Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX, but I sure wish I did.
The sun rose over the horizon in Domino City creating a beautiful sky of red and blue. A sky top view of Domino would have showed the city in all its splendor. All the buildings gleaming in the sunlight, waiting for their workers to enter them and begin the day. Since it was a city, there was a good number of cars on the streets, but since it was still early, it was still peaceful.
In one area of the city were the neighborhoods where people lived. And on one specific yellow house, near the end of a street, sat a boy on his red roof. He sat there enjoying his last Domino City sunrise. It was a most spectacular day for him. It was his birthday, and also his last day in Domino. He sat there watching his final sunrise. Once the sun was completely in sky, he got up and jumped down off the roof onto his concrete shed. Then he jumped off that and onto the ground. He gave out a big stretch and walked back into his house.
His parents were still asleep so he made his own breakfast and then ran upstairs for his Duel Monsters deck. He got his deck and then stopped to look at himself in the mirror. His green eyes stared at a boy with messy brown hair and a height of 5' 11". He was wearing an old, navy blue shirt and black jean pants. He ran down stairs to see his little sister at the breakfast table. "Good morning Kokuro," she said smiling.
"Morning Selaya," he said going into the refrigerator and getting a glass of milk. He sat down next to her after rubbing her hair with his hand. She gave him a hug and smiled. She was 13 and Kokuro was 17. She had long pink hair and was wearing sky blue pajama's with clouds on them. She had the same green eyes that Kokuro had.
"How's the birthday boy?" She asked smiling.
"Pretty good," he said smiling back.
"You have to promise to write to me everyday."
"There's no guarantee I'll get in," he said.
"There's no chance that you won't," she said smiling.
"Thanks for your confidence," Kokuro said rubbing his sisters hair again. He finished his milk and got up. "Well, I gotta go see Yamato before I leave. I'll be back soon."
"Remember, the parties at noon."
Kokuro nodded, "How can I forget?" He got up and grabbed his keys and a plastic bag. He left his house and walked the few blocks to Yamato's apartment. He ran up the stairs of the apartment and unlocked the door to Yamato's apartment room. He dropped the bag on the counter and grabbed a pillow from the couch and walked down the hall. He opened the door to Yamato's room and threw the pillow at his friend. "Wake up lazy!"
Yamato shot up from his bed and threw the pillow to the side of his bed. "You are going to die!" Yamato said jumping out of bed, but Kokuro was already down the hall again. Yamato ran through the hall and into his kitchen when he just barely caught a diet Pepsi thrown at his face.
"I'm surprised," Kokuro said smiling with a sly look on his face. "I thought you of all people would be able to enjoy a good sunrise. But no, you were lazy and slept in your bed!"
"Because not all people are crazy and wake up before dawn." Yamato was currently in a state of messy brown hair, worse than Kokuro's, a grey t-shirt, and sweat pants. He came in at about Kokuro's height, and had brown eyes.
"And not all people can say that this is their last time seeing a Domino City sunrise."
"You'll be back next summer." Yamato said taking off the cap to his Pepsi bottle and taking a sip.
"But its my last chance till then. I want to be able to enjoy the last of my time here."
"I'm sure you'll have many good times at the Academy."
"I just wish you could be there with me," Kokuro said looking down slightly. "It'll be lonely without my friends."
"You're the one who said you wanted to go alone. Having second thoughts?"
"I still want to go alone," he said taking a Mountain Dew out of the bag, opening it and taking a sip. "But I'm going to miss you guys, and my parents and my sister."
"I'm sure you'll make new friends. And besides, you and your sister can always write letters back and forth to each other. And you can always keep in touch with us too."
"You're right. I guess I'm worrying for nothing."
"I think you're just over excited and its causing you to think strange."
Kokuro laughed at that, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Yamato took another sip of his Pepsi, "You're still going to die."
"My death will have to wait till next summer."
"I'll keep my anger till then," Yamato said and they both laughed.
Kokuro went through the bag again and pulled out a bag of chips and opened it. "My farewell party," he said.
"Be glad I felt like throwing it for you," Yamato said chuckling.
"Shut up," Kokuro said chuckling as well. He took a few chips then passed the bag to Yamato. "What if I'm not good enough to get in?"
"Don't give me that bull," Yamato said. "You're dueling skills are great. The only thing you should be worried about is the entrance exam."
"We all know I love tests," he said rolling his eyes.
"If you studied..." Yamato began.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Kokuro said. "Hey, it's Duel Monsters, how hard can it be?"
"It could be pretty hard. In any case, I think your dueling skills will be what get you in. You've participated in tournaments before and come in second."
"Yeah, because you and D. where there keeping me from 1st."
"Remember, its been a while since you went into a tournament. You've been getting ready for this. You've gotten much better."
"Thanks," Kokuro said.
"I have no doubt you'll become the best in the school. But remember, have fun with it. If you get too obsessed with winning then you might not do as well. If you lose, don't lose the lesson."
"Yeah, Duel for Fun. You can count on it." They ate the chips and drank their drinks and then just spent the rest of the time watching TV waiting for D. to arrive. Finally they heard a knock on the door. Kokuro walked over to the door and opened it.
Standing on the other side was a boy his age with black hair and was of Asian decent. He too was about the same height as Kokuro and was also 17. He stood there with a surprised look on his face. "And I thought I was going to beat you here. I'm here early after all," he said.
"I came here about half an hour ago. There should still be some chips left and your diet Coke is in the bag."
"What's up D.?" Yamato called from the living room.
"Same stuff, different day," D. responded. His real name was Domid, but everyone just called him D. for short. Kokuro sat back down on the couch and waited for D. to come in and sit on the chair. They all just sorta sat there for a few minutes. "So, what now?"
"I'm going to hit you," Yamato said.
"Geez! Sorry!"
Kokuro laughed. "This is what I'm going to miss."
"Don't tell me your backing out," D. said.
"No way, but I'll have to write to you all, and you better write back."
"We will," D. responded.
They sat around watching TV, no one saying much. There was nothing really good on so after 10 minutes they turned it off. Kokuro checked his watch and sighed. "Will noon come any sooner?"
"We can just go back to your house if you want." Yamato said. "I do think you should be able to spend some time with your parents and your sister before you leave."
"Yamato has a point," D. said. "They are your family after all."
"Ok, lets go then." Kokuro said getting up. They all grabbed their things and left Yamato's apartment and headed back to Kokuro's house. They got in and saw Kokuro's mom reading a book and his dad watching TV. They looked up and were surprised to see him there.
"You're back early," his mom said.
"We figured that we should be here so I can hang with you guys for a while longer."
"Well that was a thoughtful thing to do," his dad said. They all sat around and talked when a thought came to Kokuro.
"Where's Selaya?"
"I'm up here!" Selaya called down from the top of the steps. She came down in a white shirt and a denim skirt. "You guys are back early." She jumped over the couch and sat down next to Kokuro. "I'm happy you're here. I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too," he said to her. They shared some jokes and before they knew it noon rolled around. "Well, I guess it's time for the party."
"Before we begin," Selaya began. "I have a small gift for you." She handed Kokuro a card. He looked down at it and saw that it was her Spell Absorption Spell Card. It was one of her best cards. "I want you to have it. I bet it will help you at Duelist Academy."
"Are you sure?" Kokuro asked her.
"I've never been surer of anything in my life. Please take it."
Kokuro bent down and hugged her. "Thank you, I'll take good care of it."
They all sat down at the dining room table and had lunch and dessert. It wasn't really a party so much as a going away thing. They all ate and told Kokuro how much they would miss him. Once they were done they all got up and got ready. It was 1:00 now and Kokuro had to be at the docks by 1:30. They all cleared their plates and Kokuro went up to his room once more to do a double check. He had a backpack to carry his personal things in. Plus he had his deck at his side. He grabbed a jacket, and his binder of cards. He ran back down the steps with his bag in hand and his coat over his waist.
"Yamato, D., your jobs are to take care of my sister and help her dueling. Mom, Dad, your jobs are to never stop missing me and to write to me constantly. Selaya, your job is to improve your dueling, and win a tournament by the time I get back."
"I will," Selaya said hugging her brother.
"You can expect nothing more," his mom said.
Yamato and D. nodded and shook his hand. "Stay safe out there man," D. said.
"Remember to just have fun and never doubt yourself," Yamato said.
"Get yourself a girlfriend while you're out there," his dad said chuckling.
"DAD!" Kokuro yelled!
"I'm just joking," his dad said laughing and they all joined in the laughing. Selaya let go of him so that his mom could hug him. His dad walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder, "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'm off to Duelist Academy!" he said pumping his fist in the air. After that, him and his dad walked out the door and got into the small two passenger car. They drove out of the driveway waving. "I'll send the first letter with all the info on the dorm and stuff!" Kokuro called out his window.
"I can't wait to hear from you!" Selaya said waving, and with that they were on their way.
"Son, I want you to know how proud I am of you," his father said.
"Why is that?" Kokuro asked. "You never seemed to be too big a fan of Duel Monsters."
"It's a game for kids like you and your friends, not an old guy like me."
"You're not old."
"I know, but that's besides the point. I'm proud of you because you are going into this with a good attitude. You have always been stern when it comes to something you believe in. Unwilling to let others bring you down when they are trying to get you to do something you don't believe in. You have a good heart, and are a great duelist. You are destined for great things. Some people would look down at this and say that it is a waste of time because you are going to a school that teaches about a card game. But I think otherwise."
"Wow, you really feel that way about Duel Monsters?"
"Yes. Duel Monsters can build great friendships. It's started out pretty big and then got even bigger around the time of Yugi Mouto when he started playing. It is the most popular card game in the world, and has it's own holographic Duel Disk system. Speaking of which, doesn't Duelist Academy have a special kind of Duel Disk for its students?"
"Yeah, I hear it's pretty cool."
"That's good. In any case, I look at Duelist Academy as a way for kids to have fun and make new friends. It's like a summer camp but it goes on for an entire year, and then if the students wish, they can go back the next year. I wouldn't let you go during your high school years. But now that you have graduated, I see no problem with it. The good qualities out weigh the bad. It will be a good experience for you. Just remember, there will be many tough duelists out there who will be in it for the title of best duelist. I want you to do your best too, but don't forget to have fun. What Yamato said was right."
"Thanks, I will."
"I said it earlier, I'll say it again, you are destined for great things."
"You're embarrassing me."
"Don't be embarrassed. You are an excellent duelist, you can only expect good things to happen to you." They rode in silence for a few seconds before his dad spoke again. "And if you do get a girlfriend, try to have her live close by."
"DAD!" Kokuro shouted as his dad laughed at him. They arrived at the docks five minutes later and Kokuro and his dad got out. His dad gave him one final hug and then wished him well. He watched Kokuro as he walked towards the dock with the Duelist Academy sign in front.
Kokuro turned to wave and his dad waved back. He then got into the car and drove off. Kokuro walked towards the boat when a guy in a suite stopped him. "You here for the boat to Duelist Academy for entrance exams?"
"Yes sir," Kokuro responded.
"Head right down that dock and get on board."
"Thank you sir," he said following the mans instructions. He got on the boat and was a bit surprised to see how many people were actually there. "I guess not everyone here is going to make it into the Academy. I can't see the school being this big." He waited for the boat to take off and heard a message saying that due to the limited space some people would have to share room with more than the rooms on the boat were fit to hold and that the boat ride was a day long.
He poked around for a half hour trying to find a room. Most of the rooms he found were already filled way past what they were supposed to hold. He decided he would rather just sleep in the lobby of the boat. It was a decent sized boat and had a few couches and chairs in the lobby. He figured it wasn't the safest place to keep his stuff since there were so many people there so he figured on just keeping his backpack with him at all times. There was a small mini-restaurant where they would be eating but that was mostly it.
He laid down on a couch and soon found himself drifting off into a light sleep aided by the waves of the ocean. He awoke a few hours later to see people going to and fro. He took out a small book with random Duel Monsters facts and began reading it. He packed it as a small study guide, since he wasn't sure exactly what kinds of questions would be on the test. He spent an hour reading and then put the book back in his back pack. He laid back down and soon found himself asleep again.
"You ready for this Kokuro?" Yamato asked from the other side of the table.
"Always ready!" Kokuro responded. There where multiple people around them all cheering for them. It was the last round of the Tournament at the local card shop that they always played at. They drew their cards and looked them over. The duel started off fast. Kokuro got a fast lead on Yamato's Life Points. Suddenly Yamato got out one of his stronger cards and wiped out Kokuro's monsters seriously damaging his Life Points.
"You always put up a good fight," Yamato said.
"Thank you," Kokuro said, "Today's the day I finally beat you!" Kokuro managed to stop Yamato's monster from attacking for a while and then got his own strong card out. The two were unfortunately matched at the moment. The next few rounds went rather slow, before Yamato found away past Kokuro's defense. Kokuro pulled a few tricks that set Yamato back but in the end Yamato ended up winning.
"Good game," Kokuro said putting his cards back together and shaking Yamato's hand. Yamato was awarded a few booster packs for coming in first and Kokuro got some for coming in second. "Get anything good?"
"Yeah, a few good cards, you?"
"I got one Ultra Rare but the others are all pretty much cards I already have. Doesn't matter, I was in it for the fun of it. The prize is just something minor compared to the challenge of trying to beat you."
"You will one day."
"Definitely."
Kokuro woke up and looked around trying to get a feeling for where he was. The lights were all off and the window seemed to be dark. He thought he saw the window bobbing up and down and then the feeling that he was too. It finally clicked that he had fallen asleep again and that it was night time. He couldn't sleep now since he had just woken up. It also didn't help that he was hungry. He got up and realized that he would have to do a dance to get past all the people sleeping on the floor. He figured that they were all people that couldn't get a room on the boat. He walked over to the restaurant only to realize that it was closed for the night.
He sighed but realized that he had some food in his backpack that his mother had packed for him. He dug through it in the dark and pulled out a package of crackers, and a bottle of water. He knew there was more in there but he couldn't see in the dark. So he ate his crackers and drank his water. He figured that he would just have to get up early in the morning to get breakfast before the crowds so that he wouldn't starve.
He re-danced around everyone and got back on the couch. He laid down and wondered about what would happen when he got to the academy. He knew he would have to take his exams but he worried about the written part of it. "I'll be fine," he thought to himself. "I didn't come all this way just to not make it in." With a new found courage aided by sleepiness and minor hunger he was able to fall back asleep with good thoughts in his head.