Sdrive: Own it, I don't. But write it, I do.
It was nighttime and the stars were shining brightly. It was a cloudless night and the air was clean and crisp. Sonomi was lying in her bed sleeping when she suddenly woke up. She did not have a nightmare again like the previous night, instead, she felt as though something was missing. She looked over bed to see that Mia was hugging her Kuriboh tightly in her sleep but Kokuro was nowhere to be seen. Checking her PDA she saw it was 12:00. She sent a quick message saying, "Where are you?" About a minute later she got one back saying, "Outside."
'What could he be doing out side?' she thought to herself. She snuck out of her bed and grabbed her jacket. Walking out of the dorm she looked around for any sign of him, but couldn't find any. She walked around searching until she came across him by one of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. He was lying down with his arms behind his head and seemed to be staring up at the sky. "What do you think you are doing here?" she asked him sternly.
"I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to get some air."
"When I can't sleep I duel." She said sitting down. She looked at him and noticed that the small Kuriboh he had gotten was lying on top of his head, its eyes to the sky as well. "Why'd you bring that thing?" she asked pointing to it.
"I wanted some company so I brought it," he said matter-of-factly.
"You can say that with a straight face?" she asked him.
"Well, I didn't want to wake you or Mia so I brought Cinnamon."
"You named it…cinnamon?" she asked skeptically.
He took it off his forehead and sat up, "Yes, its name is Cinnamon," he said looking down at the big purple eyes.
"You're really weird," she said dryly.
"And you're uptight," he said staring into her eyes. "But I'm your friend anyway."
She felt her heart jump for a moment, 'What the hell was that?' she thought to herself. She realized that her hands were shaking a bit. 'Why am I getting so nervous? He's just a boy. A weird boy who names his stuffed Duel Monsters after spices, so what's to be so worked up about? Is it because he's looking right into my eyes?'
"Are you cold?" he asked her taking notice of her hands.
"I'm fine," she said rather stubbornly wrapping her jacket around her to hide her shaking hands. Then in a bit of a softer voice she asked, "What were you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about how you seem so uptight some of the time and then how you seem depressed other times."
"I thought you said you couldn't sleep."
"I couldn't."
"So why were you thinking about me?"
"Because you are the reason I can't sleep."
"I don't…understand."
Kokuro shrugged, "Maybe it's just me," he said. "I come from a sister who is always cheerful, a friend who is always determined, and another friend who is smarter than me in pretty much every aspect and despite it all I know them so well. I know when they are upset, and I can usually figure out why. I can help them, and I like helping them. But you," he said staring at her again. "I feel like I can't help you and that's why I can't sleep. I like helping people; I enjoy making them feel better. But to see you all upset all the time, and to not know how to help you…it bothers me."
"Why do you feel like you should help me?"
"Because," he took a small pause, "that's what friends do."
Sonomi looked down at the ground, "it's nothing against you, honest. It's just some personal problems I have." She stared out across the sea, "Who knows, maybe I'm just an emotional wreck. Out here, on this island, is the only place I have been able to duel and not have the constant feeling of hatred toward me, and yet even here, I can still feel it."
"Why would someone hate you for the way you duel?" Kokuro asked.
"Because I'm not good enough for them," she said angrily. She clenched her teeth and fists and started growling at the thought of painful memories unknown to Kokuro. Suddenly she felt Kokuro's hand on top of hers. She relaxed a tad and looked up to see Kokuro's pained eyes.
"You're good enough to me," he said. "You are an amazing duelist. Your skills are beyond anything I've seen before. I don't know what happened to you, to make you feel like you need to be the best all the time, but I know how good you are right now. And I'm happy for you. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can come find me, I'll always have an open ear."
Sonomi's eyes started tearing. It was the first time Kokuro had ever seen her cry, and he was uncomfortable about it. He was so used to her being strong and not letting such an emotion ever show. Without realizing what was happening next, Sonomi hugged him. He put his arms around her and whispered, "It's alright, I'll always be here to help."
He felt her pulling away and let go. She wiped her eyes and looked at him. "I'm sorry. I'm not normally like this," she said standing up.
He got up with her, "Sometimes all anyone needs to do is share his or her emotions with someone else," he said.
She nodded, "I'm ready to face Mia now," she said softly.
"Go get her," he said smiling a little. She smiled back and gave him more of a friendly hug this time. This was the first time Kokuro didn't blush, then again, he knew he had comforted her. She felt his arms wrap around her and she smiled knowing she had such a good friend who cared for her.
"Oh, and thank you for the little plush toy," she said. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk about it."
Kokuro just chuckled picking up his toy, "Like I said, if it can bring you happiness, then it wasn't a waste."
"You've been so nice to me, the Kuriboh, the booster pack with Infernal Flame Emperor…"
"Which reminds me," he said cutting her off. He reached into his deck and pulled out his side deck. He scanned through it a few times straining to see what was there since it was dark out. He finally found what he was looking for and handed a card to her. "Here, I was going to give this to you earlier, to go along with the plushy, but I figure now is as good enough of a time to give it to you."
She took the card and looked down at it and couldn't help but give a small chuckled. It was a Kuriboh. "Wow, and here I was thinking it would be a Blue Eyes White Dragon," she said laughing.
Kokuro couldn't help but laugh with her, "Nope, just a weak defenseless little Kuriboh who will selflessly send himself to the graveyard to protect his friend."
"Kind of like you eh? You'll do anything to protect your friend?"
"Do I have to go to the graveyard?" Kokuro asked laughing as Sonomi laughed with him. "Well, lets get going," Kokuro said and they both headed back to the dormitory. They were walking in silence when Kokuro said softly, "but I will do anything to help a friend." Sonomi turned to look at him, and wonder if it would be the same for her.
In the morning Sonomi confronted Mia when she was heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth. "Good morning Sonomi," Mia said cheerfully as ever.
"Mia, I'm going to be blunt, I challenge you to a duel today after class."
"Oh, ok, but how come?"
"Because I know that last year you threw that duel for me so that you could make me happy. But it didn't make me happy; it tormented me until I couldn't take it anymore. So now I challenge you, to get this weight off my shoulders."
"You should have told me you didn't like it that I let you win. Of course I'll duel you again if that's what will make you happy."
"It will, thank you," she said. "Catch you after class," and with that Sonomi ran off to get to her first class. She was surprised to see Kokuro already there already in his seat reading a book. She ran up the steps and tapped his shoulder as she sat down. "I have my rematch," she said happily.
"I'm glad," he said smiling at her.
"I'm…I'm ready to finally let this weight go," she said a little uneasily. Then barely muttering, "Even if it means having to face him."
"You say something?" Kokuro asked.
She looked up, "No, just talking to myself, nothing important. I upped my deck a bit. I guess I always knew I would have to face her again someday, so I stacked in all my 'Anti-Mia cards.'
"Anti-Mia cards?" he asked skeptically.
"Cards that will put her deck off balance."
"Right," he said giving her the impression he thought she was crazy.
"I am not crazy!" she said raising her voice at him.
"Right," he said again.
Sonomi and Mia were on opposite sides of the dueling field with their Duel Disks at hand. They slid them on and inserted their decks. Their Duel Disks folded out and they each cried out "Duel!"
"This will be an official Duel Monster League Challenge!" Kokuro said from the referee stand. "The challenger, Sonomi, will face the Gym Leader, Mia for an Academy Badge, the players may only use 8000 Life Points. Only the challenger can make substitutions. When…"
"Enough already!" Sonomi cried out as she drew her cards. 'Excellent, I've already drawn some of my "Anti-Mia cards"'
"Mia will begin," Kokuro said. Causing a minor objection from Sonomi.
Mia drew her 6th card and looked at her hand. "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon Lv 4!" The metallic bird-like dragon appeared on the field and gave off a small roar. (1600/1000) "Next I activate Level Up turning him into Horus the Black Flame Dragon Lv 6!" The dragon began to grow larger and it roared even louder. (2300/1600) "I'll set one card under the table and end my turn," Mia said.
"My move," Sonomi said drawing. "I summon Solar Flare Dragon in attack mode!" she said as her flaming dragon appeared on the field, (1500/1000) "Next I set two cards under the table and end my turn," she said. "Because of my Solar Flare Dragon, you lose 500 Life Points." The dragon reared back its head and fired a ball of fire at Mia.
Mia endured the attack as she drew her card. (7500) "It will take more than that to beat me. I summon Silent Magician Lv 4" she said as the small white haired magician with the white and blue robed appeared on the field. (1000/1000) "Now, Black Flame Dragon, attack Solar Flare Dragon!" The Dragon let loose a stream of black fire that headed for Sonomi's monster when a barrier appeared in front of the monster. "What?"
"Reverse Trap Card, Draining Shield. Now I gain 2300 Life Points, thanks Mia." (10300)
"You're welcome. I end my turn."
"And I begin mine!" she said drawing her card. Silent Magician started glowing and her attack power increased. (1500/1000) "I summon Raging Flame Sprite!" she said as a small sprite like monster appeared on the field with a small wand in its hand. (100/200) "Raging Flame Sprite has the ability to attack your Life Points, so go Raging Flame Sprite!" The Sprite began to charge up its wand when all the monsters on the field started floating. When they stopped they were all in an on guard stance."
"Too bad for you I reversed my set Zero Gravity changing the positions of all monsters."
"I'm not worried that much," Sonomi said. "I set one card under the table and end my turn causing you to take another 500 life points." The dragon attacked Mia gain causing her to stumble a bit. (7000)
"It's my turn, draw!" Mia said.
"I reverse my Curse of Darkness," Sonomi said as her newly set trap flipped up.
"So you don't want me using Spells huh? Well, I summon Ultimate Insect Lv 3," she said as the small blue and red bug appeared on the field. (1400/900) "Next I will switch my Horus and my Silent Magician to attack mode. Go Horus, attack the Raging Flame Sprite."
"I don't think so!" Sonomi called out. "Reverse Gravity Bind."
"Oh no, now I really can't attack at all."
'So, I guess Gravity Bind is one of her "Anti-Mia cards"' Kokuro thought. 'Mia's monsters level up and when they do that their star levels rise as well making it nearly impossible for Mia to attack.'
"I still have my Ultimate Insect, so I have it attack your Raging Flame Sprite!"
"Reverse Negate Attack!" Sonomi called out as a swirling vortex pushed the bug back.
'Sonomi got a good hand for stopping attacks,' Kokuro thought. 'However, in reality she just got lucky that she got such good monster stopping cards on her first draw. Still, it doesn't mean she didn't build her deck well. These are the kinds of duels that really push a duelist to their limit'
"I end my turn," Mia said.
"Now mine begins," Sonomi said as she drew Silent Magician got stronger. (2000/1000) "I summon another Solar Flare Dragon!" she called out as another of the large dragons appeared. "Now, I switch my Raging Flame Sprite to attack mode and have it attack you!" The sprite powered up its wand and hit Mia with a bit of fire. (6900) "My sprite now gains an extra 1000 attack points for hitting your Life Points directly. (1100/200) So now I end my turn and you lose 1000 from my two dragons!" The two dragons blasted Mia and she was knocked backwards. (5900)
Mia stood up and drew her card. "Alright Sonomi, you don't want me going easy, then here we go! First my Ultimate Insect evolves into Ultimate Insect Lv 5," she said as her much larger bug appeared on the field. (2300/900) "And now that it's on the field your monsters each lose 500 attack points." Raging Flame Sprite: (600/200) Solar Flare Dragon x2 (1000/1000). "Now, I sacrifice my Horus for Armed Dragon Lv 5!" She exclaimed as the large orange dragon with the metal armor appeared on the field. (2400/1700) "Now it's time for Heavy Storm!" she said as suddenly a large wind picked up. "It may cost me 1000 Life Points due to your Trap Card, but now all the traps on the field are destroyed!" (4900)
'This is what I was afraid of,' Kokuro thought. 'Now Sonomi's in a tough spot again.'
"Go Armed Dragon attack the Raging Flame Sprite." The dragon let out a blast of fire that hit the Sprite destroying it depleting some of Sonomi's Life Points. (8500)
"Since your Solar Flare Dragons special ability states that I can't attack it, I'll set one card under the table and end my turn. Now the fun begins! Since my Armed Dragon Lv. 5 destroyed a monster this turn I can evolve it into the much larger Armed Dragon Lv. 7!"
"I thought you didn't have that other Armed Dragon!" Sonomi said shocked.
"I pulled it yesterday!" she said smiling. The dragon got much larger and the armor on its body got larger, and stronger. It now looked like a dragon that no one would ever want to mess with. (2800/1000)
Sonomi drew her card and watched the Silent Magician get even stronger, (2500/1000) She looked down at the card and smiled. She placed it in her hand for later and took another card from it, "Prepare yourself Mia, I'm getting rid of that oversized dragon right now, I summon Ultimate Baseball Kid!" A small kid in a baseball uniform holding a spike bat appeared on the field. (500/1000) "My Baseball Kid may seem week now, but he gains 1000 extra attack points for every fire type on the field. And right now I count 2 so my Base Ball kid is now a 2500!"
"Too bad you forgot about my Ultimate Insect and how it makes your monster weaker by 500 attack points," Mia said as they all watched the Baseball Kid weaken. (2000/1000)
"Damn it," Sonomi said rather softly. 'I knew this would happen. I forgot all about that thing.'
'Sonomi's letting the pressure of this duel effect her,' Kokuro thought. 'Come on Sonomi, relax a little, try to have some fun.'
"I switch my Solar Flare Dragon on guard and end my turn causing you to take another 1000."
The two dragons attacks hit Mia but she held her ground. (3900) "Now, it is time to show you what my dragon can really do! I drop this Flying Kamakiri from my hand to destroy all monsters with attack equal to or lower than the attack of my Kamakiri. The dragon let out blasts of fire that destroyed both of Sonomi's Solar Flare Dragons in turn causing Ultimate Baseball Kid to drop down to a 0 attack point monster and also be destroyed.
Kokuro gasped, "Sonomi won't lose the duel but she will lose most of her Life Points if this next attack gets through!"
"Now my Level Monsters attack the player directly!" Mia called out as all the monsters let loose their attacks.
"I'm not taking as much damage as you may think," Sonomi called out. She took a card from her hand and slid it into her Graveyard. Suddenly Kuriboh appeared on the field and blocked the attack of the Armed Dragon.
"All right!" Kokuro cheered.
"I didn't realize you had a Kuriboh in your deck now," Mia said smiling. "Unfortunately you still take the attack of my Silent Magician and Ultimate Insect!" she said as the two attacks hit Sonomi knocking her down. (3700) "I end my turn."
Sonomi slowly stood up, 'Come on, I need to know that I can beat her, I need to know that I have what it takes,' she said pulling her card. The Silent Magician grew stronger but Sonomi was more concerned with what card she drew. (3000/1000) She looked down at it, "I activate Graceful Charity, I draw three cards and drop two." She looked down at the cards in her hand and chose two cards. "Now, I sacrifice your Armed Dragon lv 7 and Ultimate Insect Lv 5 in order to Special Summon Lava Golem to your side of the field!" She called out as the large golem appeared on Mia's side of the field trapping her in a large metal cage. "I'll set one card under the table and end my turn."
Mia drew her card and felt the hot lava from Lava Golem come down on her. (2900) "I don't know what you are planning, but I won't give up without a fight. I summon Silent Swordsman Lv 3!" She said as her small sword-wielding warrior appeared on the field. "Now I attack you with all three!"
"Reverse Gravity Bind!" Sonomi called out. The energy nets appeared on the field again and caught the Lava Golem and the Silent Magician in their place. "Now you can't deplete my Life Points," Sonomi called out.
"Maybe not but I can still attack you with the Silent Swordsman!" The swordsman ran up to Sonomi and slashed her across the chest. She stumbled a bit but otherwise she was ok. (2700) "I end my turn."
"I guess I don't have to worry about your Silent Swordsman once it evolves," Sonomi said drawing and watched as the Silent Magician gained its last spell counter. (3500/1000) "I don't have to worry about the Silent Magician either," she said.
"I can still win this," Mia said.
"I'm sure you can," Sonomi said.
'Sonomi had made a mistake that could have made her lose," Kokuro thought. 'Originally, she would have taken an extra 2800 due to Armed Dragon and that would have brought her down to 900 causing that last attack by Silent Swordsman to finish her off. But thanks to the Kuriboh I gave her she was able to draw out the Lava Golem, Gravity Bind combo and slowly dwindle down Mia's Life Points. It hurts to watch Mia lose, she's such a good duelist, but I'm happy that Sonomi is winning too. I guess that's what happens when you are watching two friends duel. You don't want to see either of them lose, but you know that one of them has to lose in the end. However, like Sonomi said, Mia could still turn this duel around.'
"I summon Raging Flame sprite," Sonomi said as her small sprite appeared. (100/200) "Flame Sprite attack the player!" The sprite flew over to Mia and hit her with a small burst of fire. (2800) "My Flame Sprite gets stronger and then I end my turn." (1100/200)
Mia drew and the Lava Golem melted on top of her again. (1800) "You won't beat me right away. My Swordsman and Magician both evolve now." The two level monsters both began to glow and transform. They both got taller and much stronger. Silent Swordsman Lv 5 (2300/1000) Silent Magician Lv 8 (3500/1000). "Now I summon Ultimate Insect Lv 3 and have it attack your Flame Sprite!" The insect went towards the small sprite and destroyed it causing Sonomi to lose 300 of her Life Points. (2400) "That ends my turn."
"Won't give up eh?" Sonomi asked Mia.
"You asked me not too," she replied.
"You're right I did," she said smiling back.
'In the end, I don't think it will matter who wins this duel,' Kokuro thought to himself. 'I'm sure they will stay friends no matter what.'
Sonomi drew her card and looked down at it. "I hate to do it to you Mia, but I sacrifice your Ultimate Insect and your Silent Magician and summon my second Lava Golem."
"You keep two?" Kokuro asked a little stunned.
"Yep. And so now I end my turn."
Mia sighed, she drew her card and the two golems melted on top of her causing her to lose the last of her Life Points. (0) The golems disappeared and Mia was freed from the cages. Sonomi let out a large sigh of relief, glad that it was over at last. Mia ran over to her along with Kokuro.
"Great job Sonomi," Mia said giving her a small hug.
"Yeah, you were awesome," Kokuro said. Sonomi gave Kokuro a small hug. "What was that for?" he asked with a face mixed with nervousness and curiosity."
"Just didn't want you to feel left out," she said turning around, but showing a bit of mischievous on her face. 'It's also a thank you for everything you've done for me and for being such a great friend to me,' she thought to herself.
"Well, I guess you got your conscious cleared knowing that you can actually beat her," Kokuro said.
"Yeah," she said turning to Mia, "and I'm sorry I didn't tell you how I felt sooner."
"It's alright. I guess I should probably stop trying to let everyone else win huh?"
"It just shows that you have a good heart," Kokuro told her.
"Thanks guys," she said.
"Well, who wants lunch?" Sonomi asked smiling.
"WE DO!" Kokuro and Mia said together. "Race ya?" Mia said turning to Kokuro only to find he was already running.
He screamed back, "I say, I'm already half way there!"
"CHEATER!" she screamed at him as she ran to catch up.
Sonomi couldn't help but laugh at the crazy antics of her two friends. It made her realize that she had never really experienced that kind of fun. It made her sad realizing that she was always so uptight about everything, as Kokuro had said, she never really relaxed and took a break. She then realized that pretty much ever since Kokuro had come to Duelist Academy, her attitude had been changing little by little. It started when he had accidentally put on the wrong uniform, and then went on from there. She thought about how focused Kokuro was inside of a duel, always calm and determined, and how crazy he was outside, like he didn't even have a single care in the world. 'Why can't I be like that?' she asked herself. The answer came in the form of her dream, and the horrible past it represented.
She took her bag off her shoulder and peaked in at the small Kuriboh Plushy she had hidden in there. As embarrassed, as she was to admit it, she liked the little toy. 'Kokuro had it on his head out in plain view. Granted it was nighttime, but anyone who had gone close enough to him would have seen it. The least I can do is carry it around, especially since he got it for me. Mia and Kokuro have given me so many chances, why can't I give myself a chance?' She pondered this question while she walked down to the cafeteria.
Mia and Kokuro were already at the lunch table by the time Sonomi had gotten there. "Behold, my Master Kuriboh is empowered with Riryoku, you can not defeat it," he was saying in a stupid low toned voice.
"Well my Kuriboh has the power of Exodia! You can't beat it!" Mia replied.
"Ahh, but you forget, Kuriboh has Riryoku, he takes half of infinity from your Exodia and applies it to himself causing your Exodia to be half infinity weaker, making my Kuriboh stronger by half of infinity plus 300 making it..."
"Still not a real number and therefore getting beaten," Sonomi said sitting down next to him.
"What?" Kokuro said. "No way, if it's taken away half of Exodia's power…"
"Exodia's power is infinite, you can't take away half of infinity," she stated.
"You use the same fun-spoiling logic that my friend back home uses," he said sighing in defeat.
"Glad to hear it," she said laughing. When they were done they cleared their places and then began walking back to their dormitory when something caught Sonomi's eyes. "Hey Mia, did you hear anything about a boat being docked today?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"There is a boat down by the docks," she said looking down at the docks.
"It's probably just the mail boat," she responded.
"No," Sonomi said narrowing her eyes a bit. "This boat is too big for that. It looks like it actually has people inside of it."
"Really?" Mia asked finally looking down at the docks. "Hey you're right. Lets go check it out."
The three of them walked down to the docks and looked on with some of the other students as the boat finished docking. Kokuro noticed that Seto Kaiba was down there as well, his eyes not leaving the vessel. 'I wonder who is on that boat?' Kokuro thought to himself.
The hatch opened and a lone person stepped out into the sunlight. He had a backpack on, a suitcase in his right hand, and a small black briefcase in the other. He was wearing a black trench coat with a dark blue shirt underneath. He seemed rather tall to Kokuro. He had dark blue eyes and long dark purple hair. He wore a look on his face, half of it a smirk as he saw the students standing around him, and the other a look of annoyance when he saw Seto Kaiba.
Kaiba had an emotionless face as he stared up at the boy. He walked up to him and started speaking with him. After a few moments Kaiba walked down the ramp and began to head off back towards the academy, but not before his eyes caught sight of Kokuro, Sonomi, and Mia. 'It looks like they will be meeting earlier than expected,' he thought as he continued on his way.
The three stood there and watched the boy smirk as Kaiba walked away from him. He walked down the ramp seemingly ignoring everyone else there until he made eye contact with Sonomi. He walked up to her setting his suitcase down. "Well, well, if it isn't the Legend of the academy, Sonomi Hinote," he said with a menacing voice. "I've been waiting a long time to finally meet you."
"And why is that?" she asked sounding confident even though she was slightly intimidated by him.
"Because I want duel you and once I win I'll be the best of all the Duelist Academy Schools," he said, his smirk still in place.
"What makes you think you can win?" she asked a bit more confidently this time.
"I have studied your strategies and know exactly how to overcome each and everyone of them," came the reply.
"I doubt you will ever be able to beat me," she said.
"Maybe if you knew who I was, you would know that I could."
"And just who are you?" she asked folding her arms.
"My name is Nushi," he said calmly.
"Wait, you mean Ritsuzen Nushi?" she asked a little nervously, her arms dropping.
"The very same," he said smirking.
"Who is he Sonomi?" Kokuro asked.
"He's supposed to be the Legend of the North School," she replied.
"Not 'supposed to be,'" he said. "I am."
"Wow, you must be pretty tough then," Kokuro said. "You and I will have to duel some day."
"I don't duel insignificant cretins any longer," he said blowing Kokuro off.
"Excuse me," Kokuro said annoyed.
"I only duel students of the highest rankings. Once I beat little Hinote here, I will have no more need to duel anyone here."
Kokuro didn't like Ritsuzen's attitude, "I'll have you know I beat Professor Hikari," he said.
"You beat who now? Ah yes, that insignificant teacher who was supposedly never beaten by a student before. Try defeating Ms. Hinote over here and then I might consider your challenge."
"I…" Kokuro began but Sonomi cut him of.
"He already has," she said sternly.
"What?" Ritsuzen asked raising his eyebrow a tad.
"He already has beaten me," Sonomi responded.
"You are referred to as a Legend and yet you let a simple first year beat you?"
"How did you know I was…" Kokuro began.
"I am well aware that the only other person to beat that fool Hikari was a first year. It was then I knew that he was nothing more than a simple teacher. But to find out, right now, that the very first year in question defeated the 'Great Legend Sonomi' and that she is still referred to as a Legend? Well, I must say I am quite surprised. It almost makes me want to take back my cretin comment."
"What do you mean almost?" Kokuro asked.
"To find out that this school, filled with a bunch of so called 'Legendary Duelists,' is ultimately filled with a bunch of losers who are defeated by each other on a constant basis? This idea is not appealing to me."
"Sonomi and Kokuro have only dueled once," Mia said trying to defend her friends.
"And just who are you?" he asked ignoring her question.
"I'm…"
"Oh that's right, I forgot to tell you that I don't really care who you are."
"Stop picking on Mia," Kokuro and Sonomi both said at the same time, now glaring at Ritsuzen.
"Fine, I shall duel you boy," he said as he picked up his suitcase and began to walk towards the building. "We will duel tonight, in the Obelisk Blue Arena."
"What about wanting to duel me?" Sonomi asked.
"And why the Obelisk Blue Arena?" Kokuro asked.
"Because you lost," he said referring to Sonomi's question. "And because that is where I rank. With the Obelisks," came the reply to Kokuro's. With that he walked off towards the academy. "Now if you will excuse me, I must get my dormitory key."
"Well, their goes prince charming," Mia said dryly.
"When's the royal ball?" Sonomi asked just as dryly.
"The nerve of some people," Kokuro said angrily.
"That's just how some people are," Sonomi said.
"How dare he," Kokuro said getting really angry. "He insulted us, he blew you off for losing to me," he directed that statement to Sonomi. "And he insulted this school."
"You seem pretty fired up to defend the honor of the academy," Mia said a bit taken aback.
"He has no right to insult us," Kokuro said walking away from the others in the direction of the academy. 'I could handle Sonomi since she just randomly blew up at me and insisted that I ruined her life and I wanted to find out why,' he thought. 'But this new kid, I can tell that he's just a jerk. The power of being a Legend has gotten to his head, and I intend to show him what dueling is all about.'
