(A/N: Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Canadian Nationals arc. Now, we're not exactly going off to Canada this chapter, but I still count this chapter as part of this arc rather than last arc even though it could standalone in either. But anyway, have you ever heard of the phrase For Want of a Nail? If you haven't, look it up. Now then, the point I'm making is this: Sato and Natsumi are both alive and that therefore ruins the existence of the Twilight Syndrome murder case. The status quo has been forever shaken in this story.
But what happens now? Are things just going to be peaches and cream now that one of the instigative tragedies of Danganronpa's history has been thwarted? Well, you can only find the answer to that by reading!)
It was after school in mid-September. Yukizome had, earlier that morning passed out a bunch of reminder notices about the Mid-term practical exams for each student. Each student had their own respective date of when they would perform, as well as a notification as per the rules of any given practical.
Practical exams were held in front of an audience of spectators that bought tickets to see the students show off. It was a good entertainment value that brought in money for Hope's Peak as well as pushed younger middle schoolers and elementary schoolers to work hard and try and show Hope's Peak what they were capable of when they came of age. Sometimes, prospective Ultimates—first year high school freshmen—were outright invited to sit in and observe if the school was particularly interested in their attendance.
Additionally, while collaborations were acceptable—mixing multiple talents and students together into one exam—the shared credit had to be admitted to. If a student used another student's talent and did not give them the proper credit they were owed, it was considered cheating on the exam and it would result in immediate expulsion.
That being said, collaborations were often welcomed. As could be cited in the school's history, an Ultimate Carpenter and an Ultimate Interior Designer working together made a small house together on campus to show off to the committee. Furthermore, works in progress were also acceptable, but had to be pre-approved by Headmaster Kirigiri and the finished product would have to be ready by the final exam in March.
Among the students of class 77-B, each one was more than ready to show off their talent in various ways. Nekomaru began making phone calls to a couple of middle schools to round up one of his formerly coached Little League teams as well as a gym teacher he had a friendly rivalry with. Akane began practicing drills in the woods to improve her strength, speed, and limberness. And Kazuichi was ready to show off the work in progress on his rocket ship.
However, among the students and all of their plans for the practicals, two students had absolutely no idea what they wanted to do for their exams: Hajime Hinata and Nagito Komaeda.
Hajime wasn't sure how he could showcase his Ultimate Duelist talent that showed that he was the absolute, unassailable best for his grade level. He didn't want to consider trying to take on Seto Kaiba, but he also knew that repeating a duel with Yugi wasn't exactly guaranteed to get him a passing grade with flying colors. Worse, unlike Kaiba, who had access to a rich fortune, and could enhance the game of Duel Monsters with his company's tech—such as the hologram technology—Hajime was only just really good at the game. He was extremely worried. He'd worked really hard to get into the position he was in, he didn't want to lose it all just cause he was lacking in out of the box thinking and creative problem solving. Worse, his exam was one of the first ones. He had little time to prepare. His exam was this Thursday.
Chiaki, of course, could see Hajime's concern. As Class Representative, she took it upon herself to see what his trouble was.
"Oh, is that all?" she asked nonchalantly after hearing his explanation. "So, what you're saying is, you need a skilled duelist as an opponent that you'll get no time to prepare against and then subsequently win, right?"
"That would be the best way to go about it," Hajime said.
With a perfect poker face, Chiaki responded, "I think I might know someone that would be more than happy to help."
Hajime let out a sigh of relief, clasping his hands in prayer in front of Chiaki. "You're a life saver"
Chiaki laughed happily. "Of course, I expect to be repaid for my generosity."
"Whatever you need," Hajime said sternly.
"Well…" Chiaki said, looking a bit more serious, angling her head at the ground. "I do need a player 2 for my project. Your enhanced reflexes are just the challenge I need to—"
"Done!" Hajime stated without a moment's hesitation.
Chiaki smiled. "Thanks."
"No, thank you," Hajime said with a smile. "I can only do the things I do and hang my head high because someone like you believes so much in me. Really, I don't know if I say it enough, but you're the best thing that ever happened to me, Chiaki."
She smiled back, blushing. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me too. Oh!" she then exclaimed as if it just dawned on her. "That's right. I totally forgot. Since you're a transfer student, you probably wouldn't know about this, but every student is given an allowance by the school for amenities and personal belongings to outfit our dorm rooms. Students like Kazuichi need it to keep buying parts they need for projects and, of course, there's people like Gundham who benefit from it by getting their hands on rare and exotic animals." Chiaki continued to give more examples like she was a teacher giving a lecture. "There's a student in the other class 77-A, named Aiko Umesawa. She's the Ultimate Movie Director. She's known for making free feature length films and shorts as part of a web series using people she knows, but her allowance has let her hire well-known actors and voice actors. I hear she's been filming off-campus since day 1."
"Whoa," Hajime said, taken a bit aback. "But…wait that sounds so expensive…and a pack of cards barely costs 500 yen."
"Guess you're in luck then," Chiaki said. "I wouldn't use it all, of course, but you should be able to get yourself really good cards from card shops and a lot of extra booster packs. You could even do shopping online." Chiaki slung her bag off her shoulder and took out her wallet, showing Hajime a strange looking Credit Card with Hope's Peak's logo on it. Her name and talent were listed clearly on the card. "You should probably go talk to Headmaster Kirigiri and get yours. They've probably had the chance to mint it by now."
Hajime smiled widely. He'd learned what not to do with his deck after his fiasco in Noah's Virtual World, but that didn't mean he didn't know of other cards that could greatly improve his deck. "Chiaki, thank you! I'm going to go talk to the Headmaster right now," Hajime said and took off running for the front door of the school. "I'll see you later!" he went running into the school building, waving to his girlfriend as he ran in. Chiaki smiled and waved, watching her boyfriend disappear behind the other side of the door.
Left to her own devices, she took out her game girl advance and began a new playthrough of Speedy the Porcupine Advance.
Rolling around at the speed of sound, Chiaki sang the theme music inwardly.
She was so engrossed in her game that she was caught off guard when she nearly crashed into Nagito. Fortunately, he'd managed to see her coming and put his hand out against her forehead to stop her.
"Hey, easy there, you'll crash into something walking that fast with your head down," Nagito said.
Chiaki hit pause and picked her head up. "Oh, Nagito, good to see you," she smiled. "Do you know what you're doing for the practical exam?"
"Actually, I have no idea," Nagito stated. "I've been wondering about that myself actually. Luck…is a difficult talent to show…don't you think?"
"No, not all," Chiaki replied without hesitation and rather bluntly. "In fact, I think I might have an idea to help you."
"Really?" Nagito asked, cheerfully. "I'm unwor…" He trailed off and caught himself. That was the old Nagito. The new Nagito wouldn't see himself as unworthy of aid…not from a friend. "I'm truly lucky to have you as a friend, Chiaki. I really appreciate the help."
Chiaki smiled happily, giggling. "Leave it to me."
In her pharmaceutical lab, Seiko Kimura was standing on a stool, gathering a green bottle with a child-proof cap on it from the shelf third from the top. "There we go. Antecilerim." Made up words for medicine were the tools of the trade for an Ultimate Pharmacologist. And this was no ordinary drug. Getting down from her step stool, she strode back to the area of the lab where she spent many hours producing new drugs through a masterful understanding of chemistry.
Standing nearby was an underclassman from 77-A. She was 5 feet tall with green hair in a short bowl cut with pinkish eyes and big-framed glasses for her near-sighted vision through her pinkish eyes. She was about as puffy as an ironing board and wore a fashionable periwinkle choker around her neck. "Thanks again for the medicine, Kimura-senpai," the girl, Miaka Senri, said as Seiko placed the bottle in her hand.
"It's my pleasure to help, Senri-san," Seiko responded. "Let me know if it works better than your old prescription."
Miaka held up the bottle peering at the tiny pills of indiscernible color through the green plastic. "You're sure this'll handle everything in one pill?"
Seiko nodded. "Class 75's Miaya Gekkogahara, the Ultimate Therapist, has helped me since I first started attending here expanding my medical library for psychological disorders. I can change the dosage, but this typically helps with your condition to help you focus and reduces fidgeting."
"Well, anything's better than popping pills like candy." The green-haired girl held up the bottle. "One a day, you said, right?"
"Yes, with breakfast, preferably something high in protein. It helps break down the compounds easier and makes for a faster spread through the bloodstream. You may not see improvements or changes for about three days so that it has time to go through your entire system, but I guarantee its success rate."
Miaka smiled. "Thanks, senpai. Really, I appreciate it. I'll see you later." She then twirled and walked out. No sooner had she left, Ruruka and Izayoi walked in.
"O-oh…Ruruka…I wasn't expecting you until later," Seiko said, seeing her friend.
"Plans change," Ruruka said. "I have time now so I'd appreciate it if you made time now." She then reached into a small bag, pulled out a cream puff and handed it to the much taller Izayoi, who ate it out of her fingers and began savoring the sweetness of his girlfriend's confectionary.
"F-fine," Seiko said and went back to her medicine shelves. She was looking for a specific concoction that Ruruka had requested to aid her with her practical. She went and scooped it off the shelf and handed it to Ruruka.
"Don't forget that six ounces will be enough to administer with food preparation, two ounces if you plan on glazing it after the fact."
"Yeah, I know," Ruruka said, swiping the medication out of her hands. "You only told me like six times. All right, we're done here," she said, referring to Izayoi. Her boyfriend bowed a little to Seiko and the two walked out. No "thank you". No, "I'll see you later", or anything like that. But, Seiko let it go. She'd come to expect that from Ruruka over the years. She then turned her attention back to her chemicals and began working on her next creation. Despite the fact that she and Ruruka were friends, despite the fact that she and Ruruka were collaborating, on the off chance that Ruruka decided to pull the rug out from underneath her, Seiko would not find herself failing her practical with nothing to show for it. She could not. She was an ultimate after all.
When it came to the practicals, there was no preferential treatment compared to the upperclassmen or the lowerclassmen. In the interest of fairness, everyone was selected at random for when their exam would be given. After all, the students had the entire half of the year to prepare for it by nurturing their talents with Hope's Peak's resources.
So, here sat Seiko in a chair, waiting for her turn. She and Ruruka ended up having the same exam dates. So, even if her concoction hadn't been supporting Ruruka's confectionary, she'd be here anyway.
Ruruka's exam was first for that Wednesday. She loaded up her creampuffs in a serving tray and handed them to the judges. "These were hand baked with the finest ingredients. I made them using my own secret recipe. Guaranteed, one hundred percent to perk you up and make you feel fit as a fiddle."
Each judge bit into the cream puffs and they all suddenly felt a burst of energy. Some could even feel their muscle definition hardening and it didn't detract from the taste at all. "These are delicious!" the portliest of the judges responded, licking his fingers. "And the effects are so fast, how did you come up with such a creation? It should be marketed immediately!"
Seiko edged closer to the edge of her seat, ready to stand and be given her share of the credit. However, she never got the chance to rise before Ruruka said, "I just get creative, you know. I didn't have any help! It was me! I did it all by. My. Self." She said, wagging a finger.
Seiko sank back in her chair, looking sad as she stared at her bag, sucking on her teeth. She felt utterly betrayed. What happened to sharing credit, Ruruka?
Ruruka was given a round of applause and would most certainly get a perfect score. Seiko sighed. No. No. Ruruka needed this. Seiko had known her for years. She knew that Ruruka would need all the help she could get. After all, she remembered how Ruruka was panicking over this for months. She was more than willing to help a friend out, even at this price.
"And now for the presentation of Seiko Kimura, the Ultimate Pharmacologist."
Ruruka skipped happily back to her seat, passing Seiko by as they switched places. Seiko wasn't even surprised when Ruruka didn't even say so much as a "good luck" to her.
With an inward sigh, Seiko Kimura grabbed a collapsible table and pulled it into the center of the gymnasium and put her bag on top of it. She was prepared for this, but she wasn't happy about it.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, addressing the audience like she was giving a sales pitch, "Ladies, are you worried about not looking feminine enough? Trying to get rid of that boyish short, ragged look, but your hair just won't grow? Perhaps you bite your nails so much that they don't look girlish enough to be paint worthy. Well, worry no more! Introducing…" she said and pulled a bottle out of her bag, "Ludulin, the miracle growth for women's hair and nails!"
"Miracle growth you say," one of the judges said, addressing the issue.
Seiko nodded. "I tested it on myself," she threaded her glove through her hair. "I had a lot of cutting to do in front of a mirror. But, don't take my word for it, I'll show you its effects here today. May I have a volunteer from the audience?"
A bunch of the girls and women in the audience didn't seem to jump at the chance, but one girl with a deep sun tan, wearing a red varsity jacket, bolted from her seat. "I'll do it!" she said with exuberance.
"Wonderful!" Seiko exclaimed. "Come on down!" Oh thank god. She wasn't sure if she would have to test it on herself again and that would not have been conducive of a perfect score. The judges could take points off for the possibility that the drug only worked on her.
The girl bound up to Seiko, crossing the gymnasium in her squeaky white sneakers. She had a swirly brown ponytail and bright blue eyes.
Seiko looked her over. "You sure about this? Your hair is pretty long already given the ponytail."
"Yeah, but my nails are really short. Look," the girl said, showing Seiko her nails. They looked like guy nails. "I can always get a haircut later."
Seiko looked at the judges. "I should point out that her hair will be obscenely long, but that's just the drug doing its job."
The judges scribbled something in their notebooks with a nod. Seiko looked at the audience. No one looked eager to take her volunteer's place. Well…beggars couldn't be choosers. "Could I have your name, Miss?" Seiko asked as she unscrewed the cap on the bottle and dumped a pill into her hand.
"It's Asahina, Aoi Asahina, but mostly everyone calls me Hina," the girl said with a smile.
Seiko bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Hina-san," she set the pill down on a napkin and fetched a bottle of water out of her bag. "Now, Hina-san, you can confirm," she said as she put the water bottle down next to the pill, "That you came up to me of your own accord and aren't a paid experimental subject."
"Nope. Never met you before until today," Hina said with conviction. "Is…Is that a problem?"
Seiko shook her head. "Quite the opposite, actually." She handed Hina the pill and water bottle. "Please take this with water. And please remove the accessories from your hair."
"Oh, sure," Hina said and removed the pins, scrunchie and clips from her hair, letting it cascade down her back.
"Sure thing!" Hina exclaimed and grabbed the water and pill. She dropped the thumb-sized pill on her tongue and then chased it down her throat with water. Thirsty, she drank the whole small bottle of water. As Hina pulled the bottle out of her mouth, she looked at Seiko and said, "So…when does it…?" she didn't get to finish her sentence as she felt a slight strain in her hair and nails. Hina, Seiko, the audience, and the judges all watched as Hina's hair drastically increased in length coming down past her butt, almost reaching the back of her knees. Her nails were also now very ladylike compared to the stubs they'd been before. "Whoa," Hina said, looking at her hand and taking a lock of her hair.
"The medicine is sadly a permanent effect when taken, but has no effect on hair regeneration after its been cut. Hair will continue to grow at its normal length. Hair growth has been isolated with my product to affect only the hair on the head," she said, rubbing the top of Hina's scalp, "And nowhere else on the body. While the product is only applicable to women's hair and nails, I plan to make an improvement of the product to help cancer patients recover their lost hair from chemotherapy."
"Most impressive," one of the judges said. "Miss Asahina, we have an Ultimate Hairstylist at this school if you'd like to have your hair properly cut down."
Hina rubbed the back of her head. "It…is a little long. I don't want to cause any trouble though."
Seiko shook her head. "I'll escort you…as long as there are no further questions." She looked at the judges. "But I'm willing to answer any."
"I think we've seen all we need to," the female judge said to Seiko. "You'll receive your exam grade at a later date."
"We would like to see your finished product for your final exam," another judge said, scribbling in his notebook. "We shall arrange for a cancer patient to be brought to Hope's Peak for testing your new drug."
"Yes," Seiko nodded. Okay, so that at least indicated she'd passed her exam. The score was immaterial, even though she knew it wasn't perfect.
Gathering, her things, Seiko thanked the audience for their time and then escorted Hina to Class 75's Ultimate Hair Stylist to get it cut back to normal length. She didn't even bother saying anything to Ruruka. There was no point.
But…of course…they were still friends. They needed each other…right?
The next day for exams, there were three lined up that morning: Nagito Komaeda, Chiaki Nanami, and Hajime Hinata.
From the audience, a familiar face to all three spectated from his seat: one Byakuya Togami. "Well, well, to think all three of them would be giving a presentation on the same day." He watched the three of them work together to wheel in a big screen TV, complete with cutting edge game console. On the collapsible table, a copy of the latest fighting game on the market sat on the corner. It was kept company by a pyramid of booster packs from the latest Duel Monsters set.
Between the three Ultimates, Hajime was the most nervous. Duel disk on his arm, he still had no idea who Chiaki had arranged for him to duel. He didn't see Kaiba anywhere and he figured she would've told him by now. He scanned the audience. He didn't see a duel disk on anyone's arms either. Thankfully, his exam was last so he had plenty of time to let his nerves settle.
Nagito would be going first that morning. He stood alongside the table in front of the booster packs. "Good morning everyone. My name is Nagito Komaeda. I'm Class 77's Ultimate Lucky Student." He gestured to the booster packs. "My practical is going to involve audience participation from everyone in the audience. These packs are all brand new from the latest set. And only one of them contains an Ultra Rare card from the latest set. There are one hundred and forty packs sitting on the table. To prove that I am an Ultimate Lucky Student, I'm going to allow all of the members of the audience, the judges, and my classmates, to open a pack before I do. I will open the last pack remaining on the table and I will show that I'm lucky enough to open the pack with the Ultra Rare in it."
One of the judges spoke up. "How can you guarantee that these packs only contain one Ultra Rare among them."
"Seto Kaiba supplied these packs himself after overseeing their packaging in a Kaiba Corp factory. They arrived in a box at my dorm room this morning with the mail, expedited shipping. They're not resealed, and I have no knowledge of their contents. You may inspect the stack if you wish."
"So then, this is a collaborative effort?" One of the judges asked.
"Well, it's all my own talent," Nagito said, sweating a little. "Seto Kaiba only supplied the merchandise. I'll let you make a judgment call on your own from there."
The judges nodded and Nagito looked at the audience. "Hmm, picking a student out of the crowd would be too influential."
"How about if I pick one?" Hajime offered.
"By all means," Nagito said. "That's okay, right?" Nagito asked.
The judges nodded.
Hajime scanned the crowd. He saw Byakuya, but figured that that would dampen the whole point of picking someone at complete random. However, then he did a double take. Wait, Byakuya? He wondered if that was who Chiaki had arranged for him to duel. True, Byakuya was a splendid duelist, but didn't Hajime's placement in Battle City mean it wouldn't make much difference if he beat Byakuya. Or were there going to be rules and restrictions on the duel?
"Sometime today, Hajime," Nagito asked, chuckling, having noticed Hajime freeze.
"Huh? Oh. Sorry," Hajime stated. He glanced around the audience and landed on someone. "You there, in the white!"
A young man in a white outfit with gigantic eyebrows, red eyes and dark hair stood quickly to his feet, standing at attention. "Yes?"
"Um, would you mind coming up and opening one of the packs?" Hajime requested.
"I will be more than happy to!" The young man exclaimed and marched up to the table. He then bowed to the judges. "Greetings, and may I say thank you for inviting me to sit in on these exams! My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Prospective Ultimate Moral Compass!" He stood erect. "You may refer to me as Taka for short. I like to seem approachable to others."
A prospective ultimate? Well, the exam notifications did say that they would be here, Hajime thought, rather surprised that his first choice had been a prospective Ultimate.
"So then, Taka," Nagito said. "You can assert that you've never met Hajime nor myself before today."
"I can most definitely assert that!" Taka responded. "I am not associated with either of you and have no knowledge of the contents of these so-called packs." After a brief pause, Taka closed one eye and asked, "I may select any pack from the pile? No restrictions?"
"Anything at all," Nagito stated.
Taka nodded and grabbed a booster pack off the table, tearing it open and revealing the cards inside. He fanned them out to Nagito. "Regrettably, I would not be able to recognize an Ultra Rare on sight."
"That's all right, I'll take a look," Nagito said and waved over Hajime for a second set of eyes.
"Doesn't look like he has it," Hajime stated.
"I see. Thank you for allowing me to participate," Taka said, bowing to his future senpais. He then returned to his seat.
"Ah, Taka if you could please pick the next volunteer yourself," Nagito stated. "It would be more randomized if the audience picked the next volunteer."
"That's a splendid idea!" Taka exclaimed, smiling. He tapped a woman on the shoulder. "Miss, would you mind taking your turn?"
Like this, the audience came up and plucked pack by pack off the pyramid, eventually leaving it a messy pile. Nagito spent the entire time rocking back and forth on his heels, hands in his pockets, a good few feet from the table. Hajime cooperated as an inspector, since who better to discern an Ultra Rare than an Ultimate Duelist.
When Byakuya showed up for his turn, Hajime greeted him politely. "Byakuya, good to see you."
Byakuya did not smile. His gaze seemed as though he was looking down on Hajime, but the words out of his mouth were still a simple, "You as well." He grabbed a card pack, opening it carefully.
"I suppose its only fitting that the heir to the Togami family would be scouted by Hope's Peak Academy," Hajime stated.
"Naturally," Byakuya responded with a smirk, now checking the cards in his pack.
Hajime eyed Byakuya suspiciously, wondering if the heir was going to say anything about Hajime's exam in particular. However, Byakuya said nary a thing to Hajime and returned to his seat, unsuccessful in acquiring the Ultra Rare.
Eventually, only one pack remained on the table. Even Hajime and Chiaki had not gotten their hands on the Ultra Rare card. Only now did Nagito once more approach the table. "So, as we've gone through the trouble of establishing, no one has opened the pack containing the Ultra Rare card inside. There hasn't even been a qualified super rare card in any of the packs."
The audience, the judges, and Hajime and Chiaki, could confirm this. Between everyone capable of opening a pack, everyone had opened exactly one pack and no one in the room had been left out. What were the odds?
Nagito grabbed the last pack off the table. "I'll open the last pack then. If there's nothing in here, well the I guess I'll have to talk to Kaiba."
Nagito opened the card pack and thumbed through the commons to the back of the pack where the rarest card was always packaged. He then turned around and held up the Ultra Rare in question: Reshef the Dark Being.
"Reshef the dark…" Nagito thumbed through the other cards in the pack. "Oh, wow! I also got his ritual spell card. What are the odds?"
A dead-eyed flabbergasted look crossed all of the judges' faces. There was no denying it. Luck like that required talent. Nagito was then allowed to sit down. He swapped places with Chiaki, who grabbed the fighting game off the table. She opened the game disc and put it in the console, firing up the television screen.
"As you know, this game is the most popular fighting game on the market right now," Chiaki said, holding the player 1 controller. "Any gamer with enough skill has no trouble beating the arcade mode with at least a few characters on the highest difficulty setting." Chiaki navigated to the game records to show her high scores. "To me, this is about the skill level required to be, what some may call, a hard-core gamer. But what defines an Ultimate Gamer? That should be someone who should go above and beyond what's required to be hard-core. And nothing better defines a gamer's skill compared to others than player against player interaction." She looked over to her boyfriend. "Hajime."
Hajime walked up and grabbed the player two controller.
"Hajime, as you know," she said, addressing only the judges. "Is a Battle City finalist, and holds the title of Class 77's Ultimate Duelist. But, he's also an expert gamer in his own right."
Hajime pulled a game girl advance out of his pocket. "This is my Game Girl with a Gala Omega cartridge in it." He turned on the game and put it on the judge's table. The high scores and speed runs in the settings entries spoke for themselves.
Chiaki grabbed hers and put it on the table next to Hajime's. Her scores beat him by a considerable amount, but not a drastic amount. "Will this be enough to establish Hajime's skill?"
The judges nodded and took note of this.
"So, since I've now established Hajime's skill as an expert, or hard-core, gamer. What I will now do is assert myself as a superior gamer in a head to head fighting game. Now, of course, every person has a character in a fighting game that they're best at. But when you select the random option, all predetermined factors go out the window and you're left with only your wits given you have barely three seconds to realize which character you were given. Hajime and I are going to play thirty matches of using completely random characters, a big enough sample size that even one loss against me if I end up with the worst-tiered character in the game and Hajime ends up with his best character, that the margin of error is acceptable." She turned towards the audience and bowed. "I hope you will be entertained by the show."
For thirty matches, for the better portion of an hour, Hajime and Chiaki fought head to head in the newest fighting game out on the market. Their skill was clearly defined, pulling off advanced combos and techniques in the first match alone. The three on three team-based structure made for a lot of variance and competitive balance. With over 70 characters to choose from too, it wasn't even often that Chiaki or Hajime had the same team members when everything was so randomized.
However, after thirty matches, results did not lie. Chiaki did not lose a single match. There were even matches that she didn't lose a single team member and one where she completely stuffed Hajime for a perfect victory.
"Whew," Hajime said after he saw the big 30-0 on the big game scoreboard. "It's been so long since we've played anything against each other besides Duel Monsters, I forgot how seriously competitive and difficult you can be. It's like you know my moves before I make them."
Chiaki laughed. "You were a worthy opponent." She turned towards the judges. "This concludes my practical."
They clapped and so did the audience. They were all widely entertained.
Guess it's my turn then, Hajime thought and grabbed his duel disk, which he had placed on the table during Chiaki's exam. However, as he looked around, he didn't see anyone he could really claim was a worthy opponent.
The judges were now staring at him, making him nervous. "Er, hello," Hajime said to the crowd and the judges, rubbing his hand behind the back of his head. "My name is Hajime Hinata. As was established earlier, I'm the Ultimate Duelist. I got my title in the middle of the year while being a reserve course student after making my way through Battle City and losing only to the reputable King of Games, Yugi Mutoh, in the finals. My victories included taking out reputable duelist Espa Roba, and even managing to defeat one of the most powerful cards in the game, The Winged Dragon of Ra. The duelist that owned that card defeated two other Ultimates in my class during his climb in the finals. As for my exam…uh…"
Hajime looked embarrassingly at Chiaki. "H-hey um…didn't you say you were going to arrange an opponent for me? Are they…here…yet?"
"Hmm?" Chiaki hummed as though her brain had just caught up with reality itself. "Oh! Right! I almost forgot!" She walked over in the direction of her bag.
Hajime took a sigh of relief. Okay, so maybe Chiaki was just hiding his opponent so he couldn't size them up. He figured she was about to take out her phone and…definitely not her own duel disk. No…she couldn't possibly…
Hajime watched Chiaki strap on her duel disk and load her deck. She then marched towards him, facing him.
"Ch-Chiaki…wh-what are you doing?"
"I said I would arrange a proper opponent for you. That opponent…" Chiaki said as she activated her duel disk, "Is ME!" The hologram projectors shot out of Chiaki's duel disk and she stood there, legs a comfortable distance apart, a serious game face reflected in her eyes. She was serious.
"What?!" Hajime gasped.
"Who better?" Chiaki asked, keeping up the serious expression. "My one and only loss that knocked me out of the Battle City tournament was to Seto Kaiba and I'm a reputable Ultimate Gamer, a talent in the same area as yours. What better way to prove that your talent has merit? If you defeat me, then it proves that you're on a similar tier to someone like Seto Kaiba, a fellow Ultimate Duelist. With no prep time, with no chance to change the contents of your deck accordingly," Chiaki pointed directly at Hajime accusatorily. The intensity from her was suffocating, "You and I are going to duel! Right here, right now!"
"But…but I've never beaten you before!" Hajime exclaimed, sweating.
"Then change that fact now!" Chiaki exclaimed, pointing at the floor. "If you don't beat me, even once, you'll always feel like you're walking in my shadow! You need to fight and stand for what you believe in, for the achievements and path you forged on your own! I'm me and you're you! You need to be able to stand on your own without me. You need to stop feeling as though you have to rely on me to get ahead. You stand up by your own power. Now prove it! Get your deck out and let's duel!"
Hajime gulped. He could hardly say no to such a request, nor could he refute Chiaki's logic. She was definitely right. She was the perfect opponent for him to face. Is this how you felt in Duelist Kingdom, Joey? Hajime wondered, knowing the fateful duel between Joey and Yugi, the best of friends forced to fight. Could he do it? Could he take down the girl that he cherished and loved? Could he overcome a duelist he put on such high of a pedestal she was like an invincible goddess to him? She'd just schooled him for thirty rounds in a fighting game, and now she wanted him to take her on in a duel?
Hajime took a deep breath. Yeah, he thought, gazed hardened, hand reaching into his pocket for his newly modified deck. Let's do it. "All right, Chiaki! Let's go! I accept your challenge!" Hajime loaded his deck into his duel disk and fired up the hologram projectors as they traveled in either direction to match with the two Chiaki had ejected from her duel disk.
"Whoa, yeah! They're gonna duel!"
The whole audience broke out into a cheer. Hajime rubbed the back of his head again. He felt a little embarrassed to having a crowd cheering for him. At least in Battle City the live spectators had been kept to a minimum. He glanced at Chiaki to see her reaction. She had the crowd tuned completely out. He felt a few inches shorter from the intense gaze she was giving him. He'd been watching her duel since Battle City, but he never had stood directly across from her. This was clearly not her first duel under these circumstances. Chiaki was an experienced gamer. She'd likely competed in her home regionals, possibly even the Japanese Nationals, and likely even tournaments held at conventions. This was nothing new to her and the gaze brought about by her wealth of experience stared back at Hajime.
They were dating and yet, Hajime never thought that, for a moment of his life, he could be…afraid of Chiaki. He swallowed. It didn't matter that he'd never beaten Chiaki before. He had to win this duel. If he failed to win this duel, it was back to the reserve course, possibly even back to a normal school. Worst case scenario, he'd be put under a knife and be made to become Izuru again.
No, I've fought too hard to lose it all now. In all his wildest imagination, Hajime never thought that the girl he loved would be his "final exam" to cement his status as a truly skilled duelist. I just have to use everything I've learned up until now and hope…no fight the best I can and win! Hajime drew five cards.
"Don't think I'll hold back just because we're dating," Chiaki said.
"I won't either," Hajime said.
"Good, then make your move," Chiaki said. "Show me what separates a duelist from a gamer!"
"I WILL!" Hajime said and drew the top card of his deck. The most important duel of his life thus far had officially begun. With his opening hand, he declared, "I activate Polymerization," he said, holding up it and two fusion monsters. "Now, I fuse together Versago the Destroyer, substituting for Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and level 6 Luster Dragon to create: Meteor Black Comet Dragon!"
The audience was stunned, some even scuttled back in their seats at the presence of the flaming winged behemoth in front of them. The lava-enhanced dragon had 3,500 attack points and 2,000 defense points. "Since I don't have a Red-Eyes monster in my hand, that's all I'll be doing this card other than setting one card face-down onto the field," Hajime said. "Your move, Chiaki."
Chiaki nodded and drew the top card of her deck. "I'll begin by discarding Thunder Dragon from my hand!"
Thunder Dragon? Since when does she have that card? Hajime wondered.
"This will allow me to add two new Thunder Dragons to my hand," Chiaki stated as she then shuffled her deck after drawing two new dragons. "Next, I'll activate my own Polymerization! This will let me fusion summon Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!"
Chiaki's red-skinned critter emerged on the battlefield, lightning sparking all around it. It had 2,800 attack points and 2,100 defense points.
"Not bad, but not strong enough."
"Perhaps, but that's why I now banish Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon from the field as well as one Thunder monster from my hand in order to summon the most powerful thunder fusion monster: Thunder Dragon Titan!" A thunder dragon with three heads emerged on the battlefield. It looked like a fusion of the youkai O-Kagachi and Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The deadly monster had 3,200 attack points and 3,200 defense points.
"Whoa," Hajime uttered. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had given his deck an overhaul.
"You seem surprised," Chiaki said, giving Hajime a serious stare. "After my loss to Kaiba, I decided I should make good on one of the weaknesses of my deck while still keeping my advantage over the crush card virus. This was my answer." Chiaki thrust her arm out at her boyfriend. "And don't think I'm done just yet. Next, I activate the special ability of Thunder Dragonhawk in my hand. By discarding him from my hand, I can special summon my previously banished Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon to the field back in attack mode!" Chiaki now had two incredibly powerful monsters on her side of the field.
"And that's not all," Chiaki stated. "Since I activated a Thunder Dragon monster's effect from my hand, I can destroy any card of my choosing from the field." She pointed at Hajime's dragon. "And I choose your Meteor Black Comet Dragon!"
Uh oh, Hajime thought.
"Thunder Dragon Titan! Destroy Meteor Black Comet Dragon! Thunder Static Destruction!"
A powerful energy field of lightning gave off from Thunder Dragon Titan, utterly demolishing Meteor Black Comet Dragon, sending it straight to the graveyard.
"Thanks to Meteor Black Comet Dragon's effect, I can now return any monster without a special ability in my graveyard to the field. And I choose Luster Dragon #2!" Hajime's monster re-emerged in attack mode.
Chiaki's eyes narrowed. Why did he play it in attack mode? My monster's attack points are higher. She gazed at his face-down. I see, so he's relying on his trap card. Chiaki figured it had to be something like Mirror Force or Sakuretsu Armor. She needed to be careful. She looked at the remaining card in her hand. Nodding to herself, she simply stated, "I set one card face-down onto the field. I'm ending my turn."
Hajime let out a loud breath of relief. "Phew, I was scared for a second."
Chiaki gasped. "But your trap!"
"Guess I'm better at bluffing than I thought," Hajime said. He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate DNA Surgery! Now, all monsters will become the type of monster I declare and I choose: dragons!"
"Dragons?" Chiaki wasn't sure where Hajime was going with this. She watched as her monsters didn't change much. While her monsters were of the thunder-type they already resembled dragons enough as it was.
Hajime held up two more cards. "I now activate Polymerization in conjunction with the Buster Blader in my hand! This will allow me to fusion summon Buster Blader the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman!" A gilded version of Buster Blader stormed the field.
Chiaki knew about this relatively new card. That's why he picked dragons!
She watched as Hajime's monster sprouted wings and a tail as per his trap card. "Since Buster Blader is now on the field, all dragon monsters you control are switched to defense position."
Chiaki watched her Thunder Dragon Titan and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon switch to defense position.
"And, also thanks to Buster Blader, your monsters can't activate their special abilities. And, he gains 1,000 attack points for every dragon type monster you control or is in your graveyard." Hajime's monster jacked up in power to a massive 4,800. "Now, Buster Blader, attack Chiaki's Thunder Dragon Titan! Dragon Destroying Slash!"
Buster Blader's massive sword sliced through all three heads of Chiaki's monster with one swing, destroying it and reducing her life points down to 2,400.
"I was careless," Chiaki said as the dust blown by the hard light holograms blew into her face. She held her arms up and closed one eye to shield herself as her hoodie was blown behind her.
"Next, I'll set a new card face-down onto the field," Hajime stated as Buster Blader's attack power dropped to 3,800. After all, Chiaki's monsters didn't count as dragons in the graveyard. "Your move, Chiaki."
Chiaki had to admit, Hajime was certainly clever. He'd taken an early lead and it would certainly help him. "My turn then," Chiaki said. "I draw!" The top card of her deck couldn't have had more perfect timing. "I activate Mystic Space Typhoon!" she declared. "This will allow me to destroy any magic or trap card on the field, and I choose your DNA Surgery!"
Hajime grimaced and growled as his trap card was destroyed, bringing Buster Blader back down to 2,800 attack points. "Next, I'll shift my Thunder Dragon back into face-up attack position, making it even with your Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman."
Both monsters had 2,800 attack points.
"That concludes my turn," Chiaki stated. With one face-down protecting her, and her and Hajime's monsters dead even in terms of attack points, Hajime had no idea what his girlfriend was planning. It was clear that her plan was she was just trying to pressure him by leaving their monsters both wide open to attack and with a face-down apiece, this duel was far from clear-cut.
"I draw!" Hajime declared and thought about what to do next. He'd drawn Blazing Inpachi. He could go on the defensive and try to wipe out both Buster Blader and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, but would that work? What if Chiaki had a Mirror Force face-down? He'd be screwed.
I'll have to play it safe, Hajime thought. "I attack with Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman!"
"Countered by my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" Chiaki exclaimed. Hajime's monster darted forward, raising its sword. The magnificent blade was then brought down cut through Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon's massive horn. However, just as the monster was going to keel over, it fired back a massive amount of electricity, destroying both monsters.
Chiaki sweat a little, lips stretching and looking uncertain. She hadn't expected Hajime to be so reckless, but she was confident she could pull through.
"I now summon to the field my Blazing Inpachi!" Hajime declared. The flaming construct appeared with its impressive 1,850 attack points.
That, however, that could be a problem.
"It's my turn," Chiaki said, since Hajime had no cards in his hand. "I draw!" Luck of the draw had seen her pull Card of Sanctity to her hand. "I activate Card of Sanctity. Now we must both keeping drawing until we're holding six cards."
Hajime nodded and they both drew to a full hand as Chiaki looked at hers. Oh yes, her gambit had certainly pulled off. "I summon to the field Mahunder!" A woman with electricity for hair, and coursing through her fists, dressed all in red, appeared on the battlefield. She had 1,400 attack points.
"And next, I activate Mahunder's special ability, allowing me to conduct an additional normal summon this turn as long as that monster is a level four light attribute thunder-type monster. And I choose this one, Pahunder!" A male counterpart to Mahunder instantly took to the field with 1,300 attack points.
"And this will allow me to summon yet another thunder monster, my Thunderclap Monk!" A powerful human, dressed in blue with a white mantle, wielding a magic wand imbued with lightning appeared on Chiaki's field. It had 1,900 attack points and 200 defense points.
Hajime wasn't worried at first. His face-down trap was Wall of Disruption and it would put Chiaki in a huge bind with what he had in his hand to finish her off.
"And next I activate my face-down card: Judgment of Thunder!" Chiaki said, flipping the card face-up, showing off the artwork. "Now, since I summoned a thunder monster, I can destroy any card on the field of my choosing, and I choose your face-down card!"
Uh oh, Hajime thought. A powerful bolt of lightning rained down and utterly obliterated his best line of defense.
"Now, Thunderclap Monk, attack Blazing Inpachi!" Chiaki declared. A bolt of lightning was fired from Thunderclap Monk's wand as Blazing Inpachi shattered into dust, reducing Hajime's life points to 3,950.
"Mahunder! Pahunder!" Chiaki shouted. "Attack Hajime directly!"
With no face-downs and no monsters left on the field, Hajime had no choice, but to taste the sting of Chiaki's monsters as they crossed in an X-pattern and decked him across the chest. Hajime felt volts go through him as he staggered back and hunched over, holding his duel disk arm. His life points dropped pretty far, all the way to a mere 1,250 points.
Chiaki looked at the remaining three cards in her hand. "Next, I'll set two cards face-down," she stated. "Good luck, Hajime."
Good luck. Yeah, he could really use that right about now. Hajime grunted as he stood rigidly on his feet. Chiaki's monsters would be ripped apart by any of his fusion monsters, but now he had two face-down cards to worry about.
"I draw!" he declared as he pulled the top card of his deck to his hand. Oh. Maybe he wouldn't have to worry so much now. "I activate my last copy of Polymerization!" Hajime declared. "This will allow me to fuse together Darkfire Soldier #2 and my Cannon Soldier in order to bring out Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird, in defense mode!"
Blaze Fenix appeared on the field with 2,300 defense points.
"And next, I'll activate the equip spell Horn of Light, raising my monster's defense points by 800!" Blaze Fenix equipped itself with a glowing blue horn that boosted its defense to 2,900 points. "And finally, I'll set a monster face-down onto the field! And now that there are eight cards in play, I'll activate the effect of Blaze Fenix the Burning Bombardment Bird! He inflicts 300 points of damage to you for every card on the field. That's 2,400 points of damage," Hajime said, "Effectively ending this duel."
"Not quite!" Chiaki exclaimed. She revealed one of her face-down cards. "I activate Gift of the Mystical Elf! Since I have three monsters on the field, first, I'll gain 900 life points." Chiaki's life points increased to 3,300. "And since one card has now been removed from the field, I'll take 300 fewer points of damage."
Blaze Fenix then beat its wings, creating a powerful flaming wind that blew Chiaki back and caused her to pant as her life points fell all the way to 1,200, roughly even with Hajime's.
"That's all I can do this turn," Hajime said. "But on my next turn, this duel will be over!"
"Don't be so sure!" Chiaki exclaimed. "I draw!" The new card in her hand was exactly what she needed to turn the tide. "I sacrifice Mahunder and Pahunder in order to summon Sanga of the Thunder!" A spiritual monster with 2,600 attack points, looking like a weird looking box with arms, appeared on the battlefield.
"And that's not all," Chiaki declared, "I also activate my other face-down card: another Judgment of Thunder!"
Hajime gulped. Oh, that wasn't good.
"And I'll use it to destroy your Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird!"
Lightning crashed and roared as Hajime's monster was completely obliterated by Chiaki's trap card, leaving him with only his face-down monster.
I have no choice, Chiaki thought. I have to attack. "Sanga of the Thunder, attack Hajime's face-down monster now!"
Sanga of the Thunder unleashed its fury upon Hajime's monster and, as Chiaki feared, Hajime's face-down monster was Cyber Jar!"
As Cyber Jar sucked up all monsters on the field, Chiaki and Hajime were then forced to draw five new cards and summon any level four or lower monsters to the field.
"I set two monsters face-down," Chiaki stated. "And then I'm summoning Fencing Fire Ferret in attack position!" Chiaki's ever helpful Fire Ferret was a thorn in Hajime's side. He now had to keep his life points above 500 at all costs.
"Very well, then I'll set three monsters face-down!" Hajime declared as the holograms appeared.
Chiaki nodded. "Very well," she said. "Now, since Thunderclap Monk was sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to summon any thunder monster from my hand in defense position. I think you know which monster I'm selecting. I call upon the power of my Thunderclap Skywolf!"
Chiaki's great beast stood in a defensive stance with 2,000 defense points to its name.
"Next, I'm setting two cards face-down. You're up, Hajime!" Chiaki knew she should deprive Hajime of resources, but she also knew that he also had Giant Soldier of Stone in his deck. She shouldn't attack so recklessly, not while she only had so few life points left. Any particularly powerful fusion monster of Hajime's could wipe her out. Rather, that was what she wanted him to believe.
Hajime nodded and drew the top card of his deck. Chiaki only has 1,200 life points left. He looked at the Monster Reborn he drew and at the monsters face-down on his field: The Dark – Hex Sealed Fusion, Ancient Brain, and, as Chiaki had guessed, Giant Soldier of Stone. The other two cards Hajime had drawn from Cyber Jar were Summoned Skull and Mirror Force. This gave Hajime plenty of options to work with and he needed to devise the best strategy to determine what exactly Chiaki was up to.
After a bit of deciding upon his strategy, nodding to himself, he plucked Summoned Skull from his hand. "I sacrifice one of my face-down monsters, in order to summon out Summoned Skull!" The easily recognizable white-boned archfiend took to the field. "And next, I switch my The Dark – Hex Sealed Fusion into attack mode!" The creepy looking rock critter was shown to Chiaki and the audience. "Next, since I have a monster on my field that can be fused into a dark fusion with Hex Sealed Fusion, I don't need Polymerization in order to bring out a powerful monster of utter destruction! I call forth Black Skull Dragon!"
Chiaki breathed a sigh of relief as Hajime's monster stormed the field. Black Skull Dragon had recently gotten an upgrade. Either Hajime didn't have the new version, or he was underestimating her. And if the latter, it would cost him dearly.
"And now, Black Skull Dragon, attack Fencing Fire Ferret and end this duel!"
"I don't think so!" Chiaki exclaimed. "I activate my face-down card: Sakuretsu Armor! This trap card will destroy the attacking monster!"
The armor from Chiaki's trap card grafted itself to Black Skull Dragon and destroyed it. Hajime shielded one eye by closing it and putting his fist by his eye and turning his head to one side. This was to avoid the shards of hard light hologram flying towards his face.
"That was careless, Hajime," Chiaki said coldly.
"Careless, huh? Well then, what do you make of this?" Hajime asked as he threw a card into the spell/trap zone. "Monster Reborn!"
Chiaki gasped. Oh. This could be trouble.
"Welcome back, Black Skull Dragon!"
The dragon appeared again with a mighty roar.
"Next, I'm setting one card face-down," Hajime stated. "Go, Chiaki!" Hajime's heart started to pound. He was really afraid of what Chiaki's remaining face-down card was as well as her face-down monsters. Fencing Fire Ferret was indication that she hadn't completely given up on her previous strategy.
"My move," Chiaki said and went for the top card of her deck. "Draw!" She held the only card in her hand and nodded at it. "I'll start by flipping one of my monsters into face-up attack position, my ever-reliable Man-Eater Bug!"
Hajime gasped.
"Go! Man-Eater! Destroy Black Skull Dragon!"
Chiaki's monster latched itself onto Black Skull Dragon and tackled it to the ground. Hajime's dragon roared and was instantly destroyed as Chiaki's monster returned to her side of the field.
"Next, I'll switch Thunderclap Skywolf to attack mode and use it to destroy your face-down monster!"
"I activate Mirror Force!" Hajime exclaimed. "This will destroy all the monsters you have in attack position!"
Chiaki gasped, watching as Thunderclap Skywolf's attack was reflected and the reflected blast destroyed it, Fencing Fire Ferret and Man-Eater Bug, leaving only her face-down monster.
Chiaki hissed inwardly. Careless, she thought. Still, the duel wasn't lost yet, not by a long shot. Unfortunately, since Hajime didn't have a face-up monster, she couldn't activate Fencing Fire Ferret's effect. Still, she was far from beaten.
"I flip my face-down monster face-up!" Chiaki exclaimed. "Say hello to Night Assailant!" An assassin dressed in black rags with glowing blue arms and carrying a dagger big enough to be a sword appeared. He had 200 attack points and 500 defense points. "When Night Assailant is flipped, he is able to destroy any monster on the field, even if its face-down!"
That's not good, Hajime thought, sweating.
"Go! Night Assailant! Destroy Hajime's monster!"
Night Assailant blurred in and out of visibility and struck Hajime's monster from all sides, destroying Giant Soldier of Stone, sending it to the graveyard.
"Next, I'll sacrifice my Night Assailant in order to set one monster face-down onto the field," Chiaki stated. "My turn is done."
Face-down, Hajime thought. Don't tell me she managed to draw Nobleman Eater Bug. He shook off his doubts. He had to get aggressive. Chiaki only had one face-down card left. However, with no cards in hand and no cards on the field, he needed to pull out a winning move and fast.
I have to win. If I want to stay at Hope's Peak, I can't let anything stop me, not even Chiaki. And to that extent, I must believe in my deck and trust in myself. Channeling Yugi, a golden aura engulfed Hajime briefly as time seemed to slow for him as he went for the top card of his deck. I must believe… his eyes flashed open, red momentarily, but switching to his natural color afterward, In the heart of the cards!
Hajime quickly pulled the top card of his deck to his hand. Yes. This was exactly what he needed. "I activate Card of Demise!" He declared. "Now I can keep drawing cards until I'm holding five, as long as I discard my hand five turns later." He looked at his hand of five. This was it. If he failed now, he was out of options and out of luck. Grabbing two cards, he declared, "First, I'll activate the power of Future Fusion!" He stated as the spell card appeared face-up. "This will allow me to send Koumouri Dragon, Blackland Fire Dragon and Goddess with a Third Eye to my graveyard!"
He's planning on Summoning Blackland Void Dragon, Chiaki thought.
"Next, I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Hajime declared. "This will prevent you from attacking me for three whole turns!"
"Next, I'll set one card face-down onto the field!" Hajime proclaimed, setting up his field. "And lastly, I'll set one monster face-down onto the field. It's your move, Chiaki." One card in hand and it was nothing he could use this turn. Hajime just had to hope that all the pieces of his strategy fell into place. He waited to see what Chiaki would do.
Chiaki nodded and drew the top card of her deck. "I'm really sorry, Hajime, but you really should have attacked me. If you had, you might've been able to win this duel. But I already told you that I wasn't going to take it easy on you!"
Hajime gasped. Uh oh. Had he screwed up?
"I switch to attack position my Thunder Dragondark!" A red, eviler version of Thunder Dragon was switched to attack position. It had 1,600 attack points and 1,500 defense points and it had 5 levels.
She must've played that just to keep Night Assailant out of attack position, Hajime thought. He gasped. Wait, if it's a Thunder Monster, then that means…
"I activate my face-down card: Judgment of Thunder!" It was scary to know that Chiaki ran the maximum amount of copies of that card in her deck given how many Thunder monsters now inhabited it. "And I'll use it to destroy your Future Fusion!"
Divined Lightning rained down on Hajime's spell card, destroying it. Even if Chiaki had destroyed Hajime's monster, Swords of Revealing Light prevented her attack. That was the smartest move she could've made. Both she and Hajime were in agreement on that.
"Next, I activate my own Card of Demise!" Chiaki declared, drawing up to five cards. Oh yes, she could do plenty of nasty things with this hand. "I begin by activating Twin Twisters!" she shouted. "This will allow me to destroy your remaining two spell and trap cards at the cost of one of the cards in my hand."
Not good, Hajime thought. Chiaki discarded a monster to the graveyard and then a fearsome gale blasted Hajime's face-down Negate Attack and his face-up Swords of Revealing Light. Hajime was now wide-open to attack.
"Next, I'll activate an equip spell: Wattcube!" A cube of golden energy appeared around Thunder Dragondark, powering it up significantly. "This will increase my monster's attack power for every thunder-type monster in my graveyard. And I count nine!"
Thunder Dragondark's attack power increased all the way up to 2,500 points, more than enough to destroy any four-star defense position monster. Her monster roared, powerful electricity coursing through its eyes.
"And now, I attack with Thunder Dragondark! Dark Thunder Blast!"
Black lightning shot out of the mouth of Chiaki's monster, destroying Hajime's. She almost failed to notice the smirk on Hajime's face when her attack connected, revealing his face-down monster to be Magician of Faith. Chiaki gasped. She knew what that meant.
"Blackland Void Dragon…was a ruse?"
"I had to do everything I could to draw your attention away from my face-down monster. If you had destroyed it, I would've been in a really bad bind. I knew you'd destroy Future Fusion first and likely wait out the turns if you could. I just got lucky, I guess."
Chiaki smiled. "Well, there's nothing I can do," she said, dropping her hand at her side, smiling at Hajime. "You know what to do. Don't hold back now."
"Right!" Hajime declared. "I activate Magician of Faith's special ability!" He ejected Monster Reborn from his graveyard. "This allows me to bring any spell card from my graveyard back to my hand. And I choose Monster Reborn."
Chiaki nodded. "I end my turn," she said.
Hajime drew the top card of his deck, but it didn't matter. The duel was already over. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Black Skull Dragon from my graveyard!" Hajime's mighty dragon roared as it returned from the depths of hell to rise again. "And now, I equip it with Horn of the Unicorn, increasing its attack power by 700 points!"
Lightning coursed through Black Skull Dragon's newly equipped horn, raising its attack power to 3,900.
"And now, I'll end this duel! Black Skull Dragon! Crush Thunder Dragondark with Molten Fireballs!"
Several meteor-like blasts rained down onto Thunder Dragondark with powerfully pounding precision. The attack completely mangled the rest of Chiaki's life points, bringing her down to 0, ending the duel.
"And that's what separates an Ultimate Gamer from an Ultimate Duelist!" Hajime declared. Chiaki couldn't agree more. She was surprised, and so was Hajime, when the crowd and the judges were clapping for the show. Several people were standing, but it was hardly a standing ovation.
Nevertheless, hand in hand, Hajime and Chiaki bowed at the crowd and then bowed at the judges. Hajime smiled widely, despite his heart pounding in his chest. Even Nagito was clapping for the both of them and…crying for…some reason. Chiaki squeezed Hajime's hand tightly. The message she was giving him was clear. She would always be here for him and he would always be around for her.
No matter what.
Several days later, on Saturday evening, the Chairwoman of the Steering Committee was sitting in her home office, filing reports to the government about the school she was overseeing when her phone rang. The number was the forwarded anonymous grievance line Hope's Peak enabled for the Ultimates. Each member of the Steering Committee was expected to pick up the phone when it rang and it seemed it was the Chairwoman's turn herself to answer.
"Hello? You've reached the Chairwoman of Hope's Peak's Steering Committee. How may I be of assistance?" The redheaded mature woman got out a fresh notepad as she pressed the phone to her ear, balancing it on her shoulder. She listened intently as she scribbled key words in the notepad. "Mmmmhmm. Mmmmhmm," she replied, listening to the other person on the line speak. Her eyebrows suddenly raised. "Foul play during one of the students' exams? That's quite the claim." She listened to the other party speak, her office dead silent for a good few minutes. "Right, no, I understand." There was a brief pause before saying. "Oh, hon, you don't need to justify yourself to me." Another brief pause and then the Chairwoman interrupted. "Okay, okay. Calm down. Just tell me your name again. I didn't quite catch it." She listened to the other party. "Relax, dear. I promise this is all anonymous. Your name?" She listened intently to the person on the other end. "Mmmhmm," she said, writing it down. "Mmmhmm. Thank you, dear. Yes, I promise to look into it. My staff and I will take it from here. Will that be all, dear?" She listened to the person on the other end of the phone. "I see. Yes. You too. Have a wonderful evening and weekend."
The Chairwoman picked up the phone, took a deep breath and immediately dialed for Sakakura. When he picked up, she said, "Sorry to bother you so late in the evening on a weekend, but we have a situation. Could you come to my office, please?"
Several days passed well into the second week of practical exams. With Sonia's volunteered help, Miss Yukizome was washing one of the walls in the school out of habit. It was below acceptable cleanliness for her standards. As they cleaned, Sakakura rounded the corner.
"Chisa, do you have a moment?"
"Oh, Juuzo," Yukizome replied, wringing out the rag she was holding into a bucket. "Sure, what's up?"
"You seen Hajime Hinata anywhere?" he asked.
"Is Hajime in trouble?" Sonia asked in concern.
Sakakura chuckled. "No, far from it. His poor mother came by with a box of cookies earlier, couldn't let her on campus. I was going to deliver them to his room, but these are fresh. Just feel the box."
Chisa put her hands on them. Oh yes, warm cookies indeed.
"I think I saw him out by the fountain playing games with Chiaki," Yukizome said.
"Perfect, thanks," Sakakura said and headed for the fountain.
He marched out to Hajime and Chiaki. "Yo, Hinata," he said, calling out to him.
"Oh, Mr. Sakakura. Something you need?"
Sakakura held up the box. "Your mom came by, said this was for you."
"My mom did?" Hajime took the box and opened the warm container. "Oh, no way! Home-baked sweets!" He laughed. "She must really miss me, I guess."
Sakakura smiled. "You better respect your mom, or I'll have to punch you."
"Yeah, she's about as sweet as her baking, or so my dad says."
Sakakura laughed. "Is that so?"
Hajime passed the box to Chiaki. "Want one?"
Chiaki nodded and put her Game Girl down and picked up a warm cookie with both hands. Her cheeks flushed and a bright smile broke out on her face as she munched on the cookie. "Sho good," she said. She was a sucker for well-baked chocolate chip cookies.
Sakakura looked like he was about to say something, only for his phone to ring. "This is Sakakura." He turned around when he heard the voice on the other end. "Oh, it's you, Miss Chairwoman. Go get her now?" he nodded. "Okay."
He sighed. This was not going to be fun. He turned back towards Hajime and Chiaki.
"Something the matter?" Chiaki asked him.
"Yeah, got a student that cheated on her exam. She's in big trouble, probably going to get expelled." He sighed. "You know, in my class, even one of my friends who felt he could never improvise on his talent, always found a way to scrape by. I can't stand it when I hear that others are cheating. It's the same as saying you don't believe in yourself."
"Cheaters never prosper," Chiaki said, pouting. "I can't stand cheaters!"
"That makes two of us," Sakakura said.
"Three of us," Hajime said with a serious expression. "Go do what you have to do."
"I don't need you to tell me that," Sakakura said.
"Ah, right, sorry. Er, see you around, I guess?"
Sakakura just sighed and headed for the troublemaker in question.
And that was how Ruruka Andou found herself in Jin Kirigiri's office with Sakakura blocking the door.
"What's this about?" Ruruka asked the headmaster.
"Miss Andou, you are aware of the terms and conditions laid out in the student handbook, and the contract you signed upon accepting the offer to attend Hope's Peak, correct?" The headmaster asked.
"Y-yeah…wh-what about it?" Ruruka asked nervously.
"Last Saturday, we received an anonymous tip from one of the students that there was improper behavior conducted during your exam to the extent of stealing another student's belongings, which you then used to boost your confectionary creation. Collaboration is fine, but I cannot permit stealing and lying when you're not the Ultimate Thief or a related talent. It pains me to say this, but we are going to have to let you go."
Ruruka's heart pounded and sunk at the same time. "L-Let me go?" she asked, crestfallen.
"Return to your dorm room, gather your things and see yourself out by 5pm. Today will be your last day at this academy."
"But…but I didn't cheat! Whoever's making this up is lying! They have something against me!" Ruruka exclaimed, bolting to her feet.
"If you wish to make a counter claim, by all means you have until the end of today to launch the possibility, but I believe we have thoroughly conducted our investigation properly."
In a panic, Ruruka was on the fifth floor suddenly. She didn't even remember how she got past Sakakura and up the stairs, but here she was: Seiko's lab and tears were streaming down her face.
"Seiko…please…you have to help me!" Ruruka exclaimed. "Headmaster Kirigiri thinks I cheated on my exam and I'm being expelled!" She grabbed Seiko's wrist tightly. "We have to go to his office right now! You have to tell him that you gave me your medicine for my sweets! I don't want to get kicked out!"
Ruruka's momentum had fully expected Seiko to stumble towards her like the limp noodle she was and then be carried out across the hall and down the stairs to Jin's office, complaining about some experiment or another.
However, that wasn't what happened. Instead, Seiko, with all her strength, slapped Ruruka's hand away, and caused the redhead to stumble back and collide into the wall to the point of shaking the beakers in the glass case next to her.
It was as if time had slowed down. Words were not necessary. Seiko's message was loud and clear.
"Wh-what?"
"Good, maybe you'll learn to change," Seiko said, going back to her beaker and eyedropper.
"H-hey, S-Seiko," Ruruka said, lip twitching. "C-come on. We're friends."
Seiko put down her eyedropper and turned to face her so-called friend. "Ruruka, we've known each other since we were children. I've done a lot for you over the years, but I've had enough. You don't want to get expelled? You should've thought of that before you decided to steal credit."
Ruruka's eyes dulled with fear. No…Seiko couldn't have... "How…how could you betray me?"
Seiko, however, didn't seem keen on owning up to whatever conclusions Ruruka had come to. "It doesn't matter if I'm the one who reported you or not, but if I go in there and admit to helping you, then I'm in jeopardy as well because then they have to investigate me and my work. Ruruka, I've helped you through a lot, but I'm not about to go down with the ship you're captaining, even if we are friends. The world needs my medicine."
"The world needs my sweets!" Ruruka exclaimed. "It needs them way more than it needs your ugly medicine!"
"Oh? All the more reason to keep my mouth shut then," Seiko said, glaring. "If my medicine is so ugly, then clearly it shouldn't be anywhere near your disgusting candy."
"Y-you take that back about my sweets!" Ruruka exclaimed.
Seiko said nothing at first and then calmly went back to her beaker, picking it up and shaking it slightly. "I have a lot of work to do for my next practical, no thanks to you. I could've used my energy enhancement to bounce off of your practical and show its effects off undiluted, but no," She glanced over her shoulder at Ruruka. "It's always about you isn't it? Everything is about you."
"How dare you!" Ruruka shouted. She made to strangle Seiko, but the pharmacologist was surprisingly quick footed for a lab rat with braces. She grabbed Ruruka's arm mid-lunge.
"Get out of my lab," she said calmly, glaring.
"But I…"
Seiko freed her lips from behind her facemask and shouted, "I said get out!" She shoved Ruruka back. She stared at the floor, tears dripping. "I don't like it either…but you've taken too much advantage of me, Ruruka. I need this. I need to succeed."
"That's not fair! You can't just turn your back on me like that! What about everything I've ever done for you?" Ruruka shouted.
"Yeah? Well you should've thought of that before you decided to be the center of attention," Seiko said contemptuously, tears still in her eyes as she glared at Ruruka. She then went back to her work. "I still have a lot of work to do. I hope that, in your heart, one day you'll find it in you to forgive me."
"But…my candy…"
"You want to share your candy? Go start a food truck for all I care. Now, please leave. I need to be working with compounds as volatile as nitroglycerin soon. I can't have you yelling while I work."
Losing her composure completely, Ruruka grabbed a display of empty beakers and test tubes and smashed it on the ground, stomping on their wooden holder, breaking it. And then she ran out of the lab.
Seiko sighed and then got the dust pan and brush to sweep up the mess. Oh well, empty things were easily replaceable.
In her fury and despair, Ruruka hadn't even told Izayoi about her expulsion. She now sat on the bench that Hajime and Chiaki were most frequently seen playing games together with several suitcases of her things and crying her eyes out, makeup turning her face into that of a panda's.
"Ruruka!" Izayoi exclaimed, having heard her crying and ran to comfort her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, what's wrong? Talk to me."
"I got expelled," Ruruka sobbed. "And Seiko…Seiko won't help me!" She threw her head into Izayoi's chest and sobbed her eyes out.
Izayoi affectionately rubbed the back of Ruruka's head. "It's going to be all right," he said.
"No it's not," she cried back. "Everything's all wrong."
"No matter where you end up, stay in contact, I won't leave your side."
"I got kicked out of Hope's Peak. Who would hire me? And what about you? People…" Ruruka said, hiccupping, "People will scorn you just for being with me."
"I don't care what other people think. I'll always stand by you," Izayoi said, hugging Ruruka into him. "You and your dewicious sweets."
Ruruka hugged her boyfriend, sniffing hard. "Thank you, Sonosuke."
Izayoi smiled, petting Ruruka a little more.
Their touching moment was interrupted by the arrival of Sakakura. "All right," he said, "Time's up. It's Five-o'-clock."
"Five more minutes," Izayoi requested.
"No," Sakakura replied. He had no patience for this.
"But…" Izayoi began to protest.
"It's okay, Sonosuke," Ruruka said, forcing a brave face, though there were still tears. "It's time for me to go."
With a big backpack like she was going camping and a pink, rhinestone laden suitcase dragging behind her, Ruruka exited out the front gate, which Sakakura closed and locked behind her. From there, Ruruka headed for the nearest train station. Before she got down the first block though, she took one last long look at Hope's Peak, sniffed, blinked out tears and then put her head down and kept walking.
She eventually took a stop to snack on some Amanatto. It barely made her feel better, despite the perfect flavor. She wanted to go home, ball up and cry. Why? Well, her brain and heart couldn't agree on the main reason, but that didn't stop her from wanting to do it.
Unwilling, or just having a lack of passion to get up and continue onward to the train station, Ruruka sank her head against her knees, crumbs sticking to her face. She put her suitcase under the bottom step of the stoop she was sitting on and her backpack at her side, some leftover medicine bottles that Seiko had given her for other occasions peeking out of one of the side pockets.
Misery and despair consumed the girl. She wasn't sure how long she was there before she noticed the limo pulled right up in front of her. And even then, she barely acknowledged it until one of the occupants rolled down the window and spoke to her. She had blonde hair in outrageous pigtails and deep blue eyes.
"Hey there," the blonde said. "You look like you're down on your luck. Need a lift?"
"I don't have any money," Ruruka mumbled.
"Pssh, I don't want your money. Where are ya headed, stranger? Limo's big enough for you and your baggage," the girl said with overt cheer.
"Leave me alone," Ruruka mumbled.
"Hey, come on. I know I'm a complete stranger, but I'm trying to help." The blonde stuck her hand out the window, palm open, fingers spread. "Junko Enoshima."
Ruruka recognized that name. It was as if a dark cloud had lifted in front of Ruruka's eyes. "Jun…ko?" It was hard not to recognize the celebrity. Cautiously, knees wobbling, Ruruka stood up and then grabbed Junko's hand. Junko clenched Ruruka's hand firmly.
"Well, come on, don't be shy now. Mukuro, get her things."
From the opposite side of the car, Mukuro Ikusaba emerged and went for Ruruka's bags, picking up the heavy luggage with tremendous ease.
"Why are you doing this?" Ruruka asked. "You don't even know me."
Junko gave Ruruka a bright, cheerful smile, fingers poking her own cheeks. "Cause I'm just that kind of a person. I love picking up depressed girls off the street like you. It gives my life purpose!" Junko then opened the door and shifted so that Ruruka could climb in without Junko having to get out of the limo. Mukuro returned to her seat only after Ruruka had gotten in the limo.
No sooner had Ruruka sat down on the plush velvet, that Junko put a big friendly arm around. The confectioner brought her arms in towards her chest, still uncomfortable with the situation, but still feeling a bit better.
"Um…I…I need to go back to my house. It's um…it's in…"
"Your house? What are ya gonna do, cry into a tub of ice cream? Mukuro and I were on our way to a spa treatment. You should join us. My treat."
"R-really?" Ruruka asked.
"Absolutely," Junko said. "Oh, I'm sorry, I get so friendly people, I never even got your name."
"It's Ando, Ruruka Ando."
"Well, Ruruka," Junko said. She fanned her arm up at the ceiling. "I think this is the start of a beautiful new friendship."
And with that, the muscular blond limo driver put the car in drive and drove the three women to the spa.
Today you will graduate from your old life, Ruruka-chan, Junko thought. Graduate and become a despair!
(A/N: *ticks a check box* That's another status quo change to add to the list. Didn't see this coming, did you? I know some of you were anticipating the Hajime/Chiaki duel, but in the words of Boomstick after Shao Khan absorbed M. Bison: "…That can't be good". What is that going to mean for the Future Foundation? XD. Panic aside, I absolutely love this chapter with all the nuggets I left for you all to chew on.
And we're introduced to a new, original character, Miaka Senri. For those of you that read my…experimental fanfic One Year Ahead, One Mile Behind, Miaka is the same Miaka from that story, just without my author avatar, Alex Goldrose, in this continuity. Hey, I've gotta fill up Class 77-A's roster somehow!
Anyway, next time on Dueling Trigger Finger, we are officially off to Canada in an arc where Joey, Mai, and Byakuya take center stage. No Yugi or Kaiba or any of our usual protagonists to be part of the action. Hope you all enjoy yourselves for the rest of this little mini-arc. After that, it's back to Hope's Peak for our first taste of what I'd like to call Despair Arc Part 1. If you're familiar with Side: Despair in the anime, for the purposes of this fic, given how much time is between now and the "official" start of the Tragedy—17 months approximately for those keeping track—I plan to have other arcs that weave in and out of those 17 months to keep things fresh and interesting. What those arcs are, well, I might've said before, but I'm not repeating them now.
But, that's all for now, and, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)