Yaiba's letter of challenge arrived promptly the next day.

'Arrived' was putting it nicely. That idiot started hollering and pounding on Tetsuro's door at 6 AM sharp. He swore vengeance against seven generations of Tetsuro's ancestors, cried bitterly about his lost dreams, and tried his damndest to bring the dead back to life with sheer volume. Yaiba must have woken up half the school with his noise.

The other half was woken up ten seconds after that, when a pissed off Tetsuro chased Yaiba across the whole school for scaring him awake by beating the hell out of his door.

Yaiba barely managed to escape his clutches.

For now.

Which led to the aftermath, and also highlighted Yaiba's actions from the previous day. As promised, the synchro duelist had caused a huge hubbub throughout the entire school before sending his letter. The show this morning would only cement the event further in people's minds. They didn't have much of a choice but to pay attention to it, since they were forced to be awake and listen to Tetsuro and Yaiba hurling insults at each other as they ran through the building.

Yaiba even managed to cajole the LDS Newspaper Club into creating a bunch of posters that he hung up around the school overnight, making their upcoming duel seem like some sort of boxing match between bitter rivals. The fact that they'd only met a week prior was conveniently left out of all the messaging.

Huffing and puffing, Tetsuro stomped back to his room an hour later.

The chase didn't last quite that long, but he ended up dropping by the cafeteria on his way back. He was already up and about, so he filled his stomach while he was at it.

It gave him time to cool down, slightly.

It also made him think.

While the duel itself was something Tetsuro kept at the forefront of his mind, there was something that came with his upcoming match that was even more important. It was eating away at him. Now that he had to basically play the role of a performer in a duel, it might be something he could do. It was something he'd buried deep down inside of himself a long time ago.

Something he never thought he would let free.

But maybe, this could be his chance? After all, he was supposed to be an entertainment duelist, right?

Unable to keep focused, his eyes kept drifting toward Ze Amin, who was amusing herself by floating upside down over his bed. What a cute weirdo. Sometimes her hobbies were no different from any other person, and sometimes she acted like this. He'd asked her before if the blood rushed to her head when she hung around like that, but she hadn't deigned to answer his obviously non-nonsensical question.

"Hey, Ze Amin, we've known each other for a while now, right?"

The spirit's blank gaze met his in a questioning manner.

Tetsuro scratched his chin, considering the best way to bring up the topic that he wanted to talk to her about. It was more than a little bit embarrassing, even for a shameless guy like him, but he'd been thinking about it ever since he'd transmigrated to this world and realized that he now had a spirit buddy to accompany him.

Yaiba's challenge now gave him the perfect excuse.

"Will you…"

He hesitated for a moment before throwing both of his arms up in the air.

"Ah hell, this ain't like me! I'll just come out and say it straight up!" his tone went from sheepish to too-loud at the drop of a dime, causing Ze Amin to blink in her best attempt at surprise. He appreciated her effort.

"Will you come do poses in front of the mirror with me?!"

The question seemed to cost him something as Tetsuro's breathing grew heavy, like he'd just sprinted away from the last bits of his dignity. They were calling for him to come back, but he'd already jetted out of there.

"?"

He could feel Ze Amin's confusion at his nonsense request.

"No, listen. I'm not crazy! I can explain. It starts off with a guy named Jonathan Joestar, right? At first it's just a regular adventure story, but later on everyone gets these things called Stands that are almost like spirits ordinary people can't see. It's like a cool super power. Since you're a duel spirit, ya can pick up what I'm putting down right?"

"…"

His explanation sucked.

That was putting it generously. However, it actually took very little convincing for Ze Amin to accept his request. He told her a bit more about the idea, and she took to it like a fish to water.

She seemed to like the idea of striking poses together, which was shown clearly by the fact that she basically pushed him in front of the full-body mirror that was attached to the exterior of the bathroom door when he started getting off track with his explanation. She was a spirit of action, and he was too slow for her tastes.

They quickly got into their groove and matched one another.

"What about this?" Tetsuro questioned, maintaining the pose he'd cooked up.

Ze Amin eyed him critically, face blank, before shaking her head rapidly in the negative. Getting close to her partner, she moved his elbow a bit, pushed his chin up, kicked his foot a bit to the right, and then considered briefly before stepping back again.

Hand under her chin, she nodded.

The adjustments got her seal of approval as she floated up behind Tetsuro, adjusting her own pose to serve as a contrast to his.

As she flexed and swept her sleeves, Tetsuro's heart grew three sizes. He seriously loved his duel spirit. She was a treat.

Together, they'd be the most badass duo ever.

"Alright! I think this one is good, so lets try something new next. What do you think says 'I'm not even using half of my strength' in terms of body language? If we gotta give out a real final boss vibe, we need to be ready."

Ze Amin must have had an idea for this one off the cuff, because she got to work immediately with as much enthusiasm as the poker-faced girl could muster.

Before the pair knew it, they'd spent the better part of the morning posing like peacocks in front of the mirror.

They likely would have spent the whole day caught up in their vanity, if not for a series of sharp knocks that interrupted them.

"A visitor?" Tetsuro reluctantly put his arms down, before heading to the door.

As he opened it, his would-be guest barged in, ignoring that little social nuance called an 'invitation.' Clearly, such a thing was optional. He nearly slammed the door shut in her face. However, recognizing the panic in Masumi's expression, he opted to let her have her moment.

He'd just rile her up with it later.

"What did you do?!" the agitated girl immediately asked. Her glare was caught between anger and worry.

"Huh?" was Tetsuro's eloquent response.

"That duel! A match to the death?! What on earth did you and that synchro course student get into? How did the school even approve it?!"

"I'm pretty sure the poster said 'A grudge that can only be settled after death,'" Tetsuro scratched his nose, "We don't actually gotta kill each other, we just can't settle the grudge, ya know?"

His explanation wasn't helpful.

Masumi tried her best to light him on fire with her eyes. Unfortunately, Tetsuro didn't spontaneously combust, so she could only continue her glare for short while before she eventually was forced to try a new approach. Seeing Tetsuro's lack of nervousness, she started to question the whole situation.

"You seem awfully calm for someone in a life-or-death grudge match." She observed, not releasing the scowl that had decorated her brow since she'd arrived.

"'Course I am." Tetsuro shrugged before making his way over to the refrigerator. "The whole thing's just a publicity stunt that Yaiba cooked up. We've been gymbros for a little bit, and the opportunity just came up so he decided to challenge me and rattle up the school at the same time. Ah, but don't tell anyone, okay? That's confidential friend-only info. I wouldn't wanna ruin Yaiba's effort, even if I'm still pissed about this morning."

"Ya want a soda?" Bending down in his fridge, Tetsuro ignored Masumi's changing expression as she processed what he'd said.

"A publicity stunt?" she seemed offended by the idea, before startling as she realized something. "What if the school finds out?! It could be even worse!"

"Why would that be worse than havin' a duel to the death?" Tetsuro's brows raised, asking for further explanation.

"You could be expelled!" Masumi's voice lowered as she put extra emphasis on the word 'expelled.' She spoke sternly, as if she were trying to will Tetsuro to grasp the full gravity of his situation.

Tetsuro though she was making a reference for a moment, before realizing she was actually serious.

He snorted as he attempted to cover his laughter.

"Glad to know ya care." He snickered.

"This is serious, Tetsuro." She frowned.

"Here, catch." Tetsuro tossed a can of soda at his friend, ignoring her fretting.

She nearly fumbled it, but after a near miss she managed to grab the drink steadily in both hands. She looked at the soda like it had done something to her, before sighing and giving in. With a crack, the can was popped open and she took a long drink in order to settle her fluctuating mood.

"Haah." She let out a steadying breath.

"Ya calm down a bit?" Tetsuro asked, "I appreciate you worryin' about me, but it's not as big a deal as you're makin' it. I'm not dueling to the death, and I seriously doubt the LDS brass are gonna step in unless we go overboard. Which we're not gonna, in case you were thinking it."

The fact that Reiji had his eyes on Tetsuro as a potential Lancer candidate went unsaid.

Considering the kind of power LDS wielded, if Reiji wanted to shut down a duel like this it would be as easy as saying a single word, but the Akaba heir would never do such a thing. If he got involved at all, he'd probably be pulling the strings behind the scenes to make the competition even fiercer, ensuring that the victor would sharpen themselves further.

A sharper tool would be better able to cut down his father's henchmen, after all.

Well, that wasn't something he was interesting in burdening his friend with.

"Who's worried about you?" Masumi denied with a huff as she crossed her arms. "I just don't want you giving the fusion course a bad reputation!"

"Uh-huh." Tetsuro's flat expression and vague agreement didn't seem to be what Masumi was looking for.

"I mean it!" she growled.

"I believe ya." He spoke in a tone that indicated he didn't believe a single word.

Before Mount Masumius could blow its top, Tetsuro grabbed the steering wheel of the conversation and turned it abruptly in another direction. He was planning to go visit Masumi later this afternoon, but since she had shown up on his doorstep he may as well take advantage of the situation.

"Anyway, panic aside, I'm glad you're here! Have you had lunch yet?"

She scowled at the change of topic, but was willing to go along with it, though not without putting up a final stand.

"No." She stated, "And I wasn't panicking. Perhaps you need to get your eyes checked before your big duel if you're seeing things that aren't there."

"The only thing I need to get checked are my strats." Tetsuro admitted, before getting to the point of his earlier question. "Be a pal and help me out? You know I'm not great at entertainment dueling, so I was hoping to run through my plan for the game with you. See if I'm on the right track, or if I'm going a little too wild, ya know? I'll buy you lunch in exchange while we chat."

Masumi looked surprised for a moment, before eventually shaking her head, though her expression lightened. The scowl that had decorated her brow previously was nowhere to be seen, replaced with a look that was colored with exasperation.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to be sharing that sort of information with someone who will be one of your competitors in the future?" she asked, not allowing Tetsuro time to answer before she continued. "Last time we only spoke about our dueling philosophies and a few of the plays from the game we had, so it wasn't a big deal, but if you just reveal your strategies to anyone you'll only be hurting yourself."

Masumi was being a worry-wart.

Well, mostly. She did have a point about sharing with strangers, or publishing too much information about oneself, but that's just how the competitive scene was around here.

Outside of close relationships, it was uncommon for people to divulge the exact details of their dueling strategies. Betrayal or sabotage were the more overt consequences that could be gained from letting out a bit too much info, but even outside of those there were more minute things. Pro duelists often had entire profiles written about them, some legally and some not, through small things. Bits of advice they gave here, a particular series of plays that were repeated in multiple duels there, and other bread crumbs that could add up into a mountain.

Once all that got out, it became far easier to counter one's plays. Switching your cards up every once in a while helped to counter this to an extent, but if someone knew how you played - how you thought - it suddenly became much harder to keep a spot near the top.

You play a trap deck? Oh man, what a coincidence, all your opponents just happen to be huge fans of Jinzo. That's some bad luck, but you lost so I guess it's back to the little leagues for you.

It was very different from the culture back home, where the contents of people's decks were basically public knowledge as soon as tournament results were released, and there existed a whole ecosystem of spread sheets and youtube combo tutorials for nearly any card interaction.

All in all, it was far better to keep your cards close to your chest around here.

Not that Tetsuro was interested in any of that, but it was some neat gee-whiz info he'd read online. Thus, he bulldozed on.

"But I'm not askin' just anyone. You gotta give me at least a little credit here, Masumi." Tetsuro denied swiftly, "I'm only asking you."

"…Just me? Why?" She asked, questioning Tetsuro's reason.

"For such a smart cookie, sometimes you ask really dumb questions. I'd trust ya with my back, so I know for sure I can trust you with my cards!" he clapped the smaller girl on the back as he declared all that, causing her to stumble forward with a yelp.

"H-Hey! Stop that!"

She got mad.

"Help me out, Masumi?" Tetsuro just smiled, letting her vent.

"…"

He couldn't quite decipher the look that Masumi gave him, even with all his experience in reading Ze Amin's mood. It wasn't a head-over-heels look or anything like that, but it contained a touch of fondness, a trace of exaspiration, a pinch of salt, and a whole mix of other emotions. The damn Powerpuff Girls were less complicated than that.

"…Fine." She eventually gave in. "I'll help, so lets go."

With a swift turn on her heel, Masumi began marching out of Tetsuro's room, expecting him to follow.

Tetsuro trailed behind her, his earlier anger at Yaiba forgotten.


The pair of duelists ended up in a small restaurant a few blocks from LDS.

It was a place that Tetsuro had overheard other students talking about. A hole-in-the-wall joint that served really good food at a decent price, with a great waitstaff to boot. The portion sizes were a bit on the small side, but the taste made up for it.

The empty dishes that now decorated the table attested to the place's reputation. It was damn good, to the point where they couldn't say no to grabbing some dessert as well.

"So, you see what I'm aiming for, right? What'cha think?" Tetsuro wanted to make sure she was keeping up as he took a sip of his strawberry milkshake.

Masumi's brow scrunched in concentration as she toyed with the straw on her own shake.

"I have to say that I'm surprised." She admitted, "You say that you're not very experienced when it comes to entertainment duels, but your plan seems like a good one on paper. The only question is whether or not you can actually pull it off in practice, let alone against someone of Yaiba's skill. I haven't dueled against him myself, but I've seen a few of his matches against other students. There's a reason that he's acknowledged as the best synchro user in LDS."

"Of course I can! This is gonna be me putting on a show, I ain't even going full throttle!"

The dark-haired girl simply scoffed at Tetsuro's bluster.

Irritating as he could be, he certainly wasn't lacking confidence.

"Of course," her tone was dry, "why would you 'go full throttle' on a match in front of the whole school? Certainly, it's no big deal at all. Just a walk in the park. Clearly."

The proud look Tetsuro gave her nearly caused her to throw her milkshake across the table. As if he was glad for her that she'd finally made a groundbreaking discovery. Fortunately for him, the drink was too good to waste…mostly. A quick flick of her wrist caused a straw-full of vanilla cream to fly through the air, impacting Tetsuro's nose.

"Hey!" Tetsuro flinched back in his chair.

Masumi placed her straw back in her shake as if nothing had happened.

"Ya don't have to be so petty!" Tetsuro complained, even as he grabbed a napkin to wipe the shake off his face.

"Anyway," she ignored his grumbling, "Assuming that you can really pull it off, it would certainly send a message. One that couldn't be ignored, especially as a student of LDS. That is the purpose behind all of this, I assume?"

"Yeah." Tetsuro nodded, "I'm still wrapping my head around the entertainment part of entertainment duels, but I feel like I'm gettin' there. This time, I wanna put on a show that people won't forget. Something that'll make me stand out from the crowd."

"You don't think you stand out enough already?" Masumi rolled her eyes before looking her companion up and down. She worried that the only way he could stand out more would be to switch his clothing's colors to a bright orange. He already jingled as he walked thanks to all those gaudy chains, and his jacket was common fashion among street punks. It wouldn't surprise her at all if people purposely crossed the street to avoid walking on the same side as Tetsuro.

"What'cha mean?" Tetsuro tilted his head in confusion.

Masumi's mind conjured the image of a confused great dane that overlapped with Tetsuro's figure. He looked intimidating from the outside, but on the inside he was more like a big lug.

It was odd to put into words. He was sort of cute, in a way that wasn't really expected?

"I don't like that look yer givin' me." He frowned as Masumi eyed him weirdly.

What was her deal?

"Nevermind." Masumi shook her head to banish the image of Tetsuro with a tail. "I need to get back to the school now, so lets end our talk here for today. As long as you draw that combo you showed me today, you'll do well against Yaiba. If you don't draw it…well, I'll wish you luck."

"Don't worry," Tetsuro waved her words away, "I got the heart of the cards on my side! There's no way I'm gonna lose to a brick hand. That aside, how come you're heading back already?"

Masumi considered the question before answering. While she wasn't told to keep it a secret or anything of the sort, it was still something that hadn't been announced to the fusion course as a whole. Still, with the amount of trust that Tetsuro had shown her in the last hour, she felt like she should return the gesture.

"Professor Marco was recently tasked with something by the school. He hasn't mentioned the specifics, but it's apparently going to be a pretty time consuming job. He has to start today, and it's taking him off campus for several hours each day. I'm helping him with some grading in order to give him more time to focus on what he needs to do."

"That sounds like somethin' way out of my wheelhouse." Tetsuro admitted, before wishing Masumi well, "Still, I hope it goes smooth for ya. See you later, Masumi! Have fun bein' a teacher's pet! Arf arf!"

He sent her off with fanfare.

Placing her empty glass down with slightly more force than necessary, his red-eyed friend shot him a final glare before stomping out of the shop. It sounded like she was mumbling something about 'stupid dog bastards,' but Masumi didn't seem the type to let that sort of language taint her vocabulary, so Tetsuro was sure he'd misheard.

Little Miss Prim-n'Proper saying a swear? Couldn't be.

Her explanation about Professor Marco's task kept bouncing around his head, though.

'I dunno if this timing is right, but doesn't Marco get carded at some point? Not like he was a major character so I don't remember the details, but some kind of revenge plot happened with the LDS students going after Shun since the Xyz duelist was the one who was hunting their friends down.'

Shun really was a bad guy with a chip on his shoulder.

Wait, that was it!

Marco was supposed to encounter Shun eventually, so if he managed to stick his nose in Marco's business he might be able to trim down his search even further. That was assuming things would go the way he 'expected,' which wasn't a sure-fire thing, but it didn't seem outrageous for such an encounter to happen either.

Forget about something nebulous like 'following a plot' in a real world. Tetsuro had little faith in something like that. However, the sheer resources that LDS could bring to bear meant it was only a matter of time before they found what they were looking for.

It was almost inevitable, no matter how well their targets were hidden.

"Bingo!" With that taken into consideration, Tetsuro might have found his lucky break in his search for the Xyz duelists.

More importantly, though, Marco was someone he had grown to like over the past while. The guy was a good teacher with a lot of heart. He wouldn't go so far as to say anything crazy like 'I'll protect my teacher no matter what!' because that wasn't gonna happen, but if he could help out he wasn't planning to just stand aside and do nothing. The fact that his overall goal fell in line with his new plan worked out even better.

Well, that was assuming he wasn't barking up the wrong tree.

But he had a gut feeling he was on the right track.

Originally he was going to spend the rest of the afternoon hunting around the docks again, but he changed his plans since following Marco would give him a more concrete avenue to take, rather than just chasing them blindly with Mieru's hints. If anything, it'd probably be best to use both her help and Masumi's tip just now. If Professor Marco ever went over to his search area, that'd be a prime opportunity.

He gulped down the rest of his shake with gusto, ready to head back home.

"Owwww!"

He never even got up off his seat. With a hiss, he grabbed his head as a brain freeze hit him like a truck. Ow, ow, ow! Damn!

He'd go home in a little bit, then!


"Yo, Professor!"

Tetsuro's voice broke the silence that had settled over the mostly-empty classroom. It'd been a day since he'd spoken with Masumi in that restaurant about Marco's newest task, and he'd finally approached their teacher himself. He could try to trail him in the shadows, sure, but that wasn't really his style.

He waited for a chance to talk to Marco without any other students around, however, to avoid giving away his game.

"Yamaguchi, it's rare for you to come by after classes." Marco responded with an easy smile, setting aside the paperwork he had been focused on, "What can I do for you, young man?"

"Just hopin' you can explain something I'm a bit confused on. You see, I have this card that says 'if a monster I control was destroyed this turn, I can activate this effect in my graveyard to set this card back to the field'. Straight forward enough, but what I don't get is whether or not this card needs to be in the graveyard first to 'see' the destruction of the monster, or does it work even if it's sent to the grave later in the turn after the destruction occurred."

"Hmmm," Macro hummed in consideration, "That depends on the wording on the card in question. Based on your description it sounds like it wouldn't need to see the destruction, as you put it, but if you don't mind could I take a look at the card you're talking about?"

"Sure thing! Here, it's Gold Pride - Pedal to the Metal!"

Handing over the card, Tetsuro watched as Marco read the text on the card carefully.

Subtle, Tetsuro's approach wasn't, but it was enough to get his foot in the door.

"Yes, that's indeed the way it is." Marco confirmed before shifting his attention back to Tetsuro, "Even if this card is sent to the graveyard later in the turn, as long as the destruction of your Gold Pride monster on the field happened on that same turn, you can use this effect to re-set Pedal to the Metal. Though, do keep in mind that you won't be able to use it directly that turn since it's a quick-play spell."

"Nice! Thanks for the help, Prof. I still get mixed up on stuff like this."

As Tetsuro expressed his gratitude, he let his eyes wander over Marco's office.

An organized mess would be the best way to describe it. It wasn't dirty dirty, but stacks of paper of varying sizes decorated both his desk and some of the cabinets around the room. A few knick-knacks and photographs gave the office a more homey feeling, making it feel more like an office in his own home rather than a corporate office within LDS.

A particular photo on a shelf caught Tetsuro's interest.

"Is that a mini-Masumi?"

"Oh? You recognized her immediately." Marco nodded with a smile.

"Hard not to. It may be pint-sized, but that scowl hasn't changed much over the years from the look of it. You guys related or something?"

A pleasant laugh left the professor as he looked at the photograph fondly.

It depicted a much younger version of Masumi, clearly in a bad mood, as a Marco who must've been in his 20's tried to get the girl to take a Duel Monsters card that he was offering her.

"We're not related by blood, no, but I've known her parents since we were small. We remained close over the years, so I had the opportunity to watch their daughter on several occasions. Eventually, when she got into school, I ended up tutoring her while I was going through my undergraduate program."

"She doesn't look so thrilled about it. Kind of a shock, considering how much of an egg head she is nowadays." Tetsuro observed, getting a huff of humor from Marco at his description.

"You might be able to get a hint from that picture, but she used to hate Duel Monsters when she was young. Other subjects such as mathematics or history were fine, but she wanted nothing to do with duelists. It took me quite a bit of effort to convince her to give the game a try."

With a shake of his head, Marco moved on.

"If you wish to hear more, I suggest asking Masumi herself. I wouldn't want to damage your growing friendship by over-sharing."

Tetsuro nodded in agreement, but he couldn't resist prodding Marco a bit more.

"So once we've gotten closer, what are my chances of getting a few embarrassing stories from when she was a brat? I seriously doubt Masumi would ever share those even when we're total besties, but a bit of teasing material goes a long way, ya know?"

The smirk that stretched across Marco's lips for a brief moment wasn't one he'd seen on the normally easy-going teachers face before, but it revealed that he definitely had the ammo that Tetsuro was looking for.

"Perhaps I can be convinced," the professor hedged, before letting Tetsuro down, "But that won't be for a while yet."

"I'll have to put in some work, then." Tetsuro accepted, before excusing himself. "Well, thanks again for the help Prof, but I gotta go. Lots of deck fixin' to do before my duel with Yaiba."

As he turned to leave, Marco shot one last question at Tetsuro's back. They had never talked about the upcoming duel, but the man had been keeping an extra eye on Tetsuro throughout the first day after the challenge was made public. Now, he took his chance to ask about it.

"How do you feel about your chances? Are you confident?"

Glancing back, Tetsuro's eyes met his teacher's.

"If I lose, I'll tell ya the worst stories I got from when I was a brat. It's pretty heinous stuff that'll make your toes curl with second-hand embarrassment. Ya can share 'em with Masumi and have a laugh while I cry a saltwater river in my little dorm bed. Well, that ain't gonna happen, so you'll have to settle for the second place prize of having the best duelist in the school as your student. A shame, but guess we can't have everything."

Tetsuro lamented for a moment, before chuckling at his own joke and leaving with a wave.

As the office door closed with his student's departure, Marco allowed himself a brief moment of amusement.

Tetsuro was just as carefree as Masumi had described.

She'd spent the better part of their grading session yesterday afternoon complaining about 'the hooligan' while Marco was content to play the role of the attentive listener. It was a new experience for him, to see the usually taciturn little girl he'd seen grow up vent like that.

Even as a child, Masumi had always been a solitary person who didn't easily connect with others. She handled loneliness better than most, but occasionally Marco could see flashes of desire that revealed themselves when she would watch other children playing together. Even as she got older and entered LDS, such behavior hadn't changed. He had almost started to believe that it would be this way all the way into her adulthood.

It was only this year that things suddenly took a turn.

Unexpectedly, someone finally managed to get through the proverbial armor that Masumi surrounded herself with.

He'd done it with the grace of a brick through a window, granted, but perhaps that was what Masumi needed. Like a tornado passing through, Tetsuro simply picked her up without any regard for her opinion on the matter and forced her to be his friend through a strange combination of his own charisma and Masumi's own stubborn nature.

Really, kids these days were so complicated compared to back when he was young.

He hoped they'd remain as friends, and that Masumi would continue to grow through this new experience.

"Hmmm, I wonder if we should get some signs made to support Tetsuro in his upcoming duel. Something to show that he has the backing of the fusion course."

Surely, Masumi would be happy to support her friend, right?


A/N:

Originally I was gonna throw the Yaiba/Tetsuro duel in this chapter, but it ended up going a little long, so for the sake of pacing I'm gonna push it into the next chapter. Probably won't take more than a few days to get it finished up, but I never make promises on timelines since I'm very lazy so take it with a grain of salt.