Author’s Note.
I leave the fight to your imagination.
The duel had become the longest cardfight Katsumi had ever endured.
After the appearance of Mr.
Invincible, Izaki had refused to collapse, patiently clawing his way toward four damage while carefully preserving the resources necessary to unleash his Vanguard’s famed ability.
Without Blue at his side, without his signature cards, and without the overwhelming certainty that usually accompanied his strongest combinations, Katsumi had been forced into a battle where every decision mattered.
For the first time in a long while, his confidence in an inevitable victory had been shaken.
Izaki had pushed him harder than expected, forcing him to spend cards, reconsider attacks, and fight without the comfortable safety net of his usual strategy.
In the end, Katsumi had still won.
But it was not the effortless victory he had imagined when the fight began.
He had won by the smallest of margins.
“Thanks for the match!”
Izaki lowered his head in a small but sincere bow.
“Uh…”
Katsumi was caught slightly off guard by the gesture.
For a moment, he simply stared at Izaki before realizing what was expected of him, after which he returned the bow with equal respect.
“The pleasure was mine.”
The other two boys immediately came running toward Izaki.
“That was amazing, Izaki!”
“Yeah,” his friend added, his expression still brimming with excitement.
“That match was fantastic!”
Their voices overlapped as they surrounded Izaki, enthusiastically discussing the fight and replaying its most intense moments, their excitement seemingly unaffected by the fact that one of them had just lost.
Katsumi remained standing a short distance away.
Ignored.
Completely.
He adjusted his glasses.
“…”
After everything that had happened during the fight, somehow this was what bothered him the most.
“The fight was amazing!”
Aika, who had watched the duel from beginning to end, approached Katsumi with a small smile.
“Congratulations.”
Her voice was quieter than the others, carrying a warmth that contrasted with the louder celebration taking place nearby.
“Oh, yeah.”
Katsumi rubbed the back of his head, his expression becoming slightly awkward.
“Thanks.”
Aika continued looking at him for a moment, the small smile still lingering on her face.
Katsumi stared back.
‘Did I miss something?’
Before he could dwell on the thought any further, a familiar presence approached from behind.
Blue, the sleeping dragon, had finally arrived at the scene.
Katsumi’s eyes widened slightly.
‘No.’
A faint sense of relief passed through him.
‘You arrived just in time.’
The dragon’s arrival seemed to complete the strange little gathering, and despite the battle having produced a clear winner and loser, the atmosphere remained surprisingly cheerful.
There was no bitterness from Izaki, no resentment from his friends, and no triumphal arrogance from Katsumi.
Instead, there was laughter, conversation, and an almost casual appreciation for the fight they had just witnessed.
Perhaps that was what made Vanguard different.
A cardfight could be fiercely competitive, with every attack carrying the possibility of victory or defeat, yet when the final card was revealed and the battle ended, the opponent remained an opponent rather than becoming an enemy.
It was one of the reasons Vanguard had earned its reputation as a game built upon sportsmanship.
The battlefield could be merciless.
The players did not have to be.
“Ah!”
“Morikawa, about our deal?”
He looked at him expectantly, hope written plainly across his face.
‘Deal?’
Blue’s question seemed to hang in the air.
Katsumi glanced at the sleeping dragon before turning his attention back toward Izaki.
“You can consider yourself the winner.”
He gestured toward Aika.
“Let’s go.”
Then, without giving Izaki any further explanation, Morikawa Katsumi turned and began walking toward the exit.
“Yuta Izaki.”
The words were delivered casually, almost as though Katsumi had merely confirmed something that had already been decided.
With that, he left Card Capital, Aika following close behind him.
The three boys remained where they were, watching his retreating figure disappear beyond the entrance.
For several seconds, none of them said anything.
Then they exchanged glances.
They were thinking the exact same thing.
‘That was kind of cool.’
The evening air had settled over the streets by the time Katsumi and Aika began making their way home.
The noise of Card Capital gradually faded behind them, replaced by the quieter sounds of passing vehicles, distant conversations, and footsteps against the pavement.
Katsumi walked with his usual relaxed posture, one hand tucked into his pocket while his attention remained divided between the road ahead, Blue’s occasional remarks, and the events of the cardfight.
Aika, however, was unusually quiet.
Her thoughts kept returning to what she had witnessed.
Not simply Katsumi’s victory.
The way he had fought.
The way he had watched Izaki’s resources instead of merely watching his cards.
The way he had deliberately allowed certain attacks to pass, guarded others, and turned what initially looked like insignificant exchanges into a gradual dismantling of his opponent’s options.
There was something she had learned today.
Something she had not understood before.
A cardfight wasn’t simply about having powerful cards.
It was about understanding the person holding them.
Aika glanced toward Katsumi.
“Katsumi?”
“Hm?”
He was still listening to Blue, although his attention shifted toward her almost immediately.
She hesitated for a moment before asking, with genuine thoughtfulness in her voice,
“Do you think I can be a good player?”
“…”
Katsumi stopped walking.
It took him a moment to process the question.
Aika watched him silently.
She already knew Katsumi well enough to understand how his mind worked, almost down to the smallest mechanism.
First, he would analyze the question.
Then he would examine the possible meanings.
Then he would probably overthink the consequences.
And then…
BOOM!
An imaginary explosion detonated somewhere inside Katsumi’s mind.
“Wh-what?!”
He flinched, his shoulders jerking slightly.
Aika blinked.
Why had she asked that?
More importantly, why was she asking him?
He had heard enough stories about situations like this to know that when a girl asked someone for their opinion about her abilities, appearance, or personality, the conversation could lead in several directions.
Sometimes it strengthened a relationship.
Sometimes it created an awkward misunderstanding.
And, in Katsumi’s experience, the second possibility seemed considerably more common.
His expression became increasingly serious.
Blue stared at him.
Aika stared at him.
Katsumi stared back at Aika.
“…Why are you asking me?”
Aika tilted her head slightly.
“Because you taught me how to play.”
Katsumi paused.
That was…
Reasonable and good.
His internal alarm system had apparently been triggered over nothing.
He slowly adjusted his glasses.
“I see.”
Aika waited.
Katsumi looked toward the road ahead, then back toward her.
“If you’re asking whether you can become good…”
He considered his words carefully.
“…yes.”
Aika’s eyes brightened slightly.
Katsumi continued before she could respond.
“But you’re not there yet.”
Her expression fell for only a moment.
Then she nodded.
“I know.”
Katsumi glanced at her.
“But that’s not a bad thing.”
Aika looked at him again.
Katsumi’s expression remained calm.
“You watched today’s fight, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you already learned something.”
Aika’s lips curved into a small smile.
“What?”
Katsumi looked ahead.
“That you still have a lot to learn.”
“…”
Aika stared at him.
Then she laughed softly.
“That’s a very Katsumi answer.”
Katsumi adjusted his glasses.
“I don’t know whether that’s an insult.”
“It isn’t.”
She continued walking beside him.
For a few moments, neither said anything.
Then Aika quietly smiled to herself.
Perhaps she had found the answer she was looking for.