Starting Notes:
So, I posted this purely because it's 1) easier to write than Six Dimensions because it's a lot more conventional in style and 2) because the brainrot for it was eating me alive. So yes, this is a fic where the Yu boys also have twin sisters, though there aren't nearly enough 'Yu' names to name them all that way. I'll have more to say below, but yes, enjoy the fic!
#1: Heart of Flames
Sitting in a stadium, a black-haired girl was shrinking back in her seat, her hands gripping the fabric of her skirt.
"What a coward!"
"Weakling!"
"He was afraid to lose, because he didn't show up!"
Then, another voice broke through the shouts.
"My dad will show up!"
… Yuya?
The girl raised her head. Yuya was below, and she heard her mother let out a gasp and stand up, running towards the bottom of the stands.
"My dad's not a coward!" Yuya was sniffling. "Until he shows up, I will duel in his place!" The boos continued, even as the girl's mother pulled him away, the two of them retreating. The girl continued sitting there for a moment. Slowly, she raised a hand to her black hair.
She gritted her teeth.
No. He is.
He's a coward.
That's the only acceptable excuse for doing this to us.
It was still early in the morning when Yuya was woken by the sound of something wooden scraping against something else. Brushing his red and green hair away from his eyes, the sixteen-year-old boy walked over to the spare room next to his, already expecting what he would find. He was pretty used to being woken at this point. (At least she hadn't literally leapt out of the window this time.)
The door was slowly creaking shut, and Yuya pulled it open. Inside was a hastily made bed, with pajamas tossed into the laundry basket at the side.
He sighed.
Off on your own again, huh?
The sun had stained the ocean orange, rising at the edge of the sea and the sky. Sitting at the docks was a girl with bright red hair. Her hair was clearly not naturally red—the roots of her hair were black, which was her natural hair colour. She was wearing a dark red button-up blouse, with a black skirt. She was wearing a pair of goggles on the top of her hair, which was tied in a long ponytail. She was wearing a white jacket with gold trim.
Her legs were dangling over the water, shoes barely a few centimetres away from being drenched in the ocean. She was rather hyper-aware of that feeling—she had never liked water. (Her brother had joked that she was like a cat, in that aspect.) However, there was no better way to watch the sunrise than from the docks.
Keika Sakaki loved the sunlight more than anything else. There was something… intrinsically beautiful to it, that she couldn't find anywhere else. And at the same time, she enjoyed this place, so far away from the cold glances of other people.
Other people bothered her.
She glanced into the water for a moment, seeing her red eyes reflected back at her by the water.
When the sun had slowly risen, and the sky was lit up with its bright blue hue, Keika stood up and walked away.
After school, Keika met up with Yuya and Yuzu. Her twin brother and his best friend were in the same class, but Keika herself was taking an advanced language class, so she didn't share a classroom with any of them, and she ended classes an hour later than them.
When she walked into the Duel School, it was to the sight of Yuya toppling from a collapsing hologram to the ground. She made her way to her brother's side, sighing and holding out a hand to him.
"What happened to the Solid Vision projector?" She asked calmly.
"Uh…"
The sound of Yuzu and the headmaster arguing could be heard from above them, before the pink-haired girl came into view, looking rather angry. Just from that alone, Keika was able to deduce what had happened. She sighed again. Her brother's other childhood friend, Noboru Gongenzaka, was also walking over, and he looked annoyed too. Keika continued standing next to Yuya, just to see what was going to happen. She noticed her brother sliding his goggles over his eyes, and she frowned, gently patting his shoulder in an attempt to soothe his worries.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Yuzu said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Well, I wanted to continue making the audience laugh, but then you broke the projector," Yuya said. Hearing that ridiculous 'make people smile' philosophy again, Keika couldn't help but look away for a moment, if only to disguise her anger.
Even now, you still act like that man deserves any of our respect at all.
"This man, Gongenzaka, was not laughing," Gongenzaka said, drawing Keika's attention back to the conversation.
"Well, I definitely was," Yuya said lightheartedly, pulling off his goggles again, though Keika could see and feel the tension that he was feeling.
"There's a difference between someone laughing at you and someone laughing with you! Have you forgotten how your father, Yusho Sakaki, always made other people smile with his dueling? Have you forgotten the smiles that stirred within the hearts of the people that watched your father duel?"
"They laughed at him in the end, didn't he?" Yuya muttered, and he sounded somewhat tearful.
"Yuya!"
"Yuya!" Both Gongenzaka and Yuzu shouted.
"Let's all calm down," Keika said, holding out a hand to physically create distance between Yuya and the other two. Her heart was currently beginning to simmer with anger—she couldn't even hear her disgraceful father's name and not be angry at him.
After all, he was the reason that Yuya was like this. He was the reason for all of the problems that they'd had in their lives for the last three years.
If Yuya was unable to be like their father, Keika would nod, smile and call it a day.
It was in the middle of this tense situation that a dark-haired man with orange-tinted sunglasses with red frames. He was wearing a yellow and black striped suit that looked like caution tape. Keika frowned at the sight of him.
"There is something amiss in here," the man said.
"Who are you?" The headmaster had appeared now, still looking rather frazzled.
"He's Nico Smiley," Keika said, rather aloof as she glanced at the man. "... Strong Ishijima's manager." Yuya flinched in shock, and the others in the room were visibly affected as well.
"Correct! By your resemblance to him—" Keika gritted her teeth. "You must be his daughter then, right? How fortuitous that you and your brother are both here today! What do you think, Yuya Sakaki? You asked for a duel three years ago, and now, three years later, the preparations are finally ready!"
"... you mean for me to duel Strong Ishijima?" Yuya said, sounding very intimidated.
"Absolutely not," Keika said, her voice a low snarl. "You want to put Yuya on the stage and make him—what, a show pony for the entertainment of the people who mocked him? We won't let you do that."
"I'll have to agree," Shuzo Hiiragi said. "I won't let him compete!"
"Oh? Why not?" Nico shrugged. "Yusho's fans would be happy to see his son show up, no?"
"And what about Yuya?" Yuzu's father asked. "I won't allow for this! Do you know how Yuya and Keika felt all these years? All those people who mocked them, all the people who hurt them… I don't know how they could bear it. I'll have to ask you to leave."
"Really?"
Keika could hear the beginnings of something manipulative in the man's voice.
"Well, as a thank you for your cooperation, LDS would give You Show the newest Solid Vision technology for free… and well, it seems that you'd require that!"
Shuzo's face seemed to change for a moment—he was clearly tempted by it—but in the end, he shook his head. "My answer is the same," he said. "Go."
"... it's too late," Nico said, and there was a sound of victory in his awful, smarmy voice. "We've already announced the duel, anyway."
Yuya spun around, turning to run away. Nico shouted after him.
"Yuya Sakaki! For the sake of your own fear, are you going to allow yourself to be looked at as a coward? Because that's the only thing that will happen if you refuse to face an opponent!"
Yuya slipped out through the door. At the same time, Keika punched Nico straight in the chest. There were gasps from the rest as Nico was knocked to the floor.
"How dare you coerce Yuya into this," Keika said, her eyes flashing with anger. She was usually calm—just staying at the side, dropping comments but content to stay in the background—but there were a few things that could get her fired up. Seeing Yuya get mistreated was one of them. "How dare you. You scummy bastard."
She spun around, immediately following after her brother, leaving a silent group behind her.
In the end, Keika found Yuya, even if he had been long gone by the time that she had left the school. After all, she knew her brother very well—they had grown up together, two babies crying together, growing up into two toddlers learning how to walk. They had been kids walking to school for the first time together. There for each other, each and every step of the way.
He was sitting on the edge of the bridge. Suspended above the water.
Keika walked over, placing a bottle of water on the bridge next to her brother.
"Talk me through your feelings," she said.
"... I feel like if I talk, I'm going to cry."
"And what's wrong with that?" Keika asked. She sat down, though she was facing the opposite side from Yuya—Yuya was facing the ocean, while she was facing the road. "Crying is how you get the sadness out, after all."
Yuya picked up the bottle. He unscrewed it, tilting his head back and drinking from it quickly, before holding the bottle in his right hand, tilting and turning it.
"Dad always said that if we wanted to cry, we should laugh instead."
"... dad was wrong about a lot of things," Keika said. "Why is it a surprise that he's wrong about this too?"
"... but I can't get as angry as you do, Keika," Yuya said. "I just remember sitting with him… and him telling me to step forward and have courage, but I'm afraid… I don't know if I can do that."
Keika looped her hand in his, squeezing it gently.
"Courage is subjective," she said. "To be afraid and to step forward anyway… isn't that better?"
Yuya shook slightly.
"I think I want to do it," he confided in her. "I do want to prove myself. I'm just… scared that I won't. I don't know how to duel in a way that isn't making people laugh at me…"
"I think that you make yourself a target for mockery because you're afraid of being taken seriously," Keika said bluntly. Yuya almost facefaulted at the brutal honesty. "Because being taken seriously means actually having to live up to the reputation of our father."
"... you always know me best, Keika." Yuya looked at her. "Then, what should I do?"
That was a good question.
Keika shrugged. "In the end, it's your own choice," she said. "I'll always support you, Yuya. No matter what."
"... thanks, sis. Remind me how you're the younger one again?"
"Only by a few minutes," Keika said mildly. They sat there contemplatively.
"Let's duel," Yuya said after a moment. Keika raised an eyebrow, but she stood up, turning to face him. He stood up as well.
"Why?" She asked.
"I want to… psych myself up," Yuya said determinedly. "I want to be able to trust myself and my cards."
"... well, that's a fine enough reason." They had no Solid Vision field for Action Cards, but their duel disks would work well enough with basic holograms. "Let's go."
[DUEL!]
Yuya Sakaki: 4000LP
Keika Sakaki: 4000LP
"I'll start!" Yuya said, the two of them drawing their full hands. Keika saw him grimace a moment later. "I'll set a card and a monster facedown! Over to you!"
Keika shrugged. Alright. Her brother's pain was her gain in this duel, anyway. She drew a card from her deck, before swiftly making a decision. "I will activate two Spell Cards. First, the Spell Card, Unexpected Guy. I'll Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Normal Monster from my deck. I will Special Summon Metalphosis Goldriver." A dark-haired man on a futuristic golden four-wheeler appeared in front of her, wheels spinning with a bright light. "And I'll also activate Emergency Teleport, Special Summoning Metalphosis Silverd from my deck." A pink-haired woman with a red mask appeared, sitting on a white flying vehicle which resembled a bird, a pink blaster in her hands.
[Metalphosis Goldriver (4*/1900/500/FIRE/Psychic)]
[Metalphosis Silverd (3*/1700/100/FIRE/Psychic)]
"All of your stronger defensive monsters have 1800 attack points," Keika explained logically. "Attack his set monster, Goldriver!" The golden monster dashed forward towards Yuya's set monster, which flipped face-up. Three parrots appeared in front of Yuya, chirping in a simple chorus, before Goldriver properly destroyed them.
[Entermate Parakhorus (3*/500/500/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"When Parakhorus is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a "Entermate" monster from my deck!" Feathers spouted from the spot that Parakhorus had been sitting at. "Come—Entermate Chain Giraffe!" A yellow giraffe with a bright red 'mane' and a blue cloth covering its body like a dress appeared.
[Entermate Chain Giraffe (1*/100/500/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]
"And since Chain Giraffe was summoned, I can target a monster you control and stop it from attacking or activating its effects while Chain Giraffe is face-up on the field!" Yuya pointed to Silverd, who was bound by two long chains.
"That's fine," Keika replied. "I'll release Silverd and Goldriver to Advance Summon Prometeoron, the Burning Asteroid!" A large, blazing creature appeared, seeming humanoid at first but actually being a rather large, wispy spirit. It seemed like an eldritch creature, with a seven-fingered hand that was holding onto flaming meteors.
[Prometeoron, the Burning Asteroid (8*/2800/2000/FIRE/Machine/Effect)]
"I'll end my turn," Keika said calmly. Prometeoron was one of her strongest monsters, currently—not her ace, but still a monster that she enjoyed using on occasion.
"Draw!" Yuya said dramatically. "I'll admit, Prometeoron's attack points are really high… but that's fine! First, since I control an "Entermate" monster, I can activate the Trap Card, Entertainment Flash! I'll change your monster to Defense Position, and it can't change battle positions until the end of your next turn!"
Prometeoron was forced down into a defensive stance, its flames flickering around wildly as it let out a snarl at the suppression.
"Then, I'll send Entermate Monkeyboard from my hand to the graveyard to decrease the Level of Odd-Eyes Dragon in my hand by 1!" He revealed the card with the red dragon on it, and Keika allowed herself to smile. That was her brother's ace—and for some reason, every time Keika saw it, there was a part of her heart that seemed to light up with joy. It was probably because she associated it so strongly with her brother, right?...
"And that means that Odd-Eyes Dragon is now a Level 6 monster, and I can summon it with a single tribute! I'll release Entermate Chain Giraffe and Advance Summon Odd-Eyes Dragon!" In front of him, the bright red dragon with dichroic eyes appeared, letting out a loud, defiant roar.
[Odd-Eyes Dragon (7*/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Effect)]
"I'll then have Odd-Eyes attack your monster! Spiral Flame!" Prometeoron was destroyed by the bright flames, which was rather ironic in its own way. "And since Odd-Eyes destroyed a Level 5 or higher monster by battle and sent it to the graveyard, you take damage equal to half your monster's original attack points! Reaction Strike!" Odd-Eyes dove at Keika, though since it was just a hologram with no Solid Vision, there was nothing to be afraid of. Keika even chuckled as the dragon dove towards her, her heart feeling far warmer at the sight of it.
Keika: 4000 - 2800 / 2 = 2600LP
"I'll end my turn," Yuya said. Odd-Eyes Dragon landed next to him. "You're in trouble, Keika."
Keika glanced at the four cards in her hand. "I think I'll be just fine," she said calmly. "I'll Normal Summon Rescue Rabbit!" The cute grey bunny appeared on her field.
[Rescue Rabbit (4*/300/100/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]
"Then, by releasing Rescue Rabbit, I can Special Summon two Level 4 or lower Normal Monsters with the same name from my deck, but they are destroyed during the End Phase. I'll Special Summon two copies of Metalphosis Steeleren from my deck." Two white-haired men on red motorcycles appeared on her field, energy swirling around them, both of them holding onto swords.
[Metalphosis Steeleren (2*/0/2100/FIRE/Psychic)]
"I will then activate the Spell Card, Dual Summon. I can Normal Summon or Set another time this turn."
"Is it her?" Yuya said—he was grinning. Keika couldn't help but smile too.
"Maybe," she said. "You'll have to wait and see. I'll tribute both copies of Metalphosis Steeleren to set a monster facedown on my field. And I'll end my turn."
Yuya drew a card. "If it's who I'm thinking of," he said, "then I'm better off not summoning any more monsters for now… attack, Odd-Eyes! Spiral Flame!" Flames shot towards Keika's set monster—
Who rose up in a vengeance against the flames. A beautiful dragon emerged from the flames, its body mostly covered by orange scales, with a dark red underbelly of thick skin. It was quadrapedal. Around its head and down its slender neck was a bright gold and burnished yellow mane of fur that rippled, embers dancing around it. As the flames faded, thin, barely noticeable golden streaks could be seen around its orange body. Twin eyes—one gold and one red—peered forward. Twin wings of bright flame-like feathers, with a spectrum from bright orange to white, burst forth. Finally, a tail of gold-white and reddish feathers draped across the ground behind the dragon.
"Meet Sunburst Spark Dragon!" Keika declared, and her ace let out a cry that sounded almost bird-like.
[Sunburst Spark Dragon (7*/2000/2500/FIRE/Dragon/Effect)]
"We've met, I've dealt with her all my life," Yuya quipped. Both Odd-Eyes and Sunburst Spark roared at each other, clearly as a form of greeting between the two. "Well, she's not destroyed by the battle, since her defense points equal Odd-Eyes's attack points… I'll set a card facedown and end my turn."
"Draw." Keika nodded to her dragon. "Alright. I'll activate the Spell Card, Monster Reborn! And I'll revive Prometeoron, the Burning Asteroid!" The blazing monster reappeared on her field. "Attack Odd-Eyes!"
"The star of the show won't go down that easily! Trap Card, Attack Invulnerability! This turn, Odd-Eyes can't be destroyed by battle!" A shield protected Yuya's ace monster.
"But you still take the damage," Keika said with a shrug.
Yuya: 4000 - 300 = 3700LP
"I end my turn."
"Draw." Yuya glanced at his card, and then he blinked. "... alright! I'll activate Wonder Balloon!" The Continuous Spell appeared on his field. "And by discarding two cards, I'll place two counters on it!" Two balloons appeared, floating around his field. "And then, by sending it to the graveyard, I'll reduce your monster's attack points by 1000 for each counter! I'll choose Prometeoron, the Burning Asteroid!" The monster roared, once again forced into a weaker position by Yuya.
[Prometeoron, the Burning Asteroid: 2800 - 1000 x 2 = 800ATK]
"Attack, Odd-Eyes! Spiral Flame!" The dragon destroyed her monster again, and her life points fell by a substantial amount.
Keika: 2600 - 1700 = 900LP
"And to finish you off, Odd-Eyes's effect! Reaction Strike!" Another burst of flames eliminated the rest of her life points.
Keika: 900 - 2800 / 2 = 0LP
Winner: Yuya Sakaki!
"Well done," Keika said. She cracked a smile. "Do you feel more confident now?"
"... I kind of forgot that it was what we were dueling for," Yuya said sheepishly. "But yeah. I kind of got distracted from all of my worries. Thanks, Keika."
"What are siblings for?" Keika said warmly. "Go get them tomorrow, Yuya—as yourself." As they walked back home, she glanced at the card left in her hand.
The truth was, she had summoned Prometeoron just because she knew that Yuya could counter it. She probably could have won if she had simply stalled a single turn longer. However… she didn't want to discourage Yuya the day before such an important duel.
She wouldn't sacrifice his morale for her own self-satisfaction.
Not like whatever our father did.
And anyway, it was just a duel. What could really go wrong?
The next day:
"Pendulum Summon! Come, my monster servants!"
Keika watched the monsters appear on the field, blinking as everyone around her exploded into loud sounds of confusion. Her head felt like it was stuck in tar—her thoughts were slow, and for a moment, she heard another voice in her head.
"Heh! Nii-chan, you're always so ahead of everyone else! Still though, I promise that I'll always be there to catch up to you! So grant me your power, alright?"
The power to make others bow, of course.
She blinked. On instinct, she glanced at her deck, only to notice with some surprise that her cards had changed, the bottom half of them changing to a green border, like a Spell Card's border.
She glanced back down at Yuya, who was now declaring his monsters' effects below.
… what just happened?
Well, one thing was for sure—You Show was going to become the centre of attention. Fantastic.
It was, of course, not fantastic, because apparently, Yuya remembered nothing about what he had done down there.
(What would it feel like to finally accomplish something that one had been aiming to do for so long, only to not remember it? Keika felt bad for her brother.)
"And you don't know what happened?" Yuzu questioned aggressively. Yuya shrugged. "How is that possible? You can't just make a summoning method out of nowhere!"
"I mean," Keika said, "no one knows how summoning methods are made, since LDS is so private about it. It could be that the people who invent summoning methods do them through intuition and don't remember them."
Yuzu scowled. "I just think that he shouldn't be so irresponsible about it—"
"He can't help it."
Yuya and Gongenzaka looked between the two confrontational girls, neither of them willing to step in.
"You try to justify everything irresponsible that your brother does—"
"And you're my brother's best friend, but clearly, you can't stop treating him like shit for things that he can't control," Keika hissed out. "Being an overly violent tsundere only makes you look like a bitch."
(Some of that anger was her own protectiveness. Some of it came from something deep within her, a part of her that seethed in the presence of Yuzu, who had rejected her the moment that she had first seen the pink-haired girl's face. It was an ugly part of her that she didn't like to think about.)
Yuzu looked like she had been slapped. Keika grimaced after a moment.
"Now isn't the time for this," Gongenzaka said. "There's a bunch of people outside who want to see your Pendulum Summon. Yuya—can you figure out how to do it along the way?"
Yuya's gaze broke away from the two of them, though he looked more stressed out now. Keika felt bad about that—she never wanted to put her brother in a position where he felt like he had to pick sides.
"Yuya," Keika spoke up. "I'll show you how you did it." She plucked out Silverd and Goldriver from her deck, placing them on both sides of her duel disk, even as her brother peered over at her. "It seems that they have an individual trait known as a Pendulum Scale. And when you place two Pendulum Monsters in your Pendulum Scales, you can Pendulum Summon monsters from your hand that have a Level between the two Pendulum Scales."
Yuya looked at what she was doing. "I… made that?" He sounded somewhat disbelieving.
"Yes." Keika patted his shoulder. "Just show your cards to everyone and repeat what I just did if you're not sure if you can do it in a duel for now."
Yuya nodded. He headed outside, facing the crowd.
Gongenzaka cleared his throat. "Ayu and Futoshi should be here soon," he said, taking the chance to excuse himself from the tense room.
"... that was rude of me," Keika said after a moment. "I… sorry."
Yuzu fidgeted.
"I know that you mean well for Yuya," Keika said. "It was—I shouldn't have—"
"Don't apologise," Yuzu said. The room was still tense. "We have the same motivation—to protect Yuya. It's been the same since we were kids. I know that you were just angry because I was yelling at him." She smiled. "You have a bad temper, Keika, so… work on that? I'll try to work on mine too."
Keika swallowed slowly.
The thing was, Yuzu Hiiragi was a kind girl. She made Yuya happy. She constantly took care of the younger kids in the school. And, Keika had never truly had a problem with Yuzu. She hated arguing with Yuzu—
If it wasn't for this irrational hatred in her heart, she and Yuzu Hiiragi might even be capable of becoming friends.
"You do deserve an apology," Keika said. "I know that I have a bad temper, but… I shouldn't be taking it out on you."
Yuzu smiled again, and this time, it was more genuine. "And I have a bad temper, but I'll try to be more sensitive," she said. She and Keika looked at each other for a moment. "So… you have Pendulum Cards?"
"Yeah. They transformed when we were watching Yuya's duel." She took out her ace. Yuzu glanced at it.
"Sunburst Spark Pendulum Dragon… so it transformed like Yuya's?"
"It did." This much was a peace offering between them—an attempt at some semblance of normal conversation that wasn't coloured by her thoughts.
Then, from outside, they heard boos and shouting.
"So they can only be used with those specific cards?"
"Cheater!"
"How do we know that you didn't just hack the duel disk?"
Exchanging a look, the two of them ran out to face the crowd—a united front, for all that they had been arguing earlier.
In the end, the large crowd of people left. Keika didn't quite care about it—most of them were just entitled assholes, anyway. However, she could tell that Yuya did care, considering how disappointed he looked in himself.
Still though, he'd get over it.
And Keika knew her brother too—she knew that her brother would have felt worse if his summoning method was actually replicable, with that fragile ego of his. Of course, someday, Pendulum Cards would be created, but…
He would get over it.
… why wasn't she convinced of that fact herself?
OC Cards:
Sunburst Spark Dragon
(7*/2000/2500/FIRE/Dragon/Effect)
If this card attacks a Special Summoned monster: It gains 500 ATK for each Special Summoned monster on the field, except itself.
Trivia: The design is very much inspired from the phoenix and the chalkydri, both of which are associated with the sun in mythology. A dragon that breaks into song, that is somewhat chimeric—thus having both scales and feathers, with the mane being more conventional mammalian while the tail is avian.
Card Effect Notes:
Entermate Parakhorus - Treated as a non-Pendulum Monster here, though it will become a Pendulum Monster in later duels. Its effect, for now, lacks the 'no Pendulum Monster' rule, but its effect will match the TCG in the future.
Entermate Chain Giraffe - Anime effect. For now, treated as a non-Pendulum Monster.
Entermate Monkeyboard - Anime effect, but since monster effect is not fully revealed, I'll just use the TCG effect for that part.
Entertainment Flash - Anime effect.
Odd-Eyes Dragon - Anime effect.
Wonder Balloon - Anime effect.
End Notes:
Yes, so let's welcome Keika Sakaki! Keika's name is written 'firefly, flame'. She's… a bit of a work in progress, and she has the worst temper out of any character in this story. She will say a lot of objectionable things, but she'll get better over time. Her opinions do not reflect the writer's opinions. The writer thinks Yuzu is a great character. *hides*
All cards use OCG names in this fic so that I can distinctly separate duel writing for this from Six Dimensions, whose policy is "whatever I decide on any given day". The Metalfoes/Metalphosis monsters and Yuya's monsters are all treated as only having their Monster Effects in this chapter, though obviously, that won't be the case in the future. Keika gets a few other FIRE monsters to splash into her deck since it'll take her a while to get her Fusion boss monsters. Sunburst Spark will of course get a Pendulum Effect later on. It didn't get to use its effect here, but that's mostly because the point of the duel was for Keika to encourage Yuya, so there was no need to get too competitive with it. Disclaimer, but depending on what gets released in the Duelists of Explosion pack, Keika's deck may change, since there are FIRE monsters there too. We'll see how it goes.
Duels follow Master Rule 5 with modifications—Pendulum Monsters can be Pendulum Summoned to Main Monster Zones. Pendulum Zones are part of the Spell/Trap Zones just like in Master Rule 5. So yes, duels like the five Action Card ending of Yuya vs Reiji are not possible, though I'm perfectly fine with that. And yes, that means that there is an Extra Monster Zone, but I must stress that there is no Master Rule Override or anything like that. This is just mostly the ruleset that I'm familiar with, which makes writing future duels a little easier.
Shuzo is characterised a bit more charitably here. I decided to make the main conflict internal, and focused on Yuya's perception of himself—does he want to duel, rather or not whether others want him to duel. Also, while the summary definitely focuses on Keika... she is not the only protagonist here. What do I mean by that? Uh, that'll definitely be revealed whenever I post the next chapter.
Alright. That's all—hope you enjoyed! Updates for this will be pretty sporadic. There's no schedule, it's 'whenever my exams end and I'm still planning out Six Dimensions a bit, so I might as well'.