- A Day Without Touching Cards
Looking back, there hasn’t been a single day since I was reincarnated into this world that I didn’t touch cards.
I take pride in being a card game otaku since my previous life, but I can’t deny that it might be a bit of an obsession.
However, in this world, that’s completely normal.
Everyone around the world plays Ignition Fight, and it can even determine the fate of the world.
Being the strongest fighter is an aspiration that everyone naturally has.
Fighters who have saved the world are respected by many people.
And I was reincarnated into such a world.
Reincarnation…well, the environment around me hasn’t really changed, and I’m still the same old Mitsuru in this life as the previous one.
The biggest difference is…maybe my distinctive messy bangs hairstyle.
A change in hair color that’s common for hobby anime protagonists.
Other than that, is there really any difference from my previous life?
But that was just when I had just been reincarnated.
Since middle school, I’ve intentionally lived a life different from my previous one.
In my past life, I went to an ordinary middle school, and honestly, I chose my high school and university rather carelessly.
But in this life, I entered a famous academic high school as a special admission student for Ignition Fight.
That’s where I met Daia, so from that point on, my life has been different from my previous one, you could say.
It’s not like I had some grand ambition or anything.
I simply wanted some kind of change, and my talent as a fighter was high enough to accommodate that.
I honestly think it might be because I’m a reincarnator, but who knows the actual reason.
Anyway, despite living that kind of life, there have been almost no days where I wasn’t involved with cards in some way.
But today, I hardly touched any cards.
The big premise is that today was a holiday.
I left the shop to Erea and went out to see a movie I wanted to watch.
Of course, I’m carrying my deck, so it’s not like I didn’t touch cards at all.
But in the morning, since I wasn’t challenged to any roadside fights, and the movie I watched didn’t feature Ignition Fight, you could say I didn’t really touch cards.
Then in the afternoon, on my way home, I found some acquaintances playing basketball at a park.
The hot-blooded boy Necca, the cool boy Crow, and the other elementary school kids.
Atsumi-chan and their other friends were there too.
Surprisingly, even Ren-san was playing basketball with them.
Everyone was in their school gym uniforms, including Ren-san.
This was the first time I’ve seen Ren-san in clothes other than her gothic lolita style…but is she the only one wearing bloomers on purpose?
Atsumi-chan is wearing regular shorts.
Since Ren-san often has these peculiar fixations, this is probably another case of that.
As I was observing them from a distance,
“–Ah, it’s the manager!”
Necca noticed me.
Then, everyone turned their gaze towards me.
“Hey Necca, you seem lively.”
“Heheh, I’m unbeatable at basketball!”
A remark befitting the boy who hates to lose – Necca.
From what I can tell, he does seem to be the best at basketball among them.
Next would be Crow and Ren-san.
Those who are strong fighters also tend to have good athletic abilities.
It’s an odd bias, but it generally holds true in this world.
“How about joining us for a bit, Heavenly-People?”
“Me? No thanks, it’d be too awkward for an adult to play with kids, whether I’m good or bad.”
At that, Ren-san passed the ball to me.
I thought about refusing, but…
Everyone’s gazes were filled with expectation.
Ren-san had suggested it, but…
My usual behavior probably contributed to this too.
“…I guess I have no choice. I’ll just shoot some free throws.”
“Alright!”
Crow struck a pumped-up pose.
Are they that curious about my physical abilities?
Well, if they’re expecting it.
I bounced the ball to get a feel for it, then approached the goal.
The position is…at the three-point line.
“Oooh.”
Necca’s voice filled with anticipation.
Feeling a bit tense, I took a breath and…
Shot.
The ball went through the hoop almost soundlessly.
“Ooh!”
“Nice one, Heavenly-People.”
Though I got unnecessarily tense, I seemed to have met their expectations.
Come to think of it…this could be a sort of perk from being reincarnated.
Strong fighters tend to have good athletic abilities.
I might be the prime example proving that bias.
If I tried this in my previous life, the ball probably wouldn’t have even gone close to the hoop.
In a sense, this might be the aspect of myself that has changed the most compared to my previous life.
“Well, this much is expected for a fighter.”
“Not bad, manager. Why don’t you play with us for a bit?”
“I’ll pass on that. I’m an adult, so that would be too awkward.”
Though I sensed some hidden excitement behind Crow’s calm demeanor, I politely turned down the offer.
After chatting a bit more, I left.
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Then, looking to kill some time, I headed to the library.
I didn’t have any particular goal, I just wanted to read books somewhere comfortable.
But…
“…Oh, manager.”
“Fancy meeting you here too. Hello, Yato-chan.”
I ran into Yato-chan studying.
She had notebooks spread out on a wide table, pen in hand.
Unusually dressed in her uniform, she really did look like an ordinary student.
“Studying?”
“Exam prep, there’s a test coming up soon.”
“Diligent, aren’t you?”
As I said that, I sensed a “help me if I’m stuck” aura from Yato-chan and took a seat next to her.
“It’d be a big help if you could assist me.”
“Sure.”
She just outright said it, huh.
It’s important to voice things.
It reminded me of how I periodically need to stop Necca’s older brother from falling into darkness.
“Come to think of it…”
“What is it?”
“Is the manager good at studying?”
Yato-chan asked while writing with her pen.
That straightforward questioning, she doesn’t seem to need my help at all.
“Well…I’m about average.”
“Average, huh…”
Truly average.
In middle and high school, overall I was around the middle of the pack.
“But since it was a prestigious private school, I guess that means above average ability.”
“That’s…still pretty impressive, isn’t it? I mean, I’m considered one of the better students at my middle school.”
“Honestly, we might be around the same level then?”
“Could be.”
While there are some differences, if we’re talking about above average, Yato-chan and I are probably in the same group.
Though in my case, I had the knowledge from my previous life.
To be honest, without that, my academic ability would have been much worse.
In that sense, my academic ability is the aspect that has changed the least from my previous life.
It’s nothing to be proud of, but still.
Yato-chan really is a serious student, I can’t help but think.
“Then what about Daia-san? The vibe I get when I see him on TV is that he’s really smart.”
“Him? He was completely hopeless, a typical fight idiot back then.”
“No way!?”
Yeah, really.
In middle school, he was getting remedial lessons constantly.
If he wasn’t a special fighter admit, it’s questionable if he could have even moved up grades.
The Daia of old was nothing like his calm demeanor now.
He even used to say “ore” for “I.”
He was like if Necca just grew up without changing.
“I’m not lying. But well, there was a change partway through.”
“A change?”
“Yeah, after he saved the world…and became a pro. It was around then that he started applying himself to things other than fighting.”
The old Daia only needed to focus on fighting.
But after saving the world, becoming a pro, the more attention he got, the less he could remain the same.
Whether it was studying, behavior, anything.
The more recognition he received, the more was expected of him at a minimum.
It must have been tough, I think as an outside observer.
Well, the fact that he was willing to put in the effort to meet those expectations is one of Daia’s good points.
“So how was he after he started putting in the effort?”
“About the same level as me. But honestly, for fighters, having a minimum level of academic ability is enough.”
“That ‘minimum’ seems like a pretty high bar to me.”
Yeah, I nodded.
The level needed to get by at a prestigious private school is indeed a high bar.
But to be honest, the main reason Daia and I put in effort is probably – because we don’t want to lose.
“To be blunt, even now there are still some aspects of his airheadedness from back then that haven’t changed.”
“Like when he does those obvious disguises?”
“Stuff like that.”
I laughed as I said that.
In a way…Daia certainly has changed.
But there are undoubtedly parts of him that are unchanged too.
Daia is still Daia.
…Then what about me?
As I idly read a book to accompany Yato-chan’s studious pen strokes,
I found myself vaguely pondering that thought.
“Well, I ended up coming here after all.”
That night.
I was in front of the card shop “Duelist.”
It’s my shop, no matter what anyone says…not that anyone would argue, I think.
It was close to closing time.
There probably aren’t many customers left.
“I didn’t have a particular reason to show my face, but I guess my feet just brought me here since I hadn’t touched cards today.”
Explaining to myself out loud is probably overdoing it.
But since I’m alone it’s fine, I also think.
Maybe because I spent most of the day alone, even though I did converse with others sometimes.
As I thought that and entered the shop–
“Ah, manager! I’m so glad you came by.”
Erea welcomed me with unusually high energy.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“I had a feeling you’d come by since it’s you, manager. But of course I wouldn’t call you in on your day off for no reason.”
Well, I appreciate that.
As I thought that…
“What’s with that unusually high energy? Did something good happen?”
“Fufufu, good observation.”
Erea showed me what she was holding.
It was…a deck.
Probably the “Empire” deck that Erea uses.
“How about a fight?”
Ah, well…
I had thought a day completely without touching cards was pretty rare in this world.
But I guess I’m the one who didn’t want that in the first place.
I suddenly realized that fact.
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