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I heard about it on the news. The son of Yusho Sakaki was going to duel the best duelist in the city. I decided to go to the duel, even though I had no reason to aside from seeing this kid. It was an opportunity my caretaker was very fond of, too.I ended up sitting by a group of kids and their teacher, who were with the kid challenger. They were noisier than I expected. The disgruntled groans and complaints from the pink-haired girl were far more interesting than whatever the announcer had said.
The lengthy wait for the kid was a surprise to most. I thought it was funny, especially after he took the stage. His entrance was as entertaining as the duel itself, in my opinion. The duel was quite a show, of course. Every little detail was constructed in a strangely enjoyable way.The most interesting thing to come from this duel was the pendulum monsters.I left the arena after most of the crowd had left. They had announced the dueling school the kid went to, and I was interested in attending there. Tons of other kids did too, but most only cared about the pendulum monsters. Those were cool, to be fair, but I was more interested in the performance. I was still fairly new to the concept of Duel Monsters at the time, so my fascination with performing while dueling was stronger than my confusion of the rules. Plus, I was going to a school that would teach it all to me, so I was even more interested.I walked back to the apartment my caretaker and I lived in. It was perfect for two, no more and no less. I was greeted with the scent of tea and citrus, which brought a smile to my face.“Hello, Olivia. How are you doing, sweetie?” Miss Satomi asked, smiling. She had made tea for us.“I’m doing good. The duel was better than I had expected.” I sat on the pillow across from Miss Satomi. The citrus was stronger.“That’s great to hear.”There was a moment of silence as we sipped our tea. Mine was black with lemon and a hint of sugar, which Miss Satomi thought was an interesting combination when I told her about it. Hers was pure green tea, which I thought was too bitter. I got a headache whenever I drank it.“Miss Satomi?”“Yes?”“Have you ever heard of You Show Duel School?”She looked at me, smiling. “I have not. Are you interested in going?”“Yes. The duelist that won goes to that school. His style was different from what I’d seen at the LDS tour.” My tone shifted slightly as I mentioned the other school.“I’m sorry you didn’t like the Leo Institute. It seemed like a good school when I looked at the flyers.”“LDS is filled with rich kids whose parents are too compliant with their kids’ demands. You Show has less than ten kids that are all unique and kinda funny to watch. I got to see some of the students and their teacher during the duel. They’re quite a crowd,” I laughed.Miss Satomi laughed with me, “I’m glad you’ve found somewhere you want to go. Dueling is a big career here, and the money’s worth it for the effort.”
“It didn’t seem interesting until today. The thought of inspiring others like that never crossed my mind.”“It takes time to learn what you can do from a skill. That boy you saw today probably doesn’t expect a simple duel to inspire someone so much. I bet he’ll be flattered.”We giggled over the thought, still slowly sipping our teas.“I’m excited to apply. I heard they’re already planning a demonstration for the new applicants. It’s a great time to truly see if I’m interested.”“How much is the application?”“Less than LDS, I bet.”
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I spent my morning looking up all of the most used decks of every variety. Most of the decks weren’t interesting enough for me; primarily just summoning-based structure decks they recommended for beginners.
Should I have gotten a structure deck to start? Probably.
Was I going to get a structure deck? Absolutely not.
There were already recordings of yesterday’s big duel. The kid, who I finally figured out was named Yuya, was the main inspiration for my deck. If he inspired my career decision, he’ll inspire my deck decision.I rewatched the duel about fifty times. Yuya’s ace monster was the Odd-Eyes dragon, which caught my eye the most. I have always loved dragons in books and shows. The decision was made much faster than I thought.The closest card shop wasn’t very far. There were card packs and decks lined up everywhere with the occasional statues of monsters, most of which were from famous duelists’ decks.The first cards that I saw were dragons with swords. Without hesitation, I ran to the case to stare at them. Had I found my perfect theme?“You like anything down there, miss?”I looked up to see the shopkeeper. He was an ordinary guy with glasses. “What do you recommend for these dragons with the swords?”“You mean the Dragunity cards? I’ve got a deck or two you might like, if you want those cards.”“I do. How much do you need for it?”“¥3000 should work.”“Deal.”I handed him the money and he handed me the deck, as well as some extra cards. There were mostly synchro monsters, with a few xyz cards. Most of the monsters were dragons, which I was happy about.
“Anything else?”“Yes, actually. How do I get a duel disk?” I almost forgot I needed one.“We have a selection over there. I’ll give you a discount, since you’re a rookie at dueling.”I went over to the wall, grabbing the best color scheme I saw. It was the standard duel disk with a yellow main screen. The card field was red. I brought the box over to the shopkeeper, pulling out my wallet. “It’ll be another ¥3000, please.”I handed him the money and took the box. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.” I left the store and went straight to You Show.I was early. The demonstration was still an hour away, and no one had shown up yet aside from the students. The pink-haired girl was the first to notice me walk in. She waved to me, and drew the boy’s attention to me. It was Yuya.“Hey! Didn’t expect to see someone here so early.” He looked at the box I was holding. “Are you interested in registering?”“Yes, I am.” I was already tense.“I’ll get my dad then. He’ll help you fill everything out.” The girl went into another room. She came out a moment later, pulling the teacher over to me. “We have a new student.”The teacher’s smile was almost overwhelming. He blabbered about the school and the new student he now had, dragging me to the front office. The form was easy to fill out, and the cost to apply was as much as I expected. After I had paid, I was officially a student at You Show.By the time that was done, young children had already piled into the hall. Yuya and the girl were preparing to duel.
The bickering between them ended up being more entertaining than the duel. The “pendulum summoning” Yuya had done yesterday didn’t work. He tried and tried, but he lost before he could figure it out. The kids were disappointed and left, with the exception of one. He was closer to grade school, and part of me swore he looked familiar. I probably saw him yesterday. The teacher began the same lengthy process with the kid, leaving me with the students. There was a taller guy with them that I didn’t see earlier.“Hey! How did you like the duel?” Yuya asked, smiling. The girl was smiling now too, as if they hadn’t just dueled each other.“It was good… I think.”The girl looked at me with a glare. “How many duels have you seen before?”I giggled a bit, recalling each time. “This was my third, actually. I’m guessing that means it wasn’t as good as I thought.”Yuya laughed a bit too. “You’re new to this then?”“I am. I got my deck an hour ago.” The laughter that erupted from that comment was immense. For a moment, I thought I was going to be mocked about it.“I’m glad you’re choosing to learn here. I’m Yuya Sakaki, as I’m sure you know. These are my friends Yuzu and Gong.” He pointed to the girl, then the tall guy. They both greeted me as kindly as Yuya did. “What about you?”“My name is Olivia.”His smile was brighter than it was on the screen. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Olivia!”I smiled, “The pleasure is mine, Yuya.”
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Coincidentally, my first day at You Show was also my first day in actual school. I met up with Yuya and Yuzu at the front entrance, since I heard yesterday that we’d be going to the same public school. Yuya was quick to volunteer to show me around, but he was told he couldn’t.“Why not?” He complained, slouched in the office chair. “I’ve been here long enough!”Yuzu rolled her eyes, “I’ve had to show you where your classes are all year. There’s no way you could do a tour.”Yuya turned to face her, pouting. “You would come too. We’d get out of class for free, and we wouldn’t get in trouble for it. It’s so much more fun hanging out with Olivia than going to class!”“You can’t skip out on class, Yuya. Come on, or we’ll be late.” Yuzu pulled Yuya out of the chair and began to drag him out the door. He begged for her to let go. Yuzu’s response was hitting him with her fan before continuing to their class.The principal smiled at me. “I’ve already gotten a tour guide for you, Miss Mizuka. He should be here any moment.”As he said that, a boy with brown hair and tacky blonde bangs stepped in the room, dramatizing his entrance. At first, I thought he’d hit his head a little too hard on his way in, but behind him was a group of boys doing jazz hands and hushly enunciated the name ‘Sylvio’.With a flick of his hair, he turned to greet me. “So you’re the new student? My name’s Sylvio Sawatari. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”I stared at him for a moment. “…I’m Olivia…”He looked taken aback, scowling. “You could be a little more welcoming, you know. I’m going to be showing you around, as I’m sure you know, so you’ll have to get used to my greatness.” He ended the sentence with another dramatic flair.
I sighed before I made eye contact with him. “It’s nice to meet you too, I guess.” I stood up, which prompted a shocked reaction from Sylvio. He composed himself quickly, or at least tried to.“Y-You’re taller than I thought you’d be. Not that it matters. Come on, we have a lot of places to look at.” He grabbed my wrist, pulling me out the door. I turned to look at the principal, but he’d already gone back to his desk. The boys that were previously by the door were long gone now.Sylvio’s voice became annoying quickly. He over-explained everything we walked past, from classes to simple devices across the building. Most of what he said was a stretch at best. He was very thorough with the tour, and gave semi-reasonable answers to my questions. I was planning to ask Yuzu all of my questions that Sylvio didn’t answer well, which were a few. I didn’t ask many questions anyway. The nicest part of the tour was seeing Yuya and Yuzu during one of the transition periods, which seemed to annoy Sylvio. It was even better because of that fact. In the end, the tour lasted the whole day. The school wasn’t very big, mind you. LDS was ten times the size of the school, and it took 3 hours to tour, mostly because of how long it takes to get an elevator. I blamed it on Sylvio’s unnecessarily lengthy explanation of how an old wall clock worked, as well as other things.I slumped out of the building, Sylvio following behind me. He left me as soon as he was out the door, halfheartedly waving to me. I went to see Yuya and Yuzu as soon as I saw them. I stumbled over myself, nearly falling on them when I reached them.“Hey! How was your first day?” Yuya asked, smiling as always.I took a short moment to catch my breath. “Horrible, in terms of a first day. My tour guide wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. I’ve never heard of someone so confident with incorrect information.”Yuzu and Yuya giggled. “Well, there’s no need to dwell on it. Yuya, didn’t you want to practice your pendulum summoning today? We can’t sit here all day if you wanna do that.” Yuzu said, starting to pull Yuya along. I followed them, briefly looking back to see Sylvio staring at me. He turned away as soon as he noticed me. I didn’t pay any mind to it.I stood beside Yuzu as we watched Yuya try again and again to successfully pendulum summon against Gong. Yuya lost a ridiculous amount of duels in the process. After 247 agonizingly long duels over the span of the weekend, Yuya finally figured it out. Gong was so happy he nearly crushed Yuya in a hug. He passed out before Yuzu and I could congratulate him.“Yuya!” She yelled, running to see him. She made sure Gong hadn’t accidentally hurt him, which he didn’t, before trying to shake him back to consciousness. The little kids, Fredrick, Allie, and Tate, stood beside me as we watched Yuzu yell and shake Yuya’s unconscious body to no avail. It took me, Gong, and Mr. Boyle to get her to stop.“Yuzu, you should bring Yuya home. His mom’s probably worried,” I told her, leaning Yuya over my shoulder. “…He has a mom, right?”Yuzu giggled, “Yes, Yuya has a mom. Mrs. Sakaki is really nice. You should come with me. I don’t think I can carry him on my own anyway.”“Sure. Whenever you’re ready, we can bring him.”Yuzu stood up, and I followed. It took me a moment to adjust Yuya so he wouldn’t fall, which was easy considering his size. I followed Yuzu to the front door.“Dad, Olivia and I are bringing Yuya home! We’ll be back in a bit!” Yuzu yelled, not waiting for an answer. She ushered me out the door as I heard Mr. Boyle yell for her to stay safe. I propped Yuya’s head on my shoulder as we began walking.“We should make plans to do something other than dueling next weekend. What do you think?”I thought for a moment, “Maybe we could do a sleepover? Me, you, and Yuya, if he’s interested.”Yuzu giggled, “That’d be fun. We could walk around Paradise City afterward. You’re still new to the city, aren’t you?”“I am.”“Yuya and I can show you around! I know a lot of stores I think you’ll like.” Yuzu’s smile made me giggle, too. Yuya tugged on my sweater, still asleep. I shifted him so his chin was on my shoulder. It was getting darker by the minute.“…Is it normally safe to walk around this late?”“Of course,” Yuzu began, “Paradise City has always been really safe. If it wasn’t, I would’ve asked Gong to come with us.”I laughed to myself again, “You’re right. He seems intimidating enough to keep us out of danger, even if he’s nicer than that.”We continued talking about our favorite stores and restaurants, both in Paradise City and New York City. She asked me about all the things I saw there and what it was like. I asked her about her life here. Yuya was still far from waking up, pulling at my sweater every so often. Yuzu finally stopped me in front of a house. In the door was a blonde woman who smiled at us.“Hi, Mrs. Sakaki. We brought Yuya home,” Yuzu said, leading me to the door.
“Thank you, Yuzu.” She turned to me, “Who’s this young lady?”I straightened my posture, holding Yuya carefully in my arms. “My name is Olivia, miss.”She smiled, ruffling my hair. “It’s nice to meet you, Olivia. Thank you for bringing Yuya home. You can call me Yoko. Or Mrs. Sakaki, if you want.”A gust of wind blew past us, sending a chill down my spine. Yoko seemed to notice this. “Do you girls wanna come inside for a little while? I can walk you home later. I’ll call your parents to let them know. Could I have your parents phone number, Olivia?”“Yes, I have Miss Satomi’s number here,” I pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to Yoko.“Thank you. You girls can sit at the table. Feel free to lay Yuya on the sofa. I’ll be right back with some drinks, okay?”Yuzu and I nodded. I brought Yuya to the sofa and laid him down gently, resting his head on a throw pillow. He looked peaceful sleeping.I joined Yuzu at the table just as Yoko returned from the kitchen. She placed two mugs on the table, both empty. “Would you girls like some hot chocolate?”“Yes please,” Yuzu and I said. She smiled, placing a few chocolate pieces in each cup. She poured hot milk over them, causing the chocolate to melt and swirl. It was almost hypnotic. After a stir and some marshmallows, it was ready. I took a sip and smiled instantly. It was warm and perfectly chocolate-y. Yuzu seemed to agree, drinking most of hers in one sip. Yoko was on the phone in the kitchen, talking to Mr. Boyle. I could hear his voice through the phone.A groan could be heard from the sofa as a tuft of green and red hair peaked over the back. He turned his head to us, his eyes widening as he saw us.“Good evening, Yuya. Your mom is very nice,” I said, waving. I heard Yuzu giggling beside me, greeting him too.Yoko walked over to the living room, glaring slightly at Yuya. “You know you made your friends carry you home, right?”“No? Wait, they did?”Yoko’s expression softened. “You need to be more careful, Yuya. Come on, I’ll make some hot chocolate for you, too. You can help me bring them home after.” He nodded, taking a seat across from me. I sipped the hot chocolate again.“Did you really carry me home?” He asked, clearly more surprised than anything. “I didn’t know you could do that.”“You weigh less than you look, actually. It wasn’t that difficult, but I had to readjust you a few times.”His face went red. “You didn’t have to do that. I would’ve been fine at the school.”“We have school tomorrow, Yuya,” Yuzu said, slightly annoyed. “You need to get proper rest. I’m not dealing with you falling asleep in class again.”
“Yuzu’s right,” Yoko said, tilting the phone away from her ear. “You need to sleep properly. No more staying out this late without permission, especially if it’s not for school.”“Fine,” he sighed, slouching in his chair. He did that a lot, I noticed.After a half hour of talking, Yoko finally decided it was getting too late for Yuzu and I to stay on a school night. Yoko decided to walk Yuzu back to the school, and Yuya was tasked with walking me home, regardless of either of our protests. I didn’t need to be walked home like a little kid. Sure, I was still anxious about walking alone in the dark in the middle of a city, but I could probably manage. Yuya didn’t want to walk back on his own, but Yoko solved that by choosing to walk to my house after she brought Yuzu back.The air was colder outside as we waved goodbye to Yuzu. I knew the walk would be lengthy, likely to Yuya’s dismay. He was still tired, after all.“How can you deal with this cold? You’re wearing shorts!” He asked, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.“I’m used to the cold. It’s not too bad, as long as it’s not sudden. I can give you my sweater if you want.”His face went red again, “No, I’ll be fine. It’s not that bad.” He shivered as he spoke. It was colder than you’d expect in such a warm season.
I pulled my sweater off and draped it over his shoulders, “You take it. I’m fine without it for a while.” I got a hushed thank you in response. He smiled at me for an instant before hiding his face in his jacket again.I pulled Yuya up the stairs and into the apartment. Miss Satomi leaned in from her room as we entered. I ushered him to the living room, sitting him beside the tv. He kept his jacket on, still shivering.While we waited for Yoko, Yuya and I showed off our decks. He seemed impressed with mine, considering how new I was at dueling. His performapals were different from what I expected, but I thought they were a cool concept. They fit his style and personality well.The knocking on the door was the only thing that shifted our attention away from our decks. I went to get the door, and Yuya followed me. As expected, Yoko was standing at the door. Yuya tried to push past me, but couldn’t. I moved to the side for him to pass.“Thank you for everything, Olivia. I hope Yuya brings you around next time he brings Yuzu,” Yoko laughed, which caused Yuya to roll his eyes playfully.“Mom, you said I should get to bed sooner, right? We won’t be home until midnight at this rate.” He pulled on Yoko’s arm gently, like little kids do when they’re trying to get their mom’s attention. We exchanged goodbyes, then they left.I didn’t hesitate to go to bed. I had school in the morning anyway.
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I followed Yuzu to each class I had, since we thankfully shared all of them. Yuya followed us, half asleep the whole time. Once we reached math, Yuya was officially out of it. He fell asleep within minutes of entering the room. The lesson itself was easy, even with the occasional phrase I didn’t understand.“Yuya,” the teacher began. Uh oh. “Answer this question, will you?”Nothing.
“Yuya.” He finally woke up.“I use Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician to set the pendulum scale!” Oh no. Yuya stood, holding his two pendulum cards in hand. The whole class turned to face him as the teacher went straight to his desk. He was screwed.“Do my lessons put you to sleep, sir?” Yuya, don’t do it.“Well, they don’t really add up to a fun time.”Without a second to spare, Yuzu hit him with her fan. “Wrong! Go back to sleep, Yuya!”I giggled at the scene as kids whispered about Yuya’s little scene. Yuzu was infinitely more upset, but class continued as usual, I’d assume.After Yuya was finally released, Yuzu dragged him outside to the front gate. I followed, having to run to catch up a couple of times. Yuzu lectured him the whole way there, telling me every so often that she was proud I wasn’t like Yuya. As we reached the front gate, the three young students from You Show were waiting. They scrambled around Yuya, asking him about his pendulum summoning.
Without any warning, a set of darts landed in the center of Yuya’s face. The tips were only suction cups, which eased my anxiety of a worse outcome.
Yuzu moved back slightly to see the darts. “Whoever threw those has good aim. That’s a triple bullseye!”I turned to look at who threw the darts, but his voice told me all I needed to know.“Well, it was mere child’s play for someone as great as me,” Sylvio laughed, which made my skin crawl. His voice normally sounded like nails on a chalkboard, but his laugh was infinitely worse. His arrogance made it even more obnoxious to hear.“Woah, who are you?” Yuya asked, seemingly dumbfounded by Sylvio’s skill. I wanted to pluck the darts off Yuya’s face and throw them at Sylvio, just to hit him. I didn’t, but I wanted to.
“My name is Sylvio Sawatari, and I’m a huge fan of yours, Yuya!” He shook Yuya’s hand, embracing it delicately like he was a prince greeting a princess (the “princess” being Yuya, which is a funny thought). “I watched your duel against the Sledgehammer last week, and I was mesmerized by that pendulum summon you did. I was hoping I could see those beautiful cards in action.” He plucked the darts off Yuya’s face, smiling. Yuya’s face was red from the flattery.“Don’t flatter him anymore, his ego’s gonna burst.” Yuzu interjected, pushing a gap between the two boys.“No need to be so rude,” Sylvio began, “I am simply stating the truth. Those cards are quite powerful, and your skill is equally as impressive. I would love to see both in person sometime.”Before any of them could continue the conversation, Fredrick butted in. “Yuya, you promised to show us your pendulum summon. You finally got it, right?”Yuya smiled at the kids, “Yep! Finally figured it out last night. We can go to You Show and I’ll show you!” The joy in his voice was so obvious and genuine, it made the kids even more excited. They circled around him, cheering.“Well,” Sylvio began, “why don’t we do that little demonstration at the LEO institute? I’m one of the best students there, in fact. The school wouldn’t mind if we used one of their state-of-the-art dueling courts, so long as I requested.” I wanted to gag, thinking about going near the LEO building. But I refrained, as Yuzu voiced her thoughts.“We can just do it at You Show. We shouldn’t be going to another school for this, especially with someone we’ve hardly met. Plus, we shouldn’t bring the kids…”Sylvio looked hurt. “I would never let harm come to guests, I assure you. I promise I will bring no harm to any of you.” He looked at me, as if he just noticed me. “Miss Olivia can attest to that, right.”I glared at him. “I hardly know him. I couldn’t guarantee anything.” He, once again, looked hurt.“Please believe me. I swear on my life.”Me and Yuzu exchanged looks, silently agreeing. “I guess we can. But only as a rival school,” she announced, crossing her arms. I nodded.Sylvio’s eyes lit up. “I thank you for your trust. Now, we should get going. Follow me, if you would.” The kids and Yuya followed happily, as Yuzu and I stayed a bit further back.“I don’t fully trust him. He tried to tell me that a pigeon and a peacock were the same thing. He wasn’t arguing that they were similar, no, but that they were the exact same bird. He was stupidly confident with that false information, too.”“He did what?” Yuzu asked, turning to face me. I continued to stare at Sylvio, who was talking to Yuya. “I was suspicious of him too, but that’s a whole other level.”“I don’t like where this is going. Especially how he’s treating Yuya. …It’s just a hunch, though. It might be fine…”I didn’t even realize that we had gotten to LDS. It took me until I ran into a wall to notice. Said wall was concrete, so it hurt a reasonable amount. It didn’t help that Sylvio was standing next to me, well aware that I was gonna hit the wall.He laughed, “You should watch where you’re going, Miss Olivia.”“You should be more polite to your guests, then,” I mumbled.Yuya and Yuzu laughed too. The kids were too busy admiring the building to notice.I laughed with them, “Well I’m glad you two thought that was funny.”Sylvio cleared his throat, “Now that we have arrived, I will show you to the dueling field we’ll use. Follow me, please.”
He led us across the campus, passing by a number of duels on the way. We entered the central court, which earned some ‘ooh’s from the kids and Yuya. Yuzu was much quieter, but still seemed impressed. Sylvio drew the group's attention back to himself, three of his lackeys standing behind him. The fourth, whom I didn’t recognize, grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward the hall. I heard Sylvio start this grand spiel about Yuya’s pendulum cards, but I got too far away to hear most of it.I was stopped right outside of the court. The boy turned around to face me, clearly nervous. “I am very sorry for dragging you away, Miss. I just have a question for you.”“I’m all ears, then. What is it?”“Are you Olivia Mizuka?”“Yes, I am.”“…Did you know someone named June when you were younger? June Shinoda, specifically.”June Shinoda…“…I don’t fully remember her. I’m sorry.”He looked at me with a frown. “It’s fine. I was just wondering. I do have another question, though.”“Alright.”“Is your father…” he hesitated, questioning his choice of words. I didn’t let him finish his thought.“Yes, yes he is. I… I understand why you asked the first question. To be sure.”He nodded. “I’m sorry if asking was pushy. I shouldn’t have…”I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry too much. It’s good that people remember her.”He stood silent for a moment. “You should go back now. …I’m sorry about Sylvio…” He turned away and ran, seemingly going to loop around the court. I did as he suggested.We had gone so far from the court that I couldn’t see what was happening at first. Then I noticed the giant buildings that had been raised with the hologram system.
They were dark shades of grey, contrasting with the colorful silhouettes standing on the tallest building.…Colorful silhouettes…?I looked more closely at the tallest figure, noticing the pink pigtails and blue hair accessories that were unmistakably Yuzu’s. From there, it was obvious to assume the other figures belonged to Tate, Allie, and Fredrick. I sprinted into the court, only now grasping the height of the buildings. The four of them were stuck on a narrow rooftop with no safe way down. My heart sank watching them.I noticed the duel playing on the court’s large screens. It was between Yuya and Sylvio. I felt a sharp pain in my chest as I pieced together what happened.
Before I could fully process everything, the tower shook. It was hard to see what was happening, but I could see that someone nearly fell. I ran to the top of the stands while watching the duel.“Now, attack Yuya’s snake!” Sylvio ordered from atop his hoverboard. The board shot darts at Yuya’s performapal. Yuya grabbed one of the cards that was on the ground, activating it. It was a card called “Jump Shot”, which had a purple-red border. The snake’s attack points were reduced to 400, getting destroyed right after. Yuya’s life points dropped to 3000.I kept switching focus between the duel and Yuzu. I hardly paid attention to what happened after that. I was too panicked.“Hey. What’s going on?”I turned around to see a shorter boy with blue hair. He held a lollipop in his hand.“That stupid rich kid forced my friend Yuya into a duel. Plus, he has my friend Yuzu stuck on the tower. And I can’t help them.” I held the railing tight, it trembling with my hand. I turned back to the duel.“Why’d he do that?” The boy asked, moving beside me. He leaned on the railing, stopping its movement.“I don’t know! This kid pulled me away before the duel, and when I came back I saw this.”Suddenly, a light filled the court. Sylvio had Yuya’s pendulum cards. Three dart monsters flooded the field, symbolizing a successful pendulum summon.“Huh, I’ve never seen that before.” The kid said, still licking the lollipop. “What's that?”“A pendulum summon. Yuya was the first to do it last week. I didn’t realize Sylvio took the cards…”“Is Yuya the one with the bug monster?”“Yeah. It’s one of his performapals. He uses a variety of monsters like that.”“That’s cool. Are you a duelist too?”“I’m trying to be. I haven’t learned too much yet, only the basics. I haven’t used my deck yet, either.”“What kind of deck do you have?”“It’s called Dragunity, if I remember correctly. Dragons with swords.”The boy laughed a bit. “I’ve never heard of those. They sound fun, though.”Even as we spoke, I didn’t take my eyes off of the duel. Now, Sylvio was going to attack Yuya with his supercharged dart monster that could deal piercing damage equal to Yuya’s remaining life points.“I need to go down there. If Yuya loses, I’ll deal with Sylvio in his place.”The boy grabbed my sleeve. “You said you’ve never dueled before. You couldn’t beat someone from LDS as an amateur.”I turned to him for a moment. “I didn’t say I was gonna duel him, did I?” His eyes widened a bit.“Don’t even think about it! You’d be in so much trouble for that! All that can do is cause problems.”“Then what can I do?! I can’t beat him myself, and he’s endangering my friends! Why can’t I?”He looked at me for a moment, his expression firm. “If your friends get hurt, I’ll intervene. I can’t let you do it by yourself.” He looked past me, lighting his grip on my sleeve and smiling. “But it seems like we didn’t need to worry.”I turned back to see Yuya back with his magicians. They had caught the others, dropping them off safely by Yuya. I ran down the stairs to meet them. The boy followed behind me, laughing at the show Yuya was putting on.“I’m sorry for getting you guys involved,” Yuya said, turning toward the group. The kids dismissed it, cheering for him to go on.I ran over to Yuzu, who immediately turned to catch me as I ran into her. I wrapped my arms around her, nearly in tears.“I’m so glad you’re okay! I was so worried!”She hugged me back, giggling softly. “We didn’t mean to worry you, Olivia.”“Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe it’s time to start our performance.”“Now, to welcome back my lovely assistants, I’ll set the pendulum scale with Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician!” The arena lit up once more, now on Yuya’s side of the field. The magicians appeared, framing Yuya’s side of the field. “Now, I can summon monsters from level 2 to level 7. Swing far, pendulum! Carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready to swing into action!”Watching Yuya duel like this, with all of his energy and joy, brought a smile to my face. It reminded me why I wanted to become a duelist in the first place. Yuya tries to make everyone happy with his duels, and he does a great job with that. I want to be like him, in that sense. To make everyone happy, to forget your worries and your regrets, to feel overwhelming joy as two people perform in a grand duel meant for all to see. To be severed from the shadow my father cast onto his family and his name…“Now, I activate the effect of my Kaleidoscorp. I can only do this because you pendulum summoned your Ultimate Dart Striker. Thank you for that, Sylvio.”Sylvio, naturally, looked confused. “What does that worthless card do, then?”“Because of your Dart Striker, my Odd Eyes can attack each of your monsters once!” Odd Eyes had two holographic images floating beside it, thanks to Kaleidoscorp’s effect.“Now, before I give Odd Eyes the go-ahead, can someone remind me of Odd Eyes’s ability?”Tate chimed in, “If Odd Eyes attacks a level 5 or higher monster, the battle damage is doubled!”Sylvio began to panic, much to my amusement. “Wait, wait! We can talk about this, Yuya!”“Odd Eyes, attack!”One after another, Sylvios dart monsters were destroyed, dropping his life points bit by bit until they reached 1200.
Sylvio scrambled to his feet. “Good move, but I’ve still got some life points left. This duel isn’t over yet.”“That’s what you think. Now, for our finale, I’d like to give a round of applause to our final stars; Performapal Turn Toad and Block Spider!” We did as instructed, clapping for Yuya’s monsters.“What could those weak monsters do? Neither of them can touch me with those attacks.”Yuya smiled again, “You’re right, Sylvio. They can’t attack as they are. However,” Sylvio’s expression soured, “ I’ve got one last trick up my sleeve. I present Performapal Turn Toad’s ability!”Yuya’s Block Spider switches to attack mode, now with 1200 attack. “I can switch my monster to attack mode and they get attack points equal to half of their defense points. Now, ladies and gentlemen, can you tell me what number we’ll see when my Block Spider attacks?”We all cheered, “Zero!”As we did so, the Block Spider tackled Sylvio, knocking his life points down to zero. The light show from Yuya’s monsters was a beautiful sight, making this whole ordeal almost worth it. Almost.Sylvio stood up again. “Fine. I’ll take those stupid cards by force. Boys, get them!”Sylvio’s three henchmen tried to step forward, but were knocked down instantly, Sylvio fell too, all by the hand of the blue-haired boy.
“After all that, you’re gonna keep being a pain? Seriously, just give up. You’re lucky that I stepped in and not the girl over there. I had to stop her from trying to come down here earlier. She’s got a really big problem with you now.” He laughed, turning his attention back to Yuya.“You’re a good duelist. I want you to be my mentor.”Yuya looked confused. “Aren’t you a Leo student?”“I was thinking about it, but you’re cooler. You can instruct me instead.”He walked over to us, happier than ever. “What do you say? Yuya, was it? I’m Sora.”Yuzu stared at the unconscious students. She whispered, “Are they okay…?”“They’ll be fine. They deserved it, anyway. Look on the bright side; it sounds like we’ve got another new student. That’s me, Tate, and now Sora, all within a week. That’s pretty good for You Show, right?”“We hadn’t had a new student since Allie and Fredrick, and they started almost a year ago. Dad’s gonna be happy about this, so long as Sora actually joins.”“He will,” I replied, smiling. “I got to talk to him before. He’ll fit right in.”“Hey, I never got your name,” Sora called. “I told you mine, now tell me yours.”“My name? Olivia. This is Yuzu.” I put my hand on Yuzu’s head. She swatted it away instantly. She wasn’t mad, though. She only got mad if it was Yuya.“Nice to meet you both. Now what are we gonna do first, coach Y?”Yuya sighed, “Don’t call me that.”