Many people lived in Neo Domino, and Kishimoto Aki was merely one of them.
Unfortunately for him, he belonged to the quarter who were the lowest of the low, those who could only stay on the back streets; those who were on the verge of being sent to Satellite. A gambler by nature, it had been far too easy for him to spend what was left of his parents' fortune.
Therefore, once countless banks rejected granting him the loans he needed, it was only natural that he turned to the Yakuza.
"No! Please! Forgive me, I'll get the money to you by the end of this week!"
Opposite him, the man didn't falter at the desperate pleas. "That's what you said two weeks ago. Unless you can give me a good reason..."
The gun gave a rather ominous click and all the blood drained out of Kishimoto's face. "I'll get it for you. Five hundred thousand yen, plus twenty percent interest – I swear!"
With his arms held defensively over his head, Kishimoto only saw their feet as they adjusted their stance. He held his breath as he awaited their decision – not entirely from his nerves, but rather to avoid breathing in the dust caking the chipped cement slabs beneath him.
"Look up," the man answered finally, and the strange tone of voice gave him hope as he did what he was asked.
He saw nothing but darkness the instant his head was free, and the person that was once Fudo Yusei turned away.
::
White Night
by Firefly Nexus
Chapter One
::
Yusei hated his job.
So when he drove through the streets of Neo Domino, he did nothing but try not to think about what he had done. About the life he had ruined beyond belief.
Kishimoto Aki. Blonde-haired, Brown-eyed, slim build. Thirty-five, son of two brilliant lawyers, both deceased, and all finances whittled from bets on illegal duelling.
As he showed the guard his pass, he tried not to concentrate on the firearm he had on him, calming himself with thoughts of Kishimoto's chance to live another day. The streets of Tops passed him by almost mockingly, telling him how futile it really was to avoid killing and how weak it made him to be, but as always, he shut it away in his mind and concentrated on returning back to the office.
Turning the next corner and steering into the entrance, he raised the cuff of his jacket against the sensor on the side. The gates slid open, and then let the elevator take him to the top floor.
Immediately upon arrival, he spotted their butler, looking the same as he always did; tall with sharp eyes, wearing a red tailcoat and a gold-rimmed monocle. Few knew his real name; everybody knew him only as Silver, one of the most skilled mercenaries in the world.
"Master Yusei, the oyabun has asked me to direct you to the sitting room upon your return."
Yusei gave a brief nod in his direction, parking his D-Wheel to the side. Rather than head there immediately, he pocketed the semi-automatic inside the glove box and then disengaged his Duel Disk. Since the sitting room was rarely used and only when they had a guest, it was easy to assume that there was someone else with him.
It never hurt to be too safe in the world of the Yakuza.
Indeed, the sitting room was occupied by a person other than the boss and Yusei would have narrowed his eyes when he saw who it was, but managed to restrain his emotions before he could. Nevertheless, he inclined his head by way of greeting.
"Pleased to meet you again, Mister Godwin."
The corners of Godwin's eyes crinkled in amusement and Yusei knew that his hostility had been noticed. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Yusei." His eyes trailed towards the Duel Disk in an act that would have seemed curious to the normal civilian, but actually calculated in every movement. "How goes your duelling?"
"It is fine." Dropping all pretence, he looked towards the boss of the White Dragon, Ito Ryota. As one of the most dangerous men in his line of work, Ito wasn't exactly what was expected as a boss. With dark hair and a deep, piercing gaze, his eyes were unexpectedly soft for someone who gave out orders to kill on a regular basis.
Yusei gave a deep, respectful bow. The oyabun was not someone you wanted to annoy. "I have completed what you asked, sir."
"And the target?"
"With Security and evidence that he is responsible for three accounts of fraud, Lord Ito."
Ito smiled softly, looking all the more like an innocent civilian chatting idly amongst his friends. In contrast, Godwin raised an eyebrow at the reply. "You are too soft, Yusei. This is the greatest Yakuza family that has ever lived; as one of our core members, behaviour this light should not be tolerated. Do you not agree, Lord Ito?"
The oyabun shook his head. "That is Yusei's nature." He sipped at his tea. "To change that is to change him, and like a mountain, he is someone who cannot be moved."
"Yet with enough time, nature will create its destruction," Godwin countered. "Is it not better that we instil into him this change?"
"You will not. You may be the saiko-komon, but that I will not stand."
At the reply, Yusei suppressed a shudder. Ito rarely lowered his voice, and when he did it was dangerous to even be within earshot. It was easy to see that Godwin felt the same way, as the senior advisor gave a bow of his own. "I apologise; that was uncalled for."
Ito gave the slightest of nods to acknowledge the apology, so Godwin continued. "May I ask for your decision regarding the proposal?"
There was silence for a moment as the oyabun steeped his fingers and brought them under his chin in deep contemplation. This was enough to alert Yusei to the fact that the proposal was probably the reason he had been called into the room, because Ito would not have called him to report the status of his trivial mission immediately. He risked a small glance toward Godwin. Despite his position, Godwin often had his own aims, most of which were unknown.
Finally, Ito raised the cup to his lips again. When he removed it he turned towards Yusei, a strange expression on his face. "Yusei."
"Yes, Lord Ito," he echoed.
"Rex has given me an interesting proposition. As you know, the Kaiba Corporation is due to host another tournament at about this time, and now that you are at the age of nineteen, he has suggested it is ideal for your participation. Would you accept?"
Without even glancing in Godwin's direction, Yusei knew that the suggestion definitely had some ulterior motive behind it. Yet, it was difficult to deny the benefits toward the family. Joining one such prestigious tournament would help the reputation of their family by leaps, and also help assert their power whether he won or not.
Yusei had no real choice in the matter, so he was quick to reply. "I can't say, Lord Ito. However, I think that partaking in the tournament can provide quite a large tactical advantage over the Black Soldiers and the Emissaries of Darkness, a legal display of power."
Ito smiled. "You are quite wise, Yusei. Very well, Rex, you have authorisation to begin the Fortune Cup."
Godwin bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him. There were a few sounds of shuffling and hushed voices between him and their butler, but the noises slowly receded.
A small chink prompted Yusei to turn around, and he saw the oyabun extending an envelope in his direction. "This is your formal invitation. You have your deck?"
"Yes, Lord Ito."
Shaking his head, Ito suddenly looked far older than his age as he dropped his guard, sinking back into the chair. He gave a few hacking coughs and reached to the side table for his medication, taking the pills dry.
"Yusei, please. It has been eight years and you are now my son. I expect you to do well in the Fortune Cup, do you understand?"
Yusei bowed his head. "I understand, father."
.
::
.
"Excuse me, sir!"
Arakawa Yori lifted his cap to find the origin of the sound, but when he couldn't see anyone in that direction he leant back onto the bench and closed his eyes. A slight tugging of his pant leg woke him up again, and he pulled himself up to see who it was.
The boy looked up at him with large, innocent eyes, holding a tangle of wires and machinery in one hand.
Finally noticing, Arakawa got up and knelt so that he was at eye-level with the child, raising his eyebrows comically with a grin. "Well hello, boy. I'm sorry, I didn't see you just then. Name's Arakawa Yori, what's yours?"
His mouth stretched into an impossibly large smile. "I'm Fudo Yusei," he chirped, curiously trying to raise his own eyebrows in the same way. "Mister Arakawa, can I check your boxes?"
Arakawa blinked, surprised. "You mean these boxes, kid?" Vaguely, he gestured to the direction he remembered them to be in. "What do you want to do with the Tops' trash, Yusei? I've still got to take them to Block A."
Yusei furrowed his brows for a moment, and whether it was from his inability to mimic the expression or from deep thinking it was hard to tell.
"I'm looking for an electro-plated twin-directional micro-crystal amplify-chip," he explained, stumbling over the words. He pointed to the group of people who normally stood beside Arakawa in the assembly line, now taking their lunch break in the corner. "Mister Sato and his friends said you had something that looked like it when I went to ask him, so I came to ask you."
Stunned, Arakawa only nodded. Now that he had permission, Yusei jumped up excitedly and arranged the two boxes in front of him, using both hands to search through their contents at the same time in a way that suggested he was used to what he did. About two minutes later he gave a triumphant cry, holding up a cube the size of a hazelnut.
Bringing the bundle of wires in front of him, he brushed away most of the cables and placed the cube onto it, attaching it down with some paperclips and masking tape. Half a minute of fiddling later, Yusei pulled out a dusty laser disk from a pouch around his waist and then plugged it into the device.
He was greeted with the crackling of interference, but with a small but determined splutter, the projector finally displayed the video on the laser.
Jumping up, Yusei was beaming with nothing but pure, unadulterated delight. It didn't matter to him if the video started and stopped at irregular intervals, sometimes skipping entire sections. Excitedly, he closed the boxes before returning them to where they had been sitting before, almost knocking the stack over in his rush before running off.
Just as quickly, he ran back. Remembering his manners, he bowed.
"Thank you, mister!"
Arakawa watched as the young boy hurried to another group of children, all of them welcoming him with cheers and whoops at the turbo duel playing on the handheld. One of them, a purple-eyed blonde in a white hoodie, went up to him with a thrilled sort of interest before pulling out his Duel Monsters deck and showing him a card. In response, Yusei reached into his own pocket and pulled out his own deck and the two of them started an impromptu duel in the Recycling Compound.
It was obvious that Fudo Yusei was a genius, and possibly the exact type of genius that Arakawa was looking for.
Yes, he thought. For Lord Ito to be pleased, he needed to be kept under watch until it was possible to confirm exactly what he needed.
A/N: So I've been thinking about starting this story for a while. Posting this to see the response from you readers - if I feel like I have enough people interested, I'll continue. If not...eh, you'll see.
It's surprisingly challenging to keep a balance between Japan (Yakuza-Japan and Neo Domino-Japan) and the western community, because some things don't translate well. This version includes the removal of all the honorifics, and I've settled for a simple yakuza setup rather than something truer to the real thing but more complex. That's why I've chosen to keep some Japanese terms that relate directly to the Yakuza, as oyabun means "boss" but is referred to in quite a familial way. They're all explained in the paragraphs that follow, though.
If you've got some issues with me keeping these terms in, please do say so :)
– Firefly Nexus
[Yes, there will be duels. In fact, I've got one planned for the next chapter ;P]
