(GS3) Home Field: Espoir Mansion

[Cherry]

Gold Paladin vs Gold Paladin - Red Lion Corps and White Hare Corps against the Black Chain forces led by the heavenly child Vortimer. Yukino found herself unable to Superior Ride, and Kryph was starting to become more of a setback than desired when it failed to go off. It might be time to let it go and try Spring Breeze Messenger like Tsubasa. ... Or maybe it was just another stroke of horrible luck. Yugure believed riding a Perfect Guard was actually one of the best possible Rides to save your boosters, but maybe that logic was half-baked. Seeing Haruka Superior Call over and over was something she yearned to do with such powerful succession, even if it required the Ride Chain going off smoothly.

Spectral Duke Dragon was a far cry from Dragonic Overlord, but he sported power that vastly rivaled it. In fact, some of the White Hare squad members feared the two meeting, as Vortimer and Overlord could probably tear up an entire mountain range as it is. Ezel's Limit Breaks were starting to fall short, netting Triggers against Cero, and now a Perfect Guard against Haruka. Yugure just went with it, as it was always a gamble anyway. Still, nothing would be enough, and she knew that from the start. Ride Chains were incredibly advantageous when they went off, and Vortimer's got even more than normally bargained for. Haruka's hand, field, and damage were all outscaling her. Defeat was accepted by her second turn.

Finally, Duke's Limit Break was unleashed. A horrifying slaughter of three rearguards to stand again after battle. Even if it wasn't for the sake of a tyrant's advance, but rather, for Haruka's motto... It still shook the soul of the girl, triggering awful memories of every time Phantom Blaster Dragon used his skill.

Haruka asked if she had fun.

... She really didn't, but she didn't want to stomp all over his efforts. The queen vocalized that the game was definitely fun, and she was enjoying herself as he wanted.

Blaster Dark's voice tried to echo again, but she pushed it out. It wasn't real - it was a lie. Yunos wasn't a lie, and he still kept trying to break through to her. That raging jealousy wouldn't let him go back to his deep sleep.

At the very least, she needed a new pet name for her crush. He called her sweetheart, she jokingly called him tiger. Maybe Haru? But then it'd just be a mess when addressing Haruka and Haruki.

[Lance Korilum]

Deciding he wouldn't get an answer, Cero began to exit the mansion, shouting back to Yukino, "You say you can talk to your cards, right?  Tell Garmore... I'm sorry...  For failing him."  With that, Cero left the mansion, without answers, and without any real sense of victory.  There was no reason for him to ever return here, and he had no more reason to fight those he once called rivals. 

Hana AP -2
Yukino AP -2

[Hope]

Still supporting Mi-hime's weight on her, she felt a strange sensation in her head again... "U-um..." She looked around a little. Mi-hime seemed to be drifting closer and closer to sleep. She ordered workers to fetch two things, a stack of cards in her closet, and a blanket and pillow from her room.

By the time her sister's fight had ended against Yukinee's bf, the workers had arrived with what was needed. As much as Hana wanted to stay with Mi-hime like this(like she rlly rlly wanted to stay like this), she had to go fight her sister, for the sake of both of them feeling more comfort. She placed a pillow where she was and let Mi-hime lightly land on it. She then took the blanket and spread it over her. She looked at her face tenderly and let out a smile unknowingly. She stood up and took the deck from the worker.

Hana felt it, and tried to sense its voice.
*rabbit noises*
Dandy.

She then walked up to the table across from her sister. "Yukinee, your next opponent is me~!"

[Cherry]

"Oh... Alright", Yukino accepted Hana's challenge.

"Sorry... you failed me... huh..." Garmore didn't understand his former user's feelings, did his not reach after all...? Or maybe it was remorse for not having weld them properly. "You... didn't fail."

[Beryl]

Some time had passed and Satoshi had gotten most of his tears out. It occurred to him that this sort of pain was probably similar, though maybe not as intense, to what a lot of the others were feeling. So they were all mutually suffering together, even if that was maybe a bit on the depressing side of things. His protective side was trying to do the thing he promised Tomo, which was stand up for these people who really were getting better and in need of less protection on the time. Honestly, he just wanted to feel adequate to them at this point, and it had become increasingly hard to tell due to these tensions. Maybe with some time...

He sat up, looking through his cards. Seph had said something about the Rift becoming stronger, so there was likely a chance he needed to get better and keep at it. He definitely liked Muse as his avatar and what she did for his deck, despite the unfortunate circumstance that happened that day. Maybe he'd get a chance to play her a bit more tonight. Maybe.

He looked over at his phone. He wanted to send Yukino a text saying that things went over well and if she'd like, he'd be up for a fight, but...the more he thought about it, the more he wondered if that was really a good idea, given how pained she was each time something she remembered came back. Even though she still hadn't seen Muse, and he really wanted her to.

Oh well, maybe she or Haruka, or maybe even Hana, honestly, would come check on how things were going and he could talk things through and get another chance to play with his new love.

He decided he was instead going to do something once again a little risky and dial up Neu Edelweiss. She couldn't read Japanese, but she could hear and speak it rather well. It was cute to see a foreigner so devoted to engaging in Japanese culture.

He pushed "Call" on his phone and let it ring, dialing up Neu's cell.

[Hope]

"Hi, Neu here, what's up?... Wait first who are you? Man this caller ID is terrible... Oh not in contact list." It was obvious that this call actually had just woken her up.

[Beryl]

"Hi, it's Satoshi. I'm sorry if I just woke you up, Neu." He blushed a little. "I was just calling to say that...well, I really did have a good time today. Hanging out with you was pretty fun, and I got a kick out of looking at the pictures on the way back home."

He scratched the back of his head. "I was wondering if maybe...y'know...you wanted to get lunch sometime, my treat? We can Cardfight and hang out some more. I hear the beach has a snack bar that opened up recently...."

[Cherry]

This probably wasn't Hana's intention, but her deck choice did a good job at kicking Yugure even harder while she was down. Cero's Royal Paladin deck that had been left behind two months ago, now standing as Gold Paladins as well. The woman didn't vocalize it, but this was painful. Even so, the envy she felt still called upon the Sword of Resolution. Still, the queen rejected it. This tormenting voice... even if it was real, she didn't have any real right to wield it. Yunos... began to figure out the problem. A problem that was exactly same to the one they had with Blaster Blade.

Still, with a smile and showering baby sister in big sister compliments, it was hidden. Something that uplifted her spirits a tad bit was how her own deck seemed to function better when it wasn't making a bet on a Superior Ride. Spring Breeze Messenger and Lop Ear Shooter proved to be early MVPs in getting the field filled. Ezel challenged the princess, uncaring for her status, as he was never the type to hold back. Most of the Red Lion corps could attest to that with... some bruises. Pellinore and Garmore faced him in battle, and the princess' reactions to Garmore being both checks in a Twin Drive... well.

They were unpleasant.

A familiar move made itself known to Gold Paladin's Vanguard, dual triggers and Superior Riding Pellinore for more Drive Checks. Hana even nearly broke a two-to-pass with her first check being a Critical.

That was the kind of power Yugure wanted.

Keeping a full field with Card Cycling, however, Ezel and company very well managed to hold the fort. In addition to that, Yugure rode Pellinore herself, and gave the princess a run for her money with his Limit Break. Unfortunately, they were unable to deal the finishing blow, as Hana healed out of it. This miracle trigger was only met with a compliment instead of disdain, however. Hana won the turn after that.

Hana stated that she felt much better, which was great. That was the queen's goal tonight: to make Hana feel good. Despite three straight losses tonight, that alone was enough, knowing there was nothing else to get. ... Then Hana went on to ask about the relationship between Haruka and herself. The queen responded by collecting her cards and taking a seat, not fueling more little sister questions.

[Jello]

"A sixth heal?" Haruka whispered under his breath. He had been rooting Yukino on from the sidelines since the start of the fight. Halfway through, he noticed the sleeping Miyuki several feet off to the left. "Hoh?"

Haruka sort of scratched his head and lowered his voice when rooting, as to not stir her sleep anymore. However the fight didn't end in Yukino's favor, like he had wished. Hana sixth healed, and made a comeback attack, finshing Yukino off. This wasn't exactly what Haruka wanted to see, however he did pick up on something clear from the the first turn. No matter what, Yukino had never stopped rooting for her sister and showering her with compliments. It was astounding how her willpower stood. Haruka was proud of Yukino, or at least of what she was doing.

But in his heart, he was still worried about her. Yukino had been sent to the depths before, what was going to stop her from falling back there now? Earlier today she was brewing with rage. It seemed so contradictory to suddenly be so happy for everyone.

Something was terribly wrong. But Haruka couldn't possibly say for sure. And after all, he couldn't press her tonight. It wasn't his right to make Yukino spit anything out to him. He had to just stand by her until she was ready to reveal anything to them.

"Hey, Yukino, Hana, good job!" Haruka whispered out to them. He was intentionally trying to be quiet, due to a sleeping Miyuki.

[Hope]

"Uh... sure," she paused for a moment and let out a light yawn, "As long as there's a cardfight involved, I'm good to go." She also looked at a list of things people usually pack while going to the beach. "Uh... make sure you also pack some extra water bottles and all that yeah"

[Beryl]

"Yeah, sure...there's also swimming, surfing, volleyball...a number of things we can do." He smiled. "I'll see you then?"

[Hope]

After the fight, Hana kept things to herself.
She moved the pillow let Mi-hime lean on her again, starting to doze off and enter a different world of her own.



Neu scratched the back of her head, "cardfighting first and foremost though... and sure I guess."

[Cherry]

There was probably something extra on Hana's mind. It was only a guess, though. Something to press her on later on in the afternoon, maybe. Things were settling down, so Yugure approached Haruka with a quiet tone.

"So about those bandages?"

[Jello]

Haruka's smile slowly but completely faded away. The mood swing hit.

"Rough morning..." Haruka turned away, staring at the fight tables. He was having a hard time describing how exactly it all happened. Everyone was either gone or asleep, so he felt it was okay to talk about it.

Fear was coating over Haruka again.

"A couple of days ago, I was gonna come over. Talk for a bit. Nothing particularly special but... I couldn't." Haruka turned back to Yukino. It was sort of unfair if he didn't tell her straight to her face. If she was concerned enough to ask, it must've been on her mind.

"So, I texted you. It wasn't a big deal at the time. But the walk home was horrendous, hahaha..." Haruka laughed a little, trailing off. He swallowed hard, his stomach already turning at the thought.

"And so I got home, and laid down. Ready to just sleep already. I didn't want to be awake anymore. But one thing kept ringing in my head over and over again. It just wouldn't stop."

"Seraphim."

Haruka's head was already whirring in pain, saying the name again. He really hated the name so, so much. He didn't know why, not really. But the name was pissing him off to a new standard.

"I didn't sleep. Not a bit. But as the name finally stopped ringing around six in the morning.... and then I heard a voice. It said one word to me and it, well, sent me out of control. My apartment is now blanketed in holes, broken furniture and damage loans." Haruka scratched his face. "So, yeah. That happened. Punching stuff hurts though, so I made sure to bandage up afterwards. I'm actually covered in cuts and damaged bones!"

This abruptly cheery outlook was pretty messed up. Sadly, Haruka found no other way to describe the event to Yukino without making it an even worse situation.

"Y-Yeah..." Haruka nodded at her, and looked down at his feet, somewhat ashamed.

[Beryl]

"Yeah, sure. After all, it should be about fun, right?" Satoshi chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." He hung up, content with his choice.

Feeling a bit tired, he sent Yukino a text:

Hey, I'm sorry I got on you today. I know there's stuff stressing you out. I also wanna apologize for Seph, he definitely didn't understand how you feel.

I'm meeting Neu at the beach tomorrow and I'm going to try to get some more information if I can, but afterwards...do you and Haruka maybe want to spend some time cardfighting in the park? I feel like the past few days we've spent most of our down time here with the only exception being that one time we went to PSY Shop via the amusement park. I wanna be able to talk to you guys about what happened, too.

He hit "Send" and rolled back over on the couch.