After they were granted a clear exit from the rooftop, thanks to Tetsuo, both teenagers moved down the stairs, trying to hurry themselves up, so they won't be late for class. Van didn't realize he was still holding Haruko by her wrist. Haruko would soon grow frustrated at this and began pulling her arm back.

"H-hey, wait, wait… I SAID WAIT!" she exclaimed, pulling her arm free and stopping at one of the stairway's landings. The girl's action did cause Van to stop and turn to face her, raising his arms apologetically. She stomped a foot and frowned at him.

Van looked at her with a small sweat drop on the side of his forehead while saying, "Heh, heh… sorry I got a bit carried away!" Then he rubbed the back of his neck, all this time not noticing that she was still wearing his purple sunglasses.

However, that was something that Haruko picked up on and had a brief memory of that look Van gave her during the duel. That anger he had in his eyes. And without thinking twice, he leaned closer to the boy and reached out for his Sunglasses, pulling them off him. Then she closed up further to Van, almost being face to face, while she pulled the hand with his sunglasses back, off the boy's reach.

"Uh-Hey… hey what!?" The young man reacted with, and then was caught by the sight of Haruko closing in a lot to his face, which led him to take a couple of steps back and rest his back against the wall. And the fact that she did not stay on her spot, but actually stepped up to him when he stepped back, made the situation all the more Awkward, "Hey w-what's got into you?". Then he tried to stretch his arm a bit and reach to her hand with the sunglasses, waving his hand as he couldn't just reach them, "Give them back… h-hey!"

It seemed that now, she wasn't the one listening to him. Haruko had his eyes set on his, trying to see if she could feel that odd feeling she felt before. If she could feel that glimpse of raw anger she felt, that even frightened for a bit. The girl's eyes were narrowed, focused, and she hummed thoughtfully. "I'm not crazy, I'm sure I saw something strange with him… he was even scary for a second… just who are you Van Keller?" Suddenly, she realized what she was doing, and took another look at him…

The boy had a nervous expression on his face, a couple of sweat drops now on his face, but also blushing a bit. After all, it could easily be considered that she was well within his personal space.

When all this clicked in her, Haruko's cheeks began blushing with a faint pink and quickly pulled back and looked away, with her eyes pressed shut, both annoyed and embarrassed by the small moment. Quickly swung her arm at him and handed his glasses back, "Vah, hear, hear! Take your stupid glasses…" the Kaiba sibling said in frustration. It should be noted, given how hard she moved her arm, it would almost look like she was initially trying to deliver a punch to his face.

"E-eh… thanks…" her replied to his classmate. Carefully taking the sunglasses and sighing. He thought he had made her mad for getting her involuntary involved in all that ordeal with Yamada and Tetsuo, and that she was actually going to punch him. "So… let's go then?"

The girl just folded her arms over her chest. "Hmph!" she huffed, suddenly looking very offended by him.

Van just sighed, "Back to square one I guess…?" crossed his mind as he began walking down the steps. He stopped in the next landing for a moment.

Haruko, who had just begun following his lead, noticed him stopping and tilting his head up swiftly. "What is it now?" She asked bluntly, as it seemed something caught up in his mind.

"Yeah… I almost forgot to ask." The boy said, just tilting his head slightly, his eyes darting to a side, reflecting that his attention was focused behind him, yet he didn't turn to face her while he asked "During my duel I saw you…." He stopped for a moment, it seemed he was lost of words on how he could ask his question. So, finally, Van closed his eyes and clicked his tongue, and asked "Are you okay?"

Haruko was taken aback by his question. But she understood what he probably meant with it. She did see her, though, when she was crumbling under pressure and at the thoughts of losing the card her father gifted her. She was in part bothered by that, but she couldn't help but find his current awkwardness funny. A complete contrast to how he usually behaves with her, when he apparently enjoys teasing and getting on her nerves. With a relaxed sigh, she thought, "You idiot…" then replied nonchalantly, "I'm fine, I'm fine. They were a bit scary, but at the end of the day, those guys are more silly than scary…" trying to deviate the conversation from that specific moment in particular.

Van nodded a couple of times and began walking down the steps again, "Good, that's good to know."

Haruko smiled a bit, and not long after, decided to break a bit the awkwardness of the situation, and when he caught up to him, she just brought her hands to her back; leaned a forth just a bit to catch the boy's attention and with a smug on her face tease him with "Aww, that's so cute how you watch over me!"

Van would quickly turn red and press his teeth because exclaiming "Shut up!" to her, causing his classmate to start chuckling.

Both of them returned to their classroom, arriving just a couple of minutes late for class and thus avoiding any punishments given by the teachers.

During most of the lesson, Van kept a relax, but visibly bored expression on his face. His fist resting on his cheek. Then he heard it.

"Pssst…!"

The boy blinked a couple of times and just turned his head a bit, following the sound, without really switching positions nor changing the expression of his face. Chiaki was trying to get his attention, and well… succeeded.

Chiaki had leaned close to Van's desk to get her friend's attention. Once she had done so, the girl asked, "Did you get into another fight with her or…?" referring to Haruko.

Van blinked another couple of times at his question. Then he turned his head and opened the same hand that was on his cheek, letting his palm rest on it. He looked at Haruko from his seat.

The girl seemed to be in a serene and eager mood, or at least that's what she showed as she spoke with her friends in a low voice tone, so the teacher won't hear.

While he looked at his classmate, the boy, couldn't help but remember when she was on her knees and about to breakdown. His eyebrows twitched for a moment, then his eyes went shut and took a deep breath.

"Actually…" He whispered at Chiaki, before turning to face her, still showing his bored expression "… I think we are cool, yeah…"

Chiaki would not think much of it and shortly after his friend's answer, a small smile drew on her face and nodded. "I guess things will be a bit smoother now!" crossed her mind before her attention focused back on the whiteboard. Then she looked over Koji, who also noticed the little exchange between them. The same smiled on his face, as now it seemed they could confirm both groups could openly get along without the awkwardness brought by Van and Haruko's initial relationship.

Finally, when the ring announcing the end of the school term rang, Koji was the first one of the students to stand up with his fists up in the air in celebration. Exclaiming, "Alright, it's finally time to join the club!" Just to be bonked a couple of times in the head by Chiaki, reprimanding him.

"Hey, we still need to clean the classroom!" The girl exclaimed angrily at him, prompting several classmates to laugh at the scene. The class proceeded to clean their room and eventually, after a couple of minutes, a knocking on the door would catch everyone inside's attention.

"Hello, am I here too early?" the question came from Takato, who was now standing at the classroom's entrance.

"Takato!" Rika exclaimed happily before approaching him with a big smile on her face, "What do you mean being early?" The girl asked.

Takato then rubbed the back of his neck, smiling back and replying, "Well, I came looking for your friends who are joining the Dueling Club!"

"Oh… I see…" She replied, looking over her shoulder to the classroom. Noticing Haruko, along with Van's group, approaching them.

"Alright, we are ready!" Koji exclaimed while flexing one of his arms and showing a big grin on his face. To what his was met by a firm nod by Takato.

"Yes, we are meant to carry out the inscriptions in a bit. But… it's a bit strange…" The boy noted while rubbing his chin.

Haruko then asked, "Strange, what do you mean?"

"Well…" Takato said keeping the first-years curious about what was going on. "I was told in the classroom we will carry out the initial inscriptions for the club, but… we are going to gather later on in the old gymnasium."

"Wait, old gymnasium?" Rika asked wondering. "I don't get it, what's wrong with that?"

"Well, that I haven't heard any news or rumors about the school working on reforming it or anything like that." The second-year replied with a worried tone.

"What!?" all four first-years exclaimed. With Rika, Saori and Sayuri looking at them in silence with curiosity.

"Exactly!" Takato exclaiming, justifying their surprise. "That's why I was counting with your help, guys. See, I can handle the inscriptions, I have no problem with that. But I'd like you to give a look at that place beforehand." he added.

Van then sighed, stating "I guess there is no other way around…" then folded his arms with a bit of an annoyed face, asking "fine, do we need any keys or…?"

"Yes, yes. Here!" The older student replied as he reached into his pocket, pulling out the keys of the old gymnasium and handing them to Van, "I'm truly, truly grateful guys, really!" He then turned and hurried out of the classroom stating "I gotta hurry up, I'll let you handle the rest!"

The group waved and wished Takato good luck, save for Van, who kept the same face. Apparently, there was something in his mind that was bothering him. Or perhaps he had picked up on something the rest of his classmates had not. Regardless of that, the group would eventually go to their destination, with Rika also tagging along with them. Once they reached the building, they would realize that it was a smaller building than the current gymnasium of the academy, where the ceremony was held on the first day.

"Hm… so this is the place." Haruko commented before noting, "Well, at least on the outside it doesn't seem that bad."

"Eh, let's just check what's inside and get this through." Van said before placing the key inside the door's keyhole and then unlocking it. When he slid the door open, the screeching sound already gave him a bad first impression. "Ugh, that was loud… and… yeah, there we have it boys and girls…"

And there it was for them. The old gymnasium… was a bit of a mess. It appears it used to be an old volleyball and basketball court. The hoops, however, were removed as they were possibly the same ones being used in the main Gymnasium. Old chairs were pilled up and lined all outside the courts, and there were boxes here and there. It would appear that this place was partially used as a storage of sorts for the school. Or they simply left some materials from this place behind and either forgot or never bothered to clean it off. And to top it all… the dust… oh yeah, to say that the place was "dusty" would be the understatement of understatements.

Koji's arms dropped in disappointment, "Are you serious…?" He simply asked in disbelief.

"Maybe the school made a mistake or something?" Chiaki then asked worried, trying to at least remain a bit more optimistic than her friend.

"Well… this is…" Haruko commented before noticing that Van was facepalming. "… Van?"

"Ugh…" He rubbed his eyes and said, "I knew it, I freaking knew it…"

Rika then asked, "What do you mean?" With the rest of the group focusing on the German-born teen.

"He knew about it…" he replied, adding "Takato, he totally knew this…"

"What!?" The rest of the group asked as they followed with their eyes how Van walked into the old gymnasium. Some dust rose from each step he took, with his shoes footprints being left behind on his track.

"Wait, are you implying Koji tried to trick you!?" Rika asked, sounding almost annoyed at Van's statement.

"Jeez relax, relax!" Then he replied, looking at her over his shoulder. "No, I don't think he is a jerk, he was just embarrassed about this. Remember how he behaved this morning?"

Everyone, except for Haruko who wasn't present in the conversation with Takato, lifted their eyebrows

"Oh, you are right, he did sound a bit more excited about the club…" Chiaki noted towards both Rika and Koji.

"I thought he was just tired after school, I guess he was nervous?" Koji wondered while shrugging.

Rika then placed her hands together, showing a worried expression on her face, with also a mixture of thought. "Poor Takato… I bet he was so bothered by this, and he just didn't have the heart to ask us straight on…"

"Uh… Rika…?" Haruko asked, a bit confused by her friend's behavior, while the rest of the group just stared at her with their eyes showing suspicion.

However, Van was the first one to venture further into the Gymnasium without waiting for the others. And Haruko, being the first one noticing, asked out loud "Hey, where are you going?"

"There must be a broom or something around here, right!?" The boy replied, not really hiding his contempt at the situation.

She then sighed and brought her palm to her face, "Please, tell me you are not planning to do clean this whole place!"

Koji looked over, blinking a couple of times, "Wait, are you planning to clean this whole thing?"

"Well, if you guys ain't helping, then yeah!" he asked, raising his voice more as he was further inside.

Haruko then sighed and walked in, "I'm going to watch over thing… last thing we need is Van touching something and letting something heavy drop on his head…" As she walked in, she covered her mouth trying to contain her coughing from the dust, "Ugh, why was this left like this if it was arranged to be used by the Dueling Club?"

"I guess Van's right… if the school hasn't done anything with this yet, we can't just sit and wait…" Chiaki then commented in defeat while shrugging at Koji.

"More work… I thought we were going to get into Duel Monsters stuff…" he puffed. Then he looked at Rika, "Hey Rika, mind going and keeping Takato in touch with what's going on here?"

Rika then nodded but paused for a moment, "Wait, are you guys actually going to try to clean this whole thing? Why?" She asked, genuinely curious about why they were going to take such a hassle.

"For Dueling, of course!" Koji replied before heading in.

Chiaki sighed and shook her head, then turned to face Rika, smiling a bit. "Yeah, Koji might not be the best with words…" Then folded her arms and replied, "But… It's not just wanting to duel, the idea of helping others get into the game can be fantastic. Trust me, playing the game is not all there is to duel monsters."

"All there is to it… what do you mean?" Rika asked.

Then Chiaki got ready to speak; however, he stopped, "Hmm… You know what? I think it is really going to be better if you see things yourself. I'm not saying join the club, but I don't think you are forbidden from just watching the activities and all."

Rika then huffed "So much mystery over a cards game… fine I'll go with Takato, and I'll think about what you said" The girl replied. Then began walking off from the area and heading over to notify Takato of what was going on over there. He did, however, think about what Chiaki had told her, she still didn't have even the slightest interest in playing the game, however her words did just pick a bit of her curiosity. At least she hoped she could understand why Haruko was so passionate about it, if there was something else to it apart from her father's memento.

Meanwhile, Van and Haruko walked over to a back room of the building. They were met with a smaller room, a storage room perhaps? It was hard to tall as the whole building seemed to be used as a big storage, the room was filled with boxes with the label of a delivery company. Van poked one of the boxes with his feet, thinking it was full; however, the mere poke made the box be easily pushed, and allowed the rest of the pile to come crumbling down, raising a dust cloud over both of them.

Both teenagers started coughing before Haruko reprimanded the boy, "Ugh… Be-*cough* careful, you idiot!"

"How was I supposed to know they were empty!?" The boy yelled back at her, "And are you going to stand there or are you gonna help with something!?"

"I am just here to check you don't do anything stupid and get yourself hurt again!" She yelled back at him, getting in the boy's face.

Then, pressed his teeth before mocking her "Oh, thanks MOM, how very kind of you!" raising his voice a bit more

"W-Don't call me like that, you weirdo!" It could be heard by both Chiaki and Koji, who just heard the argument they were having from outside the room. Then looked at each other, unimpressed and a bit disappointed. However, they just shrugged, perhaps assuming that's just how Van and Haruko would just get along.

Koji then walked towards the door of the room his classmates were and stuck his head in, seeing botch classmates still arguing in each other's faces. "Hey, guys!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" both Van and Haruko yelled at Koji.

Koji was taken aback by that reaction and replied, "E-eh… we… found some brooms…"

Then both of them quieted down, realizing they were lashing out at Koji for no reason and just responded "Oh…"

When they joined their friends in the court, having found the brooms. Both Van and Haruko were a bit quiet, allowing Chiaki to do most of the talking.

The pink haired girl simply looked at them with a smug on her face, then went "Done with the small talk?" teasing both of his classmates on their relationship. Both of them would look away, Van bringing his fists by his waist while Haruko folded her arms in front of her chest. Looking both annoyed and embarrassed.

She could tell that, although they were still arguing, things were different from before. Hence, why she smiled at her classmates while she handed a broom to each of them.

"Alright, best we can do now is starting with the court, let's try to gather all the dust and dust it off outside. Koji and I will work on this side of the court and you two over that side, alright!"

Her old friend would nod and offer a fist bump, which was met in kind. Then both got to work, leaving Haruko and Van to work on their side. And so, they did…

Meanwhile. Rika had hurried herself back to the School's main building, and looked around for the room where the inscriptions for the club would take place. After running around for a while, she eventually came to a classroom filled with people, and a small sign at the entrance that read 'Dueling Club: Sign here!". It was a bit crude to her liking, but it seemed to work for what it was intended for.

She then moved across the room, excusing herself between the queue of people before spotting Takato at the end, taking the names of each student who wanted to join.

"Ah, Takato!" She exclaimed, prompting the second-year to notice her and smile.

"Rika! Is everything alright?" he asked, motioning her to approach him.

Rika did approach him and leaned close, so the rest of the people there wouldn't hear their conversation. She explained the situation in detail, and the more she went on about it, the more worried the boy grew. And she noticed this.

"I see… alright, thank you. I'll notify them about this… small setback…" Showing a small, yet nervous smile to her.

Rika didn't say anything, she just wondered if everything was exactly alright, or he was simply trying to downplay his worries.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group were working in the old gymnasium. They had made some initial process around the court; however, it was going to be absolutely impossible to do something remarkable with just four people. At some point, Haruko took another look around, getting a better grasp of how things were around them, and this reality they had to face. She sighed, "This is gonna take a long time, isn't it…?"

"That wouldn't be the worst of my worries…" Van responded while collecting the dust in the middle of the court.

"What do you mean?" Then she asked, to which the boy quickly replied.

"First, don't stall, come on." Then, the boy added to his explanation, "Second. If you join a dueling club, meant to help you get into Duel Monsters… you are joining for that, not to clean an old gymnasium."

Then her expression changed to worry, "So you think people would…"

"Quit on the spot, yeah. After all, it's the same with almost any club anywhere. People join with certain expectations, and if they are not met, they just don't bother."

The boy kept cleaning the floor as he spoke. "More often than not, those expectations come in the form of everything being simpler than what it really is." before pausing for a moment just to add, "And I'm sure that 'hey, as our first activity we are going to clean this old building' is not something within their initial expectations." The boy noted, bluntly, as he kept cleaning the place. Haruko would resume the cleaning as well. Although she did show a bit of worry regarding what her classmate had just said.

He wasn't wrong, that's what made her uneasy, people are not going to join a club that is apparently pictured as something that can be relaxing and fun. And then take with a smile to clean an entire building as their first task. But she kept working, she wanted to avoid being pessimistic about this. She didn't like the idea of the club having such a bad start that it may even be considered a failure and discarded by the school.

"Hey!" Takato called at the entrance of the Gymnasium, accompanied by a group of students behind him, about at a dozen of them, and from different grades.

The first-years looked over at the group who had just arrived and approached Takato, waving and greeting them.

"Alright, do you mind if we help you guys a bit?" The second-year and club president asked them with a bright smile on his face. While the students who came along with him checked the place out and started commenting things like

"Woah, this place is bigger than I thought!"

"Yeah, we got a lot of work to do, but at least we'll get to decorate it as we like!"

"I thought they were going to bring it down, good thing we get to use it now!"

Van, however, was still a bit resentful as he still assumed Takato had tricked them on getting a head start in cleaning this place. "Yeah, about that…" he replied, intending to go on a rant on him. "You kn-Hmphphm!", however, before he could start with it, Chiaki and Haruko would pull him back and cover his mouth.

"Of course, of course!" Chiaki replied cheerfully.

Koji then pointed with his room towards one of the rooms aside a small stage in the building. "The cleaning tools are all over that room. Follow me!" leading the group over to get the materials, while some others decided, instead, to get to work on pulling the chairs and the boxes away.

The group began their attempts of coordinating their labor from the get go, discussing where they should store the chairs, discard the boxes and the like.

Eventually, the group of duelists gathered, as they observed the rest of the newly signed members of the club working on the place, getting it in the proper condition to be used.

"It's nice to see that people took things rather well in the end. But… I hope there would be more people interested in this…" Haruko commented, showing a bit of relief but disappointment.

Takato noted that and replied, "Well, it's because there were a lot more originally…" then sighed, "At least double, if not more."

"What…?" Haruko replied, with the rest of the first-years looking at Takato.

"Yeah… Rika came bearing the news about the state of the gymnasium. Then… I tried to communicate them to those wanting to join the club, and told them we would have to work on putting this place in shape ourselves." Then slowly shook his head.

"So most of them left, huh?" Koji asked in disappointment.

"Rika saved the day though!" Takato commented, showing a smile on his face.

"R-Rika!?" Haruko exclaimed, as that was one thing she did not see coming.

Takato nodded, and began explaining, "When I had communicated how things were going to go. People began leaving, considering this not worth the effort. However, Rika stood up to the occasion and delivered an inspiring speech that made people reconsider." He then shrugged, "I didn't reach to everyone. But at least it made some people decide to stay instead of just quitting. Rika probably saved the Dueling Club from being dead in the water right off the bat."

Haruko couldn't help but imagine the situation, showing a silly smile before asking, "Wait, where is she now?"

"Oh, she said it was getting late, so she left along with Saori and Sayuri." Noted before looking again at the Gym being worked on. "Alright guys, shall we get back to work?"

The whole group then lifted their fists and exclaimed, "Yeah!"

Cleaning the old gymnasium, or rather, leaving it in a state that at least some activities could start taking place, was quite draining and took longer than they expected. An hour later, with the sun already gone down and the night sky above the city of Domino, Haruko's drive was dropping the girl at the entrance of the Kaiba manor. The girl stepped out of the car, with her hair untidy and her uniform stained with dust all around it.

"Ugh… that took longer than what I liked." Then looked over at her driver and smiled at him, giving the man a thanking nod. Her expression, however, would instantly change to that of exhaustion. "I need a bath… and my bed…" muttered while hanging her head down.

"And something filling to let you recover your energies, ma'am!" Another man's voice called. It was Dean, one of the butlers of the family. "I accuse you not of lies or deceiving, miss Haruko. Rather, remind you that homework is a common occurrence in high school."

Haruko would then rub the back of her neck and chuckle at him, "Heheh, yeah, I think you are right… I certainly need a bath before I can work on my homework first, though."

The butler then nodded and bowed his head, "I shall have it ready for you. Meanwhile, ma'am, I believe your brother is waiting to have a word with you."

"My brother…?" she asked. It couldn't be Mokuba thought, he would rather look for her directly than send one of the servants to notify her. "What does he want…?" the girl thought, referring to the one-person left in the list of names.

The meeting would occur sooner than later. As, Seto could be spotted right after she crossed the doors, standing at the end of the stairway of the main hall.

Haruko hurried upstairs when he turned around and began walking away. Once she caught up with him, the tall, slender man spoke.

"You are late…" With his typical demeanor. Strict, cold, yet not cruel nor ill intended… at least not towards either Mokuba or her.

"Ah… yeah, I got caught up with the Dueling Club, things didn't really go as we were expecting for a first day, you see-" Haruko responded, and getting ready to explain before Seto spoke again.

"How was the cleaning, how many did actually bother to stay?" Showing a slight smirk that Haruko could see as he turned to face her.

Haruko blinked for a couple of times, before frowning at him, "Wait… It was your idea?!" exclaimed before facepalming, "Of course, I should've known!"

He then replied with his signature smug, "Mind your tone, sister, would you? I'm right in front of you. No need to yell."

"No! Why, tell me, why did you do that!?" The girl asked, clearly angry at this discovery. "Do you have any idea how many people quit on the spot because of that?" She continued.

"Yes, enough." was the blunt reply to her question. "You can thank me for it thought. Now you know that those who decided to stay and help with cleaning and setting everything up, are going to really dedicate. You may say… I helped to filter the candidates from early on."

"You…!" The girl pressed her teeth and stomped on the ground once. She really wanted to lash out on her step-brother. But… his words came to her mind. "People join with certain expectations, and if they are not met, they just don't bother. — More often than not, those expectations come in the form of everything being simpler than what it really is.".

In other words, her step-brother had a point. That's why she simply stormed off from his sight and headed over to her room, mad that she couldn't really argue with that in a way that would make a significant point for him. While it was a meaner way of looking and addressing the issue… Seto's mindset could even be compared to what Van told her. But while Van appeared to have accepted that and ran along with it, Seto faced that problem and acted upon it.

The girl dropped on her bed before throwing kicks and fists around, protesting how things were just her brother's doing. After tiring herself out and just patting on the bed, Haruko looked at the ceiling, of her room thinking "So this is how is it going to be. You're butting your nose into the Dueling Club matters, huh? But… how much?"