Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Battle

- Ryu -

To get away from my teasing cousin, I took Aoyagi's hand and both of us entered the house.

"Sorry about that."

Now that we had left that guy behind, I could relax for the time being.
I looked at Aoyagi's face. Her cheeks were completely flushed.

Look at what you did, Daigo! Her face is beet red! No, wait, I think she is blushing because of this.

I hadn't let go of her. In fact, my fingers were interlocked with hers.

"Sorry for that, too," I said, releasing her hand and looking the other way.

That felt nice, but I can't let myself get carried away. She is just a friend, after all. My very cute friend. There are plenty of cute girls in this town, so having a cute friend is not unusual, I think.

We had settled the matter, so we took off our shoes and went inside.

"I'm home."
"Pardon the intrusion."

Mom was sitting on the sofa, reading a magazine. Unlike my cousin, she was someone Aoyagi had already met before, so all that was needed was a greeting.

Mom put the magazine away and turned her attention to us, "You are finally home, Ryu," she then smiled at Aoyagi, "It's been a while, Rihona-chan, how was your first day in your new school?"
Aoyagi bowed, "Thanks for having me. School was fine, I think. I ended up in the same class as your son, so..."
"My, what a coincidence. I hope you keep getting along with him."
"Yeah..."
"We all ended up in the same class," I said.
"How nice." Mom got up, "You two must be hungry. I'll go make something for you guys, okay?"

She headed to the kitchen, leaving me alone with Aoyagi.

"Uh, I'll go get my cards."
"Uh-huh."

I headed upstairs and retrieved a box from my room. Once I had made sure that everything was in there, I returned to the living room.
Aoyagi was shifting through her cards. She had already set her playmat on the table.

"Is that custom-made?"
She looked up from the table, "Eh? Um, yes, I had this made, even though I haven't played with others..." she replied, then her gaze dropped to the table once more.
"What about the illustration? Where would you-"
"N-Never mind that, let's play."

She must have commissioned it. From what I could tell, her family was well off, so she could spare to hire someone to draw that for her.

"Sure," I replied.

I sat down across from Aoyagi and opened the box where I stored my cards. I took out my playmat and a green deck case from it.

While I shuffled my deck, Aoyagi spoke, "You double-sleeve your cards, too?"
"Yeah, you can never be too careful."
"Indeed." She shook her head up and down.

She gets it! Nicole has always made fun of me for being paranoid, but Aoyagi here understands.

After cutting each other's decks, we finally started our battle.

Despite her claiming this was her first real battle, she did pretty well. Only a few of my attacks had made it through, thanks to her ace "Witch of Hope, Pandora" sealing most of my options. As for me, I was down to 3 lives.

"Then, I'll attack you directly with Pandora."
"Ugh. Life check."

I flipped the rightmost card on my life zone. The card had a flame icon in its upper right corner.
"Ignition."
When revealing a card from the life zone with the "Ignition" icon, that card would go to my hand rather than being sent to the trash zone, but in exchange, I would take 1 more damage. If a player flipped 3 "Ignition" cards in a row, their opponent's turn would end right then.

I don't think I can use this yet.

I flipped the next card from my life.

"Another Ignition?!"

I can use this one, though. I can still win this!

The next card I flipped lacked an icon, so it would just be sent to the trash.

"You are out of lives, Akaishi-kun. You better make your next turn count."
"You just wait and see. Draw!"

This...!

"I call 'Mirage Hunter, Stein'! Then, I activate a command! 'Re-Balance'!"
"I see. Your command will reduce the power of any unit currently on the field with a power of 7000 or above, and all units with a power of 5000 or lower will get a boost."
"Yeah, but you see, my 'Stein' can't be targeted by other cards, so his power will remain the same."
Aoyagi let out a giggle "Doesn't that sound just like you? You are cuter, tho- Waa~"

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"Miracle Hunter, Stein" looked like a rugged, middle-aged man, so I didn't disagree with her.

Wait, did she just call me 'cute'?

"Eh?"
"Um, it's still your turn, Akaishi-kun."
"Right, right. I attack Pandora with Stein!"
"Pandora's effect. During the battle phase, when her Boost Charm is active, I can destroy 2 of my units to recover a command from the trash zone and activate it. I'll target 'Tactical retreat'."

Was that the card she discarded earlier?

"If two or more of my units were destroyed this turn, I can end the battle phase."
"...I end my turn."

And that's how I lost to Aoyagi.

"You are good, Aoyagi-san. Maybe you could beat even her..."
"Huh?"
"It's nothing."

There's no need to involve Aoyagi in that.

Mom came from the kitchen, carrying a plate with several rice balls.

"Let's take a break."
"Yeah."

We picked up our cards, washed our hands, and sat down to eat.

"Thanks for the meal."
"Well, what do you think?" asked Mom, puffing up her chest.
Aoyagi smiled. "It's delicious!"
"I'm glad you liked it."

Before leaving, Mom whispered something to me.

"Isn't she cute?"

I couldn't hide anything from her, so I nodded.

After eating, we played for a while, until it was time for Aoyagi to leave.
Even though she lived close enough and the sun had yet to set down, I wanted to walk her home. To my surprise, she was quick to accept.
We walked in silence for most of the way. Upon arriving at her house, Aoyagi showed me her brightest smile yet.

"Thanks for inviting me to play. It was really fun."
"I'm glad. You can, um, come again anytime."
"Sure, I'd love to."

I was about to bid her farewell, but I recalled something.

"We should exchange contact info."
"Huh? R-Right, we should. Give me a sec."

Aoyagi took out her phone and tapped the screen several times.

"It should be around here... There."
She held out her phone, "It's your turn."

I navigated through the messaging app and held out my phone. Just like that, we registered each other.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, then," I said.
"Yeah, see you soon."

She headed to her house's entrance and waved at me before going in.
I didn't run on the way back, but my heart still beat like crazy.

When I got back home, Daigo had already left, so until Dad came back, it was just Mom and me.

"You look so happy," Mom said.
"Yeah? I guess I am."
"I wonder why..."

Don't play dumb, I'm sure you already figured it out.

"Listen, I only met her recently, so it's not like I'm madly in love or anything like that."
"But...?" Mom asked with a smug expression.

Ugh, if you already know, why make me say it?

"I do have a crush on Aoyagi-san."
"Fufufu~"
"Don't laugh!"
"Sorry. It's just... I'm happy for you. You seemed really down after breaking up with Mari-chan."
"It's not like I can be stuck in the past. Also, don't mention that name here."
"Aren't you contradicting yourself? But you are on the right track," Mom looked at me with a faint smile. She must have been proud that I was maturing or something parent-y like that.
"That aside, you really like girls with glasses, don't you?
"Mom!"

At least she waited until Aoyagi left to tease me.

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