1:10PM, Classroom

Kikoe entered the classroom, hearing the whispers of her classmates. Are they talking about me? Kikoe suddenly became self conscious as she surveyed the room cautiously.

Actually, it looks like they’re not even paying attention to me. Kikoe walked over to her seat and sat down quickly.

“Did you hear that Kiyama-san fell down the stairs.” A girl sitting next to Kikoe was whispering to her friend.

“I heard that someone pushed him down the steps.” The other girl excitedly whispered.

Kikoe looked over at Satou Kiyama’s empty seat. Makes sense he wouldn’t just bounce right back after that. The fall was pretty bad.

“Barely making it back to class after lunch isn’t a good look on you, Dan.” Kikoe turned her head to chastise Danshiro as he walked in just as lunch ended.

“Stop acting like my older sister, Kiki.” Danshiro turned his head and walked back to his chair.

What’s his problem? Kikoe’s eyes followed his back as he walked back to his chair.

“Everyone take your seats!” The teacher walked through the door and immediately silenced the room.

3:40PM, School Hallway

“Hey, Dan. Do you remember our promise?” School had just let out a few minutes ago and Kikoe and Dan were walking through the halls. Kikoe surprised him with the sudden question.

She remembered? Why bring it up now. Danshiro was thrown off but maintained his cool. “Of course I do. How could I ever forget?” His tone was resolute.

“It’s...not that serious, Dan. I mean, I didn’t know you were so serious about this.”

“H-How could I not be serious about this? I’ve been waiting to bring this up for a few weeks now.” Danshiro failed at keeping his demeanor calm, stuttering slightly.

“Okay, let’s talk about it in here then.” Kikoe pointed to a nearby door. The handle creaked as Kikoe turned the knob, dust falling as the door unlocked.

What are we doing here? He paused, staring at the creases on the back of her uniform. Could we be doing it? No way...maybe? The door creaked open as it swung open.

Goodbye, boyhood. A hidden tear was shed as he walked into the room.

~~~~~~~~~~

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Two individuals stood opposite each other, giant cards floating slightly above the ground separating them. Above several cards, monsters stood still. The sky above was hidden from view as the area was encased in a reflecting dome of self-transparent glass panels. They appeared to have some sort of apparatus attached to their arm that had Fu-Gi-Oh cards placed on top.

“Kaiga! You will never beat me. Why do you continue to challenge me!” A skinny man had a glowing pyramid necklace hanging around their neck. Their hair defied gravity as it stuck out in several directions with multicolored highlights running throughout. A bar above his head floated with the letters “LP” and the number “4000.”

“You have to be kidding me, Yugi! Today will be your downfall! I am clearly the superior duelist!” The man standing opposite had more restrained brown hair but made up for that with an excessively strange outfit. His white coat was decorated with strange metallic accessories while belts tightened around his skin tight leather shirt and pants. A bar also floated above his head in the same fashion as his opponent.

“Your turn, Yugi.” Kaiga pointed his finger at Yugi in a dramatic fashion.

“Of course.” A deck of Fu-Gi-Oh cards were slotted inside the apparatus that was on his arm. As he spoke, he grabbed the top card and pulled it into hand, merging it with the other cards he was holding.

Yugi stared at his hand for a couple seconds before looking back at Kaiga’s arrogant face. “Take this! I tribute my Dark Apprentice and Void Guise monsters to summon my Void Magician!” In a burst of light, the two monsters faded, an armor clad magician stood on the field now. The letters “ATK” and “2500” floated in front of him.

“Void Magician, attack his Dark Clown!” With a flick of his rod, a dark energy expelled fourth swallowing the clown in its entirety. The numbers on the bar above Kaiga’s head fell, going down to “2100.”

“I end my turn, Kaiga.” The voice was confident, Yugi knew he had him on the ropes.

“You think you won this duel already!? Let me show you what my deck is made of!” Kaiga grabbed a card from the top of his deck and merged it with the other cards in his hand.

~~~~~~~~~~

“What is this…?” Danshiro stood as he saw an unfamiliar student in a white coat sitting across from Martin on a small table. Fu-Gi-Oh cards laid neatly atop foam mats on either side.

“It’s the promise we talked about, Dan. You said that if I find a club I really, really like then you would join it with me.”

It was that promise?! What about losing my boyhood? Danshiro’s head dropped as he remembered the promise she was talking about.

“What did you think the promise was? You seemed so excited a second ago?” Kikoe seemed especially confused at his demeanor change.

“N-Nothing. It’s fine!”

“Teenage boys are so weird.” Kikoe teased him.

“I summon my Dragon Caller monster and activate my spell, Call of the Dragon Emperor! With this spell I can summon my Blue Scales White-Eyed Dragon from my deck. Be amazed…” Danshiro and Kikoe heard them in the background as they looked around the club. The two dueling didn’t even appear to notice them.

Isn’t that…? Danshiro noticed a girl who appeared to be hiding in the corner. She seemed familiar to Danshiro.

“Hanabi-san, is that you?” Danshiro called out to the hidden girl. The girl pulled her head up and started walking toward them.

“Hello, Sanaba-san. It’s nice to see you again.”

“When did you start talking to other girls? She your girlfriend or something?” Kikoe cupped her hand over her mouth, whispering to Danshiro.

“No, she’s not my girlfriend!” Danshiro unintentionally yelled back.

“My name is Meiku Hanabi. It’s nice to meet both of you.” Meiku bowed as she introduced herself then immediately walked back other to her corner, dazing off again.

“What’s her problem?” Kikoe whispered to Danshiro.

“I think she might be on drugs.” Danshiro held out his hand, palm up as he shrugged his shoulders.

“I activate my trap card, Dark Sacrifice! With this card, I tribute my Void Magician and deal damage equal to its attack to both of our life points. You’re finished Kaiga!” Martin swung out his hand dramatically toward his opponent, Seto Kaiga.

“Noooooooooooo….” Seto held his hands behind his head as he screamed to the heavens.

“Oh, sorry both of you. When did you get here?” Martin finally noticed Danshiro and Kikoe standing near the entrance door.