Leo Duel School was every bit as pretentious as he expected.

This was Tetsuro's first time being so close to the massive, glass sky-scraper that was LDS. It looked somewhere between an hourglass and a jewel. Just the size was dialed up to a million. How this thing maintained its structural integrity was something he could only guess at.

Must be all the huge egos inside propping it up, him now included.

He had caught glimpses of it over the horizon a few times, but the small flat that served as his residence was on the opposite side of the city. Putting it nicely, it was the side where the less affluent could find suitable living conditions. Put not so nicely, it was where the poor dregs could get by without living on the street. It wasn't nearly as bad as Satellite would probably be in synchro-land, but it'd fit nicely with somewhere like downtown Baltimore or inner city Detroit.

How the original Tetsuro even managed to get enrolled into LDS was a mystery. He shared no memories with the kid whose body he'd snatched, but he must have worked damn hard to get out of his situation.

'If nothing else, I can at least make sure your name shakes this city in the next few years.'

He didn't feel guilt for his current state, but he didn't want to put it out of his mind either. Whether the kid was dead when he arrived here, or he himself wiped out an innocent soul with his transmigration, it was right to remember that he owed the kid at least something.

After showing the gate guard his student ID, he was allowed onto the LDS campus.

More than a dozen dueling fields lined the area. One of them looked to be occupied, but the rest were barren of duelists, most of the students instead headed back toward their classrooms after the end of summer break.

Hands in his pockets, Tetsuro sauntered slowly, keeping his eyes out for any familiar faces.

None yet.

So far he had only seen a few familiar folks on the TV, namely those involved in the pro tournament scene prior to the 'start' of the series. He hadn't met any of them in person, and he hadn't so much as caught a glance of the main cast.

'Ah, I did catch some re-runs of Yusho's duels though. Dude was a bit of a ham on stage, but he was cool.'

As for how to approach any characters he recognized…eh, he'd just wing it.

It wasn't like he could plan out that sort of interaction anyway, so stressing about it would do less than zero.

The ride to the fourth floor was quiet. Only the hum of the elevator accompanied the few students who had crammed in. He gazed at a few of them, but they all kept their eyes away from their fellow passengers. They looked at everything else, but it was like looking at another person would knock 'em out cold.

The normalcy of moments like this caused him to shake his head in amusement. As much as things change, some things stay the same.

Awkward elevator rides were apparently capable of transcending dimensions.

With a low ding, the door opened for his stop.

'Room 4-1, room 4-1, room 4-1' he repeated in his mind as he scanned the small signs next to each room in the hallway.

'Ah, here we go. Fusion Course, 4-1.'

He forced himself not to cringe at the course title.

Fusion Course. Hopefully it wouldn't be a complete joke, but it was what the previous Tetsuro had been enrolled in, so it was what he would stick with. Honestly, considering that the kid's deck only had a single fusion monster it was a surprise that he'd even bothered with it, since a good Monarch build would easily trump the sad attempt at a Gaia deck the old Tetsuro touted around.

Then again, that was his modern Yu-Gi-Oh brain talking.

Deck building was in a whole 'nother world around here.

Not only would a good Monarch deck be prohibitively expensive, but…

Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz had only been rediscovered recently in this place, so they were pretty hyped up. He had no damn clue how that happened, but it was one of the few things he was looking forward to learning in duel school.

Caught up in his thoughts, Tetsuro almost missed the first familiar face he'd come across. He intended to sit in the back to maximize his ability to slack off, and thus he walked right past a familiar dark skinned girl with red eyes.

Masumi Kotsu.

She was seated in the front row, and although class hadn't started and the teacher was nowhere to be seen, her posture was stiff as she gazed toward the board and podium set up at the front of the room. It was like the teacher could pop out at any second and she didn't want to miss it.

Tetsuro glanced at her as he passed by, but the girl was content to continue her staring contest with the podium.

'Hmm, Gem-Knight girl, eh? Figures she'd be in the Fusion course, but I didn't expect her to be my first wild encounter.'

Finding a seat, Tetsuro threw himself down and waited.

It didn't take long for the teacher to show up.

"Good morning students! Welcome back to another year at Leo Duel School's Fusion Course. I've seen most of you before, but for the few new faces among you, I'm Professor Marco."

He was a handsome man in his early 30's. His mix of brown and blond hair would have looked like an obvious dye-job in the past, but here it was probably natural given the many wacky hair color combinations that were abound. The frilly, purple shirt the man wore gave him a foppish appearance, but his pleasant tone took the edge off of that initial impression.

"Since this is the third tier class, we'll primarily be focusing on Side Deck Studies, Deck Compression Studies, and the higher levels of spell-based Fusion summoning for the first few weeks. After that, we'll be getting into Contact Fusions and Graveyard-based Fusions. Of course, we'll also be reinforcing and adding to the subjects from the basic Duel Monsters curriculum as we go through the class, so make sure to keep all the basics fresh in your mind. Ah, but if you ever feel lost, please don't hesitate to raise your hand and ask any questions! One of my favorite parts of this job is helping students understand the concepts we cover."

The smile never left his face as the professor went over the class introduction.

He paused briefly to take a sip of water from the bottle sitting on his desk, which served as an opening for a certain eager student.

"Professor Marco!" Masumi immediately raised her hand, as if she had been waiting for this chance the whole time.

The class had barely started but she already had something to say.

"Yes, Masumi? You have a question?" the professor wasn't fazed at all by her enthusiasm, setting down his water.

"Will we be covering chain blocking when using multiple fusion materials in this class?"

Tetsuro tilted his head at the girl's question. It wasn't a bad one, honestly. He couldn't recall if chain blocking was ever touched on in the anime, but any competitive player worth a damn knew how to chain block their more vulnerable effects when possible.

Masumi listened eagerly as the professor responded.

"We will indeed!" Marco affirmed, "It's normally something that students learn for the first time in the third tier course during high level spell-based fusion, so I'm glad to see that you're already studying ahead. It should only take a few weeks for us to get there on the curriculum."

If the girl had a tail it would be wagging right about now.

"Hmph," Tetsuro couldn't hold back a huff of amusement. He didn't think her eagerness had half as much to do with the question as it did with the person who was answering it. Girl was down bad for her hotty professor.

Professor Marco didn't hear Tetsuro's amusement, but the girl in question sure did. Once Marco turned his attention back to the class at large, Masumi turned to give Tetsuro the stink eye. She kept her movement small to avoid drawing attention from her would-be crush.

Her glare was far more cute than threatening, unfortunately.

She reminded Tetsuro of a bullied cat.

Shooting her a quick wink, he pointed a thumb at Professor Marco before arranging his thumbs and pointer fingers into the shape of a heart. The meaning behind his gesture was quite clear.

Masumi turned red up to her ears.

She practically spun back around in her desk to avoid looking at Tetsuro any longer. Her sudden movement even drew Professor Marco's eye, causing her embarrassment to climb even higher as the man gave her a questioning glance.

Unable to give a proper response, the red-eyed girl could only lower her gaze and pray the ground would open to swallow her up.

No such thing happened, but the professor mercifully moved on without inquiring further.

The brief interaction brought a smile to Tetsuro's lips. There was nothing quite like stirring the pot, and he was the damn Gordon Ramsay of stirring shit.

His mood was light as he listened to Professor Marco's explanation on the rest of the curriculum. The man's soothing voice was like a pleasant hum in the back of his mind as he embraced being a student again for the first time in a while.

…who was he kidding, this was going to be a pain in the ass.


Ding! Ding! Ding!

His first day in LDS ended without significant fanfare. The droning of the school bell over the intercom system was as nostalgic as it was relieving. Damn, he wanted to make the best of this, but what a snooze fest of a class.

They did a round of introductions, had a lunch break, covered the rest of the courses focus, and then chatted with Marco for the last half hour before the bell rang.

He actually had a pretty good first impression of Professor Marco. The man was clearly passionate about his job, plus he had a good vibe about him. If he ever decided to read audio books for a living Tetsuro would definitely be a customer. But there was only so much he could prop up the total lack of substance when it came to the class material.

How the hell was fusion summoning supposed to be so hard?

It didn't make sense! They were talking like it was rocket science, but Tetsuro just couldn't see the complexities that everyone else in this damn world seemed to see.

Was he just secretly a genius?

Like a human calculator that could look at a complex math problem and solve it without so much as a blink, he might be a dueling prodigy that could figure out any move with one glance. His brilliant mind just couldn't comprehend the basic lens that others view the world through.

Yeah right, fat chance.

This had 'it's magic bro' written all over the damn cover.

"Hey, you!" a familiar voice called out as he was packing his bag, "Yamaguchi, right? You better come with me right now! We need to talk!"

The scowl on Masumi's face said 'you better listen,' but Tetsuro was far from being intimidated.

"Oh?" he replied, "Do you need some…advice?" His eyes drifted in Professor Marco's direction.

His eyebrows wiggled.

"No!" the denial was instant, but the dusting of red on Masumi's cheeks was clear as day.

"I see, that's a shame. If you ever change your mind, just let me know; as fellow students we should look out for one another."

"Ye- wait, no! That's not what I wanted! Anyway, just come with me - and quit saying that…stuff!"

Having said what she wanted to say, Masumi marched over to the classroom door.

"Fine, fine. No need to get so heated up." Tetsuro just shrugged and followed along.

The elevator ride down only had the two of them on board, making for another silent experience. Masumi seemed determined to keep the scowl on her face this time, and Tetsuro was content to let the girl keep her silence.

He had a sneaking suspicion of where this was going to end up.

Bursting out of the doors after they opened, Masumi marched outside of the main building and started heading toward the nearest duel arena like she was on a mission.

Tetsuro kept an easy pace as he let her guide him.

They arrived at their destination and Masumi swung around with a pointed finger. The scowl on her face was prominent as she glared at Tetsuro.

"I challenge you to a duel!"

"Hmm?" Tetsuro tilted his head, "I thought we were going to a cafe or something to chat about how dreamy Professor Marco is? I guess we can duel first if you want, but you'll have to cover the bill later. After all, I don't see what I'd get outta this duel, so the least you can do it buy me a coffee."

Masumi's serious expression barely flickered this time. She expected the teasing remark that left her opponent's mouth, and she refused to be caught up in this annoying guy's pace! He'd be silenced by force!

"As if!" she denied, "A duel will teach you not to speak so much nonsense! Or will you tuck your tail in and run away like a coward?"

Her demeanor was firm as she tried to rile Tetsuro up.

Hook, line, and…

"You dare?!" he shouted, "To think that I would be afraid of a mere duel?! Since you've said those words you better be prepared, I- …don't accept, that sounds like a drag."

His tone of voice shifted completely mid-way through his sentence. Where at first he had been filled with righteous anger, he now only sounded bored.

Sinker?

Masumi had allowed a victorious grin to fill her face after Tetsuro responded to her taunt, but now she looked like she had tasted something bitter.

"So you admit that you're a coward?!" she gritted her teeth.

"Sure, sure. I'm deathly afraid of having my time wasted." Was Tetsuro's unenthusiastic reply as he waved a hand as if to say 'hurry along.'

The Gem-Knight wielding girl was less than thrilled.

"What do you want, then? You make fun of me in class, but now you deny a duel to resolve the problem. What's your game?" she squinted at Tetsuro as she observed him.

"I just wanted to make friends. You seemed fun, and class would be more interesting with a few folks to hang out with." He grinned.

His response caught her off guard as her eyes widened and the scowl left her expression for the first time since they had left the classroom, leaving her with a look of surprise.

It didn't last long, however.

"As if!" she denied once again, "This is your way of making friends? I refuse to believe such a blatant lie!"

"Oh?" Tetsuro questioned, "Maybe I'm just awkward and can't think of another way to approach a pretty girl?"

"Try again!" she refused his explanation instantly.

Ouch. Didn't even listen a bit.

"Fine, fine." Tetsuro shrugged, "How about this then. I'll accept your challenge to duel, but like I said before I'm not interested in wasting my time for nothing, so lets have a little wager. If you win, I'll keep my big mouth shut about Professor Marco. You'll never hear so much as a peep from me on the topic ever again. Scout's honor."

Masumi's eyes narrowed, but he could see that she was tempted. Still, she kept her silence while waiting for the rest of the conditions.

"But, if you lose, you gotta put your best foot forward in this new budding friendship of ours. We'll go get coffee, chat about how I just whipped you in a duel, and maybe even paint our nails together later. What'cha think, Masumi?"

She watched him for a moment as she turned the wager over in her head.

It didn't take her long to come to a decision, however.

"I accept!" her declaration was unwavering, "The chance of me losing to you was zero from the beginning, so things haven't changed from when I first challenged you. You've just talked yourself into accepting a duel you initially refused."

"Great!" Tetsuro smiled fiercely, "All great friendships start off with violence in the manga I read, so this is perfect. Prepare to board the friend ship, pal o' mine!"

"Your unbridled confidence is as bad as your way of speaking. Lets get this duel over with so I can begin revising for tomorrow's lesson. I'll set the action field to random, so prepare yourself."

"What are you even studying for? All we did today was go over the class intro."

"It's exactly that attitude that will cause you to lose this duel."

- FIELD SET: Showtime Street! -

Both duelists activated their duel disks as the Solid Vision System in the arena spun to life. A colorful, nighttime cityscape rose up around them, filled with billboards, advertisements for theater shows, and beaming spotlights that soared up into the night. It was like being transported into an artist's imagination of Hollywood.

The streets, which would normally be filled with crowds, were completely clear as Masumi and Tetsuro stood facing one another.

"Lets begin." Masumi declared. "Action-"

""DUEL!""

Masmui: 4000 / Tetsuro: 4000

As each duelist drew their starting hand of five cards, Masumi opened her mouth to speak.

"Since I'm the one who issued the challenge, it's only right that I allow you to take the first turn. Even a hooligan like you can appreciate this courtesy, right?"

Her sharp words held no quarter as she offered Tetsuro the first move.

"See? You do know a thing or two about how friends should treat each other! Your kindness really touches this hooligan's heart, so I won't refuse. I'll be kicking this duel off with a bang!"

Even the serious Masumi couldn't hold back a scoff at his attitude.

Glancing over his cards, Tetsuro considered his approach.

'A pretty solid hand. If I wanted to go all-out I don't think she'd be able to put up much of a fight. Still, since this is supposed to be an action duel, that damn old man would nag my ear off if he ever got wind that I full combo'd on someone turn one.'

'It isn't like she's playing Gem-Knight FTK, so I'll take it easy.'

"This card seems like a great way to start, since it's exactly what you'll need! I activate the continuous spell, Gold Pride - Better Luck Next Time!"

"When this card is activated, I can add a Gold Pride monster from my deck to my hand, and then I'll lose lifepoints equal to its attack. I'll choose Gold Pride - Roller Baller! Since his attack is 1800, I'll pay my dues without complaint."

-1800!

Masumi: 4000 / Tetsuro: 2200

Just like that, Tetsuro's lifepoints were nearly cut in half, but the confident grin on his face never changed. Masumi's expression was cold at the act of self-sabotage.

"No wonder you were so keen to refuse my challenge." She taunted, "With cards like that you've already done half the work for me."

"Hey now, you'll hurt my feelings like that." Tetsuro grabbed his heart in mock pain, "But no pain no gain, and I'm about to gain a lot!"

He continued his turn.

"When my lifepoints are lower than my opponent's, I can special summon Gold Pride monsters from my hand. I'll bring out the monster that I just added, lets go Roller Baller!"

With a flash of electricity, a short, humanoid figure appeared on the streets of the city. He was covered head to toe in a black and neon-green suit that wouldn't have been out of place on a Sonic the Hedgehog villain. The round, red goggles and high-tech helmet sold the image even further.

He jumped up and a large, steel ball formed underneath him. Green electricity crackled as he rolled around on top of the ball.

Gold Pride - Roller Baller
LV: 5 / ATK: 1800 / DEF: 1600

"For a bit of added insurance, I'll set a card face-down in my spell/trap zone as well, before I turn it over to you. Do your best to give me a challenge, Masumi!"

The red-eyed girl drew a card to begin her turn.

"A challenge? You'll be lucky if I don't hand you your defeat this turn, so don't get ahead of yourself."

"Since you searched a monster immediately, I think I'll do the same. Of course, mine won't cost me nearly as much. I summon Gem-Armadillo! When my armadillo is normal summoned, I can add one Gem-Knight monster from my deck to my hand. I'll add Gem-Knight Tourmaline!"

Masumi's Gem-Armadillo appeared on the field, the various gems on its body sparkling in the lights of the action field. A pair of missile-like canisters were attached to its sides.

Gem-Armadillo
LV: 4 / ATK: 1700 / DEF: 500

Its stats were slightly below Roller Ballers, but Tetsuro knew what was coming next. Masumi was part of the Fusion course for a reason, after all.

"Next, I'll activate Gem-Knight Fusion! Using the Tourmaline I just searched along with Gem-Knight Alexandrite in my hand, I'll fusion summon!"

"Sparkling jewel, let light and thunder shine through you! Come out, Gem-Knight Prismaura!"

Living up to its name, Gem-Knight Prismaura was a knightly figure covered in clear crystals. As the light from various billboards and shop windows shined upon it, it glowed in the colors of the rainbow.

Gem-Knight Prismaura
LV: 7 / ATK: 2450 / DEF: 1400

"This duel is mine!" Masumi declared, "Even if you still had 4000 lifepoints, my monsters are more than enough to defeat you. Allow me to show you - I'll activate Prismaura's effect! By sending a Gem-Knight card from my hand to the graveyard, I can destroy one face-up card on the field."

Her hand deposited a card swiftly into her graveyard.

"I'll discard Gem-Knight Obsidian to destroy your Roller Baller! Go, Gem-Knight Prismaura! Thunder reign!"

Purple lightning wrapped around Prismaura for a moment, before it discharged in the direction of Tetsuro's only monster. Masumi wasn't wrong, this was a pretty strong opening that could catch many duelists off guard if they didn't have a way to stop their monster's destruction or avoid over 4000 points of damage from both Gem-Armadillo and Prismaura.

Tetsuro's grin took on a sharp edge as he watched the purple lightning approach.

"You wanna play with lightning in front of Roller Baller? That's a mistake you'll regret quickly; Gold Pride - Roller Baller's effect activates! Using his quick effect, I can perform a fusion summon during any player's Main Phase!"

"What?! A fusion during your opponent's turn?" For the first time in their duel, Masumi was surprised.

"Since he was targeted by your Prismaura anyway, I'll use my Roller Baller from the field along with the Gold Pride - Captain Carrie in my hand as material to fusion summon Gold Pride - Pin Baller!"

The electricity surrounding Roller Baller intensified sharply. Like a giant magnet, it started attracting everything around it. Cars, street signs, metal ornaments, and anything else that could be pulled in quickly formed a giant ball of junk, with the newly named Pin Baller sitting atop of the massive sphere.

Gold Pride - Pin Baller
LV: 9 / ATK: 3000 / DEF: 0

For a moment, Masumi just stared up at the unexpected fusion. Her expression was caught between surprise and disbelief, though it didn't last long.

Shaking her head, she refocused on the duel.

However, her eyes had changed. Where previously she had been cold, now there was a fire burning behind that ruby-colored gaze. It took her a while, but she finally realized that her opponent wasn't all talk.

"Did you ever play Katamari Damacy as a kid?"

The seemingly random question from Tetsuro threw her off, but she responded regardless.

"No. I don't see how that's relevant, though."

"It's very relevant, because you're about to get a crash course in the game from my pal Pin Baller here. When he's fusion summoned, I can equip face-up monsters my opponent controls to Pin Baller equal to the number of fusion materials used for his summon. Between Roller Baller and Carrie, that makes two, so I'll go ahead and play some Katamari with both of your monsters!"

"No!" Masumi called out, but Pin Baller had already bounced toward her monsters.

Gem-Armadillo and Gem-Knight Prismaura were both overrun, becoming caught in the ball of junk that served as Pin Baller's mount.

"Unfortunately, my Pin Baller doesn't gain any cool bonus effects from his equipped monsters, but taking 'em off your field is a pretty good reward already so I guess I shouldn't complain."

Masumi looked at her empty field for a moment before clicking a button on her duel disk. Her fierceness hadn't dimmed a bit.

"The effect of the Gem-Knight Obsidian I discarded activates! When it's sent from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon a level four or lower normal monster back from my graveyard. I summon Gem-Knight Tourmaline in defense mode!"

Taking one more look at the final two cards in her hand, she set them both face-down in her spell/trap zones.

"I'll set two cards and end my turn. You may have caught me off guard, but don't think for a second that this duel is over yet."

"I like your spirit, Masumi! We'll see about that, but first we need to do some clean-up. During the End Phase of the turn it activates its effect, Gold Pride - Pin Baller is returned to the Extra Deck, and in exchange I can special summon a Roller Baller from my deck or graveyard. I'm not too worried about deck thinning right now, so I'll summon back the one from my grave!"

As the previously large ball of junk collapsed with Pin Baller's removal, Roller Baller retook his previous place on the field. The smaller metal ball he rode on moved side to side as he jumped around.

"Since Pin Baller is no longer on the field, your monsters that he stole will be sent to the graveyard. It ain't perfect, but it's not bad either. And hey, even better, the effect of my Gold Pride - Better Luck Next Time activates. Since a Gold Pride monster returned to the Extra Deck, I get to draw a card."

Tetsuro's posture was casual as he drew during Masumi's End Phase. It presented a very different picture from how most duelists drew with intensity.

"And hey, with that it's actually my move, so I'll draw for turn."

"Sorry, Masumi, but I'm the captain of the friend ship. And you're about to become the first mate! Since my lifepoints are lower than yours, I can special summon Gold Pride - Leon from my hand!"

Gold Pride - Leon
LV: 3 / ATK: 1500 / DEF: 1200

With a golden flash, a warrior in black appeared atop a golden, mechanical horse. His black leather jacket and dark hat gave the impression of a space-aged cowboy.

"When Leon is summoned, he doesn't come alone." Tetsuro whipped a card out of his graveyard, "I can summon back a Gold Pride monster from my grave, so I'll summon Gold Pride - Captain Carrie! After all, what's a space race without a space pirate?"

Gold Pride - Captain Carrie
LV: 3 / ATK: 900 / DEF: 1700

Another distinct character appeared on Tetsuro's field, joining Roller Baller and Leon. Carrie was a cute, blue skinned woman dressed in blues and purples, with orange 'hair' that looked quite alien. A large, magenta pirate hat finished off her look.

The three Gold Pride monsters were as different as they could be from one another.

"When Carrie hits the field, I can add a Gold Pride trap from my deck to my hand. I'll take a copy of Gold Pride - Start Your Engines. It never hurts to have a back-up plan, not that I'm expecting to need it."

Masumi's gaze was cautious as she watched Tetsuro's field.

"Lets see if those face-downs can keep you in the race!" Tetsuro declared, "I'll use my Roller Baller's effect, allowing me to fusion summon Pin Baller once again by using Roller Baller himself and Captain Carie as material!"

"You may only have one monster for my two fusion materials, but I don't mind. Pin Baller's effect activates!"

As the massive Pin Baller started moving toward Gem-Knight Tourmaline, Masumi finally reacted.

"You fell for it!" she exclaimed with a satisfied smirk.

"I activate my trap card, Gem-Enhancement! This card allows me to tribute one Gem-Knight monster in order to special summon another one from my graveyard. I'll tribute Tourmaline in order to bring back Gem-Knight Prismaura in attack mode! Be reborn from dust!"

Before Pin Baller was able to absorb Tourmaline, the Gem-Knight cracked apart into dust. From that dust, however, rose the familiar form of Gem-Knight Prismaura.

The brilliant prisms decorating the monster shined in the light of the stage once again.

Masumi, for the first time since their duel had started, had a smile on her face. Her plan had gone just as she wished. Now if Pin Baller decided to attack Prismaura, her opponent would find a nasty surprise in her last face-down, Brilliant Spark. As long as he destroyed one of her Gem-Knights, he'd take damage equal to its attack!

Tetsuro watched her satisfaction and almost didn't want to ruin it for her.

Almost.

It was too good a chance to pass up, though, so how could he possibly say no?

"Pin Baller, go ahead an absorb that Prismaura again. No need to worry about missing out on Tourmaline."

"What?!" Masumi was shocked, "Hey, I thought that was an effect that could only activate on summon! Look, it even says on the card right here!"

Pressing a button on her duel disk, she pulled up a hologram of Tetsuro's field. With a swipe of her fingers she enlarged the image of Gold Pride - Pin Baller and carefully read its effect a second and third time.

Brows scrunched, she gazed back and forth between the field and the card text.

"Did you cheat?" she accused with narrowed eyes. "You managed to dodge my Prismaura's effect by fusing away your Roller Baller before, so how come I couldn't dodge Pin Baller with Gem-Enhancement?"

Tetsuro didn't hide the roll of his eyes.

"You serious? Did they not cover targeting in school yet or something? I know I said earlier that you didn't need to study so hard on the second day of school, but I guess even I can be wrong sometimes."

Her cheeks turned red in a mix of anger and embarrassment. Gritting her teeth, she spat out her next question.

"How dare you?! They should function the same, so explain it if you know so much! How come yours works but mine doesn't!"

She was getting rather heated, so Tetsuro could only acquiesce.

"Alright, alright. Don't get mad. Read Prismaura again; see how it has the word 'target' in its text? Now read Pin Baller and you'll find that the word 'target' isn't anywhere to be seen."

"So? Why does the word target matter so much?" Masumi grumbled.

Tetsuro shrugged and answered her.

"When an effect targets, you have to decide on activation what that target is. If the target is then removed later in the chain, you don't get to re-select a new target. Using your Prismaura as an example, since Roller Baller had already fused away into Pin Baller during the chain's resolution, there was no longer a valid target and your card resolved without effect."

He started lecturing, not noticing the conflicted stare that Masumi was sending his way.

"Pin Baller doesn't have this same targeting restriction, since his effect is one that 'does not target.' This means that his effect to equip your monsters is applied at the resolution, not activation. Since you activated your Gem-Enhancement as chain link two, we resolved your trap to tribute Tourmaline for Prismaura, then we went to resolve chain link one, Pin Baller. The effect to equip your monster was applied here."

"Do you get it?" Tetsuro finished.

"…"

Masumi's silence caused him to raise both eyebrows in surprise. It was the first time he had seen the fiery girl without something to say. Looking at his opponent, he only now saw the strange expression that was on her face as she stared at him.

It was an evaluating look that he couldn't quite decipher the meaning of.

"Well, that's it for today's after school lesson with me, anyway. If you don't have any more complaints, I'll go ahead and continue my turn."

A nod was the only response he received from the girl. Really, what was up with her all of a sudden?

Regardless, her field was empty of monsters, and only a single face-down card sat in her backrow. Her mood didn't give him any hints about what the mystery card might be, but he had plenty of back-up options if he ran into a Mirror Force or something. Battle traps were pretty damn popular around here.

"I'll enter the Battle Phase!"

Gold Pride - Leon
LV: 3 / ATK: 1500 / DEF: 1200

Gold Pride - Pin Baller
LV: 9 / ATK: 3000 / DEF: 0

"Starting off with the main man himself - Leon, attack her lifepoints directly!"

Charging forward, Leon drew a large laser pistol from his belt. Masumi, realizing what was about to happen, grew panicked as she started running to find an action card. She barely made it a step before Leon fired and she was thrown to the ground from the impact.

-1500!

Masumi: 2500 / Tetsuro: 2200

"Khh!" she didn't shout, but her expression wasn't good either. Her eyes scanned the surroundings looking for something.

Tetsuro only then realized what she was doing.

'Oh yeah, I forgot this was an action duel. We both just kinda stood here and duked it out, huh?'

"Take her down, Pin Baller! Don't give her the chance to make a comeback!"

Heeding his orders, Pin Baller rocketed in Masumi's direction. The massive ball of debris dwarfed the girl, giving the image of a bug about to be rolled over by a car tire.

Thankfully, such a gruesome spectacle wouldn't come to pass. While solid vision technology did harden the light used in dueling holograms, it wasn't to the extent that it would cause deadly injuries from monster attacks.

There were some dangers, but the more severe injuries that action duelists suffered tended to be from falls when they were unprepared to lose a monster that they were flying on, or from landing awkwardly on a limb and breaking it. Tetsuro had done a fair bit of research on the topic of duel injuries back when he first got to this world, since action duels were fairly unique in this regard.

Outside of the ass-pullery of action cards, they were a pretty serious sport even by his own world's standards. Running, jumping, climbing, you name it and action duelists gotta be good at it.

"Gofu!"

-3000!

Masumi: 0 / Tetsuro: 2200

Masumi's inelegant wheeze as she was run over by Pin Baller almost caused him to laugh. He held it down, however, since he didn't want to antagonize the girl too much. For now. Even if her calling out a random Blackwing name while getting run over was really funny.

"Gahahaha!" he failed.

His opponent glared at him as she pushed herself back up from the floor.

"You- You insufferable hooligan!…" and she was mad.

"Phew," Tetsuro sighed in contentment as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, "I haven't laughed like that in a while. Thanks for the fun duel, Masumi."

"You're welcome." Her tone was as dry as a desert.

"Well, unless you have anything else to do here, lets go ahead make tracks. We still got a few hours of daylight to burn!" Tetsuro responded, not heeding her mood.

"And where on earth would we be going together?" Masumi questioned with a down-turned lip.

"A cafe, of course. We had a bet, and now we've gotta bond over our newfound friendship, after all. Ah, I say that, but I actually don't do caffeine this late in the day some I'm gonna grab one of those froufrou juice drinks instead. What kinda drink do you usually go for, Masumi? You seem like a sophisticated gal so it's gotta be something fancy, right?"

The mounting expression of horror on Masumi's face as he kept talking almost caused Tetsuro to lose it again, but this time he actually managed to keep a straight face.

"You…were serious about that?" she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else.

"Of course I was! Look alive, first mate! The friend ship is setting sail, so c'mon. First impressions are important, so even though we have the whole rest of the school year to hang out, we should start our first day off right!"

"T-The whole school year…"

Looking at Tetsuro swaggering out of the arena without a care in the world, Masumi contemplated the merits of making a run for it. No, not just a run, but a full sprint away from this thug that barged into her peaceful life.

But he was right that they'd be sharing a class for at least a year, minimum, unless one of them managed to drop out of the advanced fusion course.

She had no plans on doing so herself, and as much as she hated to admit it, that punk wouldn't be dropping out either.

He was an…adequate duelist.

With a deep, defeated sigh, Masumi mustered her courage and followed behind her new 'friend.'

'I should never have agreed to that bet. This duel was the biggest mistake of my academic career!'

'…and it only just started up again!'