Thanks a lot for the reviews, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter IV
Pitfall
The darkest hour of the night, Shou and Judai stand in front of the infamous abandoned dorms, a chill runs down Shou's spine, even more when they light the ground. A rose stands there.
"Ieek! Who brought this here?!" the blue-haired jumps back.
"Hm… Maybe a ghost!"
"Don't say this!" he shrieks hoarsely, his friend grins from one side to the other of the face. Having some fun teasing him.
They're both startled when a flashlight catches them, someone comes at soft and calm steps, the illumination was so bright it blinded their eyes for a moment until she approached.
"Asuka?!" Judai exclaimed in confusion "What are you doing here?!"
"What are you both doing?" she retorts in a stern tone. "This area is off limits. It used to be a dorm, but some students went missing." she turns around, to not look at them.
"So the missing students' story is real…?"
A scowls trails a wrinkle on her forehead, whirling back and flashing the light upon them once more, her tone is a cold warning:
"You don't know anything about this place… There are even rumors about shadow games happening here, this is not a place either of you should be!"
"S-Shadow games? Don't tell me this and the missing students are linked…" Shou's right foot is already sliding back, ready to run if necessary.
"I don't know, but you two should stay away from here, this place is prohibited, if you're caught, it won't be good."
"You still didn't answer us, Asuka!" Judai contested with a slight furrow on his brows "Why are you here? And why are you so stressed about this dorm?!"
Her mouth opens in shock for a brief moment, then she closes it, turning around, avoiding all eye contact with them.
"This place is dangerous, it's not just a tale and it's closed for a reason… I know because… One of the missing students here, he's my brother…"
They are flabbergasted, their eyes opening wide with the revelation. Judai casts a glance to the side, to the rose dropped there at the ground. It takes a second to conclude she was the one putting it there.
"You two would rather not do anything you'll regret later."
Her face moves a bit to the side, but it wasn't enough to see her full profile and without more words, they watched silently as she left. Exchanging a glance before flashing their lights to the entrance of the dorms.
"I didn't know this was why she and my brother were…" Shou mumbles saddened.
"What did you say?"
"Ah, nothing." he shook his head "Aniki, this is even more scary now! Do you really think the shadow games are related to the missing students…?"
"Well, we will only find out once we go in there…"
The blue-haired teen stares at the ominous building, diving into a trance, that place smelled like problem from top to bottom, his eyes blink twice, when a voice calls him out from afar:
"Shou! Are you not coming?!"
Judai waves his whole arm, he's already waiting at the doorstep of the place, Shou frets and quickly crosses the limits of the area, running after his Aniki.
From the woods, Asuka observes as they both enter there, a deep sigh, they didn't listen to anything she said and of course, she wouldn't trust them enough to tell them why exactly she was out so late at night.
A branch crackles behind her, her body instantly reacts by spinning around and setting the light, hectically moving it in all directions to catch the culprit. From beyond some trees and bushes, she sees a familiar face.
"Rie…?"
Her brows arch puzzled, the pink-haired girl had such a pale complexion and used an arm as a shield for her eyes. Asuka lowers the light, that's all she needed now, another person amidst the forest.
"What are you doing here?!"
She takes her PDA from the pocket, typing a message, insecurity and certain wariness on her face as she showed the screen:
"I saw you coming out of the dorms late and… I followed you."
"Why did-"
Before she has time to complete that sentence, a tall shadow appears behind her, scaring both girls, it's a bulky man in dark clothes, wearing a duel disk and a mask to hide his eyes and nose, he smirks evilly, covering Asuka's mouth first and grabbing her high, she struggles to get free from his grip.
Rie drops her PDA and grabs his arm, pulling it, but he simply pushes her with his other hand, she is easily knocked back, hitting her head, sliding down the trunk, falling on her bottom.
Her eyes blink slowly, a feeling of dizziness running through her body, her limbs becoming numb, her hand makes an effort to reach out as she sees the strong man throwing an unconscious Asuka over his shoulder.
He takes a look at her and grins, approaching menacingly, her other hand grabs the amulet given by her uncle, dark energy emanates from it, a second and it revolves around her. One of the stones in the amulet cracks.
The strange man gasps, the dark energy sips underneath his mask and he stumbles a step around, walking off towards the dorms, as if Rie's existence was erased from his line of vision. She can see the building vaguely in the distance, her sight becomes blurry and she finally gives in to the world of darkness under her eyelids.
The man takes Asuka inside the abandoned site and puts her inside a coffin, his job: to duel Judai Yuki and make sure he gets a lesson and scares him with darkness games. When the two meet, it's easy to bait the boy into a duel by showing his friend.
Far away from there, Daitokuji sits on his chair inside the small room he has in the Osiris red dorm. He looks at some archives in his personal computer, Pharaoh nested on his lap, sleeping soundly. A current of electricity pierces his brain, his breath hitches in his throat, the cat awakens and meows at him.
"I'm sorry for waking you up, buddy… I just got this bad feeling… That something is about to happen…" he pets the animal, soothing it, receiving a concerned meow as response. "You're right… Maybe I should…"
He continues his tranquil petting, his lenses not showing his closed eyes anymore. He is sure the boys went to the dorms and he purposefully let them be, knowing well what they would find there, however… Something else bothers him.
Nearby there,
Edo threads carefully to not make any noise. He never knew it before, but getting his fans to talk and gossip about the school grounds was one of his best ideas, they immediately spilled the beans and told every sort of rumor, including the one of the shady abandoned dorms in which some students supposedly went missing.
Normally, he'd not bother going to such a place, but with Saiou's predictions that those cards and this island are under some sort of powerful influence, he's sure it's possible to find clues about what he is searching for.
His eyes sharpen, he has it in sight, however, he stops after hearing footsteps sound from the side, a shadow coming out of the bushes, he immediately turns off his flashlight, but it's too late.
"I already saw you, Edo Phoenix. What are you doing here this late at night?"
The person comes closer and stops in front of him, the flashlight pointed at his face. It's none other than Ryou Marufuji, the honor student, the evanescent illumination of the moon making an angled dark shade form across his face. His gaze is acute and seemingly inquisitive, distrustful of the boy's intentions.
"I could ask you the same, senpai." he replies indifferently "But can you please avert this light from my face?" he complains putting a hand in front of his eyes and turning his face away scornfully.
The blue-haired boy casts the light down, an aloof expression as he stares at the newly admitted student, there was some air of superiority soaring around the Kaiser now, he can get why people gave him the nickname.
"You shouldn't be out at night, it's against the school rules."
"If the best student in the school can, I'm sure they can make an exception for a special case like me." he spits sarcasm, protesting against the other.
"I see. It seems I was right in the end, you do have your own agenda by coming to this school, don't you?" his strict orbs squint even more, defying Edo.
"This guy means trouble… How could I run into him out of all the people…?" he thinks to himself, a drop of sweat forming on his face.
"I will be quiet about you if you are quiet about me, how about we keep it at that?" He opens his arms, offering a peace treaty, his eyes probing the other. "Or are you telling me you do have some sort of privilege that allows you to be out at night?"
"You're lucky I'm not interested in ruining your career. Fine, but I want to ask you something else." he sighs in defeat, impatiently rushing to the next topic, the main reason why he is willing to end the previous subject here "Have you seen Asuka Tenjouin?"
Edo stares blankly at him, as if he has no idea why he's asking this, he feels like he is missing information, clearing his throat, before adding in a low voice:
"That blonde girl who scolded you earlier…"
Edo is struck by surprise for a moment, his eyes opening slightly, he was asking it very seriously, so it must be important.
"No, I can't say I have." he almost stuttered, impressed at the question, he hears a heavy sigh coming from the other. "What? Did your girlfriend dump you? Though, out of all the students here, you're the last one I expected to see having secret encounters with girls during the night…"
"She's not my girlfriend. And you could learn how to shut your mouth sometimes about things you do not understand."
"What exactly do I not understand? You're meeting a girl late at night and when she doesn't come, you are here in the middle of the woods searching for her." he looks around "It sounds pretty clear to me the involvement you two have…" his arms cross, he is not losing that fight.
"The reason why this said girl didn't appear in our 'secret encounter' could as well be you." Ryou's voice is placid, but he can sense some grudge in it "Because you opened your mouth and poked her wounds without a hint of what's going on. Some tactfulness wouldn't hurt."
"Me…?"
His arms uncross in an instant, his eyes again opening wide as if he heard the most absurd thing in his whole life. True enough he was known for making bashing other duelists a staple, nonetheless, he doesn't recall saying anything out of the ordinary that would cause such a trauma on her. Maybe she should learn to not be this sensitive.
"Forget it. This doesn't matter right now. We have to find her." Ryou shakes his head in a negative way, grumbling in disgruntlement.
"We?"
"Yes." he points the flashlight to Edo's eyes to pressure him "We are going to do this now."
He turns the light away from Edo's eyes, the silver-haired is cursing him inwardly at this point, he can see it in his blue orbs burning fiercely.
"Great, now I have to help find his princess." He mutters grumpily. That expression of dissatisfaction changes to utter bafflement as he looks over Kaiser's figure.
"There's something shining there…" he points somewhere behind the blue-haired boy.
"You're not gonna trick me like this." he scowls at the attempts of fooling him and escaping the task of finding the girl.
"I'm not trying to run!"
He claims, walking fast towards the direction he pointed, Ryou just follows, they're both stunned upon seeing a PDA just like their standing on the ground, the screen still shining from a fresh message sent just seconds ago, the sender makes them even more curious, Daitokuji.
"Rie-chan, are you still awake? Remember the curfew rules. I just texted to check if everything is fine with you, girls need to sleep properly, so take care." he hands it to the Kaiser for him to read it too.
They scan the surroundings with their flashlights the minute after reading this and exchange a concerned glance until they find the unconscious girl, her back supported on a tree trunk, her head tilted to the side.
"Why is she also here?" Ryou asks his mind in a loud voice.
"I don't know…" Edo kneels and checks her pulse on her neck "But she's still breathing, just seems to have fainted…" his eyes scrutinizes the vicinity for vestiges, nothing seems to stand out besides the girl. "Hey, wake up." he swings her shoulder as soft as he can manage.
Her eyelids open slowly, her vision switching between pure black and two silhouettes, one closer and someone standing, she opens her lips taking in a deep breath, the back of her head hurts, she winces while putting a hand on the pained area, strands of her hair draping down her shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
Edo offers a hand to help her up after standing on his own, she looks around scared before accepting the help and immediately walks a step ahead her eyes don't focus on them but seeks something amidst the greenery.
"Are you searching for this?"
Ryou presents her PDA on one of his hands, she reluctantly gets it, looking at them both somewhat lost.
"So, would you tell us what you're doing here this late, missy?" Edo crosses his arms, his lips almost pouting while forcing certain urgency in getting an honest answer.
She fidgets and types a message, Edo taps his finger on his arm, wondering what she's writing, she finally shows the display to both of them abashedly and a tad worried about their reaction.
"I saw Asuka-san leave the dorms, so I followed her."
"Wait, so you saw Asuka?!" Ryou jumped closer in a second "Where is she? And what happened to you two?"
"I don't know, when I approached her to ask what she was doing, a strange masked man came and attacked us… I think he took her…" she hesitates typing the last part.
The two boys exchange a dire glance, frowning at the last part, the fists of the Kaiser clench, his teeth too, this nervousness is an unusual sight for both of them, he simply cannot control himself, grabbing the shoulders of the pink-haired girl firmly, his aggressiveness pushes her back a bit, his tone is demanding.
"Rie, this is important, do you know where that guy took Asuka?!"
"Hey!" Edo pulls his shoulder a bit back, a berating glare at Ryou, his eyes averting to the girl in a signal to show some more manners.
The blue-haired finally notices upon looking at the frightened expression on the girl, his hands slipping away from her and he steps back, whisked by the sudden burst on his temper.
"I'm sorry." he tones down his voice, his natural loudness and tranquility coming back "Do you know where that guy took Asuka?" he repeats the question slower, and also afflicted.
She nods faintly and stares across the woods, her lips curve down, a dreadful gleam in her eyes, her hand trembling as she points at the location she saw the man going to: the abandoned dorms. Ryou gulps, his mind making a net of possibilities until he concludes something.
"The abandoned dorms…? So she likes to adventure in dangerous places, huh? I didn't expect that." Edo breaks the tense mood with an inopportune comment, the other boy glares at him in some sort of enmity. "What now?"
"If Asuka was really nearby here, this is your fault too."
He walks ahead, not explaining what he meant and having no intention of dwelling in the topic. Edo is flabbergasted at his inability to socialize and how his humor is damp whenever that blonde girl is involved. And he denies that he is her boyfriend? There's something very iffy about them.
"Are you alright?" he quickly checks on the other girl, she nods softly "Look, I don't know why you would follow someone around, but you should go back to your dorm."
He follows behind the Kaiser, but soon another pair of footsteps tags along, he looks back, the pink-haired girl joined the excursion too. He rolls his eyes around, this is all that was left to happen, not only he was caught, but he found out he might not be the only one with secret plans around here and it just so happens they're all bound by this little secret they share now of breaking rules.
They finally catch up to Ryou, he stands in front of the keep out sign and checks a last time if anyone is there, his eyes flashing to where the other two are.
"You're both coming? You don't need to do this, just go back to your dorms, we can talk about this incident tomorrow."
"I will go too. It's my fault she got caught." her eyes flicker somewhat guiltily with the message. "I didn't… I couldn't stop him."
Ryou's brows curl upwards in compassion, of course he was worried about Asuka, but Rie also must have had her own dose of distress, not only today, but with all the bullying too. His mouth opens to say something, but the silver-haired is faster:
"Maybe next time you both should try not getting out of the dorm late at night. That said, I don't think some crazy guy kidnapping someone is your or her fault. We don't know their intentions either, so we should hurry."
He proceeds, jumping over the off-limits tape, looking back aiming his flashlight at the other two who simply watched him do it.
"I'm amused you're the first one to take the initiative, and here I thought you disliked Asuka."
"Does it matter who I like or not in those situations? He kidnapped someone. A criminal is a criminal, and I won't let a guy like that go unpunished."
His fists clench the flashlight unwittingly, that sentence brought a deep, somber shade to his frown, his eyes concentrating on the building ahead.
Meanwhile
A world of darkness surrounds her. Asuka rubs her eyes after sitting, but there isn't a ground, just black matter everywhere, her eyelids become heavier and she dreams with a memory of long ago…
She is arriving at the school grounds for the first time with the ferryboat, but she's not a student yet, this is around the time…
"Asuka!" a loud, cheerful voice startles her, Fubuki waves with both arms from distance.
"Brother…?" she tilts her head confusedly, blinking twice. "This is… not…"
"You have to see the academy, Asuka! It's so great here! There are many strong duelists too and the classes can be a bit boring, but I have so many fans, cute girls too!"
He rushes to her side and spouts a lot at once, she shakes her head slightly, still dazed by the situation, then she smiles faintly, as if reliving the emotions of the memory she's stuck in.
"You better show me everything this place has to offer, because I'll soon come here too, Fubuki." she chuckled enthusiastically.
"Let me guide you, then, my little queen!" He puts an arm in front of his chest and bows like a gentleman, spreading his other arm towards the path out of the harbor.
He makes a tour through the island, showing the obelisk dorms, the main building and all facilities, he always gets lots of attention from girls and beckons happily while stopping occasionally and bragging about how he's showing his little sister the place.
"Ah, there's also someone I want you to meet! He's my bro and he's an incredible duelist!"
She tries to portray how a bro would look like, but imagining two Fubukis side by side laughing just makes her grimace with the idea. They walk to the lighthouse, it's still bright daylight, but there is only a single person standing there.
A tall boy, his dark-blue hair was quite catchy to the eye, his expression was somewhat strict and aloof, his arms folded and his back straight, there was elegance in his posture, something that got her lost in thought for a moment, an aura he emanated.
"Yo! Ryou!" He greets with the same energy he had when receiving his sister.
"Fubuki! You're late, I thought you would-"
He stops just for a couple seconds upon seeing the young blonde girl, then averts his eyes to his friend continuing:
"Did you forget our duel again?"
"Ah, my bad, my bad! I was showing my little sister around!" He uses both hands to make the introduction more frilly, she casts an annoyed glance at him. "Ryou, this is my beloved younger sister, Asuka! She says she will come to the duel academy too, though we might be in our last year by then!"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ryou Marufuji. Your brother talked a lot about you."
He just offers a brief handshake, his cold approach intrigues her, not until the clown looks at them both with a smirk and puts a hand around his sister's shoulder.
"He may look icy like this, but he's quite the charmer, what do you think about him Asuka?" He elbows her lightly.
He giggles already scheming some of his strange plans to make his sister find a pair, a vein pops on her forehead, she purposefully ignores him and continues:
"My brother also talked a lot about you. How's the academy life? I hear only the best can stay in obelisk, but given both you and my brother have this uniform, that means you're both doing well, right?"
"Don't ignore me." They hear him whining in the background.
"The system of colors is but a way to make students motivated to improve. I can't say much about other dorms, but the obelisk has quite the fame. I'm sure there are interesting duelists everywhere if you can find them."
"You're both so cruel! Don't go all lovey-dovey without me now! I brought you both together."
He whimpers, his fists closing almost throwing a tantrum while sticking his head in between them to be heard, the other two just sigh in dismay, despite it not being the initial intention some sort of bond through understanding how it is to deal with Fubuki is born right there.
"Thank you for taking care of my brother." She bows slightly and as composed as she can.
"He also takes care of me despite being a dork."
"I'm the best dork!" He protests with blazing eyes, then turns to Asuka to blabber more "Asuka, he may say that, but he loves me! I'm like, his best friend here! Everyone else was too afraid to talk to him, only me, the great King Fubuki with a big heart peeled the layers of coldness wrapping the heart of my friend! He's such a nice guy too when you get to know him!"
He raises his head and nose high, proud of his deeds, Ryou simply scoffs at the joke of his friend, such a tiny smile on his lips that the blonde wondered if he even knows how to do it.
"Yes, you're on a league of your own, Fubuki." The blue-haired said bluntly, tapping his friend's shoulder once. She was not sure if that was supposed to be a compliment.
"Ryou! We have to show her around! Come, let's take her to the duel arena and have our duel!" He swung his fists hopeful, like a child pleading to go to their favorite ride in the amusement park.
"Sure." He shrugged off.
As they walked up the hill and towards the main building, they heard loud squeaking noises, a wave of fans came running and in a second, Fubuki was surrounded, the other two stranded from him, a swarm of girls in love with their idol separating them.
He sent kisses with his hand and gave some autographs while giving his attention to the girls while the other two stood in place both bored and a tad bothered. Some girls passed by and chuckled while looking at Ryou too, then more girls passed by and waved their hands to greet the bluenette.
"Hi!" They said, their cheeks cherry-red, Ryou simply raised his hand, unsure of what to do Asuka followed them with eyes hearing their squeals and whispers "Kyah, he talked to me!"
He had such a troubled expression and stared deeply into the sea of fangirls, his eyes almost panicked as if he wanted to just find the nearest hole to hide, the girls also had a hard time approaching him enough it seems as if they were afraid, the constant frown between his brows looked like it was sculpted into his face ever since he came to the world. She couldn't help but chuckle, it got louder and became a laughter, stopping when a pair of eyes alerted her.
"Sorry, it's just… You and my brother are so different… I was wondering how you are good friends. He wouldn't stop talking about you during the visits, but I suppose he is someone easy to befriend." She smiled joyfully.
"Yeah, he is." His earlier tension seemed to dissipate after seeing that.
"He's just a bit airy…" her brows furrowed worriedly after taking another peek in how Fubuki seemed to not be done with his fangirls yet "I wish he would take things seriously sometimes…"
"He may look like a frisky goofball, but he's someone who dedicates himself to his goals wholeheartedly."
The honesty in his words assured her heart that Fubuki was doing well in school, or at least, that he had found a friend and all the popularity he wanted. That was the first time she met Ryou. Thinking now, he also changed a bit from back then, but Fubuki…
"I see you two are getting along well!" He interrupts the moment, his arm going around Ryou's shoulder, a hand on his chin and a shrewd, mischievous gleam in his eyes and smirk "So, what do you think about my sister, Ryou? Don't you want to date her?"
"Fubuki!" He exclaims apprehensively, almost stuttering, his eyes popping out and his color changing gradually to a bright red.
"What? Isn't she cute? I give my approval for you two, but only once she comes to the academy, alright? You'll need to wait a bit." He feigns confusion while blinking innocently at his friend.
"Brother…" she clutches her fist, a nerve snapping out as she closes her eyes angrily and delivers a clean blow to the middle of his face.
"Ouch! Asuka! Why are you being so mean, I was just-"
"Stop fooling around! What are you even saying?!"
Ryou observes amused the siblings quarrelling and tries to calm them down, that memory etched into one of the departments in her brain saving in the category of: "Fubuki is being a clown again".
The scene distances from her sight, as if she's losing it, a faint voice calling for her. This is not reality, is it…? He's not there…
"Asuka…"
She feels a tug on her shoulder, her eyes open slowly, there is a silhouette in front of her, her eyes can't distinguish much besides that it's a boy.
"Fubu… ki?"
Her eyes open fully, but the person sitting in front of her is not who she wanted to see. It's Ryou, he sighs after she wakes up. Her eyes take a good look at her surroundings: Judai grins enthusiastically, Shou smiles faintly, a tad worried with her, Rie has furrowed brows and a sour curve on her lips and the last person there is someone she did not expect, her eyes squinting unconsciously to Edo Phoenix.
He just raises a brow and turns sideways, his eyes closed shut in a line, like his lips, as if he's holding back whichever mean words he has to say next, to not ruin the moment.
"Asuka, are you alright?" Ryou taps her shoulder concerned.
"Yes… I'm…" she answers vaguely while scrambling through her memories to remember what happened "Rie, are you fine too?"
The other girl flinches as if it was a surprise to be asked that, then she nods, a tiny twist upwards on her mouth.
"What happened? Why is everyone here?" The blonde regains her logic and stands up on her own.
"We ended up meeting at the front of the dorms, Judai and Shou brought you out. I was waiting for you, it seems Rie caught you leaving the dorms… As for why the others were here, I don't know…" he crosses his arms strictly, his glance breezes through the boys, but stops upon Shou that frets discreetly and averts his gaze, unable to face his brother.
"Asuka, you said some students went missing and that one of them was your brother, right?" Judai interrupts, ignoring the amount of people around and taking an object from the inner pocket of his jacket "We found this…"
He holds a small framed picture of Fubuki, it has his signature, Asuka stands still, her eyes widening, her breath ceasing as if there was no air for her to breathe. She slides her finger on the signature.
"This is from my brother… He always signed his name with the number ten instead of writing it with letters…"
Her eyes flicker wildly, she stares at the grinning Judai that has no idea of just how much it means to her, he scratches his nose half abashed and half proud of himself.
"Brother…?" Edo repeats mentally after listening to it, then looking at the scene unfolding "Don't tell me…"
"When you said your brother was missing, I thought we could try and help! I kinda wanted to do something." Judai guffaws still amazed by his own job.
Edo freezes in place, the scenes of earlier that day with that blondie scolding him like in a movie and what Kaiser Ryo said about him being at fault. It made sense now, why she was even there to begin with. Is this why she had such a reaction upon having the brother mentioned? He slaps his forehead slightly, he did go overboard back then, admitting to it out loud is out of question for now, though.
His gaze darts to the side, perplexed. What could have happened for students to go missing? And why did the school not do anything about it? Do their parents know? He had many questions, unfortunately the people who could give him answers either disliked him or didn't trust him.
"But that Titan guy was very strange and he vanished after the duel… It was scary!" Shou declared nervously.
"I'm sure he's just scared we beat the crap out of him!" The brown-haired laughs boastfully.
"Thank you." Asuka smiles faintly, it disappears as she continues, looking at the third years standing beside her "And I'm sorry for worrying you too, Rie."
Ryou's lips unseal at the words and the pink-haired girl smiles gently, before they can continue, the first rays of sunlight reach their sight, dappling over the tree leaves.
"Oh, we better hurry to get back before everyone wakes up!" Judai's tone comes off as if he's taking part in an adventure rather than an inappropriate bending of the rules.
"Iiiek! We should go back soon!"
Shou sweats frantically tagging behind when he sees his friend running and beckoning. His greyish eyes cast a look over his shoulder, landing on the Kaiser. Again, he turns his face away, his expression twisting into consternation.
As for the remaining four people, both Rie and Edo get a harsh, gelid glance from Ryou.
"We should meet to talk today during the lunch break." It was a request, but sounded like an order they couldn't refuse "Rie and Asuka you should go back together before the teacher finds out you left for the whole night too… And you, come with me back to the dorms…"
The younger duelist has sharp, rebellious eyes, however there is no point in rebuking him right now, they all go back to their rooms. That night never happened for all intents and purposes is what they tell themselves until the time to discuss everything comes…
Later during that morning…
Daitokuji walks from one side to the other of his room, an intense crease on his forehead, he covers his mouth anxiously, a sound breaks his whole expression, he instantly checks his PDA.
"I'm sorry, uncle, I was asleep."
"So nothing bad happened…"
He smiles relieved at the message and texts a simple good morning back, his tense shoulders can finally drop and he starts humming a song out of happiness. As soon as he slides the door of his room open, two boys almost bump into him:
"Teacher! This is bad! We have to tell you something."
His eyebrows widen the distance between his eyelids, his puzzled expression just cooks more worry inside the boy's eyes, the lips of the student silently moving and his mouth opening in response.
At the same time, in the school corridors, Rie hears lisps everywhere, her eyes staring around in paranoia, trying to grasp what they're talking about. She almost stumbles on Asuka, the blonde was talking to Ryou near their lockers.
"Rie… You should listen too…" she sighs in disgruntlement "It's about Judai and Shou… It seems they were seen by other Osiris red students and now there is a talk about expelling them. And they even got a clue about… I can't believe this…"
Ryou also has an unexpected expression, his brows coiling up in a mix of concern and dissatisfaction with the situation. They both instinctively glance at the third-year after hearing the soundly clacks of her typing until she shows a message:
"Can we do something about it? If I talk to my uncle, maybe he can help, he's responsible for the Osiris red dorm…"
Her suggestion was a desperate one, the other two think for a moment, it's very likely they can't do anything, if the rules of the school are broken, expulsion is the only path, a drop of sweat rolls down their faces.
"So they were caught?"
The one saying that scoffs, it's Edo, he leans against the door of his locker and casts a side glance at them, an unworried expression unlike their gloomy mood.
"What? If you're all going to be depressed, someone needs to think straight. Just consider the facts for a moment… That guy who kidnapped her and dueled that Judai or whatever was his name… Don't you think it's bizarre and out of place? Why would he be there?"
"Are you implying someone asked that man to do it?"
"But who?" Asuka also interferes, despite not being able to look into his face for long before losing her patience.
"I don't know, maybe they just wanted to scare students away… Have you ever considered the school or whoever is involved might be trying to cover tracks of some bad and illegal stuff happening behind the curtains?"
The assertiveness and partially the slight annoyance he let slip into his tone strikes both Ryou and Asuka, they exchange an apprehensive glance. Rie just show a message to him:
"Even if they meant to hide things, they shouldn't be harming students…"
"If you really think like that, then you are too naive."
Her eyes waver at the affirmation. She knew it too, nonetheless, she also knew it wasn't her uncle that hired the man, or… Was it him? She couldn't say for sure before confirming with him, but she already lied to him about not being out that night since his message seemed concerned over her…
"What about you? Asuka was there for her own reasons, like me, Rie seems to have followed Asuka, but you… What were you doing there late at night?" his inquisitive tone comes accompanied by doubt.
"Can I not have fresh air and clear my mind in the silence of the night?" He shrugs his shoulders haughtily, indicating he's not up to telling his real motives.
"Don't avoid the subject now… You were also searching for something there, weren't you?" The Kaiser insists, he can see Edo's eyes almost twitch in annoyance with an expression of "this guy won't leave me alone".
"Well, let's say I was interested in the rumors of the shadow duels that happened in those dorms… As a duelist, sometimes I need a challenge that will extract the best of my abilities, something I haven't seen so far in this school…"
With those words, he spins around and leaves the scene, waving the back of his hand to them. Ryou is not convinced by that, scowling at how slippery the younger one can be with those matters, he's yet to get a good explanation from him.
In the meantime while his fangirls fawn over him, there are some girls who watch the other three students unhappily.
"Did you hear some Osiris red were caught walking out late at night?"
"Yeah, what a bunch of losers! They will be expelled! By the way, did you hear that some girls stumbled upon some sort of hut in the woods one of those other days? They say it looks like a witch's hut and it's creepy. I wonder why they have it on the island."
"No, I didn't know, I'm impressed by how unlucky those Osiris boys were, it's not new that some students go out at night, some girls even met with their boyfriends like that, but they were never caught. I suppose some people are just smarter."
The two friends gossip nonchalantly, one of them nibbles her nails, her eyes squinting, she almost bites off her skin while seeing Rie, Asuka and the Kaiser discussing a matter that was absorbing enough they wouldn't look anywhere else.
In the amalgam of fury, she finds an answer to her problems, a maddened smile coming to her face.
"I just had an idea… You said they will be expelled for breaking the rules, you mean the curfew rules of staying in the dorms, right?"
"Huh… Yeah, those are valid for boys too…" she answers hesitantly, uncertain if that's the best.
"You're just brilliant, Ayako! I know a way to get rid of the little cockroach rattling her legs near the Kaiser's locker… Do you know where that hut is…?"
"I-I guess we can find it out later today if you want… But you know I'm afraid of those things… People don't approach it out of fear and what if-"
"Don't worry, we won't be there long, but I have an idea of how to make use of it…"
Her orbs are polluted by an ugly and evil glint, consumed by jealousy. It takes a second for her to put her plan into motion, scanning around for the nearest idiot. She sees Raizou walking hurriedly while discussing something with Taiyou, they both tag behind Manjoume that laughs and boasts about Judai's incapacity of being a duelist.
"Hey!" She grabs the shoulder of Raizou "I have something a friend asked me to tell you…"
The three boys are distrustful, Manjoume shrugs off and continues on his tracks, it does not concern him, Raizou points at himself to confirm if she wants to talk to him, she rolls her eyes before nodding and calling him closer with a finger.
Her lips distilling poison into his ears, the words making him blush and he gasps, almost choking with his own saliva.
"Y-you're sure she said that?"
His face flushes completely, his eyes quivering slightly as he looks at the pink-haired girl, communicating with her friends unaware of which plans the girls had.
"Don't worry, I'm 100 percent sure of what she told me, she's just shy and it's a bit hard for her to convey it through text messages."
He smiles excitedly and rushes towards the other two friends, Taiyou immediately bickers about how he's lucky and they continue their fight while following their leader.
"Izanami, you're sure this is fine? I mean…"
"Ayako, this is the most brilliant plan ever! We will get rid of that cockroach and one of those obelisk idiots who think they know how to duel." She cackles wickedly. "Well, we still need to do something else…"
In the end, Asuka and Ryou go to the lighthouse after the classes with the blonde thanking Rie for worrying about her, but both her and Ryou suggest she doesn't follow her next and explaining they have their own reasons and she shouldn't involve herself too much with how dangerous it can be and all they asked of her is that they keep this night excursion a secret among them. Despite understanding their reasons, she couldn't help but feel excluded, a faint disappointment in her chest.
After the classes are all over, she comes back to her locker, this time there is no sign of Ryou, Asuka or Edo around. Her brows angle upwards, what is wrong with her? She should have been worrying about fulfilling her task here, not about befriending people or feeling left out by them.
She slaps her face with both hands, her cheeks becoming marked with her palm, with a deep breath, her expression becomes placid again, a blank portrait. As soon as she opens the locker, a note drops to her feet, she's stunned for a second, but recomposes and quickly grabs the note, her lips opening as she reads it:
"I know what you did. If you want to discuss it with me, come meet me at…"
She looks around, gulping after seeing no one suspicious among the students walking in the corridors. How could someone have found out about her night escapade? She didn't even disclose it to her uncle. A muddled glint flashes on her eyes. What should she do? She has to find out who it is and possibly use her amulet to silence them again.
A bad feeling pounds in her heart, that something is off about it and that it might not be as easy to make them keep this secret as she thinks. Again many schemes fall into place.
Edo sends a message to his manager and friend summarizing the latest findings and the past night; Ryou and Asuka look at the Fubuki picture they got from Judai and discuss which next steps to take now they confirmed the dorms are iffy and might be holding the key to find him, as for Judai and Shou, they stand at the director's office, Daitokuji and Chronos as an advocate and a prosecutor respectively each holding arguments for the case of the drop-out and his partner in crime.