A/N: Decided to post this thing up on my birthday. What can possibly go wrong? ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Chapter 1

"Story of a Girl"

"I think I'm going to be sick…"

"Really? Oh, no! Is it because of the boat? Something you ate? Wait, no—You didn't even eat anything this morning, now did you? You really have got to stop skipping meals like that, treasure. It isn't healthy!"

Rather than taking the time to even try to respond to any of that, I instead just hastily brushed a few locks of hair out of my face as I leaned over the ship's starboard and then proceeded to empty the contents of my stomach (which was really just water, at that point) into the Pacific below.

"Ugh… Damn..." I screwed my eyes shut as I stumbled back and allowed myself to fall onto the wooden deck with a graceless thud.

"There, there, my precious gem," my companion cooed softly, her hand trying to rub comforting circles on my back that I unfortunately couldn't feel the full effects of while she was in her incorporeal form. "If it makes you feel any better, it looks like we're almost at our destination, at least."

At that comment, I turned my gaze back towards the direction the ship was headed, soon able to make out a rough outline of something over the horizon.

As the ship got closer, however, so did the object in the distance, which soon revealed itself to be an island. It was encompassed by sandy beaches with rocky, rugged sea cliffs around the edges that had at least two waterfalls flowing from them. From afar, it looked like the terrain mainly consisted of woodlands, while what appeared to be a volcano made up the mountainside.

But the most eye-catching sight had to be the building that seemed to be in the center of the island. It was primarily silver in color and had a large white dome-shaped roof. In the middle of the structure were three smaller sections topped with their own domed roofs that had a bit more color to them, though. The first one was blue, followed by yellow, and at the bottom was red. The entire thing seemed to be built atop a giant sandstone base and was surrounded by several large obelisks that looked to be made of the same material.

I tore my eyes away from the sight, suddenly feeling my stomach begin to churn all over again as the butterflies in it ran rampant. "It really doesn't…" I muttered under my breath, though the ebony-haired spirit still managed to hear me anyway.

"Huh? But that's Academy Island over there, isn't it? I thought you would be—oh, I don't know—excited?" she wondered.

"I was earlier, sort of, but now part of—actually, most of me isn't really sure if going through with all of this is such a good idea…"

"You mean transferring to Duel Academy? Oh, but I thought you were looking forward to seeing your brother again... Wasn't that pretty much the whole point of all of this?"

"Y-yeah. And I still really want to be with Jaden again more than anything in the world, but I… What if I'm not ready after all, Akame?"

"Where's this coming from, all of a sudden? If it has anything to do with thinking you'll lose control of your powers, please try not to worry so much," she reassured me soothingly, her hand that I still couldn't completely feel stroking my hair in what I knew was meant to be a tender manner. "I know you're still working through all of the problems they've caused you in the past, but don't let that keep you down. After all, that seal we placed on you is making sure you won't have to suffer because of them anymore."

I looked down at my right shoulder at that moment. Even though the sleeve of my blouse was blocking it from view, I still could clearly picture the intricate hexagram-shaped sigil that was now burned into the skin there. Although it had certainly hurt like hell when Akame had put it on me not that long ago, it had definitely been worth it to help deal with my… condition.

A word like that was putting it lightly, though. As far as I could tell, I was cursed. There was really no other way for me to describe these wretched abilities I was unlucky enough to possess, which typically ranged anywhere from stuff that looked like black fire magically igniting from my hands, to the shadows around me somehow gaining wills (and physical mass) of their own that would lash out at anyone or anything whenever my emotions got the best of me.

If that wasn't bad enough, they also made playing Duel Monsters a living nightmare. I found out pretty early on that any card I played using Solid Vision would magically become real, meaning that whenever I attacked with a monster or activated a card that caused damage of any kind, my opponent—and just about anything else around—would sustain real damage. Not only that, but because my monsters were brought to life by my own power, whenever they were weakened, hurt, or destroyed, I would feel their pain too, which always had the sensation of what I can only describe as my very soul agonizingly being torn asunder, over and over again.

Like I said, these powers were horrible, and because I had virtually no control over them, I quickly learned to make it a habit of keeping my distance from others to lessen the chances of something bad happening to anyone.

One person I could never keep away, though, was my brother. Despite everything that had happened over the years and knowing first-hand what I was capable of, Jaden still always loved, cared for, and accepted me, no matter what, and I could never thank him enough for that. While I guess I could also say the same thing regarding our parents, they unfortunately really couldn't be there for me as often as Jaden… Or, at least, that was the case until recently, when he went off to attend Duel Academy.

Sure, he had tried to convince me to come with him, but with me being the destructive force that I was, especially when it came to Dueling, there was no way I was able to take him up on his offer, despite how much I wanted to stay by his side. And so I did what any good sister would do and made him go without me, telling him I would be fine on my own.

Although it wasn't my intention, that had turned out to be a monumental lie in the end, because the truth was, I was absolutely miserable without having Jaden around. It had somehow gotten so bad that I couldn't even eat, sleep, or function properly as the days went by.

Despite the fact that we emailed each other often to stay in contact, that was sadly never enough for me and it had honestly been getting increasingly harder to pretend like everything was fine while my brother recounted all the fun he was having at Duel Academy so far (without me).

Just when I had thought that I was finally going to reach my breaking point, Akame had reappeared after a long and mysterious absence with a "surprise" that almost seemed too good to be true. Apparently, she had been off in the Spirit World, training with a fellow Spellcaster to learn some new, advanced technique that she was certain would be the answer to my prayers: a power sealing spell.

While it unfortunately couldn't completely get rid of my powers—the fact that my left eye hadn't returned to normal and still looked as unnerving as ever had made that apparent enough—it was at least able to contain them to a point where they only activated whenever I wanted them to (which was never, by the way). That, in itself, was enough to have me practically weep for joy and make me feel even more grateful for Akame than ever before.

Once I finally felt like I had some semblance of control over myself for the first time in forever, I enrolled in Duel Academy the first chance I got, so desperate to be near Jaden again that I didn't even give it so much as a second thought. Well, until now, anyway...

I sighed and hugged my knees close to my chest. "Even though we know from practice that this seal works so far with preventing my powers from going wild during Duels and everything else, I still can't help but feel that something's... wrong with me…"

"Wrong?" Akame echoed, her worry intensifying to the point where I could literally feel it emanating from her in waves. Or maybe that was just my own? I don't know. It was too hard to focus right now… "What do you mean by that? Are you still feeling any pain? Is that it?"

"No, it's nothing like that. It's…"

"Yes?"

"Well, I've been thinking a lot about the conversation I had with that Professor Hibiki lady after my examination Duel the other day and how it reminded me of Jaden and the way he's always going on about how much fun Dueling apparently is and how it's supposed to create some kind of connection between you and your opponents, or whatever. All of that is now just making me realize that I haven't managed to feel anything like that during any of my Duels so far…" I admitted dejectedly, burying my face in my knees and allowing my hair to drape around me like a curtain. "Do you… Do you think that means that I'm not cut out to be a real Duelist? If that's the case, then it really was a mistake enrolling in a freakin' Duel school, of all places, because no matter how much I want to be able to see my brother again, I would hate it even more if I were to disappoint him or anyone else by being a complete and utter failure. It really was a good thing that I didn't tell Jaden I was coming after all... I probably still have time to turn back and—"

"Now you listen to me, Shion Yuki!" Akame suddenly yelled, cutting off my despondent rant and making me lift my head up in surprise. I found her glaring down at me with righteous fury burning in her scarlet eyes. "If there's one thing you are most definitely not, it's a failure! Or a quitter, for that matter! And as a member of your deck, I can honestly say that you have the potential to be a great Duelist! You just need to believe in yourself the same way I believe in you!"

Once my initial shock wore off, I just shook my head and gave another wistful sigh. "I appreciate the vote of confidence and all, but that's a lot easier said than done…"

The Spellcaster let out a long breath as well, her earlier ire fading away, just like that. "Listen, treasure… No one ever said that it would be easy, but you know as well as I do that you won't ever get anywhere you want to be in life if you never have the courage to take that first step forward."

I mulled over her words for a long while. As usual, she made a pretty good point that was hard to argue with...even if it did kind of sound like one of those cheesily profound messages you find in fortune cookies or on those silly motivational posters. If nothing else, I reasoned that I should at least try to see this thing through since we already went to all the trouble of making it this far.

"Yeah... I guess you're right, Akame," I finally said.

"Of course I am!" she shot back with a grin. "Just try to stay positive and remember that you won't have to face any of this alone. Red and I and everyone else will always be there for you, after all."

At the mention of his name, the spirit of my Red-Eyes Black Dragon suddenly appeared next to Akame with a jovial trill. I could also hear the various cries of encouragement and approval coming from the rest of my deck, their combined love and adoration suddenly washing over me like a tidal wave.

With a small but sincere smile, I took out my deck case and hugged it, and the cards inside, close to my heart. "Thanks, everyone."

Once the ship made port, I was finally free to leave the accursed vessel, though doing so proved to be just about as challenging as it had been getting on, mainly due to my belongings. Although the captain was nice enough to offer his assistance, I had declined any help since I didn't really trust just anyone with handling my stuff, and so I therefore found myself dragging along an overstuffed suitcase while trying not to drop any of my other precious cargo.

Strapped to my back was my Gibson SG Goddess electric guitar, tucked away safely in its case, while my right shoulder bore the weight of a Yamaha YPG-535 portable keyboard nestled inside its carrier, and my left hand tightly clutched onto the case holding my beloved Cecilio CVN-300 Solidwood Ebony Fitted violin for dear life. Oh, and I also had my mother's old, bulky, and surprisingly sharp Battle City-era Duel Disk strapped to my right forearm—can't forget about that.

"You should really let someone help you with all of that, treasure," Akame advised after most likely seeing the stained look that I'm sure was visible all over my face.

"I'm… I'm fine…" I panted as I slowly but surely pressed onwards. "After all, if I was able to travel all the way from Sapporo to… to freakin' Domino City while lugging all this stuff by myself, I think I can… make it a little further without any help…"

"If you say so… Do you even know where we're going right now, though?"

I halted in my tracks at that question, realizing that I, in fact, didn't have a clue as to where I was headed. "Um… Not really. Now that I think about it, I was told earlier that someone named Professor Banner was supposed to meet me here when I arrived, but it doesn't look like anyone's around right now…" I muttered, placing some of my stuff down as I looked back and forth down the deserted docks.

"So, they're a no-show, huh?"

I shook my head. "We don't know that yet. They could just be running a little late. Or maybe we're just early?"

Akame hummed in thought for a moment before her face lit up with a bright smile. "Well, whatever the reason may be, it looks like we have some time to kill, which gives me a great idea."

"Knowing you, I'm almost too afraid to ask what you could possibly have in mind…" I deadpanned, my eyes narrowing slightly.

"Just hear me out on this one, at least," she insisted.

I sighed in defeat. "Fine. Let's hear it, then."

"Well~ I was just thinking that since this island is apparently full of some of the best up-and-coming Duelists in the country, why don't we find one of them for you to Duel?"

"Huh? Why would we need to do that now, though?" I questioned as I tried to keep a look of dread from crossing my features.

"Because I have a feeling that it might be exactly what you need right now," was the explanation I received from her, along with an affectionate smile. "I know one Duel probably won't be enough to make all of your doubts just magically go away, but I'm hoping that the more experience you get from Dueling different people will at least help improve your opinion of it—and of yourself as a Duelist—over time. So, what do you say?"

I chewed on my bottom lip as I contemplated the idea for a bit. While my knee-jerk reaction was to immediately reject such a thing, I knew that I was at least going to have to make an effort if I wanted things to work out here.

"Well… If you really think it will help, then...then alright," I eventually agreed.

"Yay! That's the spirit!" Akame cheered, shooting a fist up towards the sky in triumph. "Now, all we have to do is find you an opponent."

"But who should that even be?" I wondered. "I mean, it's not like I actually know anyone here, except for Jaden, and I don't think I'll be ready to face him again in a Duel for a while…"

"Why not just ask the first student we find here that isn't your brother, then?" my ever-the-daring friend suggested. "After all, if the kids here are the real-deal, I'm sure that any one of them would make for a great challenge."

Before I had the chance to respond, Red suddenly appeared before us with a cry of excitement, his ruby gaze fixated on something off in the distance.

Out of curiosity, Akame and I turned to look as well.

While my eyesight wasn't quite as keen as a dragon's, with a bit of squinting, I was able to spot what had caught the spirit's attention. On a different section of the harbor, next to a stone structure that looked to be a small lighthouse, stood what appeared to be a guy dressed in a white and blue uniform, just staring out at the ocean.

That guy's wearing blue… That must mean he's in that Obelisk Blue dorm, I guess? I thought to myself, recalling how Central Duel Academy's ranking system worked, which I had first learned about from one of Jaden's letters to me regarding his time at this school.

From what I remember being told, there were three ranks: Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue. Jaden had said he was placed in Slifer Red, and while it was supposedly the worst dorm to be in, as it was basically said to be home to all the underachievers and future dropouts of the academy, that didn't seem to bother him one bit (which was so totally like him, by the way, yet I still thought that he definitely deserved better). On the opposite side of the spectrum was Obelisk Blue, which was apparently where all the elite and notably skilled Duelists were placed. (But just how great could they be, really, when they didn't have my precious big brother in their ranks?)

"Oh wow... It looks like Red already found you a potential opponent!" Akame exclaimed with another grin. She turned to her familiar and reached up to happily scratch his favorite spot underneath his chin. "Good job there, buddy!"

"So, you guys want me to challenge him, huh?" I questioned, suddenly feeling the butterflies in my stomach return with a vengeance, though I did my best to keep them under control.

"Well, yeah!" was the Spellcaster's reply while Red growled his agreement.

"O-okay... Let's go, then, I guess…"

After dragging myself and all of my belongings up and down a seaside cliff and across a bridge just to get to the part of the harbor where that guy was, I stopped about ten meters away from actually reaching him, not wanting to make my presence known just yet.

During the walk over, I had been trying to figure out what to say to start up a conversation where it would be acceptable to just ask for a Duel out of nowhere, but I couldn't come up with anything. Socializing really wasn't my thing, after all…

"C'mon and just go ask him, gem," Akame encouraged me when I failed to make any sort of movement after several minutes. "I mean, the worst he can say is 'no'."

"I know that, but it's still not easy for me, okay?" I snapped back in agitation, probably a little bit louder than I should have.

Okay, so make that a lot louder, because the stranger apparently had heard me and turned around to look in my direction. Despite already being at a considerable distance, I almost jumped back even further when our eyes met, feeling as if I had suddenly been struck by lightning.

"Eep! Um… I mean, hello there?" I stammered out, gingerly lifting a hand up in greetings before carefully putting my things down and forcing myself to begin walking up to him.

This did nothing to ease my nerves, however. Now that I was a bit closer, I could see that this guy was a good thirty-something centimeters taller than me and probably around two or three years older. His shoulder-length teal-colored hair was sectioned in three layers, with his stormy blue-green eyes positioned directly beneath the bangs of the layer closest to his face (which was also admittedly rather attractive, I couldn't help but notice).

While I had always liked to believe that I was above being affected by such things as a good-looking guy, as it sadly turned out,I wasn't, because I had apparently gotten so distracted with gawking at this young man that I somehow managed to trip over thin air and was making a swift descent towards the concrete ground before I knew it.

Thinking fast, I was able to turn my fall into an impromptu (and very awkward) front handspring that at least allowed me to land back up on my feet rather than flat on my face, though I'm quite certain that I had to have accidentally flashed my panties in the process since the universe just really seemed to hate me that much.

"Yikes… That certainly could have gone better... Er, I mean, nice save there, Shion!" Akame said before giving me a sheepish smile as she offered an encouraging thumbs up in an attempt to make me feel better, I'm sure.

Well, it didn't work because I could feel a rush of blood come to my face, both from complete mortification over my klutziness and the fact that I had wound up much, much closer to the mystery man than I had originally intended, thanks to that stupid tumble. I wanted to just go crawl in a hole and die, or back the heck up, at the very least, but I really didn't trust myself to move at that moment and therefore just blankly stared down at the ground as I wished for it to swallow me whole.

So much for making a good first impression… I thought ruefully, with underlying feelings of shame and self-loathing sprinkled in.

"Are you okay?" a deep voice asked, breaking me out of my semi-catatonic state.

I looked up, but doing so proved to be another mistake on my end, because I almost instantly felt an uncomfortable pang in my chest while my legs turned to jelly the instant my gaze fell on steely irises staring back at me.

"F-for the most part, I think…" I forced myself to answer as I finally found the will to make my shaky legs slide my body back a few paces so I could get out of this guy's personal space. "I'm just so very sorry that you had to see all of that…and that I almost, you know, crashed into you."

"That's...alright," he eventually settled on as being the appropriate response. After giving me a brief once-over, he added, "It seems you've lost a shoe there, though…"

Huh? Looking down at my feet, I soon discovered that, indeed, my left foot was currently sans one Mary Jane. Now, how exactly did that even happen and why the heck did I not notice before?

"Hm. So I have…" I muttered hollowly and then turned to look behind me. Thankfully, it didn't take me long to find that the misplaced footwear was just a couple of meters away, near the edge of the walkway. I guess I should count myself lucky that it didn't wind up in the damn ocean… "Excuse me for just one moment, please..."

With that, I awkwardly hobbled over to my stupid shoe and hastily slipped it back on before returning to my previous spot.

"If you could kindly forget about everything that you just saw, that would be great."

"Speaking of which, I don't recall having ever seen you around before," said the young man. "Are you a student here?"

"Er… Sort of… I mean, I suppose I will be, officially, after I finish checking in with the school's administration and everything," I admitted while I absentmindedly played with a lock of my hair in an attempt to keep myself calm, twisting the section where the dark brown began to gradually fade to ginger around my finger.

"I see… If you're trying to find the administration office, it's over in the main building. Follow the northeast road and it will lead you straight there," he explained in a polite, yet maybe also somewhat standoffish, tone.

Was I bothering him? Did he want me to leave? Considering the fact that he had been out here by himself until I came along and ruined his peace and quiet, that could very well be the case... Even so, I decided that I couldn't give up just yet. "Oh…Um, thank you for that information, but I had actually wanted to ask something a bit...different…"

He raised an eyebrow at that. "And what would that be?"

"Well, I know that this is rather...sudden, but would you… WouldyoupleasehaveaDuelwithme?" I hastily implored before I had the chance to lose my nerve at the last second.

"You want to Duel… right now?" the Obelisk questioned after he managed to make sense of my rushed outburst, seeming only a tad perplexed by the request more than anything.

I nodded my head vigorously in response. "Y-yes, please! If that wouldn't be too much trouble, I mean..."

"Well, I can't say that this is the first time I've been spontaneously challenged to a Duel, though most people that ask tend to at least introduce themselves first," he remarked as he stared down at me through half-narrowed eyes, his arms crossed.

I blushed, realizing that I hadn't properly introduced myself to this guy at all. I also didn't even think to ask him for his name, either, for that matter...

"Oh, sorry! I'm…" I started to say, but then halfway through my words, a crazy idea suddenly popped into my head and, without really thinking, I blurted out, "W-well, who I am really doesn't matter all that much, but...but if you agree to Duel me and manage to win, I'll tell you!"

That proposition earned me another raised eyebrow from the male. "If I manage to win, huh?"

"I apologize if that sounded too forward or anything… It's just that I…" I paused and clenched fists as I stared up at him, doing my best to keep my composure. "I'm only asking because I want to—I need to know for sure if I really have what it takes to call myself a Duelist and that coming all the way here wasn't just a huge mistake."

"Is that so?" The young man studied me a bit longer and then closed his eyes briefly, as if attempting to recall some distant, long-forgotten memory, or something. After that, there were a few more beats of silence before he finally gave me his answer. "Very well, then."

"H-huh?" I squeaked in surprise, not sure if I had heard him correctly.

"I'm accepting your challenge and agreeing to Duel you," he calmly clarified.

"Really? Oh, I mean, thank you very much!" I said with a cordial bow while I saw Akame—who, unsurprisingly, had been watching the entire time—excitedly raise her fists in sweet secondhand victory.

"You shouldn't thank me quite yet. I won't be going easy on you, after all."

"Of course—I wouldn't expect you to," I was quick to reply. Suddenly recalling something I would often hear Jaden say before a Duel, I shyly added, "Let's...Let's get our game on, then!"

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"Sorry again for all the trouble, Professor Banner!" Jaden Yuki apologized for what felt like the umpteenth time as he returned the bucket of cleaning supplies to the bespectacled teacher whose classroom he had nearly destroyed just a few hours prior. Well, maybe "destroyed" was a bit of an exaggeration, but he had definitely gotten it, like, super messy, thanks to an alchemy experiment gone awry.

Usually, they say that having a curious mind was supposed to be a good thing when it came to things like science, but Jaden now thought that perhaps that wasn't the case for him, since his own curiosity had been what led him to mix a handful of chemicals that apparently had no business being together, which resulted in a sizable explosion of pink goop that wound up splattering all over the classroom and a number of students, too, just for good measure. Chazz's hair had actually somehow gotten the worst of it, which had honestly been pretty funny to see, though Jaden wasn't sure how long it was going to take his rival to forgive him for making such a mess of things.

Even with the help of his friends, it had still taken the better part of the afternoon to clean the brightly colored sludge (what even was that stuff, anyway?) off of everything and put the room back in order. The brunet watched from the corner of his eye as said friends returned their own borrowed sponges and rags to the teacher as well, the four of them looking just as worn out as he felt.

"That's quite alright, Jaden," Banner replied with a kind smile as he pet Pharaoh, his pudgy tabby cat, who was lying comfortably on his lap. "If anything, at least you now know what not to try the next time you decide you want to experiment."

The Slifer chuckled sheepishly. "Heh, I guess!"

"Uh, now that the classroom's clean, can we, like, go?" one of Jaden's friends, Chumley, grumbled. "It's already past four."

"It's really that late?" his other Slifer buddy, Syrus, wondered.

Jaden took notice of the clock mounted on one of the walls and saw that the time shown was a quarter past four.

"Oh no!" Banner suddenly gasped, making everyone in the room startle and look his way.

"Is something wrong, Professor?" Bastion was the first to ask, the Ra's tone as polite as ever.

"I suddenly remember that I was supposed to be at the harbor by four to welcome a transfer student arriving on the island today," he hastily explained as he darted up from his seat, nearly tipping it over.

"So, we're getting a new student?" Alexis inferred, raising a blonde eyebrow in a quizzical manner.

Jaden perked up at that, his previous fatigue instantly vanishing since the prospect of having a new Duelist around to challenge was just too interesting not to get all excited over. "Really? That's awesome! Do you think that I can tag along to come meet them, too, teach?"

"Hmm... I don't see why not, though we really should get going if we don't want to keep them waiting," the professor said, already halfway out the door.

"Yeah!" Jaden exclaimed and then looked back at his friends briefly. "You guys are coming, too, right?"

The four exchanged quick glances amongst one another before they all nodded and followed Banner and Jaden out.

"So, what do you think the new student will be like?" Syrus wondered aloud as they walked.

"Dunno, but it'd be cool to have another student around that's into card designing," Chumley admitted, bashfully twiddling his thumbs.

"Or someone that would be interested in joining the mathletes club," Bastion optimistically added.

"I just hope he's a great Duelist!" Jaden said with a grin.

"Or she," Alexis corrected.

"Heh, of course!"

When they finally arrived at the docks, however, Jaden was surprised and, quite frankly, letdown to find that no one was around.

"Aww, man… No one's here!" he groaned in disappointment.

"That's strange… They should have arrived by now," Banner mused.

"Well, that boat wasn't there this morning, so maybe they did?" Syrus guessed, pointing out the ferry boat currently docked at one of the wharfs.

As luck would have it, the captain of the ship was still aboard and stepped out on deck. Taking notice of the group, he called out to them. "Are you folks looking for the new arrival?"

"Yeah! Do you know where they went?" Jaden asked eagerly.

"Well, last I saw, the lass seemed like she was headed towards the lighthouse over there," the man replied, motioning to the aforementioned structure not that far off.

Jaden gave his thanks before he and the others headed over to their new destination.

"So, the new student is a girl…" Syrus mused, a slight blush on his face, most likely from fantasizing about what this mystery girl would be like.

"Why would she go to the lighthouse, though?" Bastion wondered.

"Who knows, but isn't that where Zane usually likes to hang out?" Chumley recalled.

Alexis nodded. "Yeah. I wonder if—" she started to say but was cut short when she accidentally bumped into Jaden, who had stopped suddenly in his tracks. "Oh, sorry, Jaden."

The Slifer hardly heard her, however. Currently atop the bluff that overlooked the lighthouse, Jaden had peeked over the edge to see if the new kid actually was near there after all. And what he ended up finding really threw him for a loop.

Not far off from the stone beacon stood Zane Truesdale, though that came as no real surprise since the Kaiser of Duel Academy was known to frequent this secluded area. No, what had Jaden really stunned was the girl that was currently with him and how familiar she looked.

Jaden had to rub his eyes to make sure that he wasn't just seeing things. Once he verified that she was, in fact, not an illusion, that still left him with one burning question…

Was that really his sister down there?

The harder he looked, the more that it certainly appeared to be the case.

Her hair was in its usual style, the dark brown and ginger-colored locks freely falling down to her knees while still looking as voluminous and shiny as ever in the late afternoon sun. Speaking of sunlight, it looked as if she hadn't been getting very much of it lately, her already fair skin seeming especially pale to his eyes. The girl's petite and slender frame was currently clad in a short, sleeveless black V-neck dress with a white long-sleeved ruffle blouse underneath, along with pair of plain black shoes and dark grey thigh-length stockings, the clothing items all pretty consistent with what Jaden knew his sister's typical fashion choices to be.

However, the real dead giveaway about that girl being Shion were her eyes. Despite the fact that she was at a distance and wasn't looking at him, Jaden could still somehow make out her mismatched irises and the way they gleamed like amethyst and citrine gemstones.

It really is Shion… Jaden thought in amazement. But what's she doing here?

Duel Academy was one of the last places he thought Shion would ever want to step foot in, considering how much she had been against the very thought of it when he had asked her to come with him all those months ago, having already convinced herself that she would only end up causing trouble for everyone if she went.

He couldn't help but wonder what had happened to make her change her mind. After all, the two had been communicating pretty regularly through emails since the time they had been apart, and not once had she ever even hinted about wanting to enroll.

"Hey, are you alright?" Alexis asked him then, clearly having noticed the look of surprise that was still plastered on his face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Yeah, I'm okay," he managed to respond after coming out of his stupor, turning slightly to give the blonde a reassuring smile.

"So, you think that's the new transfer?" Chumley wondered as he and the others also took notice of the girl down below.

"Judging from all of that luggage behind her and the fact she seems unfamiliar, I believe that's a reasonable hypothesis," Bastion remarked.

"And it looks like she did come across Zane after all," Alexis noted. "Hold on… Are they about to Duel?"

"It would appear so," Banner commented thoughtfully.

"Wait, what?" Jaden gawked in disbelief. He had been so distracted by Shion simply being there that he hadn't realized before, but when he looked again, he saw that his sister and the Kaiser were both armed with Duel Disks and had spaced out a couple of meters from one another, as if they were getting ready to throw down.

No freakin' way… Shion's actually going to Duel? wondered Jaden, his mind blown all over again. But what about her powers? Will she and Zane be okay if she goes through with this?

While Jaden never liked to think negatively, a part of him couldn't help but worry when it came to his twin. From as far back as he could remember, he had known that Shion was what others would call "different" due to the fact that she happened to possess these mysterious powers that most of the world would consider to be the stuff of nightmares, both on and off the Dueling field. Even though none of that had ever changed the way he felt about his beloved sibling, who was far kinder and more compassionate than anyone would ever truly know, Jaden still hated how much pain and suffering her abilities had caused her over the years and the way they made her feel like she was a monster that had to be kept away from everyone else.

Jaden shook his head. That's right… Since Shion knew what her powers were capable of better than anyone else, there was no way she would willingly get involved in another Duel if it meant someone would get hurt.

But that just made him even more curious about what Shion had been up to while they were apart. Had she really somehow learned to control her powers, finally? If so, then that was great, though Jaden still wondered exactly how, and also why was it that she hadn't said anything about it to him. They usually told each other everything, after all…

"Oh, man... That poor girl doesn't know what she's getting herself into by challenging Zane," Syrus muttered with a shake of his head, knowing just how devastatingly strong his older brother was when it came to Duel Monsters. "Do you think we should go down there and try to stop them?"

"No!" Jaden snapped, quickly shooting down that proposal. Despite not knowing exactly what was going on with his sister, he still knew that it must have taken her a lot to work up the courage to come all the way to Duel Academy and ask to face someone in a Duel, and so he didn't want anything getting in the way of that (even if her first opponent here was the freakin' Kaiser, of all people).

When the brunet saw the startled and confused looks his friends and teacher were giving him after his outburst, he hastily added, "Er, I mean, I think we should just watch how things play out from here, ya know?"

"Alright, what's going on, Jaden?" Alexis questioned him then, evidently still wanting to find out the reason for his current behavior. "You've been acting weird from the moment you saw that girl. Do you know her, or something?"

Ah, it seemed like Alexis was just as insightful as ever… But that was actually one of the many things Jaden liked about her, if he was being honest.

"Yeah, I do," he finally replied, figuring that there was no reason to keep it a secret. "See, guys, that girl down there is Shion."

"Wait… Shion? As in, that sister you mentioned having?" asked Chumley. "That's her?"

Jaden nodded in confirmation.

Judging by the others' surprised reactions to this revelation, Jaden figured that his sister's appearance must not be matching up with whatever mental images they created from any of the anecdotes he had shared with them about her. He guessed that was understandable, if they had been expecting her to look anything like him just because they were twins. After all, except for their hair color, they really didn't have any noticeable shared traits (although her resemblance to their mother was honestly pretty uncanny). Truthfully, Jaden would have been glad to show them pictures of Shion, if he actually had some, but since the girl was so self-conscious about the way she looked, she never wanted to be in any photos, and he knew it wouldn't be right to take one of her without her permission.

"Were you aware that your sister was transferring to Duel Academy?" Professor Banner inquired.

"Not in the slightest," he admitted.

"Maybe she wanted to surprise you?" Chumley guessed.

"If that's the case, then it sure as heck worked."

"I thought you had said that your sister didn't Duel, though?" Syrus recalled then, seeming puzzled.

"I mean, Shion knows how to Duel and everything. It's just that she has several, er… personal reasons for why she doesn't normally play," Jaden tried to explain without giving too much away, knowing that the details of Shion's complicated history with Dueling and her other secrets weren't really his to tell.

"I guess that means she was able to get over at least some of them if she decided to come here, then," Alexis mused. "But do you really think she'll be alright against someone like Zane?"

"Well, all I can say is that my sis has always been a lot tougher than she looks," Jaden said with a fond smile. "We just have to wait and see what'll happen, I guess."

With that, he and the others turned their attention back to the Duel that was about to unfold.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

A/N: The Duel will be in the next chapter, and I plan on using some of the original cards I created for one of my favorite archetypes, so I guess that's something to look forward to, if you're interested in things like that. Can you guess what it is? (I bet you totally can…)

But anyway, until then, any sort of feedback would be very much appreciated. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a safe and fantastic day!