Just a Simple Conversation (Fuki, Koga and Carlos)

Outside the entrance of the Star Gate Branch building, a pretty impressive building with its own planetarium and awesome stuff like lasers and hologram projections (Nothing short of awesome), a young man just minded his bussiness, waiting for his friends to arrive. After adjusting his glasses, something he wasn't completely accustomed to, and his jacket, he began playing with his FICA... Paperweight? Being honest, he didn't pay to much attention to what the strange device did. There was something about points and a table, but everything else was a blurr.

A few days ago, a big announcement was made through a broadcast in order to introduce the world to a new system using those FICA things, and now he had a lot of work going for him at the Dragon Empire Branch. Now he had to add that to the list of things worrying him, along with the situation with his Avatar and his little sister coming to visit. Oh, and that his lunch break finished 30 minutes ago. Karin won't like that, and that's an understatement.

Hopefully, seeing some of his friends would help him ease his mind a little. Also, there were some urgent matters he wanted to discuss.

And some of his friends were around as luck just so happened. The number two of Star Gate was having a hand in arrangements outside, which was a tad bit surprising given a Link Joker user's... reputation. Even so, she was diligent in her efforts while her little cabbage sister help around... a little, then sat down for long breaks. The two were chatting pretty casually, talking to other employees around to make a healthy environment between Link Joker players and Star Gate's other clans. Fuki was wearing a warm smile while Koga, who was much more grown up, still had a number of happy grins only a child could have.

It seemed like they were running maintenance on the many devices of Star Gate's interior from the outside, having to work with quite a bit of electronics to keep the most technologically advanced branch running in top form. It was a bit of high risk, since if they didn't have so much power, they would be probably the most dull branch aside from Hideyoshi's enthusiastic demeanor. But the risk was very worth the reward, making Star Gate dazzle.

After nearly breaking his fancy hi-tech paperweight by looking how the hell it actually worked, the young man began to notice a little bit of his surroundings. Namely, the Star Gate staff working on... Something. Maybe it was related to the many, many devices inside the impressive-looking building that appeared to come from the future. Looking for a moment, he noticed among them the very friends he was waiting for - The famous idols known as Fuki and Koga, who were helping and chatting with some of the workers. Seeing them getting along well with the rest of the staff, given the attitude the rest of the Association has about the Link Joker clan and its users, was really comforting.

With his FICA still in his hand right, the young man walked towards them. 'Well, if it isn't two of my favorite girls in the world helping their branch look even better than before. If you keep doing that, you'll make DE look like a boring volcano' He joked, chuckling a little. 'I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It's really good to see you two. Fuki, Koga' He then said, sporting an honest smile on his face. 'So... How's it going?'.

"Oh, look, it's the kid who has the hots for my sister." Koga's words were the same sass as ever, but her tone was a lot lighter and a little more grown up. The cabbage greeted Carlos with a wave as she jumped to her feet, having a much more casual appearance compared to everyone else around. She wore a grin, swaying cutely about in her light clothing as Fuki approached with much more modest, though fancy black clothing. Notably adorned with several fur cuffs and collars.

"Carlos, good to see you." Fuki's tone was warm, not at all coated by the coldness of her time as a reaper drone. "We're doing fine, just working on making sure all is well as the Director keeps up his work. What brings you around to Star Gate? I figured you'd be at Dragon Empire preparing for the swarms of crowds coming for each nation. I hear Zoo is already flooded."

"They have a petting zoo, they're cheating." Koga mocked the branch, shrugging.

The first to greet Carlos was the green-haired Koga, keeping the usual sass but mixing it with some kind kindness, or thats what he told himself. The casual looking girl waved at him after taunting the young man about his feelings for her older sister, just like always. 'Shhhhhhh! Not so loud!' He said jokingly, using the universal gesture to ask her to lower her voice. 'Not all Star Gate needs to know that!'. To be honest, at this point of his life, he was fine with the whole world knowing. 'And stop calling me kid. You already know I have a name, right?' He smiled at her, not minding too much about that.

With a warm tone, Fuki greeted him as well. The blonde, more formal looking girl answered his question and also asked him his reason for coming to the Star Gate branch. She guessed right that he must have a lot of work back at DE. Just thinking about it gave him shivers. 'Yeah. The branch'.

'Well, huh...' He paused. '... Let's say I'm on my lunch break. A pretty long lunch break' He was going to be in so much trouble once he made it back to his branch. 'I needed some time to think, and I thought passing by my second favorite branch would help me a lot. You know, with all the pretty lasers and stuff' He answered, again with a little joke. 'Way better than a petting zoo, if you ask me'. He lied. He loved petting zoos. It was showing all over his face.

Carlos remained silent for a brief moment, appreciating the fact that despite everything that happened in their past, they could finally chat like nothing happened. It's been a very hard road, but they managed to overcome it no matter the difficulty.

'I also needed to talk with you two' He then said with a serious expression. 'Do you have time?'.

Thankfully for the Simple Soul, Fuki hadn't overheard Koga's little tease. The green haired lass smirking arrogantly as Carlos panicked over his crush being exposed. She was going to have fun messing with him during this new era. "Yeah, you have a name, it's 'kid'." Koga joked, giggling over her usual jab at everyone. That evil grin left eventually as the three proceeded to converse. Though, quick as a wit, Koga called him out: "Slacking!" She pointed an accusing finger at him, then wagged it. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you're gonna get yelled at."

"Now now, I'm sure they'll understand he needed a bit to himself. Everyone's still getting adjusted to things after all. It's been awhile since I've been a... secretary of sorts." Fuki defended her friend, knowing that the shift to the new era is a bit difficult. She held a smile, but the struggle between being a Link Joker player and having to work hard in keeping everything together was a lot more hard than she imagined. The blonde was still composed, holding herself together in a dignified and responsible manner, but this was a good time as any for a break. "We do have time, what do you need?"

Carlos tried to ignore Koga not only calling him 'kid' again, but also accusing him of slacking off. I mean, that's pretty much what he is doing at the moment, but taking that well deserved free time for himself was something that he also needed to do. Fuki understood that pretty given that she defended him, knowing how difficult it is to adapt to the new order of things. However, the young man felt that he didn't deserve that break and her support, looking at how the sisters kept working despite their situation and their difficult past. They were working hard to adapt to the new times. 'Hey, thanks Fuki. I appreciate it' He managed to say to the blonde, feeling really grateful but also ashamed. 'Now please, follow me'.

The young man took the sisters to a nearby table to talk more calmly. He even moved the chairs so the girls could sit down. 'I saw the broadcast. First: You looked really gorgeous like always Fuki' He stated nonchalantly. 'Second: I need you to tell me... What are we going to do now?'. Even though he didn't mention it, it was obvious he was talking about the Link Joker Revolution. After the recent broadcast of the Association and the presentation of the new Branch Directors, Carlos couldn't help but notice the attitude the Star Gate's director had towards the sole mention of the Link Joker name. Carlos made a promise during the Messiah Scramble to help in the acceptation of the clan, believing they deserved a second opportunity just like the previous drones.

'I know next to nothing about Hideyoshi Sasaki. He looks like a nice guy, someone I could have a drink with. But even I could tell he's not the kind of person who'll accept Link Joker. And to make matters worse, you're working as his assistant, his right hand man- I mean, woman' He said worried to Fuki. However, some attentive minds could recognize a little bit of jealousy mixed in his words. 'I mean, does he even know the story you two have with Link Joker?'.

Realizing how he sounded, he stopped and retreated a bit. 'I... I think I'm worrying to much. Sorry about that' He apologized. 'Hey, that reminds me, how's Tomozo?'.

The girls followed Carlos to the table, taking separate seats as they listneed to him talk. "A-Ah, thank you..." Fuki blushed a little from Carlos' compliment, mostly because he just dropped it so casually and out of nowhere. But the tone turned much more serious when he began discussing Star Gate's branch director and their "situation". The girls lost their pleasant expressions, feeling a source of stress return as evident by Koga's scowl and Fuki's frown, both of the gazes cast downward in thought. "... Hideyoshi Sasaki is a kind man," Fuki started, bringing her hands together and intertwining her fingers as she rested her arms on the table, still looking down and keeping her voice quiet. "And his disdain toward Link Joker is quite understandable, just as it is for everyone else... We haven't much choice but to twiddle our thumbs for a time. Integrating through the new generation's system is a start, and behaving ourselves is a good step."

"We haven't really... told him our 'story'. We only told him Link Joker is important to us." Koga added on, also trying to keep quiet so no one would overhear them. It was a touchy subject for varying reasons, as judged by her conflicted tone. "It's probably better he doesn't know yet, I guess." Considering they're the sisters of a universe destroyer... "Sis here getting a high position comes across as them trying to get used to us and us trying to get used to them. Works out for both sides, even if her official clan had to be listed as Royal Paladin."

"As for... Tomozo... Well."

"She's still held up at the United Sanctuary, probably." Koga spoke with some irritation in her tone.

Even though Fuki's reaction to his compliment filled Carlos with warmth, the expression both girls took once he mentioned their situation made him feel like like he was being a little bit tactless. Fuki stated that Hideyoshi Sasaki was, as everyone guessed, a nice guy. Hearing that from her must mean that is was really true. She also excused his obvious hatred towards the Link Joker clan, as it was pretty understandable that not everyone would be willing to accept the clan so easily into their lives after everything that's happened before. As the blonde girl stated, they needed to believe in ther current options, integration and good behavior, to start the process of acceptance.

Koga also explained that the Star Gate branch director didn't knew the extent of their relation with the clan, only that it was important to them. The tone the green-haried girl used to say that showed how delicate the subject was for them. She then mentioned how Fuki getting a high position at SG was somewhat good for them at the end. However, Carlos couldn't help but feel uneasy. Only the planet-shoulders lady knows what could happen if Hideyoshi found out about their relationship with the Link Joker. But that didn't matter at the moment, as he started to feel the urge to apologize to the girls for bringing up the subject and ruining the good mood .

Trying nervously to apologize, he asked them about their older sister Tomozo. Long story short, she was being held up at United Sactuary. 'Right!' He thought. 'How could I've forgotten?'. The situation with Tomozo was... Delicate at best, as the reactions of the sisters showed. Now he looked like an insensitive jerk too. He knew he screwed up the jolly reunion, so he tried to salvage it the best way he could. 'Eh, would you like some bread?'. Wrong choice of words, he didn't have any bread at the moment.

'Sorry for bringing that up. Let me make it up for you' He said as he reached for his always trusted deck and took it out of his pocket. The implications were obvious. 'What do you say about a little cardfight? You know, for old times' sake' He said smiling. 'It could be fun, you know. Also, it could help me great time with my other situation. The 'reckless' one'.

"No, you don't have to apologize..." Fuki responded.

"We will take some bread though." Koga took the chance for free food, sitting up with a more chipper look. "The bit on the clan thing is kinda stressful, but our sister is prolly just loafing around. She turned into a real fatass, and she's on a leash to boot. Think she has it worse than us." The cabbage wore a haughty grin, leaning on the table as she helped clear the heavy pressure in the air from the Link Joker conversation.

"While a fight sounds nice, I can't take too much time off of working." Fuki noted.

"I can play. I wanna try something new anyway, since I got Neo Nectar back in my hands." Koga chirped, showing off a deck with cute, green-colored sleeves.

Sadly, Fuki declined the invitation to a cardfight, saying that she couldn't take much time off of work. However, her little sister seemed eager to fight and try her new deck, decorated with green-colored sleeves. 'Oh, I see' Said Carlos to Fuki. 'You can still watch if you want. Who knows? It could be fun'.

The young man then started shuffling his deck in order to take on the upcoming challenge. He also took part in the ancient tradition of the taunt. 'Heh, too bad I don't have any bread with me kid' He said mockingly while adjusting his glasses. 'But I could go and buy you some candy or stuff kids buy these days. Only if you start calling me by my name, that is'. His laugh sounded like a bad impresion of a Super Sentai villain.

Only time could tell if this fight would be the fight where he could finally get in contact with his old friend. He was willing to try one more time.

"Aaaaah?" Koga's eye twitched, giving a malicious grin at Carlos' offer. "You know what? I'll hold you up to that candy promise." The cabbage spoke, beginning a fight with her friend at the table they were at, not needing a fancy fight table or anything. Their imaginations would suffice, and they were having a fun time. Fuki noted this, nodding and smiling, quietly leaving them to get back to work, not wanting to interject on their good time. For once, Koga kept a smile on, and it wasn't a constantly arrogant one, despite her tone of voice. Despite her usual personality, the young idol had gone through a few changes that made her appreciate more while taking other matters more seriously.

That's what brought her to meet the emissary of Neo Nectar: Ranunculus Flower Maiden, Ahsha. It was an incredibly different spin from Muskeeters or Maiden Ofs, but she found with enough familiarity to be a challenge. Against Narukami, she expected the fight to be extremely difficult, honestly. However, when Carlos rode his beloved Detonix Drill Dragon, he opted not to use his Limit Break. While he did it because the state of his board and hand were a bit... awkward, she silently let out a breath of relief, that would've made things a million times harder.

The two explored their new decks, showing they had become accustomed to Stride and changed with the times. The simple soul wasn't just fighting against a girl who went back to her roots - he was facing a reformed joker, re-discovering herself through Vanguard. Though, she was getting lucky with Draw Triggers and seeing Perfect Guards, not seeing a few mistakes of overextending or avoiding the issue of Detonix's board wipe by simply denying him counterblasts. The worst instance, however, was her last turn of trying to copy Padmini via Salianna's skill... only to see the fourth was in damage... after paying the cost.

Alright, that was embarrassing.

Carlos kept teasing her and she was getting adorably upset, trying to tease back as they played. Victory was grasped by the wee little cabbage, "Alright! Yeah!!" was shouted with glee, even doing a little dance in celebration.

Carlos started his fight with Koga at the same table they were, something he thanked given that he didn't know how to get that damn FICA thing to work. The fight was nothing short of spectacular - Both players  made good use of their respective decks, but Koga and her tactics were the highlight of the whole match. She was using her original clan, the one she used before... Everything. It was a clear signal that there was a change in her. After all this time, Carlos could finally rejoice in the fact that he was facing her not as an enemy, but as a friend, and nothing was at stake. She thought that sentiment was cheesy, though. Good old Koga.

In the end, the green-haired girl came up victorious with her new/old Neo Nectar deck. There was some hilarious misplay during her final turn, something the young man exploited so he could tease her more and more. Yes, he lost, but seeing her get upset was worth it. Even after all this, Carlos couldn't help but feel a bit empty. One of the reasons why he went to Star Gate was to fight the sisters and try to get in contact with his Avatar - Recklessness Dragon. Ever since he reignited his passion for VG after abandoning the game thanks to the traumas he suffered by the Reaper Invasion, he noticed how he couldn't feel the presence of his trusted dragon friend in any of his fights. He had the strange hypothesis that he could get in contact with the Thunder Dragon through cardfights, as the game was what connected them. It's been 3 years, and there's been no sign of improvement.

Still, there was no reason to get sad. He could try as much as he wanted. Aaaaaaaaand, witnessing the cardfight was none other than Fuki, the love of his life. Full of joy, he turned in her direction to ask her if she liked the fight or if she wanted to play or whatever. 'So, what do you think Fu-?' Sadly, she wasn't there. The blonde went back to workjust as they were starting the game. Man, that was tough. 'Oh, she's left' He said feeling dejected and lowering his gaze. But just thinking about how responsible she was with her duties gave Carlos the much needed impulse to get back to work.

'Hey Koga...' He said smiling, grabbing his deck from the table. 'Sometimes I wonder if she's aware of how I feel. If she knows I wasn't joking when I said all those thing to her. I really do care about her, and...' He then stopped. There were thing he wanted to say, but it was better to save them for another occasion. 'Ah, forget it. I should get back to work'. Carlos then got up and proceeded to say goodbye to his green-haired friend. 'Don't worry about the candy. I'll have it ready for the next time I come here. Thanks for the awesome fight. Now we're even, but next time you won't be so lucky'.

Wait... He's forgetting something. Something important.

'By the way, do you know what time is it?'.

Koga stopped dancing as Carlos spoke up, the cabbage not realizing her lemon sister had already left. Probably getting back to work, the greenheaded lass tilted her head in mild irritation, having wanted her to watch... But, she supposed it didn't sour the experience. The reformed joker turned to her friend, not knowing his turmoil over Recklessness Dragon and not even thinking of the fact that it hadn't shown up in the game. No... she did notice, but wasn't sure how to approach it. Considering how much her roots with Neo Nectar had changed, it could've simply been a change of deck considering Recklessness wasn't exactly a strong card. Even so... "Hey, where was-"

Cut off by Carlos speaking her name first, she watched him gather his deck while he talked. "My sis isn't dumb, so I'd think she notices. Whether she knows what to do with it or not, I have no idea." Koga shrugged, giving an honest response without teasing.

Though his last question confused her.

"It's like, a little ways into the afternoon?"

Carlos didn't really notice that he interrupted Koga, but he really appreciated her honest response. Thinking about it, Fuki must've noticed how he felt about her a long time ago. However, the idea of her not knowing how to act didn't help him feel all that nice. And hey, there was no teasing about it. Now that was a change.

It was when Koga mentioned the time that he noticed something. 'Wait... Did you say afternoon?' He said, looking pretty nervous and sweating a lot. Now he definitely was forgetting something. The problem if that he didn't knew what. It must've been reaaaaaally important to generate that kind of subconscious response in him. 'Afternoon... After... Noon... Hmmm...'.

Come on, just think. What could it be? It's not like he noted it on the calende- And that's exaclty what he did. Looking everywhere, he managed to catch a glimpse of a nearby clock. It finally hit him. '... Shit'. Shit indeed.

'I have to go for my little sister at the train station' He told Koga smiling nervously. 'In like, 3 hours ago'. Adult life was too much for him, it seems.

Koga blinked, giving him a pretty blunt and brutal response after her initial shock.

"... Wow, you don't have much of your life together, do you?"

OOF.

"You wanna go pick her up before something happens?"

After Koga's comment, Carlos took off his glasses, and took a small handkerchief out of his pocket. He then proceded to calmly clean up the crystals. When he finished, he put on back his glasses and stared directly into Koga's eyes.

'Yes. I'm going now. Please, say goodbye to Fuki for me'.

After that, he ran off towards the station.