Dueling life in a futuristic world

 With the duel over, the platforms start to descend to the backstage, but without the rambunctious AGVA challenger whining all the way down. “There has to be a mistake! Deckout? What kind of reason is that!? Since when was that a rule!? What kind of game are you playing!? The AGVA will make you pay for such an offence!”

 That’s the last thing I hear before my view of the arena cuts out into darkness.

 Sighing, I mumble. “Some people just don’t learn, do they? How can you lose so pathetically and then say something like that?”

 Haruna chimes in, tinged with tiredness. “He probably got everything handed to him on a silver platter because of his family’s connections. I doubt someone like him could even reach the 600 Elo required to enroll in any academy.” She looked away briefly before confessing, “I was also enrolled in the NWDA at the yellow level thanks to my family’s connections. Having connections can certainly open many doors–But… I guess that’s not something you would have experienced... Sorry, didn’t mean to sound insensitive.”

 I reel in my desire to tell them my true identity. I will do it before the tournament is over, but not right now. “Even then, would that be enough for the AGVA to send him as their representative? And how did he even get to the semifinals?”

 Haruna rebuts. “Yuumi, were you paying attention to the beginner duels? Most of them were just: Summon this; Attack that; Activate this; Pass turn. Nothing too complicated to beat.”

 “Haruna, you know for a fact I didn’t pay any attention to most of Mia’s duels. How do you expect me to remember beginner tier duels? I don’t know how you do it, but for me, just watching those is painful enough.”

 The platform finally arrives at the backstage of the Arena, a much smaller space than the grand arena, but even then, it feels fairly sparse compared to how packed it was at just a week ago. I much more prefer it like this, no crowds for me to have to shuffle my way through, and a helluvalot more space to think.

 Right in the center of all of this is the platform with the challengers currently occupied by Yasuna and a whining little kid, which I called Yasuna’s challenger a minute ago.

 Yasuna isn’t having any of this, and as soon as the platform touches down, starts to walk over to us.

 The whining little blond boy tails her, his yells coming into my hearing range. “Where do you think you're going!? You clearly cheated! There’s no way you could summon so many monsters in a single turn! Just admit it! Or I will make you!”

 Technically, Yasuna is well within her rights to place down a monster and stop him, but she’s just ignoring him instead. A much less effective approach, but one much more civil, I guess.

 ‘Crazy how I’m the one calling Yasuna civil. Back when I met her, I assumed I was going to be the one to hold her back.’

 “Yuumi!!! A little help!? Please!” Yasuna implores, still speed-walking from the guy.

 I glance at Haruna and ask. “Should we call security? I don’t want to get into a fight with that guy.”

 She shrugs. “Yeah, better for you not to get involved. I doubt he’ll convince anyone from his family to get involved in a fight just because he refused to admit defeat, but you should be careful with people like these. We’ll handle them.”

 After saying this, the three walk in sync up to the guy, doing their best mean girl group impression.

—

 “Thanks guys, I really thought that I was going to have to hurt him.” Yasuna directs at the three.

 That guy booked it out of there as soon as the three introduced themselves.

 With Yasuna’s match completed, this marks the end of today’s duels... What? Aiko’s duel was before Yasuna’s and ended with a surrender. It was pitiful showing of why the Elo rating system was woefully inadequate for duels right after the recruitment period, when new duelists of various skill sets would arrive at their academies with wildly inadequate ratings compared to their skill levels.

 ‘Now that I think about it, this really is the worst time to be holding a tournament, almost as if there was another reason for that timing… Fucking war going on and this is the best the government could come up with to grab the public’s attention… Worst thing is: going by the view counts on the livestreams, it’s working.’

 This tournament wasn’t only viewable by the direct spectators, that would be silly, it was also streamed to various video sharing, forums, and livestreaming sites on GlobalNet, with free, ad supported, access to every citizen of Dragoon City or 200@ for a full tournament viewer pass for Union Citizens. At 60 million concurrent viewers, just on the most popular livestreaming site… As far as a distraction from the real world, you couldn’t get more successful than this.

 With these being the viewer counts we’re talking about, I feel kind of nervous about my next advanced bracket performance. But I’ve already had enough practice in the matches leading to the grand finals. ‘Cartwheels, handstands, back-flips, front-flips, dances, poses, etc… I’ve studied enough acrobatics for a lifetime in the circus.’

 Obviously, I’m not complaining. I do it for fun, but I’ll have to admit that I’m starting to miss dueling.

 As we walk through the exit of the arena, into the elevator lobby, Yasuna turns to me and says. “Right, Yuumi, I’m sorry, I knew you wanted revenge for what he said.”

 I turn to her, blinking a few times. “What are you saying? That’s was more than enough, poor guy lasted less than a turn. It might not’ve been the bloody massacre I expected from you. But the humiliation alone will give that guy nightmares for DAYS! You more than crushed him.” I think about ending there, but I feel like this is the perfect opportunity to tell her something that has been bothering me. “And more than that, don’t think you have to impress me. Duel for yourself first.”

 She glances to the side and meekly mumbles. “Got it.” Before turning back to me and the rest of the cheerleaders, running in front of us. “Right! Now that this is over with, time to celebrate!”

 Haruna tilts her head to the side. “What do you have in mind, exactly? We were just going to visit a bar.”

 I lean forward and ask. “What? We were?”

 She glances at me with a teasing smile. “Yup, gay bar. Girls only happy hour at nine.”

 “Oh. Why didn’t you tell me?”

 She scratches her shin, her eyes hovering to the side. “I can swear I did before we went to bed.”

 My brow furrows and I say in a neutral tone. “Haru, please don’t tell me important stuff when I’m all worn out. The chance I’ll remember it the next day is near zero.” Turning to Yasuna, I ask. “So, what did you have in mind?”

—

 “Holy shit, there are so many important-looking people in here.” I comment after observing the room.

 Yasuna reiterates. “Well, what did you expect for a party like this? Most of the people in this room are academy representatives.”

 What Yasuna had in mind was a celebration for the tournament finals. It’s a party for various dueling school representatives, duelists, and supporting staff alike. The last one was the category where me and the rest of the cheer squad fell in.

 Attendance obviously wasn’t obligatory — On the contrary, this event was hidden away in a particular restaurant on the service section of the station — If Yasuna hadn’t told us, we would’ve just ignored it.

 As this was a formal-ish event, I had to come in my NWDA uniform — Even if me and the cheer squad wished we could’ve dressed up in more complex and unique outfits; I had a dress to test out for Solus’ sake!

 Anyway, it’s 8PM, so unless dinner goes quickly, the gay bar is out of the question. And seeing as this is a buffet… Yeah, I’m taking my sweet time. I can worry about the calories later, considering me and the cheer squad already eat a lot to maintain our daily activities. It’s not a big deal if those calories come from a copious amount of fish or protein supplements. And yes, this buffet is mostly fish and plant based. Meat is difficult to maintain off planet, so most of the restaurants use plant substitutes or just serve fish.

 As this is a wide venue, we seven separate and walk in different directions.

 I make my way over to the shellfish section. The lobster is calling my name.

—

 Unfortunately, I’m unable to walk a meter to the serving table before someone walks up to me—A tall, mature looking woman with short red hair; wearing frameless square spectacles and a black business suit.

 She walks up to me, twirling a glass of champagne in her hand, and greets. “My, my, what a coincidence that I would run into Penta-Summoner like yourself here.” The woman lowers her head in a light bow. “Many greetings. My name is Lucille Olsen, Headmistress from the Dueling Detachment of the Community for secured growth Institute.”

 I put on a fake smile and return. “Yuumi Matsunaga, Natural Penta-Summoner and NWDA student. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Please call me Yuumi.”

 “My, my, the pleasure is all mine, Yuumi. Your reputation proceeds you. It wasn’t a week ago that I was made aware a cheerleader had defeated our top duelist. It was only after I learned who that cheerleader was that I stopped worrying if the change in environment had made our star lose her edge.”

 I let out a nervous laugh and conclude. “Ahah, it must’ve looked like that, I’m sure. But she was the one who challenged me. Right after cheer practice too…”

 Her smile grows. “I’ve been made aware of that. I hope you’ll forgive Anna for her curiosity in the skill level of the newest Natural Penta-Summoner. Yet, I will admit it was inappropriate of her to catch you off-guard after you were exhausted from your practice.”

 ‘Yeah, act like she knew who I was all along. Really covering her ass there… Well, I messed Anna up, so it’s better for me to leave it at that.’

 The headmistress continues. “About your practice, Yuumi. I couldn’t help but notice the NWDA forwent renting a private gymnasium for your squad to train at. The CSG believes the cheer squad is almost as important as the duelists themselves, after all, the spectator’s first point of contact with any academy is their cheer squad. And considering the NWDA isn’t lacking resources, I find it strange you would be forced to cycle with other academies.”

 I scratch behind my head and stutter. “W-Well, Director Light is a busy man. He must’ve just forgotten about it until the gymnasiums were all rented out.”

 Headmistress Lucille shakes her head. “Dear Yuumi, there’s no need for you to defend Director Light Haswell. This is the first time he has called his in-house cheer squad to represent the NWDA. With your participation in said squad, I can’t help but conclude this is not a coincidence.” She sighs. “It’s a shame how dueling academies look down on their cheer squads… There’s nothing more shameful than hiring out outsiders to pretend to care about your academy’s performance. And that’s why the CSG makes the effort of prioritizing its own squad and calling them for every tournament.”

 “Hmmm.” I mumble, recalling what our club does when nobody is looking. “Well, I can’t say I fault director Light for ignoring his in-house cheer club.” I say with a sigh. “But it’s reassuring to hear some places take things more seriously.”

 She nods. “If you say so, I will respect his decisions. But if you’re ever interested in our side manages things, we at the CSG would always be open for a shared practice between our squads. Why, that would be wonderful!”

 ‘Ok, now that is too pander-y to be left alone.’

 Scratching my shin, I say. “I see. It sounds like the CSG really cares about her cheer squad. But shouldn’t the Headmistress be worrying more about her duelists? From the looks of it, the CSG is a bad duel away from dropping.”

 “Fu, fu, don’t be ridiculous Yuumi. While I don’t see Tristan coming out on top against that monster, Light put in the intermediary bracket. Anna still has a decent chance to take the top spot. Besides, other than hoping for the best, there’s little I could do to change the results of a duel.”

 As I’m talking with Headmistress Lucille, a familiar voice booms behind me. “Well, now. Miss Lucilla, I can see you didn’t mess around and went straight for my star student.”

 Looking back, it’s Light, wearing an uncharacteristic dark blue suit and tie.

 “Well Light, sight for sore eyes, yes? You took longer to show up than I expected. I almost stole your student away right below your nose.” As if almost confirming her supposed jest, she passes me a closed letter and whispers. “Why don’t you read this over when you have the time and let us both discuss some issues?”

 I glance at Light. His face tense and eyes focused on Lucilla.

 He sighs before saying. “You can go Yuumi, me and Lucille have a lot to talk about.”

 Sliding the letter in my skirt pocket, I take a step back. “Right, I’ll take my leave then. Great night to both of you.” I walk away with that, leaving the two to hash things out.

 ‘That was intense… I’ve had academies pester me before. But they all came in with the assumption I never wanted to be here as a cheerleader. Lucilla, meanwhile, pandered to that part exactly… I’ll leave this letter for later. Right now I have to escape the other “Director” looking people gawking in my direction.’

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