Cardfight!! Vanguard SC: Defenders of the Gate

Chapter 7: Idiot Best Friend

It was Sunday morning, a day after Yudai met Roka. He told his mother everything that happened and she happily obliged in letting her stay. Yudai decided to take Roka to Card Capital since she didn't have a FiCa, the essential item any fighter needed to go pro, and wanted to register for one and it was a good place to test her skills and see her deck. He also promised to show Rei the new cards he got before fighting Izo, so it going would be worth his while.
"Well, we're here." Yudai said as they approached the card shop. Roka's eyes widened as she had the shop in sights.
"This is so cool. There was never a shop just for card games where I used to live!"

Those last few words rung in Yudai's head. Yesterday, he had offered to let Roka stay at his house. At the time, he didn't pay much mind to it because he was trying to be nice, but now that she mentioned it he suddenly became aware of his situation. He was living in a house, alone with a pretty girl who he had already bonded with, with no supervision.
"Thank God I'm not some kind of pervert." He said quietly.
As the door to the shop opened automatically, Yudai was 'attacked' by Rei, both of them ending up on the ground.

"Yudai, you're here! C'mon, where are they! I wanna see the new cards! C'MON, LET ME SEE!" Yudai's arm was still in very bad shape from the previous day, but suppressed the pain caused by the fall. He took advantage of the position he was put in and planted his feet on Rei's chest and shooting upwards, causing Rei to land four feet away.

"Rei I swear, if you ever do that again, I'm REALLY gonna show what it must feel like for a vanguard to be hit with a critical! Can't you see my arm is in a sling?" Yudai yelled, obviously ticked off. "If you wanted to see the new cards, you should've watched my fight!"

"Hey, there was a mini-tournament going on and the winner got four copies of the ultra-rare 'Absolution Lion King, Mithril Ezel' G-Unit! There was no way I could let that opportunity slide! I even won!" Rei defended.

"Hey, Yudai, who's your friend?" Roka asked, pointing at Rei.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce you. Roka Mizukami, this is Reisuke Asuka." Yudai announced, purposely using Rei's full name, much to the latter's distaste. "This idiot is my self-proclaimed best friend. He also plays Vanguard."

"Hey, not coo...Wait a second! Your mom and dad aren't in the country, so...YOU'RE LIVING ALONE WITH A GIRL!?" Roka blushed nervously, while Yudai just signed.

"I can only assume that's all you heard me say. Yes, that's it in a nutshell."

"So your parents allowed you to live alone with a girl at the age of sixteen? You two haven't done anything, have you?" Rei asked, smirking coyly. This earned Rei a finger flick to the forehead as Yudai walked past him, having lost interest in the conversation.
"Seriously, Rei, get your head out of the gutter. We're both minors!" Yudai spelled out Roka nodding furiously in agreement. Due to the sudden outbreak of noise, Misaki, who was at the counter reading a novel, gave him a glare poweful enough to tame a lion. Saying the three teens were scared would be an understatement, but enough to knock them back into reality.

"Well before I forget, Rei, I want you and Roka to have a fight. Apparently, she's still getting used to the game, so I want her to play someone who has plenty of experience. Of course, normally I wouldn't assign such a role to you, but my arm's pretty banged up, so I you might as well do it." Yudai said bluntly. Rei gave a thumbs up and took his deck out of his FiCa.
"Is that okay with you Roka?"
"Yep, it's fine with me."
Yudai walked over to Misaki at the counter.
"Mamager, is it cool if we use Interactive Fight Table?" Yudai asked. She made an approving sound with her mouth, not actually looking up from her book.

"You heard the lady, guys! Let's go!"
Rei put his FiCa in the slot and his side of the table went active.

"I'll just use the 'randomiser' option to pick our location." Rei said. He pushed he button and the scenery on the table switched for a while until it stopped at 'The Valley of Fallen Swords' in the Nubatama territory. Roka face lot up as she saw the table function like it did, causing Yudai to grin because she looked like a excited child.
"You ready?"
"Let's do this!"
"Stand Up, Vanguard!"