Yu-Gi-Oh! Skies [IC/R-16]

[a coffee]

 

"Come on Beth, do we really have to faff about like this every time you play? It's just Hitomu, the three of us trade wins all the time! Really, I'm knackered, and Ashley wanted to meet for tea."

 

" You knob. Those two things don't even make sense together. If you're knackered, why the *@!# would you be meeting Ashley for tea?" Elizabeth lifted a wilted wrist in confusion and pointed to the coffee table in her apartment, where both her Harpie deck and his Cyber Dragon lay, and then continued, "You promised me you would duel with me for practice because it's our tradition. Now get your arse in the chair, Todd. Believe me, I'd much rather be meeting Pat at the food truck, but it's tradition, and he's won the last two! I won't make it three."

 

Todd angrily whined and then sat in his chair, as per instruction, and drew his hand, "If you make another bloody mistake on turn 3 I'm calling Ashley and telling her to come over here to make fun of you. It's a miracle you win half of these games with the same nonsense."

 

--

 

Elizabeth sat at her table, cup of coffee already in hand, hair disheveled from rolling out of bed and immediately practicing. Her Harpie deck sat on the table as it always did before a big duel, as did Todd's Cyber Dragon deck. The only difference this time was that Todd never took his turns. She simply sat there, flipping cards over and running back the last duel they had. She had played it out tens of times in her mind at this point. Turn three came up; Todd had monster removal ready; he always played the backfoot on turn 3 to disrupt the pace and force a mistake. Of course, this time it wouldn't have mattered because she had a counter ready for it. He had taken too much of a defensive approach to stop her if she countered: game over.

 

She smiled a bit, remembering how angry Todd was that Elizabeth had played him like that. She couldn't exactly remember the result of her duel with Hitomu that night, but she always remembered this. She sat back in her couch for a moment before the wave of sadness set in.

 

What the hell am I doing right now? I would look like a nut to the average person. Nobody grieves like this. She stood up and collected the cards into their respective boxes, marching back into her room and tucking the boxes back into their carrying case, where they lay indefinitely until the next time Elizabeth felt there was a duel of note, where she would go through the whole process again. She looked over at her actual deck, sitting on her desk.

 

"Probably should look over this one last time..." Elizabeth looked up at her clock: 8:08 AM. Blood rushed cold through her body to the surface as she realized how late she was running this morning, "Bloody !@#*in- I'm going to be so late to 1st!" she quickly grabbed her planned outfit for the day: black, high-waisted spandex jeans, her old "Dragons" t-shirt with her name on it from the days of the duel team, and sprinted towards her shower.

 

After excitedly showering in 8 and a half minutes flat, Elizabeth threw her still wet hair into a high ponytail, threw on some black heeled ankle boots and rushed out of the door looking as fierce as she possibly could while also running approximately 10 minutes late to class.

 

--

 

The school was abuzz with anticipation of the duel upcoming; she was positive Hitomu wasn't feeling the pressure, but it was just about ready to crack Elizabeth as the clock struck noon. She had sworn off of cigarettes the day of the duel; she wanted to be completely focused and of pure mind and body...but the nerves eating away at her stomach made one sound super relaxing right now. 

 

Despite the fact that it was Hitomu's place of occupation, and that there was every possibility she would run into him there, Elizabeth went towards coffee cards. Nicotine and caffeine were processed in the same way by the body, so a good cup of coffee should help curb her cravings just a bit. The duel was only a few hours away yet, and she felt anything but ready for it. Was it

always this way before a duel? She was positive it wasn't, but she couldn't remember. What was it like the last time she dueled Hitomu?

 

Oddly enough, that thought became soothing to her. It was just a duel with one of her friends. If anybody was to understand how this felt on her psyche, it would be Hitomu; that was part of the reason she challenged him in the first place, regardless of reputation. As she approached the door to CoffeeCards, she actually found herself hoping she would run into her opponent; she wanted to wish him good luck. However, to her chagrin, Hitomu was nowhere to be found.

 

"Ah. Probably with Tess." Elizabeth proceeded to the counter and ordered a black coffee and a banana; something light to keep her body going until showtime.

 

Only a few hours to go.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

-BGM-

 

Syllabus day...or how Souji liked to call it: a complete waste of time. His thought process was that the teachers could just send their syllabuses...syllabi...whatever to the dorm rooms. Like mail people...then again, they'd probably have to pay them like normal mail people if that were to happen. These thoughts and others were floating through Souji's head, as the young man sat in class, his head resting on his arms.

 

Jeez...stop explaining stuff already! he thought, a silent sigh escaping his mouth. We can read the syllabus...just let us go already!

 

Finally, after what seemed like hours (wasn't really hours, but you know what it feels like), the students were free from class. Souji immediately stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, making a b-line for the exit. At the same time, in passing, he saw a familiar individual in his class that he didn't notice right away before. It was Jun Shui. Which was surprising...cause if there was one thing to always notice about her...it was the fact of the hat she wore.

 

"Hey...Jun." Souji called after the young girl, making his way towards her. "This is surely a shock. Didn't expect to see you in the same class."

[Alaina]

 

Jun had always been someone to not pay much mind to how to best optimize her school living. In that regard, scheduling was no different. Merely wanting to make sure that she had the classes she was supposed to take, and had all the credits she needed for the semester she, as a result, didn't actually pay much attention to when her classes were. As such, present day Jun could only curse at past Jun when her alarm at 7 AM went off to wake her up for her first class of the semester. She could only continue cursing at past Jun as she continued to sit through class after class for the next six hours. 

 

The girl didn't mind the first day, however. All she had to do was get a piece of paper that told her what was expected of them and what their curriculum was like and then go home. Despite not having to do anything, however, the girl's fatigue from her classes was already showing, her head slumped against her desk as she struggled valiantly to not fall back asleep. Ultimately, though, the last class in her string of classes had ended, causing the girl to let out a large sigh of relief before getting up from her desk. 

 

With her bag slung over her shoulder, the girl adjusted her hat as she made her way out the door. Not too long after, though, she heard a familiar voice call out to her, looking to see that it belonged to Souji. With a friendly smile on her face, she said, "oh, hey Souji. Yeah, sure is a surprise seeing you here too." She wasn't quite sure why he found it as a shock. "So, you out of classes too?" With nothing much planned herself, and unsure about Yusuji and Kyouko's schedule, the girl then asked, "so, what's the Rider got planned for the rest of the day?" 

[The Warden]

With classes over already, Alison found herself with little to do. The first meeting of the Occult Club wasn't until next week; not that it would stop them meeting with no real applicants this month, but she digressed. Well, in times like these, might as well have a little fun and figure out where the set up shop. Taking her tarot deck from a well hidden pocket, Alison flicked the top card, allowing it to flutter freely before landing. "The Hermit" Alison commented on the card, and its direction. "Very well then."

 

Scooping up the card, the girl casually followed the direction Fate seemed to want her to go, which just so happened to be CoffeeCards. "She's here is she?"

 

Straining against the door, it would seem the winds of destiny were blowing quite fortuitously, for there with a coffee and a banana was the Hermit herself. Alison placed a hand to her pocket, and nodded. "I understand" she whispered.

 

Gliding over like a specter, she stood politely at the opposite end of the table Elizabeth sat upon. "What a coincidence to see you again Miss Hermit" Alison remarked in order to get her attention.

[radio414]

Master Miracle never answered. Of course he didn’t. So even as she was clapped on the back and dragged along to the next big adventure of the afternoon (for varying values of “big” and “adventure”, of course), even as she was promised something just as fun if not more so as the duel (that she barely watched), Melissa was left with that all too familiar feeling of self-doubt. So much for new school year’s resolutions.

It took a long while for everybody to say their goodbyes. Both Jun and Yusuji had insisted on hugging at the dorm entrance, which itself took longer than it should have, but then there was that awkward moment when they all realized they were all still going in the same direction. Of the three girls, only two of them laughed about it.

Melissa’s dorm was exactly as she had left it that morning before leaving for church. Her bed was made, clothes were still hung up, and there was a distinct lack of any sign that her roommate had made an appearance while she was out. Maybe earlier in the day Melissa would have been disappointed. Now, she just wanted to sleep. She took care when getting ready for bed, making sure everything was ready for her first day, and was in the middle of brushing her teeth when her door opened again. “Meliiiissaaa, you home?” a cheery voice called.

Melissa spat into the sink, more worried that she’d been caught unprepared actually finished with her toothbrush. “I’m, uh, I’m in here,” she said, and came out to a smiling girl about the same age -- maybe a bit older? -- as Melissa wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts. Maybe she had an air of confidence too, the kind that fit with Blue Yonder’s more go-getting students, but it wasn’t like Melissa would have been able to pick her out of a crowd. She was probably at the duel and she just didn’t notice.

“Hello, Melissa!” The girl set down her bags and stretched. “Today was pretty spectacular, huh?”

“I think we might have different definitions of the word ‘spectacular,’” Melissa said. “Um, it sounds like you already know my name. I don’t think I know yours?”

“Oh!” the girl said. There was a shake in her voice, like that wasn’t a question she’d ever expected. “My bad… My name is Hoshiko!”

She offered her hand out to Melissa, who reciprocated. Somewhere out there was a letter that paired Melissa and Hoshiko’s names together. And Melissa had definitely read it. Maybe it had arrived during one of Melissa’s more intense periods of isolation, and with all her focus set on pointedly not talking to people, things like names slipped away? It occurred to Melissa that if Father Gregory had asked her what her roommate’s name was, she wouldn’t have been able to answer. And that just made her feel worse. But Hoshiko also looked embarrassed, so maybe that was just the general mood.

Hoshiko’s embarrassment -- at least the visible kind -- disappeared as soon as the handshake ended, though. Melissa briefly wondered if that was a learnable skill, but wasn’t able to ponder it for too long before being interrupted by another question. “So… how’d you spend the day?” Hoshiko said, a playful tone in her voice.

This is what Melissa wanted to say: “I was almost kicked out of the one on-campus activity I actually get excited about, I had a screaming episode in one restroom and an anxiety attack in another, I think I got hit on by some guy dressed as a wizard, and I had Fast Food for lunch.” But she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she floundered. It seemed like Hoshiko was searching for a specific answer, an answer that Melissa just wasn’t able to give her. If this was a puzzle, well, she was too tired for puzzles. She ended up shrugging, at least acknowledging that she heard the question if nothing else.

“Not much of a talker, huh?” Hoshiko said after a bit of silence, maybe a little disappointed at Melissa’s non-answer? She giggled too, though, so obviously she wasn’t too disappointed. “That’s ok,” she said, and let out a yawn. “It’s getting a bit late anyways. That, or I’m just tired from today.” Hoshiko smiled at Melissa. “Either way, we’ll have more time to bond later.”

Melissa smiled back, though hers felt a bit flatter than her roommate’s seemed to be. “I set a, uh, an early alarm, is that okay? It should be just for tonight, but if that’s going to- to bother you, um,” What was she trying to say? “I just want an earlier start to the school year than most.” Good enough.

“Oh, no problem at all!” Hoshiko said. “I’m used to waking up early anyways. My manager would wake me up at like...” She looked up for a bit, visibly counting numbers that weren’t there. “...I think, like, five AM a few times?” She shrugged before looking back at Melissa. “But yeah, totes go for it.”

“Okay,” said Melissa. “I’m going to go to bed now, I think. Good night, and, uh, good luck with your classes this semester.”

“Alright, you too!”

Wednesday, September 6, 909 PD
Feast of Saint Eleutherius

 

“Answer me quickly, Lord;
   my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
   or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
   for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
   for to you I entrust my life.”
-Psalm 143:7-8 (NIV)

Melissa had spent her first semester at Blue Yonder trying to identify the best desk location, the one that minimized the possibility of her being called on in class while also maximizing the space between her and the kids in the back whose delinquency would inevitably attract similar attention. She had decided that whatever the classroom, the best spot was the second row, closest to the door. It ceded some power to whatever upperclassman wanted to dart out the door the moment the bell rang, but also meant that if she was quick enough, she could be second or third out. The point was, she wouldn’t be jostled if she could help it.

Her second semester was an exercise in futility. Every class it seemed like someone had either figured this out already or had blindly wandered into the classroom and had just so happened to take the seat Melissa was going for. She never said anything about it, but she did spend the first few days of that semester staring daggers at her classmates. It took another panic and more than a few priest-assigned Hail Marys before she finally accepted her suboptimal seating.

This semester was going to be different. Melissa had spent her last week of summer vacation slowly acclimating herself to an early wake-up. She’d laid out her uniform the night before so that she could throw it on in a moments notice. Sure, it might look a little rushed, but as Melissa put it, “Appearances don’t matter if nobody notices you anyways.” It was a comforting mumble. It was the kind nobody really heard but herself, but also the kind that she could say over and over as she prepared for the big day.

She needn’t have bothered. While Melissa wasn’t the only one early for class -- Blue Yonder had enough overachievers -- everyone else either sat in the front row or nearest the windows. Nobody looked at the girl with the slightly crooked uniform on the other side of the room; they all chatted among themselves.

The rest of Melissa’s went almost the same way. Just like she planned, she’d be one of the first ones out, walk briskly (or in one case, jog all the way across campus) to the next classroom, and claim that precious desk before anybody else. Her plan only failed on one occasion (again, the class being on the other side of campus probably had something to do with it), but that was a good enough success rate for her. That was something she could live with.

The classes themselves, well, they didn’t call it Syllabus Day because of its stimulating discussion. Melissa came out of each classroom with three or four pieces of paper and not much else in terms of information. Not that she minded. Not having to focus on class meant that she could worry about literally everything else. Sure, she might end up looking like a nervous wreck, but again, “Appearances don’t matter if nobody notices you anyways.”

Melissa’s last class of the day felt like it got out later than it actually was. Which was fine; she’d rather it be that than the other way around. That left more time for devotions and prayer and any other activities she could do alone in the cloister of her own dorm.

Her phone was buzzing. She should probably check that.

From: Connor
To: Melissa

Hey melissa just wanted to check in. Your availability is the same as last year right? Im trying to get everyones schedules

She was still supposed to be mad at him, right? Probably. But an obligation was an obligation, and just because she maybe-hated the host didn’t mean she wanted to be completely removed from the group just yet. She quickly typed up a response:

From: Melissa
To: Connor

I have the same class times and extracurriculars (excluding yours?) as last year, yes.

Her dorm was in sight. The only things between her and a few precious moments of silence (at least, until Hoshiko came home) were an elevator, a hallway, and two
locked
doors.

Hm.

Her plan wasn’t as foolproof as she'd thought it was. The worst part was that she knew exactly where her keys were and why she had left them there: They were on her desk, and she'd rushed out the door without even thinking to double-check. There were three solutions to this problem: call the front desk to borrow their backup key (and deal with their silent judgement of someone who lost their key on the first day of classes), going around asking random strangers if anybody had seen her roommate (no), or wait until evening, sneak in with someone or other (you weren’t supposed to but nobody ever listened) and hopefully Hoshiko would be there to let her in (why oh why didn’t they trade numbers last night?).

The choice was obvious. Melissa swiveled on her heel and started a walk around campus, looking for something, anything, to pass the time.

---

[a coffee]

 

Elizabeth sat down at her usual spot; routine was the key to success, Elizabeth always said, and her coffee was no different. She took a sip of the black coffee and grimaced slightly. The truth was, she hated black coffee, but she always tried it once to see if she still hated black coffee. Check. She took a little cream from the table and poured it into the coffee, lightly stirring it until the color of the coffee became light brown. Then she would try it once more, grimace once more, and proceed to feel slightly guilty, but ultimately satisfied by the addition of just a touch of sugar. Just as she was putting the finishing touches on her drink, she noticed a smaller, blonde girl approach her table. Elizabeth hadn't quite noticed her coming over, nor did she particularly recognize the girl, which had only made her appearance stranger when she began to speak:

 

 "What a coincidence to see you again Miss Hermit" 

 

Consider her attention grabbed. She quirked her eyebrow up for just a second, "Miss Hermit...?" Elizabeth's accent hung on the "r" sound of "hermit" for a particularly long time, a telltale sign of confusion as her internal cogs began to spin. After a few seconds of thought, she recalled the last time she had been in the coffee shop. She began to snap her fingers as the realization crept over her face.

 

"Oh! You're the president of the Occult Club. You must be referring to tarot." She cracked open her banana from the center, splitting into two halves, gesturing towards the girl with it, as if to offer the girl half of her banana before continuing, "Afraid I don't know much about it, but I can't say the Hermit sounds like a particularly good thing. For future reference, my name is Elizabeth Hall. Pleased to make your acquaintance, albeit under somewhat bizarre circumstances."

 

Elizabeth took a bite of her banana regardless of the girl's response to her gesture, followed by a small sip of her coffee; it was sort of a strange back-to-back texturally, but it was certainly better than a glass of juice after brushing your teeth.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

"Oh, hey Souji. Yeah, sure is a surprise seeing you here too. So, you out of classes too?"

 

Souji nodded, shrugging slightly. "Yeah. To be honest, was wondering if the teacher would EVER shut up..." he shook his head slightly. "It's like every one of these teachers think we can't read...like...at all! Still, guess it can't be helped." A sigh escaped his lips, rolling his eyes. "And truthfully...I just wanted to skip all these classes."

 

"So, what's the Rider got planned for the rest of the day?"

 

"Ah, chchchshshsh...!" the young man tried to get Jun to stop talking the moment she said "the Rider". "It's called a 'secret identity' for a reason, Jun." Not like it really mattered though, since most of the students that were sort of familiar with Blue Yonder and not the newbies knew that Souji and the Kamen Rider were the same individual. Nevertheless, he still believed to stay true to form and sort of keep that little can of worms quiet when he could.

 

"As for what I'm planning to do for the rest of the day, dunno." Souji shrugged. "Might check to see what Sai's up to...ya know, since I don't have many other friends except for you and him, since you two are like the only ones who can really handle me and DON'T think I'm a huge prick."

[Dova]

---

Syllabus day.

Yusuji hastily stuffed her bag lavishly decorated with flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors full of everything she would need for the coming term. She had packed last night as soon as she’d remembered, but she’d been so busy attempting to complete her latest artwork as she did so that it was mostly filled with whatever paint brushes, palettes or other tools had been in hand at the time.

“Not bad at all!” the paintress concluded, examining the varied splatter marks left by her brushes underneath a particularly crammed book. “It’s dried, and looks wonderful. I should try painting more things this way!”

Even today, despite her concerted efforts to focus on preparing for the day ahead, Yusuji couldn’t help adding her final touches to her beautiful meadow every time she passed it carrying more school gear. Wait, meadows weren’t blue. Was it the sky or the sea then?

A soft trill coming from her phone broke Yusuji out of her reverie. She chucked the last few remaining items into her by now straining bag, turned off the alarm on her phone, grabbed both, then dashed out of her dorm. Today was syllabus day, after all. There were classes to discover, more people to meet, friends to catch up with; in short, another glorious day.
 

Several hours and a few more classes later, Yusuji finally stepped out of the main school building in the exquisitely cool afternoon. Yesterday may have been a tad hot, but today was just right, and right now Yusuji was feeling exceedingly grateful towards whoever was running the dome today. Looking up at the clouds as she walked, she wondered if each one was individually crafted. Maybe not by a loving human’s hand, but even from some computery algorithm, every single white fluffy formation could be unique, floating through the air with a curve here or a puff there that was absent on all that came before...and all that might come after. Also they looked really cute, especially from down here. One of them even looked like a kitten if you squinted hard and tilted your head at an absurd angle. Not that any angle really was absurd (who are we to judge?), it was just a just a nicer word to use than large for the nonetheless strange pose Yusuji was striking as she walked.

She’d been fortunate to catch Jun once early in the morning, but their paths diverted from there with their separate classes, and they had been unable to share much in terms of timetables considering it had been the first lesson of the day. There had been Hazel and a few other friends too here and there, but Yusuji had mostly had a keen eye out for the friends she’d met the previous day. Of course, she could’ve just focused on making new ones, but it would’ve been great to meet them again. As she pondered this, Yusuji pulled out her phone absently.

From: Yusuji
To: NiceHatJun

Haiya! Can’t believe it’s been a whole DAY since I’ve seen you :O

Getting to know Kyouko might’ve turned Yusuji and Jun’s dynamic duo into a terrific trio…

Well not a whole day but half a day but not really half is it? Something like that.

...that white-haired boy might divulge the secrets of his weird yet amazingly swell costume…

Anyway, we’ve still gotta exchange timetables! I’m outside right now, how about you?

...and Melissa (or it had been Lissa? She really had to get Jun to introduce people properly, at least the first time.) had seemed nice, although…

...not too happy, walking by herself away from the dorms. Yusuji halted, her thumbs still poised above her phone and eyes for once still, fixed on the passing Melissa. A seconds pause while she considered what to do, but it didn't take her long. It took her a little bit longer to delete some of her text, add another bit and send it, but even as she finished up with it, Yusuji had began to run over to Melissa with a smile on her face.

 

I’m outside right now, how about you? I'm going to go painting for a bit with 'Lissa, so feel free to come over if you're not busy!

 
“Hi again Melissa!” she began, beaming as she reached the other girl, “How was the first day back? I was just about to go painting-” It was sort of true. At some point that afternoon, she was indeed going to go painting, so why not do it a little earlier? “-and was wondering if you wanted to come along? Jun will probably be there later, and it’s really so much fun! I don't know if you can paint, but if you can't I can show you! Or you can watch. Jun does both, and she’s really good. At both painting and watching.”

---

[The Warden]

"Elizabeth is it? How fitting, though I must decline on the banana" Alison said wistfully as she daintily, albeit stiffly took a seat opposite the girl. "And yes, I do refer to Tarot Cards. I often find that there is always a Major Arcana that suits everyone, much like how the Hermit suits you" she remarked, taking the deck from her pocket and placing it on the table.

 

Whether this caught Elizabeth's eye or not was questionable, though interest was probably drawn from the top card being flipped over onto the table, revealing the Hermit. "And of course, we can't forget about your friend the Emperor" Alison added, revealing the next card of the deck, the Emperor. "I must say, I find it intriguing that the hideaway Hermit should deign to take on the Emperor in his own kingdom. Perhaps in her solitude she has found the wisdom she is seeking?" the girl said with a mystical air. "Or perhaps she failed, and hid away out of fear rather than curiosity" Alison added, rotating the Hermit into the inverse position. "Or, perhaps an outside force caused the two of you to conflict?"

[The Frost King]

‘Bright light. Annoying. My eyes. Trying to sleep.’

 

The eyes of Akari Ito opened hesitantly, only to close back again as she was staring straight into the morning sun which shone just perfectly through the blinds on her bedroom window. Making sure not to look directly into the sun this time, she opened her eyes again to get a great, and not blinding, view of her bedroom wall. As she let her eyes adjust, she mentally made a note to close the bedroom blinds before going to bed.

 

With her eyes now fully adjusted to the light, she noticed something. Her alarm hadn’t gone off. Maybe she had woken up before it? Now that she thought about it, what time was it anyways? Reaching for her phone, which laid on top of her dresser, she checked the time. Speaking of time, at that moment, it seemed to freeze for a moment as Akari realized something. She was going to be late. . .for her first day of school.

 

Basically exploding out of her bed, she rushed into the other room where her school uniform was laid neatly on top of the kitchen table. Thank god she had decided to lay it out the day before, otherwise she’d be even more late than she already was. Putting it on in record time, she headed towards the bathroom to get a look at herself in the mirror. Surprising, the school uniform looked perfectly fine. Unsurprisingly, her hair was a complete mess and she didn’t have time to mess with it. The best she could do was put a comb through it a couple times and skedaddle. So that’s exactly what she did, and even though her hair still looked like a mess, it didn’t look as bad as it had before. With no more time to waste, she burst out of her dorm room as she ran off to her 1st class.

 

 <><><><><><><><><><>

 

“Sorry I’m late!” Akari spat out as soon as she entered the class room, clearly out of breath. In response was a chorus of laughter as almost every kid in there was enjoying the fact that one of their fellow classmates was late on the first day. The teacher on the other hand was clearly not in a laughing mood, staring sternly at her as if waiting for an explanation. “I forgot to set my alarm.” Her voice was a lot quieter when she spoke this time, clearly because of the embarrassment that was beginning to build up. The teacher said nothing in response, instead watching carefully as Akari made her way to her seat. As soon as she sat down, the teacher cleared his throat and continued on with the lesson as nothing ever happened. Mentally and physically face-palming herself, Akari looked down at her desk.

 

This was not how she had wanted her first day of school to start.

 

 <><><><><><><><><><>

 

With the end of the last class, Akari let out a sigh of relief. Besides being late for class, the rest of Syllabus day came and went without any more mess-ups. Which was honestly a relief for her. She had had enough embarrassment for one day. Picking up a stack of papers that had accumulated over the many different classes, she headed for the door at a rather steady pace.

 

While most of the students seemed to be off in the direction of either coffee cards or Jo’s fast food truck, Akari had another destination in mind. She was heading back to her dorm, mainly because she wanted to drop off the stack of papers. While secondly she wanted to get her unkempt hair under control. After she did that, coffee cards seemed like a good place to go. She hadn’t had a chance to go there yesterday and she might get a chance to see Hitomu. While she hadn’t really had any solid conversations with him, she knew about him like every other student at Blue Yonder did. A powerful duelist who’s passion for dueling seemed to be fading away. Although, now that she thought about it, he was going to be dueling someone today. The fact that Hitomu, a top-tier duelist, was going to be in a duel was more than enough reason for her to watch it. No way was she going to miss it like yesterday’s duel.

 

Being so lost in her thoughts, Akari hadn’t realized that someone was in front of her until she walked straight into them, spilling the papers she was holding onto the ground. “Sorry!” She said quickly, not getting a good look at the person as she crouched down in an attempt to recover the fallen papers.

 

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

A few moments later, Akari's attention was drawn upward by a gloved hand offering her the lion's share of her dropped papers, neatly stacked so that their edges lined up. It belonged to a tall boy with platinum blonde hair who was immaculately dressed in a uniform that she wouldn't have recognized. He was looking down at her with an apologetic smile, and his brilliant blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the mid-day light that washed over his face.

 

"My apologies miss... You aren't hurt, are you?" he knelt down to her level as he spoke, gently nudging the hand holding the recovered papers closer toward there in an effort to prompt her to take them. "I must not have been paying attention to where I was going... You see I just transferred here and I'm a bit lost. You wouldn't happen to know where the sciences building is, would you? I have a class there in half an hour and I'd like to be punctual." He paused a moment, then a small laugh escaped from him. "Pardon me, where are my manners. I'm Kazu Eilhard Shioda, and you are?"

 

 

 

 

Yushiro deflated when he realized the person in front of him wasn't Akira, and upon the realization that he'd nearly bumped into the girl and caused her to spill her lunch, his face turned red. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice or care, and instead took a seat on the other end of the bench from where Yushiro had been sitting.

 

"You're the Double Down kid, right?"

 

It took a few seconds for Yushiro to process what she meant, before he at last remembered his duel yesterday, and how he'd used that card to force a tie against Hiraku. "Uhhh, yeah... that's me."

 

"Unless you're going somewhere, might as well sit." she replied, before taking a positively massive bite of her taco. Yushiro's stomach rumbled. It looked delicious. He did as she said and sat back down, and took a moment to look her over while she wasn't looking at him directly. He liked the color of her hair, but other than that she didn't look all that attractive, or even very approachable. The fact that she was clearly taller than he was didn't really help, either. She was tapping her foot rather excitedly, and even Yushiro could tell from her sitting posture that the girl was incredibly tense. His first instinct was to ask if she was alright, but he thought better of it. It was best not to pry when you didn't even know someone's name.

 

"Sooooooo, you were watching my game yesterday then?" Yushiro leaned back on the bench and put his hands behind his head in an effort to appear nonchalant. "What'd you think?" oops. That was a question he honestly didn't want to hear the answer to. Why was he always blurting out stupid things?

[Yui]

---

"Sooooooo, you were watching my game yesterday then?"

 

Kyouko nodded, as she chewed away at the taco in her mouth. Technically, she did see the game. Just the very end. Frankly, it was an unsatisfying ending. Draws were stupid. In life, there were no draws; only the winner, and whoever they had to pummel to win. Right? Kyouko swallowed her food, as the boy asked another question.

 

"What'd you think?"

 

"I don't like draws," Kyouko frankly answered. "I like that white-haired kid even less. He has that aura of someone you just want to knock into next week, so at least he didn't win." Kyouko took a second - considerably smaller - bite of the taco in her hand. She didn't even seem to stop to chew it before swallowing and looking directly at Yushiro.

 

"By the way, since you didn't explain it... what exactly does Double Down do?"

---

[VCR_CAT]

 

Syllabus day had gone smoothly so far, and by Hiraku's standards, smoothly typically meant boring. At least for this year, pretty much everyone save the History teacher seemed a lot more normal this time around, and everything going on the school just a bit less... zany? Either way, the morning had come and gone, as had lunch, and Hiraku had found himself with time to kill. Double checking his schedule for the rest of the day, his eyes rested on the spot on his phone that said a certain duel was scheduled for later that day. His eyes narrowed as he realized there was someone he wanted to see before that duel, someone he normally did not like to see.

 

Hiraku was a regular customer at the coffee store, not so much for his taste in coffee, however. He was never one to go without a few creams and sugars, much less to even think of trying it black. It wasn't out of the ordinary for him to be in the line, but as he approached the front he was too late in realizing that the person he wanted to see wasn't there. Hiraku felt a strange wave of disappointment and relief wash over him, thankful that at least he could get his drink in peace, but disappointed that he couldn't grill Hitomu about the duel happening later.

 

Either way, with that out of the way, he was at least free to order his drink to-go, and as the barista handed him his flat-white in a recyclable cup, he turned around from the front counter only to spot Hitomu's opponent seated at one of the tables with another student. What was her name again? Beth? Either way it didn't really matter. He didn't much care for her opinion on the duel, and any reason she had to challenge him was probably no different than any other student with their eyes on the top. With little desire for an unexpected encounter, he started towards the exit in hopes that he wasn't recognized.

 

 

 

Katsu, the Strong

 

Despite how often the first few days of classes are meant to be at school, Katsu found herself only one thing: busy from dawn until dusk. Even as she was moving into the dorms, her dad would not relent in having her help out in some of the tiniest and near-pointless tasks at the dojo, and eventually she found herself traveling back and forth between the school and the dojo multiple times. She even had to miss the big duel on Sunday, despite how much she said she wanted to be in time for it.

 

Frustrations aside, she had managed to get moved in and made it clear that she wanted to focus on her studies this year at school, instead of spending all of her time at home. Yet, by the time she was all settled, it was time for class anyways. There was never any time to meet up with anyone or hold a conversation beyond a few words. To sprinkle salt on the wound, it was lunch and still she was unable to run into anyone that she wanted to talk to. Until finally she was able to spot Yushiro.

 

"Yushiro!" Katsu called form across the room, not even aware that he was in the middle of a conversation as she walked over. "Have you seen Akira?! I, Katsu the Strong, haven't been able to find him anywhere! I swear, if that meat-head managed to get himself--" Finally Katsu was able to recognize who Yushiro was speaking to, and her expression turned to a much harsher glare than usual. "What is Kyokou doing here? I she giving you trouble? I won't stand for any unnecessary violence this semester!"

[radio414]

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
-Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)

From: Connor
To: Melissa

 

Hows tuesday? Not tomorrow but starting next week i mean

Melissa was too busy staring at her phone, too busy pondering how to respond to Connor’s message (Of course she should say yes! Why was this so hard?), to notice Yusuji sneaking up behind her, breaking her concentration with a loud “Hi again, Melissa!”

“Be careful what you wish for” was the phrase on Melissa’s mind. She’d made a promise yesterday to be more open. And she had just started a search for “something, anything to do,” which painting/watching certainly was. But Melissa wasn’t in the mood for yesterday’s promises, and amending her desire from “anything to do” to “anything to do but painting” could be done as quick as a thou- No!

Melissa was torn again. She wanted to bolt. Her constant desire to be the only human under the sky welled up inside her and demanded to be satiated. But she was also acutely aware of the expectations put upon her simply because she knew someone or, more specifically, they knew her. Her fear was that if she did say no, that Yusuji would think less of her. And Yusuji was certainly one of those people that could pick faces out of a crowd (as evidenced by this exact moment), which meant that if Yusuji ever saw Melissa later, memories of this moment would come up again. The last thing Melissa needed was dealing with a grudge.

She was a good person! At least, Melissa liked to think of herself as one. She did everything a good person should do and when she didn’t, well, that was what the sacrament of penance was for. A good person -- even an average person! -- would say yes. This shouldn’t even have been an issue. And yet...

This was why she hated meeting new people. What was Yesterday Melissa thinking? Why did she think she’d be able to handle these sorts of problems? But she’d convinced herself. All she had to do now was say it.

“Well enough,” she began, working her way through Yusuji’s questions one at a time. “Um, sure, I can try. Maybe just watching first, if that’s okay.”

[Yui]

---

As Kyouko waited for the Double Down kid to explain the mysteries of his duel-ending trap card, Kyouko moved a third and final large bite of taco toward her mouth. However, there was a voice. It wasn't the boy's. She recognized that voice, and didn't like the sound of it.

 

"Yushiro!"

 

Kyouko's jaw clamped down on the taco in her mouth, biting down hard enough that it looked like she probably could have chopped off her own finger if she wasn't careful. Her eyes darted toward the source of the voice. That other girl. Kyouko could actually almost remember her name. Kyouko crunched down on the food in her mouth a few more times, before swallowing, while the other girl was asking about some guy named Akira. Did she perhaps not notice Kyouko? There was no way.

 

"What is Kyoko doing here? I she giving you trouble? I won't stand for any unnecessary violence this semester!"

 

Nope. There it was. Good thing she'd already finished that first taco. The second would have to wait. Less calmly than she had been so far, Kyouko said, "Dunno if you know this or not, but I don't parade around the school looking for trouble. If somebody can't pick their fights wisely, that's their problem, not mine."

---

[Alaina]

Jun couldn't help but chuckle a bit as Souji tried to keep her from talking about his "secret" identity. "Alright, I'll keep a tighter lid on it, Hero." The girl joked, before the boy continued talking about his plans. As he finished, the girl joked, "and that certainly says a lot about him." She herself didn't think that common assessment of Souji was too far off. "Well, I didn't have much else to do until Captain's duel started, so- " before she finished her statement her phone buzzed, prompting her to look at it. Grinning and laughing a bit at the girl's rapid fire texts, the girl texted back. 
 
From: Jun
To: Paintsuji
 
just got out of class and we definitely should 
slipped my mind to ask yesterday

and ooooh 
I'll be right over 

will probably bring souji with me 
unless he says no in which case i won't 
but I'll still be there 

 

After sending her text, the girl put her phone back in her pocket and looked over to Souji. "'Suji's going painting now, so I'm going to go over now. Feel free to come with, or bring Sai or whatever. Oh, and 'Lissa's there too - you probably don't know her. But she's nice. And don't make her think you're a prick." With that, the girl began to make her way over to her painter friend. 

[a coffee]

 

Elizabeth stirred her coffee slowly as Allison spoke, trying to make sense of what the smaller girl in front of her was saying. Her coffee was hot, the steam rising in front of her sight every now and again, so it was certainly much too hot to continue drinking. That was the worst part of a cup of coffee; it was only drinkable for about 4 minutes before it got too cold. Her attention was grabbed, however, by a particular statement of the fortune teller, who had declined to introduce herself.

 

Choosing her words carefully, she paused for a moment, then began slowly, "Wisdom? Certainly not. The kingdom you refer to used to be just as much mine as it was his. I simply thought it would be worth pursuing whether or not I still have the skill I had back then. I would hardly call this a 'grand journey of some sort of self-discovery' or what not." Elizabeth put a particular inflection on the phrase to make it sound more important than the rest of her sentence before returning to normal speech, "The class president was the one who blew this out of proportion; I had no involvement in the presentation of this match as some sort of title fight."

 

Elizabeth would come to sound a bit crass at the end, because of the fact that Ashley's desire to make this duel more than it was did genuinely irritate her in a way that would be hard to articulate. She recognized it immediately, and began to apologize when her eyes caught a person of interest: a shorter, platinum-haired male, the one that had given her somewhat of a veiled threat when they first met. Blast, what was his name? She looked over to the girl, then back to the boy, who was rapidly moving towards the door.

 

Admittedly, she was not exactly friends with the boy, but she felt she had to extend some sort of olive branch to him; negative emotions like the ones he had harbored for her potential of winning would cloud her mind, and she needed to be fully focused to win against a duelist as talented as Hitomu.

 

She looked back to Allison, and held up her finger as she grabbed her coffee and made her way to Hiraku, "Could we press pause on this one for a moment?" she then quickly closed in on Hiraku, calling at him with an "Excuse me! Do you have a moment?" She would eventually close in on him, and whether or not she grabbed his attention before was irrelevant. Elizabeth parked herself in front of the silver-haired boy, blocking his path to some degree before he exited the coffee shop, "I know we're not what you would call acquaintances, but do you have a moment to speak? We can, uhm," Elizabeth looked out the door, towards the path outside of the shop, "We can walk wherever you were headed if you were more of a moving person."

[👀 REP 👀]

 

---

 

Hoshiko was excited, getting up a few minutes before Melissa's alarm went off. She wondered how classes were going to be like as she got ready for the next day, again wearing something a lot like the outfit she came to the dorm with. She headed out the door, ready to take on the day. While Hoshiko was excited, she was also nervous. She had no idea how things were going to go. Hopefully she wouldn't be too lost on the first day.

 

Luckily for her, the entirety of classes were basically introductory; the teachers informed them on how the classes were going to go, and even handed out packets they called "syllabuses". It was all very exciting, and helpful to boot. She tried to sit as close to the front as possible, paying extra attention through each of the classes. She nearly got lost a few times, but with the help of a few students and staff members she was able to make it to each of her classes on time.

 

Eventually, the day passed and she finished all of her classes for the day. While she was excited, and still overall pleased with the day, she had to admit that it had tired her out a bit. Between hectically running between classes to absorbing all the information the teachers had given her all day, she was exhausted. "I could go for a coffee right about now..." She mumbled, yawning as she stretched her arms out. She'd plan out what to do from there, but right now she needed this. Plus, maybe she'd meet people there. How exciting!

 

---

 

After wandering around a bit, Hoshiko managed to find CoffeeCards. With a proud, although tired, look on her face, she walked into the establishment.

 

Inside she found that the place was rather full today, hosting a wide array of potential friends. People were coming and going from the place. As she got in line, she saw a girl get the attention of a white haired boy that she thought she recognized from some of her classes. She was tempted to get out of line and join in, but a yawn reminded her why she was here in the first place. "Coffee first, socialize later." She thought out loud, turning back to the menus. 

[The Frost King]

As Akari picked up as many of the fallen papers as she could, she noticed that a lot of them were missing. Oh god, had the wind carried them away? Luckily for her, her worrying was for nothing as a hand held out a large portion of her papers. A face came down into her view from above as the person holding the papers knelt down to her level.

 

"My apologies miss... You aren't hurt, are you?" Said the cute boy with blonde hair as he held out her papers with a nice smile.

 

“I’m alright. . .” The words floated out of her mouth as if she was in a daze, which in truth, she was. Her eyes were slowly scanning every inch of the boy, her mind was running wild, and her heart was racing faster than it had ever done before. What was this feeling? She had never felt like this before, but then again, she had never bumped into a boy like this before. As a few seconds passed by, Akari realized how awkward the situation had suddenly gotten. The boy was still holding out her papers and she had done absolutely nothing to take them.

 

With a nervous hand, Akari quickly took the papers from the boy as she stood back up. “Thanks,” she said nervously, a shy smile forming on her face.

 

"I must not have been paying attention to where I was going... You see I just transferred here and I'm a bit lost. You wouldn't happen to know where the sciences building is, would you? I have a class there in half an hour and I'd like to be punctual." He paused a moment, then a small laugh escaped from him. "Pardon me, where are my manners. I'm Kazu Eilhard Shioda, and you are?"

 

“I’m Akari Ito.” Pausing to take a light bow, she continued. “It’s nice to meet you Kazu.” With introductions done, she took a look around at the many surronding buildings.

 

Which one was the science building again?

. . .

 

Oh right! It was that one.

 

“If you’re want to know where the science building is, it’s right over there.” She pointed over to a standard looking building that looked like almost every other building on campus. “I can walk you over there if you want me to.”

[Dova]

---

“Well enough. Um, sure, I can try. Maybe just watching first, if that’s okay.”

An odd mishmash of responses to string together, but Yusuji had practically asked for it with her three questions in one, and besides, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for people she spoke to. Conversations tend to get jumbled whenever Yusuji was granted the reigns to them. Or the wheel. Whichever it was, it was more fun that way.

“Great!” Yusuji replied, her eyes bright in anticipation. “It’s always more fun with more people! Even if I’m the only one painting, it’s just so nice be around...nice people. Double nice. Triple nice when Jun shows up!” she added, already moving towards the school while simultaneously facing her new friend. “You’ll love it!”

She was glad Melissa had agreed to go, as while she still remembered her initially morose rather than now flustered expression, Yusuji was sure that a spot of painting and “‘suji time” as Jun so quaintly put it would set her right. In fact all it took was a message for Jun for her to put bad

“Jun’s COMING!” Yusuji almost squealed, still walking backwards except now looking at her phone instead of talking directly to Melissa. “And she’s bringing someone too! Souji…” She pouted briefly, trying to remember who this guy was.

It only took a moment for her to follow it up with an overly dramatic facepalm. “The guy who Rose was dueling! Mister Kamen Rider or something. I really need to get my head together.” Yusuji laughed briefly, then quickly texted a response.

From: Yusuji
To: NiceHatJun

 

Yay! See if you can grab Rose too :P
We'll be in the usual classroom!

She looked back up at Melissa, turning her phone around as she did. “Wanna exchange numbers and timetables on the way? Maybe there’ll be some other times we can hang out together as well!”

---

[The Warden]

"Could we press pause on this one for a moment?"

 

"By all means" Alison nodded as Elizabeth pursued Hiraku.

 

He certainly was an interesting one, but clearly held an aura of malice around him. The sort of angry person you see flaming in an online game, or starting a flame war just because he could. Hmming to herself, Alison took the next card of her tarot deck and flipped it over, revealing The Hanged Man in the reverse position. "A selfish one huh? Strange that a Hermit would seek out one with an inability to sacrifice of one's self" she mused thoughtfully.

 

Turning over the next card, the girl's brow raised as Judgement appeared in reverse. It then narrowed as she looked up, and saw none other than Hoshiko, the Shaddoll girl who lost to the Moon yesterday. "Intriguing" Alison mused as she placed the Hermit, Hanged Man, and Judgement together, the Hermit sitting upon the other two. "Very intriguing. Someone who ran and hid rather than face the truth, someone who refuses the truth, and someone who can't see the truth. What a merry little band they are" she said to herself.

[VCR_CAT]

 

 

 "Excuse me! Do you have a moment?" Hiraku stopped as he heard those words, hoping he could get out scot-free before the duel was to start. "I know we're not what you would call acquaintances, but do you have a moment to speak? We can, uhm, we can walk wherever you were headed if you were more of a moving person."

 

Hiraku sighed and turned around, spotting at least one person looking in their direction as they did so. He locked eyes with the girl seated at the table for just a moment, only to see her eyes dart away immediately. Hiraku returned his attention back to Elizabeth. "I don't have anywhere I need to go. What did you want?" He asked with probably a tad too much ice to his voice as he did so.

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

 

“I’m Akari Ito. It’s nice to meet you Kazu.”

 

"Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He closed his eyes for a moment and gave the girl a smile.

 

“If you’re wanting to know where the science building is, it’s right over there.” she gestured at the rather dull looking grey building a few hundred yards up the path from where the two of them were standing. “I can walk you over there if you want me to.”

 

"Oh no that's quite alright. I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time, Miss Akari. Besides, now that I can see it i'm sure I'll be able to make my way over there on my own. Though, if you should happen to also be going that way I would be glad to go with you." He stood aside to let another student pass as he spoke.

 

 

 

 

 

"I don't like draws," Kyouko frankly answered.

 

"Does anyone?" Yushiro thought.

 

"I like that white-haired kid even less. He has that aura of someone you just want to knock into next week, so at least he didn't win."

 

"That's a weird way of saying someone's a jerk, but yeah I agree with you." Yushiro eyed her food with a bit of envy; he was hungry and he liked Tito's just as much as the next guy, which was a lot. His eyes darted away and up to hers when she turned to look at him.

 

"By the way, since you didn't explain it... what exactly does Double Down do?"

 

"Did I not? I guess I was a bit too into it to read the card effect..." He reached down into his bag to fish out his deck box, but as he did so a familiar voice called out his name, and he looked up.

 

"Yushiro!"

 

It was Katsu Tanaka: sort of a friend of a friend of his. She was a spirited girl and a self-appointed peacemaker among the student body. Katsu was also something of a rival to his best friend Akira, both in martial arts and occasionally Duel Monsters. The way the two of them got on though, it seemed more like the bickering of a married couple than a rivalry. She was attractive, too, though it had a lot more to do with how she carried herself than how she looked, not that she was particularly lacking in that department either, at least in Yushiro's opinion. It always made him wonder why Akira hadn't asked her out yet. Speaking of...

 

"Have you seen Akira?! I, Katsu the Strong, haven't been able to find him anywhere! I swear, if that meat-head managed to get himself--What is Kyokou doing here? I she giving you trouble? I won't stand for any unnecessary violence this semester!"

 

So Kyouko was her name. Trouble though? What did she mean by that?

 

"Dunno if you know this or not, but I don't parade around the school looking for trouble. If somebody can't pick their fights wisely, that's their problem, not mine."

 

Somewhat instinctively, Yushiro stood up and got between the two girls, though not at such an angle that he was blocking their view of one another. "Heeeeeeyyyyyy Katsu." He drew out the word a little longer to try and grab her attention. "No trouble at all, actually. We were just talking. I was actually waiting here for Akira, but he hasn't shown. We were gonna hang out for a bit. You can come with us if you want, I'm sure he won't mind." Yushiro looked back at Kyouko for a moment, then turned back to Katsu. "So do you guys like, know each other or something? I can't imagine you being confrontational without a good reason, but you don't need to worry. Kyouko's been nothing but nice to me." "Nice" wasn't exactly the right word, of course, but better to exaggerate than give Katsu a reason to agitate the girl behind him.

[radio414]

“He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers--all of them skilled workers and designers.”

-Exodus 35:35 (NIV)

Melissa pretended to follow along with whatever Yusuji was saying. She really did. But every time she looked up from her phone, Yusuji was going on about more people showing up to paint, from the expected (the only actual sentence Melissa comprehended was a shrill “Jun’s coming!”) to something about Kamen Rider? Melissa decided it was probably best not to speak unless directly spoken to. As soon as she thought that, though, it happened.

 

“Wanna exchange numbers and timetables on the way? Maybe there’ll be some other times we can hang out together as well!”

 

“Of course,” Melissa said, though that response surprised her. She wasn’t sure if she said it because she’d resigned herself to the fact that she’d be following Yusuji around all day, or because she appreciated that the spotlight Yusuji seemed to attract also created a nice shadow for Melissa to hide in. It was probably a mix of both.

 

What a way to un-renege a new year’s resolution.

 

To: Yusuji

From: Melissa

 

Hey, it’s Melissa. Here’s that schedule information you asked for:

 

She tried to be as thorough as possible. Her first text listed her classes, her club activities, and the times she would be off campus for mass or confession or Bible study. Then she pulled out her syllabi and texted Yusuji all the days that she might be on a field trip or otherwise indisposed due to classes or said extracurriculars. She even tried to remember when the big Community Service Club events were last year to give Yusuji a good idea when those might be (Yusuji seemed like the type of girl to be all over a bake sale, at the very least).

 

The art classroom was different from the classrooms Melissa had been in her previous year. There weren’t any desks, for one. Sure, workbenches were available for any projects that required them, but as Melissa and Yusuji entered, they were stowed away in the corner next to a wall full of painting supplies. And that wall had everything, from easels to acrylic paints to watercolors to canvases to paintbrushes of various sizes to almost anything else. Artists like Yusuji could probably nitpick away at what the wall was missing, but anything Melissa could think of she could spot on those shelves.

 

But Melissa wasn’t painting, she was watching. She’d made that much clear from the start. So as Yusuji rushed around the room setting everything up, Melissa pulled up a chair.

 

“So, Melissa,” Yusuji began, turning away from the blank canvas to face her guest again with her usual vivid smile, “I’m gonna need three things from you!”

 

“Oh, um, okay.”

 

“Firstly, favorite color. Mine’s yellow, because it’s just so bright, you know?” She grabbed a nearby apron, which was a particularly intense shade of the color. “Some people call it annoying, particularly the AMAZING canary shade for some reason, but it makes me think of smiles. That might also be weird because smiles are red, white and stuff, but not yellow, but there you go. Secondly...hm, give me a minute. Anyway, color. What’s yours?”

 

It wasn’t a personal question, and Melissa knew that. But every time someone asked her favorites she always hesitated, always afraid that she might disappoint someone. She closed her eyes to think.

 

The first thing Melissa thought of was a stained glass window, high above her church’s altar. She remembered her first time, as she shifted meekly from the door to the back pew, looking up at the scene in awe. Depicted in the glass was Jesus’ ascension, all of his followers in the corners of the frame watching as the haloed man, dressed in pure white, delivered his final sermon. But what struck Melissa the most was the background, the partly cloudy sky to which Jesus ascended towards. And when the sun shone through that window…

 

“Blue,” Melissa said, slowly opening her eyes. “Not, um, not like sky blue, if that makes sense, um. Like, one shade darker than that, I think.”

 

“Ooooh, interesting!” Yusuji responded cheerily, already rummaging through a box of paint tubes to find the appropriate one. “I normally work with sky blue, so this should be even funner-” She paused, seemingly catching herself, and pouted a little. “Funner? Funnerer? More fun. That’s it!” Tube now in hand, she virtually spun back towards her setup, where there already were a vast selection of paints for the upcoming piece. “Now, secondly...ah yes!” She made an overly exaggerated turn towards Melissa. “Favorite animal? Or animals. I have quite a few myself, but you just can’t beat the sweetness of dogs! I’ve got a little woofer at home, a really fluffy boy called Monty! I can introduce you over the holidays if you want, as he really is the best boy.”

 

The obvious answer was doves. Anybody with even a passing familiarity with Melissa’s interests would probably have made that one of their first few guesses. And for a while, that was true, until around her second-to-last year of Junior High when she learned that what she thought of as doves were actually white…

 

“Pigeons,” Melissa blurted out, then immediately regretted it. “Um, I don’t have a pet though. I just…” She didn’t want to explain herself, so she just trailed off.

 

“Wow, having your favorite animal around you whenever you’re outside? Sounds amazing!” Yusuji sounded like she really meant it, which was nice, though Melissa wasn’t sure if she really really meant it. Sure, Yusuji was as active and energetic as every other time they’d crossed paths (to be fair, that was what, twice?), but Melissa never could be too sure.

 

“Alright, final question,” Yusuji said as she dramatically raised her paint-laden brush high over the canvas, “What’s your favorite thing to do? After a long day involving lots of rain and math, what do you like doing? Unless of course, you like doing math in the rain. Pretty sure someone I’ve met loves a bit of wet algebra or whatever it's called. Guess what mine is!” she asked playfully.

 

“Am I supposed to guess or answer the question?”

 

“Well, it’s painting!” Yusuji said, looking back over her shoulder, still keeping her brush raised. “Mine, not yours. Not that it isn’t yours, but I was answering your question about my question so that you could answer that question. But yeah, your favorite way to pass the time is the final ingredient to whatever painting I manage to do! So, what is it?”

 

Again, Melissa closed her eyes. “Prayer” crossed her mind, but as much as she hated to admit it, sometimes she felt she did that out of obligation than anything else. She enjoyed it most of the time, to be sure, but was it her favorite thing?

 

No, whatever her mood, whatever the moment, there was definitely something that could bring her up or calm her down as necessary. “I, um, I like to read sometimes,” Melissa said. She shifted in her seat a little. “Um, yeah, probably that.”

 

“Wonderful! I haven’t read much outside of school, other than these fantasy books Hazel keeps throwing at me. It’s about this girl who gets this magical power so she can-” Yusuji actually managed to stop herself mid-flow this time. It looked like she realized she was still holding her brush up above her head. “Well, anyway. Let the painting commence, and be SURE to tell me what you think at any time!” And with that invitation, her hand came down, streaking her crisp white canvas with a deep blue.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

"Alright, I'll keep a tighter lid on it, Hero. ....and that certainly says a lot about him. Well, and that certainly says a lot about him.I didn't have much else to do until Captain's duel started, so-"

 

Right, Blue Yonder's Duel Team Captain had a Duel today. It had been mentioned a few times, but who was the captain? The name and face were on the tip of Souji's tongue. It started with an "H"... Hitomu! That's the name! Souji thought, finally being able to remember the guy's name. Hmm...maybe I should try out for the Duel Team...eh dunno if that would exactly work out. Especially with my style of Dueling...

 

"'Suji's going painting now, so I'm going to go over now. Feel free to come with, or bring Sai or whatever. Oh, and 'Lissa's there too - you probably don't know her. But she's nice. And don't make her think you're a prick."

 

"Oh, alright." Souji nodded, lulling it over in his mind for a good long while. He decided to go with the plan that went: text Sai, offer to meet him at the place with Jun and them, and just do that. If he said no, it was alright. He did need to branch out and at least make the effort to make friends...after all, both Sai and Jun both told him this numerous times. Pulling out his phone, he immediately sent Sai a text.

 

From: Souji

To: TheWizardingSai

 

Yo Sai. If you aren't busy right now, let's hangout. Jun says she's going to to see some of her friends and offered for me to come with. Extending the invite to you too...after-all, you both are on my ass about making friends...so I'll TRY.

 

With that done, he turned towards the direction Jun went and walked after her. "Hey Jun, wait up!" he called after the young woman.