The Young Master of the Dragonmaids

by The Imperator 2 you

Joseph Takara is a young man who has come into the ownership of the Dragonmaid cards, a rare set of cards that seem to only appear to a single duelist and whom only 'they' call master. With dreams of becoming a professional duelist, he attends Duel Academy, and with the help of his family of girls, and the help of the rare and beautiful Dragonmaids, his dream might come true.

7. Chapter 6

"Our hearts are forever tied to our masters until they no longer become worthy of them, but even though our loyalty is to you, this does not mean we cannot potentially be swayed by another. The heart is a fickle thing that does not truly understand what it itself wants, and if the mind is not in control the heart will manipulate the mind…"

"Take care to remember that love and desire are two entirely different things…"

= Chapter 6 Prologue =

Joseph and all the other slifers were having dinner in the Slifer Dining Hall while the Maids of the Dragon's Café underwent some maintenance. Since she couldn't normally cook for the student body as a whole, Kite had helped Professor Banner with making dinner, and despite the 'lack' of ingredients she'd normally use dinner was delicious. Naturally all of the slifers fawned over her cooking and complained when she showed 'favoritism' by giving him and his friends slices of cake she'd just made. Next to their table Sheou was pouring them tea and handing them fresh napkins.

He was just eating his rice and chatting with Chumley about having a practice duel with him to help improve his dueling skills for an upcoming test, when Professor Banner walked in with a new slifer student in tow. Once at the front of the room he called out, "Attention Slifer Red students, may I have your attention please, eyes forward now, come on… Chumley, will you stop eating with your mouth open! Some of us still have an appetite for dinner we want to keep…" and once he had everyone's attention he smiled and finally introduced the new student. "Thank you, please give a warm Slifer Welcome to our new transfer student, his name is Blair Flannigan."

Blair Flannigan was a short 'boy' in the traditional Slifer Red uniform with the Red and White jacket and wearing a large dark green cap over their dark blue hair. They looked up nervously before returning their eyes back to staring at the ground.

"I had to stop eating for a transfer student?" Chumley asked.

"Oh great, someone who's smaller and looks goofier than me, my side kick days are over Joseph, now I'm going to be reduced to a side character…" Syrus muttered.

"Hmmm…" Joseph said quietly, staring at 'Blair' with a curious expression.

"What's up Joseph?"

"Nothing…" Joseph muttered as he took another sip of tea. "So Chumley, you wanna do that practice duel when we get back to our room? I'd love to see your Kuala cards in action!"

"Yea, sure I don't mind… just promise not to go 'too' hard on me? I mean you did qualify to become a Ra Yellow after all."

"No sweat Chum!" He chuckled back.

"Now then, about the sleeping arrangements, I know we all are a little crammed here at Slifer Red, but it 'is' academy tradition that all transfer students start out at Slifer Red. So sadly, one of you is going to have to make some space for a few days. However, I promise this is only temporary, you see students, because of Blair's near perfect score on all of his entrance exams, he's going to be moved to Ra Yellow soon." Professor Banner said. "So, Joseph, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but would you, Chumley and Syrus welcome Blair as your new roommate? I promise it will only be for a few days!"

"Wait 'really'?" Syrus asked indignantly.

"Aww come on, we just got the room the way we liked it!"

"Hmmm… Sheou, do you happen to still have that old Sleeping Bag I once took to Summer Duel Camp?" He asked Sheou as Blair walked over to them.

"Why yes Joseph, we still keep it in your old room's closet." She replied warmly.

"Great… cause I'm going to need it for a while…" He muttered as Blair introduced himself to them.

=Chapter 6, Joseph vs Blair=

=Duel of Love, The Maids vs the Maiden=

"So, is there a reason why you're sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag, instead of the new guy?" Chumley asked as Sheou rolled out the sleeping bag for him, after dusting it since it had been years since he'd used it.

"Yea, new guy should be on the floor instead of you Joseph, you're the one staying here not him." Syrus said as he lay on his bed.

"I'm just a gentleman guys, besides its only for a few days." He said as he made his move against Chumley in their practice duel. "I fuse Tinkech and Laundry to summon House Dragonmaid into attack mode… and that's it. On my next turn I'm free to attack since your Threatening Roar trap card will no longer be in effect."

"Great… just what I needed to know…" Chumley said bitterly as he drew a card. "Awww Licious, I play Wild Nature's release! Increasing Big Koala's attack by 2000, giving it 4700 attack points, more than enough to take out House and bring your life points down to zero!"

"Talk about a lucky draw…" He said as he took his cards back and shuffled them. "Not bad Chumley, you're starting to get better at this!"

"Yea, but I think I just got lucky that time… I need 'way' more practice, if I didn't forget and used that trap card so late because I'd forgotten about it, I probably would have lost…"

"Hey, no biggie, at least you remembered what the trap did, unlike with Des Koala, gatta remember that flip monsters need to be played face down not face up in order to activate their effects pal."

"Yea… thanks for reminding me 'twice' now…" He muttered back gratefully.

"No problem."

Sheou finished straightening out his sleeping bag, stood up and bowed politely to him before leaving to fetch their before-bed tea.

"Hey, can I ask you a few questions… since I'm new here?" Blair asked from his bed. "Why do you use such girly cards? And are you like… super rich? And the maid, are you like super rich or something?"

"First off, my maids may be girly but that doesn't matter to me, I like em so I use them." Joseph said as 'politely' as he could. "Plus, they're very special to me, they're the only ones in the world and I wouldn't trade them for any other card out there."

'He likes us, he really likes us~!' Tinkech cheered happily as she appeared on his left side.

'Was there ever any doubt?' Nudyarl chuckled.

'Handsome 'and' caring, what more can a Dragonmaid ask for?' Lorpar sighed as she lay on his head.

'Perhaps more sleeping time with their master?' Ernus asked with a smirk from behind his shoulders.

"As for the second…" He said trying not to laugh at his friends' antics again. "Sheou isn't really my 'maid', she's more like my adopted mother, she's only my maid because she worked for my grandpa and now… well she kind of follows me around."

Sheou walked in at that moment with a tray of tea and four cups for them, "I'm happy to have served Joseph's grandfather, and I'm just as happy to be serving Joseph as his personal maid here at Duel Academy." She said with a smile, pouring drinks for each of them and serving Blair first.

"Okay… uh thank you by the way." Blair muttered as he noticed the cup was 'pink'.

"I'm sorry if the color of the cup is not to your liking, but the 'dishes' are still being 'cleaned' in the 'kitchen'." Sheou said with a polite but dangerous growl, her signature draconic aura slowly gaining power. "I sure hope Kite 'cleans the dishes' in time before tomorrow, otherwise when we reopen the café, our guests will not be able to enjoy our menu. And that would be such a tragedy…"

'Uuuuh ima go bye!' Tinkech squealed in fear, vanishing from the room, and moments later the others vanished from sight.

"Tough luck buddy, you get the pink one." Chumley said with a chuckle.

"Why do you have 'pink' cups?" Syrus asked as he took his cup of tea now.

"Eh, Sun likes pink…" Joseph muttered as he knew why Sheou gave Blair the pink one. "So Syrus, you wanna have a quick duel before bed? I wanna see what your Vehicroids can do."

"Eh… sure, why not, a quick duel wouldn't hurt!" He muttered as he leaned over and grabbed his deck. "Let's do just 2000 Life Points, it is getting late, and we have homework still."

"Alright, 2000 life points it is, now let's do this!" Joseph said as he drew his hand. "Alright, you can start this duel off first Syrus."

"Alright, I draw… uh… I summon out Cycroid into attack mode, and I'll play one card face down… and that'll do for now!"

[Cycroid, Lvl 3, Earth Attribute, Machine Type, Normal Monster, 800 Atk / 1000 Def]

"My turn then… hmmm, I summon out my Parlor Dragonmaid into attack mode! Then because she's been summoned out successfully, I can send a Dragonmaid card from my deck to the grave, and I choose Dragonmaid Lorpar."

[Parlor Dragonmaid, Lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1700 Def]

"Next I activate Dragonmaid Hospitality, this lets me special summon Laundry Dragonmaid into defense mode, and sends Dragonmaid Nudyarl to the grave!"

[Laundry Dragonmaid, Lvl 2, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Alright, next I play Dragonmaid Welcome, this lets my monsters gain 100 attack and defense for each Dragonmaid I have on the field, now it's time to attack, Parlor and Laundry go into their Dragon forms, so now Lorpar and Nudyarl take their places."

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, Lvl 8, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl, Lvl 7, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2600 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Now my dragons can take on your little bike, Lorpar attacks your Cycroid!"

"Not so fast Joseph… I have a trap… read it and weep, Magic Cylinder!" Syrus exclaimed as he flipped his face down over. "You walked right into that… now Lorpar's attack gets turned right around and bounced back into your life points directly!"

"Whaaaaaat… talk about luck Syrus… I lose after one turn."

"Lucky draw for the win, your dragons are strong, and I just so happened to have a card that turned all that power against you!" Syrus laughed as he took his cards back into his deck.

"Quick duel indeed…" He muttered sheepishly as he placed his maids back into the deck. "Next time I ask for 3000 life points instead of 2000."

With the end of their rather quick duel, everyone decided it was time for bed, and Sheou took their cups and drink to have them cleaned. She bowed out with a simple, "Pleasant dreams everyone." and walked out of their room. They all started climbing into their beds while Joseph climbed into his sleeping bag.

"Hey guys… do you know where the Obelisk Blue Dorms are?" Blair asked suddenly.

"Yea, but why would you go there newbie?" Chumley asked. "Like, I know you're on your way to Ra Yellow, but until then you're still a Slifer, they won't even look at you!"

"I have my reasons… so where are they?"

"We'll show you around the campus tomorrow if you want to, but for now… let's just go to sleep." Joseph muttered as he yawned. "It's really late as it is."

"Alright…"

With that everyone began falling asleep with Joseph turning over to face away from the beds and starting to fall asleep. Soon after, four feminine dragons appeared in spirit form and began snuggling into their preferred spots when he was asleep.

'Finished early Tinkech?'

'Like I'd miss cuddle time at night Nudyarl.'

'Cuddle time is best time… right Ernus?'

Got that right Lorpar.'

They all slept through the night, ignoring the other occupants as they focused their combined powers in keeping Joseph's dreams pleasant and warm until morning.

However about halfway through the night, Blair slowly got up and crept around the sleeping bag, causing all four of the Dragonmaids to look up and watch them leave in annoyance, as well as suspicion. Blair 'had' to know that it was way past curfew and way too early to be leaving the Slifer dorms for any reason, even for a middle of the night 'bathroom' break.

'Should one of us follow?' Nudyarl asked.

'Yea one of us really should…' The other three muttered in agreement in unison.

None of them however got up or looked eager to follow Blair as they slipped out, so Nudyarl rolled her eyes and bitterly muttered, 'Well don't EVERYONE be eager to volunteer at once…' before getting up and floating out of the room to follow Blair into the night.

'Like we'd skip out on night cuddle time?' Lorpar asked them.

'Yea right, like that'll ever happen.' Tinkech said.

Nudyarl followed Blair into the night, taking human form and slowly creeping behind to make sure they stayed out of trouble and out of sight. She tracked Blair as they made their way across the campus and slowly arrived near the Obelisk Blue Dorms. After they looked around for a few hours, Blair began making his way back to the Slifer dorms, and Nudyarl returned to spirit form to go back to 'cuddle time'. After she returned Blair also slipped in and slipped back into bed and went back to sleep.

The next morning the alarm clock woke everyone up, much to Blair's disappointment who complained about the alarm and shut it off to try and get some extra sleep, but Sheou opened the door with a tray of eggs, sausages, pancakes and tea for them all.

"Wake up everyone, time for breakfast."

"Hey maid, can't you see we're trying to sleep still, come back later." Blair tried to growl.

Sheou however chuckled and pulled the blanket off with a smile before saying, "I'm sorry Blair, but only Master Joseph may give me 'any' commands. While I've agreed to serve everyone in this room as Joseph resides here, only 'he' may command me in any fashion, and who's orders I'll obey. Also call me 'Sheou' and not 'Maid', that is a very impolite way to address someone."

"Ugh… but it's a 'Sunday'… can't we sleep i-?" Blair started saying before Sheou smiled at them, and an almost 'draconic' aura appeared around her, causing Blair to stop talking.

"If you want to sleep in, you can go to bed 'after' breakfast… in this room, breakfast is served 'on time'." Sheou said with a warm, calm and gentle expression, but her aura just screamed 'don't even think of disagreeing with me'. "I have a very busy schedule as well as duties to prepare, and since I follow Young Master Joseph until he does not require me at his side, I have no time to waste."

"Uh… sure… okay… right… yea, I can have breakfast… totally, breakfast is good!"

"Yawn, morning Sheou…" Joseph said as he slowly got out of his sleeping bag.

"Good morning Young Master." Sheou replied instantly, smiling lovingly as her draconic aura vanished in an instant. "Breakfast is ready, Kite was up early tonight and finished it just now."

Everyone slowly got up and after Sheou stepped out to make some space, they all took their plates and started eating in bed while Joseph sat at the desk, allowing Sheou to step back in and begin her morning routine and duties of getting him ready for the day. She combed his hair, laid out his clothes and started tidying up his sleeping bag so that it would be cleaned.

"Enjoy breakfast everyone, I shall return in a few moments Young Master Joseph, after I've given the other maids their duties for the day. Blair, why don't you tidy yourself up first before the other boys?" Sheou said as she humbly bowed herself out of the room.

"Yea, better go first Blair before all the other Slifers get to the shower house first and all of the hot water is used up. It certainly beats waiting in line!" He tried to joke.

"Fine… but after can we check out the Obelisk Blue dorms?" Blair asked.

"Man, 'someone' is eager to get insulted…" Chumley muttered as Blair went out first.

Joseph agreed as he ate a piece of sausage, right as his Dragonmaids began appearing next to him.

'Blair was being suspicious last night master.' Nudyarl said. 'She spent all last night poking around and checking out the Obelisk Blue Dorm.'

'Now why would Blair do that?' He thought to himself as his dragons began vanishing one by one.

"Yea we can go check out the Obelisk Blue dorms, but we can only show you where they are, we aren't allowed inside them." He said as he ate breakfast. "Syrus, Chumley, feel like joining us?"

"Sure, I guess…" Syrus muttered.

"I got nothing better to do, you know I mean, besides our homework…" Chumley said.

Sheou walked in as Blair left to go use the shower first and began to go about fixing their beds and cleaning up any mess they'd left. After that was all done and breakfast was finished, she took the plates and tray as well as whatever left over food was still there to have them cleaned. She asked if Joseph would have any further need of her that morning and after Joseph jokingly replied, "I think I can handle showing Blair where the Obelisk Blue Dorms are by myself Sheou." She nodded and declared that she would return with him later, but also reminded him to take his dueling deck and duel disk with him 'just in case'.

When Blair finally came back, they all left the dorms and started making their way to the Obelisk Blue dorms where the male Obelisk Blues went, since the Obelisk Blue girl's dorm was off limits to them.

About twenty minutes of walking later they caught sight of the Obelisk Blue dorms. The Blue dorms were almost the complete opposite of Slifer Red's, actually now that Joseph got a better look as they drew closer, he realized they 'were' the complete opposite of Red's dorms. The Blue dorms was a massive four to five stories mansion situated near a lake with several spires and countless windows, with a beautifully kept grassy lawn and a paved dirt road leading to it directly from where just nearby the main school building was. He could see that the main entrance from where they were walking, and he just knew that he and his fellow Slifers did not belong here.

"Suddenly I feel like I'm totally not dressed to even 'be' here." He muttered to the other three.

"Man… they probably have a personal bathroom for 'every' blue student in there, indoor swimming pool, massage area, probably an all you can eat buffet to boot." Chumley said in awe.

"Alright we've seen their dorms now can we go?" Syrus said.

"And what are you Slifer Slackers doing here?" A snide voice suddenly asked coldly.

They turned around to see a pair of Obelisk Blue students who seemed to be upper classmen.

"Uhm, hi, my name is Joseph Takara, and I was just showing the new transfer student around, I hope you don't mind if we just… you know walked around 'outside' for a bit… we'll be on our way!"

They looked more closely at him for a moment before smirking, "Hey, we know you, you're that Slifer who chased Chazz out of Duel Academy."

"Wait… chased 'Chazz' out of Duel Academy?" He asked in confusion.

"Yea, we're his friends remember us? After you beat Chazz, Doctor Crowler the head of Obelisk Blue pulled him into his office!" The other said.

=Flashback, Doctor Crowler's Office=

"I'm sorry Chazz but I cannot condone you remaining in Obelisk Blue from this point forward." Crowler said to him with a disgruntled look. "I will not tolerate failure in Obelisk Blue, only the 'best' are allowed into our ranks, and losing to a Slifer Red not just once, but 'twice', and especially in front of the entire school during the promotional exams is unacceptable!"

"You can't be serious, he… he only got lucky is all! I'm better than him, just give me one more chance to prove it!"

"You can make all the excuses you want to Chazz Princeston, but you will be making them in 'Ra Yellow'. Perhaps later in the year you can earn your way back into our ranks."

"B-but… I'm the best… you can't just… demote me to Ra Yellow… I'm the best!"

"The 'best' don't make mistakes, the BEST stay in Obelisk Blue, and the BEST do not lose to a SLIFER RED!" Crowler growled. "You're lucky that you're only being demoted to Ra Yellow, and not something worse like trading dorms with the student you lost 'twice' to!"

=Present Day=

"After that, Chazz packed his bags and left on a private boat, no word since. Didn't tell anyone where he was going, what he was doing, nothing."

"Whoa…" Joseph muttered. "I didn't think my duel had that big of an effect…"

"Yea, taking down an Obelisk Blue isn't an easy feat for a Slifer Red, you're like the only one we Obelisks are willing to show any respect now." The first one said.

"Listen, we also want to apologize to you for how we treated you." The other said. "We thought you were just another Slifer Slacker who didn't take being here seriously. If we'd known just how serious you were studying and how good you'd get… well let's just say you earned some serious Blue Respect points here."

"Yea and for what it's worth, we don't really agree with what Chazz said about you and your cards on your first day here. They may be rare cards, but you clearly know how to use them in a serious duel."

"Indeed." A serious voice said suddenly, and both of Chazz's friends turned around and stepped aside to reveal an older student with light blue hair, equally light blue eyes, and a serious expression as he looked at Joseph and his fellow Slifers. "Hello Syrus, what brings you here?"

"Oh… uh… hi brother, we were just… uhm… you know uh… walking around and…" Syrus muttered sheepishly, averting his gaze.

"Brother… wait… Syrus you never mentioned you had a brother!" Joseph exclaimed as he looked to Syrus while Chumley just grimaced and looked equally nervous as Syrus.

Blair on the other hand, was 'blushing'.

"Yea… I kind of… forgot to mention it… yea…"

"Hmpf, well to save my brother the introduction speech, my name is Zane Truesdale, and I guess welcome to Obelisk Blue's dorms." Zane said. "If I remember, your name is Joseph Takara, I watched you in the Academy Entrance Exams, and I watched your duel in the promotional exams. I must say, that was very impressive how you defeated those Union Monsters, despite not having once seen them used in an actual duel based on how you acted against them."

"Yea… but I won so, there's that!" He said positively.

"Yes, which reminds me… since you have your duel disk, I take it you also have your dueling deck with you correct?"

"Uh… yes? Why do you want to duel me?"

"Not a real duel, just a quick pick-up duel." Zane said with a smirk. "I have to get to a bonus lecture in a few minutes, and I'd like to duel you real quick if you'll permit me the honor. Since you came to Obelisk Blue, it's only fair that we give you a proper Obelisk Welcome."

"You want a duel, you got it!" He said excitedly.

Dueling an Obelisk Blue who 'wasn't' trash talking him, and wanted to have a quick friendly duel just to say 'welcome to our dorms'? No way was he turning that offer down.

"Uh hang on, where's your duel disk?"

"Let's just do a traditional playmat duel if you don't mind, there's a few park tables nearby we can have our duel on the way to the academy building. Speaking of which, do either of you two have your decks, I left mine in my dorm since I wasn't expecting to want to duel, and it'll take too long to get."

"Yea sure, I got mine, you can borrow it for a quick duel." One of them said, offering their deck to him.

"Thanks, follow me, Joseph." Zane said as he led the way away from Obelisk Blue's dorm.

"Hey, how good is your bro by the way Syrus?" Joseph asked as they neared the picnic tables Zane talked about.

Though 'picnic' was hardly the word he'd use to describe them, they looked to be made of porcelain and stained glass fit for nobles. There were even several frilly folding fans embedded into them.

"Uhm… he's very good, like 'very' good Joseph." Syrus muttered. "But our mom says I got the good looks!"

"Very good Syrus? Zane's the top ranked student at Duel academy! He's the 'king' here at Duel Academy."

'WHAT?' He thought in panic as they sat down at the picnic table, right as his dragons began appearing.

'Master may be attractive but why do we keep attracting the strong duelists here?' Tinkech asked.

'It could be worse, at least he isn't using his own deck.' Lorpar muttered.

'Why did you have to say that Lorpar, you know that phrase is bad juju.' Nudyarl groaned.

'Don't worry master, we can take him, he isn't using his real deck, so he isn't as good… right? That's how it works right?' Ernus asked sheepishly.

'Not helping me…'

"Alright Joseph, let's make this duel quick, we'll only have a 2-turn limit." Zane said as they traded decks and started shuffling. "We each get two turns, after the second duelist finishes their second turn, whoever has the most life points wins."

"Alright… let's get this duel started." He said nervously.

"Let's Duel!"

"Let's Duel!"

[Zane Truesdale – 4000 / Joseph Takara - 4000]

They both drew their opening hands and Joseph glanced at what he'd drawn. [Parlor Dragonmaid, Dragonmaid Welcome, Dragonmaid Sendoff, Dragonmaid Ernus, Numinous Healer.]

"Alright, since I'm the guest, may I start the duel?" He asked.

"Of course you can, go right ahead." Zane said respectfully.

"Thanks, let's see what I get!" He said as he drew his card. [Dragonmaid Changeover]

"Let's see… I summon out Parlor Dragonmaaaaaaaai-!" He started screaming as a small gust of wind started blowing away his Parlor Dragonmaid card right after he played her on the field.

He was about to jump up and go after her before Zane quickly reached out and plucked the card out of the air with two fingers, looking it over and smiling, before offering it back to him.

"Uh… thanks." He said gratefully.

"It's alright, you take great care with your cards don't you, you show them enormous respect and love." He asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

"Yea, I do, how did you know?"

Zane smiled as he nodded. "That card didn't have a single bend in it, it's almost as flat as the day it was printed." He said as he showed them a card from his hand, without actually showing the card. "Most cards that see heavy usage see a slight bend after a year or two. But yours are still completely flat… meaning you must take great care with them in order to keep them in their original state, even 'after' all the times you use them in duels. Only a duelist who respects and cares for his cards would have cards like that if they were so heavily used in their duels."

"Yea, I do take good care of them, I usually keep them in a special case when I'm not dueling."

"That's good to know, but let's get this duel going, I do have a lecture to get to."

"Right, I play Parlor Dragonmaid in attack mode, and I activate Parlor Dragonmaid's effect, allowing me to send Dragonmaid Lorpar to the grave." He said as he searched his deck for Lorpar and planted her where the grave is. "After that, I play one card face down, next I play Dragonmaid Welcome and end my first turn."

[Parlor Dragonmaid, Lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1700 Def]

[Parlor Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 600 Atk / 1800]

[Numinous Healer – face down]

"My turn then." Zane said as he drew his card and looked at his options. "I play, Marauding Captain in attack mode!"

[Marauding Captain, Lvl 3, Earth Attribute, Warrior Type, Effect Monster, 1200 Atk / 400 Def]

"Due to Marauding Captain's effect, I can special summon Exiled Force from my hand in attack mode."

[Exiled Force, Earth Attribute, Warrior Type, Effect Monster, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Next, I activate Exiled Force's effect, by tributing this monster, I can target one monster on your side of the field and destroy it!"

"Huh… oh… crud." He muttered as Zane took Exiled Force off the field and he was forced to send Parlor to the grave.

'So much for my run this duel…' Lorpar muttered bitterly as she vanished.

"Next, I activate the equip spell card, Lightning Blade to Marauding Captain, giving him an 800 attack boost.

[Marauding Captain 1200 Atk / 400 Def – 2000 Atk / 400 Def]

"Oh, that does not look good…"

"You're right it doesn't, because now it's my turn to attack, but before I do, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon from my hand to destroy your face down card!" Zane said as he played the quick play spell, causing Joseph to grimace as he knew what was about to happen. "Now Joseph… taste Marauding Captain's blade as he attacks your life points for 2000 points of damage!"

He grimaced as he did a mental note of how many life points that he'd lost.

[Zane Truesdale – 4000 / Joseph Takara - 2000]

"And with that, I end my first turn."

He nodded and drew his next card. [Pot of Greed]

"Alright, this might help. I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." He declared, drawing two cards after playing and then discarding Pot of Greed.

[Laundry Dragonmaid, Dragonmaid Tinkech]

"Hmmm, uh… alright I play the magic card, Dragonmaid Changeover, fusing Dragonmaid Ernus and Laundry Dragonmaid in my hand to summon, House Dragonmaid!"

[House Dragonmaid, Lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Next, I discard Dragonmaid Tinkech to give House Dragonmaid a 2000 attack point boost, and she also gets a hundred point boost due to Dragonmaid Welcome's effect."

[House Dragonmaid 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 5000 Atk / 2000 Def – 5100 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Now House Dragonmaid attacks Marauding Captain. Destroying your monster and dealing 3100 points of damage!"

Zane nodded as he calmly took the card and sent it and Lightning Blade to the grave.

[Zane Truesdale – 900 / Joseph Takara - 2000]

"With that I end my second, and 'final' turn."

"Wow, Joseph is actually close to winning, all he needs to do is last this second turn and he wins." Chumley muttered.

"Wow…" Syrus muttered.

"Nice move kid, now it's my turn…" Zane said as he drew a card. "Hmmm, I play the Warrior Returning Alive, this allows me to bring back Exiled Force from the graveyard and back into my hand."

'Why would he do that, even if he summons Exiled force unless he has a Monster Reborn card, he can't attack through my House Dragonmaid card… unless he 'has' a way to do that!'

"Next I summon out another Marauding Captain in attack mode." Zane continued as he played another monster from his hand.

[Marauding Captain, Lvl 3, Earth Attribute, Warrior Type, Effect Monster, 1200 Atk / 400 Def]

"Due to Marauding Captain's effect, I can special summon Exiled Force in attack mode from my hand. Next, I activate Premature Burial, giving up 800 life points to bring back the Marauding Captain from my grave to the field in attack mode, and equipping Premature Burial to it."

[Exiled Force, Earth Attribute, Warrior Type, Effect Monster, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Marauding Captain, Lvl 3, Earth Attribute, Warrior Type, Effect Monster, 1200 Atk / 400 Def]

[Zane Truesdale – 100 / Joseph Takara - 2000]

"Now I activate Exiled Force's effect, by tributing it, I can target the House Dragonmaid you have on the field and destroy it. Leaving your life points exposed to my two Marauding Captains! Combined they have 2400 attack points, which if I'm not mistaken, is 400 more than you have left…"

"Which means I lose the duel…"

[Zane Truesdale – 100 / Joseph Takara - 0]

"Well played Joseph, perhaps next time if we duel I'll be able to use my actual deck instead of borrowing someone else's." Zane said as he handed back the deck to the Chazz's friend.

"Sure thing…" He said, deflated as he lost to the top student when he was using someone else's deck.

"Joseph, before I go there's some advice, I want to give you." Zane said, causing him to look at him as he started to leave again. "There's a difference between knowing how to use a card and knowing how to 'play' that card. You have the basics down; all you need to do now is play your cards properly."

"Wait, really? There's a difference?"

"Yes… but I'll let you learn that difference on your own, I have a lecture to get to." He said with a smile. "Thanks for the duel by the way, it was interesting dueling you without my real deck. Perhaps I'll duel you again in the future, and we can see how we both play when we're at our best."

"Whoa, Zane giving you respect?" One of Chazz's friends asked in amazement as Zane left them. "Talk about serious Blue Points, wait till the other blues hear this."

"Alright enough sneaking around, you know the rules!"

Joseph looked with the others to see Luna in her cleaning maid's outfit busily shuffling a Slifer Red away from the Obelisk Blue dorm, specifically Blair.

"Get your hands off of me, what's it matter to you what I do?"

"It matters because I have '46' rooms worth of Obelisk Blue uniforms and laundry to sort, and 'you're' in my way, I need to get them all sorted and delivered or I'm going to get in trouble from the House Maid! You're not even supposed to be here, this is the Obelisk Blue Boy's dorm!"

"And what about you?" Blair demanded bitterly as he was shoved away by Luna.

"I'm the laundry maid, I'm doing my 'job' while I work here at Duel Academy! I do more than just serve drinks and take orders at the café! So, either you're here to help me sort and deliver laundry, or you're here to sneak into a dorm you don't belong in! You're lucky Campus Security didn't catch you, or else you'd be kicked out!"

"Hi Luna, how's it going?" Joseph called.

"Joseeeeeph, how's it going, long time no seee!" Luna squealed happily as she ran over and gave him a cheerful hug.

Despite being older than him, he noticed that Luna was ever so slightly shorter than him, but only since his last birthday.

"How's it going Joseph, is there anything you need?"

"Nothing really, but what was Blair doing?" He asked suspiciously, a look shared by both Obelisk Blue students still there.

"Sneaking into our dorm, do you 'want' to get the boot out of here 'Transfer Student'?"

"Yea, Joseph getting blue points is one thing, but 'you' don't even belong here. We let you Slifers being here slide because of the respect Joseph's got around here, but we don't have to tolerate 'you' transfer student!"

"Yea Blair, don't you dare ruin this for us, we might even get to chow down in the blue mess hall if they let us!" Chumley said.

"Yea Blair, what could you possibly want to do here?"

"Probably just wanted to sneak into the Blue Mess Hall." Luna growled as she glared at Blair, but she leaned over and whispered. "I caught him sneaking into Zane's room through the window when I was straightening out his bed sheets and blankets. If I hadn't caught him first, he'd be in serious trouble!"

He nodded and walked over to Blair to say, "Alright I think we overstayed our welcome here, so if it's alright with you Blair, we're going to back to the Slifer Red dorms. We have to work on our homework anyway."

"Ugh… fine…" Blair muttered bitterly as Luna walked around and shoed them away.

"Yea, I'm busy, so go bother one of the other maids instead!" Luna growled to him.

"That reminds me, Luna I know this is sudden, but do you think you could quickly clean my uniform from yesterday? I think it smells a bit too much of charcoal grilled fish!" He chuckled embarrassingly.

"No prob Joseph, I'll get it done right away and be over lickity split!" She yelled cheerfully and rushed back into the blue dorms.

"What happened to being busy?" Syrus asked as they began leaving.

After they left the blue dorms, they returned to the Slifer Red dorms and back to their room to do their homework, since the café was still closed until later. All the while he kept on taking a glance back at Blair as he laid back in his bed. He was curious about why Blair was so interested in getting to the Obelisk Blue dorms, particularly 'Zane's' room. But he decided to ignore it for now and focus on his homework, they only had to deal with Blair for a few days, and after that he wasn't their problem anymore.

"Hey uh Joseph, you're good with drag cards, think you can help me with this problem?" Chumley asked.

"Hmm? Yea sure leme see." He said, looking at the question. "Ah, no wonder your having trouble, I know it says, 'Dragon Capture Jar', but you don't actually 'capture' dragons with it."

"Oh… yea, now I see why I keep getting it wrong."

"Don't be ashamed, I made that mistake myself… Lora had me cleaning up tables because of that bet I made."

"You thought Dragon Capture Jar captured dragons?" Syrus laughed.

"It's name says Dragon Capture Jar, why would they name it that if it 'didn't' capture dragons in a jar!?" He groaned.

After that everyone started laughing, even Blair.

*Knock Knock Knock*

He got up and answered the door to see Lora the Parlor Maid holding his, Chumley's and Syrus' uniforms, freshly pressed and cleaned. "Here ya go Joseph, Luna just finished them and handed them off to me!"

"Great, thanks a lot Lora!" He said as she bowed and left.

"When did Luna get our uniforms, I mean, you probably asked her like what half an hour ago?" Syrus asked.

"Eh, she probably asked Amber or Kite to pick up our uniforms for her. Who knows, maybe Sun was here and grabbed them for us before even Luna had a chance."

"Your sisters sure work fast." Chumley muttered.

"You're telling me, still don't know how they manage to do that either, I've always wondered how they manage things so much." He agreed as his Dragonmaids began appearing around him with smirks. "Hey guys, you mind going to the café really quick to see if they're open yet. It's getting a little cramped in here with four people and I wouldn't say no to doing our homework somewhere with more elbow room."

"Yea sure no problem." Syrus said.

Both he and Chumley got up and left the room while he pretended to look over his homework, but it was already almost finished, he was just stalling for time.

"Alright, now that we're alone Blair, you mind explaining to me what you were 'really' doing over at the Obelisk Blue Dorm?"

"What business is it of yours, just stay out of my way." Blair said.

"It is my business when a girl tries sneaking into a guy's room when he's not there." He said with a smirk.

"Gh… you know? How could you know?"

"Oh please, I've known since the beginning you were a girl, the only reason I haven't said anything is because it's not my place to say anything." He said as he turned to look at her. "Your disguise is pretty good to fool almost everyone here, but I've lived with girls almost my entire life. I've spent the last five years living with Cosplaying Girls who work at a Maid Café, I can tell when a girl is pretending to be someone else."

'Like we'd get fooled that easily.' Tinkech muttered.

'Please, with cuties like 'us' sitting in his deck?' Lorpar smirked.

'Gatta get up preeeetty early in the morning to fool our master!' Nudyarl laughed.

'Uhm… I kinda got fooled for about half a second… at first.' Ernus admitted.

"Look, I don't know why you wanna sneak into a boy's dorm, it's none of my business, but considering you tried to sneak into Zane's bedroom, who happens to be the brother of my friend and roommate, it becomes my business." He said with a stern expression. "So if you want me to remain silent, I suggest you give me a real good excuse, otherwise I'm going to take this to the teachers and let them deal with you."

"Grrrg…"

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Come in!" He said cheerfully, pretending to go back to his homework and all of his dragons quickly started vanishing.

The door opened and Sheou walked in with a bundle of clothes and his sleeping bag rolled up, smelling of freshly scented laundry. She bowed humbly upon her entrance and placed the items where they needed to go.

"I apologize for my tardiness Young Master Joseph, and Lady Blair, but I had to finish attending to some final preparations before we opened up the café." Sheou said with a warm and pleasant smile. "Since I just heard you address Blair by her proper pronoun, shall I too address her as Lady Blair instead of just 'Blair'?"

"No, if Blair wants to tell everyone she's a girl, she's free to do it, but if she doesn't tell me why I shouldn't rat her out to the teachers for trying to sneak into the Obelisk Blue dorms, and especially Syrus' brother's bedroom, well she knows what's going to happen." Joseph said as he returned to his homework.

"Hrmmg…" Blair growled under her breath as she got up and started leaving.

"And where are you headed?" He asked without getting up.

"To the bathroom!"

"Alrighty, Sheou would you be willing to tag along with her to make sure no boys walk in on her or something?"

Sheou nodded her head and declared she would do as he asked. "Come Blair, I'll escort you to the bathroom."

"I can go to the bathroom by myself!" She tried to snap, but Sheou humbly opened the door and beckoned her to follow.

"I know, but you're also still a girl, and all of the Slifers are boys, we don't have any 'girl's' bathrooms' for you here. You wouldn't want one of us to walk in on you while you're on the potty right? Sheou will just stand outside and make up an excuse to buy you time if a boy tries to go in."

Blair had no choice but to growl and walk out of the dorm and down to the outhouse where the bathrooms were. She walked in and shut the door behind her, locking Joseph's maid out. After that she pretended to put the seat down and made it sound like she was going to the bathroom, but instead she was looking for one of the windows to try and slip out. After she found it, she cracked it open and flushed the toilet to hide her motives, and then jumped out to avoid being spotted by the maid.

"I don't think that's how you exit the bathroom, 'sir' Blair." A polite voice said, and she looked up to see Sheou smiling at her, blocking her escape.

"Why does a Slifer have a personal 'maid'?" She asked bitterly as Sheou pointed back to the Slifer Dorm.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty Blair to explain that without Young Master Joseph's permission, as that story involves him being present." Sheou said with a smile as she quickly opened the bathroom door, surprising Blair as she 'swore' she locked it from inside.

"Grrrg… listen you can't tell anyone about me being a girl alright, I have my reasons for being here!"

"I'm afraid that is not my place to decide, if Young Master Joseph requests me to inform the staff of your identity, then I will obey. The only person who can change his decision is you." Sheou said warmly. "I am but a humble maid, nothing more or less, I stand in Joseph's shadow, but I light the path he chooses to walk."

"Then I guess I have to make him keep my secret…" Blair said as they walked back to the dorm room.

Hours later the café finally reopened its doors to the student body and school faculty to enjoy, and as before they were crowded and flooded with guests. The maids went about their business, Sheou served Joseph and his friends what they wanted, and otherwise the atmosphere was kept cheerful and pleasant. Alexis even found time to join them at their table and traded a few jabs with Joseph about his recent losses to both Chumley, Syrus and even Zane, even if it 'was' a quick pick-up duel.

"You managed to get him down to 900 life points on your second turn with a single attack, not bad Joseph." Alexis said with a smile.

"Yea but he still kicked my butt the entire duel, and he wasn't even using his own cards, just some random cards another Obelisk Blue had on them." Joseph moaned as he couldn't believe he dueled the top student at the school without realizing it. "Man, he was strong, I can't believe how hard he crushed me…"

"Your maids may be strong, but they aren't immortal Joseph!" She agreed with a laugh.

"Yea my big bro may be good, but mom says I got the looks!" Syrus chuckled.

"Yea sure, I'd believe it if I were a girl!" Joseph muttered, which got a laugh from everyone.

Though while everyone was laughing, he glanced at Blair who only glared at him in reaction to what he said. He got the hint that she was trying to find a way to get him alone with her so they could talk.

As the night went on, he yawned and said he had to go back to the dorm to check on something and mentioned that he had to see if he could talk to a teacher before it got too late since he had a question about some homework. After he said that, Sheou nodded and all of the maids gave him their traditional 'Maid Sendoff', wishing him a pleasant night and welcoming him back the next day. Moments after Blair left as well and chased him down as he made his way back to the dorm room.

"Hold on Joseph, I need to talk to you!"

"And what is it about?" He asked politely as he turned to her.

"Listen, you can't tell ANYONE about me being a girl, alright, I have my reasons, I don't need to explain them to you but… I can tell you that I don't mean Zane any harm alright?"

Joseph was quiet as he thought about it and sighed as he nodded in understanding. "Alright, I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yes, but I'm still going to rat you out to the teachers because you still tried sneaking into a 'boy's' dorm as a 'girl'." He said simply. "Unless you tell me the reason why I should keep your secret."

"I can't share it and I won't let you tell anyone alright!? It's my business, I have my reasons!"

"Hmmm, you aren't giving me many options Blair… so how about this, we have a friendly 'duel'." He said as he turned to face her. "If you win, I swear to keep your secret, secret, provided you don't try sneaking off to sneak into Zane's bedroom anymore. And if I lose, well you know what comes after."

"Fine, but I warn you, I'm going to fight you with 'all' of my heart to win!" Blair said proudly. 'You're not getting between me and my Zane Joseph, no matter how many maids you have!'

Everyone started leaving the café when the House Maid Sheou informed all of the patrons that, due to a sudden gas leak detected in the kitchen, she had to ask all of their guests to leave early, much to everyone's disappointment. Most of the Slifers and Ras and even Obelisks all headed back to their dorms. Syrus and Chumley decided to hang back to see if they could take back some of their food since it seemed like a waste, and Amber the Chamber Maid was more than happy to provide.

"Mhmm talk about sweet, nothing like a homemade grilled cheese to go!" Chumley said as he chowed down. "Wish we coulda stayed longer."

"Yea, hope they fix it soon, that place is a sweet place for us all to hang out." Syrus agreed. "You think they'll be open to let us hang there to do our homework?"

"Hope so, huh?" Chumley said as he saw Joseph and Blair walking down the cliffside to the rear of the Slifer Dorm, both of them with duel disks strapped to their arms. "Hey, what are they doing?"

"Probably about to duel?" Syrus muttered. "Oh man, don't tell me Joseph has a new sidekick, I knew this was going to happen!"

Not wanting to miss out on whatever it was that was going to go down between the two of them, Syrus and Chumley dropped their food off in their room and ran back to the cliff side to watch the duel from an aerial point of view.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

They turned around to see Alexis and Zane walking up to them.

"Oh uh… hi Zane." Syrus muttered as he saw his brother again.

"Hello Syrus, so what's going on that has you two hanging out by this cliff side?" Zane asked.

"Just take a look, Joseph is about to duel the new transfer student."

"Oh, did something happen in paradise?" Alexis chuckled.

"Well, this will be interesting to watch to say the least." Zane said as he looked down at the duel about to take place. "I dueled Joseph earlier Alexis, as I was saying, he lost but if he had played his moves differently, he probably would have won just going off our opening hands."

"Wait, he could have won?" Syrus asked instantly, not believing for a moment that his brother Zane was admitting that he could have been defeated.

Zane nodded as both duelists took their places. "Yes, that deck I used wasn't optimal to take on the Dragonmaids, let alone in a two-turn duel. Joseph's only mistake was that he never had more than one Dragonmaid on the field, if he'd had two at any point, let alone one 'with' his House Dragonmaid then the duel probably could have ended in his victory."

"Crazy…"

"Yes, and if that's the case, I look forward to facing him with my Cyber Dragons."

Down on the beach though, Joseph readied his Duel Disk as Blair readied hers.

"Alright Blair, let's do this!"

"Game on Joseph!"

"LET'S DUEL!"

[Joseph Takara - 4000 / Blair Flannigan - 4000]

They both shuffled their decks and drew their first hands, Joseph looked at his hand and frowned slightly. [Laundry Dragonmaid, Return of the Dragon Lords, Tyrant Wing, Numinous Healer, Dragonmaid Changeover.]

'Not an ideal opening hand…'

"I call dibs, my turn!" Blair said as she drew her card and smirked. "Alright Joseph, get ready… to fall in love! I summon Maiden in Love in attack mode!"

On the field a cascade of lights signaled the summoning arrival of a young Maiden with long flowing brown hair, a yellow Cinderella inspired Ballroom inspired dress with white and pink triangular patterns and matching pink slippers and white frills. She also wore a pair of pink ribbons in her hair and she smiled lovingly as she appeared on the field.

[Maiden in love, Lvl 2, Light Attribute, Spellcaster Type, Effect Monster, 400 Atk / 300 Def]

"And I thought I was the only one who uses cute girls with the word 'maid' in their name…" He muttered.

"I heard that!" Blair shouted. "Anyway, I play one card face down, and end my turn!"

He nodded and drew his card, [Dragonmaid Welcome]

"Hmmm, I play Dragonmaid Welcome!" He declared, playing the magic card and seeing it appear on the field. "This magic card allows me to power up my monster's attack and defense points thanks to the aid of my Dragonmaids. For each one on the field, I gain one hundred attack and defense. So, let's bring some out, I summon the Laundry Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

In a cascade of light and azure blue draconic fire, Laundry rose from the ground to growl threateningly with her tail straight and quivering in anticipation of battle.

'Let's roar master!' Laundry said to him.

[Laundry Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Next, due to Laundry Dragonmaid's effect, I can send the top three cards to my graveyard, so let's get to it girl! Do your stuff!"

'You got it master!' She said happily as she cupped her hands and pointed two fingers at his duel disk, before launching a burst of her signature azure blue draconic energy at it, allowing him to send the top three cards to the graveyard.

He drew the cards and grimaced as he watched the cards he gave up. [Dragonmaid Sendoff, Dragonmaid Downtime, Numinous Healer]

"Well, not what I would have liked losing… but I did ask for it. At least Numinous Healer can help me out there." He said as Laundry smiled apologetically. "Alright, I play another card face down, and enter the battle phase!"

He smiled as Maiden in Love looked nervous while Laundry prepared to attack, while up on the cliff Joseph's friends were having an 'interesting' conversation to say the least.

"Wow, a battle of cute girls, I don't know who to root for." Syrus whispered.

"Yea, on one side there's Maiden in love… but on the other is Joseph's Maids… both are super cute."

"Uh guys, just remember that this is a duel and what you're looking at are cards, alright?" Alexis chuckled.

"Now normally my girls like to attack in their Dragon Forms, but since I didn't get lucky this round, Laundry is going to have to make do as is. Fortunately, she still gets an attack boost from Dragonmaid Welcome, so let's get to it girl, attack Maiden in Love with Azure Maid Flame!"

[Laundry Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1600 Def – 600 Atk / 1700 Def]

Laundry leapt up and blasted Maiden in Love with her signature draconic flame, causing Maiden in love to cower and cry as she fell to the ground and watched the attack harm her.

"Grrr, you may have broken my Maiden's heart, but she lives to fight another round, because when Maiden in Love is in attack mode, she can't be destroyed by battle due to her special ability." Blair said before she started smirking. "But that's not the only effect that happens."

[Joseph Takara - 4000 / Blair Flannigan - 3800]

"What?" Joseph started saying before suddenly everything became sparkly and filled with warm colors, and Laundry maid was seen politely helping Maiden in Love to her feet. "Huuuuuuuuuh?"

(Entering, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"I'm… I'm so sorry my lady… I don't know what came over me… are you alright?" Laundry Dragonmaid asked softly as she gently cupped Maiden's hand apologetically.

"Uhmmm maybe… maybe not… you 'did' use some nasty fire against me." Maiden in Love whispered in a slightly hurt voice as she pretended to cry.

"Oh, please forgive me… I wasn't in control of myself… I was just doing what I was told, I didn't mean to hurt such a beautiful creature like yourself…" Laundry pleaded with a hurt expression as she gently held Maden in Love's chin with her fingers. "I would never have hurt a single hair on your beautiful, delicate body…"

"Well… if 'you' say so… I guess I can forgive you 'this time'…" Maiden in Love said as she winked and sent a pink heart which stuck to Laundry maid's dress, making her blush as she touched it.

(Exiting, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"What the… Laundry, you're supposed to be 'attacking' the opponent's monster not 'falling in love' with them! Get your head out of the clouds girl!" He yelled hysterically as Laundry looked back at him in confusion, still blushing as she held the heart on her dress.

"You see Joseph, whenever a monster battles Maiden in Love, she leaves a Maiden Counter on them!" Blair said with a smirk.

"What the heck is a Maiden Counter?"

"You'll find out soon enough!" Blair said confidently. "Now then, it's my turn… I draw, then I play 'Cupid's Kiss' and equip it to Maiden in Love!"

On the field the equip spell card appeared and a cherub floated down, and gave a little peck on Maiden in Love, causing her to smile and chuckle in mirth.

"Next, I'll play two cards face down, and then I'll have Maiden in Love attack Laundry Dragonmaid!"

(Entering, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"Here I come sweety, I'm coming to give you a big hug!" Maiden in Love called as she ran over through a field of flowers to Laundry Dragonmaid, who blushed as she took an awkward step back at Maiden's approach.

Maiden in Love leapt to hug her tightly, but Laundry reacted instinctually by turning around and smacking her away with her tail, causing her to fall backward and gasp painfully and look sadly at Laundry, tears breaking her eyelids.

"Hah why did you do that… how could you be so mean, I just wanted to give you a hug…" Maiden in Love moaned sadly as she clutched her hands together. "I thought you didn't 'want' to hurt me… was that a lie? Waaaahahahahaaa…"

Laundry looked so depressed as she watched Maiden crying, and she gently cupped her hand apologetically with a sorrowful expression. "Please forgive me my maiden, accept my apologies… I truly am sorry; I was not able to control myself…"

At that Maiden smirked as she looked at the Dragonmaid. "Well… if you say so…" She whispered seductively, before leaning over and giving Laundry a kiss on the lips, causing Laundry's eyes to go wide and her tail to shoot straight upward and become stiff as a board.

(Exiting, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"You gatta be kidding me, Laundry what are you doing kissing the opponent's monster, focus girl!" Joseph screamed as he watched the turn taking place.

Up with Alexis and company, she was trying super hard not to facepalm and bust out laughing at Joseph's expense, this duel was completely ridiculous. "This duel is sounding like the pitch to an anime, a lesbian Dragon that transforms into a maid who falling in love with a human woman."

"If I weren't interested in the duel I think I'd leave to spare Joseph knowing we watched the entire thing." Zane muttered with an apologetic smile.

"Man, I really don't know who to root for this duel." Syrus muttered.

"Yea, but I think my money's on Maiden in Love."

"You see Joseph, the equip spell Cupid's Kiss has the effect where if Maiden in Love takes damage from a monster with a Maiden Counter, I get to take control of that monster!" Blair said with a smirk. "Sure, it cost me some points, but you're about to take a whole lot more!"

"Wait what?"

(Entering, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"Laundry, you know… I just had an idea with how you can make it up with me…" Maiden in Love said with a smirk as the fuzzy warm colored field appeared again.

"Anything Maiden, just tell me and I'll do it!" Laundry said eagerly, blushing deeply as she awaited Maiden's idea.

"Hmmm okay… you see that big mean boy over, I would 'love' it if you'd go an teach him a lesson!" Maiden said as she pointed at him. "Torch him a bit and I'll give you a kiss~!"

At those words Laundry's eyes burned with blue fire as she turned to Joseph and grinned. "One torched male coming up my love!"

She leapt high into the air and sent a burst of draconic flame and roasted his life points, causing him to grimace as he felt the sting of his own monster attacking him. The only saving grace was that because his monster was no longer under 'his' control, it lost the attack boost from Dragonmaid Welcome.

(Exiting, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"This duel is so not going according to my plans." He muttered as his life points took a hit.

[Joseph Takara - 4000 / Blair Flannigan - 3600]

[Joseph Takara - 3500 / Blair Flannigan - 3600]

"Well, I happen to have a trap card on the field, I activate Numinous Healer!" He yelled as he flipped the card up. "When this card is activated if I lose life points, I gain a thousand more, plus five hundred extra for each Numinous Healer in my graveyard! And I already have one in there thanks to Laundry Dragonmaid!"

[Joseph Takara - 5000 / Blair Flannigan - 3600]

"Well since I've taken your only monster so far, and I have no more cards to play at this time, I'll just end my turn and let you try to fight the inevitable!" Blair said with a smirk.

"Great… thanks a lot, Laundry has been turned against me, I need to do something fast!" He said as he drew his card and grinned, [Graceful Charity]. "Alright, I activate Graceful Charity! This lets me draw three cards, and then discard two!"

[Dragonmaid Welcome, Dragonmaid Tinkech, Nurse Dragonmaid]

"Sweet, I discard Dragonmaid Tinkech and Dragonmaid Welcome. Next I play Nurse Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

On the field Nurse Dragonmaid rose up in a pillar of pastel pink fire, looking warmly across the field before scowling as she saw Laundry standing against them.

'How 'dare' she turn her back on you master, we need to set her straight.'

[Nurse Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Yea, but we can't attack Maiden, cause all that will happen is you girls falling in love with her all over again. So, let's first set Laundry straight, I activate Return of the Dragon Lords!"

He played the card and a fiery red draconic flame rose as a draconic aura appeared next to Nurse.

"This card allows me to resurrect a lvl 7 or 8 dragon type monster from my graveyard, and I choose to bring back Dragonmaid Tinkech." He declared.

Tinkech roared onto the field as she growled and glared daggers at Laundry.

[Dragonmaid Tinkech, lvl 8, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

'Laundry, you better have a good reason for being over there and not here!'

'You wouldn't understand Tinkech, you can't fathom how I feel about Maiden, you wouldn't understand, it's love!'

'Grrrrrr'

"Alright, time to get Laundry back on our side, once we destroy her in battle, she'll go back to my graveyard, and then she'll be back to her old self." Joseph declared as he had more than enough firepower now. "Due to Dragonmaid Welcome's effect, my monsters gain 200 extra attack and defense points first! Second, I can ask my ladies to give me back a Dragonmaid card from my graveyard since I have two of them, so ladies, but for now, let's just get to the battle phase! Dragonmaid Tinkech, destroy Laundry Dragonmaid with Crimson Draconic Fire. Sorry Laundry, but you'll thank me once your back to your old self!"

[Dragonmaid Tinkech 2700 Atk / 1700 Def – 2900 Atk / 1900 Def]

[Nurse Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1600 Def – 700 Atk / 1800 Def]

Tinkech released a powerful stream of crimson draconic flame at Laundry who backed up in fear.

"Sorry Joseph, but I activate my face down, Defense Maiden!" Blair yelled. "I also activate my second face down, Enchanted Javelin!"

Two of her face downs appeared and suddenly Maiden jumped in front of Laundry, shielding her from Tinkech's attack.

"First Javelin increases my life points by the attack points of one of 'your' attacking monsters, so thank you for the 2900 life point boost, I'm going to need that because Defense Maiden now makes it so that you can only attack Maiden in Love!"

Maiden cried in agony as she was harmed by the flame and Laundry caught her with a shocked and saddened face.

"And you know what that meeeeans!"

[Joseph Takara - 5000 / Blair Flannigan - 6500]

[Joseph Takara - 5000 / Blair Flannigan - 4000]

"Oh no…." He muttered as everything started going all 'romancy' again.

(Entering, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

Laundry gasped as she looked at her wounded beloved Maiden, sad that she had risked herself to protect 'her' from harm from her former sister in Dragonmaid-hood. "Oh, you poor thing…" Laundry whispered sadly before angrily glaring at Tinkech. "Look at what you have done Tinkech, to think a Dragonmaid like you would hurt such a delicate flower like Maiden? Shame on you Tinkech, SHAME ON YOU!"

Tinkech blushed as the gravity of her situation took root.

"You can hurt me all you want, I'll gladly take any punishment you seek to give, but leave poor Maiden out of this fight! She is a fair lady and cannot defend herself against you, how could you hurt her!?"

"Oh no… what have I done?!" Tinkech yelled in horror. "Please forgive Maiden, I am so sorry please don't be angry!"

"W-what?" Nurse yelled as she watched her fellow Dragonmaid fawning over the enemy.

"*Sob* Y… you really mean it?" Maiden asked slyly with a grin.

"Yes Maiden, I'll do anything to make amends, ANYTHING, JUST NAME IT!"

"Well… nothing comes to mind at the moment, but maybe later…" Maiden in Love said as she blew a kiss at Tinkech and it latched onto her chest, causing Tinkech to blush.

"You can't be serious Tinkech, she's the enemy! Our master is right behind us!" Nurse chided Tinkech, but Tinkech looked confused at those words.

(Exiting, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"Man, this girl knows how to play sides." Syrus muttered.

"Tell me about it, she's got those Dragonmaids eating out of the palm of her hands. She can totally eat my hands too by the way." Chumley agreed.

"Is this a duel or a soap opera, duel monsters falling in love during the duel?" Alexis muttered, trying so hard not to laugh but it was getting harder the longer this duel went on.

"Oh please, don't bring that up, this reminds me of when Syrus and I were younger, and he swore he was going steady with Dark Magician Girl." Zane muttered. "Took me a year to look him straight in the face and admit to people he was my brother in public."

Joseph meanwhile was growling to himself, his Maids were getting wooed by this Maiden, and he didn't dare risk Nurse getting a counter herself. "Fine, I end my turn…"

"Perfect, my turn again~!" Blair said as she drew. "Alright… I think I'll save this card for later and have Maiden in Love attack Dragonmaid Tinkech! Go Maiden!"

(Entering, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"Here I come Tinkech, I'm coming to give you a big warm hug!" Maiden in Love cheered as she ran toward Tinkech, who was blushing at her approach.

But as she leapt to wrap her arms around the Dragonmaid, Tinkech instinctively turned and slapped her away with her tail, causing her to fall backward into the field of flowers that littered the ground around them.

"Tinkech, why would you do that… you said you would do anything to make up for hurting me before, was that also a lie?" Maiden asked sadly as tears began appearing.

Tinkech began panicking as she leaned closer, blushing heavily as she looked upon the fallen form of the beautiful Maiden in Love who meant no harm to her. "I meant what I said, I'm so terribly sorry, please command me, tell me what you want, I'll do whatever you ask to make amends!"

"Anything?" Maiden asked slyly as she looked at Nurse.

"You cannot be serious Tinkech, she's just using you!" Nurse Dragonmaid yelled angrily.

"Shut it Nurse, how dare you try to interfere with our love life!"

"LOVE?!"

"Well… if you really want to make it up to me… you can start by burning your former friend over there and prove how much you 'really' love me!" Maiden said as she leaned over and kissed Tinkech on the cheek, making her wings flare out and go stiff as hearts filled her eyes.

"One roasted nurse coming right up!"

(Exiting, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

[Joseph Takara - 5000 / Blair Flannigan - 1500]

"Now that Tinkech's felt the love bug, I'm having your Dragon attack your nurse, with Crimson Draconic Fire!" Blair yelled excitedly.

Tinkech took a deep breath and without any hesitation launched it at Nurse Dragonmaid, who screamed in agony as she was incinerated. Joseph grimaced as he wanted to save her with Return of the Dragon Lord's effect, but she was safer in the graveyard away from Maiden in Love's effect.

"Now that Nurse Dragonmaid is gone, your turn Laundry, give Joseph a taste of your power now!" Blair called out and Laundry Dragonmaid leapt high into the air, before launching a beam of Draconic energy at him, zapping his life points even more.

[Joseph Takara - 2900 / Blair Flannigan - 1500]

[Joseph Takara - 2400 / Blair Flannigan - 1500]

Blair smirked as she had the upper hand now, she may not have the life point lead, but with two of Joseph's monsters on her side of the field, and with her trump card ready to go, she was in the driver's seat. "Now that it's the end of my battle phase, I play the equip spell card, Happy Marriage."

On the field a pair of golden bells appeared, chiming and ringing as they were swung by a pink ribbon tied around them, and Maiden in Love's appearance changed to that of a beautiful white wedding dress. She now even had a bouquet of white roses to complete her ensemble.

"I can only activate this card while a face up monster that 'you' own is on my side of the field. Because of this, the monster equipped with Happy Marriage gets an attack boost equal to 'that' monster's attack points, so Maiden in Love gets 2700 extra attack points! That's if Dragonmaid Tinkech says 'I Do' of course~!"

'It would be my pleasure~!' Tinkech cheered as Maiden held one leg and gave her the attack points.

[Maiden in Love 400 Atk / 300 Def – 3100 Atk / 300 Def]

"Hooray~! And with that I end my turn." Blair said as she pulled off her hat and finally let down her hair. "Admit it Joseph, you're outmatched, you can't possibly fight against love. I'm dueling for love and there is no force stronger than that!"

Joseph was frowning as he drew his next card, [Parlor Dragonmaid] and Dragonmaid Ernus appeared in spirit form looking worried.

'This isn't good master, Tinkech and Laundry are completely taken by that Maiden.'

"You're right, and now that she has Tinkech's attack power, nothing I have can take her on. The only monster I have that can take her out now is House Dragonmaid… hmmm…" He muttered as he looked at the cards in his hand.

[Tyrant Wing, Dragonmaid Changeover, Parlor Dragonmaid.]

"Hang on, I think I'm seeing a combo here." He muttered as he played it out in his head. "Yea, if She's so eager to throw her Maiden at my monsters, then I can use that to my advantage! Alright, I play one card face down, and then I summon Parlor Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

Parlor rose from her card in a spire of emerald-green draconic fire, standing straight and glaring daggers at her fellow Dragonmaids on the opposite side of the field.

'To think you two would turn against our beloved master so easily… I'm ashamed to be associated with you!'

[Parlor Dragonmaid, lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1700 Def]

"Alright, since Parlor's been successfully summoned, her effect activates, allowing me to send a Dragonmaid card from my deck to the grave, and I choose Dragonmaid Lorpar!"

Parlor nodded warmly as she turned and aimed a finger at his duel disk, before blasting it with her signature energy, allowing him to extract the desired card and send it to the graveyard.

"And with that, I end my turn."

"Wait, that's it?" Syrus asked from up above. "Why didn't he attack, switching his maid into her dragon form and destroy Tinkech or Laundry?"

"Because Syrus, Defense Maiden is still in play." Zane said as he smiled, seeing Joseph's plan. "As long as that card is still on the field, Joseph will be forced to attack Maiden in Love, and even with the attack boost provided by Dragonmaid Welcome, Lorpar lacks the power needed to take on the Maiden since Tinkech is still on the field on Blair's side. She'd lose the fight and be destroyed if he tried."

"If I know Joseph he's going to try and bust out House Dragonmaid soon, she can destroy Maiden in Love with her effect, thus getting around all those attack points and the effect she has." Alexis agreed. "He just needs to get the maids in position."

Back down on the field Blair smirked as she had him backed into a corner, once she won this duel she wouldn't have to worry about Joseph meddling in her affairs.

"My turn, I draw, and now I'm going into my attack! Maiden in Love atta-huh?"

Parlor smirked as she began glowing, growing, and in a flash of draconic energy appeared in her Dragon form of Lorpar, growling fiercely as she prepared for battle.

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, lvl 8, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

"Oh yea, didn't I mention, my Dragonmaids can go into their dragon forms 'during' the battle phase, mine or yours. And since you started the battle phase, I activate my face down, Tyrant Wing!"

[Tyrant Wing]

"This trap card latches onto a dragon of my choice, increasing its attack and defense by 400 points, and it also enables it to attack twice, but if the monster equipped destroys a monster, the trap card is destroyed at the end of the turn. And don't forget, my Dragonmaid Welcome is still on the field… so she gets another boost in power."

Lorpar smirked as her wings extended and began glowing brilliantly white.

[Dragonmaid Lorpar 2700 Atk / 1700 Def – 3100 Atk / 2100 Def – 3200 Atk / 2200 Def]

"Hmph, so what, Maiden in Love can't be destroyed in battle remember? And you just exposed another monster for me to take control of with Maiden in Love's effect. Attack Maiden in Love!"

(Entering, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

Maiden started walking over as the field once more changed to that of a field of flowers with beautiful warm colors to compliment it. As she tried to give Lorpar a warm hug, Lorpar used one of her wings to swat Maiden away and cause her to fall backward.

"Lorpar, how could you do that to me… I just wanted to give you a hug…" Maiden began crying, causing Tinkech and Laundry to run over and help her.

'Lorpar how could you treat a beautiful maiden like her so cruely?'

'She's my wife Lorpar why did you have to make her cry?!'

'Oh, bite me you traitors!' Lorpar snapped angrily. 'I'm not falling for those crocodile tears!'

At that both Dragonmaids gasped, shocked that Lorpar would ever act that way.

"But… I'm just so sad… that a beautiful dragon like you would ever hurt me, when I didn't mean you any harm…" Maiden said as she winked at Lorpar, causing a Miaden Counter heart to fly toward the emerald dragon.

Lorpar watched it approach before swatting it away with her other wing.

'A Maid's heart belongs only to her master, when she enters his service, she is to remain by his side until dismissed by him, forever in his shadow while lighting the path he chooses to walk upon. THAT is what it means to be Dragonmaid! You two make me 'sick' just standing there spouting how you 'love' that girl more than your master. Especially when our master is right in front of you! My heart belongs to my master, and no one else, especially not some 'tramp' who puts out for every monster she sees!'

(Exiting, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

[Joseph Takara - 2400 / Blair Flannigan - 1400]

"What, what just happened?" Blair asked as the Maiden Counter clung to the tip of Lorpar's wing, by only the tiniest of margins. "Why isn't my Maiden Counter working?"

"Oh, it's working, it just doesn't have any effect on my Dragonmaid now." Joseph said with a smirk. "I'm going to be honest, I never encountered a card that uses 'counters' before, so it threw me off. However, if I remember from my lessons about counters from one of Doctor Crowler's lessons, counters only remain active if the card stays on the field. Lorpar and Parlor swap from field to hand and vice versa. So once Lorpar leaves the field, that Maiden Counter will go away. But it's still your turn, so feel free to attack with Tinkech or Laundry… but I'm guessing you won't since if you try either, your life points will go down to zero, or you'll lose all those attack points from Tinkech."

"Grrr… fine… I end my turn." Blair muttered, and Lorpar smirked as she transformed back into Maid form, resulting in both Tyrant Wing and the Maiden Counter vanishing from the field.

"And since Parlor was summoned out successfully, I use her effect to send Dragonmaid Tidying to the graveyard.

Parlor nodded and blasted his duel disk with another burst of her energy, causing Tidying to be pulled out and him sending it to the grave.

"My turn… I draw." Joseph said as he drew his card, [Dragonmaid Nudyarl], I activate the magic card, Dragonmaid Changeover! This magic card allows me to fusion summon one dragon type monster using the Dragonmaids as fusion material, and this one requires one dragon type and one Dragonmaid monster, and Dragonmaids are both! I fuse Dragonmaid Lorpar and the Parlor Dragonmaid on my field to fusion summon…"

Parlor closed her eyes as her entire body was enveloped in a spire of draconic flame, crimson, black and white swirling around her as the visage of a terrifying dragon slowly rose before them. A pair of menacingly colored eyes glowed and pierced through the flames, causing both Tinkech and Laundry to back up and shudder in terror, while Maiden simply looked confused at their reaction.

"House Dragonmaid!"

The flames dispersed as House Dragonmaid appeared, crossing her arms before her and bowing humbly as she stood at attention, her warm and pleasant smile present, even as she 'glared' at the two Dragonmaids opposite her with Maiden in Love.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"House Dragonmaid, well it's no matter, she can't touch my Maiden in Love, and even if you try to attack the other monsters, she'll take the hit for them."

"I wouldn't be so confident, you see I am not done yet, I activate my Dragonmaid Tidying trap card, by banishing it from the grave I can special summon a Dragonmaid monster from either my graveyard or hand into defense mode! The only downside, she goes back to my hand at the end of the turn. And I choose Nurse Dragonmaid!"

In a plume of pastel pink fire Nurse returned to the field in defense mode, arms crossed and kneeling as she bowed humbly to House, awaiting Joseph's commands.

"Then because of Nurse Dragonmaid's effects, I can summon 'another' lvl 4 or below Dragonmaid if she's in my grave, and guess who's there, Parlor Dragonmaid!"

Nurse nodded and aimed a finger across from House Dragonmaid, and in a plume of emerald flame Parlor now rose to the field in attack mode, smiling as she stood at attention and awaited Joseph's orders.

"Parlor, you know what to do, send Ernus to the grave for me girl~!"

Parlor nodded and launched her draconic energy at his duel disk, extracting Ernus and sending it to the grave per his wishes.

"Now then, what say we get this duel over shall we?" He said as he grinned, "House Dragonmaid, set those two straight for me girl!"

(Entering, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

The field turned all warm colors once more as House smiled and looked at both Tinkech and Laundry, not with disappointment or anger, just humble acceptance that those two had broken their vows of Maidhood in turning against their master. She did not ask why, she did not chide then, did not yell or shout, in fact she never opened her mouth, she just… stared at them.

"Uh… m-m-m- Ma'am… uh… w-what a s-s-surprise to see you here!" Tinkech shivered through her mouth.

"C-c-c-can we help you w-w-with anything?" Laundry said as she cowered behind Maiden in Love.

House simply frowned sadly as she looked at them, shook her head ever so slightly, and sighed in utter disappointment. She then snapped her fingers, pointed at both Dragonmaids, and sent the tiniest spark of her signature energy at them, causing both Maiden Counters to vanish and both maids to snap out of their hypnotic mindset.

"W-what? What am I doing with a wedding ring around my arm, I didn't want to get married! ESPECIALLY TO A GIRL, I DON'T ROLL THAT WAY!" Tinkech screamed in horror as she rushed to pull the wedding ring off.

"I can't believe I gave my first kiss to a girl, no wait, I wasn't in my true form, IT DOESN'T COUNT, IT DOES NOT COUNT!" Laundry screamed desperately as she pulled out a bottle of sanitizer and several alcohol swabs and started scrubbing her lips and tongue in a desperate bid to make herself pure once more.

They both turned to Maiden in Love and said in unison, "This didn't happen, we never met you!"

"What, but we're lovers… she's just trying to separate us from being together!" Maiden said as she pointed at House Dragonmaid.

House shook her head as she scowled at Maiden in Love, before glancing at both Tinkech and Laundry.

"What did you call me, I am not a hussy you old HAG!"

The moment she uttered that last word, House's air of humbleness and her gentle attitude was flung out the window, as she was enveloped in a raging draconic aura, that screeched and roared its fury as she continued to stand still. Even Nurse and Parlor edged away ever so slightly out of fear and a desire to not get in the line of fire.

"Oooooh you did it nooooow…" Tinkech moaned in terror.

"You made her maaaaaad…" Laundry pined pitifully.

(Exiting, Sappy Soap Opera Vision)

"That is one. Mad. House Maid." Alexis noted.

"I guess that's why the other Dragonmaids fear her." Zane muttered.

"We should take cover before the fireworks start." Syrus said.

"Agreed!" Chumley agreed.

"Alright, I initiate the battle phase, so Dragonmaids transform!"

Both Parlor and Nurse nodded and glowed, and then emerged into their true dragon forms as Ernus and Lorpar.

[Dragonmaid Ernus, lvl 7, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2600 Atk / 1600 Def]

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, lvl 8, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

Both Dragons smirked as House raised a hand and began gathering their draconic energy to the point of her index finger.

"Hey, what's going on with your monster?" Blair asked as both Tinkech and Laundry began cowering in fear.

"You see Blair, when House Dragonmaid is on the field, and any dragon type monsters return from my side of the field back to the hand, then House Dragonmaid's ability activates. For each dragon that returns, she can destroy one monster on your side of the field, and since this is her special ability, you can't survive with Maiden in Love's effect! House Dragonmaid, destroy Maiden in Love!"

House nodded as she launched the first shot at Maiden, who became enveloped in pink flame and was incinerated, being destroyed and leaving Tinkech and Laundry alone.

"Now for the second, destroy Dragonmaid Tinkech, sorry girl, have to do it!" He said apologetically.

"Wa-wa-wait we can talk about this, it wasn't my fault, I didn't mean to betray him, I swear it wasn't my fault, I still love him, I'm being honeeeeeeeest!" Tinkech screamed as House blasted her with an emerald-green flame and burned her to cinders, sending her back to his graveyard.

"And since it's the battle phase, and House hasn't officially attacked yet, I say we use that bonus that my Dragonmaid Welcome card still gives my girls for being on the field, I count three so 300 points please!"

[House Dragonmaid 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 3300 Atk / 2300 Def]

"House Dragonmaid, take out Laundry Dragonmaid and get her back where she belongs."

House nodded as she walked over to Laundry with a humble smile on her face, while Laundry shuddered in terror at the House maid's approach.

"M-m-m-ma'am I swear… I wasn't in control; I wasn't trying to hurt master!" She pleaded as House got closer and closer. "I didn't mean to betray him, I didn't have my dragon form, I couldn't resist, she sweet talked me, I got confuuuuuused!"

House did not blink as she walked right up to a shivering Laundry, stared into her eyes, and simply blinked.

Laundry gasped in fear before falling backward and fainting, all color drained and being left a colorless cartoon Dragonmaid with a dark outline. House straightened up, snapped her fingers, and both Ernus and Lorpar flew over, picked her up and flew back over to Joseph's side of the field, while House walked back over after blasting Blair's life points with a final burst of draconic fire.

[Joseph Takara - 2400 / Blair Flannigan - 0]

"And that's game Blair." Joseph said.

Blair looked down in defeat as she accepted being defeated in the duel. However, all of that ended as they looked over and saw several students walking down the cliff side path to the Slifer dorms toward them, among them was Zane himself. "Hey guys, did you uh watch the entire thing?"

"Sorry to say Joseph but yea, from start to finish." Alexis said with an apologetic smile. "Also, I'm surprised to see that Blair is actually a girl."

"you're telling us, we thought she was a boy this entire time! No wonder Joseph wanted her to use the bathhouse before all of the other Slifers."

"Hey Joseph, did you know she was a girl the entire time?" Chumley asked.

"Yep, after living with Sheou and her coworkers at the café for years, I know when a girl is cosplaying as a guy, especially after they cosplayed as guys one week. You should see their outfits; you would never realize they were girls unless you knew. The only question remaining to be asked…" Joseph asked as he looked at Blair. "Is why 'you' were trying to sneak into Zane's bedroom when he was out."

"She tried sneaking into my room?" Zane asked with a frown.

"Uhm… yes… I'm sorry but… since you're already here I guess I have… no reason to keep hiding it anymore." Blair said as she blushed at seeing him. "You see Zane, I tried sneaking into your room earlier today because… well I've been in love with you since we first met."

"Hmm, if I remember, I met you right after the National Championships." Zane said.

"That's right, we met right after and then right after I made a pledge that I would one day be with you. You told me back then if I trained really well then I could get into Duel Academy, so I did!" Blair said happily. "And now that I'm here, we can get married!"

At that everyone was more 'surprised' that she could say that with a straight face. Zane however, shook his head, before deciding to break it to her as 'gently' as he could manage.

"Look Blair, I'm flattered that you feel that way about me, but right now the only thing I love is Dueling."

"But… why Zane?"

"Blair, sweety, that isn't how love works. You can't just sneak your way into someone's heart and think that everything will be happily ever after. Just… take a look at what happened in your duel with Joseph." Alexis said as she looked over at him. "Maiden in Love tried to turn Joseph's dragons against him, she used tricks and her looks to get what she wanted, but in the end she was left alone and in tears. Whereas Joseph's dragons, even after they turned on him, they went right back to him, because she didn't really 'love' them. She may have tried to find love, but she went about finding it the wrong way."

"Yes… and I'm sorry Blair, but its time for you to go home." Zane said apologetically.

"Huh, why's that Zane?" Syrus asked.

"Yea I mean, if she's a student then shouldn't she stay here?" Joseph asked. "I mean, sure she 'tried' to sneak into your room, but she didn't succeed, she just needs to come out and admit to the school that she's a girl and let everyone else know."

"That 'would' be alright, but you see Joseph, she's too young to be here, she isn't old enough to qualify being here. The only way she could be here is if she lied about her age."

"Uhm… 'how' old are you?" Joseph asked nervously.

"Eleven and a half!" Blair said with a smile.

"So… ugh, thank goodness I didn't lose, nobody would have let me hear the end of it!" Joseph muttered.

The next morning Blair sadly had to leave, but since she was a girl now she had to be given a different place to sleep for the night, so Joseph asked Sheou and her coworkers to take her in the café until she had to leave. The boat left with her, but none of them could go see her off due to classes.

Later that very day however, they went to the café to hang out, where they actually got to hang out with Sun and Lora, who hogged Joseph's sides at the table.

"Sheou the head maid gave us the night off for doing all of our chores on time, so we decided to hang out with our favorite adopted bro Joseph!" Lora said with a grin.

"It's not every day we get to be served here instead of serving everyone." Sun said with a warm smile.

"That's really cool, in fact I don't remember the last time you girls ever got a day off." Joseph said as Kite walked over with Luna, carrying their food.

"Well at least we can still hang out with you at the café…" Luna said sadly.

"Sheou can be so scary some days…" Kite whined.

"Back to work ladies…" Sheou whispered as she passed them, carrying a tray of food for the teachers.

"Yes ma'am!" They both said, and quickly got back to work.

They laughed a little at the two girl's having to work while Lora and Sun got to eat with them all.

"So, Joseph, any plan on becoming the school's representative for the big school duel?" Alexis asked.

"Hmm, I don't know, I mean, sure I've gotten good at dueling but… you know what, I'll give it a shot, I'll try to prove myself worthy to represent Duel Academy!"

"Knowing how important that duel is, Zane will be the one to become the school representative." Syrus muttered.

"Hey why don't you try Syrus, you're pretty good in duels!" Joseph said.

"I don't know… I mean… I'm not any good."

"Why's that?"

Syrus however didn't respond, he just made up an excuse and resumed eating his food, causing Joseph to wonder, but he decided not to push the conversation and ruin their dinner. Instead he just pretended that last bit never happened, and joked that he could totally date Blair with how old she is, and Syrus said something about how he 'did' get the good looks compared to Zane.

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=Next Time, Joseph vs Bastion, Duel to Represent, Chamber Maid's Debut=

"Master, you have gotten by very well with your current level of power, but you must truly utilize our power to overcome all obstacles in your path. Failure to do so cannot be accepted by us, for we depend on you for our power, for you are our master… The Master, of the Dragonmaids."

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From the Author

This chapter was a pain, absolute nightmare to write because I had to keep checking effects and looking up how Maiden in Love works, sorry the duel was so short but Blair didn't have many cards in the anime that I could find, so I had to essentially roll with just the stock Maiden in Love trio of cards, though I did add Enchanted Javelin to give her some extra life.

First I wanna thank you all for the support so far, even those of you who said you'd dropped this fic because of, well whatever reason you feel like sharing.

Look, I'm not perfect and nor am I the best writer in the world, this is my first foray into Yugioh fics, and all I can do is my very best. I wish I could satisfy everyone but… well all I can do is my best.

Anyway, sad stuff down, new dragonmaid-kinda card was released a while back called Laundry Trap, does anyone else know if there are other Dragonmaid Cards that are like that, meaning have the dragonmaids on the art but not labeled or are an official part of the archetype?

Next Chapter is the duel between Bastion and Joseph to see who goes on to represent Duel Academy in the school duel, and THAT is going to be a hard one, since I need to make a deck using Bastion's theme of science cards to take on Joseph's maids, and make it almost the perfect counter to what Joseph has, much like how Bastion 'perfectly' countered Jaden's elemental heroes just by removing polymerization from being played. If anyone has ideas let me know but, I'm honestly going to have to dig deep and really think outside of the box, or 'jar' perhaps lol. Let me know in reviews and please review away, I LOVE reading reviews~!