Chapter Seventeen
When They Helped Out
It had been approximately fourteen days after that Sunday, during which the first four days, Jaden had created a record for herself involving the Golden Egg Bread and took one day off from buying Drawbread to give someone else a chance to get the rare bread. However, after that day…well…
The moment the lunch bell rang, Shou had to pick up the pace to chase after his Aniki since she wasn't exactly going to stop for anyone at this moment. Shou sighed as he ran after Jaden down the hall as she made her way towards the store.
"Wait up, Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.
Jaden didn't bother looking back as she continued running. Nine days…nine days and nothing…
"It's today!" said Jaden. "It has to be today!"
Shou sighed once more and quickened his pace to catch up to Jaden. A few moments later, both Osiris Reds were standing in front of the Drawbread cart, looking left to right at the unmarked packages. Out of all of them, only one was the Golden Egg Bread, which Jaden had made a small record known to her friends and Tome. For ten days straight in a row, she had gotten the Golden Egg Bread each time. It was enough to earn her the title, 'King of the Golden Egg Bread', or rather in Shou's opinion since Asuka wasn't just going to go as far as to calling her friend by that.
Asuka knew better and by that, she was slightly jealous since she had an affinity for the rare bread made from the single golden egg laid by the Duel Academy's golden hen. Out of all the days she had spent in Duel Academy, she had never once drawn the Golden Egg Bread. Jaden had been generous enough to share half with anyone of her friends who happened to be by her when she'd drawn the bread. Asuka had usually been the one to get that half most of the times when she was by the cart.
More to the point, Asuka had bought two packages today and nothing…
"Why can't I draw it?" thought Asuka.
Asuka sighed and looked around. She stopped when she spotted Jaden and Shou by the Drawbread cart. A small glimmer of hope filled the dark-blonde as she watched Jaden reach in into the cart.
"Maybe…maybe this time…" thought Asuka.
Shou watched his Aniki open the package she chose and held his breath when she bit into it. Jaden's irises shrunk as she let out a subtle groan before falling onto her knees despondently. She looked down and frowned as she slumped over a bit.
"It's Chestnut Bread…" she lamented.
Shou bent over a bit and placed his hands on his knees as he looked down at Jaden. He frowned a bit as with the past nine days plus with today; it had become a total of ten days since Jaden had last drawn the Golden Egg Bread.
"Now you've been off 10 times in a row, huh?" said Shou. "What's going on, Aniki?"
Asuka overheard Jaden and sighed in dismay as she walked over to the Osiris Red and her friend. It was rather strange, though… Jaden had a knack at drawing the Golden Egg Bread from the moment Tome introduced her to the cart. Sometimes she got it, other times she didn't, but that was when she wasn't buying Drawbread. That still bugged Asuka slightly as she usually bought two or three packages of Drawbread from the cart and still nothing. She was lucky enough to have Jaden around to keep anyone from suspecting her liking for the rare bread.
"Nothing again…?" asked Asuka.
Jaden and Shou turned their heads to the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue.
"Asuka-san!" exclaimed Shou.
Jaden blinked when she noticed the two opened packages of Drawbread in Asuka's hands. Jaden got off the floor after handing Shou her Chestnut Bread and adjusted her shirt a bit before focusing her gaze back on Asuka.
"Asuka!" Jaden said, her tone turning into a rather amused one as she continued on, "You like the Golden Egg Bread, huh? Any luck?"
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Asuka's face as a rosy blush tinged her cheeks.
"D-Don't talk nonsense!" Asuka said, stuttering slightly. "I'm just practicing my luck of the draw…"
Jaden placed her hand on her chin as she grinned at Asuka, causing the dark-blonde to trail off.
"Eh?" said Jaden. "Is that so?"
Asuka tightened her grip on her Drawbread slightly as she scowled at Jaden.
"I-It's true!" she snapped.
Jaden laughed a bit as Asuka glared at her while Shou just stared at them. Tome had overheard them and having been the one who usually ran the Drawbread cart, she decided to tell them about her observation and discovery.
"I'm really sorry, everyone," said Tome. "To tell you the truth, there isn't a Golden Egg Bread in there."
Shou and Jaden's eyes widened in shock as they exclaimed, "E-Eehh?"
As much as Asuka wanted to exclaim out in shock like her friends did, she forced herself to stay quiet and calm. Tome looked at them apologetically as she explained.
"Somehow, the Golden Egg Bread has been getting stolen," explained Tome. "It's been like that every day since last week."
Jaden, Shou, and Asuka looked at Tome questioningly.
"Stolen?" said Asuka.
Shou blinked and exhaled in awe.
"Amazing…if he just stole the Golden Egg Bread, he's got to have an amazing luck of the draw!" remarked Shou.
Jaden grunted and narrowed her eyes at Shou as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. Shou jolted slightly at the glare his Aniki gave him. Maybe he shouldn't have said that…
"And everyone was looking forward to them, too…" Tome said, bowing apologetically afterwards. "Please, accept my apologies."
Jaden blinked and tightened her fists as she looked at Tome.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Tome-san!" said Jaden. "The bad guy's the thief! That's why I'm going to catch him!"
Shou smiled at Jaden.
"Yo, that's the way, Aniki!" said Shou.
Jaden looked at Shou, her expression serious for once.
"Shou!" said Jaden. "From today on, we're staking out! You go get Hayato! I'm gonna pay Ra Yellow a visit!"
Shou closed his eyes and nodded as he smiled.
"Right!" said Shou.
It took him a few seconds to realize what he had just gotten himself into. Shou opened his eyes as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. He sighed and started to make his way towards the Osiris Red dorms, seeing as Jaden had already dashed out of the store. Asuka shook her head and decided to head back to her dorm to pack some things for tonight's stake out. She wasn't just gonna let that stolen Golden Egg Bread slide…
Later,
Jaden avoided the stares given to her as she searched everywhere on Ra Yellow campus. It wasn't that Ra Yellow students had superiority-complexes like some Obelisk Blues…it's just that by searching everywhere, I mean everywhere. Like up in a tree, under a rock, and maybe behind a bush…yeah, this went on for ten minutes before Jaden gave in and asked the closest Ra Yellows by her where the person she was looking for was.
Kohara and Ohara were slightly surprised to see Jaden walk up to them an immediately ask where Daichi Misawa was. Fortunately, they happened to know exactly where his location was…which was—
"Misawa-kun's in his room," answered Ohara.
Jaden sweat dropped.
"His room…?" said Jaden. "Well, I just wasted ten minutes of my life searching for him…by the way, how's your dueling doing, Kohara?"
Kohara blinked and looked at Jaden for a few seconds before he smiled.
"Better, Jaden!" said Kohara. "I don't get so nervous anymore when I duel in the open!"
Jaden grinned and ruffled Kohara's hair.
"That's good to hear!" said Jaden. "Well, I gotta go get Misawa…see ya around!"
Jaden waved at the Ra Yellow duo and started to walk away after they waved back at her. Ohara and Kohara watched as Jaden made her way towards the Ra Yellow dorm. A few moments had passed when Ohara noticed a slight blush on his smaller friend's cheeks and chuckled a bit.
"Taken a liking to Jaden-kun, eh, Kohara-kun?" asked Ohara.
Kohara's face burned red after hearing Ohara's question. He turned to the larger Ra Yellow and scowled at him.
"S-Shut up, Ohara!" snapped Kohara.
Ohara laughed and patted Kohara on the head as the smaller boy crossed his arms and turned away from him.
A few moments later in Daichi's room,
Daichi was currently toweling his hair after paying a visit to the Ra Yellow bathhouse when suddenly, Jaden barged into his room. Jaden didn't even bother knocking on her friend's door so as a result…she scared the living daylights out of Daichi. As Daichi tried to calm his pounding heart, Jaden walked up to him and pulled on the sleeve to his blue and white sweatshirt.
"Misawa, get packing!" said Jaden. "We're going on a stake out at Tome-san's store! Someone's stealing the Golden Egg Bread!"
Daichi blinked as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.
"Um…may I ask why I have to go along?" asked Daichi.
Jaden closed her eyes and crossed her arms as she held her finger up.
"You're the smart one, Misawa," Jaden said as a matter of fact. "We'll need you to help with our investigation!"
Jaden opened her eyes and started pulling on Daichi's arm.
"Now, let's go!" said Jaden. "C'mon!"
Jaden struggled to drag Daichi, who wasn't exactly willing enough to follow the Osiris Red. It took Jaden a full three minutes to let go of Daichi after realizing he wasn't going to follow along. She glared at Daichi and placed her hands on her hips.
"Misawa, what's taking you?" asked Jaden.
Daichi looked at Jaden and sighed. She wasn't gonna let him be…
"Can I at least change into something more appropriate?" asked Daichi.
Jaden blinked and nodded.
A few moments later,
Daichi had to push Jaden out of his room when she didn't understand the concept of his privacy until he reminded her that he was male and she was female and despite her not minding, he did. After a few minutes, Daichi walked out of his room, now wearing his Ra Yellow uniform and carrying a small bag. He placed his hand on top of Jaden's head and ruffled her hair.
"Ichiban-kun…please don't tell me you forgot your gender," said Daichi.
Jaden blinked and shook her head.
"I didn't!" said Jaden. "I just didn't think you'd mind…sorry."
Daichi sighed and placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder as he began to lead her out of the Ra Yellow dorm.
"It's okay, Jaden…it's okay," said Daichi.
Later that night,
The store was rather empty and dark, save for the Drawbread cart that was left out to lure out the Golden Egg Bread thief and the current group in the staffroom. Shou, Hayato, and Daichi sat on the opposite side of the table, facing Jaden. Asuka was reading a book as she sat in front of a computer in a desk chair with one leg crossed over the other. They had been waiting in that room for the past five hours after Tome had closed the store.
So to pass the time (for the moment), Shou and Jaden decided to play a game just to take a break from dueling for once. Not that they were tired of dueling, they just needed to do something else…
Shou was currently holding up two cards in his hands. He clenched his teeth as he nervously watched Jaden move her hand over to one of the cards in his hands. Jaden laughed deviously as she smirked and picked a card.
"That one!" she said, turning it over onto the table.
Jaden looked at the card and threw her hands up into the air as smiled ecstatically.
"All right!" exclaimed Jaden.
Shou sighed and looked at Jaden.
"Geez…your draws are amazing, all right, Aniki," remarked Shou.
Daichi nodded in agreement.
"Indeed," he said.
Jaden grinned widely as she crossed her arms.
"Of course they are!" said Jaden.
Hayato blinked and looked questioningly at Jaden.
"Why did I even have to be here?" asked Hayato.
Jaden looked at Hayato and replied, "If we suffer, you suffer…as your roommate, I am not leaving you alone in our room without us!"
Daichi looked at Jaden questioningly.
"Ichiban-kun, what was the point of even having a room constructed for you when you don't even use it?" asked Daichi.
Jaden closed her eyes and turned away from Daichi.
"I use it…just the bathhouse, though," said Jaden. "When I'm not using the hot springs…that is…anyways, it's also for Tome-san. Hold on…"
Jaden turned to Asuka as the dark-blonde continued reading her book.
"I only invited Hayato and Misawa over…" said Jaden. "Asuka, why are you here?"
Asuka diverted her eyes on Jaden.
"Because I'm free," she replied.
Jaden blinked and placed her hand by the side of her mouth as she whispered to Shou.
"She can't forgive that Golden Egg Bread drawing thief," whispered Jaden.
Shou's eyes widened as he realized Asuka could hear Jaden. He leaned closer to Jaden as he whispered back, "She can hear you, Aniki!"
Asuka just continued reading her book. She already knew how to get back at Jaden…in many ways (A/N *cough*Junko*cough*Momoe*cough* Wow, I really need to drink some water. XD).
"It'd be especially strange if it was one of the Academy's students stealing," thought Asuka. "Maybe it has to do with the missing…"
Asuka turned her head at the sound of the door sliding open to see who it was coming in. It was Tome and she was holding a plate full of rice balls she had just finished making for the group.
"Thank you very much, everyone," Tome said, smiling as she set the plate down. "Here's your midnight snack."
Jaden looked at the plate and smiled as she stood up. Shou, Hayato, and Daichi did the same as Asuka walked over to the table.
"Looks great!" remarked Jaden.
Hayato looked curiously at the rice balls.
"Whoa, what flavors are they?" asked Hayato.
"They're apricot, dried fish cracker, and salmon-flavored," Tome replied as she looked at them. "Eat these and keep it up. I'll stay with you tonight."
Shou blinked and smiled at Tome.
"Thanks, Tome-san!" said Shou.
Hayato looked eagerly at the rice balls, wondering which one was which of the types Tome had mentioned. The rice balls were identical in appearance, differing only in filling.
"Which one's salmon?" asked Hayato.
Tome was about to tell Hayato when Jaden interrupted her.
"Wait!" said Jaden. "We should draw them. I like salmon, too. We'll take turns and draw."
Hayato looked questioningly at Jaden.
"Huh?" he said. "Shouldn't we just split them between everyone?"
Shou looked at Hayato.
"But it sounds interesting!" said Shou.
Asuka crossed her arms and remarked, "Sound boring."
Jaden narrowed her eyes at Asuka.
"C'mon, Asuka…at least try it!" Jaden said before focusing her gaze on the rice balls. "My turn! Draw!"
Jaden picked up a random rice ball from the plate and lifted it up to her mouth. She took a bite out of it and chewed slowly before swallowing. She looked at her friends and smiled as she closed her eyes.
"I summon Salmon," she said as she showed them the rice ball's distinct red-colored filling.
Shou smiled at Jaden, impressed with her luck.
"Your draws are really awesome, Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.
Jaden opened her eyes and looked at Shou as she placed her hand on her hip.
"My skills couldn't be worse," said Jaden. "If those Golden Egg Breads weren't stolen, I would've broken my record, you know…so, any ideas, Misawa?"
Everyone turned to Daichi as he cleared his throat.
"Well, there is one idea we can try…" said Daichi. "But we'll need Jaden or Shou to do it."
Shou looked at Daichi, perplexed.
"Eh?" said Shou. "Why does it have to be us?"
Daichi walked over to Shou and Jaden before pulling both Osiris Reds closer to each other.
"As you can see, you two are of a smaller size than the rest of us," stated Daichi.
Jaden looked questioningly at Daichi.
"And what does size have to do with this?" Jaden asked before taking another bite out of her rice ball.
Daichi smiled and said, "I was getting to that point…"
"Well, then get to the point!" said Jaden.
Daichi patted Jaden on the head as he got to the point.
"We'll need one of you two to hide in the Drawbread cart," said Daichi. "Any volunteers from you two?"
Jaden raised her hand up in the air, to which Shou sighed in relief for. He didn't want to be the one who hid in the cart…
Later,
After helping Jaden hide into the Drawbread, everyone else turned off the light in the staff room and hid. Asuka hid in a half-opened locker, Tome hid under the computer desk, and Daichi, Hayato, and Shou all hid under a table. It had only been a full minute and Jaden was already bored…Thankfully, Winged Kuriboh kept her entertained as she gently scratched him in between his wings.
"This never gets old…" Jaden thought as Winged Kuriboh nuzzled against her affectionately.
A sudden sound caused Jaden to freeze and stop what she was doing as she quickly double checked to see if she was well hidden under all the Drawbread packages. Winged Kuriboh helped his partner out by adjusting a few packages before diving back under with her.
At the sound of someone opening the store shutter, Tome, Daichi, Hayato, Shou, and Asuka carefully got out of their hiding places. They crept up to the staff room's glass door and looked through it. The noise continued as the store's shutter was lifted up, shocking Shou, Hayato, and Daichi as whoever was lifting it up had to be very strong.
Once the store's shutter was lifted up to a certain point, someone crept under and into the store. He walked over to the Drawbread cart and reached in, startling Jaden a bit as she covered her mouth with her hands to keep herself from shrieking. Winged Kuriboh huddled closer to Jaden as they both backed up a bit since whoever was reaching in…almost came in contact with them.
"That was too close for comfort!" Jaden thought as she held her breath. "Need…air…"
Luckily for Jaden (and her lungs), the person who was reaching into the packages chose one and pulled it out. Jaden inhaled and exhaled before slowly peeking out from under the packages. It was at that exact moment, the lights suddenly turned on and Jaden got a good look at the Golden Egg Bread thief. The thief was tall, muscular young man with long, black hair and brown eyes. He was barefooted, wore pants or what seemed to be left of them, and the thing that got Jaden's attention the most and made her yelp and cover her eyes was…
"Oh, dear Ra, he's shirtless!" Jaden thought as her face burned red.
Daichi, Shou, and Hayato ran out from behind the counter to confront the shirtless young man. Tome and Asuka joined them not long after.
"Hey!" exclaimed Shou. "You thief!"
"You can't get away, now!" said Daichi.
Tome gasped as she got a good look at the young man. The young man grunted and cupped his hand around his mouth as he let out a Tarzan-like yell. This got Jaden to snap out of her embarrassment and shock as the young man started pushing the Drawbread cart down the aisle. Jaden's eyes widened as she yelped and dived back under the packages as the young men hopped onto the cart. The cart headed towards the store shutter at an immense speed and force, that when it collided with the metal overhead door, it crash right through it! Jaden had a bad feeling about this as the Drawbread the young man had gotten, fell into her possession.
Feeling rather panicky and not thinking quite right at the moment, Jaden stuffed the Drawbread into her shirt and buttoned up her jacket for once. The young man spotted that there had been a stowaway on the cart as it was now headed towards a tree. He reacted quickly to this by grabbing onto the back of Jaden's jacket and jumped off the cart before it collided with the tree.
Despite avoiding pain and possible injuries, Jaden was not relieved as she was held up by the back her jacket by the young man, slightly hanging above the ground. Hell! She took one looked at the guy and let out a high-pitched scream. This immediately got the attention of her friends and took the young man by surprise…especially since she started yelling.
"Help!" yelled Jaden. "I'm being kidnapped by Tarzan!"
First reaction a person would do when they see a group of people running towards him while he's holding a screaming person would be to run…which is what the shirtless young man did. This angered Hayato and Shou…especially Shou as he started yelling after the Golden Egg Bread thief. That was his Aniki getting kidnapped by Tarzan! Why shouldn't he be angry? Exactly!
As the chase for the Golden Egg Bread thief who currently had Jaden in his possession began…currently doing night rounds for Professor Chronos, was Ryou. Ryou had been walking around in front of the Main Academy Building when he saw something that you rarely see every day…seriously. The Kaiser watched as a muscular, shirtless young man ran past him, carrying a yelling Jaden over his shoulder.
"AAAAHHH—HELP!" yelled Jaden. "I'm being kidnapped by Tarzan! I need an adult! I NEED AN ADULT!" (1)
Anyone within earshot that heard that all did one thing…they sweat dropped. Not long after, Ryou saw something he rarely ever saw…a rather angry Shou, swearing as he chased after 'Tarzan' and Jaden.
"Get your ass back here with my Aniki, you bastard!" yelled Shou.
Blinking a few times as Hayato, Asuka, Daichi, and Tome ran past him, Ryou shook his head and decided to end his night rounds as he made his way back to his dorm, muttering about not getting enough sleep. (2)
As the group ran after 'Tarzan', Asuka couldn't help but think if he was one of the missing students.
"He might know where my Nii-san is!" thought Asuka.
Jaden continued to yell as the Golden Egg Bread thief came to a stop on top of a Duel Academy building…only for him to jump off of it. This caused Jaden to let out a high-pitched scream while her eyes widened as she and 'Tarzan' headed straight downwards to the forest below them. Anyone in her position would scream, too, if they had just jumped off from a high height. Jaden shut her eyes as her kidnapper began to swing from vine to vine.
"I am so going to complain about this later!" yelled Jaden.
Back with the group, Shou stopped by the edge of the building and stomped his foot on the ground as he gritted his teeth. Hayato placed his hand on Shou's shoulder as he watched Jaden get carried off as her kidnapper let out another Tarzan-like yell. This was bad…ohh, if Daitokuji ever found out about this…
Daichi shuddered at the thought, which is what Hayato did as well. They were held fully responsible over their friend, having been older than her and also her senpai. As much as Hayato was still in the same rank as she was, he still counted as her senior.
"What's with him?" asked Hayato. "Is he Tarzan?"
A/N Thou shalt be referred to as 'Tarzan' by thy fellow authoress until otherwise…
Shou tightened his fists and held them up as he scowled.
"We'll get there before he does!" Shou yelled as he turned and ran off into a different direction. "I'm coming for you, Aniki!"
Daichi and Hayato jolted slightly before they trailed after Shou with Tome and Asuka following them.
"Shou!" they called out.
Meanwhile,
Jaden was still yelling as she pounded on her kidnapper's back. She didn't really like the fact that she was just kidnapped by freaking Tarzan! This was just like something out of a bad fanfic! (3) Jaden pounded her fist onto Tarzan's back, earning a rather pained yelp from him. Well…that got his attention…
"You Tarzan, me not Jane!" yelled Jaden. "What value does a person like me even have?"
No answer…ugh! Jaden closed her eyes and whined as she continued pounding her fists on her kidnapper's back.
"Put me down!" yelled Jaden. "Put me down! Put me down! Put me down!"
Jaden yelled and brought both her fists down onto Tarzan's back. Feeling very irritated from being ignored as her kidnapper continued to swing from vine to vine, Jaden growled and elbowed Tarzan forcefully on his back. This caused him to let out a pained yelp as he came to an abrupt stop on a vine. Jaden immediately regretted ever doing that as she fell off Tarzan's shoulder and headed towards the ground.
"Why the hell did I just do that?" thought Jaden.
Luckily for Jaden, Tarzan grabbed onto her arm and began to pull her up until he got a good grip on the back of her jacket. Jaden opened her eyes and looked down where she was hanging above and just her luck as it happened to be…thorn bushes. Jaden yelled and flailed her arms around before she managed to pull herself up her kidnapper's arm before latching onto his back.
Afterwards, she gave up on yelling as Tarzan continued to swing from vine to vine…that was waaay too close for comfort! The last thing Jaden needed was a visit from Ayukawa in the middle of the night…
Tarzan let out another yell as he moved onto the next vine. His eyes widened when he spotted Asuka, Daichi, Shou, and Hayato walking just right outside of the forest on a pathway…which is where he was heading towards on the vine! Jaden blinked and started to unbutton her jacket when she spotted her friends close by. However, Tarzan took Jaden by surprise as he let go of the vine and jumped past the group, causing her to stop what she was doing to keep a good grip on him. He landed on the ground and starting running towards a small waterfall afterwards, which by then, had caught the attention of the group.
Shou immediately started running after Tarzan, who was still carrying Jaden on his back.
"ANIKI!" yelled Shou.
Jaden looked back at Shou and unbuttoned her jacket quickly to get the Drawbread packaged she stuff under her shirt out. She had just gotten the package out of her shirt when Tarzan leapt up and grabbed onto a ledge on the waterfall with both his hands. Since Jaden had not been expecting this, it wasn't a surprise she fell off of her kidnapper's back and into the water below them. Jaden had managed to throw the package to Shou (which he caught) just before she landed into the water.
SPLASH!
"Aniki!" yelled Shou.
Shou ran towards Jaden as her head popped out of the water to inhale deeply. Meanwhile, Daichi, Asuka, and Hayato were awestruck as they watched Tarzan climb up the waterfall. That right there was impressive.
"H-He's climbing the waterfall!" Hayato said in awe.
Tarzan picked up the pace and started to climb up the waterfall faster. Jaden coughed a bit and shook her head before she looked up at Tarzan, scowling at him. Just as she was about ready to chase after him herself, a sudden voice called out to him.
"Taizan-kun!" a voice called out.
Tarzan immediately stopped where he was at the near top of the waterfall as everyone turned to see who had called out. Running towards them at an impressive pace, was Tome, who had been left behind by the group in their haste. Tome looked at the young man on the waterfall and gasped.
"Tome-san?" said Daichi.
"T-Tome-san, you ran fast," remarked Hayato.
Tome kept her gaze on Tarzan (A/N Just bear with me and that name…).
"You're Taizan-kun, aren't you?" asked Tome.
Tarzan, or Taizan, as Tome had been calling him by, slowly turned his head towards the older woman. Doing so, he managed to lose his grip on the ledges behind the waterfall and fell down into the water…right where Jaden was. Jaden's eyes widened as she stuttered and flailed her arms while she tried to figure out what she should do to avoid being landed on. She was just about to jump out of the way, but by then, it had been too late as Taizan landed right on top of her.
SPLASH!
Shou gasped and called out, "Aniki!"
A few moments had passed before Taizan and Jaden popped out of the water, both inhaling deeply as Shou, Daichi, Asuka, Hayato, and Tome ran over to them. Jaden coughed a few times before turning to Taizan and glaring at him. Winged Kuriboh appeared and perched himself on his partner's shoulder as he took out what seemed to be a contract.
"Kuri kuri…" Winged Kuriboh thought as he read over his contract. (4)
Tome looked over Taizan to confirm her earlier assumption about the young man.
"I knew it!" she said. "Taizan-kun!"
Hayato diverted his eyes on Tome, misunderstanding slightly of what she said about the young man's name.
"So, he was Tarzan!" said Hayato.
Jaden growled and punched Taizan in the stomach. Taizan yelped and clutched his stomach with one hand while he placed his other hand on Jaden's forehead to keep him (he doesn't know~!) at a distance as he continued to swipe at him. For a rather scrawny boy, he could punch…
"I demand an explanation as to why I was kidnapped by Tarzan!" yelled Jaden.
Taizan looked at Tome.
"Tome-san!" he said. "It has been a while."
If one would seem to recall…Tarzan never knew how to speak perfectly at first…which is why Hayato pointed this out.
"He's speaking perfectly," said Hayato.
So much for being kidnapped by Tarzan…though, this still irritated Jaden! She still hadn't gotten her explanation!
Daichi, Asuka, Hayato, and Shou turned to Tome since she seemed to have known something about Taizan.
"Tome-san, who is he?" asked Daichi.
"Taira Taizan-kun," replied Tome. "He was an Obelisk Blue student."
The fact that Taizan was an Obelisk Blue student took the group by surprise…though that didn't mean Jaden was stopping her current actions for that! She continued to swipe at Taizan as she growled while Tome went on.
"He was an outstanding student, but a year ago, he suddenly went missing," explained Tome. "And so, to think he was somewhere like this…"
Asuka stared at Taizan.
"So, he is a missing student!" thought Asuka.
"But Taizan-kun, you drew a lot of Golden Egg Breads, didn't you?" questioned Tome. "A year ago, no matter how hard you tried…"
Taizan stuttered and flailed his arms about as he looked nervously at Tome. Jaden had stopped to listen as her curiosity got the better of her.
"What do you mean, Tome-san?" asked Jaden.
Tome smiled and looked at Taizan and Jaden.
"Just like you and the others, Jaden-chan, when Taizan-kun came to the store, he often bought some Drawbread, too," said Tome.
~flashback~
In the store by the Drawbread cart, Tome was watching a few students, one Ra Yellow, two Osiris Reds, and two Obelisk Blues, pick out each a random unmarked package. Tome kept her gaze focused on a certain Obelisk Blue student as he pulled out and opened a Drawbread package. It was Taizan, though compared to how he looked now than back then, he was somewhat scrawny and his black hair was at a shorter length.
Taizan lifted up the opened Drawbread to his mouth and bit into it, chewing slowly a few times to differentiate the taste. He swallowed and looked up in dismay as he lamented his pick.
"A Fish Bread…" he said before he fell onto his knees despondently.
Tome felt a newfound sympathy for Taizan at how disappointed he looked by his bad draw.
~end of flashback~
Jaden blinked and looked at Taizan.
"But this guy's draws are amazing," said Jaden. "Wasn't it someone else?"
Taizan laughed as he got out of the river. After a few moments, he calmed down and looked at the group, grinning.
"Yes, that's right," said Taizan. "I was reborn. In this one year, I confined myself in the mountains and practiced drawing."
Jaden looked at Taizan questioningly and said, "You were reborn?"
Taizan looked down and closed his eyes.
"That's right," said Taizan. "Before, I always got the top grade on the Obelisk Blue written exam. But when it came to actual combat…"
~flashback~
In the Duel Fields, Taizan was dueling another student. He held up his fist as he looked at his hand, smiling.
"I'm facing Psycho Shocker…" he thought before reaching for his deck. "Okay. Draw!"
Taizan drew a card and looked at it, immediately bemoaning his luck.
"No way!" exclaimed Taizan. "Man, a Trap card? It won't be any help against Psycho Shocker!"
~end of flashback~
Taizan tightened his fists as he looked at the group.
"My draws back then were the worst!" he admitted.
~flashback~ (5)
Taizan sat on one of the mooring bollards on the docks as he looked down at the crashing waves, depressed.
"I wished for draws…" said Taizan. "That's what I wanted from the bottom of my heart!"
Taizan stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth as he stared out into the ocean.
"Please give me powerful draws!" yelled Taizan.
His voice echoed a bit as he continued to stare out.
"I didn't get an answer," said Taizan. "All I gathered from the waves was just to draw. It was the same before, and it wouldn't change in the future or for eternity. (?) And it was then that I figured it out!"
Taizan's eyes widened as he looked down at the waves.
"That it was just like drawing in a duel," he explained. "Draws also don't change, just like the waves. I thought, 'The true meaning of drawing lies in nature itself!'"
~end of flashback~
Asuka stared at Taizan.
"I was wrong about this guy…" thought Asuka.
"And I confined myself to the mountains," Taizan continued on. "I gave myself to nature, and I gained wisdom from nature. I became one with nature. To get stronger draws, I trained for one year!"
Memories of his training popped up in Taizan's mind. Training that involved treading through snow, testing his drawing ability with variously poisonous mushrooms, and practicing his drawing by letting his cards flow down the waterfall and picking out the strongest ones. Taizan closed his eyes and held up his fist.
"And to be sure that I'd completed my training, I used the Golden Egg Bread to test myself," Taizan said as he opened his eyes and smiled. "And I got it for a full week!"
Taizan used his arm to cover his face as he looked down, getting somewhat emotional at drawing the Golden Egg Bread. All that hard work…and he finally drew it…
"I really hung in there!" he wailed.
Tome clasped her hands together as she looked at Taizan.
"That must have been awful!" said Tome.
Jaden blinked and looked at Taizan as he sobbed.
"Wait a sec!" said Jaden. "Before you stole them, I got them too!"
Taizan stopped sobbing and looked down at Jaden, perplexed.
"What?" he asked.
Jaden smiled and said, "Well? I'm pretty confident in my own draws, too."
Jaden started to climb out of the river as she continued on and suggested, "So, how about you just fight me, and we'll make it a graduation exam?"
Taizan blinked and gave Jaden an amused smile.
"Interesting," he said. "I've wanted to test my luck of the draw in a duel."
Jaden grunted, having almost slipped on a wet rock as she tried to climb out of the river. Taizan helped her out by pulling her up and setting her on the ground standing up. Jaden shook her head and looked at Taizan, who was currently staring wide-eyed at her for some reason.
"All right, then let's do it!" Jaden said as she smiled and held up her fist.
Shou looked at Jaden as he carefully hopped over to the other side of the river.
"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.
Hayato just stared at Jaden and said, "Don't say anything, don't say anything…"
Asuka face palmed while Daichi just sighed and shook his head. This was rather…expected. It was so expectant, that it was rather depressing…it just showed how predictable Jaden could be. Tome, on the other hand, just smiled as she clasped her hands together.
Jaden continued to look at Taizan, who just stayed silent as he stared at her.
"We'll be matching draws, huh?" thought Jaden. "Looks like this'll be an interesting duel!"
Jaden blinked when she realized that Taizan still hadn't said anything. She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him, noticing his wide-eyed stare on her as his face burned red.
"Uh…Taizan?" said Jaden.
Taizan yelped and immediately turned away from Jaden as he covered his face. Jaden arched her eyebrow at him as she scratched the back of her head. She turned to Shou, confused as to why Taizan did that. Shou looked at Jaden and his face turned red as he immediately covered his eyes.
"Shou…what's wrong?" asked Jaden.
Shou turned away from Jaden and replied, "Aniki…your shirt…"
Jaden blinked and looked down at her shirt. Her face burned red in embarrassment as she let out a high-pitched shriek and pulled her jacket closed. Of all the days…of all the days she had to be wearing a white shirt…
"It had to be today!" she thought as she carefully buttoned up her jacket.
Normally, Jaden would wear a black shirt with her uniform, but today she had been in a bit of a rush after getting out of the bathhouse and grabbed the closest shirt in her dresser and pulled it on. It just so happened that the shirt she pulled on was a white one and since she fell into the river…well, one can figure out what both Taizan and Shou had seen. At least Taizan now knew that Jaden was a girl…
"That explains why she was screaming and making those 'Jane' references…" thought Taizan. "That makes perfect sense!"
Jaden turned to Shou after she had finished buttoning her jacket. Her face was still red as she rubbed the back of her head.
"I'm really sorry about that, Shou!" Jaden apologized. "I didn't mean to…"
Shou just shook his head and kept his eyes covered.
"I-It's okay, Aniki!" said Shou. "It wasn't your fault…"
Jaden closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling. That was the most embarrassing thing in her life…at least she was wearing a bra, so the damage done to her dignity wasn't that bad. Now that she thought about it, it could've been worse…
"It's could've been Hayato instead of Shou and Taizan…" thought Jaden. "Actually…no, he'd still call me 'flat chest'…"
Of course he would, Hayato was only doing his job as acting like an older brother to his Imouto-chan, Jaden. Now that that was settled, Jaden recovered from her embarrassment rather quickly.
A few moments later,
Taizan and Jaden faced each other on opposite sides of the field with their duel disk on their arms.
"Duel!" they said.
Their duel disks activated and reached for their decks as they drew their starting hand.
Taizan:
LP
4000
Jaden:
LP
4000
"We'll go with me first!" said Jaden. "And don't object! You owe me for kidnapping me…"
Taizan just stayed silent as Jaden reached for her deck and drew a card. She made a good point…despite the whole thing being an accident. Taizan had never meant to kidnap her in the first place, it just happened!
"Draw!" Jaden said as she briefly looked at the card she drew. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!"
A certain winged man clad in green appeared on the field by punching the air a few times before spinning around once.
ATK 1000
"I'll set one card face-down, finishing my turn," Jaden said as she placed a card into the slot. "Show me your draws!"
Taizan tightened his fist as he looked at Jaden.
"I'll show you the fruits of my year of training!" said Taizan. "My turn! Draw!"
Taizan drew a card and looked at it before diverting his gaze on Jaden.
"I got the fruits of my training," Taizan thought as he set a card into a slot. "First, I'll set a card face-down. And I'll summon this card I drew: Drawler!"
Taizan cupped his hands around his mouth as he let out a Tarzan-like yell. A huge, rock-like monster appeared on his side of the field.
"Drawler!" said Shou.
"His draw…" said Hayato.
Taizan looked at Jaden.
"Drawler's total ATK and DEF is 500 times the number of cards in my hand that I send back to my deck," explained Taizan. "I'll send back the four cards in my hand!"
Taizan exchanged his cards into his other hand and returned them to his deck.
"All his cards?" said Hayato.
Shou furrowed his brow as he looked at Taizan.
"Huh?" he exclaimed. "He's out of a hand!"
Drawler began to glow as its ATK increased from zero to 2000.
ATK 2000
"2000 ATK…" said Asuka.
Jaden clenched her teeth and growled a bit as Taizan raised his hand into the air.
"I use Drawler to attack Avian!" said Taizan. "Roller Press!"
Drawler charged towards Avian, its steamroller-like wheels intimidating the Elemental Hero as it came closer to him. Avian's eyes widened as he stood there, agape. Jaden shut her eyes close to avoid seeing Drawler flatten her favorite Elemental Hero as said Hero yelled out.
Jaden opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of Avian flattened on the ground, much like in a manner that would happen in a cartoon when a character went through its experience with a steamroller or road roller (6). The bottom of Jaden's deck glowed as her life points decreased.
Jaden:
LP
3000
Jaden looked at her deck, perplexed.
"What?" she said.
Taizan smirked as he explained, "When a monster in attack-mode is destroyed by Drawler, it is returned to the bottom of the deck instead of going to the Graveyard. So you can't draw it out from your Graveyard."
With that said, Taizan ended his turn, to which Jaden smiled ecstatically at, feeling rather impressed.
"Not bad," Jaden remarked as she reached for her deck. "My turn! Draw!"
Jaden drew a card and held it up to her face. She smiled and closed her eyes as she looked down.
"I drew it, too!" she thought, immediately opening her eyes as twirled the card in her hand around her fingers before holding it up. "From my hand, I activate…Polymerization! I fuse the Elemental Heroes Clayman and Burstinatrix in my hand together!"
Elemental Heroes Clayman and Burstinatrix leapt up into the air as Polymerization began to fuse them together.
"And I summon Elemental Hero Rampart Gunner in defense mode!" Jaden continued on as said Elemental Hero appeared on the field in a defensive stance.
DEF 2500
Taizan took one look at Rampart Gunner and smiled, somewhat amused.
"Defense mode, huh?" he said.
Jaden smiled as she explained, "Nope, my Rampart Gunner can cut her ATK in half and attack directly while she's in defense mode!"
Rampart Gunner aimed her gun arm at Taizan at her ATK decreased.
ATK 1000
Taizan gasped, having been caught off guard by Rampart Gunner's special ability. Rampart Gunner waited patiently for Jaden to order her to attack. Jaden smiled as she waved her hand at Taizan, giving Rampart Gunner the signal to launch her missile-like bullets at him.
"Rampart Shot!" exclaimed Jaden.
Rampart Gunner blasted her missile-like bullets at Taizan, the explosion from the bullets causing smoke to envelop the Obelisk Blue as he yelled. Taizan fell onto his knees as his life points decreased.
Taizan:
LP
3000
"I'll finish my turn," said Jaden.
Tome had been watching the duel intently, though due to lack of experience, she had no clue what was really going on. Tome didn't know much about Duel Monsters, much like how every duelist once was.
"Amazing, Jaden-chan," Tome said before turning to the group. "So, who's winning?"
Daichi, Asuka, Shou, and Hayato looked perplexed at Tome. No…she couldn't…could she? It wasn't unheard of, but it was maybe a bit rare and this was a Duel Academy. One would think a person would pick up the rules of dueling, even one with lack of experience. Shou looked at Tome and replied to her question.
"They're tied," said Shou.
Taizan clenched his teeth as he stared at Jaden.
"As expected, she's boasting about her luck of the draw," thought Taizan. "But my draws'll be better!"
Asuka stared at Taizan as he got up from the ground, her thoughts focused on his style of dueling.
"To give Drawler an ATK, Taizan reduced his hand to zero," thought Asuka. "I've never seen a strategy like this. Is he that confident in his next draw?"
Jaden stared at Taizan, her expression neutral in wonder.
"What'll he draw?" thought Jaden.
Taizan continued to look at Jaden, his expression determined. He wasn't going to give up that easily…
"I won't draw just yet," he thought before activating the face-down he set in his previous turn. "I activate the Permanent Trap, Miraculous Draw, on my field! I'm going to guess the card I'll draw before the Draw Phase! If I'm right, I'll deal 1000 points of damage to the opposing player. If I'm wrong, I'll take 1000 points of damage."
Shou, Daichi, Asuka, and Hayato stared at Taizan in awe.
"He's guessing the card he'll draw?" said Shou.
Jaden smiled ecstatically, the explanation of the Trap card's effect piquing her interest.
"Sounds interesting!" she exclaimed. "That's an exciting Trap!"
"And there's about 40 cards in his deck…" thought Asuka.
Daichi turned to Asuka, having been thinking the same.
"That's a bit of a gamble, don't you think?" asked Daichi.
Asuka blinked and snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at Daichi. She nodded in agreement. Taizan smirked at Jaden.
"You're thinking I won't guess it right, aren't you?" asked Taizan.
Jaden just blinked and replied, "I don't know."
"Well, I know!" remarked Taizan. "I've realized the true meaning of drawing!"
Taizan reached for his deck and grasped the top card as he closed his eyes. Taizan concentrated as an image of cards flowing down the waterfall popped up in mind. One of the cards suddenly flipped over out of the many flowing down the waterfall. Taizan opened his eyes as he got a good image of the card he might draw next.
"The card I'm drawing is Card Loan!" Taizan said as he drew a card and held it up. "Draw!"
The card was held up for everyone to see and sure enough, it was Card Loan. Shou, Asuka, Daichi, and Hayato were awestruck by Taizan's accurate guess.
"He guessed it!" exclaimed Shou.
Asuka looked at the card Taizan held up in disbelief.
"No way!" said Asuka.
"That's impressive!" commented Daichi.
Hayato had managed to get a good look at Card Loan, memories of the card's effect popping up in mind.
"Another draw-related card?" he questioned.
Jaden's smile ceased as this didn't look good for her life points…
"You'll take 1000 points of damage," Taizan said as he pressed a button on his duel disk.
Blue static electricity crackled around Jaden's duel disk, shocking her left arm slightly as her life points went down. Jaden closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as she grunted in pain from the shock.
Jaden:
LP
2000
Jaden opened her eyes and scowled at Taizan.
"And I'll activate my Card Loan," said Taizan. "My opponent regains 1000 life points, while I take 1000 points of damage."
Taizan's duel disk crackled with blue electricity, shocking him like it did with Jaden. However, unlike the gender-mistaken girl, he kept his calm composure as his life points went down while hers went up.
Jaden:
LP
3000
Taizan:
LP
2000
Taizan reached for his deck as he continued to explain Card Loan's effect.
"And then, I draw one card from my deck!" Taizan said as he drew a card and held it out. "The drawn card is then returned to my deck during the End Phase."
Hayato looked at Taizan, having noticed his cards had been related to drawing.
"He's that obsessed with drawing!" said Hayato.
Asuka kept her gaze on the duel.
"He's up to something again…" she thought.
Taizan turned the card over and looked at it.
"It's here!" he said, placing the card in a slot. "Behold this draw! From my hand, I activate the Magic card, Drawber! Draw one card and I'll guess it."
Jaden drew a card, not once bothering to look at it.
"If I guess it right, all the cards on your field and in your hand are returned to your deck and shuffled!" explained Taizan.
"If he guesses right, Jaden's field will be empty!" said Hayato.
Daichi crossed his arms and placed his hand on his chin.
"But the chances of him guessing correctly again are rather slim," said Daichi.
"There's no way he can guess it right so often…" thought Asuka.
Taizan closed his eyes and concentrated again, the same illusionary image popping up in mind again like before. He opened his eyes once he gotten a good image of what the card Jaden drew was.
"It's De-Fusion!" Taizan guessed.
Jaden turned over the card in her hand and looked at it. She looked up at Taizan and laughed.
"Amazing!" exclaimed Jaden.
The card in Jaden's hand was in fact, De-Fusion. Taizan's guess was once again accurate and of course, impressive as it had Daichi, Shou, Hayato, and Asuka astonished.
"He got it right again!" said Shou.
Taizan smirked as he watched Jaden took out her deck from her duel disk. She gathered up her cards on the field and returned them to her deck as she began to shuffle them. Rampart Gunner disappeared from the field, her card having been returned to Jaden's deck.
Shou frowned as he watched Jaden put her deck back into her duel disk. Her field was now empty, which meant that she was open to any attack.
"This isn't good, Aniki…" said Shou.
"I use Drawler to attack that player directly!" Taizan said, ordering Drawler to attack Jaden. "Roller Press!"
Drawler charged towards Jaden in a manner like it did with Avian. Jaden braced herself and yelled out in pain as Drawler ran right through her. She clenched her teeth and kept her eyes as the pain coursed through her body. Simulated pain or not, it still hurt!
Jaden:
LP
1000
Jaden opened her eyes and grunted as she stared at Taizan. Taizan took out the card from one of his duel disk's slots and placed it back into his deck.
"My turn has ended," said Taizan.
Jaden looked at her deck and reached for it.
"My turn!" she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"
Jaden looked at the card in her hand and played it.
"I summon Friendog in defense mode!" said Jaden.
A black, machine-like dog appeared on Jaden's side of the field, his stance cautious and alert.
DEF 1200
"I'll finish my turn," said Jaden.
Hayato was beginning to get concerned with Jaden's current situation.
"Jaden…this is pretty bad…" remarked Hayato.
Daichi immediately turned to Hayato and hushed him.
"Shh!" hissed Daichi. "She might hear you!"
Hayato immediately clamped up, but it was already too late. Jaden had heard and it took a lot of willpower plus Winged Kuriboh's presence to keep her from snapping at Hayato. Taking a deep breath, Jaden exhaled and waited patiently for Taizan.
"This is some duel…" thought Asuka.
Shou frowned as he stared at Jaden.
"Aniki…" he murmured.
Tome looked curiously at the group and asked, "Did one of them win?"
Shou, Hayato, Daichi, and Asuka turned to Tome.
"Not yet," replied Shou.
Taizan tightened his fist and held it up as he closed his eyes.
"It's finally time…" he thought. "If I can guess the next card I'll draw right, I'll win. I'll win!"
Taizan opened his eyes and focused his gaze on Friendog.
"Her Friendog's in defense mode…" thought Taizan. "That's it! If I can draw Shield Crash, that Magic effect will destroy her defending monster. If I can do that, I'll defeat Jaden with a direct attack!"
Taizan closed his eyes and began to concentrate.
"Shield Crash…Shield Crash…" he thought as the illusionary waterfall with cards popped up in mind.
Unlike last time, the cards were all flipped over, making it quite difficult to guess which card he would draw next. Taizan growled and clenched his teeth in irritation before he opened his eyes and decided to take a chance with his guess.
"The card I'll draw is Shield Crash!" Taizan said as he drew a card.
Taizan looked at the card he drew and gasped. It wasn't Shield Crash…this took Daichi, Asuka, Shou, and Hayato by surprise as Taizan had been accurate with his guesses up till now. This had prompted the simultaneous exclamation of "He was wrong!" from the guys while Asuka just stood there, agape.
Taizan yelled as the blue electricity shocked him for the wrong guess, causing his life points to decrease.
Taizan:
LP
1000
Taizan recovered quickly and played the card he had just finished drawing.
"I summon Drone in attack mode!" said Taizan.
A strange-looking, Earth-attribute monster appeared on Taizan's side of the field.
ATK 900
Jaden grinned at Taizan, amused with what had just happened.
"I'm the one with an overwhelming advantage," stated Taizan. "No matter what happens, I will win! I use Drawler to attack Friendog! Roller Press!"
Friendog went down in a similar manner that Avian had experienced…destruction by a road roller-er, I mean, flattened by Drawler in a comical way! (7) Jaden's duel disk began to glow as her Graveyard ejected two cards from within it.
"I activate Friendog's effect!" Jaden said as she picked up the two cards. "With Friendog being sent to the Graveyard, I'll add Polymerization and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix from my Graveyard to my hand!"
"I still have another attack!" Taizan interjected. "I use Drone to attack the player directly! Drone Clone! (?)"
An eerie violet-colored aura emanated from Drone as three clones split from him and ran towards Jaden. The three clones surrounded Jaden and began to attack her. Jaden shielded herself from the punches Drone's clones threw at her. Compared to what she used to go through at a younger age, this was nothing, so she just kept her composure.
Jaden:
LP
100
"Aniki…" said Shou.
Tome looked at the group, who was currently worried about Jaden. Curiosity and lack of experience playing Duel Monsters got the better of Tome as she asked, "So, which of them won?"
Shou, Daichi, Hayato, and Asuka just sighed in exasperation as they decided not to bother answering Tome's question this time.
"I end my turn," said Taizan. "Your life points are just 100. Looks like the match is set. With this, I will have also completed my training."
"You don't get it," said Jaden.
Taizan looked perplexed at Jaden as she explained.
"You've already finished your training!" said Jaden.
Taizan's eyes widened as he exclaimed, "What?"
"You say that drawing has to do with the power of nature, but…" Jaden said as she closed her eyes and looked down, "…leaving that aside, above all, you were all excited about drawing cards until just now, weren't you?"
Taizan was speechless and just started at Jaden, agape. Jaden opened her eyes and smiled at Taizan.
"You enjoy drawing, so that's how you built your deck, right?" asked Jaden. "If that's the case, you need to be excited until the end! You shouldn't be focused on winning. That's why you were wrong just now."
Taizan scowled at Jaden.
"Don't toy with me!" snapped Taizan. "There's no way the main thing about drawing is about such nonsense!"
"It's true, you know," Jaden said, her smile never once ceasing. "Just remember the Golden Egg Bread. The god of drawing will heed to excitement!"
Jaden looked at her duel disk and reached for her deck.
"And this draw's making me excited!" she exclaimed. "My turn! Draw!"
Jaden drew a card from her deck and held it up to her face.
"This is the card your Drawler took out first," said Jaden. "It was returned to my deck and shuffled instead of going to the Graveyard. And now, he came back to me!"
Jaden turned the card over for Taizan to see that it was Elemental Hero Avian.
"What will drawing a monster like that do for you?" asked Taizan.
Jaden held up her fist as she stared at Taizan.
"It'll be something interesting!" said Jaden. "And don't doubt my Hero's capability!"
Taizan looked questioningly at Jaden as she reached for a card in her hand.
"I activate Polymerization from my hand!" Jaden said as she held Polymerization up. "I'll fuse Burstinatrix and Avian together to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in attack mode!"
Burstinatrix and Avian leapt into the air as Polymerization merged the two monsters together to bring out Jaden's signature Fusion-Monster, Flame Wingman.
ATK 2100
"What?" exclaimed Taizan.
Shou smiled as he noticed the ATK difference between Flame Wingman and Drawler.
"That's the way!" said Shou. "It's higher than Drawler's ATK!"
Jaden held up her hand in the air before she used it to direct Flame Wingman at Drawler.
"I use Flame Wingman to attack Drawler!" said Jaden. "Flame Shoot!"
Flame Wingman aimed his right arm at Drawler as a fiery blast shot out of his right hand. Flames engulfed Drawler and destroyed it, causing Taizan's life points to decrease.
Taizan:
LP
900
Taizan held up his fist as he looked at Jaden.
"All you did was take out 100!" said Taizan.
"But that's not all I did," Jaden said, smiling. "I activate Flame Wingman's effect! The ATK of the monster destroyed by this card in battle is dealt as damage to the opposing player!"
Taizan dropped his fist and frowned as his remaining life points went down to zero.
Taizan:
LP
0
"No way…" Taizan said in disbelief before falling despondently onto his knees.
Jaden smiled at Taizan as she winked at him and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Nyah~!" said Jaden. "I told ya not to doubt my Hero's capability!"
What Jaden just did was adorable and since Taizan wasn't really expecting this, he blushed slightly. He immediately looked down to hide his red face as Jaden pointed two fingers at him while she winked and smiled.
"Gotcha!" she said.
Shou walked up to Jaden and smiled at his Aniki.
"You did it, Aniki!" said Shou.
Just then, Shou remembered why he was angry a while ago before the duel had started. He turned to Taizan and glared at him as he held up his fist. Jaden blinked and placed her hand on Shou's shoulder, snapping the blue-haired Osiris Red out of his anger. He looked up at Jaden questioningly.
"It's okay, Shou," said Jaden. "It was an accident…"
Shou frowned, but just nodded as Hayato walked up to them.
"Jaden!" said Hayato.
Meanwhile with Taizan,
The Obelisk Blue punched his fist into the ground in regret for losing the duel.
"It still wasn't enough…" Taizan lamented as he continued to punch the ground. "I didn't understand what drawing was…"
Jaden walked up to Taizan and placed her hands on her hips.
"Isn't that why I said you didn't get?" asked Jaden.
"No, my training still wasn't enough…" Taizan said, his eyes beginning to waver.
Jaden closed her eyes and exhaled before looking at Taizan.
"You want to draw some Drawbread together?" Jaden asked as she held out her hand to Taizan. "Let's nab that Golden Egg Bread."
Taizan looked up at Jaden and her friends, his eyes beginning to water. It was only a matter of seconds before his emotions got the better of him and he began to cry. Tome's eyes began to water as she looked at Taizan.
"Taizan-kun…" she said.
"I really…I really wanted to eat the Golden Egg Bread, no matter what, so I climbed down from the mountains…" cried Taizan.
Tome walked over to Taizan and knelt down onto the ground in front of him. She smiled warmly at him as she placed her hand on his arm.
"Come back, Taizan-kun," said Tome.
Taizan sobbed and embraced Tome as he cried out, "Tome-san!"
Tome hugged back as Taizan began to sob. Jaden looked at Shou, Daichi, Hayato, and Asuka and smiled at them as she closed her eyes.
"Now then, let's go!" said Jaden.
Shou blinked and reached into his pocket as he pulled on Jaden's sleeve. Jaden looked at Shou as he handed her an unmarked package.
Jaden looked at the package in her hands and smiled as she walked over to Taizan and Tome. After a few moments, Taizan let go of Tome after someone tapped on his shoulder. He looked back to see that it was Jaden, holding out a package to him.
"I believe this belongs to you," said Jaden. "Here…I believe this is the Golden Egg Bread you drew…not sure, but why don't you try and find out?"
Taizan blinked and accepted the Drawbread handed to him. He stared at the package for a few seconds before opening it. He was just about to bite into the bread when he stopped and tore it in half. Jaden looked questioningly at Taizan and blinked when he held out one of the halves of the Drawbread to her.
"Huh?" said Jaden.
Taizan smiled at Jaden as he got up from the ground.
"Take it," said Taizan. "You deserve at least half of it since…"
Jaden blinked and sighed as she closed her eyes. She took the Drawbread half offered to her before she bopped Taizan over the head with her fist. Taizan yelped and looked at Jaden questioningly as he rubbed his head.
"Geez, I already said it was okay," said Jaden. "The whole 'kidnapping' was an accident…right?"
Jaden looked at Taizan and smiled. Taizan blinked and sighed…not exactly what he'd been talking about since he was referring to the wet white shirt incident…
"But whatever works!" Taizan thought as he bit into his Drawbread half.
Jaden did the same and sure enough, the Drawbread that they had shared with each other was the Golden Egg Bread. Asuka couldn't help but feel a bit jealous, though this duel did teach her something…
"I wonder…" thought Asuka.
~the next day~
Jaden had been making her way towards the store when she met up with Taizan. Despite wearing a different set of clothes than his previous, Jaden still recognized Taizan by the length of his hair and his muscles, which the male Obelisk Blue uniform he wore did nothing to hide them. Jaden had tugged on his sleeve and greeted him as she reminded him of her offer. Taizan immediately accepted since, either way, the store was where his destination was.
A few moments had passed when Jaden finally asked Taizan about something.
"What's with your long hair?" asked Jaden.
Taizan grabbed a lock of his long, black hair to look at it.
"Oh, I couldn't find a pair of scissors last night," said Taizan. "I was thinking of asking Tome-san if I could borrow a pair…"
Jaden blinked and walked in front of Taizan. Taizan stopped as the gender-mistaken girl looked him over in thought. After a full minute of this Jaden walked out of Taizan's way and gestured at him to keep walking. A question popped up in mind as Taizan wondered what Jaden had done.
"What was that about, Jaden?" asked Taizan.
Jaden shrugged and crossed her arms as she turned her head away from Taizan.
"Nothing, I was just thinking of how you'd look with shorter hair, that's all," said Jaden.
Taizan arched his eyebrow at Jaden as she looked up at him.
"You know, I think you look better with longer hair," said Jaden. "It's kinda a new look for you, don't ya think?"
Taizan blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head as he turned his head away from Jaden.
"I guess…" said Taizan. "By the way, aren't you supposed to be in Obelisk Blue?"
Jaden inhaled and let out a puff of air as she sighed.
"Long story short, the receptionist screwed up on my registration form and filled in the wrong gender box," said Jaden. "Samejima-san got the call from my dad and was about to change my dorm assignment, but I requested to stay in Osiris Red."
Taizan looked questioningly at Jaden and asked, "Why?"
Jaden placed her hands behind her head and smiled.
"Because as Shou's 'Aniki', I must act like one by staying by his side!" answered Jaden. "And if you're wondering about the 'Aniki' thing, Kaiser Ryou is never around for him most of the time, so I'm the closest thing he's got to an older brother…despite the gender difference, but that's not the point…"
Taizan nodded.
A few minutes later,
Asuka sighed and looked at the unmarked packages in the Drawbread cart with determination.
"Today…maybe today…" she thought as she stared at the many packages. "Maybe what Jaden said…was right…I wonder…"
After a few moments of thinking, Asuka inhaled and exhaled as she tightened her fists. She was going to do it…she wasn't going to hide her excitement this time! She wasn't going to depend on Jaden to draw the Golden Egg Bread and hope she'd give her half anymore…Asuka was going to try her hardest to draw the Golden Egg Bread herself.
Taizan and Jaden still haven't arrived yet, so she still had a chance. Asuka nodded and reached in for a random package and pulled out. Just then, in came Taizan and Jaden, both making their way towards the Drawbread cart.
Asuka sighed and walked away from the cart as she looked at the package in her hands. If she hadn't drawn the Golden Egg Bread yet… there was a slim chance to draw one now that Taizan and Jaden had arrived. It wasn't a surprise when she heard Jaden call out for Tome.
"Oi, Tome-san!" said Jaden. "The Golden Egg Bread hasn't shown up yet, right?"
Tome looked at Jaden and Taizan and smiled at them.
"That's right, it hasn't yet," said Tome. "Good luck!"
Tome couldn't help but giggled a bit at the eager looks in Taizan and Jaden's faces. Asuka sighed and she slowly opened the Drawbread in her hands as both Taizan and Jaden started reaching into the Drawbread cart.
"Okay, I'll get it!" said Taizan.
Asuka looked at the Drawbread in her hands and uncovered the wrapper. Asuka's excitement never once ceased, despite feeling down that Jaden and Taizan were probably, without a doubt, going to draw the Golden Egg Bread. She looked at the Drawbread and blinked as she noticed something…
"No way…" Asuka thought as her eyes widened. "Did I…?"
Asuka immediately parted the Drawbread to see the filling inside of it and then…
"I got it!" Asuka happily exclaimed as she held up the Drawbread. "It's the Golden Egg Bread!"
Taizan and Jaden immediately looked at Asuka as what she held up in her hand…was indeed the Golden Egg Bread. Asuka smiled ecstatically for once at something else that wasn't about her Nii-san. Jaden couldn't help but smile, despite feeling down at not having a chance at getting the Golden Egg Bread. Asuka was happy and hell, she deserved it after all these countless draws and tries she's done.
"I'm so happy!" exclaimed Asuka. "I did it!"
Jaden patted Taizan's shoulder reassuringly as she stared at Asuka. If Asuka kept it up with her luck…Jaden and Taizan would have competition and for a certain gender-mistaken Osiris Red…
"This might turn out interesting," thought Jaden.
Of course, Taizan will have to adjust with the competition before he could finally enjoy the excitement from it now that he had two rivals for the Golden Egg Bread. Though, even so…he's had to admit that if it had just been Jaden and himself drawing the Golden Egg Bread, it wouldn't have been as interesting as it was before. Asuka would probably agree, but most likely not as she was too busy basking in the joy of her lucky draw.
So ends another day at Duel Academy…
A/N End of chapter and yes, I FINALLY got this chapter up! I enter school this Monday, so remember, don't ask when the next chapter will be up! Be happy that the real work in school doesn't begin until at least next week, so that gives me a chance to get more typing done! Anyways…time for the little notes after this!
I'd like to thank Layne Locke for being Reviewer #60 and I'd like to say…wow, almost 70 reviews? I feel happy! XD
Anyways, sorry for the delay, but here's the funny thing…the time I actually didn't put the 'Red the Ultimate Trainer' thing was the time I actually USED the late excuse. XD I was trying to level up my Dratini, Ryou (yes, I named her Ryou and girls can be named Ryou, too! Look at Otomen, dammit and don't ask questions! DX). Also, I've recently become this certain Engloid's fangirl because of matt9five or YouTube…and the Engloid's name is…Tonio! Hey! Not my fault his voice is awesome and I can understand his English perfectly! Seriously, listen to the guy sing to Paparazzi, Bad Romance, or Poker Face…anyways, I've been also into Megpoid Gumi since her voice is so beautiful and realistic…Coward Montblanc, anyone? XD
Okay, onto the notes!
(1) Yes, a Family Guy reference…what? It seemed like a good time to use that one!
(2) That was all Hestic's idea…yeah, what would I do without her? PS, she's also the one who gave me the 'kidnapped by Tarzan' idea, so once again, the credit goes to her for the idea, the other small left over credit goes to me for typing it. Also, the white t-shirt thing was something we both came up with, she with the shirt and the water, me with MAKING the shirt white, so yeah...
(3) Quote taken from LittleKuriboh's awesome Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged series and, oh, the irony! XD Feel free to correct me if you want since I'm joking…or am I? *gets slapped* Okay…Moving on!
(4) Translation: "My brother gets the quiet guy who was previously in a coma while I get the cute spazzy girl...and she isn't even British!" Quote given by Hestic, who I thank, once again! BTW, she was making a reference to episode 12 of LittleKuriboh's Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series. And also, reason to why Winged Kuriboh was looking over his contract…you'd be to if you'd gone through all the stuff he's went through!
(5) I was so tempted to say, "What is this? Naruto?" I mean, flashback after flashback…yeah…whatever!
(6) Felt was SO tempted to say, "Roada rolla," instead of road roller…yeah…what? It definitely kicks more ass than road roller! XD
(7) Roada rolla, once again…hey! Blame the Kagamine twins/reflections (whatever they are, I don't give a damn as long as they're together!) if you have a problem with it! I just happen to love Len and Rin's pronunciation of 'road roller'. X3
(?) GymLeaderLance99 of YouTube put those there for a reason since the translation for this episode was questionable...hey! Don't blame GymLeaderLance99 for that! It's not his/her fault that he/she didn't have enough sources! So yeah! Also, I reworded some of the translations, so yeah...don't question me! DX
Also, NO FLAMES! I'm not in the mood to be flames as I already said before, school starts on Monday for me…thank god for my friends, oh, and I've recently found one of my friends on fanfiction, so say hello to ladedanixie for me! She's an awesome writer, so tell her I said hi if you ever read and review her stories! Okay, you know the drill…constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcomed (hey, I need tips on my writing, grammar, and such, dammit!) and reviews just keep me happy! Also, if you want another reason why I took long? Two words…Leather Pants…and Brooklyn Rage~! XD Okay, wait patiently for the next chapter since I don't know when it will be up!