(A/N: (big Cheshire cat grin) I've been looking forward to this chapter and the chapters that follow until we hit the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix. You have no idea for how long or how much).

It was the first Monday in April. Birds were singing and the cherry blossoms were in bloom. Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba were walking side by side up the road to Hope's Peak Academy. Junko's heels and Mukuro's boots made noise against the stone pathway up to the front door of the main building. Junko was narrating her actions in an overdramatic fashion.

"A fateful gust of wind blew past. In that moment, the pair that would plunge the academy, and later the whole damn world into the depths of despair, first laid eyes on the powder keg they'd soon ignite," Junko said, doodling in a notepad while Mukuro looked with mild interest at what she was doing.

"That's impressive," Mukuro said with a small smile. "You've really taken to narration, haven't you?"

"Well yeah, but I'm bored of it now," Junko said with the same nonchalance that one would order breakfast from a restaurant. "Drink it in, Mukuro! This is where our lives are truly going to kick into gear! Puhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu," Junko chortled as she etched a picture of Monokuma into her notepad. "Man I can't wait! Maybe fate will even drop someone into my lap."

"I'm sure it will, sister," Mukuro said as she looked away from Junko's doodle and stared straight ahead. As soon as she did, she received biggest thump to her chest she'd ever felt. Straight ahead, and about to go into the front door was Makoto Naegi. In a flash, fast enough to blow some of the pages of Junko's notepad over her picture of Monokuma, Mukuro ran up to Makoto, standing to the side of him.

"H-hello, Makoto," Mukuro said nervously, a strange smile on her face.

"Huh?" Makoto turned his head to face Mukuro.

Mukuro rubbed one knee against her other knee, twisting her ankle, having trouble making eye contact. Her hands were behind her back, body bowed slightly. "Y-you may not remember me, but…um…we dueled during Battle City. You…took my locator card."

Makoto smiled. "Of course I remember you, Mukuro. How have you been?"

Mukuro's face broke out into a wide, childlike, happy smile. "I-I've been good." She bowed far more than she had to. "I…I wanted to congratulate you on at least winning your first battle in the Battle City finals."

"That was almost a year ago," Makoto said.

Mukuro stood there though, face red, eyes and face pointed at the ground. Her brain had come to a screeching halt, unsure what to do next.

"Oh my god! Get back here!" Junko exclaimed. "Mukuro! This is no time to be acting like a bitch in heat!" Junko exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

However, Mukuro could not hear her sister over the sound of her heart in her ears and the image of Makoto's red sneakers filling her line of sight.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! Get your fat ass over here!" Junko shouted. How dare her sister flat out ignore her.

"Um, are you okay?" Makoto asked.

Mukuro shot up like a rocket. "I'm fine! Are you fine? Because I'm fine! I'm always fine!"

"Er…okay?" Makoto asked, not really sure what was going on.

Junko palmed her face gently, glaring at her sister in sheer disbelief. It's like watching an excited puppy off its leash, she thought. Besides, it's not like anything will come of it. She's too deviant and too bloodstained to ever think she could possibly have a normal life. Our plan was everything. We—

"Junko?"

Now it was the fashionista's turn to feel her heart pounding in her chest. And, additionally, her breath was almost taken away for a moment.

My heart's going all thumpity-thump! That could only mean one thing!

Throwing her notepad and pen on the ground, Junko whirled around and brought the person behind her into a tight bear hug, running her hands all through his spikey hair. "Yugi!" she cooed excitedly, wiggling back and forth with the short teenager in her grip. "Oh my gosh! I'm so excited to see you!"

Yugi couldn't exactly disagree. Junko's motions and greater height were making him an unwilling, yet lucky young man of having his face between her boobs. His eyes were filled with blouse and cleavage, nose and forehead touching soft flesh.

If Yugi's here, Junko thought, petting his hair, that means I have so much more time to convert him to despair! This is the best!

Junko purred as she held Yugi's head between her boobs, rubbing his back. It was both arousing and uncomfortable to the young duelist. To give the two some privacy, Yami had even retreated into the far recesses of Yugi's mind.

"J-Junko?"

"Oh, sorry," Junko said, putting Yugi at arm's length. "It's just, it's been so long since we saw each other. I missed you, you know," she said, twisting her ankle back and forth, foot raised, the tip of her shoe moving back and forth like a pendulum into the path below her feet. Junko could feel her face all red, heart pounding. It was as if Yugi was the most captivating thing she had ever looked at. And, strangely, she did not recall feeling this way when they parted.

"Well, I am glad to see you again," Yugi said, smiling, failing at his attempts to no blush.

"I'm sure you are," Junko said with a mischievous smile. "Putting your head in some girl's breasts on the first day of school. Naughty boy."

"Th-that was entirely your doing," Yugi exclaimed.

"Admit it, you liked it," Junko giggled.

"I…"

"If you don't, I'll mercilessly tease you," Junko said, grinning, eyes closed.

"T-tease me?" Yugi asked, only to soon find Junko's boobs along the back of his head and she was running her hands down his chest. He was stiff everywhere.

"Don't I turn you oooooon, Yugi?" Junko asked. She reached for his shirt buttons. "This little button here goes flick," she said, undoing the top button."

Yugi darted away from her, fixing his shirt. "Okay, okay, yes. They're very…um…nice."

Junko cupped her breasts. "Soft too, right?"

"Um…" Yugi stuttered.

Junko bounced her breasts in his face with her hands.

"Y-yes! Very soft! So soft that I've never felt anything softer," Yugi blurted out uncontrollably.

Junko giggled, holding her knuckles by her lips. "See? Was that so hard?"

Yugi just laughed nervously.

"Well, come on, let's go to class," Junko said, grabbing him by the hand, not helping Yugi's embarrassment at all.

"W-wait, Junko if we hold hands like this, people will think we're a couple!" Yugi exclaimed, stumbling after her.

While Yugi was trying to wrestle his independence from Junko, Mukuro was trying to salvage her own embarrassing situation in front of Makoto.

"U-um, s-so…" Mukuro said, now upright again, head turned away, hands still behind her back. "A-are you busy…after school I mean?"

"Busy?"

Mukuro stood rigidly. "Y-yes, I would like to…hang out." Being a soldier had left her out of touch with being a normal girl. Therefore, social situations were her greatest weakness. "M-maybe…we could…duel?"

Makoto smiled. "Sure, I'd love to duel you again Mukuro," Makoto said and gave her a happy smile. That smile. Mukuro didn't know why, but she wanted to protect that smile with all her heart.

Of course, this happy moment was interrupted by her phone buzzing. It was a text from Junko. It read: You're going to be late, you flat-chested deviant.

"We should get to the opening ceremony," Mukuro said, trying to keep her cool.

"Ah, r-right," Makoto stuttered and then gave a smaller smile. "There will be plenty of time for us to catch up later."

"I-I agree," Mukuro stuttered.

The wind blew and neither moved.

"Right, um…this way, I guess," Makoto said, taking the first steps. Mukuro followed behind him like a lovestruck school girl, gait slowed, leaning forward slightly, lips contorted oddly and one hand balled in between her breasts. The other hand gripped that hand. Like a lost, confused puppy, she followed him all the way to the auditorium.

After the opening ceremony, Junko and Yugi arrived at their classroom roughly at the same time as Makoto and Mukuro.

"Oh, hey Yugi!" Makoto exclaimed. "I should've figured the King of Games would make it into Hope's Peak Academy."

Yugi nodded. "Although, I'm surprised to see you, Makoto," Yugi said.

"Huh? Me? Oh, I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student. I'm pretty ordinary compared to you, Junko and Mukuro."

"Hey, luck is as valid a talent as any," Yugi said.

"You think?" Makoto asked.

"I agree!" Mukuro blurted out quite unnaturally, but just to reinforce any positive opinions made about Makoto.

Junko rolled her eyes inwardly.

Upon entering the classroom, Yami ceased retreating into Yugi's mind, figuring he had given Yugi enough time and was quite thankful for the change of scenery.

To the far left side of the classroom, away from the doors, Yugi instantly saw a familiar face. Of course, she called out to him before he had the chance.

"Well, well, well, my luck for attracting familiar faces continues to strike it seems," Celeste said, rising from her seat. "A pleasure to see you again, Yugi."

"Celeste!" Yugi exclaimed, excited to see her, quickly making his way over to her desk. "You're an Ultimate too?"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Celeste asked, covering her lips with her fingertips. "I am a highly skilled gambler after all. Though, I'm surprised to see you here. I thought for sure Kaiba's ego would get the better of him and never allow you to attend."

"Actually, it was Kaiba who helped arranged my scouting," Yugi said.

"Hmph, he's either gone soft or he wants you where he can keep an eye on you," Celeste chuckled.

"I don't know, maybe he's coming around," Yugi said.

"You would say that," a pompous voice pierced the air. Yugi turned right towards the front of the classroom to see Byakuya Togami sitting on a desk with one foot on the chair.

"Byakuya!" Yugi exclaimed, happy to see him.

"If you come within five feet of me, I will shove you to the ground," Byakuya said, coldly. Yugi got the message and kept his distance.

"Still not a people person, Togami?" Celeste asked, smirking.

"I deal with people all the time. Yugi Mutoh might be the King of Games, but that title will soon belong to me. And without that, he's just a pathetic little peon, not unlike some of the other pointless additions to our class."

"Oh, grow up," Celeste responded, turning her head in the other direction. "There's more to life than your Togami pride."

"We will have to agree to disagree," Byakuya said.

Yugi could feel the tension in the air and backed away slowly.

"It's good to see you, Yugi," a kind, familiar voice spoke up.

Yugi turned only to notice he was standing right next to the desk of Chihiro Fujisaki. The young programmer was dressed in attire unfamiliar to Yugi. Chihiro was wearing a black, rubber dress, with a woman's white, leather coat over it. There was a belt going around the stomach with the letters KC in silver as the buckle. The letters were also on the collar of the coat.

"Like my new uniform?" Chihiro asked. "Mr. Kaiba had it custom made for me. I'm a lead programmer at Kaiba Corp now."

"Whoa, really? Impressive," Yugi said.

Suddenly the logo on the coat beeped.

"Oh, sorry. I have to take this," Chihiro said and then walked out of the room to make a phone call.

"Yugi", Yami spoke to him.

"What is it?" Yugi asked back, only for Yami to point behind Yugi. There stood a girl with two long pigtails, glasses and looking more nervous than a balloon on a porcupine farm.

"H-hi, Y-Yugi," she stuttered, chewing on the skin of her right thumb. She lowered her head and refused to meet Yugi's gaze. "Y-you p-probably don't remember a filthy creature like me, b-but..."

Yugi smiled. "Of course I remember you, Toko. How have you been? It's been almost a year, hasn't it?

Toko's hands folded over her sternum. Yugi remembered her. He remembered my name. He…remembered…my name? Toko swooned as she blushed.

Better him than me, Byakuya thought as he sat down like a normal person.

As Yugi caught up with Byakuya, Celeste and Toko, Makoto took a seat in the back-left corner of the room by the window, second from the rear.

While he sat there, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Makoto turned his head to see Sayaka Maizono standing there. She greeted him with just a smile and a happy giggle.

"Sayaka?!" Makoto exclaimed, pushing his chair back, sounding startled.

At the proclamation of Sayaka's name, Mukuro immediately pivoted her position, launching daggers at the back of the girl's head. The wolf within her stirred, growling.

"Wow, I didn't think you'd end up at Hope's Peak Makoto," Sayaka said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, uh, me neither. It was…kind of surprise," Makoto said, letting out half of a nervous laugh.

Sayaka took a seat next to him, stretching her legs and arms. "This is going to be so much fun!" She exclaimed, gripping the corners of the desk. "We're going to be classmates again!"

"S-Sayaka, are you sure you want to sit there?" Makoto asked.

When Sayaka and I were in middle school together, she was the furthest from me, but if she sits right next to me…

"Yeah, it's kind of like a date, maybe."

"Wha…" Makoto stammered.

"I can read your mind," Sayaka said. "Cause I'm psychic." There was an awkward pause before she started laughing. "Just kidding. I just have really good intuition. Besides, I really would like to sit next to you. You're the only face I recognize in this entire class, Makoto. I want to sit next to someone I can trust."

Makoto blushed at Sayaka saying that she trusted him. To him, that felt like a big responsibility.

"I'd love if you wanted to sit next to me," Makoto stated.

Sayaka gave a gentle smile. "Thank you, Makoto. That means a lot."

Makoto could only blush bright red.

"Hey, I know. After school, let's go to the arcade together."

"Huh? Together? The arcade?" That doesn't sound like a place an idol would normally hang out, especially with someone like me.

At this, Mukuro intervened. "Excuse me," she said, rudely, taking the seat right behind Makoto. She put her hand on the back of Makoto's chair. "But Makoto and I already agreed to hang out after school. We were going to duel."

Sayaka's gaze hardened. "Excuse you," she said, "But Makoto is my friend. Who even are you?"

Mukuro rose from her desk and took a step towards Sayaka, trying to intimidate her. "Makoto and I met during Battle City. I thought we could catch up." Her stoicism never wavered for an instant.

Sayaka, rising to Mukuro's challenge of who she could and could not hang out with, rose to meet Mukuro's gaze. "I've known Makoto since middle school," Sayaka said with a serious expression. "We're practically childhood friends."

Ch-childhood friends? Makoto thought, blushing.

"Oh? Funny," Mukuro said, unimpeded by Sayaka's blatant exaggeration of the truth, "I don't recall ever seeing an article of yours mentioning him if you two are so close."

She…has a point, Makoto thought, sighing inwardly.

"He's closer to me than an outcast murderer, Miss Ultimate Soldier," Sayaka snapped. "Is the smell of blood supposed to substitute for perfume or do you just not know how to shower?"

When Junko said such things to Mukuro, that was always par for the course. And yet, when Sayaka said it…it just riled Mukuro up. "Maybe my hands have killed, but there are some fates worse than death. Tell me, how many people have you ruined the lives of just to get to the top of the charts?"

"I survive on my skill alone. I don't need tabloids when I have talent. I'm loved by millions. But I'm sure you wouldn't understand. After all, your entire childhood was ruined by gunpowder."

"I'd rather the smell of gunpowder than the taste of my superior's dick in my mouth. Or maybe you let guests in through the back door. Anything to avoid a baby, right?"

"How dare you!" Sayaka growled, her voice sounding like a legion of inter-dimensional aliens.

Junko wished she had popcorn. This cat fight was too high on despair not to enjoy.

Makoto sat in his chair wondering what to do. He wasn't exactly able to put two and two together that Mukuro and Sayaka were fighting over him. However, he considered both of them as friends and he didn't want to come between them.

However, before the situation could worsen, or Makoto said something, the door was slid open to the point of clacking loudly against the wall. Everyone turned their heads to see a woman with long, fiery orange hair with strands going out in a multitude of directions, some even curling. Her navel was exposed and she was wearing a white t-shirt with a picture of an erupting volcano on it. The shirt had a dried soda stain and orange cheese puff dust from her left collar to her right breast. She was wearing a jacket that didn't come down past her ribs with lots of pouches along the front. She had goggles strapped to her forehead and was wearing brown, steel-toe industrial boots covered in mud, dirt and god knew what else. Her red socks were barely hidden from view, except when her boots slid down when she walked. She wore cargo shorts and a small, silver bag hanging off her left hip, attached to her fashionable belt. She also had red, fingerless gloves on.

Is…is that a skateboard strung up on her back? Makoto thought.

She opened her bag, took a swig of some kind of red liquid in a bottle and quickly put it away. She then raised up her leg and placed one foot on the teacher's desk. She then leaned her elbow over her knee, her palm open, and began talking in a loud, boisterous manner.

"All right, noobs, listen up!" She shouted. "The name's Homura Takashiro. I used to attend this school just like you runts, and graduated couple years ago to become the finest demolitions expert in the entire world. Tell me, any of you scrubs know the best way to blow something up, to complete rend it from existence?"

Mukuro raised her hand. "Um, lots of—"

"Wrong! Utterly! That's the best way to destroy something," Homura stated, smacking her first into her awaiting palm. Only now did she write her name on the board. "Look none of you gotta remember my name or whatever. Honestly, you're damn lucky this school doesn't give two pieces of flint and a hatchet about standard curriculums or whatever. I just gotta babysit for the most part. So behave yourselves and we'll get along. Misbehave, and, well…" Homura took out two unmarked vials of liquid, mixed them into an empty soda bottle and hurled it at the ceiling, causing an explosion that set off the sprinklers in the classroom, and the fire alarm. "ANY QUESTIONS?!" she shouted over the noise.

All of the students just stared in sheer flabbergasted speechlessness at Homura's destructive behavior.

"GOOD TO HEAR! I'M GONNA GO SHUT OFF THE WATER AND ALARM! NOBODY MOVE!" Homura shouted and left the room.

H-hey, is it really all right for such a woman to be our teacher? Kiyotaka Ishimaru thought.

Well, maybe this school won't be boring after all, Junko thought, smiling, leaned over her desk.

There…has to be some mistake, Byakuya thought. That…could not have been…our…teacher…right?

Hell yeah, my kind of teacher. This school won't be so bad after all, Mondo thought.

Such a reckless spirit, Sakura thought. How was this woman given a position of authority?

I'm scared! I wanna go home! Hina thought, panicking.

Hifumi Yamada already had his favorite Princess Piggles plushie out and was sucking his thumb.

As far as cooler heads went, both Mukuro and Celeste were just admiring the damage to the ceiling with all the nonchalance one would use to look at a bug that had been run over with a shopping cart.

Well, I suppose it takes all kinds to teach, Celeste thought.

Mukuro only had to glance at Junko before the blonde drew her fingers out in front of her neck. She instantly knew what was on Mukuro's mind. And the answer was no, teachers do not ordinarily blow things up when they want to.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF CRAZY TEACHER DO WE HAVE?!" Toko shouted.

Kyoko didn't show her distaste for Homura's antics, but could only sigh inwardly. What the hell was her father thinking hiring someone like that?

The water and the alarm were shut off within minutes and Homura returned to the room, wringing her hair out. "Okay, class. Listen up, you heard the Headmaster this morning. Thanks to miss sugar plums in her head, power of friendship Yukizome, I gotta at least take mandatory attendance at 9am. Barring that, you all can do whatever you please."

She sat down at her desk, leaned back in her chair and put her feet up. "So, like," she said, flicking her left wrist lazily, fingers apart, palm open, "If you wanna do introductions and stuff, whatever. I don't care. It's a paycheck." Homura then took a Rubik's Cube out of her bag and began fiddling with it.

"Excuse me!" Kiyotaka declared, rising from his seat, arms at his sides.

"Whatdya want, eyebrows?" Homura asked with all the enthusiasm of a punk rocker at paint drying convention.

"I object to your method of teaching, Miss Takashiro! Where is your enthusiasm for teaching? Where are your boundless notes?! Your guidance for life! Your wisdom to impart! How can you be so…so…"

"Lazy?" Byakuya asked.

"Yes, lazy!" Kiyotaka agreed. He pointed at Homura. "Not to mention reckless! The shrapnel from that explosion could've hurt us."

"You want words of wisdom," Homura said, sticking a finger in her ear. "How's this? Use your indoor voice. You're hurting my ears."

Taka was taken aback by Homura's response. "D-do you mean to say you have no intention of changing your behavior."

"I'm with you on this one," Byakuya said. "I came here to allow Hope's Peak the honor of my presence. If I were taught by someone as ill-dressed and wild as you, it would be a shameful mark on the Togami name."

"Blah, blah, blah, one percent," Homura said, puppeteering Byakuya with her left hand and went back to her Rubik's Cube. Byakuya growled.

"Um, Miss Takashiro," Yugi said timidly. "I don't mean any disrespect, but…why are you…like this?"

Homura shrugged her shoulders, making a grunt of indifference.

"But, like…they assigned you to be our teacher, didn't they?" Asahina asked. "Shouldn't you at least, like…teach?"

Homura put down her Rubik's Cube…well it was more like slamming it on the desk, jarring a few of the students.

"Look out! She's gonna blow something up again!" Hifumi shouted in a panic.

Ugh, it's like a 350-pound parakeet, Celeste thought.

Homura stood up, hands firmly on the desk. "Look, we all gotta shovel shit at some point in our lives. Hope's Peak is way different from other schools. I don't have the knowledge or the resources to understand all of your individual talents. I'm less a teacher here and more a glorified guidance counselor and disciplinarian." She stretched her hands above her head, cracking her knuckles in the process. "So, pull up your big boy pants and fasten your skirts, whichever you're wearing, and buckle up. You're now in the Hall of Endless Life Lessons. I hate bossing people around and I hate authority figures. I like blowing stuff up, setting things on fire, making mad money, and embodying the phrase "hold my beer and watch this" while completely sober. I'm not gonna hold your hand and pat you on the head and feed you flower circles and A pluses. Your mommies and daddies can't wipe your asses for you now, brats."

The classroom was silent. No one said a word. Homura seemed to walk a fine line between understanding her position and being a walking endangerment to their very lives.

"Dare I ask why you have stains on your shirt?" Byakuya asked.

"Eh, was up late playing ShovelForge," Homura said, scratching her head. "It's a hobby when I'm not on a job. Besides, in games, you can blow up whatever you want and no one yells at you. Well, unless the community kicks you off their server. That's why you make save states." She put on a mocking tone. "Homura, you can't just fill up that oil drum with black powder and throw a book of lit matches at it. Homura, don't make a fire bomb at three in the morning, your uncle and I are trying to sleep. Homura, you can't blow up a food truck because you got cheated out 200 yen. Homura, you can't use explosions to solve all your problems. Pfft, if C4, diet coke and mentos aren't solving all your problems, you're just not using enough of it."

"Diet coke…and mentos?" Asahina asked, confused.

"It's basic science," Leon Kuwata said. "My cousin and I used to make Coke rockets all the time. You just drop the mentos into the coke bottle and it erupts. It's cause a all the carbon dioxide bubbles or something."

"I mean, yeah, that's true enough," Homura said. "But I just like keeping my breath fresh and chugging that shit like it's water." She then tapped the top of her sternum with the side of her fist and let out a very unladylike belch.

Some of the students stiffened a little at the implications.

"That's it. I'm out," Byakuya said, getting up from his desk.

"Where do you think you're going, scrawny?" Homura asked.

"The headmaster's office. It's clear you're unfit to teach one as great as I," Byakuya said.

"Oh, is that so? The great Byakuya Togami running away from his problems. Ha! To think I'd live to see the day," Homura said, smirking smugly.

"What did you just say to me?" Byakuya asked, irritated.

"You heard me. You're gonna report me cause you don't think I meet your lofty 60 billion yen standards. Well tough shit, twinkle toes. You gonna fire anyone you don't like when you take over the family fortune? That's how you make enemies. Cause one of these days yer gonna be late to the punchline when it comes to tearing down some old buildings you no longer need. Meanwhile, your rival companies hired me to blow up their unneeded warehouses into scrap and are already rebuilding while you're still trying to get your bills out to your worthless sub-contractors."

Byakuya and Homura engaged in a stare down. Well, it was more like Byakuya stared at Homura while she pursed lips like she was whistling—but made no sound—while staring out the window, head turned away from him, rocking back and forth on her feet.

Hmm, maybe there's more to this woman than she's letting on. I despise her manner of speaking and her idea of a dress code, but she was spot on in my needing the best in my efforts. Byakuya tilted his head back. "Very well, I grant you the privilege of being my teacher. But you're on thin ice."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Take your seat, rich boy."

Byakuya did so.

"You there, eyebrows."

Kiyotaka stood up. "My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, ma'am. Taka for short."

"Taka. Eyebrows. Whatever. Here." She slapped a few folders wrapped with twine on his desk. "You wanna play good cop. You sort through all this crap and divvy up the responsibilities."

"I…"

"What's the matter? Not up to the challenge? You dare call yourself a public morals committee member when you can't even obey your teacher."

Taka started to sweat. "N-no, ma'am! I'll take care of it! I'll have it all on your desk by tomorrow morning!"

Homura nodded. "That's what I like to hear!"

"I wonder," Yami thought.

Yugi turned his head in Yami's direction. "What's on your mind, pal?"

"Homura acts carelessly, but behind her smile and recklessness, she seems to do a lot of thinking. I wouldn't be surprised if she read everyone's student files before she set foot in class this morning."

"Oh! You know, you might be right," Yugi agreed, surprised.

"Remind you of anyone we know?" Yami asked, smirking.

"Achoo!" Ibuki sneezed, sending phlegm everywhere as she wiped her nose with her arm.

Yukizome draped a handkerchief in front of her face. "Cover your mouth, sweetie. You don't want to spread germs."

"Righto!" Ibuki exclaimed and took the handkerchief from Yukizome, blowing her nose into it.

After passing off most of the classroom's responsibilities to Taka, Homura, affixed her desk to the front left corner of the room and kept fiddling with Rubik's Cube while everyone gave their, in her opinion, boring introductions. Yami had guessed correctly, she had read everyone's files.

If Eyebrows was a few years older and took the stick out of his ass, he'd actually be kinda cute, she thought. She finished fiddling with the cube as it beeped and then she chucked it over her head out the window and it exploded in midair. It jarred the students for a few seconds, but by this point they were wrapping up introductions and no one really wanted to say anything. At least the field outside didn't catch fire.

After the class was dismissed, all sixteen students shuffled out one at a time. As Makoto decided he'd take a walk around the whole school to familiarize himself with his new surroundings, Sayaka grabbed his left hand with both of hers.

"Hey, Makoto!" she exclaimed. "Since you agreed to hang out with Mukuro after school, can we hang out right now?"

"Uh, sure, I guess," Makoto said.

Sayaka giggled happily. "Great. Where should we visit first? Oh! Maybe we could check out the game room, or maybe the pool on the second floor…"

As Sayaka and Makoto's voices grew more and more distant, Mukuro started to gravitate towards Junko for guidance. However, Junko immediately chewed her out after following her for only thirty paces.

"What are you doing, you flat-chested deviant?" Junko asked her.

"Um, well…Makoto's busy, so I—"

"Well, don't follow me, I've got a private endeavor I need to handle. Just…do whatever. You're used to coasting on your own without me. Go, like, memorize the layout of the school or something."

Mukuro nodded, humming in acknowledgement and separated from Junko to memorize the school's layout from top to bottom.

Left now to her own devices, Junko made her way to the 3rd floor laboratories, making her way to the laboratory of one Yasuke Matsuda, the Ultimate Neurologist and her current boyfriend.

"Matsuda-kun!" Junko exclaimed, throwing open the doors of the otherwise quiet laboratory. And, after doing so, she froze, starring at Matsuda in his seat by the window, reading a romance light novel. Both of them stared at each other. Something…was wrong and both of them could feel it.

Matsuda turned the page and then adjusted his neck-length black hair. "You didn't immediately thrust your obscenely huge chest into my back," Matsuda said.

"Yeah…I…didn't," Junko said, sounding just as surprised as him.

"Do you need your head examined?" Matsuda asked dryly, only to watch Junko lay herself out on his exam table.

"Examine away," she said.

Matsuda looked at Junko carefully, thinking she was going to get up in about ten seconds and burst out laughing, but she lay there, unmoving.

"Heyyyy, what's the hold up? Don't you want to unwrap me and get your hands all over the good stuff underneath?"

Matsuda rolled his eyes. There it is.

He got a tank of anesthetic and hooked Junko up, putting her under.

This will be the longest time I've interacted with her while she's quiet. I'll savor it.

Junko was under Matsuda's care for two hours before she was waking up, yawning and stretching. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?" she asked as a joke.

"You should spare your sex jokes for someone you care about," Matsuda said, sitting by the computer.

It was only now Junko noticed that she still had electrodes attached to her head. "Oh, Matsuda, if you wanted to fuck my mind, all you had to do was ask."

"Shut up and pay attention," Matsuda said bitingly.

Junko, noticing the direction the cords were laying, walked over to where Matsuda was and looked at her brain patterns.

"I'm going to show you a series of images," Matsuda said, splitting the screen between his program and a slideshow. "Don't say anything, just let the machine do its work."

Junko watched as Matsuda showed her some of the pictures he kept of the two of them as children mixed in with some official pictures of Yugi Mutoh. When the slideshow was over, he showed Junko the results.

"I was measuring your dopamine levels during that experiment just now." He showed Junko the hills and valleys. "See these peaks? This is the moment when your brain realized you were looking at pictures of Yugi Mutoh."

"So?" Junko asked.

"Junko, you know what dopamine does. You're not an idiot."

"Maybe not, but I want to hear you say it," Junko said impatiently.

Matsuda sighed. "You're not in love with me anymore, Junko. You're in love with Yugi."

When the words left Matsuda's lips, Junko could hardly believe them. When she was masquerading as Yugi's friend during the whole Dartz debacle, she hadn't seriously been coming onto him. Those feelings were fabricated. How could they have possibly…?

However, Junko's memories began to play out in fast forward, fetched like an overclocked search engine.

"I'm doing this for Yugi. I want him back just as much as you do."

"You chose to hurt my Yugi. And I'm going to make you pay for that!"

"Nightmare Horse, attack! Do it for Yugi!"

And not just her words, but her deeds as well, like sharing that kiss she had with the Pharaoh.

Matsuda could see the gears turning in Junko's head.

"I fell in love with him," she uttered.

"Yes, I said that."

"It made me fall in love with him," Junko said, putting two fingers by her chin, smacking her lips together.

"Junko?"

Junko hugged her shoulders, tears falling from her face, but she was smiling from ear to ear. "Even though I was faking my emotions, the Orichalcos made them real. I love Yugi Mutoh! Isn't this amazing Matsuda? I'm not in love with you anymore!"

Matsuda stared at Junko as she embraced this realization. While Junko was getting off on the despair of losing her love for her childhood friend and falling in love with someone else, Matsuda was trying to process what that meant for them going forward. Even if Junko had fallen out of love with him, he still loved her. They had been friends since childhood. Still, as a neurologist, he did know that unrequited love was unhealthy, but even so, he could not help but feel emotions too complicated to put into words or coherent thoughts. It was the end of an era, and he could not tell what kind of future the shift in his and Junko's paths would lead to.

Later that day, in the afternoon, lunch was being served. Without Téa, Tristan, or Joey to keep him company, Yugi stood with his plate full of food, head whipping around the room, trying to find somewhere to sit. If a guy like him was to survive here, he'd need a new social group and fast.

"Yugi!"

Yugi looked towards the source of the noise to see Sayaka waving her arm wildly in the air. She was sitting with Makoto, Chihiro and, surprisingly, Celeste.

Yugi took a seat at the table next to Celeste, the person among the four he considered himself the closest with. "Thanks, Sayaka," Yugi said. "I felt kind of lost."

"It was Celeste's idea," Sayaka said with a smile.

Celeste sipped her tea. "I said no such thing," she stated.

"No, but you were thinking it," Sayaka said.

Celeste hesitated as the teacup slid on the saucer.

"How do you know what Celeste was thinking?" Chihiro asked.

"It's cause I'm psychic," Sayaka said with a chipper smile. "She was thinking 'It sure would be nice if my good friend Yugi would sit with us'."

Celeste looked rather emotionally violated. It was subtle though. Yugi only noticed because he was sitting right next to her. If looks could kill, Sayaka would soon be assassinated by a bullet traveling down through the high point on the window.

Sayaka then laughed in self-amusement. "I'm just kidding. I'm not psychic. I just have good intuition."

"I wonder…" Yugi thought so Yami could hear. Given his experience with the supernatural, Sayaka actually being psychic wasn't that outside the realm of possibility.

"Even if she's psychic, she seems harmless enough," Yami stated.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true," Yugi said, cutting a piece of his hamburger steak, "I guess there's no need to pry." He popped the cut piece into his mouth. "Whoa! This is amazing!"

"Supposedly the class above us, Class 77-B, has a student that's the Ultimate Cook, though he prefers Chef," Sayaka said. "He'll be in charge of meals for the next two years we're here."

"That's disappointing. I suppose I'll have to rehire him with my money and connections our senior year," Celeste said. "This tea is exquisite for something I didn't prepare myself."

"Wow, if it's netting your approval Celeste, it must be worth it," Yugi said.

"Hmph, the cook in question is a portly, unbearably boorish individual, but his food makes up for it in spades. Just be careful, I hear his tastes outside of food are wild," Celeste warned.

Yugi wasn't sure what she meant by that, so he just nodded his head and continued eating. As he did, he noticed Byakuya passing by the table.

"Oh, hey, Byakuya, do you want to sit with us?"

Byakuya tilted his head back like he was looking down on the quintet. "I do not have time to waste with rabble such as you. I have far greater pursuits to enjoy during meal times than pointlessly converse with the lower classes. Enjoy your gossip and meaningless drivel," Byakuya said and then walked away.

When he was out of earshot, Celeste remarked, "Idiot. If you don't spend time with those beneath your station, they'll sneak up and surprise you."

Makoto nearly choked. "C-Celeste…is…is that why you chose to sit here?" he asked, feeling insulted.

"Au contraire, Makoto," Celeste said with her dainty smile. "You, Sayaka and Chihiro are far from ordinary in my opinion. Sayaka is a chart topper in the idol industry and Chihiro is a lead programmer at one of the richest corporations in the world, not to mention a teen genius in artificial intelligence. And you, well, you managed to get closer to defeating Yugi in Battle City than I did. You are all worthy of my presence."

So, she's still looking down on us, Makoto thought dejectedly.

"It's okay, Celeste," Sayaka giggled, "We know you actually like us."

She was teasing so blatantly, that no one in the table felt the need to call her out on it, least of all Celeste.

Before the conversation could die and things got awkward, Yugi said to Makoto, "Makoto, how's your sister?"

"Oh, Komaru?" Makoto asked. "She's good. Her friends kind of put her on a pedestal cause they saw her on TV as a spectator in Battle City."

"Think she'll follow in your footsteps, Mr. Ultimate Lucky Student?" Celeste asked.

Makoto laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "No, I don't think so. I've always had a flux of luck and bad luck over the years. Komaru's…well…in Hope's Peak terms, I guess she's completely ordinary. Still, I couldn't ask for a better sister."

"Awww, that's so sweet," Sayaka said. "Komaru seemed so nice. I wish I had a sister like that."

Makoto laughed nervously, blushing, reaching for his soda. Sayaka's comment reminded him of Komaru's constant requests to marry and/or date Sayaka because of her status as one of Sayaka's fans. It did little to help Makoto's own crush on the matter.

"Yugi," Celeste said, tugging on his sleeve.

"Hmm?" Yugi turned towards her, only for Celeste to gently elbow him in the ribs and slightly jerk her head in a given direction. Poorly hiding and peeking around the entrance to the dining hall was Toko Fukawa. Her gaze seemed to follow straight to Yugi. When he noticed, she seemed to duck further behind the wall, so that only her glasses and the top of her head were visible. Seeing this, Yugi approached her and Toko came out from behind the wall. She looked off-put and irritated, gripping her fingers together down below her waist.

"Wh-what? What do you want?" she asked snippily. "Am I bothering you?" she asked, looking agitated, raising her arms. "Is that it?"

Yugi smiled at her gently. "Do you want to sit with us, Toko?"

Toko gasped, shocked. He couldn't have possibly. Backpedal! Backpedal! Backpedal! Her mind screamed at her. "N-no!" she exclaimed, trying to mask her blush with fury. "Wh-what gave you that impression?"

However, Yugi continued to be nice to her, undeterred by Toko's self-loathing. "Come on, you don't have to exclude yourself." He reached out and took her hand. "Come, sit down."

"H-hey!" Toko exclaimed as she stumbled after her shorter classmate. "L-let go of my han…" she cut herself off when she felt the warm tug of Yugi's hand holding hers. Yugi's…hand…Ahhhhhhhh, she swooned internally.

Toko sat down on the same side of the table as Yugi but as close to the edge as possible. She was too insecure and felt too unworthy to sit directly next to him. She picked at her plate, eating nervously.

As Toko settled at the table, Makoto noticed the next person looking as lost as Yugi did earlier. "Mukuro!" Makoto waved her over as the Ultimate Soldier blushed from a distance, though it was gone by the time she took her seat next to him. She and Sayaka glared at each other, leaning back so as not to let Makoto pick up that they were fighting each other with their minds.

The table the seven students were sitting at could seat twelve, so it was possible to fit most of the class here. Byakuya had already declined so as long as three more people declined or had no interest, Yugi felt comfortable in the knowledge he'd be eating with the rest of the class. And as he watched Sayaka and Mukuro subtly pulling Makoto's chair an inch or two closer to them—before the other pulled it promptly back towards them—he was okay even if it remained just the seven of them.

That's when Kyoko passed by the table. "Oh! Kyoko!" Chihiro exclaimed. "Do you want to sit with us?"

However, Kyoko just silently walked past the group and promptly left the lunchroom entirely.

"Aw, she left," Chihiro said. "I thought we could catch up."

"How does a Kaiba Corp employee know a detective so secretive that their names are hidden from most modern media?" Celeste asked.

"Ah, well…" Chihiro said and then explained about what happened with Dartz.

"Whoa, you were in the middle of that?" Makoto asked, feeling jittery.

"Junko and I were as well," Mukuro said. "I even saved Kaiba's life," she said with all the stunted emotional pride she could.

"You saved Kaiba?" Makoto asked. "What happened?"

Mukuro had rehearsed the story many times to keep the facts straight, but with Makoto staring straight at her like she was a celebrity, she could barely maintain her composure. She shuddered, felt like her throat was closing up and then turned her head to the side. "C-could you not stare so earnestly?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," Makoto said. He scooted his chair back towards Sayaka a little. "Is that better?"

Mukuro promptly pulled the chair closer to her so forcefully that Makoto stumbled into her chest head first from the inertia. Mukuro wanted to squeak. She wanted to take of all her clothes, and sit on her knees in front of an open grave before being shot in the back of the head and pushed into it.

Fortunately, Makoto sat up and blamed himself over his lack of body control. "I'm so sorry," he said.

"It…it's fine,"

Sayaka however was now glaring with puffy cheeks and a red face. It was…actually kind of cute. Makoto turned his head when he heard her growling, looking like she was holding her breath. "Are you okay, Sayaka?"

"I'm fine," Sayaka responded, continuing to glare at Mukuro.

Clearing her throat, Mukuro was able to talk about the incident by continuing to stare at the puffy, angry Sayaka rather than Makoto.

However, after she explained the death-defying leap from the exploding aircraft, Makoto exclaimed. "Wow! That's amazing! You're really cool, Mukuro!"

Mukuro's heart was pounding in her ears again. Cool? She was cool? She'd been called all manner of things as a child: weird, a freak, boorish, butch, deviant, cold-hearted, green, naïve, emotionally stunted, ignorant, laser focused—a good number of those by Junko—but never "cool".

Sayaka, in a clearly desperate attempt to gain back some ground, pulled on Makoto's arm and started talking about some TV show or game Mukuro had never heard of and therefore locked her out of the conversation. Now it was Mukuro's turn to glare, but her glare was anything, but cute. She looked like she could and would murder Sayaka via strangulation with her own two hands if given the chance.

"Um, Mukuro, you're glaring pretty hard," Asahina said as she walked by the table with Sakura. "Are you okay?"

"I sense…murderous intent," Sakura said, taken a bit aback. Using spiritual sight afforded to her by being a black belt in Koguma Shintai—one of many that she had—Sakura gazed at Mukuro's spirit animal, only to find the Wolf of Ragnarok itself, Fenrir. It towered over Mukuro, growling fiercely, jaws and slobber seemed to be fixated on Sayaka. Sakura thought to intervene, only to watch Makoto turn around and stare back at Mukuro.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mukuro. I guess we started talking about something you've never seen before. I can get you interested if you want."

As Makoto started talking to Mukuro, Sakura watched the latter's spirit animal shrink smaller and smaller until it was barely bigger than a puppy, tongue hanging out, panting rapidly, tail swinging wildly.

Sakura chuckled.

"What's so funny, Sakura?" Asahina asked her.

"It's nothing, Hina," Sakura said.

"Do you two want to sit here?" Yugi asked.

"Oh, can we?" Hina asked.

"It's fine," Celeste said, sipping her tea.

"Please, sit," Chihiro encouraged.

No one raised an objection so both Hina and Sakura took seats to Sayaka's left. "Thanks, you guys," Hina said with a big smile.

For a moment, Yugi saw Téa's spirit standing next to Hina because of the way she was smiling. Blushing a little, Yugi put his head back into his tray and starting working on his rice bowl.

"Seems all your worrying was for nothing," Yami said. "You're making friends fast."

"Sakura," Celeste said. "Would you humor me a moment?"

"Hmm?" Sakura asked. "Something the matter?"

"I can't help but wonder what could've driven you to such extremes. I didn't want to embarrass you in front of the class, but the lunchroom is a far more casual environment for such questions, don't you think?"

"Sakura…" Hina said with concern. She felt the question was too personal.

"It's fine, Hina," Sakura said. "I trained my body because there is someone I am trying to surpass. To that end, exchanging any beauty I had for brawn was worth it."

"Was it though? Look at Mukuro. She's the Ultimate Soldier, more than 1,000 confirmed kills under her belt and she looks fine," Celeste pointed out.

"Not all of my actions were carried out using only my body," Mukuro stated. "A lot was done with weapons. If all you have are your fists and feet, you will require more muscle mass."

"Debatable," Celeste said. "At least in my experience."

"Maybe it's a metabolism thing," Hina said.

"Either way, I'm comfortable in my appearance. Is that not enough?" Sakura asked casually.

"I suppose if you're comfortable, there's hardly a point in debating the issue," Celeste remarked and then returned to her tea.

"That's…oddly mature of you," Yugi said.

"Oddly mature? You say that as though I'm some flippant high-class individual driven to tell people how to live. I was curious. My curiosity is sated. Therefore, there's no need to continue chatting about that line of questioning," Celeste stated.

Yugi smiled. And this is why he liked having Celeste as a friend, even if she refused to admit it. However, as he continued to eat at his table of nine, something felt like it was missing.

And that's when he saw large boobs bouncing out of the corner of his eye, taking the seat to his right. "Well, looks like it's getting pretty lively over here. You guys don't mind if I just make myself at home, right?"

"No, not at all, Junko," Yugi said, eyes lighting up. Now everything felt complete.

"H-hey! Y-you h-harpy," Toko stuttered. "Wh-what g-gives you the right to s-sit next to Yugi?"

"Hmmm," Junko said, putting her thumb against her lower lip and glancing upward like she was intentionally pretending to be a stereotypical blonde bimbo. "The authority invested in me by me, I guess," Junko said. She instantly put her arm around Yugi and pulled him towards her by the shoulder, Yugi getting an eyeful of her left breast. "Besides, we're already best friends, right Yugi?"

Yugi just whimpered in embarrassment, teenage brain taking over on autopilot, all protests of Yami drowned out by his heart pounding in his ears.

"Wow, you two are awfully…chummy," Hina said, a bit surprised.

Junko let go of Yugi and made a V for victory sign, "Well, you know what they say: mortal danger makes for one hell of an aphrodisiac! Yugi and I have been through a lot together!"

Hina looked shocked in her seat. "M-mortal danger? Aphrodisiac?!"

"Junko and I participated in the counterattack against Paradius during the monster attacks last year," Mukuro stated.

"You two? Really? Wow!" Hina exclaimed, surprised.

"But how did you find a chink in the monster's armor?" Sakura asked. "I fought fist to fist with many and couldn't land so much as a scratch."

"Duel Monsters," Mukuro, Yugi, Chihiro and Junko stated at the same time.

"Duel Monsters? The card game?" Celeste inquired. "Oh come now, I'm a weaver of wild tales…er…an experiencer of the strange and mystical and even that sounds ridiculous."

"Believe it or not, it's one-hundred percent true," Junko said and slapped Yugi on the back. "Tell them, Yugi."

"Hey…you're kind of putting me on the spot here," Yugi said nervously. "But, Junko's right." He explained to the table the basics about what went down with Dartz.

Celeste sighed. "Marik all over again, huh? You should've called. I would've lent a hand if I knew something could be done about it. I just locked myself in my safe room until it all blew over."

"You're amazing, Yugi!" Makoto exclaimed. "I didn't do much better than Celeste." He recalled how he and Komaru hid under a pillow and blanket fort together, but he didn't want to admit to something so embarrassing in front of Sayaka.

"There, you see," Junko said, returning her attention to Toko. "You're out of your depth." She cut a piece of her meal, popping it into her mouth, "There's a long line of ladies out to get into Yugi's pants before you'd ever get the chance."

"Long…line?" Hina asked, curiously.

Junko swallowed her meat. "Well yeah, there's me, Téa, Celeste. Heck, I could even see Yugi with you or Joey's sister Serenity before he ended up with that hot mess," Junko said jerking a thumb over her shoulder at Toko.

"Wait! Why am I in that category?" Hina asked, blushing. "W-we just met today!" And yet despite her protests, part of her was and sounded open to the idea.

"So what if I'm a hot mess that rarely showers?" Toko shouted, pointing rudely at Junko. "It could happen!"

"Junko."

A deep, booming voice spread through the table…and it seemed to be coming from Yugi. Junko could tell just from the slant of the eyes, Yami was now in control.

"If you're going to sit here, try to behave yourself. Toko is as much a friend to this table as anyone here," Yami told her.

She grappled Yami's arm. "I'm sorry, honey bumpkin. I'll behave," she said, purring as she rubbed her head on Yami's shoulder.

"Whoa! What happened to your voice?" Hina asked, finding the sudden change quite jarring. "And your hair, the piece in front just kind of shot straight up."

Yeah, and it's…kind of hot, Toko thought. Wait, I remember! That's the other Yugi that got rid of Genocider Jill for me.

"Should we tell them?" Yugi asked his partner.

"We can if you want to," Yami replied. After a brief pause, the two nodded at each other as Yami explained to Sayaka, Hina and Sakura about the Millennium Puzzle and his unique situation with Yugi.

"Wow! That's incredible! So Yami is Yugi's assertive, dominant side and Yugi is the adorable, passive and gentle side," Sayaka said with a smile.

"Adorable?" Yugi thought, blushing.

"I'd like to think we're just two halves of the same coin," Yami said. "There's hardly much difference between us."

Celeste sneezed cutely and fakely and pulled out her handkerchief. "Sorry," she said. "I'm just allergic to bad liars."

"She's not wrong. You two have distinct personalities and character traits," Junko said. "You, Yami. You're like a big, strong tiger, or even a wolf. You bare your fangs and seek out your prey and intimidate those who mean harm to you and those you care about."

"And Yugi is like an adorable baby panda," Sayaka said with a giggle.

Yami gave a startled, almost empty-eyed look to Makoto for support.

"I mean…they're not exactly…wrong," Makoto sheepishly admitted.

"You are both quite different," Mukuro said.

"If the boring soldier girl can see it, then it's true," Junko said.

"Even if we are different, we're stronger as two halves of the same whole than as individuals," Yami said.

"You don't say," Junko said. "So how does that work if a girl wants to date you then?" she asked, running her fingers up Yami's chest.

"Well…I…"

Yugi was suddenly back in control.

He whipped his head back and to the side and exclaimed. "Oh, that's real mature!"

"Wait, is he standing right there?" Hina asked.

"Uh, well…" Yugi started to say.

"Hovering over your shoulder?" Sakura asked.

"You can tell?" Yugi asked, surprised.

Sakura winked. "In my years as a martial artist, I've developed a technique that lets me see when others are being enhanced by a fighting spirit with a manifested form. I can't see or hear him clearly, but I can sense his outline near you."

"How often does that come in handy?" Junko asked. "Sounds like a useless power."

"It has proven remarkably useful when sensing out muggers and thieves on the streets," Sakura stated.

Junko froze. Does that mean she can sense my true nature? If Sakura could do that, Junko was screwed.

"You seem nervous," Sakura said. "I suppose my abilities are a bit intrusive. But the warning signs are only for those with manifested fighting spirits or killing intent so foul it creates a dark cloud around where it manifests."

Ah, I see. As I am not a meat head nor are my bouts of despair unnatural or sporadic, she wouldn't be able to sense it. Nothing to be alarmed by. Junko smiled inwardly, giving a test, bristling her body to give form like a vicious, venomous viper.

But said spirit was completely missed by Sakura. Junko's blood pressure was calm and tranquil, far unlike anyone with adrenaline pumping through their veins. Junko could even tell that Sakura was staring directly at her and could, through her analytical ability alone, silently confirm this for herself.

Nothing to worry about, Junko thought as she sipped a soda.

As Junko casually drummed her nails on the table though, Sakura could tell something was off about Junko, but she hadn't the mental capacity to determine exactly what. While not stupid by any means, her knowledge in analytics was extremely limited and there was only so much intuition could do for her. She was also quickly jarred from her thoughts by Celeste speaking up. The young gambler also put her tea cup rather noisily down onto the coaster before setting the whole thing down onto the table.

"Well, aren't we a diverse bunch?" she asked rhetorically. Everything from plain to extravagant at one table.

"Practically our whole class is sitting here," Yugi said with a smile. Only Mondo, Taka, Byakuya, Leon, Hifumi and Kyoko were absent. Hifumi and Kyoko were absent from the room entirely. Byakuya and Mondo were eating by themselves and Leon was trying to flirt with the upperclassmen and getting shot down repeatedly in flames.

"Hey, screw those other losers," Junko said, flipping her left hand backwards once. "Ten's not a crowd."

"I wish Miss Kyoko would eat with us," Chihiro said solemnly.

"She's probably just not used to people. I wouldn't worry too much about it," Sayaka said to lift the programmer's spirits.

Hina smacked her fist down into her open palm. "Hey! I've got a great idea! I know we're all able to make our own schedules here, so why don't we at least sit together during lunch from now on? We're gonna be stuck with each other for three years. We may as well become friends."

Yugi perked up at this. "Huh? All of us?" He had been pretty worried that today wasn't going to be normal.

"Sure, why not?" Hina asked excitedly. "Unless...someone objects," she said timidly.

Celeste sipped her tea. "I'm very selective about my so-called "friends"," she said. Everyone could practically hear the air quotes. But then, she smiled. "But I do not mind eating with you all."

"Hey, no complaints here," Junko said.

Sayaka chuckled happily. "Then it's settled. Let's eat together every day right here in the lunch room. Class 78's Terrific Ten."

"Terrific Ten! I like it!" Hina exclaimed. "Great name, Sayaka!"

"Aw, thanks," Sayaka giggled.

"I made new friends," Yugi thought, smiling.

"Seems we have nothing to worry about during our time here," Yami said.

"Yeah…well…I mean…I wouldn't say nothing. Joey, Tristan, Téa, Miho and Bakura are still our friends. I don't want to feel like we're replacing them."

Yami put his astral hand on Yugi's shoulder. "As long as we're connected by our hearts, they will never be replaced, no matter how much time apart we are from them."

"You're right, pal," Yugi said to Yami. "Thanks."

When school was officially "over" for the day—the time that the reserve course students went home and main course students were not obligated to further their studies—Yugi decided that he'd hop over to the reserve course and maybe catch Serenity before she had to go home for the day. He certainly didn't expect to find Joey waiting for her.

"Joey!"

Joey noticed Yugi's approach. "H-hey!" Joey stuttered excitedly. "Yug! What's up, pal?"

Yugi and Joey gripped hands in a cross between a high-five and a handshake.

"School's over for me for the day. But what are you doing here?"

"I was gonna walk Serenity home," Joey said. "Grabbed the first train I could ta get out here once Domino let out. So, how's the school treatin' ya?" Joey asked, ruffling Yugi's hair roughly, taking advantage of his height. "You have any whacko teachers, or boring classes?"

Yugi remembered Homura's explosion from this morning. "I can think of one," he said in the same tone as a PTSD victim would recalling being stuck in a burning building.

However, before he could elaborate, Serenity exited the building, laughing and standing next to a girl with long, shaggy green hair.

"You're funny, Sato," Serenity laughed.

"Hey, look at that," Joey said. "You already made a friend, Serenity."

Serenity gasped. "Big brother!" she gave him a big hug.

"I don't think we've met," Yugi said.

"I'm Sato," Sato replied, bowing both both boys. "I'm in the class above Serenity. I'm her…" she blushed. "Senpai."

"Oh yeah! Mahiru mentioned you," Joey said and stuck his hand out. "Nice ta meet ya."

Sato shook his hand after being jarred by the gesture. Took all kinds it seemed.

"It's my first time meeting you," she said to Joey. "But Mahiru and Serenity have told me plenty about you. I was going to walk Serenity home, but it seems you're here to do much the same."

"Eh," Joey shrugged. "What can I say? I'm good with pleasant surprises."

Sato smiled. "You're a good big brother." Her gaze moved to Yugi. "You must be Yugi Mutoh."

"Oh, uh…"

"I can tell by the hair." She bowed. "It's an honor to meet you in person."

"Well, I mean…"

"Even if I am just a reserve course student, I look forward to being your upperclassman," Sato said, remaining bowed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be getting home."

"She's so nice," Serenity said. "She, Mahiru and I all had lunch together even though we're reserve course students. Mahiru even made us all sandwiches even though I'd already brought lunch."

Joey smiled. "Sounds like you're in good hands."

Serenity nodded. "Oh, speaking of friends, how was your first day, Yugi?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Yugi said, rubbing the back of his head. "It takes a little bit of getting used to not being in class with you, Joey and everyone else."

"Well, let's talk about it while I get Serenity home," Joey said.

Yugi and Serenity brought Joey up to speed about their classes. Yugi had spent most of the day just feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing and Serenity sounded like her classes were leagues harder than Domino High's.

"Guess that's Hope's Peak for ya," Joey said. "You either come out a success or a wreck."

"Speaking of wrecks," Yugi said, frowning. "How is everyone? I know it was kind of abrupt for me to just leave the group."

Joey sighed, his smile fading as well. "I'll be honest. And sorry, sis, getting ta walk you home was just an excuse ta be here. The reality is, Téa's worried about ya, Yugi. We all were, but she looked like she was panicking today. He smiled. "But hey, you seem A-okay so nothin' to worry about. And Ibuki's right there so it's not like we can't check on ya."

"Oh yeah, Ibuki's my senpai now, huh?" Yugi asked rhetorically as though it had just dawned on him.

"I'm sure we can ask for help from all our friends from Class 77-B," Serenity said, clapping her hands together. "This is going to be so much fun!"

During the walk, the two passed by a convenience store as Serenity stopped and put her bag on the bench. "Oh, big brother, could you get me a snack?" She had put her wallet in her backpack because her skirt didn't have a deep enough pocket for her elongated wallet. She handed Joey some bills.

"Sure thing, sis." It was then that he noticed a thick manilla envelope in Serenity's bag. A few loose-leaf papers wouldn't be suspicious. Schools sent notices home all the time, but an entire folder?

"What's this, sis?" Joey asked, going for the envelope, only for Serenity to quickly zip up the bag. "Oh, that's nothing. Just a little mix-up with my personal information at the office. Um, my snack…please?"

Joey and Serenity stared at each other in silence. Joey found things a little suspicious, but Serenity's cute face got him to back down. He rubbed his neck. "All right, all right. You want Mochi or Pocky?"

"Both! We can share!" Serenity exclaimed.

Joey nodded and went inside as Yugi and Serenity sat down on the bench.

"Is everything all right?" Yugi asked.

"I'm fine," Serenity said, tucking some hair behind her ear.

Yami manifested next to Yugi. He said nothing. He didn't have to though. Both could tell Serenity felt troubled.

"Are you afraid of something, Serenity?" Yugi asked.

"I'm telling you it's fine," Serenity said, smiling at her brother's best friend. "Really. If I was in trouble, I'd scream so loud that Joey would come running and save me."

And that was the last anyone had anything to say about the mysterious envelope.

After dropping Serenity off, Joey and Yugi continued to walk through Domino City together.

"Listen, Yug," Joey said, staring up at the sky. "I'm glad you're doin' all right, but about what I said earlier."

"Hmm? Earlier?"

Joey looked at him. "Téa's puttin' on a brave face, but she's worried sick about ya. I mean, Tristan, Bakura, Miho and I are worried too, but Tristan's got his hands full, Miho hasn't been around as long and, well, you know how Bakura is. I trust ya, Yug, but Téa's havin one of her, eh…episodes."

"Episodes?" Yugi asked.

"Just talk to her, all right?" Joey asked.

The two eventually made their way to the Game Shop. Yugi headed for the door, Joey headed down the block. "Joey?" Yugi asked.

"I'm gonna head home. You told me everything, remember? I'm starving and your folks probably wanna know about today?"

"Oh, all right. See you later, Joey," Yugi said.

Joey nodded and then grinned. "Hey! This weekend, let's all go out and get pizza or something."

"Oh, sure! You guys can meet some of the friends I made today," Yugi said.

"Yeah! Sounds like fun," Joey said. And then nodded, turning around, waving with his back turned. "Anyway, see ya, Yug." Joey then disappeared into the darkness of night.

Yugi went inside to see his grandfather taking down an old poster to put up a new one.

"I'm home," Yugi said, taking off his shoes near the front door.

"Welcome back," Solomon said, stroking his beard. "I thought you'd be staying on campus with your new friends and school."

"Oh, come on, grandpa, I couldn't just leave behind you, mom, and dad. I at least want to check in on you guys. Not just today, but every now and again too."

"Hohoho," Solomon laughed. "You're a good boy, Yugi."

There was shuffling from the back as Téa suddenly emerged from the living room, hand on the wall, standing in the space that connected the back of the shop to the storefront.

"Téa!" Yugi exclaimed, happy to see her. "You were waiting for me here?"

"Yeah, I wanted to hear how your first day went," Téa said with a smile. "Will you tell me all about it?"

"Yeah, sure," Yugi said, nodding.

Solomon made Yugi and Téa some tea and the two sat across from each other as Yugi started talking about his day. "And it was really nice to see Junko again," Yugi said.

"Wait, Junko? As in Junko Enoshima, Junko?" Téa asked.

"Yeah," Yugi nodded.

Téa winced. Her worst fears were realized. Okay, maybe not her worst fears, but she had hoped and hoped that Junko wasn't going to be in Yugi's class. It turned out she was not that lucky. From there, it only got worse. Even though Yugi left out the part about Junko flirting with him, he still mentioned that Junko deliberately sat next to him both in class and at lunch. It was like daggers in Téa's heart. The more Yugi talked, the more she was relieved to know he was doing all right, but the more it felt like he was drifting away from her.

"Téa," Yugi said, as he reached the end of his recounting of the day's events. "Thanks for being here tonight." He put his hand on top of hers, which was resting on her leg below her skirt. His hand was warm. "I know that me being at a new school is tough on all of us. I miss you guys. And I don't want you to feel like you're being replaced. And I don't want to feel like you've just forgotten about me. Téa, you and I have known each other since we were children. You've been frequenting my grandfather's shop since we were in elementary school. So, no matter what, I don't want to lose our friendship. And I'm glad you value it as much as I do."

Téa was all about friendship, but hearing Yugi say it at a time like this made her think he was friend zoning her. Of course she wanted to stay friends with Yugi. More than anything she didn't want to lose him to his new school, his new friends, or, worst of all, Junko.

Ever since he said he was attending, I've been re-evaluating my feelings, Téa thought. And now…Yugi… Téa's mind warped reality in front of her. Despite the fact that Yugi was sitting five feet from her, he felt like he was hundreds of yards away and getting farther by the second. Why does it feel like you're so far away? I know our friendship won't change, but…what if I want something more?

Téa thought she was going to cry, but, thankfully for her own peace of mind, she didn't.

"Thanks for coming tonight, Téa," Yugi said. "Really." He then got up. Téa followed, surprised when Yugi was heading out the front door.

"Wait, where are you going? It's late," Téa said.

"Huh? I'm going back to my dorm room," Yugi said. "Classes start at 9am and my teacher is really strict about attendance."

Yet another dagger found its way to plunge into Téa's heart. "O-oh, um…can I walk back with you?"

"Sure, but…why?"

"I just…want to be with you for a little longer." She paused for a long time before adding. "Can I?"

"Of course, Téa," Yugi answered.

The two walked side by side in total darkness back to the academy. Multiple times, unbeknownst to the unsuspecting Yugi, Téa kept thinking and poorly trying to link or touch his hand. But no matter how much of her wanted to cross that barrier, the rest of her wouldn't allow it.

Yugi's an ultimate now, she thought. I can't…I can't force a relationship between us. Not now, she thought miserably and defeatedly. Not ever.

Well, maybe not ever and even Téa knew that was silly, but there was certainly a roadblock she felt had been placed between the distance between her and Yugi.

They stopped in front of the gate to Hope's Peak's grounds.

"Guess this is where we part," Yugi said. "Thanks for the company."

"Ah, no problem," Téa said.

There was a long awkward silence between the pair. In a romance movie, one of them would've made a move on the other by now. But, alas, it was not to be.

"Well, goodnight," Téa said quickly and turned around to leave.

"…Goodnight," Yugi said solemnly as he watched her go, never realizing or understanding for a second that Téa wasn't the only one insecure about their friendship. But he watched her go and didn't do a thing to stop her. Both of their hearts hurt and neither one knew why. And neither knew how to make it stop.

At this same time, Mukuro and Makoto were in the gym, dueling for the 12th time in a row…and the twelfth loss for Mukuro.

"Serpent Night Dragon!" Makoto declared. "Attack directly with Shattering Sonic Lightning Blast!"

The lightning strikes zapped Mukuro's open field and knocked the Ultimate Soldier onto her shoulder, reducing her life points to 0.

However, she was up in less than 10 milliseconds. She was even smiling. "Still as tough as ever," Mukuro said jubilantly. "I can see why you were able to push Yugi into such a corner."

"Huh? You saw that too?" Makoto asked.

"Huh?" Mukuro was surprised by the question. "Of course, I did. I…" she swallowed hesitating. "I…really liked watching you in the finals."

Makoto smiled. "Thanks, Mukuro. Hey! You want to get some ice cream? My treat."

Shocked by Makoto's generous offer, Mukuro put both of her hands over her chest and nodded robotically, making whimpers of acceptance to his offer.

"Great! I know this really great place not far from here," Makoto said. "I'm really exhausted after all that dueling and it's way too late for dinner, so…"

"I'd love some ice cream!" Mukuro exclaimed, rather awkwardly.

"Right…let's go," Makoto said. The two walked together and both ordered what they wanted. Makoto paid. They sat down on a bench with their triple scoops, almost shoulder to shoulder with each other. It had been a long time since Mukuro had ice cream that wasn't freeze dried for the sake of convenience. The way the flavors dripped onto her tongue and into her mouth was heavenly. And the quality of the ice cream made the taste even better.

"Wow, you must really like ice cream," Makoto said.

"Huh?" Mukuro asked, looking at him.

"Yeah, you were um…n-never mind. It's nothing." She was making a really cute face, Makoto thought.

As the two sat on the bench together, it was Makoto who once again broke the silence. "Say, Mukuro, you don't have a lot of friends, do you? I mean, outside of our class I mean."

Mukuro stopped eating immediately. "I actually don't have any friends," she admitted.

"Oh…that's um…" Makoto felt bad simply bringing that up.

"Like Sayaka said, my childhood was ruined with gunpowder and violence. I was in the Middle East instead of in Middle School."

"Right, you said that during your introduction."

"In a normal high school, I'd probably be an outcast," Mukuro stated.

"I mean…probably, but…"

"It's fine, it wouldn't bother me. I'm me."

"Still, it's not right to judge someone because of their background or the way they look. As long as someone's a good person, that's what matters. And I think you're a good person, Mukuro."

There it was again, that hard thumping in Mukuro's chest.

"I don't know how much the others will want to be around you, but I promise I'll be a good friend to you, Mukuro," Makoto said, showing how serious he was by putting his free hand flush over his heart.

"Why…do you care so much about me?" Mukuro asked, perplexed.

"Well, because we're friends and friends care about each other," Makoto said.

"Friends? We're…friends?"

"I mean, isn't that what Hina said earlier? We should be friends. We're going to be stuck with each other for three years. We should at least get along. But…promise me you'll get along with Sayaka," Makoto said. "You're both my friends and I don't want to have to pick between you two."

"That was…I mean…" Mukuro tried to mount a protest, but quickly realized the quickest solution to not embarrass herself, "I'll try my best."

"Thank you, Mukuro," Makoto said.

The two then sat there eating ice cream, saying nothing. But that didn't mean they were doing nothing. While they were sitting there, Mukuro found herself blushing profusely as animal instincts took hold. She reached up her free arm and, teenage hormones interfering, slowly reached towards Makoto's head to ruffle his hair.

However, she must've been sending off some kind of sixth sense to Makoto because she saw him begin to turn his head towards her. However, before he had even remotely the chance to see her hand approaching his head, it was tucked behind Mukuro's back extremely naturally and she was licking her ice cream cone like nothing had happened.

This happened one more time before Mukuro simply gave up on the idea. Having Makoto's company was enough. She didn't need to push it. The Wolf of Ragnarok, cold-hearted slaughterer of thousands, had been temporarily reduced to the docile level of an excited puppy. And all because of a young boy in a green hoodie with a stubborn cowlick.

Mukuro's entire day had been amazing. From the moment she saw Makoto, until parting with him at the dorms, she felt her day couldn't possibly get any better. This unfortunately meant her day had nowhere to go but down.

Before she reached her dorm room, a knife zoomed past her head, missing her completely thanks to her soldier reflexes, and embedded itself in a tree twenty meters away.

Mukuro looked in the direction the knife had come from to find her sister standing nearby, and she did not look happy. "Are you for real today?" Junko asked.

"Am I…?"

"You think you can just sit down at a table with everyone and act like you're a normal teenager girl and not a freak? You think you're capable of finding true love, you flat-chested deviant? Is that it?"

"N-no, I…"

"Oh, really? Cause it certainly looked that way to me," Junko said, snippily. "Now get in here."

Junko dragged Mukuro into her dorm room and then immediately threw her sister to the floor. Mukuro, sadly, assumed the position, as Junko stepped on the center of her back, rubbing the tip of her heel against her spine.

"Get this through your degenerate skull! You're too broken to have a boyfriend! You're a killing machine! A tool!"

"Y-yes, Junko," Mukuro responded, letting out a whimpering moan of despair.

"And you and that Makoto, kid? Disgusting! First of all, he's pitying you! No one's that nice. Second of all, look at the way he smiles! It's disgusting!"

"B-but I like that smile," Mukuro whimpered, gasping. She'd meant to keep that to herself.

Junko grabbed the back of Mukuro's head and rubbed her nose in the floorboards. "Listen to me, sis. I'm only saying this because I love you: give up on Makoto. You two have nothing in common. The only people he's killed, if any, are virtual. He probably would run at the smell of blood, he's a dime a dozen in terms of looks and personality. And dare I even bring up your browsing history?"

"B-but…"

"No buts! He's a distraction at most and a hinderance at worst! Cut him off!" Junko exclaimed.

Mukuro knew there was no arguing with Junko, but she didn't want to cut Makoto out of her life either. She had to play Junko's game, anything to keep her from losing the one thing that actually made her happy. "B-but, if I lose love while pursuing it, it would be a great despair!" Mukuro exclaimed.

Junko let go of Mukuro and stood, pondering this. "Losing love while pursuing it," she thought aloud. She then broke out into a wide grin. "Well, what do you know? That's the first time you've said something that didn't make me want to hurl. Good job, sis."

Mukuro cooed. "I'm happy to see you smile, Junko."

"And you ruined it!" Junko snapped. "Get up you flat-chested deviant. We have to chat about our plan."

"Y-yes," Mukuro said and sat up. She prepared coffee for herself, and a special blend of punch for Junko.

"Anyway," Junko said, putting her right ankle up on her knee. "You got the landscape memorized, right?"

Mukuro nodded affirmatively. "I can have a blueprint drafted up by the end of tomorrow."

"Good," Junko said. "You're not good for much, but that's one thing you're at least decent at." She sipped her punch and placed it on the table on top of a rubber coaster. "Well, while you were busy memorizing how this place looks, I was busy keeping finding out all the juicy gossip this place has to offer, and boy did I strike gold."

Mukuro nodded and hummed to indicate she was listening intently.

Junko put a dozen and a half photographs on the coffee table of Hajime and Chiaki together, a few of which with a big red circle drawn around Chiaki's baby belly. She was one month away from her due date.

"Teenage pregnancy?" Mukuro asked rhetorically, musing the situation.

"I found out which class they're in," Junko said. "That class is not to be touched."

"What? Why?" Mukuro asked, surprised. "Surely, you would want the child dead as a symbol of despair and drag the entire class down with its death."

"Oh Mukuro, Mukuro, Mukuro," Junko said, shaking her head. "That's what separates a low-class moron like you from a high functioning genius like me. Of course I could do that. It would be easy, but where's the fun in murdering a baby and using its corpse as a catalyst for despair. You could get the same reaction out of an abortion or a miscarriage."

Mukuro stared, thankful for her stunted emotions for once. What the hell had Junko been up to that child murdering was predictable to her?

"Besides, think about it like this. Those two are already going to go through enough hardship having to raise the kid. Now imagine how hard it's going to be for them when their support system goes up in flames because of our master plan," Junko said clapping her hands together with only her palms touching. "Could you imagine what that would be like for a baby? Being raised in such a world by parents barely qualified to take care of it?"

"Won't there be a lot of children raised this way?" Mukuro asked.

"Yeah, but not any we can directly observe," Junko said. "Besides, don't you recognize the dad? We met him, remember. Well, briefly, but still…"

"Hajime Hinata," Mukuro pointed out.

"Oh good, you remembered his name," Junko said. "It's more fun to ruin their lives by forcing them into the worst possible scenario than the basic, psychopathic action of murdering their child. Besides," Junko said as her eyes turned into hypno swirls. "I can do so much more with a baby while it's alive, rather than with its corpse."

Mukuro forced a delighted smile and a coo. "If that's what pleases you Junko, I shall help."

"Good, then let's move on!" Junko exclaimed, sweeping the 18 photos off the table and causing them to flap in the air and fall to the ground in a pile by the window. "The plan's changed."

Mukuro blinked. "It's changed?"

"Yeah, cause I'm in love with Yugi now. Matsuda and I broke up."

Mukuro nodded. "I see."

Junko got up from the couch and splayed herself on her bed, making an invisible angel with her arms and legs briefly before she just lay there, spread eagle. "I originally wanted to simply make Yugi and the Pharaoh a figurehead for my master plan, to drag the world down with Duel Monsters as its source. But instead, I think I'd rather see Yugi Mutoh suffer despair," Junko said as she grasped the air above her chest, arms fully extended, "With my own two hands." She moaned, grabbing a toss pillow from the side of her bed, hugging it. "Ahhhh, what a rush! It's going to be super duper ultra despair. Me and Yugi! Yugi and me!" she exclaimed, thrashing side to side. "I'll collapse the entire world," she said in a babyish voice, "And destroy everything he loves." She lay on her back and kicked her legs in the air. "Just to see that hopeless, despaired look on his face. It'll be the best despair EVER! Ahhhh!" She moaned and then whispered. "I think I came a little." She pulled the pillow up towards her lips. "Puhuhu. Puhuhuhuhu. This is going to be so much fun!"

"If you say it, sister, then it must be true," Mukuro said.

From this, Junko hurled the pillow at Mukuro, whapping her in the face and rushed to get something from a kitchen cabinet. She could've avoided it, but pillows were harmless. No point in moving and it would make Junko happy.

Junko sat back down on the couch with a dusty old book in her arms, but not just any dusty old book. She then held it out in front of her. "The Atlantean Spellbook!" she exclaimed. "This will solve all of our despair constipation problems!"

"I thought it stopped working after Dartz was defeated," Mukuro said.

"Yeah, it did," Junko said, flipping through the pages, "But that doesn't mean it's useless."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Mukuro asked, curious.

"Think about it," Junko said, shutting the book and holding it up. "If the source of the creation of the Millennium Items became inert, then the Millennium Items would stop working. Think of it like a power plant. If the plant shuts down, no electricity will function in a house it's supposed to supply power to. But the Pharaoh is still active."

"Meaning?" Mukuro asked.

"Meaning," Junko continued. "That the Orichalcos stone helped act as a conduit to make the spellbook function, but it wasn't the only way to activate it. I've almost decoded the cipher for the book entirely. I'll bet my life savings that there's a hint of some kind on how to get it working. And, worst comes to worst, I can always rely on my precious Yugi."

"But Yugi doesn't seem to understand the Millennium Items and neither does the Pharaoh."

"Oh, Mukuro, this is why you're an idiot that will amount to nothing in life," Junko said, cracking the book open again. "I don't need Yugi specifically, I need to borrow the Millennium Necklace. You know, for research."

"Why the necklace?" Mukuro asked.

"It's the least dangerous out of the three items he has. The Pharaoh will get wise if I start poking alligator clamps around his home, I can't risk going cuckoo for cocoa puffs if the Rod gets the better of me, so that leaves the Necklace. As long as I don't actively try to use it, I'm sure I could at least wear it or touch it and poke it with all manner of sharp objects. I mean, sure, I ended up actually falling in love with Yugi because the Orichalcos stone turned my fake emotions into real ones, but hey, life's a party and you gotta keep at it till dawn, you know?"

"I don't think Yugi would be willing to let you hold a Millennium Item, Junko. No offense," Mukuro said.

"Oh, sure. Not right now," Junko agreed. "Buuuut, all I have to do is keep worming my way into his heart. And once I'm snug like a bug in his rug, he'll do anything I say. I guarantee it!"

Mukuro nodded, having no more objections. "Okay," she said. "What's the plan?"

Junko merely flashed her signature Cheshire cat grin in response.

(A/N: Oooooooooh boy. Lot to take in with this chapter. The Paranoia Fuel alone speaks for itself. The madness has started. Junko is wreaking havoc already and she's not gonna stop any time soon. I hope you enjoyed your freedom from Junko while it lasted because at this point she's pretty much in the story until she's just not anymore.

There's a lot I want to ask about what you thought of the chapter, but rather than cram specifics down your throats, I'll let you all point out what you thought about this chapter and which parts of it really got to you. Please leave your comments/reviews with as many details as possible. Don't worry about walls of text, I actually enjoy longer reviews—especially with so much going on in chapters like this.

If nothing else, I'd at least like to know what you think of Homura Takashiro, Class 78's teacher. I'll use more of her or less of her depending on her reception. But don't be afraid to talk about the other details and scenes in this chapter because boy golly there were a lot.

Expect the next couple of chapters to come out rather quickly since there are no duels in them. It's all character building and stuff. Once we hit the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix though…oh boy do we have a lot of duels to cover. I expect that arc will be in progress through March. But, hey, I've been wrong before.

What I know I'm right about is that you'll all have to wait until the next exciting chapter of Dueling Trigger Finger to see what happens next. And, until then, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)