Yu-Gi-Oh GX: The American Duelists
Chapter 12 - Initiation
Duel Academia main school - The dawn of a new day is signaled by a cacophony of chorus from the local wildlife. Tropical birds sing soprano, while wild monkeys and unidentifiable things that go bump in the night sing alto. Sho Marafugi, the diminutive Ra Yellow boy, gazes longingly out a large glass window to where the sun climbs steadily over the jungle. With his cheek pressed to the still cool glass panel, he exhales a slight sigh, fogging the window pane at his lips. "Duel Academia, your sunrises are so wonderful." Allowing his large round eyes to drift innocently across the scene, the small boy comments fondly. "The fresh air and peaceful atmosphere, and the soft warm morning sunlight; each day filled with fun and excitement with good friends... It's paradise."
Exhaling a heavier sigh, the diminutive boy turns his head away from the picturesque scene to reveal his true expression, a miserable pouty face with a steady line of tears streaming down his cheeks. "So why must I endure such hardships?" He cries into the massive drapes wrapped around him. The huge hanging drapes over the high arched multi-story windows of the girl's dormitory tremble slightly as the main hall of the dorm fills to the brim with young girls deep in the midst of their morning routines.
Scrunched up against the window behind the drapes, Sho holds his breath, as the first of the girls sets out across the island. "This is it?" He exclaims to himself. "Farewell Duel Academia. Big brother, I'm sorry I never got to walk in stride with you. Kenzan-Kun, its up to you now. Take care of big brother for me." The small boy's tears and hot breath fog up the far bottom corner of the immense multi-floor window. Yet, despite his certainty he will be caught by the parting girls, not a single girl looks back on their impressive mansion-esque dormitory. Each girl presses forward; some engulfed in their final preparations in stride, while others are immersed in conversation with their friends. With each girl that vanishes up the path leading into the trees, the small boy's heart unwinds exponentially more.
"They... They haven't caught me yet? I haven't been caught? I, I may pull this off somehow!" Tears of joy stream down the small boys face, and the world suddenly illuminates in the full glory of the sun's awesome life giving light. The shadows of fear vanish under its greatness. In his head, the small boy sings his jubilations, "I'm going to make it after all!"
"Hey, miss Ayukawa-Sensei, can we open the windows today?" A girl asks from the base of one of the stair cases. Sho's heart seizes. "It would be nice to get some fresh air in here for a change."
"I don't see why not." Miss Ayukawa responds cheerfully. "Any time we can save energy by not turning on the air conditioning, the better it is for all of us in the long run." The shadows over Duel Academia return, but only over Sho. A stray cloud in the otherwise clear blue sky blocks the sun from reaching the girl's dorm windows. A sign, Sho concludes.
"It is... done..." Sho hangs his head in defeat. The guillotine blade is raised into position. With each clop of prada stems on marble, the executioner advances steadily closer to the executioner's platform. When she pulls the curtain back, he will be exposed, and the guillotine will drop. The punishment for a boy being in the girls' dormitory is expulsion.
"Nooo, Miss Ayukawa-Sensei, please, let's use the AC today!" A girl pleads. A single beam of light cuts through the dark cloud. Sho's pupils slowly return to focus.
Another girl chimes in. "Yeah Miss Ayukawa-Sensei, it's been super hot all week! Can't we just use the AC?" Sho rapidly nods his head.
"Yes miss Ayukawa-Sensei, use the AC, use the AC!" Sho pleads silently.
Miss Ayukawa hums softly as she ponders their arguments. "Now girls," she explains, "It is all of our responsibilities to take care of our planet, and we can do that by being frugal with our energy consumption. I know it can be uncomfortable in the heat, and being sweaty is a big problem for a young girl. I'm a woman too, don't forget: The importance of looking attractive for a young girl isn't lost on me. But, don't you all think it is more important to do the responsible thing by taking care of our planet whenever it's in out power; more so than it is to worry about our small discomforts and our appearances all the time?"
Sho's heart stops at the logical and responsible argument from Miss Ayukawa. The girls all sigh in defeated agreement, "Yes Miss Ayukawa-Sensei."
"Miss Ayukawa-Sensei, you traitor! What have you done?" Sho's heart screams. "You've killed me! You've killed me!"
Once more, the clip clop of expensive fashionable footwear on expensive aesthetically pleasing floor coverings sounds the advancing of the reaper. But once more, Sho is offered a stay of execution from an unlikely ally. A diminutive freckled girl wearing a thick oversized kimono, even thicker coke bottle spectacles, and an even thicker scarf comes clomping down the steps, one slow heavy stomp at a time. Sho can picture the girl's messy mop of thick tangled brown hair scrunchied at the top of her head, as well as her huge wooden geta. The girl's slow and noisy appearance draws everyone's attention to her. Several girls immediately point out her appearance. "Miss Ayukawa-Sensei, let's ask Nanase!" They chant and cheer.
Even before Emi Ayukawa can respond, the oddly dressed girl reveals a duel disk from beneath her heavy multilayered ensemble. She summons a monster before spreading her deck out over the duel disk. Weather Report takes the field. The odd looking pink snowman twirls his umbrella, and the little ghost attached to the umbrella cheers as he is spun around.
"I shall now foretell the day's weather, this I shall! Prepare yourselves for that which cannot be prepared for! Where the stars do not shine, your destiny is foretold by the clouds!" The girl's proclamation draws embarrassed grins from the mass of girls, as well as from their dorm head.
Miss Ayukawa rubs her head. "It's too early in the day for this." She utters to herself.
"THE FUTURE IS NOW!" Nanase cries, as she tosses her deck into the air. Everyone in the room holds her breath as the cards rain lightly across the marble floor. When the cards have settled, the oddly dressed girl immediately collects the face-up cards closest to her, and she plays them on her deck, one card at a time. A large humanoid monster made of clouds stands proudly with his hands on his hips and his legs spread at shoulder width. He is engulfed in a silhouette of brilliant orange light, and the hole in his belly opens revealing a stream of sunlight. Several swords of light fall from the sky and land around the two monsters. 4 scapegoats appear beside them and "ba" cutely. A spell and trap card rise on the field as well. Nanase casually explains, "Cloudian Solaris, Swords of Revealing Light, Drought, Umi, and Scapegoat. Now for today's weather report!"
The girls takes a slow deep breath. All eyes are on her. As she resumes, her voice turns perky and upbeat. "Expect another hot one everyone, Mmm hmmm, yes yes; with lots of sunlight. Keep sun block handy ladies. Humidity will be at 33.3 with a 0 chance of rain. An unlucky day for lackeys, it surely shall be. If you happen to be a side kick, today is a very very good day to stay inside, mmm hmm, that it surely is. Today's lucky numbers are 4, 6, 8, and 12. This concludes the special services rendered for this morning. Please tune in tonight for our extended 7 day outlook, and have a great day everyone!"
With her prediction finished, the odd girl draws another slow steady breath, before taking a deep bow. Once she has bowed, she then sets to work gathering up her cards that are scattered across the floor. The girls all turn to Miss Ayukawa with triumphant smiles. "See! See! You heard Nananse: It's going to be hot and humid! So can we please use the AC?" The girls mob the young dorm head, until she finally sighs in defeat.
"Okay. We can use the AC today." The girls cheer and return to their morning routines, leaving Nanase to attempt to pick up her deck in her cumbersome attire, alone.
"Heyyy..." The odd girl drones lowly. "Little help?" Her call for assistance echoes in the emptying main hall, unheaded.
"I'm saved." Sho breaths with relief. "This is really too much, this it surely is." He sighs, before letting his head thump against the window. Nanase looks around for the small thud, but after finding the room empty, she returns to her deck.
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Sho waits behind the drapes until all the girls have cleared out of the main hall. From the still silence, several large spikes of soft turquoise hair peek out around the edge of the drapes. Two large eyes follow. Sho cautiously scans the empty room. "Chance!" Sho breaths with a gleam in his eyes, before revealing himself. The instant he is fully exposed, his tiny body freezes. Again, his large round eyes scan from one side of the immense main hall to the other. Confirming the coast is clear, the short boy quickly tip toes up the stairs. "Sneak, sneak, sneak..." He chants softly.
Soon, he finds himself standing triumphantly at the top. A wave of excitement sweeps through him. "I'm doing it! I'm really doing it. I haven't been caught yet!" Sho smiles widely, revealing a cocky grin. "I feel like a ninja." with that notion, Sho imagines himself in brilliant yellow ninja garb. His light turquoise hair protrudes from beneath his bright yellow ninja sneak suit. He swaggers a bit, before ducking behind a massive marble column. After a quick examination of the area ahead, he crouches low and sneaks swiftly down the second floor walkway, and he quickly enters through a door to a side hall. The coast is clear down the extremely long hallway. Still crouching low, the small boy scampers forward. "Light feet, light feet, light feet..." He breaths with each step.
Halfway down the hall, he can't help but snicker softly. He's done the unthinkable, and he has yet to be caught. The impenetrable fortress, this no man's land, has been breached by him, Sho Marafugi, and it isn't even the first time either. Although, thinking back on the incident when he first made his way to the girl's dorm, he was embarrassingly reckless. But this time is different, he assures himself. Just as he nods in agreement with himself, a door swings open right beside him. His heart stops. The once muffled voices of several girls chit chatting comes flowing over him; threatening to push him over. He holds his breath. After a minute, it begins to dawn on him that they aren't pounding him or screaming. Sho turns his head as slowly as he can muster. He finds a girl, less than an arm's length from him, standing half in and half out of the doorway. Facing inside the room, she chats vigorously with two other girls in the plain sight of Sho. Each of the three girls is only half dressed in their uniforms, while one is still in full pajamas. They chatter vigorously with the girl in the doorway as they do their make-up. Sho can hardly suppress a shocked giggle.
Returning his head to the correct orientation, as slowly as he originally turned it, Sho cautiously creeps past the door and girl, and he slips into the first door he can reach. He closes the door silently, then leans back against the door, sliding down as he gasps. It takes a moment before he is able to process his surroundings. Then, it hits him. Sho has stumbled into one of the most magnificent rooms he has ever seen. The entire room is carved in intricate ornate stone. Pillars of white stone act as supports and decorations, while white stone dividers with elaborate engravings part the room. "This place is... The girl's bathroom?" He asks in awe. The center of the entry of the room has a lovely carpet spread across the marble floor, while a couch and several potted plants adorn the far wall. Pictures hang on other walls, and the stalls are separated from the sinks and mirrors by one of the white stone dividers. Each sink and mirror has a work area larger than the desks they have at the Ra Yellow dorm rooms. Still scanning the room, Sho spots a huge Blue Eyes White Dragon mural engraved across the entire top half of the walls. The incredible monster towers over a seemingly defeated Red Eyes Black Dragon. Sho is moved to tears by the room's beauty. "The boys aren't treated nearly this well. We bathe in an open air bath with wild monkeys." His tears fall softly on the beautiful carpet depicting numerous female duel monsters. One of the marble statues of the naked duel monster, Water Ommotics, begins to pour water from her vase into a fountain below.
It takes a closing door in the hall to snap Sho back to his senses. Hugging the wall behind the door tightly, he listens carefully as the voices in the hall pass him by. A quick peek outside reveals the coast is clear once more. Sho takes one last look at the marvelous room, before continuing onwards.
In the hall once again, Sho quickly scurries around the corner and towards the window at the end of the long hall. "Almost there." He tells himself. The window at the end of the hall draws steadily closer, and Sho hastens his approach. Without warning, a petite girl steps out ahead of Sho, from a door he didn't realize was open. Already in stride, Sho helplessly bumps into the small girl. Both he and the girl are knocked off balance. As he falls backwards, tears stream from the corners of his large eyes. The small boy smiles softly as he accepts his fate. "It's over. I'm no more." He lands on the floor with a hard thud, while the little girl falls backwards into the safe embrace of a tall girl with large breasts. Sho clasps his hands over the back of his head and rolls in pain as the tall girl steps out of her room.
"How rude to bump into a girl and not apologize!" The American girl, Hannah Daniels exclaims.
Jessica peeks her head around the corner. "I didn't think you would make it. I was worried you'd get caught." She comments.
Sho sits up, still rubbing his head, and he quickly apologizes to the small girl he knocked over, Annette Black. He stops mid way; petrified under her intensely serious gaze. He swallows hard as he utters the rest.
Hannah turns her head away sharply. She's visually sickened by his display. "That's enough. We don't have time for an apology if you're not even going to take it seriously. We've been waiting long enough as it is."
Jessica utters, "But we just finished getting ready ourselves..."
Hannah ignores the girl's words and continues forcefully, "We are women on a mission today, and we have no time to dilly dally or wait on our slave." Sho apologizes once more. This time successfully, by keeping his eyes off the small American girl. But Hannah still doesn't accept his apology. "It's still not good enough!" She states. "If I hadn't been standing right behind her, my darling Annette-Chan might have bumped her head. Even a seemingly slight head injury can be fatal!" Once more, Sho apologizes to the frighteningly unemotional girl. This time, he forces himself to be even more melodramatic. After completing a third apology, he glances up at the girl, who is as short as him, if not shorter when he's not kneeling.
Her large, cold eyes peer down on him, like the great eyes of a falcon staring down prey. Sho gulps under her intense expression. In the slightest, yet most surprisingly firm and confident voice Sho has ever heard, Annette replies simply, "Idiot."
"I, idiot?" Sho asks himself silently. He looks to Hannah, who shakes her head.
"I wouldn't accept your repeated clumsiness either, so don't come to me looking for sympathy." In the background, Jessica giggles uncomfortably. "As I was saying, we're in a hurry. Our bags are in the middle of the floor. Grab them, and hurry along. We're heading out." She starts to take a step, but stops to add, "And remember, if you get caught, you're on your own. We disavow all knowledge of your wretched perverse existence."
Sho sighs into the carpet, "I haven't forgotten."
"Good." With their mutual understanding, Hannah leads the other two girls down the hall and around the corner. Before disappearing around the hall, Jessica nervously pumps her hands in a gesture encouraging him to keep trying and not give up. Having her root for him is a small encouragement, but it is quickly shot down by the echo of Hannah's disgusted voice from down the hall. "Don't encourage the help!" Jessica quickly apologizes, which draws a deep sigh of exasperation from the diminutive boy.
Sho turns to the door, only to find, he's been locked out of the room. "I missed my chance." He cries. The odds Hannah will let him live after this failure are so slim, getting caught seems like the merciful outcome. But despite the bleakness of the situation, a ray of hope still shines through, and quite literally. A single beam of light shines through the drapes covering the window at the end of the hall. Having nothing left to lose, Sho goes for it. He unlocks the window and pushes it open, letting a burst of steamy warm air rush in. Nanase's forecast was on the money, but that is of little consequence to a man on death row. Sho glances around wall. The ledge beneath the window is narrow, but wide enough for his small feet. "I can reach their balcony from here." He tells himself. The thought deepens his depression. "We don't even have balconies." Sho cries as he edges around the building and over the railing of the girl's balcony.
He is met by one of the first positive outcomes of the day: The girls left their balcony door unlocked. However, once the ornate glass doors swing open, Sho is met by a pile of bags nearly as large as him. He cries again. At that moment, Hannah and the other two American girls step outside. "Is it really okay to leave him with so much? I feel bad for him." Jessica comments.
"This is his punishment." Hannah reminds her. "What you should be worried about right now is whether the little perve is nosing around in our underwear drawers."
Jessica gasps in shock. "He wouldn't!"
"I don't know... Boys are nasty creatures by nature, and the repressed ones especially. I wouldn't put it past him."
Sho cries as he closes the window. "This is so unfair. First I'm misunderstood and now I'm completely misrepresented. This must be how Misawa-Kun feels."
All the way back at the Ra Yellow dorms, Misawa Daichi reads a line from a book out loud. "It is a popular superstition that one sneezes when they are being spoken about by others." He ponders it for a moment before drawing his own conclusion. "But where's the science in that?"
Back in the American girl's rooms, Sho tries to get himself psyched up. "I can't give up! I have to keep trying hard to prove my worth, like big brother always says." Sho recalls his conversation with Judai and Kenzan after losing and being handed out his punishment details from Hannah.
"It might not be so bad. It might even be fun." Judai insists.
"Yeah don. You've got to be like a little dinosaur, or a... the Steamroid that could, and make the best of it. Or else, you'll go extinct if you can't adapt and endure." Kenzan nods and pumps his fist. "Go, little Shosaurus that could!" Judai joins in a round of chanting Kenzan's non-sense.
Sho grabs their bags and states confidently, "I can do this. I'm the little Shosaurus that could!" He feels sick repeating it. With a great effort, Sho hoists Hannah's bag over his shoulder, and he is immediately collapses under its weight. His composure falls apart. "I can't do this! This is HELL!"
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The American girls march onwards, lead by Hannah Daniels, their tall voluptuous self appointed leader. Little Sho Marafugi follows, lagging behind significantly thanks to the weight of all the bags that the girls have left in his charge. Sweat pours down his brow like a waterfall. As he drags the bags along, his eyes drift to the sky longingly. "Ah, the sun is shining so brightly today." Squinting into the brilliant sun, his eyes water. "It's too bright." Several birds scatter into the vast cloudless blue sky as the girls advance down the path. Sho watches them fly so free and wishes he could be one of them.
"Hey, stop your day dreaming, runt!" Hannah shouts back at him.
"Uhhh, yes ma'am!" Sho answers, suddenly snapping back to reality.
"And you're lagging too far behind. Keep up!" The young woman adds.
"Y, yes ma'am!" Sho calls out. Sho trots akwardly after Hannah Daniels and the other two honorary Ra Yellow American girls. He lugs all of their backpacks over his shoulders and in his hands.
Hannah turns her back on the little Ra Yellow boy and continues to lead the girls up the path. "Talk about useless: I feel like I'm babysitting my grandmother's sick cat." Hannah flicks a few stray strands of her long blonde hair over her shoulder, following with a hardy sigh. "Maybe I should cut my losses and put him down already. I doubt anybody would miss him."
"He's not so bad. He is carrying our things." Jessica points out timidly.
"That's the least he can do for us. He is our slave, after all." Hannah retorts, casting a stern accusing eye over the small boy. While he doesn't say anything to indicate he heard her comments, he does shrink back a step under her gaze.
Jessica laughs uncomfortably. "Yeah, but..." She glances over her shoulder. From her perspective, Sho looks like a wanderer who has been lost in the desert for a week. "Don't you think this is a bit much for him?"
"Not in the least bit." Hannah answers immediately without thinking about it.
"We could carry some of the stuff. It is ours." She adds.
"We are." She retorts while holding up her protective case housing her duel disk. Annette also holds her's up. Jessica laughs slightly.
"That's, not really what I meant."
"You're too kind Jessica-love. You'll get eaten alive in the real world if you're always so considerate of others." Hannah explains.
Jessica lowers her head slightly. "I know that, but this seems... excessive." Hannah gives her a sharp glance. Jessica quickly adds, "I mean, I know he's your ser..."
"Our." Hannah corrects her.
Jessica corrects herself. "I know he's our servant..."
"Slave." Hannah corrects her a second time, casting a harsh eye over her shoulder towards Sho. "Servants have rights." Sho gulps hard in response to her comment.
"Slave... but, I mean... You know..." Jessica loses her argument.
"But?" Hannah encourages her.
"But, uh... Um, he's a... you know..." Jessica's eyes flick between Hannah and the little boy trailing them. Expecting Hannah to butt in, she stammers and holds back. However, Hannah doesn't butt in again. Rather, the tall blonde girl watches Jessica expectantly. Her gaze starts Jessica into a small fit of nervous stuttering. After a moment, her eyes catch Hannah's again, and she forces herself to speak up as forcefully as she can manage. "Sho-kun, he's very small. Too small! It's a lot to expect of him, to carry all of our things. Especially..." Her voice trails out as she looks to the small boy trying so hard to keep up.
Hannah sighs a deep exasperated breath. "Oh Jessica, Jessica, Jessica... What're we to do with you? You take one baby step forward, then great big leaps backwards." Hannah shakes her head. "At least you were able to argue for yourself. I guess that means there is hope."
Jessica searches for a response, but she isn't certain if she has been complimented, insulted, pitied, or congratulated. She instead remains silent under Hannah's gaze. The small doll-like young lady, Annette, joins in staring her down. Suddenly realizing both are staring at her, Jessica begins shivering nervously. She tries to hold out under their gazes, but having no idea why they are watching her so intently, she can't help but sweat and tremble. After a minute, Hannah laughs slightly, and Annette turns her head away. "Hopeless." She comments in a clear confident utterance.
Hannah pats Jessica on the head. "Oh Jessica, Jessica, Jessica... You're so funny." Her smile quickly fades as she notices Sho behind them. "Hey, back off twerp!" Hannah shouts at Sho. "Don't you know it's rude to eaves drop on a conversation between women?"
"Uh, yes ma'am." Sho answers and falls back several paces behind them.
"Honestly!" She breaths. After giving Sho a dismissive wave, she turns her attention back to Jessica. "Jessa-Luv, forget about the runt for the time being. Let's talk about you."
"Oh, um... Okay." She replies uncertainly.
"Specifically, let's talk about your dueling record til now?"
"Oh..." Jessica turns her head down. "I haven't dueled much while I've been here." She admits honestly.
"I know that, which is why I brought it up." Hannah watches Jessica sternly. The shorter girl continues to fidget slightly under her gaze. She doesn't try to make excuses or explain herself, though. Hannah finally sighs and softens her approach. "What is it with you love? You act like Annette and I are going to eat you up. We're your friends, not monsters." Hannah puts an arm around Jessica and an arm around Annette to reel them both in against her. Jessica gets a boob smashed to her face, while Annette gets one plopped on her head. "See, we're a trio? A triple threat." Hannah shows Jessica her smile, but the shorter girl doesn't look. She keeps her head down.
"I know that." Jessica explains solemnly, while pulling her face away from Hannah's chest..
Once more, Hannah exhales an exasperated sigh. "You're bumming me out love. Loosen up already." She gives Jessica and Annette a good shake. "This is suppose to be a good time; a once in a lifetime experience, and you're squandering it by hiding yourself away and wandering around like a tourist. Live a little! Be... Spontaneous!"
"I know." Jessica admits. "But, I'm like that. I get nervous."
"Nervous over what? There is nothing here that can hurt you." To her comment, Annette glances over her shoulder. Hannah catches a glimpse of a single eye from over her breast. She shrugs. "Well, nothing but spiders." Again, Annette casts a glance over the girl. Hannah's eyebrows twitch. "And monkeys..."
Understanding the point Hannah is trying to make, Jessica replies, "I don't know. I just... Things. They get..." She struggles to gather her thought. Once she has something, she spits it out as quickly as she can, before she loses her nerve. "It's like, the translators. We can talk to the students here, but it's scary for me. Everyone here, they all have their groups and routines already. I don't feel comfortable butting in. Like I don't have the right to interfere."
Hannah sighs once more. "Come on, Jessa-Luv. We've been over this. We're international women of mystery. That alone makes us cool in the eyes of the ignorant masses. We're not the ones who should be nervous and embarrassed. They should. Three hot young foreign women without pasts; It's mysterious and exciting. These people and their cliques are old news. It's ordinary. They need some excitement in their lives." Raising her tone, she states absolutely, "We're that excitement! We're doing them a favor by interacting with them." With that said, she smiles and light-heartedly recites, "And best of all, we can be whomever we want to be. They don't know who you were before coming here, or the kind of personality you had. If you just try, you can pretend to be anything; confident, strong, and they don't know if it is true or not. Lie to yourself long enough, and it'll become the truth."
"Bu..." Jessica murmurs under her breath.
"No! Butts are what you sit on: They're not excuses, and even if they were, you wouldn't need more than one of them." Hannah shakes her head. "Besides, we've been through this so many times before, I already know what you were going to say." Hannah uses a mock voice of Jessica. "I'm not attractive. I'm not pretty. Im not cute like Annette. I'm not tall and sexy like you? I'm so average. No one's interested in me. I don't fit in. I'm out of place..." Hannah releases the girls and waves her arms ahead of her in the football gesture for, no good. "I've explained this before: You're not ugly, you're not average, and you're not a third wheel. It's all in your head. What you are, is lacking confidence in yourself. You need is to take more chances, and to embrace what you have to work. Flaunt your assets proudly, and genuinely believe in it."
Jessica tries to argue, but she stops. Hannah states, "Look love, you're a lovely girl with a ton of potential, but you're still in your rough uncut state, like a diamond. You just need a bit of refinement and the proper treatment to shine brilliantly and be desirable in the eyes of the world. We've tried helping you, but there is only so much we can do when you refuse to present yourself and make more of an effort. Even if we mask you in a ton of make up, or doll you up in girlie dresses, it won't fool anyone. You're inner shine is still hidden."
Hannah turns to Annette. Grasping her by the shoulders, Hannah stops and pulls her ahead of her. "Take Annette-Chan and me: We both know what we have going for us, and we fully embrace it, even if it isn't what we wanted or asked for. Remember Jessa-Luv, you need to draw attention to your best traits, inside and out, then promote them confidently." Hannah pushes out her huge heaving chest and cocks her waist so her butt and hips stick out. She stretches one of her long silky white legs out to a side as she leans forward over Annette's shoulder. She also pushes open her mouth slightly to show her pouty lips and a hint of her pink inner cheeks, while letting her silky blonde hair fall down her back and over her shoulders. The breeze aids her by sweeping a single strand of loose hair across her lips. "See, it's as easy as that! Do you think I asked for a fat ass, thick bones, and the twin peeks? No, I didn't. But I'm making the best of it."
Jessica argues, "Bu... It's different for you. You're beautiful, and confident, and you have great curv... You have a great body..."
"No, that's the attitude." Hannah rights herself and flicks her hair back. "It's not just embracing your physical traits: It's also the attitude and the delivery. The reality for me is, I'm thick bodied and have heavier bones than all the scrawny little things running all over this island. Plus, I'm tall and disproportionate, so my spine is a twisted wreck. Not to mention, my ass, chest, and lips are all overfilled with fat, the stuff girls starve themselves to not have. I have to be confident about myself. If I didn't treat my flaws like my strengths, people would look at me differently. Guys would call me fat and an amazon, and if I acted ashamed of my features, people would look down on me like something to be pitied."
Hannah pushes her chest out once more, and stands up as straight as she can. "Take a good look at me love. You say I've got the curves where it counts, but it is all fat; that stuff no body wants, and in the places guys check out the most. It's a pain in the ass, a pain in the back, and a total mind job, is what it is. I can't change these things. If I didn't have confidence and accept what I am, I'd always be ashamed of myself. Every time someone looked at me, which would be often..." She adds forcefully, "And even while I'm alone, I'd be ashamed of existing. I'm a train wreck of less than ideal parts from a woman's perspective. You don't ever see girls like me on the cover of reputable magazines. To live in shame and always worrying what others think of me; That's no way to live at all." Hannah stomps her foot down and crosses her arms over her chest, pushing her massive breasts up. "So instead of living in shame, I get what I can from what I've got. The monsters are a burden to carry, but I know I can use them to meet my ends. It gives me power over simple minded men, and I fully intend to milk them for all I can get, figuratively speaking, of course. Same with everything else I have." Hannah flips her hair. "A flip of the hair, a bat of an eye lash, and a phantom kiss go a longer way than people give credit. You don't need giant jugs."
Not willing to relent, Hannah turns Annette so Jessica can look her over properly. "Now take Anette-Chan. She's absolutely beautiful. She's a real life work of art. In the right dress, she'd look like one of those dolls pervy old men and cat ladies collect." Hannah examines Annette from over the tiny girl's shoulder. "She's evilly cute. It should be illegal to be this cute!" She adds for emphasis. "And petite! Look at this tiny figure: I mean, what a bitch! I hate her. Who has a body this tiny? It's unnatural. It puts those emaciated mag cover hounds to shame." Hannah holds Annette's chin gently and presses her cheek against her own. "Look at her eyes. They're captivating. You could get lost in them for days. How is a girl like me, who has such basic eyes, to compete?" Stepping away from Annette, Hannah asks, "But do you really think she likes being reminded how cute she is all the time? Do you think she appreciates everyone always codling her and making a fuss over her, or them calling her a living doll all the time? After spending only about two weeks together, I can tell you, her looks conflict with her personality. She's not this cute sweet innocent doll everyone wants her to be. She's her own unique girl, totally apart from the image, and she doesn't want to be treated or seen as anything but that. But it's not realistic to believe people will see her how she wishes they'd see her, so she embraces the image created by her natural perfection, while being herself through it."
Jessica understands Hannah's arguments, but she still isn't sure. It's one thing for her to say be confident and that she is also lovely, but these are her words, and despite what Hannah says, both her and Annette are seen as desirable and attractive by all the guys and girls here. She's not even a blip on the radar when she's with them. Jessica is certain, "It's a lot easier to be confident in yourself if you know you're attractive." Despite her feelings, she keeps silent, only uttering, "You're right."
"Of course I'm right." Rubbing Annette's hair, Hannah explains, "Annette would like to not be so cute, but rather than dress like a tomboy and try and hide what she is, like she's something filthy and shameful, she embraces her cute doll image and uses it for what its worth." Still playing with the cute tiny girl, Hannah states, "You know people see her as a cliche', but if anything, this girl is a trendsetter." Hannah nods to show she agrees with her own logic. "Yeah, that's right. She is reinventing what it is to be cute on the outside, by being and expressing her true self through it. That's why everyone is so shocked when they talk with her. She's their vision of a doll. Then she opens her mouth, and POOF: The vision is shattered. She's not the thing they picture her as, after all."
Jessica laughs, admitting, "Annette does say some uncomfortable things, though." Annette says nothing to her comment, or to Hannah's manhandling her.
Hannah contradicts her. "Lots of people say uncomfortable things, but Annette's singled out and called on it for not looking like everyone else, and more so for looking like something people attribute with the opposite response." Hannah glances around. "What we need is an example." She spots Sho, who is sitting several feet away trying to regain some stamina before they move onwards. "Hey, Sho-Bozu, get over here! And leave the bags."
Sho quickly springs to his feet. "Ye, yes ma'am!" He comes galloping to her side, leaving the bags at her request. As soon as he reaches them, Hannah wallops him on the top of the head. "Wha, what was that for?" He asks.
"It's for eaves dropping on a conversation between women." She smacks him again. "Get over it! And stand right there." He does as he is told while rubbing his head.
"If I hadn't heard her, she'd have hit me for not paying attention." Sho complains to himself. "It's not fair."
Hannah whispers something in Jessica's ear. "I can't say that!" The timid girl bursts out loud.
"Don't worry about it. He's a big boy and a good sport. He can take it. Right, Sho-Bozu?" She asks in a falsely sweet voice.
While annoyed by the honorific, her soft gaze breaks him down. "Rr, right." He sighs. He admits to himself, "I can't resist that face. And if I did, I'd get pounded..." His head hangs lower. "Why me?"
Hannah turns and shoves Jessica forward. "See. Now go for it!" Jessica leans away from Sho, in a showing of non-violent protest. Hannah remedies that with a slap to her butt, drawing a shriek from the timid girl. Jessica inadvertently hops up to Sho and immediately turns red. Despite being taller than him, she is intimidated by him. Her timidity spreads to Sho infectiously, leaving two red faced kids facing one another without making eye contact. Hannah waves her hand to urge her to do it.
Jessica gives it a try. She struggles to try and say it, but her nervousness overpowers her. Turning back to Hannah, she pouts, "Why do I have to say something like that?"
"It's an experiment. It has to be you." Hannah retorts. "Think of it as, a lesson in life."
Jessica tries again. In the most serious face she can muster, she repeats what Hannah told her to say. "Sho-Kun. You, you know..." She pauses. Facing the timid brunette, Sho's heart starts to race. He knows this is something Hannah set up, but not knowing what is coming up, leaves him in an uncomfortable position. Jessica finally clenches her eyes shut tightly and rushes, saying it all at once. "SHO! GIRLSTAKESHITSTOO!" After blurting it out, Jessica turns away crying out of embarrassment. Sho is left speechless.
Hannah waves the shorter girl to her and gives her a motherly hug. "Congratulations. I knew you could do it. You just needed to try. You get an A for effort. But, sadly," She adds. "You did rush it, so I can only give you a D for the delivery."
"Www, what...?" Sho is still baffled and red faced from the encounter. Pressing Jessica aside, Hannah steps up to the short red faced boy. His eyes draw up to her. He knows this will be bad.
"Sho-Kun..." Hannah begins her statement. "I'm not wearing any underwear." Again, Sho is left discomforted, but not as badly as before. Hannah asks, "So, were you caught off guard?"
"Uh..." Sho isn't certain of how to respond.
Hannah helps him. "Let's put it this way; which of us was more surprising?"
"Oh... Um..." Sho ponders weather to be honest, or not. With Hannah's smiling face beaming down on him, he answers honestly, "Well, Jessica-San's was a bit more unexpected."
Hannah nods. "It's because you expected me to make that kind of comment, right?"
"Yeah." He answers. In the next instant, Hannah hits him in the top of the head again.
"Why you despicable little toady! How dare you attribute such nasty things to me!" Sho tries to defend himself from the beating and her reprimanding him, but she continues to fire on him too rapidly. "You're the worst kind of person for stereotyping American girls as skanks. Would you like it if I called out all you Asian boys for being so small, or for all your stupid analogies? Tiny elephant? Fruits and vegetable? Attack and technique names? What the hell is wrong with you people? Freaks! Your all a bunch of depraved freaks!"
Sho cries out over her arguments, "I can't win no matter what I say!"
Jessica watches nervously. She admits, "I saw this coming."
Hannah finally finishes abusing Sho, and she returns to Jessica's side, to sum up the point she's trying to make. However, before she can say a word, Annette takes a step towards Sho. Both girls are surprised. Sho is oblivious to her approach, too consumed in his tending to the throbbing lumps on his head, until she is right in front of him. He fearfully retreats several paces, but the girl continues forward at the same steady pace, until she stands toe to toe with him. Leaning in towards him, Jessica clasps her hand to her mouth. "Oh my goodness!" She cries and flushes. Sho flushes so brilliant red, his turquoise hair looks almost white in comparison to his face. Annette's soft breath comes steadily over him.
"She, she's, she's... Annette-Chan's, she's..." Sho's brain is fried. He can't even register what he knows is coming next. Instinctively, he closes his eyes and sticks his lips out like a sucker fish, while clenching his little hands tight. However, he isn't met with a kiss. In a heartbeat, a breeze gusts towards Sho's face. An instant later, his head snaps to his right with a deafening SLAP! The boy's small spectacles soar deep into the woods.
"Oooooh..." Both girls cringe. Jessica even covers her eyes. "Yowsa!" Hannah comments sincerely. "I think I heard flesh tear on that one. But, it does prove my point, don't you think?" She looks to Jessica who still has her eyes covered.
"Www, wha, waht, WHAT THE HELL!" Sho shouts with tear filled eyes and a brilliant red hand print embedded on his cheek.
Annette remains emotionless and unchanged. She admits in her tiny yet forceful tone, "Get over it."
Once more, Hannah reiterates, "She's the last person you'd expect that from. Which is what makes it so shocking."
Sho shouts at her over her comments. "THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE!" Crying into the sky, Sho howls, "This is, HELLLLL!"
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hannah, Annette, Jessica, and Sho sit at a rest area along the path through the woods of Duel Academia. This particular rest area is ill tended and mostly overgrown with vegetation, but the dense canopy casts decent shade. Annette sits to the right of Hannah, while Jessica sits to her left, and Sho sits at the far end of the long cement bench, alone and dejected. A dull red hand print still mars his left cheek.
After taking a sip of her canned drink through a bendy straw, Hannah reiterates, "I'm telling you Jessa-Luz, you can be fabulous here; a total celebritant. All you need is some back bone and attitude." Jessica laughs lightly, before apologizing, which draws another long dejected sigh from Hannah. The tall girl hangs her head and lets her long blonde hair brush the tall grass at her feet. "That's the kind of thing that bums me right out." Before Jessica can apologize again, Hannah's head snaps to attention, and she meets her friend face to face. "You know what love? Forget about it. That's right, just, fuhgetaboutit. Don't worry over all that crap I said earlier. Instead, all I want from you is to do the things that make you happy. If it makes you happy, it makes us all happy." Hannah crosses her arms over her chest and nods. "You won't hear anything more from me about the issue."
Jessica is for a loss for words, but when she finally manages to say something, she replies, "thank, thank you."
Hannah glances at her. "Does that make you happy; to know I won't be pestering you anymore about this?"
Jessica giggles but says, "Yes."
Hannah smiles. "Then we're happy too." Glancing to Annette, who is unchanged, she comments, "See? She exudes an aura of happiness."
Having resolved the issue, the three girls sit on the stone bench, shaded from the bright sun above. Hannah and Jessica sip their drinks. While Annette holds a bottle of water to her forehead. Sho watches longingly from the end of the bench. Seeing Sho watching, Jessica hands him a bottle of water from her bag. Before the bottle can change hands, Hannah fires an icy gaze that freezes them both in their tracks. A second later, she waves Jessica on. "Meh, it's okay. Even dogs need water."
Accepting the bottle, Sho cries. "So I'm a dog now?" He asks himself.
"Just remember kids..." Hannah starts. "After this break, we have to resume our target objective for the day. We got a late start, and our target may not be where I expect her to be, so it could be a long day of searching." Everyone nods in agreement, except Sho, who weeps openly at the idea of carrying Hannah's heavy bag and the other stuff all day long.
The four sit and drink in silence. As they sit there, they listen to the sounds of the birds and insects chirping, as well as the wind in the trees. Holding back from taking a sip, Hannah swiftly raises her hand to call them all to silence. They listen to the rustling bushes off to their far right. It sounds like people talking softly. Hannah keeps them silent, as she sips her drink. The group resumes while listening to the voices somewhere to their right.
At first, it is hard to understand them, and the girls can only recognize a few words here and there. But as the voices get more comfortable, believing they are alone, they start talking louder and more boldly. Three distinct male voices repeat that they finally got something.
"Annette-Chan is so cute, but Hannah-San..." As their voices pick up, more of what they are saying becomes coherent through the bushes. Jessica's face grows steadily redder, as she listens. She glances nervously between the other two girls, who aren't moved in the least bit. Even Sho is a bit embarrassed by some of the random things he hears.
The boys all fawn in awe. "God damn! Awesome!" The boys chuckle. Jessica fidgets as she listens. Hannah however, sips her drink through her straw while continuing to listen intently. "Whoa! Ho ho, oh my god! Look at the size of those things! Oh man, that's tight!" All three boys hum in agreement with his comment.
"Oh man!" One of the boys remarks. "It should be illegal for her to do that."
"Yeah, like you'd really complain if she was standing here right now?'
"I'm not complaining, now." The three boys laugh. Jessica turns her head away, unable to face Hannah or Annette anymore. But upon meeting Sho's face, she quickly settles for the tall crabgrass at her feet. Sho hangs his head as well.
"Man, if I could get my hands on those..." He grunts, and the others laugh along.
Hannah calmly stands up with her drink. Annette follows without a word uttered, while Jessica remains seated, still fidgeting quietly beside the red faced Sho. Hannah approaches the source of the voices, and Annette follows. They spot 4 Duel Academia boys, all Ra Yellows, ogling photos spread on the grass between them.
"Think of the things she would do to you!" One of the boy comments, as he points out one of the photos.
Another boys answers, "Yeah, no kidding. That chick is PURE SEXU!" Hannah stops only a few paces behind them, as they pass around a blown up picture of her leaning over the card shop counter and harmlessly pointing out cards to the girl at the counter and Tomoe. All three girls smile, as they talk, but the guys are all only interested in two things: Her large breasts rest on the counter top, while, her butt is raised in the air from that position, leaving her skin tight skirt hiked up a bit and exposing even more of her long pale legs.
As one of the boys receives the pic, he looks her up and down and comments, "Man, she knows what she's doing."
"And what might that be?" Hannah asks nonchalantly. Two of the boys jump back, landing on another. A fourth remains where he is, quietly shifting his eyes up to the girl. Hannah cocks her hip out, shifting all of her weight to her leg beneath her. With her arms folded over her chest, she asks again, "So, what is it I'm doing?"
None of the boys answers. Hannah flips her hair slightly, then brings her drink to her mouth. After taking a sip from her straw, she teases it with her tongue. Annette emerges from behind her to stand at her side. She stands up straight with her arms behind her back. The cute innocent pose contrasts the seductive and suggestive behavior Hannah uses.
Hannah pouts her lips and brings the straw away. "My, you've all certainly become the quiet bunch." She smiles mischievously, as she scans over the four scared faces. Having only heard three voices, Hannah scans the pile of boys, until her eyes pause over the fourth boy closest to her. Hannah glances at the pile of photos scattered on the ground. Teasing her straw with her finger tips, Hannah asks, so whose pics?" Two of the boys nod and glance slightly to the unflinching boy, while the third boy watches Hannah intently. "Your's, huh?" Hannah asks playfully. "Tsk, tsk, tsk... Someone's been a naughty boy." She jokes, as she approaches the group. Leaning over, Hannah asks, "Mind if I see?" The boy shakes his head, drawing a smile from her face.
Hannah gathers the pictures up one by one. She can tell that all three boys are watching her chest as she bends over them, but she ignores it and gathers all of the photos together. Once she has collected them, she straightens them out, and begins looking them over casually. She turns away and returns to Annette's side without any resistance. Once she has rejoined Annette, she leans over the tiny girl's shoulder and points out, "Look, they even have some of you in here."
Annette's cold distant eyes don't move. The boys gulp, feeling her stare right through the piece of paper. Hannah looks over every last picture. Once she has seen them all, she straightens them out once more and waves the pile in front of her. "They're nice pics. Whoever took them certainly has an eye for beauty." She urges one of the boys to come forward to take them. The quiet boy gets up and slowly approaches. It draws a curious hum from the tall blonde bombshell. As he reaches to take the photos, Hannah states, "While the photos are nice, don't you think the real thing is nicer?" The boy's hand freezes. Hannah waits for a response, but when none comes, she adds, "Don't you know you're suppose to answer when you're asked a question? Especially when asked by a beautiful woman?"
The boy utters, something that sounds almost like a yes. Hannah raises her hand to her ear, "What's that?" He repeats a yes, with a bit more clarity. Again, Hannah smiles. She gives the stack of photos a slight flick to entice him to try and take them. Again, he extends his hands for the photos, but he is stopped by her voice once more, as she asks, "I bet you'd like to get your hands on the real deal... Wouldn't you?" Again, the boy is frozen in his tracks. Hannah chuckles lightly. "You know I heard, don't you? I heard you being perverted, with your friends over there." She gives a slight nod to the other three boys behind him. "You know..." Hannah leans in on the boy, leaving his face inches from her shoulder. He tries to not look down at her chest, but also tries to not meet her eye to eye. He compromises on her neck and collar. "I know what I'm doing, but do you, know... what..." She leans in closer, pouting her lips to his ears, while staring past him to the boys on the ground, as she utters, "I'm... doing?"
Hannah remains there for a moment. She can hear the boy's heart racing. Smiling, she draws herself back to her full height. "Hey." She calls the boy to meet her eyes. Making unsteady eye contact with her, Hannah states, "You know, all you have to do is have a little courage, and ask. Then you can have what you want, and I can have, what you know I want."
The boy trembles where he stands. Hannah's eyes drift to where his knees knock together and threaten to give way. Smiling even wider, she utters, "Three simple words... I, want, it."
She waits and listens. The three boys watch with wide eyes, as the other fights to stop shaking. After a minute, Hannah sighs and flips her hair. "Oh well. I guess, the real thing's just too much for you." Turning away from the boys, she comments, "They are, after all, just little boys."
She touches Annette's shoulder gently, and the girl turns elegantly, like a dancer in her arm, and is then swept away in Hannah's embrace. As the two leave, the shaky boy utters, "I..." Hannah stops, to glance over her shoulder.
"You?" She teases.
Again, the boy swallows. His ears are flushed and sweat beats down his neck. "I..." He starts. He takes a few deep breaths, and forces the words in a dry squeak. "want... it."
Hannah raises her eyebrow and smirks. "Is that so?" She asks. Once more, she rounds on the boy. As she takes a step forward, she asks, "Do you really want it?" The boy nods nervously. Hannah remarks in a slow seductive tone, "Well I want it too." All four boys are stunned by her boldness. The standing boy's legs tremble once more. Taking another step towards the boy before stopping, Hannah asks, "But who, do you want it from?" To her question, the boy raises his head slightly. He meets eyes with Hannah only for a fleeting instant, before she guides Annette in front of her with one hand. The tiny doll-like girl stands squared in front of the tall mature young woman. "Do you really want it from me? Or do you want it from this one?"
Watching intently, Hannah urges him, "Be honest with yourself. I'm out of your league. You could never satisfy me. But this one... This one's got just what you need." Hannah pauses momentarily, before repeating her question. "So, which one do you want it from?"
The boy struggles to speak, but in the end, all he can do is shrug and half point towards Annette. Two of the three boys on the ground mouth their surprise. Hannah smiles wide, bearing her perfect white teeth. "That a boy. It's good, to be honest with yourself." She titters, then asks, "Here? Now? In front of your friends?" The 3 boys watch nervously.
Once more, the boy makes a gesture that seems like a nod. Hannah laughs out loud. "As you wish." Annette raises her arm from behind her, and her black duel disk arms. The three boys gasp, but Hannah merely laughs haughtily. "What were you expecting? After all, you're only, little boys?"
The tiny girl's eyes narrow, showing a face far more sinister than anything Annette has ever shown before. "Everything, comes with a price." Her tone is chilling; soft, yet clear and projected, feminine and diminutive, yet bold and confident. Hannah leans over her shoulder with a smile. Raising the pictures to bring them to their attention, Hannah releases the stack. The pictures scatter and fall to the ground around the boys. As the last picture comes to a rest, Hannah chuckles, and sticks out the pinky on her hand supporting her can. A tiny key chain drops and sways from her little finger. The boys realize it is a picture phone, and it is open, showing a picture of them with the pictures. Annette states forcefully, "Duel."
The silent boy backs away several paces. The boy at the bottom of the pile pushes the others aside and tosses his friend a duel disk. The nervous boy muffs it, and it falls to the ground. When he tries to pick it up with his shaky hands, his wobbly knees finally give way, leaving him on the ground trembling. Hannah laughs haughtily. "How pathetic. And here I thought you were ready to get some action. Children..." She shrugs.
One of the boys takes to his feet and slides the duel disk on. He quickly inserts his deck from his belt holster into the disk. "Let's go!" He demands.
"Oh, this one is raring to go." Hannah jokes. Her face becomes suddenly serious. "For this game, we'll use the ante rule. If you lose, you must forfeit any of your cards from your deck that we want to take."
"That's preposterous!" He shouts with unrestrained indignation.
"But..." Hannah adds a bit more playfully. "If Annette-Chan loses, I'll give you a reward..." She pauses for effect. "A reward, you can't refuse."
The other two boys don't dare ask, "like what", but it is all that's on their minds. The other boy still trembles on his knees.
Hannah sees it in their eyes, and she answers the unspoken question, "If you can defeat my Annette-Chan..." As she says it, she leans over Annette's shoulder and places her hand to Annette's flat chest. Her finger traces down Annette's yellow jacket, then slowly back up, until her hand cups Annette's chin and face. Hannah places her cheek to Annette's, and she pouts her lips. "Use your imagination." Seeing the boy's drive waver, she titters, "We can't lose."
"And why's that?" The boy asks irritably.
Hannah snaps back, without any presumptions of playfulness, "Because you and your friends don't have the balls to do anything, even if we served ourselves up on a silver platter!"
The boy grits his teeth and draws his opening hand. "I'll show you just what I can do!" He retorts.
"Children before women." Hannah patronizes him.
"Draw." Annette orders him callously.
He angrily draws a card. His face shows his drive and desire to win. Hannah utters into Annette's ear. "Good luck, my love." Annette doesn't so much as nod.
"Souls of the Forgotten, defense position." A black mass of faces appears in front of the boy, where it writhes in agony. Its pitiful stats appear briefly at 900/200. "And I'll cover one card." The boy declares while setting a s/t card. "Your move!"
Annette draws. Her demeanor is as cold, collected, and confident as ever. In her natural contradictory voice, she announces, "Rose Dwelling Demon - White Venus Weed, attack position." A large white rose blooms from the ground before her. As its petals open, a naked pale skinned girl emerges from the center. The seemingly innocent girl giggles and smiles seductively at the boy while she flips part of her long soft pink hair behind her. Annette announces, "White Venus Weed, attack." Her rose dwelling demon responds by hunching over within her flower. Straining with her arms clenched tightly around her chest, the pink haired girl sends veins of upturned earth weaving a path through the ground towards the boy. All 4 paths eventually come to a halt around and beneath the boy's pitiful mass of souls. In an instant, 4 saber like tentacles spear through the ground, piercing and destroying the boy's weak monster in the process. His life points drop by 1400 points.
As the pink haired girl rises, her white rose turns vivid red. Annette gives a monotone commentary. "When White Venus Weed destroys a monster as a result of battle, she receives 1 Blood Counter. For each Blood Counter, her attack and defense increases by 400 points." Annette's firm gaze holds over the uneasy boy. "A Venus Weed's attack pierces through monster defenses. Turn end."
"My turn." The boy states needlessly. His life points appear behind him at 2600. "Draw." After examining his newly drawn card, he activates his set trap, Legitimate Lineage. "With this card, I can special summon 1 Normal Monster from my Graveyard in face-up attack position." Souls of the Forgotten appears before the boy once more. He promptly tributes it to summon a higher leveled monster. "Go, Swordstalker!" The boy shouts. A powerful looking dark warrior takes the field. His cape billows at his heels as he makes a threatening swipe with his sword. "Swordstalker, attack with vengeance blade!" Swordstalker snarls and lunges forward. Annette's White Venus Weed quickly hurls a hand full of knife-like roses at the monster, but not before the powerful warrior delivers a single fierce swipe to slice the girl in half. Both monster explode, and their owner's send them to their Graveyards. After setting another s/t card, the boy ends his turn.
Again, Annette silently draws. "Hunting Girl, attack position." She declares. A glowing gold silhouette of a woman appears briefly before Annette, before vanishing. The featureless woman of golden light fades away and reappears, leaving only her large saber visible. When she fades away, the sword seams to float and move on its own. "Hunting Girl, attack." Annette declares. The silhouette glides across the field to deliver a fury of jabs with her sword. The boy grits his teeth, as his life points fall by 1400 points, leaving him with 1200 life points left. Once more, Annette ends her turn.
"Draw!" The boy calls out. His life points appear behind him at 1200. Glancing from his card, and then to Hannah, who awaits confidently behind Annette with her hands on the small girl's shoulders, the boy scowls. "I'll show you... Make a fool of us..." He utters to himself. His eyes darts back to his friend, who still shakes slightly. He grits his teeth even harder. "Spell card activate, Dark Factory of Mass Production!" The boy recovers his Swordstalker and Souls of the Forgotten from his Graveyard. "Now, fusion!" The two monsters merge in a swirling storm of light. Swordstalker reemerges from the spiral fiercer looking than before. His cape has been cast away for a pair of shredded demonic wings, which dangle behind him like a battle damaged cape of leathery flesh. His body has been ravished in battle, leaving his large bristling muscles covered in scars. He threatens Annette's Hunting Girl with his massive sword, which now radiates with a black aura and the moaning faces of angry souls. "Vengeful Swordstalker!" The boy announces proudly. It's stats appear at its feet at 2900/1800, and the fierce demon warrior roars. The souls moan along with it. Their bellowing cry scatters birds from the canopy into the sky.
The boy further explains, "When one of my monsters is sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle or by you're actions, Vengeful Swordstalker's attack will increase by that monster's level times 100 points." He smiles at Annette and Hannah, but neither girl is impressed by his play, and neither girl looks the least bit threatened by his monster's power. He irritably continues his play. "Mystic Tomato, attack position!" The boy's monstrous living tomato takes the field. It cackles deviously before the boy sends it to its death. "Mystic Tomato, attack! Destroy Hunting Girl!" The killer Tomato charges the invisible girl and floating sword, tackling her. Her body appears briefly as a gold light, and she is thrown backwards.
"Hunting Girl is not destroyed as a result of battle while in attack position, unless her defense is 0. When her controller would take battle damage, her defense is decreased by the damage amount, and the damage inflicted to her controller is decreased by the same amount." The disappearing and reappearing invisible girl of light recovers from the attack and floats towards the Mystic Tomato. Hunting Girl counter attacks with another graceful flurry of thrusts and slashes, which quickly dice Mystic Tomato into wedges. The monster explodes.
The boy is only detracted briefly. He quickly shakes it off and announces, "When Killer Tomato is destroyed as a result of battle, I can special summon 1 dark attribute monster with an attack of 1500 or less from my deck." He summons another Mystic Tomato. Vengeful Swordstalker roars furiously, and its sword's aura intensifies. The attack of the level 8 demon rises from 2900 to 3300.
The boy sends his next Mystic Tomato to its death. Again, he replaces it with another Mystic Tomato. Vengeful Swordstalker's attack climbs even higher to 3700. He sends his final Mystic Tomato on a suicide attack, and has it replaced by Sangan. The three eyed fur ball growls a snicker as the diced tomato is sent to the Graveyard. Vengeful Sword Stalker's attack rises to 4100.
With his tomatoes all destroyed, the boy sends Vengeful Swordstalker on the offense. It's sword has nearly doubled in size, and the vengeful souls radiate an intense black aura that casts a dark silhouette around the monster. Swordstalker delivers a single fierce swipe with its immense blade. Hunting Girl is hurled back by the attack. The golden silhouette's defense decreases from 1400 to 0. Once it has reached 0, she bursts into flames and falls off the field. Annette's life points decrease by 1300 points, bringing her life points to 2700. Yet, despite the powerful strike, she still doesn't flinch.
"Sebek's Blessing!" The boy declares, as he holds out his quickplay spell. His life points increase from 1200 to 2500. Then, he sends Sangan on the offense. The three-eyed furball rakes its claws across Annette's chest, and her life points fall another 1000 points, dropping her to 1700. Annette's body is shaken by the attack, but her demeanor is unchanged. "Turn End!" He shouts triumphantly.
Annette draws. "Ankh of Life." She states casually, as she activates a spell and discards another spell from her hand. The card on the field depicts a plain silver Ankh symbol on a radiating blue and white background. "By discarding 1 Spell Card, I'll Special Summon 1 monster from my Graveyard." Hunting Girl is revived. Annette immediately tributes the invisible woman. A blue rose blooms from the ground before her. This time, a naked green skinned woman appears from the center of the opening petals. "Rose Dwelling Demon - Blue Venus Weed."
Annette activates another spell. "Familiar Card. I'll equip 1 union familiar monster from my hand or deck to a monster on my side of the field."
Annette takes a card from her deck and nonchalantly plays it on her duel disk. A semi-transparent skull engulfed in blue flames takes the field over the shoulder of her Blue Venus Weed. "Ghost Familiar." She announces. The monster's stats appear below it briefly, showing 800/800. "While Ghost Familiar is equipped to a monster, once per turn, I can decrease the ATK of 1 monster on the field by 800 points, and increase my life points by the same amount. Attack, Blue Venus Weed." Blue Venus Weed uses the same attack as White Venus Weed, except, she sends 6 tentacles seeking her target. Sangan is impaled by her attack, and the boy's life points fall by 1000 points, leaving him with 1500 life points left. His immense monster roars angrily, and its attack increases to 4400. Blue Venus Weed's flower turns deep red, and her attack rises to 2600.
"You should know Sangan's effect. If you don't, you don't belong here." The boy states harshly, before adding another Souls of the Forgotten to his hand.
"Agreed." Hannah laughs. The ghost finally wizens up, and moves over the powerful warrior. It drains Vengeful Swordstalker's power from inside of the monster. Swordstalker's attack decreases to 3600, and Annette's life points rise to 2500. Annette finishes her turn by activating Nightmare Steel Cage.
The boy draws. Because of Nightmare Steel Cage, he is forced to end his turn without taking any action. Annette draws. Once more, Ghost Familiar drains Swordstalker's attack power, dropping it to 2800, and bringing Annette's life points up to 3300. Then, she also passes on her turn with no further play.
The boy's lip curls as he looks at his newly drawn card, but once more, there is little he can do. He sets a monster and s/t card. Then, he ends his turn. Nightmare Steel Cage dissolves in a cloud of steam.
Annette draws. One final time, she decreases Vengeful Swordstalker's attack, leaving it at 2000. Annette's life points rise to 4100. "Blue Venus Weed, attack." Blue Venus Weed reals back and hurls a handful of roses like knives. Swordstalker is destroyed instantly, and the boy takes another 800 points of damage, leaving him at 700.
"Trap card, activate. I'll take you with me!" The boy activates Michizure. Blue Venus Weed is dragged to the Graveyard by Vengeful Swordstalker. Her ghost familiar is left alone on the field, baffled by the disappearance of its master. At the end of Annette's turn, it returns to her hand.
Before drawing, the boy activates his set trap, Soul Resurrection, to resurrect Souls of the Forgotten. After drawing, He follows by flip summoning his set monster, The Dark - Hex-Sealed Fusion. Then, he normal summons the Souls of the Forgotten he retrieved with Sangan's effect. "Dark Hex-Sealed Fusion, forbidden fusion!" Tentacles emerge out of the dark rock, and both masses of souls are dragged into it. They fuse in a flash of black light. "Behold, the Vengeful Souls of the Forgotten!" A massive black storm takes the field. Faces emerge from it to scream and howl. "It's attack is equal to the sum of levels of monsters in my Graveyard times 100 points." The new monster's power calculates at 3600. Before he can order his attack, a hollow feminine laugh fills the air, and a ragged naked marionette descends slowly to the field. Her pink segmented body contorts at weird angles until she comes to a rest on the field.
Annette explains, "When my opponent summons a monster, Marionette can be special summoned from my hand." The 1000 defense monster awaits to absorb the boy's attack.
Irritated by the play, the boy can do little about it. "Go, Vengeful Souls of the Forgotten, Vengeance Soul Crusher!" The immense dark cloud of writhing faces and black energy engulfs Annette's Marionette, and destroys it. A hollow feminine shriek fills the air as her pieces scatter and disintegrate. "Turn end!"
Annette draws. She reveals a spell in her hand. "Premature Burial." Her life points decrease to 3300, and she revives her Blue Venus Weed. Again, the blue rose blooms and reveals the beautiful green skinned girl. She activates another spell, pointing to her revived monster. "Power of Sire." A massive portrait of a distinguished vampire lord appears over the field. The portrait immediately begins raining down bursts of shimmering light from his eyes. Vengeful Souls of the Forgotten is hit by six of the light bursts and explodes. "Frozen Shade, attack position." A naked blue skinned woman, whose body is entirely made of ice, appears.
"It's over." Hannah states definitively. "By decreasing her attack by 400 points, Frozen Shade can attack 3 times in succession. Even if you had more Life Points or an attack negation card, you'd still lose."
"Attack." The woman of ice fires a burst of mist from her hands, dropping the boy's life points to 0.
The boy falls to his knees in defeat. Hannah approaches the beaten boy, but her face is no longer sensual or playful. She wears a serious scowl and a harsh glare. "You fell flat, boy." As the boy removes his deck from his duel disk, Hannah kicks his cards out of his hand, scattering them over the photos. "Let's get this straight, kid! I'm not your or any man's play thing! Why is it that having a great body makes you depraved punks think I'm an object that exists solely for your pleasure? Why do you think for a second that just because you, and every other boy on this island, wants to use me, that I would really indulge in your selfish fantasies?"
The boys don't answer. Hannah raises her voice. "Tell me, should I live my life ashamed of what I look like; what I was born as? Do you expect me to endure the way people like you treat me, just because it's how you want me to be? Maybe I should just mangle myself, and make myself a grotesque sight that no man would want to look at, let alone touch! Would that be enough to earn the right to be treated like a human being?"
The three boys hang their heads. The shaky boy struggles, but he is the first to apologize. The other three follow suit. Jessica's eyes waver, as she watches from the bushes. "Hannah?" Even Sho is surprised by her words. He looked at her all wrong, as well. All the small boy can do is hang his head lower.
Hannah turns her back on the boys. "Keep your cards. I don't want anything owned by someone who looks at me and can't see I'm human." Hannah walks away, taking Annette under arm once more.
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As they walk along the trail once more, everyone is silent. Jessica has to muster the courage to break the silence. She cautiously asks, "Han... Hannah?" The tall girl glances over to her. Jessica looks away, as she continues. "Are you, okay?"
Hannah chuckles. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Jessica checks her face, which seems to be back to normal.
"That's good." She admits. "I was worried. You sounded really upset."
"Over that?" She asks dubiously. "Well, I'm not going to pretend it doesn't bother me, because it does. But, they're just a bunch of snot-nosed brats. They can't help being like that. Honestly, I could have been nicer to them, but I felt like being a bitch. They might learn to be a bit more sensitive to the feelings of others from now on, or at least better at not getting caught being cowardly little pervs." Again, she laughs haughtily.
Jessica reiterates. "I'm glad."
"It's the price of being so desirable, Jessa-Luv." Hannah admits. "And despite the hassle and frustration of always being objectified, I don't think for a second that hiding what I am and suppressing myself is the right way to live." Proudly holding her chest out, Hannah states, "I'll take the hassles and aggravation that comes with having this knockout fatty body and these killer curves any day over hiding what I am. And dammit, I'll live how I want!" She sternly looks to Jessica and asks, "Love, you don't really see me as that skanky character I just played, do you?"
"No. I know better." She answers.
She smiles and nods. "Exactly. That's not me, and when people see me as like that without getting to know me, like those punks did, it's just a joke to me. Sometimes I play the role just to enjoy that joke. It's my right that I've earned. They want me to be something I'm not, and even when I show I'm not, they want to still see me like that. If they want me to play that role so bad, I'll play: I'll play them!"
Jessica laughs at her confident attitude, as does Sho in the back. The two girls glance back on him. Sho shrinks back with the heavy backpacks. Annette utters, "Idiot." Both girls laugh at Sho's misfortune, as he returns to pitying himself.
"This is hell." He reminds himself under his breath.
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The trio of American girls and their slave finally reach the main campus. Students wander about, doing what they wish with the their free time. Hannah scouts the area. "This is it girls. Keep your eyes peeled." Turning on Sho, she adds, "You too runt."
"Uh, okay." He replies uneasily. He gives it a second, then asks, "What am I looking for?"
"Crowds. A commotion. Idol chasers. Anything that looks noisy and suspicious."
Hannah's vague answer doesn't help him much, but it doesn't matter. A moment later, Annette states definitively, "There."
Hannah and the others look in the direction she is facing. Students are spread out across the large open grounds of the main campus, but several are clearly watching the same sight. At the center of the scattered observers, Hannah spots Ash sitting on a stone bench with a girl to each of his sides. "Bingo! Great eyes, love."
Hannah leads the girls around the main campus ground, via the fringe of the woods. A few students sit in the shade beneath the trees, but they aren't much interested in the passing quartet of shadows in the woods. The four reach the edge of the fringe near the stone benches wear Ash, the honorary Obelisk Blue student and American duelist sits. He continues to chat and listen to two Obelisk Blue girls who each sit to a side of him. Hannah doesn't comment on the scene. Instead, she scans the area, and eventually she spots what she is looking for. A lovely young woman with sandy blonde or light brown hair leans against a tree. She watches over the two girls and Ash, but she doesn't join in on their conversations.
"Asuka-San?" Sho asks. Hannah leaves the others to approaches the girl. "Uh..." Sho takes a quick step after her, only to be cut off by Annette, who gives him a cold glower.
"We should wait here." Jessica assures him.
"Uh, y, yeah... Right." He replies shakily. The small girl turns away from him.
"Asuka Tenjoin." Hannah states. The girl with sandy blonde hair, glances to her side, where Hannah casually leans against the same tree as her.
"Yes?" She replies uncertainly.
Hannah smiles. "I've wanted to talk with you for a while now. Spare me a moment of your time, won't you?" Asuka glances to her friends, Junko and Momoe, who each sit beside Ash. They smile and laugh along with him, but are openly hostile to one another behind his back.
Asuka sighs. "That's fine. I'm not needed here."
"Then shall we elude prying eyes?" Hannah remarks as she offers Asuka an outstretched hand.
"Right." Asuka replies. She steps past Hannah without taking her hand. Her reaction draws a smile across the tall girl's face.
Sho and Jessica watch the two girls wander deeper into the woods, and away from the main campus grounds were a few people already attempt to sneak a peek of the new scene unfolding. "Where are they going?" Sho asks. Without answering, Anette wanders into the woods as well. Again, Sho looks to Jessica for answers.
Shaking her head, Jessica encourages Sho, "It's best if we stay behind. This is Hannah's business."
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"It's quite nice here. You're lucky to live in such a wonderful tropic paradise." Hannah comments. A warm breeze sweeps through the trees and catches her long sheen blonde hair. Hannah closes her eyes and lets her hair flow behind her in the breeze.
Asuka catches herself staring, and she quickly averts her gaze. "Yes. Duel Academia has its wonders." Asuka agrees in a friendly tone.
"But it's not without flaws either?" Hannah quips.
Gazing at the tall blond girl once more, Asuka studies Hannah's facial features. When Hannah's smirk softens, Asuka admits, "Yes. It does have its down sides, too. But that's all places, isn't it?" She asks with a slight laugh.
"Of course." Hannah giggles. The two share an akward silence momentarily, until Hannah makes another comment. "You!"
Baffled, Asuka asks, "Me?"
"Yes, you!" Without warning, Hannah takes a step towards Asuka, and then she leans in on her. Asuka springs back, only to find herself backed against a tree trunk.
"Wh... What are you doing?" The blushing girl asks.
Hannah stands up straight and laughs playfully. "Oh, no. I'm sorry. I was just admiring your features." She quickly gathers her composure. "That smooth, soft, pale skin of yours, and that sandy blonde or brownish hair..." Once more, Hannah leans in on Asuka, but not as close as before. "And those eyes... You're really quite lovely. It's no wonder why you're so popular around here."
Despite blushing redder, Asuka takes no compliment to Hannah's flattery. "I, I wouldn't know anything about that."
"Ohhh?" Hannah states in mock surprise.
"Yes." Asuka replies forcefully. "I don't pay attention to those kinds of things." Asuka's response draws a fit of chuckling from Hannah. At first, Asuka is baffled by her reaction, but after the inital surprise has passed, she shows voices her irritation. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, no. It's not you." Hannah assures her.
"Then what is it?" Asuka asks dubiously.
Once more, Hannah leans in on Asuka. Again, Asuka tries to retreat from the girl's intrusion into her personal space, but she is backed against a tree trunk. Hannah titters and stands up. "Relax. I'm not in love with you or anything like that."
"I, I didn't think anything like that at all!" Asuka shouts indignantly. Her face flushes again.
Ignoring Asuka's statement, Hannah continues. "Besides, even if I did love you, the competition here is way too fierce for my tastes." She gestures towards the distant trees, where several well hidden girls spy on them.
Annette suddenly appears beside the hidden fangirls, while remaining out of sight of Hannah and Asuka. With nothing more than a stern glance, the small group of girls flee. Seeing the mob of girls flee, Asuka sighs. "They're as bad as the boys here."
"Isn't that the truth?" Hannah replies, and she extends her hand, holding a canned drink. "It's cold." She sings, giving the can a slight shake. Condensation trickles off of the cold can in the warm air.
Asuka hesitantly accepts. "Thank you."
"Don't worry about it. Call it a gift, from someone with a... mutual objective."
"Mutual objective?" Asuka asks uncertainly. Her can hisses softly as the top pops partially open.
"We'll cross that bridge later." Hannah remarks. She takes a long sip of her drink. Realizing that Hannah has no intention on elaborating at the moment, Asuka also takes a sip of her drink.
"Refreshing, isn't it?" Hannah asks with an expectant smile. Asuka inadvetantly swallows hard, getting some of ehr canned tea down her wind pipe. She coughs uncontrollably into her hand.
"Oh my. We must be careful, princess. Or should I say, queen?" Hannah's comment carries an obvious, nasty connotation. Asuka's eyes shift over the girl, but she can't say anything for her fit of coughing.
"Wh... What..."
Hannah titters. "My, my. I think I rather like you like this. It makes things easier on me." Her comment draws a stern glance from Asuka. "Kidding, kidding." She adds. "But, what say you, we cut to the chase? I'm not really one for beating around the bush." Asuka says nothing as she tries to control her breathing once more. "Yes?" Hannah adds.
Asuka partially nods, and replies, "What... What do, you want?"
Again, Hannah titters. "I want a lot of things, like most girls my age. But, if I were to choose right now, I'd say, the thing I want most at this very instant is to talk about you, miss Asuka Tenjoin, and your history here at Duel Academia."
"I don't understand." Asuka replies cautiously.
"What's not to understand? I'm interested in you. I'm curious to know more about you: What makes you tick? How do you think? How do you feel?" Placing her can to her forehead, Hannah mocks that she's thinking, while she hums softly. Finally, she lowers her can and adds, "Think of this as an interview of sorts, kinda like... for a magazine. Yeah, a magazine! Except, I'm not doing a story on you, and anything you say here will be private; just between us girls." Hannah's eyes narrow while her smile widens. "Not even the idols will hear us."
Feeling uneasy, Asuka glances to her sides. The unnatural stillness draws the realization to her face. Hannah nods to confirm her suspicions. For the first time in the longest time since entering Duel Academia, Asuka finds that she is genuinely alone, except for Hannah. The spying fans and idol chasers which have made themselves a natural part of her day are nowhere to be seen. "They're all gone." Hannah states needlessly. It's just you and me out here, love."
"I don't know what you want me to say." Asuka admits. Her hand drifts back against the tree trunk. "I'm a fairly normal student here. I duel, and I attend classes, and I hang out with my friends. There isn't much to know about me."
"What about your reputation?" Hannah asks.
"My, reputation?"
Hannah chuckles. "Don't play dumb, love. We both know you're not. Duel Queen..."
Asuka lowers her head slightly. "That... I don't call myself that. That's something everyone else came up with and stuck on me. I see myself as a normal girl."
"Didn't I just say, don't play dumb with me?" Hannah retorts, raising her voice. "We both know, you're not." When Asuka doesn't reply, Hannah elaborates. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that you really see yourself as a normal girl, even when we both know everyone else here looks at you like an idol?"
"It's th..."
"Truth? I highly doubt that." Hannah interjects. "I could believe that you want to see yourself as a normal girl, or that you don't like being treated differently from everyone else, but I'm not so stupid or naive to believe for a second that you honestly feel you are just another no named Ne-San in the crowd."
"Believe what you want, but it's the truth." Asuka fires back.
"Really?" Hannah remarks rhetorically. "And how many other girls here are called Duel Queen?"
Deepening her tone, Asuka reiterates, "That's something they came up with. I never asked for it or encouraged them to continue to call me by that name."
"I see. How interesting." Hannah replies simply, but her tone contradicts her words. "So what do you prefer others call you?"
"Asuka Tenjoin: My name."
"Is that what your friends call you?"
"Yes."
Hannah takes another step forward, bringing her sleek long blonde bangs against Asuka's sandy blonde bangs. Her boot stomps down between Asuka's legs, and the tall American' girls long pale leg partially forces Asuka's much shorter legs apart. "What about me? Is that what I, should call you?"
Asuka's hand runs around the tree's trunk. Once she has her balance, she quickly ducks around the tree trunk, escaping from Hannah's reach. Hannah casts an amused smile at Asuka who firmly stands her ground out of arm's reach of Hannah. "What do you want?" Asuka asks tensely, her small body completely stiff.
Hannah takes her time standing up straight. Then, she chuckles lightly and stretches her back. "Well I certainly didn't come here to fight you. That's for sure." She utters a small cry when her back pops, before sighing with relief. Lowering her shoulders and relaxing herself, she comments, "You'll pass out if you pucker your butt so tightly."
Asuka inadvertently drops her guard to Hannah's blunt and tactless comment. But, despite the temporary opening, Hannah makes no move on her. Asuka continues to watch her uncertainly, but Hannah shrugs her shoulders. "Look love, my body's not built for fighting anyone. I may look strong, but I'm really in no physical condition to restrain others. You can relax. I'm strictly here to chat."
With Hannah's assurance, and since she shows no signs of moving on her again, Asuka lowers her guard. "I don't know what you're game is, but I'm not interested in playing it with you. If you don't have something to say, then I'm leaving."
Hannah smirks, as if to reply, "Very well." Losing her smiles and deceptive expressions, Hannah faces Asuka with a blank face, devoid of her typical playfulness. "Have you ever asked yourself why they call you Duel Queen?"
At first, Asuka doesn't respond, but after a moment, and sensing Hannah's seriousness, she admits, "Duel Academia... Is still a school. Like any school, Duel Academia is divided by ranks. The elites in Obelisk Blue, the promising students with potential in Ra Yellow, and the students in the danger zone in Osiris Red. But besides from that, the students further divide themselves by how well they perform here. Regardless of the dorm rankings, students here are impressed by other students who give impressive showings in their duels. It's that same quality that talent scouts look for when recruiting Pro League potentials."
Hannah suddenly laughs out loud. Asuka's eyes narrow at the girl's rude gesture. Seeing Asuka's serious scowl, Hannah's laughter cuts out just as abruptly as it started. Her face reveals her genuine disbelief. "Tell me you're not being serious?"
"And why wouldn't I be?" Asuka shouts at her.
"No, you can't be serious." Hannah utters aloud. "You couldn't really be this naive. To believe that you're worshiped here just because people like to watch your duels..." Her comments further irritate Asuka to the point that the sandy blonde haired girl's hands start to tremble at her sides. Before she can argue with Hannah, Hannah shouts at her. "How naive can you be? I can't believe the legendary Duel Queen of Duel Academia could be such a hopelessly foolish child!"
Asuka opens her mouth to fire back, but even before she can produce a definitive syllable, Hannah comments harshly. "Look! You're an attractive young girl with a body girl to kill for. That factor alone makes you popular. It's enough to make even an average no talent girl into a celebrity in the real world. But you're not an average normal girl: You're a girl at an elite school for dueling. Dueling," She reiterates, "A predominantly male past time! For any girl, no matter how undesirable physically, to participate where women don't tread, this is also enough to give you celebrity status." Asuka shakes even harder. "Put them together, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what is so appealing about you to the guys here. With looks like yours and a similar interest as them... It's also quite obvious why girls are so strongly drawn to you here. You're a rallying point for them, a symbol of strength and beauty, even if you aren't all that talented."
"Enough! It's not true!" Asuka shouts. "Not here! Not at Duel Academia! We aren't ranked like that here!"
"Do you hear the bullshit that you're spouting? Honestly!" Hannah huffs. Folding her arms across her chest, Hannah shrugs her shoulders and asks, "You actually believe you're hot shit? That people have elevated you to the level of an idol just because you're so talented? Oh please! How full of yourself can you be?"
Asuka's body continues to shake with each word to come from Hannah's mouth, but for some reason, no matter how badly the strong willed girl wishes to retaliate, Asuka can't speak. She's utterly deflated under Hannah's harsh criticisms.
"Look Duel Queen, I did my homework, and I've seen your records. You're overall wins to losses ratio is strikingly average for a girl that has been elevated on a pedestal by the majority of the student body since arriving. The number of duels you've had since arriving at the academy is laughable as well. Even the quality of the opponents you've faced hasn't been on par with the image you've been given. Frankly, if students really were ranked here by performance, like you say, I doubt anybody here would even take the time to remember your name."
"Y, you, you're wrong..." Asuka breaths softy with her body shaking between breaths.
"Am I?" Hannah asks. "Then show me? Show me the numbers to prove it? Show me the facts and figures that support your naive belief that people like you and respect you just because you're such a wonderful duelist. You show me that, and I'll take back what I said and apologize without hesitation."
Again Asuka is left speechless. She wants to retaliate, and to prove Hannah wrong, but again, the words don't come. Hannah sighs lightly. "Look, I didn't come here to pick a fight with you and become enemies. I just wanted to get to know the real Asuka Tenjoin better, not the Asuka Tenjoin hyped up into a legendary idol by the fanboys and fangirls. Despite how much of a bitch I may seem for saying so, I actually relate to you. I feel like we have a lot more in common than the other girls here."
Hannah extends a hand, which Asuka watches apprehensively. "Honestly, this was just an interview. I wanted to see if our goals really were the same." Hannah's harsh eyes soften. "We should be allies."
"What do you mean?" A defeated Asuka asks softly.
Hannah hums softly, then sighs. "What I mean is, you and I aren't all that different, and whatever differences we have are trivial compared to our similar experiences and objectives."
"What objectives?" Asuka asks. "I don't have any objectives!"
Hannah lowers her hand. "Come with me." She asks. Before Asuka can accept or decline, Hannah returns to where she found Asuka. Asuka hesitates, but she eventually follows the girl.
At the fringe of the woods, Hannah points out Ash and the two Obelisk Blue girls, Junko and Momoe. "Look." She tells her.
The two girls listen intently as Ash recounts one of his duels before coming here. "Look at them." Hannah comments. "The way they squabble and fight like cats in heat over a boy's attention. He is obviously loving every second of it."
"That's enough!" Asuka shouts. "I can handle you insulting me, but leave my friends out of this! They are allowed to act any way they want, and you have no right to criticize them!"
Hannah watches her red face, then turns back to the girls. "Don't I have the right, when they're actions concern me, too?" Asuka doesn't answer. "Girls like them are the reason why we're looked at differently. You know, guys get it in their heads that this is acceptable and normal, when it shouldn't be. Girls like them, they willingly perpetuate a hurtful stereotype no woman wants to be placed under." Hannah looks to Asuka. "If only one girl acts like that, every guy who has ever met her will end up picturing her at some point each time he talks with a girl. It doesn't matter how hard those girls work to be seen in a different light. So when a majority of girls continue to act the way those two are, it makes us all look bad, and it gives credence to all the bad things guys think of us."
"That's not fair." Asuka retaliates.
"Is it fair that you, me, or any girl face the judgement of others because people like your friends leave this impression that all girls are dippy tools that exist to inflate men's egos. This is why stereotypes exist, Asuka-San! Because a large number create a false truth by their common shared behaviors, and people can only see that negative shared behavior; not the true individual identities. Even long after the stereotype stops being the social norm and becomes a rarity, individuals still can't break free of that image for the rare cases that still make the half-truth a perceived truth in the eyes of others! It's a no win situation as long as fools like those two keep the lie alive." Glaring at Junko and Momoe, Hannah hisses, "Their boy chasing, and their naive dippy girl act, and the way they give every ounce of themselves to showering him with attention, as if the world revolves around his existence... It's positively disgusting!"
"It's not fair that people aren't seen for themselves all the time, and that sometimes, other's first impressions of us are way off. I agree with that much." Asuka states softly. "But I really believe people should judge all others individually, and I don't think it's fair that you scapegoat other girls for acting a certain way."
"You're so idealistic. You're not living in reality." Hannah retorts. She gives them each a moment to cool down. Then, she comments. "I've heard this about you; your fierce loyalty to your friends and how you fight for the underdog regardless of the cause of conflict. But I didn't actually believe it." Hannah's cold eyes settle over Asuka's uncertain face. "I guess this means, the rumors of your old decks are true as well?" Asuka says nothing to her comment. "I've heard your deck's are nothing but a jumble of unreliable and unrealistic combos; decks built on a foundation of hopeless idealism and relying on good fortune and the generosity of your opponents to give you opportunities to exploit in order to achieve victory."
Asuka is left livid at such an accusation, but Hannah further states, "This individual strength that I heard you have, it isn't real. You're no loner by choice. You're a loner because others don't want to stay by your side. They'd rather watch you from a distance, from the shadows. You're better to them as an untouchable idol than as a real person with flaws."
"That is not true!" Asuka shouts furiously. "My friends..."
"Aren't here." Hannah points out bluntly. "If I was lying, then why are you here talking with me, instead of out there talking with them? Your friends insisted you be here with them, which is how I knew where to find you, and yet they turned their backs on you as soon as Ash showed up, didn't they? And what about your other friends? The other clique's you hang out with? Why aren't you with them?"
"Junko and Momoe, they didn't force me to come here... And the others..." Asuka struggles to find her answers. "The others... I chose to be here!" She finishes heatedly.
"You're a good friend to your friends Asuka, but your friends aren't good friends to you."
Again, Asuka can't say anything. She feels her arguments stirring inside of her, boiling over like a covered pot of water. She wants so badly to retaliate, but for some reason, the words don't come. Her chest tightens, holding her words in, and it won't let go. Hannah returns to watching Junko and Momoe. Each girl forces her way into the other's story. Ash watches each with a quite smile. After a minute or two of watching them trying to steal the lime-light from the other, Hannah explains, "I don't want to be treated as the female contender anymore."
Unable to speak, Asuka can only watch the beautiful girl. The wind blows her hair across her flawless and serious face. "I don't want to be seen as anything but a genuine contender. Understand?" She asks while glancing at Asuka. "I want to win or lose a tournament as myself, Hannah Daniels, the duelist; not myself, Hannah Daniels, the female participant - the female duelist! I don't want to ever be called good for a girl, or be placed in a class apart from other duelists. I've been dueling since I was a little girl, Asuka. I liked it, so I kept up with it over the years, and I got better at it, until I was earning invites to small scale tournaments, local competitions, and exhibitions games." Hannah pauses.
"But after attending the first few, I realized, I wasn't there for my dueling skills or because I deserved to be there. I was there because I was a woman. I was something people sympathized with, a symbol for others, a piece of eye candy for the fans. I was the draw, not my duels. And just like all the people in my life who tried to use me for my body and looks, these places weren't any better. They invited Hannah Daniels, a piece of meat for show, not Hannah Daniels, the person who belonged their and earned the light of the stage." Hannah turns sharply on her heal, letting her hair whip at her side, and then fall on her shoulders.
"I turned them down ever since then, because I was always invited as a female contestant and not a contestant. I was losing to better duelists in tournaments I had to pay to enter like everyone else, and yet, these people weren't being invited to perform. Being first place in a different division is worse than being last place in the true division." She pauses. Her stern blue eyes hold over Asuka's large brown eyes. "I can't even truthfully tell people my strength level because I have always been treated as a thing apart from the rest. And you understand this too, don't you, Duel Queen? You understand how it is, to exist as a false thing projected on you by others, rather than your true self?"
Seeing the seriousness on Hannah's face, Asuka thinks back to a time when people cheered for her as they watched her duel. The people chattered amongst themselves, praising her for her show, but afterwards, they spoke only of her being so young and so darling. It was the same for her, even when she was young. "I understand how that feels." Asuka admits. "But," She lifts her head to show her stern face. "It wasn't always like that."
"Wasn't it? Are you really so certain?"
"Yes." Asuka answers with a slight smile. "When I was a child, people always seemed so proud of me for dueling, but looking back on it, they only praised me as a child doing something. I could have dueled poorly, and they'd have cheered. But my brother was different. He really did praise me for my duel, and he told me how to play better and where I made mistakes." Asuka's eyes become firmer. "You see, even in a crowd, if one person can truly see you for what you are and give you praise you deserve, then their surely must have been others in that same crowd who also understood. Others who enjoyed the duel, not just a child on center stage."
Hannah shakes her head. "Now you're only seeing what you want to see in your memories. You're not seeing the truth." Hannah watches Momoe and Junko once more. "Children are praised for being children. If they show up to participate, they are the draw, not their performance. Those children grow up, and they are either male and must become strong at some feet to be recognized by the world, or they are women, and they can be recognized simply for being women and showing up where they aren't expected to show up. No matter how old you and I get, we will always be the draw for participating, even if we are worthless at what we participate in."
"I don't believe that." Asuka states. "Not for a second."
"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. The truth is the truth. The facts and figures are there. The countless examples are written in stone. Even that history buffoon would agree with me." Once more, Hannah meets Asuka face to face. "The past doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is the future; my objective. My goal, is to end these perceptions and shatter them, so we can be seen as true competitors and not just female participants. And this should be your goal as well, Asuka. A girl who has become a school idol, when all she desires is to be a duelist like any of the boys here, you shouldn't have to choose to be one thing or the other. You shouldn't have to forsake what you are, what it is to be a woman, just to be recognized by your abilities the way men are judged by other men. We shouldn't have to futilely work ten times harder to be taken seriously in a world where we will never be seen how we want to be seen!" Hannah's clenched fists tremble.
After allowing herself a moment to calm down, Hannah explains, "Asuka, I intend to go farther than any woman has ever gone in this game. I'm going to rise so high and shine so bright that girls will all be inspired to pursue the things they want, even if they are the minority. I'm going to make myself into an image, a symbol of strength and equality, and I'll make sure that anyone who is touched by this symbol will stand proudly as an individual and as a representative for all women, and I'll make sure all girls understand how shameful and hurtful it is for all of us when even a single stupid girl makes a fool of herself." Her firm eyes burn into Asuka's. "Help me. We've been down the same road, and we should have the same objectives. We both want to be taken seriously, and we both want others like us to have the same equal chance. But, it's not a goal that either of us can reach alone. We have to become more than a couple of women to capture the hearts and minds of all the other girls of the world. If men have to become more then men, but less than gods, we have to become more than that. We have to become gods, or we'll never have the strength to influence others." Hannah shakes her head. "An entire generation of girls will have to suffer the same cruel reality we've had to, if we do nothing." Once more, Hannah extends her hand.
Asuka can't argue with her objectives. In retrospect, she wants what Hannah wants; a world where she can show up and be treated the same as any guy but without having to stop being a woman. Despite wanting it, her path to that end is not the same as Hannah's. "I'm sorry. I understand how you feel, and I want to see the world change too, but what you're asking. It's no different from becoming an idol, and that's not me. I won't sacrifice myself to become a symbol. I only want to live my life as a normal girl, and fight my battles as they come to me. This is how I inspire others."
"You're too naive." Hannah sighs. After exchanging gazes, Hannah softly exclaims. "I'll give you time to think about it. I'm sure you don't fathom just how serious I am or how impossible it is for us to work alone and break free of the legacy of inequality women have faced from the beginning of time." Hannah walks past Asuka. Before getting too far, Hannah stops and exclaims, "If you're not on my side, you're as good as an enemy too me. I'm an ambitious girl, and I will change what it means to be a female and a competitor in the world. You're the current symbol of strength here, and you hold the hearts of everyone. If I can't have that power of influence on my side, I will tear you to pieces before the eyes of every boy, girl, man, and woman in this academy." Hannah fires a fiery glare over her shoulder. Her intensity is so unsettling, Asuka can't even breath under her gaze. "I have no reservations anymore. I'll destroy your record, your legacy, and your credibility, and in the end, I will destroy you and have you ejected from Duel Academia by unanimous vote from the student body." Not letting her eyes waver for an instant, Hannah apologizes. "I'm sorry, Asuka, but your shadow has outgrown your comprehension, and there's no light left for another seed to grow. In this battle of ideals, the only way to win is to win the hearts and support of the masses." Having said all she needed to say, Hannah leaves Asuka, speechless and unable to move.
Hannah is met by Annette on her way back to the others. "Her answer?" The tiny girl asks firmly.
"Not yet. If she doesn't, we'll ruin her. I can't let her undermine my objectives. We've suffered too much to pass up this opportunity." Allowing her stern gaze to waver, Hannah recites to herself, as much as for Annette, "Duel Academia is the definitive first battle. If I can't win their hearts here, it'll be over."
Annette says nothing as she and Hannah rejoin the others. Hannah smiles. "Mission objective achieved. Let's go home." Jessica nods, while Sho glares uncertainly past her. Asuka doesn't move from where the two had been talking. "Runt?"
"Uh, yes ma'am?"
"Get the bags, runt. And don't lag behind."
"Yes ma'am." He answers. After one last glance, he heaves the bags over his shoulders and follows along.
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Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island, Kyle escorts Ran through the forest using a slightly overgrown dirt path. The voluptuous, fashion conscious young woman trails slightly at his side, and she keeps her gaze to the ground ahead of her.
Kyle, picks up on her indignation, but chats pleasantly as if she was paying attention. After asking her a simple question, Kyle finally calls her behavior to attention. "I give up. Why so distant?" He rolls his hand, gesturing to the surrounding woods. "No one can see you here, so it's not as if your reputation is on the line." He reminds her, "We took this path for your sake. Personally, there are too many weird animals running about out here for my tastes." Casting a cautious eye to the woods, Kyle states, "I swear I saw a monkey playing duel monsters the other day. Talk about fucked up, huh?" He laughs to himself. Yet, despite his attempt at levity, Ran still refuses to talk to him.
Despite being snubbed by the young woman, Kyle doesn't let it get on his nerves. Instead, he changes his tone. "Ran, I want to tell you a story. Don't say anything, okay: just... Listen."
"Hmmph!" Ran huffs, as if the notion of her talking to him by choice is utterly laughable.
Kyle takes her little noise as her agreement, and he begins. "As a kid, I never had a lot of money. Or, to be exact, my family never had a lot of money. I wouldn't call us poor by any stretch of the imagination, but we didn't have the extra disposable income to buy a lot of luxury goods." Kyle watches Ran from the corner of his eyes as he tells his tale. "This was always hard on me, as I imagine it is hard on most kids. My friends had money in their families, so they never had a hard time getting the new things they wanted and asked for. Me however, I only got an allowance for doing chores around the house. The more chores, the more cash." Kyle chuckles. "Honestly, it was never much, even with heavy cleaning to get the house ready for holidays. I mean, we're talking, a good week might net something like, 5 dollars... About 600 yen?" He asks.
Ran doesn't answer, so he agrees with himself. "Yeah, about 600 yen. Which isn't much. The amount grew as I got older, but that's about where it started at. Anyways, you can imagine how anxious I was to spend it as soon as I got it, right?. I was a normal kid growing up, after all." He jokes. Even though Ran doesn't laugh, his smile doesn't fade. "Yeah. As soon as I got that cash in my grubby little paws, I was raring to go spend it. Unfortunately, with money being so tight, even when I wanted to spend it right away, I often ended up saving it instead. It didn't take me long to learn the value of cash, so even before I could read, I was hoarding money away for when I really needed it, and I forced myself to prioritize my spending. If I didn't have to have it, and if I could go a few weeks without something and still not want it badly after the wait, I often went without it." Kyle chuckles softly. "A pipsqueak prioritizing his purchases... It sounds so wrong, doesn't it?"
He doesn't wait for Ran to answer. Instead, he builds on his story's momentum. "You know, thinking back, there were some great temptations when I was growing up. There were these high quality dinosaur figures that aren't made anymore, and these cool mech soldiers with pilots, and these wild west guns; things like the Colt Peacemaker, and they were made of metal; honest to god, metal!" Kyle waves his hand. "But that's another story in itself. The point I'm aiming for is, I had some tough judgement calls to make. And long story short, even though I understood the value of money, I was still a child, and I gave in to the temptations of some of those great toys. To be exact, for every 2 or 3 weeks of saving, I probably spent about half or 3 quarters of what I earned, and usually only for 1 toy."
Kyle dreamily recalls his childhood experiences. The warm breeze barely effects his short spiked hair, but a few drops of sweat gather on his brow in the heat. Ignoring any physical discomfort he may feel from wearing the heavy Obelisk Blue jacket in the heat, Kyle recounts his joys. "I picked out some cool things over the years. And I'm telling you, there is nothing in the world that compares to that feeling of being a child, earning your money, and then spending your hard earned cash on a new toy you've wanted for weeks. The excitement of holding it and knowing it's yours anytime you want to play with it..." Kyle turns his head to Ran deliberately. "You remember that feeling don't you? That rush?"
Still, Ran says nothing to his questions, but it is obvious she is at least listening. It's enough for Kyle. He continues. "Yeah, it's a great feeling. But unfortunately, like all things in this world, that feeling doesn't last forever. Once the novelty of finally getting a new toy passed, I found that I would start to notice things; little things, like small flaws and imperfections. Things like messy painting would catch my eye first. Then after playing with my figures for awhile, I'd notice that some had really shoddy joints that were either too tight or too loose and hands made too small or large for their own accessories. And some of the cheaper plastic toys had flash, that excess plastic at seems and edges. For every exciting moment of finally getting a new toy, there was always this low point that followed, when the real thing didn't live up to the dream. I remember one of my favorite toys I ever bought for myself. It was a deluxe mecha Joe, the real American bad ass. I had him in all of his manly cybernetic glory for the whole of 5 minutes. And then, his leg fell right off." Kyle mimes him holding a figure in one hand and the lost appendage in the other. "It'd be an understatement to say that I was absolutely devastated. That bastard costed me a month and a half of saving, and an extra week just for taxes. His breaking right off the bat... That was the day... I stopped being a child." Kyle looks seriously to Ran, who glances back at him slightly. He abruptly laughs out loud. "No, I'm just kidding. I was bummed out, but it wasn't a profoundly life changing moment or anything."
"Eh..." Ran huffs and turns her head away.
Kyle snickers, then continues. "Yeah, that was the first time, but it sure as hell wasn't the last. Honestly, I think just about every toy I ever owned had some kind of quality issue or another. And while it didn't snap me into bitter adulthood like that..." He snaps his fingers. "I certainly did learn from the experiences. I stopped wasting my hard earned money on the cheaper toys, and I did a paint and initial quality check before buying anything. But even with that, the small joys diminished over time, and the disappointments kept on coming. Eventually, I gave up on buying toys almost all together, save for that rare great looking toy here and there with irresistible packaging and a nice Saturday morning tie in cartoon." Kyle chuckles again. "But the more things change, the more they stay the same. I upgraded from toys to CDs and DVDs, and as my income source steadily rose within its class, I graduated from those to video games and higher end electronics, among other things." Smiling at Ran, he exclaims, "Of course, with each change of media came the relearning of old lessons I already knew, or should have known. DVDs and CDs skip, and many have content that isn't worth the plastic it's encoded onto. Their players seem to be designed to fail the day after the warranties expire, and the list really goes on and on."
Kyle draws a long drawn out sigh before speaking again. "Looking back, I'd have thousands of dollars right now if I had only said no to those impulsive buys of crap I knew wouldn't live up to my expectations. If I had only learned my lesson and been able to resist, I'd have saved so much in the long run, and not only in terms of cash. I'd have been spared a great deal of disappointment and aggravation as well. Not to mention grief. After doing chores for weeks and going without anything new, you better believe I cried when my hard earned reward fell apart before I had even recouped the losses." Kyle comes to a stop on the trail. Ran just barely catches him from the corner of her eye, and she stops as well. "Your turn. Now you think back." He tells her.
Ran turns her nose in disgusted indignation. She makes it perfectly clear she has no intention of participating. "Come on, humor me." Kyle asks of her. "Or, we could just go back to my room, and I could teach you to speak in tongues."
"Eh!" Ran cringes, obviously sickened by his joke. Seeing his grin, she quickly states, "I'm thinking."
"Close your eyes."
"What?" Ran sneers at Kyle, but he continues to watch her with the same smug smile he always wears. He playfully licks his lips. "Ugh! Fine!" Ran complies reluctantly. "You better not try anything!" She states.
Kyle ignores her threat. Speaking in a slow, low tone, he instructs her. "What I want you to do is, I want you to focus on a time when you wanted something. Not something material though. Instead, I want you to think of a situation when you wanted something intangible; something you can't buy at a store or hold in your hands. Think of a time when you wanted something so badly you couldn't contain your anxiousness. Like a time it was raining, but you wanted to go to the park to play. Or a time you were excluded from a playground game by the other kids. Maybe you didn't like the other kids. Or Maybe you felt like you didn't fit in..." He watches her closed eyes twitching. "Or maybe a time you refused to join in an activity with the other kids because your parents taught you not to."
Despite not wanting to take part in this nonsense, Ran imagines such a day. Kyle urges her to get into it and recall how she felt that day. "This is stupid." She tells herself, but Kyle reminds her.
"Remember, it's this, or that. And we both know, you don't want that."
"Will you shut up? I'm going to lose it." Ran barks.
"So where are you?" Kyle asks curiously.
"The playground, like you said to imagine." Ran replies in a nasty tone.
"Good. Now think about why you're there."
Feeling her ears heating up, Ran tries to keep her mind on what he's asking of her and not on how much she detests him. Her image becomes steadily clearer. "After school... Yeah, and that was there. And there was that hill..." She recites the features in her head as she redraws the mental image. But as she redraws the picture in her head of the small playground situated on level ground at the base of a steep hill and at the top of a second steep hill, the voices of children playing comes back to her on its own. Little girls stand beside the playground equipment and yell at the boys who carry bug nets around the park. "That's right." Ran remembers. "There were trees along the second hill. And they'd hunt for beetles there."
The image and voices become more vivid. She remembers their voices still; the voices of little girls shouting, "Ewww, that's so gross... You're sickos! Sickos, sickos, sicky, sicky, sickos!" As the boys and girls squabble. Ran locates herself sitting on the steep stone steps that lead down the hill to the playground. The small chunky girl in thick round glasses watches from the distance.
"Do you remember?" Kyle asks softly.
Ran's eyebrow twitches at the interruption, but she recounts the image to him. "Yeah, I'm at a park I use to go to as a kid."
"And?"
"And..." She snips. "I'm watching the other kids." Before Kyle can jump in, she elaborates further. "The boys are hunting for beetles on the trees next to the playground, and the girls are making fun of them." She half expects him to make a comment like, "So you wanted to join the girls and tease little boys?" Just the thought irritates Ran. She further elaborates to save herself the annoyance. "I wanted to hunt for beetles too, but I didn't."
"Because you were afraid?" Kyle asks.
"Of course not!" She barks back, opening her eyes to find Kyle watching her intently. His focused eyes silence Ran prematurely.
"I meant, you were afraid of what the girls would think of you?" Kyle inquires.
"Yeah." She huffs. The fact he knew bothers her for some reason.
Rather than ask for more details, Kyle asks Ran, "Close your eyes again."
"Must I..." She starts to argue. Then, she complies just to spare herself one of his typical responses.
"Now think of another time just like that one. A time you wanted to be included, but you kept yourself from joining in."
Again, Ran thinks of a time she was excluded. It isn't a hard feet, and in an instant, she remembers herself as an unfashionable nerdy pre-teen girl; a total jimi. She's out shopping on her own, when she notices a small group of girls shopping with their mom in a clothing shop. Peering through the window, the still slightly chunky Ran watches the girls arguing with their mother as they each try on and model various dresses and girlie ensembles. Then, it hits her. Ran's chest suddenly tightens as she remembers that day clearly. "That's right." Ran admits to herself. "I was crying." She recalls the young chunky Ran crying as she watched the girls dressing up. "I wanted to try it too, but I was a jimi, and I was into boy hobbies, like catching bugs. Still." Ran feels the knot in her stomach and chest tighten. "I was still a girl though. I wanted to look pretty too and try on nice clothes and girlie dresses."
"You remember, don't you?" Kyle asks. "That feeling? If you had just done those things you passed on, for whatever reason, just think how much happier you could have been. There were other times too. All those times that fill you with regrets and pain now. Think how much happier you would be now, if you had just done what your heart knew you should have." Ran opens her eyes, meeting Kyle's serious gaze.
"Now that you have those feelings in you and those memories fresh in your head, realize, that's what you're doing to yourself now." Ran's eyes widen. "You agreed to these terms as a matter of honor, but more importantly, you're taking a bad situation and making it needlessly harder on yourself by not allowing yourself to try and get the most of it." Kyle deepens his tone. "Ran, this can be another miserable semester of school for you, and all because you refused to try and make the situation tolerable. Or, you can just try and enjoy it as best you can. Then, when you're old and have little Ran's of your own, you'll have one less memory of regret to look back on." Gazing into her eyes, Kyle sincerely admits, "I think you have enough memories of regret already. Another painful memory is just too cruel for such a lovely fashionable girl."
"Shhh... Shut up." She retorts softly. Her face flushes slightly.
"I'm not asking for instant loyalty, but you can indulge me by chatting a bit, answering a question here and there."
"Fine!" She barks. "If I have to play this game, as a matter of honor, I'll keep up my end, and I'll try and make the most of it." Seeing Kyle smile, she blushes brighter and adds, "I'll make the most of this situation and remember it always: This is what happens when you bet against a con artist." Kyle chuckles at her comment.
"Fair enough. So long as I'm remembered."
"You're missing the point!" Ran croaks irritably.
Answering with only a smile, Kyle waves for her to come along.
"Hey, don't ignore me! I'm talking here!"
Kyle stops once more. "I'm glad, because I wanted to talk to you about your duel the day before." Smiling at her, Kyle elaborates, "That open end system, the information disclosure. That was extremely clever. I don't think anyone else got it, but I did."
"What are you talking about?" Ran asks.
"Senkou didn't explain her card effects, as modern duelists seldom do, and we both know it's newbie'ish to ask. You didn't know Miako's deck, but you knew she was setting you up for a combo, so by flustering her and reminding her of the basic rules, she became spiteful and explained everything willingly. It's brilliant in its simplicity, and it changed the way the duel played out. Had she not have explain her Piranhas's effects, would you have wasted cards needlessly? And if you did, you wouldn't have had them when you desperately needed them. Nor would you have recovered the appropriate cards. Such a seemingly insignificant and trivial thing, was what won the game for you in the end." Kyle's smile widens. "Then again, maybe it was all in my head."
Ran eyes Kyle uncertainly. "Who are you?" She asks herself. "Seeing things like that? I wasn't even planning so much. I only wanted to aggravate Miako." As she explains it to herself, She admits, "It is the same thing really, but I didn't think so deeply about it." She answer's Kyle's assumptions, "Yes its what I was thinking... In not so many words." She adds at the end.
"I thought so." He replies with a smug smile.
"What is with this guy?" She asks herself again. His cocky attitude makes her skin twitch. "He sees such small details, and he over thinks everything." Ran notices Kyle watching her intently. She's flustered by him staring at her. "You're, so weird." Ran tells him.
"You should be careful." Kyle warns her.
"Why?" She asks uncertainly.
"It's that look. If you're not careful, you may fall in love with another man. Then who will preserve his memory?"
"Shhh, shut up! Idiot! I could never be taken by a man like you!"
Kyle chuckles. "You should choose your words carefully. I could take you in all manners of ways, and while your heart is only trickier to take, it's not out of my reach."
Again, Ran is flustered by his arrogance, as much as by his innuendo. "You... You're such, a dork. I'm not fooled by you." He doesn't contradict her. Once more, Kyle answers her with a quiet smile, before he wanders off down the path. Ran quickly pursues. "Idiot!" She shouts at him for reasons even she isn't sure of.
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The overgrown trail finally comes to an end at a fork in one of the main paths. As the two break out of the forest and into the clearing where the paths meet, Kyle and Ran cross paths with Hannah and her group. "Well I'll be damned!" Hannah curses. "Look what the alley cat dragged in. I suppose it burns terribly."
Kyle's chuckles. "I forgot how much you loved me."
Sho and Ran catch a glimpse of one another. As their eyes meet. Both quickly avert their gazes to the dirt path. "What happened to your skank trio?" Hannah asks.
"I traded them in; upgraded, for someone better."
"Someone better?" Hannah repeats dubiously. She examines Ran, which only embarrasses the girl deeper. "Well, she certainly is a fashionable girl. Definitely an improvement over Casper and the kogal duo."
He snickers. "And it looks like you got yourself a little man servant of your own. It seems such a strange match for such a big girl. I knew you were into mini sizes," Kyle states as he scans her ensemble, "But I didn't know mini sizes were into you."
Hannah waves off his joke and scoffs, stating, "Oh please, you know these damn Asian girl uniforms aren't made with my dimensions in mind. It's either this or my street clothes. Besides, we both know this may be tight, but it's fashionably tight; as in sexy tight, not ghetto or trailer trash poured into spandex or vinyl tight."
"Touche."
"And this little one is my slave for the week." Hannah states, pointing out Sho, who keeps his head down to avoid making eye contact with Ran.
"You should have negotiated better terms. If I had been in such a position, I'd have scored for the whole trip." Ran sweats more to his words.
"Yes, I bet you would have. But then again, how else could a guy like you dupe an intelligent girl into putting up with you?"
"It's surprising how few intelligent girls there really are in the world."
Unable, or unwilling, to muster a retort, Hannah finally exhales. "I forgot how much I loathe your existence. It reminds me. I have a grudge to settle with you. You remember right? Where it all started? When you knocked me out of the running in a single turn?" She states forcefully before smiling widely. "I haven't forgotten about that. In fact, I don't think I'll be able to get over such a cheap ass loss, when I fought so hard and was in the position to win it all. We both know I should have been the one to challenge and defeat Ash. My deck was even built to overpower Ash's gimmick mechanic deck with no modifications."
"Coulda, woulda, shoulda, but didn't." Kyle sings. Shrugging his shoulders, Kyle remarks, "While it's nice to see you thinking about me, I'm afraid thinking isn't your strong suit."
"Even fools get lucky." Hannah exclaims while more or less ignoring his comment. "I haven't seen you in a long while, so I haven't had a chance to extract my vengeance." She shakes her head dismissively. "I had no intention of wasting my precious time searching for you either. However, I did prepare myself for this day. The day the fool would wander back into my life."
"It's the fate of the cards that the fool show himself eventually. But, for the sake of argument..." Kyle rolls his hand as if for Hannah to say her lines. "Why?"
Hannah holds up a deck. "I made a special deck just for you. A burn deck, to be exact."
"That would be troublesome to handle with my play style."
"More than troublesome. Like you, the ability to make an overload cheap ass deck is not beyond my reach. But unlike you, I have the dignity to not play such a deck seriously."
"Ouch!" He replies, but he doesn't seem hurt by her words. "But like you said, even fools get lucky."
"It won't happen again. This deck will make sure of it." Chuckling, Hannah explains. "To give you a taste of your own medicine, I forsook pride while building this deck to teach you a lesson in humility."
"It is a good lesson to learn. Those who suffer more in life have a greater capacity for compassion and empathy." Kyle retorts
Ignoring him, she continues. "Each card in this deck deals no less than 1000 points of damage with no stipulations, situational restrictions, or costs. In other words, 6000 damage potential in my opening hand. If I go first, you will lose no matter what."
"Interesting." Kyle remarks and rubs his chin. "Against such a deck, then I have no choice but to use my first turn kill build."
"Yes. And the player who draws first, will be the winner without having to play a single card." With Hannah's words, the two stare each other down. The atmosphere around the two is so tense, none of the others dares to make so much as a peep. The intensity of the two is even enough to draw Sho's and Ran's gazes up from the ground, their shame forgotten temporarily.
At the last second, Hannah scoffs and slides her deck back into her deck box. "A win like that is nothing to me. As if teaching you such a lessen would gain me anything at this point."
"Agreed. To become evil to defeat evil is to only willingly invite more evil into the world, and into ourselves." He slides his deck back in his deck box. With a smirk, the two continue on their separate ways, passing each other without another word. Annette follows after Hannah, and Jessica quickly trots to catch up. Sho and Ran both quickly follow their masters. They keep silent and avert their gazes as they pass. With their failings, neither has any right to call the other out.
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When the girls finally arrive back at the girls' dorm, Hannah sheds her jacket over the back of a chair, and then she collapses on the bottom bunk of her bed. "My back's killing me." Sho collapses through the balcony doors. The heavy bags slam down beside him. "So you made it again? Security here is far too lax." Hannah states without lifting her face from the bed. She does however give Sho a small wave. "Your initiation is over. I don't have the energy to abuse you anymore today."
"Initiation?" Sho asks uncertainly. "Does that mean...?"
"No, you're not free." Hannah replies. "Just because I'm easing up on you, it doesn't mean you're off the hook. You still owe me a week of slave service for your perversions."
"But, that means, I have to sneak in here everyday?" Sho pouts.
"What are you, stupid?" Hannah asks, while finally lifting her face off the bed. "Everyone in Duel Academia knows our room is in the Ra Yellow dorms. We just arranged this for the day."
Sho's heart drops into his stomach. His little breaths fail to deliver his words, but Hannah knows what he's trying to confirm. With a wide yawn, she answers, "Yep, you snuck into the girl's dormitory and had to carry our things across the island for nothing. Which reminds me, do be a dear and empty that bag out when you go. I have no need for rocks."
Sho's massive eyes water as he looks to Jessica. "I'm sorry, but I had to play along." She apologizes.
Sho cries. "This, this..." Sho shouts out loud, "THIS IS HELLLLL!!!"
"Heeey, stop yelling like that. It's really irritating." Hannah complains casually.
From outside the room, a small voice cuts through the soft crying. "Idiot."
Chapter 12 End
Author Notes: Yeah, I know it took forever, but I've been busy and this was a long chapter. I hope to get back into a rhythm now that all the holidays are over. Perhaps a chapter a week, or at least 1 every 2 weeks or week and a half. Will see though.
Some Japanese notes:
Geta are those Japanese wooden clog sandals.
-Bozu is an honorific for little boys, and in Sho's case, it is an insult.
Jimi, if I spelled it right, is pretty much a dorky Japanese girl; the ugly duckling girl. Don't ask me for the specific explanation, as I don't know where you'd find that. To make it simple, a little zit faced nerdy girl would be a jimi.
Annette's deck she uses in this chapter is a Castlevania: SOTN inspired deck.
Other notes... I'm too lazy for more. Ask if you want to know.
Author Cards
Legitimate Lineage/Bloodline is the fanlation of an OCG card that will be in the TCG in about a month. It's essentially Call of the Haunted, but for Normal Monsters.
Vengeful Swordstalker
Dark, Demon, LV 8, 2900/1800
"Swordstalker" + "Souls of the Forgotten"
Fusion/Effect: When 1 of your monsters is sent to your Graveyard as a result of battle, by a card effect controlled by your opponent, or as a Tribute activated by your opponent, increase this card's ATK by 100 points times the level of the sent monster, for as long as the sent monster remains in your Graveyard.
(Art: Redemption series Swordstalker: Has traded his cape for a pair of massive shredded demon wings. His massive sword is engulfed in an aura of vengeful souls.)
The Vengeful Souls of the Forgotten
Dark, Demon, LV 6, x/600
"Souls of the Forgotten" + "Souls of the Forgotten" + "Souls of the Forgotten"
Fusion/Effect: This card's original ATK is 100 points times the sum of levels of monsters in your Graveyard. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle with a monster on your opponent's side of the field, or by a card effect controlled by your opponent, inflict 100 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points times the number of monsters in your Graveyard.
Eternal Vendetta
Counter Trap
Effect: You can only activate this card when a monster on your side of the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle with a monster on your opponent's side of the field, or by a card effect controlled by your opponent. Destroy 1 card on your opponent's side of the field. Afterwards, put this card face-up on the top of your opponent's Deck.
(Art: Two clans of soldiers battle in an endless bloody battle; trading kills.)
Power of Sire
Quickplay Spell
Effect: Select 1 face-up monster on your side of the field. Destroy monsters on your opponent's side of the field with a sum of levels less than the level of the selected monster. Also, inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to the sum of levels of the destroyed monsters times 100.
Rose Dwelling Demon - White Venus Weed
Dark, Plant, LV 4, 1600/1200
Effect: When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, put 1 Blood Counter on this card. Increase this card's ATK/DEF by 400 points for each Blood Counter on it. When this card attacks with an ATK higher than the DEF of a defense position monster, inflict the difference as battle damage to your opponent's Life Points.
Rose Dwelling Demon - Blue Venus Weed
Dark, Plant, LV 6, 2200/1600
Effect: When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, put 1 Blood Counter on this card. Increase this card's ATK/DEF by 600 points for each Blood Counter on it. When this card attacks with an ATK higher than the DEF of a defense position monster, inflict the difference as battle damage to your opponent's Life Points.
Frozen Shade
Water, Aqua, LV 2, 1200/800
Effect: Decrease this card's ATK by 400 points for the Battle Phase, and it card can attack 3 times in a row, during this turn.
Marionette
Earth, Demon, LV 2, 800/1000
Effect: When a monster is successfully Summoned to your opponent's side of the field, Special Summon this card from your hand to your side of the field.
Hunting Girl
Earth, Warrior, LV 4, 1400/1400
Effect: This face-up attack position monster is not destroyed as a result of battle, unless its DEF is 0. Decrease the DEF of this card by the amount of Battle Damage you would receive as a result of this face-up attack position monster being in battle, and decrease the damage to your life points by the same amount.
Ankh of Life
Spell
Effect: Discard 1 Spell Card from your hand to the Graveyard. Select 1 monster in your Graveyard, and Special Summon it to your side of the field.
Ghost Familiar
Dark, Undead, LV 2, 800/800
Effect/Union: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can equip this card to 1 monster on the field as an Equip Spell Card. Or, unequip the Union equipment, and Special Summon this card to your side of the field. While this card is an Equip Spell Card, once per turn, during your Main Phase, select 1 Monster Card on the field. Decrease that monster's ATK/DEF by 800 points, and increase your Life Points by the same amount. During your End Phase, if this card is not equipped to a monster, return this card to your hand. (A monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster is destroyed, Special Summon this card to your side of the field.)
Familiar's Card
Spell
Effect: Select 1 Union Monster from your Deck with "Familiar" in its name, and equip it to a face-up monster on your side of the field. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.
