Chapter 5: Study Hard

Bryan opened the door following three sharp knocks on the three-inch wood. Standing on the other side was a large boy who looked like he spent most of his life eating one more helping at every meal than he actually needed. He wore a black tank top and blue jeans, which was not the typical Duel Academy garb but it was casual enough for the dorms.

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Bryan said, "'Sup?"

The guy gave an awkward wave. "Hi. I'm Tamah Fatu, Jr. I live in the room next door to you."

"I remember." Bryan peered past him and observed the open toilet stall and the sink with six toothbrushes resting in the holders. Tamah stood inside the shared bathroom between their two dorm rooms. "You decided to knock from here?"

"It's cold outside."

"Right, okay. What can I do for you, Fatu?" Internally, Bryan screamed at himself for using the guy's last name. It seemed so rude to use a name that so closely described his physical appearance. He wondered if pretending it never happened would keep things civil between them. Just please don't let the guy be passive-aggressive about it. Nothing is more insufferable than that.

Big Tamah debunked the passive-aggressive theory immediately. "My nickname is Fats. It's okay to call me that. Anyway, I saw you in my statistics class and I heard you were really smart, so I wondered if you wanted to join our study group."

Bryan stepped away from the door and pointed to the top bunk. Matt lay there with the textbook for Game Mechanics draped over his face. It was hard to tell whether he was asleep. "You're looking for that guy."

"Oh. Thanks." Fats stepped past Bryan and stood beside the bunk bed. He was almost tall enough to see into the top bunk without getting on his toes. Gently rapping on the bed frame where the top bunk met the middle bunk, he said, "Is he asleep?"

Bryan answered, "No, he's studying. Learning through osmosis."

"Diffusion!" Matt replied harshly from under the book. "Osmosis can only happen through water. This is a part of your biology class."

"Man, whatever. It's still Week 1. We don't even have our first weekend until tomorrow. I have still have, like, 30 weeks to learn it."

"Right now is Week 1 of 20. You need to learn early if you want to pass." Face still buried in the book, Matt fell silent.

Fats waited patiently for a moment, unsure what to do with so much anger floating around. "Excuse me. Sorry to bother you."

"I heard your pitch," groaned Matt. "Isn't it early to be worried about study groups? You need help building your deck, too?"

"Not really. Most people feel pretty good about their dueling skills. Statistics is hard, though. And you just snapped at the tall guy about studying early in the term. Statistics especially doesn't help to study later because the concepts build on each other. If you don't understand means and standard deviations, you'll never figure out t-tests."

Matt pulled the textbook off his face. "Yeah, that's prescient. I can't make fun of you for that. What do you need help with?"

"Nothing right now. I get mean, median, and mode. But analysis of variance and Bayesian inference will probably be a lot easier later in the semester when there's a group of people figuring it out together."

Bryan commented, "How many people are you talking about in this study group? Matt has social anxiety and won't be very useful if the group gets too large."

"Oh. Right now it's just me and four other people from our class. We tried to get someone from last year to tutor us, but the curriculum is so rough that most people who made good grades are too busy to give up that much time each week. But then a girl from our Intro to Gaming class told me that you're like a walking library and I should ask you to be in our study group."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Any chance this incredibly helpful girl had blonde hair, great yabos, and makes a lot of faces?"

"Yeah. So you know her?"

He pursed his lips and forced a nod. "Yes. When is your study group? Maybe I'll drop by."

"We're actually meeting up in the library in a half hour. No real studying yet. For now it's just a meet-and-greet where we get to know a little bit about one another and we try to map out the semester."

Matt made a face at Fats. "I thought Asians were supposed to be good at math." Bryan mouthed the word "Dude!" followed by a series of telepathic communications detailing how racist that comment was.

"I'm Samoan."

"So? Isn't that technically part of Asia?"

"I guess so. It's not that any of us thinks we can't figure it out. We just want to study together and learn it better. If you don't want to come, you don't have to."

"That's not true," said Matt. Now he aimed his menacing scowl in Bryan's direction. "I don't want to go but he's going to make me do it."

Bryan smiled back. "Forced social interaction may not be ideal, but he needs it regardless. Maybe being around other people will help him one day break this habit of being such a grouch."

Fats looked uncertainly at Bryan. "Is he going to be like this the whole time?"

"Might as well bring a trash can for him to sit in while we study." After he watched Fats offer no more response than to smile and nod, he added, "Because he's like that character from Sesame Street."

"I know Oscar the Grouch," said Fats. "That was just more of a 'smile and nod' joke than a 'laugh out loud' joke. Sorry."

Matt clicked his tongue and tilted his head sideways. "Aw, did he hurt your feelings? We can skip this study group and spend the time easing your wounded ego instead."

"Nice try, Grumps McGurk. You're right not to laugh, Tamah. I'll come up with a better joke next time."

"Okay." The quickness with which Fats turned away gave Bryan the distinct impression that he didn't care much, or maybe he was in a hurry to forage for more snacks. The large guy exited through the bathroom whence he came and closed the door on his way.

Speaking from his desk in the corner of the room, the third roommate Jack said, "I can't figure out if that guy is rude for coming in through the bathroom or some kind of genius who's way above my level."

"Probably not a genius if he asked Bryan for help studying," said Matt.

"Hardy har har," said Bryan, mockingly. "Study groups are intended for communal assistance. Someone else can help me, even if I'm not the smartest in the room. Besides, he said there were a couple of girls in the group. I wonder how he got them involved."

Matt cleared his throat. "Probably by asking if they wanted to join a study group. Not to be confused with a study grope, which has always been a fantasy of mine. I wonder what the probability is of that."

Bryan said, "Depends whether Kasumi is part of this study group." He purred with his tongue to help drive the innuendo.

For a moment, Matt grinned back, but then he backtracked. "Don't know what you mean. I was just making friends. Besides, she's not taking Stats this year."

"You going to start a biology study group?"

"I am one hundred percent serious when I say that I hadn't even considered that option until Fats mentioned there would be girls at his study group. Maybe I'll get together with her and Cary both and we can study a fair amount of biology together."

Bryan looked hurt. "And leave me out?"

"I'm not into foursomes."

"What makes you think Cary would go for that sort of thing?"

Matt's expression fell. "I honestly have no idea how to tell what that girl's thinking. Surprising how someone with such an expressive face is so hard to read."

Jack snickered. "That's too bad. Now you have two guys cock-blocking you." Despite the dangling modifier implied in the conversation's structure, it was clear he meant that comment for Bryan.

Bryan remembered well Jack's insistence that as a reward for winning a duel over Bryan, he deserved the opportunity to pursue whatever girl tickled his fancy—no, that sounds too sexual. To pursue whichever girl peaked his interest—better, unless "interest" is somehow a euphemism for "penis"—without interference from Bryan. There was no guarantee Bryan would even be attracted to the same girl that Jack was, but they wouldn't know until Jack singled her out.

"You figure out who Ms. Lucky is yet?"

With a finger to his chin scruff, Jack said, "Not sure yet. There are a couple of options so far, but no one who really popped out of the room at me."

"Why not just pick someone and go for it?"

"This is potential love we're talking about. I need to feel an instant connection to know it's right. Who knows how many girls on campus I haven't met yet? They turn the lights down so low during the Area Duels I can't get more than a glimpse of some, and only the backs of their heads."

Bryan nodded. "Some ladies here do have incredible curves in the backs of their heads, the way their skulls round the occipital bone and slide into the spinal column…"

"Look at that," said Matt. "You actually read the chapter on human physiology after all."

"Nah, I haven't gotten there yet. I just remember seeing the skeletal diagram in the chiropractor's office after I dislocated that vertebra during the JV Homecoming football game. I told the coach Dustin was out to get me, but did he believe me?"

"He did after you got hit hard enough for vertebral subluxation."

"Damn straight." He slipped his notebook into his backpack and fastened his Duel Academy jacket around his casual clothes—a blue t-shirt bearing the image of classic Mega Man and jeans that were officially called "faded black" but actually looked more like "white with black highlights," kind of like marble flooring. "Want to grab Tamah and head out?"

"We still have twenty-three more minutes."

Bryan shook his head. "Three benefits to derive from leaving early: One, we get to check out the library. We haven't been there yet and you practically live at the library back home. Two, we can scope out the study rooms and maybe pick out a good one. No telling what to expect of the nerds at this school as far as camping out in the study rooms. And three, it'll give us some bonding time with Tamah so you can apologize."

Before Matt could say anything, Jack agreed. "You were fairly rude."

"Give me a break. You know how much of a strain it is when I have to be nice to people."

"Pretend he's Lindsay," said Bryan. "Or one of your brothers that you don't hate. Or me. Pretend he's me! Wait, don't pretend he's me. You're really mean to me sometimes. Pretend he's Kasumi instead."

Matt groaned. "Fine. But if I end up going home with him, it's your fault."

"At least you won't get expelled for visiting his dorm."

When the guys stepped outside into the evening chill, Fats was already closing the door to his dorm room behind him. He offered a smile and a short wave before turning away and heading toward the staircase leading to the ground level and the walkway into campus.

"Wait up, Tamah," said Bryan as he jogged a few steps to walk side-by-side with his large neighbor. It didn't work out well, however; neither boy was small or even average in width. If they pushed to stand directly abreast, they would get lodged in between the dorm's outer wall and the breezeway railing. Noticing this, Bryan allowed Fats to take the lead until they were downstairs in the open space on the sidewalk.

Trying to start the conversation amiably, Bryan said, "You're all dressed in your Academy gear now. Trying to impress someone? Maybe a girl?"

"No girls to impress right now. Maybe some time, though." Fats sounded nonchalant about it, but his cheeks brightened a bit. "Just wanted to look the part of a Duel Academy student."

Bryan understood that perspective. Not just the first, but all early impressions mattered with peers. That's why he had grabbed his Academy jacket before heading out. He slipped it on, as well, just so he could match. As for Matt… Well, he never wore any other jacket. He didn't even bring another style with him to school.

"Matt already has his eye on a girl," said Bryan, hoping that maybe making fun of his best friend mutually with Fats might foster a working relationship.

Fats replied, "I heard that from Cary, but she says she's not interested." He looked at Bryan. "It sounded weird when I thought she was talking about you." Looking in Matt's direction, he said, "It's less enigmatic now."

Bryan laughed at the idea of being turned down by Cary without even asking her out. He gave Matt a playful punch on the shoulder, which prompted a return snarl. "Did she say anything about her roommate?"

"Not with her words. But she has a very expressive face. It's almost the same thing."

"She sure does," Bryan agreed.

Matt pressed the issue, but he tried to sound uninterested in the process. "What were her actual words?" As if clarifying why it mattered, he added, "Women lie with their faces all the time. It's human nature to hide one's true emotions in order to preserve societal harmony."

Fats shook his head. "She doesn't seem like that kind of girl. The only thing she said explicitly was that she knew you were stupid smart and I should ask for help. She knew which dorm room was yours. Then she stressed that she's not interested in dating, that she only knows even that much about you because she's observant and makes a note of people who will make good rivals."

Matt smirked but chose not to say anything else out loud. Bryan assumed he was planning a way to nurture a legitimate rivalry, possibly starting off with a prank. Knowing him, it would be hilarious, harsh, and potentially get him expelled.

He decided to change the subject. "I'm glad you came up with the study group idea," said Bryan to Fats. "Sometimes when Matt explains things to me, it sounds like Greek. It'll be a great boon to me to have you guys there to help translate what he's saying."

Matt grumbled, "If Greek bothers you, you will not like math classes."

Fats agreed. "He's right. I looked through the textbook already and there are a lot of Greek symbols used in statistics. Not as many as when I took geometry and trigonometry, but still."

"Oh, you have a wide math background already?"

"I'm seventeen but this is my first year at Duel Academy," he said. When he saw the uncomfortable look on Bryan's face, he beamed back. "Please don't feel bad for me. The situation doesn't embarrass me. I just waited a year longer than most to apply. I'm from Falefa and we don't have big tournaments there."

"Isn't that a deep-fried ball of chickpeas?" asked Matt, pretending like he was part of the conversation.

Fats chuckled, but Bryan felt flush. "Dude, you have to back off the racist jokes."

"That wasn't racist," said Fats. "Well, not to me. It was a malapropism—a word that gets mistaken for another word. Remember Ziva from NCIS? She did a lot of those."

Bryan felt like the writers were a bit racist with Ziva, too, but if Fats was fine with Matt's stupid joke, then he wasn't going to stir the pot. It was kind of amusing.

"Anyway, Falefa is a large village in Samoa, but not large enough for Kaiba Corp to host any large-scale dueling tournaments there. My grandmother had to take me to Apia for nationals before I received the invitation to apply."

"Why didn't you go sooner?" asked Bryan. "I assume nationals is an annual event."

"It is." His voice softened a bit, like suddenly Fats was shy. "I wasn't too confident in my talent before that. I've dueled for most of my life, but I lost almost every single time."

Bryan actually yelped. Too invested in Fats' story, perhaps, he decided. "Yikes. That would be enough to kill anyone's confidence. What made you finally decide to battle it out with your country's other duelists?"

Fats smiled. He waved at the two duelists sitting at the duel station positioned at the Crossroads—the colloquial name for the intersection in front of Slifer Red, the harbor, and the rest of campus. A Ra student concentrated on his cards, but a Slifer at the table waved back. "The opponent who always beats me is my grandmother, Sefina Fatu. I don't know if you've heard of her."

For a second, Bryan wracked his brain only to come up short of recognition. He looked to Matt for reassurance, and Matt nodded back. "She was never a world champion but she holds one of the longest streaks of consecutive world championship appearances. It's a tournament reached only by the top thirty-two duelists in the world and she broached that threshold twenty-six times in a row, plus two more non-consecutively. Is that correct?"

"That's her," said Fats, beaming with pride.

Bryan gasped. "Wow. So when you spent your whole life losing, you were also learning from the best at the exact same time." Bryan had automatically assumed that Fats would be a lesser challenge because of his size and appearance (two things which have zero correlation with dueling prowess, but their stats class didn't cover correlations yet), but now he suddenly felt overwhelming inferiority. He lacked the benefit of dueling a champion-class duelist for practice. He hoped that maybe dueling with Matt over and over again taught him the secrets he needed to know, but the confidence waned.

"What kind of deck do you run?" asked Matt.

Fats chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, no. Until we finish the placement exams, that's my secret."

"Fair enough. How much farther to the library?"

"Haven't you been there?" Both boys shook their heads. "It's inside Duel Academy. The library is all five floors of the east sector. I'm surprised you haven't seen it yet. It's really grandiose and kinda hard to miss."

"My classes are all on the west side. Too much time spent learning the choreography for my story. No time to head over to the east side."

Bryan shook his head. "A musical reference? Really?"

"It's a classic."

Bryan was surprised to see a group of students just hanging out in front of the Duel Academy building. It wasn't insanely cold yet, but a definite chill settled into the air. These students weren't even dueling one another or discussing deck builds: They legitimately stood around one of the stumpy posts and talked about nothing at all.

I guess even the smartest of nerds needs a mental break now and then, he thought to himself.

After entering into the spacious lobby, Fats led his neighbors toward the right-side staircase only to follow the carpeted path behind it. Bryan took note of the fichus and other plants giving color to the mahogany walls and the diamond design in the carpet. Fats ducked into a tiny alcove where he pulled open a glass door. Bryan glanced down the corridor to see the entrance to the downstairs arena was only ten yards away.

"No wonder I missed the library! I thought this door was another entrance into the basement duel arena."

"The doors in the middle go there. This door leads into the library. The door on the opposite side is where to find the faculty lounge."

Matt gave Bryan a sympathetic look before entering the library. "It makes sense you didn't figure out the entrance here. The door is well hidden and marked by this weird code." He pointed to the sign that read Library Hours and made a face like it was in another language.

"Shut up. You didn't know where it was, either."

The door opened into a larger room than expected for a door hidden in the corner. Rather than appearing as a closet, the library had an open floor plan where every wall on the first floor was visible from the door. A circular help desk sat right in front of the door and windows into a conference room lined the wall straight back, but as the wall rounded along the southeastern exterior of the building, labyrinthine bookshelves bent and swirled along the floor like a curved maze. Each bend offered space for a round, cushioned chair where students could read in the same spot they found a book.

"This is an awesome layout," said Bryan, "yet nowhere near as many books as I would have guessed for a library. Is that a manga section over there?"

"Yeah, the first floor has a lot of entertainment items. Young adult and fantasy over there, plus that section has a couple of movies and audiobooks. Don't expect a wide selection, though, or you'll set yourself up for disappointment. There's a reference section and periodicals room on the second floor, and then almost everything else is in the stacks up top."

Fats led the way up the winding stairs to the second floor. Suddenly it looked a lot more like a study hall with books decorating the walls. Long desks carved of exquisite wood were lined like soldiers in a parade, each with three chairs perfectly spaced out to provide comfortable work space for individuals in the process of studying. The bookshelves flanked the rows of desks, almost like jungle trees where sitting room could be found in a clearing here and there. It wasn't until Fats walked past the shelves that Bryan realized there were private rooms built into the walls. Each one bore a single desk with a computer setup and no actual privacy. Glass doors provided entry with no option to lock. The term "private room" was based solely on the comfortable human capacity.

But the private rooms were sparse. The real goal was the large study space in the middle of the reference section. Like the smaller rooms, it was guarded by a glass door without the option of closing blinds or sealing the entrance. The difference was two larger, rectangular tables pressed together offered comfortable seating capacity for twelve.

Six people were already inside the room by the time Fats opened the door. It was a curious number since Fats had stated only four people aside from him and Matt would be in attendance. All of the faces Bryan recognized from the stats class, even though he didn't remember most of their names. He knew Lei, the Hawaiian girl he met at karaoke on the cruise ship, and Mitsuro Itachu with her green bandanna was turning out to be one of those people he couldn't seem to avoid.

When they stepped into the room, Bryan was shocked to see how everyone lit up when they saw Fats smile. Each person greeted him so warmly it was like Fats was a member of the family. He had expected only to see people scowling and scared of math.

"You brought Bryan and Matt with you," said one guy Bryan didn't know. He had green hair in a long ponytail and dressed in Ra Yellow.

Fats said, "They live in the dorm room next door to me. I thought it would be nice for them to join us in studying. Matt is the one Cary told us about, Shane." The guy who had sounded almost disappointed to see Bryan and Matt nodded at the mention of her name. Fats looked around the room for a moment as everyone took a seat. "Is this everyone?"

"Looks like it," said Mitsuro. "How about we get started?" She cracked open her textbook and pulled out a spiral notebook. She obviously missed the memo about keeping the first meetup a relaxed one.

There was one older guy in the group—probably older than thirty. Bryan thought his mustache looked like a chipmunk. He said, "What if we went around the table and introduced ourselves? It will help foster communication within the group."

Fats said, "I like that idea. Since I started the group, I can go first. My name is Tamah Fatu, Jr., but I go by the name Fats. If you have any trouble remembering that…" He pulled from his backpack a bag of BBQ-flavored chips, intended to draw attention to his weight. Everyone in the room chuckled, although Bryan thought it sounded more like a nervous chuckle from people who weren't sure if laughing would be offensive.

"Throw in a fun fact about yourself," said the older guy.

Fats nodded. "Okay." He rolled up his right sleeve and revealed a tattoo on his forearm. It looked like three arrows pointing toward his wrist, resembling a super-fast-forward emblem, and a long line protruding from the back. "I have four of these spearhead tattoos from my left arm, across my back, down to here. In Polynesian culture, the spearhead represents courage and strength. They point into my drawing hand." Consensus among the bobbing heads was that his tattoos were cool, if a bit superstitious.

The next guy was the Ra student who first spoke to Fats. "I'm Shane Pricer. This is my second year at Duel Academy, and I hate statistics. The only reason I'm getting this class out of the way is the curriculum requires at least one math class. If this didn't seem so much easier than trigonometry or calculus, I wouldn't bother."

There was a brief pause before the next person realized math-phobia was Shane's "fun fact" about himself.

The older guy was next. Wearing a red jacket, he said, "My name is Leon Verbeet. As you can tell, I'm older than the average Duel Academy attendee. Fact is I spent most of my life being barely passable as a duelist, but I never gave up on my dream. Just turned thirty-four and I finally hit the acceptable limit to gain Duel Academy acceptance."

Lei said, "That's really cool. What did you do for the past years while you were working on it?"

"I've enjoyed work as a radio announcer and a dueling coach. That's why I'll head straight into Duel Theory for my concentration. Grow my amateur occupation to a professional level."

Beside him sat Mitsuro. "My name is Mitsuro Itachu. This is my first year here. Most of my family has been involved with the US Navy since forever ago, and so I plan to enlist after graduation, maybe be a dueling representative for the best military branch." Short and sweet. Bryan wanted to ask her about the green bandanna, but he also didn't want to seem too pushy before they even developed a friendship.

Next in line, Lei said, "I don't have anywhere near as inspiring a story as these two. I'm Lei Keli'i from Hawaii. This is my first year but I have a sister here in her third year. Duel Academy is no stranger to me because of her stories. And I'm not sure what concentration I'll pick yet, but my sister is pursuing Competitive Dueling. Maybe either that or Card Design for me."

Number 5 in line was the man Bryan was most interested to meet. He had a gaunt face with long hair, but he wore a green jacket. "My name is Justin Nussbaum and I'm a third-year almost ready to graduate in the Duel Programming concentration. Almost all of my free time even prior to coming here was spent learning to read and program computers, and I can't wait to find a job where I get paid to improve the presentation of the duel holograms. That's my goal, anyway. Calculus was one of my favorite classes so far, but statistics is a whole other beast and so I figured I'd join Mitsuro and Fats in this study group."

Bryan pointed to him and asked, "I've seen a few other people with that on. What's with the green jacket?"

Justin smiled, but he was silent for a moment. "Of all the students at Duel Academy, those with single-digit ranks get to wear this green jacket as a way of indicating that we have the capabilities of all the other dorms combined."

Making an artistic math joke, Matt said, "Wouldn't combining the three dorm colors make you wear brown jackets?"

"That's true. But the administration decided to give us green instead. Maybe it's because Slifers never achieve this level and aren't part of the equation. Or maybe they just didn't want us walking around looking like shit." Matt smirked, and the two seemed to share a moment of mutual appreciation. It was unusual for Matt to make friends quickly, and yet it didn't seem like a stretch for them to become fast friends.

Rounding out the table, Matt said, "My name is Matthew Luther, I may also go in for Duel Programming, and a fun fact about me is that I'm incredibly boring."

"Boo!" said Justin. "That's a cop out."

Matt reiterated, "There are no stories about me to tell."

Leon prompted him with, "What do you do for fun outside of school?"

"I study," said Matt. "Back home I spent sixty hours a week at the library, sometimes without them knowing about it."

"That's atypical," said Shane. "Did you hate your home life or you just can't stand knowing there are books you still haven't read?"

Bryan bit his tongue for a second, waiting to see how Matt would respond to that jab. He felt a surge of relief and pride when, instead of getting angry, Matt said nothing more than, "They have really comfy chairs."

"My turn," said Bryan, chiming in quickly to change the subject. "I'm Bryan Knight, a Leo who likes long walks on the beach and chatting up gorgeous women." He shot both Lei and Mitsuro a sexy smolder. "How you doin'?" He quickly broke out a real smile and backed off, insisting that he was just kidding. "Fun fact: I played junior varsity football for two years and varsity for one before getting accepted here. I'm six-one right now, but my mom expects I may have to update my wardrobe at least five more times before I stop growing."

"I was just thinking you look thick and tall like a bull," said Mitsuro, earning a laugh.

Bryan chuckled, too. "Seriously, I will likely go for Competitive Dueling when it's time to pick a concentration. It'll suck taking separate classes from my best friend here when we've been together so long, but I can't handle programming. Before we get started studying, I want to state unequivocally how jealous I am of that glorious mustache." He looked straight at Leon, who explained that his only trick was not to shave.

Shane chimed in again. "You run the Elemental Hero deck, don't you?"

"Yes. I love E-Heroes."

"Who doesn't?" said Shane, although he sounded insincere.

Fats sat up. "Okay, great. I'm glad everyone is here for this group. The only rule I feel like we should establish is to ask questions every time you have them. We all agree this will be a hard class and we want to help each other. No judgments here. Sound good?" General consensus was that Fats had the right idea. "Great. Why don't we take a minute to review our notes and figure out where we need to start?"

Along with the others, Bryan pulled his notebook from his bag and began leafing through the pages. It took him no time at all to find the only burning question he had. He leaned over to Matt and asked, "Why is platypi not the correct word?"

"What?"

"Dr. Apple said platypuses. I wrote it in my notes."

"Is that your biology notebook?"

"Yeah, I grabbed the wrong one. So what's the deal with platypi?"

Matt scowled, but he answered anyway. "Platypus is a Greek word, not Latin."

"So they don't use the –i as a plural for –us?"

"Correct."

Shane began to chuckle. "Are you guys actually talking about biology class at a study group for statistics?"

"Is this not an all-purpose study group?" asked Matt, feigning ignorance.

Fats said, "No one else is taking biology this term."

Justin said, "I took it last year, if you need any help. But if you already know the etymology of the word platypus one week into classes, then you'll probably be fine without me."

Shane shook his head, still chuckling. "It cracks me up that you weren't invited in the first place and then you brought the wrong notebook." Lei told him not to be rude. "Not trying to be rude. But I have a new fun fact." Or a first fun fact, for those keeping score. "I really want to duel against you."

"Me?" Shane nodded at Bryan, confirming it wasn't Matt who drew his attention. "When? Now?"

Shane nodded. "There's a duel arena in the basement. It's only the first week and you aren't prepared for studying anyway. What say we give it a go real quick? We can meet back up with the group after."

Fats attempted to come to Bryan's rescue. "We should really focus on the stats right now. Math, in particular, is a class where you need the foundational knowledge in order to succeed later."

"We won't be gone long," Shane insisted. The look he gave made it obvious he was pre-judging Bryan's duel ability on the absentminded way he packed for the library. With any luck, Bryan would prove to him why that way of thinking was wrong. He agreed to the duel and stood to follow Shane out of the room.

"You want me to come, too?" asked Matt.

In truth, Bryan always wanted Matt nearby. Matt was like his Magic 8-ball, except shaking him up brought swear words to the surface. Even though he never asked for advice directly from the guy he taught to duel, he felt like Matt's facial expression was like a hint line all its own. As long as Matt remained calm during Bryan's duels, then he relaxed and figured he was doing okay. But he decided to play it cool instead. "Nah, it's cool. We'll just be downstairs. You stay here and lend your giant brain to the others who came prepared."

Matt groaned, "It isn't the size of the brain that gives it higher processing power. Did you read any of your biology text?"

Instead of disappointing his best friend again, Bryan only gave a short wave and followed Shane downstairs to the duel arena. On the way Shane explained that Slifers wouldn't normally have access to use the Duel Academy stage after hours, but he had room access thanks to being in Ra Yellow. Obelisks could also get in using their student IDs.

"I'm excited to see how good you are," he added. "E-Heroes based on Polymerization, right?"

"Are you a fan?"

"Sure, but the deck style is too unreliable for this place. I can't make it work, anyway, but more power to you if you can actually find a way to be successful with it. I actually have a card that would go really well in your deck theme. How about we duel for it?"

"Like an ante? I thought that was against the rules except for those neighborhood duels."

"Area duels," Shane corrected him. "Tell you what. Instead of an actual ante, we'll just make it an incentive. If you win, you get the card. Otherwise, you owe me a favor sometime. Simple enough?"

And vague enough to get me in trouble, thought Bryan. But he was really curious to see what the card was. It seemed like the kind of situation where he couldn't lose too much. If the duel went in his favor, he could end up with one of a dozen support cards that would benefit his deck. Should he lose, a favor was easy to pay back. Worst case, he could just follow Shane around and wait for a chance to pick up and return something he dropped in the future. At least he wasn't risking his deck.

"Okay, sure."

They reached the door to the main duel stage where any and all televised duels took place on campus. It was the most recognizable of all the rooms at Duel Academy because of how many times Bryan had seen it on TV. The most dramatic difference from every other time seeing the room was that grandstands and stadium seating were completely empty this time. It was late enough for everyone to be studying, sleeping, or eating late supper.

Shane said, "I didn't bring my Duel Disk, so is it okay if we just use the duel station?"

"Yeah, I forgot mine, too," Bryan replied, lying about his Duel Disk status. He never got one because it was absurdly expensive, and his single mom didn't make enough money for that kind of luxury purchase.

"Great. Shuffle my deck and let's get started." The two shuffled each other's decks, and then Shane prepped the duel station. The equipment itself was well maintained by the school, and so starting it up was always a simple feat. Duelists claimed their positions on opposite sides and everything was ready to go.

Bryan drew his opening hand and perused the field. It felt so weird to play recreationally in an arena of this magnitude. The edges of the room were so dark he felt isolated, and a hollow sensation clamped his gut. Hologram projectors lit along the sides of a duel station the length of a tennis court, compared with the ping-pong-sized tables he usually played on. He thought yelling would be necessary for Shane to hear him.

"I start with A Hero Lives!" he shouted.

Shane's voice emerged from the panel beside his cards. "I can hear you through the intercom, dumbass."

Bryan jumped at the suddenness of the crackling response and said, "Oh, shit. That scared me."

"Haven't you ever dueled before?"

Bryan had, in fact, dueled in an arena very similar to this one when he competed in his regional tournament back home. That was starting to feel like a lifetime ago. "It's been a while." The field continued to shine, waiting for him to resolve the effect of his spell card. "Um, I'll choose to summon Elemental Hero Blazeman (4: 1200|1800)." A man in fiery, orange armor dropped onto the field from the sky as if arriving on scene for a nick-of-time rescue.

"Was that the best opening move?" asked Shane. "You flushed half your Life Points for that card."

For a moment, Bryan's heart stopped. Had he just screwed himself? But he knew the cost of the card effect before he activated it, and he had decided it was worth it.

Bryan 4000: Shane 8000.

"No, I'm good. I need Blazeman's effect to bring Polymerization to my hand. I'll fuse Blazeman with Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero The Shining (8: 2600|2100)." His monsters fell into a swirl of energy, combining their life forces into a bulky hero wearing white and marked by the golden ring of power that flanked his backside like unfilled wings.

"It's your turn now."

Shane didn't speak to begin. He simply grabbed a card and dropped one straight into his spell/trap zone, which appeared on the field like a floating face-down card. "One card set, and then I use Foolish Burial." Shane searched his deck and dropped a card into the card graveyard. Bryan never got a look at it, and he forgot in the moment that he could check the monitor to see what cards exist in either graveyard.

"I summon Synchron Explorer (2: 0|700), and its effect brings back Junk Synchron (3: 1300|500)." The first monster was a squat, red machine that was shaped like a human cannon with nothing loaded inside its belly. The second emerged from the gap like a cannonball. It didn't fly far, however, landing only feet away on Shane's field. This monster was also short, but it resembled a gnome-like mechanic dressed in orange. The two machines began to resonate—vibrating at high speeds to emit a high pitch from their mechanical bodies. At first the pitches were dissonant, but they quickly found unison, and then the two machines merged into one lanky woman dressed in blue and yellow and covered in shiny lights. "They synchro summon Magical Android (5: 2400|1700)."

Bryan was familiar with synchros, but he had never gotten the hang of it for his Hero deck, so they still fascinated him. The idea of fusing two monsters into a single, more powerful creature without the use of Polymerization was something he envied. There were strengths and weaknesses to each method, sure, but synchros seemed so much more versatile.

"One more down and I end my turn." A second face-down card appeared on Shane's field. Suddenly Magical Android illuminated. All of her lights began to glow, and the energy shot into Shane. With a beep on the display monitor, his Life Points rose by 600 owing to his monster's effect.

Bryan 4000: Shane 8600.

"Well, shit," said Bryan. He hadn't counted on Shane raising his Life Points during the duel. "At least I can see why you don't need any Hero support cards in your deck. I will start my turn also with Foolish Burial. And I will send Neos to the graveyard."

"You aren't required to tell me that."

"Ah, okay. Just being neighborly. I will summon another Blazeman (4: 1200|1800) just so I can get a second Polymerization from the deck. Now I fuse Bubbleman and Burstinatrix into Elemental Hero Absolute Zero (8: 2500|2000)." Another swirling rift appeared to draw in his monsters and combine their matter into a man clad from head to toe in white armor. A cape flowed from his back, and each step frosted the floor in ice. "Now it's time to attack."

"I figured you would. I have Mirror Force ready." As The Shining released a powerful burst of light energy in the direction of Magical Android, a force field nearly imperceptible to the naked eye deflected the attack, causing it to ricochet uncontrollably and smother all three of Bryan's monsters.

Bryan gasped and then quickly tried to pretend he was unaffected by that devastating turn of events. He had expected to take a big chunk out of Shane's Life Points, not to lose all of his monsters. The only solace he took was in watching Absolute Zero explode into ice shards that struck Magical Android and took her off the field with him. Now neither duelist had any monsters.

"I will set one card and end my turn." He set Hero Signal. It was a bluff he hoped would keep him safe for another turn.

Shane wasted no time setting another card to replace his Mirror Force, and then he placed Dark Room of Nightmare. The arena walls, which were normally open to view the stands, took on a veiled appearance like a hidden room inside a temple. Bryan saw shadows dancing on the distant wall, but nothing came of it. They were just there to mess with him.

Next Shane summoned Rose, Warrior of Revenge (4: 1600|600). She bore some resemblance to the Black Widow of Avengers fame; she also had red hair and a black bodysuit intended to improve maneuverability. With a swift movement, she darted across the field, drew a sword, and sliced straight into Bryan's Life Points. He watched his numbers drop from the attack, and then they dropped a second time when a throwing knife hit him. Rose had thrown it to cover her escape back to Shane's side of the field. It dealt an extra 300 points.

When he turned, Bryan saw a giant shadow in the form of a vicious monster growling and snarling right in his face. The instant he spotted it, the shadow vanished, but not before Bryan's heart suffered a few extra beats and his Life Points likewise suffered another 300 points.

Bryan 1800: Shane 8600.

"This is not going in my favor," said Bryan. "Let's see if Fusion Recovery helps. I get back Polymerization and Blazeman. This time I summon Blazeman (4: 1200|1800) but without activating his Polymerization effect. I will, however, play Polymerization from my hand to fuse Heat and King of the Swamp into Elemental Hero Nova Master (8: 2600|2100)." Bryan's latest fusion monster bore orange armor like Blazeman's, but this time the warrior's full body was covered. The armor was marked by pointed pauldrons and a flowing cape of crimson, giving the Hero an overall look of a living flame. He couldn't wait to unleash his talents.

Suddenly the floor opened up beneath Nova Master. "Bottomless Trap Hole," said Shane, and Bryan's monster was instantly removed from the game.

"Yikes," said Bryan calmly. The game was not turning his direction, but it had been an uphill climb from the beginning. Why panic now? "I'll use Blazeman's second effect. By sending Bladedge from my deck to the graveyard, Blazeman (+2600|+1800) grows to be just as strong as Bladedge. Say goodbye to Rose (1600)."

"Goodbye," said Shane as his monster was incinerated. He didn't sound a bit fazed.

Bryan 2100: Shane 7600.

"That ends my turn."

"Great. I'll play Dark Hole." A black hole appeared in the center of the field, its gravity drawing in the only monster it could find and consuming it. "Now I summon Assault Beast (4: 1900|1200)." His monster was a humanoid wolf in cracked, bronze armor and wielding a heavy, orange mace—the ball-and-chain kind. A flail! That's the word for it. "I guess that's it." By the time the flail made contact with Bryan, he had no monsters to defend him and no traps to evade the attack.

Bryan 0: Shane 7600.

"Too bad. I had hoped the duel would be a lot closer."

Shane shut down the arena while Bryan collected his cards. He simply stood on the podium for a moment, staring blankly at the field. It wasn't until the lights shut off that he finally stepped away and followed Shane back into the Duel Academy proper.

Shane said, "I guess the Vision Heroes stay with me for now." He noticed Bryan's bothered expression and added, "Don't worry. I won't ask anything weird of you for your favor. It'll probably be something simple, like doing my homework for me or similar."

Bryan shook his head, still disbelieving how badly he was trounced. As distressing as it was to owe Shane a favor, worse anxiety weighed Bryan down. Missing one study group for statistics was nothing—it was still Week 1 out of twenty. But they were one week away from Duel Academy placement exams. He had intentionally gone to a school that trains the best of the best… and now Bryan wondered whether he really belonged among them.

Hard times for Bryan getting used to the level of his new competition. Time to buckle down and decide what he really wants for his future.

Thanks go out to my readers for contributing Jack Hardy, Titanic X for Mitsuro, and Vstriker for Fats. I would still love to receive more characters submitted as quickly as people would like to send them. I have three blanks for current Guardian Duelers (they can't be freshmen, though!). I know the distribution for this story is lower since it's a more restrictive rating, but I don't feel comfortable lowering the rating considering what's coming down the line.

Thanks for the kind words so far. I really appreciate all of you. It's a slow start as I build this world a bit stronger than I did last time (and slightly more canon, too). Expect to see a few more time jumps as the characters get into a groove and the semester becomes more routine. That will help to push things along and prevent this from becoming a 1000-chapter story.