Chapter 10: In the Heat of Summer
Summer break had come to Astraea Island. Most of the students had left to be with their families. Jaden once again found himself alone in his search for the Wicked Gods, since Chikaru and her God Hunter Club were among the students who had left. He has become a little frustrated since he was still hitting a dead end. Plus the search had become more urgent to Jaden since he had his little talk with Banner a few nights ago. He had learned that if he didn’t find the Wicked Gods, the world might be destroyed.
At that particular moment, Jaden was taking a stroll in the field behind Miator to try and clear his thoughts. Suddenly he came across a familiar redhead sitting on the ground. Instead of her regular Miator uniform, Nagisa was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and a matching white short skirt.
“Hey Nagisa.” Jaden greeted as he walked up to the redhead.
“Hi Jaden.” Nagisa greeted back. “You’re still here on the island?”
“Yeah, the job that I have to do for Mr. Pegasus is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.” Jaden answered. “What’re you still doing on the island? I thought you’d be spending the summer with your family.”
“I can’t, since my parents are working overseas.” Nagisa explained.
“It must be kind of lonely around here without Tamao and the others.” Jaden responded.
“Actually, I’ve been spending a lot of time with Shizuma.” Nagisa replied. “So I haven’t been real lonely.”
“Why are you spending so much time with her?” Jaden asked out of curiosity.
“Well, Miyuki wanted me to spend this time studying French since I’m still behind the other students.” Nagisa explained. “So Shizuma has been tutoring me some more.”
“Doesn’t sound like you’re having that great of a summer.” Jaden assumed.
“Well, it’s been hard work learning French, but I’ve actually been enjoying spending so much time with Shizuma.” Nagisa replied.
As if on cue, Shizuma suddenly showed up, standing a few feet in front of where Jaden and Nagisa were sitting. The silver haired beauty had her arms crossed over her chest. Shizuma cleared her throat to get the attention of the two chatting friends.
“Oh, Shizuma! I didn’t see you there.” Exclaimed a startled Nagisa.
“Break time is over Nagisa.” Shizuma said with a serious expression on her face.
“Oh… Okay. Well, it was nice talking with you Jaden.” Nagisa said as she got up to leave with Shizuma.
As the two girls were leaving, Shizuma stopped for a moment and turned back to give Jaden a death glare that sent a chill down his spine. A moment later, both girls were gone.
“What was that about?” Jaden asked himself.
“I think Shizuma was telling you to stay away from her girl.” Yubel said as she suddenly appeared.
“Her girl?” Jaden asked the Duel Monster, a little confused. “Wait, are you saying that Shizuma has a thing for Nagisa?”
“Oh my naïve Jaden.” Yubel chuckled. “You could see from our first day on the island that Shizuma is attracted to little Nagisa.”
“Oh…” Jaden responded as he thought back to when he first met Shizuma and Nagisa. “Do you think that Nagisa feels the same way?”
“Well I can’t say for certain,” Yubel answered with an amused smile, “but she certainly did swoon the first time she saw Shizuma.”
“I thought Nagisa fainted because she was sick or something.” Jaden said with a tone of surprise, causing Yubel to chuckle more.
“You still have a few things to learn Jaden.” Yubel said to her human partner.
Two days later, Jaden was once again taking a stroll through the field behind Miator, and a few feet away from him, he once again stumbled across a familiar redhead. Nagisa was wearing the same outfit that she was wearing when Jaden ran into her two days before. Nagisa wasn’t alone, however. Sitting near where Nagisa was laying on the ground was a person who Jaden at first mistook for a young man. Jaden soon realized however that it was Amane. The blue haired tomboy was wearing black jeans, an old pair of brown riding boots, and a loose fitting long sleeved white shirt with the top two buttons undone. Jaden thought that what Amane was wearing made her look more like a prince than ever before. The prince image was reinforced by Amane’s white horse, which was standing nearby. Jaden found that he was close enough to hear Nagisa and Amane’s conversation.
“You’re so different from the other Miator girls.” Amane said to Nagisa. “They’re all like caged birds, all concerned with tradition and school customs. You aren’t like that though. You’re more free spirited.”
At this point, Amane crawled closer to Nagisa until their faces were mere inches away from each other.
“You’re such a mysterious girl.” Amane said to Nagisa, causing the redhead to blush a little.
Suddenly, Shizuma showed up and stopped only three feet away from the two.
“Well, this is certainly interesting.” Yubel said to Jaden as she appeared next to him.
“Maybe we should go.” Jaden said, feeling a bit awkward.
“Aww, but I wanna watch!” Yubel pouted.
“Break time’s over!” Shizuma announced, greatly startling Nagisa and Amane and snapping them out of the heated moment they were having.
“Oh, I guess I should be going now.” Nagisa said to Amane as she got up to leave with Shizuma. “It was nice seeing you Amane.”
Shizuma gave Amane the same death glare she gave to Jaden before leaving with Nagisa.
“So much for an interesting show.” Yubel said with a disappointed sigh.
“Let’s go.” Jaden said as he shook his head at the duel monster.
As Jaden walked away from where he saw the heated incident, Amane rode by on her horse and stopped a few feet away from Jaden.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Amane said to Jaden as she dismounted.
“Hey Amane, it’s been awhile.” Jaden greeted back as he tried to pretend that he didn’t see what happened between Amane and Nagisa. “How’re you doing?”
“Pretty good I guess.” Amane replied. “Although I apparently made a move on someone who was already spoken for.”
“Okay…” Jaden said, pretending not to know what Amane was talking about. “So what’re you still doing on the island?”
“I’m staying here to take care of Star-Bright.” Amane replied, indicating her white steed. “Why are you still here?”
“Oh I’m just doing some work for Mr. Pegasus.” Jaden answered. “Um… so how are you and Hikari getting along?”
“Uh, we’re getting along pretty well.” Amane answered with a slight blush. “She’s a nice girl.”
“Do… you miss having her around?” Jaden asked in an attempt to continue the conversation.
“Yeah… yeah I do sorta.” Amane answered in a tone that indicated that she seemed a little uncomfortable talking about the subject.
There was an awkward silence between the two at that point. Jaden thought that perhaps he had asked the wrong question. Jaden’s mind raced to find a way to salvage the conversation.
“So out of curiosity, why won’t you enter the Etoile tournament?” Jaden suddenly asked, earning a look of surprise from Amane. “I mean, everyone I’ve talked to on the island thinks that you can win it.”
There was another moment of silence between the two as Amane gave Jaden a thoughtful look.
“I just don’t see the point.” Amane finally answered. “I’ve already proven to myself I’m good. I don’t need some title to say I am. Besides, I don’t want to get tied down to a partner.”
“Partner?” Jaden asked a little confused.
“Say, would you mind doing me a little favor?” Amane asked in an attempt to change the subject.
“What kind of favor?” Jaden asked with a raised eyebrow.
Amane walked over to her horse and pulled her duel disk out of the saddlebag.
“I need to let off a little steam.” Amane explained as she put the duel disk on her arm. “Normally I’d just go for a long ride, but since you’re here, I thought we could have another duel.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Jaden said with a smile. “Game on!”
With that, the two duelists activated their duel disks. Once their life points were set to 4000, the duel began.
“I’ll let you go first this time.” Amane said to her opponent.
“If you say so.” Jaden responded as he drew his first card. “First I activate Polymerization and fuse Elemental Hero Clayman and Elemental Burstinatrix to summon Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster in Defense Mode!”
A warrior that looked like Burstinatrix wearing an enhanced version of Clayman’s armor appeared on Jaden’s side of the field in a crouched position. Rampart Blaster’s left arm ended in a shield, which was raised to protect itself. On the hero’s right arm was a large, futuristic blaster type weapon.
“Wow, 2500 DEF points. That’s quite the barrier monster.” Amane complimented.
“Thanks.” Jaden replied. “I’d say that my Rampart Blaster is just as good a barrier as that Obnoxious Celtic Guardian you played in our first duel.”
“I’m not sure I’d go that far.” Amane said back with a tone of pride.
“Anyway, next I play the Spell card, Branch!” Jaden continued. “Now if a Fusion monster I control gets destroyed, I can summon one of the monsters used to summon it! That ends my turn!”
“You’ve put up quite the defense.” Amane commented as she drew her next card. “Let’s see what I can do to smash it.”
“Bring it on!” Jaden dared the blue haired tomboy.
“First I summon Maruading Captain in Attack Mode!” Amane announced.
An unshaven warrior in a tattered cape and armor appeared on Amane’s side of the field.
“When Marauding Captain is summoned, I can Special Summon a level four or lower monster from my hand.” Amane explained. “So I Special Summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in Attack Mode!”
A white robotic ninja wearing a green vest appeared next to Marauding Captain.
“Next I equip Marauding Captain with Black Pendant!” Amane announced. “This increases his ATK from 1200 to 1700!”
A necklace with a dark purple crystal in the center appeared around the captain’s neck.
“Now Sasuke, attack Rampart Blaster!” Amane commanded. “Ultimate Ninjitsu Art!”
Sasuke lept into the air and prepared to strike Jaden’s armored warrior.
“But Sasuke only has 1800 ATK!” Jaden exclaimed, a bit confused.
“That may be true,” Amane said with a sly grin, “but when Sasuke attacks a Defense Position monster, he instantly destroys it!”
In a flash, Sasuke threw several blades at Rampart Blaster, instantly destroying it.
“I activate the effect of Branch!” Jaden announced. “I Special Summon Clayman in Defense Mode!”
Jaden’s stone armored warrior appeared back on the field.
“I guess that’s all I can do.” Amane said with a shrug. “My Marauding Captain can’t beat your Clayman’s 2000 DEF. I end my turn!”
“So much for crushing my defense.” Jaden said with a cocky smile as he drew his next card.
“Don’t get overconfident. This duel is just getting started!” Amane said back confidently.
“I won’t deny that.” Jaden replied. “First I acdtivate Pot of Greed and draw two new cards!”
Jaden grinned as he looked at his two new cards.
“Next I summon Elemental Hero Avian in Attack Mode!” Jaden announced.
Jaden’s winged hero appeared on the field.
“Next I activate Miracle Fusion!” Jaden announced. “I fuse Avian on the field with Bustinatrix in my Graveyard to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!”
Burstinatrix reappeared on the field and merged with Avian into a green warrior with one white wing and a red dragon headed arm.
“Flame Wingman, attack Marauding Captain!” Jaden commanded. “Flame Shoot!”
Flame Wingman fired a burst of flames from his dragonhead arm, destroying Marauding Captain. The attack reduced Amane’s life points from 4000 to 3600.
“Don’t forget, when Flame Wingman destroys a monster and sends it to the Graveyard, my opponent takes damage equal to the destroyed monster’s ATK!” Jaden reminded as Flame Wingman shot a fireball at Amane. Amane’s life points were reduced from 3600 to 1900.
“Not bad,” Amane said as she recovered from the blast, “but you should also remember that my Black Pendant deals 500 points of damage to my opponent when it’s destroyed.”
A spark of purple lightning suddenly hit Jaden, reducing his life points from 4000 to 3500.
“I guess I’ll end my turn!” Jaden announced.
“You’re in for a real treat.” Amane said after she drew her latest card. “I summon my favorite monster, Warrior of Zera, in Defense Mode!”
Appearing on Amane’s side of the field was a muscular warrior with tan skin and yellow eyes. The warrior was wearing blue pants and a green helmet with red horns. On his hands were gauntlets of green armor, and a green tunic that covered his chest and upper back. Tied around Zera’s neck was a long red scarf. Zera was in a kneeling position holding a sword that had a crossguard in the shape of a blue dragon’s head. Jaden was actually quite familiar with the Warrior of Zera. Zera only had 1600 ATK and had no effects, but Jaden knew that it had the power to evolve into other powerful monsters.
“Wow, so why is Zera your favorite monster?” Jaden asked out of curiosity. Amane responded with a shrug.
“I guess I can identify with him a little.” Amane explained. “He prefers to fight alone, looking for something better.”
“You’re trying to find something better?” Jaden asked in surprise. “What is it you’re trying to find?”
“I’m not sure.” Amane replied. “I just sometimes feel like there’s something missing from my life.”
“Well I hope that you find what you’re looking for.” Jaden said encouragingly.
“Thanks!” Amane replied. “Anyway, I switch Sasuke to Defense Mode! Next I set one card and end my turn!”
Jaden looked at the card he drew. It was a good card, but there wasn’t much he could do with it at that moment. At least he had a powerful monster on the field.
“Flame Wingman, attack Zera!” Jaden commanded. “Flame Shoot!”
Flame Wingman raised his dragonhead arm and prepared to fire another blast.
“Don’t think that I’m going to let you destroy my favorite card so easily!” Amane exclaimed. “I activate my facedown card, Kunai With Chain! I equip this card to Zera and switch Flame Wingman to Defense Mode!”
Zera suddenly swung a chain with a three-pointed blade and whipped it around Flame Wingman’s legs, knocking him to the ground.
“I guess I end my turn.” Jaden announced.
“I should probably mention that Kunai With Chain raises Zera’s ATK from 1600 to 2100.” Amane said as she drew her next card. “First I switch Zera and Sasuke to Attack Mode!”
Zera and Sasuke stood back up. Zera had the end of his chained weapon wrapped around his left wrist. The bladed end was still wrapped around Flame Wingman’s legs.
“Next I summon Blade Knight in Attack Mode!” Amane announced. A knight in shining silver armor appeared on Amane’s side of the field. “Now I equip Blade Knight with Lightning Blade, raising his ATK from 1600 to 2400!”
A sword with an electrified blade replaced Blade Knight’s original saber.
“Now because I only have one card in my hand, Blade Knight’s ATK rises by another 400 points!” Amane explained.
“Zera, attack Flame Wingman!” Amane commanded. “Blade of Zera!”
Zera stabbed Flame Wingman in the chest with his sword.
“Now Sasuke, attack Clayman!” Aamne commanded. “Ultomate Ninjitsu Art!”
The white android ninja fired a flurry of blades at Clayman, completely destroying the stone armored hero. Jaden’s field was wide open.
“Blade Knight, attack Jaden directly!” Amane commanded. “Electric Blade!”
The shinning knight slashed Jaden across the chest with his electric sword. Jaden’s life points fell from 3500 to 700.
“I end my turn!” Amane announced.
Jaden found that he was having a real blast. Amane was the strongest duelist that he had faced in quite awhile, and she wasn’t holding anything back.
“I activate a Field Spell, Neo Space!” Jaden announced after he drew his latest card.
In a flash, the field that the two duelist were standing in vanished, and they were suddenly standing in an area of outer space that was swirling in rainbow colors.
“Wow, pretty.” Amane commented as she looked around at the new surroundings.
“I’m glad you like it.” Jaden replied. “Next I summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole in Attack Mode!”
A brown mole with shoulder armor that looked as if it was made by a split drill appeared on the field.
“Since you’ve brought out your favorite monster, I’m going to return the favor and bring out mine!” Jaden announced. “I activate Fake Hero and Special Summon Elemental Hero Neos from my hand!”
Jaden’s trademark hero in white appeared on the field next to Grand Mole.
“Neos gains 500 extra ATK thanks to Neo Space!” Jaden explained. “Now I Contact Fuse Neos and Grand Mole into Elemental Hero Grand Neos!”
Neos and Grand Mole leapt high into the sky, fading out of site. A moment later, Neos reappeared in a different form. His torso, lower legs, and left hand were covered in olive green armor, and he wore and olive green helmet to match. A large drill covered Neos’ right hand. Parts of Neos’ white body suite had turned brown.
“Just like his original form, Grand Neos gains 500 extra ATK from Neo Space.” Jaden explained. “Plus he gets to stay on the field at the end of the turn.”
“So this is the power of your ace monster.” Amane observed.
“You haven’t seen anything yet!” Jaden replied. “Now I activate the effect of Grand Neos, Nebula Hole! I use it to return Sasuke to your hand!”
A large black bubble formed around Sasuke briefly before it vanished, taking the android ninja with it.
“Now that you have two cards in your hand, your Blade Knight’s ATK drops back to 2400!” Jaden announced. “Grand Neos, attack Blade Knight with Nebula Shot!”
Neos raised his drill and sent forth a wave of black energy that tore the silver knight to pieces. Amane’s life points dropped from 1900 to 1300.
“I think I’ll end my turn there!” Jaden announced.
“Why didn’t you attack Zera?” Amane asked.
“The way I see it, we each have one turn left in this duel, so I want it to be a battle between our ace monsters.” Jaden explained. “My Neos against your Zera!”
“You’re on!” Amane exclaimed as she drew her next card. “I set one card on the field and end my turn!”
Jaden knew that Amane had set a Trap of some kind, but when he saw his next card, he wasn’t worried about it.
“Grand Neos, attack Zera!” Jaden commanded. “Nebula Shot!”
“I activate my Trap, Sakuretsu Armor!” Amane announced just as Grand Neos was about to fire another burst of cosmic energy. “When an opponent’s monster attacks, the attacking monster is destroyed!”
A confident smile appeared on Amane’s face when Grand Neos exploded, but it quickly vanished when the smoke cleared and she saw Neos still on the field in his original form.
“How on earth…?” a stunned Amane asked.
“I activated Reverse of Neos from my hand!” Jaden explained. “When a Neos Fusion monster is destroyed by a card effect, I can Special Summon Elemental Hero Neos from my deck! Neos gets destroyed at the end of the turn, but he gains 1000 extra ATK!”
“That means Neos has 4000 ATK!” Amane exclaimed, still stunned. Jaden nodded.
“Neos, attack Zera!” Jaden commanded. “Wrath of Neos!”
Neo leapt into the air and delivered an earth-shattering punch to Zera’s face. Amane’s life points dropped to zero, and the area around the two duelists changed back to the field behind Miator. Amane walked over to Jaden and shook his hand.
“Thanks for that duel. It really helped.” Amane said to her worthy opponent.
“No problem. I think I needed to let off a little steam too.” Jaden replied. “We should do this again sometime.”
“I’d like that.” Amane said with a smile. “Well, I think I’ll get going. I hope to see you again sometime.”
With that, Amane walked up to her white horse and got back on. Jaden waved to Amane as she rode away. Jaden found that he hadn’t felt so good since before he’d found out about the Wicked Gods. He had been so stressed out about finding them that he had once again forgotten to have fun. That duel with Amane was just what he needed. It was getting late in the afternoon, so Jaden decided to head back to the head mistress’ mansion. The search for the Wicked Gods could wait one more day.
* * *
Later that evening, Nagisa stood out on the roof of Miator by the pool, watching the last of the setting sun. It had been an interesting day. The most interesting part of it was her encounter with Amane. What Nagisa couldn’t quite understand was why Shizuma seemed to get so mad before. What was wrong with spending time with Amane? Nagisa suddenly remembered that Shizuma had reacted the same way when Jaden was visiting with her two days before.
“Mind if I join you?” a voice from behind asked. Nagisa turned to see that it was Shizuma.
“Um, not at all.” Nagisa answered. Shizuma took a position on Nagisa’s left.
“I’m sorry for how I acted earlier today,” Shizuma suddenly said, “and for how I acted when I found you talking with Jaden Yuki a couple of days ago. I was afraid that they were going to steal you away.”
“Steal me away?” a confused Nagisa asked.
“…The truth is, I really like you Nagisa.” Shizuma answered as she suddenly grabbed Nagisa’s hand. “I don’t want anyone else to have you.”
“Uh, uh, it’s getting late. I should be getting back to the dorms!” a startled and flustered Nagisa said as she pulled her hand out of Shizuma’s.
As she quickly tried to leave, Nagisa slipped and fell into the pool. Nagisa was a bit stunned as she slowly floated to the bottom. Just as she was about to swim back up to the surface, Nagisa saw Shizuma swimming towards her. Shizuma grabbed Nagisa’s hand and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Nagisa was startled at first, but after a moment, she found that the kiss felt right. It felt more than right actually, it felt incredible. It felt like how she always hoped her first kiss would be like. Time seemed to stop as they floated in the water. It was at that very moment that Nagisa’s feelings for Shizuma had become something a bit more.
