Chapter 26:

After he'd stepped out onto the deck, Blake embraced the cool breeze that blew over him. The awkward tension in his group had become too much for him, so here he was. If this was going to continue, then maybe he should just let them be. It obviously wasn't working the way it was right now. Hell, they'd even gotten looks from the other students, although that could also be attributed to their sudden inclusion of Dimitri. If Bastion wanted to deal with them, he'd let him.

He leaned against the railing and watched how Duel Academy slowly came into view. 'There's enough shit going down soon enough, I don't have time for dealing with the girls-' Blake thought to himself when a sudden headache had him supporting himself to remain upright. 'What … the … fuck …'

A scene flashed before his mind's eye. The sea replaced by searing flames; its crackling sound accompanied by the thundering headache that worsened even more and had him panting for air. In midst of the bright light the fire gave off, he saw how Titan and Panik got swallowed up by the darkness, accompanied by sickening crunches the further they descended into it.

'Snap out of it.'

The deep growl ripped Blake's thoughts away from the scene and back to the ship he's standing on. He took a deep breath when he noticed a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. When he raised his shacking arm to wipe his forehead, he couldn't help but sigh. 'So, this shit really is bound to the island, but what is it?' He could almost feel the words coming together, but the aftermath of the headache stopped that from getting anywhere. It frustrated him to no ends that he was so close to something he felt like he should know anyway. But whatever that something was fucked up his mind.

"A-are you okay?" A high-pitched and concerned voice came from his side, prompting him to turn towards it. The stood a person around the height of Syrus, give or take, wearing a Slifer Red uniform with a comically large hat. "S-should I get someone for you?" the person continued shily, struggling to have their voice sound deeper than it really was.

'Wait a second; small, large hat, high-pitched voice?' "I'm fine, just the breakfast talking." He lied and leaned down to see if his suspicions were correct. The face that greeted him had large eyes and a distinct touch of femininity to it. If he didn't know any better, he'd take the one in front of him for a short but pretty boy. But he did in fact know better. "Aren't you a little short for attending Duel Academy?"

"N-no-" she stammered, then coughed to mask her voice before trying to sound deeper again. "I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet."

"That so?" Blake smirked. "Who're you anyway? I haven't seen you around all year."

"Me? I, uh … well, a short gi-, boy, like me gets overlooked pretty easily, you know?" She stammered. "Especially in Slifer Red."

It took him everything he had not to burst out laughing, but he swallowed his remark on that for now. "And your name is …?"

"Blair!" She shouted a bit too loudly and coughed again. "Eh, my name's Blair. Blair Flannigan."

'Well, at least this didn't change. But now that I already have her here …' "Cool. I'm Blake Moore. Say, are you interested in watching the Kaiser duel?"

"The Kaiser?" She tilted her head in confusion.

'Oh, come on, at least try.' "You know, Zane Truesdale, the strongest duelist in the academy." He responded before adding. "Allegedly." This had the intended effect of Blair's eyes going wide and her demeanour giddy.

"Yes! Can you show me?"

"No problem, since I'm the one who's got a match set with him." That was another lie, but he doubted Zane would refuse. If his senior didn't duel Jaden while he was gone, he doubted he got any duel to begin with. With the fact that he's supposed to leave for America soon, a few rounds of training should be appealing enough, and it's not like he could refuse any entourage.

Blair narrowed her eyes at that. "Are you sure you're up for that? Aren't you just a Ra … first year?" She questioned with a look at his uniform.

"It's neither the first nor the last time I'll duel him." He said laid back against the railing. "Shouldn't you know the second-best duelist, allegedly, in the academy? We've got pretty much a fifty-fifty ratio with each other."

"Ha, no way." She waved him off, suddenly way brasher. "There's no way Zane loses to anyone."

'Oh, you sweet, sweet summer child. You have no idea …'

Blake and Zane both watched as Blair and Jaden, who'd overheard them talking about a duel with Zane as they'd gotten off the ferry, dueled. Jaden's group plus Alexis were also around, but a bit off to the side. While Blair was busy presenting herself and her feelings towards the onlooking Zane, Jaden took it easy and tried out some new cards.

'Otherwise, the duel would've been over by now, unless he bricked hard enough that the cards he played were his best choices …' Blake thought to himself. They were several turns in by now and no Fusion in sight, but Jaden never drew bad. He had to be holding back, didn't he?

"She certainly has the energy for becoming a great duelist." Zane mused at his side. "Her strategy, however …"

There was no sugarcoating the atrocious cards Blair was using, but then again, she'd explicitly stated that she made this deck for the purpose of showing her "Maiden's Love" to Zane on their way here. The fact that she had a second deck box gave Blake a bit of hope that she had a better deck than this.

"You gotta give it to her though; she's pressuring Jaden. No idea how, but she does." Blake chuckled at the sight.

"By the way; the exhibition match between our Central Academy and North Academy is due this Friday and the Chancellor wants our input on who's supposed to represent us." Zane changed the topic, although his eyes remained on the duel. "Apparently they're sending over a first-year student, so Sheppard wants to respond in kind."

'Right, there was that. But Chazz never left the academy to go to the North … who are they sending?' "That so? Were any candidates voiced already?"

"The votes are rather mixed. Currently, Bastion and Jaden are the most supported. Professor Banner asked why we didn't just have you do it, being our titled Jack and thus strongest first-year duelist, but Sheppard shot that down quickly." Zane side-eyed him, perhaps watching out for any reaction on his part. He didn't get any. "With your promotion match coming up this weekend, he didn't want to put too much stress onto you."

'Yeah, I'm sure that's his reason. Not him being scared of any potential backlash if it would come to light what I do in my free time.' Blake snorted at the thought. "Good, don't need that to be honest. I'm all for supporting Jaden, but I believe Bastion would be a great representative as well. I think he's made progress on his new deck since he dueled Chazz." 'And the card I gave him earlier surely helps too. A shame I couldn't use it in my deck.' "Speaking of Chazz, shouldn't he be up there with them as well?"

"On that I agree, and while I doubt Chazz wouldn't want to, ever since he's messing around with Jaden earlier this year his reputation has fallen off. Even with Crowler." Zane explained. "I'll make sure to voice your opinion in the matter, unless you want to join the meeting this afternoon?"

"No thanks. Apparently, I must focus on my taxing promotion match and don't have time for that." Blake waved him off in response and watched as Jaden ended his duel with Blair, the shockwave from his finishing move causing her hat to fly off. "Do you think Jaden is the only one who didn't recognize her being a girl?"

"I wouldn't put it past him. While he's a great duelist, I'm afraid he's a bit … slow on the uptake outside of a duel." Zane answered with a slight smirk. "Or would dense be the better word?"

"I'm sure Doctor Crowler would have a wide assortment of words to use for him." Blake added and they shared a short chuckle before Zane made his way over to the two.

'But really; without Chazz the duel between the academies is about as relevant as Chumley. Whoever they're gonna send will get stomped by any of our guys.' Blake crossed his arms as he tried to brainstorm any name that he could potentially link to North Academy. When none came to him, he decided to follow Zane to witness the end of his talk with Blair.

"- but since I'm too young, I'm going to miss this last year you have in this academy! And by only one measly year at that! I couldn't wait and hope for you to visit the academy the next three years!" Blair exclaimed with a fire in her eyes. So much so that she was surprised by her behaviour herself and immediately ducked away shyly.

'Aren't you supposed to be way too young for the academy? Like, ten years old? Then again, what do I care.' Blake mused and simply accepted that change. It's not like it mattered much, other than making her attending the academy next year more sensible.

"While I'm both honoured by your affection and understanding of your reasons, I'm afraid I'll have to decline your feelings." Zane responded evenly, which earned him a glare from Alexis that all but screamed "Couldn't you've said that nicer?!". Having noticed the look, Zane paddled back a bit. "With my upcoming visit to the American branch and pro-career afterwards to think off, romance simply isn't on the table right now." That seemed to pacify Alexis enough, so she turned to consoling Blair.

A few moments later, she didn't look any worse for wear, even after being told that they'd have to get her back to the docks before the ferry departed. "That's alright, Zane. I cannot help but admire you and your dueling, but I guess I'll have to look forward." Her eyes turned to Jaden and Blake. "Say, have you dueled those two a swell?"

Zane followed her gaze and chuckled. "I have. And while you lost to Jaden, like he lost to me, I believe he's going to be an even greater duelist in the future. While Jaden is still developing, I believe Blake could've skipped this school without being any worse off. He's my equal."

Blair hummed to herself at that, not taking her eyes off the two until it was time to send her back before the ferry left.

"Care to explain to me again exactly why I should care about any of this?" Kami asked with an annoyed tone as she tapped her fingers on the desk in front of her. "Not only do I have nothing to gain from this, quite the opposite, but you're also a massive downgrade. Both in terms of skill and looks." She added that last part out of pure malice.

In front of her stood the unremarkable Obelisk Blue student who'd been pestering her ever since the year started and who'd be going up against Blake in his promotion match. Lousy grades, lousy looks, and a horrible win-loss record against the one he'd spoken out on wanting to defeat. She'd taken him in as one of her supporters early on, both to fill her ranks and to make use of the single relevant thing he brought to the table. That being that his father worked for Industrial Illusions.

And even that didn't pay off for her in the slightest. Not only did she not receive much if any information about upcoming products and events beforehand, her plan of using this connection turned out to have been doomed from the start. In hindsight it wasn't surprising at all. A mediocre duelist being the son of a mediocre card designer who had exactly one good run and had fallen off immediately afterwards.

The boys' shoulders slumped at her words, but he shook his heads and looked at her with determination nonetheless. "Because it's your best chance to cut ties with that Ra loser before things get out of control! You must've heard the rumours going around ever since break ended, that guy will just hurt your reputation!"

Of course, she'd heard. She'd eyes and ears everywhere. And while she was aware that half of the rumours concerning her dear Hound were in fact true, the other half was news to her. Until her sources approved or denied their truth, however, throwing away a useful ally such as him was not up for debate. Although she'd have to adjust her plans going forward regardless. Whether true or not, these rumours hurt his image, and depending into which direction she wanted to take their partnership …

"Naturally, who do you take me for?" She rolled her eyes. "But they're just that, rumours. Putting that aside; exactly how do you think you're going to beat Blake? You have an impressive 0 to 20 wins against him. And while I'll admit that you came close to winning once, that's just it. You almost did it. Once." She emphasized every stab and couldn't help but smirk at him wilting in front of her with every one of them.

Yet again, somehow this guy got enough confidence to stand up against her. She wondered where it came from. "Because this time won't be like last time … or any of those times before." He boasted, clapping against his chest as he did. "My new deck will be the end of him. He's duelled enough times that everyone knows what cards he's playing. Combine that with my awesome new cards and he'll be the one playing around me, not the other way around." Then he added with a devious but nervous smirk. "Plus, I have a secret weapon."

'Yeah, sure. And Seto Kaiba will be handing out Christmas gifts in the mall.' Kami thought at the proclamation. While she didn't know what he meant with 'secret weapon', she didn't really care either. Unless he pulled a King of Games and somehow pulled out a Exodia the Forbidden, she saw no chances for him winning. Especially not when Blake was dueling the Kaiser on the regular and held a comfortable 50-50 win rate against him.

But she could still watch how this guy embarrassed himself in front of the whole school in an attempt to garner her interest. Neither was he the first one, nor would he be the last. Yet he was one of those annoying and slimy enough to be at the absolute end of the list of boys the Obelisk girls made, together with the Kaisers younger brother. She's sure the others would enjoy seeing him getting folded in public in his upcoming match. Then he'd be far away from their dorm. "Let's assume that you're right about being able to beat him," she began and rolled her wrist towards him. "He's still the titled Jack and my key to becoming Queen. I don't see what's your worth is in that endeavour."

"Hah! If he loses to me openly like that, there's no way he'll keep the title. Especially if you add in the rumours; he'll be out of his job before he knew what hit him." He leaned forward and put his hands on the table. "And just like that, I'll be the new Jack! Then I can get you your title and you won't need to pay that guy for working for you anymore. I'll do that for free."

'Yeah, I'm sure "free" is the word for what you actually want. Disgusting.' She leaned back in her chair, not wanting to have him that close to herself. He was a very vocal supporter of her, but also one who couldn't hide his stares. The audacity to think he'd ever get to touch or even see her in anything but her uniform. Perhaps she should have Blake beat him around a bit after their duel? "And why do you think he won't retaliate? Just because you might get lucky winning once doesn't mean you get the title. Nor that he'll let you hold onto it even if you got it."

He simply waved her off. "Pah, he won't. His friends are already turning away from him, and once he's lost his promotion match, his title, and his support from you, there's no way he'll be able to come back. If he gets to remain in the academy at all. I'm sure Doctor Crowler will make sure that he'll be gone once the rumours get too heated."

Kami adopted a thinking pose and put one of her legs over the other. There's no way that would happen, since Crowler was on her payroll, thanks to Blake's help nonetheless. While she wouldn't argue that the Doctor would want him gone, she didn't think that he alone could cause an expulsion. And if her intel was correct, both Professor Fontaine and Chancellor Sheppard should know about Blake's past already. The public pressure, and potentially those of the other students' parents, could make all the difference, however.

"I'm sure he will, Shinji." She'd let this idiot crash and burn, then cut him loose from everything he had. There was no point on keeping around a worthless supporter if he brought nothing to the table, and there was no way he'd make it back up to Obelisk Blue if he lost. "You only have to make absolutely sure you win, alright? Maybe I'll even reward you." She added in a sultry tone. Let him make a fool of himself, like dozens before him.

"Ah, that's life." Jaden sighed, stretching his muscles. After it'd been announced that he and Bastion were contenders for representing the academy in the duel against North Academy, he'd already been in a good mood. Once he won against Bastion in a tight match – those new Zombie and anti-Fusion cards of his sure gave him some trouble – he couldn't wait to duel the student the other academy would send. Apparently, that branch worked completely different, and they'd be sending their strongest duelist. He didn't question why a first-year was representing Central Academy, but then it'd make sense if the North send one as well. And that had him pumped even more.

What did the exact opposite was almost everyone trying to tell him what to do, how to play, adjust his deck, and so on. While he appreciated the sentiment, he wouldn't be the one dueling if he didn't know what he's doing. Only after his buddy Blake had shut them down by saying that he'd "mop the floor with whoever the North sends" they'd calmed down. Or gotten scared, in Syrus' case. They'd talked about how that isn't a good response to have to a friend, but Syrus just shook his head or stared at him with wide eyes every time. While he thought that Blake words were a bit mean without knowing who he's going to duel, it did get him some space.

He'd no idea what Syrus' problem was. Then again, Blake wasn't the most approachable person and had given his smaller friend quite the talk. Speaking of Blake, he should really duel him again once he's promoted. He'd wanted to before that, but seeing as how his friend was in a bad mood, he'd held onto that. There was something going on with the whole Ra group, yet none of them said anything about it. Well, he'd ask about that once they're celebrating Blake's promotion, if that wouldn't fix it in the first place.

For now, he'd enjoy the breeze he's getting on one of the roofs of the central building. He'd have another hour or two until the big duel, and this was just the right way to prepare himself for that.

'Wooooo'

Jaden opened his eyes and smiled at the form of Winged Kuriboh bouncing on and about. "Hey there, little buddy. What's gotten you so excited?"

The spirit cooed some more, and while Jaden couldn't understand whatever he's trying to say, it sounded like he made a new friend. "That sounds great, buddy. Where'd you find them? I thought that Blake's spirit didn't like you."

Winged Kuriboh shuddered at that, but then he puffed himself out and jumped up and down again. "Someone new? Huh. I guess the island is big enough to miss one another after all."

Jaden stretched himself and got up in a sitting position. "Where've you found that new friends of yours anyway?"

When the spirit pointed towards the docks, Jaden couldn't help but beam in excitement. "Wait, so that north duelist brought a spirit with them? That's so cool!"

Just when he wanted to asked what the spirit and its duelist looked like, another form hopped over him and near his little buddy. It looked like a cat, but with purplish fur and big red eyes. The most eye-catching part was its tail, though, as it held a large red orb. The two spirits greeted each other, then Winged Kuriboh pointed at the newcomer.

"Wow. I've never seen a monster like that before." Jaden wondered as he tried to find out what card that spirit was based on.

"Well, that doesn't surprise me." A voice came from the stairs leading up to the roof. "If what I've been told is correct, I'm the only one owning it."

Jaden turned his head, looking for who said that. Standing and catching the cat-like spirit in his arms was a boy around his height, with equally puffy but teal-coloured hair. His outfit consisted of a blue above-waist-length jacket with dark blue outlines over a lavender shirt with frilled cuffs on his sleeves. Other than that, he wore a black academy pants and academy issued duel disk.

"Really? Man, that sounds cool. We gotta duel sometime!" Jaden exclaimed and got up, Winged Kuriboh bouncing happily after him. "But I think that'll have to wait until the school duel's over. Can't imagine the others yelling at me to duel right before that."

The other boy laughed at that. "Sounds like you've some concerned friend to me. So, you are the one representing Central Academy?"

"Yep, that's me." Jaden laughed and held out his hands. "Name's Jaden Yuki, nice to meet you."

"Same here." The other boy shook his hand. "My name is-"

Back with a shorter chapter. I'm afraid what's coming up got most of my attention atm, so I laid the groundworks here. We got a short appearance of Blair here, but due to her running into Blake the situation was resolved without trespassing anywhere. Next chapter will be the academy duel between Jaden and the mysterious teal-haired boy. I wonder who he could be.

Going over the reviews, I see that the implications of last chapter got around more or less. Safe to say, that topic will come up soon again and that the split in the group was necessary for what's to come. I understand that it wasn't the most interesting and potentially infuriating to read, though. And hello to my fellow binge reader, happy to have you around, sorry for holding out on a new chapter for so long ~

We're approaching one of the big points I had when I came up with this story, and it'll be a hit or miss, honestly. But I wanted to do things differently from what I've read, so I'll stand and fall by my decisions. That said, I hope it won't be a complete fallout for you guys. See you there ~