Yu-Gi-Oh! Soul of the Duelist

Chapter 1: Let the Duels Begin!

"Wake up, Rin! You're going to be for school!" Uria yelled.

The teenage girl bolted from her bed and slipped into her slippers. She ran to the bathroom to get ready. After washing her face and everything, Rin got dressed. It was her usual school uniform, a brown vest with a tie over a black shirt and short jeans. She ran down the winding stairs and grabbed her skateboard. Just when Rin stepped out of the house,

"Wait! You forgot your deck!" Hamon told her.

She ran back up the stairs and into her room. After minutes of vigorous searching, she finally found it. Rin raced down the stairs once more and took off on her skateboard. She carefully navigated her way around people, benches, and cars. Suddenly, a barrage of watermelons blocked her path. Rin jolted to a stop and picked up her board.

"Is everything okay, Ms. Kumasawa?" She asked the short lady behind the stand.

"Good morning, Rin. I'm afraid I am in a bit of trouble here. All of the watermelons were knocked down." Ms. Kumasawa answered.

"Let me help you with them. It's no trouble after all." Rin suggested, picking up a watermelon.

"Thank you so much. It's nice to know that there is such a good child around in this town." She said.

After moments of hard work, Rin stacked the last melon onto the stand and wiped a bead of sweat from her temple. With a proud sigh from what she accomplished, Rin smiled at the lady.

"Well, that's every one of them. Try not to put too much on the stand next time, okay? Have a good day, I'll be off." Rin told her, waving as she took off.

"Looks like you're going to be late." Uria said.

"Don't remind me." Rin sighed.

When she made it to the academy, she ran up more stairs and barged into the classroom.

"Sorry I'm late!" She shouted.

Rin expected a loud burst of laughter from the kids in the class, but it never came. Instead, there was no one there. Only her teacher stood with a confused look.

"Rin, you're half an hour early. Didn't you change the time on your clock? It's daylight saving time after all." Her teacher said.

With a dumbfounded look, Rin put her stuff down and sat in her seat. How could she have forgotten?

"Idiot, you made us freak out for nothing." Hamon said to her.

"Hey, don't be so harsh." Uria told his brother.

Rin put her head on the desk and sighed.

"Everyone should be here soon. Are you excited for the trip today?" Rin's teacher asked.

"It's nothing special, we go every month. You'll have to excuse me; I'm going to the field." She replied.

Rin walked out of the classroom and head for the school field. She sat under a tree and stared, completely lost in thought at the sky. Two brothers appeared beside her, their bodies abnormally translucent. They were spirits that were trapped inside a necklace around 5,000 B.C. The necklace was given to Rin from her grandmother before her death. Only she could see and speak with these spirits, no one else. Uria, the youngest brother sat beside her. His hair was a messy blonde, but it shined under the sunlight. Uria was casually dressed in a t-shirt and tattered jeans, and a bright smile was across his face. Hamon, the second oldest stood on her right. He was wearing a black jacket over his shirt and shorts. His spiky red hair swayed slightly in the wind.

"Where's Raviel?" Rin asked them, looking around.

"He doesn't want to come out." Hamon told her softly.

Raviel was the oldest brother among the three; he was extremely reserved and liked to take his aloofness to the farthest by refusing to come out whenever needed. Rin had tried to make him open up a little, but every single attempt failed; including a large amount of bribing couldn't seem to crack him. She began to feel as if he hated her as time passed.

Uria patted her head when he notice her expression changed. This was his way of cheering her up, and it had done him good so far. Uria wasn't one that liked seeing people around him feeling sad, that's why he always smiles for Rin.

Rin's mother died giving birth to her, and that put her father under a tremendous amount of stress. He had to take extra care of Rin since she was born with a weak immune system. When she turned two, her father detached himself from the world. He lost his job, the debts he had were sky high, and Rin's grandmother just got out of the hospital. As his depression grew, he started to dislike his daughter. When her father could no longer withstand it, he suicide by clawing at his throat until he bled to death.

With both of her parents gone, Rin was put under care of her grandmother. Not too long after, her grandmother contracted a life threatening illness. Even with only months left of her life, Rin's grandmother tried her best to stay be her side. Rin was unaware of all this until she received a call from the hospital. At that moment, her life crashed down from happy to unfortunate.

Kids started to tease her about how she had no parents or family. Rin was struck with a wave of depression as well, but one thing kept her going. The necklace that her grandmother handed down to her gave her warmth. She found friends within it and started to rebuild the life she had before.

Time passed and students began to pour into the school. Rin was standing against the tree now, but was abruptly knocked to the ground by someone; and god whoever slammed into her went with the force of a bulldozer!

"Rin! You actually came early today!" Mira cried with a zealous tone.

The lively girl hugged Rin tightly and swung her around.

"Mira…I-I can't breathe!" She choked out as her throat compressed trying to force air into her body.

"Wah! I'm sorry! It's just that time of the month again, and I'm super thrilled."

"We're only going to view another tournament, nothing special." Rin told her indifferently; she couldn't think of anything that was so special in a simple tournament, except the sudden rush and adrenaline and the heart-stopping thrill that accompanied it.

"Nothing special? How can you say such a thing?" Mira faked a dramatic gasp.

Rin went back inside the classroom, ignoring what Mira said. She sat down like the rest of the class and waited for the bus. When it did come, everyone rushed out the door like a stampede of antelopes except for her. Rin took her time to get into the bus, or she tried to anyway. Mira grabbed her in the hallway and practically dragged her into the bus before it let out a gasp of exhaust and pulled away from the curb.

As the bus came to a stop in front of a large building yawning up to the sky and stretched like a lazy cat as far as the eye can see, everyone let out a cry of astonishment. The teachers directed the students into the structure and seated them quickly down onto rows of velvet cushions, dozens of speakers boomed around the area creating quite an excitement.

"Welcome one and all to the Duel Monster's Battle Royal! We have quite a selection of competitors today and they look pretty determined, not to mention blood-thirsty! So without further-a-do, let the duels begin!" The announcer said into the microphone.

The crowd roared and cheered as duelists smoothly slipped into their assigned field, each with the grace of a professional's elegancy and with the look of complete relaxation. Monsters rose from the fields as the players set their cards and summoned their beasts. Many monsters were destroyed, and some prevailed. As the duels took place, Rin took note of every flaw and tactic she could find. There were many fake moves that tricked the opponents, but some were smart enough to see through it.

Rin paid close attention to the man in the blue corner. His number was eight and Rin haven't seen a single flaw in any of his duels so far. Each one of his moves were made for a reason, and each had a role that they played. In truth, she was impressed. Rin haven't seen anyone that played with as much passion as he did now. Not surprisingly, he won the tournament. The crowd cheered for him as he stepped into the winner's circle, waving his newly won trophy.

"Wasn't that an amazing duel, everyone?" The announcer asked.

Everyone in the stadium hollered out to answer.

"Well, I have another magnificent surprise for all of you! There are two duel academies here right now, and we would like to ask one student from each academy to step up! The two chosen ones shall face each other in a match! Best out of three and each starting with four thousand life points!" He continued.

"Rin, you should go. Everyone knows you're perfect for this." Mira said.

"I'm not going." Rin answered bluntly.

"Oh yes you are! If you go, I'll treat you to my family's special three layered cake after school."

"F-Fine! Make that two and I'll go."

"You got yourself a deal." Mira agreed with a smile.

Rin stood on duel field, and across from her stood a boy with a smirk on his face. Just looking at that face and she knew that she didn't like him. His hair was black and combed neatly back. He was wearing a darkly colored uniform that had scarlet base and black rims. He would seem like an average teenager at first glance, but Rin felt something about him. Something strange.

"My adversary is a girl? Ha! You should just forfeit right now." The boy said to her.

"I don't like him." Uria said.

"That makes the both of us." Rin replied.

The announcer climbed onto the field, in his hand held a piece of paper. Rin could see Mira waving at her furiously in the crowd. She couldn't help but smile at that. Perhaps this one could be very interesting, and who would turn out to be the victor of this match? She smiled; yes she would make this duel very interesting.

Some parts were by my friend and editor, FictionPadFoot! So give some credit goes to her!