Hey. I'm sure you've gotten warnings about it before, and I'm sure your sick of hearing about it, but I will provide one of my own.

With the Coronavirus spreading across the world, please follow your governments directions and stay inside. The disease is dangerous and has infected and killed many people. so, please stay inside and avoid contact with others. I know it won't be easy but please try so that you and your family and friends will be safe.

Okay onto the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Flashback

Ten years ago

Four-year-old Yuzu Hiragi sat in the hall of her father and Uncle Yusho's duel school. Students had gone home for the day, yet she was still here along with her dad and uncle, not that she was complaining. She spent most of her time at the duel school, even if she wasn't a student yet. Still, she wanted to hurry up and join so she could be an entertainment duellist like her family.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of voices not too far off. One of them belonged to her father, the other her uncle, the third voice however, she didn't recognise. Yuzu could definitely tell it was a woman though.

"As soon as the process is complete, how long will it be before my daughter can attend your school?" the woman asked.

"Not long Mrs Gardner," Yusho answered. "She should be able to start by the beginning of next week."

"That's good," the woman said sounding relieved. "The sooner the better."

They came around the corner and Yuzu got a good look at the new arrivals. There was a woman in a business suit with a girl who couldn't have been that much older than her.

"Ah, Yuzu," her father warmly greeted. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's alright daddy," Yuzu said. She gazed at the two women. "Who are they?"

"This is Mrs Gardner and her daughter,' Shuzo informed her. "She'll be enrolling here as a student."

Yuzu didn't say anything. She knew new students came from time to time, and she had seen some of the older ones leave and never return. Though she didn't understand why.

Mrs Gardner smiled warmly at Yuzu.

"Hello Yuzu. It's nice to meet you," she greeted.

"It's nice to meet you," Yuzu repeated as she bowed.

"My, what a polite young lady you are," Mrs Gardner complimented.

Yuzu blushed at the compliment. Then, her Uncle Yusho did something that she would later forever be grateful for.

"Yuzu, your dad and I things we need to discuss with Mrs Gardner. So why you take her daughter here on a tour of the school since she'll be enrolling soon," Yusho offered.

"Um, okay," Yuzu replied uncertainly.

She didn't want to argue but she didn't feel comfortable being around a stranger by herself.

Once the adults were gone, it was just her and the girl on their own. For a few moments, they did nothing but stare at each other in silence. That was until Yuzu remembered what her uncle asked her to do, and therefore decided to introduce herself.

"Good evening. My name is Yuzu Hiragi," Yuzu announced as she bowed. "It's nice to meet you."

That caused the girl to laugh, much to Yuzu's confusion and irritation. She didn't get what was so funny.

Eventually the girl did stop and looked directly at Yuzu smiling.

"You don't need to be so formal," the girl told her. "We're going to be students here from now on. We should be more friendly." Yuzu was quick to realize that the girl didn't know she wasn't a student but didn't get a chance to correct her. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you Yuzu. My name is…"

Flashback end

Tea Gardner.

Yuzu couldn't believe it. It was really her. Tea smiled warmly at her old friend. It had been years since they'd seen each other, ever since she left You Show to focus on school and pursuing her dream.

"Tea, it's really you," Yuzu rushed into a hug.

"Yeah, it is," Tea returned the embrace. "It's been a long time, and I can see you've grown up."

Yuzu nodded happily. Wait until her friends heard about this, they would be thrilled. Her dad especially.

Yuto was going to ask who this woman was but after seeing how sweet the scene looked, he decided against it.

"I didn't know you were back in town," Yuzu exclaimed. "How long have you been back?"

"I transferred at the start of the year," Tea explained. "The dance lessons I'm taking are close to here so in thought it would be a good idea to change schools. Also, I'm taking part in the Maiami Championship in the Senior Division, since it'll be my last chance this year."

"That's fantastic," Yuzu said ecstatically. "I'm taking part in the Youth Division. I'll be sure to root for you."

"Same here," Tea responded just as excited.

Yuto smiled at the scene. The two were obviously very close, or at least had been at some point in their lives. He also felt a little sad watching it, not because of what the future held but because it reminded him of his friendship with Shun, or at least what it once was. He wondered where Shun was right now, probably spying on LDS although Yuto secretly hoped that was all he was doing.

He was also a little curious about this Championship they were talking about. Not that he was interested in participating or anything, no he was just curious that's all. He didn't think he should anyway since he wasn't in this dimension to have fun. Then again, he wasn't here to teach Yuzu XYZ either but here he was.

"Excuse me Miss," the shopkeeper came back. "I have the cards you were looking for."

Yuzu suddenly remembered why she was here in the first place.

"Sorry," she said backing away from her friend. "Could you excuse me for just a second?"

"New cards?" Tea guessed.

Yuzu nodded before walking up to the shopkeeper. In front of her were three, never before seen (at least to her) Melodious monsters. The obvious difference was that they were coloured black alongside their levels… ranks. Yuzu awed at them they were incredible. The effects and attack/defence points were impressive. She knew then, she had to buy them.

"XYZ monsters," Tea whispered. "You use XYZ summon now?"

"I'm learning how to do it," Yuzu replied sheepishly. "This is just the first step. You see there's someone who's competing in Maiami Championship who I really want to beat."

"Which is why I'm teaching her," Yuto said finally making his presence known.

Tea looked in his direction having forgotten Yuzu came in with someone. She gasped when she saw his face. It had been four years, but she hadn't forgotten his face, especially since it was all over the news.

"Yuya, is that you?" Tea asked now approaching the said boy. "My you look different. Did you dye your hair? Not that I'm complaining or anything, it looks really good on you. And what about your eyes? Are you wearing contacts?"

Yuto sweat dropped. He wasn't actually Yuya, but she seemed to think he was. He wondered if this was going to happen a lot while he was here. Perhaps he should stick to his mask.

"Tea, that's not Yuya, that's Yuto," Yuzu explained. "They might have the same face, but I can assure you they're different people."

Tea looked a bit sceptical at hearing that. In this day and age, someone having a lookalike wasn't unheard of, but it wasn't common either. She decided to ask about it later.

"I have a voucher that gives me fifty percent off," Yuzu said as she handed it to the shopkeeper.

She was lucky she did, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to pay for all the cards. While she was buying them, the shopkeeper had provided some support cards related to XYZ which worked out quite well for her.

"So you're learning XYZ summoning now I see," Tea said softly.

"Yeah, there's a bit of a story behind it," Yuzu admitted.

"I'd love to hear about it," Tea smiled. "Not here though. Would you both mind accompanying me to this café I like? It's known as Shining Friendship. It's the perfect place to talk, especially over some Blue Eyes tea."

Yuzu was all for the idea and immediately agreed. Yuto was less enthusiastic.

"I don't have any money," he said slightly embarrassed.

He didn't know anything about the currency in this dimension. He'd mainly been surviving off the food he and Shun brought.

Tea didn't mind though.

"That's no problem. I'll pay for it," she shrugged. "I'm the one inviting you two after all."

Yuto was legitimately surprised at that. Tea just met him and yet she was willing to treat him at a café. She was a definitely a nice one.

"If you say so," Yuto said.

Tea nodded. "Shall we?"

Shining Friendship Café

The trio entered the café and quickly got themselves a table. While walking Yuto could easily see that this was a fairy themed café as the walls and tables were decorated with cute fairy type monsters, some of which were surprisingly familiar to Yuto. Even some of the desserts were themes after fairy types, though there were other monsters.

'Sayaka would love this place,' Yuto thought.

As soon as they sat down, they ordered some Blue Eyes tea and some Strawberry Shortbread cake.

"Now, how have you been since I last saw you?" Tea asked enthusiastically. "I want to know everything."

Yuzu pondered over her answer for a minute.

"Honestly, not much aside from recently and the incident three years ago," Yuzu admitted. "I've been going to school, and duel school, practicing my entertainment duelling, qualifying for the Maiami Championship, and trying to look after the school alongside my dad which hasn't been easy."

"Why not?" Yuto asked without thinking.

Yuzu turned to him with a sad expression. Seeing as he had touched a sensitive topic, Yuto immediately attempted to apologise.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," he said quickly.

"No, it's alright," Yuzu cut him off. "It's nothing too sensitive. Just something that's been around for a couple years."

Tea was tempted to explain to Yuto but chose to let Yuzu do it first.

"You see, my dad runs a duel school called You Show named after its founder Yusho Sakaki," Yuzu explained. "We teach people how to become entertainment duellists through the philosophy that duelling is about fun and bringing smiles to the audience."

Yuto couldn't help but admire the philosophy. It sounded so pure, like something he once followed when he duelled in his hometown Heartland. His school hadn't taught that sort of thing, but he did duel to make others like his friends and family happy. Albeit, there was something familiar about it. He remembered Ruri saying something similar when the Academia first attacked.

"You Show used to have lots of students, Tea being one of them," Yuzu said.

"I left a couple of years ago to focus on school and achieving my dream, both of which required me to move away," Tea quickly explained.

"She had a couple of other friends there who left for similar reasons," Yuzu continued. "However, three years ago there was an incident that caused students to rapidly drop out and join other schools."

Yuto was really interested now. Whatever happened must have been extremely serious. Students didn't just up and leave without a good reason.

"Yusho was scheduled to face Strong Ishijima, but for some reason he never showed up," Yuzu's expression turned sad. "As a result, he was disqualified, and people dubbed him a coward who ran away."

"Which is completely false," Tea fiercely defended. "No one knows why he didn't show up. And let me tell you now, Yusho sensei was many things, but a coward wasn't one of them. There's no way he would have ever run from a duel."

Even if she wasn't his student anymore, she didn't respond kindly to anyone bad mouthing her teacher.

"I believe you," Yuto said. "Although I don't know much about Yusho. Was he an important duellist? He sounds like one from the way you talk about him."

Yuzu and Tea both blinked.

"Wait, you've never heard of him?" Tea asked. Yuto waved his head. "How is that even possible? He's the greatest entertainment duellist that ever lived! Not only that, he also set the stage for action duelling!"

"What's that?" Yuto asked before he could stop himself.

Yuzu and Tea stared at him dumbfounded. How could he not know what action duels are? The entire world knew about them, so why didn't he?

Yuto realized he had made an error judging by the looks the girls were giving him. He silently cursed himself for not looking into this dimension's culture and practices sooner.

"I'm not from this city," Yuto quickly informed them. "I came here from a different country and we're quite isolated from the rest of the world."

That technically wasn't a lie. Luckily for him the two girls, didn't press the matter further. However, that didn't mean they didn't notice his little slip.

'He's definitely hiding something,' they both thought. 'No way there's a country in this world that doesn't know about them. It's just not possible.'

Instead they explained to Yuto about action duels and what went down during them. The dark-haired boy was mesmerized by their explanation. The duels in his homeland could be flashy and entertaining, but in this dimension, they were on a whole other level. Part of him wanted to take part in one but knew it wasn't possible.

Yuzu continued with her explanation by moving on to Yuya Pendulum summoning. Tea was intrigued by the new summoning method, as was Yuto. To his own knowledge Standard didn't have a unique summoning method, though this one was fairly new and wasn't widespread yet.

"It's cool and everything but you would not believe how many duels with Gongenzaka it took to get it right," Yuzu exclaimed in exasperation.

"Oh yeah, try us!" Tea challenged as she sipped her tea.

"291," Yuzu deadpanned.

Needless to say, her two friends reacted strongly to that revelation. Tea choked on her tea and accidentally spilled some of it on the table. Yuto, who was about to eat some cake, froze with the fork in his hand mid-air as he stared at Yuzu with his eyes wide and his mouth hung open. It took everything Yuzu had not to laugh at their faces right then and there.

"You, you're not serious," Yuto stammered. "291 attempts."

"Even for Yuya that is just sad," Tea lamented. "How does it take that long to master a summoning method that he created?"

"I know right. I still can't believe he did that, and I can't believe Gongenzaka helped him," Yuzu said annoyed. "His training in steadfast duelling has provided him with a strong, unmovable will. Although I can't say the same for Yuya, you should have seen him the following morning. He was sleeping all through class and when the teacher called him, he woke up shouting about Pendulum summoning. He wasn't doing that for long though."

Yuzu sounded a little malicious on the last part, much to Yuto's discomfort. Tea guessed what she meant.

"The fan," she guessed.

"The teacher then the fan," Yuzu clarified. "And that was after Yuya tried to come up with a poor excuse."

Yuto was confused about that fan of hers. Just where did she keep it?

Yuzu continued with her explanation about the confrontation with LDS, her loss, and the duel with Reiji Akaba which shocked Tea because she had never heard of someone using all summoning methods before. Then again maybe he didn't, Yuzu never said he used Ritual. Yuzu then came to the part where she was learning XYZ summon from Yuto.

"Oh, I get it now. You lost to that girl Masumi, which is why you're now learning XYZ summon from Yuto," Yuzu and Yuto nodded. "Well, Yuto you've got yourself a good student. Yuzu is really committed to learning."

"If it's coming from you then it must be true," Yuto answered.

"Okay, enough about me, now it's your turn Tea," Yuzu said. "How have you been since I last saw you? How are the others? Do you guys still talk?"

Yuto assumed she meant a few other former students that attended You Show alongside Tea.

"A lot less than is all I can say," Tea admitted. "I've been going to school while taking part in some duel tournaments to save up money. My dancing ha come a long way since the last time I saw you. Hopefully next year I'll be able to go professional."

"That's amazing," Yuzu exclaimed. "You've worked so hard and now your finally close to achieving your lifelong dream. Congratulations!"

Tea grinned at her friend.

"Thanks, but please save the congratulations for when I achieve it," she requested.

"So, that's your dream then, to be a professional dancer, not a duellist?" Yuto asked surprised.

In his dimension he had never come across another person who wanted to be anything other than a pro duellist. That didn't mean they didn't exist he had just never met them.

"No. Duelling's fun and I love it as much as the next person, but dancing is my passion," Tea responded enthusiastically. "I've loved it since I was a child and I want to do it now as an adult."

Yuto had to admit, that sounded beautiful.

"If that is what you desire then I pray it works out well for you," Yuto told her.

"Why thank you Yuto," Tea replied. "And what about you? Do you have a dream you're trying to follow?"

Yuto hesitated to answer. He didn't really know what he wanted to do with his life before and he certainly didn't have any plans now.

"I'm undecided at the moment," he finally said.

"Oh, that's not a problem," Tea shrugged. "You've got plenty of time to decide after all."

'Maybe after the war I can think about it,' he thought. "I suppose."

Tea returned her gaze to Yuzu.

"Regarding your other question, I have been in contact with most of the others," Yuzu eagerly listened. "Joey is looking after his sister Serenity since she's due to undergo an operation soon that should repair her eyesight. He wants to spend every moment he has with her until the procedure is done." Already this guy reminded Yuto of Shun and Ruri. When Ruri got sick Shun usually stayed by her side until she got better. "Duke cut some sort of deal with LDS. He's working on some new game called Dungeon Dice, but he hasn't said anything other than that. And Tristan, I haven't heard from him in a year, so I don't know what he's up to. Last time we talked though, he said he decided to try out duelling and give it a proper chance. You wouldn't believe how surprised I was."

Yuzu on the other hand was definitely surprised, with Tristan anyway.

"I'm really happy for Joey, and I hope Serenity's operation goes well," she had only met the girl a few times but knew her well enough to know she was sweet girl. "I'm happy for Duke also. Getting a deal with LDS to create a new game is huge." While she may not have liked them that much, she couldn't deny that LDS held a lot of influence and could make a person's dream come true. "Tristan I'm surprised with. He was never really into duelling, so the why the sudden change?"

"Hold on a second," Yuto interrupted. "This Tristan guy, are you saying up until a year ago he wasn't a duellist?"

The two girls nodded in confirmation causing Yuto's eyes to widen.

"Then why? Why was he attending a duel school if he didn't like duelling, or wasn't a duellist for that matter? How did he even get in?" This didn't make any sense to him. "I don't mean to be rude or anything but, someone like that wouldn't normally allowed into a duel school, at least not where I'm from."

Yuzu and Tea exchanged glances. It wasn't the first time they had been asked about this. Heck, Tristan was asked about it a lot when they knew him.

"That's… Tristans story. I don't think we should tell you it without his permission," Tea answered. Yuto nodded. If they didn't want to discuss it, he wouldn't press them. "As for how he joined well, after much insistence from us, mostly Joey, he paid the school a visit just to see what it was like." Tea paused briefly. She needed to phrase this next part very carefully. "While he was impressed, he still didn't want to join. That's when Yusho Sensei came along, and let me say, he has a way with people. He was open to the idea of Tristan joining and was fine with him not duelling. He would never force someone to duel against their will, least of all a kid. Not too long after, Tristan ended up joining alongside the rest of us."

Tea had been one of the many who encouraged Tristan to join, and she was happy when he did. However, she was immensely apologetic as soon as she found out why. Yuzu only knew because she had overheard some of them talking, but was supportive, nevertheless.

"He got along quite well with both sensei's, Yusho especially. However, he and Joey both love Shuzo sensei's hot-blooded style and how passionate he was about it as well," Tea continued. "Speaking of which, how is your father?" Teas voice turned gruff and serious. "Is he still hot-blooded?"

Yuzu giggled at her friend's voice. That was actually a perfect imitation of her dad.

"Completely," Yuzu confirmed. "He still teaches it to me and Yuya, as well as the other students. Oh, we still have a few new ones. There's Ayu, Futoshi and Tatsuya who are in the "Youth" division, and then Sora who is currently in the process of qualifying for the Junior Youth Championship. Unlike the rest of us, Sora is from out of town, so he hasn't had any official matches."

"Meaning he'll have to get six straight wins in order to qualify," Tea bit her lip. "That's not gonna be easy. Lose one, and it's back to square one."

Yuto looked between them both with a curious expression.

"I'm sorry but what is this championship you keep talking about?" he asked. "And what are these official matches needed to qualify?"

This time, Yuzu wasn't as suspicious. Since Yuto was from out of town, it made sense that he wouldn't know about it, Sora didn't.

"Maiami Championship is a duelling tournament held once a year by LDS that invites duellists from different schools and branches all over the world to compete in. It's divided up into three divisions based on school level: Youth (Elementary), Junior Youth (Middle), and Senior (High). In order to qualify you have to take part in fifty official matches, basically action duels, with a sixty percent win ratio. However, if you win six matches in a row you can enter," Yuzu explained.

Yuto understood perfectly. Back in his homeland there had been a similar tournament called World Duel Carnival where you had to duel various participants in order to gain enough heart pieces to qualify for the finals. He had entered twice but never made it past the preliminaries. His friend Kaito had though, and he even won once.

"I'm entering because it's my last year before I graduate," Tea said. "Now that you know about it though, would you be interested in participating Yuto?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to pass," he replied without batting an eyelash.

"Why not?" Tea asked surprised he would turn the idea down without consideration. "Is it because of the qualification process? Or because of the duel schools involved? You don't actually have to be part of a school to join, you can go solo like I'm doing."

"That's not it. I can't exactly say why but I came to this city for a reason," he explained. "Taking part in this tournament would get in the way of that. So, sorry, but I won't be entering."

That may have sounded a bit rude, but he didn't care. Aside from teaching Yuzu, nothing was going to distract him from his mission.

Before either girl could respond, there were a couple of arrivals in the café that drew away their attention.

"Ugh, what an annoying day," a very familiar voice complained. "Those LDS officials, who don they think they are making me wait? Don't they know who my father is?"

Yuzu froze.

'No way! Oh, you have to be kidding me, not him!' she internally cried.

'That voice. Where have I heard it before?' Yuto wondered.

Tea noticed their reactions and became concerned. She turned to the new arrivals and saw it was four boys. From their uniforms she could tell they went to the same school as Yuzu and Yuya. The leader who was complaining was a boy with light brown and blonde hair. Walking directly behind him, with hair colours ranging purple, brown and green.

"Don't worry Sawatari, you'll get your Pendulum cards soon," the purplette said.

"Yeah, they promised you after all," the brunette added.

"And when you do, you'll finally be able to crush Yuya Sakaki," the greenette finished.

Yuzu felt her temper rising. Crush Yuya! This idiot still hadn't given up on that. As if she would let him. Unbeknownst to her, Tea was feeling the exact same way. Even Yuto was angered by the declaration. However, they didn't want to make a scene, so they stayed quiet and did their best to ignore him. Unfortunately, the universe was not feeling so kind at that moment.

"Oh, is that Yuzu Hiragi I see," Shingo exclaimed as he came closer. "It is. What brings you to this fine café."

"Out with some friends and nothing more," Yuzu responded both quickly and coolly.

She wanted this conversation over as soon as possible.

"And just who are your friends might I ask?" Sawatari asked. "I haven't seen them before."

Yuzu was about to say "none of your business" when Tea beat her.

"Tea," she said softly. "Tea Gardner. Senior division. As for why you've never seen us it's because we go to different schools."

"A pleasure," Shingo complimented. "My I never knew you had such beautiful companions outside your usual lot Hiragi. That's certainly a surprise."

Tea should have felt flattered, but she couldn't help but detect a certain insult in that sentence.

Yuto was able to pick up more based on his voice. It sounded similar to the condescending tone Academia's agents used.

Yuzu was trying her hardest not to whip out her fan right then and there, but it wasn't easy.

"And just what is your," Shingo turned to Yuto and finally got a good look at him. His eyes widened and he stood back pointing at him. "YOU! What are you doing here? And in the same getup you attacked me Yu."

"I'm not Yuya," Yuto harshly interrupted. "I'm Yuto."

Sawatari didn't believe him.

"Please, do you expect me to believe that?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh, it's true," Tea intervened. "This guy here is Yuto. He and Yuya might lookalike but I assure they're different people."

If Sawatari was listening he didn't show it. He was glaring at Yuto, who was apparently returning the favour.

"I'm not Yuya, I'm Yuto," he repeated. "I understand he and I lookalike but that's all. And what's this about me attacking you?"

"Ha," Shingo snorted. "Feigning innocence, are we? Well give it up! You know fully well that you attacked me at the warehouse and left me critically injured afterwards."

"I'm sorry, what?" Tea exclaimed.

She had no idea what was going on. She had only met Yuto an hour ago after all.

"It seems you are unaware, so I'll enlighten you," Shingo said in an important voice. "Little more than a week ago, I was minding my own business at a warehouse where me and my friends hang out when this man showed up out of nowhere and challenged to a duel. I accepted of course. And throughout the duel he brutalized me with his attacks and even when he won, he still wouldn't let up and left me with serious injuries which landed me in the hospital."

Despite what he was saying, Tea didn't quite believe it, and neither did Yuto.

"I seriously doubt that somehow," he retorted.

"Oh really?" Shingo sneered. "Any why's that? There were witnesses you know."

"That would be us," Kakimoto declared.

"Yeah, we were there when he was in hospital," Ootomo intervened.

"And we're not the only ones. Yuzu was present as well," Yamabe added.

Tea turned to her friend surprised. How was she involved in all of this?

Yuzu glared at Shingo and his sidekicks. She was really tempted to whip out her fan and whack them all. However, once again, someone interrupted her.

"Okay first of all, I attacked you once with my monster, and then finished you off with my spell," Yuto pointed out. "And you were barely hurt after either of them. If there was one thing I did seriously injure, it was probably your pride since you lost right after your first turn."

Shingo's face turned bright red at that fact. It was bad enough he lost the duel, but even worse that it was after he only had one turn.

"And secondly, I only duelled you because you and your goons were ganging up on Yuzu," Yuto growled.

"Ganging up!" Tea exclaimed outraged. Her glare rivalled Yuzu's as she gripped her teacup. "Four of you on one girl?! How dare you!"

Shingo panicked thinking she had misunderstood.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on," he said rapidly before composing himself. "It was Yuzu who started it when she barged in and challenged me to a duel, all the while yelling profanity upon my good name."

"Is that true Yuzu?" Tea asked uncertainly.

She didn't want to believe her friend would willingly get into any sort of trouble. Unfortunately, she was proven wrong with the next sentence.

"Yes, it is," Yuzu confirmed much to Tea's chagrin. "I went to take him on after I overheard his little sidekicks squad talking about how he was going to do whatever it took to crush Yuya, and there was no way I was ever going to let that happen."

Now Tea was definitely confused.

"I'm sorry but how does Yuya factor into all of this?" she asked.

Yuto was also curious.

"Sawatari lost a duel to Yuya" Yuzu stated.

"Only because he had Pendulum Summoning!" Shingo snapped. "If I had been lucky enough to have those cards then I would have been the victor. It was all because of the cards he won."

That literally did it. Yuzu was on her feet in an instant and slammed her hands down on the table causing some tea to spill and alerting several others. The boys cringed as a Yuzu released a demonic aura that left them petrified on the spot.

"You. Complete. Hypocrite!" Yuzu snarled. "You invited us to LDS in order to steal Yuya's Pendulum cards, and when you did you held me, Ayu, Futoshi, and Tatsuya as hostages to coerce Yuya into duelling you while the Action Field was active. Thanks to you, we were left dangling off a building while the duel was ongoing. And then Yuya got his cards back and beat you after you used them, and you have the nerve to say you lost because you didn't have them. Back at the warehouse I was right, you are a coward, sore-loser, hundred-rate duellist!"

Shingo glared at her with hatred burning in his eyes. This girl how dare she! And to think he acted polite towards her the other day.

"Dangling off a building," Yuto growled under his breath. An expression of pure rage was plastered across his face. "Do you even realize how dangerous that was?"

"They were perfectly fine," Shingo casually brushed off. "Not a scratch on any of them. Besides, that was mostly Yuya's fault for recklessly picking up action cards."

"We. Nearly. Died." Yuzu seethed through her teeth. "We fell off, due to the buildings position only to be saved by Yuya's monsters. If we hadn't, we would have died."

"Like I said, mostly Yuya's fault because he acted recklessly," Shingo shrugged off like it was nothing, much to everyone's disbelief. He then turned his attention back to Yuto. "Now, what to do with you? If you're not Yuya like you say you are then that means you're the one that assaulted me, and since you're an XYZ user you're likely behind all the other assaults. Let's see what the police make of this, shall we?"

Yuto's eyes widened. The police, was this guy serious?

"I haven't duelled anyone from LDS since you," Yuto defended.

"We'll see about that," Shingo sneered. "Still, I guess this means I was wrong to press charges against Yuya. I suppose I'll have to apologize."

'Press charges!' Yuto thought bewildered. 'Wait! Does that mean?' He glanced at Yuzu who wore a worried expression. 'The reason Yuzu's school was in danger, the reason Yuya was accused, was it because of me?'

Tea, who had been sitting quietly for the past few minutes finally stood up. Much to Yuzu's surprise, her expression was entirely neutral.

"When did you say this incident happened again?" she asked politely.

"Why little more than a week ago, of course," Shingo twirled his hair.

"And you were in hospital with injuries, you said?" she continued.

"Serious injuries. My life was practically being held by a thread as I lay in bed," Sawatari said dramatically.

'Okay, he is exaggerating this way too much,' Yuto thought.

He didn't hurt him that badly, he knew he didn't.

Yuzu was interested in where Tea was heading with this interrogation.

"Well Sawatari, may I call you that?" Tea asked sweetly.

"I prefer New Neo Sawatari but whatever suits you," he smugly interrupted.

Yuzu facepalmed herself while an anime sweat drop fell down Yuto's head.

'Seriously!' they thought incredulously.

Tea's expression didn't change.

"Well, New Neo Sawatari, that's quite an interesting story," Tea murmured much to Sawatari's delight. "You see, the thing is, I know you're lying."

"W-W-What?" he stuttered.

Tea rolled her eyes.

"I said I know you're lying. You say your injuries were serious, that they were life-threatening. However, if that were really true, you would still be in the hospital recovering. Injuries like those don't fade within a few days, they take weeks, sometimes months before they go away," Tea explained. That's when her expression hardened, and she pointed her straight at him. "Therefore, your accusation is false. Admit it. And don't give me that lame excuse where you're a fast healer, because believe me when I say, no one like that exists."

Tea's deduction earned her shocked looks from everyone present ranging from customer to staff member. Yuto and Yuzu's expressions were similar, but they paled in comparison to Shingo's, who looked as though he'd been slapped right across the face, though in a way he had been.

"You can play the victim card as much as you want but I see through you," Tea stated. "You can't stand the fact that you lost so you've come up with ways to hurt the people responsible."

Upon hearing this, Shingo finally regained his voice.

"Y-You," he growled. "Who do you think you are?"

"Who am I?" Tea repeated. "I'm Tea Gardner. A participant in the Senior Division of the Maiami Championship, a future professional dancer, and a former student of You Show Duel School and the Great Yusho Sakaki. And as of right now, I'm your opponent."

She turned to a staff member she was acquainted with.

"Misaki, is the duel section free at the moment?" Tea asked.

"It is," Misaki answered. She already knew what Tea was asking which is why she decided to go along with it. "Feel free to use it."

Occasionally duels took place at this café, as they did with many others.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing?" Shingo argued.

"Hmm," Tea frowned unimpressed. "Was I not clear? Well alright then." She cleared her throat. "You. Me. Duel. Now."

Shingo's eyes widened. However, that soon turned into a smirk.

"Ah, I see how it is," he sneered. "Let me guess, if you win, I drop all charges and leave him alone, whereas if I win, I can do whatever I want. Something like that."

"Something like that," Tea confirmed. "I'll let you decide on your condition for winning."

Sawatari raised an eyebrow.

"You're allowing me to choose my own victory conditions?" he asked incredulously. "That's unusual."

"It's just fair," Tea shrugged. "Now then, are we gonna duel or not."

"Wait just a minute," Shingo held his hand up. "Why should I agree to this? What could I possibly have to gain from this?"

"Like I said, you get to decide on your win condition, meaning you get anything you want if you win," Tea said softly. "Also, it's a chance for you to prove to everyone here that you're not what Yuzu accuses you of being. So, what do you say?"

Shingo had to admit he was drawn to the idea. He could get anything he wanted from this girl, be it becoming his underling, or girlfriend, anything. And there was an audience present, a perfect chance to show off his deck.

"Alright, you've got yourself a deal," Shingo agreed. "Let's begin right away shall we."

"Tea, why are you doing this? You really don't have to," Yuto pleaded. "This is my fault, not yours."

"Tea, please think about this," Yuzu begged. "Sawatari is not an easy opponent to beat. I know his deck you should let me duel him."

Tea smiled at them both, but in particular Yuzu.

"Why Yuzu, how quickly you forget, the best kind of entertainment duel is the one that's unpredictable, one where you can constantly wow both the audience and your opponent," she said putting her hand on Yuzu's shoulder. "You'll see during this duel. I may not be a student anymore, but I can still dazzle an audience, though not to Yusho Sensei's level. As for why I'm doing this, I'll explain later. For now, just sit back and enjoy the show."

Five minutes later

Tea and Shingo stood across from each other on the duel field. Up in the stands were the staff, customers, Shingo's friends, and of course, Yuzu and Yuto.

Tea and Shingo had their duel disks active ready to go. Tea's duel disk had a pink body and a white blade.

Without further ado, their clash began.

Tea LP: 4000 Cards in hand: 5

Shingo LP: 4000 Cards in hand: 5

"DUEL!" the both shouted.

"I'm going first," Tea declared. "To start I summon The Agent of Creation-Venus (Light/Level 3/Fairy/1600 ATK/0 DEF)."

A blonde angel wearing yellow and green with three orbs hovering around her appeared.

"Venus?" Yuzu whispered surprised. "I don't understand. Why is she using that deck?"

"What?" Yuto asked having heard her.

"I'll explain later," Yuzu replied quickly wanting to get back to the duel.

She couldn't understand her friend's behaviour. Tea may have originally used a Fairy type deck similar to hers, but she later switched to a Spellcaster one. So, why wasn't she using it?

"Next activate her effect. For the price of 500LP I can special summon one Mystical Shine Ball (Light/Level 2/Fairy/500 ATK/500 DEF) from my hand or deck and I'm choosing from my deck in defence position."

A bubble emanating radiant light appeared on the field.

Tea LP: 3500 Cards in hand: 4

"But why stop at one when I can have three? I activate Venus's effect twice more to summon to more Mystical Shine Balls in defence position," Tea continued.

No sooner had she said it did two more bubbles of light appear.

Tea LP: 2500 Cards in hand: 4

"Finally, I set two cards and activate the field spell The Sanctuary in the Sky," Tea finished.

The setting changed all of a sudden to a large stone city in the clouds. A place that could be considered heaven by some.

"With that I end my turn," she declared. "Alright, you're up. Please make it interesting."

"Oh don't you worry I will," Shingo promised. "My turn. Draw!"

"I activate my trap!" Tea shouted. "Aegis of Gaia."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the audience gasped.

"HUUUUHHHHHHH!" Shingo's friends exclaimed.

Even Yuto was surprised. Most people wouldn't activate a trap until it was the right time.

Yuzu was the only one who retained a calm expression.

'I've seen this strategy before,' she vaguely recalled. 'If I know Tea, then she's setting him up for the win. And those two cards are the key.'

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Shingo cried. "I haven't even done anything yet! Can't I at least."

"Sawatari, chill," Tea cut him off. "Aegis doesn't do anything to you. It increases my life points by 3000 while it remains on the field, however, once it leaves the field, I lose 3000LP. So, don't worry. It won't harm you in the slightest."

As Shingo breathed in relief, a blue light shone onto Tea increasing her life points.

Tea LP: 5500 Cards in Hand: 1

"Well, that was surprising I'll admit," Shingo said as ran his fingers through his hair. "However, now it's my turn. To start I activate the spell Tenacity of the Monarchs. By revealing a monster with 2400ATK and 1000DEF in my hand I can add one Monarch spell or trap card to my hand." Shingo held up Mobius the Frost Monarch. "The card I choose to add is The Monarchs Stormforth!"

Tea narrowed her eyes. So Shingo used a Monarch deck, that was interesting. Usually someone would only have one of those monsters in their deck because their attribute matched up well with what they had. It was rare to see an entire deck centred around it.

"Monarch," Yuto murmured. "Isn't that?"

"Yeah," Yuzu nodded. "I get the feeling we're going to see a lot more than in your duel."

Yuto wasn't complaining. This was his first actual time witnessing a duel between residents from this world. It would be interesting to see how they went against each other.

"Next, I activate the continuous spell Return of the Monarchs," Shingo smirked at Tea. "Now then, my dear, time for you to witness the true power of an LDS elite duellist."

'He's an elite?!' Yuto thought incredulously. 'That can't be right. If he's supposed to be one of the best, then Academia will have an easy time with this place.'

"Go Neo Sawatari!" Kakimoto cheered.

"Take her down in one go!" Ootomo added.

"Show her why you're LDS's best!" Yamabe finished.

Tea couldn't tell if he was trying to intimidate her or show off or possibly both, but whatever way it was incredibly annoying.

"Okay, enough waiting," Shingo declared. "I shouldn't keep the audience from seeing a duellist as great as myself in action. I activate the spell I added to my hand earlier, The Monarchs Stormforth! When I would tribute summon, instead of offering a monster I control, I can use one of yours!"

"One of mine!" Tea exclaimed.

"That's right. And I'm going to use one of those bubbles to tribute summon Mobius the Frost Monarch (Water/Level 6/Aqua/2400 ATK/1000 DEF)!" Shingo grinned.

A creature dressed in light blue armour and a dark blue cape appeared on the field.

"You shouldn't have wasted your time summoning out those weak monsters or activating that trap," Shingo smirked cruelly. "They will be your undoing. Mobius's effect activates! When it's successfully tribute summoned, I can destroy up to two spell or traps on your field. However, before that, Return of the Monarchs first effect activates. Since I successfully tribute summoned, I can add one monster from my deck with 2400ATK and 1000DEF to my hand. I choose Kuraz the Light Monarch."

Yuto was beginning to see a pattern here. Monarch monsters primary strength came from being tribute summoned, hence why there were a number of cards to support them with this. They appeared to be elemental based, so there was likely six with the same attack and defence points but with different attributes. There were also likely evolved versions of them as well considering Shingo had summoned a stronger version of Mobius in their last duel.

"I'll have Mobius destroy your trap and your face down," a cold wind blew over Tea's cards as they were covered in ice before shattering. "So, much for those extra points, now you're."

Tea LP: 8500 Cards in hand: 0

"W-What?" Shingo stammered. "Your points should have gone down, not up! How?"

"You know, if you paid more attention, you might actually be a strong duellist," that's when Shingo noticed there was a beautiful rainbow above Tea.

Children in the audience loved it.

"Wow, amazing."

"Mommy it's so pretty."

"I know, I can see."

Other members were impressed as well.

"A rainbow inside, how beautiful."

"I know right. I'm glad we came here today."

Even Yuto was enamoured by its beauty. It had been so long since he had last seen something like that. In Heartland, the skies were no longer bright, all they were was dark and cloudy. Of course, it had been like that since the invasion began.

"When you activated your card effects, I activated my trap Rainbow Life. By discarding one card, whenever I would take damage, I gain life points instead," Tea explained. "And that was just my first surprise. Don't worry. I'll have another one for you next turn."

"You'll need monsters for that though, which you'll soon have none of," Shingo declared. "Battle Phase! Mobius, attack Agent of Creation-Venus! Icicle Storm!"

A blizzard of icicles was blasted straight at Tea's monster destroying it instantly. However, her life points neither increased nor decreased.

"Thanks to Sanctuary in the Sky, I take no battle damage from attacks involving Fairy type monsters," Tea explained.

"Tch, so that's why you played it," Shingo scowled. "No matter. Soon you won't have any monsters to defend yourself with. I activate the spell Tribute Carnival." Yuzu and Yuto's eyes widened. He used that card in his duel with Yuto, meaning he was going for. "Since I tribute summoned this turn I can do it once more. I tribute Mobius in order to summon Kuraz the Light Monarch (Light/Level 6/Warrior/2400 ATK/1000 DEF)." A golden warrior dressed entirely in armour appeared on the field. "When he's summoned, I can target up to two cards on the field and destroy them. Say goodbye to those bubbles of yours." In a flash of blinding light, Tea's monsters were gone, leaving her completely defenceless. "In addition, for each card destroyed we both draw one card. Kuraz can't attack on the turn it's summoned so this works out perfectly. I set one card and end my turn."

Yuzu didn't want to admit it but, Shingo had made some pretty good moves so far. Repeatedly tribute summoning while getting rid of all the cards on Tea's field except her field spell was smart.

"So, how does it feel to be pushed to the edge by LDS's best duellist?" Shingo boasted. "I bet it feels overwhelming, right? Does it make you feel like you want to surrender? I understand if you want to, I mean I would if I was facing such a strong, talented."

"Okay stop, just stop," Tea interrupted annoyed. "I have been real polite and listened so far but I can't take it anymore. You have a huge ego and boast a lot to the enemy. It's really annoying. Honestly, I can't tell who's worse, you or Rex or Weevil, or maybe you're all just as bad."

Yuzu let out a long groan.

"Ugh, those are names I never thought I'd hear again," she scowled.

"Who are they?" Yuto asked confused.

"Two people you will hopefully never meet," she sighed in exasperation. "They are so annoying and gave us no end of trouble back then."

Those two names sounded familiar to Shingo, but he couldn't remember where he had heard them before.

"Now then, my turn! Draw!" Tea shouted. "Now, it's time to pull the curtain on this show, but not before providing everyone with a dazzling conclusion."

Raising her hand, she snapped her fingers and the lights turned off much to everyone's confusion.

The next thing they heard were drums playing as spotlights circled around until they landed directly on Tea, making her the centre of attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" she called out.

Shingo was starting to feel nostalgia from his duel with Yuya while Yuto was confused. Yuzu on the other hand had a big smile across her face. She didn't know what Tea was planning but she knew it was gonna be big.

"Thank you all for coming to this, our special show today," Tea addressed. "As you can see, I am currently up with my back against the wall with no monsters to protect myself with. Let's see if we can change that. I activate the spell Monster Reborn to revive Mystical Shine Ball (Light/Level 2/Fairy/500 ATK/500 DEF) from my graveyard."

The light bubble returned to the field where it radiated even more in the dark. From this there were a collective amount of wows, amazings, and so prettys, from the audience. If they weren't into the duel before they were now.

"Do you really think I'm threatened by some weak monster?" Shingo sneered.

"Maybe not, but what comes next will," Tea retorted. "Mystical Shine ball, time to soar and shine."

No sooner had she said that did Mystical Shine Ball rise into the sky shining brilliantly until it's light became blinding. When the light faded a new monster had taken its place. It was a purple angel with purple wings and wearing gold, purple and white.

"From Mystical Shine Ball, I tribute summon The Agent of Judgement-Saturn (Light/Level 6/Fairy/2400 ATK/0 DEF)," Tea introduced.

"And now for the grand finale," Yuzu murmured.

Yuto was really interested in seeing what Tea would do. It had been so long since he witnessed a duel like this. So long that the excitement he first felt from duelling was starting to revive.

"Saturn's effect activates! While Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, if my life points are higher than yours, I can tribute this card to inflict the difference as damage," she explained.

Shingo's face turned pale, very pale. The difference between their life points was 4500. That meant, he's lost. How? And right after his first turn again! His trap card couldn't help him either. The Monarchs Awaken was only good for protecting his monster from card effects. It couldn't stop another card.

Seeing as he knew what was coming, Tea wasted no time in attacking.

"Go Saturn, soar into the sky and end this duel. Planetary Judgement!" Tea shouted.

The angel in question obeyed her masters command. With illuminating wings, she shone brightly over the field as she disappeared from it.

Shingo LP: 0 Cards in hand: 3

The audience was cheering nonstop, having been successfully entertained by the duel.

Yuzu and Yuto were just the same. Yuzu smiled at her friend. Even after all these years it seemed as though she was as much an entertainer as she was back then. Yuto was amzed at the performance. So this is what duels were like in this dimension. He didn't know why but, he wanted to see even more.

"It's your win Tea Gardner," Shingo declared while glaring at her. "As promised, I'll drop everything and leave them alone. However, don't get ahead of yourself just because you won. You just got lucky that's all." He then turned and pointed at Yuto. "And you. I don't like you, that hasn't changed, however, you better not lose to anyone at the tournament other than me. I'll never forgive you otherwise. And Yuzu, do something about your temper. It's unbecoming of a lady your age."

Yuzu wanted nothing more than to jump off and hit him with her fan repeatedly. Now wasn't the time though. It was a happy moment for Tea and she didn't want to ruin it.

Yuto wanted to tell Shingo that he wasn't in the tournament but before he could, he walked away along with his squad. Apparently, Shingo decided on going to a different café due to his annoyance with this one.

The trio finished their tea and dessert shortly afterwards and left.

Later

As they walked back, Tea came to a bus stop to get back home.

"It was nice seeing you again Yuzu," Tea said. "And it was nice to meet you Yuto. I had a lot of fun."

"That makes two of us," Yuzu admitted. "I didn't expect to see Sawatari though. That was a downer. Still, thanks for taking care of him back at the café."

"No problem," she replied. "I don't know when I'll see you next so in case this is the last time before the tournament, good luck. With training and getting through it."

"Thanks," Yuzu said she hugged her friend.

Yuto thought the scene looked sweet. He remembered Ruri and Sayaka doing something similar, and Kaito and Haruto.

"Yuto," Tea addressed. "I know you said you weren't interested, but perhaps you should consider taking part in the Maiami Championship. You may actually enjoy it." Yuto looked a bit uncertain at how to answer. "I won't ask you to take part but, just consider it."

"Fine, I'll consider it," Yuto relented. "But that doesn't mean I'll take part."

"I understand," Tea replied. Then she took out a small poster for a duel tournament. "That aside, this might interest you."

Yuto took a moment to examine the poster before looking up. "A Tag Tournament?"

"Earlier you said you didn't have any cash on you, so this would be a good way to earn some," Tea explained. "It's a small underground competition hosted by LDS where you're assigned a partner at random, unless there is someone you want to specifically partner with that is."

Yuto continued to read the poster. It was on tomorrow while Yuzu was at school, so it would work well for him. Plus, he could keep up with his duelling skills, while earning necessary cash. As grateful as he was to Sayaka for packing him food, he wouldn't survive on it forever, and he really didn't like the idea of stealing to survive.

"I'll give it a shot," he said finally. "Thanks."

"No problem," Tea smiled as the bus came into view. "Well, I'd better get going. Good luck you two."

"Good luck!" they both said.

Yuzu suddenly remembered what she wanted to ask.

"Hey Tea, that deck you used earlier, why?" Yuzu started.

"Oh that, I didn't want to take the chance that someone would see my real deck before the tournament," she explained. "Don't worry. You'll see me using it real soon."

The bus came and Tea got on, waving goodbye to the two teenagers. Soon afterwards they both parted ways themselves.

Yuzu couldn't wait to tell her father about Tea. He would be ecstatic that she was back in town. He would also be interested in hearing how the others were doing.

Yuto was preparing for tomorrow. He didn't know what sort of partner he'd get tomorrow but he hoped it was someone he could work with.

Elsewhere

A man walked and saw the poster for the Tag Tournament.

"So, LDS is holding a small competition," he said letting out a grin. "Well, my partner better be good, because I won't allow them to drag me down. And please God, don't let them be an asshole. Is that so much to ask?"

The man then walked off into the night, with no one caring who he was or where he went.

Hi there. Well, what did you think of that? I did not intend for this chapter to be this long but I ended up doing it anyway. I also kept getting distracted by certain things so I wasn't able to update.

Tea's deck from this chapter isn't her real one. While she did use fairies at one point she changed. I also had her duel Sawatari because I thought it would stir up some drama with Yuto. To be honest I've never liked Sawatari that much. His personality annoyed me and he did nothing to contribute to the plot.

I'm considering having Yuto participate in the Maiami Championship. The idea jus sounds appealing to me.

Next chapter, you'll meet Yuto's partner who is an important OC in this fic. Hope you enjoyed. Please review!