- Rihona -

 

With the last class of the day over, we were headed for a certain clubroom. On the way there, we met up with Kamihoriuchi and her fellow club members.

"Once again, we would like to thank you for doing this," Kamihoriuchi said while bowing. The other club members, a boy and a girl, also bowed while thanking Miyazawa. 

The boy, Kanamori, looked like he was about to start praying to her, but she shook her head in response, "I'm just doing what I can to help."

I thought she would be nervous, but the way she carried herself wasn't that different from usual. For a second, I wondered if this was just another Friday to her, but then I realized.

It may not be what it looks like.

Maybe she was just putting up a front. After all, showing hesitation at this moment would put everyone else on edge. In this situation, it would make sense for her to feign confidence.

Just for a second, I considered using my power to see for myself what was going on in her mind.

Was her confidence the real thing, or was she hiding something? If it turned out that she was truly sure of her abilities, maybe I could have learned something from her. And if she wasn't... 

Back to the drawing board, I guess.

But in the end, there was no need for me to activate my gift, because I caught a glimpse of something, and that single action I witnessed told me a lot about how Miyazawa was feeling at that moment.

I noticed it by chance, how her hand was shaking, and how that tremor calmed down once Nakajima took hold of her hand. Everybody else was so focused on giving last-minute tips to Miyazawa that they failed to notice it, but I saw it. 

The source of her strength.

We arrived at the clubroom and got to work. Soon after we finished setting up a table in the middle of the room, and moved some desks around to free up some space for the spectators, people started coming in, hoping to see today's match.

Students of all grades gathered around the table in the center. The ones standing close to the door suddenly moved aside, opening a path for the club president, Fukuda. 

Next to him was a second-year student with short, silver hair. Were it not for her skirt, I could have mistaken her for a pretty boy. She wore a red armband,  the same that all student council members wore.

Both Fukuda and Miyazawa sat down at the table. The silver-haired girl raised her hands above her head and clapped three times, getting everyone's attention that way.

"I believe you guys already know what this is about, so let's make this quick. I, Tenmyouji Akira, on representation of the student council, will act as a witness to ensure that the result of this match is upheld. Now, are both of you ready?"

After shuffling and cutting each other decks, they put their "boost charm" cards face-down on their respective side of the field. Unlike regular cards, those had pictures on the backside, depicting their respective ace unit.

Fukuda Hiroshi's ace was "Vassago, King of the Blue Abyss", a blue-haired demon with pale skin who ruled over water.

Just like Kamihoriuchi said.

As for Miyazawa, her ace was "Witch of Rebellion, Asterisk", a woman whose hair was mostly black, save for the silver lock hanging close to her face. Her eyes glittered like two golden coins.

"Well then, let's begin!"

 

 

After a couple of turns, both players managed to get their aces on the field, activating their respective boost charms. 

So far, Miyazawa-chan has managed to keep up. 

I looked at the field. To others, it may have looked like just a bunch of cards on top of a table, but I was able to see beyond that.

The witch and her companions were facing off against the demon ruler. Neither side is willing to let up...

The units on the field appeared to me as living beings on a real battlefield, trading blows without rest.

The demon who fights to defend his homeland.

The witch who rejected the truth of the world.

Rallying their allies, each of them poured their everything into the battle. Even as both sides suffered losses, neither seemed to even consider surrendering.

I think I can use this. 

I took out my phone, along with its stylus, and opened the drawing app. I only wanted to make a quick sketch so that I wouldn't forget the image I saw in my head, so this doodle would have to suffice for now. Once I got home, I would redo it on the computer.

While I sketched that scene, Miyazawa continued her fight. After a while, she managed to get the president's life to zero; all that was left was to attack him one more time. Unfortunately, achieving that had taken her everything she had, leaving her no choice but the end her turn. 

She just needs to attack one more time, but...

She had three cards in her life zone and one in her hand. Fukuda had five units on the field. If at least four of his attacks went through, there wouldn't be a next turn for her.

She doesn't have enough resources to block all of them...!

"My turn. Draw!"

Fukuda looked at the card he drew, looking disinterested.

"Meh, not that I will even need it. This is practically over."

He took the other card in his hand and activated it. With its effect, he destroyed one of Miyazawa's units.

"Now, it's time to battle."

Miyazawa let the first attack go through and took the damage. There was no trigger. She had two lives left.

"One more!"

She flipped another card from her life zone, but once again, there was no trigger. She had only one life left.

"Almost there! Attack!"

But she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"I intercept with 'Oinio', and due to its effect, I can perform a perfect block by discarding a card."

Miyazawa put in the trash zone a card depicting some sort of round, fluffy creature whose face was mostly covered by white fur.

I see, his unit has an effect that activates after a successful attack, so she was waiting for that to intercept with Oinio.

"I still have two units left, you know? Let's see you try to block this one!"

Just as he said, there was nothing more that she could do.

After flipping the last card on her life zone, Miyazawa grinned and slammed that card on the check zone.

"A trigger?!"

However, this wasn't an 'ignition' trigger. This kind of trigger allowed her to use that spell card immediately, free of cost.

"With this, I can copy the last spell to enter my trash zone."

Don't tell me, the card she discarded earlier...!

"I couldn't use it the normal way due to the energy requirement, but if I copy it..."

"That card...!"

"Now, I can send up to two of your units to the energy zone, and draw a card for each one."

With this, the unit that had yet to attack left the field.

"I... end my turn," the club president said, then he let out a sigh, "It's over."

"Indeed."

All that was left was to attack him one last time.

"Final turn, draw!"

Once she declared an attack, it was over.

Amidst the cheers of all the students watching, Miyazawa Michiru seized victory.

"The winner is Miyazawa Michiru! Now, Fukuda-senpai, I believe I don't have to remind you what-" Tenmyouji Akira was interrupted mid-sentence by this match's loser.

"I know. I lost fair and square," he turned to his crimson-haired club-mate, "Kamihoriuchi Rumi-kun, from today on, you are in charge of the TCG club."

"...Eh? Come again? Me? I didn't do anything..."

"Really? Who is it that gathered information on me and gave it to her? Do you seriously think that had no effect? Don't sell yourself short."

"But..."

"Anyway, it is not my problem anymore."

Fukuda headed to the door, but someone got in his way. 

"Wait a moment! Something doesn't make sense here."

Kamihoriuchi and the other club members looked at that person with an expression that couldn't be called "friendly", no matter how much one tried. Rather, it was as if they had seen a pest just after fumigating.

"Sakuragi? Why are you here?"

"That's not important. What is important is that this guy accepted defeat so easily! What happened to the jerk who made up any number of excuses upon losing?"

"I mean, I was gonna quit regardless of the outcome. So..."

"Wait, what?"

"Huh?"

Sakuragi and the club members stared in shock. Shortly after, everyone else joined them in their confusion.

"What? As a third-year, I would have to retire from club activities sooner or later. And, believe me, it would be in my best interest to do it as soon as possible."

"But, why?!" Sakuragi asked, his eyes piercing right into Fukuda.

"It's simple. My girlfriend-"

"You have a girlfriend?!"

"...Would you please stop yelling?"

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, my girlfriend, whom I started dating earlier this year, is aiming for a prestigious university. I figured I should start studying now if I want to pass their entrance exam and join her there."

"That's..."

"Now, If you'll excuse me."

Fukuda opened the door. Then, he turned around and looked at the clubroom.

"Rumi-kun, I believe you can return this club to its former glory. I'll leave everything to you."

With those words, he left and closed the door behind him. 

Kamihoriuchi Rumi scratched her head while frowning.

"Whose fault was it that the club is like this? And why are you using my first name now of all times? Idiot..."

"Yeah," Sakuragi said while nodding, "everyone left because of you, you jerk! Come back, we are not done talking!"

He was about to run after Fukuda, but a girl grabbed his jacket from behind, stopping him in his tracks.

"Let me go, Rika! I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!" he protested.

"No, you won't. Mika is waiting for you, remember?"

Sakuragi stopped yelling, turned around, and stared at the brown-haired girl. Then, he cleared his throat.

"Ah, yes, I made plans with my girlfriend. Now, if you will excuse me."

He opened the door and left. The brunette shrugged and left with him.

"I gotta make sure you don't do anything funny on the way."

After that little scene, people started leaving one after the other. Tenmyouji Akira stood with her arms crossed and put her hand on her chin.

"That was interesting. Senpai said he wanted to focus on studying for entrance exams, but was that the only reason?"

Ryu nodded. "Maybe he's matured a bit. But never mind that. Who was that girl?" 

"Oh, she is in my class," Tenmyouji said, "Shibasaki Rika. Her twin sister, Mika, attends another school."

"Twin sister?"

"Yes. From what I heard, they are identical, save for their hair. From what I heard, her sister doesn't dye it."

The girl who stopped Sakuragi earlier, Rika, had mostly brown hair, but some parts were dyed black.

"Leaving that aside, I do believe we have to congratulate our winner!" said Itano, the other female member of the TCG club besides Kamihoriuchi.

That's right, we were so caught up with these various topics that we had forgotten about Miyazawa!

Everyone turned around, only to find her and Nakajima making out. Miyazawa noticed all the gazes on her and pushed her girlfriend away.

"Hikaru, everyone is watching..."

"Oh, hi everyone! Sorry, sorry, I didn't want to wait until you were done talking to congratulate Michirun. Teehee." Nakajima then stuck out her tongue while winking.

 

 

As I was preparing to leave alongside Ryu, Inuzuka Nanai called out to me.

"That sketch you made during the match was- Hmph?!"

I covered her mouth on reflex.

"Don't be so loud!" I whispered, "Wait, you were watching? What is wrong with you?!"

"I told you already, I'm not a voyeur! I j-just happened to catch a glimpse, that's all."

"What about that time at the bookstore? And before that?"

"That was..."

She averted her eyes.

"Were you looking for inspiration, Inuzuka Nanai? Or should I say..."

Her eyes widened as I spoke right into her ear. She turned around and waved her hands.

"Hey, uh... Let's talk somewhere else, okay?"

After telling Ryu that I had to go on ahead, I left the clubroom and walked down the hallway. After a while, Inuzuka Nanai caught up with me.

Once we made sure no one was following us, we entered an empty classroom. There, I asked her a very simple question.

"You are Orbeat:71, aren't you?"