Chapter 8: The God Hunter Club
The months had passed on Astraea Island, and Jaden was becoming a bit frustrated. He was having no luck finding the remaining Wicked God cards, or the person who was after them. Jaden had searched much of the grounds of all three schools and found nothing. Though he had yet to search the entire island. Still, Jaden was more or less having an enjoyable time on the island. He had made several friends. Aside from Chikaru and the other three girls from Lilum, Jaden had become friends with Nagisa, Tamao, Hikari, and Yaya.
Aside from looking for the Wicked Gods, Jaden was also keeping an eye on Kaname and Momomi to make sure they didn’t try making another move on Hikari. He wasn’t alone in this duty. Not long after the incident when Hikari was attacked, Jaden made sure that Yaya, who was Hikari’s roommate, knew about the incident. Yaya was very concerned about the incident. Especially since Hikari didn’t tell her about it, for whatever reason. Regardless, Yaya gladly agreed to help Jaden protect Hikari.
The days and weeks following the incident with Kaname and Momomi were peaceful however. Summer was approaching, and things at the three schools seemed to be calming down a bit. One afternoon, as Jaden was walking around behind Miator, he came across Nagisa, who was sitting on the ground with a worn expression on her face.
“Hey Nagisa.” Jaden greeted as he approached the redhead.
“Oh hi Jaden.” Nagisa greeted back in a tone that was less than enthusiastic.
“Mind if I join you?” Jaden asked. Nagisa nodded, and Jaden took a seat on the ground next to Nagisa. “So what’s bothering you?”
“I’m having trouble learning French.” Nagisa sighed.
“Why are you learning French?” Jaden asked with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s a requirement at Miator.” Nagisa replied.
“They make you learn French here?” a shocked Jaden asked.
“Yes, and I’m having a little trouble with it.” Nagisa answered. “Since I’m a transfer student, I’m behind everyone else in my year.”
Jaden was a bit shocked by what Nagisa had told him. French was certainly not a requirement at his old academy, and if it were, he certainly wouldn’t have liked learning it.
“The worst part is, there’s an exam coming up.” Nagisa continued. “If I don’t pass it, I can’t go on the big trip that’s coming up in a couple of weeks.”
“Trip?” Jaden asked, again a little confused.
“Yeah, Tamao told me that there’s this big trip that most of the students take off the island just before summer break.” Nagisa explained. “But if I don’t pass all my exams, I can’t go.”
“How are you doing in your other classes?” Jaden asked.
“I’m doing real good in all my other classes, especially in my dueling classes.” Nagisa replied. “It’s my French class that’s the only problem.”
“Why don’t you ask Tamao for help?” Jaden asked.
“I can’t keep asking Tamao for help. She’s too busy with her own studies.” Nagisa explained. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to pass.”
“Perhaps I can provide a solution.” A voice suddenly said.
Jaden and Nagisa turned to see who was speaking to them, and were surprised to see that it was Miyuki. The student council president of Miator looked at them with her usual stern expression. What was even more surprising was that Shizuma was with her.
“I’ve heard about your predicament Ms. Aoi, and I’ve come to help.” Miyuki explained.
“Uh, thanks, but why?” Nagisa asked.
“Because in the history of Miator, no student has ever failed French.” Miyuki explained. “As student council president, I will not allow any student to become the first!”
‘Wow, Miyuki really needs to lighten up.’ Jaden thought to himself.
“That is why I’ve arranged for Shizuma to tutor you.” Miyuki continued. “She is one of the academy’s top French students.”
“Shizuma’s going to be tutoring me?” a surprised and blushing Nagisa asked.
“We should get started right away.” Miyuki replied. Nagisa nodded after getting over her initial shock, and with that, Miyuki and Shizuma left, with Nagisa following behind.
“I guess that worked out well.” Jaden said to himself.
“There you are Jaden!” a voice called out.
Jaden got up and turned to see that it was Chikaru. As usual, Kizuna, Remon, and Kagome were with her.
“Oh, hey girls. What’s up?” Jaden asked in greeting.
“Well, we’ve started a new club.” Chikaru replied. “I call it the God Hunter Club!”
“God Hunter Club?” Jaden asked, once again confused.
“It’s a club the four of us started to help you search for the Wicked God cards.” Chikaru explained.
“I don’t think you four should get involved any further.” Jaden said with a serious expression. “It might be dangerous.”
“Please Jaden, I want to help.” Chikaru begged. “I don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else.”
“Oh let them help. It’s not like we’ve been getting anywhere on our own.” Yubel said as she suddenly appeared next to Jaden. “Besides, we’re more than capable of protecting them if anything bad happens.”
Jaden thought for a moment as he looked from Yubel to Chikaru and her little gang. Kizuna and Remon were giving Jaden puppy dog stares.
“Oh, okay you can help.” Jaden finally said.
Chikaru, Kizuna, and Remon all gave a little cheer.
“Okay, it’s settled!” Chikaru exclaimed enthusiastically. “I here by officially declare the formation of the Lilum Academy God Hunter Club!”
A bit later, in an empty Lilum classroom, Jaden and the God Hunter Club had their first meeting.
“Okay, let’s review some of what we already know.” Chikaru began. “We know that The Wicked Eraser was taken by a mysterious party, and that the other two Wicked Gods have yet to be found. One of them is somewhere in the vicinity of Spica, and the other is in the vicinity of Miator.”
Remon nodded as she took notes.
“What do we know about the person who took The Wicked Eraser?” Kizuna asked.
“Well, we know that it was a girl.” Jaden answered.
“Hmm… How old do you think the girl was?” Chikaru asked.
“I couldn’t really tell because of the mask,” Jaden replied, “but my guess is that she isn’t that much older than I am.”
“I see… That could mean that the person we’re after is a student here on the island.” Chikaru suggested.
“Oh, what if she’s the Etoile?” Kizuna enthusiastically asked. Everyone gave Kizuna a quizzical look.
“Uh, Kizuna, I don’t know Shizuma that well, but I don’t think she’s the one we’re after.” Jaden said to the orange haired girl. “Besides, I don’t think that Shizuma could fit all that hair under a mask.”
“The girl who took the card was obviously athletic. Maybe she goes to Spica.” Remon suggested.
“That’s not a bad theory.” Chikaru responded.
Remon’s theory had started Jaden thinking about two possible suspects.
“I think I may know who might have taken the card.” Jaden announced, getting the attention of the whole room.
“Who?” Kizuna asked, eagerly awaiting an answer.
“Kaname Kenjo or Momomi Kiyashiki.” Jaden answered.
“The two other members of the Spica student council?” Chikaru asked with a tone of surprise. “Why them?”
“I had a bad run in with those two a few months ago.” Jaden replied. “And what Remon just said made me think that maybe those two might be who we’re looking for.”
“Well, I think it’s worth checking out.” Chikaru responded.
A bit later, Jaden and the four girls from Lilum went to confront the two sinister members of the Spica student council. They stood outside of Spica’s student council meeting room, waiting.
“Now remember, we don’t know for sure that either of these two is the culprit, so don’t mention anything about the Wicked Gods.” Jaden reminded his four companions.
“Don’t worry Jaden, I know exactly how to handle this.” Chikaru replied.
“I’m not sure about this.” Yubel said as she suddenly appeared next to Jaden. “Just because these two attacked Hikari, doesn’t mean that one of them took the God card.”
“They’re the best suspects we have.” Jaden said back quietly to the Duel Monster.
“Why, because they’re scum and we don’t like them?” Yubel asked in response, “We didn’t get the same dark feeling that we got from Chikaru from either of those two. Besides, if that witch Kaname had The Wicked Eraser, she would have just tried using it against you or Amane instead of just going after Hikari.”
As Jaden contemplated what Yubel told him, Kaname and Momomi finally emerged from the student council room.
“Well, well. If it isn’t President Chikaru and her little fan club.” Kaname observed with an evil sneer. “And what are you doing here Jaden Yuki?”
“We wanted to ask you a couple of questions.” Jaden replied with a glare.
“We don’t have to answer any from YOU!” Momomi shot back.
“All we want to know is where the both of you were on the afternoon of the third day of the school year.” Chikaru cut in.
“What business is it of yours?” Kaname asked.
“Please, it’s important.” Chikaru responded.
“Where we were is none of your concern!” Momomi exclaimed.
“They were with me.” A voice suddenly cut in. Everyone turned to see Shion emerge from the student council room.
“Kaname and Momomi were helping me with some important work for the student council that afternoon.” Shion explained before turning to her two underlings. “Kaname, Momomi, you two need to show more respect not only to Lilum’s student council president, but to Mr. Yuki as well! He his a personal guest of the head mistress after all!”
“Yes President Shion.” Kaname and Momomi both replied.
“Fine, now apologize to them and leave!” Shion commanded.
Kaname and Momomi both gave a brief apology to Jaden and Chikaru and left.
“I’m so sorry for the behavior of those two.” Shion said turning to Chikaru. “Now if you don’t mind me asking, why did you want to know where those two were that afternoon?”
“Well, there was an incident at Lilum that afternoon, and one of thought that those two might have been involved.” Chaikaru answered.
“I see. Well those two have been known to cause trouble.” Shion responded with a smile before turning back to Jaden. “So Mr. Yuki, I trust you’re enjoying your time here on the island?”
“Uh, yeah. It’s been interesting.” Jaden replied.
“Good.” Shion responded. “I was wondering if you’d consider ahveing a rematch with Prince Amane sometime in the near future.”
“If she wants one, I’ll be happy to duel her again.” Jaden answered.
“Excellent!” Shion said enthusiastically. “Well, I have business to attend to. I hope to see you all again later.”
With those words, Shion turned and left. A little while later, Jaden and the God Hunter Club returned to their meeting room.
“Well, that was a dead end. Sorry girls.” Jaden said to the group.
“At least we’ve eliminated two suspects.” Chikaru said encouragingly.
“So what do we do now?” Kizuna asked.
“I think we should focus on looking for the two Wicked Gods that haven’t been found yet.” Jaden answered. “If we don’t find them, some innocent students might find and become corrupted by them.”
The rest of the group nodded in agreement with Jaden.
“Hmm… I think we can divide our efforts.” Chikaru told the group. “Jaden, why don’t you have Kizuna, Remon and Kagome help you look for the other two Wicked Gods? In the meantime, I’ll try and check out which Spica student might be the one who took The Wicked Eraser.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jaden replied.
“Good. I hereby declare the first meeting of the God Hunter Club adjourned!” Chikaru announced.
* * *
The next afternoon, while Jaden and the God Hunter Club were continuing their search, Nagisa was in the Miator dinning hall with Shizuma, who was helping her prepare for her upcoming French exam. It was grueling work, since Nagisa needed to catch up on three years worth of French classes. There was an upside however. Nagisa was getting to spend time with Shizuma. Of course, Nagisa knew that she was there to study, and she was trying her hardest to do just that. There were many times though, such as that very moment, where Nagisa couldn’t help but pause from her work and just look at her captivating tutor. Nagisa was practically mesmerized by Shizuma’s flawless porcelain white skin, her long sparkling silver hair, and her golden eyes, which gave her an heir of mystery. Shizuma was indeed a goddess.
“Uh, Nagisa, are you listening?” Shizuma asked the mesmerized redhead.
“Oh, sorry.” Nagisa said as she snapped out of her trance. “Where were we?”
“Why don’t we take a little break?” Shizuma suggested with a warm smile.
“That’s a great idea.” Nagisa agreed. “My brain could use a quick rest.”
Shizuma glanced towards the piano that was in the corner by the door.
“Tell me Nagisa, do you play the piano?” Shizuma asked.
“Um, a little.” Nagisa answered a bit nervously.
Shizuma took Nagisa’s hand and lead her over to the piano. The two of them sat next to each other on the bench. Shizuma flipped open the book of music that was already on the piano to a certain page.
“Do you know this piece?” Shizuma asked. Nagisa nodded. “All right, follow my lead.”
Shizuma started playing, with Nagisa joining in a moment later. Time seemed to stop for Nagisa as the two of them played. Second seemed to turn into hours as each note emanated from the piano. Shizuma’s playing was extraordinary. It seemed to Nagisa like there was nothing that Shizuma couldn’t do. Nagisa was a little sad when they finally reached the end of the song, but she was very glad to have gotten the chance to play with Shizuma.
“Well, that was fun.” Shizuma declared. “Shall we get back to work?”
“Sure.” A refreshed Nagisa replied, and with that, the grueling French lessons continued.
* * *
A week later, while Nagisa’s studies continued, Jaden and the God Hunter Club had another meeting.
“So, how have things been going on your end?” Chikaru asked the assembled group.
“Not well.” Jaden replied. “We haven’t been able to find a trace of the two remaining God cards. We even rechecked a few of the places that I’ve already searched.”
“It didn’t help that everywhere we went there were Spica students that wanted to challenge Jaden.” Remon added. “It was really slowing us down.”
“What can I say? Practically every student in Spica has wanted a piece of me ever since I beat Amane.” Jaden said with a shrug.
“Well I haven’t been having much luck on my end either.” Chikaru reported. “I’ve checked on where every Spica student that fits the description of our thief was during the incident. It looks like whoever did this isn’t a Spica student.”
“Maybe we should take a break from looking for our thief for awhile.” Jaden suggested. “We’ve obviously hit a dead end. For right now, let’s just focus on finding the other two God cards before someone else does. Who knows? We might run into the thief in the process.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” Chikaru agreed.
“But we don’t even know where to start looking for them.” Kizuna cut in.
Jaden thought for a moment about what Kizuna had said. She was right, they had no idea where to start looking for the other two God cards, or did they?
“There might be a way for us to figure out where to start looking.” Jaden announced, getting the full attention of the group. “I think we should check out the place where The Wicked Eraser was hidden.”
“What good would that do?’ Remon asked.
“We might find a clue to where the other two cards are hidden.” Jaden explained. “I know it’s a long shot, but it might be worth a try.”
Silence hung over the room as Jaden, Kizuna, Remon, and Kagome waited for Chikaru’s response to Jaden’s idea. Jaden suddenly realized that going to the original hiding place of The Wicked Eraser would mean that Chikaru would be revisiting the place where she fell into darkness.
“…Okay,” Chikaru finally agreed, “we’ll go there tomorrow afternoon!”
The next afternoon, Chikaru led the way through the forest to where she first found The Wicked Eraser. Jaden followed from right next to her.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Jaden asked Chikaru.
“If going there will help us find clues to where the other two Wicked God cards are, I’m willing to go back.” A determined Chikaru answered.
Eventually, the group reached the small cave where Chikaru found the God card. From the outside of the cave, Jaden could sense a noxious residue of the evil card that was once sealed there.
“If you want, you and the others can stay out here while I go take a look.” Jaden told Chikaru.
“No, we’ll all go in!” Chikaru declared, still with a determined expression on her face. The other three girls nodded.
“Okay.” Jaden responded as he led the way into the cave.
It was a small, not very deep. At the end of the cave on a pedestal of rock was a small wooden chest. Though the light was dim, Jaden could tell that it was painted in the school colors of Lilum. It even had the Lilum school seal engraved on the latch.
“Is that the box where you found the card?” Jaden asked. Chikaru nodded.
Jaden walked up to the chest in order to take a closer look. The noxious energy left by the God card was even stronger up close.
“Hey Chikaru, was this box locked?” Jaden asked.
“No, it wasn’t really even latched.” Chikaru answered.
Jaden opened the box and inspected the inside of the lid. It looked to him as though the interior of the latch was melted.
“I think the guys Pegasus hired to seal these cards away underestimated their power.” Yubel observed as she appeared next to Jaden.
“You think that The Wicked Eraser somehow melted the lock?” Jaden asked Yubel quietly.
“We’ve seen how powerful the Eraser is.” Yubel replied. “I’m not surprised that it could break a crummy human made lock like this. Cards like The Wicked Eraser need to be in a special seal.”
“Just like the Sacred Beasts.” Jaden observed as he closed the box. “Okay, I think we can get out of here.”
Moments later, Jaden and the God Hunter Club left the cave.
“I think we have a better idea of what to look for now.” Jaden announced. “The other two cards are probably in boxes like the one in the cave.”
“Why did you ask President Chikaru if the box was locked when she found it?” Kizuna asked.
“Because it would’ve made more sense if it was locked.” Jaden explained. “Pegasus was afraid of what those God cards could do, so why wouldn’t he make sure that whatever he put them in would be hard to open?”
“So how come the box wasn’t locked when I found it?” Chikaru asked.
“I checked the inside of the latch. It looked like something melted it.” Jaden explained.
“You’re saying that somehow the card destroyed the lock from the inside?” Chikaru asked in a slightly frightened tone. Jaden nodded.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the boxes that the other two cards are were like that.” Jaden theorized. “I think the Wicked Gods want to be found.”
* * *
The days passed, and Nagisa was nervously awaiting the results of her French exam. She had spent every spare moment she had studying for it. Nagisa had stayed up into the latest hours of the night, and had even taken her books into the bath with her. She had worked very hard, and Nagisa was about to see if all her hard work had paid off. Nagisa’s heart pounded a little as her teacher handed back her paper. Finally, she looked at the score written at the top of her exam. It was an 89, not exactly the best grade, but it was enough to pass. Nagisa was thrilled.
“So did you pass?” Tamao asked from her seat behind Nagisa.
Nagisa answered her friends question by showing her the exam that was just returned to her, along with the huge grin on her face.
“I get to go on the trip!” Nagisa exclaimed quietly. The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
“So Nagisa, do you want to celebrate passing?” Tamao asked. Nagisa paused for a moment, and remembered that there was someone that she needed to thank for her passing.
“Um, there’s actually something I have to do first, but maybe later.” Nagisa replied, and in the next moment, she quickly left the classroom.
Nagisa ran to the greenhouse, hoping to find Shizuma. Sadly, she wasn’t there. Nagisa then thought of another place where she might find the silver haired beauty. As quick as her legs could carry her, Nagisa ran to the lake where she first met Shizuma. Once she reached the lake, Nagisa looked around for Shizuma, but didn’t see her anywhere. Nagisa was very disappointed. More than anything at that moment, she wanted to see Shizuma, and thank her for helping her pass her exam.
“You look like you’re in a hurry.” A voice said from behind. Nagisa turned around to see that it was none other than Shizuma.
“Shizuma!” Nagisa exclaimed happily as she ran over to the silver haired girl. “I passed my exam and it’s all thanks to…”
Nagisa couldn’t finish her sentence. She suddenly felt her knees become weak and her eyelids become heavy. At that moment, Nagisa passed out from lack of sleep. Fortunately, Shizuma was able to catch Nagisa before she hit the ground. Very gently, Shizuma sat down by a nearby tree and laid the sleeping Nagisa’s head on her lap.
“I’m glad you were able to pass.” Shizuma whispered to the sleeping redhead as she stroked her hair.
Nagisa awoke a few hours later. She found herself alone by the tree where Shizuma had previously sat down by. The sun was setting, and Nagisa realized that she needed to get back to the dorms, or else she’d be in trouble. For a moment, Nagisa wondered if her finding Shizuma had been a dream, but finally decided that it wasn’t. As she walked back to the Strawberry Dorms, Nagisa decided that she needed to find some way to better thank Shizuma for all the help she had given her, but Nagisa would have to worry about it later. At the moment, Nagisa had a trip to look forward to, and she intended to spend every moment of it relaxing and having fun.
