Once we were in the corridor, I quickly explained to Akihiro the situation I found myself in.

"Talk 'bout a convoluted way of doing things. Ya sure there's not another guy or gal you could talk to for the Aqua Force cards? I can't imagine Hashimoto will be too happy to see you."

"Neither am I, but it's my only option. Unless, do you know any 1st Years who use Aqua Force?"

"Nope. I could ask Tamaki to see who uses it in A Class, but time's not our side."

"Yeah. Sorry for wrangling you into this on such short notice."

"It's fine. I can't believe you're using Tadokoro's deck to do that out of all things. Ya sure it'll change his mind?"

"I just have to overwhelm him with it's strength. It all comes down to whether or not I can drive check a heal trigger."

The Blue Wing's main gimmick was standing their units whenever a heal trigger was checked. I could easily end the game if I pulled a single heal trigger and restood my entire board.

"Your luck ain't really that good, though..."

"I'm betting on the fact that I've had so much bad luck these past few days. Eventually it's got to turn around for me."

"Law of equivalent exchange, or summin' like that."

Akihiro laughed. Personally, I thought it was more closer to karma than anything.

"Let's get going."

"F'sure."

Me and Akihiro walked up the stairwells to go the third floor of the school, where the 3rd Year classrooms were. Since we were alone while walking together, I used this chance to have a private conversation with him about becoming our trump card for the war.

"How's your new deck coming along?"

This was the most important question to ask first. Even though his deck was ruined on Tuesday, Akihiro was still looking through cards he could build a deck around. It would be troublesome if he couldn't decide before the end of today, since the war was tomorrow.

"Do you want the short version, or the long version?"

"It's not going great is the short version, I'm guessing."

"Pretty much..."

Akihiro sighed, deflating his shoulders.

"If you need help on anything, I'm always here."

"I know, but that's exactly why I didn't want to ask you for help. Pride as a cardfighter aside, I didn't want to trouble ya, since you seem to have a helluva lot on your plate. I didn't want you to stress about me not getting my act together before the war."

"It's always been in the back of my mind from the very beginning. You're E Class's most valuable asset for the war, so of course I'd worry about how you were doing."

"That's a nice joke."

"I'm being serious. I truly believe you're the best cardfighter in our class."

"You're saying that to be humble. If anything, you're our best cardfighter. You should be on the front lines fighting, not being the commander."

I was taken back by both Akihiro's praise and harsh words.

"Sorry, was that too rude? I didn't mean it that way. It's just, between our two fights in the last war, your one was more impressive, y'know? I lost to a no name jackass all while you kept pace with Mikazuchi, 3-A's class rep."

"I still got the floor mopped with me."

"You underestimate yourself too much man. Believe in your own hype!"

If I did believe in my own hype, I'd probably become an arrogant and egotistical narcissist. Things work out better for me if I always assume I'm on the losing side of things.

"I'll only believe in my own hype is you believe in yours. Actually, let me pose you a question. Do you believe I'm a better cardfighter than you are?"

"Of course. I've still got a long way to catch up to you."

Without hesitation, Akihiro answered.

"In that case, since you think I'm better than you, would you trust my judgment on who's the best cardfighter in our class?"

This time, he wavered.

"You don't, do you?"

"Well..."

"Okay, let's change the question. Who do you believe, aside from me, is the best cardfighter in our class?"

"Masaru."

Knowing Akihiro's personality, he'd probably stay humble and choose someone other than himself. That's why I fully expected this answer.

"Then, we've established a pecking order. I'm the best, you're second best, and he's third best."

"Wait, huh?"

"Follow the logic. If you believe I'm better than you, then it means you're beneath me in terms of ranking, yes? But since I believe you're the best, you should be above me in terms of ranking. Essentially, we're contradicting each other here."

"I get that, but how did you come to that conclusion?"

"Because your original statement still stands. I trust your judgment because I believe you're the best cardfighter in our class. If you think I'm better than you, then the next best position for you would be beneath me, in second place."

"How does Masaru fit into this then? He really good Vanguard, but he's about on par with me in terms of skill. He could easily take second place if he wanted."

"That's where your trust in my judgment comes in. Personally, I don't believe Kawaguchi-san's on par with you to the point he'd take second place. However, because you rate him so highly, and I believe you're better than I am at Vanguard, I'll trust your judgment again, and rank him as third best. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

It looked like a lightbulb had been switched on inside Akihiro's head.

"...I'm starting to get it a little. Basically, you're putting faith into my judgment because you think I'm the better cardfighter."

"Exactly. If you truly, wholeheartedly believe that I'm better than you, then I want you to put that sort of faith into my judgment as well. And my judgment dictates that you are our best cardfighter. Can you believe in that much for me, Akihiro-san?"

The corners of Akihiro's lips curled up ever so slightly.

"Shucks, ain't this embarrassing? Getting praised by you out of all people."

"I really do mean it. I've even devised a plan to make you the lynchpin in E Class's strategy in the war. You'll become our trump card."

Suddenly, Akihiro's bashful face recoiled with cringe.

"Jesus, could ya ruin the moment any harder? Talk about cheesy."

"Does ace up our sleeve sound better?"

"They're both corny as hell, dude..."

"Whatever, the name isn't important. It's what you'll be doing that matters. However, this role is only possible once you put your deck together, because a lot of testing against you is going to be required."

"I guess stalling building my deck for so long has backfired on us, huh?"

"It's fine, it just means we'll have to work our butts off today and tomorrow morning. In all honesty, I should've contacted you sooner about this plan, but... as you can see, things got hectic for me."

"Don't sweat it, I'll definitely master this role in whatever time we have left. So, uh, what am I doing exactly?"

"You'll be hitting D Class where it hurts most."

"Lemme guess, their wallets? I'm all up for extortion."

Akihiro smacked his fists together.

"I want you to eliminate Zyriot-san from the war. Also, please don't joke about things like that again..."

"Beating the leader, eh? Sounds like a piece of cake. How tough can it be? Zyriot plays Megacolony, the lamest clan in existence."

"Well... I fought him yesterday, and he won."

"...and you want me to beat him?"

"Remember, trust in my judgment."

"I'm starting to regret putting my faith in you."

"Please don't... anyways, the reason I fought him yesterday was so I could gather intel on his deck to build a replica for you to fight against."

Thanks to Mitsuba's collection, I'd already made Zyriot's deck last night in preparation for this.

"What you'll be doing is fighting against Zyriot-san's deck, piloted by me, in order to learn how to win against him. That way, when you fight him in the war, you'll know how to beat him and get rid of D Class's biggest threat."

"So it's a full Zyriot wringer, eh? I'll definitely make sure to find a way to stick it in his face. The only thing we're missing now is my deck to play against..."

Akihiro facepalmed, laughing to himself self-deprecatingly.

"Yeah. That's why I asked about the progress on your deck first."

"You've already heard the short version, so I guess I should tell ya the long version."

Akihiro stopped at one of the stairwells, leaning against the wall. Since it seemed like this was going to take awhile, I took a seat on one of the stairs.

"The reason I use Dark Irregulars is because my dad also uses it. I wanted to be just like him, so I picked that deck when I first started Vanguard, and stuck with it ever since. But recently... I guess I've been having doubts. The easiest thing to do would be to build another Dark Irregulars deck, right? But when I looked through those cards in Mitsuba's folders, nothing stood out to me. I didn't want to use any of those cards."

Akihiro had lost interest in the Dark Irregulars clan because none of the other units clicked with him anymore.

"And... while trying to build a new deck, it made me realise something deep down I didn't want to come to terms with. It's kind of stupid to get hung up over it, but I feel like I'm betraying my dad by saying this, so... it's really difficult to say it out loud, y'know?"

Akihiro squeezed his fist, unable to admit to either me or himself the truth. I kept silent, letting him slowly gather the courage to voice his feelings into words.

In a way, I was almost jealous. I could never understand the emotional hardship Akihiro is going through right now, because it involved someone he cared deeply about— his father.

For me, he doesn't even exist.

I wonder what it was like. To have that much admiration and love for another man.

"I kinda... sorta... well, I came to this conclusion. I... I don't like Dark Irregulars. It's... it's not a clan that fits me. I don't really like the aesthetic or the play-style. I tried to make it work by playing the deck without actually playing it... but I ended up jumping through hoops just to do it."

Akihiro was referring to how he built his Dark Irregulars deck around Mirche, who's skill was more closer to a Pale Moon card than a Dark Irregulars one.

"It's not a bad thing if you don't like that clan. I'm sure your dad wouldn't be offended if you told him that."

"Still... it feels like a betrayal. That's the bit that gets me. It's like I'm letting him down by saying this..."

"I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"It's pointless to fret on whether or not he'll be disappointed in you over it. That's why you should phone your dad and tell him you don't like Dark Irregulars to see his reaction. Once you know how he feels, you can overcome this mental hurdle."

Akihiro frowned, looking hesitant to do it.

"That's... kinda extreme."

"If you're worrying about it, then it's the easiest solution."

"I guess... but saying that to him a daunting task."

"If you can't say it, I will."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Call him and put the phone on speaker. I'll tell him how you feel. You can hear his reaction that way then."

"Really?"

"Really."

Akihiro sat down next to me and took out his phone.

"Thanks for this."

He quietly thanked me as he called his dad. The phone quietly rang. Eventually, it was picked up.

"Moshi moshi? Aki?"

Zeon's voice could be heard from the other side.

"H-hey, dad. Uh, I have something to tell you, but..."

Akihiro answered, looking at me nervously.

"What is it? Did something happen at school?"

"Uh... not really... it's just..."

Akihiro looked at me with growing panic. I calmly took the phone from his shaking hands and spoke.

"Hello, Zeon-san. I'm Akihiro-san's friend, Takanori Yuuto."

"Yuu-kun, 'sup! You're with Aki right now?"

Once I introduced myself, Zeon excitedly greeted me. The reason he greeted me so familiarly is because I've been to his orphanage before on multiple occasions with mom when I was younger. She and Zeon are best friends, so she helps him out in her spare time. As such, when I was little, mom dragged me along with her whenever she went.

"Hang on, let me get someone real quick. Hey, Rukia!"

Surprisingly, he called someone over to join the conversation.

"Zeon, what's the matter?"

"Your son's on the phone with Aki!"

Unsurprisingly, he called over my mom. It seems she was helping out at the orphanage today. Coincidentally, I was just thinking about her moments earlier...

"Eh?! Yuu, are you really there?!"

Mom excitedly joined the conversation. I guess Zeon put his phone on speaker as well, since I could hear noisy children playing and shouting in the background now.

"Yeah. Hey mom."

"Yuu, I've missed you so much! You really need to call me more often. Akihiro-kun calls Zeon regularly, so why can't you call me regularly too?"

"...please don't embarrass me while I'm in front of my friend."

Akihiro snickered in the background.

"I'm not trying to, it's just really easy to accidentally embarrass you, sweetie. At least nice to hear your angsty voice again."

"My voice isn't angsty..."

"That's what they all say! I can't wait for this phase of your life be over."

Mom sighed, teasing me for my anti-social behaviour. I could imagine her smiling on the other side. My heart fluttered a little.

"This isn't a phase, mom. Can you go now? I'm here to help Akihiro-san out with something..."

"Alright, alright. In all seriousness, please call me more often. I worry about you..."

"...I'm doing fine mom, sheesh. But fine, I will. Until then."

"Bye Yuu! Also, Akihiro-kun, make sure to drag him outside more often for me. Thank you!"

"Will do, Rukia-chan."

Akihiro interjected, looking at me with a devilish grin. I gulped.

"Please spare me, I like staying indoors..."

"Heh, I should drag you out to football training on Saturday morning sometime, how does that sound?"

No thank you. I'm spending my Saturday morning sleeping in bed.

"Anyways, what did you need to talk to me about, Aki?"

Zeon steered the conversation back on topic. I looked at Akihiro, and he signalled for me to speak instead.

"Akihiro-san wanted to tell you something, but was too nervous to say it, so he asked me to tell you instead."

"Oh?"

There was a sound of concern behind Zeon's voice.

"Is it okay to tell him now?"

Akihiro nodded.

"Alright. Basically—"

Before I could speak, Akihiro snatched the phone out of my hands. I thought he was going to run away and end the call out of fear, but instead...

"Dad... to tell you the truth... I'm sorry, but..."

Akihiro paused, taking a deep breath in.

"I don't like Dark Irregulars!"

A shocked silence followed. He really mustered up that courage in the last second, huh? I patted his back, congratulating him for confronting his fears by himself.

"...that's what you called me for?"

Zeon started to laugh.

"My god, you sure know how to get my heart racing... I thought something bad happened!"

"...h-huh? B-but... you use Dark Irregulars... so I thought..."

"There's a reason why there's twenty four clans, Aki. There's something for everyone. If you don't like DI, then there's another clan out there that's suited for you."

"Dad..."

"I'm glad that's all you wanted to tell me. Actually, you did the midterms recently, didn't you? Have the results been published?"

"Oh, uh, not yet... they're going to be public in June."

"Ah, I see. Well, give me a call when you get them. I can't wait to hear the results."

"S-sure thing! And, uh, t-thanks dad..."

"Anytime Aki. I've gotta go now, so see you soon, and take care! Same with you, Yuu-kun."

"Yeah, have a good day, Zeon-san."

"Bye dad!"

And with that, we ended the call. Aki slumped on the stairs, looking dizzy.

"...he had no reaction whatsoever."

"You really were overthinking it."

Getting up, Akihiro rubbed his eyes, like he was splashing muddy water on his face to wake himself up.

"Damn right I was... alright then, I know what I'm building!"

"You do?"

"Hell yeah I do! Y'see, there's actually been a card I had my eye on for awhile. I always wanted to test it out, but since it was from Nubatama, I never got the chance. I'll build the first draft of my idea during break so we can start play-testing today."

"Sounds like a plan. If you have difficulty with anything, let me know."

"Yeah, will do. For now, let's haul ass and get those Aqua Force cards from Hashimoto before homeroom starts!"

I nodded in agreement.