Book One: Someone New (Reginald Kastle)

Chapter Eleven: New...Acquaintance

*beep* *beep* 

I groan and roll over, slamming the alarm clock off. I sit up, groggily. 7:55. Oh no. I go to jump off and grab my uniform, running when I trip over and knock my deck box off my table. My cards come spilling out, covering my floor. Clumsily, I gather them up and throw them back into the box. Throwing on my uniform and running if brush through my hair, I run. When i jog down the stairs, I see no Gray. 'Hmm, he musta left already.' I think.

The morning air of Heartland City is refreshing. Not cold, but not hot. I'm halfway to school, when I hear a familiar shout.

"Rose!"

"Mornin' Shark." He throws me Rio's helmet.

"You're late." He states bluntly. I hop in, and place my arms around his waist. I'm used to this action, but still am blushing. He turns around and looks at me as we set off. He touches my cheek, delicately. I wasn't even aware he had such a soft touch.

"You're cute when you blush...." He mutters and turns back around. I'm speechless. He chuckles, noticing. Before I can say anything else, my sight sets on something bizarre. Is that...oh, god....Yuma. We ride until we're next to him. Astral looks over and sees both myself and Shark. Yuma's running like The Scream, only a modern day version in Heartland Adademy's 1st Year Uniform.
"Uuuaaauuaaaauuuuuggghhhh-- huh?" Yuma says.
"Yuma. What in the world're you doing?" My companion asks, as curious as I am.

"What's it look like I'm doing-- I'm totally freaking out!"
"Lemme guess. This has to do with the tournament?"
"Yeah! You wouldn't happen to have an extra one of those heart pieces, wouldja?"
"'Fraid not. In fact I don't even have one for me." Shark says amused. It's a bit shocking since he's a great duellist.

"Sorry, Yuma. Me neither." Shark glances at me for a second.
"What?" Shark looks down reflectively at his right-side handle grip.
"The only person I duel for now, Yuma, is myself." Wow. I hadn't even realised. I blush, admiring him again. Shark's goggles slide back into place. Yuma smiles.
"Cool!"
"Later!"

"See ya around, Yuma! Good luck gettin' in the WDC!" I say. He grins. Shark turns and rides away.
"Later, Rosie, Shark!" The others have just caught up to Yuma.

"You're not entering?" Shark asks.

"Why would I?"

"You're a brilliant duellist, that's why."

"Well...it's like you said. I only duel for myself now. Actually, that's been the case for a while now."

"Really? I never noticed. Since that Number business started?" He guesses.

"Since...Rio. Strictly speaking, I duelled for her, but then more for me. I kinda gave up finding the guy that put her there." I grit my teeth.

"Don't give up. She'd be sad. And angry. She always banged on 'bout how you were so perseverant." I clutch his waist a little harder, then release my grip. I lean on his shoulder, sighing. Shark keeps riding, then notices something out of the corner of his eye. He catches the card in midair and brakes hard, looking back the direction it came from. Someone threw a Mirror Force card at him, and it came from a railed walkway on a nearby building that's under construction. Shark tosses his helmet on the seat and climbs the stairs to the platform he saw. I follow, not wanting to stay in the runner. There's no one there. We walk out to examine the small crane hook that hangs down from a coil of line on a pole at the end of the walkway, then hear someone come up behind us.
"Long time, no see, Reginald." Shark looks over his shoulder, frowning. The person addressing him is a tall young man close to Shark's age, in a fancy-looking cream suit edged with dark golden yellow. His most distinctive feature, besides the unsettling red glint in his eyes, is his dark, unruly red hair with a shock of blond yellow in the front that hangs over a third of his face. Then there's the cross shaped scar over his left eye.
"I'm sorry. Everyone calls you 'Shark' now, don't they. Hmhmhm." I growl. This guy doesn't seem like good news.
"That's right."