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Asuka was upset.
Truth be told, she had been upset for a good while now, ever since Mitsuo had pulled out that blasted Second Chance card. She was, by no means, an expert on Gamble Decks, but if there’s someone who could be considered one, it must have been her mama.
Mama hated Second Chance.
If someone who had built an entire dueling career on coin tosses, dice rolls and gamble cards for longer than she had been alive thought that the card, and by proxy, the strategy, was downright abominable, then it must be so.
She could still see it in her mind’s eye, how his face scrunched up at the mere mention of having one in his deck, all those years ago.
“Hell no! Are you out of your god-damned mind?”- he scream-whispered, given that it was way past her and Fubuki nii-san’s bedtime. While it was funny, in retrospect, how her parents were trying to argue in an orderly fashion because it was in the middle of the night, she felt every ounce of his anger in the moment, as if it were a life-or-death situation.
It might very much have been.
“Strategy-wise, it lowers the risk of Gamble Decks.”- papa said, matter-of-fact-ly. His face was as emotionless as always, but his eyes were fiercely blue in the dim light.
“If I wasn’t willing to take the risk, I wouldn’t run a Gamble Deck in the beginning. Redos are for losers who run a Gamble Deck but lack the gut to believe in their cards.”- mama argued, impassioned. Then all at once, he deflated, curling into the plush armchair in the corner, fingers tangled in wild blonde hair- “A true duelist will never be so afraid as to need an easy way out. Or am I still not enough for you to consider me a true duelist?”- he eyed papa, pouting.
Papa crossed his arms, peeved by mama’s reproachful gaze while trying his best not to let it show.
“Oh, quit it, Katsuya. You know damn well what I think of you.”- papa growled, but mama just laughed, bright and happy.
Somehow that cleared the air, if only just a little bit.
“Don’t let it get to your head, mutt.”- papa said, approaching the sofa in slow, purposeful strides- “I know for a fact you’ll be all yappy about it the moment I bring it up, but I figured I have to try, since it’s my money you’re gambling with.”
“Your money? Pfff”- mama’s grin was wicked as he flashed the band on his finger- “It’s our money, ya bastard.”- he put his cheek on the fold of his knee, sighing- “Besides, you can afford a little loss, with how much money I’ve made you since signing me.”
“How much money are you thinking?”- papa’s voice took a sharp edge, so different from all the other times she’d heard it in her short life, but no less intimidating. It scared and disgusted her in equal measures, though she couldn’t exactly say why.
“More than a crap-load.”- mama pointed a thumb towards his chest confidently, looking up at papa, who’s towering over him like a menacing shadow.
“I’m a star.”- he said teasingly, a playful glint in his bright, amber eyes.
Mama must have been incredibly brave or incredibly lacking in survival instinct. Papa looked ready to swallow him whole.
She must do something. This was getting out of hand.
“Should I, though?”- she paused, momentarily. It seemed like an adult thing. Shouldn’t her parents be able to work it out themselves, without her intervention? After all, mama looked like he knew what he was doing.
“You are.”- she couldn’t see papa’s face from this angle, but he sounded dangerous. Not the usual I’m-going-to-bankrupt-your-company-dangerous, but the I’m-going-to-make-you-feel-a-lot-of-pain-dangerous.
To act or not to act, that was the question.
“But you.”- he gripped mama’s chin with his thumb and forefinger, bringing his face up so their eyes meet, which also bared his neck- “Are also a stubborn little mutt.”
Alright. That’s enough!
“No!”- she heard herself scream as if from an out-of-body perspective, feet and arms moving without her permission.
Before she knew it, she was pushing papa aside and throwing herself onto the armchair, little arms raised above her head in an attempt to shield mama from him.
“Asuka?”- she heard her parents say in unison, surprised and, in papa’s case, panicked.
“Why are you up?”- she heard mama asked, but ignored him in favor of glaring at papa, who looked nothing like the fearsome figure he was mere seconds ago. His blue eyes were wide, cheeks cherry-red, arms held out as if about to explain himself, but couldn’t find the words.
He looked embarrassed. And guilty. Like Fubuki nii-san when she caught him eating her cookies last week.
Good. He should be.
She held him by the wrists, face serious, eyes focused.
She tried to inject all the strength her little body could carry into her voice. She might not sound as intimidating as he was, but she needed him to understand.
“Nobody hurts mama.”
Papa seemed to sober up at that sentence. All at once, his face hardened, jaws set, eyes taking on that usual sharp glint.
He held her little hands in his large ones, thumb caressing the backs in soothing swipes. He nodded solemnly, repeating her words in reverence, as if making a sacred vow.
“No-one hurts mama.”
Despite what she’d seen, despite the danger he always wore like a cloak and all the terrible things she knew he was capable of, she believed him.
Word for word, she believed him.
“Awwwww, thank you, Asuka, my knight in shining armour.”- mama’s voice cut through the tension in its cheeriness. He held her from behind, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck, wispy soft hair tickling the side of her face- “Papa would never hurt me, but thank you for defending mama.”- he kissed her noisily on both cheeks, endlessly affectionate.
She shared a bewildered look with papa before mama released her and turned her around to face him. He pulled a red handkerchief from his pocket, its material soft and cool, glittering when it hit the light. It drew her eyes, shiny and elegant in its simplicity.
“For you, my knight.”- he tied it around her neck in a crooked bow, grinning- “A token of my appreciation.”
She lifted one tail of the bow and turned it every which way to watch it glimmer. “Like Cinderella’s dress.”- she mused, fascinated.
It was papa’s turn to turn her around to face him, deft fingers swiftly undoing and redoing the knot.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, Asuka.”- the bow looked indefinitely more even now. Papa was much better at making bows, she decided- “We were just playing pretend. I’m sorry we scared you.”
“Pretend?”- she echoed, leaning her head on mama’s shoulder- “Like Fubuki nii-san trying to act like Red Eyes?”- she muffled a yawn behind her palm. She was a lot more tired, now that the fight had left her.
“Yeah! Papa was pretending to be Blue Eyes to scare me.”- she felt more than heard the smile in mama’s voice as he rubbed circles into her back. She had half a mind to protest, to say that papa didn’t make for a very convincing dragon and that mama didn’t look half as terrified as he should have been, but mama’s shoulder was too warm, his voice too soft and his hands too soothing.
She must have fallen asleep on mama’s shoulder after that, because the next thing she knew was Fubuki nii-san snoring into her hair when mama came in to wake them up in the morning.
—
Needless to say, Asuka loved that red handkerchief.
It was more than just a shimmery piece of cloth that couldn’t fit around her shoulders anymore.
It was something that she’d earned from trying to protect her loved ones.
It was a piece of mama she could always have with her when he was away from home on tours and the video calls weren't enough to lull her to sleep.
It was stolen from her by that foul boy who had no respect for rules. Ripped from her pocket by selfish, spineless, cowardly Mitsuo.
She really tried to get it back on her own, without involving either the teacher or her mama. She wasn’t a baby. She could handle things herself.
But Mitsuo was a conniving little thief. He always kept the handkerchief on him, like a perverted trophy, even when going to the bathroom. He made himself scarce every moment class was not in session, and was impossible to find on school grounds.
She even contemplated bashing his head in and prying it from his cold, dead hands.
But Asuka was not a thief, or a violent person. She would never stoop so low as to resort to brute force to solve her problems. “Wars are fought with words, not violence”- as papa liked to say.
She hated feeling the way she did in those days. Helpless and alone. None of her classmates seemed too keen on standing up to him. And he kept taunting her every day he was in class with his smug, punchable face.
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she told Fubuki nii-san about it. Some sage advice, perhaps. Or, knowing her brother, some incredibly reckless scheme that just.might.work.
She did not expect him to tell mama. Dramatic flare and all.
She was embarrassed when she told mama what happened, without her brother’s dramatic embellishments, this time. Again, she was not a baby. She didn’t need her mama and brother to fight her battles for her. But she must admit, just this once, that she might need help against this certain opponent.
“What a brat.”- mama commented, eyes fiery with fury on her behalf. Then, he grew contemplative for a long while, before crouching down to look Asuka in the eye.
His voice was tempered, then. Gentle, even. “Do you want me to step in, Asuka?”- he asked, with all the seriousness in the world.
Asuka nodded. She wanted Mistuo to pay.
What followed was a chain of unexpected events. She was called to the principal's office in the middle of a Tuesday with both her and Mitsuo’s mama present, where she recounted the whole thing all over again. She did, patiently, despite wanting, more than anything, to just yank the handkerchief from his hands and be done with it. She tried her best to push through, because she wanted everyone to know how he had wronged, not just her, but everyone in class.
Mitsuo’s face was murderous by the end of her story.
“Is there something you’d like to add, Mitsuo-kun?”- mama asked, gently but firmly, giving him a chance to defend himself.
Which he didn’t take. He hung his head, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes, and stayed silent for a good long while.
Of course. How could he? He was a coward. The mere sight of an adult on her side must have scared him half to death.
“Now, I think Mitsuo-kun’s parents are more than capable of disciplining him on the matter. So if you could just give Asuka’s scarf back, we’ll call it even, okay?”- mama said with a disarming smile, placing an expectant palm in front of Mitsuo’s face.
It was way more than he deserved. But it’d have to do. She would hate for her name to be smeared with an “incident”, which she was this close from committing.
She knew mama did, too. She’d heard more than enough tales of his glory days from her uncles, how he’d fought a bunch of bullies with a knife between his teeth.
Mama was trying to be diplomatic for her sake, to show her that there are better ways than violence. The least she could do was appreciate it.
She must admit, though, that diplomacy comes with its own brand of frustration. And sometimes, like right about now, it would be so much easier if they could just duel it out instead of talking, pun intended.
“No!”- Mitsuo chose that exact moment to be a difficult bastard, clutching the handkerchief to his chest- “This scarf belongs to the girl I love. I do not want to give it back.”
Forgive her English, but what the hell was he on?
“Awwww.”- Mitsuo’s mother, who hadn’t said a single word since she’d stepped foot into the office, pipped up, as if just waiting for this exact moment to come to the brat’s rescue
“You see?”- she mimed wiping tears from the corners of her eyes- “Mitsuo didn’t do anything wrong. He’s in love, it’s perfectly normal.”
Forgive her French, but what the hell was this woman on?
She was too young to have a vein popping on the side of her head, but she could have sworn she felt it at that moment.
“Well, it seems like this is just a huge misunderstanding.”- it’s the principal’s turn to get on her last nerve.
Do these people just randomly decide to smoke the same weed today? What does “love” have to do with anything? If Mitsuo really did “love” her, shouldn’t he want to do nice things for her, instead of stealing from her? He did a truly despicable thing, and now he just had to say he loved her, and suddenly he got away scott-free.
How does any of this make sense?
“I can assure you, it is not.”- mama’s voice was ice-cold, so different from the cheeriness she usually associated with him. It would have made blood freeze in her veins, had she not been so relieved to know that there was at least one sane person in the room.
“The way I see it, Mitsuo-kun here tricked his classmates into giving him all their toys. He then agreed to give them back if Asuka defeated him in a duel. Which she did, fair and square. Not only did he not uphold his side of the bargain, he stole Asuka’s scarf, and now he thinks he could get away with it by making up lame excuses.”- mama recited Mitsuo’s crimes in an even voice. There was a ferocious glint in his eyes. It both awed and scared her.
Thank you, mama. At least you get it.
“Thank you, Mitsuo.”- mama suddenly addressed the little thief. Startled, he turned to him with wide eyes, looking like a deer in the headlights.
“You just made this so much easier.”- mama approached the principal’s table in even, deadly strides.
“Headmaster, ma’am.”- he nodded at Mitsuo’s mother, whose face had frozen into a semi-permanent grimace- “I hate to do this, but I believe this is a teaching moment for young Mitsuo here. He needs to know that there are consequences to his actions, and if I have to make a big deal out of this for him to understand that, I will.”
“I expect my daughter’s scarf and her classmate’s toys to be returned to their owners first thing in the morning.”- with those final words, he took Asuka’s hand, leading her out of the principal’s office.
—
Mitsuo transferred out of her elementary school first thing in the morning.
He didn’t return any of the toys he stole, or Asuka’s scarf.
She was so angry. Furious. Outraged. She wanted to scream, kick something, hunt Mitsuo down and strangle him, all in the same breath.
Words failed her. She couldn’t find a way to give voice to the suffocating feeling threatening to drown her in their depths.
So she just cried.
All day long.
Fubuki nii-san was in a panic when he came to collect her after school. She must have looked a mess, face puffy and red, sleeves wet from wiping an undignified amount of snot and tears on them.
He kept asking, begging her to tell him what was wrong. She wanted to, she really did, but she couldn’t stop the hiccups long enough to answer.
He asked her classmates, who told him Mitsuo had transferred schools. He then told mama, the second they got into the car. All while she just sat there, tears running down her cheeks and anger curling in the pit of her stomach.
“My little knight.”- mama held her close as she hiccuped into the crook of his neck- “I’m sorry you have to go through that.”- he nuzzled her cheek while Fubuki nii-san held her hand, eager to offer his own brand of sympathy.
“Sometimes, you will have to lose things.”- mama whispered as he wiped her face with a tissue- “And it’s okay, as long as you don’t lose sight of what’s important.”
“Like what, mama?”- she heard Fubuki nii-san ask.
“Hope. Dreams. Friendship.”-mama said, gathering them into his arms- “Family.”- she felt her eyelids drooping as his fingers combed through her hair soothingly, exhausted after a long day of emotional turmoil.
“Yes, mama.”- she heard Fubuki nii-san whisper, distant and hazy.
—
She woke up just in time for dinner.
“Papa”- Fubuki nii-san bounded towards the entrance with all the excitement of a puppy while she hastily washed her face of sticky dried tears. Enough people had seen her frustration today.
“Good evening, papa.”- she greeted, head titled to look at the little package he held in his hand.
“This is for you, Asuka.”- he pushed the package into her palms, wrapping paper crinkling.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get it in red, since it was special-ordered to match Katsuya’s Red Eyes.”- he said as she unwrapped the package, shaking out a familiar handkerchief, but in blue- “I did pick your favorite color, though. Do you like it?”
She nodded, hugging the piece of cloth close to her chest, the material soft against her skin.
“I do. Thank you, papa.”
“I’m very proud of you, Asuka.”- papa dropped down to pat her on the head. His blue eyes shone in the lamplight.
“Thank you, papa.”- she smiled as she wrapped the handkerchief around her shoulders, playing with the shimmery tails.
She felt validated, seen for all she’d tried to accomplish, even if it didn’t end up the way it should be. It was a relief after such a trying day.
“Now, you do know that that boy does not love you, don’t you?”- he settled down in the chair opposite from her, crossing one long leg over the other.
It’s his negotiation pose. Asuka wanted to expire on the spot out of sheer embarrassment.
“Papaaaaa”- she would later say it was all Fubuki nii-san, but she did, in fact, join him in his whining.
“No.”- mama appeared at papa’s back, bracing his arms on the chair’s backrest- “It is very important to us that you knew this.”
“Someone who loves you will never hurt you.”- papa continued, completely deaf to their whines of protest- “Never take things from you without your permission.”
“Never call you names.”- mama was counting down things on one hand- “Never claim to know what’s best for you better than yourself. Never invalidate your feelings.”
“Never chase after you even after you reject them.”- papa said solemnly- “It’s obsession, not love.”
“The point, kids.”-mama clapped his hands together cheerily- “Is to do as we say, not as we do, yeah?”
“Yes, mama.”- they agreed, even though she wasn’t sure exactly what they were agreeing to.
Anything for this conversation to end, it seems.
—
The little thief grew up to be a big thief
It’s been years, but she knew, from the moment she stepped into the room, that this must be the same old Mitsuo.
She was right. He showed himself right in the first turn.
Mama always says that a deck is the reflection of one’s soul. Mitsuo’s was just as terrible as he was, relying only on dumb luck, with zero strategy or creativity.
She was so angry on mama’s behalf. And on the behalf of all duelists out there currently running a proper Gamble Deck.
He didn’t play a good game. Not even close. Half-decent, at best. But she had to give it to him, there were moments there where she really thought she was done for.
She hated Mitsuo. He had always had a way to destroy everything he came into contact with. During the whole duel, she’d wanted to scream it out, to announce to everyone who was willing to listen how much of a talentless hack he was. But she swallowed it down, except for a moment to gloat right at the end. After all, she was only human. She couldn’t resist letting him know how utterly worthless he was, and how he was a complete disgrace to true duelists who could handle the real risk of a Gamble Deck.
It didn’t matter, anyway. The important thing was that she won. Got the handkerchief back, although it was, in and of itself, another plight. She couldn’t help but feel like it was dirtied, somehow, being in the spineless thief’s possession for that long. It angered her that she couldn’t look at mama’s special-ordered handkerchief the same way she did the first time she held it in her hand, even though it was just as pretty as it was back then.
Damn Mitsuo. Damn this endless loop of frustration, curling in on itself like a vicious serpent.
There he was again, prattling on about his imaginary love for her. A strong wave of deja vu hit her, only in the worst way possible. People joined in, like Mitsuo’s mother and the principal did back then, moved by his lies that weren't even half-way convincing.
Seriously, though, what the hell was wrong with people?
She wanted to deck him in the face. But as soon as the thought entered her head, she took several deep breaths and tried her best to reign it in, reminding herself that she was a calm, dignified, diplomatic young lady. Calm, dignified, diplomatic young ladies don’t go around decking bastards in the face, even if they really, really, really deserved it.
“Asuka’s the best! Dueling’s the best!”- Juudai’s words cut through the fog of rage simmering low in her belly.
She looked at him, at his big smile and excited brown eyes, and felt herself calmed down, if only just a little bit.
Thank god for Juudai, then. At least there was still one moderately sane person in the room.
—
She resolutely tried to put it all behind her. She really did. She won. The handkerchief was back in her drawer. Everything was as it should be.
Except.
Except there was this itch underneath her skin that made her want to hit something.
She couldn’t. Because, when you think about it, it wasn’t all that bad, was it? It wasn’t a specific big thing that was particularly annoying, it was that accumulation of all these slightly vexing little things that snowballed into a big wave of anger that she had no way of letting out.
And that? That was indefinitely worse.
She sighed, curling into a ball underneath the covers.
There’s no hope of falling asleep now.
Frustrated, she hugged the blankets around herself and dragged herself down the corridors in search of the only person she could vent to about this. He might not share her worldview, her brother was indefinitely more forgiving than she ever was, but at least he would understand, having been there for most of the events. As patient as she tended to be, she could not bear to go through all that backstory before trash-talking someone.
She found Fubuki nii-san on his back, in his Red Eyes pyjamas, reading some ridiculous manga about superhero cats.
“Scoot over.”- she shoved at his shoulder unceremoniously. He glared at her, slightly peeved at being interrupted from his cats, but obliged gracefully, making way for her to flop down next to him on the plush bed.
“What brought you here, dear sister of mine?”- Fubuki nii-san smiled that signature mischievous smile of his, dog-earing the manga before putting it on his beside table- “Lemme guess, some boys hit on you and you want to put him in his place but you can’t because you strive to be a calm, dignified, diplomatic young lady?”- he leant against the headboard with a self-satisfied sigh. He looked so much like mama like that- “Now you’re pissed but you can’t hit anyone so you seek out your brother’s sage advice because other people just couldn’t.get.it.”- he punctuated each word with an exaggerated gesture and she huffed, weathering it with what she could only classify as a commendable amount of patience.
“Am I close?”- He opened one brown eye to look at her with a victorious smirk.
It’s the endless plight of having siblings. They just know you way too well.
“Yes.”- she groaned, pulling the covers over her head.
“So?”- Fubuki nii-san nudged her with a cold foot- “Who is it this time? Is it Manjoume? I do really like that kid, if I were being honest.”
“No!”- she shoved him on the shoulder- “And I would very much appreciate it if you could just drop it already. What is with you and setting me up with boys, anyway?”
“Your pissed-off face is way too entertaining, dear sister.”- he giggled, dodging the pillow she threw in the general direction of his face.
“It was Mitsuo.”- she crossed her arms, decided to get it over with. No need to allow Fubuki nii-san a chance to draw out his teasing.
“Mitsuo..Mitsuo…Mitsuo?”- Fubuki nii-san tapped a finger against his chin, making a show of contemplating- “Could it be…the brat that stole your scarf?”
“Yes.”- she huffed- “That’s the one.”
“Arghhhhh.”- he smashed his face into the pillow she just threw at him and let out a long whine- “I hate that asshole.”
“Me too, brother.”- she nodded in sympathy. As annoying as her brother could be, at least he gets it- “He just waltzed in the principal’s office tonight and demanded that we let him in on the fight.”
“The audacity!”- Fubuki nii-san hissed like a cat, dutifully playing along.
“Exactly! So I challenged him into a duel on the condition that he leaves immediately after losing.”
“Naturally.”- he was nodding along like a giant bobble-head.
God! She felt so seen.
“Guess what?”
“What?”
“Mitsuo runs a Gamble Deck.”
“No way!”- he clutched his chest with all the exasperation of a Southern lady clutching her pearls.
“Way. And guess what he pulled out in the first turn?”
“What?”
“Second chance.”
Fubuki nii-san’s gasp was almost real this time.
“Damnnnnn, mama hates that card.”
“Redos are for losers who run a Gamble Deck but lack the gut to believe in their cards.”- they held up their forefinger and recited in unison.
Then bursted out laughing.
“And he called Scapegoat stupid.”- she added, vindictively.
“Blasphemy.”- Fubuki nii-san mock-screamed- “They’re like mama’s favorite card.”
“Exactly.”- Asuka smiled, feeling indefinitely lighter. Fubuki nii-san grinned, all teeth.
“Huhhhhh.”- she sighed, hugging a pillow into her chest- “I miss mama.”
Fubuki nii-san just nodded, patting her on the head.
“Do you want to talk to him?”- he asked casually, rummaging through his bedside table
“I’m sorry, what?”- she asked, alarmed. He did not just say that.
“I have a phone. We can call him.”- Fubuki nii-san explained, matter-of-fact-ly, as if phones weren’t at all banned inside the academy.
“Papa would have your head on a chopping block.”- she tried to glare at him threateningly, but that hadn’t worked since she turned ten.
“Do you want it or not?”- Fubuki nii-san shrugged, expectedly undaunted.
Law-abiding as she was, she really, really missed mama. He must be on tour right now. World championship. They didn’t have much news about tournaments here, with the media ban and all. She wasn’t worried, per se. God knows mama could hold his own in a duel. Still, she was curious about how he was doing.
“Fine.”- she double-checked to make sure that all the doors were locked and the curtains were closed- “Call.”
“As you wish.”- Fubuki nii-san shot her a wicked smile, dialling the number they’d both learnt by heart.
“Hello?”- mama picked up eventually, face right up on the screen. It seemed he still hadn’t figured out the proper way to take a video call.
“Mama!”- despite the hilarity of the situation, Asuka felt faint with relief, something inside her chest immediately settled after hearing mama’s voice.
“Asuka?”- mama asked, surprised- “Is that you?”
“Yes!”- she whispered at the same time she heard Fubuki nii-san say “Tap the video button, mama!”
“Fubuki? Asuka?”- it was a while before he was fully on the screen. He was wearing a shirt and sweatpants, surrounded by all the friends he’d known since childhood.
They might have been the world’s most decorated duelists, but she and Fubuki nii-san only knew them as uncles and aunties who would gather at their house every once in a while to play wild table-top games.
“Fubuki! Asuka! You’ve gotten so big!”- they chorused, all big smiles and flailing arms.
“Hello uncles.”- Fubuki nii-san inclined his head courteously- “And my favorite auntie.”
“Hello to you too, you sweet-talker.”- auntie Mai mock squatted at the screen, feigning embarrassment- “Your mama raised you well.”
“My babies! How’ve you been?”- mama made grabby hands at them, face alight with endearment.
“Children.”- a serious voice cut through the air, commanding attention from the entire room. She would have flinched, if it weren’t so painstakingly familiar- “I seem to recall banning all electrical devices at the academy.”
She heard more than saw Fubuki nii-san’s smile reach his ears.
“Hello to you too, papa.”
Papa sat in the only chair in the room, arm crossed, face set, not a hair out of place, like a reigning king amongst his friends, who, in contrast, were all in various forms of colorful sleep attire.
“Oh, shush, you spoil-sport.”- mama squatted at him dismissively while the others joined in on boo-ing him- “Lemme talk to my kids.”
“They’re my children, too, Katsuya.”- he crossed his arms tighter and glared at them all with sharp blue eyes, but made no attempt to shut down the call, which was, like, papa’s equivalent of “Nice to see you too, children.”
“Are you having game night?”- Fubuki nii-san interjected smoothly, so used to their banter by now.
“Yes!”- everyone cheered enthusiastically.
“It’s the night before the semi-finals, so your uncle Ryou here decided that now’ll be the perfect time for game night.”- mama explained, pointing at his character on the board, a little gnome with a red hat- “We’re playing D&D. I’m a garden gnome!”
“Naturally.”- Fubuki nii-san nodded along as if that was the most reasonable explanation in the world- “I know you’re all in World’s, but I have no idea how everyone’s doing. So tell me. Who’s still in the game? Are you all having fun? I want the inside scoop.”
In moments like these, Asuka was immensely grateful for her brother's social aptitude. He could make conversations with everyone, about everything. She settled into the pillows, head on her brother’s shoulder, listening to her uncles, and auntie, recounting tales after tales of promising young duelists, creative spell combos, bad-ass new archetypes and ground-breaking strategies, between rounds of dice rolls and dramatic storytelling.
Suddenly, she wasn’t angry anymore. Not even just a little bit.
She must have fallen asleep on Fubuki’s nii-san shoulder after that, because the next thing she knew was him snoring into her hair and mama’s good morning text waiting for them on the tiny phone screen.
What a perfect way to start the day.