Okay first real story I ever did so I hope it's not too bad. This takes place in Zexal after Saragasoo and in Persona 4 shortly after Naoto joins the group. And here we go!
They say on rainy days if you were to watch your TV at exactly midnight, you can see a mysterious channel where it is rumored that you will see your soul mate. But the images seen might foretell a much more foreboding future. This is the Midnight Channel.
A mysterious room, not really a room but more like the interior of a car, draped in blue and rather dimly lit but still light enough to show a old man with a long nose sitting at the other end of the room behind a table and a young woman in a blue uniform and blond hair sitting next to him with a book on her lap. The old man looked up with his piercing eyes and his already wide grin got even wider. "Welcome," he beckoned, "to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor and this is my assistant Margaret."
Margaret turned and smiled, "I'm surprised, we never seen two guests in the same journey."
"And another wild card to boot," Igor said as he drew a tarot card from the stack on the table and arranging them but not turning any of them over, "I look forward to our future meetings but for now this one has ended. We look forward to your return to the Velvet Room."
Yuma Tsukumo groaned as he awoke. "I don't know which dream was weirder….that or the door," he muttered to himself. He looked around in the train car he was riding in. He frowned at the fact that there was no one else on board. Then again it was no surprised as both his grandmother and his sister had announced that they would be going on long term trips and that he would be staying with an old friend of his grandmothers in an remote town that he never heard off until they would return. And to add to his disappointment, dueling wasn't popular there. Not only he would be board out of his mind, the hunt for the Number cards would be put on hold. Yuma had no real easy way to break this news to Astral, his non human friend and dueling companion. Fingers brushed the key that he wore around his neck. Astral as spent most of his time in there since Yuma told him of the move. "He must be mad….or disappointed," Yuma thought. That is, if he could get mad. Astral had rarely showed emotions but he defiantly showed disappointed. Maybe next time Astral came out of the key, they could duel each other, that might cheer him up. A bing from the intercom system snapped Yuma out of his train of though.
"Attention ladies and gentleman, we will be arriving at Inaba shortly. Please gather your belongings and get ready to disembark."
Yuma stood up and stretched before grabbing his bag from the overhead bin. Maybe he could make the best of what this small little town offered.
Yu Narukami was eating dinner with his uncle Ryotaro Dojima and his cousin Nanako, prepackaged food from Junes again, when is uncle made a rather odd announcement.
"Someone else is coming to stay for awhile?" Yu asked curiously.
"That's right," his uncle responded, "An old friend of mine is doing an overseas trip and she needed someone to watch her grandson while she's gone. And this is a lady you really can't say no to."
"How old is he?" Nanako's curiosity was now peeked.
"About 13 so he'll be attending the middle school while he is here"
"That long huh…" Yu muttered.
"Actually," Ryotaro checked the clock, "his train should be arriving soon. Shall we all go pick him up?"
"Yeah!" Nanako leaped to her feet, "Let's all go!"
Yu smiled as he got up to get his jacket and shoes but then frowned thinking of recent events. The serial murders and the kidnapping of his eventual friends were still fresh in his mind. He really hoped that this new visitor will never end up on the Midnight Channel.
Yuma looked around the train station. The town looked rather empty and there was an occasional passerby but they paid no attention to him. "This is where I'm going to spend the next few months? I'm going to die of boredom." He sighed.
"Hello! Are you Yuma Tsukumo?"
Yuma turned towards the greeting. He saw a man with slightly disheveled clothes accompanied by two others. The boy Yuma guessed to be about two or three years older than him with grayish hair cut short and a girl about ten and brown hair in two pigtails. The man grinned, "You look just like the photo Haru sent me. My name is Ryotaro and Haru and I go way back. This here is my daughter Nanako and my nephew Yu."
Nanako slightly hid behind her father's leg but still let out a hello while Yu gave the more polite bow.
"Hey," that was the only greeting he let out. "Gee," he thought, "what a great first impression."
"Now I know this is a big move for you and you think this a boring town but I'm sure you'll come to like it. Yu is actually from the big city like you so he can give you a hand." Ryotaro said.
Yuma was glad to hear that at least. Maybe he dueled too.
"Come; let's show you your home for the next few months."
Junes Food Court
"Seriously dude? You've got someone else staying at your place?"
Yu's group had met again for another one of their meetings at the Junes food court. Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Teddie in his human form, Rise, and Naoto. Yosuke was the one who asked the question.
"Yeah," Yu nodded, "He's a middle school student. Apparently both his sister and grandmother were taking long term trips for whatever reason so he was sent to us. I'm not sure about parents because they were never mentioned."
Rise was the next to speak, "That's kind of hard moving out here that young…especially if he doesn't have parents."
"He is an interesting kid." Yu continued, "Soon after we got to my place he asked if I "dueled" or something and when I said I didn't he looked really disappointed. And he keeps talking to air."
Chie looked really confused. "Talking to air or to himself?"
"To someone I guess. He always looks upward to his side and acts like he's having conversations with someone." Yu took another bit of his food, "I can't really tell if he's crazy or if someone is really there."
"Well who knows," Chie sighed, "We enter TVs summon Personas all to stop a serial killer. Who knows what kind of crap goes down in this kid's home town."
Teddie who had seem to zone out the entire meeting suddenly seemed to snap back to reality. "Sensei, you said that his name was Yuma Tsukumo?"
Yu nodded, "Yes, why do you ask?"
Teddie produced several magazines from out of nowhere, no one question where he got them. "I picked up some magazines to help me understand your world a bit better and don't worry Yosuke I actually paid for them and didn't run up a tab." He started to flip through one of them, "I could of sworn I saw that name in here somewhere….Ah ha!"
He spread the magazine out on the table for everyone to see showing an article with a picture of Yuma next to it.
Kanji read the title aloud, "Unknown duelist comes out on top in a dark horse victory. What is this dueling they're talking about?"
Naoto read over the article, "I believe that the article is talking about a card game that's really popular in some parts of Japan. The World Duel Carnival is one of the biggest tournaments for the game. I believe Yuma was previously unknown competitor who beat several well known champions to win the title."
"So in other words, he's a minor celebrity?" Yukiko asked. "You don't think people might notice around here?"
"Then he might end up on the news!" Rise added.
"Then the Midnight Chanel," Yu concluded.
No one spoke until Yosuke was brave enough to break the silence, "Come on guys, we're getting ahead of ourselves. This card game isn't popular around here so there is a good chance that nobody knows that Yuma is a big time champ. I think we're just getting paranoid."
"For once I agree with Yosuke," Chie remarked, "Maybe we are just getting paranoid."
"Still, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. We're still no closer to identify the killer." Yu said.
"Yeah," Yosuke melted all over the table, "After King Moron got killed by the copy cat we have no leads."
"Let's at least keep an eye on the kid," Kanji suggested, "Just in case someone does recognize him as a celebrity. We could keep the press off of him."
"And that will keep him off of the Midnight Channel! Great idea Kanji." Rise beamed.
"Then it's decided," Naoto stood up, "We'll monitor the situation until we're giving reason to take action."
"Right team!" Yosuke took his false commanding voice, "Break!"
"Yuma…how long do you plan on sleeping up here?"
Yuma looked up towards Astral. Classes had ended for him but he really didn't feel like returning to the house quite yet. He had retreated to the roof of his school for what he called a quick nap in a secluded spot he had discovered on searching for a place to eat lunch.
"As long as I like Astral, there's nothing to do here and I haven't had a single duel since we've arrived. Why did Baa-chan send me to some backwater town? I could of stayed with someone else back in Heartland."
"I'm sure she had her reasons Yuma but I do agree that maybe we could have stayed in Heartland. I can only hope that Shark and Kaito can deal with the Barian attacks until we return."
Yuma groaned at the memory. He lost count at how many of his classmates got brainwashed and had to duel them to snap them out of it. Maybe that is one advantage of coming out here, he didn't have to keep an eye on his back anymore. At least for now. "I'm sure they can handle them Astral. Maybe we deserve a vacation from weird business."
"Maybe not Yuma, I overheard some of your new classmates discussing a rumor about a midnight channel."
"Midnight channel?" Yuma's curiosity peeked. "Oh yeah…some girls where saying that your soulmate shows up on it. Just a crazy story made up by a TV network. Don't believe that kind of crap Astral. It's nothing to lose sleep over."
"And I take this time to remind you again that I don't need to sleep." Astral said in his closest attempt to sound sarcastic as he looked over the railing. "Yuma….I do believe that your roommate is at the gate."
"Roommate? Oh…..Narukami…..is he seriously wanting to pick me up like I'm some little kid?"
"You are an hour late for returning home." Astral bluntly delivered.
"Shut up," Yuma groaned as he gathered his stuff. No need to keep him waiting after all.
Yu had gotten concerned when he arrived home and discovered that Yuma was nowhere in sight, fortunately he didn't have to do a big search as he saw Yuma exiting his school as he passed the gate. The boy looked rather unhappy and a tad grumpy. Guess school didn't go so well for him.
"Better try to strike up a conversation," Yu thought to himself. He cleared his throat to get Yuma's attention, "Hey…did you have club activities?"
Yuma slightly looked up towards him, "Nah…not my thing….just thought I could take a nap on the roof."
"Maybe that's not such a good idea around here. It rains often and it looks like it will soon."
"You make it sound like a bad thing." Then again….rain didn't remind Yuma of the most pleasant memories.
"It depends on how you view it." Yu answered, "So….how are you dealing with the move?"
"It's boring," Yuma admitted, "Everything is too quite, there's no one to duel, and everyone just avoids me."
"Perhaps that's because your Katobingu energy was a little intimidating." Astral commented, Yuma sent him a scowl which was noticed by Yu.
"Hey," Yu but a reaffirming hand on Yuma's shoulder, "It's going to get better over time. Don't let any of the weird things around here get you down."
"Nothing gets me down. That's what my dad taught me. Always have hope."
"Sounds like he was a good man."
"Yeah," Yuma's face fell, "I miss him."
The rest of the way home was done in silence.
The next day, Yu waited again at the gates of the middle school waiting for Yuma. After what happened yesterday he decided Yuma needed some social interaction. He did have to work on his bonds after all. Igor had been constantly reminding him every time he entered the Velvet Room and gaining a new persona each time a bond was formed wasn't too bad either. With the killer still on the loose and more potential kidnappings on the horizon…he had to be prepared. Yu checked his watch again seeing that it was a half hour past the time Yuma was to get out of school. Worried that he might of have fallen asleep on the roof like he implied yesterday, Yu stepped onto the school grounds in search of him. What he saw made his heart sink a bit. Yuma…was speaking to a TV reporter.
Part of him wanted to intervene but…Yuma looked really happy. The happiest he had seemed to be since he moved here. But it was too late to intervene now, the reporter looked like she was wrapping up and was leaving. At this point Yu approached Yuma who was smiling and waving bye to the reporter. "What was that about?"
"Oh hey Narukami. Well you see…it turns out there are some people around here who do duel and they consider me a minor celebrity so they interviewed me for a TV segment. About time someone recognized me for my skill. Back home people only approached me because I knew Shark, IV, Kaito and they wanted me to get their autographs." Yuma grumbled towards the end.
"Sounds like they're bigger celebrities," Yu said in is ever captain obvious manner.
"Did you have to put it so bluntly?!" Yuma yelled.
Yu chuckled, "So…..have you been to Junes yet? I'm heading over there right now to meet up with my friends and you're welcome to come with me."
"You mean that store with that jingle that Nanako sings all the time. I guess I have nothing better to do today."
"Great, I'll introduce you then."
"Oi! Yu!" Yosuke called from the other side of the food court. "We're ordering food this time! And no Chie I am not paying for your steak!"
"At least get me a discount!" Chie pouted.
"Hey," Kanji inquired, "Is that the Yuma kid you were talking about?"
"Yep. The name's Yuma Tsukumo."
"Good to meetcha kid," Yosuke said while giving him a playful rub on the head which Yuma tried to shake off. "I'll buy you a welcome steak."
"Hey! How come you're buying him steak and not me?!" Chie complained making Yukiko laugh.
"Actually…..I'm okay with riceballs."
Everyone turned to stare at Yuma like he grew another head.
"Did…..did you just turn down steak for rice?!" Chie had exclaimed like it was the end of the world.
"I may have not believed if I hadn't seen it." Rise said with wonder in her voice.
"I-I just prefer rice balls, that's all. What's wrong with that?" Yuma was now just confused.
"Dude! You're in an area famous for its beef steaks and you just want plain simple rice!?" Chie shriek at the top of her lungs.
"C-calm down," Yukiko was trying to appease her anger.
"While Chie is blowing a gasket I'll get you those rice balls. Any particular flavor?" Yosuke asked.
"Any would do, except for anything spicy."
"Sure thing kiddo." With that Yosuke went to find the appropriate stall.
"Don't just stand there kid have a seat." Kanji scooted over on the bench giving Yuma some space.
"Thanks," said Yuma as he sat down, "So what's your name?"
"Kanji Tasumi."
"Don't let the rough exterior fool you Kanji is really a sweetheart," Rise teased.
"Am not!"
"What about those cute little things you knit?"
"Those are to help my mom's shop!"
"But they're so popular at the inn," Yukiko joined in on the banter.
Kanji looked just about ready to explode judging by the shade of red he turned.
Naoto ignored the potential pandemonium and started to talk to Yuma who felt liked we was being ignored a bit, "So Narukami tells us that you duel?"
"That's right. Do you play?"
"No, but I did study the rules and saw a few matches. It's a rather complex strategy game when you really look at it."
Chie leaned in closer, "Um…how can a trading card game be complex?"
Naoto readjusted her hat, "When you think about it, there are thousands of cards to choose from but you're only allowed to select 40 for a competition deck. But what cards you get is entirely on luck and you must keep changing your strategy depending on what card you draw and what your opponent does."
"Uhhh…..I never thought about it like that…." Yuma scratched his face sheepishly, "I just like dueling for fun."
"Whatever Naoto just said it just went over my head." Chie grumbled.
"I think I understood it." Yukiko pondered.
Rise however, had large stars in her eyes, "That's so amazing! I didn't realize the game was so complex! Tell me, what kind of strategies do you employ? Do you use the same ones every time? What do you do when your opponent pushes you into a corner?"
Yuma was taken aback by her sudden interest, "Well…..I think you need to learn the game a bit before I could answer those."
"You could? I would love to learn. Can we start right now?"
Yuma beamed as he pulled out his deck, "Sure thing. Let's start with the basic card types."
Buy the time Yosuke came back with Yuma's rice balls as well as Teddie in his bear suit who just got off duty, the entire table was engaged in Yuma's explanation of Duel Monsters.
"Sheesh, I leave you guys alone for five minutes and you guys already have a new hobby," Youske said as he placed the plate in front of Yuma.
"It's rather interesting," Yu said.
"Is this the game I read about?" Teddie peered over Yuma's shoulder.
Yuma spun around, "Whoa! Is that a robot?!"
"I'll have you know that I'm a 100 percent genuine bear!" Teddie growled in the most adorable way.
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight….." Yuma wasn't convinced, "Really what's in there?"
"Don't mind Teddie Yuma, he's like this all the time," Chie said rather nervously. It would be bad if Yuma got suspicious of Teddie's true nature.
Yosuke took a seat, "So this that card game from the tournament you won?"
"Yep, Rise wanted to learn the rules though it's best if she had her own deck so we could have a practice match." Yuma sighed.
"You know….I think we have some starter decks in the toy section. Should we check it out?" Yosuke asked.
Yuma leapt off of his seat, "Let's go!"
"To the toy department!" Yukiko did a silly pose.
Yuma laughed as the group head off to go check out the stock, maybe being out here wouldn't be so bad after all.
"And that was our interview with recently crowned Duel Monster champion Yuma Tsukomo. We'll return with the weather after this."
Nanako turned away from the television as it went to commercial, "You're really famous Yuma?"
Yuma straightened with pride, "Yep, you're talking to a genuine celebrity."
"Wow….can you tell me more?"
"Sure thing."
Ryotaro just chuckled as he looked over his case files. Yu just kept working on his assignments. He was waiting for the weather report. If they were predicting rain he would have to stay up to check on the Midnight Channel.
"And now for the weather, there will be constant rain for the next two days…"
Crap…..that means two Midnight Channels at least. Yu glanced worriedly at Yuma, he really hoped that he wouldn't appear on that channel.
First chapter down, many more to go. Just seting up the story and hopefully we'll get the ball rolling soon. If there are issues please let me know.