Immersed in her studies, Yuna anxiously and frantically poured over several cards and books to find a way to improve upon her deck.

"I only have two days," She sighed, pouring over a text book on deck construction theory and practice. "And I'm still no closer to figuring this out than I was when I first started!"

Her brain exhausted from all the work it'd been put through, Yuna's head dropped limply into the book she'd been reading.

"I can't do it…" She groaned. She felt like crying as she looked hopelessly at her deck. "I haven't added or changed out a single card…!"

Whether it was only a few seconds, or a few hours, Yuna lay completely motionless over her desk, her mind feeling completely blank; she couldn't even really remember what she was trying to accomplish with all the work she had been doing.

A familiar, hollow feeling started to flood her mind; one of pain and loss, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard the blood-curdling cry of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon…..

"Yuna, I'm back." Reiko called. "Sorry it took me so long, I was just…" She paused as she saw the miserable state Yuna was in. "Uh, Yuna?" She slowly walked up to her old friend, and lightly shook her shoulder. "…You okay, Yuna?"

"Mm? Yeah, Hotaru. I'll be fine…" Yuna droned blankly.

"It's Reiko." Her old friend corrected her, looking down at Yuna with concern. "And you don't really seem find to me. You look like you just took another Burst Stream of Destruction head-on…" Reiko cringed, knowing that was an inappropriate joke she should never have made, especially not after such an attack hurt Yuna so much, both physically, and emotionally. "…Er, sorry!"

"…That's what it feels like." Yuna admitted. "You wouldn't happen to have some Emergency Provisions, would you?"

"…I've got a chocolate bar." Reiko said awkwardly as she broke off a piece of chocolate.

"That'll work." Yuna smiled weakly. She popped the block of chocolate into her mouth, and sighed as she stood up from her desk, only to fall onto her bed, her brain totally worn out.

"Y'know, Reiko..." Yuna sighed, while chewing on the sweet chocolate she'd been given. "I don't know if I've said it before, but I'm really happy to have friends like you and Hotaru. I think I'd be totally worthless without you…"

"Hey, hey, don't talk like that!" Reiko laughed. "You're not the one who failed out of the running right at that start!"

"Ah, sorry…!" Now it was Yuna's turn to cringe, not aware she had been so insensitive to Reiko.

"No worries." Reiko said. "Anyway, what's got you down in the doldrums?"

"Akira said she wanted me to improve my deck, or build a new one entirely, and use it in the second test." Yuna explained. "And so far, I haven't made any lasting change to my deck, much less anything kind of 'improvement.'" Her head overflowed with card descriptions, and papers and books on dueling and deck construction theory. "Ever feel like I shouldn't have won our…?"

"No, I don't think that at all." Reiko interrupted. "Look, you won our duel totally fair and square; no matter what makes you think otherwise, I know that you can beat the other candidates. Yes, even Kisa." She added, knowing Yuna didn't agree.

Yuna lay silently. She wanted to object to everything Reiko had said, believing her to be wrong, but her brain was too exhausted to drum up a single word to the contrary.

"You've been at this for way too long." Reiko sighed, shaking her head, as she knew exactly what Yuna wanted to say. "Look, you need a break, Yuna. Let's do something fun today!"

"I can't." Yuna objected. "I've got to study, got to…"

"You said you haven't made the slightest bit of progress on your deck, right?" Reiko pointed out. "And if you keep this up…" She could practically feel herself getting a headache just looking at the mess of textbooks that Yuna had been pouring over. "At the rate you're going, you won't make any progress, no matter how much time you spend at your desk. No matter what you do, you're just gonna end up wasting time."

Yuna groaned, knowing that Reiko was right. "Okay. So what should we do then?" Reiko pondered for a moment before replying:

"Let's go out on a date!"

"….huh?"

Love and Duels in Full Bloom

Ninth Date

"C'mon, Yuna!" Reiko laughed cheerily, as she hurried down the hill towards Leo Town. "Let's go!"

"Where are we going?" Yuna panted, struggling to keep up with Reiko's energetic spirit.

"I told you, we're going on a date!" Reiko said, grabbing Yuna's hand, and dragging her along.

"I know, but… what are we going to be doing?" Yuna flustered.

"Uuuuuuh…." Reiko didn't break her stride, but her mind did start to blank at this question; she put no thought towards what to do for her date; just that she wanted to take Yuna out on one. "Well, I thought we could…" She paused.

"What do people do when they go on dates?!" She racked her brain, looking for an answer that wasn't there.

"Hm?" Yuna blinked.

"C'mon, Reiko! Think! Think harder, dammit!" Reiko gritted her teeth, trying to think of something to do. "You've seen couples on dates on TV and in movies, why is it so hard?!"

"Um… Do you think that maybe we could just walk around?" Yuna requested. "I didn't get to see much of Leo Town last time we were here."

"Oh? Um…. Yeah, sure!" Reiko said awkwardly. "Let's go!"

She trotted ahead of Yuna, ready to play tour guide, but then a thought occurred to her:

"People on dates tend to hold hands, right? So…."

She casually reached a hand out, and grabbed Yuna's much to her surprise.

"Eh?!" Yuna squeaked. "Reiko?"

"What?" Reiko chuckled casually. "We're on a date, so it's fine, right?"

"I-it is?" Yuna blushed. "Um… okay…."

And so, Reiko enthusiastically showed Yuna around Leo Town, starting with the shopping district; Yuna was surprised to see that in such a small town, this district could rival a strip mall in size and scale. In particular, there was one store that immediately grabbed her attention as soon as she saw its name:

"The Jun-Mo Boutique." She remembered Reiko mention it last time they had ventured into Leo Town, and although Reiko had offered to take her here, they never had the chance. "This was that clothing store you had told me about, right?"

"Wanna check it out?" Reiko offered. "I think you'd like it."

Yuna agreed, entering the boutique, to immediately be met by a pair of happy faces.

"WELCOME! How can we help you~?" Two young women cheered in unison. One had shoulder length red hair, while the other's was black and fell well past her chest. They both wore very fancy, lace-covered dresses; the redhead's pale blue, while the black-haired one wore pink.

"Oh, I don't think we've seen this one before, Junko." The black-haired woman commented, indicating Yuna.

"You're right, she is a new one, Momoe." The redhead nodded. Both women looked over Yuna top to bottom with very deep interest.

"She's a cute one~."

"She sure is. She would be so, so perfect to model our newest swimsuits~!"

"Wa-wait, huh?" Yuna said blankly, completely lost as the boutique owners scanned every inch of her with their eyes. She crossed her arms over her body, feeling like they were staring at her naked.

"I-I just came for some new street clothes." She said awkwardly.

"Aw," Junko whined. "Maybe next time?"

"What kind of street clothes are you looking for, then?" asked Momoe. "We've got all kinds of styles to choose from. Looking for something fancy? Sporty? Cool? Pretty? Sexy~? Cute?" She listed off the various descriptors very rapidly.

"Um…." Yuna muttered speechlessly, feeling lost and overwhelmed.

The more she looked around at the assortment of clothing available at the boutique, the more she wondered just what would suit her.

She started to think about her friends, and just how much every one of them had a style that suited them perfectly: Reiko often wore fairly cheap, yet simple and comfortable clothing; often very boyish and/or sporty in style. Meanwhile, Hotaru had finer tastes, often preferring classier outfits. And Alice seemed to enjoy wearing sexier fashion choices, though not without a touch of class and trendiness. All of these fashion preferences suited these girls perfectly in Yuna's eyes, but she couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of style would complement her; if any style could suit her at all.

The more she thought about it, Yuna could see that the same could be said for the dueling decks of her friends as well; Reiko's Gemstone Dragons, Hotaru's Spellcasters, and Alice's Madolches were all living reflections of their respective duelists. So, as Yuna realized, her deck was just as indecisive in what it wanted to be as she was; strewn with a near-random assortment of Normal water monsters, with a few Pendulum cards added haphazardly.

"…Uh, miss?" Momoe said softly, tapping Yuna on the shoulder. "Are you alright?" Yuna had gone silent for several minutes, having no idea what she wanted.

"I think she's having trouble deciding." Reiko informed her. "She always has…"

She remembered a time when she and Yuna were very young; they attended a local festival together, where the two joyfully had all the sweets the various stands had to offer, but when asked whether she wanted pink or blue cotton candy, Yuna only stood silently in front of the stand, eyes glancing back and forth between the two colorful sweets, with no clue what she wanted.

"I'll have blue!" Reiko had decided for them. "You have pink! That way, they match us!"

Yuna knew that she couldn't always have Reiko deciding for her, and yet, whenever she needed to make a decision, she would always let Reiko decide for her; when they were in middle school, and they first started to play Duel Monsters, she examined every single starter deck that her local card shop had to offer, but when it came time to buy their first decks, Hotaru and Reiko knew exactly which cards they wanted, while Yuna remained clueless, unable to decide on a starter deck, until Reiko had picked one out for her.

"I'm sorry." Yuna sighed. "I don't know…"

"We think you do." Momoe giggled.

"Huh?" Yuna and Reiko said together.

"We see this all the time." Junko explained. "There's always that one girl who's always so indecisive, and will spend hours looking at the same clothes, not knowing what to buy."

"But we can tell you from experience that she knows exactly what she wants." Momoe chirped. "The reason may vary; whether it's too expensive, she's afraid her friends will judge her, it's out of fashion, she thinks it's embarrassing….."

"Whatever the reason may be, the point is that the 'indecisive' type knows what she wants. She just doesn't know if it's right for her," Junko concluded. "And we can say from experience that if she's asking herself that question so long, then…"

"The answer is yes!" Both women said in unison.

With these words, something clicked in Yuna's mind. She realized that Junko and Momoe were absolutely right, as she looked back on her life.

She remembered when she was just a little girl, attending a local festival with Reiko; the two ate up all the sweets they could find, but when asked to choose cotton candy, Yuna only stood silently, looking back and forth between pink and blue. She thought of getting pink, since it matched her hair, but thought against it, since Reiko would laugh at her. But…..

"I'll have blue!" Reiko had decided for them. "You have pink! That way, they match us!"

Then, she remembered back in middle school, when she and her friends first started playing Duel Monsters: While Hotaru and Reiko had picked out the starter decks that they liked, Yuna took considerably longer to choose which deck would be the right fit for her. And yet, while she appeared to be completely clueless, her eyes almost constantly gravitated back towards one particular deck, comprised of water monsters. Yet, while she thought of taking it, a thought always lingered in the back of her mind whether or not this deck was the right one for her, until Reiko picked it from the shelf, and placed it in her hands.

"Um… Reiko?" Yuna blushed. "Do you think you could wait for me outside?"

"Huh?" Reiko blinked. At first, she was confused, but then understanding dawned on her. "Oh. Yeah, sure. Take your time." She chuckled.

Reiko sat outside on a park bench for about ten minutes, before the doors to the Jun-Mo Boutique opened, Yuna calling back, "Thank you for your help!"

Reiko turned around, stunned by the sight before her:

Yuna carried a shopping bag that held the old middle school uniform she had been wearing, and now stood before Reiko dressed in a red jacket with a pin bearing the GDS emblem, over a white dress whose hems were cutely frilled, and a seashell necklace hanging around her neck.

"So…. W-what do you think?" asked Yuna awkwardly, stepping back to make sure that Reiko had a good look at her new look.

"I like it!" Reiko grinned, shooting Yuna a proud thumbs-up. "That's a really cute look for you."

"Y-you think so?" Yuna blushed, her heart a flutter by Reiko's compliment. "I wasn't sure myself if…"

"Yuna," Reiko wrapped her hands around Yuna's shoulders in a manner Yuna was sure was supposed to be supportive, but only made her wonder if her best friend was coming onto her…. "You need to stop second-guessing yourself. Like they said in the boutique, you know what's right for you, but you second guess without even trying first."

Reiko fixed a very strong gaze straight into Yuna's eyes, making her even more nervous; making her wonder if Reiko was getting ready to kiss her….

"I think I understand now," Reiko continued. "You're having so much trouble, because you think the best thing to do is to make one flawless, perfect move, and you don't know how to go about doing it; the problem is, Yuna, you can't do that. I know you've been anxious about everything going on around you, but it's not good to just stand still without even trying."

Reiko's words started to strike a chord in Yuna, as her thoughts flashed to her deck, and some of the cards she wanted to add or change out.

"Thank you." Yuna smiled. "You've been a big help today, Reiko."

"You say that like our date is over." Reiko laughed, taking Yuna's hand again. "Like I said, we're out to have some fun today, and that's exactly what we're going to do!"

This time, Yuna didn't mind as she walked hand-in-hand with Reiko as they wandered around Leo Town. Very quickly, she started to feel relieved not to be burdened with the stressful task of improving her deck, and was glad to get out and stretch her legs for a while.

However, soon, she started to notice people's eyes on her and Reiko, and she very quickly became anxious, knowing that all eyes were on her specifically.

"It's just your new look." Reiko grinned.

Yuna doubted that; she briefly remembered shows that she would sometimes see on TV about people following celebrities and their love lives. Somehow, she felt as if this was one such situation. She knew that news of the School Duel between GDS and Kaiser Academy was followed by everyone in the two schools and the town that rested between them, so she didn't doubt that she was currently a publicly well-known figure, along with the other candidates to represent GDS.

She could practically see the news headline 'Rookie GDS Candidate bonds with childhood friend!', as she passed by the onlookers around her. She slowed down, trying feebly to hide behind Reiko, who fought the urge to laugh as the two girls continued on their date.

"So, Yuna." Reiko said as she and Yuna sat down and ordered some parfaits at the Gollman Café. "What do you think about this whole school duel thing?"

"Hm? I…. Honestly haven't thought very much about it." Yuna scratched her head awkwardly. "I've been so wrapped up in these tests and preparations, I haven't had the time to. I don't even really know anything about it."

"Well, each year, GDS and Kaiser Academy – Y'know, that boy's school on the hill opposite us – come together for this special event," Reiko explained. "They meet up, have some kind of dinner, and a ball, and a bunch of other fancy stuff like that, as part of some special tradition, or… Something. Yeah, I don't know all the details, but anyway, the event is ended with one final duel that's between the representatives for each school."

"…Wait. A ball?" Yuna repeated. "I thought this was just a duel between the two schools?"

"So did I," Reiko shrugged. "But apparently, it's actually a pretty elaborate event, with the representatives given a pretty big part to play."

"Oh, really…?" Yuna muttered nervously. She had always had very nervous thoughts about the idea of taking part in the school duel itself; she could only imagine that it would go as poorly as her duel against Kisa. The idea that she would play such a big part in so much more, and that it could easily go wrong, only served to make her feel even more nervous, and reconsider her candidacy…

"Can I ask you something, Reiko?" She sighed.

"You already have," Reiko joked. "But go on."

"Do you think I really could be GDS's representative?" asked Yuna. "I mean… the more I think about it, the more I think about the other candidates… What chance to I have? There's Hotaru, who was one of the best duelists in Synchro Dimension; Alice, who's so good, she treats every win like it's child's play, and only lost to me because she let me win; And then…. Kisa." She shuddered, as she could hear the roar of Blue-Eyes White Dragon echo in the back of her mind.

"So?" Reiko shrugged.

"…Huh?"

"So they're good at playing cards, so what?" Reiko groaned. "Geez, this is what I hate about these competitive duelists! They get so caught up in how much money they can throw at their decks, so caught up in the high numbers they can put on their dueling records, that they forget what makes Duel Monsters so great. Remember all the friends we made just playing for fun back in middle school?"

"Yeah." Yuna nodded, weakly smiling as she reflected on those simpler times.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Yuna." Reiko confided. "Because of this heartless, competitive nonsense, I never wanted to be representative."

"But then…" Yuna's heart sank as she realized some very unfortunate implications. "D-did you go easy on me too? Back when we dueled…?"

"No! No, not at all!" Reiko laughed. "I dueled as hard as I could. But even if I'd won against you, I would have quit right on the spot."

"Really?" Yuna blinked. "So… do you think I should?"

Both she and Reiko were quiet for a moment, as Reiko crossed her arms; her eyes closed, and frowning in contemplation.

"I mean… I'd be pretty hypocritical if I said that you absolutely shouldn't…" Reiko sighed. "I would understand completely if you wanted to, but honestly? I think you're the best one to act as GDS's representative."

"Me?" Yuna said, pointing to herself uncertainly. "Why? My deck is…"

"Forget about the deck!" Reiko groaned again. "What matters is your heart!" She emphasized her point by gripping her own. "They keep saying how the representative should embody everything that GDS values, like love, and sisterhood and all that jazz, so… tell me again why that cold-hearted bitch Kisa is the best choice?"

Yuna smiled as Diane Gollman brought their parfaits. "Thanks, Reiko. That really does mean a lot."

Several hours later, as the sun began to set, Yuna and Reiko returned to their dorm, where they started to get ready for bed.

"You know…" Reiko smirked as she changed out of her street clothes. "Technically, our date hasn't ended. If you want, we can finish it in bed~!" She bent down slightly as she pulled down her pants, as if to show off her butt.

"Wha..!? REIKO!" Yuna squealed, flustered. She turned away from Reiko, hiding in a corner as she changed into her pajamas.

"Hey, calm down! I was just kidding!" Reiko barked with laughter.

"Don't joke like that, Reiko." Yuna pouted, her face glowing bright red. "I really thought you were implying…" She broke off, not wanting to go there.

"No… not unless you want to…." Reiko said in an undertone, but still just loud enough for Yuna to hear her comment; a comment which earned her a pillow in the face from Yuna. "Hey! I said I was joking."

"Yeah, well… you deserved it." Yuna pouted, blushing furiously. "Saying things like that…"

"Things like what?" Reiko teased, bopping Yuna on the head with the pillow she had thrown at her.

"You know I like sharing a bed with you…" Yuna muttered. "So why did you have to go and make it into something so dirty?" She hit Reiko with the pillow again.

"Dirty?" Reiko laughed, grabbing her own pillow, and bopping Yuna on the head again? "I was just innocently offering to share a bed with you! You're the one who made it into something dirty!"

"Liar!" Yuna laughed, hitting Reiko again.

Reiko started laughing too, and grabbed another pillow, which she threw in retaliation. In a matter of seconds, a full scale pillow fight had engaged between the two, starting with just trading fluffy blows, to putting their Action Dueling skills to use, as they ran around every inch of their room, jumping and flipping off of their beds.

Their pillow fight was stopped as Mother Tenma announced lights-out, scolding the two for causing such a racket.

"Well…" Reiko panted lightly. "That was fun!"

"Mhm…" Yuna agreed. "Um… Reiko?" She fidgeted timidly. "C-can we share a bed tonight?"

"You don't even need to ask." Reiko smiled as she climbed into bed, and threw back the covers for Yuna, who remained standing hesitantly.

"Um… I meant that in a non-dirty way…." Yuna clarified.

"I know you meant it in a non-dirty way!" Reiko laughed. "C'mere." She held Yuna's hand, and pulled her into bed, where they lied comfortably together side by side.

Yuna smiled as she hugged Reiko affectionately. "Hey, Reiko?" She whispered. "Thank you."

"Hm?" Reiko looked to Yuna curiously. "No problem… For what?"

"For the fun date," Yuna giggled. "For the new clothes. For the advice… I think I know now what I want to do for my deck now."

"Yeah?" Reiko smiled. "What's that?"

"Hehe, that's a secret." Yuna teased. "I'll show you when my second test comes."

"Aw, c'mon!" Reiko whined. "No fair! Gimme a hint, at least?"

"Okay…"

Yuna reached down into her pajama shirt, and pulled out the sea shell necklace that she wore, showing it to Reiko, who still looked uncertainly at Yuna.

Yuna, however, tired and ready for bed, curled up by Reiko's side, and started to fall asleep.

To Be Continued…

It hurts when it takes this long to make an update. It really does. As of late, I've been caught up with all kinds of different projects and experiments that I've been working on, and that's not even accounting for how busy my job's been keeping me!

Anyway, while I don't want to make any huge promises, I can say with confidence that the next chapter won't be as long of a wait; mostly because I've already had a good chunk of it written already.

Next time, Yuna's second test will finally take place, and… well, let's just say that she's gonna make a big splash.

See you then!