Chapter #4: Winter's Shadows
In the end, after the duel that had propelled her to the top of the Fusion Course, nothing big happened for the next month or so. Shiori studied in school, studied at home, ate warm dinners and learned a few more recipes too.
It was… not a bad routine.
So, one cold December morning, once Shiori tucked Risu into bed, she took a quick walk outside. Winter had just started, and she had tossed on a winter coat. Still, it was nice to tread in the snow—to leave footprints behind in the stark white ground.
That was when she first saw the girl standing on top of the hill.
A girl with long, midnight blue hair—even longer than Shiori's own hair. The hair was unruly and uncombed—it looked like it might have gotten long through a lack of care, rather than personal preference. Her cheeks were covered in thin, red, veiny scars. The girl wasn't wearing a winter coat at all—was she not freezing? It was so cold out here. Instead, she was wearing a thin grey sundress, with small snowflakes embroidered into it. The hem of her dress was sky blue.
As she gazed out from the hill, Shiori could see the other girl's expression. There was something… empty to it.
Shiori felt her heart skip a beat.
The girl took a step. Another step. She hadn't seen Shiori at all. She was shivering from the cold—
And then, she collapsed straight into the snow.
Shiori immediately walked forward, running up the hill. She was out of breath by the time that she got to the girl.
"Hey," Shiori said. She tapped the girl's shoulder. "Oi. Wake up. Are you still conscious?"
There was no response. Shiori almost cursed, but she had been taught too well to always be polite. She pulled off her winter coat, wrapping it around the girl's frame—the girl's arms were thin, far too thin. Not quite malnourished, but something close. Who was this girl?
"Get a hold of yourself," Shiori said. She rubbed her palms together, warming them up and pressing them to the girl's neck, to warm her up slightly. She felt a strange feeling wash over her, but she ignored it. Helping this girl was more important. "Come on…" The girl was still breathing, albeit shallowly.
Focus, Fujishiro Shiori.
This girl's pulse was weak. Her breathing was slow and shallow. She was shivering in her unconscious state.
Hypothermia. That was what it was. What was this girl doing out here without a coat or anything to keep her warm?
No. Focus.
The first important thing was to get her out of the snow. The girl's clothes were wet with snow—those had to be changed too. But Shiori wasn't close to her home right now.
She tried to lift up the girl, but she wasn't strong enough.
Then, she heard a voice in the distance.
"Sae! Sae!"
Sae? Was that this girl's name?
A pink-haired girl came running up the hill, panting. She spotted Shiori and the girl on the ground, and her eyes widened. She ran over, reaching out to grab onto the girl.
Shiori reached out an arm to stop her. "Sudden movements aren't good for someone with hypothermia," she murmured. "Be gentle."
"O-oh." The girl bit her lip. "What do we do?"
"Carrying her should be fine, if you don't shake her too much. Just be… careful, alright?"
The girl nodded determinedly. She carefully lifted up the dark-haired girl—were they siblings? "Oh, Sae…" She murmured. "Why were you all the way out here by yourself?"
Shiori looked at them.
She thought about Risu. What if Risu woke up and found that she was in danger, freezing, alone? She would probably be scared half to death by that, like this girl.
"I can come with you and help you," she said. "I know basic first aid."
"Thank you," the girl said softly. "For finding Sae, and…" She shook her head. "Let's go! Quickly!"
The girl, who introduced herself as Hiiragi Yuzu, helped to change her sister (or maybe something else, Shiori still hadn't actually gotten an answer to that) out of her wet clothes. Meanwhile, Shiori took charge of stealing all the blankets and coats in the house. Yuzu's father, who was one of the friendly men that she'd met the other day, had been fussing and crowding them, and so, Shiori had eventually asked him to cook something warm, half because it would help warm the girl up and half because she wanted to get him out of the way.
Shiori couldn't help but look at the girl's facial scars.
… those were frostbite scars, weren't they? But it must have been really severe frostbite, if that was the case, since less severe cases would only damage the top layers of the skin.
When the girl finally opened her eyes, she glanced around the room. Her eyes were ocean blue. Despite seeming tired, she didn't seem anything close to the strange, empty girl that Shiori had seen earlier.
Was it just her imagination, back then?
The girl turned to Shiori. "Did you… take me home?" She sounded hoarse. Shiori held out a cup of water towards her, but noticing how the girl's hands were shivering, she helped her to drink it carefully.
"I found you. Your sister carried you home—she was worried sick."
"Sister…" The girl shook her head. "Yuzu and I aren't… sisters." She smiled at Shiori—a simple, genuine smile. "Sorry about that. I don't do well in the cold."
"You would do better if you wore a jacket," Shiori said. "Or at least some winter clothes. You're… Sae-san, correct?"
Sae nodded. She tugged at the coat around her shoulders. "This one is… yours?"
"You can keep it," Shiori said after a moment. "It was getting too small for me anyway." No, it wasn't, but this girl was thin enough that it would probably last her longer anyway.
"I can't possibly—"
"Just keep it. Call it a favour to me—I don't have to look for someone to pass it onto."
Sae looked at her. She was still smiling softly. "... you're sweet," she said. She was still holding onto the cup of warm water, just to warm her hands. "Thank you very much. I'm Fuyutsume Sae. What's your name?"
Fuyutsume…
For a girl this frail and sweet to have a last name that meant 'winter claw' was certainly unexpected.
"Fujishiro Shiori," Shiori introduced herself.
"Fujishiro?" Sae smiled to herself. "So, are you a fuji musume?"
"I'm hardly bashful or romantic," Shiori refuted. What Sae was referencing was a spirit of bashfulness, longing and love—hardly anything like Shiori herself.
"Ah, so you're Buson's type of wisteria then. Tsuki no tooku, oboyuru fuji no, iroka kana."
Shiori recognised the poem, at the very least. 'In pale moonlight, the wisteria's scent comes from far away.' So, a quiet night, the faint scent of somewhere far away, that a person could not see with their own eyes. A tranquil scene of longing and yet mystery. Perhaps even lonely.
… was Sae teasing her?
"... do you enjoy reading, Sae-san?" Shiori asked. Sae nodded.
"I like to read and write," she said.
"It's a good hobby. I don't read much outside of classes."
They were about to carry on talking when Yuzu charged down from upstairs, clearly concerned. "Sae!"
Well, the actual caretaker was here. Shiori stood up. "I should head home," she said. "Leaving my sister alone in the house for so long… makes me uneasy."
Sae seemed almost… disappointed. "Oh. Alright."
"Your parents aren't at home today?" Yuzu said innocently.
Shiori twitched. "We don't live with our parents," she said simply. "I'll see you next time."
"Alright. I hope we see each other again." Sae waved towards her—still shivering a little, though there was some more colour to her skin now, meaning that she at least wasn't freezing anymore.
"... me too," Shiori said. "See you around."
"For some reason, when I saw her, I thought she was you," Yuzu said once the white-haired girl had left. Sae shot her a surprised look.
"Huh? She and I don't look anything alike, Yuzu…" She self-consciously touched her long black hair. "She's pretty."
"You're pretty too, Sae!" Yuzu said indignantly.
Sae was pretty sure that she wasn't. First, the scars on her face from that incident still hadn't completely faded—they were healing, but it was likely that she would carry a shadow on her face for a long time. Not to mention her hair…
… Fujishiro Shiori was really pretty. If Sae was interested in dating girls right now—or dating anyone at all—she might have mustered up the courage to ask her out on a date.
"Still, Sae, you're scared of the cold, right? So why do you always hole up in your room and then go out in the middle of the night like this?"
Yes, why?
It had been two years since she'd started living with the Hiiragis. She should be over this by now, and yet, she wasn't.
"Sorry for worrying you," Sae said softly. "I'll come to You Show tomorrow. I'm…"
She shivered again.
"Okay. I'm okay." She blew on her hands for a moment. "Sorry for ignoring you all for the last few days. It's a… bad time."
"Ah, Sae!"
And then Hiiragi Shuzo burst into the living room. He did not hug her—Sae didn't like physical contact. But he looked supremely relieved.
"Here, here, have some soup! Do you have enough blankets?"
"Yes." Sae lowered her gaze to look at the soup. "... thank you, Shuzo-san."
… she was a little nervous.
It was fine. She just had to leave the house tomorrow.
It was at least time for her to try to pretend that she was fine, even if the cold made her want to hide away again.
"The world is in the balance," he said, looking her in the eyes—she felt her heart beat faster, all of a sudden. "I love you—you know I do, but I cannot risk all six worlds for you."
"I—I don't understand. I don't want to become the demon queen—I'm just a normal person! Why can't you just believe in me?"
"Because that is fate! It's fate that I will kill you, or you'll kill me!" His voice was filled with anguish.
"And if we don't… if we just live out that life by the lake, if we just pick flowers together… what's so wrong with that?" She clung onto the front of his shirt. "You say that you love me! Can you really bear to kill me when you know that I don't want this?"
"Sae!"
Sae immediately slammed her laptop shut, cheeks going red. She was just in time—as Yuzu came into the room, she fidgeted.
"You said that you were going to You Show today, right? I came over to check on you!"
Right.
Right, Sae had gotten so caught up in writing that she'd forgotten about that. "I'll get going," she said, a little sheepish.
"Okay," Yuzu said. She grinned at her. "I'm glad you're willing to leave the house again!"
Sae nodded. Yuzu stepped out of the room, and she breathed out a sigh of relief. She opened up the laptop again, saving her draft. She really liked the new main characters that she'd come up with for her next novel. At her current writing speed, she'd be done a month before the publisher's mandatory deadline—she always ended up being early for these things.
She nervously paced in front of the door.
Leave the house. Yes, no problem. She was a perfectly normal person. She could leave the house, even if it was winter.
Sae clenched her fists, steeling herself.
Alright.
Time to go!
In the end, Sae made it about halfway to You Show before tripping on her own feet. She was still a little frail from the previous day, and the cold still terrified her slightly. She tugged on Shiori's winter coat, already tightly wrapped around herself.
She really should get a pair of gloves.
She ended up bumping into someone, and she glanced up, ready to apologise.
The boy there tugged on his red scarf, looking at her curiously. "Fuji—" He started to say, before he looked at her properly. He blinked twice.
Sae glanced away from him.
She felt the urge to tie up her hair, all of a sudden.
"Sorry," he said after a moment. He glanced at the coat that she was wearing, before he turned to her. "I didn't see you."
"That's fine." Sae glanced up at him. "I wasn't looking either…" She cleared her throat. "What's your name?"
The boy looked at her, seeming surprised. "... I don't think there's a need to tell you that," he said. "I need to go."
"Um…" Sae glanced after him. "I hope I'll run into you again!"
She didn't know where this courage had come from—in fact, she was dying slightly of embarrassment.
The boy didn't turn to look at her. Sae covered her face and carried on walking.
… that boy was kind of cute.
Nope. Nope. She scolded herself. Fuyutsume Sae, you're writing too many romance novels. Bumping into a cute boy on the street is such a cliche. No.
She quickly crossed the street, standing in front of You Show.
She hadn't come back here in… quite a while.
She entered the school.
"Sae!" Yuzu was there—Sae was probably the last one to get there, huh? Yuzu looked like she hadn't expected Sae to actually come to You Show, despite her efforts. Sae felt a little bad about that.
"Hi, Yuzu."
"I'm so glad that you came today." Yuzu smiled genuinely.
… the truth was, Sae had never understood. The Hiiragis had taken her in after that incident two years ago, but they had never asked anything more of her. They had been kind to her, they had worried over her, they had tolerated her shut-in nature. And while Yuzu was overly inquisitive, she had ended up leaving things be when Sae refused to answer.
They had no reason to risk their livelihood for her. To spend money on someone who wasn't related to them by blood. Sae had ended up giving some of the revenue that she made from her novels to them, and it had taken her a long time to get them to accept it.
"Yeah," Sae said. She smiled. "I'm really glad I came here too, Yuzu."
"Ah—Sae!" Yuzu's eyes widened, and she looked like she was holding herself back from hugging Sae. "You look happy!" She turned around. "Come on, come on!"
You Show Duel School was rather small. After all, Yuya, Ayami and Yuzu were all still thirteen. There had been a few older students, but most of them had left after the incident with Yusho Sakaki. Of the older group, only Sae herself was left. And yet she hadn't actually done anything to help, caught up in her own troubles—she'd left them to shoulder the weight themselves.
Sae lifted her hands, blowing warm air against them.
You called that girl a fuji-musume, but you're clearly a yuki-musume yourself. Daughter of snow, yet terrified of the cold—wasn't that just the worst thing of all?
She had to be more responsible from now on.
"Shuzo-san," she said, approaching the principal. "Let me do some advertising for You Show."
"Huh? Are you sure, Sae? You were always…"
"Continuing on like this after Yusho-sensei's disappearance won't help any of us," Sae said. "We have to adapt and overcome… that's what I think, anyway. Set up duels, etc in public spaces—duels with other duel schools, whatever. Don't worry about me, or what I can take—just do what's best for You Show. Alright?"
Their school had to survive, after all.
Shuzo looked at her—and he seemed rather tired, suddenly.
He clearly didn't want to put the burden on her to help the school, but…
Sae wanted to carry it, from now on.
"Sure," he said after a moment. "But you have to let me know if it's too much, alright?"
Sae nodded, even though she knew that she wouldn't really do that.
It shouldn't be up to the kids to do this.
She would protect them herself.
… sometimes, Shiori really wanted to curse Akaba Reiji.
The sheer number of opponents that were coming to challenge her were increasing by the day—and according to her 'benefactor', she had to accept all of their challenges, to build up as fearsome of a duel record as possible.
Shiori had a feeling that he just wanted to see how long it would take before she was completely exhausted. What was this, a test of resilience?
… still, it was a strange feeling to have people stop her in between classes to ask her for a duel. An even stranger feeling to receive their respect for her strength.
And as such, when the dark-haired girl who had been spying on her for the last few weeks approached her, she stood up, putting her book in her bag.
"Duel Field Twelve," she said. "Give me five minutes to get some water."
"H-huh?"
Shiori turned to look at her. "... you're not very subtle," she said. "Next time, if you want a duel so much, just come and ask me. You could have avoided wasting so much of your time. What's your name?"
"... Kotsu Masumi."
"You're…" She seemed younger than Shiori, so… "Twelve? Thirteen?"
"Thirteen." Masumi looked at her, determined. "I just got my first specific Fusion Monsters from LDS. I want to see how I match up to you, Fujishiro-senpai."
… this was the reason that this girl had been stalking her for slightly more than a month?
"Sure," Shiori said. "Meet me there then."
By the time that Shiori got a drink and headed to the Duel Field, Masumi was already there, pacing anxiously.
"I heard that you prefer not using Action Cards, Fujishiro-senpai," Masumi said, still sounding remarkably stoic.
"Yes," Shiori said.
"Then…" Masumi seemed to summon up her courage. "We'll duel in the manner you're used to! I won't use any Action Cards either!"
Shiori arched an eyebrow. "... are you sure? I've never told my opponents not to use them."
"Yes." Masumi shook her head. "I want to duel you on equal footing, without any handicaps. Only then will I know what parts of myself I have to improve on."
"... alright, Kotsu Masumi." Shiori tilted her head slightly, allowing a practiced smile to creep onto her lips. "Show me what you can do."
[DUEL!]
Kotsu Masumi: 4000LP
Fujishiro Shiori: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Shiori] [H:5]
At this point, most people were prepared for her deck when they faced her—or at least knew her effects. She was hardly bothered by that though—it just meant that she was dueling at a slight disadvantage.
Who cared about slight disadvantages?
Knowing her deck didn't mean that they would be able to use said knowledge against her.
"I will activate the Spell Card, Terraforming," she said. "I'll add Curse of the Shadow Prison to my hand and activate it. And then, I will activate the Spell Card, Shaddoll Fusion. I will fuse Shaddoll Beast and Shaddoll Hedgehog in my hand. Dark threads cut through the sky. Mindless puppet brought back from the brink of destruction, cut off the path to the future. Fusion Summon—El Shaddoll Winda!"
A girl dressed in dark robes appeared, vibrant green hair flowing in a ponytail behind her. She was riding a strange dragon whose scales seemed to pulse with shadows. Both of them were bound by the same purple threads that bound the rest of Shiori's monsters.
[El Shaddoll Winda (5*/2200/800/DARK/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)]
"Shaddoll Beast and Shaddoll Hedgehog's effects activate since they were sent to the graveyard by a card effect. With Beast's effect, I will draw a card. With Hedgehog's effect, I will add a "Shaddoll" monster from my deck to my hand." Shiori quickly refilled her hand. "I will set a card and a monster facedown. Over to you."
[Turn 2: Masumi] [H:6]
"Draw." Masumi looked at Shiori's monster. "El Shaddoll Winda… that card is the annoying one that restricts Special Summons, isn't it?"
"Yes," Shiori said. "She is indeed the annoying monster."
El Shaddoll Winda. This monster alone had given headaches to most of her opponents in LDS. A monster that could not be destroyed by card effects, and who locked both players to a single Special Summon each turn while she was face-up on the field.
Masumi was probably aware of that.
"Then I just have to take her out," Masumi said. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Gem-Knight Fusion. And I'll fuse Gem-Knight Lapis and Gem-Knight Lazuli in my hand. The blue and green stones that hides mysterious power. Now, become light and appear! Fusion Summon! Level 5! Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli!" A pretty woman with light blue skin appeared, dressed in blue robes that seemed…
… huh.
She looked oddly similar to Construct—a passing resemblance. It was probably a coincidence though—Akaba Reiji wouldn't specifically create a card for this girl that resembled Construct, after all.
[Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli (5*/2400/1000/EARTH/Rock/Fusion/Effect)]
"I'll activate the effect of Gem-Knight Lazuli! I'll add Gem-Knight Lapis back to my hand!" Masumi picked up the card—but that was when Shiori spoke up.
"Trap Card, Sinister Shadow Games," she said. "I'll send a "Shaddoll" monster from my deck to the graveyard. Then, I can flip up as many facedown "Shaddoll" monsters I control as I want. I'll flip up my current set monster. Appear—Shaddoll Squamata." The strange, snake-like monster appeared on the field.
[Shaddoll Squamata (4*/1800/1000/DARK/Spellcaster/Flip/Effect)]
"When Shaddoll Squamata is flipped face-up, I can target a monster on the field and destroy it. I'll target Lady Lapis Lazuli." The purple threads surged forward, wrapping around the woman and destroying her.
"So you set Squamata to counter whichever monster I Fusion Summoned under Winda's restrictions…"
Shiori shrugged. "Everyone's first reaction to Winda is to think 'I can just Fusion Summon and destroy her by battle immediately'," she said. "It's not that easy to catch me off-guard." She gestured to the card that she'd sent to the graveyard. "Reeshaddoll Wendi's effect. Since she was sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can Special Summon a "Shaddoll" monster from my deck in facedown Defense Position." A set monster appeared on her field. "So?"
"I'll set a monster and a card," Masumi said.
… she didn't look ready to give up.
… well. That was fine.
[Turn 3: Shiori] [H:2]
"Draw," Shiori said. She glanced through her hand. "I will Flip Summon Shaddoll Beast." The monster that she had set with Wendi's effect flipped up. The dark beast raised its claws, dark threads spinning around it.
[Shaddoll Beast (5*/2200/1700/DARK/Spellcaster/Flip/Effect)]
"With its Flip Effect, I will draw two cards and discard one. And since I sent Shaddoll Dragon to the graveyard, I can destroy a Spell or Trap you control." Masumi's set card shattered.
Shiori… didn't think that Masumi was the kind to play with Flip Monsters. So that set monster was probably a genuine shield, rather than a trap.
"Equip Spell," she declared. "Nephe Shaddoll Fusion. I will equip it to Shaddoll Squamata and declare an Attribute—and Squamata becomes that Attribute. I will choose EARTH." A brown glow surrounded Squamata. "Then, I will use my Equip Spell's other effect. I can perform a Fusion Summon using monsters in my hand and on my field, including the equipped monster. I will fuse Shaddoll Falco in my hand with the EARTH Shaddoll Squamata on the field. Pale woman caught in the threads of insidious madness, become one with the destructive entity that towers in the sky, and become the boundary that cuts off all hope for resurgence. Fusion Summon—El Shaddoll Shekhinaga!" The pale woman tied to the strange, enormous structure appeared, floating silently.
[El Shaddoll Shekhinaga (10*/2600/3000/EARTH/Machine/Fusion/Effect)]
She couldn't use Falco's effect, thanks to Winda, but that didn't matter.
"Shaddoll Squamata's effect. Since it was sent to the graveyard by a card effect, I can send a "Shaddoll" monster from my deck to the graveyard." She revealed the card. "Shaddoll Hound. I will change your monster's battle position."
Masumi's eyes widened. Her set monster flipped face-up—revealing a blue warrior.
[Gem-Knight Sapphire (4*/0/2100/EARTH/Aqua)]
"Good shield," Shiori said, her tone neutral. "But it's over. Shekhinaga. Winda."
The two Fusion Monsters moved forward, the first crushing Sapphire—the second striking at Masumi directly.
Masumi: 4000 - 2600 - 2200 = 0LP
Winner: Fujishiro Shiori!
Shiori was ready to walk off—
"Again," Masumi said.
Shiori turned to look at her, a questioning look on her face.
"Duel me again," Masumi said.
Murmurs burst through the crowd—people looking down on Masumi, questioning why she wanted to go again after such a quick defeat.
… really. There was no need to look down on the impulsive.
"Again then," Shiori agreed. "I'll duel you until you're satisfied with your loss—or until dinner."
"Fusion Summon! Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli!"
That was likely the girl's ace, if she wanted to go for it again. "El Shaddoll Grysta's effect. I'll negate that summon and send a "Shaddoll" monster from my hand to the graveyard."
Lady Lapis Lazuli shattered, and soon after, Grysta landed the killing blow.
"Again!" Masumi declared.
"Gem-Knight Master Diamond won't be defeated by your monster! Its attack points are too high!"
"... El Shaddoll Construct attacks. It automatically destroys any Special Summoned monster it battles."
Amongst the dust of the crystals, Masumi gritted her teeth.
"Let's go again!"
"Nehshaddoll Genius's effect. I will target Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli, and you can't activate her effects this turn. So you won't burn away the rest of my life points."
Masumi stared speechlessly. "…"
"No, you can't do that."
"Huh?"
"Monster Reborn doesn't work. While I control El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis…"
The sun was already setting in the sky when they finished off yet another duel—the thirteenth one in a row.
"I have to pick up my sister," Shiori said. "See you around."
"... why can't I beat you?" Masumi said.
"... well," Shiori said, "it's certainly not that you're weak."
"Huh?"
"That's all I'm saying. You're pretty good. But…" Shiori shrugged. "My deck kills Special Summoned monsters. As long as you focus only on your monsters, you can never win against me. That's why so many people use Action Cards against me, and that's why I don't argue that it's unfair. If you really want to face me without borrowing the strength of Action Cards, you'll have to figure out something else."
Masumi lowered her head, deep in thought.
"You can challenge me again when you figure it out," Shiori said. "But maybe not so quickly. Your duel record has probably gotten tanked from today—so maybe build it up again first."
"Ok, Fujishiro-senpai," Masumi said. "I'll win against you someday—just you wait."
… hmm. Was this what it was like to have a junior that genuinely looked up to her?
It wasn't half-bad.
"You can also come to me for advice," Shiori said. "I… don't mind." And before she could change her mind, she walked off.
Reiji looked over the duel records. "It's going well," he said. "It seems that I will have my first Lancer ready soon, at the very least."
Nakajima bowed his head. "... do you intend to tell Fujishiro Shiori about the nature of the true enemy then, sir?"
"... why bother?"
Nakajima eyed the young man. "It helps to build trust within your team," he pointed out. "To let her know that you trust her with this—"
"But I do not trust Fujishiro Shiori with this," Reiji said—as though it was a matter of fact. "There is no need for her to know."
"... sir. Is she not your friend?" Nakajima frowned. "You spend a night a week at her home, getting dinner with her. When she has a request for you, you have it completed as fast as you can. If that is not a preference, or friendship…"
"Friend?" Reiji shook his head—a picture of composure. "She and I are not friends. She uses me and I use her. What else is there between us?"
Nakajima stared, open-mouthed.
"As it stands," Reiji mused, "it seems that she is the only one who understands that much—the only one that sees what we are clearly. Sakaki Manami has come to me, saying that she's glad that I'm happy and that there's another person to carry the burden of this secret. I did not tell her the truth, because the truth might make her less willing to fight for me. But I have no need for anyone to carry burdens for me."
Nakajima tensed up. There was something dark in the young CEO's eyes—there had always been something dark there, beneath all of this logic and organisation.
Sometimes, he wondered what the young master had seen when he had gone through that machine.
But that darkness had been lurking in his eyes ever since he'd come back.
"I eat dinner with Fujishiro Shiori because she understands that I do not care about her, and it is far preferable to eat her mediocre cooking instead of suffering through dinners with people that do not matter to me," Reiji said. "She has no unnecessary expectations from me—she will not ask things from me out of friendship. She will not ask things from me that I don't need. Her requests are in line with my goals—as such, I fulfil them because they make her more useful to me. I have no need for such shallow affection."
"But you defied the madam for her."
"I would hardly defy my mother purely based on emotions," Reiji said. "No. From the start, my actions were intended to secure her as one of mine—to convince her to fight in my name. Nothing more than that."
"Then, you…" Nakajima grasped at straws. "What about Fujishiro Risu?"
"What about her?" Reiji arched an eyebrow. "I have my own limits. Fujishiro Risu is nine. She will not nearly be old enough for war when the time comes. As such, she is useless to me as a soldier. But she is attached to me, and her presence is not grating enough for it to outweigh the advantages that she gives me."
His fingers flicked across the screen.
"She is a very different person from her sister. Very fragile, but she is undergoing therapy to help with that. She is easily attached to others—in other words, a friendly, normal child. A child who Fujishiro Shiori will never bring herself to hurt. As such, as long as Fujishiro Risu is attached to me—"
Grey-purple eyes looked up, like a flash of lightning.
"For fear of breaking her sister's heart, Fujishiro Shiori will defend me to the end. That is all."
… Nakajima finally understood.
There was darkness in Akaba Reiji. Nakajima had always hoped that he would cheer up—that he would find something to brighten up his day, to let him relax after everything. He had thought that these last four months, Reiji had found some kind of solace in that strange girl. He had been happy for him.
But that was wrong.
From that description that Reiji was giving, from what Nakajima had seen from Fujishiro Shiori…
That girl was just as stained on the inside as Reiji himself. (Nakajima hesitated to use the word 'damaged'.)
She had not healed him at all. She had not changed his mind.
This mutual relationship of using and being used. A person treating another person as simply an extension of his will, nothing but a tool. A person knowing about this and accepting it, even making use of her role as a tool to gain an advantage from being nothing to him…
The truth of this twisted relationship made Nakajima's stomach curl slightly.
"Forgive my impertinence," Nakajima said. "But if she truly does mean nothing more to you than a tool… would you care if she fell in battle?"
Reiji shot him a look from the corner of his eye. He did not reply for a moment.
"I cannot afford to treat my subordinates unequally," he said. "As a leader, I am obliged to never consider her anything more than a tool. If she falls in battle, it's simply because she's not strong enough. I will do whatever it takes to secure the strongest duelists for this battle. For her, the greatest mercy I can give her as a subordinate is to treat her as nothing. That's enough, Nakajima. Do not question me any further about her."
Nakajima inclined his head.
He had hoped… somewhat foolishly that Reiji might be capable of dealing with his own feelings more clearly. Because it was clear to him, at least, that Fujishiro Shiori was perhaps the first friend that Reiji had ever made in his life, even if Reiji himself did not seem to understand that.
It was undeniable that Reiji did care. Instead, the young master seemed determined to convince himself that he did not.
… Nakajima couldn't help but feel disappointed at the thought.
When Nakajima left, Reiji lifted his head to look at the ceiling.
… the weather was cold today.
… the dark-haired girl he'd bumped into. He'd never met her personally before then, but from the direction that she was going in and the frostbite scars, that was You Show Duel School's Fuyutsume Sae. And that coat that she was wearing…
That was Shiori's coat. Reiji did not know why Shiori had given it to the girl, but…
Choosing to duel so much in winter without even wearing a coat. How foolish.
He could not afford for her to get sick. That would slow down his plans.
And that was the only reason that he pulled up a different webpage on his tablet and put in an order, seconds later.
He had, of course, seen Nakajima's shock. Most likely, Nakajima would think that this strange relationship was a bad thing. But Reiji preferred things this way. He was sure that Shiori preferred things this way as well. Without genuine emotion between them, united only by the fact that their goals were to use each other—
They were perhaps the most honest to each other. No need for social niceties, no need to pretend to be kinder than they were—they both knew what the other wanted.
A relationship of transaction…
That was far more comfortable. It required far less emotional investment. He was far more likely to become invested in Fujishiro Risu—and perhaps, he had. It was hard not to be worried about the child that his mother had wanted to treat so poorly.
Even so…
Others might think that it was twisted.
He thought it was just fine.
When Reiji stepped into the house that Friday, he dropped a package by the couch.
Shiori turned to look at him.
Reiji did not explain. When Shiori walked over to unwrap the package, she slowly drew out thick fabric—a new winter coat, of a different colour to the one that she had given Sae, but made of the same material. The same winter coat that had initially been bought for her by—
She didn't quite know how to react for a moment. Eventually, she exhaled.
"Akaba Reiji," she murmured. "You stalker. Can't let me get sick at such an important time?" However, if her lips quirked up slightly in a smile right afterwards, that was her business alone.
End Notes:
Sae is the last major OC we're introducing for a while, I think. I already feel like it's too much so early on. :) But yeah, she's going to be pretty important, even if you don't get her full backstory for a while.
Let's drop some kanji.
藤白 思織 (Fujishiro Shiori) - Her last name means 'white wisteria', while her first name means 'to weave thought'. (As a fun fact, it can also be written as 'purple thread'.)
藤白 璃珠 (Fujishiro Risu) - Risu is "glass pearl".
冬爪 冴 (Fuyutsume Sae) - Her last name means 'winter claw', and her first name means both serenity and freezing.
榊 愛実(Sakaki Manami) - Sakaki is pretty standard. Manami is 'love of truth/reality/sincerity'.
榊 純実 (Sakaki Ayami) - Ayami uses the same 'mi' as Manami, so her name means "pure truth".
Fuji musume is a dance where the dancer assumes the role of a personified spirit of wisteria, typically bashful, feminine and romantic. It's a pun that Sae makes on Shiori's name.
The poem that Sae quotes is Yusa Buson's haiku, 'In The Moonlight'. None of the English translations I could find quite conveyed the full meaning, since English translations are obliged to keep to the 5-7-5 format of haikus, so I used the original version and simply explained it.
80% of the 'main character OCs' in the story have an irregular way of thinking. (Aka, they're kind of insane in their own way, though no less human for it.) I always had the idea swimming in my brain a bit—I wanted to write characters that would still have relatable motivations while being a little less… sane. For example, Shiori's a person that acts... well, differently from most people, but you can still relate to the things that she does care for.
But yeah, Sae's a bit of a dork. Romance novel writer, a sucker for tropes—but she's also not completely normal either :) You'll get to see her duel pretty soon, though her deck is so obvious that I'm pretty sure you've already all figured it out.
Also a reminder that there are technically no confirmed pairings yet, and I won't confirm them until characters actually get together. For once, we're actually going to complicate things a little, and I feel like making you play a few guessing games :)
And remember, Nakajima is a relatively sane person seeing this from the outside. Hiding things from the narrators is a fixture in any fic I write! :) Just because a character says something doesn't mean they're telling the truth. Case in point, Reiji giving a Shakespearean monologue to convince Nakajima that he doesn't give two shits about Risu and Shiori, only to immediately go back on that, lmao.
Shiori will… stop curbstomping and actually start facing people on a similar power level soon. Unfortunately, most canon characters are still not on the power level to face pure Shaddolls yet. :D But I dislike writing curbstomps, so… yup.
I also often see OCs who surprise others with their own deck choice while knowing everything about the opponent, but Shiori inverts this, because at this point, her deck has become a known entity in Standard. Meanwhile, she genuinely just doesn't interact enough with other people to care about what their decks are.
To Yuki, the LDS arc and the creation of the Lancers is still pretty far in the future, and we're still establishing things, so you'll have to wait and see. If you want to have more Masumi/Yaiba content though, Kim Chang Ra's fic is pretty good and focuses on those two! Shiori and Yuri aren't quite the same though, since Shiori... isn't a sadist :) And yeah, we have three years to catch up to canon, so Shiori at the start of canon isn't necessarily the same as her right now.
To Utopy, I will say that Ayami does get some character development. She's perhaps not the most likeable now, but she's still young :)
To Draco, that is how I normally handle writing duels, yeah. Honestly, Action Cards are painful as heck to write for because they only serve as a way to artificially lengthen a duel. So once we're out of Standard, no more Action Duels.
To hikaru, you'll have to wait and see on that front :)
To makotoxvalerie, you're definitely correct on that! Remember, Reiji in this fic is not necessarily a 'nice person', and neither is Shiori.
To T.V. 2000, glad that you're enjoying :D I will confirm that out of the main characters, only one of them uses a deck that I've already used in a 'major' capacity in a different story.
See you next time!