Title: The Great Infatuation Situation (1/20)
Author: Alice S. (alicelians@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG
Date: 7 August 2022
Tags: Multi-Chapter, Future Card Buddyfight, Zanya Kisaragi/Kuguru Uki, Crushes, Self-Insert,
Out of Character
Description: Zanya freaks out as he realizes that he's in love with Kuguru.
Distribution: Alice's Fanfic Room
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters mentioned in this story are owned by Bushiroad.
Narrating style is inspired by Never Have I Ever. The narrator is me with a changed last name.

Chapter 1
Favorite Book

Our main hero of this story is this dashing, young man of the age 13, now that he is in middle school.
Nothing new, actually, because he's in an escalator school, which means he'll be sticking with the same
friends he made in elementary school 'til the day he graduates college. And note that when I say escalator
school, I don't mean one of those overly fancy rich kid schools like those ones you see in rich guy, poor
girl dramas like Hana Yori Dango (Though the school's architecture is INSANE and it's as big as a grand
shopping mall, and it's got one of those crazy escalators leading up to the actual school. It's the first
thing you see when you get out of the station at 7th block). The school's just known for its excellent
Buddyfight curriculum, and it's the dream school of young Buddyfighters all around Japan! I mean, I went to
SenCad for middle school, but I can't deny that this school, Aibo Academy, is one rad school!

Now, who is this mysterious 13 year old whose story will I, one of the top senior high school Buddyfighters
in the Kanto region, Alice S. Mulvey, narrate? We're talking about Zanya Kisaragi, baby! A fighter associated
with Katana World! A great Buddyfighter as well as an exceptional martial artist! The problem lies in the fact
that he has a literal fear of girls. I still remember the day my best friend's younger sister Haruna took us
to see his match against Suzuha Amanosuzu during the Gaen Cup last year, and let me tell you, he was a total
wreck! Usually he keeps his cool and all, but that day was different, I tell you. That match would not be a good
introduction to the fighting world of Zanya Kisaragi. So I *have* witnessed firsthand how much this fear of girls
affects him big time. We're talking about the fact that he can't even look at them!

So, why was he staring at one right now?

His poor brother's energetically talking to him about how much fun he had at the party over at Gao's house last
weekend, and he was ignoring everything he was saying just to look at some girl. Like, who was this girl anyway?

"Hey, Z..." his brother repeated over and over again.

Then, the "Z" in question began to walk over towards her little group, and was greeted by Gao Mikado, the same
person who held a party at his house to celebrate his short return to Japan before he begins his spring semester.
Although he was no longer a student at Aibo, he still had important friends there that he kept in touch with, so he
figured that he should visit the school while he was back. "Oh, hey, Zanya!" he greeted, and when his brother Akatsuki
caught up with him, he greeted him in the same way too. Now, all the members of Balle du Soleil are together in front
of the entrance, preparing for their middle school classes! For those unfamiliar with Balle du Soleil, they are a
Buddyfight team created so that Gao could participate in last year's ABC Cup (The Aibo Buddy Cup Cup?). Now, they're
all kinda doing their own thing... but they're still friends!

Ahem. Now, the girl that held our little Zanya's gaze was none other than Balle du Soleil's card analyst, Kuguru Uki!
Which is kind of surprising considering that I was informed that Zanya had this HUGE crush on Tasuku Ryuenji, who's a
year above him. But, this is a nice twist! I mean, she's smart, she's kind, and literally everything about Buddyfight
can be found in her mind! In front of her, all he could think was: 'What am I doing? Ignore this feeling. Stop
looking at her!'

Because rather than fear out of not wanting to be with her, he felt more of a slight endearment towards her. Like he
actually wanted to talk to her really badly but couldn't. And he'd never felt this feeling so strongly towards a girl
before! Even if not all of them were talkative or anything like that!

Actually, this thought process is understandable, even if Zanya didn't have a huge fear of girls. After all, this is
Kuguru Uki we're talking about! Not only is she unattainable for a guy like Zanya, everyone at school thinks that she's
gonna date Baku Omori, Balle du Soleil's deck builder, any time now! But is futile denial gonna settle down these
emotions? Probably not! Sorry, Z!

Suddenly, Kuguru looked back at him and greeted him. "Good morning, Zanya."

Classic Zanya quickly looked away, and greeted her back in stutters. "G-Good morning... Kuguru!" His heartbeat wouldn't
stop getting faster as she got closer to him and put the back of her hand against his head.

"Hey, Zanya," she asked curiously. "Your face has been really red since you got here. Are you sure you're fine?" Yeah,
I'll have to agree. He looked sick, all right!

So she noticed the state of his face for the past few minutes?! Does that mean that she caught him staring at her? No,
surely she only thought that he was looking at the entire group! Did she think that he was being weird? She did mention
reading romance novels at some point, so maybe she'd have an eye for when a guy would act like he's in love. Wait, but
he doesn't know if this feeling could come across as love, or even called love! Either way, he was sure that if he waited
it out, it would disappear completely,,,

His face became redder and redder with these overwhelming thoughts until he fainted right there on the spot.
Embarrassingly enough for him, he had to have both Gao and Baku carry him to the infirmary. During lunch break, the entire
crew visited him there (except for Akatsuki, who is of course, busy eating in the elementary school division), where he
finally woke up.

"You okay, bro?" Baku immediately asked. "You fell down so suddenly."

Kiri joined in the conversation as well. "We were really worried."

"That's right, yo!" Tetsuya agreed. "We almost thought you had a really bad fever, yo! But the nurse said it wasn't
anything serious!"

Gao nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're just glad you're a-okay!"

Then, Kuguru apologized profusely, "Zanya, I'm really sorry for suddenly touching your head. I know how you are with
girls and all yet..."

He definitely didn't focus on what she said after "yet," because "phew!" was the only thing in his mind at that moment.
So, she *didn't* assume that he was in love with her after all! Having that weight off his shoulders wasn't enough for
him to be completely relaxed around her, but it's the progress that counts, am I right? I'm so proud of you, Zanya!

Zanya snapped back to reality. "Um..." He blinked. "Well, it's fine..."

There was a moment of silence before Zanya continued talking, "So, which class am I in? I didn't get a chance to
look after all."

"We're in the same class this year," Kuguru explained. "Class 1-B. And then Tetsuya and Baku are in class D... and
Kiri's in class A."

Woah, woah, wait. He's in the same class as his "kind-of-crush?" Now that is a turn of events! Too bad the others
won't be there to tease him about it. If they ever find out, of course. And oh my god, something just dawned upon me
(and he's probably thinking of this right now). What if Akatsuki finds out? He's gonna tell his best friend Hanako
(Who happens to be Gao's younger sister. She also goes by Hana), and she's gonna tell *her* best friend Noboru, who's
gonna let it slip out when he talks to *his* friends. It would sure be a huge topic around the school for sure!
Who knows what'll happen after that?

"Thanks..." Zanya looked away from Kuguru, and looked at the rest of the members of the group one by one. He started
to get up, saying, "I think I should get back soon."

"You sure you're okay?" Baku questioned if he was ready to go back. "I mean, we're totally cool with it if you want to!"

The group was looking at him with anticipation, thinking in their heads, 'Just answer already!' All of them looked like
they could eat a horse.

“I'm fine now,” Zanya insisted. He then turned to the clock. Noon. "Is it lunch time right now?”

Right after he said that, Gao's stomach started growling. "Um, yeah. Baku stole my lunch this morning so I have to go to
the cafeteria." Now, if that isn't true friendship, I don't know what is!

"Then we should all go together," Kiri suggested. The group members all looked at each other in agreement, and walked
out of the infirmary and to the cafeteria to hang out with the other kids. You know, like Noboru, who's kinda become
an honorary member of Balle du Soleil. Except he moved all the way to America (Home sweet home!), so he's definitely not
the one that they're gonna talk to. They went up to Paruko though, who was rehearsing her lines as an audition for the
middle school division's broadcasting club. Good luck, girl! She's such an angel! She came over to my school last year as
a commentator for a day, and she's so very talented! Anyway.

Paruko was so excited upon seeing Gao visit the school. She wasn't able to go to Gao's party because she was out of town,
and she definitely missed him more than she thought she would. "Oh my gosh! It's so nice to see you here!" she exclaimed,
as she went right in front of him.

Tetsuya also went over to Paruko and Gao, situating himself in between them. "Yeah, he just wanted to pass by and say hi
and all, yo! Which class are you in?"

"I'm in Class A this year!" she smiled. She looked over to Gao and saw his face of pure agony, so she took out a package
of bread she bought at the cafeteria just before they came over and handed it over to him. "Here you go!"

Gao took it and immediately opened up the package to eat the bread. "Thanks, Paruko! You're the best!" If one looked over
at the snack line, they would turn their eyes to an entire concert crowd there. So, surely, Gao would be very thankful for
Paruko's bread in these crucial times!

Paruko walked over to Kuguru, where they started talking energetically about their favorite romance novels they read
recently. Meanwhile, Tetsuya was talking to Zanya about next week's special events. "Hey, Zanya! Did you hear that there's
going to be an epic dance battle at the plaza after school?" He said so in an energetic voice, like always. After all,
Tetsuya was always the type of guy to raise everyone's spirits, even when it wasn't considered necessary.

"Uh, no, not at all," was all that Zanya could respond with. Outside of Buddyfight, Zanya had zero clue about whatever
Tetsuya was talking about.

However, Gao was happy for Tetsuya's excitement, so they were talking about it amongst themselves, leaving Zanya lonely.
Kuguru decided to reel him into her conversation about novels. "So, Zanya, do you read any books?"

Of course he does! Although he does strike me more as a calligraphy kind of guy. "Uh, yeah!" he nervously said. She's about
to ask him his favorite book, isn't she?

Except, she didn't. "Do you read any of Violet Shiromiya's books?" she suddenly asked.

I know who Violet Shiromiya is (She's one of the hottest novelists in the world of schoolgirls in Japan! Since like, 2010!),
but Zanya obviously doesn't know! Nevertheless, he responded with, "Y-Yes!" Like, dude! What are you doing? He reads the
oldest books ever, I swear! Zanya's the last person I'd think of when I think of romance novel fans, even if I include Gao!
In the brief moment of silence, he tried to remember anything he saw related to whoever this Violet Shiromiya person was. Then,
he remembered that Akatsuki brought home this weird romance novel that Hana probably recommended to him last week. Yes! That
must have been a book by Violet Shiromiya! "Um... I've started..." He paused for a moment to remember the name of the book.
"The Sun Will Rise On My Love?" Awesome! ...Wait, what was that?

Kuguru burst out laughing. "That's not Violet Shiromiya's book!" Hit right on the nail. The Sun Will Rise on My Love is by
Miki Takagami, the budding author who just so happens to be a close friend of mine! Nothing close to anything written by Violet
Shiromiya. That book is her new high school romance novel that she forced me to beta read before sending out the manuscript. I'm
thankful for it now because it became so successful, specifically with middle grade readers, but I remember having to stay up for
so long because I had to do homework and... Anyway.

His face became red because of the embarrassment. "I-Is that so?"

"Yeah," Kuguru nodded. She paused for a moment. Not wanting to embarrass him further, she switched the focus of the conversation
from Violet to Miki. "But, hey, Miki Takagami isn't a bad author... and that's actually Paruko's favorite book right now! In
fact, I never thought that you would even read these types of books in general."

"Sure I do," he lied, thinking that he could perhaps read it for real after school. He wrote a mental note to himself to
ask Akatsuki for the book while walking home.

So on the way to catch the train to the station, Zanya asked him, "Hey, Akatsuki, you know that book you got from Hana? Could
you give it to me?"

Akatsuki thought about it for a moment, but then realized that he gave it back already, so he couldn't give him the book even if
he wanted to. He apologized. "Sorry! I finished it yesterday, so I gave it back to her." He looked up at Zanya, waiting for a
reaction.

Zanya stood there to think of a solution, and there was only one choice. He'd have to buy the book himself after all. So, he
suddenly started running out of the station, leaving his brother very confused. "Uh... what was that all about?" he asked himself.
He started to follow him, but soon lost him again.

Back to Zanya, he was running to the bookstore. He was thinking something like, 'I can't lie about something like this, so I'll
just have to buy it for real!'

He finally arrived at the bookstore, and because of the popularity of The Sun Will Rise on My Love, it was displayed near the
front of the store, and easy to spot. The large font on the cover would catch anyone's eye after all. He reached over and grabbed
the book, and desperately wanted to get out of there as soon as possible so he could catch the next train, but he turned around to
see Kuguru, who was reaching for the book Lovers of Two Worlds sitting right next to the pile of copies of The Sun Will Rise On My
Love. The sudden sight of her filled him with worry, but Kuguru only looked at him with an unsurprised look on her face and said,
"So... you haven't started it?"

It was about time he owned up to his wrongdoings and admitted he lied. "Right."

She sighed, then turned around and walked to a bookshelf. Zanya followed behind her, hesitant to say anything else. She kneeled
down and picked one out, titled My Dear Maiden, the title written all in katakana. She stood back up and handed it to him, saying,
"I think this one kind of suits you."

Zanya looked at the cover of the book, portraying two college-aged students at a summer festival. He read the summary of the
story on the back.



        One day, two lovers in a past time had drifted apart, unable to resist the fate that was awaiting them. After several
        millennia, in another life, they unknowingly meet again. Will they fall deeply in love again as a trick of the gods?
        Or are their struggles fate's tests?



He wanted to comment on how cheesy it was, but perhaps Kuguru was onto something. He wanted to believe that he would like the
book. So, they walked to the front counter to pay for their respective books, and went out of the store. They stopped for a
moment before continuing anywhere, and Kuguru thought of an idea.

"Would you like me to treat you to a snack?" Kuguru asked. "I know a good place."

He was surprised at her sudden offer, but he agreed. "S-Sure thing."

They were about to walk off, it seemed that Akatsuki finally found Zanya after a good 20 or so minutes. "Hi, lovebirds!" he
remarked jokingly. "So, this was where you were. I was looking all over for you, big brother!"

Beside him was that best friend I mentioned earlier, Hana, who was laughing. "I didn't know that you were hanging out with Kuguru!"
she exclaimed. "Akatsuki, didn't you say he'd never hang out with girls? You owe me!"

Akatsuki gulped and gave in, hesitantly placing the chocolate he bought for himself earlier onto Hana's palm. He pouted,
"I thought you were joking when you suggested that!"

Suddenly, Zanya walked over to his brother and laid his palms on his shoulders. He apologized, "I'm sorry for leaving you like
that, Akatsuki."

Akatsuki shrugged, and then his eyes shined as he looked at Kuguru. He asked, "Anyway, is that snack offer still available?"
Stress on 'snack.'

Kuguru giggled at how excited he was. "Well, of course!"

The four started to walk towards the cafe. Kuguru then started to question why Hana was hanging out with Akatsuki in the first
place. "Hey, Hana, so why are you with Akatsuki today?"

"Well..." Hana started. "I was walking to Castle with Gao, but Akatsuki stopped us 'cause he needed to find his brother. So I..."
Her words faded out in the distance.