Would that NOT frighten you? Turning away with a worried cold sweat beading up on my face, I went back to "listening" to the teachers lecture. Only I wasn't actually listening, if I didn't just cue you off. I spent the rest of the class period making paper roses, all in my favorite ruby construction paper. I was needing to buy some Scotch so I could turn my pencils into an art project as well… After class, I went to my locker, still not talking to Yusei, to pick up my Advanced Spell and Trap Pairing books. The first thing I saw that fell out, wasn't a book though. It was a bouquet with a card.

I read the card.

"I was scared to tell you how I feel

because I knew it would become very real.

I wouldn't be able to control it

I wouldn't be able to hide.

So I pushed it deep inside.

But I…

Will swallow my pride.

You're the one that I love

the sweetest rose with sharpest thorns."

It was beautiful, as I expected… But that wasn't what caught me about it. The card; a poem of roses. The flowers: roses, red and black. Nobody here knew me like that. Nobody but one person. Yusei. It… no. It can't be Yusei… can it? Inhaling the sweet perfume of flowers, I felt gentle breath on my neck, and caught scent of fresh pine mixing with my roses.

"Somebody really has it out for you." I turned and realized it was Yusei, staring curiously over my shoulder.

"Y-Yeah…" I agreed shakily, frightened by his surprise entry.

"You look a little pale. Are you okay?" He asked, eyes innocent.

"You just scared me is all… I didn't expect you to be behind me." He gave me a smile of amusement, and we walked together to Advanced Spell and Trap Pairing. It was then I realized we'd spoken to each other for the first time in 20 hours. I had been hoping to give him the silent treatment till Valentine's Day at least, but he'd snuck it out on me. Damn he was a clever one… He knew that if we got a conversation going, I wouldn't want to shut up till it was done. And now since we'd talked, if he said anything else, it'd be impossible to ignore.

While in class, the teacher mentioned an example of good Spell and Trap combining with a few cards I knew well, Rose Curse, (Quick Spell) Black Sakura Wind, (Trap Card) and Petal Gust (Quick Spell). She said that Rose Curse could be activated to drop the attack points of your opponent's monster to zero, during attacking phase, because it was stronger. After that was the trap Black Sakura Wind, a card allowing you to attack your opponent because he/she attacked you. Then Petal Gust, a quick spell letting you serve out extra damage equal to half your monster's original attack points. It was indeed, a genius combination that I thought to include with my Black Rose Deck.

Yusei and Leo beside me scribbled a response on how they may counter this, as everyone who didn't have a plant based deck did as well. Ms. Aoi, (who I could tell Yusei was resenting for her déjà vu name to the Aoi incident) called on him as he began to nod off after recording his response. He read it aloud, receiving claps for his intelligence.

"Yes that's right. A good way intercept this would be with cards like Scrap Iron Scarecrow to halve the damage done to you. This would fail towards effect damage, but you would be spared the brunt of it." She agreed, drawing an example on the board. As she stretched upwards, her skirt lifted a considerable amount, just enough to expose her muscular rear end a bit. A couple of the senior boys snickered, whispering fervently to each other. One of them, a blonde with green eyes and a sprinkling of freckles popped an eraser towards the left half of her rear and I was infuriated.

Their chairs snapped backwards, leaving them all with bruised skulls and twisted plastic of the chairs around them. This left the other kids of the room looking afraid of me, but also laughing at the fools who'd eraser popped the teacher's ass. Storming out of the classroom as Yusei stared over at me with disapproval, I punched the wall angrily. Yusei joined me outside, and I was ready for the scolding.

"What was that?" He said. "What they did was wrong. What you did was not an accident."

"They deserved it! You can't treat a teacher like she's some kind of Playboy icon when she's 34 and married." He shook his head.

"I know you're mad, but you can't just…"

"Yusei, I just did it. Did I genuinely hurt them? No. Get over it." The bell rang, signaling that the least stimulating of our classes was over. I turned away from Yusei, walking to Physical Education, which I shared with him, but I didn't have to share the hall with him as well. As I turned the corner I was assaulted. Two boys, one a ginger with blue eyes, and the other a blonde similar to the pervert in class pushed me into the lockers.

"Just where do you think you're going, sweetie?" The ginger purred.

"Nowhere," I replied, trying to cut a path through the gap between him and the blonde. Instead, Blondie caught me, pulling me back by the waist.

"If you're going nowhere, why don't you stick around with us for a bit?" His smile was angelic, but the eyes were beyond evil. I once again tried to break away, but he knocked me back against the locker, and the ginger boy cupped my chin.

"I'm Ginseng, and this is Shirohata." I turned my face away from Ginseng as he introduced him and his friend. "You're that witch aren't you?" He chortled a bit. "Maybe you could work some magic for me and my buddy here…" Shirohata pushed him aside, shoving me to my knees and pushing my head against the locker. He told me to undo his pants but I refused. Breaking his hand away with a bit of psychic power, I got myself up and running, scurrying about the hall wildly. There were maybe thirty seconds till class started. If I could find someone or get to the door before those thirty seconds were up, I'd be safe. If not… I'd better hope they ran out of energy first. I tripped on the smooth floor a couple rooms down from the gym, and I scrambled backwards into the corner as the two approached me. Back against a corner, I hid my face in the dark of the wall, wanting to cry, and the fear overwhelmed any chance I had of using my psychic abilities.

"Come on witch. Be a good girl for once and we'll let you off easy." Ginseng mocked, reaching forward with his strong hands. He took me from the corner, causing me to cry out with fear. He covered my mouth, shoving me back down in the dark. I closed my eyes, tears streaming out as I prepared to face the disgusting next events.

"Just open your mouth and… GAHK!" there was a loud crack in his upper region and Shirohata was out in just the same manner from what I could tell with hearing. I opened my eyes, and just as in my last trouble, my knight in shining armor was Yusei. Taking my hand, he helped me up. Rather than being a stiff as I had planned to be, I threw myself onto him, sobbing.

"How did you…?"

"Coach told me to look in the storage room for some extra supplies." He pointed to the door just embedded in the wall where I could have been made to give head. "What did they want with you anyway?" Yusei asked, pulling back so I could look him in the eyes.

"They wanted me to give them some head." I said unsteadily, hugging my own frame protectively.

"Doesn't sound too pleasant." He commented, giving me sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't stay by you earlier…" I put my fingers over his lips, keeping him quiet.

"You always try to take the blame for everything." I told him. "There's no way you could have known this was going to happen. All that matters is that you stopped it." I gave him a smile and embraced Yusei once more, pulling his arms firmly around me. He gave a sigh of what sounded like misunderstanding and happiness.

"Let's go to class then." Yusei said, petting my head as we walked. The Coach Uehara greeted us, a tall man similar to Bruce Lee in his late twenties. He told me it was 5 laps around the Gym for being late, and I dutifully served this warm up, given a water bottle so I could rehydrate. Today, I would have to participate in Soccer. A classic Spanish sport. Coach Uehara divided us all into teams, and luckily I had been paired with Yusei's team. He'd been selected as leader of the team since his athletic ability was considerable, and his strategic thinking was even better. Kotare was the goal keeper, me the right shooter/ right offense, Kotare's friend Shintama the left offense.

From there, Yusei was the field runner, the one who would start the game and try to pass it to everyone else. We were up against a team led by Tsutarei Navajos. Being half Mexican and half Japanese, he already had the advantage over us. And he knew it. He walked over to us, stroking down my jaw in a flirtatious manner. Yusei glared at him a bit, but Tsutarei had a way of making everyone smile no matter what he did.

"Ready for the game, are we?" he asked, a Spanish note clearing the Japanese over in his voice.

"More ready than you'd think." Yusei replied, clearly feeling competitive. Tsutarei laughed, now stroking through my hair.

"How about a little incentive for winning?" He suggested, an impish grin crossing his pretty mouth.

"You're on." Yusei replied, the same expression going through his features.

"Whoever wins gets to take this…? Linda Rosa on a date tomorrow." He explained, gesturing to me. I saw a slight doubt flicker in Yusei's eyes, but none the less he seemed determined to win.

"I agree to that challenge," He said, slapping Tsutarei's hand off the side of my neck where it had somehow rested after a quick stroke through of my hair. "But if I win, you have to stop flirting with Aki altogether." Tsutarei looked even more devilish now.

"Than the challenge is set!" the Coach then lined us up into order of our rank, and assigned us to our sides of the field. Yusei and Tsutarei gave each other conflicting sneers at the center line, and Coach Uehara blew the whistle hard. Yusei was like a wolf on the field, tearing through everyone with the ball at foot until Tsutarei tripped him off his feet, a snarl ripping through his usually friendly face. Though he was a generally sincere person, I could tell he was a monster when he wanted to be… For my sake, and for the sake of your status, I hope you win, Yusei. I thought, wishing he was psychic.

I watched as Tsutarei stole the ball away from Yusei, resulting in a hard fist in the dirt and an even harder glare before getting back in the game. The ball was scored into our goal though, since Kotare was a naturally distracted person and I had slipped in the mud when trying to kick it back in the field. I felt Yusei grow even farther agitated, and as soon as the next whistle blew, his feet were lightning on the playing field, and even when Tsutarei looked confident to get his footing off, Yusei somehow avoided him. What was odd though, was that as he kicked the goal in, it seemed as though the Earth had ruptured beneath Tsutarei's feet. Spitting into the dirt, he muttered a curse of some kind in Spanish and got up.

Giving an arrogant smirk to Tsutarei, Yusei lined up the team again as the ref called us in to prepare for the next round. The next whistle blew fast, but Tsutarei had almost gotten a head start for how he was moving. Ducking past everyone on our team, it was only a minute before he'd evaded the entire squad of us, roaring as he kicked the ball menacingly towards our goal. Kotare leapt for it, and everything went in almost slow motion as it zipped past me. The ball arced, bouncing off the edge of the right goal post. Somehow, Kotare's shoulder had received this Beckham-bend, but his collarbone was bruised I could tell. Tsutarei cursed himself once more, something like "Que un pendejo." I could tell he was ready for the next round, a snarl once again forming on his face, but the whistle blew loudly, and the Coach rounded us all in for the end of class. Practically leaking steam from the ears, I noticed Tsutarei cursing up a storm. However, he quickly composed himself as Yusei strode towards him, a hand on my head.

"Hey, Tsutarei," –Tsutarei smiled– "You were really good out there."

"As were you, amigo." He said, digging his nails into his palms repeatedly.

"No hard feelings, hermano?" Yusei said, extending a hand. Tsutarei's face suddenly flashed with surprise. His nails dug even deeper into the palm with anxiety.

"Hermano…?" he repeated, eyes deep with discernment. I watched his hands unclench, and he slowly took Yusei's hand, shaking on it. "No hard feelings, hermano." Tsutarei repeated, a smile crossing his face along with Yusei's. I couldn't believe this. Even someone as solid as Tsutarei could be touched by Yusei's kind spirit. It was really something miraculous… Of course, his words and promises had broken through to me, a sadist who did no thinking for herself. Yusei… you truly are an inspiration. I thought, smiling as the two made a bro fist.

For the rest of the day, Tsutarei was by our side, lending us his exhilarant Spanish spirit. I would have never guessed that people of Latino descent had so much energy… I guess all the Corona commercials are true. Even with schoolwork, he was an adamant person. A very hard worker, Tsutarei took dedication to new extremes. Yusei and I aren't what you'd call slackers, but he beat us by a mile. Like a drill coach, he hustled us to work even harder. Barely keeping with his pace, Yusei and I were exhausted by the halfway point of DEAD (Duel Etiquette and Decorum) and it was about the deadest class there was to take here… and it wasn't an optional.

"Ready for next period so soon?" Mr. Mizore asked, bending over to examine my slouched posture.

"Y-Yes sir!" I said, straightening immediately, Yusei acting accordingly to me. "I've finished all the work for today." I handed him my papers, hoping none of them had been smudged in my rush to get them done. The teacher looked them over with beady gray eyes, criticism rising. Please don't give me an "F"! Please give me a "C" at least! Praying silently, I felt Mr. Mizore's temper bubble up as he looked at me.

"Well done, Ms. Izinski. Now… you!" He turned to Yusei harshly. "Let's see what the Satellite has done for us today…" Snatching up Yusei's papers with a glare, I watched Yusei turn pale beneath his tan skin, a sign of worry. In the city, many people were particularly picky towards Satellite kids, due to the fact there's no proper school system where they come from. Scrunching myself into Mr. Mizore's mind, I could see he lived to look at other people's mistakes. He probably did this so he could feel better about himself. Someone who tries to pick at another's fault is just someone who's done twice as stupid, and sees an occasion to look superior to him/her. Still observing the paper tediously, Mr. Mizore looked up at Yusei for a moment, and snatched him up by the wrist. Shocked, I felt a psionic gust spread out from me, knocking the teacher right off his feet. Dazed only a moment, he shook his black curls out and glared at me. I sat back down immediately, and could feel anger rising inside him.

"You… you're the witch… you will be coming with me!" Mr. Mizore diverted his attention from Yusei to me, and grabbed me by the arm harshly.

"Hey let me go!" I cried, struggling to free my arm from his absurd strength. "I didn't even do anything!" At least, not on purpose. The teacher continued to drag me along, Yusei looking like he was going to rip Mr. Mizore's head off if he continued this.

"No, Mr. Mizore; it was me. I swear it." He protested, hand atop Mr. Mizore's.

"Save it, Fudo." He barked. "I know there's nothing special about a Satellite punk like you." Yusei glared at him angrily, and I felt the grip on my wrist tighten even further.

"Let go! You're hurting me!" I said, pulling even harder on my now numb wrist. I couldn't feel any blood inside it, so the circulation was completely knocked out. "Mr. Mizore, please!" I begged, watching the color began to fade from my hand. He dragged me out to the hall, threatening Yusei with an expulsion from school. After we were out of sight he pushed me into the locker, still holding my wrist in a death grip.

"You listen here, you little freak." He snarled in my ear. "I am the teacher of that room, and you will respect me! I don't want any of your little magic tricks happening again." I nodded but he only buried my face deeper into the metal.

"Say it!" I was scared now, my powers beginning to flare with the intensity of the situation. The wind began to pick up a bit around us, and the lights started to flicker.

"You freak, what are you doing?!" Mr. Mizore shouted, pulling me to look at him by my hair.

"I understand…" I whispered, nearly hyperventilating.

"Then what's this havoc you're starting?" He asked, eyes piercing with rage.

"I can't control…" He cut me off with a sharp pull of my hair.

"Witch! You better stop this now, or I'm going to…" I heard footsteps down the hall, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mizore! What are you doing to that girl?" it was Principal Koriyama. He dropped me, straightening my clothes quickly.

"Just taking some disciplinary measures about using certain abilities in class." He sneered the word 'abilities.' "Might I add, she used them against me."

"And you believe she did it on purpose?" Koriyama scoffed. "From what I can see, all you've done is frighten her out of her mind."

"Mr. Koriyama, sir, you don't…" The principal dismissed him with a wave of the hand.

"I'm sure Ms." –he took a glance at my ID badge– "…Izinski doesn't yet have a proper handle on her abilities. Now if you'll find your place back in the classroom, I'll handle the matter from here." Mizore looked like he was about to make another comment, but the Principal Koriyama silenced him with a glare.

"Yes sir…" He said meekly, turning back down the hall. The principal then turned his attention to me, eyeing my tousled hair and wrinkled uniform.

"I'm guessing he got physical with you?" He said, awaiting my reply.

"Yes sir…" I replied, staring at my feet fretfully.

"Ah, he does that to every student." I looked up, seeing how casual the principal's manner was. "You'll have to forgive old Hirogama. He's quite traditional with punishments. Also, there's only one reason I haven't fired that brute yet."

"Which is…?" I trailed off, letting him fill in the blank.

"Hirogama and I went way back… Hell, the man was my childhood playmate. He saved my life once as well."

"Saved… your life?" I repeated, dumbfounded. "How…?"

"Never mind that. Anyway, I owe him big time. But I think I'm going to have to pay him back in another way… You're pretty scared of him, aren't you?" I nodded, flattening my hair and smoothing my uniform in remembrance of Mizore's abuse.