Tasuku’s day had been packed with tournaments, first Vanguard, then Buddyfight, and though he had managed to come out on top in both of them, it had been a close enough win to keep him dwelling on it, though, even though he had been victorious in the tournament right after. Many of the Buddyfighters in Hive City were no match for Tasuku, allowing for a little room for his thoughts to stray... Though that did violate his own personal code.
To not devote one’s full attention to a fight was to disrespect his opponent, and that was unacceptable. It was another strike against himself.
No… as you are now, you can’t do anything.
The words still lingered in his mind, like the scar of an old wound ready to be torn open.
I have to get stronger...
And it was in his distraction that he didn’t realize, on his way to receive his first place prize, that another person had inadvertently walked directly into his path. And Tasuku walked right into him.
“Ah...?! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going...”
To add insult to injury, both of their decks had scattered all over the floor. At least he kept Jack’s Buddy rare in his pocket, he thought, but he didn’t want to mistreat his cards, accident or not...
“I’m really sorry... I’ll get them. Oh...”
Though these cards didn’t bear the same white back as Tasuku’s own did. Instead, they were dark. As he gathered them, he saw that some were brown, some green, and some purple. An entirely different card game that he didn’t recognize.
“Huh... These are... Oh, here you go. I’m really sorry about that, sir.”
Come to think of it, there had been another tournament held alongside the Buddyfight one, hadn’t there? Perhaps this was the one?
“Do you mind me asking which game this is? I don’t recognize it at all.”