Author's Note: I don't like the KCGP fic since it's pointless, so to help myself avoid staying on the darker stuff in Twilight, I've started this. I hope you enjoy it.
Rising Star Straight To Heaven
Chapter One: Gifted Child
"Do you get that special twinge when you hear the word 'duel'?" The girl watching the TV screen nodded swiftly, hardly realizing that she was nodding in response to a question asked by someone who couldn't see her response.
"Does the trickling sound of the opponent's life points dropping to zero give you a secret thrill?" Again she nodded, and of course the man on the screen once more didn't respond. Slowly she leaned forward in her chair, staring at the screen.
"Have you felt the bitter taste of defeat and want a chance to improve your skills enough to show you can make the cut?" She paused a second, barely able to admit it in front of this mystery man on TV. Finally she nodded once again, becoming even more excited.
The screen flashed with pictures of a large island, with a bunch of different buildings on them. Then it zoomed in and showed teenagers wandering around in blue, yellow, and red uniforms. And all over the place they were dueling!
"If you fit any of these categories and you think you've got the skill, come on down to any of these following locations this Saturday to take the Entrance Exam for Kaiba Corp's legendary Duelist Academy! Then you too can one day be a champion level duelist!" The girl was so excited that she nearly fell out of her chair reaching for a pen to write down the locations.
"Duelist Academy, here I come!"
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"Do your older siblings overshadow you at all times?" The teenage boy sitting on the couch watching the television set frowned briefly before shrugging, not wanting to admit it. It seemed true though.
"Do you find yourself profoundly jealous of even your younger siblings?" The boy frowned slightly, looking at a picture at the side of the couch showing a young girl in front of a camera crew, beaming at them.
"Do you have a hidden talent that even your outstanding siblings can't match up to?" Again the boy couldn't help but mentally agree to what the man on the screen was saying. It was just so odd that it was so…accurate.
"If that secret talent is dueling, and you can duel until the sun comes down, then we've got the perfect place for you! Develop those dueling skills and prove yourself beyond even your siblings as a champion duelist at Kaiba Corp's Duelist Academy!" The camera panned across a beautiful landscape with numerous teenagers engaging in duels.
Following were lists of locations and times where the entrance exam could be taken. And the teen couldn't help but write them down. "Gee…I wonder how the commercial was so accurate?"
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"Do you find it difficult dealing with your family members, because they're just so different from you?" A set of nods, and two surreptitious glances later, two teenagers returned to watching the commercial.
"Do you all share things, particularly a love for dueling?" Once again there was a set of nods, and a muffled giggle from one of them.
"Do you want to share time together, but at the same time compete, proving who amongst you is best?" Both heads bobbed up and down enthusiastically, even though they knew they probably shouldn't be.
"If proving yourself and dueling is important to you, and you want to strut your stuff, then come on down to any of the following locations on Saturday to take the entrance exams to Duelist Academy!" A list followed, and the two teenagers immediately searched for pens and paper to write it down.
As one they turned to look at each other and grinned. "You think big brother would approve?"
"Oh absolutely."
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With a swift glance down at the duel disk on her arm she was able to reassure herself that she was ready for this, ready for what was to come. With that reassurance she leaned back against the seat of the Shinkansen and closed her eyes, relaxing until the time would come when she would have to get off the bus.
Somewhere along the way she drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened again by a jolt that nearly tossed her into the seat in front of her. "Azuya 117 is now arriving at Station 12. Azuya 117 is now arriving at Station 12."
'Eh! My stop is Station 11! How the heck did I sleep past it?' The fingers of panic began to massage her brain, and she started to fidget, doing the math in her head to figure out how long it would take to get between Station 11 and Station 12.
'If the distance between the two is approximately 20 kilometers, and the Shinkansen on average travels approximately 160 kilometers per hour then….wait a second, that's pointless! It'd take me hours to walk back to the other station, and I'm not sure if I have the money for a taxi. Auuu…' The fingers of panic went into a sonata, with her mind as the piano.
The man in the seat next to her was giving her strange looks as she fidgeted about in her seat, looking in every direction in her panicked state of mind. 'What a strange child….'
"Azuya 117 is now departing Station 12. Azuya 117 is now departing Station 12. Next stop, Station 11. Thank you." The man watched in amusement as the girl's eyes went completely wide, looking nothing so much as a deer caught in the headlights of a car.
'It's the station after this one! Then I panicked for nothing! I must have looked like a total spaz! I can't act like this once I get there, it'll give them the completely wrong impression!' Unfortunately for her, this worrying was just making her fidget even more, and as she had thought, it made her like a little like a spaz.
'Truly an odd child indeed.'
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"Azuya 117 is now arriving at Station 11. Azuya 117 is now arriving at Station 11. Thank you." Heaving a sigh of relief the slightly calmer girl got up and walked into the isle, giving a brief bow to the man who had been sitting next to her. He had been very kind and hadn't seemed bothered by her near panic attack.
"Thank you sir, I appreciate your tolerating me for this trip. Have a wonderful day." For the first time since they had gotten on the train the man saw her give a genuine smile, and after another bow, she departed up the isle.
'My…what a beautiful smile that girl has. I could have sworn the train got brighter for a moment.' He watched her walk away, smiling now as well. She had been interesting to meet, even if he hadn't really talked to her.
'And a duelist as well by the looks of it. Maybe if we meet again, I'll ask her for a duel, just to see if there's any power behind that pretty smile.' At last the girl exited the train, leaving the man to his own thoughts. Whether they would meet again was a question that couldn't be answered yet. Only time would tell.
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Standing in the doorway that gave entrance to a large testing center were two men, both in blue uniforms. They were just teenagers, but appeared older than the rest of the people hustling through the doors. Plastered on their faces were distinctly superior looks as they watched the younger teenagers walk through the doors.
Occasionally they would flash smiles at passing potentials, but only if they were pretty girls. Usually the girls ignored them, but occasionally they smiled back. "Hey, check out that one coming over."
The first teen gestured with his chin towards a girl heading their direction. His companion took a good look and smiled in appreciation. She was petite, standing barely over five feet in height, and had a slender well-trimmed figure. She wasn't curvaceous or anything, but she was definitely cute.
She was Japanese, just like most of the other potentials and like them, but her wavy hair was a color so black that it nearly appeared blue. After she got a little closer, they realized that was because streaks of dark blue ran through her hair, obviously dyed there. It flowed down to the middle of her back, and that combined with her stunningly green eyes gave her something of an exotic look for a Japanese girl.
Like any other pretty girl, they smiled brightly to her as she walked up. To their surprise she smiled back and gave them both a slight bow. Then, with a second smile, she walked through the door and was gone.
The first boy turned to the second and asked his friend in hushed tones; "Does it scare you that she looks like that and is probably just fifteen?"
"Scare me? I think it's a blessing. We can count ourselves as gifted if even one girl that looks like that gets into the academy this year." Watching her retreating form, the two teens could only pray that she made it through. A year with pretty girls was much better than a year without.
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Roughly half an hour later a group of a few hundred teenagers were sitting in desks in a large auditorium space, papers and pencils in front of them. Many of them were working furiously to answer all the questions as best as they could in the limited amount of time they had. Meanwhile others were doing so leisurely, not bothered by the test.
A few were already done, including a teenage boy who appeared to be doodling on his paper. Those who were already done were now just waiting for the second stage. Soon their papers would be collected, processed, graded, and then the final test would begin. The Duel Test.
It was this test that brought the most excitement for the students who had come to take the test. Those who had a good enough composite score on both the duel test and the written test would be accepted into Kaiba Corporation's prestigious Duelist Academy. Not one of the branch schools either that were generally for students of other countries, but the main school itself, the originally established and famed Duelist Academy.
When Seto Kaiba had originally established the school most people around the world had thought it rather silly to make a school that had so much focus on dueling. Even though Duel Monsters had in fact been recognized as a sport (though it wasn't until 2012 that it was added as part of the Olympics) the general populace had rejected the idea.
It wasn't until the tragic events that were still referred to as The Twilight of Man that people had begun to see the merits of dueling. Some children were sent to the school to learn dueling as a form of protection against those who wielded the supernatural power of the Darkness Games, despite reassurances that those had died out.
After what seemed an eternity (at least to easily distracted teenagers) the professor finally announced that time was up and came to collect all of their papers. There was a general milling about, with people occasionally talking to their neighbors while the papers were processed and graded.
About half an hour later the process was completed, and each of the students was given a small slip of paper with a number on it. According to the professor, when their number was called they would go down to the dueling field to take the duel test. The number was also an indication of how well they had done in respect to the other students on the written test.
At last the first name was called. "Tobias Emerlo, you're the first to take the dueling test. Please head down to the dueling field."
Some of the duelists followed to watch the first duel, while still many more stayed behind out of pure nerves. Down the list it went, until at last the moment the girl had been both dreading and anticipating came. When the professor looked at the name, there was a slight pause. "Number twenty-three, it's your turn."
She nodded and walked down the isles and out into the dueling area. Hastily she stepped out onto the field, ignoring the hoots, hollers, and the occasional cat calls she was receiving. 'You can do this. You've got a gift for it, remember?'
Her opponent quickly made himself known, walking out so that he was standing directly across from her, a duel coat strapped to his chest. "I hope you're ready to take this test. I'm the head of the Osiris Red dorm and professor at Duelist Academy, Ichigaki Miyamoto."
The girl suppressed a giggle, and look at him quizzically. "Ichigaki…like from that old anime Yu Yu Hakusho?"
The professor sighed, shaking his head. Obviously he had heard this said many times before. "Yes, like in the anime. But please, I simply prefer to be called Professor Miyamoto, or Mr. Miyamoto if you prefer."
"Sure Professor Miyamoto. And I'm Mizuki. Mizuki Mitsuhiro." A hush fell over the room at the sound of her last name, and then whispers started to make their way through the crowd. Even her professor seemed surprised.
"Your father was…yes, I can see it, the resemblance. Well, so I'm dueling the daughter of a legend. I suppose that I won't be taking it easy on you then. Duel!" His duel coat whirred as it activated, and it spat out six cards which he caught. (MLP: 4000)
"I hope you don't hold back, because I'm no weakling. Let's get this party started!" Her old-fashioned DD2 activated, and she drew her five cards. The duel disk was out of date, surpassed by several other models (including variations) of the duel disk. However, this duel disk had belonged to her father, so she didn't plan on letting it go. (MiLP: 4000)
Up in the stands the whispers had started again, both from perspective students and from those who already were students. One of them looked down with something close to contempt. He was tall, and had short cut white hair, in addition to glasses that barely covered his eyes. Briefly adjusting the glasses and his blue uniform, the teen sneered. "This girl…she'll probably coast on the virtue of a name and nothing else."
Another form, leaning back against the wall behind him, was towering massively over him. "Ho-ho…you're hardly one to talk about a name's importance, are you Harrison?"
Harrison frowned, but gave no outer reply to the comment. Instead he turned away and walked out of the room, completely uninterested in the outcome of the duel. 'Regardless of what she does now, she's of no consequence.'
Miyamoto looked over his hand of cards carefully, figuring out from them exactly what type of deck this test deck was. 'All decks used by instructors in these duel tests are merely pre-prepared decks, not our real ones, and aren't as strong. But perhaps she's strong enough to overcome that…let's see.'
"I set one monster in defense mode. Then I set two magic or trap cards face down behind it. End turn." The three representations of his cards appeared, generated by the holographic matrix used by all Kaiba Corp. duel disks.
"That's all? Well let's test it, Rune Soldier(1800/1800), take to the field!" A tall man with blonde hair and the robes of a druid now stood in front of her, his breath misting before her very eyes. Held in his right hand was a long blade, with glowing symbols dancing across it.
"You may be expecting that monster to do you good, but it can't help. Reveal trap card, Compulsory Evacuation Device! This trap will send Rune Soldier directly back to your hand!" A platform with a launch apparatus was created beneath the man's feet, but he simply hopped off of it and sliced it in half.
Mizuki smiled in a confident sort of way and gestured to her soldier. "When this monster is targeted by a trap card that card is automatically negated and destroyed. So cowardly trap defense are…almost utterly useless. Attack!"
The sword-wielder dashed straight towards the set monster and slashed the card in half. But a look of shock took over his face and he faded away. Mizuki blanched when the card popped off her duel disk and into her hand. "What the heck?"
"You destroyed Hyper Hammerhead(1500/1200) and any monster that it fails to defeat in battle is sent back to the opponent's hand." Miyamoto chuckled as the look of surprise faded from Mizuki's features, and was replaced by a confident look instead.
"That's fine with me; I don't need monsters to make an impact. I'll just place this one card face down and end my turn." A single card appeared in front of her, guarding the way between her and her life points.
Miyamoto snagged a card and then pointed to his face down card, which immediately flipped up. "I activate Call of the Haunted, returning Hyper Hammerhead to the field in attack mode. Then, I attack!"
The hammerheaded creature rushed forwards, but was instantly bound by a glowing blue hexagram, keeping it in place. Mizuki waggled a finger back and forth, snickering. "Looks like your monster's been caught by my Hexagram Curse, the Spellbinding Circle."
The professor didn't appear at all bothered, and he pointed at his monster, which faded away as particles. "I was merely clearing the path. Now I sacrifice Hyper Hammerhead for Criosphinx(1200/2400) in defense mode!"
A hulking blue skinned sphinx with goat horns and wings appeared, its wings wrapped around itself protectively. Finally he slid a card from his hand onto his duel disk. "I set a card face down and end my turn."
Mizuki flipped a card off her deck, spinning it between her fingers back and forth, looking quite pleased with herself. Miyamoto shook his head, while the watching crowd continued to laugh. "Are you actually going to make a move, or show off your card handling skills?"
The teenager pouted, but her lips quickly twitched up into a smirk, showing that the disappointment wasn't genuine. "If you insist, I guess I will. I summon Rune Soldier(1800/1800) back to the field."
Her monster was summoned, looking identical to how it had in her previous turn. "That big sphinx of yours is just a bit too strong for me to deal with, so I'll just set one card face down. Back to you Doc."
He chuckled even as he drew a card, looking quite pleased with her. "Professor is a purely professional title, I assure you. I'm not actually a doctor, but I do have a teaching degree."
She shrugged and folded her hand of cards together, languidly threading it between her fingers just as she had with that single card. "Whatever you say Doc, but I kind of like the title."
"You've got spunk, that's for sure. But that won't save you from this move. Reverse card open, Bounce! This magic card sends one card on your field back to your hand, and I choose your Rune Soldier!" It faded away, and she placed it back into her hand.
"Now Criosphinx activates its effect since a card returned to your hand. Now you have to discard one card at random from your hand." Mizuki gasped as a spectral hand reached out of her graveyard and snagged a card from her hand and pulling it back to the cemetery.
"From my hand I'll activate a second Bounce!" Her set card faded away just like her soldier had, leaving her field entirely empty. Then the same spectral hand popped out of her grave and snagged another card.
Mizuki looked panicked for a second, seeing her open field. But she calmed herself just seconds later, even as Miyamoto was placing a card from his hand onto the field. "Winged Sage Falcos(1700/1200) in attack mode."
A winged avarian humanoid descended, flapping his wings, moving into position next to the sphinx. Seconds later that same sphinx unfolded its wings, moving into attack mode. "For my final move, both of these monsters attack directly!"
The professors watching were impressed by how well Mizuki took the twin attacks, bracing herself and barely being forced back. She shook herself off and then grinned, still twirling the cards between her fingers. "That all Doc?" (MiLP: 1100)
He nodded, sliding his last card onto his duel disk, and she slipped another card off her deck, joining the others in twirling around her fingers, now separately. Suddenly they just seemed to snap together as a regular fanned out hand of cards. "Let's see what we've got to pick from."
Grinning she slapped one of them down, and immediately the familiar figure of Rune Soldier appeared. "Bet you thought you got rid of him right? Well now he'll take out his frustrations on Criosphinx!"
Miyamoto snapped his fingers together, and his trap lifted. Immediately Criopshinx vanished, replaced by Winged Sage Falcos. "My Shift card sends your attack at Winged Sage Falcos."
His monster shattered under the magical blade of Rune Soldier, which faded as particles shortly after. "Well, even if I couldn't finish you off there, I'll set one card face down for now and end my turn." (MLP: 3900)
Her opponent drew, and then motioned to his sphinx. It dropped into a kneeing crouch, its wings folded around it protectively. "Not only that, but I'll set a monster in defense mode. End."
Mizuki snapped up another card, and tossed a card onto her duel disk. "Here's a nice fellow for you, Rune Lancer(1600/1200)!" The new monster looked similar to Rune Soldier, only he was holding a lance that had magical runes on it.
She looked over the field, and then immediately pointed at the set monster. "Rune Soldier, bring it down!" The sword wielding monster charged in, slashing the monster apart. It appeared briefly as a tropical bird.
"Ashingaray(400/300), when flipped discards one card from your hand and lets me special summon another from my deck in defense mode." A ghostly hand grabbed one of Mizuki's cards, dropping the number down to two.
She didn't seem bothered in the slightest; in fact she looked fairly pleased for some reason. "Rune Lancer, go in and take out that second bird for me!" A single pierce of the lance was enough to dispatch that bird, removing another card from her hand.
Smiling brightly she tapped the remaining card she was holding against her duel disk, indicating that she was finished with her turn. Nodding in acceptance Miyamoto drew, and placed the card onto his duel disk. "Another monster in defense mode. End."
Up in the stands another teenager, this one looking closer to Mizuki's age, wearing a solid blue uniform was watching. A small smile twitched into life on his lips as he watched. 'I've seen this examination deck before. That new monster is likely Wall of Illusion(1100/1850) whose effect combined with the last Ashingaray and Criosphinx will drain that girl's hand. And then the killing blow will come.'
On the other hand, Miyamoto was somewhat concerned. His defense was good enough to block her attacks, but she seemed awfully confident. However, there was nothing he could do with this deck. It was good, as was every examination deck, just not tournament level. 'Let's see what's got her so confident.'
Mizuki drew, and smiled slightly. "Ready for my killing blow? It'll be a cool one as well." There was a round of gasps, as well as a number of disbelieving mutters.
She smiled prettily, and the several of the teens in the room sighed. "Guess you don't believe me, so I'll show you. Rune Soldier, attack his final birdy!" It leapt forwards and slashed apart the final bird, causing her to lose one of the two cards in her hand.
"I don't see how finishing off my last bird will finish me. After all, I still have two defense monsters and you have just one monster. And Criosphinx's defense is too strong for you to defeat easily." Mizuki nodded in understand but winked. Then Miyamoto saw it, almost as if for the first time. Her face down card…
"You see it right? Good, that'll make this even more fun. Reveal face down quick-play magic card, Rune Symbol-Raidho! This card lets me sacrifice one card on my field to let my others attack directly this turn!" She slammed her remaining card into her hand and it immediately shattered.
"Rune Lancer, attack directly!" Miyamoto grunted as the holographic spear jammed into his side, but he refused to be forced backwards. Instead he stood his ground, accepting the damage to his life points. (MLP: 2300)
"That was impressive, but it wasn't a finishing blow. I've still got the lead, and that card is one time only." Mizuki didn't reply normally. Instead she glanced at her Rune Soldier, which was glowing brightly, so brightly that its figure couldn't be seen anymore.
When the light faded, it was the same monster, only taller and with hardened lines on its face, the lines of experience. In addition it held two curved swords, each one glowing with runes. "Whenever Rune Soldier destroys a monster I can place a Rune Counter on it, and by sacrificing three of those and itself I can special summon any Rune monster from my hand, deck, or cemetery to the field. So this…is Rune Blader(2300/2300)!"
There was a collective gasp from the audience as they saw what was about to happen. Miyamoto merely smiled, looking appreciative. "You could have summoned something stronger, but instead you chose to go with a monster whose attack is equal to my life points. In other words, you had this planned since the turn you set that Raidho card."
"Glad to know you figured that out. So here's the pay off of a few turns planning, Rune Blader, direct attack for game!" The monster crossed his swords and jumped at the professor, stabbing him in the chest with both blades. There was a trickling sound as his life points dripped away. (MLP: 0)
Some of the other teens in the room cheered, most particularly the boys, but Miyamoto merely looked happy. "Well that was certainly an impressive display. I can't guarantee anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if you got in. Good luck Ms. Mitsuhiro."
She flashed the crowd a victory sign, and then strutted off the stage, looking awfully pleased with herself. 'This could be it…I could have made it into Duelist Academy!'
The cheers of the crowd kept her in high spirits the rest of the day.
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Author's Note: And there you go, chapter one.
Mizuki has done it, she did exactly what she wanted to and made it into Duelist Academy. Of course step two requires that she actually make the trip there, and meet her roommates. But what better way to get acquainted with a roomy at a school for dueling than a duel?
See it all in, On to Duelist Academy!