"Gah-!"

"Woah-! Selene- be careful!" Yusuke cried, running over to hold the ladder as it began to unnervingly sway from side to side.

Seleme held her arms out to the sides, paintbrush in one hand had paint bucket in the other, shifting her feet to regain her balance. Now far more steady with support, she breathed a sigh of Relief. Looking down to Yusuke who seemed like he was about to have a heart attack, she gave a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Yusuke!"

Hooking her left foot around the side of the ladder, Selene grabbed the edge of the sign and leaned over to slather the peachy pink paint on the wooden board.

Duel Monsters Spirit Day was the next day, and it was a fairly big deal on Academy Island. It was always a big festival, even people from the mainland took the ferry out to the island to check it out. Usually friends and family of academy students though.

The insistent hammering from inside the booth suddenly stopped. Atticus stood up, placing his hands down on the booth counter he looked up to Selene.

"How are things looking up there?" he shouted over the chattering noise of other classes setting up their booths.

"Selene almost died!" Yusuke exclaimed, using all his strength to keep the ladder steady.

"Yusuke, this ladder is not even seven feet tall. I would not have died," Selene said as she covered the last of the exposed wood with pink paint. "And it's looking good, Atticus! Just needs to dry and we can finally decorate!"

"Great!"

Selene stepped down two of the ladder rungs before jumping off with all her might. Her feet kicked up dust as she landed on the ground with a sharp thud, startling Yusuke a bit.

"Zane you're doing that right?"

She looked over to the boy, who was leaning against the booth with folded arms carefully observing the bustle of the festival set-up. He dropped his head a little before looking over to Atticus and Selene who were staring at him with expectant eyes. He gave a heavy sigh.

"I can't believe you volunteered us to help with the class booth," Zane said, shaking his head.

"Awh come on, don't be like that!"

Atticus pulled a heavily exaggerated pout before reaching over and grabbing his friend by the shoulders. Zane looked as if he was about to protest with some sort of witty remark, but was interrupted by a loud voice.

"How are my four elites doing?"

The four turned towards the sight of Crowler walking towards them, wide grin on his face.

"Pretty good, actually!"

Selene proudly gestured towards the booth, beaming.

"Yes, yes, absolutely wonderful! I expected nothing less from you four-"

Crowler was suddenly cut off by two boys wearing red blazers running by, one seeming to be chasing the other. A large scowl formed on Crowler's face before he shouted at the boys, "Hey! You Slifers get back over here!"

The teacher ran off and Yusuke dropped his head with the faintest trace of a smile.

"Crowler's at it again."

"I feel so bad for the Slifers," Selene wistfully sighed.

She looked up to the bright pink sign, squinting to see under the bright sun. She reached up and slapped the sign, exclaiming, "Oh! The paint's dry!"

"Zane buddy, it's your time to shine!" Atticus said, grabbing the black paint on the ground.

"Remind me again, why me?"

"You have the best handwriting out of all of us," Yusuke said matter of factly, moving the ladder over to the left side of the booth.

"And none of us can draw!" Selene piped up.

"I can't either."

"It's the least worst out of all of us."

Atticus thrust the can towards Zane, who begrudgingly took it.

"Do we need a drawing?" he muttered looking up towards the pink wooden slate.

"Yo! Selene!"

Selene turned to see the familiar face of her roommate running towards them, her camera in hand.

"Hey Calla. What's up?"

"Can I get a photo of you guys for the DA Daily?"

"Absolutely!" Atticus said before Selene could even respond, giving the student journalist two thumbs up.

"Alright, I need you to act like you're working!"

"Yeah Zane- act like you're working!" Selene exclaimed, dramatically posing.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"One… Two… Three!"


Selene woke up, a bit in a daze and her neck in much pain. She sat up, stretching her back. Having fallen asleep on her desk, her arms were still folded over her history textbook.

Her head was pounding. Just another headache she supposed. Though she was struggling to remember what she had just been thinking, or rather dreaming, of- but couldn't find the thoughts. Instead, she found herself continuously drawing blanks.

She turned over towards her alarm clock, its evil red letters reading a rather unholy hour. Standing up, Selene walked over to her windows, pulling open the dusty blue curtains slightly and peeking outside. It was still pitch black, save for the yellow light emitting from the lamps outside the dorm.

Yawning, she was still groggy from her nap. But was refreshed enough that she felt as if she could not fall back asleep. She bounded back over to her desk, grabbing her black leather book bag from her desk before walking towards her door.

She peeked outside her door into the long hallway, looking left and right to make sure no stray student council officers were patrolling the halls. Determining the coast was clear, she stepped out of her room, gently closing the door as to not wake anybody. She quietly shuffled to the end of the hall, pushing open the back exit door and being met with the cold October night air.

Making her way down to the first floor, she took a sharp left turn into a small enclave tucked away underneath the stairs. There, two vending machines filled the enclave with their soft buzzing and fluorescent light.

Selene scanned the selection in the first machine, searching for the coffee she drank so often. She saw many flavors of that ridiculously sweet drink Zane liked so much. She recalled he liked the melon flavor in particular, unsure of how in the world he could even tolerate something so sweet let alone like it. Turning towards the other machine, she scanned the rows of cans and bottles multiple times but none of her beloved coffee. The slot it normally was in appeared to be empty.

She wondered if she should give in and drink one of those insanely sweet drinks Zane liked again, or just give up until they restock the coffee in two days.

As Selene was quietly debating her decision, she heard faint footsteps come down the hall. She immediately moved to press her back against the wall of the enclave, attempting to hide from plain view as much as possible. If she was caught breaking curfew by student council or a teacher she would never hear the end of it.

She quieted her breath as the footsteps became louder, further pressing into the corner between the machine and wall hoping she would be disguised in the dark.

She held her breath as the person passed by. Who as it turned out to be none other than the student body president, Oliver Kim. He passed by, keeping his gaze straight ahead as Selene's followed him. As soon as he was out of view from the enclave, she exhaled deeply.

Big mistake, as she would know in thirty seconds.

The footsteps paused, and Selene realized maybe she shouldn't have relaxed so soon. Then, they began to get closer and before she knew it the face of Oliver Kim was peeking into the enclave.

"Well if it isn't the Empress, Selene Amada herself."

"Oliver. Fancy seeing you out here."

"At this hour of the morning?" Oliver tilted his head to the right, before shaking it slightly. "You do realize you're breaking curfew, right?"

"Is that so?"

Selene thought through her options to respond. She could make a sarcastic remark, and risk making him mad. Or she could play dumb, as she so often did.

"I thought it was still nine fifty-three at night."

Oliver seemed to be stifling a smile at her comment.

"You do realize I could report you, correct?"

"Really?"

"I genuinely can't tell if you're playing dumb and messing with me or if you really don't know."

"Oliver, it's one curfew violation."

"That you've been caught," he replied, strongly emphasizing the last word. "Besides, if everybody broke the rules, this academy would be in even more chaos than it already is."

He sighed heavily, hanging his head.

"Especially with the new first-years, breaking rules after rules."

"Well…"

Selene shifted slightly, fiddling with her fingers and,relaxing against the wall.

"You are the number two student. You really don't have room to be caught breaking the rules, Empress."

"Kaiser said the same thing," she said, "Something about needing to set a precedent for others."

"He isn't wrong. Others look up to you elites."

"I'm no role model," she muttered.

"You did put yourself in this position."

"I never asked to be number two. It just happened…"

That was true. She never really asked to be one of the top students at the Academy. That title rightfully belonged to Atticus, she was just the lucky- or rather unlucky- bloke who happened to inherit it.

"You know nothing is stopping me from reporting you to Crowler and Fontaine, right?"

"How about, please don't report me?"

"A little Slifer dorm bathroom duty never hurt anybody," he mused.

"I said please."

Oliver, clearly trying to conceal a mischievous smile, tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Hm… Alright then," he finally said. "I'll cut you a deal."

"I'm listening," she replied, furrowing her brows.

"We do our class duel together."

Selene paused. That was a rather suspicious proposition, even though it would save her the ridicule of getting caught breaking curfew.

"Isn't it randomized?"

"In quotes." Oliver circled his wrist outwards, looking aside before looking back at her. "Student council can make arrangements as we see fit."

"I see. So Mister Pristine Student Council President isn't so pristine after all."

"Maybe so," he mused. "But I've been looking forward to dueling you since our first year."

"Alright then, I accept," she said, crossing her arms. "Bring it on."

Oliver smiled as if he knew it was his she would respond. Nodding his head he replied, "Well then, it is getting late. So I suppose I'll see you in class tomorrow?"

"Yeah- see you."

Oliver walked away, his footsteps eventually fading from earshot. Selene sighed in relief, relaxing her shoulders. The tension would cause backaches, in the morning.

"Empress, huh…"

Selene never did like that nickname. She always found it a bit too regal for someone like her. It made her sound like someone assertive, someone with power instead of the pushover she actually was. And she was more than a bit grateful that it wasn't nearly as widely used as 'Kaiser' was for Zane.

Sighing, she turned back to the machines. She had almost forgotten it was the reason she had been out so late. Though, she no longer in a mood for a packaged drink and turned to return to her room when something of a sudden movement flashed in the corner of her eye.

She turned to the right and saw the faint glowing shape of something in the distance, close to the docks. Had she been any sleepier, she may have missed it. She quickly stepped closer to get a better view, and despite the distance saw the unmistakable image of one, silvery white, three-headed Cyber End Dragon.

"What the…?" she murmured, clutching her arm.

She was never too sure of what went on in his head, these days. He always seemed to be hiding something from her, she knew that for sure. She knew that he liked to sneak out and see Alexis at the lighthouse, and she knew that was probably only the tip of the iceberg when it came to his secrets.

Her head began pounding again. Grabbing her forehead, she realized that maybe it was time to go to bed. Turning to return to her room, she cast a brief glance back at Cyber End Dragon.

She would have to ask him about that in the morning.


Woohoo! Finally managed to write this chapter! I think I rewrote this at least three times. Anyways the first duel of this story is finally coming, though it might be a bit shaky hopefully it's okay enough. Thanks for reading and see you next time!