Disclaimer: All canon-based characters, situations, and plotlines are copyright to their original owners, creators, and designers. This is written for entertainment purposes only, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Gone Horribly Right
Characters: Asuka, Juudai
Word Count: 4,636
Genre: Friendship, Humor
Rated: G
Status: Complete
Notes: This is an alternate version of episode 3, with the premise of "what if Chronos had managed to get the right locker to put the fake love letter in?" The duel contains the same cards, but obviously the situation and dialogue are different. Also, before anyone says anything about how Juudai doesn't know about love or anything, he did indeed ask Asuka in episode 2 if she had fallen in love with him at first sight. He asked it in a joking manner, obviously not serious, but he knows what it is.
Summary: We saw what happened when Chronos got the wrong locker for the fake love letter. So, what happens when he gets the right one?

Professor Chronos de Medici carefully crept into the boys' locker room, keeping a sharp eye out for anyone who might notice him in there. Granted, as the head of Obelisk Blue's boys' dorm and second in command to Principal Samejima, he had a perfect right to be anywhere that he chose to be, when he chose to be there, and no one needed to get any kind of an explanation unless he chose to give one.

Of course, explaining why he had a love letter supposedly from Tenjoin Asuka to Yuuki Juudai might've been somewhat on the difficult side. He didn't intend to have to explain it, though. He would find that dropout boy's locker, hide the letter in there, and when the silly fool found it and ran off to meet with the Queen of Obelisk Blue, Chronos would be there with his camera, and that would finish the brat at this school once and for all.

It was such a lovely dream. Chronos could hardly wait until it was a reality.

Now, which one of these was that annoying boy's locker? He wished that they had nametags, it would make this task so much easier. Perhaps he would suggest this to Principal Samejima, assuming he ever needed to get another dropout boy expelled one day.

He opened each locker quickly, checking for some sign of his target. The shoes would be the easiest way to tell; every student had their name sewn on their shoes, and since they had to change for gym, their shoes would be in the locker. Find the right shoes, find the right locker. Simple as that.

Chronos had opened several of the lockers, with no satisfactory results, when he heard the door to the locker room itself opening up, and quick footsteps were coming closer. "Mama mi!" Chronos gasped, then jumped up quickly, hiding himself as best that he could on top of the lockers. He ducked his head down and did his best imitation of a pale yellow and blue towel.

Oh, no! He could hardly believe who it was: Marufuji Shou. He was partially to blame for all of this as well. If he'd just studied and been able to answer that simple question about field spells, then Yuuki Juudai wouldn't have been able to bring up that rather humiliating defeat Chronos had suffered only a week and a half earlier.

That defeat still smarted, too. Chronos would have his revenge.

"Aniki." Shou opened one of the lockers that Chronos hadn't gotten to yet and shook his head. Chronos held his breath and stayed as still as he could, refusing to give himself away. "You put them in my locker again."

He pulled out a pair of red shoes, set them to the side, then changed into his own gym clothes. Chronos waited, mentally urging the young Red to hurry up! How could someone like him be related to the great Kaiser? Obviously dueling talent does not run in that family. A pity, that. Marufuji Ryou was one of Chronos' favorite students, a shoo-in for great success in the Pros. Success that would favorably reflect back on Duel Academia, and which would bring future qualified duelists to attend here, as well as turn the pleased eyes of sponsors upon the school.

Not this boy, however. This boy would possibly qualify for the minor leagues: presuming a miracle happened.

Once Shou had changed his clothes, he opened up another locker and set the shoes inside of it, then hurried out. As soon as the door closed behind him, Chronos let himself slide off of the top of the lockers and drew in a quick sigh of relief. Finally. "I thought he'd never leave."

Chronos had noted which locker Shou had put the shoes in, and he checked that one now. Sure enough, the shoes in there had Juudai's family name neatly stitched into them. Chronos smiled wickedly. This was perfect. It was just as well, really, that Shou had arrived early.

I might've put this into the wrong locker. Not that I wouldn't mind getting rid of this Red as well, but I want Yuuki Juudai out of here first. He carefully set the letter on top of the shoes, and then hurried out through another door. Now he just had to wait until that night. One wetsuit, one camera, a few minutes of waiting, and then everything that he'd wanted since that revolting Flame Wingman had struck down his beloved Antique Gear Golem would be his.

Juudai stretched a little, working out a couple of kinks that had worked their way into his muscles, and ambled back into the locker room. "That was kind of fun, wasn't it?" he asked Shou, who was drenched in sweat and looked more or less exhausted.

"Fun? You're weird, aniki." Shou shook his head, breathing hard. Doing laps wasn't his favored method of exercise, but Ayukawa-sensei apparently wanted to see how fast they could run. At least it hadn't been swimming, though. With any luck, it never would be.

"Hey, but I liked running around like that. It's not as much fun as dueling, but it makes me feel really good!" Juudai laughed as he stopped by his locker. He was going to need a quick shower before he got back into his uniform, and he was fairly sure that he had left his towel in here.

His gaze dropped down a bit as he reached for it, and he blinked. A letter? Why was there a letter in his locker? Didn't mail normally get delivered to the dorms?

"What the heck…" He bent down and picked it up. There wasn't any name on the outside, but the envelope itself had been sealed with a kiss. The lipstick didn't look familiar either, not that he really paid that much attention to lipstick. "Shou, do you know where this came from?"

Shou peeked over from where he was getting ready for his own shower. "No. What is it?"

"I don't know. I found it in my locker." Juudai opened it up and pulled the scrap of paper from inside, reading it to himself.

I've liked you ever since we first met. I'll wait for you outside the girls' dorm tonight. Tenjoin Asuka.

He blinked several times. Asuka had sent him this? What on Earth for? She 'liked' him? She was going to be 'waiting' for him? This just didn't make any sense.

"Aniki?" Shou tugged at his arm. "What does it say?"

"Huh? Oh. Here." Juudai handed the letter to Shou and grabbed his towel, tossing it over one shoulder. "I'm gonna go get my shower."

Shou's eyes skimmed quickly over the letter, then he looked quickly at the taller student. "Aniki! She likes you!" Shou squealed, bouncing up and down. "Oh, you're so lucky!" Shou had never had a girl send him a love letter before. He probably never would, he knew. Girls went for people like his big brother…both of them. His niisan and his aniki, not for little failures like him.

"I'm going to talk to her once I get showered," Juudai called over his shoulder. "Want to come along?"

Shou blinked several times, then nodded eagerly, putting the letter away neatly into Juudai's locker and going for his own towel before catching up with Juudai. "But, why aren't you going to wait until tonight? She said she'd be waiting!" That was just so romantic! It was like one of those movies you saw on late night television. There was even a full moon, which would make it even more beautiful. Two young lovers meeting under the stars…

"Because I want to talk to her about it." Juudai said. "I didn't really think she took what I said that day seriously!"

Shou blinked, tilting his head. "Huh? What do you mean?" It sounded like something he should know about, but he wasn't getting what Juudai meant.

"Tell you later." Juudai turned towards the shower and got the hot water going, while Shou hurried over to the next cubicle. "So, when are you going to show me your deck?" They'd been sharing a dorm ever since they'd arrived at Duel Academia, and Juudai still hadn't managed to see what kind of a deck Shou played. Was it dragons? Warriors? Beasts? Some weird combination?

"Aniki!" Shou whined, pouting a little. He didn't want to talk about his deck. He wanted to talk about this love letter. "Are you going to go out on a date with her?" He couldn't help but feel a tad jealous. He barely knew Juudai, but already someone else was trying to take him away from Shou? And it wasn't as if he had anything that would make Juudai stop. The prettiest, smartest girl in school, against someone like him? Shou knew who Juudai would want to hang out with. Shou would rather hang out with Asuka than hang out with himself!

But try as he might, there was nothing that he could ask that would make Juudai open his mouth on the subject again. Shou drooped, fearing the worst. This was just not his day at all.

Asuka brushed the last knot out of her hair and put the brush away. She was glad that gym was the last class of the day; she looked forward to relaxing in the bathhouse in the girls' dorm with Momoe and Junko. The only drawback was their continual chattering about boys and bodies. Asuka had more interesting matters on her mind, like how to persuade Yuuki Juudai to duel her, and how to beat him once she did.

Ever since she'd seen him dueling Professor Chronos, she'd wanted to duel him herself. It didn't matter that he was a Red student and she was a Blue one. What mattered was the duel, and how to get one with him.

She adjusted her uniform quickly and looked to see if her friend were ready to go yet. Dinner called, then homework, and finally that hoped for soak in the hot tubs. Maybe I should try to go to the hot springs soon, too. That was probably the only chance she'd have to get some alone-time, and she needed that.

"Asuka-san!" Momoe waved at her, tugging her own uniform neatly into place. "Are you ready to go? I think they're having steak tonight!" Her eyes sparkled just at the thought of it. Asuka had learned fairly early on in their friendship that Momoe had a definite taste for virtually anything that could be classified as 'meat'. It was almost to the point where she could predict the daily meals just by how enthused Momoe looked over what they were going to have.

"I'm ready." Asuka replied. Junko nodded; she was ready as well. She wasn't as much of a carnivore as Momoe was, but she had yet to be known to turn down a good steak dinner.

The three of them headed out of the girls' locker room, but hadn't taken more than a few steps before a voice called to them. "Hey! Hey! Asuka!"

She turned to see the very person she'd been thinking about coming towards her: Yuuki Juudai. Marufuji Shou was right behind him, as was Maeda Hayato. Asuka wondered just what the three of them wanted to talk about. Normally guys didn't come this way unless it was extremely important.

"Yes? What is it?" Asuka raised one eyebrow quietly. Momoe and Junko were already delivering disapproving looks; they did not like these three scruffy Osiris Reds being anywhere near Obelisk Blue territory.

"Hey, did you send this?" Juudai held out an envelope towards her. "I found it in my locker. Cause if you did, I really didn't know that you were going to take what I said the other day seriously."

Asuka took the envelope and pulled out the note from inside. Momoe and Junko leaned in closer to read it, and Junko began to laugh once she was done with it.

"Did you really think that Asuka-san would send something like this to you?" Junko could hardly believe her eyes or ears. A brash, annoying pest like Yuuki Juudai dared to think that the finest female duelist in the school would send him a note like that?

"That's why I asked." Juudai said, shrugging a little. He looked over at Asuka. "Well? Did you?"

Asuka crumpled the note in one hand, furious. "I wouldn't say things like this!" Even if she did like someone else, she wasn't going to invite them to meet behind the girls' dorm! That could get a guy expelled! Someone had tried to use her name for that, and she wasn't going to stand for it. She tossed the note into the nearest trash can and folded her arms over her chest, thinking.

"Uh, does that mean you don't like aniki?" Shou asked, peeking over at the three of them. Junko glowered down at him.

"Why would she like someone like you!" The bite of her words was directed without a doubt towards the entire population of Osiris Red, not just the three of them standing there.

"Someone was trying to get you out of this school." Asuka paid little attention to what Junko was saying. "I don't know who, but if it could be proven you were at the girls' dorm after hours, then you could be kicked out."

Juudai growled a little; he wasn't going to let himself get kicked out of this place, no matter what!

"However, that doesn't matter now." Asuka came to a decision suddenly. The opportunity had been handed to her on a silver platter, and she wasn't going to turn it down. "But I will meet you, Yuuki Juudai: on the battlefield." He was here, she was there, and a good duel always sharpened her appetite. Now was the time. "Duel me."

At Duel Academia, a duel could always draw a crowd. When the duelists were the Osiris Red who had stirred up the status quo before he'd ever set foot onto the campus and the most talented of the Obelisk girls, that drew an extra crowd. People from all three dorms had gathered down at the beach where the two were facing off against one another. Even a couple of the teachers had turned up, though perhaps surprisingly, Professor Chronos wasn't one of them.

"Here are the stakes." Asuka declared, her gaze flickering over the gathered crowd. "If you win, then Junko, Momoe, and I will eat at the Osiris Red dorms for a week. But if I win, then you three will do everything that the three of us say for a week."

"I hope you like chazuke and yakizakana!" Juudai grinned; he loved both of those, so was never upset that it was frequently served at the Osiris dorms. But he couldn't deny that he was interested in finding out the food was like in the higher dorms either.

"Asuka-san's going to win!" Junko declared, glaring across from where she stood behind Asuka. Part of the deal of this duel was that no matter who won, no one would ever breathe a word about that note. Asuka hoped that whoever it was would learn a lesson by this, since the mysterious forger would probably be watching them duel.

"That's what they're dueling to find out!" Shou retorted sharply, then squeaked at the look Junko threw back at him. She sure was pretty when she got mad…

Asuka and Juudai both shuffled their decks, and Asuka took the first time. "I summon Etoile Cyber!" she declared, and her monster spun into existence before her, twelve hundred beautiful attack points. "I set a card face-down and end my turn."

"I summon Sparkman!" Juudai made his turn quickly; this was a simple move. He hoped that Asuka had a lot more tricks up her sleeve, and he was going to find out in the only way that he could. "Sparkman, attack Etoile Cyber!"

Asuka's eyebrows bent slightly as she frowned. Was Juudai actually not noticing her face-down card? He'd better be taking her seriously as a duelist. And if he wasn't now, then she would make certain he did before this duel was over with. "I activate Doble Passe! I can take Sparkman's attack to myself, and in return, Etoile Cyber can attack you directly!" She barely had time to say that before Sparkman's attack flashed by her monster and burned into her instead, dropping her life by sixteen hundred.

Juudai stared; had she actually done that? But Asuka wasn't finished either. She straightened up some and continued. "When Etoile Cyber attacks directly, her attack goes up by six hundred points!"

Etoile Cyber gracefully twirled across the field and slammed one foot into Juudai, depriving him of eighteen hundred life points. He groaned just as she had, but a smile teased at his lips now. "You're good. You don't care about your own life, as long as you can hurt mine, right?"

Asuka didn't bother to dignify that with an answer. However, she would, with another question. "Are you done already?" Momoe and Junko murmured amongst themselves, obviously pleased by her mastery of the situation. Juudai was good, but he hadn't yet shown her the power that she'd seen against Manjoume and Chronos. She wanted to see that strength for herself.

"Turn end." Juudai agreed. Asuka was pleased; she didn't like waiting around while her opponent dithered and fretted. She drew her card quickly and ran through a mental list of options. Right. She knew what to do.

"I summon Blade Skater!" Another of her lovely ballet monsters appeared, skating up next to Etoile Cyber. "And now, I activate the spell card Fusion, fusing them to create Cyber Blader!" Their fused form appeared now, spinning into existence perfectly. "Cyber Blader, attack Sparkman!" That would be one monster down. Juudai had foolishly laid nothing out to prevent this, and she would see to it that he paid for that, in life points.

There was indeed nothing that he could do to stop Cyber Blader as she struck Sparkman high with one foot, sending the Elemental Hero of Light exploding. Juudai ducked back a bit from the light, grumbling at the loss of his monster.

"You're incredible, Asuka-san." Momoe breathed. She wanted Asuka to win! There was no way that she was going to give up the delights of the Obelisk Blue cafeteria for a week! Or for so much as a day!

Once Asuka's turn had ended, Juudai drew his card. Fusion Gate. Great! He already had Burst Lady and Featherman in his hand, and this meant he didn't have to wait to pull a Fusion card. "I play the field spell, Fusion Gate, and summon Flame Wingman!" Flame Wingman and Cyber Blader were of equal attack. This attack would result in their mutual destruction. Or at least it would under normal circumstances.

Asuka was not slow to see this either. "You do seem to like fusing your monsters." That was the key to an Elemental Hero deck, of course. "But since their attacks are equal, they'll both just destroy each other." Not to mention that doing so would mean she wouldn't take damage from Flame Wingman's special effect. The simultaneous destruction would negate that.

"Maybe, maybe not. I activate the permanent spell Chivalrous Spirit! My monsters now can't be destroyed by a monster with the same attack that they have." Juudai grinned; now he would destroy Cyber Blader, and Asuka would be a lot closer to losing the duel than he would be. "Flame Wingman, attack Cyber Blader!"

He must not have noticed Cyber Blader's special effects. Good. This makes it more interesting. Asuka watched as Flame Wingman shot across to her side of the field, one hand pulled back with a ball of flame in it, the Flame Shooter attack. That hand shot forward, blasting at Cyber Blader, who…did nothing.

"Huh? What happened?" Juudai blinked, rubbing his head, and checked over everything. His cards had done everything they should have, and…

Asuka chuckled softly. "Cyber Blader has three special effects. The first effect is when you have one monster on your field. She isn't destroyed by battle." Juudai did have two other cards in his hand, so if he had something to destroy monsters with a spell, then her plans might be set back some. But all he did was end his turn. She shook her head in disappointment. "You're weaker than I thought you were." She'd had such high hopes for this duel.

"The duel's not over yet!" Juudai reminded her, his head held high. "And the duel won't be over until the last card is drawn!"

"Then I'll draw the last card." Asuka declared. He was good, but just not what she'd hoped he would be. The duels against Manjoume and Chronos really must have been flukes. She supposed everyone had good days and bad days. But now, Yuuki Juudai's good days were about to end.

She drew her last card and smiled briefly. Exactly what she'd been hoping for. "I equip Cyber Blader with Fusion Weapon!" This increased her monster's attack by fifteen hundred points, a fact that was not lost on those watching.

"Three thousand six hundred!" Shou breathed out the number as if he were somehow afraid to speak it too loudly. "That means she can destroy Flame Wingman!"

"This isn't good." Hayato shifted nervously; it would be bad enough if Juudai lost, but to lose in front of everyone like this. I told him that Osiris Reds are dropouts. The worst of the school. Why is he doing this? The food can't be that good.

"Cyber Blader, attack Flame Wingman!" Asuka gave the command and her beautiful creature pointed the arm that had Fusion Weapon equipped to it, blasting the winged warrior with waves of holographic electricity. With a cry of pain, it exploded, and Juudai's life points were reduced to a mere two hundred. If she'd had De-Fusion in her hand instead of her own Fusion Gate, Raregold Armor, and Mind on Air, she would have won the duel, she knew. But she was willing to wait a turn to mop up the last of his life points. What could he possibly draw that would be able to overpower her Cyber Blader?

Momoe laughed as Juudai recovered from the attack. "Did you really think that you could win? You, an Osiris Red? You were silly even to try to duel Asuka-san! You're Reds! We're Blues! Doesn't that tell you anything?"

Juudai grinned over at her. "Yeah. It tells me that I'm going to have a lot of fun winning this duel!"

He has two hundred life points left. What does he think he can do? Asuka found herself slightly intrigued now. Was there a chance that he wasn't as weak as she'd thought? He had one card left to turn it around. Could it be done?

Juudai drew, and a broad grin lit up his entire face. "This is it! First, I summon Clayman!" His best wall monster appeared between them. "Now, I use the spell card, Resurrection of the Dead, to special summon Sparkman from the graveyard."

Asuka frowned; was he trying to make fun of her somehow? "Neither of those monsters can take out Cyber Blader. What do you think you're doing?"

"I think I'm using the power of Fusion Gate to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" Juudai declared. Sparkman and Clayman stood back to back, spinning around, and from their union came a powerful armored warrior.

Shou stared at this display of power, and something clicked deep in his mind. "Field spells. When those are used, they can change something about the field you're dueling on. They can increase or decrease a monster's attack or defense, or make it possible to summon a powerful monster with less of a cost to you." He'd known it, but now he was able to say it. If Professor Chronos called on him in class again for it, he knew he'd be able to do it again, just by remembering this moment.

Asuka had to admire the powerful monster. But it still wasn't strong enough. "My Cyber Blader still has higher attack strength," she pointed out. "What can your monster do against that?"

"Thunder Giant can destroy it." Juudai replied cheerfully. "Once a turn, Thunder Giant can destroy any monster whose original attack strength is less than its own when I discard a card." He held up the last card in his hand. "Thunder Giant! Destroy her Cyber Blader! Vapor Sparks!"

Lightning shot forth from Thunder Giant's hand, wrapping around Cyber Blader and crushing her into nothingness. Asuka was too surprised to do anything but stand there, though there truly was nothing she could have done, as Thunder Giant's Voltic Thunder attack finished off her life points completely.

"No!" The shocked scream came not from Asuka, but from Momoe and Junko, as they saw her crumple down, panting, as the duel ended. They were going to have to eat in the Osiris Red cafeteria for an entire week! How were they going to live this down? Could they live this down?

Juudai grinned, tossing his two-fingered salute over to Asuka. "That was a fun duel!" And it had been! She'd put him on the limit the way not many had. He looked forward to dueling her again.

Asuka slowly looked up at him, and smiled. He wasn't weak at all. He was deceptive, that was what he was, and she'd lost fairly. She couldn't even pretend to feel a blow to her pride as a Blue or as a duelist. "Yes, it was." She hoped to have many more duels with Juudai in the future.

"Professor Chronos has a cold?" Juudai blinked a few times, and Asuka nodded. It was the talk of the school; no one had any idea of how the usually healthy professor had been brought down by something as simple as a cold. There had also been vague rumors of someone lurking in the lake near the girls' dorm, but no one had any idea of who it might have been. Juudai and Asuka both kept quiet, as they'd agreed. The attempted expeller would get what they deserved, one way or another.

Asuka looked down at the chazuke and yakizakana on her plate before nibbling on it. It wasn't Obelisk Blue, but it wasn't exactly horrible, either. She wondered if that was why Juudai could duel so well. Did this food motivate him to do better? Did that mean if he got promoted, he wouldn't duel so well? A quick glance at Momoe and Junko showed her that they weren't nearly as sanguine about this as she was. Momoe, in particular, was staring at the plate as if she expected something to jump off of it and bite her.

"Steak…" Momoe murmured under her breath, a mortified look on her face. How had this travesty happened? It just shouldn't be…

Juudai's thoughts were still more on his sick professor. "I'll go see him later. It's horrible to be sick." He hardly got sick himself, but the few times he had, he'd hated it. The last time he could remember had been when he was just a little kid, about seven or eight. He'd been in the hospital and everything. What did I have then, anyway? Can't remember. Oh, well, there were more important things for him to worry about.

Such as the detention that he got when he turned up to visit Professor Chronos that afternoon.

"But, Professor! I didn't do anything!" Juudai protested, staring at his teacher in shock.

"I know!" Chronos sneezed quickly and harshly, glowering down at the dropout boy. "And that's why you have detention!"

The End

Notes: Chazuke is cooked rice with green tea and frequently salmon or cod roe. Yakizakana is grilled fish.