Rui's head was bobbing and her eyes half-shut as she kept writing and writing. She'd gone through history, literature and was now memorizing her kanji for Japanese. If Rui kept this up any longer, she was going to collapse over her desk. She didn't stop even though she knew this. Until she could write them without thinking, all the while not making a single mistake, she couldn't stop. She kept going, and going until there was a knock on the door.

[color=#ffbae8]"Mom?"[/color] Rui instinctively let fly, jumping a little from the sudden sound. She turned back in her chair to look at her door. Nobody answered Rui and neither had it opened. She got up and approached, but when she opened it nobody was there to greet her. Down at her feet, though, was a small container, a note and a box. Rui crouched down to pick them up.

[i][color=CornflowerBlue]"Maybe we can play. Enjoy the ice cream."[/color][/i]

[color=#ffbae8]"This is..."[/color] she muttered. Rui shot back up. [color=#ffbae8]"Sora?"[/color] she shouted down the hall. No response. Well, he must've been in a hurry... couldn't be helped, she thought. She carried the gifts back into her room, starting with the icecream. She opened it and though it was a little melted, still looked good. It was one of those types that had a wooden spoon included. She scooped up a bit and chowed down. It was good. Really good. Well, it was a little weird to be eating ice at this time of year, but she was happy he'd thought of her at all. Rui pushed herself up against her bed to enjoy it even more. [color=#ffbae8]'[i]Maybe I can get something for him in return...[/i]'[/color] she thought to herself. Well, not like Rui had any idea what boys of his age liked...

Though the ice cream had been her first concern, Rui hadn't forgotten about the other gift. She looked a bit closer at the box once her snack time was over. She read the text on the back. It said: [i]"Enter the world of Nexus with the Yellow Rebellion starter deck! Use powerful incantations to swing the tide of battle in your favour! Each starter deck contains 1 avatar card, 10 colour..."[/i] and so on.

The card images shown for advertisement kind of look like what she saw those other students playing with earlier today. Was this popular in Sora's class? Rui felt a little excited to discover it. It'd been a while since she'd done anything with her brother. Although she needed to study, but... just a little was fine, right? Thinking like that, Rui took off the plastic wrapping and gently opened the box. There was a little rulebook tucked in there, to the left of a deck of cards. Rui went for the rulebook first, quickly skimming through it. [color=#ffbae8]"Attackers... traps..."[/color] she mused, trying to quickly comprehend the gist of it. Rui looked back inside the box, towards a card that had been tucked underneath the rulebook. [color=#ffbae8]"And this is... an Avatar, right?"[/color] she continued talking to herself. Pulling the card closer to her face, nothing actually seemed to be written on it. She'd think that was weird, but before Rui got a chance to do that, her head started to go misty. The world around her spun, twisted, until black flames burned away the environment around her. It left her with nothing but an empty void, at which point Rui felt all strength leave her body and collapsed.[hr][center][url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IFEPBuwyCAxXS4grq5aIzscb6auE4-m8/view?usp=sharing][i]~~Kajitsu's Butterfly 華実の蝶~~[/i][/url][/center]

In the next instant, her eyes snapped open again as she was somewhere completely different. Somewhere [i]familiar[/i]. Rui was standing in front of the entrance to the playground she visited earlier in the day... but not only that, [url=https://i.imgur.com/7rtiAxz.png]somebody else[/url] was standing in front of her. Another girl, one with strange clothes and two animal ears were twitching on the top of her head. [color=#FFF83B]"Gooood morning! You're my new Commander, huh?"[/color] the girl said in a cheery, upbeat tone.

[color=#ffbae8]"C-...Commander? What are you talking about? Where are we? Who are you!?"[/color] Rui replied, a bit panicked from the sudden shift in scenery. The other girl waved her hands in front of her, seemingly in an attempt to calm Rui down.

[color=#FFF83B]"Calm down, calm down, it's fiiine! I guess you could call this place, um... your memories?"[/color] she sheepishly answered. [color=#FFF83B]"As for me, well, I'm your new Avatar from today! My name is Lumia and it's nice to meet you!"[/color]

[color=#ffbae8]"My... memories?"[/color] Rui could only respond with confusion in her voice, looking around the area again. Nobody was here except for the two of them.

Lumia looked apologetic, scratching the back of her head as she said: [color=#FFF83B]"Well, it's no wonder you're a bit confused right now... here, look at this,"[/color] the animal-eared girl said, opening the palm of her hand. Inside were seven small, golden coins which floated up in between the two of them. [color=#FFF83B]"We're in this place because there's a strong memory associated with it. Each of these seven coins contains a memory of the past. Some of them will turn black soon, and when that happens, you'll no longer be able to recall them, but..."[/color]

[color=#ffbae8]"Wait! What are you talking about?! Why would I... how do you expect me to believe something like that!?"[/color] Rui yelled back at Lumia, overwhelmed by the situation. [color=#ffbae8]"Even if that's true, you... how could you do such a thing?"[/color] she angrily snapped at her.

[color=#FFF83B]"Wait, please calm down okay?! It's not all bad!"[/color] Lumia desperately attempted to placate Rui. [color=#FFF83B]"Even if you can't remember right now, some of these coins will remain gold. You'll keep those memories. If you want to get the others back, you have to look for and battle other Commanders in a game of Nexus... if you win, one of the coins turns gold. If you lose, another one of your memories is lost when the coin turns black. And, if you turn all of them to gold, I'm allowed to grant you a wish! Any wish, honest!"[/color]

[color=#ffbae8]"That's... no, I don't want to!"[/color] Rui yelled back, defensively hugging herself. Lumia shared her sad look.

[color=#FFF83B]"Ahaha... I guess you wouldn't, huh? However... you were chosen. Even if I don't want to, I don't get to choose this either..."[/color] the girl said, swiping her hand to the side. One of the coins slowly burned out its colour, turning its lustrous shine an ashen black. Rui felt a sharp pain course through her head.

[color=#ffbae8]"Please... stop... I don't want this..."[/color] she begged, but Lumia was just as powerless to stop it. Rui clutched the sides of her head as another coin turned black. She could see the images of her past vanish and burn out before her eyes, faces of people she knew get muddled and irrecognizable. Four coins had tuned black so far and another one started to turn. Rui looked up around her as the playground started to fade, flickering away slowly as if being erased from existence. [color=#ffbae8]"No... I..."[/color] she fumbled for words she couldn't find. A little distance away she saw a little Rui and a little Sora. Rui was crying, but she couldn't remember why. Sora was hugging her.

[color=#ffbae8][i]"...?"[/i][/color] She couldn't make out her own words.
[color=CornflowerBlue][i]"...!!"[/i][/color] Neither could she Sora's.
[color=#ffbae8][i]"...promise...!"[/i][/color] Only a little snippet of hers made it through at all.

[color=#ffbae8]"Promise? What promise?"[/color] the adult Rui muttered to herself, desperation written clearly on her face as she dropped to her knees. She could see herself smiling and hugging Sora back. She felt an empty sting inside her heart. [color=#ffbae8]"It's important to me, but... I can't remember..."[/color] Rui continued to babble, burying her head inside her hands. The coins stopped turning black; five had turned in total, leaving Rui with only two. Lumia and her were left in nothing but an empty void. Rui couldn't see how the other girl was looking down at her with pity.

[color=#FFF83B]"From today, you're my Commander. And... I'm sorry."[/color]