Chapter 3: The Empress (reversed)
Hey Cabbage Patch!
One month at the Academia already, right? Anything particularly interesting happen yet? I remember my first month, dealing with a teacher candidate taking the cards of those he defeated. A Ryuga-something, probably one of your current teachers. Nearly loss to the guy to cause my duel disk wasn't recognising any of my spell cards. Here's a word of advice, don't ever use your duel disk as a frisbee!
Anyway I'm writing this from Norway, you know where my friend Johan lives. Yeah, didn't stay long in Domino but duty calls but I should be back there in a couple of weeks (The Crystal Beasts say hi by the way.) Did you know that he has a nephew that attends North Academia? His name's Jesse and he uses an insect deck. Pretty lively kid actually, loves going bug hunting (and possibly has an attention span shorter than your brother). He can see spirits too actually, or Johan thinks he can. The spirits in his deck aren't all that active and he doesn't really believe they exist...Johan's been thinking of giving him the Crystal Beasts, maybe that would help him develop some good strong bonds. Maybe if the both of you get selected for North-Central Open Week Exhibition, there'll be a good old HERO vs Crystal Beasts match. Is the old gang looking forward to that? The Crystal Beasts sure are. Amethyst here is rearing for a rematch against Burstinatrix.
Speaking of the old gang, how have they been? I know the current build isn't all that meta or consistent without splashing in xyz (which I know you won't do after the whole Skyblaster Incident) but I hope you've been taking care of each other. I know you probably think that Winged Kuriboh is a 'jailer' or something but they're all there to help you out. Burstinatrix, Avian, Bubbleman, Sparkman… they're all there for the same thing. There's more to dueling than just winning and I think you need to remember that. That's why you're at the Academia after all.
Speaking of the Academia, Asuka's been pretty worried about you. She says that you haven't been attending any of your classes, getting other students in trouble, causing mass property damage, blah blah blah yada yada yada - you probably already knew all of this and you probably don't care either. Hell, the moment you read this you'll probably burn the letter or something. I'm kind of a hypocrite for saying this but you need to listen to your teachers. Go to your classes, do your work.
You're a smart kid, Yuri, smarter than I ever was at your age. Probably even smarter than I am now. Don't let that all go to waste. I know that these are tough times and I haven't been giving you the proper support that you need but this time in the Academia is an opportunity you can't waste. It's going to be confusing and as familiar as the old gang is they aren't your deck but I know you can power through this. We don't call you Ichiban for nothing.
Also, you've probably heard this a million times and again a million more, make some friends! Yeah we've got a pretty big extended family but friends are different. They're the people that you choose. They're yours if you want to put it that way. I know you think that you can make it on your own but even the tallest building can't stand without good support. Kaiser's little brother is in your year level and one of the seniors I've been working with, Izayoi Aki, looks like someone you'd get along with. Asuka's also told me about your roommate Dennis Macfield and that duel on the lake with that Selena girl...there are people around you that would make amazing friends. You just need to reach out. It will definitely be worth it. Trust me on this one. As supportive your mom and uncle have been to me over the years, I found myself relying more on the friends I made for myself rather than the cousins that I grew up with. As the old saying goes with the blood and water and all that.
Good luck with your promotion exams and don't forget to keep in contact with your mom and brothers.
Gotcha!
Hero-jichan
P.S. Yubel also wrote you a letter but she said it was confidential or something like that. She said you'll know what to do.
{~~~}
Chronos-sensei wasn't a particularly bad teacher. He knew the study design well, after teaching it for nearly thirty years and so on. He was also one of the least prejudiced teachers. Despite being the head of the Obelisk Blue, he treated them no different from a yellow or even a red. Some say this was due to an Osiris Red outwitting him several times. That he had once petitioned for the entire dorm to be expelled several times and would have been successful without student intervention. Some say that the red was the freelance duelist Yuudai, who proudly wore the old red uniform to most of his matches.
Overall he was a decent teacher, better than decent really. But the main problem was-
"...and then I challenged the latecomer. To think that he had the nerve to turn up late to his entrance exam of all things-"
Some students, to feign attention, nodded in agreement. Most however had already nodded off to sleep.
Aki had long since learned to tune out Chronos-sensei's ramblings, focusing on the questions from her textbook. He was a pretty good teacher, when he was actually discussing the content. Most the time, he would go on and on and on about his early years of teaching, barely ever touching the tested information unless it somehow came up in one of his stories. Today was supposed to be a reintroduction of summoning disruption and what effects can be activated as a counter, which was unlikely to appear in the story about the late student applicant. It didn't help that Chronos-sensei was a ridiculously hard marker, a way to 'encourage' the class to be study was the only way to pass this subject.
"...when an effect is chained to the summon of a monster or monsters, the monster is not yet considered to be summoned." Aki muttered quietly. "The effect is chaining directly to the summon with…"
There was a harsh bump from the back of her chair, knocking her forward over the desk. She turned and glared at the offender. An Obelisk Blue, of course.
"Oi Izayoi, some of us are trying to actually listen to the teacher." the blue sneered.
A complete and utter lie. Aki had heard the guy snoring obnoxiously several minutes ago.
"Yeah, Izayoi." One of her seatmates, another blue, added. "This is important stuff sensei is talking about."
Yes, like they need to hear this story again for the upteenth time. She tried to keep her cool but her control was already starting to slip. Vines were coiling defensively up her legs and she could feel them reaching out for the surrounding chair legs. She was better than this. She wasn't going to give in to the taunting.
"Oh? Getting a little annoyed Izayoi?" her other seatmate, a Ra Yellow this time, said. All three of her tormentors began leaning in.
"Want to run off into the woods to your pretty little garden?"
"Heard that you've been terrorising the younger students. Can't deal with duelists in your year level?"
"Maybe you should just drop out, you sla-"
"Izayoi! Koda! Sato! Tanaka!"
The four of them straightened at the teacher's call. The whole room rose to attention, their eyes all on the four of them.
"Anything that you would like to share with the class?" Chronos-sensei asked.
"Just kindly asking Izayoi-san to keep her voice down." Koda said, leaning forward from above her.
Aki's cheeks began to heat up as the entire class began to snicker. The vines had yet to disappear and had started creeping behind her. If only this wasn't in the middle of the class, then maybe she could - no, she had better control than that. Just ignore it.
"I'm quite surprised that you could hear anything besides your own snores, Singore Koda."
Aki couldn't help but smile as Koda immediately quietened while her seatmates began to back away. Some chuckled at the blue's expense. She felt relieved that the attention was off her, the vines retreating back into nothingness.
"And Singorina Izayoi."
"Yes sensei?"
"Professoressa Tenjoin has requested that you see her after class."
Aki nodded, trying to keep her face blank as Koda kicked the back of her chair.
"Special little dropout." Koda smirked.
Aki paid him no attention. If a little vine just happened to sweep under his chair and knock him off balance...no. Endure it. There had been worse.
"Now where was I? Ah yes. To teach that latecomer a lesson, I decided to use my own personal deck instead of the examiner's…"
{~~~}
Tenjoin-sensei's office was one of the brightly lit rooms in the Academia. No matter what time of day, sunlight always shone through the large window to bathe the room in a natural light. At night, candles would illuminate the room with a gentle, almost romantic, glow. Some students would joke that was when Tenjoin-sensei would have 'special visitors' though evidence showed that this was just the teacher working a little overtime.
Decorating the room, hanging from transparent lines attached to the ceiling, were windchimes. Some were long and metal while others were short and wooden and there were even a few made of glass. They were all painted orange or blue or purple. Effect and Ritual and Fusion, the types of monsters that she used or she just really like those colours. Like how her office was always bright, there was always a chorus of chimes even if the window was closed.
Aki always found the sound calming. The many chimes created an ornate yet whimsical song, never clashing even when more and more were added. The light tune reminded her home, when her parents would play baroque music after dinner and stoke the old fireplace in lounge.
"So how have you been Izayoi-kun?" Tenjoin-sensei asked.
"Fine." Aki said.
"Any troubles with your classes?" Tenjoin-sensei continued to push. "Exams? Teachers? Classmates?"
"No. Everything has been fine."
Aki's files, from first year to now, were spread across her desk. Tenjoin-sensei, as well as being a 'Pastoral Care' teacher and one of the main teachers of the Ritual course, was also the Academia's guidance counselor. And Aki, since the moment she had been enrolled, was flagged as a student in need of explicit 'guidance'.
Tenjoin-sensei was as good a person as she was a teacher. She had been a constant support to Aki since she entered the Academia. It had made her consider taking the Ritual course over the Synchro course when choosing her pathways. Now though, Tenjoin-sensei was becoming too overbearing. After three years, these meetings had become more annoying and repetitive.
"The promotion exams are approaching." Tenjoin-sensei said. "I think that you might be able to move up a dorm this year. Wouldn't that be nice?"
"It's just going to be on theory." Aki stated. That was how it had been since her first year. Slightly condescending, maybe, but at least no one would get hurt. She didn't care that much about rankings anyway.
"Actually, there's a practical component this year."
Aki froze. No. "Like duel puzzles?"
"A fully three round match against one of your peers." Tenjoin-sensei said it with a kind reassuring smile. That only set Aki's nerves further on edge. "I've talked with Yuki-san about it and-"
"No." Aki said firmly, rising from her seat. "You know what will happen. I- I can't…"
Tenjoin-sensei remained seated but pity, pity, was painted across her face. "You'll be able to handle it Izayoi-kun. I've seen you grow over the past three years and your self-control is amazing."
"If by amazing you mean amazingly pathetic." Aki scoffed. Her rage was slowly building, but not now. Not now. "It's not going to work. Just do it the same as always. I don't care if I'll still be in Osiris Red."
"Even if you're the only one in the dorm?" Tenjoin-sensei said sternly. "Your year level is an anomaly. Never before in the history of Duel Academia has a dorm been so under represented. I don't want you to be further ostracized by your peers. If you move up to Ra Yellow at least-"
"The reason they all left was because of me!" Aki yelled, slamming her hands onto the desk.
A sudden wind blew through the room, clattering the chimes in a discord of clangs. Aki backed slightly, startled and disappointed in her sudden outburst. She took several deep breaths to compose herself.
Nearly, almost.
She was better than this.
And in front of a teacher.
In front of Tenjoin-sensei.
"I'm sorry." Aki said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But please, just...just keep things as they are." She bowed her head, panting slightly. She needed to compose herself.
Aki felt herself pulled into a warm embrace. Tenjoin-sensei had one arm on her back and another gently patting her hair. This was to comfort her, to make her feel safe, but it just made her feel more inadequate. Aki thought she had been able to move past this. Tenjoin-sensei was her teacher, not someone she could imprint on as a surrogate mother.
"Izayoi-kun, Aki-chan." Tenjoin-sensei said, pulling Aki from her chest. "You are an incredible duelist and a lovely person. You've grown so much since coming to the Academia. Be proud of yourself. There's nothing to fear, you will be able to handle it. You just need a little faith."
"But would anyone have any faith in me?"
A soft tune chimed through the room. There was no wind, the window was closed and there was no way that any form of Aki's powers would manifest in something that delicate. But the light tinkle from nowhere soothed her back into her seat.
"This is going to be a big leap for you." Tenjoin-sensei said, pulling out several forms. "While both myself and Yuki-san have given our vote of confident, there are still several other teachers that are reluctant to let you duel against your peers."
"Ayukawa-sensei and Kabayama-sensei?" Aki guessed. Being the school nurse and a head of dorm respectively they were probably concerned about their students well-being, and rightfully so.
Tenjoin-sensei nodded. "They were the most vocal. The others showed mostly neutral disapproval. Though…" She let out an exasperated sigh that Aki couldn't help but mimic.
"Sanders-sensei?"
"Sanders-sensei." Tenjoin-sensei began massaging her temples. "He seemed awfully insistent to have you duel against his latest pet project."
"Another duel monkey?" Aki asked.
"I hope so. Though he has been banned from working with animals since the S.A.L. incident, the alternatives it leaves aren't particularly…" Tenjoin-sensei paused then shook her head. "But that's nothing for you to worry about. Sanders-sensei is due for another audit anyway. You won't have to deal with anything from him that isn't legal. Anyway, back to your practical exam."
"Yeah, practical exam." Aki said. "Even if I do have one, I doubt that anyone in my year level would want to duel against me. They all...you know…" Tenjoin-sensei may have been able to stop anyone from publically announcing her powers but those in her year level and above, and even some staff, still spread rumours of a witch that roamed the island.
"Even under the threat of expulsion?" Tenjoin-sensei suggested.
"What? No! That would go against a duelist's honour!" Aki protested.
"And refusing to duel someone on the fear of losing isn't?"
"Refusing a duel to avoid bodily harm isn't." Aki corrected. "Tenjoin-sensei, no student in this school, especially in my year level, will duel me. Can't I just duel an examiner or a teacher or something?" Maybe an opponent she respected and who respected her in return was less likely to trigger her powers.
Tenjoin-sensei sighed, noting something down on one of her files. "That will have to do. But if there's anyone, and I mean anyone, who you really want to duel, feel free to tell me and I'll try to organise something." 'With minimal collateral damage and injury' went unsaid but was a given.
"So that's all?" Aki said, standing from her chair.
Tenjoin-sensei nodded. "I'll send you the details regarding your exam within a week. Just remember, if you need anything, anything at all, my door is always open."
A series of four chimes rang through the office, pretty yet sharp, before the door opened and a familiar figure of red and purple stood slouched in the doorway.
"Yuri-kun." Tenjoin-sensei said. "On time for once."
"Not on my own free will." the boy grumbled. He appeared to be digging the heels of his boots into the carpet but was pushed forward by a seemingly invisible force, mumbling to thin air. Or maybe not.
Duel spirits, Aki realised, remembering his last encounter with Yuri. The bouncing pot plants that revealed to contain duel monster and the intruder to her garden who calmed Black Rose. In the storm of school life, she had nearly forgotten about him. If he was here, so early into the school year, that meant that Yuri was…
"There's a lot that we need to talk about." Tenjoin-sensei said in a business-like tone."We've gone over this before but your class attendance-"
"We have gone over this before," Yuri interjected. "and I don't care."
He circled around then swept past Aki, making his leave.
Tenjoin-sensei stood up to follow, her voice gradually rising. "Yuri-kun we need to talk- Yuri Sa-"
And then, storming into the room like invading soldiers, were a squad of 'empty' bouncing flower pots, creating a barrier between the boy and the teacher.
"What?" Aki said. She recognised the design on two of them, the Traptrix she had met in her garden, but accompanying them were another pair of pots.
The pots began aggressively bouncing up and down. If Aki wasn't 'blind and deaf', she would have heard the insults that the spirits were throwing at Tenjoin-sensei.
Yuri also appeared to be taken aback by the sudden appearance of the pot plants, however surprise morphed into wry amusement as a feline grin spread across his lips. The pots were becoming more frantic in their bouncing, cracks starting to appear in the floor, while the windchimes above tousled and turned, clanging in a ear piercing cacophony.
It was all so random and spontaneous, as if the moment the boy arrived unadulterated chaos followed in his wake.
Tenjoin-sensei looked to have a better understanding on the situation, remaining somewhat composed if not a little peeved as she tried to push her way through the barricade of pots.
"Yuri-kun, stop this." Tenjoin-sensei demanded.
Yuri gave an innocent shrug. "I'm not doing anything."
"This is enough." Tenjoin-sensei said, raising her voice above the pots and chimes. "All of you."
Her words seemed to resonate with authority as something began to glow from beneath her shirt. Then, as if scolded, the noise quelled. The chimes silenced and the pots, while still jumping, were more subdued in their movements.
Yuri's face darkened into a scowl. "Of course that idiot would give you one of those."
Tenjoin-sensei approached him, cautiously as if he were a startled animal, like how many other teachers had approached Aki. "Yuri-kun, I want to help-"
"Why now?" Yuri said, his voice dropping to a cold quiet rage. "You, none of you, gave a damn before. Why now when everything has already gone to hell?"
He left the teacher no time to respond, kicking open the window and leaping out. The pots, if possible, looked conflicted on whether or not to follow. Tenjoin-sensei, thoroughly exhausted, collapsed onto her chair with an arm over her eyes.
Aki, in comparison, remained standing and was completely confused. "Wha-"
"Everything." Tenjoin-sensei said, anticipating her question. "That was about everything. What I didn't do and what I did do."
{~~~}
With Yuri being long gone, his pots had taken to following Aki around. She wasn't sure how the boy had avoided drawing attention to himself with a line of plant pots at his heel but the last thing that she needed any more eyes on her. The pots had quietened to an extent, acting like normal inanimate objects unless she prodded them with her powers. She didn't know exactly how duel spirits functioned but it was definitely different to how her powers normally worked.
They were all like dealing with Black Rose Dragon. Pulling at whatever energy that she pushed onto them to a lesser extent. It was nothing like the wild flow of energy would manifest vines and winds just as much as they would monsters. There was something sentient on the receiving end.
There was something alive on the other end.
It was a realisation that hit Aki like, for a lack of better comparison, a tonne of bricks. She had barely put any thought into it when the Traptrix pots came bouncing into her garden. Duel spirits received whatever she threw at them, accepting it with vigour and gratitude. She wasn't a monster or a complete danger to them. But that didn't mean that Aki was going to let them follow her around campus like bouncing clay ducklings.
Duel spirits were weightless and the pots themselves fairly light if not a bit bulking. Aki stacked the pots on top of each other, wondering if she should materialise the spirits in order to ask if they were comfortable. Finding a runaway student that she barely knew was definitely something that Aki couldn't do while carrying several pot plants so her first destination was her garden. The pot spirits should be fine there and, if ever, she could always summon Black Rose for extra protection. First, though, she would have to get to her garden and of course, she would get intercepted on the way.
With the pots stacked high and blocking most of her vision, anyone could easily knock her off balance, accidentally or purposely. The harsh bump was enough to make Aki stumble but she was able to regain her balance before dropping the pots.
"Oh hello, Izayoi."
The apologies died in Aki's throat and twisted into a scowl. "Koda."
From between the pots she saw Koda with the same two cronies from before, Sato in blue and Tanaka in yellow. They were the type of people that basked in their superiority and took every chance to assert it. And Aki, friendless and at the bottom of the rankings, had been their favoured prey since their promotion to a higher dorm.
"How about showing a little respect, Izayoi." Koda said, leering over her. "Come on, call me Koda-sama."
Aki took in a deep breath, making an extra effort in preventing her powers from leaking. If what she had gathered about duel spirits, exposing them to negatively charged emotions would be a bad idea. She could already feel the pots wriggling in her grasp.
"I don't have time for this." Aki said neutrally.
She tried pushing past tormenting blue only to be blocked by Sato and Tanaka, trying their best to look intimidating.
"Where do you think you're going?" Koda said, closing in from behind. "Off to cast a curse with your witchy magic?"
It wasn't magic. She wasn't a witch. But her anger and frustration was quickly building, blocking out most of their taunts with raw emotion. Her powers were leaking to the duel spirits, making it harder for her to keep her grip on them.
To an outsider though, it looked as if she was shaking.
Koda gave a harsh laugh. "Well would you look at that, the little witch is trembling in fear."
The other two joined his laughter. Aki couldn't walk away with the three boys cornering her on all sides. The duel spirits were eager to jump to her defense. She was at the end of her patience, ready to show them what this 'witch' could really do-
"Aki-senpai!"
A ridiculously bright and cheery voice cut through the taunts and the rage. It sounded familiar but Aki couldn't place where she had heard it before. She turned to the direction of the voice to see Yuri running towards her, with an overly bouncy skip in his step.
"Thank you so much for taking care of these!" he said happily, taking the pots from her arms. "Yuri doesn't know what he would have done if he had lost these!"
With the pots no longer obscuring her vision, Aki nearly did a double take when she saw the boy. His old Osiris blazer was not over his shoulders as a makeshift cape but actually worn properly. The sleeves were too big, the shoulders too wide and the blazer ended just above his knees, making him look like a child playing dress-up.
"Yuri-kun?" Aki said cautiously.
His eyes grew dilated and glossy. "Aki-senpai still remember Yuri's name!" the boy cried, his voice several pitches higher than before. He fell into Aki in a half-hug, the pots squished between them.
"Play along." Yuri whispered, dropping back to his normal tone.
Tanaka, being the largest of the three, pulled the boy away. Whether it was a show of the yellow's strength or the red's lightness, Yuri was dangled from his oversized collar.
"What are you doing here, brat?" Koda demanded, clearly annoyed by the intervention.
Yuri turned those wide eyes on the blue, oblivious and unintimidated. "To find Aki-senpai, of course!" he chirped.
"Do you even know who she is?"
"Aki-senpai's really nice person and an amazing duelist!"
"How old is this kid? Ten?" Sato muttered.
Yuri turned to the other blue with an overly childish pout. "Yuri is four and ten!"
This may have been all an act but Aki couldn't help but find this completely ridiculous.
"How in the world hasn't the witch burned this brat or something…"
Yuri wiggled out of the yellow's grasp to give the offending blue a swift kick in the shins. "Don't say mean things about Aki-senpai! Aki-senpai's no witch!"
Sato doubled over, clutching his shin and biting back curses. "Why you little brat-"
But Koda held Sato back before he could lurch at Yuri, a sneaking grin growing across his face.
"Yuri-kun, was it?" Koda said with faked sweetness. "Did you know that your Aki-senpai really is a witch? She's the Black Rose Witch of rumour, Yuri-kun, the one attacking all the students and making her monsters real."
Aki glared at the blue, clenching her fists and holding back the oncoming rage. He shouldn't be talking about that, he couldn't be. Tenjoin-sensei had made sure. None of the students or teachers who already knew, who had started the rumours about the witch haunting the school too every new student since, were allowed to name names and point fingers. She was better than that now, far from perfect but better than when she had first come to the Academia.
Yuri, however, just tilted his head in confusion. "Rumours? Yuri's still new, like new-new. No one's told Yuri anything." He said, voice still in that squeaking tone. Then his eyes widened in realisation. "Oh, I know what you're talking about now!"
No. Here it comes. The fear. The rejection-
"Aki-senpai uses Witch of the Black Rose!"
The sheer cheerfulness and obliviousness nearly had all the four senior students stumbling over. The boy turned to Aki with a look full of adoration that it was hard to believe that he was still faking it. "That's such a good card! It combos really well with Rose Fairy and lets you go straight for a Synchro Summon!" He then turned to Koda. "Cobra-senpai must know Aki-senpai's deck really really really well! Is Cobra-senpai Aki-senpai's boyfriend?"
The question, asked so innocently, caused Koda to splutter.
Yuri took this moment of distraction to grab Aki with one hand, keeping the other secured around the pots. "Okay, time to go now! Yuri has to take Aki-senpai to see Tenjoin-sensei! Bye-bye!"
Then the boy dragged her away.
{~~~}
Where Yuri ended whisking her away to wasn't back to Tenjoin-sensei's office but to Aki's garden. Yuri released the pots to have them happily bounce around her roses while Aki took a moment to catch her breath.
"What was all that about?" Aki asked.
Yuri unbuttoned his blazer and attached it to his shoulders, turning to Aki with a sly smile. "Don't you mean 'thank you'?"
"'Thank you'?"
"You're welcome!" The boy said with a flourish of hands and a bow.
That only left Aki more confused. "For what?"
"For stopping you from blowing up the school." Yuri replied. "While I do commend you for such a wonderful projection of power, I could feel it from miles away, maybe a little longer and the volcano would have erupted, it would be a wasted performance on a bunch of idiots like them." He crossed his arms then sighed. "I swear, what's with Obelisk Blues and groups of three? Chicken had two goons, Moon-darling had a pair and now Cobra-senpai and his cronies."
The later comment went unheard to Aki, however. The realisation that she had nearly lost control, would have made a volcano erupt if it weren't for Yuri's wacky intervention, caused her to crumple to her knees. If simple taunting could lead to that, how much more so if she lost control during a duel?
There was a gentle tap on her shoulder. Aki looked up to see a potted venus flytrap, jaw opened to reveal a small black-haired girl in blue.
"Don't be sad, Aki-san." the Traptrix spirit, Dionaea if she remembered correctly, said. "You had lots of control when dealing with those mean bullies."
"Yeah, Aki-san!" the other one, the potted pitcher plant Nepenthes, added, bouncing over. "I doubt Yuri-chan would have been able to hold back for so long!"
"I'm hurt!" Yuri cried in mock pain, holding a hand to his heart and falling to the ground with a dramatic spin. "My own spirits, my dear darlings, think so lowly of me!"
"Yuri-chan!" Both plant spirits exclaimed, rushing to their duelist's side.
The boy tried to shoo them away with overly dramatic waves. "No! No! Leave me be! I have been abandoned, abandoned! Go to the roses and leave this cabbage to rot!"
Aki couldn't help giggle lightly at the act, her spirits lifting slightly. A gentler, more genuine, smile spread across Yuri's face as he sat back up, not bothering to dust off the grass and dirt from his clothes.
"One of the few useful things that he ever taught." Yuri said. "Constant smiles are simply improbable but sometimes...entertainment dueling does have some merit."
Aki smiled in return. "That reminds me of someone in second year. A red, maybe a yellow by now. His name was something Western-"
The two other plant spirits, who had been snapping at the insects buzzing around the garden, growled while Yuri buried his face in his hands with a groan.
"Please don't associate me with him."
"You know who I'm talking about?"
"My roommate sadly. Entertainment dueling is far from popular enough here for it to be anyone else." He straightened his posture and crossed his legs. "But enough about that fool and entertainment dueling. Do you have any preferences? A signature? A style? I think giant vines erupting from the earth would suit you well."
"Wait? What's all this about?" It was a quick diversion in the conversation, a roller coaster going from confusion to despair to laughter then back to confusion.
"Come to think of it...yes. Yes! But first...dears. We're heading back!"
The boy spun off in the direction of the Ra Yellow dorms with his duel spirits bouncing after him. Aki also found herself trailing behind him, once again whisked off after this destructive force of nature.
{~~~}
Aki didn't follow Yuri into the dorms, rather she stayed in the trees behind. She knew the fearful looks that were thrown her way. She wouldn't be welcomed.
From her perch she spied a redhead in yellow with a smaller cyan-haired boy in red. Macfield, most likely, and that boy she had dropped into the lake. They were talking about something but Aki was too far away to hear anything.
Why would he be there? Or better yet, why would Yuri be staying at the Ra Yellow Dorms when he obviously was in Osiris Red? Were those two conspiring against Yuri. Possibly, with his bouncing pots and old uniform he would be a prime target. And if he did have powers like she did…
Yuri's entrance appeared quiet and subtle but the other two immediately turned to him at that moment. The boy swept past to the pair and out of Aki's sight through the window. If the rooms were laid out like the female dorms, there should be a closet there.
The lake boy tried sneaking up behind Yuri but he had been quick to notice. He turned to confront the other, standing tall just within Aki's line of vision. Some words were exchange and whatever Yuri had said cause the cyan-haired red to look away. Was he calling the other out on his actions? Demanding that he would stop? That was more than what Aki had ever attempted, where she would bottle it up and let the resentment boil.
Macfield stepped between the two, towering over Yuri. Aki had always thought the second year was an honest duelist, out to make anyone and everyone smile in a duel regardless if it was a simple challenge or an examination. With her 'special consideration' when it came to exams, Aki had a lot of time to loiter around the school. Macfield in his red blazer and mop of ginger hair had been a common sight in the duel areas, in the centre of the crowd with arms and monsters rearing for battle. Entertainment dueling, or dueltainment as some called it, in a style reminiscent of that from the West.
To see Macfield now in yellow, just one step away from the top and ready to abuse his newfound status. To think that he was just another Koda in the making.
She could hear Black Rose growling from her deck. Yuri had intervene for her, it might as well return the favour in kind.
Aki released her powers, let the bottled anger and rage take hold. Black Rose's comforting shadow loomed over her as the dragon flapped her wings and released a gust of wind into the room.
From there her vision blurred, a glaring blast of white light streaked with dancing red patches. It had been too long since she had last let loose like this. The last time had marked her a monster in the eyes of her parents but this...this was more freeing yet tamer in comparison. Her arm still burned from that cursed mark but she was older now with a better understanding of her limits.
There was rage, yes, but also an urge to protect. Aki had found a kindred spirit in Yuri. Under any other circumstances, she might have dismissed him as an arrogant if not quirky underclassman but the power they shared...the cursed power that they were both marked with…
There wa no way she was going to let him experience the same pain that she did.
Then something appeared in the blur of white and red. Large feathered wings, like an angel's, and a golden headpiece engulf Aki and her dragon in a ethereal embrace. Black Rose thrashed and cried in protest but Aki felt a warm numbness spreading through her body, draining her energy and lulling her to a half sleep.
Black Rose gave a final anguished cry and dissipated. A sharp burning pain struck through Aki's body. The winged creature was gone and there was nothing left to support her.
Barely conscious, she fell.
{~~~}
Aki awoke in her garden, nestled in Black Rose's wings. Moonlight filtered through the branches, bathing the area with a soft glow.
Wait, moonlight?
She stumbled out of bed of soft scales, earning a whine of protest from her dragon. But what time was it? How long had she been out?
Looking down, Aki saw that her arm was still glowing, the lines of that cursed mark emitting a dull yet harsh light. It on longer burned but by still being present, it might as well be.
"To think that you would have one too."
She looked up to see Yuri leaning against a tree not too far away, paler and more exhausted than normal. His eyes were firmly fixed up at the moon.
"The wings, the tail, the foot, the claw, the head and the heart. The six marks of the Crimson Dragon." Yuri said. "My uncle heard the story on a business trip to Peru. The People of the Stars worshipped a deity called the Dragon Star, or the Crimson Dragon. When vengeful immortals of the netherworld attacked this plane, it bestowed six of its priests its mark and the service of its servants to bind the immortals to the earth. Signers, they were called."
Aki looked down at her arm, still glowing red with the mark. "So we were cursed by some ancient Aztec dragon god?"
"The People of the Stars were probably more closer to the Incans than the Aztecs." Yuri corrected with a slight shrug. Then he rolled up his sleeves revealing pale markless skin. "Besides, I'm not a signer."
"You're not?" Aki said. "But then how-"
"As I said, my uncle." Yuri interjected, standing to stretch. "The competent one not the idiot. He's an archaeologist or a historian or a grave robber or something like that. If it's old and cursed, he would probably know what it is and what higher being has been pissed off. And your darling dragon feels awfully similar to my cousin's, so old and one of a kind..."
Aki's eyes widened, turning to her dragon. Black Rose Dragon, her ace and partner, was the servant of dragon deity. The card had been with her for so long yet she had yet to see another. Yes, there was Black Rose Moonlight Dragon as part of the Duel Dragons archetype but never just Black Rose Dragon.
Black Rose snarled at the boy but Yuri simply waved it off. "She was going to find out anyway. Better to hear it from someone who doesn't give a darn rather than someone intending to manipulate her." But he kept his distance, remaining at his tree.
"You can...understand her?"
"To an extent." Yuri said with a shrug. "Not all duel spirits are like Nepenthes-darling and Dionaea-dear. Most don't bother with human tongue, especially if they lack the required equipment. But enough about that. Pray I ask, if you don't mind, what all that was about?" There was a slight irritation in his tone, maybe like her he didn't appreciate blatant acts of charity.
"Returning a favour in kind." Aki responded, rising to her feet and meeting him opposite the circle of pale light filtering through the trees. "Macfield is to you as Koda is to me."
The boy's eyes widened owlishly. "Eh...Macfield and...oh." Then Yuri muffled a chuckle. "You thought that Macfield was bullying me?"
Aki nodded slightly and Yuri doubled down in laughter. It was pure and uncontrolled, childish even. Ringing through her garden like the chimes through Tenjoin-sensei's office.
She was lost on how to react. "I saw Macfield standing over you and that boy from the lake was there too. I thought they were plotting something…"
"Macfield and Marufuji. The wannabe entertainer and Ryo-san's second-rate brother plotting against me?" That sent Yuri into a new fit of laughter. "You started a full-blast cyclone because my roommate several inches taller than me?"
Normally Aki would have been offended at the comment or ashamed at the amount of damage she had cause over a small misconception but Yuri placing it so simply, treating the utter destruction of his dorm room as if it were nothing, she couldn't help but join in the laughter.
How long the two of them spent just laughing, Aki didn't knew. How mad they must have looked to anyone who happened to pass by.
Then, once they had both calmed down, they sat opposite each other in the ring of moonlight. Yuri's pot spirits bounced among them, the Traptrix on her side and the other two on his. A fifth pot plant had joined them, Dandylion if she recognised the duel spirit correctly.
"I have half a mind to leave now." Yuri said. "The more time I spend with you, the more merit I find in Entertainment Dueling. But to do that would mean not even initiating this at all. Here."
A lump of dark grey cloth was passed to Aki with a pearl white mask, red streaked over the eyes like tears, lying on top.
"A costume?" Aki asked.
Nepenthes leaned over Aki's lap to get a better look. "What's it for?"
"When did you get it?" added Dionaea. "Where did you get it? I've never seen it before."
Apparently the Traptrix, despite being Yuri's spirits, were just as lost as Aki was in this situation. The other spirits, however, seemed to have a better idea on what was going on. Predaplants leered forward, jaws spread in wide grins. Dandylion, on the other hand, hopped away with face half-buried and groaning into its leafy arms.
"Oh no. Not this again." Dandylion said, its voice surprisingly deep. "I said I'd keep an eye out for the brat, not get messed up in his schemes. Damage control is the flying furball's job." The mutterings continued as the pot hopped off to another part of the garden.
"Uh...Danylion-san…?" Dionaea said softly.
"Oi! Dandylion!" Nepenthes called. "Where you headed?"
The spirit paused for a moment then turned. "I've dealt with this brat, his brothers and his uncle-cousin for long enough to know when I don't want to get involved. Do the smart thing, girls, and jump ship while you still can. Call me back when you're done 'plotting' Yuri-bonzu."
Aki was slightly taken aback as she watched the spirits retreating form fade from view. What exactly was Yuri planning?
The boy threw his hands up in mock defeat. "Fine. Fine. Disclaimer time, everybody. Leave now or forever hold your peace."
Black Rose growled slightly from her nested position but no other objections were made.
Yuri brought his hands together in a clasp in his lap. "So then. This will be the official team of attack."
"Attack on what?" Aki asked. Maybe now she could finally get the details to this madness.
"Attack on the bullies, of course." Yuri answered with a sly smile. "Don't you want revenge?"
"Revenge?" Aki said, shifting slightly. Her mind drifted back to her first sessions with Tenjoin-sensei, back when she was always alone and frustrated (not that much had changed over the years). "But won't that make us no better than them? Before, you stopped me from attacking them so-"
"Don't misunderstand, Izayoi-senpai." Yuri interjected, his purple eyes narrowing. "I intervened to stop an excessive waste of power and potential, not to spare a group of snivelling lowlives. And the whole moral code and 'being the better man'...apologies for my language but that is utter bullshit. 'Morals' are an illusion, 'goodness' is subjective. The are simply concepts created by society to perpetuate the facade that humanity is good." He gave a sharp laugh, cruel and merciless and nothing like before. "Humans are evil and selfish creatures with some born to be better than others, case in point you and I. Compassion and restraint do nothing except make yourself a target for others to trample on. What you think is being a good person is nothing more than making yourself a pawn to be taken advantage of."
"Then why do you want to help me?" Aki questioned. "Doesn't that go against all your logic?"
"Because you are powerful," Yuri said plainly. "And it would be a crime to see such power go to waste. Besides, helping you now may earn me a favour in the future. So shall we shake on it? A partnership of mutual benefit."
Yuri extend his arm out to her and Aki eyed it warily. Working on this plan with this boy would mean betraying everything she had worked so hard to achieve with Tenjoin-sensei and Yuki-san. It would mean accepting that she was a monster, that Koda and the others were right to call her a witch. But it also mean finally standing up for herself.
Aki shook his hand.
A wide toothy grin spread across Yuri's face, some glowing runes and some thunder would have also been appropriate considering this was basically a deal with a devil.
"Now let the fun begin…"
{~~~}
Back in her first year, Aki had tried standing up for herself. Every cruel whisper was met with thorns, every cruel student faced her dragon. Her reputation had spread like wildfire throughout the campus. First the Witch with the Black Rose Dragon, later simplified to the Black Rose Witch. Back then she didn't care what other's thought of her. If she was a witch in their eyes then so be it.
Then, after one too many arenas were scorched by her flames, one too many students ended in the medical bay at the claws of her dragon, Aki was sent to Tenjoin-sensei. A teacher who was willing to listen, who didn't fear her and wanted what was best for her.
"You can't rule people with fear. You can't make friends with fear." Tenjoin-sensei had said. "You can be something better than that."
And Tenjoin-sensei helped her control her powers. With her help, Aki tried to be less destructive. She felt that she had control over her powers, control over herself, yet at the same time she felt so restrained. Tenjoin-sensei never had powers of any kind and Yuki-san, the 'specialist' that she had brought in, was far below her in power level.
There were no more injuries but the damage had been done. When Aki no longer lashed out on the student body, they retaliated. Koda was their vanguard, directly tormenting her at every given opportunity yet was subtle enough not to attract the attention of the teachers (not that they cared, they knew who she was and what she had done). The rumours of the Black Rose Witch never died away but grew stronger, passed down to each year like a boogie-story, growing more and more deadly with each iteration.
Aki wanted it all to go away. To take back the actions of her younger self and start clean, not to be constantly haunted by her foolish past.
Yuri, though, was something different. He was someone who understood her. He had more experience and confidence in his powers and had no fears of abusing them.
"This will he a grand show." the boy said. "And Koda will be our finale."
Yuri took what was established of the Black Rose's lore and twisted it into reality. Calculated attacks in the forests, spontaneous duels where she went all out and encouraging the whispers that she had hated so much to build her into something greater than life.
Aki should have been disgusted with all this but instead she felt empowered. Every cowering student, every lash of vines, gave her a confidence that restraint never did.
Looking back at Yuri, though, sometimes was like looking back at her past self. Angry and lost yet with more grounding and awareness in his abilities. Yuri was who Aki could have been if she had been more assertive and reckless. Yuri was her junior, her kouhai for all definitions of the term, and while he was 'helping' her, it was her job to stop him from making the same mistakes that she had.
{~~~}
To whom it may concern,
I have no idea who you are and you have no idea who I am, but I know what you did. This is a letter of challenge. Meet me tomorrow at the beach and be ready to defend your honour as a duelist. I refuse to let your deeds go unpunished.