"Out of my way!"

Yuri watched with slight annoyance as Yugo ran through the corridors towards the convenience store. Next to him, Yuya let out a chuckle. "I can't believe he can still move like that," he said, even as the bright-haired blur became lost in the distance.

Yuri snorted. "I can. Idiots can do amazing things."

"That doesn't make any sense," Yuto said.

"Well, neither does your hair, so I guess we're even."

"My hair? Your hair—"

Yuya laughed again, before he zoned out of the growing argument, thinking about what had happened over the last two weeks. They had healed relatively quickly, but they had been excused from classes for the time that they were in the infirmary. Not from homework, however, as Yugo soon found out when he tried to spend the whole day sleeping and Rin smacked him awake with Yuzu's fan. Anyway, so they had started going back to classes once they were deemed fit for it. Yuzu recovered first, and she had come back to visit them occasionally. (And also to make sure that Rin did not murder them accidentally while trying to get them to do homework.)

After they came back to classes, things had settled relatively well. Of course, they still had slight aches in their body, but that didn't stop some of them (read: Yugo) from running around as though they ruled the world.

"—you're the last person that should be commenting on my hair, eggplant."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want to get in the way of a purple cabbage salad. I'm sure your hair would taste amazing when it's shaved off your head." Both of his brothers smiled at each other, though their voices were passive-aggressive. Yuya sighed.

Some things never changed.

His siblings certainly hadn't.

Noodles, instant food, instant noodles…

"Hmm, that's quite a lot."

Yugo jerked up, the basket of food nearly falling to the ground before he caught it by the handle again. He looked to the side and relaxed. "Ah, Shiun'in," he said. "Don't scare me like that!"

Sora chuckled, lifting up a basket full of lollipops. "Wasn't trying to. I've never seen anyone jump that high. Aren't you supposed to be injured?"

Sora Shiun'in was one of Yuri and Yugo's roommates, and he had learned after a while that the blue-haired boy was by nature an instigator. He had also mentioned that he had been watching the entrance duels the first day that they met, though he had also added with a sly smile that he thought Yuto was the strongest one of them all. It had taken a while for Yugo to calm down.

He was also Yuri's least favourite roommate, making Sora Yugo's favourite by default.

"As if an injury could stop me!" Yugo stuck out a thumb. "I'm already mostly recovered, you know? I feel like I could run a marathon!"

Sora jabbed him in the side.

He doubled over.

"Sakaki? Oi, Sakaki, don't pass out on me!"

"Everything's fine," the nurse said. "You probably just lost your balance."

Sora grinned, tilting his lollipop in one hand. "See? Everything's fine, you just have no balance whatsoever." At the nurse's reproachful look, he waved a hand. "Ah, fine. Sorry, Sakaki."

Yugo winced, standing up. "It's fine! I'm… good as new."

"Yeah, no," Sora said casually, bursting Yugo's bubble. "I may not be a medical expert, but I'm pretty sure I'm an expert in people who do stupid things and overtax their bodies. I don't think you should walk around that much now."

"Aww, but then Yuri will win!"

Sora gave him a disbelieving look. "How on earth will Yuri win by you letting yourself recover?"

Yugo decided not to answer that, because he was fully aware that most people did not understand the kind of power plays that took place when you had three brothers and too much time on your hands. Instead, he turned to the nurse. "I'm fine, right?"

"You will be fine, as long as you don't keep running around!" The nurse sighed. "Good grief, Yugo-kun…"

"But I'm fine!" He stood up. "And I know just what I want to do! You have no more classes either, right? Duel me, Sora Shiun'in!"

Sora stared at him. Then, the boy shook his head. "No thanks. That'd be such a bother."

Yugo comically fell down at the deadpan statement. "Wait, what? You rejected a duel?"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Can't I?"

"I'm pretty sure that's against the laws of the universe," Yugo protested seriously. "It's like, someone is like 'let's duel' and then the people duel and either become rivals or super good friends. No one ever says no to a duel!"

"Too bad," Sora said, and started walking away. Yugo followed him, waving to the nurse as they left, protesting the entire way.

"It worked for Yuya and his roommate."

"I'm not an anime cliche," Sora said.

"No, I've decided!" He hopped forward, epically holding one hand forward. "I'm going to get you to duel me, Shiun'in!" He remained in that pose, even as other people looked over from the nearby corridors.

Sora carried on walking, completely ignoring him.

"Shiun'in? Oi! Shiun'in!" Yugo chased after him. "Duel me!"

As such, for the next week, Duel Academy was host to the sight of Yugo Sakaki chasing Sora Shiun'in everywhere, the two blurs with blue hair practically a comedy show for everyone around them. Yugo continued to do more and more outlandish things, even as Sora continued acting completely unfazed. And of course, the convenience store ended up being hosts to a lot of shouting, much to the amusement of most of the students, who would gather there around evening to see the daily "Sakaki-Shiun'in Shouting Showdown". (Yuya privately thought that whoever had named that event had been slightly drunk at the time, but he thought it was hilarious too.)

Yuya glanced at the gigantic poster on the whiteboard of the classroom, where Yugo had drawn a chibi version of Sora's face and 'DUEL ME' in all caps and block letters. It was quite possibly the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.

"I just want to know how he printed that," Yuto deadpanned. "No printer in the school prints anything close to that size."

Ruri poked the paper. "It's handdrawn," she said in her usual gentle tone. "I think it's actually kind of cute. He put in a lot of effort too."

"Well, I hope he puts in less effort," Serena said with a snort. Next to her, Yuri and Rin were intensely discussing the best way to incapacitate Yugo and stop him from pulling anything else stupid, and Yuya was also slightly terrified at the idea of those two bonding. Yuri could be scary sometimes. Rin was scarier. Though the poster was the scariest of them all. "How do you even make someone that tiny even smaller? Idiot's got talent."

Yuya sighed. "This can't go on though." He glanced back at Yuri, who had dark circles under his eyes. "I guess it's difficult to sleep with them in the dorm?"

"I am going to choke them with that lollipop," he hissed out, rubbing at his eyes.

"O…ok then." Yuya sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Do you happen to know where Shiun'in is now?"

"Dorm," Yuri said, rolling his eyes. "They were still shouting at each other when I left." He turned back to Rin, presumably to continue plotting Yugo's demise.

The red and green-haired boy sighed, covering his face, before making his decision that this could not be allowed to continue. Firstly, Yuri and their other roommate (Dennis? Was that the name?) would probably commit homicide soon. Secondly, it was causing a lot of disruption and he had seen Chronos having a mental breakdown after Sora threw a lollipop at Yugo in his classroom and it ended up sticking to the ceiling. Thirdly…

Well, he had no third reason, but it wasn't like he was obsessed with the number three anyway.

After class (in which Yugo and Sora stared at each other the entire time) Sora bolted out of the classroom. Yugo moved to follow, only to be held back by Gongenzaka and Yuto.

Yuya ran out, seeing Ruri following him. "Oh, you too?"

"I feel bad for both Shiunin-kun and Yugo-kun," she said. "I want to see if there's anything I can do to help."

Yuya smiled. He could tell why Yuto liked her so much. "Same," he said. He spotted a light blue blur in the distance. "Shiun'in!"

Sora turned around, and after realising that they weren't Yugo, stopped. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," Yuya said, sounding equally awkward.

Ruri stepped forward. "I know that you really don't want to duel Yugo, but could you make an exception for now?" She said politely. "I think everyone is suffering because of it, but it's a bit hard to stop Yugo-kun when he goes off the rails."

Sora stared at her, cheeks going a little pink before he looked away. "I'm not opposed to dueling him," he said. "I'm just trying to see how long it'll take before he gives up."

Yuya was about to speak, before he froze. What.

"Anyway, whatever. Running away is getting a bit old anyway." He turned to Yuya. "What's with your brother, Sakaki? I've never met anyone this bullheaded."

Yuya smiled sheepishly. "Well, I won't say it's a bad thing that Yugo's stubborn… but he's definitely one of a kind when it comes to something that he wants to do."

Sora snorted. "One of a kind," he muttered. "All of you Sakakis are and the Kurosakis aren't far behind either."

Ruri and Yuya both smiled sheepishly.

"Why is it that the nicest one out of you quadruplets are always the youngest ones?"

Both Ruri and Yuya were about to protest the idea that they were the nicest ones, before looking at each other and stopping in realisation. They smiled at each other, slightly sympathetic towards the other's situation with their siblings.

While they commiserated with each other, Sora headed back towards the classroom, where Yugo had finally escaped. "Oi, Sakaki!" He shouted. "What are you waiting for? Let's go duel!"

Yugo's reply of 'Hell yeah' could practically be heard all over the island. The duo walked off towards an empty patch of land, and word began spreading, many students gathering. Yuri sat at the side, a table in front of him with two notebooks, each one having one of the contestants' names on the top of the page. Students were queuing up and placing their bets, while Yuri grinned.

Yuzu sighed. "I can't believe that he came up with that in a few seconds."

"I came up with the idea," Rin said, and everyone stared at her. "What? It's a way for us to all benefit from the idiot over there and his stupid actions."

Yuya briefly imagined Rin and Yuri sitting at a conference table, plotting to exterminate all their enemies with ruthless and cold efficiency and shivered.

Oh god. That must never be allowed to happen.

Yugo grinned. "Let's do this, Shiun'in! I've been waiting way too long!"

Sora yawned, unwrapping another lollipop. "Yeah, I guess. Let's go. Master Duel?"

"Works for me! Duel!"

"Duel!"

Yugo Sakaki: 4000LP

Sora Shiun'in: 4000LP

"I'll start!" Yugo declared, raising his hand in a flourish.

"Nope, I will." Sora took a card from his hand, smiling a little at Yugo's flustered outburst. "I will activate the continuous spell Toy Vendor. And with its effect, I can discard one card and draw one card from my deck. If it's a "Fluffal" monster, I can special summon one monster from my hand. Otherwise, I discard the card I drew." He picked up the card and grinned. "I drew Fluffal Dog! (4*/1700/1000/EARTH/Fairy/Effect) So I'll go ahead and special summon him!" On the field, a cute white dog with large brown spots appeared on the field.

"Oh, how cute!" Yuzu clapped her hands together. Yuya smiled at her, before turning back to look at the duel, as Sora bent down to pat the dog on the head.

"I will activate the effect of Dog," he said. "I will add a "Fluffal" monster to my hand, or Edge Imp Sabres (3*/1200/800/DARK/Fiend/Effect) to my hand. I'll add Sabres!"

"Edge Imp?" Yugo called out, having recovered from his shock at being interrupted.

"Yes, Edge Imp." Sora held out a hand. "My cards represent the cutest things in the world, after all! I will activate the spell, Polymerization!" He gestured to the field. "I will fuse Edge Imp Sabres in my hand with Fluffal Dog on my field!"

"Yet another Fusion user," Yuto noted next to him. "It's surprisingly plentiful even though it's a bit more specific in terms of materials required."

"Claws of the demon! Become one with the dutiful guardian and show us your new powerful form! Fusion Summon! Come out! Sea devil that steals freedom and pulls everything into the darkness! Frightfur Kraken!" (8*/2200/3000/WATER/Fiend/Fusion/Effect) On the field, a strange purple creature appeared, blades having cut through its sides and its eyes far lower than the place that they should have been. The monster knelt down in defence position, seeming incredibly passive.

"Oh, that is not cute at all." Yuzu said, cringing a little.

At the same time, Sora said, "aren't they adorable?" He carried on. "I'll end my turn. Over to you."

"Yeah! My turn!" He looked at the field. "I don't know what effects that guy has, but I'm not going to take any chances! Draw! I will activate the effect of Speedroid Terrortop (3*/1200/600/WIND/Machine/Effect) to special summon it since I control no monsters!" On the field, a row of circles appeared, darting across the ground. "And when Terrortop is normal or special summoned, I can add a "Speedroid" monster from my deck to my hand! I will add the one and only Speedroid Taketomborg!" (3*/600/1200/WIND/Machine/Effect) He took the card from his deck, before swiping his hand through the air. "And since I control a WIND monster, I can go ahead and special summon Taketomborg from my hand with its effect!"

"Two Level 3 monsters…"

"Sorry, but I'm not going to Xyz Summon," he said with a smirk. "Taketomborg's effect! I can't special summon non-WIND monsters this turn, but in return, I can tribute him and bring out a Tuner monster from my deck!" He looked at the displayed options. Maliciousmagnet was useless since he had no Synchro monsters with that high a Level, and his best option was… he clicked the icon. "I will special summon Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice (1*/100/100/WIND/Machine/Tuner/Effect) from my deck!" On the field, a piece of dice appeared, and he smiled. "I will activate Red-Eyed Dice's effect to change the Level of another "Speedroid" monster on the field to a Level from 1 to 6! I will change Speedroid Terrortop's Level to 6! Now, I will tune the Level 1 Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice to the Level 6 Speedroid Terrortop!"

"Clear Wing Synchro Dragon," Sora said with a yawn.

"Wrong!" Yugo said gleefully. "You've seen all my brothers have two dragons, so how about I finally show off my other partner and let him stretch his wings, yeah? Shining wings, deliver divine speed and illuminate heaven and earth! Come forth! Synchro Summon! Level 7! Clear Wing Fast Dragon!" (7*/S4/2500/2000/WIND/Dragon/Synchro/Pendulum/Effect)

A dragon that was mostly silvery-white, with shining scales appeared. Its body had some dark green highlights, similar to the rings that surrounded Synchro Monsters when they were first summoned. Finally, shining iridescent wings stretched out, and the dragon let out a roar.

"Huh?" Sora frowned. "Why not your ace?"

Yugo grinned. "Come on, you made me wait so damn long! Least I can do is to make you wait a while too, right?" He held up his hands. "Don't worry, I'm kidding. Being honest, my other Clear Wing is taking a nap now, so this will have to do."

Yuya remembered Yuri saying something similar during their first duel with Yuzu and Serena. He smiled. Judging from Yuzu's slight look to him and her smile, he guessed that she remembered it too.

Sora smirked, before shaking his head. "Your monster's still not strong enough though. What's your plan, Sakaki?"

"I plan to win, of course! Spell, Shock Surprise! By banishing up to two "Speedroid" monsters from my graveyard, I can destroy up to that many cards on the field! I will banish Terrortop and Red-Eyed Dice from my graveyard to destroy Toy Vendor and Frightfur Kraken!" The purple monster was destroyed, and the pot behind Sora vanished.

"When Toy Vendor is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can add Edge Imp Sabres or a "Fluffal" monster from my deck to my hand! I will add Fluffal Owl!" (2*/1000/1000/EARTH/Fairy/Effect)

Yugo sighed. "I guess you can go ahead and do that. Clear Wing Fast Dragon, attack directly! Shining Eradication!" The dragon dived down, hitting Sora.

Sora Shiun'in: 4000 - 2500 = 1500LP

"Yes! I got first blood!"

Sora laughed. "It's literally the second turn, calm your jets!"

"Yeah, show me what you can do! I'll set one card and end my turn!"

"Draw." Sora looked at his hand. "I will activate the effect of Fluffal Bear (3*/1200/800/EARTH/Fairy/Effect) in my hand! By discarding it, I can set Toy Vendor from the deck! Then, I will activate Edge Imp Sabres's effect! By placing a card in my hand on top of the deck, I can special summon it from the graveyard! Return to the field!" A group of strange connected scissors appeared on the field, and Sora grinned. "Aren't they the cutest?"

"Not really, they're kind of creepy," Yugo replied bluntly.

Sora's grin stretched, becoming positively nightmarish. "Cute," he said, somehow putting so much force into the word that Yugo cringed backwards.

"Yes, very cute, can we carry on?"

"Alright. I will activate Toy Vendor's effect." He picked up the top card of his deck after discarding a card. "It's Fluffal Owl, so I'll go ahead and special summon it."

Yuya nodded. He must have used Sabres's effect to place Owl on the top of the deck to set up the effect.

"I will activate Owl's effect. When normal or special summoned, I can add a Polymerization to my hand. Next, I will activate the effect of the Fluffal Wings (1*/100/100/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect) in my graveyard. If I control Toy Vendor, I can banish Wings and another Fluffal—my Fluffal Dog, of course—from the graveyard to draw one card! And then I can send a Toy Vendor on my field to the graveyard to draw one card. Next, I will activate Toy Vendor's effect in the graveyard to add another "Fluffal" monster or Edge Imp Sabres from my deck to my hand!"

Five cards in hand…

"I will activate Polymerization to fuse Edge Imp Sabres on the field with Fluffal Wings in my hand! Demonic claws, holy wings! Become one in the mystic vortex and show us a new form and power! Fusion Summon! Show yourself! Mystical jungle beast that rips everything to shreds! Frightfur Tiger!" (6*/1900/1200/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect) A large cyan-furred tiger appeared on the field, brandishing sharp claws on detached paws.

"I guess it's my turn to ask how you're going to breach that attack point gap?"

"Like you, I'm going to skip that gap entirely," Sora said proudly. "When Frightfur Tiger is Fusion Summoned, I can target cards on the field up to the number of Fusion Materials I used for its Fusion Summon. Two, so I destroy your set card and your Clear Wing Fast Dragon!"

"As if Clear Wing would go down that easily! I will activate its effect! I can negate the effects of a monster that was special summoned from the Extra Deck until the end of the turn and its attack points are reduced to zero! Lightspeed Screech!"

"Ah, crap!" Sora looked to the side as Tiger was forced downwards, its power drained. "Oh, Sakaki, you're actually good!"

"I'd be offended if you thought that I wasn't!"

"Well, that's not the point here, is it? I'm not done yet!" Sora held out his hand. "I will activate the spell Fusion Sage to add Polymerization from my deck to my hand, but I will instead add Fusion Substitute, which is always treated as Polymerization! I will normal summon Fluffal Dog from my hand and add another Owl from my deck to my hand with its effect. Next, I will activate Fusion Substitute to fuse with monsters on my field! I will fuse Frightfur Tiger with Fluffal Dog and Fluffal Owl! Dark predator! Bird of prey! Join with the dutiful guardian and create a new power! Show yourself! Wild ghost-cave beast that bares fangs at all! Fusion Summon! Frightfur Sabre-Tooth!" (8*/2400/2000/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)

A purple bipedal tiger-like creature appeared on the field, smiling with sharp implements sticking out of every inch of its body. Yugo whistled. "Two Fusions in one turn? Impressive!"

"Sabre-Tooth special summons a "Frightfur" monster from the graveyard when it is Fusion Summoned. Revive, Frightfur Kraken!" Sora gestured forward as the fearsome purple creature appeared. "Kraken's effect! Once per turn, I can send a monster you control to the graveyard! I will choose your Clear Wing Fast Dragon!"

"Like I'd let that happen!" Yugo held out his hand. "I will activate the counter trap, Ultimate Providence! By discarding a card with the same type from my hand, I can negate the effect and destroy that card!" He discarded one more card from his hand, and the card shattered.

Sora sighed, rolling his eyes. "Overly prepared. Aren't you even going to let me attack?"

"Sorry, but one doesn't grow up in the same house as Yuri and Yuto without learning to block off things like that," Yugo said with a grin.

The blue-haired boy (not Yugo, Sora, Though Yuya would personally understand the confusion) leaned back. "Well, I'll end my turn." He waved a hand. "I'm not taking this defeat lying down, you hear me? I'm going to win against you next time!"

"My turn," Yugo said with a grin. "Clear Wing Fast Dragon's effect. I will negate your monster's effect and reduce its attack to zero. Lightspeed Screech!" The dragon let out a loud growl again that forced the fiend monster to the ground. "And Shining Eradication!" The following bright attack pushed Sora back.

Sora Shiun'in: 1500 - 2500 = 0LP

Sora walked up. "Another round!"

A grin came on Yugo's face. "Nope," he said, and began to walk away.

"Oi! Sakaki! Don't be mean!"

Yuto watched them, looking a little puzzled. "Are they… arguing?"

"No," Yuya said. "They're smiling quite brightly. They're friends now."

He smiled as well.

He was glad that Yugo had ended up making a friend, somehow.

Yuri glared up exasperatedly.

"Still no sleep?" Yuto said.

"They won't stop."

At the front of the classroom, Sora was begging Yugo to duel him and the Synchro user was wearing a shit-eating grin as he rejected the duel over and over again.

Yuya smiled sheepishly.

"Duel me!"

"Nahhhh…"

Maybe the two of them becoming friends wasn't the best idea, but oh well, it was already too late for that.

Yuya was satisfied with this outcome. (Even if everyone else already wanted to toss both off the island and end it there.)

Things were lightening up.

A/N: This chapter came out pretty easily, considering that it was mostly character interactions and properly introducing Sora into the plot instead of just having him be that one background character who notes the colour of the sky in Chapter 1. After thinking for a while, I decided that he would probably be the best character to give the story a bit of a lighter tone after the last few chapters.

I'm hoping to start giving focus to other characters instead of just the Yu Boys in the next few chapters, starting off with Sora in this chapter and Serena and Rin in the next few chapters. I personally want to explore the characters of Arc V not just as individuals but also their dynamics with different characters, as well as the different ways they may have developed due to their situation being different this time. Sora isn't as sadistic since there's no Academia teaching him to hurt others this time round, so he's just a relaxed, snarky and sarcastic boy who likes candy but still hates to lose, even if it doesn't give him a mental breakdown like in canon.

I've been working on the Duel Monster Spirit Day Arc, of which the Chapter 11 and 12 previews that were mentioned in the last chapter are part of. I want to clarify that the chapters in that arc will probably not happen in exact chronological order, as some events will overlap and some chapters may cover the entire day of a specific group. I'll see how to work it in depending whether I have to split the next chapter (it's growing longer and longer as I speak!)

Just as a refresher of the previews, as well as an additional one that's popped up. :p

Chapter Preview: Chapter 11—Moonlight Runaway

Duel Monster Spirit Day is coming up, and before it, there is a contest being held to vote in a female student as Miss Duel Academia. Against her will, Serena is entered into the contest by her sisters, and an unlikely ally comes to her aid.

Chapter Preview: Chapter 12—Wind and Steel

Rin doesn't particularly like it when people insult the way her sisters duel. Sawatari is prone to putting his foot in his mouth. And Yuto and Gongenzaka are just here to watch with popcorn.

Chapter Preview: Chapter 13–Will of the Brothers

After spotting them hanging out with Rin and Yuzu, the Kaiser challenges Yuto to a duel. What occurs next horrifies the entire crowd as the two overprotective brothers face off, and Xyz Monsters flood the sky!

(Also, as a fun fact, the duel in this chapter was incredibly painful to write. When I write, I try to operate by the idea that the characters are 1) not prone to making game-breaking mistakes unless they're emotional and 2) just a bit lucky. Turns out that while Fluffals can draw a lot, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon pretty much no-sells most of the Frightfurs. Hence, after several unavoidable OTKs by Yugo, I relented and told the original Clear Wing to take a nap while I finally let its counterpart have its debut. I hope it turned out well.)

Finally, thanks to TheShadowOfZama for your review! Don't worry, the Numbers aren't just being put on a bus—you'll definitely see more of them in the future! That being said, Yuri will probably fulfil his promise if any more of them try to 'test' the Sakakis…

Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope it was entertaining, but for now I'm going to post this :)) Take care of yourselves!

-Blaise