ACT I : CHANGE
Of course he lied. It's a marvel that I believe anything that comes out of his mouth nowadays. We'll get tickets to Fortune Cup, he said, we'll go, just us two. It will be nice for a change. Instead of that, I'm being a third-wheel to my friends. It will be nice for a change. This is becoming the norm, and I'm sick of it. At least I'm in an aisle seat though. I'm snapped out of my thoughts by Shinji beside me.
"Oi Yuuka, why do you keep looking over there?" he asked in a lowered voice. He gestures to his left with a slightly worried expression. Damn, I was hoping he hadn't noticed. I glance in that direction again. They haven't noticed me yet.
"It's my brother."
"Wait? Your actual brother!" Shinji tries to keep his lowered tone. I glance over again. Shit, barely missed eye contact. I really need to stop doing that. Shinji shrugs his shoulders and looks at me pointedly.
"As long as he doesn't notice me, we're fine. Just don't say my name loudly, don't look over at him too often and we should okay. He's never been very observant." I shift my attention to my nails. I can feel my heart racing. I try to keep my calm exterior as always. I haven't seen my brother in nearly two years and I'd like to keep it that way. He reminds me of everything I want to forget. I snap myself out of that downward spiral of thoughts as I notice Rex Godwin appear on the central arena. He sits down a couple of meters behind a podium. The mere sight of that man made me feel uneasy.
"Everybody listen! The Duel of the Fortune Cup is finally starting!" The voice of the Master of Ceremonies blasted over the sound system. I roll my eyes and sit up straight. Red Daemon's Dragon bursts into the arena, making laps around the stadium. I start fidgeting, here's the part I'm not looking forward to. "Red Daemon's Dragon has appeared!". A rumbling sound thunders from the pits, and there's that familiar sense of dread. Jack Atlas himself makes his way into stadium, he uses the barriers around the track to get up onto the central arena. Red Daemon's follows him and kneels on a pedestal. The pedestal almost makes me laugh when I realise the way this city treats Jack Atlas. Jack gets off his D-Wheel, takes off his helmet and points towards the sky.
"There's only one King, and it's me! Who's going to duel me?" he proclaims. I resist the urge to groan out loud. While Jack has always been on the 'hammy-er' side of things, he's only gotten worse since he became King. He really has changed, displaying nothing more than arrogance. I feel a hand on my arm, I look over to see Reika reaching over Shinji. She sends me a worried tilt of the head, I just put on a fake smile. She retracts her arm and shrugs her shoulder at Shinji. She insists on doing this every time Jack Atlas is brought up. While I'm grateful that she cares that much, I'm starting to feel like I'm being smothered.
"The duelists who received the lucky tickets for a chance at a dream match against the King are here!" The MC's voice booms around the stadium. Hidden doors in the floor of the arena open up, revealing the participants coming up to the surface. I quickly scan them. I freeze when I spot a familiar mop of black hair. I sit forward and watch the screens giving close-ups of all the contestants. When the camera finally stops on his face, everything around me freezes. The crowd becomes deathly silent within a millisecond. I can hardly believe it's him. Yusei Fudo. The sharp long marker on his face, while not there before, causes this silence. I brace myself for the onslaught that would become the crowd's anger. Murmurs all around me. It's almost too much to bear. I cradle my face with my hands in hopes of preventing others from noticing my own.
"He probably stole someone's invitation." I almost turn around to tell him that he didn't know him like that, but then people would question me. I shrivel up into my seat. Shinji is on edge; he keeps glancing at me. I put up my left hand to him, a plea to leave me alone, while still covering my own marker. Everything is closing in on me, it's hard to breathe, the sheer amount of people in the stadium causing a stifling humidity.
"Everyone!" The murmurs come to a sudden halt. "My name is Bommer." I look up to see that one of the contestants has taken the MC's mic, a bold move I must admit. "As one of the duelists standing here, I want to ask what you're seeing." He pauses and points directly at Yusei. At this, I lean forward in my seat. "This man is a duelist chosen in the same manner as the rest of us! Whether you have a marker or not, as long as you have cards, we're all the same. As long as you're standing her, there's nothing to be ashamed of. If you're going to stare at him through stupid rose-coloured glasses, then your words do nothing but incite violence!".
The stadium came at a standstill as Bommer turns his back to audience and walks. The audience could only react one of two ways, and I fear it would be the worse of those two. All at once, a sharp slow applause fills the stadium. Rex Godwin leads the applause that gradually fills the stadium.
"Thank you for your heartfelt words, Bommer." Godwin declares from his podium, "What I have prepared here in this arena is exactly what you said. I am Rex Godwin, the person in charge of Neo Domino City's Public Maintenance Department. To thank everyone for their public maintenance, I organised this great duel festival. Difference in status nor wealth do not matter for duelists. This is true equality." At this, the crowd erupts into a great cheer. It's all lies. True equality. There is no such thing. As soon as I leave this stadium, I will be treated with the same disdain as when I entered. I am a duelist, where is my equality? I lost it the second that the Zero Reverse tore this city apart. I scoff, I'm half tempted to leave right now. I don't, Yusei will need my support since this crowd is already against him. The MC announces the matchups for the first round. At a glance, I figure out that it is unlikely that Yusei is going first, which is somewhat of a relief.
"Right, I'm going to go get a coffee. I'll be back whenever Yusei or Izayoi are dueling." Avoiding looking back at Shinji or Reika, I get up and head towards the foyer area in search of a stand that sells coffee. The man at the stall glances at my mark and scowls at me. Without a word, I flash my ID card at him, proving I am, indeed, a citizen of Neo Domino City. He scoffs and turns his back to me, preparing the coffee and cursing about Satellites. I would be angry, but when you have to deal with this every day of your life, you learn to say nothing and move on. This is status quo, binding and unchanging. The server barely looks at me as I pay for my coffee. I sigh as I look at a screen and realise that Yusei isn't going first. I scan the empty foyer in search of a seat. I recognise a lone figure on a faraway bench. His aura is very easy to recognise. I walk towards him, not sure of the reaction I'll get.
"Oi Kenta!" I call. I take a sip of my coffee. His face scrunches up slightly. Clearly he's not happy to see me, his aura backs this up, though Kenta has never been happy to see me. I sit next to him and he rolls his eyes.
"Do you want me to call Takumi? Since he's really the one you want to talk to." He takes a sip from his coffee. He glances at my own cup, grimacing at that fact it is completely black.
"No need to. Besides, we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on." I raise my eyebrows at him, hoping he catches my drift. His eyes widen slightly; he tries to regain his composure.
"So, you've accepted Takumi's offer?"
"Not yet. I have a lot to consider." For some reason, Yusei's face pops into my head. I try to ward it off. "Something like that would completely change our lives."
"It would, but sooner or later, Sasaki, it's going to happen. Revolution. It's inevitable, this city can no longer cope with the way it is now. Something needs to change." He looks me straight in the eye. I get a shiver down my spine. He's reading my aura. "You're scared about something, aren't you?"
"Yes," I sigh. "You know that competitor with the mark?" He nods. "He's an old childhood friend, and I'm scared of how he will react seeing me again." I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes. I hear Kenta shift beside me.
He lowers his head and covers his mouth with his hand, "Do you want me to calm you down?"
I shake my head, "No, we'll need it when Izayoi summons that dragon of hers. Besides, that'll be a waste of your energy."
"Are you still certain that she's the Black Rose Witch?" Kenta stares into his coffee, deep in thought. "If she is who you say she is; we'll be in for a rough time. I can't imagine what's like for you, being a Satellite and a psychic."
"Is that some sympathy Kenta? Are you sure you're okay? No knocks on the head or anything?" I send an over-exaggerated worried expression towards him. He scoffs light-heartedly and exaggerates the rolling of his eyes.
"I'm just saying that you probably shouldn't be there when Izayoi duels. Your powers might flare up when hers do. Don't get your hopes up about me, I'm only putting up with you because Takumi likes you," he downs the last of his coffee and stands up. "Think about that offer Sasaki. You know that a revolution is coming. If that friend of yours does well here, it could cause exactly that." He begins to walk away from me, I stare at his back as he does. That comment about Yusei may very well come true, if he beats Jack that is.
"There is a winner! Bommer is going to the second round!" I glance behind me at the screen. A sense of dread fills me as Yusei's face flashes into my head once more. I fear that Yusei's appearance will bring back demons from my past, memories I'd rather forget. I sigh as I stand up and walk back into the arena. Having both Yusei and Kaoru reappearing in the same day is overwhelming. A part of me wants to walk away, denying my past and my demons. I know this can't happen, I have to stay strong. I have overcome much worse, and will face much worse than this. All I know is that there is a strong feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me that the "worse" I spoke of is not far off.
A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter of Waking Up Normal! I hope you enjoyed it. There isn't a whole lot to go off in the series for life in Neo Domino City while marked before the 6 month time skip. So I'll be using a lot of my own headcanons here. This includes Yuuka's ID card. Since those who are marked aren't allowed into the City and are forced to live in the Outskirts, like the Daimon Area. Yuuka has an ID card proving she is a proper resident of Neo Domino, it's not clear yet why, but you'll learn in time. I'll make note of my own headcanons whenever they appear. I'll see you in the next chapter!