9 – Back To School

I stood before the gates to Domino High and sighed. I really didn't want to go to school. I could be out securing my position for nationals or earning Duel Points with the deck I stayed up until 2 am building, but no. Instead, I would be sitting in class learning stuff that would realistically never help me. What joy.

Before I had time to bemoan my life further, a voice called out from far away. A voice that got louder and louder the longer it continued. A voice that gave me chills.

"Aki-ChaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!"

*Crash*

I braced myself for impact and managed not to fall flat on my face as my best friend, Yamagata Kin, slammed into my back. He had tackled me in a hug and was currently smiling dopily down at me while hanging from my back like some sort of spider monkey.

"Get. Off." I command in clipped words, my voice promising pain if he didn't comply. 

"But Aki-Chan, I missed you! How can you be so cruel to your one and only best friend?" He asks while wiping fake tears from his eyes onto my uniform coat shoulder. He did not remove himself, however, so I felt no remorse whatsoever in the vicious elbow I sent towards his ribs. 

Only the elbow never connected and he was standing beside me in the next moment, still draping his arm over my shoulder in a bro-hug.

"What am I, a Kuribo?" Another voice called from behind us. It was accompanied by several camera shutter noises.

"Oi. Ren, control your boyfriend." I demand from Uyehara Ren as she walked up.

"No way, this is A+ material. Do you have any idea how many Duel Points I could make off selling pictures of this to a certain fan group?" She asks, completely serious. 

Indeed. That was probably very true. A quick glance showed all girls within a 50-foot radius of us had stopped completely.

I glare at her, then shrug Kin off. "You two are perfect for one another," I say sarcastically.

"Don't we know it!" Kin says, walking over to Ren and scooping her chin up for a quick kiss. She doesn't fight it or shows any hint of embarrassment at their PDA. If anything, she practically ignores it as she is checking out the pictures she took on her phone.

A cacophony of "Kyaaaa~!'s" resounded from the girls, still gawking at the three of us. 

Sighing once again, and for what would certainly not be the last time today, I head inside the gate and towards our class. The happy couple follows close behind, hand in hand.  

Kin and Ren had been my best friends since elementary school. They were childhood friends of each other and we had, somehow or other, all ended up hanging out together. It wasn't a conscious effort, but Kin found out that he loved teasing me and Ren found out she loved watching it happen. My laid-back attitude and cool demeanor meshed well with their eccentric personalities, and we quickly became fast friends.

We also quickly became "The Cool Kids" of our elementary school, but none of us knew why. It wasn't like we called ourselves "the cool kids." Others just decided this for us on their own. We didn't mind it, though, and continued just being ourselves.

I found out this was also the case after my return from Egypt in the second year of middle school, but by then, the 2 of them had been cemented as one of the "Princes" and "Flowers" of our school. They had also started dating and were known as "The Royal Couple." I was not included in this whole "Prince" thing, thank the Gods, but I was still popular due to me hanging out with them.

Nothing has changed since then, except for 3 other "Princes" and 3 other "Flowers" being added, - without their consent, no doubt- and we are now in our second year of High School.

Yamagata Kin was 6'2" with silver, spiky hair and steel-grey eyes. He wore the standard Domino High uniform, but he had the jacket tied around his waist. His brilliant smile and his prowess at basketball had earned him the moniker, "The Prince Of Sports." He was just as carefree as he was loud, and he towered over his 4'11' girlfriend.

Uyehara Ren had long, straight strawberry-blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was short for her age but more than made up for it in other areas. Her uniform was a size too big as she got cold easily and liked to have her sleeves hang long. It gave her a decidedly small and cute look. While she was not the smartest in the school, she was in the top 10, and I fully believed that she is a genius who is hiding it to avoid the hassle. Her bright and teasing personality earned her the moniker, "The Flower Of Mischief."

While they might have seemed like an elegant couple, they were both sports geeks at heart. Kin was the ace of Domino High's basketball team, and Ren was the star of the tennis team. The only reason they had joined these teams was that I decided I wanted to play basketball in middle school. Kin joined with me and Ren, who didn't want to go home alone, joined the first club she saw. I cannot imagine the disappointment their fans would feel if they knew that fact.

To be clear, I am also an ace on the basketball team...or rather, I was. Before the car accident. 

Let's not think about that anymore.

As we walked through the halls, we could hear whispers following in our wake. It may have looked reverent to an outside viewer, but it was actually quite annoying and creepy if I am being honest. So much so that I decided to speak on it. 

"Have I told you guys how glad I am that I'm not a 'Prince?' I actually feel bad for you two, always having to deal with this," I say in a low voice so others around us can't hear me.

Kin and Ren scoff at me.

"What?" I ask in confusion.

"You have it way worse than us," Ren says.

"Care to explain that comment?" I ask again, not understanding their meaning. 

*Pft.*

Kin snorts and Rin smirks, but neither of them explain.

"Whatever," I say, and move on. If they want to include me in their silly club, then fine. I might be popular, but at least people don't talk about me all the time. I am not dense and can tell I get looks, but I don't see any way that could be worse than people whispering behind your back 24/7.

We enter the classroom and I am immediately blocked by a mountain of a man.

Kurihara Hideki stood at 6'5" and was a wall of bulging muscles. His hair was cropped into black dreadlocks and his eyes were like pots of ink. He was the star of the Judo Club and someone who was training for the Olympics.

Kurihara points a bulbous finger in my face threateningly and sneers as he states to the whole class:

"Today is the day I kick your ass, Arakaki. You won't be able to live after this humiliation!"

Silence greeted his declaration. 

"Big words for Mr. 0 in 17." I answer him back with a roll of my eyes. 

I had beaten him in Duel Monsters on our first day of school this year and he declared me as his eternal rival. We had dueled many times since then, but he had not won yet.

Even with the declaration, Kurihara is an awesome guy and a good friend. He was loud, but he always took his defeats with honor and used the losses as determination to improve. He reminds me of Rock Lee from the Naruto series. 

We head over to our seats and push our two desks together. He looks entirely too comical trying to fit in a normal desk at his size, but he makes it work. He shuffles his deck before slamming it down in front of me, waiting for me to cut it, while giving me a giant grin. 

I smirk at this and pull out my own deck. One I had crafted mere hours ago. 

It did not hold my best cards, but it did hold several rare cards and wasn't something that would lose easily or arouse suspicion. Not that people would ask, even if it did. It was common knowledge that my parents had passed away and that I had inherited their cards, but my deck was still pretty good from the start. 

I shuffle it slowly while staring him down, enjoying the look of frustration on his face, then put my cards lightly in front of him. We cut each other's decks and I ask Ren, who is sitting on a desk nearby watching, to be our judge. 

This was one difference from the anime and manga I had seen. Whenever people have a match, they ask a third party to act as an impartial judge. This happens for every duel unless they are at an official Dueling Center, which has its own judge provided for each game. Everyone knows how to play and, since this game is such a big deal in the real world, cheaters are looked down on quite a bit. Ostracized even. 

"Alright, I want a fair duel you two!" Ren says, striking a pose and getting way too into this for a simple friendly duel. We stare each other down and move 1 of our hands out in between the desk. 

"Ready? Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Ren yells and we mirror it with the shake of our hands. I choose paper - paper gang! - and Kurihara chooses rock. 

My smirk widens as his scowl deepens and I choose to go first. In this old rules format, 1st gets to draw on turn 1, so it is, objectively, the better option. 

I draw my 6 cards and let my smirk fall from my face.

Mind games are a huge part of Duel Monsters and I used them heavily. With this in mind, I take a long moment to look at all my cards with a frown still on my face as if I had drawn crap cards.

Kurihara falls for the bait and taunts, "If you had a bad draw, we can call this one my victory and play again?"

I give him a deadpan look and say, "And give up my 17 win streak? Not a chance...I will just play this monster in face-down defense mode."

I set one card sideways, faced down, and pass my turn.

Kurihara draws the 6th card of his own, and a smile splits his face in excitement. "I summon Beaver Warrior (1200 ATK/1500 DEF) in attack mode and attack your face down monster!"

I give a dramatic sigh, before laughing and flipping up my Mystical Elf (800/2000). Groans can be heard all around and his smile cracks as his face pales.

Because his Beaver Warrior's attack is 800 less than my Mystical Elf's defense, he takes 800 damage to his 8000 Life Points reducing him to 7200 Life Points.

"I...I end my turn." Kurihara says dejectedly. 

I draw for my turn, set a card in 1 of the 5 Spell/Trap slots behind my monsters, and summon an Armored Lizard (1500/1200) in attack position. I then switch my Mystical Elf to attack mode and attack his Beaver Warrior with my Armored Lizard. The difference in their attacks means I inflict 300 more Life Point, or LP, damage, and his Beaver Warrior is destroyed.  

I then attack his LP's directly with my Mystical Elf leaving him with 6100 Life Points. I end my turn there. 

The crowd around us continues to grow and hushed whispers surround us as bets are placed on the outcome. 

Kurihara draws while grinding his teeth, but then he smirks at his top deck, a phrase used to describe the card he got on his draw. 

"I summon Battle Ox (1700/1000) in attack mode!" He yells, and gasps can be heard around me. That is a pretty rare card and one of the highest attack 4-star cards in the game currently. Since you could only normal summon once per turn, and because you can only summon up to a 4-star, or level 4, monster without tributing off other monsters, this was one of the best plays he could have made.

"I attack into your Mystical Elf!" He says with a savage grin on his face. 

I match his grin with one of my own. 

"I activate the trap card Waboku. I take no battle damage this turn and my monsters cannot be destroyed by battle."

A few claps and gasps follow this move, showing we had the attention of almost the entire class.

Kurihara facepalms, but still holds his grin. 

"Fine. But you only bought yourself 1 turn, Arakaki! Next turn I am gonna-"

"Cry?" I ask tauntingly as I draw another card for my turn and announce:

"I tribute Mystical Elf and summon Summoned Skull!" (2500/1200)

Since Summoned Skull was a level 6 monster, 6-starred, I needed to tribute 1 monster before I could normal summon it. With that condition met, this game was as good as over. 

I attacked his Battle Ox with my Summoned Skull and dealt him 800 LP of damage followed by my Armored Lizzard attacking him directly for 1500 LP damage. 

The following turns were anti-climatic and I won by reducing his Life Points to 0 within 3 more turns. 

A popup and a euphoric feeling greeted my victory.

I smiled at Kurihara and offered him my hand to shake as those surrounding us cheered at the duel. He took it and smiled back.

"I will win next time." He promised and shook my hand with a determination burning in his eyes. 

"I am ready whenever you are," I answer back with a chuckle as I thank those who were congratulating me.

A few seconds later and our teacher, Sumida-sensei, walked in and broke us up. I saw her poke her head in beforehand and appreciated her for waiting until we finished the duel to start class. 

Time for the less fun side of school...

* | * | *

The day passed quickly enough and I dueled 2 other kids during lunch. I won both games, though the second one I had won only because of a lucky card draw that managed to turn the game in my favor. It showed me that, even with a decently made deck, luck was still a big factor in Duel Monsters, and that I needed to be prepared to lose at least a couple of duels. 

300 Duel Points richer and feeling great, I wave goodbye to Kin and Ren who were going to their sports clubs after school as I walked to the front gate. 

People stared as I passed, but it was way less than with the 2 others...That was until I saw someone waiting by the front gate.

"Rasha!" I call out excitedly and rush up to hug the unprepared Ishizu. She blushes heavily but hugs me back. I had forgotten she said she would meet me here after school!

Ishizu is dressed in normal clothes today: Capri jeans, a light blue blouse, white sneakers, and with her black hair back in a casual ponytail. She also wears a leather messenger bag, showing that she just came from school. Something that would be much more convincing if the price tag was not still hanging off the strap of the bag. 

I ignore that, however, and smile down at her as I ask, "How was your day?" 

Her answer is interrupted however by a crash and a screech behind me.

"T-The H-Hidden Capture Target has a g-girlfriend!?!" A girl I have never met before yells as she drops a jar of something onto the sidewalk. This causes all the other women nearby to stop and spin to look, wide-eyed. 

"Hidden...What?" I ask, completely thrown by the phrase.

"A hidden capture target is someone in an Otome game that is not on the official capture list. Ah, by "Capture" I mean capable of falling in love with the female lead. They are generally the hardest ones to get and, as the name implies, are secrets the community needs to discover themselves with little to no hints." Ishizu answers immediately. 

"Oh...Okay, I guess." I say with a shrug, then pause. I give Ishizu a questioning look and she blushes even harder. 

"I-I may have played one or two in my youth." She stammers out, looking away quickly. 

"Hey, no judgment here. If you like those things, then maybe we can play one together sometime." I say offhandedly, but she unexpectedly grabs my hands in hers. 

"Really!?!" She shouts with stars in her eyes. 

"Yeah, Rasha, really. I want to spend more time with you." I say easily, breaking her grip on my hand, switching their alignment, and interlocking our fingers. I then move past the gate pulling her along with me, still holding her hand in mine.

"I would like that..." She says softly behind me.

A chorus of 'Kyaaa~'s' follow, but I ignore them. I guess I know what Kin and Ren meant now. 

"Where are we going?" Ishizu asks after calming down a bit.

"I saw a bakery & coffee shop on the way to school, I thought we could hang out there and talk about our days?" I half ask, half tell her. 

"That sounds wonderful," Ishizu says, with a giant smile. I match the smile and we head off in that direction.

I had no idea the storm my actions would cause nor the lengths one brother would go to prevent our newly blossoming relationship.

Around a nearby corner, Odion was watching us with gritted teeth. 

'I need to stop this before he corrupts Ishizu...'