Naruto watched from the sidelines as a brand new gamble unfolded in front of him.

In front of him, two duelists stood in rectangular carts that were suspended above a swimming pool filled with cash. As their Life Points decreased, their cart would gradually be lowered. The one whose Life Points hit zero first would quite literally be swimming in debt.

The activation cost for their [Skill] was to lower their Life Points to a meager 1—a circumstance that many duelists would not want to put themselves in willingly.

"Snowdust Dragon! Attack her directly!"

At Samui's command, a dragon made of pure ice flew towards Samui's opponent and struck her with its tail.

"Ahhhh…." The girl screamed as she was deposited amidst a pool of coins.

[Akari LP: 1→0→ LOSE!]

[Samui LP: 2000→WIN!]

A small smile creased Naruto's face at the sight of Samui's victory. He proceeded to walk towards Samui with Hinata in tow.

He halted mid-stride, however, as a sudden brown blob wheezed him by. If he had been one second slower, he would have collided onto it.

Naruto looked to see whatever it was that suddenly crossed into his path. Once his eyes caught up, he saw the retreating figure of a girl whose hair was styled in a short brown bob.

If his memory served, the same girl was also present to observe his duel with Sakura.

"Hey you…" He called out, but was left behind as the girl continued to rush away. As she left, he took note of the girl's strange bracelet. It was a round bracelet with multiple red triangles dangling on the body. In a way, it was almost like the Link Markers of a Link Monster.

"What's wrong, Naruto-sama?" Hinata asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing."

They continued to walk towards Samui, who had gotten off her cart and was now making her way towards them. In the background, Samui's opponent climbed out of the pool and vomited at the thought of losing such an exorbitant amount of money.

"Congrats on the win." Naruto smiled.

"It's nothing." Samui waved her hand in dismissal. "I'm just glad I've managed to settle a grudge."

The woman then looked around, almost searching for something. "Huh? Where is that pink girl…"

"She left earlier. I think the thought of having so much money on the line made her nauseous."

Samui folded her arms in front of her chest. "Tch. It looks like I expected too much from her. Not that my expectations were high to begin with..."

At night, Naruto wandered into the school cafeteria with Hinata and Samui. It was a Wednesday—the same day that a certain blue-haired idol liked to go up there to sing and dance.

Blue Angel was the idol's name.

The performance was not the only reason why so many members of the school liked to gather here every Wednesday. After each night of performances, the beautiful idol would invite a lucky member of the audience to play a round of card game with her.

The stakes of course varied from small pocket change to astronomical amounts, depending on the comfort of her opponent. Yet, regardless of the amount requested, the idol was always able to match it.

No one at their school knew of her identity. The idol kept it well hidden. Her extraordinary skills with makeup made it hard to tell who she was when she wasn't doing the idol gig.

This evening, by chance Naruto was invited to go on the stage for a round of cards against the pretty idol.

Or perhaps it wasn't by chance at all. He had garnered a bit of notoriety recently from his victories.

They sat across each other on a table, a Duel Monsters playmat stretched in between them.

"How much would you like to bet, Naruto-kun?" She asked, her voice light and crisp. Her lips were plump and coated in a shade of light pink. The idol's blue hair were tied into pigtails that draped to her shoulders. Her light violet eyes stared at him with patient hospitality.

"Hmm. How about 100,000,000 yen?"

The amount drew gasps from the students in the audience.

"My friend lent me some money." Naruto explained, as he looked over briefly to Samui's side.

Blue Angel smiled gently, yet firmly. She crossed her legs. "If that's what you want, then I, Blue Angel, will obey your wish!" She cheered.

They decided their respective [Skills] shortly after. With the stipulation for activating the Skills being doubling the amount of money the loser will have to payout to the loser.

"I will select the skill The Beginning of the End." Naruto declared.

"Then, I will select the skill Trickstar Seduction!" Blue Angel said.

[The Beginning of the End] - Send 1 card from your Hand to the Graveyard, add a copy of "The Beginning of the End" to your Hand.

[Trickstar Seduction] - Once this turn, when your opponent negates effect damage, target one monster your opponent controls. That monster loses ATK equal to the value of the negated effect damage.

It was quite interesting. How an idol who was only known in the confines of this school could be so willing to throw in large amounts of cash on the line without hesitation.

The identity of the idol was truly intriguing. It was a mystery that no one at the school seemed capable of solving.

No one… Except for him, of course. The people around him had connections.

"You are Aoi-chan, aren't you?"

When the idol's face showed just a brief sign of unease, Naruto knew he hit his mark.

"How do you know? You planning on blackmailing me?" Blue Angel's brows furrowed in fury.

Naruto held out two hands in between them, as if to calm her down."No. No. No. I prefer a fair and honest duel. For now, let's just play the game."

Blue Angel tensely drew her opening hand. Then, as if flipping a switch, the girl smiled brilliantly, just like how she did when she was performing on the stage.

T1 Blue Angel H:5 LP: 4000

"Alright, everybody! I will activate the Spell Card: Trickstar Light Stage. Using its effect, I can add Trickstar Caramelia to my hand!" Blue Angel added a card from her deck to her hand.

"I will then Normal Summon it!"

A brunette, nymph-like girl dressed in a pink, layered dress struck a pose with her microphone. From behind her, an identical girl poked out her head, shyly. Their eyes were a pure pink.

"It looks like Trickstar Caramelia prefers to have a companion! Once per turn, Trickstar Caramelia can Special Summon another copy of herself from my Deck!"

Trickstar Caramelia

LIGHT

LV 3

Fairy/Effect:

Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 "Trickstar Caramelia" from your Deck. You can only use this effect once per turn.

ATK: 1000 DEF: 300

"Appear, the circuit of hopes and dreams! Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition is two Level 3 or Lower Trickstar monsters!"

Both of Aoi's Trickstar monsters dove into a rectangular portal that spread across the duel mat.

"Circuit Combine! Appear, Link 2! Trickstar Divardis!"

[Trickstar Divardis LINK -2 ATK: 1800 ARROW MARKERS: BOTTOM-LEFT, BOTTOM, Extra Monster Zone #1]

Divardis was a beautiful songstress with long, flowing golden hair. Her long legs covered by blue stockings. An elegant blue dress accentuated the curves of her body. Three white wings sprouted out on each side of her back. Like Caramelia, the only thing reminding others that this card isn't human was its eyes that lacked a sclera.

"Trickstar Divaridis likes to get to work right away! If it is Special Summoned, I can inflict 200 points of effect damage to my opponent! Please, accept Trickstar Divaridis' love!"

The Trickstar blew a holographic heart towards Naruto. At the sight of that, Naruto placed a hand over his chest, as if lovestruck. His expression changed jarringly as the heart exploded in his face, stunning him. (Naruto LP: 4000→3800)

"Then per Trickstar Light Stage's effect, when a Trickstar monster inflicts damage, Naruto-kun will take an extra 200 points of damage! A star's performance is a gift that keeps on giving! Go Trickstar Light Stage!"

A beam of light spiraled out from Blue Angel's Field Spell and pierced through Naruto's body. He crouched down as if he had just been shot through the heart.

"Awww… This must be what a heartbreak feels like." He moaned as he wiped away nonexistent tears on his face. (Naruto LP: 3800→3600)

"Sorry, everybody. That is all for now!" Blue Angel apologized as Trickstar Divaridis waved at the audience. "I will set 1 card and end my turn!" On the field, a hologram of a set card flashed into view.

"A burn deck, huh..." Naruto mused.

For him though, even more fascinating than this gamble was why a girl from a well-to-do family would waste her time pretending to be an idol.

All of this were things that he planned on finding out through the course of the duel.

The boy licked his lips. "How interesting…"

A/N: Thanks for everyone who has read/reviewed/favorited this story.

Review from XeroGunblader:

Thanks for the review. But I think the bracelet girls have to be around the same age as Naruto. Sarada and Hanabi might be a bit too young.