Third Person

A 16-year-old girl walked along one of the many sidewalks in downtown Tokyo, taking in scenery she was unfamiliar with. Around her were clusters of people, talking and having a good time. She saw a mother and her children, a sight that pained her so but she tried to ignore the nagging feelings of loneliness.

The past is the past, and you need to focus on the future.

Then, while looking to her right, she saw a sign, Card Capital it said.

Is that...a card shop?

She headed to the door and stepped inside. She found herself surrounded by grade school children, which embarrassed her a little. Being in a young environment made her uncomfortable since she wasn't good with kids. But no one was paying attention to her, as they were all watching the card games happening around the shop.

"Welcome to Card Capital!"

? POV

I turned to see a man in an apron with green hair and square glasses. His nametag read Shin Nitta. He was the only one I'd seen working so far, and judging by the scale of the shop I assumed he was the manager.

"Is this your first time here?" He asked in a friendly tone. I walked passed him, looking ahead. He laughed uncomfortably. "Not one to chat, I see..."

I began to look around when something caught my eye, a Cardfight Vanguard booster pack. Without thinking, I walked over to the display and gazed at the packages. I hadn't seen one of these in a while. It brought back a numb, nostalgic feeling.

"So, I see you're interested in Vanguard."

"Yeah, so?" I responded immediately. He broke out into another cold sweat.

"Shin, stop annoying the customer."

A girl sitting behind the counter looked over at us, annoyed as well. She had light lavender hair and held a closed book in her hand. She began to quarrel with the manager, who was looking rather sheepish. While they were busy with their argument, I looked over to the other side of the shop and saw there were more tables in the back. I assumed this place was popular.

"Hey, you there!" I heard a young boys voice bellow through the entire shop. "Hello, are you hot of hearing or something? I'm talking to you teal hair!"

I turned to see who yelled. The jerk had black hair that was way too spiky, along with red eyes that looked like they were always filled with confidence or, more likely, pride. There were two other boys beside him, one with glasses and the other with an almost as weird hair-do.

"Excuse me, but maybe instead of yelling halfway across the room, you should actually come up to me, loud mouth. And it's hard of hearing. "

"Oh, so it's gonna be like that huh?" He started to walk over to me, looking determined. He whipped out a card case and pointed it at me. "I challenge you to a card fight!"

"Seriously? First, you yell at me, then you insult me, and now you want to fight me?"

He didn't answer, as he'd already begun prepping himself.

"This'll be great! A new customer fighting one of our regulars! This should be fun, don't you think?" He looked at me with a big smile.

I thought about it for a second and decided to give it a shot. I'd been wanting to fight someone since I got here. Besides, this way I'd be able to put him in his place.

I walked over to the table that he was stationed at and sat down. I took out my card case and selected my starting vanguard. We placed our units on the vanguard circle, and shuffle each other's deck. I drew my hand. Two grade 1's, a grade 2, a grade 3, and a grade 0, a decent starting hand. The boy redrew two cards.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Whatever," I replied.

We both flipped over our cards. "Stand up Vanguard!"

Miwa's POV

School had ended for the day, so Kai and I decided to head over to Card Capital. I did all the talking as usual, while Mr. to-cool-for-everything just walked in silence, maybe saying a word or two if necessary. Suddenly, before we reached Card Capital, a young boy ran out towards two other boys about to enter.

"Hey, guys! You'll never believe it! Some girl beat Kamui and now she's taking out a few middle school guys!"

"Really? Who is it?"

"Is it the shop counter girl?"

"No, it's someone new. Nobody's ever seen her before!"

"Aw man, I wanna see this!"

They all ran into the store.

"Hey, Kai, that sounds interesting, don't cha think?" I asked, leaning in towards him.

He didn't say anything, although I could tell that he wanted to find out more about this "mysterious fighter". Kai was just like that, always looking for a new challenge, and this was no exception.

We quickly walked up to the store entrance, and when the doors opened we found Izaki fighting a girl we'd never seen before. Her back was to us, so I couldn't see her face. However, there was something familiar about this girl, but I wasn't sure what it was or why. That's when I noticed Kamui, moping in the corner of the store. From the looks of it, his friends were trying to cheer him up.

Wow, he must have gotten destroyed. That or Emi found a boyfriend.

I chuckled at myself for that one.

? POV

"My turn, I draw." I drew a card from my deck and then placed it in my hand.

"I ride Secretary Angel." I placed her in the vanguard circle on top of Oracle Guardian Wiseman. "Then I call Battle Sister Cocoa, Oracle Guardian Gemini, and Hybrid Battle Witch, Collette, to the rear guard." I placed them down on the rear-guard circles, leaving my hand with only 2 cards.

The crowd has begun to whisper and talk among themselves. I looked at Collette. I knew everyone was talking about it. It was an extremely rare card, but nothing to get worked up over. Izaki seemed uneasy staring at it.

Seriously? Was he scared of a card? Please, there were things more frightening in this world than a card.

Miwa's POV

I instantly recognized the card.

"That's an unusual face."

I guess Kai had taken notice of my reaction. "It's just that I've seen that card before. But I can't place where," I said, explaining myself.

"Oh really?" Kai asked, but he said it more in a condescending tone rather than a curious one.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure you've seen it too." I countered. I could see a hint of surprise in Kai's face. The girl's bored voice brought our attention back to the battle.

"First, using Cocoa's skill, I check the top card of my deck, and place it either back on top or at the bottom of my deck." She drew a card, looked at it for a moment, and then placed it on the bottom.

"Then I'll have Cocoa attack your vanguard, supported by Gemini." She rested the cards on her left rear guard circles.

"I don't guard." Izaki drew for a damage trigger. He showed the card. No trigger. He placed the card in his damage zone.

"Next, Collette attacks. I activate her skill. Counterblast and soul charge." She flipped 2 cards in her damage zone and sent a card from her hand to the soul. "Because I have 4 or more rear-guards, she gains an extra 5000 power for this attack."

Izaki cringed. A skill like that put him at a big disadvantage. "I don't guard."

This brought him up to 5 damage.

"Now, Secretary angel attacks your Vanguard supported by Luck Bird!"

"I guard with two Ironclad Dragons and Monica as well. Nehalem will intercept." He placed each card in the guardian circle.

"With Tyrant Death Rex as his vanguard, the shield totals to 40000," I commented. "Even with two triggers, the attack won't go through. And she's used up all her attacks."

"She misplayed. The only thing she can hope for now is a stand trigger," Kai added.

? POV

I cringed. I had used up almost my entire hand on Collette's last attack. There's no way I'd be able to survive the next turn. Not to mention the possibility of drawing two draw triggers was almost next to impossible, and even that wouldn't be nearly enough to get past the shield. Shoot, I misplayed those last attacks. I should have attacked with Collette last.

I'd got myself into a really bad situation, but I refused to let my uneasiness show through.

"Twin drive check." I drew the first card. It was Psychic Bird, a critical trigger.

Even if I added this to Angel with the possibility of another trigger, it wouldn't be enough. What should I do?

Then I looked down at Collette. Well, it's not like I had much to lose at this point.

"I give all effects to Collette."

The crowd began whispering among themselves once more.

"But she already attacked with that card. Why give it the power?"

"She must be hoping for a stand trigger. Besides, adding it to her Vanguard won't help."

I averted my gaze over to two other boys beside our table, wearing the same uniform Izaki was. The one with black poofy hair looked confused, while the other one with blue hair was explaining my move to him. The blue haired kid, he was giving me a weird vibe. Whatever, I had to focus on getting through this match and then I could worry about it later. I looked back at my deck, and put my hand on it to draw the second card.

Come on, don't let me lose this.

I drew with my eyes closed, not sure what to expect. When I opened them, I saw Emergency Alarmer.

"Stand trigger activated."

"What?! No way!"

"Giving all effects to Collette." I stood her back up.

Izaki looked at this hand. From how he was grimacing I could tell he didn't have anything. He must have used up all of his cards guarding that last attack.

"I attack your Vanguard once more with Collette. Activating her skill again!" I flipped the last 2 face-up cards in my damage zone and soul charged another card. I didn't have to per se, but I felt it would be a waste not to.

"Her total power is now 21,000!"

Izaki looked terrified. "I... I don't guard."

He drew the first card, and it was a critical trigger; not what he needed. "I'm finished," he said as he laid the sixth and final card into his damage zone, defeated.

Everyone watching was amazed at the lucky draw I got. Even I was taken by surprise. I hadn't gotten a lucky draw like that in years. Well, I guess there's a goddess of luck somewhere.

"Man, you're really good!" Izaki said.

"Not really," I said, collecting my cards. If I hadn't gotten that trigger, not only would I have lost, but I would have completely embarrassed myself.

Third Person

Miwa was still racking his brain, trying to figure out who this girl was. It was bothering him, she seemed so familiar, and that card-

Meanwhile, she had turned around and begun walking towards the door, looking at her deck in her hands. She sighed, putting it away in her bag.

That's the last time I pull this thing out.

A couple of pairs of shoes came into view near the entrance. She sighed.

"Excuse m-"

She looked up and stopped. Two boys that looked around her age stood in front of her. Both had on the same school uniform. But what caught her attention was the familiarity in the blond's eyes.

Miwa noticed the same thing, and soon it all came together. The teal hair, the pale green eyes, the scar on her forehead, that card; there was no doubt, this girl was-

"Deca?"

Her eyes widened.

"...Taishi?"

(Disclaimer: I do not own Cardfight! Vanguard or its characters. All I own are my OCs. Credit goes to Bushiroad)