Hey fellow writers and readers!
So, I said that it would be by chapter 9 I would decide on the big question: To pair or not to pair my OC and Astral.
Aaaaand...I'm putting the green light on their eventual pairing! So expect their name titles to be bracketed together in the story link in the next little bit ;)
Anyway, enjoy the latest in this adventure!
It's a new night in Heartland City, the skies overcast with most of the stars clouded from view and leaving the streetlights in charge of providing light for any nighttime combers...
For example, one such nocturnal traveler would be a muted blue-furred feline with a white underbelly, hind legs and face including a tiny diamond design between the area just above the nasal bone. Their tail carried a dull gold ring of sorts, a possible indicator that they had an owner, confirmed when they call for someone after hopping onto the roof of the Fujina Residence, and a human shadow creeps onto the woodwork...
Inside the bedroom of the youngest family member, Athena was sound asleep in her bed, but based on the disgruntled facial expressions that kept forming every few seconds, it seems that tonight's dreams were not of the pleasant variety for the young girl.
(...Click)
Her window is unlocked and gently pushed open, before the figure attached to the earlier shadow silently steals their way inside, and begins to move things about in her room. Getting a closer look, we see that their frame leaned towards a lanky male, short hair cut to just past his ears and a bit messy with, feline ears(?) atop their head, and wore all black with a gray tail(?) at the end.
...Unbeknownst to the figure, someone was aware of their presence, they being Astral when he manifests outside the key and began watching the figure's movements...
Both would be interrupted when they catch the sound of a muffled whimper, turning to Athena's form as she squirmed in her sleep with a scared expression, mumbling something that sounded like,
"N-N...Help...Someo-..."
The figure turned to walk over to the girl's bed and stared at her with brown eyes that were glazed with a glowing aqua, before reaching out a hand gloved in black to gently brush Athena's hair in a soothing gesture until she settled into a more content slumber, making the figure smile a bit in pity while they whispered,
"Hm, poor thing, nightmares again?...Heh, well, hopefully my little surprise will distract you tomorrow..."
With that, the mystery male's smile shifted to be a bit more mischievous as he stole his way back to the outside, quietly closing the window on his way, leaving one girl oblivious to recent events and the witnessing being in wonder and suspicion...
Time Skip
We jump now to the next morning at the Heartland Dueling Academy before first class, as everyone of one division of the first years was hanging out in the classroom while their teacher had yet to arrive and begin a new lecture.
Two of those students, Tiffany and Jamal, were standing by the third row of desks as they began discussing recent events surrounding the third member of their trio, Athena.
"Man, it's been a real craze lately. To think, Addy's usually on and off with her dueling and barely swings in a rare victory...But thanks to the rise of these weird Number Cards and that Astral character, she's slowly becoming an actual contender."
The girl with blue eyes and bobbed hair smiles a bit and chides,
"Come on, are you saying she wasn't getting better before now?"
"No such thing, but what I am sayin' is that Astral's definitely providing a jump-start to Addy's dueling knowledge."
"Hm, I guess that's fair...Just to be curious, why do you think he chose to come to Addy in the first place?"
The boy with cocoa-olive skin replies to Tiffany with a glint of knowing in his eyes,
"No idea, but if we know our girl like the back of our hands, it's gotta be an important reason..."
Tiffany nods in agreement, just as the sound of their subject's voice finally rings into the room.
"Hey, guys!"
"(Turn) Oh, hey, Ad-Hah?!"
But any reply to the greeting would be shot down by the expression of surprise by not just those two, but all the other students in the room when they got a look at the arriving girl's attire: While it may have looked like the regular school's boy's uniform to the untrained eye, it was of an older style of several years back when it came with a blazer coloured in accordance with the tie. It was also at least a few sizes too large for the girl of only 5'2", forcing her to roll back the sleeves of the white shirt past her elbows (she tied the blazer around her waist) and cuff the blue pants that were held up by a tight belt, and the brown shoes on her feet were quite big too, making some wonder how Athena was even walking without tripping.
The girl herself scanned the room of bewildered faces with narrowed red irises before calling in annoyance,
"What? You act like you've never seen a girl in too-large boy's clothes before."
She waves a dismissive hand and adds,
"Cut the starin' and go back to your own business!"
Everyone follows through the order without hesitation, but would fill the room with murmurs of curiousity and confusion...
"Uuuh, what's with today's outfit, Addy?"
She turns to meet Jamal's slowly-descending shocked face and replies with irritation in her tone,
"Not my first choice, first of all, but I had little options when I got here and found out someone switched out my uniform with a yellow mini dress!"
"What?! No way!"
"Way! I had to call my brother Adam to drop off his old uniform so I had something to wear other than my jogging outfit!"
Tiffany asks,
"You don't have a spare in your locker?"
"Nope, and it's not like I'd call my locker anymore reliable considering the clothing madness of these last few days!"
Athena began counting off said incidents on her fingers:
"First there was that pink disaster leotard replacing my gym uniform on Monday. Then on Tuesday, a leopard-print mini skirt replacing my pants! And then just yesterday, someone switched out my pre-planned outfit for after-school with that rapper costume!"
Jamal's dreadlocks bounced as he tried to hold back his laughter:
"That one was the funniest: You looked like a female Eminem impersonator!"
(Note: I do not own that music artist reference!)
Tiffany however, was thinking about the spout of activity with a more critical head.
"Yet it's not just those fashion mishaps: There's been alot of weird things happening to you as of this week. Your lunches have been coming out as professional-level cuisine (no offense to your grandpa), and then there was yesterday's incident in gym class during the vault box jump..."
Athena hides her face in her hands with a groan of embarrassment on that mention, recalling the moment in question involving a wire attached to her person that caused her to get stuck midair during her jump...She then mutters bitterly,
"I dunno who the hell's doin' this, but the joke stopped being funny like two pranks ago!"
Just as she says that, Astral appears from outside the pendant around her neck and comments,
"To use an event as a measure of time is quite unusual."
"Really? That's your takeaway from this nutty activity? You don't actually expect me to believe you don't find these antics annoying..."
"I would not say annoying, but I must admit, the repetitiveness is slowly becoming rather dull. The only interesting part in these last several nights is the strange figure who has been sneaking around in your room while you sleep."
That would strike a chord in Athena:
"Whoa whoa, what?! You're just telling me this now?! Why didn't you say anything sooner?!"
Astral replies calmly,
"They presented no threat to the Numbers nor have you ask me to keep you informed."
...The girl with red irises facepalms and grumbles,
"Leave it to you to come up with a smart-alack answer...Great, this means I've got a stalker on my case. Fan-freakin'-tastic..."
Groaning, she then states with her hands on her hips,
"Well whoever this mystery prankster is, they're not gonna hide from my eyes for long! I can and will find them!"
"And hopefully before you end up looking more ridiculous than you do right now."
Athena turns eyes to Tiffany and asks with a raised brow,
"What's that suppose to mean? If this is about my current uniform, I already said this was my best last-minute decision."
"Yeah, and based on what I've seen these last couple years, most of your clothes are based on last-minute decisions. As far as I'm concerned, Addy, you're a wreck of a tomboy when it comes to fashion."
...Now most would feel insulted by such a remark, but these two young ladies have been friends long enough that such conversations were child's play. In that regard, the girl with shaggy black hair tipped copper red smirks and counters,
"Huh, is that right? Well at least I'm not the one who uses those shallow magazine articles to 'help' her decide what to wear."
"Auh! (Smirk-glare) This coming from the girl who's gone from farm-hand to rock-goth to skater-punk!"
"I follow my own rhythm! You're the one stuck in a conformity rut!"
Jamal was bending forward holding his stomach by this point, tightening his lips closed to keep himself from making the walls bounce with his chuckles. Astral meanwhile, was observing the scene with an astonished expression at how the girls were berating one another, but in such a way that it felt like a good kind of normal...Finally, Tiffany comes up with a suggestion to settle the argument:
"Okay, there's only one way to settle this, and that's with a fashion contest! Tomorrow afternoon, we'll meet at the mall and comb the stores for an hour to pick out an outfit. We'll post the images to Spacesnook, and we'll have the class decide 'Who's Hot' and 'Who's the Hot-Mess'."
Athena nods in agreement to the stakes:
"Oh you're so on! City Center, 2:30, and you better not be late."
"Just as long as you're not several hours early."
They both let out a laugh at the retort...while unbeknownst to them, another face in their class was staring at them with a hidden jealousy in their sharp, brown irises...
Time Skip
Moving into the evening, we now find ourselves in front of a rather large manor, with a gate that carried two cat designs atop the doors...
Up at the right wing balcony, that same cat with blue fur comes to land smoothly from a tree branch, and meows towards the windowed door...before it slowly creaks open. It wanders inside, followed by several other felines to meet with the young resident of this grand estate: A young male with a pale complexion, short, sandy-brown hair cut in a messy, tousled type of pageboy style that also illusions small cat ears at the center-top with a few gray patches dyed in, and those sharp brown eyes.
He smiles a little at seeing the several cats and says in a quiet-toned voice,
"My friends...You're truly the only ones who will care about me, more than most of the humans today...And now, I require your help once again."
Zooming out, we see that he was wearing an outfit comprised of a gray dress-shirt with matching skinny jeans, a sandy-brown undershirt, his neck adorning a black collar choker with a silver star charm, and black-gray high-top converses. The back of his pants held a sandy-brown tail with gray spots decorating it, and his hands were covered by gray gloves that sported sharp, white nails on the fingertips.
He holds up several photographs before softly tossing them out towards the cats while telling them,
"I need you to chase away this annoying little mouse."
We see that the face of focus...was noneother than Tiffany!
"This mouse has things I do not. For example, she has...friends...One in particular who's captivated my eyes...Ugh, it isn't fair. She makes me as sad as a kitten caught in the rain. We don't like this mouse, do we?"
The boy mirroring a feline holds his hands up like poised paws and hisses twice, prompting mews of understanding from his small army of true cats...
"You know what to do then, I take it? Find this mouse...and when you do find her...show no mercy and pounce."
Time Skip, Tiffany's POV
"Dang it, I'm gonna be late! Urgh, I'll never hear the end of this from Addy: Running behind for a fashion-off, all because I was so indecisive over my starter outfit!"
It's now approaching close to half-past two in the afternoon, and I'm running like a madman to get to the City Center to meet with my gal pal after spending more time than I usually do rummaging through my closet for something to wear. I eventually settled on a cute lime green babydoll dress with white ruffling on the bottom, a jean blue cardigan with a heart sequin design over the left side, and my gladiator-style black sandals. I also remembered my favourite green barrette with the daisy design to pull back my left fringe.
Rushing past the tall pole with the clock on top, I see the time shift to 2:28, making me curse a little under my breath, something I rarely do.
...Maybe Addy was onto something with that conformity rut crud.
I should cut back on those Teen-Queen articles for a while.
Just as I thought that, my trek was cut short my several cat calls, and I mean of the literal kind!
"Uh!"
Slowing to a halt, I found myself being circled by more than a dozen felines, who were looking at me with strangely hostile expressions.
"Ah-heh, nice kitties..."
...And the next thing I knew, they sprang at me!
"Aaah!"
Oh man, what the heck is going on here?!
Athena's POV
I'm leaning against the fencing of the above area connecting the city center to the urban pathways of one park, tapping my foot impatiently while wondering what was taking Tiffany so long.
"Sheesh, and she scolds me for my timing habits?...Hm, maybe this is her way of forfeiting..."
For today, I chose to wear my black spaghetti-strap tank-top that went into a webbing mesh design halfway down, my black leather jacket, white jeans just to do something different, and dark blue sneakers with red laces. I also tied my very long hair back into an equally long french braid, something I hadn't done in a while, which made the copper-red tipping stand out against the main black more.
Heh, she wasn't wrong about that skater-punk quip...
I'm interrupted out of my thoughts when I hear several mews and meows, and open my eyes to see a small army of cats just a few feet in front of me!
"Whoa!"
How'd they get in front of me without me noticing?! Better yet, who or what sent them?!
I wasn't the only one curious to their presence: Astral suddenly comes out of the key and asks with a trace of nerves in his voice,
"What, are, these? That awful noise they are making is making my spine tingle. Ah! It is terrifying."
Making a sound of amusement, I pivot my head to meet his eyes and quirk with a small smirk,
"Ha! Come on, Astral, don't you go tellin' me that these cats actually scare ya!"
He replies in a quick defense,
"They are simply not in my observation report."
Hmmm, do I dispel his denied worries, or joke with him? Decisions, decisions...
You know what? Let's go halvesies this time.
I fully turn around so my front was facing his and began my explanation:
"Well first of all, cats are among the many, many creatures of the wild you'll be seeing in your time in my world, while also one of the kind that can be feral or domestic. (Glances behind) These ones are kind-of a mix of the two, alley cats to use the common term. (Sneaky smile) It's been told that a cat's senses are so strong they can see the supernatural, so I wouldn't be surprised if these ones are peering into your being as we speak."
Astral's face contorts into one of surprise, making me giggle a bit behind my hand, which he wouldn't miss and shift to looking at me in annoyance for a second, before realizing,
"...Actually, Athena, these creatures appear to be staring, at you."
That made the laughter die quick enough:
"Huh? Me?"
I turn around to look at the cats, who were indeed fixating their eyes on my person...I then notice the one in the middle-front had something in its mouth: A note of sorts...that was also carrying a familiar-looking hair-clip on the right side.
Uh! That looks exactly like Tiffany's daisy clip!
Forming an expression of suspicion, I kneel down and gently take the note from the cat, dislodging the clip into one hand while reading the message in the other.
"Now what?...'We have your friend. Follow us to get her back'."
...Tiffany...
Suddenly, a few of the cats hop back to make room for the main messenger, who begins darting off to where I'm assuming my friend must be, myself rushing after them with no hesitation, despite Astral's call for me to slow down.
"Athena, wait!"
I ignored him, too antsy about this new turn of events and the possibility that one of my best friends could be in a load of trouble...
(Slam)
"Tiffanyyy!"
Eventually, just as the sky was clouding over for that small stormy session forecasted for this afternoon, I would reach this old-style mansion and climb over the metal gate (which was definitely a chore and a half, let me tell you) to burst open the front doors. Rushing to the main staircase, I call out,
"Tiff, are you in here?!"
...That's when I took a more thorough look at my surroundings, spotting a rather, bizarre theme going for this home.
"Yikes, this place is crawlin' with feline memorabilia...! (Looks left, then right) I dunno who lives here, but they really need to get out more..."
(...Step, step)
"Hm?"
I dart my head up to the sound of footsteps, and found myself meeting brown irises belonging to a boy about my age with light brown hair that had a few dyed-in gray patches, like ocean-kissed sand on a cloudy day, cut in a pageboy-style that also made it look like he had little cat ears up top. He was also wearing an interesting outfit that included a gray dress-shirt with matching skinny jeans, a sandy-brown undershirt, and black-gray high-top converses. Finally, he had these unique accessories of a sandy-brown tail with gray spots decorating it, a cat collar with a star charm, and gray gloves that sported sharp, white nails on the fingertips.
...O-kaaay, think I found my cat-fanatic.
"Thank you for coming, Athena...or would you prefer Addy?"
"Uh, either's fine, and you are...?"
"My name is Caden Katherine."
"Caden Katherine, huh?" He nods with a smile:
"That's right, but feel free to call me Cade." I nod back warily, remembering why I came here:
"Alright..."
"I believe that I recognize this boy..."
My head turns right to look at Astral in mild surprise:
"You do?"
"He attends your school. He is often alone, standing off to the side..."
I hm as I try to see if I could recall any time I saw this boy at the Academy:
"Let's see...Then you'd be..."
"Yes, I'm-!"
"Nope, sorry. Not familiar with your face."
He bends over with a cloud of disappointment hovering his head, but quickly recovers with a neutral expression.
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
The bitter sadness in his tone said otherwise, but that wasn't my main concern at the moment.
"Okay, let's just cut to the brass tax: What have you done with Tiffany?"
Caden grits his teeth slightly before asking me,
"Tiffany, Tiffany, Tiffany. Is that girl all you think about?"
"Tch, no, of course not. There's usually too many topics on my mind...but don't turn the subject against me! Just let Tiff go, would ya?"
He turns his back to me and counters,
"Only if you beat me in a duel," making me grind my own teeth in annoyance:
"Urh, a duel? You've gotta be kidding me..."
Caden chuckles and turns to face me again while quirking with a teasing smile,
"You're not a scaredy-cat, are you, Addy?"
Though his behaviour was erratic, it seemed to fit him normal enough...Nevertheless, I quietly ask the being beside me,
"Say, Astral, you think this boy's got a Number on him?"
"If he does have a Number, then you have to win this duel."
"Kuh, I was planning to win either way! You're on, Caden!"
And just as a lightning strike sounds from outdoors, I get myself prepped for the fight ahead.
"Duel Disk: Go! Duel Gazer: Set! Duel Interface: Show me the impossible!"
Augmented Reality Vision Link Established.
"(Both Duelists) Let's Duel!"
We were facing one another on opposite balconies over the main entrance floor, and Caden would make the opener.
"I've got the fierce claws of a snow leopard, and have all Nine Lives, so prepare yourself! I Draw! First, I'll activate the Inviting Cat Card from my hand!"
I mutter to myself,
"Interesting. He's beginning with a Spell..."
"Thanks to Inviting Cat, I can add a Stray Cat to my hand, but that's not all. Next, I play the Continuous Spell, Cat Meeting!"
"Continuous...That means he can use that card over and over as long as he meets its conditions, right?"
Astral nods in confirmation:
"That is correct."
Caden coos,
"Here kitty kitty~...First I summon, Stray Cat in Attack Mode!"
Level One with 100 Attack Points and 300 Defense Points, the monster was in the guise of an alley cat with its back turned and head tucked under its paws...
"And when I successfully summon one Cat Monster, Cat Meeting activates and allows me to bring out another Stray. After all, no sweet feline likes to be alone..."
A second cat with dark grey fur instead of black and white pops onto the field, and I smirk slightly before commenting,
"You might have an advantage in terms of numbers, but those creatures aren't packin' much of a punch."
"That so? Hm, you might be right, but we won't know 'til my next turn, will we? For now, I place another card face-down and end here."
His feline gesturing and hinted knowing distracted me somewhat, and he coos out,
"Well? Your move, Addy..."
"Hmph, rightly so! I Draw! First, I summon Achacha Archer! When he's successfully summoned, he instantly dolls out 500 points of damage to my opponent!"
My archer calls out his name before releasing said flamed arrow at Caden, who cries out like a stressed feline as his Life Points drop to 3500...
"That was just the start too."
"Athena, wait. Let us talk this through..."
"What else is there to talk about, Astral? This is a one-of-a-kind wide-open attack! Achacha Archer: Attack Stray Cat!"
...But that was when I ran into the problem that the blue-skinned being was likely trying to warn me about, or rather, my monster was caught in an aiming crisis.
"Huh? What's with the hold up, Achacha? You only need to take out one; how hard is that to decide?"
"(Chuckle) Oh dear. Having target troubles, are we?"
I glare up at Caden, who adds with a coy smile,
"My bad. Guess I should've mentioned Stray Cat's ability: When it's on the field in Attack Mode, you can't target any other monster."
"Say what now?!"
"Interesting tactic. This poses a bit of a dilemma..."
My eyes turn to Astral, who explains upon feeling my stare,
"Both of her monsters are Stray Cats. If you target one, the other will leap in and become the target of your attack. This cycle will go on and on and on."
"Damn...so short terms, I can't do jack."
Crap, what to do now...Hm...If only one of those monsters wasn't in attack-
...Wait...
"Athena, I think I know a method that will get us out of this situation."
"...I might've just figured it out too."
"You did?"
Nodding, I hold my hand out so we were both looking at them and point to the one card that should save my arse.
"It's this one, right? This is the one you were thinkin' of."
"...Yes, that is the one."
Smiling a touch proudly of myself for figuring it out on my own, I put the plan to action.
"Yo, Caden! Here's a little Flip-Flop Spell for you and your Strays! Thanks to this card, I can switch the battle mode of one monster on the field!"
The boy forms an affronted expression, and I continue:
"I think the white one's a good enough target."
The Stray Cat shifts its position, now hiding itself inside a cardboard box...
"Archer, you're up! Fire away at the grey one!"
That cat turns its face (which was rather freaky-scary, I may add) to Achacha just as he fires his arrow.
"A-chacha!"
The grey feline is destroyed, much to Caden's dismay:
"My poor kitty!"
His Life Points settle down to 2400, and I pull back my free hand into a victorious fist and slight smirk.
Ha! S'all comin' up good...
Astral's POV
Watching the scene unfold, I then turn to stare at Athena as I thought to myself,
The Stray Cat's ability was dependent on being in Attack Mode. So by forcing one of them into Defense Mode, Athena made the other one vulnerable.
That was the suggestion that I was going to make...
Perhaps it was better that she came up with that move on her own.
She then calls out to her opponent,
"Caden! You're gonna regret the day you came up with the very idea of messing with Tiffany! I can promise you that!"
I almost felt a smile form at hearing how determined she sounded, for while her dueling skills do need work, the girl is certainly an expert in caring about another's well-being...The boy Caden, however, seemed to think differently:
"Rgh, this isn't fair at all! I'm standing here right in front of your pretty red irises, and the name I'm hearing pass your lips is Tiffany? (Growl) Can't you forget about her for now, and focus on dueling with me?!"
Athena was rather taken aback by the address:
"H-Huh? The heck are you sayin'...and what'd you say about my eyes?"
As for myself, I felt this strange feeling pass through my heart from how, passionate(?) the boy sounded, which also made me frown.
...What is this?...Why, do I feel this way?
"Before you even think of making another move, I'm activating a Spell Card! Since you destroyed my sweet Stray, I can use Mysterious Cat Transformation and summon Monster Cat!"
The monster was indeed fierce in appearance, but was only Level One and had no visible Attack Points...But its ability will make up for it ten-fold.
"When Monster Cat is summoned to the field, its claws will come scratchin' down on your weaker monsters."
Achacha Archer is lost to us, and Caden adds,
"What makes this combo even more pur~fect, is that for every enemy Monster Cat destroys, you take 800 points of damage!"
Athena is thrown back onto the ground as her Life Points drop to 3200...
"That's what happens when you think about others while we're the ones dueling, Addy."
The smile on his face as he ended that sentence...for some reason, I did not care for it at all.
But moving past that, Athena rises to her feet with no issues and retorts to Caden in a sarcastic manner,
"Great lesson. Congratulations, you have my undivided attention. I place one card face-down and end my turn."
Her opponent draws and exclaims,
"Hope you liked my kitty's tricks, 'cause there's another one Monster Cat's itchin' to show! Once every turn, it can rescue one Stray Cat from my deck or my Graveyard and place it in my hand. Once more, I can summon it instantly!"
He does just that, and I make note of how many monsters he has on his side of the field.
"He has three Level One Monsters on the field. Are you thinking what I am thinking?"
Athena nods and replies in a low volume,
"Yeah. He might be bustin' out a Number now...or it could be a regular XYZ. I'm not sure."
"I overlay my two Strays and Monster Cat to build the Overlay Network! Mreow, I XYZ summon, Twin-Tail Cat Lady! Careful you don't test her; her claws are sharper than mine!"
To my surprise, it wasn't a Number, but merely a regular Rank One monster with 1000 Attack Points.
"Why did he not summon the Number Card?"
Athena shrugs her shoulders at me, no more sure than I was, and Caden continues his turn.
"I now activate Twin-Tail's special ability: Once a turn, by using an overlay unit, she can increase her Attack Points by 800!"
Said monster's power rose to 1800 come one glow from their metal claws, and the girl beside me mutters with an annoyed expression,
"Shoot. What a time for math...Two more turns of that power, and that skin-tight beast will have...3400?"
Nodding, I comment,
"Hm, so you do pay attention in your math class, do you?"
"Oi, watch it! Math and me just have one of those weird frenemy relationships..."
Caden then says to Athena with a chuckle under his breath,
"It's been a blast dueling with you, Addy dear..."
Once again, I felt that strange feeling rise in my chest from the way that sentence was conveyed, but I pushed it away and noted instead,
"Perhaps he does not have a Number Card..."
Meanwhile, Athena turns around to face Caden and says,
"While I don't know who exactly you are...you're a fairly good duelist."
That compliment caused the boy's cheeks to colour a little (I believe Athena explained it as, blushing).
"Uh! You...you think so? (Smile) You've only seen the tip of the iceberg! (Readies a card) No cat should have to live in the unforgiving alleys! Mreow! I activate the Cat World Field Spell!"
A Field Spell, is it?
The area around us all then shifts in accordance to the spell, showing us a vast field of green under a clear blue sky, where many of these felines were laying about near a giant cat statue. Athena mutters with widened eyes,
"Whoa...It's been a long while since I went up against someone who uses Field Spells..."
"Welcome to Cat World! A place where cats of all shapes and sizes can bask in the sun and play to their heart's content! For them, it's paradise...but for you, it's a nightmare. Here in this world, all Cat Monsters gain Attack Points equal to their original Attack Points."
Twin-Tail's power rose to 2800, making both myself and the girl beside me wince, which would not go unnoticed by Caden.
"Heh, your attention's caught now, hm? (Grin) Alright, Twin-Tail Cat Lady: Attack Addy directly!"
Said monster lunges with a humanoid-feline growl and slashes Athena across her torso, making her draw a sharp breath and fall back to kneel on one knee as her Life Points drop to 400!
...Yet, rather than be afraid, she smirked slightly and lets out a chuckle before activating a Trap she laid down before.
"Thought you'd do somethin' like that eventually, which is why I laid down this trap, Pixie Gong! Because I took direct damage, I'm now able to summon a pixie monster from my deck in Attack Mode. Joe the Pixie, ten-hut!"
The Level One monster appears to the field, and Caden comments adoringly at their appearance.
"Aww, cute! Let's see if he's got power to back up his appearance. Your move, Addy dear!"
I notice Athena's smirk falter slightly from the address (more than likely in annoyance), but she began to speak to the boy more casually than earlier.
"Heh, I'll admit, you're pretty good. Haven't dueled someone with this much passion before."
"(Blushing smile) Uh! Y-You mean that?"
"Sure, why not?"
"...It's, just that..."
That was when the boy became less confident in his speech, more withdrawn like how I remember observing him before now.
"It's just so, refreshing to hear you say that, because...well...Hah, in the real world, at school, there's this girl. She, either doesn't know I exist or barely acknowledges my presence. I see her all the time, she me, but, it's like there's a bubble separating any chances of going further than that..."
"Oh...that kind-a sucks..."
"I admit, maybe playing those little pranks wasn't the best approach, but, I thought they'd be enough for her to at least notice me. Sadly, they didn't work...I'm just so meek-hearted. I wish I could just buck up the courage and tell her that I like her."
Ah, so it was him who was giving Athena trouble these last several days...
The spark of realization in her red irises told me she came to the same conclusion...
But rather than get mad as I expected her to, she smiled sympathetically at Caden and replied,
"If that's the case, then why keep up the foreplay?"
"Huh?"
"She'll never know your feelings if you bottle them up like a dormant volcano. Just take a chance and let the world see what you've got."
"Uh...Addy...(Giggle) You're right! I'll do it; I'll go for it! (Deep breath) Athena Fujina, I think you're really great and...I-I like you!"
Said girl of address takes in a short breath of surprise, while I felt that surge of strange feelings bubble up in my chest again...It felt like seconds turned into minutes for that moment, until she replies calmly,
"I'm, flattered, Caden...and I'll tell you my answer, after this duel."
What?
"Uh?"
"It's my Draw! First, I sacrifice Pinecono to the Graveyard, so I can summon Acorno to the field."
Said Level One monster jumps to the field...
"And now Pinecono's special ability activates: Because he was sent to the Graveyard, I can summon him straight back out!"
There were now three Level One monsters on the field...I knew instantly what Athena's next move was to be.
"Okay! I now overlay all three of my Level Ones to build the Overlay Network! Come on out, Baby Tiragon!"
Said monster whose abilities made up for its lower attack power appears to the field, flashing a smile down at their summoner, who smiles back before continuing with her turn.
"He won't be fighting alone, of course. Next, I summon forth Gagaga Magician!"
He appears at attention, but would not remain Level Four for much longer...
"I activate Gagaga's special ability, to make him Level One like Tiragon's Rank! And with that done, I activate Triagon's ability: Using one overlay unit, he can empower a Level One monster to attack your directly!"
Caden exclaims,
"Auh! Oh no...!"
"Gagaga Magician, attack Caden directly with Gagaga Magic!"
The wave of power that thrusts from the magician's fist forces the boy to shield himself with an outcry as his Life Points drop to 900.
"The magic's just getting started. You're up next, Baby Tiragon: Attack Twin-Tail Cat Lady!"
I was shocked that Athena would call such a play:
"Do what?! It does not have enough Attack Points!"
"(Chuckle) Tiragon will be more than capable for the job, thanks to this Spell in my hands, Ego Boost! He'll be getting 1000 points for this battle, while Twin-Tail's drop back to their original total!"
Oh my, that's a rather good play.
Athena sends an encouraging grin at Baby Tiragon and asks,
"You ready, little guy?"
They send a nod and tiny smirk of anticipation back, before their summoner makes the call.
"Then let the sharp-clawed woman have it! Go, Baby Stream!"
Baby Tiragon would end the battle with a breath of energy, destroying Twin-Tail Cat Lady while also throwing her summoner backwards with a yelp as his Life Points plummet to 0...
Athena removes her duel gazer and mutters to herself with a proud smirk,
"Looks like I win this time."
I meanwhile, was more pressed to seeing if the boy had a Number Card on his person...but found none to my slight disappointment...
That's when I focused on watching Athena walk around this balcony area to assist Caden in standing up.
"...Hey, you alright?"
"Huh?"
"(Slight smile) You dueled well, and, while I can't return your feelings toward me in the manner you're thinking...I'd be honoured if we could be friends, Cade. (Smirk) 'Course, I'll still need to know where you're hiding Tiff."
Caden, or Cade, coloured his cheeks a little and replies softly with a smile,
"...Alright, Addy."
After revealing Tiffany's true location, Athena and I would leave this area to one piece of the park she usually jogs through in the early morning...only to come across a rather strange sight, that being her friend and another large group of felines playing a game of sorts.
"Green light...Green light...Red light!"
Hm. What an odd game...Is it perhaps inspired from those, traffic lights?
Athena was more pressed with Tiffany's condition:
"Tiff! What, the heck is goin' on here?"
"A-Addy..."
"...Haaaah, well, 'least you're not hurt or nothin'."
The girl with shorter black hair and blue irises laughs nervously with an embarrassed colouring of her cheeks, while the girl with longer black hair and red irises bends downward in exasperation...
Time Skip, No POV
The next morning, as Athena, Tiffany and Jamal began making their way to first class for a new day of learning, the second of the trio was trying to explain her reasoning for not letting the former know what happened yesterday sooner.
"The cats were really insistent on wanting to play. They had such cute expressions, I couldn't say no, and the next thing I knew, it was almost evening...Athena, please, when are you gonna stop being mad at me?"
Said girl turns to glare mildly at the other and reply stiffly,
"Check back at lunch and we'll see." Tiffany turns away with an annoyed pout:
"Ugh, you and your moods..."
"Uum..."
They and Jamal then have their attention turned to noneother than Caden, who approaches with a sideglance and shy, blushing cheeks...Jamal asks kindly,
"Hey, dude. Somethin' we can help you with?"
"...Uh, just, (shy smile) good morning."
Athena shoots him a friendly smirk and replies,
"Same to you," and the boy with sandy-brown hair dyed with gray rushes off with a quiet giggle...
"Uhm, anyone know who that was?"
Tiffany glares a bit at Jamal and replies,
"Don't be rude; that boy's in our class. His name is...um, his name is..."
"It's Caden, but he goes by Cade."
Both look at Athena in surprise for the knowledge, and she adds,
"He and I went into a cool duel the other day."
For some reason, this made Tiffany a bit bristled and she replies quietly,
"You did? Uh...t-that would've been good to know."
Jamal then asks as a way to wave off some tension,
"By the way, Addy, did you figure out who was pullin' those weird pranks on you?"
"...I did, but I'm not sayin' who."
"Huh? Why not?" She shrugs and replies casually,
"Not worth it, trust me. They might've been annoying, but it's not like my life was threatened, (wry smile) just my dignity."
Tiffany sends her a stiff look and retorts,
"Tuh, like your dignity is something you should worry about..."
She then starts walking off in a cool air, leaving behind a confused Athena and Jamal.
"Huh...What's gotten into her all of a sudden?"
"Beats me, but then again, she's always annoyed by somethin'..."
...But Astral, whom was hovering overhead the teens this entire time, had a different opinion.
"Observation Number Eleven: It seems that Athena is incapable of completely understanding the Females of her species...which is ironic considering that she is one."
Rather, she seems to understand the patterns of Males more, almost to the point where she mimics some of their mannerisms...
Perhaps that was what Tiffany meant when she called Athena a 'Tom-boy'.