"I better go." I say, and run off back to the academy, my lips still tingling from the rare contact. Did I just kiss Zane? Or did he kiss me? Is there any difference? Does that mean anything? Or was it just a one off? Does he like me? Do I even like him that way, I mean ARGH! I hate my mind sometimes. I really need to stop with the questions. Literally, my head's exploding with them. To get the answers I always need to wait, so I seriously need to try to hold them back before the answers can come.
I need to focus on Jaden. I still don't want to use Adynn, but I may have to cos Jaden's definitely going to pull out all the stocks. I need to cut off his supply of monsters somehow…
"Hey Azure!" I look over to the entrance of the obelisk blue dorm and see Alexis coming over to me.
"Congrats on the win!" She tells me. "Absolutely amazing! I'm hoping you beat Jaden…he beat me so… plus we really need a female victor. There hasn't been one in like the last 8 years or something."
"Yeah, but Jaden's pretty good. I'm going to go over to the medical wing, I think I need to talk to Thomas…" I say, looking at my feet nervously.
"Oh of course… he's your older brother, isn't he." She says slightly awkward.
"There's no need to feel awkward, when our parents split he went with my father, and Hunter and I stayed with mum." I say, not wanting her to be uncomfortable.
"Okay, have you seen Zane? I think he went to look for you." She asks and I can feel myself blushing.
"Yeah, he was over by the lighthouse, I should go." I say, looking down to hide my blush and running to the medical wing, flinging a wave over my shoulder as I go.
"Oh, Azure! How are you feeling? Any more headaches or dizziness?" Nurse Fontaine asks me as I enter the medical wing.
"Um, no, thank you for that, but I was actually here to see Thomas." I say smiling slightly.
"Oh, your brother. He's over there, I think he must have committed too much to your duel together, really took something out of him." Nurse Fontaine says scratching her head. Or I took something out of him.
"Thanks." I say quietly, and head over to his bed. He's lying down, obviously sleeping, his hair still messy from the duel.
People can often see the few similarities between us, his hair a shade or two lighter than mine, the same nose and face shape… but his skin is tanned, and he's quite short for his age, unlike my tall frame. Hunter has green hair… as in the shade hunter green. He has my pale skin, the same nose, is tall and quite broad as well. His eyes are the same colour as his hair as well. People always seem to guess that we're related.
I stand staring at Thomas for a few minutes, then go to call Hunter. Because, I honestly have no idea what to do when he wakes up.
"Hello?" I hear Hunt's voice clear and turn to the screen.
"Hey Hunt!" I say smiling broadly at his dirty face and greasy hair. "When did you last have a shower?"
"Haha, very funny Az, but I've been working non-stop here in Shang Hai. How's that tournament going? Duel Academy right?!" He replies grinning.
"Yeah, I just got into the final against this amazing Duel Academy kid. Erm… actually, that's what I needed to talk to you about." I say, suddenly nervous.
"Sure, what's up?" Hunter asks concerned.
"Um, my semi-finals duel, was against Thomas Vinter." I say, feeling slightly breathless, and Hunter's face darkens.
"So, he goes to duel academy?" He says, keeping his face as straight as possible. I nod.
"I won, but Hunt, he's in the medical wing, I lost it and now I don't know what to do cos-" I start explaining very quickly and my breaths become ragged.
"He's in the medical wing? How bad is it? Is he un-"
"Unconscious, yes, and he has some bad bruising on his back from where he hit the wall. Nurse Fontaine says he should be waking up sometime tomorrow-"
"How bad did you lash out? What did you say-"
"I just blamed him for why mum is such a mess and-"
"Was such a mess, Az. She got through it. You should probably hear what he has to say about it before saying any more. You have to be careful with your… power, the people said-"
"I know what they said Hunt." I interrupt again. I know, a sentence never gets finished in our house.
"Thomas is logical, Hunt. I don't want to talk to him." I mumble, only just audible.
"I know Az, but he is still our brother. Though a crappy one who left with our fucking amazing father." He replies, but I know he'll be clenching his fists on the other side, and will probably go ahead and punch the wall once I'm gone.
"Okay. I miss you; I'll call you once this stuff is over. Have a lovely time in Shang Hai. Bye." I say sadly, and he waves before I end the call.
"Hey Azure!" As I walk to the library I hear Jaden call out to me.
"Jaden!" I say smiling. "Congrats on your win earlier!"
"You too! Looks like we'll be facing off! Do you want to come watch me and Sy duel?" He asks smiling.
"Jaden! She'll be able to see your battle style!" Syrus argues, and I smile at him.
"Syrus, I've already watched all his duels in the tournament, so it's a bit late for that." I tell him. I should probably try and see this. Not because of Jaden, but I need to work out what's with Syrus' duelling.
"I'd love to Jaden." I say, and I follow them out. They bring me to a small, red brick building, and I frown at the difference from the obelisk blue dorm.
"So Sy, it's time to get your game on!" He shouts cheerfully, and they activate their duel disks. I watch the duel with a keen eye, trying to figure out what he meant about Syrus' duelling. I can see him thinking out careful attacks, but doubting everything he does, making him fall into careless mistakes. And when that happens, he has so little self-confidence he stops trying. I'm starting to wonder whether he would have conceded if Jaden hadn't made him keep going.
"Bubbleman, why don't you finish this duel up!" I hear Jaden chant, and Syrus' life points go to zero. That was probably one of the most one-sided duels I've seen. Syrus fell into every single trap Jaden put out, and his self-doubt handled all the rest of it for Jaden. He's not playing the cards right at all! He's not thinking things through, he's just summoning monsters and ordering attacks.
"I'm hopeless Jaden, you should probably practice against someone else." Syrus mumbles sadly.
"Nonsense Sy! Your monsters are awesome, you just need to think things through a little more, and really give it your all!" Jaden counters respectfully, and I walk up to them.
"Sy, all you need is a little confidence! No one's hopeless!" I add, smiling shyly. No one's hopeless once they've realised how to play a card, not just use it. I think sourly.
"Well, thanks for the show Jaden, I guess I'll see you at the duel tomorrow!" I say, turning to leave.
"You better bring you're a-game Azure, cos I'm in it to win it!" Jaden shouts as I walk back to the Obelisk Blue dorm. Syrus is a tough one. I don't know how anyone could get him to see what duelling's about. I'm guessing there's some history between him and Zane that gives him the self-confidence issues. Hopefully that's something Jaden can work up.
Speaking of Jaden, watching him duel again gave me the perfect strategy to work with. He uses good monster cards and traps mostly as his game style. So a continuous spell that stops him from playing as many monster cards should do the trick. I need to go first, but I have a feeling he'll let me. Luckily I have the perfect strategy formed, except for the fact I'm probably going to have to make a few adjustments, cos knowing Jaden, he'll do something completely unexpected.
I get back to the dorm room, and find it empty of Lisa, but Camilla is already sleeping. I sit down on my bed and start to arrange my deck, adding in a few crucial cards that I'll be counting on Adynn to help me draw. I sit cross-legged on my bottom bunk, with my cards arranged neatly on top of the sheets, and scratch my head in uncertainty. The door opens but I manage to keep my eyes trained on my cards.
"Oh, so you're not even going to fucking look at me. Great." Lisa says sourly. I ignore her comment, though I can already feel myself shaking slightly. About 3 minutes pass before another word is spoken.
"That Jaden kid may only win with luck, but he's still leagues better than you." She says, but it's obvious her confidence has lowered considerably since her encounter with Zane and Alexis.
"Which I guess means he's millions of leagues better than you." I almost snap the words out, and I'm surprised by myself. Shit! Why did I say that? Now she's going to hit me again, or worse, and I know I can't stop it!
"You still dare to speak back to me?! One puny duel that I wasn't even trying to win, doesn't make any difference to the higherachy!" She spits, and I hear her footsteps closing in on me. I keep my mouth shut and find my eyes stuck on my cards, unable to look her in the eye. "You somehow squirmed your way into Zane Truesdale's good books, but he's mine! He likes me, but is too shy to do anything about it! He likes me-"
"No he doesn't." I say before I can stop myself. She looks outraged. "He doesn't like you. Not in that way at least."
"And how would you, a pathetic nobody know anything about Zane Truesdale-"
"I guess it would be because he kissed me today." I say, suddenly defensive. What am I doing? This is going to get me killed! She's going to strangle me, and I don't even know what I'm talking about and this isn't going well at all!
"What?!" She says in disbelief.
"He kissed me. After I won against Thomas Vinter." I say nervously, and I feel my heart beat rising in panic. It's nearly 10 now, and most people will be asleep.
"You're lying. Someone so great wouldn't have any interest in scum like you." She spits out, but it has an unusual tone of anger, and jealousy. I stay silent, unsure of what to say. Is there anything I could say to get me out of this situation? Come on, there must be something I could say! She's just going to carry on, Alexis and Zane aren't always around to help, and I'm hopeless on my own and-
"You liar!" She snarls and shoves me backwards into my bottom bunk. I hit the wall, and a hard metal pole sticks into my back, running vertically against the wall. She messes up all my neatly arranged cards, scattering them onto the floor. Then she storms into the bathroom, and my head rolls onto my shoulders. At least all she did was shove me. I carefully gather up my cards into a neat stack. Luckily I have an extremely good memory, so the fact she messed them up didn't do much damage.
Soon I've got my adapted deck in my holster, but I'm not going to sleep. And I don't want to be here when Lisa comes out of that bathroom. I wearily slip open the window and slide through it. Not bothering to be as cautious as before, I walk to the port, pondering over Lisa. Did I just stand up to her? I mean, it wasn't exactly significant… still gave me a bruise. I rub my back where I hit the pole subconsciously. Unlike the other times, I go straight to the lighthouse, and sit down on the edge, letting the waves tickle my toes.
"Azure. I was hoping you'd come again." I turn from my sitting position to see Zane walking up the stone pier to meet me. I blush at the thought of the last time I saw him. I stay silent and look towards the sea.
"Is something the matter?" His low voice rustles through the wind.
"My deck's ready for Jaden. And I watched him and Sy duel." I say, looking out to the sea. "I see what you mean. He doesn't see duelling right." Zane stays silent for a few moments, so I speak again.
"But in order for him to see how to play the cards right… you're going to have to do something yourself." He grunts disapprovingly, and I stand up.
"It's not just him not seeing… it's his self-doubt, his low confidence. And it seems it comes from him thinking he's a disappointment to you." I say concerned.
"He is." He says shortly.
"But do you even want him to get better? Become an amazing duellist?" I ask, suddenly doubtful of Zane's feelings.
"Of course, he's my brother. But he should learn it himself." He says, and I see a streak of stubbornness coming through.
"Did you honestly get here completely on your own? " I ask, now trying to convince him to take action. "I know I didn't. Hunter helped me, my teachers…" My teachers who I just forgot I can't mention but…
"…my opponents… even Tom… though I'm not sure what to think of that. But with Sy… it started, with you. It's obvious you're going to have to play a part in ending it." He stares at me for a few seconds, then pulls his arm around me sensitively.
"Do you have to be right?" He asks, obviously unhappy with my verdict. I smile before I can stop myself. I like being in his arms. They're comfortable, and warm unlike how he first appears. Is this what it's like to like someone this way?
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