Haruko looked at the crowd that was slowly dispersing from the table where Saori had finished her duel. And before she realized it, her friend was running up to her with a big smile on her face.
The girl with the glasses stopped in front of her, and while holding both fists in front of her, she eagerly exclaimed, "Haruko, I did it again!" before giggling and adding, "I won!"
The young Kaiba blinked a couple of times before she smiled back at her friend and reached to hold her hands, cheering and laughing with her. "That's great; I knew you could do it!" She was then quick to add, "And how was it? Did you have any issues, or did you get nervous?"
Saori then shook her head and said, "Just a bit before we started, but as soon as the duel began, all my nerves went away."
Soon, they were joined by their friends, as Sayuri quickly reached out to Saori from her side, hugging her friend and lifting her from the floor for a second. "Heey here is our future rookie champion!" she happily exclaimed.
"Ah-Aah! S-Sayuri wait!" The rookie reacted completely flustered before Rika walked up to them.
"It seems that everything is going well so far, isn't it?" She asked, folding her arms and showing a small smile to her friends.
All of them nodded at Rika before Haruko snapped out for a second, "Ah! I almost forgot, how come you decided to join the club!?" She suddenly remembered that Rika joined when she clearly had shown no interest in the slightest in Duel Monsters in general. Both Sayuri and Saori turned to look at their friend as well, sharing the same curiosity as Haruko.
However, Rika just winked at her friends and lifted her index finger, shaking it from side to side, and playfully clicked her tongue before responding, "Not the time and place to explain. Let's chat about it once we are done with the club for today, alright?"
Haruko rolled her eyes and exhaled from her nostrils, "Fine, I don't get why you want to play such a mystery game around that." Then she looked around for a moment and managed to spot Van in the distance. He was with Koji and Tetsuo. "I've got to check something with Van, alright?"
"Oh really?" Sayuri then asked, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly.
However, the blonde just sighed and waved her friend off dismissively. Then she walked towards the group of boys who were gathered. Tetsuo, Van, and Koji. Tetsuo's goons were there as well, the ones that now stood out from the group were the ones that Saori had faced both in the first and second rounds of the tournament. Noma and Yuji. The later one seemed to be arguing with Van.
It would be seen from the distance that he was gesturing with his hands, and some of his words could be heard, as his tone was louder than the rest. Van was simply listening to him, shaking his head with one hand on his waist and the other on his forehead. Noma seemed to be standing with his hands up between them, clearly making sure things didn't get too crazy. Koji and Tetsuo were just looking at the scene with an expression similar to Van's; they were all annoyed by the attitude the rookie was showing. But they were just trying their best not to snap at them.
"Come on, can't we just re-run that duel? Dude, dude, you are one of the boss' pals; we gotta back each other up!" Yuji, the rookie whom Saori had just beaten, exclaimed
"For the fifth time, dude, no. Just drop it. My decision on that duel was final." The German-born teen responded, now starting to rub his eyes a bit.
"I tell you that I had her; how was I supposed to remember that you can't play trap cards on the same turn you set them?!" The rookie protested.
Upon hearing that, Van exclaimed while shrugging, "Well, I don't know, maybe ask around, perhaps ask your 'boss' for a bit of advice or something!"
"Aw, come on, man!" Yuji continued to protest before Haruko finally approached them, asking.
"Hey, is there something wrong?" she asked, showing both curiosity and a bit of worry, wondering if something serious was going on given she didn't have the entire context of the conversation.
"Nah, just a dumb mistake that cost him the duel." Tetsuo then responded casually, with his words embarrassing Yuji a bit even though he didn't feel like speaking back and arguing with 'the boss' out of all people.
"Yeah, no biggie over here, what about you? Any problem?" Koji asked, looking at the girl with his head slightly tilted.
"Oh, well, I wanted to ask Van something, but it appears you guys have your hands tied right now." She responded and then asked, noticing the situation that was unfolding with the protesting rookie.
Yuma, the rookie who was causing a scene, was about to nod at Haruko as a way of thanking her for 'understanding' his position. Van, however, was quick to see that as a way out of this situation and suddenly spoke up, "OH, RIGHT!" loudly before he chuckled, adding, "Right, right, I forgot we got to have that post-duel talk to check on that thing, yeah, yeah!" He started walking away from Yuma and towards Haruko, giving her a look that said something like, 'Please get me out of this."
"H-hey... hey wait, you can't leave like this dude, come on!" Yuma protested once again before Tetsuo finally placed his hand on his shoulder, stopping his classmate in his tracks.
"Alright, I think you already had your piece with Van, now it's time for me to have my piece with both of you," said the big second-year, looking at the members of his gang with a more serious expression.
The expression in the boy's eyes made the rest of the gang members nervous, as they were completely certain their boss was not pleased by the performance they had during the tournament. And thus, they expected him to give them a rough time for that.
Koji, on his part, felt more curiosity about what was going to go down between Tetsuo and his goons than the conversation between Van and Haruko, so he simply said, "Hey, don't take too long, you two; Takato said we'll take a little recess to move some tables, but we will continue the tournament in a bit."
Van nodded and gave both his friends a thumbs up as he joined Haruko "Yeah, yeah, don't worry.". The girl did also smile and nod at them as they walked outside the gymnasium's door for a moment. "So... what is it?" The boy asked as he leaned against a wall with his arms folded in front of his chest.
"Could you explain to me what on earth you did with the rookies at your table?" Haruko asked, sounding almost annoyed.
Van smirked at her, then raised an eyebrow and said, "Alright, the real question here is... are you asking me about everyone who built their deck under my watch? Or... do you want to know more about Kumiko's deck?"
Haruko then narrowed her eyes and pouted. She clenched her hands and responded, "Shut up and tell me. I know that you didn't overstep your place, it's obvious!"
Van simply laughed more loudly at her frustration. "Come on, let's drop the act. The rest of the rookies at my table are pretty smart, yeah. But, Kumiko really stood out because, unlike the others, she put that deck together by herself."
Haruko's eyes widened a bit before they narrowed into a more serious expression. "So, that's why you said that I should take on her challenge." she said. Before adding, "Do you actually think we are on similar levels?"
Van then shook his head and replied, "I honestly think that if we rest on our laurels, she can easily surpass all of us."
"Wait, do you really think so?" she asked, surprised.
The boy nodded and said, "Yeah, consider that this is her starting point, she already has this logic for structuring a deck. But not only that, you also saw that she knows how to make plays with them." Then he shrugged, adding, "However, I do think that you do something very important for her."
Haruko then crossed her arms and looked at Van with an eyebrow lifted, saying, "Oh really... what is it then?"
The boy then smiled a bit, responding, "A rival, one that can give her a run for her money, no less."
"What, why?" he asked.
The boy shrugged and said, "Look, I don't know what's her problem is with you, if there's history between you both, that's your business. But, it's more than clear that she has you in her sights." Then, after a brief pause and a smug smile, he added. "So why not take her up on that, and give her the defeat he needs to turn down a couple of notches?"
"Aw, come on, you are being too nice. That girl is not going to change just because I beat her, as far as I know, it might make her even more unbearable!" The girl exclaimed, opening her arms as she gestured with her hands while speaking.
Van was a bit dismissive of her pessimism with a simple reply, "Aw, come on, it cannot be that bad."
Then, Haruko rolled her eyes and came back at him with, "Have you forgotten I live under the same roof as Seto Kaiba?"
"Pft... how can I forget? I can even see a bit of him rubbing onto you at times." The boy replied with a smug face, messing around with her, but before he could even finish that sentence entirely, he was already seeing a hand swinging at him. He quickly backed off.
With the smack towards Van's head missing, Haruko just took a step forward and clenched her fist. Her face was red, flustered at his remark, before she replied, "Don't you even...!" Then she pouted before crossing her arms and looking to one side as she muttered, "Jerk..."
"I don't think she is like your brother, though." The boy then silently shifted his gaze to one side while thinking, "Well... I hope she is not."
Haruko sighed and shook her head. "Listen, that's not exactly why I wanted to talk to you right now." Then she paused for a moment, reluctantly saying, "It involves Kumiko, yes... It's about her and Saori."
The moment she pointed out the exact reason she wanted to talk to him, Van's expression changed from relaxed to a more serious one. He didn't say a word either, and he just waited for whatever she had to say to catch his attention.
"If... Kumiko and Saori were to face each other during this tournament. How do you think it will go?" The blonde asked, sounding almost hesitant to ask the question.
Van closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, then let go of a faint sigh before looking at her directly and replying, "If you want me to be absolutely and completely honest with you, if Kumiko and Saori are to face each other, I cannot see how that duel won't be a one-sided duel in favor of Kumiko.". Van would notice Haruko's reaction, one that showed both worry and anxiety. As she was going to speak again, the boy, decided to cut her off before she could start and add, "Yes, the gap I see between them is that big, Saori is learning rather well and all, yes, but...
Haruko was indeed cut off before she could even speak again, but she allowed the boy to continue speaking as she started to mutter under her breath, "Yes... I know... I know..." until she finally clenched her hands again and exclaimed at him all of a sudden, "I KNOW!".
Her voice brought a moment of silence between them that they spent staring directly at each other, neither of them breaking from the mood they had. Then Haruko spoke again: "I just... wanted to ask you to help her... as a favor!"
Van's eyes opened wide at her request, knowing that she is not the kind that likes to ask for help. "Wait... why, and how even?"
"It's just that I'm worrying about her. I also saw a huge difference between her and Kumiko. Saori is good, but just not..." Then she clicked her tongue, looking at the ground for a moment, then stepped closer to Van again, reaching for one of his hands and holding it in her hands. "That's why I'm asking you to give her some help, that's all. You know Kumiko's deck through and through. Maybe... you could give her some advice or a tip, a heads-up against her?"
Van remained quiet; he was surprised by her asking him for a favor at all. However, his eyes narrowed once again in a sharper look before he placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Why are you so scared?"
Both the words and the hand on her shoulder shocked her for a moment, leaving Haruko speechless, as she was quite uncertain of how to respond. "I..." was the only thing she could utter from her mouth.
"I mean, yes, you can worry about how Saori does in the tournament, but I think you are taking it a bit far..." He then smiled at her.
"It's that... I've been friends with her for years now. She was there along with the others to help me when I was down." Then she took a deep breath. "And yes, we had different interests; all of us did. In fact, none of my friends seemed interested in Duel Monsters at all, and that was okay. We all managed to respect each other in that regard, and it's one of the reasons why we are so tight together. And then, both Saori and Rika joined the club." Then she smiled at him, adding, "I never thought that would happen, I had already accepted they were not going to get into it. And now that it has happened... I feel like, I don't want them to lose interest, or feel discouraged."
"Oooh..." The boy leaned his head back a bit as he let go of that reaction of realization. "So you think that Kumiko might be too much for her and discourage her from trying to move on and improve?"
The blonde girl nodded, blinking when she noticed that her hands were still holding his hand. Then she quickly let it go, placing both hands behind her back, looking to one side, and adding, "It's... really making me anxious right now."
The boy smiled a bit nervously at her and scratched his cheek when she let his hand go, then after hearing her words, he added, "Well, I think that explains your request..."
"What...?" she asked, confused.
"Well, I know how much you dislike having to ask others to help you out and even more to do something for you. But also, let's be honest, Haruko, the request itself didn't make sense at all." He shrugged. "One cannot turn from a rookie to a super duelist with just a couple of hints or tips." Then he raised his hands while shrugging, "Besides, giving her an unfair advantage. You think Seto would take any advantages like that if he could? Come on..."
Haruko then about to ask, but suddenly remembered some of the conversations and stories she was told by Mokuba and then replied, "Uh, actually... yes, I think he would..."
Van's expression changed to one of surprise and disbelief. "What? Nah, come on, he wouldn't... would he?"
"Uh..." Haruko was about to reply, when suddenly another voice spoke up towards them, saying.
"I... personally wouldn't," Saori added, standing at the corner of the gymnasium's door. Then walked up to them. Then, the girl gave them both a sweet smile, saying, "I'm overjoyed that you are so worried about me, Haruko, but it's alright." Then she added, "I'm pretty sure that Kumiko will make short work of me in a duel!" Then she stuck out her tongue, playfully.
"Uh... r-really?!" The Kaiba asked, surprised, but at the same time with a clear hint of happiness at seeing the attitude that Saori was taking in the face of this duel.
"I said it earlier today, I want to face Kumiko fair and square." then added, "And I aim to see how good I can do against someone who is clearly better than I!" Then she jokingly flexed one of her arms, adding, "And if I lose, I'll just try to keep pushing. That would be what both of you would do, wouldn't it?"
The pair looked at her, and smiled, with Haruko blushing as she did so as she felt embarrassed at having her friend look up like she does right now. Suddenly, a sudden and quick pat on her back made her jump on her spot. "E-eh!?"
"See? You were worrying too much about nothing!" she chuckled, looking at Saori and saying. "I hope you are ready for your first challenge, eh?" Then he said before raising his fist at her encouragingly, "Even if the odds are stacked against you, aim to give your opponent a rough time to earn that win, got it?"
The girl nodded quickly, with her face changing from a smile to a more serious a determined face, "Hm! Understood!" Then she brought up her fists, hyping herself up before adding, "I promise I'll do all in my power not to disappoint either of you!"
"No way you'll disappoint, just do your best and enjoy your time, Saori!" Haruko finally replied before the three of them began walking back into the Gymnasium. Most of the tables where the desks took place were already moved away from where everyone was gathered.
The trio rejoined the rest of their friends and decided to enjoy the rest of the small recess together.
Things were overall quite well in the club, the spirits were high and the reception of the tournament was well received, even those who had already been eliminated were enjoying their time. Some of the people who observed the duels were even speaking with Takato about joining the club as well, though now they would have to wait until club inscriptions were open once again.
The event continued, with the next round of duels being carried out the old-fashioned way. With Chiaki, Takato, Tetsuo and Koji acting as the referees for the next couple of matches. Through these, the rookies managed to keep showing their growth in the short time that had passed since the start of the club. Although cases such as Saori or Kumiko were ones that easily stood out from the best, it was clear that most of the rookies understood the fundamentals of the game. And they were on a better footing to start learning further details or common strategies.
The next round would come to an end, with the four final duelists reaching the tournament's semi-finals. And as the fixture showed, the one match that had begun raising people's interest was set to happen: Saori against Kumiko.
In honor of striking while the iron was still hot, Takato would finally call out for everyone's attention as he spoke. "Alright, first, I want to thank you all for helping to make this first in-house tournament of the Dueling Club, a great and enjoyable experience for everyone..." The boy glanced at the people listening, both members of the club and others simply observing, and added, "Now, for the next round of the tournament. We are going to allow our rookies to work with something more exciting rather than dueling the old-fashioned way."
Following that, Takato walked over to where his backpack was and pulled out his dual disk from it. Then, he returned to the front of the crowd while stating, "For this, both myself and our friend here, Tetsuo, will share our duel disks with the rookies taking part in the next set of rounds in the tournament. That way, they'll learn how they operate."
One of the rookies raised a hand and asked, "Sorry, but why didn't we all use them through the entire tournament?"
"Eh…?" Takato paused for a moment and scratched his cheek. "Uh, well... that... wouldn't have been possible..." he replied with a mixture of nervousness and embarrassment.
"What... but why?" The rookie asked before another one chose to whisper in their ear, "Because we don't have that many in the club." Which made that first rookie react, letting go of a long "Ooooh..."
Takato, was sharp enough to pick up on what that other person might have whispered to them and simply choose to smile at them while, deep inside, he felt like he wanted to cry and scream at the reminder of the poor state their club was in compared to the rest.
Nevertheless, they carried on with the first duel of the semifinals, which decided who would be the first finalist. And while it was well received by those observing, the experience of seeing Kaiba Tech in action up close helped make things a bit more exciting than before.
However, the duel that everyone was waiting for was set to happen next. After the first duel of the semifinals was over, the rookies handed over their disks to both Takato and Tetsuo, who were later approached by Kumiko and Saori. Kumiko, was handed Takato's duel disk, while Saori was handed Tetsuo's. Saori was clearly nervous at this point, looking stiff and showing some sweat drops building on her forehead.
Kumiko, on the other hand, seemed as serene as she usually showed herself to be.
"Alright, good luck to you two!" Takato exclaimed to both girls. His words were met, on one side, by a nervous smile and nod from Saori. But on the other side, by a mere stare and a faint humming by Kumiko. In response to that, neither Takato nor Tetsuo made any comment, but both of them had the same thought going through their minds.
"What is her problem...?"
Finally, both girls stood in the court, facing each other and getting prepared for the duel. The anticipation in the gymnasium built up to this moment. And among those observing was Haruko sitting on the wooden floor, holding her hands together and anxiously fidgeting with her fingers. While she was at ease that the outcome of this duel would not deter her friend from continuing to be a member of the club, she still hoped Saori could pull off a win, in part because, of course, they were friends. But the other part was fueled by a bit of malice fed by that bone she has to pick with Kumiko.
Her mind was brought back to earth when she noticed someone sitting next to her.
"Hey!" Chiaki said cheerfully, "Ready to see the big match?"
Soon afterward, on the opposite side next to her, both Koji and Van sat down, joining both girls. The chubby boy said, "Alright, let us cheer for Saori, I'd really want to see the expression on Kumiko's face upon being defeated.
Van simply sighed and thought, "I guess there's nothing wrong with some wishful thinking..." Van crossed his legs while sitting on the floor and leaned a bit forward, keeping his hands resting on his legs. "But I still maintain my opinion that Saori stands no chance as of right now..." The boy's icy blue eyes looked at his classmate from his spot. "Will you prove me wrong, though?" he thought.
Tetsuo walked to the middle of the area where both girls were supposed to have their duel and called them both. He proceeded to explain to them the basics of how the dual disks operated and what to do to trigger each desired action. "Alright, if everything's clear, then let's get this started. If any of you have issues with your disks, let us know; we will pause the duel to get it done right."
Both girls nodded at him and moved back to their spots. Tetsuo then gave a thumbs up to Takato who then, after his classmate moved away, raised his voice and said, "Alright, the second match of the Dueling Club In-house Tournament semifinals is about to begin. Kumiko Takara vs. Saori Kaneda!" Then, the club's president raised his hand and said, "Duelists, activate your duel disks!"
Both girls quickly raised their duel disks and, as they were instructed, introduced their respective decks in the slots. Soon, both disks activated and scanned the area for another one to synchronize and establish the area for their duel arena, as usual. This wasn't the first time Saori saw this happen before her eyes, but it was the first time she was part of it, and thus, did impress her even more from a duelist perspective than from an observer's perspective.
Kumiko reacted as well, relaxing her stern and cold expression for a moment, as she saw the devices activating and synchronizing. It was fascinating for her, though she didn't seem as moved as Saori was.
Finally, the AI's voice spoke up for everyone present to hear
"Detecting activation of the Duel Disk Battle System."
Saori 4000 LP – Kumiko 4000 LP
"Good, everything's set then!?" Takato asked, with his voice up, for the girls to listen loud and clear.
Kumiko nodded and pointed at Saori "I'll like to concede the first turn to my opponent." With a calm tone.
"Not even waiting to draw the opening hand to make that call?" crossed Takato's mind before responding, "Alright then, both of you may draw your opening hands. Saori, you'll start!"
"Understood!" Saori replied. Then, the girl took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down a little, and began drawing her opening hand, plus her first draw, and proceeded to inspect her opening hand.
Turn 1: Start
"Okay... Let's start" crossed the girl's mind before she picked a card from her hand. "I'll begin by summoning my Light Effigy in attack position!" Then she placed the card on the disk's board, which reacted by showing a switch and smooth change of colors, which seemed to replicate the movement of water waves from the slot of the monster card.
Then, what followed was the projection created by the Solid Vision system, a larger version of Saori's card was projected with extremely realistic detail, in front of her, and soon the monster from the art came out of it, a curious monster to say the least if it even could be called one. It appeared to be a group of shining... halos, spinning within each other. It almost appeared as if the monster itself were some unfinished magical incantation.
Light Effigy ATK 1500/0 DEF
"After that, I will set two face-down cards. And with that, I'll end my turn!" Saori declared. Her turn ended at the same time both of his cards were placed in the spell/trap slots of the disk, and both projections of the cards, on a larger scale that matched the size of the one previously projected for Light Effigy, showed up.
Kumiko then began her turn. She quietly drew her first card and looked at it. It seemed that luck was on her side from the start, as the first card she drew was none other than her ace, Levia-Dragon Daedalus. "A good starting hand in itself, and I get to draw Daedalus already." "Very well then, I'll make sure to end this quickly." The girl calmly said before choosing a card from her hand, "I'll activate the field card Legendary Ocean." Then, she pressed a button in her duel disk that slid open an extra slot where she inserted the field card.
As soon as she did that, the dual disk reacted similarly to what Saori's did when she placed her cards in the different slots; this time around, the solid vision system had a much greater opportunity to shine. With a field card played, soon, the field itself around them started to change. Water waves started to come around the field, submerging them in what seemed to be an entire bubble filled with water. The surrounding ground also started to change form as it took the shape of what seemed to be the streets of a lost, ancient civilization. The realism in the projection made it seem, even to those who were outside the dueling area, that both of them were standing at the landing of two opposite stairways, and an old, stone road separated them both.
To add even more shock to the length to which the technology of Kaiba Corp went, both Kumiko and Saori could feel some 'weight" around them, as if they could feel some pressure made by the fictional water projected around them, and the water itself reacted to the movements of both duelists.
"Wow, that's so incredible!" Saori said, as some bubbles of water appeared to be coming out of her mouth, staring at her for a moment, "Ah, what!? ... ah..."
Kumiko, noticing her opponent's reactions, commented, "Stop that... It's embarrassing."
The girl adjusted her glasses and blinked in surprise, asking, "Pardon?"
Then she quickly repeated herself. "You are annoying, that's what I said." Kumiko followed that with the declaration of her next move. "Now, due to the effect of my legendary ocean, I can directly summon my Eagle Shark in defense position."
Eagle Shark ATK 1000/1800 DEF (1200/2000)
Saori blinked again, looking a bit hurt by how her opponent was addressing her, but that expression soon changed as she looked at the stats of the enemy monster displayed before her, and was boosted by 200 points. "Okay, focus... I can do this... I can do this!"
Author's Note: Alright everyone, here we got the next real duel of the series, Saori vs Kumiko, make your bets, pick your favorite and those who get it right might win a fish! Everyone have a good week, and I'll see you on the next one.
Aurthor's Disclosure: The fish is not real, just a joke.
