Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Author: Higuchimon
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Series Title: The King's Champion||Story Title: Growing Up Isn't Easy
Characters: Juudai, Yubel, Brron (implied)
Word Count: 500||Status: One-shot
Genre: Drama||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, A77, write about an enmity; GX Flash Bingo, #153, scars
Challenge Location: Diversity Writing Challenge & GX Flash Bingo located at Duel Monsters Writing Academy Forum on .
Notes: This story contains mention of a person roughly between 10 and 12 years old having been beaten as a punishment (or so the one who did it would call it).
Summary: Growing up as some kind of strange cross between Brron's prisoner, servant, and quasi-adopted offspring doesn't make Juudai's life one bit easier. It's all fodder for the revenge he and Yubel will one day take, however.


How did this keep happening? How did Brron keep hurting him and Yubel couldn't get out of these chains to stop it?

It wouldn't last forever; Yubel would see to it personally. The very thought of everything Brron did to Juudai sent the strength of rage surging through Yubel's veins. Unfortunately, the chains that prevented the escape Yubel so wished to make were as impervious to anger as they were to every other attempt made over the last two years.

There were occasional moments when Brron had Yubel unbound and time could be spent with Juudai in relative privacy. But making escape attempts then would not be wise at all. While no one stared directly at them while Yubel and Juudai spent quiet time together, guards remained close enough that if either of them tried anything, it would not end well.

But Yubel could still see the marks on Juudai from Brron's brutal 'tutoring'. Bruises and scrapes, injuries, wounds of various kinds.

"He didn't do those," Juudai said, his gaze following that of his guardian. "I fell out of a tree yesterday."

Yubel traced one clawed finger over the marks on his neck and side. "What were you doing in a tree in the first place?" He didn't have any reason to be in a tree, none that Yubel could think of at least.

"Lessons in keeping watch." Juudai made a face at that. "Boring. All I had to do was sit there and make sure I saw anyone who was coming."

And knowing Juudai, he'd gotten bored and wriggled around and ended up falling. The ground of Dark World, especially around Brron's fortress, wasn't any more soft or forgiving than the rest of the place. He'd been lucky that he didn't actually break anything.

Then Yubel traced another half dozen welts, fresher than the others, and gave Juudai a very stern look. "And this?" Someone else might not have noticed the slight difference in age, but Yubel noticed everything about Juudai and anything that happened to him. Just because Yubel couldn't stay by his side as intended didn't mean Yubel didn't watch him at all.

Juudai ducked his head. "That was Brron. For falling out of the tree and failing the lesson. I'm supposed to watch better next time."

Yubel examined the welts; they would heal soon, but that meant little in the larger scheme of things. No one brought harm to Juudai like this, or at all.

"We are going to kill him one day," Yubel promised Juudai. He offered a smile.

"I know we are."

They'd agreed on this for years. All that remained was for Juudai to get strong and skilled enough to pull it off. Both of them figured that Brron knew their plans. How could he do this and not understand how much they'd want to kill him?

But the strike would still come when he didn't expect it and couldn't fight back and Yubel looked forward to avenging Juudai's wounds on Brron's body.

The End

Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.