Kuuga City.

There's no joke about Raiden being a disgrace to all Infernity players out there and about Bishbaalkun-kun being a superior protagonist. Come on, we can't ride the same joke to the moon and back all the time.

Roughly a week or so passed since Nagi started living with Raiden- and since Neiru had to get a crew to clean up the docks after the mess Shohei made after beating that orphan in a card game, but we don't talk about that- and it was the weekend time again.

The usual routine would be for Raiden to wake up, spend an ungodly amount of time looking up "cultured" artwork of Tour Guide, and then eating cup ramen for breakfast before setting up for a weekend of not knowing how to play BA.

Emphasis on "usual".

Now that Nagi was around to make breakfast, the time for lazing around after waking up was over. The weekend meant two whole days of getting closer to the real life incarnation of Tour Guide, and goddammit, Raiden was gonna use those two days at their fullest! Raiden spent the five days of the previous week either working as Deadhand or getting home from school exhausted, so the golden chance to get close to the cute red haired lady was finally upon her!

You ride that Juggernaut Liebe to the moon, Raiden!

Saturday began, Raiden woke up, she skipped her sacred Tour Guide Pixiv hour, actually got dressed for once, and walked down to the kitchen, this time not bringing along her Tour Guide bodypillow. She entered the kitchen, and immediately got a step closer to being like some guy called Nibiru Suzui.

"Good morning, Nagi- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES?!"

That's rich coming from you.

No, Nagi wans't baring it all, we still want that PG rating afterall. She was just on her underwear, since that's the most card game stories can get.

"But I'm wearing my undergarments?" Nagi tilted her head.

You keep being a precious roll, you daughter of a dead yakuza boss you.

"No no, well yes, but that's not the point!" Raiden squealed, covering her face with both hands to protect herself from seeing enough to make her have a stroke, but still letting gaps between her fingers to burn this bittersweet moment into her smooth brain. "Y-y-you can't just go around in just panties and call it fine!! Where are your clothes?!"

"My suit started to smell bad so I put it in the washing machine."

"Okay but what about your other clothes?!" 'Dammit, I will not let myself be affected by this! I, Shinohara Raiden, have the brain power and resolve needed to not be affected by seeing Nagi like this!!!'

She didn't.

"Hm?" Nagi tilted her head.

"...eh?"

"Other clothes?"

"...Nagi, do you... Do you only have that suit...?"

"Kawakami Neiru said I was better off not holding onto many things since I was living on a limited number of days."

"T-then just use some of mine, I-i don't mind!!" 'Kyaaaaaaaa, Nagi's scent on my clo- GRAB A HOLD OF YOURSELF, DEADHAND! THINK ABOUT COMBOS, THINK ABOUT LOOPS, THINK ABOUT- WAIT THOSE NEED TOUR GUIDE-CHAN!'

"I can't."

"N-no, really, I don't min-"

"No, I really can't. They're too tight on the chest area. I thought it was because I had just eaten breakfast, but after seeing under your covers while you slept, I noticed how little your breasts actually are. I'd say you are a-?"

"I-I GET THE POINT!!!"

Defeated, Raiden fell to her knees.

'I never had any chance aginst the double Ds she's packing...'

You have no idea how funny and ironic that line will be in a few words.

"Wait... Y-YOU LOOKED UNDER MY COVERS?!"

"Hm." Nagi nodded. "You are truly an heavy sleeper. I'm also amazed that you managed to sleep fully nude. The nights are so chilly here in Kuuga City."

"Y-you... You... I'm never recovering from this..." Raiden weeped, staring at the floor in pure shame. If her face got any redder, she'd become the Red Gadget retrain.

"And your face when you sleep... How cute."

Nagi's voice was always low and monotone, almost like it was void of any emotion. It also resembled the dominant figures of superior status that showed up on the eroges Raiden played before becoming a Tour Guide purist, so she was into that sort of stuff.

So lo and behold, the second Nagi said those words with that voice, Raiden felt a Forbbiden Lance going through cher chest.

She fell flat on the ground.

Shinohara Raiden was utterly and absolutely defeated.

So for the sake of Raiden's cardiac health and health insurance, after eating breakfast and waiting for Nagi's suit to dry, the two got into a train and headed out for the biggest mall in Kuuga City, just called Kuuga Center.

Kuuga Center was a massive building, with a metric crapton of floors, and enough clothing stores to rival the copious amount of Blue Eyes support that get shat out on a yearly basis. It also had tons of food places for Raiden to drown her problems into. We call that a pro duelist move.

"It looked smaller from the outside." Raiden commented.

"I believe you're joking, correct? We couldn't even see the end of this building from the outside." Nagi replied.

"Y-yeah, I'm joking..." She sweatdropped.

"I understand your attempts at humour. I simply do not find them entertaining."

"Yup, hear you loud a clear..." Raiden nodded. "I don't really know what places sell what since Shohei handles the shopping for me but... It's a mall, it has to have tons of clothing stores, right?"

"I never came to one. Perhaps, you should call one of your school friends to provide us with support?" Nagi recommended.

"No no, no chance. I'd have to go through massive hoops and holes to explain who you are without revealing that I'm Dead-"

You just had to jinx it, you dumb dumb.

"Yo, Raiden-chan!"

"Hello there, Shinohara-san."

"Oh hi, Nakiri-chan, Honomi-san." Raiden waved at them and looked back at Nagi. "Like I was saying, I can't compromi- NAKIRI-CHAN AND HONAMI-SAN?!"

Yep.

Raiden turned to see Nakiri and Yuujin walking towards her and Nagi. Seems like they were already on the mall, and just crossed paths with the two girls by complete chance.

'SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!' Raiden yelled in her mind.

She looked away from them, slapped herself in the face twice, and forced herself to change into the calm and collected beauty mode from school.

"Oh, what a pleasure to see you two here, Honami-san, Nakiri-chan." She giggled.

"Freaky." Nagi hummed.

"Oi oi, don't blow the cover!" Raiden whispered.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Raiden-chan!" Nakiri laughed. "Oooh, beautiful lady!" Nakiri said with a thick engurishu accent.

"Oi, don't go being weird to people you don't know." Yuujin deadpanned, smacking Nakiri on the head. "Nice to see you too, Shinohara-san. Who is your friend?"

"O-oh, this is-"

"Hijiri Nagi." Nagi bowed. "I'm Raiden's roo-"

"Nagi-san is my cousin!" Raiden interjected, placing her hands on Nagi's shoulder and giving them a light squeeze to tell to go along. Her brain was too scrambled thinking up lies to notice she was touching best girl. "She came to visit me this week and will stay in Kuuga for a while!"

"Oh, interesting. Where are you from, Hijiri-san?" Yuujin asked.

"I'm from-"

"Alba City!" 'Score! In a world where a city named Kuuga exists, no one will doubt the existence of some city called Alba! You go, Raiden! Where did I heard that name, anyway? Wasn't in in a structure deck or-'

"A-alba City?!" Nakiri asked. "That means you've probably seen Saionji-sama in person!"

'SHIT, THAT'S WHERE I HEARD IT FROM, IT'S THE CITY NAKIRI-CHAN KEEPS DROOLING ABOUT!'

Nakiri simping for someone's mom, one, Raiden, zero.

"...indeed." Nagi simply nodded.

"HOLYCRAPHOLYCRAPHOLYCRAP! FINALLY, SOMEONE WHO HAS SEEN THE GODDESS OF GODS IN PERSON!" Nakiri yelled out. Nakiri was one step closer to attaining heaven.

"I told you to not be weird!" Yuujin deadpanned.

"No no, you said to not be weird to people I don't know, but now I know Hijiri-sa- I mean, the great Hijiri-sama from Alba! Raiden-chan, back me up!"

"I-i mean... N-nakiri-chan's is out of line, but Nakiri-chan has a point... R-right?"

Raiden sneaked a glance at Nagi, who just gave her a thumbs up to tell her she was doing great.

"See?! Even Raiden-chan agrees! Hey hey, Hijiri-sama, tell me something!!"

"Sama?" Nagi tilted her head.

"Is it true Saionji-sama's boobs are that big?!"

"Nakiri..." Yuujin sighed.

"Is it true John's accent is that incomprensible?!"

"Nakiri...!" Yuujin groaned.

"Is it true Takamine Minoru summons his mom all the time?!"

"Nakiri!" Yuujin called out, smacking Nkairi again.

"What?! I bet he has some massive Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Modes down there to summon his mom!"

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE THAN THE STUFF YOU SAID BEFORE!"

"Oh, true. Sphere Mode's attack may change. Ow well, I'll just say it normally. He must have massive balls to summon his mom!"

Yuujin just let out a loud and extended groan to relieve himself from the urge to slap the dumb dumb out of Nakiri right there on the spot.

"Your friends are... There's no other way to put it. They're weird." Nagi whispered.

"We prefer to use the term quirky..." Raiden sighed. 'How am I gonna escape from this one...'

"Yo, since you guys are here, join us! Me and Yuujin came to check out if the card store got the new expansion, Onslaught of Dragoon Souls. I know you ain't much of a duelist, Raiden-chan, but Hijiri-sama must be!" Nakiri exclaimed.

"O-oh, I don't know about that. Nagi-san isn't a-"

"Ok." Nagi shrugged.

"...ah?" 'EH?! READ THE ROOM!'

"I wouldn't mind seeing new cards. We came here to buy clothes, so any help you could provide us in exchange of us going with you would be highly appreciated." The redhead bowed.

"You don't need to talk that formally with us, Hijiri-san..." Yuujin sweatdropped,

"Sure thing, Hijiri-sama! I know a store that sells some banging undies and-!"

"I don't know what you have down but I will kick it regardless." The blonde boy said.

"You and Raiden-chan can go check it out while me and Yuujin wait outside but look into the store respectfully!"

"I'm not in the need for new undergarments, but I'll take note of that." Nagi nodded.

'Why is this happening, I want to go home...' Raiden mentally weeped, but still showed the calm and collected girl smile. "In that case, we'd love to go with you."

"Bussin'! Come on Yuujin, we gotta be the firsts to get that sweet expansion before they emergency ban half of its card because some obscure octopus boy from '99 reshapes the entire Epic Summon mechanic!"

"Please stop saying dumbass things, you're not even making sense..."

Nakiri darted out towards the nearest elevator at max speed, and while sighing at his friend's over the top antics, Yuujin followed along. Raiden followed the two, but a tug on the sleeve from Nagi made her stop.

"Hm?"

"I have a question."

"What's up, Nagi?"

"What is a Saionji?"

"Oh, that's... A-a person? I think?"

The two had to stay behind and look up stuff about Alba City before joining the other two in order to keep Nagi's cover. Raiden was too busy being Deadhand to know what happened over at funny momcon land.

One exploring and card shopping montage later, the group finally arrived at a clothing store that didn't force Yuujin to drag Nakiri out with force because of an unwarranted joke. The store was called Soup, because there's a certain amount of Duel Monster puns someone can make in one part.

"Welcome to Soup, the place where yours truly buys all the cool clothes you see me wearing! Soup has more drip than Drip Warrior!" Nakiri announced.

"That isn't a real card, dumbass." Yuujin deadpanned.

"Drip Warrior...? You mean Drill Warrior?" Nagi asked.

"Y-yup, that one from the dusty star deck or something! Let's go buy some cute clothes, Nagi-san!" Raiden exclaimed, half-assedly grabbing Nagi's hand and dragging her along into the store.

"Man, Raiden-chan's pretty weird today. Whaddya say, Yuujin?"

"Say what, exactly? Shinohara-san looks normal to me." Yuujin shrugged and looked at the store's entrance.

"Oya? Oya oya?" Nakiri sneaked closer to the blonde boy with a big smug. "You jealous of her holding someone else's hand?"

"S-shut up!"

"Ara, ara, little Yuujin-kun is jealous of Raiden-chan's thick cousin? Oh how cute~~!" Nakiri teased.

"Nakiri..." Yuujin looked at Nakiri with that particular glare.

"Oh sugar honey iced tea, I'm just- ...R-RAIDEN-CHAN, HIJIRI-SAMA, HE WANTS TO OMNI-NEGATE MY LIFE! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"COME BACK HERE, YOU DAMN PINK HAIRED DWARF!"

Nakiri started to run around the store, with Yuujin following suite, both yelling like madmen, until the store employees kicked them out for being an annoyance to the common public.

On the other hand, Raiden grabbed some clothes for Nagi and dragged her into a changing booth.

"Alright, we finally got some time away from them... Mooooou, why did this have to happen today?!" Raiden cried.

"You're doing great. Have a Toad." Nagi grabbed a Toadally Awesome pulshie from her jacket and gave it to Raiden.

"Why do you... When did you..." She hugged the plushie and hid her blushing face. 'She gave me a gift...!'

"Also, why did you grab these shirts? None of them seem to fit my chest area."

"S-SOME ARE FOR ME TO TRY, I WANNA TRY BUY MY OWN CLOTHES FOR ONCE!!!"

"Then I'll go change in another dressing room."

"I-it's fine, we can both use this one..." Raiden sneaked a glance at Nagi, who was looking straight at her. "B-because this may be our shot at ditching Nakiri-chan and Honami-san!!"

"You aren't very good at social interaction, are you?"

"L-like you're any better! Just change clothes while looking away and I'll do the same!!"

"You make a fair point."

Raiden sighed and ditched her shirt to try on the first she picked, but right before trying it on, a cold shiver ran through her body, making her yelp and drop it.

"W-w-wha-"

That sudden cold feeling originated from her sides, where Nagi had her hands, and from the bottom of her back, which the same redhead had just smooched. Her hands were ungodly cold, but with all the wind going around the city, who can blame her.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING, N-N-N-NAGI?!"

"You said you wanted this while you were asleep." Nagi answered, looking up at her.

That's right, Raiden was one of those weirdos who said creepy R-Rated crap while knocked out stone cold!

'OH GOD THIS IS THE END OF ME!'

"You also said many other things. You could almost write a small story with all the things you said." Nagi explained, getting back up and placing her hands against the wall, thus preventing an escape attempts from Raiden.

"I-I CAN ASSURE YOU I WAS JUST SNORING IN A WEIRD RHYTHM AND NOTHING ELSE!!" Raiden exclaimed, with a face more red than most Salamangreat monsters. She turned to face Nagi, but avoided making eye contact. "I-I SNORE FUNNY SINCE I-I WAS A KID, S-SHOHEI KEEPS TELLING ME TO GO GET HELP B-BECAUSE OF IT!"

"Oh, I see."

Nagi removed her hands from the wall, thus freeing Raiden...

'Oh dear god...'

...and then hit her with a wall slam!

'OH DEAR GOD!'

"I assume this was just snoring too... It was all just a coincidence, then."

"Y-YEP, YEPYEPYEPYEPYEP!" Raiden rapidly nodded.

"Then... What about this?" Nagi moved closer.

"Eh?"

Nagi kissed her. But not exactly. She kissed her right next to her lips, only missing them by not even a full millimeter. If you want to know how much that is in inches or feet, go learn the proper metric system.

'EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!'

"Your reactions when awake are similar to when you're asleep." Nagi mused, stepping back to give Raiden some air. "Both are.... Truly cute."

And that's an Artifact Failnaught right through the heart.

Nagi grabbed her clothes and left Raiden's changing room. With her gone, Raiden slowly slithered down the wall until she was on her knees, completly thrown out of her game after that turn of events.

"That woman is going to be the end of me..."

Raiden grabbed her phone with a shaking hand and dialed up the one number she saved for whenever things like this would happen, the number of the one responsible adult able to guide her through her love-related problems.

"Help me, Yua-san..."

"Teasing? I don't know what to tell you, Raiden-chan. It's been some years since I've been a teenager. Leading Susanoo isn't exactly the job people pick to be able to go on dates and things of the sort. But I do get fustrated at some times too."

"Wait, that's not-"

"This is a truly stressfuly job. That's why I call Sho-"

Raiden immediately ended the call. For all she knew, Yua could call Shohei to call him a dumbass to unwind, or call him for things she really didn't want to know, so in the end, it was best to just forget about it.

Really trying to take away that PG rating, aren't you?

After all of that Soup store sequence of events, Raiden and Nagi left the store, finally with some extra clothes for Nagi. Raiden couldn't bring herself to look at Nagi at the moment. One glance and she'd give up being Deadhand to just be Dead. To make things worse, Nakiri and Yuujin were waiting outside the store.

In the end, they went to McBistroDonaldButcher, where the four got the Hungry Burger special. That Nakiri really likes burgers too big for the typical human.

Raiden sat next to Nakiri, but sadly Nagi sat right across her, so she just stared down at her tray while eating.

"Man, you're really into that burger, aren't you, Raiden-chan? Understandable, the Hungry Burger special is the greatest invention of human kind!" Nakiri exclaimed, gobbling down on that innocent burger at inhuman speeds.

"Don't eat like that, you're making a mess." Yuujin deadpanned.

"Yup, it's about the burgers, Nakiri-chan, love the burgers, score a burger run, love the burgers, let's go burgers..." Raiden nodded.

"Hm? Are you okay, Raiden-san?" Nagi asked, placing her hand on Raiden's forehead.

And then Raiden shivered again while nodding.

Nakiri, being the ultimate smug genius, took notice of that. Nakiri caught on to Raiden and Nagi's weird interactions and saw through their lie about being cousins. As far as Nakiri was concerned, Nagi was still from Alba, and was still able to ask Saionji to step on her.

I wish she could step on me too.

That's when Nakiri had an idea, an idea that would save Raiden from being close to Nagi, save Yuujin from being cucked by Nagi, and get a feel of how a duelist from Alba actually played.

"Let's duel, Hijiri-sama."

"Duel?" Nagi asked.

"Yup! Since we finished eating, let's give the others something to watch while they finish their food! Raiden-chan and Yuujin are hopeless slow eaters, so we got enough time for like ten duels!"

"Excuse you, I like to savour my food, unlike you, who eats like a beast after a famine." Yuujin deadpanned. "Then again, the way Hijiri-san ate hers... That is something else." He shuddered.

Nagi wasn't as into burgers as Nakiri and Shohei.

She was into a bread.

"I don't have a duel disk of my own, so I'll have to pass." Nagi said.

"Oh, you can use mine. It's no problem." The blonde boy said, offering Nagi his duel disk.

"Then I guess I'll take you on that offer, Nakiri-san."

"Yay, I get to fight someone in earshot of Saionji's hardening voice!"

"Hardening voice?" Nagi tilted her head.

"You don't want to know." Yuujin sweatdropped and tried to not smack Nakiri again.

The group moved their things to the balconny outside the eating area, where people could duel while others ate and watched. Nagi and Nakiri created some distance between each other, and their duel began.

"Duel!" Nakiri exclaimed.

"Duel." Nagi nodded.

[Hijiri Nagi (8000) versus Nakiri Mitsue (8000)]

"Ah man, I lost the coin flip... Minor! Show me what you got, Hijiri-sama!"

"Hm." Nagi nodded. "I summon D/D Savant Kepler. With his effect, I add Dark Contract with the Gate to my hand. Then, I activate it. Once per turn, it let's me add a D/D monster from my deck to my hand. I'll add-"

"Seeing as you didn't start out with Copernicus to mill Necro Slime, I'm guessing you'll either add Griffon or Copernicus to go into your combo. If you add Griffon, you'll summon him and then link him and Kepler into Gilgamesh, set Copernicus and Ragnarok as the scales, pendulum summon Griffon and Kepler, and Copernicus from your hand, overlay into Caesar, make a second Gilgamesh and add Dark Contract with the Swamp King to fuse both Gilgamesh into Genghis, then use Necro Slime to with Copernicus to make a second Genghis, use the first to bring back Griffon, add Orthros to hand, use Ragnarok's pendulum effect to revive Caesar and burn yourself for 1000, which will in turn get Orthros out, then you tune Orthros and Griffon into Siegfried, overlay both Genghis into the bigger Caesar, then Xyz Change the smaller Caesae into Des Makina, right? But you'd need to add Griffon in that case, and to have Copernicus in hand. Or you might just not have either in hand and are gonna wing it from there. So what will it be, Hijiri-sama?"

"How..." Nagi muttered.

'Nagi...' Raiden lifted her head and looked at Nagi.

Nagi's eyes were wide open. Nakiri had seen through her entire best play, and somehow calculated she either had half the pieces or none.

And sadly for Nagi, the answer was none.

"I add D/D Griffon to my hand...! D/D Griffon's effect! Since there is a D/D monster on my field, I can special summon him in defense position from my hand. And then, I use both to build the link circuit. King of all arms, ascend from the abyss of immortality and confront the gods with your bare hands. Link Summon! D/D/D Abyss King Gilgamesh!"

"Where did all of that come from? I didn't know Nakiri-chan knew that much." Raiden commented.

"That's the thing about Nakiri. Massive, honestly impressive, dumbass at school, but an honest to god great duelist all around. Nakiri once called out the three best plays I could make before I even started any of them." Yuujin replied.

"Nyehehe, comes with the wish to join Sangria one day!"

"Gilgamesh's skill, I set D/D Savant Copernicus and D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok as my scales. Then, I pay the price for it. (8000>7000) Now, swing the pendelum between dimensions. Pendulum Summon! D/D Griffon and D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok!"

"From my hand, I activate D/D Swirl Slime's effect. I fusion summon using him and Kepler from my hand."

"A second Kepler in hand? That was a brick and a half." Nakiri sweatdropped.

"Conquer the world with a frenzy of flames, king of blazing conquest. Fusion Summon! D/D/D Flame King Genghis!"

"And then, I Xyz Summon using Gilgamesh. Descend from a cluster of dark dimensions, and inverse the knowledge of the world with your presence. Xyz Summon! D/D/D Amnesty King Des Makina!"

"Turn end."

Nagi
Hand: 1
LP: 6000
XXXOX
XOXOX

Nakiri
Hand: 5
LP: 8000
OOOOO
OOOOO

"Time to bring it to ya, Hijiri-sama! Draw! Let me start off by helping you ahead of time and get rid of that Dark Contract!"

"What?"

"I use Harpie's Feather Duster! Your backrow goes kaboom!"

"Dark Contract with the Gate goes to my graveyard, and Abyss Ragnarok and Copernicus go to my extra deck." Nagi muttered, biting her lower lip.

"Hm? Was that a bad thing?" Raiden asked.

"With Des Makina on the field, yeah. Des Makina can absorb monsters and turn them into overlay units, by either detaching two or destroying a Dark Contract on the back. Since Nakiri got rid of the Dark Contract Hijiri-san had, Des Makina just became one giant monsters in the way. Essentially, Nakiri just dealt with the disruption Des Makina had, but still has to deal with the roadblock that is his 3000 attack body." Yuujin explained.

"Don't gotta deal with it if I attack directly." Nakiri pointed out.

"That's also tru- Wait, what?"

"I'll start my turn for real by setting a monster! And then, let's link summon!"

A holographic dome was raised around the two duelists and their friends.

Inside the dome, everything went dark.

Then, a snap of fingers was heard.

The lights returned, and the four were now in a spooky plaza, surrounded by Halloween-themed monsters celebrating around them.

"Let's show these spooky alien dudes from history how it's done! Link Summon! Ghostrick Festival!"

"Wait, but how? You can't use face down monsters to summon from the extra deck, right?" Nagi asked, holding back her surprise.

"That's the thing about Festival. It let's me break the game and use a face down Ghostrick to summon it!"

"W-wait, Ghostricks? F-for real?" Yuujin blinked.

"Yup."

"What happened to Dinorphia?!"

"Oh, I spent alot of time playing other decks online and forgot how to use them. I probably should have made a guide for it, but I didn't, so oh well!" Nakiri shrugged with a cheeky smile.

Sounds to me like someone didn't want to dedicate his time learning how to play a counter trap deck with only two main deck monsters that rellies on generic Dinosaur cards to run and keeps halving life points to use most of their cards, not to mention how it has fusion monsters and a fusion trap that halves life points to fuse instead of a fusion spell.

But who knows.

"Now check this out! When I link summon, I can summon Parallel eXceed from my hand to the area Festival points to! Then, Parallel eXceed's effect! When its summoned, I can special summon a second one from the deck, and since both were summoned by the effects of Parallel eXceed, they both become level 4! That's all I need for this one! I overlay the two Parallel eXceeds to build the Xyz network! Let's enjoy this spooky season with all we got, and show them the most mischievous angel of them all! Xyz Summon! Ghostrick Angel of Mischief!"

"Angel's effect! I detach one of her overlay units to add Ghostrick Mansion from the deck to my hand, then I activate it! Mansion makes it so that all damage dealt by non-Ghostricks gets halved, and neither of us can attack face down monsters! Then I activate the spell card Ghostrick Shot! It let's me bring back Ghostrick Stein from the grave! Battle! Ghostrick Festival's effect! Since I got a Ghostrick Field Spell, my Ghostricks can attack directly! Go give Hijiri-sam from love, Angel of Mischief! (2000)"

"Hm! (6000>>4000)"

"You too, Stein! (1600)"

"(4000>>2400)"

"Stein's effect! Since he dealt damage, I grab a Ghostrick trap from my deck. Moving on the main phase 2, Stein's effect! I flip him face down. Then, I throw a pair of face downs and pas sit over to you, Hijiri-sama."

Nagi
Hand: 1
LP: 2400
XXXOX
OOOO

Nakiri
Hand: 1
LP: 8000
EMZ: Ghostrick festival
XOXOO
OXXOO

Holy crap, a duel actually reached the illusive turn 2 in this story.

"My turn. Draw. I summon D/D Savant Copernicus in attack position. Copernicus' effect, I send Necro Shade from my deck to my graveyard. And then, I overlay Copernicus and Griffon. King of waves, spread your storms across the world in a legendary conquest. Xyz Summon! D/D/D Wave King Caesar!"

"And then-"

(Media - Fight Again)

"Not so fast, Hijiri-sama! I got a trap reserved just for Caesar! I activate Floodgate Mirror Force! This one will turn Caesar into face down defense position, and to top it off, you can't change him back to attack mode!"

"I see... In that case, I'll move into the battle phase. Des Makina will attack Ghostrick Festival! (3000)"

"Hold your horses for a sec, Hijiri-sama! Ghostrick Festival's effect! When you declare an attack, I tribute it to summon a Ghostrick from my deck in face down defense position! And with Mansion's effect, you can't swing at my face down monsters, so you have to swing at Angel direc-"

"Des Makina, attack Angel. (3000)"

"W-wait, don't you want to swing with s-something smaller or-"

"Amnesty Denial!"

"Guess not!! (8000>>7500)" Nakiri yelped. "Buuuut, that's fine! Because since you dealt damage to me, which Mansion halved, my Ghostrick Mary's effect activates!"

"What?!" Nagi silently gasped.

"I discard her to summon a Ghostrick from my deck in face down defense position! And now that I'm fresh out of face up monsters, Mansion let's you attack directly!"

"Then... Abyss Ragnarok, direct attack! (2200) Valhalla Collapse!"

"Brace yourself for this one, Hijiri-sama! I activate Ghostrick Scare!"

"W-what?!"

"Crap, that's a good one..." Yuujin nodded.

"Scare let's me turn all my face down monsters into face up defense position, and for each Ghostrick, one of your monsters gets turned face down! Let's go, Ghostrick Stein, Ghostrick Siren and Ghostrick Jiangshi! That's three Ghostricks, so Flame King Ghengis, Abyss Ragnarok, and the big guy on the chair, Des Makina, get all turned face down!"

"R-right..." Nagi nodded, turning her monsters face down.

"And then, my other effects activate! Jiangshi let's me add a Ghostrick monster from deck to hand, aslong as its level is equal to or less than the number of Ghostricks on the field. I'll add the level 3 Mummy. On the other hand, Siren mills two when she'd normal or flipped summomed, and if there's a Ghostrick among them, I grab a Ghostrick spell or trap from deck. I milled Ghostrick Renovation and Needle Ceiling, so I add Ghostrick Shot."

"Main phase 2, I flip Des Makina, Ghengis and Abyss Ragnarok face up... Turn end."

Nagi
Hand: 1
LP: 2400
XXXXO
OOOO

Nakiri
Hand: 2
LP: 7500
OXXXO
OOOOO

"Alright, my turn! Draw! Now that I finally have some face up Ghostricks on the field, I can normal summon the ones in my hand! I summon Ghostrick Mummy! Jiangshi and Siren's effects, I flip them face down, then flip summon them! Jiangshi's effect, I add Siren to hand, and Siren's effect, I mill two and grab Ghostrick Scare from the deck. Mummy's effect, I can normal a Ghostrick in addition to my normal summon, so I'll also summon Ghostrick Siren! This Siren's effect, I mill two and add Ghostrick or Treat to my hand!"

"Flipping face up and face down, generating advantage from that and messing with the opponent to protect themselves... That's the strength of Nakiri's Ghostricks." Yuujin said.

"Now let's set Stein in the circuit and link summon! Ghostrick Festival!"

"And both Sirens, overlay! Xyz Summon! Ghostrick Angel of Mischief!"

"Angel's effect! I detach one overlay unit to add my last Ghostrick Scare to my hand! Mummy and Jiangshi, overlay too! Master of darkness, starting up our parade of a hundred spirits and closing it with a snap of your fingers, the great ghost of Halloween! Xyz Summon! Ghostrick Alucard!"

"Alucard's effect! I detach one of his overlay units to destroy your face down Caesar! Spooky Halloween Snap!"

"Caesar is destroyed... Caesar's effect, I add Dark Contract with the Gate to my hand."

"And then, I use Ghostrick Renovation's effect!"

"By banishing it from my graveyard, I can Xyz Summon a Ghostrick from my extra deck using a Ghostrick Xyz I control! So using Alucard, Xyz Change! Marching through the cold and dark nights, until you reach the holy paradise of candy and trickery... Keep galloping until you reach the Halloween paradise! Xyz Summon! Ghostrick Dullahan!"

"Dullahan's effect! I detach one of his overlay units to halve Genghis' attack! And since I detached Alucard, Alucard's floating effect activates! It let's me return Jianghsi from the grave to the hand! Now I'll finally use that Ghostrick Shot I grabbed last turn and use it to revive Ghostrick Mummy! And, since this is Mummy is technically a new Mummy, having left the field and being summoned again now, I get one more normal summon off him! Ghostrick Jiangshi! Once again, Ghostrick Jiangshi and Ghostrick Mummy, overlay! Xyz Summon! Ghostrick Alucard!"

"I'm also gonna throw three face downs before going into the fight! Battle! With Festival's effect, I can attack directly! Ghostrick Alucard, show Hijiri-sama how it's done in Kuuga! (1800)"

"Aah! (2400>>600)" Nagi screamed.

"N-nagi!" Raiden called out.

"And to end it off, go, Ghostrick Dullahan! Dullahan's other effect! He gets 200 attack for each face up Ghostrick card on the field! Counting himself, Angel of Mischief, Allucard, Festival and Mansion, that's a whole stack! (1000>>2000) Cavalry Charge or Headless and Endless Riot!"

"(600>0)"

Nagi staggered back a little, but nonetheless, Raiden rushed to her side and grabbed her shoulders to support her. Her concern overshadowed the embarassment from earlier. How cute.

"You're a truly magnificent duelist, Nakiri-san." Nagi admitted.

"I'll be honest, I would have probably died if you had full combo'd me with the Copernicus and Griffon opening. That big Caesar negating special summons is a pain in the ass for my openers!" Nakiri laughed and walked over to Nagi, offering her a hand. "But you're super cool too, Hijiri-sama! You really are from Saionji-sama's land!"

"Indeed, Saionji lives in Alba City." She nodded and shook Nakiri's hand.

After the duel, the group got some ice cream and returned to the balconny to eat, but someone summoning Reptilianne Hydra after Bishbaalkin triggered Nakiri's PTSD so they went to have their ice cream inside.

"You ditched Dinorphia's but still ended up with something similar to them. I never knew you had Ghostricks too." Yuujin said. He was having lemon ice cream.

"What can I say? I'm a Nakiri of many talents, ufufu! Besides, Ghostrick's were my older bro's deck, so might aswell use his cards now that he ain't using them." Nakiri shrugged. Nakiri choose some tasty chocolate and peanut ice cream.

"You have an older brother, Nakiri-chan?" Raiden asked. She got strawberry ice cream because it has red.

You know who also has red? My mo- Tour Guide!

"I think the question here is why did he play Ghostricks if he was the older sibling." Nagi pointed out. Damn, Nagi has jokes too. She got a weird mix of melon, strawberry and chocolate ice cream.

"Yup. Big bro Naoya used to play Ghostricks back in the day." Nakiri nodded.

"Why did he stop then?" Yuujin asked.

"He found out where the rich bitches live, got himself a sugar mommy and never came home again. So slap my ass and call me Pog of Greed, I just got a free deck!"

"I think no one wants to do that." He deadpanned.

"What about you two? You guys got any siblings?"

"Only child here." Raiden shooked her head.

"Not as far as I'm aware." Nagi shrugged, gaining some weird looks from the rest of the group. "My father travels alot. What about you, Honami-san?"

"Me? Not really. My mother sadly passed away when I was younger, and my father never remarried after that." Yuujin explained.

"Oh, sad to hear. My condolences."

"Don't worry it about it, Hijiri-san." He chuckled.

"Speaking of your pops, didn't you said you wanted to hit the docks before the sun's down, Yuujin?" Nakiri asked.

"Oh crap, yeah. I'm gonna have to leave now, sorry for the sudden absence."

"Still hard at work to find your father? Please remember to rest too, Honami-san." Raiden smiled.

"Yeah, I know, I know. But I'll have plenty of time to rest after finding that bastard Deadhand and making him tell where my father is. See you guys later." Yuujin laughed and left the group.

"Deadhand..." Nagi muttered.

"Hm? Something up, Hijiri-sama?" Nakiri asked.

"Hm? No no, nevermind." She shook her head. "What do you want to do next?"

"We could go to the cinema. There's a new Uru-Man movie out, if I'm not mistake." Raiden suggested.

"Uru-Man?"

"It's the amazing story about Peker Parter, who got bitten by a radioactive Earthbound Immortal Uru, and gained superpowers! I love those movies, but the comics were better if you ask me." Nakiri explained.

"...right." Nagi nodded. She barelly understood what Nakiri said.

The three ended up going to cinema to watch Uru-Man: No Way Live-Twin Home, and then went their separate ways after the movie. Nakiri ended up hitting up some local stores and entering some tournaments to pass time, while Raiden and Nagi returned home.

The sun was now setting, and the two girls walked side by side on their way home. That's when Raiden tried to do some small talk, and to get some revenge for the dressing room incident.

"Y-you know... You got some funny reactions when dueling. How cute." Raiden said, smugging to herself mentally.

"I see. I'd say they don't match you hurrying to my aide. How cute." Nagi replied.

Yeah, Raiden utterly lost again and had to look away to show her blushing face.

'Goddammit, I dug my own grave... Change the subject, Raiden... Cmon, think Raiden, think! I got it!' "I never thought you'd use D/D. What made you choose it?"

"My mother gave me the deck, alongside her Number monster. I just never had the chance to duel people until now." Nagi explained. The look in her eyes seemed as empty as ever.

"Wait, you got a Number?!"

"Hm." She nodded and took it out of her deck. "Mine's Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy."

"Wow, that's sick... All I got is a lousy Dugares."

And then an awkward silence fell between the two, only broken when Nagi brought up something they talked about before.

"Have you thought about-"

"I'll do it." Raiden interjected. "I... I'll fight Shohei for the title of Tsukuyomi."

"I see... I'm glad to hear that."

"I'll free us both from this ocean of storms. I promise."

With that declaration, Raiden clenched her fist. Going against Shohei would be hard, not because of how good of a duelist he was, but because of the good person he turned out to be.

Nagi looked at Raiden, and for the first time since the two met, she cracked a small smile.

And because Raiden's a hopeless moron, she started blushing again and looked away.

"A-and I'll use my new title to find out where Honami-san's dad is too!!"

"My... How cute." Nagi chuckled, moving closer to Raiden and resting her head on her shoulder.

"W-wait, what you- Hmph!"

Nagi firmly planted the final nail on Raiden's coffin by doing the unthinkable... She had unprotected handholding with Raiden!

Whatever remaining braincells Raiden had were blasted to smithereens, so she just silenced herself and went along with it.

But then Nagi brought something else up.

"Oh yeah, this has been on my mind for a while." Nagi spoke up, letting go of Raiden and moving away.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Is Nakiri-san a boy or a girl?"

"Oh, Nakiri-chan's... Huh. Good question."