The non-original characters in this fanfiction are copyrighted to Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallup and Toei where applicable. All other characters are considered public domain by the author and may be used freely, but he does request that you ask permission as a courtesy.
The card names used are translations of the Official Card Game (OCG) names. For the TCG names, see the "Cards used" at the end of the story. And don't forget to e-mail me your thoughts (vm_postitnotes@yahoo.com). Thank you very much for reading.
--
"Alright, you'll be dueling using a Duel Arena system, Aino-san," the technician said, indicating a replica for demonstration purposes. "Instead of a Duel Disk, you'll be using a table like this one. The process should be self-explanatory, I hope, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."
Naomi Aino nodded. "I think I have it. Thank you."
Her mind, though, was not quite on the Duel Arena, but on her upcoming duel. She had a feeling, in her heart, that her first duel in the finals would be against Toragami. She never expected it to come true, but now that it did, that feeling turned into a sickening sense of dread.
I don't expect to win this duel, but I have to try my best. Hinata-chan, I still remember those words you told me that day. I don't expect you to duel me like a friend. But all the same, I will try my best! Just as I always have, and as I always will.
"Excuse me, Aino-san?" The technician was trying to get her attention.
"Oh, I'm sorry?"
"Please select 40 cards from your base deck," the technician said.
"Oh, yes." Aino didn't need to think twice. She already knew which cards she'd be using. In less than a minute, she had formed her deck, and gave it to the technician, who would shuffle it and place it on her platform.
"Now, please wait until you are called upon to enter the Arena. And good luck."
Aino nodded and took in a deep breath, and let it out in an exhale.
It's only a matter of time now... before the truth is laid out for all to see.
-------------
YU-GI-OH! Negative Zero: Genex Finals
Turn 38: "The Limits of Omniscience! Aino vs. Toragami"
-------------
"Now you remember, if you feel bad at all, tell me," Katsuki said as she wheeled Shougo to the arena stadium. "We can't take any risks with you."
"Uhm... okay." Shougo blushed, embarassed by the thought of himself being pushed around in a wheelchair by Katsuki. But that was what was happening.
"Get over yourself, Shougo-kun," Katsuki harrumphed. "I'm as embarassed as you."
"I'm just sorry to put you out of your way," Shougo said. "I know if one of your friends saw you hauling around an Osiris like me..."
"Like I care what those pedestrian fools think!" Katsuki turned up her nose as she helped Shougo out of the chair and into his seat. "My only loyalty is to Toragami-sama. That's why I'm helping you."
"Thank you, Katsuki-san," Shougo said.
Katsuki smiled in spite of herself and went to put the wheelchair away.
--
Behind the scenes, Kiyotaki and the three head professors were assembled.
"We have the announcer set," Abe said. "Everything's ready, Kiyotaki-san."
Kiyotaki nodded. "And the security measures?"
"Nobody's getting through that doesn't belong," Matsutani replied. "You have my word on that. I have my best guards on watch."
"With Aoyama-kun in the audience, we can't be too careful," Kiyotaki said. "That man is still at large, and we don't know where he is. He may attempt to take Aoyama-kun's life again."
Matsutani and Abe nodded. Kiyotaki looked to Tenjouin, who still looked uneasy.
"I know there's nothing I can say that will get you to trust me," Kiyotaki went on. "But this tournament is going to proceed whether you want it to or not. At the very least, as a true duelist, you should witness the feelings of your students."
"This isn't a game, Kiyotaki-kouchou," Tenjouin replied starkly. "We're risking a student's life here. I did not approve the measures you took to get Shougo-kun to come."
"As the chancellor, I was not aware they required your approval," Kiyotaki replied.
Tenjouin just shook her head and turned her sight to the tournament. There was no point in discussing matters further.
--
"And now for the Genex finals to begin with the first duel of round one!" The announcer's pitch got higher as he began to lay out the match-up. "On one side of the arena, we have second year Obelisk Blue student, high ranking duelist and elite of the community, Aino Naomi!"
Uncertain murmurs mixed with cheers came from the crowd as Aino was raised up to the dueling platform. She didn't care — her focus was on the empty platform in front of her, where her opponent would soon be.
While her face was too far away for Shougo and Katsuki to see clearly, it was broadcast on a closed circuit television set above the Duel Arena.
"I'm so conflicted," Katsuki admitted. "I don't know if I should be cheering."
"Aino-san's your friend, too, right?" Shougo asked.
"Yes, but... you just don't understand." Katsuki sighed.
"I do understand," Shougo replied. "Her opponent's a good friend. But, that's what duels are about, right? Chiba-kun taught me that."
"Well, you two are boys!" Katsuki seemed flustered. "With girls, it's different!"
"Why?" Shougo gently pressed.
"It just is!" Katsuki shouted in a way that seemed to say 'Don't press any more', so Shougo just left it at that.
"And her opponent, also a second year Obelisk, and the young woman on whom many hopes are pinned, the future elite star of the dueling community, the one, the only TORAGAMI HINATAAAA!"
As expected, Toragami appeared, stern countenance and all. The crowd erupted in cheers. It was clear who they supported.
Aino felt a deep fever form in her heart and struggled to keep her confidence. She looked Toragami right in the eye, and was met back with a cold gaze. Flustered, she dropped her eyes down to her deck. Her entire body was quivering.
Toragami's gaze never left Aino, who felt like a beam of light was focused on her, wearing her down. She thought she was prepared to face her, but she never expected it to feel like this.
"Do you remember?" Toragami asked.
"Wh...what?" Aino asked, but she knew what Toragami was referring to.
"What I told you that day," Toragami went on. "What would happen the day we became opponents."
"I remember," Aino replied. "But, I couldn't run away from this. I..."
"You could have done the report," Toragami interrupted her. "You are intelligent enough to have done that. Instead, you chose to enter the tournament."
"Well, some lively banter from our duelists," the announcer interjected. "But it's about time for the match to begin! Duel... START!"
The two duelists drew their five cards, which signalled the beginning of the Duel.
"Dice Roll," the Duel System said as a pair of dice appeared behind Aino and Toragami, flashing repeatedly. Finally, the result came out: Toragami had rolled a 3, while Aino got a 4.
"I choose to take the first turn," Aino said simply, her eyes not quite affixed on Toragami, but enough so that observers could believe she was looking her in the eye.
"That's the best move for you," Toragami replied as she took her card. "Even if I know the hand you have, I can't do anything about you having the advantage."
Aino stared at her hand, and took a deep breath, then exhaled. She closed her eyes.
"Hinata-chan," she said.
Katsuki gasped. "Naomi-chan, what are you doing?" she stammered.
"What?" Shougo looked confused. "They're good friends, aren't they?"
"But that's still Toragami Hinata she's addressing," Katsuki protested. "In public, Aino-san still has to recognize that."
Shougo narrowed his eyes. He felt something form in the pit of his stomach. What's this feeling I have... this dark sense of despair...
...could it be Darkness?
"Shougo-kun, are you okay?" Katsuki asked. "Remember, you're supposed to tell me if you feel anything."
"I do feel something, but not in my body," Shougo admitted, although he was only half-serious about not feeling it in his body. "There's something strong in this duel. A really bad feeling. Like neither of them want to do this."
"Well, Toragami-sama has to defeat anyone who opposes her," Katsuki said. "Even if it's..."
Aino opened her eyes, and this time her gaze was arighted. She was looking Toragami in the eye.
"Hinata-chan, I remember what you said," Aino told her. "That's why I'm going to try my best. Even if I cannot defeat you... I'm going to awaken that memory, before you lose it entirely."
Toragami didn't respond.
"'That memory'?" Katsuki looked confused. "What is Aino-san talking about?"
Shougo's eyes widened.
"Shougo-kun?" Katsuki noticed that Shougo's eyes seemed to fade. "Shougo-kun, can you hear me?!"
But Shougo's mind seemed to be somewhere else...
--
"I win again, Naomi-chan!"
It was Hinata Toragami and Naomi Aino, but they were young: both were eleven. Shiho Katsuki was there too, at the same age.
"Wow, Hinata-chan is so good!" Shiho squealed.
Naomi laughed and blushed, embarassed. "Even when I try my hardest, I can't beat you!"
Hinata looked flustered. "Well, you had some good moves too, Naomi-chan," she said. "I just got lucky." She seemed a far cry from the Hinata Toragami of today.
"No way," Naomi reassured her. "You play some of the best players around. They come from all sides just to play you! Why are you getting down on yourself like that?"
"Can't you tell? I pull the cards I need all the time." Hinata sighed. "It's like there's some force guiding the right ones to my hand. I've never really faced a pinch before."
"Oh, you were worried when Naomi-chan played that trap," Shiho said with a laugh. "I could tell!"
"That's just what I mean," Hinata shouted. "I got the right card to beat her trap just then. What if I didn't draw 'Tempest', hm?"
"But Hinata-chan, it's not like 'Tempest' magically appeared in your deck," Naomi reminded her. "You put it there yourself, after careful thought and consideration."
Hinata sighed and looked down at the ground. "Speaking so grown-up," she sighed. "Are we even eleven? Our parents have us grown up so fast.. to meet their expectations. I see other children my age and I'm jealous."
"Hinata-chan, I think you've just been up too long," Naomi said. "You just need some rest, and you'll be your old self again."
Hinata closed her eyes for a good while then opened them for a bit, eyes still cast on the ground. She then closed them again and turned to Naomi, smiling. "You're right," she said. "I just need some rest."
Naomi and Shiho nodded.
--
Shougo blinked as his vision ended.
He didn't know what to make of it — the fact that he could see the young Aino, Toragami and Katsuki, or how he even knew it was them — and kept it to himself for now.
"Shougo-kun?" Katsuki asked once more.
"I'm okay," Shougo said. "It must be these bright lights."
"I'll take the first turn, then," Aino said, putting her hand on her deck while looking at her friend. "Draw..."
She looked at the card she drew, and bit her lip. Glanced at her hand once.
"I activate the magic card 'Reinforcement'," she said. "From my deck, I select 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior-type monster and add it to my hand."
"Warrior monsters?" Katsuki blinked. "Strange. Aino-san's never ran those before."
Aino took her deck and fanned it out. "The card I choose..."
She selected a card and showed it to Toragami and the audience. Katsuki's eyes widened, her expression showing nothing but shock.
"The card I choose is 'The Creator Incarnate'," Aino finished, and put the card in her hand. The Arena table automatically shuffled her deck for her.
"Katsuki-san... what's wrong?" Shougo queried.
"Im...impossible," Katsuki whispered. "She couldn't be thinking..."
"I now summon 'The Creator Incarnate' in attack mode," Aino went on.
A gold-plated warrior with what looked like a mirror holding a cape on his back appeared, larger than life on the Duel Arena. His head was covered with a Roman-looking helmet to match his armor, and he held a golden scimitar-esque sword by its blade somehow.
The Creator Incarnate - LV4 Light Warrior (1600 ATK)
"Oh dear!" Katsuki stammered. "Is she really going to...?"
Shougo seemed hypnotized. He could clearly see a black aura surrounding the card that Aino had just played.
There's no mistaking this feeling. Darkness... I thought I was rid of you! But now...
Now...
Shougo stifled a scream as another vision assaulted his senses.
--
"Hinata-chan!"
Hinata turned to see Naomi. She had found out somehow.
"Hinata-chan, what are you doing?!" Naomi took Hinata's arm. "You're not supposed to be leaving the family household at night!"
Hinata sighed and smiled. "I never sleep more than four hours a day anyway," she confessed. "So I can get back to the mansion on time for my classes and training. Until then... I want to test my true strength. I want to see if I'm really strong."
"You're taking your deck and Duel Disk," Naomi observed. "Could it be... are you going to duel?"
"One of these days, I'm going to be dueling for my family," Hinata replied. "Until then, it's better to be sure, isn't it? Besides, no one will know who I am. Nobody outside of the zaibatsu even knows that the Toragami clan have a successor yet. Don't worry!"
"But, Hinata-chan...!"
Hinata ran off into the distance. "Don't tell anybody, Naomi-chan," she had said before she left. "I promise I'll be alright..."
--
"Shougo-kun?!" Katsuki shouted. "You can't hide it from me. Something's wrong. Spill it!"
"I don't understand what's going on," Shougo replied. "But Aino-san's cards... when she plays them, I can see a dark aura around them. And when I try to look closer, I have these visions like dreams."
"Maybe we'd better take you back to the medical office..." Katsuki said uneasily.
"No!" Shougo protested. "I think it's important. The people in the visions, they're Toragami-san and Aino-san, but... younger..."
"So, you saw it too," Katsuki bit her thumb and looked on the duel field. "Not in so many words, but... you can tell, can't you? The deck Aino-san is using now is not her own deck."
"Not her own deck?" Shougo repeated. "But if not hers, then whose...?"
"That's a good question," a familiar voice called. Chiba was standing next to the two.
"Chiba-san!" Shougo gasped. "Shouldn't you be with the other finalists?"
"They explained how the Duel Arena works to us, and then said we were free to watch the finals if we wished," Chiba said. "I wanted to see my friend, of course. Imagine my surprise when I was told that Katsuki-san was taking care of you!"
"It's not like that..." Katsuki protested.
"But you can see those auras, too?" Chiba asked Shougo.
"Well, I could see it just now, but not anymore," Shougo replied. "It's more like I can feel it most of the time."
Katsuki crossed her hands together. "It's not a surprise that you can feel it," she said. "I can see that Aino-san is terrified. It makes me wonder why she fought so hard to get into the finals."
"I set two cards facedown to end my turn," Aino said.
"So it appears Aino is running a deck based on 'The Creator'," the announcer shouted. "But she doesn't seem to have drawn the key card just yet. Will her facedowns protect her?! Let's see. It's Toragami-sama's turn!"
"Draw," Toragami said. "Aino-san, we both know... that I know your plan."
"I know," Aino replied.
"You will not succeed," Toragami replied. "Like Katsuki-san, you are not playing to win. If you do not understand that the goal of all games is to win, you will not achieve your dreams. Understand this, Aino-san."
"No, I don't believe that," Aino replied. "Even if I have no chance in victory here, I can still awaken the light of hope that I'm trying to find. The one that's been sleeping for five years."
"Such a thing cannot exist in this world," Toragami scoffed.
Chiba appeared most perplexed. "Why? Why is she talking that way to a friend?"
"Osiris Red students have it easy," Katsuki answered with a sigh. "They don't know that with all the amenities of being accepted into Obelisk Blue comes the burden of expectation. Aino-san and Toragami-sama have heavy crosses to bear."
Shougo's eyes crossed momentarily, as if everything were snapping into place. "That's it!" he said. "The cards that Aino-san is using... I know why I feel that blackness."
"Blackness?" Chiba asked.
"These cards are not Aino-san's, as Katsuki-san said," Shougo went on. "They're... they're Toragami-san's old cards!"
Chiba gasped. "Old cards?"
"You figured it out?!" Katsuki turned to Shougo and then just nodded in affirmation. "Look, no one other than you two can know. But yes... Aino-san's cards, those are cards Toragami-san used to play. It was not dissimilar to her deck now. She'd place many cards in the cemetery, then use 'The Creator' to bring them back. But that's not her true ace."
"True ace?" Shougo's eyes were fixed on the duel now, as were Chiba's.
"I'd feel wrong in telling you anymore. Let's just watch the duel."
Shougo clenched his forehead, though, appearing to be in great pain.
"You really should go back to the medical office!" Katsuki cried. "You're not ready for this!"
"No... I can... I must..."
There's a voice in my head, and it's laughing, he thought in his own mind. The laughter resounded. Mocking, scornful laughter. It's directed... at Toragami-san. Why? I need to watch this...
...I feel it's the only way... that I can find the answer...
Toragami then blinked heavily once, and made a declaration.
"I will have this duel won in five turns," she said, to the surprise of everyone. "And you will have not achieved your goal. And those words that I spoke will be fulfilled. Not even your passionate feelings can stop this, Aino-san."
She then began to play her first move.
--
Katsuki: "Aino-san, I can't believe you would do this! What are you thinking?"
Shougo: "I don't know why, but I keep having these visions with each card Aino-san plays..."
Tenjouin: "But Toragami-san doesn't seem to be swayed. She makes her moves against Aino-san like she were any other person, and then she makes a stunning declaration."
Katsuki: "When did you say that, Toragami-sama? That just can't be true!"
Shougo: "Meanwhile, through the cards that Aino-san and Toragami-san play, the story of Toragami-san's youth is also played out, along with the tragedy that caused her to become an ally of the Light of Ruin."
Chiba: "Toragami-san, I can't believe you would be so heartless. I feel as though the vow I made when you dueled Judai-sama is going to come true! But still... why...?"
Tenjouin: "Will an old and passionate friendship be killed so simply by the rigors of the battlefield? Find out on Yu-Gi-Oh! Negative Zero: 'Stolen Youth, Forsaken Smile'. Duel... standby."
--
TODAY'S FEATURED CARD: "The Creator Incarnate"
Level 4 light warrior, attack points 1600, defense points 1500. Katsuki seemed to recognize this card when Aino played it. From what I remember, it summons a monster called "The Creator", but I suppose it's not in Aino's hand yet. Can she defend it from Toragami's assault next turn?
--
CARDS USED BY NAOMI AINO:
REINFORCEMENT (TCG name: Reinforcement of the Army)
Normal Magic
Add 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior-type monster from your Deck to your hand.
THE CREATOR INCARNATE
Effect Monster (LV4 Light Warrior, 1600/1500)
You can sacrifice this monster to Special Summon 1 "The Creator" from your hand.
