Chapter 1

"Stand up the Vanguard!" Kai said as he flipped his Vanguard unit. It was Lizard Soldier, Conroe.

"Stand up, Vanguard!" Misaki said as she flipped her Vanguard unit. It was Godhawk, Ichibiyoshi.

The both of them stared each other in the eyes. It was full of regret and hurt.

"Listen to me Misaki. It doesn t have to be like this. I can help you. We can start over. I don t want to do this. Not to you. I love you." Kai said to Misaki. Tears were flowing from her eyes.

"You can t help me anymore Kai. You should have just left when you got the chance to."

"I m not leaving you! I have spent so much time alone and in pain. I kept thinking that no one would ever love me anymore. I thought I would never love again."

"Then you should have never betrayed me Kai!"

One Year Ago

"Final turn!" Kai smiled as he used his Vortex Dragon to attack Misaki s CEO Amaterasu.

"Vortex Dragon's Mega Blast! Retire 3 rearguards. And Vortex Dragon attacks CEO."

Misaki hadn t seen it coming. It was the final turn. She couldn t do anything to guard this.

"Damage trigger check." The card was Oracle Guardian Gemini. It was over.

"Winner is Kai Toshiki! Congratulations!" The shop manager announced over the microphone. The entire shop roared because it was a close call. Misaki could have won if she could have lasted that turn.

"Congratulations to you Kai. You are in the finals then. Good luck to you." Misaki gave Kai a handshake, which he gladly accepted.
"Thank you." Kai walked away without looking back.

He left the shop to his usual spot: a bench which was under the tree, just opposite the playground. He positioned his bag under his head and happened to doze off.

"Kai, let s go! We need to train with Tetsu so we can join the nationals." A blurry figure with purple hair dragged Kai into a room where sports equipment was kept at their school. Tetsu was already waiting there, smiling at them when they enter.

Kai turned to look at the figure, but he was still too blurry to make out who he is. But Kai knows very well who he is. Just as he was about to call out for the blurry figure, the mysterious figure started to fall.

"Kai! Help me!" The figure pleaded.

"Ren! Grab my hand!"

It was too late. Ren was slipping from his grip.

"No! Ren!"

That was when Kai awoke with a jump. He looked around and saw that he was at the bench, opposite the playground.

"Who's Ren?" A familiar voice came from the bench next to his. He turned to find Misaki. She was eating ice cream.

"No one. What are you doing here?" Kai rubbed his aching temples with his hand. That was a terrible dream.

"Having ice cream. Isn t it obvious? Do you want some?" Misaki said with a smile.

"No thank you. Shouldn t you be at the shop tournament?"

"Just because I work there, does not mean I can t take a break once in a while you know."

"Ok. Sure."

Kai got up and was about to leave as Misaki called out to him. He stopped in his tracks, listening to what she was about to say.

"So I ll see you again then?"

Kai did not answer her. He merely just waved goodbye to her and left for home. But in their hearts, they know the answer already.