"I'm telling ya, Masumi, lifepoints aren't that important. As long as you have one left, you're golden. No need to sweat about spending the other 3999 to bring you closer to victory."
Tetsuro's voice cut through the ambient noise of the small cafe the pair had found themselves in after their duel.
They had been chatting for the better part of an hour at this point. Although Masumi was reluctant at first, once Tetsuro started talking about dueling she was wrapped into the conversation despite herself.
"That seems like a foolish way to duel," Masumi denied, shaking her head as she took a sip of her coffee. "I won't deny that the last lifepoint is what keeps you in a duel, but if you go overboard with such a strategy you're just making it easier for your opponent. Think of it like this: your lifepoints are your buffer, they allow you to make mistakes or deal with unexpected situations that your opponent can throw at you. If you can't even take a single point of battle damage you're just asking to lose."
"Then you just gotta pile up so much pressure that your opponent can't even breathe. Counter every play they make and then crush 'em when the turn swings back around."
"That sort of dueling would only take you so far. Lets say it works for a season or two, or maybe even three. But when you lose…"
Their conversation had drawn the eyes of a few curious people at nearby tables, but Masumi was too wrapped up in her explanation to notice.
The more she talked with Tetsuro, the more she realized just how different their mindsets were when it came to Duel Monsters. Everyone had their own style, of course, but his style felt like it touched on two opposite extremes.
On one hand there was an aggression in his dueling that didn't fit into the modern, entertainment-focused idea of action duels. If he had his way, Tetsuro would like nothing more than to deny his opponent any ability to play at all. That sort of play had its fans, but it had mostly fallen out of popularity because it didn't typically make for a good show for an audience.
Dueling wasn't just about winning, it was about doing so with distinctive style. Capturing the audience and making them excited to see the next move.
It was the same in other fields as well. Rather than watching a news anchor that immediately got the point without any embellishment, people preferred to watch those who provided them with entertainment. Click bait, flashy headlines, and absurd situations drew far more eyes, and money, than actual news.
Dueling was similar.
The only ones who could get by in the industry with sheer aggression were those who had absurdly high win rates. It was rare for such a person to pop up and their careers tended to be short, since a single loss could break the image they had built up.
Honestly, it was mostly people with more brawn than brains who tried and failed with that approach.
At first she thought Tetsuro would fall handily into that category.
But she forced herself to reevaluate that assessment.
It was annoying to admit, but he wasn't nearly as dumb as he first appeared. In fact, while she'd never say it out loud, he seemed to know the game even better than she did when it came to the technical aspects.
His style was aggressive, but there was a cold, objective logic behind it that wouldn't have been out of place in a dueling computer program.
Victory was the only thing he seemed to desire.
Just where did he learn to duel like that?
"I guess I just don't get it," Tetsuro scrubbed a hand through his hair as his face scrunched in consideration, "If you know that two duelists are holding back to give you a show, how is that fun to watch? Wouldn't it be better to see 'em going all-out?"
"You're sounding more and more like a thug with each passing minute." Masumi scoffed. "While the pace of an entertainment duel may be more measured than you prefer, I'd hardly consider that as holding back. Both duelists are just feeling each other out prior to committing to a stronger play. If you lose all your resources in one failed push, the duel may as well be over."
"I feel like we're comin' full circle at this point." Tetsuro shrugged. "I'm tryin' my best to see it from your perspective, but entertainment dueling just doesn't come natural to me."
"Well, keep working on it. Practice makes perfect, and you'll be expected to perform up to standards as a student of LDS."
"Yeah, yeah. Gotta keep the higher ups happy."
Tetsuro rolled his eyes, though he didn't disagree.
It was hard to suppress his previous instincts, but he'd have to get used to it. Dueling here was way more serious than it was in his old world, but the unwritten rules around it were even more serious.
He'd thought about it before, but it shared quite a few parallels with dueling back in the middle ages. Actual duels, not card games. Nobles slapping one another with gloves, fighting with rapiers, the whole shebang.
From an outsider's perspective it was bizarre, but for the nobles themselves it was a matter of extreme importance to maintain their honor.
Honor.
Maybe that's what he was missing? He had sportsmanship…or at least enough of it to get by. But honor wasn't a word he'd ascribe to his dueling.
…
"Argh!" he exclaimed, shaking his head like a dog who had been sprayed with a hose, "I'm tired of thinking about it! Masumi, lets call it quits for the day."
The red-eyed girl let out a small laugh in amusement.
"Fine," she agreed, "we'll spare your brain anymore thinking for the day. It must be having a hard time doing something it's not used to."
"Har har. You're a damn comedian." Tetsuro deadpanned.
"I try." She smiled. "Now, lets get out of here. I really do want prepare for class tomorrow."
Tetsuro could only be bemused at this girl's drive to double or triple tap all that boring class material. Initially he thought it was actually to catch the professor's eye, but Masumi seemed to genuinely enjoy schoolwork.
What a strange person.
Keeping his thought to himself, Tetsuro walked together with Masumi for a few blocks back to LDS before they split up, each heading back to their dorm room.
Click.
The door opened without fanfare.
"Home sweet home, eh?" Tetsuro looked around the small room that LDS had assigned him for his tenure during the school year.
It was serviceable.
The room was comprised of a bed, a desk with an uncomfortable looking chair, a pair of dressers, and a tiny kitchenette with an equally tiny bar and stool to serve as a dinner table. There was a decently sized TV chilling on top of one of the dressers and about eye-level that served as the highlight of the room.
There was no couch, so he'd have to loaf in bed if he wanted to watch TV.
A few suitcases sat at the end of his bed, which contained the personal belongings he had provided to LDS a few days prior.
Why he couldn't bring his own damn luggage into his room wasn't ever properly explained, but some goon from LDS had shown up a few days ago to grab 'em from his old place. If such a thing wasn't written in the enrollment documents that he had scrounged up, he would have sent the guy packing.
LDS' higher-ups must be a bunch of paranoid bozos if they snooped through every kid's luggage before bringing it in, emphasis on bozo since he could easily stash some contraband or whatever in his jacket before coming to the dorms.
Not that he planned to kick his scholarship money to the curb, but it was the principle of the matter.
"Well, whatever. Better start unpacking so I can check out the gym later."
Crouching down, he unzipped his first suitcase and began the process of filling up drawers and setting up the few decorations he brought along. His workout gear was tossed onto the bed.
He busied himself for about half an hour before he was happy with the result.
Some people could live out of boxes and suitcases forever, but he wasn't one of them. He needed his damn space and it couldn't be filled with piles of luggage.
"Now then, time to go check out the facilities. Hopefully they're as good as all the rumors say."
As he turned back to the bed to grab his change of clothes, he was met with an unexpected sight.
The neon green eyes of his duel spirit met his for a moment, before resuming their perusal of their new spaces. Unlike the previous time in the park, they were alone, so she deigned to show herself fully.
"Oh? You curious about our new digs?"
Sitting on the bed with her legs tucked underneath her, she lit up the room with her mere presence.
Literally.
As usual, her face held not even the slightest wink of emotion.
She was dressed in a short kimono that looked like it came out of an artist's dream while they were tripping on acid. Deep purples, lime greens, and bright oranges intersected in a way that practically made them glow. Each of her ears was adorned with a bauble that looked like an old fashioned paper lantern. Perched on the bed as she was, she sat atop two large platform shoes that radiated green light.
Two halves of a Noh mask sat on the sides of her hair, each half displaying an expression of interest even though the girl's face showed none.
Her blank gaze drifted around the small dorm room.
Once she was apparently satisfied, her attention returned to Tetsuro.
"Yeah, I know it's much smaller than our old place." He shrugged, "Can't do anything about that, but look on the bright side. At least we got each other! Our own little love nest, all to ourselves!"
Her neutral expression remained intact, but Tetsuro didn't let it lessen his good mood.
That was just how Ze Amin was.
To make a comparison to what he knew from his old world, she was like a caricature of a performer in Noh dramas. Or at least, that's what her mask seemed to represent. He had never actually seen her do anything perform-y.
On top of that, the punk-ish neon themes were unique to her and the other P.U.N.K cards, so where the influence of classic art started and stopped was anyone's guess.
Regardless, she was a pretty unique cookie.
He wasn't too familiar with classic Japanese artforms, but he recalled enough about Noh theater performances and Ukiyoe painting to be familiar with two of the four P.U.N.K categories.
That said, Ze Amin was the only spirit who had shown herself to him so far. That was assuming the other cards even housed spirits, but he had a feeling that they did, despite having no proof on the matter.
Either way, it was lucky that he knew a bit about Ze Amin's namesake.
Noh performances focused on masks, dance, and props to tell stories.
Ukiyoe, on the other hand, was a genre of painting that he only knew due to playing Fate/Grand Order for a while. Hokusai managed to teach him something!
As for Gagaku and Joruri…
He was clueless.
Hopefully Madame Spider and Wa Gon wouldn't be too upset with him for his lack of culture if they found out that little tidbit.
"Hm?" A slight tug on his sleeve drew his attention downwards.
Ze Amin looked up at him.
Even with her platform shoes on, the top of her head only reached to his chin.
She had moved from her spot on the bed, apparently having had enough of observing their new room. He didn't know what spirits were supposed to be like, having only some vague memories of GX to compare with, but Ze Amin surprisingly social.
She seemed to be interested in a lot of things.
"You wanna tag along to the gym?"
He received two nods in response.
"Alright. Let me hop into a change of clothes real quick, then we can take our time walking around until we find it."
Without paying any heed to his partner, he shrugged off his jacket and shirt, leaving him bare-chested. His belt was already half unbuckled before he noticed Ze Amin's gaze.
The spirit had stiffened for only a moment before turning and observing the window like it was the most interesting thing she had seen all day.
"Ah, are you embarrassed? So you can act cute when you want to, eh? You can look if you want, I got nothin' to hide."
Snickering to himself, Tetsuro pulled his pants the rest of the way down.
As he bent down to grab his gym shorts, however…
"Y'eowch!" he nearly leapt out of his boxers as a sharp pain ran through his backside.
Whirling around, he didn't notice anything unusual. Ze Amin's neutral gaze was still looking out the window.
"You pinched my ass!" he complained, knowing exactly that this was her style, "What if I bruise and can't sit down later?! I'm a delicate flower, you know! Also, wasn't that a bit too forceful? You got a pair of pliers or something that you're hiding in that kimono? This ain't no damn Tom & Jerry, you can't just…"
As his complaints continued, his spirit's gaze only flickered to him for a moment before once again ignoring his overly dramatic words.
Her contractor deserved it.
The gym was every bit as good as he hoped.
Some of the equipment was a bit weird, especially the weighted card drawing practice gear, but there was plenty of familiar stuff around. Turns out a bench press is a good exercise, regardless of the universe.
It wasn't too crowded, with only a dozen or so students filling a room that could easily fit ten times that number.
As he was setting up his barbell, a voice rang out.
"I haven't seen you around here. You new to LDS?"
The last plate slid into place just as he shifted his attention to the new arrival.
He was a shorter guy with brown hair that would have fit in perfectly in Dragonball Z. The bamboo sword he carried loosely over one shoulder bounced in rhythm with the music that was playing over a loudspeaker. Despite the sheen of sweat covered his face, he looked full of energy.
"No," Tetsuro replied, "This is my second year. You aren't from the fusion course, right? We probably wouldn't have met before."
"Yeah," he confirmed, "I'm from the synchro course. I've been a regular here since I started at LDS, so I always greet the newbies. Yaiba Todo, nice to meet ya."
"Same." Tetsuro responded with a nod.
Yaiba's eyes shifted to the barbell he had been loading up.
"That seems like a lotta weight, you sure you can handle it?"
The words Yaiba said might have sounded like he was worried about a newcomer over exerting himself, but his tone spoke a whole 'nother story. It was a challenge, as if to say "do you really think you can lift that?"
"I think I'll manage." Tetsuro ignored his underlying message.
Yaiba watched as he settled onto the bench and started doing his reps. Whether he was satisfied or disappointed with Tetsuro's performance, he never said. Instead, after watching a few reps he turned and headed to the showers without saying anything further.
They'd probably see each other often if he was really a regular.
Honestly, Tetsuro himself wasn't much of a gym rat by nature. Even less said about the previous owner of this body. But given the physical nature of duels and the expectation for things to go down the gutter in the coming months, he'd be an idiot not to be in the best shape that he could manage.
Would a strong body help him maintain his composure in a shadow game? Hell if he knew, but he'd try it! Especially given his spirit situation.
An hour of exertion passed in a flash as he zoned out and let his muscles burn.
A quick, cool shower finished off his workout before he made his final stop for the day at the building's cafeteria.
He was pleasantly tired during dinner.
The food at LDS was pretty solid. It wasn't top quality restaurant fare or anything crazy, but it was a damn step up from any school food he had ever heard of. LDS was a place where the crème de la crème gathered, so good on 'em for putting some of those enrollment fees back into their food.
Ze Amin must have been in a good mood as well, because she snuck a few bites from his fork when he wasn't paying attention. As far as he could tell the duel spirit didn't need to eat, but she could if the mood struck her.
Same with touching stuff in general. If she wanted to she could sit on a bench, but she could just as easily glide through any physical objects that she didn't want to interact with. It seemed like a damn useful skill, especially since others couldn't see her.
'Wonder if there are any banks nearby…'
Ze Amin, ever able to read his mood, turned her gaze to him.
"No, listen, I wasn't thinking anything stupid. But check this out, what if you and I…"
A bit of bickering between them - well, one-sided bickering from him, finished off the night.
The first week in LDS passed just as smoothly as his first day.
Professor Marco managed to keep Tetsuro awake during class, despite the lack of challenge presented by the material so far. The guy was a great speaker so listening to him talk about how to put together a Side Deck was interesting enough.
Kinda like pulling up a decent documentary on a second screen and just listening to it on the side. Every once in a while you look back, but mostly it's just pleasant noise.
Side Decks here were different compared to what he was used to, so the professor's lecture did manage to catch his fancy a few times.
After all, everything revolved around best of one duels in this city, and the rest of the world as far as Tetsuro could tell. There was a small subset of players online who talked about moving to a best of three format for "high skill tournaments," but it was basically a fan-made format that saw no mention outside of a few angry posters who lost to a sacky top deck.
Tetsuro almost joined that movement when he first figured out his situation, 'cause damn moving to a best of one format seemed wild.
But alas, that's just how it was.
Luck is just another skill as far as the locals are concerned.
Instead of siding between a best of three match, Side Decks were almost exclusively used in more high-end tournaments. In small, local competitions they were rarely authorized because they were seen as too oppressive for less experienced participants.
Tetsuro snorted roughly at the thought.
"Forget about Side Decks; give me a damn Tearlaments deck and I'll show these kids what 'oppressive' is."
That was the casual leagues, at least. In the big leagues more parallels existed with the tournament scene back on Earth. Players had to submit a decklist beforehand when entering big competitions, and they couldn't pre-side for the first duel in a tournament. After that, however, they were free to side between each of their duels as they moved on to new opponents.
Winner took all in best of one, so a chance to side in hate for bad match-ups was crucial.
Not that a ton of amazing options existed for siding, since the cardpool was limited, but that was a whole 'nother story. Anything was better than nothing when it came to prep time.
Ding-dong, ding-dong!
The afternoon bell shook Testuro out of his thoughts.
Blinking in surprise, he looked at the clock and saw that hours had passed without him even noticing. It was Friday afternoon at last, so he had two full days of freedom!
"Thank you Professor Marco, for your angelic voice. You really make the time fly!"
Clapping his hands together, he offered the teacher his thanks.
The professor in question didn't hear Tetsuro talking to himself, since he was distracted with another student who was asking him questions, but his nosy neighbor sure heard what he'd said.
"Must everything that comes out of your mouth be so embarrassing?" she sighed in frustration.
"Hey, what'cha mean by that?" he frowned back at Masumi, "You don't like the sound of Marco's voice?"
"T-That's not what I said!" the girl was flustered, "I just meant that you shouldn't…say it like that…" her voice drifted off into a mumble as her brows scrunched and her cheeks turned red.
"Don't be so uptight, pal! I'm sure Marco wouldn't mind the compliment if he heard it - here, how about I go tell him real quick? You can follow along and see how he reacts."
Tetsuro had already risen from his desk and started in the professor's direction.
Masumi's eyes foretold her reaction.
"Nothanksgottagobye-!"
In a whirlwind of motion, she slammed her books shut and threw them into her over-sized bag. He barely managed to get another two steps before she ran out of the classroom like some weirdo with a nude dark magician girl mat was licking at her heels.
She really made it too easy sometimes.
Professor Marco's attention was drawn by Masumi's escape, though it only resulted in a raised eyebrow and a fond smile from the man before he turned back to the student he was speaking with.
They seemed to have some kind of history based on what little info Tetsuro had managed to squeeze out of Masumi in this past week, but the girl was reluctant to say much on the topic. Whether she was just shy or she wanted to keep it on the down low for another reason was anyone's guess, but Tetsuro wasn't too pushy about it.
While she was fun to poke at, Masumi was still his friend.
They'd started off a bit rocky, sure, but Tetsuro found himself enjoying the serious girl's company over the past few days.
Since she had rocketed out of class, though, he no longer had a reason to stick around.
Grabbing his bag at far more casual pace, he meandered back in the direction of his dorm room to make a quick pit stop before heading out into the city.
The sunny afternoon was way too nice to stay cooped up in his little nest.
Besides which, he hadn't done anything but go to school, eat, and work out this whole week. He'd go stir crazy at this rate, so it was time to find something interesting to do! And he had a pretty good idea.
"Nakajima, raise the surveillance status on Tetsuro Yamaguchi up to tier two."
"Of course, sir. Should I add his file for consideration as a potential candidate?" Nakajima acknowledged the order before responding with a question.
Reiji Akaba adjusted his glasses as he contemplated.
"No." He decided after a moment, "While the fusion energy that his card emitted earlier this week was noteworthy, his past performance is not in line with what's expected of Lancer candidates. It's better that we monitor his movements for now."
"Understood." Nakajima entered a few keystrokes into the computer system he was working on. "I've elevated his surveillance. If he continues to perform above standard, I'll submit any significant findings to you, sir."
"Excellent." Reiji nodded.
Putting Tetsuro out of his mind, Reiji refocused on a more important matter. Navigating his desktop, he pulled up the ever-expanding file on a bald man in a purple coat. The man's head was covered in unnaturally thick veins, and a part of it even had some manner of mechanical device attached to it. How deep the device went, if it truly went below the surface of his skull, was unknown.
Reiji's previously calm gaze grew wrathful as he stared at the man's twisted visage.
