Chapter 37: Price of the card

*Flash Back*

?: "Man why did he have to take this route? This story sucks now and yet I look forward to seeing the next chapter." Said the boy laying on his back.

? 2: "I'm sure there's a reason he went with this route. Just be patient."

?: "Easy for you to say. How's that Manga your reading?"

? 2: "It's good. Want to give it a shot?" She shows off the Manga she's currently reading.

?: "Let me see it."

? 2: "Then you have to get closer then."

?: "W-what?"

? 2: "Don't be shy now. Come on we're lovers, right? Let's read this together."

?: "S-sure" (When I see her smile. It warms my heart. I want this to be forever.)

*Flash Back Ends*

A new week of school has started as Michael wakes up earlier than usual to have the time needed to prepare. When he was at the hospital the doctor told him that after a couple of weeks, he would be allowed to attend school again. Despite everything that has happened with his life. For the first time in his life, he felt excited to go back to school. Well maybe a little excited to be more specific.

During his time absent whether at home or at the hospital. Monika would often visit him to provide him his assignments for classes. Other times she would take the time out of her day to help him with his homework and help solve questions difficult for him to understand. Whenever she isn't around and has no homework to do. Not wanting to be left behind too far. He would often go online and do his own education, reading, watching videos, and taking his own little notes. If he's doing nothing at all. He would often play video games or Duel Monsters with Sayori.

Despite being gone for a long time. Everyone acted the same way as they usually do or so he thought. As he walks down the path to school and classes. People would often stop at what they were doing and stare at him curiously. They see him walking with both crutches in hand and his new look. Most groups would comment about how he got on crutches while others would talk about his eye being revealed rather than them being covered. Despite all that, Michael kept to himself and does what needed to be done. Attending classes and going to the club.

When school ended Michael quickly got on his crutches and began his walk to the club. Walking from location to location proved no problem for him, but his biggest challenge are the stairs. The God damn stairs. Since there's no one around and even if there were no one would care enough to lend a helping hand to him as he found it in himself to do it on his own. With some careful and at his slow paste, he finally made it to the top floor where the club is and saw that everyone else had gathered up.

When he arrived, last everyone greeted him as usual before doing their own thing as Yuri reads and Monika studies. In the meantime, with plenty of time to spare Sayori and Michael decided to play a little game as Natsuki notices them curiously. Setting aside her Manga she stood up from her reading spot and walked towards them to see what they were up to.

Natsuki: "What are they doing?"

Sayori: "And with that I end my turn. Heh, let's see if you can beat my board now?"

Michael: "You should be more careful with what you say. You never know what your opponent has up their sleeve."

Natsuki: "Huh?"

Sayori: "Well let's see it then."

Michael: "Ok then." A few minutes later. "Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend attacks you directly."

Sayori: "Aw! I lost again."

Natsuki: "You suck at this game."

Sayori: "Oh yeah? Well, I like to see you try."

Natsuki: "Think I'll pass. I don't know what you're playing or how your deck works?"

Sayori: "We're playing Duel Monsters!"

Natsuki: "Duel Monsters?"

Sayori: "Yup and I almost had him this time."

Natsuki: "Didn't seem that way to me?"

Sayori: "Rude" She says with a straight face.

Michael: "Well if you're interested why not give it a shot? I can help you learn?"

Natsuki: "… Well since you offered, I guess I could give it a shot."

Michael: "Alright then. Here's how to play." A couple of minutes later. "And that's how you play. Any questions?"

Natsuki: "Uh? Yeah, several questions. What!?"

Michael: "That was one question."

Natsuki: "And the last six are also the same. What!?"

Michael: "Look you'll only get better as you play. That's how me and Sayori learned."

Natsuki: "I guess. Alright let's have a Duel."

Sayori: "That's the spirit."

Monika: "Well what do we have here? Duel Monsters?"

Sayori: "Oh hey Monika. You know what this is?"

Monika: "Sure do, as a matter of fact I used to play this when I was a little girl."

Sayori/Michael/Natsuki: "You did!?"

Monika: "I know shocking right? Something you guys don't expect from me, Monika."

Natsuki: "Then I bet you know how to play. How about taking on Michael?"

Monika: "Oh no I shouldn't?"

Michael: "That's fine by me. You piqued my curiosity."

Monika: "Really now? Well since you asked, why not."

Michael: "So?"

Monika: "Oh right." Awkward silence. "If only I still had my old deck, then maybe it would be nice to finally Duel someone for once." She bends herself with a gloomy look on her face.

Michael: "Wait you never Dueled against someone else?"

Monika: "No I haven't. My parents are kind of strict with me, so I never had the chance to play with someone else and plus I don't know what happened to my old deck?"

Michael: "Well you can have my spare deck if you like?"

Sayori: "Wait you have another deck?"

Michael: "Well sure I do. Can't always use the same deck."

Sayori: "But you always use your Scarlight."

Natsuki: "Speaking of which, I'm guessing that dragon is your favorite, since you refer to it as your soul?"

Michael: "Of course. It's my most prized possession." He shows the girls the card art.

Monika: "How nice that must be?"

Michael: "Do you have a favorite?"

Monika: "Me no, I don't remember what my favorite card was when I was young, but I do remember it being so beautiful when I first got it. I think it was a dragon?"

Michael: "I see." (Young girl … beautiful dragon? Could it be that card or maybe something else?)

Monika: "Ah, don't worry about it. What about you Sayori? What's your favorite card?"

Sayori: "That would be my Power Tool Dragon. Ain't he cool?" She shows off her card.

Monika: "Sure is. Well, I believe it's that time of day. Time to share poems everyone."

Sayori: "Oh it's time already?"

Monika: "Yeah sorry for interrupting your game."

Michael: "It's alright. Maybe next time I could Duel against you Natsuki."

Natsuki: "Yeah sure, but it would be better if I learned more about how to play before we start?"

Michael: "Yeah good idea." He gets off his seat to put away his deck and Sayori does the same as they both take out their poems. Everyone gathered up and shared their poems together like old times. After sharing his poem with Monika, Natsuki, and Sayori. He walks up to Yuri to share his. "Hey Yuri."

Yuri: "H-hello Michael. How has your day been?"

Michael: "Uh well it kinda started off awkward?"

Yuri: "How so?"

Michael: "Well throughout the entire day almost everyone has been looking at me funny. Something unusual compared to any other normal day for me."

Yuri: "Really? Wonder why that is?"

Michael: "It's probably because they thought I was someone else since I usually hide my face. I heard some people talking about how distracting my eye is and that my hair is different even though all I did was tie it into a ponytail. Do you think my new look is weird?"

Yuri: "N-no it isn't. I-I think you look dashing." She says her last sentence quietly.

Michael: "What was that you said?"

Yuri: "N-n-n-n-n-nothing. Let's share our poems." She says nervously as her face turns bright red. (Why did I say that?)

Michael: "Yeah you're right. Let's begin." (I look dashing huh?) He thinks to himself while scratching his cheek.

Later after that awkward moment.

Monika: "Okay everyone. I believe it's time to end today's meeting. I hope to see you all tomorrow." While everyone packs up. She walks up to Michael and he notices her.

Michael: "Oh hey what's up?"

Monika: "Nothing much. Just wanted to tell you it's great to have you back in the club."

Michael: "Oh thanks. It's good to be back. Well, I better get home. It's going to take me and Sayori awhile to get home."

Monika: "Oh yeah, you're right." She looks at his injured right foot. Well hope to see you tomorrow. Bye you two." She waves to him and Sayori who is waiting at the door.

Sayori: "Ooooh" She says with a smirk. (Seems to me she's starting to have feelings for MC. She could be a great girlfriend for MC, but so does Yuri and Natsuki. Aw man who do I help get closer to MC?)

Michael: "Are you feeling ok?"

Sayori: "Huh!? When did you get here?"

Michael: "Like two minutes ago." He says as he looks at his watch. "Come on let's head home."

Sayori: "Right" The both of them headed home.

Later on, that same day at Monika's house. She felt her heart racing thinking about how much Michael has opened up ever since he broke up with Sara and faced his dad, as a matter of fact he's a completely different person. Her face turned red when she remembered his offer of giving her one of his spare decks. She was a bit embarrassed of admitting that she used to be into Duel Monsters, but thanks to Michael being so open about it, she felt a lot better and less embarrassed.

What really made her heart pound was the look in his eye. Those gold color eyes that used to be lifeless now filled with life. When she stared into his eye, she could almost see her reflection. The more she thought about him the more red she gotten. With all these thoughts about Michael she decided to use this as inspiration to write a new poem.

Monika: "Alright then. It's decided. It's time for me to try out a new style. Just this once." (Now that I think about it. Michael changed his style four times already. Right now, he's using Yuri's style and I think that one might suit him the best, but I want him to maybe find his own. Oh well I can't judge him for that since I'm the one who suggested he copies our styles. Well, it's time for me to try something new as well.)

She begins writing her new poem. In the meantime, Natsuki is seen laying on her bed going through her phone trying to understand how to play Duel Monsters just like Sayori and Michael. She struggled a bit learning the rules and rulings, but she started to understand it more and more as she read on and watched some videos. After grasping a better understanding. She looked online to see what kind of deck she could use. She hoped she could use something cheap, but no luck with finding a deck that suits her.

Natsuki: "Ga! Why are there so many choices and why are some of the best ones so expensive?" (Maybe I should ask how Michael and Sayori made theirs? They probably started like me too?)

*Growl*

(Uh I'm so hungry. There's nothing to eat today and I don't know when dad is going to go grocery shopping. Forget it I'm going to sleep. I could at least save my energy.) She turns off the light and heads into bed. (Why is my life like this? Why did she have to die?) As soon as she closes her eyes, she heard the front door open and some footsteps.

(Dad's home.) She listens to her dad's footsteps as he enters his room and closes his door. (Guess he's not feeling it tonight?) *Sigh* She closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.

The next day after school was over and everyone gathered in the club room.

"Hey Michael!"

Michael: "Yeah what's up?"

Natsuki: "Let's play that game you were teaching me yesterday."

Michael: "Oh Duel Monsters?"

Natsuki: "Yeah that one."

Michael: "Alright then, but you don't have a deck."

Sayori: "Here you can borrow mine."

Natsuki: "Thank you and this time I'll make sure to win."

Michael: "That's some confidence you got there. Alright let's Duel." A couple of minutes later. "Looks like I won for a fourth time."

Natsuki: "Dang it! Even after all that studying I did and learning how Sayori's deck works I still lost."

Sayori: "Aw don't feel bad. This game also requires luck, so don't beat yourself up."

Natsuki: "Whatever, I wanted to ask you two a question anyways."

Sayori: "A question to the both of us?"

Natsuki: "How did the two of you started off playing? What gave you an idea of what to play?"

Michael: "Oh I see, you saw how many cards there are and archetypes."

Natsuki: "Yeah, If I'm planning on playing this game then I should have my own deck instead of using someone else's, so what gave you an idea for your decks?"

Michael: "Uh well you see …"

Sayori: "I was inspired by the show we used to watch."

Natsuki: "There's a show about this game?"

Sayori: "Yup! I was inspired to make my deck based off one of those characters. All though I did make some changes to make it better like using more than one copy or use cards that could help make it better."

Natsuki: "I see and what about you?"

Michael: "Oh well funny story about that."

Natsuki: "Humor me."

Michael: "Well my first card is Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend. I got this card as a gift from my mom since she saw how much I enjoyed the show. Ever since then I made a deck around it. Despite me getting the alternate forms later on."

Natsuki: "Wait, there are more versions?"

Michael: "Yeah, why? You thought there was only three?"

Natsuki: "Well yeah that's all you ever summon?"

Michael: "Oh no there's more. Sayori saw one of them."

Natsuki: "You have?"

Sayori: "Unfortunately yeah. It was scary."

Natsuki: "W-well whatever." (Guess Michael has something near and dear to him? Like how I cherish my first volume of Parfait Girls.)

Monika: "Okay everyone it's time to share poems."

Natsuki: "Guess it's that time again."

Michael: "Right just got to get my poem."

Monika: (Oh man I'm so nervous about sharing this, but as the Literature Club President I must show confidence and lead them ... Lead them … I must …) She shakes her head as everyone gathers up. Not wasting anymore time she took the first step. "Michael, would you like to hear my poem first?"

Michael: "Me first? You shouldn't have." He stands in front of her.

Monika: (Oh my is it me or does he look a lot taller than normal? Now that I think about it, it looks like he's raising his head higher and his chest is more outward. I could see more of his tones appearing despite him wearing his uniform. He seems taller than Yuri now.)

Michael: "Are you ready to hear my poem?"

Monika: "Oh yes please go on ahead." Michael smiles to her and begins reading his poem. After he was done, he looks back to her.

Michael: "What did you think?"

Monika: "You've improved a lot since day one."

Michael: "Really? That's awesome." He scratches the back of his head nervously.

Monika: "Well now, it's my turn."

She takes a deep breath and reads her poem. While she reads Michael paid close attention to her. Normally he doesn't understand much about her style, but when she read hers out loud, he could tell that something was different. The way it was written, it kind of sounded familiar yet different. When he thought about it, the message of the poem was about someone who went through hell only to rise again with hope and to meet someone as their love.

Michael: (This kinda sounds like a love poem?)

Monika: "What did you think? This is different than how I normally write."

Michael: "Well it actually came out good. It's cool to see you try something new."

Monika: "Really? Thank you." (Good I'm happy he enjoyed it.) She thinks to herself as her cheeks turn pink.

Sayori: "It's my turn!" She jumps into Michael.

Michael: "What the hell Sayori!?"

Sayori: "Oops sorry." She giggles as Monika looks at them with a smile.

Later on, after everyone said their goodbyes and went home. Natsuki decided to look up Michael's ace card. She was curious to know more about it. "What!? How can it be that pricey!? What kind of messed up world do we live in!?" She yells as she jumps off her bed. (Man, why does this card game have to be so expensive?)

She gives off a heavy sigh. (Whatever, I'll just go back to reading Manga. Oh, wait I left them all at the club since I can't read them here. Well shit now what am I going to do? There's never anything good on television.) A loud creak can be heard. "What home already?"

Natsuki's Dad: "Are you home Natsuki!? I got food here, so you better come down here!"

Natsuki: "Coming!" (Finally, he decides to bring food.) She rushes down to the kitchen and sees her dad slowly eating some of the food. "Fried chicken?"

Natsuki's Dad: "Yeah, so eat up." Says the man with brown hair, pink eyes and a five 0 clock shadow. Natsuki looks inside the bucket that contains a few fried chickens. "Don't worry I didn't eat any before coming home. This is my first one."

Natsuki: "Right." (Why does he rarely buy food? It's not like we're poor or anything. Just looking at him, so scrawny that his clothes could barely fit him.)

Natsuki's Dad: "Well I'm done. You can have the rest of the bucket if you want." He says as he takes his plate with one bone of chicken into the trash.

Natsuki: "You're done already?"

Natsuki's Dad: "Yeah, I'm stuffed."

Natsuki: "With one chicken?"

Natsuki's Dad: "Shut up and be grateful that I'm letting you have the rest." He says as he walks upstairs to his room. "So tired."

Natsuki: *Sigh* (Why does he act this way? Why do we have to starve ourselves? He's not the same person he once was, but yet … I wish someone could help us, but who would after the way I treat people. Then again, I never wanted anyone to be a part of this … Not even my clubmates especially Yuri.)

End of Chapter 37