Chapter Text
Yukiko Hanamori lay sprawled on the ice, her head swimming in the overhead lights of the rink and the tone of her empty life points droning in her ear like a bad case of tinnitus. For the third day in a row, she'd challenged the nearest Silberblitz student to a duel. For the third day in a row, she'd lost that duel. Before long her view of the ceiling was blocked by a blonde-haired young man. She shifted her gaze to look into his brown eyes, her own blue eyes unfocused and scattered.
"You gonna lay on the ice all day or are you gonna get back to practice with the rest of us?" His voice seemed . . . distant. Muffled. Yukiko's fellow skater reached out a gloved hand to help the collapsed duelist back on her feet. She could see the "VICTORY!" flashing on his still active duel disk out of the corner of her eye. The final blow from his ace monster had sent the young figure skater sliding a short distance before the Real Solid Vision safety features had caught her. She must have hit her head on the ice at the end of the duel as a result. It wasn't uncommon for duelists to get sent flying upon losing a duel to a particularly strong attack.
"Yukiko, come on," Xander said. His voice was clearer now. A bit more worried, too. "You okay down there?"
Yukiko breathed once. Twice. Then she reached up and took Xander's hand to pull herself to her skates. She'd barely made it upright before her skates slipped out from under her and she fell forward into the boy's grip. "My head hurts," she said, muffled by his arm. Xander gently repositioned his classmate so she was standing on her skates with his help.
"Let's get you off the ice," he said, gently guiding the girl he'd defeated by the shoulders while she clutched her head with her free hand.
Yukiko briskly walked down the hall, her skate guards clacking against the rubber matting that made up most of the non-ice flooring at the rink. Strapped to her right arm and cinching the sleeve of her warm-up jacket was her duel disk, a basic white model with a silver chevron blade when active. In her left hand was a flyer: an advertisement and recruitment call for an upcoming tournament. Behind her trailed her black twintails and in front of her at the end of the hall was the door to Coach Seyfert's office. Along the way she passed the skate shop, where she paused to wave hello to Mr. Ratigan, and the card shop, which had Yukiko resisting the urge to step in and look for any new Singles. Finally, the fourteen-year-old figure skater approached the coach's office, raised a gloved hand and tapped the door once, twice, three times with her knuckle.
"Come in!" called the coach through the door. Yukiko stepped into the small office, a trophy case to her left full of medals and skating trophies as well as the certificate of approval from the city that enabled Silberblitz to act as a duel school. To her right, a table full of portraits and group photos: Silberblitz students, past and present. Yukiko felt her gaze linger on the photo that was the current class of five: herself with her signature black twintails and full of smiles. Xander with his blonde mop, blue eyes, and confident smirk easily taller than the others. Yuki the youngest and smallest riding Xander's shoulders with dark blue hair tied back in a bun, golden eyes full of cheer and happiness; she was noticeably trying not to accidentally stab her classmate with her skates in the photo. Hinata, aloof but kind, standing a short distance to Yukiko's right in the photo, her pink hair straight and long with silver eyes strong and reserved. Finally, Tsubaki, the oldest with deep crimson hair in a bob cut, piercing green eyes, her hands up in twin peace signs and a grin from ear to ear.
In front of Yukiko was the desk of Coach Helena Seyfert, headmistress of Silberblitz and skating coach to the students there. The coach peered over her terminal screen at whoever it was darkening her doorstep and frowned. Her long blonde hair framed her blue eyes and face, enabling a piercing stare into her student's soul. "Yukiko. Is there a reason you're in here instead of on the ice for practice?" Yukiko bowed briefly then stepped forward and gently placed the flyer on the desk. After that, she took a quick step back and started to fidget, awaiting Seyfert's response. On the flyer was the usual colorful text attracting people to read it and a five-way graphic displaying various Action Fields, including Silberblitz's own signature Crystal Palace. Whoever had made the flyer knew their audience.
"I was lacing up when I saw this pinned to the bulletin board next to the duel rink's double doors," she said. "I, uh, looked it up. It's legit." Yukiko had rushed over to the office so abruptly the webpage for the tournament was still open on her duel disk. Coach Seyfert grabbed a pair of glasses off her desk and put them on.
"'Citywide Youth Duel Tournament,'" the coach read. "'Five days of Action Duel mayhem and chaos leading up to an eight-person bracket of Master Duel showdowns. Participate for your chance at an exclusive Single for your deck.'" Seyfert set the flyer down and locked eyes with Yukiko. "Am I to assume you'd like to sign up?" Yukiko nodded rapidly.
"Uh-huh! Uh, read the fine print, Coach." Seyfert picked the flyer up again.
"'Sign-ups requires approval from the headmaster of the participating duelist's Duel School.' Ah. You've already decided to join, you just want approval," said the coach as Yukiko nodded again. Seyfert set the flyer aside and steppled her fingers before locking eyes with her student. "Given your performance against Tsubaki on Monday," Yukiko winced. "Yuki on Tuesday," Yukiko winced again, slightly harder than before. "And then subsequently Xander yesterday," Yukiko whimpered softly. "I'm questioning whether you have the ability to even make it through the first day, much less win the tournament. As such, I'm not entirely certain you'll be a good representative for Silberblitz."
Yukiko shifted from one foot to the other and folded her hands behind her back. "I can improve, you know I can," she said quietly. Coach Seyfert sighed and leaned back in her chair. She was fully aware of Yukiko's untapped skills. "Look, there's a month 'til the tournament! That's a whole month to improve my dueling!"
"Listen, Yukiko," Seyfert sighed. "I'll be the first to admit: no skater from Silberblitz has ever placed podium in a citywide tournament, much less won one in its entire twenty years open. However, those who entered at the very least made a good show and a solid effort. Your dueling style lends itself to neither of those. You are far too reckless and impulsive with your plays, always overextending your field or negating the very first card played rather than waiting for something more important to your opponent's strategy." The former professional figure skater leaned forward, reached for a pen, and signed the flyer.
"I will approve your entry into the tournament, Yukiko," she said as her student's face lit up like a starry night. "But—and this is important—you need to improve your dueling by the time of the tournament. That means no getting knocked out before the top eight or I will be forced to drop you from the school." Yukiko blanched and gulped softly. "Oh, don't give me that reaction," Seyfert said irritably. "I know you can do it if you just apply your knowledge properly. You're the top skater here for good reason." Yukiko breathed a gentle sigh of relief and bowed politely.
"Thanks, Coach," said the young duelist.
"Don't thank me yet," Seyfert said, gesturing at Yukiko with the pen. "Thank me when you win the tournament. I'm going to call in a few favors to try and rig some circumstances in our favor. Now." She checked the time. "Go get on the ice before the others start wondering where you're at." Yukiko bowed one more time before turning and rushing out of the office, leaving the flyer behind on her coach's desk.
She'd be back for it later anyways.
It took the following day and the weekend for Seyfert's connections to bear fruit, but by the time the first class of Monday rolled around, bear fruit they did. In the meantime, the five skaters of Silberblitz were getting ready for their day. Only two of them had yet to get on the ice. Xander was lounging on the boards, Hinata and Tsubaki were already out practicing summoning drills, and Yuki and Yukiko hadn't finished lacing up yet. All of them wore the signature black warm-up jacket with silver trim and the Silberblitz logo over the heart as well as a basic white duel disk on their left arms.
"I still can't believe you signed up for that tournament," chimed Yuki as she removed her skate guards with a gloved hand. "I mean, I trounced you pretty hard last week." Yukiko winced from her seat on the bench, still in the middle of lacing her skates. The age difference alone had made losing to the ten-year-old figure skating duelist sting more than losing to Xander or Tsubaki had.
"Oh, cut her a little slack," said Xander from his spot on the ice next to the gate. "At least she had the forethought to talk to Coach Seyfert first instead of rushing out of the rink just to go sign up." Yukiko grimaced, grabbed one of her skate guards off her skate blades, then chucked it at her classmate, who for his part caught it reflexively. "Here you go," he said as he tossed it back. Yukiko throwing things when pushed tended to be a regular occurrence and was largely considered to be the Silberblitz students' cue to ease up on the teasing.
"If I hadn't seen the fine print saying I needed approval, I probably would have," Yukiko admitted as she removed her other skate guard and set the pair down on the bench. The "middle child" of Silberblitz stood, stretched, then walked to the boards where she lifted a foot and rested it on top as though she were at a ballet barre, making sure her skate was close to where Xander was standing. A little bit of creative angling had the lights of the rink shining off of her toe pick. Yukiko leaned forward and caressed her skate with her hands, grinning mischievously at Xander, who'd leaned back slightly from the blade. The message was clear even if the messenger wasn't serious about it. Despite the ribbing, teasing, and occcasional threatening, the students of Silberblitz were all friends when it came down to it.
"So what were Coach Seyfert's terms for letting you, out of all of us, join the tournament?" Yukiko pulled her foot down and stepped onto the ice, Yuki not far behind. She took a couple of strong strokes and glided out to center ice where Hinata and Tsubaki were waiting, taking comfort in the scrape and hiss of her blades.
"Either I make top eight or I'm done at Silberblitz," Yukiko sighed, activating her duel disk. She spun to a quick stop and put on a fake smile. "Of course, I'm also the only one who asked so there's that," she said mischievously. Tsubaki, having stepped between Yukiko and Xander, was about to open her mouth for a rebuttal but she stopped herself when she noticed a curious sight out in the entry area of the rink building. Coach Seyfert was leading and apparently holding a conversation with an eclectic trio of people. The first everyone recognized instantly as obviously being Reiji Akaba. He'd been on more covers of Turn End magazine than any of them could count. His silver hair and red-rimmed glasses instantly set him apart from the rest while his blue cardigan and red scarf completed the signature look of the Leo Duel Corporation's long-time CEO.
The second was a young girl around Yukiko's age. Her long lilac hair was tied back into a ponytail and her eyes were obscured by a black baseball cap. Her physique was obscured by a long turquoise down jacket, a pair of earmuffs, and a pair of mittens, both in white. She was dwarfed by the person following behind: a mountain of a man dressed in a nondescript suit and tie with a pair of sunglasses on even inside the rink. Obviously a bodyguard.
"That's Reiji Akaba, right?" asked Tsubaki. "Why's the Reiji Akaba at our duel school?" The answer came sooner than anticipated when Coach Seyfert and the trio entered the dueling rink.
"Girls. Xander," called Coach Seyfert. "Come to the boards, please." The skaters of Silberblitz all exchanged confused glances but obliged their coach's request, Yukiko, Tsubaki, and Hinata all turning off their duel disks. The young girl of the trio had been repositioned between the ice and the coach and the pristine white figure skates she carried by the laces were now visible to the group. There was apprehension and nervousness visible in her bright blue eyes, her gaze darting rapidly between the five skaters before eventually settling on Xander and widening in astonishment.
"I'd like you to meet your newest classmate: Reira Akaba."