Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Run faster or we’ll miss dad’s duel!”.

“Not my fault you’re a heavy sleeper”.

“I blame it on Yugo!”.

“Hey, what do I have to do with Yuya’s sleeping habits?!”.

Four kids were running through the streets. The first had purple hair with tinges of pink. The second had blue and yellow hair. The third had purple and black hair. And the fourth had red and green hair.

While all of them had very different hair and eye color, they all shared the same face.

“Because it’s always your fault”.

“That’s absolutely not true!”.

“Hey, are they…”.

As they were running, they saw four girls that were in their same situation. The first had pink hair. The second had purple hair. The third had green hair. And the fourth had corvine hair.

Just like the four boys, the girls all shared the same face despite their different eyes and hair.

“Hey! Here!”.

Four pair of eyes turned to them.

“Eh?! You’re running too?”.

“Yup. Yuya took forever to wake up and mom is at work”.

“At least he woke up. Dad is probably still sleeping like a rock”.

“Hey, Rin! Race for who makes it first?”.

“Whenever you want, Yugo!”.

“Please, don’t! We all know you’ll only end up getting lost!”.

It was a striking sight. Eight colorful kids running on a street. All the people who’d see them were either weirded out or chuckled at the funny scene.

Finally, the eight managed to reach the stadium. Once they entered the arena, the duel was already underway but it seems they arrived at the right moment.

An elegant man in a top hat was at the center of the arena with a jolly smile plastered all over his face.

“It’s Showtime! Entermate Revue Dancer can count as two tributes when I summon a Level 7 or higher Entermate monster. Now come and amaze us, Entermate Sky Magician!”.

And with it, the duelist’s trademark monster appeared on the field. The eight kids’ eyes sparkled in amazement at his moves. At one point, his eyes fell on them. The man smiled warmly at the children before he returned to the duel.

“The fun has just begun!”.

The crowd cheered loudly. The kids couldn’t avert their eyes from the duel, like they were hypnotized. The red and green haired one in particular was the most taken.

“One day, I’ll become as amazing as dad”.

Chapter Text

At the gates of a Japanese-styled castle, there was a tall young man in a white jacket, ready to make his move. By his side, there were two mechanical looking samurais.

“It’s time for Superheavy Samurai Blue Brawler and Swordsman to go their own way. I now Tribute Summon the strongest warrior of my deck. Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei!”.

As he summoned his monster, the person pointed up.

“Now, Yuya! Come down and face me like a man!”.

A laugh could be heard from above. A figure was standing at the top of the gates but as soon as he was called, he jumped down right before his opponent.

“Ladies, gentlemen…and Gongenzaka! It’s time for the show to start! I activate the Spell Hippo Carnival from my hand!”.

Three colorful hippos dressed in provocative outfits appeared on the field. Gongenzaka wasn’t impressed.

“Is that all you can do Yuya? I’m disappointed!”.

“Patience dear friend. I’m sure you’re aware of why I have summoned these tokens on the field”.

Up above, in a cabin, there was a girl overseeing the duel. She suddenly got angry when she saw what Yuya was doing.

“Geez, Yuya. Can’t you take things more seriously?”.

Someone then put a hand on her shoulder.

“Calm down, Yuzu. You know Yuya’s style. He likes to mess around”.

Yuzu sighed exasperated.

“I know Yuto. But I just wish he’d be more serious during his duels. And besides, there’s something in that card I just don’t like”.

Yuto gave a small amused smile and returned to watch the duel. Suddenly, he thought he saw a distortion in the program.

“Hmm?”.

Back to the duel, Yuya raised one of his cards up.

“And with this card here, I’m going to summon the star of the show! After all, the fun has ju-”.

All of a sudden, the field started glitching and the simulation shut down.

Yuzu’s father Shuzo suddenly entered the room.

“Hey, what happened?”.

Yuzu raised her hands.

“I didn’t do anything”.

Yuto sighed.

“The simulation shut down. Hey, Yuya. The duel is cancelled”.

Yuya put up a disappointed face.

“Whaaa? But I was just getting started”.

Yuya was in now in the overseeing room with Yuzu waiting, as his brother and friend worked on the ARC System.

“Well? Something that can be done?”.

Yugo shook his head dejected.

“No can do. This thing is fried. We’ll have to change system altogether”.

Rin scratched her head as she too stopped working.

“Geez, this thing is old like the stone age. I’m surprised it lasted this long”.

At that information, Shuzo starting crying rivers of tears.

“My hot-blooded coaching is over! Without the ARC System our school is done for!”.

That made the four sweat-drop at him. Rin put her hands on her hips.

“Man up, dad! You can’t be crying right now. We’ll do something about this”.

Yuzu put a hand on her head.

“You say that but it’s not like we can afford a new system”.

The four teens stayed silent before they all sighed dejected. They moved to the main hall where the rest of their respective siblings were waiting. Those being Yuya and Yugo’s brothers Yuto and Yuri, and Yuzu and Rin’s sisters Ruri and Serena.

“Were you able to fix it?” asked Ruri.

They all shook their head in disappointment causing Ruri to sigh. Yuri instead huffed out a sarcastic laugh.

“Well, we’re screwed”.

“You can at least pretend you’re worried” jabbed Serena. Yuto agreed with her.

“She’s right. The ARC System is the very core of Action Duels. And this school specializes in it”.

Shuzo once again acted dramatically.

“Exactly! Without the system my hot-blooded coaching can’t be taught! And a school that can’t teach is useless! I knew I should have opened a cooking school!”.

‘It’s not like it was doing well in the first place…’ was the collective and depressive thought of the eight teens present in the room.

Yuya’s eyes turned to a poster on the wall which represented his father.

“Are you thinking about your father again?”.

Gongenzaka arrived next to him. Yuya smiled at him.

“Hmm? I didn’t know you were still here. Nah, I’m fine. Just reminiscing”.

By his gaze, Gongenzaka knew that was most likely a lie.

“Your style of dueling is too carefree Yuya. That boy who was watching didn’t laugh one second of the duel”.

“Oh, come on. I’m sure I managed to steal a laugh from him”.

His friend sighed.

“Yuya, there’s a pretty big difference between laughing with you and laughing at you. Maybe you can be serious when you want but how can you expect people to enjoy your duels if you goof around most of the time. Your father… He was able to amaze the public with his duels. The laughs weren’t mocking but of genuine enjoyment. I’m sure you more than anyone know that”.

Yuya looked down. His desire to become like his father… It was still present in his heart but… At this point…

“Anyway, without the ARC System, there’s not much we can do”.

“Sorry for the intrusion but I couldn’t help but hear you have a problem”.

Suddenly, all eyes blinked as a tall man in a bright suit seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Everyone jumped in surprise.

“W-Who the heck are you?!” asked Yugo.

The man did a twirl and introduced himself.

“My name is Nico Smiley. I’m the manager of the current Action Duel Champion Strong ‘The Sledgehammer’ Ishijima”.

Everyone tensed up even more. Strong Ishijima has always been a sore spot for most of the people there.

Especially for Yuya.

Yuzu glanced at him worried before looking at Nico.

“And the reason you’re here is because…?”.

Nico sat down on a chair.

“As I’m sure most of you are aware, Strong’s fan appreciation day is a week from now and he decided to host an exhibition duel between him and another person. And so I thought, what better opponent than Yuya Sakaki, one of the sons of Yusho Sakaki himself?”.

The tension grew by the second. Yuya’s brothers looked at him in worry.

Three years ago, their father Yusho was supposed to face Strong in a duel. Yuya in particular was itching to see his dad in action. But Yusho never arrived. No matter how much they’d wait, their father didn’t show up.

Strong declared him a coward and the public agreed with him. Furious, Yuya gripped the railings and screamed that his father would come before challenging Strong himself. It took both his mother and Yuto’s efforts to bring him away. The poor guy cried for days. Out of everyone, Yuya was the closest to his father.

And now he could be facing the same person that slandered his dad’s name.

“You can see it as revenge for that fiasco of three years ago. Imagine. The son of Yusho Sakaki challenged the champion to clear his father’s good name. People will be all over it”.

Yugo outright glared at him.

“Why you-”.

Before he could slug the manager, both Rin and Yuri held him back and shook their head.

“Absolutely not!”.

Their eyes turned to Shuzo, who wore a serious expression. Nico was confused but not startled.

“And why not? It can be Yuya’s big occasion to fight Strong. Yusho’s fans will love it. And it can also be good publicity for your school”.

“Yuya and his brothers have suffered enough because of Yusho’s disappearance. I won’t allow you to make him an even bigger fool of himself and humiliate him”.

Nico waved his hands.

“I assure you that’s not our intention at all. Of course, should Yuya participate, LDS would be willing to sell you the newest ARC System to thank you for your cooperation. Absolutely for free with no strings attached”.

“M-My answer is still no”.

Truth to be told, Shuzo was about to accept right there but the prospect of incurring into his daughters’ wrath, who he was sure were sending death glares at him, prevented him from speaking out of line.

Gongenzaka stepped in.

“Regardless, the final decision is up to Yuya. Whenever he wishes to fight or not, it’s his decision and his alone”.

“Sorry to say this but our little Houdini has already left”.

Everyone blinked at Yuri’s statement and looked at where Yuya was, finding nothing and no one there. Serena pouted.

“He did it again! How the heck is he able to vanish without a trace all the time?”.

Yuzu’s worries didn’t ease up. But she had an idea of where he was.

Sitting on a bridge railing and staring at the sky was Yuya.

“What should I do? Suddenly, a chance to battle Strong Ishijima has appeared and yet I…”.

Yuya removed his pendulum and stared at it.

“What should I do dad?”.

“I knew I’d find you here”.

Yuya turned his eyes to the left and saw Yuzu approaching him smiling.

“Hey, Yuzu. Let me guess. Yuri was once again the only one who noticed my disappearance”.

Yuzu chuckled.

“Yeah. I swear it’s like he watches over everything”.

“Yuri is like that. You know him”.

Yuya returned staring at the sky. Yuzu sat beside him.

“Hey, Yuya. Will you fight Ishijima?”.

He stayed silent before raising his pendulum again.

“My father once told me that life is like a pendulum. If it swings one way, then it will eventually swing to the other. That life will eventually go my way”.

Yuzu stared at him in acknowledgement.

“You know… I think the one thing we must never lose is our spirit”.

Yuya turned to her.

“Our siblings are amazing. When we first started dueling seriously, they were clearly above us. Yuto and Ruri could Xyz Summon… Yugo and Rin could Synchro Summon… And Yuri and Serena could Fusion Summon. But that doesn’t mean we’re lower than them”.

“I know. When I was younger I couldn’t help but compare myself to them. Yuto is mature, Yuri is smart and Yugo is confident. What am I then? I couldn’t answer myself. But I also learnt that comparing myself to my brothers is useless”.

Yuya looked up at the sun.

“I want to be my own person. Not someone molded by my wish to be like my brothers. I want to be…someone else entirely”.

Yuzu smiled at him.

“So do I. I want to be like my sisters. But at the same time I want to be different from them”.

After some moments of silence, Yuzu put her head on Yuya’s shoulder, much to his amusement (and delight).

He knew what he had to do.

Chapter Text

“The day is finally here, everyone! The reigning Action Duel Champion Strong Ishijima will face Yuya Sakaki, the son of Yusho Sakaki!”.

Yuzu looked around her as the crowd cheered. In the end, Yuya decided to face Strong in a duel. She’d be lying in saying she wasn’t worried but she also knows that she must have faith in him.

“Hey, Yuzu!”.

She turned back and saw Shuzo and Gongenzaka running to her.

“Is it true? Did Yuya really accept to duel Ishijima?”.

She nodded. Soon enough, Yugo and Rin arrived.

“Are we late?”.

“Not at all, the duel has yet to start. Where are the others though?”.

Rin pointed behind her.

“Somewhere in the stands. Though we have no idea where”.

Yuzu turned back to the arena. Strong really gave off an intimidating aura. His face seemed to be locked in a perpetual frown. Nico instead was the picture of excitement.

“Now I activate the Action Field, Castle of Chaos. The duelists will face each other into this field created by the ARC System”.

The field changed into a forest with a giant castle standing high and proud. Fittingly, Strong was at the top of it.

“Finally, after all those years I will claim the rightful title as Action Duel Champion that coward of Yusho refused me”.

“And now everyone, I present to you the challenger. The one and only Yuya Sakaki!”.

Despite his announcement, no one arrived much to Nico’s confusion and Strong’s disappointment.

“So the son is as much of a coward as the father. Tch, what a waste of time”.

“I wouldn’t be so sure dear sir”.

Strong widened his eyes and turned around, seeing Yuya grinning at him. He didn’t even notice him arriving. The younger man mockingly bowed at him.

“I do apologize for my slight lateness. I had a minor hiccup on the way”.

“So you’re Yuya Sakaki. Your father may have escaped my hand but you won’t be as lucky”.

Yuya chuckled, seemingly amused.

“And who’s running? I will face you fair and square. Now show me the might of a champion”.

He activated his Duel Disk and drew five cards. Strong did the same.

“Show you? Know your place, you impudent brat”.

“It seems sparks are already flying between those two. Well then, if both parties are ready, let’s begin!”.

“Action…”.

“DUEL!!!”.

Both Yugo and Rin cheered loudly for Yuya.

“Go for it bro!”.

“Beat him to a pulp!”.

Yuzu put her hands together.

“Be careful Yuya”.

Seated somewhere were Yuto and Ruri both taking a close eye on the duel.

“Do you think he can win?”.

“I have faith in my brother. I know he can”.

Yuri and Serena were witnessing from a vantage point as well. Serena put her hands around her mouth.

“Go for it Yuya! If you lose I’ll kick your ass myself!”.

Yuri chuckled and put a hand under his chin.

“Well then, little brother. It’s time to show how much you’ve grown”.

Strong pointed at Yuya.

“I’ll let you take the first turn. Consider it your only mercy from me”.

“Oh, do thank you good sir. In that case…”.

Yuya run after Strong and rode the zip-line, escaping from the castle.

“I hope you enjoyed my escape trick. Now, let’s give a warm welcome to Entermate Hip Hippo!”.

Yuya let go and found himself riding the pink hippo he just summoned right as he started running through the forest.

“I set a card face-down and end my turn”.

The crowd seemed really disappointed by this. Strong gripped his fist furious.

“You’re already running away?!”.

“Maybe I am. Or maybe I’m just taking my time. If I piss you off so much why don’t you crush me like the bug you think I am?”.

Strong gritted his teeth but reined his anger in. He was obviously taunting him. Perhaps that face-down was more dangerous than he thought.

In the stands, Yuzu started to grip the railings. It’s certainly not like this Yuya will win the duel.

“What is he doing? Why is he running away?” said Rin.

“Yuya will never win by avoiding him” replied Gongenzaka. Yugo put a hand on his chest.

“I know my brother. He might be running away but I know that he must have a plan”.

“And you’re right dear”.

They turned back and saw a young-looking woman walking towards them. Yugo smiled brightly at her.

“Hey, mom. You’re a bit late”.

“Sorry, Yugo. Got a bit held in the traffic”.

“Hey, Yoko, do you know what Yuya is doing?” asked Shuzo.

The woman looked at the field.

“As all of you know, Yuya’s dream has always been to be like his father. But with his disappearance, he's been always held back by doubts. And now that he has the chance to prove himself, he’s doing whatever he can to achieve it, no matter how people might think of him”.

Yugo and Rin looked at the screens, seeing Yuya with a smile plastered all over his face.

“A dream, huh…”.

The green-haired girl looked at Yugo before putting a hand on his shoulder. The blue-haired boy turned his head towards her. She gave a small smile, which prompted one of his own.

Yeah… One day, they too will achieve their dream.

Strong narrowed his eyes.

“You won’t be able to run forever. My turn. I draw!” he glanced at his card “I activate Feast of the Wild LV5! This allows me to summon two Level 5 Warrior-type monsters from my hand. Come, Lava Battleguard and Swamp Battleguard!”.

The two ogres appeared in the air and soon plummeted down the castle.

“The monsters summoned have their effects negated and can’t attack during this turn but it doesn’t matter as I tribute them both to summon the monster that will destroy you!”.

The ogres disappeared mid-air. The earth started trembling as Strong’s monster made its appearance.

“No castle can resist you. No forest can hide you. Come, Battleguard King!”.

The ogre was enormous. Yuya felt like an ant simply by staring at it.

“Geez, that thing consumed way too much protein”.

“Joke all you want, but now Battleguard King attacks your Hip Hippo! Wild King Assault!”.

Yuya grabbed a card that was resting on a tree.

“I activate the Action Spell Evasion! Your attack is negated!”.

Hip Hippo jumped away from Battleguard King’s attack.

“Good at using Action Cards like your father. But it’s not a problem because Battleguard King can attack twice per turn should I have used only Battleguard monsters to summon him”.

“Seriously?! This is bad”.

Ruri put her hands together.

“Come on, Yuya. You can do it”.

Yuto stayed silent but agreed with her nonetheless. As Battleguard King attacked once again, Yuya gritted his teeth.

“I activate the Trap Card Last Minute Cancel! All monsters in Attack position that are under attack are switched to Defense position. So I suffer no damage!”.

Hip Hippo jumped and threw Yuya away as he was crushed by Battleguard King’s club. The boy did a flip and ended up on his feet once again.

“Plus, if an Entermate is destroyed, instead of going to the graveyard, it returns to my hand”.

Strong clicked his tongue.

“So you managed to save yourself. But no matter, I’ll finish you next turn. I set one card face-down and end my turn”.

Yuzu breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yuya managed to save himself. But how long will he be able to resist?”.

Rin nudged her with her shoulder.

“Come on, sis. Give him some credit. It’s not easy to stand toe-to-toe with someone like the Sledgehammer”.

“Yes, I know but I can’t help but worry”.

Yugo looked at her and grinned.

“Lighten up Yuzu. We should be cheering for him, not worrying. Yuya would want us to smile instead of moping, don’t you think? You’re doing great Yuya!”.

Yuzu breathed out before she smiled. Yugo was right. She should be rooting for him instead of worrying. She put her hands around her mouth.

“Go for it Yuya! I believe in you!”.

In another part of the stadium, Serena looked genuinely surprised by Yuya’s move.

“I thought for sure he’d use Miracle instead of that Trap”.

“But Yuya did good in not using it. Miracle might save a monster from destruction but it still inflicts a damage even if halved. And with Ishijima as an opponent, whose fighting style is really aggressive, Yuya can’t afford too much damage” replied Yuri.

Serena crossed her arms.

“But now his field is empty. What will he do now?”.

Yuri waved his finger.

“Serena, did you forget Hip Hippo’s effect?”.

She tilted her head before she remembered.

“You’re right! I completely forgot about it”.

Yuri turned his eyes towards Yuya.

“It’s time Yuya. Show us what you’re really made of”.

‘Ishijima is certainly a fearsome opponent. I’d have preferred keeping Last Minute Cancel for a later time’.

“It’s my turn. I draw!”.

Yuya grinned as he saw what card he drew. It’s time to bet everything on this.

“Ladies and gentlemen!”.

Everyone suddenly started listening.

“It’s time to truly get this show on the road! First of all, after a short break, Entermate Hip Hippo is ready to take the stage once again!”.

His monster reappeared with a twirl. Strong wasn’t impressed at all.

“What? Do you want to run away again?”.

“Not this time, dear sir. I activate Hip Hippo’s effect! If I Normal Summoned him in this turn, then I can immediately tribute him to summon a Level 7 or higher monster from my hand!”.

Hip Hippo disappeared in particles of light and Yuya raised his hand up.

“Appear before us, rare dragon with dual-colored eyes, Odd-Eyes Dragon!”.

Yuya’s dragon appeared with a roar. The teen smiled brightly and jumped on Odd-Eyes’s back.

“The fun has just begun!”.

The crowd cheered for Yuya while Shuzo pumped his fist.

“That’s Yusho’s catchphrase!”.

Yoko smiled and even Yugo’s grin became even wider.

“You’re doing great Yuya. You can do it”.

Strong wasn’t intimidated one bit though.

“Now using your cowardly father’s phrase?”.

“My father is not a coward!”.

The sheer intensity in Yuya’s tone took Strong off-guard.

“If he’d faced you, he would have surely won. And that’s what I’m going to do, using all the moves that my father taught me”.

“You speak big but your dragon only has 2500 Attack points. They are not enough to defeat Battleguard King”.

Yuya’s grin was back in place.

“Maybe not now but wait until I play this Spell. Wonder Balloons!”.

A box suddenly appeared. Yuya didn’t waste time and directed Odd-Eyes in the forest, grabbing three Action Cards and discarding them every time. Nico himself was surprised by this.

“Woah, it seems Yuya truly has a knack for finding Action Cards! There’s not one card that is safe from him!”.

After that, three balloons appeared from inside the box and flew towards Battleguard King.

“You see, for every card I send from my hand to the graveyard, this one gains a Balloon Counter. And when I destroy this card, for every counter it has, your monster loses 1000 Attack points. Something that I intend to do right now!”.

Yuya sent Wonder Balloons to the graveyard and suddenly, with a snap of his fingers, the balloons around Battleguard King popped, trapping the monster in many colorful balloons and reducing his Attack at 0. For the first time since the duel started, Strong was shocked by the development. Then he realized Yuya’s actions into escaping to the forest wasn’t cowardice.

“I see now. You can only carry one Action Card in the hand. You weren’t running away; you were searching for cards!”.

“Took you long enough to realize!”.

The crowd was pleasantly surprised by this and cheered loudly. Yuya looked around him and once again smiled at hearing the people rooting for him. He closed his eyes and let the sensation wash over him.

‘So this is how father felt during his duels. It’s amazing’.

Yuya opened his eyes, ready to make his move.

“Odd-Eyes Dragon, attack Battleguard King! And to let you know, when Odd-Eyes destroys a monster, you also receive a damage equal to half of the destroyed monster’s Attack”.

Strong gasped and though it over.

“Battleguard King’s attack is 3000. If I receive a damage of 1500 after a battle damage of 2500…”.

Strong widened his eyes, realizing that he’d get a 4000 damage.

“The total damage would be catastrophic!”.

Yuya grinned and pointed at Battleguard King.

“Go for it, Odd-Eyes! Spiral Flame!”.

Odd-Eyes breathed his fire breath towards Battleguard King. The attack hit and the field was enveloped in smoke.

Yugo pumped his fist.

“He did it! He won!”.

Yuzu and Rin held each other’s hands happily. Yuto and Ruri too were happy for Yuya.

“I knew he could do it!”.

Yuri watched pleased as Serena stood from her seat happily. It seems his brother did learn a thing or two. After a second though, Yuri’s smile disappeared as he took a better look at the field.

“What?”.

Serena looked at him confused before she looked at the field herself. And promptly gasped.

“No…”.

Yuya watched as Odd-Eyes destroyed Battleguard King. Finally… He defeated Strong Ishijima and cleared his father’s name.

His relief though was short-lived. As the smoke cleared, Yuya’s happy expression washed away like rain.

Battleguard King was still on the field.

All of his siblings and friends watched in shock at seeing that monster. Yuya was perhaps the most shocked.

“What? How is this possible?”.

He frantically looked up towards Strong, who had an agitated smirk.

“I activated the Action Spell Miracle, which protects a monster from destruction and halves all battle damage. I was keeping it close in case something like this happened”.

Yuya’s expression soon turned into astonishment. His tactic…failed.

“And now I activate my Trap Card, Battleguard Rage! When I receive battle damage, I can choose one Warrior monster on my field and raise its attack by 1000!”.

Battleguard King destroyed his bindings and roared much to Yuya’s dismay.

“I…end my turn”.

As he ended his turn, Battleguard King regained all the Attack points he lost. Now he had 4000 Attack.

“Now it’s my turn. I draw!” Strong pointed at him and smirked “It’s time to show you how a real professional duels. Battleguard King! Attack Odd-Eyes!”.

The ogre swiftly slammed his club on the ground, destroying Odd-Eyes and throwing Yuya away, who fell on the ground unceremoniously.

“Battleguard King can attack twice per turn. Direct attack!”.

Yuya’s eyes immediately darted right and saw an Action Card on the bush. He swiftly grabbed it and played it.

“I activate the Action Spell Miracle! One monster can’t be destroyed and all battle damage is halved!”.

“HAH! You have no monsters on the field. Who are you targeting?”.

“Battleguard King!”.

Strong’s smirk disappeared.

“What?”.

The monster slammed his club down, damaging Yuya even more, though not fatally, and flinging him away once again.

Yuzu, Rin and Yugo watched in fear as he was thrown away. The latter even gripped the railings.

“Yuya!” they all screamed.

Both Yuri and Serena stood up from their seats at seeing their brother and friend being flung away so harshly.

“Yuya, please be fine…” hoped the purple-haired girl.

Yuto too stood on his seat while Ruri covered her mouth.

Thankfully, they both saw him managing to stand on his knees, even if a bit shakily. Yuto sat down as Ruri sighed in relief.

“Thank god he’s okay…”.

“Yeah. Miracle halves all battle damage involving the selected monster. Since he had none on his field, he used it on Battleguard King”.

Yuya breathed a sigh of relief. That card was a literal miracle.

“Hmph. I commend you for your quick thinking”.

Looking up, he saw Strong on his monster’s hand, looking down on him.

“Because of Battleguard Rage, all monsters destroyed by my own return to the hand instead of the graveyard” he then activated another card “But it’s better for me because I activate Battleguard Magic. When a monster is returned to the hand, I gain half of its Attack as Life Points”.

Strong’s Life Points were now full again. Yuya instead was down to 500.

“I set a card face-down and end my turn. You may have gained a turn but this duel is over for you. Now stand up if you dare”.

Yuya looked up with a pathetic expression as he was back to square one, perhaps even lower. He looked down at his cards.

All of his brothers and friends were watching in apprehension. Yoko herself seemed to lose her composure and gripped her hands together.

‘Please, don’t give up, Yuya’.

Yuya looked at his hand. He only had monsters, and most were high-level. His arms slumped down.

‘It’s useless… How could I have ever hoped to be like dad? I’m just a fool…’.

Yuya’s head hanged down.

‘Dad… What would you tell me if you were still here?’.

…

…

He would tell him that if he wanted to cry, he instead should smile. He would tell him that he should never give up, not even when the situation was desperate. He would tell him that life will eventually swing his way. Just like a pendulum.

Yuya grabbed his pendant.

“You are right dad. I can’t give up. Not when I’ve come this far”.

Yuya finally stood on his legs.

“My family and friends are watching me. And they all want me to win. I can’t let them down”.

He let go of his pendant.

“Alright, pendulum. You swung his way. Now it’s time to swing my way”.

He put his hand on his deck. Like magic, his pendulum indeed started to swing left and right.

“Yes. Even more. It’s time to swing our way…to victory! I draw!”.

As he drew his card, a bright light enveloped his cards, much to his confusion.

“What?”.

The light was so bright that it reached his opponent. Strong shielded his eyes.

“What’s going on?!”.

The light reached even the people on the crowd. Yuzu then noticed that her cards too were glowing.

“Huh?”.

As the light was dying down, Yuya stared as his cards changed. Turning into something else. Something…different.

“Use them… I know you can…”.

He stared confused before his gaze turned more determined. He showed two of the cards he had in hand.

“With my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, I set the Pendulum Scale!”.

Yuya set his monsters on his Duel Disk and the word ‘PENDULUM’ appeared on it. The two magicians appeared high in the sky, with the number 1 and 8 below them, much to everyone’s confusion.

A giant ethereal pendulum appeared between the magicians swinging around.

“I can now summon monsters from Level 2 to Level 7 all at the same time! Swing, Pendulum of the Soul, and draw the arc of victory across the sky! Pendulum Summon! Come forth my faithful monsters!”.

A portal appeared in the sky and two lights emerged from it. Two monsters then appeared on the field.

“Entermate Whip Snake! And Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”.

Along the purple snake, Odd-Eyes reappeared once again. But this time he looked different.

Yuzu stared with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“Odd-Eyes…evolved?”.

Yugo stared slack-jawed as well until he noticed his own deck glowing.

“What the…?”.

He brought out the card that was emitting the glow. It was his trusty Clear Wing Synchro Dragon.

And he wasn’t the only one who had a glowing card in his deck. Yuto’s Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and Yuri’s Starving Venom Fusion Dragon were emitting some sort of light as well.

It was like…they were reacting to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.

While all the people there were absolutely gob-smacked by whatever move Yuya pulled, Strong was clearly the most shocked.

“What? How…How did he manage to summon two monsters at the same time? And a Level 7 at that?!”.

An image of Nico appeared on his disk, looking as perplexed as him.

“I don’t know but if he was cheating, the system would have signaled an error and the judges would have intervened”.

“You mean to say this move is legal?!”.

Yuya’s eyes still held a strong flame. One that wasn’t about to disappear any time soon.

“I activate Whip Snake’s effect! Once per turn, my monster switches the Attack and Defense points of a monster on the field. I target Battleguard King!”.

As the purple snake activated his effect, the giant ogre let down Strong and kneeled down as his Attack was drastically reduced to 1100, much to Strong’s chagrin.

“Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack and destroy Battleguard King!”.

Strong whipped his head forward.

“I activate the Trap Card Battleguard Howling!” The card flipped up, reveling itself “If a Warrior-type monster I control is targeted by an attack, I can return the attacking monster to the hand and inflict a damage equal to its Attack!”.

Yuya raised his hand at Timagazer Magician.

“I activate Timegazer Magician’s Pendulum effect! Once per turn, if a Pendulum monster is affected by a Trap Card, I can negate the activation of the card and set it face-down once again”.

The magician did his trick and Strong’s card flipped down. Gritting his teeth in alarm, Strong reached for an Action Card.

“I activate the Action Spell Evasion! Your attack is negated!”.

Yuya’s answer was to point at his other magician.

“I activate Stargazer Magician’s Pendulum effect! If a Spell Card is activated, my magician can negate its activation and set it face-down, blocking it from being used for the rest of the turn!”.

Once again, the card was blocked. Strong realized that he couldn’t do anything to stop the attack as Odd-Eyes’s flaming breath hit Battleguard King.

“You may destroy my monster, but I’ll still have enough Life Points at the end of the battle to resist your other monster”.

“Afraid not. When Odd-Eyes battles a monster, the battle damage is doubled. Reaction Force!”.

“Doubled you say?!”.

The intensity of the attack increased and Battleguard King was destroyed while Strong was sent back by the explosion, but still managed to stand on his knee. Yuya grabbed Whip Snake’s tail.

“And now Whip Snake can attack you directly. Battleguard Howling can be activated only when one of your monsters is targeted so it can’t protect you from direct attacks!”.

Yuya threw his monster at Strong, who then head-butted him on the chest, making him fall on the ground once again, depleting all of his remaining Life Points.

A giant holographic screen appeared, signaling Yuya as the winner of the duel. As the adrenaline left his body, the young man was staring wide-eyed at what he did.

‘I…I won?’.

Everyone stood in silence at what transpired. Even Yuya’s brothers stayed silent. Yuzu and Rin blinked their eyes stunned.

“Hey, Rin?”.

“Yeah?”.

“Did Yuya just win?”.

“Yeah, he did”.

Gongenzaka gaped before he started smiling.

“He won. Yuya won!”.

Yugo threw his arms up in joy.

“YUYAAAA! YOU DID IIIIIIT!!!!”.

And just like that, the entire stadium exploded of cheers for the young duelist. Yuto stared at his brother proudly. Ruri clasped her hands together with a big smile on her face. Yuri nodded with the same level of pride his brother felt and clapped. Serena stood up and pumped her fist up in the sky.

In all this, Yuya could still scarcely believe what was happening.

“I did it… I really did it”.

“You did!”.

He turned left, seeing his mother smiling proudly at him.

“You won! You defeated Ishijima for your father!”.

Yuzu smiled brightly at him, while Rin and Yugo both gave him a thumbs-up with a grin. Yuya’s mouth slowly turned into a wide smile.

“I did it! I won!”.

He raised his arm up which prompted even more cheering from the crowd.

Strong managed to stand up a bit, noticing how happy Yuya looked. He then simply let out a small grunt.

‘Hmph. I really underestimated him. Good game Yuya Sakaki’.

Nico skipped excitedly towards Yuya with his smile seeming even wider than normal.

“You won, Yuya. But now that everything is over, how do you feel?”.

“I feel…good. Somehow, I feel closer to my father. That I finally proved that his teachings weren’t lies. If that makes any sense”.

“I see, I see. Since we’re there, how about you describe to us your new method of summoning?”.

Yuya then laughed a bit awkwardly…

“Well… That’s… Huh…”.

…since he literally had no idea how he pulled that summon off.

Chapter Text

“Sir, we found the information you were looking for”.

Reiji adjusted his glasses as his right-hand man Nakajima showed an image of Yuya Sakaki on a screen.

The previous day, an incredibly powerful wave of energy had been detected. Now, this normally wouldn’t be a cause of alarm. Bursts of energy like these have been happening for years in the city. What caused them were particularly strong uses of extra deck summoning, such as Xyz, Fusion and Synchro.

What made this different was that the energy detected was from neither of the three. But rather from a completely different summoning method named Pendulum. One that Reiji has never heard of before.

And the cause was a young duelist named Yuya Sakaki. The person who defeated Strong Ishijima.

“Yuya Sakaki is 14-years old and is currently in the Junior Arc League. He attends Maiami Second Middle School. An average school you can find anywhere”.

“And his track record?”.

“It’s above average and enough to enter the championship but there’s not much else that catches the eye”.

In summary, he wouldn’t have anything too out of the ordinary. If not for a couple of certain facts.

Namely that he attends You Show Duel School.

Reiji put his hands together.

“You Show Duel School… Right. The school founded by Yusho Sakaki. Yuya is his son if I’m correct”.

“Indeed. He actually has three brothers though according to the records, they are all adopted except for Yuya himself. Though there is a certain…anomaly”.

Reiji raised a brow.

“That being?”.

“While it has been confirmed that his brothers are adopted and are not Yusho’s biological sons, they seem to be indeed brothers by blood”.

Reiji didn’t find it that strange.

“So the mother had another lover. It’s unusual but I don’t think it’s worth noting”.

Despite his words, he could tell that Nakajima was frowning behind his glasses.

“Actually, neither Yusho nor his wife have records of having more than one partner. Besides, all brothers are the same age. It would be very improbable for such a coincidence to happen”.

Reiji furrowed his brows. Did he heard what Nakajima said correctly?

“Continue”.

Nakajima changed the image of the screen, which now showed the four brothers.

“The brothers’ names are Yuto, Yugo and Yuri Sakaki. All of them are Yuya’s blood brothers. But they share no biological relation with their parents. On paper, they are indeed adopted but the truth is much different as they seem to share the same genes, effectively making them biological brothers”.

Reiji stared at the four brothers. The resemblance between each other was uncanny. By simply seeing those pictures, you’d immediately tell they’re related. And yet none of them seemed to share the same parents.

“So they are adopted yet they are biological siblings. What does this mean?”.

“I’m not sure if it’s somehow connected but the same situation happened to another family”.

Reiji straightened his back as Nakajima showed other pictures, this time of four girls. All of which had a striking resemblance to each other.

“Those are Yuzu, Ruri, Rin and Serena Hiiragi. Like the Sakaki brothers, three of them have been adopted yet they all share the same genes and are effectively sisters by blood”.

“And the parents?”.

“Only Yuzu has an actual biological connection to their parents and once again, there aren’t any records of multiple weddings. The mother unfortunately died five years ago. According to the records, the Sakakis and the Hiiragis have been close friends for years”.

“What about the adopted siblings’ families?”.

“They were all orphans and there are no records of any family name before the adoption so we can’t ascend to their families. It seems even their lives before can’t be traced, except for few unimportant details or dead ends”.

Reiji now felt truly confused, which in itself was an extreme rarity.

The Sakaki brothers and the Hiiragi sisters. What secret do these eight figures hide?

Looking at them once again, Reiji felt a strange feeling. Like some kind of mental tug. He put a hand over his head. Perhaps he’s just tired.

“Please keep an eye on them. We need as much information about Pendulum Summon as possible”.

Reiji suddenly thought of something.

“You said Yuya attends Maiami Second Middle School, correct? One of our students attends that institute. Contact him immediately”.

“Right away sir”.

Reiji leaned back on his chair. Things have never been simple in his life. But he didn’t expect something like this to happen.

He took a second look at the eight teens. For reasons he himself can’t understand, their resemblance to each other unnerved him.

“Wait, backtrack. You have no idea how you pulled that summon off?”.

“And suddenly you and Yuzu found out most of the monsters in your deck turned into Pendulum monsters?”.

“Pretty much”.

The day after his victory over Ishijima, Yuya, Yuzu and their respective siblings were at their school. Apparently, Yuya didn’t remember well how he was able to Pendulum Summon.

Yuya looked at his deck.

“I’m…not sure what I did. It was like I knew exactly what I was supposed to do. Like someone was guiding me. And suddenly my cards turned into Pendulum monsters”.

Yuzu looked at her deck as well.

“And this morning, I noticed that my cards suddenly turned into Pendulum cards as well…”.

Everyone looked thoughtful. A brand new summoning method and the creator doesn’t even know how he managed to do it.

Yuri then entered the room.

“Alright then, those brats left”.

Serena raised a brow at him.

“What did you tell them to make them go away?”.

“That if they wanted to join, they were free to do so. But since the system was still getting incorporated, which we all know isn’t true but alas, there won’t be any exhibition duel. They all left groaning”.

Yuto put a hand on his face. Go figure. Only people who wanted to see the mysterious Pendulum Summon.

Yugo looked at Yuya, who still had his head down.

“What are you thinking, bro?”.

Yuya was debating with himself if he should tell them what he was thinking. But then he apparently decided to.

“I remember…a voice. Telling me to use those cards”.

They all turned to him. Ruri put a hand on her chin while Yuto crossed his arms.

“Now that I think about it… I do remember hearing something…”.

“So do I. But… I’m not sure”.

The others too admitted to hearing something but other than that they were stumped. They stayed like that for a bit until Yuya got up and smiled.

“Well, no use thinking about it now. Anyway, you know what this means, right Yuzu?”.

She turned to him, tilting her head.

“What?”.

He grabbed her hands and pulled her up from where she was sitting.

“We now have our own summoning method! We’re no more the black sheep of the family”.

Yuzu started laughing at Yuya’s statement. Leave it to him in making her laugh in those kind of situations. She mimicked his smile.

“Yeah, I guess so”.

Their siblings stood back and watched them with amusement clear on their faces.

“Well, what are you two going to do now?” asked Yuri.

They turned to them.

“First thing first, I think we should understand how to pull off a Pendulum Summon. So I’d say a training duel is in order. Let’s go Yuzu!”.

Yuya grabbed his friend’s hand and pulled her with him.

“H-Hey, don’t pull! I have legs too you know?”.

As the two entered the field, Yugo and Yuri went up to activate the ARC System. Beside them was a brooding Shuzo, looking down as if a raining cloud was above him.

“Did you really have to send them all away?” he asked the purple-haired teen.

“They wouldn’t have joined anyway. They were just interested in seeing the Pendulum Summon. And besides we spared Yuya and Yuzu from making fools of themselves”.

“We heard that, jackass!” they both shouted.

Yuri chuckled amused. Unknown to him though, one kid did remain at the school. He ‘stealthy’ entered the room and watched as Yuya and Yuzu prepared for their duel. The kid could barely contain his excitement.

“Hey, what are you doing here?!”.

He stumbled after hearing that. He turned around seeing a slim red-haired girl and much chubbier boy staring at him, with the former looking pissed. The kid waved his hands.

“No wait, I don’t have any bad intentions I promise”.

“I don’t trust you. I bet you’re just here to spy on our friends”.

“I-I promise it’s not like that!”.

Hearing the commotion, Ruri and Serena approached them.

“What’s going on here?” asked the black-haired girl.

The chubby boy pointed at the other kid.

“We found him sneaking here suspiciously”.

Serena squinted her eyes at the kid, before she recognized him.

“Hey, aren’t you the guy who came here last week?”.

The kid nodded and bowed respectfully.

“Ah, yes, that’s me. My name is Tatsuya. I was interested in Yuya’s dueling so I came here. I…hope it’s not a problem”.

Ruri smiled serenely at him.

“Not at all. Yuya and Yuzu are about to duel, though it’s only training so I’m afraid it won’t be that exciting”.

Tatsuya shook his head.

“It’s okay. I’m not here to ogle, I was genuinely amazed by Yuya’s dueling”.

Serena crossed her arms with a smile.

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to know that he had that effect on someone. Ayu, I think you owe him an apology”.

Ayu pouted at her but she knew better than to try arguing with Serena. She then looked at Tatsuya.

“Sorry for accusing you Tatsuya. My name’s Ayu”.

“I’m Futoshi. Nice to meet you”.

“Pleasure’s mine”.

Ruri and Serena shared a look with each other, both smiling quietly.

If what they’re thinking is right, the school is about to get livelier. Gongenzaka entered the room.

“Hey, I saw many kids leaving the school. Did something happen?”.

“Oh, I’ll tell you while Yuya and Yuzu are dueling” replied Ruri. Gongenzaka went beside the two sisters and crossed his arms.

“Hmm? What for?”.

“Apparently they aren’t exactly sure how to perform a Pendulum Summon. So they are trying to find out how”.

“I see. I, the man Gongenzaka, hope they will find their answers in this duel”.

Back in the chamber above, Yugo was just done with the program.

“Wow. It’s clear it’s made from LDS. The previous system could very well be prehistoric compared to this. Alright you two, everything’s ready!”.

Yuya and Yuzu shot him a thumbs-up. Shuzo recovered from his brooding and got excited.

“Alright then! If everything’s fine then, it’s time to put this to work! I choose the Action Field Plain Plain!”.

As he pushed the button, the field turned into a large plain. At the center was an arena where both Yuya and Yuzu were standing on.

“Ready for our show, Yuya?”.

“As ever. Let’s crack this Pendulum Summon open!”.

“Action…”.

“DUEL!!!”.

Both drew five cards and scanned them. Yuto called out to the two.

“Take your time, both of you. Remember, this duel is mainly to understand how Pendulum Summon works and just how much your decks have changed”.

Yuya waved a hand at him.

“We’re aware, Yuto. But…really, I checked my cards earlier and most were completely different from before”.

“You’re telling me. And have you noticed that Pendulum cards have a second effect?”.

“Yeah. It probably can be activated only when they are in the Pendulum Zone. Huh… Alright then. Let’s see if I can do it. I set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 4 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician”.

The two monsters flew up in the sky with the numbers 4 and 8 appearing under them.

“Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my faithful monsters!”.

Yuya tried summoning Entermate Hip Hippo, Sword Fish and Whip Snake…

…but nothing happened, except for an ‘ERROR’ message on his disk. There was a beat of silence before everyone understood that something went wrong.

“…Aaaaand nothing’s happened!” yelled Serena.

“Yeah, I can see that, thank you very much! Huuuh… I have no idea what I did wrong. Do you Yuzu?”.

She shrugged and looked up at the monsters.

“Hmmm… Maybe it’s because you put a monster on your right side with a higher Level than the one on your left side?”.

Yuya looked down at his cards.

“You think? But Stargazer is of a higher Level than Timegazer and nothing went wrong against Ishijima. Well… huh… I…guess I’m Normal Summoning Entermate Hip Hippo”.

Unlike before, the summoning was successful this time and the pink hippo appeared on the field waving at Yuya, who reciprocated.

“Hey, buddy”.

Yuzu couldn’t help a small smile. After Yuya ended his turn, Yuzu drew a card. She checked her cards, trying to understand what she was supposed to do. Maybe…

“Alright, let’s try this. I set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 4 Mozarta, the Melodious Maestra and Scale 9 Score, the Melodious Diva”.

Yuzu’s two monsters appeared on the sky, much like Yuya’s. Yugo put a hand on his chin as he watched.

“Alright… So far, so good”.

Yuzu tried summoning Aria and Sonata.

“Pendulum Summon! Come, my faithful monsters!”.

And this time…once again an ‘ERROR’ appeared and nothing happened. Yuzu groaned as she flushed a bit from her failed attempt.

“Geez. I thought it’d work”.

Yuya tilted his head, secretly thankful he wasn’t the only one having problems.

“Just to wonder, what was your plan?”.

“I thought I could only summon monsters that are in-between the Levels of the two monsters in the Pendulum Zone”.

Yuya deadpanned at her.

“Yuzu. Odd-Eyes is of a higher Level than both Stargazer and Timegazer and I managed to summon him without trouble before. And if that was the case I should have been able to summon Whip Snake when I tried”.

Yuzu’s blush increased as she forgot that detail.

“W-Well, I don’t see you making any progress, Yuya!”.

“Hey, I was just pointing it out to you!”.

The two kept glaring at each other until Yuzu gained a wicked smile, worrying Yuya.

“I summon Aria, the Melodious Diva!”.

The girl in red and orange appeared just as Yuzu pointed at Hip Hippo.

“Aria, destroy Hip Hippo!”.

Yuya stumbled shocked as he immediately scrambled to grab an Action Card before Aria could destroy his monster.

“Action Spell Evasion! The attack is negated! Yuzu, that was a low blow!”.

Yuzu scoffed and turned her head high.

“This is still a duel. You should have seen that one coming”.

“Are you serious? You just wanted to be petty!”.

“And you shouldn’t be a smartass then!”.

“Hey, break it up you two, you’re acting like children!” shouted an annoyed Rin. Beside her, Yuto placed two fingers on his forehead, obviously exasperated by how the two acted.

Yuya and Yuzu both flinched at that. Rin huffed as she put her hands on her hips.

“Honestly, even your monsters are embarrassed” she said as she pointed up. Yuya and Yuzu followed her finger.

And true enough, Timegazer and Mozarta were shaking their heads disapprovingly while Score was chuckling at them. Odd-Eyes didn’t seem like he was reacting, but a keen watcher could tell he was as embarrassed by the two as the others. Both duelists immediately flushed red and looked down in shame.

That did bring out some amused chuckles from the viewers, though that only made the two even more embarrassed.

“L-Let’s just get on with it, okay?”.

“O-Okay then. I draw. Huh…”.

Yuya looked at his cards. He drew Entermate Fire Mufflerlion. But at this point he was stumped.

‘I don’t understand. What are we doing wrong? Maybe…I only need two specific type of monsters to Pendulum Summon? I mean, Stargazer and Timegazer are both Magicians and it worked just fine with them; maybe that’s the problem?’.

Yuya looked up at Odd-Eyes and Timegazer.

‘No, I don’t think that’s the reason. The system would have probably blocked me from setting the Pendulum Scale altogether. But…then…what?’.

Serena watched as Yuya seemed to contemplate his next course of action when a thought occurred to her.

“Hey, I’ve been wondering for a while but what are these Scales you mentioned before?”.

Yuya looked back at her.

“Ah, from what I can tell the Scales are these numbers above the red and blue arrows…”.

He walked towards the window where Serena, Ruri and Gongenzaka were watching. He showed them Odd-Eyes and pointed at the Scales.

“Here, right there. These are Scales. I’m not exactly sure what they mean though”.

Ruri put a finger on her mouth as she watched with a thoughtful expression.

“But if they are there, they must mean something, right?”.

“Hmm…”.

Yuya looked at his card before he placed it back and walked towards the arena.

‘A meaning huh? But…what meaning could these Scales have? They’re obviously not Levels so… Hold on… Levels?’.

Yuya slowed down before stopping completely, confusing everyone. Yuya scanned his cards once again.

Odd-Eyes and Timegazer are of Scale 4 and Scale 8.

Sword Fish, Hip Hippo and Whip Snake are of Level 2, 3 and 4.

Back in the duel with Strong, he managed to summon Whip Snake and Odd-Eyes with Stargazer and Timegazer.

Now, with Odd-Eyes and Timegazer, he couldn’t summon any of the three monsters he had in hand.

Yuya closed his eyes and placed his fingers on his forehead, assuming a thoughtful pose.

What exactly was different from then?

He tried to summon three monsters instead of two. And back then he also summoned a Level 7. But that couldn’t be. Is there anything else that is different?

Well, he has Odd-Eyes in the Pendulum Zone instead of Stargazer…who is…of Scale…1…

Yuya widened his eyes and quickly checked his field. Right now his Pendulum Scale is 4 through 8 and he couldn’t summon any of his monsters.

…And if he changed the Scale itself?

Yuya’s face lit up in realization.

“I got it… I got it!”.

Yuya took off in a sprint and jumped right into his side of the arena. Yuzu blinked confused at him, a bit taken aback by how his behavior changed.

“You figured out what you’re supposed to do?”.

He looked excitedly at her.

“Yes! I see now! The Scales are the key!”.

Yuzu raised a brow and looked at her cards.

“The Scales?”.

“It’s better if I show you! For now, I must activate one of Odd-Eyes’s Pendulum effects. I can destroy this card and add a Pendulum monster with 1500 Attack or lower from my deck to my hand. Sorry, my friend”.

Odd-Eyes calmly nodded at Yuya before disappearing. Then the duelist drew a card from his deck, that being Stargazer Magician.

“Alright! Now I reset the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician!”.

The magician dressed in white appeared in the dragon’s place.

“Now I can summon monsters from Level 2 to Level 7 all at the same time! Swing, Pendulum of the Soul and draw the arc of victory across the sky! Pendulum Summon!”.

Unlike before, a portal appeared between the magicians, making everyone straighten their backs.

“Entermate Sword Fish! Entermate Whip Snake! And Entermate Fire Mufflerlion!”.

This time, much to everyone’s shock, the monsters did appear on the field. Yuya grinned, glad to see he was right.

“Alright! Knew you could do it, bro!” shouted an enthusiastic Yugo. Yuri was sporting a smile himself. Shuzo instead was happily repeating ‘Hot-blooded’ over and over.

Below them, the three children were amazed at seeing what transpired.

“So that’s the Pendulum Summon. It’s amazing” said Ayu. Futoshi wiggled on the spot.

“I’m getting shivers all over me!”.

Tatsuya simply watched with a bright smile on his face. Behind them, Serena and Ruri smiled as well.

“That’s our Yuya. He finally managed to bust out a Pendulum Summon” said Serena.

Gongenzaka instead cried comically large tears, much to the two sisters’ slight chagrin.

“You did it, Yuya! I, the man Gongenzaka, couldn’t be more proud of you!”.

Rin and Yuto opted to stay silent, simply grinning at the result. Yuzu covered her mouth before smiling proudly.

“You did it, Yuya! You Pendulum Summoned!”.

“I did! The Scales were the secret all along”.

Yuzu pointed at the small numbers on her Pendulum cards.

“These arrows right?”.

“Yes. When we set a Pendulum Scale, we can only summon monsters whose Level is in-between the Scales. The reason we couldn’t summon any…”.

Realization suddenly dawned on Yuzu.

“…was because they were too low Level! Their Levels were out of the Scales”.

“Exactly! By changing the Scale from 4 through 8 to 1 through 8, I could summon my monsters since their Levels are now in-between the Scales”.

Yuzu looked at her own Pendulum Scale.

“Now I see why I failed. I tried to summon a Level 3 and a Level 4 monster, but my Scale only allows me to summon monsters of Level 5 through 8”.

Yuya nodded his head, still grinning.

“Yep! And that’s how Pendulum Summon works! And now…”.

His grin suddenly turned wilder, much to Yuzu’s dread.

“Whip Snake now attacks Aria! By Sword Fish’s effect, when he’s summoned on the field, your monsters lose 600 Attack and Defense points!”.

Sword Fish created six copies of himself, which soon tackled Aria and reduced her attack. Whip Snake then flung himself at the singer, taking Yuzu by surprise. Luckily, she wasn’t unprepared.

“I activate Score’s Pendulum effect! Once per turn, one Melodious monster I control can’t be destroyed in battle!”.

Whip Snake head-butted Aria, who visibly recoiled but didn’t get destroyed. The damage wasn’t that high but the girl glared at him nonetheless.

“That was a real dick move you know that?!”.

Yuya put his arms behind his head and turned away with a dismissing expression on his face.

“Now we’re even! And it’s like you said. This is still a duel, you should have seen it coming”.

Yuzu grumbled something before she suddenly gained an angry smirk.

“Is that so? Then you won’t mind if I take my turn now, right?”.

Yuya grinned and extended a hand towards her.

“By all means. Surprise me!”.

Keeping her smirk, Yuzu drew a card.

“I activate Mozarta’s Pendulum effect. I can return her to my hand as long as I switch her with a Pendulum monster with a lower Scale than her. Like the Scale 2 Elegy, the Melodious Diva!”.

Mozarta disappeared and in her place, Elegy appeared. Yuya stared at the change.

“So that card too became a Pendulum, huh?”.

“Exactly, and now prepare yourself because it’s time I Pendulum Summon myself. Swing, Pendulum of the Heart! Draw the sheet of our hymn across the sky! Pendulum Summon! Come, my faithful monsters!”.

Like with Yuya, a portal appeared above the sky and three lights descended from it.

“Sonata, the Melodious Diva! Canon, the Melodious Diva! And, of course, Mozarta, the Melodious Maestra!”.

Yuzu’s three monsters appeared on the field. Yuya grinned brightly at that.

“You did it, Yuzu! You managed to Pendulum Summon!”.

Her expression softened as she smiled at him.

“Yeah. I managed to just like you did. And now, if you don’t mind, I-”.

“Activate Whip Snake’s effect! During either player’s turn I can switch the Attack and Defense of a monster on the field. I choose Mozarta!”.

And just like that, Mozarta’s Attack was reduced to 2000. Yuzu puffed her cheeks and glared at Yuya.

“Yuya, you’re a pest!”.

“Like you're one to talk!”.

“You’re both pests if you ask me!” shouted Rin, making the two duelists stick their tongues at her.

Yuto hanged his head and huffed out a laugh at their childishness.

“You and Serena are a terrible influence on your sister you know”.

Rin raised her brows with a wide grin on her face.

“I can say the same for Yuri and Yugo to your brother”.

Yuto chuckled.

“Touché”.

Rin’s grin softened before she turned back to the duel.

“She’s just a bit pissed off; she’ll return to her usual self once the duel’s done. And besides, look at them. I don’t think I’ve seen them smiling so brightly in a while”.

True to her words, both Yuya and Yuzu were sporting giant, happy grins. It was clear they were both enjoying their duel with all their hearts. Yuto smiled softly at them.

“Yeah. You’re right”.

In a room inside a luxurious building, a boy was on his phone while throwing darts at a board with a photo of Yuya attached to it.

“So you want me to acquire Yuya Sakaki’s Pendulum cards?”.

“Correct. I won’t question your methods but be sure to obtain them. In exchange, I’ll give you all the rare cards you desire”.

With a malevolent grin, he threw another dart at the board, barely missing the photo.

“Of course. Consider them already in my hands” he said before closing the call and grabbing another dart.

“Yuya Sakaki, huh?”.

With a dark chuckle, he threw the dart, hitting the photo right on Yuya’s face.

Chapter Text

Yuya could barely keep his eyes open as the teacher droned on. Math was easily his most hated subject.

The previous day, he tried several combinations with his Pendulum cards. He found out a couple of facts about Pendulum monsters, like when destroyed they are sent to the Extra Deck instead of the graveyard. And while that has been a nice discovery, he was now almost on the verge of passing out. And his teacher had a talent in making things even more boring.

Yuya looked at his right and saw that while she was in a better state than him, Yuzu too was struggling to remain awake.

Maybe they got a little too carried away with their training.

Suddenly, Yuya felt his phone buzzing inside his pocket. Making sure no one was watching, he raised his book and brought out his phone.

BananaDriver: Heeeeey please say something funny, I’m dying of boredom over here.

PhantomEggplant: Yugo, we’re in class, stop messaging on your phone.

PhantomEggplant: …Yuri, I know it was you who changed my name.

CabbagePlant: Guilty as charged, Your Honor.

RadishDiva: Yuto is right. We shouldn’t message in class.

RadishDiva: YURI! Why am I the radish?!

CabbagePlant: That was Serena’s doing, not mine.

BlueberryCat: Traitor. Judas. Lucifer.

RadishDiva: I’ll get you back for this Serena, mark my words.

BlueberryCat: Come on, radish doesn’t suck that much.

Yuya couldn’t help a small chuckle at seeing just how chaotic they can get in mere seconds.

TomatoEntertainer: Thank you, I was about to fall asleep from the teacher’s droning.

AppleWitch: You shouldn’t stay up for so long then. Pendulum Summon can come after a proper night sleep.

TomatoEntertainer: Wow, I’d almost say you were my big sister from that.

AppleWitch: We all grew up together. I think I might as well be.

RadishDiva: You, Ruri and Yuto are basically the older siblings of all of us.

BananaDriver: I wish I had you as my sis instead of Yuri.

CabbagePlant: Wow, Fusion, you have a strange kink.

BananaDriver: YURI I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!

BananaDriver: And my name’s YUGO.

GrapeBird: Guys, please. Me and Rin got a test this week, we need to listen to this lecture.

GrapeBird: And congratulations Yuri, you officially broke her.

CabbagePlant: Geez, can’t someone take a joke?

PhantomEggplant: Yuri, we’re going to have a long talk after this.

PhantomEggplant: And change my name later, I feel like an idiot who spectacularly failed to sound cool.

RadishDiva: Mine too please.

TomatoEntertainer: Come on, our names are not that bad.

RadishDiva: Yuya, I’m named after RADISH!

BlueberryCat: CitrusDiva wouldn’t be right since citrus isn’t pink and that’d make you the odd one out.

RadishDiva: I know but geez. Isn’t there any other name you can come up with?

BlueberryCat: Look, I got two options that might fit you without going for colored vegetables or fruit.

BlueberryCat: So choose. RaspberryDiva or TurnipDiva.

RadishDiva: …Go with the first one.

AppleWitch: Alright, I’m back. And one, Yuri I’m going to strangle you.

AppleWitch: Two, Yugo I need your help for you-know-what. See you later at the usual spot.

BananaDriver: Alright, I’ll be there.

BlueberryCat: …Rin, this is calling it.

AppleWitch: We’re just searching for parts, nothing will happen.

BananaDriver: That’s right. Just searching for some motorcycle parts.

TomatoEntertainer: They grow up so fast…

GrapeBird: I’m so happy for you Rin.

PhantomEggplant: When’s the wedding?

AppleWitch: GUUUUH!!! You’re all insufferable!

AppleWitch: You too, Yuto?!

BananaDriver: Don’t worry, Rin, I got it.

BananaDriver: Did you and Ruri had fun the other day? I remember you were alone in your bedroom for quite a lot of time.

BlueberryCat: You two were WHAT?!

RadishDiva: My, how bold of you.

TomatoEntertainer: Way to go Yuto!

PhantomEggplant: YUGO FOR GOD’S SAKE YOU PROMISED YOU’D LET IT GO!

BananaDriver: Payback is a bitch isn’t it?

AppleWitch: Huh, guys. I think Ruri’s broken now.

GrapeBird: Don’t worry Rin, I’m fine.

GrapeBird: But nothing happened! We just played cards!

TomatoEntertainer: I certainly won’t come to Yuto if I’ll ever need advices about dates.

PhantomEggplant: THAT WAS NOT A DATE!

BlueberryCat: Are you seriously arguing about dating our sisters while we’re present?

BlueberryCat: Huh… Guys. Yuri’s smirking. And I don’t like it.

PhantomEggplant: Yuri. Really. Don’t. Or I’m going to reveal to everyone you-know-what.

CabbagePlant: You wouldn’t dare.

PhantomEggplant: Try me.

CabbagePlant: …

PhantomEggplant: That’s what I thought.

Yuya held a warm smile at seeing their group chat. Together they were basically a tempest. Sure, they might argue and tease every once in a while but they deeply cared about each other. They grew up together and Yuya wouldn’t trade any of them for anything.

Glancing at Yuzu, he could tell that she was thinking the same thing. The two looked at each other before they smiled.

“Mr. Sakaki. Miss Hiiragi”.

They suddenly felt a sense of dread passing over their necks as they slowly turned to see their teacher watching them sternly.

“Do you mind lowering your books and tell us what’s so interesting about your desks, please?”.

A quick nod at each other and they lowered their books. Revealing absolutely nothing there. The teacher blinked in surprise as the two awkwardly laughed.

“See, there’s absolutely nothing! We were simply a bit distracted that’s all”.

“Yeah, what he said! We probably should have gone to sleep earlier”.

The teacher adjusted his glasses with a raised brow before turning to his blackboard and resumed explaining.

Yuya and Yuzu looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

After classes, Yuya and Yuzu were leaving the school. Their siblings were off to do their own things. Yuto was most likely lecturing Yugo and Yuri, Rin and Serena were probably watching to get a few laughs in, and Ruri was off to the library. Only Yuya and Yuzu remained.

“You know… I should really thank you for teaching me that trick to make our phones disappear like that”.

“Just figured that if it’d happen we’d be ready”.

Yuya looked up the sky, staring at the clouds. Yuzu stopped and looked at him.

“Is everything okay?”.

“Yeah. It’s just… Everything me, you and all of our siblings went through. All of us acting dumb with each other. All the laughs, the cries, the shouts… I wouldn’t trade them for the world”.

Yuzu smiled tenderly at him.

“Neither do I. I consider all of you the most important people in my life. I’d never want to separate myself from any of you”.

Yuya stared at her with a smile of his own before approaching her.

“I’m glad. Let’s do everything in our power to not let anything come between us”.

Yuzu nodded, fully agreeing with him. As they left the school gates, they were approached by Tatsuya, Ayu and Futoshi.

“Big Bro Yuya and Big Sis Yuzu!”.

They waved at the kids.

“Hey there. How’s it going?”.

“Fine and dandy. Hey, can you show us the Pendulum Summon again?” asked Ayu.

Yuya chuckled.

“Again? Haven’t we showed you at least ten times already?”.

“Please, just another one. I always get shivers when watching you two” said Futoshi.

“Now, we shouldn’t insist so much if they don’t want to” said Tatsuya.

Yuya glanced at him.

“Nah, I was just kidding. We’ll gladly show you again, right Yuzu?”.

“Of course. Let’s go to You Show”.

After a small cheer, they were about to leave until three darts hit Yuya right in the forehead.

“What the-”.

“Triple bullseye” said Yuzu amazed.

“Ah, do forgive me”.

A young man with brown hair with yellow highlights approached them and removed the three darts from Yuya’s face.

“It’s okay, no harm done”.

The teen suddenly gained an interested expression.

“Ah, but you’re Yuya Sakaki, correct?”.

“Hmm? Yes, that’s me”.

The other boy then grabbed Yuya’s hands to shake them.

“What an honor! I’m Shingo Sawatari. I’m a big fan of yours. The way you dueled Strong Ishijima was so inspirational. And your Pendulum Summon is truly something to behold. You must be an incredibly skilled duelist to have such rare cards”.

Yuya laughed and scratched his head abashed by his compliments. Yuzu instead deadpanned at him.

“You don’t have to inflate his ego even more than it already is. Hey, weren’t we supposed to show the kids the Pendulum Summon?”.

“Ah, right. Sorry, Sawatari, we have to go”.

Shingo extended his arms dramatically.

“Ah, please wait. How about you show us at my school. I happen to be enrolled at Leo Duel School. I’m sure you heard of it”.

Yuya and Yuzu looked shocked at that. Who hasn’t heard of LDS? It was the biggest elite duel school in the whole city, probably in the whole continent. Many of its students were already on route to be professionals.

Tatsuya gained an awestruck expression.

“I heard the technology there far surpasses the average one”.

“I’ve happened to have booked one of the fields there. Unfortunately, the person I was supposed to duel can’t show up so it’s currently free. You could use it to demonstrate your superb dueling”.

Yuzu narrowed her eyes at Shingo. Something about this guy simply didn’t sit well with her. The kids however didn’t feel the same and started begging the two to go with Shingo. Yuya and Yuzu exchanged a look.

“Well… I don’t think it’s a problem”.

Yuzu looked doubtful before she sighed.

“Alright then. But only so that I can see how a rival school works”.

Shingo turned around.

“Very well then. Please, follow me”.

Yuya and his friends started to follow Shingo. Unknown to them, the golden-haired boy had a dark smirk on his face.

Chapter Text

“Everyone, I welcome you to Leo Duel School”.

Yuya and Yuzu looked around the place. It was as majestic on the inside as it was on the outside. The three kids were likewise amazed.

“Woah… It’s so big” said Ayu.

Shingo snapped his fingers and asked them to follow him.

“Here in LDS we take pride in our methods and we make sure we have the latest technologies for our duels”.

Futoshi looked around, seeing several students practicing.

“There are so many things You Show doesn’t have”.

Yuzu felt like her pride has been pierced by his apparently innocent remark and hanged her head. The chubby boy apparently noticed this.

“A-Ah, but there are also a lot of good things about small places like our school”.

Ayu put a hand on his shoulder.

“Futoshi. Trust me. It’s better if we shut up”.

He quietly agreed. Yuya instead was watching a program that was hanging on a wall.

“This school certainly has a lot of things though. Xyz… Synchro… Oh, it even has Fusion”.

A short blue-haired boy who was passing by suddenly stopped as he heard what Yuya said. He turned to him curious, apparently attracting the Pendulum duelist’s attention. The two glanced at each other before Yuzu called to Yuya.

“Yuya, we’re about to leave!”.

“Ah, I’m coming!”.

He run up to them and after a bit they were now in one of the institute’s fields.

“This field is gigantic” said Tatsuya.

Yuya and Yuzu then saw three other guys already being there.

“They are my friends, Kakimoto, Ootomo and Yamabe. They are also your big fans” said Shingo.

For some reason, Yuya started to feel slightly uncomfortable.

“Ah, I see. Well, I guess we should start”.

Shingo held up a hand.

“Ah, but before you do, do you mind if we take a look at your Pendulum cards?”.

Yuya blinked before taking out Timegazer and Stargazer Magician.

“You mean these?”.

Shingo apparently looked interested.

“So those are the cards that helped you against Ishijima. Can we take a look?”.

Yuya was a bit reluctant about it. Then he figured out it was fine before he suddenly remembered something Yuto said to him the other day.

Yuya was looking through his Pendulum cards with a big smile on his face. At one point, Yuto entered the room he was in and saw his brother.

“Yuya, I suggest you don’t show your cards to everyone around you”.

The crimson-eyed boy turned to him.

“Huh? Why not? What if a fan wants to check them?”.

Yuto sighed.

“Yuya, sometimes you’re far too trusting for your own good. Remember that to the public you’re the only person who possesses Pendulum cards. There may be some people who’ll want to take them from you”.

Yuya laughed innocently.

“You’re worrying too much, Yuto”.

“The last famous words. Just keep it in mind, okay?

At the time, Yuya simply laughed Yuto’s warning off but now that he was standing before Shingo, there was something inside him that told him to be careful. Yuya retracted his cards much to Shingo’s confusion.

“I’m sorry but I rather keep them with me”.

The LDS student looked at him surprised.

“I assure you, we only want a small peek, we won’t damage them or anything”.

“Sorry, Sawatari but my decision is final”.

As he blinked his surprise away, Shingo’s friendly expression soon turned into a sneer.

“Is that so? Oh well, plan B it is, then”.

Shingo snapped his fingers and suddenly Yuya heard Yuzu cry behind him. Turning back, he saw Shingo’s friends restraining Yuzu and the three children. Yuya angrily turned to him.

“Hey, what’s your deal, Sawatari?!”.

Shingo brushed his hair off his face.

“I would have preferred if we did it the easy way, but I’m fine with doing it the hard way too”.

Yuzu immediately understood what he was getting at.

“You were after Yuya’s Pendulum cards from the start!”.

Shingo laughed haughtily.

“You’re correct. Those cards do not deserve a loser like Sakaki to possess them. I, on other hand, am far more deserving of such rare cards”.

Yuya clenched his teeth.

“You bastard…”.

Shingo took a step back, but he was just mocking him, clear from the smirk on his face.

“Ooooh, is our little lion showing his teeth? Ah, but they’re milk teeth aren’t they?”.

Shingo’s face turned darker.

“I suggest you hand over those cards right now. Well, unless you don’t care about your friends’ safety”.

Yuya turned back to his friends who were still being held by Shingo’s friends. The three children were terrified while Yuzu looked troubled at him. She could probably free herself easily but she doesn’t want to think about what these guys will do to the kids if she tried anything. Yuya gripped his fist in anger and faced Shingo once again.

Gulping, he passed his cards to Shingo who took them without a second of hesitation. After seeing them, his smirk got even wider.

“It’s a pleasure doing business with you” he said before snapping his fingers.

His goons then let go of Yuya’s friends who immediately rushed to him worried. Yuzu got close to him.

“Yuya…”.

“Sorry, Yuzu. But I couldn’t let him hurt any of you”.

She shook her head.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad we’re fine”.

Shingo ignored them as he admired the two magicians in his hands.

“With these cards, I’ll become even more amazing. Ah, but it wouldn’t be a fair trade if you don’t get anything back isn’t it?”.

Shingo took out some cards and threw them on the ground.

“Here. All these cards in exchange for your magicians. You’ll find yourself liking them, they’re as useless as you!”.

Shingo arrogantly laughed. Yuzu was a breath away from slugging him on the face. Yuya looked at the cards on the ground with a despondent expression.

“No card is useless…”.

He kneeled down and picked up all the cards on the ground. Shingo’s lips turned into another cruel grin.

“And now that is done…”.

He pointed at Yuya.

“I challenge you to a duel Yuya Sakaki!”.

Said person looked up at his smirking face.

“Once I’ll defeat you, I’ll be the one and only master of Pendulum!”.

Yuzu was almost about to yell at him that she too had Pendulum cards but Yuya stopped her, shaking his head. He got up and stared Shingo in the eyes.

“Very well, I accept your challenge Sawatari! But if I win, I’ll get my cards back”.

“HAH! I might as well accept; it’s not like you have any chance against me. And now for the Action Field!”.

Shingo scanned through the various fields until he found one.

“Ah, this will be perfect. Action Field Prison Tower of Darkville!”.

The fields suddenly morphed into a dark city. It certainly looked like some kind of bad neighborhood and at the center of a river, connected to two bridges, there was a tall tower.

The three children guilty looked at Yuya.

“We’re sorry. It’s because we wanted to come here that you’re in this situation” said Ayu.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry, I’ll certainly get us out of this” he said, trying to smile at the children.

“Yuya, be careful” said Yuzu. Yuya smiled reassuringly at her.

“Yeah, yeah. How about we start already?” shouted Shingo.

“I wholeheartedly agree. And I certainly won’t lose to the likes of you!”.

“Please! I defeated opponents far more threatening than you! You stand no chance against me!”.

“Action…”.

“DUEL!!!”.

Yuya looked at his cards and gulped. Shingo shouldn’t know how Pendulum Summon works so he’s probably safe in that aspect. On other hand, he has no idea how his deck works, so he can’t afford mistakes.

“I summon Entermate Whip Snake (1700/900). When I summon an Entermate, I can also summon Entermate Helpprincess (1200/1200) from my hand”.

The purple snake and the girl appeared on the field. He wished he could do more but he had no ideas right now.

“I end my turn”.

“If that’s how you’re going to play then it will be even easier than I thought. I draw!”.

Shingo glanced at his cards and grinned at seeing Timegazer Magician.

“Well, what do we have here. With this guy I’ll win without problems”.

“Don’t use it now”.

Shingo almost jumped at hearing a voice coming from his disk.

“Hey, who are you? Don’t tell me what to do”.

“You will listen. That card will be more useful later”.

The teen groaned but decided to comply nonetheless.

“Alright, I get it. In that case… I summon Lightning Hoverboard!”.

Shingo’s monster appeared on the field. Yuya squinted his eyes at it. It could destroy Helpprincess but not Whip Snake. What was he up to?

“He won’t be staying here for long because I activate its effect. I can tribute this card and add a Level 6 or higher monster from my deck to my hand, like the Level 6 Missile Dart Striker”.

Lighting Hoverboard disappeared but Yuya didn’t feel relieved. And he will be soon proved right.

“Unfortunately for you, when Missile Dart Striker (2000/1600) is added to the hand through an effect, I can summon him immediately”.

A tall figure in a grey armor and with a missile in place of an arm appeared on the field. Shingo pointed at Helpprincess.

“Your precious Helpprincess better call for help because I target her for my attack!”.

The figure in grey shot his arm-missile towards the girl who easily got destroyed (4000 -> 3200).

“No!”.

“HAH! So much for your monster! At least try to make this interesting. I end my turn with a face-down”.

Yuya gritted his teeth as he was already in a disadvantage.

“Big Sis Yuzu, why didn’t Yuya went for Action Cards?” asked Futoshi.

“It’s because of this field. Most Action Fields have a Spell-Trap ratio of 1:1 but there are some exceptions where it’s possible to find a type of cards more regularly than the other”.

Yuzu glanced worriedly at Yuya.

“And unfortunately this field is one of those. The ratio is 3:1…in favor of Traps”.

Tatsuya glanced at a smirking Shingo.

“That guy probably knew this and chose this field to impede Yuya as much as possible. Maybe he also knows which cards he can pick”.

“But that’s not fair!” cried Ayu.

Yuzu looked at the kids and tried to smile.

“Don’t worry, Yuya will manage to win. I trust him”.

Though she didn’t show it, she was as worried as the three. Yuya looked much less focused than usual.

‘Be careful, please’.

Yuya took a breath.

“Alright, it’s my turn. I draw. I summon Entermate Skeeter Skimmer (500/1600). Then I activate Whip Snake’s effect. Once per turn, I can invert the Attack and the Defense of a monster until the end of the turn. So Missile Dart Striker loses attack points”.

Skeeter Skimmer appeared on the field just as Whip Snake activated his effect (2000 -> 1600). Shingo clicked his tongue.

“Whip Snake now attacks your monster!”.

The viper charged at Shingo’s monster and destroyed it (4000 -> 3900).

“A meager 100 damage doesn’t scare me. I activate the Trap Backup Thrower. Since a Dart monster has been destroyed, I can summon another one directly from my deck, though its effects are negated. I summon Shield Dart Striker (200/1800) in Defense position”.

A monster similar to the previous one appeared, just this one had a green armor and was carrying a shield. Yuya realized he couldn’t attack and decided to end his turn.

Yuzu looked even more worried.

‘This isn’t Yuya’s style of dueling. He seems too hesitant and worried. Could it be he feels responsible for what happened?’.

Shingo certainly wouldn’t wait for her to find out.

“Alright then. I draw!”.

The card he drew was Tribute Trade.

“Good. That card will be useful”.

Shingo smirked, understanding what the guy was implying.

“Yeah, it will. I activate Tribute Trade! I sacrifice the Level 4 Shield Dart Striker to add a monster one Level higher to my hand”

Shingo’s monster disappeared and he drew the card he needed.

“Hey, guess what Yuya? I chose Stargazer Magician!”.

Yuya widened his eyes at hearing his magician’s name.

“What?! Then… Could it be you’re trying to… No, to perform a Pendulum Summon you need two Pendulum monsters. Unless…”.

His eyes widened even more. Shingo mockingly extended his arms.

“You’re not as dumb as you look, Sakaki! That’s right, I already have Timegazer in my hand. And now it’s time to-”.

“Sawatari, follow my instructions”.

Shingo almost lost his footing. Then he glared at his disk.

“Hey, can’t you let me duel in peace for at least five seconds?!”.

“I need you to follow my instructions to the letter. If what I think is right, then you’ll be able to Pendulum Summon. First of all, you have to place the two cards at the sides of the disk”.

Shingo gained an intrigued expression.

“Well… Alright then…”.

“I set the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician!”.

“I set the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician!”.

He placed the card on his disk.

“…and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician!”.

“…and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician!”.

As he placed the other card, the word Pendulum appeared on the disk. The two magicians appeared on the sky.

“Now I can summon monsters from Level 2 to Level 7 all together at the same time! Pendulum Summon! Power Dart Striker! Rocket Dart Striker! And Ultimate Dart Striker!”.

Much to Yuya and his friend’s astonishment, the portal appeared and three monsters descended on the ground, all similar to the previous armored monsters. Just these monsters were orange (1800/700), red (1900/100) and blue (2400/300).

Yuya gaped in shock at seeing Shingo pulling off a perfect Pendulum Summon.

“H-How did you…”.

His opponent stared amazed at what he did before cackling.

“This is Pendulum Summon… I must say, it’s as incredible as I am! Now you’re done for, Sakaki! Power Dart Striker destroys your Whip Snake!”.

Yuya immediately went running for an Action Card. He managed to spot one on by the docks but before he grabbed it, he hesitated remembering that this field had more Traps than Spells. Unfortunately, his hesitation proved fatal as his monster was destroyed (3200 -> 3100).

“And now Rocket Dart Striker will squash your Skeeter Skimmer!”.

“I activate Skeeter Skimmer’s effect! When he’s attacked while in Attack position, I can switch him to Defense position!”.

Rocket Dart Striker shot a missile towards Skeeter Skimmer but before it could destroy him, he closed his wings and blocked the attack.

“When Skeeter Skimmer activates his effect, he negates the attack so he remains on the field”.

Shingo clicked his tongue.

“Well, just a minor hiccup. Ultimate Dart Striker will finish the job. Attack with Darts Destruction!”.

The blue-armored shooter managed to destroy Yuya’s monster. The force of the attack was so strong that the boy was thrown down in the river. He swam back up and spat out some water.

“Hey, Sakaki. Your troubles haven’t ended yet”.

Yuya looked up and saw that Shingo grabbed the Action Card he hesitated to pick.

“Action Spell Second Attack! One of my monsters can attack twice! Ultimate Dart Striker, direct attack!”.

The monster obeyed and attacked once again by shooting several missiles towards Yuya. While the ensuing explosion threw him out of the water and into the ground, he appeared to be uninjured (3100 -> 700).

Yuzu gained a horrified expression at that.

“Yuya! Are you okay?!”.

The boy managed to stand up even if weakly.

“Peachy. Now I know how boards feel at the shooting range”.

Yuzu sighed in relief at seeing him unharmed. Yuya though felt ashamed at how he acted. If he just decided to follow his guts instead of worrying, now he wouldn’t be in this situation.

“Well, it seems I’ll have to finish you off next turn. It’s your turn now. Though you might as well give up. With the power of Pendulum at my side, I’m invincible!”.

As Shingo boasted, Yuya looked down sadly. Yuzu noticed this. She turned to the three kids.

“Hey, stay here okay?”.

Before they could answer her, Yuzu jumped down the bridge and approached Yuya.

“What’s going on Yuya? This isn’t your usual way of dueling”.

He looked at her with uncertainty written all over his face.

“It’s just… It’s because of me that we’re in this situation. I promised you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to us and yet…”.

“Yuya…”.

Yuzu hugged him surprising the boy.

“It’s not your fault, you just wanted the kids to be happy. Besides I willingly chose to follow you. You don’t have to feel responsible for how things went. And it’s also my fault. I should have voiced my worries before we decided to follow Sawatari. So don’t wallow in self-pity okay? Remember that we’re all by your side. Me, Ayu, Futoshi and Tatsuya”.

Yuya stared at her stunned. Then he gave her a smile.

“Thank you Yuzu. You always know what to say”.

“Hey, excuse me, can you flirt after I win the duel?! I still have to show you my best shot!”.

The two turned to an annoyed Shingo with serious expressions. Yuzu let go of Yuya.

“Don’t hesitate anymore and give us a show to remember. Now go and kick Sawatari’s sorry butt”.

He grinned at her.

“I will. I draw!”.

Yuya blinked as he drew Block Spider. One of the cards Shingo threw at him. Then he suddenly had an idea. If he played his cards well, he might win this.

“I summon Block Spider (0/100)!”.

The spider appeared on the field which immediately prompted a laugh from Shingo.

“Seriously?! Your play is a trash monster with 0 Attack and you summon it in Attack position?! How generous of you to ease my victory”.

“Laugh all you want, Sawatari, but with this card you gave me, I shall defeat you”.

“Oh? That card was mine? I’m afraid I don’t remember”.

Yuzu glared at him at how uncaring he acted. She turned to Yuya.

“You better wipe that smirk off his face”.

“Don’t worry your pretty pink head over it because I will. I wouldn’t laugh if I were you because when Block Spider is on the field, you can’t attack any other Insect-type monsters on the field except for him”.

Shingo sneered.

“Oh I’m sorry, I must have bad eyesight because I don’t see any other monsters on your field. Ah, if only I had my glasses with me, then maybe I'd be able to see these mysterious monsters you speak of”.

Yuya and Yuzu both deadpanned at him.

“You know? For how arrogant he is, you have to admit he really has a knack for theatrics. Think he can be a good Entertainment Duelist?”.

“Maybe but I certainly wouldn’t want him anywhere near our school. What are you going to do now though? I know you well enough to understand you have a plan in mind”.

Yuya’s lips curved up.

“You know me so well. First I switch Block Spider to Defense position, then I activate the Spell Card Mimiclay, which allows me to summon a copy of one monster on the field should my opponent control at least one monster”.

“Even if you copy one of my Dart monsters, it won’t help you in the long run”.

“Actually, Mimiclay can only copy monsters of Level 2 or lower on my field. So I summon a copy of Block Spider. Mimiclay assumes all the chosen monster’s characteristics”.

The clay morphed until it was a perfect copy of Block Spider. Shingo was almost crying because of his laughter.

“Really?! You just doubled the trash on your field?! That’s why you’re nothing but a third-rate du- Wait a second…”.

Shingo glanced at Yuya’s field. The two spiders were forming a sturdy web before them. He widened his eyes as he understood the reason of such a play. Yuya smirked at him.

“That’s right. Now that I have two Block Spiders on the field, you can’t attack anymore!” Yuya then set two cards face-down “Not bad for ‘trash cards’, don’t you think?”.

Shingo trembled in rage at being outsmarted in such a way.

“Don’t think you’ll get away with this. I draw!”.

Shingo slightly cringed at the card.

‘Cricket Close? This card would be useful if I had any Spell Cards on the field. And now what?’.

“That card is actually far more useful than you might think”.

Shingo turned to his disk with a raised brow.

“What do you mean? I don’t control any Spells right now”.

“According to our analysis, the Pendulum cards you control right now are considered Continuous Spell Cards. Your card should affect them”.

Shingo glanced at his card then at the two magicians. Then he smirked.

“Is that so? Very well then. I activate Cricket Close from my hand. By negating the effects of two Spell Cards on my field I can destroy one card on yours!”.

Yuya furrowed his brows in confusion.

“But you don’t control any Spell… Wait. Don’t tell me that you…”.

“Bravo, Sakaki! Indeed! I intend to negate Stargazer and Timegazer’s effects”.

Two dart boards appeared and restricted the two magicians. Yuzu widened her eyes.

“What? Pendulum monsters can be considered Spell Cards?”.

“When they are in the Pendulum Zone, then yes. I found out about that yesterday evening” answered a worried Yuya.

“But that means…”.

“Your girlfriend is right, Sakaki. Your precious Mimiclay goes in the junkyard!”.

The clay soon turned shapeless and disappeared. Yuya cringed.

“When destroyed, Mimiclay is banished instead of being sent to the graveyard”.

Shingo grinned maliciously.

“It’s time to close the curtains on this sad spectacle. Prepare yourself Sakaki!”.

“I don’t think so. I activate the Quick Spell Draw Muscle! I draw a card and if it’s a monster then its Defense points are added to one monster in Defense position that has less than 1000 Defense points, at condition it’s the only monster I currently control. Plus, it can’t be destroyed in battle this turn”.

“Now you’re relying on luck?”.

Yuya put his hands on his deck. He exchanged a look with Yuzu. Both nodded firmly before Yuya drew his card. And promptly smiled.

“I drew Entermate Kaleidoscorp with 2300 Defense points!”.

Block Spider’s Defense suddenly went up to 2400. The three kids cheered while Shingo gritted his teeth in anger.

“Why do you have to be so annoying?! Fine then! I have a way to go around it! I activate both Power and Rocket Dart Striker’s effects! If I tribute Power then one Dart monster I control gains 600 Attack, while by tributing Rocket, another Dart monster I control can deal piercing damage! I choose Ultimate Dart Striker as recipient for both effects!”.

The two monsters disappeared while the one that remained got stronger, gaining a bigger weapon in the process.

“Now it has 3000 Attack!” cried Ayu. Tatsuya still looked somewhat optimistic.

“But even if he deals damage, it would only be of 600 Life Points. Yuya would still survive”.

“I don’t think so!”.

Much to the three’s distress, Shingo grabbed an Action Card.

“Action Spell Chains of Captivity! Until the end of the turn, a monster you control loses 400 Attack and Defense points!”.

Chains suddenly appeared out of nowhere and chained down Block Spider, lowering his Defense points to 2000.

“Even if I can’t destroy that monster, I can still deal you damage. Ultimate Dart Striker! End this charade! Bullseye Blast!”.

Futoshi grabbed his head agitated.

“AAAAHH! Yuya’s done for!”.

Said person extended his hand.

“Not yet! I still have an ace up my sleeve! Trap Card Empty Fishing, activate now!”.

Yuya’s second face-down card flipped up.

“This card halves the battle damage I’m about to receive”.

Ultimate Dart Striker shot several missiles towards Block Spider. The monster was unscathed though Yuya still took the, thankfully reduced, damage (700 -> 200).

The dust settled down, revealing a smirking Yuya.

“But that’s not all. Empty Fishing also allows me to add to my hand two cards that had their effects negated”.

“Two cards with…” Shingo alarmingly looked up “You mean my magicians!”.

“They are not yours!”.

The two cards soon returned into Yuya’s hands, much to his joy.

“Welcome back my friends”.

Behind him, Yuzu smiled relieved. Shingo though was less than pleased.

“Don’t tell me you planned this from the start!? You couldn’t have possibly predicted those cards losing their effects!”.

“I admit it was a gamble. After all I didn’t have any confirmation the two magicians’ effect would be negated. But it was a gamble I was very willing to take”.

Yuya turned back at Yuzu. The two smiled at each other. Shingo gripped his fist, more furious than ever.

“How dare you steal the cards that are rightfully mine… I activate Ultimate Dart Strikers’s effect! I can return to my field all the Dart monsters I sent to the graveyard due to their effects!”.

Power and Rocket Dart Striker reappeared on the field.

“Unfortunately, their effects on Ultimate Dart Striker are valid only for the battle phase (3000 -> 2400) but I still have the upper hand in this duel. Pendulum cards or NOT!”.

Yuya stared at his opponent with a determined look.

“I’m not scared of you Sawatari. My turn. I draw!”.

Yuya looked at what he drew.

“I activate the Spell Last Autograph. I remove an even Level Entermate monster from my graveyard and draw a number of cards equal to half of the removed monster’s Level. I remove the Level 4 Entermate Helpprincess. So I can draw two cards”.

Yuya smiled widely at seeing which cards he drew. He turned to Yuzu.

“It’s time to end this”.

Yuzu nodded at him. Both jumped up on the bridge and Yuya was ready to face Shingo. But first…

“Ladies and gentlemen! It’s time for the main act!”.

The kids cheered, understanding what was about to happen.

“Let’s start by setting the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician!”.

Yuya’s magicians appeared in the sky. Yuzu smiled at the display.

“Go for it, Yuya!”.

“Now I can summon monsters from Level 2 to Level 7 all at the same time! Swing, Pendulum of the Soul and draw the arc of victory across the sky! Pendulum Summon!”.

Three lights descended revealing Yuya’s monsters.

“Entermate Kaleidoscorp! Entermate Turn Toad! And last but not least, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”.

Kaleidoscorp (100/2300), Turn Toad (0/800) and Odd-Eyes (2500/2000) all appeared by Yuya’s side. Shingo glared at him, not scared in the slightest.

“Am I supposed to be scared? Maybe your dragon is worrisome but your other monsters are useless!”.

“I suggest you do not underestimate them. Sure, they might look harmless but there’s more to a monster than its Attack points. And I’m about to show you. I activate Kaleidoscorp’s effect. Kaleido Light!”.

The scorpion’s tail emitted a beautiful multicolored light that hit Shingo’s monsters.

“What’s going on?”.

Yuya grinned amused.

“Kaleidoscorp’s effect allows one monster on my field to attack all of your Special Summoned monsters. And as everyone in the public can guess, I choose Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. So for this turn, Odd-Eyes can attack all of your monsters!”.

Shingo choked on air and worriedly looked at the dragon. Two copies of it, one red and one blue, appeared beside it.

“What?! It can’t be!”.

“Oh, it can very well be, Sawatari. Odd-Eyes! Attack Power Dart Striker with Spiral Flame Strike! Now everyone, does anyone knows what is Odd-Eyes’s effect?”.

Tatsuya raised his hand.

“I know. Odd-Eyes doubles all battle damage he inflicts”.

“Correct! And the name of such effect is…Reaction Force!”.

Odd-Eyes destroyed Power Dart Striker with such force that Shingo fell in the water (3900 -> 2500).

“And now Odd-Eyes attacks Rocket Dart Striker. And like before the damage is doubled!”.

Shingo swam out of the water just as his other monster was destroyed by Odd-Eyes’s flaming breath, reducing his Life Points even more (2500 -> 1300).

“And finally, Odd-Eyes now attacks and destroys your Ultimate Dart Striker. And I don’t think I need to say what happens next, do I?”.

Shingo glared at him, fed up with his act.

“Yeah, yeah, the damage is doubled”.

He covered his face as his last monster was destroyed (1300 -> 1100). But then he got on his feet.

“But as you can see, I’m still up! Your monsters can’t finish me off”.

Yuzu shook her head amused, confusing Shingo.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Sawatari. The duel will be over soon”.

Yuya grinned at her.

“It seems the public already knows what’s about to happen. Then we might as well get on with it. Turn Toad and Block Spider. It’s your turn”.

Shingo sneered at him, believing it to just be a bluff.

“They. Are. Useless! One is in Defense position. Both have 0 Attack points. There’s no way I should be scared of those two losers!”.

Yuya waved his finger.

“Sorry Sawatari but you’re going to regret your words. I activate Turn Toad’s effect on Block Spider”.

Turn Toad then detached Block Spider’s shadow from the ground, which was soon assimilated by the monster, changing his position and raising his Attack points at 2400. Shingo took a step back, highly worried by this.

“W-What’s going on? W-Why did your monster became stronger?!”.

“During the battle phase, Turn Toad can switch the position of a monster I control. More than that, it also switches the Defense and Attack points of the chosen monster. Now, you only have 1100 Life Points left while Block Spider has 2400 Attack points and can attack”.

Shingo fell down, his face twisted in shock. Yuya though still looked jolly.

“So what would happen if Block Spider attacks Sawatari directly?”.

“His Life Points will be reduced to zero!”.

“Well, let’s test this theory shall we? Block Spider, direct attack!”.

The monster jumped in the air and charged at Shingo, who waved his hands before him.

“N-No, wait, WAIT!”.

He went unheard as the spider attacked him, reducing his Life Points at zero. Yuya was then declared the winner of the duel. Yuya and Yuzu exchanged a relieved look while the three kids approached the two. Ayu and Futoshi jumped excitedly.

“That was amazing, Big Bro Yuya”.

“Yeah. You gave me the best kind of shivers!”.

Yuya chuckled at the two. In the meantime, Shingo’s goons approached him.

“Hey, Shingo… Are you okay?”.

Shingo harshly pulled himself on his feet.

“Do I look okay, idiot?! Grrr… Yuya Sakaki!”.

They turned to him, worried he might try something.

“This time you got lucky. But next time we meet I’ll utterly crush you!”.

Shingo brushed his strands of hair before he left, soon followed by his friends. Both Yuya and Yuzu released a breath they didn’t know they were holding.

“Well, I’m glad we’re done with this”.

“You’re telling me…”.

“That was amazing!”.

The two blinked as they turned to the source of the voice. That being a short blue-haired boy in a blue jacket. Yuya widened his eyes as he recognized him as the same boy he saw earlier.

“You’re the one from before. Did you watch the duel?”.

“I did. And I must say your Pendulum Summon is amazing!”.

“Ah, well, thank you”.

Yuzu gently elbowed him.

“Hey, Yuya, calm down. Didn’t our experience teach you anything?”.

The boy waved his hand.

“No, really, I’m not like that guy, I was genuinely impressed by your dueling. I was thinking of joining LDS but if that’s how its students are then I think I rather search for another school. Ah, by the way I have a big favor to ask you”.

He suddenly bowed his head.

“Please can I be your apprentice?”.

Yuya blinked silently, not registering what the boy just said. Until he did.

“HUUUUUUH?! W-Wait, me teaching you? B-But I don’t even know your name!”.

The boy looked at him with a smile.

“Ah, right, my name is Sora Shiunin. I’ll be in your care from now on”.

“H-Hey, wait, I didn’t agree to this!”.

Reiji watched as Shingo left the field.

“Do we have to send another team after him, President?”.

“It’s not necessary Nakajima. We have gathered enough data”.

Reiji adjusted his glasses.

Pendulum Summon. It might be the key that he was searching for so long.

But now to see if that key fit through the keyhole.

Chapter Text

“Now that guy follows me in my dreams too…”.

Yuya just woke up from a dream. One where that kid Sora appeared.

After he defeated Shingo, Sora has been pestering him to become his apprentice ever since. He kept saying no, but they guy just wouldn’t take a hint it seems.

“Me? A teacher? I can barely stay awake through mine”.

Yuya got dressed and left his room. Before he got down in the living room, he saw some dogs and cats approaching him.

“En. Core. Good morning. To you as well Kilo and Watt”.

Yeah, that was Yoko Sakaki’s weak spot. Strays. Yuya sighed good-naturedly.

“Mom really can’t say no to strays”.

As Yuya approached the living room, he heard his mother talking.

“My, you’re eating a lot”.

Yuya raised a brow. Yuto and Yugo have probably left already and Yuri is surely still getting ready. The day the purple-haired teen will present himself with a hair out of place will be judgement day.

Yuya entered the room, thinking his mother found another animal.

“Mom, did you pick up another stray?”.

Yoko turned to him with a smile.

“You could say that”.

“Hey, teach! Good morning”.

Yuya lost his footing and fell face-flat on the floor as he saw Sora sitting at the table. He quickly got up and pointed at him.

“What are you doing here?!”.

Sora smiled innocently at Yuya.

“Well, I came here because I wanted to ask you when’s the first lesson and then she just gave me food”.

“Like. I. Said. I’m not teaching you!”.

Yuya turned to his mother.

“Dogs and cats are one thing but you can’t just pick a boy from the streets”.

Yoko put on the table three plates of pancakes.

“Oh, come on Yuya, he was wandering around our house and I decided to invite him for breakfast. There’s nothing wrong with it”.

“What’s all this ruckus?”.

Waltzing into the room was Yuri, as perfectly groomed as ever. Yuya turned to him.

“Nothing. Just Sora being annoying”.

Yuri raised a brow before he turned to the blue-haired boy.

“Ah, so you’re the Sora Yuya has been complaining about. My name is Yuri. I’m Yuya’s brother”.

Sora blinked dumbly at him, whipping his head back-and-forth between the two brothers.

“Huh… Wow. I knew twins resemble each other a lot but this is…”.

Yuri chuckled as he sat at the table.

“Ah, we aren’t twins. Actually we’re not even related. I was adopted”.

Sora’s eyes bulged out.

“Wait, you’re not actually related?! But…you’re like two water drops!”.

Yuri shook his head amused, not surprised by his reaction.

“You’re not the first person to have said that. But we’re step-brothers. Well, in theory at least…”.

Sora tilted his head, more confused than ever.

“In theory?”.

Yuya scratched his head.

“Well, it’s…very complicated and we’re certainly not going to explain it right now”.

Sora made a sound, probably of agreement, before his eyes fell once again on Yuri.

Now, Sora wasn’t someone who gets scared easily. Heck, he could probably laugh in the face of a hundred blood-thirsty duelists.

But… Something about this guy… For some reason…it made him nervous.

He decided to scroll off his uneasiness.

“Anyway, when will you teach me?”.

Yuya made an exasperated expression.

“I’m not going to teach you. Period!”.

Sora puffed his cheeks.

“You certainly haven’t learnt good manners from your sister”.

The people in the room blinked in confusion. Yoko in particular.

“Sister?”.

“Huh? You are not his sister? Considering how young and beautiful you are, I thought you’d be their sister, not their mother”.

And here it is Yoko’s second weak spot. Flattery.

“Ah, you’re so sweet! How about more pancakes?”.

Yoko pushed a plate of pancakes towards Sora.

“Wow, thanks!”.

“Hey, those were mine” whined Yuya.

Yuri raised a brow before chuckling, clearly seeing through Sora’s act but deciding to stay silent.

“Don’t worry little brother. I’ll share some of mine with you”.

Yuya stared at Yuri with comically watery eyes.

“Yuriiiii…”.

He hugged his brother, who in turn petted his hair. Sora pointed at them while looking at Yoko. She didn’t say anything. She just gave an amused smile.

“Now, mom. Of course you look young. You are young. You’re not even 35”.

Yoko giggled at Yuri’s statement.

“With you guys as sons, and with Shuzo’s daughters as nieces, I probably have aged 30 years without even realizing it”.

Yuri chuckled. All the while, Yuya let go of him and grabbed a couple of his brother’s pancakes.

“Fair enough. We are quite the…excitable bunch”.

“Understatement of the century. All of you together are an apocalypse”.

Yuya widely grinned at his mother.

“Good to know. It means we’re doing our job correctly. And soon enough, we will conquer the world”.

Yuri agreed with him while Yoko huffed a laugh at her sons’ antics.

“I swear you guys will be the death of me”.

Sora simply watched the interaction going, silently wondering if he should get worried or not.

“Ah, it sounds like you had quite the morning”.

Yuya and Yuzu were now walking to school side-by-side. Yuri already went ahead and left the two behind.

“You have no idea… Sora has been annoying me ever since we met him. I swear it’s like he doesn’t have anything going on in his head except me teaching him”.

Yuzu gave a soft laugh.

“But doesn’t that mean that he’s interested in your dueling?”.

“I don’t know; I think he’s more into Pendulum Summoning than Entertainment Dueling. And besides can you see me teaching someone? I barely listen to what our teacher says”.

“And that’s why you need Yuto and Ruri’s help with studying”.

“Yeah, because you’re so good at science and literature without them”.

Yuzu flushed red. He knew she wasn’t very good at those.

“Yuya! That was low!”.

He laughed as he turned back on the road. Yuzu’s annoyance disappeared and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey, teach!”.

Yuya’s good mood was soon ruined when he heard Sora’s voice coming from behind him. He turned back and surely enough he saw him running towards them.

“Sora, I already told you, I’m not going to teach you”.

Sora pouted at him.

“Oh, come on, please. Teach me Pendulum Summoning”.

“I can’t. You need Pendulum cards for it. And besides we have school right now”.

Sora grumbled something before turning to Yuzu.

“Please, can’t you convince him?”.

Yuzu blinked.

“Why would you ask me?”.

“Because he’ll surely listen if it’s his girlfriend asking”.

Both Yuya and Yuzu turned red at hearing Sora, who tilted his head confused at their reactions.

“Wait… You’re not dating?”.

“Of course not! Where would you get that idea?” exclaimed Yuya.

Sora looked between them. Maybe they were oblivious to it, but he could easily see the compatibility between the two.

“But you look so good together”.

Yuya grumbled something while Yuzu was in her own world. Her dating Yuya…

“Hey, Yuzu, can you tell him we’re not dating?”.

But it was like she didn’t hear him. Yuya raised a brow slightly worried.

“Yuzu, are you okay?”.

Yuzu quickly turned to him.

“Y-Yes, why you ask?”.

“You’re a bit red in the face”.

Yuzu widened her eyes. Her mind went blank. And so she did the first thing that came to her.

That being slapping Yuya with a paper fan. The poor guy fell on the ground as Yuzu speed-walked away.

Sora watched everything with unblinking eyes.

“Well, she’s certainly something. Anyway, teach, about-”.

He wasn’t even able to finish his sentence as Yuya immediately sped past him and smacked Yuzu on the head with a paper fan of his own. The girl angrily turned to him, clutching the spot where he hit her.

“OWW! That hurt you know!”.

Yuya rested his fan over his shoulder.

“Now you know how it feels”.

She glanced at the paper fan in his hands. Then she locked eyes with him.

“It was Yuri’s idea wasn’t it?”.

“Yeah, it was. As Yugo once said… ‘Payback is a bitch, isn’t it?’”.

The two kept glaring at each other until, at one point, their faces relaxed and they burst out laughing. Then they kept walking to school together with Sora watching back the whole time. That only reinforced his belief.

“They’re obviously made for each other”.

Sora would continue to annoy Yuya even during school hours. Somehow, he managed to sneak inside the school and go around undisturbed. Yuya would find him everywhere, to the bathroom to his own desk.

At the end of the day, the poor guy had his head on his desk looking drained.

Yuri and Yuzu were standing near, watching him with pity.

“My, I think I’ve never seen Yuya so tired before”.

“Sora has been pestering him the whole day. Did you know he even managed to sneak under his desk somehow and not get caught?”.

Yuri looked at Yuzu in disbelief and soon turned to his brother.

“Hey, little brother, are you okay?”.

Yuya turned his head to him, his eyes screaming ‘mercy’.

“Do I look okay? I swear if I see Sora one more time, I’m not to be held responsible for what I might do”.

Yuzu approached him.

“Come on Yuya, cheer up. Why don’t we go to school and have a duel? I’m sure that’ll make you feel better”.

Yuya looked at her. He smiled and got up from his desk.

“You’re right. A duel has always made me feel happy”.

Yuzu smiled at him but Yuri instead looked reluctant. Yuya noticed it.

“Is something wrong Yuri?”.

“Well… Before coming here, I’m pretty sure I heard Sora saying that he would go to our school and wait for you there”.

And once again, Yuya hanged his head low, depression clawing at him. Yuzu looked at him in a panic before turning to Yuri.

“Was it really necessary to tell him?”.

Yuri though showed a smirk.

“Actually I have an idea”.

Yuya and Yuzu looked at him in curiosity. Yuri then explained his idea. At the end both had wide eyes.

“Yuri, that is just evil”.

“Yeah, that will make Sora go mad”.

Despite what they said, they immediately sported wide, mischievous grins.

“We love it!”.

Yuri chuckled before they messaged their siblings about their plan.

AppleWitch: I’m in!

BananaDriver: Same! Luckily, that Sora guy still hasn’t arrived.

BlueberryCat: I can’t believe you’d really want us to do this after this long.

BlueberryCat: I’m so proud of you.

GrapeBird: A part of my brain is saying that is rather immature from people our age.

GrapeBird: But the other part is saying ‘Screw it, let’s do it’.

EggplantKnight: It is really immature from us.

CabbagePlant: Oh? Are you saying that you won’t take part in it?

EggplantKnight: I never said that.

TomatoEntertainer: Alright then, you know what you have to do. I hope you’re all still in uniform.

RaspberryDiva: Everyone. Let’s do this.

Yuya, Yuzu and Yuri looked at each other and grinned.

Sora won’t know what hit him.

Sora run up to You Show Duel School. He already found out that’s where Yuya was enrolled at so he decided he’ll try to convince him there.

The boy found himself before the school in little time. He decided to enter.

“Excuse me. Is this You Show Duel School?”.

It was a small girl with red hair who answered him. With her, there were also a chubby boy with dirty blonde hair and another boy with blue hair.

“It is. Are you interested in our school by any chance?”.

“Yeah, I heard this is where teach studies so I’m waiting for him here”.

“Is that so? You can wait in the lounge then. My name’s Ayu. My friends here are Futoshi and Tatsuya”.

The two kids waved at him.

“I’m Sora, nice to meet you”.

The three lead him inside. When they reached the room they wanted, Sora was surprised to see Yuya and Yuzu were already there.

“Oh! Yuya, Yuzu. I thought you were still at school”.

Yuya laughed.

“Yeah, we actually remembered we had to do something and we rushed here as fast as possible”.

“Ah, is that so? Anyway, coach, can you teach me Pendulum Summon now please?”.

Sora failed to notice Tatsuya’s confused face. Yuya scratched the back of his head.

“Look, I’m sorry, but we’re busy right now so I can’t teach you anything. Right Yuzu?”.

Yuzu nodded.

“Yuya’s right. Sorry, Sora, but what we have to do can’t wait”.

Sora looked bummed out as the two left. Behind him, Tatsuya blinked, stunned. However, Ayu and Futoshi’s faces lighted up in realization before they dragged their still confused friend with them.

“Well, we three have to go now. But you can wait here if you want Sora”.

“Ah, yes. I’ll do that”.

The three left leaving Sora alone. He sighed in disappointment.

“And here I hoped I’d get to know how Pendulum Summon works”.

He remained there for a couple of minutes before he heard the door of the lounge opening. Turning to see who arrived, he blinked as he saw Yuya and Yuzu. The former groaned at seeing him.

“You’re here too? Let me guess, you still want me to teach you?”.

Sora blinked and turned to the other side of the room, staring at the door. He rubbed his eyes.

Didn’t they just go through that?

Yuzu looked at him worried.

“Are you okay? You look confused”.

Sora turned to them and shook his head.

“Sorry but… Didn’t you just, like…leave?”.

Yuya tilted his head, appearing confused.

“Huuuh… No? We just arrived, how could we have left?”.

Sora didn’t know what to say. He was sure they were here when he arrived so… What is going on?

“Well, if you don’t mind, we need to go and check the ARC System. Come on, Yuya”.

“Right behind you, Yuzu”.

And the two left just like that. Sora simply looked at them go. Did he eat too many candies before coming here?

He then heard the door opening once again. Turning back, he saw Yuya and Yuzu calmly entering the room.

Sore sputtered and took some steps back. What in the actual fuck…?

Yuzu looked surprised when she saw him. She approached him.

“Sora, we didn’t expect you to be here… Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost”.

Sora stammered something but wasn’t able to say anything coherent. Yuya was concerned about his behavior.

“Hey, calm down, buddy. Take some breaths”.

Sora pointed to where the two have just left through.

“H-How can you be here?! You just left through that door! You said you needed to check the ARC System!”.

The two looked at each other strangely.

“Sorry Sora, but we have no idea what you’re talking about”.

“Yeah, we just arrived. But now that you mentioned it, there is something we must check. Hey, Yuya, can you help me with the projectors in the back?”.

“Sure, Yuzu. I guess we should change the slides. Unless you want the principal explaining to us how to perform a Tribute Summon for the umpteenth time”.

Yuzu chuckled before the two left, not before waving at Sora, who at this point looked both confused and scared. He put a hand on his head.

“Am I hallucinating? I don’t have a fever. Did that chocolate have any liquor in it?”.

As he contemplated, he heard that damn door opening once again.

Sora froze and slowly turned back. His eyes widened in horror at seeing Yuya and Yuzu entering the room for the third time. The boy didn’t look so happy to see him.

“You again? Do you ever give up?”.

Sora pointed a shaking hand at them.

“You…You…You…You…”.

Yuzu took a step forward at seeing the shorter boy’s reaction.

“Sora, is everything okay? You’re worrying us”.

Sora shook his head frantically.

“You were here! Just now!”.

Yuya raised a brow.

“No, we weren’t. We just arrived. Sora, are you sure you’re feeling okay?”.

Unable to withstanding it anymore, Sora let out a scream, shocking both teens. He then looked at them with a manic expression on his face.

“Alright, enough! I came here and you were there! Then you left and you showed up again! And again! AND AGAIN!!! But every time you denied it, saying that you just arrived!”.

Sora gripped his head.

“You two said you had to do something important. Then you said you had to check the ARC System. Then you said you had to change the damn projectors’ slides! I-I have no idea what’s going on here anymore!”.

Yuya and Yuzu blinked at his rant. Then they softly laughed. Sora looked up at them with a weirded out expression.

“Yeah, we were here when you arrived” said Yuya.

“And we did all the things you said” said Yuzu.

Sora whipped his head back and forth between the two. The two were grinning mischievously at him.

“Alright, everyone. You can come out now”.

In that moment, six other people entered the room. Sora stared at all of them, completely stunned. They were all resembling either Yuya or Yuzu. Almost perfectly, might he add.

Said people looked at him with their grins still in place.

“Sora, you already met Yuri, but the other two are my brothers Yuto and Yugo”.

“And the three girls are my sisters, Ruri, Rin and Serena”.

Sora tilted his head at seeing all these people resembling one another. Then a lightbulb went off in his head.

“…You pranked me”.

And with that, the room exploded in laughter.

“That’s payback for pestering me for the whole day!” laughed Yuya.

“Seriously, I can’t believe someone still fell for it!” cackled Serena.

“What did you expect? We could probably give twins runs for their money!” exclaimed Yugo.

Sora blinked dumbly as the eight collectively high-fived. Then he saw Ayu, Futoshi and Tatsuya approaching him. The latter had a sheepish look on his face.

“Sorry for not telling you but that would have spoiled everything” said Ayu.

The blue-haired boy scratched the back of his head.

“And don’t worry, you’re not the only weirded out one. I’m relatively new here so I didn’t know it was all an act”.

Sora pointed at the siblings.

“They did something like this before?”.

Futoshi grinned.

“Some of them might not look like it, but they are all very mischievous when they want to”.

“…Huh…”.

Sora turned his eyes at the eight, who were still cackling like madmen. The short boy then lowered his head and started laughing, gathering the others’ attention.

“Alright, I guess I deserve it for being so annoying. Okay, I won’t ask you to be my teacher anymore, Yuya”.

Sora then raised his head with a smirk.

“BUT! I still want to duel! I got some pent up frustration to let go”.

Yuya grinned and fully turned to him.

“Whenever you want Sora”.

Suddenly, a hand was raised before him. One belonging to Yuri.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I want to duel you”.

Sora widened his eyes. The nervousness he felt this morning was back. Serena blinked surprised at him.

“What’s the big occasion? You normally don’t show interest in any duelist”.

Yuri put a hand on his chin and stared at Sora.

“I feel something from him. Something…that really piques my interest. And I want to know what”.

For his part, Sora stared at Yuri with a mix of both uneasiness and curiosity.

On one hand, he was reluctant to face him in a duel. On the other, he really wished to know why he was feeling like this.

So he steeled himself and stood his ground.

“Alright then. I accept. But know that I won’t hold back”.

Yuri grinned amused.

“I’d feel insulted if you did”.

Chapter Text

“Alright! Are the both of you ready?” shouted Shuzo from the observation chamber.

Both Sora and Yuri nodded at him. The latter though turned to the former.

“Before we start, is there an Action Field you prefer?”.

Sora smirked at him.

“Oh? You must be confident if you want your opponent to choose the field”.

Yuri’s answer was but an enigmatic chuckle. Sora put a hand on his cheek in thought.

“Is there anything sweet related by any chance?”.

Shuzo crossed his arms as he thought of a field.

“Well… There is one as a matter of fact. Then without further ado I activate the field Sweets Island!”.

The field then turned into a giant island completely made of sweets. Sora bounced around happy.

“I love this field already!”.

Yuri put a hand on his chin, calmly observing how Sora acted.

‘He might be able to fool others but I can tell when someone isn’t being truthful. Is there something you’re hiding Sora Shiunin?”.

His lips soon turned into a grin.

‘How intriguing’.

Rin and Yuzu both drooled a little at seeing the field.

“I wish I could just gorge myself out there…”.

“Me too, sis. I wouldn’t mind keeping this field active if it means eating those sweets…”.

Ruri chuckled amused at her sisters. Serena instead raised a brow.

“Really? Do you even know just how many pounds you’d gain?”.

Both Rin and Yuzu were harshly brought out from their dream-like state as an image of them leaning on each other sporting absurdly inflated bellies suddenly popped up in their heads. The two girls blushed scarlet.

“I change my mind! I don’t want to eat that many sweets!”.

“Neither do I! I care for my figure!”.

Serena snickered while Ruri sweat-dropped. Not far from them were Yuya, Yuto and Yugo, impatient to see the duel start.

“I hope you’re ready to get your fill for today, Yuri, because I’ll have no mercy”.

“Please. You’re far too early to even hope to be on my level. But if you want to try, feel free to do so”.

“Action…”.

“DUEL!!!”.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll start!” shouted Sora “I activate the Continuous Spell Toy Vendor!”.

A giant machine appeared right behind him.

“By discarding one card in my hand, I can draw another and if it’s a Fluffal monster then I can Special Summon a monster from my hand, otherwise I have to discard the drawn card”.

After discarding one, Sora drew a card and smiled at seeing it.

“And lucky for me it’s Fluffar Bear which I summon immediately! And with him, I also summon Fluffal Leo!”.

Sora’s monsters appeared, one a fluffy pink bear (1200/800) and the other a fluffy yellow lion (1600/1200). Both looked more like stuffed animals than monsters.

Yuzu and Ayu cowed at them.

“Aaaahh, they’re so adorable!”.

Serena pressed her hands on the window. Despite her serious face, she had stars in her eyes.

“I want to cuddle them”.

Ruri chuckled. Despite appearing always so serious and confident, Serena has a very soft spot for stuffed animals. Her room was full to the brim with them.

Yuto let out a single, amused laugh at seeing their reactions.

“Poor girls. They have no idea what the Fluffals can really do”.

Rin heard him and scooted closer to the brothers.

“You know them, Yuto?”.

“Yeah. Fluffals themselves are not a particularly strong archetype. But if Sora also has that archetype then we might be in for a show to remember”.

Both Yuya and Yugo raised a brow yet they still showed a smile.

“Maybe so, but Yuri won’t certainly let himself fall behind”.

“Yeah, our brother is not one to let others outshine him”.

They then turned to the duel and could see Yuri was calmly smiling.

“I set a card face-down and end my turn. Well, what do you say? Pretty good huh?”.

But to his surprise, Yuri laughed.

“How interesting. So you use the Fluffals then. Ah, this will be even more interesting than I thought”.

Sora’s eyes slightly widened. Did that mean that Yuri already knew what his monsters were truly capable of?

“Now, it’s my turn. I draw! Say, I must really thank you Sora”.

The boy raised a brow, not understanding.

“For what exactly?”.

“You see… My deck is far stronger when it starts as second. So thank you for taking the first turn”.

Sora furrowed his brows. Yuri’s lips curved up.

“To start, I summon Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio (1200/800)”.

Yuri’s monster appeared on the field. Sora felt a spark at seeing it. He heard of Predaplant monsters back at home. And most agree on one thing.

They are extremely dangerous.

“I activate his effect. When Ophrys Scorpio is summoned, I can send a monster from my hand to the graveyard and summon another Predaplant monster directly from my deck”.

“From the deck?!”.

Yuri’s smirk grew.

“Indeed. So say hello to my Predaplant Spinodionaea! When Spinodionaea is summoned, I can place a Predator Counter on one of my opponent’s monsters”.

The spinosaurus appeared (1800/0) and shoot a small seed at Fluffal Leo.

“What did you do to my Leo?”.

“You see… All monsters who have a Predator Counter on them have their Levels lowered to 1”.

Sora raised a brow. That didn’t sound too bad actually. Yuri’s chuckle though actually made him rethink that.

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘It’s not that bad’. Ah, how naïve. When Spinodionaea battles a monster with a lower Level than him, I can summon a Predaplant from my deck after the damage has been dealt. Prepare yourself Sora!”.

Sora flinched as he immediately started to think about something. Yugo scratched his head with an awkward smile on his face.

“Yuri is certainly having fun isn’t he?”.

Yuya chuckled.

“Seems like it. Sora better come up with something quickly”.

Rin gave a chuckle herself. Among them, Yuri was known for being rather…ruthless during his duels. Of course all of them have long since grown used to it but anyone else, well…

They’ll have quite the hard time against him.

Yuri extended an arm forward.

“Spinodionaea! Now attack Fluffal Leo”.

Sora raised a hand forward.

“I activate my Trap Punch-in-the-Box! If an enemy monster declares an attack while you have at least two monsters on your field, I can negate the attack and destroy one of your monsters. Then the monster that attacked loses Attack equal to the highest between the Attack and Defense of the destroyed monster”.

“Oooh?”.

The trap flipped up and a red punching glove stopped Spinodionaea from attacking. Yuri raised his brows impressed.

“Interesting. Since the attack has been negated Spinodionaea’s effect doesn’t activate and I summon no monsters. You’re smart, I can give you that”.

Sora rubbed his nose proudly before he pointed at Ophrys Scorpio.

“Of course, I can only destroy your Ophrys Scorpio due to my Trap’s effect. So Spinodionaea will lose 1200 Attack”.

“Oh, I don’t think so”.

Yuri rushed towards an Action Card placed at the top of a chocolate house. He managed to quickly scale it and grab the card. Sora’s eyes kept following him, taken aback by the Predaplant duelist’s reflexes.

“Action Spell Candy Coat. One of my monsters is unaffected by the effects of your Trap. Ophrys Scorpio remains on the field”.

Sora clicked his tongue. He figured out his trap’s flaw. Futoshi though didn’t seem to understand.

“Why did Yuri decided to protect Ophra- Ophuru-”.

“Ophrys Scorpio” chuckled Ruri “Because since his monster isn’t sent to the graveyard, Spinodionaea won’t lose any Attack points”.

Tatsuya’s face lit up in realization.

“That’s true! Yuri is certainly smart”.

Serena let out a laugh.

“Yup. And you haven’t seen anything yet”.

Sora furrowed his brows but then he smiled.

“So you knew about my Trap’s weak point. I’d say, you’re quite the duelist, Yuri”.

Yuri chuckled.

“Why, thank you. I assure you that I still have much more to show you. Ophrys Scorpio, attack Fluffal Bear”.

Sora almost lost his footing at hearing that.

“Wait, what?!”.

Yugo tilted his head to the side.

“He’s going for mutual destruction?”.

Yuto stayed silent, wondering what his brother was up to.

Like predicted, the two battling monsters were mutually destroyed in battle. Sora glanced at Yuri confused.

“Hey, all that work to have your monster survive and then you up and destroy it like that?”.

“Yes. Because now your field is ready”.

Sora tilted his head while raising a brow. Yuri’s grin turned wider, slightly creeping the candy lover out.

“Now come! Show me what you’re truly capable of! Overcome me with your hidden strength!”.

Sora found himself getting more and more anxious as he heard Yuri speak. The shorter boy drew a card.

“As you wish then! I activate Fluffal Rebirth Crane. By destroying one card on my field, I can return a Fluffal monster in my graveyard back to my hand. I decide to destroy Toy Vendor”.

The machine behind Sora exploded and he added Fluffal Bear to his hand.

“When Toy Vendor is destroyed I can add to my hand either a Fluffal monster…or an Edge Imp Sabres. I choose the latter”.

Yuri grinned in anticipation, knowing what Sora was up to.

The people watching though were surprised at hearing Sora’s monster’s name. Yuya looked up.

“Edge Imp Sabres? That sounds…completely unrelated to Fluffals”.

Yuto shook his head, garnering the others’ attention.

“Believe it or not, they are actually closely related. Fluffals truly shine only along Edge Imps. Ayu. I suggest you cover your eyes”.

The little girl looked at him in confusion.

“Why, Big Bro Yuto?”.

Sora looked at his hand. He knew what he had to do now.

“I now activate the Spell Card…Polymerization!”.

A collectiveness of gasps could be heard outside the arena.

“I fuse Edge Imp Sabres and Fluffal Bear”.

The two monsters appeared. Like before, the spectators were surprised to see that along the pink bear there was a monster completely made of razors. The monsters were soon fused together.

“Claws of the demon. Fangs of the beast. Become one and reveal a new form and power!”.

Fluffal Bear’s body soon convulsed as several blades started to destroy his body from the inside, morphing his body into becoming unrecognizable.

“Fusion Summon! Appear, horrifying beast that shreds everything, Frightfur Bear!”.

Unlike Sora’s previous monsters, this one wasn’t cuddly or cute at all.

It was a giant rugged bear with a giant pair of scissors sprouting from his stomach. His paws were now sharp claws ready to shred everything that was before him (2200/1800).

Suffice to say, all who saw that monster were shocked.

“Woah… I did not see that one coming” said Yuya. Yugo placed his fists on his hips, astonished by what he had seen.

“You’re telling me… You weren’t kidding Yuto. Who would have thought Sora could Fusion Summon?”.

Ayu hugged Yuzu, scared by Sora’s monster and regretting not listening to Yuto.

“Big Sis Yuzu, I’m scared”.

Yuzu petted her head, smiling. Rin was slightly disturbed by how the fluffy bear was tore apart during the summoning.

“Geez, and I thought Yuri’s monsters were grotesque. Hey, Serena, you okay?”.

As she turned to her, Rin noticed that Serena looked crestfallen.

“Fluffal Bear…”.

Rin wore a consternated smile as she felt her eye twitch. Ruri giggled at that but even she must admit that she found Frightfur Bear’s summoning rather brutal.

While everyone had various degrees of reactions, Yuri’s easily beat them all.

He smiled as he extended his arms, eyes going wide in amazement.

“So that’s your Fusion monster. It’s…incredible”.

Sora smirked.

“Glad to see you like it because you’re about to feel his strength on your skin. Frightfur Bear, attack Spinodionaea!”.

The giant bear slashed Yuri’s monster apart, though he himself showed no reaction except for an awestruck smile (4000 -> 3600).

“Now Frightfur Bear’s effect activates. After he destroys a monster, he can equip said monster to himself and gain 1000 Attack points!”.

The portal from the graveyard opened and Frightfur Bear fished out Spinodionaea before eating it whole (2200 -> 3200). Despite that, Yuri still kept his grin.

“I’m not done yet. Remember the card I sent to the graveyard because of Toy Vendor’s effect? That card was Fluffal Devil and I immediately activate his effect!”.

A small red plush resembling a cartoonish devil appeared from the graveyard and stabbed Frightfur Bear with his toy spear before vanishing.

“By removing Fluffal Devil from the game, I can choose a Frightfur monster on my field that successfully destroyed a monster and allow it to attack a second time! Go, Pummeling Paw!”.

The monster swung his paw at Yuri, who simply allowed himself to take the hit (3600 -> 400). He was thrown away hard, falling on his back. Fortunately, the field being made of sweets softened his fall.

Tatsuya looked agitated.

“Oh no! Now Sora can attack directly with Fluffal Leo! Yuri will lose!”.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up he saw Serena smiling calmly at him.

“I wouldn’t say that just yet”.

Sora put his hands on his hips and grinned confidently.

“Well, what do you say Yuri? My Frightfur Bear is quite the juggernaut don’t you think? And now, I’m going to win-”.

Sora’s sentence was cut off by a loud laughter. The blue-haired teen blinked as he looked towards the source of it.

It was Yuri himself.

“H-Hey, what are you laughing at?”.

Yuri kept laughing even as he got up on his feet.

“This…is so…”.

Yuri then whipped his head at Sora with a giant, wide grin on his face.

“THRILLING!”.

Sora recoiled back in shock at his opponent’s reaction. He never met someone who actually enjoyed being attacked. Yuri extended his arms and looked at Frightfur Bear in awe.

“Such power… Such strength… Such magnificence… This…This is nothing like any of the Fusion Summons I’ve seen before! It’s a much higher level!”.

Yuri’s eyes widened even more in bliss as he stared at the sky.

“I knew I felt something when I looked at you! And I was right! Such mastery of Fusion can’t go unrewarded!”.

Sora didn’t know if he should feel proud or terrified. Yuri was complimenting him, that’s true, but at the same time he was giving him shivers. He turned to the watchers.

“H-Hey, is this normal? Does he always act like this?”.

Yuya shook his head, but despite everything he wore a smile.

“Whenever Yuri is met with an opponent who truly amazed him, he gets like this. Yeah, he acts a bit creepy but I assure you he means good”.

Yuto nodded, him too wearing a smile.

“Indeed. You should be honored; Yuri is an extremely hard person to impress”.

“Hey, Sora!”.

He turned to Serena, who was wearing a giant smirk on her face.

“You better hold yourself tight! Yuri is about to go all out”.

“Hey, hey… Aren’t you all acting a bit too casual about this…”.

Sora blinked before turning to his opponent once again. If what she’s saying is true, then he must end the duel now.

Not only that but he was feeling some kind of dread. Like something hidden was about to appear.

Something terrifying.

“Well, we’re not going to find out. Fluffal Leo, direct attack!”.

The yellow lion charged at Yuri. But instead of being worried, he wore a manic smile.

“No, not yet. I’m not allowing this duel to end now! I activate Predaplant Sarraceniant’s effect from my hand! When I’m attacked directly, I can summon her to defend me! And as you can guess, I’m summoning her in Defense position!”.

Yuri’s monster appeared on the field (100/600) and protected him from Fluffal Leo, being destroyed in the process.

“When Sarraceniant is sent to the graveyard, I can add a Predaplant monster to my hand from the deck”.

Sora flinched as he couldn’t finish Yuri off this turn.

“I…I end my turn”.

Yuri’s smirk widened as he drew from his deck.

“Good, now it’s my turn. And I activate Predaplant Cordyceps’s effect from the graveyard!”.

Sora stumbled as a thin plant resembling a root appeared on the field.

“When did you send such a card to the graveyard? Hold on… Of course, Ophrys Scorpio’s effect!”.

“Glad to see you remember. By banishing it, Cordyceps allows me to summon two Level 4 or lower Predaplants from my graveyard back to the field. Bloom once more, Ophrys Scorpio and Sarraceniant!”.

Before disappearing, Cordyceps screamed loudly and soon enough Yuri’s monsters returned to the field.

“The only drawback is that I can’t summon any monsters for the rest of the turn”.

“Then what was the point of it?” asked a worried Sora. Yuri chuckled and put a finger over his mouth.

“Well… I can’t summon any monsters…except for one specific type”.

Yuri then raised one of the cards he had in hand.

“You know this card well. I’m sure you’re rather used to it”.

Sora narrowed his eyes, wearing a confused expression. Then he straightened his back as he realized what Yuri was talking about.

“You…You don’t mean…”.

“That’s right! I activate the Spell Polymerization! And I fuse Ophrys Scorpio and Sarraceniant! Now, fall with the utmost of my respect!”.

The people watching, except for Shuzo and the children, suddenly felt something, knowing well who Yuri was going to summon. Yuto closed his eyes for just a moment, before reopening them.

“It’s coming”.

Back on the field, Yuri raised his arms as his monsters were fused together.

“Beautiful flowers with an insect-alluring fragrance… Now become one, and from the hell beneath your petals, give birth to a new terror!”.

Yuri clasped his hands together.

“Fusion Summon! Poisonous dragon with hungry fangs, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!”.

And like that, Yuri’s ace monster appeared on the field. Sora stood stunned at just what was before him.

The dragon had a purple, long serpentine body with several glowing blood-red gems on several parts of it. And he could have sworn he saw several sharp teeth where there shouldn’t be any (2800/2000).

But more than that, he felt an incredible energy coming from it. Something that he never felt before.

‘T-This power… It’s…It’s like back home! But…stronger. How?!’.

Sora looked at Yuri, who was still grinning like a madman.

‘Just who is this guy?’.

Starving Venom then roared loudly. Yuri, as if to understand his dragon, chuckled.

“You’re raring to go my beautiful flower, aren’t you? You can feel it too. This overwhelming power. Going against such strength is exhilarating isn’t it”.

Yuri raised his arm.

“Let’s not waste any more time. I activate Starving Venom’s effect! When she’s Fusion Summoned, I choose a Special Summoned monster on my opponent’s field, in this case Frightfur Bear, and until the end of the turn, Starving Venom gains all of its Attack points!”.

Sora widened his eyes. Because of his effect, his monster had 3200 Attack. That meant that Starving Venom would reach 6000 Attack!

Despite that he shook his head.

“I’ll be able to withstand your attack even if you destroy my monster”.

Yuri laughed once again, freezing Sora in his tracks.

“I’m sorry, Sora, but this duel is over. I activate the Spell Predaplant Parasitic Seed from my hand! This card allows me to equip a Predaplant monster in my graveyard to another monster on the field. The chosen monster gains the Attack, Defense and effect of the one I’m going to equip it with. I choose Ophrys Scorpio”.

Said monster appeared and got immediately assimilated into Starving Venom, raising her attack to 7200, much to Sora’s shock.

“Unfortunately, both monsters are destroyed at the end of the turn, but it doesn’t matter since this is the last turn! Starving Venom Fusion Dragon! Destroy Frightfur Bear! Venomous Mauling!”.

With great speed, Starving Venom blocked Frightfur Bear with her serpentine body before opening her jaws and violently mauling the bear’s head until he got destroyed. The ensuing explosion threw Sora back as his Life Points were reduced to zero in one fell swoop.

The field soon returned to normal as Sora groaned while staring at the ceiling.

“Did someone take the license plate of that truck?”.

He heard steps coming towards him. Looking up, he saw Yuri extending a hand to him. His smile now looked normal, to the point of being friendly.

“That was a nice duel. You’re a truly formidable opponent”.

“…Hey. Now that I think about it, you could have gone after Fluffal Leo instead of Frightfur Bear. Why did you decide to destroy it?”.

Yuri chuckled.

“Ignoring your strongest monster to go after your weaker one would have been an insult to your skill. You’re a fine duelist, not some idiot that thinks he’s tough”.

Sora then stared at his outstretched hand before smiling. He grabbed it and helped himself on his feet.

“You’re not bad yourself. You utterly destroyed me”.

“Looking forward to our next duel”.

“Same. But I think I’m going to wait at least a month before challenging you again”.

The other boy simply laughed. Sora noted that it was a genuine sounding laugh, instead of the crazed one from before. The two then returned inside.

Yugo immediately went to sling an arm over Yuri’s shoulder.

“That’s our brother! You never disappoint”.

Yuri huffed a laugh as he removed Yugo’s arm from him.

“Of course not. You expected anything else?”.

Serena looked at the two before turning to Sora.

“You’re quite the duelist, kid. Not many can stand toe-to-toe with Yuri like you did”.

His response was simply to smile as he popped a lollipop in his mouth. Yuya approached him.

“That was amazing, Sora! I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone pulling off such an amazing Fusion Summon. Well, other than Serena and Yuri that is”.

Sora raised his brows interested.

“So Serena too uses Fusion Summon?”.

The girl in question broadly grinned at him.

“Yup. And if you’re wondering, I’ll gladly accept to wipe the floor with you”.

Sora grinned back.

“Heh. We’ll see about that. But…if you don’t mind…”.

Sora’s face turned strangely serious.

“Where did you learn such a technique? I thought only LDS taught Fusion Summon”.

At his question, everyone glanced at each other, much to Sora’s confusion. The three kids though mirrored his feelings.

“Now that I think about it, you never told us where you learnt your summoning” said Futoshi. Ayu nodded with him.

Yugo closed his eyes.

“Well… It’s a bit complicated but… The simple way to say it would be that our father taught us”.

“Hmm? By father you mean…Yusho Sakaki right?”.

Yuto nodded.

“Before he vanished, he taught all of us the various types of Extra Deck summoning. You see, me and Ruri specialize in Xyz Summon. Yugo and Rin in Synchro Summon. And Yuri and Serena in Fusion Summon”.

Sora hummed in understanding. Despite the explanation, though, he was still confused on one thing.

“But how could your father know these methods?”.

Yuya shrugged.

“We’re not sure. All we know is that dad was once an employee at Leo Corporation before one day he left without giving an explanation. Maybe he picked it up from there”.

Sora widened his eyes. Yusho was a Leo Corp. worker once, huh? Noticing something strange in that explanation, he turned to Yuya and Yuzu.

“What about you two though? Don’t you have your own summoning method you specialize in?”.

The two looked at each other.

“Well, not at first. Now we’re both specializing in Pendulum Summon but I…huh…I literally created that some days ago. So at first we didn’t have any methods we were better over the others”.

Sora blinked in surprise at hearing that Yuzu too had Pendulum cards.

“So you can Pendulum Summon too, Yuzu?”.

At her nod, Sora’s lollipop almost fell out his mouth. So Yuya wasn’t the only one with Pendulum cards. Sora didn’t know that.

“But where did you learn Fusion Summon though? I thought you weren’t an LDS student” said Yuya.

Sora waved his hand, dismissively.

“Where I’m from it’s actually very common. Don’t sweat on the details”.

Despite what he said, Yuri couldn’t help but think there was something that he wasn’t telling them.

“By the way, there’s something that’s been bothering me since before we started. You are all adopted, right?” he said as he pointed at the siblings, male and female. They all nodded.

“Then… How come you look so similar to each other? You’re basically quadruplets”.

Yuzu shook her head.

“We have no idea. We just do”.

Sora’s eyelids dropped.

“A-Are you sure your parents haven’t been cheating on the other?”.

Everyone hastily negated that.

“At all. It’s been proved that except for Yuya and Yuzu, we’re not related to our parents in any way” explained Rin. Ruri though looked away, with a strange look in her eyes.

“Well… There…is that other aspect…”.

After her statement, the eight stood there awkwardly, much to everyone else’s confusion.

“Other…aspect?”.

Yuya waved his hands frantically.

“Let’s not think about it. The important thing is that we’re family”.

His face soon broke into a gentle smile.

“And that won’t change. Never has. Never will”.

With his phrase, the siblings smiled warmly at each other. Sora looked at them, feeling a sense of great familiarity from them. He couldn’t help but smile.

“That was so hot-blooded!”.

Shuzo entered the room with his usual fashion.

“You two put up a show that will be forever be engraved in my mind. You will join our school, right?”.

Rin put her hands on her hips and looked admonishingly at him.

“Dad! You shouldn’t force him to join”.

Sora though simply smiled at her.

“It’s okay really. After everything, I’ll certainly sign up”.

Shuzo jumped in the air excited, much to his daughters’ embarrassment.

“Then wait here, I’m going to get the application form. I can finally pay the bills…”.

After he left (with that last bit making the four girls cover their burning faces in shame), Yuya approached Sora.

“Hey, maybe we haven’t started on the right foot but I’ll gladly be your friend if you want”.

“Sure. I’d like that. But next time we’re going to duel. I want to face Pendulum Summon for real”.

The red-haired boy grinned at him.

“Sure! But don’t expect it to be easy”.

“Sir. You might want to check this”.

Reiji didn’t raise his head from his papers as his assistant Nakajima entered the room.

“What is it? Is it another burst of energy?”.

“It is. Fusion energy to be more precise”.

Reiji simply hummed, his eyes still locked down.

“And what is so important about it?”.

“We managed to detect the source of it”.

Reiji widened his eyes and finally raised his head towards Nakajima. While there have been several cases of powerful summoning energy emissions, they were never able to properly locate whoever caused it.

He dropped the papers he had in hand and stood up from his seat.

“Who is it?”.

Nakajima showed him a picture of a blue-haired boy.

“Sora Shiunin. A young man that apparently wished to join LDS before he suddenly decided to change schools. The energy his summoning has released is only slightly less powerful than the ones we are used to but it is nonetheless far stronger than anyone at LDS or any other school is able to create”.

Reiji crossed his arms in thought. So it would mean this Sora is not the source of all the bursts of energy that have been happening these last few years. But it was a precious discovery nonetheless.

“I see. Then it means this person has to be from Fusion”.

“More than likely, sir. But there’s more. As we detected this wave of Fusion energy, shortly after we managed to detect an even more powerful burst, more in line with the ones we usually find”.

Reiji narrowed his eyes.

“Do we know who caused it?”.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t trace which Duel Disk is from. But we can trace back to whoever caused it”.

“…Very well. Continue”.

Nakajima did something on his tablet.

“The bursts of energies we usually detect are extremely strong but they are more veiled than what someone might think. We can detect them but we can’t trace them back. But this time it was different. Because the two emissions were very close to each other we could finally gather where it originated”.

The man raised his head at Reiji.

“You Show Duel School”.

While surprised, Reiji wasn’t as shocked as he thought he’d be. That school seemed to really attract unwanted attention.

“When Sora Shiunin Fusion Summoned, he was facing one of its students”.

Nakajima then showed his tablet to Reiji, which was showing a picture of a familiar person.

“Yuri Sakaki”.

Reiji frowned before he put a hand on his chin.

What exactly does this mean? This person was able to emit an extremely powerful wave of Fusion energy that exceeded that of a Fusion native.

“Could it be that… He’s also from another dimension?”.

That would explain why there aren’t any records of him before being adopted by Yusho. But if that was the case, then what about all of his brothers? And the Hiiragi sisters as a matter of fact?

Is it possible that all of them are…

Reiji adjusted his glasses.

“Keep a close eye on You Show. Especially on its students. It’s possible they might play a crucial role in all this”.

Nakajima nodded and left. Reiji sat down on his chair, mulling over what he just discovered.

“…It seems…things are truly starting to move… Aren’t they, father?”.

It was evening and Sora was before the Sakaki household. He decided to knock at the door. Yoko greeted him.

“Ah, Sora. How come you’re here?”.

Sora scratched his head smiling.

“Well, you see, I was wondering if I could stay for dinner. After what you made for me today, I basically became dependent on your cooking. I hope I’m not intruding”.

Yoko chuckled.

“Oh, you’re not, I assure you. But… You might want to rethink staying here for dinner. It is normally…pretty rowdy. And today we also have Yuzu and her sisters, so I think you might find yourself uncomfortable”.

“Oh, come on. It can’t be that bad”.

Yoko raised a brow with an amused smile before she slightly opened the door, letting him take a peek inside.

Sora widened his eyes at what he saw. Yeah, it wasn’t as bad as he thought.

It was much, much worse.

“Can you pass me the salt please?!”.

“Hey, my eyes were on that fish, you bastard!”.

“Then next time be faster!”.

“Hey, I saw you stealing from her plate!”.

“SHHH! Do you want me dead by any chance?!”.

“Give that back, asshole!”.

“H-Hey! Be more careful!”.

“Alright, who snatched all the bread?!”.

Sora’s jaw could very well hit the floor as he took in what exactly he was witnessing.

Chaos. Pure and utter chaos.

The two sets of siblings basically created a battlefield on that dinner table. When Yoko said the eight of them were an apocalypse, it was obvious she was joking.

Sora realized she wasn’t.

Though he must admit that despite the absolute mayhem it was, there was a warmness in that atmosphere that truly represented a family.

…Well… Not like he ever felt something like that…

Scrolling off his thoughts, he looked back at Yoko, who was staring at him with a curved smile. He laughed awkwardly.

“W-Well, actually, I just remembered I have something to do so I can’t join you I’m afraid”.

That caused Yoko to laugh. She gave him a plastic bag.

“Don’t worry. I figured you’d have ‘something to do’ so I made some extras”.

She winked at him. Sora gratefully took the bag. Yoko then cracked her neck.

“Now, wish me luck. I got eight, unruly children to reign in”.

And those were Yoko’s last words to him before she returned to the war-zone that house was.

Sora huffed one small laugh before he went his way.

Those eight were really something to behold. Sora figured his staying in this city will be much more colorful than he thought.

His smile slowly slid off his face as he entered an alley. He brought out his Duel Disk and contacted someone.

“Shiunin to Academia. Can you hear me?”.

“We do Shiunin. What is the reason of this call?”.

“I’m currently in Standard. Today, I’ve dueled someone who used a particular Fusion monster”.

“What was so particular about it?”.

Sora hesitated only for a second before answering.

“The energy it unleashed was as strong as our own Fusion Summon. Perhaps even more”.

There was silence on the other end. Sora wondered if the call suddenly ended before someone answered him.

“…What were the names of the duelist and the monster?”.

“The duelist’s name is Yuri Sakaki. He used a monster named Starving Venom Fusion Dragon”.

In the back, Sora could have sworn he heard something breaking. He could also hear a bit of a commotion.

“Is everything okay?”.

“…It is. Thank you for informing us. Please, continue with your current assignment”.

“Understood. Glory to Academia”.

The call ended there. Despite it lasting a couple of minutes at best, Sora could feel the tension from over here.

Sora shrugged before he went his way to his hotel. It would be a shame to waste what Yoko prepared for him.

Chapter Text

A five-years old Ruri was sitting on a corner of the bedroom, simply staring at the children playing with each other.

Ruri hugged her knees. After she somehow woke up in this strange city, she was taken in by an orphanage. She doesn’t know where she is. She doesn’t even know how she ended up here.

But Ruri wanted to be back home. With her parents, her friends and her brother.

The little girl took out a card and stared at it.

Lyrilusc – Assembled Nightingale.

It was the first card she obtained. It was a gift from her brother. Ruri’s eyes started to water.

“Shun… Where are you? I’m scared…”.

“That’s an Xyz monster isn’t it?”.

Ruri’s head shop up and she saw a boy her age looking at her. He had purple and black hair, while his eyes were grey. She blinked at him.

No one knew what Xyz monsters were. When she first tried telling someone, they just laughed and said her card was fake. That was also one of the reasons she doesn’t interact with the other children.

“How…do you know?”.

The boy took out a card from his pocket. Ruri looked at it and gasped.

The name of the card was Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. An Xyz monster.

“You’re from Heartland aren’t you?”.

Ruri looked at the boy in confusion. How did he know…the name of her city? Then it suddenly came to her.

“Are you…also from Heartland?”.

He nodded.

“I don’t know why but one day I woke up in this city. The matrons took me in but the kids stay away from me”.

He slightly turned his head back. Ruri followed his gaze. The other kids were looking at them while whispering to each other.

“To them we’re strangers. For some reason we have cards that no one has and so they call us weird or worse, cheaters. But Xyz Summon is real. We both know it is”.

He turned to her.

“My name is Yuto”.

Ruri allowed a small smile to appear on her face.

“I’m Ruri”.

Yuto smiled back before he extended a hand to her.

“Let’s be friends okay?”.

Ruri took his hand.

Ruri woke up with the sun shining on her face. Yeah, sometimes she would forget to lower the curtains and so in the morning she’d get a ray of light over her eyes.

She got up from the bed and yawned before she went to the bathroom. She knocked on the door, checking if there was anyone in there.

“Occupied”.

Ruri groaned. Yuzu…

“Be quick at least. I got a bird’s nest on my head”.

She could hear a chuckle from behind the door.

“Fitting, Ruri-lusc”.

Ruri snorted.

“Screw you”.

It was a known fact that Ruri takes the longest out of all the four sisters to get ready. She would hog the bathroom for hours. There was basically an unspoken rule that said anyone must get ready before her. And if they couldn’t, well, sucks for them then.

After five good minutes, Yuzu finally left the bathroom, letting her sister in.

“All yours”.

“About time”.

Yuzu grinned, as Ruri locked the door behind her.

“Oh, sorry, Rin. I thought you were Ruri. My mistake”.

She couldn’t help it. She laughed at her sister’s joke. Before doing anything, Ruri washed her face.

“Sorry about that. I just…had a dream. Back from when I was at the orphanage”.

Yuzu leaned back on the door.

“I see. Mustn’t have been a nice dream then”.

Once she was done, Ruri decided to start the shower, waiting for the water to get hot.

“Surprisingly it was. It was the day I met Yuto. But…it still reminded me of how terrified I was back then”.

All of her sisters and the four brothers knew this. Most of them suddenly woke up in this city with no recollection of how they ended up here. And while Yuri, Serena, Yugo and Rin’s lives were crappy even before ending up here, Yuto and Ruri both had families and friends.

Thinking about just how worried they must feel for the two made Yuzu feel grim.

“…I see. But know that you’re not alone. Maybe we can’t completely replace your real family… But we’re here for you. All of us”.

Ruri stopped what she was doing. She looked at the mirror. She didn’t even notice that a small tear managed to escape her eye. She smiled at the reflection. Then she decided to open the door, facing her sister. Then she hugged her.

“…Thank you Yuzu. You all are as much of a family to me as my real one”.

Yuzu hugged her back. The two stayed like that for a minute before Ruri decided to return inside. She started to remove her pajamas.

“By the way, where are Rin and Serena?”.

“Both down. And if I know them as much as I think I do…”.

“…they’re probably doing exercises to stay fit”.

Both shared a laugh.

“Exactly. Well, I’ll wait for you down there. See you in the next century”.

Ruri chuckled. They’re all far too sassy in the morning.

Once she was done with everything, Ruri went down, seeing both Serena and Rin doing morning exercises in the living room. The green-haired girl turned towards Ruri once she heard her coming down.

“Morning sis. Today it only took you 45 minutes to get ready. Must be a record. Normally, you stay in that bathroom for over an hour”.

Ruri passed a hand through her hair.

“Hey, I need time to appear this good”.

Serena tilted her head towards her as she stretched her legs.

“Well, that’s not narcissistic at all”.

Ruri huffed a laugh before heading towards the kitchen. She saw Yuzu preparing breakfast.

“Hey there, Yuzu. Is dad already at work?”.

“Yeah. Poor man. He works two different jobs to raise us and he’s also the principal of a duel school. I wish I could do more for him”.

Ruri smiled at seeing Yuzu’s caring side before she went to take a bottle of milk from the fridge.

“Don’t act so gloomy. What would dad say if he’d see you like this?”.

Yuzu smiled before putting up her best Shuzo-impersonation.

“‘You don’t have to feel sad about me. For me you do enough. Now get your hot-blooded spirit going! Hot-blooded, hot-blooded, hot-blooded!’”.

After drinking her milk, Ruri laughed at Yuzu’s perfect imitation of their father.

“You and Yuya are two bundles of chaos you know that?”.

Yuzu grinned playfully at her.

“And you guys are not? Maybe we’re the chaotic ones but you are not that far behind”.

“Maybe, but we will never match you two in that aspect though”.

After a chuckle, Ruri returned to the living room just as Rin and Serena finished with their exercises.

“I swear you two are made of iron for being able to train almost every day”.

Serena put her hands behind her head.

“And you wonder why we’re the fittest of the four? You two should train more often with us”.

Ruri waved her hand and walked towards the table.

“Three days per week and training at the school is enough for me. Me and Yuzu don’t have the same resistance you two have”.

Rin gently elbowed Serena.

“Come on. Anyone has their own limit. And breaking them isn’t always a good thing”.

“Yeah, guess so”.

Yuzu then entered the room with two bowls of rice with her.

“If you two are done, go and take a shower now. Your breakfasts are in the kitchen waiting”.

The two made sounds of agreement and they went up. Yuzu sat down parallel to Ruri and gave her one of the bowls she had.

“Thank you”.

“No problem. Though I must warn you, tomorrow Serena is on cooking duty. And it’ll be one of her experiments”.

Ruri let out a soft groan. Serena…wasn’t exactly someone who you’d want to give free reign in the kitchen. Not that she was bad at cooking but…sometimes she would whip out combinations that were… What’s the word?

Ah, right. Horrifying.

Cheese sauce on pancakes? Eggs with mint? Ketchup on chocolate?!

Serena loved mixing things together. Now, there were limits to what she would concoct (She’d never, ever put broccoli on pizza, that would be abominable) but expect the most absurd combinations if Serena was cooking.

And that’s also why Serena was allowed to experiment in their household only twice per month.

“I just hope what she makes will be edible”.

Yuzu giggled as Ruri put a hand on her face.

“Well, she never goes beyond inedible… Most of the time”.

The two sisters casually chatted as they finished their meals. After ten minutes, Rin and Serena arrived looking refreshed and soon joined them.

Just a normal morning with the Hiiragi sisters.

And Ruri wouldn’t exchange it for the world.

“You didn’t have to follow me”.

Ruri, Yuzu and Ayu were returning to the school with some bags of ice creams with them.

“It’s no trouble, Yuzu, really. Besides, you needed the extra hands”.

When you have to bring ten people ice cream, then maybe two people, one of the them being a child, might not be enough.

“Alright, I give. There are three people in the whole world who I really don’t want to argue with. Yuri, Yuto and you”.

Ruri shot her a smirk.

“Because you know you’ll never win?”.

“Exactly”.

The two sisters laughed. At one point, Ayu noticed two guys passing above them.

“Hey, Big Sis Yuzu, aren’t those two familiar?”.

Yuzu looked up and silently gasped, recognizing the two as Shingo’s henchmen.

“Shingo is surely fired up huh?”.

“Yeah, he truly thinks he’ll defeat Sakaki”.

The girl widened her eyes at hearing that. She dragged her companions with them and hid, much to Ruri’s confusion.

“Yuzu… What-”.

Her sister put a finger over her mouth and listened in.

“But man, I've never seen Shingo so determined before”.

“Well, you have to admit his loss to Sakaki really put a dent in his pride”.

“Yeah, but this time Sakaki has no chances. Shingo has pretty much mastered his new deck”.

“Eh, we’ll see. Crap, we better get a move, you know how Shingo is when he’s hungry”.

“Ah, right. Which warehouse were we staying in again?”.

The two sped away, not knowing the three girls heard their conversation.

“This is bad. Sawatari will use all of his tricks to defeat Yuya”.

Ruri stared at Yuzu, worried.

“By Sawatari, you mean that guy who tried to steal Yuya’s Pendulum cards?”.

“Yeah, him. And apparently he’s back with a vengeance. That guy spoke of warehouses so he must be at the harbor…”.

Yuzu gripped her fist before she went and followed the two.

“Y-Yuzu, wait! Don’t do anything reckless! Ayu, return to the school, I’ll follow her”.

Ruri went and run towards her sister, leaving the red-haired kid behind.

“W-Wait! What about the ice cream?”.

At the harbor warehouses, specifically inside the number 52, Shingo was impatiently waiting on a couch.

“Where are Ootomo and Yamabe? They should have been here exactly…five minutes ago”.

Kakimoto shrugged. At that moment, the two entered the warehouse.

“You two are late”.

“Sorry, there was a line at the shop. Here, Shingo”.

Yamabe gave Shingo a pie, which he gleefully took. Outside the warehouse, Yuzu and Ruri were spying on them.

“Now they look like full-on delinquents”.

Ruri looked at Yuzu.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have asked for help?”.

“Come on, don’t tell me they scare you?”.

“Well… Not in a duel perhaps. But what if they try something like they did the first time?”.

Yuzu stopped to think. Thinking back to it, with Shingo any dirty trick is possible.

“I know but… It’s always Yuya who protects me in the end. And…I want to protect him for once. I don’t want to be a damsel in distress all the time”.

Ruri softly smiled at her sister and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sure you do more for him than simply being a damsel in distress, which you aren’t, mind you. But remember there are people who will feel sad if something bad were to happen to you. The fact you want to protect Yuya is admirable but you don’t have to do it to prove something. I’m sure he’ll tell you the same thing”.

Yuzu looked at her sister with both shock and awe. She smiled at her.

Ruri was way too good at reading people in her opinion.

“Thank you for your words Ruri. Though I still think we must do something about them”

Ruri gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Then let’s go. And don’t worry. I’m with you”.

Yuzu smiled at her. After a couple of seconds, the two barged in the warehouse.

“I know what you’re up to, Sawatari!”.

Yuzu’s yell took Shingo by surprise, who almost choked on his pie. He took a bottle of water and hastily drank its content. Once he was sure he wasn’t dying, he turned to the two girls annoyed.

“Yuzu Hiiragi?! What are you doing he- Wait, two Yuzu?”.

Ruri and Yuzu looked at each other for a moment.

“What? Never seen sisters before?”.

The long-haired girl, ever the respectful one (Yes, even to Shingo), bowed.

“My name is Ruri. Nice to meet you”.

Shingo slightly slumped over before his annoyance returned ten-fold.

“Alright, you’re here. Now do you mind letting me eat my pie in peace please?”.

Yuzu raised a brow at him, noting the crumbles on his cheek.

“You call that eating? The food goes into the mouth not on the face”.

Shingo blinked before taking out a tissue and cleaning his face.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t disturb or shout at people who are trying to eat”.

“He’s got a point there, sis”.

“Which side are you on?!”.

Shingo could only blink at them. The sibling-energy those two were emitting were so high, they might as well hit the ceiling. And this warehouse is pretty big.

“Anyway, I know what you plan to do to Yuya and there’s no way I’ll just allow it”.

Shingo gave a quick glare to his henchmen, who scratched their heads in shame. But then he made a dramatic pose.

“Ah, so you fell into my trap!”.

The two girls blinked. They glanced at each other.

“He’s totally making this up”.

“You’re even questioning it?”.

Shingo though didn’t hear them, still in his own world.

“Now that you two are here, I-”.

“Duel me!”.

Shingo’s eye twitched at being interrupted by Yuzu.

“Like I said, I-”.

“Or are you too scared to face me?”.

“I will-”.

“I wouldn’t expect anything from you anyway”.

“WOULD YOU LET ME FINISH, DAMMIT?!”.

Shingo was trembling in anger due to constantly being interrupted. Ruri looked at her sister with a deadpan expression. She was doing it on purpose. She knows she is.

“Then duel me already. Or do you have to resort to one of your dirty tricks to defeat me?”.

Shingo clicked his tongue and took out his Duel Disk.

“I don’t need tricks to beat you. By the way, has anyone told you to never wander inside the lion’s den?”.

The two frowned at him before hearing the door of the warehouse closing. Turning back, they saw Shingo’s goons trapping them inside. Yuzu angrily turned to him.

“And you don’t call this a trick?!”.

Shingo brushed his hair.

“Closing a door can barely be considered a trick. Now, start regretting your actions”.

The two girls gulped before they heard a commotion from behind them. Turning back once again, they noticed someone entering the warehouse and knocking over Shingo’s friends.

“You two could get too carried away at times”.

Both Ruri and Yuzu slightly gasped as they recognized the person being Yuto. The dark-haired duelist approached them.

“Seriously, you two shouldn’t just run ahead like that. I was taking a walk when I saw poor Ayu crying her eyes out because you two decided to go after Sawatari”.

The two felt a bit bad knowing they worried Ayu in such a way. Shingo pointed at him angrily.

“You… Yuya Sakaki!”.

The three blinked twice before they turned to him. They could see veins popping on Shingo’s forehead.

“Are you here to laugh at me about my loss to you? Well then, after your girlfriend, I’m taking you out!”.

But to his confusion, Ruri started to giggle while Yuzu went a bit red over being called ‘Yuya’s girlfriend’. Yuto instead shook his head.

“You got the wrong person. My name is Yuto. Yuya is my brother”.

Shingo’s arm slowly dropped down as an incredulous expression made its way on his face.

“Yuya’s broth- How many of you are there exactly?!”.

“I have three brothers including Yuya. These two also have two other sisters”.

Shingo’s eye twitched as he heard that. Four Yuya was a nightmare made real. Shingo composed himself.

“You know what? I’m going to start with you. Once I’m done with you, your brother’s next”.

Ruri suddenly widened her eyes as an old memory came to her.

Ruri was clutching her sides as Yuto stood before her. Some kids were harassing her and Yuto came in to protect her.

“Pick on someone your own size”.

The leader of the bullies grunted.

“Are you protecting your little girlfriend now? Once we’re done with you, she’s next”.

It was a memory of when she was at the orphanage. In that moment she really thought the only consolations she had in this world would be stripped away from her.

In retrospection, it was silly she’d think something like that. But she was a kid. A scared kid that didn’t know where she was. It’s no wonder she’d feel paranoid.

And Shingo’s words triggered that unpleasant memory.

“Hey, Yuto”.

He turned to her. She put the disk on.

“I’m dueling this guy”.

That day she could do nothing except being pushed down. But now it was different.

Yuto’s lips slightly parted before he nodded at her.

“Very well. Don’t lose”.

Ruri smiled at him confidently.

“What, you’re doubting me?”.

Yuto smiled amused as Ruri stepped forward. Shingo groaned dramatically.

“Would you just get your mind set already?”.

“Don’t worry. I’m all yours”.

Shingo huffed and pointed at his friends.

“You three take care of the stragglers”.

Shingo’s friends activated their disks, forcing both Yuzu and Yuto to activate theirs and engage them. Shingo smirked.

“And now no one will help you”.

Ruri smirked back at him.

“They’d never lose to the likes of you and your henchmen. It’s you who has to worry”.

“DUEL!!!”.

“I will start if you don’t mind. Hmm…”.

With her current hand she won’t be able to do what she intends to right now. But maybe…

“I summon Lyrilusc – Turquoise Warbler from my hand. I can Special Summon her if I control no monsters on the field”.

As Ruri’s small harpy appeared, Yuto couldn’t help but muse to himself as he figured out what she was up to. If Shingo isn’t setting up any defenses, then he was done for.

“Plus, if she’s summoned this way, I can summon another Lyrilusc monster from my hand, like Lyrilusc – Cobalt Sparrow. And I inform you that when she’s Special Summoned I can add another Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my deck to my hand”.

Ruri picked the card she wanted as her second monster appeared.

“And now since I control a Winged Beast monster, I can summon Lyrilusc – Sapphire Swallow from my hand. Next I set two cards face-down and end my turn”.

Shingo raised a brow as Ruri’s last monster appeared on the field.

“This is your big play? Three weak monsters that don’t even scare worms? HAH! Children like those should stay in a daycare. Please, try to make this challenging for me at least”.

The three small harpies looked offended at Shingo’s insinuation. Ruri however didn’t look worried.

“I’d wait before insulting my monsters Sawatari. You might find yourself…surprised”.

“The only surprising thing here is how little it’ll take for me to defeat you. My turn. I draw!”.

Shingo smirked at his hand.

“Since you control at least 2 Spells or Traps, I can summon Escher, the Frost Vassal, from my hand”.

As Yuto destroyed his opponent’s monster, he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at the monster Shingo summoned.

If Shingo’s deck was based on that monster, then his willingness to challenge Yuya again suddenly makes sense.

“He won’t be staying here for long though because I tribute him to summon Mobius, the Frost Monarch!”.

And like Yuto thought, the giant appeared on the field. Ruri still looked collected though.

“And his effect activates. When Tribute Summoned, Mobius destroys up to 2 cards in your Spell/Trap Zone. Freeze Burst!”.

Mobius created a blizzard which soon froze and destroyed Ruri’s face-down cards. But despite that, she didn’t look troubled in the slightest. Shingo laughed haughtily.

“How about that? Your defenses have crumbled. Bet you’re regretting summoning those weak monsters. And I’m not done yet because I activate Tribute Carnival, which allows me to Tribute Summon a second time. So I release Mobius, the Frost Monarch…and I summon Mobius, the Mega Monarch!”.

With that said, a bigger and stronger version of Mobius stood in place of his previous one (2800/1000).

“Now my Mobius attacks your little Cobalt Sparrow. Imperial Charge! And guess what? Since your monster has 0 Attack, you get 2800 damage!”.

As his monster was about to attack, Ruri’s lips curved into a smile.

“I activate the Trap Lyrilusc – Phantom Feathers directly from my graveyard!”.

Shingo staggered. That was one of the cards he destroyed.

“F-From the graveyard?!”.

“I must thank you Sawatari. When this card is in the graveyard while one of my Lyrilusc is attacked, I can banish it to activate its effect. The attacked monster’s Attack becomes the same of the attacking monster”.

With that, Cobalt Sparrow started to grow in appearance. Shingo widened his eyes as the small child turned into a woman, while her attack sky-rocketed from 0 to 2800.

“T-This can’t be!”.

“I told you to not underestimate my Lyriluscs”.

Yuzu blinked her eyes at her sister’s card before turning to Yuto.

“That card is closer to your style than hers. Did you perhaps…”.

He simply smiled without turning away from his opponent.

“I just gave her some advice. That’s all”.

Yuzu smiled back. Yuto really cared about Ruri. She turned back to her opponent, ready to pummel him.

Back to the main duel, both monsters got destroyed in battle. Shingo gritted his teeth in anger. Then he played a card.

“Fortunately, I have the Quick Spell Card Perseverance of the Monarch. With this card, I can summon Mobius, the Mega Monarch, back to the field!”.

Shingo’s monster reappeared from the graveyard.

“I set a card face-down and end my turn. You may have saved yourself this turn but now you’re defenseless and powerless against me. Your little birds can’t hope to defeat my Monarch”.

‘And even if they were able to, I set the Trap Ice Rage as incentive. No matter what she’ll do, I will win next turn!’.

Ruri shook her head.

“I already told you, you shouldn’t underestimate my monsters. Maybe they don’t look strong and they are certainly far cuter than scary…”.

Sapphire Swallow seemed to have taken that personally, because she turned to her pouting and then tried puffing her chest to appear more intimidating, much to Turquoise Warbler’s amusement. Ruri giggled at her monster.

“…but they have a secret strength to them. One you’re about to see firsthand. Now it’s my turn. I draw!”.

Ruri smiled at her drawn card.

“When I have her in my hand, I can Special Summon Lyrilusc – Beryl Canary from my hand along another monster I have in the graveyard. Like Cobalt Sparrow”.

Beryl Canary appeared on the field right above the portal for the graveyard. The harpy then went inside and dragged Cobalt Sparrow, looking like her usual self, from it before they joined their friends.

“And to complete the field, I summon Lyrilusc – Celestine Wagtail”.

And with Celestine Wagtail’s appearance, Ruri’s field was completely full. The small army of harpies stood before Ruri, ready to do her will. Shingo didn’t look one bit worried though.

“So? You just filled your field with weak monsters. What are they going to do to my Mobius?”.

Ruri sighed disappointedly.

“You go to LDS and you can’t even tell? Can’t you see what my monsters all have in common?”.

Shingo tilted his head with a weirded out expression. Then he looked at them, not understanding.

“Yes, they’re all weak, Level 1 monsters! They can’t possibly be a threat to- Hold on…”.

Shingo’s boast suddenly dropped to a halt as he realized what he just said.

“All…Level 1…monsters?”.

His eyes slowly widened in horror as he figured out what Ruri was up to.

“Y-You can’t possibly mean…”.

She grinned at him as she raised her arm up.

“Exactly! I overlay the Level 1 Turquoise Warbler, Sapphire Swallow, Cobalt Sparrow, Beryl Canary and Celestine Wagtail!”.

A dark portal appeared under the five monsters, who all shined brightly and then dived inside it.

“Birds with beautiful wings! Gather on the battlefield and take brilliant flight…”.

Ruri stared at his opponent with fiery determination in her eyes.

“Xyz Summon! Dance in the sky, Lyrilusc – Assembled Nightingale!”.

Unlike her previous monsters, this one appeared like a grown woman and had several colors instead of only one (0/0). Shingo stood slack-jawed at it, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.

“H-H-How can you know Xyz Summon?! That’s exclusively taught in a course that only elite members of LDS can take!”.

Ruri giggled while waving her finger.

“Sorry, it’s a secret. Just know that the world isn’t as small as you might think”.

Shingo managed to recover from his shock.

“Even so, your monster has 0 Attack points! It’s completely harmless!”.

“Wait for it. As I’m sure you know, an Xyz monster’s strength come from their overlay units. Now… Assembled Nightingale gains 200 Attack points for every overlay unit she has. And with five, she gains 1000 Attack points. Plus, since I used Beryl Canary as material, she gains 200 additional points and can’t change field (0 -> 1200)”.

Shingo didn’t lose his smug expression.

“Yeah, so? Your monster is nowhere near strong enough to take on Mobius”.

“Who ever said I was going to attack him?”.

Shingo raised a brow as Ruri smirked at him.

“What?”.

“You see… Assembled Nightingale can attack a number of times equal to the number of her overlay units but more than that…she can also attack directly! That means she can attack you five times!”.

Shingo gasped and almost lost his footing.

“Wha- That’s- What kind of broken effect is that?!”.

Ruri pointed at him.

“That’s why you should never underestimate your opponents and their cards. Assembled Nightingale. Attack Sawatari directly. Elusive Diving!”.

Assembled Nightingale flew up and dived towards Shingo, completely ignoring Mobius. Shingo waved his hands.

“W-Wait! Can’t we talk about it?!”.

Assembled Nightingale’s answer was simply to smirk and attack him until his Life Points were completely depleted. By the end, Shingo dropped on his knees as the Solid Vision shut off.

“That’s… That’s just not fair! Your monster’s effect is way too powerful!”.

Ruri sighed and put her hands on her hips.

“Do you think it’s easy to allow her to go all out like that? I just happened to have all the cards I needed”.

Shingo hanged his head, cursing his luck. Then he shot up.

“Wait, what about the others?”.

Ruri moved allowing him to see that Yuzu and Yuto already defeated his henchmen. Shingo’s jaw dropped.

“Who the heck are you people?”.

Yuzu and Yuto both approached Ruri and stood behind her.

“You shouldn’t use a deck you don’t find yourself good with”.

Shingo narrowed his eyes at Yuto, weirded out.

“What are you implying?”.

“That deck of yours is centered around Mobius isn’t it? A deck very good at destroying Spell and Trap cards. No wonder you were confident to win against Yuya”.

Yuzu and Ruri felt the clogs turning in their heads before they realized what Shingo was truly up to.

“You could destroy Yuya’s Pendulum monsters with Mobius!”.

Yuto nodded.

“Indeed. But it wouldn’t have lasted. After all Mobius’s effect is one that activates with his summoning. It can’t be repeated and Yuya’s deck is almost completely made of Pendulum monsters. Your strategy would have only worked so far”.

Shingo’s shoulders dropped at hearing that.

“Seriously? Grrr… I need a better deck then!”.

Yuzu sighed.

“Sawatari, a deck is only as good as its owner. If you don’t find yourself comfortable with your cards, you’ll never win. You need a deck which you truly feel a connection with”.

Ruri nodded.

“Exactly. As you have seen, Lyriluscs are extremely weak. But even they can be strong when used correctly. It’s not the strength of the card that makes it powerful but how you use it. Every card has its use; you just have to find it. And you can only do so by trusting your deck”.

While normally Shingo would just brush those comments off, this time it actually made him think. Shingo changed deck several times before, mostly because after a while they’d just stop working well against his opponents.

Maybe it was time to really find a deck that suited him instead of going after strong cards after strong cards.

Shingo got on his feet and brushed his hair.

“Hmph. Whatever. One day I’ll find a deck that will surpass the others. And then I will come after all of you! Tell Yuya that he’ll better prepare himself for me because he’s the first on the list”.

He then snapped his fingers and his friends got on their feet. They all left shortly after. The three watched them go.

“Do you think he learnt?” asked Ruri.

“Who knows” replied Yuto.

Then he turned to the two sisters.

“Now, you two owe Ayu an apology for scaring her so much. And also for leaving her with five bags of ice cream”.

Yuzu and Ruri looked down guiltily. Yuto sighed before slightly smiling. The three left after that. As they were walking, Yuzu turned to Ruri.

“Hey, just a question but why did you want to challenge Sawatari all of a sudden?”.

“Oh, well. His words just reminded me of a time back when we were little where some bullies picked up on me and Yuto protected me. Do you remember? It was the day we met”.

A small daze came over her eyes. Yuzu remembers that day well. Her mind returned back to when she was five… To the day she first met Ruri and Yuto…

Chapter Text

Yuto stood between the bullies and Ruri, not letting them touch her.

“Hey, you!”.

All of a sudden, two kids run up to them and stood by Yuto’s side. He blinked at the two. One was a girl with pink hair, the other a boy with red and green hair.

“Four against one is not fair. Only cowards attack in groups”.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves”.

The four bullies took some steps back, not expecting someone to stand up to the outcasts. Realizing they didn’t have the advantage anymore, they left. The boy put his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, run. It’s the only thing cowards are good at”.

The girl turned to Yuto and Ruri.

“Are you okay?”.

The two were gaping at what they just witnessed. Yuto though recovered from his surprise and turned to the girl.

“Ah, yes. We’re okay, thank-”.

He immediately stopped himself as he took in the girl’s face. He gasped.

Her face was the same as Ruri’s.

The girl was staring at them with the same surprise as him. The boy turned around.

“Hey, Yuzu. Is everything okay- Ah”.

Yuto blinked as he was once again hit by surprise as he looked at the boy’s face. Since it was an exact copy of his own.

The four kids stared at each other until they heard an adult arriving.

“Yuya, Yuzu. So this is where you were”.

The person who arrived was a tall man wearing a red suit and a top hat. The two kids’ faces lit up once he arrived.

“Dad!”.

“Uncle!”.

They immediately run up to him smiling. The man kneeled down and the two took advantage of it by jumping and hugging him, prompting a laugh. The man patted their heads. Then his eyes turned to Yuto and Ruri.

He wore a surprised face at the two, no doubt because of their resemblance to the two kids, but then his expression broke into a big smile.

“Hello there. Are you friends with Yuya and Yuzu?”.

Yuto and Ruri stared at the tall man, not answering. The boy, presumably named Yuya, looked up at him brightly.

“Some kids were being mean to them so me and Yuzu sent them packing”.

Yusho chuckled.

“Is that so? You two are pretty brave”.

Much to the two’s delight, the man patted their heads again. Yuto and Ruri stood back watching, secretly envious of the two. Apparently, they must have noticed it because Yuya and the girl, seemingly named Yuzu, run up to them.

The two looked at them.

“What?”.

Yuya and Yuzu smiled before they patted Yuto and Ruri’s heads respectively, taking them by surprise. While they found it strange, they didn’t push them away.

After a bit, the two kids stopped. Yuto and Ruri watched them confused.

“Why did you do it?” asked Yuto.

Yuya and Yuzu smiled at them.

“When we’re sad, dad pats our heads and we feel better”.

“You were frowning so we thought you were feeling sad. Do you feel better now?”.

Yuto and Ruri simply stood there, surprised. This…is the first time since they came here someone their age was nice to them.

It…didn’t feel bad to be honest.

Yuto and Ruri felt a small smile tugging at their lips, much to the other kids’ happiness.

Yuya’s father smiled at the four until he felt his phone vibrating. When he saw who was calling, he turned to them.

“Hey, this is an important call and it might take a while. Why don’t you two have fun with your new friends?”.

“Okay dad/uncle!”.

Yusho walked away, leaving the kids together. Yuya and Yuzu turned to them with big smiles.

“I’m Yuya”.

“I’m Yuzu”.

Yuto and Ruri smiled back at them.

“I’m Yuto”.

“And I’m Ruri”.

For the rest of the day, the four kids had fun together. For the first time since they arrived, Yuto and Ruri were both having fun.

At one point, Ruri dropped her Xyz card and Yuya found it, making her and Yuto sweat. But to their great surprise, both Yuya and Yuzu were awestruck by how pretty Assembled Nightingale looked.

Feeling brave, Yuto showed them his own Dark Rebellion and once again the two were amazed by it. Yuto and Ruri smiled as their cards were only met with sneers and mocking before them.

Yuto and Ruri felt like they finally found some friends. With them, they didn’t feel like they had to protect themselves from others. They wished this day would never end. But, of course, nothing lasts forever…

When Yuya’s dad returned, the sun was starting to set.

“Yuya, Yuzu. It’s time to go”.

“Coming!”.

Before they left, the two turned to Yuto and Ruri, and waved at them.

“Hey, let’s have fun again someday, okay?”.

The two dark-haired kids simply stared silently as their only friends left.

“Wait!”.

Without even realizing it, they both yelled. Yuya and Yuzu turned to them confused. Not knowing why they acted like that, Yuto and Ruri bowed their head.

A few seconds passed until Yuya spoke up.

“Don’t worry, we’ll meet again. Where do you live?”.

They stayed silent but Ruri simply pointed at a building not too far from them. While the two kids tilted their heads, Yusho suddenly gained an understanding expression.

“Hey, we will meet again, we promise. But your parents will get worried if you don’t return soon” said Yuzu.

The two tensed up. Yuto gripped his fists.

“Yuto? Ruri?”.

“…we…don’t know where our parents are…”.

Yuya and Yuzu blinked in surprise at his small tone. The two kids fidgeted nervously. Yuya’s dad approached them.

“I see”.

He kneeled down and gently put a hand on Yuya and Yuzu’s shoulders.

“They live in an orphanage. A place where kids without parents live”.

They opened their mouths in surprise before turning to Yuto and Ruri, who shrunk back even more.

“So you don’t have a dad? Or a mom?”.

That only made them tremble even more. Yuzu hit Yuya on the arm, chastising him for being so blunt. He looked at her with a pout before watching them again. They looked like they were about to cry.

Yuya turned to his dad.

“Then can you and mom be their parents?”.

In that moment, everything stopped. Yuya’s apparently innocent question somehow managed to cast an even stiller silence. Yuto and Ruri looked up in surprise at him.

Yusho looked taken aback by his son’s question.

“Yuya, it’s not that easy. They would also become your siblings and there are also some procedures to do”.

“But… They’re sad. They’re my friends; I don’t want them to be sad”.

Yuzu turned to her honorary uncle with the same expression.

“I don’t want it too. They should be happy. So…maybe you and aunt Yoko can be their parents. Maybe even mom and dad. But we don’t want them to be sad”.

He looked at the two, who were staring at him with pleading eyes. Yusho scratched his head before he softly smiled.

“Alright, I guess it can be arranged”.

Yuya and Yuzu’s faces broke into wide smiles before they clapped their hands together.

“But remember the final decision is up to them”.

Yusho turned to Yuto and Ruri, who were still frozen on the spot, completely stunned by what they just heard.

“As you can see, these two are very well willing to accept you and if you do wish to stay with us, we’ll welcome you with open arms. I promise I’ll do my best to take care of you two. So what do you say? Do wish to come and live with us?”.

They couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Why would these people accept them just like that? It didn’t make sense. But the two felt such a sincerity behind his words…

The two kids’ eyes soon started to water. Even if they tried to hold off their tears, they just couldn’t.

After so much time without a family…they really wanted one.

And so Yuto and Ruri run up to Yusho, who warmly embraced them in a hug. The two started crying loudly, without sign of stopping. The man smiled as he kept the two into his embrace.

“It’s okay. Everything will be fine”.

Yuto and Ruri just kept sobbing into his chest as Yuya and Yuzu stared with relieved smiles.

After that day, Yuya and Yuzu gained a sibling each.

Yuzu smiled nostalgically at the memory.

“I’d never forget it. That day is engraved in my mind”.

She closed her eyes as a sense of warmness washed over her. For her, and surely for all the others, the day they met is one they could never forget.

“I remember you two kept crying even when after we brought you home”.

Ruri and Yuto looked away, both sporting bright red blushes on their faces.

“That’s just normal for a kid. We’d been in this city for almost a year, far from our families and with people distancing themselves from us. I guess we just…couldn’t take it anymore”.

Ruri looked at the sky. At the time she felt so scared and alone. And even Yuto, who acted so mature and serious, surely felt the same. He was just a child after all.

So when someone arrived and gently accepted them…they couldn’t suppress their emotions anymore.

“Though to be honest, I’m surprised you trusted us so easily” remarked Yuzu.

Yuto scratched his neck.

“It was strange for us too. But the moment we met it was like… I felt a familiarity with you and Yuya. Like I did when I met Ruri”.

“I felt the same. I felt like I could trust you. And I don’t regret feeling like that” agreed the raven-haired girl.

Yuzu smiled at the two.

Yes. She and Yuya felt the same when they first met too. And all the time they first met their siblings as well.

It was like there some kind of connection between them. Even before they knew each other.

Yuzu doesn’t know what it is but she’s thankful for it.

Chapter Text

Reiji was skimming over several files. Specifically, all records about the Sakaki brothers and the Hiiragi sisters.

After a while, he dropped them and leaned back on his chair. His research abounded to absolutely nothing.

Yuya and Yuzu were the only ones who have actual records before the adoption of the other siblings, proving that they indeed were born in this dimension. As for the others… Reiji sighed tiredly.

Yuto and Ruri lived in an orphanage before they were adopted.

Yugo and Rin were supposedly homeless and lived on the streets.

Yuri and Serena were part of an infamous duel school before Yusho took them in.

It wasn’t unusual for parentless kids to have no records but this was beyond absurd. It was like those six just appeared one day out of nowhere.

Well, that would reinforce Reiji’s arguments that they were from different dimensions but right now, he doesn’t have any concrete evidence.

There was that energy burst that Yuri apparently created during his duel with Sora though…

Now that he thinks about it… When Reiji reviewed the first time Pendulum Summon was used, the energy that was released was as strong as those previous times. But despite it being obvious who used it, they couldn’t exactly pinpoint who caused it with their machinery.

The only reason they knew who caused it was because it was the very first time Pendulum Summon was used and it was during a match followed by thousands of people.

Reiji gently grabbed his head, feeling a headache coming. Which soon increased when he heard a commotion outside his office.

“…I said, you can’t just barge in…”.

Whoever Nakajima was talking to, they ignored what he said since they barged into Reiji’s office shortly after.

“Akaba, I need to speak with you!”.

Shingo Sawatari. The person who he tasked of stealing Yuya’s Pendulum cards. Not that he knew it was him.

Nakajima entered the room behind him, looking apologetically at the young CEO.

“Forgive me, President, I couldn’t stop him”.

Reiji raised a hand at him, signifying it was fine, before turning to Shingo.

“What is it, Sawatari?”.

“LDS is the only school that teaches Extra Deck summoning methods right?”.

Reiji blinked. Out of all questions he expected from Shingo, that wasn’t one.

“LDS is certainly the school of the highest caliber about Extra Deck summoning but it is not the only one. There are a few schools that teach them, though perhaps not at the same level as ours. What prompted this question?”.

Shingo clenched his fist, frowning.

“Yesterday I dueled a student from another school. And she busted out a perfect Xyz Summon!”.

Though he didn’t show it, Reiji was highly surprised by this. Yesterday, one report did effectively list a powerful emission of Xyz energy but like always they couldn’t pinpoint who caused it.

But now that Shingo is here saying he dueled someone who used a ‘perfect’ Xyz Summon then…

“Who did you duel?”.

Shingo scratched his head, trying to remember.

“I…think her name was…Ruri…something?”.

Reiji thought it over as soon as he heard it. He had to be sure.

“Ruri Hiiragi by any chance?”.

Shingo shrugged.

“Probably. She did say she was Yuzu Hiiragi’s sister”.

Reiji put his hands together and closed his eyes.

So Ruri Hiiragi could unleash such a high amount of energy like Yuri Sakaki, though of Xyz instead of Fusion. This needed a more thorough investigation.

“I see. I have to assume that’s not the only reason you’re here, Sawatari”.

“Yeah, I need a catalogue of all possible deck archetypes”.

Reiji raised a brow, interested.

“For what?”.

Shingo seemed to lose his usual arrogance for a moment.

“I need a different deck. That’s it”.

Reiji saw something in his eyes. Something different from his usual arrogant pride. He figured though that he shouldn’t pry. Reiji opened one of the drawers of his desk and fished out a thick catalogue before handing it to Shingo.

“This should be what you’re searching for. It lists all the archetypes that have been created until now, both by LDS and other companies. I’m sure you’ll find yourself satisfied with it”.

Shingo skimmed a couple of pages and smirked.

“Yeah, it’s perfect. With this, I’ll surely find a- Hmm?”.

His eyes fell on one name that he didn’t recognize.

“I've never heard of these Abyss Actors. Are they a new type?”.

Reiji adjusted his glasses. Maybe that catalogue was a bit too adjourned.

“Ah, my mistake. The Abyss Actors are indeed a new archetype but we have yet to finalize them. They should be ready in one, maybe two months. They must have been added to that catalogue as an error”.

Shingo hummed something before he left.

The young CEO wondered what was in Shingo’s mind before he shrugged it off. Maybe he was finally starting to grow as a duelist.

But back to the matter at hand. Ruri Hiiragi was enlisted at You Show, along her sisters and the Sakakis.

Maybe it was time to truly confirm if what he was thinking was true.

“Nakajima”.

Addressed for the first time, the man straightened his back.

“Sir?”.

“Contact Smiley. Tell him I got a favor to ask”.

“Did you know Ruri dueled Sawatari?”.

“Yuto gave me the rundown version”.

Yuya and Rin were walking side-by-side. School was over and the two met each other at the gates so they decided to walk together.

Yuya put his arms behind his head.

“A deck built to counter Pendulum cards…”.

“Well, it’s not that surprising if you think about it. There will be some duelists who’ll want to face you as the only owner of Pendulum monsters”.

Yuya sighed as he thought back at how insistent Sora was about being taught.

“Can’t they bother Yuzu instead?”.

Rin closed an eye.

“Nope. No one outside us know about her having Pendulum cards at the moment, so you have to suck it up”.

Yuya grumbled, prompting a grin from her. As her amusement ended, she looked up in the sky unsure.

“Still… Do you think it was wise for Ruri to show an Xyz Summon to an LDS student? It’s known that our school doesn’t teach any Extra Deck method and only specialize in Action Duels so it will raise questions”.

Yuya shrugged, showing a relatively unworried expression.

“It was bound to happen one day or the other. Our records might perhaps hide what kind of monsters we use for the sake of privacy and fairness but it’s not like we can forever hide it. People will talk, they might record our duels and then publish it for everyone to see. I’m more surprised it hasn’t happened sooner”.

Rin hummed, conceding the point. And anyway they already have enough attention thanks to Yuya. She sighed good-naturedly.

“You know… Serena always wished to prove herself against a Fusion user from LDS. According to her, she wants to see if they are ‘on her level’”.

Yuya snickered.

“Serena is certainly one tough gal. Do you think she has a chance?”.

Rin showed him a smirk.

“More than one. Our decks aren’t exactly what people call orthodox and unfortunately for our opponents, we really know how to use them”.

Her friend grinned widely.

“Yeah, there’s no way any of us will lose to anyone”.

After a couple of seconds, the two started laughing. Rin put a hand on her hip.

“You know, maybe we shouldn’t boast like this or else someone who can thoroughly kick our asses will appear out of nowhere”.

“Absolutely. Say, what about you? Do you ever want to prove yourself against an LDS student?”.

“Hmm… Never thought about it. It would be interesting. But I’ll win, no doubt”.

“Ah, that can’t be argued”.

After sharing a chuckle, the two finally arrived at their school. When they entered though, they were surprised to see Nico Smiley talking with Shuzo. Yuto was by his side, listening to what they were saying.

The principal noticed the two.

“Ah, Yuya, Rin. You’re here”.

Nico turned around and as he noticed them, he leaped towards Yuya, taking both him and Rin by surprise.

“Ah, Yuya, my friend. How has it been for you?”.

The teen recovered from his surprise.

“A-Ah, it’s been okay but… What are you doing here exactly?”.

Nico seemed glad to be asked that.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, a couple of months from now, the Arc League Championship will begin. And all the students from this school will take part in it, correct?”.

Yuya blinked before he nodded. All of them had reached the required quota weeks ago. Thanks to Yuto, Rin and Ruri’s nagging. Though if it wasn’t for them, he, and probably Yugo as well, would still be behind, so at least for that he’s thankful.

“Yeah, we will. What’s your point?”.

“Well, LDS has come to me asking if I could convince you to duel some of their students”.

Yuya and Rin felt shocked at his statement. And to think they were thinking about that not even five minutes ago…

The green-haired girl shook her head disbelievingly.

“W-Wait, why us?”.

Nico adjusted his glasses, his grin still present in his face.

“LDS is aware of your records and they are impressed. All of you have a solid 80%-win rate and LDS wishes for its students to face against strong opponents. Some of them have yet to reach the requirements to enter the championship and they are as such in search of opponents”.

Rin now wore an annoyed expression.

“So we’re basically stepping stones?”.

Nico waved his hands.

“Oh, not at all. LDS specifically asks for powerful duelists to face their students. And between us…”.

Nico put a hand at the side of his mouth, like it was something that shouldn’t be heard, though it was obviously he was just being dramatic.

“The CEO of Leo Corp., and the strongest student of LDS at that, specifically said that if you were to accept, you were to ‘utterly crush’ their students”.

Yuya and Rin sputtered something at hearing that.

“Huuuuuh… Why would they want their students to be defeated?” asked Yuya.

“To push them to their limits”.

Yuto approached them.

“LDS takes great pride in its teaching methods so they want their students to properly express them. And they can only do so against capable opponents. But in my opinion…”.

Yuto eyed Nico suspiciously.

“…they are more interested in our school specifically. They probably already received notice of certain…‘events’”.

Yuya and Rin raised a brow at the manager. LDS must already know that Ruri Xyz Summoned against one of its students.

Nico simply shrugged.

“I’m just here to relay a message, I’m afraid I know as much as you”.

It was really hard to understand if he was being truthful or not.

Rin looked at the principal.

“Dad, did you accept?”.

Shuzo put a hand on his neck.

“Well, I wanted to but I figured you’d want the last word”.

Yuya and Rin glanced at each other.

Well, why not? It will be interesting. The cat was out of the bag anyway.

“Well, I’m fine with it”.

“So am I. We just have to tell our siblings now”.

Nico’s grin somehow widened at hearing their responses.

“Thank you! They will be glad to hear it. I will organize the duels myself if it’s not a bother”.

Yuya nodded.

“At all. Though can we ask who we’ll face?”.

“Ah, right, I should have gone with that immediately. According to the chairwoman, you’ll be facing three of the most promising students at LDS”.

Rin raised her brows.

“Some of LDS’s top students?”.

Her lips soon curved into a grin.

“Sounds interesting”.

“Yeah, but it seems only three of us will duel” sighed Yuya.

Nico nodded before handing a card to him.

“Please contact me once you have made your decision. Until then, goodbye”.

The manager left. Rin sent a message in their chat group. Yuya turned to Yuto, who looked a bit worried.

“You seem reluctant”.

“I…would have been happier if we avoided letting LDS know about it”.

Yuya raised a brow not understanding.

“But why? It can’t be that big of a deal, there are schools that teaches Extra Deck summoning”.

“And You Show is not one of them. Most of us got the basics back at our own cities, while the rest we learnt from our father, who was once an employee at Leo Corp. before he left. I can’t help but feel there’s more to that”.

Yuya bumped his shoulder with Yuto’s.

“Or maybe you’re just being paranoid. Come on, you make it sound like it’s some kind of big secret we know Fusion, Synchro and Xyz”.

Yuto looked at his brother’s smiling face. Yuya really had a knack for being optimistic even in troublesome situations.

But if he wasn’t then no one would and Yuto was grateful to him for that.

“You’re right. I am being too anxious. It’s really not that big of a deal”.

Yuya smiled up at him.

“You see the bad sides over the good sides at times but it’s also thanks to your wisdom we went through with our lives when dad disappeared. So for that, thank you, bro”.

Yuto smiled at him, relieved to hear how his brother felt. Rin cleared her throat, catching their attention.

“I got their responses already. Everyone agreed and Serena immediately called dibs”.

The two brothers chuckled. Sounds like her, alright. The dark-haired one then looked down with a pondering look.

“Yuto?”.

He looked at them seriously.

“I want to be honest. I have a feeling that LDS wishes to test us, more than its students. About our respective specialties. So I’m willing to bet they’re going to send a Fusion, Synchro and Xyz specialist”.

Rin put a hand on her hip.

“You think? I mean, it is LDS we are talking about, I wouldn’t expect anything less from them”.

Yuya thought of something before grinning.

“Then… How about we answer back? With one methods each”.

Yuto raised a brow, a bit exasperated.

“Yuya, this isn’t time to put on a show and act arrogant, we really should think about this carefully”.

Rin shrugged, agreeing with Yuya.

“Come on, why not? LDS wish to see us at work, let them see us. It’s not that important anyway”.

Yuto put his fingers between his eyes. Arguing with these two was like arguing with a wall. Well, more or less. At least walls listen.

Eventually, he sighed.

“…Alright, alright… I think we can do that. Though I really hope we don’t come to regret it. We shouldn’t boast about our skills like that”.

“It’s not exactly boasting Yuto. We’re just answering their call, basically”.

Yuya then got a cheeky grin.

“And you did admit we have skill, I heard that note of pride in your voice”.

Yuto blushed a bit as Rin started laughing.

A bit of pride never actually hurt anyone. A lot of pride on other hand…

“And now we’re going to face Reiji Akaba himself…”.

Yuya and Rin’s amusement came to a halt as they started to look slightly uncomfortable. Yuto realized what he just said and apologized.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned it”.

“No, it’s fine. Just… *sigh* We are aware that none of us would actually be able to stand a chance against him. At least not now. And…”.

Yuya stopped himself there. Rin glanced at him as she continued.

“Well, knowing that he might know something about uncle’s disappearance…I guess we still are uncertain about it”.

Yuto nodded, understanding.

Many years ago, a couple of days before Yusho’s supposed disappearance, they heard him speak on the phone, sounding not too pleased…

Yuya, Yugo, Rin and Serena were hiding behind a wall. While they were up in the room playing, they heard Yusho speaking angrily. It was very strange, considering how jovial the man usually was.

Once they got down, they saw him at the phone and he didn’t look nor sound happy.

“I already told you, I’m not doing it. Stop calling me about this”.

“…”

“I understand but I can’t do that. I wouldn’t have the slightest idea of where to start”.

“…”

“Listen now, I know who you’re up against but I have a family, so I can’t just-”.

Whatever who was on the other line was saying, it made him freeze up. Yusho stayed in silence for a bit before he frowned even harder.

“…Low blow, Akaba. Alright. I’ll see what I can do in that case”.

“…”

“I’m not doing this for you. After all of this is done, I don’t want to hear from you again”.

Yusho ended the call there and sighed. The four hiding kids turned to each other.

“Dad looked angry”.

“Who was he talking to?”.

“I think he said ‘Akaba’”.

“Who is Akaba?”.

The four kept muttering until Yusho approached them, oblivious to the fact they listened in.

“Hmm? I thought you guys were upstairs”.

They all collectively shrieked at being found out, startling the older man a bit. They turned to him agitatedly.

“W-Well, you see dad… W-We were…hmm…”.

Yuya’s stammering didn’t help at all. Luckily Rin had a response coming to her.

“We wanted to surprise you! You’ll be facing the Sledgehammer in a couple of days so we wanted to take you by surprise”.

“Y-Yeah, what she said!” yelled Yugo, maybe a bit too loudly.

Serena fiddled with her fingers.

“We know how important it is for you so we wanted to relieve some stress from your shoulders”.

Yusho looked at the children with a bit of surprise before smiling. The man then scooped them all up, prompting startled squeaks from them, quickly followed by laughter.

“After hearing how much you care I certainly can’t let you down now, can I?”.

“No, you can’t!” they chorused.

Yusho laughed before letting them all down. Despite seeing him like his usual self now, the kids still felt a sense of dread and told their siblings about what they heard.

They had a strange feeling that Yusho was involved into something dangerous. And that this Akaba guy was involved somehow.

Regardless of their thoughts, Yusho disappeared shortly after, leaving eight heart-broken kids behind.

“Only years later we came to know about a certain Reiji Akaba, CEO of Leo Corporation. And he may have been the same person who was talking with father all those years ago”.

The three teens stayed silent. Shuzo, who didn’t say anything for the whole time, was watching them with a regretful expression.

‘You kids are way too young to worry about things like these’.

Rin shook her head, trying to swallow down the bitterness she was feeling.

“Alright, let’s forget about this. We wanted to choose who will go against LDS’s students. And I personally volunteer”.

Managing to drop his uneasiness as well, Yuya looked at her amused.

“I think Yugo would want that spot”.

Rin grinned.

“Over my dead body”.

Yuya chuckled. Yugo and Rin could make a competition out of everything.

“Alright, you two will settle the score later. As for the last one…”.

“I’ll go”.

The two turned surprised at Yuto. Rin blinked.

“You sure? After all that talk before, you now want to join the frontlines?”.

“Yes, it sounds contradictory but…I guess I too want to show what I can do”.

Yuya put his head on his brother’s shoulder, wearing a cheeky grin.

“Reaaaally? Are you sure you just don’t want to shout something like ‘Prove your resolve to me!’ to your opponent to appear cool?”.

Yuto took a step back, making Yuya stumble on his feet.

“Most definitely not. That sounds way too corny. I just wish to test myself how strong our competition can be. Considering we’re possibly talking about LDS’s top students, they might as well be considered on route to be professionals”.

Yuya scratched the back of his head giggling, figuring out Yuto’s reasoning to be more serious but wanted to mess with him anyway.

“Alright so, the ones who will duel are Serena, Yuto and either Yugo or Rin. Let’s tell the others then”.

The three took out their phones.

TomatoEntertainer: Sooo… We might have decided who’s going up against LDS.

TomatoEntertainer: Serena, you’re up.

BlueberryCat: HELL YEAH!!

BananaDriver: Easy calling dibs before we can even discuss it.

BananaDriver: …I’m one of the three right?

AppleWitch: Nope! I’m taking that place.

BananaDriver: HUH?! No way in hell I’m just letting you steal my spotlight, Apple head!

AppleWitch: Bring it on, Banana hair! We’ll settle this with a duel!

RaspberryDiva: Why can’t you just…do rock-paper-scissors instead?

CabbagePlant: Yuzu. We’re talking about Yugo and Rin.

RaspberryDiva: …You’re right. I’m stupid for having asked.

GrapeBird: Leaving those two, who will be the third?

EggplantKnight: Me.

BananaDriver: W-Wait seriously? Yuto ‘I want to stay in the back to look cool’ Sakaki?

EggplantKnight: …Do I want to ask?

CabbagePlant: Probably not.

CabbagePlant: But I must say I’m surprised as well. Normally, you rather remain in the sidelines.

BlueberryCat: Alright, which bet did you lose?

EggplantKnight: No bets were taken. I just wish to test on my skin the strength of an LDS elite.

BlueberryCat: Wait, we’re going against elites?

BlueberryCat: Now I’m even more fired up!

TomatoEntertainer: That’s mostly a supposition for now. But considering it is LDS…

RaspberryDiva: They probably want to test us because of what happened the other day.

GrapeBird: I’m very sorry about it.

AppleWitch: Don’t say sorry sis. It was bound to happen.

RaspberryDiva: Yeah. And besides you saw the expression Sawatari made when you Xyz Summoned. That was absolutely worth it!

EggplantKnight: Alright then. Yugo, once you’re here, you’re dueling with Rin. Now-

Yuto stopped writing when the door slammed open, revealing a fired up Yugo behind it.

“Alright, I’m here! Rin, you’re going down!”.

Rin smirked as she approached him.

“In your dreams maybe”.

Stunned at their sibling's quick appearance, Yuya and Yuto blinked as the two Synchro users sized the other up. Sharing a look, the two brothers couldn’t help a soft chuckle.

Shuzo approached them, looking perhaps even more fired up than the two.

“Absolutely hot-blooded! Let’s go right now! I already have the perfect Action Field in mind”.

With that, the three went to prepare. Yuya and Yuto watched them go, before the latter started to follow them. Before he did though, he noticed Yuya wasn’t following him.

“You’re not coming?”.

“Nah, it’s okay. There’s something I have to do anyway”.

After waving each other off, the two parted. This was going to be one heck of a week.

Chapter Text

“My… What…happened here?”.

The scene was this.

Yusho and Yoko just returned home and they found the kitchen in a…sorry state.

Wait, that was probably a big underestimation. It was like a tornado happened inside it.

Everything was coated in a thick veil of flour while the ground was covered by spots of dough. The cookware was scattered around and they could see several empty packages on the ground, along a couple of bowls.

At the center of it all, there were six crestfallen kids covered in cream, looking down.

On the other side of the room, there were Yuri and Yuto standing there awkwardly.

“We tried to tell them it was a bad idea but…”.

Yoko sighed as she picked up a dirty spoon from the ground.

“Geez, it will take forever to clean this mess. Can I ask what exactly you were trying to do?”.

The kids still looked down, unable to muster an answer. Yoko turned to Yuto and Yuri, who rubbed their arms nervously.

Yoko sighed, feeling a migraine coming.

“I promise I’m not angry but please say something”.

“I think I got it, dear”.

Yusho showed her a calendar. On the 15^th June, in childish writing, there was written ‘Father’s Day’ with the drawing of a cake next to it.

A look of realization came over Yoko as Yusho turned to the children.

“You wanted to bake a cake, weren’t you?”.

They all fidgeted on the spot, as their plan was found out. Yoko sighed as she threw the spoon in the sink.

“I understand your wishes but children shouldn’t try to mess with dangerous things like ovens” she said in an admonished tone.

That only made them feel worse. Tears were starting to gather in their eyes.

“We…We’re sorry!”.

They all started crying loudly. Yuto shot a look at his mother, making her look a bit guilty. Yusho kneeled down and smiled at them.

“Now, now. You shouldn’t cry. We’re not mad, we were just worried you got hurt”.

The six kept sobbing though it wasn’t as loud as before. Yuya managed to look up at his father, tears still fresh in his eyes.

“W-We wanted to make a surprise for you and uncle Shuzo”.

“B-But we ruined everything” said Ruri as she tried to wipe her tears away.

“Y-You’re all so good to us… We just…We just wanted to tell you that we’re grateful” said Serena, trying to not cry again.

Yusho chuckled before he patted their heads, making them momentarily stop with their sobbing.

“It’s okay. I’m charmed that you care so much but there are some things that kids shouldn’t do alone or you’ll get hurt. And that would make us sad and worried. You all are part of our family, much like Yuya and Yuzu. That will never change”.

The six crying kids looked up at Yusho. Before long, they were all hugging him tightly. Yoko watched back, smiling softly to herself.

“Yusho has always been good with kids…”.

She looked at Yuto and Yuri, who tried to appear uninterested. The woman chuckled before placing her hands on their heads, prompting a blush from both of them, though they didn’t pull away.

After the kids finally let go of him, Yusho got up.

“Alright. I say it’s about time we clean this mess. Then how about we all go out for dinner?”.

The kids cheered and agreed. Yoko pulled out her phone to call Shuzo and his wife. They will need a bit more help to clean everything up.

Chapter Text

The day of the duels eventually arrived. After Yugo and Rin’s duel, they contacted Nico to let him know who’ll participate. Since LDS was the one who asked for the duels, they will all happen at You Show. Now they were just waiting for them to show up.

“Yugo, for how long you’re going to keep sulking?”.

Yuto stood before an upset Yugo, who had his arms crossed and was sitting on a chair. Rin, beside him, instead was all sunshine, rainbows and absolute smugness.

“Yugo, a loss is a loss”.

“She just got lucky that’s all”.

Rin grinned down at him. Yuto sighed at how childish his brother was acting.

“Now Yugo, you were both at 200 Life Points and Rin just happened to get the right card. You’ll have your moment another time”.

Yugo was still pouting but at least he didn’t look as annoyed. In the back, their siblings were watching the exchange amused. Yugo and Rin always tied a loss to their finger.

Yuya glanced at Serena.

“You okay there? Not getting cold feet I hope”.

She simply cracked her neck.

“Cold feet? I couldn’t feel hotter right now”.

Serena slammed her fist on her hand, a grin on her face.

“I wanted to crush an LDS student for a while now”.

Yuya slightly sweat-dropped at her competitive side. He suddenly felt a vibration and checked his phone for messages.

“Ah, I’m very sorry everyone but me and Yuzu have to be somewhere right now”.

They all turned to him confused. Yuzu herself looked confused.

“Huh? Really?”.

“Yeah, it’s about what we discussed yesterday”.

A look of realization came over her.

“Ah, right. That. We’re really sorry everyone but we have to go”.

Ruri tilted her head.

“Where do you have to go with such urgency?”.

Yuya opened his mouth, making a big show like he was going to reveal something incredible…but then he put a finger over it and grinned.

“Secret”.

They all collectively groaned. Yuya was a real trickster sometimes. He scratched the back of his head apologetically.

“I’m really sorry but we can’t exactly avoid this. But be sure to show those guys up for us too, okay?”.

Rin and Serena gave him a thumbs-up while Yuto simply nodded. Yuya tilted his head to Yuzu and soon enough they left. Yugo got up as well.

“That reminds me, I promised Gongenzaka I’d train with him at his dojo one of these days. Since I’m free right now, I think I’m going. Sorry about this”.

“It’s fine. Gongenzaka has been interested in Synchro Summon lately right?” asked Rin.

“Yeah. He realized that his Steadfast Dueling might get left behind unless he evolves it so he asked if he could add a summoning method to his deck. Fusion is obviously a no-go and Xyz might hinder him more than help, so he went with Synchro. Sorry guys”.

Yugo left after that. Shortly after he went away, Shuzo and Sora entered the room. Serena, Yuto and Rin went and stood before them.

“Alright, I hope you three are ready to go up against LDS. We have no idea how they’ll duel but expect anything from them. But remember the most important thing in a duel is to have fun. Okay?”.

The three nodded at their principal. Sora though was pouting while chewing on a chocolate bar.

“It’s not fair. Why can’t I duel?”.

Ruri looked apologetically at him.

“Sorry Sora. Considering you’re still new, we thought you wouldn’t want to be thrown into such an important situation”.

His expression relaxed.

“I was more than fine with it. But it’s okay, I’m not mad. I’ll just have to prove myself at the championship”.

Yuto fully turned to him at that.

“You do know there are certain conditions to meet to take part in the tournament, right?”.

Sora looked lost at that.

“Wait seriously?”.

Yuri nodded.

“Indeed. You need to have disputed at least 50 official duels and have a win ratio of at least 60%. Considering you’re new to the city, I’m assuming you haven’t partaken in that many duels, correct?”.

Sora sighed and scratched his head in dismay.

“No, I didn’t. *groan* And I wanted to participate so badly”.

Yuri raised a finger.

“Well, there is a second way to enter the championship. You have to win six official duels in a row”.

And with that, Sora’s mood did a 180°.

“Really? Alright then! It’ll be a breeze. Now on to see how to get those official duels…”.

“Excuse me”.

Everyone turned to whoever spoke. Five pairs of eyes widened as they took in who was at the door.

That person being Reiji Akaba. Strongest student of LDS and CEO of Leo Corporation.

What was he doing here?

Shuzo, being the principal, approached him.

“Ah, you must be from LDS right? For the duels?”.

Reiji nodded and extended a hand.

“Indeed. My name is Reiji Akaba. I’m here on behalf of my mother, the chairwoman, who unfortunately couldn’t come”.

Shuzo took his hand.

“My name is Shuzo Hiiragi, I’m the principal of You Show Duel School. I must say it’s an honor having attracted the attention of such a renowned school”.

“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine. I truly respect Yusho Sakaki, both as a person and as a duelist, and to face his students is an honor in itself”.

Shuzo put a hand on his head, a bit abashed.

“He would be happy to hear you say that. Your students are…”.

“Right outside. If you’d please follow me…”.

Shuzo and Reiji left the room but without them, there was a tense silence in the air. Sora worriedly looked at the others.

“H-Hey, is everything okay? You…don’t look well”.

Rin tried to force a smile.

“No, we’re fine really. We just…didn’t expect Reiji Akaba himself to come. I guess it took us all by surprise.

Sora raised a brow but he went towards the observation room anyway. Ruri sighed.

“I…I don’t know what to feel to be honest”.

Yuri put a hand over his forehead, ashamed.

“To think I’d freeze before him…”.

‘Maybe…I’m not as over it as I wanted to believe…’.

Then he turned to Serena. The purple-haired girl was gripping her fists together. He saw that she was also chewing her lower lip angrily. That honestly worried Yuri.

“Serena, are you okay?”.

Serena gripped her fists even harder.

“I swear I’ll make him spit out everything… If he knows something about uncle, then…”.

Yuri put a hand on her shoulder, making her turn to him. He was looking at her with worried eyes, which in itself was rather out of character from him. Serena sighed and released her hands.

“Sorry, Yuri. I…I just want to know. That day… Back then when we were little… Uncle saved us… I can’t…I can’t just…”.

Yuri grabbed her hand gently.

“I know. I realize I’m not over it myself. None of us really are”.

The others looked down with closed eyes, an air of solemnity around them.

“But know that at least we’re together in this. So you don’t have to feel sad or angry alone”.

Serena looked at him, surprised by his words and tone. Yuri normally never speaks so softly.

She broke out a small smile, thankful.

“You’re getting cheesy there, Yuri”.

Said person chuckled, secretly relieved Serena was fine.

“I try at times. Can’t always look like an asshole now”.

The others shared a small laugh, Serena included.

Maybe they’re still suffering. Maybe they’re still angry. But at least they have their family and their friends.

Shuzo then entered the room.

“Everyone, Akaba and the students are ready. Let’s go. And I hope you feel hot-blooded!”.

After another short laugh, they all followed Shuzo. Before leaving though, Serena shot a look at Yuri.

“Thank you”.

He smiled back at her.

“Anytime”.

They were now in the observation room. Yuto, Serena and Rin were staring at the three LDS students.

A prideful-looking boy with purple hair, a dark-skinned girl with long black hair, and a boy with long brown hair wielding a wooden sword. Behind them was Reiji.

“These three are Hokuto Shijima, Masumi Kotsu and Yaiba Todo. They are the students at the top of their respective classes”.

Hokuto looked at the three with a haughty look.

“So… I heard one of you defeated Shingo with an Xyz Summon”.

Ruri slightly narrowed her eyes at him. Even his tone was arrogant. Almost as much as Shingo, if that was even possible. Yuto stood before her.

“She’s not dueling today. I’ll be taking her place”.

Hokuto only smirked.

“That so? What a shame. But know that Shingo got nothing on me! I’m far superior to him in every way”.

Yaiba snorted as he glanced at his right grinning.

“Didn’t he hand your ass to you the last time you dueled?”.

Hokuto felt like an arrow pierced his heart. He angrily turned to Yaiba.

“That was only a fluke! And it wasn’t an official duel so it didn’t count!”.

Masumi rolled her eyes with a huff.

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that. Now stop being childish, you're embarassing”.

Hokuto’s glare now turned to her, which she promptly ignored. Reiji pushed his glasses up.

“While they appear colorful, I assure you their talent is not to be underestimated”.

Serena surveyed the three. They all carried themselves in different ways, though they all pretty much reeked cockiness. She felt herself grinning.

This is going to be fun.

Yuto crossed his arms as he voiced something that he asked himself for a while.

“I’m…actually surprised Sawatari himself isn’t present. I expected him to declare revenge on us”.

“Shingo Sawatari already met the requirements to participate in the championship. As this is an opportunity for our students to advance with their official victories, I deemed that he shouldn’t participate. Besides, lately he’s been training on his own”.

Yuto made a sound of understanding. Despite him acting like a cocky punk, it seems Shingo actually had some skill to back up his ego. And also a duelist’s pride apparently.

“So I am to assume none of them has reached the quota needed for the tournament”.

Reiji nodded.

“Indeed. Though do not hold anything back. Even if you already met the quota, I ask you to duel to win”.

Yaiba glanced at Reiji.

“Yeah, sure, have zero faith in us will you? We can handle them easily”.

Rin chuckled, attracting attention to her.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure, samurai. We will utterly thrash you” she said as she cracked her knuckles.

Yaiba widened his eyes in surprise before he grinned cockily, amusement all over his face.

“I like her already. You two stand back, she’s mine”.

Reiji covered what seemed to be the ghost of a smile.

“Good to know. So, please, duel at the very best of your abilities”.

Serena grinned wildly as she rotated her shoulder.

“Oh, don’t worry. I always give 100%. So…who’s the poor bastard that’s going to face me?”.

Hokuto took a step back, a bit intimidated by Serena’s vicious expression. She was like a tiger about to pounce on her prey.

“You know, Masumi… She’s all yours”.

Masumi huffed annoyed before facing the purple-haired girl.

“Very well then. I’ll be facing you”.

Yuto turned his eyes to Hokuto, his arms still crossed.

“So you’ll be my opponent. Very well then”.

The LDS student’s response was simply to smile arrogantly at him. Ruri and Yuri could already feel some sparks starting to fly and both prepared themselves to what they thought will be three interesting duels.

Shuzo cleared his throat.

“Very well, I see you’re all raring to go! Who’s going first then?”.

Hokuto pointed at Yuto.

“I’m going. I will defeat you in record time”.

Yuto simply huffed. His gaze appeared neutral but there was a blue flame behind it.

“We shall see about that. I hope you’re prepared”.

The two soon moved to the field while Shuzo went up to handle the system. Rin watched as the two went to their respective side.

“This already looks interesting”.

“Alright, everybody!”.

Most of the people there, with Reiji and Yuri being the only exceptions, jumped back in surprise as Nico suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Serena glared at him.

“Where the heck do you come from?! And what the hell are you doing here?!”.

Nico turned to her with his trademark grin still in place.

“I’m the announcer. Most official duels have one and I’m here to provide commentary”.

Yuri chuckled. He was starting to like this guy.

“Well, we certainly won’t get bored in that case”.

Ruri glanced at him.

“Do you remember what Yuto believed the other day? That LDS would bring out Fusion, Synchro and Xyz specialists? Do you think they are them?”.

“I believe they are. Let me check something quickly…”.

Yuri researching something on his phone.

“Ah, here it is. Hokuto Shijima, a talent student from the Xyz course of LDS. Oh, how interesting. It seems he has a perfect record of 49 official duels. The next one will be his 50^th and if he wins, he’ll be allowed into the championship. Hmm-hm… Hmm-hm… It appears he was right; this guy is pretty much considered a professional”.

Rin threw her head back at him.

“So that guy uses Xyz, then? Hahahah. How ironic he’ll be facing Yuto then”.

Masumi heard what they were saying and she admitted she found herself raising a brow at what the green-haired girl said.

Reiji instead had a pretty good idea on what she was referring to.

On the field, both duelists were sizing the other up. Hokuto smirked.

“With this one, it will be my fiftieth official win in a row. I will have no problem taking you down”.

Yuto simply crossed his arms.

“Do not be too presumptuous Shijima. Or else you might come to regret it”.

He turned to Shuzo, up above.

“We’re ready principal. Go for it”.

Shuzo nodded and starting scanning the various fields.

“Oh, this will be perfect. Hope you have nerves of steel because I activate the Action Field Haunted Cemetery!”.

And so the field turned into a large, spooky cemetery. Several graves were scattered around the field while statues of gargoyles quietly surveyed the area. The sky was completely black and a mild fog cloaked the field.

Hokuto did tremble slightly at the dark place.

“Y-You think I’m scared? HAH! T-This is absolutely nothing!”.

No one bought his act. Yuri put a hand on his chin.

“This field is way too perfect for Yuto. I wonder how Shijima will face him”.

Yaiba overheard what Yuri said and turned to the field once again.

“Perfect for that guy huh? I guess his deck is based over…ghosts or something”.

Masumi crossed her arms, silently agreeing with him.

“Then maybe his monsters have several effects that can be activated from the graveyard. But against Hokuto, they will be useless”.

Reiji quietly stared. According to several sources, Yuto Sakaki’s style is a truly unique one. But against Hokuto’s, it was in disadvantage.

Though he wouldn’t rule him out yet. Sakakis truly have a knack for getting out of spiny situations.

“Alright, with your defeat, I’ll finally reach the top that I rightfully deserve!” boasted Hokuto.

“Hmph. Your pride will be your downfall. I won’t fall that easily”.

Nico twirled around joyously.

“It seems our opponents are already at each other’s throat. So for everyone who’s listening, despite how few they are, let us now start the duel between the star of Xyz, Hokuto Shijima, and the phantom duelist, Yuto Sakaki!”.

“Action…”.

“DUEL!!!”.

Yuto surveyed his cards. At first someone will immediately say it was a terrible hand.

For Yuto, though, it was the exact opposite.

“I will start. I set three face-down cards”.

The move made Hokuto grin arrogantly.

“What stupid move is that? You’re not even summoning a monster? This will be even easier than I thought”.

‘Sawatari thought the exact same thing against Ruri’ mused Yuto.

Yaiba whistled.

“Well, the guy certainly must have a lot of guts to do something like that”.

“It’s ridiculous. He has a completely open field. Two attacks from Hokuto and he’s done”.

“Hey, come on, he has three cards. Maybe they’re really dangerous”.

“I now activate the Spell Emergency Provisions. I destroy all the Traps and Spells I control and gain 1000 Life Points every card destroyed”.

“HUH?!”.

The people from LDS were completely gob-smacked as Yuto destroyed his own cards (4000 -> 7000). Nico adjusted his glasses, completely taken aback by such a move.

“What is this? Sakaki has destroyed his own cards! Now he’s completely defenseless. Could this be some kind of secret strategy?”.

Hokuto laughed loudly.

“I can’t believe it! That was the most stupid move I ever saw! Now I’m really starting to regret not facing the Xyz girl”.

Yuto didn’t react at all at his taunt. Yaiba shook his head incredulous.

“That Yuto’s nuts. Destroying his own cards, what does he…”.

Masumi sighed disappointed.

“It seems we shouldn’t have been as worried as we were”.

Unknown to the two, Ruri was smiling at what Yuto did.

‘I wouldn’t be so sure’.

“I end my turn”.

Hokuto cackled before drawing a card.

“Let’s cut your embarrassment short. I summon Constellar Algiedi!”.

Yuto murmured something as he saw his opponent’s monster appear.

“Constellars… Hmm…”.

“I now activate their effect, which allows me to summon another Constellar monster from my hand. I summon Constellar Kaus”.

Kaus appeared on the field. Serena leaned towards Yuri.

“Yuri, if I remember correctly, Constellars favor Xyz Summoning a lot right?” she whispered.

“Correct. Most of their effects however are not that powerful and they’re mostly used to swarm the field or to Xyz Summon quickly to overpower the opponent on the first turns”.

Serena glanced at the field unsure.

“But doesn’t that, like…go against the whole meaning behind Xyz Summon?”.

“In a way. Like I said, most of their effects are bland so their strength is in numbers. Though due to personal experience, I have to say they’re not a particularly strong archetype and they get weaker the longer the duel gets”.

Serena hummed. She wondered why exactly someone as arrogant as Hokuto would choose such a weak archetype. By what little she could get, Hokuto was a guy who saw himself at the top of the world so she figured his deck would be of many rare and powerful cards.

“Hold on… Hokuto… Constellars…”.

She put a hand on her face and groaned loudly as she realized why Hokuto had a Constellar deck.

“It’s a pun of his name! ‘Hokuto’ is the Japanese name of the Big Dipper! Uuuuuuuggggghhhh… How self-centered can that guy be?”.

Ruri pat Serena’s shoulder.

“There, there”.

Rin laughed at her sister’s reaction while Yuri simply opted for one of his grins. Serena turned to Masumi and Yaiba with a pleading expression.

“Please, PLEASE! Tell me your decks are not puns of your names as well”.

Masumi was slightly taken aback by being addressed so casually before she recomposed herself.

“It’s not. And if there’s one then it would fall flat”.

“Meh, more or less. Not to Hokuto’s extent but there” answered Yaiba with a shrug.

“Serena, isn’t your deck a pun on your name as well?” asked Yuri with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Serena glared at him as answer.

“My name is Serena, NOT Selene. Yeah, maybe it’s a distortion but I certainly didn’t choose the Lunalights because of my name. And besides your name means ‘Lily’ and you use a deck based on plants”.

“Touché. Though I didn’t choose the Predaplants for my name”.

Ruri looked up at the ceiling.

“Thinking back to it, Rin’s name is pretty fitting for her deck too”.

“Sis, don’t drag me into this. I didn’t choose my deck because of my name either. Actually, that’s rather disturbing that some of us coincidentally choose an archetype that somehow fits their name”.

Reiji watched back as the four amicably argued with each other.

They all looked so at ease, so close, so…normal. Are they really from different dimensions?

Reiji put a hand on his head.

They lived here for a decade, of course they’d feel at ease. Still, the way they acted with each other… It seemed they were even closer than normal siblings. Was there a reason for it?

He removed his hand and shook his head.

‘You’re overthinking things again, Reiji. You really need a break. And a cup of coffee’.

Back to the duel, Yuto immediately noticed how Hokuto’s monsters had the same level. Though if his feeling is right, he’s probably not done yet.

“Now I activate Kaus’s effect. Up to twice per turn, I can raise or lower the Level of a monster of one. I raise both Kaus and Algiedi’s Levels, bringing them to Level 5”.

Kaus shot an arrow up which soon turned into several. After they hit the two Constellars, their Levels were raised.

“And with this, Shijima has two Level 5 monsters! I think we all know what his next move will be” commented Nico.

Hokuto extended his arms.

“I now overlay the Level 5 Constellar Algiedi and Kaus! Light of the stars, descend and shake this very earth”.

The two monsters dived into the dark portal under them.

“Xyz Summon! Constellar Pleiades (2500/1500)!”.

Despite the Xyz monster appearing on the field, Yuto didn’t look neither worried nor impressed. Hokuto apparently didn’t notice it.

“Well? Surprised? This is a real Xyz Summon!”.

Back in the observation room, Yaiba pumped his fist.

“Great. Hokuto managed to Xyz Summon. The duel is pretty much won”.

Masumi started to wonder about that. Sure, Yuto had a lot of health but his field was completely empty. She thought his move might just have been an attempt to gain a lot of Life Points but somehow that didn’t feel right.

She turned to the You Show students to see what they thought of Hokuto’s Xyz Summon. And their reactions surprised her.

Or rather…the absence of a reaction.

Rin rubbed her neck awkwardly.

“Hey… I don’t really want to discredit him but… That summon… It’s not that impressive is it?”.

“I was feeling the exact same thing” agreed Serena “Compared to Ruri’s or Yuto’s, it’s basically child’s play. Oh, god, I hoped I haven’t hyped myself for nothing”.

Yuri sighed.

“Is this the best LDS can do? I’m thoroughly disappointed”.

Ruri looked down at Yuto.

“At first, I was worried he might have trouble…but I now have no doubt that Yuto will win this easily”.

Masumi stood there shocked.

They… They were actually bored by it.

What the heck is up with them, exactly? Hokuto was one of the best at that type of summoning at LDS.

All of a sudden, Masumi thought back at one interaction they had with Shingo before he went training.

“Hey, Shingo. Heard you got your butt kicked by some girl”.

A ticked off Shingo turned to Hokuto, who was sneering at him. Masumi and Yaiba were behind him, watching them.

“Tsk. She just got lucky. She managed to pull off a damn Xyz Summon and I wasn’t prepared for it!”.

Hokuto snorted.

“Did you hit your head by any chance? Only LDS students are allowed to take a course in Xyz Summon”.

Shingo harshly swung his arm before him.

“Well, she was still able to! And that summon could make our users pale”.

Masumi raised a brow at that.

“What do you mean by that?”.

“I can’t explain it. But that summon… It was a much higher level than any Xyz Summon I saw. It was…different. More powerful. It was nothing like I’ve ever seen before”.

Masumi was slightly surprised by his tone. He was still frowning but his words were surprisingly sincere. Which is absurd from someone as arrogant as Shingo. Hokuto laughed.

“It can’t be on my level though”.

Shingo scoffed and brushed a strand of hair.

“Please. Yours is but a small breeze compared to that storm. You’d never be able to defeat her”.

That really made Hokuto angry, to the point you could see the veins on his forehead. He brought out his disk.

“You want to fucking go, Sawatari?”.

Shingo grinned and brought out his own disk.

“Sure. I need someone to vent my frustration on”.

Masumi put a hand on her chin and looked distraught.

Someone whose Xyz Summon is more powerful than Hokuto’s. She’s not sure what exactly that means but if there was someone more impressive at Extra Deck summoning than an LDS elite student…

Masumi decided to let it hang in the back of her head as she turned to the duel, watching as Shingo wiped the floor with Hokuto.

An Xyz Summon that could surpass even Hokuto’s… If these people really had access to such a thing, then it’s no wonder they weren’t impressed.

Still, to just underestimate him like that is an error.

Hokuto turned to Yuto with his trademark smirk, filled to the brim with arrogance.

“So? Speechless, are you? My Xyz Summon is far superior than whatever that girl used”.

Yuto sighed as he shook his head. His lines were way too predictable. They were almost cartoonish.

“You watch way too many movies, do you?”.

Hokuto sputtered at his opponent’s unexpected rebuttal. He raised his fist, annoyed.

“H-Hey, my habits are of no concern to you! Maybe this will make you stop joking. Constellar Pleiades, direct attack!”.

The warrior attacked Yuto. But unlike what his field implied, he was well prepared.

“I activate three copies of the Trap Card Phantom Knights Shadow Veil from my graveyard”.

Shocked, Hokuto took a step back.

“W-WHAT?! You can activate a Trap from the graveyard?!”.

“Exactly. When I’m attacked directly, I can summon Phantom Knights Shadow Veil from the graveyard as a monster in Defense position”.

Three knights emitting bright blue flames fittingly appeared right above three graves (0/300). Pleiades’s attack went to one of them, destroying it.

“When destroyed, Shadow Veil is banished instead of going to the graveyard”.

Masumi’s eyes light up in realization.

“So that’s why he destroyed his cards. It wasn’t to raise his Life Points; it was to send his Traps to the graveyard”.

“Woah! With an incredible play of his cards, Sakaki managed to avoid an attack to his Life Points and even managed to summon three monsters in one go! That’s surely impressive!” yelled Nico excitedly.

Hokuto was stunned. He thought that dumb play from before was just a misplay. He gritted his teeth.

“Yeah, well, now from two, they’ll become one! I activate Pleiades’s effect! By using one overlay unit, one card you possess is returned to your hand!”.

Pleiades used their effect as one of the glowing units around them disappeared. One of the Shadows Veils soon returned to Yuto’s hand.

“I end my turn. Maybe you saved yourself but it won’t matter in the long run”.

Yuto hummed, not answering.

“My turn. I draw”.

Normally, Yuto would be in a virtually tight situation. He only had one monster on the field and three cards in the hand, two of which wouldn’t be of use to him right now. Good thing he drew a very good card.

“I activate Card of Sanctity from my hand, which allows both players to draw cards until we have six” explained Yuto as he drew four cards. Hokuto instead drew two.

Serena was slightly surprised by that card.

“I didn’t know Yuto had Card of Sanctity”.

“Because his style revolves a lot in destroying his own cards, he has some that allow him to draw” said Ruri after nodding.

Yuri looked at Hokuto, somewhat interested in his hand.

“Something wrong Yuri?” asked Ruri.

“I was just wondering about his cards. In one turn he only used two cards; does he really have a such a bad hand?”.

Now that he mentioned it, Hokuto only played two monsters in his turn. He didn’t even set a card or anything. Does he have some sort of strategy or was it really just a bad hand?

“Since I control a Phantom Knights monster, I can summon Phantom Knights Silent Boots from my hand. Then I summon Phantom Knights Ragged Gloves”.

Yuto’s ethereal knights appeared on the field. Nico immediately noticed something about them.

“Oh? Do my eyes deceive me or did Sakaki just summon two Level 3 monsters?”.

Hokuto widened his eyes as he understood the implications. He thought only the girl that defeated Shingo could Xyz Summon but if this guy could too then…

“I’m not allowing you to do it. I activate Pleiades’s effect and return Ragged Gloves to your hand”.

Instead of waiting, Yuto got moving and grabbed an Action Card that was resting on a grave.

“I activate the Action Spell Limbo. For this turn, my monsters can’t leave the field”.

Hokuto gritted his teeth as he pretty much wasted his monster’s effect. Yuto stared impassively at his opponent.

“You shouldn’t rush like that without thinking. Overpowering the opponent doesn’t always pay off”.

“Shut up. Don’t tell me how I should duel, that’s something I decide on my own”.

“Fair enough. I guess my actions will speak louder than words. Now… I overlay my Level 3 Phantom Knights Silent Boots and Ragged Gloves”.

Hokuto raised his head as Yuto’s monster overlaid.

“Dammit. Here it comes”.

Yuto closed his eyes as he raised his head to the virtual sky.

“Souls of knights who fell on the battlefield… Revive here and now, and become the light that breaks the darkness”.

He then opened his eyes, staring fiercely ahead of him.

“Xyz Summon! Appear, Phantom Knights Break Sword!”.

The headless horseman appeared on the field, swinging his sword and then pointing it towards Constellar Pleiades (2000/1000).

“Incredible! Yuto Sakaki managed to bring out one mean Xyz monster! How will Shijima answer to this?” commented a euphoric Nico.

Hokuto took a hesitant step back, feeling something incredibly powerful from this monster.

Masumi and Yaiba were likewise slack-jawed at Yuto’s Xyz Summon.

“Geez… Now I see what Shingo meant with an Xyz Summon more powerful than anything he has seen before” said Yaiba.

Masumi silently nodded. He was right. This summon… It put to shame all the other Xyz Summons of her institute. Not even the teachers could replicate such an imposing aura. Yet, this person managed to summon something like this…

Reiji watched in interest, his eyes and expression not betraying his emotions. He put a hand on his ear.

“Nakajima, has something happened?”.

“You were right, sir. We just detected a powerful burst of Xyz energy, right now”.

“As expected. It seems we finally found the source of all those waves that have been happening in these years”.

Hokuto shook his head to scroll off his shock.

“Yeah, your monster is certainly imposing but it’s no match to mine”.

“You shouldn’t judge a book from his cover. Sawatari made the same mistake twice and he paid for it. When Ragged Gloves is used for an Xyz Summon, the Xyz monster gains 1000 Attack points”.

Break Sword’s Attack went up to 3000, easily surpassing Pleiades’s 2500. Hokuto choked on air.

“Break Sword, attack Pleiades. Beheading Cut”.

Hokuto immediately run in search for an Action Card as Yuto’s monster galloped toward Pleiades. He managed to find one on the ground.

“I activate the Action…Trap?!”.

The Trap he picked was Lousy Luck, which damaged Hokuto by 800 Life Points (4000 -> 3200), making him fall on the ground. Unfortunately for him, his troubles weren’t over yet as Pleiades was decapitated by Break Sword’s weapon (3200 -> 2700).

Hokuto got up and stomped on the ground annoyed.

“Dammit! What stupid luck!”.

Yuto chuckled a bit by the whole scene. Hokuto glared at him.

“Yeah, laugh at me. That was just bad luck”.

“Well, it was a rather amusing scene to be honest”.

Hokuto turned to spectators. Yaiba, Rin and Serena were laughing hard while Masumi, Yuri and Ruri had amused grins on their faces.

The Xyz user raised his fist furiously.

“Stop laughing, that was just a fluke!”.

“A word of advice. If an Action Card is in plain sight, it’s more probable it’s a Trap than a Spell”.

Yuto still remembers all the times he and the others accidentally picked Action Traps when they were younger because they were obvious to get.

That’s also why they had to start learning not to rely too much on Action Cards.

“Now I set two ulterior cards and end my turn”.

Hokuto’s eye started to twitch as he tried to come up with something. But his hand really wasn’t making things easy for him.

‘Most of these cards are useless right now! Maybe I can…’.

Hokuto looked up at Break Sword.

“Not like I have much choice… I summon Constellar Sombre from my hand. When summoned I can activate her effect. I choose two Constellar monsters in my graveyard. One is banished while the other returns to my hand. I banish Algiedi and return Kaus”.

Hokuto added Kaus to his hand as Sombre appeared.

“Plus, if her effect is used, Sombre also allows me to Normal Summon another Constellar monster from my hand so I summon Constellar Kaus”.

Yaiba noticed something off with Hokuto.

“Hey, is it just me or Hokuto suddenly lost his arrogance?”.

“What do you expect? He basically got humiliated with the same method he thought he was best with. I guess he got a humility lesson” answered Masumi.

“I activate Kaus’s effect and raise both its Level and Sombre’s by one”.

Yuto crossed his arms.

‘He’s doing the same things again. Maybe he thinks he can use Pleiades’s effect to return Break Sword to the Extra Deck but it won’t work. I made sure of it’.

“I overlay the Level 5 Constellar Sombre and Kaus. Xyz Summon! Constellar Pleiades!”.

Another Pleiades appeared.

“I activate their effect and return Break Sword to your Extra Deck”.

“Not a chance. I activate the Trap Card Phantom Knights Abandoned Chainmail. Your monster’s effect is negated”.

One of Yuto’s traps flipped up. A knight wearing a rusty chainmail put himself before Black Sword and Pleiades, protecting his companion from the latter’s effect. Hokuto gritted his teeth even more.

“Then how about this? I can use Constellar Pleiades to perform the Xyz Summon of a particular monster”.

Yuto raised his brows, somewhat interested.

“I build a new overlay network with Constellar Pleiades!”.

Hokuto gulped. If this won’t work, then he was finished.

“Rain down your dazzling light! Xyz Summon! Appear, Constellar Ptolemy M7!”.

The white dragon appeared in a show of light (2700/2000). Yuto was mildly impressed by this, he had to admit.

“Interesting. So he knew about that characteristic. I guess he’s not all smoke…”.

“All overlay units Pleiades possessed go to Ptolemy M7. Unfortunately, he can’t activate his effect if he’s summoned this way”.

Hokuto then played a second card.

“I now activate the Equip Spell Constellar Sagittarius’s Bow. I can equip this card only to a Constellar Xyz monster, who gains 500 Attack and can attack a number of times equal to the number of overlay units it has”.

A bow appeared on Ptolemy M7’s hand (2700 -> 3200).

“I now attack Shadow Veil with Ptolemy M7. Sagittarius Arrow!”.

The dragon shot an arrow right on the knight’s chest destroying him. Since it was in Defense position, Yuto didn’t get damaged.

“And now I destroy your Break Sword!”.

Once again, Yuto’s monster was destroyed, though the duelist himself barely felt the hit (7000 -> 6800).

“And with this, I destroyed all of your monsters!”.

“That’s what you think”.

Hokuto’s smugness was short lived as Yuto suddenly drew two cards from the graveyard.

“When Break Sword is destroyed, I can summon two Phantom Knights monsters that share the same Level from the graveyard, though their Levels are increased by one. Return, Ragged Gloves and Silent Boots”.

Yuto’s knights reappeared, literally coming back from the grave. Hokuto flinched back.

“Grrr… Your monsters are worse than cockroaches”.

“The Phantom Knights never truly die. They will always return to complete their mission” said Yuto.

Hokuto frowned hard at him, though he didn't know what to do. Right now he was stumped. If he doesn't make some damage this turn, he'll have even more trouble the longer the duel goes.

He glanced down at one card that caught his eye.

‘Hmm? This is… Of course, why did I not think about this sooner!’.

“I activate from my hand…the Quick Spell Constellar Comet Shower!”.

Yuto's brows shot up. He did not expect that.

“What?”.

Hokuto played the card.

“When a Constellar inflicts battle damage but there are still monsters on my opponent’s field, you take damage equal to one of my Constellars’s Attack. Since he’s the only monster I have right now, I choose Ptolemy M7”.

Yuto looked up as several meteors started raining down towards him. He crossed his arms defensively before him as he was hit. Despite his resistance, he was eventually flung away by the strength of the attack (6800 -> 3600).

Hokuto cackled at finally being able to really damage Yuto.

“How do you like that?! Your knights couldn’t help you this time”.

Ruri was surprised Hokuto managed to get one over Yuto. Yuri mimicked her surprise.

“Well, color me surprised. It seems he does have some skill, after all”.

Serena nodded.

“Seems so. Good. It was starting to get boring”.

Yuto got up and stared down the ground.

‘Impressive. It was most likely something he came up with right now but it worked’.

He stared at Hokuto, silently considering his moves. It seems he would have to bring out his ace after all.

“It’s my turn. I draw. It’s time to end this”.

Ruri understood what Yuto meant by that.

“I overlay the Level 4 Phantom Knights Silent Boots and Ragged Gloves”.

As he watched the two monsters overlaying, Reiji suddenly felt something coming over him.

‘What is this feeling?’.

It was like…something coming from the darkness itself was about to appear. But why did he feel like this?

And why…does it feel familiar?

Yuto grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and stared at it.

‘I can feel you. You’re raring to go, just as much as I do. Very well then. Let’s go’.

“Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs…”.

Yuto slapped the card on his disk.

“Xyz Summon! Now… Descend, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!”.

Reiji widened his eyes as Yuto’s dragon appeared. Its dark-purple skin was smooth while its giant wings let out some sort of spark. Its fangs were large and its jaw was even bigger (2500/2000).

For reasons he can’t understand, Reiji felt like he already saw this monster before. Despite the fact this is most certainly the first time he did.

“Sakaki summoned a truly remarkable dragon. Will this be the end of the duel?” commented Nico.

“It will” remarked the duelist “As I’m sure you remember, an Xyz monster that used Ragged Gloves as material gains 1000 Attack points”.

Hokuto took a step back, utterly baffled at seeing the dragon. And it soon turned into panic as it became stronger than his own monster (2500 -> 3500).

“It’s stronger than Ptolemy M7…”.

“And it will get even stronger. I activate Dark Rebellion’s effect. I can detach an overlay unit and halve the Attack of an enemy monster. The points lost then get added to Dark Rebellion’s. Treason Discharge”.

Dark Rebellion discharged electricity from his wing, enveloping Ptolemy M7, who kneeled down as it felt its strength leaving it (3200 -> 1600). Dark Rebellion instead roared as he felt more powerful (3500 -> 5100).

“No, it can’t be!”.

Yuto pointed at Hokuto.

“Dark Rebellion, destroy Ptolemy M7 with Lightning Disobey of Rebellion!”.

Hokuto run for an Action Card.

“Action Spell Evasion! With this I-”.

“You activate nothing. I uncover my second Trap. Phantom Knights Black Magic. By banishing Break Sword, I can negate and destroy one Spell or Trap used by my opponent”.

Hokuto watched in dismay as the card had no effect on Dark Rebellion.

The dark dragon launched itself on the weakened monster and destroyed it, depleting Hokuto’s Life Points at the same time.

And with that, the duel was officially over.

Chapter Text

“And there we have it! The first duel of the day has been won by Yuto Sakaki, who managed to maintain control of the whole duel and defeat Hokuto Shijima with his own Xyz Summon!” shouted an excited Nico.

Yuto returned to the observation room and got immediately tackled by Ruri.

“You did it Yuto”.

He smiled down at her.

“Of course. I’d never lose in Xyz”.

“Get a room already you two” said Rin with a smirk plastered all over her face.

Ruri and Yuto then realized how close they were and immediately distanced themselves, both with bright blushes on their faces. And Yuri just had to put in his two cents.

“Don’t worry, Yuto. She’s quite the beautiful girl, so I wouldn’t blame you. By the way, you have my blessing Ruri, and most surely Yuya and Yugo’s as well”.

That only made the two ever redder. Yuri and Serena slapped their hands, both wearing giant grins. Rin decided for once in her life to spare the two ulterior embarrassment.

“Well, that was quite a simplistic duel, don’t you think?”.

Yuto turned to her, his expression now normal.

“Hokuto’s strategy most likely involves trying to overwhelm his opponents on the first turn to allow himself to swarm the field in the next. But if that is countered then the whole strategy falls apart like a castle of cards”.

Ruri did notice that Hokuto didn’t seem to prepare himself for counterattacks. And plus, he wasn’t able to use some of his cards. There was still something that Rin didn’t understand though.

“Another thing I’ve noticed is that you didn’t activate Break Sword’s effect. You could have simply used that, destroyed one of your Traps and Pleiades, and then attack him directly to inflict more damage. Why didn’t you do that?”.

“He couldn’t”.

They turned to Yuri.

“Remember the Action Spell Limbo? That card doesn’t allow any monsters to leave the field, for the better and the worst. Sure, using them for an Xyz Summon is a nice loophole since they don’t actually leave the field but likewise, the monster can’t activate its effect since one of its overlay units has to be sent to the graveyard”.

Yuto nodded at his brother’s explanation.

“Yikes. It’s just like Action Cards to somehow find a hole to annoy the players” said Rin.

“That was interesting”.

They turned to a smiling Sora, who was sucking on a lollipop as per usual.

“Sora? Hey, hold on, were where you? You weren’t here for the duel?”.

Sora scratched the back of his head.

“Sorry about that. I felt a little sick so I went to take a breath of fresh air”.

Rin narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms.

“That’s because of all the candies you eat. Of course they’d make you sick, you shouldn’t eat so many”.

Sora raised his hands defensively, never experiencing this side of Rin before.

“Hey, that can’t be. I’ve eaten candy my entire life and I’ve never got sick because of it”.

“That’s still no excuse young man. From now on, I’m limiting the number of candies you can eat”.

A look of horror dawned over his face.

“No! Anything but that! Please!”.

The others were laughing at the whole scene. Rin was a force of nature once she gets into big sister mode. Sora then turned to Yuto.

“Oh, but I did see you bust out that dragon. What was its name again?”.

“Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. It’s a precious card for me. I had it for as long as I can remember”.

Sora hummed. He then thought to himself.

‘Starving Venom Fusion Dragon… Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon… Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon… There seems to be some kind of connection between them. And all of their owners are these brothers. Now I wonder, does Yugo have some kind of dragon as well? If we follow the logic… Perhaps a Synchro Dragon?’.

While the You Show students were talking, Hokuto made his way towards his friends and Reiji, looking completely spent.

“I can’t believe I lost like that. Goodbye my 50^th victory…”.

Yaiba grinned at him, not showing one bit of sympathy.

“Well, what do you say, even Hokuto Shijima has bad days huh?”.

He groaned. The last thing he needed right now was being teased.

“Yaiba, shut up. That guy just had more powerful cards, that’s all”.

“It is not about the cards but how they are used. Every card can be powerful” wisely said Reiji, though that only made Hokuto slump down even more.

Masumi glanced at her opponent. That Serena girl.

The dark-skinned girl believed herself to be a good judge of character and that girl’s mannerism said one clear thing.

She was strong. Really strong. Her luster was something that could blind anyone. There were some edges but that could easily be corrected with a bit more time.

Masumi was perhaps getting herself into something bigger than her but she certainly doesn’t back down from a challenge.

Just as her thoughts came to an end, Serena turned to her.

“You and me are next. And I hope you’ve prepared yourself”.

“I most certainly did. Do not underestimate me”.

Serena gave her a small grin.

“Oh, I’m not. I’m just warning you”.

After a brief stare-down, the two entered the field. Shuzo tapped his finger as he tried to come up with a field.

“Hmm… Let’s see… Ah, this is a good one for Serena. Hey, honey! This is for you!”.

Serena immediately shot her head up alarmingly, understanding well what her father was about to do. She lived enough with him to understand when he was about to do something highly embarassing.

“Please dad, for the love of everything that is holy in this world… Do NOT! Choose Fluffy Paradise!”.

Shuzo looked disappointingly at his daughter.

“But why not? You always loved that field and its stuffed animals”.

Her secret revealed, Serena blushed red worse than a tomato as she whipped her head back to the public. As expected Yuri was trying to contain a laugh.

“Yuri. One chuckle escapes your mouth and…”.

The bastard simply raised his hands and turned around. Masumi blinked, a bit taken aback.

“You…like stuffed animals?”.

Serena straightened her back and turned back to Masumi, abashed. Then she immediately got defensive.

“I-It’s not important right now! We have a duel to undertake! Dad, I’m warning you. Pick a goddamn field that doesn’t involve toys!”.

Masumi was honestly surprised to see Serena’s confidence turning into hysteria in such a way.

‘I guess everyone has their guilty pleasures’.

Shuzo skimmed over the various fields until he came up with the perfect one.

“Alright, if you ladies are ready then I’ll set the field right now! Activating Action Field Lake Under the Moonlight!”.

The field morphed into a giant lake with some kind of castle in the middle of it, with its only connection to the earth being a long bridge, where the two girls were in the middle of. It was night and the full moon was reflected on the lake.

Serena looked around her, pleased with what she was seeing.

“Now this is a field I can get behind”.

Reiji adjusted his glasses, not expecting this particular terrain.

“Interesting…choice I must say”.

Yuto overlooked the place himself.

“I’ve never seen this field before. Is this a new one?”.

Ruri took out her phone.

“Hold on, let me check… Odd. This field isn’t in the list of possible Action Fields”.

Sora looked interested at that.

“Is that so? Hey, Akaba! Is there a reason this field is apparently non-existent?”.

Reiji turned to Sora. He stared at him for a moment before he turned back to the field.

“This field has been created very recently so we haven’t had time to add it to the list of Action Fields yet. Though I’m surprised it’s in your repertoire. It means you’re being very attentive to the various updates”.

Rin smiled broadly.

“I’d never, ever, let one small update go. And besides, if I didn’t adjourn it then no one would, right dad?”.

Shuzo scratched his cheek a bit embarrassed. He could get really forgetful at time.

“I wonder who raised you to be this cheeky”.

She simply grinned. Reiji must admit he’s somehow envious. Their bond was clear for everyone to see.

…Maybe it’s foolish from him but… He too wished he had some sort of bond with his parents…

Reiji shook his head, purging the notion from his head. After everything that happened, that was the last thing he should be thinking of.

“Very well. Let’s begin”.

Serena took a breath and looked at Masumi seriously.

“Let’s start immediately. I’m raring to go”.

“Hmph. You’ll come to regret it”.

“Here we are for the second duel of the day! Masumi Kotsu, the polished gem of LDS, will face Serena Hiiragi, the proud lioness of You Show! Who will come out on top? We’re about to see right now!” shouted Nico.

“Action…”.

“DUEL!!!”.

The first turn would go Masumi, as it would be only fair.

“I activate Gem-Knight Fusion and use two Gem-Knight monsters from my hand to Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight monster”.

“You don’t waste time huh?” commented Serena.

“I fuse Gem-Knight Tourmaline and Gem-Knight Emerald. Gem tinged with lightning… Brilliant emerald of good fortune… Combine, in a whirlpool of light to bring forth a new dazzling radiance”.

Masumi’s two monsters fused together as she put her hands together.

“Fusion Summon! Appear, one who pursues victory, Gem-Knight Topaz!”.

The knight was certainly a pretty sight to behold with his bright yellow armor (1800/1800).

Serena watched with just a certain level of curiosity.

“Not terrible. But not impressive”.

Masumi felt her eye twitch at her comment.

“Do you have something to say about my summoning too?”.

“Yeah, it doesn’t have an edge”.

Masumi titled her head. What the heck does she mean by that?

Sora felt the same way as Serena.

“I agree with her. Masumi’s summoning is, certainly something but it just lacks what a real Fusion Summon is like. Back when I faced Yuri, his Fusion Summon made me truly feel an overwhelming power was before me”.

Yuri nodded.

“I had the same feeling when you summoned Frightfur Bear. The strength of that summoning was amazing, something I never felt before except against Serena herself. Masumi instead didn’t make me feel anything”.

Hokuto slightly elbowed Yaiba.

“Hey, hey, those guys are being way too critical in my opinion”.

“I don’t know, Hokuto, I guess they can bluster a bit. As someone who witnessed your duel with Yuto, I have to say his summoning was far more impressive than yours”.

The Constellar duelist felt an arrow piercing his heart. He hanged his head low while Yaiba sweat-dropped at him.

Reiji instead was calmly watching, interest in his eyes.

“If their level is really so advanced, I guess we’re about to see”.

“And Kotsu unleashed a Fusion monster on the very first turn. But are we to suppose Hiiragi already has something up her sleeve to be so calm?” commented Nico.

Masumi certainly didn’t like how Serena seemed to look down on her summoning.

“I’ll make you eat your own words. I set a card face-down and end my turn”.

“It’s my turn. I draw!”.

Serena looked at her card. Her face didn’t betray her emotions. She then turned around and run towards the castle.

“Hey, where are you going?” asked an incredulous Masumi. Serena turned her head to her.

“Inside. Where else?”.

The LDS student followed Serena inside the building. Now that she was inside, she noticed that the place looked more like some kind of church or even a gallery as several giant statues were looking down on them.

Serena was at the foot of a set of stairs, looking around in amazement.

“This is the perfect place for a battle”.

“Hey, Serena! Let her see what a real Fusion Summon is like!” shouted Sora.

“With pleasure. I must thank you Kotsu”.

Said girl raised a brow.

“For what?”.

“For allowing me to activate this card. I activate Lunalight Fusion. You used your own fusion card…I use mine!”.

Yuri whistled.

“Serena sure is lucky”.

“This card allows me to Fusion Summon a Lunalight monster from my Extra Deck using materials from my hand or field. But if my opponent controls a Special Summoned monster from the Extra Deck, then one of the materials I can use can be directly taken either from the deck or the Extra Deck”.

Masumi reeled back in shock.

“From the Extra… Are you kidding me?!”.

The purple-haired girl showed a fanged grin.

“At all. Now watch the difference between us! I fuse Lunalight Cat Dancer from my Extra Deck and Lunalight Blue Cat from my hand”.

Sora suddenly found himself even more interested than he already was.

“Wow. I never saw someone fusing a monster directly from the Extra Deck. Now, that’s truly something”.

Serena spread her arms as her monster fused together.

“Beautiful beast dancing in the moonlight… Cat prowling in the azure darkness… Swarm in the vortex of the moon’s gravity and become a new power!”.

Serena joined her hands together.

“Fusion Summon! Come forth, elegant beast dancing in the moonlit wilderness… Lunalight Panther Dancer (2800/2500)!”.

If Masumi’s monster was a sight to behold, Serena’s was outright amazing.

The woman was wearing a deep purple as she appeared dancing wildly, yet gracefully.

And just like Yuto before her, Serena’s Fusion Summon unleashed such strength that it would put to shame many Fusion users. Masumi took a step back as she was almost overwhelmed by such power.

“I’ve…never felt something like this…”.

Hokuto and Yaiba were likewise staring in shock. Reiji instead listened to his ear piece.

“Nakajima, did you detect Fusion energy just now?”.

“We did, sir. These readings are on par with Yuri’s. Then that Serena girl is also able to unleash such strength…”.

“She does. This can’t be a simple coincidence”.

It certainly wasn’t. That meant Serena and Yuri were from Fusion. But why were they here in Standard? Or more importantly, how did they end up here?

That question will probably take a long time before being answered.

“WOAAAAAHHH!!! Hiiragi answered her opponents’ Fusion Summon with her own. We’re sure to expect something incredible from her, just like her companion” shouted Nico. The announcer had to admit he was really starting to like these kids. They always brought out surprise after surprise.

Panther Dancer looked down at Serena and nodded, making the girl nod at her back. Then she turned to Masumi.

“Panther Dancer has a very peculiar effect. She can attack all of your monsters twice but the first time she attacks she can’t destroy her target. On the second time though… Of course, you still take the damage both times”.

Masumi was completely taken aback by such an effect.

“That’s… I never heard of an effect like that. That almost sounds unfair”.

“Hey, Panther Dancer is not an easy monster to bring out. I made it look like a breeze because I had Lunalight Fusion and you had a Fusion monster on your field, but to summon her, I am obliged to fuse Lunalight Cat Dancer, who is a Fusion monster herself, and another Lunalight monster. Considering these conditions, it’s only fair she has such a strong effect don’t you think?”.

Masumi simply blinked. A Fusion monster that requires another Fusion monster to be summoned. With such requirements, then it’s not so strange this monster is extremely powerful.

Though that gave Masumi both a disadvantage…and an advantage.

“Now, I attack your Gen-Knight Topaz with Panther Dancer. Go with your Moonlight Dance!”.

Panther Dancer immediately launched herself against Topaz, slashing him across the chest, though due to her own effect, the knight wasn’t destroyed. Masumi very much felt the damage though (4000 -> 3000). After that the feline spun around Topaz and slashed him with her claws once again, this time destroying him (3000 -> 2000).

Masumi rubbed her chin. That was what she wanted though she lost more Life Points than she thought.

“I set one card face-down and end my turn. Try to destroy my Panther Dancer if you’re able”.

Masumi narrowed her eyes and drew a card.

‘If I don’t do anything, my next turn will be the last. I’m betting everything on this’.

“I summon Gem-Knight Alexandrite and immediately activates his effect. I can tribute him to summon another Gem-Knight from my deck. So I tribute Alexandrite to summon Gem-Knight Crystal”.

Just as Alexandrite appeared, he vanished and in his place appeared Crystal.

“Now I activate my face-down Fragment Fusion. By banishing from the graveyard the required materials, I can Fusion Summon a monster from my Extra Deck. Unfortunately, it is then destroyed at the end of the turn”.

Serena was a bit impressed by this play. She wondered why exactly Masumi would immediately destroy her monster but with that card now it made it clear.

“I banish Gem-Knight Alexandrite, Emerald and Tourmaline. Gems by the color of the rainbow… Combine your luster to bring the most dazzling of brilliances”.

Masumi gulped. Now or never.

“Fusion Summon! Appear, supreme radiance who illuminates everything, Gem-Knight Master Diamond!”.

The tall knight appeared on the field in a show of different colorful lights. While the monster himself was particularly imposing, Serena didn’t feel much from it.

‘To be honest, this one’s aura feels even weaker than Topaz. It’s almost…too simple. Let’s see what it does’.

Masumi noticed Serena’s apparent indifference.

‘She’s not impressed at all. Well, let’s see if this will change her mind’.

“I activate Master Diamond’s effect. I choose a Level 7 or lower Gem-Knight Fusion monster in my graveyard and banish it. Master Diamond gains all of its effects and name until the end of the turn”.

Masumi banished Gem-Knight Topaz. Yuri hummed.

“Interesting idea. Topaz’s effect is that he can attack twice per turn and if he destroys a monster, he also inflicts a damage equal to that of the destroyed monster’s Attack”.

“That’s…not that bad actually. She had Topaz destroyed so she could use his effect through Master Diamond, who is more powerful. That's smart” said Rin. Sora nodded as he munched on his lollipop.

“Indeed. It’s a pretty laid out plan and it’s a very aggressive play, which is good. Problem is…”.

Masumi pointed at Panther Dancer.

“Master Diamond! Go and attack Panther Dancer. Diamond Luminescence!”.

The knight charged at the dancer, sword raised. Serena simply waited for the attack to come.

Sora bit down on his candy.

“…it’s a bit too aggressive” he finished.

Serena’s eyes twitched before she extended a hand.

“I activate a Trap Card. Moonlight Judgement! I sacrifice a Lunalight monster from my hand and for this turn, my monster can’t be destroyed in battle”.

Masumi widened her eyes as Master Diamond’s sword clashed with Panther Dancer’s claws but otherwise didn’t do anything, except slightly chipping away Serena’s Life Points (4000 -> 3900).

“The only drawback is that I have to pay a damage equal to the Attack of my monster at the end of the turn. But at least I’ll still be in-game”.

Masumi stared with her mouth open as her strategy failed. Topaz’s effect activates only if the monster is destroyed so…

Attacking a second time would be pointless so she just decided to end her turn.

“I end…my turn”.

And with it, Master Diamond was destroyed by the effect of Fragment Fusion while Serena received a damage of 2800 (3900 -> 1100).

Hokuto looked almost more appalled than Masumi.

“Masumi will lose? I can’t believe it! No, wait. She still has Crystal on her field so maybe…”.

Yaiba shook his head, interrupting his friend’s line of thought.

“Yeah, but Serena is practically a breath away from winning. Everything is pretty much stacked against Masumi”.

Hokuto looked at him in dismay.

“Can she get enough Action Cards to survive this turn then?”.

“Probably not”.

Serena wordlessly drew a card. Victory was pretty much in her grasp but she wasn’t taking any chances right now.

“I activate the Spell De-Fusion. I return Panther Dancer to the Extra Deck and summon back the monsters used to summon her, meaning Lunalight Cat Dancer and Blue Cat”.

Panther Dancer disappeared and in her place stood Cat Dancer and Blue Cat.

“When Blue Cat is Special Summoned, I can double the Attack of a Lunalight monster, except Blue Cat herself, on my field until the end of the turn”.

Cat Dancer’s Attack doubled, raising up at 4800.

“Cat Dancer, destroy Gem-Knight Crystal with Full Moon Cresta!”.

Masumi gritted and her teeth and in a desperate attempt to save herself, she went to grab an Action Card.

“I activate the Action Spell Evasion and-”.

“Action Spell No Action!”.

Masumi froze in her tracks as Serena activated that card.

‘When did she? I never saw her picking an Action-’.

Suddenly it hit her. When Serena run inside the castle. That must have been when she picked up that card.

Serena played her almost too easily. Like a predator with its prey.

Masumi could do nothing as Gem-Knight Crystal was destroyed and her Life Points hit zero.

Compared to Serena’s, her shine was but a small glimmer.

Chapter Text

Serena stared at Masumi, who silently returned to her side. She left shortly after but not before glancing at Reiji's unperturbed face.

‘I wonder what’s up with that guy. These are his best students and yet he doesn’t bat an eye as we defeat them’.

“And the second duel of the day is over with Serena Hiiragi bringing home a victory worthy of the best Fusion users in town! These kids really know how to surprise the public don’t they?” commented Nico. Even if at this point there was no need for an announcer, his commentary was starting to grow on them.

Serena joined her sisters and friends. Yuri extended a hand to her.

“Well done, Serena. I knew you’d win”.

She grinned at him and grabbed his hand.

“Damn right. Like I’ll ever lose in Fusion Summon”.

Yuri closed an eye while smiling amused.

“Oh? Am I misremembering or didn’t you happen to lose against me at times?”.

Serena grinned smugly, knowing well that would have been his answer.

“Yeah, but I also kicked your ass several times…”.

She suddenly pulled him closer, their faces being inches away.

“…And I’m not afraid of beating you again”.

“Oh, I wish for nothing more. But know that next time we'll duel, I’ll be the winner”.

Both were still smirking at each other. It was easy to see why they get along so well.

“Now who are the two that needs to get a room?”.

The two lost their grins and turned to a smiling Yuto. Then they realized just how close they were. They quickly pulled away from each other and feigned ignorance, though a keen watcher could see the very slight tinge of pink on their cheeks.

Ruri and Rin both chuckled amused as it was really hard to get one over Yuri. Sora looked at all of them.

‘Yuya and Yuzu. Yuto and Ruri. Yugo and Rin. Yuri and Serena. I see a pattern here’.

He let out a small laugh at his own musing. They couldn’t be more obvious about each other.

Serena turned to Rin.

“You’re last, sis. You better not lose, got it?”.

“Hey, who do you think you’re talking to?”.

The two sisters grinned at each other. On the other side of the room, though, Masumi returned looking as disappointed as Hokuto before her. Speaking of him, the Xyz user had his head hanging low, looking even more depressed.

“They’re absolutely plowing us. What kind of monsters did we agreed to go against?”.

Masumi looked down, shame clear on her face. Maybe she got too cocky when she accepted to duel those apparently unknown people.

Come to think of it… It was Reiji’s idea to have them facing those You Show guys.

“Hey, Akaba, be honest. I get that we have to face strong duelists but did you know they were this strong?”.

Reiji adjusted his glasses, his face remaining as stone cold as ever.

“I did know they were fearsome opponents. Their track records are impressive and it is no overestimation in saying they surpass most of our students at LDS”.

The three had their jaws hanging at hearing that. Then suddenly a thought came to Masumi.

“Wait… You knew from the beginning we wouldn’t have stood a chance, didn’t you?”.

Hokuto and Yaiba looked at her disbelievingly before whipping their head back to Reiji. His eyes were covered by his glasses.

“…Yes. I knew none of you would have been able to defeat them”.

Their reactions varied, though all looked furious. Masumi gritted her teeth in anger, Hokuto looked like he swallowed an extremely sour lemon and Yaiba pretty much glared at him.

“What the hell, Akaba?! Why did you set this up in that case? Was it only to stain our records?!” yelled an enraged Hokuto.

“Were we only called here just to ridicule ourselves?” spat Masumi.

“In a way”.

Reiji’s almost too honest answer took the three off-guard. Seeing that they were now listening, the CEO spoke up again.

“Your records are certainly impressive and your talents are real. But there’s a problem in that”.

Reiji’s eyes scanned their faces. They were all watching him in confusion.

“You haven’t lost against an actual duelist. Most of the people you’ve faced ranged from average to slightly above. And I could tell your dueling stopped evolving because of that”.

That actually made them stop and think. Were they really so static in their duels?

“But by losing against someone also proves that there are still ways to improve, allowing you to see what problems you have and correct them. In a way, this test was a way for you to progress in your styles of dueling”.

The three stayed in silence as Reiji’s words sunk in. They looked down, thinking over and over at what they heard. Though they won’t have much time for that.

“Todo. You’re up next”.

Yaiba looked at Reiji before turning to his opponent. Rin was looking at him with a burning fire in her eyes.

No words were exchanged, they simply went inside the chamber.

‘So we were destined to lose anyway huh?’.

Yaiba moved into place, eyes closed. Then a smile suddenly appeared on his face as he looked at his opponent once again.

‘Well, I’m certainly not going to make it easy for you!’.

Shuzo looked down at the system. He had the perfect field for Rin in mind but he was afraid she’ll get mad at him like Serena did. His daughter looked up at him.

“Go ahead, dad. Choose whatever field you want”.

Shuzo looked at Rin before smiling widely and picking the one he had in mind.

“Then I activate the Action Field North Pole Palace!”.

This last terrain was a giant, majestic castle made of ice. It almost looked like it was made of crystal for how pretty and lucid it looked. The two duelists were inside the throne room. All the furniture and the throne itself were likewise made of ice.

Rin smiled at seeing this place. This was her absolute favorite Action Field. Fittingly, she was before the throne.

“Hey, just to make sure…”.

She turned to Yaiba.

“That Yuto guy used Xyz and your sister used Fusion. Am I to presume you use Synchro?”.

Rin kicked her leg, faking a disappointment smile.

“And here I wanted to surprise you”.

“After two surprises, the third one kind of loses its effect”.

Rin’s smile turned more genuine.

“Heh. Touché”.

“And we have now reached the final duel of the day! We have the swordsman Yaiba Todo against the snow queen Rin Hiiragi! Will his sword be able to break the ice?” commented Nico.

“Alright! Let’s see if you’re able to withstand the frozen wind of hell’s ninth circle!”.

“HAH! Nice catchphrase but I assure you I’ll do much more than that!”.

“Action…”.

“DUEL!!!”.

Serena huffed a laugh at what her sister said.

“You prepared that before you even started didn’t you?”.

Rin simply grinned at her before turning to Yaiba.

“I’m not one who likes to tergiversate so let’s get right into it. I summon Windwitch – Ice Bell from my hand. I can Special Summon her if I have no monsters on my field”.

Ice Bell appeared riding her broom before winking at Rin, who smiled back at her.

“When she’s summoned this way, I can summon another Windwitch monster from my deck, so I summon Windwitch – Glass Bell”.

Glass Bell appeared right beside her friend.

“Ice Bell has an ulterior effect. When she’s summoned, my opponent receives a damage of 500 points”.

The witch in blue released a small icy breeze towards Yaiba who crossed his arms defensively (4000 -> 3500).

“Burn damage, huh? This will be tricky”.

Hokuto watched tensely.

“Come on, Yaiba. At least you have to win…”.

Masumi looked at Rin worried. Yaiba’s deck wasn’t that well prepared against burn damage. This will be a tough one for him.

“Glass Bell too has an effect that activates with her summoning. I can add another Windwitch to my hand from the deck. I must warn you, Glass Bell is a Tuner”.

Yaiba slightly widened his eyes before smiling, only slightly worried.

“Not wasting any time huh?”.

“Nope! I tune the Level 3 Ice Bell with the Level 4 Glass Bell. Midwinter wind… Make ice and snow my power and blow through my enemies!”.

The two witches tuned together. Yaiba could feel the temperature getting lower.

“Synchro Summon! Appear, Windwitch – Winter Bell!”.

Winter Bell was…particular for the lack of a better word. Unlike the other two witches, this one looked more like a blue statue than anything though that didn’t make her even less pretty (2400/2000). Despite that, Yaiba could still feel the immense power behind it.

“So that’s your Synchro monster?”.

Rin smirked at him.

“Yup. And you’re about to feel her strength immediately”.

“Hiiragi certainly doesn’t waste time! She Synchro Summoned on her very first turn and it seems troubles for Yaiba are yet to end” said Nico.

“He’s perfectly right. I activate Winter Bell’s effect. I target a Windwitch monster in my graveyard and you suffer a damage equal to her level multiplied by 200. I choose Glass Bell, of Level 4”.

Winter Bell started accumulating power much to Yaiba’s concern.

“And that means you’re getting a damage of 800! Eternal Blizzard!”.

Winter Bell shot a gust of icy wind at Yaiba who was thrown back by the force of it (3500 -> 2700).

Hokuto pressed his hands on the glass.

“Damn it. Get up, Yaiba, you can still go!”.

“It was the very first turn and yet she managed to knock down a quarter of his Life Points. She’s certainly a fearsome opponent” commented Masumi.

Yaiba got up and shook his head, trying to make the dizziness disappear.

“Ah, geez. I’m used to cold but that was way too cold”.

“Oh, come on. Don’t tell you’re already done”.

He jumped back on his feet and smirked at her.

“Like hell I am. You’ll need much more to take me down”.

Rin felt a grin coming at his determination.

“Good to know. I set two cards face-down and end my turn”.

“My turn now. I draw!” he glanced at his card “Let’s see how you handle this. I summon XX-Saber Boggart Knight. When he’s Normal Summoned, I can summon another X-Saber monster from my hand, at condition it’s Level 4 or lower, like XX-Saber Fulhelmknight!”.

Yaiba’s knights appeared on the field. Rin noted that his second monster was a Tuner.

“I’m not done yet. Since I have two X-Sabers on my field, I can Special Summon XX-Saber Faultroll from my hand”.

Rin raised a brow at Yaiba’s play.

“Alright, now I tune the Level 4 Boggart Knight with the Level 3 Fulhelmknight. Wielder of crossed blades of light, trample over a mountain of corpses!”.

Yaiba’s two monsters tuned together.

“Synchro Summon! Come forth, X-Saber Souza!”.

Souza appeared on his field wielding two long swords and with a demented grin on his face, ready to cut apart anything that would stand before him (2500/1600).

Despite that, Rin had a feeling her opponent was not done yet.

“I now activate Faultroll’s effect and summon a Level 4 or lower X-Saber monster from my graveyard. Fulhelmknight returns to the field this instant!”.

The blonde knight reappeared. Rin understood what he wanted to do now.

“I once again tune the Level 6 Faultroll with the Level 3 Fulhelmknight! Let your silver armor shine and crush the hope of everything that opposes you!”.

And for the second time, his knights tuned together. Rin must admit that was impressive in a way.

“Synchro Summon! Come forth, XX-Saber Gottoms!”.

That knight was certainly far more intimidating than the previous ones. He was much taller and wore a shining armor, and while he wielded only one long sword, he brandished it perfectly, like it knew nothing else but cutting his enemies apart (3100/2600).

“It seems Todo really doesn’t want to be outshined so easily. And with a smart play of his cards, he manages to summon not one but TWO Synchro monsters! Will Hiiragi be able to stop his attack?” shouted Nico.

Yaiba cockily grinned at Rin.

“Well? What do you think? Didn’t think I’d bring out two Synchro monsters, huh?”.

She smiled at him, not showing any sign of worry.

“I must admit I did not expect that. But that’s why I like dueling, you can never expect what’s going to happen”.

“Yeah? Well, now you better prepare yourself. I attack Winter Bell with Souza! Double-Cross Impact!”.

Souza charged at Winter Bell, gripping his swords. Rin turned back and sprinted towards a candle holder with an Action Card lodged on it. She grabbed it and immediately played it.

“Action Spell Ice Shield. At least for one attack, my monster can’t be destroyed in battle. Maybe I still take the damage but that’s a little price I’m willing to take”.

A shield appeared before Winter Bell, protecting her from Souza’s attack (4000 -> 3900).

Yaiba’s grin didn’t disappear.

“You may have saved yourself this time but now I attack with Gottoms! Extermination Swing!”.

Gottoms swung his sword towards Rin’s monster but before he could do so…

“I activate Winter Bell’s second effect. During the battle phase, I can summon a monster from my hand of an equal or lower Level than a Windwitch monster I control, in this case Winter Bell herself. I summon the Level 1 Windwitch – Snow Bell”.

The small white sphere appeared right before Winter Bell was destroyed (3900 -> 3200). Yaiba pressed his lips together.

“She didn’t activate that effect when I first attacked because I’d then destroy her new monster… What exactly is she up to?”.

He shook his head.

“I’ll think about it later. I set two cards face-down and end my turn”.

Back in the observation room, Hokuto pumped his fist.

“Alright! Yaiba managed to gain a good advantage over that girl. Now there’s no way he can’t win this”.

“I wouldn’t bet money on it”.

He turned to Masumi.

“We thought about that as well during our duels and yet it turned out they already predicted most of our moves. That Rin probably has an ace up her sleeve”.

Hokuto dropped his smug expression and opted for a more worried one. On the field, Rin rotated her shoulder as she was really starting to enjoy herself.

“This duel is getting interesting by the minute. Alright then, I draw!”.

She extended a hand.

“I activate one of my face-downs, Icy Breeze Refrain. I can summon a Windwitch monster in my graveyard back to the field in Defense position. Windwitch – Winter Bell returns to the field!”.

Yaiba prepared himself the instance Winter Bell returned to the field.

“As you can guess, I activate her effect and inflict a damage equal of a Windwitch monster’s Level in my graveyard multiplied by 200. I choose Ice Bell once again”.

Yaiba swung an arm forward.

“This time I’m ready. I activate the Quick Spell Saber Reflection. If I control an X-Saber monster, the damage is reflected back at my opponent. Plus, I can add either a Saber Spell or Trap, or a Gottoms card to my hand”.

One of Yaiba’s cards flipped up. Rin’s brows shot up before she grinned amused.

“So you were ready for my move huh?”.

Winter Bell’s attack was reflected back at Rin, who crossed her arms before her as she was hit (3200 -> 2400). Yaiba then added the card he wanted to his hand.

“Alright, this time you got me, but I warn you I’m not yet done. I now tune the Level 7 Winter Bell with the Level 1 Snow Bell!”.

The two monsters tuned together much to Yaiba’s shock.

“Snow Bell is a Tuner as well?!”.

“Wind of the north blowing through our world… Combine together and create a blizzard that will freeze our enemies up!”.

Yaiba prepared himself at her monster.

“Synchro Summon! Appear, majestic princess of ice, Windwitch – Diamond Bell!”.

Rin’s monster was truly a sight to behold. It looked like a princess wearing a large bright blue and white dress with several crystals floating around her. It was certainly one of the most beautiful monsters that most people there ever seen (2800/2400).

Yaiba stared at the monster in surprise before he regained his confidence.

“That’s certainly an imposing monster but she’s not strong enough to defeat me”.

Rin waved a finger.

“Sorry to say this but that’s exactly what’s going to happen. When Diamond Bell is Synchro Summoned, I target a Windwitch monster in my graveyard and inflict my opponent half of the chosen monster’s Attack as damage. And I target Winter Bell with 2400 Attack points!”.

Yaiba gasped in shock as Diamond Bell’s crystals shone of a pure light and unleashed a powerful, icy blizzard at him (2700 -> 1500). Once again, he was thrown back by how powerful the attack was.

“Urk. I’m going to feel that in the morning”.

“I’m not done yet”.

Yaiba raised his head at Rin.

“When my opponent suffers a damage then I can activate Diamond Bell’s effect to target a card on the field and destroy it”.

Yaiba gaped in both dismay and shock.

“What?! But that means you can destroy one of my monsters!”.

Rin grinned wildly.

“I can do more than that. See, if I used only Windwitch monsters to Synchro Summon her, Diamond Bell can activate her effect twice per turn”.

Nico startlingly took a step forward.

“What is this?! Hiiragi can easily destroy both of Todo’s monsters in this case! What a truly fearsome effect”.

Hokuto banged his fist on the window.

“Are you kidding me?! How is that supposed to be fair?”.

Reiji calmly watched. Those kids all use extremely powerful effects and they are all able to fully utilize them at their best. He himself must admit he’s impressed by their plays.

Rin pointed at Yaiba’s monsters.

“I destroy both Souza and Gottoms. Go, Diamond Bell! Take them out with your Freezing Snowstorm!”.

Diamond Bell unleashed a second blizzard from her body, soon freezing up the two X-Saber monsters and destroying them. Yaiba gritted his teeth while Rin kept her smirk.

“And now, attack him directly. Crystal Storm!”.

Diamond Bell charged a storm of ice fragments from her crystals before she unleashed it towards Yaiba.

“Yaiba, look out!” shouted Hokuto. Masumi bit her fingernail of her thumb.

“If this attack connects, then he’ll lose”.

Yaiba though certainly did not want to go out just yet.

“I activate my Trap! Saber Emergency Reinforcement! If I’m attacked directly and I have at least two X-Saber monsters in my graveyard, I can Special Summon an X-Saber monster from my deck to protect me! I summon XX-Saber Gardestrike!”.

Yaiba’s monster appeared on the field (2100/1400) and got attacked and destroyed in his place, protecting him (1500 -> 800).

The LDS student fell on his knee as he barely avoided defeat. Rin was surprised by this.

“Huh. You’re something else, you know. I set a card face-down and end my turn”.

Yaiba breathed heavily. This girl was certainly someone who you don’t want as an opponent. She managed to utterly raze his field with one move. Now he sees what Reiji was up to when he told them they didn’t stand a chance against them.

He got on his feet. Maybe he will lose but he’ll be damned if he’d give up just like that.

“My turn. I draw!”.

“I uncover a card!”.

Yaiba frowned as Rin played the card she just placed.

“The Quick Spell Soul of the Windwitch. I banish a Windwitch monster from my graveyard and my monster can’t be destroyed for the rest of the turn”.

Diamond Bell glowed as soon as Rin removed Glass Bell from the game.

“In exchange though I must also suffer a damage equal to half of Diamond Bell’s Attack”.

Rin gritted her teeth as the card damaged her (2400 -> 1000).

Yaiba gripped his fist. She was most likely trying to make him reinforce his defenses and give up on attacking. A shrewd tactic but a tactic nonetheless.

It seems he was doomed to lose whatever he did. Well, you know what? Screw that! He’s going to fight until the very end.

“Alright, you want to play it like this? Very well then. I activate Gottoms’s Sacrifice from my hand. I banish a Synchro X-Saber monster from my graveyard and return two monsters to my field. I banish X-Saber Souza…and recall Faultroll and Fulhelmknight!”.

Yaiba’s two knights returned to the field as he removed Souza from the game.

“I tune the Level 5 Faultrolll to the Level 3 Fulhelmknight! Synchro Summon! Here comes another XX-Saber Gottoms!”.

And with that said, another Gottoms appeared on the field. Rin wondered what exactly Yaiba was up to. Said person was looking down at his cards.

If he can’t win this turn, then it was over. He gazed up at her before slightly glancing at his left, making his mind up.

“Now or never. Gottoms, attack Diamond Bell!”.

The giant charged at the crystal being. Yuto put covered his lips with his index finger.

“I wonder what’s his aim. He can’t destroy Diamond Bell in this turn”.

Yaiba sprinted towards an Action Card resting by the feet of an armor made of ice. As he picked it up, he suddenly found himself smiling.

“I activate the Action Spell Ice Spear, which raises Gottoms’s Attack by 500”.

The monster’s sword turned into a sharp blade made of ice (3100 -> 3600).

“And your point is?” asked Rin.

Yaiba smirked as he held up one card.

“I can now activate the Quick Spell Saber Battle Cry from my hand!”.

Rin’s brows shot up, not expecting his move.

“When an X-Saber monster has its Attack points increased, it obtains another boost of 1000 Attack points until the end of the turn!”.

Gottoms momentarily stopped his assault and swung his sword forward as a red aura enveloped him (3600 -> 4600).

Hokuto pumped his fist up at Yaiba’s play.

“Yes! Now it’s strong enough to deplete Rin’s Life Points even if he doesn’t destroy Diamond Bell”.

Rin found herself blinking in stunned surprise. She expected Yaiba to be discouraged and pass the turn, perhaps not before strengthening his defenses. And yet he decided to face her head-on like that. She smiled.

This was a truly entertaining duel.

Yaiba pointed at Rin.

“Go, Gottoms! Resume your attack!”.

The knight swung his sword at Diamond Bell…

“Sorry, Todo…but I’m certainly not going to lose like this! I activate the Trap Windwitch Bell Chiming!”.

Rin’s second card flipped up.

“When a Windwitch monster is attacked, I can remove a Windwitch from my graveyard and raise the attacked monster’s Attack by the banished monster’s until the end of the turn. I remove Winter Bell!”.

And with it, Diamond Bell’s Attack raised exponentially (2800 -> 5200). Yaiba stared in silent shock. That was one of the cards Rin placed at the very beginning of the duel.

Gottoms tried to stab Diamond Bell but her crystals protected her before retaliating and piercing the knight in turn, destroying him.

Yaiba calmly watched as a cold wind passed over him (800 -> 200). Both Hokuto and Masumi stared in shock as their friend’s monster was destroyed. Reiji too was watching silently, his expression as unreadable as always.

Yaiba then lowered his head with his eyes closed. Then a smile found its way on his face.

“Oh, well. I tried. I end my turn. Come on, let’s finish this”.

Rin silently drew a card.

“Diamond Bell, direct attack”.

The monster obeyed and charged up her attack.

“Hey, Todo”.

He looked at her. She smiled at him.

“This has been a fun duel”.

Yaiba huffed a laugh and rubbed his nose.

“Yeah, I guess it was”.

Diamond Bell attack connected but instead of being thrown away, Yaiba stood his ground as his Life Points hit zero.

Yeah, it honestly has been a fun duel. For both duelists.

Chapter Text

“And there we have it! Despite putting up a fight, Yaiba is in the end defeated by Rin in an epic duel!” said Nico, who twirled excitedly.

Rin approached her friends and sisters with a smile on her face. Serena gave her a thumbs-up.

“That’s my sister”.

“Indeed. You’re a real Ice Queen”.

Rin’s eye twitched as she glared at Yuri, who wore his trademark grin. Yuto huffed a laugh and nodded at her.

“Congratulations”.

Rin turned to him grinning, her annoyance disappeared.

“Hey, if I was the only one who’d lose, that would have been really embarrassing”.

Ruri chuckled before she patted Rin’s head.

“There. You did a good job”.

The green-haired girl felt a blush coming to her face as she swatted away her sister’s hand.

“Come on, sis, I’m not a kid” she said with a pout, which really didn’t help her argument.

The corvine-haired girl simply giggled. She always liked to prompt a blush from her adorable sisters.

On the other side of the room, Yaiba returned to his side. Surprisingly, he wasn’t looking as bummed out as Hokuto and Masumi before him.

“Oh, well. That just means I have to get better”.

Reiji looked at him. At least, he wasn’t depressed about his loss. Unlike someone else…

Hokuto was sitting in a corner, a sad aura radiating from him. Masumi looked at him, embarrassed by such an act.

“Come on, Hokuto. It’s not the end of the world, we’ll just have to train harder”.

He looked back at her with a depressed expression before he turned to the wall once again causing Masumi to sigh exasperatedly.

After a bit, all the people were now in the lounge. The three LDS students were behind Reiji, who instead was before Shuzo and the You Show students.

“I thank you for accepting our request. It has been enlightening”.

“Oh, it’s no trouble really. Our students are always happy to duel”.

Reiji then adjusted his glasses as he glanced at Shuzo’s students.

“Now, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, there are some flaws in our students’ styles. This wasn’t just a test for them, but also a way to make them face duelists who used their summoning methods for a longer time and are as such more experienced”.

Yuto crossed his arms.

“So you wanted us to point out their flaws at them?”.

Reiji closed his eyes.

“Correct. LDS may provide the highest level of studying when it comes to dueling but we do reckon there are still talented people out there that are able to outclass our students”.

He moved aside, letting Hokuto, Masumi and Yaiba stare at the students that defeated them. All three of them felt a bit anxious.

Yuri and Ruri glanced at each other, well aware that none of the three mince their words. Sora was interested to hear what they thought of them as well.

“Shijima”.

Hokuto straightened his back as Yuto addressed him.

“You don’t plan ahead. You mostly rely on your monsters’ effects to overwhelm your opponents at the beginning but if your strategy is somehow disrupted, you don’t know how to progress and from what I could gather, your deck isn’t exactly versatile”.

Yuto gave him a hard look.

“Your monsters’ effects are also bland and are useful only up to a certain point. It’s easy to predict your actions and stop them, and your monsters can’t help you in the long run. An Xyz monster’s true strength is its effect. Your deck however relies mainly on swarming which isn’t a good strategy for Xyz”.

Hokuto gripped his fist. Hearing how harshly this guy spoke of his style made him angry…but Yuto also defeated him easily so he doesn’t have that much room to complain.

“Constellars themselves aren’t a good archetype on their own. If you really want to get better, I suggest you to add another archetype to yours…unless you want to change deck altogether”.

Hokuto took out his deck and stared at it. He didn’t want to replace it.

“I’ll think about it but… I don’t want to get rid of the Constellars…”.

Yuto showed a small smile. If he was thinking something like that, then perhaps he had a chance. A real duelist uses the cards he loves, not the cards that are strong just because.

“Kotsu”.

Masumi flinched at Serena’s tone.

“Your style is aggressive and you play your cards relatively well… But your defenses are non-existent and your style is too single-minded”.

Masumi blinked. She knew she didn’t have many defenses but… Single-minded?

“Master Diamond’s effect is too hard to activate and while Topaz’s effect is good enough, he himself is a weak monster. Your Fusions are way too easy to bring out and so their strengths are balanced by such a thing”.

Serena brought out Panther Dancer and Cat Dancer.

“Cat Dancer is certainly an easy monster to bring out, that I can concede… But she herself is only the base of my Fusions. She’s basically the hilt of my sword. And that’s why I can bring out more powerful monsters such as Panther Dancer with her. You, on other hand, use your monsters to forge a different blade without a hilt and that damages you”.

Serena crossed her arms after she put back her cards in her deck.

“I think we can say that Fusion’s true strength is in fishing out the right materials to bring out powerful monsters. Which in itself should be hard and that’s why Fusion monsters are so strong. To reward the player for their troubles. Most of the times, the easy way doesn’t actually pay off”.

Most of the people there stared in both surprise and amazement at Serena. She flushed a bit at the attention she was getting.

“What? Just because I don’t act like it, doesn’t mean I don’t know my stuff”.

Yuri smiled proudly at her.

“And that’s why I like you so much…”.

He whispered the words so softly that no one heard them.

Masumi blinked as she contemplated what Serena told her. Maybe she really has to rearrange her deck.

“Todo”.

Yaiba tensed up and pressed his lips together as he expected Rin to be as critical as the other two…

But to his surprise she smiled calmly at him.

“You’re actually pretty good. Your deck is balanced well, you know how to defend yourself and your plays are aggressive to the right point”.

Yaiba blinked in surprise at hearing Rin complimenting him. Hokuto and Masumi both looked a bit envious by the fact that he got praised.

“There’s only one small problem…”.

He listened closely as the girl raised a finger.

“You stick too much to one tactic”.

The three LDS students, not only Yaiba, blinked. The X-Saber user tilted his head.

“I’m sorry?”.

Rin put a hand on her hip.

“You need to change things up with your style and not throwing out all your aces immediately or that will make you predictable and, as such, vulnerable. I’m…swallowing my pride saying this…but I’m sure that if you ask a hundred people which is the weakest summoning method, I’m pretty sure most of them would answer Synchro”.

Reiji had to silently agree with her. The number of people enrolled at the Synchro program was much smaller than that of those studying Xyz or Fusion.

“But that’s because most ignore Synchro’s true strength. That it constantly evolves. You can’t leave it as it is; you have to make it stronger. It takes a bit of time and that’s probably why people tend to underestimate Synchro but if you have the right patience and perseverance, it really pays off. Just ask my Diamond Bell”.

Rin winked and Yaiba found himself chuckling. That thing really was a powerhouse.

“Synchro isn’t something that should be all thrown out immediately. It needs time to grow and become stronger. Have patience with it and it will help you much more than you might believe”.

Yaiba nodded, understanding what she was trying to say.

Seeing that they were done, Reiji shook Shuzo’s hand.

“Once again, I thank you for this experience. May our students face each other again at the championship”.

“Likewise, Mr. Akaba”.

After that, Reiji and his students left. Rin stretched her arms.

“Well, what do you say. We got to face three LDS students and made impromptu teachers for them. Is it normal I feel like I want to brag about it?”.

Serena leaned on her sister’s shoulder with a smile.

“Guess so. But I wouldn’t say it aloud or people would either want to constantly duel us or be afraid to do it. Though I wouldn’t mind either way”.

Ruri poked Serena’s cheek with a mischievous smile.

“We’re not all nutjobs like you, sis”.

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?”.

The three girls shared a laugh. Yuri noticed how Yuto looked at Ruri with a smile on his face. He put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sly smile. The black and purple-haired boy raised a brow at his brother and tilted his head towards Serena.

Yuri huffed a laugh with an expression that clearly said ‘Touché’. Sora felt like the sixth wheel.

“Oh, well. Guess I’ll have to find a way to get those six duels”.

“In that case, I can provide help”.

Once again, most were startled as Nico magically appeared. They almost forgot he was here. Serena had an irritated mark on her forehead.

“Seriously. You should stop with that or you’re going to give someone a heart attack!”.

Sora ignored her and turned to the manager curiously.

“What do you mean you can offer help?”.

“You wish to participate in the championship but you haven’t partaken in enough duels correct?”.

Sora nodded. Nico adjusted his glasses.

“Then I can find you the six required opponents to progress into the tournament. You just have to win all the duels in a row and you’re set”.

Sora’s sparkled in happiness.

“You will?! Thanks a lot!”.

Serena looked at him suspiciously.

“That’s awfully generous of you. Is there something behind it?”.

Nico shook his head.

“I assure you there isn’t. The way you people dueled truly touched my heart. I haven’t felt such stimulation in a while now, so it’d be a shame if someone of yours weren’t to enter the championship because their quota is not high enough. And besides, I’m out of a job”.

Serena and Rin stumbled at hearing that. Yuto, Yuri and Ruri were sporting surprised expressions themselves.

“What? Aren’t you Strong Ishijima’s manager?” asked Ruri.

Nico’s grin fell as his glasses somehow lit up, covering his eyes.

“I was. Strong isn’t the champion anymore”.

That made the occupants of the room even more shocked. Nico turned around and raised his arms in a tragic way.

“He resigned his title and went on a journey to find himself. He also left me behind, like an umbrella in a sunny day! And a manager without someone to manage is useless!”.

Nico then got on his knees and did a perfect dogeza.

“So please, allow me to be your manager! I assure you won’t regret it”.

Nico acted so dramatically that he could give Shuzo and even Shingo a run for their money. Serena’s eye twitched just a bit as she wore a deadpan smile.

“I knew there was something behind it… Let’s just accept it. I’m basically seeing dad in his place right now and it’s pitiful”.

Shuzo felt an arrow piercing his heart at Serena’s last comment. Nico instead got up joyously and energetically thanked the kids.

“Oh, thank you! I’ll do my best to manage all of you”.

Sora popped a lollipop in his mouth.

“Alright. In that case, let’s search for opponents”.

“Of course. A deal is a deal. Once I’ll find one, I’ll contact you”.

After an exchange of pleasantries, Nico left, leaving a pumped up Sora behind.

“I can’t wait to start. For someone as good as me, it’ll be a walk in the park”.

Serena smirked down at him.

“You seem pretty confident in yourself”.

Sora grinned back at her.

“Just stating the truth”.

As the other chatted, Yuto was looking down, with a pensive look in his eyes.

Reiji Akaba most likely knew something about Yusho’s disappearance. And it’s surely no coincidence that he chooses them for today’s experience. He has no idea what exactly the young CEO was thinking or what he knew but one day, he’ll find out.

Yuto turned to the others, seeing Serena locking Sora in a headlock, both wearing giant grins. Yuri and Rin were doing nothing to stop them while Ruri was consoling her father. He softly smiled at them.

He will do everything in his power to protect those he cares about.

Chapter Text

When Sora was sent to Standard, the first thing he thought was that it would be just a mission to assess the dimension’s state, nothing more.

He could easily make out that most of the duelists here were not on Academia’s levels. They’d easily be defeated in a conflict.

‘Most’, however, doesn’t mean ‘all’. There were some duelists that could be on par with the ones from his dimension. Scratch that, they could even beat them.

The Sakaki brothers and the Hiiragi sisters were among those.

The eight easily counted for at least ten Obelisk Force members, each. Sora was able to see their styles of dueling and he must admit he’s impressed.

He believed he’d have to somehow detect the source of such strength. He thought he’d be able to figure them out… But…

Now staring at the eight of them in their school’s lunge, he found out that might be impossible.

“Yugo, I told you hundreds of times to not just go out with your motorcycle whenever you want, we still haven’t finished calibrating it”.

“Come on, Rin, see it as test runs. We can’t assess how well it’ll work if we don’t practice with it”.

Yugo and Rin were currently arguing about a motorcycle it seems. Sora was aware they both had licenses to ride a bike (along Serena and, surprisingly, Yuya for some reason) but they were intent of building one on their own. He doesn’t know why though.

“Yugo, you really should start being more responsible” admonished Rin.

Yugo put his fingers in his ears petulantly.

“Blah blah blah, can’t hear you, sorry”.

Rin growled and appeared offended when an idea came to her.

“Keep that attitude and I’m going to reveal to everyone where your magazines are”.

A look of horror washed down on Yugo’s face as he turned to see Rin’s smug expression.

“Don’t you dare. I’ll never hear the end of it from Yuri if he finds out”.

Rin smirked at him, confidence plastered all over her face. But it seems Yugo has some ammo of his own.

“You know what? Do that and I’m going to reveal where your magazines are”.

Rin’s confident expression suddenly turned almost hysterical.

“I-I-I have no idea what you’re talking about!”.

Yugo then whispered something in her ear. Rin’s eyes widened the more she heard.

“Oh god, you actually know…”.

The two then looked at each other, both with slightly manic looks in their eyes.

“Look, you keep your trap shut, and I keep mine shut, okay?”.

“Agreed”.

Sora felt like sweat-dropping at the two. They weren’t exactly discreet but other than himself, probably no one heard their little spat. Well, except…

“Look at them, thinking we don’t know where they’re hiding their goods”.

“Don’t say it like they’re hiding porn or drugs. It’s just some magazines depicting people in swimsuits”.

Yuri and Serena. Sora knew well that if you want to hide an embarrassing secret, then those two will eventually find that out.

“It’s still very good teasing material. We all know that Yugo and Rin are perverts but point it out to them and they turn into adorable, stuttering messes” said Yuri.

“Oh, I know that well. I wonder what’ll happen if I ‘accidentally’ knock over a certain shelf in our house”.

Yuri and Serena continued smirking evilly at the two oblivious Synchro users. Sora decided to slowly step away from them. When they’re in the mood, you better keep yourself ready.

…Actually, that’s probably a very poor way of saying it. Just know that they will destroy your confidence.

The candy-lover turned to the much calmer Yuto and Ruri.

“Hey, Ruri”.

“Yes?”.

Yuto scratched his cheek, slightly sheepish.

“You know… I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie one of these days”.

Ruri’s eyes lit up before she smiled.

“Sure. I’d love to”.

Yuto shared her smile as he sneakily pumped his fist.

Sora kept looking at them discretely. The two were pretty much dating. They just don’t know it yet. And despite always acting so mature, the two would become blushing messes if you point out to them just how much time they spend together.

Not like they’re going to deny it anyway. They’re at least that self-aware.

Sora’s eyes then turned to Yuya and Yuzu. The two kept stealing glances at Yuto and Ruri, both whispering to each other.

At one point, they stopped talking and two giant grins appeared on their faces. Sora knew what those mischievous smiles meant. They were going to tease their siblings to death.

Yuya and Yuzu were the most chaotic out of all of them. Yuya doesn’t even try to hide it and while Yuzu tries to act mature, there are times she simply can’t deny her inclination to mischief.

Despite that, they’re actually rather down to earth. It’s like their motto is literally to have fun. In a way, Sora can respect that.

So that’s pretty much what he could gather from the eight of them. They were all pretty different from one another, but despite the moments of arguing and teasing all siblings have, they all loved and supported each other deeply.

Sora thought that perhaps their great strength comes from their bond. Cliché du cliché. But it would make sense.

He gathered they didn’t have an easy life growing up and they’re all only 14. He doesn’t know the details but he knows that for most of the time growing up, they only had each other and their few friends. He guessed he can relate to them somehow.

Sora left the room and went to take a walk.

Ever since he reported to Academia about Starving Venom Fusion Dragon and Yuri, he was firmly told to stay on alert in Standard and to not interrupt his mission unless for critical circumstances. In the meantime, he’ll have to keep a close eye on Yuri and his brothers.

Those orders were only reinforced when he reported of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Sora tried to find information about those dragons but he literally found nothing online.

So basically Yuri and Yuto were the only people who possess those cards. Yuya too had a unique card in Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon but the Odd-Eyes archetype already existed out there so at least he had that mitigating effect. But Sora didn’t find anything about a Starving Venom or Dark Rebellion archetype, or anything that came close to it.

He wonders if Yugo too had a unique card of his own. A Synchro Dragon like he previously believed. That would make sense but he still hasn’t seen it yet.

At one point, Sora got suspicious and researched about his friends’ archetype. The results didn’t really interest or surprise him that much. Except for one detail where it said that those types were ‘apparently’ created eight years ago or so.

Sora didn’t find much else but that last detail bothered him. He heard of Yuri’s Predaplants back home and even about Serena’s Lunalights. Though he hasn’t heard of the others, like Yuto’s Phantom Knights or Rin’s Windwitches, at all but that was probably because they supported a different summoning method other than Fusion.

That actually made him think. Were Yuri and Serena from Fusion? That would explain why their summoning is so much more powerful than the average Standard duelist.

Any Fusion native would recognize the blue jacket he was wearing, though it doesn’t look like they did. But if they really were from Fusion, Sora wonders just how exactly they ended up in Standard.

Sora’s disk started beeping, signifying an incoming call. He went inside an alley.

“Academia to Shiunin. Can you hear us?”.

“Loud and clear”.

“Good. We’ve been investigating Yuri Sakaki’s mysterious summoning. As you said, it could surpass that of a native Fusion duelist, correct?”.

“Yeah. That strength was nothing I’ve ever felt before. Even a member of the Obelisk Force wouldn’t be able to replicate such energy on their own”.

“We might have found out the reason for it. About 10 years ago, two children mysteriously disappeared from the orphanages they were living at. The names of the two children are Yuri and Serena. Unfortunately, we have no last names”.

Lowering his head, Sora narrowed his eyes. So he was right. Yuri and Serena are from Fusion.

“Do you have any pictures?”.

“We’re sending them in right this instant”.

Two pictures appeared on Sora’s disk. And sure enough, they depicted Yuri and Serena. Though much younger, he would be able to recognize them anywhere.

“I can confirm. They are them”.

“I see. Your mission hasn’t changed but be sure to keep a close eye on them. If we’re right, those two might be a key factor in the ARC Project”.

“Understood. Glory to Academia”.

The call ended there and Sora looked up at the sky. After a couple of second, he brought out a chocolate bar and munched on it. With Yuri and Serena's origins revealed, an even bigger question popped up in his mind.

Were the others from different dimensions as well?

Sora remained still for some more minutes before he went his way.

It seems this mission won’t be just scouting after all.

Chapter Text

“Now you only add mayonnaise and that’s that”.

“Hmm… I see, I see…”.

Yuya and Yuzu’s eyes almost fell off their sockets as Yuri put the aforementioned condiment on his rice, with Serena copying what he was doing.

The eight were having lunch together and it seems Yuri and Serena were in their own world right now. Meaning utterly ruining meals…and their siblings’ appetite.

Serena ate the desecrated rice, which almost made poor Ruri retch.

You know why? Because along the mayonnaise, the two added caramel, cherries and soy sauce. A combination that would bring nightmares to anyone and make any professional chef scream in pain.

Apparently not Yuri and Serena. Speaking of her, her eyes lit up as she swallowed.

“You were right Yuri. It’s delicious”.

“I told you. I’d never lie when it comes to food”.

Yugo turned to Rin and Yuto, using his hand to cover his face from the Fusion users, before waving his other hand on his throat, simulating a beheading. The two discretely nodded at him.

Those two will get themselves killed with their experiments.

“But you know… What if we add some anchovies to it?”.

Yuri widened his eyes at Serena’s suggestion, looking like he got a divine revelation. Likewise, Ruri looked even more green.

“Serena, you’re a genius”.

Yuya groaned before he hanged his head, looking at the two in disgust.

“I swear you two are way too weird”.

As he said that, he grabbed a bottle of hot sauce…and promptly dumped half its content in his soup.

“Hey, Yuya, don’t hog all of that”.

The red and green-haired boy handed the bottle to Yuzu, who then added the rest of the sauce inside her own soup. The two then took a sip of their dishes.

“You know, Yuzu, maybe next time we should pick a spicier sauce”.

“I was thinking the exact same thing”.

Now it was their turn to weird out their siblings, and yes, that included Yuri and Serena. For some reason, Yuya and Yuzu had a real knack for spicy foods. In the sense, so spicy that it might permanently ruin your taste buds.

None of them understood how they were able to withstand that much spice. One time, Yugo tried tasting a curry where Yuya dumped a whole bottle of hot sauce on it.

He had to drink a gallon of milk after that. All of them were somewhat fine with trying Yuri and Serena’s devilish concoctions (up to a point, that is), but they’ll never try anything that Yuya or Yuzu had a spicy hand on it.

Rin dropped her fork as she stared at her friends with a deadpan expression.

“I’m not going to remain here if you’re going to continue raping your foods”.

Yuri raised a brow at her.

“Oh? If we speak about strange eating habits, then you and Yugo are not that far behind, considering how much instant ramen you two gobble”.

Yugo suddenly slammed his hands on the table, looking genuinely insulted.

“Hey! Instant ramen is the second best thing humans have ever made after duels, I’m not allowing you to talk trash about it!”.

Rin nodded decisively beside him. It was no secret the two had a quite the disposition for instant ramen. Well, considering it’s an easy meal to make while the two are working on their motorcycle, it’s actually not that strange when you think about it.

Ruri and Yuto looked at each other. Their siblings were really weird when it comes to foods. Good thing they aren’t like that. Somehow, Yuzu noticed that.

“You two like pre-cooked meals and rations, don’t look so smug”.

Both flinched hard. Alright. Maybe they too have weird eating habits.

Sometimes, neither Yoko nor Shuzo can be there with them for lunch, so when it happens the eight decides to eat together. Though it’s rare there wouldn’t be any of their usual squabble.

This was basically a normal lunch with them. And all of them agreed that they wouldn’t have it any other way.

After lunch, Yuto and Serena were now cleaning the dishes.

“I swear if either you or Yuri make even one plate unusable…”.

“Don’t twist your pants over it Yuto, we never ruined plates or silverware before”.

Despite what she said, there was one smudge she was viciously trying to remove. Yuto rolled his eyes and passed a detergent to her.

“Use this”.

Serena slightly puffed a cheek as she took the bottle from his hands. As he continued scrubbing, Yuto then looked up at the ceiling, a lost expression on his face.

“Something’s on your mind, Yuto?”.

He turned to her before looking down.

“More or less… I’ve been thinking about Heartland”.

Serena kept washing dishes as she listened to what he was saying. It was rare for him to bring up his hometown.

“We have no idea how we ended up in this city and when me and Ruri searched for information about Heartland, nothing came up. Literally nothing. Like it never existed”.

Yuto sighed and looked down, an anxious look on his face.

“It makes me scared. What if something happened to Heartland? What if a Heartland never actually existed and everything was just a fervid dream? It’s silly but there are times I can’t sleep comfortable at night thinking about this”.

Serena looked at the boy. Yuto always appear so mature all the time but he was just another young teen in the end. Just like all of them.

She looked down at the sink as the hot water flowed on her hands.

“Not sure if I’d make such a big deal out of it but that’s just me. My life was shit before I was adopted so I can’t say I’ve ever missed home”.

Serena turned to him.

“But if you remember it then it means it exists, doesn’t it? I don’t think you can just believe something isn’t real, simply because everyone thinks of it as such. I mean, we all believe you, after all most of us ended up in the same situation”.

Serena then looked away, becoming a bit abashed.

“So…keep believing. I’m sure there must be a Heartland somewhere. And maybe one day you’ll find it”.

Yuto stared at her surprised.

Serena had a habit of having a really different viewpoint than most. That’s what makes her such a good person to talk to. Even if you might not guess it at first.

He smiled at her.

“Thank you for your words Serena”.

She blushed a bit and turned, her mind once again set on cleaning the dishes.

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Let’s just get on with these”.

With a bemused smile, Yuto complied and went back scrubbing.

After 10 minutes or so, they were finally done so they joined the others in the living room. And it seems Yugo, Rin, Yuya and Yuri were playing a videogame. And they were against each other.

“Yuri, quit spamming!” cried a ticked off Yugo.

“And stop annoying you? Absolutely not”.

While the two were bickering, Yuya and Rin were fighting each other and Yuto chuckled at seeing the fiery aura surrounding them as they tried to overpower the other.

“Come on, Rin, kick his butt!” cheered Yuzu, who was obviously on her sister’s side.

“Teach her a lesson, Yuya!” said Ruri, who instead was rooting for the boy.

The two kept going at each other furiously until Yuya accidentally made a kamikaze attack and took both of them out. Both groaned loudly.

“What?! What kind of dumb attack was that? I didn’t even know I could do that”.

“Geez. And I was this close to crushing you” said Rin, making Yuya turn to her.

“Hey, I was obviously in the lead”.

The two kept staring at each other intensively until a cry was heard.

“I won!”.

The two turned to Yugo and Yuri, seeing the former standing on his feet in a victorious pose. The latter instead was turned away with a grimace.

“I can’t believe I lost to Fusion…”.

“That’s for continuously spamming the same attack. And my name’s YUGO! Get it through your thick skull”.

Yuya and Rin hanged their heads down with despairing expressions.

“Did we seriously place lower than Yugo?”.

Said boy turned to them grinning.

“Hey, I can’t always be the underdog. And now for your penance”.

Yuya, Rin and Yuri all collectively cringed before they sighed and followed Yugo upstairs. Yuto and Serena approached Yuzu and Ruri.

“What was the bet this time?” asked the dark-haired boy.

“Whoever wins would make the other three do something embarrassing” answered a snickering Yuzu.

Serena snorted as she knew well Yugo can be devious when he wants to. Especially since he was usually the butt of jokes, so when he gets one over the others, he makes sure he’ll savor it.

As they were waiting, Yuto moved closer to Ruri.

“Hey, Ruri. Do you think about Heartland sometimes?”.

The girl looked at him in surprise at being asked such a question before her expression relaxed.

“I do. I know I have all of you now but… There are times I wish I could see my parents and Shun again”.

Yuto put hand on Ruri’s side and brought her closer to him.

“I feel the same at time. I want to see my family as much as you. And one day, we’ll be able to. I know we will”.

Ruri smiled warmly at him. Deciding to be more daring, she got even closer and placed her head on his shoulder, prompting a light blush from him.

“Thank you Yuto. Your words mean much more than you might think. You’re right. One day, we’ll find Heartland”.

He smiled down at her and hugged her. Yuzu and Serena grinned at each other, seeing the two like that.

Yuto and Ruri might not say it out loud but they clearly love each other deeply.

Chapter Text

“Hey, dad, come on! I want ice cream!”.

“Rin, stop pulling, I know”.

Shuzo and a seven-years old Rin were walking on a sidewalk. It was summer and the little girl suddenly demanded ice cream.

And so here Shuzo was. Being pulled by his daughter towards an ice cream shop. Some people who passed by couldn’t help but chuckle at seeing a small girl dragging a grown man with her.

“Stop pulling Rin or you’ll make me fall”.

Rin stopped and turned to her father, pouting adorably at him.

“But I want ice cream!” she whined.

Shuzo chuckled a bit awkwardly. When Rin got something in her head, there was no way to dissuade her.

“I know but we don’t have to run. The shop doesn’t move and it won’t close in another three hours”.

Shuzo then scooped her daughter up and placed her on his shoulders.

“Say, if you behave well until we reach the shop, I’m even buying you one of those charms you like so much”.

Rin’s face broke out into a big smile.

“Yay!” she cheered while raising her arms.

Shuzo's heart melted at that. His daughters were the cutest in the whole world.

“I wish Ruri, Yuzu and Serena came with us”.

“Heh, so do I but it’s hard to resist the temptation of air conditioning”.

Rin giggled as she kept dangling her tiny legs while her father brought her to the ice cream shop. Once inside, Shuzo let her down and spoke to the cashier.

Rin picked the flavors she wanted but despite that, she kept bouncing beside her father. The cashier couldn’t help but chuckle at the impatient child.

“She’s quite the excitable one”.

Shuzo gave a laugh himself.

“She is. She and her sisters are a real handful but that doesn’t make them any less adorable”.

The cashier laughed once again as he picked up the flavors to make a cone. Rin kept swaying back and forth with a happy smile on her face. Then, all of a sudden, her eyes turned to her left. Sitting at one of the tables by the window, there was a girl more or less her age with her mother.

Rin stared at her with her big, round eyes. Shuzo, in the meantime, got the ice cream and paid the cashier. He kneeled down at her level.

“Rin, here’s you ice cream”.

The girl apparently didn’t hear him as she kept staring intensively. Shuzo blinked and followed his daughter’s gaze, noticing how she was staring at a girl.

Actually, more than the girl herself…she was staring at the doll she was holding.

“Rin?”.

The kid gently gasped and turned to her father. Stars immediatelly appeared in her eyes when she saw her ice cream cone.

“Gimmegimmegimmegimme!”.

Shuzo snorted in amusement as he gave the cone to Rin, who happily started eating it. Despite seeing how happy his daughter was, Shuzo couldn’t help but feel that Rin wanted something else.

And perhaps he knew what.

Once they returned home, Rin immediately run in the living room and hugged her mother, who was sitting on the sofa reading.

“Hey, mom!”.

“Hi there, princess”.

Yukari Hiiragi was a beautiful woman. At only 26, she had long flowing, amber hair and sharp yet gentle, light brown eyes. And despite being so young, she also had an air of maturity around her.

Most people who knew how over-excited Shuzo can be, wondered just how exactly he was able to win over such a gorgeous woman. But nevertheless he did.

“Dad bought me ice cream. And even this charm here”.

Rin showed her mother a small charm representing a snowflake. Yukari giggled and caressed her daughter’s head.

“That’s so pretty”.

Rin basked into her mother’s kind touch. Shuzo appeared and stretched his back.

“You should have seen her. She dragged me around like I was a sack of potatoes”.

“You’re just slow dad”.

Shuzo scratched his head as Yukari let out a gentle laugh. Rin then got down her mother’s lap and went up to her sisters.

“She sure likes to boss you around huh?”.

Shuzo let out an awkward laugh.

“Not as much as Serena. But I’d do anything for my darling daughters!”.

The way he was so fired up genuinely made Yukari giggle once again.

“And that’s also something I want to talk about”.

Yukari blinked as he noticed her husband’s serious expression.

“I need you to teach me how to sew”.

For the next two weeks, Shuzo took lessons from Yukari on how to sew. Then at night, he would close himself in his studio and work on something.

Yuzu and Serena once got curious and tried to sneak a peek inside. They saw their father trying to sew something but they couldn’t make out what before he hissed in pain, probably because of stinging himself with the needle, prompting the two to leave.

One day, Rin was sitting in her room staring at her favorite card, Windwitch – Winter Bell, when she heard her father calling her from the room below.

Rin descended the stairs and entered the living room. Her father was before her, holding something behind his back.

“What is it dad?”.

Shuzo grinned at her before showing her what he was hiding.

“Surprise!”.

Rin felt her eyes widening. In her father’s hands was a doll of Winter Bell. The little girl took it and stared at it.

“Where…did you get this?”.

Shuzo put his hands on his hips.

“I made it. It took a while but I was finally able to finish it this morning”.

Rin glanced at her father’s hands. They had several bandages on them. Rin looked up at his face.

“But…why?”.

“Well… Remember when we went to buy ice cream? I saw you staring intensively at the doll a girl was carrying and I thought you might want one. And Winter Bell is your favorite card so I thought to make one of it. Do you like it?”.

Rin stared stunned at her father, her mouth frozen into a small ‘o’. She blinked as she stared at the doll.

Truth to be told, Rin always wanted one. Even back in the City. She would always see the girls from the Tops area carrying around expensive dolls with them.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to afford one. But now her father went and made a doll for her.

Tears started to gather in Rin’s eyes. She tightly hugged the doll in her hands, making Shuzo smile serenely at her.

Rin looked up at her father with the most precious smile ever.

“Thank you, dad. I love it”.

Shuzo grinned happily at his daughter. Yukari was watching from outside the room, a smile on her face.

That was why she loved Shuzo so much. His determination and perseverance in making the people he loved happy were unmatched.

“Hey, that’s not fair!”.

Shuzo and Rin turned to Yuzu, Ruri and Serena who were all pouting at seeing their sister with a doll in her hands.

“Why does Rin get to have a doll and we don’t?” demanded Yuzu with Ruri and Serena nodding with her. But to their surprise, Shuzo simply grinned.

“And who said I forgot about my other princesses?”.

He grabbed something that was obscured by the sofa. When the girls could see what, they gasped at seeing three other dolls in his hands.

“Ta-dah!”.

A doll of Mozarta for Yuzu. One of Assembled Nightingale for Ruri. And one of Cat Dancer for Serena.

The three kids smiled widely and took their respective dolls from their father and hugged them tightly, happily cheering all the while. The four girls then smiled at each other and turned to their father.

“Thank you, dad!”.

They then went to play with their new dolls as Shuzo watched content. Yukari appeared and went beside her husband.

For them, there was no better treasure than their daughters’ happiness.

Chapter Text

There were two things Rin knew without a doubt in this moment.

One. Life sucks. Two. The universe does everything it can to make it so.

One day, in a particularly cold night, she and Yugo decided to sleep in the same bed for warmth. In the morning, the two found themselves waking up on the ground of an alley. And they had absolutely no idea why.

Worst came in later, when they realized they weren’t even in the City anymore. Considering the buildings, they believed to be in the Tops area. At least until they found out the city was actually named Maiami City.

They never heard of such a place. It made Rin think if they were even in the same continent.

Now, without a place to go and with pretty much nothing to eat, the two five-years old kids had to scavenger for anything that could be edible. And as anyone can guess, it went just as well as expected.

At the moment, Rin was sitting on an old crate, clutching her growling stomach. It’s been days since she had been able to eat something. She can’t believe she would grow to miss the soup they’d make at the orphanage.

“Hey, Rin!”.

The girl turned her head and saw Yugo running up to her.

“Look what I’ve found!”.

He showed her some bread. It looked freshly cooked, much different from anything they’ve found since they arrived here. While Rin would jump in joy at that, the more rational part of her brain wondered one thing.

“Yugo, where did you find this?”.

The boy looked away, a half-frown on his face.

“Oh, you know… It was… Just there… And so…”.

“You stole it?!”.

Yugo’s expression panicked before she quickly shushed her.

“Keep it quiet Rin. They’re still searching for me”.

They two then heard steps approaching. Yugo pulled Rin behind the crate and hid.

“Where did that brat go?!”.

“He can’t have gone far”.

They stayed hidden until the steps sounded distant. Yugo peeked to see if they were still people there and found himself sighing in relief at seeing no one. He then turned to Rin, seeing her angry.

“Yugo, you can’t just steal from someone”.

“What else would you have done? I’m not letting us starving”.

Rin frowned but found herself sighing in resignation. Yugo broke the bread he had in two and offered her a half.

“Come on. I went through all this trouble, we might as well take advantage of it”.

“I’m not going to eat something stolen”.

A grumble coming from Rin’s stomach seemed to think otherwise. Yugo raised a brow while her cheeks flared up. Wordlessly, she took the bread. Her friend started eating his half.

Rin glanced at Yugo. Despite being a moron, he always looked out for her, just as she for him. Her expression softened as she started eating.

Maybe they’re alone, but at least they’re together.

Yugo was currently riding his motorcycle on a riding circuit. Before him were Yuya and Serena, both riding their own motorcycles.

The blue-haired teen’s aim right now was to surpass both of them. Which…was actually easier said than done.

Yugo tried stepping on the accelerator but despite that, the two still managed to stay ahead of him. Unfortunately, Yuya and Serena managed to reach the finishing line before him.

Rin stopped the timer the second Yugo reached the end himself before she sighed in disappointment.

“20 minutes and 42 seconds. Not good enough yet”.

Yugo slumped over his bike, completely spent.

“Geez… And I hoped I’d finally be able to surpass you two”.

Yuya and Serena approached them, both removing their helmets.

“Not on your life, buddy” replied Serena. Yuya scratched his head awkwardly.

“Hey, you’re a much better driver than us. It’s just your bike that’s a bit slower”.

Yugo rested his head on his fist, not relieved at all.

“I know that but we’ve been working hard on this. It’s hard to swallow what you make doesn’t live up to the expectations”.

Rin walked over to them, looking as bummed out as Yugo.

“Unfortunately, while we can successfully recreate and play duels, we just can’t seem to make it go any faster than this for now, unless we want the engine to explode”.

Yugo and Rin were trying to build two motorcycles, one for each of them. According to them, it would be possible to play Duel Monster while riding them. While they were able to demonstrate it can work, the speed of the vehicle was the real problem.

Serena put a hand on her hip.

“Why simply not modifying an already existing motorcycle? It’d certainly be easier”.

Yugo raised his head at her with an arched brow.

“D-Wheels don’t exist here so the configuration of a normal bike is completely different from them. Even if we manage to get our hands on a bike, we’d basically need to dismantle it to add what we need”.

Then his expression softened.

“And besides, it’s always been our dream to build our own Duel Runners. We can’t exactly get back on that can we?”.

Yuya smiled at his brother.

“No, I guess not. Hey, Rin, want to take a shot yourself?”.

Rin smiled and threw the stopwatch at Yugo, who caught it in his hand.

“Sure. Just let me go grab my things”.

Rin went to grab her own helmet and motorcycle. Yugo stared at her go. His gaze didn’t go unnoticed by Serena, who cheekily got closer to him.

“My sister’s body is really nice isn’t it?”.

Yugo sputtered something as his face turned redder than a pepper. He smacked Serena’s arm.

“W-W-What the hell are you saying?! I-I wasn’t staring I swear!”.

Serena smirked cockily.

“Sure you weren’t. I’m not blind, I know you crush on Rin harder than a wrecking ball on a building”.

Yugo laughed maniacally, his eyes swirling.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! You must be confusing it with Yuya’s crush on Yuzu”.

“Hey, don’t drag me into this!” shouted an embarrassed Yuya.

“What the heck are you two shouting about?” asked Rin as she approached the others with her motorcycle. Still feeling devious, Serena grinned at her.

“Just talking about how much Yugo likes staring at your ass”.

After choking on air, Yugo started coughing as he mentally promised himself he’ll kill Serena one way or the other. Rin blinked before a mocking grin made its way on her face as she turned to Yugo.

“Really? Did you enjoy the show at least?” She said while purposely swinging her hips to tease him. Like he was hypnotized, Yugo stared down momentarily forgetting his predicament. Serena laughed at his expression, amused by how he wasn't even trying to deny it or defend himself.

“Hey, careful there. He's going to get a nosebleed if you keep that up”.

“Yeah, you are right sis. Wouldn't want to give him anemia”.

The two girls then started laughing to each other at Yugo’s expenses. The boy himself was covering his face with his hands, feeling much warmer than usual.

Yuya stared at his brother in sympathy. Rin and Serena are a force to be reckon with when they team up together to tease someone. Yugo looked through his fingers at the two demonesses. Then suddenly an idea popped up in his mind.

“You two better stop laughing right now…”.

They turned to him, both smirking widely.

“Or what?”.

Yugo got off his bike and approached the two, making sure Yuya couldn’t hear him.

“I’m going to tell everyone about your bad breath problem”.

And with that simple statement, Rin and Serena dropped their grins. In their place, two bright blushes that could rival even the brightest of tomatoes appeared.

They glared embarrassedly at him.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Sakaki”.

Now it was Yugo’s time to smirk, relishing in his friends’ hysterical looks.

Rin and Serena grumbled something but knew one thing for certain. If Yugo has a way to get back at you…better let it go already. He usually ties things to his finger worse than Yuri. They sighed dejectedly.

“Alright, fine, sorry if we’ve been unpleasant” said Rin.

Yugo’s smirk turned softer.

“Accepted. Now, come on, you’ve got a track to torch”.

The two girls huffed a laugh. Serena went towards her bike with a confused Yuya doing the same, not without asking what he said. He only received a ‘Nothing’ as answer, only adding to his confusion.

Rin went to put on her helmet. As she prepared her bike, Yugo looked up at the sky.

“You know… It’s hard to believe we’ve managed to come this far”.

Rin stopped what she was doing before letting out a small chuckle.

“As long as you believe in something, it will eventually come true”.

“And where did you read that? From a fortune cookie?” snarked Yugo, smirking.

Rin turned back at him with a smirk of her own.

“Better than those quotes you find online, nerd”.

“Hey, who’re you calling nerd, nerd?”.

The two kept grinning at each other before they burst out laughing. Rin’s laughter died down though her smile remained. How was Yugo always able to lift her mood?

“Thank you, Yugo. Somehow, you always manage to make me smile”.

Yugo reciprocated her expression.

“So do you. I don’t know where I’ll be without you”.

“Under a bridge begging”.

Yugo laughed again, not feeling insulted in the slightest.

“Probably. I may not tell you often…but thank you for everything you do for me”.

Rin was slightly taken aback by his earnest answer. Yugo isn’t normally one to say things like that. She smiled brightly at him.

“To you as well. Thank you for being there with me, even after all these years”.

Yugo could lose himself in that smile. That was definitely what he loved the most about her, along her personality.

“Hey, you two! Do you want to continue flirting all day?”.

The two couldn’t help but laugh at Serena’s yelling, though a small blush still came to them.

“You should go or else Serena’s going to have our heads”.

“Yeah. Wish me luck”.

Yugo gave her a thumb-up before he patted her shoulder in encouragement. Rin went towards the circuit with her motorcycle. Yugo looked at her go.

God, does he love her…

He just wishes he’d be able to tell her one day.

The next day, as Yugo and Yuto entered You Show, they saw Nico waiting for them.

“Ah, here you are. I have a favor to ask of you”.

“Alright, shoot”.

“You see. A couple of duelists asked me if I could find an opponent for them. For the championship, as you may have already figured out, and so I thought of you”.

Yugo punched his hand with a grin.

“Alright then. Count me in. When’s the duel?”.

The much calmer Yuto put a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“Calm down. You don’t even know who you’re going to face” he said prompting the Synchro user to scratch the back of his head, though he still wore a giant smile.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, young man. Now, for your opponent, that would be Michio Mokota from Cuisine Duel School”.

Yugo nodded determined. Yuto however looked at his left with less enthusiasm.

“Got it. Where do we duel? I’m ready whenever”.

“The duel will be tomorrow at Mokota’s school. I’ll send you the address later”.

After a bit of talking, Nico left. Yugo pumped his fist.

“Finally, it’s Yugo time!”.

“Wait, I don’t want to burst your bubble but…”.

Yugo turned to his brother.

“I’ve heard of Michio Mokota and I even watched a few of his duels. His dueling style is… Well, to put it simply, you’ll probably hate it”.

The Synchro user tilted his head questioningly.

“Why? Is it some kind of stupid deck that only revolves around one card?”.

“No, no… It’s his monsters’ effects. I know you, it’ll make you angry”.

Yugo put a hand on his hip, a carefree smile on his face.

“Oh, come on. How bad can it be? You worry too much in my opinion” he said before leaving.

Yuto looked at him go. As his brother, he knew well how Yugo’s personality works. And he has no doubt that Michio’s style will make him mad.

He guessed the duel that is about to come will be rather interesting.

Chapter Text

“Mom should first read the whole recipe and then try to replicate it” lamented Yuya.

Yugo was walking through a sidewalk while eating a cup of instant ramen. Right behind him were Yuya and Ruri, looking definitely hungrier than him.

“Yugo, do you have to slurp that while we’re watching? You know that because of mom’s mishaps, I couldn’t have breakfast”.

“And dad forgot to go grocery shopping so I had to skip breakfast as well”.

And that was accentuated when their stomachs grumbled. Yugo looked at them with a grin.

“You could have grabbed an apple or something. Because I’m afraid it will only get worse. The duel I’m having today will be at a culinary school”.

The two famished teens groaned at hearing that.

“Anyway, do either of you know where the others are?”.

“Yuri is having a duel against someone named Eita Kyuando. Serena and Yuto are with him while Yuzu and Rin are shopping for stuff” answered Ruri.

“Uff. If I didn’t have a duel today, I’d have wished to see just how Yuri would thrash this Kyuando”.

Yuya snorted.

“Knowing Yuri? He’s probably having a lot of fun”.

“Question. The oak was the sacred tree of which Greek God?”.

“Why, that’s easy. To Zeus”.

“Correct. You gain 500 Life Points”.

Yuri’s Life Points increased, once again by giving a correct answer. Down below, Eita was grinding his teeth as Yuri managed to answer every single question the Actions Cards shot him.

“Now I believe it’s time to activate the card Predaplast. I reveal a number of Predaplant cards in my hand and for each of them, a monster on your field gains a Predator Counter. Since there’s only Quiz Monkey on your field, I reveal only Predaplant Drosophyllum Hydra”.

Yuri then smirked.

“Unfortunately for you, I can tribute a monster with a Predator Counter to Special Summon Drosophyllum Hydra…regardless of its field. So I tribute your Quiz Monkey to summon her”.

Eita’s jaw hit the floor as his monster was sacrificed and Drosophyllum Hydra appeared on Yuri’s side. Quiz Monkey’s effect can’t be activated in response of an effect so he could do nothing.

“T-That’s not fair!”.

“Did you think I’d humor you with this field of yours? This is a duel, not a quiz show. Drosphyllum Hydra, direct attack!”.

Unfortunately for Eita, his Trap Not So Fast! is useless unless a Quiz monster is attacked, so he fell legs in the air as Yuri’s monster attacked him.

The Fusion user brushed a strand of hair with a mocking smile.

“Get up. I’m not done with you yet”.

In the stands, Serena and Yuto were watching the duel. The former was laughing her ass off at seeing the overconfident Eita being manhandled by Yuri while the latter was sweat-dropping at his brother, silently sorry for Eita.

“Ah, definitely”.

“Sounds like Yuri, yes”.

The three snickered as they thought of how Yuri was probably destroying that poor bastard of his opponent.

“And here we are”.

The three now stood before Cuisine Duel School. From the outside, it looked like a normal restaurant. Yuya and Ruri sniffed the air, as a really pleasant smell pervaded the area. The two found themselves slightly drooling.

“So gooood…” they said with dreamy expressions.

Yugo snorted loudly as he slurped down more noodles.

“Glad to see you could make it”.

As always, Nico materialized before them. The three didn’t look as surprised. They were getting used to him doing that.

“Yeah, I’m here. When do we start?”.

“Calm down, my boy. Follow me”.

The three followed Nico inside the place. Yugo, Yuya and Ruri were getting distracted by the various dishes they were serving. Once they arrived to the arena, they could see that another duel was underway, with an orange-haired boy, most likely Michio, facing off against another duelist.

“Your duel will start once they’re done. You came a bit early”.

Yugo rubbed his neck with a chuckle.

“Sorry about that. I was a bit too excited”.

Michio’s monsters were particular. They resembled various dishes, but made in a cartoonish-humanoid form. One was a plate of curry, another resembled a plate of pasta and the third was a pudding.

Yuya stared at the monsters dreamily.

“They look delicious”.

Ruri shot him a look. Hungry as she was, she wouldn’t think of just eating monsters.

Michio extended his arms.

“Now, eat up!”.

The three raised a brow at his strange phrase. Their surprise would soon turn into disgust as Michio’s monsters started to feed his opponent’s monsters to the point of inflating them in giant balloons, making them explode shortly after.

Ruri put a hand on her mouth, highly repulsed by what she’d seen.

“I think I just lost my appetite”.

“Idem. Urk. I need some water” said Yuya, looking as disgusted as Ruri.

Yuya then turned to his brother, somehow fearing his reaction. Yugo was staring with a neutral expression…

At least until he crushed the cup he had in hand, his brows furrowed in anger. Especially as he saw Michio’s cruel smirk at how he destroyed his opponent’s monsters.

“Yugo, are you okay?”.

“I am. Now, I really can’t wait to start”.

Ruri glanced at Yugo. Considering his past, it was a no brainer that he’d hate something like that.

This Michio had no idea what he just unleashed.

As he won his duel, Michio went over to his school’s principal, German Fauder.

“Another exquisite victory, Mokota. With this, you’re a step closer to your quota” congratulated the principal.

“Indeed. It was my 45^th win. And if I’m not wrong, my next opponent will be here shortly”.

“He is. I heard he’s a fearsome one though. So you better keep your guard up”.

“Michio Mokota!”.

German huffed a laugh as he turned to the source of the voice.

“Speaking of which…”.

Michio followed the principal’s gaze and saw his next opponent at the top of the stairs looking at him with a determined face.

“My name’s Yugo Sakaki! And I’m here to royally kick your butt!”.

Yugo then jumped down the stairs, adding a flip for dramatics, and pointed at Michio.

“So let’s start right now. I’m fired up and raring to go!”.

His statement brought some murmurs among the public, most of disapproval of his ways. As they sat down on their seats, Yuya and Ruri sighed, a bit embarrassed by his behavior.

German blinked stunned. Before he let out a short laugh.

“Well, the passion certainly isn’t missing in this one. I suppose we should skip the pleasantries in this case”.

Michio nodded, staring at Yugo with a calm smile.

“I suppose so. You said your name is Yugo, correct? I hope you’re ready. I’ll make a light meal out of you”.

“HAH! I want to see you try. You’re about to swallow a very bitter bite”.

Yuya watched as Yugo and Michio went into position.

“Yugo can be really emotional sometimes”.

“He does. But it’s a good thing isn’t it?”.

Yuya mulled over Ruri’s remark. When their father disappeared, their emotional state had drastically changed.

He himself put on a fake smile most of the times to cope. Yuri did his best to repress how he really felt with mixed results. And Yuto had to act as the mature one so he never showed his true emotions.

Out of the four brothers, Yugo is the only one who always stayed true to himself. He always showed what he felt and didn’t have a problem in voicing his thoughts. Yuya really admired him for that.

“Hey, Ruri. Sorry if I’m being insensitive… But how did you and your sisters felt when aunt Yukari died?”.

Ruri’s face didn’t change, showing only neutrality.

“…We were devastated. Rin cried for weeks, Serena would throw fits of anger for the smallest things, and Yuzu…”.

Ruri lowered her head at remembering what an emotional wreck Yuzu was.

“…She became almost unapproachable. And every time she'd lock herself in her room, I’d hear her sobbing. I did my best to be there for them but… To say I wasn’t affected by mom’s death… Well, that would be a huge lie”.

Ruri put a hand on her heart as a small smile blossomed on her face.

“And that’s why I’m so grateful to you guys. Despite how untreatable we were, you always stuck with us. We were able to move on, even if just a little, thanks to you”.

Yuya smiled at hearing how Ruri felt. He stared ahead, calmly listening to German making a small speech.

“That’s what friends are for. You stayed by our side when dad disappeared. We are as grateful as you are in that regard”.

Ruri didn’t answer. Her gentle smile was enough. The two stared ahead as the principal activated the Action Field Chaos Kitchen.

“Hey, Ruri”.

“Yes?”.

“Let’s all be there for each other even in the future”.

They calmly watched as Yugo and Michio activated their disks and started dueling.

“Of course”.

“Hope you’ve got your kitchen gloves on because I’m burning up more than an oven!” shouted a smirking Yugo. Michio simply held his polite smile.

“You’ll just allow me to cook you better. I’ll start by summoning Cookpal Cluckwheat”.

Yugo blinked as a chick wearing a wheat sack appeared right beside Michio. Cluckwheat started running across the floor just as his duelist hopped on his back.

Yugo followed his movements as Cluckwheat leaped towards a giant rice cooker. Michio jumped off his monster and inside the object, grabbing an Action Card from inside it.

“Oh, just like freshly cooked rice, this Action Card is hot and ready to be served. I activate Monster Microwave”.

“An Action Card already?” questioned Yugo with a raised brow.

“This card allows me to return a monster from my field to my hand. In exchange, I can summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand in its place. Cookpal Eggong, coming right up”.

The small egg-like creature (0/300) appeared. Michio then placed Cluckwheat’s card and another one on his disk.

“When Cluckwheat is sent back to the hand, I can summon him again thanks to his effect. Plus, if I control at least two Cookpals, I can summon Cookpal Pumapotato on the field”.

Cluckwheat reappeared and soon after him, Pumapotato appeared. Michio glanced at his left but didn’t do anything else.

“I end my turn with two face-downs”.

Yugo scratched his head, confused by his opponent’s play. While it’s true he summoned three monsters, they were all really weak. Heck, Eggong had 0 Attack points.

But there were also those cards he placed. Yugo should think carefully about his next move lest he’d fall into a trap.

Unfortunately for him, that was not his style.

“Alright, then! I draw! Let’s start strong with Speedroid Horse Stilts!”

Yugo’s monster appeared on the field but the boy was far from done.

“…and I immediately activate his effect. When I successfully Normal Summon him, I can also summon another Level 4 or lower Speedroid monster from my hand. Like the Level 1 Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!”.

As it appeared, the eyed-dice stared right at Michio’s monsters, making them flinch back in fear.

Yugo’s monsters are a sight to see. Some might look a bit weird but Ruri can agree they also have a charm unique to them that makes them pretty. She figured it’s because their appearances are so unconventional.

“Sorry, am I late?”.

Ruri and Yuya turned their heads and saw Sora running up to them.

“Not at all, they just started. You finished your duel fast” remarked Yuya.

Sora sat down beside his friends.

“Yeah, it was a breeze. I’ve never seen Yugo dueling before so I was really curious”.

“Yugo’s style is fast and forward. I think most would find it dangerous to be completely honest” said Ruri, remembering well how some people ended up underestimated Yugo…before getting thrashed by him. Yuya chuckled.

“Only Yugo can make it work well to be honest. We once tried to switch our decks and I just couldn’t make it work for me”.

Sora raised a brow intrigued. While it was true he was curious to see Yugo’s style, there was something else he really hoped to see.

Namely, Yugo’s dragon. He had a theory to confirm after all.

“I now activate Red-Eyed Dice’s effect and change a Speedroid monster's Level in my field. Horse Stilts now becomes a Level 5”.

Red-Eyed Dice turned to Horse Stilts and activated his effect.

“And with that done, now I have a Level 5 and a Level 1…which also happens to be a Tuner!”.

Michio raised his brows in interest at hearing that. Yuya pumped his fist.

“Go for it, bro”.

Sora kept his eyes open as he was possibly about to see the elusive Synchro Dragon.

“Now I tune the Level 5 Speedroid Horse Stilts to the Level 1 Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice! Magical Sword with the form of a cross… Use your power to rend all of our enemies! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Hi-Speedroid Kendama!”.

Sora sighed disappointedly as the monster summoned wasn’t the dragon he expected but a strange cross-shaped machine (2200/1600).

He’ll have to hope the duel will last long enough for Yugo to summon his dragon, if he had one.

Yugo would rather avoid the monsters he saw before. So he’ll have to destroy Michio’s current ones to avoid letting him tribute them.

“Okay, Kendama. Let’s make scrambled eggs! Attack Eggong with your Lightning Speed Thrust!”.

Kendama charged at a panicking Eggong and completely destroyed them. Michio crossed his arms before his face as a cloud of dust hit him (4000 -> 2800).

“Not done yet. I activate Shock Surprise from my hand and banish two Speedroid monsters in my graveyard. With that done, I can destroy two cards on the field. Like Cluckwheat and Pumapotato”.

After banishing Horse Stilts and Red-Eyed Dice, Yugo’s spell went and destroy Michio’s remaining monsters.

“So? Was my move too strong for you?” boasted Yugo with a grin.

However, Michio was still smiling calmly, like he wasn’t worried at all.

“I’m afraid it lacked spice to it. Now I have all I need to prepare a feast worthy of a king. I activate the Continuous Trap Card Food Cemetery”.

Right after one of Michio's face-down was uncovered, a strange stove appeared in mid-air.

“You see, when I activate this card, all my Cookpals that have been destroyed in this turn go inside the Food Cemetery…”.

Michio’s monsters returned from the graveyard and went inside the stove.

“…allowing me to add to my hand a number of Cookpal monsters equal to the number of monsters placed inside it. I must thank you, Sakaki, you saved me a lot of trouble by destroying my monsters”.

Yugo couldn’t force down the temptation of slapping a hand on his face. He should have destroyed those face-down instead of his monsters. He made a novice error!

“…Alright, I get it. I end my turn” he groaned as he placed a card.

In the stands, Yuya chuckled awkwardly.

“I guess he got too fired up…”.

Ruri mimicked his laugh, though it sounded less awkward and more amused.

“I guess so. Sometimes Yugo doesn’t think before acting”.

Michio smirked after drawing a card.

“Now I activate my other face-down, Regal Recipes. Now I can summon Royal Cookpals from my hand equal to the number of monsters inside the Food Cemetery”.

The stove started shaking as three monsters came out of it.

“I summon Royal Cookpal Knight Pasta (300/1100), Royal Cookpal Prince Curry (300/1100) and Royal Cookpal Princess Pudding (300/1100)!”.

Michio’s dish-like monsters appeared. Yugo stared at them with a frown, still remembering their performance. He really didn’t like them.

“Regal Recipes has a second effect. For every Royal Cookpal summoned, you suffer a 300 damage”.

Yugo was hit by a thunder created by the three monsters (4000 -> 3100). He shook his head to scroll off his dizziness.

“That was nothing. My Kendama is still far stronger than all of you monsters combined”.

“Maybe so. For now, at least”.

Michio jumped down inside a giant bowl. When he got out, he revealed to have obtained an Action Card, much to Yugo’s frustration.

“Hmm, this is the spice I need. I activate the Action Card Spicy Spice, which raises the Attack of a monster by 1000 until the end of the turn”.

Michio used the card of Prince Curry. A fire engulfed him, raising his strength (300 -> 1300).

“Now I activate Princess Pudding’s effect. By forgoing attack, I can double the attack points of a Royal Cookpal on my field, in this case Prince Curry, until the end of the turn”.

The pudding went beside her companion, allowing him to get stronger (1300 -> 2600).

“Unfortunately for you, Knight Pasta has the same effect so Prince Curry’s Attack gets doubled once again (2600 -> 5200)”.

Yugo made a face at seeing it.

“Isn’t a cook supposed to change recipes instead of doing the same things over and over?”.

“Perhaps, but this is the recipe I’ve mastered. It needs nothing to become better as it’s already perfect”.

“Yeah? Well, we’ll see just how long your ‘perfect recipe’ will last against me”.

Michio darkly smiled.

“Tough words from someone whose monster is vastly outmatched right now. Prince Curry, destroy Hi-Speedroid Kendama with Curry Catastrophe!”.

Prince Curry unleashed a tsunami of curry right at Kendama, destroying it. Yugo was the flung away by the attack, making him fall on his back (3100 -> 100).

“And with this I end my turn. So, Sakaki? Have you enjoyed your meal? Or was that too strong for you?”.

Not getting up, Yugo clicked his tongue as he stared up.

“Tsk. Dick. Alright, I admit I should have thought my moves better”.

Yugo then jumped on his feet, looking confident.

“But now you’re about to see my strength in full! I draw and I immediately activate Kendama’s effect from the graveyard!”.

The portal from the graveyard appeared.

“If I control no monsters while Kendama is in the graveyard, I can summon him back immediately”.

And with that, Kendama reappeared on the field. Michio simply stared at him without showing surprise.

“I can’t Normal Summon or set the turn I activate this effect but that’s not a problem because if I have a WIND monster on my field, I can Special Summon the Tuner Speedroid CarTurbo from my hand”.

Yugo should have really gone for Michio’s face-downs. He’s been too rash. Well, he’ll correct his error right now.

“I activate Speedroid Shift-Gear from my hand and modify CarTurbo’s Level from 3 to 1. And now I tune Kendama and CarTurbo!”.

As Yugo’s monsters tuned together, the young duelist couldn’t help but smile euphorically. Like always when he summons his ace. He raised his arm up.

“Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Synchro Summon!”.

Yugo reeled his arm in and closed his fist before punching the air.

“Appear now, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!”.

Sora widened his eyes as Yugo’s dragon finally appeared on the field.

Its white body resembled that of Starving Venom, though much shorter and more futuristic. Its wings were bright green crystals that could reflect the light itself (2500/2000).

‘I was right. Yugo has a dragon. Just like his brothers’.

While Sora was watching, he could hear what Yuya and Ruri were saying next to him.

“Hey, isn’t it weird all the time we summon our dragons, we can somehow feel it?”.

“I never really thought about it but now that you mention it, it is pretty weird”.

Sora silently listened, the same question suddenly coming to his head.

Dimensional drifters, powerful dragons, suspicious similarities…

Just who are these people? Something is telling Sora there is much, much more to them. He stared at Yugo, who was broadly grinning at his dragon.

He needs to uncover their secret. For Academia.

Chapter Text

Despite the surprising appearance of Clear Wing, Michio didn’t look too perturbed by it. Rather he was wearing his usual polite smile.

“That’s certainly an imposing dragon”.

“He is. And you better prepare yourself because you’re about to face all his might” said Yugo with confidence. Michio answered with a slightly twisted smirk.

“I don’t think so. I activate Princess Pudding’s second effect!”.

The pudding monster flew towards Clear Wing. Yugo simply stared at her going.

“When my opponent summons a monster, I can then activate my Royal Cookapals’ second effect. By returning the chosen Royal Cookpal to the hand, your monster is destroyed”.

“Yeah, I saw what you did when I arrived…”.

Yugo’s lips soon formed a giant smirk.

“…but it won’t work! I activate Clear Wing’s effect!”.

Michio furrowed his brows as he looked at the monsters. The dragon’s wings started shining a bright light and immediately after, a transparent ray of light emanated from them, reducing Princess Pudding to nothing more than a burned crisp. But it wasn’t over as Clear Wing’s Attack then went up (2500 -> 2800).

The cook widened his eyes in shock. The audience was likewise surprised by this development.

“What… What happened?”.

Yugo chuckled, attracting Michio’s attention.

“Once per turn, when a Level 5 or higher monster is targeted by another monster’s effect…Clear Wing negates that effect and destroys the monster that activated it! Plus, whenever he destroys a monster with his effect, Clear Wing gains its attack for the rest of the turn. That’s Dichroic Mirror for you!”.

Michio gasped as that. If that’s true, then… There was no way he can get rid of Clear Wing. Cookpals heavily relies on their effects so by negating them, they become extremely weak.

No, wait… Yugo said ‘once per turn’. In that case…

“Well, since you already used Clear Wing’s effect, then I activate Knight Pasta’s effect to finally destroy him”.

“Your request has been heard and then denied. I activate Clear Wing’s second effect! Once per turn, a Level 5 or higher monster that activated its effect is destroyed right away! Thanks and goodbye!”.

Michio gritted his teeth as Knight Pasta met the same end as Princess Pudding and Clear Wing became stronger (2800 -> 3100).

But it’s still not over yet. Now Clear Wing was out of ammos. Michio extended a hand, his expression much more aggressive.

“I activate Prince Curry’s effect. This time I will destroy your dragon!”.

Yugo extended his arm in turn.

“And I answer with my face-down, Translucent Wings! I can negate an effect that is targeting a Clear Wing monster on my field!”.

And with that, Prince Curry stopped in his tracks in confusion. Michio stared completely in shock.

With this done, he had nothing else to use. And Yugo has yet to attack him. That meant…

“My perfect recipe…lost?”.

“Hey, a perfect recipe doesn’t exist” said Yugo. Michio turned his head to him. The Synchro user was wearing a serious expression.

“Nothing is perfect. And if there’s really something that it is, then it will eventually become boring, don’t you think so? And if it’s boring then it means it wasn’t as perfect as you thought”.

Michio mulled his words over.

His father told him several times that the perfect recipe doesn’t exist. But he always shrugged it off. Now, faced with the scenery where his tactic failed, he realizes he was right.

If something is perfect, it will eventually become static and people will get tired of it. And as such it’s not perfect anymore.

Things…need to change to truly become interesting and better. Meaning that a perfect recipe…doesn’t actually exist.

Michio sighed though a small smile appeared on his face. Yugo instead wore a big grin.

“Alright, Clear Wing! Destroy Prince Curry with Spinstorm Sky Strike!”.

The dragon flew up as a green bright wind enveloped him. Clear Wing then dived down towards Prince Curry, destroying him completely, and reducing Michio’s Life Points to zero.

Yugo clapped his hands together.

“Thank you for the food!”.

Yuya and Ruri cheered happily for Yugo. Sora instead was looking at him with a less enthusiastic expression.

Four dragons. One for each Extra Deck summoning method.

Pendulum. Fusion. Xyz. Synchro.

Yuya and Yuzu. Yuri and Serena. Yuto and Ruri. Yugo and Rin.

That can’t be a simple coincidence. Something doesn’t add up though.

He needs more information. But where will he get them?

“Sora, are you okay? You got a face there…”.

Sora blinked in surprise and saw Yuya’s worried eyes directed at him. He waved him off hurriedly with a slightly forced smile.

“Yeah, sorry. That was the first time I saw Yugo’s dragon, that’s all, I was just surprised”.

Yuya made a noise of confirmation before he run up to his brother. Sora’s expression soon turned back serious.

Something’s happening. And it’s telling him that it involves all the dimensions.

Yuya run up and hugged Yugo from behind.

“Knew you could it, bro”.

The Synchro duelist grinned as he rubbed his brother’s head affectionately.

“Of course, who do you think I am?”.

Yuya grinned mischievously at him.

“You-go, brother”.

Yugo hanged his head with a chuckle.

“Heck, I'll take it over Yuri's 'Fusion' any time” he said before ruffling his brother’s hair, to his amusement.

Sora sighed, his mouth morphing into a small smile, before he walked up to his friends along Ruri.

“I’m glad you won. Though you should think longer on your actions next time” she said amused.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you don’t have to remind me. Huuuh… Not a word with Yuri, okay? He’ll tease me for weeks if he comes to know of my misplay”.

Ruri chuckled before making a motion of zipping her mouth. Michio walked up to Yugo and extended a hand.

“That was a nice duel”.

Yugo smiled and took Michio’s hand just as Yuya let him go.

“Yeah, it was”.

After they shook hands, German descended the stairs and went towards them.

“That was a truly magnificent sight! I could feel the passion both of you put in your moves. And I believe Motoka has learnt something from it, isn’t that right?”.

He nodded.

“I did. A recipe will eventually get boring and predictable if it never changes. It may be the best in the world but eventually people will get tired of it. I need to evolve and make it even better. Duels are the same in that regard”.

Michio then turned to Yugo.

“I thank you for that insightful advice. But next time we’ll duel I will certainly come out on top”.

“HAH! You’re free to try but I assure I won’t let myself get defeated that easily”.

All of a sudden, two growls could be heard from behind them. Yuya and Ruri blushed a bit, seeing that their stomachs attracted the others’ attention. Michio chuckled amused.

“How about I treat you to lunch? Consider it a thank you for the duel”.

The two famished teens’ faces brightened up at that. Sora, who was simply watching, shrugged with a mirthful smile before he followed his friends.

Yugo watched them go. Before going after them, he picked Clear Wing’s card and stared at it.

To think this many things have changed in these last years…

Yugo put the card back into his deck and went to follow the others.

Yugo and Rin were running through several alleys with three thugs right behind them.

It seems Yugo stole from the wrong people this time.

“Come here you fucking brats!”.

That just made the two kids run faster.

“I told you stealing was a bad idea!” shouted Rin without even turning to Yugo.

“You’d rather die of hunger then?!” he shouted back.

“We’re going to die anyway if they catch us!”.

Yugo grumbled something. After some minutes of running, the two hit a wall. Both gulped anxiously as the heard their chasers’ footsteps coming closer and tried to find a way out of the dead end.

Rin eyed a trashcan and without thinking twice, she run towards it. Yugo stared at her as she climbed it.

“Are you going to keep staring or you’re going to help me?!”.

He flinched as he immediately went and helped Rin overcome the wall. Once up, she reached a hand out for him. In the meantime, the thugs reached them.

“Found them!”.

Yugo broke a sweat as he immediately grabbed Rin’s hand. She quickly pulled him up, causing the two to tumble down the other side of the wall. They both hissed in pain as they hit the ground. Rin in particular hit her head, causing her view to blur.

“Fuck!”.

“They got away!”.

“Come on, there’s another route!”.

Yugo widened his eyes as he looked at Rin, who was breathing raggedly. And he swore he saw some blood flowing from her neck. It seems that fall hasn’t been kind to her.

“Come on, Rin… We got to go…”.

The girl couldn’t even raise her head.

“Just… Just go Yugo… I-I’m too…tired…”.

“Are you crazy?! I’m not leaving you here”.

Yugo slung Rin’s arm on his shoulder and carried her away. Though his own pain and tiredness weren’t making it easy for him.

After some minutes, Yugo felt his strength leaving him. His knees wobbled as he crumbled on the floor, Rin close behind him, already passed out. He gritted his teeth.

“Move… Move, dammit…”.

Despite his pleas, his body was at his limit.

“Here they are!”.

Yugo only managed to look and saw one of the thugs coming at them. With the few remaining strength left, he hugged Rin close to him, as if to shield her.

“Sorry Rin… It’s all my fault… But I’ll protect you… I swear…”.

Yugo closed his eyes as he waited to the thugs to hit him.

“Hey, what are you doing to those kids?!”.

As he heard that voice, Yugo dared himself to open his eyes. At the end of the alley they were in, there was a man. He couldn’t make out much of him, except a bright red jacket.

“Mind your own business, Methuselah”.

“It is my business if you’re hurting kids!”.

“Want to get your share too then?”.

Yugo wasn’t sure what happened next. His eyes were progressively failing him. He heard sounds of fighting but he couldn’t make out anything else. After a minute or two, there was silence, which was quickly broken when he heard someone running up to him.

“Are you kids okay?”.

Yugo tried to lift his head and see who was talking to him but everything he saw was but a blur.

“She needs…help…”.

And with that last line, Yugo felt his consciousness leaving him. He felt the person, probably the man, grabbing him.

“Oh god. Kid, stay with me! Y-Yukari! Quick, call an ambulance!”.

When Yugo came to, he was lying on a bed. Feeling a strong headache, the child put a hand on his head.

He’s not sure what happened before he woke up. Yugo drifted in and out of consciousness and during those times, his view was so foggy he could barely see what was in front of him.

But now he could see clearly. And he’s not sure where exactly he is. The place is very white. There isn’t much else in the room. The bed he’s on is very similar to the one the caretakers at his orphanage back in the City kept in the nursery.

Then suddenly his mind turned to Rin.

Yugo quickly stood from the bed and looked around. He breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the green-haired girl on a bed next to his, gently resting. He felt a bit tense at seeing a bandage wrapped around her head but she looked much better than before.

Hearing the door opening, Yugo turned to see a nurse entering the room.

“Oh, good. You’re awake. How do you feel?”.

“I-I’m okay but how’s Rin?!”.

Yugo felt a twitch of pain but right now he was more worried if Rin was fine or not.

“Don’t worry. She just got a minor head wound. She’ll be fine once she wakes up”.

Yugo relaxed his body, letting himself fall back on the bed.

Rin was fine. That’s everything that really mattered.

“Nurse, are the kids okay?”.

Yugo saw that another person entered the room. It was a man, probably in his early thirties, wearing a red jacket. He recognized him as the man who saved them. Right behind him, a woman with long amber hair approached him with a stern look.

“Shuzo, you can’t just barge in like that, we’re in a hospital”.

The nurse smiled kindly at them.

“It’s okay. The boy has woken up. The girl is still sleeping but they are visibly fine”.

The man, Shuzo, breathed a sigh of relief. The woman behind him, probably his wife, put a hand on her cheek.

Shuzo approached Yugo’s bed with a friendly smile.

“Hey, you okay?”.

“Uhm… Y-Yeah. And…hmm…thank you…”.

Yugo suddenly found out how weird it is to say thank you to someone you don’t even know.

“I’m sorry, mister, but could I take some of your time?”.

Shuzo followed the nurse out of the room, the woman instead remained inside. She approached Rin’s bed and stared at her face.

What happened next was strange.

Raising her hand with little hesitation, she caressed Rin’s face delicately. Her eyes were only halfway open as her lips slowly parted.

She really looked like she was in some sort of trance. Yugo felt his head tilting on the side, barely registering what the woman was doing. But then he straightened his back once he did.

“Hey, what are you doing to her?”.

The woman blinked as she gasped. She quickly retracted her hand.

“My apologies. She just…reminds me so much of my daughters”.

Yugo was about to ask when suddenly Shuzo entered the room once more. He immediately went beside Yugo, making him jolt and raise his arm to instinctively protect himself.

“Kid, I heard you and your friend are homeless”.

Yugo showed a confused expression.

“Y-Yeah… So?”.

If by any chance this guy was going to bully them because of that, he swears he-

“Know that you’re both welcome to our home if you want”.

…

…

…

…Huh?

“Shuzo!”.

The woman grabbed the man’s shirt and pulled him back.

“Give him some space, you’re probably overwhelming him”.

Shuzo scratched his head abashed before he turned to Yugo.

“Sorry. Well, kid, what do you say?”.

Yugo was so utterly confused by the current situation he could barely think of which words to say…

“I…uhh…I’ll…think about it…”.

…and those weren’t the ones he wanted to say. Shuzo grinned happily.

“Great! By the way, my name’s Shuzo. She’s my wife Yukari”.

Said woman put her face on her hand, sighing exasperatedly. Yugo almost mirrored her feelings.

“Y-Yugo… She’s…Rin…”.

“I see. Let me know whenever you want if you want to come live with us”.

“Alright Shuzo, that’s enough. Visit time is almost over”.

Yukari quite literally pushed Shuzo out of the room before she smiled tenderly at Yugo.

“Forgive him. He can get too excited at times. But he did mean you’re welcome any time you want with us”.

After that, the woman left. Yugo simply stared at the door, not knowing how to feel.

It was…weird. Which was possibly a big underestimation.

No one before has ever offered Yugo and Rin help. Well, outside the personnel at the orphanage back in the City but that was different.

Yugo mulled over it for some minutes before he heard some light groaning coming from Rin. Turning to her bed, his expression showed relief at seeing her coming to her senses. If his legs weren’t still sore, he’d already be hugging her.

“Rin! You’re okay!”.

She put a hand on her forehead.

“Yeah, yeah, I am. Pipe down though, I feel a headache”.

She then managed to look around the room.

“Where are we anyway?”.

“I don’t know. I think they called it a…hospital? Something like that”.

Rin hummed before she looked up at the ceiling.

“…Too bright”.

“I guess”.

They remained in silence for a bit.

“Hey, something weird happened”.

Rin didn’t turn to Yugo but listened nonetheless.

“What?”.

“The man who saved us from those guys and his wife asked me if we wanted to come live with them”.

Now that got Rin’s attention. Enough to let raise her back and stare at Yugo with shock.

“What? And what did you say?”.

“I’d say I’ll think about it”.

Rin looked strangely at him before turning her head away.

“…Do you want to?” she asked after a minute.

Yugo scrunched his brows.

“I mean… Yeah, but… That’s just weird! He suddenly appears and next time he wants to take us in? I can’t help but feel there’s something behind it”.

It was frustrating how much it was eating away at him. For all his life, he barely got any type of kindness outside his friends and now a stranger had the sudden urge to be nice to them.

Even someone as brash as Yugo would be suspicious.

Rin looked at her best friend with curiosity.

“Did he seem sketchy?”.

Yugo crossed his arms, opting for a more thoughtful expression.

“Well… Not really… He looked genuine but…”.

“I think we should accept it”.

He turned to her, his face displaying nothing less than pure shock.

“What?! Rin, are you crazy? We can’t trust the first person that is nice to us just like that”.

“Why not?”.

That question stumped Yugo, who scrambled his brain for an answer.

“He simply could have ignored us and went his way. Instead he went and helped us. I don’t think they have bad intentions”.

Yugo still looked reluctant. Rin extended a hand at him.

“At least we’ll be together through it all”.

He looked at her hand before turning to her face. Despite the situation, she was smiling. Her smile was so reassuring yet so…alive.

It’s been so long since he had seen her smile in such a way.

Finally making up his mind, Yugo grabbed Rin’s hand and smiled back at her.

“Yeah. You’re right. We’ll be together forever. That’s a promise”.

“Thank you for the ride, Yugo”.

“Not a problem”.

It was a couple of days after Yugo's duel with Michio. Him and Ruri were currently riding his bike with the latter gripping on the former.

“Sorry about this, normally I’d ask Serena but she was busy”.

“Nah, it’s fine. I’m not bothered by it”.

Ruri suddenly got an idea as a devious grin appeared on her face.

“I’m sure you’d be happier if Rin was the one holding onto you like this, right?”.

Yugo choked on air as his face became a scarlet mess.

“W-W-What the heck are you saying?! It’s bad enough that half of you tease me about it but now you do it too?!”.

Ruri laughed amused as Yugo let out an exasperated sigh. Teasing him is always fun.

The two were forced to stop when they reached a red streetlight. The Xyz user then turned her sight to her side, looking at the sidewalk as people passed by.

Sometimes she just likes to watch the people passing. She’s…not entirely sure why, she just wants to.

As she was looking, Ruri noticed an alley. And she swore she could see something there.

“Hmm?”.

Squinting her eyes, she could make out a humanoid figure simply staring at the street. She couldn’t make out their face as she noted they were wearing googles and a scarf. But she did make out their hair, which were a dark obsidian color with some bangs of a lighter shade.

A shade she'd already seen before. A long time ago…

‘… …Shun?’.

Her vision blurred as Yugo started up his bike again, causing her to lose sight of the mysterious person.

Ruri felt herself blinking silently.

‘Was…Was that really…Shun?’.

“Hey, are you okay?” asked Yugo.

She gasped lightly as she turned to him.

“A-Ah, yes. Just…got a bit lightheaded”.

“You sure you're fine? I can slow down if you want”.

“No, don't worry. Just a dizzy spell, that's all”.

Yugo apparently decided he was fine with the answer and kept driving. Ruri however could feel a thousand thoughts swirling into her brain to the point it was starting to hurt.

‘That…That couldn’t have been Shun… I…must have seen things’.

Ruri declared to herself that she just mistook someone else for her brother. Because that couldn’t have been Shun.

There’s just…no way…

Chapter Text

“Sir, we’re detecting a massive amount of energy! W-What is this?”.

Reiji narrowed his eyes at the readings he was seeing.

“I want an analysis right now”.

“Right away, sir!”.

While all the people there were working, Reiji was analyzing some old files. Particular files, from three years ago.

“There it is… P-President Akaba!”.

The young man raised his head at whoever called him.

“Did you find the origins of these readings?”.

“We did. We can safely conclude someone has travelled from a different dimension!”.

Reiji frowned at he looked at the files again.

Yes. There’s no mistake.

Someone has arrived from Xyz.

“Find this person. Leave no stone unturned”.

Shun Kurosaki has always been someone who acted with his own head. His decisions were his and his alone.

So he didn’t regret travelling dimensions. At all. Kaito and the others will surely be furious at him but he had to do this.

Shun overlooked the city, noting how similar to Heartland it was.

“So this is Standard…”.

Shun is a hard-headed person. Once he decides on something, there’s no way of dissuading him.

“Ruri… I hope you’re here somewhere”.

About ten years ago, Shun’s little sister disappeared without a trace. Literally. One day, Shun was walking her to school but unfortunately they got separated on the way. That day was the last time he ever saw Ruri.

Shun and his parents turned to possibly half-world. The media, police, military. Heck, his parents probably asked the NASA itself at some point.

But despite so many years of searching, Ruri just couldn’t be found. At that point, Shun was desperate.

He was about to give up when recently he came to know about the existence of four different dimensions, including his. In that moment, something awakened in him.

Call him crazy or whatever, maybe it really was madness that was guiding him, but Shun believed his sister was somewhere in one of these dimensions. And so he will find her.

Even if it was like searching for one small needle in three giant farms.

And unfortunately, the phone book didn’t prove very useful. He found at least 30 Ruri and 15 Kurosaki. But no Ruri Kurosaki.

Shun sighed as he walked inside an alley. He doesn’t know how big a dimension is but if it’s as big as a planet…

But it doesn’t matter. Shun can’t simply accept that is sister is gone. The little sister that was always able to make him smile all the time.

“Hey, you, do you have any idea of where you are?”.

Shun looked back as four thugs were approaching him. They tried to look intimidating but to Shun they only looked like idiots trying to look cool.

“This is our turf, man. And we don’t appreciate intruders”.

Shun raised a brow at the guy who spoke before he simply decided to ignore him and walk away.

“Hey, don’t you dare ignore us!”.

Two of them run before Shun, blocking his way. The Xyz native frowned hard at them.

“Get out of the way”.

“Not before you pay up” one of them said as they all activated their Duel Disk.

Shun clicked his tongue as he brought out his own.

“Sir, we detected a strong burst of Xyz energy! We never got such distinct readings before!”.

“Connect the cameras, right now” said Reiji.

The screen before him showed a man in a purple trench coat easily defeating four guys using an Xyz monster. Reiji adjusted his glasses.

“We found you”.

The last of the thugs still standing fell on his butt as Shun’s monster hovered above him.

“W-Wait, we’re sorry, we won’t annoy you anymore!”.

Shun frowned harder.

“Rise Falcon, put an end to this charade”.

The giant mechanical falcon flew down towards his opponent, depleting his Life Points completely. The guy himself passed out like the others.

Shun clicked his tongue as the program shut down.

“Tch. What a colossal waste of time”.

The guy was soon alerted by a car coming closer to his position. Shun narrowed his eyes as a white car parked right some meters before him. From it, a young man probably his age, perhaps one year younger, came out.

Shun raised his disk, ready to fight should he had to. The newcomer however raised his hand.

“I’m not here to fight. I’m simply here to talk”.

Shun kept his frown without lowering his disk. The other person adjusted the glasses he was wearing.

“I won’t hit around the bush. I know you’re not from this dimension”.

Shun’s brows shot up. How could this guy know about it? He didn’t know much about this whole thing himself.

“What’s it to you?”.

“Simple. My name is Reiji Akaba. Does my last name ring a bell to you?”.

Shun stared at his eyes. They seemed so cold and serious. It was hard to say if he was actually standing before a person…or a robot.

“At all”.

Reiji hummed, looking somewhat disappointed…yet relieved?

“I see. I must ask you what you’re doing in this dimension. As a matter of fact, Standard is under my protection”.

“I don’t care about your protection or whatever. My objectives are certainly none of your business”.

Reiji let out a sigh from his nose.

“Something big is about to happen. And it won’t be long before all the dimensions will be in danger. In this time, we all need to form a united front”.

Shun shook his head, not understanding one bit of what he was saying.

“What the heck are you saying?”.

“…I might help you find what you’re searching for. If you want to talk, come to this address”.

Reiji threw a card at him, which Shun easily caught. An address was written on it in a neat calligraphy.

“I really hope you will. But I will leave you time to decide. Until next time”.

Reiji went inside the white car, which soon drove away, leaving Shun there. The guy blinked before looking down at the card.

“What the hell is going on?”.

At the same time, Yuto found himself staring in the distance. He doesn’t know why, he just felt…something.

“Yuto, you coming or not?” called Yuya.

“Yeah, I’m coming”.

He stared at the sky. Nothing looked out of order and everything was as ever.

“Did I just imagine that?”.

Yuto then turned away and went his way.

Chapter Text

“Frightfur Bear, direct attack”.

Sora’s monster attacked his opponent concluding the duel. He pumped his fist.

“And with this, it’s six. Finally, I can participate to the tournament”.

As the people who were watching started to leave, Sora could hear some light clapping. Turning, he saw Yuya and Yuzu approaching him.

“Congratulations, Sora. Now you have everything you need for the Arc League Championship”.

Sora grinned as he popped a lollipop in his mouth.

“That was a piece of cake”.

Yuzu nodded as she stared ahead with an almost glassy look.

“Hey, Yuzu, you okay?”.

The girl blinked as Yuya and Sora raised a brow at her. She hastily waved her hands.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just lost in thought”.

Despite what she said, Yuzu couldn’t help but lightly clenching her fist.

‘What’s this…strange feeling I’ve been having lately? I feel like…something terrible is about to happen. Maybe it’s just paranoia’.

“Anyway, it’s barely two weeks before the tournament will begin right?” asked Sora.

“Yeah. You know, this will actually be the first time we’ll participate to be honest” remarked Yuya as the three started to leave the place.

“Really? How come?”.

“Let’s just say we had some problems, due to the low number of students at our school and other facts that I don’t want to bore you with” said Yuzu.

“Hmm. I see. Then I’ll be sure to not make you look bad” said Sora with a grin. Yuya chuckled.

“I sure hope not”.

In that moment, Yuya’s phone rung.

“Hello? Who’s this? Ah, it’s you! They’re ready?! That’s great!”.

Sora looked at Yuya a bit confused. Yuzu simply winked at him.

“Hmm? In two hours? Alright, see you later. Thank you again”.

Yuya closed the call, looking excitedly at Yuzu, who smiled back at him.

“I’m guessing they’re ready”.

“What’s ready?” asked Sora.

The two turned to him.

“It’s a surprise. You’ll know in a bit”.

“Ah, I’m very sorry. But I’ll be occupied for the rest of the day. It’s for another time maybe”.

Yuya looked bummed out at his declaration. Sora raised a hand apologetically.

“So sorry, it’s not something I can just avoid”.

Yuzu shook her head, looking disappointed but still wearing an understanding smile.

“No, we understand. I guess we’ll show you tomorrow”.

“Okay then. I have to go now. Bye”.

“Bye bye”.

The three went their ways. After a while though, Sora entered an alley. Making sure no one could hear him, he took out his beeping Dual Disk.

“Academia to Shiunin. Can you hear us?”.

“I do. Has something happened?”.

“Shiunin, we have a problem. It seems someone from Xyz has arrived in Standard”.

Sora narrowed his eyes. Someone from Xyz, of all places?

“How were they able to travel dimensions?”.

“According to a report from the Tyler sisters, one of the Dual Disks assigned to our unit stationed in Heartland has vanished. It’s possible this intruder has somehow managed to steal it and travel dimensions”.

Sora scratched his head with his free hand, confusion clear on his face.

“Even if that’s the case, how were they able to make it work?”.

“…We unfortunately have yet to answer that question. But if this person is in league with that clandestine group, we may have a much bigger problem in our hands than we might think”.

Sora was aware of the implications. If this mysterious drifter was after an alliance with Standard, then the plan of controlling the dimensions would be compromised. And that would leave only one option to gain control of Standard.

“…Invasion”.

“…The Professor would rather avoid such means if possible. But should it really come to the worst, we may have no choice. Roget has been silent for too much time; we have to conclude he has betrayed us. Should Standard be able to form an alliance with the clandestine group from Xyz, our chances of completing the ARC Project will significantly lower”.

“And should they form an alliance with Synchro, then the probability would basically become zero”.

“The possibility of it is extremely low but we can't take any chances. Shiunin, your priorities have changed. You have to find this person and dispose of them”.

Sora lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes.

“By disposing you mean…”.

“…The use of Human Sealing Technology is authorized. Do whatever it takes. Glory to Academia”.

“…Glory to Academia”.

Sora closed the call there. To be honest, he really didn’t want to do this. He hoped he never had to use it again.

But to further Academia’s goals… He will have no choice.

At more or less the same time, Gongenzaka and Yugo were having a duel inside the former’s dojo.

Yugo had Hi-Speedroid Kendama while Gongenzaka had Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei. Normally, Gongenzaka could easily destroy Kendama right now but that wasn’t his current aim.

“I draw! Now I, the man Gongenzaka, shall show the fruit of our training together”.

Yugo smirked at him.

“Go on then. I’m ready whenever you want!”.

“Very well! I summon the Tuner Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter. Now I tune the Level 8 Big Benkei with the Level 2 Trumpeter!”.

Gongenzaka trained hard for this. He will not fail in his duty.

“Raging deity, in unison with the roar of a thousand blades, come forth in a spiraling sandstorm! Synchro Summon! Now come before us, Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo!”.

Gongenzaka’s warrior appeared on the field with much fanfare as the giant slammed his weapon on the ground. Yugo stumbled a bit but managed to stay standing.

“Not bad”.

“Susanowo can attack even when in Defense position, using his Defense points as Attack points. With that said, Susanowo! Attack Kendama!”.

The warrior swung his weapon down on the machine, destroying it, giving Gongenzaka the victory. Yugo gave him a thumbs-up.

“Great job, Gongenzaka! That was one mighty Synchro Summon!”.

The taller teen crossed his arms with a proud smile.

“It is also thanks to you. I, the man Gongenzaka, am grateful for your teachings”.

Yugo waved a hand with a grin.

“It’s fine, I only gave you some pointers, the rest was all you. But if you want to keep praising me, I’m certainly not against that”.

Rin, who was watching the whole thing, approached them with a playfully exasperated smile.

“Your ego is big enough as it is. Inflate it even more and you’ll pop”.

Yugo just gave her a big toothy grin. The two then felt their phones vibrate, signifying that they received a message.

Gongenzaka watched back as the two checked their phones. To think it’s been barely three years…

Yugo fell on the ground as Gongenzaka won their duel.

“Again!”.

Yuto and Rin run over in order to stop the blue-haired kid.

“Enough, Yugo! You’re only hurting yourself at this point”.

“Shut up, I can still go!”.

Rin stood before him with an expression that was both angry and worried.

“No, you can’t! This is already the sixth duel you had in a row and your bruises are only increasing”.

True to her word, Yugo’s body was pretty much covered in bruises. Being shot away when attacked certainly leaves a mark. More than one if you partake in many duels one after the other.

“It’s just some scratches. Gongenzaka, let’s duel again”.

“I refuse!”.

Yugo shot the taller kid a surprised look which soon morphed into anger.

“Why not?! I can still-”.

“Your actions are only leading to you hurting yourself. You aren’t thinking straight and it shows in your careless and aggressive dueling. I, the man Gongenzaka, refuse to partake in more of this charade”.

Yugo gritted his teeth in anger before he stormed off the dojo. Yuto and Rin approached their friend.

“Please, forgive him. After dad’s disappearance, Yugo has become more…volatile” said Yuto.

“I understand. Right now, he needs to release his anger. But not in a way that would hurt him”.

Rin sighed as she wrapped an arm over the other.

“We know but… Yugo has never been someone who can easily contain his emotions”.

Outside, the subject of their talk was sitting on some steps, his knees brought up to his chin and his arms wrapped around them.

Yuto is trying to be the responsible brother, Yuri is bottling up his emotions and Yuya is barely interacting with any of them, preferring to do long walks outside.

His family, the people who took him in at his weakest, was crumbling like a castle of cards. And he can’t do a damn thing about it. The grip on his knees tightened.

“I need to get stronger. I have to”.

Gongenzaka was no fool. He could easily tell how much frustrated Yugo was at the time. But if he genuinely wanted to become stronger, he couldn’t just recklessly attack his opponent.

He got much better in time, but Yugo still has a way to go.

“Hey, Gongenzaka. Yuya asked us to come home to show us something. We have to go” said Rin after seeing the messages.

“Very well. In that case I thank you for your help and bid you farewell”.

Rin lightly snorted. She always found Gongenzaka’s manner of speaking a bit funny to be honest. Yugo and Rin said goodbye and left.

Gongenzaka instead simply waited in his dojo. He has a duel scheduled for later. And once he’ll win, he’ll have met the quota to enter the championship.

And he has no intention of losing.

After they received the call, Yuya and Yuzu went to the former’s house. Yoko was cleaning the room when they arrived.

“You two seem happy”.

“We are, mom. Remember those cards we asked for? They’re ready!”.

Yoko smiled at the two as she stopped what she was doing.

“That’s great. I’m sure the others will be glad you thought of them”.

“We hope so” answered Yuzu. A minute later, the doorbell ringed.

“Ah, it must be him” said Yuya. Yoko went to open the door.

Behind it was a tall man dressed in a red outfit. He had white hair that reached past his shoulders and brown eyes, which one of them was covered by his hair.

Yoko smiled brightly at seeing the man.

“Max! It’s been ages since we’ve last seen each other”.

He smiled back at her.

“It really has Yoko-chan. I see your beauty hasn’t faltered one bit though”.

Yoko chuckled.

“And I see you’re still a flatterer. Ah, come on in”.

“Mr. Pegasus!”.

As Pegasus entered the house, Yuya and Yuzu walked over to him. The tall man smiled brightly as he extended his arms.

“Yuya-kun! Yuzu-chan! I’m glad to see you’re well”.

“Thanks, Mr. Pegasus. And also thank you for indulging our request”.

“Not at all! Yusho has been a good friend of mine and I’m glad that we were able to analyze the mysterious Pendulum cards”.

Pegasus took out from his pocket some packages and gave them to the two teens.

“As you asked for, we have successfully created Pendulum cards. And thanks to your help, we were able to properly replicate the summoning process”.

Yuya grinned happily at hearing that. Yuzu bowed gratefully.

“We are thankful for your help, Mr. Pegasus”.

The man smiled amicably.

“It’s really not a problem. I find admirable that you want to give your siblings Pendulum cards. A truly touching symbol of familiar love!” he dramatically said, causing some chuckles. Pegasus hasn’t changed much since the last time they’d seen him.

Pegasus took out a pocket watch to check the time.

“Oh, I know I’ve just arrived but I’m afraid I must return to work now. The job of a CEO is never done”.

“What a shame. I was already ready to add a plate to the table” said Yoko. Pegasus softly laughed.

“Maybe next time, Yoko-chan. Yuya-kun, Yuzu-chan. I expect to see a remarkable spectacle at the championship”.

Yuya pumped his fist on his chest.

“No worries, Mr. Pegasus. We will give a show to remember. Right, Yuzu?”.

She nodded with a smile. Pegasus broke into another pleased grin.

“I’ll be sure to watch very closely in that case. Give my regards to the others. Have a good day, my friends!”.

Pegasus bowed in both an elegant and dramatic way before he left. It’s a real shame he is always so busy. It’s hard to find a time where he isn’t working.

Regardless of that, Yuya and Yuzu were happy that the cards were created in time. They wonder just how the others will react.

“Wait… You got Pegasus to create Pendulum cards? For us?” asked a weirded out Serena as she stared at her cards. Yuya simply nodded with a smile causing Yuri to chuckle.

“I’m not even surprised at this point. Well, what can I say except ‘thank you’”.

“Think nothing of it” said Yuzu “We’re just sorry we weren’t able to create Pendulum cards for all of you. It’s…surprisingly hard to implement them to certain decks”.

Namely Yuto’s, Ruri’s and Rin’s. Having said that, Yuzu gave them an Extra Deck card each. While Yuto received an Xyz card, both Ruri and Rin received a Fusion one.

“So to make up for it, we asked for these cards. I know Fusion is a bit weird for you two, but I thought it’d be an interesting change of pace”.

Ruri gently smiled at her sister.

“You didn’t have to, Yuzu. We wouldn’t have minded, really”.

Rin slung an arm over Ruri’s shoulder.

“Come on, sis. In these cases, we just have to be thankful they didn’t leave us out”.

“I guess you’re right. In that case… Thank you, sis”.

Ruri went to pat Yuzu’s head affectionately. The pink-haired girl blushed red.

“Siiiiis, I’m not a child anymore”.

“You say that but you’re not swatting her hand away” said Serena with a shit-eating grin. Yuzu simply puffed her cheeks and turned her head away but didn’t get away from Ruri’s touch much to her (and Rin’s) amusement.

Yugo went to pump his fist in the air.

“Alright! Now with these I’m unstoppable!”.

“You better hit the brakes or you’ll go crash into a wall, Fusion”.

Yugo irritatingly turned to Yuri.

“Stop calling me that already! It’s annoying”.

“That’s my role as your older brother to be annoying”.

“We’re the same age! You’re literally just a couple of months older than me”.

As the two kept arguing, Yuya and Yuto were talking to each other.

“I appreciate it Yuya. I’ve been thinking of expanding my deck with the tournament getting close”.

“Yeah, well, I wanted to give you something more than another Xyz card but it’s a bit hard to come across cards that fit your style of dueling”.

Yuto shook his head.

“It’s okay. I’m grateful, really”.

Yuya noticed Yuto’s expression was kind of distracted.

“Is everything okay, Yuto?”.

The dark-haired teen blinked and passed a hand over his head.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’ve just…been having some weird feelings lately”.

Yuya raised a brow.

“Weird, how?”.

Yuto looked at up at the ceiling.

“It’s like…I can feel something's here. Like…some kind of…call…”.

He then lowered his head and crossed his arms.

“No, that’s not the right way to call it… It’s more like I can feel something’s presence coming in contact with mine…”.

Yuya scratched his head, not understanding what his brother was saying.

After a couple of seconds, Yuto sighed and shook his head.

“Maybe it’s just my imagination. Forget I said anything, it’s probably nothing”.

“Hey, if there’s something worrying you, you can always tell me and the others, you know?”.

Yuto gently smiled.

“I know. And I’m thankful for it”.

Chapter Text

Shun read the address in his hand once again before raising his head, looking at the majestic building before him.

“This is it. Leo Corporation”.

It took him a week to decide whenever or not he should go there. Although Shun wasn’t about to just trust that Reiji like that. But if he knew about the multiple dimensions, certainly he must know even more than that.

And perhaps he can actually help him find Ruri.

That reason was enough for Shun to walk towards the building. But before he could, he was stopped by two men.

“Leo Corp.’s isn’t currently open to visitors”.

Shun clicked his tongue but before the situation could escalate, someone spoke to the guards through their earpieces. After a brief moment, the two opened the way for Shun.

“Apologies for holding you up. The president will speak to you”.

Shun narrowed his eyes. It seems this president was keeping an eye on him.

He entered the building and after a long walk, he found himself before Reiji.

“I’m glad to see you came”.

“I did. Now talk. What do you know about the dimensions?”.

“This is perhaps not the right place to talk though. Please follow me”.

Reiji walked away with Shun quickly following him. After some minutes, the two were now in Reiji’s office. Said person went ahead and sat on his chair, clasping his hands together.

“I should start with the most important part. As you surely have figured out already, there are more dimensions than the one you lived in until recently”.

“Spare me the details. The only thing I care about is finding my little sister”.

Reiji sighed at the older teen’s impatience. But at least that impatience allowed him to tell him what he was searching for. He straightened his back.

“And what makes you believe your little sister is in this dimension?”.

Realizing his slip of the tongue, Shun flinched. His eyes then drifted down. At this point, he might as well be honest.

“Several years ago, she just disappeared. No matter how much or how hard we searched, there was no trace of her. It was like she vanished on the spot just like that”.

Shun gripped his fist.

“But I couldn’t accept it. There must have been a reason she disappeared. Despite the fact there wasn’t any hint as for why. But recently I came to know about multiple dimensions”.

Shun raised his eyes and stared at Reiji.

“I don’t know how this dimensions thing works. But if there’s a chance, even the smallest one, that my sister could be here then I will take it. Even if there are three, seven or ten dimensions, I will not give up. I’ll explore all of them if necessary if it meant seeing Ruri again!”.

Reiji widened his eyes at that last bit. So Shun’s little sister’s name was Ruri.

Like Ruri Hiiragi. The same person who produced an abnormal amount of energy on par with that of an Xyz native.

If that was a coincidence, it certainly was more unique than rare.

“I see. I actually might have information that could help you in your search”.

Shun gasped but before he said anything, Reiji continued.

“However. I must first ask you to do something for me…”.

Shun’s eyes twitched before he gritted his teeth angrily.

“What? What are you trying-”.

He was stopped when Raiji raised his hand.

“Hold on. I’m not done yet. It’s true I might know where your sister is but I can’t allow you to see her right now. I can’t go into details but right now she’s in what we may call a…precarious situation. If you appear out of nowhere, you might put her in more danger than you think”.

Shun gasped and went to slam his fist on Reiji’s desk.

“What?! What happened to her? Answer me!”.

“Calm down” said Reiji while keeping his cool “I assure you your sister is safe. Safer than you I’m afraid”.

Shun’s eyes twitched again before he slowly managed to stead his nerves.

“I have no doubt that Academia has already noticed your presence in this dimension. And I’m sure they’ll do anything to remove you”.

“Academia? What are you talking about?”.

Reiji stared at Shun’s eyes. The rage from before wasn’t fully gone but there was also genuine confusion in them.

“So you really don’t know a thing? I must inform you that your actions put our dimension in great danger”.

Reiji got up from his chair, staring at Shun dead in the eyes.

“One of the dimensions out there is currently aiming to conquer the others. So far they’ve decided to refrain from attacking us but with you here, that changes things greatly. There’s no doubt they’ll do whatever they can to dispose of you”.

Shun narrowed his eyes at Reiji, who calmly stared with his usual icy gaze.

“So what? I should have just given up the search for my sister?”.

“You may have had just reasons but the way you executed your actions puts us in a dangerous situation. That is also one of the reasons I can’t allow you to roam freely”.

Shun now realized he had his hands tied. If what Reiji is saying is true, then there’s a possibility he made a grave mistake in travelling dimensions with so little preparation.

Shun lowered his head down. Reiji instead adjusted his glasses.

“…What is your dueling prowess?”.

The older teen raised his head at him.

“…I was the strongest student of my year back at my school”.

“Interesting. Then I believe a demonstration is in order”.

Despite the tight spot he’s in, Reiji will do anything in his power to stop Academia’s goals.

But first of all, he needs allies. Strong allies. And this person will help him greatly in that.

Yuya found himself staring at the stadium where the Arc League Championship will take place.

It was the day before the beginning of the tournament and the young duelist wanted to see the place for himself.

‘Dad… Only one day and I’ll be dueling where you did…’.

After defeating Strong Ishijima, a burning desire that he once thought extinguished lit up inside Yuya.

To become like his father. To entertain and make people smile. But also to win, not for others but for himself.

Yuya extended his hand towards the setting sun.

“Will I be closer to you if I do?”.

He closed his fist, like he just grabbed the sun, before placing it on his heart right on his pendulum.

“…Dad. Wherever you are, I hope you’re watching. I’ll show you how much I've learnt these last few years”.

Chapter Text

Finally, the day of the tournament arrived. All the duelists were already inside the stadium, waiting for the announcer to call them to the field, giving them some free time.

Ruri was talking to Ayu, Tatsuya and Futoshi.

“Remember. The most important thing in dueling is…”.

“To have fun!” they chorused.

Ruri chuckled.

“Exactly. So don’t feel too bad about losing. It just means you can get better”.

While the kids were pretty excited, the same couldn’t be said for Yuzu, who was tapping her foot in apprehension as she looked around with a worried look. Serena run up to her.

“Any sign of Yuya or Yuto?”.

“No… I can understand Yuya but Yuto being late is unheard of”.

“I’m afraid I know what is taking them so long” said Rin as she walked over. She then pointed to the opposite direction her sisters were watching and saw the two brothers right before a muscular teen with an aggressive aura around him.

Yuzu immediately tensed up, recognizing the person.

“Oh no… Ankokuji…”.

“It seems he’s still intent on picking fights with Yuya” said a worried Rin.

Serena bared her fangs as she gripped her fist.

“I’m going to give him a piece of my mind”.

She was about to rush in and slug Ankokuji’s face before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning back, she saw Yuri holding her back. Serena gave him a look before he smiled and pointed at the scene.

She followed his hand and saw Gongenzaka holding Ankokuji off. After a short exchange, he left, much to the sisters’ relief.

“Thank goodness…” said Yuzu releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Soon enough, they joined their friends. Yuya waved at them with a smile, though they could tell it was slightly forced.

“Hey, everyone. Sorry we’re late”.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re okay” answered Yuzu. Yuya scratched his cheek, a somewhat nervous smile on his face.

“Ah, you saw that? Don’t worry, I’m fine really. Yuto and Gongenzaka were with me and… It’s about time I learn to take a stand for myself”.

While they were talking, Serena locked eyes with Gongenzaka before giving him a thumbs-up, which he answered with a simple nod of his head.

Yuya looked around, noticing someone was missing.

“By the way, does anyone know where Yugo is?”.

Rin sighed exasperatedly while Yuri simply let out one his chuckles.

“It seems our dear brother found the stands outside more interesting than the stadium itself”.

Yuya let out an awkward chuckle while Yuto lightly hung his head. For some reason he was not surprised in the slightest.

And speak of the devil…

“Hey, everyone!”.

Turning back, they saw the object of their talk walking up to them with two corn-dogs in his left hand and cotton candy on his right. On his arms instead were two bags filled with random things, between food and souvenirs.

“Have you seen just how much stuff they sell outside? It’s like a fair!”.

Rin put her fists on her hips with an annoyed expression.

“Just how much junk have you bought?! The tournament is about to begin and you’re out gorging yourself? Don’t you have any shame?”.

“Oh, come on. Let me have some fun. It’s important to relieve stress before such an important event” he said in a mock-wise voice. Rin felt her right eye twitching before she soon noticed someone else was missing.

“…Hold on. Where’s Sora?”.

Just like Yugo, like he heard his name being called, Sora appeared before his friends with several bags full of candies, smiling innocently.

“Sorry for being a bit late. They were selling so much interesting stuff I just couldn’t resist”.

“See?! Someone gets it!”.

Yugo and Sora shared a grin which only caused Rin to grip her fist angrily to the point you could see a vein popping. Walking towards the two, the tomboyish girl gave them a hard smack on their heads, causing them to drop their stuff. The two yelled in pain as they then rubbed the spot where she hit them.

“OWW! That hurt, you know!” said Yugo.

“Oh, come on, don’t be a baby. I barely put any strength in it”.

“Yeah, but you’re secretly a gorilla inside so it still hurt”.

Feeling her pride as a woman hurt, Rin’s eye twitched once again, this time more aggressively, as she turned to Yugo with a look that could kill. The others could very well see a flaring red aura around her.

“The fuck…did you just say?”.

Normally, Rin’s glares are enough to send men running. In fact, Sora wisely decided to step away from the ticking bomb that was his friend. Yugo did not.

Getting his face closer to hers and with a shit-eating grin he said…

“I said that you’re a gorilla”.

If Rin’s head was a volcano, it would have erupted from his response.

“Alright, that does it! You’re dead meat!”.

Sporting a giant grin, Yugo promptly run away from a fuming Rin, who immediately started to chase him. The others simply stood back, watching them with various degree of either amusement or disappointment. Ruri soon joined them with a consternated smile.

“Did Yugo taunt Rin again?”.

“He did. May his soul rest in peace” said Yuri while clasping his hands together in prayer.

Yuya couldn’t help but laugh at the scene before him. Yuto and Yuzu looked at him, a smile blossoming on their faces.

They were glad he was finally able to laugh like this.

“To all Duel Schools taking part to the championship, please make your way towards the stadium”.

Yuto looked up at the intercom.

“We have to go” he said before going towards the assigned post with Yuya and Ruri behind him. Yuzu nodded at him before turning to Rin and Yugo.

“Hey, you two, it’s time”.

Rin turned her head back to look at her just as she was strangling Yugo in a headlock.

“You can kill him later but for now we need him alive” said Yuri with a smirk before he and Serena joined the others.

“Dick…” came the strangled response from Yugo before Rin let him go and pulled him by the ear with a grinning Sora right behind them.

“Ow, ow, ow! Let go already Rin, it hurts!”.

Yuzu pinched the bridge of her nose before Gogenzaka placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I, the man Gongenzaka, wish you luck”.

“To you as well. Let’s hope we’ll last long enough”.

Gongenzaka nodded before he left to rejoin his own school. Yuzu took a long breath and went to join her fellow schoolmates.

As Nico was introducing the various schools, Yuya looked around the stadium. There were many more people than when he faced Ishijima. He must admit he’s getting a bit overwhelmed.

“Feeling anxious?” he heard Ruri ask behind him.

“Yeah, a bit. To even think we’ll be dueling under so many eyes is a tad frightening”.

“I know. But you just have to duel like you always do and you’ll be fine, I promise” she said with a reassuring smile which Yuya reciprocated.

“Thanks Ruri. You must be a pro at calming down others”.

Ruri chuckled melodiously.

“I’ve been living with you guys all my life. I picked up a thing or two from it”.

Yuya laughed while scratching his head before the two turned to the announcer.

“And with that all the schools competing this year are introduced! And which one of them will come out on top? There’s only one way to find out. And that is to follow us in the Arc League Championship!”.

The public reacted loudly at Nico’s words. Yuya smiled as he overlooked how excited the people were.

“And now for the duelists’ pledge, which will be read by…Yuya Sakaki from You Show Duel School!”.

After a second, Yuya blinked before he pointed at himself. His friends were likewise shocked by this.

“W-Wait, me?! I-I haven’t been told about this!”.

“The person who has to recite the pledge is randomly chosen every time” answered Yuri from behind.

Yuya gave him a withering look. Instead, Ruri gave an encouraging one.

“Good luck, Yuya. I know you’ll be fine”.

“Thanks for the confidence” he said before he went towards the stage.

She looked at him go to the mic…and say his catchphrase in the spur of the moment before apologizing, causing some to either laugh or sigh.

Ruri gave a short amused giggle at his blunder. She quickly recovered and stared at Yuya reassuringly.

At least until her gaze started to drift off along her smile.

“Big bro!”.

Ruri run up to her big brother Shun. He caught her in his arms with a smile.

“What’s with all the energy Ruri?”.

“Dad said you have a new card. Can I see it?”.

Shun let out an amused chuckle at his sister’s enthusiasm.

“Alright then” he said before fishing out a card from his pocket and showed it to her “Here. This is the new card. Its name is Lyrilusc – Assembled Nightingale”.

Ruri stared at it with sparkling eyes.

“She’s so pretty”.

Shun smiled serenely before placing the card on Ruri’s hands.

“You can have it if you like it so much”.

The little girl stared at the card with her big wide eyes.

“Can I really keep it?”.

Her brother nodded.

“Of course. But only if you promise to take good care of it”.

Ruri slowly broke into a big joyful smile before jumping happily in place.

“Thank you so much, big bro! I’ll take the best care of it, I promise!”.

Shun kept smiling at his sister as she kept bouncing around happily, her first card safely in her hands.

Ruri widened her eyes as that memory came to mind. She lowered her head and placed a hand on her chest.

Ever since that day with Yugo, Ruri has been thinking about Shun. Try as she might to convince herself of the contrary, she just couldn’t scroll off the feeling that her brother really was here somewhere.

But… Why? How?

Heartland is basically non-existent here. Or…was it?

Ruri gently grabbed her head. Not even her thoughts are starting to make sense now…

“Sis? You okay there?”.

Ruri blinked, suddenly straightened her back, and looked behind her. Serena was staring at her.

“Yeah, sorry. Just…got a bit distracted, that’s all” she said while giving a small smile that was way too forced.

And by Serena’s face, even she could tell that much.

“Ruri. You know you can always tell us if there’s something on your mind, right? We’re your sisters, through and through, and you can count on us”.

Ruri’s smile turned more genuine and serene.

“I know, Serena. Your words mean a lot”.

The purple-haired girl scratched the back of her head with a calm smile.

“Well, you’re always the one who has to has to listen to our worries; it’s about time we listen to yours”.

Ruri giggled at Serena before she heard clapping going off around her.

“Uhm… Sorry I wasn’t listening; did Yuya say the pledge correctly?”.

Serena gave a small snort.

“More than that. He gave a literal speech on his ideals and all that. Can’t believe prim and proper Ruri was so deep in thoughts she didn’t listen to it”.

Ruri blushed brightly before turning her head away from her sister’s grin. To think her, of all people, was distracted during a moment so important.

She’ll have to apologize to Yuya afterwards.

After the young entertainer returned to his place with his school, and after a bit more of explanations from Nico, they soon were paired with their opponents.

“Who did you guys ended up with?” asked Yugo.

“Uhm… Ah! I’ll be facing Mikiyo Naname from the Duel Girls Club” said Yuya, surprised.

“Lucky you. I got some weirdo from Abracadabra. This’ll be a headache” said a clearly displeased Serena.

“My opponent will be…Shay Obsidian from Leo Duel School. Oh, this will be fun” said a clearly excited Sora. Yuto crossed his arms in thought.

“I’ve never heard of him. I wonder what kind of style he uses”.

“Whatever it is, I’ll be the one coming out on top anyway. How about you Yuzu?”.

Said girl looked at her opponent.

“It says she’s from Unno Divination School. Her name is…Mieru Hochun”.

“Alright everyone! Let’s get this show on the road!” said Yugo cheerfully.

Rin grinned beside him just as she looked at his duel’s scheduling.

“You better get a move then. Your duel is in fifteen minutes”.

Yugo stumbled on his place at hearing that.

“Oh, shit, really?”.

He checked on his Duel Disk and realized she was right.

“Ack! Alright then, see you all later! Good luck and don’t you dare lose!” he said before leaving in a rush.

Rin put a hand on her hip as she stared at him go with a fond smile. Yuya came up beside her.

“He never changes, does he?”.

“Nope. Not one bit”.

Ruri let out a small laugh before noticing Yuto has walked up to her.

“Hey, Ruri”.

“Is something wrong, Yuto?”.

“I should be asking you that”.

Ruri lightly tensed before looking away in dismay. Nothing goes past him.

“…It’s nothing really. But…can I ask you something?”.

“Of course” he gently said.

Ruri fiddled with her thumbs.

“How would you feel if…” Ruri hesitated for a second “…if you suddenly believe someone you knew…back from Heartland…someone you deeply care about…could be here somewhere?”.

It took Yuto very little time to understand the reason for such a question. But he decided not to ask her about it. It certainly wasn’t the right time for that.

“…To be honest, I don’t know how I would take the information, even if hypothetically. But…I’d believe. I’d believe I’ll be able to meet them eventually. Because…”.

Yuto turned to Ruri. His eyes showed firmness yet reassurance.

“Because believing is our greatest strength. If we truly believe in something, we can make it real. So we should never stop believing”.

Ruri stared at Yuto in awe. To see him so sure of his words was inspiring. She couldn’t help but feel everything he said was true.

Believing… She must never stop believing. And it’s with that conviction…that she can truly take her fate into her own hands.

Ruri’s mouth started to form a smile. She looked at Yuto.

“Thank you Yuto. You’re right. I won’t stop believing. I’m sure that by doing that…I’ll eventually find what I want”.

Seeing her with such a beautiful smile, Yuto felt glad. He reciprocated her smile and gave her a nod.

“Hey, Yuto! Your duel is right after Yugo’s so you better go and prepare yourself!” shouted Yuya at him.

“I’m coming! Let’s go Ruri”.

She nodded at him.

“Yes. Let’s”.

The second Shun left the stadium, he was met by Reiji waiting for him.

“Akaba. Was the alias really necessary?”.

“Unfortunately. Like I said, for now it’s better you do not go by your real name. Your opponent for the first round is the spy from Fusion, so you mustn’t let your guard down”.

Shun tensed his jaw. Ever since Reiji explained everything regarding the dimensions to him, he felt a constant headache.

But the summary is that the Fusion dimension is trying to conquer the other three dimensions for its own ends. Reiji was forming a group that could stand up to it.

And Shun was tasked to find strong duelists for it.

That was the deal he made with the young CEO. Once he complied to his task, he will be allowed to meet Ruri.

“I’m aware. You seem alarmed by his presence”.

Reiji adjusted his glasses.

“While Fusion has yet to launch an assault on Standard, the simple presence of a spy is a cause of distress. For all we know, Fusion is preparing to attack us any day now. I can’t allow myself to slip up, especially not now”.

Shun was aware of the many responsibilities Reiji had. Can’t be easy for him.

Soon after that, the two parted ways. Shun kept walking for a while as he thought about his sister.

“Ruri… I’ll find you no matter what…”.

“Interesting. So you’re Shay Obsidian”.

Shun felt a spark on his spine as he quickly looked up to see a young teen with striking purple hair looking at him with an intrigued grin.

“I am. What’s it to you?”.

“Nothing. I was just curious to see the mysterious duelist that suddenly appeared out of nowhere”.

The boy then bowed respectfully.

“But where are my manners? My name is Yuri Sakaki, from You Show. Your opponent will be someone from our school”.

“I’m aware. If that’s everything, I’ll be going now”.

Shun walked past Yuri, not looking back. As for the purple-haired duelist, he simply stood there calmly.

“I wonder if you’re really who you claim to be”.

Shun stopped in his tracks as Yuri straightened his back. He didn’t need to turn around to know his grin was still in place.

“You showed up with little fanfare. There is no record of a Shay Obsidian anywhere, almost like you materialized on the spot”.

Yuri lightly lowered his head as Shun narrowed his eyes even more.

“Quite weird isn’t it? But it is surely speculation. People can’t appear out of nowhere after all. Can they?”.

Shun didn’t answer him. He simply left without saying a thing. Whoever this Yuri was, it seems he was onto him.

But if he forced himself in his way, he will show no mercy.

Chapter Text

In a dimly lit room, a girl wearing a hood was sitting at a table. Several cards were placed on it in a circle with one in the middle. The whole atmosphere looked very mystical.

“Let us see now what the cards say about my opponent”.

The girl flipped the card in the middle. The Lovers.

“The Lovers… Does that mean that girl will find her own soulmate?!”.

Mieru stood up straight and looked at the ceiling angrily, the aura of mystery dropping like a ton of bricks.

“That’s just now fair! Why do I have to be without a boyfriend while even my opponents can?!”.

She sighed in disappointment before she dropped on her seat, allowing her head to rest on her palm.

“Calm down, Mieru, you’re better than this. Yes, the Lovers has been associated to romantic relationships in modern times but originally, it represents the making of a choice. The breaking of the status quo".

Doesn’t tell her much though. Mieru glanced down at the card. What exactly is she supposed to think of that?

She decided to make another divination. But the result completely stumped her.

“The Sun, the Hanged Man, the Emperor and the Devil… The Priestess, the Strength, the Empress and the Justice… They seem to be connected together… But…what exactly does this mean?”.

Mieru tried once again with another reading but was met with another baffling result.

“The Fool and the Judgement? What just… This is getting more confusing the more I try to understand it”.

Deciding to give up on predictions, Mieru turned her eyes to the time.

“Hmm… My duel is in half-an-hour. Very well. Maybe I’ll understand this confusing pattern once I see my opponent for myself”.

“Break Sword! Direct attack!”.

The monster followed his orders and finished off Yuto’s opponent with one swoop.

“And with this, Yuto Sakaki prevails over Charles of the Knights of the Duels, guarantying a place for himself in the next round!”.

From the bleachers, Yugo and Rin cheered loudly over Yuto’s win with Yuzu and Yuri next to them, appearing much calmer.

“I knew Yuto would win!”.

Yuzu smiled before showing her tablet to the other two.

“The others aren’t doing bad themselves”.

Serena drew a card as she overlooked her opponent’s field. He only had the Illusory Gentleman and a trap on his field, while she had both Lunalight Blue Cat and Crimson Fox.

“I now activate Magical Hats!” said the Abracadabra duelist as his card flipped.

Three giant hats appeared above with one of them promptly covering Illusory Gentleman.

“Kukuku. Will you be able to see through our illusion?”.

This guy’s attitude was really irking Serena off.

“I’m here to win, not to play some stupid game. Fine. I summon Lunalight Emerald Bird. Whenever she’s summoned, I can then draw a card”.

Serena did so after her monster appeared. The purple-haired girl grinned wildly at the card.

“You got some really bad luck, buddy. I activate Polymerization and fuse Blue Cat and Crimson Fox! Blue cat that prowls through the darkness… Scarlet trickster that stalks in the penumbra…”.

Serena extended her arms as her monsters fused.

“Spiral into the moon's gravity and become a new power! Fusion Summon! Come to me, beautiful beast that dances in the moonlight, Lunalight Cat Dancer!”.

The elegant dancer jumped on the field, ready to tear apart her opponents. And Serena will allow her to do just that.

“I now sacrifice Lunalight Emerald Bird to allow Cat Dancer to activate her effect, thanks to which, she can attack all of your monsters twice per turn, with them being destroyed after the second attack. And for every attack declared, she also inflicts you a damage of 100”.

Her opponent wildly waved his arms in panic the second Emerald Bird left the field.

“Wa-wa-wa-wa-wait!”.

“Like hell I will! Cat Dancer, tear those hats to pieces with Full Moon Cresta!”.

Cat Dancer launched herself at the giant hats, rapidly and skillfully tearing through them and the Illusory Gentleman hidden inside. Serena’s foe ended up with his legs in the air as the assault finally ended with Serena proudly smirking at him.

“Since I control another Winged Beast monster, I can summon Lyrilusc – Sapphire Swallow directly from my hand along another monster, such as Lyrilusc – Celestine Wagtail. And thanks to the latter’s effect, I can also add a Lyrilusc Spell or Trap to my hand from my deck”.

Ruri’s monsters appeared on the field while she fished the card she wished for. Now she had two Celestine Wagtails, a Sapphire Swallow and a Cobalt Sparrow.

Her opponent only had Mad Dog of Darkness, which didn’t really worry her. No, it was his face-down that had her attention.

Well, in that case, she knows what she has to do.

“I overlay my two Level 1 Celestine Wagtails, Sapphire Swallow and Cobalt Sparrow. Joker that laughs in the face of peril… Appear before us and deceive our enemies with your tricks!”.

Ruri’s monsters overlaid together as she extended her arm forward.

“Xyz Summon! Descend, Lyrilusc – Promenade Thrush!”.

The winged lady appeared on Ruri’s field with a playful smirk. Her 0 Attack normally wouldn’t alarm anyone but the young girl had a history of being greatly underestimated for that. And had those people pay the price for it.

“Since I used Sapphire Swallow as material, my Xyz monster can turn another monster I have in the graveyard into an overlay unit, like the Beryl Canary you destroyed earlier. Plus, Promenade Thrush gains 500 Attack for every unit she has thanks to her own effect”.

Beryl Canary appeared from the graveyard and immediately turned in an overlay unit for Promenade Thrush (0 -> 2500). Her monster was now strong enough to take out her opponent’s and it was clear he knew that as well.

Ruri didn’t miss his lips curving up. He won’t have much reason to smile after she’s done though.

“I activate Promenade Thrush’s effect. I detach an overlay unit in order to return to your deck a Spell or Trap you control. Feathery Illusion!”.

Promenade Thrush’s grin widened before she used a unit (2500 -> 2000). Several feathers materialized around her before she launched them at the enemy field. The feathers covered the face-down, making it disappear and return to its owner’s deck, whose smirk suddenly turned into a scowl.

“What?! No! My Mirror Force!”.

Ruri grinned before pointing at his monster.

“Promenade Thrush. Destroy Mad Dog of Darkness with Illusory Gust!”.

Her monster obeyed and easily destroyed her victim with a strong gust of wind. Ruri smiled confidently as she won’t allow herself to lose.

“The fun has just begun!”.

Yuya jumped down from a temple created by the VR. Instead of crashing down on the ground, he fell right on his trusty Trampolynx’s back, sending him back in the air and allow him to do a flip midair.

He securely fell on his feet and turned around before extravagantly raising his arms, with the audience cheering at him.

“I hope you’ll enjoy the next act just as you did this one” Yuya then grabbed two cards from his hand “I now set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 1 Entermate Ladyange and the Scale 8 Entermate Gentrude!”.

Yuya’s two monsters flew up in the sky and crossed their paths together while grinning at the viewers, before taking their respective place in the Pendulum Zone.

“I can now summon monsters from Level 2 to Level 7 all together at the same time! …But what is this? I only have one card in my hand right now. And it certainly isn’t enough for us to put on a show…”.

Yuya dropped his head in shame, looking bummed out. And it seems that was a sentiment shared with most of the people in audience. But Yuya’s was only a ruse as he immediately looked up to reveal a big smile on his face.

“In that case, we’ll have to improvise! I activate Gentrude’s Pendulum effect. If Ladyange is in my other Pendulum Zone and I either control no monsters or only Pendulum monsters, like Trampolynx, then I can add an Odd-Eyes card directly from my deck to my hand!”.

Ladyange looked at Gentrude with anticipation, getting a thumbs-up in return. The flying devil then flipped the pages of his book and stopped at one particular page before he snapped his fingers, allowing Yuya to draw the required card.

“The show is reaching its climax, ladies and gentlemen! Swing, Pendulum of the Soul, and draw the arc of victory across the sky! Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my friends!”.

From the portal up above, three monsters emerged on the field.

“Entermate Cheermole, Entermate Sword Fish and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! The stage is yours!”.

The monsters revealed themselves, with the small pink mole hiding behind the imposing red dragon while the blue swordfish was floating in the air. While the two Entermates were summoned in Defense position, Odd-Eyes was in Attack position.

Yuya’s opponent, Mikiyo, was taken aback by the appearance of the former.

“Wait, I thought I destroyed Cheermole earlier! How could you summon her again?”.

Yuya waved his finger with a playful smile.

“Sorry, my friend, but Pendulum monsters go to the Extra Deck when destroyed. My Entermates are always up for a show after all”.

Mikiyo acted shocked at hearing that before looking at the audience.

“It seems I found myself in a pickle! Please cheer on for me, everyone!”.

Her fans started rooting loudly for her in support. Yuya simply grinned as he prepared his next move.

“They're all doing great. They’ll win, I’m sure of it”.

“They're certainly doing far better than you did”.

Yugo simply stuck his tongue at Yuri. Rin put a hand over her face, embarrassed at his childishness. From between her fingers, she noticed Yuzu being somewhat downcast.

“You okay, sis?”.

“Yeah… Just a bit nervous for my turn. Unlike you guys, I haven’t had many chances to duel lately so I’m kind of anxious”.

Rin smiled reassuringly at her.

“You’ll be fine. You’re my sister after all. We have tough skin in the family”.

Yuzu giggled.

“I know. Wish me luck in that case”.

Rin gave her a thumbs-up. Yuzu looked at her palm. She gulped down her nervousness and closed her hand.

She won’t lose.

“And now for the next duel of the day! Yuzu Hiiragi from You Show will face Mieru Hochun from Unno!”.

Yuzu walked on the arena. She must admit that having so many eyes on her was quite nerve-wracking. Now she has an idea on how Yuya must have felt when he dueled Strong.

In contrast, her opponent, a short girl with orangish red air, looked rather calm as she stared at her. But something in her gaze was…mysterious. It was like she was scrutinizing her.

“So you’re the Priestess shrouded in that obscure future”.

Whatever she expected from her, that certainly wasn’t in Yuzu’s list.

“If you’re trying to confuse me, you got another thing incoming” said Yuzu as she prepared herself.

Mieru barely lowered her head before she prepared her Duel Disk.

“Very well then. I’ll understand the meaning of that prediction once I’ll defeat you”.

“Arlight! If both parties are ready, I’ll now activate the Action Field Milky Way Sanctuary!” shouted the announcer before the VR came to life.

The arena soon changed into a large space filled with stars. The field under the duelist’s feet changed into a large translucent platform, with several others scattered through the field and connected to each other by long roads made of stars. Several columns made of stone were placed around the space.

Yuzu took a second to analyze her surroundings before she faced Mieru.

“For whom the stars will give their blessing to? Only one way to find out! Action…”.

“DUEL!!!”.

“Allow me to start” said Mieru “I set a monster face-down in Defense position”.

A face-down card appeared on the field, with a spherical creature covered in thorns hovering over it.

“I end my turn”.

Yuzu narrowed her eyes at the simple play. In recent times, not many set monsters in Defense position, preferring more extravagant plays fitting for Action Duels. In retrospection, that left some not very well prepared against tactics surrounding them, Yuzu included.

‘Yuto and Ruri weren’t kidding when they said to expect the unexpected’.

When the turn passed to Yuzu, she drew a card and inspected her hand. She can Pendulum Summon if she wanted but it’d basically be purposeless. She’d rather not show all of her tricks on the first turn.

‘If I don’t attack, I’m not going anywhere though’.

"Since I control no monsters, while my opponent does, I can summon Solo, the Melodious Songstress, from my hand”.

The red-dressed songstress appeared on the field (1600/1000) but Yuzu had another card to play.

“Next I summon Aria, the Melodious Diva” just as Aria (1600/1200) appeared on the field, Yuzu pointed at the set monster “Aria, attack Mieru’s face-down monster with Piercing Note!”.

As Aria’s attack connected, the set monsters revealed itself as a small girl wearing a big green hat holding a coin. Unfortunately, she was soon destroyed but Mieru didn’t seem that worried.

“The monster you destroyed is Prediction Princess Coinorma (800/1400). And now her Flip effect activates”.

Yuzu raised her brows.

“Flip effect?”.

“Correct. A Flip effect can be activated only when a set monster is uncovered, even if it’s then destroyed. Coinorma’s effect allows me to summon a Level 3 or higher monster with a Flip effect from my deck, set in Defense position”.

Mieru set another monster in Defense position as she said. Despite what happened, Yuzu wasn’t done with her turn.

“In that case, Solo immediately attacks your second monster! Solo Performance!”.

Solo’s emitted a strong gust of notes from her mouth which soon revealed and destroyed Mieru’s monster, a tall blue-haired lady holding a bow.

“Prediction Princess Arrowsylph’s (1000/1400) Flip effect activates, which allows me to add a Ritual Spell from my deck or graveyard to my hand”.

Yuzu’s brows shot up as soon as she the effect was said. It’s been years since she last heard of a Ritual Spell.

Realizing that she can’t do anything else, as she had no traps in hand, Yuzu hesitantly ended her turn.

“I end my turn now…”.

“Very well. I draw”.

Mieru smiled as she drew her next card.

“It seems the stars are with me. I activate Rite of the Damned from my hand. By forgoing two Flip monsters in my hand, I can Special Summon two other Flip monsters in my graveyard, as long as their names are different from the discarded monsters. With that said, I return Coinorma and Arrowsylph to the field”.

Mieru’s Prediction Princesses reappeared from the graveyard just as she discarded two other cards from her hand.

“Next, I Normal Summon Prediction Princess Petalelf”.

None of these monsters were strong enough to take down either of Yuzu’s monsters. But considering her previous move, she knew well that wasn’t her intention. Mieru gave a calm smile as she picked the Spell she drew earlier.

“And finally, I activate the Ritual Spell Prediction Ritual” she said as she placed the card on her disk.

As soon as she did that, a circle appeared on the ground, surrounded by several blue crystals. In the middle of the circle was a large coffin.

“By sacrificing an indefinite number of monsters, I can summon a Ritual monster, as long as the total Levels of the monsters tributed is equal or higher to the summoned monster’s”.

Among the audience, many were surprised or even confused by this action, including Yugo and Rin.

“What in the…? Ritual…Summon? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it to be honest”.

“Neither do I. Maybe it’s really recent?”.

“At all. Ritual Summon is actually really old” said Yuri from beside them. The two Synchro duelists turned to him.

“Wait, really?”.

“Indeed” added Yuto “Ritual Summon was one of the very first summoning methods ever created. Today, it’s not much remembered due to the diffusion of Extra Deck methods. Ritual isn’t an Extra Deck summon, so it’s been greatly overshadowed, but by no means it’s weak. It’s harder to perform but just as powerful”.

Yuto’s eyes then went to Mieru.

“Using a method that few remembers so that even fewer can predict her actions. She’s a cunning one”.

Yuri put his hand on his chin as a grin made its way on his face.

“What a shame. Now I wish I was pitted against her. It would have been interesting to face such an opponent”.

While Yugo sweat-dropped at him, Rin was gazing at Yuzu.

“Go for it, sis. Show everyone how strong you are”.

Mieru’s eyes closed as she extended a hand forward.

“I tribute Prediction Princess Coinorma, Arrowsylph and Petalelf”

Her three monsters placed themselves above the ritual site. Soon the three monsters turned into flames that went to position themselves around the coffin in a circle. Soon enough, a column of energy erupted from the coffin, splitting the space around in two.

“Priestess of ancient times who foresee everything… With the ancient description, now, be revived”.

Mieru’s eyes snapped open as she opened her arms.

“Ritual Summon! Come, Prediction Princess Tarotrei!”.

From the hole created by the column of light descended a multi-armed humanoid being dressed in purple garments (2700/1200). Yuzu stared at it in shock.

“I’ve never seen Ritual Summoning before…”.

Realizing her situation, Yuzu quickly run towards one of the many star-roads and slid down it, her monsters following her. Her actions might be interpreted as trying to search for a possible Action Card, but it was mainly to buy some time to come up with a strategy. Mieru followed her with her eyes.

“No one can escape from their fate. Eventually we all have to face our destiny. Tarotrei, destroy Aria. Eternal Slumber!”.

Four of Tarotrei’s hands started shining before she formed a circle with them. Soon enough, a blast of light was shot from the circle and pierced Aria’s back. To avoid the resulting explosion, Yuzu jumped from the road she was on and fell on the platform below her (4000 -> 2900).

Yuzu looked ahead to see an Action Card by the edge of the platform she was on. Despite having lost her monster, she grabbed it anyway.

Illumination. It wouldn’t have saved her from the situation she was in but its effects might be useful in the future.

Yuzu got on her feet and turned to her opponent, who was descending on Tarotrei’s hands. Once her landing was secured, the girl jumped on the platform and sent a calm smile at Yuzu.

“Fortune can help just as much as it can condemn us. To rely on it is but a fool’s doing”.

“Thanks for the advice but I’ll show I can win even without relying on luck”.

“We’ll see. At the end of my turn, thanks to Tarotrei’s effect, I can summon a Flip monster from either my hand or graveyard and set it face-down in Defense position”.

The portal from the graveyard appeared. Tarotrei fished a card from it and placed it on the field horizontally. And with that, Mieru’s turn was officially over.

Yuzu overlooked her hand before staring at Tarotrei. Not even Mozarta would be able to destroy her, but maybe she can…

“My turn. I draw!”.

Yuzu, unfortunately, did not get the card she wished for but she can work with this.

“I activate Second Verse from my hand. If I control exactly one Melodious monster, I can Special Summon another one from my hand. However, to allow that, I must destroy the monster I currently control. I destroy Solo…and summon Mozarta, the Melodious Maestra!”.

Solo disappeared from the field and in her place, Yuzu’s ace monster appeared (2600/2000).

“Since I control a Melodious monster, I can also summon Canon, the Melodious Diva, from my hand. Next I activate Mozarta’s effect”.

As Canon appeared on the field, Yuzu placed another one of her cards on the disk.

“I can summon a LIGHT Fairy-type monster from my hand to the field. It’s your turn Elegy, the Melodious Diva!”.

And with Elegy on the field, Yuzu had a way to take down Tarotrei. But that set monster attracted her attention. She quickly shook her head.

‘Focus, don’t let yourself falter’.

“When Special Summoned, Elegy gives all the Fairy-type monsters I control a bonus of 300 Attack points. Plus, card effects cannot destroy my Special Summoned Melodious monsters”.

With Yuzu’s monsters strengthened, Mozarta was now able to take down Tarotrei with her now 2900 Attack. Then, if she was successfully able to destroy the set monster with Canon, Elegy would inflict a non-indifferent damage.

“Mozarta, destroy Tarotrei with Graceful Wave!”.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to do that. I activate Prediction Princess Reflectia’s effect from the graveyard”.

A small girl dressed in a minimal knight outfit using a mirror-like shield appeared from the graveyard. Yuzu narrowed her eyes. That was one of the cards Mieru destroyed with Rite of the Damned.

“If one of my monsters is attacked, I can banish Reflectia in order to nullify the attack. Plus, all of your monsters are then forced into Defense position and have all of their effects negated”.

Reflectia’s shield blocked Mozarta’s attack causing it to shatter. That also caused all of Yuzu’s monsters to be forced in Defense position. The girl herself flinched at that.

“And Reflectia’s effect doesn’t end here. As long as I have a Prediction Princess on my field, the monsters hit by her effect can’t change position”.

That only made Yuzu more alarmed to the point she bit her lip.

“And now I activate Tarotrei’s effect, which allows me to either change a face-down monster to Attack position or face-up monster in face-down Defense position. I flip my own face-down monster with Full Reverse”.

Tarotrei flipped the face-down monster, revealing a Valkyrie-like humanoid armed with a small saber and a shield.

“When Prediction Princess Astromorrigan (1300/0) is flipped, her effect activates, which destroys all the monsters in Defense position my opponent controls”.

Yuzu gasped.

“All of them?!”.

“Indeed. Plus, you suffer a damage of 500 for every monster destroyed” she said, raising her hand.

With everything that has been going on, she can’t afford to lose all of her monsters and receive a damage of 1500 at the same time. As Astromorrigan’s saber grew in size, Yuzu immediately played the Action Card she picked earlier.

“I activate the Action Spell Illumination! If my monsters are about to be destroyed by an effect, I can negate it!”.

A flash of light was shot from the card, which blocked Astromorrigan’s saber. Mieru lowered her arm.

“Very well. I end my turn”.

Yuzu avoided the worst but with all of her monsters in this state, it’ll be even harder to win now. She has to come up with a tactic and fast.

In another arena, a duel was about to take place. And Sora will be the protagonist of it.

Curiously, he looked up Shay Obsidian and found nothing of him. Like he suddenly materialized into existence.

And that greatly implied it was the person he was looking for. The drifter from Xyz.

Well, at least he won’t have to look for him.

Sora walked inside the arena. The audience’s murmur didn’t distract him from the person before him. He can cover his face how much he wanted, but the Duel Disk he wore pretty much confirmed he was the guy he was searching for.

Sore stared at him with a grin.

“Has anyone told you that you shouldn’t steal things from others?”.

Shay didn’t show much of a reaction. He simply activated the disk.

“They did”.

Sora activated his own disk and prepared himself.

He was going to win anyway, but at least he’s going to have fun while doing so.

Chapter Text

Yuzu gulped nervously as she overlooked her field.

All of her monsters were in Defense position and with their effects negated, while Mieru had both a powerful monster on her field and a card that could potentially destroy all of her monsters if played correctly in one fell swoop.

“My turn. I draw” Yuzu looked at her card and immediately played it “I activate Playback Performance from my hand. I can destroy all the Melodious monsters I control and draw the same amount of cards, plus one if I destroy at least one Level 5 or higher monster”.

All of her monsters vanished but that allowed Yuzu to draw four cards and have her hand replenished. Plus, since Elegy and Mozarta were Pendulum monsters, they were returned to the Extra Deck.

And thankfully, this time she drew the cards she needed.

Yuzu smiled before taking a long breath. It was to show everyone present what she’s really capable of.

“The opening act is finally over… Now it’s time to move on to the main performance. Normally, due to Playback Performance, I can’t Normal Summon any of the monsters drawn through its effect but it won’t be a problem for what I’m about to do”.

Yuzu picked two of her cards from her hand and showed them to the people watching.

“I set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 1 Refrain, the Melodious Songstress, and the Scale 9 Couplet, the Melodious Songstress!”.

She immediately placed the two cards on her disk, with the colorful ‘PENDULUM’ word appearing on it. Yuzu’s two songstresses appeared on the sky in two transparent columns.

And with that move, many around were left shocked at what was transpiring. Well, everyone but Yuzu’s friends and family, who simply smiled at the show.

Who can blame them. No one knew that Yuzu could Pendulum Summon after all.

“I can now summon monsters from Level 2 to Level 8 all together at the same time. Swing, Pendulum of the Heart! Draw the sheet of our hymn across the sky! Pendulum Summon!”.

The portal appeared in the sky and from it, Yuzu’s monsters descended on the field.

“Mozarta and Elegy will now return to the stage! And they will be joined by Lullaby, the Melodious Diva!”.

Mozarta (2600/2000) reappeared on the field, fresher than before, with Elegy (2000/1200) right next to her. Out of the three however, it was the third girl who caught more attention.

Lullaby (100/1000) was a small child dressed in a puffy, light-purple dress with a nightcap of the same color. Unlike the divas before her, who were wide awake and ready to sing, this one was gently dozing mid-air, with only the movement of her small wings signifying she wasn’t completely asleep.

From his position, Reiji quickly stood on his feet as Yuzu played her cards and Pendulum Summoned. His normally stoic eyes were now wide, yet still eerily calm. Nakajima, instead, was far more agitated.

“What is going on? Wasn’t Yuya Sakaki the only one to have Pendulum cards?!”.

While struck silent for a moment, Reiji soon regained his composure.

“Evidently not. If we think lucidly about it, Pegasus had been greatly interested in developing Pendulum cards of his own. It’s not farfetched to think he already begun to give them out”.

Still… Something tells him there’s more than that. Could it be Yuzu had Pendulum cards from the very beginning, just like Yuya?

Regardless, Leo Corp. has already started to produce cards of their own. Although, right now only him and Shingo, who has one of their prototype Pendulum decks, had them.

This is but a minor surprise. It won’t be a roadblock; rather, it might even turn out to be beneficial.

Mieru stared wide-eyed at what happened before her. She certainly couldn’t have predicted something like this.

“I’m surprised. I didn’t know there were other people who could Pendulum Summon aside Yuya Sakaki”.

Yuzu smiled confidently before she initiated her counterattack.

“Now, let’s begin. Lullaby, it’s time to put our enemies to sleep. Angelic Melody”.

The small diva slightly opened her eyes before she started singing a slow, but peaceful lullaby. Simply hearing it almost made some people fall asleep. Along Mieru’s monsters who went from Attack position to Defense position.

“What happened to Tarotrei (2700 ATK -> 1200 DEF) and Astromorrigan (1300 ATK -> 0 DEF)?” asked the fortune teller.

“It’s Lullaby’s effect. Whenever she activates it, all non-Melodious monsters in Attack position are forced into Defense position. Not only that, but during the turn I activate this effect, the monsters who fell victim to it also can’t activate their effects. And now I activate Ballad’s from my hand”.

A woman with pale blonde hair dressed in a flowing pink dress appeared on the field. In her hands was a small mandolin.

“By sending Ballad, the Melodious Diva, to the graveyard, for this turn alone my monsters can deal piercing damage”.

Mieru gasped at hearing that. Ballad started playing her instrument and as she did that, a red glow enveloped Mozarta and Elegy. As soon as she was done, she vanished from the field.

“Time to put up our performance! Mozarta, destroy Tarotrei! And you Elegy, go for Astromorrigan!”.

The two songstresses obeyed their commands. This time, Mozarta managed to attack Tarotrei without interruption and managed to dispose of her (4000 -> 2600), causing Mieru to protect her face from the resulting shockwave.

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t have enough time to fully recover as Elegy immediately went and destroyed Astromorrigan, causing the shorter girl to once again protect herself from the attack (2600 -> 600).

“And with this done, I end my turn. This show is reaching its ending”.

Mieru took a deep breath as she finally recovered from the onslaught she went through, her arms still crossed before her face.

“Indeed. You managed to destroy all my monsters and I’m down to 600 Life Points…”.

The girl then went to remove her arms, revealing a confident smile.

“…exactly as I predicted”.

Her declaration made Yuzu widen her eyes.

“W-What do you mean?”.

“You’ll see right now. I draw! During my Main Phase, I can banish Prediction Ritual from my graveyard in order to add a Prediction Princess to my hand from the deck”.

Mieru drew the card before playing her other one.

“I now activate Fraudulent Tribute. By discarding my whole hand, I can draw three new cards from my deck”.

Mieru discarded her only card and drew three more cards. The girl smiled at them.

“Good. I now activate the Spell Bindings of the Damned Soul. This is a very peculiar card. When I activate it, I can summon to the field a monster from my graveyard and have this card equipped to it. However, all of its effects are nullified and it will have 0 Attack and Defense. I summon back Prediction Princess Tarotrei”.

Yuzu prepared herself as Mieru’s monster appeared. She definitely had some kind of trick up her sleeve, otherwise she wouldn’t just summon her best monster in such a weakened state.

And Yuzu’s worries would be proven right when Mieru played another specific card.

“I now activate the Ritual Spell Underworld Ritual of Prediction!”.

A giant glowing magic circle appeared on the field around Tarotrei. Yuzu took a step back in shock.

“Another Ritual Spell?!”.

“Exactly. Underworld Ritual of Prediction allows me to Ritual Summon a Prediction Princess either from my hand or graveyard. And of course I must also tribute a number of monsters whose total Levels equal or exceed the summoned monster’s. I tribute Tarotrei herself”.

Yuzu was left baffled at that. But it seemed Mieru didn’t play any of the cards she had in hand so how…

That’s when it clicked. The card she discarded with Fraudulent Tribute. That was the monster she’s summoning right now. Yuzu gulped nervously at the prospect of facing another, possibly stronger, Ritual monster.

A portal of darkness appeared from below Tarotrei. Several chains appeared from it and went to bound the monster before dragging her down.

“Underworld Ritual of Prediction also allows me to Ritual Summon a monster in face-down Defense position. Like this”.

As Tarotrei was almost completely sapped inside the portal, the rest of her body soon glowed of a dark light before it exploded and went to form the small, spiked creature that signified face-down monsters.

“Now, it’s time I activate the last card in my hand. And the final nail of your coffin. I activate Book of Taiyou, which flips a face-down Defense monster in face-up Attack position. And obviously, I choose my own”.

With Mieru playing that card, the monster on her field soon showed sign of cracking. After little time, light started to emit from the cracks on the monster’s spherical form, which was so bright that it forced Yuzu to shield her eyes.

“Sorceress who watches over the world through your many mirrors… It’s time to awaken from your slumber!”.

Mieru extended both of her arms.

“Appear before us, Prediction Princess Tarotreith!”.

The light died down, allowing the face-down monster to reveal itself from its previously sealed state. The tall, multi-armed lady dressed in beautiful blue and silver garments towered over Yuzu and her monsters as many cards made of crystals floated around her (1200/2700). The space and the stars created by the ARC System shined around her, making her appear even more mysterious than she already was.

Yuzu took an involuntary step back.

“Another Ritual monster…”.

Mieru gave her opponent a wide smile.

“Indeed. And now her Flip effect activates which allows me to Special Summon a Flip monster from my deck in face-down Defense position”.

Mieru did as she said but she wasn’t yet done.

“Now, since I control a Prediction Princess Ritual monster, I can banish Underworld Ritual of Prediction in order to summon another Prediction Princess from my deck in face-down Defense position”.

And with that done, Mieru now had two face-down monsters and Tarotreith on her field.

“It’s time to finally end this. I activate one of Tarotreith’s effects and flip all my face-down monsters into face-up Defense position. Sidereal Awakening!”.

Two of the crystal cards around Tarotreith stopped before her hands, allowing her to flip them over. When that happened, Mieru’s other monsters made themselves known.

The first monster was a green-haired girl dressed in a deep blue dress that showed her lower body…that being an azure mermaid tail. Floating beside her were two skulls that wholly contrasted her apparently peaceful demeanor (1200/2200).

The second monster was even more odd. As unlike the previous of Mieru’s monsters, it wasn’t humanoid at all. Rather, this one looked like a golden cross with two plates by each ends and a silver circle around it. To be honest, it looked more like a scale than a cross (0/1500).

“Allow me to introduce you to Prediction Princess Hydromermaid and Starlibra”.

Mieru raised her head to the digital space around her. She stared at the stars for a moment.

“The destiny is already written for every single being in the world. Everyone has to follow through it. We can’t oppose ourselves to our fate. And I’ll show it by winning this duel. Starlibra’s Flip effect activates immediately. All monsters on the field that are not Prediction Princesses are forced to change position”.

One of Starlibra’s plates was lowered causing the other to be raised. The action forced Yuzu’s monsters to change position, to her alarm.

“And now it’s time for Hydromermaid’s effect to activate. All monsters that have changed from Attack position to the Defense one through an effect are destroyed right away, and their respective holders receive a damage of 900 Life Points for every monster destroyed!”.

“WHAT?!”.

Yuzu didn’t need to be told the gravity of her situation. Mozarta and Elegy will be destroyed and she will receive a damage of 1800. If Tarotreith were then to attack Lullaby, who was now in Attack position (1500 DEF -> 100 ATK) then…

Yuzu widened her eyes in horror. She doesn’t have anything that can protect her. She needed an Action Card to survive this. Suddenly, the corners of her eyes caught a glimmer. Looking at it, Yuzu saw a card on one of the platforms at her left. She was about to run towards it before her mind stopped her, recalling Mieru’s words from before.

‘Fortune can help just as much as it can condemn us. To rely on it is but a fool’s doing’

Mieru was right. Action Cards can be as useful as they can be useless. Even lethal in certain cases.

If that card really couldn’t help her then…

Yuzu frantically shook her head.

'I have to risk it. Otherwise, it’s game over for me'.

Yuzu started running towards the platform, catching Mieru’s attention.

“I will not allow it. Hydromermaid, go! Cryogenic Cry!”.

Hydromermaid lowered her head and took a deep breath before she raised it and let out a shrill shriek that created a blizzard on the field. The blizzard immediately went to freeze both Mozarta and Elegy at the same time Yuzu jumped from the platform they were in.

The two monsters shattered and the consequential gust of wind ended up whipping Yuzu in the back (2900 -> 1100), causing her to lose balance and almost resulted in her missing her objective.

Lullaby, now wide-awake at the prospect of her owner hurting herself, frantically flew towards Yuzu and grabbed her hand. Using all the strength in her body, the small girl managed to lift the duelist and launched towards the platform with the Action Card. Yuzu managed to grab onto it and quickly tried to get on it. Seeing this, Mieru pointed ahead of her.

“Tarotreith, quick! Attack with Disastrous Prediction!”.

The crystal cards around Tarotreith stopped before they started shining. From them, several beams of light were directed towards Lullaby which caused a big explosion to occur once they made contact with her.

“Yuzu!” shouted Rin as she stood up from her seat.

“Did she reach the Action Card in time?” said Yugo as he too got up.

Yuto and Yuri tried to see through the dense cloud of dust but it was too hard to see well.

Mieru stared ahead as she waited for the dust to settle. She closed her eyes.

“Exactly as predicted. The stars have already decided which path we’re supposed to take. And hers was to be defeated by me”.

Just as she waited for the duel to end, a shine caught her attention from the other side of the field. Mieru narrowed her eyes before she widened them in shock once she could finally see.

Lullaby was enveloped by a rainbow-colored barrier that protected her from destruction. The small girl was shakily covering her eyes with her nightcap but once she realized she was fine, she twirled around happily.

As for Yuzu, the girl was on her feet, raising a card up in the sky.

“Action Spell Miracle! My monster avoids destruction and all damage is halved (1100 -> 550)!”.

A lot of loud murmurs echoed in the field, some cheering for Yuzu’s miraculous save. Probably the loudest of them all was Rin’s.

“YES! She did it! You can still do it, sis!”.

Yuzu breathed heavily as she felt her heart stop. It was by a stroke of luck this Action Card was Miracle. But at least it gave her a chance to breathe.

Mieru stared in silent astonishment as Yuzu managed to endure the assault.

“How can it be? I thought for sure she would be finished. Could it be…that she managed to make the scales tip in her favor?”.

Mieru shook her head and focused once again.

“No, it was by pure chance that card saved her. But I won’t take any chances. You may have survived but there’s still something that I can do to reduce your winning possibilities even more”.

Mieru went to remove two of her cards from the graveyard.

“At the end of my turn, if the monster summoned by Bindings of the Damned Soul has been used as a Ritual material, the Ritual monster summoned gains the original Attack of the material until the end of my next turn, as long as I banish both that card and this one”.

And with that done, Tarotreith was now stronger than ever (1200 -> 3900). Yuzu gritted her teeth. She doesn’t have anything to contrast that thing now. Her next card will have to vital if she wants to win.

“It all comes down to this one card” said Yuri as he crossed his arms.

Rin clasped her hands as she prayed that her sister would be able to turn the tables on Mieru.

“Sorry, guys! I know I’m late!”.

The four turned to see Yuya rushing towards them, jumping two steps at a time.

“Late?! Yuzu’s duel started 20 minutes ago, where the hell have you been?!” yelled Rin.

Yuya scratched his head abashed.

“Sorry, sorry. I wanted to check on Gongenzaka’s duel. Anyway, how’s it going? Yuzu is winning right?”.

“Afraid not. Look at the field” said Yuto.

Yuya did as told. Once he made out her situation, he gained a worried expression.

“600 to 550? And that girl has a 3900 Attack monster by her side while Yuzu has none?!”.

“You have the grace of a hippo, Yuya!” said Rin as she started pinching his side.

“OWW!!! Sorry, I panicked!”.

The green-haired girl let go of him. She then put her hands on her hips.

“I really hope Yuzu can get out of this situation. I want all of us to pass at least the first round”.

“Chances aren’t by her side though. If she can’t overcome Tarotreith in this turn, then it might as well be over for her”.

Rin bit her lip at Yuri’s comment. She knew he was right but it didn’t mean she liked it. Yuya turned his eyes to Yuzu, seeing her as anxious as he expected her to be. He then went towards the railings and took a deep breath.

“YUZU!!!”.

Yuzu turned around as she heard her name being called form the bleachers.

“Yuya?”.

“I know you can do it! I have faith in you!”.

Yuzu’s eyes managed to find Yuya among the public.

“You’ve been in similar situations and you always managed to end on top anyway! So go for it and win! Me and everyone else are by your side and we’re all cheering for you!”.

He then extended a fist towards her with a bright smile on his lips.

“Now go ahead and show us a performance we’ll never forget! I believe in you!”.

Yuzu felt her hair being blown back. His words were like a breath of fresh air for her.

Seeing him putting so much in faith in her truly touched her. Every time she is at her lowest, Yuya always manage to make her feel better. He always stayed by her side and put his utmost trust in her. And he never once let that faith be shaken. Yuzu found herself smiling as she felt a warmth to her heart.

What did she do to deserve someone like him?

Yuzu took a long breath of air before she slowly exhaled.

If her friends are believing so much in her than she has to do her utmost to not disappoint them.

“It’s my turn. I draw!”.

With renewed conviction, she drew her next card. And she promptly widened her eyes in wonder at it. Before she showed a big smile.

It seems her lucky star still hasn’t forsaken her.

“Alright. I’m betting everything on this move. I summon Soprano, the Melodious Songstress!”.

Yuri stood on his feet the second he saw the woman in blue appearing on the field.

“What’s got you so pumped, Yuri?” asked Yugo, noticing his brother’s exalted expression.

The purple-haired duelist let out a single laugh.

“If Serena was here, she’d be yelling in joy”.

It took Rin a moment to realize what he was implying.

“Wait… Are you saying that Yuzu is about to…?” she said before her eyes immediately went to field once more.

As for Yuzu, she knew what she had to do now. And she won’t back down.

“I activate her effect immediately” Yuzu took a long breath of air “I can use any Melodious monsters I control to Fusion Summon from the Extra Deck!”.

Mieru gasped in shock, along many in the public. The blue and orange portal appeared before both Lullaby and Soprano dived inside.

“Melody that lulls us to sleep and beautiful song sung by the angel… Gather your powers through the guidance of the baton!”.

Yuzu clasped her hands together.

“Fusion Summon! Delight us with your composition, Schuberta, the Melodious Maestra!”.

Yuzu’s monster was a sight to behold. The tall woman dressed in bright orange and black garments stood proudly as she directed several notes with her rod (2400/2000).

Many were left slack-jawed. If they were left surprised by her Pendulum Summon, now they were completely floored by that Fusion Summon. Mieru likewise, was left gaping like a fish.

“I…I could never have predicted something like this”.

Yuzu spread her arms and allowed the wind to blow on her face. The sensation of freedom she was feeling right now was incredible. It was like she was free to do whatever she wanted with no regret whatsoever.

It was like her heart was singing for everyone around her. But especially for herself. Yuzu smiled confidently.

“Let’s not waste any more time. I activate Refrain’s Pendulum effect. By sending a Melodious monster from my deck to the graveyard, one Fusion monster I control gains 200 Attack for every Level the discarded monster has. My choice falls on the Level 7 Shopina, the Melodious Maestra”.

Refrain snapped her fingers and started singing, powering up Schuberta and raising her Attack of 1400, up to 3800. But Yuzu wasn’t yet done.

“Now I activate the Continuous Spell Fortissimo. One per turn, I choose one Melodious monster I control and it gains 800 Attack until my next turn. So that means Schuberta can now destroy Tarotreith!”.

Once again, the monster’s Attack raised (3800 -> 4600), causing Mieru to realize that she was going to lose. Yuzu pointed at Tarotreith.

“Schuberta! It’s time for the finale. Destroy Tarotreith with Sonic Surrender!”.

Schuberta’s hair flared up as red sound waves appeared around her. The woman then directed those waves towards Tarotreith, who was immediately hit and destroyed by the attack. Mieru’s Life Points were deleted but despite that she simply stood in place, staring at Yuzu in surprise.

“Incredible… Even when I had such an advantage, that girl still managed to change her own fate”.

Cheers started to arise through the whole stadium as the duel ended.

“And there we have it folks! Yuzu Hiiragi manages to turn the tables on Mieru Hochun and come up victorious, winning a place for the next round! What a truly stunning performance!”.

As the adrenaline left Yuzu, she started to gently pant. This duel took a lot out of her. And it was only her first duel. But regardless, she still felt lighter than before. All her doubts were gone, replaced by a sense of accomplishment. She found herself smiling at that.

As she left the field, Yuzu was soon tackled by both Rin and Yuya, causing her to almost fall on her butt.

“I knew you could do it, sis! I never once doubted you!”.

“Yeah! You showed everyone just how amazing you are!”.

“Alright, alright! Let go now!” she said with a laugh. The two complied but they still had giant smiles on their faces. Yuto and Yuri calmly walked up to them.

“Congratulations, Yuzu. That was a marvelous duel” said Yuto.

“Thanks. I admit I was starting to lose hope for a second though”.

“But you didn’t. That Fusion Summon was truly incredible. All of your training paid off it seems” complimented Yuri.

“They did. I have to thank both you and Serena for that”.

“Though, there is still a lot of work to do. You have a long way before being remotely close to our level” he said with one of his usual grins.

“Hey, I tried my best, okay?” she said with a pout. Yuri chuckled amused by her reaction.

Yuya patted Yuzu’s back, making her turn to him.

“Great job out there” he said with a smile which Yuzu soon reciprocated.

“Thanks, Yuya. Let’s reach the finals together”.

Yuya nodded his head confidently before he realized someone was missing from their group.

“Hey, guys, have you seen Yugo?”.

Everyone now realized that the Synchro duelist wasn’t with them. Weird feeling of déjà vu here.

Rin tried to scout him but she couldn’t spot him anywhere.

“He vanished again? Where did he end up now? I swear if he went to buy more trash, I…”.

“Guys! Guys!”.

Speak of the devil. They all turned to a frantic Yugo, who was running up to them.

“Hey, where the heck were you?” asked Rin with a brow raised.

“Never mind that! There’s something more important now!”.

“More important than my victory? Thanks a lot, Yugo” teased Yuzu in an offended tone.

“Oh, uh, well… Way to go, Yuzu. Knew you could do it”.

Yugo then quickly shook his head as his mind returned to what he wanted to say.

“Wait, there are more pressing matters now! It’s about Sora”.

“Uh? What happened to him?”.

“Sora lost his duel and got injured! He’s being brought to a hospital right now!”.

Chapter Text

At the same time Yuzu was dueling…

Ruri made her way through the seats, trying to spot Serena. She finally managed to see her sister’s unmistakable purple hair and approached her.

“Hey, Serena. Hope I’m not too late”.

Serena turned her head at her.

“Nah, don’t worry. They just started. Still, it appears that when it comes to dueling, you’re as slow as when you’re dolling up for Yuto”.

Ruri blushed and started twirling a strand of hair as she sat down next to her sister.

“H-Hey, I don’t doll up for Yuto…”.

Serena gently elbowed her with a giant grin.

“Come on, you’re basically dating at this point, might as well ask him out”.

Ruri lightly whined as she tried to cover her face with her hands.

“You and Rin spend way too much time together…”.

“Hey, embarrassing you is always a delight”.

“Know that I’ll get back at you for this”.

Ruri threw a small glare at a shrugging Serena before she turned to the arena. The duel was only at the beginning so nothing meaningful happened just yet.

Although, the young duelist’s attention was soon brought to the Action Field, which was a futuristic looking city with many colorful and beautiful lights. The nightly vibes it gave, plus the overall ambience, made it look like a carnival was undergoing.

But something about this field was picking at Ruri’s brain. It was all so…familiar to her…

Ruri overlooked the city until her eyes went to the tower. Again, she felt the sight was somewhat familiar but she still couldn’t pinpoint what. Maybe she saw this field in the list of Action Fields…

But why does she feel she’s overlooking something important?

Ruri shook her head and tried to focus on the duel. Sora just finished his turn with a set card. Frightfur Bear was already on his field. As for his opponent, he only had one monster on the field, that being a mechanical falcon-like beast.

And for the third time that day, Ruri’s felt a strange feeling at seeing it. That monster too reminded her of something but again, it was like she just couldn’t remember what.

She gently grabbed her head as she felt a headache coming.

“Hey, sis, are you okay? You’re starting to look pale” said Serena as she reached for her sister.

“Don’t worry, I’m okay. I’m just…trying to remember something”.

Ruri raised her head and stared at the field.

“I feel like…I’ve seen this place before… And that person’s monster…”.

Serena turned her head at Sora’s opponent. The guy had a purple jacket and was currently wearing googles and a scarf so she couldn’t make out his face.

“I think the guy’s name is Shay Obsidian or something… Maybe you crossed him before?”.

Ruri tried hard to remember but she doesn’t recall ever coming across someone named like that.

At the same time, Shay had begun his turn.

“I draw. I summon another Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius. By its effect I can summon yet another Vanishing Lanius from my hand”.

And just like that, a switch went off in Ruri’s brain as she heard the names of those monsters. Her eyes immediately went wide, her mind suddenly filling with memories.

Ruri rapidly stood up from her seat and went to grip the railings, taking Serena by surprise and almost making her fall.

“Wait… Raidraptors?! But those… Those are…!”.

Shay extended a hand forward.

“I now overlay my three Level 4 Vanishing Lanius. Obscure falcon… Raise your sharpened talons in front of adversity and spread your wings of rebellion. Xyz Summon! Now… Appear, Raidraptor – Rise Falcon!”.

If Ruri had any doubts, they were now vanquished. She knew that monster well.

It was Shun’s main card.

She was but a small child the last time she saw it, but she’d recognize her brother’s ace anywhere.

“Shun…”.

Serena got up and approached her sister, now fully worried.

“Ruri, you’re behaving strangely. What’s going on?”.

Ruri didn’t answer her immediately. Her eyes were still on Shay. She couldn’t see his face but she could recognize the shade of his hair. And they were identical of that of her brother.

“That person… Could he really be…”.

“Ruri?”.

The corvine-haired girl turned to Serena.

“I need to talk to him. I have to make sure of it”.

Serena raised a brow, not understanding.

“Make sure of…what?”.

Ruri clenched a hand before her chest.

“That person…might be my older brother Shun”.

Serena widened her eyes at the information. Ruri told them of her brother and how she wasn’t able to come in contact with him no matter what.

But if that guy dueling Sora really was him then…

“Alright, once the duel is over, we will approach him. Then you can make sure”.

Ruri broke out into a relieved expression.

“Serena…”.

The girl in question shot her a small smile.

“If that guy really is your brother, you deserve to see him more than anyone”.

“Thank you, Serena. Truly” said Ruri with a grateful smile.

The duel went on for a bit. Despite how egregiously Sora was dueling, Shay was able to match him at every turn. The two girls started to note how their fellow classmate’s behavior was starting to get more erratic the longer the duel went.

“Hey, is it just me or is Sora acting a bit…weird?” asked Ruri.

“You’re not imagining it. What the heck’s got into him? I know he doesn’t like losing but he normally doesn’t lose his composure like that”.

At one point, Sora summoned a giant monster named Frightfur Chimera on the field. Even by Frightfur standards, this one was really grotesque, as it was an amalgamation of several stuffed animals and toys fused with mechanical parts. It was like a mad scientist created that thing.

“What in blazes is that? I didn’t know Sora had that monster” stated Serena.

“Neither did I… But that card… Something about it greatly unsettles me and not only because of its appearance…” said Ruri, noting several people getting scared, or even terrified, by Frightfur Chimera.

“You’re telling me. There’s something in that thing that just screams ‘wrong’”.

On the field, things were really starting to look bleak for Shay. Thanks to Frightfur Chimera’s effect, Sora was able to summon his current monster, Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon, on his side. And with its 1000 Attack, he would be able to deplete Shay’s 400 Life Points.

Confident in his victory, Sora grinned madly at his opponent.

“You see? You can’t escape from us. We will eventually hunt you down no matter what you do”.

Despite his expression not being noticeable behind his scarf, Shay behaved in a strangely calm way. Sora snarled.

“Not saying anything? Very well, I’ll at least give you the mercy of defeating you with your own monster”.

“Hmph. I foresaw this coming”.

Sora raised a brow at hearing what Shay said.

“What?”.

Shay raised his head.

“There’s always a possibility your comrades might be captured and used against you. This is why I have this card. I activate the Quick Spell Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force!”.

Blaze Falcon started glowing of a purple light.

“What’s going on?”.

“Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force has two effects, one of which allows me to use an Xyz monster on my opponent’s field to Xyz Summon another on mine of a higher Rank”.

Shay raised his arm as Blaze Falcon entered the overlay network to Sora’s shock.

“Prideful falcon. Spread your wings, dyed in the blood of heroes, and charge through the path of revolution! Rank-Up Xyz Evolution! Appear, Raidraptor – Revolution Falcon!”.

Shay’s monster descended on the field. The second it, Sora’s expression went from worried to sneering.

“You expect to defeat my Frightfur Chimera with your monster? Don’t make me laugh!”.

True. Revolution Falcon has only 2000 Attack while Frightfur Chimera has 2800. At first glance, Shay wouldn’t be able to turn the tides. Keywords being ‘at first glance’.

“Hmph. You’d laugh at your own demise?”.

Sora flinched at his calm, almost mocking, tone.

“You’re bluffing. You have no card in hand, nor set, you can’t possibly-”.

He stopped himself right there as realization washed over him. He forgot one key factor in all this.

The true strength of an Xyz monster. Its effect.

“I see you noticed. Very well, let us put an end to this ‘hunt’. If I used an Xyz monster to summon it, I can activate Revolution Falcon’s additional effect. I can choose one monster on my opponent’s field and destroy it, inflicting a damage equal to half of its Attack”.

Sora stumbled back in shock. He had 1300 Life Points now. That meant…he was finished if the attack went through.

“Revolution Falcon. Aerial Demolition”.

Revolution Falcon glided up in the air and opened its bay doors, releasing several bombs on the arena. The field was soon engulfed by explosions, destroying Frightfur Chimera.

“No… I refuse to be defeated like this!”.

Sora caught glimpse of an Action Card and immediately rushed towards it. Unfortunately for him, the bombardment caused a building to eventually collapse.

Sora only had time to widen his eyes as he realized the concrete was falling above him. With a pained scream from him, the duel came to an end and the field returned to normal. Despite that, Sora was left injured and was visibly struggling to stay conscious.

The public was left shell-shocked at what just transpired. But none were more shocked than Ruri and Serena, who stared in horror at the field. Of the two, the former was the one to regain her senses first.

“Sora!”.

“Fuck, that was bad! Ruri, inform the others, I’m going down to help him!”.

She quickly nodded as Serena dived down the seats and went towards the field. Ruri rapidly scrolled her contacts and clicked the first that happened to her.

“H-Hey!”.

“Hey, Ruri. Great news. Yuzu won her duel!”.

Ruri recognized the voice as Yugo’s.

“Y-Yugo, Sora has been injured during his duel!”.

“W-W-Wait, what?! What’s going on over there?!”.

“Sora lost his duel and got injured by falling debris; they’re bringing him to a hospital right now!”.

“Oh, shit. A-Alright, I’ll go tell the others, we’ll meet up later!”.

Yugo closed the call there. Ruri looked at the field, seeing a group of paramedics carrying Sora with them. She would have left the stadium immediately if not for her spotting Shay calmly leaving the field, like nothing happened.

Despite the general confusion, Ruri felt her heart thumping loudly in her chest as she stared at his back.

‘Shun… If that’s really you… Just…’.

Would her brother… The brother she had looked up since she was a little kid…really be able to do something like this and be this uncaring?

Ruri clenched her hands on her chest, a shadow coming over her face.

For some reason, she’s really starting to hope she’s wrong.

In the waiting room, Shuzo, Yuya, Yuzu and Gongenzaka were waiting. The others were outside since such a large group might cause some confusion inside the hospital. By this point, it was already evening and the moon was up in the sky.

After an hour or so, the doctor arrived and Shuzo immediately approached him.

“Doctor, how is Sora?”.

“Luckily, he received mostly minor injuries. Two days of rest and he’ll be fine”.

Yuya breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s good to hear…”.

“Although…”.

The doctor crossed his arms.

“I must ask, do any of you know what he was doing before arriving to Miami City?”.

“Sora usually avoided talking about it. Why? Is something wrong?” asked Yuzu.

“That kid’s physic is way too trained for the average 13-years old. If I were to offer a hypothesis, I’d say he received military training”.

Yuya stood from his seat.

“Military training? But…how could that be?”.

Gongenzaka looked pensive.

“Sora’s acrobatics did look more than what someone his age would be able to do”.

Shuzo sighed as he brought his hands on his hips.

“I guess we’ll have to ask him once he wakes up. I’ll go tell the others, you three remain here and take care of him if necessary”.

At their nods, Shuzo left.

“There’s actually something else I should mention…” said the doctor after a couple of seconds.

“That is?”.

“We tried to come in contact with any of Shiunin’s family but he apparently doesn’t have any living relatives around here. Nor does he seem to have any family at all”.

The three teens looked astonished at hearing that.

“Are you positive, doctor?” asked Yuya.

“I am. He apparently doesn’t have any contact listed on his person and other than you people, he doesn’t have any acquaintances in this city”.

“Wait… Does that mean Sora’s an orphan?” questioned Yuzu.

“That’s…a very definite possibility”.

Yuya looked down at the ground. Sora always appeared so cheerful all the time. He could never tell he’d be homeless from his behavior at all. Just how much he was hiding between that carefree smile?

While the three duelists contemplated the situation, a nurse quickly approached the doctor.

“Doctor, Shiunin has vanished from his room!”.

Yuya and Yuzu alarmingly turned to the woman.

“Sora has vanished?!” exclaimed the two duelists.

“What?! What happened?” asked the doctor.

“I…I’m not sure; I heard a commotion so I went to check and I found two unconscious guards and the room empty”.

The doctor passed a hand through his hair.

“Start searching for him immediately. He still hasn’t recovered from his injuries. I’m afraid I have to leave now, but I assure we’ll find your friend”.

The doctor then left with the nurse. Yuya turned to Yuzu and Gongenzaka.

“What exactly is going on through his head? He shouldn’t move in that state”.

“I have no idea but we need to find immediately. I’ll message the others, maybe they can help search for him”.

“I, the man Gongenzaka, will offer my help as well”.

“Right. I just hope Sora doesn’t end up collapsing”.

With that said, the three left. One question was floating in their mind.

Just who exactly was Sora?

Reiji found himself in a precarious situation. After Sora’s defeat by Shun’s hands, Leo Corp. would have taken him into custody and question him. Him ending up injured was unforeseen but it wouldn’t be a problem.

Reiji did not see Sora escaping from the hospital just like that however.

Now he was having people search for him through the cameras scattered through the city. Since he was hosting the tournament, a search party wouldn’t be ideal right now. If he does send one, it must be under the highest secrecy and the search has to be extremely short.

“Could he be searching for Kurosaki, sir?” asked Nakajima.

“More than likely. I do not know if it’s for personal vendetta or another reason, but Shiunin is clearly after him”.

Reiji glanced behind him, seeing Shun with his arms crossed. If it was for him, Shun would already be facing Sora a second time but such a rash decision wouldn’t do anyone favors.

Next to him, he felt someone tugging at his shirt. Looking down, he saw his little sister Reira, looking somewhat anxious. Reiji gently placed a hand on her head to reassure her which apparently did the trick.

Shun glanced at the younger girl with a questioning look.

“You still haven’t told me what her role in all this is”.

“Despite being young, Reira has a great talent in dueling. I have no doubt she’ll be helpful for our mission”.

Shun’s brows shot up as he unfolded his arms.

“Akaba, I hope you’re joking. She’s a child”.

“We need all the help we can get in this battle. I do not like putting her in danger, but I may have no other choice if we want to face Academia”.

Shun opened his arms.

“But a kid is still a kid. Capable or not, she might still freeze before an opponent out for blood. Not to mention just in what kind of situation you'll put her in”.

Reiji opened his mouth but stopped himself.

Yes. He was aware of that. He didn’t want to involve Reira in the first place but her abilities weren’t indifferent. And his mother certainly wasn’t helping things.

Reira looked up at her brother, a curious expression on her face.

“Sir, we have an update on Shiunin”.

Reiji raised his head at the screen. Shun looked away, dropping the subject. For now.

“It appears he’s at the Central Park. Should we send someone to collect him?”.

“Yes, but inform them to be as discreet as possible”.

“Understood, sir. We’ll send word imme- Wait, who is that?”.

Reiji looked at the screen as another figure came into view. He narrowed his eyes.

This made things harder.

Sora was running through the streets. Luckily, the dark of the night will hide him for the time being but surely people were starting to look for him.

But he had a mission. And failure was not an option.

His body, however, still hasn’t recovered from his injuries and Sora was forced to come to a halt to regain breath.

“Dammit… That guy really roughed me up… Just wait until I get my hands him and…”.

Sora stopped himself. Right… He was allowed to use Human Sealing Technology.

He…really hoped he wouldn’t come to it. He hated that stuff.

But he’s a proud soldier of Academia. His opinions don’t matter in the slightest, his only role was to obey his orders without batting an eye.

Sora eventually stood up and looked around him. It appears he somehow ended up at the Central Park.

Now… How does he find that Xyz guy?

“Sora!”.

Sora’s eyes twitched at hearing his name. He looked up and saw someone running towards him. Sharpening his view, he figured out the person being Yuto.

The purple-haired duelist stopped before him.

“Sora, why have you escaped from the hospital? Your injuries haven’t healed yet”.

“It doesn’t matter. Where’s Obsidian? I need to settle the score with him”.

“You can duel him another time, right now you need to rest”.

“I don’t have time to rest! I need to find that guy immediately”.

Yuto started to approach Sora.

“Why are you so obsessed with Obsidian? You just lost to him”.

Sora gritted his teeth.

“I didn’t ‘just lost’. Unless I get rid of him immediately, our plan will be ruined”.

Taken back by his choice of words, Yuto raised his guard. The candy lover never looked as aggressive as now.

“What are you saying?”.

Instead of answering, Sora took out his Duel Disk and activated it.

“If you try to get in my way, I’ll have to get rid of you too!”.

Yuto noted the manic glint Sora’s eyes had. It was clear he wasn’t thinking straight. He gulped before taking out his disk, preparing himself.

“Sora! Sora, where are you?!”.

Yuya had been searching for 20 minutes now but so far, he had no luck. He hoped someone else managed to find him.

At one point, his disk started beeping, signifying an incoming call.

“What the…? Why it’s from my disk?”.

If someone wanted to call him they simply could have used their phone but if it was through the disk, then…

Yuya took out his Duel Disk, as an image of Yuto appeared from it.

“Yuto, what’s going on? Why are you calling me through the Duel Disk?”.

“Yuya, I found Sora. But I need help, he’s clearly not in his right mind”.

“Huh? What’s going on? Where are you?”.

“We’re at the Central Park and he suddenly forced me into a duel. Quick, tell the others. I’ll try to stall for as much time as possible”.

The call ended abruptly. Yuya was left with more questions than answers but he sent a quick message to the others before he went towards the park.

“I now activate Polymerization and fuse Edge Imp Sabres and Fluffal Bear directly from my hand! I Fusion Summon Frighfur Bear!”.

The giant bear showed up on the field with as much fanfare as ever.

“Now go and destroy Break Sword!”.

Frightfur Bear destroyed the Xyz monster. Yuto covered his face with his arm as he was damaged.

“By Break Sword’s effect, when destroyed, I can summon two monsters of the same Level and increase it by one. I return Ancient Cloak and Silent Boots to the field”.

Sora clicked his tongue at the return of the two Phantom Knights.

“Doesn’t matter. Frightfur Bear can equip to himself any monster he destroys and gain 1000 Attack”.

Yuto narrowed his eyes as the monster did just that with Break Sword.

Sora was extremely aggressive now. It was like he didn’t have anything in his head but to get rid of his opponents.

“Sora, answer me! Why are you acting like this? I don’t even recognize you anymore”.

Sora swung his arm before him.

“And what do you know about me?! I have to get rid of that Xyz bastard and I won’t allow anyone to interfere, even if it’s you!”.

“Again, you speak of ‘getting rid of him’. I don’t know your intentions but we’re owned an explanation, Sora”.

Sora gritted his teeth.

“…It doesn’t matter. Now take your turn already!”.

Yuto narrowed his eyes. Sora looked almost possessed by how he behaved.

“Sora!”.

Sora looked behind him, seeing Yuya running up to them. Yuto inwardly drew a sigh of relief.

“Thank the lord we found you! Sora, please, you need to stop, you’re in no condition to duel”.

Sora fully turned to him.

“Mind your business! This doesn’t involve you!”.

Yuya was caught off guard by how manic his friend looked and sounded right now. But he won’t allow that to make him hesitate.

“Of course it does. You’re our friend. So, please, tell us why are you doing this?”.

Sora gripped his fists as he looked down. His bangs were covering his eyes.

“We may be friends but you can’t be involved. Or else Academia will…”.

“A…cademia?”.

Sora flinched at letting that slip. He shook his head.

“No. You have to stay out of my way. Or else I’ll be forced to-”.

All of a sudden, a red light emanated from Sora’s disk. The boy looked at it in a panic.

“No, wait! I haven’t lost yet! Don’t make me return! I still have a mission to-”.

Sora’s body was soon engulfed with a bright blue light before he vanished. Yuto and Yuya stared in shock at where Sora was, while the duel was called off. The two brothers approached the spot where their friend disappeared.

“He…vanished… He completely disappeared” remarked Yuya, looking around to see if his friend was still around but to no result.

“What…just happened?”.

Yuto checked his disk to see the result of the duel. It was listed as a ‘no result’. As for the reason, it simply stated ‘outside interference’.

“What in blazes is going on?”.

Chapter Text

Reiji narrowed his eyes at what just transpired. This greatly complicates things. Shun was staring in astonishment as Sora vanished from the park altogether.

“What happened? Where did Shiunin go?”.

“He was most likely called back by Academia. He was probably revealing too much information”.

Reiji took a heavy breath.

“This doesn’t look good. There’s a chance Academia might advance their attack on Standard now”.

Shun flinched. While it went unspoken, it was clear he meant that now this dimension might be in danger.

“If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it. It’s my fault you’re in this situation after all”.

Reiji turned to Shun with his usual neutral stare.

“I’m glad to hear that but make no mistake. Academia surely had their sight set on Standard for a while now. This situation was inevitable, even if you hadn't travelled here in the first place”.

Reiji stood up from his chair. Reira looked up at her brother questioningly.

“Nakajima”.

“Sir”.

“We’re going to have some modifications to the tournament”.

After Yuya and Yuto called the others, they explained how Sora just up and vanished like that. They even had to assure they weren’t joking.

And the reactions were what you can expect.

“Sora just…disappeared?” incredulously asked Serena.

“On the spot. His disk emitted some kind of light that soon enveloped him and before we properly understood what was happening, he was already gone” confirmed Yuya.

The others were stunned by that. A person just disappearing was hard to believe but neither Yuya nor Yuto, for that matter, would make something like that up.

While everyone tried to make head of it, Yuri seemed really focused on his thoughts.

“Something on your mind?” asked Rin, who noticed his pensive look. He nodded.

“A person vanishing on the spot, leaving no clue of where they could have gone. Doesn’t it sound awfully familiar?”.

Everyone instantly understood what he was implying.

Sora’s case was surprisingly similar to that of Yuya and Yuzu’s siblings.

“So you’re saying that there might be some connection between our disappearance ten years ago and Sora’s?” proposed Yuto.

Yuri flinched slightly at that, his brows furrowing.

“…Unfortunately, I do not have definite evidence for that. But it’s a possibility I’m not willing to overlook”.

Ruri clasped her hands together.

“It might not be so farfetched though… If…there’s a chance he’s here…”.

Yuzu turned to her, picking up on that last part.

“Who are you talking about?”.

Ruri took some seconds to answer.

“…My brother Shun. There’s a chance he may be here in this city”.

That news caused another wave of shock between them, except for Serena, who already knew of it. Yuto now has a clear picture of why Ruri's behavior at the opening ceremony.

Ruri brought her hands to her chest and clenched them.

“That Shay Obsidian… I couldn’t make out his face but the cards he used were that of my brother. I was very little since I last saw them but I could never forget them”.

Yuto’s brows shot up at hearing Shay’s name. Sora mentioned him as well.

“Sora was after Obsidian as well. He said that he needed to ‘get rid of him’”.

Yugo scratched his head, surprised to hear something like that.

“What? Sora said that? It…doesn’t sound like him at all”.

Yuto looked down.

“The way Sora acted was completely out of character for him. He seemed like he had no other choice on the matter; like his own life was at stake. I never saw him act so viciously”.

Everyone stayed silent, processing the information. Serena sighed.

“Regardless, Sora is gone and Obsidian might be our only lead. I say we find him and make him spit everything”.

“Yeah, how?” asked Rin with a raised brow “By storming LDS and demand they bring him to us?”.

“Well, I’m down for that”.

Rin shot Yugo a deadpan look, not amused in the slightest. Yuzu's eyes drifted down.

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do for the time being… We should go home for now; it’s starting to get late”.

In the end, everyone agreed to that. The eight soon went their way once they reached the district. When the four brothers arrived home, Yoko was already there.

“Oh, you guys are back. So, have you found Sora?”.

Yuya and Yuto exchanged a look while Yugo scratched his head, not knowing what to say.

“No luck. It seems he disappeared without a trace”.

Thankfully, Yuri had an answer ready. It wasn’t a lie either but Yoko would never believe he meant it literally. The woman crossed her arms and sighed.

“Hmm… I see. That’s worrisome. I hope he’s alright”.

“I’m sure he is. He’s got tough skin” reassured Yuya.

After that, Yuri immediately went to take a shower while Yugo went straight to bed. Only Yuya and Yuto remained together. Both were sitting on the couch, trying to wrap their heads around this whole mess.

“Sora really did not look like himself back there” said Yuya after a while.

“…Before you arrived he told me we knew nothing of him. Looking back to it, he might not have been so far off the mark” commented Yuto.

They really didn’t know much about Sora. He normally tried to avoid talking about his life and none of them were particularly close to him. Yuto wonders just what could have gone through his head during these last few months.

Had he ever been genuine to them? Or was that only a ruse? Was the person they saw earlier at the park the real Sora, in that case?

Yuya noticed how deep in thought Yuto was.

“Hey, do you think we haven’t been good friends to Sora?”.

“What makes you think that?”.

“Clearly, he was troubled by something. Maybe if we were better friends, he would have confided in us. And maybe we could have helped him”.

A breath left Yuto’s nose.

“I doubt it. Everyone has their secrets and we can’t force them to tell us. And he might have had his good reasons for staying silent. We can’t expect Sora to tell us something he’s not comfortable saying, especially not after knowing us for so little time”.

Yuya understood what his brother was saying. If Sora didn’t want to tell them then they shouldn’t force him. Thinking about it, his mind suddenly went back to what he said earlier.

“Hey, Yuto, do you remember what Sora said right before he disappeared?”.

“Hmm?”.

“It’s been bugging me ever since. He said something like…‘Academia’. What was he talking about?”.

Yuto shook his head.

“I have no idea. But I do know one thing” he leaned forward “We need answers. And we’re going to get them somehow”.

Yuya nodded firmly beside him.

Something was happening. And they needed to know what. Especially if, as Yuri proposed, it involved them disappearing from their original homes.

Chapter Text

“I draw!”.

Yuzu checked the card she drew and let out a determined huff. On her field right now were Aria and Sonata. So now she only had to play this card.

“Okay, I now activate Polymerization from my hand and fuse Aria and Sonata together. Fusion Summon!”.

But the second she did…an ‘ERROR’ message popped up on her disk. The two divas turned back to their master with puzzled expressions. Yuzu herself was probably the most confused.

“Wait, what? But…I did everything I was supposed to…”.

On the other side of the field, Serena put her hands on her hips.

“You sure? Did you put the monster you wanted to summon in the Extra Deck?”.

Yuzu tilted her head.

“In the…Extra Deck?”.

Serena blinked stunned.

“Yeah? The Extra Deck? That compartment on the left side of your disk?” she said raising her own and showing said compartment.

“…There’s something for that? I thought I had to have the monster in hand”.

Serena’s arm dropped like a brick as she stared at her sister in incredulousness. Surely she wasn’t serious.

“…Yuzu. Fusion monsters go in the Extra Deck. Not in the deck. It won’t work in that case”.

Yuzu’s face became brighter than a tomato as she covered it with her hands. Aria and Sonata turned to each other and sighed, before disappearing as the duel was called off.

So, the situation was this. One day, Yuzu came forward to her sisters and asked them if they could teach her their methods, to which they agreed. The pink-haired girl was determined to learn more and be on par with them.

But, huh… It’s a slow process.

With her head hanged, Yuzu checked the left side of her disk. Sure enough it opened up, revealing an empty compartment for cards.

“So this is what you were talking about…”.

Serena approached her with her hands still on her hips.

“Yeah. They are called Extra Deck methods for a reason, sis”.

Yuzu looked up at her before dropping her head once again. Serena scratched her head as she removed her disk from her arm.

“Come on, let’s take a break. All this training is going to fry your brain”.

After copying her sister’s action, Yuzu simply nodded and the two left their school’s field. In the hall, Yuya and Yuto were already there sitting on the chairs, the former munching on a chocolate bar.

“Man, why is Xyz so hard to perform?”.

“Xyz monsters are really strong so their method of summoning must be hard to compensate”.

“Yeah, I get it but sheesh”.

Yuya started taking lessons from his brothers some time before Yuzu. To be honest, that was part of the reason she wanted to learn the other methods. She didn’t want to be left in the dust.

The teen looked up at the two girls entering the room and waved a hand.

“Hey, you two. How did it go?”.

Serena put on a coy grin.

“Sis has quite the long way”.

Crossing her arms, Yuzu puffed her cheek and turned her head away. Yuya let out a small laugh.

“Don’t worry. You’re not the only one. I goofed up too”.

Yuto turned to Yuzu.

“Have you tried your hand at Xyz and Synchro yet?”.

“No, not yet. I’d rather focus on one method for now. I like my eggs to be scrambled, not my brain” she said, causing a snort from Serena.

The dark-haired teen grabbed a candy from the table and threw it at Yuzu, who caught and popped it in her mouth.

“Thanks. I need the sugar”.

Serena walked up to Yuya and sat on the armrest of his chair.

“And you? Mastered anything yet?”.

Yuya broke a piece of his bar with his teeth.

“Meh. I got the gist of Fusion and I have an idea on how Xyz works, just have to practice more with it. Synchro is the real knot”.

He leaned back on his chair and brought his arms behind his head.

“By god’s infinite mercy, I just can’t keep up. Other than the attributes, I have to remember the Level, add them together, which monsters I have to tune and so on. My head feels like jelly”.

“Synchro requires monsters called Tuners for it and sometimes they need precise conditions, not unlike Fusion. But I’m sure Rin and Yugo would be able to explain it much better than me” said Yuto.

Yuya sighed at that. Yuzu noted that the Xyz user looked rather pensive.

“Something’s on your mind, Yuto?”.

“More or less. I was wondering if I too should try my hand at methods other than Xyz”.

Three pairs of eyes went on him.

“Where’s that coming from?” asked Serena.

Yuto crossed his arms and assumed a thoughtful pose.

“It’d be certainly better if I’m variegated. If I stick to one single method, there may be some who would create counters to my deck”.

Yuya dangled his legs.

“It makes sense on paper but your style is really something else. Do you really think you’d be able to make it work for something like Fusion?”.

Serena craned her neck and stared up at Yuto.

“He’s right. Many of your monsters become as such only when recalled from the graveyard due to their effects, meaning you can’t fuse them from your hand”.

“Indeed. You will need to send your cards to the graveyard, call them back and then fuse them. Sounds like a lot of work. At least in Xyz, you don’t have to worry about having a precise card in hand. Maybe you’ll be able to manage Synchro better though” explained Yuzu.

Yuto looked down, his face not betraying his emotions.

“Yes, I figured. The Phantom Knights are a complicated archetype to use, that I can reckon. But I still think it might be something to keep in mind”.

Yuya suddenly smiled at him.

“Well, if there’s anyone who can accomplish that, it’s certainly you, bro. I have absolute faith in that”.

Yuto sent his brother a smile.

“Thanks for the confidence, Yuya”.

Yuzu was happy to see them like this. After Yusho vanished, both Yuya and Yuto kept everything to themselves, so it was a relief to hear them so casual.

“Oh, by the way, it appears dad and aunt Yoko will be busy for dinner. Want to come over to eat?”.

“Sure. Been a while since we last ate together. Burgers?”.

At Yuya’s proposition, Serena jumped on her feet.

“I’m down. I haven’t sunk my fangs in one for eons”.

“Pfff. What are you, a lioness?” chuckled Yuzu.

Serena turned to her and playfully narrowed her eyes.

“Of course. I’m the proud lioness of You Show, and I have to make sure everyone knows it” she said with a grin and a pump of her fist.

Both Yuya and Yuzu laughed at her declaration, with Yuto instead having a bemused smile. Serena is one heck of a girl.

Chapter Text

“Everyone! This is the second day of the Arc League Championship! I hope you’re as fired up as yesterday as these young duelists clash in a fiery battle for the glory!”.

Nico’s announcement was met with loud cheering all around the stadium. The announcer twirled happily.

“Then let us wait no more and see some of them at work!”.

Several screens started showing the various duels happening in the many arenas.

“Let’s give our attention to the duel happening in the second arena where we see the Fishing Duelist Teppei Tairyobata facing off against Yuri Sakaki of You Show!”.

The duel was in full action, with Teppei having the Legendary Fisherman on his field while Yuri had Predaplant Ambulomelides, Moray Nepenthes and Drosophyllum Hydra. The field around them was a large arena surrounded by water.

Yuri currently had the advantage at 3000 Life Points against Teppei’s 2000.

Yuya and the others were up in the seats, rooting for their fellow schoolmate.

“Sakaki has the reputation of being a ruthless duelist whose monsters hide a ferocious bite not unlike that of a carnivorous plant. Will Tairyobata be able to overcome such a formidable opponent?”.

Yuri chuckled, pleased by how Nico described him.

“Indeed. Will you be able to defeat me or will you eventually be reduced to nothing more than my plants’ food?”

“You might have the advantage here but unfortunately for you, I just caught a haul that will leave you speechless! I now release the Legendary Fisherman to Special Summon the Legendary Fisherman III!”.

The shark-riding man soon disappeared inside the water. Soon after, a figure emerged from the sea in a show of waves before descending on the field. The monster was a muscular man carrying a harpoon and a large net, riding a giant shark with a red gem on its head (2500/2000).

“The Legendary Fisherman III can be summoned only through this way and whenever he appears on the field, he can banish all the monsters my opponent controls!”.

The fisherman dived towards Yuri’s monsters and quickly entrapped all of them inside his net. Yuri clicked his tongue in annoyance. Teppei grinned smugly.

“And that’s not all. I now equip my monster with Harpoon of the Seven Seas”.

A blue harpoon with a wave-modeled handle appeared in the Legendary Fisherman’s hand.

“Thanks to its effect, by forgoing attack, my monster can inflict you a damage of 1000. I now activate the Legendary Fisherman III’s effect. The banished monsters are returned to the graveyard and in exchange, the first damage you take is doubled for this turn!”.

Yuri’s monsters, now turned into cards, were released from the fisherman’s net and sent to the graveyard.

“Go, Fisherman III! Use Harpoon of the Seven Seas and attack him directly! Seven Seas Hunt!”.

The monster shot his harpoon at Yuri, who then kneeled down and grabbed his chest right where he was hit (3000 -> 1000). Despite receiving that attack, the duelist wore a troubled grin.

“Not bad…”.

“I now end my turn. During the next turn, I’ll hook you up”.

Yuri got on his feet, a euphoric smile on his face.

“HAH! You will not have the chance as I’ll finish you off in this turn. I draw!”.

Yuri smirked before grabbing two of the cards in his hands.

“I now set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 0 Predaplant Bufolicula and the Scale 8 Predaplant Spider Orchid!”.

Teppei gasped as the two monsters floated in the sky in two light columns, the numbers 0 and 8 appearing below them.

“I can now summon monsters from Level 1 to Level 7 simultaneously! The petals scattered through the wind will now come together to form a new, stunning arrangement. Pendulum Summon! Now, bloom my beautiful flowers!”.

Yuri’s monsters descended on the field among a purple light.

“Come, Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio and Cephalotusnail!”.

The public was left amazed by the Pendulum Summon. Yuya and Yuzu in particular were thrilled at seeing him using the cards they had gifted him.

“I now activate Bufolicula’s Pendulum effect thanks to which I can Fusion Summon a DARK monster from my Extra Deck using monsters on my field as materials. Now… Beautiful flowers with an insect-alluring fragrance…”.

The two Predaplants entered the portal and fused together.

“Become one and give birth to a new species that thrives on the blood of its unassuming preys. Fusion Summon! Flourish, Predaplant Chimerafflesia!”.

Chimerafflesia was terrifying for a lack of a better term. The giant beast with carnivorous plants for hands roared loudly. Its flower-shaped head drooled, ready to devour anything that came close to it (2500/2000).

Teppei stumbled back in shock at its appearance.

“Woah, woah, woah! What the heck is that?!”.

“Your judge, jury and executioner. I activate Chimerafflesia’s effect and target your Legendary Fisherman III”.

Teppei shook his head and looked confident.

“No matter what you activate, my monster can’t be destroyed by battle or card effects nor can be affected by Spell or Traps”.

Yuri shook his finger with a smirk.

“That is good to hear. But I’m afraid my card’s effect is much different from what you may think. Once per turn, I can choose a monster of a Level lower than or equal to Chimerafflesia. Like your Level 7 Legendary Fisherman III”.

Like he said, both monsters shared the same Level.

“And unfortunately for you, the chosen monster is…” Yuri snapped his fingers “…banished”.

Teppei yelled in alarm. His monster can’t be destroyed by cards, that’s true, but being banished is a different story. Chimerafflesia shot some kind of acidic jet from its hands which soon hit the Legendary Fisherman III, causing him to be banished. Yuri then raised a hand before pointing it to his opponent.

“Chimerafflesia, direct attack! Voracious Feast!”.

The plant shot its arms towards Teppei and bit down at him, and with a defeated yell, his Life Points were depleted.

“And there we have it, folks! Yuri Sakaki manages to steal a victory for himself and passes to the next phase! A round of applause everyone!”.

Everyone clapped for Yuri, who dramatically bowed to the audience. Yuya and Yuzu instinctively hugged each other at seeing him win.

“Yes! He did it!”.

Serena and Yugo snorted at the two apparently didn’t realize what they just did. It was the purple-haired girl who pointed it out for them.

“Hey, you two, keep that for when you’re alone”.

Yuya and Yuzu blinked at Rin’s statement before they realized their position. Blushing hard, the two quickly separated and tried to act innocently.

“S-Sorry about that, Yuzu”.

“I-It’s fine, really”.

Serena and Yugo kept grinning at them while Yuto and Ruri wore small amused grins.

“Oh, but what is this? It seems we have another contestant close to victory”.

As Nico said that, the screens now showed another duel, this one having Shingo as protagonist. The LDS student smirked proudly at his opponent as he took his turn.

“I now set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 3 Yosenju Shinchu L and the Scale 5 Yosenju Shinchu R!”.

The two monsters appeared above Shingo. Both Yuya and Yuzu gasped at seeing him possessing Pendulum monsters.

“Normally, with this Scale I can only summon Level 4 monsters but unfortunately for you, my dear friend, I have an ace up my sleeve. I activate Shinchu R’s Pendulum effect and since I have another Yosenju in my Pendulum zone, I can change its Scale to 11 until the end of the turn”.

The number under Shinchu R changed and Shingo raised his hand.

“And so, I can now summon monsters from Level 4 to Level 10 simultaneously. Pendulum Summon! Oh wind-clad chief of phantoms… With your raging cloak, gouge these lands of impurity! Come, Mayosenju Daibak!”.

The giant monster encased in green flames roared as it descended from the portal above.

“Whenever Daibak is summoned on the field, I can choose up to two cards on the field and return them to the hand. So your precious Slash, the Assault Knight, and that set card have to say bye-bye!”.

The user gasped as his cards were blown away by Daibak’s winds. Shingo then snapped his fingers.

“And now you will be scatted through the wind along your cards as Daibak attacks you directly! Storm of the Raging Deity!”.

Daibak opened its mouth as a violent gust of wind was shot from it and towards the opponent, who was blown away along the rest of his Life Points.

“And with this remarkable action, Shingo Sawatari manages to defeat Bram of the Knights of the Duels and advances to the next round!”.

While many were cheering around the stadium, Yuya and Yuzu were surprisingly silent as they stared at the Pendulum monsters Shingo summoned. Yuto crossed his arms.

“It’s not such a surprise after all. I heard that LDS was creating their own Pendulum cards and Sawatari had prior experience at using them. No wonder he was chosen to test them”.

“Yes, we know. Pegasus mentioned something like that. But it’s still a surprise to see” commented Yuzu.

Serena glanced at her before patting her sister’s back with a grin.

“Come on. If it comes down to it, you can kick his butt in the next round”.

Yuzu immediately smiled at that.

“Of course. Still haven’t got the chance to after all”.

After she said that, Yugo got up from his seat.

“Where are you going?” asked Yuya.

“Rin’s duel is in twenty minutes, so I thought I’d go see her”.

“Oh, we’re coming too then” said Yuzu as she and Serena stood up from their seat.

“Wish her luck from us too”.

Yugo shot Yuto a thumbs-up and left with the two sisters behind him. When they reached the lobby, they saw that Yuri was already there, speaking with Rin.

“Hey, Rin!”.

Yugo run up to the two. The green-haired girl averted her eyes from Yuri and waved at the three.

“Hey. Here to wish me luck?”.

“Yup! Although I know you don’t need it. You’re mighty scary when you want to”.

Lightly narrowing her eyes, Rin leaned over and placed her fists on her hips.

“Yeah? Want to test on your skin how scary I can become?”.

“HAH! I already know that well. You’re a force of nature”.

Yugo’s grin was just too cheerful for Rin to really get mad at. She straightened her back and sent him an amused smile.

“Damn right I am. You really never change, do you?”.

“Heh. Only Yugo can laugh a knee to the stomach off. Though I fear it will only be a matter of time since he’ll get himself hospitalized” commented Yuri with a shrug.

“Well, whoever wants to is welcomed to try. I won’t go down without a fight!”.

Rin snorted a laugh while Yuri rolled his eyes good-naturedly. The former then turned to her sisters.

“Good luck on your duel Rin. We’re all rooting for you”.

“Yeah. Show your opponent how tough the Hiiragi women are!”.

Rin nodded at both Yuzu and Serena. She certainly can’t disappoint them now, can she?

“Look who’s here”.

The quintet turned to the source of the voice. They saw Masumi, Hokuto and Yaiba walking towards them.

“Here to see how well I did in my duel?” boasted Hokuto.

“Oh? So you managed to win this time?” taunted Yuri, which actually did manage to tick the LDS student off.

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?!”.

Yuzu sighed at the scene, deciding to turn to the other two.

“I see you all managed to meet the requirements for the tournament”.

“Of course, what do you take us for?” grinned Yaiba. Masumi simply stayed silent and with her arms crossed. Her face was narrowed down in a frown. Serena noticed that.

“Hey, crystal gem. What’s with the angry face?”.

“Nothing”.

Yeah, that tone didn’t say ‘nothing’ at all. Yaiba waved a hand.

“Oh, don’t mind her. She’s just mad she lost her match”.

Masumi’s eyes twitched as she angrily turned to Yaiba.

“You didn’t have to tell them that!”.

Yuzu raised her brows in surprise.

“Wait, you lost?”.

Frowning harder for a second, Masumi sighed.

“Yes. It was someone from Fuma Clan Duel School. That guy was so fast I could barely make out his movements. And before I fully realized it, he defeated me”.

“What was he, a freaking ninja?” joked Yugo.

“Yes, that’s precisely right”.

Yugo blinked a couple of times, before he turned to Yuri incredulously.

“Wait, what?”.

“Fuma Clan Duel School is pretty known for teaching the art of the ninjitsu to its students. We can calmly say all of the duelists from that school are ninjas”.

“There’s a school like that?!”.

While Yugo was busy being in shock, Rin turned to Yaiba.

“What about you?”.

“My duel will be among the last of the day, right after yours. I was just getting ready for it”.

“You better not make us Synchro duelists look bad, got it?” she said with a grin. Yaiba laughed.

“You don’t have to worry about that. That Ryozanpaku guy won’t know what hit him!”.

Suddenly, right after he said that, the atmosphere became grim as the five’s behavior changed drastically. Rin immediately lost her smile while Yugo stopped his mental tirade and raised his brows in surprise.

Worried, Yuzu glanced at Serena, seeing her gripping her fists tightly, her brows furrowed in anger. For his part, Yuri was the only one whose expression was completely neutral.

All three LDS duelists noticed the change in the air.

“H-Hey, what’s going on? Why do you guys look so serious?” asked Yaiba.

Yugo scratched his head, awkwardly.

“Well… Hmm… How do we put this?”.

Rin lightly rubbed her foot against the ground.

“We…don’t have a good relationship with Ryozanpaku”.

Masumi raised a brow.

“Has something happened between you and that school?”.

“Yeah, you could say that”.

Yuri stared at Yaiba, dead in the eyes.

“Who is the guy you’re going to face?”.

Noting of his serious tone, the X-Saber user tried recalling his opponent’s name.

“I believe it was Isao Kachidoki, their ace student. You know of him?”.

Yuri’s eyes drifted down for a single second before his expression turned even more serious than before, if that was even possible.

“Todo. In your duel against him, do not reach for Action Cards under any circumstances”.

Yaiba tilted his head, now completely confused.

“What? But they might be useful in certain situations”.

“I mean it. At the cost of losing, do not ever reach for an Action Card. It’s for your own good”.

The tone Yuri had really made Yaiba believe he wasn’t joking. Hokuto raised a brow.

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit too dramatic?”.

“At all. Students from Ryozanpaku are taught to do whatever they can to win…”.

Yuri’s eyes sharpened.

“…including beating up opponents”.

The three LDS students were left stunned by that declaration. Hokuto shook his head in disbelief.

“Hey, hey, hey, that can’t be true. You’re not saying there’s a school out there that teaches people to hurt others”.

“Unfortunately, it’s exactly as he said”.

They turned to Yuzu, who was searching something up on her tablet. After finding what she wanted, she turned it around to allow everyone to see. It was a video of a duel, with a young man with purple hair dressed in a combat outfit as protagonist.

The duel seemed pretty normal at first. At least until the purple-haired duelist started to physically assault his opponent every time he tried to go for an Action Card. Knees to the stomach, elbows to the face, sweeping at the feet… The guy did everything he could to prevent his opponent from getting a card.

It was a shocking sight. A duelist going out of his way to hurt people in order to win was unheard of.

“T…This can’t be real, can it?” asked Hokuto.

“It is. Ryozanpaku teaches its students that the most important thing in life is victory. The means to reach it don’t matter; including resorting to violence. Many people who have faced students from that school ended up hospitalized” gloomily informed Yuzu.

“But surely a duel school that allows violence shouldn’t be allowed to keep teaching if that’s what happens” tried to reason Masumi.

“Results. That’s the reason” spat Rin. Masumi looked at her questioningly.

“Ryozanpaku is one of the most successful duel schools out there. Many pro duelists have been students of that institute. Since there have been so many positive results, not a damn thing can be done. And most don’t give a rat’s ass about it” she explained bitterly.

Once again, the three were left floored at the information. Something brutal like that should not be allowed under any circumstances. Masumi and Hokuto turned to Yaiba, who seemed to have lost his bravado for a moment.

“Oi, I don’t want to be reduced to a punching bag…” he said shaking his head.

“Don’t give him the opportunity to throw hands at you and you’ll be fine. Just…try to stay as far away from your opponent as possible” advised Yuzu.

Yuri shot a look at Serena, who seemed to still be mad. Can’t blame her for having such a reaction though. Ryozanpaku was sore spot for her.

“Anyway, word is that the Duel School Board is onto them and might forcefully shut it down if they don’t start to clean up their act. Though I doubt that old mule is going to listen to it”.

Masumi shot Yuri a look.

“You seem to know a lot about it”.

“…Me and Serena have once been enrolled at that school, a long time ago”.

The LDS trio widened their eyes at that.

“Oh. So you already know what kind of training they do…”.

“That’s not a training”.

Masumi turned her eyes to Serena, who was clutching her arm tightly.

“That’s just torture. If you get one single thing wrong, they punish you, you’re not allowed to leave the school’s premise, and any bond outside a professional one is looked down on”.

Serena’s hold tightened even more.

“That training regime can hardly be called one. They don’t care one bit about their students’ health; as long as they get prestige from their methods, that’s all it matters. That school should just burn to the ground and being spat on its remains”.

The sheer fury behind Serena’s words was genuinely surprising. It was clear she has a really deep grudge against that school. Yuri placed a hand on her shoulder. Serena looked up at him, seeing him staring at her with a calm look on his face.

Serena grit her teeth before she relaxed her muscles and let go of her arm. Yuzu however, went to hold her reassuringly.

“Sorry, I got too heated. I just…hate that place with a passion”.

“Yep, we figured” commented Yaiba “Alright, I'll try to stay as far away from that Kachidoki as possible. I certainly don’t want to be beaten to a pulp”.

Yuri nodded at him. Suddenly, something came to him.

“Leaving this aside. Is it possible we can meet with Obsidian?”.

“Obsidian? You mean Shay Obsidian?” asked Masumi. He nodded.

“There’s something we wish to ask of him”.

“Sorry but we’re not that close to him and to be honest, not many are allowed to spend time with him”.

Rin tilted her head.

“Excuse me?”.

Hokuto scratched the back of neck.

“You heard her. Obsidian literally came out of nowhere. A week ago or so, Akaba announced that Obsidian was a transfer student from oversea and that he was allowed to participate at the tournament under a special recommendation”.

“Wait, so this guy is like something of an honor student?” questioned Yugo. Yaiba brought his arms behind his head.

“Wouldn’t use that term but that’s close enough. We never got a chance to talk with him but I heard Akaba keeps a close eye on him. It’s pretty weird if you ask me”.

Yuri brought his hand to his chin. So Shay really did show up with little fanfare somehow. And it seemed he was somehow involved with Reiji Akaba.

That guy seems to attract many cases of people that appear and vanish just like that, doesn’t he?

Regardless if Reiji knows something or not, the fact Shay has so little known about him makes it hard for them to truly know if he really is Shun Kurosaki unless it comes directly from his lips.

But if he is surveilled as much as Yaiba said, it might become even harder to interact with him. What can be done about it?

“Woah, it’s about time I go now” exclaimed Rin once she saw the time.

“Then go out there and kick some butt!” said Yugo, extending his fist. Rin fist-bumped with him.

“‘Course I will. Better not blink for a second there”.

Right after she said that, Rin started heading towards her arena. Yuzu motioned at the others with her head.

“We should go too. We certainly don’t want to miss it”.

“Right. Bye you three! Hope you two don’t get kicked out too soon!” snarked Serena as she immediately went to follow her sister.

“Just you wait! I’ll soon wipe that sarcastic grin off your face!” shouted Hokuto, causing Yaiba to bark a laugh and Masumi to hide her face in embarrassment.

Yugo and Yuri soon went to follow to the two girls.

“So? Any ideas you might have to talk with Ruri’s brother?”.

“Yugo, I’m a genius, but there are limits to what I can do”.

“Pfff. The day you come across something you can’t do will be the day I’ll eat my jumpsuit”.

Yuri’s lips soon went to form a grin.

“Be grateful then because you’ll have to hold that off for a very long time”.

On an island, far distant from any sign of civilization, stood a massive building. This place appeared almost supernatural, as strange pillars floated in the air through unknown means.

In truth, the mysterious building was an academy, and a military one at that. But from an outside perspective, it almost looked like a secret base or even a prison.

One person, once a student of this school, was walking through the corridors; his destination being the throne room, where the master of the academy was waiting for him. As he passed one of the labs, he could hear the distinct sound of someone shouting.

“I’m telling you I found the drifter from Xyz! I need to go back right now!”.

It was Sora Shiunin, the spy that has been sent to Standard months ago. The system recalled him back and his memories were analyzed. The person didn’t stop, even as he passed the room.

After five minutes or so, he found himself where he needed to be. His superior was giving his back at him, staring at something through the window placed on the wall.

“I see you've arrived” he said without turning back.

“I am. Am I to presume it’s about the recent developments in Standard?”.

“You are correct” said the man as he faced his subordinate.

The person was Leo Akaba, also known as the Professor. This genius of a man was the one who created all the kind of technology at their disposal and revolutionized several aspects of their dimension, including dueling, science, robotics and more.

“The mysterious person who travelled from Xyz has been identified as Shun Kurosaki, an inhabitant of Heartland City. His aims in Standards are currently unknown but we are not taking chances, especially not after Shiunin failed to dispose of him. You will be deployed to succeed where he couldn't”.

“Understood, Professor”.

“Another thing…”.

On the young man’s Duel Disk appeared four pictures, each representing a girl. All four of them resembled each other in a truly uncanny way.

“You are also tasked to retrieve these four girls. The preferred scenario would be to bring them here safely but if they were to put up a struggle, you are allowed to use force. But do not injure them under any circumstances”.

The person stared at the pictures for a little longer before he made them vanish and nodded at the man before him.

“Understood. When will I be leaving?”.

“At the end of the week. You will be accompanied by the Obelisk Force as well”.

He raised a brow at hearing that. His expression soured.

“The Obelisk Force, sir? Are they really necessary?”.

“They are. These four girls are the most important pieces needed for the ARC Project. Their role is vital for the success of our operation”.

The former student closed his eyes for a moment before lowering his head.

“Understood. I will not fail, sir”.

Leo nodded in approval.

“Good. I will be counting on you, Ryo Marufuji. Glory to Academia”.

Ryo raised his head, his sharp eyes and expression stoic as he stared at the Professor.

“Glory to Academia”.

Chapter Text

“Winter Bell, attack and destroy Twilight Ninja Shingetsu!”.

“I discover Armor Ninjitsu Art of Freezing”.

The Trap Card flipped up and a freezing wind stopped Winter Bell in its tracks.

“The attack is negated and the Battle Phase ends. Your monsters also can’t change position as long as I control a Ninja monster” informed Hikage, Rin’s opponent.

The green-haired girl flinched before a troubled grin made its way on her face.

“You got a lot of nerve to use ice against me, buddy”.

Rin wiped her chin with her arm. Despite her situation, she will not lose against this guy.

While she was dueling, her sisters were very open at cheering her on.

“Come on Rin, show that wannabe ninja that you’re not just a pretty face!”.

“You can do it, sis! Kick that guy a new one!”.

But the loudest of all of them…

“GO AND WIN, RIN!”.

…was Yugo himself. He was yelling so loudly that he could be heard over most of the loud shouting around the stadium. Yuri looked at his brother unimpressed.

“Our brother’s very passionate, isn’t he?”.

Yuya wore a sneaky grin.

“Of course. He has to be towards the girl he loves”.

His purple-haired brother shot him a grin of his own.

“Oh, I know. Yugo’s mind is really simple. 20% of it is towards bikes, 30% toward duels…and the remaining 50% is all about Rin”.

“Come on, you two, be nice” chastised Yuto. The two brothers shared a chuckle as the object of their talk was oblivious to what they were saying.

As for Yuto, he seemed more interested in the duel he was watching on his tablet than the one happening before him. Yuya glanced at it.

“What are you watching?”.

“Futoshi’s duel. It will be the last of the day for the Youth division”.

Yuya stared at the screen, moments before Futoshi was defeated.

“No, Futoshi lost. That’s a bummer”.

“Apparently his opponent was a young prodigy named Reira, from LDS”.

“Yes, I remember him. He was the one who defeated Ayu. And with a Fusion monster at that”.

“I remember that as well. To be honest, that Fusion summon was…weird” commented Yuri. Yuya turned to him.

“How come?”.

“It was definitely of a really advanced level, higher than most I’ve seen before. And yet it felt…empty”.

“Uhm… Empty how?”.

Yuri placed a hand on his chin.

“I can’t really explain it. It was like watching a robot doing exactly was it was programmed to do and nothing else”.

Yuya blinked in confusion at Yuri’s conclusion.

“Regardless of what he did, this time Reira defeated Futoshi with a Synchro Summon” said Yuto.

Yuya turned to his brother wide-eyed.

“Wait, really? Wow. I didn’t know someone that young could use multiple Extra Deck methods just like that”.

Yuto hummed something as he silently stared at the screen, right as Reira wordlessly left the field. That child’s gaze looked devoid of any emotion, like he really was a robot.

He wondered just what exactly was going through his head.

“Alright, now you have no way to avoid this! Diamond Bell, it’s time to put an end to this!”.

Rin’s monster obeyed her command and destroyed Hikage’s Twilight Ninja Nichirin. The ninja managed to stand on his feet but unfortunately for him, it won’t be for long.

“Good. And now Glass Bell attacks you directly”.

From the gem on Glass Bell’s broom was emitted a strong blizzard that ended up blowing both Hikage and his Life Points away, giving Rin the victory.

“Rin Hiiragi from You Show prevailed over Hikage from Fuma Clan in a breath-taking duel!”.

Serena and Yugo stood from their seats and raised their hands up in celebration. Ruri simply chuckled at the display. Yuri raised a brow sighing.

“You two are children”.

Yuya snickered at that, while Yuto shook his head.

“But do not tear your eyes away just yet. There is still one duel left. To whom will the goddess of victory smile upon and be able to snatch the final spot left for the next round?!”.

Serena’s mood instantly soured as she sat back down on her seat.

“This is it. Todo’s duel with Kachidoki”.

Ruri nodded.

“Indeed. I hope he won’t get hurt”.

Soon enough, both duelist entered the arena. Yaiba sized Kachidoki up, noting how harsh his expression was.

‘Yikes. Those eyes are terrifying’.

The duel begun moments later, with Sword’s Cemetery working as Action Field. The first turn wasn’t that out of the ordinary. But once Kachidoki summoned a particularly strong monster, Yaiba let his mind panic for a moment.

The Synchro user spotted an Action Card close to one of the many discarded blades. He went to run up to it but suddenly he went back to the warning he was given earlier.

Yaiba hesitated but that was enough for him to regain lucidity and shield himself with arms, right before Kachidoki appeared before him and kicked him away. Luckily, since he protected himself in time, he was able to avoid damage except some minor scraps on his arms.

‘Dammit, I panicked! That guy was aiming for my stomach. Geez, they weren’t kidding when they said to avoid Action Cards’.

From the bleachers, Hokuto and Masumi were angered at seeing such a dirty move, a sentiment shared between other spectators.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?!” shouted Hokuto.

“So it really is true…”.

Even after watching that video, Masumi still had trouble to believe something like that but now that she saw it for herself, she had no doubt about how truly dangerous Ryozanpaku’s students were.

Yaiba wiggled his arms, feeling a bit sore.

‘This guy has one hell of a kick. Serves me right for forgetting advices and taking the situation lightly’.

He readied himself, now understanding that this Kachidoki will really stop at nothing to win. Yuri stood above and watched the Ryozanpaku student closely, calmly analyzing his method of dueling.

The duel went on for a bit longer. Despite how well Yaiba fought and avoided physical attacks to his person, in the end Kachidoki managed to prevail over him.

Yaiba ended up with a few scraps there and there but luckily nothing major. As he left the arena, his friends met him on the way out.

“Are you okay there?” asked Hokuto.

“Yeah. A bit roughed up but I’ll live”.

“Come on, let’s get you checked”.

Hokuto and Masumi led Yaiba away. As for the others, they all sighed in relief at seeing Yaiba coming out from the duel mostly unscathed.

“Thank god he avoided the worst” said Yuya as he dropped down on his chair. He was by the edge of his seat through the whole duel.

“The important thing is that he wasn’t gravelly injured. Kachidoki is known for being even more ruthless than most Ryozanpaku students” remarked Yuto.

“Tch. Wish I could just go down there and teach him a lesson myself” said Serena as she punched her hand.

Soon after the duel ended, and both duelists left the field, Nico appeared on the screens.

“Finally, all the duels for the first round of the Arc League Championship are over! Now, to all duelists who have passed, please insert your registration card on the Duel Disks and have yourself revealed who your opponent for the next round will be”.

They all did as told, soon revealing who they would be dueling against in the second round.

“Let’s see, let’s see… Very well! It’s time to show my skills again” boasted Yugo.

“Just don’t embarrass yourself, banana hair” snarked Rin with a smirk that was soon reciprocated.

“The same goes for you, apple head”.

The two grinned at each other. Yuzu smiled amused at the two until her eyes went to Yuri, who was strangely serious as he stared at his disk.

“Hmm? Is something wrong, Yuri? Who did you-”.

She stopped himself mid-phrase as she looked at his opponent’s picture before covering her mouth with her hands. Yuya noticed her reaction and spared a glance at Yuri’s disk as well. The second he did, he widened his eyes in shock.

“Yikes. Can’t believe it’s going to be him”.

Yuri simply stayed silent. He didn’t need to say anything.

His opponent will be Isao Kachidoki himself.

“Will you be okay?” worriedly asked Yuzu.

Yuri didn’t answer immediately. He put his disk away and closed his eyes.

“Of course”.

He suddenly reopened them, staring right at where the people from Ryozanpaku were. He easily managed to spot the headmaster between them, standing right at the head of his students.

“It’ll be the perfect time to finally set the record straight”.

Serena harshly fell on the ground for what it felt like the tenth time.

“Get up”.

The six-years old girl tried getting up as the instructor said but she found no strength in her arms.

“Hmph. You will not leave until you finish your training for today. Now, get up”.

Serena glared at the person before her with as much animosity as she could muster. Although for a child that amounted to little. The instructor seemed to have enough of this though.

“Forget it. Go back to your quarters and reflect on your weakness”.

The man left, leaving a hurt Serena there. The little girl felt tears coming to her eyes but she refused to cry. These bastards don’t deserve to have tears spilled for them.

“Good. Again”.

Serena weakly turned her head. A purple-haired boy more or less her age was doing his exercises without failing. And he didn’t look tired in the slightest.

“Put more strength in it”.

“Yes, sir”.

Serena bit her lip. It would take her twenty minutes for her to finally be able to get up and return to her room, all the while she was ignored by anyone who passed.

Except for one single person.

It was nighttime now, and Serena was curled up on her bed. Because she failed into completing her daily training, she was denied dinner. So here she was, hungry and sore.

Serena wished she was back at her orphanage. At least they weren’t that much cruel than these people.

Why life has to be so unfair? She only wanted a family and instead she found herself in a cage of madmen brutally training children to become professional duelists.

To be honest, she’s really starting to hate dueling. If this is what she has to go through all the time, she’d rather not duel at all.

Serena curled into herself even more. All of a sudden, she heard someone knocking at her door.

She didn’t want to see anyone right now so she tried to ignore it. But apparently that just allowed whoever was outside to take it as an invitation in.

Serena slightly turned her eyes at whoever entered her room. It was the same kid she saw was training earlier.

“…What do you want?”.

“You’re Serena, right?”.

“Yeah, what’s it to you? Here to laugh at me for not being able to finish one session of training?”.

“At all”.

The kid walked inside and looked at Serena, noting the many scraps on her body.

“My, you look terrible”.