Yu-gi-oh! GX
Lost Blue-Eyed Child
Chapter 6: Closing the Case
It was a slow morning after Asuka woke up to her alarm clock. Since they had spent so much time with the police the night before, she couldn't get as much sleep as she would have liked. She was on her side turned away from Judai, but his limbs were tangled around hers and he refused to wake so she could at least turn off the alarm clock quickly. He was never much of a morning person and alarms had little effect on him.
Asuka moved her husband's arms before she could reach the clock. She stared at the time and sighed. It was going to be a long day.
"Morning already?" Judai muttered into his pillow as he reached over her again and drew closer to her warmth. Asuka knew he hadn't even opened his eyes yet to see for himself.
"You should sleep a little while longer, but not too long okay?" Asuka told him as she slid out bed. He simply rolled to the middle the bed and into the covers. "Did you hear me, Judai?"
"…Yeah," he finally answered. "Have a good day."
When Judai opened his eyes again, at least an hour had passed. He sat up and stretched and remembered what he was supposed to be doing today. When he realized Asuka already left for work, he knew he didn't get to make them an all American breakfast like he said he would. He would make it up to her and make it another day. Maybe tomorrow if he actually gets to go to sleep at a normal time tonight and weird stuff doesn't happen. Even if he couldn't make his wife breakfast liked he planned, we still had his self and another he could cook for.
"There wasn't anything else weird last night, right Yubel?" he asked the spirit.
"I sensed no danger or other spiritual activity for the rest of night, Judai," she told him.
"Well, that's good at least," Judai said as he got up. "What kind of tea should we have?"
Judai went about his morning and had breakfast on the table by the time the young girl came out of the guest room. He spoke to her as usual, and she remained silent. She didn't have to say anything. He could clearly read a change in her eyes and body language. She was surely more comfortable around him and Hane Kuriboh, who sat on the table near her. However, she seemed to have little energy this morning. It must have been a hard night on her too.
As they ate, he flipped through the latest issue of Duel Magazine. His phone received a message so he stopped to look at it and found it was from O'Brian.
'The people you encountered last night must be the remaining members of a trapping faction you already apprehended most of. They usually focused on rare cards with high black market value, but lately they have been seeking spirits hoping to become stronger and have more value.'
Judai thought about it. He hadn't run into members of that group in a while and had thought they were gone by now. If the remaining members shifted their focus, they are certainly posing a larger threat if they are attacking women and children to use in their so-called plan. There was definitely something about this blue-eyed girl. He knew that much. She could see spirits and she had an unusually calm demeanor.
He wanted to know more about her, but he was going to focus on getting her home and safe with this little information to go on. It's all he could do for her, besides one other thing.
"Hey, Hane Kuriboh, how about you play with her for a little while?" Judai suggested. "I am going to clean up and get ready to head out."
The little spirit agreed and it was long before Judai heard the girl's laughter and the winged spirit's chirps as they played in the living area while he washed the dishes. As he dried them and began putting them away, he kept an eye on the other two. He wondered if it would be like this with his own kids someday. Would they be able to see spirits like him too?
"Any child of yours will surely inherit your ability, Judai," Yubel interjected his thoughts.
"Hm," he shrugged. He knew Yubel didn't actually know that for sure. It was a bit of a mystery how children developed this ability. Little data has been collected and even less research conducted on the matter.
There was a knock at the door so Judai got it open with a little bit of effort. He wondered how Asuka got it closed when he left. The whole thing was barely staying on properly.
Judai found the complex's maintenance employee on the other side. "Got a request this morning about fixing the door," he said.
"Yeah thanks," Judai said. Asuka must have put the request in before she left.
He looked over it for just a few seconds. "I think I'll just take this one off and put a new one on, new hinges, and switch over the lock, is that okay?"
"Sure, that's fine," Judai nodded.
Overall it was a quick job from Judai's observation. If he ever bought a house of his own, he might have to learn how to do this himself. There were services he could use, but the front door is something that should be taken care of as soon as possible.
After checking to make sure the lock worked properly, they were ready to head out. Judai decided to take the girl up town a little where some more apartment complexes were located to see if any were hers. She didn't seem to recognize any of them. The whole trip took a little over an hour, so he decided to stop for a drink and rest. He got a juice for each of them and sat on a bench as he thought about where to head next. At this rate, he could just follow the wind like he used to when he wandered the globe. It was great when searching for general locations, not really specifics, but maybe it would get him a little closer to their unknown destination.
"I'm not sure where we are headed now, are you okay to keep going?" Judai asked the girl. She simply nodded. He really hoped she understood him and wasn't just nodding when she thought she should.
As they ventured along various pathways through the city, he found himself taking shortcuts he didn't know existed. The wind was showing him a path to follow. While thankful for this, he wished he knew what to prepare for. Sometimes he was led into some really tough situations. Other times he would find someone who simply needed his help.
He was only slightly surprised when he found himself at the entrance of a well-known theme park. "This is Kaiba Land," he said to the girl. Another poster of Yugi Mouto and Jonouchi Katsuya was posted up nearby and some teenagers were looking at it.
The park was seldom packed full on Mondays, so he and the girl were able to enter without waiting in any lines at all. That didn't mean there weren't any crowds. On the contrary, there appeared to be at least a couple of school groups and many other people with smaller children. Everyone else appeared to be young adults that had the day off. Kaiba Land was a popular date location for many couples as well. Even Judai had accompanied Asuka here a few times when they started dating.
There were games, rides, shops, arcades, and food everywhere in the theme park. Not to mention dueling arenas open to the public. Coming here always brought back lots of memories for Judai. Many good, but some were not so good.
"So what do you think?" Judai asked the little girl next to him. He could sense he was here for a reason. She looked up at him with bright blue eyes and smiled. At least she was happy. Many children loved the idea of theme parks.
As they idly walked, he noticed they were heading for the open dueling arenas. They walked in and saw a few duels already in progress. This always perked Judai's interest and he went to check them out.
Two young women were dueling for fun at one arena. They were obviously friends having a single match duel for practice. One was using a wind element themed deck with winged-beast monsters. The other woman was using a magician deck. Normally magicians had the upper hand with a little bit of luck to get the right combos of magic and trap cards out, but it appeared she was struggling with her luck in this duel as her life points were currently much lower and she just played a monster card in defense mode to protect those remaining life points.
His eyes turned to the next dueling pair. They appeared to be a couple on a date. The male youth was using a water themed deck and the female youth was using a light attribute deck of thunder monsters. They appeared to be equally matched in skill, but also seemed to be having fun.
The last group seemed to be practicing. Two men were dueling there. Judai's eyes widened when he actually looked at them. He pulled out his phone, took a picture and sent off a message.
Then he waited with a smirk. The girl was hiding behind his legs and holding onto his dark red outer coat as he watched the men. It wasn't long before they took notice of him as well. He was counting on it.
"Y-you!" One of the men pointed at Judai, the same one pulling the strings of a Lesser Fiend monster spirit.
Judai waved casually. "We meet again, are you ready to settle the score?"
"Why you…"
Judai readied his deck. "Maybe a wager? If you win, you'll get what you want."
"Taka, you should…"
I can't let this other guy just sneak up behind us during my duel with this 'Taka' guy, but I think I have an idea.
"Since I am a professional duelist, how about I make things I little more fair? This will be a three sided duel, but with the two of you against me." Judai had seen a number of two-on-one duels, but he didn't participate in them much. Not only were the more complicated, they were also risky.
Taka glared and looked around. "Don't mess this up, Kiba," he said. "Get over here."
As the two got into position, Judai knelt down to speak to the blue-eyed girl privately. "You don't have anything to worry about, I promise I'll beat them, but until then, I need you to stand behind that white line over there, okay?" Judai pointed to the sidelines. A duel couldn't, or wouldn't continue if anyone not participating was inside the boundaries due to somewhat recent safety regulations.
The girl went over to where he was pointing as he activated his duel disk. Three-sided duels meant that each player took their first turn before any attacks could be called. Not that Judai was worried about that. He found Winged Kuriboh in his hand on the first draw.
He read the display on his duel disk and saw that he was selected as the first move. "Alright, let's get this started. I place two cards face down and then I summon E-Hero Burst Lady [1200/800] in attack mode, your move."
Kiba was next and he looked over at his cards hesitantly before looking towards his partner. "I place a monster in defense position and end my turn."
Taka was next. "I summon Dark Elf [2000/800] in attack position, place one card face down, and end my turn."
Judai eyed the face down card before drawing a card from his deck. "I activate the spell card, Fusion, to combine Burst Lady with Featherman from my hand to call forth, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman [2100/1200]."
"Taka, this guy is the real thing, I told you!" Kiba shouted.
"Shut it, we can still win this, it's two against one and he's overconfident," Taka snapped back.
Judai heard that last comment about him and wondered if he really seemed overconfident. He thought he was just way more experienced and comfortable. There have plenty been of way harder situations and duels he has faced over the years. No one was even being threatened to be burned to death, or eaten my angry spirits, or to fall off a cliff and into the ocean.
"Wingman, attack that Dark Elf!" Judai declared.
"Reverse card, open!" Taka called out. "Negate Attack." He saved his monster by cancelling the attack.
Judai nearly shrugged, but looked at his cards instead for what to do for his second main phase. He could end his turn now, but since he special summoned this turn, he could still normal summon. Not to mention he could set cards facedown for later. He already had two facedown cards though. If either one of his opponents managed to pull out a card that removes all spells and traps from the field, then it would he all for nothing to place any additional ones now. There was also the possibly that he would have to get rid of his hand over their next turns.
"Alright, nice one," Judai began. "I place a monster in facedown defense mode and end my turn." One powerful fusion monster, a mysterious facedown monster, and two set cards put him in a very good position.
Now it was Kiba's turn again. "I sacrifice my facedown monster to tribute summon Ryu Kokki [2400/2000]." It was an ugly monster with an ugly effect. Luckily, its effect wouldn't do much against Judai's deck, however, that was a lot of attack points to worry about. "And I attack!"
Judai smirked. "Reverse card, open!" The card flipped to reveal a trap card. "Hero Barrier!" It negated the attack and protected his hero monster.
Taka drew his card and look at his hand. "I play the spell, Tremendous Fire, to deal one-thousand points of direct damage to you, while we take five-hundred."
The entire field lit up with flames before quickly dispersing. Judai could feel some serious heat as his life points dropped from four-thousand to three-thousand.
"Now I equip my Dark Elf with Black Pendant, to increase her attack power by five-hundred, and then I attack that Wingman!"
Judai knew about that one and its nasty effect when it's destroyed. He wasn't going to let that elf take out his Hero. "I activate my remaining trap, Hero's Guard, instead of sending my monster to the graveyard, this card goes instead and the battle damage I would have taken is cut in half by removing one Hero already in my grave from play."
Taka looked ready to throw this duel disk to the ground in frustration. He was so sure he got the upper hand. Now that it was Judai's turn again, he knew things were not going to work in their favor on this one.
"That's it, I'm not putting up with this," Taka said suddenly and ran from his spot on the duel arena.
"Taka? Wait!" Kiba call after him. "What are you doing?"
"Bending the rules," Taka glared as he bolted for the girl.
Judai frowned, seeing what was happening. Yubel on the other hand, was furious.
"How dare that lowlife!" Yubel shrieked vehemently.
At first, he didn't even notice his legs were moving, let alone how fast. It wasn't until his fist collided with the other's abdomen did he realize he had moved in front of the girl and stopped that man from snatching her before even she realized what was going on. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Judai knew this confrontation would look interesting on the security footage.
The man fell to his knees with the wind knocked out of him. Judai was surprised by the force he had put into the blow. Yubel was suggesting they do more to the man, but there were other footsteps running towards them. Judai looked over to find it was Kaiba Land security.
Then Judai learned there was actually a holding room inside Kaiba Land. It was simple, just a room with some chairs and a big window to an office area with a desk. There was another waiting area just outside the office. The mute girl was asked to wait there until they could get in contact with her mother, a matter Judai remained silent on and he was certain the girl would too.
Judai and the two men were separated, each sitting on opposite sides of the room. Their duel disks were on the desk beyond the glass in the other room. There was not anyone else present as Judai sat with his legs stretched out and his hands behind his head. He looked relaxed, even though he was anxious about the scolding he would surely receive from his wife after this. Security, police, lawyers, and the like were all things he could deal with, but his wife was the only one that could banish him to sleep on the couch if she got mad at him. Not knowing if this situation would make her mad made him anxious.
Given enough time and energy, he and Yubel could escape this place. He knew that wouldn't be one of his brightest ideas as it could land him in even more trouble. There was also the girl he had to worry about since he couldn't just leave her behind. He just had to wait until he could call his wife. There was no way he was going to bother her at the academy to tell her he was in a holding room inside a theme park. The Marufuji brothers might be in the city, but Judai didn't want to bother them with this either. They were busy with an upcoming event by now anyway if he remembered correctly.
"Why do you interfere?"
Judai looked up to find Taka speaking to him. "I ask myself the same question often," Judai sighed.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"You really want to know my story, huh?" Judai closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "The simple way of putting is that I'm like a spiritual guidance counselor, all those tournaments and stuff is my day job, but the rest of the time, I'm helping whoever I can connect with the spirits attached to them. It's not always easy. Spirits need help sometimes too. Sometimes they find me, or I find them, and then there are groups like yours that cause problems for everyone. I have to interfere, because it's what I'm here for."
"Sounds like a waste," Taka grumbled.
Judai chuckled. "Look kids, I've done more than my fair share of dark things," he opened his eyes, showing them his harsh gold orbs. He closed them again and leaned back. "I thought nothing could get between me and my goals, I did anything to reach it, and I was wrong. Nothing can take back what I did."
"Repenting?" Kiba asked.
Judai simply shook his head.
"Then what?"
"It's…" Judai blinked as he thought about it. "Complicated." Kiba looked disappointed and seemed to actually be interested in what Judai had to say, while Taka scowled at the wall. "When you're ready to step through a different door in life, just knock on mine, all I ask is that you don't knock it down again." With that Judai stood back up and looked out the window and at his duel disk. He still thought that being closed up in here was a bit drastic. Security wasn't kidding about having zero-tolerance towards acts of violence.
Looking at the clock, he could tell that the schools were being let out soon. He would call Asuka's mobile phone shortly. Until then, he had to learn one more thing.
"Why are you after the kid?" Judai asked suddenly. "What does she have that you want so badly?" He was sure he knew the answer, but wanted to hear it.
"It's not what she has, it's what her family has." That was nowhere near the near the answer Judai was expecting.
"So you're not after her because of her ability?" Judai asked.
Taka snorted. "I'm after something much rarer."
"Tell me."
The door opened and a man walked in. "Mr. Yuki, we have received orders from the top to let you continue on your way, you may leave immediately."
"What?" Judai was confused as the door was opened for him. "The top? Does that mean Seto Kaiba?"
"Mr. Kaiba is on business in America right now, Mokuba Kaiba is in charge until he returns."
"So I'm not in trouble?"
"Mr. Kaiba heard your name and took one look at the security footage before giving the order, not that he needed to, because everything was caught on camera, we know what happened and you are not at fault in this situation. Please leave now."
Judai felt like he was practically pushed out the door with his duel disk and found the girl waiting for him. She looked happy to see him and ran up to him. "Ah, sorry, sorry, I made you wait a long time, didn't I?"
She nodded.
"Did you talk to anyone while I was in there?"
She shook her head.
"I should've guessed," he sighed. "You were being a good girl right?" She nodded happily and he smiled. "Well let's get you back, Asuka will worry if we're gone too long."
As they left Kaiba Land, Judai noticed right away that security was keeping a close eye on him. He knew they were probably told to make sure he left without another confrontation. It was kind of creepy.
"Looks like we should make it home in time to meet Asuka when she gets back, but we'll have to hurry," Judai looked down at the girl and saw her rubbing her eyes. He thought she was crying at first, but quickly realized she had yawned. "Tired, huh?" It was an exciting day with a lot of walking around. Judai kneeled down to her. "I can carry you if you want," he offered as she rubbed her eye.
Soon she was situated on his back and he continued on his way. The walk back from here would be quite long, but he knew of a good place to get a taxi if walked at least a little ways and towards the tourist hotels. On the way, Judai prepared a mental list of things to do when he arrived home. First was to update O'Brian on the perpetrators. They had more than enough information on them now. O'Brian would take over the case and make sure those guys were put away and possibly receive any therapy they might need, which Judai suspected those two would. Judai understood being locked up for their crimes might be rough for them, but they had made their decisions themselves, no matter the reasons.
Asuka was just getting out of her car when Judai approached the complex sometime later. "Asuka," he got her attention so they could go upstairs together.
"She must have been tired," Asuka observed the now sleeping child on his back.
"It was a long day," he grinned sheepishly.
"What happened?" She saw right through him.
"Eh, well the search was going normal for a while and then when Hane Kuriboh took us to Kaiba Land, we ran into those guys from last night, they pulled a dirty trick, so I sent one of them to the floor, and then we all had to wait with security until I was released when the security camera footage was checked."
Asuka rested her forehead in his hand, "Judai…"
"Are you mad?"
"I should have known something like this would happen, it always does," she sighed exasperated and continued on her way.
He was relieved he wasn't in trouble. As long as he wasn't banished to the couch tonight, he was prepared to accept any scolding she had for him. "Hey, I don't typically use physical violence, but I had to stop him…"
"I know, I know," she laughed softly. "I meant that I knew you would find trouble, or that it would find you," she winked. Judai grinned at that.
"You knew what you were getting yourself into when you married me," he teased as she opened the door.
"Oh believe me, I was prepared for a lot worse…" she smiled. "But I promised to support you..." she added with a forced but only slight exasperated expression, which she couldn't hold and went back to smiling.
"We're in this together, no matter what crazy mess I bring home, right?" They both laughed as Judai sat down on the couch to put the girl down. She had fallen asleep already, and simply leaned over to lie down comfortably to continue sleeping. He got back up and stretched his back and arms while Asuka checked her phone messages.
"Oh?" she said aloud.
"What is it?" Judai inquired.
"Someone came forward to claim her," she said. "I wasn't given specifics, but since a family member might have identified her, they still need to get into contact with her parents to confirm it before she's sent home with anyone, which if everything goes smoothly and there are not any problems, they are hoping for tomorrow morning."
"So that's it then?" Judai tilted his head.
"We will see for sure tomorrow."
Judai agreed. Then even though he was ready to head to bed from being so tired already, he made his phone calls and then helped get dinner started. This could be the last night the mysterious child would take refuge in their home, so they decided they would make it a good last night. Given the circumstances of her visit, they agreed they should do what they could to make her stay pleasant.
The mute girl woke up and turned on the TV. The channel was still set to cartoons from the previous night. Judai made fried rice while Asuka prepared the main dish.
After dinner, they played until they got tired again. Asuka put the girl to bed in the guest room, hopefully for the last time and then got ready to join Judai in their own bed. He had let out a big yawn as he hugged her pillow when she was about to get under the covers.
"Judai, I need that…" she said with her hand on her hip.
"But I'm so comfy," he smiled with his eyes closed.
"Judai…" she warned.
He let go of her pillow and she put it back in its place and propped it up so she could sit with her e-reader for a sort while. She had turned her lamp to the lower of two settings and began to read while Judai moved to rest on his back.
Judai saw his phone flash so he reached over to pick it up to see what was going on. He received a picture message from Manjome, so he opened it. "Looks like Thunder's kid was finally born," Judai smiled as he lifted the phone to show Asuka.
"Aww," she smiled as she looked at the picture with the caption simply stating it was a boy. They knew the message was sent to just about everyone. "I'm happy for them," she said.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"She was coming up on two weeks late, so I heard he's been a nervous mess about the whole thing for over a month as the due date came up and more so when it passed," Asuka said.
Judai chuckled as he replied with his and Asuka's congratulations message. Then he put his phone face down on the end table so it wouldn't flash at him while he was trying to sleep. When he closed his eyes again, he started thinking. It was about something he found himself thinking about a lot lately, and it wasn't just because of Yubel's reminders.
"Hey, Asuka?" he started with his eyes still closed.
"Hm?" she didn't look up from her book.
"Do you think…" he trailed off.
"Do I think about what?" she asked while taking a glance at him.
He opened his eyes to look at the dark ceiling, "…Well lately I've been thinking about it and was wondering… do you think we're… I mean, when do you think it'll be time to…" he trailed off and rolled to his side away from her. "Never mind, I'm too tired to think."
"Oh… okay?" Asuka looked at him. She wondered what exactly he wanted to talk about. Time to do what? She suspected he wanted to ask about moving to a new home or having children of their own, but he could also be asking what she thought about his career and if they were happy in their current situation. Once things return to normal and the mute girl under their care was finally home, she would ask him directly about it. It was probably about time they had a good sit down to discuss their lives and plans for the future again.
Asuka looked over at him and noticed his breathing had already become slow and steady. She knew his sleep schedule was still a little messed up from his recent travels, but he was getting back to normal. It helped that he usually found falling asleep to be easy.
When Asuka awoke bright and early the next morning, she found herself alone in bed. She got up and slipped into her robe before venturing outside and quickly found her husband in the kitchen.
"Hey, you're up," he smiled. "I promised you an all-American breakfast, it'll be done soon, but the coffee is ready."
Asuka could smell it and was already gravitating towards it. "You're up early," she finally commented. He was already washed and dressed as well.
"O'Brian called me back, and I didn't want to wake you," he explained. "He was able to pull some string and those two guys are being separated for counseling. He said he'd like to talk them personally, so he'll be in the city next week."
"They got off easy," Asuka frowned.
Judai shrugged. "They are in a rough spot, they need help."
"That's true," she said and placed her half drank mug on the table. "Did you find out why they wanted her?"
"No, I didn't." Judai was sure it was something they could live without.
"I'm going to get ready," she told him as she headed back to their room.
When she emerged from the hallway again, she was cleaned and primped to be professional. Her makeup was light as always, her clothes were both stylish and conservative for the classroom, and her hair wrapped in a low bun and accessorized with a long clip.
Their young guest was just behind her, also ready the day. Asuka had even packed up her donated bag of small necessities so it would be ready to go. It was simply placed by the table where Judai had just finished preparing three places. Since she had no hand in preparing breakfast, then when they were done, Asuka was left with plenty of time before she would have to leave for work. Judai insisted on cleaning up by himself after. It was a simple task and there was not much left to clean up since he was also cleaning as he went during preparation. Asuka was able to read a magazine at the table while the girl looked at another.
'Judai,' Yubel said to get his attention.
He was about to question his other half when someone came to the door.
"Who would be here so early?" Asuka frowned as she put her magazine down and got up to check the peephole of the door. "Oh!" she said and opened the door. "Good morning, Doctor Kouga," she greeting the man. "I hope you are feeling well."
"Good morning, and yes much better and I come with excellent news," he started.
"Would you like to come in?"
The Doctor agreed and they sat in the living room area. "Her parents are here in the city, they were able to provide proof, and better yet, the nanny was finally able to disclose what happened, and I must say, she really was under a tight contract of nondisclosure of anything relating to the child."
"Why is that?" Asuka asked. Judai was wondering the same thing. It was all so weird.
"Because I said so," a gruff voice piped in from the doorway, catching their attention. He didn't even notice when it had been opened again.
Judai couldn't believe his eyes at first and bolted upright to his feet. Asuka stood as well and stared with wide eyes. To think such a person would be involved.
"Dad!" the girl leaped up with joy and ran to the tall man right before a white-haired woman stepped beside him. "Mom!" The slender woman knelt down to hug her.
"It's… you?" Judai asked hesitantly as he met sharp blue eyes.
"You did not need to follow me here, Sir," Doctor Kouga started politely. "I was going return her to the station where she would be released back to you, it's the rules of…" he trailed off when the man raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to tell him he had to obey the rules.
The man otherwise ignored the counselor and looked directly to Judai, "I owe you a great deal for protecting my daughter, Judai Yuki," he said. "While I was in America, your name was mentioned more than once, and then my brother contacted me last night about all this. I will make sure you are compensated fairly for your deeds."
Judai was still wrapping his mind around why the Seto Kaiba was standing in his entryway. "Wait, wait, so she's your daughter?"
"Judai, don't point, it's rude," Asuka whispered quickly and he dropped his hand.
"I didn't know there were any Kaiba children," Judai added.
"Good, act like you still don't," Seto Kaiba ordered.
"Seto…" The woman next to him sighed. When she looked at Judai, he noticed her stunningly blue eyes and knew it was no wonder the girl has such blue eyes, getting it from both parents. "We have kept her existence hidden from the public, we knew something would happen where her life could be in danger if she was ever kidnapped and held for ransom, so I am relieved there is someone like you we could depend on, I know this is not the first time you have done us a great deed," she smiled. "I cannot thank you enough, Judai Yuki."
He was surprised by her comment at first. "You're welcome," Judai bowed his head politely.
"Do you feel the power of the spirits with them?" Yubel inquired. Judai knew these spirits. He had encountered them before in a spirit realm many years ago and he would never forget the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Every spirit hunter in the world would love to get their hands on just one of them.
"Sierra, it's time to go," Seto Kaiba stated as he turned around and stepped back through the door.
The girl began to follow but suddenly stopped and quickly glanced at Judai and Asuka as if she was about to say something, but then looked to the blue-eyed woman.
"You have been a good girl haven't you? But they are hardly strangers," the woman laughed softly. "So you may talk to them."
The young girl ran back to Judai and Asuka to hug them both. "Thank you for having me!" she said, well-practiced and polite, but with a big smile.
"We will miss you," Asuka smiled while Judai ruffled her hair a little when he rubbed her head.
The girl ran back to her mother to take her hand. "Can I come back tomorrow?" she asked, making the woman laugh.
"We'll see," she said as she turned around.
"Don't forget your bag," Asuka said as she grabbed the backpack that was given to her by Doctor Kouga. The girl took it and put it on her back.
Hane Kuriboh fluttered around her head and she reached to pet the little spirit. "Hane Kuriboh will miss you too, so come back to see him again someday," he smiled as the little spirit returned to him.
"I cannot make any promises right now, but I can already tell I would like to visit with you again, when we can talk it more detail about this ability you seem to share," her mother said. "I am sorry I need to leave so quickly," she bowed. "Oh, please take this card so if there is anything I can help you with, it has the number to my personal phone," she said. Asuka accepted the card and gave her one of her own in return. "Thank you, you should expect a call from me soon, I would like to do something special for all of you who helped my daughter."
"That is very kind," Asuka bowed.
"Please have a good day," she beckoned politely before she was officially on her way out with her daughter.
"Huh, that was different," Judai said when he closed the door again.
Doctor Kouga was flustered and stunned. "I'm so sorry, I-I wasn't expecting them to even know where I was going, this-this isn't customary."
"It wasn't your fault, the Kaibas are known for being able to do whatever they want," Judai said.
"I have a lot of paperwork to about all this now, I just need you sign this document I brought here and you're officially no longer liable for the wellbeing of Sierra Kaiba."
"So that was her name…" Judai mused as he and Asuka signed the document.
"I'm glad she wasn't really mute," Asuka commented as the documents were packed up. "It would have been terrible if she was traumatized."
"I get the feeling this wasn't the first and won't be the last time she will be in trouble…" Judai thought aloud. "Not while she's vulnerable and they still possess the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards on top of being filthy rich and influential."
Asuka looked at him with worried eyes before she softened. "You want to help her?" He nodded. "That's my hero," she laughed and Judai rolled his eyes a little at that.
After Doctor Kouga left, the two sat back down at the table. Judai looked at his phone and saw that Asuka would leave for work in about ten minutes, before checking his messages.
"Strange, just a few nights with her and as soon as she's gone, it already feels different in here," Asuka commented.
"It's quiet," Judai commented.
"She never spoke to us until now, Judai," Asuka laughed as she reminded him.
"You know what I mean," he said. "By the way, the other night, you said there was something you were going to tell me."
Asuka tried to remember. "Oh that's right, I was just going to tell you how it looked like she was going to talk a couple times when you were out, but she clamped her mouth shut again pretty quickly."
"Don't talk to strangers, right?"
"She must have taken that lesson very seriously since she wouldn't talk to anyone until she was told it was okay."
"She'll learn, or be corrected," Judai said surely. Then Judai remembered something. "I think… she did speak to me once actually."
"Huh? When?" Asuka tilted her head to the side curiously.
"That first morning she was here, I think she said my name right before I woke up," he said and then nodded. "I'm sure of it now."
Asuka couldn't help but smile. "Little rule breaking maybe?" she laughed.
Judai gave a short laugh and then sighed. His eyes wandered over to the empty chairs around the table. Before he knew it, they were silent again. She was looking at the empty chair too. The magazines in front of them were forgotten. Without needing to discuss it, he could somehow sense they were thinking about the same thing. Maybe Yubel was right, maybe it was time for their little family to grow. His thoughts wandered back to something he wanted to talk to her about.
"Asuka, do you think we would make good parents?" he asked.
"Why do you ask so suddenly?"
"I have been thinking about it lately–since our friends are having children, we have had two under our care now, and it's something we had discussed before, so it's been on my mind… would we–I even be a good parent?"
Asuka placed her elbow on the table and supported her face on her hand. "You have grown up a lot, Judai, I think your wisdom and experience would take you far as a parent."
He blushed a little at that. She just made him sound a lot cooler than he thought he was. However, he could feel Yubel smiling proudly.
"So…" he wasn't sure how to bring up this part. "What are your thoughts on it?"
"On starting our family?" she asked and he nodded in confirmation. "I am not sure we are ready yet," she said carefully.
Judai leaned back in his seat and looked at the ceiling. "I think… I'm ready when you are," he said quietly.
Asuka was surprised. Yubel was nearly floored.
"J-Judai? Are you sure?" Yubel asked.
"I mean… you're right Asuka, my experience does carry me, so I'm calm in a lot of intense situations, and I have already learned a lot from my our friends and our other experiences, I feel like this one has taught me a lot too," he tried to explain himself. "I know a baby is a twenty-four hour gig, I can't just pass one off to their parents when I'm done playing, and even though I can't say I am one-hundred percent ready right now, I think that in a year, by the time any children would be in our lives if we started very soon, that I would be more ready by then, does that make sense?"
Asuka closed her eyes, sorting through his words and her own thoughts. "I think you are right Judai," she said as she placed her hand on his. "I will make an appointment with my doctor tomorrow, and we will start getting ready for the next stage of our life together."
Judai already felt butterflies in his stomach. "I'm nervous, but this is kind of exciting!" he grinned and jumped up in his seat.
"Just one thing," Asuka smiled as she stood as well and picked up her bag so she could leave for work shortly. "I would appreciate it if we kept this decision to ourselves for a while, if my brother or even just my friends catch wind of this, I will get bothered every other day by someone asking if I'm pregnant yet from everyone I know, and I really don't want that kind of stress."
Judai nodded seriously, as if he just accepted an important mission. "I understand," he said. He could just imagine their phones ringing all the time as the news spread like wildfire. It was something he also dreaded.
Asuka sighed and shook out her hands. "Well a big decision was just made, I can feel the butterflies already," she admitted.
Judai laughed as he followed her to the door. "Me too!"
They shared their normal sweet goodbyes before he finally closed the door and got going on his own work. It was difficult since his thoughts were distracting him. There was another thing distracting him too.
"Yubel, what are you doing? Are you dancing?" Judai questioned.
"Little Judais…" Yubel hummed happily as she swayed about the room in her spirit form. "I can't wait…"
Judai sweat a little. At least Yubel was on board with all this and not nervous at all. Judai knew that would help him a lot in the long run. All of that was a ways off though. However he didn't want to burst Yubel's bubble and happy atmosphere. For now, he would continue his work and making sure he informed his colleague of the final outcome of the case of the mysterious blue-eyed child… after doing some online shopping for parental preparation books.
End.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading.
Fun facts:
1. Sometimes you just want a later in life story. The idea for this story was written about two years ago one very late night. It was originally planned to only be about 3-4 chapters long. I can't seem to keep things as short as I originally plan in my first draft outlines.
2. Look very closely at the cover image for this story. There was a hint there all along.
3. I considered having Asuka reveal being pregnant at the end, like she found out while Judai was in Scandinavia and waited to tell him in person, but then needed to wait for the right time when these events were concluded. I thought this was too cliché and omitted it.
4. I'm not much into shipping in GX, but I thought it would be interesting to see how Judai and Asuka would be like already married and how Yubel fits into it. Viewing them as mature stable adults was interesting too. It always helps to have another canon character to interact with too. This was my first "yearnshipping" fic, and I've decided I kind of like it, so it may show up again in later fics.