Her cousins came over again today.

They came over almost every weekend, since her house served as the perfect spot for a short getaway from all the stress and pressure at the Academy. Ara had never been to the Academy despite her age, simply because she had no cards to train for. She had always wanted to attend the Academy though, because it would then prove to her family that she was not at all powerless. All the years of self-studying at home would also enable her to easily catch up with the other students, although not training wise. Sure she had read up abit on how to control and deal cards, but the words and images on the pages were just confusing bundles of information because she did not have any cards to practice with.

"Ha! I won again!" came the shrill voice of one of Ara's cousins. Seriously, did Somin have to always shout so loud whenever she won a battle? Her voice was annoying. Heck, her entire existence was an eyesore. She would always be the one to suggest duels out of the blue, mainly because she knew she had the best cards out of all of them. She was one of the most arrogant people Ara knew. So what if she had a complete deck of A-ranked cards and one or two S-ranked cards? She only ever won all those battles because she only used her high ranked cards. As for those C-ranked and B-ranked cards she had the bad luck of bonding to, she would just leave them rotting in a corner of her room, or if she was in a bad mood, burn them. It was not like she treated her high ranked cards any better either. Somin didn't burn them, but she was a sadistic . All the bruises and scars on her Warriors' bodies were enough to tell Ara what kind of suffering they went through.

"Tch, I just went easy on you," B.M scoffed, summoning his Warrior back into his card. Oh yeah, B.M was a huge sore loser. He had a good hand as well, possessing a complete deck of A-ranked B.A.P cards. That was what made him so competitive, and so unwilling to accept defeat. Ara could see through her window how B.M took out his pocketknife to make a slash on the corner of the card. Right, B.M was also a sadist.  He liked to make slashes and marks on his cards, explaining how the the cross marks made his cards look more badass. Damaged cards resulted in permanent marks on a Warrior's body, and being the sadistic jerk that he was, B.M thought that they made his Warriors look edgy and cool. Ara couldn't help but feel sorry for his deck, but its not like she could do anything about it.

"Alright, enough with the fighting, it's getting late. We should get going," J.seph said as he got up from the grass patch and dusted himself off. He was a lot more accepting towards the lower ranked cards, which explained why he had a complete deck of B-ranked NCT cards and only one A-ranked BoA card. He wasn't cruel to his cards like her older cousins, but time to time she would hear him verbally abusing his cards if he was in a bad mood. Ara would consider him to be more sane than the other two.

"Yeah, this place smelled funny anyway," Somin laughed, stopping in between her giggles to glance towards Ara's window. She knew her cousins didn't like her, mainly because she had no cards, but also because they were way over their heads. The battles in her backyard weren't just to show off, but also to rub in Ara's face that they had cards and she didn't.

Jiwoo was the last to leave Ara's backyard. She was Ara's youngest cousin, only being older than Ahra by a few months. Jiwoo didn't talk much, but Ara knew that she didn't dislike her as much as the others. She could tell from the occasional glances Jiwoo gave her whenever her older cousins insulted her. Jiwoo was kind of considered the emotionless one in the group, but Ara could tell from her gazes that she was not just some robot controlled by the social hierarchy system. The eighteen year old showed the strongest emotions, and the one that Ara witnessed the most was worry.

Ara let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when the four finally left. She was used to their insults, but she would be lying if she said she didn't feel a little pang in her heart whenever she heard them. She wasn't hurt by their insults, but rather by the reminder that she was useless and a shame to the family. Closing the book that she was reading, Ara headed downstairs for a glass of water. Her Aunt and Uncle weren't home, due to the fact that they were well-known Dealers and were probably having a meeting somewhere.

While waiting for her glass to fill up, Ara heard a shuffle from behind her. Frightened, she turned around only to come face-to-face with Jung Daehyun, B.M's Warrior. He looked at her with cold eyes, his hand clasping around the bundle of keys that were left on the dining table. Daehyun's hair was neatly styled up, and he was dressed in all black. Despite his neat appearance, his face said otherwise. Under the bright light, she could clearly see the slash on the corner of his forehead, the result of B.M's little artwork earlier. It was the freshest wound from all the others that were painted on his body from B.M's sick little obsession. The two said nothing, and broke eye contact when the Warrior turned to leave. The scar on his right ear was still there, Ara noticed, and she recalled it from the time Daehyun didn't master his new skill perfectly. B.M was not happy.

Ara quickly downed her glass of water and headed back to her room. She sprawled herself on her bed, tucking an arm under her head. Lots of questions and thoughts went through her mind as she thought about her upcoming birthday, but she always found herself coming back to the same question that haunted her every single day.

Would she ever possess a card?