Heyo guys, it's me! This is a story I wrote for the 2018 YGO Big Bang, which is where a bunch of YGO lovers get together and write stories for the series of their choice, and there's artists and all that cool ass stuff it's pretty awesome! Anyways, you can find this and a bunch of other awesome stories in the Ao3 YGOBB2018 collection, and let me tell you there's some great stuff in there! Hope you enjoy! Also, cover image was done by the crazy awesome DelphiZoa on tumblr!
1
The morning was cool and calm that day on Academy Island. The birds chirped chipperly as they always had, and the sun rose slowly over the beautifully sparkling sea, covering the island in an almost celestial glow. The island was still quiet and peaceful from the slow passage of the night. Most of the students were still sleeping, taking advantage of every extra moment of sleep that they could possibly manage to get in before it was time to get ready for class. But of course as always, that time was drawing near once again, but aside from that it was a nearly perfect morning, and it seemed nothing could ruin it's tranquillity.
"SHUT UP!"
"Oh come on boss, you know you love us!"
Chazz's face was red with rage at being woken up so early by his most hated dorm mates. His slightly tattered black coat laid on a chair to the right of his bed as he hadn't yet dressed for the day, still wearing his academy issued pajamas, his left eye twitched slightly as he tried to calm down. But just the sight of the Ojama's was enough to set him off for weeks. Uncontented with simply trying to breathe away the frustration, he took one of the pillows from his bed and hurled it across the room at the harmless yet extremely annoying duel monsters. Of course since the three little imps were spirits, the pillow simply flew through them and smacked into the wall opposite Chazz and he huffed out a huge breath of frustration. One day. One day he would actually manage to hit them.
"Geez, what's got you in such a tizzy this morning Boss?" Ojama Black asked, floating over to the raven haired boy who was trying with every ounce of his being to ignore the little cretons as he stood gracefully yet swiftly from his bed, walking over to his custom made closet to pull out the purple shirt and black jeans he wore pretty much every day his eye twitched at the sounds of the most annoying voice he had ever heard in his young life.
"Yeah, it can't be us because you love us!" Ojama Yellow declared happily and confidently as he bounced around in the air around Chazz's head while he removed his top to put his actual shirt on. His pale, silky skin glistening like a glowstick in the sunlight entering from the window despite the mostly drawn curtains over them. Without a shirt on Chazz really did look ghostly with his skin white as snow, and paired with all of his dark clothes and hair his skin looked even paler in contrast. Perhaps he just needed to get more sun? Pulling the soft dark purple shirt over his head and onto his torso Chazz ran his fingers through his silky dark hair, returning the misplaced hairs back to their correct alignment as per his usual spiky style.
"Just shut up and leave me alone. I hate you guys, don't you know that by now!?" He growled, brandishing his black coat in his hand before throwing it over his shoulders and onto his body before putting on his matching black pants, masking even more of his practically paper white skin with a shroud of black and other assorted dark colors. Although despite being a student technically residing in Slifer Red, Chazz had never once wore a Duel Academy issued uniform since he returned from his time at North Academy. Especially not a Slifer uniform, but no one paid it much mind, or really even seemed to care much at all, so he didn't either. Swiftly moving to the kitchenette in his room, Chazz pulled a small pill bottle from the medicine cabinet. Taking a look at the tiny bottle in his hand, he checked the label to make sure it was the right bottle, reading the tiny letters spelling out anti-depressants on the little white sticker, he poured a tablet into his dainty hand, taking out a plastic cup from the second cabinet above the sink, and pouring himself a small glass of water from the sink, not minding the mediocre quality of the dorm's tap water at the moment, he placed the pill in his mouth and swallowed it with the water as a drop dripped down the side of his face, glinting in the sunshine coming through the window.
"Don't say that boss!" Ojama Yellow cried, his overly dramatic tears squirting from his eyes like a broken sprinkler. The poor creature was overly attached to the angsty teen, but unfortunately Chazz did not share the same sentiment as the little colored urchins. "We're nothing without your affection!"
"Yeah, and you're nothing with it either." Chazz mumbled irritably, strolling quickly out the door, slamming it behind him in frustration. Dealing with the Ojama's was always a challenge for him in terms of keeping his temper in check, but today was just one of those days where almost everything was unbearably irritating even more so than usual. Taking in a deep breath of fresh island air Chazz calmed for a moment, returning to a state of normality, although anger and irritation was quite commonplace for the moody youth. Standing out on the balcony of the shabby and rundown Slifer Red dorm he took in his surroundings of the tranquil morning he found himself in. He'd never stopped and looked around before. The trees around the dorm were tall and the leaves were a dark and healthy green, swaying in the breeze and nesting a myriad of assorted forest animals that also called the island their home. The clouds listed by and sparkled in the morning sun, just as the water which ebbed and flowed around the island's edges. The serene sound of the ocean's waves resonated within him, taking his anger away even for just that moment as the morning wind played with his dark, spiked hair. Tossing his bangs around his face and in front of his lovely, shining black orbs. In essence it really was a perfect morning. Unfortunately not all good things could last, something Chazz knew all too well in his young life.
"Just another day, Chazz. You can do this." he sighed, shaking his head creating himself a small breeze to go with the natural morning island wind "You're 'The Chazz'! You've got to show everyone that you're the best. Not that you're weak. That's the way it's always been, hasn't it..?" he sighed, allowing his head to lower so that his forehead was just barely grazing the railing of the deck's banister. His eyes closed slowly and subsequently his vision was shrouded in a deep darkness, one he felt commonplace in his life. For Chazz, there was an inescapable darkness all around him all the time, and there had been ever since his elder brothers had opened the door for it to seep in so many years ago..when they first started abusing him as a child. And that darkness had haunted him even long after they were gone.
Chazz stood for a while longer on the balcony, leaning with his arms crossed in front of him resting on the banister keeping the students from falling off the upper deck of the dorm before it came time for the students to make their way to class. Thinking for a moment about going down to breakfast, he quickly decided against it, not wanting to have to deal with some certain students he'd much rather put off seeing for right now. Taking leisurely strides down the path he headed towards Duel Academy, shooting glares at anyone who looked his way. A typical occurrence for the troubled youth, but today he just did not want to be bothered. But much to his dismay as he made his way to his seat, the kuriboh-haired Slifer Red that Chazz loathed more than anyone else in the school entered the class after no doubt helping himself Chazz's breakfast that he himself had opted out of eating that morning. He was closely trailed by his timid little bluenette counterpart as the two made their way to their seats by the aloof teen.
"Hey Chazz," The bluenette by the name of Syrus inquired as the two reached their seats in front of him, looking back at him with his ginormous and significantly adorable gray eyes "why weren't you at breakfast this morning?"
"Why do you care?" Chazz retorted bluntly, giving the marginally smaller boy a dirty look in response. "Besides, you're not even a Slifer anymore. We should be asking why you were there. Crashing in Jaden's room again?"
"Well it was my room once.." Syrus muttered quietly, not feeling the need to defend himself to Chazz. Besides, even though he was technically in Ra Yellow now, the Slifer dorm would always be like home in a way. Besides, that's where he would find Jaden most of the time anyway.
"Well hey, we're buddies aren't we?" Jaden asked, making light of the situation and tilting his head slightly before his signature dorky smile graced his face only serving to irritate Chazz exponentially further, "We're just lookin' out for you, dude."
"I didn't ask you to." Chazz scoffed, crossing his arms before turning his head away from the two boys "I can take care of myself, now lay off slacker."
"Well, fine then, I'll leave you alone." Jaden replied, "But you know if something's up, we're here." shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head slightly in response to Syrus' concerned glance back up at him before taking his seat next to his best friend. It was normal for Chazz to act so dismissive to the two friends, but it wasn't like him to miss a meal. Something the two had definitely took notice of during their time together, and even if it was normal it would still be worrying. But rather than push the subject and risk Chazz's wrath the two silently decided it would be better to let it alone for now. But they would act if they found it necessary in the coming days.
"So Sy, about that insane dream I had last night," Jaden began, leaning back in his chair as he looked up at the ceiling with a cheeky smile plastered on his face as he recounted the dream he had had the previous night. Somewhere between the inter dimensional political scandal of the kidnapping of Prince Syrus of the ninth dimension and Jaden's…completely unexpected victory in the battle to decide the fate of the entire multiverse, Chazz's mind wandered again, blocking out the conversation he would rather not be apart of. Not that the subject wasn't absolutely riveting, but Chazz honestly couldn't care less. Gaining insight into Jaden's subconscious wasn't exactly something he found to be entertaining or even interesting for that matter, never had been and probably never will be. He looked around the slowly filling classroom, his beautiful black eyes scanning every student as they took their seats around him. Each one smiled and chatted with a friend or two they had had sitting around them, preparing their things for the class ahead they all seemed to be having a fine morning. And in all honesty, Chazz was jealous. He was jealous of the carefree nature of the other students. Jealous of the way they most likely weren't used to living in constant fear of failure and being a disappointment. There wasn't pressure constantly holding and more often than naught pushing and pressing them down to the point they were lying on the floor in a cage of negative emotions unable to move for what felt like hours with no one to rescue them. Chazz scoffed at himself for thinking that way. His brothers were gone, they had cast him off after he lost to Jaden in the school duel their first year, and after he had defeated Slade and single handedly saved the school after the fact. He didn't have to worry about them anymore, he wouldn't have to worry about them ever again. But even so the wounds they had inflicted on him over the years had not yet faded away. In fact they still burned and stung just as potently as they had back then. Though the wounds weren't all physical, he still felt them all over his body.
"Just don't think about it." he told himself, taking out his notebook and placing it on the desk to distract himself even just a little from the pain he felt inside at all times. "You're fine, it'll pass on it's own just leave it alone." at least he hoped it would. Chazz hated the pain he held within himself, unable to let it go no matter how hard he tried. Of course that was normal for someone in his situation. A person can't just let go of the pain of being abused by their family for years and years overnight. Often times it would be an extremely lengthy and possibly more painful process. A process he was trying to push himself through on his own. After a few more moments of deep thought his concentration was broken by the sound of the bell signaling the beginning of class. Quickly glancing around him Chazz saw that the rest of Jaden's little posse had arrive without his notice. Blinking a few times in surprise he focused back up to see Dr. Crowler, everyone's equal parts favorite and least favorite professor, approach the teacher's podium at the front of the room, ready to address the students and begin their class. Having spent an extended amount of time in deep thought that day, Chazz's observational skills seemed significantly improved. Taking a look at the ever theatrical doctor, he never noticed how much he looked like a drag queen than anything else. It was weird to think about. Sure he got the jokes people made about him looking like a woman but he had never really paid too much attention to that kind of thing before. Granted he'd never exactly wanted to think about it before, and didn't quite intend to do it now for that matter.
"Chazz!"
Chazz blinked quickly, glancing around the room in haste as he was abruptly roused from his thoughts. Regaining his focus he realized it was Crowler who had called to him. Crowler stared back at him with a stern expression as he crossed his arms to indicate his slight frustration with the troubled youth.
"I asked you a question. Now pay attention!"
"Y-Yes, Dr. Crowler!" Chazz fired out, nodding quickly as he stood promptly at attention. The students around him snickered quietly to themselves at Chazz being called out in front of the entire class like that.
"Good. Now, as I was saying," Crowler sighed, shaking his head slightly before returning to the day's lesson "Chazz, can you tell me which monsters fuse to create the monster Ryu Senshi?"
"Spirit Ryu and Warrior Dai Grepher!" Chazz fired again, quickly answering to try an avoid being embarrassed in front of the class again. And especially in front of Jaden. The irritating brunette would never let him live it down and he knew it, so he hoped to simply just avoid the situation. Besides, he knew the answer so there was no point in taking the time to make it look like he was thinking about it.
"Ah yes, very good, Chazz." Crowler praised as Chazz took his seat once more, relieved that that horrible moment was behind him now "Now this monster's effect allows it's holder to negate the effect of an opponent's trap card at the cost of one thousand life points. And also to negate the effect of an opponent's magic card and destroy it." he explained, a slight smile appearing on his face as he witnessed the majority of the students listening and even taking notes for once, "Now as you can assume these effects can be very useful in a troublesome situation."
The class continued on as normal with Crowler explaining a multitude of dueling stratagems to the increasingly bored student body, which in a way was abnormal in itself for the titular group in relation to a certain Slifer Red. Though of course it was a welcome change from all of the word endangering antics they usually found themselves smack dab in the middle of. After class Jaden and his friends converged in the courtyard outside the entrance to the academy as they often did when they had the chance so that they could spend a good few peaceful moments together between world domination and or destruction plots. The sun rose high in the afternoon sky, the clouds had dispersed, leaving a flawless blue sky above the island. Jaden looked over his beloved friend group, smiling at their peaceful state, not having to worry about them being in any kind of life threatening danger as it seemed they were always in. Taking a seat on one of the many stone fixtures lining the walkway, Jaden layed down on his back in a very relaxed position, with his signature grin plastered all over his cheeky little face.
"Beautiful day today, isn't it?" He asked happily, glancing over at his precious friends. The smiles on their faces was something Jaden would always and had always cherished, especially for Syrus. Syrus was usually in a slump of some kind, or in a bad mood of some description and back in their first year, he would cry all the time and shy away from most everything due to his insecurities and anxieties. Which made each smiles from the little bluenette that much more special for everyone.
"It is nice, isn't it?" Alexis observed, looking up at the cloudless blue sky with a smile of her own, "It's not every day we get to enjoy a nice day like this around here without something crazy happening."
"You can say that again, sis!" Atticus proclaimed, throwing his arm around his dear little sister as he beamed with happiness. His gorgeous milk chocolate hair fluttering in the breeze, glittering as the sunshine was caught in his beautiful flowing locks. Atticus sparkled and glistened in the sunshine and his smile and laugh warmed the hearts of everyone around him, he truly was the most beautiful creature on the island. It made sense why pretty much all of the girls were in love with him. "Most beautiful day I think we've ever had!"
"Well son, seems like an ordinary sunny day to me. They're all the same when you think about it anyway." Hassleberry observed, shrugging his shoulders at Atticus' proclamation before offering a grin of his own to the older student, leaning back on the stone fixture Jaden was lying on.
"Did you see what was going on with Chazz this morning?" Syrus asked, looking up at the marginally taller students surrounding him. "I mean sure he's always been well...Chazz about pretty much everything, but I haven't seen him like that since his falling out with his brothers.."
"I know, Sy." Jaden agreed, nodding in response to the smaller boy "But he said to leave him alone, so shouldn't we? I mean, respecting his wishes and all that?"
"Perhaps, but I would keep an eye on him for the time being." Bastion examined, crossing his arms as he examined the situation as he understood it "Someone who's gone through what he has is bound to elicit this type of behavior at times. Chazz has quite the troubled past, and I'm sure he's been trying to cope with that for some time now."
"You think so, soldier?" Hassleberry asked, raising an eyebrow at the astute elder student. Bastion nodded in response to the group's youngest member. The friends stood in contemplation for a few quiet moments, concerned for the emotional and mental well being of their friend. It was completely unlike him to skip a meal on purpose or get distracted in class like he had. Or maybe it was and they just hadn't noticed? But with such a generally large friend group it seemed highly unlikely that none of them would notice odd behavior until now. But upon further contemplation, Jaden did recall their friend's behavior in the prior days. Not quite as drastic of a change from his regular self, but it did seem like they had seen less and less of Chazz recently, and he was quieter than usual, like he was overcome by deep thought all the time now. And thinking back on it now, he had noticed that since he came back to the academy, occasionally he would in fact skip meals like he had that morning, or lock himself in his dorm for long periods of time. And in all honesty, the thoughts he got in his head about Chazz now worried the young Slifer.
"I mean, Chazz has always been kind of a debby downer, but I agree, something's gotta be bothering him." Jaden observed, watching the sky fill itself with scattered clouds again just like that morning as he continued to think out loud to the group "I know, I know he did say to leave him alone and I agreed, you don't have to remind me. But if there's any way we can help him, then shouldn't we?" he turned to his friends, who had offered him their full attention as he posed his stance on the potential problem with Chazz, "I mean, we're his friends aren't we?"
"You've got a point there, Jaden.." Alexis agreed, thinking back herself on the past few days. And even she grew more concerned for Chazz as well. As a former Obelisk Blue Chazz took precedents in her mind. She would never admit it, but Alexis was extremely biased towards the Obelisk Blue dorm and students. "But what can we do? He doesn't want to be bothered."
"We'll figure something out, sis." Atticus responded, smiling gently and beautifully like always "Just leave it to me!"
"If we do that we'll never solve anything." Alexis sighed, shaking her head at her ever strange brother. He meant well, but Atticus didn't exactly have the...best ideas.
"Why don't we just hold an intervention? Get straight to the root of the problem?" Hassleberry asked, posing the idea to the group. It was a fine idea in theory, but considering the delicate nature of the issue as they assumed it was, in this case it probably wasn't the best.
"I'm not so sure about that." Bastion disagreed, pointing out the flaws in the idea, "If we all ganged up on him -so to speak- we would overwhelm him. And forcing him to speak to us would only serve to make things worse. He would conceal his feelings further as he already doesn't wish to be bothered about this. Which you obliged to Jaden."
"I know, I know." Jaden dismissed, waving off Bastion's statement. "I told you you didn't have to remind me."
"But..we have help somehow.." Syrus spoke up, his young and childish voice standing out among the group's quiet murmuring, "I can't say he'd do the same for us but.."
"I get it, Sy." Jaden said, hopping off of the stone fixture and walking over to the little bluenette, placing his hand gently on his small, slender shoulder. "We'll figure something out. I promise." Flashing his best friend a cheeky smile Syrus perked up a little. Offering his own adorable smile back up at Jaden. He and Chazz weren't the best of friends, but Syrus still wanted to help him get through his tough time. With experience with an emotionally abusive older brother he knew a thing or two about dealing with family problems. And seeing others go through them never felt good for poor Syrus. And with Jaden's help he was able to get through it all and even move past it, overcoming his problems with Zane, mostly. He had hoped that Jaden would be able to find some way to help Chazz in the same way.
"Okay." Syrus nodded, confident that Jaden would be able to find a way to help their friend. The others nodded in agreement around the two best friends. "I trust you, Jay." Syrus didn't see a reason not to. No matter what, Jaden had always come through for him and the others. No matter how tough things got, Jaden would always stay strong and help his friends when they were in a pinch. And Syrus was sure this time would be no different.
"I won't let you down, Sy." Jaden chuckled, patting his friend's shoulder gently, "I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I did?" smiling brightly for a moment, Jaden thought hard about Chazz's behavior since he returned from North Academy, and even what he could remember from before he left. He had definitely changed since they first entered the academy. And certainly not a change for the better in every way, sure he was nicer to them now by a margin, but that wasn't everything and they all knew that. And of course they did worry about their friend, any good person would.
"Why don't you just go talk to him, Jaden?" Alexis asked, shrugging her shoulders in intrigue, honestly slightly doubting her own suggestion would work for them, after all this was Chazz they were dealing with.
"You think that'll work, Lex?" Hassleberry asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Sure the thought had crossed his mind too, but knowing Chazz even for as little as he had in comparison to the others, even he doubted it would garner much success. At least not right away that is.
"Well you know Jaden." Alexis explained "He won't let up until he gets something out of him."
"Geez, way to make me look like the bad guy, Lex." Jaden protested, crossing his arms with a sigh. Of course she did have a point, he did have a tendency to be a bit pushy with people. Thinking back he was surprised at himself for letting the subject go so quickly that morning. Normally he would probably end up pestering Chazz until he got a proper answer out of him, but in all honesty he wondered if it was better that he let it go when he did. Jaden had a feeling that pushing the subject would only serve to harm Chazz rather than help him. "But I guess you do have a point. I guess I could try, but I can't promise anything."
"Well of course not." Bastion responded, shaking his head at the brunette "In fact I'd be surprised if you got him to say anything to you at all."
"Good luck, Jaden." Atticus said, smiling confidently, ever optimistic as usual that everything would be okay. Some would say that was a major flaw in his personality, he was positive in almost every situation. Which wasn't necessarily bad, but also wasn't necessarily the best either.
"Yeah, I'll see what I can do." Jaden nodded, turning away from the titular group, raising his hand in a quick wave before he headed in the direction of the Slifer dorm. Needless to say he had a pretty good idea of where Chazz was now, his dorm really did seem the most logical place he would go. Especially after class that morning. Anyone would want to be alone after that. Strolling leisurely down the pathway to the Slifer dorm Jaden thought hard about what he was going to say to Chazz. Bastion was right, they were sure whatever was bothering Chazz was a very personal matter, so Jaden had to be very careful about what he said, especially since he had no idea what the actual problem was. It was going to be a difficult situation for sure..