Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki. It is advisable for readers to know how to play the game. Because the setting takes place in an older generation, Tuner monsters are considered effect monsters, and in Naturia archetype case, synchro monsters are ritual monsters with the archetype ritual magic card.

Chapter 1

A Teenage Dream

Dressed in a pristine private uniform of her middle school, a petite young duelist held out her duel disk on her left arm with a monster and two face-down traps cards on the field. Three cards were clutched in her hand, who prepared an upcoming strategy to victory. The field was dominated by a forest-like scenery, courtesy from her Field Magic Gaia Power, which Earth-type monsters gain five hundred attack points and lose four hundred defense points. The only monster standing to protect her life points was a rather peculiar monster. It was a pair of small bamboo shoots with large eyes that didn't suit a determined expression. It had two thousand attack and defense points at Level Five, excluding the field spell.

Her opponent had two strong dragons in attack mode, one with an Equip Magic card empowering it enough to destroy her monster. Luckily for him, it was the only magic card that could still work while the plant barred his magic and trap cards on the field and hand from activating. "Battle! Dragon Egger attacks Naturia Bamboo Shoot! Blaze Bomber!" The examiner waged the battle with the egg-armoured dragon taking the lead.

"Trap Card, Thorn Wall. When a Plant-Type monster is selected as an attack target, all of the opponent's monsters in Attack Position are destroyed." The wall of green thorns grew from the ground and reflected the attack Dragon Egger used towards itself and Sapphire Dragon.

"Turn End," disgruntled the examiner.

"My turn, draw. I summon Naturia Cosmobeet." Without adding her new card to her hand, she placed it straight to her disk "Due to Field Magic Gaia Power, since Naturia Cosmobeet is an EARTH-type monster, it gains five hundred attack points.

"Battle: Naturia Bamboo Shoot, Naturia Cosmobeet, direct attack!" Her two small monsters attacked with flower petals and bamboo spikes and plummeted her examiner's Life Points from four thousand down to zero - a perfect one-turn-kill.

"Examination Duel concluded. Congratulations. You're the winner," he said. The girl, Fukugawa Nao, wordlessly nodded her head.

From the stands, three students already wearing blue uniforms for Duel Academia watched each match; scoffing at those who passed and sneering at those who failed. When they watched Nao finished her duel with a clean victory, they discussed with each other, "That Examinee No. 5, is the highest ranking female applicant, Fukugawa Nao."

"Hey, isn't she underaged?"

"The Fukugawa family is a sneaky bunch, huh? I bet they bribed the staff to allow their daughter to take the exam."

"Nonsense," the teenage boy in the middle stuck his haughty nose in the air. "As adolescent she is, those are skills of an Obelisk Blue. Those in the same rank as 'ore-sama' (1) won't be threat, especially for a child like her."

"That's true, but we won't know that until we test those skills ourselves." They immediately stopped talking when the same said girl walk up the stairs to her seat at the back. The boy in the middle, Manjōme Jun, could have sworn that she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She refocused her eyes back to the front as she heard other whispers around her.

"Her duel must have been fabricated for her."

"I bet her monsters aren't that strong."

"I can beat her in one turn with my eyes closed."

"She doesn't seem that great. Look at her - keeping her head up high."

"Don't speak so loud. She might tell on her parents, being a little kid she looks like."

At least she doesn't talk back like a child, he averted his gaze back to the arenas. Being a member of a family, who is in the loop of all powerful families, Manjōme of all people never dared to question the Fukugawa Family of any action - whether they were noble or corrupt.

However that was up until recent years. The first action he noticed was why a Duel Monsters prodigy like Fukugawa Nao, the heir apparent to the family - and daughter of the previous champion Fukugawa Katsumaru, never went to Duel Academia middle school division with the rest of Obelisk Blue. Instead, her parents pushed more general academics during their middle school years. Dueling was apparently a second-tier back then, according to the former champion.

The second action was a rather belated gossip - a debate on whether Katsumaru had abdicated his champion status to the current, or was he truly deposed of his crown by defeat. It has been almost nine years since the event and the debate hadn't reached a conclusion. Regardless, Katsumaru's reputation has been lowered by a few ranks until he has revived his successful streak with the Japanese Industrial Illusions branch.

The third action was the current talk - the underaged classmate named Fukugawa Nao with a cool composed demeanor. Her image had been squeaky clean - the sweet sensitive rich girl with a powerful family by name. Normally, her age and intelligence would be something to admire among other classmates, but the questionable events of her family were weighted enough to twist the admiration to a bullying opportunity.

And being a duelist who gets everything he wants, he won't hesitate to take that chance.

All the gossip buzzing was anticipated, but for a child barely hitting her teenage dreams, it still stung. Every spoiled scion of rich families gave the same advice: never trust the lower class, for they loved to kill time with gossip and leeching from the rich. With Nao, the advice was only half of the wisdom she acquired. The same spoiled scions of the same rich class as she was would find many sorts of ways to take down competition.

Never trust friends, she reminded herself like reciting from a duelist manual.

She could have as many friends as she wanted, but that does not mean she could trust any of them.

Nao's father, Fukugawa Katsumaru was the chairman of the Japanese branch of Industrial Illusions, while her mother, Fukugawa Kimiko, was the current CEO. They have been acquainted with Pegasus J. Crawford in many occasions, but Nao had only been introduced once as a child aspiring to be a pro duelist. After many years of reading and writing her way through many textbooks at her mother's command, the aspiration slowly dulled and locked away in her heart. However, she would have to thank her busy father for enrolling her to Duel Academia before her mother could argue against it. He wouldn't explain to either of them, and it wouldn't be wavered.

Like a royal decree, she mused.

She would be going to a new school where she would become the fish out of the water. If it was her father's orders, then she would obey.

Her inner monologue was suddenly scrambled when she felt a quick blur knocking her shoulder back - by accident of course. The blur, who happened to be a young boy in a black middle school uniform, also tripped on his own two feet but managed to keep upright. He ended up facing the poor obstacle of a girl and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

Indifferent but slightly amused, she replied, "Don't let it bother you." Before she turned back to the exit, she spotted something out of place in his hair that made her hold back a laugh. "Wait." She reached out her hand to pluck a stray leaf out of his auburn shaggy head. "There, now you look presentable."

He gave a carefree laugh, "Thanks for that." Nao returned a half-way smile and was about to turn her heel when he called for her attention again.

"Hey," he scratched his cheek, "Leaving already? The exams are still going on. Right?"

"That's right. Wish you good luck," said Nao and left quickly before he said anything else to stop her. Her driver has been waiting for too long and she didn't like to keep people waiting.

Inside the car driving on the highway, Nao watched the scenery passing by. A part of her remotely regretted leaving the Kaiba Dome early and wished she stayed for a little while longer to watch that boy duel. Now she was stuck in her inner soliloquy about whether he passed his exam or not. The other part of her berated and questioned her on why she was dwelling on a trivial event.

Her violet eyes aimlessly wandered inside the luxurious car with her driver, Mimura Koichi, acting as her chauffeur and bodyguard. Despite the vehicle's small average size, emptiness haunted the leather seats in the back and crept into the passenger seat where she sat. These days, empty seats have been better company as opposed to her strict mother. No, her father would have been the best company she would savour until she would depart to Duel Academia. In a teenage mind, her father acted as a distant star in the sky where she, a tree rooted to the earth. No matter how much the tree would grow, it would never reach the skies no matter how long the branches can grow. For most of her life, the only connection to her father was a short distance from her bedroom to his study that felt like a narrow bridge where she wouldn't dare cross.

He is a busy man with a troublesome job, she reminded herself. Then again, so is my mother and yet she still as brusque to me as I think my father is.

But if he was as brusque as she thought he was, why send her to boarding high school prematurely? And above all a vocational school that could surely revive her childhood dream? All of her questions made her head spin and wrinkle her nose to straighten out her thoughts.

"You are troubled," Mimura noted, rather than questioning.

"I'm going to boarding school. Of course I am troubled," she drawled.

"I would imagine you being thrilled," he quipped.

"Even if I was, I wouldn't show it."

The car slowed down at the stoplight. "I know it has been confusing in the last while. Tonight, the chairman will be joining you and the president for dinner. It has been quite some time but show him a smile or give some thanks. He may be a powerful man, but a smile from his daughter will lift his spirits."

A smile for my father, she mulled. Nothing about my family or status can make me smile now. I've really turned into a real aristocrat. A fake smile that she rehearsed for the cameras would be obvious and also insulting to her father. Maybe a word of gratitude would suffice, but then she would have to be warned about her mother's disdain about discontinuing her studies.

Nao felt the car move again when the stoplight turned green. Without another word between the two, she fished out her deck from her skirt pocket and studied it with her thoughts roaming endlessly. Naturia Pineapple sat at the front of her deck - it always sat there even after all the mindless shuffling. Something about sentiment surprised her - the more she stared into the pineapple's cartoonish large eyes.

The heiress was fourteen years old and yet her deck was rather more fitting for a four-year old. Despite the odd age difference, there was nothing in her heart that could abandon this one for any other. Whatever awaited at Duel Academia made her hold onto sentiment more than she did in her life.

(1): "ore-sama" - for those who are not very familiar with Japanese, generally adult men - or boys who are confident (and somewhat arrogant) - use the "ore" version of "I" as opposed to "watashi" or "boku". Adding "-sama" is pushing the arrogance (literally meaning "The Great I/Me"). Think about how Judai, Manjōme and the Kaiser refer themselves as "ore"; as well as Shō and Fubuki using "boku".

A/N: Ineffable turned into Lazarus Kingsman. Currently revising both Year 1 and Year 2 before posting Year 3 and post-grad. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience. I'm sure that Nao is trying her very best for you and hopes that everyone would see how she grows in school, but she can't stay a child forever.

LK