By Your Side - A Challengeshipping story

Chapter 5~ A long way to go

I'm not sure if I've said this before, but there isn't just POV's for Shark and Kite- I will eventually go into No one's POV, or maybe other characters- just a heads up! Ok, hope you enjoy this chapter!

[Shark's POV]

Kite isn't exactly in my good book, so it should be alright for me to annoy him, right? Why not piss him off until he can't take it anymore, breaks down, submits to me, and finally realize that he is no better than anyone else, that a broken, lonely person like myself can top him. That way, his cockiness isn't that much of a bother. He will always be a monster, and nothing that will happen would change that!

We both walk through the double gates and follow the signs to a small office, where we are given a timetable. There are quite a lot of activities, even some today. Apparently we have duelling knowledge, followed by a quick-fire round, followed by... what is creoconecting?

I didn't realize I said that out loud until I get an aggressive response from the jerk next to me. "Are you that thick-headed and dumb?! Creoconecting is an alternate word for trying to break a DDS or, if you're stupid enough not to know, the Dueling Defense System. They want our duelling skill to see if we can break their defence. Guess that's why your nickname is so alike to you, you're all bite and no brains, snapping at everything with no thought or tactics, your dumb and way too predictable."

"I know what the DDS is, don't think I'm brainless!" I snap back but hold back from throwing another insult back. Let him have his win, we'll see who has the last laugh! Right now, I'm looking at the map and seeing where we're supposed to be. Duelling knowledge was supposed to be on the 14th floor. Guess we should go there first.

My initial plan for Kite's demise was to beat him at everything, from duelling knowledge to physical building. But it seems his plan is to spew insults at me until I break. It's not going to be as easy as he thinks though. Every cut that had ever been laid on me, from the accident of my sister to the abandonment of my parents, had grown tougher skin back, almost impenetrable to anything. He can hit me with all he's got, but I'm not some fly. I'm Shark! 

We got to the center in uncomfortable silence, the elevator's escalation slow and painfully awkward, not a word exchanged between us. You could practically cut the tension in the air with a knife. While Kite faced the closed elevator doors, I silently studied him, dressed in his usual attire, not a sliver of skin seen except his face and hands. Not even his neck is visible! And this is supposed to be a "wear casual clothes" meeting! Why were the same clothes you wear everyday? I noticed him playing with the end of his cape. Was he nervous by chance?

I'm not jumping to conclusions. He should be incapable of feeling emotions like nervousness or worry, he's still heartless!

The room was pretty cold, sensor lights flickering on from our entrance into the room, displaying a huge screen. I felt a twinge of awe and excitement with using this seemingly brand-new equipment. It smelt slightly new too. Kite however, being the takes-everything-for-granted type of person he is, walked in and sat on one of the chairs. There were 2 desks, both with an equally large screen in contrast to the one in between them. It almost looked like an arcade, the scores for each of us displayed on the screen between us while we compete. In case there is a competition, I better not lose!

"Hurry up and sit down instead of gaping like a fish!" I turned to face Kite, a smug face smiling back at me. My lungs shriveled in disgust, my heart drumming faster, but I tried to keep my mouth shut. I must not let him get to me. I perched myself on the edge of the chair, a keyboard springing out in front of me, trying not to sneak another glance at Kite, which was surprisingly hard to do. I also tried not to gasp when I saw the keyboard was a solid hologram, made from light and air, but is 100% solid, making it an almost portable keyboard. Maybe I should get one of these when I win the Duel Carnival?