Beyond the Idol (Love Live x Yu-Gi-Oh crossover)

Chapter 8

The sky was pink. A beautiful sunset outside the house.

Inside Kotori's living room, the entire μ's, along with Yukinori and Mayuko, sat down on the tatami mat, except Maki and Nico, who were cooking in the kitchen.

The conversation between Yukinori, Mayuko and other members of μ's went well. They asked him about everything in everyday life, from his studying at school to his hobby and tatse of music. Everything was right until Honoka questioned.

"Hey Yukinori, it looks like you're feeling like you are betrayed by us. Why do you feel like it?"

Yukinori kept silent in about one minute after receiving the question. His tear dropped.

"My past is the topic which shouldn't be refered here, because it is more terrible than what you expect." A deep sound made by Yukinori, followed up by a long breath.

He told his story. Since the day he was born, he had been wrongly accused for a lot of serious action, from fighting with a friend of his friend, to leaking the secret told by his close friend. When he knew the reason of these actions, he was shocked as his closest friend was the cause of everything which happened to him. For him, that was betraying, also his closest friend was considered a traitor.

"Yukinori, listen to me." Kotori cut off his story. "You know, the past has a great affection to one's life, but these kinds of tragedy should belong to the past. When I was in the secondary school, I had a lot of conflicts with my friends, but now I totally forget it. Keeping these conflicts and nemesises in your mind may affect you negatively in both the present and future. So, take them off and head to the beauty."

"Definitely, but I'm afraid that it may happen again. Betraying can beat even the bravest man in the world."

"You're wrong. We've already been on your side since the beginning. Maybe you haven't known yet, but it is so regretful for us to see you losing the final in the tournament 2 years ago. Tell us about it, please.", said Umi.

"Yeah." Yukinori continued his story. "That was the worst duel in my life that I'll never forget. In that tournament, my sister played the "Assault Mode" deck, while I used "Photon Galaxy" one. My starting hand in the final contained 1 copy of "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon", 2 "Galaxy Knight" and 2 "Return of the Dragon Lord" so I couldn't play any card. During my second turn, I wanted a "Trade-In" or "The Flute of Awakening Dragon" to just send "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" to the Graveyard as a cost so that I could bring it back by "Return of the Dragon Lord", despite being negated by the effect of "Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode". But what I drew was a "Monster Reborn". So my hand was bricked during the entire game. Losing is normal in any game, but losing that way is so... humiliating."

"Not quite. That kind of losing is normal! I've seen many duels ended up like that. Let me give you some examples. Have you ever watched the quarter-final between your sister and a student in Luxiano Secondary School? That student also lost the game despite having been able to take the first turn, and he was also unable to play any card, then you may have known the result: Mayuko won. So, it's normal at all."

"I agree with you, Rin. Yukinori-kun..."

"Kotori, why do you call me with the prefix "-kun"?" Yukinori surprised as he couldn't think that Kotori recognised him as one of her close friends.

"Yukinori-kun, I have heard about your love with me in the past, told by your sister, and I think we should be closer than this. Any barrier should be taken down. And what I want to say with you is that you should keep heading to the future. Whatever in the past should belong to the past."

"Belong to the past? If it is, why am I still hated in the μ's fan community?"

"Yukinori-kun, in my opinion, what you thought and what you said were not compatible with each other. Maybe you didn't think like that, but in the μ's fangroup, I can see you have some statements hurting someone innocently. For me, it's normal, but it should be better to be more cautious for each word you say." Kotori advised Yukinori, then she ended up with a smile for him.