As much as I wanna say that this is my first Arc V fanfic, this is actually my second since I already made another Arc V fanfic a long time ago. I've got experience writing down two other Yu-Gi-Oh fanfics, so that's something. But, in this fanfic, there's gonna be a lot of changes!

Obviously, the ending to Arc V will be WAY different, as well as lots of other parts in this story relating to the anime! Like many people, I found it dissatisfying and hated it. I mean, Leo wasn't even punished for what he done! Granted, he probably was after the ending and we didn't see it, but still! I'm debating on whether to have him killed or arrested. Either way, he will receive retribution.

I can't spoil much, but a LOT of more people are gonna be more involved with the Dimension War. I think it's pretty clear to people whom I'm talking about. More allies mean more power!~

Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!


Hearing the sound of her alarm going off alerted Mitsumi as she got out of bed, yawning tiredly before slapping the top of her alarm to shut it off before it could awake her grandmother. Getting up, she smoothed out her bedsheets as it took her less than a minute to make her bed before beginning her daily morning activities. After entering the bathroom, it took Mitsumi only a few minutes to brush her teeth and wash herself up before combining her hair, using the mirror as a guide to gaze at her appearance.

Her messy light blue hair was straightened out and was at hips' length, showing how long it was. Her bright amber eyes glanced up and down her reflection to check if her school uniform was alright before wearing a green ribbon headband; the ribbons resembling bunny ears to emphasize their cuteness. Satisfied with her appearance, Mitsumi headed downstairs towards the kitchen to cook up lunch.

Every single morning, she had to wake up even before the sun rose to cook and prepare any necessities for both her and her grandmother. Her parents weren't around anymore, so it was just her and her grandmother. Luckily for Mitsumi, her skill in housekeeping was so great, she might as well retire at an early age as a housewife, and cooking was part of her housekeeping skills.

Around an hour later, Mitsumi's grandmother, Aoi Nazuno, carefully made her way downstairs, being mindful of her weak body and age just like always. Age was affecting her body greatly, especially since she was still employed at this old age when someone like her should already be in a nursery home. Her nose caught the smell of eggs and vegetables as well as coffee by the time she was halfway down the stairs. It was always good for her granddaughter to do so much for her, but she really worried for the girl as Aoi should be doing the housework herself.

When she arrived at the kitchen, she saw Mitsumi pouring the coffee pot onto a cup before setting it down. She had turned off the stove and was about to place the cooked egg muffins from the pan into a plate when she spotted her grandmother. "Oh! Good morning, Grandma! Breakfast is almost ready, so please wait for a few more minutes!"

Sitting down promptly at the dining table, Aoi watched as her granddaughter finished the preparations for breakfast and made her way towards the dining table so that they could eat together. "Mitsumi-chan?" called out Aoi.

"Yes?"

"There's been a change of schedule at the flower shop, so I'll have to stay out a bit late at night due to a large amount of orders coming in. I'm sorry, but would it be possible for you to attend to making dinner for me? I know you have to deal with making lunch, but-"

"Oh, it's perfectly fine, Grandma," assured Mitsumi. "Would it be alright if we ate breakfast first before I start making preparations for dinner? That way, I can make any dinner you request of me!"

Smiling, the elderly woman patted her granddaughter's head. "Thank you. You'd make a fine wife to any cute guy out there."

"G-Grandma! I'm not looking for a boyfriend, right now! Besides, there are hundreds of girls out there way beautiful than me!"

What Mitsumi didn't know was that at her middle school, she was regarded as one of the most popular girls in school mostly due to her beauty and her shy personality which others found cute and alluring. Unfortunately, this drove up a lot of jealous attention from a bunch of girls, and Mitsumi couldn't count the amount of love letters she found in her shoe locker and how many guys she rejected.

"Well, if you are looking for a boyfriend, why not Yuya-chan or Gongenzaka-kun?" teased Aoi.

"It's pretty clear that Yuya and Yuzu like each other," replied Mitsumi. "And Gongenzaka...well, he doesn't have a girlfriend, and even though his father kinda wants me to be engaged with him, we don't really have any mutual feelings with each other."

The whole engagement part, Mitsumi had to admit, was partially her fault, because one time, when she and Gongenzaka hung out with each other in his dojo home while his father was sick, Mitsumi offered to cook up some meals for his father, and since then, his father had comically fallen in love with her cooking and personally requested her to be Gongenzaka's fiancée, much to the embarrassment of both of them.

Drinking her milk after finishing her share of the egg muffins, Mitsumi stood up and removed the empty dishes from the dining table, placing them in the sink and deciding to wash the dishes later. "Grandma, what sort of boxed dinner would you like?"

"A simple macaroni and cheese dinner will do," assured Aoi. "Will you be okay making dinner for yourself?"

Mitsumi nodded. "Yes. Is there any grocery shopping you'd like me to do?"

"Not today. Maybe a different time."

"Okay, then I'll get started for your dinner!"

Watching her one and only granddaughter cooking and doing a lot of the housework only made Aoi feel worse. She only wished she could do much more for her granddaughter, who followed every single one of her orders and chores without so much as a complaint. Yes, she knew that Mitsumi was doing everything she could to assist her and would be doing more by getting a job once she came of age, but Aoi wished she could grant her granddaughter anything.


Later, that morning before school...

"Oh, come on, Yuzu! You have to admit, my Hippo is one of the cutest Monsters I've got!" said Yuya. "Way cuter than any of your Monsters!"

"Hey! Are you saying that my Monsters aren't cute?!" protested Yuzu angrily, ready to hit Yuya on the head with her infamous paper fan.

"Well, no! I mean, I haven't seen any of your Monsters that are on the cute level as mine, and I'm just making things worse, aren't I?"

"Yuya!" scolded Gongenzaka. "It is rude to simply cast judgement on appearances alone!"

"Thank you, Gongenzaka!" thanked Yuzu before glaring at Yuya. "See? Maybe you should be more like him, Yuya!"

"...Even if it is true."

"What?!"

"Waaaaaaaahhhhh!" Suddenly, a male student ran past the three, crying due to a heartbreak he just experienced.

"I'm sorry!" called out Mitsumi, who was standing near the school entrance. This pretty much happens daily in her life; if she didn't accept a love letter, a boy would confess and ask her out on a date, only for her to reject it as politely as possible. And this is usually the same result each time, but luckily for her, the number of confessions and love letters seem to decrease through time.

Walking up to Mitsumi, Yuya asked, "...Another one?"

Mitsumi nodded. "I'm...sorry you had to see that. Not the best way to start a morning."

"I'll say," agreed Yuzu. "How many boys this week was that, Mitsumi-chan?"

"Um...I don't really have a habit of keeping track. But, good morning, everyone. How are you?"

"We're okay, I guess," yawned Yuya before his eyes widened. "Oh no! I forgot my lunch! Gaaah! And I was so looking forward to eating the hamburger Mom made!"

"Nice going, Yuya," deadpanned Yuzu, annoyed.

"One should never forget their lunch, as it's part of a nutritious meal!" advised Gongenzaka, crossing his arms.

"Um..." Raising her hand, Mitsumi offered, "If you want, I...I can share my lunch with you, Yuya."

"YES!" cheered Yuya, embracing Mitsumi by the waist as he sank down on his knees. 'Thank you! No wonder a lot of guys like you! You're a lifesaver! I definitely owe you big time!"

"Mitsumi-chan, are you sure this is alright?" asked Yuzu. "I mean, I could have shared some of my food and-You know what? I'll share some of my food with you, Mitsumi-chan."

Touched, Gongenzaka declared, "I, the man Gongenzaka, will also happily assist in offering some food to Mitsumi!"

"Yay!" exclaimed Yuya, thinking he was going to be sharing a portion of their food as well. "Then, I'll-!"

"You don't get any," deadpanned Yuzu and Gongenzaka, not wanting Yuya to be spoiled. Plus, this way, he might learn his lesson and not make mistakes for next time.

"Awwww!" Despite Yuya's complaints, he knew he probably deserved it for not bringing his lunch. "Alright..."

Feeling bad for Yuya, Mitsumi attempted to cheer him up. "Um...If you want, Yuya, I can give you my lunch, and I can just share a bit from Yu-"

"No, Mitsumi," stopped Gongenzaka. "I know you're trying to help, but this is Yuya's punishment. He'll only get half of your food."

Mitsumi turned to Yuya, who sighed and nodded his head. "It's alright, Mitsumi. Thanks, but just the offer of you sharing your food is already enough."

"Okay..."

The four friends stepped inside and walked towards their shoe lockers in the locker room, where it's traditional for students to change into indoor school shoes so that their outdoor shoes don't track mud or anything else into the clean school floors.

However, when Mitsumi opened her shoe locker, she found that her shoes were...utterly ripped and destroyed. The indoor shoes she used were torn to shreds, and she had a pretty good idea who had done it. A bunch of female bullies who were jealous of her. This isn't the first time she's been tormented by them, and this meant that she would have to get yet another pair of indoor shoes at the school store.

Yuzu, whose locker room was behind Mitsumi's, managed to put her indoor school shoes on before turning around and spotting the destroyed state of her shoes. "Oh, no! Mitsumi-chan! Your shoes! They're ruined!"

"What?" Both Yuya and Gongenzaka rushed over to Mitsumi's side and gasped. "Who could have done such a horrible thing?!"

"N-Now, let's not assume things," said Mitsumi, not wanting to get them involved in her problems. "For all we know, maybe something happened and someone accidentally switched my shoes with their own! I mean, we all wear the same kind of shoes."

"Hmm...It is true that we shouldn't be quick to assume things," agreed Gongenzaka. "But regardless, we must do something about this situation! We don't even know whose shoes these belong to! How dare someone switch their own destroyed shoes with your own?"

"Well, I guess we'll never know," said Mitsumi. "Look, I'll wear the shoes and explain the situation to my homeroom teacher, so you guys don't have to worry. I appreciate your concern, but I think this'll all be resolved if I get some new shoes."

"Grrr…! I'm totally gonna use my fan on whoever switched shoes with you!" growled Yuzu, holding up her paper fan.

'Their anger is justified, but I'm just glad they believe my lie,' thought Mitsumi, sweatdropping as she put on her ruined shoes. "Well, I'll see you guys at lunch, okay? The rooftop as usual, right?"

"Yup! See ya later!" called out Yuya as he, Yuzu, and Gongenzaka headed towards a different direction, as the four of them attended different classes, with Yuzu and Yuya being in one class, and Gongenzaka in another.

Mitsumi's classroom was in a different classroom apart from her friends and in a separate direction, which is where she headed for her morning classes. Upon entering, she sat down in her desk and waited for class to begin. She couldn't just tell her homeroom teacher about the real reason why her shoes were messed up, because she didn't have any evidence to back up her claim that her bullies did this, and she didn't want to cause anymore unnecessary trouble.

When she sat down, that was when she finally noticed the cruel writing scattered all over her desk meant for her. They were insults written in black marker, such as "slut," or "bitch" and much worse. The hard part is that it was hard to wipe such writing off her desk since it was made of permanent marker, so it would take a while to clean.

Just as Mitsumi was starting to become comfortable, she heard some thud clapping and a rain of chalk dust showered onto her head. Shortly afterwards, some snickering could be heard from the sides as Mitsumi knew what had occurred. It seems Kokoro and her two bully friends decided to clap dirty chalk erasers onto her head...again.

Coughing from the chalk dust, Mitsumi waited for them to stop before looking up at the three sneering girls. "Ah...Good morning, Fujimaki-san, Kanon-san, and Reijou-san. What can I do for you?"

Irritated by her lack of reaction, the girl called Kanon slammed her hand against Mitsumi's now chalk dust-covered desk. "Hey! Why aren't you saying anything?! We just sprinkled chalk dust all over your hair! Get mad!"

'And entertain you? I don't think so,' thought Mitsumi, staying calm before shaking her head. "But...I did say something. I said good morning to you all. Isn't that enough?"

Apparently, Mitsumi's good-natured response managed to tick off the girls even further as Reijou slapped the side of Mitsumi's head. "Ugh! You think you're smart, you know-it-all?! You're a skank, you know that?! You think just because you're so much prettier and more popular than any of us, you can do what you want?!"

'What are with these baseless accusations! It's not like I chose to be popular!' Mitsumi thought right before the bell rang, indicating class was about to begin.

During class, everyone was silent and only talked whenever the teacher asked them a question, but other than that, they mostly listened and took notes on the lessons presented before them on the chalkboard.

"Mitsumi Nazuno, please come here and write down the answer to this question," ordered the teacher.

"Yes, sir." She stood up and headed towards the chalkboard before turning to her teacher, who was holding the chalk and looking at her with a stern expression. Nom, his attention was directed towards her ruined shoes, which she had forgotten until now.

"Again, Nazuno? This is the third time this month that you've come with torn shoes! Are you trying to get yourself into trouble?! Get some new shoes from the school store or you'll be in even more trouble!"

It was bad enough that she had ruined shoes, but the fact that the teacher scolded her in front of the whole class took embarrassment to a whole new level. Her face flustered red and she looked away as she heard students snickering behind her back. "I-I'm sorry..."

The teacher sighed and handed her the chalk. "Here. Solve the problem, then head towards the bathroom to clean that dust off your head. And don't take too long!"

Nodding, Mitsumi glanced at the problem, relieved she could understand the equation. As soon as she set the chalk down, she headed straight to the bathroom to wash up. Heading for the sink, she turned on the faucet and drenched her hands with water before smoothing her long hair up and down. Within a few minutes, she managed to clear the chalk dust off her hair before returning to class in time to hear the bell ring for lunch. Not wanting to deal with her bullies, she grabbed her lunch and rushed out.

Walking up the stairs towards the rooftop, Mitsumi stepped onto the third floor when all of a sudden, three sucker-tipped darts hit her on the cheek. Startled, she nearly dropped her lunch before removing the darts off her cheek.

"Oh! If only you had turned your head a bit, I would have hit you in the forehead!" said a familiar voice.

"Sawatari-san!" said Mitsumi, bowing her head at the approaching, handsome boy, who took back his darts. "How are you?"

"Oh, I've been having a swell day!~" sang Sawatari, twirling one of the darts with his fingers. "They're definitely a lot cuter and smarter than you!"

"You said that to me before."

"Yeah? Well, I just felt like I wanted to say that again, moron!~" Shingo poked Mitsumi's forehead various times, causing her to flinch.

Shingo and his lackeys, who weren't here right now, were another group of bullies that Mitsumi had to constantly deal with everyday, though compared to the female bullies, Shingo and his group were a minority. She didn't know why they liked teasing and bullying her, but she never really hated nor liked them.

"Mitsumi!" called out Gongenzaka, entering the third floor. Spotting Shingo, he thought that the rich boy was teasing Mitsumi again and pulled her behind him, glaring down at him as his large figure loomed over a slightly frightened Shingo. "Have you been bothering Mitsumi again, Sawatari?"

"N-No! That's not it!" protested Mitsumi. "He just came to say hi!"

Shingo nodded frantically. It was one thing to corner Mitsumi alone, but with her and her giant, looking friend who looked like he could easily pummel him, he'll take the easy route out. "Y-yeah! You know what, my friends are calling for me, so I'm just gonna go!"

After Shingo left, Gongenzaka turned to Mitsumi and said, "Luckily, I was on my way to the rooftop when I spotted you and Sawatari together. You weren't covering for him again, were you?"

"No, no! He really did say he wanted to say hi!" assured Mitsumi. 'Although he was about to start his usual bullying routine. Not that anybody had to know.'

When both Gongenzaka and Mitsumi arrived on the rooftop, Yuzu and Yuya were already sitting down in their usual spot. Yuya was lying on the ground, all curled up and wrapping his arms around his stomach while Yuzu was calmly eating her lunch right next to him.

"Yuzu...! Please feed me...!" complained Yuzu as his stomach grumbled.

"No. You have to wait until Mitsumi-chan gets here."

"Yuya! Yuzu! We're here!" called out Mitsumi as she and Gongenzaka walked up to the two.

Wrapping his arms around Mitsumi's waist, Yuya let out tears of joy. "Waaaah! Yes! Thank you, you're a lifesaver, Mitsumi!" Once everyone settled down to eat, Mitsumi handed her lunch over to Yuya, who eagerly opened it...only to reveal a salad lunch within. "Ehhhh?! Salad?! Noooo!"

"Hey, you reap what you sow, Yuya," reminded Yuzu as she tore part of her hamburger and gave it to Mitsumi in a napkin.

"Yes, like you were promised, you were given lunch. Now, eat your share!" ordered Gongenzaka, handing a red bean bun.

Whimpering, Yuya sulkily began to eat his salad. It wasn't that bad, but he would have preferred anything other than salad since it contained some of his least favorite vegetables. Mitsumi sweatdropped and patted him on the head before eating her share of lunch. For the rest of the lunch break, the four friends chatted amongst themselves as time passed.


Hopefully, this is real good for a beginning! Yes, no duel was made this chapter, and I was thinking maybe I should do a duel in the next chapter! Only thing is, I dunno who Mitsumi should duel. Yuya, Gongenzaka, Yuzu, or so on. I'll let you guys decide in the reviews!~

Also, this does take place way before the official first episode of Arc V, so it'll take a while to get there. That said, read and review!