(A/N: This chapter is pretty lengthy. I almost broke it into two, but was able to fit it all into a single one. We've focused a lot on the relationship of Juri and Shiori, now it's time to get into some of the action the series is known for.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 10: The Tournament

The day of the dueling tournament had arrived. A month after the announcement had been made, the day had finally come, and the competition had a good turnout.

Through a series of elimination rounds that had taken place during the week leading up to the tournament, thirty-two students were chosen to take place in the tournament. Juri and the rest of the Student Council were amongst them, naturally, and Shiori had also made the cut.

As the tournament was meant to mimic the Dueling Game in order to dispel any rumors about it, similar rules were followed. Contestants were to strike the rose from the chest of their opponent. Of course, since this was a school event, safety took top priority, and so all duelists wore full fencing padded armor and masks, and they were all using swords with dulled tips and blades.

Naturally, the arena where the duels took place in the Dueling Game was unavailable for use since the doors that led to it had sealed themselves closed. As such, the tournament would be taking place in the school gym. But seeing as there were far too many students in Ohtori Academy to fit everyone, only the teachers overseeing the duels, the students taking parts in the tournament, and those supporting the contestants were allowed in the gym.

The rest of the students would watch on TVs that had been set up in their classrooms while the tournament was broadcast to the rest of the school. And, of course, the Shadow Girls had eagerly volunteered to be the commentators, even though they insisted on doing so from behind curtains so only their silhouettes could be seen; keeping up appearances, or so they had claimed as their reason for doing so.

"We're all very excited for this tournament, aren't we?" the first Shadow Girl asked. "We've been waiting for it all month."

"Yes," the second Shadow Girl agreed, "but despite the short notice of when the tournament would take place, the Student Council has been attempting to arrange it for months, but kept running into complications."

"Which is what sparked all those rumors of so-called underground duels taking place in the school, but it seems that those rumors have been debunked."

"Of course. Our student Council would never be involved with something so shady. What would be the purpose for such secret duels anyway? But now we're finally seeing the fruits of their labor by getting the tournament underway."

"And speaking of the Student Council, they seem to be the competition to beat. From what we've heard, most of the students are expecting either President Touga Kiryuu, Captain Juri Arisugawa, or Captain Kyouichi Saionji to win."

"And they might, they just might. But let's not forget that we have a number of other students competing. These include…"

As the Shadow Girls proceeded to list off the names of the students who would be competing and providing commentary on them, Juri and Shiori stood on one side of the gym with fourteen other students while their opponents, picked at random via drawing names, stood on the other side of the gym.

Most of the participants naturally consisted of members of the fencing club and kendo club, though a few were random students that Juri didn't know who had managed to make the cut. Her first opponent was such a student whose name she didn't even know, but she remembered seeing him around the school here and there.

"You nervous?" she asked Shiori as the violet-haired girl fidgeted beside her.

"A little," Shiori replied. She glanced at Juri. "You don't look nervous at all."

A smile grazed the orange-haired girl's face. "It's about appearances."

Shiori blinked. "Um, ok… So, are you nervous or not?"

Juri didn't reply. Truthfully, no, she wasn't nervous, not really. It wasn't like this was some world tournament. It was a simple school competition. And while she didn't want to be arrogant, she knew that few of the competitors were a match for her. So unless her first opponent was an exceptionally skilled duelist and simply hadn't made his talents known, she doubted she would face much of a challenge from him.

"You'll do fine," she reassured Shiori. "It's just a school event."

"Yeah, I know," Shiori replied with a frown. "I just don't want to get eliminated in the first round. I at least want to get to the second round, maybe even the third. After that, I think I'll be a little out of my league."

Juri gave her a teasing smile. "You know that if we end up dueling in one of the upcoming rounds that I won't go easy on you, right?"

She'd meant it as a joke, but Shiori fixed her with a glare. "You better not. I don't want to be pitied or looked down on."

Juri cursed herself as she quickly realized her mistake. Her joke had treaded on Shiori's inferiority complex. While the violet-haired had improved, she was still sensitive to situations where it seemed like she was being pitied or looked down on.

"Shiori, I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I was just joking. I promise, no handicaps."

Her apology had the right affect, as she saw the anger leave her girlfriend's eyes. But then it was replaced by sadness and she averted her gaze. "No, I'm sorry. I did it again. I got upset over something stupid."

To reassure her, Juri took her hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze. "You're entitled to your feelings, Shiori, but yes, you might have overreacted a little. You should know that I would never look down on you."

The violet-haired girl nodded. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm just being an idiot."

Juri gave her hand another squeeze. "But you're doing much better. And what's the phrase? 'Rome wasn't built in day'. You're trying, Shiori. You're working on yourself, and that's what matters. Baby steps."

Shiori just nodded and the matter was dropped. They went back to listening to the Shadow Girls' commentary, and a few minutes later, the first round began.

Juri was in the fifth match, and just as she suspected, her opponent was no match for her. He was a fairly decent duelist and could have been better if he joined the fencing club, but she had still beat him in under thirty seconds.

Shiori had dueled in the eleventh match, facing off against a fellow fencing club member. Two minutes into the duel though, she managed to strike the rose from her opponent's chest and claim victory.

Juri smiled as the violet-haired girl was declared the winner. She'd had faith that she would be. Her opponent was pretty skilled, but Juri knew that Shiori was the better duelist, and her victory proved that.

After the first sixteen matches, there was a ten-minute recess before the second round began for the remaining duelists, once again chosen at random. This time, Juri found herself facing off against another girl from the fencing club. She quickly claimed victory in this match as well, though it did take her a little but longer.

She was a little nervous for Shiori though, as this time she was facing off against a boy from the kendo club. It wasn't that she doubted Shiori's skills, she simply didn't know how skilled the boy was that she was facing, as he'd won his previous match very quickly, so Juri hadn't had time to assess his skills. But it seemed that there was nothing for her to worry about though, as after a fairly even fight, Shiori once again came out in top.

"Juri, I did it!" she cried excitedly as she bounced up and down in front of her. "I made it to the quarter-finals!"

Juri had to fight the urge to kiss her; she just looked so cute with how excited she was. "I knew you could do it, Shiori. I'm very proud of you."

At the end of the eighth match, another ten-minute recess was given before the third to last round would begin. The names of the eight remaining competitors were on display, showing who would be dueling who. Quite frankly, most of the remaining duelists didn't surprise Juri, as they were pretty much who she expected to make it this far.

Really, the only name that surprised her was Nanami's young attendant and self-proclaimed boyfriend/bodyguard/big brother, Mitsuru Tsuwabuki, even though he wasn't her brother and was actually younger than her. Apparently, the tournament didn't have age restrictions for the duelists, and the young boy had surprised Juri by defeating both of his older opponents.

And speaking of Nanami, she too had made it to the quarter-finals. And according to the lineup, she was to be Juri's next opponent in her upcoming match. In fact, she was coming up to her right now, attempting to look intimidating.

Stopping in front of her, she pointed at her in challenge. "Listen up, Arisugawa, you may be captain of the fencing club and be considered the best duelist in school, but I'm going to come at you with everything I've got! So I hope you're ready!"

Behind her, Mitsuru came up to give his support. "Yeah, go, Miss Nanami; I know you can do it!"

Just then a purple-haired girl about Mitsuru's age came up to him. She had been his supporter during his last two matches, offering him water and a towel after each of his victories like the other supporters. Her name was Mari Hozumi, or so Juri thought she had heard the girl get called.

Throwing Nanami a look of jealousy and irritation, the girl, Mari, grabbed Mitsuru's hand and gave it a tug. "Mitsuru, come on, you shouldn't be encouraging her; she's one of your competitors."

The blonde boy looked back at her. "But I have to offer her support."

"Not when she's your competition!" Mari argued loudly.

Nanami turned to them. "You better support me, Mitsuru, otherwise you're fired." She then pointed at Mari. "And why's that girl here anyway?"

The younger girl slapped a hand to her chest. "I'm his supporter, that's why!"

Juri blinked at the bizarre interaction. She looked from the stuck-up, irritated look on Nanami's face to the jealous, possessive look on Mari's face to the torn up, uncertain one on Mitsuru's as he looked back and forth between the two girls, as if he didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, it clicked in Juri's head as to what this was. It seemed that young Mitsuru was caught in a bit of a love triangle where he harbored feelings for both girls, but may not have figured that out yet. And while it was clear that Mari had feelings for Mitsuru and was very obviously jealous of Nanami, she wasn't willing to admit those feelings yet.

As for Nanami, well, Juri never had been sure what she felt for the boy. She was fond of him and cared about him, even if she did treat him like her personal servant, but Juri wasn't sure if Nanami actually saw him as a love interest or not. Most likely not and she merely enjoyed all the attention she got from him and being able to boss him around.

"So young, so naïve," she found herself saying with an amused smile.

Nanami turned back to her, giving Mari the chance to drag Mitsuru off. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Juri replied, still smiling as she secretly wished them all the best in figuring out their little love triangle. "Let's both do our best, Nanami."

The blonde girl's eyebrow twitched irritably. "Yeah, well, like I was saying, I'm coming at you with everything I've got, so you better be ready." She turned away. "That's all I wanted to say."

Then she began to walk away without looking back. Juri just smiled and waved to her retreating form. Shiori stood behind her, looking from Juri to Nanami in confusion. "What was that about?"

Juri turned to her. "Nothing, just Nanami being Nanami."

Shiori gave a slight shrug. "I don't really know her that well, but I'm sure you'll beat her."

At that moment, the bell rang to indicate that the break was over, and the Shadow Girls announced the next match.

"I guess we'll find out," she told Shiori as she made her way into the arena. Nanami entered as well as her three friends/lackies cheered her own, acting as her supporters.

"You do know that even if you beat me that you'll never beat my brother," Nanami insisted. "You may have the reputation as being the best duelist in school, but we all know that my brother is better with a sword that you are. He's going to win this tournament for sure."

Juri just smiled. "I guess we'll find out," she repeated.

It was true though. She did have the reputation of being the best duelist, but she was modest enough to admit that Touga might be able to beat her; he was the one who stood the best chance of doing so. But right now, she had Nanami to worry about. Though younger than her, the blonde girl was a very skilled duelist. She could give Juri trouble is she wasn't careful.

Pulling down their protective masks, they got into starting their positions. A few moments later, they were signaled to begin.

Nanami went on the attack, taking the aggressive approach. Juri had had a feeling; it was in the blonde girl's nature. She maintained her cool as she deflected Nanami's attempts to strike the rose from her chest. She was patient, dodging and blocking against Nanami's attacks, either deciding to let her opponent tire herself out or wait for an opening to appear.

But while Nanami was aggressive, she wasn't careless, making sure that despite her full-on offensive strategy that she didn't leave herself vulnerable. Yet no matter how careful a person was, they could still make mistakes, and she made one soon enough.

She lunged for Juri, jabbing with her sword with both hands. Juri side-stepped her, circling around the blonde girl, but in the process, Nanami tripped over Juri's foot as the orange-haired girl moved out of her path. But Nanami didn't go down without a fight. Twisting her body around, she made a swipe for Juri's rose as she fell. The bold move surprised Juri as Nanami's sweeping sword made a beeline for her rose.

But Juri reacted quickly. Bringing up her sword, she blocked Nanami's sword and, using the angle in which the blonde girl was falling to her advantage, made a circle motion with her own sword, sending Nanami's flying up and out of her hand. She landed on her rear, and a second later, her sword hit the ground a distance away, well out of reach.

Juri stood over Nanami, pointing her sword at her. They stared at each other, neither moving, their masks hiding any expressions they were making, but Juri suspected that the blonde girl was glaring at her. Without a word, Juri pulled back her sword and swiped it through the air. It was a good, clean cut, and the rose on Nanami's chest fell away as Juri's blade sliced through it.

A whistle was blown and Juri was declared the winner. The Shadow Girls immediately started on their commentary for the match as Juri offered Nanami her hand to help her up. However, in typical Nanami fashion, the blonde girl stubbornly slapped her hand away and got to her feet herself. And when she pulled off her mask, her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"Don't get cocky!" she snapped. "You only beat me because I tripped!"

Juri just smiled as she pulled off her own mask. "If you say so, Nanami."

"I do say so!" the blonde girl insisted. "And it doesn't matter, because you're still not going to be able to beat my brother, so there!"

At that moment, Touga chose to appear, coming up behind his sister. "Nanami, don't be a poor sport."

She turned to him, suddenly looking devastated. "But, Big Brother, I know I could have won if I hadn't tripped."

Instead of reprimanding her further, Touga placed a hand on top of her head and lightly patted her. "You did a good job, Nanami. Now you should accept your loss and congratulate your opponent for their victory. That's good sportsmanship."

Nanami just pouted at that. "I don't want to."

"Miss Nanami!" Mitsuru cried, running over to her. "Miss Nanami, are you alright? I'm so sorry you lost."

Nanami's scowl immediately returned as she rounded on him, placing her hands on her hips. "Mitsuru, I don't need you right now. Go away."

The blonde boy's face fell. "But, Miss Nanami– Ow!"

Mari had appeared behind him and had grabbed hold of his ear and was now in the process of pulling him back to his spot. "What did I say about being so friendly with the competition?"

"But, Mari, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

The tournament resumed from there. Shiori was to duel in the next match, and her opponent was none other than Miki. This made Juri nervous for her girlfriend. Miki was a highly-skilled duelist. He ranked behind the other members of the Student Council, but was still very skilled all the same. And while she hated to admit it, she didn't think Shiori stood much of a chance; she just wasn't at Miki's level yet.

It seemed her fears were justified too. While Shiori put up a good fight and managed to hold her own, Miki was just too good for her. He struck the rose from Shiori's chest, eliminating her from the tournament.

But if Shiori had to lose, then Juri was glad that it was to Miki. He was such a kind and caring soul, giving the violet-haired girl an encouraging smile and holding his hand out for her to shake at the end of their duel.

"Hey, good match," he told her. "You've got some really impressive skills."

Shiori returned his smile, though hers was a little sad, as she took his hand and shook it. "Thanks, so do you."

With the match concluded, Shiori walked off to the sidelines, rejoining Juri. While it was clear that she was disappointed, she still plastered a smile on her face. "Well, looks like I lost. Guess I'm out of the tournament."

Juri placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't feel bad. Miki is probably the fourth best duelist in the school. Even I would have struggled against him. You did a great job."

Shiori gave her an appreciative nod. "Well, I did manage to make it to my third match, and I was aiming for at least making it to my second, so there's that." She then gave the orange-haired girl a dedicated look. "But I know that you'll come out on top, Juri. You'll win this thing for sure."

The orange-haired girl just gave her an appreciative smile before returning her attention to the arena as the next match was announced. For this one, it would be Kyouichi facing off against Kozue, who had also entered the tournament. The blue-haired girl looked rather determine, but Kyouichi didn't seem concerned as they pulled on their masks and assumed their starting positions.

Though Juri wasn't really familiar with Kozue's skills, she suspected that she would probably be on par with Miki. She soon saw that she was right, as the blue-haired girl gave her opponent a run for his money. But Kyouichi was the captain of the kendo club for a reason, and he held nothing back as he relentlessly attacked, showing no mercy. Kozue fought with everything she had, but it just wasn't enough, and Kyouichi claimed the victory.

As Miki comforted his sister over her loss, Juri decided that this outcome was for the best. Had Kozue won, there would have been a one-in-three chance that she would have had to have faced off against her brother, and if she had, that would have called the sportsmanship into question. Would one or both of them had held back? Would one have forfeited or thrown the match? And the same would have been true if Nanami had made it this far and ended up having to face her brother.

And speaking of Touga, his match against Mitsuru was to be the final match of the quarter-finals. It really wasn't a fair matchup due to the ten-year old's much younger age and the gap in their skill level, but the lineup had been decided at random. But in a way, Juri could see the irony in this matchup from Mitsuru's insistence that he wanted to be a protective big brother figure to Nanami. Now he had to face-off against the blonde girl's actual brother.

The younger boy certainly came across as confident though, facing the Student Council President without a trace of fear as he pointed his sword at him threateningly. "I'm not going to lose to you, Touga Kiryuu! I'll beat you and show that I'm just as capable of being Miss Nanami's big brother and protecting her as you!"

Juri would have rolled her eyes if the boy's determination weren't kind of cute and admirable. Curious, she glanced at Nanami to see her reaction. To no surprise, she saw the blonde girl cross her arms and turn her nose up at Mitsuru's declaration, but also saw her watching with mild interest, as if she were assessing how well her self- proclaimed boyfriend/bodyguard/big brother would fare against her actual brother.

"You can't be her big brother; you're younger than her!" Mari called to Mitsuru from the sidelines.

As for Touga, it was clear that he was humoring the boy, though not in a condescending or mocking way, clearly not seeing him as a challenge, to which Juri agreed.

"Very well then, young Mitsuru," he replied to the boy's challenge. "Show me how well you can protect my sister."

"Oh, I will," Mitsuru insisted heatedly. "And you better not hold back on me just because I'm younger than you."

Touga just smiled. "Of course. I would never dream of dishonoring you by not taking you seriously."

Despite Mitsuru's confidence, Juri knew that he didn't stand a chance against Touga, and that was proven to be true when the match ended up being the shortest one of the tournament thus far. The moment they were signaled to begin, Mitsuru recklessly charged at Touga, who calmly held his ground. He dodged at the last second though as Mitsuru stabbed for his rose. At the same time, he swung his own sword, and flower petals went flying as Mitsuru's rose was struck from his chest.

It was the expected outcome, but it was clearly devastating for Mitsuru though, who dropped to his knees in defeat, looking shocked that he had not only lost, but had lost so quickly. To his credit though, rather than relishing in his easy victory or showing indifference, Touga gave the boy words of encouragement.

"Get up," he told him with no traces of being condescending in his voice. "Don't let it get you down. Instead, dust yourself off, learn from this experience, then better yourself and rise above it. If you truly wish to act as a big brother to my sister, then I'll expect the very best from you. So, show me you can do it."

Mitsuru looked up at him in surprise, as if he had expected to be ridiculed, not encouraged. Juri watched the interaction with an analytic eye. This was the problem when it came to Touga. He was an expert at reading people and a master manipulator. He always knew the exact right thing to say at the exact right time in the exact right way to get people to do what he wanted. Well, most of the time anyway.

The issue was that his tactics tended to blend perfectly with when he was being sincere, so much so that he himself didn't seem to know how to act when he was trying to be sincere and when he was being manipulative. And many times, he was being sincere, it was just almost completely indistinguishable from when he wasn't, making it almost possible to tell if he was being genuine or not.

Granted, he did see to become far less manipulative and a lot more sincere since the Dueling Game had ended, but it was still difficult to tell. Most of the time, like now, when there was nothing in it for him, it was a good indicator as to when he was being sincere, but any time something could be to his benefit, it was almost impossible to tell, often leading to people trusting him no matter what or distrusting him no matter what, usually the former due to how charming and charismatic he was.

Nanami, however, clearly didn't inherit his talent and always wore her emotions on her sleeve, even when she tried to hide them, making it abundantly clear when she was trying to be manipulative. That was made apparent right now as she made her way over to Mitsuru with a smug smirk on her face. Placing one hand on her hip, she pointed a finger in the boy's face. "Ha! You've got a long way to go if you ever want to be at my big brother's level."

"Nanami…" Touga growled in warning.

"Stop it!" Mari snapped as she rushed over and dropped to Mitsuru's side, latching onto his arm. "You have no right to treat him like that! Why are you so mean?"

Nanami just crossed her arms and harrumphed. "I'm just saying that if he wants to prove that he's worthy enough to say that he can be my bodyguard, then he's going to have to work hard. So, show me you can do better, Mitsuru. I expect great things from you."

Juri raised an eyebrow at this. If the problem with Touga was that it was difficult to figure out when he was being manipulative and when he was being sincere, then the problem with Nanami was that she herself didn't always seem to know what she was feeling or what she wanted. As such, she often exhibited a mix of different signals that confused people into what she was feeling.

Like now with her words to Mitsuru. Were they meant to be mocking and condescending, or encouraging and supportive? They could be viewed as constructive criticism trying to push him into being better rather than wallow in his inadequacy, but her delivery and tone had been somewhat nasty. So, was she disappointed in him, or did she see his potential and wanted him to reach it by trying to motivate him? Was she trying to make fun of him, or legitimately trying to make him want to do better?

It seemed that Nanami herself wasn't even sure of her own intentions and feelings, and so she sent out mixed signals, as if she was delivering both variations since she herself didn't even seem to know what she wanted. More often than not, she just came across as being nasty unless you knew her and could read between the lines.

Perhaps it was due to bias, but Mitsuru seemed to decide that her words were meant to encourage him, because he gave her a nod and picked himself up. "Yes, Mis Nanami. I promise to do my best to prove that I'm a man worthy of you."

The blonde girl just harrumphed again. "Be sure that you do. I have no use for a pathetic brat who can't even handle a sword."

With that, she turned around and stormed back to her place on the sidelines. Mitsuru watched her go, looking inspired, while Mari just stuck her tongue out at Nanami's retreating form and pulled down her eyelid.

At that moment, one of the Shadow Girls cleared her throat. "Um, as inspiring as all that was, would you mind moving out of the arena so we can prepare for the next match."

Suddenly realizing that they had indeed been standing in the dueling arena throughout the whole interaction, both Mitsuru and Mari blushed. Touga didn't seem bothered by it though as he nonchalantly walked over to his spot on the sidelines. Mitsuru returned to his spot as well with Mari still clinging to his arm possessively, refusing to let go. Juri just smiled and shook her head, deciding that the two of them would make a cute couple.

And so the quarter-finals led into the semi-finals. With only Juri, Miki, Touga, and Kyouichi remaining, it looked like it would indeed come down to a member of the Student Council who would be winning the tournament. And after another short recess, the final lineup was decided. And the results were that Juri would face Miki in the first match, followed by Touga facing Kyouichi in the second. The winners of both upcoming duels would face each other in the final round.

Kyouichi smirked, letting out a small chuckle. "How poetically ironic that it would come down to the four of us. I mean, naturally it would since we are the best duelists in school, and had that interloper never gotten in the way and taken the Rose Bride, we would have had to fight each other back in the Dueling Game."

"Yeah, he's right about that," Miki noted. He glanced at Juri, giving her a smile. "It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. It's almost like this will show us what would have happened had that person never entered the game. What was their name again?"

"Utena Tenjou," Touga immediately replied.

Miki snapped his fingers. "Yes, that was it! It's so strange how she keeps fading from our memories the way she does."

As the only one of them who never forgot about her, Touga's gaze seemed to become far away, a longing look appearing on his face. "Yes, strange…"

The matter was dropped after that as they waited for the recess to end. When it did, the Shadow Girls announced that it was time for the semi-finals to begin.

"And now," the first Shadow Girl exclaimed, "kicking things off to see who's going to the finals, we have Juri versus Miki!"

Sighing in resignation, the blue-haired boy gave his opponent a smile. "Guess this is it."

She returned the smile and nodded. "Come on, let's give them a show."

They took their places in the dueling arena. This was, perhaps, the duel she had been looking forward to the most. After Shiori, Miki was her best friend, and she was eager for some friendly competition between them.

"I'm not going to hold back," he told her.

Her smile widened behind her mask. "I'd be insulted in you did."

They received the signal to begin, and they both charged at each other. Juri attempted to end the duel quickly and made a strike for Miki's rose right away, but he was too good for that, catching her blade with his and holding her back. They pushed against each other, neither budging, then leapt apart. They immediately rushed back together though and their swords began clanging together.

Their swords continued to meet, keeping their opponent just out of range from striking their rose, neither letting the other gain any ground. Now that she saw first-hand just how good Miki was when he went all out, Juri could confirm that he was indeed one of the most skilled duelists she had ever faced.

"I'm impressed," she said as she blocked and swiped. "I knew you were good, but you're even better than I expected."

"I could say the same for you," he replied with a smile, the two of them having fun with the competition. "You've certainly earned your reputation. But is it good enough to beat me?"

He punctuated his question with a forward step and a wide swipe, going for Juri's rose. She leapt back, avoiding the swinging blade, but then charged forward. She dropped down, allowing her momentum to slide her between his legs. As he turned around, she jumped to her feet and made a jab for his rose. He anticipated this though and caught her blade with his.

This time he jumped back and made another attempt to wide-swipe her rose. Juri twisted her body, narrowly avoiding losing her rose, then went for his again. But once more, Miki caught her blade. She used that to her advantage though by pushing against it and flipping over his head. When she landed, she spun around, ready to go for Miki's rose when he turned around, only to have him land out of her range.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Juri nodded her approval. He gave her a nod in return before they came together again, their swords clashing once more. Juri was aware of the cheering and rooting for both of them from the spectators, not to mention the commentary and narration from the Shadow Girls, but she drowned it out as she focused on the duel.

Finally, at the same time, they both leapt away from each other. The moment their feet it the ground though, they jumped towards each other again. Unleashing battle cries, they both aimed for the other's rose.

Miki missed, Juri didn't. They both skidded to a halt after having made their strike. Miki must have detected that hers was successful, for he looked down at his chest just in time to see his rose fall apart.

Applause broke out as Juri was declared the winner. She and Miki turned to face each other and bowed respectfully. Reaching up, Miki removed his mask before wiping his arm across his sweaty forehead and flashing Juri a smile.

"Nice move," he told her, not looking the least bit upset that he lost. "You got me at the last second there."

Juri pulled her own mask off and pushed back her hair. "Hey, you got close. A few centimeters closer and it would have been a draw."

Miki chuckled. "I'll remember to adjust my angle next time."

He offered her his hand, and she smiled as she stepped forward to take it. "And I'll remember to dodge your attempt."

They departed for their spots on the sidelines as the Shadow Girls went into deep detail over the results of the duel. As Juri returned to her spot, Shiori was waiting for her, looking giddy as she practically bounced on the balls of her feet.

"That was amazing, Juri!" she exclaimed. Grabbing the orange-haired girl's arm, she practically shook her. "Such a good match! I knew you could do it though!"

Juri couldn't hide her smile. Seeing Shiori so joyful and enthusiastic made her heart swell. It seemed her girlfriend really enjoyed watching her go all out. The thought made her feel light on her feet, and she had to resist the urge to kiss her.

"It was close," she admitted, "but I'm in this to win it." She looked back at the arena. "And there's still one more duel to go."

Shiori turned her attention back to the arena as well. For the final match in the semi-finals, it was Touga against Kyouichi. This would make for a very interesting duel between two very skilled duelists. Not only were they best friends, but they were also fierce rivals that would occasionally passive aggressively find each other at each other's throats. This particular duel was, in fact, a long time in coming. Yes, it would make for a most interesting match indeed.

"I've been looking forward to this for quite a while," Kyouichi told him. "I'm going to enjoy knocking you down a few pegs."

Touga just chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you will." He put on his mask and pointed his sword at him. "If you can actually beat me that is."

Everyone waited with baited breath for the match to start, and when they received the signal to begin, they both immediately went on the offense.

It was easily the best duel of the tournament thus far, and definitely the longest, lasting for several minutes. Both Touga and Kyouichi went all out with everything they had, neither holding anything back. There were several close calls on both sides, and a few times it seemed as if one of them had struck their opponent's rose, only for the flower to reveal that it was still intact.

But eventually the duel did come to an end, and it was Touga who stood as the victor. While Kyouichi had stood a decent chance of winning, this was the outcome Juri had expected. Somehow, since the tournament first started, she'd had a feeling that it would come down to her and Touga in the end.

It was clear that the green-haired boy was not happy about his loss, as he brushed off Touga's attempt to shake hands after the match. "Don't think this means anything. I still plan to beat you one day."

Touga, however, chose to ignore the hostility in his friend's voice. "If you say so," he nonchalantly replied.

Looking frustrated, Kyouichi harrumphed and turned his back to him. "Make sure you win."

Touga nodded, even though the green-haired boy's back was turned. "I intend to."

He then looked over at Juri, his eyes full of challenge. The orange-haired girl's eyes narrowed as she gave him her own challenging look. Next to her, she felt Shiori's hand slip into hers and give it an encouraging squeeze. Juri gave her a grateful smile, and Shiori returned it with an affectionate one of her own.

A short recess later and it was time for the final match of the tournament. The Shadow Girls began recapping what had occurred throughout the tournament so far as Juri and Touga took their places in the arena. This would be the deciding match that would settle once and for all which one of them was the better duelist.

"Good luck to you," Touga told her.

"And you as well," Juri replied. "Give me a good duel."

A moment later, they received the signal to begin. Unlike in previous matches though, neither Juri nor Touga came at each other. Rather, they held their ground as they felt out their opponent. But slowly, they began to approach each other, taking small steps. They inched closer until the ends of their swords touched, waiting to see what the other would do.

Touga lightly tapped Juri's blade with his own, trying to get a reaction out of her. She did the same to him, but they both held their positions. Then Juri took a few steps forward, causing Touga to back away before he mimicked her, causing her to retreat a few steps, their swords maintaining contact.

They were both being cautious, neither putting on much of a show, and the observers watched with great anticipation. And then, as if they had received an invisible sign, they both swung their swords at each other. Their blades bounced off each other, but they lashed out again, both going on the attack. Thrust, swipe, parry, dodge, they performed a series of different moves designed to either strike their opponent's rose or protect their own, both giving and gaining ground.

Touga pushed onward, causing Juri to retreat as she deflected his blade, backing away from his advancement. She caught his blade as he brought his down, struggling against it for a few moments before pulling back. She then quickly attacked, and Touga took a step back. Then she was the one advancing on him while he was on the defense.

It didn't last long though as he dodged one of her stabs and lunged at her. She maneuvered out of the way and aimed for his rose as he turned to her, but he knocked her sword away. He swiped at her and she jumped back, then she swiped at him and he was the one jumping back. Immediately though, he leapt at her again, jumping high in the air and bringing his sword down.

Juri brought up her sword, catching his blade, but was forced to take a knee to hold him off. He bore his weight down on her and her arms caved a bit as she tried to keep him at bay. But then he let the length of his blade slide down along hers until it reached the hilt, and with a fancy circular motion, he sent her sword flying out of her hand.

She was defenseless, her sword landing a short distance away. With her unarmed, Touga made a swipe for her rose, but she somersaulted backwards and leapt to her feet. Touga went on the attack, swiping and stabbing at her rose, but she continued to maneuver around him. He made sure to keep himself between him and her sword so she couldn't recover it.

It was just as she suspected. Touga was too good. If she didn't end this soon, he might very well beat her. If this were a normal fencing match, he might have already. But in this tournament, hits to the body meant nothing; he had to specifically strike the rose from her chest in order to win.

Which gave her an idea. If only she could get to her sword. But he wasn't going to allow that, not unless she traded an opening for him in exchange for a chance to get to her sword. And so she did just that, making as if to try and get around him while leaving her rose exposed; shielding it was against the rules.

Whether he knew what she was doing or not, he took the bait, making a stab for her rose. She turned at the last moment and grabbed his arm, swinging herself beneath it and moving past him. She then made a rush for her sword, lunging for it and turning her leap into a somersault, snatching up her sword as she used her roll to quickly jump to her feet.

She turned to find Touga coming at her and put her plan into action. She turned her body away to avoid his stab and then jumped back. She immediately jumped forward again though, providing him with a perfect opportunity to strike her rose, and he swiped at it as he turned to her.

But as she leapt forward, she turned her leap into a cartwheel. As she pushed off the ground with her hands, she felt Touga's blade slice across her midsection, but was unharmed thanks to her padding. Had she been upright, his sword would have sliced across her rose, eliminating her, but instead he only struck her stomach, which meant nothing in this tournament.

As her hands left the ground as she finished her cartwheel, she swiped her own sword, aiming for his rose. She ended her cartwheel in a crouching position as Touga stood frozen above her. Flower petals dropped to the ground as his rose fell apart, signaling the end of the match.

No one moved, no one spoke. All across the school, the spectators simply looked on in stunned silence. It had all happened so fast that it had been very easy to miss. But then the silence was finally broken by one of the Shadow Girls.

"Touga's rose has been struck. Touga Kiryuu has lost the duel. That means that the winner of the tournament is Juri Arisugawa!"

Her declaration seemed to break the spell. Cheers erupted from the spectators, including all the students watching the broadcast throughout the school. The only ones who weren't cheering were Nanami and her cronies, who were looking on in shock and disbelief.

"But… that's not possible," the blonde girl exclaimed. "No one can defeat Big Brother. She must have cheated!"

"No one cheated, Nanami," Miki told her. "You saw the same match that we did."

"But Big Brother got her across the stomach before she got his rose. In real life that would have been a killing blow, so he should have won."

"That doesn't matter," Kyouichi explained. "The rules are that in order to win, you need to make your opponent lose their rose, and that's what she did."

"But that's not fair!"

But despite the blonde girl's protests, it seemed that even Touga agreed with the results. Removing his mask, he turned to Juri and gave her a humbled smile. "Very nicely done, Juri. It seems you have truly lived up to your reputation after all."

He held his hand out to her. Juri pulled off her own mask and returned his smile as she shook his hand. "Well, you certainly made me work for it."

He chuckled. "Guess this means if Utena Tenjou hadn't gotten involved in the Dueling Game that you would have won." Leaning in, he lowered his voice. "Just between us though, even though that whole thing was just a scam by End Of The World, I think you're probably the one most worthy of us to inherit the power of Dios."

She raised an eyebrow at that, wondering if he was just trying to come across as charming, but in the end decided to just take the compliment. "Thanks, but as it turns out, I don't need the power to perform miracles. I can already obtain what I want with my own hands."

"Juri!"

Her smile widened as she glanced at the person who had called her name and saw Shiori running towards her, looking ecstatic. Dropping Touga's hand, she turned and took a few steps towards the violet-haired girl before Shiori leapt at her, arms outstretched. Juri caught her, twirling them around as Shiori laughed joyfully, her arms around Juri's neck as she hugged her tightly.

"You won! You won!" Shiori shouted. "I knew you would!"

Juri chuckled as she set the violet-haired girl down. "You knew it, huh? Well then, you had more faith than me."

Then, before anything could happen, and much to Juri's surprise, Shiori grasped her face and kissed her. A full-on kiss, right on the lips, right in front of everyone. Juri's eyes went wide in shock, not expecting this. And it seemed that no one else had either, as the cheering and applause died down to become stunned silence.

The kiss, it seemed, had been unintentional on Shiori's part, for when it ended several seconds later, the smile on the violet-haired girl's face faded and she looked surprised by her own actions. It appeared that after having gotten hyped up from the duel and then overjoyed at Juri's victory, Shiori had gotten caught up in the moment and kissed her without realizing what she was doing.

She realized it now though. Juri could read it on her face as the implications of what she had done registered to Shiori. She had just kissed Juri in front of all these people. And not just them either, for the tournament was still being broadcast to the entire school. Meaning that all of Ohtori Academy had just seen Shiori kiss her, and that fact was beginning to settle in.

Slowly, Shiori turned to look at all the spectators. Juri glanced at them too, seeing all the stunned looks on everyone's faces as they stared at the two of them. She then looked back at Shiori as the violet-haired girl turned back to her, now looking uneasy.

"Oops."

(A/N: Oh boy, this took an unexpected turn. After a nice, lengthy chapter of various duels, sorry if that's not what you're into, we had that unexpected ending. I'm sure we've all gotten caught up in the moment before and done things without thinking, and it looks like that happened with Shiori. So much for keeping their relationship a secret. Now the entire school knows what's going on between them. How is that going to affect things? Stay tuned to find out.)