Liberta Duel Academy is a Yu-Gi-Oh! roleplay site set in an Alternate Universe (AU) version of the original series of Yu-Gi-Oh!, set roughly 50 years after the end of the Dark Side of Dimensions movie. Liberta Duel Academy is set in the city of Silvershine located in a fictional small country known as Silva, somewhere along the western coastside of Europe.
September through October 20X1 - Welcome, Class of 20X4!
The new school year at Liberta Duel Academy is here! Students - new and returning - are adjusting to their school life and getting themselves settled in. The entrance ceremony presented the principal's address, spoke of Dorm Rankings, and introduced the Student Council. Alongside the standard Master Duels, the experimental "Specialty Duels" were announced to those new to the academy. So unpack; duel a fellow or two; explore the academy and the city of Silvershine! Action; adventure; slice of life; it's up to you! How will you have yours unfold?
A full day of lessons to be learned; like any other weekday, class was in session. But in this one, the second class of the day, there was a bit of a twist to the everyday.
In this class, meant to help prepare students to become future professional duelists, the teacher, Mr. Garcia, spoke about motivation and drive in the latter half of the session. He rhetorically inquired about the students' motivations to become pro duelists and expressed that he wanted to help each student understand what it is that drives them to be the best that they can be.
Zephyr, listening to the lecture, silently scoffed to herself. She had other thoughts on what she wanted to do with her life. Professional dueling wasn't what she was after, but she did want to be a capable duelist - a very capable one at that. As such, even she had her own motivation; driving forces.
Near the end of the class, the instructor wanted everyone to write a few paragraphs about their motivations and how those will help spur on their development. However, this was not meant as a solo task; the teacher also asked his students to get into pairs; this was not only meant to help foster bonds and more interaction between other students, but he also wanted the class to write another few paragraphs about their respective partners' motivations, too!
"Huh...!?" Zephyr's response was probably echoed in a few other voices at around the same time, but none mattered in the slightest as it could not be contested. The class would be over in about ten minutes at this point. This was assigned as homework to be handed in to him the following day. Students began to rise from their seats to seek out their other halves for this bit of homework - some slower than others. Each pair, once formed, was supposed to approach the teacher so he could write down their names as a unit. ...But there were a few students who weren't too keen on having to buddy-up with someone else.
One of whom, clearly, was Zephyr. She was in no hurry to link up with anyone and would rather do her own part and be done with it. She sat there, mumbling rants to herself about something, completely ignoring the task in front of herself.
Unfortunately for her, the teacher caught sight of Zephyr - among the like few - not budging and called her out.
"Zephyr. I need you teaming up with somebody...." He then began pairing such lethargic students together. Finding a partner for her, he called out to the other student.
".... Let's see~.... ! Ah. Tatsuya," the professor began in an attempt to get the young man's attention, "you're partnering up with Zephyr." He gestured towards the girl, in case the young Taro didn't know who 'Zephyr' was.
Likewise, having gained Zephyr's attention with her name being thrown around, Teach gestured towards the short-blue-haired teen, in case she didn't know Tatsuya, either. "You two will be working together for this assignment. Make sure you two meet with each other at lunch or after school to start on it. I want it ready and in by tomorrow's class."
Another day in Mr. Garcia's class, another lecture from him about the big leagues. While Tatsuya was present in his seat, mentally he was far from the class. This part of the lecture always felt like a drag: who cares about things lime "motivation" when it needs to be said in the words of lofty ideals to stick? At the moment, it was just pen-spinning practice for him. The former delinquent sat with his left fist under his chin, keeping it up with his elbow pressed against the table. The black pen in his right hand idly spun around in his fingers, weaving in and out of his knuckles slowly like a ballerina performing a routine. (This guy just looooves to talk. And about nothing, too. Can he just hurry up and say what we're doing tonight for homework so I can get outta here?) he thought to himself bitterly, his neutral expression souring slightly while he continued to stare at the board behind the instructor. The one or two students who took a glance at him quickly straightened in their seats and looked ahead, thinking that they were noticed giving him looks.
Yep, that was commonplace for Tatsuya Taro at this point. Those that knew of him before high school knew all about his history, and whenever his face sours like that, something's wrong. This time it was the fact that Mr. Garcia's lesson felt like nothing but fluff to him. (Last time I checked, 'Why do you want to be a pro?' isn't gonna get anyone quiz points. The hell is he even going with this anyways?) he deliberated, only to receive his answer shortly afterwards: a partner assignment where they would have to write about their own motivations, as well as someone else's...
"Great. Just great. What a cool way to get to know someone..." he mused quietly to himself, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"... Let's see~.... ! Ah. Tatsuya, you're partnering up with Zephyr."
He shot a side-eyed, disinterested glance at Zephyr. Not quite a scowl, but not exactly a warm, welcoming smile either. He spun his pen around vigorously, catching it cleanly in his palm and sighing. "...Alright," he answered, nodding softly before leaning back in his chair. "Fine."
Although he agreed to it, he clearly didn't seem very happy about having to work with someone else. He sat up and began collecting his things, stuffing them into a backpack sitting below his desk. "We're meeting at lunch. Don't show and I'll do it without you.
"Oh yeah!?" She wasn't about to let him walk all over her. "Well keep me waiting and you better not expect a touching story for yourself, either!" Right away, Zephyr disliked the guy - very clearly so - and she made it known to the classmates around them. At that point, with what Tatsuya had said, it seemed implied that she could write her own fiction about her partner if she wanted to. If that's really the case, she didn't actually have to go meet with him during the lunch break, did she? She could stand him up out of spite, draw up whatever lame-o, embarrassing backstory she wanted to tell, and get full credit for doing the work, all without a single bit of interaction with the jerk wad.
She now had her plan, with the only regret being her inability to savour his soon-to-be reaction to being stood up for an assignment. It was almost bell time, which would signal the end of class. Clearly hearing the exchange between Tatsuya and Zephyr, the professor was sure to make something clear. "So everybody knows: if your report on your partner doesn't line up with their self-report, that's almost certainly going to land you a failing grade. So I do, indeed, suggest that you work together on this. I won't accept anything else."
...So much for that plan.... As the bell rang, Zephyr grimaced as she glared at Tatsuya. It looked like she'd have to show up for their lunchtime meeting after all. And when lunchtime finally arrived, the Silvolver girl made her way through the halls of the academy and back to the entrance of this very room, hoping to either be the first there, or expecting the Taro boy to run his mouth.
Zephyr's outburst made Tatsuya's right eye twitch in mild irritation. He tightened his fist around the pen, but otherwise remained still looking over at her. There was no point in making more of a scene: so long as the assignment got done, it didn't really matter much how it was completed. As harsh as his statement came off, his plan would have been to pick a random Pro Duelist and pass that off as Zephyr's inspiration to make it to the big leagues... That is, until Mr. Garcia clarified that having a non-matching rationale would result in instant failure. (Hmph. Of course he has to add onto it with that. I start cranking out perfect scores on assignments, and he won't make an exception when I'm working with this clown? Fantastic.) he bitterly remarked to himself before relaxing his vice grip on the pen.
Shortly after, the bell rang, and a brief intermission would follow before the next course began. Instead of leaving a final remark to Zephyr, Tatsuya instead leaned back in his chair, folded his arms, and brought his right hand to his chin as he stared ahead at the board. Best not to give her the joy of getting a worthy response out of him, right? The cold shoulder was just as effective.
Considering he was someone who set up the meeting, however, it would seem that Zephyr had beat him there. In fact, Tatsuya was called into the front office to meet with his grandmother, who had brought him lunch. Moving from home and into the dorms made both parties a bit homesick, and so the paper bag with a heart drawn on it in marker made things just a little better. "Heh. Leave it to Gran-Gran to make one of my favorites when she shows up...~" he mused quietly to himself as he walked down the hall with a calm smile. The Silvolver freshman had already taken a peek inside of the bag, only to be met with the savory-salty smell of Momoka Taro's signature Spicy Tuna Rice Bowl. "Now for a little peace and quiet in-"
Opening the door, he would come face-to-face with Zephyr. The very same Zephyr he said he would meet with at lunch to work on their assignment. The small smile he had faded quickly as he sighed, pulling his paper bag closer to his chest. "You actually came. Good. We'll start after I eat: get something now if you're planning on eating today. We're working until lunch ends," the blunt boy stated plainly, almost as if he was ordering Zephyr with his tone. He moved to sit down at his own desk, gently setting his paper bag down on the table.
"Huh?" She paused for a moment. At first, she wondered why they'd need an entire lunch break to do this assignment. But the more time she gave Tatsuya to get to a seat, the more time she had to think about it, as well. "! Oh. I get it: him eating's gonna cut into the work time. .... ...---Wait. And if I go get something to eat, that'll eat up more time because I'll still be eating while this guy's just finishing...!" Realizing that, Zephyr definitely, 100% did not want to go get food. "Uh-uh; there's no way I'm just gonna let 'im get the chance to blame me for losing time. I'm good; I don't need to eat anything, anyway!" she harped on in her mind.
Sitting back on a chair with her elbow propped up on the table to hold her head in place, the raven-haired girl sneered at the young male, turning her nose up at him.
"I'm perfectly fine. But what, you can't eat 'n' work at the same time? H'Lame...! So we're gonna lose time just so you can savour your mommy's homemade lunch...." She flippantly pointed at the paper bag on the table - one of the staples of the doting mom who makes their kid's lunches. "Gimme a break...." she gazed elsewhere for a second. Then her eyes shot wide open. "---Oh wait. I guess you are," she bemoaned.
...Okay, so maybe a more civil approach wasn't possible here. Zephyr clearly had an issue with him, and Tatsuya couldn't care less whether or not it actually was on him at this point. That "mommy" remark was grounds enough to get physical had it not been his fragile restraint holding him back. The Silvolver student's hands clenched the top of the bag with a vice grip that would have easily torn it had he planned on it, and his glare darted over to Zephyr with restrained fury. He stood, straightening up to his full standing height in an attempt to intimidate Zephyr into taking her remark back.
"Let's get something straight. Like it or not, I need to put up with you for this one assignment. After that, you can do whatever you want. Start mouthing off to everyone about me, shut up and keep it to yourself, drop out 'cuz you're afraid: I don't care. I'm nice enough to say I'll give you time to eat, and Little Miss Maturity thinks she's all that with that little comment. Fine. Start problems with me, though, and you've got more to worry about regarding your time here than a stupid paper."
Just from his reaction alone being much more serious and involved, it was clear that Zephyr certainly struck a nerve with that one. Tatsuya normally kept quiet, but that was possibly the longest statement he'd ever made to someone at Liberta thus far: even to his own roommates, and with much more weight. He pressed his right thumb onto his index knuckle to pop it, then moved to sit down again and opened up the bag. The rice bowl's heavenly aroma drifted out of it as he lifted the bowl and placed it down onto his desk. His scowl was firm, even despite his earlier reactions to his lunch.
"...If you're so concerned about time, ask me questions or something while I'm eating. Don't worry about me. I work fast, and you just gave away the fact you're shallow enough to have your life story fit on one side of an index card," he snapped back before withdrawing a pair of chopsticks and beginning to dig into his food. Surprisingly enough, not even this encounter was enough to sour the taste of his grandmother's cooking. It was almost enough to make him smile even now.
"Hmph. Well listen t'you...." She grinned. Someone sounded upset, but she wasn't sweating him much at all, having past experience with aggressive people in her youth. Believing that she could hold her own against the average guy, she felt there wasn't anything to fear - aside from expulsion, of course.... That said, she was still willing to tease him a bit, but she did want to get the assignment done and out of the way, so she would hold back on her upcoming retort, somewhat. ...Well at least he was willing to take questions while eating, so, for Zephyr, she thankfully wouldn't have to waste any time at all waiting for the momma's boy to num-nom his way through the admittedly deliciously fragrant rice bowl. She went into the bag she brought with her and pulled out a notebook, followed by a pencil case, which she took a standard pencil from, as she continued to say her piece.
"Sorry t'burst your bubble, but I don't need a life story, here. What I wanna do, and my reasons for why I wanna do it, aren't some complicated mumbo junk-o like yours probably are," which she believed, based on his criticism of her own reasons likely being shallow.
Once the short-haired girl had her notebook open and was ready to take notes, her questioning would begin shortly thereafter. "But I guess we'll find that out right now," tapping the butt end of her pencil against the lined page she had open. "So, what is it that makes you wanna be a pro duelist so bad?"
(...Was that supposed to be snarky? She just called herself simple,) Tatsuya thought to himself before shrugging his shoulders softly and taking another bite of the rice bowl. The tuna mixed with the rice in a way that made it feel like a fried rice dish, but much softer and more appealing to a lighter palate. The red bell pepper, jalapeño, green onions, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, lemon juice, and Sriracha helped give the tuna a wonderfully powerful kick, while still allowing a delicate balance of protein and starch to play off of each other in the dish. The first bite alone made him relax, the tension from telling Zephyr off fading with a relieved exhale after swallowing. His gaze was fixed on the food, and though he didn't grin, one could tell that the spicy tuna dish brought him calm.
This brief moment of respite was enough for Tatsuya to momentarily feel comfortable enough to speak genuinely. A rare sight for him, but definitely strange given his prickly exterior otherwise. "In case you're wondering, it's not my mother who made this for me. I haven't seen her in years. It was my grandmother. She came by earlier today to leave me something since I haven't visited home in a while," the wary boy elaborated, taking another bite. "I'm not going to apologize for anything I've done in the past. You've probably heard the rumors. Most of them are true... Except I didn't murder or maim anyone. Those ones are false."
...Was that a joke? His flat tone of voice and disdainful stare into the desk didn't give that one away as well as he intended. Tatsuya took another bite of his food.
"Let's just say Dueling is a damn good alternative to being on track to messing up as bad as that 'oh-so-loving mommy' you jabbed at. Makes my grandmother happy, and I like it. If I'm good at it, why not go pro? I've seen my competition here, and I'm not outclassed in the slightest." His rationale teetered on the border between confident and cocky. While he did basically say that no one at Liberta looked too good for him to beat, at the same time it was stated in a way that accepted the possibility of losing. Twirling his chopsticks and gripping them tightly around the middle, he looked back over to Zephyr with a wary glare.
"Ask me more questions. Try to keep it on the assignment: I'm not dumping my life story on you."
"Heeeh...? S'zat so...?" Zephyr mumbled skeptically as she wrote her notes down onto the page. To Zephyr, this was just Tatsuya posturing. She wasn't about to believe that there wasn't a soul at this academy that could outclass him. However, her line of thinking was solely because she baselessly believed that she could defeat him anytime, anywhere, even having never seen him duel. If someone else were to have told her that Tatsuya was the best duelist here, she wouldn't pay any mind to the talk and would find out for herself if she felt like it. The same can be said for the rumors of Tatsuya's past. Zephyr wasn't the type to follow the rumors. Instead, if she cared enough, she would find out what sort of person the young man is, herself. Their first interaction, unfortunately, didn't put him in a favorable light in her eyes, but that wasn't enough to label him as anything more than a jerk. Hearing from the man directly that most of the rumors were in fact true, she allowed that to sit in her mind for a while, finding it interesting. She still thought of it as posturing, for some reason, but she allowed it to hold more weight than it previously did.
But included with all of that information was the fact that Tatsuya didn't seem to have a good impression of his own mother. Curiosity abound, Zephyr was ready to inquire on that subject, specifically, but before she was set to do so, she was cut off at the pass by the Taro teen's glare. The teenage boy wasn't about to go into detail with his family issues, and he made sure to keep the questions about him on topic for the assignment at hand; no wasting time - something that Zephyr almost too easily got sucked up into after all of that ranting of hers.
Clearing her throat, she continued her questioning, delving a little deeper. "So because you're good at it, you figure you'll just go pro, huh? Okay, fine. And if you somehow get yer butt whooped in a heck of a lot of duels while you're here - like, an insane amount, 'cause people got better than you 'r something - would you still do it?"
Zephyr's inquiry didn't even phase him. From the way he was talking, one would expect some sort of sharp rebuttal about being the best: not from him, though. "What, you think I'd come here if I thought I was some undefeatable prodigy? I said I wasn't outclassed: not that I was invincible or the best guy here," Tatsuya replied before taking another small bite. "All I mean by that is that I'm as much of a threat to those aiming for the top seat as they are to me. I don't start fights like some loud-mouthed coward. I end them."
As harsh and cold as his words sounded, he lacked the malicious and aggressive intent of someone who wanted to take someone else down like a rampaging bear. With each bite of the food, the Silvolver student seemed to calm himself down and ignore a lot of the subtle undertones that would put him on the defensive. He leaned forward with his elbows resting on the table, hands folded together holding his chopsticks between his interwoven middle and ring fingers.
"...I think it'd be nice if Gran-Gran gets to keep a shiny, new trophy in the living room, y'know? Really brings the room together."
...Was that some sort of joke again?
"That being said, I should answer your question more directly. So what if I get my ass handed to me? I don't back down from things just because someone else has it out for me, or because they think they're harder. Guess you can say that's why some of the weaker-willed people around here think I'm scary," he explained, turning to Zephyr with... A small smile? No, it couldn't have been. It was a very tiny facial movement, but it was there. "So what about you? You've been mouthing off this whole time, as if you didn't know anything about me. What do you think about all this, hm?"
