thenearshore | Closed

"I didn't think about it that way." It's one thing going all in on an official tournament, another thing if it's a local tournament with kids involved. Ginia studies the shop, noting the individually priced cards (presumably more expensive or rare) cards at the case in the counter.

"An older teen or adult with a financial advantage could make tournaments less fun. I could also see an owner reluctant to chase off someone spending a lot at their shop, especially if they play within the rules."

"Right. Even in official tournaments in my world, we sort by age. So this sort of thing doesn't usually happen," Shun signs out, glancing at the kids and their continued discussion. It does sound like they have a group that wants to come, but have been reluctant to recently with this person around.

"You can't really do that in a casual environment unless they do something worth getting banned. Unless you give the other person a reason to stop coming. There must be a reason that person comes here instead of the other shops."

Shun's guess is that they're not as good a player as they like to pretend they are - there's no reason to keep coming back to a shop full of players on a much lower level if you're actually trying to improve.

"We know there's a tournament coming up here. I'll do a quick sweep and see what the situation looks like at other shops. Can you talk to the owner and see if there are any other problems?"

As the one who can talk and with more card game experience, Shun's the better candidate for figuring out any immediate problems with the store. Sweeping through other shops on a quick investigation is more in line with her skills and duty as Ebisu's shinki. If it's a few stores dealing with one disruptive customer, that's easier than deal with than something like a mass ayakashi problem.

...Hopefully it's not an ayakashi problem.

"I don't know how much I'll be able to get out of him with how I am with people, but I'll try," Shun signs back, glancing over to the counter. At least he can take a shot at it, and his familiarity with the general scene will probably make it a bit easier for him, since it's something he can do small talk of some sort about.

"We should at least be able to establish whether it's just people or ayakashi are involved."

That would change how they'd need to handle it significantly, though trying to take out an ayakashi in the middle of a small, open shop like this would definitely complicate things a bit.

"You'll be fine. I got faith in you." Ginia can see Shun getting a little blunt at worst, but she can't see him doing more than that around kids.

She flashes a grin and a thumbs up before exiting the shop. The next card shop is only three stores away. Ginia takes a picture of the sales at the shop for a comparison point and heads on. The first shop is busier, but the shelving is denser and a bit more chaotic. The customers are generally older too. The same can be said for the second shop. It's not hard guessing the kids don't feel as welcome in those shops.

The third shop is a little more open in terms of layout and there are even a few matches going on at some tables at one side. The age range seems a little more mixed; some of the people playing are in the middle school to high school range. Ginia particularly hones in on one match between two young teenagers. Mostly, it's the smugness emanating from one of the players as he lays down his card, explaining each actions.

Ginia quietly takes out her phone and records a few minutes, sending the video to Shun.

Once she leaves, Shun approaches the owner and starts a (somewhat awkward) conversation. Thankfully, the owner can read the genuine interest out of that awkwardness and speaks relatively easily - this seems to be the only shop in the area that leans towards a younger playerbase, but some of the older players have taken advantage of that when it comes to tournaments for easy wins. There's one player in particular who comes in regularly and does it, but as his behaviour isn't outright against the rules, he and the others who come in for tournaments can't really be banned. He'd been hoping giving them a chance to get to know the regular players would help, but he's now unsure that's actually done anything.

When he gets the text from Ginia, Shun pauses the conversation and steps away from the counter for a moment so he can take it, immediately grimacing a bit at the attitude of the player. It's familiar in a bad way, and he sends a text back quite promptly.

He acts like the idiots in my world who have all the resources but have never met someone who knows how to play the game well enough to get around that disadvantage. So about what I was expecting. Sounds like some of the others show up for tournaments at this store too just because they know the kids here are less experienced.

Ginia slowly moves closer to the match as she waits for Shun's response. There's no ayakashi involved as far as she can tell, not with him at least. She sends a coin purse-shaped ayakashi trying to goad an indecisive person into over-spending scampering out the door with a well-placed borderline slash. The teenagers? His arrogance is entirely his own.

She glances at her phone as it buzzes, moving back against the outer edge of the shop to type.

He's winning right now, but I imagine if he begins losing, he'll head back to the shop to see if anyone's there. I think we need to make sure him and his friends show up for the tournament so we can trounce them.

And by we, it's probably mostly you.

By the way, think the kids would be willing to help me put together a deck? Might raise their spirits a bit.

That description definitely tracks with the kinds of people Shun's familiar with exhibiting that behaviour back home. Can't win in one place, keep looking until you find someone weaker. It's frustrating to deal with, but at least where he came from it was rare to see anyone taking it out on kids.

Definitely. And I can ask them, but if we're dealing with the kids, see if you can find out what that guy's playing, and what his friends are playing. Sometimes people will copy tournament-winning decks just because they're powerful and not really know how to play them, so we might be able to give the kids some tips on how to deal with those idiots without having to compromise their fun too much.

I wouldn't be surprised if they all had variants on the same deck build or style. They strike me as the kind of people who care more about winning than the process.

Though they seem too old to readily notice her, Ginia casts Umbra on herself as a safeguard before she heads over to their table. She takes pictures of the cards on the table, their hands, and even angles her phone to get video as she rapidly rifles through their decks. She does the same for two other teenagers playing nearby, finishing with pictures of everyone in the store. Maybe the owner or kids will recognize some of the other people.

Sending some pictures you can compare to deck lists, also pictures of people here.

I'm going to wait for them to finish their game and see what they do next. If they begin heading to the shop, I'll delay them.

Once Shun gets the videos, he takes a seat somewhere out of the way in the store and starts doing a little bit of research. Pulling up recent tournament decklists isn't difficult, and it does seem like the quick check Ginia did of their main problem character's deck matches up with one of the more popular decks for a recent major tournament, specifically the list that won.

He double-checks all of them - the decks aren't completely identical, some going for other lists of the same deck or some substituting expensive or hard to get cards for similar ones that aren't as good, but he still gets a pretty thorough general picture from that. It's maybe fifteen or twenty minutes until he texts her again.

Found the deck they're running. It won a major tournament recently, most of theirs are either too similar to that list to be a coincidence or very similar to other variants on the same one.

I'll check with the kids now. Keep me updated if they try to come over here before then.

On her end, Ginia pulls up the rulebook for the game, skimming over and loosely familiarizing herself with the mechanics. It's not too different from the other games she's seen and learned about from Shun or Ruri. There's not too much time to get good, but she can still put up a good fight. Sharp, tactical, and rich can go a long way. It's a worthwhile thing to spend on if they can help out some kids, a business, and pop some over-inflated egos too.

The match wraps up, their primary target gloating as he wins through sheer force of power. He sits back, smug as his opponent collects his cards.

"Man, where did you get your cards from?"

Their target smirks as he makes a show of collecting his cards and putting them back into his deck box. "Oh, my uncle works for the card company so he sends me anything I ask for."

Ginia rolls her eyes and scoffs. He remains at the table, looking for anyone else willing to play, eventually giving up as there aren't any takers. He packs up and heads over to look at some of the cards in the front case, loudly bragging to anyone listening about how he has some of the cards in mint condition, first edition prints even. Eventually the other two teens wrap up their game and come over to join him. They continue to look over cards and ask about upcoming releases before eventually growing bored.

"Hey, let's go to the old man's shop. I need to sign up for a tournament." One of the teens suggests. There's casual agreement and a few comments about finding more people to practice with.

They're on their way over. Buying time.

Ginia grabs a few decks and booster packs, carrying them awkwardly in her arms as she walks into their path and directly collides with the teen in the front, bringing them and the cards crashing to the ground.

"Hey, watch it!" The teen shouts, scowling, but helping Ginia pick everything up. It buys a few minutes as she gathers up, bowing in apology, easily forgotten as they move on. She puts everything on the nearest shelf and follows after them. With a well-placed borderline, she cuts through the school bag of their main target. He shouts as books and papers drop out of the bag and begin to scatter around the shopping street.

In the meantime, Shun finally approaches the kids, asking a few questions about the game to get them in the mindset to talk and then mentioning he heard the complaints about the other player. The kids sag a bit when the guy is mentioned again, but when Shun offers to give them some advice on countering the guy's deck, they're only too ready to listen.

The one issue is that if the guy walks in on them early, it might lead to him knowing what's coming, so Shun and the kids approach the owner to ask if there's any other space they can use to practice. The man has to consider for a while, but ultimately agrees to let them use the separate room that's normally set up for games that use miniatures instead, as long as they don't make a mess. He even agrees to keep it quiet from the older boy and his friends, but Shun does leave the message that if someone of Ginia's description comes in, then he can lead her over there.

Once they're set up in the other room, Shun sends Ginia another text.

We're in another room. Ask the owner when you get back here and he'll let you in.

It takes the teens few minutes to get everything recovered and back into the bag, a hasty stop at a nearby convenience store for some tape. Food distracts them and it give Ginia enough time to slip back to the shop ahead of them. She hastily buys a few starter decks to work with as well as a substantial stack of booster packs before heading to the room.

"They're getting food at the konbini, so we should be fine for a little longer." Ginia signs at Shun before taking out her phone for the sake of the kids.

"Sorry to hear you've been having trouble from those bullies. We'll make sure they learn their lesson. Who wants to see if I pull anything good in the packs?"

If there's a universal joy in card games, it's definitely seeing what someone pulls from booster packs.

It looks like Shun's gotten started with the kids a bit by the time Ginia comes in - he's looking through some of their decks and talking about things that work and things that don't. For once, he's also being cautious to phrase it in a manner that doesn't sound like he's belittling their ability, since they all seem like decent players for their age anyway, they're just being put up against people who have other advantages behind them.

Shun glances up and nods when Ginia comes in, the kids all waving at her. However, the caution of the greeting goes out the window when she mentions the packs, because the kids all let out a resounding "yes" and come a bit closer to see which ones she's bought.

Shun comes along with them, signing to her initially. "I've given them some tips on those guys already, but we can still do a bit of deckbuilding."

Then he switches back to speaking so the kids can understand. "Ginia is pretty new to the game as well, so if you see her get anything you know is good, make sure you tell her."

The kids all nod seriously, apparently taking it as some sort of small test of knowledge. Without the older players around, it seems like they're plenty ready to prove they do know about the game.

Ginia creates a generous stack of booster packs on the table. It's the kind of experience most kids dream about. As she opens the first pack, one of the kids is quick to stop her and show her how to move the cards around so the rare card is always the last card she sees. The other kids nod sagely at this arcane secret. Going through the first pack, the kids are more than happy to weigh in on the cards, whether because it's good, annoying to play against, or otherwise a favorite card for any numerous reasons. A slow collection of rare and even a few foiled cards form a new pile.

There's excited debate among the kids as they compare the cards she's pulled to the premade decks, each favoring their own tactics. Ginia takes the moment to sign over at Shun. "Mind checking if the other teens showed up? One mentioned he wanted to sign up for the tournament."

Shun mostly observes, watching how the kids respond - there's definitely something familiar about the vibe of excitement that settles on them, and for a moment, he thinks back to the times before the war started, the kids who used to always hang around the Duel Schools.

He shakes his head a moment before he notices Ginia move to sign at him, and he nods, backing off a few steps so he fades out of the kids' attention before disappearing. He'd rather teleport than give away where they've gone off to by opening the door if the older teens are outside, and he reappears at the far end of the store.

He can't see the other teens yet, but as he heads towards the front of the store, he starts to hear chatter from outside that sounds familiar from that video. He sends Ginia a quick text.

They'll be here in a minute.

Ginia glances at the text and raises her phone to show the message to the kids. They look a bit crestfallen, glancing at the door as if the bullies will come in here too.

"Don't worry, Shun and I won't let them bother you," Gina assures through her phone. "Shun's real good at card games. We'll make sure they leave you alone after the tournament." Maybe even the store for some time too. A ban might be good for the troublesome teens, even a temporary one. It might help them to cool their heels. Or maybe there's talking to them and getting through to them their behavior isn't acceptable.

...God, she really is sounding more and more like an anti-bullying PSA in a kid's anime. Dammit, Chris.

In the store, the teens are jostling each other around as they enter, swaggering in like they own the place. The owner smiles nervously as they enter the store.

"Hey, ojisan! We're signing up for the tournament! There are spots open, right?"

The manager, despite his reservations, gives a slow nod at the request. He almost glances towards the other room, but appears to think better of it, and pulls out a book from under the counter instead, checking the names.

"Yes, yes, we've got quite a few left...all of you, then?"

The teens get in a rowdy line to sign up as Shun disappears back into the other room, signing to Ginia when he materialises again.

"They're all here and signing up for the tournament. So it'll be easy to deal with all of them when it happens."

That aside, he glances towards the kids. "For now, let's ignore those idiots. If you want to try some of the ideas for your decks we were talking about earlier, I can take you on."

That in combination with what Ginia had said about him seems to get the kids excited, and they immediately start pulling out their own collections of cards in binders, taking things out and switching them into decks with all the grave seriousness a gamer gives to these kinds of matters.

Ginia nods at Shun. She considers seeing if anyone else at her temple wants to join in to help with their odds, but no. Between her and Shun and the kids gathered, they're a pretty good fighting force against three bullies. Watching the kids gear up with all the seriousness she puts into heading out for a prayer... yeah, they'll be fine.

As one kid battles Shun, Ginia works with the other two on putting together the final touches on a deck. She begins to battle herself, the third kid working as a referee and adviser of sorts, reminding her of the rules and how mechanics work. It's not hard to pick up, but a bit of guidance as she plays through her first match is appreciated. It helps the confidence of the kids too as they're able to show off how much they know.

By the time the manager drops by to let them know the other teens are gone and a reminder of the time, the kids are excited and looking toward the tournament. They're talking among themselves about seeing if their classmates want to sign up, easily forgetting about the two of them as they leave the shop.

"As the resident card expert," Ginia signs with a teasing smile, "how do you think this will go down? The kids definitely have the drive to defend their shop and seem pretty sharp. Seems like all they needed was a boost in confidence."

Shun doesn't hold back on the match, but even though he's good, this isn't his favoured game, which means the defeats he lays out are rousing rather than crushing. There's a few close calls when the kids draw better than he does, and though it's subtle, there's a certain softness that comes over him as the fights go on. It's familiar, almost nostalgic, and though memories of what happened to the kids he used to duel against after that still eat at him, he manages to keep it aside this once.

Shun watches the kids leave, but turns to Ginia after that to watch her sign. He doesn't seem particularly bothered by the tease, considering it's accurate enough, and he glances back to the kids once more before he signs back.

"I think it'll be fine. Hopefully all of them get a chance at one of those idiots, since they can't all fight a single one of them in a tournament like this. Ideally the kids will be the ones who get to ruin their day, not us."

They're there for backup, but if the kids can handle it, then it'll play out much better. A tournament that pairs based on wins means that it's unlikely more than one of the kids would get a shot at a particular one of the bullies unless they were playing down, but hopefully one sound defeat each will be enough to make them steer clear.

"Guess all we can do is wait until the tournament. I'll get a bit more practice in." They're all dying of work at Ebisu's temple, but that doesn't mean they don't get breaks. Ginia is pretty sure she can beg some of the card players to spend a break playing a match against her, especially for the sake of a prayer and some kids. "I'm going to grab a few things and head out."

Ginia thanks the shop owner for letting them use the space, buying a few more booster packs, card sleeves, a deck box, and signing up for the tournament. The large purchases can't hurt, but getting kids back and shopping is the more sustainable goal.

The day of the tournament, Ginia shows up early to scope out the mood. There are a few pre-teens, including the ones they helped out, having a friendly pre-tournament match. Ginia smiles as she watches them, hanging out of sight as she waits for Shun to show up.

Shun has most of the usual supplies already, but he buys a few of the most recent booster pack when he signs up for the tournament as well, even though he doesn't really need anything else for his own deck. It might still be useful in future, or he can take anything sought-after back to the shop so it can get sold on.

On the day, he doesn't show up much later than Ginia. He's in more civilian-leaning clothes than he usually wears, including a black shirt with a white design of a branch of flowers and a falcon on it, and has a bag hanging over his back that has what looks like it might be a card binder poking out of the top.

Also the weight of his usual supplies and weapons stash hidden underneath something at the bottom, because he can never be quite that casual.

"No sign of the others so far?" He inclines his head to Ginia as he comes in, looking over the current group.

Ginia raises a hand in greeting. She's also dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt with a cat print on it. There's a backpack slung over her shoulder with her cards inside. The only weapons on her are the knife Kimi gave her (and more as good luck charm), and a large bottle of blessed water tucked into her bag. If there's a threat to deal with, it'll be ayakashi more than anything else. Go ahead, cultists, try to crash a local card tournament aimed at kids.

"Not yet. Judging by their personalities, I'm thinking they're the kind to saunter in at the last minute. Turn out is better than I thought, looks like our group convinced their friends to come."

Ginia tilts her head lightly toward the entrance.

"I'm thinking I might put a borderline across the doorway to keep any possible ayakashi at bay. I think everyone is old enough they won't readily notice it and it'll rule out any behavior problems because of them."

Because sometimes assholes are of their own making.

"People will be able to pass through freely, but I might have to let it fall if I need to focus a bit. I'm assuming you have water on you too?"

"Wouldn't surprise me. Inconveniencing people just because they can seems like their brand of stupidity," Shun says rather dryly, glancing back at the door. If they're people who are going to target kids just because it's easy, he feels like they'd go for the other easy routes in being obnoxious and insufferable as well.

It's not a bad idea to put up a borderline, though, and Shun nods a little in agreement. "I do. I'd at least figure their behaviour in general isn't ayakashi since they were acting like that in multiple places, and we probably would have noticed if they had any hanging onto them. But there's no sense courting the risk of any getting drawn in by their attitudes either."

They're probably going to lower the mood just by being in here until they lose, and even that has a risk of drawing ayakashi if the people in question get sour enough about it. Which seems like a very real possibility to Shun, so he's definitely not going to turn down the precaution.

"Usually people don't bring really young kids to tournaments, so I'd be very surprised if anyone was young enough to notice it."

"I came back yesterday to check on things, didn't see any ayakashi naturally drawn here." Without the troublesome group around, it's a pretty friendly place. Even the stress caused by the teenagers isn't any more than the problem a average shop might face. They're probably fine, but staying on top of things never hurt.

About twenty minutes before the official start time of the tournament, the owner calls for any last minute sign ups and checking the roster to see who is here. As predicted, the teenagers saunter in about ten minutes before the start; Ginia strikes her borderline down as they enter, brushing off any possible ayakashi that might have latched on. With everyone gathered, the drawing for the first round of matches begins. Ginia matches up with another adult unrelated to their problem, but notices she'll match up against one of the teens if he wins his first round and she wins hers.

Giving Shun a quick thumbs up, she goes to her assigned table and sets up her cards.

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