In Johan’s mind, it’s the exact opposite. He doesn’t think anyone would be charmed by him, nor drawn in by him enough to let him win in order to get on his good side. How could anyone think that throwing a game would be a good way to get on any Duelist’s good side? Everyone takes pride in their deck, throwing a game is making the accusation that the duelist can’t win with the deck they put their heart and soul into. That’s just… well, rude.
Fortunately, such a thing has barely registered to Johan as a possibility. To him, the far more likely possibility is that he’s going to get challenged by a few duelists who think he’s an easy target because of his incomplete deck. Everyone saw the duel, everyone heard him talk about this powerful ace monster that he had that he just… didn’t play. By the end, it was clear that he had built a deck around a monster that he didn’t have– that didn’t exist. Yet.
Ah, well, while being underestimated is hardly a good feeling, he doesn’t mind proving that he can hold his own even without Rainbow Dragon. It’s just that duelists who look for an easy victory for bragging rights are hardly the kind of duelists Johan came to Duel Academia to find. His sights are set higher– on the black clad duelist in front of him, for instance.
It’s funny how much the tension in the room seemed to immediately evaporate once Johan asked Manjoume about his deck. He is incredibly curious, and he’s grateful the other gave him a window he could use to ask about it. He had overheard several students discuss Manjoume, and a great deal of it was… contradictory, to say the least. Some seemed to think he was an incredible talent, while others couldn’t seem to understand how he ever won. As for Johan, he saw the duel between Judai and Manjoume (most of it), he knows Jun is good. If someone says he can’t win, it’s because they don’t understand how his deck works. Which means… he must have changed it since that duel. He hadn’t heard a single person bring up the Armed Dragon cards.
Johan listens intently to Manjoume’s explanation, his expression quickly becoming one of both awe and interest when he brought up having to only use low-level monsters in a duel.
“What happened? What kind of strategy did you come up with?” He knows Manjoume won– he must have, he sounds so proud! Darn, he wishes he had been here to see that. Oh– right, Manjoume asked him a question.
“I did win– but the deck wasn’t the prize,” he explains as he carefully takes the deck out of the card holder strapped to his belt. “While I was dueling, Pegasus said the cards started to glow.” There is no inclination in Johan’s expression nor his tone that could lead one to believe that he thought this was anything but normal. “They wanted to come with me, and we’ve been together ever since. They’re my family.”
Manjoume is delighted to see he’s sparked Anderson’s interest: clearly his roundabout strategies catch the eye of those who are regarded as amazing duelists, huh? Maybe he could allow himself to feel a bit of pride at that- a winning strategy was a winning strategy, even when it wasn’t just: ‘summon the coolest monster and win’.
What interests Manjoume in turn, however, is Johan’s own answer to his query: cards as family.
... He could understand that, to an extent. He wasn’t going to brag about it to anyone, surely, but he’d also found something akin to a family in his deck- the Ojama brothers stayed true to their title and had, admittedly, been greatly of help in... several occasions, yes. He’d said it to Chosaku and Shouji- if nothing else, the Ojamas were good brothers, to eachother and to him.
“I expected nothing less, I suppose,” he starts.
“Duel spirits seem to really like you, maybe there is somewhat of a correlation between that and your own dueling abilities-”
Well, that is a bit of a stretch, maybe- plenty of good duelists were entirely unaware of the spirits, but the ones who did see them seemed to be elite, in a sense.
... Well, not considering himself, Johan and Judai were surely... something. And it was rumoured that Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba themselves had some sort of... kinship? Bond? Whatever one might want to call it- with their own cards.
“Well, don’t mind that, actually. Your cards chose you, you say? I guess... mine did something similar? More in the sense that I’ve tried to get rid of them several times and it simply never worked, however,” he jokes, hoping Johan won’t lash out at him about... Duel spirit ethics or something.
Wait- Why is he being so open with the boy he’s just claimed to mistrust?
Could he, for once, stick to one line of thought and not stray from it to brag about something-
Ugh.
Manjoume has to admit to himself that the guy puts people alarmingly at ease, himself included. It feels a little weird for him to be aware of the fact that, if he didn’t pay attention, he could easily end up telling his entire lifestory, perhaps with added spice. While it is somewhat nice, it puts him on high alert- he does have a tendency to speak out of turn and he’d really much rather not.
So the solution is to turn it on Johan again.
“You do make it sound like it’s just. Something, a normal occurrence, I don’t know- Maybe that’s what I dislike about you. So casual about extraordinary things and people-”
... What, like Judai and Johan himself? Was that really what it was?
Ok- stop introspecting and actually make sense in conversation, Jun.
“You do seem... tight? Your Duel Spirits and you, I mean. That catlike ruby thingy is never more than 5 metres away from you. And-”
Ugh.
“The Ojamas keep saying they’d rather have you as their owner, go figure. One day they will realise that sacrificing them several times over in duels is simply how they are meant to be played-”
Ah-
...
No, no, he’s fine, Johan’s asked about his dueling, too, right?
“So, uh. That card you’re missing? What’s that about?”
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