Two hours, thirty five minutes, fifty six seconds.
Two hours, thirty five minutes, fifty five seconds .
Two hours, thirty five minutes, fifty four seconds.
"Arya?"
Two hours, thirty five minutes, fifty three seconds.
"Arya?"
Two hours, thirty five minutes, fifty two seconds….. Wait, should I count nano-seconds as well?
"Arya!" A voice suddenly said.
The girl's who's name was just called slowly raised her head from her table. Her auburn hair parting from her face, revealing sleepy emerald eyes.
"Yes?" She asked.
The girl sitting in front of her, looked at the just awoken girl with exasperation. She relaxed her crossed arms before moving her hand to poke at the girl's forehead.
"Tess, what the heck!?" Arya, now fully aware swatted her friend's hand aside. But the hand attacking her didn't stop.
Instead it made the hand poke her harder and with more fervour.
"Were you even listening to a single word I said?" Tess muttered indignantly. "Plus we're aren't allowed to sleep during class!"
Arya sighed before taking both hands of her best friend and holding them in place.
"First of all, it's recess at the moment. I can sleep all I want," she mentioned flicking her friend's head once before letting go.
"And I definitely heard nothing you said."
Tess puffed her cheeks, her face flushing with anger that seemed to make her cuter instead of the intimidating look she thought she had.
"Y-Youu…." Tess said before dropping her look of anger with the knowledge that it wouldn't do anything. "Why are you so sleepy anyway? I heard you were also sleeping earlier. And Mr Hyde had to wake you up."
Arya shrugged. " Slept late last night."
"Doing what?"
"Homework,"
Tess gave her a look that said: Who are trying to fool.
"Arya?"
Arya sighed once more before moving to sit upright. Waving her friend's concern away, she answered, "Its nothing serious. I just couldn't sleep okay?"
Then she changed the subject before Tess could ask more. "What were you talking about anyway?"
Tess's face lit up. She practically vibrated in her seat as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a deck before gently placing it onto the table.
" I got a new deck!," She squealed with excitement. "And it's filled with the most cutest monsters ever!"
Arya waited patiently with her hands covering her ears for Tess's squeals to quiet down.
It was a good thing they were the only one's in the classroom.
" Isn't that what you said about your previous deck?"
Tess waved her hand dismissively. " That deck was full of trap cards and not enough cute monsters."
" Of course it was. You had a Traptrix deck after all. Trap cards make up their entire gimmick."
" Not important right now. I loved that deck buuut, I love this one even more." She mentioned while rubbing her deck with an almost reverent expression.
Arya sighed again before her expression turned serious. "What deck did you get this time?"
Tess smiled mischievously. Then she took her deck back into her hands. "This my marvellous friend. Is a deck unlike no other. Not only is it filled with amazing, cute and sweet monsters. It also…."
"Would you just tell me the deck's name already?"
" Fine, fine."
She then hit the table performing a drum roll. " It's a…. Lyrilusc Deck." She concluded with jazz hands.
And the serious expression on Arya's face fell off. Replaced slowly by a grimace. If she remembered correctly the deck was full of bird girl like monsters like the Harpie deck.
The difference was that most of the Lyrilusc monsters stats were flat out weak.
But it's real strength came from….
"Tess, you do know we haven't learnt Xyz summoning yet, right?"
Tess tilted her head sideways, confusion clear on her face. "Yeah? What does that have to do with any thing?"
Arya's grimace deepened. " Tess, your decks main strength is…" she stopped, her words trailing off.
The thought of explaining further tugged at an old memory, her father's voice, calm and certain, teaching her the same thing.
She shook her head, forcing her voice flat again. "Anyway. Point is, you can't even use the deck properly yet."
Tess blinked, then grinned. "Wait, don't tell me you're scared of a bunch of adorable birdies."
Arya gave her the flattest deadpan she could muster, one eyebrow twitching. Scared. Of birdies. Right.
She opened her mouth, ready to explain exactly how Lyriluscs relied on chaining summons into Rank 1 Xyz monsters that could wipe the floor with careless duellists but then she stopped herself.
Tess's grin was too bright, her eyes practically sparkling as she hugged the deck to her chest like it was treasure. Arya sighed through her nose and leaned back in her chair.
"…Not scared," she muttered. "Just… cautious."
"Pfft." Tess flicked her wrist like she was brushing away dust. "You're totally scared."
Arya smothered the urge to roll her eyes.
She could have said 'Tess, their real power is in assembling swarms fast enough to overwhelm even pro duellists. You're not ready to pilot that deck yet.' But she didn't.
She wasn't about to stomp all over Tess's excitement. Not when her own spark for duelling had gone out years ago. And not after the many points, she definitely lost buying this deck.
Instead, Arya let her lips curl into the smallest smirk.
"Fine. Keep your bird army. Just don't cry when one sneeze takes out half your field."
Tess's smile grew wider. " Just you wait till…"
A sharp annoying sound cut through their peaceful moment. The school's bell rang loudly in the nearly empty classroom.
Tess groaned in annoyance. Then she stood up placing her deck back into her pocket and taking her bag that hanged loosely in the chair she was sitting on.
"I'll see you after class?" she asked.
Arya shrugged. " You might. But do know, I have to fetch my sister today."
Tess visibly deflated. As all the excitement she had suddenly drained away from her.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then." She mentioned before waving and leaving the classroom.
Arya said nothing and watched as Tess left.
She still wondered how Tess managed to find her.
She slouched back in her seat, arms folded over her desk. The silence wrapped around her again, though this time it didn't feel as comforting as before. She exhaled slowly, staring at the clock on the wall.
Two hours until school ended. Two hours until she'd be able to go back home.
That is if the school didn't issue their mandated duel exercises for class rankings. If she remembered correctly she had already duelled last week and lost.
Her eyes drifted towards the deck box tucked in her bag. She hadn't really touched it again.
It wasn't even her deck though. Just… more of a school issued one. The kind of generic deck given to anyone who attends Nova Academy and don't own their own unique deck.
She had thrown away hers years ago. Touching it or drawing from it made her remember…..
The classroom door creaked open, snapping her out of her reverie. The silence was then cut by noisy teenagers entering the room.
Laughter and talk about yesterday's duel slowly filled the space. Arya spared the crowd a single glance.
Nobody really looked her way. Nor were they surprised by her already being here. At this point everyone was familiar with her habits.
And those that began Nova with her knew she wasn't much of a conversationalist. Plus with the academy's competitive atmosphere, nobody really wanted to talk nor entertain "Miss dead last".
She snorted at the idiocy of it all. 'The might makes right ideology' the school shoved down their throats.
But she was certain without the shadow of doubt that, if she truly tried she'd be a top scorer. Alas, here she was sitting in Low-tier. Arya looked at her 'deck' again before shaking her head and resting it on the table.
Two hours, twenty seven minutes, eighteen seconds and three nanoseconds.
Two hours….
~🐉~
"Miss Grey!" A voice bellowed.
Arya's eyes snapped open. She first mentally gave herself a little pat on the back for not jumping.
She stifled a yawn as she raised her head.
When had she fallen asleep?
Her gaze first landed on the clock above the door. Only one hour left.
After confirming that she then looked at the person who called her. A man in his early thirties stood at the front of the class. His face had reddened with anger.
And he seemed ready to pounce on her and strangle the life out of her.
"Yes?" Arya replied, voice still groggy.
Her words somehow made the man angrier. Cause now he was clenching his fists and glaring at her. Looking at the man she felt sorry for him.
Teaching wasn't an easy job after all.
"Since my class bores you so much. Why don't you come forward and answer the following question?" He muttered.
Arya stifled another yawn as she sat upright. Ignoring the mocking glances from her classmates, she gazed forward.
At the front of the classroom stood a projected sum. An algebraic equation.
So, it's Maths class at the moment. Thanks for the confirmation.
"4 and -6," she answered.
Everyone's eyes then fell on the teacher. His face slowly morphed into a frown.
" Correct," He said. Though he seemed to be choking on the word.
Arya allowed a small smile to form on her face. Her duelling skills might suck. But everyone seems to forget that on the Academic side of things, she's currently sitting at number 1 in her class.
You see, Nova Academy's curriculum is made up of three parts: 1. Academics.
2. Duel theory.
And 3. Practical Duelling.
All three are equally important but some others put more focus and their time on one thing. Mostly Practical Duelling.
Her good friend Tess for example, does well in Academics and Duel theory but sucks in Practical duelling.
Not that she can't duel. It's just most of the time Tess is constantly changing her deck and her duel style is chaotic. But she's still better than most people.
Her on the other hand. She does well in Academics and Duel theory but sucks in Practical duelling. Unlike Tess she sucks, sucks.
The Duel Rank system that started earlier in her fourth year(the year she's in at the moment) is a constant reminder of where she's currently sitting in the school's hierarchy.
Now, how the system works goes more like this….. Ranking is determined by practical duels.
We students duel weekly in official matches. Some are random and school issued, while others are challenges.
Win a duel? Great, you get points. Lose? Boo hoo, there goes a deduction. And Forfeiting? That's basically you giving your neck up for chopping.
The number of points you have determines your Tier and how well you're treated in this school.
They also dictate your entire life here. From your fourth year till the sixth year, points are everything. Or so she's told.
They can buy you lunch, buy you new cards, buy a bunch of things and more.
And there's really a big disparity between Tiers.
Lowest bracket is the Shadow Tier a.k.a the 'congratulations, you suck club. That's where the wonderful Me sits. Our Perks include: mandated remedy classes, bullying, being ignored and the occasional pity glance.
Great right?
Above her Tier would be the Mid Tier or Standard bracket. Safe, boring and average. Most students live here.
And above that you'd get the High Tier or Advanced bracket. Tess sits here. Told you she's better than most people.
This is where the good part begins. High tier students are given 'special privileges'. It's mostly special access to training arenas, sometimes you may get mentoring.
But what really excites Arya the most and sometimes makes her envious of Tess is the VR time.
The Academy has Virtual Reality machine's dedicated to duelling. You'd enter a cyberspace and make avatars and ….
Getting side-tracked there. But you get it right. Virtual Reality! Tess won't shut up about it.
And above High Tier sits the school's royalty. Literally.
The Top Tier or Elite stars, the highest rank you can reach in the Academy. Barely ten percent of the school makes it up there.
On top of being given better and private dorms , access to restricted Card libraries and a personal VR machine.
They are also given titles. Noble titles. From Barons to Emperors.
And the titles aren't just meaningless things. They all carry power. And demand respect.
"…..And afterwards you will divide both sides. Is everyone still with me?" The teacher said.
Still in class. Totally forgot.
All the teacher got were half hearted replies. Nobody could really muster the energy to seem impressed or sound like they're paying attention.
Cause nobody really was paying attention. A quarter of the class. Asleep.
The other quarter was busy with their own things. And the other pretended to pay attention.
And you couldn't really blame them.
Whoever decided that Maths should be the final class of today wasn't thinking straight.
Algebra wasn't on anyone's mind at the moment. Everyone was thinking of leaving.
The teacher Mr Rayne, sighed and shook his head while muttering curses before going back to fiddling with the holographic image of Today's lesson.
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New fic🎉 Yu-Gi-Oh was my first anime and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.