Concealed Spirits

by punkish furball

Higurashi Sota, a powerful duelist with many secrets, arrived at Duel Academy with one intention and one alone. He won't allow anyone to stand in his way even as he follows a path of no return and even as he hurts the ones he claims to protect. Unfortunately for him, Yuki Judai never understood the meaning of "stay away".

3. Chapter 2

punkish furball – Hello, all! X3

Words to Ponder:

Thank you for reviewing: Suzume Batchii Taichi, AnimeMoonlightGoddess, Purus Memoria, puripuribeth, Mimiru, AnimeGrl2519, Wicken25, Sin of the Fallen, kakashixangela, AnimeFreakAmanda, kits-hold-their-tears, Kagome Miko207, Nico1302, Bunny.W.K, Applejax XD, EveRose808, MyLovelyRabbit (2x), starmienight, JollyLoser (2x), falcon1loam, socrates, Fuundog, pokemondemon369, and Guest!

This chapter contains the long awaited duel between Sota and Daichi. A lot of research when into composing each player's decks and the match's gameplay; I hope I did a good job. The composition of Daichi's deck in this chapter is based on the one of the decks his character uses in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force video game. In this game, his character has six decks based on the different monster attributes.

At the end of this chapter, I've compiled a list of cards used by order of appearance. This includes the cards I created that are in Sota's deck. The list includes all of the card's information name, card type, effect, and other identifying information such as attack and defense points in the case of monster cards. Please note that some of the cards' effects may differ from their printed description because they have different effects in the anime or manga. All such cards are identified in this list. If you have any questions or corrections regarding the usage of any card as I have described it, PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW the card list before contacting me. I know that everyone isn't Duel Monster savvy (and believe me, after all the reading I had to do, I do not consider myself to be) and just wanted to make sure everything is as clear as possible so you can all enjoy the story as much as possible! XD

Fun Fact: In the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga, Daichi used a yokai based deck. Pretty interesting! XD

Chapter 2

Judai grinned as he shrugged his red blazer on over his long sleeved black shirt. Ahead of him, the time on the clock decorating his dorm wall read 7:30 AM. It was much earlier than Judai usually woke up, but today was the day for a very special event, an epic duel between Misawa and Higurashi. Although he would have preferred to be participating in this duel, Judai would settle for watching this match up.

'Just until it's my turn to face Higurashi in the ring! I'm definitely going to be his next opponent,' Judai thought before he turned to Sho and Hayato, who were still asleep in their bunks.

"Wake up!" he called out to them manically, "Come on, guys! You don't want to be late, do you?"

"Okay, Aniki!" Sho grumbled as he pushed back his covers and slowly sat up, "You don't have to be so loud."

"What are you doing up so early?" Hayato groaned; he rolled over on his side so that he faced the wall away from Judai.

"What do you mean? What are you two still doing in bed?" Judai asked them incredulously, "Today is the day! We need to go to the arena, and get a good seat for Higurashi's duel with Misawa!"

"Classes aren't even started yet!" Hayato complained, muffled by the sheets he pulled over his head, "Just gone on without us."

"We'll meet you in the arena after breakfast," Sho assured him after he fell back down on his pillow.

"Suit yourselves, guys. I'll save you some seats!" Judai stated with a nod before walking to the door and stepping outside. Just outside the door, the morning air was brisk and cool as the sun gradually rose over the horizon.

"Wow, a sunrise," Judai commented as he watched the skyline, "I guess I usually sleep through it." He grinned stupidly to himself. "That means I'll just catch up on my sleep during class!"

Without warning, Winged Kuriboh appeared from Judai's deck and flew away from his card holder around the corner of the building.

"Kuriboh?" Judai called out before following his duel monster. Just before he reached him, he heard Kuriboh cooing happily followed by a series of girlish giggles. Judai stopped and peeked around the corner to see his Winged Kuriboh being fawned over and petted by the female duel spirit he saw two nights ago, the one he wanted to see again. Judai smiled softly as she scratched the other duel spirit behind the wing and grinned happily when Kuriboh floated closer to her.

'She looks so happy with Kuriboh,' Judai thought, 'She must be really lonely here at the academy.'

Judai slowly walked toward the two duel spirits, so he wouldn't frighten the female one away again. Alerted by his arrival, Winged Kuriboh flew to Judai and sat on his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy," Judai greeted Kuriboh as he petted his furry head, "Looks like you made a new friend."

The other duel spirit turned to him and Winged Kuriboh, her gaze nervous and hesitant. However, she was not frightened like she was when she and Judai first met.

"Hello again," Judai told her with a grin, "I'm glad you met Kuriboh. I knew you two would like each other!" Kuriboh mewed in agreement.

Judai quietly waited for the duel spirit to respond, making sure that he didn't scare her away. After minutes of waiting, she didn't reply, but, at the same time, she didn't look like she would run away. That had to be a good sign.

'She must be warming up to me!' Judai thought happily.

"I wanted to tell you and Higurashi good luck today," Judai stated, "Misawa is one tough opponent, but I know you both can hold your own against him."

She smiled softly and nodded in Judai's direction before she spoke in a whisper so soft and small that he almost thought he imagined it.

"Thank you," she told him, "but I have to go now." Her form gradually faded before she disappeared from sight completely.

"Wow! Did you hear that, Kuriboh?" Judai exclaimed as he turned to face Kuriboh, who flew off Judai's shoulder and hovered in front of his face. "Can you believe she actually spoke to me? That means she's starting to like me, right, Kuriboh?

Kuriboh cooed happily in response to his card holder.

"All I need now is to know her name" Judai continued, "I hope Higurashi summons her today!"

Judai began sprinting excitedly toward the dueling arena, leaving Kuriboh to hover behind him. Winged Kuriboh sighed and tiredly rubbed his forehead with one of his stubby arms. He could sense something that was odd about the female duel spirit but decided to let Judai find out on his own. He knew that he would have more encounters with the female duel spirit with sad sapphire eyes and a haunting smile.

-O0o0O-

When Judai reached the arena, he quickly grabbed a seat on one of the front rows located right at the middle of the field so he could clearly see both sides. It was an easy task for him to accomplish; the chancellor didn't formally announce the start of the match yet so the large dueling arena was completely empty. After a few minutes of waiting and bouncing excitedly in his seat, Judai heard Samejima's voice over the school's intercom system.

"Attention, students and faculty, please report to the main dueling arena for a special event about to take place."

It wasn't long after the announcement before the academy students and faculty filed into the arena and filled the empty seats in their desired sections. Judai stood up in his seat and kept an eye out for Sho and Hayato. When he spotted them, he called them over to his row.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted them when they took their seats at his side, "I'm so hyped for this duel! Aren't you?"

"I guess," Sho replied, "but we seem to be the only ones."

Word had spread before Samejima's announcement about the duel, so most of the student body already knew it was between Misawa and Higurashi. From their constant chatter, the trio of Slifers could tell that everyone else thought that the Osiris Red didn't stand a chance against his Ra Yellow opponent, transfer student or not. They expected the match to end quickly and not in Higurashi's favor.

"It looks like we're the only ones rooting for that kid," Hayato commented, "I'm glad this isn't a popularity contest, or Higurashi would have already lost."

"That's alright," Judai stated with a grin, "They'll just be in for a real surprise once Higurashi shows them what he's made of!"

"I hope so," Sho mentioned, "It was really bold of him to request a duel with one of the academy's top students in you first week as a transfer."

"That kid better deliver," Hayato commented.

All of the boisterous prattle in the arena died down to a dull roar when Cronos stood on the dueling platform in the middle of the field, holding a microphone to his purple painted lips.

"Welcome, students and faculty!" Cronos loudly cried, "For your viewing pleasure, we have arranged a very interesting duel. Our first combatant is a first year Ra Yellow and the top scoring student of his year's incoming freshmen, Misawa Daichi!" He paused for the thunder of applause, praising the young duelist. "His opponent is first year Osiris Red transfer student who also received a perfect score on the academy's entrance exam, Higurashi Sota!"

Although the show of his support was not as loud as Daichi's accolades, Sota's fans in Slifer Red and Obelisk Blue cheered as enthusiastically as they could. When the small ovation settled, both duelists simultaneously approached the opposing ends of the field as Cronos stepped off the stage. Daichi and Sota got into position, staring each other down with great intensity as they activated their duel disks and drew their first hand.

"Would you like the first move?" Daichi politely offered his challenger.

"So you're offering me the first move," Sota observed as he slowly raised an apprehensive eyebrow, "Are you giving your opponent the opportunity to gain an early advantage, or are you giving yourself the opportunity to gather more data about me?"

"Are you being observant or paranoid?" Daichi countered with a slight smirk.

"We'll soon see," Sota replied, "I'll take you offer and have the first move." He drew an additional card and placed his cards on his duel disk. "I place two cards face down and summon Amazoness Fighter in attack mode."

Sota's monster appeared on his side of the field standing proudly in front of her card holder in all her muscled glory.

"Nice opening move," Hayato commented as he watched the young duelist, "Two face downs and an attack mode monster."

"I guess so," Sho added, "He must be trying to make Daichi movie in and attack him."

Daichi grinned as he took his turn and drew his next card. "I also play a card face down and summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode." His water-based dinosaur monster appeared on the field, breathing heavily from its nostrils as the constant currents of murky brown fluid that composed its body flowed.

"Now, Hydrogeddon, attack Amazoness Fighter!"

Sota watched uninterestedly as the creature attacked and destroyed his monster.

"Because of my monster's special ability," he stated after he placed his monster in the graveyard, "all of the damage caused by this battle becomes zero."

"Indeed, but my monster also has a special ability," Daichi countered, "Because Hydrogeddon successfully sent your Amazoness Fighter to the graveyard, I can special summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck." An identical monster appeared on Daichi's side of the field.

"I end my turn," Daichi announced and looked at Sota expectantly. Sota drew his next card and rearranged his cards in his hands.

"I summon Chiron the Mage in attack mode," Sota declared as he placed his card on the field, "Then I play the spell card, Pot of Greed."

Sota drew two cards and continued his turn. "Now, I active Chiron's special effect. By discarding one spell card from my hand, I can destroy one of your spell or trap cards on the field." He deposited a card in his graveyard, and his centaur monster waved his mighty staff, creating a red tinged aura on the field and destroying Daichi's face down card.

"Now, Chiron the Mage," Sota commanded, "attack one of Misawa's Hydrogeddons."

When the monster was successfully destroyed, Daichi lost 200 life points, dropping him to 3800. Sota's move surprised most of the academy students who did not expect Sota to be the first one to take the lead.

"So he's the one who made the first attack that cost his opponent some life points," Asuka commented from the spot she and Ryo watched the duel.

"It's only a small lead," Ryo countered, sounding unimpressed with Sota's performance thus far, "Misawa will recover."

"I don't doubt that," Asuka replied matter-of-factly, "but at least Higurashi-san is putting up a good fight and not letting what everyone else is saying about him affect his game."

Daichi took his turn and drew his next card.

"I play the field spell, Umiiruka," Daichi stated as he placed the card into his duel disk. A large mass of water covered the arena floor, creating the appearance of rushing waves along the length of the playing field. "Now, due to its magical effect, all water attribute monsters will gain 500 additional attack points but lose 400 defense points."

The remaining Hydrogeddon's attack and defense points changed to 2100 and 600, respectively, as it nearly doubled in size.

"Now, using the increase power of my Hydrogeddon, I attack your Chiron the Mage!"

Again, Sota was unmoving as his monster was destroyed and his life points dropped to 3700.

"I activate my face down trap card, Paralyzing Poison," Sota stated coolly, "For the remainder of this turn, one of your effect monster's special abilities is negated. The target is Hydrogeddon."

One of Sota's face down cards flipped over, and a large spiral shaped shell appeared on the field. The shell flung itself to Hydrogeddon and exploded, coating the duel monster in a poisoned, purple cloud that neutralized its effect.

"Very well," Daichi replied, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

'What a strange card,' Daichi mused as his turn ended, 'I've never seen it played before.'

He shrugged off his thoughts and focused of Sota's next move; he was a very shrewd opponent. Besides, it was nearly impossible to use fake or counterfeit cards with a duel disk especially an academy issued one. After several incidents involving the use of counterfeit cards in official duels, including one during the Battle City Duel Monsters Tournament organized and held by Seto Kaiba where a duelist impersonating Marik Ishtar used a bogus Winged Dragon of Ra in one of the final matches, Kaiba upgraded his duel disk system with an internal computer that scanned the identification numbers of each card played and checked them against a card database complied by Industrial Illusions. The internal computer also scanned the image and composition of each card to check it against the card's official design. If a card placed on a duel disk system failed to pass one or both of these check points, it would not appear on the dueling field and KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions would be immediately notified of the counterfeit card. It was practically fool proof system.

Sota drew his next card and smirked. 'I was hoping I'd draw this card early on in the game. My first two monsters set the stage, and now it's time for me to really start playing this game.'

"I play one of my most powerful creatures, Schoolgirl Kagome, in attack mode!" Sota shouted as he placed the card on his duel disk. The raven haired humanoid monster appeared on the field in a quick burst of pink light. When it faded she stood confidently with her a bow and quiver slug over her shoulder and a smile on her face. Whispers erupted across the arena at her appearance.

'Another unfamiliar card,' Daichi noted as he scrutinized the unknown female monster who, from this angle, appeared to have a pink blush appear across her cheeks as the murmurs from the crowd increased, 'Higurashi-san seems to have a lot of unknown and rare cards in his deck; I'll have to tread cautiously for the remainder of the duel.'

Sota grinned as he surveyed his opponent analyzing his monster. 'Kagome may be a weak now, but, with the right combination of cards and help from a few other monsters, she can win the match for me.'

From his spot at the side of the arena, Judai immediately recognized the raven haired monster standing on the field, garbed in a white and green girls' uniform with bright blue eyes,

"That's her!" Judai exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Sho questioned.

"That monster is Higurashi's duel spirit," Judai explained, "The one I told you about."

"Really?" Sho replied as he looked at the monster again, "I thought you just made her up, but she is really cute." The short teen felt another card crush developing as he watched the petite monster.

"But she only has 1300 attack points," Hayato mentioned even though he also appreciated the monster's appearance, "Misawa could destroy her in a second with his Hydroggedon. Why would Higurashi call her a powerful monster?"

"There must be more to her than meets the eye," Jun commented, his voice coming from behind the group. The trio turned to see him sitting one row behind them with his feet propped up on one of the empty chairs.

"Wow, Manjoume, you're sitting with us?" Judai asked cheerfully, "If I knew you'd do that, I would have saved you a seat!"

Jun rolled his eyes, not bothering to correct Judai. "You just happen to have good seats, and this duel just happens to be very interesting." There was still a sore spot on his ego due to his defeat at the hands of Daichi just before he left Duel Academy. Jun may have put it behind him after his return, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy seeing Daichi being bested by the transfer student.

"You got that right!" Judai responded before turning back to the duel.

'Kagome,' he thought happily as he committed her name to memory, 'Her name is Kagome.'

"I also play a spell card, Sacred Sutras of Sealing," Sota stated as he placed the card in his magic zone. A large mass of white paper sutras marked with black ink materialized from the card before rushing toward Hydrogeddon. The scrolls wrapped the monster from head to toe before it disappeared from the field.

"Due to my spell card's effect, one of your monsters is removed from play for three turns. Now that your Hydrogeddon is gone, Kagome, attack his life points directly with your sacred arrow."

Kagome nodded before she notched an arrow in her bow and fired. The arrow left a large trail of shimmering pink light before it collided with Daichi's chest, reducing his life points to 2500 as he cringed from its impact.

"With that, I end my turn," Sota stated smugly.

Misawa drew and repositioned his cards in his hand. "I play my face down card, Call of the Haunted. With it, I special summon Hydrogeddon from the graveyard. I also summon from my hand Oxygeddon in attack mode."

Daichi's two elemental monsters appeared on the field and stood side by side.

'His face down card could be another trap,' Daichi mused as he surveyed the field before his next move, 'There's no doubt that he'll activate it as soon as I declare an attack on his monster. However, when the effect of his sutra card wears off, I'll have all the components I need to summon Water Dragon on the field. It would be best if I get rid of his monster before I summon Water Dragon.'

"Now, Oxygeddon, attack Schoolgirl Kagome!" Daichi declared as his fly creature moved in for an attack.

I have another Oxygeddon in my hand, so, if it gets destroyed by this attack, I'll have a back up.'

"I activate my face down card, Barrier of Purifying Energy," Sota declared. When the card was activated, a pale, pink dome of shimmering energy appeared around Kagome before Oxygeddon's attack hit her. The monster's attack recoiled and hit Daichi's side of the field. Surprisingly, his monsters remained.

"After this card is activated, your attacking monster's attack is negated, and the attack points of all monsters on your side of the field that are not light attribute monsters are reduced by 30% of their original attack points for the duration of this turn."

Due to Oxygeddon's reversed attack, its attack points dropped to 1260 and Hydrogeddon's points to 1520.

"Very well," Daichi said, "I end my turn by placing one card face down."

"Why didn't he attack again?" Sho asked, "His Hydrogeddon still has enough points to destroy Higurashi-san's monster."

"He's waiting for Higurashi's spell card to wear off on his Hydrogeddon," Jun answered, "As soon as that happens, he'll summon his Water Dragon."

"And remember," Judai added, "We still don't know all there is to know about his Kagome monster. Misawa must be bidding his time before he takes an advantage."

Sota grinned as he drew his next card; it was another monster he planned to use during this duel. "I summon The Traveling Monk Miroku in defense mode."

'I was hoping I drew someone else,' Sota thought, 'but I suppose it's fitting that those two are on the field together.'

At Kagome's side, a handsome monk garbed in robes of black and purple appeared holding a golden staff. He grinned at the fellow duel monster he joined on the field before turning to Daichi's Hydrogeddon and Oxygeddon, ready for Sota to make his next move. Again, Judai recognized Sota's monster as one of his duel spirits.

"I use Miroku's special ability. By giving up his attack this turn and discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy one of your face up spell cards. I use this effect to destroy your Umiiruka field spell," Sota explained as he placed on card in his graveyard, leaving only one in his hand.

Miroku held up his right hand and pulled back the cloth covering his palm. Instantaneously, a swirling vortex appeared and sucked up the water coating the field as the card ejected from Daichi's duel disk.

"Now I change Kagome to defense mode," Sota stated as he rotated her card sideways and the monster slipped into a defensive position, "I end my turn by placing my final card face down."

'I don't know what to expect from all the unfamiliar monsters Higurashi has,' Daichi thought as his turn began, 'The best strategy I have is to summon the Water Dragon as quickly as possible. It's not the way I typically like to fight my duels, but it's the only option I have at the moment.'

"I play the De-spell card to prematurely end the effects of your spell and return my Hydrogeddon to the field," Daichi said as he laid down the spell card. His monster appeared on his side of the field next to the one identical to it.

"Now that there are two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon on the field, I activate my face down spell card, Bonding H2O, to fuse my three creatures into the powerful, Water Dragon."

The three dinosaur type monsters on Daichi's side of the field merged into the large water based sea serpent. It snarled as it towered over Sota's two, weaker humanoid monsters.

"I also equip my Water Dragon with Fairy Meteor Crush. Now, when he attacks one of your monsters in defense mode, the difference between your monster's defense points and Water Dragon's attack points will be deducted from your life points," Daichi explained. Sota frowned; it was clear that he did not expect that.

'Now to choose my target,' Daichi thought. His eyes slanted toward the female monster who Sota protected before with a trap card. 'I wonder what will happen if I select her again.'

"Water Dragon, attack Schoolgirl Kagome!" Daichi declared. At his command, the Water Dragon poised for battle, ready to hit the smaller monster with a devastating, aquatic attack.

"Not so fast!" Sota interjected, "I activate my trap, Attack Guidance Armor, and equip it to my Traveling Monk, forcing you to change the target of your attack."

The ornately designed armor appeared from beneath the card and latched onto Miroku's upper body. Curiously, Kagome looked at her battle companion with an expression of worry. Miroku merely smiled softly in direction before looking ahead and bracing himself for the inevitable assault.

"Very well," Daichi acquiesced, "Water Dragon, redirect your attack and strike the Traveling Monk Miroku." The attack went through and Sota's life points dropped by 1000 points.

'As I suspected, Higurashi did plan to protect that monster,' Daichi deduced, 'He must have something else planned.'

"I end my turn," Daichi announced.

"That kid put up a good fight," Jun commented, "but it looks like it's all over for him now."

"Yeah. He only has one weak monster on the field and no cards in his hand right now," Hayato added, "He's had a good run in this game, but I think he's done all he can do.

"Don't count him out just yet," Judai told them without taking his eyes off the match, "Higurashi will make a comeback."

Sota drew and smirked at his card. "I play the magic card, Card of Sanctity! This will allow us both to draw cards until we hold six in our hand."

"What a lucky draw!" Sho exclaimed.

"See!" Judai countered with a wide grin, "What did I tell you guys? He's turning this game around!"

"He may have more cards in his hand, but we'll see if he can use them," Jun stated.

Sota and Daichi both drew until they both held six cards in their hand. Sota smirked as he rearranged his cards.

'My strategy is nearly complete,' he thought, 'I may have had to sacrifice Miroku earlier than I planned, but his loss will not be in vain.'

"I play my Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Nigimitama in attack mode!" Sota stated as he placed the monster on the field. It appeared next to Kagome as large, pale pink bauble with a greenish sheen. "Now I use its special effect to add another Spirit of the Shikon no Tama card from my deck to my hand."

"That pendant," Asuka mentioned as her gaze fixated on the stone around Sota's neck.

"What about it?" Ryo asked her.

"Nothing," Asuka replied, "I was just thinking out loud."

Ryo nodded and returned his attention back to the match, accepting her excuse. After all, this match had a lot of elements that required thought, especially the majority of cards Sota chose to play.

Asuka pursed her lips together as she looked at Sota's pendant, the one he received from his older sister. 'I thought I saw it glow a moment ago after he played the Shikon no Tama card. It looks completely normal now. I must have imagined it.'

"I place two cards face down and end my turn," Sota stated and waited for Daichi to make his move.

'He left such a weak monster in attack mode and placed more cards face down,' Daichi thought, 'Is it a trick to coax me into attacking it so he can activate his trap or will he use it to protect his Schoolgirl Kagome? I have to make a decision; I can't waste this opportunity to gain another lead.'

"I use my Water Dragon to attack you Shikon no Tama monster!" Daichi announced. As he suspected, the attack went through without any resistance and Sota's points plummeted to 200.

"I place one card face down and end my turn," Daichi stated.

'So his face down cards weren't traps or he didn't activate them to protect the Shikon card,' Daichi surmised, 'I may have the point advantage, but I don't doubt that Higurashi can turn this duel around.' So far, Sota used a combination of trap cards to counter his attacks aimed for the Schoolgirl Kagome, waiting for whatever card combination he needed to use its full effects.

Sota grinned as he drew another card and discarded one to the graveyard.

"I play my face down card, Polymerization!" he cried, "I fuse my Schoolgirl Kagome on the field with the Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Aramitama in my hand to form Kagome the Fighting Spirit of Courage!"

Kagome merged with the Shikon no Tama and reappeared on the field in a form fitting, black kimono littered with dark red flower petals with a long skirt with splits on the sides reaching her hips and sleeves cropped short so that they passed just over her shoulders. The kimono's collar was high and buttoned around her throat. On her feet were tall black boots with a slight heel that covered her calves matching the arm covers she wore that stretched from her palm to her elbow. Tucked in each boot was a dagger, and strapped to her waist was her katana. On her back was a full quiver of arrows and in her hand she held a bow, both were much more ornate than the original weapons she had. Her raven hair was pulled into a high ponytail held together with black chopsticks. The Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Aramitama appeared on a chocker around her neck, dark red in color. The look on Kagome's face was soft and sweet like it was in her original form, but it was clear the formidable monster could switch to offensive in a second. However, with only 2300 attack points, she was still considerably weaker than the Water Dragon.

"In this form, Kagome has a special ability," Sota continued, "She gains 200 additional attack points for every warrior or beast warrior type monster in my graveyard. Right now there are two such monsters in my graveyard, Amazoness Fighter and Chiron the Mage, with brings Kagome's attack points to 2700."

"And impressive power boost," Daichi commented, "but she is still too weak to attack my dragon."

"Until I play this card," Sota said as he placed it on his duel disk, "I activate my Card Destruction spell, sending my entire hand including two more warriors to the graveyard. Kagome now has a total of 3100 attack points, more than enough to combat your dragon."

Kagome smirked as she reached into her quiver and grabbed an arrow, delicately holding it by its feathered tip.

"But, that's not all. I end my main phase by equipping Kagome with Assault Armor. However, it won't be staying long. Now that it's my battle phase, I discard it to the graveyard, allowing Kagome to attack twice this turn, once to destroy your Water Dragon and again to attack you directly!"

Kagome loaded the arrow in her bow and fired at the Water Dragon. It collided with Daichi's monster causing it to disperse in a radiant pink light, reducing Daichi's life points to 2200. She then reached for the katana around her waist and rushed toward Daichi with the intent to strike him.

"Hold it!" Daichi stated, causing the duel monster to halt, "I use my Water Dragon's effect to special summon, two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon from my graveyard."

"No, you don't," Sota countered with a devious grin, "Or have you forgotten my other face down card? It's another Paralyzing Poison trap which I activate to negate your dragon's ability. You remain defenseless!"

Once the trap was flipped over, the spiral, poison containing shell appeared in Kagome's hand. She tossed the shell in the direction of Daichi's three conjured monsters; it burst upon impact and coated the field in a thick, purple fog. Using the resulting smoke screen as a diversion, Kagome dashed behind Daichi with her katana drawn and slashed him down the middle. His life points plummeted to zero, declaring Sota the winner of the match with 200 life points remaining.

"¡Eccellente!" Cronos exclaimed as he took his place in the middle of the field, "The winner of the duel is Higurashi Sota! What a spettacolare vittoria it was!"

The entire arena erupted in applause, avidly congratulating the young duelist on his victory. Sota deactivated his duel disk causing Kagome to disappear from the field and walked toward Daichi. The other duelist also stepped forward offering him his hand.

"Good match," Sota commented as he took Daichi's hand in his and shook it.

"Indeed," Daichi remarked, "You have some very interesting cards in that deck of yours."

Sota grinned as the two duelists' hands pulled apart. "They're one of a kind."

Daichi returned his expression. "Next time we duel, I'll be better prepared."

Sota nodded before he quickly turned heel and descended from the dueling platform. He was immediately assaulted with questions and praises from Slifer Red and Ra Yellow students. The Obelisk Blue students, excluding the female transfers who clamored for Sota's attention, only watched from a distance, refusing to speak to a lower level student.

"Hey, Higurashi," Judai called out when he made his way to the front of the mob, "Sweet duel!"

"Thanks," Sota replied, brushing off the praise as he did with the other students. However, Judai wasn't not about to be dismissed so easily.

"Ready for another throw down?" he asked, "I can't wait to duel you!"

"Thanks for the offer, but we do have class now. Maybe another time?" Sota suggested as he inched away from the enthusiastic duelist.

"Come on, Higurashi!" Judai urged him as he slung an arm over Sota's shoulders, "What's the harm in ditching one class for an awesome duel?" He let go when Cronos bopped him on the head with his microphone.

"It certainly won't affect your poor performance, dropout boy," Cronos scolded, "But, unlike you, Sota-san has a promising academic career!"

"Well—I—umm…" Judai stuttered. He frowned when he noticed that Sota used this distraction to leave the arena and disappear down a hallway.

'Looks like I'll have to wait a little while longer,' he thought before turning his attention to Cronos.

"Well, sensei," Judai began, "since you already said going to class isn't going to help me out, think I could be excused from all your lectures for the rest of the semester?"

"Get to class, slacker!"

-O0o0O-

When Sota slipped away from all the excitement, he managed to find an empty classroom. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. After making sure he was truly alone, Sota called out to one of the spirits in his deck.

"Miroku-san?" he said and the male spirit appeared before him.

"Yes?" Miroku answered politely.

"You did well in today's duel," Sota commended him before changing the subject, "I want you to keep an eye on Misawa. He seems like the investigative type, and there's no doubt that he'll start looking for info on my deck as soon as possible. We can't have him causing trouble for us."

"Understood," Miroku replied, "Should I begin immediately?"

"Yes," Sota stated, "I also want you to keep tabs on other top duelists in Ra Yellow. I want your investigation to be thorough, so don't concern yourself with being absent for a while. Kagome will cover for your other duties until you come back."

"I see," Miroku remarked, "Are you going to arrange another duel with one of the competent duelists I find?"

Sota shook his head. "There'll be no more formal duel requests now that I've dueled Misawa. As I said before, we'll have to lay low. I'm certain that the match attracted a lot of attention from other students." He thought of the Slifer Red that tried to coerce him to duel earlier; his type were hard to avoid. "I can't do anything other than try to avoid it if someone requests a duel with me, formally or otherwise. For now, I only want you to gather the names and information I need, so I can reference them later."

"Very well," Miroku commented before he disappeared, "You can count of me."

Once he was gone, Sota reached for his deck box containing the cards he didn't have in the deck he used in today's duel. He flipped though them until he spotted a certain card. He pulled it from the stack he held and a translucent figure appeared in front of him. She was a pale, slender woman clothed in billowing clothes of red and white, a traditional beauty. Even so, Sota didn't care for her as much as he did the others from her bland expression to her cold, bittersweet chocolate eyes.

"You need me?" she asked him uninterestedly.

"I need you to start gathering data on the top duelists in the Obelisk Blue dorms," Sota told her, "The Obelisk dorm is a lot larger than the others considering that all girls enrolled in the academy are placed there. I trust that you should be able to find it on your own."

The priestess nodded, but Sota could see that harsh resentment in her stance, what she tried to hide. She didn't like being literally in the pam of Sota's hand, at his complete and utter disposal.

"Anything else?" she asked him.

Sota shook his head. "No, that's all I have of you."

Just before she sure could disappear, Sota called out to her. "Kikyo-san?"

The apparition looked at him and lifted a slender eyebrow without staying a word.

"Don't report back until you've gathered all available information," Sota stated, "We can't proceed without it."

"I understand," Kikyo responded before she disappeared completely. Once Kikyo was gone, Sota called out to one more of his cards, the last one of the trio who could take a spectral form.

"Nee-chan," he greeted her warmly when Kagome appeared before him.

"Yes?" Kagome answered, smiling cheerfully at her brother.

"You did wonderfully," Sota told her, "and you won the match."

"That's only because of how you played me," Kagome replied, a blush tinting her cheeks, "After all, a card is pretty useless without someone to play it correctly."

"I suppose so," Sota commented.

"So what do you else do want?" Kagome probed, knowing that he didn't call her out just to congratulate her.

"I need you to find the names of the top duelist in Slifer Red," Sota stated, "I already sent Miroku-san and Kikyo-san to do the same in the other two dorms."

"Slifer Red?" Kagome repeated and immediately thought of Judai. If he could communicate with duel spirits, then it wasn't too farfetched to believe that he was a decent duelist.

Sota nodded. "I'm not sure if there will be many competent duelists in the Red dorms according to what everyone says about it, but it pays to be thorough in our search. I also need you to take over Miroku's duties during class. You're workload during the investigation should be less intensive than the others', so you can handle both tasks on you're own."

Kagome nodded enthusiastically. "You can count on me! I promise I won't let you down."

Sota smiled in return and opened the door to the classroom. "Let's go to class. I suspect that we're already a few minutes late."

As Sota walked down the hallway, Kagome clung close to him. She had a lot on her mind.

'So I have to start looking at all the students in the Slifer Red dorms,' Kagome thought, 'Judai-san is most the obvious person to start looking at. But I think it would be best to keep him away from Sota. I don't know what he'd do him once he finds out he can see me.' As much as she hated to consider it, her brother was a bit more vindictive than he used to be. Kagome hoped Judai didn't acknowledge her with Sota around.

'I'll just have to talk to him about it before it comes to that,' Kagome decided.

Earlier today when he tried speaking to her again after she met his cute Winged Kuriboh was unexpectedly wonderful. She'd be able to move freely without suspicion since Sota gave her this new task. In addition to that, Miroku and Kikyo, the only ones who could check up on her, were out of commission as well. She'd have to use this time as thoughtfully as she could.

'Tonight,' she thought firmly, 'I'm going to see him again.'

-O0o0O-

punkish furball – That's a wrap! XD I hope you all enjoyed it. Sota certainly has his work cut out for him after that impressive duel. He and his duel spirits will be getting acquainted with the rest of Duel Academy really soon.

Also, I'd like some feedback on the cards used list. If you would like me to continue using it in chapters containing a major duel, please let me know. Please note that after a card's description is given once, it will not be given again. That means that all of the cards used in this chapter that are used in any other chapters will only be mentioned by name and all of their information will not be listed. Until then, L83RN355! ^.^

(edited 11.01.2012)

Cards Used in Chapter 3 by Order of Appearance:

An asterisk (*) by a monster's name denotes an author (punkish furball) created card. An asterisk (*) by a card's effect denotes the use of an effect used in the anime/manga rather than the official description printed on the card itself.

1. Amazoness Fighter
Earth Attribute; Warrior Type; Level 4
1500 attack points
1300 defense points
Effect: You take no battle damage from battles involving this card.

2. Hydrogeddon
Water Attribute; Dinosaur Type; Level 4
1600 attack points
1000 defense points
Effect: When this card destroys a monster your opponent controls by battle and sends it to the graveyard: You can special summon one "Hydrogeddon" from your deck.

3. Chiron the Mage
Earth Attribute; Beast-Warrior Type; Level 4
1800 attack points
1000 defense points
Effect: Once per turn: You can discard one spell card to target one spell/trap card your opponent controls; destroy that target.

4. Pot of Greed
Normal Spell Card
Effect: Draw two cards.

5. Umiiruka
Field Spell Card
Effect: All water monsters gain 500 attack points and lose 400 defense points.

6. Paralyzing Poison*
Normal Trap Card
Effect: The special effect of one monster on the field is negated for the duration of the turn when this card is activated.

7. Schoolgirl Kagome*
Light Attribute; Warrior Type; Level 3
1300 attack points
1500 defense points
Effect: This card cannot be destroyed by the effect of a spell card. When this card successfully destroys one of your opponent's monsters, randomly send a card from your opponent's hand to the graveyard.

8. Sacred Sutras of Sealing*
Normal Spell Card
Effect: For three turns, one of your opponent's monsters is removed from play.

9. Call of the Haunted
Continuous Trap Card
Effect: Target one monster in your graveyard; special summon that target in face-up attack position. When this card leaves the field, destroy that target. When the target is destroyed, destroy this card.

10. Oxygeddon
Wind Attribute; Dinosaur Type; Level 4
1800 attack points
800 defense points
*Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle with a fire attribute monster and sent to the graveyard, inflict 800 points of damage to both players.

11. Barrier of Purifying Energy*
Normal Trap Card
Effect: When this card is activated, your opponent's declared attack is negated and the attack points of all non-light attribute monsters on your opponent's side of the field is reduced by 30%.

12. The Traveling Monk Miroku*
Light Attribute; Spellcaster Type; Level 3
1400 attack points
1800 defense points
Effect: This card cannot be destroyed by the effect of a spell card. Once per turn, negate the effect of any spell card on the field and destroy it. This card cannot attack the turn this effect is used.

13. De-Spell
Normal Spell Card
*Effect: Destroy one spell card on the field.

14. Bonding H2O
Normal Spell Card
Effect: Tribute two "Hydrogeddons" and one "Oxygeddon". Special summon one "Water Dragon" from you hand, deck, or graveyard.

15. Water Dragon
Water Attribute; Sea Serpent Type; Level 8
2800 attack points
2600 defense points
Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card cannot be special summoned except by the effect of "Bonding H2O". While this card is face-up on the field, the attack of fire attribute monsters and pyro type monsters become 0. When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you can special summon two "Hydrogeddons" and one "Oxygeddon" from your graveyard.

16. Fairy Meteor Crush
Equip Spell Card
Effect: When the equipped monster attacks a defense position monster whose defense is lover than the equipped monster's attack, inflict the difference as battle damage to your opponent.

17. Attack Guidance Armor (anime/movie only card)
Normal Trap Card
Effect: After activation, equip this card to a face-up monster. Your opponent cannot select a card other than the equipped monster as an attack target.

18. Card of Sanctity
Normal Spell Card
*Effect: Both players draw from their respective decks until they each have six cards in their hand.

19. Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Nigimitama*
Light Attribute; Fairy Type; Level 2
300 attack points
500 defense points
Effect: When this card is successfully summoned to the field, add another "Spirit of the Shikon no Tama" monster card from your deck or graveyard to your hand.

20. Polymerization
Normal Spell Card
Effect: Send, from your hand or your side of the field to the graveyard, the fusion material monsters that are listed on a fusion monster card, the special summon that monster from your extra deck.

21. Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Aramitama*
Light Attribute; Fairy Type; Level 2
300 attack points
500 defense points
Effect: When this card is successfully summoned to the field, add another "Spirit of the Shikon no Tama" monster card from your deck or graveyard to your hand.

22. Kagome the Fighting Sprit of Courage*
Fusion; Earth Attribute; Warrior Type; Level 8
2300 attack points
1900 defense points
Effect: For every warrior or beast-warrior type monster in your graveyard, this monster gains 200 attack points.

23. Card Destruction
Normal Spell Card
Effect: Each player discards their entire hand then draws the same number of cards they discarded.

24. Assault Armor
Equip Spell Card
*Effect: Equip only to a warrior type monster that is the only monster you control. It gains 300 attack points. During your battle phase, you can send this equipped card to the graveyard to allow the equipped monster to attack twice during each battle phase this turn.

If you have any comments or corrections concerning the usage of these cards in this chapter, please carefully review ALL OF THE OUTLINED INFORMATION in the cards used section BEFORE contacting me. I wanted to be sure that all written duels were as easily understandable as possible to make your reading experience as enjoyable as possible! XD