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?
Zephyr listened to his initial response, getting a little more of an understanding towards what he meant. She felt a little silly, inside, for assuming things in such an exaggerated way, but there was no way that she'd show him any sort of expression related to those feelings. Instead, she held an inquisitive glare in her eyes as Tatsuya spoke, giving a nod which she assumed would imply that the girl gets what he's saying - at least, enough so as not to dig into it further.
Hearing him talk about the possibility of a trophy in his grandmother's home, Zephyr looked down and began to write again. "Heh. I'm sure it would," she replied with a quick, cynical grin, taking his words and his posture somewhat seriously. "Good luck with that one." As Tatsuya decided to give a more direct answer to her question, Zephyr raised her head from the page a little bit: enough to give the appearance of listening - and she was - but with enough sight of the page to keep her eyes down and continue writing.
But when the conversation shifted towards the raven-haired girl, her pencil stopped moving. Naturally, she wasn't expecting it, but... why was he asking? Was he even asking what she thought he was asking about? Zephyr raised her eyes to look his way. Was Tatsuya looking for a review on how she saw him, so far? No, that couldn't be. He was probably asking her opinion on just his answer - or maybe what she thought about those who were scared of him.
"Huh...?" Giving him a single narrowed eye. "They can stay scared; they're cowards...! ...If you're asking what I think about not backing down, I think that's good for you," of the 'I don't care; you do you' variety. But she did follow up by agreeing with his stance. "You shouldn't back down from those kinds of people, and you shouldn't give up on what you want. .... ...What, does that stuff bug you, sometimes?"
"Something like that. Like I said: I'm not lookin' for fights. They come to me, and I finish them. End of story." His tone was gruff and blunt, but he spoke it as if it was the first and last truth he knew. Although, the way he ended off there sounds like he's got more to say, yet none of the will to reveal his hand...
"That's enough. I'm still not telling my life story out of the blue here. If you have any more questions, save them until after we've both got completed notes down so I can clarify," he persisted, going back to his food without skipping a beat. As much as he did want to give Zephyr something to write about that would match his own paper, he especially wanted to eat while the rice bowl was steaming hot. His face didn't show much of it, but her reaction was peculiar in comparison to most people he had met here. There was some degree of commonality between them, and though small it may be, it was still worth respecting for as much as it was worth.
Tatsuya remained silent as he took a few more bites, using a small napkin from inside the paper bag to pat his mouth. He then proceeded to withdraw a small notepad from his bag, twirl a pencil out of the side pocket, and point towards Zephyr nonchalantly with the eraser. "It's your turn. Go. Expect me to ask questions and press for details: not inherently because I'm interested, but because I'd rather do you justice than risk shorting you and failing."
Zephyr finished the majority of what she was writing before it was officially her 'turn' to say anything about herself. In response to Tatsuya's ethics, The short-haired girl smirked and exhaled. "Whatever you say; you can just ask me whatever you want." Finishing her notes, she put her pencil down and leaned back against her seat, arms crossed behind her head. Brown eyes wandered towards the ceiling; she was remembering how her original question was worded. "...So...: 'what makes me wanna be a pro duelist,' right? ...Well that's easy: ...I don't," she said, plain as day, with no sense of humour or sarcasm laced over her limited words.
The raven-haired teen took a moment to let it sink in a bit before continuing, anticipating an obvious reaction. With a shrug of her shoulders and a twitch of her head, she repeated "I don't. Being a professional duelist isn't what I'm after; you can have that spot." She closed her eyes. "All I want are their skills; ...that's what I want. As long as I have the training and ability in whatever career I'm going for, the dueling skill of a pro is something I can use to prop myself up above others in that area."
Duel Monsters had grown in popularity that it had its own professional league. Many people settled their issues with duels, from the playground to the business office. It was the one thing that could tip the scales of livelihood and success in one's career, and it was that power which she wanted to harness.
Though Tatsuya did take careful note of Zephyr's answers on his small notepad, he let out an unamused huff in response. "...That's it? If you just want the skill with no desire to take it somewhere, you should go home," he stated plainly, writing in a surprisingly neat cursive. For someone that could easily be mistaken for an aggressive blockhead with anger management issues and a track record, he certainly paid attention to aesthetics along with organization. The notepad was divided up into segments, with each box marked for various purposes such as sidenotes and page labels.
"Take it from someone who thinks this kind of class is stupid: the reason it's unnecessary is because it should be obvious. You're wasting your time here. What's the matter? Scared you'll get burned before you can take the heat?" he practically taunted, continuing to write unfazed by the fact that he came out swinging with his reaction. "And before you blow up at me, Mr. Garcia made this a partner assignment for a reason. Not only are you supposed to get my take on things, but push me until you get what's beneath the surface layer. You did it unintentionally earlier, and I'll do it right back to you. Gets me a better paragraph or two to write."
Taking yet another bite of his food, he exhaled in relief: finally, the spice was starting to get to him a bit. The first year's face was ever so slightly red from taking the sting of the tuna's seasoning, and being satisfied with his meal, he covered the bowl and returned it back to the paper bag. He then slammed his hand down on the end of his pen, popping it up into the air and snatching it between his index and middle fingers on his right hand.
"I'm done eating now. Let's get serious. You poked at me, and I poke back. Tell me about why you feel it's so important to be a better Duelist when you can just be better at whatever you want to be... Or better yet, what that 'something' is. If you're not here to go pro, what do you see yourself doing in the future instead?"
His blunt approach definitely got Zephyr hot and bothered. She kept quiet, however, as Tatsuya explained himself. Once he finished eating his meal, the Silvolver male got even more direct, asking the female, point blank, what it is that she wants to be in the future, and why it was important to her to be a better duelist instead of just being great at your profession of choice.
"W-Well, I...."
She started off strong, but as the words drew closer to her lips, trepidation slowly built up in her chest as she thought about what Tatsuya could say about it. She glanced elsewhere momentarily. It wasn't enough to stop her outright, but one could tell there was a bit of unease in her demeanor. "I dunno: like, a cop or something..., probably.... .... ...---And I'm not sayin' not t'get good at it 'r anything, either - you should have to! ...Duel Monsters is just so involved in people's lives, though. Like, ..." Zephyr rested her chin atop her propped up palm and gazed away from Tatsuya as she sighed, eyeing the desk and her notes.
"I've seen people ending their squabbles and fights with duels more than they used to...." which, generally-speaking, was a good thing, compared to some alternatives.... "And here in school, people with different... ideas... are using duels to decide who gets their way, too. Like, can't they win with their words or something? .... But this is where we are."
The way she saw things, dueling was taking over all forms of conflict.
"There's no way to know how big dueling'll be in the future, either - and even the tech from Kaiba Corb is spreading more into the city; who knows what that'll mean later. But anyway: next thing you know, we'll be in a world where two people who are just as good for a job will have to duel it out to see who gets it. ...I don't want that..., but it could happen!"
Who's to say that dueling won't get more popular; more mainstream? The way she saw it, it likely would, at this rate. But how much more involved will dueling get in terms of dealing with conflicts? Maybe right now, no one has to worry about bad press or reputations just because of their dueling or failure to win - aside from pro duelists, perhaps - but social media might take that to a new extreme, and then, somewhere along the line, Duel Monsters could further integrates into things that it had no business in before.
Zephyr had a thought, once before, about a cop potentially becoming a local hero and, for some reason, getting a card made about him since he plays the game. Other cops who play might want to challenge him to face off against that card and maybe it boosts morale to the point where most officers can duel decently well, hoping to get recognition enough to get their own cards, or something similar. At that point, it wouldn't be too far-fetched in her mind if that 'two-people-for-one-job/promotion' scenario were to happen. Maybe not anytime soon, but what about in 10 years? She didn't want dueling to get that involved into people's lives or livelihoods, but she wanted to be prepared for the possibility, as it was out of her control.
"...If it doesn't: great; cool. But even if it doesn't," her usual self slowly phasing back in, "dueling'll still be big, and at the very least, I'm not gonna be a loser duelist compared to everyone else. So I'm gonna learn what I can now. If I can get good enough to beat a few pros, That's enough for me. So hopefully this place can teach me how to reach that potential. The only reason I went with Liberta, anyway, was 'cause it was the most affordable - and my mom didn't want me to be too far away...." The disinterest in her face regarding the subject matter was on the verge of being noticeable, but her tone was like she had more to say, yet didn't want to just say it.
Tatsuya slowly nodded, his pen flying across the page at blinding speed as Zephyr spoke. He was already thinking about the story to craft out of this: not a Pro Duelist, but a pro and a Duelist: the "pro" part was subjective, and could be applied to whatever she chose to do in the future. Perhaps put a spin on it that spewed some junk about the importance of Duel Monsters in everyday life, then pretend like it's not the dystopian truth. He knew that all too well: Duel Monsters hadn't just become a way of life in Silvershine, but a way to cause trouble in it as well. Immediately his mind went back to the days when he was out on the playground, finally turning his Duel Monsters abilities on his former tormentors and snatching their Decks one card at a time. (If I could see a spreadsheet right now listing out the total cost of cards I've ripped up in front of people... Even if they did have it coming, if I was smart I would have just kept 'em.)
Tatsuya's pen marked a forceful period as Zephyr mentioned her mother. Although he wasn't entirely sure if Zephyr felt the same way about her mother as he did about his, he didn't want to write it off. "...And? You're saying that like it's a problem that you go here specifically. Should I push it, or was that a slip of the tongue?" he openly pondered, spinning the pen around idly in his fingers. Fortunately it was a cheap one that didn't have much ink in it, otherwise he might have flung some everywhere. The first year learned his lesson buying expensive gel pens the first time when it came to spinning his writing utensil.
"I won't judge you if you don't like your mom. I like to think I'm above being petty enough to call back to your wonderful earlier comments, so I'll at least promise I'll listen quietly if you tell me... Or in this case, I'll promise I won't write down anything if you promise you won't write about it in your paper. Keep talking if you're fine with that, or change the subject. Up to you."
Don't want to push too hard. Tatsuya himself knew when a sour spot was too touchy to bring up for something like this. He wasn't trying to be particularly nice, but at the very least giving the opportunity to share was important. It'd be something he'd want if he was in her spot.
"Huh. .... I'm mean, if you don't want your mom mentioned, yeah, whatever: I can agree to that...." Zephyr didn't seem to mind not mentioning Tatsuya's mom. While she was curious about that relationship, she could separate the two trains of thought and keep the written paragraphs respectful. She wrote a note down to ensure that she remembered not to bring up his mother. But just because he didn't want her mentioned, it didn't mean that the short-haired girl wasn't going to go on a mild spell of running her mouth off about her own.
"Mine getting me here is the only involvement she's had with what I wanna be. I mean, nothin' against this place; of what I had to choose from, it was the easiest pick." Zephyr folded her arms in front of her. She thought of her mom and recalled a particular event with her involved. "...But she's just someone I can't really trust or have faith in; she caves t'other people too easily, and I don't wanna rely on people like that unless I have to."
The raven-haired teen shrugged with her palms outward. "She's paying for the education; I can't help that." Then, with a more serious gleam in her brown eyes, "But once I can get a job, I'm paying for everything else that I can...!"
.... .... ....
She cringed inwardly, pressing fingers against her forehead. "...Actually, y'know what, scratch my mom, too. If the teacher gets any of that, he might call her - and I don't wanna deal with what happens after that."
"...Very well then. I won't write anything about either of our mothers," Tatsuya promised, dotting his last written line with a small sigh through his nostrils. "I'm not too happy about how carefully Mr. Garcia will grade this either, so forgive me for being cautious... Or don't. It's entirely your fault he's being so careful anyways."
Cool: he still doesn't hold his tongue during even the higher moments of work.
"In any case, I think I have enough to write up something about you that won't raise any red flags. And look: we still have plenty of lunchtime to spare. Unless you're going to try and guilt me into apologizing for this meeting, I suggest you either talk more or go get some food." the former delinquent spun his pencil vigorously through his fingers one last time, slamming it down into his palm. His hazel gaze was firm and focused, but showed little emotion outside of recognition that Zephyr was in front of him. If he didn't have flesh on his bones, one could mistake him for a statue. The cold exterior and lack of any remotely human reaction would have backed up that sentiment.
But from this conversation alone and his description of this 'Gran-Gran' of his, Tatsuya clearly was capable of showing approval of someone. Just how high and strong did he build his walls around Zephyr? More importantly, how far did his story go? The same was true the other way around: Tatsuya knew very little about how Zephyr's rise to Liberta happened. It was tragically ironic that the assignment designed towards learning about others only left the two with unsolved puzzles about the other Duelist...
"I recommend the curry here. Ask for extra sauce. They don't give you much unless you ask for it."
...Well, as cruel and mean as he was, at least he had the heart to recommend Zephyr a lunch item if she so pleased.
Post by Zephyr Longe on Sept 16, 2021 23:21:10 GMT
"Hmmm...." Zephyr thought about the curry in earnest, but looked back at her sheet of notes, wondering if she, herself, had enough to go with for her own mini report on Tatsuya. Unable to mention his mother as the path to avoid, the Silvolver girl wondered if the grandmother was fair game to paint in a positive light. As she appeared to be thinking, she uttered "Uuuh...--- hang on a sec...." She first tried to imagine how she'd word the report without mentioning the grandma; it could be done, though to her, it would be obvious that she was trying to avoid saying something specific. Generally, she didn't like the feeling of that very much - and it was eating away at her. However, there was a part of her that just wanted the assignment to be good enough to be done with it. .... ...So a compromise had to be made in her mind and her heart.
"...Hey. Tatsuya, right? ...Last question," she stated calmly, focusing her eyes on the page for a few seconds. "...So, after you become a pro duelist...: ---you avoid your mom's path; you make your grandma proud; you're happy you made it, right? ...So do you have any goals for after that? Like, aside from winning championships, is there anything else you'd wanna do from there? ...Or would that be enough?"
Post by Tatsuya Taro on Sept 28, 2021 20:07:40 GMT
"...Not really."
Tatsuya slouched back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs of the seat. "Why set another goal now? I've already got one. There's no guarantee I actually meet this one, so I'm wasting my time looking at things that won't get me further until much, much later," he reasoned with an eye roll. While he did plan on putting in some more hours at the convalescent home and considered teaching some of the older folks how to Duel with newer rules...
...Better off not mentioning that. The Silvolver freshman tried his hardest to keep his volunteer work on the down low. The day that people thought he was so soft as to volunteer at an old folks' home was the day he lost all of the perks of being the resident tough guy- in his eyes, at least. Gran-Gran's request stated that he should "try to get along with others": she said nothing about looking like he shouldn't be messed with... Could this be considered "getting along" with Zephyr, even if it was forced by Liberta?
"I think we're done here. I think you're a bit more sensible than some of the ditzes on campus, so I'm going to assume you're not going to turn this into some BS about how we have to Duel now, or that we're suddenly friends. You were... 'Acceptable enough' to partner with. I'd rather have just done it myself, but if I had to work with someone, you wouldn't be my last pick."
