Timeline: Roughly a day after chapter 2. Edit: I screwed up a name. Thanks for pointing it out ^^

-.-.-.-

Year Two:

‒ One Serpent, Many Dragons ‒

The Sleeveless Nuisance

-.-.-.-

One way or the other, that annoying first-year from Ra Yellow, Tyranno Kenzan, had become a great nuisance. Furthermore, he had decided that the best way of proving himself to those pesky Academia officials was to occupy a bridge on the property, forcing all those who wished to cross it to have a Duel with him.

Even more annoyingly, Tyranno Kenzan had managed to beat ninety-eight students; it was technically ninety-nine now, counting Sho's recent defeat. Really though, it wasn't as though Sho had really had all that much to lose other than some time and dignity; he had no exclusive summoning contracts to his name, and he had clued the idiot in on this fact beforehand.

In hindsight, it was obvious that the idiot didn't get the hint; didn't get it or promptly chose to ignore it. It hardly mattered whether or not Tyranno Kenzan was truly as hard and dumb as a rock. He was still annoying, and now more than ever, Sho felt sorely tempted to ask Professor Daitokuji for some useful tips on dark magic, or more specifically on hexing people into oblivion without having to resort to duelling. Having had his arse handed to him multiple times in fencing and other physical sparring activities, Sho found that he would rather avoid those as well. Training was after all one thing; he needed that. Competing was another matter; Sho hardly needed to compete in order to become aware of how his skills fared when pitted against those of others.

Of course, these days, calling himself weak would be selling himself short; Sho had been weak back when he had first arrived at the academy, but that was then. These days, he was not weak per se, merely weak compared to the people he usually sparred with. Compared to the rest, Sho was average or thereabouts; he had some skill but lacked the confidence to utilise it fully, according to some. Others still regarded him as weak though. In a way, Sho supposed they were right.

"Come on, wimp." Tyranno Kenzan shot him a decidedly exasperated look, sitting down across from Sho on a patch of grass. "You've got to have something."

Sho sat surrounded by Kenzan's lot, having been forced down onto his knees.

Had this particular event taken place during Sho's first year, then he would probably have been scared. Now on the other hand, having lived through that ordeal with Saiou and the Society of Light last year, Sho was less scared or impressed and all the more exasperated. "I told you. Back when you challenged me, I told you that I didn't have anything worth taking, so don't try to blame this on me! What's up with you occupying bridges anyway?! If you've got a problem with Yellow, then feel free to drop the Hell out. Head off to North Academy for all that I care! They like strong people and will no doubt welcome you with open arms!"

Okay, so maybe he was venting a little. Or a lot. Besides, in the offhand case that Tyranno Kenzan really went to North Academy then he would no doubt have to ditch that sleeveless jacket of his, because of the climate if nothing else. Then again, wasn't there a saying that idiots didn't catch colds? If so, then were idiots also impervious to influenza, pneumonia, and hypothermia? Had Sho been a more malicious sort, then he would have felt decidedly tempted to put it to the test ‒ for science, if nothing else.

Tyranno Kenzan actually had the gall to burst out laughing, patting him on the head like he was some type of dog. "That's right, that's right! I'm strong! You do understand!"

Sho would've punched him. Maybe Sho should've punched him instead of submitting to the indignity of having his hair ruffled in a manner that was somewhere in-between mocking and affectionate. Sho would've punched him, but he settled for swatting the hand away; he was vastly outnumbered after all.

"Hey you."

Sho didn't bother hiding his irritation as he directed his attention towards the minion addressing him. "What?"

"You're that guy, aren't you?"

That made him pause. "That guy?"

As the others leaned in for a closer look, Sho wavered between discomfort and irritation. "You'll have to be a bit more specific than that."

"Boss, he's that guy from the opening ceremony! The one who interrupted the Opening Duel!"

Interrupted? Oh.

"Hoh?" Tyranno Kenzan looked positively intrigued. "He did, did he?"

Oh, right.

"Coming to think of it, I think I've seen you hanging out with that Red guy and that Blue Northerner…"

Oh, great.

"I want to Duel them."

Fan-fucking-tastic.

With an irritable sigh, Sho steeled himself against the urge to tear at his hair. "Then go challenge them; I can't speak for that Johan guy, but Judai would definitely‒"

"I would definitely what now?" As ever, Judai had impeccable timing.

"You! Duel me!" As ever, Tyranno Kenzan had zero respect for proper duelling etiquette. And to think that he still wondered why the officials had put him in Yellow, Sho privately thought, rising to his feet now that attention had been abruptly redirected towards the newcomers.

Judai meanwhile regarded Kenzan with mild curiosity before his eyes flickered to rest on Sho where he now stood, still partially surrounded. "Hey Sho, you didn't turn up at the meeting place, so we figured you got held up somewhere."

Well, no shit.

"Hey!" Obviously, Kenzan did not appreciate being ignored. "That weak guy, is he a friend of yours?"

Well, that definitely got Judai's attention. "Sho isn't weak."

"Beating him was so easy; I didn't even break a sweat."

Utterly, utterly humiliating.

"You shouldn't talk about others like that; it's disrespectful," Johan Andersen commented, actually sounding a bit annoyed on Sho's behalf.

"Only the strong are worthy of respect!" Tyranno Kenzan retorted, deck already in hand. "Now Duel me already!"

Johan Andersen sidled up to Judai where they both stood on the opposite riverbank, saying something that was too soft for the rest of them to hear. Judai waved off his concerns though and as Johan stepped aside once more, Judai pulled out his deck. The humiliation aside, Sho felt just a tiny bit happy about the fact that Judai still remained willing to defend his honour. Kind of.

-.-.-.-

Ultimately, Sho was able to find a fair amount of satisfaction as the Duel concluded, especially in how; he resolved to forever treasure the memory of Tyranno Kenzan's utterly baffled expression as the guy lost not only the Duel but also his footing, sending him splashing down into the stream below. Unfortunately, Kenzan had been quick not only to recover but also to change his mind. Annoyingly quick. "Sho, my bro! Are you meeting up with Judai-bro again today?"

And to think that less than a day had passed since Kenzan, after stating his intention of making Sho his henchman, had lost to Judai; Judai, who in turn had reaffirmed his own claim. "Sho's his own person, but he's family to me," he had said, unwittingly warming Sho's heart. "And he doesn't look all too keen on joining you either, so lay off."

Those had been his words and such had been Judai's claim; they were family, brothers, because no matter what, that would never‒

"Sho, my bro! Wait up! Bro!"

Ultimately, Kenzan had been all too taken, not only by Judai's duelling but also his spirit; hence the current situation.

Somehow, getting demoted and moving back into the Red Dorm had never seemed more appealing.

-.-.-.-

"Looks like Judai-bro and Johan aren't here yet…"

Way to state the obvious, Sho privately thought but didn't comment on it, taking a seat upon one of the many fallen rock pillars. While waiting, he made sure to scan their surroundings, knowing too well that relaxing one's guard in such a place was the same as inviting misfortune. His attention was soon called back though, levelling upon Kenzan where the latter sat on the ground, rummaging through that sack he had carried along. From the looks of it, Kenzan had brought along enough meat to sustain a smaller pack of wolves for at least three days, which meant that Kenzan had either miscalculated or that he had forgotten that he was no longer the head of a band of henchmen or possibly‒ "You can't honestly mean to start a barbeque party in here?"

"I can't?" Kenzan said, evidently puzzled.

With a heavy sigh, Sho rose to his feet. "Of course not. Think about it."

Eyes wide, Kenzan scanned the area and then looked back. "But it's such a good spot; an open space, no trees or anything."

Oh great, he wasn't even considering the ruin. This of course begged the question as to just how the heck he had managed to survive this long. "At least move outside the circle, Kenzan."

"Why?"

Of for the love of‒ "Ruin or not, it's here for a reason."

"It is?"

Sho opened his mouth, but before he had launched into a more elaborate explanation, there was rustling from the woods. He tensed. Briefly, Kenzan did the same. Then, in an all too doglike manner, Kenzan's head picked up; if he had had a tail, then Sho had no doubt it would have been wagging. "Judai-bro! I've brought the meat!"

"Yo, Kenzan, Sho," Judai greeted, waving as he appeared amongst the foliage. "Sorry about the wait. I overslept and Johan doesn't know your expert technique."

"Expert technique?" Johan questioned, emerging moments thereafter. "I tried cold water; you didn't even budge."

"Ah‒" Judai grinned. "About that‒"

Really, Sho was regretting this arrangement already.

-.-.-.-

In the end, they did end up having the barbeque among the ruins, because Judai, who was allegedly the expert, insisted it was alright. "No worries, no worries," he had said, dismissing Sho's concerns with a wave. "I asked Professor Daitokuji; he said it was alright."

On one hand, Sho had greater confidence in Professor Daitokuji's judgement than Judai's. On the other hand, Sho had decidedly less trust in Professor Daitokuji than he had in Judai. "Why? I thought you said this was‒"

"Well it is," Judai agreed, knowing well what Sho was talking about. "Still, it's alright."

"Why is it alright?" asked Kenzan, though Johan had obviously had the same thing on his mind.

"It'd take a lot of energy," Judai had said, taking a bite out of a freshly grilled piece of meat. "An ordinary Duel wouldn't affect the rift; maybe if we all duelled here at once, it would be a different matter."

"What about excess energy generated by Duels?" Johan argued, evidently intrigued. He obviously had some knowledge of dimensional rifts; as expected of the Great Sage's protégé. "Wouldn't a rift draw it in?"

"Normally, it would," Judai agreed, looking entirely too much at ease. "Fortunately for us, this place is special."

"Special?"

"That's right," interrupted Professor Daitokuji as the man himself stumbled out of the bushes, followed by Pharaoh. "Honestly, what is with this undergrowth? It's practically a jungle…"

It was, more or less, a jungle and that much made sense, seeing that gardening only took place on this part of the island either as a voluntary effort or as a forced group activity whenever the undergrowth came a bit too close to the dorm. Granted, there were beaten paths running all over campus, but none of them ran particularly close to the ruins, making it a relatively open yet oftentimes secluded place to hang out, so long as they didn't let the vegetation get out of hand. "Professor?"

"Hold on for a moment, please, let me catch my breath. Need I remind you that I'm not so young these days?"

To an outsider, he probably looked young enough. Kenzan and Johan both looked rather puzzled, but since Judai had not told them, Sho had no reason to do so either. Besides, it was hardly any of their business anyway.

"The late chairman buried something here, on this island," the professor delivered at last, taking a seat amongst the rest of them. "Naturally, he was aware of the island's unique properties. As evidenced by these structures, even the people of old were aware of them."

Going by the look on Kenzan's face, Professor Daitokuji had already lost one listener. Upon closer inspection, Kenzan and Judai were both more intent on tending to the meat than on listening to Professor Daitokuji's explanation. As a matter of fact, Sho was only half listening to it himself, mostly because he had already heard a similar explanation in the past. Johan seemed to be listening rather intently however. "Unique properties? Like rift activity?"

"Indeed," the professor nodded profusely. "I believe one could say that the rift activity in this area serves as the foundation of everything. Granted, there is also the terrain itself; volcanic activity releases a lot of energy after all. However, though there has been plenty of energy here from the start, the island was very unstable back when the Academy was first built. Granted, some rift activity is needed to summon in the first place, but with grounds as unstable as this one used to be, putting a school here would have been inadvisable, so…"

A look of understanding dawned upon Johan's face. "The Sangenma."

"The Sangen-what now?" Kenzan echoed, interest piqued.

"The Three Phantom Demons, each of them a Level 10," Johan mumbled, giving the ground beneath them a somewhat startled look. "So that's why…"

"Normally, there would be a large build up of spirit energy generated by all the duelling going on," Judai noted, taking another bite out of a piece of meat. Idly, Sho noted that his appetite seemed even larger than usual. "The Sangenma absorb it, preventing the rifts from widening."

"Wai-wai-wait a minute, Judai-bro!" Kenzan protested. "You mean to say that the reason this island is stable in the first place is because there are some Level 10 spirits just hanging about, eating the energy?!"

Judai opened his mouth to respond, but Professor Daitokuji proved quicker. "They're not hanging around! They're sealed!"

Kenzan looked positively intrigued. "Where?"

The professor threw up his hands in apparent exasperation; Sho found that he could very much relate. "Even if I knew the exact location, I surely wouldn't tell you where to find them, Mr. Kenzan! Even if you managed to summon them, they would not be easily controlled!"

Professor Daitokuiji took a moment to breathe and then visibly calmed, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "Of course," he went on with his usual smile. "That's only in the offhand scenario that you or anyone carrying similar ambitions would be able to undo the seal, which is, in my opinion, rather unlikely."

Kenzan looked moderately offended at that, but he seemingly got over it as Judai handed him another rib. "In other words, you need to fulfil some type of criteria?"

Judai snickered at that, his smile broadening slightly at Kenzan's surprise. "You don't, so I'm happy for you. I do, which is why some guy was planning on stealing my soul last year."

Sho buried his head in his hands, wondering in part what the heck Judai was thinking and in part what Sho himself could possibly have done in order to deserve all of this. When he looked up, Kenzan was gaping. Johan's expression meanwhile had darkened visibly. "Judai," the latter began, soft voice taking on a slightly steely edge. "Someone tried to steal your soul?"

A rib still halfway into his mouth, Judai waved dismissively. If anything, then the look in Johan's eyes only darkened; the unwitting usurper was upset, and Sho could understand why. Judai apparently couldn't though, a testament to his obliviousness as well as to the fact that he was no longer particularly concerned about the major events of the previous year. "It's no big deal, really, so enough about that. We've got to work out strategies for our Survival Duels, right?"

Oh right. Crap. Sho gave his own bracelet a momentary look of despair before sighing deeply. The turmoil lately had nearly made him forget that his future as a duellist was ultimately riding on his performance, which had so far been anything but good. Still‒ "Judai, don't change the subject. Just because this isn't a big deal to you doesn't mean this isn't a big deal to the rest of us."

Sho had spent days worrying and nights standing guard at Judai's bedside, not knowing if he would ever recover. Sho had also been dragged into the madness that followed, trying to keep from having a nervous breakdown as Judai had taken over a cult and waged guerrilla warfare against another. Granted, the soul-stealing part had been fairly insignificant, given that the plan had never been implemented, but still‒

"Sho‒" Well, at least he had the decency to look a bit guilty. Still, that was just‒ "Oh, hi there Karen!"

Karen?

Sho turned, following Judai's gaze. So did a number of others. Kenzan looked to a spot just behind himself. Then he made a startled noise and swiftly vacated his spot, seeking refuge on higher ground. "C-c-c-crocodile," he stuttered. Sho recalled that unlike some, Kenzan had actually boycotted the opening ceremony, meaning that his old followers must've failed to mention it for one reason or the other. Hoh.

"Hey, I brought some fish."

Given the presence of the crocodile, Sho was not all that surprised to find Jim Crocodile Cook emerging from the bushes holding a fishing rod in one hand and his strung up catch in the other. Still, it begged the question why he and the crocodile were there in the first place. Of course, given the evidence so far, there was really only one viable conclusion.

-.-.-.-

"We meet again."

Evidently.

"You are Sho, I take it? The name's Jim Cook."

Sho shook the extended hand; the grip was warm and firm, devoid of ill intentions. "Marufuji Sho."

Unlike so many others, Jim did not pause at the name, increasing the likelihood of him never having heard of Sho's family, Ryo in particular. The same really couldn't be said about Kenzan, who had gone from staring at the crocodile to staring at Sho in obvious disbelief. "Marufuji?! You mean that Marufuji, Kaiser Ryo?! Are you possibly related to him, the Knight of‒?"

Really, to think that it was only yesterday that that Sho had been told to kneel and accept the other as his new overlord… "Cyber Dragons, yes. He just so happens to be my older brother."

Kenzan gaped. Jim meanwhile let out a low whistle. "Dragon Knight, huh? Not bad."

"Cyber End Dragon is certainly nothing to laugh at," Johan agreed. "Word has it that it's pretty impressive."

"It was pretty impressive," Judai agreed in turn, reminiscing. "Of course, the first time around was pretty tame compared to our Official Duel‒"

"Official Duel?" A number of people looked to Sho for an explanation. For some reason.

"Ryo picked Judai as his opponent for his Graduation Duel; it was one of the highlights of last year," Sho finally sighed, very deliberate in leaving out that it had also been one of the few important events of the previous year that had not involved the threat of expulsion, death or brainwashing.

"And the result?" At least this time around, they turned their attention to someone who had been directly involved. Thankfully.

Judai shrugged mildly. "It was a draw. I can't say either of us really went full out until towards the very end though. I'd love to Duel him again sometime, but I'm pretty sure he'd kick my ass."

Sho supposed that there, all things considered, was probably some truth to it. Then again‒ "You didn't have your contract with the Neo-Spacians back then though."

"Ah, that's true."

Sho sighed, steeling himself. "So, should we be expecting any further interruptions or has everyone turned up?"

They better have, because if not, then the day would most certainly be over before they got anything done.

"Well," Judai said at last, scratching his chin somewhat thoughtfully. "Thunder said no and Fubuki got dragged off by Asuka. So yeah, everyone's here."

Cue another round of enthusiastic disbelief from Kenzan. "By Thunder, you mean Manjoume Jun?! And Tenjoin Fubuki?! Aw man, I wanna Duel them!"

Somehow, Sho sincerely doubted this arrangement, regretted it even. Even so, a promise was a promise. "Could we please just ignore famous people and rift activity and just get back to the matter at hand, like how the heck we, especially me, are going to survive this school year? I mean, yeah, I did promise to help out with figuring out a way for Johan to pass his Ceremonial Trials, but I really won't be able to help anyone out if I'm kicked out of school before then!"

Well, that certainly got their attention. "As for that, you've already done plenty, I think," Johan said, and rather earnestly at that. "Granted, we haven't exactly had a chance to try it out yet, and if it's really like that then I'm not sure if I‒"

"No worries, Sho," Judai pitched in, giving him a thumbs-up. "We can both get kicked out and go travelling instead. We can go visit Hayato, maybe even Misawa and Tanya and‒"

"Misawa Daichi?!"

Really, really regretted it.

-.-.-.-