Chapter 38. Last Minute Preparations

Alexis stared at Rakki. She had seen him talk in that dialect once before. It was hazy, but she could still remember the overwhelming power he held while protecting her. She knew that he was full of anger at someone trying to harm her, but why was he so angry about Chazz’s brothers? She wondered what their past may have been. ‘A gambler and wealthy heirs… Did he lose a lot of money to them?’ That seemed the most likely option, but Rakki didn’t seem like he was a gambler before coming here. A complete contradiction to her first thoughts. ‘Family matters? Now that I think of it, I don’t know anything about his personal life…’ While wondering about Rakki’s anger swirling in her head, she decided to just keep following him. To wait and see what he might explain himself.

I went inside the school among plenty of the other swarms of students, all excited for the match-up. They all hurried along towards the stands, placing bets on who might win. I avoided the crowds, and made my way to the outskirts of the school. I knew Chazz was psyching himself up in a bathroom, but I didn’t know which one. I knew I had to talk to him, but I didn’t know where to go. That is until my pocket started pulling me forward. I stumbled from the sudden jerk the spirits gave me, but quickly ran where they were directing me.

I put my hand in my pocket, still full of plenty of spirits, and took out the two that were screaming at me to keep running. I was surprised that they never said a word to me, considering I saw how annoyingly loud they could be in the show. It wasn’t something I minded, but something that I wondered about as they directed me towards a bathroom, with Jayden looking inside. He had a solemn expression while investigating inside. He then noticed my running, and waved, his smile still faltering. I nodded at him, and quickly ran inside before he could try and stop me.

There I saw Chazz hunched over the sink. His head was down, his hands were essentially holding his body up, and he was groaning from crying. He was still trying to remain firm, and keep up his pride even when crying on his own. I was loud when I came in, so Chazz heard my entrance. He glanced up at the mirror to see who it was. When our gazes matched, I saw his puffy red eyes for a split second before he ducked his head back down. He quickly darted off, but I grabbed his arm to keep him here.

“The hell are you doing!?” He yelled in anger to hopefully scare me off before I would notice his clearly evident face of tears while tugging his arm away. “I’m here to tell you I respect you.” Chazz froze up when I spoke in a calm tone. I never looked in his direction, just straight ahead at the bathroom mirror. I could see outside the bathroom into the hallway, and I kept my eyes on the red jacket I could see beside the entrance.

“I know that we haven’t seen eye to eye, but I don’t have to fully agree with you to respect you.” Chazz was still silent, and I released my grip on his arm, knowing he wasn’t going to run. “I respect that you are a good Duelist, and that you can now see Duel spirits like me.” I then held up both Ojama Green and Ojama Black in front of Chazz. Along with a few other spells and traps that went well for Ojama cards. They were also tossed in together in the well, and I knew they would come in handy later.

“Boss!! My brothers!” I heard the annoying voice of Ojama Yellow cheer as he flew around the room. “Ojama Yellow!” They both yelled in unison as the three danced in the air together. Chazz sneered, and to be honest, I couldn’t blame him. The voices were shrill and agitating. “Sorry to say, but you have a connection to these cards. And I think that's better than just using cards that were bought for you.” Chazz jumped a bit, and I could feel him boring holes in the back of my head. I scoffed while finally looking back at him, a small smirk on my face. “Please, you think I was born yesterday? Of course those little plebeians wanted to stack the deck as much as they could to force your win.”

I placed the cards at the top of his deck while he was still in shock. “But I can see that you didn’t take that. You have pride in yourself that you can win on your own. I respect that.” I gave a pat on his shoulder, and quietly left the bathroom. I walked past Jayden, and surprisingly Alexis was also there. Jayden was smiling so hard, I thought his face was gonna cramp, and Alexis gave a small smile as she nodded at me. I pointed at Jayden with a scowl. “There… Now don’t feel guilty and go easy on him.” Jayden chuckled and placed his arm around my shoulders. “Of course! I love seeing the best a person can Duel!”

I sighed and removed his arm. He laughed and went over to his side of the field for his last few preparations. I yawned and started heading towards the stadium myself. Alexis quickly caught up, and walked beside me. “I didn’t know you respected Chazz that much.” She chuckled as she bumped my shoulder with her own. I rolled my eyes while waiting outside the large door to the stadium. I didn’t want to go in, among the sea of random, and loud students before the show. I knew they would quiet down when the Duel started, but they were loud now.

“I may not like his personality at times, but I respect his will. It takes a lot to stand up for yourself, especially when you have to stand up against your own family.” Just as I finished saying that, the noise lowered as an announcer was starting up. “Looks like it’s starting.” I said as I opened the doors with a small grin. “Just hope I’m a good judge of character.” I saw plenty of students, all excitedly listening to the announcer while I looked for a particular seat I wanted.

I scanned over hundreds of random people, but I just focused on their clothes to narrow down who I was looking for. “Bingo…” I muttered under my breath, and slowly made my passage through the swarms of students to my seat, while listening to the announcer who I just realized was Crowler. “Ladies and Gentlemen! We have a good one for you tonight! Duel Academy Vs. North Academy! Both participants are first years in each of their schools, and ready to prove themselves and their respective schools! Now I introduce Duel Academy’s own Jayden Yuki!!”

I glanced over at the platform to see Jayden with his dorky smile, waving at everyone cheering for him. He laughed and smiled from all the attention, truly a social butterfly. I took my seat behind my targets and silently took out my PDA. I turned on the audio recording function and held it right behind both of Chazz’s brothers. I made sure that it could hear both of them speaking. I noticed Alexis took the seat beside me. She was about to say something, so I placed my index finger on her mouth to keep her silent.

I then moved it over my mouth to remind her that we both had to be quiet right now. She blushingly frowned and angrily looked over to the platform while Chazz was being introduced. I was about to listen in, myself, but a sudden tug on my arm took my attention. I looked down at a paperboy’s hat I recognized immediately. I scoffed, wondering how she found me. I shook my head with a defeated smile, and just let her do as she pleased.

“Chazz better win with everything we gave him.” One of the brother’s spoke to the other hushed, but I could still hear them, and my PDA which was closer definitely could. “That little slacker always needed us to do anything.” I scowled as I heard them bad mouthing their own brother, crushed by the expectations of his family. Unbeknownst to me, my scowl was seen by both Alexis, and Blair. They both watched as my scowl started to turn into a crooked grin, just seeing karma quickly catching up by my own hand.