[Aki, LP 2200]
[Kazuko, LP 3000]
Now, with Blair out of the picture, the field had quieted down a bit, leaving only the two girls standing across from each other. The crowd didn't get any smaller though; if anything, more people leaned in, curious to see how this would turn out now that it was just a straight fight between them.
Most of them didn't know anything about the long history between the Izinski and Kawakami families. To them, it was just another duel. But to Aki, this wasn't something she could afford to lose, especially not against Kazuko Kawakami of all people. Meanwhile, Kazuko simply stood there with the same relaxed smile, more focused on proving herself to her sibling than anything else.
"My turn." Aki said, placing her fingers on top of her deck, her expression settling back into something more composed. "Draw!"
She drew her card and took a quick glance at her field before continuing.
"Once per turn, during my Standby Phase, my Queen Angel of Roses can destroy a monster you control with the lowest ATK." Aki said, her tone steady, though there was a slight pause before she pointed. "That would be your Buster Whelp."
The ground beneath Kazuko's field cracked slightly as thorny vines pushed their way out, quickly wrapping around the small dragon. The Whelp let out a short cry before the vines tightened and crushed it, dissolving into particles.
Kazuko blinked once. "...Rude. He didn't even get to do anything cool yet."
Aki ignored that and continued.
"I activate the Spell, Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards."
She drew quickly, her eyes scanning through her hand as she adjusted her next move.
"I banish Rose Lover in my grave." A card slipped out from her graveyard slot as she held it up briefly before it faded. "Now I can Special Summon a Plant monster from my hand, and it won't be affected by your Trap effects this turn."
She placed a card down.
"Show yourself, Regenerating Rose!"
A large plant-like creature rose up onto her field, its thick green body swaying slightly as a massive rose bloomed where its head should be.
[Regenerating Rose, 0 ATK]
Kazuko tilted her head slightly. "It doesn't look very threatening."
"Oh, you've seen nothing yet." Aki replied calmly.
She placed another card down.
"I equip the Spell, Rose Shield, to my Regenerating Rose."
A circular shield with a rose emblem formed around the monster's body, petals slowly rotating along its surface.
"When this card is activated, you take 300 damage for each card in my hand."
Aki lifted her hand slightly, showing the remaining cards she held.
"I have two cards left. That's 600 damage."
The rose shield glowed faintly before releasing a burst of sharp petals that shot toward Kazuko, striking her directly.
[Kazuko, LP 3000 -> 2400]
Kazuko winced slightly before shrugging it off. "Okay, not bad."
Without giving her time to comment further, Aki continued.
"I activate the Spell, Mark of the Rose." She pulled another card from her graveyard. "I banish Rose Fairy, then target your Buster Blader and equip this card to it."
The moment the effect resolved, red rose-like markings spread across Buster Blader's armor. The warrior stiffened before slowly turning, as if resisting for a moment, then stepped over to Aki's side of the field.
Kazuko stared. "...Hey."
[Buster Blader, 2600 -> 5600 ATK]
The sudden jump in ATK caused a stir in the crowd.
"Since Buster Blader gains 500 ATK for every Dragon monster on your field and in your grave," Aki explained, "and now it's on my side, your monsters are boosting it instead."
Kazuko crossed her arms, looking at Aki. "Not bad, although you should've destroyed him instead of keeping him on the field."
"You can complain after you lose." Aki replied flatly.
"I now switch my Queen Angel of Roses to Attack Position!"
The elegant figure rose from her kneeling stance, wings spreading slightly as she prepared to attack.
[Queen Angel of Roses, 2400 ATK]
"Battle! Buster Blader attacks Meteor Black Comet Dragon!"
The armored warrior didn't hesitate, stepping forward and raising his massive blade, aiming directly at the towering comet dragon.
"Not so fast!" Kazuko called out immediately, her hand snapping forward as one of her face-down cards flipped open.
"Quick-Play Spell, Destruction Swordsman Fusion!"
A faint glow spread across the field as the activation began.
"This lets me Fusion Summon using Buster Blader as material, along with monsters from my hand or either side of the field."
Aki's eyes narrowed slightly, realizing what was coming.
"I chain it with my Trap, DNA Surgery!" Kazuko added, flipping another card. "I declare Dragon-Type!"
A wave of energy swept across the field, and for a brief moment, every monster shimmered before settling.
"Now all monsters on the field are treated as Dragon-Type."
The crowd reacted instantly, the realization spreading quickly.
Kazuko snapped her fingers lightly. "Which means…"
"I fuse my Buster Blader on your field, and your Regenerating Rose, which is now a Dragon."
Before Aki could respond, a fusion vortex opened above them, pulling both monsters into it. The swirling energy intensified before bursting outward.
"The condition is Buster Blader and a Dragon monster! Fusion Summon! Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman!"
A more imposing version of Buster Blader stepped forward, his armor now layered with dragonic scales, his massive blade even larger than before.
[Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman, 2800 -> 3800 ATK]
Kazuko smiled, clearly pleased. "He gains 1000 ATK and DEF for every Dragon you control or have in your graveyard. And he forces all your Dragons into Defense Position."
The newly summoned warrior shifted his gaze toward Queen Angel of Roses. Almost immediately, her stance faltered, and she was forced back down onto one knee again.
[Queen Angel of Roses, 1300 DEF]
Aki's expression tightened, her grip on her card tightened as she watched her ace monster get forced down again.
Kazuko tilted her head slightly, a playful smile forming on her face. "Oh? And she just stood up too."
Aki exhaled slowly, steadying herself before placing her final card down.
"I set one card. Turn end."
The face-down card appeared behind her ace. Despite that, her eyes stayed locked on Kazuko, unwilling to back down.
Although she had spent years training and competing against her own siblings and cousins for the position of "heir," and even after learning from her grandmother about the long-standing rivalry between the Izinski and Kawakami families, Aki didn't rush into this blindly. She had done her research.
Quietly, and without telling anyone, she looked into the current generation of the Kawakami family, expecting something on par with her own, multiple branches, dozens of relatives, layers of influence.
Instead, what she found was… surprisingly small.
Only three members. And two of them weren't even blood-related.
Compared to the Izinski family, which branched out in every direction with cousins, distant relatives, and internal competition that never seemed to end, the Kawakami family almost felt… empty. From a purely numbers standpoint, it didn't look like much of a rival at all.
The only legitimate heir was Momoyo Kawakami.
Still, as Aki continued digging, she noticed something else. Momoyo's name kept appearing alongside another, Zane Truesdale, this year's Pro League Champion. At first, she thought it was just coincidence, but the more she looked, the more consistent it became.
Photos, sightings, small mentions from people who happened to be nearby.
They were seen together at restaurants, cafes, gyms, even at the Kawakami Temple, and in public. Not once or twice, but often enough that it couldn't be brushed off as random.
It didn't take long before rumors started forming around them. Some said they were just training partners. Others were more certain, saying they were already dating.
Zane himself never confirmed anything, no matter how many times people asked. He just ignored the topic entirely.
Aki didn't care much about that part. What mattered to her was what it implied.
If Momoyo had someone like Zane close to her, then even if she wasn't strong as a duelist herself, she had access to someone who was.
Still, from everything Aki saw, Momoyo didn't look like a strategist or a technical duelist. She looked more like someone who solved things by force. That kind of person didn't interest Aki much in a duel, so she didn't put too much thought into it.
If anything, she assumed Momoyo's strength lay elsewhere, and that the real duelist backing the Kawakami side would be Zane.
Then there was Yumi Uzushi. The so-called traitor of the Izinski Family. The moment she started looking into him, the tone changed completely.
Tournament records, match histories, scattered reports, everything pointed to the same thing. He entered tournaments at a young age, and no matter the level, no matter the opponent, the result stayed the same.
He won.
Not just won, but dominated. Most of his duels didn't even last long enough to be considered competitive. A clean, consistent record with no losses.
A 100% win rate.
Even without meeting him, Aki had already placed him at the top of her list. If there was anyone she needed to defeat to prove herself, it was him.
And then… there was Kazuko Kawakami.
Compared to the other two, information about her was almost nonexistent. No tournament records, no duel history worth mentioning. Most of what Aki found had nothing to do with dueling at all.
Kazuko could usually be seen near lakes or rivers, running laps over and over, mostly dragging heavy tires behind her like it was normal. There were even a few mentions of her getting into fights, but those were just some of handed comments with no proof.
Aki had stared at one of those reports for a moment before moving on.
"…What does that have to do with dueling?" she had muttered to herself back then.
From everything she gathered, Kazuko didn't seem like someone who spent time with a Duel Disk. If anything, she looked like someone who focused entirely on physical training.
So Aki made a simple conclusion.
Momoyo was a brute.
Kazuko was also a brute.
Yumi was the only real threat.
That was the image she built in her mind.
Of course, that conclusion came from an outsider looking in, piecing things together from surface-level information and assumptions.
She didn't know what it was actually like inside the Kawakami Temple, or in Duel Academy.
She didn't know what kind of reputation those names carried among those who had faced them before.
She didn't hear the way people lowered their voices when talking about the She-Devil and Slifer, or how many still have PTSD because of them.
If others were to know about her assessment, then they would just sigh, shake their head and let her find out for herself. Just because the tiger hasn't roared doesn't mean it's a Hello Kitty.
Fortunately for Aki, the one she was dueling was Kazuko, the one who mixed the Dueling Style of her siblings, while also trying to make her own unique style. Since she couldn't be as annoying and as a pain in the ass as Momoyo's, or be overwhelming pressure and suffocating as Yumi's.
Her style is just somewhere in between right now, being a mix of both, while not as powerful as the original.
"Alright! It's my turn now!" Kazuko said with a small smirk, placing her fingers on top of her deck. "Draw!"
She slid the card into her hand, eyes scanning it quickly before she looked back up, her expression still relaxed.
"I activate Meteor Black Comet Dragon's effect! I send Red-Eyes Black Fullmetal Dragon from my deck to the grave."
She pulled the card out without hesitation and placed it into her graveyard slot. The moment it hit, the massive comet dragon on her field let out a low, rumbling roar, its body glowing brighter as heat gathered around it.
A wave of scorching air rolled forward, distorting the space between them as it rushed toward Aki.
"It has 3400 ATK," Kazuko added casually, "so that's 1700 damage."
[Aki, LP 2200 -> 500]
Aki braced herself as the heatwave hit, her stance shifting slightly, but she didn't step back. Even so, the drop in Life Points was clear.
Kazuko didn't pause.
"Now, battle! Buster Blader attacks Queen Angel of Roses!"
The Dragon Destroyer Swordsman tightened his grip on the oversized blade and stepped forward, dragging it slightly before lifting it up as he charged straight at the kneeling angel.
"Buster Blader can deal piercing damage too," Kazuko added, almost as an afterthought.
"I activate my Trap Card!" Aki responded immediately, her final face-down flipping open. "Rose Barrier Force! When you declare an attack, I banish Regenerating Rose from my grave to destroy all your Attack Position monsters!"
A barrier of layered rose petals formed instantly in front of her, spinning rapidly before bursting outward. The petals weren't just for show this time; they cut cleanly through the air, slashing across Kazuko's field.
One by one, her monsters were hit, their forms breaking apart under the storm of petals.
The Dragon Destroyer Swordsman vanished first, followed by the rest of her field.
For a brief moment, the field looked empty on Kazuko's side.
Aki exhaled lightly, thinking she had bought herself some breathing room.
Then Kazuko spoke again, still smiling.
"Meteor Black Comet Dragon's effect," she said, tapping her Duel Disk lightly. "If it's sent from the field to the grave, I can Special Summon a Normal Monster from my grave."
From the fading embers of the destroyed dragon, something stirred.
A familiar black dragon rose up from the lingering heat, crimson eyes glowing as it let out a sharp roar.
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon, 2400 ATK]
Aki's eyes widen slightly.
"Red-Eyes, attack Queen Angel of Roses!"
The black dragon opened its mouth, flames gathering instantly before it released a direct blast toward the already kneeling angel.
The attack fully connected and destroyed the kneeling angel. Kazuko then continue.
"I activate Red-Eyes Black Meteor Dragon!" she continued, sending another card to the grave. "By sending a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my deck to the grave, I Special Summon it and increase its Level by 1!"
She sent Summoned Skull to the grave without hesitation and placed the card down.
Another dragon appeared beside Red-Eyes, its body glowing with red, molten-like cracks, a faint aura flickering around it.
[Red-Eyes Black Meteor Dragon, 2000 ATK / Level 6 -> 7]
Kazuko glanced at both dragons for a moment, then nodded to herself.
"Now I use both Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Meteor Dragon for a Contact Fusion!"
She picked up both cards and slid them into the graveyard in one smooth motion.
The two dragons lifted off the ground, their bodies merging midair as dark flames wrapped around them.
"Contact Fusion! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!"
A heavy, metallic dragon landed on her field with a solid impact, its black armor gleaming as crimson wings spread behind it.
[Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon, 2800 ATK]
"When this card is summoned, it gets two counters," Kazuko said. "And once per turn, I can remove one to Special Summon a Red-Eyes Normal Monster from my grave."
[Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon, Counter: 2]
She placed one more card down behind her monster.
"I set one card. Turn end."
Despite everything that had just happened, her tone stayed light, like she was just going through the motions.
Across from her, Aki let out a slow breath. She still had 500 Life Points left.
Not much, but enough.
She placed her fingers on top of her deck, closing her eyes for a brief second.
Everything would come down to this.
"Draw!"
She pulled the card, the motion sharper than before, leaving a faint arc in the air. Slowly, she turned it over, and a small smile formed.
"It seems my deck hasn't failed me," Aki said, placing the card down. "I activate the Spell Card, Monster Reborn! I'll bring your Buster Blader back to my field!"
The familiar symbol of resurrection appeared as energy gathered on her side.
For a moment, it looked like things might turn around.
Kazuko blinked once, then snapped her fingers lightly.
"Oh, right," she said, as if just remembering. "I forgot to mention something."
Aki paused.
"Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon," Kazuko continued, still smiling, "while it has a counter, every time you activate a card or effect, you take 500 damage."
Everyone: "..."
The crowd watched, but no one believed she actually forgot. Chazz sighed, recalling how that one time, Yumi had accidentally forgotten about his monster's nasty continuous effect, leading to him getting his hope up, thinking he could win, before it got crushed, stomped, burned, and buried six feet under.
"There is no doubt about it, they are siblings." Chazz said with his arms crossed, sounding more like he was noting down an important detail than anything.
A small spark of red flame flickered from the metal dragon and shot straight toward Aki.
[Aki, LP 500 -> 0]
The moment it hit, her Life Points dropped to zero before Monster Reborn could even resolve.
Aki stood there for a second, looking at her field, then at Kazuko, having complicated feelings.
Across from her, Kazuko raised her hand with a grin.
"Gotcha! That was a fun duel!" she said, pointing two fingers forward in a way that looked very familiar.