Zai

“Nitro Booster…. 2300 ATK, 1900 DEF…” Yushiro said to himself, staring down at the card in his hand. It was slightly worse for wear now, a scratch noticeable over the art, probably from sliding on the concrete. He was glad to have it back of course, but now looking at it, it brought up feelings other than relief. It had been a strange few days: losing his ace, cutting his face open (and apparently bumping into the same weirdo who had challenged Kyouko to a duel in the process), and missing the duel he’d promised to go watch in spite of it. It seemed like he’d had nothing but a run of bad luck since move-in day, and if he had been at all superstitious Yushiro might even have blamed it all on the girl who’d given the card back to him. Instead though, the prevailing emotion he felt as he looked at his card was pity. Pity and… something else…. ---- “Sorry Lizzy, it’s the end of the road. Osiris, finish her off!” Elizabeth only stood there with pursed lips as the effects of osiris’ duel space attacks flew through and by her; she had come that close to getting him, but she played her hand too quickly. It was a risk she was willing to take, and one she would do 10 times over again, but that hardly took away the sting of losing a duel she practically talked herself into. There was an optimist somewhere deep, deep inside of Beth that had convinced her that she could win this duel, and as the duel came to an end, her predominant pessimist came rushing through to add insult to injury, reminding her that she should have just listened to the part of her brain that told her to stay home and enjoy a cup of coffee in the rain. “Well, the better duelist was always going to win, eh? Worth a shot I guess.” she walked off without much else other than a simple wave goodbye to Hitomu. While people flooded the duel area to congratulate Hitomu (as per usual) and attempt to either console or compliment Elizabeth, she gave a grin and nodded to those addressing her, never stopping to absorb more than a word. Come to think of it, the only people she had expected to see, Ashley and Yushiro, was not a part of the group coming to see her after the duel. Did neither of them show? Ashley had said that she would be watching, even if she was not able to make it, but Yushiro? He seemed so excited to come out, and that feeling was kind of nice… Elizabeth shook her head a bit, dismissing the thought, Even if he were to come for me, I still have his card, that’s more important. Hopefully I run into him soon... Some time later, Elizabeth found herself aimlessly walking back to her apartment; the rain was picking up a bit, but hardly enough to do anything other than cause her makeup to run slightly. Truthfully, she was happy it was raining; something about the cold water made it easier to resist the churning feeling in her gut, turning the disappointment into something of a sorrow. After sprinting for what was probably close to fifteen minutes, Yushiro finally made it back to Blue Yonder. He was painfully out of breath, and between the wheezing and the bloody cut across his face, he looked almost like he’d been fleeing for his life from some crazed killer. He stopped for a moment, leaning over and putting his hands on his knees in a vain attempt to catch his breath. After a few seconds, he pulled his phone out to check the time, and his spirits sank: he was definitely too late. Defeated, he made his way over to a nearby bench and slumped over. Yushiro sat there for several minutes, only becoming more agitated when it started to rain on him. “Seriously?” His forehead started to sting again as it got wet. With the adrenaline fading, it hurt a lot more, and slowly he came to the uncomfortable realization that it was a deeper cut than he thought it was. He wondered if he’d need stitches (Yushiro had never gotten stitches before), and the thought of it made him wince. At last this made him uncomfortable enough to force himself to keep moving. Campus was mostly deserted, between the events going on elsewhere and the rain, and every couple of minutes Yushiro had to wipe the blood out from above his right eye, lest it drip past his eyebrow and actually interfere with his vision. Eventually, he realized that in his stupor he was wandering aimlessly, and was turning around to head toward his dorm when he spied someone else coming the other way. Was that Elizabeth? It had to be. He didn't know anyone else with silver hair. Beth had hardly paid attention to where she was going, virtually letting her bones go the only way they knew to go, which was home. It was a few minutes later when her stomach had begun to churn for something different, not a chance to cry and relieve herself of this disappointment and sadness, but rather for a cigarette. She was positive she had packed some away in her bag on the way to the duel, but none were to be found. It had been a hot minute since she had one, and her body was now no longer satisfied by the coffee and adrenaline she had substituted them with. She clenched her teeth and rolled back her neck, taking a deep breath in from her nose in attempt to subside the cravings with a therapeutic stretch, but no dice; only temporary relief as she continued to shamble by to her apartment, perhaps now with more urgency in her step. It was about then when she noticed a familiar figure. “Yushiro? Is that you down there? I’ve been looking all over for you!” She shouted just a bit to try and gather his attention. “Looking.. For me?” It took a second for Yushiro to actually process the words through his haze, but it clicked and he shook himself alert. Despite how out of breath he was he forced himself to trot over to her. “What are you looking for me for? Especially in the rain?” “Well, you had said you were to make it to today’s festivities, although by the looks of it I don’t suppo- Holy s--- Yushiro, you’re bleeding like a pig! Are you alright?” Elizabeth had now taken the initiative of jogging over a bit faster to meet him closer and get a look at his face, quickly donning a crimson mask of sorts, “Have you seen a doctor for this?” she put her right hand up to her lips before wincing and looking in closer at the cut, gently trying to take the hair from the cut and get a better look at it. “I took a bit of tumble, no worries.” He backed away a step, his face reddening with embarrassment. He put his hand over his wound to hide it from view. “Sorry I uh… didn’t make it. How’d it go?” He had a better look at her now, and despite the concerned look on her face he could see in her body language that she was almost as drained as he was. She shrugged, choosing instead to lie through her teeth and move the conversation back to the wound on the boy’s head, “I suppose it went okay. He’s a bloody cheat you know. Seriously, Yushiro, that looks dreadful. We’re only a short way from my apartment, can you let me clean you up?” It was about then that she realized she had just invited the boy into her place of living, and straightened up a bit, “Unless of course you don’t want to, anyway. I won’t force you. That cut just… it doesn’t look great. We can at least get out of the rain. I’m sure my eyeliner is miserable.” Yushiro pulled his hand away from his face and looked at his now-red fingers. “Actually you look nice.” He replied, more thinking aloud than talking to her. His head throbbed again as realized this, and he quickly tried to move the conversation along. “A-anyway if you're offering then sure. It does hurt a bit….” He winced. “Ok, more than a bit. Yeah, lets go.” Elizabeth’s expression twisted a bit, more amused than anything, Is he really trying to flirt with me with blood getting all over his shirt? Boys are unbelievable. She put her hand flat against his back with a light shove in the direction of her apartment, “On then, let’s go before you bleed too much more. My couches are expensive, you know. Can’t have you getting your insides all over them. Delia is a fan of leather, and she insisted I match it to the hardwood. Like bloody leather even matches hardwood. Preposterous. Anyway, how did you even get this cut?” “I tripped on my way over here. Guess I hit the pavement a bit harder than I thought.” He looked away for a moment, then changed the subject again. “So you didn’t win your game, then. Sorry to hear that.” “Don’t worry about it. I’m not much of a duelist anyway, probably a foolish notion in the first place.” -- After a few moments of rambling, Elizabeth and Yushiro finally made it to her apartment, and Beth was quick to gesture Yushiro straight through the hallway into her room, where the bathroom was located. “Don’t mind the laundry and all that, just head straight into the bathroom. I’ll grab a few things from the kitchen to clean you up. You should probably wash it out a bit.” Elizabeth scurried across the floor as daintily as she could, quickly grabbing the first aid kit she kept above the knives in her kitchen, grabbing bandages, wipes, and whatever else she felt would be helpful. “Yeah, sure.” He complied, tossing his wet jacket across the floor and running water over his face. It ran down the drain red for a few moments, and stung viciously for just a bit longer than that, but after the process was done the wound was clean. Thankfully, it wasn’t too severe, though it was certainly deep enough to look particularly nasty, and the bleeding, though slowed, hadn't stopped. He tried not to think about how awkward this whole chain of events had become, and instead focused on assessing his own condition while he waited. Still, he couldn’t quite forget the fact that he was alone with a cute girl in her dorm for the first time in his life. “Are you still alive in there, mate?” Elizabeth only half-joked as she turned the corner, relieved to see that he was only a little scuffed up, hardly in bad shape, “Why don’t we get that nasty thing covered up then. Hold still.” Without much in the way of bedside hospitality, she quickly ran a sterilizing wipe over the cut and stuck a bandage over it with her other hand in a quick motion. She was positive it was less than comfortable, but she knew it did the trick. “Sorry, grew up with a brother. Fairly used to this type of ‘surgery’. Best to just get it over with.” Yushiro rubbed his finger over the bandage. “Well… thanks. Sorry to impose on you like this, Elizabeth.” Elizabeth waved her hand in dismissal, “It’s nothing, truly. Actually, in all of the commotion I forgot the real reason I was hoping to run into you…” she pulled Yushiro out of her bathroom by the arm to her desk, where her deck box was. She opened it up and fished through to reveal his Nitro Booster, albeit a bit worse for wear. It had suffered a scratch or two from hitting the pavement in the fashion that it did. “I believe this belongs to you? You never gave me your number, so I wasn’t able to reach you. I think it fell from your person when we collided. Sorry about that.” Yushiro’s eyes widened. He’d actually forgotten that he was missing his best card, and the surprise buoyed his spirits. “Don’t mention it. Guess that’s twice I owe you now, huh.” He gave her a half-smile; the best he could manage between his energy level and the sheer amount of embarrassment he was feeling. She shrugged a bit and looked away, “Oh please, I’m the one getting myself into all this trouble.” she shambled towards the couch and threw her weight into, leaning against the back and holding her hand to her forehead, “Can’t believe I embarrassed myself like that today. Truth be told I’m fortunate you weren’t there. I prefer you to see me in this light, where I’m helpful and apparently attractive.” she was rambling, but there’s only so long you can keep things together. She blinked back a tear or two as the rock began to form again in her stomach. Yushiro blushed. “What do you mean? You needed a cheering section, right?” He walked over and sat down on the couch, deliberately as far away from her as possible. Looking at her now, it was plainly obvious that something was the matter. “Cheering section? Heavens no. Ashley was off being the president, and when you used to be the number one duelist around here, and you aren’t any longer, things go… tits up, I’ll say, in the friends department.” She sat back up, tying her hair back and shrugging her shoulders slightly. “Sounds like they weren’t really your friends to begin with, then.” He paused, thinking about what to say next. “But wouldn’t you want someone there to cheer you on, in that case? It's not like my opinion of you would change if you won or lost. Heck, you saw some pretty awful dueling on my part the other day, didn’t you?” Elizabeth chuckled slightly, still a bit somber in tone, “You must really get on with your mates, then. It’s nice. When I dueled every day, of course I would. I suppose now it just isn’t very high on the list of priorities. Not sure many people would like to see me succeed anyhow.” she nodded her head in agreement with Yushiro, “Of course there are things you could improve on, but not everyone is like you, or at least what I know of you. Some people lose respect for you when you stop dueling.” “Yeah, I guess I do.” Yushiro hadn't really thought of his relationship with Akira and everyone else as anything special, but perhaps he just didn’t know better until now. “But…. well I don’t know. I guess what I’m trying to ask is… uhh.” Well, beating around the bush clearly wasn’t getting him anywhere. Time to dive in head first. “Sorry, I don’t wanna pry or anything, but it looks like something’s really bothering you. I don’t know you very well or anything… but I’m a good listener. Wanna tell me what’s wrong?” Strangely, Elizabeth outright laughed at Yushiro’s response, “Oh dear, I really have gone mad, haven’t I? Even complete strangers think i’m a mess.” Yushiro went bright red. “N-nono I didn’t mean it like that!” He interjected. “Well... when something’s really bugging me it usually helps when I talk to someone about it. I don’t think you’re a mess or anything, just… sad I guess. You were really looking for that win, weren’t you.” Beth rose from her seat and walked over to Yushiro, “You really are sweet aren’t you. That’s a very genuine care you have for people.” Beth picked up her cellphone from the coffee table and handed it to Yushiro, “Why don’t we get to know each other better. I have questions of my own, but I’m not going to search high and low for you again, I’m afraid I’ll need your number this time. Not sure my arse can really handle being thrown into the ground again to meet with you.” she smiled, slightly. Yushiro breathed an internal sigh of relief. He was half expecting things to have blown up in his face, but somehow or other he’d managed not to make a complete fool out of himself. He was still blushing, but hey, it was progress. He took Elizabeth’s phone from her hand, spending a minute figuring out how to work the menus before entering his contact information. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He replied as he handed it back to her. “Better than cutting my face open, that’s for sure.” He took another moment to process, then realized she was changing the subject. “You don’t have to open up about it or anything to me if you’re not feeling up to it, either.” Blushing, ironically, made her a bit nervous; that was when she lost her touch in a conversation, “It’s not that I’m not up to it Yushiro, it’s more…” she took a deep sigh, trying to keep her face from going flush as well, “I think I really quite enjoy your company, is all. I wouldn’t want to ruin that. I know we’ve barely met but, you have a kind heart. Sometimes I think it would be nice to get out more, you understand?” “Did… did you just ask me out?” he asked rather bluntly, not sure how to respond. If there was one subject area that Yushiro Midori was clueless about, it was dating. His face continued to retain its rosy hue, and for the life of him he couldn’t bring himself to look her back in the eye for more than half a second. He was too nervous. At this point, Beth had shot clean past mildly unnerved to beat red; her normally rather pale skin tone now flush with color, “Well, uhm” she closed her eyes, even when she was being nice it would appear she messed this one up, “Well not quite, it’s been some minutes since I’ve been out on one of those.” she put her hands up, trying to backpedal, “Although, I suppose if you were to ask, even though I don’t really know much about you I-” she stopped, and looked down at her table; for some mysterious reason she thought of Ashley: What would Ashley say to this? Elizabeth thought, Well, Ashley probably would have just kissed him by now, but what would she have told me? She looked back up at Yushiro, “Well, why don’t we try some coffee? We don’t have to call it a date or any such thing, clearly we’re both handbaskets about the idea, but it could just be you and I, together, at Coffeecards, yes? We can ask all manners of questions. We can always decide later if it’s a date, no?” Ashley’s right, kissing them is a much better option. But a coffee with the boy sounds nice as well. Elizabeth thought to herself “S-s-sorry.” He barely stuttered out. So much for not making a fool of himself. The awkwardness was palpable now, and it took him a solid ten or so seconds before he settled on what to say next. “Sure. Lets hang out. Maybe get a friendly game of duel monsters in if you’d feel so inclined?” Card games. Yes. Something he was comfortable with. Just ignore the weirdness and roll with it. Good plan. Elizabeth was back to laughing, something of a deeper, yet still feminine laugh, “Card games?! My word, you really do belong at this blasted campus don’t you? Yes, fine. I would love to play card games on our date-not-date-date. Why don’t you swing by my place in 2 days, we can go together. I’ll wear my best. For our… card games.” she nodded; he was certainly a strange one, but Elizabeth was the right mix of interested and lonely to entertain it, plus he was cuter than he let on, even with the giant bandage on his forehead. “It’s just usually something I do when I’m hanging out with a friend. Keeps me occupied I guess. Honestly I uhh..” He was embarrassed to admit what came next. “I’ve never really, like, gone anywhere. Alone. With a girl, before. I’m cool with doing something else if you’d rather.” She shook her head, “No, no. I want to do this the way you imagined it. I’ll wear something nice, and we’ll play some cards. Nothing more until you’re comfortable with the idea. We’ll just get to know each other.” He nodded. “I’ll… try and look a bit better than I do today.” He joked. “ But yeah, let’s do it.” He glanced toward the bathroom, where his jacket still was. “I don’t wanna overstay my welcome though. Should probably get going.” “Oh!! Right, well I suppose you’ve things to do. I’ll grab your coat.” she skittered down the hallway, returning in no more than a few seconds, handing him his coat, “I’m glad you’re okay. But if you beat me with Nitro Booster in a few days I’m going to regret being so honest with you.” she winked, still blushing slightly. “I might have to. Can’t afford to pull any punches with an number one duelist, can I.” He winked back, his own cheeks still just as rosy. Yushiro made his way toward the door, then stopped when he was halfway out. “Hey, Elizabeth. Feel better, ok?” ---- And so now here he was, at the club fair in spite of himself, looking for the duel team booth. Yushiro still wasn't sure it was a good idea; he valued his free time, but the thought of impressing Elizabeth when they next hung out was enticing. Plus, he needed the practice if he was going to beat Hiraku... in front of everybody. He shook the thought out of his head as he approached the booth. There was a girl with a very nice looking hat sitting there. “Uhm… excuse me. This is where we sign up for Duel team, right?” Yushiro rubbed the bandage on his forehead nervously. He’d never done something like this before and didn’t really know how to come off.

Aichi Asuka ASW-G-32 Gundam Asmodai

OP Episode 3: Clouds The time had finally come. What time, the freshmen of Blue Yonder may have asked? Why, club recruitment week! That special five-day span near the beginning of the school year where the school clubs went all-out, putting up posters, booths, and more to try and reel in as many new members as they possibly could! And indeed, quite a bit of club efforts were meant to incentivize freshmen to join. With the school day for today having let out, now was the time for students to look for clubs to join, or for those already in clubs to try recruiting new members. Despite the excitement though, there seemed to be a dreary undercurrent running through campus; a small twinge of sadness in spite of everything else. Like move-in day a week and a half before, campus was crowded with stalls and activities. Instead of diversions meant to entertain families and new students though, each and every one was perfectly engineered to attract students so that they could sign away on that all-important piece of paper (and several of their precious free hours every week). For some it was subtle, others extravagant, but every single one had the heart and soul of its members poured into it. As was tradition.

Spin to win

Hi birb! Welcome!

Hellz yeah bby

Forgot to do the intro thing. Whoops. Brought me, myself, and my shades. Hi friends.

IC Thread OP: Spyair- Scramble ED: Unlimits- Haruka Kanata ~VISIONS Project Presents~ ~A Zai Yu-Gi-Oh! RP~ ~Original Concept: Zai~ ~Story Support: Yui, Sai~ ~Logo: Yui~ ~Hosts: Zai, Yui, Sai~ Rules & Introduction: Setting: Plot: Duel Space: Application: