Last chapter, I experimented with an end of chapter vignette, something that you would typically see in many anime shows. Demon Slayer was a heavy inspiration for me when I made it, especially when the show reveals some random factoid that relates to the universe. I've decided to commit to the idea and call my ending vignette "The Ikari Corner," a tool I can use to have characters talk out of universe and provide background information I couldn't fit in the regular prose. Anyway, on with the chapter.
"Apparently this older kid has been bullying the other kids in the neighborhood, strong arming them into duels and forcing them to ante up their decks. Parker and Juan got hit yesterday," Aella explained to her friend, Ashley. The school day just ended and all the students were getting ready for the weekend.
"What a creep. Picking on little kids," the swirly haired girl wretched in disgust.
"Exactly, that's why I'm going to find that bastard and bring him to justice!" Aella boldly declared with fire in her eyes.
"You're always so dramatic," Ashley commented. The conversation between the two girls was put on hold when they heard a ghastly wail, a wail that typically signaled the coming of the grim reaper. It came from Sid, who was leaning against a wall not too far away.
"What's with you?" Aella asked as the two girls approached.
"Duel training…" Sid muttered in a half alive state.
"Duel training?" Aella repeated, "Principle Merrick hasn't hired a new duel instructor yet."
"No… Ren Ikari… White Lotus Card Shop…"
"Wait, are you talking about that card shop owner on fifth?" Aella questioned, "The one with the crazy training regimen?"
"Yeah, and his training is as intense as the rumors claim it to be…" Sid trailed off. Who would have thought that constructing a lair of darkness deck while skipping in place was exhausting?
"Hold it," Ashley interrupted, "Did you say Ikari? As in Charles Ikari?"
"Yeah, he hangs around the shop these days," Sid explained, "Me and this one little kid are going through the same training he did."
"Wait, you mean Ikari isn't naturally talented?" Aella asked.
"Yeah, that's just a misconception," Sid replied.
Aella raised her eyebrow, "But why do all his social media profiles say that?" she pulled out her phone to check one of the various social media apps she has installed. When she searched 'CharlesIkariOfficial,' all she found was a screen that said 'page not found,' "What? I can't find him on this site," Aella tried a different app, same story, "Are all of his social media accounts gone?"
"That's weird," Sid relayed, prying himself off the wall, "You don't think he's retiring, do you?"
"No way!" Aella countered, "He hasn't even been in the pro circuit for a year."
It might very well be a possibility, Sid thought, He looked so depressed after the tournament, he held off on his thoughts when he saw Ashley, blushing like mad and resting her head in her hands, "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm more than okay," Ashley droned in a lovesick trance, "I actually know where to find Charles Ikari. Now I can actually ask him out on a date!" Ever since she witnessed Chuck's duel with professor Spencer over a week ago, Ashley had been fantasizing about the pro duelist nonstop. She found his stalwart confidence charming and attractive. The fact that he was famous made him even more alluring.
Sid nearly collapsed on the floor after hearing that, "You're gonna ask him out?!" unbelievable. Why did Chuck get to have the longing affection of such a beautiful girl?
"Wait, so you're actually gonna ask him out on a date?" Aella asked with wide eyes, "I thought you were just joking about that."
"Why would I? A hot older guy who's a pro duelist? That's what you call a perfect boyfriend," Ashley summarized.
Aella then pointed out, "Don't you think you're being way too—"
"I need to make myself presentable when I go see him!" Ashley ignored, rushing off to pretty herself up for when she met Chuck proper.
"I really don't get that girl sometimes," Aella trailed off. Well, Ashley had her boy to chase, and she had hers. That grifter wouldn't escape her justice.
"Ahh crap!" Sid panicked, suddenly realizing something, "If I don't make it in time for training, Sensei will make me alphabetize 1000 cards!"
"You sure you want to go through that kind of training?" Aella asked, surprised with what she just heard, "It seems like it's draining your soul or something."
"Don't worry. I know what I signed up for," Sid assured, halfheartedly calming himself down, "Besides, there's no way Sensei's training could get any worse."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Sid screamed as blustering winds assaulted his entire being.
"Waaaahhhh! I'm scared!" Sarah cried as she focused on keeping her dress down.
Both of them were in the back of the White Lotus Card Shop where they undertook Ren's next lesson: playing Duel Monsters withstanding the winds of an industrial fan.
"True duelists are capable of playing in even the most extreme of circumstances," Ren said, standing in the middle of the blustering winds with absolutely no issue, "This exercise will improve your stamina and endurance. Boy, the first move is yours, draw!"
"This is crazy!" Sid shouted as he reached for the deck in his beat up duel disk that was held together by duct tape and wishful thinking. As soon as Sid pulled his card, it flew out of his hand. The grey haired teen recoiled in worry and tried to grab it, only for the cards in his hand to fly away also. In his attempt to salvage the situation, Sid's entire deck flew out of his duel disk. Sid transitioned from worry to full on panic immediately.
"Boy, recover your cards," Ren instructed, "They are your heart and soul as a duelist."
Sid wailed, "I can't do it, sir. Please turn the—" the mach speed of oak wood flying a mere inch from his face silenced Sid into frozen submission.
Ren, bokken in hand, scolded his student, "How many times must I remind you?! I am not some 'sir!' I am your Sensei! Now, collect your cards and start over!"
Sid screamed in blood-curtailing terror, now knowing what it was like to face death in the eye.
"I guess he's doing the fan thing now," Chuck remarked, looking at the door that led to the back.
"Does he really still have that thing?" a woman in the store questioned, "You can hear it from across the street," she was an adult woman with green eyes and straight blond hair held back by two blue hair clips. She wore a white blouse underneath a blue embroidered vest, navy blue pants and high heels.
"You know how dad gets with his training," Chuck said, reaching into a bag of beef jerky.
"Ugh, if anyone comes in to complain about the noise, you get to talk to them," the woman sighed. Sometimes, her husband was absolutely crazy, "By the way, I noticed your social media profiles are all gone."
"Karey must have finally taken them down," Chuck deduced, snacking on a piece of beef jerky.
"I'm glad you finally cut ties with that woman. I knew she was trouble the minute I met her," the woman huffed before adopting a more joyous expression, "You know, I told your aunt Donna about what happened. When she found out, she wanted me to tell you she wants to be your new manager."
Chuck quickly swallowed his snack before giving his response, "Oh, really? Um, can you tell aunt Donna that I'm still on break?"
"Okay, but it's been over a week at this point, you'll need to get back in the scene eventually."
"Yeah," Chuck knew that she was right. Everything he worked for was to get into the pro circuit. But was it really worth it?
Chuck received a reprieve in the conversation when Ashley entered the store. She wore a light pink long sleeve wrap cardigan over a tight baby blue crop top, a pastel yellow knee high flowing skirt, white tights and light pink ballet flats. On her head was a pink hairband with a red heart on the side. Slung over her shoulder was a beige purse. She took immediate notice of Chuck behind the counter.
"Oh, you're here," Ashley said with a blush on her face, which turned into one of bewilderment when she heard the rhythmic whirling from the back, "Hey, what's that sound?"
"Don't worry about it," Chuck assured as he put down his bag of beef jerky, "That just means the owner is doing his job right."
"Okay..?" Ashley accepted reluctantly before she remembered why she was here, "Hi, my name's Ashley Rodriguez. I saw your duel against Professor Spencer over a week ago. Since then, I was hoping I could meet you proper."
"You wanna duel me?" Chuck guessed. It wasn't uncommon for him to receive random duel requests from time to time.
"Oh, no no! It's not that," Ashley nervously waved her hands, "It's just…"
"Just what?" Chuck tilted his head.
Ashley felt her voice die at her lips. Why was she being hesitant? She made the decision to go through with this. Maybe Chuck was just too cool for her? He was a big time duelist after all. What did she have to lose anyway? He must be used to stuff like this by now.
With her hands clasped and her eyes shut, Ashley said, "Would you like to go out on a date with me?!"
"N-NANI?!" Chuck blurted, briefly speaking in his second language with how shocked he was, "Hold on, don't you think you're being too—"
"He would be delighted to accept," the older woman joyously replied.
Chuck felt his heart skip a beat, "What?! Mom!"
"Really?" Ashley responded in joy at this news, too caught up in her own happiness to notice Chuck's protests, "How does Tomorrow at noon sound?"
"That'd be wonderful!" Chuck's mom nodded her head in agreement.
"Don't volunteer me for this!" Chuck demanded, but his outburst fell on death ears.
"Great! Meet me over by the fountain on Bell. See you tomorrow!" Ashley waved off in a sing song voice as she skipped out of the store.
"What just happened?" Chuck asked, his mind in an utter frizz. He was somehow set on an arranged date in the span of less than a minute.
"How exciting!" Chuck's mom clasped her hands together in joy, "My baby's first love!"
"Mom! Why did you agree on a date for me?!" Chuck hollered in outrage.
"Because you're never going to look for a girlfriend yourself if you keep focusing on dueling!" Chuck's mom answered sternly, "Besides, can you legitimately tell me you didn't think she was pretty?"
"That's not the point! You can't just make that kind of decision for me!"
"Well excuse me for looking out for your future! It's not like you're doing anything else right now," their argument was cut short by the explosively loud sound and blustering winds of an industrial fan. Ren opened the door to the back, allowing the howling winds inside the shop proper. The onslaught stopped when Ren entered the room and closed the door behind him.
"What's going on?" he questioned, "I heard you two arguing from in there."
"How could you hear anything with that massive fan on?" his wife questioned back.
"Samantha, I have the ears of a hawk, you know that," Ren replied casually, "You've still yet to answer my question. Why were you two arguing?"
"Oh Ren, dear, it's wonderful!" his wife, Samantha, exclaimed in joy, "Our son's going on a date!"
Ren was immediately flabbergasted at the news, "A date?!"
"I didn't agree to it!" Chuck pointed out, "Mom agreed for me."
Ren eyed his son with a critical gaze, "Is she pretty?"
"What? Yes, very much so, but that's not the—"
Chuck's father wrapped his arm around him and laughed heartily, "That's the Ikari charm working its magic. This is great! Now I can finally start expecting grand children!"
"Dear, you're thinking out loud again," Samantha commented.
Chuck felt his mind go blank. This had to be a joke, right?
"You realize you must go, correct," Ren addressed, stunning Chuck to his core, "She went through the trouble of asking you for your time. Now she's expecting you to arrive. It wouldn't do to leave the poor girl heartbroken. A man must always keep his promises, even if they're made for him."
Chuck knew deep down that his dad was right. He couldn't live with himself if he broke that girl's heart, I really can't get out of this situation can't I? Might as well make the most of it.
Tomorrow soon became today. Ashley stood near the fountain where she told Chuck to meet her. She had made sure to make herself look extra pretty for this occasion. She made sure to make her hair even more luscious and to apply just the right amount of make up. She nervously paced around the fountain, having been there for at least 15 minutes now. What if he didn't show up? What would she do then?
Her fears were put at ease when she saw a familiar figure walking towards her. Chuck was adorned in a black colored dress shirt rather than his preferred hoodie. His hair was different also, looking far more neat and orderly than he ever would have allowed normally.
I feel like such a tool, he thought with a dour expression.
"Hi Chuck!" Ashley waved before running over to him, "Look at you. You look so different like this," Ashley showed her affection by ruffling Chuck's hair, restoring it to it's usual messy self.
"It took my mom ten minutes to do my hair," Chuck remarked.
"C'mon then! Let's get going!" Ashley proclaimed as she grabbed Chuck's wrist and whisked him away. She had a whole day vaguely planned out for the both of them. First stop was lunch at a local diner.
Taking a bite from her chicken salad, Ashley took critical notice of her date. He seemed so sad for some reason, looking out the window, only barely eating his barbecue bacon cheeseburger. Maybe conversation would lift his spirits, "So, you're pretty new to the pro dueling scene, aren't you?"
Chuck swallowed his food before making his response, "Yeah, you can say that."
"That must be really exciting, getting to live such a glamorous lifestyle."
"Glamorous?" Chuck repeated, putting down his burger. His expression shifted from downcast to spiteful, "There's nothing glamorous about the pro dueling scene," he went to grab a napkin to wipe the barbecue sauce from his face.
Ashley was more than surprised at Chuck's sudden shift in mood, "Ummm, but I'm sure you get to travel to nice places and meet interesting people, right?" her voice wasn't very certain. In fact, it sounded fearful.
"I never got to enjoy the places I traveled to as much as I would've liked. It was always just busywork. And people? Everyone I meet in the pro league is the same: arrogant, narcissistic, entitled—I hate it," Chuck crushed the napkin in his hand, his knuckles threatening to bleed. The low tone of Chuck's voice made Ashley worry. Chuck's entire body trembled, his voice getting louder to the point of shouting, "Not a single one of them has an once of respect. Whenever someone's dream dies, they just laugh. They take joy in making people miserable. They're supposed to be the mature duelists, but they throw more temper tantrums then every preschooler in the world combined!"
"Chuck…" Ashley hazarded, feeling frightened at the moment. Something ugly obviously sparked inside of Chuck, and it was taking over very fast.
"I want it back to the way it used to be, when it was just the four of us. All our fun. All our dreams. I WANT IT ALL BACK INSTEAD OF THAT SORRY EXCUSE OF A COMMUNITY!" tears spilled down Chuck's face as struggled to breath through his frustrated sobs.
Ashley looked on in pity as Chuck clutched his lowered head for support. Part of her wanted to leave right then and there, but she felt compelled to stay. Something inside of her told her to stay and see this through. Many of the other patrons looked at him with disgust, but not Ashley. She only felt concern. It took a full minute for Chuck to calm down from his outburst. When he did, he addressed his date with a glum expression.
"I'm sorry I put you through that," Chuck apologized with sorrow in his voice, "I had no right to take all that out on you."
"No, you don't need to apologize," Ashley reassured, "You must have been holding all that in for a long time."
"I try to not let my anger get the best of me," Chuck sighed, "Sometimes I wish the other pro duelists were the same way. It's like they only live off rage. Nobody would talk about Johnny Well if he didn't freak out over every loss."
"Say, Chuck, you mentioned something about 'the four of us' earlier. What did you mean?" Ashley asked. Almost immediately, she realized that might have been a boundary she shouldn't cross, "Ahhh, on second thought, you don't need to tell me anything."
"No, don't worry about it," Chuck assured, "Actually, it'd be kinda nice to reminisce. See, when I was a kid I used to duel all the time with my brother Ryuji and two other kids, Mitchell and Ian. Everyday after school we would meet up at my dad's card shop. Dad would let us duel in the back. We had this beat up table where we would play on, we didn't have duel disks at the time. For the longest time, it was just the four of us suffering through dad's training and playing Duel Monsters: singles, tag team, battle royal, we did it all together. Eventually we started playing at some local tournaments. We didn't do very well, we always got knocked out early. One day, all four of us made a promise that one day we would all go pro so that we would become the next biggest thing in Duel Monsters."
"And you did go pro."
"Yeah, but I'm the only one who did. My two friends, Mitch and Ian, moved away to different states sometime during middle school. We kept in contact for a while but we all eventually drifted apart. From what I can tell, neither of them made it to the pro scene."
"What about your brother?"
Chuck's expression lowered once again, "I haven't seen or heard from my brother in two years. He lost really badly in a local tournament and didn't take it well. He was screaming, calling his opponent names, and even punched a hole in the wall. Dad wasn't happy. He accused Ryuji of abandoning our principles of Dueling Honor. Ryuji got defensive, saying that our honor was holding him back. That night, Ryuji left home. I haven't heard from him since."
"I'm sorry…" Ashley muttered.
"You shouldn't apologize for things that aren't your fault," Chuck said, "The thing is, lately, I'm wondering if keeping the dream alive is worth it if all I get is scorn. People think I'm some dueling prodigy, but that's a load of crap. I couldn't tell a normal spell from a quick play spell before my dad moulded me into a duelist. They all think I didn't have to work hard at all to achieve champion status."
"But why did your official social media pages say you're a natural born duelist?"
"Karey, my ex-manager set all those up. She tried to create a false persona for me. Whenever I tried to argue against it, she'd blow me off, saying that I had no clue how fame worked. Besides, I don't really care for social media."
"I see. But then why don't you clear up that misconception?"
"Karey always yelled at me if I ever suggested that to her. Said that it would make 'us' look bad if it was revealed she lied about who I was," Chuck let out a cynical huff, "Even then, I don't really care. Let them think what they want."
It's like he's lost all passion for dueling, Ashley noted. He seemed stalwart and confident at first, but who would have thought he harbored such a cynical side.
"When I won the first match in the regionals, my opponent threatened to kill me," Ashley remembered hearing about that story when it happened. Former pro player Roy Cortez was barred from all official tournaments after threatening to murder his opponent, "Since then, playing Duel Monsters hasn't been the same. It's like—all of the fun is gone. I've honestly considered quitting altogether, but I don't want to do that. Dueling is what I've dedicated my life to, how I feel connected to my old friends. It's like—I feel trapped," Chuck lowered his head. He didn't even know why he confided all this with Ashley, but he expected her to leave any second. But that isn't what happened.
"I know what you mean," Ashley said with sympathy in her voice.
Chuck widened his eyes, "You do?"
"It's not the same situation as you, but I know what it's like to be unsure of your dream," Ashley confided, "When I was a little girl, I saw a performance of Sleeping Beauty. Since then, I've dreamed of being a ballet dancer. I worked really hard at dance school, pushing myself to the absolute limit. Turns out ballet is really taxing on the body, but I worked through it to make my dream a reality."
"It sounds like something happened."
Ashley nodded, "Yeah, about a year ago I got to play Aurora in my class' summer performance of Sleeping Beauty. But, when we were going through dress rehearsal, I made a mistake and failed a very large leap. I ended up shattering my left ankle. The doctor called it a Trimalleolar Fracture. I still remember how painful it was. I needed extensive surgery to fix my ankle. I've got a metal joint holding my foot to my leg now."
Chuck took notice of the sad smile plastered on Ashley's face. From it, he was able to deduce what had her so down, "You can't dance anymore, can you?"
Ashley looked downtrodden, "My ankle feels better now, but it starts acting up whenever I try to do any advanced techniques," her foot instinctively started twitching as she was talking, "I really want to take physical therapy, get back into ballet, but I'm worried I'll just injure myself again. Ballet is the thing I dedicated my life to, I don't want to give it up, but I'm just too scared. The point is, I know what it's like to have a dream you're unsure about."
It couldn't have been easy for her to share that to a complete stranger like me, Chuck considered, and all that just to make me feel better about my own pity party.
He's such a sincere person, Ashley thought, He poured his heart out to me when he didn't have to. And here I am wanting to date him for such a superficial reason.
Ashley forced a smile and sat up from the booth, "C'mon, enough of that depressing stuff. Let's go have some fun!"
Chuck was surprised. How could she go from gloomy to cheerful just like that? "Where to?"
"Anywhere we want. Right now, we don't have to worry about our problems."
Chuck rose from his seat as well, "Yeah, that sounds nice."
After splitting the bill between them, the two teens took their leftovers to go and left towards whatever caught their eye. They ended up taking a walk in the park, going to a movie, even throwing coins into the same fountain they met up to make a wish. Eventually, it came the time to go their separate ways. Chuck decided to see Ashley off before heading home himself. Along the way, they engaged in small talk.
"Hey, I just got reminded of a really funny story with my ex-manager," Chuck recalled that this particular story happened somewhere around six months ago. It happened out of state at a hotel where a tournament was being held. It all happened when Karey just happened to enter the room.
"Mr. Ikari, I was hoping you could—" Karey stoped herself when she noticed an enormous winged monster inside the room. It's towering appearance made the manager feel insignificant by comparison. There was naught Karey could do but scream in utter terror. Just as she peaked the extent of her lungs, the monster suddenly vanished. Chuck was present in the room with the Stardust Dragon card on his new duel disk.
"Mr. Ikari! What is the meaning of this!?" Karey exclaimed with a red face.
"Why are you angry? I'm just here testing out this new duel disk when you start screaming your lungs out," Chuck innocently explained.
"Why on earth would you test a new duel disk indoors?!" Karey screeched in anger.
"It's fresh out of the box. Why wouldn't I want to try it out immediately?" before the argument could continue, Chuck noticed something strange, "Hey, do you smell that? It kinda smells like—"
"Now stop right there!" Karey interrupted, "You don't smell a thing, got it?!"
"Yeah but—"
"GOT IT?!" Karry yelled. Looking at her more critically, Chuck noticed that her face was unusually red, and not just from anger. Not only that, but she positioned her clipboard in a way that covered the front of her skirt, almost as if she was hiding something. There was also the matter of the dark stain on the carpet at Karey's feet. That wasn't there before.
"Hang on, did you..?"
"Not a word! Do you understand?!" Karey yelled, "This didn't happen!" she shuffled her way into her own temporary room, her clipboard still in front of her skirt. Her high heels squelched with each step she took.
"You mean she actually wet herself?!" Ashley recapped, giggling like a maniac.
"Well, the big stain on the carpet did smell like piss, and Karey did wear a different skirt for the rest of the day," Chuck did his absolute best not to laugh as he relayed this information to Ashley.
"Oh my God! That is so hysterical!" the girl bursted into a riotous laughter, nearing on the verge of peeing herself because of how hard she was laughing. The two teens continued their conversation. Ashley relayed that her father is a high ranking officer in the United States Air Force. His long time best friend was an officer as well, and all of their children were lifelong friends with each other. That naturally led her into talking about her lifelong friend, Aella Earhart.
"Aella?" Chuck widened his eyes, "likes to dress like a pilot? Has a pension for 'justice'?"
Now it was Ashley's turn to widen her eyes, "You know Aella?!"
"Yeah, I met Aella over a week ago. Her brother was bullying this little girl. I put a stop to it and he lied to Aella about me bullying him. She and I had a duel and I won. After that, I was able to convince her that her brother was lying. We left on good terms after that."
They eventually reached a nearby neighborhood with well maintained houses and infrastructure, "I can make it back home from here," Ashley said as she turned to Chuck, "I had a really great time with you today, Chuck."
"Yeah," he returned with a smile, "That was actually pretty fun," Ashley blushed in response. His smile was very nice and assuring,
"Say, do you want to exchange contacts?" she suggested, pulling her phone out of her purse.
"Sure," Chuck replied, reaching into his pocket—only to make a startling discovery. Sheepishly, he admitted, "Whoops, forgot my phone. And I don't know my number."
Ashley, in utter disbelief, collapsed onto the ground.
Getting back up, she suggested, "How about I just give you my number so we can add each other later?" And so they did.
Their farewell was cut short when a piercing shriek reverberated into their ears. Both teens stiffened as their eyes widened.
"What the Hell was that?!" Chuck hollered, turning his head in the direction of where the scream originated.
"That voice," Ashley pondered before letting out a gasp, "I know that voice. That's Aella!"
"C'mon!" Chuck immediately ran forward towards where Aella's voice originated, with Ashley not far behind him.
The Ikari Corner
Ashley: Your parents are very interesting people, Chuck.
Chuck: Tell me about it. You wouldn't guess they were husband and wife at first glance.
Ashley: Love really can blossom between the most unlikely people, can't it?
Chuck: Ashley, you look really distracted. Is something wrong?
Ashley: You are so dense!
Chuck: Now it's time for Ikari Family Trivia:
My mom, Samantha Ikari, is a Duel Historian. She first met my dad during a university research trip to Japan. Their first date was a duel.
Ashley: That's it! All I need to do is duel him! But wait, I left my deck at home.
Chuck: Next time, Chuck vs. the Grifter.
Ashley: Even then, is he in the best state to be dueling?
To be continued…