A Young Princeton's Tale

by Decipher Philosophy

Chazz's brothers call a therapist when they discover of what happened to him at Duel academy. This is a request from PuppyProngs.

A/N: So this is at the request of PuppyProngs to make a Princeton Brothers' reaction to Chazz's life at the school. It's gonna have that, but also with something else, so...

Warning: sensitive ideology. I think Chazz is suffering trauma, and I'm not an expert, so please no flames.

._._._.

Chazz thought that this was stupid. There was nothing wrong with him, but his brothers thought that he needed therapy. The Chazz didn't need therapy! But here he was present with his brothers at their fancy living room with a therapist, Ms. Hardy, sitting in front of them on one of their luxurious blue sofa chairs in front of their electric fireplace. Slade was sitting on another sofa chair at the corner of the couch where Jagger sat at the end of it near him. Chazz sat at his own sofa chair at the other corner of the couch since the three people in the room thought it was best to give him space.

Yeah, like they haven't given him space since he attended Duel Academy. However, despite the unfavored session, he was sort of happy that it happened. It reminded Chazz that his brothers did care for him.

He thought back to how this happened. He went to visit the Princeton home mansion to celebrate Slade's success for being re-elected again. The three of them had gotten along a lot better after Chazz became a pro, so he was happy to see them again. They drank and talked about how they were doing with their lives. Slade and Jagger's weren't as exciting as their little brother's own since they're stuck in an office while he was battling other great duelists on the field.

Later, Chazz got a bit too tipsy and honest. He couldn't exactly grasp of what happened, but his brothers did. Apparently, Chazz started talking about Alexis and that she was getting married. His brothers didn't know who Alexis was, other than a classmate of their brother's. Slade questioned of how he came to fall in love with this Alexis.

Chazz revealed of what happened during his first year at Duel Academy, and how his crazy professor Banner abducted him. Slade and Jagger paused their drinking when they heard this.

"You were abducted?" Jagger questioned, mortified. He didn't hear about this from the school! Slade's expression as if he had been slapped to the floor expressed that he wasn't informed of this either.

"Huh?" Chazz was out of it for a second, but his conscious returned back to them. He casually told them, "Yeah. He abducted me, and put me in this weird world, and in that world was where I discovered that Alexis had feelings for me, and I realized that I felt the same! But after we were freed, she didn't feel the same..." The proud duelist took a swig to that.

Slade and Jagger stared at him, and then at each other. Concern was clearly on their faces. Slade cautiously asked, "That's quite the story. Mind telling us more?"

Chazz chuckled, "Okaay, but the Chazz might be missing out some parts because there were literally days that I don't remember what happened at all."

"Nothing at all?" Jagger furrowed his brows. It became worse when his brother drunkenly nodded.

"Nope! This one time I was brainwashed by this guy named Sartorius, but I got better."

"Brainwashed?" The brothers made it a habit to say one word as the stories became more insane and unbelievable to them. "Zombified? Sacrificed?! TAKEN BY THE DARKNESS?!" They remembered when they were abducted by the darkness. That was certainly an event that they didn't appreciate, but their little brother had gone through worse!

After the stories, Jagger and Slade tucked Chazz into bed. They did it themselves since they felt the need to make sure that he was safe. They checked his windows to make sure they were locked, checked the closets to make sure that no one hid in them, and then checked the security and the room twice to make sure that everything was alright.

When they were done with that, they headed to the gym within the mansion because Slade needed to let out his rage. "WHAT THE FUCK!" He punched a punching bag with his bare fists. The bag swung and shook with each blow it took. "Why the fuck didn't the school tell us about this?! We should fuckin' sue the school, n' close it down permanently!"

Jagger waited until his older brother was done beating the poor punching bag until he ended up hugging the thing. He finally spoke, "That won't fix anything, Slade."

"I know, but...AUGH!" He put one powerful blow on the punching bag that Jagger thought that it would break off its chain, but the bag remained hanging. "Who the fuck does this Yubel think it is for using our brother as a sacrifice!" For each word to follow, he delivered one heavy blow to the bag after another. "WHO. THE. FUCK. DOES. IT. THINK. IT. IS?!" He next screamed at no one in particular, "No one uses a Princeton as a sacrifice! NO ONE!"

The genius of the three brothers reasoned, "The best we can do now is understand of what is wrong with Chazz. He may seem alright to the media and to us, but we both know that there's always a second story behind the camera."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I suggest that we bring him to a therapist."

Slade sarcastically chuckled, "I don't think a therapist can help our brother through whatever he's going through if he's going through anything."

"I beg to differ. During one of the charities that I attended without you, I met a therapist who specializes in treating only duelists. From what I hear about her from other sources, she's very effective."

"So let's call her."

"On it."

The Princeton brothers made their call, and the therapist accepted it after a discussion of her pay, and the terms needed to be followed during her treatments. Slade and Jagger found both to be reasonable, so agreed.

Now, they sat together in the living room. Chazz was the first to speak his mind, "I don't need her. I'm fine." He didn't care if she was there and heard him. It was their own damn mansion, so he had every right to be as rude as he liked.

Slade was about to correct him, but the therapist spoke first, "I agree." The three Princeton brothers stared at her, astounded. She explained, "You are perfectly fine since after having asked your brothers-slash-former guardians about you, you are a well-maintained individual."

Chazz could feel a "but" coming along, so he said it with his arms crossed and eyes glaring daggers at her, "But?"

She professionally replied, "However, you may be unaware of any complications that you could be dealing with internally. You have gone through adventures that no one else had gone through."

"My friends did," Chazz corrected her with a matter-of-fact, "and they turned out fine!"

"Yes, but your friends are not you. You are yourself, but even then, you may not know everything about yourself. I only wish to help you on that journey of discovery..." She wasn't sure of what to call him since the family was all males.

Chazz supplied, "The Chazz."

She smiled, amused. "The Chazz. So there is no need to feel dissected. Your brothers simply wish to know if you are fine. Give them the benefit of the doubt."

The youngest Princeton saw her point. His school life was a bit...weird, and his brothers are realistic people...amazing, yet normal people. He wasn't normal, but he was fine.

Ojama yellow appeared. "I think you should do it, boss. It'll make your brothers stop worrying about you, if you go through with this."

Chazz ignored him to reply to the woman, "Fine, but do we all have to be here?" He wasn't exactly confident in sharing his...feelings and thoughts around his brothers who had occupations that needs them to be judgmental.

He was glad to hear, "No. Your brothers will leave us to our session, and the personal details that will be said in this room stays in this room. I personally checked it myself to make sure that there is no recording devices, cameras, or any of the like that will endanger your privacy."

Slade and Jagger glared at her. They felt offended that they couldn't be trusted, but then it reassured them that she took her practices seriously. The two of them stood up. Slade encouragingly told Chazz, "We're doing this because we love you. I know we haven't said it, or shown it to you, but you are a Princeton. We're family, and family should look out for each other when we think one of us need help and support."

Jagger added, "We will go back to work, and then come back to check on you and Ms. Hardy."

The woman nodded, and then noticed the soft, loving, child-like look in her patient's grey eyes. Chazz looked like he didn't want them to go, but then he regained his common expression before looking down and replying, "Okay."

The two of them left without another word. After the door shut, Ms. Hardy started, "Let's get started shall we. The Chazz, I will like you to know that I have the special ability to see duel spirits, too."

Chazz was slightly surprised by this. His ojama yellow was definitely surprised. "Whoa, really?! Then you can see me?!"

"Yes, but I prefer it that you leave us alone, or the Chazz, do you feel more comfortable if he is here?"

The patient swatted the spirit away. "He's just going to be an annoyance."

Ojama yellow sulked, "Oh boss, but okay. I'll leave you two to your session." He disappeared.

The woman asked, "Is it natural to be harsh to him."

Chazz huffed with his arms crossed. "Please, even if I threaten to tear his card while calling him names, he still clings to me."

"Is that how you act with your brothers?"

"What?"

The therapist explained, "I saw it briefly in your eyes that you didn't want them to go, and they made it clear that they haven't exactly acted loving towards you. A duel monster reflects that of their partner's heart, so I gather that you have a loving, yet torn relationship with them."

Chazz felt like he had been dissected when she swore (didn't actually swore, but said that he wouldn't feel that way) that she wouldn't do that. It made him pick up his shield. His crossed arms firmly against his chest. "How very perceptive of you? Mind telling me my whole life story then, since it sounds like you have me all figured out."

"I do have a reputation of being known as a mentalist, but it's simply that if you pay close attention to a person and their surroundings, then you can tell a lot about them. I have watched all of your duels that were broadcasted and filmed, and I have read into your background during your childhood., including those in duel academy."

"That sounds a lot like stalking to me."

"There's a difference. Stalking is a pursuit to learn about a person in order to use it to their advantage to take advantage of someone who they take interest in, but what I am doing is legal analytical research to better understand my patients before I meet them, since duelists are different than the average patient if you do not include those in a mental asylum. I did not study you because I want to take advantage of you but to be fully aware of who I am dealing with so I may prepare the right tools and strategies necessary to make our session efficient."

Chazz found her reason good, but he still kept his shield up. "Okay, so what do you know about me?"

"I know that you had a hard, lonely childhood. You're over ten years younger than your older, successful brothers that you feel the need to catch up to them, so they could notice you. You need attention to feel that you are worthwhile, but the only attention you truly care for is that of your brothers' because if it weren't for them, you believe that you couldn't have come so far without their help. You also can't help feeling helpless because of that, but you still try your hardest because you learned at a young age that you can't run away from your problems. You have to face them, so good or bad, at least you know that you tried. However, you fear failure because when you fail, you feel like you lost a touch of your worth as a Princeton. You simply cannot fail. Am I on board?"

Chazz glared at her, but she was right. However, he said, "I used to fear failure, but now, failing or not failing, I now duel for my own satisfaction, and rise like the dark pheonix every time."

Ms. Hardy smiled. "Who taught you that?"

Chazz saw a flash of Jaden's face in his mind, but he snufffed it out. Ms. Hardy noticed his forced, uncomfortable expression before he questioned, "Does it matter?"

She replied, "Yes it does. It does matter that you remember who helped you along your journey, so that you recognize the people important to you. They will be important during this session."

"And what if I don't want them to be?" The duelist challenged.

"Then you're holding yourself back from this session. Each element in your life helped you make you become who you are today. By taking all of them into account, then you can see the playing field of your life better."

Damn this woman for sounding smart. "Didn't you check my background at duel academy? Didn't you tell me that you know everything about me already?"

"I did, but files from your school cannot tell me your life. Only you can, and you can tell me when you are ready, but I will tell you what I do know about your school life. Academically, you have perfect grades, but not a perfect dueling record. You have lost only to a few people. One that stands out the most is Jaden Yuki. You never won a duel against him surprisingly."

"Hey, he just kept getting lucky!" Chazz defended himself. He bought his shield up further and made it thicker. Jaden Yuki was a sensitive topic. He hadn't seen that slacker for over a year, so they haven't dueled each other for over a year! It was getting on his nerves! His brain tried to revive the image of that slacker back, but he snuffed it out again.

"You miss him." The woman declared.

"No I don't!" Chazz didn't mean to yell that one, but he did. He growled, "Is this a therapy session or an interrogation?!"

The woman sat straighter against her chair. "I'm sorry, but you looked distressed. Forlorn."

"So what?! I'm not sad! I'm just upset that he doesn't bother to drop by every once in a while, or call me, or write me a stupid letter from wherever the fuck he is! I'm his rival! We're supposed to duel each other!" The ignored rival wanted to hit something or someone in particular! He hated feeling this way! He hated feeling so...pointless.

Ms. Hardy could hazard a guess that this Jaden Yuki person was the person who made Chazz realize that weakness and failure wasn't something to fear. Rivals were practically opposites of each other, so they could learn from each other. Yet, she avoided the topic to go on to other important matters, "Is he strong?"

"Of course, he's strong! Not just anyone can defeat The Chazz!"

"I bet he loves dueling."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it! He's obsessed with it! I mean he'll duel you if you ask him, or when you're not dueling, he's talking about it! I mean, I would tell him to get a life, but it looks like dueling is his life!" Chazz wasn't sure of where he was going with that. He meant to insult the idiot, but he realized that he was just spouting out truths to a stranger.

"What is dueling to you then?"

"What's dueling to me?" Chazz didn't hesitate to reply or better word, gloat, "Dueling is an intense sport where only the best of the best can make it to the pros, and stay there. That's why I, The Chazz, is one of the elites! I reign as the top dueling champ above Aster Pheonix and all the other pros!"

"Yes...but what is dueling to you?"

"Uh, I just said it? Were you not listening?" Did his therapist have a hearing problem?

"Oh, I was listening," She told him. "But all I heard was what dueling is, and what it made you become. What I was asking is, what dueling is for you specifically. For your friend, Jaden Yuki, dueling is a religion to him. He duels because it completes him. What about you?"

Chazz wasn't sure of how to answer that question. Better yet, nobody ever asked him that question. All his life, he's been told of what dueling is or what it was, or what it was supposed to be. He never thought of what he thought it was for him personally. His first thought was that it was for his brothers, but he didn't think that that was the right answer. When he thought that dueling was for himself, he felt like that wasn't the correct answer either. He felt like the latter was Jaden's answer.

"Take your time." Ms. Hardy told him. "This time is for you, so use it for yourself."

Chazz thought that she was weird for a moment, but it helped him concentrate on his answer.

What was dueling for him? At the beginning it was to impress his brothers. Then Jaden came along, and dueling became something like a game. Yet, dueling wasn't a game. It was a sport. There's a difference. One can be taken lightly, while the other demanded positive results. He dueled because it was his job that both satisfied him, and impressed his brothers. Chazz thought on how to put that into one sentence or one word that made sense.

He forced an answer out of his mouth, "Dueling is...for me, it's...It was something I could do to make my brothers proud. Then at duel academy, I began dueling for...fun? Competitively, though..." Chazz felt ashamed of his answer. He should know this. He's been dueling practically his whole life! Why couldn't he come up with an answer that satisfied him?!

Ojama yellow appeared. "What are you talking about boss?! You duel, so people can see that you're the best there is!"

Chazz glanced at him and considered what his main spirit partner said. Ojama green and black appeared to agree, and that he shouldn't listen to this therapist.

Ms. Hardy kindly snapped, "As much as I like to see spirit partners defend and support their masters, the three of you need to know that this session is to help Chazz's brothers know his condition. In order to successfully diagnose him, I need him to think for himself without interruptions."

Ojama yellow defensively yelled, "We were just trying to help!"

"Quiet!" Chazz snapped at them. "The lady's right! I need to think for myself, so you snot-nosed brains better beat it!"

"But boss-"

"NOW!"

The ojamas sadly disappeared. Chazz clicked his tongue out of irritation. He can think and answer for himself! He doesn't need anyone's help! Even from the aces of his deck! "Just ignore them." He ordered Ms. Hardy. "They can't help being nosy."

"Yet they are faithful to you. Can you see yourself as faithful, the Chazz?"

"What do I need to be faithful for? The Chazz walks alone. For those who want to follow, it's their choice of whether they want to be faithful or not."

That was an intriguing response. "The lone wolf, I see. Then let's return to the main topic. What is dueling to you, the Chazz."

"Dueling is..." Chazz considered his ojamas' answers, and they weren't wrong, but he wanted to make the answer his own. He determinedly replied without convinction, "So yeah, I duel to show that I can be the best because I am!"

"So you believe that you can defeat the king of games, Yugi Muto?"

"Uh...!" Chazz looked slightly discouraged. "Okay, maybe not him, and maybe not Seto Kaiba either, but I can bet you that I can beat the rest!"

"Oh, I'm sure. Then does that mean that what dueling is to you is the opportunity to show off?"

"Yes! What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing at all." Ms. Hardy felt amused. She began to feel like Chazz was getting comfortable with her, yet he wasn't taking their session seriously enough. She tried to turn the situation to her benefit. "You are a charismatic and strong person, so there's no doubt that that would have been your answer. Now that we have that cleared up, I would like to start to with your childhood."

"I thought you already knew my childhood." He pointed out snarkily.

She disregarded his attitude. "I only know of what's on the surface. We don't have to speak about it if you are uncomfortable, especially with such neglecting brothers."

Chazz slapped his hands onto his knees. A furious tension rose within the room that stunned the therapist. Chazz cried out, "My brothers aren't neglectful! They can't help it if they're busy with their careers! They didn't make the choice if I had to be born, and have my parents die when I was four so they could have me to themselves! They weren't bred to raise me, so step off!" Chazz knows that everyone thought his brothers were nothing but jerks to him, which they were some of the time, but they do care about each other! Just because others can't see that, doesn't make it any of their business to assume that there was no love at all between them!

Ms. Hardy arched an eyebrow briefly before apologizing, "I'm sorry if I offended you. Yet, it's just like I said. I only know the surface of your childhood, so I supposed I don't know you so well after all. How about you enlighten me by telling me stories of your happy memories with your brothers?" She kindly smiled.

Chazz was pissed at her. He didn't want to go through with the session anymore after that insult thrown at his brothers. Yet he knew that this session was for them, so he sucked it up. He thought of happy memories in the past. It wasn't that hard because even if his life had many hardships, he still remembered the sweet memories. He knew that he had so little time to be with his brothers that he cherished every good moment he could have with them.

A seven year old Chazz was laughing happily when he watched Jagger do some kind of weird, cool thing on his laptop. The two of them were at their mansion's family room sitting at the sofa. Slade was too busy doing some adult stuff. Jagger was home since it was one of his very rare vacation days. Chazz felt honored and excited that his older brother decided to spend the day impressing him with cool new programs that the Kaiba Corporations created.

The nineteen-year-old cared about those things because he played a part as the financial adviser for the department that was inventing this new program.

Although, Chazz asked, "You made this?"

Jagger smugly grinned down at him as he corrected, "No, but I made sure that it was possible. You see Chazz, you can't make anything valuable unless you have the money to back it up."

The youngest Princeton cocked his head to the side with a clueless expression. "...the money to back it up?"

The second eldest Princeton snorted, "Don't be dumb, Chazz. Don't tell me that you haven't noticed."

"Noticed what?"

"We're rich, Chazz. Everything around you is bought by money. Without money, you'd be poor and pretty pointless. However money is pointless when you don't know how to handle it. It's like..." Jagger looked down at the ground to think of the simplest example. He spotted Chazz's scattered cards on the floor where the child was in the middle of arranging them before he appeared. "It's like your deck!"

Chazz's attention perked up. He was excited when dueling was mentioned because it was the best thing he knew better than his brothers. "My deck?"

"Yes. Bring them here." Jagger ordered. His little brother happily applied as he got off the couch to sort his cards into a deck before handing them over to his genius brother. The intellectual male looked through them until he got the only cards he needed in his hand. He gave the rest of the cards back to Chazz who placed it next to him. Jagger pointed out, "It's not exact, but being a financial adviser is similar to being a duelist."

"It is?" Chazz was confused. He couldn't imagine a person handling money and doing math to be the same as a duelist.

"It is." Jagger explained, "You see, pretend this monster card is the financial adviser's client. He is up against this monster from another duelist. The financial adviser is most likely equipped with equip cards. Now I need you to use your imagination, Chazz. Think you can do that for me?"

"Of course I can! Don't look down on the Chazz!" The younger Princeton confidently pointed his thumb to his chest.

The older brother rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just listen. So you see, pretend the monster was the one who had to chose the equip cards."

The child gasped, "The monster choosing the equip cards?!"

Jagger clarified, "A financial adviser can't simply give them. Their job is to give advice, so I demonstrate each equip card to the monster, and I suggest to it of which equip card was better, and the possibilities that each could bring on the short and long run. So you see, I advise it that this equip card is better than this equip card, and if the monster agrees, then I equip it with the card. Then it wins in the duel because of that, and could win future duels with my advices. Do you get it now?"

Chazz stared down at the cards as he rewind of what his brother told him. He summarized, "So the financial adviser is equipped with the cards like a duelist, but not like a duelist, he can only suggest things."

Jagger proudly smiled at him. "Now, you're getting it. Then you get it that if you don't handle your money well like your cards, then you'll lose."

Chazz did. He then asked, "So we're rich because you and big brother Slade can handle the money?"

"I handle the money, Chazz." The nineteen-year-old ruffled his spiky hair. "I'm the number one financial adviser everyone looks to for help. Slade is a politician."

"Is a politician kind of like a duelist, too?" Chazz asked excitedly.

They heard the door open. The Princeton brothers looked over their shoulder to see their eldest brother enter the room. Slade playfully inquired, "What's like a politician?"

"Slade!" Chazz jumped over the couch to be the first one to hug him. "You're home! I thought you had work!"

"I did, but one of the officials had gotten himself into an accident. The meeting couldn't happen without him, and the official stupidly didn't have anyone else be ready to step in if anything happened to him. That leaves me with a few hours, and I figured that I could come home to see how both my brothers were doing." He noticed the laptop on Jagger's lap when he walked over to him with Chazz following. "Is that the new KC game program coming out in a few months?"

Jagger replied, "Came with the perks of being the genius of the family."

Slade childishly grinned as he teased, "At least it didn't take me until my eighteenth birthday to lose my virginity to some hooker."

The second eldest Princeton flinched. He blushed bright red, but he arrogantly snapped back, "Isn't it childish of you to play that card? Those insecure about their masculinity would make such an issue prominent."

"Shut up, you dork." Slade took his seat on the couch next to him.

"Idiot." Jagger muttered.

Chazz cocked his head to the side in bewilderment. He asked, "What's a hooker? Is it a hook and virginity is a fish?" The little child was even more confused when his two brothers snorted, covered their mouths, and shook a bit. He got angry. "Hey! What's a hooker?!"

Slade said, "A hooker is-"

Jagger yelled at him, "Slade, he's just a kid!"

"Calm down. I'm giving him the kiddie version."

"Kiddie version?"

The twenty-two-year-old senator replied, "You see Chazz, the words hooker and virginity are not words for children to learn at your age because just like how you need to learn the letters of the alphabet first before you can read, you have to learn a few things before you can learn those words. It's really too complicated for you to understand."

Chazz thought that that was reasonable. "So what do I have to learn in order to learn those words?"

"Three things:" The eldest brother held up a fist for each word to have a finger pop up. "Science. Philosophy. And women."

Jagger made a weird face that he blocked with his hand. Chazz however was amazed. "Wow! I have to learn all those things?!"

Slade nodded, "Yes. And when you do, you can also learn about where babies come from."

"Oh! Okay! I will work hard!" Chazz got up on the couch to sit in between them. He felt truly happy to be sitting in such a rare and honorable place. He faced Jagger who finally looked at them with a frown directed at Slade who grinned at him. The child then remembered his unanswered question, "Oh right! Slade,"

"Hm?"

"Is a duelist like a politician?"

Slade hummed about that. "If you'd compare a political campaign to a dueling tournament which is what you'll be winning nonstop, right Chazz? You're going to become the best duelist!"

"Yeah!" Chazz absolutely beamed. "I'm going to beat out all the rest, and even if I'm put down, I'm going to rise up and win again!"

Jagger snorted, "Losing is unacceptable, but we'll be a little bit lenient with yours since there are just some lucky punks out there. However, the chance of you losing is very rare with the cards we picked for you, and you'll definitely be a fan favorite in no time."

Slade cheered, "The Princeton brothers will be a global family sensation!"

After that, the three of them observed the new KC program further with some intellectual discussions between Slade and Jagger that Chazz couldn't understand. Either way, it was a great experience.

"That's a surprise." Ms. Hardy commented. "You fear failure, yet you casually said that you would fail in front of your brother at such a young age. Plus, they reasonably agreed."

Chazz reasoned, "Losing wasn't such a bad thing back then because duelists lose. Even Yugi Muto lost to some biker guy with serious mental problems."

"But that contradicts what I've heard at your academy. Your brothers pressured you to never lose. It just doesn't make any sense. What changed?"

The ravenet felt a sting in his chest, and his mind going blank. He replied, "It's because my brothers became obsessed with wanting to rule the world."

"And now?"

Chazz rubbed the back of his neck. Eyes locked to the floor. "I think they gave up on that. Our family name is far more popular than before that we could, but my brothers seem to not care about ruling the world anymore."

"Do you think it's because they still believe that you're a lost cause?"

"..." The duelist fell uncomfortably silent. Minutes passed before he replied, "I don't know. We're happy. Happy just like before."

"Before what? Was the change of your brothers becoming more powerful in the political and financial world the only reason? They became greedy with such a dream that they pressured on you?"

Chazz was silent again. He began playing with his fingers as he looked absent from the session. After a while, he became present again to reply, "I guess it was my fault that they became that way."

The woman softly inquired, "Why do you say that?"

"Because... I abandoned dueling."

The world stopped between them. Ms. Hardy eventually spoke, "Something fatally serious must have happened for any true duelist to abandon dueling. You are a true duelist, Chazz."

"I know...but...when I was a ten, a bully and his friends cornered me at school one day, and took my deck from me." Chazz gripped his knees so tightly that they were trembling. "And ripped my favorite card apart. The only card out there, Light and darkness dragon. I...I was supposed to enter tournaments with him, but..." The male was discouraged to continue when he felt pain course through him.

Ms. Hardy saw this pain, yet she continued the session. "Did your light and darkness dragon card have a spirit?"

"No." Chazz didn't hesitate to reply. "I wasn't able to see spirits until I went to North Academy."

Ms. Hardy found that hard to believe. Children are born with the ability to see spirits. She was aware that Jaden Yuki had Winged Kuriboh as a spirit partner. Chazz should've been able to see the spirit before he attended North Academy. She wondered if Chazz was lying to her for his sanity sake.

She couldn't tell, so she moved on, "It's tragic to witness the deck you cherished be destroyed in front of you. What did your brothers do when they discovered this?"

"They destroyed their families, and made the school take action over what happened. They sent me to therapy since what happened really shook me."

"Shook you how? How did you feel after the event?"

Chazz lied back on his sofa chair. Eyes still glued to the floor. "I was depressed. I couldn't touch, look or hear about dueling. I tried, but I couldn't find the passion to do it again. Because I couldn't, I knew that I was useless. A disappointment. Nothing mattered."

"Nothing mattered? What about your brothers?"

"They were better off without me." Chazz swallowed a lump down his throat.

Ms. Hardy's heart dropped at the sound of that. She hesitantly questioned, "What helped you out of your depression?"

"Nothing really. Talking about it, eating healthy, or any of that other therapeutic junk didn't help me out at all." The woman thought that they didn't work because Chazz was never addressing the real problem that she thought he experienced. Her saddened patient then told her, "All I could think was that I was wasting my brothers' hard earned money, and I was making them worry needlessly...so one day, I stood on the merlon of our mansion. I was scared, but I didn't want to be a living disappointment anymore."

"Who stopped you?"

"The maids. One of them saw me through the window and told the others. One of them called my brothers, and they came home immediately. I stood on that merlon for what felt like forever when the workers tried to convince me to get down until Slade and Jagger came. They pleaded for me to get down, and I told them that I was useless to them. But they told me that they needed me. Jagger told me that they needed me because we were going to rule the world...as a family."

"You got down because you were given a reason. A reason to live and to duel." It was such a tragic tale to listen to. A child dueling for a false dream.

Chazz answered, "Yeah...Now that I think of it, I was the one who corrupted my brothers." Guilt washed over his eyes.

Yet, the woman reasoned, "I've seen corruption, and your brothers weren't corrupted because of you. They aren't corrupted at all. Lying to a family member is natural, but I was told that Slade has issues with his rage. He would hit you as a child whenever you would slip up. Is that true?"

"He didn't hit me too hard. He would only hit me once. Jagger told me that that was something our dad used to do to Slade whenever he would slip up. Slade's working on his issues." Chazz remembered one of his memories of having been hit.

Slade was furious. The eleven-year-old Chazz had gotten a low score in his dueling exam. The two of them were in his private office in the mansion. "How could you score so low?! Weren't you doing your studies at all! Have you been just fooling around all this time!" Chazz kept his head down as he tried to appear humble. Slade exasperatedly sighed, "If this is what's to be expected of you, then I might as well pull you out of that damn school."

Chazz gasped. He thought that what his brother meant was that he was giving up on him, which was the last thing he ever wanted. He reached out to hold his arm as his eldest brother was turning away from him. "Wait! Sla-"

"Don't touch me!" Slade slapped his youngest brother to the ground. "Cha...Dammit Chazz! Get out of my sight right now!"

"Slade." The boy whimpered. Completely surprised by this.

"NOW!" The eldest brother refused to look at him.

Chazz stood up and left. His bruised cheek was tended to by one of the maids.

The next morning, Jagger saw the bruise during breakfast. He looked to Slade who kept his eyes away from everyone. The morning was silent, but when Chazz left the dining hall, an argument erupted. Chazz was still in hearing distance that he knew that they were fighting because of him. He huddled himself against the wall to cry. He promised himself that he would try harder and harder until he could feel his heart about to burst.

Ms. Hardy asked, "Was your father abusive?"

"I don't really know. Dad was too busy with the company that's now run by some big-shot CEO that Slade and Jagger hired. Mom wasn't around either. She was too busy shopping, going to parties, and all that other stuff stereotypical rich moms do."

"Then you were right that your brothers weren't bred to raise you when your parents were neglectful, and your father was abusive to Slade. What about Jagger?"

"Jagger doesn't slip up. He's a genius." Chazz smiled proudly. It was refreshing for the session to have that smile appear with glimmer of life back into his eyes. "His genius was compared to that of Seto Kaiba. You have to be amazing to be given that compliment."

Ms. Hardy felt glad that her patient was feeling better. She said, "I agree. Then I supposed that your brothers gave up on the dream, not because you are a lost cause, but because you have found your own reason to duel."

Chazz finally looked up at her with a dumbfounded expression. For a moment, he looked embarrassed, and then he smirked. "Of course, I have! I am Chazz Princeton, and I duel to be recognized as the best!"

Ms. Hardy let him soak into his accomplishments before moving on to the more important subjects that Chazz's brothers wish to understand. "You had quite the childhood." That was an understatement. "Now I believe its time to discuss your academy years at Duel academy."

"Go ahead and ask any question! But you'll see that in the end, I was the top duelist at Duel Academy!" The duelist crossed his arms and legs with a smug face.

The woman told him, "Oh, I can believe that considering that you graduated with the opportunity to own a copy of Yugi Muto's deck. However you turned it down. Why?"

"A duelist strength comes from his own deck. I didn't need Yugi Muto's own to be strong."

"Wise words. You must have gone through quite the journey to realize that. Let's start with your first year in Duel Academy."

Chazz nodded, and told her about his rivalry with Jaden Yuki, and how he left Duel Academy and then came back. "Because I dropped out, and then came back, I was put into the slifer red dorm!" Chazz made a face of disgust. "It was small without any luxury at all! It was like practically living outside with a cockroach infestation! The only perk it had was the fried shrimp they serve. Man, they were good."

His therapist was amused. "Was it tough living there?"

"Tough?! Talk about living in a dump! So I did some renovations, and I was living like a king again. Until that stupid girl (Blaire) showed up. Talk about a brat." He theatrically sighed. "But It was cool. I was used to the dumpy rooms anyway."

"Even with the cockroaches?" The woman quirked an eyebrow. She felt an admiration for the male to have conquered such a disgust of these gross bugs.

The young man shrugged, "They're just bugs. Gross, and ugly, but hey, I have the ojama brothers as spirit partners so looking at gross and ugly is a daily thing for me. Everything else is practically beautiful in my opinion compared to those ugly freaks."

Ms. Hardy giggled a bit. Chazz went on to talk about the ojama brothers reunion, his duel with Slade, the shadow riders, his abduction, and the sacred beasts.

The woman inquired, "Were you afraid after you lost the duel to professor Banner?"

"What?" Chazz was surprised by that question. "No!" He sounded offended which didn't help his case. "I wasn't afraid because if he hadn't abducted me, then I wouldn't have discovered Alexis's feelings for me!"

"But after the abduction, she didn't return your feelings. Plus, she's getting married to someone else." The therapist pointed out.

"Tch, that means nothing. We just drifted apart. That's all."

"Chazz...Are you sure that you didn't just dream that Alexis was confessing to you, so you could cope with the situation?"

The former black slifer was taken aback. "What?! No! Why would you ask that?!"

"Chazz, there's a symptom called confabulation." She told him seriously. "It's when a person believes that the lies that they tell are the truth. You were in a situation that you couldn't handle. You were kidnapped by a stranger, and then put into a world that you couldn't ever escape by your free will. How did that make you feel?"

"I didn't feel anything! I was unconscious the whole time that I was in there!"

"Then how did you know that Alexis had feelings for you?"

"Because our hearts connected!"

"Then what about her brother, Atticus? Isn't strange that only you experienced anything within that world."

"NO, IT IS NOT!" Chazz stood up abruptly with his fists clenched to the point that they were shaking. His face contorted by rage. "You weren't there, so don't act like you know what happened!"

"I'm afraid that I do. I talked to the Rhodes siblings about their experience of being abducted by your professor. They have no memory of what happened during it whatsoever, so why is it that only you do?"

"I..." Chazz's anger faltered to confusion.

The ojamas appeared. Yellow shouted, "Don't listen to her, boss! She's trying to mess with your head!"

Black agreed, "Don't let her get to ya!"

Green nodded, "Alexis did propose her love to you."

"No she didn't." Chazz whispered as he turned away from everyone.

Ms. Hardy heard him. "Then why did you believe that she did?"

"Because I needed something good to remember! I felt helpless...I didn't feel safe!" He sat back down on his chair with his eyes on the palms of his hands. "But when I dreamed that she confessed to me, i-it made it easier for me to accept what happened! I believed in the lies I made up, so I could move on! Just like when my brothers told me that they needed me to rule the world! I couldn't fall back to who I became after what happened to me! I also know that I let Sartorius take me so I could be strong enough to beat Jaden because I knew I was weak!"

"Boss..." The ojamas reached out to comfort him, but he briskly swatted them away.

Chazz glared at them with a tear streaked face. "Leave me alone! You three never helped me with what I was going through!"

"But boss-"

"I SAID GO AWAY!" He roared thunderously that the three of them left. He then got up and walked to the door. "That's the end of this session. You got the answer you wanted! I am a messed up kid who makes up lies to make himself feel good!"

"You used to do that." The therapist pointed out. "But now, you have no reason to lie. You became strong remember."

Chazz stopped. He did become strong, but to confess his weakness, he didn't feel strong. "Why am I messed up?" He asked. "Atticus and Alexis went through what I did, and they're fine. Am I too sensitive that I'm easily damaged? I joined Sartorius because I was weak. I can't remember what I did when I was brain washed. And even if I did come out on top as the best duelist in duel academy, it's Jaden who's the hero because he's stronger. I can't do anything without him saving me...Even when he needed me to save him, I wasn't there for him unlike him. I was even the cause for him to be in need of saving...If I hadn't said what I did-"

The therapist cut in, "But you wouldn't have said them if it wasn't true."

Chazz looked to her. "What do you know? Don't tell me that you even got info of the Yubel incident."

"Just the little bits of information I could get from a person you should know as Jim Crocodile Cook, and Syrus Truesdale. You're the one who told Syrus that defeating Yubel was the key, and reassured Jaden that you guys were safe. You played an important piece of saving our universe."

The young duelist frowned. He sat down on the couch to face her. "Jaden came out okay, so I guess I tried to think nothing of it, but at the back of my head, I knew that he didn't need me."

"Did you want him to need you?"

"I guess it would've been nice, but Jaden will never need me. He just wants to be friends for his idiotic reasons."

"And that doesn't satisfy you?"

"...It does, and I was fun being friends with him, and everyone else."

"Did you hang out with them often?"

"No. I guess you can say that I'm introverted. It's tiring being them."

"Hm...Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale, Alexis Rhodes, Atticus Rhodes, Bastion Misawa, and Tyranno Hassleberry. Are all of them your friends?"

"Yes."

"Nobody else?"

Chazz shrugged, "There's nobody else worth mentioning. I still talk to those guys from time to time. Not really for Hassleberry. I don't care much for him."

"So you don't feel lonely?"

"Sometimes."

"Why would that be? You do have your spirit partners around you."

"To be honest, even when I'm with my friends or those freaks, I can't help feeling alone. I can't stop that feeling that I get so angry. But today...today I don't feel that feeling as strongly as before." He looked to her with those helpless, soft, child-like eyes.

She kindly inquired, "Have you ever talked to anyone like this? Shared your feelings and thoughts to anyone?"

Chazz thought about it. He did reveal a bit of himself to Jaden during his duel for North Academy, but that was the only time he was genuine with himself. Those talks about his feelings about Alexis with Atticus didn't count since his feelings for Alexis was made out of desperation for consolation. But he did form a small crush on her like any guy would, but he wasn't in love with her as he thought he was. He sadly replied, "No. I mostly kept to myself."

"Then I supposed that would explain it. Even if you do have good quality friendships, you will never truly feel not alone unless you're willing to show them of how you truly feel and think, yet you're afraid because you hate being weak. But Chazz, if they were truly your friends, you have nothing to feel ashamed about. Even to your brothers. They love you." Chazz felt guilty. He thought himself as selfish for holding back his own feelings. Ms. Hardy saw his guilt. She told him, "You can tell them when you're ready, and when they are, they'll be happy to know, and they will be there to console and support you." The duelist did feel reassured that she was right.

He sincerely told her, "Thank you."

Ms. Hardy kindly welcomed him with a smile. "You're a strong person, Chazz. I can't see your life going anywhere else, but ending happily despite the struggles." She stood up. "You're healthy, Chazz."

"I am?" The ravenet stood up with the thought that she was playing him after everything that happened.

"You do show signs of being a person who suffered emotional and psychological trauma, but you show signs of healing already. If you take my advice of opening your heart to the people you care for, then I'm sure that the feeling of loneliness and the effects from your traumatic experience will degrade to almost merely nothing."

"Almost merely nothing?"

She reassuringly told him, "You can't heal away scars, but at least they are no longer open wounds. But I do have one last question."

"Sure."

"Are you sure that your light and darkness dragon card didn't have a spirit?" Ms. Hardy saw Chazz's eyes go blank. The male replied without conviction, "I'm sure there wasn't."

She smiled either way. "Then that is it. Thank you for seeing me." She held out her hand. Chazz took it, and they shook on it. He thanked her again before she left to report to his brothers.

Ms. Hardy went to the library where she was told that they would be at. When they saw her, they were immediately on their feet with complete lack of care for what they were currently doing for work.

Slade asked, "So?"

She replied, "He showed signs of having gone through emotional and psychological trauma along with a traumatic brain injury that results in mild confabulation. Yet he also shows signs of healing thanks to the support of friends and family, so he is okay."

The brothers relaxed. Jagger inquired, "Is there anything that we should do?"

The therapist answered, "Merely patience and trusts. You need to be open with Chazz's thoughts and feelings if he wants to talk to you two about anything. He's lonely because nobody truly understands him, but I believe that it is caused by another problem. The two of you are aware that cards holds spirits, correct."

Slade replied, "Yeah, we do. Chazz mentions about it, and after what we went through with the darkness, it must be."

"Then I ask you both, was there a spirit within Chazz's favorite card, Light and Darkness Dragon?"

The brothers stared at her and then at each other. Jagger unsurely answered, "I think so. He talked to the card, and to himself sometimes in a room without anyone in there. I thought he was merely having an imaginary friend."

Slade nodded. "Me too, but if it did hold a spirit, the the punk who ripped it-"

"Killed Chazz's spirit partner in front of him." Ms. Hardy finished for him. "Your brother refuses to remember him, though."

"Why would he?" Slade inquired. "He just saw his best card die in front of him!"

Jagger pointed out, "That would explain of why Chazz was unnaturally depressed to the point of suicide at his age."

The therapist told them, "That would be true, and I don't know of whether it's best or not that he never remembers his first spirit partner, but it's not my decision to decide on that. It's Chazz's whether he knows it or not." She sighed through her nose. "So I hope that you two will be there for him to fill that lonely void."

Slade promised, "We'll do our best. Princeton brothers have to stay together." Jagger nodded along.

Ms. Hardy smiled at them before bidding them adieu.

._._._.

In the night, Chazz was standing at the balcony of the fiftieth floor where he looked out to the blurry lights of the city. It was chilly, but the only effort he made to warm himself was crossing his arms and pulling a straight face.

His three ojamas timidly appeared. They argued among each other of who would be the first to speak. Ojama Green and Black carelessly threw their yellow brother to Chazz's back. The duelist turned around to see his number one ace on the floor. The helpless duel spirit got on his knees to stutter its apologies, "I-I'm sorry, boss! I didn't mean to hit your back, and I didn't mean to cause you pain and interrupt your therapy session! I'm sorry!" It started bowing as waterfall of tears were pouring out. Ojama Green and Black soon mimicked of what their brother was doing.

"Whatever, let's go to bed." Chazz walked around them to get to his bed.

"Huh?" The brothers were confused. They followed him into the room. Yellow asked, "You're not mad at us?"

Chazz replied, "We said somethings that we shouldn't have even if they were true, so let's leave it at that."

"So you aren't mad at us! Oh boss, I'm so happy!"

"Quiet! I need my sleep for my next duel!"

"Ri-right. Shhhh! We'll let you sleep boss!" The ojamas lied down on the king sized bed together. They were already snoring. Chazz looked at them. They were ugly and disgusting, but they were his ugly and disgusting spirit partners. He softly gazed at each of them with an affectionate smile before falling asleep himself.

._._._.

"The winner is Chazz Princeton!" The announcer declared within the dueling stadium.

The audience chanted, "Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up!"

The duelist soaked in the attention as he looked up to the VIP room where his brothers were looking down at him. They both had the night off to seem him which made him feel more joy for his win than he did before. Then he heard someone shout out from the audience over the cheering, "Hey Chazz! Let's duel!"

He looked to the voice to see Jade Yuki waving his arms to get his attention like an idiot. Chazz breathlessly chuckled. His ojamas appeared beside him, and they were ready for a duel, but he knew that they would regret it when the duel will happen after this. Whatever, he was happy.

The End