Yu-Gi-Oh! Skies [IC]

[Alaina]

Meiko was quite happy to hear that everything was going well for her friends so far, when it came to classes. While she was happy to hear that they were both doing well in their physical education, as she too enjoyed it, she frowned a bit when he said that he wasn't doing so well in math. It was no good to be doing no good, but at least he was taking steps to get better at it. Perking right back up she simply patted the large man on the back saying, "don't worry Akira-man, I'm sure you'll be able to get through it in no time at all." When she was then asked about if school was treating her well, she puffed out her chest in pride as she said, "of course! There's no subject I haven't been able to handle yet." This was, of course, not true. While Meiko was able to do well in most subjects, sciences were ones that often seemed to go straight over her head. Nevertheless, she was rather reluctant to admit such a thing, and as such left it at that. 

 

As the group continued walking around, they eventually came across the theater they had been looking for. Looking at the featured showings at the moment, there was one movie that stood about of all. A recent release. It went by the name of "Love Sensation Haunting with a Vengeance: Out with a Bang not a Chuckle." Seeing the movie, Meiko's eyes lit up as she pointed to the poster saying, "onward team! We have our movie to go watch!" With that, she walked into the theater to see what a masterpiece this film would turn out to be. 

[~Faytl~]

Balthy raised his arms, grunting as he was showered with sparks as his monster erupted into flames. I can't use Stegosaurus to save it, he thought fervently, then he can destroy Brachion, and I lose my Pendulum Scale! His eyes peered up to his arm, at the face-down card on his Duel Disk screen. I only need that one card.

 

"Nice work, Mystigan-san!" he called out, raising a hand to his Duel Disk. "That monster is impressive! I didn't know you were capable of using Synchro Summon too! I don't think I can beat a monster with that many attack points!" His voice seemed a little off, somewhat forced. He drew a card from his deck, not even looking at it as he spread a hand out, his face-down card shimmering into view as his hand hovered over it. "But I learned something very important when I was growing up. I don't have to beat all these fancy Fusion, Xyz, and Synchro Monsters... I just have to beat you." His face-down card rose up, glimmering with light.

 

"Activate Trap! Dinomist Rush!" Balthy placed his hand over his deck, taking the card that ejected out of it and pulling it free. 

 

"Balthy?" asked Mystigan, sounding puzzled. "What are you up to...?"

 

"Dinomist Rush summons any Dinomist monster in my deck," Balthy continued, tossing the card onto his Disk. From the light of the card issued a great formless mass of steam that towered high behind Balthy, gradually parting to reveal the great blue and crimson beast that lumbered within, a giant fin rising from its back up into the sky as it raised its head, and let out an eardrum-shattering roar. "Here it is! My strongest monster... Dinomist Spinos!"

 

Dinomist Spinos

Level 5, 2500/1800

 

"What does he mean, just beat me...?" Mystigan asked, holding up the Action Card he had snagged. "As long as I have this, though..."

 

"Dinomist Spinos' effect activates," Balthy continued, as Spinos lowered its head and closed its jaws around Ceratops' neck, the monster disintegrating into debris. "By releasing another Dinomist monster, I can attack twice with it this turn!"

 

"But how does that help you?" asked Mystigan, thoroughly confused. "It's still far weaker than my Arcanite Magician, even if you summon Plesios again-"

 

"Pendulum Summon! Rex, Ceratops, Plesios, Pteran!" Balthy's field was suddenly full of monster, the great lumbering behemoths strewn all across the Action Field, taking up nearly half of it with their massive bulk. Balthy allowed his grin to come back, hiking a thumbs-up.

 

"My Dinomist monsters are powerful enough to take out plenty of monsters," he said proudly, his beasts all whirring and hissing with power. "But when they can't crush it by pure force, they come together to break through with Spinos! Spinos' effect activates!"

 

"You're going to give it a third attack?!" asked Mystigan as Spinos's head descended and blasted Ceratops apart yet again.

 

"No..." Balthy explained as Spinos turned its head on Sai and began to charge forward. "Spinos! Attack Mystigan directly!"

 

"WHAT?!" Mystigan yelled, too stunned to move before Spinos barged straight through his Arcanite Magician, sending her tumbling to the ship deck. The lowered head of the beast collided with Mystigan, sending him to the ship deck at the brow, arms slumped over the edges of the ship as Spinos looked down at him with a predatory gaze. THe goofy-grinned face of Balthy joined it as he climbed aboard the monster's back, peering over its shoulder.

 

"You didn't forget that my monster can attack you a second time, did you?" he asked, as Spinos opened its mouth slowly, a huge wealth of steam building up inside its maw. Mystigan paled, quickly playing the card he held.

 

"Action Magic! Redirection!" The gears in Spinos' body screeched to a halt before they started to turn, the head of the monster turning away from Mystigan, and to his monster. "This lets me turn your attack towards any monster of my choosing! I choose Arcanite Magician!" 

 

Balthy whistled admiringly. "You just don't give up, Sai-san," he said, rapping on Spinos' back plates with his knuckles. Steam jetted from within the beast, and the gears gave with a sudden whirring, and it turned back to face Sai.

 

"But... How?"

 

"hmonster summoned through Dinomist Rush is destroyed in the End Phase... but is unaffected by other effects during the turn its summoned," Balthy explained, a relieved smile spreading across his face. "Looks like I win, Sai-san!" 

 

Spinos spread its jaws, and the tide of steam flowed forth, enveloping Sai in a rush of hot air and water that soaked him as his Life counter soared down to 0.

 

Winner: Balthazar (LP 900)

 

"I did it!" Balthy yelled, jumping off his monster and carthweeling across the ground as the Action Field and his monsters dissolved around him. "I knew we could all beat that big fancy Synchro Monster!" He pulled all his monsters off the Duel Disk, placing Ceratops among them from his Extra Deck as he beamed. "Pendulum Power, eh, Sai-san?" he asked, looking over to his opponent. "What a great match!"

[Super Chaos Sonic]

“Draw.” Roy said, drawing his hand. It was only one card, but it was fine. It all came down to this turn. Salem had two face downs and Solidarity. Citrine Lion can take care of that. However, I’d be without a Continuous Spell, so Rainbow Treasure wouldn’t be able to activate if I needed it to. he thought, exhaling slightly.

 

But...the card he just drew…

 

“I activate the Spell, Crystal Blessing.”

 

Roy simply grabbed two Crystal Beasts from his grave, Emerald Tortoise and Cobalt Eagle, quickly putting them in the Spell Zone.

 

“And now-”

 

“Ahem!” Salem cut in, pointing to his own activated Reinforce Truth. “I chained this to Blessing, letting me special summon a level two or lower warrior from my deck. I’m bringing out my own Jutte Brawler in defense mode!”

 

Leaping out from a portal was a squat, middle-aged asian man that was wielding a pair of juttes like tonfas. A band was tied around his head. “Jutte!” it called as it took a defensive stance, turning blue.

 

“Nice timing there, Salem.” Roy chuckled. “Using it now so you wouldn’t have to lose a Battle Phase.” He nodded before looking at Citrine Lion. “Now, Citrine Lion, I activate your effect. I choose Ruby Carbuncle and your Solidarity!”

 

The ruby light around Roy faded, as Citrine Lion used its last Material (Amber Mammoth) before roaring at the face-up Spell. “And another 800 points of damage to you as well!”

 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 7000 -> 6200

 

Salem stood steadfast as the damage passed through him, and then, he realized something. Wait, this has been an Action Duel the entire time. Maybe there’s an… AH!

 

Off to the side, lying on the bridge, was an Action card. Stumbling for it, he snatched at it, revealing an action trap, London Bridge is Falling Down. “T-take a thousand damage?!” Salem squealed as the bridge literally collapsed, taking him with it.

 

-BGM-

 

Dust scattered everywhere in the destruction of the structure. “GOYO!” King called, flying towards the rubble. Shifting pieces away, it found its duelist relatively unhurt, but still much worse for wear.

 

“I HATE Action Cards” Salem groaned as he was pried from the rubble.

 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 6200 -> 5200

 

“It’s just a luck of the draw and of the field.” Roy said sheepishly, watching what transpired.

 

“Oh, like you can talk Mister 'I pulled three Sapphire Pegasus and two Polies effortlessly'” Salem seethed as he got back up.

 

“Whoa hey, that was sheer luck too!” Roy retorted. “You can ask Kimiko! I never get stuff like this in this manner. Well, not at this rate, but that’s beside the point.”

 

This was getting them nowhere. Roy needed to continue with the Duel. “Yeah yeah” Salem sighed as he grabbed the card from his hand that he dropped. Wait… he didn’t HAVE a hand. Looking down at the card, it was another Action Trap, Somebody Set Us Up the Bomb. “Oh, you have GOT to be kidding m-” BOOM!

 

The rubble exploded violently, leaving Salem smoking in a crater. “Owww~”

 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 5200 -> 4200

 

“Yikes...” Roy cringed, watching the explosion and seeing Salem smoking in the crater. “Uhh...you alright down there?”

 

“Fine” Salem croaked loudly, a cloud of smoke billowing out his mouth.

 

Roy shrugged slightly, before returning to the matter at hand. “Alright. Back to business I suppose.” he said, before looking at Rainbow Treasure Dragon. “Rainbow Treasure, send the Goyo King to meet the Guardian. Rainbow Riches!!”

 

Rainbow Treasure Dragon flew up once more, before dive bombing towards Goyo King and unleashing its attack, but it was stopped by the sudden appearance of a video game controller. “Wait… I… I use Enemy Controller. I want to change Treasure to defence mode!” Salem explained as he shakily got up.

 

Roy looked at Salem’s attempt of stopping this, legitimately impressed. But... “I activate Rainbow Treasure’s effect.” he said, removing Emerald Tortoise from the Spell Zone. “I’m negating Enemy Controller.”

 

The controller was turned to crystal, and shattered by Rainbow Treasure Dragon as it forced its way past it. Down it went towards Goyo King, before unleashing the golden beam of light at Goyo King, the attack making contact instantly. “GOYO!”

 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 4200 -> 4000

 

With the destruction of King, Salem’s Call of the Haunted exploded with it, severely reducing his field presence. This… this was complete BULLSHIT! Why should a few convenient draws even let him get this far when Salem was practically controlling the duel? This was bullshit, and aside from Brawler, he had nothing to fight it with.

 

Roy quickly moved the Rainbow Kuriboh card from the Spell Zone after Goyo King was destroyed, sending it to the grave. He looked at Jasthyst and pointed at Jutte Brawler. “Now, Crystal Guardian Jasthyst, attack the Brawler!”

 

Jasthyst only nodded before rushing towards Jutte Brawler at high speeds, before doing an elegant sword dance on the monster, before slashing with a scissor motion. “JUTTE!”

 

Brawler blocked its assault with both tonfas, but it was clear that is was a losing battle. Slicing through the metal batons like paper, Jasthyst bisected the monster, exploding it into particles.

 

“By Jasthyst ability, I add a Crystal Beast to my Spell Zone...so I’ll add a Cobalt Eagle from my deck.” he said, adding Cobalt Eagle onto the Spell Zone. “Finally...Citrine Lion. Attack Salem directly...Primal Crystal Strike!!”

 

Citrine Lion roared, making its way towards the Duelist, making a slashing motion downwards and proceeding to make an upward motion, sending Salem flying into the air some.

 

“CCCCCCCCRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOF!” he screamed as he impacted a building hard enough to crack the concrete it was made of.

 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 4000 -> 2000

 

Getting up with some difficulty, Salem realized that he was holding a card, the Action Trap, Die Hard. “Why did I even CHOOSE this Action Field?” he questioned in exasperation as the building behind him collapsed.

 

Rubble falling everywhere, he did his best to escape, but a particularly large piece managed to pin him to the ground.

 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 2000 -> 1000

 

“IhatethisIhatethisIHATETHIS!”

 

Roy sighed a bit, hopping off the roof of the building he was on, getting some assistance from Citrine Lion as he made his way to the ground. He swiftly moved Ruby Carbuncle to his Spell Zone due to Citrine Lion’s ability before beginning to push the large piece of rubble off Salem.

 

“T-There we go...jeez...for Solid Vision, it’s still prett-” he began, but was silenced by the look Salem was giving him.

 

Tears were actually running down his smudged face, and yet he still managed to carry a look of absolute rage and indignity. “DON’T… pity me” he warned quietly.

 

Roy looked at Salem, only backing away. “I...end my turn.” he sighed.

 

.:Roy - 2100LP:.
Field: CB Citrine Lion, Rainbow Treasure Dragon, CG Jasthyst, Rainbow Ruins, CB Ruby Carbuncle (Cont Spell), CB Cobalt Eagle (Cont Spell) x2
Graveyard: Crystal Raigeki, Rare Value, Crystal Blessing, CB Sapphire Pegasus x3, CB Amethyst Cat, CB Emerald Tortoise, CB Cobalt Eagle, CB Topaz Tiger, Polymerization x2, Crystal Promise, CB Amber Mammoth, Rainbow Kuriboh
Hand: 0 card

[King K. Azo]

"Don't worry Akira-man, I'm sure you'll be able to get through it in no time at all." Meiko offered. Akira nodded in response.

"I, the man Akira, hopes so. It would look bad if the new head of the dojo could not do math," As he finished, Meiko answered his question.

 

"Of course! There's no subject I haven't been able to handle yet." After that, it didn't take long to get to the theater. Appartenly, Meiko already found their movie."Onward team! We have our movie to go watch!"

 

Akira looked at the title. "Love Sensation Haunting with a Vengeance: Out with a Bang not a Chuckle." That was... different, indeed. With a chuckle he followed Meiko. Might as well try something new.

 

---

 

"A monster summoned through Dinomist Rush is destroyed in the End Phase... but is unaffected by other effects during the turn its summoned. Looks like I win, Sai-san!"

What? WHAT? WHAT?! Just like that he lost? Just like that?! It was so sudden and anticlimactic, he couldn't even think of anything to say the large robot fired a blast of steam and water in his face, blowing off his cape and hat as Sai covered his face. Sai didn't know what to say. He did everything right... didn't he? Why did he keep losing?!

 

"I did it!" Balthy yelled, jumping off his monster and cartwheeling across the ground as the Action Field and his monsters dissolved around him. "I knew we could all beat that big fancy Synchro Monster!" He was beaming as he spoke."Pendulum Power, eh, Sai-san?" he asked, looking over to his opponent. "What a great match!"

 

Sai smiled, one that felt forced, but didn't look it. It was a skill he had acquired through life... pretending he was okay. "Yeah, you were amazing, Balthy!" Sai took off his mask and sighed, walking over to grab his hat and cape. As he did, he looked at his Synchro Monster, Arcanite Magician. He had it for as long as he could remember. Was it really that fancy? It was a card he had for as long as he could remember... 

Maybe he was clinging too much to his past? He loved his spellcasters, but even with his 'big fancy synchro', he couldn't get over Balthy's Pendulum Summon. Maybe it was time for a new deck... something he couldn't afford. This deck was the culmination of years of saving money and finding random cards... He couldn't just drop this deck. Not unless someone gave him some new, shiny deck. But who the hell would do that?

After picking up his costume, Sai turned to Balthy. "I'm going to get lunch. Wanna come with?" He asked. He wasn't going to let his bad mood ruin his friend's victory.

[Yui]

---

Things were moving along splendidly! Kimiko was all too familiar with the surprise Rainbow Kuriboh; it had pulled the exact same trick on her plenty of times before. Unable to attack with his Goyo King, Salem's turn ended more or less on the spot. Then it was right back to Roy. Kimiko had to admit, he was doing a pretty good job of turning things around quickly. So much, apparently, that Salem turned to Action Cards to save his hide. Which, conveniently enough, blew up right in his face. Salem didn't seem happy.

 

"It’s just a luck of the draw and of the field."

 

"Oh, like you can talk Mister 'I pulled three Sapphire Pegasus and two Polies effortlessly'."

 

"Whoa hey, that was sheer luck too! You can ask Kimiko! I never get stuff like this in this manner. Well, not at this rate, but that’s beside the point."

 

"He never does," Kimiko commented, as if the duelists could somehow hear her. And then it was right back into the action!

 

...Only for Salem to pick up a second Action Card that did even more damage to him. Does Roy even need to do anything at this rate? Salem could just finish himself off if he keeps it up. Roy followed up the mishap with a small barrage of attacks, but not before getting rid of that Goyo King. The tables had turned! In a short matter of time, Roy had gone from a cornered rat to the top dog of this duel.

 

"I...end my turn."

 

"Finish him!" Kimiko called out.

"Well, the man Yushiro takes to school better than I. I, the man Akira, am good in P.E., and that's really about all. The man Akira may have to ask the man Yushiro for math tutoring... again.... Let's hope it sticks this time. How about you, the woman Meiko? Is school treating you well?"

 

"Of course! There's no subject I haven't been able to handle yet."

 

The group then continued onward, in search of their horror romantic explosive action comedy movie. As fate would have it - to Leona's legitimate surprise - such a movie existed. A recent release by the name of "Love Sensation Haunting with a Vengeance: Out with a Bang not a Chuckle." Recent days had been full of pleasant surprises, and this was just the icing on the cake.

 

"Onward team! We have our movie to go watch!"

 

"Onward!" Leona echoed, not quite sure what else to say as she followed Meiko's lead into this surprise of a movie.

[Draconus297]

Emma Pathos

 

The little psychoanalyst quickly returned to writing down her notes. Salem was intriguing- continuing to reach for Action Cards even as they continued to spite him. Was it Gambler's Fallacy in action? Ego? Desperation? It was hard to say . . .

 

Which only intrigued Emma more. The Noir boy was a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and those were practically Christmas presents to anyone wanting to study people. Emma smirked, realizing that coincidence had dropped a puzzle of a person into her lap.

 

Win or lose . . . Salem was going to get analyzed.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Drawing his last card, Salem’s glasses slipped, the image of Burden of the Mighty reflected in his tilted lenses. “I end” he uttered in defeat.

 

.:Salem - 1000LP:.
Field: Nothing
Graveyard: Jutte Lord, Jutte Warrior, Goyo Defender x3, Requesting Back-Up!, Jutte Fighter, Burden of the Mighty, Goyo Guardian, Goyo King, Call of the Haunted, Enemy Controller, Solidarity, Jutte Brawler, Reinforce Truth
Hand: 1 card

 

Roy looked at Salem, sighing slightly. He didn’t speak as he took his turn, drawing his card. “Salem...” he started. “I wasn’t trying to pity you back there. You were knocked down so I helped you up.”

 

“Shut up and just… just end this!” Salem spat. “End this, or I’ll go find an Action Trap and do it myself” he threatened.

 

Roy looked at his Rainbow Treasure Dragon, who began its ascent into the sky. “Fine. I just want to say that, well, this Duel is by far the most fun and the best one I’ve had.” he said, trying to flash a small smile. “And your skills...they were definitely on par with what I expected from you.”

 

As he finished, Rainbow Treasure Dragon roared and unleashed its golden beam towards Salem, enveloping the Duelist in the golden light.

 

Salem Noir’s Life Points: 1000 -> 0

 

Holographic banners declaring Roy the winner appeared around the arena as the field spell vanished, leaving both duelists in the middle of the duel arena. Salem was on his hands and knees, staring at the ground.

 

Roy exhaled, before looking over at Salem in this state. Putting his hands into his pockets, he strolled over towards him, just standing before him. Beginning to crouch down, Roy got to eye level with Salem (or at least tried to). “Salem...” he said, holding his hand out.

 

Reaching out, Salem slapped it away. “Don’t. TALK. TO ME!” he hissed lividly.

 

Surprised by this reaction, Roy recalled his hand back, just sighing yet again. “You’re a great Duelist, Salem.” he simply stated, before standing up. “I won’t say anything else, but...it was a fun Duel. I had fun...to be honest, the only other person to put me in the position you did...is Kimiko.” he said chuckling lightly, which turned into a nervous chuckle. “And let me tell you, when she Duels, it's like the fires of hell break loose.”

 

“Just… shut… UP!” Salem screamed as he got back up.

 

Roy was silenced once more by Salem, only causing him to look away. This was...well this was a first for him. Sure, there were people he beat and people who beat him...but this...this was...different.

 

He wanted to speak again, but as Salem was right now. He knew that he wouldn’t accept his words. Roy only strolled off the arena floor, heading towards the doors, before stopping. He had to say something now...even though he knew it wouldn’t be heard.

 

“Ya know...I think you’re even better than your brothers.” Roy finally said, still facing the doors before giving a thumbs up to Salem. “Just thought I say that.” And with that, he walked out of the Duel Arena.

 

“Stupid lucksacking… what does HE know?” Salem hissed under his breath as he stormed out of the duel arena.

 

 

Roy left the arena, sighing greatly as he shook his head. He definitely wasn't expecting the Duel to turn out that way. However, this Duel definitely showed him something about his deck.

 

Maybe I'm running a Poly too many... Roy though, nodding slightly. Maybe switch out one Polymerization with a Fusion Recovery...yeah that might work.

 

Though along with this in his mind, Roy also knew he had to make it up to Salem. Maybe tomorrow he could just talk to the kid...yeah that probably would work...right?

 

 

Meanwhile, as the Duel ended and the crowd died down, a single person slowly left the wall he propped himself up against. Adjusting his purple tie slightly and his fedora, he began to make his way out of the Duel Arena. He came, originally to watch the Noir boy duel. After all, he held the P.E. teacher, Dirk in the highest regards...so naturally he wanted to see what Salem...or rather...the "Super Awesome Champion of Justice" could truly do.

 

Strange enough...the Duel went into an unforeseen direction.

 

Roy Spectrum... he thought, smirking slightly. Got to give the new guy props. However...it isn't at its full potential yet. I just might have to help him out then...

 

The young man paused, stepping out of the Duel Arena, removing a card out from his the Deck Box on his side. Looking down on it, it was revealed to be Contrast HERO Chaos. "Well Chaos...seems we might've found another powerful rival here. We'll get our turn in the spotlight soon enough." he smirked, putting his card away, tipping his hat down. "Heh...this is going to be a hell of a year indeed..."

 

With that, Souji Kazuraba walked away from the Duel Arena, with the widest smile on his face.

 

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

"Who are you going against?"

Yushiro turned his head toward the new voice, and saw a girl he immediately recognized as Katsu Tanaka making her way toward himself and Elizabeth. Yushiro felt a small wave of apprehension well up in him. Katsu was a good person, but interacting with her didn't always end well. Sometimes, she was a friend, but just as often she was Akira's verbal (or occasionally literal) sparring partner. If those occasions were any indication, Katsu could get very fired up very quickly. Not something Yushiro wanted to happen at present.

"I don't really remember anything important in class coming up; did someone threaten you or call you out?"

Yes, yes they had, but Yushiro was certain that giving Katsu that information would be a bad move, meaning he'd have to lie again. He sure was doing a lot of that today, wasn't he…

Before he could actually respond to Katsu though, Elizabeth cut back in. "Don't be ridiculous, Yushiro. I would be honored. On that paper is my number, where you can reach me. Oh, and-" "That's my room number. I live uphill in the Azure dormitories." She scribbled her information down on a piece of paper and handed it to him. Naturally, Yushiro didn’t really know what to do with it, but he nodded in appreciation as she continued. "Stop by anytime outside of lecture hours. Chances are I'm either there or at the studio dancing, so don't be a stranger."

“Uhhh… sure thing.” Yushiro produced his wallet and carefully tucked the slip of paper into it. He was trying his best not to make the whole scene irreversibly weird for both himself and Elizabeth, but he was fairly certain that that ship had already sailed. Thankfully, Katsu didn’t seem to care much, and instead pressed him again.  

"Anyways, is everything alright? Because it seems like someone's causing you trouble. We don't have any tests or anything coming up, and you didn't seem this stressed dueling Kimiko. If someone's messin' with you and got you all scuffed up, then just show me who it is; I'll teach 'em a lesson to pick on people." Yushiro suppressed the urge to gulp. It was embarrassing enough that he’d gotten into this situation, but having Katsu pick a fight over it would make things even worse. And just to add to his nerves, Katsu herself stood there, idly cracking her knuckles. Yushiro looked down at the ground, and with what she said next Katsu seemed to have picked up on his uneasiness..

"Aw jeeze, sorry, I'm not gonna beat anyone up. Look, if someone is messing with you, I don't want you- or really anyone- to feel alone. Bullies suck, and I don't want anyone here to get picked on by them."

Yushiro followed with a sigh, one of both relief and exhaustion. It was probably best to just tell the girls what happened, anyway. “Yeah you could uhh… say someone’s been giving me trouble.” He didn’t make eye contact with either of them again, and instead fixed his gaze somewhere else ands scratched the back of his head.

“So what happened?” Katsu asked, kneeling down so that her head was level with Yushiro’s. She looked at him with an intense expression; not one that looked down on him or particularly angry in any way; but definitely one that suggested she wouldn’t sit this one out. “If you don’t want us involved with what’s going on between you two that’s fine, but if it’s more serious then we don’t know if whoever it is won’t just stop with you.”

 

Elizabeth tried to focus on the conversation at hand, but her thoughts were now more or less consumed by cravings for her vice. The awkwardness of the conversation between Yushiro and herself, combined with the addition of a random stranger with a strong will turning this into a bit of a scene had Elizabeth wringing her hands in the pocket of her sweatshirt, cradling her box of smokes. Truthfully, she wasn’t that invested on what was going on, and she hardly knew either of them. Yushiro was just a nice kid who had returned her card, and while he might have been a little cute in an awkward way, she was far from his bodyguard, as Katsu would seem to suggest.

“Well…” Yushiro paused a moment, trying to  figure out just the right way to recite his story. “I uhh… I had a little run in with Blythe Pendleton earlier today.” He wasn’t sure if the name would ring bells to Elizabeth or not (and she didn’t seem particularly interested to begin with) but in all likelihood Katsu knew who he was talking about, and what she was usually up to. “I guess she wants my Stardust Dragon…” Another pause, this time to check the bandage on his chin. “So I uhh... have a week to get ready.”

Katsu let out a sigh and stood up. “Alright, it sounds like it’s your fight then,” Katsu turned to the other girl that was there and looked her right in the eye. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name. I’m Katsu, a friend of Yushiro’s.”

Elizabeth quirked a brow briefly at the mention of the name; the card gambling ring was never much of her scene, if that’s even what Yushiro was referring to, but the introduction of a time limit certainly made her mission of tutoring him a more difficult one. Yushiro was far from the most skilled duelist she had seen, at least in her spectating of the duel against Kimiko, but she would do her best. Before she had a moment to introduce herself, the other one had introduced herself; Elizabeth was never one to be rude, so she removed a hand from her sweatshirt pocket and extended it to Katsu, “Pleasure is all mine. My name is Elizabeth; Elizabeth Hall.” Elizabeth left a moment of pause in between statements, feeling as if her introduction was lacking. This was, of course, ignoring the fact that the past half hour or so has been filled with nothing but awkward moment after awkward moment, “How do you know Yushiro?” Nope, that wasn’t any better. Not at all. Elizabeth now began to wonder how much better life would be if she had just never dueled at all, so she never had to encounter this moment.

“Yushiro’s friend, Akira, we’re…” Katsu paused for a moment, thinking. “We know each other pretty well. So, that’s how we met. Now, you two are gonna be practicing, right? I don’t think a week is enough time to learn my dojo’s dueling, but if you can help him win this duel then I hope all that practice pays off.” Katsu placed her hands on her hips as she said this, a wide grin on her face. “Yushiro, make sure you kick that Blythe’s ass hard, but leave some left over for me. I think she’ll need a lesson in the dangers of gambling one way or another…”

Elizabeth simply curled her fingers back into her palm and returned it to her sweatshirt pocket. How rude. Liz wasn’t usually the confrontational type, but… dojo? Really? She fixed the bangs on her right side behind her ear, leaving the left side to dangle, now speaking with a more confident tone, “Yes, well, I used to be one half of the school’s top duelist. Something tells me we’ll be okay.” Liz took a look at Yushiro, “And even if we cannot, there is always a way to get around the loss. You will be a stronger duelist either way, with my help.” Liz added emphasis to the my, not in a combative fashion, but with enough force to imply that she was rather confident in her abilities, for once.

“Yeah… about that…” This was the part of the story that Yushiro had been dreading telling, but it was only right that they knew the full scope of the situation. Katsu for sure was bound to find out eventually anyway. “If I had a choice in the matter, I’d leave this whole thing alone, but as it stands, I don’t have a way out of it… She stole Taketo as collateral, and I can’t get him back unless I ante my Stardust against her.” He let out a nervous laugh. “I cut my face trying to go after him…”

Katsu’s fists clenched and a quiet growl escaped her throat, but she shook her head. “Like I said, it sounds like it’s something you need to do, but if you need someone to teach her a lesson I’d be happy to have a little ‘chat’ with this Blythe…”

“Nonono don’t worry about it!” Yushiro was quick to try and prevent things from escalating. “I just… don’t think losing’s an option is all, you know?” He stopped a moment. “But... thanks Katsu. I know you’re just trying to help.”

Katsu smiled and relaxed a little. “It’s no problem. Just remember: Leave some left over for me. Gotta make sure they’re not doing this to anyone else…”

Yushiro nodded, then turned to Elizabeth. “Sorry for dumping all this baggage on you… but uhh… c-can I maybe come see you tomorrow? I-if you aren’t too busy that is.” He couldn’t really keep himself from stuttering, though Yushiro sincerely wished he could.

Elizabeth only observed, her little moment of self-confidence appears to have gone unnoticed, albeit she supposed that may not have seemed unusual to them, people who did not know her. She nodded to Yushiro, “Come early. I’ve got a date with friends I’ve cancelled on far too many times later in the day. Bring your deck, and any spare cards you might have. I’ll provide lunch. Oh, and knock before you come in.” Elizabeth could no longer resist the urge, or perhaps was so wrapped up in the conversation, she had unconsciously, pulled out her box of cigarettes and taken one out, now fishing for her lighter, “But if that’s all for now, I’ve got some things I’d like to do before we start, and there isn’t much day left.” Liz now sought to make it rather clear she was becoming exhausted with all this interaction; she was not at all a people person.

Yushiro too, was becoming a bit overwhelmed, and so instead of a response just gave Elizabeth a nod. Then he spoke to both girls. “I guess I should get going too, shouldn’t I.” He turned away and began walking, then turned back around one more time. “And uhh… thanks again.” With that, he was gone, perhaps a bit too quickly, down the path and back toward his dormitory.

Yushiro walked away, leaving only Elizabeth and Katsu left. “Soooooo…” Katsu started, tapping her foot a little. “Are you two, like, a thing now?” She started talking before she could really think about what she was going to say, but her curiosity got the better of herself at that moment.

Elizabeth snapped her head back, freshly lit cigarette falling out of her mouth and onto the ground. She groaned and snuffed it out, before looking back to Katsu with a look of bewilderment, bangs sloppily fallen into her face, “Goodness, I’ve only met him a few days ago! I mean, he’s a nice kid, but-” Elizabeth closed her eyes, shook her head, and put her left palm up, stopping herself before she had talked herself into a circle, now feeling rather flush, “He’s just a student. Should I be asking if that’s one of your goals?” Elizabeth quirked a brow again, looking at Katsu.

“What? No no no no no,” Katsu replied with a short laugh. “We don’t hang out that often, I was just a little curious and… y’know, sorry for prying. I’ll let you run your errands.”

Elizabeth only sighed, what a strange girl this one was. What had even given her the vibe that they were an item? Were they really even compatible like that? Elizabeth had thought of herself as rather attractive but even still sh- Elizabeth shook her head again, she was being ridiculous.

“Right then, don’t worry about it, I suppose I could understand where you’re coming from.” Yeah, that didn’t sound suspicious, Elizabeth continued, now fully aware that the wheels were coming off, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Katsu, but you’re right. I really must be off. Ta-ta, now.” With that, Elizabeth was off, walking ever so slightly faster than normal back to the Azure dormitories; not only did she have to devise a plan for this lesson tomorrow morning, but she would have to decompress all of the insanity she had just experienced. What on earth has she gotten herself into with that boy?

“Yeah, I’ll see you around,” Katsu replied with a short wave as she turned towards the campus entrance; her dad would probably be wondering why she would be getting back later than usual. She let out a quick sigh as she left the interaction. “Jeeze, I really gotta think before I say anything next time,” she muttered to herself.

 

 

 

~~~~Episode 2: END~~~~

 

 Ending theme

[a coffee]

Lazy Sunday on Blue Yonder campus? Not so! As was typical of the start of the school year, Blue Yonder's head Dean has arranged for the annual Blue Yonder School Spirit Fair! A myriad of activities took up the main school grounds, with games, attractions, card giveaways, school shirt giveaways, and much, much more. As such, the campus was more congested than ever, students pouring in from all angles to a get a view of what was offered this year. The sense of stress-free fun was palpable in the area, bringing joy to almost everyone that was in it. Surely a student without much to do today could find something of entertainment value to do. Who knows, they might even make a new friend!

 

The bells for 10AM had just rang, and the air was cool and crisp, yet enjoyable. Most students would be found in other school gear they had bought or been given over the course of the previous school year, including jackets and sweatshirts, only for a brave few to be found ever so slightly underdressed for the occasion. For some, the air was filled with a sense of intention; what would the world hold for them today? Duels, challenges, hardships, victories, and other life changing moments were only around the corner for our bright-eyed cast, but would they find the right corner? Only time will tell of the future.

 

Episode 3: Burning Ambition! Shining Sword of the Shiran(y)ui!!

Opening Theme

 

 

Hours had passed, and Elizabeth stood still at her mirror, preparing herself for the knock at her door, so she could begin her tutoring session with Yushiro. A thin pencil glided around the frame of her eye as to add definition in the form of eyeliner; Elizabeth had done this for what seemed like the third time this morning, she just wasn't satisfied with how she looked. For whatever reason, she felt compelled to make sure everything was perfect. Elizabeth would eventually sigh after she finished, her lips scrunched to one side with dissatisfaction at her product; it still looked off to her. Whatever. It's close enough. Elizabeth ran her fingers through her lovely, straight, platinum hair that was not found in its usual ponytail this morning; she felt more like the natural look this morning. She examined her look once more, now feeling Yushiro would be at her door at any moment.

 

She was wearing a comfortable wool sweater that sagged off of her right shoulder, that would normally reveal a black strap over her defined collarbone, were her hair not already draped over it. Tight black leggings and black flats completed her outfit of "Warm, comfortable, but not ugly" that she had laboriously prepared in the late evening the night before. She was still rather unsure why she had put so much effort into finding an outfit for today and making it look perfect; normally she would dress in whatever she had handy that worked together to some degree, but this one felt a little different. Truthfully, she had felt a bit weird about the whole thing since Katsu asked her about her status with Yushiro. The question itself had cast some doubt over Elizabeth's mind on whether or not she was unconsciously accomplishing such a goal with the boy, or if they had a natural chemistry, or if it was simply just a bad forecast by Katsu and she had no business even giving the thought credence. 

 

It's been a while since something like that has come into my thoughts. She thought to herself, Ever since Todd had passed away I gave up on that sort of thing. Partying, boys, popularity, I threw all of that away for... Elizabeth looked at the half-empty box of cigarettes resting on her sink; she had resisted the urge to have a morning cigarette for hours now; she didn't want the apartment to smell of smoke when Yushiro came in. Well, for a lot of stuff my life was better off without before he passed. Maybe I should get out more. Even if it's not with him, he's at least made my life a little more interesting. I miss it. I miss my whole life back then. Elizabeth reached for the box of cigarettes, and pulled one out, examining it before tucking the box, and the lone cigarette, into the drawer of her bathroom vanity. She was just about to pull out another makeup wipe and give her eyes another go when all of a sudden...

 

*WHAP WHAP WHAP*

 

Yushiro's knuckles rapped against her wooden door; he tried to knock as hard as he could while still being polite so that he could hear her knock. Jeez, hope I didn't show up late. She said to be here early. I didn't have an alarm clock this morning... The wound of not having his little buddy Taketo there with him this morning still fresh. Yushiro gulped, impatiently waiting for Elizabeth to come to her door. He brought everything she asked him to and then some; he was so desperate for this to work, he had only hoped she knew what she was talking about. As he came to think about it, trusting some random girl he had (literally) run into on the street twice in a week likely wasn't his brightest plan, but something about her had Yushiro's trust. He couldn't quite explain why he felt a connection with her, but this was the first time since last night that he had felt any kind of doubt in her ability.

 

Elizabeth quickly walked to her door, half-running toe first as to silence her running, She quickly straightened out her outfit one last time before opening the door to see Yushiro in perfectly normal clothes. She almost felt slight disappointment until she realized she was the weird one for laboring over her outfit. Elizabeth cracked out a small smile, motioning into the main part of her apartment, "Oh good, you made it. Come on in Yushiro. Did you bring everything I asked?" Elizabeth nervously looked over Yushiro's shoulders as he walked past her; did she clean everything well enough? The place was a bit of a mess last night, but she had really done her best to clean.

 

The difference between the Azure dormitories and the rest of campus' living spaces was primarily that the Azure dorms were less dormitories and more apartments. Naturally, these dorms were rather pricey, but the combination of the Hall family's economic picture being somewhat favorable and the combined children's once pristine grades lead to the cost not being much of a factor for the young woman.

 

The entrance from the door was split into two directions, forward and to the right led to a short staircase, where her bedroom, Todd's old beroom, and bathroom was, and forward and to the left led to a much more open area, where a coffee table and two couches were, both facing towards a television on the wall. The apartment had no wall dividing the kitchen and living room, and so further back was a functional, yet somewhat small kitchen, with an island in the middle of the "room". Just to the left of the kitchen was a dining table, riddled with many books, dueling mats, and other school supplies. The state of the dining room had made it quite obvious that Elizabeth had many of her meals alone, in front of the television. Still, the apartment was rather nice, and despite its openness, had a welcoming feeling to it.

 

Yushiro looked around in a brief moment of awe. This was where Elizabeth lived?? It was huge! He couldn't help but think back to his dormitory; it was nice and all, but this was like a kingdom! Yushiro nodded to Elizabeth's question, unconsciously wandering into the main seating area and placing his stuff down on the coffee table, looking around the large area.

 

"Wow, you sure have it good on this campus!" Yushiro commented without thought, "You must be rich to afford this kind of place!"

 

Elizabeth blushed slightly, "Oh, this place? It's nothing, really. My brother and I had pretty good grades when we applied to this place, so we got a few scholarships. I hardly use most of this stuff. I guess I tend to forget that most of the dorms hardly look like this." Elizabeth now looked around, just now noticing that perhaps this would be a bit overwhelming for someone who has never seen an Azure dorm before.

 

Yushiro nodded, he was suddenly feeling a lot more confident about his decision. If her grades could afford a place like this, she must be a genius! "You have a brother? That's pretty cool. Oh geez, it's only like, 10 AM! We're not waking him up or anything are we? He's not here is he?"

 

Elizabeth felt a burning in the bottom of her heart and stomach; of course Yushiro wouldn't know, why would he? Oh god. Not now. Keep yourself together Beth; he doesn't know. Just change the subject. It's that easy. Just change the subject.  Elizabeth just cleared her throat, "Don't worry about it. He's not around. Anyway, why don't you get your deck out. Can I get you something to drink? I've already made myself a coffee, so I feel I should offer."

 

Yushiro blinked, the shift in the conversation was incredibly obvious, but Yushiro was too focused on the task at hand to pry further. He simply shook his head to her request, "No thank you. So where do we start?" It was about now that Yushiro noticed Elizabeth was looking rather nice today for what was supposed to be just a tutoring session... He simply went Hm. and waiting for Elizabeth's next instruction.

 

Elizabeth sat down next to Yushiro, immediately swiping his deck off of the table, flipping through the cards. "Well, first we'll have to weed out all the cards that could be considered 'overly conditional'" .....

[Super Chaos Sonic]

-The Crystal Apprentice-

 

Roy stretched out as he leaned back in his chair, looking at the cards he sprawled out on his deck. After his Duel against Salem yesterday, Roy went into deck building mode and ran down the list of possibilities that would benefit his Crystal Beasts. And it was fairly obvious that using two Polymerization wasn't a great idea...just clogged up his deck. So he woke up early just to fix his deck.

 

"Thank goodness I still had a few Fusion Recovery." he chuckled, moving his hand over the cards as he tried his best to put them back into a deck. "Also dropping Crystal Abundance down to one was a good move too. Field wipe and direct attack would probably only be needed once anyway."

 

He stood up from the desk, tossing his Crystal Beast deck back into the deck box before tossing his blazer on. Today was Sunday, and that much anticipated Blue Yonder Spirit fair. Unfortunately, it had completely escaped his mind, so dressing up in cosplay wasn't going to happen. "Pity...I probably would've loved dressing up as Jasthyst...heck maybe even a humanoid Crystal Beast...eh plans for next year, I suppose." he laughed, leaving his room.

 

With that, he headed out to the grounds to partake in the festivities...however, the Duel with Salem still on his mind. Namely how he suddenly acted near the end of the Duel. It really worried him... Maybe...maybe I should check on him in a little while... he thought with a nod. But first things first...I better find Kimiko...make sure she hasn't caused any problems. She always seems to find herself in a bind...

 

 

-The Action HERO Duelist-

 

Blue Yonder Spirit Fair...festival thing. It usually was something that he wouldn't enjoy a whole lot, but he did. Namely the chance for students to roam around the grounds in a Duel Monster inspired cosplay. The chance to actually dress up as a hero? ...How could Souji possibly say no?

 

And this cosplay...well, it took him the better side of about five weeks. Now grant it, Souji wasn't all too good with cosplay making, but thankfully he had some help in this department from the school's anime club. But either way, it was ready and he looked damned good in it.

 

With his fedora resting on the top of the cosplay's helmet, he made his way out onto the grounds, feeling very confident with himself. Heh...yeah this is seeming a bit better. Ten times better than my Blazeman cosplay last year. he thought, probably getting a few looks here and there from the other students and faculty. But then again, who were they to judge? It was a festival...he was enjoying himself.

 

But right now, whilst enjoying himself, he was on a mission to find Dirk Noir, the Physical Education instructor. The Duel he saw the day prior still weighed heavily on his mind...and he couldn't help feeling sorry for the "Champion of Justice"... More like the Champion of Weirdness...still, might want to tell Dirk what happened. he thought.

[Alaina]

As the bells rang throughout campus, signalling the time it was, the young Meiko woke up slightly dazed. Having had fun with the events of yesterday, the girl hadn't fallen asleep until far later into the night then what one would ever reasonably recommend, and so with tired eyes she looked at the clock thinking that now was no time to be awake. As she rolled in her covers trying to get back into the land of comfortable sleep, her eyes briefly crossed over her calendar, before she closed them again. As she started resting once more, she suddenly felt as though she was forgetting something big. Was there something she had to do today? Homework, probably, but that could wait until the night. The idea stirring in her head a bit longer, the girl couldn't seem to get comfortable enough to sleep, when finally she opened her eyes wide in realization what it might have been. Flinging off her covers, the girl sprang out of bed to see just what it day it was.

 

Feeling a tad disappointed in herself for thinking of just sleeping through it, Meiko then rushed to get herself properly spirited up. As such, rushing into her wardrobe, clothes were thrown every which way, leaving quite a mess on the floor, before she had finally gotten herself completely dressed up. While she wore her usual white shirt, the rest of her outfit had distinct difference then her norm. Her usual red scarf and hair clips were replaced by a blue variant of them, with her arms covered by a blue jacket that seemed to be a size larger than what would actually fit her, and legs covered in blue sweat pants. Looking at herself in the mirror, though her hair was still in a mess, the girl seemed to be content with all of the Blue Yonder paraphernalia that she had acquired last year. With all of that done, the girl shoved open the door with a large smile on her face as she went to go take on the world once again. 

 

As she exited her dorm and walked throughout campus, the place was alive with activity. Everywhere she looked there seemed to be something to do. People were mingling about, carnival like games were being held, booths will all manner of artists working, and many more things that Meiko could not possibly hope to cover all of in just a single post. And so, for now Meiko was just meandering about the scene trying to find someone to spend her time with in assisting with such carnival like activities.

[VCR_CAT]

Katsu Tanaka

 

Katsu had to wake up earlier than usual that day. The Tanaka Dojo wanted to have a booth at the spirit festival this year, to see if they could get any more students to enroll in their program. Of course, being the daughter and oldest child of the dojo's owner meant that Katsu needed to help set up that booth and run it. While three of her younger brothers were helping out with the booth, two of them were still a little too young to really take any responsibility. So, in the end, Katsu and the oldest of her brothers, Roku, did most of the work for setting up the booth. All four of them wore more traditional gi's than their usual attire, and while Katsu and Roku stood behind the booth with stacks of pamphlets in front of them, Aki and Taki, the younger brothers, were running around the booth and causing a general ruckus.

 

"Aki, Taki, quit running around; you're going to run into someone!" Katsu scolded her brothers as she grabbed them by the backs of their gi's.

 

"C'mon, sis! We wanna see the fair!" Aki complained, struggling against Katsu's grip.

 

"Yeah this is BORING! Nobody's shown up yet anyways!" Taki chimed in.

 

"No, dad told us we needed to look after the booth! We don't need you guys getting lost out there!"

 

"Aawww!!" both boys moaned at the same time. Katsu felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down. Roku was shorter than her, despite being only a couple years younger.

 

"Hey, things are quiet now. I'll keep an eye on 'em and just look around; burn off that energy and we'll be right back before it gets busy," Roku offered with a smile.

 

Katsu let out a sigh and let the two little boys go. "Fine, you guys can go take a look around. Just stick with Roku."

 

Aki and Taki both cheered loudly and ran off as Roku went after them. Katsu walked back behind the booth and stood there. It was still fairly early and people were only just milling in. However, what was more frustrating was who decided to set up just across from them. Right opposite to the Tanaka booth was the Hoshi booth, with none other than Akira heading it up. "Just typical," Katsu growled under her breath. She didn't hate him, but this extra competition was certainly not welcome at the festival.

[The Warden]

Coach Hardass

 

Ah, Duel Monster Spirit Day; a day when Dirk could finally bring "that one outfit" out of his cupboard without fear of being compared to Salem. In charge of keeping all of these rugrats in line for the day, the PE teacher was dressed in a much more formfitting variant of Performapal Salutiger's attire, with a shako perfectly balanced on his head to boot. Right now he was patrolling the various club stalls, and honest to god he was hankering for a smoke right now. Dirk waved idly to several students who waved first as he trudged past, the bolts on his boots jingling. For the record, he probably could have shilled out a bit more for a wig and some facepaint, but that would require him to be a complete tard, like that weirdo who dressed up like Amazoness Tiger. Hmm, someone's doing a bake sale. Well, a cupcake wouldn't hurt. Lord knows he needs to keep his blood sugar up since he was working all day. Why the PE teacher was even required to do that was beyond him. He was already working his butt off in preparation for the tournament anyways.

 

---

 

The Champion of Strangeness

 

Salem had barricaded himself in his room since last night... that is all.

[VCR_CAT]

Hiraku Tsukino

 

The festival was the perfect excuse to get out of the house for the day. Normally Hiraku would need to spend his sunday doing any variety of chores, or doing homework ("putting his nose to the grindstone" as his dad would call it). But, this was a great reason to get out of the house and actually take the time to look over his deck for once. While mostly everyone was walking through the booths (Hiraku having already spotted and waved at Coach Dirk), Hiraku had found a table out by the food booths where he could really lay his cards... on the table, so to speak.

 

"Hey, what the?" Hiraku exclaimed as he flitted through his Extra Deck, removing from it a copy of Red Dragon Archfiend. Hiraku broke out in a quiet laugh. "When did I put this trash in here? Could've sworn I already got a Scarlight!"

 

Hiraku slotted the card back into the Extra Deck, not really having anything else to replace it with at the time being. "Don't know what I was thinking putting that in there; never gonna win a duel with a piece of literal garbage."

 

There wasn't much else to do just staring at cards wondering what to replace them with, so Hiraku sorted the cards and slipped them back into the deck's case. Standing up, he glanced around the festival ground. Everyone was in high spirits with a cosplay or laughing group around every corner. Hiraku hadn't gone to the festival with anyone, not that he had anyone in particular to hang out with. Any of his 'friends' were really more just acquaintances from class than anything. They knew each other by name and that was about it.

 

Still, it was nice to be out of the home and where all the action was. Maybe the day would prove to be more entertaining than he expects.

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

Elizabeth sat down next to Yushiro, immediately swiping his deck off of the table, flipping through the cards. "Well, first we'll have to weed out all the cards that could be considered 'overly conditional'" Elizabeth perked up, and looked over at Yushiro. “Why don’t you go ahead and take out those cards, I’ll look over your pile, and tell you if I would change anything. Again, the cards that require too many conditions to meet, don’t fit the theme of the deck, or are just plain slow. We’ve no need for those.”

 

Yushiro nodded, and began to disassemble his deck, placing his cards into neat piles based on card type: monster, spell, and trap. When he’d finished sorting all 47 cards in his main deck, he took his extra deck from his deck box and laid each card out so that all six of them were visible. “Soooo…” He scratched the back of his head. “How do I know what’s overly conditional or not, exactly. Everything in here works with other cards in the deck already.”

 

Elizabeth smiled slightly, her teeth had a small shine from intense care, another piece of her person that gave the image that she was well kept, “It can be hard to part with cards when you’ve seen them work in the ideal situation. But what we seek to accomplish is figuring out what cards will work in a bad situation. Combinations of cards that couldn’t possibly fail you. Understand?” Elizabeth reached down to the table, and filtered out a few cards from the pile, “Like your Tyrant Wing here. Tell me why you’ve got this card in your deck, before we talk about it.”

 

“Its there in case my Stardust Dragon needs a little extra attack power. 2500 isn’t particularly high, and it’s the only substantial synchro monster I really own, so.” Yushiro thought a moment, remembering the events of the day he beat Kimiko, then went into his box of miscellaneous cards and placed Salem Noir’s Goyo synchro monsters on the table. “These aren't mine, but while I’m holding onto them we might as well include them in my deck, right?”

 

“I agree, Yushiro, that Tyrant Wing has potential as a card to give you a little extra when you’ve got no more to give, but I would say that for a dragon deck, not just for the sake of Stardust.” Elizabeth took the Tyrant Wing and set it aside, “We must also consider that this is a trap card, which are already slower than your average card, but you’re playing a trap card for a monster you might not even see. If you’ve placed this in the hope that you see Stardust, and never do, you’ve removed an entire zone from your backline that your opinion will have at their disposal.” Elizabeth adjusted her hair over her collarbone once more while looking over the Goyo monsters, “Hm. Well, I would say they improve your extra deck, yes.”

 

“It won me my last game though….” Yushiro sighed. “I guess i’ll drop it. Sooooooooo. More cards like Tyrant Wing…” He began flipping through his piles, stopping at one card or another but not removing anything just yet. Then he came to Cup of Ace. “I have a lot of cards like this in here, too. I know they aren’t always good, but they’ve saved me so many times. And they’re fun too!” Yushiro pulled a gaming coin from his pocket, flipping it onto the table. It landed on heads: Cup of Ace’s positive outcome. “See? Two draws!”

 

Elizabeth giggled slightly at his disappointment, “Come now Yushiro, you and I can both agree your last win wasn’t exactly the most reliable. Cup of Ace is certainly a fun card, and a gambling deck is one of the most high risk, high reward types out there. But just as they can give you two draws,” Elizabeth took the coin from the table and flipped it herself: tails. She pointed to the coin, “Is it worth giving your opponent another two cards? If you play this while you’re ahead in the duel, you risk losing your lead, and if you play it while you’re behind to gain a lead, you may as well kiss the duel goodbye.”

 

“While I know that..” Yushiro took the coin and flipped it repeatedly as he spoke. He didn’t bother to look at the outcomes this time, but he was somehow able to flawlessly snatch it from mid-air without looking after each flip. “It almost always seems to work out for me.” In an attempt to punctuate his statement, Yushiro opened his palm instead of trying to catch the coin, which landed at an awkward angle and rolled onto the table. Tails up. He let out a nervous laugh.

 

Elizabeth let out a small sigh and placed her hand on Yushiro’s shoulder; her thin, bony hands were rather cold, even through cloth that was evident, “I don’t mean to sap the fun from your deck. Truthfully, the point is to do the opposite. By removing risks you abandon the possibility of losing a duel you should win, even if it wins you some duels you should lose. I learned that from one of the professors here, and it’s true. If it were all for fun and games I would run a full deck of dice and coin cards, but the duel you’ve next week…” Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably, attempting to look into Yushiro’s eyes if they were available; she knew this was an uncomfortable topic for Yushiro, although she hadn’t considered the possibility that sitting so close, staring eye to eye might not be any less nerve wracking, “It’s not something you want to present risks for. I hope you agree. We can add and subtract cards to this deck to make it vacuum tight, and then you’ve nothing to worry about.”

 

Yushiro felt his cheeks get a little flush, and looked back toward his cards after a few seconds of eye contact. Truth be told, he felt ever so slightly embarrassed. He knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose, but she’d made him feel a little…. Stupid? Naive? Whatever the word was, for trying to keep these cards in his deck. She was right after all. “Well…. Lets take a few of these out then.” He didn’t look back at her, instead focussing on removing some of his chance cards. Time Wizard, Roulette Spider, Dangerous Machine Type 6, they all had to go, at least for now. He had to make room for other things… if they were available. “Its below 40 now. Do you see anything else we should take out?”

 

Elizabeth nodded, “I think we’re okay.” The tension in the room had become a bit thicker, but Elizabeth kept her cool; she most certainly gave off a confident vibe in this situation, despite the uncertainty Yushiro was most certainly feeling. Instead of reeling back, or allowing the nerves in the room to take over, she gave a reassuring smile to her new student, “This is going great, Yushiro. I think we can start adding some new life to your deck now.” She gestured to his spare cards, but before she let the moment fade, “I know it can be a little weird having another student tell you your deck is all wrong; I’m certain you put a lot of effort into it. If you really feel strongly about something you’re taking out, we can always work with it. You’re the star of the show, after all.” she smiled again, nodding with more certainty this time, “I’m just the person in your corner.”

 

Yushiro pondered a moment, looking over the cards he’d just taken out of his deck. “Know what? I’ll keep one in here.” He gave Elizabeth a smile of his own and slipped Roulette Spider back into his spell pile. “It just wouldn’t be well… mine without it. I know that sounds weird and silly… and stuff…” Just as quickly as it appeared, his smile faded. Why did it matter so much? “I guess pros don’t really look at their cards this way, huh.”

 

Elizabeth reached for her mug of coffee, pulling her legs up onto the couch and laying into the corner, “I’m not sure I would know how they do that, Yushiro. My decks were always very high risk. It was only really when I got here that winning started to mean a lot to me. Now this is the only way I really know how to make decks.” she laughed slightly, “My brother was always really good at dueling, so I didn’t want to have lower grades.” she nodded, taking a sip of her coffee.

 

“I’m not….. Being difficult, am I?” He wasn’t sure if it was right, but Yushiro’s intuition told him something was bothering her. He got up from his chair and plopped himself down on the opposite end of the couch. Maybe a break was in order?

 

Elizabeth quirked a brow at Yushiro, “Hm? Heavens no. Being attached to cards is pretty common for b-... duelists that need some direction.” she pursed her lips, “Unless you’re referring to something else?” Elizabeth had hoped her nerves towards the comment Katsu had made last night weren’t evident; she knew dressing especially pretty was a bad idea. Or was it the talk of Todd? Couldn’t have been, she had been pretty good about talking about it today! Elizabeth took another sip of coffee, attempting to loosen the tightness now materializing in the bottom of her throat. This was pretty unlike Elizabeth, but the idea of being put on the spot in what was supposed to be a tutoring session wasn’t particularly auspicious to the girl. She was hoping this would be more natural. Tutoring usually was.

 

“You can say it you know. Calling me a bad player doesn’t bother me.” He gave her a smile, and a genuine one at that. “I play Duel Monsters because I think it’s fun and interesting. Being good at it never really factored into things… until recently. I know, not something you’re supposed to hear from a student at the prestigious Blue Yonder Academy.”

 

Elizabeth suddenly became rather flush, “No, no I didn’t mean it like that!” Elizabeth instinctively allowed a nervous smile to slip through her lips as she fiddled with the ends of her hair, which fell just below her bare collarbone, “I just meant to say some of your tactics were a little suspect, I’m sure you’re a fine player. Heavens know I’m not  one to harp on someone for not taking victory seriously. I just like to help people who still do,” The room felt unusually warm all of a sudden; Elizabeth knew something must be up. She kept this place freezing intentionally. Was she full on blush? This was becoming exasperating. Should she just say something? It didn’t feel natural. Silence was much better.

 

Yushiro let out a giggle. This must be how he looked to other people most of the time, and it was both funny and refreshing to see the tables turn a little bit. “Seriously… you don’t need to worry about offending me.” He looked back at the table a moment, then over at Elizabeth again. “I think… it’d probably be better if you were blunt with me anyway, right?” Unconsciously,  Yushiro’s gaze began to move from Elizabeth’s face to the rest of her form. It was only now he noticed that she looked… different today. It took a couple of seconds for it to dawn on him that this was the first time he’d seen her with her hair down, and this in turn led him to thinking that she looked really pretty that wa-

 

He shook his head like a dog shaking off water, forcibly banishing his train of thought. “That is uhh… i-if you weren’t already. I tend to read too much into things sometimes, y-ya know?”  He hoped his face wasn’t the redder of the two now, but chances were it was.

 

Elizabeth took a breath in through her nose, attempting to bring a level back to her person, realizing he was still on the topic of the card game. Thank Goodness. Although it was about then that she began to take notice of his stare… and it did not seem very focused on cards. Oh goodness, is he checking me out? What a devil! Just as quickly as the blush faded, it had returned. She turned to the table, aiming to set her now empty mug on the coffee table, “Well I certainly wouldn’t say I’m hiding anything from yo-” As she had set the mug down, the handle knocked off the spoon she had used to stir her creamer earlier onto the blue carpeted floor below.

 

“Agh, sorry about that. I’m making a mess over here.” Elizabeth instinctively reached for the spoon with her right hand, but instead found it resting on top of Yushiro’s own, as he too had gotten up and attempted to help her clean. Yushiro quickly withdrew his hand.

 

“Oops. Uhh-m-m-my bad.” He gulped. Was he sweating? If it hadn't been plainly obvious before, it was certainly clear that he was frazzled now. Yushiro’s face was a rosy shade of pink, and he’d thoughtlessly flung the spoon across the room when he yanked his hand away. Why oh why could he never keep his cool?

 

She took a sharp breath in when she realized she had actually grabbed Yushiro’s hand instead, recoiling her fingers inward. Yushiro was nowhere near as controlled as she when it came to leaving the spoon, instead choosing to practically throw it across the room, her eyes opened wide as the spoon rattled against the tile floor. A moment of silence passed, and Elizabeth began to laugh a full, chesty laugh. The blush on her face, as well as the bangs falling into her face now gave her a happy, almost careless look. After a moment of laughter, she carefully wiped a tear from her eye, being careful not to smear her makeup. She stood up, slapping her hands against Yushiro’s knees, “Goodness, aren’t we just the most awkward thing on the planet?” She stood up fully, looking over to the spoon, “The spoon reminds me, though. I promised you lunch! Maybe we should take a break for now? I’ve just been to the market. I hope you’re a fan of rice; not much else sides my plates these days.” Elizabeth nodded, attempting, once again, to diffuse the awkwardness, or at least show as if she wasn’t melting on the inside with nerves until she made it to the sink to try and calm herself.

 

As was usually the case when his nerves got the better of him, Yushiro stood dumbly for a couple of seconds, processing everything. Thankfully, he regained control of himself just in time to laugh along with his tutor, though not nearly as intensely. Still, it was enough to shake him back to his senses. “Y-yeah. A break sounds good.” It felt like he’d been in her apartment for quite awhile, though he surmised that it hadn't been longer than an hour. “Rice is fine by m- wait are you making lunch?” he asked, surprised.

 

Elizabeth chuckled as she made her way over to the kitchen area, “Of course I’m making you lunch, Yushiro. Anyone who has to put up with me for over an hour at least deserves a hot lunch. I’ve had rice in the steamer all morning, and i’m just waiting for the oven to go off now. You’re telling me you eat at those halls?” Elizabeth exhaled, exasperatedly, as she made her way to the sink to wash her hands. What has gotten into me? You would think that boy and I have been seeing eachother for months with this kind of nonsense.

 

“We don’t really have a choice in the matter. Our dorms don’t have kitchens.” Truth be told, he was beaming now. The prospect of a home-cooked meal, something he rarely got to enjoy during his migratory childhood, had him excited… even if it was just something simple with a side of rice. Remembering his manners, he added. “Can I help you with anything? Or should I go over my deck a little more maybe?”

 

“Oh I’ll be just fine. Just have to make a salad. You continue looking over the deck we’ve started to deconstruct. If you don’t have anything to add to it, I’ve taken some cards from my personal collection you might find of use for now, until you’ve your own. Sound good to you, then? Elizabeth turned to the refrigerator, pulling out various vegetables for their lunch.

 

“You don’t need to go that far for me... really. I took one of your cards already, remember?” He joked, referring to Vishnu. What in the hell was even going on right now? First the spoon thing and now she was… cooking for him. For real. There was no denying that it all put him in a good mood, but… something was off about it all. Usually-no always, situations like this tended to go south for him. He’d either say something or somehow or another the situation would go awry. He couldn’t for the life of him make sense of why he hadn’t made the whole affair unbearably awkward in spite of himself. “And uhh, I guess there’s only so much you can do with an archetype deck like mine, anyway. Maybe if I look at it fresh later something will come to me.”

 

Elizabeth silently chopped vegetables at her kitchen island while Yushiro talked; she wanted to respond to him, but at the moment things felt very serene in her apartment. She was fairly used to cooking for herself so even if it was perfectly normal to prepare a meal for someone visiting your living space, it felt special to her. Todd was a lousy cook and an even bigger whiner, so Elizabeth cooked most of the meals for the twins. Having to prepare for two was usually a burden for most people, but for her it was almost like a treat. She curled a bang behind her right ear, simultaneously observing the evenness of her cuts; they were okay. Some of the tomatoes came out a bit chunky. She chuckled while scooping the veggies evenly into two salad bowls, looking over at him, “Yushiro, if I didn’t care about what your deck was going to end up like then I wouldn’t have offered to help. This seems really important to you, so it’s important to me, as someone you’re depending on to help you.” Elizabeth would have continued; after all, she was a bit rambly today, but the oven had just started to beep. She gently removed three carefully prepared chicken breasts from the oven, and placed two on matching plates, to complete their meal. She examined the lunch once over; she sure hoped he would like it. Elizabeth loaded a tray with the various materials and plates required to have lunch and walked over to the coffee table, setting it on the end where the cards were not. Two tall glasses of water sat next to the food.

 

“I made an extra one if you’re really hungry… I never know how much to cook, so I usually have leftovers. Anyway, help yourself. Do you like water? I can get you something else, I think.” Elizabeth sat back down where she was previously, taking her plates with her, and setting them on the corner, as to keep all potentially tragic materials away from the cards in question.

 

“Water’s fine, and uhh, thank you again for the food, Liz.” His eyes widened as he realized that he’d used an overly friendly nickname. “Y-you don’t mind me calling you that, do you?” He took a plate, moving his cards over and safely out of the way so that he could eat with peace of mind. His cheeks were still rosy, and they were likely to stay that way, considering the fact that Elizabeth was now center in Yushiro’s line of sight. He tried his best to focus on the food to avoid unintentionally staring at her. “This is really good.”

 

Elizabeth had already taken a small mouthful of food when he began talking to her; truthfully, she was starved because of the preparation she had taken for their lunch in the morning, combined with the time she took to prepare her own look. She simply waved her hand as she swallowed, signifying that she had an answer for him, “Certainly not. People call me Liz, Beth, I’ve learned to respond to it all.” She gave him another smile. They sat there in silence for a few moments, just enjoying their meal.

 

“Oh, thank you.” Elizabeth cooed, relieved to have received a compliment to her cooking, “I always worry that my guests won’t care much for my cooking. Health food doesn’t exactly get people going as much as pub food.” she giggled, “But it keeps me in dancing shape, so sadly onion rings don’t find their way into my meals often. Do you have any hobbies, Yushiro?”

 

“‘Course I do… but uhhh…. Most people aren’t into the sort of things I like… Too weird I guess…” He took another bite and glanced over at the coin on the table. “What makes you ask?” He took another peek at her face before his eyes went back to his plate.

 

“Well, I was just mentioning the fact that I love to dance, so I was wondering if maybe you had something you did to relax or have fun. Unless you just duel all the time, I know a few people like that.” She had caught him sneaking a peek at her a few times now, but the whole thing was starting to become rather flattering. She tried to not to let on too much that she was starting to enjoy the attention; even if it was a bunch of nothing, she was finding him, at the very least, comforting to talk to. The room had started to take more of a natural feeling to it; a stark contrast to the thick, inescapable nervousness from before.

 

‘Well I mean, I do duel a lot, but I’m not one of those people, no. I like… games in general. Board games card games, all of it.” He looked back and forth, as if checking to see if other people were around. “Especially role playing games… I’m kind of a nerd.” His face got a little redder, though this time it was because he was slightly embarrassed. Why was he telling her this? Liz didn’t need to know how much of a dork he was, after all.

 

Elizabeth nodded, she had a bit of a smirk on her face; while she wasn’t expecting him to be a sports star or anything, this was a new one for her. She giggled, “Well, while I cannot say I’ve any experience with that kind of thing, if that’s what you love to do, I’m sure it’s worthwhile. I guess for me dueling was always a bit of an academic thing. I can be a bit of a free spirit; I like to dance and sing.” Elizabeth set her plate down, now mostly empty, and she began to run her fingers through her hair, “My parents said those kinds of careers are all dead now, though, so I should stick to this stuff. Blue Yonder was the right place for me to, according to them.” That flush feeling had started to return to Elizabeth’s cheeks, something deep in her gut was telling her that Katsu was on to something the day before, and now that feeling was stronger than ever. A nervous smile returned to her face, as she stammered slightly, “But I uhm, I guess they were right to some degree. It’s brought me to some really great people.” Elizabeth smiled at Yushiro; she wouldn’t say it flat out, but she had enjoyed their lunch together. It wasn’t much, but there was something floating around them in the room; it was the same when they confronted in the street. Call it hormones, but Elizabeth was now not able to deny that she felt something.

 

“That’s really great! I guess I could say the same thing, actually. I’ve started making more friends since I came here last year.” Yushiro returned her smile. He felt content, almost as if he’d accomplished something, despite the incompleteness of the deck next to him on the table.

 

 

 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

-The Action HERO Duelist-

 

Souji continued to walk around the festival/fair in his Chaos cosplay, trying his best to enjoy himself. However, there were the occasional moments when some people stopped him to take pictures, some of them were little kids who came to enjoy the festivities. Souji, of course, didn't mind it too much. Honestly, he knew kids needed more role models out there...be it real life role models or even those who were made up.

 

Regardless, Souji did his civil duty as the aspiring Action Hero he was trying to be, and made time to make the day memorable for them. He let them take their pictures before letting them run off. That's what I like to see...if they can at least smile and enjoy themselves, I've done my job. he thought, turning around on his heel. At least they saw him for this outward appearance and not who he was under this mask.

 

But now wasn't the time to think like this....

 

Souji approached one of the baking stalls, before seeing a familiar individual dressed up as Salutiger. He smirked as he approached the Salutiger cosplayer and stood beside him, arms crossed. "Heh, hitting the sweets already, Dirk-sensei?" he chuckled. "I'm joking, though I'm surprised your even dressed up for today. And especially in the Salutiger outfit..."

 

 

-The Crystal Apprentice-

 

Roy was still actually surprised at the turn out that this festival had to offer. Not only the many activities that went on, but the definite care and love that went on into some people's cosplays. He saw a HERO cosplay earlier, but it was obvious that the person was in a hurry.

 

Though at the same time, Roy did need to hurry up and find Kimiko. "Alright...if I was a hot headed Duelist...where would I...?" he asked himself, before turning around to see a familiar face in the crowd some ways a way. Of course, it was Kimiko, apparently just looking around the festival's stalls. It had probably been one of the first ones she had been to in a long while, he guessed...but regardless, he approached Kimiko and waved some.

 

"And I was hoping to find you here!" Roy chuckled, smiling some. "So, didn't exactly get a chance to ask you about yesterday. What did you think of my Duel? Heh, bet you were pretty surprised about the new techniques I learned since our last Duel, huh?"

[Draconus297]

Emma Pathos

 

Quietly, the aspiring psychoanalyst turned the key to Elizabeth's room. As much as she'd vowed to herself to investigate Salem more, the short redhead decided that her primary ( . . . only? More notes required) friend took priority on such a cheerful Sunday morning. Elizabeth didn't get out much, so Emma took it upon herself to prod the slightly older girl into increased social interaction.

 

Apparently, however, one needn't necessarily leave their room to interact socially.

 

The Midori boy and Elizabeth were leaning over a table, blushing, and murmuring back and forth. Could they be discussing something that particularly embarrassed one or the other?

 

Emma froze. She'd actually succeeded in increasing Elizabeth's social success, but making a sound now might undo the progress she'd made. She couldn't leave, the door might startle them.

 

Emma Pathos had gone from a psychologist to a naturalist in one fell swoop- the silent prayer of please don't move, please don't move, please don't move would be familiar to those who studied particularly skittish wild animals.

 

Naturally, Emma wound up sneezing.

 

======

 

Dee Skize

 

Wig-on-wig.

 

Layer of clothes underneath an elaborate prop outfit.

 

A cosplay of Yushiro Midori cosplaying as Stardust Dragon: complete!

 

What a wonderful morning for cosplay!

 

Dee couldn't stifle her smile, but given that the events of the day were the kind anyone could enjoy she felt that it worked. She'd had to ditch the adorable Speedroid Taketonborg plushie to make this particular outfit work, but she again justified it with the belief that even the real Yushiro would not walk around with the little thing in full cosplay like this.

 

And besides, she was right! No one asked any questions- people even complimented "Yushiro" on "his" excellent Stardust Dragon outfit.

 

Perfection~

[a coffee]

 

Elizabeth chuckled, and felt a slight warmness inside; was she one of those people he considered friends? Was she more? Less? So many questions had gone through her mind, a feeling that was, to some degree, being reciprocated by the boy sitting on the other side of her couch. His stares, the returned smiles, the tenderness in the way he approached a conversation... it hadn't gone unnoticed. Elizabeth might be beautiful, and she takes excellent care of herself, but she is far from personable these days, and this was one of the first times in a long time she had such a nice conversation with someone. For it to be someone she hardly knew... it was all just so unexpected, but certainly welcomed. She wondered if she should maybe start pushing the envelope just a bit...

 

*achoo!*

 

There was a sneeze; it was small, it was kind of cute, too, it definitely hadn't come from Yushiro... oh god somebody was here!

 

Elizabeth straightened up, stiff as a board, face going completely red, to the point of mortification. She whirled around to see none other than one of her closest friends, Emma, standing in the doorway. How long had she been standing there watching them! Elizabeth quickly gathered up the plates from lunch and placed them on the tray. She brushed herself off, flattening out any wrinkles or any other imperfections in her outfit, waving to Emma, motioning for her to come in.

 

"Oh, Emma! Hi! I wasn't expecting you so early.." she let out a nervous laugh, motioning to Yushiro, "Yushiro and I here were just finishing up our tutoring session. I think it's going well! Have you two met?" Elizabeth nodded to Yushiro, now remembering that this was a tutoring session and not a lunch date, "Alright well, this was good Yushiro... maybe we can meet again soon? If you don't want to walk all the way out to the Azure dorms we could always meet at the tutoring center or... somewhere else, I guess." 

 

After Yushiro would inevitably end up deciding to leave, Elizabeth considered giving him a hug, but instead opted for an awkward open-handed wave, walking him out of the apartment and closing the door behind him. She would then, without pause, go marching up to Emma, face still beet red, "How much did you see?! How long were you just standing in my doorway being a weirdo??!" She was so riled up from the embarrassment that tears almost started to well up in her eyes. The adrenaline from so much raw emotion at once was completely taking over now. She closed her eyes, and inhaled deep through her nose, walking towards her coffee table to get a napkin from lunch, wiping her eyes with the corner of the napkin, as to not smear her eyeliner. Her voice was a little shaky, but calm, "I'm sorry Emma, I didn't mean to yell. I'm just embarrassed. A lot has happened this morning, and I haven't really talked to you a lot so I'm sure it looked really weird and-" she turned, giving an exhausted smile at Emma, accompanied by a sigh, "Can I maybe get you lunch? There are leftovers for the one I made Yushiro and I this afternoon. It might be easier for me to just sit down and tell you all about my weekend."

[Alaina]

The older man had sighed as he saw the kids going about their business in this school spirit festival. The festival was something that, while he attended here, the now teacher had never really given much care for. In spite of this, the rest of the faculty very much did. And so, like most of them, he had been here in assisting its set up since an hour that most of the students likely wouldn't have even thought to be awake at. Even worse, given his status as one of this prestigious school's art teachers, it fell to him and his peers to create the decorations and coordinate the set up for the event itself. As such, Nijiro was tired. Since the set up had been finished, he had been sitting back in a chair trying to rest, keeping his somewhat heavy eyes closed as he awaited for the children to arrive. It was not enough to have aided in the event itself, but he was also expected to stay for the entirety of the event, keeping a watchful eye out for any trouble that may need resolving amongst the students.

 

Slowly but surely, the students started to trickle into the event, and as the minutes turned to an hour, the children from all across campus were flooding in. As they did, Nijiro got up from his resting place and started to walk around, paying less attention to the actual events and more so what it was the students were doing. If anyone were to look at Nijiro they would see that he looked almost exactly the same as he did on any given day at school. His same purple dress shirt and tie, with the black suit pants that he wore. His eyes, though having bags under them, were hidden beneath the pair of black sunglasses that he wore. Overall, if there was school spirit to be found at this festival, one would in no way find it on Nijiro's person. With that done, he continued to walk around the festival.

[Yui]

---

Ah yes, the Blue Yonder School Spirit Fair! Bronislav's favorite time of the year. It was a time of festivity, where the students celebrated the joy they felt over getting to attend this prestigious academy. It was a time of fun, with stalls and duels alike all over the place. It was a time of friendship, where all the students and staff were able to mingle as equals! Naturally, Bronislav had been hard at work the day before, baking up a storm at home in preparation for this annual festival. Boy, did his efforts pay off! While many of the people gathered at the festival enjoyed dressing up as duel monsters, Bronislav was never one for such things. He was not about to dress up as someone he wasn't; he would not be Bronislav then. The wagon behind him, however, had been painted and decorated up to resemble a Madolche Baaple. As the chef and his sheep-looking wagon pulled up to a set of stalls, the stone slab of a man stopped, and looked at the girl running the stall before him. Bronislav then kneeled down, reaching into the wagon behind him and procuring a large plastic container as he stood back up.

 

"Hello there Miss Tanaka! Are you enjoying the festival?" Bronislav then popped the container open, revealing a plethora of baked goodies inside. Cupcakes with blue icing sat on one side of the container, and on the other, small baggies containing a few blue cookies with white chocolate chips each. Between the cupcakes and cookies rested a trio of small blueberry pies neatly cut into six slices each, which looked and smelled much fresher than the cupcakes or cookies, as though he'd baked them just that morning. "I come bearing presents for you; pick one. It will be a long day if you are running this booth, so a little refreshment shall go a long way. Plus, it helps me get rid of all the ingredients that have filled up my cabinets! Aaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

 

The container within the culinary teacher's hands shook slightly as his body rocked with his hearty laugh.

The Blue Yonder School Spirit Fair! As Kimiko herself would confirm, being her wasn't always the best thing ever. High expectations from social elites of parents meant that a lot of Kimiko's downtime - her legitimate downtime - had to go toward doing what they wanted her to do. This meant many boring social events with other corporate figures, which had a nasty habit of lining up with holidays, and more out-of-school tutoring classes than she'd like. As a result, festivals weren't something Kimiko got to attend often. But this one? Hell yes she was attending! Normally a fan of the color red, Kimiko was casting aside her color preference today in light of the fair's nature. Today, she was dressed up in a blue yukata. When Kimiko Hatakeyama attends a festival, as with all things she does, she goes all-in.

 

She hadn't purchased much just yet; thus far, Kimiko had mostly looked at the booths, discussed her plans for the day with her parents over the phone, and had one brief moment where a squirrel was trying to bother her and she had to shoo it off. That was then, however. Now was a time to relax. I've earned it, Kimiko told herself. She had just purchased some cotton candy on a stick when - out the corner of her eye - she saw a hand waving and a person approaching. Turning to face the source, and...Kimiko should have known.

 

"And I was hoping to find you here! So, didn't exactly get a chance to ask you about yesterday. What did you think of my Duel? Heh, bet you were pretty surprised about the new techniques I learned since our last Duel, huh?"

 

Kimiko was taken back to yesterday's duel. Roy's spectacular comeback and defeat against Salem had all gone exactly as she hoped it would, and she got some great footage to boot. Just thinking about it brought a smile to her face. Kimiko took a bite from the sweet ball of fluff in her hand, and nodded affirmingly. Once she swallowed, she replied with four words. "You did pretty good," she smiled.

[King K. Azo]

Akira stood by his booth, feeling quite proud of himself. After a weekend of hard work, he was able to create his perfect cosplay. With samurai shoulder pads, goggles, exhaust pipes on his shoulders, and a nice orange scarf flowing in the wind, he looked like a dead ringer for Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei. At the moment, he was standing by his booth, all by his lonesome as he watched Katsu bicker with her brothers. Being an only child, Akira didn't have much experience, although he did have some dojo members that were like family. 
 
Most people were enjoying the festival, which Akira really wanted to do to. He would stay here though, be steadfast and make sure that he at least made someone think about joining the dojo. He knew as soon as he left, people would flood Katsu's booth. Then he'd never hear the end of it. In fact, here came one now. 

The school cook came by, looking jollier than Santa Claus. "Hello there Miss Tanaka! Are you enjoying the festival? I come bearing presents for you; pick one. It will be a long day if you are running this booth, so a little refreshment shall go a long way. Plus, it helps me get rid of all the ingredients that have filled up my cabinets! Aaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

 

"Um... can I, the man Akira have some to?" He asked a bit meekly. He hated asking for handouts... but they looked so good!

 

---

Sai sighed as he rubbed his head. He couldn't really wear his Mystigan outfit here, so instead, he dressed up as the Silent Magician, his white robe and hat somehow staying clean. Yes, he knew Silent Magician was a girl, but it was pretty easy to dress up as her, he just had to do it. With a sigh, he sat at a table, looking over his deck. Ever since he lost to Balthy, he had tried to figured out how he could improve his deck, but... he didn't have any ideas. With a sigh, he looked at his duel disk. It was playing a video of a duelist that looked like him, winning yet another duel in the Pro League.

 

He sighed to himself, leaning back and turning off his Duel Disk. Why did he do this to himself? He kept torturing himself, hoping the situation would change, but would it really? 

[The Warden]

Coach Hardass

 

"Heh, hitting the sweets already, Dirk-sensei?" And great, it's that kid. "I'm joking, though I'm surprised your even dressed up for today. And especially in the Salutiger outfit..."

 

"You got a problem with Salutiger Souji?" Dirk inquired as he licked some icing from his lip, half a cupcake balanced neatly on his fingertips. "Cause I'll have you know that Salutiger is a standard everyone should meet in terms of outfits, on Spirit Day anyways."

 

---

 

Celebrity Duelist

 

Ah yes, the ever charitably named "Duel Monster Spirit Day". A day when students are allowed to goof off, make stalls, and indulge in cosplay. Not that there's anything wrong with that, in Syndri's opinion anyways. It brought a smile to his hidden face as he strolled through the various stalls, dressed out in a hauntingly legit cosplay of Guardian Dreadscythe. That alone wasn't really enough to startle to frighten people, which is why he was holding onto a very real replica of the Reaper Scythe - Dreadscythe that was lightly slung over his shoulder.

 

The get-up wasn't completely necessary, but then, it's not every day that Syndri got to dress-up and troll about with one of his Guardian weapon replicas. He could have gone as Eatos with the Celestial Sword, but he needed to keep his face hidden while he was on the prowl. As he did, his mind went back to the conversation from yesterday.

 

"My... lets call him my source, has it on good information that more Sigils are going to start showing up there. I figured you might want to pay the place a visit. Besides, I'm sure the kids would love to meet a professional duelist such as yourself, right? What say I get you in there for a few days?"

 

"A few days? I might as well check things out tomorrow, due to the school holiday they throw."

 

"Holiday?"

 

"It's called the Blue Yonder Spirit Day, or Duel Monster Spirit Day. It's meant to be a day celebrating duel monster spirits, but it's more of an excuse to dress up in cosplay and run stalls and the like. It's one I enjoyed myself back in the day. Still, the general public are usually welcome on that day, so I'll slip in and investigate things myself. And I have the perfect outfit."

 

"The Sigils will start appearing here soon, I just need to find out where" Syndri quietly uttered as he walked into the food aisle.

[Draconus297]

Emma Pathos

 

"I wasn't being weird, Elizabeth, I was trying to avoid interrupting," the redhead said diplomatically, "I'm so excited at seeing you with a friend that isn't me!" The little analyst grinned proudly, and honestly she's not sure if she's more proud of Elizabeth's progress or her own skill at guiding the older girl.

 

"And yes, I'll gladly hear how your weekend has gone, and how it led to you giving lessons to the Midori boy," she smiled widely. "Even if you no longer need my help, I still consider you my friend. And afterwards, perhaps you can help me polish my own Dueling skills . . . I'm probably going to need to take a fall to restore the Noir boy's confidence, but it helps to know I can still win if necessary."

 

======

 

Dee Skize

 

The cosplayer watched with a quiet smile as someone in a quite excellent Dreadscythe cosplay walked by. Dee could only hope that she'd eventually have that kind of budget for professionally-made props as she enviously eyed the Reaper Scythe, but her eyes flicked back to the festival.

 

Cupcake in one hand, flyer from some club in the other, Dee returned to having fun on this lovely, lazy Sunday.

[VCR_CAT]

Katsu Tanaka

 

Katsu was taken off-guard by the school's cooking teacher going about with a large cart full of cupcakes; jolting up at the sound of his booming voice.

 

"Hello there Miss Tanaka! Are you enjoying the festival?" Bronislav asked.

 

"Ah, well, it's just started, and I haven't really gotten to go around and look at--" However, Katsu was very quickly cut off.

 

"I come bearing presents for you; pick one. It will be a long day if you are running this booth, so a little refreshment shall go a long way. Plus, it helps me get rid of all the ingredients that have filled up my cabinets! Aaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

 

Katsu looked into the cart and her mind blanked. The smells and visuals assaulted her sense, and if she could, she'd take one of everything.

 

"I-I'll have a slice of the pie, please," Katsu practically muttered as her eyes were transfixed on the cart.

 

"Splendid! Help yourself!" Bronislav boomed as Katsu reached out for one of the slices and a small plastic fork. Cutting off a small piece with the fork, Katsu took the bite. If her brain was blank before, her eyes visibly lost focus as she melted on the spot. The crust had a flaky, crispy outside with larger crystals of sugar baked into the shell. However, as her teeth sunk past the crispy shell, her tongue was tantalized by a soft, warm, and buttery inside; passing into the sweet blueberries with burst of strong, but not quite overbearing, flavor. 

 

"this pie is amazing..." Katsu whispered in a tiny voice that she could only just barely muster. In fact, the overwhelming flavor of the pie caused her to forget that Akira was even there, not even hearing him ask for something as well. After she swallowed, of course, her brain began to snap back to reality, realizing her brothers would probably kill her if she wasn't letting them get something as well.

 

"Oh, Mr. Bronislav, if you see my brothers they'll probably want a little treat as well. Just make sure it doesn't have... too much sugar. They're out checking out the rest of the festival." Katsu made sure to ask Bronislav while she could still think, sinking her fork into the pie once again.

[Yui]

---

"This pie is amazing... Oh, Mr. Bronislav, if you see my brothers they'll probably want a little treat as well. Just make sure it doesn't have... too much sugar. They're out checking out the rest of the festival."

 

"But of course," Bronislav smiled. "Pay attention in cooking class, and one day you will be able to bake such a pie yourself, Miss Tanaka! I will keep an eye open for your brothers, and give them the cookies. I did not use much sugar for them, in case of dieting students or guests." It was then that the towering chef heard another voice, coming from the booth behind him, opposite Katsu's.

 

"Um... can I, the man Akira have some too?"

 

"Of course, Mister Hoshi!" Turning around with the open container in one hand and the wagon's handle in the other, Bronislav made his way over to Akira's stand, lowering his hand once there so both men could see the baked goods inside. One of the pies was now a slice short, courtesy of Katsu, but the contents were otherwise exactly the same as they were just earlier. "Pick whatever looks the most appealing, my friend."