Chapter Thirty-Four

34

The Truth of Broken Lies

Right from the start the duel was intense. After Connar had calmed down, Zane gently pushed her back and turned her, insisting that she watch the rest of the match, as he kept a comforting hold on her shoulders. Bastion started with the lead, but Chazz's counter retrieved it. From Bastion's quick wit, that lead didn't remain Chazz's for long. Once Water Dragon was out, everthing on the field got washed away. Including Chazz himself, while his life points got washed away to zero.

"A well played duel, Chazz. But not well enough." said Bastion

"Pure luck!" Chazz scoffed,"You drew a lucky card and stumbled into the win, that's all!"

"Perhaps." said Bastion,"But luck favors the prepared, and I was prepared to beat you with a half dozen other cards as well." he stated,"You would have lost the duel one way or another, but you are free to deny it if you want." he said," Just like you denied throwing my deck into the ocean."

"Yeah? Then prove it!" Chazz huffed.

"Well, if you insist." Bastion sighed and pulled out a damp card from his pocket,"This is a card I fished out...it contains a formula that I wrote on it." he shrugged,"But then I suppose you could have written it, though I'm certain the math would probably be wrong...which it's not."

Connar's heart clenched, as did her hand to her chest as she looked down and away in disappointment. There was no arguement she could give. There was no excuse. There was no way to defend him. Every shred of hope was gone and fizzled. Alexis and Zane looked down upon her, feeling hurt to see her hurt, and Zane gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"Chazz...you stole. You lied. You cheated. You lost." said Bastion as he put the card away,"You deserve to be demoted."

Demoted!?

Connar gasped and shot her head up.

So...this means Chazz lost his rank too...

She sighed and looked down once more.

"Th-This can't be..." Chazz sighed and grovelled on his knees. He looked up and caught Connar's shattered expression and felt himself twinge inside.

"Connar...I..."

She didn't know how to respond to him. She didn't know how she could. She averted her eyes away with a pained expression and spoke in a soft cracking voice.

"I-I'm sorry, Princeton..." she whimpered trying to maintain her composure. All she could do was sigh and shake her head. "I'm sorry..." she said,"But I can't defend this..." she trembled and tightened her grip,"There's nothing I can say or do for you anymore...my hands are tied."

"You're sorry!?" He sighed and returned to his head hanging groveling position.

No...you shouldn't be sorry...

...I did this.

"Bastion Misawa~!" clapped his hands with glee,"Congratulations, and welcome to Obelisk Blue!"

"No." Bastion said firmly,"I'm afraid I must decline that invitation."

"Pardon!?" was as shocked as the rest of the group,"But, Why?"

"When I first arrived here at Duel Academy I told myself that I would only enter Blue when I became the number one student in the freshman class." said Bastion,"Jaden, of all the new freshmen, I think that student is you."

"Hey thanks!" Jaden laughed,"But don't count Connar out~" he grinned and gently pulled the female forward by the arm.

"N-No, Jaden please I'm not in the mood right now-"

"She's got game." he grinned. She realized this was Jaden's way of trying to apologize to her and cheer her up, but all it did was make her feel awkward and silly.

"Wait...you dueled?" Zane blinked.

"...Uh oh." Connar gulped.

"...You dueled, and I didn't get to see it? You didn't invite me?"

"Now Zane...hold on a second!" Connar said holding her arms up defensively.

"That's right! I didn't get to see it either!" Syrus huffed," How could you not invite me!? Your best friend!?"

"Not helping, SyRy!" Connar huffed and waved her hands defensively, "Now to be fair no one got to see it! " said Connar,"It was a private duel so it doesn't count!"

"Really? Well it counts to me..." said Zane.

"Awe, come on Zane, no! Not here-" she rambled on nervously taking a few steps away,"Why are you rolling up your sleeves? No! Zane? Zane! Bad Zane! Stop it!"

"Oooh, you better ruuuunn~~" Syrus teased.

"I'll give you about 3 seconds." said Zane. Though Connar didn't even wait that long before bolting down the hall way, soon being hunted down by Zane in tow.

"Wow, I've never seen that guy so animated." said Jaden.

"Usually he's not." said Alexis,"It's completly out of character for Zane...but I think it's sort of his way to try and make her feel better?"

"Make her feel better?" Jaden laughed,"Running for her life?"

"It's not like that, exactly." Alexis said awkwardly,"You know, Zane used to babysit her when she was little right? " she blinked,"Well apparently during that time she used to cause a lot of trouble for him. She would always run away and make him chase her." she shrugged,"I think part of Zane may still see Connar as that little kid, so this is one way he knows would be a familiar comfort I guess."

"HaHaHa, sounds like she was a scamp." Jaden snickered.

"Oh, she was!" Syrus huffed,"Not me though, I was always an angel!" he beamed,"So don't you dare let Connar's innocent face fool you, Jay!"

"I think I'm learning that a bit more every day." he chuckled and shifted his gaze back to Bastion.

"So, did you really mean what you said about me Bastion?"

"I sure did, Jaden."

"Cool! So does that mean you wanna settle this thing right here!?" he beamed,"I mean, seeing you guys duel really made me wanna get my game on!"

"Sorry, but not now."

"Aww, but why not?" Jaden pouted.

"Because I have a lot of work I need to do before I duel you." said Bastion,"I need to write new formulas. You're a good Duelist, Jaden and I plan to be ready."

"Smart move." Jaden snickered.

"Hmph...he didn't have to 'prepare' for me!" Chazz grumbled,"He won with just one day's notice!"

"Soon my new walls will be filled with new formulas and we will have our duel, Jaden." he chuckled,"Just be prepared for it to turn out like that ball game." he teased,"You know, the one where I struck you out?"

"Yeah, yeah, keep dreaming, Bastion!" Jaden laughed,"Baseball is a pass time but dueling is my life!" he beamed,"Until then pal, now if you excuse me, I better go see if Connar survived Zane's hot pursuit!" he laughed and took off around the corner in the direction he saw the two run off, passing by Alexis who gave a light chuckle.

"Come on, Jay! Wait up!" Syrus sighed and followed after him.

XXXXX

"Oooow~ my head hurts!" Connar groaned as she tried to rub away the noogie pain from Zane's knuckles on her temples and her red cheeks from his playful pinching and tugging.

"I suggest, from now on you invite me to all your duels, Connie!" Zane said as he rolled back his sleeves and dusted off his hands. He had chased her to the beach. He knew it was her favorite place to be. Especially when she was feeling as low as she was now.

She released a heavy sigh.

"Zane...what are you doing?" she asked giving him a knowing look,"I know you didn't actually chase me out here just because you were mad that you missed my first 3 duels."

"Wait 3!?"

"N-No! One! I mean one!" she whimpered,"Er well...two...and a half?"

"A half?" he raised a brow and heaved a sigh shaking his head.

"Okay, my first duel was a dud, it didn't have a valid conclusion." she stated,"My second one I won and my third one too-but that was a punishment duel against my uncle."

"Yeah we were all a little upset that we couldn't watch that one, but I understand why it was private." he stated. There were only a very few who knew about Connar's family. There was Chazz of course, for obvious reasons. Some of the faculty who have to personally deal with Connar know about it too. And then there was Zane. Considering he babysat for the man as a form of internship and got a reccomendation letter for the school as part of the payment. Not even Syrus nor Alexis knew about Connar's family.

"...You're right." he said sternly," I didn't chase you out here for something as pointless as that."

Connar huffed and blinked curiously.

"...But I needed a valid excuse."

"An excuse?" she blinked,"For what?"

"For this-" without a word he had pulled Connar gently against him and held her warmly in a gentle hug as he spoke,"It's okay to be upset, Connar." he said softly," And it's okay to cry. I know you're hurting." he said,"... Sometimes things aren't as they seem and sometimes...we gotta learn that the hard way."

Tears ran down her cheek.

I see now...

She thought to herself.

He knew about this...and that's why he acted like that.

She gave a weak chuckle.

"I guess having watched me for a few years you must of have learned a few signs and signals..."

"...I picked up a thing or two." he said and released her gently patting her head,"...It will be okay, Connar."

"...You know, if you spent more time talking to Syrus like this...your relationship might not be so strained."

"You think so?" he blinked and glanced up as he saw two red blurs moving toward the area,"Speaking of Syrus...here he comes with Jaden now." he said softly,"I'll leave you to your friends." he gave her a brief but gentle smile before sneaking away just before the two Slifer students arrived.

"Phew, here you are.!" Jaden huffed out of breath and Syrus panted along with him,"How are you feeling?"

"Well...my head hurts." She mumbled,"Zane really let me have it...I guess I should have told him sooner."

"Say. where is Zane?" Syrus blinked,"Wasn't he with you?"

"For a brief moment." she chuckled,"Then he was gone. You know how he is." she shrugged,"He's emotionally awkward."

"Hmm..well I'm gonna see if I can find him." said Syrus,"There was something I wanted to ask him about anyway."

"Sure thing, Sy." Jaden and Connar waved together,"See you later."

It was just the two of them now left alone on the shore line. Jaden ran his hand through his hair awkwardly trying to think of the right words to say. As he opened his mouth to speak, a voice came out, but it wasn't his own.

"I'm sorry." Connar said softly.

"You're sorry!?" Jaden blinked,"Wait...what for?"

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that...back with Princeton."

Jaden blinked and pursed his lips for a bit. Admittedly he did feel rather awkward about it. He just didn't understand. Chazz had been nothing but a pain in everyone's neck. At least that's what Jaden gathered in the time he's spent at the Academy with him. And he's been a victim of it quite often, but for whatever reason, Connar was always so quick to defend Chazz. He wasn't sure if there was a deeper rooted reason, or if maybe she just didn't see the tricks he's pulled on multiple occasions.

Well when you put it like that...

Jaden thought to himself as he went over these possibilities.

Then Connar must be feeling pretty betrayed by him right now...

He blinked.

I see...that makes sense then... but...

"Connar." Jaden called for her attention and she gave him a side glance,"Connar...why are you always so quick to defend Chazz?" he asked,"I mean...he's a jerk." he stopped,"Or, well, maybe he's not much of a jerk to you?" he blinked,"But he's pretty mean to everyone else."

"...I know." she said softly.

So she is aware?

He thought to himself.

So then why!?

"...He wasn't always like that, you know..." Connar said softly,"Back when I first met Princeton...he was actually pretty...nice."

"Really?" Jaden blinked,"So then, what happened?"

"Who knows." Connar sighed,"Maybe I'm just naive." she chuckled awkwardly with a pained expression,"For all I know...that was a lie too." she sighed,"Perhaps...maybe...everything was lies..."

Jaden didn't dare press any further. He could feel that maybe she just wasn't ready yet. He let out a soft sigh, and just sat next to her in a comfortable silence, listening while the waves crashed along the shore. Slowly. Back...and forth.

To be Continued