16th Birthday

Chazz had become very popular after saving Duel Academy from his brothers. Some of his old friends from Obelisk Blue tried to reconnect with him, but Chazz turned them down as he didn't want to associate himself with bullies.

Slade and Jagger held up their end of the deal and had unfrozen Chazz's bank account. Chazz was pleased to be able to access his family's money again and had already made some purchases that would be arriving later today while he and everyone else were in class.

The school day was mostly uneventful. First they had math with Sartryr, then history with Fontaine, next was Duel Monster studies with Crowler. It wasn't until their final lesson with Banner that something happened.

Everyone was sitting in their seats when professor Banner entered the room and sat at his desk.

"Good morning everyone, I'm pleased to say that we have a birthday today." He said. Some of the students rolled their eyes, Banner would always call out whenever it was someone's birthday.

"And so, I would like to wish a happy sixteenth birthday to Mr. Ryan Walker." Banner said. Ryan simply brushed it off.

"I didn't know it was Ryan's birthday." Mindy said.

"Neither did I. He's never mentioned it before." Alexis added. After this, the lesson proceeded as normal.

Class finally ended and everyone was taking their school bags back to their dorms. Alexis ran up to Ryan.

"Hey Ryan." She said.

"Oh hey Alexis. How's it going?" He asked.

"Pretty good. So why didn't you tell me today was your birthday?" She asked.

"Really didn't take it into consideration honestly." He admitted.

"You didn't think about your own birthday?" Alexis asked.

"No because I haven't gotten the opportunity to celebrate these last few years." Ryan answered.

Alexis was confused about it for a second before recalling his family. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.

"Here's an idea, meet me at that clearing just north of your dorm. I have a surprise." She said.

Jaden and the other Slifer Reds were heading back to their dorm. Chazz was walking unusually fast. It was as if he wanted to get back before anyone else.

"Hey Chazz, what's the hurry?" Jaden asked.

"Nothing, I just need to check something." Chazz said as he suddenly started to run.

"What do you think that was all about?" Syrus asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he just really needs the toilet." Jaden said.

Chazz ran as fast as he could until he reached the Slifer dorm where a team of builders were waiting. The foreman saw Chazz and approached him.

"Mr. Princeton, I am pleased to say that the work you requested has been completed." The foreman said.

"Excellent. Thank you for the help." Chazz said as he looked at the builder's work. Chazz sat down and waited for the others to arrive while the builders packed everything into their vans and left. Soon all of the Slifer students arrived at their dorm and were left stunned at what they saw.

The Slifer dorm had been heavily altered. It was now much bigger though still not as big as the Ra dorm.

"What happened to the dorm?" One of the girls asked.

"I thought the place was a little small, so I hired someone to rebuild it." Chazz said as he stood up and walked towards the others.

"You did this, but why?" Syrus asked.

"Because I didn't think that it was fair that we should have to live in such poor conditions while the others get much better ones." Chazz answered. Some of the students started to thank Chazz while others ran into the dorm to see what had been changed.

Several more rooms had been added, enough so that three people would longer have to share a room. Now there would only be two people to each room and they would have much more space.

The dining room had also been altered. It was now bigger and there was salad and other food bars on the side of the dining room. Smiles appeared on all the student's faces as they realized that this meant that they could now have more than just white rice for dinner.

Later that day all of Slifer Red enjoyed their dinner. While many of them still had rice as part of their meal they all were happy to add vegetables, meat or fish to their meal.

Ryan was in the clearing leaning against a tree waiting for Alexis. He wasn't sure what she had planned, the area was very peaceful. It was a circular clearing surrounded by trees.

Finally Alexis arrived carrying a picnic basket.

"A picnic? This wasn't necessary." He said nonchalantly.

"I know, but you should enjoy your birthday." Alexis told him.

The two laid out the picnic blanket and sat down to enjoy the meal that Alexis had packed. Alexis had prepared sandwiches, fruit, sushi and drinks. The two enjoyed their meal and told funny stories about their pasts.

"And then, Atticus went flying off the sled and fell into a pile of snow." Alexis said telling him about the time her brother took her sledding.

"Wow, I wish I had seen that." Ryan said.

"It was pretty funny. By the time he pulled himself out, he looked like a snowman." Alexis laughed.

"I remember this one time Michelle took me fishing. We had a great time and at one point she tried to catch a big fish but it pulled her rod right out of her hands." Ryan explained.

"I bet she wasn't happy about that." Alexis said.

"You would be right and when I laughed at her she pushed me into the water." Ryan replied.

Alexis laughed at the thought of a young Ryan being pushed into the water by his big sister.

"You know it sounds like my brother and your sister would have a lot in common." She said. Ryan nodded.

"They probably would." He agreed.

A moment of silence passed as the two of them thought about their lost siblings. Finally Ryan broke the silence.

"I appreciate this by the way." He said.

"Don't worry the picnic was no trouble." She said.

"Not just the picnic. I haven't been this happy in a long time." He told her. Alexis smiled and gave him a hug.

"Any time." She said.