Zane swam confidently with vigorous strokes of his arms, oblivious to the sound of the water splashing furiously around him. The sun beat down overhead in a crystal-clear blue sky. Over on the other end of the pool, he smiled briefly as he heard Syrus laugh giddily. His brother was hanging onto a plastic flotation ring decorated with the designs of race cars since he still wasn't that good of a swimmer yet. Up above on the patio-deck, their parents stood near the grill, both absorbed in their individual cell phone conversations. The tantalizing scent of the hamburgers being barbecued wafted down towards Zane, making his mouth water. All in all, it was a perfect summer day.

Zane was brought out of his peaceful state by the sound of a piercing shriek from the far end of the pool. With alarm, he quickly looked and saw Syrus flailing his arms frantically as he struggled to stay afloat in the deep-end of the pool. His innertube was cast off to the side, floating lazily out of his reach.

"Big brother! Help me!" Syrus wailed in panic as he desperately tried to paddle his way to safety. But it was no use…

Zane's eyes darted in the direction of the patio only to see that it was empty. He didn't notice when their parents had gone inside, but all that mattered was that they were nowhere around to assist Syrus at the moment.

"Syrus! Just hang on; I'm coming!" Zane yelled frantically as he took off in his brother's direction.

Suddenly, the sights around Zane changed once he reached Syrus. The yard, the sky, the house. All of it was replaced by darkness, with the pool itself turning into a dark river of a black, sticky tar-like substance. Zane was finding it increasingly difficult to plow through the muck.

Syrus was sinking rapidly downwards, the muck almost up past his mouth. "ZANE! HELP ME, PLEASE!"

"Syrus, I've got you!" Zane yelled as he made a wild grab, attempting to pull his brother away from the clutches of the black pit.

Zane was pulling with all his might on Syrus' arms, but the water seemed to have a mind of its own. With gross sucking noises, it gurgled and swirled around Syrus, forcibly pushing him under the shadowy depths. Zane could only watch in horror as Syrus was forced under the gaping black hole that the pool had become.

"NOOOOO! SYYRUSSS!" Zane screamed in agony as his brother's grasping hand-the last part of him that was visible-disappeared beneath the surface.

Zane woke up from his nightmare with a sharp gasp. He was in his room in the Obelisk dorm, his covers bunched messily around the sides of his bed no doubt from his frantic tossing about during his nightmare. After taking a few calming breaths, he looked over to the clock on his nightstand. Relieved to see that he still had time before classes started, he got up and began his morning routine, starting with making the bed. While plenty of students would have just left it the way it was to crawl back into some time after classes, Zane was different. He didn't like leaving things out of order, and that meant that his room and laundry were kept as spotless as possible.

Once he had washed up and was dressed in his uniform, Zane opened up the mini-fridge in his room and prepared his favorite breakfast: a sandwich consisting of nothing but two slices of plain, white bread stacked on top of each other. In his mind, fillings were unnecessary when the bread already tasted good enough, and he liked being able to eat like this sometimes so that it took less time so that he could go back to studying or dueling faster.

Letting his gaze wander, Zane's eyes landed on the calendar he had hanging up near his deck. It's not too much longer until the annual school representative duel against North Academy.

The reminder of the school duel brought Zane back to a memory of a conversation he had overheard yesterday:

Zane was walking through the main campus hallway when he came close to two students standing near one of the posters displayed advertising the school duel. It was the mention of his name that caused him to pause and listen to what they were saying. Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, he stood behind where the wall turned into another corridor, having just the side of his face visible so that he could see the boys conversing.

"So, you think Kaiser is going to be our rep again this year?"

"Why shouldn't he be? He's won all his other years so far. Might as well make it three in a row!"

"Well, I don't know… I mean, we have Phoenix this year, and he's a pro. Plus, I heard they want to only use first-year students this time."

"Then I guess it's Phoenix. I don't really mind. At least he has a personality, unlike Kaiser!"

"Yeah, you're right. The personality of a douche!"

"Oh, come on! Phoenix isn't that bad these days. He's actually been pretty chill outside of duels. More of a "fun douche", if anything. At least he's not a robot like Kaiser!"

"You have a point. I don't think I've seen him ever flinch at anything. And he never wants to hang out at all; he just cares about dueling and studying! Talk about a boring guy!"

Zane stared at the crumbs on his plate as he mulled over the conversation again. Are they right? Am I really…boring? He couldn't help wondering to himself. He remembered how Atticus would always tease him about "letting his youth pass by", but to Zane, he couldn't think much beyond dueling when it came to anything he really enjoyed doing.

Xxx

Swimming lessons for gym class were always a casual affair at Duel Academy. Despite being a class technically, it mostly just ended up turning into a free period in the outdoor pool where the students did some leisure-swimming on their own, as well as taking the opportunity to check out each other wearing their swimsuits and trunks. They were both simple designs: bright blue one-pieces for the girls and trunks for the boys, all with the Academy emblem sewn on their sides. But they could still serve for plenty as an attraction to any wandering eyes.

Aster sat on the edge of the pool, letting his feet dangle lazily in the water. Ignoring the stares of the many girls that landed on him as they passed by, he switched between pretending to stare down at the water and stealing quick glances at Alexis where she was on the other end splashing playfully around with Mindy and Jasmine, oblivious to the conflicting emotions he was experiencing.

Ever since his unexpected dream a few nights ago, Aster's feelings for Alexis had awakened to a new depth that he wasn't quite sure he was ready for yet. Before then, he had been trying to ignore the little voice in the back of his mind lately that had been telling him he might just be enjoying her company more than on a friendly level. It wasn't just her looks that he had found himself appreciating more these days. It was things like how he enjoyed saying things that he knew would get her to feel embarrassed or even subtly irritated with him. Or how he felt at peace enough with her to feel comfortable with slowly opening up more and more about his past to her. That quiet sense of peace and beauty along with her sometimes-adorable reactions was drawing him in further and further, and it was frightening as well as exciting for Aster.

Despite how much attention he was used to getting from girls with being a celebrity duelist and how he had grown accustomed to socializing with his fans, Aster was at a loss when it came to deciding how to deal with his feelings for Alexis. He had no doubt that she did not feel even close to how he did, and he was afraid of possibly ruining their friendship if he let her know that he wasn't adverse to the idea of more than that with her. But at the same time, he didn't want to be completely passive either. The problem was he had no idea where to proceed from here. Asking for advice from anyone he knew was out of the question, that he knew. D would no doubt be furious at him for letting himself be "seduced" by the "evils of women", as he would call it. Aster knew that Sartorius had once been involved with a woman years back, but it was not a topic he liked to bring up much since it had ended badly for him. And Aster couldn't even imagine having this conversation with Sarina somehow.

Trying to put his dilemma aside for the moment, Aster chanced another not-so-subtle look in Alexis' direction. He was starting to notice all sorts of little things about her that he hadn't really noticed before. Like how her hair seemed to take on a more golden shade of blonde when the sun's rays hit it in just the right places. Or how her skin looked when her muscles tensed right before she dived gracefully into the water. He felt like he could stare all day and never get bored…

Aster realized only just in time that he must have been staring at Alexis a little too long, because he saw Jasmine eagerly nudging her and pointing in his direction. "Alexis, look! Aster is checking you out!" Jasmine alerted her friend excitedly.

Oh, crap! Aster just barely had time to turn in the other direction, feigning interest in the pool volleyball game taking place nearby to dodge Alexis' quick glance.

Alexis let out a huff of annoyance at Jasmine's interruption once she failed to see Aster paying any attention to her. "Quit joking around! Aster wouldn't do that to me."

Aster's heart sank at the complete certainty in Alexis' voice. He felt horrible that she was so trusting of him when his thoughts lately hadn't exactly been pure when it came to her. As it was, the dreams were becoming a regular occurrence now, and sometimes they didn't stop with just kissing. Lusting after his best friend like this while she was totally in the dark about it just made him feel dirty and wrong somehow.

"You dodged a bullet there, Aster!" Aster swiveled around to see Jesse standing next to him with a knowing smirk on his face.

Feeling relieved that he finally had an opportunity to discuss his problem with someone, Aster sighed lightly and gave a humorless smile in return to Jesse. "Was I that obvious?"

Finding a place to sit down near Aster, Jesse chuckled at Aster's admittance. "Your eyes would have burned holes straight through her if you were any more obvious, I'd say."

"I don't know what I should do right now…" Aster confessed.

Jesse shrugged as if Aster was simply debating what to put on a grocery list. "You like her; it's that simple. So why not just tell her?"

Aster shook his head slightly. "But it's not that simple. She doesn't want that from me. Part of why she likes hanging around me so much is because I'm one of the few guys here who isn't hounding after her. It's the same with Zane. If she knew the truth, it just might scare her. Heck, I'm kind of scaring myself with all of this as it is."

Jesse looked thoughtful. "To be fair, no one but Alexis herself would know how she would feel about you. It sounds to me like you still need to figure some things out yourself before you feel ready for anything more, and that's totally fine. There's nothing wrong about how you feel, Aster. Best friend or not, what you're going through with Alexis is normal and you have nothing to feel ashamed about when you're still considerate of her feelings like this."

"I do care about her, and that's part of what is making this difficult for me, I think," Aster admitted, almost more to himself than to Jesse.

Jesse gave Aster a friendly clap on the shoulder. "Well, you got time to figure things out! This is Alexis we're talking about after all. Just know that you can talk to me anytime you want, Aster. I've got your back."

Aster smiled gratefully at his friend. Jesse may have been a transfer student that he didn't know as well as some of his other friends, but he had proven himself to be very mature and insightful when it came to more personal issues, despite his easy going personality. "Thanks man; I owe you one."

"Sure thing! Just be careful around the pool, Aster. Wouldn't want Mr. Lifeguard over there to get wind of those wandering eyes!" Jesse joked.

Turning his gaze over to the lifeguard stand, Aster had to fight back a laugh that was threatening to erupt at the sight of Zane. Besides the standard lifeguard jacket he wore with his trunks, Zane looked ridiculous sporting a rather large brimmed sun hat along with dark sunglasses with big coke bottle-shaped lenses.

"He takes his job very seriously. I don't think I've ever even seen anyone else on the job since I've been at this school," Aster commented ruefully.

As if in answer to prove Aster's point, Zane suddenly started blowing his whistle loudly towards a direction in the far end of the pool. "No, no, no! You're too far out!" Zane shouted testily. But as far as Aster could see, the people he had called out didn't seem to be doing anything particularly dangerous.

Jesse sighed dramatically. "Now there's a guy who could stand to have more fun in his life…"

Xxx

Aster skimmed through the note cards he had scattered around the outdoor table near the main building. He was doing some last minute preparations to organize his study material for the weekend since a test was coming up soon in duel theory, and he always preferred to have everything ready for studying time in-between his matches.

Aster was brought out of his preparations when he recognized Zane's voice nearby. And from the sound of it, he wasn't exactly pleased with whoever he was talking with.

"-still failing tests at this point, there's not much I can tell you," Zane scolded a rather short Slifer Red student with mousy light blue hair sticking out from the sides wearing small round glasses.

The boy slumped his shoulders ashamedly, his whole posture seeming to droop along with them. He reminded Aster of a mouse somehow. "But if you could just help me-" he started to wheedle.

Zane interrupted the boy sharply. "Every time I've tried that, you don't listen! You expect there to be an easy solution to dueling, but it just doesn't work that way, Syrus! You need to stop basing it on how you see me and find your own way!"

Syrus looked even more miserable than before, if that was possible. Even his hair hung down. "I guess I'm just not cut out for duels after all…"

Zane shook his head impatiently. "That self-pitying behavior isn't going to help you. But whatever. This discussion is over."

Syrus turned and walked away, dragging his feet as if the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders. Aster had no idea what was going on between Zane and him. They seemed to know each other, but he didn't know where. It wasn't as if Zane was into tutoring, so there had to be something else he was missing here.

"Wow, you don't pull any punches when it comes to student-teaching, do you, Zane!?" Aster joked as he casually walked up to where Zane was still standing.

Zane sighed wearily, seemingly unsurprised by Aster's appearance. "You saw all that, huh? It wasn't student teaching though, I'm afraid. You see…he's my brother."

Wait, WHAT!? Aster blanched, completely floored by this new information.

AN: Well, here's part one of the Zane and Syrus story I've made. All of the Syrus interactions and his side of things is coming in the next chapter. I'm not saying much more here since I don't want to give anything away.

To the guest reviewer: I thank you for being polite with your criticism and taking the time to explain your reasonings. However, I do think you are being a bit unfair to Aster. He did congratulate Blair for her dueling after he defeated her (something that would have been unthinkable for him before the tag duel at least). Does that and all the other times he has been genuinely kind to others in this story mean nothing? I really don't see why he should have taken her seriously when they first met. She's an eleven year old kid who snuck into school and broke into Zane's (who he is closer to than Jaden was in the anime in this story) room, and she was pretty rude to Aster first calling him "cliched and boring". Why should he take her seriously? Comparing Aster to Jaden is pointless because he's not Jaden, that's the whole point. Aster wants to see what a duelist can do before he decides whether they deserve his praise or not. And don't forget that he has been trained by D in this story to see other duelists as nothing but competition and that good sportsmanship is a weakness. And he's already breaking those rules compared to how he was before. And yes, the dialogue-tagging was an issue for me in earlier chapters that another author pointed out to me and assisted me in working to improve on. About since the tennis chapter is when I've tried cleaning it up with trying to give actions to the characters before they speak instead of relying on "said action" at the end.

I was seeing a lot of, "Jaden wouldn't do this", "This should be for Jaden" complaints in this last chapter. And I want to make one thing clear: Whenever I see stuff like this, whether it is about Aster not being like Jaden or complaining that he's using cards he shouldn't, it just comes off as what I call "hate reading" when it's just nitpicky complaints and nothing else about the story as a whole. If that is really what is going on here, then here's my advice: don't torture yourself by forcing yourself to read this story if it's not what you want. If you want a story about Jaden, you've got a whole library to read. Meanwhile, I had to write this and my other works just to actually have more content to read about Aster since he's not explored very often in fanfiction. And I've said this before, but I do not want to see any more complaints about Aster using Masked Heroes either. This is the anime universe being used in this story. It's for reasons like this why the site asks you whether you want to use the anime or manga universe right before you publish a GX story. So I do not want to see any of this nonsense about them being "reserved for Jaden". Likewise, Jaden will also use Vision Heroes too when he shows up, with Aster having a Vision-Destiny main deck white Jaden has Elemental-Vision, and they will both have Masked Heroes. That's because it's easier for me, and this is my story. So if there's any more complaints, the reviews will either get deleted if they are guests, or I will block the account.