We finally arrived on Duel Academy. Yay! What could be more exciting than school?!

"Welcome to you all. As you all know, you are first years at our lovely Academy. First, we'll explain rankings," our school's principal, or chancellor, Sheppard said. Our ranks were simple. There was Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue. Slifers were the lowest, and unfortunately, I was in it. Next, we have Ra Yellows. These are students who may have done average or exceptional on their written exams, but did an average job on their field tests, or their duels. Finally, we have Obelisk Blue. These are the best of the best in our school. They either have connections or did amazing on their written exams and field tests. They also attended Dueling Prep before Duel Academy.

"Now, as you're probably wondering, the school uniforms have changed," the Chancellor continued. Our uniforms were different from the previous students. The girls wore a white, button-up shirt. Over it, they wore a red jacket that had the letters,"DA," on the breast pocket. They stood for Duel Academy, if you didn't already guess. Their bottoms consisted of burgundy skirts, either with tights under or no tights. They wore a yellow bow to finish it off. We guys wore something similar. We wore the same shirts, but we had blue jackets. We wore pants; black, gray, or khakis. We had a red tie instead of bows.

To determine our dorms, we wore different colored bracelets and necklaces. My stuff was red, since I was a Slifer. They gave us a quick tour of our campus. They told us the island was ours to explore, but when classes weren't in session, like today. My dorm, the Slifer Dorm, was near the edge of the island, but it was the closest to school's main building.

"Man, there isn't many Slifers. Was everyone too good to be one?" I asked. Magi's spirit appeared beside me.

"Most of the Slifers drop out when they find out they are Slifers. They don't want to be treated badly or they don't want to be failures," she explained.

"Wow, that's stupid. Don't even try. What a bunch of losers," I said. The dorm was small, compared to the other dorms. It looked like a small motel. My room was on the top floor, the farthest down, so I walked myself there. I opened the door, and saw a really clean room. The beds were neat, the floor was clean, the room smelled nice. Not what you expect from a place like this. Someone wearing a mask, like the ones you wear when people are sick, appeared in front of me.

They had long, brown hair. It reached the end of their back. Their eyes were a fierce red. They had an hourglass figure, and I had a feeling I knew who this was.

"Hello," she greeted. She took off her mask, and she smiled.

"Rose Katsuya," I said.

"You remembered my name," she replied.

"Of course, we're supposed to duel sometime," I reminded her. "Is this your dorm room?"

"Yeah, they told me my roommate would be a boy, so I wasn't looking forward to it, but now that I know it's someone I know, I don't mind it so much," she told me.

"Well, this school year's going to be awkward," I told myself. I unpacked me things and brought out my Duel Academy-issued Duel Disk. It was different than the regular Duel Disk. The cartridge that held your deck, Graveyard, and whatnot was round, shaped like a snail's shell. The blade was more round than shark. There was a round gem-like thing on the cartridge that showed the Life Points and turned red when it was activated. One part of the shell-like shape were five buttons, each one for one Spell or Trap you place face-down or decide to activate. The Disks were colored depending on your rank, so mine was red.

"So, you want to explore the island with me?" Rose asked. I placed my deck in my Duel Disk and placed it on my arm. I had nothing to do, so I figured I'd amuse her.

"Yeah, sure," I replied.

"Yay! Now, I have a friend," she said. She gave me a tight hug.

"No, stop!" I yelled. She let go.

"Do you not like hugs?"

"I don't like people in general," I told her. She looked confused.

"Aren't you a person?" she questioned. I brushed myself off.

"Yeah, it's awful, isn't it?"

"Let's go," she said. She looked at me and seemed to think I had some sort of problem. Either way, we left the dorm and checked out the school first. The halls were filled with people communicating and making friends or trading cards. Some already knew each other and made plans for the rest of the year. I saw some couples holding hands, hugging, or kissing.

"Ew, affection," I commented.

"It's not gross, it's cute," Rose told me.

"We're only fifteen, we shouldn't be having feelings for people," I informed her.

"Love doesn't wait."

I sighed. We made our way to the Obelisk Arena, which is a Duel Arena, made for Obelisk students. The only way anyone below the Obelisk Rank could duel there is to be invited, or if the school is hosting a school-wide duel. I looked at my Duel Disk, and realized I wanted to duel. I didn't see Rose put her's on, so I didn't know if she could duel. I looked at her arm and she had it. I pumped my fist.

"Wanna duel?" I requested. Her eyes widened.

"You know it," she replied. As we walked into the arena, we were yelled at.

"What do you think you're doing?!" someone asked. We turned to the left, and saw a small group of maybe six or seven people. In front, leading them, were two kids. They looked alike. They both had white hair. I should probably mention, before anything else, they're opposite genders. Both the girl and boy had white hair. The boy was noticeably more aggressive than his sister, or who I assumed was his sister. They had crystal blue eyes. It sends chills. I'm not even kidding. I'm glad I have this jacket. "You're not supposed to be here."

"We're just wandering around," Rose told the boy. His eyes narrowed even more.

"Well, this isn't your place to be wandering around. Go back to your dorm, you Slifer scrubs," he said. I balled my fists.

"The frig did you just call me?" I asked.

"I was talking to the both of you," he replied.

"I don't give a crap about her, I'm talking about me. Now, repeat what you just said," I told him.

"You. Are. A. Slifer. Scrub," he repeated. I was about to charge at him, but Rose pulled my ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" I yelled in pain. Her fingernails were stabbing themselves in my ear.

"Look, I have an idea," the girl said. I looked at their necklaces. Her, the boy, and the other people in their group, who were leaving, probably because they were bored, were all Obelisks. She was pretty, now that I look at her, but I don't really care. I'm prettier.

"What is it, Kori?" the boy questioned.

"Well, Ryu, we can have you and this girl duel. If you beat her, you can mess with them all you want. If she wins, then, we leave them alone, and we forget all about this," she proposed. He was reluctant to accept, but he did.

"Fine," he finally agreed.

"I don't understand how this benefits me," I declared.

"I'll duel. I wanted to, anyway," Rose agreed. The boy, Ryu, and her went up to the Duel Stage. Rose stood at one side, and Ryu stood at the other. They activated their Duel Disks and placed their decks in them. Their Life Meters rose to 4000, and they drew their first 5 cards. Kori, the girl, stood next to me. We both had our arms crossed and studied closely at the two duelists.

"So, is that your twin?" I asked, still staring at Rose and Ryu.

"Yeah, that your girlfriend?" Kori questioned.

"As if! I just met her yesterday at the Exams," I told her. She looked at me.

"Aren't you the kid who used the Dark Magicians?" she interrogated. I nodded. I still stared at Ryu and Rose, waiting for them to hurry up the duel. They've been staring at each other for the entire time. "I think you'll be meeting your monster's rival pretty soon."

"What?" I said, breaking my concentration.

"You both don't belong here and since you don't mind the places you are in, I'll remind you where your's is at," Ryu told Rose. Although, she looked like she was confused, she seemed sort of offended.

"A-alright, but I won't go easy on you," Rose replied. She drew her next card. "I draw!"

"I don't expect much out of her. Is she any good?" Kori asked.

"Probably not. She is a Slifer," I told her.

"Aren't you a Slifer?"

"I'm a Slifer because I suck at taking paper tests. Dueling is another story," I informed her. She smiled.

"I guess you're right."

"I summon Black Stone of Legend," Rose declared. A small, black rock appeared on the ground, or in it, rather. I wondered what it did.

"A rock? It has 0 Attack and Defense Points," Ryu pointed out. "It's weak, just like its user."

"Don't make fun of my rock. It's cute," Rose told him. I placed my hand over my face.

"Why does she say stuff like that?" I asked myself. Kori giggled.

"Anyway, I activate its effect. By sacrificing it, I can summon a certain kind of monster," Rose continued.

"Are you going to summon another rock?" Ryu asked, crossing his arms and smirking.

"N-no! Don't make fun of me! I summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Rose yelled. Ryu was shocked, but not for long.

"What a weird coincidence," he commented.

"Wow, that is a funny coincidence," Kori agreed. My mouth had gaped.

"Are we seriously ignoring the fact this girl has such a rare card?" I asked. I was ignored. I pouted and crossed my arms again.

"I didn't expect a Slifer to have such a good card, but it fails in comparison to mine," Ryu declared.

"What does he mean?" I questioned. Kori whispered in my ear. "No way!"

"I activate Cards of the Red. By discarding a Level 7 Red-Eyes monster in my hand, I can draw 2 cards," Rose continued. She placed a card in her Graveyard and picked up her next 2 cards. "I place 2 cards face-down and end my turn."

"Hm, well, I think its time you see what a real dragon is," Ryu told her.

"What do you mean?"

I yawned and rubbed my stomach.

"Hey, Rose, you did good and all, but can you hurry it up? I'm starving!" I yelled. Kori laughed.

"Do you only care about yourself?" Kori asked me.

"In a way. Why?"

"No reason, it's just cute how dumb you sound," she said. I gritted my teeth. I didn't care that she called me dumb. I got mad at the other thing.

"I am not cute!" I argued. She just winked at me.

"I'll make my move now," Ryu declared. He drew his card. "I activate Trade-In. By discarding a Level 8 monster in my hand, I can draw 2 cards."

The reaction on his face let me know Rose was in for some trouble. He started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Rose questioned.

"You'll see. I activate Monster Reborn. If you're not as bad as a Slifer I think you are, you should know what it does," Ryu told her. Rose nodded.

"You can summon a monster from the Graveyard," Rose commented.

"Good job. You're not as worthless as I thought you are...but, you're still not much better," he replied. "I summon a monster that I had discarded with Trade-In. I summon..."

"No way!" Rose yelled.

"He really does have it," I thought to myself.

"I summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Ryu yelled.

A white dragon with eyes of blue descended onto the field. It roared, causing all of us, but Ryu, to step back. I wasn't sure how Rose could win now. Still, I had some faith in her.

"Come on, Rose," I said.