She'd warned him. Warned him when she made him the offer. Told him it would be fun, yes, but he'd probably lose. He'd brushed it off as smack talk, which he'd thought was strange from a teacher, but in the end, she'd been right.
Adam remained zoned out for the rest of class, while everyone struggled to find a dueling partner. He'd taken a seat, as close to his sister as he could. He replayed the duel through his mind for what felt like the thousandth time. Did he misplay? Or had he really been that outmatched?
They'd moved out of the room at some point, though Adam had barely noticed. He'd lost. From 4000 to 0 in just one turn. And he couldn't see what he could've done better. What were they going to think of him now? Now that they all watched him lose so spectacularly. It was bad enough that those rumors were starting to spread again, but now there was this.
There was a sharp sting as Curran smacked him across the face with her riding crop. Adam blinked, the room coming back into focus. Harriet rubbed at her forehead. "Thank you, Curran," she muttered under her breath. The Duel Spirit huffed and nodded once before vanishing. They were in one of the many courtyards, with the Sun just starting to dip below the horizon.
"Sorry, I was…in the zone," Adam muttered.
"I know," she said before giving him a small smile. "I was asking if you wanted to watch me duel in this 'Queen of Obelisk Blue' tournament thing."
Adam blinked and tilted his head before putting his hands on his hips. "And why is this the first I'm hearing about this?"
"Because I was busy meeting new people during lunch and we haven't talked all day," Harriet said. "This is basically the first chance I've gotten to tell you."
"Well, I'll be there. Unless it's at the Girl's Dorm, in which case I won't be," Adam said.
"It's not, my match is actually gonna be in the North Arena at seven," Harriet said. "Which means we have time to grab some dinner, if you're hungry."
"I suppose I could eat," Adam said with a melodramatic sigh. He let Harriet lead the way towards the cafeteria. Just as they entered, someone ran in front of them.
The guy was clearly in their class, though he looked young. His snow-white hair was wild and loose, but seemed to match his bright red blazer. Almost immediately, Adam was drawn to his eyes: bright, sparkling blue, full of life and energy. The boy took a deep breath and said "Ijustwantedtotellyouthatthatduelyouhadwasreallycool!"
Adam and Harriet both blinked. "Thank…you?" Adam said hesitantly. The Slifer boy's face went brick red. Adam and Harriet both looked at each other.
"Itwasnicetalkingtoyoubye!" the white-haired boy said before sprinting back to a table where another Slifer sat, this one with his face in his palm.
"That was…odd," Harriet said after a moment.
"But nice," Adam mumbled. Harriet gave him a quick side-eye and followed her brother's gaze. Adam was staring at the boy, trying to figure out who he was. Harriet's hand waved in front of his face, snapping his attention away. She stared at her brother, an eyebrow raised.
"Bro. Food," she said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him into the cafeteria. They grabbed a seat near the entrance. As usual, Harriet left first, leaving Adam to watch their table.
Or rather sit at their table. What he was watching was that boy from Slifer Red. At first, he tried to get a read on him. He seemed energetic and excitable, if nervous. The boy kept running his hands through his hair, laughing at whatever his friend was saying. The more Adam stared, the more his thoughts began to wander.
The boy was smaller than Adam. He also seemed rather skinny, but he definitely had some muscle on him. Maybe he was a soccer player? He could be. He had the right build for it. He had to be a Duelist to be at Duel Academy. So what kind of deck did he use? Where did he get that much energy from? How did he keep his hair so pristine? How would it feel to run his hands through it, parting the strands one by one before cupping the boy's face and okay where was this thought going?
He jumped when Harriet sat down between him and the other boy. She pushed a plate of food towards him. "I was gonna make you get it yourself, but you looked a little preoccupied."
"You don't say," Adam mumbled. He looked down at the food. "Do you know his name?"
"Whose? That guy who talked to us?" Harriet asked.
"Yeah. Who was he?" Adam asked, looking back up.
"No idea. But he's in our class, so it can't be hard to find out." Harriet's smile grew into a teasing smirk. "Adam Heartfield. Don't tell me your shriveled necrotic heart's feeling things again."
"Shut up, you think he's cute too," Adam said, giving his sister a small smile.
"I can see the appeal. But again, I haven't spent five minutes staring at him, so I don't have a firm opinion yet," Harriet said. The two ate in silence for a bit. As they finished, Adam collected the trash and carried to the bin. As he turned to head back to his seat, Adam bumped into an increasingly familiar Ra Yellow with silver hair, sending both of them stumbling back.
"Sorry. Are you alright?" Adam asked.
"God, watch where you're going, fa—"
And there was that word again. That single word that could send everything crashing down. That reminded him that as cute as strange boys were, he shouldn't be looking at them. That he was different. That he was wrong. Adam locked up, his back straightening. He opened his mouth to say something but the retort died in his throat. He ducked his head and weaved around the other Ra and returned to his sister.
Harriet took one look at him and immediately scowled. "I know that look."
"No you don't," Adam said quickly, trying to school his expression back into normality. He didn't quite succeed.
"Liar. I saw it enough during middle school, I know what it is," Harriet snapped. She put a hand on her twin's shoulder. Their eyes locked. "Who and what?" she asked softly.
"Don't. You have a duel to worry about. You can't pick a fight on day two," Adam said.
"Maybe later?" Harriet asked.
"Maybe," Adam said with a sigh. He let Harriet lead the way out. Pikeru emerged, floating next to Harriet. The small Spirit hesitated a moment and then drifted over to Adam.
"Adam? You're pretty cool," Pikeru said softly. Adam smiled at the spirit. He mouthed 'thank you'.
"Yeah. Don't ever forget it," Curran said as she emerged as well.
"Girls, please. Game faces," Harriet said. Her spirits both snapped to attention and gave tiny salutes. They made their way to the arena, only to find a trio of girls waiting outside of it already. Harriet's eyes narrowed at the girl in the lead.
"Jessica," she said curtly. "How'd your Duel go?"
"What a stupid question," Jessica said, scoffing. "Everyone knows I'm the best girl duelist in school."
"Oh? I thought that's what this tournament's about," Adam said, tilting his head slightly.
"Who's this? Your boyfriend?" Jessica asked. The two girls next to her giggled, as though their leader had just made a hilarious joke.
"Oh, gross, no," Adam said, making a disgusted face. Harriet made the exact same one.
"First of all, he's my brother," Harriet said.
"Second of all, I'm not interested," Adam said.
"Why? Too busy losing?" Jessica asked, her smile becoming sharper. "For how much you were talking, I thought you'd last more than a few turns against the Professor. But I guess the smallest dog bark's loudest."
"Not that you'd know anything about that," Harriet said sweetly. "Excuse me, I have a duel to win." With that, she elbowed her way past Jessica and her two cronies. Adam followed closely after.
"I'm going to skin her," Harriet grumbled.
"Why? She didn't really do anything," Adam said.
"She insulted you, now I'm mad," Harriet said.
"Then I feel sorry for whoever you're about to be dueling," Adam said cordially. As they entered the arena, Adam turned to look at the stands. A decent number of people filled the room, some from his class, others older. His eyes fell on Kendra. "I'm going to sit. Good luck," he said, heading into the stands.
He sat down next to the large, muscular girl. Kendra glanced at him, startling slightly.
"Hey," Adam said.
"Hey," Kendra said.
They were quiet for a few moments.
"You dueling in this tournament?" Adam asked.
"Yep. Won my first match," Kendra said.
"I see. Who do you duel next?"
"Whoever wins this," Kendra said, gesturing towards the arena. Harriet took up a position on the left side of the ring. On the other emerged a small girl with deep brown hair in a short ponytail. Large glasses covered a good part of her face and she seemed to be trembling like a leaf.
Fonda Fontaine stepped forward. "Welcome, everyone, to the final match of the Queen of Obelisk Blue qualifiers! To my left, we have the girl who won her entrance exam duel without losing a single life point, Harriet Hartfield!"
The applause was soft and polite. Except for Kendra, who slammed her hands together enthusiastically. "Yeah! Let's go, Harry!" she shouted. Harriet immediately blushed but gave Kendra a small wave. Then she perked up and gave Adam a much more enthusiastic wave.
"And to my right, we have the Valedictorian of Haddonfield High School, Coco Prescott!" Fonda Fontaine announced. The small girl waved her hand nervously, even as more polite applause broke out. "And now a coin flip, to decide who takes the first turn," Miss Fontaine said as the two duelists approached her.
"This seat taken?" someone asked Adam, causing him to startle. He looked up to see a boy with long brown hair and deep brown eyes. His coat was a bright white, with a deep blue trim running along it.
"No, it's not. Go for it," Adam said. The older boy beamed.
"Hey, thanks! I missed the tournament last year and I told myself I wouldn't miss it again," he said as he sat down. He offered Adam a hand. "I'm Atticus. Nice to meet you."
"I'm…Adam," Adam said as he shook the boy's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Adam." He stretched past Adam towards Kendra. She shook his hand hesitantly.
"Kendra."
"Cool. Adam and Kendra. Who're you guys cheering for?" Atticus asked as the two duelists moved back to their starting positions. Adam nodded towards Harriet.
"Her. She's my sister."
"Also her. She's my friend," Kendra said.
"Aw, that's great! You know, my sister's gonna be joining the academy next year. Are you two twi…"
"Shush, they're starting," Adam said.
"Let's duel!" both girls in the arena shouted.
(Author's Note: Normally I'd push to keep going, but this duel is much longer than I expected. So it gets it's own chapter. Also, I surprised myself by dropping Atticus in. Who let canon characters in here?! I certainly didn't! Intentionally. Eh, whatever. Thank you for reading, feel free to leave a review or send me any comments. I'm always open for feedback.)
