~Many weeks later~*Tiff's POV*

Today was my first Duel Monster Spirit Day!

I looked around at all the decorations and stands that served Duel Monster themed foods and drinks. Almost everyone looked at me with slight fear. Ever since the full moon, everyone who didn't know Syrus and didn't take the chance to get to know me, stayed far away from us as if we were a plague.

'We may act like wild animals on the full moon, but there is something else everyone has to worry about.' I thought.

Ever since Syrus' first full moon, two more Shadow Riders have been defeated.

One was Abidos the Third, who Jaden had defeated. After his defeat Abidos became a friend, through a long-distance friend due to the fact that he's from the past.

The second was Titan, who was defeated by Alexis. Apparently Jaden had dueled Titan earlier in the year, we learned that the duel was set up by Crowler, back before Titan became a Shadow Rider. In other words, he was a phony shadow duelist back then. After the duel, Atticus' memories of how he was taken to the Shadow Realm started to slowly turn into Nightshroud return to him. Allowing us to learn that Prof. Banner was responsible for Atticus and all those other students to end up in the Shadow Realm. Meaning that he was connected to the Shadow Riders.

'He could even be the last remaining Shadow Rider for all we know. And him disappeared after Atticus told us how he and the others ended up the Shadow Realm just makes it more suspicious.' I thought as I went up to Syrus.

He was the MC for the Costume Duel, so he was getting the arena ready.

Chumley was also helping by making the poster.

I looked over at the deck of the Slifer Dorm and saw Jaden, Alexis, Zane, and Atticus talking to each other, most likely about Prof. Banner. I also saw Chazz with a cat toy, most likely to lure Banner's cat.

*Yelp*

Syrus tripped over Chumley, who was working on the poster in the way of where Syrus was chalking the lines of the arena.

"*achoo*Chumley! Did you really have to work on the poster where I was putting the lines for the arena!?" Syrus said before he started to shake the chalk off of him. "What are you doing with the poster anyway?" I asked Chumley. When I looked at the poster, I saw that had painted Des Koala and Des Kangaroo on it. "Uh...Chumley," Syrus said when he saw the poster. "I was thinking that Monsters used by famous Duelists should be on the poster. You know like the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, who are used by Yugi Muto."

"He's right." Chazz said as he and the others walked over. "If you put famous monsters on the poster, it'll bring more attention to the poster and the duel." "I guess you're right." Chumley said before he started to repaint the poster.

As he did, we all went to the dining hall of the Slifer Dorm to wait for him to finish while Syrus got back to working on the arena. He was done within a few minutes, without tripping over Chumley this time, and came to join us.

"So, Sy? We were wondering what you like during the full moon. We only know what we heard and what Zane told us." Jaden said to him.

He and the others, except for Zane, then stared at him. I felt Syrus' nervousness, so I used my tail to pet his to calm him down. He looked over at me and gave me a small, grateful smile.

"Well, I had the mind of wild wolf, thinking I was an ordinary wolf instead of a werewolf, but I was rather tame. My mind was also full of melodies, with my ears picking up the music of the forest that surrounded me. I used my claws to mark my territory before I hunted a deer. I then went to sleep in a cave I found. When I woke up the next morning, I didn't remember what I did the night before for a few minutes. And it was like a cycle until Zane came along on the third night." He explained to them.

"All were-beast think that they're ordinary animals on full moon nights. Heck, I thought I was an ordinary tiger during the full moon, which was why I went to some underground caves I found until it was over." I explained to them.

"Do all were-beasts have a more animalistic appearance during the full moon, even in the day time?" Syrus asked.

"What? No. I've never heard of that." I said to him. "And I can say for a fact that didn't happen to me."

It was then I noticed that Syrus was tapping his foot rapidly. And I can easily tell what that means. "Come on, Syrus!" I said while grabbing his hand and leading him outside.

*Syrus' POV*

"Uh...Tiff? Where are you taking me?" I asked her as we headed into the woods.

"You've been cooped up inside for too long. And when you aren't cooped up inside, you keep yourself busy. And neither of those are exactly good for us were-beasts." Tiff said as she led us to a clearing in the woods. "So we're both going to let our animal sides out."

"'Animal sides'?" I asked her.

"Remember what happened to you when we first met?" She asked me. "Yeah. I turned into an actual wolf." I said to her. "That's your animal side. A were-beast's animal side is another way to say we can turn into actual animals. And that's what we're going to do now." Tiff said before she transformed into a white tiger. I followed her lead and transform into a sky-blue wolf.

Tiff then used her tail to motion me to follow her before she started running.

And I ran after her.

As we ran, I felt so free! I had never felt this free in my entire life! It feels like I can run forever!

But I knew that I couldn't. I had to MC the costume duel. And I still hadn't found anyone to be in the duel. This caused me to stop running. I mainly decided to hold the costume duel so I can show the rest of the school I was still the same friendly Syrus they know even though I'm a werewolf now. 'What do I do? I never done anything like this before. I know Jaden would want to Duel. But he needs an opponent.' I thought as I sat down.

*cuffs*

Tiff came up to me with a concerned look on her tiger face.

She then nuzzled me to make me feel better. And it worked a little bit. It also caused me to start blushing under my fur. Thank goodness that my fur was thick enough that she couldn't see it.

I then felt something flick my ear.

I looked over at Tiff and saw that she had a playful, cunning look on her face. I can easily tell what that means. 'Two can play that game.' I thought as a look similar to Tiff's appeared on my face before I gave a playful nip at the ear. The two of us then started a game of chase.

It was close to sunset when I won the game by jumping on top of her and pinned her down.

"Pinned ya." I said as we shifted back into human form.

I then realized the position we were in and I quickly got off of her and stood up. "Sorry." I said to her before I started heading back to Duel Academy. "It's okay. It kind of felt like we had a Lion King moment." She said to me as she came to my side. After a few minutes of thinking about it, I nodded my head in agreement.

As we continued to walk back to Duel Academy, I decided it was time to finally ask her.

"Hey, Tiff?"

"Yeah, Syrus?"

"I was wondering, would you ever go on a date...with someone like me?" I asked her. I looked over at Tiff and saw she had a surprised look on her face. 'Great! She's probably going to friend zone me and avoid practically forever.' I thought before I felt a small kiss on my cheek, causing me to blush and to stop walking. I looked over at Tiff and saw that she was smiling shyly. "I like you too, Syrus." She said.

We then smiled at each other before we leaned into a kiss.

We stayed like that for a minute before pulling away and continue to head back to the Academy.

~When they got back*No One's POV*

When they finally returned to the Slifer Dorm, they saw that the costume duel was already underway.

Like Syrus suspected, Jaden was one of the Duelists. It was his opponent that got his attention, because it was someone dressed just like Dark Magician Girl playing Dark Magician Girl.

"That's weird. I thought the King of Games himself was the only one who had that card." He said out loud.

"IT'S 'BOUT TIME YOU GOT HERE, SYRUS! NO GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME WITH THE PLAY BY PLAY!" Chazz, who was dressed as XYZ Dragon Cannon, said though the microphone headset he was wearing. He caused Syrus and Tiif to cover their ears because of how loud it was. "Okay! I'm coming!" Syrus said as he uncovered his ears and went to join Chazz.

As the duel continued, Syrus was surprised that this mystery person had Jaden barely holding on.

But the Slifer Red duelist was able to win in the end. People in the audience, mainly the guys, booed and complained about this. They kept it up until Syrus couldn't control the urge to stand up for his best friend any longer. "Alright! That's enough out of all of you!" Syrus was very loyal before he was turned into a werewolf, him keeping Camula from turning Zane into a vampire was proof of that, but it became much stronger when he was turned into a werewolf. And even stronger after his first full moon cycle. "Jaden won the duel and whoever is dressed as the Dark Magician Girl didn't. So what?! That's how Duels work, someone wins and someone loses! And we can't decide who wins! It's about how the duelist plays their cards!" Syrus said to them.

Everyone stared at him.

The audience was scared, of course.

His friends were shocked about his confidence at speaking towards so many people the way that he did. With Jaden being slightly grateful that his best friend stuck up for him, even though the audience didn't bother him that much.

Tiff admired Syrus for the way he stuck up for his friend. She knew werewolves were extremely loyal to their pack mates and those who were close to them, so she knew that Syrus would be the same. But she didn't know that he would be that loyal. It made him more attractive in the were-trigress' eyes.

Zane was most surprised. He knew that Syrus was very loyal, but he never did that before. So he figured it was because he was a werewolf now.

Syrus then turned heel and returned to his dorm room with a slightly angry look on his face. He knew that a run would calm him down, but decided to take a quick nap. He was exhausted from shapeshifting twice, running, and playing chase with Tiff. Once he arrived in his room, he shifted into his wolf form and curled up on the floor against the wall.

He stayed like that for a few minutes until he heard someone come in. A minute later, he felt someone curl up beside him. He peaked an eye open and saw Tiff in her tiger form curled up beside him.

Syrus didn't mind.

They were now boyfriend and girlfriend.

And he won't let anyone hurt her. Like he won't let anyone hurt his friends and family.