Chiaki and Haruko had managed to sneak away a bit earlier from cleaning the classroom, much to the latter's doubts about it, so they could head straight to the new Dueling Club's building.
"Come on, hurry it up!" Chiaki exclaimed in her cheerful demeanor, motioning at Haruko.
Her classmate, as simply trying to keep up with her, asking "W-why are we even rushing, we still have things to clean and tidy up before we get to do anything!"
"Precisely! Better to start early and strong, right?" The pink haired girl responded, stopping for a moment just to face her classmate.
"Shouldn't we go check on Koji in the infirmary? He said his wasn't feeling well." the blonde asked, wondering why Chiaki didn't seem that focused on his well-being.
The answer she got was an eye roll from her classmate followed by "I wouldn't be surprised he ate something spicy or something like that. He knows his stomach can't take that, but still eats that stuff…"
"So…?" The Kaiba asked, slowly raising an eyebrow.
Chiaki quickly turned around, "After the club!" cheerfully responded, prompting Haruko to hang her head and shake it, letting a defeated sigh go. Then the girl added, "Besides, Van went with him, remember?"
Haruko had almost forgotten about that detail. The teacher had assigned Van to accompany his friend to the infirmary. "You are right… but now that I think about it, neither returned to class after that… are you sure everything is ok?"
"Think about it, Haruko." The girl responded, lifting a finger and noting "Wouldn't have Van let us know if something was-" yet, her observation was cut short by…
"HAAAAAAAAAA!" A male voice screaming from what it seemed to be the top of their lungs.
That shocked both girls, "It came from the Club!" Haruko pointed out.
Chiaki didn't think it twice and pressed on, "Let's go!"
While rushing there, and making the last turn where would lead them to the gymnasium's entrance, they could notice the first detail to easily catch their attention
"Look, the doors are open!" Haruko noted before adding, "Do you think someone suffered an…" Finally, they reached to the door, her agitated and worried by the sudden shock. However, when they finally got to the door and saw inside, her tone slowly calmed and switched to confusion, "… accident?"
"What…?" escaped Chiaki's lips.
Both of them saw the place cleaner than what they left it yesterday. And a single figure standing in the middle of the court, with his back facing their direction. Both girls stepped inside, with Haruko pointing at the figure standing in the middle of the court, "Is… that…?"
"Uhuh… that looks like Koji, but…?" Chiaki responded, apparently as confused as Haruko.
"ONE MORE TIME!" Koji screamed before flexing his arms and starting to strike different poses while yelling each time "I'll trust in my cards, just like Yugi's might, with faith in my deck, I'll take fight!" Then he would rise his fists and yell once more, "HAAAAAA!"
His chant echoed through the gymnasium; the girls stared at him for a bit before exchanged their puzzled glances.
"He's been going on like that for the last fifteen minutes…" The voice of Van called. Who was just lying on the floor, not far from the entrance. Arm crossed under his head and one of his legs resting over his knee.
"What are you two doing here!?" Haruko exclaimed at Van approaching him and stomping his foot next to him. "Weren't you supposed to be in the infirmary!?"
The boy calmly opened one of his eyes, looking up at the girl standing next to him. Then closed it again calmly noting "Skirt, Haruko, you are wearing a skirt…"
She quickly turned red and stepped back, bringing both hands down and pressing her skirt with them, letting go a loud "Eek! Then don't you look, jerk!"
"Well, would you mind explaining to us what on earth is going on here?" Chiaki asked too. As they could still hear Koji screaming in the background.
The boy then pushed himself up and sat on the ground, grumbling a bit and scratching his head, "This… jackass faked the whole thing. As soon as we were out of the classroom, he pressed me to sneak out and come here, since I got one of the copies of the key." Then sighed, clearly not looking pleased by the entire thing. "Almost wanted to kick his butt, but I figured saying no and going back would have gotten him in trouble with the teacher, so…"
"I can't believe him" The blonde looked over at Koji, with her hands on her hips, "So irresponsible, and making us worried about him!" Then glanced at Chiaki, who could be seen walking up to Koji in silence. "Chiaki…?"
"Oh… looks like she is gonna scold him?" Van noted as he slowly stood up and stretched his limbs and back.
"Is she the one to do that often?" The Kaiba asked, to which Van nodded in response.
"Yeah, they've been friends for many years. So, It's just fitting, she is the one to put his feet on the ground." Then looked over them with curiosity.
Chiaki finally reached to where Koji was, the chubby boy still distracted. The girl then could be seen by Van and Haruko delivering a swift slap to the back of her friend's neck. "What the heck are you doing!?" she exclaimed.
The boy was caught off guard and stumbled forth, turning around as he angrily yelled back "Hey, don't hit me like that pink-topped midget, you are messing up the club chant!"
"You skipped half a class and act like nothing's happened!?" The girl yelled back, pointing her finger right at his face, "And then you are working on making this clown of yourself!?"
"She can be a little harsh, but at least her intentions are good, aren't they?" Haruko spoke to Van in a lower tone. To which Van just nodded and hummed in agreement.
"Watch and learn, this is a real chant!" she replied, dropping every bit of faith both Van and Haruko had in her in what seemed a blink of an eye. Then Chiaki began striking poses while exclaiming "Like Yugi, I'll trust my deck's power true, drawing my destiny, as I duel with all my might too!"
"Get out of here, that sucks, Chiaki. Now check this out!" And thus, a back and forth between both friends started. Trying to come out with the best chanting for the dueling club.
Meanwhile, both Van and Haruko looked at them from the distance, both in disbelief. With Van talking to her in a low tone, so their friends wouldn't hear, "Alright, here is our alibi. I'm a tourist, and you are my personal guide, if anyone asks, we don't know them…"
Haruko narrowed her eyes and just muttered, "Got it…" Her attention, thought, would be brought to one detail of the gymnasium. She looked at the floor, and saw how it was very bright, with the wood almost reflecting them where they stood. "Wait… the floor is…"
"Oh yeah" Van reacted and rubbed the back of "We mopped this place when we got here. Koji and I, I mean."
"I can see that!" The voice of Takato called from the entrance of the building while walking in while adjusting several bags, he was carrying over his shoulders, "You guys surely did a fantastic job here! I think we could even start with some activities today." The boy then. Dropped the bags on the ground and stretched his arms.
"Hm, what do you bring there?" Van asked with curiosity, approaching a bit to the bags.
"How about you guys give it a look?" Takato replied with a small smile before tossing to both first-years a bag each.
They easily caught the bags and opened them. The duelists were surprised to see the contents of the bags. Boxes, and many of them. They were all booster pack boxes of the most basic and classic of the game. "Woah, never seen so many of these together. There must be easily over 100 booster packs here!" Van commented.
"Yeah, I didn't expect to see something like this here!" Haruko then realized something, switching her expression from joy and surprise to sudden worry. "Wait, Takato, did you buy all this yourself!?"
The second-year then waved his hand, dismissing her worries. "It's alright, don't worry. I just asked my dad for an advance of my next pay for helping him in the restaurant."
"You work in a restaurant, that's cool!" Van noted, unintentionally dragging the conversation away from that topic.
Takato was eager to respond, "It's a Chinese restaurant. Originally owned by my grandfather. When my parents were officially together, and my dad needed a job. He took him under his wing and trained him. So, we still run it to this day."
The boys kept chatting about this, leaving Haruko a bit out of the conversation. But she would have none of it. "HEY!" she exclaimed, catching their attention back to her, "You can't do this on your own. At least you should've please let me know! I can easily help with that, really!"
"Relax, really. Let's not talk about this now, alright? We can have this conversation another time and arrange for the future." Then picked up some bags again, "For now, help me to get this to one of the storage rooms. We need to get ready for today."
Eventually, they helped Takato with the bags, and got Chiaki and Koji to stop messing around with the chanting and the poses, so they could tag along and help as well. Minutes later, the members of the club began showing up, bringing up some more life to the ambience around the Gymnasium. Not only members of the group alone did show up. As there were curious faces who came along and decided to watch what was going to happen there.
The members of the club would then gather around in a line. With Takato standing in the front. A big smile on his face before nodding to himself, "Alright, welcome to the dueling club. Firstly, I want to thank you all for joining, second of all, I would like to let you all very clear what are the main purposes of the dueling club. But before that, I would like to take some time, so we can introduce each other. I will start pointing at you randomly, just say your name and last name. Grade, and if you have any previous experience with Duel Monsters and what are your expectations here." Takato then looked at the group and pointed out at a girl with a very calm, and straight pose.
The girl took a couple of steps forth, she had long, dark blue hair which she kept flowing down over her shoulders and back. Her eyes were dark, purple. She stood around 156 CM. Her face showed little emotions, remaining very serene.
Then spoke "My name is Kumiko Takara, I am in class 1 – A along with some of the members who are present in this club. I do not have any experience playing the game; however, I have seen duels sporadically, the latest one being the one between both my classmates over there." Her eyes then calmly shifted their attention over to Koji and Van.
"Ah, right, it's that quiet girl…" Koji whispered to Van while elbowing his arm. Looking back at the girl.
Van hummed for a moment, looking at her as well, whispering back, "Would've never guessed she was interested in this."
"Wait." Haruko then spoke up, looking at the girl with a small smile, and asked, "Takara. Your father is the president of Domino General Hospital, isn't he?"
Kumiko, however, rather than replying to Haruko, just stared back at her. Her eyes narrowed down a bit, while still keeping her serene pose. Even though her expression hasn't changed that much, nor words were spoken, it was clear that there was tension in the air between them.
And in fact, that was caught on by everyone present at that moment. Haruko was taken aback by this and decided not to press on or ask any further questions, with her just thinking, "What is her problem…?"
Van looked back and forth between them and whispered over to Chiaki and Koji, "Uh… what am I missing here?"
"No idea man…" Koji replied with the same puzzled tone, while Chiaki shook her head and shrugged.
Takato then cleared his throat, and clapped his hands once, just so they could move on from the awkward moment and continue with their introductions. "Alright, let's continue, shall we?" Then pointed out to another member of the club, allowing the introductions to carry on.
After the introductions were done, the club president moved on to the next topic at hand. "So, you may be wondering what are we going to do in this club. Is it all about playing Duel Monsters? Well… kind of, allow me to explain what are the goals the school hopes to meet through this club."
He lifted a finger explaining, "Firstly. It's to educate and help people integrate into the game, not only on the basic rules and how to play it. But we will also cover details such as deck building, basic strategies and such."
The members of the club glanced at each other, showing their excitement and gossiping among each other. Those, who were already experienced duelists, remained calm and paying attention to what was left to explain.
Then he would raise a second finger, explaining the second point. "Second. The Dueling Club has been implemented not only here in our school, or our prefecture alone. With the support of Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions, this new program has been set across the different regions of Japan." He would then clap his hands together, "Which brings the topic of competitions to the table. Just like Judo, Basketball, and the like. There are plans to hold competitions between different schools in a format similar to that of everyone who has been here for long enough."
One of the students who was part of the club raised their hand and spoke up, "Takato-Sempai, I've got a question!" Takato nodded at the person and gave room for them to ask "You mentioned it's going to be the same, or similar to the format schools already use. Does it mean we are even talking about the potential of a National Competition?"
That question sparked the attention and interest of everyone, specially those who were already experienced with the system.
Takato's eyes looked across the members of the club and then nodded. "That's correct."
That, seemed to spark up something among the group. Gossiping began again, but the tone that could be overheard showed everyone was more riled up. This was the case Especially on the experienced duelists among them. Koji, clenching his fists and looking down with an excited grin on his face. With Chiaki soon joining him and tapping his arm repeatedly, sharing their silent excitement.
Haruko kept her arms molded, though she pressed her fingers, trying to contain her desire to scream and cheer from the top of her lungs. The fact that this could be a direct lead to a professional scene was simply perfect. Mokuba had stated before that there was something along those lines involved. Yet things were still kept unclear for her, perhaps not to give her an unfair advantage?
That glance of his friends was caught by Van, who looked at them with a small smile on his face, "Looks at them… I wonder if they can actually handle the pressure of actually stepping into a competition." He started to remember a bit about the tournaments he took part when he was still back at home in Germany. How he was a ball of nerves when he started. Regular duels and duels in competitions are different things from one another.
In your everyday duel with friends, you win, lose, and then simply go again. In a tournament, one bad play, one bad call, one bad draw… and you are history.
The moment would be abruptly cut, though. As a new voice would exclaim loudly, "Well, that does sound like a very promising idea, y'know!" while a new group of students walked into the gymnasium. Drawing the attention of not only the members of the club, but also the attention of the other students who were there just to observe.
Haruko was quick to let an "Oh no…" escape from her lips when she saw the group who just came in were none other than Tetsuo, Yamada and the rest of their gang.
Takato was quick to step up, setting himself between them and the members of the club and the gang. "What are you looking for here, Yamada? We are in the middle of our activities, if you have no business then you and your gang have to leave." called, with a mandatory tone. "I remember you… you are Tetsuo, from class 2-A."
"The one and only, and you are that classmate of Yamada. I remember you… good fighter. How is your eye?" The second-year asked with a smirk on his face.
Takato, however, was quick to reply, "How is your shoulder?"
"Wait, did those two fights before?" Koji whispered among the group.
"Yes, they did…" One of the second-year students from the Club replied to Koji, and began explaining, so the members of the club could hear. "Tetsuo has been known since he enrolled here as a troublemaker. He likes picking on fights with people who look strong." Then looked over to Takato, "While Takato-sempai was a member of the Judo club, he picked a fight with him. Some say it was arranged, others say Tetsuo outfight attacked Takato. That is what is 'known', the details of the fight, however, not so much… But it was ugly, both parts pretty beaten, with people saying Takato-sempai broke Tetsuo's arm…"
While everyone was shocked by the story, Tetsuo spoke up. "Dislocated, actually!" having overheard through the echo of the place. "And what a fun fight that was…"
"Stop beating around the bush, what do you want." The club president asked again.
Yamada would then grunt, "He is right, get to the point, Tetsuo, don't want to be here any longer than needed."
"What a bunch of buzzkills…" He would then point at him, "Well, This is the dueling club, isn't it? Meaning, I'm sure there should be strong duelists around here. Give me the best you've got. I'm ready to take on any of you!"
"Then leave." Takato stated firmly. Both surprising and shocking the gang. "Most of the people here are not experienced duelists, to begin with. And those who are, are not here for your entertainment. There are here to hone their skills and help others learn the game."
Van, who was at the back with the group, decided to step forth, sighing at how Takato was trying to deal with Tetsuo. You can't be exactly civil with him, you have to appeal to him. Him walking up to the focus on the situation did worry some members of the club; however, it was Haruko who reassured the rest that things would be fine.
After all, she had witnessed what happened between the bully and her classmate back on the rooftop.
"Yo!" Van exclaimed at Tetsuo.
Takato then looked over and raised his arm, "Van, stay back! This person is bad news, he is-"
"Van!" Tetsuo exclaimed, in a friendly manner, while the first-year ignored Takato's warning and walked past him. The second-year stretched his hand, and that was met in kind by the first-year, who clapped his hand against his and held it tight. "I see you, and you're that Kaiba girl decided to join the club eh, why though?"
"What do you mean?" Van asked curiously.
"Dude, they are all rookies, save for your friends. Putting up with all that… pft such a boredom." He replied.
Then he tilted his head, "Yeah, but what about the reward that comes from it?" asked with a smirk
"The reward? Ah… you mean the competitions… Eh, I don't know…" Tetsuo shrugged. "If it's the same in other schools, it's gonna be filled with rookies and chumps as well…"
Van then crossed his arms and asked, "What does dueling mean to you?"
The question caught not only Tetsuo, but also Takato, Yamada, and the rest of the gang of second years. Tetsuo narrowed his eyes, looking at the young German-born teen with a serious expression before replying, "A challenge." Then he clenched his fist before adding, "Just like with fighting. The thrill of facing someone strong, of overcoming a challenge like that. That's what satisfies me the most!" Then looked at Takato, "And even if that someone beats me, that's simply more fuel for me. A challenge that is still undone by me, something to keep me going. That's what it means to me!"
Yamada looked over to his friend, huffing for a moment.
"Then join the club?" He asked with a confident smug.
"What!?" everyone exclaimed at his suggestion, with Tetsuo being the only exception.
"I know what you are getting at, yeah, buddy." He responded, "But listen… That would demand me getting actually involved in the club…" He then sighs "Too many rules, too structured, I don't know… I don't see enough to convince me."
"Even with the odds of finding strong duelists to face?" The first-year then asked.
That detail made Tetsuo stop for a moment in his thoughts… it was a tempting idea; he could actually face strong opponents. However, taking a look over at the rest of the club members. The idea of having to take part of things related to learning the basics of a game he already knows… "Hmm…"
It was then when another a new voice that came from the entrance joined the conversation, asking both shy and politely "Uh… excuse me…"
Haruko noticed the person at the entrance and exclaimed cheerfully called "Saori!"
The girl walked a couple of steps forward. "Saori?" crossed Tetsuo's mind before the girl just passed by him, when his eyes laid on her… he was completely gone. It was almost as if he had seen an angel walking by him. It made the whole world stop spinning for him and just focus on her. "She is…. gorgeous…!"
The girl bowed politely before Takato, who was now more relaxed, seeing that the situation had been mostly de-escalated thanks to Van. And was able to greet her properly. "I'd like to join the Dueling Club; do I still have a chance to do so?"
That question drove Tetsuo over the edge, and almost in a blink of an eye, he moved next to her, facing Takato and tapping the girl's shoulder. Completely side-stepping and ignoring Van, who he was speaking to.
The boy then showed his coolest and most confident smirk while pointing his thumb at his gang, over his shoulder. Finally, speaking, "Yeah, the guys and I are joining as well."
"WHAT!?"
Everyone exclaimed, with now the exception to Saori, who looked over at Tetsuo with curiosity and then smiled at him as a greeting before focusing back on the shocked Takato.
And Van, who was just left hanging on his own before he could even react, who just sighed in disappointment and narrowed his eyes, "That is your drive… that…."
"We would gladly welcome you to the Club, Saori!" Takato said, recovering his posture before looking at Tetsuo, "You, however… we need to talk."
"Agreed!" Yamada screamed while approaching them along with the rest of the gang, "What's on your freaking mind, Tetsuo!?"
The group of second year students then headed outside for a moment, so they could discuss the matter at hand.
"Listen here, we will not be around here to cater to your boredom. We will be working on not only trying to improve on those who are already familiar with dueling, but also teach and educate those who are not. And that goes for all of you."
"Alright, time out." Tetsuo then gestured with his hand. Then pointed at his group, "Let's be realistic, these boneheads are not cut for dueling. So, when it comes to that, let's just focus on me."
"HEY!" The rest of the gang screamed at him.
"Besides, I doubt they would even be slightly interested in getting into the game, with perhaps the exception of you…" The boy told Takato, before looking over to Yamada as he finished his explanation.
Yamada grunted and then Takato asked, "So what are you getting at, why are you even dragging them along with you?"
He then flexed his arm and tapped it a couple of times, "For muscle, of course! It doesn't take a detective to see you guys still have work to do in this gymnasium. Think it as an offer. You let us in, and you get yourself some assistants for your club and a chance to keep them from getting into fights with Van or anybody, else again… at least while they are still part of the club."
Takato remained in silence, and hummed before looking over at them. "They won't cause trouble; do you want me to believe that?"
"Hey, I always keep my word!" Tetsuo replied before looking over the gang, giving them that same look he gave them on the rooftops again. "No trouble, no fighting, no nothing, right boys?". That, with the addition of his tone of voice at the end of his question, made the gang to stand straight, line up and just exclaim
"Y-Yes!"
Takato witnessed that and spoke his mind again, "Hmph… I guess that can be considered a solid incentive, so-…", however, Tetsuo showed his palm in front of him.
"Oop! I'm not done yet. There is one more thing." The second-year stated.
Takato then sighed and asked "What now…?" starting to sound mentally exhausted about Tetsuo's mental gymnastics over this entire ordeal.
"I still want to duel you. So, let's make it interesting. Regardless if I win or lose, I'm joining the club. But if I win… you keep me off from any teaching to the rookies."
"But th-… ugh…" The president of the club tried to explain, but at this point he had figured out it was pointless, so instead of antagonizing Tetsuo's idea, he gave into it. "Fine… but if you lose, you will carry out teaching or guiding to rookies if necessary. Without questions."
Tetsuo then nodded, repeating with a firm tone, "And without complaints."
"Are we doing this now then or…?" Tetsuo asked, looking inside the building.
"Tomorrow. We still have things to do today, and moreover, you guys need to introduce yourselves as well into the group. Come on." Takato motioned to them as he walked back to the rest of the group.
The gang followed his step and, although things seemed fine for the most part now, Takato couldn't shake off the uneasiness of having literally a group of troublemakers joining the club. Takato seemed to be able to 'keep them on a leash' but how long would that last?
Meanwhile, Haruko and the rest of the first years were gathered around Saori, with Haruko happily hugging her tightly "Hmmm, It makes me so happy to see you are eager to learn the game too!"
"Have you been planning on it?" Koji asked while looking at them with a smile on his face.
"Hmph…!" She then gently tried to ease the hug of Haruko on her and chuckled a bit, "Well… actually…" Then, she began fidgeting with her fingers before replying, "I was looking at you guys dueling. Koji and Van looked so cool and so into it, and Haruko not only looked so graceful while dueling, but her summonings are gorgeous."
Before she could realize, she saw Van was looking aside scratching his cheek, not used to getting those kinds of compliments about his dueling, although trying to keep it cool. The same was with Haruko, who just blushed a bit and tried to shrink between her shoulders.
Koji, however, was a different story, as he chose to smirk, trying to both act and look cool to her comments, hitting his chest with his fist and replying "Ah yes, well, that's usually how it is when I'm dueling!" while Chiaki just looked at him unimpressed.
"So, please!" then Saori bowed before her friends saying "Please have patience with me, I'll try my hardest to be the best disciple I can be!"
"Saori!" Haruko exclaimed before reaching to her grands and holding them firmly between hers. "We'll be more than glad to teach you. Just leave that in our hands, and you will see how you turn out to be an excellent duelist!"
Saori then looked at the group, letting her eyes glance at each of them just to confirm they were all on the same page as Haruko. She was met with a slow nod and a smile from Van, a thumbs up from Koji who was still trying to act cool, and Chiaki who started to pull from Koji's ear, prompting him to start to yelp and whimp in pain while the girl exclaimed "Just you see Saori, you won't regret this!"
After seeing that everyone was on the same page. The girl eagerly nodded, "Yes!" said, sounding just as eager as she looked.
Subsequently, Van looked around, noticing how the club was starting to shape up. Even with all the awkwardness that brought by the gang of bullies who ended up joining… or rather being forced to join by Tetsuo, Van was growing a bit more curious about the things that experiences he might end up sharing with the members of the club.
Author's note: And here is the start of the Dueling Club. How about some guessing of the deck Takato might be running, and also which deck do you think Saori may end up picking up?
I hope you all are enjoying how the story is progressing and it's phasing. I hope you all have a great weekend and I'll see you next week!
