To start off, this is a Tag Force story. Since it will be a multi-chapter story, I have to give Hat Guy an actual name, so I'll be using 'Kaze Kokoro' for continuity sake. Feel free to replace it with your character's name as you read. Secondly, this is the full story to my one-shot which is also called 'A Black Rose in Bloom'. If you want to see what the entire Duel Academy Arc will be like in an overview, feel free to read it.

The day I met him started out like every other day at Duel Academy: boring and meticulous.

Ever since my reputation as the Black Rose began to grow, the days here had been getting longer and harder. An irksome and repetitive chore, if you would. Sometimes I'd sit in my room and wonder why I even remained at the school. In truth, I probably couldn't even answer that question right now.

On that one fated day, however, all this changed.

The teacher, whose name I had used to know, but had long since paid him no heed, was standing at the front of the class with a clipboard for attendance. As per usual, once my name was spoken the chatter of the room went into silence. Several pairs of fearful eyes turned my way. Any other person would convince themselves that they were staring at someone else, but as I had scared off all my classmates and there was no one around me, I knew exactly who and what the glares were for.

The next name was called and everything returned to normal, with people acting as if I didn't exist. Honestly, if they were so worried about me hurting people, why would they ignore me as if I didn't exist? If I was going to hurt them, shouldn't they be paying more attention to me? All they're doing is giving me a motive, although I doubt I need one in their minds.

"Well, class, as of today, we'll be having a new student visiting us. He comes from the main Duel Academy branch on Duel Academy Island," my teacher spoke with an all-too-irritating smile. How could he have been cheerful with such much spite and malice in the room? Oh, that's right, none of it was ever directed his way.

"Wow, Duel Academy Island! Have you heard about the stuff that happened over there?" a male's voice asked from some distance away from me. As a matter of fact, I had no idea, but it's not like the conversation was directed towards me anyways. In fact, I shouldn't have even bothered myself with paying attention to the new student. Everyone else would mob him and tell him about how much of a witch I was. Regardless, I still tried my best to look at least slightly interested as the doors opened, revealing a boy around my age clad in red. Clearly an Osiris, like me, ruining whatever hopes my classmates had of a world class duelist.

In means of appearance, there was nothing really noticeable about him. A plain Osiris jacket with a pair of jeans and a necklace with three gold bars on it was dangling around his neck. The only thing I could note as interesting was the fact that a red hat was tilted downwards for the sole purpose of covering his eyes. Either he was extremely shy or he had something to hide under the shadows. As the teacher continued his introduction, I mused with the idea of getting a hat of my own. I doubt it would really change anything, though.

"Students, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Kaze Kokoro. He'll be studying with us for a few months," the teacher said as he placed his hand out towards the Osiris, as if he was a display at a museum. Kaze mumbled something that I took to be along the lines of 'Nice to meet you all' before tugging at his necklace nervously. "I expect you all to treat Kaze with the utmost respect during his stay. Kaze, why don't you help yourself to whatever seat you like?" the teacher asked, although it was more of a command if you thought about it, before returning over to his desk for the day's lesson plan. After several seconds of standing there, dumbfounded, he started making his way towards the seats.

If I had heard correctly, where he came from, students are segregated by colors much more harshly than they do here. While we also had the separate dorms, we didn't have the same kind of hatred between classes. Apparently only Obelisks associated with fellow Obelisks, and the same pattern followed for the Ra and Osiris classes. Of course, there were a few exceptions, but only a handful.

"Um... Do you mind if I sit here?" the voice of the transfer student questioned, slightly drawing me out of my thoughts. So my first guess was right - he must be incredibly shy. Luckily for him, he was nothing like me, and the others would eagerly accept him with open arms into their selective little club. At least that's what I thought. No one responded to the Osiris and instead whispers began to fill the air. I slowly looked over to see who was rejecting the new student when I saw that he was not even three feet away from me. My eyes went slightly wide upon reaching the realization. He was asking me if he could sit next to me. He wanted to sit next to the Black Rose. So that's what all the whispering was about…

Without a word, I gave him a nod before turning away and going back to my thoughts. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be much of a talker and simply sat himself in the seat next to me, seemingly content in my isolated corner. Or at least, my previously isolated corner... As the teacher began to resume class, I allowed myself to sneak a glance over at my new neighbor. He had already made himself at home, so to speak, and was resting his head peacefully on the desk, without a care in the world. Given that he was new here, he sure had a lax approach…

"Mr. Kokoro. I can't say you're making much of an impression, attempting to fall asleep on the first day of class," the teacher spoke up, causing the Osiris to quickly sit back up. Had he just been sleeping and I hadn't even realized it? So maybe the hat really isn't for shyness, but just to hide himself sleeping? Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge the Osiris. After all, if he was a transfer, he had to have some skills.

"S-sorry, sir...! But I wasn't falling asleep... I was just," Kaze trailed off upon feeling the entire class send stares his way. His shyness got the best of him and he simply lower his head dejectedly.

"All distractions aside, we are scheduled to have a test today. If you'd prefer to take a nap instead, Mr. Kokoro, feel free," our teacher continued to chastise the brunette beside me, earning some light laughs from across the room. Was he... was he like me? The class's object to laugh at?

"No thank you, sir. I'd be happy to take the test," the duelist spoke. The teacher couldn't hide his surprise at this, but he quickly covered it by turning away to fetch our tests. "Um... I'm Kaze, like he said... do you mind if I ask for your name?" Kaze asked innocently, causing me to turn my head towards him to meet his glance.

"Aki. Aki Izayoi," I said curtly before turning away once more. There was no point, you see. Why should I talk to someone who will see what a monster I was during the duel part of the test? Speaking of the test... the teacher was noticeably hesitant as he brought the papers over, giving both Kaze and I a once-over before setting them down. The brunette beside me pulled the test in front of him and almost immediately began filling in the answer bubbles. I wouldn't have any doubt that he was talking less than ten seconds per question. Considering our tests were only ten questions, it left Kaze the Osiris finishing his test in less than a minute. Everyone looked on wide-eyed as he stood and walked over to the teacher, who hadn't moved too far in his attempt to pass out papers, to turn in his test.

"If you were just going to fill in random bubbles, I'd prefer that you didn't take the test at all," the man murmured before pushing his glasses up.

"What do you mean, sir? That's how fast the exams go at my school," Kaze stated innocently as the teacher went over his answers. This task only took him a few seconds before he looked up with awe.

"They're all right," he whispered. Chatter instantly broke out among the rest of my classmates. While I could share their sentiments, I didn't join in on the meaningless display. An Osiris getting a perfect score, and not only that, but doing so within a minute. I wouldn't be surprised if he was just wearing that red uniform just for his preference in color. Our teacher, having gathered his wits about himself, let out a cough. "All of you, quiet. There's a test out," he reminded them, instantly cutting the chatter in fear of the penalty. While I probably should have been focusing on my test, I couldn't help but have my eyes linger on Kaze. There was this air around him... I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it was something special, I could tell.

As if feeling my stare, Kaze turned to face me and quickly blushed. He quickly excused himself before making his way to the duel arena, leaving me alone once again. Not that it bothered me. After all, what good is someone who will betray you? I'd rather have no friends than a fake friend... With the object of my attention now gone, I was left with no choice but to turn back to my test.

Notes:

- I apologize for the lack of content/plot in this chapter. It's the rising action and intro, so please bear with me for the first few chapters before things pick up pace.

- Before anyone asks, Kaze filling out his test within minutes isn't some Mary Sue thing, it's based off of the fact that the GX games made you take your tests quickly. Around 10 seconds for a time limit per question, so since Kaze is being the player you represent during the game, he also inherits the time limit for tests. I'm not sure if they actually do that in the show, but I'll follow the beautiful game logic.