“What do you think you’re doing?” Ara sheepishly smiled at her annoyed, blonde friend beside her. “You can’t just sell me away like this!”

“I am not,” Ara retaliated. “There’s a difference between selling and wagering.”

Sehun rolled his eyes.

“Just trust me on this, okay? I have a plan,” she reasoned as she straightened herself and faced her opponent once again. “Now tell me, what are his strengths and weaknesses?” Ara asked as she nodded her head towards the black-haired Warrior beside Yeri.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb. I know that you recognise him.”

Sehun sighed at how fast Ara caught up on him. He now knew why she had suggested the Duel out of the blue, despite the fact that she still fell far behind her classmates. Her plan obviously centered around him and the success of it depended on the supposed information he knew about the black-haired Warrior.

“He’s a Fire Element, but his specialty is light, or rather the light that comes from fire,” Ara gave a cheeky smile when she knew her hunch was right. Sehun did know him.

“His fire burns a little less intensely than most,” Sehun added on as he dodged the attacks that said Warrior was firing at him. He didn’t seem to miss the last one completely, and spared a glance at the burnt edges of his pants before looking at Ara again. “But they’re definitely faster.”

“Hey, stop talking!” Yeri’s annoyed voice could be heard from the other side before she instructed her Warrior to continue on with his attacks. He seemed to hesitate for a while, before proceeding with his orders. Yuna was right, she was definitely easily irritable.

“You think you could trap him in one of those twisters of yours?” Ara suggested as she recalled her fight with Hyuk.

“Negative. Why do you think I’ve been on defence the whole time?” only then did Ara realise how their conversation never halted. He hadn’t moved an inch forward, and never showed any intention to fight back. Thinking back, there were a few small openings in which he could’ve launched an attack, but he didn’t. Ara briefly wondered if it was because he didn’t want to hurt him.

“Physically?”

Sehun scoffed in disbelief. “Light’s faster than wind,” his face then morphed into one of slight puzzlement. “He could’ve finished me by now.”

Ara observed the Warrior at the far end, and she immediately took note of the uneasiness in his entire being. The way he paused a little longer than usual between shots, or the way he bit his lip when his shots narrowly missed Sehun pointed out that the Warrior knew Sehun too. He was obviously prolonging the fight, but Ara knew he couldn’t keep his cover for long.

Yuna said that Yeri doesn’t know much about him yet. She has probably seen how fast Sehun is, and doesn’t want to take the risk.

“Looks like you guys really are friends, huh?”

Sehun glared at the unsuitability of the question in his current situation. He flipped to his left, a fireball whooshing past him. “We’ll talk about that later.”

Their conversation was disrupted by the shrill voice of their opponent, and Ara refocused on the task at hand.

“You’re a Fire Element, aren’t you? Why do your attacks seem so weak?” Yeri screamed at her Warrior, her arms crossed. His fireballs were indeed smaller than what they should be.

“Just keep avoiding his attacks. Hang in there,” Ara whispered to the Warrior who was already beginning to show signs of weariness. Ara knew she had to act fast and play her cards right, no pun intended. Unless she wanted Yeri to hold Sehun’s card over her head. 

And luckily for her, Yeri was already halfway to exploding.

“Hey! Yeri, right?”

The girl in question looked at Ara, a scowl on her face. “What?”

“Why so harsh on him? He’s an S-rank! You should be happy,” Ara said with a sickly sweet smile on her face. She had to provoke her while playing innocent.

“So?” Yeri gave the Fire Element a disapproving look. “He fights no better than an A-rank.”

Ara almost wanted to roll her eyes at the girl’s lack of patience, but withheld herself and played along. “That’s where you’re wrong! I thought the same about Sehun at first, but look where he is now,” Ara knew Sehun was going to kill her once this was over. “You just need enough patience to train him.”

Sehun was full on glaring at her now, almost wanting to laugh at the atrocity of Ara’s words. How dare she mock him?

“There’s no time for that! What’s the point of having him when his skills aren’t even there?”

Ouch. That was painful for any Warrior to hear, especially regarding their own element. Their power was their pride, their soul, and hearing such ignorant words come out of some Dealer’s mouth was definitely a hard-hitting blow. The black-haired Warrior’s expression dampened a little, her words obviously affecting him.

Ara had to refrain herself from setting that girl in her place, and reminding her that even a C-ranked warrior could obliterate her if it wasn’t for some stupid bond. Ara could see how Sehun wanted to do nothing but that, but she gave him a look that told him to not in.

“So, do you want him or not?”

The black-haired Warrior had halted his attacks by then, expression cold as he looked at his Master. But Ara had seen enough of Sehun’s expressions to know that he was hurt.

Yeri didn’t seem to notice the lack of activity, as she immersed herself in her thoughts. With the way her Warrior was, she knew she could never obtain the Air Element Warrior. She frowned upon making her decision.

“He’s no fun anyway,” Ara mentally cheered at the success of her plan. She was riding on the hope that Yeri’s attitude would show itself during battle, and it worked! “Take him, I don’t care.”

And with that, the battle came to an end. Most of the students were unsatisfied at the lack of some ‘real’ action, because it was a Duel after all. They expressed their disappointment in chatters, and Ara made her way to the center of the arena, Sehun tagging along behind her. The red-haired girl did the same, the black-haired Warrior following behind with his head down.

“Don’t get too full of yourself,” Yeri said as she summoned her Warrior back into his card. “This is just charity work.”

Sehun swallowed back on his scoff while Ara inwardly rolled her eyes. If anything, she was the one that got manipulated into her hands. Yeri may be strong, but she certainly didn’t think things properly.

Ara simply responded with a fake smile, her hands clasping each other behind her back.

The red-haired girl bit onto her finger, and blood oozed out. She then proceeded to draw a circle on her card, the warm, red liquid soon drying out and seeping into the card till there was nothing left.

“Release!”

The four standard symbols on unclaimed cards slowly started to reappear, the lines from the edges growing into the centre of the card like vines. The symbols rearranged themselves into a circle-like formation, and the card was without an owner again.

Ara swooped up the card as soon as the process was finished without missing a beat. She then pocketed it in her leathered card case, just in front of Sehun’s card.

“Thanks.”

The triumphant girl made her way back to the bleachers, Sehun disappearing into his card as she walked up the steps. He must have been exhausted.

“A very smart move you made there,” Miss Dylan commented as Ara passed by. “I already warned Yeri before that her attitude would get her in trouble one day. I must say, I’m impressed.”

“Thank you, Miss D,” Ara skipped off with a spring in her step, her heart fuzzy.

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

As soon as the eighteen year old reached home, she shook off her shoes and raced to her room, slamming the door shut. Her classmates may have been unimpressed by her little trick, but Yuna thought it was brilliant.

Even miss Dylan approved.

Without sparing a second, Ara whipped out Sehun’s card and kissed it. She had completely forgotten about his disapproval of the whole situation though, and the blonde’s annoyed expression reminded her of it.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this,” Sehun started with his arms folded. “I thought you said I was your friend.”

“You are! Don’t be so dramatic,” Ara couldn’t help but smile when Sehun acknowledged their relationship. “You were just so interested in this dude that I thought he meant something to you.”

Sehun’s heart softened a little. She planned this for him.

“Aren’t you going to summon him?” the blonde tried to change the subject, ignoring the warm feeling that was blooming in his chest.

“Oh, right!” Ara didn’t seem to notice the slight pink in the blonde’s cheeks. She whipped out the new card in a flash, excited to meet her new friend.

She bit onto her finger, the wound small enough for blood to drip but not large enough for the liquid to gush out. After absorbing the three drops of blood Ara had offered, the rectangular piece of paper started to glow, and Ara was instantly reminded of the first time she claimed Sehun’s card. An image of the black-haired Warrior slowly appeared against the black background of the card not long after, and the same golden lettered ‘S’ rested on the edge of the card.

Ara placed her lips on the card after the glowing had stopped, and soon, the familiar face materialised in her room. She watched with amusement as the Warrior kneeled beside sehun, his head bowed. She still remembered when Sehun addressed her so formally.

“Master.”

“Nice to meet you too, but please don’t call me Master,” Ara grunted as the boy looked up at her in surprise. She had seen this all before, and if she had to keep doing this, she was going to go insane. She gave Sehun a pleading look.

Sehun sighed through his nose. “Just call her Ara,” Sehun stared back as the Warrior changed his focus to him. His eyes softened a little, taking in the face that he hadn’t seen for so long. “It’s okay.”

The Warrior looked like he wanted to speak more, but stopped himself by pursing his lips. He turned back to Ara, his head returning to a bow. “Yes, Mas-Ara.”

“That’s better,” Ara grinned, her teeth showing and her eyes turning into crescents. “So, what’s your name?”

“You can address me however you like, mas-Ara,” the Warrior replied, befuddled. First, she told him to call her by her name. And now she wanted to know his?

“Sehun, he’s just like you!” Ara whined as she kicked her legs back on forth on her chair childishly. The still nameless Warrior silently gasped at the aforementioned name. He told her?

“You can’t blame us. This is new after all,” Sehun retaliated, eyes now on Ara.

The girl stopped swinging her legs and gazed into the still kneeling Warrior’s eyes. He looked younger than Sehun, his features more delicate than the blonde’s sharp ones. He almost resembled a puppy.

The boy had looked up once he heard the surprisingly informal conversation between his new Master and his old friend.

“Fine. Just tell me how you want me to address you.”

“Master sounds good, don’t you think? I should’ve told you that before, I wonder what it feels like being addressed like that.”

“Oh Sehun, you little brat,” the black-haired Warrior watched as Ara threw a pillow into the blonde’s face, his eyes widening at the unnatural scene.

How can Sehun talk to her like that? And why is she okay with it?

The Warrior watched blankly as the said duo began to wrestle each other with pillows. His brain was in a mess because of whatever he was seeing, and it puzzled him to see them so comfortable with each other. He had been worried when Sehun dared to retaliate Ara, afraid that she would hit him, scold him, punish him. But the black-haired Warrior was wrong, and seeing how much fun they were having, he had a feeling that she would never do what he thought she would. He took a deep breath, deciding to take a leap of faith.

“I’m Baekhyun.”

His words snapped the two out of their childish fight, and Ara pushed Sehun’s still form away as she faced the boy. It felt weird hearing his name again after so long, but it definitely felt good. The boy tried to stifle a laugh at the disbelieving look on Sehun’s face as he was pushed away.

“Byun Baekhyun.”

___

a/n: I guess alot of people expected chanyeol haha but its baekhyun!! I have a different arc prepared for chanyeol but I hope baek's makes sense! and sorry if the fight seemed pretty unexciting :,-)