"Mhm, just like that!" Rui encouraged her brother as he copied her moves. "Making sure you have attackers on the field is important. They may be called attackers, but they're also your main way of defending yourself," she continued to explain it. She tapped on her own cards to demonstrate.

"Then I guess I will attack your level 0 attacker with my level 1 attacker?" her brother asked in return.

"Well... yes, but not quite. It's true that if you attack a level 0 like that they're destroyed, but you can't actually choose your attack target. You have to say which unit attacks, and then I defend. But in this case, I'll use the level 0 to block," she patiently explained to him. Sora turned his level 1 on the side to exhaust it and Rui moved her level 0 to the trash. "This way I can prevent you from attacking this turn entirely, as your level 0 can't go through my level 1. On top of that, with your level 1 exhausted like this, you can't use it to block on my next turn," she continued to demonstrate.

Meanwhile, Lumia continued her conversation with Wolf. "Aha... just talking about it, huh? Wouldn't that be bad for us?" she asked the other Avatar. "After all... without their problems, we have no hope, do we?" she mused, staring at the two siblings playing their match. "And... Nee-chan is the type to keep to herself. She won't talk about what's on her mind with me, either."

"It's my turn again. I'll draw, colour boost and then..." Rui paused a bit as she got everything assembled on her field. She turned one of the Yellow cards on its side to play another Level 1 attacker, but also turned her other colour on its side straight after to play a different type of card from her hand.

"Attackers aren't the only cards. There's also one-time use cards called Incantations," she explained, sliding the one she just used over to Sora so he can read it. "With this card, using a yellow colour, I can prevent one of your attackers from blocking this turn. With your level 1 exhausted, I could launch two attacks if I wanted, but I'm only going to use one. Here I go," she further explained, turning the card in question on its side. "And since you can't block now, my attack would go straight to your Life Cards. Now we look at my attackers's level; 1. When I can attack your life cards like this, you take 1 damage plus the level of my attacker. Since he's level 1, that makes for a total of 2. Life cards that are damaged get added to your hand, so you could use them on the next turn if you wanted to."

Rui took a small pause, needing to breathe before continuing. "Even though I could use my other attacker right now, it'd leave me without anything to protect myself on your next turn. That's why it's sometimes better to wait. I still have plenty of cards in my hand, so I don't want you to get rid of too many of my Life cards. Did you get all that? It was kind of a lot, so I can go over it one more time if you need to."

Sora was surprised about how good of a teacher Rui could be. She explained everything in a very calm, patient and easy-to-understand way. He nodded while she was talking and had a bright smile on his face as she somewhat approved of his action. In the meantime, Wolf commented on what Lumia had just said. "You're right. It's good for us that they won't open up to each other and that their problems continue to exist. But I really feel bad taken advantage of their misery like this. Sadly, we don't have another choice." Wolf said, looking at Sora.

Sora scratched his head in confusion as Rui started to explain her next actions. "So... You could have attacked twice, because you already had a level 1 attacker and then you threw another one on the field, but you didn't in order to be able to defend yourself? And the incantation activated as soon as you turned over the card, which means that my only attacker cannot be used to defend myself? Did I get it right?"

When it was Sora's turn again, he drew another card. Afterwards, he turned over a green card. This appeared to be another level 1 attacker. "So... I put this level 1 attacker on the field and another one from my hand. This would mean that I have three level 1 attackers and you have two, but only one of yours can defend. So I attack with two out of three attackers?" Again, he searched for his sister's approval in the look in her eyes.

"Well... not your only attacker. You still have your level 1, but you just can't use it again until your next turn. At the start of one, all of your exhausted attackers will be refreshed. You'll be able to attack or block again with your level 1 on this turn."

Rui watched as Sora turned over a card from his colour deck, only to have it be a level 1 attacker. "Huh?" Rui briefly reacted in surprise. "Sora, let me look at your colour deck real quick." she imposed on him. Rui put the cards in her hand to the side of her so she could grab Sora's pile and quickly sort through it. "Ah... Sora, I think your cards got mixed up at some point," she said while scooting over next to him. "You see these cards?" Rui said, flipping through a few attackers and incantations scattered among the colour cards. "These aren't actually supposed to be here. This deck is meant to only be for colour cards that allow you to play other cards. While you can put in any combination of colours into it, cards like Attackers and Incantations need to go into your main deck instead."

Rui picked the misplaced cards out of his colour deck and handed them over. "I think some colour cards might've ended up in your deck, too. If you happen to draw any of them, just place them at the bottom of the colour deck and then draw a new card; I don't really mind. Let's just add these other ones to your deck and shuffle so we can continue."

"Hehe... Sora-kun still has a lot to learn, huh?" Lumia commented on what the siblings were up to. She looked over to Wolf. "Hey, Wolf... is what we're doing really okay?" she asked him. "Every time we fight for their wishes, we trample over someone else's. Every time we make a wish come true, someone is hurt because of it..."

Lumia closed her eyes. "Nee-chan is talented. More than anyone I've ever seen. And... and that scares me."

Rui, unaware of the conversation happening on the other end of the room, picked the game back up after the interruption was dealt with. "You should have enough colour to play two level 1's, yes... but don't forget about your level 0! You can only have three attackers on the field. While you can replace your level 0 if your field is full, it'll go to the trash afterwards," she explained, but followed it up with "I think it's a good idea to do so, though!" to encourage Sora. "Let's see... leaving one attacker to block is good. I don't want to take too much damage to my life cards, so I'll block with the attacker I left just for this. Since their level is the same, both of them go to the trash."

Rui moved her cards to the appropriate location. She also said that "I can't block the next one, so I have to take it from the Life." and picked up two cards from the seven in front to add to her hand. "There may be times where you'll need to let an attack go through to get more cards into your hand and mount a comeback. You never know if your most powerful cards were used as Life Cards."

Since Sora's turn had ended, Rui picked up hers again. She drew a card and said: "Just to repeat: since it's my refresh step, I can turn my previously-exhausted attacker vertically again to attack or block with it." Rui also proceeded to play another colour card from her colour deck. So far, she had three yellows accumulated. She looked up at Sora. "There's actually one last type of card in this game; a 'trap' card." Rui picked up a card from her hand and placed it onto her field. "You can place a single one of them face-down like this. They work a bit like incantations, but the difference is that they need something else to happen first before they can activate. Be careful though; you still need colour to play these! If something happens that triggers the trap card, but you don't have the colour to pay for the effect, you can't use it."

Rui picked up a different card from her hand and played it, another incantation. "My deck is actually based around using mostly incantations. This one allows me to pay a yellow to discard a card and deal a single point of damage," Rui informed Sora, "however, this actually meets the condition for the trap card I set earlier. When I have to discard a card, I can pay a yellow to make my opponent do so instead. So, by combining these effects, now you take a point of damage and have to send a card from your hand to your trash. Do you see how traps work?" Rui gave him a smile. She also placed another level 1 on the field and ended her turn without attacking.

Sora was a bit embarrassed to see that he had misplaced his cards. He knew that he was bad at games like Nexus, but was he really that bad that he wasn't even able to prepare the game the right way? He sighed deeply. He really had no luck and absolutely no chance to win the battles. Sora scratched the back of his head, while Rui took out the misplaced cards. She was a natural at those kind of strategic games, that's exactly why he chose to buy Nexus for Rui.

Sora became nauseated. He hoped to become better at the game with his sister helping him, but he felt his chances of becoming closer to Rui by winning the battles and getting his wish slimming down. Now that he was thinking about it, he wondered what her wish would be. Of course he couldn't just ask her, but it was kind of fun thinking about it. What kind of wish could his sister have? She probably wished for something that Sora could never understand, like getting a higher grade or achieving some prize.

Wolf sighed. "No, it's not okay. It's actually so wrong when you start thinking about it, that's exactly why you should not think about it. What we are doing is indeed wrong, but neither of us is going to accept the situation as it is right now, so we have no choice but to go through with it. And about Sora and Rui, based on their capabilities, they really are opposites. Sora is a disaster, but Rui... Rui is so good it does become scary at times." Honestly, he often wished that he could just stop what he was doing. He thought about it all of the time, about telling the truth. However, he never could go through with quitting. He had to battle. He didn't have a choice.

With the game continuing, Sora started to feel a little more confident. It was actually quite fun to battle with his sister like that. He still made some wrong or stupid moves, which Rui had to correct, but the amount of stupid moves declined throughout the game. He actually learned a lot by watching Rui and by listening to her explanations. When did she learn all of that? She was always studying for school, so when did she make time to study upon Nexus? Was she really so obsessed with getting her wish fulfilled, whatever wish it was? Or was she that excited about the game, because he was the one who gave it to her? No, that last reason didn't make sense at all. They weren't that close anymore, not since they were children.

Sora realised that he was losing the game and of course he didn't expect to win against his sister, who seemed to be a prodigy, but it still made him a bit sad. He tried his best with his next turn, but he felt like giving up. He only had one life left and when - not if, but when - she were to destroy his last life, she would win. Sora took a look at Wolf before playing his turn. "Seeing how you play, I have no doubt that you will be able to fulfill your wish soon, whatever your wish is." He was curious to see if Rui would just tell her wish to him. That shouldn't be a problem, right? But on the other hand, he wasn't going to tell his wish to her, it would be embarrassing.

"Euhm... Look... I know you are wasting time with me that you would rather have spent studying instead... And maybe you're going to study extra hard tomorrow... But... Maybe we can go to the zoo tomorrow. You know, just like we used to?" Sora said with a shy whisper as he scratched the back of his head again, but this time not because he didn't understand something, but because he just was so nervous talking to her like that. Why was he nervous talking to his own sister? He shouldn't be. Maybe a day together was exactly what they needed. A day to the zoo, it would be perfect!

Sora's life was at one, but he left himself plenty of protection. Rui's deck was weak in terms of raw attacking power; she couldn't just break through. If she tried it, she'd leave herself open to an assault and lose her the game. Unfortunately for Sora, however, Rui didn't need to go for a frontal attack to win.

Sora said something to her before she could begin her turn. "Seeing how you play, I have no doubt that you will be able to fulfil your wish soon, whatever your wish is."

Rui shook her head. She said "It's not just me... you're going to have to win too, Sora."

Rui's turn went by in a flash. In order to win that turn, she used every little advantage she'd built up over the course of the game. She took Sora's final life card with an incantation, made him discard that card with a trap and evolved her avatar as soon as she did so. That last part sealed Sora's fate; the avatar Rui used in this game took a life card upon its evolution, and since Sora had none to spare, he lost then and there. Rui looked up, gave Sora an apologetic smile and giggled. "Sorry, I have trouble going easy, heheh..." She started to gather her cards together for the clean-up. It was a lot of fun to teach Sora. And even though he didn't understand the rules very well right now, she believed in him. He would win. Nobody thought higher of her brother than Rui herself.

"Euhm... Look... I know you are wasting time with me that you would rather have spent studying instead... And maybe you're going to study extra hard tomorrow... But... Maybe we can go to the zoo tomorrow. You know, just like we used to?"

...

'Like...'
'Like we used to?'

Rui's movements stopped, her hand hovering over a card she'd been about to pick up. She didn't remember ever going out with him. She didn't even remember there being a zoo in this town, or any neighbouring ones for that matter. Rui felt an ache in her heart. 'I really forgot all about you, huh?' she melancholically thought to herself, but despite her inner turmoil, raised her head to meet Sora's nervous yet expectant gaze.

"Aww, it's cheating if you ask so bashfully..." she teased him. "Buuuut I'm still a little unconvinced... you know I'm always busy. If you really want me to go, maybe you could try asking your onee-chan a little more nicely~?"

Even if he didn't, Rui would still go. Despite the heartache, there was a warmth to counteract it. Even if Rui couldn't remember, even if she had to fight and claw back what she held dear, Sora was still Sora. For all the memories she lost, she could make new ones. And ever since meeting Lumia, ever since Sora's loss to Haruto, it felt like the distance between them was closing just a little bit at a time. The memory of them ever being distant was the one memory she'd wished to forget, yet that wasn't stolen like the rest of them.

The cards Sora bought for her brought them together. The battles she still had to face- as long as Rui kept winning... then maybe all this wasn't such a bad thing to happen. If she could just get her memories back, then all of this would just be a bad dream. And if she could just make Lumia grant her wish, then her and Sora... they'd have hope again.

But Lumia thought differently. Seeing Rui smile like that made the avatar want to curl up. She pulled her scarf over her mouth, her ears drooped down and she said one last thing:

"We're going to grant their wishes, Wolf. Both of them. So let's make sure... let's make sure we don't regret that."

Sora scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, when Rui started teasing him. He wanted to react to her comment, but all that he could manage were a couple of sounds that didn't exactly form any words. "Mooh... Oneechan!" He said as his cheeks gained a red color and his lips curled into a soft smile. Wolf didn't say anything. He simply nodded in agreement with Lumia's comment. Sora stood up to take Wolf's card. As the game was done, the two Avatar's didn't need to be that far away anymore.

The next day, Sora and Rui did go to the zoo. Sora had Wolf in the pocket of his jacket, so that he would be able to see the environment too. Sora felt a bit awkwart being that close to his sister again. It had been a long time since they had gone out like that, just the two of them without family or friends with them. He didn't know how to behave or what to say to her. They even had the whole day together, so he couldn't exactly afford to say something wrong. Wolf chuckled. "Don't be so nervous. She's your sister, isn't she?" Wolf whispered, quiet enough so Rui and Lumia wouldn't hear him. Sora laughed a bit at Wolf's comment. "Yeah. I know you're right."

After they got into the zoo, Sora went to take a look at the map. "Do you have a preference as to what kind of animals you want to see first?" Sora said as he tried to sound like a common little brother talking to his big sister. "I myself am more of a fan of the aquatic animals, but they seem a little far from the entrance." Wolf also focused his eyes on the map. "Maybe we can visit my namesakes." Wolf chuckled again.

"What are you whispering about, you two?" Rui said, standing behind Sora while he was distracted by Wolf. She'd gone to a stall to get drinks for the both of them and carried two cups; one themed after a bear and the other a tiger. "Here you go," Rui said, offering Sora the bear-themed one. He seemed to bounce back pretty easily from that one, shifting the topic to what exhibit to visit first. "Let's see... you're right, the ocean exhibit is a bit far. Oh, but look! This one's pretty close, right?" Rui excitedly said, pointing at a cute little image of a panda bear. "Let's go to this one!" she said, grabbing Sora's hand before he had a chance to respond and dashing off with him in the direction of the exhibit.

This served as an ill omen for Sora, as Rui's excitement over the zoo- as if it was the first time she'd ever been to one- caused her to drag him all over the place. She'd look at the animals, comment on them, grab Sora and dash off, over and over. Currently, the two of them found themselves looking at a snake exhibit. "Hey, Sora, look over there! I couldn't even tell there was one curled around the branch there..." she commented. As the two siblings and Wolf continued to look at the reptiles, someone else started to feel left out. A muffled voice came out of Rui's purse. She opened the zipper and took out a certain someone.

"Nee-chan! I keep telling you, I want to see them too!" she angrily yelled at Rui. "Stop putting me away, or at least take me out when you're at an exhibit..." she pouted.

"Ahaha, sorry Lumia... I keep forgetting," she answered. Despite her normally studious self, Rui was surprisingly airheaded that day. Her good mood must've played a part in it. "Here, look," Rui said, "don't these snakes remind you of someone?" she asked Lumia.

"And who might that be?"
"You know, that guy that Sora... wait, huh?"

Rui turned around as she realised that it wasn't Lumia who'd answered her. Standing there was Nanashi, the mysterious masked boy that Rui seemed to run into everywhere. "...Sora? Who is that?"

Rui looked to her brother, then back to Nanashi. "Erm... actually, the thing is..." she said, turning back to her brother. Though his face was impassive as ever, looking between the two of them, Nanashi seemed to have caught onto something.

"...I see. You're not alone this time; you have a date. My apologies," Nanashi said, turning to leave.

"Wha- hey, hey hold on! This isn't a date! This is my little brother!"
"Your brother? You're on a date with your sibling?"
"No, that's not- argh!"

Rui tried clearing up the misunderstanding in vain, clearly, and Lumia started to feel sorry for her commander. Rui had lowered her, but Lumia still had a clear enough sightline of Wolf and Sora to clear some things up. "This difficult weirdo is Nanashi. Nee-chan seems to run into him a lot."

After a short lecture from Rui, Nanashi looked to Sora. "I see... so you're this 'Sora'."

Sora took the bear-themed cup from Rui and took a sip from it. The guy had a huge smile on his face while he was being dragged from one exhibit to the next. It felt really good to spend time with his sister again. It had been so long that it felt like... like returning home after a long and boring business trip. "Oh, yeah! You're right! I guess they are good at hiding themselves. That's pretty interesting to watch." Sora said as he held Wolf's card close to the glass in order for him to see the snakes as well.

Then suddenly, a guy that Sora didn't know walked towards him and his sister. "What does that guy want? Who the hell is that?" Sora whispered towards Wolf, who had an equally confused look onto his face. "I have no freaking idea. However, I don't like the way he looks." Sora whispered a 'me neither' before realizing that Rui had also recognized the guy's presence. A friend of Rui's? A BOYfriend of Rui's? She didn't look that happy to see the guy, so it couldn't be either of those two options.

Then why did she feel the need to make the guy understand that Sora was simply her brother and not her date? "So she runs into him a lot, huh?" Then the guy suddenly turned to Sora instead of Rui. "Yeah, I am. So... What are you doing with my sister? Are you stalking her or something? You should leave her alone." Sora took a couple of steps, so he stood between Rui and Nanashi.

"A stalker...? Me?" Nanashi confusedly replied to Sora. He brought his fingers close to his mask, as if lost in thought, even though there was no mouth on it. "Does that mean I've met you two before...?" he muttered to himself.

"Ahaha... this is bad, isn't it?" Lumia said with a nervous little laugh. "Actually, I don't think he's..."
"You tell him, Sora!" Rui said as she hid behind her (younger) brother, sticking out her tongue at Nanashi like a little kid. Lumia let out a sigh.
"You too, Nee-chan...?" The exasperation in her voice was clear.

"...No. Nevermind. I have something to ask you," Nanashi spoke up again, turning his attention back to Sora. "Can I see that card you're holding?" he asked. "I found it strange your sister pulled out a card from her bag so suddenly. That's why I came over to talk to her." he explained, his mask shifting towards Lumia. Just like back at the card shop, a feeling of discomfort clearly washed over her. She knows he cannot see her, and yet this makes twice now that he'd singled her out. Nanashi's gaze looped back around to Sora. "And you're doing the same. Are you two admiring some rare cards? If so, I'd like to take a look. Maybe I could trade to power up my deck," he asked.

Rui was, at that point in time, a bit too baffled by the request to give any input on the matter.

Sora was dumbfounded that he didn't even seemed to remember his sister, even though Lumia said that the guy had seen and talked to his sister multiple times. What was up with that guy? He was so weird and mysterious that he even somewhat scared Sora. "You don't remember if you have seen or talked to us before? What's up with your memory, dude?" Sora almost screamed, possibly out of fear. He needed to get some answers. Who was that guy? What was he planning to do with them?

Although he had weird feelings considering the guy, he felt good when his sister commented on his actions. It felt good to be able to protect his sister, to be able to be there for her, to have her encourage him like that. Then however, he suddenly got one answer. He came over... because he noticed Lumia and Wolf? Just for those two cards? It felt weird and unbelievable that a random Nexus fan would approach strangers in a zoo to take a look at their cards. Something was up with that guy. "These... These cards aren't... We cannot trade them for anything else." Sora muttered.

He hesitated to say something further, but he knew that the guy wouldn't leave with just that one sentence. "The cards... They are... Euhm... More of emotional support... They won't be much good in your deck..." Sora continued, not even knowing if the cards would be of help to the guy. But the guy couldn't take either Lumia or Wolf away from them. Could he? "If you don't mind... I would rather spend some time alone with my sister... You know... Two siblings catching up... We only have the day and I would rather spend it with her than with... Well... A stranger like you." The last words escaped his mouth in almost a whispering tone.

"Emotional support, is it?" Nanashi commented, the suspicion clear in his voice. He turned his mask to the card Sora was holding. "...I see. It's an Avatar card. It must be the core of your deck," he said, pocketing one hand in his hoodie. Sora explained- well, whispered that he'd rather spend the day with his sister and Nanahi nodded in response. "Of course. It was rude of me to interrupt; you two have fun on your day."

Nanashi turned around and took a step forward, then paused. He looked back over his shoulder at Sora. "Wolf, right? Take good care of that card," he said. After that final message, Nanashi walked off for real without looking back.

"I really don't understand him," Rui told Sora after the other boy had left. "He shows up at weird times, says something cryptic and then walks off again..."
"Aha, honestly, he kind of creeps me out too... it's almost like he knows something we don't," Lumia added.
"Right? And why does he wear a mask like that, it's so weird!" Rui kept complaining. She looked up from Lumia and grabbed Sora's arm. "Hey, if I pretend to cling to you, do you think people will leave us alone?" she asked, and Lumia happened to end up near Wolf when Rui did so. Lumia quickly shifted gears and whispered something to Wolf while their commanders were distracted.

"Wolf, did you feel it too?" she asked. "Another commander moving closer while Nanashi was distracting Nee-chan and Sora-kun."

Sora sighed deeply out of relieve the moment the mysterious guy seemed to understand what Sora meant to say. However, he was rather suspicious of the fact that the guy knew Wolf's name. Sora turned Wolf's card back to himself and noticed that he had been covering Wolf's name with his finger. How did the guy knew that Sora's Avatar was named Wolf from just taking a look at his image? Sora opened his mouth in order to ask Wolf about it, but he seemed as confused as Sora was. "Who is that guy?" So Wolf didn't recognize him either.

"Only other Commanders could have owned you before, right?" Wolf nodded. "Yeah, I guess. But that guy didn't seem much of a Commander to me." Sora sighed again. Well, it didn't matter much. The guy was gone and without him, they wouldn't get any answers to their questions. "He does that every single time? Man, that guy is a pain in the ass." Sora said to Rui. "Maybe he has an ugly face and is just trying to hide. In that case, I prefer him with the mask, I don't want to be traumatised." Wolf joked.

Sora is very surprised by Rui's comment, but even more by her touch. "I guess they will." Sora answered Rui, scratching his head with his other hand nervously. Wolf focused his attention to Lumia in the meantime. "Yeah, i feel it too. I can still feel it. There is another Commander" Wolf said. The moment Wolf pronounced the word 'Commander', he noticed a little girl running towards Rui and Sora.

"Hey! You're Commanders too, right?!" She said with a huge smile on his face. 'Children are so damn innocent', Wolf thought, already feeling sorry for the child that it had been chosen as a Commander and also a little bit angry at the Avatar. "My name is Sakura and this is my Avatar Blaze!" She screamed of joy.




Sora scratched the back of his head and pushed Rui away from him, so he could squat down and talk to the little girl at eye level. "Yeah, we both are Sakura. But I am not exactly in the mood to battle. I am spending time with my big sister here." He said in his sweetest, most polite voice. However, Sakura didn't take 'no' for an answer. "But I need to battle and win to make my big sister very proud!" Sakura said with a huge smile. "And big sister will be very proud if you manage to win the battle, sweety!" Her Avatar added.

Although Sora didn't know the girl's exact wish, it obviously had something to do with her big sister and he didn't want to interfere with her family. However, Rui seemed to disagree with his decision to the refuse the little girl's proposal to a battle. "Yeah, I know this could save me, but I don't want... I couldn't... Not with such a young child." He whispered to his sister. However, both Rui and Sakura started to encourage him to a battle and finally... He felt like he had no choice but to accept. Sakura and Sora opened the battlefield, colored in red and green.

Although Sora had no confidence in his own capabilities when it came to Nexus, he had a pretty easy win over the child. It seemed like it was her first battle as a Commander, so she hadn't lost everything yet. However, at that moment he had put a little girl in the same dangerous situation as he himself was in. He switched places with such an innocent little child. "Sakura..." He began, trying to console the little child. "It's alright. Come on, Sakura. You're going to win the next battle for sure! And this battle was good training, right? Let's train some more on our own before the next battle." Blaze intervened. "You're right, Blaze! Thank you for the lesson, sir." Sakura said as she bowed thankfully to Sora.

"Hey, what are you getting all flustered for? Has my baby brother never had a girl cling to his arm before~?" Rui teased Sora when she saw how bashful he was being. She also said something along the lines of "C'mon, don't think I haven't noticed you spending time with... that..." but had trouble remembering who the person he'd spent time with actually was. It's not just the name; her face, her status, it's all gone. There was just a gaping hole of Rui being aware there was something there, but being locked out of accessing it.

Before the situation got any more awkward, or rather, to make things even more so, a small child approached the sibling duo. She recognized both Rui and Sora as commanders, but Sora was quick to shoot her down. "Yeah, we both are Sakura. But I am not exactly in the mood to battle. I am spending time with my big sister here." he said.

"What are you saying, Sora?" Rui chastised him. "This is the perfect chance! We practiced, didn't we?" she continued. Sora still seemed hesitant.

"Yeah, I know this could save me, but I don't want... I couldn't... Not with such a young child."
"She's a commander, just like us! It doesn't matter how old she is. C'mon, Sora! You can do this!" she tried convincing him. Rui didn't seem all too concerned, unlike her brother. She'd step in and take the challenge herself, but Rui was worried about him. He needed to get a win, to buy himself some time. Rui was strong; she could find and defeat opponents by herself... but Sora needed every edge he could get. Eventually, Sora was convinced by both her and Sakura. The three of them moved to a less crowded, more remote location and Sora opened the battlefield with his opponent.

The child- Sakura- was clumsy. She didn't know too well what her cards did and often played them in the wrong order. Sora, while not the most experienced himself, had a basic idea of what his deck wanted to do thanks to practicing with his sister. He made sure to protect his life cards, slowly build up an advantage and never leave himself in a position to lose. A more experienced player could've exploited the holes he still left in his strategies, but Sakura was much too fresh to recognize and take advantage of them. Soon enough, it was Sora's victory, his previously blackened coin returning to its golden luster.

"You did it!" Rui happily exclaimed, hugging her brother after his victory. He didn't seem nearly as happy as her, though. Sorra wrangled himself loose from Rui's grip and walked over to the child, crouching down to meet her at her height. He tried to console the small child, though the Avatar, Blaze, actually did the most of the work by saying:

"It's alright. Come on, Sakura. You're going to win the next battle for sure! And this battle was good training, right? Let's train some more on our own before the next battle." Sakura seemed to cheer up pretty quickly after that. She thanked Sora and gave him a respectful bow. Rui clasped Sora's hand with both of hers.

"See? She'll be fine. You shouldn't worry about her so much," Rui said, trying to be comforting even though her words were cold. "Wolf must be exhausted... so let's not worry about battles anymore today, okay? Let's just enjoy the rest of our day!" she cheerily said, trying to lift Sora's spirits. In the process, Rui ignored the little girl there with them. She didn't seem to care much about her, whether intentionally or not... it was hard to get a read on her like she was now, with her attention so squared on Sora.

"You're being scary again, Nee-chan..." Lumia muttered to herself, unbeknownst to her commander.

Sora was deeply concerned with the fact that Rui did not seem to care about Sakura. The only thing she could think about was that Sora won, no matter what happened with the loser or who the loser even was. Although he did feel happy seeing his sister that proud and happy for him, he was not able to put his concerns aside. He hoped that Rui could not see the concerns in his facial expressions as he did not know how to explain them to her.

Sakura and Blaze left soon after, leaving the two siblings alone with their Avatars again. Sora noticed that Wolf was sleeping, but he also noticed the worried look on Lumia's face. She must have felt it too: Rui's weird behavior when it comes to Nexus. It made him regret buying Nexus for her and for himself, if the consequences of losing all of your coins had not already given him that feeling.

"Y-you are probably right. Although it does feel weird, you are probably right about this. I had to win and she still has the possibility to get that memory back." He did not believe a word of what he had just said, but he needed to agree with Rui in order to avoid a confrontation with his sister about Nexus. "Yeah, Wolf is sleeping and not thinking about the battles for a moment would in fact feel nice. Let's enjoy the rest of the day indeed!" Sora took a deep breath, freed himself from Rui's grasp and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to himself.

The rest of the day, they simply enjoyed the zoo like all the rest of the people there. They were acting like nothing had happened and Sora felt as if he was getting closer and closer with Rui. All the while, he started feeling more and more relaxed about defeating Sakura, mostly because of the happy memory with Rui that he got back because of that battle. It was such a good memory and he could not believe that he forgot all about it. He had almost forgotten how much his sister once had meant for him and how much she still did mean for him.

In the evening, when the two of them came home from the zoo, he knew that their parents would yell at Sora for keeping Rui away from the books. If she agreed with him or not, that simply did not matter for them. In their eyes, Sora had kidnapped their daughter and Sora sabotaged Rui's school career. How could they not see that they put way too much pressure on one girl? He hated the amount of pressure they put on Rui more than he hated the way his parents treated him. If they could just let her relax without giving her a guilty feeling...

While his parents were yelling at him for the millionth time, he closed his eyes and put his hands in the pockets of his pants. He lowered his head and almost looked like he was sleeping standing up, which made his parents even more mad. He was not asleep though, he was trying to find a way to ignore the loud voices and the fact that he felt like he had no one that was there for him other than his sister and... well... her.

At one point, he opened his eyes and turned his head towards Rui. Suddenly, a bright smile appeared on his face as he winked at Rui. "Don't worry about it." He said, reassuring her that it did not matter how they treated him. Reassuring her that she should not worry about Sora. After their parents were done yelling, he went upstairs and knocked on Rui's door. "Thanks for a great day!" He said before going to his room, not even waiting for Rui to react.

The next day, Sora was up extremely early. Well, it was extremely early for him, but he did not mind at all. In fact, he seemed like he was on cloud nine, running through the house and getting himself ready. Then the doorbell rang and Natsuko was standing in front of the door. He hugged her for quite some time before welcoming her in the house. They took a seat on the couch in the living room and Natsuko immediately started to touch him all over his body. The touching was quite innocent and she did not touch him inappropriately, but just like... a lot. Wolf was quite worried about Natsuko's neediness, but Ema (Natsuko's Avatar) did all she could to distract Wolf from Sora and Sora himself seemed to like the attention Natsuko gave him.

Lumia stayed quiet about her worries for the rest of Sora and Rui's day out. She didn't want to get between the two of them, so acted like nothing was wrong. She commented on the animals with the two of them, talked to Sora a bit whenever they had a small break and was generally her usual self. Lumia was a spectator to all of it and acted accordingly; never making her presence overly loud. When they all returned home, Lumia was hidden away in Rui's bags; after all, Rui couldn't let her parents catch on that she'd been spending her time on a card game, magical or not. Lumia just had to hear the muffled yells of Sora and Rui's parents bearing their wrath down upon the younger of the two. She couldn't see it, but she knew Rui well enough to know that pained expression she often makes when it came to Sora. That feeling of guilt that chews away at her. After all... Rui's wish was sprouted from those feelings of guilt and anger.

Eventually, Rui came to her room and let Lumia out of the bag, perching her up against the side of some books on her desk. "Sorry I couldn't let you out earlier," she apologized with a soft smile. Rui got her textbooks together to start studying, but Lumia just looked away.

"...You two looked happy today, you know." Lumia said. She followed it up with: "Why do you let your family decide your life like this?"

Rui paused for a bit, then turned to Lumia and chuckled a little. "What, are you worried about me?" she asked in a joking tone, trying to both deflect the question and lighten the mood.

"Of course I am! When you're with your brother, you look like you're having so much fun... like you don't need me. But when it comes to Nexus, you... you become a different person. Cold, and vicious... I... I don't think it's a good idea to keep battling like that," she told her commander. Rui's mood darkened again.

"...Sora was smiling, right?" she bounced back to Lumia. "When he defeated Sakura... first, he was concerned, but his mood became better after, right? I think the memory he must've gotten back was a happy one. Something he didn't want to lose again. So if he can get his memories back-"

"But you didn't get yours back!" Lumia blurted out. "When we defeated that girl the other day, your coin turned gold... but you never got a memory back. It's like you didn't want to remember at all. I don't want you to battle like that..." Lumia pleaded with her Commander. Rui didn't answer her back. Not until after a moment of silence, when Rui shot a glance her Avatar's way.

"Maybe you're right. I'll be more careful, Lumia." she eventually said, but the words she promised were hollow.

---

Come the next day, Lumia was sluggish to rise and shine. Even though, or maybe because it was another one of her days off, she'd stayed up late through the night trying to study. Her parents being out of the house the whole day meant she also had plenty of time to sleep in. Rui would've actually kept sleeping for much longer, but Lumia's voice was desperately trying to reach her. "Nee-chan! Nee-chan!" she kept crying out. It got to a point where Rui couldn't keep ignoring it.

"What is it, Lumia...?" she sleepily said to her Avatar, rubbing the exhaustion out of her eyes.
"There's trouble! A commander is in the house!" Lumia warned Rui.
"...Eh?" Rui voiced back.

Still in her pajamas, Rui rushed out of bed and opened the door of her room. She could clearly hear the voices coming from the living room, slowly shuffling closer to its source. Making sure to stay out of sight, she peered into the living room from about halfway down the stairs.

"Come on, it's fine, just let me stay like this a bit," a slightly needy voice complained to Sora. It was coming from a girl about his age- no, slightly younger. One who had nestled herself comfortably by resting her head on his shoulder and leaning up against him. Rui's face contorted into a scowl; partially from the awkwardness of Sora bringing a girl into the house without letting Rui know, and partially because Rui felt like she should... know that person. Her head began to pound and she crouched down on her knees, one hand holding for support against the stair's railings and the other clutching her forehead.

The pain brought something with it. She felt like she started to... remember something. She pulled the hand on her head away and saw her seven coins, four black and three gold, appear inside it. One of them gave off a faint glow- the one she'd won back from that girl she'd faced a few days prior. "Na... tsu... ko..." she slowly fumbled out, loud enough for the girl in their living room to hear. Startled, she pushed herself off Sora and looked in the direction of the open doorway Rui had previously peered at her from.

"Oh! Rui..." Natsuko yelped, causing Rui to whip her head around. Shoot- she was still in her nightwear! Oh that's embarrassing... Rui quickly stood up and gave Natsuko a slightly nervous smile.

"Ahaha... hi, Natsuko-chan... I didn't know you'd be coming over today," Rui awkwardly told her. In truth, she should have known. Natsuko always came over when Rui and Sora's parents were out of the house. It's just that Rui had forgotten all about it- just like the day prior at the zoo. She didn't know who her and Sora's friends were, up until a few moments back. She didn't even know that Haruto had been a friend of theirs, once, since childhood. She didn't have any time to recall specifics- but if she wasn't wrong, Natsuko had only known Sora since middle school... a few years, at best.

For Natsuko's part, she just puffed up her chest and twirled a bit of hair around her finger. "I'm not intruding, am I? I could come back later, but I don't really want to..." she complained, making her displeasure at Rui showing up known. For her part, Rui didn't suspect a thing.

"Oh! No, not at all. I was just going to study today like usual; you two have fun! I'll just get ready and head to the library so you can be alone," she told the two of them and skipped back up the stairs. As Rui got dressed and packed her books into her bag, Lumia spoke.

"Is it okay for you to leave, Nee-chan? That girl is a commander," Lumia warned her.
"It's okay. I know Natsuko-chan... she's a sweet girl. She wouldn't do anything to Sora," Rui cheerfully hummed. Lumia had her reservations, but being an outside, left the issue to the wayside. Maybe Rui was right and she shouldn't worry so much.

Eventually Rui was all done, ran down the stairs and put on her shoes at the entrance. She couldn't see the living room from there, but because the door was still open, she could yell back: "I'm going out now! Have fun, okay?!" and left the house soon after. She walked along the road, Lumia in hand and scarf covering her mouth for warmth. Rui shot a look at her Avatar. "...The library is a public space. We're sure to run in a commander there," she told Lumia.

"Did you even listen to me yesterday?" Lumia said, unamused.
"It'll be okay as long as you keep me in line," Rui cheekily clapped back. "I trust you, Lumia. As long as you're with me, it'll be okay."
"Nee-chan..." was all Lumia could say back to her. It was so very, very bittersweet to her. She didn't deserve that trust in the slightest.

---

"I'm not intruding, am I? I could come back later, but I don't really want to..." Natsuko complained, about to grind her teeth in frustration at Sora's sister coming in to ruin the mood she'd been working so hard to build up. Sure, said sister reassured her that she'd be out and about for the rest of the day, but now things were awkward between Natsuko and Sora! Ema, sensing the unease coming from her commander, decided to take action.

"Cheer up, nyaaa. You probably woke her up from a cat-nap," she said, lying down in her card border and letting out a yawn as if to demonstrate. The ears on her hoody even did a little twitch, as if they were the real deal.

"I-I'm not upset! She just... caught me by surprise," Natsuko complained with a pout. Ema just smiles with her eyes closed, playfully mocking her commander. Natsuko soon lowered her again, right next to Wolf.

"So she's the other commander, nya?" Ema asked the other Avatar. The two avatars had been talking about it a bit, though not like Ema had told Natsuko about it. She also, rightfully, figured that Natsuko wouldn't pay much attention to the conversation as long as Ema didn't raise her voice too much. "Well, I don't really care. Natsuko's stubborn about battling Sora, not Rui." she said, one eye open to look in Wolf's direction.

Natsuko, meanwhile, just went back to getting close with Sora. She turned to him with a frown and reached her hand out, brushing some of his hair aside. "You're such a slob, Sora-kun... don't let your hair hang in front of your eye like that," she complained, almost as if she was his older sister and not Rui. Like she was jealous of Rui, registering her as a threat and trying to usurp that role herself. She wanted Sora to herself. To help with that, after cleaning up his hairdo, she snuggled up close again. Rui shouted something about her leaving, but Natsuko didn't give Sora a moment to think or respond. She immediately tried taking his attention away from his sister by wrapping his arm around her own and looking up into his eyes.

"So? Did anything fun recently?" she asked him, a sweet smile on her lips.

The library was fairly crowded that day both with students who needed a quiet place to study and with adults who were looking for a nice, relaxing book to read in their free time. A girl with long, dark hair was sitting at one of the tables, three books stacked at one side and two at the other side. One book was lying in front of her, open on page 263. However, it didn't look as if she was reading even a word on the pages. Her robotic look was glancing towards the people in the library. Some girls were trying hard not to annoy the librarian with their laughter. Some children were drawn to the colourful drawings in the children books. As hard as she was trying, she couldn't understand the joy of laughing over stupid jokes or the joy of spending an entire day with a toddler who drools on literally anything, especially on the clothes of their parents.

A Nexus card was leaning against the pile of three books on the left side of the girl's body. A girl with a creepy smile on her face was jumping within the card. "Katsuki! Katsuki! Katsuki!" The girl was yelling while jumping into the air. "Katsuki! Katsuki! Katsuki!" She continued repeatedly. No one else seemed to hear the little girl's yelling other than Katsuki herself... and it annoyed her to no end. "Sunako. Calm down. We'll leave soon." Katsuki said with a robotic voice. There was no emotion to be seen in Katsuki's movements or to be heard in Katsuki's voice. "Finally! It's soooo boring out here. Let's go! Katsuki!" Sunako, the girl in the card, answered immediately.

In a short amount of time and with amazing speed, Katsuki went through the book before her and the two books on her right. After the girl had put away the books, she took Sunako's card and walked towards the entrance of the library. On her way, she was stopped by a little child that lost his mother in the large crowd of people. Why was the library even so busy that day? Who even reads if they don't have to? Katsuki sighed and bended her knees in order to be able to talk to the child on eye level. "I don't care about you or your mother. Go away before I'll make sure you never see her again." Katsuki said in the same robotic voice as before. Tears were streaming down the cheeks of the child as it started crying loudly. The librarian quickly ran towards the child to console it. They wanted to tell Katsuki that what she had done was not okay, but Katsuki was out of sight before the librarian realised.

When Katsuki was only a couple of inches away from the door, Sunako started yelling. "Katsuki! Katsuki! There is a Commander, Katsuki!" The second Sunako started yelling, a girl came through the door. It was obvious that she was the other Commander that Sunako had sensed. The girl wanted to pass Katsuki, but Katsuki refused to step aside. Even when the girl stepped aside to pass Katsuki, Katsuki kept on blocking the way. "You're a Commander. Let's go find somewhere quiet." Katsuki said without emotion, holding up Sunako's card. "Let's go, Katsuki! Let's go! I'm pumped! Katsuki!" Sunako said, throwing her fists in front of her, pretending to be fighting.

"I don't care who you are. I don't care what your wish is. I don't care how many coins you are left. And I won't feel even a tiny drop of guilt destroying you in the process of getting my wish granted. If you don't feel the same way, you shouldn't even be battling. So... Wanna battle me?" Katsuki said as if she had told that speech a hundred times before. After only a couple of seconds, not having any patience, Katsuki already started walking away. "Okay. I guess not." She was used to being refused by Commanders. Most of them claimed that Katsuki creeped them out. Others claimed that it was Sunako who creeped them out. Even Commanders that did fight her ran away as fast as they could from her, even the times that Katsuki lost.

---

Sora laughed shyly while scratching his head as Natsuko asked him to let her stay that close to him. Although he usually didn't let girls get that close to himself before and it honestly made him feel a little bit embarrassed, he could handle it when it came to Natsuko. Then he suddenly turned his head around when he heard Rui's voice. He opened his mouth to say something, but Natsuko had already answered Rui before he could even think of something to say. Was Rui uncomfortable with Natsuko being in their house? He tried to read her body language, but couldn't read properly what she was thinking. Of course she was probably surprised as she didn't expect Natsuko, but it didn't seem like it bothered Rui much, which made Sora relax and focus on Natsuko again.

"Well, she lives here. It's not that surprising." Sora laughed. "But now we're completely alone, so you can relax. Nobody should come in anymore for the next couple of hours." He continued with a wink towards Natsuko. "Yeah, Rui is the other Commander. Sora bought both of their decks, so they became Commanders almost together." Wolf meanwhile answered Ema. Wolf felt like something was off about Natsuko and Ema. Natsuko was way too obsessed with Sora. Although it didn't seem like she would hurt Sora, since she seemed to care about him a lot, Wolf still couldn't relax with Natsuko and Ema being that close to Sora. His concerns only grew stronger when Ema mentionned that Natsuko really wanted to battle Sora. "She is? Why does she want to battle Sora so badly? They are friends, so there is the possibility that one will destroy the other's last coin. Why would she want to do that to someone she cares about?" Wolf asked curiously, assuming that Ema wouldn't answer such a question.

Sora's cheeks gained a red color as Natsuko touched his hair and as she wrapped his arm around hers. "W-Well... L-Luckily I have y-you..." He said before laughing shyly and scratching his head again. "Actually I did! Yesterday, Rui and I wented to the zoo again. It has been so long since we have done that. It was so much fun! We saw all kinds of animals and for once, she was having fun instead of reading books and ignoring me. I had forgotten how much fun it is to hang out with Rui. We even met another Commander. I didn't really want to battle her, since it was such a little, innocent girl, but Rui pushed me and now I have one of my coins back again! This means that for now, I am safe!" Sora said with a huge smile on his face. "Oh, and maybe you and I could go to the zoo sometimes? It has also been long since you and I hung out somewhere off school grounds and each others' homes." He continued, going through Natsuko's hair with his free hand.

"Uhm..."

To say Rui was taken aback by the sudden abrasiveness of the stranger that had stopped her would be an understatement. She didn't really know what to do; Rui had barely come through the library's front door and she was already accosted by a commander wanting to do battle. Lumia hadn't warned Rui about it ahead of time either; though it's not like she had any time to ponder on whether or not that was on purpose. After all, the strange and overwhelming girl who'd stopped Rui didn't give her that. She'd asked to battle, explained how she didn't care about Rui in the slightest and then proceeded to blow Rui off all within the span of about a minute. The other commander was about to walk right past, thinking Rui wasn't up for the fight, so Rui had to act quickly and on instinct. "...Wait!" she said and quickly grabbed the other girl's arm.

Of course, the dead expression in her eyes even as she looked back to Rui didn't give much away. The stranger just yanked her arm loose, but didn't move a muscle otherwise. Rui took a deep breath and tried explaining herself: "Sorry... you were just so overwhelming. Why don't we go to a café or something and talk about it there?"

And, by some miracle, Rui actually did manage to drag the new Commander to a café. It was a reasonably spacious and popular spot, one which Rui's classmates sometimes tried to invite her to. The reason she came there, though, was because the two of them would vanish in the crowd. Two teenage girls coming for drinks or a parfait was nothing unusual, so Rui was certain they wouldn't be bothered. Seated at a table in the corner, the server going around had just taken their orders and left to go prepare. Rui turned her attention back to her adversary.

"Katsuki and... Sunako, right?" she asked, trying to memorize the names she'd been told a few moments prior. Rui took out Lumia and slid her onto the table. She put on a smile to try and ease Katsuki, saying: "I know you said you didn't care, but we have a little time until we get our drinks. I don't think anyone will bother us after that. I'm Rui; this is Lumia."

"H-hi..." Lumia muttered, visibly a lot less at ease than Rui. She was actively trying to not look at Katsuki.

Rui rummaged around in her bag for a little bit, then took out her deck case and put it on the table. "I'm sure people won't get suspicious as long as it looks like we're playing," she explained. Rui didn't bring a game mat with her or anything, but she figured it didn't matter much. She picked up a few cards, put them down in front of her and then grabbed Lumia again. She said: "Hey, how about we add a wager? If you win, I'll leave you alone and will pay for both of us. If I win, you'll stick around for a bit and tell me about yourself."

"Nee-chan?!" Lumia blurted out in disbelief. Why on earth would Rui want to talk to this person?! Rui clearly took notice, glancing briefly at Lumia. Deciding silence was the best response, she quickly turned her attention back at her opponent.

"I'll explain myself in the battle. For now... do we have a deal?"

---

"You and... Rui?" Natsuko whispered, her grip on Sora's arm tightening ever so subtly as he rambled on about his day. She closed her eyes and patiently listened, a fury bubbling inside her. "That sounds nice," she said in response to Sora's invitation to take the two of them out, but the fury and jealousy bubbling inside her made Natsuko focus far more on the 'Rui' part. All she heard lately was Rui this, Rui that.

Ema lazily eyed up her Commander and then back at Wolf. At first she didn't really get why a guy like Wolf was paired up with someone like Sora, but with how dense the two of them were, they might've actually been a perfect fit after all. "Who knows, nya~? Maybe she thinks battling Sora will make that wish of hers come true," she vaguely told Wolf. "Not that she'll be the one to suffer the consequences of it..." Ema sighed. She didn't entirely look like she was up for granting it, but if her Commander willed it...

"Hey, Sora-kun? Remember what I said the other day?" Natsuko tried swerving the conversation. She gently pushed herself off from him and opened the palm of her hand, showing six golden coins and a single black one. "Six coins, but two losses. This could be my final battle, ever," she explained, a pleading look in her eyes. "I think the final memory must be really important to me... and there's something I really have to tell you."

"Nyaaa~!" Ema meowed in delight as she heard those words from Natsuko. "So you're finally going to do it, Natsuko?" she asked. Natsuko looked down and gave her a nod.

"I can only tell you on the battlefield, Sora-kun," she said while looking straight into his eyes. "So please... battle me!"

Katsuki was honestly surprised that the other Commander decided to stop her from walking away after hesitating for a moment that seemed to go on for a century. On top of that, the girl used the word 'overwhelming' to describe her. Overwhelming. She was used to hearing words such as creepy, robotic, emotionless and monster. However, no one had described her as 'overwhelming' before. Because of that single word, Katsuki started to become interested in the girl in front of her. "Sure." She answered when the girl proposed going to a café. Wait... Talk about it? What was there to talk about? The only thing Katsuki wanted was battling, not talking about battling or about any of their lives. Although the café the girl chose was way too crowded, just as the library was. But if she only needed to stay there long enough to battle and win, it would be alright. That was what Katsuki thought, but then the girl started introducing herself. Why would she do that? It didn't matter at all. After one of them would win, they would disappear out of each other's lifes. That was what Katsuki hoped that would happen.

[color]"Katsuki is not interested in any of you. She just wants to fulfill her wish. Isn't that right, Katsuki? Katsuki?"[/color] Sunako said exactly what Katsuki was thinking. She really was the best friend Katsuki could wish for. She also was her only friend, which Katsuki was fine with. "Sunako is right. I'm fine with waiting in silence." Katsuki confirmed. Then the girl, who carried the name Rui, finally said that she was going to leave Katsuki alone... if Katsuki would win their battle. Now, she had to absolutely win the battle. "If I can get you to leave me alone by agreeing to the wager, then I'll agree to it." It wasn't a good idea to just walk up to any Commander close to her after all. This Rui seemed to be a pain. Although it was nice that for once, someone wasn't scared of her. "We have a deal. I just want to win this battle and get it over with." Katsuki continued.

At some point, they finally received their drinks. "Katsuki! Katsuki! This means that we can start the battle, right? Right, Katsuki?" Sunako yelled enthusiastically. She started jumping inside of her card and throwing fists in front of her. "We'll kill you two in an instant!" For the first time since meeting Rui, Katsuki forced a soft smile on her face. "That's right, Sunako. We'll beat them easily." Katsuki said to Sunako in the same robotic voice, while staring at Rui. "Let's open the battlefield." Katsuki said.

---

Sora felt so happy that he had a friend like Natsuko by his side. She seemed to be happy for him from the bottom of her heart that his relationship with his sister started to become better. That's how it seemed for Sora. But then she started talking about battling and fear started to rise within Sora. "Ow yeah! It must have a really calming effect that soon you will be done with Nexus and you won't have to worry about the consequences anymore. Although it must be quite scary as well." He said, forcing a smile on his face. She was acting weirder than normal. What did she have in mind? What did she want to tell him? He had absolutely no idea.

"Wait... What? You want to battle me? But... we are friends. Why would you want to battle me? I mean... What if I would make you lose Nexus? I wouldn't be able to carry that guilt with me for the rest of my life! And you have a lot more experience with the game than me, so it's much more likely that you are going to beat me... and I am finally back in the safe zone of two coins again. If you beat me, I'll be out of that safe zone again. I don't know if I feel comfortable with that. Why can't we just battle strangers and win Nexus together? That will be good for both of us, wouldn't it?" Sora said, trying to get out of having to battle Natsuko. He put a hand on Natsuko's shoulder and pulled the girl closer to him for a hug. "I'm scared of having to battle you, Natsuko. Because I don't think that I have enough experience to win against someone like you." He took a deep breath. No matter the reason, he didn't like having to refuse her. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. Should he say yes to the battle anyways?

"She thinks battling Sora will make her wish come true? It has something to do with Sora, doesn't it? For some reason, she HAS to battle Sora in order to get her wish fulfilled. Is it like that? If that's the case, then I have to warn Sora. He shouldn't battle her." Especially because Ema her reaction revealed that it wasn't a wish she would enjoy. So it couldn't have been a wish that Sora would enjoy either. He couldn't let her to that to Sora.

"Then... Open."

With those two words, in a flash, the world changed around Rui and Katsuki. Rather than seated opposite at a two-person table, the two were now standing on opposing ends of the now-familiar battlefield. The thick mist, the floating islands and the humongous clock- all was as it should be. On one side, Rui's yellow; her opponent a soot black. Lumia and Sunako stood attentive on their commanders' tables, the former looking focused and the latter excited. Rui took note of her opponent. "Hm... black, huh?" she said loud enough for them to hear. "Haruto's red, Sora's green and your black... I wonder who's assigning these colours to us?" Rui flatly stated. Before either had a chance to comment further on it, a loud creaking noise came from up above. The clock had started to spin, slowly, and turned in the direction of Rui's yellow marker. "The first turn is mine..." she mused to herself, looking down and hovering her hand over the deck. Five cards slid off the top, nesting themselves in front of Rui.

"Careful, Nee-chan... I can feel she's unlike the commanders you've seen so far," Lumia tried to warn. It wasn't a hollow warning, either. Compared to Rui's three golden coins, four floated above Katsuki. The same amount as Haruto, when he'd preyed on Sora. Rui just put on a confident smirk.
"If she wasn't strong, then there'd be no point." Rui responded. She looked her opponent dead in the eyes, then said: "Make no mistake... I will win this."

After Rui's declaration, the battle began proper. She began by setting up a quick defense, which Katsuki didn't break through. Rui combined her attackers and incantations to control the field like she usually would, but it didn't phase her opponent. No, as it turns out, Katsuki's strategy wasn't hindered by Rui's usual playstyle. After a few turns, Rui looked at her deck, having been thinned out considerably since the start. She looked at her opponent, slightly amused.

"Your cards are pretty impressive, aren't they? They're like a poison, slowly sapping away my strength. Instead of going for my life cards, you'll just make me lose by not having any cards to draw." Rui commented on it. There was some manner of intonation to it, a mix of mild awe and sarcastic mockery. Whatever it was, it signaled she wasn't scared of Katsuki in the slightest. "If you're not going after my life cards, then why don't I? Judgement Bolt!" A bolt of heavenly lightning struck down, hitting both Sunako and Lumia as Rui did not have the needed cost to discard her hand.

"Nee-cha...? ...Aaaah!" Lumia cried out in pain. She collapsed onto her knee, both one of Rui and Sunako's cards shattering and going to their hand. Lumia weakly looked back. "Nee-chan...? Why...?" she asked, pained and (literally) shocked.

"I'm sorry Lumia, but..." Rui cut her answer short, glancing at the incantation that just got added to her hand. "Like I thought. Most of my incantations are stuck in my life zone. I need to take damage in order to evolve Lumia..." she thought to herself. Rui looked through her Trash, seeing only four incantations in it including the Judgement bolt she'd just used. For a deck like hers that relies on them, this was markedly bad luck. "Hang in there, Lumia. I need your power to win this." she asked of her Avatar. Lumia just turned her head forwards again.

"I knew it... you're like a different person on the battlefield..." she mumbled to herself, pained and betrayed. But Rui knew that even if Lumia hated her for it, she absolutely could not afford to lose. To that end, she looked directly at her opponent.

"Hey. I want to ask you something," Rui said with determination in her voice. "I won't ask after your wish, or your lost memories. But these battles... why are you fighting them?" she posed the question. "Do you want to make something come true? Do you want to get back what you lost? Or... are these fun to you?" Rui continued to elaborate.

She pulled her scarf up a little, clearly not being done talking just yet. "My little brother got caught up in this because of me. Because he was concerned about me. Now I can barely remember his friends, our time spent together, or even a promise I made to him when we were little... when I feel the weight of that bearing down on me, it's almost crushing." she exposited. Then she grinned. "But here, on the battlefield...? I feel like I can forget my worries. My heart pounds with each attack, with every card played. Adrenaline rushes through me when I consider the risks of defeat."

Rui looked skywards. "It's like I was meant to be here. Like I was meant to fight this fight. And what about you?" she asked Katsuki again.

---

Natsuko's face hadn't changed, but in her mind she was cursing Sora's lack of resolve. She needed to battle him. It couldn't be anyone else. Ema picked up on this, a hint of slight amusement on her face, but she didn't press that topic. No, Ema had someone else to respond to first.

"Do you think warning him is a good idea, nyaa?" she asked Wolf. "Sora clearly likes Natsuko, you know? He won't want you coming between the two of them." Ema whispered to him. She then sat upright, speaking up clearly so everyone on the room could and would hear. "Isn't it better for you two to fight a lot, nya? If you're low on coins, you should battle to get more!" Ema tried egging on the pair of boys.

Natsuko drew Ema closer to herself, clutching the little cat girl to her chest. "I get it, Sora-kun... I was scared at first too. I didn't know who to turn to, who to fight. I lost my first time, and it felt like the world would end..." she explained in an attempt to appeal to Sora's sense of empathy. "But... that's why you should battle me! We know each-other, and I'd never hurt you! Even if I lose, I'd never hate you for it! And if you lose, after my wish comes true... I can still help you! We can do this together!" she pleaded with him, seeming earnest.

Natsuko didn't give him any time to react. She immediately reached out for one of Sora's hands and raised it up between the two of them, tightly clutching it between both of her own. "Please, Sora-kun... battle me. I really want to do it with you."