A/N: Hello people of the Internet! If you're reading this right now, I assume it was because the summary caught your eye or because I told you about this story. Well I, like pretty much the entire fandom, am extremely disappointed by the trainwreck this show has become at the very end. I particularly hate the last eight episodes of this show—they had too many ideas to animate and too much closure to give in just those eight episodes. I'm not saying I hate everything about those episodes though (Dennis vs. Yuya was amazing and aside from Yuya blatantly cheating I also enjoyed Reiji vs. Yuya), but of course the ending was rushed and many, many things were left unexplained.

This story is going to attempt to fix all of the problems I have with this last arc of the show while also trying to keep what I thought it could have pulled off with the set-up of "Everyone in Standard/Pendulum has forgotten about the other Dimensions". This is all you need to know at the moment; the other details of this AU will be slowly revealed as the story progresses.

By the way, this specific chapter is just a prologue and provides some extremely necessary background for what's to come in a few chapters. So yeah, this story is opening with Reiji instead of Yuya.

Alright, without further adieu… I give you all Re;ARC!

For the umpteenth night in a row, Akaba Reiji finds himself unable to sleep. It's been a problem since the second or third night of insomnia, but he hasn't been able to tell his parents about it; he doesn't want to burden either of them with this, they're busy enough as it is with their jobs. His solution to get some level of sleep in previous nights—pace around his room until he exhausted himself—doesn't seem to be working tonight. He simply can't ignore the feeling that something is wrong. His own bedroom is inexplicably uncomfortable and unfamiliar and it leaves him frustrated because he doesn't know why.

Reiji unceremoniously falls onto his bed, staring out the window that made up one of the walls in his room. Maiami City looks as lively as ever, if not more so than during the day, with all the neon signs in full view. The sight at least brings some comfort and familiarity to him; after all, he's been raised here in LDS Tower, almost always having a bird's-eye view of the city from different perspectives. He just wishes he knew why the city is familiar, but his own room isn't.

Sighing, the sixteen-year-old decides that he's simply not getting any sleep that night, and that he should use this time to do something productive. What, then, is the question, and in his drowsiness, he can't think of any work he needs to get done.

Perhaps a walk will do me good, Reiji ponders as he puts on his glasses. The fresh air might even let me go to sleep.

But rather than wander to the roof of LDS Tower or all the way to the street in order to take a short walk around the city, he soon finds himself staring at the entrance to his father's office. He doesn't even remember walking this far—his father's office is a good dozen floors down from the Akaba residence. Reiji rubs the side of his head; he's been here, many times, because his father is grooming him to be the next CEO of the Leo Corporation, but right now in the dark, it feels… different somehow.

…This was a waste of time, Reiji decides. All I've succeeded in doing is giving myself a headache.

He turns to leave, but almost immediately stops and looks back at the door. He knows he should just go back to bed, yet he feels something drawing him to his father's office.

A few moments later and Reiji is sitting at his father's desk and for the first time in several weeks, everything feels… right. He's never actually sat in this chair before—it's not his yet—but he still feels like he has. Many, many times over, in fact; this small office space feels more like home than his own bedroom… but why? Why is the question he needs answered and he just can't think of what that answer could be…

…

…

…

"…What are you doing in here?"

The purple-eyed teen jolts awake at the sudden voice, the movement causing him to hit the desk with his knee and tilt it for a second—long enough to knock several pencils and part of a stack of paper off the desk. Reiji adjusts his glasses, rubbing his now-sore leg, and looks up at his father, who is holding a fresh cup of coffee. "F-Father! I was just—" No, there's really no excuse for this. "—My apologies. I was unable to sleep and wandered here. I must have drifted off after I sat in your chair. I'll—clean up the mess I made."

He walks around the desk to do just that, but his father rushes forward and grabs the papers before Reiji can. The teen sees something that says "Arc-V?" and "Rei? Ray?" scrawled on the top sheet in his father's handwriting before the papers are out of sight, tucked into Leo's coat. Reiji frowns—just what is his father hiding?—and places the pencils on the desk. "Father, is something wrong?"

"…Yes," Leo hesitantly answers, "but I'm not sure what it is yet, so it's best if you forget this happened and go back to your room, Reiji."

Not sure what it is…? Reiji purses his lips, a hand on the bridge of his glasses. That sounds just like… "Before I go, I have one question. You say you've felt something is wrong, but you're not sure what it is. How… how long have you been feeling this way?"

"Several weeks now, I suppose." Leo narrows his eyes at his son. "Why, do you think you know something?"

"Several weeks… that's the same time…" Reiji lowers his hand from his face, his gaze focused on the floor. "I've also felt a misplaced sense of something… off, for the past several weeks, just like you. It has left me uncomfortable in my own bedroom and… admittedly…" He looks up at his father. "That feeling is at its worst when I'm around you…"

"…I see…"

"I mean no offense, Father," Reiji hastily adds. "I truly have no idea why I feel this way. I suppose you don't either?"

Leo shakes his head, pressing a hand to the side of it—opposite the metal plate—and sighs. "No, not in the slightest. I suppose those dreams might have something to do with it, but…"

"Dreams?"

Leo looks up almost startled; he must not have realized he said that out loud. But it's in the open now, so there's no way he can hide it. "I… I'm not sure about the contents of those dreams; I forget about them almost completely when I wake up. Except… there's always a word, or a name, that lingers from them." He pulls out that first sheet of paper that Reiji had caught a glimpse of. More words cover it—and they all sound vaguely familiar."

"Arc-V… Rei/Ray… Revival Zero… Bracelets… Zarc… Academia… Dimension…" Reiji looks up at his father; he doesn't need to read anymore, just reading those first few parts are giving him a migraine. "F-Father, these words… I think I know them too. But…" A hand goes to his glasses again. "I don't…"

"Don't force yourself, son. You don't need to give yourself a headache thinking about this." Leo takes the paper back, returning it to inside his coat. "After all, you have a tournament to oversee in the morning. You should get some rest; we can talk more after the tournament is over."

"Y-Yes, of course." He goes to leave, but stops at the door and looks back; his father is looking out the window, a hand on the glass, as though he's trying to grab hold of something just out of reach. A feeling he can sympathize with. "Good… good night, Father."

"…Good night, Reiji."

A/N: If anyone cares to know why it's written as "Rei/Ray", it's because Leo doesn't know if the word he's thinking of is a reference to the "Rei" in Reiji and Reira or if it's something else. It's obviously not going to be as easy for the cast to remember everything like it was in the show.

Anyways, I hope that you've all enjoyed this first chapter. Please leave a review telling me what you thought!

(I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.)