Yu-Gi-Oh! Skies [IC/PG-16]

[LordCowCow 840]

What was she doing? What in the world was she doing?

A cavalcade of uncertainty ran through Gabby's head as she stood there Trembling finger pointed at the girl she had just...the girl she had...

The girl she had asked to go to a dance.

The girl she had asked on what was essentially a date.

Stupid. The beating of her heart beat that word over and over into her mind. Stu. Pid. Stu. Pid. Stupidstupidstupidstupid. Why had she done something so unimaginably stupid? Not only had she just asked someone out of the blue but she had asked her first actual friend. You don't just go around asking friends this kind of thing. She knew that much.

She also knew that it was especially weird for a girl to ask another girl. It wasn't as though there were any boys she could single out who would be preferable but still! She knew well that the act she put out was rather odd and that many found her strange. But this was something different. All it took was the wrong sort of person to twist this into something that will follow Gabby through the school year.

She wasn't even sure she wanted to do this. She merely felt she had to. And yet, despite going out of her way to try and fit in with this place, she went ahead and did something incredibly risky. Even taking out the societal norms there was the mere fact that she had put her friend in an awkward position.

Gabby had to figure out how to spin this when Melissa said no. A joke? A strange custom from her made up land? There had to be a way out of this.

“I’d love to,”

What? What was that? Gabby's mouth opened but all that came from it was a strangled squeak as her face slowly became more and more red.

She had said yes? Not only yes but that she'd love to? Did that mean Melissa wasn't merely going along with it but actually wanted to go with her? That didn't seem right. She had to be missing something. But...what if it were true? Had she been misreading things all this time? In that case what should she do about all this?

She hadn't really thought this far ahead.

But she knew she had to shake herself off and focus. She had to respond and not just stare like an idiot. "O-of course you would. Anyone would be overjoyed to go on, er, to join my royal self on such an...an...embarkment!" Was that even a word? It didn't matter she had to go through with it. "Usually I would have my servants work out all the details but I suppose we must do that ourselves this time around. So...um...." She stopped. What was she supposed to do here?

The girl floundered for a while. There were words that were supposed to come out but what words were those? It seemed like something she should know but it just wouldn't come to her.

She was still pointing at Melissa wasn't she?

Lowering her hand and slumping her shoulder Gabriela looked to the side as if she would find the answer written on the ground. And, while there was no such helpful time, the brief moment she wasn't looking at the other girl seemed to bring back some of her previous energy. "Ah, yes, of course. I should give you the honor and duty of planning. It's the least I could do for one so loyal as you."

[radio414 907]

“‘Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’’”
-Luke 14:28-30 (NIV)

---

Melissa was on high alert the moment she said yes. No, it was a red alert. Defcon five- one- whatever. Because that was what “hoping she wouldn’t regret it” meant. She’d hate the decision later, she knew that much about herself -- she could imagine herself asking why she did that over and over as she went to sleep that night -- so she had to do as much as she could to mitigate that. She knew she had to be stubborn about things like this.

Maybe that was why she was so forward at the club meeting too? Well, it made sense, at least. But now wasn’t the time to be analyzing her past actions. The dance was now the end goal. It was the big, immovable problem at the end of a long series of other, smaller problems. What was she going to wear? Could she dance?

The phrase “dance like nobody’s watching” didn’t work because if she ever had danced (a rare occasion already, to be sure), it was definitely while nobody was around. And there would be people watching. That was the whole point. To pretend otherwise would be a lie.

Gabriela, meanwhile, had spent her half of the conversation talking vaguely about making plans herself. It was only in the vaguest of terms, which didn’t help, though Melissa didn’t really feel like she should press the issue. But then Gabriela suggested that Melissa do the planning and all her problems were doubled.

No, not doubled. It was exponential, not multiplicative. But she had to do it. The same stubbornness that kept her from fleeing the moment Gabriela requested they go together kept her from refusing. She wasn’t about to let Gabriela down now.

Her honesty, though, forced her to let her down at least a little bit. “I- yeah, I guess I can plan out Saturday for us,” she said. “But, um, it’s only a couple days away. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to do besides where and when we can meet up. Maybe some color-coordination, too, though I don’t have the best wardrobe for that, I don’t think. Did you want me to just text you this stuff or…? I don’t- what’s the best way to contact you?”

[LordCowCow 840]

Gabby couldn't believe it. Melissa was completely fine with planning things. Had her suggestion really worked so well? And the things that the girl was saying made her feel like maybe, just maybe, Melissa was excited for what they were going to do. Which served to at the same time increase her own excitement but also send her nerves into overtime.

The latter was only enhanced when Melissa asked the best way to contact her. Right. Contact. Phones. That was a normal thing for people to have. Regular, everyday, folk always had phones. She saw them everywhere. But she didn't have one and she wasn't entirely sure how to go about getting one.

Should she tell Melissa to contact her via mail? Maybe she could spin it to sound sophisticated...but she had already take Melissa's phone number earlier without an issue.

So she just smiled at the girl. "Yes, a text would be quite alright. I shall contact you first so that you can be sure you're sending the information to the right source. After all it would be dreadful for some commoner to receive our plans instead."

After the positive response Gabriela started to feel better about the whole situation. It was all going so well! She was really doing this. She wasn't even aware of the big, somewhat goofy, smile that had spread across her face. "Absolutely wonderful!" Gabriela said, clapping her hands together. "That's settled then. I shall see you at another time then." With that said she turned and practically skipped away.

It wasn't until she had reached her room when she realized just how bizarre and, frankly, scary, this was. It was going so fast. She hadn't even had much chance to think about how she felt about....all this.

And it turned out it would be a bit longer before she could.

As she entered the room the first thing she noticed was that her roommate hadn't turned off the lights. The second was the photographs strewn all across the floor, walls, and even the beds. Including her own.

With a sigh Gabby began to pick them up. This wasn't the first time that she had returned to a mess like this and it was almost getting to be a habit for her to pick it up. Of course if her roommate were around she wouldn't have done so. A princess cleaning would just not make much sense. But she was alone here. Meaning she could just relax and do her thing.

The last place she began to clean was her bed. There weren't as many pictures as elsewhere but there was still plenty. One of them caught her eye and she decided to take a look at it.

It depicted a rather dainty looking blonde girl. But that wasn't what was most interesting. There was something behind her. Some kind of shadowy figure. Eyes widening slightly Gabby turned the picture over and saw her roommate's handwriting. "Allison Collidge, Occult Club, Haunted?"

She stared at the picture for a bit longer before putting it with the rest and deciding that she totally did not just see that and it was Completely Fake Nothing To See Here.

Thankfully a distraction came in the form of a note that was underneath all the photos.

"To, Princess Gabriella. Sorry for the mess had to go real quick but thank the 'dark spirits for cleaning up again!"
"PS I noticed you must have lost yours so I got this for you."

And under the note was a cell phone. A cheap one, to be sure, but a phone nonetheless.

Clutching it with a big smile on her face she immediately began to look through it to figure out how it worked. Once she got a basic handle on it she sent a message to the number that Melissa had given her. It took a few times to get the spelling and grammar right but she finally sent it.

"Greetings! I am sending this missive as I had said I would. It would be best if you responded post-haste."

After sending it Gabby flopped back on her bed, staring up at the phone and grinning giddily. Then a thought struck her and she hastily sent out.

"This is gabby"

"Gabriela"

"Not gabby"

"Dont call me gabby"

Worried she came off rude she began to type out "Unless you want to" but then shook her head and erased it. She had to stick to her guns. She was Gabriela. Not Gabby.

And now she had her first phone.

Letting out a small squeal she rolled back and forth. Clutching the phone to her chest.

She had a phone.

She had a friend!

....She had a date?

Whatever happened from this she was certain of one thing. Despite everything she was already much happier here than she had ever been at home.

[Cappuccijoe 17]

Elizabeth looked around with some degree of surprise as the students filed out of the meeting, most of them not so much as even paying note to the binder of cards itself. She remembered the times when she was a newcomer to the team; those cards were like literal gold to her at the time. There was a part of her that had just wanted to poach the binder for its rarity, rather than its actual perceived value to her. She always came back to some degree of morality and simply took what she genuinely thought would be valuable to her deck, but there was always a small devil on her shoulder telling her to take the high rarity synchro and use it for favors. What she meant to derive from this memory was unclear, but nonetheless it was surprising that the newer members either:

a) Had enough confidence in their current cards to leave the binder well enough alone,

b) Were too shy to ask for help and take the cards, or

c) Genuinely had no clue what would and would not be of use to their decks.

Regardless of the final choices made internally, all three of those prospects concerned her; a deck could always be made better, even Hitomu's, which was treated as the holy grail of sorts on campus. Once the meeting had cleared out, she stood from her desk gingerly and exchanged a few vapid bits of small talk with Jun and Hitomu as a thanks for having her out to the meeting, before turning her attention to what she viewed as the more exciting portion of the night: Yushiro. He had agreed to a date with her this evening, and she had every intention of making him follow through with it, sore kneecap and all.

"All ready to head out?" Beth examined Yushiro's stature. He was a bit nervous, you could see it in his shoulders, and the way he was carrying himself. She supposed that wasn't much of a surprise; ignoring the fact that she thought herself to be a bit of a hot mess, the word "hot" had always seemed to follow conversations about Elizabeth, for one reason or another.

"I know we agreed on you choosing this time, but if you hadn't thought of anything I thought perhaps we could get some takeaway and watch a movie or something of the sort. I brought my cards, anyhow, if you wanted to keep it casual."

Yushiro grinned, "Nah, we can save the pizza for the next date. I know exactly where to take you! But uhm... we can't eat there so, wanna grab Tito's first? I've been craving it all day."

A next date, you say? A rare moment of smooth-talking from Yushiro had certainly piqued Elizabeth's interest; after all, it was better than waiting for him to text back for a week.

"Oh! Well alright then, let's be on our way!"

---

It had been some time since they left Tito's, and just about all small talk subjects had been gone over; they surprisingly avoided the duel team, given that they were just there, and had instead talked about some more menial things: How Elizabeth got to know Ashley, what classes they're taking, how the week has gone for the both of them, and the standard fare of awkward small talk that often provokes the dance between two teenagers of "I'm not really sure what to do here so I'll play it casually" and "My hormones that I have no control over are telling me to ravage you at the drop of a hat, and I'm trying to let you know that". This dance, of course, was dropped occasionally by the semi-paranoid nagging of Yushiro, who Elizabeth had assumed he thought her leg to have been shot, rather than taking a simple fall. Sometimes even the cute gestures got a bit stale, but she took them for what they were at face value: concern on some level for her well being, and that's what she would appreciate about the questions. 

“Sorry again for having you walk all this way. Iiiiis your leg doing alright?” Yushiro asked, for what had to have been at least the fourth time since they’d left Tito’s with their food. He’d taken Elizabeth back up through campus and out through a very specific corner of Blue Yonder’s property that, seemingly, just led up into the woods and nowhere else. For the past half an hour or so they’d hiked uphill, intermittently stopping to take another bite of food or for Yushiro, in typical form, to ask if Elizabeth was doing alright. It was more to reassure himself that he was doing this date thing right than it was out of actual genuine concern for her well being-not that he wasn’t concerned- but he knew she was tough and in all likelihood far more athletic than he was. Elizabeth would be just fine.

At last, when Elizabeth might have begun to think that Yushiro had no idea where he was going, the path opened up into a spacious, overgrown lot, dotted with a few dilapidated structures. It was the kind of place one almost never saw in Ambrosia- most old buildings were either renovated on ADMIN’s direction or torn down to make way for new ones. To see what had to be a couple of acres worth of old industrial just sitting out here would mean that this lot had been forgotten by more or less everyone in the dome, up to and including the supercomputer that ran the place. While the largest and most imposing of the buildings was what appeared to be some kind of old pump station, Yushiro ignored it and instead led Elizabeth toward an old water tower- the tallest structure there. It was so tall, in fact, that it could be seen from campus proper if you looked up the hill, though if you didn’t know what you were looking for it would probably just blend in with the trees or anything else obstructing your view. As he made his way toward the large staircase that spiraled up the base of the water tower he turned back toward Elizabeth one more time. 

“I guess it's sorta too late to ask, but you’re not afraid of heights are you?”

[radio414 907]

Melissa didn’t do, well, she didn’t do anything when she arrived home. She was exhausted. She didn’t take her shoes off or turn on a light or anything, she just flopped down on her bed face-first and tried not to think about anything. Which was difficult, given the day she had just had. It was like a leaky dam in one of those old cartoons, where plugging a hole in one area just meant another hole somewhere else opened up, maybe even three or four at once. So she could try, she could contort her metaphorical body this way and that trying to get everywhere, but it was a fool’s errand. She couldn’t help but think.

But that wasn’t exactly a good thing. Melissa’s mind poured over the events of the day, pointing out the little things she should have done better. She shouldn’t have hesitated in accepting Gabriela’s offer. She could have made sure Elizabeth was okay. She could have talked with Hoshiko more at that club meeting. And on and on and on. The absolute flood of “what could have beens” was only interrupted when the dorm light finally flicked on and Hoshiko entered the room.

Even then, she pretended not to notice Hoshiko as she went about the room, yawning rather loudly and, well, doing whatever else she liked to do whenever she got back. It wasn’t like Melissa could see, lying how she was. Though after a few moments she felt a gentle prod on her back and heard the loudest whisper she had ever heard. “Psst,” Hoshiko said. “Are you awake, Melissa?”

“I’m awake,” Melissa said, rolling over onto her back as if that was demonstration enough, though once she managed eye contact with her roommate, she added in an awkward wave and a “Hi, see?”

“Sorry you didn’t get to ask that question, by the way,” Melissa said after another moment. “I don’t- I think I got caught up in, uh, introducing myself and everything that came after that. Was that what you wanted to ask? If I wanted to join the Entertainment Club?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Hoshiko said, giggling a bit. “Honestly I was really proud of you back there. I was sure I was going to have to help you talk, but you went and did it all by yourself!” She laid back down on the bed, rolling over to face Melissa. “Yeah, I was going to ask you if you wanted to join.” She winked. “I think I know what your answer is, though.”

“Proud of me,” Melissa said, repeating Hoshiko’s words back at her. “I guess.” She was about to say, “At least someone is,” but she wasn’t that self-loathing, was she? No, instead, she sat up in her bed, turning to hang her feet over the side, kicked off her shoes, and said, “I don’t know, Hoshiko. I mean, I guess I felt okay in that moment, and yeah, I did okay, but, like, I don’t know how I could deal with that sort of spotlight all the time, if that makes sense. Like, you’re an idol, right? How do you deal with all that?”

“How do I deal with it?” Hoshiko said, turning towards the ceiling. There was an eagerness in her voice. Melissa had gotten used to Hoshiko’s general mood in the short time they’d shared a living space, but this was something more, like she had been waiting for this question for a while. “Well, whenever I’m in the spotlight, I honestly kinda forget it’s there,” she said with a chuckle, turning back towards Melissa. “Whenever I’m performing, most of my attention is on the performance itself. Sure, I know people are watching me, but at the moment that’s not where my whole attention is, ya know?”

“That makes sense,” said Melissa. “But like- sorry, I don’t quite know how to phrase this, um…” She lay back again, only popping up when the words finally came to her. “I guess, I don’t know, I guess I was asking about all the other stuff. Like, when you’re not performing, you’re still Rose the Idol, right? People whispering, pointing fingers like ‘Hey, is that Rose?’ or ‘Do you have anything she could sign?’ or… I admit I’m not super experienced with how people talk about famous people, but stuff like that.

“What I’m worried about is having to be always on like that, or the spotlight’s always on. The performance, I figured other people were involved in the performance and stuff like that. People who could help me get through it. But all the other times…” Melissa rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s the other times I guess I’m worried about the most.”

“Ah, I think I get it now,” Hoshiko said, placing a hand on her chin. “Most of the time, I don’t mind getting the extra attention from people like that. Honestly, it makes me happy to see them get excited like that. But I don’t think me telling you that helps you that much…” Her words faded away, Hoshiko losing herself in her won thought. Not that she didn’t seem eager to answer, of course, though even that enthusiasm, to Melissa’s eye, seemed to be dissipating away.

“Of course, it’s not always like that,” Hoshiko eventually said. “Sometimes I do overhear things that… aren’t so nice about me… or read about it online.” Hoshiko frowned a bit, although it was a short bit as she sat up on the bedside, her eyes drifting down to her shoes before lighting up with a glint of realization. She smiled again as she kicked off her shoes gently. “...so what I do then is focus on the positive!” She pointed her thumb towards herself. “For me personally, I think about whatever event I have coming up or, if nothing like that is happening, I think about the adoration of my fans!”

Hoshiko gestured towards Melissa. “Of course, whatever it is that makes you happy is probably something different, but you get the idea right?”

“Mm,” Melissa said, nodding along. “Sure, I think I get it.” She stood up from her bed and started collecting her various toiletries, trying to start the getting ready for bed process. Once she had them all she turned back to her roommate. “Thanks, Hoshiko,” she said. “For the talk, I mean. I feel a bit better about it now.”

“No worries at all!” Hoshiko said, tossing herself back onto her bed. “You can always come and talk to me about any problems you have! I’m all ears.” Melissa could tell she meant it, too. There as something different about the spring in her step as she got up and headed over to the lightswitch, something Melissa had sometimes noticed herself doing when she’d managed to help someone. She was just about ready to turn off the light when she paused and laughed to herself. “Oh, I need to change!” 

A few minutes later, after both of them had finished their nighttime routines, Hoshiko returned to the lightswitch. “Goodnight, roomie,” she said, flicking the switch off as she did so.

Melissa waited until she heard Hoshiko’s head hit her pillow before echoing the sentiment. “Goodnight, Hoshiko,” she said before she laid back in her own bed and closed her eyes.

---

Have mercy on me, Oh Lord, a sinner.
Wipe away my transgressions,
    and let me be reborn anew in your glory
Help me turn away from sin,
    and move towards your eternal light.

Oh Lord, I thank you for lending me your strength today.
I thank you a thousand times over
    and I would thank you a thousand times again if a day like today never happened again.
But I also fear that may not be possible.
I fear that I know my path,
    one that will have me borrowing your strength for a while now
    until I reach my eternity and can return it to you with joyous celebration
So please, grant me your strength again, Lord.
Grant it to me until I no longer need it.

In the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit,
Amen

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
-Mark 11:24 (NIV)

---

But she didn’t sleep. Not yet. In that darkness, so similar to the one she’d made for herself before Hoshiko had come home, her mind wandered again. There were differences this time, of course. She was lying face-up and under her covers, for one, instead of smothering herself with her pillow. Not to mention the light sound of Hoshiko breathing on the other side of the room, which exuded a comforting atmosphere over the whole area. So instead of fussing over the events of the day, instead her mind went further back. To the previous Sunday, and before that, to her Bible study meetings. And her times spent in a confessional booth. And on and on, all the way back as far as she could remember.

Melissa’s church had a poster. It was supposed to be for the children to read after Sunday School or while playing in the halls waiting for the service to end. But it was placed at a corner turn right before the narthex, where one couldn’t help but pass it while heading in. Melissa herself had seen it countless times, and even in the pitch black, she could still conjure its image in her mind.

It was a simple thing, both in material -- the creases in its paper were likely older than Melissa, and it was tattered all around, especially near the edges -- and in design. The poster depicted a beach scene, the tide going out and dozens of starfish scattered around the foreground shore, continuing off into the horizon. In the distance, the poster had the image of a human of indeterminate gender, posed like they were about to attempt the world’s longest skipping stone throw. Splayed on top of all this was a simple story, and like everything else about the poster, Melissa knew it well.

One day, the poster said, a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy, in quick but practiced and smooth motions, picking up things and throwing them into the ocean.

He got closer and said, “Young man, what are you doing?”

The boy looked at him and said, “I’m throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide’s going out and the sun is up. If they don’t make it back, they’ll die.”

The man laughed and threw his arm back, gesturing to the thousands of starfish he had already passed on his walk. “Look, boy, at all these starfish. This beach stretches for miles and miles. You can’t possibly make a difference.”

The boy was undaunted. As if to reply, he got down, grabbed another starfish, and threw it into the ocean as hard as he could. Then, he looked back at the man and said, “I just made a difference to that starfish!”

The author, according to the poster, was unknown. The author always seemed to be unknown on posters like that, like the designers were always afraid of a little attribution. That part never really bothered her, though, until she was much older.

Loren Eiseley. That was the author’s name. And even then, not really. Melissa had looked that part up, too. Apparently, his story had been twisted, stripped of subtext until only the twee short paragraphs and punchline on the poster remained. The original short story, as far as Melissa could gather, was more interested in what happened after, as in, what happened to the man on the rest of his walk.

Eiseley’s original story did not have that final retort, that punchline the poster seemed to adore so much, nor were the man and the boy the only ones on the beach that day. As the man continued walking along, he saw others scrabbling around, grabbing at whatever clams or crabs or starfish they could find, putting them all in buckets before waddling away from the ocean, buckets in hand. The man, here much more clearly a stand-in for Eiseley, muses that they are likely taking them home to boil and consume, leaving only the seashells behind for their collection.

The man is disgusted by this but does nothing, instead continuing home, and only then does he consider the star-thrower’s actions.

“‘Love not the world,’ the Bible says. ‘But I do love the world,’” Melissa whispered, quoting one of the few lines of the original story she could remember before her mind began to wander elsewhere. 

Melissa’s thoughts rushed back forward in time until they arrived again at the scene at the park bench, the one that started with Sai asking for his notebook back and ending with Melissa making the first of a series of decisions that she was sure she was going to regret. The worst part was she remembered being aware of them at the time, too. The later ones could be explained away by the same “in for a penny in for a pound” mentality that had gotten her closer to Gabriela, or possibly Elizabeth or Jun before that, but that first decision, that was something different.

“If you have issues you wanna talk about, or just want to help people, entertainment dueling is a good way to go about it,” Sai had said. “As you do better and get more fans, you get a wider audience to raise awareness with, you know what I mean?”

That was the moment that had doomed her. Sai had offered a way out from the Community Service Club she’d held in so much contempt, and Melissa had jumped at the chance. “Just for one meeting,” she had said. As if she didn’t know what that would mean. She’d be asked for another, and another after that, and she would say yes because, well, it was just one more, right?

Melissa’s breath began to accelerate. She’d been aware of the lure, of the fishing line attached to the bait dangling right in front of her, and she gobbled it up all the same. She didn’t even have a “cause”, she’d just accepted the idea that she might have one. Did anyone else in that club have “a cause?” Did the already established duelists -- Sai, Souji, and Hoshiko -- have anything they were fighting for, championing above all else? Should she have asked?

She nearly bolted upright in her bed. She nearly got out and went over to the restroom where she was very much prepared to just spend the entire night, or at least however long it took for her to calm down. The only reason she didn’t was, well…

It was stupid. It was so, so stupid, and it shouldn’t have worked, but Melissa managed to start thinking about starfish again.

The poster had a simple moral: “Even the smallest effort matters.” Despite its simplicity and the knowledge of its distance from the original Star Thrower, Melissa still thought it was good and valid. But that didn’t mean Eiseley’s wasn’t better. Eiseley’s message was about the choice, how one piece of good could inspire others to make the same decision the boy- the star-thrower had made.

“I understand,” Melissa whispered into the void, quoting Eiseley once more. “Call me another thrower.”

She could do good. She would do good. And it was that final resolution that relaxed her enough to let her close her eyes, for now, at least, a little more at peace.

Edited July 28, 2019 by radio414

[Zai 26]

 

It wasn’t quite what she was expecting, but romance hardly ever was. Elizabeth blindly followed the boy through forests, hills, and all manners of obstacles; there was a slight panic in the back of Beth’s mind as she realized just how far away from campus she was allowing Yushiro to take him while she was on a bum knee, but she suppressed that often intrusive anxiety and pushed forward. Speaking of the bum knee, it felt like it was about to explode off of her body any second now; the pulsing under her brace was fairly unbearable, but Beth simply pushed on, somewhat pointedly ignoring Yushiro’s offers to take a break and allow her to rest. She was already embarrassed enough that she had fallen in the studio in the first place, she was not going to allow it to stop her from being able to see exactly what it was in this bizarre place that Yushiro had taken her to that he wanted to get to.

“Heights? Not unless you’re planning to shove me off.” she chuckled, “Assuming this thing is… structurally sound, that is. How did you even find this? ADMIN would have surely gotten here by now, no?”

“Yeah it still is. As for why it's still here… I honestly couldn’t tell you. Maybe ADMIN’s sentimental for old water towers or something.” He paused a moment, then continued. “I came up here a lot last year when I was feeling stressed out and needed to get away from campus for awhile. As far as I know I’m the only student who knows about it- I don’t usually see any garbage out here and the stuff I leave up top stays up there, so… yeah.”

It took them a few more minutes to climb to the top. Yushiro stopped every flight of steps or so to make sure she was doing alright and warn her about a rusty step or a spot where she might slip. It almost seemed like he had it memorized. When they finally reached the top, which was a balcony that ran all the way around the circumference of the tower itself, he led her past a maintenance ladder and around to the western side, where there was a blanket, a small beach chair, and a wooden box laid out. There was just enough room for a person or two to lay out flat on the blanket, though at the moment said room was taken up by the other two objects on top of it, clearly to weigh it down in case the wind picked up.

“Good, it’s all still here.” Yushiro turned back around to Elizabeth. “Well, this is it… though we got here a little earlier than I thought and there isn’t much to see yet.”

Elizabeth gingerly stepped into the opening, where Yushiro had his small assortment of things laid out, “Well… certainly beats sitting alone in an apartment. That’s usually what I’m found doing.” she looked around a bit, then forward into the empty area before them, “Oh? Expecting something?” she gestured to the area they were in currently, “This area is rather quaint all by itself...I like it.” she shuffled her feet around a bit, unsure of how welcome she was to make herself comfortable, “But don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I’m a bit surprised you’ve shared something so private with me already.” It wasn’t smooth, or romantic, but it was honest, at least to Elizabeth; had she done something particularly special to deserve his trust?

Elizabeth’s heart quickened a bit, panicked slightly by that thought. Elizabeth was not the most trusting of people; she had yet to decide whether or not she felt comfortable sharing any secrets of value with Yushiro just yet.

He blushed. “N-no it's just... sitting on this old rusty steel’s pretty uncomfortable, so I brought this stuff up here after I moved in.” Yushiro forced his anxiety away for a moment and continued. “But, uhh, thanks. It's not exactly a secret or anything but if more people found out about this place they might just come and tear it down.” He sat himself down on the blanket, leaving the chair open for Elizabeth to sit in if she so desired, and opened up the box. It was empty, save for a small hand telescope- sort of like the kind one would imagine an old timey pirate using to spot ships while up in the rigging. “Besides, it's nice up here, but the really cool part is this.” He offered her the telescope as he spoke. “Because of the angle we’re at up here, if you look through this telescope at the dome wall, you can make out all the holo plates on the sky. They’re kinda like diamonds.”

Beth slowly settled into the chair, being careful to keep her knee in place on the way down, simply nodding and keeping to herself while Yushiro gushed about the place; it was clear to her that it was very important to him, regardless of his insistence that it was just some rusty cage he found once.

“Wow, that really is something… Sometimes it becomes easy to forget where we are. We’ve always known things this way. Imagine ADMIN making something that looked like this, even.” her right eye tracked the sparkling of holo plates against the lighting in the dome. It was bizarre, how she could so clearly make out the artificial nature of her entire life. In a way it was astounding, but another part of her felt as if the hole her heart got just a bit larger; as if it was futile to be feeling anything at all, given the nature of where they were and why they were there.

“How do you feel about it, Yushiro?”

“It makes me feel safe. Like, when I bombed a test or I lost a big game or something, I’d come out here and look at the dome. It's comforting to know that it's not going anywhere, you know?” He turned back to look at Elizabeth. “I guess it makes me feel a little more secure.”

Security. What a topic, especially for someone like Beth, who went from being what she would consider incredibly secure and confident to what she is now, "I suppose that kind of stuff is important. It's never much crossed my mind, personally. Bit wrapped up in other stuff I suppose." Beth squirmed a bit; she wasn't sure what to make of the current conversation. She was feeling rather reserved at the idea of sharing her emotions on a date. Most of the time she did that it ended in some sort of catastrophe, given her tragic nature to overshare. She decided on changing the subject:

"So the Duel Team? What made you go for that? Generally you come in as a freshman." Elizabeth thought to her time as a dueling freshman, briefly, "I noticed you didn't pay much attention to the card binders, either."

Yushiro felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. What was he supposed to tell her?  That he did it on a whim to impress her? Definitely not. “Uhhhh welll….. Honestly I just thought it might be a good way to step up my game some. As for the binders though, It just kinda feels weird to rifle through someone else’s collection. I dunno I just kinda felt awkward about it… and then we got going.” He looked back out at the sky. Just a few more minutes until the light would be right. “I guess it's pretty normal when you’re competing on a team though.”

That stopped her for just a moment. She thought back to their first date at the coffee shop; hadn't he said something about just dueling for fun? Why all of a sudden would he have cared about stepping up his game? As two and two came together, Elizabeth smiled a bit.

"Well, I hope you get to play. Those games… they get pretty tough." She chuckled, "Those captain types always clutch their pearls when you get near championship trophies. And Hitomu, well…" her smile persisted, "Well he was never my captain, I suppose."

She looked out towards the sky, "But I suppose we probably didn't come all this way to talk about the duel team, no?"

“We can talk about whatever you want.” Yushiro smiled at her, his cheeks getting a little rosy. “I think, hopefully, if I win my game at Kickoff, I’ll get a shot at playing in a meet. If I can handle it, anyway. Crowds make me nervous.”

"Me too." she agreed, "At least, now they do. Didn't used to mind it much, but now that I don't fancy myself a competitor any longer I can’t stomach much of a crowd. But…" Elizabeth also blushed a bit, "I always tend to follow the duel team so, you'll have me there to support you, I guess. I could help you practice at my apartment!"

Her apartment. She was inviting him over again? Yushiro’s cheeks went from pink to red. “That sounds fun! I-if you don’t mind my losing a lot. You’re really good, you know.” He glanced back up at the sky again. There it was. “Oh, here. The light’s juuuust right.” Yushiro moved himself very close to Elizabeth, and gingerly, hesitantly, put the telescope back up to her eye so that she would take it. “This is why I wanted to come out here tonight. Follow the horizon out until you’re riiight under the sun, then tilt your head back and look up, past the sun and allllmost to the top of the dome.”

When she did, Elizabeth would see more holo plates, but this time, with the way the sunlight was reflecting off them, they would glitter and sparkle with a brilliant, beautiful red-orange hue. Almost like rubies floating in a sea of amber, hundreds of them covering the sky in a dazzling display that was only visible thanks to the angle, magnification, and elevation.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?”

"Oh come on now, I'm not anything special, I don't even care for my deck mu-" Elizabeth was interrupted by the sudden placement of the telescope into her face again, only this time for a much different display, "I've never seen anything like it, truthfully. I understand why you're so fond of it here." Elizabeth looked over to Yushiro as he took in the lights in the sky; it was like she was getting a deeper look into who he was in real time. He was simple, and trusting. It was nice to her. It hadn't mattered much to him, whatever he knew about her. To Elizabeth, it seemed as if Yushiro was more concerned about sharing this thing he liked with her than any events of the day. She only wondered if he felt the same.

“You might be the only other person who’s ever seen that. To be honest, I was kinda worried you’d be a little underwhelmed or too tired from the hike up here. But, it's really nice to have company this time. I don’t usually get to do stuff like this.”

"Have you ever kissed anyone, Yushiro?" Wait. What? Elizabeth caught herself off guard, even. Why on earth was she asking that on a second date? She even told Ashley she wouldn't! Some habits never die, she supposed. Nevertheless it made Elizabeth's rather pale complexion burn up to more of a pinkish color, embarrassed by her own forwardness.

Yushiro’s heart started racing, and he could feel the heat in his face- he was probably beet red. Of course he’d never kissed anyone. Heck, this was only the second date, like, with a girl and everything, that he’d ever been on. A kiss? Holy crap. Did he even know how to go about it? “N-never.” Internally, he weighed his options. He was nervous. Really nervous. Really, really nervous. But, she was asking him, right? “C-can I, u-h-h-h…….” Jesus he was really going to ask her, wasn’t he. His voice was shaking a bit. “Can I kiss you?” His heart felt like it was going to burst right out of his chest. What if she said no? What if he misinterpreted what she was saying?! What if, what if, what if? He was so caught up in the myriad ways that this could go from awkward, but kind of romantic, to just plain awkward, or embarrassing, or worse. Yushiro was so preoccupied that he almost forgot he’d asked her aloud for a moment.

Elizabeth felt terrible. In that moment, there was one persistent thought alone that stayed in her mind: You're going to ruin this poor boy. If you kiss him and run like you used to, it'll ruin him. She saw him begin to get rather nervous, intimidated, even. But as he went through his stage of fear, she knew an answer would have to come eventually. Best to be polite and not lead him on with a question she asked.

"Of course you can." She was blushing, despite her internal hesitation. Beth leaned forward, brushing her bangs to the side as she became increasingly close to Yushiro's profile. She pursed her lips and closed her eyes slowly; the rest was up to him, and she considered her actions for one last moment, allowed herself to enjoy whatever came next.

Yushiro closed his eyes, and slowly leaned in until he felt her lips on his. It only lasted a few moments, but during those few seconds all of his nervousness seemed to evaporate. It wasn’t what he expected, not that he really knew what to expect, but as he pulled back and looked into her eyes, he felt at once at ease and thrilled. 

They had both lazily reached for each other's lips after they disconnected; Elizabeth found herself surprised: Yushiro's lips were soft, and she had noticed his details a little more clearly after the fact…

Beth shot up, stopping herself abruptly, "But, uhm… Yushiro. You should know, before we uhm… before we muck about." She shifted uncomfortably, fixing her bangs and a variety of other common anxious tics she had adopted after her brother's death, "Things have been, I suppose, easy to this point but… I'm far from easy. I won't be so forgiving if you leave me hanging for a week again, right?"

What was she doing? Intimidating him? She looked at him, switching her strategy, "But if you wanted to see me between classes...I have privilege between courses on Wednesday, and I think there's a dance this weekend."

Yushiro’s face stayed red, though this time it was more from embarrassment. “I’m sorry about that… As lame as it sounds, I kinda got in my head that you uhh, maybe wouldn’t be interested in me.” He covered his eyes with his hand for a moment- Yushiro didn’t want to make eye contact with her while he was saying it. “I dunno, I’ve never been good at this sort of thing, clearly.” He shook his head, obviously to break the string of negative thoughts. “Look, Liz, I like you, and not just because you’re pretty. Most people just sorta… write me off. But, ever since we started talking, its always felt like you’re actually listening; like you care, even if its just me gushing about cards. And I dunno if its just because I’m different from guys you usually hang out with or you think I'm cute or I’m a distraction or what, but, I wanna keep doing this… whatever this is.”

He looked away again, taking in the sunset for a moment. It was weird, opening up to someone like this. Even Akira didn’t normally hear Yushiro voice his insecurities like he just did. Part of him was worried that he would scare Elizabeth away, but he continued. “So, I promise I won’t leave you hanging anymore. We can see each other whenever you want.”

Elizabeth stopped, if only for a moment: he was venting to her? She couldn't help but snicker out loud, as rude as it probably sounded. He was in for so much more than he thought, but it just reinforced how she had felt about him: he was simple, and for once, she could just focus on what she had with Yushiro, instead of what she had lost… at least until Sunday. But there was a problem: to her, this sounded like him asking her to commit. She had to be honest.

"Well, I'm certainly intrigued by your dueling style if nothing else. I might have looked up your SRS after that spat with Hiraku." She looked out to the sky, trying not to embarrass the boy, "But I'm not in a rush to stop...this." she grew tired of the pussyfooting of sorts that usually came about at this time, but did her best to be sensitive.

They stared out into the sky for a few moments, mutually silent at the sheer awkwardness of the moment itself. Elizabeth slipped her phone out of her pocket next to her thigh, stealthily texting Ashley a text that simply read:

'foul' A code which they had developed some time ago to indicate that they had initiated the kissing before the man. It was, admittedly, something Elizabeth had received far more often from Ashley, but she was positive her best friend would know the meaning behind the one-word text.

Naturally, only a moment later Elizabeth's phone was vibrating to the point of liftoff, causing her to simply silence it and place it aside. Strangely, Ashley's concern emboldened the typically private girl through the silence:

"If you're willing though… I would hate to waste the moment on awkward small talk." She slipped off of the chair and at his side, seeking to continue the exercise.

“Me too.” And they did, until roughly the point of dusk, wherein the dormitory attendants would begin to inquire about both of their whereabouts, and they had decided to make their way back.

---

ED

---

OP

Episode 5: Kickoff

 

 

Crunch time.

Kickoff was today, and Yushiro had spent the whole morning tearing his deck apart, optimizing as much as possible. At last, it was ready; fine tuned to make the summoning of his new secret weapon as easy as possible. Yushiro just hoped Clear Wing Synchro Dragon would be enough to give him an edge against Hiraku's army of powerful monsters. He took a moment to look over the card one more time, holding it in his hand next to his scratched Nitro Booster.

"Why are you so nervous?"

Yushiro didn't quite have an answer to that question. He was definitely as ready for this game as he was going to be, and truthfully he felt prepared for it, but he couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that had been lingering with him since the other night. Maybe what had happened at the water tower with Elizabeth was still bugging him. He'd told her how he felt, at least as well as Yushiro could articulate at the time, but when he had, it was almost like Liz pulled back a bit. He was worried that he'd come on a little too strong, somehow. It wasn't like he'd asked her to be his girlfriend or anything- Yushiro knew better than to expect to jump headfirst into a committed relationship, but he definitely got the impression that, rather than encourage her, he'd made her worry about something, and he didn't like the implications of that. Yushiro sighed. It was about time he got someone else's perspective.

To: THE MAN

Hey dude, sorry I've been so busy lately, but can we hang out for a bit today? There's some stuff I wanna talk to you about before the duel. Kinda important.

He hit send, hoping that Akira would be open to seeing him. He wasn't worried so much that Akira would be mad at him, after all the guy never held anything against anybody for long, but moreso that his best friend would be busy with something else today. He was gregarious and never had much trouble finding someone to spend time with or something to do. Or, worst case, Katsu had dragged him off somewhere. For once at least, Yushiro didn't feel that slight pang of jealousy at the thought.  He flipped through his contacts and went to the next order of business.

To: Liz

Morning! Hope your knee's in good shape for later. Still planning on being there to cheer me on later? Was thinking maybe after its over we could han

No, no. She would probably want her space later. Best leave it for a little while. Besides, if he was lucky, he'd get a chance to dance with her after his duel. Yushiro wondered what she'd be wearing...

To: Liz

Hey, hope your knee's all better. Still planning on coming to watch me play?"

He hit send. It was a better draft: short and simple, with no room for for her to get offended or misinterpret something. Yushiro sat there in silence for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Why am I always so darn scared?!"

---

 

As for the rest of Blue Yonder Academy, campus was notably empty and quiet, even for a saturday. Most students were busy resting or getting ready for the night's festivities. Some of the more romantically inclined were already with their dates, while others were taking the opportunity to catch up on some rest or schoolwork. Whatever they were up to, very few of them seemed to be out meandering on campus. It would be noon soon, and the air was crisp, but warm- one of the last genuinely beautiful days they were likely to have before the fall season really hit its stride. 

Seven hours to go.

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Zai

[yui 576]

Kickoff. The important school event that started every school year. Kicked it off, as it were. Kyouko generally made a point to avoid the event. Too many people. She'd been convinced to show up last year when somebody had worked up the courage to ask her to the dance, and while that hadn't ended catastrophically, it was certainly a far from ideal conclusion. Kyouko wasn't much of an artist, but all the same, she'd spent much of the time since the club meeting doing up various doodles then promptly throwing all of them into the trash as crumpled-up little balls of bad ideas. Today, from the comfort of her dorm's bed. It was nice to have a quiet day in sometimes.

"Who's dueling at the kickoff this year, anyway?"

If, out of the two girls in the room today, anyone knew the answer to that question, it was Jun. Kyouko didn't care much about that sort of thing, and even if she did, she likely wouldn't remember who it was anyway. "Not you or you would've said something. Not the captain or you probably would have said something. Didn't hear any mention of it at the club either, so it's none of them."

Another crumpled ball of paper was tossed through the air, landing in the trash where it belonged.

"For that matter, why's the event such a big deal? I never got it." Maybe something with horns. No, fins. No, fins were stupid and clashed with her deck's aesthetic. Was that sort of thing important? She didn't get this costume stuff, but it certainly beat standing in front of a whole crowd of people where they all knew exactly who she was.

[Chaos Sonic 443]



Souji found himself atop of the roof of the school yet again, however this time he was leaning over the railings, not laying near the door like the last time. He really didn't need another bump on the head this time around. Watching the clouds overhead just casually flying over, a sigh began to escape his lips. After a few moments, he began to move and head back downstairs. Souji wasn't 100% there, he was lost in his thoughts, contemplating something.

Things were going well for the most part. He won the Exhibition match against Hoshiko at the beginning of this school year, he finally got an Entertainment Duel Club going, and the members were almost coming out of the woodwork! Himself, Sai, Hoshiko, Kyouko, Akari, and Melissa...a total of six and this surprised even himself! Still, what was it that he was contemplating?

"Now, you hear everything Souji said? Totally disregard it. He's a competitive player disguised as an entertainment duelist."

This sentence that Sai said in talking to Akari...it almost completely caught him off-guard. His arms began to cross as he made his descent down the stairs. ...I gave a suggestion...plus, he knows my hatred for Rainbow Dragon... he thought, as he heard sentence playing in his head again.

"He's a competitive player disguised as an entertainment duelist."

That wasn't true in the slightest...was it? Tch...course not! I'm an Entertainment Duelist through and through! Souji silenced that thought, but truthfully, that thing had him wondering. Was Sai right...? Had he actually been lying to himself about how he is? With a shake of his head, he exited the building, trying to see if he could at least clear his head with anything.

Edited July 26, 2019 by Chaos Sonic

[radio414 907]

Saturday, September 23, 909 PD
Feast of Saint Padre Pio

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
-Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

---

From: Melissa
To: Gabriela

Hi Gabriela
I guess the first thing we need to do is coordinate what we’re wearing?
Were you planning on wearing your royal dress or did you have something else in mind?

Melissa had taken her assignment seriously. Well, that implied she didn’t take all her assignments seriously, but this one she took especially so, almost to the detriment of her schoolwork. During class, she’d try and follow along taking notes, but she’d always end up taking out a second sheet of paper which she’d fill with, well, with everything she thought might be important. What to wear, what to bring, what to say, what time they should meet, how long they’d be out… If she thought of it, it got written down. When she studied, she would sit down with some snacks and go over both her homework and her outlines simultaneously. She’d solve a math problem on the right before going over a dance problem on the left. Then she’d take a potato chip, eat it, and start the process all over again. “Figure out x and y” and “Figure out what happens if, say, student council president Ashley Rendleman deigns to even look in your direction” were equivalent problems in her mind.

From: Gabriela
To: Melissa

Of course! My clothes are far more elegant than anything else I could find.

Occasionally, Melissa would spot Gabriela going around campus, but she tried to keep the communication at a phones-only level where it was more manageable. Text messages really were Melissa’s domain. Her biggest barrier to talking with other people, especially new people, was how long it could take her to form something worth saying. When there was a social time limit, she ended up stumbling through sentences, never really arriving at any sort of point. But on her phone, the time limit was longer, and she could write and rewrite messages until she was satisfied.

From: Melissa
To: Gabriela

Okay. I’m pretty sure I remember what that looks like.
I was thinking we’d meet up at your dorm, say, forty-five minutes to an hour beforehand, get dinner, and then head over to the dance. How does that sound?

Oh, if only she could sound as confident as she did once the words had been punched into her phone and launched into the aether. It was already the day of, Melissa still had so much to do, and all she was doing instead was hiding in her room going through old text messages for the tenth or eleventh time. The items on her agenda weren’t difficult, per se -- she had to what, go to the florists for the corsages, do the actual “getting ready” of makeup and changing into her dress? Nothing else, right? -- she just had to go and do them.

From: Gabriela
To: Melissa

Dinner? Yes of course. That would be acceptable.

Alright, that was enough of that, Melissa decided. She took a few deep breaths, as if that would help her in some way get through the day, and lurched herself out of bed.

---

One could either walk or take a bus to the floral shop. The bus was air-conditioned, a luxury in the late days of summer, but she had so, so much time to kill before the dance, taking the long way was probably for the best. Melissa had also heard through the grapevine that this was going to be one of the last “good Saturdays, so get outside while you still can,” and it was for those reasons that she set out on foot.

The “grapevine” had been the community service group chat, freshly unmuted after Connor had texted her asking her opinion on some incident that had happened the day before. As far as Melissa could tell, the joking insults had escalated into some more… violent language and Connor had asked the more senior members of the club what they thought he should do. It was something Melissa was split on. She didn’t like the language anyone had used, but she also thought, well, if anyone involved was going to improve themselves, wouldn’t it be by serving their community? As much as she’d become disillusioned with the club since the start of her second year, she did still have fond memories of her first one. And those had to be worth something, right?

Connor had asked “last year’s group” as he called it to help keep a closer eye on things, and Melissa had obliged him. So every so often her phone would buzz and she’d read a message like:

Did u guys know that if you screamed for 8 years 7 months 6 days youd have screamed enough to make one cup of coffee

and she would sigh and put her phone back in her pocket. But she was trying, and Connor was trying, and that was, well, that was as much as anybody could hope for, wasn’t it?

---

Melissa reached the floral shop a bit sweatier than she had intended but she had been planning on showering at some point before the dance so she didn’t mind too much. It was a quaint little place, not much bigger than many of Melissa’s classrooms with a little back room Melissa assumed was where all the managerial stuff was kept. It had muzak speakers playing something Melissa didn’t recognize, a distorted yet oddly calming song with the words “It’s your move” repeating over and over. Was that the title?

It didn’t matter, in any case. What did matter was the left wall, half-stocked with preprepared corsages and boutonnières and a big sign above it all that said: “Have A Great Kickoff Festival, Blue Yonder!”

But even only partially stocked, there were still so many options! Melissa had indeed remembered what Gabriela’s royal outfit looked like, and she knew what her own dress was going to look like, but she wanted everything to be perfect. For Gabriela’s sake, at the very least.

And yet, even in such a small store, even only partially stocked, even ignoring all the items that looked like they were for lapels rather than wrists, there were enough differences, enough options, that Melissa just… She just froze. She couldn’t fathom it all, and that drive for perfection only made things worse.

She wasn’t shaking, quivering, whatever (at least, she hoped she wasn’t!) but it was all she could do to stand there and try -- just try -- and find the right corsages for her and her date. But if this was just what buying flowers was like, Melissa was definitely not looking forward to the night ahead.

Edited August 15, 2019 by radio414

[LordCowCow 840]

"Good day, my lovely sheep, you are looking...No, that's too much, I could never say that. Plus she'd think I'm a creep." Gabby was standing in front of a mirror in her dorm, running her hand nervously through her hair, going over various greetings to say when she met up with Melissa.

So far everything she had come up with sounded just wrong. It didn't help that she didn't know for sure what Melissa thought about this. Was it a couple friends going to hang out? But then why did she ask about a dinner the other day? It made it sound more like a date than a just friends thing. Not that Gabby had any frame of reference. Was she overthinking it? Should she try to be casual?

"Hey, nice dress, let's go eat....No, that makes it sound like I don't care at all!"

Her own mentioning of the dress reminded her of the text she got from Melissa a couple days ago which had sent Gabby reeling for the whole day. Of course she would be wearing the same thing. It was all she owned besides the school uniform. Yet even as she spun it as though it was some grand outfit, she realized eventually people would start to question why she didn't wear anything else. She washed it every day to make sure it was clean, making up a tale about having many of the same outfit to cover it up, but she knew soon the material would start to fray, the colors fade, and before the end of the school year it would be clear just how cheap the outfit was.

She had only barely calmed herself down by the next day when the dinner thing hit her as a surprise attack. What started out as joy morphed into confusion and uncertainty.

Which eventually led her to here. In front of the mirror. Trying to figure out how to word.

It wasn't going so well.

"Okay. Forget that for now." She muttered. What else was there? She only had the one outfit, she was over that already, which left her hair. If she remembered right usually people did something different with their hair for these things. But Gabby wasn't very good at styling. The usual way she kept her hair up was about the farthest she could go.

So for this she decided she'd just leave her hair down. Which was why she was currently running a brush through it over and over again in a somewhat manic attempt to make sure everything was perfectly in place.

The more she stared at herself in the mirror the dumber she felt. "I can't believe I've been wearing this stupid thing all this time." She said. "Look at it. It's so obviously cheap. Ugh!"

Tearing herself from the mirror she started to pace around the room. As usual her roommate was gone. Today was evidently a busy day for her. So many potentially interesting stories with all the dating and break ups and re-connections and so on.

Gabby pulled out her phone, still unused to checking it, and noticed half an hour ago she had gotten a message from her roommate.

"If you kiss make sure that the lighting is good!"

The idea of the act itself pushed itself forefront to her mind over the somewhat ominous implications of her roommate's message.

Would a kiss happen? They were both girls and she still wasn't sure if this was actually a date or not. Melissa seemed so comfortable with the idea of two girls going to a dance together though. Did that mean that she would be expecting that to happen too? Was it only Gabby who thought it strange?

No, she had seen it before, the stigma of it. So maybe Melissa just didn't think of it as a date.

Was the thought a relief for Gabby? Disappointment? She couldn't quite make sense of how she felt. With a blush she realized that the idea of her first kiss had momentarily given her a thrill.

It's not like she had ever thought about dating, or kissing, anyone of either gender before. So perhaps it could be that. It didn't mean anything particularly right? Right. Of course it would be a nervous, exciting, warm, thought. That was only natural......or was it?

Gabby let out a groan of frustration and tossed herself on the bed, making the time spent brushing her hair pointless, and looked for comfort in holding her pillow tight against her body.

And this was only the first couple hours of the day.

She had no idea how she was going to last.

[Skaia 578]

With Kickoff just about underway, Jun found herself in her room, looking at herself in the mirror. Adjusting her hat to make it sure it was on right, the girl gave a once over of her reflection. Her skirt was adjusted and on properly. Sneakers, on as well. One black jacket that seemed to have sleeves that stretched past her hands, multi purpose in both fashion and function in keeping her hands warm, also check. And of course, the hat that the girl was seldom seen without. Looking at each article of clothing, Jun nodded to herself as she figured that she was indeed in perfect dress form for the dance that was to occur tonight. However, were one to look at her, they would likely think that she was just wearing the  same outfit she usually wore around campus. And they would be correct to assume so. 

Jun never was the type to bother with getting more formal and fashionable clothing, nor did she particularly like wearing it to begin with. Aside from that, she thought she was plenty fashionable as it was. Of course, because the rest of the world was not always of the same opinion, Jun had to make sure that she modified her wardrobe. It was only one addition, and a minor one at that, but with it she would be able to seamlessly blend into the world of formal wear. This addition was, of course, a single bow tie she put on. Murmuring a small, "perfect," Jun knew that she was ready for the rest of the day's events. 

As she had been preparing, her roommate seemed to wonder aloud about the event that was going on today, to which Jun turned around to face her. A sly smile on her face, as her roommate ruled out who wasn't in the show match duel for today, Jun said, "astute observation skills as always, Detective Koko." Giggling to herself at this, the girl then said, "well, it might not be me, but it is people from the duel team. More specifically," with pride the girl spoke saying, "my protege, Shiro." With less enthusiasm she then said, "and he's just against Hiku. A clash of this year's rookie versus a senior member of the duel team, and one where if Shiro wins then Hiku will have no choice but to admit how much better I am than him!" Laughing to herself at this, Jun thought about how sweet the victory would be. She didn't particularly care about being better than Hiraku from a competitive sense, but the idea of being able to torment him specifically about it was always something she found amusing. 

Moving on to the next question she said, "and well...I don't really know. I guess the student council just wants us to have fun and show what they can do with their budget or something. And what awesome duel isn't always fun to watch right?" Though she said that, and her previous comment, she was still skeptical about the whole thing. Being objective about it, from what little she had seen Yushiro would be at a clear skill disadvantage against Hiraku, so she had her doubts on how close the match would actually be. 

While she was trying to think on this, she looked over to see that Kyouko had once again tossed away something. Jun didn't think they had any tests on coming up so soon, nor intense homework that would frustrate her roommate this much. And she had been working on it for a few days at that. So, walking over, she looked at the paper on her roommate's desk, curiously asking, "but enough of that Kickoff stuff. Whatcha working on Koko?"

[yui 576]

As Jun went on to explain who was dueling at this year's kickoff, one thought crossed Kyouko's mind in particular. I have no idea who those people are.

"A clash of this year's rookie versus a senior member of the duel team, and one where if Shiro wins then Hiku will have no choice but to admit how much better I am than him!"

And you're starting to not make perfect sense either. That wasn't how that worked, right? If Jun's protege was the winner, that meant he was the better duelist, not Jun herself. Unless it was purely because of her tutoring or something? It was a weird angle, but she could kind of get where Jun was coming from, assuming it wasn't some sort of joke. Another crumpled ball of paper was tossed through the air and into the trash where it belonged, as  Jun went on to explain why kickoff was such an important event in the first place.

"But enough of that Kickoff stuff. Whatcha working on Koko?"

"Costume," Kyouko plainly started. This one barely even got more than a couple stray lines in before joining its fellow failed designs in the trash. "I went to the Entertainment Duel Club the other day like I was supposed to, and a lot of what we talked about there was about personas and costumes. I'm trying to figure that out." It had to be something that covered her face, at the very least. That was where she was getting all the different failed ideas from. Some knight armors, a firefighter at one point, some assorted extra designs based on the monsters in her deck. "I don't like crowds, so I want to come up with something that looks good but keeps my face covered. I don't think I'd be able to handle the popularity if I somehow turned out to be good at this entertainment thing."

There was that one girl in the club, come to think of it. Not the tiny one or Kyouko's not-quite-lookalike; the other one. She had a reputation before coming to Blue Yonder, and now was here as one of the club members. How did she deal with the pressure of fans and popularity and all that? Spread out around the desk were various cards from her deck; the ones she used most. These cards - especially Phoenix Gearfried - just looked too... heroic. That was why she kept tossing out the knight idea. With all the pieces sitting in front of her like that, maybe... her approach was wrong?

Kyouko opened up the little red box with her cards in it, and dug into her extra deck, looking for one card specifically. It had helped her win a duel just the other day. Black Brutdrago. Maybe that was it. Something less like the rest of her cards, and more like this? Yeah. Maybe.

She started over again. "Nice bowtie, by the way," Kyouko smiled. "Looks real fancy. Goes with your hat pretty well." Not that Kyouko knew the first thing about fashion. Frilly costumes and caring about what color matched with this or that specific shade of blue was too much for her.

[Skaia 578]

Pouting as the girl mentioned the Entertainment Club, Jun said, “well, if you wanted to join a dueling club you could’ve joined my team instead of Souji’s dumb club.” Crossing her arms, the girl looked away, mumbling a bit before saying, “well, I guess Sai and Rose are alright. And if it’s what you want to do.” Pausing a moment, the girl began to ponder the situation. Thinking more on it, she eventually nodded to herself. Looking brightly back at Kyouko, clenching her sleeve covered fist, the girl said, “normally I wouldn’t help someone like this, especially if it helped my arch nemesis. But, well, as your friend and roommate Koko, I’ll help you figure this out!” Looking at the trash can she said, “so, what have you got so far?” 

“Not much. There’s a bunch of scrap paper in there for a reason, after all. I’m trying a different angle this time though.” Kyouko held up the synchro monster, continuing “Rather than looking at the monsters in my main deck, I should try something more like this, I figured. Still not sure what kind of overall look to go for though.”

Putting a hand to her chin, the girl looked at the monster she was holding up, pondering on it. “Not much to go on. But…” The girl briefly chortled at the thought of Kyouko in a dragon costume with a cutout for her face in it. Refocusing on it, the girl looked back to her roommate saying, “well, what does everyone else have so far?” 

“There’s a wizard, a masked hero running the club, that popular idol duelist who you went to go see at the start of the school year, and a couple other new members. I thought about a knight the more I looked at my deck, but I don’t think I could stand up there on a stage acting all noble and honorable.” The inability to imagine that certainly wasn’t for lack of trying though. While she could certainly picture herself stopping a villain, it was absolutely not something she’d do in the name of justice or honor. “So I’m done doodling up stupid white knight ideas. I want to try something a bit less noble this time.”

Scratching her chin, the girl snapped her fingers. Going to fiddle around with Kyouko’s deck, the girl pulled out her Phoenix Gearfried card. Grabbing her synchro monster, she then overlapped the two saying, “well, why not just try the opposite?”

“...” Kyouko looked at the two cards together. Phoenix Gearfried… Black Brutdrago… do the opposite of the first one. “Sorry, I don’t really get where you’re going here.”

Sighing and shaking her head, she said, “instead of going for a white knight, why not a black knight? Rose and Souji definitely have the hero quota filled for your group, so why not try playing at a villain?”

Play a villain, huh? That was something that hadn’t really crossed her mind. As much as she didn’t like the idea of being the bad guy, it was certainly easier than being some chivalrous type. Yeah. That could work. And it was all just for show anyway, right? Some sort of dark knight character inspired by those two cards. Kyouko - as with her previous designs - started at the most important part. The helmet. She wanted something that could cover her face, of course, but making “a villain’s helmet” felt a lot easier than when she was trying everything else. And it showed in how she actually managed to finish the helmet in relatively little time. “You might be onto something here, Jun. Thanks for the assist.”

Smiling with great satisfaction she said, "of course I am. Nothing can stop me when I think about it!" Smiling more as she made this boast, it then turned into a more crafty one as she said, "buuuut, if you really wanted to thank me." Tugging on and adjusting her bowtie, the girl smiled saying, "why don't you and your club come with me to Kickoff!" 

[Cappuccijoe 17]

Elizabeth had barely cracked one eye open; it was still covered in makeup from the party Ashley had invited her to, so it felt even heavier than it would have normally. Parties were emotionally exhausting to her in the first place these days, but as her vision came into focus, she had begun to notice the time. The hairs on her body rose straight in the air as she shot out of bed, realizing exactly what time it was.

"No, no, no, no, no!! I'm supposed to meet Ashley at the florist in thirty minutes!!" she looked around her room; she was positive the only way she would make it there on time for their appointment would be to run, and on her knee... she shook her head and hurriedly began taking clothes out of her dresser. It no longer mattered what would happen to her or her knee. It was the third time in this week alone that she would have been late or blown off Ashley entirely. Normally, Elizabeth would selfishly proclaim it was due to her "mourning", or "not feeling well", but she knew the truth this time: she was becoming a busier person, and Beth was doing an awful job of making time for the person who had dropped everything at the drop of a hat for her over the past year and a half. She could not afford to let that happen again; truthfully, she had already begun to feel the strain of her impertinence on their relationship this year.

As she began practically jumping into clothing she could quickly change in and out of so she could get into a dress quickly for the florist, Elizabeth picked up her phone: there were two messages. It was less than she had expected the day her and Ashley had plans, but she would at least wait until she read the contents of the messages before worrying. To her surprise, it was actually one message from Ashley, and one from Yushiro, confirming that she would show up later for his match. The vengeful part of Elizabeth's brain considered mentioning the fact the he was suspiciously absent from her big match against Hitomu, but she felt it was not the best course of action to take with the awkward guy she had just spent a decent amount of time snogging a few nights ago. She chose to ignore his message for the time being, instead panning to Ashley's message which simply read:

"Hope you remembered the Florist's today."

Elizabeth's heart sank; she knew this was Ashley's way of getting back at her when she was feeling slighted or ignored, which, in Ashley's defense, was partially the truth. Elizabeth knew that if she had started spilling every detail to Ashley that it would become the truth, and that she would be putting her life back on track. In some ways, the idea that there is a life after the person she had been for the last year and a half, no, the last seventeen and a half years, scared her as much as the fact of being without her brother in the first place. Once Elizabeth was fully clothed and she grabbed her dress bag, she got on the phone with Ashley, quickly rushing out the door, and quickly trying to smooth over the mess she had created, no matter how futile she felt the activity might be.

The phone didn't ring for long.

"Hi Beth, is this you telling me you're gonna be late again? Don't worry, I got here early anyway so I'll just pick yours out with the extra ti-" Elizabeth quickly cut her off, for fear of being dug into too much further,

"No, Ash, I'm not going to be late. At least, I'm not going to try to be. I'm on my way now. But, about the thing with Yushiro-" It was now Ashley's turn to cut Beth off, not entertaining the casual mention that she might ACTUALLY be late. AGAIN.

"Can we maybe talk about that when you and I are in the same room? Like, when you're actually on time for this thing you and I have been talking about all week because this homecoming dance is actually for us and we're both 'really excited' to go this year?" Ashley threw up finger quotes in the middle of the flower shop, clearly becoming angrier now.

Beth was caught off-guard; Ashley was taking a tone with her that she wasn't entirely comfortable or familiar with, "Wait, Ashley, of course I'm excited to go, that's why I'm running over as fast as I can. I'm going to be there on time."

Ashley sighed, now pardoning herself from the group of people in the flower shop she was previously talking to, "I just wish I was the plans you were blowing people off to go see for once, if I can be honest Beth. I heard Hitomu asked you to help coach the duel team in some capacity... Couldn't help but notice you never invited me to grab lunch with you two then either."

A weight of sorts had now begun to form itself at the bottom of Beth's throat, on the top of her lungs. It wasn't until Ashley had started saying all these things that she had really thought about whether or not Ashley was keeping receipts on all the ways things were changing between the two of them. Of course, once she had actually dedicated some thought to it, the answer was obvious: of course she was keeping receipts. It was practically what Ashley did for a living in her academy career.

"I... Wish I had a good explanation for you Ash, I really do. Things have been moving really quickly for me lately, and I know that's not an excuse but, I'm just not really sure how to handle it. I should have told you first. It's the least I owe you." Beth's pace picked up just a bit quicker than she could comfortably speed-walk now; the urgency rose with every word of their phone call.

"What I really need is for my friend to show up for our appointment on time. Can we start there? I'll stop looking at stuff for us until you get here. There's other people I could help in the mean time."

Elizabeth quickly doubled down, "I'll be there in fourteen minutes. Not a moment later." Beth hung up her phone, now pushing herself to her absolute limit without breaking into a full on run or sprint down the campus walkway to the florist.

Ashley groaned, slipping her phone back into her purse. A few concerned inquiries were quickly waved off with her sunny disposition and superior acting skills, and Ashley was quickly back to work. Ashley was always quickly back to work; a moment wasted on self-pity is an opportunity to network with the student body and strengthen her connections.

Speaking of such opportunities, as if an angel herself had just walked through the door, a small, black-haired girl had walked through the florist door, and she was practically perspiring with anxiety in the storefront. Ashley quickly tapped over to the unfamiliar face, although as she was approaching, the face did gain some familiar qualities; the complexion and description matched that of the girl Elizabeth had described from the coffee shop, and Ashley was positive she had seen her face at a club fair or two. Yes, Ashley was now positive it was the girl from the community service organization that went by the name of Melissa. She quickly introduced herself.

"Hi there! I don't mean to be nosy or intrusive, but I feel like I've seen you around before and I've never introduced myself! My name's Ashley Rendleman. I'm your student council president! Are you looking for flowers for tonight too?? I was just looking around at some of the beautiful arrangements they have back there; I don't even know where to start with all of it!" Ashley matched her cheery introduction and immediate offer to help with a brightly lit smile and bend of the knee, like a curtsy given up on well too soon. Today she was simply in a pair of leggings and a rather suggestively cut top, so that she would be able to get into her dress quickly and keep the floral matching process moving along quickly, but her signature radiant blonde hair was flowing freely down her shoulder blades, gentle waves tickling their way down her shoulders and neck, and framing her figure.

She extended a hand, hoping Melissa would choose to continue the conversation on her own, and if not, Ashley had a whole slew of other questions ready to get her talking; it was just in her nature to be that way.

Edited August 14, 2019 by Cappuccijoe

[radio414 907]

Melissa had slowly managed to calm down after those first few moments of overwhelming analysis paralysis with regards to the flowers set in front of her. After all, she had plenty of time. There were so, so many hours left until she needed to even start getting ready, let alone actually meet up with Gabriela at all. So if she had to, she would just stand there looking at flowers, making sure everything was just so, and if anyone did come up and ask if she needed help, well, maybe that would be difficult, but she could rationalize it as practice for the evening festivities.

“Hi there! I don't mean to be nosy or intrusive, but I feel like I've seen you around before and I've never introduced myself! My name's Ashley Rendleman. I'm your student council president!”

Somewhere, Melissa imagined, a monkey’s paw was curling one of its fingers.

---

“Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver them.’”
-Psalm 3:1-2

---

Of all the people at Blue Yonder Academy, nay, of all the people in all of Ambrosia, Student Council President Ashley Rendleman near the top of Melissa’s list of people to avoid. Only bad things could come from being noticed by her. It wasn’t like she thought Ashley was a bad person, though! It was just, well, maybe it was because of that.

Who organized events to -- as far as Melissa could tell -- literal perfection? Ashley Rendleman. Who knew everybody on campus’ name, with the associated connections that came with that perk? Ashley Rendleman. Melissa had heard through the grapevine that Ashley had even set up not only Elizabeth’s duel against Hitomu but also the main event of Kickoff that night on pure whims. Because she could.

“I feel like I’ve seen you around before and I’ve never introduced myself!” Ashley had said. That was by design on Melissa’s part. As far as Melissa could tell, knowing Ashley Rendleman meant the possibility of being involved in any old event she wanted without even the slimmest chance to decline. But if she was just a face in the crowd, well, that wouldn’t happen.

“Are you looking for flowers for tonight too? I was just looking around at some of the beautiful arrangements they have back there; I don't even know where to start with all of it!” Ashley said.

Apparently, she hadn’t been anonymous enough, though, if Ashley was able to just approach her, half-curtsy(!) and stick her hand out like getting to know someone new was just second-nature to her. Really, there was no “like” about it. It definitely was second nature to Ashley in a way that it couldn’t, and wouldn’t be for Melissa. That was just how it was.

Ashley’s hand stayed unshaken for a probably-uncomfortable amount of time (not that Melissa had the best intuition for that sort of thing), but Melissa did eventually reach out and accept the handshake. That was the trap, after all. She could have run or screamed or even done nothing; she could have just stared at Ashley’s hand until one of them left. But she did the normal thing. The expected thing. And the constricting web of social niceties became a little bit tighter.

“My name is Melissa Ashforth. It’s nice to meet you, Ashley.” Melissa said. It wasn’t like she could stop there, though. She’d accepted Ashley’s offer of conversation, and Ashley had asked her a question. “Uh, yeah, I was looking for a couple of corsages- you know, um, the flower bracelets? I know the outfits we’re going to be wearing and I kind of know what I’m looking for, but, I don’t know, I guess I just… want to make sure I’m making the right decision, that’s all.”

[yui 576]

"Buuuut, if you really wanted to thank me. Why don't you and your club come with me to Kickoff!"

A club trip to Kickoff, huh? “Mmmm… I’ll bring it up at least. It’s not like I can force them all to show up. I’ll go though, if that’s what you want.” Her artistic skill wasn’t that great, but Kyouko was clearly working with a clear image in mind of what she wanted her costume to look like. With the helmet done, Kyouko started work on drawing a rough outline of the rest of her body, then tackled the boots next. This outfit didn’t look all that comfortable, the more she looked at it. But this was her best shot yet, so she wasn’t going to throw it out just because of that. “Do I need to dress up all formal for it or something?”

Jun took a moment to gather herself, stunned by how easily her roommate had agreed to go to this social gathering of people. All the same, clearing her throat as she was asked the question, the girl held out both her arms to her side. “You can probably just go like you are. Although, I’m sure I have a spare bow tie somewhere for you.”

“I’ll pass on that.” At least she could just dress casually and comfortably for it. Being in this event with a bunch of people was going to be uncomfortable enough. If she had to wear some stuffy suit or embarrassing frilly dress for it on top of that, Kyouko wasn’t sure she’d be able to last the whole event. Even without such clothes, she wasn’t certain if she’d stay for the whole thing. But it was what Jun wanted her to do as thanks for helping figure out the costume problem. Come to think of it, hadn’t the club leader sent out that text to everyone?

Yeah. Looking at her texts again, it was that one from the number she hadn’t saved, talking about the entertainment club. Kyouko put the pencil down, sending a text back to the number she didn’t feel like saving to her contacts.

we’re going to kickoff. pass it on to the rest of the club.

And send. “I told the club leader to get word out to the rest of the club about us showing up. Still can’t promise they’ll all show up. Why did you want the whole club to show up anyway?”

Folding her arms the girl mumbled, “well, that’s about the only person you could stand to not invite.” Perking back up, she then looked at her roommate saying, “well, the more the merrier right? And you just made a whole bunch of friends, so why not bring them all along?”

“A bit soon to start calling them friends, I’d say. We’ve only had the one meeting.” The one she knew best was that tiny nun, and even then she’d struggle to call her anything more than a very loose acquaintance. As she remembered it, even getting to the stage of calling herself and Jun “friends” took a bit. Though considering it was Kyouko’s memory, she very well could have been wrong. “And even then, not much happened. We just talked about personas and costumes, but it looks like I’m figuring mine out now, thanks to you.” Oh yeah, this was looking good. But she still wasn’t sure how well she’d be able to really embody the idea of being the bad guy.

Pushing her hand out of her sleeve, the girl started wagging her finger at Kyouko. “That’s no good, Koko. The first part to making more friends is thinking that you are so. And well, even if you aren’t, as long as you don’t hate them, then this’ll be a great bonding activity!” Putting her finger to her chin she said, “maybe you can all get some ideas or something for your entertainment or whatever.”

"Maybe." With the rough drawing of her costume finished, Kyouko took the piece of paper, and rather than crumpling it up and throwing it into the trash, she folded it up - albeit a bit haphazardly - and tucked it into her hoodie pocket.  She got up from the chair, stretched a bit, and started mentally prepping herself for Kickoff. Although she couldn't escape the gut feeling that she'd regret showing up, she did give her word that she'd be there. She needed to eat something good before the big event. Kyouko whipped out her phone a second time as she stepped out of the room, sending a followup text to that club leader.

also, my costume design is done. where can i find that wizard friend of yours to turn it in?

[Chaos Sonic 443]



A nice walk to clear his head actually was doing some wonders for him, as Souji seemed to not be as upset as he was about the whole thing. Nevertheless, as he sat on a nearby bench, trying to rest his legs for a moment, his phone ended up going off. And it seemed he received a text...from Kyouko.

we’re going to kickoff. pass it on to the rest of the club.

The kickoff, huh? A small chuckle escaped his lips, with a shake of his head. Jeez...well, probably bet Jun ain't thrilled about her sending this text to me. Still, getting a chance to see this would probably help out the club. he nodded, before sending a thumbs up in response...but that was ending up taking too long. Regardless, Souji immediately began to prepare a mass text to the rest of the Entertainment Dueling Club, save Kyouko.

From: Souji

To: TheWizardingSai, IdolRose, Akari Ito, Melissa Ashforth

Kyouko is going to the kickoff and has offered/asked if any of us will as well. I plan to, so if you want to as well, it would be beneficial to the club as a whole to get a view on two other Duelist's styles of Dueling as well as get a bit of scouting on whoever the Duel Team has this year.

With that, he sent off the mass text and stood up from his sitting position. Now he needed to find time and nicknames to give Akari, Melissa, and Kyouko...cause right now, he just had them as contacts with just their names, and that was lame. But, if they bring out their Entertainment Duelist personas soon...then perhaps things may be different. Speaking of that...

also, my costume design is done. where can i find that wizard friend of yours to turn it in?

Another text had sent in before his thumbs up was registered, and Souji looked through it and was intrigued. "Kyouko has something now? This oughta be interesting." he said, before quickly replying to the text. "I sent out the text to the rest of the club, so the Sorcerer Supreme may show up...may is the keyword. If he doesn't, you can pass me the design and I can forward it to him, since he is my roommate after all."

[Saikazo 241]

Kickoff was today, but Akira didn't care about that. No, he had a more important thought on his mind at the moment, and that was getting the club room cleaned. He had realized that packing sweaty people in a room made the place smell, so he opened a window to air out the room while also just doing general cleaning on the equipment and sweeping the floors. He probably should had passed this off to someone else, but it was something he sort of enjoyed doing. It let him unwind and sort his thoughts. Even the loud and bombastic needed some time to themselves after all. As he finished up cleaning however, his phone's notification sound rang out.

To: THE MAN

Hey dude, sorry I've been so busy lately, but can we hang out for a bit today? There's some stuff I wanna talk to you about before the duel. Kinda important.

Huh, it seemed Yushiro needed some advice. The two needed to catch up anyways, they'd both been really busy with their own stuff, and he had finished up what he was doing. Seemed some good things were going on after all.

To:THEMANYUSHIRO

Of course! I, the man Akira was just thinking about asking to see if you wanted to hang out! Where do you wanna meet up?

---

Sai sighed to himself as he sat down, blanket hung over his shoulders as he watched his game system boot up. It was the day of the kickoff, meaning that he was free! Everyone would be at that stupid event, and he could play as many video games as he wanted until Souji came back. It had been a hot minute since he last had a good gaming session. He was ready to enter a world of fun!

However, his phone had other ideas.

From: Souji

To: TheWizardingSai, IdolRose, Akari Ito, Melissa Ashforth

Kyouko is going to the kickoff and has offered/asked if any of us will as well. I plan to, so if you want to as well, it would be beneficial to the club as a whole to get a view on two other Duelist's styles of Dueling as well as get a bit of scouting on whoever the Duel Team has this year.

Hmmm... very interesting. However... he hit the reply button unsure and uncaring if it would send to everyone or to just Souji.

From: Sai Salamander

Do you know who I am? Of course I ain't going. If you pry this controller from my cold dead hands and drag me out, I'd still look for a way to escape and go back home. Have fun though.

 

[Cappuccijoe 17]

Ashley knew the type. In some ways, it reminded her of the way Elizabeth was now. Melissa was quiet, bashful, and did not really seem to be very happy to see Ashley. Unfortunately, it was something she got a lot from the general student body. In some ways, being the Student Council President was both the most socially exhausting experience ever and a test of just how many dirty looks you could take. She didn't have the nerve to be upset by the reactions she got; she was still a proud growing woman, and becoming the Student Council President was the crowning achievement of her time at Blue Yonder. The only thing she really had to complain about is she wished more of her interactions had a life beyond surface level introductions and small talk.

Ashley looked over Melissa, attentively listening to her sheepish tone, making sure to repeat the words in her head to avoid misinterpreting something Melissa had said. She nodded, noting that Melissa took an awfully long time to extend her own hand, before charily choosing her words to avoid any long-form topics Ashley could sink her own teeth into. Ashley let her finishing, deciding it better to just leave the girl who wished to be left alone, left alone.

"Oh, I don't want to interrupt your day then! I was just waiting for a friend and thought I'd strike up a conversation. Well, it was nice meeting you Melissa!" Ashley swiveled on her heels and made her way back over the section she was eyeing up before. It was no big deal, Ashley told herself. People do this all the time, and it was a busy day anyway; not the best time to be making friends, especially with Elizabeth on the way. That's what she told herself, and Ashley was a very convincing person. She checked her phone aimlessly, looking back and forth between the flowers and her emails.

[Cheshire Toon 141]

The irony was actually kind of hilarious. “Sorry again, sir, I’ve never seen this happen before,” the lady at the said, both of them unable to look away from the nearly completely dead arrangement of flowers. “We can cover any pre-made arrangement on the house, if you like, or we can refund you your mon--”

Hitomu laughed. It wasn’t a full blown thing, or genuine, but a dry chuckle that mostly came out from his nose. “I’ll take it. How much was it again?” he asked, reaching for his wallet. He had ordered the flowers several weeks ago, so they would be ready the day of the dance; he had just finished all of his paperwork for the Chasden Choppers and had money to spare, so he thought it would be nice to surprise Tess with a custom arrangement of all her favorite flowers for their last Kickoff. The fact that they were as dead as his relationship was a reminder that if a God did exist, he had one crazy sense of humor.

“Mr. Amaya, I know it may not be exactly what you wanted but we have plenty of roses still,” the lady behind the counter tried again. She must have thought he was mad at her. 

Hitomu grinned and shook his head. “No, seriously, it’s alright. I’ll pay for them. How much are they?” He produced his wallet and took out a shiny new card with the Masked Chopper printed on it. “Whatever it is I can cover it. “ He inwardly winced. That came out as arrogant. 

“It’s, uhm.. Wow, those are some expensive flowers…” The assistant stared down at the computer in awe.

“I know. They were her favorites--well, they are here favorites she’s not dead or anything--but they’re a seasonal flower so it cost extra. Figured we had a reason to celebrate but,” he shrugged. “Is the machine ready for me to swipe though?” 

The woman nodded. While Hitomu swiped the card and the machine was processing, she stared at him, eyes squinted for some reason. Like she was struggling with something. “Wait… I know you! You’re the kid from Blue Yonder who just signed that big professional contract!” Her entire demeanor changed the moment she recognized him. She leaned onto the counter, smiled brighter, and propped her chin up on the palm of her hand. “So how come you signed with Chasden? Rumor has it Andover was offering you one of the biggest rookie contracts ever. They wanted you badddd.” 

Hitomu resisted the urge to sigh. “Team loyalty and all that,” he said for what had to be the thousandth time, trying to keep his voice kind. “My mom was a huge Chasden fan and I was raised rooting for them. Money can buy a lot of stuff but your mom being proud of you isn’t one of them.” The machine beeped to signify he could pull his card out and he did, quickly shoving it back into his wallet and grabbing the vase of flowers. “Anyways, thanks for the flowers. Figure you’re busy the day of the Kickoff so I’ll get out of your wa--”

“There’s no customers waiting. You can stay for a little bit.” The lady--she must have been in her mid to late twenties--leaned further over the counter. “So, do those flowers mean you have someone special…?” She laughed. “Of course you do. A guy like you--talent, looks, and now the money too. I bet the girls are just falling over themselves to get to you.”

Hitomu thought back to his awkward attempts at dating. The only girl he had ever actually dated had been the one to ask him out first, because all his attempts at asking girls out went… well, he wasn’t the smoothest kid in his younger years. “I do. Or, I did--listen I’ve really gotta go. Thanks again for the flowers!” Figuring the woman would try to stop him again, he looked around the shop for someone familiar to bail him out, and his eyes landed unexpectedly on Ashley Rendleman. 

Without hesitation Hitomu took the out. “Ashley! Hey! Didn’t expect to see you here,” he said, darting away from the counter and moving closer to the president. Away from the creepy lady at the counter Hitomu finally took a breath and looked at Ashley. She always made him feel underdressed. 

Not that he was dressed poorly or anything. It wasn’t amazing, but he had on a short-sleeved hoodie (one of the ones designed to be worn as a t-shirt) and sweatpants, which wasn’t the kind of thing he would normally wear to meet up with the Student Body President. He was also holding a vase full of thoroughly dead flowers and had shoved his hair into his Chasden beanie (which was becoming some kind of recurring trend at this point), which didn’t help. 

“Long time no see. What are you up to?” Finding his stride again, he relaxed. “Picking up some flowers for your date tonight? That’s normally the guy’s job but hey, if anyone would flip the script it’d be you.”

[radio414 907]

And Ashley was gone. Out of Melissa’s life again. At once, Melissa felt both a wave of relief at not having another problem to deal with during an already difficult moment and that not-unexpected twinge of worry, wondering if she’d done or said anything wrong. Had she scared Ashley off? No, she’d just managed to effectively communicate how little she wanted to talk to someone unless it was for the express purpose of boxing up and ringing up a pair of flower bracelets. That was all it was, right?

But she couldn’t think about that now. That wasn’t to say she didn’t want to, that it wasn’t constantly on her mind, but, well, the corsage shelves could only get thinner, right? Her options, imperfect as they might be, could only decrease, right? She had to decide soon.

Her eyes landed a nice arrangement of purple (the label said mauve?) carnations. Perfect for Gabriela, Melissa decided. “One down, just one more to go,” Melissa said to herself as she took it off the shelf to get a closer look. Yes, it would do nicely. Melissa smiled. For the first time since she’d come in, things didn’t look so daunting. She even almost forgot that she’d just been approached by Ashley Rendleman.

Almost.

“Ashley! Hey!” Hitomu’s voice pierced through whatever barriers Melissa’s focus had put up, dragging her back down to reality. The reality where, yes, she only had one more corsage to find, but finding the one seemed just as impossible as finding two had been. The reality where -- and this couldn’t be stressed enough -- this was only the first of so, so many horrible decisions she planned to have to make that day.

The reality where Ashley Rendleman was now talking with Hitomu Amaya.

She shouldn’t have cared, and she knew it. But the thoughts she’d previously suppressed, that worry, started constructing a new timeline. How had Ashley Rendleman spent her time in the flower shop? She’d walked in, approached Melissa, un-approached, and now was engaged with someone else. The key moment was the third one, the “un-approach.” Why had she done that?

The answer was obvious. “She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Melissa said to herself. “She doesn’t want to talk to you because you’re as interesting as watching paint dry when the paint’s been dry for a week. At least.” It wasn’t even the worst impression she thought she could have given; it was the mere idea, though, of Ashley Rendleman having that impression of her. Melissa didn’t think she would forget it. Until she graduated, Melissa thought, whenever Ashley thought of her, that would be what she thought. And yeah, she still hoped that was as infrequently as she could make it, but the impression was still there.

Again, Hitomu was there to interrupt her thoughts. “Picking up some flowers for your date tonight?” he said, totally oblivious to the maelstrom going on in the corner. “That’s normally the guy’s job, but hey, if anyone would flip the script, it’d be you.”

She needed to get out. As far away as possible from the flower shop, or at least however far away her dorm room was so she could shower, decompress, and forget it all so she could finish getting ready. Right in front of her was a, if she was being frank, plain bracelet adorned with white carnations and not much else. It was good enough.

“Find everything okay?” the cashier said as she rang Melissa up.

“I think so,” Melissa said.

The cashier didn’t respond immediately, creating an awkward moment where Melissa had removed her card from the chip reader but hadn’t actually received her flowers. In fact, the cashier was staring off in the distance. When Melissa followed her gaze, she found the cashier was making googly eyes at Hitomu.

“I think so,” Melissa said, a little louder this time.

“Oh! Sorry,” the cashier said. She quickly handed over the flowers. “Um, make sure these go into a refrigerator as soon as you can. Like, go right home, maybe spritz some water on them, and into the fridge. We’ve already lost some roses today, I’d hate the same thing to happen to you and ruin your night.”

Melissa didn’t need to be told twice.

---

The walk home was fine. It was quicker than the walk to the shop for so many reasons Melissa didn't want to spend the time going through them all, but it was fine. The only notable moment was when her phone buzzed and she was greeted with yet another group chat. There were actually two messages accompanying the notification. Melissa briefly wondered how she had missed the first one, but quickly put question aside. She was frazzled enough, she didn’t need that extra question.

Kyouko is going to the kickoff and has offered/asked if any of us will as well. I plan to, so if you want to as well, it would be beneficial to the club as a whole to get a view on two other Duelist’s styles of Dueling as well as get a bit of scouting on whoever the Duel Team has this year.

and

Do you know who I am? Of course I ain’t going. If you pry this controller from my cold dead hands and drag me out, I’d still look for a way to escape and go back home. Have fun though.

the messages read. Melissa wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about being added to another group chat, but at the moment it was probably fine, right? Just the two messages, that was manageable. She actually had a response, too. She couldn't believe it, but she did. Just three simple words:

From: Melissa
I’ll be there.

---

Melissa turned the knobs of the shower and just stood there under the spout. The water was freezing, but she didn’t care. She tried to just let the water wash away the entire day so far. At the same time, though, she’d heeded the cashier’s words to the letter. So many things had the potential to ruin Gabriela’s date, but that wasn’t going to be one of them. Now, she just had to focus on herself.

She went through her mental checklist. Her dress? Shoes? Those were ready. Her dress was hanging right in the middle of her closet, ready to be taken out and put on at a moment’s notice, and her shoes were right underneath. Dinner plans? Made. Gabriela had agreed to the meetup and it was just a quick walk down to the restaurant. After that, well, everything else had hopefully been planned by the committee in charge of the Kickoff Festival.

What about herself? Was she ready?

The water pouring from the showerhead was slowly heating up. Steam was starting to form. What else was on her checklist? Gabriela was probably ready. She’d seemed confident in her outfit choice and that was the only thing out of Melissa’s control so, yeah, “probably ready” was the best way to put it. Her contingencies? Ruined already -- Ashley Rendleman had made sure of that -- but what else could go wrong? What was worse than being noticed? So that was a wash.

Was she ready?

The water was almost-but-not-quite scalding. Steam was everywhere; the poor vent in the ceiling was helpless against the sheer quantity of the stuff emanating from the shower. Was Melissa Ashforth ready for tonight?

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

---

“[…]and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”
1 Peter 3:21 (NIV)

Edited August 31, 2019 by radio414

[Cappuccijoe 17]

Ashley looked up from her phone to the sound of someone familiar shouting her name: well, it was only the most popular boy in school of course. She braced herself to be yelled at in some fashion; usually when Hitomu came around he was there to berate her about booking him in some sort of match without asking, or handling her job incorrectly, or plain irritation by her person in general. This, of course, was not always the way, but she wouldn't dwell on it nearly as long as her friend would have.

"You didn't expect to see me at a flower shop the day of perhaps our largest school dance of the season?" She flashed a devious smile, now noting why exactly Hitomu had come to grace her with his presence.

"I see you're as popular as ever, Cartoon King." She looked back to her flowers, picking loosely through the displays, until Hitomu broke the tension with a question.

"For me? No... no I uhm-" she looked over to Hitomu, looking his attire over, "I was too busy this year to get a date." Her body language began to sag, "I had my offers but I didn't really get a chance to meet any of them and the headmaster was trying to get this thing cancelled because of the presence of alcohol on campus, and when the headmaster is out, my faculty is out, and him and I argue enough as it is. I just thought it would be important for the seniors, for me, selfishly, to have something to look forward to. Took up most of the last few weeks, I'd say. Between that and calculus getting a date was just out of the question for me this year. I'm here to help Elizabeth. She has a date, you know. Should be here any minute to look with me but you know how she is."

Ashley looked over Hitomu's flowers, thinking better not to say anything of his former relationship; he had probably gotten plenty of that already. Instead, she went with school, a topic that was, at the very least, relatable. 

"Who knew Senior Year would be so much work?"

"Really?" Hitomu laughed, "I'm having the exact opposite experience. Half of my classes don't even care if I show up, Guess that's what it means to be the student body president." Ashley chuckled, "You don't know the half of it."

Hitomu shuffled his feet a bit, broaching the 'Elizabeth' topic, "I'm glad Lizzie is finally giving life a shot again though, which probably has a lot to do with you, so... " he rubbed his neck awkwardly, "thanks."

Ashley blushed, it wasn't often that she was thanked for her work, but even someone as admittedly self absorbed as Ashley had a hard time taking credit for Elizabeth, "Oh. Well, I'm not sure about the boy yet but.. I didn't do anything for her, really. I just buy her coffee and hope."  Ashley looked away again; she was not good about processing awkward feelings. Normally she was so socially adept that she would push right through but this... felt worse than normal.

"But for reference, I think it's really important that you're in her life too, Hitomu. Greasy chinese food in her dorm isn't the same with only two."

Hitomu nodded, "Yeah, I know, I know."

[Zai 26]

 

An hour or so later, Yushiro made his way to a specific bench located just outside the fence surrounding one of Blue Yonder’s dueling grounds- the usual spot where he and Akira would meet up between classes or before going out to do whatever it was they had planned on doing. As usual, Yushiro got there first, but he didn’t need to wait long.

“Hey man, how’ve you been?”

“Well, I, the man Akira, have been very busy recently, trying to get my club in shape in time so that the woman Katsu and I, the man Akira can convince the school not to combine our clubs. Anyways, how have you, the man Yushiro, been?”

“I’ve been…. Well it's been a strange couple of weeks.” He paused a moment, thinking about how exactly he would bring this particular subject up.

“Strange how? Do you have a teacher that is unusually mean to you, the man Yushiro?” Akira guessed. “Or, does it have something to do with the duel?”

“Sort of. It's actually about this girl I’ve been talking to. I... kinda need some advice before I get all up in my own headspace about it.” He braced himself, knowing that he was about to be bombarded with questions at high volume. Surprisingly, the loud volume didn’t come right away. Yushiro could see the gears in Akira’s head turning as the man tried his best to process what Yushiro just said.

“Wait, wait, wait, I, the man Akira, am just double checking. You, the man Yushiro, have been talking to a girl? For more than one conversation? In a way that maybe more than friends? And now, you, the man Yushiro, want me, the man Akira, to advise you on this girl?” He paused, thinking to himself. “Is she cute?”

That got a laugh out of Yushiro, which was good. It cut the tension. “Yeah, she’s really cute. Her name’s Elizabeth.”

“The woman Elizabeth… that is a cute name,” Akira admitted. “So, what seems to be the issue?”

“Well….” Yushiro began by recounting how they’d met, then got into the odd set of circumstances that had ultimately resulted in them going out once, and, after swearing Akira to secrecy (and low volume), shared the details of their second date.

“...But, I dunno… it was like, like she pulled away from me when I told her how I was feeling. It’s been bugging me. A lot. And I don’t really know what to do about it.” He sighed. “Not that you’re an expert or anything, but I think I need another opinion before I overthink things and do something stupid.”

Akira mulled over all the information Yushiro gave him. It certainly was a puzzle, like most women were… He wanted to tell Yushiro not to worry about it, to rush through it all with confidence, but… no, that’s what he, the man Akira, would do, and Yushiro was not him. The girl went out twice with Yushiro and his lovable personality. Still, it was quite strange, the way the girl pulled away…

“I, the man Akira, have an important question for you, the man Yushiro,” Akira finally spoke up. “How… how well do you know the woman Elizabeth?”

“Decently, I guess. Not sure what you mean by that.”

“I, the man Akira, am struggling to put it into words, but…,” He paused once more, trying to arrange his thoughts. “I think it is obvious that she, the woman Elizabeth likes you, but… when you told her how you felt, she pulled away. It makes me, the man Akira, think that perhaps she is… either wanting to take it slowly, or is scared. Maybe something has happened in her past that makes her unwilling to just… rush into it. You know what I, the man Akira mean?”

Yushiro nodded. “I think so, yeah… I don’t know what that could be though. Should I maybe ask her what’s bothering her?” Akira paused, thinking to himself again. This was such a hard question with so many answers, and he didn’t want to give his friend the wrong advice. He was sure smoke was coming out from his ears as he thought long and hard, but he finally came across an answer he figured worked.

“Hmm… I, the man Akira, don’t know,” He answered. “Maybe it would be best to just… be there for her, you know? Show her you, the man Yushiro, can be her steadfast one she can lean on. Do that, and I, the man Akira, believe she will eventually open up and share what is going on with her, the woman Elizabeth,”

It was, admittedly, the same conclusion that Yushiro would have come to himself, but hearing it in that reverential sort of phrasing Akira tended to use made him feel a bit more secure about it. And if that was what Akira- a guy who was both (mostly) unbiased and probably incapable of overthinking, well, anything, thought, then it seemed like as sound a course of action as Yushiro could take. “Thanks man. I think that’s what I’m gonna do.” His stress relieved, at least for the moment, Yushiro relaxed a bit. “So are you going to kickoff later? With Katsu maybe?”

“Of course, I, the man Akira, will be going to the kickoff!” Akira replied with a bright smile, his volume returning to its loud self. He then blinked and cocked his head as he processed what Yushiro said. “With the woman Katsu? Well, I figured she’d be there, but why would I, the man Akira, go with her, the woman Katsu?”

“Well ‘cuz you’re definitely not going there with me!” Yushiro chuckled. “I’ll be dueling, but I’m sure she’d like someone to hang out with. Can’t imagine a lot of the martial arts people are going to be flying solo tonight, you know?” 

“Ah, yes, I, the man Akira, see what you mean,” Akira said with a nod, more than likely missing the entire point of what Yushiro was implying. “Then I shall seek out the woman Katsu later and ask if she will go with me, the man Akira!”

There was a part of Yushiro that wished he could see that scene unfold. It was sure to be entertaining. But alas, it was definitely for the best that Akiro handle this one himself. Maybe it’d even work out this time. “Sounds like a plan. Hope you guys’ll be there to cheer me on, too. Gonna be a tough game and I think I’ll need all the people in my corner I can get.”

“Of course, I the man Akira, will be cheering for you. Between I, the man Akira, and her, the woman Katsu, it’ll be like you, the man Yushiro, have an entire stadium cheering for you!”

"That's what I'm counting on, pal." Yushiro said as he gave his best friend a thumbs up.

-----

Kickoff time.

Kickoff at Blue Yonder was always an exciting time. Whereas most high schools threw a similar event (sometimes referred to as homecoming, if its main focus was on the senior class), either in their gymnasiums or in some other large venue area that had been decorated for the occasion, Blue Yonder had an actual space reserved specifically for formal events on campus: Maiden Hall. Essentially a large estate, Maiden hall had two (three, if you counted the roof deck) floors and could accommodate a large majority of the student body at once. The first floor was the typical venue- a stage, dance floor, tables with seating aplenty, nice carpeting. The second was a quieter space, with several smaller rooms that encircled a balcony looking down onto the first floor. Then there was the terrace on the roof, which surrounded the skylight that acted as a ceiling for the first floor and had yet more places to sit and carouse. There were also the grounds outside, which consisted of a perfectly manicured lawn, as well as a path lined with a few trees that encircled an artificial pond that had a fountain in the center of it.

For the occasion, the first floor had been provided with a fully stocked bar (for those students old enough to drink), and platforms that connected to the second floor balcony had been extended so that they hung out above the dance floor. It was on each of these that the two players scheduled to duel in the night's main event would stand, so that everyone in attendance could look up , down, or across from wherever they were and watch the game unfold.

It was about 6:00 pm when the doors opened and students and faculty began arriving. The "official" time for everything to get underway was 7:00, but usually how things ended up playing out was that everyone was already in attendance and the event itself got rolling by around half past six. As for Yushiro, he'd gotten there early to make sure that he was mentally prepared for whatever was going to happen tonight, and also to make sure that Ashley Rendleman didn't have to hunt him down when it was time for the game to start. He gulped audibly as he looked himself over in a mirror. It had taken him awhile, but he'd finally managed to tie his tie just right and throw on his jacket. He looked good when he dressed up, or so he'd been told- the jacket helped bulk up his silhouette a little. Judging by the sounds coming up from below, people were starting to arrive. There wasn't all that much time left. He took another look at his phone: there was a message from Liz!

From: Liz

Of course I'll be there. Can't miss your big duel! Are you at all nervous?

Nervous? Well, only a lot.

To: Liz

A little, yeah. I'm feeling a lot better after all that practicing we did last week though!

He hit send. It was a half truth- he wasn't feeling any better, per se, but Yushiro was for sure more confident in his game than he had been, and Liz's tutelage wasn't the only reason. He pulled his secret weapon back out of his deck one more time. He hadn't even shown Clear Wing to Elizabeth when they were practicing- lest word, by some cruel twist of fate, reach Hiraku with enough time for him to side in a counter to it. His opponent had a whole deck full of strong boss monsters, but Yushiro only had this one, and he intended to make it count. His phone buzzed again, interrupting his train of thought.

From: Liz

Oh, good! Just focus on the fundamentals. Then again, if you win, who knows if I'll even get a chance to see you tonight with all the attention you'll be getting

That was a big if. But even so, no matter the outcome, the first person Yushiro intended to see after the game was Elizabeth Hall.

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Zai

[radio414 907]

Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready;
    after that, build your house.
-Proverbs 24:27 (NIV)

---

Melissa didn’t really do anything else in the lead-up to Kickoff, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because hey, maybe she was actually ready unless of course she’d skipped something on her mental checklist and in reality was severely underprepared for the night and even if that probably wasn’t the case there was always the slim chance that it was, and it was bad because the intervening hours seemed to whiz by. There was no time to appreciate simply doing nothing; as soon as Melissa tried, it was time to start doing things again.

Getting ready was less of an ordeal than she’d expected. Her dress and shoes fit like she remembered, makeup was easy enough, she’d managed to tame her shower hair into something presentable, and best of all, the two corsage bracelets hadn’t wilted at all -- the mauve and white carnations were still as beautiful (more so in the former’s case) as they’d been in the shop. So far, everything was going according to plan.

Melissa looked at herself in the mirror as a final check. Yes, she’d done nicely. Her dress was a nice light blue -- almost sky blue or teal if she remembered her colors correctly -- though it wasn’t a solid color throughout. In fact, it tended to get even lighter as one’s gaze approached the fringes, especially near the bottom of the skirt -- right around her ankles -- where it approximated a bluish off-white before being met with her navy flats. Accessories-wise, Melissa had kept it simple, a turquoise handbag for her phone and wallet and not much else (oh for a dress with pockets!). She’d done her hair (as well as she could manage) into curly just-past-shoulder-length waves which framed her face well, and she’d been able to at least obscure the blemishes there as well.

She held up the bracelet she planned to wear once Gabriela and she met to the mirror, comparing it to her dress. The carnation looked like a patch of seafoam or a fluffy cloud set against a wondrously clear sky. Melissa smiled. Even in her distress, she’d managed to make a good decision. The only thing left was to let Gabriela know she was on her way and head out.

The walk across campus was almost indescribable. Was this was not having worries was like? Because while Melissa still had those perpetual worries, they seemed suppressed. Diminished, even. All her preparedness rushed in to fill that gap where they’d been, and the result had been a pleasant contented mood Melissa wasn’t sure she could remember when she’d experienced last. She could remember being happy, of course, but like this?

The mood carried her to Gabriela’s dormitory, and her ensuing text was a simple four words:

From: Melissa
To: Gabriela
Hey, I’m right outside.

[LordCowCow 840]

No, no, this wasn't good at all! Gabby kept pacing. And as she paced she passed by the mirror. And whenever she passed the mirror she checked to make sure everything was fine.

Everything was not fine.

Her hair was ugly. Boring. It was just straight down without anything special done to it. She didn't even have any accessory to add to it. Maybe she should have just went with her usual after all. Especially as she was still wearing the same old boring, try-to-pass-off-as-fancy, dress as usual. The hair just brought attention to how she hadn't changed anything else! How could she be so stupid!

Okay. Calm. Maybe there was time. She could figure something out. Find something to spice it up. Or just go to her usual and hope that she could pull that look off in this setting.

Her phone went off.

From: Melissa
To: Gabriela
Hey, I’m right outside.

As if the weight of the world suddenly crashed onto her all at once Gabby dropped to her knees. There was no time at all! Why was she already here?

A quick glance at the time.

Who put the world on fast-forward?

Okay, calm, calm.

Gabby stood up, started towards the door, checked the mirror one last time, and opened the door swiftly. Like tearing a bandage off in one go.

She was fully prepared to go full on with her Gabriela persona. It would be easy. Fake it till you make it right?

Then she got a good look at Melissa. "Y-you look so pretty." She blurted out. Her eyes widened momentarily as her own words reached her ears, and, too long later, her brain. Coughing awkwardly she stumbled her way back into her more typical public mannerisms. "T-that is you, um, you look fitting to escort one such as I to...a thing...such as this!" Her face, cheeks tinged with pink, eyes unable to keep in contact with the girl in front of her, told a different story but she tried to at least stay in dramatic pose.

"Remember tonight, Melissa, for it is the night you get an exclusive view into true royalty! It is a day you will remember for ages and tell your children about."

She hesitated. "So...where are we going?"