I sense there's something in the wind

that feels like tragedy's at hand

and though I'd like to stand by him,

can't shake this feeling that I have.

"And that's game!" The announcement went out and a great cheer rose up from the spectators.

"Yeah!" Jaden pumped his fist into the air as the rest of his dorm and friends rushed downwards to gather around him and offer thier congradulations. "That was a fun duel!" He shouted at his oppenent, who looked rather sullen.

"Jaden! Over here!" He saw Alexis waving her hand and he pushed his way through the massive wall of people, getting a hand in his face.

"Aha…I sure know how to draw a crowd, don't I?" Jaden laughed and turned to his friends. It was only Alexis and Syrus-too short to be seen over everyone-for right now but he could see everyone heading this way, especially what he wanted the most-the head of teal hair bobbing around.

"That was a great duel big Bro, I knew you were gonna win the tournament, even though they kinda sprung it on us last minute…" Syrus said.

"Haha, thanks Sy. I'll bet if we didn't have to face off you would've gone straight to the top!"

"Stop being so mean Jaden, I'll beat you one day!" He huffed at Jaden then turned to Jesse and Hassleberry, who had finally made thier way to him.

"I see you passed the test with flying colors," Jesse smirked as they greeted each other with matching smiles.

"Did you ever doubt me? It was nothing!" Jaden said, brushing off the praise and slinging his hand around Jesse's shoulder. The crowds of students were getting worse now that everyone was done celebrating and starting to wander around in search of their friends. A sea of red, yellow, and blue everywhere made it hard to hear or see anything that was going on.

"I think we should get out of here Jay, its gettin' pretty crowded and I can't breathe. Why don't we go celebrate or something?" Jesse started tugging the Slifer towards the exit in the stadium and Jaden wasn't in a hurry to disagree with him at all. Getting out of the stuffy classroom and hanging with his best friend? This was the best.

"You're probably just gonna eat everything in sight…" Syrus muttered after them, trailing behind and not wanting to lose him. Jaden heeded nothing else except following the blue vest through the crowd and out into sweet fresh air. Jesse was pulling him so fast he didn't see the black figure until it was too late and they nearly crashed into Chazz full on.

The black haired boy stumbled backwards, nearly falling over if it wasn't for the railing. The peices of paper he was holding went flying as did his cursing at the two of them. Jaden paused briefly, wincing at the chaos. "Sorry Chazz! We're in a hurry!" He shot an apologetic look after him as he kept chasing after Jesse.

Finally, they had made it and the door hissed closed after them. "Whew, THAT'S over…." Alexis sighed, leaning against the wall. Meanwhile Jesse and Jaden were over to the side, snickering about the whole affair.

"Hey, what do you suppose was bothering Chazz so much?" Hasslberry spoke for the first time.

"Well we uh, did kinda run into him…." Jaden gave a sheepish glance to his friend.

"And knocked his stuff everywhere…."Jesse was equally guilty.

"Eh, he'll get over it though. He always gets angry at me running everywhere." Like a flash, he was back to his normal self. "Right. Weren't we gonna head back to the dorms and get some fried shrimp or something?"

"That's what YOU want to do, Jaden!" Syrus said, exploding. "It's always fried shrimp with you, you just need an excuse. No scratch that, you don't even need an excuse, you just stuff your face!"

"First one there gets the first helping!" He shouted and started running.

—

He was GLAD he placed out of this test. He was glad that even demoted as he was, Chazz did not have to suffer what that stupid slacker did. Instead, he watched rather interested from the sidelines. For once, he had no pressure placed upon him and could watch his rival duel as he pleased. And duel he did. It was splendid, as per usual, which of course, only angered him further. He had to perfect at all times, didn't he?

Chazz tried to ignore him and distract himself by doodling all over a peice of paper. It started out first as a pasttime, and then became a nervous habit he picked up and was more then a little ashamed of. It was a good thing he never let anyone close enough to him to see the little scribbles he made all over the paper.

"Stupid…he muttered to himself. Everyone else was crowded around closer to the duel and he was the only one stuck off to the side, more interested in his studying then what was going on.

"And that's the sound of him winning…" Chazz said, as he heard the familiar catch phrase the slacker shouted after every win. He forced himself to stare down at his drawing, which didn't help because it was a drawing of…

Oh god why did he draw that, he didn't feel THAT way about the idiot, why was their a heart over their heads? Chazz covered it up with his hands, looking around but everyone had gotten out of thier seats to go cheer or talk among themselves. Good…he didn't need this, confused as he was himself.

It's only because he's your rival you feel so strongly, otherwise you don't care. You still like Alexis, remember? He tried reminding himself, hurriedly gathering up his papers. He needed to go down there and yell at Jaden like usual, but his lip curled in disgust when he saw the now-familiar transfer student talking and laughing with him. Chazz stomped his way down the stairs and out towards the door, only to be knocked over by the blue bullet and his friend, the kuriboh.

"You idiot! What the fuck where you're going!" He yelled as the papers in his hand went flying as he careened backwards. After a moment of regaining his balance, he started desperately gathering the papers back. He couldn't see what he'd drawn on them, not at all! Not him, not that Jesse, not Lexi!

"Sorry Chazz, we're in a hurry!" Jaden called, being dragged off again.

"YOU BETTER BE FUCKING SORRY!" He shouted after him. They were gone before he could say more, which was a pity, but he was more concerned about his papers and the whirlwind his mind was in. Good, they were all there, including….

Chazz took a deep breath before he punched the nearest Slifer in the throat, and shoved his way to the other exit.