Chapter Three:

Magic and Fire! VS Aka!

One week into school...

"Did you hear about that 'Monk Fighter' guy?" said a boy. "I heard that, even though he's in Osiris, he beat an Obelisk!"

Kazuha sighed. The halls were filled with talk of the 'Monk Fighter' of Duelist Academy, Kenshin Menzuro.

Then again... she thought, thinking back to when he announced his name. He didn't look too bad...

Shaking her head, she mentally scolded herself. I'm supposed to be thinking about ways to improve my skills, not go boy-hunting!

Muttering swear words, she walked on to her dorm.

Behind her, Haku Doku was watching...

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"So, who do you have in mind?" asked Seiji, who was walking with Haku.

"An Osiris Red student." said Haku.

"Osiris Red?" laughed Seiji. "No Osiris could beat an Obelisk!"

Haku smiled back to Seiji. "Oh? What about the 'Monk Fighter' of Duelist Academy, who beat an Obelisk Blue a few days ago?"

"That guy?" asked Seiji. "Huh. He might be able to beat Kazuha, then...so, did you speak to this Osiris?"

"Not yet." responded Haku. "Actually, Yamahara is probably talking to him right now."

"You gonna bribe him?" asked Seiji.

"Yeah." said Haku. "With rare Monk cards."

Turning to the Osiris area, they halted at a corner when they heard yelling.

"Why the hell not?" yelled Yamahara.

"Because." said an Osiris, who had black hair and an air of dignity. "I'm not an assassin."

"Grr..." growled Yamahara. "You're a coward, that's what you are!"

Another boy walked out of the dorm, and over to the two. "Geez, you sure are persistent."

"Stay out of this, bastard." said Yamahara.

The first Osiris, who was obviously Kenshin, frowned. "You insult my friends, and expect me to honestly comply with you? Screw off."

He and the other Osiris then walked back to the Osiris Dorm where they came from.

"That could have gone better." said Seiji, surprising Yamahara.

"That bastard..." said Yamahara. "Now what?"

"Relax." said Haku. "I know someone else. He's the 'Magician' of Duelist Academy...Aka Murasaki. Heard of him?"

"The name sounds familiar." said Seiji. "What rank?"

"Ra Yellow." said Haku. "He's not bad of a duelist, and he'll duel anyone...for a price."

"Rare cards?" asked Yamahara.

"Nope." said Haku. "Two Thousand Yen. That's his price for a Ra Yellow, at least. Three Thousand for an Obelisk."

"Not bad." said Seiji. "Let's go find this guy."

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"So you want me to duel a 'Kazuha Ogata'?" asked the boy. He was probably one inch shy of six feet, and had dyed-purple hair. His hair was wrapped in a pony-tail, and he wore his Ra Yellow blazer like a cape.

"Yeah." said Yamahara. "And she's an Obelisk Blue, so we're prepared to pay you Three Thousand Yen for the challenge, and an extra Two Thousand if you can win."

"...alright." said Aka. "I'll accept the job. First, the money..."

Seiji handed him a few bills, and Aka counted them with a smile on his face. "Alright. Now, where can I find this 'Kazuha Ogata'?"

"Probably in her dorm." said Haku, speaking for once. "The room number is..."

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Kazuha yawned, drawing the top card from her deck, which was sitting in her duel disk.

"So boring." she said. "There's nothing to do."

Suddenly her PDA made a beeping sound. She looked at the name on it.

"Aka Murasaki?" she said. "I've never heard of that guy before. And he's challenging me to a duel..."

She thought about it for a second, and then smiled and stood up.

"I'll go!" she said. "I'm ready for you, Aka Murasaki!"

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Aka was waiting in the Ra Yellow dueling area, shuffling his deck. There were about fifteen people watching from the railings.

"So you're Kazuha Ogata." said Aka, as Kazuha walked in with Yuki. "You're kinda cute. But can you do as good as you look?"

Kazuha grinned, ignoring these comments. "Let's find out, Murasaki."

Aka smiled. "You can call me Aka, you know. But if you want to be respectful, I don't mind. And yet if you are, you can call me..."

He shoved his deck into his duel disk and allowed the Life Point counter to set. "You can call me the 'Magician' of Duelist Academy!"

Kazuha prepared her duel disk as well. "I'll call you Aka, thanks. And Aka...you're going down!"

Kazuha: 4000

Aka: 4000

"I'll go first!" said Kazuha. "And I'll start with Blackfire Soldier (1800/1800) in attack mode!"

The soldier appeared, brandishing his blackfire sword.

"He's one of my favourite monsters." said Kazuha. "And I'll back him up, with two face-down cards."

Aka nodded. "Alright, my turn then."

He drew his sixth card and grinned. "Now, Kazuha. Learn why I'm called the 'Magician' of Duelist Academy...because my monsters are the most magical of them all!"

He placed a card onto his duel disk. "I summon Magical Mirror Man (400/400) in attack mode! Next up, I play a face-down card, ending my turn."

Yuki smiled, and cheered. "You can do it, Kazuha! That face-down card is probably a trap! Just destroy it!"

She's kind of cute too. Thought Aka.

"Right!" said Kazuha, drawing. "I play Blackfire Burn! I can destroy a spell or trap on your side of the field, and then you lose three hundred Life Points!"

Aka's face-down card burned up, and his Life Points decreased.

Aka: 3700

"And now my monster attacks!" said Kazuha.

Aka grinned. "Activate special effect!"

The Blackfire Soldier suddenly stopped, and Kazuha noticed that he Life Points had decreased.

Kazuha: 3550

"What the hell...?" she said.

"Sorry, Kazuha." said Aka. "But when you try to attack my monster and it's in attack mode, you lose a quarter of your monster's attack points as Life Points. Also, your attack is negated."

"Damn." said Kazuha. "I end my turn..."

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"You're right, Haku." said Seiji, looking from the shadows. "He's not bad after all."

"What did I tell you?" said Haku, looking as well. "And if he doesn't win, we still have other choices..."

To be continued...

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Next Time:

Magic and Fire! Mirror Image!

The duel between Kazuha and Aka continues as Aka's Magical Mirror Man card remains on the field. But that's not the only spellcaster that Aka has in store for Kazuha. Aka's favourite magician is sitting ready in his deck, and it's no slacker...

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Author's Note: Sorry for the wait for this chapter. I tried to get it up sooner, but Legendary Shadows got in the way. Eleven chapters of Legendary Shadows had gotten up between this chapter and chapter two...

Well, please R&R!

-Salazare