Cardfight!! Vanguard: Generations Volume 4 [Ryouta Rival]

- Part 7

I had returned from my fight against Mitsuba, which I lost. In the sixth round, our group lost against Mitsuba's group, allowing them to continue their winning streak.

"This is all my fault... I'm sorry..."

Kishida, who also lost his game against Mikitaka, whimpered. Yamamoto shook his head.

"It's alright. If anything, I'm starting to think our second seat is cursed to lose."

"Next time for sure I'll win! I promise you that, Yamamoto-san!"

"...don't jinx yourself like that please. Spirited words won't solve anything in this situation. We need results."

"Then I'll get those results no matter what!"

After hearing how optimistic Kishida was, despite our crumbling position, Yamamoto's mood brightened a little. Perhaps Kishida reminded him of his twin sister a little bit? She too was a cheerful person.

"I would hold my horses if I were you."

"Eh?"

Yamamoto flicked his chin towards the screen. It had just updated with the next round's pairings.

"...we've got a monster of a group to fight next."

For the seventh round, our opponents were Ryouta's group.

Seeing that, Kishida's face dropped. Yamamoto lowered his head, leaning forward and hiding his mouth behind a clasped hand.

"To be honest... not even I'm sure I can win against them. Ryouta-san... he's the one person in A Class aside from Shimada-san that I haven't beaten in a cardfight before. If I were to go up against him... I don't think I could win."

Even though he was usually gloomy, Yamamoto was always confident in his own ability to play Vanguard. So, hearing that he was deathly serious about not being able to win against Ryouta was genuinely concerning.

"Ryouta-san... is he really that strong?"

"...I don't know how to explain it. He plays a Genesis deck. Astral Poets, to be specific. Even though it should be a fairly easy deck to navigate against... the way he plays makes your mind twist and turn in all sorts of agonising ways."

Yamamoto buried his face into his hand, almost as if he was reliving the memories.

"...basically, what I'm trying to say here is that it'll be impossible for us to get a clean sweep. If anything... it's likely we'll just outright lose our first two games if they send him out first."

"Then isn't the easiest solution to have someone go up there to be a sacrificial lamb?"

Yamamoto turned to me as I suggested that.

"...are you trying to say we should throw against him on purpose?"

I nodded.

"Even if we're forced to eat a loss against Ryouta-san, we can still win against their other two members, Zyriot-san and Kawaguchi-san. Since I've fought against Zyriot-san before, and Kawaguchi-san is in my class, I know how they play. In my opinion, I think it would be best if you went against Zyriot-san and Kishida-san went up against Kawaguchi-san. I'll take on Ryouta-san myself."

Yamamoto paused and thought about it for a moment.

"...since you're suggesting that, I assume that means you're alright with sacrificing yourself?"

"Yeah. I've been losing every game anyways, so what's one more going to do?"

"While I appreciate you're willing to stick your neck out for us, I don't think this strategy is completely viable. It hinges entirely on what order they'll send out their members."