Episode 3 - Ghosts of the Past

The Bosatsu Academy dueling team's high-walled compound sat a little higher on the mountain than the academy itself. Kotei Jin had been standing outside the giant wooden doors for quite a few minutes, now.

I just have to go in, meet the team, then take my leave. This should be painless. Jin sighed.They're going to ask me to join them, but... I can't. Not after-

He shook his head. Let's just get this over with. He pulled the door open.

Just inside the walls lay the courtyard, where several students were sparring, drilling their throws, coaching each other, or lying in the shade of the trees. Jin recognized a few of them, but these weren't the top-tier duelists, the "Bosatsu Four". They had to be inside.

Ahead was the outdoor dueling arena, mostly used for tournament matches. Beyond it were two buildings - the team's offices and, further down the path, the duelists' dormitory. Jin walked past the practicing duelists, past the arena, and up the stairs at the main entrance of the offices. He made his way down the hallway and into the central room.

It had a high ceiling, banks of monitors lined the walls, desks and cabinets overflowed with documents and keyboards. The Bosatsu Four were waiting.

Ryoichi Kei, fourth year. The captain of the team. He was standing at a table in the middle of the room.

Mizumigawa Shin, a second year like Jin. The one he'd lost to the day before. She was - Jin blinked - sitting upside down on a nearby chair, looking up at the ceiling, her legs dangling over the chair's back.

The two others Jin knew only through their position on the team - everyone in the academy knew about the top four duelists.

Yukimura Hisoka was a third year girl with straight, dark brown hair that fell to shoulder length, framing her face with perfect right angles. She wore a pair of glasses with oval-shaped lenses, and a bored expression seemed fixed on her face. She stood at the table, reading something with the captain.

Jihara Akatsuki was the last of them, a third year boy who towered over his classmates. His hair was white, and swept back in a series of layered blades. His eyes, as usual, were half-closed in a serene expression. He was leaning against a side wall, his head bowed.

They seemed to be in the middle of a discussion when Jin entered.

"Ah, Kotei-kun." Ryoichi gestured for Jin to come further into the room. "Glad you could drop by."

Jin looked at the gathered duelists. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm only here because I made a deal. As soon as I've made good on that, I'm out of here."

Jihara looked up. "Ryoichi-dono... you haven't told him yet?" His voice was soft.

Jin's head snapped towards Jihara, then back to Ryoichi. "What are you talking about? What are you guys up to?!"

Ryoichi sighed, nodded to Yukimura. She tapped something into a keyboard, and one of the bigger monitors lit up.

Jin blanched. "... What does he have to do with this?"

The screen showed a boy slightly older than Jin. He wore a tailored suit and an expression to match - crisp, cold, utterly professional. His hair was buzzed short and formed a sharp widow's peak, his eyes hidden behind mirrored shades.

Yukimura spoke. "Kyoru Arashi. Commonly known as 'Venomous Kyoru'. A duelist of unmatched skill. He swept a series of junior tournaments, culminating with-"

"The Junior Grand National. I know." Jin's voice was cold. "What's your point?"

Mizumigawa turned herself right-side up, and Jihara watched Jin intently. Ryoichi approached the screen, stood facing it with his hands clasped behind his back. "We've been researching you, Kotei-kun. When we studied the Junior Grand National, one question stood out." He raised one hand in the air. "Why would a promising duelist like yourself drop out of the tournament just before the final round?" He dropped his hand again. "But we didn't stop looking until we found the answer. Your brother-"

"How dare you mention him!" Jin shouted. He was shaking. "Yes! I dropped out of the tournament because of the accident! Why do you-"

Ryoichi turned, his eyes burning. "There was no accident."

No one spoke for a long moment.

"What do you mean..." Jin finally managed.

Ryoichi spoke, almost a whisper. "Kyoru Arashi had your brother killed so that you would drop out of the tournament."

Jin fell to his knees. "... You're not certain. How could you know that?"

Yukimura stepped forward. "We received a confession from his second-in-command. Written instructions from Kyoru himself. Nothing explicit, obviously, but we're certain."

Ryoichi's expression softened. "Kotei-kun, I'm sorry..."

Jin spoke without looking up. "If I join your team, I'll get to face him, is that what you're saying?"

Ryoichi smiled grimly. "That's the idea."

"... I'll do it."

Episode 2 - Coercion

Ryoichi Kei, captain of the school's dueling team, stood at the entrance to the neglected old tennis courts, resting his folded paper fan on his shoulder. He looked over Jin appraisingly.

"You handled yourself well. You made it sound like a simple thing, but reading your opponents like that requires a keen eye." He glanced around, admiring the cherry blossoms. "Have you ever considered trying out for the dueling team?"

Jin shrugged, looked away. "I'm no duelist. I only know a few parlor tricks."

"Kotei Jin. 'Thousand-Devil' Kotei. Champion of no less than seven Junior tournaments. And in the Junior Grand National..." He looked back at Jin. "... runner-up."

Jin's expression hardened. "Those days are behind me." He shouldered his bag. "Get out of my way."

"When you duel, you can't hide your true heart. It shines through in every throw." Ryoichi swung his fan off his shoulder, slicing through the air, and pointed it straight at Jin. "I saw your eyes when you fought those two. You came alive. It's obvious that you yearn to duel again." He paused, pushed his hair out of his eyes with his free hand. "What is holding you back?"

Jin pushed the tip of the fan aside. "That's my business." He walked past Ryoichi, his face a mask.

"I'll make a deal with you," said Ryoichi without turning.

Jin paused. "Why would I bargain with you?"

Ryoichi smiled. "I'm sure you know that with a few words to the right people, I could let the whole school know you've spurned my offer. They would pester you endlessly, wanting to know why, wondering what could be so terrible that you'd turn down a position among the elite of Bosatsu. You wouldn't have a moment's peace... and at that point, there wouldn't be anything I could do about it."

Jin turned on him. "You wouldn't...!"

"Of course, that wouldn't be very polite of me, would it? That's why I want to make a deal."

"... What sort of deal?"

"Now you're listening to reason." Ryoichi raised one hand in the air. "Mizumigawa-kun?"

Behind Jin, outside the courts, there was a rustling sound. Then, a girl dropped out of the trees.

She landed expertly in a crouch, stood, whipped her hand to her face in a lightning-fast motion, lightly adjusted her sunglasses with the edge of her hand.

She had short, spiked hair and dark sunglasses, she wore pants with her uniform, unlike most girls at the school - though Jin could see why, if she planned to jump out of trees with any frequency - and she exuded supreme confidence. Mizumigawa Shin, one of the stars of the dueling team.

She grinned, sizing Jin up. "Here's the 'deal'. You play a single throw against me. If you win, we leave you alone. If you lose..."

"Then all you need to do is come visit the team during tomorrow's meeting, and introduce yourself to the other members," finished Ryoichi, turning to face them. "Very reasonable, don't you think?"

Jin eyed Mizumigawa warily. "If I win, you'll leave me alone for good?"

"I promise," replied Ryoichi.

A breeze blew through the area, and no one spoke for a long moment.

"Tch, fine. If it'll get you off my back." Jin walked back onto the tennis court, then turned to face his opponent.

Mizumigawa wandered over towards the court, then sprang into a one-handed handstand, before tumbling into position. "Thanks for being a good sport!" She winked and stuck out her tongue.

Jin just held up his fist.

"Fine, fine..." She held up hers in kind. "I'm ready when you are."

"Rock!" Their fists went down for the first time. Jin studied his opponent carefully - her stance, the trajectory of her arm, the expression on her face.

"Paper!" They went down a second time. Jin expected she would base her throw on how he had played the last two matches. He had opened with Paper each time. Would she expect him to use Paper again? Or was she thinking that he wouldn't dare begin three matches in a row with the same throw, locking him into Rock or Scissors?

"Scissors!" The third "priming" fist-pump. She looked confident. She was a professional, she wasn't going to betray her strategy easily. He ran through the possibilities. If she expected he would use Paper, she'd throw Scissors. If she expected Rock or Scissors, she'd throw Rock. It looked like Rock would be a safe throw for him, at worst resulting in a tie, because Paper was too risky a throw for her. But if she predicted he would perform that analysis, she'd definitely throw Paper, and his strategy would be ruined.

Then he saw it.

As she was raising her hand for her throw, her index and middle fingers twitched slightly. A tell, one he almost missed, but its message was clear - she was going to throw Scissors! She had noticed his pattern of starting with Paper, expected him to notice it as well, and thought he would think she wouldn't expect him to use it a third time. Of course, this meant that she thought he would throw Paper again, so she would throw Scissors and defeat him. It was a clever plan, but her eagerness had given her away. Jin would throw Rock, and ruin her plan completely!

"SHOOT!"

Jin stared blankly at her outstretched hand.

Paper.

He fell to his knees.

"You were right, Ryoichi-kun." Mizumigawa tilted her head, peered at Jin. "He fell for the fake tell."

It had been a trap! She had deliberately led him to think she would throw Scissors, and he had played right into her hands.

Ryoichi and Mizumigawa walked off the court while Jin was still replaying his failure in his head.

Ryoichi waved. "We'll see you tomorrow after classes... Kotei-kun."

Episode 1 - Chance

It was springtime at prestigious Bosatsu Academy. Some snow still lingered higher up on the mountain, but at the school cherry blossoms drifted lightly through the air. Looking down on the valley, the serene surface of the lake, anyone would think the world a peaceful place.

Here, in the shade of the wooded path behind the school, Kotei Jin strolled back towards the dormitory from class. He was taking the long way - after all, it was a beautiful day and classes were over, he had plenty of time.

To be honest, Jin doesn't look like much at first glance. Dark blue school uniform, average height, straight black hair that had just grown long enough to start getting in his eyes again. But he has an open, honest face and eyes that gleam with shrewd intellect.

Suddenly, a shout sounded from the run-down tennis courts further down the path. Jin's head snapped towards the sound, then he broke into a run. Around the corner, an unpleasant scene was playing out.

"She's holding out on us," the skinnier of the two scruffy upperclassman said casually to his counterpart. The girl's eyes darted about, looking for a way past the two thugs.

"I swear, I don't have any more money!"

"We don't believe you," said the skinny one. The other, a broad, square-chinned brute, shoved the girl. She hit the chain-link back fence of the court, dropped her bag, spilled books over the clay.

"What's going on here?" queried Jin as he rolled into view. The two upperclassmen spun to face him.

"Keep walking," advised the skinny one - who Jin had already mentally labeled "Ratface".

"Yeah," added the brick helpfully (Jin thought he looked more like a pitbull).

Jin ambled towards them. "Shame on you, harassing a young lady like that." There was a deliberate playfulness in his voice, but his face was fixed in a deadly-serious stare.

"What's it to you?" asked Ratface.

"Yeah, what're you gonna do about it?" added Pitbull, sliding between Jin and Ratface. His hand darted out with surprising speed and grabbed Jin's collar. He lifted Jin up slightly so they were eye-to eye. He grinned scornfully. "You gonna hit me?"

"No." Jin's voice was quiet.

"That's what I thought." Pitbull dropped him unceremoniously. "Now get out of here." He started to turn away.

"No."

Pitbull stopped. "What was that?!" He spun around to see Jin pointing his index and middle fingers right in Pitbull's face, separated in the universal symbol of a challenge -"scissors."

Pitbull recoiled.

"I challenge you to a duel," said Jin.

"A duel... like...?"

"Yep." Jin nodded.

"What about me?" asked Ratface.

"I'll duel you once I've beaten him." Jin was smiling confidently now.

"You little punk!" growled Pitbull.

Ratface grinned. "Sure, we'll duel you." He nodded at Pitbull. "Show him what you're made of."

Jin tossed his bag to the side, and he and Pitbull faced each other a short distance apart.

"Ready?" he asked. "We'll do best-two-of-three."

"You're dead," Pitbull said flatly. Jin shrugged.

They each raised a fist. Together, pumping their arms, they said:

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! SHOOT!"

"Tch," said Pitbull. Jin's Paper had beaten his Rock.

"Ah, that's okay, you've got another chance!"

Pitbull just snarled at that and raised his fist again.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! SHOOT!"

Jin threw Scissors, and Pitbull threw Paper. Jin's victory again.

"You got lucky, you little..."

"Luck has nothing to do with it." Jin looked serious again. "I knew exactly what you would throw. My victory was guaranteed."

"How the hell could you know what I would throw?!"

"Simple. You would definitely open with Rock. Amateurs like you always start with Rock." Pitbull growled. "Then, you were angry. Looking for a strong sign, you reflexively used the one that beat your last throw - Paper. So I just threw Scissors, and you walked right into my trap."

Pitbull lunged at Jin, but stopped short. Ratface had grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Out of my way, you piece of trash," sneered Ratface, and shoved him aside. Pitbull sprawled on the court. "You were too easy to read. How pathetic."

"You shouldn't be so hard on him," said Jin. "After all - you're even easier to read."

"What?!"

"I can tell you right now - you're going to throw Scissors."

Ratface frowned. "Just get ready."

Jin raised his fist.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! SHOOT!"

Ratface's mouth hung open. He had thrown Rock... and Jin had thrown Paper.

"You said I was going to throw Scissors! Why would you throw Paper?!"

"I said you would throw Scissors... so I knew that was the one sign you wouldn't dare throw. You would have to use Rock or Paper. Which means if I threw Paper, the worst that could happen would be a tie."

"You think you're so smart? That's just one point, and now that you've explained it, that trick isn't going to work again."

"Really? Is that what you think?" Jin cocked his head back. "Then listen up - you're going to throw Scissors."

Ratface started to sweat. "WHAT?! Do you really think that would work twice in a row?!"

"... Are you ready?"

"Fine! I'll wipe that look off your face!"

They raised their fists.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! SHOOT!"

Ratface recoiled, tripped over his feet, and fell to the ground. "Im- impossible!"

Jin looked down scornfully, his hand still showing Rock. "Not at all. Of course you would use Scissors. Your desire to prove me wrong - by doing what I predicted when I said you wouldn't - was stronger than your caution. Because of that, it was obvious that you would use Scissors." He swept his hand out to encompass both of them. "Now get out of here."

The two defeated duelists scrambled to their feet and bolted.

Jin watched them go, then turned again. He handed the girl one of her books. She stared at him, stunned. Suddenly, she seemed to realize she was staring, then turned away, blushing.

"Thank you, Kotei-san," she mumbled, gathering up the rest of her things, then ran away without bothering to put her books in the bag.

Jin took a moment to catch his breath.

He bent down to pick up his bag. When he looked up again, there was someone standing at the entrance to the courts.

He was tall, strikingly beautiful, with long, flowing, blond hair - Ryoichi Kei. Jin almost didn't recognize him without throngs of admirers striving to earn his notice. Easily the most popular, admired, and envied boy in the school.

He was also the captain of Bosatsu Academy's dueling team.

Ryoichi tapped a long, folded paper fan on his shoulder.

"That was quite impressive... Kotei Jin."