Hello, everyone!

It's Chapter 2 time! The title may be a little misleading at first. However, as the chapter progresses, you will see why I choose the name.

Anyway, like always, if you ever want to talk to me, just shoot me a PM from my profile! I will be more than happy to chat back!

Without further delay, here is Chapter 2!

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Chapter 2 – Brainstorming

Just like it was when he went to class, Syrus noticed that the sky was still quite overcast. The sun was barely able to break through the thick cloud cover the entire morning. And, now that it was the afternoon, the fact that the sun hadn't been out all day made for a very depressing mood. The bluenette could only be thankful that it hadn't started raining yet. However, considering the current weather conditions, he kept getting a feeling that the sky could open up at any moment.

Still, he continued running on his way. He couldn't help but keep thinking about where Chazz had found Jaden. 'Why would Jaden be all the way out there? He could just fish out by his dorm.' Syrus wasn't aware of it yet, but he had started referring to the Slifer dorm as being Jaden's, since Syrus himself was no longer a Slifer Red, but now a Ra Yellow. He hadn't actually slept in the Slifer dorm since a week after the Society of Light incident.

If he could, Syrus would sigh. However, with his current running, he couldn't spare the breath to do so. Instead, he just kept running, hoping that Jaden had not moved from that spot since that morning.

Still, the thought of Jaden skipping a class wasn't exactly a new concept to the bluenette.

Rounding the last corner on the dirt road, Syrus finally saw the Obelisk Blue dorm only a short distance away. He knew that Jaden wouldn't actually be fishing at the dorm. The students from the Obelisk dorm would have given him a hard time, or even tried to kick him off of the grounds. Even after they were released from the Society of Light by Jaden's efforts, they still held true to their mentality that the color of their jacket showed their superiority.

Syrus was beginning to breathe heavily. 'I can't run much longer. I hope I find Jay soon.'

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"Hmmm...even though there is no sun, this is still relaxing."

With his fishing pole in hand, and a bucket nearly full of fish, Jaden sat at the bottom of a cliff not too far from the Obelisk Blue dorm. He wasn't much in the mood to have bothered going to class that day. The look of the weather told him that today wasn't going to be a great day. So, his thought it best not to spoil what little fun there was by studying, and just went out to get some fishing done.

Besides, the Slifer dorm was running low on fish to eat, anyway.

A sound was heard around himself. Jaden smiled at the sound. The high-pitched sound was all too familiar to him, and he had grown to like it. "Yeah, Kuriboh. Today wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's actually been pretty sweet."

A translucent image of the brown-colored Duel Monster appeared beside Jaden's head, floating in mid-air. As it appeared, it made another sound. At first, nothing happened afterwards. However, a few moments later, Jaden smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah. This should be enough fish for a week."

"JADEN!"

Both Jaden and Winged Kuriboh looked in the direction of the sound. Jaden and the monster spirit knew who that voice belonged to. Just like Kuriboh, the voice was high-pitched. And it, too, was a voice that Jaden had come to like, especially since the voice came from his best friend on Duel Academy Island.

It was the voice of Syrus Truesdale.

"Jaden! There you are!"

The brunette looked at the bluenette that was running down a slope that lead to the spot that he was relaxing on. Jaden could tell that Syrus was exhausted. 'He must have run all the way here from the main building. Syrus...' he smiled inward, thinking that, even though him and Syrus were the best of friends, the shorter of the two was the one that always seemed to worry much more than the other.

"Right here, Sy. What's the rush?"

Syrus had to take a moment to catch his breath. All the running he did was making it difficult to catch a breath long enough to speak. "Jaden! That...big lecture was...today, and you missed...it! How can you be...so calm?"

"Ha, ha. Don't worry, Sy. I'm sure it was stuff I already know."
"But, Jaden! Professor...Crowler made it required for even...the underclassmen!"
"I'm sure I can hear it another day. Besides, it's a lecture. I would probably fall asleep, anyway."

The amount of confidence that spewed from Jaden's voice never seemed to not surprise Syrus. It seemed that, even when in the face of danger, even when faced with near impossible odds, even when faced with having to battle for his own or his friend's lives, Jaden always remained confident, and never once had doubts about anything; no doubts about his abilities, no doubts in his deck, and no doubts in the outcome of the battle.

Now, it was Syrus who was smiling inward, an occurrence that did not happen very often. He doubted himself too much, and there were rarely times when he would actually believe in himself. It was a mystery to even him on how he managed to become a Ra Yellow.

Finally catching his breath, Syrus spoke once again. "Jaden...have you been here this entire time?"

"Of course, Sy."
"But, why? Well...what I mean is...why are you fishing all the way out here?"
"It's a better fishing spot than by the Red dorm."
"B-but...we are surrounded by water. How can one spot be better than the other?"
"Don't ask me. It's just a feeling. And, look..."

Jaden motioned to the bucket of fish he had caught, and Syrus looked at it. He was surprised at the amount of fish that were in it. He could see several different kinds: Carp, bluegill, grouper, and even some tuna. The bluenette hadn't seen Jaden catch so much fish. Then again, he has never known Jaden to spend this much time fishing.

Bringing himself back into the moment, Syrus spoke again. "Wow, Jay. You got that much fish?"

"Yeah. It should be enough for a week at our dorm."
"...our dorm?"
"Well, yeah Sy. Your and my dorm."

Wait...had Jaden not even noticed that Syrus wasn't even sleeping in the Slifer Red dorm for the past 3 weeks? No...Jaden may have been oblivious to some things, but Syrus knew that he would notice something like that. 'He must know...I hope.'

"Umm...Jay...you do know that I haven't slept in the Red dorm for almost a month, right?"
"Of course I do, Syrus."
"Then...why are you saying that your dorm is also my dorm? I am a Ra Yellow."
"Sy...you of all people should know that the color of your jacket doesn't separate people. It's just a jacket with a color."
"Jaden..."

The brunette simply stood up and gave his best friend his normal smile. "Besides, you started out in Slifer Red and, to me, it will always be your dorm, too."

His last comment made Syrus want to start crying. Never in his life had he had a friend like Jaden; carefree, kind, compassionate...not even his own brother was like this. His brother was such a cold person to him, even when they were kids. And, those feelings of resentment that Zane had for Syrus only grew more now that he fell into the state he was in...that dreadful state of, for lack of a better word, evil.

It really made Syrus feeling like he was someone special with the way Jaden treated him. It made him feel that he was worth the brunette's time and energy.

"There you two are."

Both of the boys looked in the direction of the voice. As luck would have it, it was Alexis. Jaden was the first to speak to her out of the pair.

"Oh, hey Alexis. What brings you out here?"
"Well, I had to get your location out of Chazz. It wasn't easy, you know."
"Chazz knows we are here? That's weird."
"Not really. He was by the Obelisk dorm early this morning, waiting for me. But, he was out of luck, since I left earlier than normal. Anyway, he saw you out here and let Syrus know. I knew he would come find you."

Jaden was a little confused, a feeling that wasn't in the least foreign to him. 'Was Chazz actually being kind when he told Sy that? That's strange.' Both Syrus and Alexis could see that Jaden's attention was diverting away from the moment, which could only mean that he was lost in thought.

However, Syrus spoke soon after. "Yeah. Chazz told me you were here, Jay, only so that I wouldn't 'have to deal with my whining'. I thought it was really mean of him to say that." Syrus tried to imitate Chazz's voice when he quoted the other student. This got a laugh out of both Jaden and Alexis, who finally made it to the bottom of the slope and joined the two boys.

"So, aside from you skipping class, Jaden, what ideas do you have for the Graduation Duel?"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Alexis?"
"Come on. Don't be so modest, Jaden."
"Honestly, Alexis. I don't know what you are talking about."

Just then, Alexis realized that Jaden had been out here the entire day, most likely missing the announcement that Principle Shepard made before all classes were let out for the day. At that moment, she felt silly for asking Jaden the question. Then again, she also felt that Syrus probably knew, and didn't say anything to Jaden about it.

Syrus, on the other hand, did not know anything about the announcement, either. "Alexis, what do you mean? Are they already choosing which students are going to duel," Syrus asked the Obelisk girl. Both he and Jaden were perplex at her question. 'I hope they don't pick me. I don't want to embarrass myself...'

"That's right. You've been out here, right Jaden?"
"Well, yeah. All day, just catching fish."
"Sorry, I thought you heard the announcement."
"What announcement?"

"Yeah, Alexis. What announcement?" Syrus' comment only served to enforce the question that Jaden had already asked. Both of the boys were now curious as to what this announcement that Alexis had mention was.

Alexis, realizing that neither of them heard it, knew that she had to explain it. "Well, the faculty of the school couldn't think of anything to make the Graduation Duel this year interesting," Alexis began. She had to try and keep this as short as possible.

"So, in order to get some ideas, they announced that student ideas for the Graduation Duel would be considered. The idea that they consider to be the best will be the one that the Graduation Duel will based around."

Syrus was a little shocked at the news. He didn't think that the faculty of the school were in such a need for ideas. He thought that, as far as the Graduation Duel was concerned, it would have been like last year where the top-graded student is a guaranteed participant, and they get to choose who they opponent would be. But this...this was something that totally different.

On the flip side, Jaden was completely excited about it, and didn't hide it. "That's sweet! I can't wait to see what others think up. I better get back to my room and start thinking!" Without another word, Jaden ran up the slope and off into the distance, completely forgetting about his bucket of fish in the process. Alexis snicker to herself. 'That Jaden...always getting excited at the smallest of things.'

Standing next to her, Syrus wasn't sure if he liked the idea or not. Sure, he could possibly think of a good idea, but he had never really thought of a good idea for something like this in the past. In fact, the last time he had a good idea, it completely backfired on him, and his brother remained the way he was...his now dark self. It was bad enough that he thought it was a good idea, but to actually fail at it made the bluenette even more upset over it, not to mention even more unsure of himself than he had ever been. That one dueled really changed his view when it came to his own ideas.

'I better just let Jaden and the other think of something good...'

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Jaden had made it back to the Slifer Red dorm faster than he thought he. He was excited, so excited to the point where the adrenaline in his body just would not let him slow down. Even as he finally got to his room at the dorm, he couldn't slow his heartbeat down enough to relax.

Luckily, the feeling didn't last very long. After he overcame his initial excitement, he was able to concentrate more on what kind of idea he could come up with. 'Let's see...what should the Graduation Duel be like. Hmm...'

As he was thinking, someone opened the door to his room and just walked right in. It was Hassleberry. "There you are, Sergeant! I was afraid that you had gone MIA on me!"

"Hey there, Hassleberry. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"I wasn't worry. However, Private Truesdale was the one who was worried."
"I figured as much. He found me before I came running back here."
"That brings up a question: Where were you? My search party couldn't find you in the main facility."
"Oh, that. I was fishing by the Blue dorm."
"Fishing in enemy territory? Why is tarnation would you do that?"
"Because I can catch more fish over there. I can't really explain why. But, just take a look at..."

It was then that Jaden realized that he forgot his bucket back at the bottom of the cliff. "Oh, man! I totally forgot the fish bucket back at the spot!" He couldn't believe that he forgot the bucket with this coming week's food in it. He could feel is face getting hot, signaling that he was going to be blushing out of embarrassment soon.

"Wait, you caught a large bounty of fish, and then forgot the bucket? How will we manage our rations for this week, then?"
"I wouldn't worry about it, Hassleberry. I'm sure we will think of something...at least I hope we will."

Just then, his luck would change. Syrus came into the room, carrying the bucket of fish. "Jay! You forgot this back there." The brunette looked at the bluenette and smiled. 'Thank goodness I have Syrus to look out for my mistakes.'

"Thanks, Syrus. That was a huge help!"

Syrus was still trying to catch his breath, but noticed that Hassleberry scoffed at him the shortest of the boys. "I could have gotten those fish here faster for the Sergeant." His comment really cut into Syrus, who soon retorted.

"Hey, I didn't ask for your opinion! And, I didn't see you at the bottom of the cliff where I found Jay!"
"What did you say, Private?"
"I said that your search party was worthless!"
"Worthless? I'll have you Court Marshaled for this insubordination!"

Their argument was getting more and more heated. Ever since Hassleberry claimed Jaden as being his best friend, Syrus had done whatever he could in order to prove the dino-duelist wrong. But, this wasn't anything to worry about. When the chips were down, both Hassleberry and Syrus looked out for each other, even to the point where one could even see them as being best friends.

But, Jaden knew he had to break it up soon. It wouldn't be long before more stuff was said. "Hey, guys. You don't need to argu..." Jaden was cut short by the other two, who shouted at him, in unison, "BACK OFF!" The brunette sweat-dropped, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

"Private! As your commander, I order you to keep that tone of voice down!"
"Don't try to pull that on me, RECRUIT!"
"...Recruit? RECRUIT? Do I look like some slack-jawed recruit?"
"If you don't think you are, then how about we throw down, right here, right now?"

And, there it was. The challenge to a duel. Jaden had been exacting one of the two to make the challenge, but he didn't imagine that it would be Syrus who would challenge Hassleberry. If anything, the brunette thought it would be Hassleberry that would have challenged Syrus.

But, despite what he was thinking, the argument continued between the other two boys.

"I accept! My dinosaurs will tear apart your little machines and stomp-out your Life Points!"
"Don't underestimate my deck! You Life Points would be gone before you even touched mine!"
"Don't make me laugh. Even if I had 2,000 Life Points, you would still be defeated by my deck!"

Suddenly, something in Jaden's head turned on. '2,000 Life Points...2,000 Life Points...' That last statement of Hassleberry seemed to have given Jaden an idea for the Graduation Duel. "I've got it!"

The outburst from Jaden caused Hassleberry and Syrus to momentary put their argument on pause. They both looked at the hero-duelist, both with perplexed looks on their faces. They weren't sure what the outburst was for, but one of them had to ask Jaden, or else the suspense would have killed them both.

Syrus, being the more curious of the two, spoke. "What, Jay? What do you have?"
Hassleberry spoke after. "Yeah, Sergeant. What are you yelling about?"

Jaden looked at them both and smiled. "I have an idea for the Graduation Duel!"

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And, there we go, everyone! Chapter 2 is done!

Not much else to say at the end here, other than I have a feeling that this story is going to be a good one. Then again, as the author, I may be a little bias on that point. LOL!

As always, make sure you leave a review if you have the chance or you see that it is warranted!

Anyway, I will see you all in Chapter 3!