Warm water was pouring down on the young man's face and running down over his body, getting ready for today's special event. The remaining days of the spring break were over, and now his first day in his new High school, in this new country, he was settled for his forceable future; had finally arrived. There was a mixture of worry and excitement going through his head at the moment. It was odd because both feelings shared the same reason. Being a foreigner joining Domino High, he did wonder if he would stick out like a sore thumb or if he was going to blend well with the rest of the students. The chances of being completely rejected and alienated worried him. However, the chances of those students he would share the next semesters with, being duelists, is actually what brought excitement to him.

Van washed and dried himself up before leaving the bathroom and changing his to his new uniform. The last couple of days, that lingering doubt that was originated from his match against Goro were gone. As he simply shrugged them away by ensuring himself that, that kid in particular, was simple all talk and no bite. While he was dressing up, his phone vibrated from a text message sent by his uncle.

"You better be awake and getting ready, boy!" To which, Van simply replied with an emoji of a hand making a 'V' with its fingers. Then carried on without any issues, letting his phone charge a bit more while it played some music. Given the sound, it seemed to be some sort of rock music from the past decade.

When it came to his breakfast, he was a simple person. Just a coffee, and without a coffee maker in this apartment at his disposal, he had to rely on a kettle with near boiling water and filtering the coffee with a handheld filter. Nothing to eat, as he preferred to go on his morning with a light belly.

Before leaving, he made sure that he had everything in place.

Bag pack? Check.

School supplies? Check.

Deck? Check.
Sunglasses? Check.

The uniform felt strangely comfortable, even for him, as he had been one who was never a fan of wearing school uniforms, finding them uncomfortable and annoying. Yet, this one felt almost more casual than what he was used to, with the only adjustment being the way he unbuttoned the bottom half of the dark blue jacket; just to have a better and more comfortable reach into its pockets.

"Later, uncle, I'm off to school!" Van exclaimed while he moved past his apartment, being certain that Daichi could hear him from there. Then, once he was out of the building and on the sidewalk, the young man put on his sunglasses, pushing them back against his nose bridge with his middle finger, and he was finally off to his first day.

Meanwhile, Daichi was observing him from his apartment's balcony, "Well Botsu, your parents did their part. Now's the turn for you to do yours." Muttered to himself, remaining on his balcony until his nephew was lost from his sight, just then he'd go away and start tending to the building's needs.

Van went on his trip to school minding his own business, even while on the crowded train he had to take, choose to simply keep a pair of in ears on, listening to music from his phone. He did notice, however, other boys and girls around his age give or take some more, wearing the uniform of Domino High. And with each station, their presence became more numerous and common.

When the boy reached the station and walked, he did notice with much greater clarity how many students from Domino High were getting off. In fact, there were groups forming up as students met with friends, greeting each other in a display of eagerness to embark in a new school year along with their peers. And his looks catching other students' attention wouldn't take long, some boys and girls alike did glance at him only to gossip among themselves and laugh among themselves.

Van simply grunted, guessing that his glasses were the reason behind this, he asked for it. Wearing a school uniform with a pair of small, round, and blue-tinted sunglasses; a bizarre combination to say the least. Yet, he chose to pay no mind to them, at least he was making his presence known in some way. Shortly after leaving the station and reaching the sidewalk, a girl's voice started to call out his name.

"Hey, hey, aren't you Van!?"

"Huh?" the boy turned around, trying to spot who was calling him out. He then saw a girl with pink hair, wearing Domino High uniform plus a white and blue beret hat that matched the rest of the outfit, running towards him and cheerfully waving. A familiar face, Chiaki, the girl he had met in the game shop a couple of days back.

"It's so nice to see you, how are you?" The girl happily asked as soon as she stood in front of him. Then blinked before looking at him up and down, noticing his outfit. "Wait, you are kidding!" then pointed at him, "I don't tell me you are a student of Domino High as well?!"

The boy smiled back at her, "Hahah, I'm good. And yeah, my family went through the process of enrolling me during the summer." while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Summer?" Chiaki asked, puzzled, before an adult approached her, resting a hand on her shoulder and leaning down with a smile that was almost like the girl's. However, instead of being cheerful and enthusiastic, this one was more mellow. Giving a clear air of gentleness and good will.

The pink haired girl, looked over at him, maintaining her smile as he spoke.

"Oh, you must be the famous Van, who defeated Goro is that right. Chiaki told me about you." The man looked at the boy's eyes for a moment before slightly bowing his head, greeting him, "My name is Aoki, Aoki Fukuda. I'm Chiaki's father, and the owner of the games store 'Gemasensu'"

"Hu-OH!" The boy exclaimed before standing upright and bowing before the man, not being used to how it's done, Van would exaggerate his bow a bit, but this wouldn't offend the girl's father. On the contrary, it simply worked to entertain him a bit and further give a nice first impression of the young foreigner to the Game shop owner.

Their moment would then be shortly interrupted by the voice of a young male calling out for the girl.

"Ah, there he is, haha" Said the man looking over to where the voice was coming.

"Heeey, heeey Chiaki, don't run off just like that!" A boy with a slightly chubby build, short brown hair, brown eyes and thick lips reached them, catching his breath once he finally did so. "*gasp* W-what 'appenned?" The boy asked, as he was still agitated.

Van simply remained quiet with a small sweat drop on his cheek, yet he didn't really need to say a word as Chiaki stood between both boys, motioning with her arm over him.

Chiaki then proceeded to start with the formalities. "Oh, I'm sorry! Okay, so this is…"


Meanwhile


"You can drop me here, it's alright." A girl's voice gently called to the driver of the car she was on.

"M-ma'am, are you certain? We have not reached the school yet."

The girl then nodded at the driver. "Don't worry, I'm supposed to meet with a couple of friends here at the bus station over there." Haruko then pointed at, "We will go by foot from there."

The driver grumbled nervously, both because he wasn't used to this more polite behavior from a member of the Kaiba family, and also because he knew if something happened to her, his skin was on the line. "Uh, alright, but let me park nearby and please — wait in the car until you see your friends. Yes, ma'am?"

She then sighed, slowly nodding as this was the better option, rather than just starting an argument with the man. They waited for a couple of minutes, with the radio broadcasting local news. She did not really pay attention to them, and briefly entertained herself by checking all her belongings were in place, among them, there was a small case with a Deck of Cards. The girl calmly shifted through them for a while. Then she felt the need to ask her driver, "Excuse me, do you know anything about Seto?"

The driver hummed, looking at the young girl through the mirror as he replied, "Nothing certain was passed down to me; however, I believe that he 'should' be present here today. I correct me if I'm wrong, but Master Seto is technically your guardian, isn't he?"

She just hummed and nodded at the driver, before looking out the window again, muttering "He 'should' …"

Finally, a van arrived to the scene, it would turn at the corner of the street, close to the bus stop. Saori, Rika and Sayuri, got off from the vehicle. The couple at the front then said something to Rika before taking off. Then, the trio headed to the bus stop, the arranged meeting point.

"Ah, there they are!" said with both relief that they were there on time, and excitement that she could take on her first day in Domino High along with them. Haruko then gathered all her stuff and got off the car thank her driver "Thank you, Stevens, bye-bye!".

"O-oh, remember, I'll pick you up after school!" the man exclaimed from inside the car, the sound of his voice muffled as the windows remained closed.

Haruko ran up to her friends, with them exclaiming back and all four sharing a group hug.

"Haha, I missed you girls, I know It just been a couple of days, but I wanted to get together again!" Saori exclaimed, starting to walk along with the rest towards school.

Sayuri then refuted, "But it's just for school, that's not fun, I can't wait for the weekend already." with a sad expression on her face.

Rika facepalmed exclaiming "Sayuri we haven't even set foot on Domino High; how can you be thinking about the weekend already!?"

While her friends began to argue and tease each other, Haruko remained mostly silent, with a bright smile on her face.

"So, we should possibly decide which club are we going to join." Said Rika, catching the attention of her three friends, making their conversation grow to a halt.

Sayuri was the first one to speak, "Oh, you are right. I'm not convinced, though, I never really paid much attention to them." Then paused for a moment before suggesting "How about the literature club, sounds quiet, relaxing. And we could take a chance to sneak in the club's room and nap there in between classes!"

"How can you be such a slacker; we haven't even begun!?" Rika exclaimed, with some veins popping at the back of her head, and a silly, angry expression on her face. Said expression, was met with a scared expression by Sayuri, that looked just as silly as hers.

"Volleyball perhaps?" Saori then proposed, shrugging slightly as she maybe was not even convinced herself about the idea.

"Perhaps… I wouldn't mind practicing a sport." While thinking about it, she noticed that Haruko had been mostly silent the whole time, enjoying the conversation. She knew her as a friend, and was aware this was typical of her, yet she asked "What's on your mind Haruko, thinking of any clubs?"

The girl stopped in her tracks for a moment and then stated in a calm tone of voice, "Well, I'm not sure…" even though in truth, she knew which one she was going to join all thanks to, what could be considered, 'insider information'

That made the rest of her friends stop and look at each other in frustration, Rika being the first to ask "This is gonna be one of those dead-end group decisions, isn't it?" Haruko nodded in response and Rika asked, "We always take way too long to decide..."

"So what? I don't see the appeal of joining a club… other than maybe the literature club… sounds well enough to nap" Sayuri noted while Rika contained her anger at her once more.

"Perhaps it's too early to decide, let's just give it some more thought. We still have some time." Saori shrugged at them with a silly smile on her face.

"That's true" Haruko said and added "Look, I'll can join whatever club "

Rika smiled at her reply, "No, no, you don't worry! We'll figure something out, I'm sure of it."

Their walk went on. Maybe in a slight or vague spark of hope that ran through her mind, that through what she would ask she would recieve a positive answer from her friends. So then Haruko proceeded to ask, "You never tried it, right?" Her friends looked at her puzzled, "Duel Monsters, I mean." she added.

"No…" The trio of friends replied in unison, then followed by that Rika, Saori and Sayuri added in said order.

"Looks boring…"

"Looks scary…"

"Looks complicated…"

Haruko just then stared at them with her eyes almost narrowed shut, humming at them in response, and chose not to push the topic any further. Her initial hope she could maybe bring the topic of the club she was interested in went out of the window; Thus, she saw asking a different question to divert the conversation from that appeared to be the better idea. "So, how come you all came together. Moreover, are your parents coming?"

Rika nodded at her, "They went to find a good parking spot, then will meet us at school".

Saori gestured with her arm as she spoke for both her and Sayuri "Our parents said they would be meeting us there as well. Since our houses in the way, Rika's mom will drive us to school every day."

With a smile, the Kaiba sibling noted, "That's convenient. All that's left is to hope our time in high school will be just as good as prep school."

Rika then corrected her, "No!" Then lifted a finger, "Wrong mindset!" She exclaimed, then went on "We don't have to 'hope' our time in high school will be great, because we will make it so. Right girls?" Asked with a smirk on her face, while the rest of them with Haruko included looked at her a bit confused for a moment, but then just giving into her enthusiasm as they all lifted their fists replying together "Yeah!"


As the group of girls continued their walk to school, the newly formed trio did the same on their part.


Van kept walking with the new boy walking besides him, seemingly amazed by being in his presence. Behind them, Chiaki, her father and the boy's parents who had managed to catch up to them just looked at them with slightly embarrassed smiles.

Van, however, tried had his eyes half narrowed, trying his best to be nice with the boy.

"Man, and how was flying all the way here?!" The boy asked. That, however, gave Van an excuse to give into his discomfort at the current situation as the question reminded him of how was that cursed flight.

"Well… the food's terrible, and you will be sitting down for so long, your back will very likely let you know…" Then sighed, "Can say that I really don't look forward to taking another flight anytime soon."

The boy was surprised to know that, "Ugh, sounds pretty lame. Uh, hey so you are from Germany right, can you speak some German?"

The boy's mother then decided to intercede in favor of the foreigner, stating "Koji, dear, I know you are excited about meeting a person from another country, but you might be pushing him a bit too much."

Koji, looked over his shoulder at his mother realizing that indeed, he was being pretty annoying and brought his hands up at Van "Jeez, sorry, sorry! It's just… yeah".

Van then sighed and showed a tired smile, replying, "Don't sweat it, at least you are being friendly."

Chiaki and her father looked at them from a couple of steps back, while her father commented, "Well, seems that Van has already a bit of a talking partner.".

"Yeah, but that might not last if Koji acts like that every time" The girl said with a silly and slightly embarrassed smile, "Feel bad for throwing him at Van. But I have to admit, meeting a foreigner of our age is very curious and surprising."

The chatter among the teenagers and adults carried on during their walk, until Van stopped beating around the bush and asked, "So, are you a duelist yourself, Koji?"

The larger boy then bumped his chest in pride, "Hah, you bet! In fact, check this out." He then handed him a second back that he was carrying.

Van looked at the back, feeling that it had a single, large object inside. When he finally decided to check inside, his brows quickly went up, and he barely managed to control his language. "Holy sh-…!" It was a Duel Disk, he had never seen one up close before. Those were very rare in Germany yet, and the scene over there still operated mainly with Battle Boxes.

"Pretty cool, huh?!" Koji asked. Then asked, "And it's one of the latest models as well. You probably saw the exhibition broadcast, or videos. Kaiba Corp made some changes since them, now the headset is optional so long you have the physical copies."

Aoki sighed, stating under his breath "Yeah Seto Kaiba almost did it for real this time, a virtual card database would have definitely crushed the market for game stores."

Chiaki then patted his back trying to comfort him, "Relax dad, I'm sure they won't make that mistake again."

Van then noticed that the closer they got to school, not only there were more and more students present, but also that the presence of parents was even greater than he was used to seeing back at home. "Man, is it so common for parents to come on the first day?"

"Well, of course, it's a significant day. Unique, Chiaki will only have one -first- High School Day." Aoki said, while the three teenagers listened to him with attention, and Koji's parents nodded at him in agreement, with a pleasant expression on their faces.

Van just narrowed his eyes and scratched his head "Eh, guess my uncle didn't see it that way." responded before shrugging "Eh, it's not that I really mind."

Finally, the group arrived to the school grounds. There they were able to see school staff, parents, and students alike. The air around was very lively, parents were meeting either for the first time, or once again with teachers; the same went for students as there were those who stuck close to their parents and others who wandered in groups, showing great excitement and talking among themselves. There were also those members of the school staff who guided people into the Gymnasium, where the opening ceremony would be held.

"So many people!" Chiaki said, "Do you think there are more than prep school, Koji?"

The boy just shrugged her, "Not sure, but the place itself looks bigger. But it's no wonder when you think of all the club activities it has. Speaking of which, are you joining the Dueling club, right?" asked both Chiaki and Van, the girl quickly nodded without showing any hint of doubt while Van was completely caught off guard by that.

"Woah, woah, wait. What do you mean Dueling Club?" asked with an eyebrow up, and his eyes widened behind the dark blue lenses of his glasses.

"Yep, it had been rumored since the past months, and might be a reality." Koji explained while folding his arms, "I guess it was a mix of the popular impact here in domino, and some people say Kaiba Corp has a hand or two on that matter."

The foreign boy narrowed his eyes almost disappointed, "So… an elaborate marketing tool?" asked, but both Koji and Chiaki shrugged.

The girl simply added, "I'm sure there's gotta be more to it. But at least we know something that does already sound appealing for all of us, right?" That was enough to make the three of them share small laughter.

Meanwhile, on another part of the school yard, Haruko and her friends had gathered. And just like everybody else who was present, they were sharing that moment of both family and friends alike.

"I wonder who and how will be your classmates" Said Rika while inspecting the surrounding students, "What do you think?"

Sayuri then took the chance to tease her friend by replying, "Are you sure you aren't just looking for an excuse to look for your prince charming from early on?" starting to laugh afterward, to which both Haruko and Saori joined

This of course both angered and embarrassed Rika, who grinned her teeth at her friend, red as a tomato, "S-shut up you idiot!" But her reaction only made things even funnier for the group.

Once things calmed down, Saori asked, "Hey, should we get going to get Gymnasium?"

However, Haruko was still wondering if someone would show up, it was a complicated situation, but she thought that moments like these shared together along with both her step-brothers would work to create a better understanding between them. "Uh… do you mind if we wait a bit more? I'm sure we will get called regardless, right?"

"I guess you are right" Saori nodded. "No real point in rushing it, the ceremony won't start any sooner than it's planned"

Their chatter and gossiping continued on uninterrupted, at least for a while. Then something did change the mood of the environment around the school yard for a moment. The voices around started to quiet down a bit, from a more open multitude talking among themselves, it shifted into a notable part of the crowd growing quieter into whispers.

The attention of parents and students shifted into one direction, or rather, on one individual.

"Uh… Haruko…?" Sayuri called, then continued, "…I think they are looking for you…" She motioned her friend with one hand while pointing with the other.

"Huh what?" She blinked, "N-no way!" She exclaimed, clearly surprised.

Meanwhile, the trio's attention would also be drawn towards the same individual, having noticed the change in the mood around then. Upon taking a look at that individual Van, Chiaki, and Koji screamed, "IS THAT…!?"

A tall and slender young adult. Short, brown hair, grayish purple eyes, dressed in a black suit and tie which was the fashion that most fathers were sporting that morning, yet this one showing of being of a higher quality and price; he carried a silver white briefcase with the logo of Kaiba Corp. Seto Kaiba himself.

"Charming welcome." Seto muttered under his breath as his eyes glanced around, noticing how his presence has probably brought some tension to those present.

"Hey, have you found her?" Mokuba soon caught up to him, sporting an outfit that was similar to his brother's, with his attitude being a lot more friendly and charming than Seto's. "Ah, there she is!"

Both brothers would easily spot their step-sister hurrying herself along with her friends up to them. Her mood seemed to be better than the other day, it was probably because of the company of her friends. Or maybe because they showed up to an event that is important for her.

Once she and her friends stood before them, Haruko exclaimed, "I'm glad you guys came, I thought you were going to be busy with work!"

Mokuba then happily replied, "Of course we would come, you are our sis after all!" Then looked over his shoulder, "Besides, brother has introduced some changes to his schedule, right?"

Haruko just didn't say a word and looked at Seto, the expression of confusion on her face said it all. Seto then closed his eyes and stated, "I've taken the recent issues into consideration, and decided to step back from the more draining projects of the company." He paused before opening his eyes, adding, "At least until my condition improves."

She didn't really know how to react to that; however, she did feel a certain degree of guilt. When she screamed at him, Mokuba was brought into the conversation, and she did so, being well aware of the soft spot he has for his younger brother. "Ah… about the other day…"

"Forget about it." Seto interrupted her, with his dry and serious tone, "It wasn't the first time, it won't be the last. Those things are bound to happen between the three of us, let's leave it as that. This is your day, let's focus on that."

Mokuba then asked, "So these are your friends?" The boy then approached the three girls. They would, of course, be a bit nervous for being in front of both Kaiba brothers rather than anything else.

"Ah yes!" Haruko quickly reacted, as she proceeded to introduce her friends to both of them. "So, this is…"

The introductions and conversation carried on normally. Seto wouldn't add or speak more than was needed, and allowed Mokuba to do most of the talking for both of them. His personality, after all, was easier for people to accept. Suddenly, the man would look up and look over the group of school girls in front of him and his brother, focusing his attention closer to the gymnasium. There was a particular group that, to him, stood out from the rest, there he could see a boy wearing dark tinted glasses.

Seto quickly stared at him, while the boy seemed to be staring back at him.

The group did notice this, as they couldn't get their eyes off Kaiba, they couldn't believe he was there or what business did he even have there. They would soon notice that Kaiba had his eyes on them, which did rack up the tension they were feeling. A legendary duelist was just staring down at them without saying a word, that prompted the following exchange between Koji and Chiaki.

"I-is he looking at us?"

"Yep…"

"Uh… wh-what do we do?"

"How would I know?!"

Van, however, remained quiet. He didn't take his eyes off Seto. His heart was racing, never in his wildest dreams thought he'd be standing that close to one of the legends of Duel Monsters, let alone having managed to somehow get his attention. Was he in trouble for some reason.

"Uh, is everything okay, Seto?" Mokuba asked as he noticed that his brother was distracted from their current conversation.

"Hm?" He looked down at his brother and nodded, "Yes, I think I will be heading to the Gymnasium. I'm sure the principal would like to have a word with me. Excuse me." Then walked towards the building, and away from Mokuba, Haruko and her friends.

"The principal?" Haruko asked confused

Saori, on the other side, asked "Did we do something to bother him?" worried they were repelling towards him in some manner.

however, Mokuba was quick to dismiss their doubts and worries. "Nah, don't worry, he is alright. The principal would likely speak with Seto regarding the integration of the Dueling Clubs, after all, brother was influential on that topic, and I'm sure he just wants to get that out of the way sooner than later."

Rika then got on board with Mokuba's take to dismiss any worries or bad vibes as she slightly leaned over towards the youngest of the Kaiba's and asked "So, Mokuba, what did you do during the spring break?" While gently planting her palms on her knees and keeping a friendly smile.

"Oh! Well..." The boy smiled back saying "I overlooked activities in Kaiba Corp while Seto was busy. Oh, and worked in the coding and design of the latest versions of our Duel Disks." Without skipping a beat, and if it was the most common thing for a boy of his age.

Rika just blinked, surprised and confused, just letting know a loud "Eeeeh!?" With Haruko behind her, showing a silly and embarrassed smile.

Seto then walked towards the Gymnasium, and in turn, did approach the group with Van.

"H-he is walking towards us!" Koji exclaimed nervously before he was suddenly smacked on the back of his head by Chiaki, with the latter telling him

"Calm down already, what do you think he would even do to us!?" being already a bit annoyed by Koji's unfounded worries. Yet, she did seem as much shaken by the presence of the head of Kaiba Corp.

The one who didn't seem to shaken on first sight, was Van. His sights were set on the tall, slender male walking closer and closer towards them. Eventually, he would reach the point of passing by them, both Chiaki and Koji quickly stood back, giving room to give to pass even though they were not really in his way.

The German teen, however, stood his ground, and kept it cool before Seto as the man stopped just to stare him back in silence.

"Need something, kid? Or is there something on my face?" Seto asked. His cold eyes on the boy, over his shoulder. His tone sarcastic, as he typically behaves with most people.

The boy blinked, not really expecting that Kaiba would bother to talk to him. The boy took a slow and silent mouthful of air, and exhaled, seeking to calm himself just enough to keep playing it cool and let a smirk spread on his face. "Heh, nothing really… it's just that it's not every day I get to be in the presence of a legendary duelist."

Kaiba, unimpressed by the boy's words, stopped looking at him, and shifted his attention back to the front while responding, "Kissing my feet or any form of cheap flattery won't get you any far with me. Beat it." Then took a couple of steps forth before…

"And what would get me a duel you?"

The words from the boy did get his attention on him again, but just enough for him to look at the boy over his shoulder again. "A lifetime of trying to get my attention on you as a duelist rather than a pest…" Then he paused for a moment just to deliver the ending note of his line, "And you'll still end up failing." Then turned around again. Silence remained for a bit on his back, and when he was about to continue once more on his path to the Gymnasium

"I guess that's a challenge I can take on."

Seto lifted his brows for a second before, this time, deciding to turn and face the kid, "What did you say?" The boy was there, seemingly not as intimidated as his chubby friend and the pink haired girl.

Those two, unlike Van, seemed rather shocked by the situation and how he was handling it

"Ugh... this is gonna get ugly, isn't it?" Said Koji nervously

"Uhm... Van...?" Chiaki asked.

Their words seemed unheard, as both Van and Seto were focused on one another for another bit until finally, Kaiba decided that nothing would come out of this petty stare off and turned around one final time. "Quit wasting my time and go back with your friends, kid, I've got matters to attend" On that note, Seto finally walked into the Gymnasium. Leaving Van to finally relax his body just a bit; however, his mind running a thousand miles per hour as the little fanboy in him still couldn't believe that he stood before him. The one duelist who apparently was a worthy match for the King of Games himself.

"A lifetime of trying just to end up failing… we'll see about that"

He was aware of that gap between them, but that was initially what he wanted. No matter how terrifying the thought of failure was, he had to take on that challenge since he felt that the uncertainty of him having the chops to stand along him and other legends, or not, would chew him from the inside out. His freshman year hasn't technically even started yet, and it was already turning out to be extremely exciting.


Author's Note: And here we are, the cast expands, but I will take my time with characters. They will slowly be fleshed out more as I have planned to do so. I hope yall enjoy a bit of School Slice of life as that will be bit of what these series will have. Hope you enjoy this new chapter and that you will have a great Weekend.

Thank you for you all for the new follows and favorites and I'll be seeing you next week, see ya!