Ammokkx

Secundi Lux

---

---

One-two-three,
Three-two-one,
One, two, and three.

The dance didn't last long after Chie'd broken the silence and the two began to chat, but those last few minutes of practice bolstered her confidence enough to where she could stand tall upon the music slowing down. Selma, being her goofy self, continued the merry mood by being silly about Chie 'passing the test.' She giggled a bit, then in the corner of her eye, saw movement. Two shifting bodies behind Selma. Bodies behind Selma shifting towards her and Chie. At that point, Chie could only think one thing:

"Oh no."

Her worst fears were confirmed when it turned out to be two young officers from the academy, one tapping Selma's (rather impressive) biceps to get the giantess' attention. While there are certainly worse things than being approached by two striking young men, Chie didn't exactly have much experience with boys her age. It also doesn't help that the both of them approached Chie right at the height of her confidence, since it all drained in the blink of an eye. She still kept a straight face, though. Barely.

“Excuse me, as a member of the Officer’s Academy, I have to make a formal complaint. It’s not fair for the prettiest Ars Magi to only dance with each other,” one of them said.
"HNNNNNNN-" Chie screamed inside her head.

She shot Selma a glance. Selma didn't glance back. Great. Chie looked back at the two officers- damn it, straight into the eyes of the taller one- and gave him the least forced smile she could muster. Selma took the situation better than Chie did, what with taking the compliment in stride at all. She even accepted his offer of a dance, saying how she'd just taught Chie the ropes and-

"...Eh?" Chie mumbled as her eyes darted back to Selma. "Selma. You traitor." she thought to herself, her eyes wide open and her head bobbing to give a nod. The shorter girl helplessly watched the taller one take her partner's hand, already positioning herself for the next round of music to start. Like a not-so-well-oiled machine, Chie's neck slowly turned to look the other boy into his eyes. The taller one, which towered over Chie. She was going to get back at Selma for this later.

Chie was clearly a little more nervous than she was able to hide, scratching her cheek lightly and having her eyes dart briefly away and back to her prospective partner. Despite that, she still managed to make the first move on speaking up. "Uhm... if you're okay with me, I'll leave myself in your care," Chie said, folding her hands onto her skirt for a quick, polite bow. She then meekly reached one of them out for the boy to take. As she did, she also added one more thing: "I'm Masuzu Chie. Can I ask for your name, too?"

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

"Then... Open."

With those two words, in a flash, the world changed around Rui and Katsuki. Rather than seated opposite at a two-person table, the two were now standing on opposing ends of the now-familiar battlefield. The thick mist, the floating islands and the humongous clock- all was as it should be. On one side, Rui's yellow; her opponent a soot black. Lumia and Sunako stood attentive on their commanders' tables, the former looking focused and the latter excited. Rui took note of her opponent. "Hm... black, huh?" she said loud enough for them to hear. "Haruto's red, Sora's green and your black... I wonder who's assigning these colours to us?" Rui flatly stated. Before either had a chance to comment further on it, a loud creaking noise came from up above. The clock had started to spin, slowly, and turned in the direction of Rui's yellow marker. "The first turn is mine..." she mused to herself, looking down and hovering her hand over the deck. Five cards slid off the top, nesting themselves in front of Rui.

"Careful, Nee-chan... I can feel she's unlike the commanders you've seen so far," Lumia tried to warn. It wasn't a hollow warning, either. Compared to Rui's three golden coins, four floated above Katsuki. The same amount as Haruto, when he'd preyed on Sora. Rui just put on a confident smirk.
"If she wasn't strong, then there'd be no point." Rui responded. She looked her opponent dead in the eyes, then said: "Make no mistake... I will win this."

After Rui's declaration, the battle began proper. She began by setting up a quick defense, which Katsuki didn't break through. Rui combined her attackers and incantations to control the field like she usually would, but it didn't phase her opponent. No, as it turns out, Katsuki's strategy wasn't hindered by Rui's usual playstyle. After a few turns, Rui looked at her deck, having been thinned out considerably since the start. She looked at her opponent, slightly amused.

"Your cards are pretty impressive, aren't they? They're like a poison, slowly sapping away my strength. Instead of going for my life cards, you'll just make me lose by not having any cards to draw." Rui commented on it. There was some manner of intonation to it, a mix of mild awe and sarcastic mockery. Whatever it was, it signaled she wasn't scared of Katsuki in the slightest. "If you're not going after my life cards, then why don't I? Judgement Bolt!" A bolt of heavenly lightning struck down, hitting both Sunako and Lumia as Rui did not have the needed cost to discard her hand.

"Nee-cha...? ...Aaaah!" Lumia cried out in pain. She collapsed onto her knee, both one of Rui and Sunako's cards shattering and going to their hand. Lumia weakly looked back. "Nee-chan...? Why...?" she asked, pained and (literally) shocked.

"I'm sorry Lumia, but..." Rui cut her answer short, glancing at the incantation that just got added to her hand. "Like I thought. Most of my incantations are stuck in my life zone. I need to take damage in order to evolve Lumia..." she thought to herself. Rui looked through her Trash, seeing only four incantations in it including the Judgement bolt she'd just used. For a deck like hers that relies on them, this was markedly bad luck. "Hang in there, Lumia. I need your power to win this." she asked of her Avatar. Lumia just turned her head forwards again.

"I knew it... you're like a different person on the battlefield..." she mumbled to herself, pained and betrayed. But Rui knew that even if Lumia hated her for it, she absolutely could not afford to lose. To that end, she looked directly at her opponent.

"Hey. I want to ask you something," Rui said with determination in her voice. "I won't ask after your wish, or your lost memories. But these battles... why are you fighting them?" she posed the question. "Do you want to make something come true? Do you want to get back what you lost? Or... are these fun to you?" Rui continued to elaborate.

She pulled her scarf up a little, clearly not being done talking just yet. "My little brother got caught up in this because of me. Because he was concerned about me. Now I can barely remember his friends, our time spent together, or even a promise I made to him when we were little... when I feel the weight of that bearing down on me, it's almost crushing." she exposited. Then she grinned. "But here, on the battlefield...? I feel like I can forget my worries. My heart pounds with each attack, with every card played. Adrenaline rushes through me when I consider the risks of defeat."

Rui looked skywards. "It's like I was meant to be here. Like I was meant to fight this fight. And what about you?" she asked Katsuki again.

---

Natsuko's face hadn't changed, but in her mind she was cursing Sora's lack of resolve. She needed to battle him. It couldn't be anyone else. Ema picked up on this, a hint of slight amusement on her face, but she didn't press that topic. No, Ema had someone else to respond to first.

"Do you think warning him is a good idea, nyaa?" she asked Wolf. "Sora clearly likes Natsuko, you know? He won't want you coming between the two of them." Ema whispered to him. She then sat upright, speaking up clearly so everyone on the room could and would hear. "Isn't it better for you two to fight a lot, nya? If you're low on coins, you should battle to get more!" Ema tried egging on the pair of boys.

Natsuko drew Ema closer to herself, clutching the little cat girl to her chest. "I get it, Sora-kun... I was scared at first too. I didn't know who to turn to, who to fight. I lost my first time, and it felt like the world would end..." she explained in an attempt to appeal to Sora's sense of empathy. "But... that's why you should battle me! We know each-other, and I'd never hurt you! Even if I lose, I'd never hate you for it! And if you lose, after my wish comes true... I can still help you! We can do this together!" she pleaded with him, seeming earnest.

Natsuko didn't give him any time to react. She immediately reached out for one of Sora's hands and raised it up between the two of them, tightly clutching it between both of her own. "Please, Sora-kun... battle me. I really want to do it with you."

Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: Soul Mirror

"'Creep...' That's so mean, my Ryuka... but I'll show you soon enough. Soon I'll win this duel, and show you just how strong I am..." the man continued to drone on, slowly drawing his next card and grinning when he saw what it was. In between blinks Aiya could see a dark mist had enveloped the man again, like before. "I understand... you want to come out, don't you? We want to show her what you're like..." he mumbled to himself. "But not yet, not yet... it's not our turn yet. We have a much more important part to play."

The man added the card to the rest of his hand, then looked back at Aiya. The mist surrounding him dissipated again. "Haven't you realised it yet, my lovely Ryuka? On my field are two level 3 LIGHT Insect-type monsters... yes, level 3! When two or more monsters of the same level are on the field, I can do this!"

The man moved one of the bagworms' card over the other and, as he did, a vortex resembling a galaxy opened in the middle of the field. "Using my two bagworms to overlay, I can bring out a new monster! An Xyz monster!" he enthusiastically said. The two piles of junk on his field morphed into two shapeless bundles of light, then jumped into and mixed together inside the vortex. "Now... come on out, my first and favorite monster! Digital Bug Scaradiator!"

A bright flash of light blinded both players for a second, and from the portal, a rolling CPU fan shot out. It took to the sky, flying out of sight for a moment as a tiny blue beetle crawled out of the portal after it. When the fan came down, the bug caught it with its jaw, stopping the movement. It then scurried over the top of the fan, placing itself onto the other side and grabbing onto the electronic device with its hind legs.

Digital Bug Scaradiator: 1800 ATK

"I activate my trap card! Slip Summon!" Aiya would say as the card would rise up on her side of the field. Revealing its power to her opponent. As a dragon wearing a maid outfit would pop out onto her side of the field. "It allows me to summon a level 4 or lower monster in defense mode when you summon one!" She'd say. Eying the monster across from her. She hoped she hadn't made a mistake.

"The monster i summon is Parlor Dragonmaid!" She'd say pointing to her maid who would do a twirl before taking their defensive stance.

Parlor Dragonmaid DEF 1700

"Of course she has an effect when shes summoned, to allow me to send any dragonmaid from my deck to the graveyard" Aiya would say as she would look through her deck. "I choose Dragonmaid Lorpar" she'd say revealing the green dragon as she'd place it into her graveyard.

Still eying up her opponents strange mechanical bug.

"That's right, Ryuka... Keep playing with me, more and more..." the opponent mused again, reaching out for one of the cards in his hand. "But even as you summon more monsters, I'll just keep strengthening my own, with a field spell! I activate Bug Matrix!"

The area around the two duelists' monsters quickly shifted to a neon grid-based landscape, light and dark blues alternating. Orange streaks connected the monsters to various appliances and chips scattered on the board, as if the monsters themselves acted as the parts on the circuit. For Scaradiator, quite literally so as he nested his fan on top of the board and began spinning it around. The hooded customer gave a wicked smile. "With Bug Matrix, all my insects gain 300 ATK and DEF both..."

Scaradiator: 1800 > 2100 ATK

The customer reached out his free hand, palm open. "Now I'll battle! I'll use my Scaradiator to attack your weakened Reactan!" he shouted. Scaradiator spun his fan faster and faster to vent an overheating circuit beneath him. The fan couldn't keep up, though, as sparks ignited a fire on the board that soon shot its way toward Reactan, intending to burn him out.

Enshrouded by a lime-green glow, Aiya's dragonmaid would begin to shimmer. Its features began to shift, changing from a cute dragon girl eager to serve at the slightest convenience to a true dragon, strong and powerful. Lime-green feathered wings unfurled from the ball of light as she would take her position on Aiya's side of the battlefield.

"By the effect of my Parlor Dragonmaid, by returning her to my hand at the start of the battle-phase I can special-summon my Dragonmaid Lorpar!" Aiya would declare, Confident she would be ok due to its high attack power.

Dragonmaid Lorpar ATK 2700

"Now, don't think I'd let you destroy my monster so easily!" She'd declare activating another trick of hers as the card would raise up on her side of the field. "Attack Guidance Armor!" She'd declare, and upon her decleration, The Digital Bug that was attempting to destroy her monster would be blinded by the armor shattering in front of it, Causing the monster that its attack would be going towards to be Dragonmaid Lorpar instead. "It allows me to redirect your attack to Lorpar!"

"Kehehe... you fell for it!" the customer responded to Aiya's attempt at redirection. He slid his hand over the table to the black-bordered card he controlled. "Xyz monsters have one special property... the materials used for its summon also activate its effect, and you've allowed me to use mine! Scaradiator, force Lorpar to heel!"

Two shining, golden orbs floated into Scaradiator's jaw, who clamped down on them. Bathed in a hue of the same colour as those orbs, Scaradiator unfurled and spread its wings. The loud droning sound as Scaradiator lifted off made it clear how powerful the flapping of those wings was, if the strong gust created by it hadn't clued anyone in. The golden hue around Scaradiator flowed off its body and into those winds, colliding with Lorpar. Though she tried to resist, the gale forced her down onto the ground, a defensive posture while the monster itself turned blue to signal it going into defense position.

Dragonmaid Lorpar ATK 2700 > DEF 1700

The sparks redirected from Reactan to Lorpar connected. Though she may have been able to shrug it off before, her lower defense points made it so Lorpar succumbed to the flames that had ignited on impact. She still tried her best to shield Reactan, using her body as a barrier between Scaradiator and it, but ultimately closed her eyes and shattered into particles as she was destroyed.

Aiya's oppenent continued his turn with a confident grin. "This is fantastic... one less obstacle between me and my Ryuka... and to make sure of that, Scaradiator's other effect will now activate!" he enthusiastically shouted. The particles from Lorpar hadn't left the field, instead being scattered around. Scaradiator scuttled around the field, collecting them and rolling them up as they created a new, golden orb. "Any monster Scaradiator destroys will become its new overlay units... and now one more!" he said, picking up a different card from his hand. The circuit around the monsters activated, machine parts and LED lights kicking into gear. Another golden orb found its way to float around the customer's Xyz monster.

"Bug Matrix... with its effect, I gain another overlay unit by attaching a card in my hand... That's right, my Ryuka! I can use Scaradiator's effect over and over to force your monsters into another battle position! But even that doesn't end my turn..." he would continue, looking down at the last three cards in his hand. He placed one of them face-down on the field, then held up another one. "I know all about your deck... next turn, you can use the Parlor in your hand and call another dragon... so that's why I'll use Dragged Down Into the Grave!"

The customer dramatically revealed his card by flipping it in his hand. The field below them split in two as a chasm opened, with several ghostly hands clawing their way up from the depths of the world below. "Both players choose a card in their opponent's hand and discard it, then draw one more from the deck... but I have only one card to choose! I'll bury it together with your Parlor! Let's go together, Ryuka..."

The ghostly hands reach out to both players, grabbing both the cards the customer talked about. The card the customer discarded was the same as the one that he'd drawn for this turn, and as it got carried into the abyss, Aiya could just barely see it being a level 3 monster.

Both players drew a new card. The customer only briefly glanced at his. "Turn end, my Ryuka..."

I hate to say it...

So essentially it seems the style of RP I enjoy most is dying. Ok, well guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. 🤷‍♀️

@Tlstiffl

I don't think this is the conclusion you should be taking away from these answers.

We're in a busy time of the year, coupled with it generally being less popular than before, but it's by no means dead. I've been both in far smaller and far bigger RP communities than this, and even with about 1/50 the amount of people that are on this site, I've seen RP communities be active for years.

The thing is, on a mega board like this where anyone can start anything, you're bound to get a wildly different range of likes and interests. I, personally, am just about the resident Card Game Nerd™ on this website, and believe you me, I've had more than my fair share of trouble finding people to RP card games with ever since I joined.

RP isn't dying and it's not going to die. It'll get smaller and slow down, but there's always new young people getting into the hobby too. I know for a fact I RP less not because of the site's fault, but because I just... RP less in general. I have no drive to join 6 things at once anymore, and I also don't check the interest boards daily like I used to. Gotta understand that existing members are graying too, and either become more busy in life or move on to other things.

Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: Soul Mirror

LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOO

I was worried the rp died

@Birdboy

I had no intention of letting this die, it's just that Jar needed to edit his post first in order for me to be able to follow up on it.

Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: Soul Mirror

It wasn't very far to the duel table, a bit further back into the shop to separate the dining tables from the dueling area, but still with a clear enough shot for all the customers to watch. The hooded man had a mad grin on his face as he shuffled and set his deck on the table. "Ryuka... my Ryuka..." he kept muttering to himself, with 'Ryuka' taking the first turn of the duel. She was very quick on her moves, wasting no time in summoning her monster and setting three cards. "There it is... Ryuka's famous dragon deck! The undefeated dragon maid... I'm so unbelievably happy!" the man kept commenting. He looked down at the deck in front of him.

"That means it's my turn, right? This is great, so great... I draw," he said, picking up the top card. With another wicked smile he immediately placed it down on the table. "I'll set this monster I just drew," he clarified, then reached for his hand. "I'll also take this card right here to set on my field..." he continued. Sliding it forward and down on the table, the holograms projected onto his field formed a T-shape with the two card backs. "Turn end, my lovely Ryuka."

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

"Uhm..."

To say Rui was taken aback by the sudden abrasiveness of the stranger that had stopped her would be an understatement. She didn't really know what to do; Rui had barely come through the library's front door and she was already accosted by a commander wanting to do battle. Lumia hadn't warned Rui about it ahead of time either; though it's not like she had any time to ponder on whether or not that was on purpose. After all, the strange and overwhelming girl who'd stopped Rui didn't give her that. She'd asked to battle, explained how she didn't care about Rui in the slightest and then proceeded to blow Rui off all within the span of about a minute. The other commander was about to walk right past, thinking Rui wasn't up for the fight, so Rui had to act quickly and on instinct. "...Wait!" she said and quickly grabbed the other girl's arm.

Of course, the dead expression in her eyes even as she looked back to Rui didn't give much away. The stranger just yanked her arm loose, but didn't move a muscle otherwise. Rui took a deep breath and tried explaining herself: "Sorry... you were just so overwhelming. Why don't we go to a café or something and talk about it there?"

And, by some miracle, Rui actually did manage to drag the new Commander to a café. It was a reasonably spacious and popular spot, one which Rui's classmates sometimes tried to invite her to. The reason she came there, though, was because the two of them would vanish in the crowd. Two teenage girls coming for drinks or a parfait was nothing unusual, so Rui was certain they wouldn't be bothered. Seated at a table in the corner, the server going around had just taken their orders and left to go prepare. Rui turned her attention back to her adversary.

"Katsuki and... Sunako, right?" she asked, trying to memorize the names she'd been told a few moments prior. Rui took out Lumia and slid her onto the table. She put on a smile to try and ease Katsuki, saying: "I know you said you didn't care, but we have a little time until we get our drinks. I don't think anyone will bother us after that. I'm Rui; this is Lumia."

"H-hi..." Lumia muttered, visibly a lot less at ease than Rui. She was actively trying to not look at Katsuki.

Rui rummaged around in her bag for a little bit, then took out her deck case and put it on the table. "I'm sure people won't get suspicious as long as it looks like we're playing," she explained. Rui didn't bring a game mat with her or anything, but she figured it didn't matter much. She picked up a few cards, put them down in front of her and then grabbed Lumia again. She said: "Hey, how about we add a wager? If you win, I'll leave you alone and will pay for both of us. If I win, you'll stick around for a bit and tell me about yourself."

"Nee-chan?!" Lumia blurted out in disbelief. Why on earth would Rui want to talk to this person?! Rui clearly took notice, glancing briefly at Lumia. Deciding silence was the best response, she quickly turned her attention back at her opponent.

"I'll explain myself in the battle. For now... do we have a deal?"

---

"You and... Rui?" Natsuko whispered, her grip on Sora's arm tightening ever so subtly as he rambled on about his day. She closed her eyes and patiently listened, a fury bubbling inside her. "That sounds nice," she said in response to Sora's invitation to take the two of them out, but the fury and jealousy bubbling inside her made Natsuko focus far more on the 'Rui' part. All she heard lately was Rui this, Rui that.

Ema lazily eyed up her Commander and then back at Wolf. At first she didn't really get why a guy like Wolf was paired up with someone like Sora, but with how dense the two of them were, they might've actually been a perfect fit after all. "Who knows, nya~? Maybe she thinks battling Sora will make that wish of hers come true," she vaguely told Wolf. "Not that she'll be the one to suffer the consequences of it..." Ema sighed. She didn't entirely look like she was up for granting it, but if her Commander willed it...

"Hey, Sora-kun? Remember what I said the other day?" Natsuko tried swerving the conversation. She gently pushed herself off from him and opened the palm of her hand, showing six golden coins and a single black one. "Six coins, but two losses. This could be my final battle, ever," she explained, a pleading look in her eyes. "I think the final memory must be really important to me... and there's something I really have to tell you."

"Nyaaa~!" Ema meowed in delight as she heard those words from Natsuko. "So you're finally going to do it, Natsuko?" she asked. Natsuko looked down and gave her a nod.

"I can only tell you on the battlefield, Sora-kun," she said while looking straight into his eyes. "So please... battle me!"

Nexus: The battle for one's memories.

Lumia stayed quiet about her worries for the rest of Sora and Rui's day out. She didn't want to get between the two of them, so acted like nothing was wrong. She commented on the animals with the two of them, talked to Sora a bit whenever they had a small break and was generally her usual self. Lumia was a spectator to all of it and acted accordingly; never making her presence overly loud. When they all returned home, Lumia was hidden away in Rui's bags; after all, Rui couldn't let her parents catch on that she'd been spending her time on a card game, magical or not. Lumia just had to hear the muffled yells of Sora and Rui's parents bearing their wrath down upon the younger of the two. She couldn't see it, but she knew Rui well enough to know that pained expression she often makes when it came to Sora. That feeling of guilt that chews away at her. After all... Rui's wish was sprouted from those feelings of guilt and anger.

Eventually, Rui came to her room and let Lumia out of the bag, perching her up against the side of some books on her desk. "Sorry I couldn't let you out earlier," she apologized with a soft smile. Rui got her textbooks together to start studying, but Lumia just looked away.

"...You two looked happy today, you know." Lumia said. She followed it up with: "Why do you let your family decide your life like this?"

Rui paused for a bit, then turned to Lumia and chuckled a little. "What, are you worried about me?" she asked in a joking tone, trying to both deflect the question and lighten the mood.

"Of course I am! When you're with your brother, you look like you're having so much fun... like you don't need me. But when it comes to Nexus, you... you become a different person. Cold, and vicious... I... I don't think it's a good idea to keep battling like that," she told her commander. Rui's mood darkened again.

"...Sora was smiling, right?" she bounced back to Lumia. "When he defeated Sakura... first, he was concerned, but his mood became better after, right? I think the memory he must've gotten back was a happy one. Something he didn't want to lose again. So if he can get his memories back-"

"But you didn't get yours back!" Lumia blurted out. "When we defeated that girl the other day, your coin turned gold... but you never got a memory back. It's like you didn't want to remember at all. I don't want you to battle like that..." Lumia pleaded with her Commander. Rui didn't answer her back. Not until after a moment of silence, when Rui shot a glance her Avatar's way.

"Maybe you're right. I'll be more careful, Lumia." she eventually said, but the words she promised were hollow.

---

Come the next day, Lumia was sluggish to rise and shine. Even though, or maybe because it was another one of her days off, she'd stayed up late through the night trying to study. Her parents being out of the house the whole day meant she also had plenty of time to sleep in. Rui would've actually kept sleeping for much longer, but Lumia's voice was desperately trying to reach her. "Nee-chan! Nee-chan!" she kept crying out. It got to a point where Rui couldn't keep ignoring it.

"What is it, Lumia...?" she sleepily said to her Avatar, rubbing the exhaustion out of her eyes.
"There's trouble! A commander is in the house!" Lumia warned Rui.
"...Eh?" Rui voiced back.

Still in her pajamas, Rui rushed out of bed and opened the door of her room. She could clearly hear the voices coming from the living room, slowly shuffling closer to its source. Making sure to stay out of sight, she peered into the living room from about halfway down the stairs.

"Come on, it's fine, just let me stay like this a bit," a slightly needy voice complained to Sora. It was coming from a girl about his age- no, slightly younger. One who had nestled herself comfortably by resting her head on his shoulder and leaning up against him. Rui's face contorted into a scowl; partially from the awkwardness of Sora bringing a girl into the house without letting Rui know, and partially because Rui felt like she should... know that person. Her head began to pound and she crouched down on her knees, one hand holding for support against the stair's railings and the other clutching her forehead.

The pain brought something with it. She felt like she started to... remember something. She pulled the hand on her head away and saw her seven coins, four black and three gold, appear inside it. One of them gave off a faint glow- the one she'd won back from that girl she'd faced a few days prior. "Na... tsu... ko..." she slowly fumbled out, loud enough for the girl in their living room to hear. Startled, she pushed herself off Sora and looked in the direction of the open doorway Rui had previously peered at her from.

"Oh! Rui..." Natsuko yelped, causing Rui to whip her head around. Shoot- she was still in her nightwear! Oh that's embarrassing... Rui quickly stood up and gave Natsuko a slightly nervous smile.

"Ahaha... hi, Natsuko-chan... I didn't know you'd be coming over today," Rui awkwardly told her. In truth, she should have known. Natsuko always came over when Rui and Sora's parents were out of the house. It's just that Rui had forgotten all about it- just like the day prior at the zoo. She didn't know who her and Sora's friends were, up until a few moments back. She didn't even know that Haruto had been a friend of theirs, once, since childhood. She didn't have any time to recall specifics- but if she wasn't wrong, Natsuko had only known Sora since middle school... a few years, at best.

For Natsuko's part, she just puffed up her chest and twirled a bit of hair around her finger. "I'm not intruding, am I? I could come back later, but I don't really want to..." she complained, making her displeasure at Rui showing up known. For her part, Rui didn't suspect a thing.

"Oh! No, not at all. I was just going to study today like usual; you two have fun! I'll just get ready and head to the library so you can be alone," she told the two of them and skipped back up the stairs. As Rui got dressed and packed her books into her bag, Lumia spoke.

"Is it okay for you to leave, Nee-chan? That girl is a commander," Lumia warned her.
"It's okay. I know Natsuko-chan... she's a sweet girl. She wouldn't do anything to Sora," Rui cheerfully hummed. Lumia had her reservations, but being an outside, left the issue to the wayside. Maybe Rui was right and she shouldn't worry so much.

Eventually Rui was all done, ran down the stairs and put on her shoes at the entrance. She couldn't see the living room from there, but because the door was still open, she could yell back: "I'm going out now! Have fun, okay?!" and left the house soon after. She walked along the road, Lumia in hand and scarf covering her mouth for warmth. Rui shot a look at her Avatar. "...The library is a public space. We're sure to run in a commander there," she told Lumia.

"Did you even listen to me yesterday?" Lumia said, unamused.
"It'll be okay as long as you keep me in line," Rui cheekily clapped back. "I trust you, Lumia. As long as you're with me, it'll be okay."
"Nee-chan..." was all Lumia could say back to her. It was so very, very bittersweet to her. She didn't deserve that trust in the slightest.

---

"I'm not intruding, am I? I could come back later, but I don't really want to..." Natsuko complained, about to grind her teeth in frustration at Sora's sister coming in to ruin the mood she'd been working so hard to build up. Sure, said sister reassured her that she'd be out and about for the rest of the day, but now things were awkward between Natsuko and Sora! Ema, sensing the unease coming from her commander, decided to take action.

"Cheer up, nyaaa. You probably woke her up from a cat-nap," she said, lying down in her card border and letting out a yawn as if to demonstrate. The ears on her hoody even did a little twitch, as if they were the real deal.

"I-I'm not upset! She just... caught me by surprise," Natsuko complained with a pout. Ema just smiles with her eyes closed, playfully mocking her commander. Natsuko soon lowered her again, right next to Wolf.

"So she's the other commander, nya?" Ema asked the other Avatar. The two avatars had been talking about it a bit, though not like Ema had told Natsuko about it. She also, rightfully, figured that Natsuko wouldn't pay much attention to the conversation as long as Ema didn't raise her voice too much. "Well, I don't really care. Natsuko's stubborn about battling Sora, not Rui." she said, one eye open to look in Wolf's direction.

Natsuko, meanwhile, just went back to getting close with Sora. She turned to him with a frown and reached her hand out, brushing some of his hair aside. "You're such a slob, Sora-kun... don't let your hair hang in front of your eye like that," she complained, almost as if she was his older sister and not Rui. Like she was jealous of Rui, registering her as a threat and trying to usurp that role herself. She wanted Sora to herself. To help with that, after cleaning up his hairdo, she snuggled up close again. Rui shouted something about her leaving, but Natsuko didn't give Sora a moment to think or respond. She immediately tried taking his attention away from his sister by wrapping his arm around her own and looking up into his eyes.

"So? Did anything fun recently?" she asked him, a sweet smile on her lips.

Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: Digital Monsters

Side characters

Silver

In-game Name:
シルバー＿ブレット
^{(Silver＿Bullet)}

Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: Digital Monsters

Aside from Chiharu's early struggles due to Ren's scatterbrained explanation, she'd been holding her own against the Dark Plant without too much trouble. Ren, for his part, had been paying more attention to that duel than his own. Almost like he was disrespecting the Ai opponent, Ren slid a card into his duel disk without even looking at it. It was Insect Armor with Laser Canon, boosting up the 300 ATK Petit Moth he'd summoned a turn earlier up to 1000 ATK. Taking his eyes briefly off Chiharu, he glanced at the change slime and said "I'll use Book of Taiyou to change that face-down monster face-up." The monster revealed by Ren's spell card was 8-Claws Scorpion, who's attack was much too low to withstand Petit Moth. Ren threw his hand forward and commanded his Petit Moth to "Attack that monster!" with the creature obeying so. The canon which was now on its wormy little back flared up and shot right through the scorpion, hitting the Change Slime behind it and causing both to melt away into a goop. Ren could hear Chiharu finishing her own duel, but he didn't get a chance to congratulate her.

"Gngh-!" Ren choked, feeling the crushing weight of Chiharu's arms collapsing his ribs despite being inside of a virtual world. Ren wasn't exactly sure why he could feel the pressure of his friend's grip leaving him to struggle for air, but whatever the case was, he tapped her hands with his own. "I give up...! I give up...!" he choked out, trying to get the overly excitable vice of death to let go of him. Ren coughed a few times when he was released from Chiharu's grip, they had a laugh about it and he praised her for a job well done.

"That was good for your first time, Luna-chi! Maybe next we should-" he said, about to suggest dueling each-other, but was cut off when he noticed something squirming behind Chiharu. Ren stepped around and in front of her, thrusting out his arm to block another Dark Plant from approaching his friend. "Oops... or not. Seems like there's still more coming!" he yelled back at her, powering up his Duel Disk again for another round. Despite his intent to protect Chiharu, more and more monsters started to gather around the cart they were protecting. Chiharu didn't have a choice but to throw herself back into dueling again.

They each finished off another two or three monsters, but the amount gathering around them was increasing at a faster rate than either of them could handle. The monsters started taking them on in a two-on-one, then three, leading to both Ren and Chiharu almost getting overwhelmed by their numbers. Just when the situation started to get dire, though, another person's voice rang out. "From my hand, I activate the spell cards Raimei and Sparks!" it cried, small bolts of lightning and a mild fire igniting one of the Dark Plants Ren was facing. Having come from a blind angle, another person was standing next to Ren with his Duel Disk activated.

Ren was about to ask where the silver-haired gentleman came from, but he got about as far as "Where did you-?" before his saviour cut him off.

"There's no time for that now. Watch out, more of them are coming!" he sternly warned Ren. Together with this mysterious stranger, and the help of a couple of other players who eventually noticed the commotion and joined in the monsters were successfully repelled... after a time. After the exhausting ordeal, the merchant who the players had saved started handing out cards to the participating players. The more monsters they had defeated, the stronger the card reward was. The man who'd helped Chiharu and Ren out approached the duo to introduce himself after it had all been resolved. "Sorry about earlier. I had spotted you two having some trouble from a distance, so I thought I'd come help out. My name is Silver_Bullet, but you can call me Silver if you'd like."