The "Light Angel" cards that I created have effects inspired by the "Ice Barrier" archetype. Some have similar effects as certain "Ice Barrier" monsters. This does not mean that Synchro and XYZ summoning will be allowed in this story. I personally never got into Synchro and XYZ summoning that much, so the "Light Angel" deck will be played without them. If anyone wants to look over the archetype, I'll post the cards to my profile or something.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Yugioh franchise whatsoever. The only thing I truly own is my OC, Mira Moon, and the "Light Angel" archetype, as well as the few OCs I will put in the future.
"Dad, Minam, I'm leaving! Tell Mom I said bye!" Fifteen-year old Mira called loudly from near the front door as she slung her slightly heavy blue backpack over one shoulder and adjusted the sapphire blue headphones resting around her neck. With a movement of her arms, the girl gathered her black hair and set it on one shoulder. She was wearing a simple grey sweatshirt on top of a black t-shirt, over her favorite pair of skinny jeans.
"You're already leaving? God, do you want to be away from us that badly?" Her father asked dryly before grinning, coming around the kitchen counter to walk over and bid her goodbye. He had short black hair similar to hers and stood tall, Mira only barely reaching his shoulder.
The girl laughed lightly, meeting him halfway by running over to hug him, her headphones pressing up against his chest. "I'm not even that good. I'll probably lose and have to come back anyways."
"Don't say that," he scolded and lightly tapped her head. "Why do you always have to say things like that?"
"Well, modesty is always the best-"
"Mira Moon, you better not lose!" Minam, her older brother, interrupted as he practically flew down the stairs nearby. His pajama slippers quickly clicked along the way while he patted his messy black bed hair down. He was nearly as tall as his father. "I taught you! If you lose, what does that make me?"
Mira gave an irritated sigh and glared at her brother while he stared back casually, not fazed in the slightest. "Thanks. Great pep talk," she remarked sarcastically before talking seriously. "Don't say that, I'm really nervous!"
"You know I'm kidding. Calm down." he yawned, smiling goofily. Minam then took a look at her and clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Aren't you dressed too casually?"
"Minam." Both the girl and their father said at the same time- he in a warning tone and Mira exasperated, yet with a hint of sincere worry. She looked down at her clothes cautiously and stared up at her brother. "Do you expect me to wear a dress just for a dueling exam?"
He just shrugged. "Not necessarily, but you have to at least look professional. Clothes give off a big impression, you know. You'll have to wear a dress when you get into the school anyway."
Protests bubbled up in Mira's throat, but she swallowed her pride and didn't argue about it because she knew he was fairly correct. Despite her slightly perfectionist personality, she would rather be comfortable more than anything. It wasn't that she hated dresses or fancy clothes, but she really didn't care for dressing up, unlike her brother, whose public appearance was essential for him. He had also graduated from Duel Academy only about two years prior, so he would be the best to give her advice, as much as she hated to admit it.
"It's fine, it's fine," their father quickly reassured, putting his hands on Mira's shoulders. "Now hurry and go. Minam, are you driving her?"
"No, he is not." "Of course I am!"
"Go. Good luck, Mira!"
"Dad!" Mira complained as Minam threw an arm around her neck and started dragging her away to the door. "I can't believe you would allow this!"
In the car, despite the loudness of the house before they left, the two siblings were oddly quiet. But to them it was a comfortable silence. Minam knew when Mira needed to think and sort things out in her mind, but he also knew she would never truly talk about her worries when her parents were there. She never really showed how much something bothered her in general. So he let her think it out by herself.
Mira of course, being the closet worrywart she was, stared out the window as she tried to not imagine the worst possible outcomes. It was hard, especially since she was the younger sibling of Minam Moon. People would expect her to be just as good, if not better. A model student. And admittedly, that was hard to live with sometimes. It made her feel like her best wasn't good enough, even to her own standards. She never told this to Minam, however, because she knew he would feel way more guilty about it than he would ever let on.
It seemed as if in no time, the car had finally arrived at the KaibaCorp facility where the dueling entrance exams would be held. Parking across the street, Minam stopped the car and turned to Mira with a rare, serious face.
"Even if you don't believe in yourself, don't let the opponent know." he said sternly. "Don't let the opponent know your true emotions."
"I know."
"If you need any help, just call or text me."
"I know."
"If someone bothers you, don't even hesitate to call me. I know you will. I'll fly over and kick their as-"
"I know, Minam!" Mira exclaimed jokingly.
"Good. One last thing," her brother began as he shifted in his chair to fully face her. "Have fun. I know it sounds cheesy, but you worry too much and as long as you enjoy dueling as much as you do, then you deserve to be there. Don't listen to that voice in your head so much."
"I haven't even made it yet," the girl complained, but gave a small smile.
"But you will, obviously. Will you be okay flying on the plane by yourself? Forget that, do you want me to go with you?" he asked nervously, not wanting her to be alone.
Mira eyed him weirdly, looking at his blue Kuriboh-patterned pajamas and fuzzy slippers. "Do YOU even want to go with me?" she retorted.
He caught her eye and looked down at himself. "You're right. You're on your own." he said bluntly. A joking grin stretched over his lips right after. "Good luck."
"Thanks, I'll need it," Laughing, Mira reached over and hugged him before unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car.
The dome building was huge, to say the least. And if it was huge on the outside, the inside was enormous. Neat rows of chairs were arranged on one side of the room all connected by long flights of stairs leading to the bottom floor. There, the bottom floor was separated into four sections, all having their own individual duels within them. What worried Mira the most though, was the bustling amount of people her age. All these people would be there to observe her duel and that scared her a bit. The girl looked down at her clothes again and realized she was dressed a bit too casually. People she assumed to be future students were all dressed in red, yellow, and blue blazers of varying length.
Mira faintly remembered her brother explaining the colors and their respective dorms. Red blazers meant the lowest-ranked Slifer Red dorm, yellow corresponded to the intelligent Ra Yellow dorm, and blue to the highest-ranking Obelisk Blue dorm. Minam had said not to worry about getting into Obelisk Blue though. People from that dormitory usually were wealthy or graduated from another prestigious dueling school. There would also be exams that you could take to raise your rank anyways, which was apparently how he got into the dormitory himself since he didn't go to a dueling prep school.
In fact, he had started in the Slifer Red dormitory, somewhat of a beginner to the game itself. A friend younger than him had introduced the game, and he took interest in it. Quickly absorbing what he had learned through the school, Minam had gradually elevated in rank and after he had graduated near the top of his class and as a highly-ranked duelist, he came home and began to teach Mira the game.
Hesitantly, Mira walked down about two stair steps and took a seat to the edge of a row near the top, fairly away from anybody else. It wasn't that she was antisocial necessarily, in fact, she was quite loud and talkative when comfortable. It was just that she wasn't good with keeping up a conversation for long. With the fact that she had gotten nervous again while looking at the amount of people there, she wasn't particularly in the mood to get to know anybody regardless.
To distract herself as she waited for her name to be called over the intercom for her examination duel, she slid the blue headphones off of her neck and placed them on her head before reaching into her pocket and flipping through her music library. Now blasting music from her headphone speakers, the black-haired girl rested her right elbow on the table and propped her cheek on the palm of her hand, watching the duels below with a mild interest. One duel that caught her attention was the one with a short, blue-haired boy with glasses dueling against a proctor. She could almost feel the boy's unease and insecurity during the duel, and was sure everybody else watching could too. She saw a lot of herself in him, actually. Sympathetically, she watched on with a forlorn, yet relieved look. At least she wasn't the only one that was nervous.
Mira slid her headphones back off her ears and placed them, along with her phone, on the seat next to her to pay more attention to the duel. When the small male finally overtook his opponent and dealt the finishing blow, an elated grin stretched across her lips. A sense of relief spread within her, feeling almost as if she had won herself. Along with several other people in the audience observing his duel, she applauded him as well. However, her joy was cut short by a sudden booming over the intercom.
"Will Mira Moon please report to Exam Field #2?"
"Mira Moon, placed twelfth in the written examination out of all the students," the proctor mused to himself, staring at the fidgeting girl from behind his dark sunglasses. "I'm assuming you're the younger sibling of Minam Moon?"
A dejected sigh quietly escaped out of her lips before she could help it, but Mira played it off by giving a sheepish grin. "Y-Yes, that's me. I resemble him a lot, right?"
With a flick of his right wrist, the test examiner pressed a button on the duel disk attached to his left arm. "Well, I hope you know that just because you're his little sister, you're not going to get any special treatment, applicant."
"To be honest, I'm thankful for that then. I'm not my brother, that's for sure," the black-haired girl shrugged nonchalantly, suddenly remembering Minam's words to not let her true emotions seep through during a duel.
Sliding her backpack off of her shoulders, Mira unzipped it before taking her duel disk out. She reached down with one hand and lightly popped open the deck holder attached to her waist, taking her deck and inserting it into the dueling device. The disk easily slid on to her right arm and was activated.
A feigned, small smirk played on her lips. "...But I'm confident I'll be able to put up somewhat of a fight, at least."
"Duel!" They shouted in unison.
'Let's not mess this up, Mira,' she internally sparked with determination. 'Not in front of all these people.'
Proctor: 4000 LP
Mira: 4000 LP
"Since you're the student here, I suppose I'll let you go first." The proctor decided calmly.
"Thank you. I draw!" Mira smiled gratefully as she drew her card and added it to her hand. Quickly scanning over her cards, the girl hummed appreciatively. "First, since I have no monsters on my field I can special summon one of my monsters in my hand. So I'll special summon Light Angel Hana in attack position. Then I'll normal summon Light Angel Zelo, also in attack."
With a small glow of light, a petite female manifested on the field in a gentle sitting position. A long, beige-colored dress adorned her body, partly covered by her medium-length blonde hair. Feathery white wings extended from her back to cover her protectively, almost like a shield although she was in attack position. (500/400)
Immediately after, another angel began to take shape right next to her. This one had the appearance of an adolescent boy, standing almost awkwardly tall with bright blonde hair curling at the top of his head. The young man wore a clean white suit, a light blue tie around his collar. His white wings were tinted with blue as well, the colors matching with his tie, as well as his large, child-like blue eyes. In his hand, he held a simple blue staff with a cross engraved into the handle. (1600/800)
"Light Angels, huh?" the proctor said interestedly as he observed the two angels. "Not a very known archetype. Never dueled against them before."
"I get that a lot, actually," Mira nodded in affirmation. "But I'm not done yet. I activate Zelo's effect. Because I have another Light Angel on my field, I can send up to two cards from my hand to the graveyard to draw the same number of cards."
As Zelo began to wave his staff, the black-haired girl put two monster cards from her hand to the graveyard. She then set a card facedown. "I'll set a facedown card and end my turn."
"Interesting first turn, applicant," her opponent drawled as he drew his card. "Let's see if it's enough. I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode."
A monster with glinting, black armor appeared on the field. The armor looked heavy, if the bulk was proportional to its weight. One of the arms was sharp like a sword, while the other was more like a shield. (1800/1600)
"I set one facedown card for now, and I'll attack your Light Angel Hana!"
With a surprising speed for how heavy it seemed, the armored warrior ran over and mercilessly slashed through the female angel. Mira winced at the sight of her monster being attacked, but Hana did not disappear to the graveyard.
Proctor: 4000
Mira: 2700
"Why isn't the monster gone?" the duel examiner wondered out loud, mostly to himself.
"That's her second effect. She cannot be destroyed by battle," Mira explained proudly. Right after she said that, her facedown card lifted, revealing itself to be a trap. "But, I activate my trap card, Emergency of Guardian. When I take battle damage in a battle involving a Light Angel monster, I can special summon one from my graveyard."
A light grin formed on her face. "And thanks to Zelo's ability, I have just the one to summon. So come on out, Light Angel Youngjae!"
On the other side of Hana, another boy appeared. Similar to Zelo although seeming a few years older, Youngjae donned a formal white tuxedo, his with a yellow bow tie. His eyes shone with an almost golden yellow, complimenting his slightly slicked back brown hair well. The wings he had were colored a matching pale yellow and were folded in front of him as he kneeled down in defense position. (200/1600)
"I was wondering why you would place Light Angel Hana in attack position with its low attack points," the proctor lightly nodded. "...Although I'm not sure what that new weak monster will do. I might as well end my turn."
"He's not weak," Mira protested firmly and frowned, feeling offended for some reason. She indignantly drew her card. "I activate Pot of Greed and draw two more cards."
Still a bit disgruntled by her opponent's insult towards her monster, the girl breathed a light sigh before continuing. "I'll now place Light Angel Hana into defense mode. Then I set two facedown cards and end my turn."
The proctor noticed Mira's irritation with his mockery and smirked. He decided to play along for a bit longer and see where how far his insults could derail her. "Is that it? Well, I guess with amateur monsters, there's nothing you could really do regardless."
Mira took a small breath to calm herself down. A strained, but believable grin appeared on her face casually as she feigned a nonchalant yawn. "Well, we'll see, I guess. It is only the third turn isn't it?"
Raising an eyebrow suspiciously, the proctor shrugged arrogantly and drew his card. He instantly smirked at the sight of it. "It's been fun, I suppose, but I activate Release Ritual! This allows me to tribute my Gearfried the Iron Knight and special summon Gearfried the Swordmaster!"
The dark armor around the said monster suddenly began to crack. Breaking apart quickly, the armor around the knight shattered into tiny pieces around him. All that was left of Gearfried the Iron Knight was a long-haired, shirtless man that was heavily built with muscle. A long sword was held in the middle of both of his hands. (2600/2200)
"That's not all though! I activate the equip spell card, Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade and equip it to Gearfried the Swordmaster. This raises his attack by 300!" Emphasizing his words, a flaming blade replaced the sword that Gearfried had already had. (2900/2200)
The proctor smirked at Mira, his sunglasses seeming to glint mockingly. "This also activates his effect. Because an equip spell has been equipped to my monster, I can now target one monster on your field and destroy it."
'Crap!' Mira's eyes widened slightly as she cursedin her mind. 'I don't think he knows about Youngjae's effect, so hopefully he'll choose Hana since she can't be destroyed by battle...'
"And I'll choose Light Angel Hana!" he exclaimed as he pointed at the said monster. Gearfried the Swordmaster dashed forward with the Phoenix Blade in hand and cleanly stabbed through the female angel, sending her to the graveyard. Mira regretfully sighed at her monster being destroyed, but could not help the feeling of relief that washed over her.
"Don't think I'm done yet, either. I normal summon Marauding Captain in attack mode, and his effect lets me special summon a level 4 or lower Warrior monster from my hand. So I summon Command Knight in attack position! Command Knight also raises the attack of all my Warrior-type monsters by 400!"
Just like the dueling examiner had warned, right as the two monsters manifested on his side of the field, all of the monsters he currently had on the field had their attack raised by 400. [Gearfried the Swordmaster - (3300/2000), Command Knight - (1600/1900), Marauding Captain - (1600/400)]
Mira narrowed her eyes cautiously, eyes darting at one of the traps she had laid. It was Torrential Tribute. Because he had summoned a monster, if she activated it, all of the opponent's monsters would be sent to the graveyard. The thing was, so would her own monsters and in her hand, she didn't have a monster she could play the next turn. Light Angel Youngjae's effect would probably only last her until the next turn anyways when the proctor would most likely catch on. She stared longingly at one of the monster cards in her hand.
"If only I could summon you," Mira couldn't help but to sigh, whispering quietly so that only she herself could hear. "But you need two tributes and your effect won't work without another Light Angel on the field."
"Unless you can somehow get Himchan on the field in your next turn."
The girl's head shot up in surprise. Frantically, she looked from side to side, searching for the owner of the male voice that had suddenly murmured to her. It sounded familiar for some reason... Yet as her eyes looked around, she realized there was nobody else that could have possibly said that.
"Um, are you alright, applicant?" The proctor asked bemusedly, watching Mira as she shook her head as if trying to find somebody.
"H-Huh?" Mira dumbly stuttered as she broke out of her stupor. Forcing a sheepish chuckle, she nervously scratched the back of her head. "S-Sorry, my eyesight suddenly went blurry for a bit, so I tried to shake it off."
"Sure." he pursed his lips suspiciously, not believing her words one bit. Dismissing her weird actions, he pointed a finger at Light Angel Youngjae with determination. "Now I activate the spell card, Fissure! The monster with the lowest amount of attack points on your field is destroyed! Too bad Light Angel Youngjae is going right back to the graveyard."
A giant crack opened up right below the said angel. Youngjae beat his wings vigorously to keep from falling into the large crevice. Although he tried, his attempts to get away were futile an he was roughly sucked into the fissure underneath him.
'Damn! Now I don't even have Youngjae's effect to save me!' Mira cursed angrily in her mind as she hopelessly watched her angel be destroyed. 'At least I have my other facedown...'
"You're finished!" The test examiner taunted with a knowing smirk. "Gearfried the Swordmaster, attack her Light Angel Zelo!"
Immediately, the said monster began to charge at the young angel, the sword's flames seeming to erupt as it flared higher. The large swordsman raised his sword and began to bring it down on Light Angel Zelo's head.
"Not so fast!" Mira interrupted quickly, one of her facedown cards revealing itself. The card depicted a big mirror with gold lining acting as a barrier for a small, brown-haired angel. "I activate the trap card, Angelic Mirror!"
The same, wide mirror manifested in front of the blue angel and was slashed with the sword in his place. Much to the surprise of everybody watching, the mirror did not shatter. Instead, it seemed to even absorb the attack- the mirror beginning to glow as Gearfried the Swordmaster jumped back to his original position.
The proctor stepped back a bit in a mix of frustration and shock. "What does it do?"
Mira smiled innocently, pushing her glasses up her face. "When you attack a level 4 or below Light Angel monster on my side of the field, I can negate your attack to my monster, and then redirect it to any other monster on the field, other than the attacking one. You'll take the battle damage too! And since it's a technically a card effect, I can target your Command Knight!"
Just as she said that, a form began to appear on the mirror's surface. Slowly but surely, the figure came into focus and revealed itself to be a reflection of Gearfried the Swordmaster. The image then shot out of the mirror at breakneck speed. Before anybody could react, the reflection raised his sword and sliced at Command Knight. The proctor grunted as his life points, as well as the attack points of his monsters, decreased. [Gearfried the Swordmaster - (2900/2000), Marauding Captain - (1200/400)]
Proctor: 2300
Mira: 2700
"You may have saved yourself this turn, but your loss is inevitable." the examiner firmly concluded. "I now end my turn."
'He's right,' Mira sighed inside. 'I'll be dead next turn. I need to draw something good. And now!'
"I draw." calmly stated the girl, one part of her desperately hoping she would have something that could pull her out of this, but the other part accepting her fate and resigning already in defeat.
Almost unwilling to check the card she drew, Mira hesitantly took a peek at the card and let out a small breath of relief. Light's Way. It was a spell card that she could use to bring any Light Angel monster from her deck to her hand. But who could she bring that would ever help her in this kind of situation? It wasn't like she could summon a high-leveled monster with one ca-
Mira stopped herself in the middle of that thought, suddenly remembering the mysterious voice that had spoken to her. What had he said? As long as she could get Himchan in her hand or field in the next turn? Why would that ensure her win? The girl's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she pursed one side of her lips- a habit she had whenever she was thinking. Then in an instant, it clicked and the same corner of her mouth twitched slightly, suppressing her grin.
The sole monster card in her hand seemed to smile wider.
Mira held up a card from her hand, one which secretly made her opponent exhale a heavy breath. "First, I'll activate Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your facedown card."
The card revealed itself to be a Bottomless Trap Hole, much to her solace when it was destroyed. Satisfied with its destruction, Mira continued.
"I activate Light Angel Zelo's effect once more. I send one card to my graveyard and draw one card." The black-haired girl said and inserted the monster card into the graveyard, taking another card from her deck.
"Trying to fish for something that could actually be useful, I see," the test examiner drawled mockingly.
"Not quite," A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "I then activate the spell card, Light's Way. I can now add one Light Angel to my hand from my deck, and I choose Light Angel Himchan. Now, I'll summon him!"
To the left of Light Angel Zelo, a new angel took shape. With short, jet black hair and slightly pink-colored, catlike eyes, the angel was remarkably handsome, to say the least. His pink tie combined well with his white suit, as well as the feathery white wings on his back. (1000/600)
Mira's opponent deadpanned, narrowing his eyes from behind his shades. "That's it?"
"Just because a monster doesn't have high attack power doesn't necessarily mean it's useless. I'll prove that now!" she huffed in annoyance, regaining her courage and now determined to make him regret his words. "I activate Himchan's effect! I can tribute him to summon a Light Angel monster from my graveyard, and I'll summon the one I discarded just now."
The dark-haired angel straightened his back and threw his arms outwards in the sign of a cross. From his feet, he gradually began to disappear into thin air as he looked towards the sky and slowly slid his eyes shut. Instantaneously after he had completely vanished, an immense light emanated from where he was standing. It flashed quickly before fading away, leaving a new angel standing within.
"I show to you one of my favorite cards, Light Angel Jongup!"
Slanted emerald green eyes glanced upwards from slightly behind light brown-colored hair as the angel seemed to lazily stretch his long wings, which were white with the same tinted green as his eyes. A green tie also matched with the colors, standing out from the white suit he was wearing. In his hand was a somewhat long, glinting dark green dagger with a symbol of a cross engraved into it. He stood almost a full head shorter than the angel next to him, but seemed to be of a more masculine build behind his formal clothes. (2500/2000)
"Finally, a decent monster!" the proctor exclaimed in mock relief. "But you do realize that it is not nearly enough to win this duel, right? My Gearfried still has more attack points!"
One of Mira's eyes twitched. "That's not the point, though. Because I activate one of my facedown trap cards, Torrential Tribute! I'm sure you know what this means, right?"
"Of course I do. When a monster is summoned, all monster cards on the field are destroyed. But wouldn't that destroy your monsters as well?"
"Not since Light Angel Jongup is on the field. Since I have another Light Angel on the field, Jongup's effect makes sure that none of my Light Angel monsters are destroyed by any spells or traps!" Mira grinned sheepishly, pointing at her shocked opponent. For once, she felt completely sure of herself. "Only your monsters are destroyed."
"What?!" he yelled in outrage, only able to watch as every single monster of his suddenly shattered into pieces and were sent to the graveyard, while Light Angel Jongup's eyes glowed brightly and a protective barrier surrounded Mira's monsters. His field was now completely barren.
"Light Angel Jongup, attack him directly and finish this duel!" The girl shouted elatedly, smiling widely from ear to ear.
The angel's eyes phosphorescently shone once more. Light Angel Jongup sprinted forward at an almost blinding speed and jumped upwards. With the dagger in his hand, the angel's wings beat hard and took him into the sky above before suddenly ceasing their movement. Jongup folded his wings and dive bombed from the air and seemed to slice through Mira's opponent.
Proctor: 0
Mira: 2700
Mira's smile faded and she blinked blankly for a few moments, unable to process through her mind that she had indeed won the duel. In the back of her mind, she could faintly recognize the resounding claps from the audience watching.
"I...won..?" She murmured disbelievingly. "There's no way I actually won."
The field was cleared of the holograms, but one monster remained on the field. Light Angel Jongup gently walked over to where the shocked girl was. Mira's eyes slightly widened with confusion.
"Of course you won. I knew that you would win," the angel's green eyes shone with pride as he grinned knowingly at her. "Congratulations."
"W-What?" she spluttered at hearing the familiar voice from before, coming from the duel monster in front of her.
Before she could say any other words, Jongup chuckled and bowed lightly. His elegant, green-tinted wings folded themselves behind his back. Then in a split second, the angel vanished without a trace, leaving Mira there utterly bewildered.
"Congratulations, Mira Moon." The booming voice of the dueling proctor brought her back to her senses. He nodded his head in approval. "You have passed your entrance exam with flying colors. I think it's safe to say this: Welcome to Duel Academy."
The realization that she had passed had suddenly hit Mira full force, and she decided to dismiss the idea of her monster speaking to her. A blinding smile slowly formed itself on her lips without her noticing. Still in disbelief, Mira covered her face with her hands in both excitement and embarrassment, before lightly running over to her former opponent. He held out his hand to shake and she took it gratefully, not able to contain her happiness.
"You did well. Looks like dueling runs in the family after all." he confirmed, giving a small smirk because of the pure joy she was radiating. With a large breath of air, Mira took a few seconds to calm herself before replying.
"No, I got lucky this time," she shook her hands in front of her and smiled embarrassedly. She stepped back and bowed slightly in respect. "Thank you."
The proctor gestured Mira over to a stand more near the entrance of the building and sent her on her way. As she gleefully flitted up the stairs, the girl couldn't hide her smile.
"Name?"
"Mira Moon."
"Ah, yes, sorry. You just dueled." the blonde woman behind the desk smiled politely. "What size clothes do you wear? This is for your uniform, of course."
Mira pondered for a moment before answering. "Generally I wear medium."
The lady typed something in the computer in front of her. "Okay, you will be placed in the Ra Yellow dorm. Your dress will be handed to you after you arrive at Duel Academy."
The black-haired girl cringed slightly at the word, "dress". Awkwardly, she scratched her arm in hesitation. "Can I...not wear the dress?"
"You don't like the design?"
"No, no, it's not that!" Mira hastily reassured, giving a shy grin. "I just don't really...well, I'm more comfortable not wearing a dress, I guess."
The woman stared at the girl weirdly. "You're an interesting one."
Mira took that as a no. "So I can't just wear the blazer?" she asked disappointedly.
With a small sigh, the lady slightly smiled. "I'll see what I can do. Now go sit down if you want to continue watching the duels."
"Thank you!" The girl grinned brightly.
'I have to tell Minam the good news!' Mira exclaimed in her mind as she walked away.
The girl excitedly reached down into her sweatshirt pocket to grab her phone, but then gasped in horror. Frantically, she dug into her pockets, searching through all of them and finding nothing. Suddenly, she realized that her precious headphones were not around her neck either.
"Crap!" she whispered to herself, touching at her neck, still in disbelief that her headphones weren't there.
How could she have lost them? Where could they be? She definitely had them in the car with Minam, and she could have sworn she had them when she walked into the building. There was no way she could have misplaced them! All she did was sit down and watch the duels-
"No." her eyes widened in terror. She must have left it there. Where she was sitting before she left for her duel. They were probably stolen by now!
Mira hastily dashed through the crowds of people, desperately hoping that her phone and her headphones were still right where she had accidentally left them. Nearing to the area where she previously sat, she saw a tall male pick up something from the same seat she was sitting in. Her blue headphones.
"Wait!" she shouted in panic, stopping in front of the boy and panting slightly. This earned some strange looks from surrounding people.
Curiously, the male turned around. His clothes were simple, a somewhat formal white jumpsuit of sorts, with an inactivated duel disk on is left arm. His hair was colored grayish black and was slicked back, giving him a sophisticated look.
He managed a polite smile. "Are these headphones yours?"
Terribly embarrassed, Mira cursed once more at herself internally. She awkwardly beamed at him, scratching the back of her head. "Sorry for yelling. Um, yes, those are mine. I just did my duel and I completely forgot them up here..."
"Oh, I must have missed your duel then. I just arrived, you see," he handed the girl's headphones and phone back to her before courteously placing his hand out for her to shake. "My name is Bastion Misawa. And you are?"
"Mira Moon," she gratefully took the headphones am her phone, resting the blue headphones comfortably around her neck once more. Mira then took his hand and shook it with a grin, noting the British accent that he had spoken with. "Thank you for giving my things back. It's nice to meet you."
Bastion nodded, giving a small smile. "Likewise."
"Will Bastion Misawa please report to Exam Field 3?"
Both students surprisedly stared upwards at the announcement. With a bright smile, Mira turned back to the said boy and hesitantly gave a thumbs up.
"Good luck!" she urged, nodding towards the bottom floor.
"Thanks- although it won't be needed." Bastion stated with a calm, yet confident tone, giving a slight wave and walking down the stairs to the dueling arenas.
Mira idly watched him as his figure moved farther and farther away. "He's so confident about it." she mused to herself, sitting down in the seat nearest to her, which was a stair right below the top of the staircase.
"Of course he's confident about it! Do you know who he is?" a relatively high-pitched male voice sounded behind her.
Turning around in her chair to see who was speaking to her, Mira's eyes widened at seeing the same small, light blue-haired boy that she was observing earlier before her duel. The boy happened to be right above her. He stood at the top of the staircase, halfway covered by the desk in front of him as he looked down at her. "Why? Who is he?" the black-haired girl asked curiously.
"That's Bastion Misawa! People say he placed first in the written exam!" the boy moaned, face contorted with worry. "I barely passed!"
Mira frowned sympathetically, but managed an uplifting grin. "...But you passed! You're getting into the school! You did great, by the way. I was watching."
The short male blanched before sadly staring downwards at his feet. "Y-You were? It's okay then, you don't have to lie."
Pursing her lips, the girl scooted over to the next seat and propped her legs up on the chair she had been sitting on so that she could turn and see the boy easier. With a serious stare, she looked him dead in the eye. "Syrus Truesdale, right? Well, I...have faith in you, at least."
And it was true. It was mostly because she saw so much of herself in him- the insecurity, the shyness, the hesitance. She was just way better at masking it and putting on a front. Syrus seemed so relatable, and she took comfort in it, in a strange way. Everyone here seemed so confident and sure of their abilities, so of course she would be one to support him.
"Really? But why?" Syrus questioned, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
Mira broke her serious gaze and gave a nonchalant shrug, smiling casually. "Just because? You don't necessarily have reasons for believing in someone. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go text my brother to tell him I passed."
Shifting her gaze away before she could hear or see the boy's reaction, the girl faced frontwards in her seat and took out her phone from her pocket. With a small grin, she happily dialed her password and began typing a simple message to her family.
"I'm going to Duel Academy."
Almost as if on cue, Mira's phone immediately vibrated and played her ringtone, signifying a call from Minam. With an amused sigh, she contemplated picking up and temporarily leaving the duels and the loud building, or staying and just letting the phone ring to tease her brother. After the first few rings, she decided on the former. Swiping her hand across the screen, she answered the call and got up to leave the building.
Right after she exited the front door, the intercom rang once more.
"Will Yuhan Ryu please report to Exam Field #4?"
"Okay, I'm leaving. I'll call you later. Bye, Minam."
After Mira had filled her brother in on all the details of the duel, she had finally decided to end the phone call. Hanging up the phone, she pushed her back against the wall she had been leaning on and stood back straight up. She was about to go back inside, when she suddenly heard the rustle of some bushes near the small balcony of the building. Out came a teenage boy about her age, with brown hair and similarly colored eyes, leaves sticking out of his hair and clothes. Mira checked her phone for the time. Yup, he was definitely late for the exams. Uninterestedly, she walked back inside.
"Did anything new happen?" Mira asked Syrus once she had arrived back at the area she was at before, now standing to the right of Syrus.
"Not really. I think Bastion is almost done with his duel though." he replied, before frowning and suddenly shuddering. "There was this one guy, though. He used monsters that I've never heard of. They were kind of scary for some reason."
Now curious, Mira interestedly questioned further, leaning forward and propping her chin on her fist. "Scary? What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure really. There was just something about them. What were the monsters called-"
"Wow, look at 'em go!" the late boy from outside bursted excitedly, all of a sudden rushing over to next to where Syrus was with glinting eyes on Bastion's duel in particular.
Following the brown-haired boy's gaze, Mira began to observe Bastion's duel as well. However, it ended right as she turned her head. All Mira ended up seeing was Bastion activating a trap, Ring of Destruction, and causing damage to both players' life points. This knocked the proctor's life points down to zero, while Bastion was still calmly standing as he won the duel. The girl's eyes lit up slightly, partly in amusement and partly in relief. 'Of course you passed. If you're that confident in your abilities, then you better win.' she snickered mentally.
"Wow, that last guy really tore that up," the late boy remarked, impressed.
"Yeah, Bastion Misawa. They say he got highest in the written exam of all us applicants." Syrus piped as he looked up at the other male.
"Huh, I barely passed."
The shorter boy sighed. "Me too. I'm Syrus, by the way. Nice to meet you. I kinda have this thing where I get test anxiety. I don't know how I won my match!"
"So you're in!" cheered the other before he pushed Syrus's back, the latter giving a yelp.
"That's what I said and he didn't listen to me," Mira frowned slightly, finally entering the conversation. "I'm Mira. By the way, you're a bit too late for the dueling exam, you know."
Syrus looked up at him in shock. "Wait, you didn't duel yet?"
"Nope."
"I think this is supposed to be the last one!"
"It was. They might not even let you participate." Mira commented and looked at her phone again for the time. With a grimace, she gazed back up at the boy again. "I... don't know what to tell you."
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Mira faintly spotted Bastion coming up the flight of stairs. Turning her head towards him, she smiled slightly. She gave him a thumbs up in a way of congratulating him for passing the exam. The male simply nodded in acknowledgement before sitting down in the row of chairs right below them.
"Tight duel, Bastion!" the brown-haired teenager complimented, leaning across the platform to speak.
"Thank you."
"From the looks of it, you might be the second-best duelist here!" he grinned widely. The other three students perked up a bit at this, wondering who the first duelist apparently was.
"Will Jaden Yuki please report to Exam Field 4?"
"Well, that's me! Wish me luck, guys!" the boy said excitedly, getting up and beginning to walk down the stairs.
"Wait, if I'm the second-best duelist, who's first?" Bastion called with mild curiosity.
Jaden grinned and pointed at himself with his thumb. "Yours truly. It's what I'm best at!"
Mira couldn't help but to face-palm and let out a slight sigh. At least he had confidence in himself. That should count for something, shouldn't it?
I am not going to write Jaden's duel for the sole reason that everyone writes it out even though everyone that reads Yugioh GX fanfiction already knows how the duel goes. Similarly, in the future, most of the story will be from Mira's point of view, so some duels in the anime may not be written.
If anyone has noticed, the "Light Angel" monsters are loosely based on K-pop singers, and may or may not have similar personalities to the idols themselves.