Late Sunday night, Rika was sitting at her desk in her room. She was taking notes on a small pad while reading from what it seemed a couple of magazines and booklets, a steaming cup of tea resting next to them. The sound of some bass and drum beats at a low volume gave a relaxed ambience to the whole room. The girl also had her computer screen turned on with multiple tabs on different websites and forums related to the topic she had been studying and investigating about.
The girl leaned back on her chair and dropped her pencil on the desk and sighed before reaching for her drink. She gave a look at all of her notes and took a sip from the tea, "This should do for now…" When she took another sip, her mind ran through the memories of what Takato told her. "I haven't found a proper assistant yet—Someone like you could fit that role perfectly…" Causing her to blush while she held a hand on her cheek, "Come on… get it together, Rika…" she muttered to herself. Then looked at her phone, which had just vibrated a moment ago; likely from a text message.
When Rika checked on said phone, she saw that it was a message from the chat group she was with her friends from the dueling club. The latest being from Haruko which read.
'Good night everyone, see you tomorrow 3!'
The girl smiled a bit before tapping the touch screen, and sliding the finger so that the chat scrolled up, and she could see the messages from the group. And couldn't help but chuckle at what she saw there.
Koji – "Hey ppl when do u think our frens will m8 it official?"
Saori – "Make it official?"
Chiaki – "jus gib dem time :3!"
Sayuri – "1 month, give or take"
Haruko – "Could you guys drop it already!?"
Koji – "XD we're cheering for u 2!"
Van – "I'm gonna kick ur ass on Monday, Koji…"
Koji – "defending his maiden honor, 1v1 me ye!"
Haruko – "Stooooop!"
On Monday, the rest of the group met at the entrance of the school, and were entertained by Van chasing Koji around for several minutes for the teasing through the entire weekend. They finally went to class and karma seemed to get the best out of Koji since they had an exam during the English class, as they had an exam for which he was not prepared at all. Finally, during the lunch break they all gathered in the classroom, and ate together.
"Can't believe you didn't help me out during the exam, dude…" Koji stated, while resting his forehead on the desk, in defeat.
Van just kept his eyes narrowed and eating peacefully before shrugging, "Life has dramatic twists you know…"
"Dramatic my ass you vindictive douche!" Koji almost jumped from his seat, pointing at Van angrily, though he would then just press his teeth and admit "But I guess we are even now…" Before sitting down once again and grumbling.
Chiaki just patted his friend's shoulder a couple of times, with a small smile before adding "Come on, you know you just didn't bother to study properly Koji."
"Ugh, I wanna freaking die…!" he replied before laying his head on the desk again.
"Quit being so dramatic!" Then the girl yelled before smacking his head with her notebook, "You just have to study!"
"So do what do you think we will be doing today at the Club Today?" Saori asked, catching the attention of the rest of the group.
"Who knows? Likely helping the rest of the rookies building their decks, perhaps?" Haruko replied, shrugging at her friend.
"Uh, actually" Rika then spoke up. "Takato-k-" then paused for a moment to clear her throat and start again "Takato and I spoke over the weekend, and he told me he has been planning not only to focus on helping the rest of the rookies finish their decks, but also hold a small in-house tournament for them."
The rest of the group on the table then instantly dropped what they were doing and leaned over, closer to her and paying close attention. "Tournament!?" they exclaimed.
Rika was taken aback by their reaction but quickly narrowed her eyes and raised her hand in front of all of them, "BUT…!" she exclaimed just so they could pay attention to what she had to clarify, "It Will be exclusive for the rookies. Takato said that making a full in-house tournament wouldn't be fair."
"Aww…" Koji exclaimed before leaning back on his chair.
"He is saving that for later." she then added, just to give a bit of a glimpse of hope to her classmate.
Van then crossed his arms and shrugged, "Well, I don't mind about it at all. I can be fun to see how the rookies learn. Besides, some of them did build their decks based upon our guidance, so that could be in part a reflection on how we see the game."
Chiaki lifted her eyebrows, "That's… an interesting way to see it, actually." Then nodded, looking at the rest of the group. "Hey, by the way…" Then looked at Rika with a playful, devilish smile and asked, "Since when do you and Takato have grown so close that you even phone each other while out of school…"
The whole table went silent, looking at Chiaki for a moment, then everyone's heads slowly turned to look at Rika, their eyes widened with curiosity and also an expression that hinted the phrase 'Hey… she is right!'
Rika noticed how she had set herself into that corner, and now she had to try to find a way to escape from that claim. However, her nerves were already kicking in, not giving the poor girl a chance to think of an explanation all that clearly before she decided to respond "N-No wait… we did-we just texted, that's all"
And then… another moment of silence, with the rest of the table still staring at her. Their heads then slowly turned back to Chiaki, who looked even more smug than before while placing the back of her hand in front of her mouth. Then replying "Oooh, so admit having exchanged numbers eh…?"
Thus, everyone else slowly turned to look back at Rika, humming in interest, again showing the same expression on their faces
Rika's eyes widened as she stared at Chiaki "Wh-wh-….!" "I can't believe it, that accursed shortie tricked me to spill that out, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"
Thought as she almost wanted to slam her hands on the desk, enraged. For a second, she glanced over to Sayuri, Saori and Haruko to see if she could have some back up. But much to her surprise and misfortune, the three of them were looking at her with an expression similar, if not the same, as the rest of their friends.
"Come on, come on, Rika. Share it with all of us…" The pink haired girl thought while looking at Rika with the same lingering expression from before. She was at the lead of the teasing at this point, and everybody else from the group was along for that ride.
Rika could almost hear their thoughts pressuring her more and more to spill the beans about her talking privately with Takato. It's not like anything was going on between both of them, but it was still a situation that embarrassed her a bit, and Chiaki just knew how to make it even worse.
She finally felt as if something just broke in her mind and just began getting red as a tomato with no clue on how to explain her case.
The rest of the group laughing at it for a bit before Haruko got off her seat and gave Rika a friendly hug. "Hahaha, okay, okay, let's drop the topic, alright guys?"
Chiaki clapped her hands together, still laughing a bit before stating "Alright, I'm sorry Rika, I pushed things a bit too far."
"It's…. Alright…" Rika responded, at that moment, her eyes caught a glimpse of a person spying them from the corner of the classroom door. That managed to distract her from the embarrassment and lean closer to the table, whispering to everyone there. "Hey… there she is again." Slyly pointing towards the door.
"Hm…?" Haruko then looked over to the classroom's door and just saw the person spying on them before they hid again. "Oh… is that Kumiko?" she whispered, to which Rika nodded.
"You know, she has been observing us from the distance for a while…" Van commented again in a whisper, "Any thoughts?"
"Shy, perhaps?" Saori whispered, glancing at her friends.
"Maybe she is plotting something against us!" Koji then said suspicious of the girl, though that was received with a mixture of humor and dismissal.
"You know this is rich coming from me, but you are ready to many mangas, dude…" Van commented as part of the dismissal, with Haruko just gently and nervously smiling at Koji, waving his worries away.
"Yeah, call me crazy now, you'll see in time!" He defended his case with a bit of embarrassment before looking around at the table, "W-where is Chiaki?" The chubby student asked.
Yes, she had suddenly gone missing before everyone's eyes. "Wait, really, where did she go!?" Van asked before standing up and noticing a pink spot just on the edge of the range of view from the other wide of the door.
"Come on, get in, get in!" Chiaki exclaimed from her spot outside the classroom.
"W-what are you… get your hands off!" The voice Kumiko called before she was forced in by the pink haired girl, being walked in the classroom with her classmate holding her shoulders behind her. With a bright and big smile on her face.
"Come on, no need to be shy, are a- I mean almost all of us members of the club!" Chiaki said.
"I-I'm not shy!" Kumiko protested, looking over her shoulder at her classmate, before turning away from her and lifting her chin, huffing. "I was simply… uh…" She paused for a couple of seconds before simply finishing with "… curious, that's all."
"Aha, aha. Riiight!" Chiaki responded, not really paying attention to her answer before looking at Koji "Hey, help me get her a seat!"
"Ah r-right!" And then both of them made a bit of space for her on the table and, of course, Chiaki led Kumiko over to the seat. The latter, looking absolutely unimpressed and trying her best to hide her contempt.
Of course, her attitude, and silence brought a bit of an awkward ambience to the rest of the table that could be easily felt. Saori decided to muster the courage to break that awkward silence and ask, "So, how did you get interested in the game, Kumiko?"
Kumiko's eyes set on Saori, with her stern expression, managing to intimidate and make the girl with glasses a bit nervous. After a while, she replied, "My attention was picked by the match between Van and Koji. It was… interesting…"
"Oooh, so we inspired you, that's quite flattering eh Van?" Koji commented, blushing and bit and rubbing the back of his head while looking at his friend.
Van just looked at Kumiko with curiosity, as her cold and collected demeanor did not change in the slightest as she looked at both him and his friend. Her look did make him nervous as well. It looked as if she were in a perpetual state of disgust. He couldn't really put a finger on it, but basically. Kumiko made him feel as if he had done something wrong, and she was just making him feel weird about it, well, not just him. Everyone else did felt awkward around here, if they were feeling like that for the same reason as Van felt; was unknown to him.
"Hey, and are you excited about learning the game?" Haruko then asked, with a sweet smile. However, her approach wasn't met in kind, no.
Kumiko's eyes shifted to Van over to the blonde girl sitting beside him, who was now addressing her. Kumiko clenched her fists a bit and stared daggers at Haruko.
To Van, it was clear that now, she was actually looking at her with disgust, genuine disgust. "Uh… what… did I miss something between these two?" crossed his mind as he looked at the Kaiba teen, noticing that she was just as surprised as he was.
"Wait… there is no previous bad blood between them!?" then crossed his mind.
Kumiko took a short breath and finally replied to her. "I agree that it is quite intriguing to learn more about this game, and improve upon it. It shall serve as good enough of a distraction from my busy daily schedule." The girl then closed for eyes for a moment, while pausing and added, "But what I am more interested in at the moment, as at the prospect of besting you. Haruko Kaiba."
"B-but… what did I…?" the blonde girl asked, taken totally of guard by what Kumiko just declared.
The question went unheard, though, as Kumiko stood up, "You are not the only one raised in a household of excellence. I shall prove so even as a recreational activity such as dueling, and when the time comes to represent the club in the interschool competitions, Van and I shall be the first two standing in as representatives of our school."
"Huh!?" Van just remained in silence, looking at both girls… now noticing a slight change in Haruko. Her eyes did not show confusion anymore, not. They were starting to show determination, "Oh no… don't tell me she just…" he thought before suddenly seeing her stand up again, slamming her hands on the table.
"Listen, I have no clue what business or grudge do you have with me!" Haruko then exclaimed, looking at Kumiko "But look here, if you are looking to set a challenge you can be completely sure I'm not backing up from it. So go on, do your worst because it won't be enough to best me!"
"Haruko… your inner Seto is showing…" Van thought right after listening to that.
"And besides!" Then Haruko pointed at Van. "You and Him? Please, you talk as if Van is the greatest star around the club, let me remind you that he still hasn't challenged and beaten me yet." The stated with a confident smile.
Kumiko then simply turned around and replied, "Or her simply knows it would be a waste of his time." Then walked away from the classroom.
"What did you say!?" Haruko exclaimed, getting ready to chase after her, with Van reacting to hold her back and the rest of her friends standing in between.
"C-calm down, hey!" Van exclaimed as he tried and struggled to hold Haruko back.
"Haruko, please…!" Rika exclaimed, standing in front of her with her hands up, as if she was trying to calm her down.
Kumiko eventually headed out of the room, leaving that heated mess behind her. Minutes later, Haruko was calmed down, to which she simply asked "What is her problem?!"
"It's okay, just ignore it!" Sayuri then insisted, before Van quickly added his opinion.
"Don't even bother talking her out of that." The boy commented, catching everyone's attention, the boy locked his eyes on Haruko "You should know better that she won't drop it, specially if she is challenged."
Haruko then looked at Van, still clearly upset by the situation, but without saying anything, a single word.
"Don't underestimate her." Van commented before crossing his arms and smiling a bit.
The rest of the group looked at her, with Haruko narrowing her eyes and asking, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that I have taken a look at her deck." The replied. "And we may all be in for a surprise."
"What?" Everyone asked, puzzled by what Van was telling them.
"Explain yourself then, don't leave hanging, mister Mystery!" Haruko asked.
Van then closed his eyes and laughed a bit before stating, "I think I will keep the secret for now. But I will just let you all know, don't take her lightly."
"Hey, what do you mean you won't say anything else, come on dude!" Koji exclaimed at his friend, frustrated as he was now interested like the rest of the group about what he knew about Kumiko and they didn't.
"I'll let ya guys figure it out!" He responded teasingly before walking off from the classroom. "Gonna walk off my lunch, if you don't mind!"
"Hey, get back here. Van… VAN!" Haruko exclaimed, heading over to the classroom's exit, as the boy was not listening to her, "You ARE A JERK!"
"There, there, Haruko, calm down." Saori said with a soft voice, adding, "I, for one, don't mind Van keeping what he knows a secret, specially if there is a rookies' tournament on the horizon."
Haruko turned around, "Ah! Y-you are right… I guess you wouldn't like an unfair advantage against a potential opponent…" the Kaiba noted, calming herself down.
The girl nodded, bringing her fists in front of her chest. "That's right, and while I'm sure there is no real weight behind this tournament as such, it's a good opportunity to get more experience and test out where each of us currently stand as duelists. That's why if I'm going to end up facing her at some point, then I would like to learn what she has to show at the same time anybody else would!"
"Heheh, listen to her talking like a total duelist." Koji joked around, showing her his thumbs up, "But that's the right spirit!"
"Eh…!" Saori then reacted, blushing a bit.
"Yeah, if you put that same spirit in your dueling, and not to mention how smart you already are, you'll take the crown in this tournament!" Chiaki then exclaimed, hoping and wrapping her arms over Saori's shoulders.
Saori blushed even further, stammering "G-guys!" prompting the rest of the group to laugh together, easing the tension that was left after Kumiko's engagement with Haruko.
The blonde student once more was delighted and overjoyed to see how one of her closest friends who had supported her in her darkest moments was now sharing something she was so passionate about. Now, the best she could do was to support her friend, and respect her decisions. But not just from that a perspective that was linked to their personal relationship, but as a duelist.
The one thing that was stinging her a bit was the wonder of what was Van referring to. What was so special about Kumiko's skills, even more, adding to the fact of what Haruko now knows about Van. If she managed to catch the eye of a ranked, professional duelist.
Meanwhile, Van was walking down by the stairway, on his way to the bottom floor of the academy when Tetsuo called him out from above
"Hey, Van. Wait up!" as he hurried down the stairs to catch up, revealing that he wasn't alone. But also came along with both Yamada and Takato.
"Hey, how are you doing, guys?" The first year responded with a smile as he watched them approach.
"We were going for something to eat at the cafeteria. How about you, going there too?" Tetsuo asked while placing a hand on Van's shoulder.
Van shook his head, "Eh nah, we just finished eating in class, but I don't mind tagging along with you guys. After all, I'm just walking around and stretching my legs."
"Let us get going then!" Takato explained as they moved, with Yamada just following them behind.
"Hey, a little bird told me about your plans with the club's beginners." Van staid while looking at the President of the dueling club.
"Ahhh hahaha, Rika, right?" He asked, scratching his cheek a little.
"Yep!" He chuckled before crossing his hands behind his head.
"It's not like it was a state secret or something like that" Tetsuo then added. "It's gonna be fun to see how the rookies battle with each other."
"Yeah, but entertainment aside…" Takato said, as they kept walking together. "This can be a good method of finding out…"
"… the level of the rookies" The sentence was finished by both Yamada and Takato together, which prompted the rest of the boys to focus on Yamada.
"What!?" He asked, before adding, "What are you looking at, you idiots!"
"Hahah relax, It's good to see you interested as well, man!" Van responded before he was met with the second year's frown.
"Listen here you little smart ass, don't go around acting buddy-buddy with me just because you got on well with this moron!" responded pointing at Tetsuo.
"Hey, I'm not a moron!" Tetsuo then exclaimed, throwing a punch at his friend's arm.
"Shut your freaking trap!" The Yamada retorted.
Yet, their exchange only worked to fuel the entertainment of both Van and Takato who started laughing at them fighting.
"All I'm doing is just killing time with this stupid club, and just bid my time until I get back at you and kick your ass in a duel because I know that's going to sting more than a beat down." The second year stated angrily at Van.
Van then lifted his eyes brows and smirked, "Oooh is that so?" he asked in reply. After looking at him with confidence, he nodded and replied, "Very well, once you are ready then. And hopefully, we'll make it a fun one!"
Yamada just grunted and got back to walking towards the school cafeteria, now taking the lead from the rest of the trio following behind.
"So, any calls on who will take the win in this in-house tournament?" Takato asked with a small smile on his face
"Well, I don't want to say anything, but the gang is getting there when it comes to learning the game!" Tetsuo replied, giving an air of pride about the goons of the gang getting the hang of the game.
"Did you actually teach them?" Takato asked, a bit surprised. to which Tetsuo responded.
"Course not! I just told them they better learn or else!" He responded with a stupidly confident grin on his face.
Both Van and Takato looked at him in silence, speechless and uncapable to process. After a moment of silence and having arrived at the cafeteria, the president of the club focused his attention on Van, "So… what about you Van, any calls?"
"Well… you may have a guess, after all, you inspected some decks yourself on the first day." He responded.
"Ahh right, the one that classmate of yours presented, right?" He asked before adding, "So, be honest, you helped her with it, didn't you?" Takato chuckled a bit in his question.
However, Van just looked at him in silence, with a straight face and not saying a single word for a while.
"Wait… you can't be serious…" Takato responded in surprise.
Van then nodded and responded with, "Look, she is my classmate, but not among the ones I hang out with. In fact, that day was the first time I spoke directly with her." He paused before he continued with his explanation. "Through all the time, the rest of the guys at the table were making their decks, and asking me questions. She did not, a single time. She only stopped her work and paid attention to my words when I was clearing someone's doubts…" Then shook his head again, "But I can say that deck, was made all by herself. Which brings me to two assumptions, either she has a background as a duelist that she has kept well secret and hidden from everyone…"
"Or… she is a natural?" The president then asked as they stood in line in the cafeteria, now even Yamada's attention caught by the conversation, deciding to get into it again.
"Wait, you are talking about that raven haired girl?" The second year asked. "Are you two suggesting she is some kind of gifted duelist, have either of you seen her dueling yet?"
Takato and Van looked at each other in silence for a moment, and then looked at Yamada again.
"See? You two are just jumping the gun far too fast… maybe she is just smart at building decks, that doesn't mean she can run it properly." Then sighed, looking at the menu of the day, muttering "Get a grip you idiots… she could just be methodological, that's all."
"Good point, what are the odds though?" the first-year asked.
A frustrated sigh escaped Yamada before retorting with "And what are the odds of everything lining up for this weird girl to turn out to being a natural prodigy of sorts?
"Guys, guys. Relax, we have several ways of settling this dispute like civilized men, let's just pick one." Tetsuo then interceded
"Wait, do you mean…" Both Van and Yamada asked, with their expression turning more serious from a moment to another, then looked at each other.
"That's right…" Then lifted a finger stating "a bet"
"Huh…?" Takato reacted a bit confused by how serious they seemed to be taking this current matter.
Yamada paused for a moment and spoke up with a drier and deeper voice, "What are we putting on stake then?"
Van then replied without skipping a beat, "Two thousand Yen"
A moment of silence fell upon that scene among the group of boys. Van and Yamada staring at each other with an intensity of what appeared to be a newborn, fiery rivalry. Takato simply facepalming as a reaction to what was going on between them, and Tetsuo trying to keep himself together and not burst out laughing.
What would break the silence among them was the gossiping of the students who were standing in line behind them, to get their meal. Wondering what why the line wasn't moving. Takato by this point, decided to move on by himself and get lunch while his friends were still at it with the bet. The voice of the lady from the Kitchen calling out for them with 'Next… Next!' was the final detail to elevate that moment of ridiculousness to its finest form. And finally, it happened, both Van and Yamada stretched hands and stated "Deal"
A mess and an embarrassing realization later. The boys moved on with their day and returned to their classes until finally the time for the after class club activities arrived. Van, Koji and Tetsuo prepared several tables and lined them up for the tournament to take place.
As the rest of the members of the club arrived at the gymnasium, Takato, began his talk. "Alright, from what I've been shown, you all have a good grasp of how a deck should be structured, and also have been able to put it to practice either among other fellow rookies, or some of the already experienced duelists in our group." He then clapped his hands once and continued as he phased a bit in front of them, "Now, we are going to put you all in a bit of a pressure test. And this test comes in the form of an in-house tournament!"
His words, coming as a surprise for those who didn't know beforehand, caused The students to start gossiping among each other before speaking up towards Takato with different questions varying from expressing doubts about the potential skill gaps, with also the formats of the tournaments or any prizes involved.
The boy just raised his arms a bit, motioning them to calm down and slow down before adding "Okay, okay, just relax a bit. We are going to go with a single elimination format, nothing too complicated." Then he continued "About skill gaps, that's precisely the intention, to see where everyone is standing at the moment and from there pick up on details all of you can improve upon. Don't be afraid of making bad plays, or mistakes in front of me or any of the more experienced duelists. It's better to see those mistakes here and be able to check them out in time."
Then he stopped and scratched his chin, "A prize… I didn't really think of a prize to be honest, I was mostly thinking of this as a little fun testing ground for all of you. Don't take it all too serious, just have fun, alright? That's always the main goal." Then, when he was about to finish talking, he exclaimed "Ah, almost forgot!"
Followed by that, Takato walked towards a table that was close to him, where there were little bits of paper ripped from a single full sheet or several. "Of course, I will need you all to write your names on these pieces of paper, so we can then randomly pick the pairs of the first rounds, alright!"
The rookie members of the duelist club began placing their names. As Saori did so along with the others, her gaze fell upon that of Kumiko, who calmly wrote her name on one of the bits of paper and handed it to the club's president, who later placed them in a small urn. A feeling of worry came to her mind when she remembered that Van saw something in her that made her stand out from the rest of the rookies. But soon, she would shake those doubts away and not think about that. If Kumiko was a surprisingly strong opponent, she would eventually find it out by making her way through luck or making her way through the rounds of the tournament.
After everything was set and prepared, Takato looked at the rest of the class and nodded, "Alright, I think from this point on I'll let our newest member of the club to take the lead."
"Newest member?" could be heard among the club members, both rookies and experienced.
"Okay, Rika, you can pick up from here!" The president happily declared before moving aside and allowing the girl, who walked from the usual spot where observers gather to watch the activities of the club, over to where the rest of the club members were.
"Okay, everyone, let's start with the placements!" Rika eagerly exclaimed in the midst of everyone's confusion and surprise.
"Wait, Rika is in the club now? Both Saori and Haruko exclaimed, naturally, being the most surprised of the group by the new club's addition to their rooster of members.
Author's note: I would like to deeply apologize to all the readers who are following these series for not uploading a chapter last week. I know that I've told you all that I'm trying to upload a chapter every week, but I've been physically uncapable of writing this chapter in due time as I have been suffering from a slight case of tendinitis in my right hand from the strain of a translation job that sadly ended up in an attempt of a scam e.e.
Now I'm feeling better, and I have been able to finish this chapter, I'll likely be able to finish the next chapter quicker than this one.
Once again, I'm sorry for not being able to respect my schedule, and I wish you all a great weekend.
