A/N: This idea has been in my head for a very long time and i just had to let it out, yknow?

So uhh, enjoy this fic i wrote instead of the other (ill update it maybe tomorrow or when i finish proofreading it tho, dont worry)

Actually, this (and the chapter next) was part of a supposed one-shot i wrote but decided not to post it. But when i was abt to write CEOL I accidentally opened the wrong file (the one-shot this belongs to) and read it. Then i thought of converting it into a multi-shot along with a whole other myriad of ideas that flew into my head, so I reread it, added things here and there, and voila! You get this thing.

(links to the images used r at the bottom)

Enjoy!

A young, seven-year-old Serena was running. She ran as fast as she could through the corridors then to the courtyard. This whole academy was like a maze, a maze not even these Obelisk Force really know how to navigate.

But even if they were here longer than she was, she knew her way through this place like the palm of her hand… or she happened to have a map of it she had stolen.

The place was empty, the only signs of life being her and the squad of Obelisk Force chasing her. It is also dark right now, making it the perfect time to escape. All the other students were in their dorms as a storm was suspected to come.

Earlier, she had made a plan—to lock up all the Obelisk Force that'd dare to catch her in an unused classroom, after which she'd have a smooth escape; maybe even have enough time to explore more parts of the Academy while she's at it. She also had a passcode ready for the electric locks the doors use (both also stolen).

She descended from the stairs that led to the courtyard, heart pounding like the beats of drums being played. She then jumped over the bushes of the garden and continued running.

"Get back here!" She heard one of them yell but ignored it and continued running till she entered an empty unused classroom, purposefully leaving the door open for them to enter.

'C'mon, go inside. I know you guys can do it,' she thought giddily as she hid behind the door.

"In there!" One of the members went inside. 'Good, only nine more left.'

"I know you're in here, gal. Come out~!"

After a while, the rest of them went inside and went all over the place to look for her.

They made a mistake for not checking behind the door.

'7… 8… 9… 10. Yep, all complete.' She moved from the door and looked at them.

"Yo!" she yelled to get their attention. They all looked in her direction. "Pbbbbbbbbbt! Hasta luego, suckers!" She blew a raspberry at them and slammed the doors shut before locking it with the passcode.

They really could've used the time they used to catch her elsewhere, for something more productive, or find another easier way to be recognized by the Professor and be promoted to be an elite than to catch her.

But alas, one of the easiest ways was to catch her—The Professor's and Academia's so-called "Princess"; she hated that title with a passion.

"I got them." She grinned giddily before crumpling the paper with the code on it then throwing it away in a random direction. When it disappeared from her vision, she took a map from her pocket and made her way through this maze of a school. "Finally, they never leave me alone…"

Unbeknownst to her, there was a figure about her height—and possibly the same age—has been observing and following her since her escape. "So she somehow tricked the Obelisk Force, eh? She's quite interesting."

The figure smirked as he continued to follow her.

"Hmm, now that they're gone, maybe I'll explore around a bit. I hafta go to a place without any CCTV cameras, though." Serena then looked at her map, to the leftmost part of Academia, to the cliffs. 'That's it! That's where I'll go for the meantime as I don't even know how to get out of this stupid palace…'

She looked up and saw a camera with a little red light beeping on it. She smiled and blew another raspberry at it before walking away.

Meanwhile, in the Professor's throne room…

Leo sighed as he saw Serena happily blow a raspberry at them. 'This is her third escape attempt.'

He then saw another student pass by. 'Yuri?'

Said kid looked at the camera and smiled innocently, a piece of paper in his hand. 'Yes, open the door.'

Yuri just turned and blepped at the door window with the soldiers in it before he stuffed the piece of paper in one of his pockets and walked away. 'Not you too…' The Professor gave a deep sigh.

"Sir." An Obelisk soldier bowed then saluted. "Lady Serena has escaped again; we have sent a squad to go look for her."

"I know, and she somehow has them all locked up." Leo showed him the screen. The two weren't there anymore, but the faces of the soldiers—which had annoyance and nervousness written all over it—were visible at the door's little window. The door itself had one of the most sturdy electrical locks exclusive to Academia on it.

The reporter looked shocked. "H-How…?"

"She's rebellious, we all know that, but she's also quite smart," Leo told him. "She even managed to lock all these guys up, which, may I remind you, are more than twice her age! The real question is, how could they lose her?" he continued calmly.

But that calmness was what made him intimidating

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I'll send another group out, and we'll catch her this time," the reporter promised.

"Sigh… Never mind that, your efforts will all just be put to waste."

"Then who'll get her?"

"Who? The general, of course—he has a fault in this, too."

"Barrett-sama?"

And from behind the Professor's throne he appeared. "At your service, Professor." He kneeled. Barrett was a tall and bulky man with light green hair swept back and scarlet eyes with one covered by an eye patch to conceal a scar that was from long ago.

He looks scary to others, but everyone knows he's in charge of babysitting Serena and is also her bodyguard; he's usually strict with her especially when training but spoils her on some occasions.

"Can you please find her and bring her here?" Leo showed him a picture of Serena blowing them a raspberry. "After all, she is your responsibility."

Barrett looked at her, the child in the image. 'I thought you were asleep already…'

"So, will you, Barrett?"

He looked down and sighed. "It'll be done, Professor."

With Serena

As she went through the halls of the courtyard, she thought of the presence behind her that she had felt since earlier. She stopped abruptly and turned around.

When she did that, she saw a small figure that moved at the corner of her eye. 'Whoops,' the figure thought.

She raised her duel disk at that, forming the usual duel stance. "Who's there!?" she yelled.

"C'mon, show yourself! Or are ya too scared?"

'Okay, she's done it. I'm coming out.' The figure stepped out from the shadows.

It… It was a kid! What's another kid doing here, at this time and weather!?

"Heh, you're just another kid." She lowered her arm and deactivated her duel disk. "What are you doing here? Aren't ya 'sposed to be in your dorm?"

"I wanted to ask the same about you," the kid stated as he started to approach her.

As he got closer, the shape of the kid's body became clearer and sharper from head to toe–er, shoe.

Her eyes widened in realization. "You-You're Yuri! That kid the Professor took in from last time—you were the one on the bench!"

"Bingo!" Yuri smiled. "Yeah, that was me. And you're Serena, right? Academia's, what was that, 'Princess'? And most people should refer to me as 'Lord Yuri' the same way they call you, 'Lady Serena '."

"Tch, yeah, I am. And please don't call me either of that." 'And Lord? Him?' she thought and started to walk away. "I suggest you go back to your room now."

"Nah, I wanna follow you!" he told her as happily and joyfully as he could. "And don't worry, there's no way in hell I'd call you, 'Lady Serena' unless we're in front of the Professor or for the sole purpose of teasing you."

Serena rolled her eyes and turned, about to cross a bridge. "Don't," she said, not even looking back, "I'm not worth your time, and if you want to take me to the Professor, don't even try. I can both duel and fight, y'know."

Yuri just laughed at her. "I-*breathes in, then out*-like, me? I don't need to. I'm already part of his elite." He then followed her despite what she said.

This made her stop. "What!? How? Oh yeah, that's why you mentioned being called 'Lord Yuri'… but still! You looked pretty pathetic just sitting there on that bench mindlessly swaying your legs and feet around like an idiot!"

"Well, pardon me for looking so 'pathetic', Princess!" Yuri countered.

"Princess!? Oh, ho ho, you're so gonna get it, Lilly!" Serena retorted before pushing him. Hard. (A/N: Yuri's name also means "Lilly" in Japanese, if udk.)

Yuri pushed her back. "Hopefully you didn't think that I won't try to hit a girl! And don't you of all people make fun of MY NAME!"

"I expected it, you pathetic, stinkin' onion!"

"Ghh, FEEL MY WRATH, MOON GIRL! I know what your name means, too, y'know!"

Serena first put a bag she had down (it's filled with some food and a water bottle) before they started to wrestle.

"ASSHOLE!" Serena yelled.

"PILLOCK!"

"IDIOT!"

"HA! Can't you find something more original?"

"SHUT UP! I'll punch that stupid grin off your equally stupid face!"

About a few minutes later, Serena got tired of it. "Whatever, I don't have time for this." She pushed him away and took her bag, putting it on herself. Red marks small and big also donned their faces and some parts of Serena's body (Yuri's aren't seen–if he even had any–because his body was covered top to bottom).

"Why, you give up? Can't you take me on?"

She just ignored his taunts and ran. 'Good Ra, please keep him away…!'

"Come back here!"

She ran to an empty, lifeless building, then to a smaller bridge that led to a small tower.

She looked back and saw that Yuri wasn't too far behind, running after her with a weird, creepy grin plastered on his face. "Come here~!" he said all too sweetly, although some venom was clear in his voice.

"Leave me alone, bastard!"

"Not until you take back everything you said!" he growled angrily.

"Never!" She continued to run until she was at the bottom of the tower.

They met once again and fought 'till death.

Kidding. After 30-or-so minutes (Damn Barrett must be lost :P), they finally gave up on each other.

Both were panting and even more bruises were on their faces. Some parts of their clothes were even torn.

"Okay, fighting had no use…" Yuri mumbled.

Serena gave a deep, tired, frustrated sigh. "I hafta agree with you on that…"

"Anyway," she got up and dusted herself, "Imma go exploring." She went out of the tower to the rocky cliff.

"Where ya goin?" Yuri asked enthusiastically as if they weren't just beating the living daylights out of each other a few minutes ago.

Serena pointed to the very far edge of the cliff. "Over there. I wanna see the waves."

"Cool! I've been here a couple a' times; I'll come with ya." He got up, went out, then ran towards where Serena pointed. "Race you!"

"He's been there a couple of times!?" she said in jealousy. "Sigh… oh, well… I'm coming!"

The two raced one another to the edge (Serena tripped and scraped her knee and elbow at some point), laughing uncontrollably. And yes, they still somehow have enough energy for this. Kids will be kids no matter where they're from.

Yuri eventually reached the end. "I win!" He looked towards the sea. It was quite peaceful.

"Dang!" Serena punched the ground as she also reached the edge then looked at the sea as well. "Wow," was the only word that escaped her as she looked. She then watched how the waves crashed to the bottom of the cliff. The place was peaceful, as if all problems went away…

It almost made her feel like she wanted to stay.

Then, the wind…

It had a hint of salt in its scent. She could hear her heart pound heavily but at the same time, lightly and slowly.

She and Yuri then just sat there, relishing in each other's presence and at the same time, listening to the strong winds, waves, and ocean…

This place almost felt like heaven itself.

"Y'know, I go here every time I feel lonely or scared," Yuri mentioned.

"But after what happened aren't ya popular?"

"I am." He laughed. "Except… I…" 'Don't have friends…'

"What?"

"I-I don't have friends."

Serena sighed and stood up. "As a start," she reached her hand out to him, "why don't we become acquaintances?"

Yuri looked at her in shock. "Me, you, US!?"

"Why, ya have a problem with me!?"

"No," he also stood up, "I don't as you're… fun." He then smiled. "Let's be acquaintances."

They were about to shake each other's hand when Yuri slapped hers away. "I don't wanna shake your hand though. Who knows what it's touched and where it's been."

Serena just growled at him. "Fine… "

As she watched the waves below, she said, "I-I also wanna… touch the sea."

"Why don't ya?"

"I don't know how to go down; to the shallow part, at least."

Yuri smiled at her. "I know how. I've been here several times, remember? Follow me."

Serena nodded then followed him to a part that had a slope which led to a smaller part of the place and under the cliff.

"It's better to leave our shoes up here. Of course, we'll keep our discs. Now, let's hide these somewhere," Yuri said as he took his shoes and socks off and hid them behind some rocks. Serena did the same. "What about my bag?"

Yuri looked at it. "Meh, you can take that with you."

Later

"Why are there no seagulls or some kind of seabird right now?" Serena asked as they balanced themselves on the slopes. They're near the bottom.

"I think it's because a storm is coming," Yuri replied. He slipped a bit but regained his balance. "They say animals can sense if storms are coming."

"Is that so…"

They finally reached the bottom.

Serena didn't hesitate to jump on a big rock. It was slippery, making her slip. "WOAH—!"

Yuri grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "You're very reckless… Don't go near the edge; the water level is rising, so it's better to stay away."

"We went here 'cause I wanted to touch the water," Serena mentioned blatantly.

The boy just sighed at her. "Fine." He facepalmed. "Go ahead, but don't stay there too long."

Serena laughed and giddily pranced her way to the shoreline of the rock and dunked her hand in the water. She then cupped her hands making a bowl. "Can you drink the water here?"

Yuri was surprised at her question. 'Sh-She doesn't know…?' "Why don't you find out?"

She shrugged and didn't even think first before drinking it.

"PSSHHHK—" She spat the water out. "IT'S. SO. SALTY!" she yelled, wiping her tongue with her hands as Yuri cackled and laughed at her from behind so much, he fell on his but.

"Ghh… she pulled a bottle from the bag she had, took its cap off, filled the cap with water, and tried to shove it in Yuri's mouth. "DRINK IT!"

"What? No!" Yuri yelled, trying to push her away at the same time trying to pry the cup off her hands

They then spent the next few minutes fighting when Yuri sensed a presence behind them.

"Stop," he told Serena.

"Why!?"

"Shut up! I think I heard something…" He cupped Serena's mouth and shushed her. They both went silent and listened.

"It's okay, Sora-kun," they heard a faint voice say. Yuri then let her go and they both scurried and hid behind some rocks.

"But, *sob* they keep on bullying me, telling me I'm worthless *sob*…" They heard another, much younger voice utter sadly.

Looking up, they saw two pairs of legs. Probably the owners of the voices.

"Perhaps," the younger-sounding one started, "they're right, Dennis. Maybe I am worthless." A small body flew off the cliff.

Yuri's eyes widened. He activated his duel disk and summoned Predaplant Heliamphorhynchus.

"Go catch him, Helia!" he commanded, making the Rhamphorhynchus-like predap shriek and fly to Sora.

The blue pineapple-head screamed when he saw Heliamphorhynchus—its looks enough to make him almost faint.

"What is that?" Serena asked in disgust.

"It's one of my monsters," Yuri groaned. "Oh yeah, we haven't dueled yet."

At the top, Dennis looked at the Predap in surprise. 'Is Yuri here…?'

Sora landed on Helia's back and fainted.

A few minutes later…

Sora woke to see three pairs of eyes staring down on him.

"Dang, thought he died."

"What makes you think he did? I saved him."

"Shut up, both of you. Are you okay, Sora-chan?"

Sora groaned and tried to sit down but failed. "What…?"

"Well, you jumped off the cliff," Dennis started. "But our good ol' pal Yuri here caught you."

Sora looked at the purple cabbage. "Thanks…"

"Welcome. And Den-den, we aren't 'pals'," Yuri chastised.

"Oh come on." Dennis gave him a noogie.

"Hey…!"

Serena just sat there and looked at them boredly.

"And who're you?" Sora asked the girl.

"Name's Serena, little dude," she said, raising a hand to him.

"Please don't call me 'little'." Sora shook her hand. "And the Serena, like… Lady Serena!?"

"Yeah. Don't mention it, please."

"Oh, ok, then. What brings you here?"

"I planned to escape Academia but decided to explore a bit before doing so. I then met him," she pointed at Yuri who was being patted by Dennis, "on the way."

"How're you gonna escape, though?" Dennis asked as he continued to pat Yuri like a dog. The latter just sat there with a -_- face. "I didn't see any boats or ships here, and even if I did, I doubt they'll let ya ride. Last, why now? A storm is approaching."

"Yeah, I didn't plan the leaving part… And the storm's 'sposed to come during the night." Serena then stood up and took her bag. "I think I better get going; it's really getting dark."

"Aww, man," Yuri groaned as he went away from Dennis. "Stay with us!"

"Nah—!" And with that, the rain poured. Hard.

"Rain!" Yuri and Dennis yelled happily before they both jumped on some little puddles of water.

"That looks fun," Sora commented.

"C'mon, Sora, Serena!" Dennis called. "Ok…" Sora decided to jump on a puddle. Then another, and another…

He giggled like the child he was.

"Rena!" Yuri called.

"Do not call me that, I beg you," Serena warned.

"C'mon, grumpy!" Yuri said, sticking a tongue out to her.

They wrestled for the third time under the rain.

It then turned into a game of Hide N' Seek but quickly ended as there weren't many hiding places before they all decided to play tag.

They all continued to play, giggling and laughing in delight and making some unforgettable memories in the process.

With Barrett

'It's been three hours. Where could that girl even go?!' Barrett thought.

Serena was handed to him when she was about a year old. Other than being her bodyguard, he was supposed to take care of her and raise her, and because of that, she was almost his daughter.

He remembered her glaring and pouting at him when they first met. Those eyes, he remembered, shone with pure anger, for some reason, and tremendous independence; something you don't normally see in a one-year old. She was also a pretty annoying toddler and was hard to control.

Instead of treating her like a princess, though, he trained her to be a soldier and to be a fierce warrior. He thought it'd be better for Academia and Leo thought so too.

But now just showed how much of a bad idea it actually was.

Earlier he was supposed to put her in an afternoon nap. She probably did fall asleep, but he suspects she left just a few minutes after he did (he left to patrol the island then reported to the Professor).

This is basically patrolling all over again, except it's in search of that cantankerous little girl.

He was on the bridge Serena was on earlier. He then looked up when rain poured. 'Great.'

'Whose good idea was it to build this place in the middle of the ocean again…?' he thought as he looked at the cliffside.

And, under the cliffs, he saw four little figures moving about under the rain.

"And I thought the kids here knew it's not a good idea to be under the rain…" he mumbled as he went there to send them back to their dorms.

With the Four…

Yuri was the It. But instead of trying to catch the other three, he just stood there and stuck his tongue out to the rain. This is why they didn't like him as the It; it gets boring fast.

To pass time without falling for his little scheme of one of them giving up and willingly become the It, they were talking to each other.

"So, Sora, why'd you jump off earlier?" Serena asked the little pineapple.

He frowned. "Some older Obelisk boys from the boys quarters have been bullying me since I got here. They keep on making fun of me, stealing my cards, sometimes even threatening me saying they'll cut them or put it in a shredder…"

"Well, why not try fighting back?"

"I'm the smallest there, that's why I rely on Dennis and Yuri-senpai because they're strong," he explained. "I admire Yuri more 'cause he used to be bullied too, but he learned to fight back and now, even if he's also one of the youngest, he's the strongest and everybody fears him."

"I've heard from some students that Yuri's scary, but he doesn't seem to be. He probably just has a bloated ego after he defeated his bullies," Serena said nonchalantly.

The pineapple-haired boy just gasped at her. "I've never heard anyone make fun of Yuri-senpai like that before…"

"Why, did someone make fun of me? Also, Sora, you're it," Yuri suddenly stated, leaning at the rock they were hiding at.

"I'm getting bored of this," Sora groaned. But then everybody seemed to have disappeared.

He groaned again before standing up and seeing the other three look towards the sea.

He wondered what was happening before looking in the direction they were looking at.

The rain had stopped. The waters had also become calm and the sun was ebbing away, painting the sky a warm orange and red in contrast to its own yellow whilst turning the once grey clouds a bit pink. The sun also had a small, almost unnoticeable rainbow on it because of the rain.

It was a mesmerizing sight with a beauty to behold forever if they could. A sight not even the most beautiful painting could compare to.

'I could tag them, but it's enough of that for today,' Sora thought.

The next few minutes were then spent on the four of them sitting on the rocks, witnessing the scenic sunset in front of them.

Barrett was about to go down the slippery stairway-like rock path to get to the kids he had seen earlier when he himself stared at the sunset; it was the most prepossessing one he has ever seen.

'Okay, forget that…' He then descended the rock.

"Hey…" he called to them as soon as he got down. They were all on the rocks, sitting in various ways. One was standing, one was doing a cross sit, one was sitting normally, and the other… kneeling?

Serena turned and stood as soon as she heard that voice. "Barrett-sama—waaugh!" She slipped and fell in the water.

"Lady Serena!" he yelled and ran towards the water before jumping in it and saving her. Serena kept on saying something like— "IdontneedhelpIdontneedhelpIdontneedhelp" in the process.

Once she got out of the water, Barrett carried her back to his dorm to get her and himself changed and bathed before putting her back in her own room. They were both drenched, Serena more than he was.

"Poke poke," Yuri said happily as he poked Serena with a stick. "You look cute when you're pouting!"

"Sigh… aren't you boys supposed to go back to your rooms?" Barrett asked the three other gremlins that were following him.

Yuri, Dennis, and Sora decided to follow them. Yuri found a stick on the way and kept poking Serena's cheek with it.

"Give it to me!" Serena finally snapped, trying to snatch the stick.

Barrett pulled her back. "You guys were under the rain; you might get sick, so I suggest you go back to your dorms."

"Nah, I'm, I mean, we're almost dry, see?" Sora happily announced, showing Barrett his indeed almost dry shirt. "It should dry up soon. And, well, I don't wanna go back to the boys' quarters…"

"Why?"

"He keeps getting bullied," Dennis explained. "He relies on Yuri and I to help him. Yuri doesn't care and usually ignores him, of course, but I do my best. Often though, my best isn't enough."

Barrett sighed. "Alright, then. Why don't you four—this means including you, Serena—stay in my place tonight? Plus, I might need to give you all some first aid." He looked back and saw the scrapes on their bodies, with Yuri and Serena having way more, for some reason.

"Really?" Sora asked, eyes beaming.

"Of course," Barrett happily answered. "The Professor probably won't like it, but it's just one night, so it should be fine."

The three boys all responded with a "Yay!" or "Yeah!" before running around and following him.

Serena envied the sight. "Barrett-san can you put me down, please?" she begged.

"As long as you won't run away."

"For this one time, I promise," Serena promised.

"Fine." Barrett reluctantly put her down. But as soon as he did, she went over to a long branch on the ground and sparred with Yuri with Dennis and Sora being referees.

Barrett couldn't wait to just get this all over with. Don't get him wrong, though; it was nice seeing Academia's youth just hanging out with each other casually.

After all, the fun won't last long for them as they'll grow up eventually and might forget what fun felt like.

A/N: Like it? Not? Lemme know by leaving a review—i rlly appreciate them. Also i need a better title :P

Ciao~!

-01, out!

First image: zerochan. net/ 2981546

Second: zerochan. net/ 2065266

(Remove the spacing cause ffn is bein a bitch and modifies whatever link i add so i have to re-edit it myself)