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The last time that Miyu played Duel Monsters was ten years ago during the Lost Incident.
In the decade since, the game had changed immeasurably. New mechanics, such as Link summoning, and new fads, like that of the celebrity Charisma Duelist. But some things had stayed the same: annoying, unfun cards that stopped people from playing the game.
To Miyu, those were cards like Skill Drain and Dimensional Fissure. Without any back row removal, Miyu remembered suffering immensely against those types of cards if she couldn’t use her Monster’s effects or access her graveyard for various reasons from Fusion summoning to simply recycling a guy. It was horrid.
But Miyu hadn’t looked back since.
Once she was out of that little, white room, she was done. She had never touched the game so much as once since. Duel Monsters drew the worst out of her: an all too blood-thirsty competitive spirit, terrible memories of being on the brink of starvation and the throes of electrocution. She wanted nothing to do with it and she hadn’t looked back since.
It hurt, a little, to give up something she used to love, though it was for the better. Her Mother agreed, her therapist agreed, and so the game was ceremoniously banned and Miyu gave up her once beloved Kuriboh plushie and destroyed the drawings she used to make of them. A fresh start and she grew up, she found other interests but she also was found again by someone who had Duel Monsters intrinsic to her name: Blue Angel.
Miyu couldn’t believe it. Her long lost childhood friend was the Blue Angel. No emphasis on “the” because Miyu was, again, so out of touch with the modern game and the who’s who of notable duelists that unfortunately the prestige was lost on her but who cares. She was Aoi! Zaizen Aoi! Little Aoi who used to wear her hair in twin ponytails and play with her every day in the park. Her best friend, her reason for living during the Incident and finally, Miyu was able to say her peace face to face with Aoi after being unable to find her again in the park where they once played.
“Thank you. I’m sorry.”
Miyu cried her eyes out during that conversation. And then again when Aoi explained why she was here. She spoke of news that made Miyu’s head spin. Topics of life and death and artificial intelligence with free will. It was a lot to take in and Miyu was at the centre of it thanks to having been the originator of one of those “Ignis” that Aoi described.
Miyu believed every word, of course. She just knew it was true. Though, evidence of it being true was later given when she met Ai the Dark Ignis as well as a whole other host of strange and unbelievable things and people as she connected for the very first time with the other victims of the Lost Incident. It was a lot to take in but Miyu took it, she even decided that she would do her due diligence and get good. If she was going to roll with the big boys in the Link VRAINS, she wanted to fit in and she had no better coach than the number one, true blue idol.
Reconnecting with Aoi was as easy for Miyu as breathing. Even if she did get choked up every once and while as she tried to get the hang of these whacky Marincess cards. Seriously, Link monsters seemed to do everything. There was so much more text to read and things to remember. Miyu very much did not take to the modern Duel Monsters game like a duck to water but she tried and she thought that mattered more so than anything else. As long as she was having fun, right?
As long as it didn’t remind her of the worst days of her life, right?
The fact that more often than not, Aoi kissed it better for her after she lost or she messed up mid-combo certainly helped.
She and Miyu fell into an easy rhythm together which went beyond the sickly sweet friendship and nostalgia of their youth. They became girlfriends and they did all the normal girlfriend stuff aside from playing card games. They went on dates at cafes and held hands and they generally kept it on the down low because for Miyu, Duel Monsters and anything related was still banned. Oh, and her Mother was still appalled at the very idea of Zaizen Aoi, even if in the modern age, she was the little sister of one of the most important CEOs in Den City. It was complicated but it didn’t feel complicated. Miyu just knew what she liked.
She liked Aoi, she liked Aqua and the Marincess cards, she liked being challenged and having fun and going swimming and drawing. She liked a lot of things, really. Proof that she was on the up and up, built off resilience and the back of what happened to her as a child. That’s how Miyu saw it, anyway.
So when she walked past the arcade and glimpsed an all too-familiar sight of the brown and black spiral encased in an orange rim, Miyu couldn’t help herself. She had to get a closer look and as she stood toe to toe with a crane game, her stomach knotted.
She shouldn’t. She really shouldn’t. Crane games were awful! The claw never had enough strength, the plush dolls were always too heavy. They were rigged every which way she looked at it but c’mon.
They were adorable.
The dolls were plentiful, they all showed a little, barefoot girl with fox ears in a shabby, pale pink kimono. Her expression, imbued in the stitching of her hand embroidered face, was best described as “taunting”. It was as though she knew how cute she was, they seemed playful and teasing, Miyu found it very, very cute.
Miyu looked closer as she examined the stock of stuffed toys inside the glass case and she saw that these dolls had a name: Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, from the hit card game and digital world, Duel Monsters. Huh. The name rung a bell for Miyu but she couldn’t fully place it in the context of the game. Aoi had definitely mentioned them here and there, she was certain.
Hand… starters? No, hand trap! Yes, a hand trap! Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring was a hand trap. Hand traps, to Miyu anyway, were cards like her beloved Kuriboh or maybe cards like Effect Veiler. Yes, when it came to the class of cards known as “hand traps”, Miyu was too old school to think of a new card – and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring was a new card, by the way. Only recently released and yet unfathomably popular, it seemed, since she had so much merchandise.
And so much cute merchandise at that!
All the Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring dolls looked so soft and plush, incredibly high quality too with neat stitches and adorable kimonos. There wasn’t a stray strand of yarn out of place whatsoever – and Miyu checked. In her eagerness, Miyu practically pressed her nose against the glass to get a better look at them from every angle. They were round and chubby and cute in all the right ways. So surely this all meant one thing: Aoi would love to be given one as a present.
With a quick text message to say that she was going to be late to their usual Friday afternoon hang out date, Miyu got to work. She pushed her sleeves up and opened her wallet. There was no way that she was going to be leaving this arcade empty handed. She didn’t care how much yen she had to spend.
Although, the employees might have at least a little bit of concern for her.
Miyu was aggressive in her strategy to say the least. She zipped around the glass cabinet to make sure the claw lined up and she did all the tips and tricks she had seen online, too. She was a speedy blur as she tried to get her way with the very much, obviously rigged system that she was in an uphill battle against. That had to be the problem, not her!
She tried and tried again. Change fed into the slot with a clunk, clunk, clunk every few minutes as Miyu tried to claim a prize from inside the claw machine. All kinds of epic highs and depressing lows ensued as Miyu came close and not close at all. Sometimes she would graze a doll, sometimes she would even pick it up. But each and every time turned into a failure and she was not having it.
Each attempt took less and less time but more and more money. How unfair. Miyu was completely and utterly frazzled by just how frustrating it was to fog up the glass with her competitive urge to win. She literally butted heads with the machine at this point as she tried and tried again to successfully take a doll from the stupid platform to the even stupider holer it was meant to drop down from. It should be easy. It looked easy. She had come so close numerous times and yet. She failed. It became a point of pride. She had to win.
If trying to play the game on its terms wasn’t going to work, then Miyu decided to get physical. If she couldn’t buy the doll, she would just stick her arm up the slot and try to steal it. Besides, with the amount of loose change – and zaps of her debit card – it was fair play at this point, she had paid her dues.
The employees very much did not agree.
Especially as Miyu escalated to hitting the machine, shaking it, and generally menacing the claw machine. It was truly a sight to see the scrawny, giggly girl in her private school uniform go beast mode.
So in the end, to prevent headache and injury, the arcade employees just gave her the pity prize. And also a suspension from the arcade for scaring the other patrons in addition to attacking the machine physically which was, for many reasons, dangerous. But hey. At least she got it in the end and the doll was even better than she could have imagined now that she finally got touch it.
Oooh, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring was so cute, cute, cute! The cotton wool inside was so springy and the fabric was the softest thing that Miyu had ever felt. She hugged and nuzzled and generally cooed over the doll like it was a real baby. Miyu couldn’t have been happier with her prize as she cuddled her the whole way to Aoi and Akira’s place.
If only Aoi had an equally enthusiastic reaction to seeing and holding Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring.
“Tada, look what I won for you babe! Don’t you love her?!” Miyu exclaimed as she presented the doll to Aoi before she could even step inside the penthouse apartment. She hadn’t even pardoned herself for the intrusion yet as she tried to force the stuffed doll on Aoi who was stunned to near speechlessness.
Aoi’s jaw dropped, “Uh, sure.”
Not exactly the over the top thank you that Miyu had hoped for. She wasn’t expecting the red carpet rolled out or anything. She knew what Aoi was like. She was an awkward and shy pure-hearted girl, she didn’t exactly wear her emotions on her sleeve like she did but still. Aoi was kind and gracious, she wouldn’t be a total blank slate. Would she?
Miyu did her best to muster a stiff upper lip, so as to hide the minute offence. She was let inside but her wind was very much taken out of her sails.
“I spent so much money trying to win you this prize, I thought you’d Miyu pouted and her arms slipped slightly from around Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring’s midsection.
“Well, um, it’s just…” Aoi made excuses as she walked Miyu into the hallway, then the living room. “Ash Blossom is… The kind of card I dislike.”
“Ehh?” Miyu exclaimed.
“Mm, I think she’s cute design wise but, uh… Well, it might be best if you experience it yourself. You up for a special game of Duel Monsters?” Aoi asked.
“Oh, boy am I!” Miyu cheered right up.
Aoi smiled as she let her into her bedroom. Miyu sat on the bed with the doll in her lap. She watched as Aoi checked two of her decks really quickly. She isolated two cards – sleeved up, Miyu couldn’t tell what they were but she had a hunch.
When finished, Aoi came back and she rolled out a game mat for them to play on. She sat on her bed side saddle as she dealt out the two deck boxes. She smiled.
“I’ll play Trickstar,” she said, “and you’ll play Marincess but we’ll both start with an Ash Blossom in hand.”
“Okay.” Miyu said. “Can I go first?”
Aoi chuckled and did Miyu dare to think it but she was certain she detected a note of deviousness in Aoi’s voice. She struggled to suppress a giddy smile, too.
“If you want.”
Well, Miyu did want it but now she wasn’t entirely certain. Still, how bad could it be? Let’s duel!
Miyu shuffled her cards, drew to fill her hand, and kept Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring tucked in the corner. Likewise, Aoi did the same. They both studied their cards carefully for the optimal line to victory.
“Okeydokey, I think I know how I want to start the duel now.” Miyu decided.
Aoi had taught her the basic combo lines so many times that Miyu could swear that she could do them in her sleep. Now was her time to shine, to show her girlfriend and mentor just how far she had come since. Except these hopes were dashed even quicker than her original ones regarding the budget that she had for playing the crane game to begin with.
“I normal summon Marincess Blue Tang and on normal summon, I can discard one card to the graveyard-”
“Response: I have Ash Blossom.” Aoi piped up before Miyu could even really get going. She turned the card around so sleekly in her hand and Miyu could swear, that little brat was poking her tongue out in her card art.
“Huh?” Miyu was taken aback.
“Ash Blossom negates the action you were about to take.” Aoi explained.
“But, um… Oh no…” Miyu watched helplessly as her combo fizzled before it could even begin. She fumbled with her words as she looked over her very unimpressive board state with a squandered normal summon.
Wait! She still had her Link summon. Miyu perked up and smiled.
“Very well then, I Link one into Marincess Blue Slug!” she announced. The action went smoothly until. “Now that Blue Slug’s on the field, I can use her to search the-”
“Response: I have a second copy of Ash Blossom.” Aoi said.
“W-W-What?” Miyu gulped. “She doesn’t have a hard once per turn!?” That was also ignoring how awful it was that Aoi just so happened to have shuffled into another copy of it during the deck prep.
“Nope.” Aoi replied coldly.
Miyu whimpered. This was even worse than before. Marincess Blue Slug was tiny. She wasn’t going to survive an onslaught like this but there was no other choice. She was out of moves. Her other cards were either better kept in her hand – like her Marincess Trap cards – or extenders which relied on her having plenty of merfolk on the board to do things. This sucked.
“I… I end my turn.”
At least she had an Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring of her own… So, Miyu locked in. She kept a brave face up, even as her chin pruned and she had to withhold the waterworks. C’mon, she wasn’t a little girl anymore. She could be normal about winning and losing in card games. She just had to use her own hand trap wisely.
And this seemed like as good an opportunity as any.
“Response!” Miyu chirped nervously. “I use my Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring here, please!”
“You got me.” Aoi smiled.
That stopped her Trickstar Candina from searching Trickstar Lillybell but it did little to stop the intricate Link summons that followed from there – as well as the pinpricks of burn damage, too, to Miyu’s life points. It was as if she wasted a card for nothing! So unfair!
Miyu blubbered. Her eyes watered in frustration and then even more so as she tried to tamp down on how juvenile a tantrum she was having. It was just a game! She just had a disproportionate emotional response but still. It felt like salt and lemon in an open wound.
Though, for what it was worth, Aoi conceded the match. She looked at her sympathetically, “Do you see what I mean? Ash Blossom is an evil card.” She reached across to pet Miyu’s knee.
Miyu hiccuped, “A… A very evil card.”
Aoi laughed at the silliness that Miyu exuded. She grabbed the Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring plushie by her neck and held her up in a chokehold.
“You evil little…” Miyu cussed the doll. She shook it around a little. “You really are a despicable card!”
“Ash Blossom is quite effective against Trickstars, too. You just got unlucky but I’ve been unlucky enough to find Ash Blossom irksome more often than not.” Aoi explained. “It’s not the best card in the world but it's not the worst either. Honestly, in Link VRAINS, Ash Blossoming your own effect is a rite of passage. I even made that mistake back in the day.”
Her voice was oddly fond. Miyu continued to pout but it did help her to feel better to know that Aoi had made mistakes with this card, too. Still, she couldn’t believe the Kaiba Corp company would do something as dastardly as create such a playful and adorable card just to make it one of the most irritating things in the world. Ugh.
Aoi scooted in closer. She lifted her hand from Miyu’s knee and she undid Miyu’s fingers from around Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring’s neck. She held the doll and looked it over, moved the fringe around and exposed how huge a forehead the doll had. Miyu noticed and giggled soapily: a good distraction.
“Anyways, I should thank you properly.” Aoi said. “Thank you for this kind gift, even if it's not the kind that I fully appreciated.” She stroked Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring’s head. “I would love to keep her, if only because you worked so hard to win her for me.”
“N-No, I was wrong to be presumptuous.” Miyu said. “Like, there were so many plushies in those cabinets, I didn’t even recognise half of them. Like what the fuck is a Maxx “C” meant to be? They were so ugly.”
Aoi’s eyes went wide, a twitch to the dilation of her pupil, even, and if Miyu didn’t know any better, she would have called that a trauma response.
“Uh, Aoi?” Miyu prompted her.
“Actually, you know what,” Aoi lied point blankly through clattering teeth as she held onto the Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring doll possessively, “I’ve decided that I love Ash Blossom and you did a great job winning her.”
Miyu laughed, chuffed but confused. Still, a win was a win and that’s all that mattered in her books. Though the fact that after the matter was settled, Aoi chose a point of pride to display Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and in doing so, they found a way to hang Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring by her stubby, little toes off of Aoi’s curtain did continue to symbolise how contentious a toy the gift was…