Ruined Seaside Mega Mall

"She's my first friend of this country! Kind of shy though, but really cute, and was pretty mad with you at the park-" Aoi, face pressed against the glass of the flavor display, stopped. Wait, wasn't that Sera at the park? Does that mean she's talking to Sera? But he said his name was Haruka... Is he lying?! B-but why would Sera lie... she thought they were friends... Wait, is this about D'Nyan's name? Hold on, where is the cat?

Aoi was whimpering again, her brain clearly overloaded in confusion.

"Ooo..." She cried a bit again. "Do you have a twin brother?" That question always seemed to be a stupid conclusion whenever she asked people. Maybe it'd be right one day though.

"A twin? I uh, Oh! Well."

Haruka, enough exposition, details!

"I guess biologically no, but you probably met a friend of mine. Wears a raggedy dress shirt, suspenders, rolled-up slacks? Uh... Name is Sera? Kind of like the American girl name Sara?"

He itched his nose, finishing off one of his sword-sized ice cream bars, starting to get a slight brain freeze. He pressed a hand to his head watching Aoi be a little dorky and press her face to the ice cream glass display. People are going to think she's weird. Too late.

"So, she is a friend of yours. You should tell her to lay off the murderous intent. Not that she seems to be a particularly bad person; I met her once awhile ago in Hoshiko. She wasn't so crazy then..."

Haruka sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"Anyways, back on track. Vanguard. You play?"

After a bit of searching, Fubuki found a place that still served breakfast. The problem was the wait. Sighing, Fubuki sat at a table nearby having already made her order. Her stomach growled again. This breakfast could not come soon enough. As she lay her head down, she put a hand on her stomach. "Need... Food..." she groaned aloud, not quite realizing it.

"... Wait, I was right?!" Aoi spoke with shock. She clearly didn't hear the "biologically, no" part. It was rather fascinating how small the world of Japan was, finding so many people with connections to one another in such a short timespan. Reeling her head back, the woman turned to Haruka, actually focusing on paying attention. So Haruka and Sera were twins, right? Right. She nodded at him listening Sera's closes, remembering them well enough. The temptation of inquiring about why Sera completely ignored a cat scratching a big gash in his arm was strong, but she managed to refrain just to focus on less... weird things.

Wait, she is weird.

Okay, ask later.

"I..." Aoi looked down, her hands in her lap, the ice cream finished. "I wish she'd be a little nicer to you and Sera. She told me Sera was close to someone important to her... and something bad happened to that person. She hates anyone who even associates, so I guess that means you too..." The prodigy said with a depressing tone, not actually realizing the person Fubuki hates is Haruka, not Sera. Or, did she actually mean Sera? Now Aoi was sad on top of confused. Lousy stupid goddamn twins.

"I love Vanguard though, yes. I'm the Chinese Champion."

Boast about it! Brag! People might recognize you and think you're less weird, more impressive!

"Chinese Champion, did you say?"

Sakuya leaned in from behind Aoi, peering over at her. Certain her presence was noted, she stepped back to give the girl some space before introducing herself. "My apologies, I couldn't help but overhear you mention your title... My name is Sakuya. I'm the Korean Champion, and if it's alright with you, I'd like to challenge you." Sakuya gave a small bow with her self-intro. "A friendly match, of course. It wouldn't do to risk my title so soon. The youngest champions are usually the strongest, after all. She tacked a compliment onto the end of her statement, figuring to put on a good first impression. After all, a chance to get even a funsies game in against another country's champion was a rare opportunity.

Aoi turned around to see the appearance of a newcomer. Before the prodigy could say much of anything, she was challenged... and complimented! The girl spun around, and then began blushing, and giggling. Won't risk title as a way of acknowledgement, youngest champions are the strongest... It wasn't even much of anything and gushing still commenced, holding her own cheeks. "No... Stoooooop, I'm not that gooooood", the lass tried to be modest, but she was already failing since her intent of bragging is still what brought this about.

"Okaaaay, we can fight! Haruka, I wanna fight you too, though! So let's all be sure to have some fun!"

She really wished Fubuki was here.

Sakuya let loose a radiant smile, giving off that characteristic anime-style flare, only befitting of the purest girls. She was happy to see her compliments imparting such glee in her soon-to-be opponent. After all, as top fighters, they had to set an example for the rest of the world, right? "Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you for accepting."

Taking a seat and setting her cards on the table, Sakuya prepared herself for the fight.

"Battle Sister, Jelly!" Sakuya called the name of her grade three unit. At the moment Aoi heard the word "Jelly", her ears began ringing, and the same headache was returning. That word had significant meaning and now the prodigy was absolutely convinced that she had been trying to remember. Remember... what? A large amount of recollection that couldn't be visualized ever since coming to this country. Another gumball eased the pain as the battle between Ripples and Battle Sisters continued on. While Aoi kept her peppy attitude, even sweating nervously over how many Criticals must've been stacked in the Korean Champion's deck - lying in wait... her mind was a bit of a mess.

Militiades and Genovious barely won. The lack of a fourth copy of the Legion Mate that had been deleted hindered them somewhat, and they barely won without the use of Limit Break. Only because Sakuya couldn't grasp any Perfect Guards for the majority of the game.

"Phew..." Aoi breathed.

Jelly...

Aoi stared long and hard at the Battle Sister instead of really continuing conversation.

Haruka simply nodded in response to the delayed challenge to a fight. He was accepting of fights, especially if it meant he had an excuse to stay out past Mizuki's obnoxious curfew. In the meantime, he patiently watched the battle between the two fighters, the one who randomly came out of nowhere challenging the apparent Chinese Champion of Vanguard.

Seems Haruka was not only in the presence of a crazy person, but a crazy Champion. Why does that term seem so familiar- Ah, Cero, right.

As the battle progressed, it seemed clean and fierce, save for the small panic Aoi seemed to be in distress at the call of the Battle Sister avatar being ridden. Haruka scratched his head, devouring the final bits of his last ice cream bar and searching through his deck. He watched a Ripple deck play out this time around. Strange, Haruka had heard of Genovious many times as a legendary general in the Aqua Force, but never of Miltiades. Must be new or something.


"On your guard, Captain. She's... strong. They both are. Do not falter."

Haruka nodded lightly to respond to Lambros' advice. He always took the words of his force seriously, whether they were simply playing games or going into actual combat. It was the relationship the Aqua Force finally started depending on; a chain of command that works both ways.

"Alright Haruka, your turn!" Aoi turned and shouted, pointing straight at him.

"Nakahara, huh? ... The one Revonn talked about", Genovious sat at the captain's chair, making his observations about the uprising Aqua Force wielder. If memory served, he even had rising stars for aces, being a new general and a new rider. His gloved hands came together, fingers intertwining, thinking carefully about how the Blue Storm fleet progresses in this age. Militiades thought he was worrying too much over a friendly naval battle coming up after Oracle Think Tank, but the boy was overconfident. Genovious believed the fight with Battle Sisters was by the skin of their teeth.

"Ah, right. Whenever you're ready Aoi."

Haruka spun in his stool, facing his new opponent; the Chinese Cardfight Champion. Normally he'd be nervous or have some sort of jitters or even be fired up. None of that happened. Instead a calming warmth ran through his body as he set his starting Vanguard face-down, and looked up at his opponent with the grin he always used to wear, when Overlord was still around.

"We're by your side, Captain!"

Thank you, everybody.

Blue Storm, the missing Admiral's faction. Lambros and Savas, two new key players of Aqua Force not even he Chinese Masters know of. A battle that had Haruka's back to the wall with no triggers in sight, and still utilizing clever tactics with Bubble Edge Dracokid, Lambros' duo legion skills, and tidal Assault's endless waves. Incessant waves of the commander with a unit that rose in power, and sealed off grade zero shields when it dashed forth. All of these pointed to a simple truth, and the realization of that truth left Aoi's eyes glittering like stars.

"Master Haruka!" Aoi shouted, beginning to show respect, and shower her foe in praise. This was all evidence of an Aqua Force master - the people who molded Aoi into the girl she is today! Whether that's something to proud of or not is their problem. Regardless, the Ripples began to panic over the fangirl's bursts of excitement, and Genovious simply sighed. Now, the faction of Ripple were being pressured and overworked, even if Aoi failed to read Callista properly. They managed to break through, and Aoi believed it to be only barely.

Such is the power of a Master.

A heartwarming smile of glee formed on the little prodigy's face, saluting to the Master in Japan. If only Fubuki had stayed... Then again, how could Fubuki hate such a legend?!

The ice cream shop stared... an awkward aura arose from the fight table that Haruka and Aoi were fighting from. Haruka was sweating, flinching even for. Well. A couple of reasons.

"CAPTAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING?"


We're so dead.


Despite Haruka and his side of the Aqua Force's brilliant attempt at creating a large hand advantage with access to Tidal Assault and his ability to hit for draws, the hand advantage was not enough to keep up with the brutal assault that came from the attacks of the Ripples, plus Genovious' Limit Break. Despite the failure of Haruka's force to hold up... and Supersonic Sailor's incessant apologies. He couldn't find his kazoo.

He was still praised as a master. Haruka blinked, pulling on the collar of his tracksuit for air. Why was he being praised? AS A MASTER? He was in dire need of more ice cream, and a way to explain to this girl that he is in no way an avid master of anything. In fact, Haruka was actually on the lower-tier of fighters, considering his circle of friends. He even lost to Aoi, but that was a given. She's a champion, after all.

"I-I uh, thanks for the fight but... Please don't call me that."

He scratched the back of his head, scooping up his cards as he ordered another ice cream bar. It took less than five seconds for him to already start tearing that thing apart, bite by bite. He needed to cool off.

Aoi was bouncing with giddy joy, not even having heard his request. Taking a little notebook out of her pocket, and borrowing a pen from an employee, she bounced back over to her Blue Storm colleague. "Autograph! Please let me have your autograph, Master Haruka!" The Aqua Force prodigy pleaded, still hopping like a rabbit.

Casually, once again armed with headphones placed firmly on his ears and a scarf for literally no reason, Sen walked into the Ice Cream Store, pulling his headphones off and muting the music to order himself some goodie icecream before hearing the ruckus happening in the store, he looked behind himself and noticed a familiar face, "What are you being so loud about?"

"Didn't I just say... Guh... Fine."

Haruka took the pen reluctantly and signed his signature on the notebook paper. He had worked on doing an English signature for a really long time, ever since he heard of that one legendary Cardfighter from Singapore. His name is long forgotten in Haruka's brain, but he had a really pretty English signature, so he adapted to that rather quickly.

"Aoi, whatever you do, don't call me Master around other people okay? It's going to cause... misunderstandings. Please?"

Haruka put his hands on his hips and looked around to the other customers, essentially eyeing them to 'bug off', as Haruka was already feeling more nervous sweat form around the temples of his head.

"This is the best! Captain, you're actually acknowledged as a higher-up!"

Ahh....

Even a guy who just walked in is telling the two to shut up. Haruka instantly felt a tinge of awkwardness rise in his stomach again. More nervous sweat. Blinking.

"Guh... Sorry..." 

His voice was fading. Obnoxious music by bad RnB artists in 2010 was playing in the absence of Haruka's dignity. It was a sad day in Japan.

'Yaaay! And of course, Master Haruka!" Aoi hugged her notebook and accepted his terms then immediately screwed it up and called him master anyway. The pen was returned, and the giddy China girl turned to see... Yes, of course, the master of laying on stairs! "You! Hi! Hello! I'm being loud about a hero walking among us!" The prodigy praised the Blue Storm player, and pointed directly to him, which was probably embarrassing them more since all eyes were probably on them by now.

"Bask in his greatness! Hurry up and do it too, because I gotta find Fubuki! Oh", Aoi stopped bouncing for a few seconds, and turned to the register. "Gimme another Strawberry scoop, please. It's for my friend."

For the most part, Lua had managed to get out of her funk. Most of her time was spent working and going to school despite all the terrifying news she had heard. Because despite it all, life was still simply what it was: basking in simple pleasures and nothing more. Who had time to get serious?

Having finished her shift at the ramen shop, she passed a rather noisy girl at the ice cream parlor. She wondered what all her racket was about, only to notice that she was hanging out with...the white-haired butler guy?

Man, he sure gets around.

There was also some guy with headphones Lua swore she saw hanging around the park with nothing better to do. He must be living one of the simplest lives of all. She wondered how he managed to eat every day if he didn't really work or anything.

Those thoughts aside, running a hand through her hair briefly, she walked up and ordered a cone of mint chocolate chip from the counter, her favorite.

"A Hero?" Sen questioned the girl, look back and forth between the man she pointed at and her. "Him?", he started to scratch the back of his head in pure confusion "R-right.. I bask in your glory, o great one.", these words left Sen's mouth with a monotone tone that was very clearly not serious.

Before Sen even got a chance to order some icecream the girl ordered some for him(???) herself, meaning he didn't have to pay, which was absolutely great. "Riiiggghtt", he repeated once again. "Is that "Fubuki" another "hero"?"

"Yes, hero!" Aoi demanded. He basked, he gave such honor and respect to the Master. Excellent. Her job as a servant of the navy was complete. Never mind that he thought she was joking or just crazy. "Fubuki is my personal hero, which is different!" The girl spoke proudly of her first Japanese friend, and took the ice cream. "Now to find her! Bye Sakuya! Bye Master Haruka! Bye Stair-Lying champion!"

Aoi dashed out, high on... some kind of sugar. People questioned what kind of drugs she must've been on.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuubuuuuuuukiiiiiii!!" The girl's voice echoed through the mall as she waltzed around eateries to find that hungry lass.

"She's crazy. I'm sure you figured that out by now..."

Haruka took a bite of his ice cream, apologizing to the guy who just walked in and Aoi yelled at. Apparently he had something to do with lying on stairs. Haruka knew better than to ask about anything Aoi mentioned at this point because it would probably make less than no sense.

"Sorry about that." Haruka turned on his stool back facing the outside of the mall, just in time to catch a crazed Aoi running through yelling for Fubuki. Haruka scratched his head, not sure what to make of her as a person. 

Something was off about the atmosphere for a moment-

Somebody who knows Haruka walked into the parlor. Haruka froze still for just a second as ten thousand ways to explain and/or escape the parlor instantly passed through his head. He settled on one in a mere fraction of an instant.

He did nothing.

But eat his ice cream casually, hoping no more crazy encounters would occur today. He had to apologize more to the stair-lying Champion later, as to not come off as some egotistical douche bag.

The noisy girl had left looking for her friend or something. Suit herself. There's two champions right here and she wasn't giving them time of day outside of being some sort of loud fangirl.

...Then again, these two weren't actually champions, were they? They'd probably just made some stuff up because the girl was cute. Yeah, that had to be it.

Still, Lua found herself drawn to the white-haired guy, who now appeared to be eating his ice cream as though nothing had happened. Sitting across from him, she took a quick lick of her mint chocolate chip, then gave him a sly wink. "Smooth moves, Mr. 'Champion.'"

After waiting and waiting and waiting, Fubuki's breakfast finally arrived. Waffles topped with fruit, ice cream, and whipped cream, with onigiri and miso soup. She had been waiting almost an hour for this food, and was just about to dig in to her extremely late breakfast when the call of her name was heard. It was Aoi. Immediately, Fubuki tried to hide herself so as her breakfast would not be interrupted. They could go shopping together after Fubuki was no longer on the verge of starvation. Looking down, Fubuki grabbed her utensils and started eating vigorously, hoping she wouldn't be noticed until she was finished eating.

Aoi literally skidded the second she saw Fubuki, even leaving tire tracks on the floor as if she was actually a highspeed race cart. Rushing back to the eatery, she spotted Fubuki wolfing down breakfast. There was plenty of food and the speed she was going, she must've been starving, as Aoi suspected. Giving a little confident giggle over guessing that stomach growl, the girl waltzed into the place with a strawberry ice cream cone somehow miraculously intact after such velocity. Nobody bothered the crazy lass as she approached her friend's table.

"Hey! Hey! Fubukiiii."

"I already explained to him, I'm not a Champion or anything. She's just really easily amazed or something, I guess." 

Haruka didn't need to turn his head to recognize the voice; it was the waitress from the ramen shop elsewhere in the mall. He chomped on the ice cream again, his teeth just barely making contact with the stick that had the ice cream mold on it. He closed his eyes, focusing on the taste of the ice cream and not the smart comment from the person talking to him.

"Besides, I have someone else. I don't need to make a fuss about being some Champion, you know?" 

Nom.