|Hundreds of XYZs
Title: Memento
Shipping: Aceshipping (Yuuma x No. 39: Hope)
Characters: Yuma Tsukumo and No. 39: Aspiring Emperor Hope. Friendship / Gen pair.
Genre: Hurt and Comfort, Friendship
Setting: Post-Canon
Rating: K+
Warnings & Notes: Yuma is older (I'd say some time after his high school graduation at least). There will be some feels of nostalgia even though some mentioned events happened just recently in the anime.
Words: 1043


Hands swatted away the dust that sat for several years. Slim fingers picked up objects off the wooden floor, gently putting them in boxes nearby. There went the old books, old magazines that had been read many times over, clothes that won't fit anymore, loose nets that some places were stretched out than others, holiday cards and scrunched up letters, and worn out dueling gears.

The top of the trunk was swiped clean. A framed photo of two adventurers was moved to the top of one of the filled boxes. More dust flew around the attic as things were opened and moved around. Yuma flickered his eyes over to one of the trunks pushed away to the far side of the room.

There was a lock on the trunk and surely, he doesn't remember what key was needed to unlock it. He scrambled around, continued his cleaning until some sort of key was found. He went through four keys that was scattered, lost under the old junk but none had seem to be able to open it.

More magazines - dueling and news. A frown formed with his lips, reading over the news that took record of the dueling days he was in. Fans seemed to like his heated duel with Gauche. And Ryouga. And Tron...

He closed it before he could spend the rest of the day reading old magazines that would bring old nostalgia memories. He was a Duel Champion, a hero who brought hope to Heartland and had everyone smiling. He tossed a pile of magazines in the boxes while some others went to the trash.

Another key. He chuck it in the keyhole of the lock and it refused to turn. It didn't fit properly. He glided several large artifacts to get his stuff out of the way.

Yuma sat back, taking a short rest from all the hard work. He felt a metallic object clang softly against the back of his head, he turned around his body and there it was. The Emperor's Key hung down from the hammock, the neck strings tied firmly to the net. He grasped the trinket with his hand, memories flooding back that he had left it behind here some a while ago.

He untied the strings from the hammock and let it hang around his neck, the Key resting over his shirt. He cleared the top of his desk. Threw away rusty pencils with hard, worn out erasers, and pens that won't write. Highlighters no longer colors and markers still give a smell and coloring pencils that needed to be sharpened was batched up together in a case.

Rolled up maps, many different sizes and shapes of magnifying glasses, odd-shaped dice, feathers preserved in plastic wrappings, and smaller ancient artifacts had been organized in the boxes. In one of the drawers, a key laid under scraps of paper and scissors.

Once more, Yuma put the key in the lock andâ–¬click! The lid opened as it bounced up, the trunk was a bit over-filled and it had been forced to hold it all under the lid with a lock. Uniforms from his school years. Yuma took out the red, green, and blue shirts he had worn in junior high. Dark blue pants and old brown school shoes came next.

Under his school uniforms was the legacy. His hand moved slower, his eyes staring at the folded up D-Gazer, dust on the green lenses next to the red D-Pad that doesn't work anymore after years of daily use until it broke. He set them aside. There was a photo of Yuma as the Duel Champion when he was younger, his broad smile was the spotlight and his posture was just like how he used to be. He gazed sadly at the photos, he felt his heart squeeze a bit from certain images. Images that had caught Yuma in the middle of a conversation, talking to no one visible but air. It wasn't just some reaction. He was smiling and one of his eyes was closed like he was giving a wink.

Then that photo came into view. He remembered the time his sister had given him it and asked him questions about it after the World Duel Carnival event. Shortly after his duel with a photographer duelist, Shuuta, had taken a picture of the groupâ–¬with the spirit in the background on the side.

A pair of gloves and wristbands and armbands laid on top of his red vest with the white hood and grey-white pants with orange crescent-shaped moons patterned on the leggings and his old shoes. He put them all in a box, smiling slightly to himself as he remembered the old days.

He returned to close the trunk, but noticed a card was lying at the very bottom. Yuma picked it up and flipped it over, expecting it to be perhaps one of his level four monsters or perhaps a trap. It was Number 39: Aspiring Emperor - Hope. He ran his fingers over the card, it was still in a good condition over the years. Amazing, he thought and held onto it firmly. He could never forget the legacy a spirit had left behind to him.

How long has it been that he's been gone, he wondered momentarily before he remembered. It definitely has been a long while. His happiness when he dueled, even with the Numbers that was causing havoc in the city. The times he summoned Hope and that he grew as a duelist over time during partnership with Astral.

"Master." A silhouette appeared by Yuma's side. Yuma was a bit startled from Hope appearing but smiled weakly at his monster companion.

"Hope..." Yuma looked down at the card, before he looked up at the warrior. "We will win through this... Dueling or not, I will win for us, and Astral!"

Seeming to had approved of his strong-willed heart, who would never forget a companion and partner. Hope shone brightly as he dissolved into many sparkles until it died out. Yuma walked over to the box with a photo of his parents, he put the card next to it before picking the box up and carrying it down the stairs.


I'll be doing at least a drabble / oneshot of every ship there is so far. Even if the list is still growing, I will continue to write them.

The link to the list of ZeXal ships is on my profile. There are over 200 of them.

Next up is Accidentshipping.