Smoke and rubble, and a blazing trail of defeat was the mark the Lancer Defense Soldiers left in the Synchro Dimension. The Security Director, Jean-Michael Roger, had been stripped off his power and sent to prison for interrogation while Ushio Tetsu, an agent of the council, was promoted to replace him. The City was back under the control of the council, but the coup forced the Friendship Cup to come to an abrupt end. At least that was the official reason.

Academia was going to arrive any time soon. They were going to come for Yuzu and Serena, who, for reasons that not even Roger knew, were important to the Professor. They still knew little of what Akaba Leo really wanted, but it didn't change anything. They were going to do whatever they could to stop them. Discussions went down and actions took place.

Four commanders were made during the haste of their reorganization. Reiji was to still lead the Lancers, but Kurosaki had been separated to command the council's forces, much to the surprise of others but him. Kurosaki had numerous combat experience and the council's forces possessed discipline that did not need strong leadership. Another duelist shared this background: Sora. Tetsu was preparing Security for the City's rescue and evacuation, so only a handful were available to fight Academia. But these few were Security's strongest. Under Sora's directive, they were going to make up for their small numbers by becoming Synchro's first ever Fusion force.

The arrangement as leaders put Sora and Kurosaki at odds, but they were not the only uneasy alliance made. The fourth commander was Shinji who, with Crow, were gathering their comrades together. Above these units was the King, Jack Atlas, the leader of the Anti-Academia Force. In spite of what had transpired in the few days, the situation between the Commons and Tops hadn't changed, even though Jack was originally a Commons…

Yuzu and Hugo filled the void Dennis and Kurosaki left, but Reiji wasn't satisfied. He personally approached the imprisoned Sergey Volkov to ask him to lend his power to the Lancers. No one really knew what Reiji was thinking, or Sergey for that matter, who surprised them further by agreeing. Once out of his restrains, Sergey went down to one knee and swore a sickly sweet fealty by kissing Reiji's hand. If Academia's shadow wasn't already looming over them, the Lancers would have been more vocal of this decision. For now, they could only trust in Reiji's judgment. They didn't have much of a choice.

It was a tense evening. They didn't know when Academia would attack, when everything would go down as it did in Standard and the Xyz Dimension. This time, they were prepared, but…

Yuzu took a long sip of her juice, looking over at her comrades eating in silence. Were they going to be all right? No one was talking or laughing… Of course, no one would in a situation like this. But it was unnerving. Hugo plopped down back on his chair beside Yuzu, his plate rolling with quarter-cut corn cubs and piling with two grilled salmon fillets, slabbed with a mountain goo of honey mustard sauce on top. Two smaller bowls had rice and mashed potato flooding with gravy.

"Doesn't the atmosphere bother you?" asked Yuzu, watching Hugo devour his food.

Hugo raised his head and looked around. "Huh. Now that you mention it… I wonder what made them lose their appetite."

"It's Academia, of course!" said Yuzu.

"Oh, ha, is that so? I didn't know the Lancers get queasy before dueling."

Yuzu sighed. She glanced at Yuya, staring contemplatively at the table. Instead of a plate, he had his arms crossed in front of him.

"Yuya, you should eat something," said Yuzu gently. "Remember what happened last time you dueled on an empty stomach?"

Yuya remembered the memory with surprise. It felt like a thousand years ago. He gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah. I couldn't focus." It was a duel he conquered with satisfaction. It was strange how he'd almost forgotten about it. It was his duel against Mitchie. He would want me to eat delicious food.

To Yuzu's delight, Yuya stood up to follow her advice. Yuzu left too, excusing herself to the washroom.

As Yuya went over the buffet table, he couldn't help but smile at seeing Sora pick through the cupcakes and guard the chocolate fountain.

"Don't stuff yourself too much," he told Sora.

Sora grinned. "You're not allowed to tell me that. The dessert table in Academia was only for Obelisk Blue, but I had an image to put, so…"

Yuya tried not to laugh. "An image? You?"

Sora stuck his tongue out and waved him away. This dessert table wasn't going to last long tonight.

Yuya thought he would grab any of the comfort food and get back quickly, but much of his appetite returned once he got to the buffet table. He picked pasta into his plate and poured it with tomato sauce before shaking tons of powdery mozzarella over it. He took a side dish of hot mushroom soup, which fit at the corner of his plate. As he was filling his glass with iced tea, he noticed Serena standing nearby with her serving of beef broccoli teriyaki, simmered with brown sugar sauce on top of a mound of white rice. Yuya tried to smile at her, but Serena wasn't seeing Yuya. She was looking past him.

That was when Sergey appeared behind Yuya. Yuya instinctively moved aside and joined where Serena was. He didn't really feel safe to be so close to the madman. Serena was even more wary, pointedly glaring at him. He did hurt Yuzu. Serena was a woman who paid her debts. She was as determined as Yuya to bring Yuzu back.

Neither of them said a word when Sergey's hulking form left the buffet table. Suddenly, Serena took Yuya by the arm, dragging him in full speed. Yuya's heart almost fell when his mushroom soup shivered out of his plate at the last second, before he kept it from scalding his front. Before he knew it, he was thrown down on a chair, his plate and glass slamming on the table, looking right at Reiji across the table. Serena and Reira, who was just as confused as Yuya, sat between them. Reiji didn't give Serena a second glance; she would be sitting with Reiji, no doubt. But Yuya?

"Yuya?" For once, even Reiji was just a bit surprised.

"Hi, Reiji," he said stupidly. Looking at the Akaba brothers, Yuya realized that they were in the middle of a private conversation just now. Guilt clawed at him. "Sorry, am I bothering you two?"

Reira shook his head but it was Reiji who spoke. "Not at all." He leaned back, all business-like. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Yuya surreptitiously glanced at Serena. Her eyes had burned to slits, glaring at the retreating form of Sergey, who sat to the table next to them, where Kurosaki and Tsukikage were. Neither of them cared for Sergey's presence.

"Uh…No particular reason. I can stay here, right?" It wasn't like he could say, 'Sorry, I don't know what I'm doing here either. Bye.'

"You're more than welcome to." Reiji picked up his utensils to continue eating. Yuya noticed that he also had beef teriyaki like Serena. He'd imagined Reiji with a roasted lamb or a beef wellington.

Thankfully, eating with the Akaba brothers didn't turn out to be so awkward. Reira mostly spoke with Reiji, but he also talked to Yuya as well, welcoming Yuya to do his share in the conversation. Serena remained quiet all throughout, strangely on guard as if Academia was eating with them at this moment.

"Excuse me," said Reiji, rising. He disappeared outside, heading toward the men's washroom.

Yuya heard the scrapping of a chair behind them. Sergey rose and left as well. Immediately afterward, so did Serena, marching quickly ahead of Sergey…heading toward the men's washroom. At the corner of his eyes, Yuya saw Kurosaki, who was about to follow suit, staring at the odd display and sit back down.

Yuya tried to ignore this and continued his conversation with Reira until they heard Sawatari running back inside, screaming.

"What's going on? Is Academia attacking us?" demanded Yuzu, rushing back in from the women's washroom.

Sawatari, beat red in the face, pointed an accusing finger at Yuzu. "Pervert!" he screamed shrilly.

Yuzu stared at Sawatari. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she'd heard wrong or if she fell asleep in the middle of dinner and woke up in a bizarre dream.

"Excuse me?"

Hugo was back from the buffet table, carrying a plate of curly fries soggy with cheese. He waved his arm at Yuzu. "Yuzu! Done holding back that giant fart?"

Yuzu charged at Hugo, the spirit of a demon possessing her. "YOU'RE DEFINITELY NOT YUYA, YOU PIG!"

The next day, the Lancers were eating breakfast together as well. Yuya thought everything was going back to normal, but as he, Gongenzaka, and Sawatari entered, Serena was once more standing at the end of the buffet table, glaring at Sergey, who took his time with the eggs. Yuya quietly sat down and told Gongenzaka and Sawatari to go ahead. He was not going to go there while Serena was standing nearby.

It happened exactly as it did last time. Serena grabbed the unsuspecting Lancer closest to her and dumped him by the chair across Reiji. Sora stared blankly at Reiji, his hair in a mop of disarray and his hands holding spoons.

"Morning Yuya," greeted Sora groggily, stabbing his bacon with a spoon. "I had a dream where Kurosaki Shun fell down the stairs." Reiji gave Sora a look and ate churros in silence. Sora took Reiji's hot chocolate and made a loopy grin. "What a weird tea. I like it."

Reiji rose to get himself his hot chocolate. Things were normal again in a while. Yuya had toast and a late Yuzu was having grilled fish. She passed by Sora and kindly replaced his spoon with a fork, which Sora didn't make easy. "It's my candy!" he protested, weakly pulling on the spoon. Yuzu lightly punched him on the head.

Sora's behaviour must have taken Serena's attention then, because Yuya saw Sergey bump into Reiji, whose glasses flew out of his nose from the force. Seeing Serena's face change was like seeing a smooth apple magically turn into a spiked durian, but it couldn't match for what unfolded next.

Serena burst out of her chair and knocked Sergey's hand away from Reiji's glasses. Her foot kicked the glasses onto the corner, bouncing under Hugo's foot, who slipped and knocked his head on the floor. The glasses then struck the ceiling fan, the trajectory sending it against Tsukikage's forehead protector before finding peace inside Kurosaki's miso soup while he was looking away.

"Reiji, we have a problem," announced Serena, standing protectively before him and chinning up to glare at the giant Sergey. All the Lancers watched her with interest, save for Kurosaki, who was drinking his miso soup in peace. "This man…doesn't deserve to be a Lancer!"

"What the heck is going on?" muttered Gongenzaka.

Yuya laughed weakly. "I…don't know."

The way Sergey smiled was like seeing the jaws of a shark open. "Jealousy…is not beautiful."

Serena gritted her teeth. "Academia can attack at any moment and you're purposely causing disturbance in the team. Why don't you act more professional?"

Sora began to sob.

Yuzu came over. "S-Sora?"

"Yuzu, it's like my time in Academia all over again," he despaired between hiccups. "They don't serve cake during breakfast…"

Reiji was taking the situation at stride. "Sergey has not acted unreasonably to my knowledge."

"He had!" said Serena. "A lot of times. He just…hadn't had the chance to do them. I was stopping him. But I can't always keep an eye on him. At this rate, I won't be able to perform my best when the Synchro Dimension is attacked."

"What did you stop him from doing exactly?" asked Gongenzaka.

Serena answered immediately…but nothing came from her mouth. She paused, pondered, and tried to say something, but bit her lip again.

Yuya didn't want to be the one to tell it, but he was probably the only one who knew. Everyone saw Sergey kiss Reiji's hand, but only Yuya could connect the craziness together. "Sergey didn't really do anything, did he? You just want to keep him away from Reiji."

"I supposed I wasn't doing nothing," confessed Sergey, looking away with a mischievous, red-eyed smile. "I tried something."

Serena whipped her arm angrily. "Shameful! But you've confessed to your crimes at last."

Sergey ignored Serena. "Should I leave?" he asked Reiji.

"There's no need for that," he replied.

Serena whirled at him. Her eyes met Reiji's. "What?"

"Perhaps I should have dealt with this sooner." Reiji took a step forward.

Serena tried to take a step back in response, but she became unsure, hesitating. She resolved herself to stay put, willing the stubbornness to go to her eyes, so that Reiji would know her defiant stance. She would not have Sergey stay in the Lancers. Reiji should not have recruited him in the first place. Everyone made mistakes, even Reiji. But nothing Reiji would say could change her mind.

"Frankly, it surprises me to have to tell these words to you, Serena. You are a proud, strong duelist whom I respect. Three years ago, you didn't need my help to fight Academia's professors, but I couldn't stand by to see such an unfair fight."

"What are you trying to say, Reiji?" said Serena, the nervousness in her voice betraying her confidence.

"In times of war, it's natural for emotions to run rampant. Humans are beings of passion. You're no exception to this."

"Are you?"

"No." Reiji placed his hand on his waist, looking away. He looked back at Serena. "But there is a simple way to solve this. With Academia's invasion closing on us, I didn't think now would be an appropriate time to tell it to you. But since it's come to this, it can't be helped. Serena, I…"

"…For some reason, I expected things to turn out differently," said Yuzu with a sigh. "Am I disappointed? I think confused is more like it."

Yuya scratched his head. "Reiji was right though. Maybe now was not the right time to tell it to Serena."

"I agree," echoed Gongenzaka. "This isn't the time for such things."

Hugo was munching on popcorn, wiping tears from his eyes. "No, guys, it's the perfect time. It's beautiful." He took a great sniff and gazed at the Riding Stadium before them. "It's just like the movie Rin and I used to watch."

"Did Sawatari watch a movie like that too?" asked Yuya, glancing at the curled form of Sawatari in a corner, his soul taken away by a Dementor.

"I'm pretty sure it's something else," said Yuzu, pitying Sawatari for just a bit.

"I'm going to crush you like a bug!" roared Serena, slamming her monster on the duel disk.

Sergey drove past her, laughing. "Huehuehuehuehue."

"Settling matters through dueling," said Hugo wistfully. "I can follow a guy like that. Go, Serena! Prove the passion in heart through this duel!"

Yuzu chuckled weakly, remembering Reiji's words. "Serena, I believe you should settle this matter with Sergey… as duelists. If you were to express yourself, it's only proper to do it in a duel." Serena agreed instantly – and enthusiastically. It was like Reiji had finally spoken her language. "I guess…it works for some people." Someone sat beside Yuzu. When Yuzu saw who it was, her eyes grew wide. "Kurosaki?"

The others glanced at Kurosaki and shared her confounded reaction. On Kurosaki's nose was a familiar red, square-framed glasses that they'd always seen gazing with mystery.

"Why are you wearing Reiji's glasses?" asked Yuya, baffled.

Kurosaki gave a nonchalant shrug. "He said I could keep it."