As Selene Amada sat on the wooden bench, overlooking the beach, she felt something tug at her.

The sun was rising. The pale grey-blue sky reflecting upon the ever-moving waves as a golden disk began to rise over the horizon. Watching the vibrant display of pinks and oranges before her, she couldn't help but feel a tad emotional.

She was lonely.

Pulling her wool coat tighter around her, cold in the chilly January air, she looked down to her sand covered feet and sighed.

She never had many friends growing up. After Jaden had moved away she would spend many hours alone. Grandfather had to work, after all. And sometimes, her own cat couldn't be bothered with her for more than a few hours.

Maybe that's why she was so happy when she came to Duel Academy. She found her crowd, a place where she finally belonged. She was happy.

But now she really only had one person. And he was pushing her away.

Selene hadn't even realized how much time she spent with the boy until he had begun to act cold. Not like his usual callous ways, but distant. He always had his guard up. But ever since the disappearances, she felt as if he had begun to wall himself away more and more to the point of near emotional isolation.

He was keeping things from her. And maybe that made her a hypocrite but it wouldn't stop it from upsetting her.

Maybe he was there physically. But it felt as if he had disappeared too.

Maybe she shouldn't be so selfish. He had to cope some way, she supposed.

But it was hard to ignore the gnawing loneliness that tugged at the back of her mind.


Zane Truesdale has always been a bit cynical.

He never much bothered making friends. No matter how many attempted to approach him with their smiles and laughter. They would always cause such a ruckus. He enjoyed his solace, so why would he keep people around that would simply ruin that? It was illogical to him. Friends were a bit overrated, anyways. Humans were selfish. In the end, friends would end up betraying you.

All he needed was himself and his cards. He could only truly rely on those. And maybe with them he would be able to give his mother and Syrus a good life. He didn't need other people to distract him from that goal.

But then he met Atticus.

Atticus was everything Zane was not. He was loud, a bit destructive, always surrounded by a crowd of people. Carrying that stupid little ukulele of his singing some nonsense song about love. But he was a damn good duelist, and he had Zane's attention.

In many ways, Atticus was like the same people Zane had so callously brushed off in the past. But… he was different. He wasn't sure how at first. Until their first duel.

Zane won. But it was close.

Maybe he could do this "friendship" thing that everyone hyped up so much.

Then there was the girl with the dark hair. The one who was unbelievably familiar to him when they had first met. Who had clung to Atticus after he helped her out of a physical scuffle she had found herself in. He hadn't cared about her initially, another face in a sea of them. To be quite honest, there was no reason for him to have had any real interest in her. She was hardly a passionate duelist. But her honesty and forward way of speaking became familiar to him eventually, even comforting at times.

There was someone else too… But who was it? Who could it possibly be? He vaguely remembered an unclear face, but that was all.

But even then, they never betrayed him.

At least, until then.

Zane stood across the clearing from Selene. The abandoned dormitory behind her. Her face half-lit by sunlight peeking through the overarching branches above. Her eyes were wide as saucers as her mouth continued to move, yet no words came out.

He was unsure of whether to talk first. Or to stay silent and leave her mouth gaping for any words that would form. He was unsure of how he felt about the scene before him. Or if he felt anything at all.

"I- I can explain!" she finally managed to sputter out, taking a step forward.

"I just saw you come out of the abandoned dormitory. There's nothing else to explain-" he merely shook his head- "I expected better from you, Selene."

As he turned to leave, her voice called out.

"How can you act like nothing has happened?"

Zane paused. Her voice had cracked. Even without looking, he knew her lip was trembling. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Weren't they your friends too?"

They were.

He could be himself around them. Around them, he could abandon the expectations he had. It was because of them he found the value of companionship. They didn't look to him as talent, but as a person. They didn't just like him, they understood him. He could freely talk to them. Laugh with them. Be happy with them.

But happiness isn't permanent.

And when the cold reality had set it, he had to pick himself up. In the end, the only person you truly have is yourself. That sense of careless happiness had to be locked away. All eyes were on him now, after all. He became the Kaiser.

"Because I know it's dangerous," he replied simply, unable to look at her staring, cat-like eyes. "And that I should not be poking my nose into something where it doesn't belong."

"How can you act like everything is okay-"

"You lied about what you've been doing," he retorted coldly, getting a bit irritated from her deflecting.

"As if you haven't been keeping things from me," she said, her voice gradually getting louder.

"What do you mean?"

"Alexis? Why do you keep your little meetings with her a secret, hm? And we can't forget about your little midnight duel with Jaden."

"I didn't keep them a secret. You just never asked."

"I knew you would act like this," she said in an exasperated tone, throwing her hands in the air.

"You need to stop being so careless."

"So what if I'm careless? It's not like you care about anything-"

He froze. Her words felt like a spear had pierced his heart, bounding him in place. After the initial hurt passed, he felt heat begin to rise in his body. He sharply turned back towards her, meeting her rust-colored eyes.

Her eyes were wide, as if in disbelief at what she had just said. Her hands covered her mouth, like it would prevent any other emotionally charged statements from flooding out.

"I can't lose you too," he merely said, taking all his willpower to not shout that statement.

She stood there frozen, staring at him with those wide eyes for what could only really be ten seconds. But felt like ten years. She uncovered her mouth, as if to speak. Rather, she turned and ran into the woods.

All friends would betray you eventually. In the end, the only person you can truly rely on is yourself. This was the unmistakable truth of the world. Zane had known that since the beginning.

So why did this still hurt so much?