Yu-Gi-Oh: P.O.D: Part 45

Kou slumps down in a chair in Nanjo's room.
"Ahhhh, you sure it's okay if I hide-I mean crash here for now?" Nanjo nodded as he sat down on a nearby leather chair.
"Yeah, I don' mind...'s long as you tell me what happened between you and Kanjori." Kou sighed.
"...where do I begin?"
Meanwhile Tacey, Yu and Seb are walking down a hallway, still looking for Kary. Seb let out a sigh.
"Ugh...I'm really bummed out." Yu gave Seb a cold stare.
"Hey, you didn't get creamed by that pro." Tacey shook her head.
"Would you two stop that? You've been talking back at one another since we left the Duel Hall." Yu let out a sigh.
"Yeah, I know. It just bums me out that Kou gets all the wins. I mean, come on, Tace. We both got some big wins for ADAD. The least we could get is some 'thanks' or something." Tacey turns back to look at Yu.
"I didn't know you were jealous." Yu rolled his eyes.
"Okay, I admit. I'd like my fifteen minutes of fame, too. But who wouldn't?" Seb let out a sigh.
"I know how that feels...but I'm not looking for fame." Yu looked back at Seb.
"What're you looking for, then?" Seb looked away for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh.
"Just...forget I said that." Yu folded his arms.
"Okay, fess up. Ever since you lost to Kou, all you've been doing is moping." Seb couldn't look at either of them in the eye.
"I pretty much gave up my spot in the Radiance over one duel I didn't think I'd win." Tacey cocked an eyebrow.
"Wait...you challenged Kou, and you didn't think you'd win?"
"I wasn't so sure at first..." Suddenly came a familiar voice from around the corner. Tacey turned away from Seb and towards the voice.
"Huh?"
Yu shifted back towards Seb.
"Either you were desperate, or just crazy."
Seb closed his eyes.
"You don't want to know how I felt." Tacey peaked around the corner, finding Megumi looking at the floor with a slight frown.
"Megu-I-I mean...Kanjori-san?" Tacey asked, looking shocked. Megumi jumped as she hard Tacey.
"Uh! Wh-what do you want?" Tacey walked in front of Megumi.
"Um...we were looking for a friend of mine. Black hair, green eyes, wears a Black uniform with white stripes...have you seen her?"
"No." Megumi replied bluntly before starting to walk off.
Hey, w-wait!" Tacey replied.
"Um...where are you going?" Seb noticed Tacey talking to Megumi.
"Hey...why is she here?"
"Huh?" Yu asked before turning around.
"Ah, man..." Megumi stopped for a moment.
"...I don't know..." Megumi then continued to walk off. Tacey followed Megumi's pace.
"But...Kanjori-san, I...what was so important that you would come here for? Just for one duel with Kou?" Seb removed Yu's arm from his shoulder.
"Let's get going before we lose track of those two." Megumi walked faster, trying to loose Tacey.
"That's none of your business." Tacey was getting irritated from Megumi's artful dodging.
"Kou's a good friend, but I just know he's a good duelist. Surely you know more about him?" Seb tried to catch up, only to end up tripping over a stair that the two girls had climbed up.
"Crap..."
"O-of course not, why would you think I'd know more about Naruki, Kou?" Yu looked down at Seb.
"Man...you're hopeless. Let me help you up." Seb shook his head.
"What about them?"
"They can take care of themselves." Tacey let out a sigh.
"When Kou said you got better, I swear I heard you stuttering."
"N-Naruki, Kou is...is...just leave me be!" Megumi started jogging. Tacey had trouble keeping up.
"You...you love him...is that it?"
Yu looked back at Seb.
"Can you walk?"
"Yeah...so, what now?" Megumi looked back in confusion.
"...love? What is love?" Yu shrugged.
"We keep looking. Tacey did say that Kary had black hair, green eyes, and a black uniform with white stripes. Shouldn't be too tough." Tacey stopped running once she caught up, and tried to speak, but was out of breath.
"Just...how did...you two...meet anyway?"
"Why...are you...so persistent...about Naruki...Kou?" Megumi asked, catching her breath as she sat down on a nearby chair. Tacey stood against the side of the chair.
"He's our team leader, and he probably had a really good reason for asking you to stay here. And I'm actually surprised you said yes!"
"When I first heard of Naruki, Kou again...I...really didn't know what to think...when my mother saw I was loosing track of mind because of it, she told me to defeat him, saying if I do I'll stop thinking about him...I lost again...so I guess I have to stay here until I do but...for some reason it's hard to keep a straight face around him..." Tacey shrugged.
"He has that effect on people-wait, you said lost again? How did that happen? For all I saw, it looked like you could wipe the floor with all of us!" Megumi gave Tacey a serious look.
"That's because I can..." Megumi then looked down again with a confused look. "But...Naruki, Kou...I knew he was unique from the first thing he said...it was when I was eight..."
"Eight huh? Man pulling dames at that age, you're smooth Senpai, I'll give you that..." Nanjo replied. Kou looked up at the ceiling.
"...Sensei said he was taking me to his friend's house 'cause he needed to talk to someone...and so we came to this really posh mansion in Chess City. When we were let in, this strange lady in a red dress talked to Sensei about something. But then the lady noticed me, I think she asked if I was Sensei's apprentice...it eventually wound up with 'testing' to see if I was better than her daughter...and that was Megumi-chan."  
"My mother called me into the foyer one day...said she had a new challenger for me...at the time I had faced a lot of second-rate fools...so to me I thought it would be another boring duel...but I was surprised to see it was a boy my age...then my mother went into the lounge with a strange man who I think was Naruki, Kou's father or something...but then-"
"I said; 'Hey! I'm Naruki, Kou nice to meetcha! What's your name?'." A sweatdrop went down Nanjo's face.
"A bit informal don't you think...?"
"I didn't know what to think of his random outburst...I was used to people just bowing then activating their duel disks in slight fear...in-fact I didn't know how to reply at first...so I just said my name as I thought he asked; 'Megumi, Kanjori'."
"'Megumi-chan eh?' When I asked that she looked even more confused, like she'd never heard of honorifics."  
"What's so odd about being called Megumi-chan? You said he was your age, right?" Tacey asked.
"Like I said I'd never seen or met anyone my age before...the only person who'd ever really adress or talk to me was mother..."
"R-really? You must've had a really hard childhood, if you didn't have any friends your age."
"I was never used to anything else...that's why the day I met Naruki, Kou was so...wierd..."
"Wow, talk about sheletred childhoods..." Nanjo replied.
"Yeah...anyway I asked what kinda deck she runs."
"I told him he'd find out..."
"So I was like; 'Okay, hope you're really good Megumi-chan!' And we dueled."
"Eventually it led to her having two Imperial Pawns on the field, and me with-"
"Ambitious Gofer...he used his effect, and as I had no hand, both pawns were destroyed and...I had only 2400 LP left...also...throughout the duel he said...wierd things...things that made me warm inside but wierd..."
"Y'know I kept complimenting her moves since she was reaaal good, I even had four monsters on the feild at once...all destroyed, Ambitious Gofer was my last shot."
"When my LP hit zero I...I didn't know what to think...dropping to my knees-"
"-I ran over and asked her what was wrong...she said she didn't know what had just happened."
"Naruki, Kou laughed, he said we all loose at one time or another...afterwards he said...I really was shocked when he-"
"-asked if we might go hit the town for a bit while Sensei and the strange lady talked-"
"I assumed the 'strange lady' was my mother...but I thought since he was so strong I had to listen to him...besides I...felt attached to him somehow...I'd never met anyone like him..." Tacey rubbed the back of her neck.
"Wow...I kinda know how it feels, but...that must've been quite the experience."
Not really, I just thought she was real shy. Anyway she nodded her head, and I took her into the city, showing her arcades, cafes, card shops...I even got her a pack."
Which one?" Nanjo asked.
"...the one I got this card in..." Megumi showed Tacey the card 'Imperial Knight' which seemed very rough around the edges.
"It does look a bit old." Tacey commented, before opening her locket to reveal her copy of Divine Grace - Northwemko.
"I guess we both have our friendship card."
"Friend...ship...?" Megumi asked. Tacey looked a bit uneasy.
"Sure...I mean, did you give him a card in return?"
"No I mean, what is friend ship?...in fact what is 'love' that you mentioned earlier?" Tacey looked confused.
"Y-you see....when you like someone, and that person is nice to you, it usually starts with you and...and him...being friends, and after a while, if you really like him, and he really likes you...it could become love." Now Megumi looked confused.
"...like...do I like...Naruki, Kou...?" Tacey looked back at Northwemko.
"I've had a moment like that, too, when Yuri started seeing me as the hospital. I thought he was just being nice, but I think we both knew there was more than that. He always sent me text messages when he couldn't come. Even when things were looking bad, we just kept going, thinking about each other." Megumi looked back at Imperial Knight.
"...Naruki, Kou...after we got back, we managed to get back before anyone noticed we were missing...the strange man took Naruki, Kou away..."
"Sensei said he was done talking to his friend, so we left and continued our journey, so before we left I told Megumi to think of that card if she misses me before saying goodbye." Megumi turned the card slightly as Tacey noticed something shimmer.
"Hmm? Is that tape?" Megumi frowned.
"Yes...when mother heard what Naruki, Kou said...she took the card then tore it in half...I don't know why but...I wanted to save it...I even snuck out in the night, got it out of the bin and taped it back...it's not even a usable card anymore...but...I wanted to keep it..." Megumi looked at Tacey with a worried expression.
"Why...why did I...why do I want to keep this?" Tacey tried to show a gentle smile.
"Maybe you wanted to remember how it felt when you two were together. You had good times with him, right?" Megumi smiled, and this time actually kept it as she looked back at the card.
"Yes...even today when I saw the smile on his face...I felt all warm inside..." Megumi let out a sigh of delight.
"...but...if mother knew of this...she wouldn't approve..." Tacey shook her head.
"I doubt she'd approve of you joining the Academia, right? Why not just do this for yourself?"
"For...myself...?" Tacey took a moment to sit down next to Megumi.
"Sure. You can't always be Mommy's little girl the rest of your life, right? Look at me, I never even knew mine." The last sentence felt a bit flat, as if she was trying to make fun of herself, but didn't exactly feel right about it.
"You know...when I was with Naruki, Kou that day...I actuall felt...alive...for the first time ever...I...I want to...have that feeling again...if only once..." Tacey looked relieved.
"See? That wasn't so hard to say. Now, you just have to find a way to feel that way again."
"But...how...I...almost broke when I was with Naruki, Kou again today..." Megumi replied, not finding a better word than 'broke'. Tacey let out a sigh.
"First, you can just call him Naruki-kun...or even just Kou, if you want. Second, you're a person, not a statue or a clay vase. I'm sure you can bend a little." Megumi closed her eyes.
"O-okay...I'll try...N-Naruki-k-kun...Naruki...kun...Naruki-kun...Naruki-kun, Naruki-kun, Naruki-kun..." At first it seemed like MEgumi was trying to tell the truth about something, but the last three times she spoke with deep affection, like rehearsing the lyrics of a song. Tacey looked amazed.
"You see? That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Megumi smiled.
"I...want to...try saying it in front of him...can I?"
"I don't see why not..." Tacey said, before pulling out her phone.
"First, let's see where he is." Flipping her phone open, Tacey almost tapped herself on the forehead.
"I almost forgot! I can give you his cell phone number. That should help." Megumi looked frantic.
"B-but...I don't know how to react if he...calls me out of the blue..." Tacey looked at Megumi.
"You can always put a special ringtone, so you'll know it's him. As for talking to him, well...just be yourself. I mean...not the 'hard as nails' yourself...maybe more like how you feel right now..."
"B-but I don't know how Naruki-kun would react...or if he'd like me...like this..." Tacey got up and looked at Megumi.
"Only one way to find out. Frankly...you remind me of Etsuko-chan. She used to be as shy around Kou as you right now. Not sure what happened over the last year, but I've heard she grew a lot more confident." Tacey looked around for a moment.
"Speaking of which, I wonder where she is...or where everyone else went..."