Chapter 26. Blair’s Declaration

I sighed with a frown at her loss, as Blair fell to her knees. Zane slowly walked over to get a better view of Blair. Blair looked up to meet Zane’s gaze while she was holding her hands close to her chest. She was blushing from having her feelings in full view, and I could see yearning in her eyes. Zane just looked at her with his standard frown. “I remember you… From regionals.” Blair smiled happily as she giggled and stood up. “Yea!! I’m so glad you remember!! I fell in love with you when we first met!!”

She giggled more before continuing on. “After you won, you told me that if I worked hard enough I could go to Duel Academy like you! So I did!! And now that I’m here, and showed you how hard I worked! We can get married!!” She finished her speech by running with her arms out to hug him. She attached herself to him, and he held his arms up to prove he wasn’t touching anything. Zane frowned as he looked to me for help.

I chuckled at the scene, but had to help the guy out. “Alright, Blair. I think you need to give Zane some space.” I said as I shook her shoulder. She looked up at me with confusion, and turned to Zane to see his deepened frown. She slowly let go of him, and stepped back. Zane sighed as he tapped his fingers, not really knowing what to do. “Blair…” He started out and paused while trying to think of what to say.

“I’m flattered by your affections, but right now I’m only in love with one thing… Dueling. I can’t return your feelings.” And with that, he took out a small case he had in his pocket and put it in her hand. “I’m sorry…” He sighed while frowning more from having to do this to her, and I felt a little bad as well just looking at the sniveling girl. I sighed and looked at Zane who frowned more while looking at me, concerned with what I might say.

I shrugged and shook my head. I didn’t really have anything to say to this. “I think we should all just call it a night…” I said with a much gentler tone than normal, causing Zane to look at me with surprise that I was even capable of acting that nicely. I scowled at him a bit, and pointed at Blair who was standing next to me with tears in her eyes. Trying to show him that even I have enough class to be nice to a crying girl. He nodded understandably as we all left the docks.

Zane went his own way to the Obelisk dorms while Blair and I went over to the Slifer dorms. I grabbed Blair’s hat that she forgot at the dock, and put it over her head to hide the tears that were falling. We kept walking until Blair grabbed my sleeve. We both stopped as I looked down at her. She never looked up at me, and had her hat covering the top portion of her face. “What did I do wrong…?” She asked softly as I frowned.

I sighed and patted her back a bit. “Nothing… Sometimes people just aren’t at the same place is all. You love Zane, but he just isn’t looking for a relationship right now. Sometimes that’s just what happens.” She was silent while thinking for a bit, and I just waited for her to come to a conclusion. She eventually asked another question. “What do I do now…?” I shrugged as I thought out loud. “No idea… Never had this particular problem… I mean, I’ve been turned down by girls, but I’ve never faked my way into a school to get turned down by one.” I scoffed at the absurdity of that as Blair jumped a bit.

“You knew…?” She asked with slight fear in her voice. “Not until tonight. I’m still kicking myself for not knowing you were a girl.” I sighed again from how I missed that, as Blair let out a small chuckle. “Anyway… I don’t care. If anything, I think that’s a good resume for future jobs. Just add ‘Skipped two grades to get into Duel Academy at the young age of…’ How old are you again?” I looked down at her as we were heading up the stairs to our dorm. “I’m 12.” I nodded as I continued my fake resume. “At the young age of 12. Got it. Man they gotta run better background checks here.” I sighed from the lack of security as Blair let out another chuckle as we made it to the door.

It was at this point I remembered that she was rooming with me. I sighed from the logistics of that as I opened the door for her. She went inside, and looked back to see what I was doing. “You change here, and I’ll change in the bathroom.” I said as I walked inside with a plan. Blair blushed from embarrassment and turned away from me as I placed my Duel disk, and extra cards on my desk. “Why do you carry all those extra cards?” She asked to change the conversation as I was gathering my sleeping attire.

I glanced back at her to see she was indeed curious. I sighed and shrugged. “Just hanging onto them for other people…” I said as I left the dorm room to change. I was still a little sad about how long it would take for all of them to find homes of their own, but I remained hopeful that they would have enough fun with me while on my, day to day. ‘I just hope they don’t get jealous, and wind up trying to force themselves into my deck, or just leave back to that well.’ I sighed again as I made it inside a stall.

After changing, and trying my best to try and not have anything touch the floor, or risk having to burn it later. I made it back up to my room. I knocked on the door, and waited for a response. I got nothing, and after a bit of waiting I decided to go in. I saw all of the Duel Spirits flying around, and the girl Duel Spirits talking to Blair. ‘Well I guess I don’t have to worry about keeping it hidden.’ I scoffed at how open they were being with her.

“I’m surprised how open you all are around Blair.” I said to all of the girl Duel Spirits who all just smiled at me. Blair jumped from seeing me just appear right beside her, as I was getting into my bunk. “Just try to let us get some sleep… We have school tomorrow.” I said as I got comfortable. The girls giggled as they said their goodbyes to Blair. The lights turned off thanks to my pal Kuriboh, and as I thanked him, Blair started talking to me while the small spirits still floated around in the darkness. “They said that they were all abandoned before you rescued them…”

I shrugged in my bed slightly as I was thinking of a better way to phrase that. “I wouldn’t say rescued… I just asked them to come with.” I sighed from how a few still didn’t want to come, and just stew in that area. ‘Well… You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.’ We sat in silence for a bit before Blair spoke up again. “I think I want to stay here…”

“Well the school is nice if you look past some of the elitism, but I guess you won't have to worry about that if you’re moving to Ra in a few days.” I said with a slight grin of having my space back to myself, and having a good Duelist to help when needed. Blair was silent for a bit before talking again. “No… I meant here… I wanna stay here.” I opened my eyes a bit to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I felt awake, and when I pinched myself, I felt pain. “Ok… Not dreaming…” I said to myself under my breath.

I sighed as I was thinking about how I would get my ass fried by that police girl that wanted me dead if she found out about this. 'Guy, and a girl living together sounded like a lawsuit waiting to happen.' “You mean… In the dorm…?” I asked very cautiously of what she might say next. Blair was silent for a bit, and I got my answer. “You wanna keep rooming with me!?”