Cat: Hey, chapter 41 here! 42 is on the way! I'm catching up as quickly as i can! I'm sorry! I was in London and unable to do anything so...
Rena: This chapter is kinda... Dull... Sorry...
Cat: There was too much of Yuzu to ignore and make a filler chapter and too little to make a decent chapter, so it's kinda stuck in the middle...
Rena: Please favourite, follow and review, it helps me so much! Every favourite and follow is appreciated and every review is read!
Don't want to? Ok. Main purpose is for you to enjoy!
Cat: This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words!
Chapter 41- Land of Ambition, Duel Academia
For once, in what felt like forever, it had been a pretty uneventful day. I had a lazy morning, slept in, watched TV, and ate breakfast at about lunch-time… After that, I walked leisurely to the Duel School, where we had agreed to meet the night before.
Today, they were announcing the Top 16 of the Junior Youth Championship.
I stepped in and skipped down the corridors, walking to the main classroom, where everyone said they would be. It was the only place with a functional TV too, so even if we hadn't agreed on a place, it would have had to be there anyway.
"I'm here," I kicked the door open to see Ayu, Futoshi and Tatsuya sitting on their sofa, watching a young kids TV show that was airing before 'Miami Message' the local news. Yuya rolled his head to look at me, obviously bored out of his mind.
"They have been playing this irritating show back to back since ten," Yuya complained, as I sat down in my seat beside him, placing my bag beside me, to fill up the empty seat. Sora's seat.
"Good to see you too," I smiled, after a moment quiet staring at Sora's spot. "I had such a lovely morning. I slept in!" I stretched my arms.
"Jealous," Yuya muttered. "My mum kicked me out the house to give the animals a walk at seven."
"Shhh! It's starting!" my dad bolted in through the door with the remote, turning up the volume so much that the news jingle made my ears bleed.
After a few minutes of official news about international affairs and politics, it finally got round to what we had been so desperately waiting for. "And now, the Miami Junior Youth Championship! Round two has finished and the Top 16 have been determined. Now, let's get right into introducing those players!"
"Here it comes!" my dad cheered.
"Our first player is You Show Duel School's Hiragi Yuzu!"
"There it is! My daughter is so cute!" my dad screamed, making me cringe.
Crack. I slammed the fan down on his head, causing him to wail. Thank goodness we were alone in the school with people who understood my dad's craziness.
"…And from the same You Show Duel School and Entertainment Duel style, making a name with his Pendulum summoning, Sakaki Yuya!" We turned to see Yuya grinning, scratching his head. His own way of showing how pleased he was.
I held out my hand. "We've gotten so far we're rivals now! As representatives of You Show Duel School, let's aim for the top!"
Yuya gripped my hand and stood up. "Yeah! Your duel in the second round was really good! I'll do my best to have a duel like that again!"
I nodded and shook his hand, as my dad screamed about us being youthful, causing me to roll my eyes. As we continued to talk, the bulletin continued with the rolecall of students from overseas and closer-to-home. I sighed when I saw Michio Mokota appear on the screen. I wasn't 100% certain but there was a chance that that spot might have actually been Hokuto's.
"Mitchie! You're the best!" Yuya's cheered, appearing out of nowhere, causing me to jump a mile.
"Mum?! When did you get here!?" Yuya demanded, looking pretty spooked.
"… Another dark horse in this tournament is definitely LDS' Kurosaki Shun!" I froze, returning my attention to the news. "His shocking first-round duel with You Show Duel School's Shiunin Sora is still very fresh in our minds!" she said happily, before moving on to the next contestant.
"That's the same with my friends as well! We all huntedyou, just for fun! Because all of you were just pray for ourhunting games!"
"Do you understand now? You can never hunt me!The ones being hunted are always you! Now and forever more!"
"I won't lose to you XYZ scum!"
Great. And just when I thought I was having a pleasant day…
"I bet it's his fault that Sora's missing too!" Ayu snapped suddenly, making me turn and look at her, having not really paid attention to her conversation. It was a simple psychology, to have a simple bad guy to blame for everything, especially when you're as young as Ayu. I didn't say anything but I knew that one day we would have to tell them that it was probably a lot more complicated than that…
I suddenly sneezed loudly.
"Someone's talking about you," Yuya teased.
"Shut up. That's just a myth." I brushed it off.
"It'll be fine, Sora will definitely come back," my dad told the kids, trying to sound as plausible as possible. "Definitely. I believe it."
"Dad…" I smiled.
"I'm sure Sora would be happy if you worked hard for first place," dad smiled. "It'll motivate him to try harder and come back!"
The younger members laughed and began telling us that Sora would return to get stronger after seeing us wipe the floor with everyone else.
"Yuya, Yuzu and Tatsuya, do your best to frustrate Sora so he'll come back!" my dad cheered. I chuckled. How did we always come to such strange conclusions? "And work your hardest to get first place!"
"But, I personally would like Mitchie to aim for first place as well," Yoko cut in.
"M-Mum?" Yuya asked, looking perplexed. "What about your favourite son? Your only son!?"
"Oh! Hi Yuya! I didn't see you there! Did the dogs have a good walk?" she asked innocently.
"Muuuuuuummmm…" Yuya wailed.
Twenty four hours later, I was standing in the small line of final competitors and that's when I realised how lucky I was. That and how much I had obviously improved. I was in Round Three. I could barely believe it! I looked up and down the line, sizing up every opponent, realising that it was no good, every single one of them must be good to have gotten this far. No easy pickings here. I shuddered at the thought. Perhaps I was the easy pick, then? I shoved the thought out of my mind and looked up the line again.
"Kurosaki didn't come, did he?" I asked Yuya. I could barely see past a point, due to the fact I was sandwiched between him and Gongenzaka.
"Where is he?" Yuya hissed. "Where did he go?"
Despite being in the Top 16, only 15 of us were present. Ruri's brother wasn't. It hit me that the last time I saw him was against his duel with Sora. It was almost as if he was avoiding us. The whole competition. Only coming out when needed. Like… He was hiding from something. Or someone.
"The ones being hunted are always you!"
"…Our competitors will compete in a Battle Royale!" I heard, as I finally tuned into what Nico was screaming to the crowd. My stomach dropped. What on earth was a Battle Royale? Did I want to know what it was?
"Now then, let's explain the rules!" Nico cheered. "The match will begin promptly at noon! At that time, Action cards will be spread out! And here is the important part! There are Pendulum Cards created by LDS hidden inside the city."
"What!?" Yuya shouted as I gasped. That was unfair. It was almost as if they were deliberately trying to downplay Yuya and his special cards.
"The competitors must find at least two of them and then duel!" Nico showed us two fingers.
"Everyone has to get Pendulum cards?" I asked.
"The match will be held under the Ante rule with the Pendulum Cards included! The winner takes the amount of Pendulum Cards bet by the loser and acquires them as their own! The time limit is 24 hours!"
16 multiplied by at least two is 42… If someone came out on top of everyone else they would have a completely new, functional Pendulum deck, courtesy of LDS. And soon, they'll be stacking up the shops with them.
I glanced over at Yuya. These few, short days ahead of us could be the final days of him being the special Pendulum user. In a few weeks, everyone was going to have them.
"Also the city has been split into four separate sections based on the fields in the field magic Wonder Quartet! Competitors are welcome to battle in any of the four sections! The time is almost upon us!"
I glanced up at the clock.
"All entrants, please activate your duel disks!" Nico announced.
Battle Royale mode
"Now let's get this started!"
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
One…
"Bring it!" I charged off, up the ramp, half a foot behind Yuya, as the golden cards rained down on the city.
Cat: Urrghhh... I am so sorry at how appalling this is... I will try to make 42 much better!
Rena: The Question!
This is random but...
Your thoughts on Selena?
I'm not gonna lie, i thought she was Ruri at first because of the opening theme D: I thought she'd been brainwashed to work for Academia or something...
She seems quite sassy though... :P
Thanks everyone, you guys are my life xx
-animewatchers186