Dragon Blossoms and Moth Wings

Chapter One

The neon yellow laser-cannon light engulfed the projection of the Two-Headed King Rex, destroying it and the rest of Ryuzaki's life points. Ryuzaki stepped back, letting his loss sink in. Haga, on the other hand, wasn't the least surprised that he had won--his deck was strategic, with all the different types of cards working together like a colony of ants, unlike the dinosaur duelist who mainly just focused on high attack point levels. The crowds were silent too, as they waited for the announcer to, well, announce the winner, as if they weren't even watching their game.

"The winner is Insector Haga!" called the announcer. The crowd then buzzed to life like a beehive, almost every single person in the facility applauding him, yelling "Woop!", and every once in a while, a fangirl would squeal in joy. The dueling platform where he stood quickly descended toward the ground. Soon, he stepped off, and Pegasus Crawford, the creator of Duel Monsters, made his way towards him to hand him a shining trophy.

Haga held the golden award in his trembling hands, the only words slipping out of his mouth being "thank you." Pegasus acknowledged this with a smile. It was incredibly awkward being the center of attention, and being in the presence of such an important person. Pegasus went on about his new Duel Monsters tournament, then turned to face Haga. His ice blue eye that wasn't covered by his flowing silver hair seemed to gaze directly into his soul. Pegasus told him extra details about the Duelist Kingdom tournament that was to be held on his own personal island, as well as personally inviting him and Ryuzaki there. They also had the privilege of staying in their own private rooms on the boat.

Pegasus bid him farewell and Haga headed outside, ready to meet up with his ride home, but a call of "wait!" coming from behind him stopped him in his tracks. Ryuzaki was running towards him, with a big grin on his face. He stopped in front of Haga and caught his breath, then started to talk. "That was actually a real fun duel," he said, "maybe we could hang out again?" He pulled out a green notebook with dinosaur print from his purple drawstring bag and a pen. He ripped a piece of paper in half, and on one of the torn pieces he sloppily wrote a phone number using the notebook as a surface. "Here's my phone number..."

Though the two had had some friendly conversations during the duration of this National Championship, Haga wouldn't call Ryuzaki his "friend"... In fact, he wouldn't consider anyone other than a variety of insects to be one. It's not that he had social anxiety or anything like that, but he never knew anyone who shared enough interests with him, or anyone his parents didn't think were a "bad influence." His parents had only seen Ryuzaki through a TV screen, but Haga knew that his parents already disapproved of him. However, Haga was knocked out of his train of thought by Ryuzaki tapping him on the shoulder. He was holding out the paper and notebook to him—probably to get his phone number as well. Haga took the notebook, paper, and pen (which had a dinosaur topper that was probably bought in a toddler's section) and wrote down his number in handwriting far better than Ryuzaki's. He gave Ryuzaki his things back and gave him the paper, and took the paper with the other boy's phone number.

"Um... When should I call you? Tomorrow's Sunday, but I'm not sure if you'll be busy..." Ryuzaki asked. It was weird, because he usually was a lot more confident—maybe it was just an act he put up while playing Duel Monsters.

"Anytime after 7 AM is fine," Haga replied.

"Okay," Ryuzaki replied. "I guess I'll see you soon. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yes. I can call if you like—it'll probably be around noon—" He was interrupted by a loud honking noise. He turned around and saw his car, his parents in the front seat. "Aah—my parents are here. Bye, talk to you tomorrow." Haga turned around and walked to his car.

"Bye!" yelled Ryuzaki, waving and smiling, since Haga was already a ways away. Haga only slightly turned around and waved over his shoulder. He got to his car and got in the back seat. He wasn't sure if he was looking forward to talking with Ryuzaki the next day, but he couldn't focus on it for long as his parents started to go on and on about their work schedules, which bored Haga enough to make him fall asleep on the way home.

AN: This is my first fanfic, let me know what you think!