponent.
"The pairs for Blocks A-J have been chosen! Now then Duelists; who shall be the candidates for the title of, The Blazing Legend!? Lllleeeeeeet's find out!"