Nurses and Card Games? An Unexpected Combination (For LARIATO)

Casual Wear:

Today was a good day for Kazuma, he didn't have any matches schedule for the day and today was new card day at the manga/card store that he frequented since he moved to Tension Heights. One of the few things that Kazuma did before he before he became a wrestler to go out was to go to the local card store and enjoy whatever new sets or trial decks for whatever card game happened to be released on that day and he still kept doing so even after going. Today's featured game was one that he was a major fan of; Cardfight Vanguard.

Vanguard was a game that was easy to pick up and play, free of the broken messes of games like Yugioh OTK strategies or the high attack or defense advantages that its Body monsters provided. The game was also always being universally refined with each new mechanic released to ensure that no single mechanic or card type was entirely prevalent. Plus, with all of the various clans in the game, there were all kinds of creative ways to play. The game had gone under quite a few changes as a result but to Kazuma OG and G series Vanguard were still worth playing.

Before he could go to the store though, he first had to stop by the arena. The reason being that he kept two of his decks stored in his locker in the event that something happened to his place and he ended up losing the cards he had there as a result. It didn't take him too long to pick the deck that he wanted to grab, his good Kagero deck; the deck that he always used to take down the enemy's units and break their formations.

"Now then, just what kind of changes can I expect to see?" Kazuma said imagining what kind of changes this new set would have. Would there be a new unit archetype? Would there be a new ace unit that would rival the great Dragonic Overlord? Would there be a new clan? These questions and more filled Kazuma's mind and more......unfortunately they also distracted him from his surroundings and he ended up bumping into a woman, making her drop some papers that she was carrying as well as dropping his own deck case.

"Oh, I am so sorry. Here, let me help you pick this up." Kazuma kneeled down and started to pick up the various papers, making sure to be careful with keeping them in order and catching a glimpse at the beautiful woman that he had bumped into as he did so.

For Rizu Umeda, today was just another day at the office.

As of late the Tension nurse had been keeping a relatively low profile regarding a certain side hobby of hers involving mostly unsuspecting members of the roster. Today not many wrestlers had come to have any checkups or injury evaluations, so much of her time had been devoted to simple paperwork in the office.

It was a monotonous task, filling in various pieces of unlisted information on wrestlers’ files, inputting the data on her computer, rinse and repeat. But Rizu didn’t mind it all that much. It was at least easy work, and the nurse was experienced enough that she had established a good rhythm of it, so that on days like today she could often finish her work right on time for the end of her shift.

Rizu had just wrapped up for the day, and was carrying some updated patient files to the GM’s office before she left. But when rounding a corner, she unexpectedly bumped right into a young man coming from the opposite direction, and the papers she’d been carrying scattered all over the floor around them.

“Oh, it’s alright. Accidents happen,” the nurse replied with a friendly smile, then set about picking up some papers that had scattered away from the ones the boy was gathering.

Rizu:

While cleaning up the mess, however, Rizu noticed the deck case that had been dropped. Curiosity getting the best of her, she picked it up to take a look. It had partially opened in the fall, and a glance in revealed trading cards of some kind. Even more interested now, she used a finger to carefully draw one card out so she could look at the back of it.

“Cardfight Vanguard? Hmm, I’ve heard of this game, but I don’t think I’ve played it before.”

Kazuma blushed as he looked at the woman he had bumped into. She was wearing a white dress shirt and a black business skirt, indicating she was still on the clock. He could tell that she took good care of herself at least based on her figure.  She appeared to be a true Yamato Nadeshiko with her azure blue eyes and straight, raven black hair that she had tied in a long black, braided ponytail in front of her.

Kazuma rapidly shook his head and quickly picked up the remaining papers. "Once again I'm sorry about that. I got distracted thinking about something and I got distracted. Here you go." Kazuma apologized once more and began to hand the papers back to the woman he had bumped into. She seemed like a gentle woman and apparently had taken a bit of an interest in his deck based on the semi-opened top of the case that was in her hands. "I'm Kazuma and that right there, is my Vanguard deck. Haven't I seen you before in the medical wing? Do you work there?" Kazuma introduced himself while asking her if she worked as part of the medical staff.

Rizu couldn’t help but giggle lightly at the boy’s comment. He was clearly flustered, enough so that he told her about his being distracted twice in the same sentence. She wasn’t sure how much of his flustered state was because of the sight of her or how much was to be attributed to whatever had been on his mind, but it was cute either way.

“It’s quite alright, really. Mistakes happen… Ah, thank you,” she said as he handed her the last of the papers she had dropped. When he mentioned the deck she was holding, Rizu handed it back over to Kazuma. “Oh? My apologies. I wasn’t going to take it from you. I was only curious. I play several card games myself, but this is one I haven’t tried yet.”

When asked about her work here, Rizu smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m a nurse for the Tension brand. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, offering a polite bow in official greeting. “I don’t believe I’ve treated you yet, but if you’ve ever stopped by the Tension medical wing after a match, or for your physical when you first signed, there’s a good chance you’ve seen me.”

Kazuma was indeed a bit flustered after bumping into this beauty but hearing her say she also played card games certainly increased that. It wasn't unusual to have a hobby or two that took the edge off at the end of the day, but this now newly identified nurse being a card player like him was something he wouldn't have figured, just goes to show how wide and different everyone that works in AFW is from their appearance. "You really haven't played Vanguard? It's pretty easy to pick up and play and way less of a mess than certain other card games." Kazuma took his deck back from the nurse and pulled it out from his deck case to give her a brief glimpse of what the game was about.

"You start off with this unit here, a Grade Zero unit" Kazuma showed the nurse a card of a Lizardman type creature dressed in armor before continuing his explanation "and gradually go up one Grade until you reach Grade 3, while at the same time attacking your opponent each turn. First to deal 6 damage to the opponent wins. You aren't limited to the amount of cards you can play although your hand is a lot more important in this game than in most others. You should give it a try Miss......I just realized I don't know your name yet, sorry." Kazuma blushed as he put the card back in his deck and it's case.

It took a small effort not to giggle when the boy began to explain the game to her. He clearly had a passion for this, and it was cute to see him express it. And truth be told, he was making the nurse more interested in trying the game out for herself. She listened intently while he spoke, wrapping her head around the concept.

“Rizu Umeda,” she replied with a polite bow, introducing herself when he asked her name. “And I assume you’re a wrestler for Tension, correct?” She’d probably seen a file with his picture and name on it by now, but it was easier to commit the newer recruits to memory once she had had a chance to meet or treat them.

“As it happens, I’ve been wanting to explore a new game or two. This one does sound interesting, so I may just have to take your advice and give it a try. And since you seem to know a lot about it, perhaps you could teach me, ne?” she said, smiling sweetly to the boy.

"It's nice to meet you Rizu-san and yes I am a wrestler for Tension!" Kazuma eagerly replied to the now named beauty of a nurse before him. Normally he'd make a fool of himself before such a woman and while he probably was still making a fool of himself getting this excited speaking with her and explaining the game to her, Rizu appeared to find something cute about his enthusiasm.

Kazuma's excitement only increased as Rizu then said that she was looking to try out a new game and even asked him if he would be willing to teach her how to play with the most sweet and bewitching smile he had ever seen. "YES! I'd be glad to teach you how to play! I usually hang out at this card shop in the nearby town called XYZ once a week so whenever you have some free time feel free to meet up with me there.....I'm not kidding they actually named the store XYZ like the YuGiOh mechanic. Anyway I can show you some of the different clans Vanguard has and we can even build you a deck there once we find you one that you want to try. I got to go now, I hope I see you there soon Rizu-san!" Kazuma said his goodbye to the kind, beautiful nurse then rushed off, looking forward to the next time he'd see Rizu.

“Wonderful!” she replied when Kazuma agreed to teach her the game sometime. Then she listened to him talk about the card shop, and giggled once again. The name of the store was humorous enough on its own for those like Rizu and Kazuma, who were familiar with Yu-gi-oh. But equally humorous to the nurse was the fact that she already knew about the place, because it was where she often went to purchase cards for the games she played.

Unfortunately they had no more time to discuss any of it further, as Kazuma seemed to be in a hurry. “I’m sure you will. Goodbye, Kazuma-san. It was a pleasure to meet you,” Rizu said, once more nodding her head in a polite bow to the young man before he hurried off. Turning to go her own way, the nurse continued to think about that little exchange, and a subtle grin tugged at the corners of her lips. Certain thoughts were starting to come into her head, and not all of them had to do with learning a new card game.

Rizu made a mental note to stop by XYZ on her next day off.

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

"I attack your Vanguard with Dragonic Overlord!" Kazuma yelled as he delivered the final attack and secured his fifth win of the day in card shop XYZ. It had been several days since he last saw and met the beautiful nurse, Rizu Umeda and ever since he'd been hoping to run into her again. Sure he had seen her around the arena a few times, given that it was her job to maintain the health of all the Talent and stage crew there she was always been with things like checkups, bandaging injured wrestlers, with some rare few needing stitches, and doing the monotonous data entry that needed to be done to ensure that records were kept up to date.

It had occurred to Kazuma to visit Rizu but it probably wouldn't be very professional of him if he were to interrupt or distract her while she was doing her job and it probably wouldn't exactly score him any points if he were to intentionally hurt himself just to have her treat him. Being a nurse meant having different responsibilities and said responsibilities must've taken up a lot of her time unlike Kazuma who, being a wrestler, had a very flexible schedule whenever he wasn't working out, researching an opponent, and then fighting said opponent in a match. Having thought of all that, it was no wonder Rizu took up card games as a hobby.

"Rizu-san~, Where are you?" Kazuma wined a bit as he was wondering where Rizu was. He had really been looking forward to when the two of them could sit down and he could show her how to play. Who wouldn't want to have some one on one time with a beauty like her as they played a simple game and chatted? Kazuma was about to call it an early day when the door chime to XYZ opened, and when he saw who was there he couldn't help but say one of the most overly used greetings ever. "HELLOOOOOOOOO NURSE!"

A rather uneventful day had come and gone. Very few wrestlers had needed injuries looked at, and there had been no scheduled routine checkups either. There had been little need to come in at all other than to deal with a minimal amount of paperwork and confirm a handful of future appointments. When it was all said and done and Rizu was ready to leave, it was significantly earlier than usual for her. Now seemed as good a time as any to go down to the card shop and see if anything caught her interest.

That thought reminded her of her encounter with a cute young man she bumped into several days ago. “Kazuma,” she believed his name was? He was quite enthusiastic about Cardfight Vanguard, and had even offered to teach her how to play if she recalled. It had piqued her interest enough to look into it a bit. Perhaps she could use her extra time today to try getting started with it.

Having made up her mind, the nurse left her office and made her way to XYZ. She pushed the door open, prompting the chime she’d heard enough times now that it was just background noise she barely registered. She certainly did, however, register the excited greeting that caught her by surprise. Once she saw and recognized Kazuma, Rizu giggled and waved to the young man.

“Hello, Kazuma. It’s good to see you again.”