It was always like this.
A problem would occur and someone would have to solve it. It was the premise of many a show that Yusei had watched as a child whenever they could find a working television set. Sometimes the problem would be something silly and they'd fix it by the end of the episode, other times it was an epic adventure with the problem in the form of a villain and a hero would rise up and save the day, solving the problem for good.
Yusei sighed as he flipped lazily through the channels on Blister's TV. Pictures kept flashing in mute as he tried in vain to find something of interest. A fearful man with a gun pointed reluctantly at his foe, a woman holding her newborn baby, another duel tournament held somewhere extravagant. It was always the same nowadays. Every good plot had been used already.
"Hey Yusei!" Leo called rather quietly as he climbed off the couch that was his makeshift bed. "Can I watch TV with you? I can't get to sleep…"
"Sure." Yusei had a small smile on his face as he handed the remote to the usually energetic young boy. "Watch whatever you want, there's nothing on for me right now anyways."
Leo took the remote happily and flipped the channel to a cartoon.
Yusei looked at the moving pictures on the set and sighed inwardly. He never thought his life would suddenly become like one of those plots. The Dark Signers, the Crimson Dragon, Jack Atlas' dramatic betrayal, his not-so-great childhood. Coming from the thoughts of his childish self, he should've realized his life would become a type of soap opera.
Just like a TV show.
Leo quickly fell asleep during the advertisements and Yusei laid a blanket over him.
It wasn't just him that was a part of this conspiracy though; Luna was in it too, with Leo tagging along. Akiza, with her past and everything that has happened to her has the mark too. And Jack, who betrayed them all and came back, even if only to solve the problem and leave again anyways.
"Are you worrying about all of this?" Tanner asked from his seat on the couch. "The Crimson Dragon and whatever you saw in that light?"
"Yeah, sort of." Yusei said quietly, careful not to wake the twins or Yanagi.
Tanner smirked. "Well, it's every child's dream to be a hero." He said optimistically.
"That's what I was afraid of." Yusei grimaced.
"Of course you are. So is Luna." Tanner reasoned.
"But she's a child, she's allowed to be afraid." Yusei replied.
"And you aren't?"
"If I'm afraid, she'll get even more anxious." Yusei clarified. "If I fall apart, she breaks too."
And it was true. If Yusei showed even one sign of doubt, then Luna would be twice as scared. She never asked for any of this to be put on her shoulders. She was a kid, not an adult. She wasn't supposed to take on any crazy responsibilities, especially not something like saving the world as we know it.
"I'll… protect you…" Leo mumbled in his sleep, shifting slightly.
Yusei smiled. "Well, she'll break, but not if Leo can help it."
"If you say so. But just remember that you don't always need to be so put together. If you need time alone to sort this dragon stuff out, then you go. Luna doesn't have to see you worrying if you don't want her to." Tanner assured him.
Yusei sighed. "Alright, thanks Tanner."
Tanner smirked. "No problem. You should probably get some sleep."
"Yeah…"
Yusei closed his eyes, still sitting on the two-seater couch in front of the TV. It wasn't comfortable, but the arrangements weren't as bad as some of the arrangements he'd seen on TV. At least that aspect wasn't the same. Of all the things that were though, the drama and action remained. The predictable plot of people coming after him causing him trouble stayed too. It was irritating, but there was nothing else he could do to get answers. Goodwin wasn't much help, as he was as secretive as possible. Yusei had always thought that Goodwin was the villain, the bad guy, but a new foe arrived in a black cloak and negative energy cards.
Suddenly Yusei didn't know what to think of any of them.
He didn't trust Goodwin, he didn't like any of the Dark Signers, and he sure didn't want to be responsible for protecting the Satellite, but now he couldn't help the fact that he was one of the chosen people for the job. Luna wasn't one for stress and she didn't even fully understand what was going on. Akiza disappeared, Yusei hadn't seen her since the tournament, but she was probably mystified by the cursed mark on her arm and what she was to do.
And Jack wanted to do it all himself.
The so-called adventure was more like a closed-in sprint. Always running, always ending up face-to-face with what you were running from. Or maybe he was chasing something, getting within grasp of it, and then losing it just as quickly. A circle, just like the sign of the Crimson Dragon. A circle, the kind you'd never want to be stuck inside of.
Running in circles would get him nowhere, but if Yusei had to play 'Hero' then he'd just have to break the cycle. Running, chasing, dueling for answers and coming out with everything he already knew in the first place.
Like a TV show, it was frustrating to watch the hero come up short every time. Being the hero himself this time only caused it to further annoy him that he couldn't do anything but continue doing what he was doing, no matter how unfruitful it might be.
"Everything will be fine. My friends aren't under the control of Goodwin anymore. All I have to do is defeat the Dark Signers." Yusei muttered softly to himself. "Easier said than done…"
It was always like this.
A problem would occur and someone would have to solve it. It was the premise of many a show that Yusei had watched as a child whenever they could find a working television set. Sometimes the problem would be something silly and they'd fix it by the end of the episode, other times it was an epic adventure with the problem in the form of a villain and a hero would rise up and save the day, solving the problem for good.
Yusei just never thought he'd have to play 'Hero'.
Thanks for reading :D I hope you liked this, I recently got back into the swing of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5DS and needed to write a fanfic for it. I'm caught up to about episode 29 or 30 at the moment, and just based this off of the night he comes back from his first duel with a Dark Signer.
Reviews make me happy!! *hinthint*