And all you see are the cards that you can play

And you thought you'd get away with these games

And all you see are the cards there in your hand

And you thought that you had everything planned

– Feint ft. CoMa, "Snake Eyes"

I

It was said that a first-time visitor to Maiami City could master the game of Duel Monsters faster by watching a complete stranger play it than by learning the rules on their own. So prevalent was the sport here that the sprawling metropolis had been called the Dueling capital of the world.

No other location in Japan had so many places for kids and adults alike to pick up their Decks and challenge each other for reasons big and small. Passersby would often pause in their goings-on for a few minutes to enjoy the visual spectacle of someone's latest and greatest combination of cards that, in some way or another, would eventually seal the win. Playing arenas that could have passed for tennis courts, so similar in shape and size were they, were as commonplace here as parks and plazas—and the more advanced of these could be outfitted with the latest in Solid Vision holographic technology, creating battlefields that explored every dimension of the creator's imagination, from the whimsical to the sinister—or, in the case of the battlefield in which the teenaged boy was currently sitting off to one side, they could call on equal parts of both.

To call Sweets Island a dentist's worst nightmare would have been flattery. The Action Field—so named because Duelists could traverse its holographic terrain to gain tactical advantages in their battles—was a literal island of candies, pastries, and all manner of foods that would send most parents sprinting for the nearest tube of toothpaste. Gingerbread houses, large enough to function as actual houses, lined a wide stripe of chocolate that could have passed for a two-way street. Flans and jellies of every color imaginable sprouted either side like so many bushes, atop sheets of frosting so purely white that only the oddness of the surrounding landscape kept it from being confused with freshly fallen snow. Even the clouds that drifted lazily across the sunny sky had just enough of a pinkish tint to give them away as cotton candy.

Not one of them had drifted across the sun, however—which meant that Sakuragi Yū, sitting astride a particularly large and cushiony gumdrop, had to study the device in his lap with a hand to his forehead the whole time, to compensate for the glare. Slim, sturdy fingers idly brushed lavender bangs to the left of his face; while it was cooler than the sunny skies suggested, he'd been out here for long enough that his brow was beginning to feel sweaty.

At seventeen, Yū was one of the oldest and most experienced students in the Leo Duel School—which was itself the most respected Duel School in Japan, and arguably the whole world by extension. Just last year, he'd been crowned the Junior Youth Champion in the city's annual tournament, the Maiami Championship. He hadn't had nearly this much luck in Youth Division earlier this month—which wasn't to say he'd crashed out; the bizarre turn this year's competition had taken simply meant it had been canceled before he could have a chance to truly defend his title.

Yū had been present for most of those strange happenings—he'd even Dueled some of the soldiers from another dimension, who'd invaded the city that day. He didn't like talking about it afterward, though—he'd put on such a poor showing against those that a small part of him had been thankful for the broadcast being cut short before things had really gone south. To his relief, however, the announcement his headmistress had made around the world had put everything in perspective—and helped drive out much of the shame from his mind.

He sighed, content despite the continuing glare from his Duel Disk as he continued to take in the information spilling across its rectangular screen.

"Turn end!" squeaked a voice off to his left just then, breaking his concentration.

Youth-level students of the Leo Duel School such as Yū were encouraged—and implicitly expected—to take some time out of their day to function as tutors to younger boys and girls who were either starting to dip their toes into the wide world of Duel Monsters—or had otherwise caught the eye of the prestigious school for reasons known to only the powerful woman who headed it. Whatever their age and experience, the aim was the same: to keep the most popular sport in the world flourishing so that the next generation could enjoy it as much as the current one did. And even though the two students Yū was currently observing were an odd pair on the surface, he had been tutoring them for long enough to realize that promising talent lay within them both—and, he privately thought, to enjoy the notion of finally letting that talent loose on the world when the time came.

One of them was the girl who had just ended her turn. Okaski Kaede was tiny, even for ten years old, and looked more like the poster child for a Sweet Lolita fashion catalog than any serious Duelist. Dustings of makeup and blush had been meticulously applied around the light blue eyes that dominated her pale, round face, while the lacy frills of her white gown—as expansive as it looked expensive—were almost as much so as her blonde hair, styled into twin bunches almost the size of the head they were attached to, and almost wider from tip to tip than the girl was tall.

Beneath this cutesy exterior, however, was the mind of an unexpected prodigy of Duel Monsters—from a no less unexpected source. For Kaede hailed from the Cuisine Duel School, known for producing many more chefs and cooking personalities than it did Duelists of any caliber—and yet she'd claimed that Mokota Michio, universally considered the school's best student in both Dueling and cooking alike until his untimely fate at the Championship, had implied she was an even better Duelist than he. It turned out this ran in the family: Kaede's grandmother had been one of the first alumnae of the institution; after graduating, she'd opened a small but popular pâtisserie in the city where Yū would often meet the little girl for their twice-weekly sessions.

A slightly nasally rasp, off to his right, reached his ears. "My turn—draw!"

Kaede's opponent was her polar opposite in almost every way. Less than a year's difference in age was about the only thing she had in common with Yashiki Yūrei, the boy that Yū had been tutoring along with her. Where Kaede hadn't yet hit her growth spurt, Yūrei's had arrived early; he stood a full foot taller, and the heavy black boots he wore made him seem taller still. Where her outfit bloomed and blossomed, his hugged and stretched; the boy's long, two-tone hair—each purple-and-pink strand either spiked and slicked in blades over his brow or tied back in the beginnings of a ponytail—wobbled and twitched with the slightest puff of wind, while the studded leather pants and faded graphic tee that constituted his clothing clung tightly to his skin despite his already wiry frame.

And where Kaede was chatty, energetic, and not a little bit impulsive, Yūrei was a self-proclaimed prankster. He was very quiet for his age and size when he wanted to be, and he sometimes liked to use that to his advantage by sneaking up on random people, waiting until they dropped their guard—before either going "Boo!" to make them jump in the air, or waiting to see how long it took before they noticed him. Yū had admonished him on that in the past; not every random person in Maiami City liked having the pants scared off them for a laugh, particularly after what had happened during the Championship.

But Yūrei was a student at the Wight School, a small Duel School that Yū knew very little about; few of its pupils, if any at all, had been sent to represent the school in that tournament. All he'd been able to glean was that deceptively weak monsters were favored within its walls—along with a taste for the strange and macabre that flew in the face of most social graces (which, he had to presume, included knowing when not to play pranks). More than once he'd found Yūrei with his headphones perched atop his gelled hair, blasting music at what he could only assume was the loudest volume they could handle. What little of said music he could make out had been enough for him to suppress a cringe; Yū had no interest in heavy metal, Japanese or otherwise.

Today, however, Yūrei had replaced his headphones with a stick of gum; the bubble he'd been blowing now burst on his lips as his gray eyes gazed intently across his field at Kaede, studying everything he'd done up to this point.

So was Yū; the Duel Disk in his lap had been in "observer mode" for the entire Duel so far, allowing him to analyze a battle without interfering in its progression. This particular battle had been back-and-forth for a few turns now, with no clear winner in sight. Kaede had the edge in field advantage—with all five zones on her field being occupied by a monster—but all five of those monsters were also face-down, as evidenced by the skull-like formations of barbed wire floating above each one, and couldn't be flipped face-up until her next turn.

At 1600 Life Points out of her original 4000, she also had the edge there, too; Yūrei's LP counter was a scant 500, and the two monsters he had on his field didn't look ready to protect what little life he had left: one, a silly-looking, sheet-over-the-head-style ghost (Level 1: ATK 600/DEF 0) bobbed in the air like a balloon. Its companion, an equally cartoony snowman wrapped in a scarf, didn't look much more threatening (Level 1: ATK 800/DEF 100).

But Yū knew appearances didn't count for beans in Duel Monsters. Even the silliest of monster designs could conceal the most devastating of effects; all too often, new Duelists would find the most terrifying dragons, demons, and machines they could Summon stopped in their tracks by plants, animals and fairies that didn't look like they could hurt a fly. He could count on both Kaede and Yūrei to remind him of this, every time they Dueled; it was one reason why the two of them were perhaps the most promising students he'd yet tutored—and certainly the ones he enjoyed tutoring the most.

The LDS student pulled himself back into the battle; the way Yūrei was smirking told him he'd drawn a good card just now. "I activate the Field Spell: Ghostrick House!" he exclaimed in a slightly nasally rasp. "And then, using my Level 1 Ghostrick Specter and Ghostrick Frost"—he indicated both monsters in front and either side of him—"I construct the Overlay Network!"

Several things happened then: first, the gingerbread houses lining the street on which the two kids were Dueling squirmed in their foundations, as though shaking themselves apart. And sure enough, pieces of them were falling off, shattering on the frosted ground; within seconds, each house now sported a grotesque face with a leering grin.

The sky seemed to darken; more clouds had appeared over the high sun. But it was impossible to say whether they'd appeared as a result of the houses' unsettling transformation—or by way of the galaxy of colorful lights and stars that had just blossomed between the two Duelists. Vivid purple energy lined both of Yūrei's monsters, Frost and Spectre, before the vortex in their midst sucked them both inside:

"Fallen knight of a bygone age!" chanted Yūrei. "With your fearsome blade, ride out into battle!"

"Xyz Summon! Come forth from the shadows! Rank 1! Ghostrick Dullahan!"

Something billowing and black hurtled out of the mass of stars, dispelling it into nothingness before it had even touched the ground. That writhing mass of black now became a cape, adorning the shoulders of a headless knight astride a red-eyed white horse, its severed armored helm tucked securely under the crook of his free arm. It bore the same childishly exaggerated proportions of the two monsters that had gone into creating it, and perhaps this explained its point gauge (Rank 1: ATK 1000/DEF 0; ORU 2)—but it also looked just intimidating enough that Yū could forgive Kaede suddenly looking so apprehensive.

"Ghostrick Dullahan's effect lets it gain 200 ATK for each Ghostrick card on the field—including itself!" Yūrei said with a smirk, watching that same gauge balloon to 1800 ATK courtesy of the House in his Field Zone, and a pair of Traps he also controlled as well. "Then, my Ghostrick House's effect! Everyone's monsters can attack directly if their opponent doesn't have any face-up monsters, but all damage is halved!"

His smirk grew wider. "Unless it comes from a Ghostrick monster!"

"Huh?!" Even in her surprise, Kaede had taken a step back—something Yū would have been blind not to notice. Her round face had deflated like a loaf of bread in the oven that hadn't quite risen all the way, and she visibly gulped as she eyed the Xyz Monster pawing the ground.

"And you know what that means," sniggered Yūrei. "Battle Phase! Ghostrick Dullahan—attack Kaede's Life Points directly!"

He stabbed out with a finger—"Skull-Severing Slash!"—and Dullahan charged forward with an echoing whinny from its steed, drawing a sword that looked a lot more threatening than its cartoonish size let on. Kaede took one look at the weapon and did the only sensible thing a Duelist in her position could have done.

She ran.

This was more by design than a first-time visitor to Maiami City might have realized. The Action Field they were battling in was not the only reason that an Action Duel was set apart from a regular Duel; players were encouraged to use the terrain to not only fight, but to defend themselves. For scattered throughout it were dozens, if not hundreds, of Action Cards—unique spells that appeared at the start of every Action Duel, and could be played at almost any time. Their effects were often simple, but their implications meant that even the most hopeless of situations could be reversed—if the Duelist picked the right one.

Kaede, it seemed, had found one such card—but her choice in fashion had ultimately betrayed her. The white shoes she wore under her gown slipped on one of the chocolate-chip cookies serving as a stepping-stone for one of the houses, and she tumbled to the ground with a squeak in a tangle of limbs and lace.

She only managed one more squeak before Dullahan was upon her, striking her right between the shoulders with the flat of his blade. The force of the blow sent Kaede ponytails over petticoats, landing upside down in a mound of pink frosting heaped atop a cupcake the size of a small car—before sinking up to her waist in the supersized dessert.

As if to emphasize the ignominy of her situation, the pale pink Duel Disk on her left wrist—its butter-yellow blade still glinting in the sun—was issuing a long, squealing tone, somewhat muffled under the huge pastry. Dullahan's attack had reduced Kaede's Life Points to zero, making Yūrei the winner of the Duel.

The victorious boy punched the air in delight. "All right!" he whooped.

With the battle now concluded, Dullahan disappeared, and the sugary surroundings of Sweets Island with it. The complex holographic imaging and interactive software that made the Action Field possible now deactivated, revealing one of the city's many Dueling courts, bathed in the shadows cast by the late afternoon sun.

The source of the shadows was the monolithic form of the Leo Duel School itself: the tallest building in Maiami City—and arguably, the sole reason for its prosperity. No other Duel School had revolutionized the game of Duel Monsters so thoroughly; under the stewardship of the Akaba family, and with the technology and financial backing of the Leo Corporation they owned as well, it had branched out around the world to expand that revolution, absorbing school after school in what could almost—almost—be called a monopoly over the sport.

Yū got to his feet at last, shutting off his Duel Disk. "Great job, Yūrei!" he said approvingly. "That was loads better than the last Duel. I really think you're starting to get the hang of this new combo of yours now."

This earned a breathless chuckle from Yūrei as the bright purple blade of his own Duel Disk was cleared of cards, before retreating into its polished silver surface. "Thanks, Yū," he replied with a smile. "I'm just glad I got all the cards I needed in my hand so quickly."

He exhaled, his breathing shaky, clearly still giddy from the adrenaline rush of his latest victory. "But man—I can't wait to see what everyone else at school thinks of this for my exam next week!"

A crestfallen Kaede shuffled up to the pair just then. She was clean as a whistle—the mess of frosting she'd been sent into had only been Solid Vision, and thus had disappeared with the rest of the field. But she was clearly upset; the little girl was smoothing out the many ruffles of her dress only absentmindedly. Yū heard her faintly sniff, and instantly turned his attention to the little girl.

"Hey—don't look so down," he soothed her. "You've been doing really well yourself today. Your last Duel before this one was probably the best I've seen from you since we started doing this together." He smiled reassuringly. "We all have our off days, Kaede; the best we can do after times like that is to dust ourselves off and try again."

"That's not why I'm sad, Yū-sensei." He felt something inside him cringe in half at the honorific, but let Kaede continue on. "I just wish I could've eaten that cupcake."

Yū blinked. "What cupcake?"

"The one Yūrei's monster knocked me into." She hid her face, blushing furiously at the sight of her mentor trying his hardest not to laugh. "After the Duel, before Sweets Island shut down, I … might've tried to … eat my way out of it … "

Her stomach suddenly let fly with a rumble that made the delicate lace of her dress shudder. "Phooey," she pouted. "Now I'm even more hungry."

Yū felt a stitch growing in his chest from the amount of laughter he was holding back. The mental image of Kaede chomping her way through giant desserts Pac-Man style was too much for him. Through some herculean effort, he managed to swallow his mirth—though not without taking a few deep breaths just to be sure.

"You're better off, Kaede," he eventually managed to say. "That stuff would just be empty calories even if it was real. A hologram would just be empty space in your tummy. So if you had tried to eat all that, you'd just feel even more starving than you are now."

He checked his Duel Disk. The numbers he saw on the screen made his eyebrows jump right into his hair. "Wow—okay, that Duel went on for longer than I thought, kids," he said. "We'll have to call it a day from here before your families get worried."

He was staring at the downcast Kaede as he said this, and so did not see the expression on Yūrei's face in full; only that it looked every bit as disheartened as she did at the end of another successful day of Dueling.

He shut off his Duel Disk at length, then folded up the device and slid it into his pocket. "You want me to walk you to the bus stop again?"

"Actually, can we go back to my grandma's place?" Kaede piped up. "You still haven't met her yet, Yū-sensei"—he fought the urge to cringe again—"and she's really been wanting to meet you ever since I told her about my lessons with you!"

The stress in the "really" told Yū what was coming next—and he really didn't want to look at her to find out for himself—but that didn't stop him from doing it anyway.

Sure enough, Kaede's bright blue eyes had gone wide and innocent—like a tiny kitten that had just realized for the first time in its life how mighty a weapon its gaze could be, and had sworn in its tiny kitten mind to never use this awesome power for evil intent again … at least, for about ten seconds.

And ten seconds was about all it took to crumble Yū's defenses. "Eh—sure, why not?" he shrugged, and Kaede cheered. "How does that sound, Yūrei?"

"Sure!" The boy's reply was almost immediate—perhaps even too much so—but Yū paid it little mind. "Y-yeah," Yūrei stammered, perhaps catching himself, "it'd be great to stay there again … "

"Just don't play your music in there too loud!" Kaede said bossily, sticking her tongue out at Yūrei as they turned to leave the Dueling court. "I had nightmares for a week after you showed me that creepy 'Darren Gray' video!"

"That's Dir En Grey!" retorted Yūrei. "And that was only the one time—!"

"Kids—kids!" Yū held up his hands in an attempt to stave off the bickering. He'd been lucky to do so when they'd just started; experience had told him this. Both children now stared attentively at him, waiting for him to go on.

"Look—I'll walk you both to your grandma's, Kaede," he said, "but I can't promise I'll stay for long. I do go to LDS, remember." He thumbed over his shoulder at the crystalline skyscraper that dwarfed them. "They expect a lot of me here. I'll say goodbye to you there—and I'll wish you luck on your exam before I take off, Yūrei—but I won't be able to see you again until our next session."

Eventually, the kids acquiesced, though not without a pair of equally subdued "Okays"—but Yū didn't worry too much. He'd grown to know them well enough that they'd be their usual selves by the time they got inside.

"It's close to sunset," he said to them. "We should get a move on before it gets dark."

They left the Dueling arena then, so intent on beating both time and traffic that they didn't bother to pay close attention to the shrubs lining the court—or to entertain the possibility that they might be just big enough to hide a truth from their eyes that would change their lives forever.

As has been said, the game of Duel Monsters is so prevalent in Maiami City that a first-time visitor is far more likely to master the game faster by watching a complete stranger play it, instead of by learning the rules on their own.

But Duel Monsters is more than a card game, where victory depends on who summons which monsters, casts which spells—or even who sets which traps. The most successful of Duelists do not simply focus on playing the game, but the opponent playing the game instead. To know the thoughts and habits of the Duelist, and being able to read them and act accordingly, has proven time and again a strategy more intimate and more devastating than any combination of cards the game has ever produced.

The figure hiding in the bushes, his dark clothing camouflaging him perfectly against the shadows on the wall, knew this to be true—all too well. And so he watched the three children cross the street, content to let them go. He'd catch up with them soon enough.

He kept on watching until they disappeared in the throngs of cars and crowds of the evening rush—and then, with a whirl of his black cloak, he'd disappeared as well.

A/N: Those of you who follow me on AO3 will know this is not, in fact, a new story. I just never got around to cross-posting this one because the last time I'd tried, this site didn't quite have the format to support it. Things seem to have changed since then—we'll see how long that lasts.

Those of you who'd no clue I was on AO3 at all, a bit of backstory: this takes place in the same 'verse as the Super Junior Confrontation three-shot I wrote some years ago as a birthday present for my girlfriend, using some OCs she'd cooked up at the time. She's cooked up a few more in the time since—enough that I thought it merited a fully-fledged story. So we got to work thinking up a possible plot that used as many of them as possible. This story is the result.

I'll try to release a chapter every week until we're all caught up with the AO3 version. This will give me time to work more on both this story and on (æ)donai. The Duels aren't quite so crazy here as they seem to be getting over there. Make of that what you will.

Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V are © 1996 and © 2014 by the late, great Kazuki Takahashi and the Konami Corporation; all original characters and content herein belong to the writer(s). Rate and review if you wish, and I hope you enjoy! – K