Ahoy hoy, everyone!

Here we go with Chapter 5, A Time for Thinking! I realize I said this one would be called "Love Struck Duels", but I decided to change my mind at the last minute. Sorry!

When we last left Syrus, it was made known that he would be the student that the participants in the tournament would be dueling to get a date with (aka. The "prize"). Obviously, he is not too thrilled about this, but thems the breaks!

Now, the Ra Yellow is thinking about what this could mean for him. What if a person he doesn't like wins the tournament? Could he actually find love as the prize? Who knows (Well, I do. You will too as the story progresses)!

So, let's see what is going on inside Syrus' head!

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Chapter 5 – A Time for Thinking

He had to tell his friends that needed some alone time. This wasn't something that he really wanted to talk to his friends about. Granted, it was somewhat of a honor to have the student base select him, but it was also a huge embarrassment, considering that he didn't think of himself to be anywhere near "prize" material. However, given the circumstances, there wasn't much that he could do about it.

Syrus was alone in his and Jaden's old room. Of course, Jaden still lived in the dorm room, but Syrus had sense moved back into the Ra Yellow dorm since the Society of Light was completely removed from the island.

There wasn't a lot of light in the room. He had closed the curtains and not even turned a light on. Syrus seemed to be the most comfortable thinking in areas that were only dimly lit. He wasn't sure why, but that was just something about himself that he had discovered as he grew up more and more. Of course, he used the phrase "growing up" loosely, as he still considered himself to be a little kid in most aspects. In fact, sometimes, he even still wrapped himself in his bedsheets to just calm himself down.

'Why did it have to be me?' The bluenette's mind kept repeating that same question over and over and over again. Never had he thought that he would be put in such a position. Sure, there was a chance that he might actually get "won" by someone that he had a genuine interest in, but those chances were so small, Syrus had already decided not to dwell on such pipe dreams or flights of fancy. He just didn't have the self-esteem to think that someone could like him in that way.

Needless to say, his friends were worried about him. Of course, he knew this, but he also knew that he had to think this over. He had to mentally come to terms, even though most of the time his "thinking" just consisted of him sulking for a while until one of his friends came and helped him out.

And, this time was no different.

"Hey, Sy. Are you ok, bro?"

The bluenette was pulled out of his thoughts after hearing the voice of his best friend. He really didn't feel like talking to Jaden at the moment, but since the brunette was already at the dorm room door, there wasn't much choice in the matter. He slowly got off of the bed, walking in an almost slow-motion movie manner towards the door. 'I knew Jay would come. He's always looking out for me...'

That thought alone struck a nerve in the bluenette's mind. Sure, he liked it when Jaden would watch out for him. In fact, it happened so often that Syrus barely even noticed it anymore. From the Shadow Rider Nightshroud last year to their first encounter with Hassleberry this year, Jaden had always had Syrus' back. Not that Syrus didn't like having someone watch his back, but the fact that Jaden was ALWAYS watching his back, and the fact that Jaden ALWAYS was the one that got him out of danger or rescue him, it was starting to make Syrus feel as though he couldn't defend himself or watch his own back.

He wanted to prove to Jaden that he could take care of himself.

Syrus opened the door, his vision greeted to a bright and sunny date on Duel Academy Island, and a taller brunette standing in front of him. "Hey, Jay. Why are you here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, Syrus. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I just...was really surprised, that's all."
"Well, who wouldn't be? I know I would hate to have been the one picked."
"What really bugs me is that it was by popular vote. I'm nowhere near as popular as some of the other students. Why me?"

Jaden put on a somewhat thoughtful expression on his face. He wasn't sure, but he might have been able to put his finger on it. "Maybe it is because of Zane." The name of the bluenette's older brother immediately got the Ra Yellow's attention. 'Zane? ZANE? Why him? How could he have done this to me?'

"How could Zane have anything to do with this, Jaden? He had nothing to do with it!"
"Well...look at it like this, Sy."
"Like how? How could Zane's involvement have any impact on it?"
"Woah, chill out, bro. Let me explain."

Syrus heard his best friend's words, and tried his best to calm himself down. "Ok, check this out. You probably weren't the most popular student here..." Great, that made Syrus feel a whole lot better. His self-esteem was small as it was. Then again, he had already acknowledged that he wasn't the most popular student at the school. So, Jaden's comment didn't sting him as much as it might have.

"Anyway. Your duel with Zane probably got a lot of students to respect you. I mean, you willingly took on the best student that ever graduated from Duel Academy. And, you almost won. That counts for a lot when it comes to some of the others."

Syrus got to thinking. 'Maybe Jay is right. A lot of people have wanted to duel me since I dueled my big brother.' But still, Syrus was very uncomfortable with the idea of being the "prize" of some tournament.

"Maybe you're right, Jay. But..."
"But what, Sy?"
"Well...I still don't like the idea of being some prize to be won at a tournament. It seems a little degrading, don't you think?"

Jaden looked at the bluenette, and started to laugh a little bit. "Ha-ha. I would actually think of it as some kind of weird flattery." Syrus, however, was not at all amused by the outburst of laughter. In fact, he didn't think it was that funny. Plus, he didn't quite see where Jaden was coming from in his statement.

"I don't think it's funny. And, how is it flattery?"
"Well, people voted for you. That means they like you and really want to get a date with you. Who knows? You might get some cute girl."

A smile stretched across the brunette's face with his last comment, as well as a slight wink to Syrus. The bluenette could tell that Jaden was trying to cheer him up over it all. He was that kind of friend; seeing the good in everything, never once looking at the downside. It seemed to be working, somewhat. However, Syrus still had reservations about being a "prize" to be won.

"Thanks, Jay. I was hoping to hear something like that."
"No prob, Sy. I'm just glad that you are feeling a little better about it."
"Well, I am still not liking the idea of being a prize to be won, but...I'll make due."
"That's the spirit! Let's go and find our friends."
"Right behind you, Jay."

The two boys soon left the Slifer Red dorm, heading to the main building to find the rest of their friends.

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"Alexis, Hassleberry! Over here!"

Jaden yelled out while inside the main concourse. He had spotted Alexis talking with Hassleberry as soon as he and Syrus walked inside the building. The concourse was not as busy today as it had been the past couple days, given that students had gathered here for the various announcements that occurred yesterday and the day before. So, there wasn't a lot of noise in the area, making it easy for Alexis and Hassleberry to hear Jaden.

"Hey, Jaden."
"There you are, Sarge. Alexis and I were just about to go find you and Truesdale here."
"Well, it looks like I saved you guys a trip!"

There was a bit of laughing, but it soon died down as Alexis and Hassleberry remembered why there were going to go and look for Jaden and Syrus. Alexis looked at Syrus in an almost sympathetic manner. "How are you holding up, Syrus?"

"Well...umm...I'm ok."
"Are you sure? That was a big bomb that was dropped on you."
"I'm fine. I just took me a while to...come to terms with it, so to speak."
"Now, that's the trooper in you talking, Truesdale. Face this new enemy head on and in full force!"

Since Hassleberry hadn't spoken since Jaden and Syrus arrived, he figured it was time to make his statement. None of the others seemed to have minded Hassleberry and his random, out of the blue, statements. It was something they were use to by now.

"Yeah. I'm sure there is going to be a lot of students participating." Alexis conferred with Hassleberry.
"It's be a great tournament. I'm sure of it." Jaden agreed with the other two.
"I agree. It will be a good tournament."

The last comment seemed to have come out of nowhere. The students looked to the source of the statement, only to find Atticus standing there, although he was not in his Hawaiian shirt as he had been the past few days. Instead, he was in his Obelisk Blue uniform, granting him the ability to "blend in with the crowd" now.

Alexis looked at her brother. "Atticus? When did you get here?"

"Well, little sis, I was just wandering around, since there is no class today."
"And, you aren't up to your usual antics, I hope?"
"You call them antics. I call them talent."

Alexis sighed, putting her face in the palm of her hand. "You have as much talent as an Ojama." Atticus somewhat scoffed at the remark, while the other three boys in the area simply laughed at the comment.

"Say what you want, little sis. But, one day, my name will be in lights!"

With that, Atticus went off on his way. The other students in the group just looked at each other, wondering if the any of them were going to start laughing at the notion or not. As time would soon tell, none of them felt like laughing anymore. Instead, they all silently agreed to refocus their attention to Syrus.

"So, Syrus. Who do you want to actually win the tournament?" Alexis was the first to ask.
"Yeah, Sy. Got any special girl in mind?" Jaden was just as noisy.
"Let's get the info, Private. What's the 4-1-1 on your pick?" Hassleberry concluded with his usual military lingo.

Syrus, however, was taken aback by the sudden onslaught of questions. "Guys, please! I don't know anything yet. I'm still trying to get over being picked in the first place!" There was some distress in the bluenette's voice, distress that Jaden and Alexis quickly picked up on. Hassleberry, however, wasn't as aware of that side of Syrus as much as the other two were.

"You gotta be prepared when you go into battle, soldier!"
"I am prepared! I'm just...taking my time, that's all."
"Sounds to me like you're not quite combat ready."

The Dino-duelist kept on pressing the issue, and it was starting to annoying Syrus to no end. "Look, just drop it, Hassleberry. I don't want to talk about that anymore." There was even more distress in Syrus' voice than the first time. Once again, Jaden and Alexis picked up on it. Hassleberry, however, like before, did not.

Luckily, before he had a chance to say anything more, Jaden quickly stepped in. "Come on, Hassleberry. Let's just talk about something else."

"You're right, Sarge. I was out of line to push the issue. It was nothing but insubordination."
"Don't sweat it. Let's just focus on something else."

No one had any idea what to talk about. They had already talked about Syrus becoming the "prize" for the duel tournament, and since the bluenette apparently did not feel like talking about it anymore, no one in the group was able to think of anything else. The silence between them was starting to grow more and more as the proverbial light bulb did not turn one for any of them.

But, that was about to change. "Well, I better get going. I am going to meet Jasmine and Mindy so we can get our decks ready." Alexis spoke to the rest of the group, almost like a goodbye. The boys, however, were a little curious as to why Alexis was meeting with her two Obelisk blue friends about getting their decks ready.

"Hey, Alexis. What do you mean 'get your decks ready'? Are you three going to duel?" Syrus was the first and probably the most curious out of the three boys to want to know what Alexis meant.

"We are. We're going to compete in the tournament, of course."
"What? You mean you, Jasmine, and Mindy are going to try and win?"
"That's the point, Syrus."
"But...but...you DO realize what the prize is, right?"

Alexis laughed. "Of course we do. But, since you didn't want to be the 'prize' in the first place, I figured that myself, Jasmine, and Mindy could just duel and try to win, then you won't have to worry about someone actually trying to go through with the date. Think of us winning as a 'get out of jail free' card."

With that, the queen of the Obelisk Blue dorm winked before turning around and heading out the front door. Syrus was a little confused, but he was also hurt at the same time. He had hoped that maybe Alexis or one of her two friends might have gone through with the whole "date" part. Syrus briefly liked the idea of spending a little bit of alone time with Alexis. But, since her participation in the tournament was to be Syrus' "get out of jail free" card, his fleet of fancy was crushed in almost an instant.

"It's a good thing Alexis got the reserves in to help her complete her mission, though she could probably achieve her objective on her own." Hassleberry spoke up, praising Alexis for her skills. The dino-duelist looked up to her for her skills, much in the same way that he looked up to Jaden.

"So, Hassleberry. Are you going to participate?" Jaden asked the question that Hassleberry was hoping no one would.
"Well, the duels are going to be worthy of metals of honor, but the prize sure could use a bit of a re-assignment."
"Hey! What is that suppose to mean?"
"It means, Truesdale, that I won't be dueling to get some kind of 'date' with one of my subordinates!"
"Subordinate? Look who's talking? You couldn't beat me in a duel when Jaden was missing!"

The two continued to argue, a seemingly natural occurrence between them. And, a sight that was not foreign to Jaden in the least. In fact, the two seemed to argue on almost a daily basis. To anyone else, their arguments would have worn on the person's nerves. But, luckily, Jaden was use to the arguments. He had known both of them for a while, so their quarrels were not that surprising to him.

And, Jaden knew that the only way that he was going to be able to stop their argument was for he himself to speak up.

"Well, I know I will be participating."

With just that statement, Syrus and Hassleberry immediately stopped their argument, directing all of their attention to the brunette standing to their side. At first, neither of the two thought that it was Jaden who had spoken. However, after looking around their immediate area, they saw that there was no one close to them that could have said that and them be able to hear it.

All the other students were, at least, 30 feet away from them.

"Has your mind gone AWOL, Sarge? What in Sam Hill do you mean you are participating?"
"I need to explain it more? I thought it was pretty self-explanatory."
"Self-explanatory or not, a good soldier always justifies their decisions."
"Well, if I need to justify my decision...I guess I just want to enjoy the duels."
"But, Sarge! You do realize what you are supposed to do if you are victorious, right?"
"You mean the date with Syrus?"
"That's a big 10-4."

Jaden had to think for a moment. His comment about participating was originally just to stop Hassleberry and Syrus' argument, but he started to like the idea of being part of another tournament. The GX Tournament was all well and good, but with Sartorius and the Society of Light almost taking over the world, it ruined the fun that Jaden hoped the duels would provide.

So, this Graduation Duel Tournament provided the brunette with the perfect opportunity to get the fun out of the duels that the GX Tournament didn't provide.

"I guess I understand that I would win a date with Syrus. But, then again, it isn't like we would do anything that we don't already do."

Hassleberry's face started to turn red, and that was a hard feat to accomplish considering the Dino-duelist's skin was a little darker in color than Jaden or Syrus. 'What they don't already do? What is the Sarge talking about?'

"I mean, Syrus and I already eat pizza together and watch movies. It's not like it's anything extra special." And, at that moment Hassleberry's face went back to it's natural color. His question was answered, thankfully, with an answer that was the opposite of what he was thinking.

Although, Syrus was a little hurt by Jaden's comment. He really did enjoy the nights the two of them were able to sneak a couple slices of pizza, or even a full one, from the Ra Yellow cafeteria and a movie or two from somewhere in the Obelisk boy's dorm. Of course, when the night was over, they would return the movie back to the blue dorm, and bring some fish to the Ra Yellow dorm, since the Slifer cafeteria didn't normally have pizza at the ready.

It was that kind of stuff that Syrus thought he and his brother would do together. However, that was never the case between him and Zane.

But, Jaden...Jaden treated Syrus better than any brother he had ever seen. He always stuck up for the bluenette, helped him when he really needed it, and even encourage him to do his best and become a better duelist.

To Syrus, Jaden was more his brother than Zane ever was.

"Wait a minute...pizza? So, that is where our rations have been going!"
"Ha-ha. Sorry, Hassleberry. If I knew you wanted some, I would have woken you up."
"I don't care if you are my commanding officer, those actions were inexcusable!"
"Hey, chill out, Hassleberry. Syrus and I don't do that anymore. So, you can have all the pizza you want now."

Hassleberry, who was still upset over just finding out that his "commanding officer" was the one behind the missing pizza from the Ra Yellow dorm, tried his best to calm down. "Alright. I'll forgive this act of insubordination this time, Sarge."

"You're the best, Hassleberry!"

With that, Jaden ran off back to the Slifer Red dorm.

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Even after talking with his friends, the idea of being a prize still didn't sit well with Syrus. Even after all of the thinking that he had done prior to and even after talking with his friends, it was as though there was something inside the bluenette that was telling that this wasn't a good idea at all. And, to top it all off, he friends were going to also be competing in the tournament in order to "win" him so that he wasn't forced into a date with something that he had no real interest in.

Syrus was just standing on the porch of the Slifer Red dorm, looking out at the sea and leaning against the railing. He seemed to do his best thinking when he was staring out at practically nothing. Even though he was a Ra Yellow, Syrus always felt most comfortable being at the Slifer dorm.

Without knowing it, Jaden had walked onto the porch from his room and turned the corner, immediately spotting Syrus. "Hey, Sy. What's up?"

"Hey, Jay. I'm just thinking."
"Don't tell me you are still worried about the whole prize thing."
"Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't."
"You can't let this eat at you, Syrus."
"I know that. I just...it's going to take some time. That's all."
"Hmmm...I don't want to put more pressure on you, but the tournament starts tomorrow. I don't think you have a lot of time, Sy."

Syrus hung his head, knowing full well that the tournament was going to be starting soon. That was the main reason he was trying to think about it and get over his worries. "I know..."

There was a long silence between them, only the sound of the ocean waters crashing against the cliff were heard. A slight breeze blew through both the bluenette and brunette's hair, making them wave ever so slightly in the air. Jaden soon moved forward, walking next to Syrus only to start leaning against the railing in the exact same fashion that the shorter boy was.

Soon, the silence was broken, as Jaden spoke, almost like he was talking to the ocean. "Don't worry about it. Everything will work out in the end. It normally does." Syrus heard Jaden speak, turning to look at the Slifer Red student and best friend. 'He's always so optimistic.'

Turning back to look at the ocean, Syrus added. "Yeah. You're probably right."

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Woo! The chapter is done!

I apologize for the lengthy time it took me to get it out. My HDD crashed, and I totally forgot to backup the chapter. So, I had to start from scratch, and deal with some other RL issue. Needless to say, this was NOT my summer. LOL.

But, I am back in the game, and the chapters will continue to roll out when they are done!

See you all in Chapter 6: A Time for Dueling!