Part II-I
feathers in a pond
First day at school is always exciting. It had been so at Academia and it is like that here too.
It's the first public school he goes to, and he'll be learning normal stuff and he'll learn with fun and not because doitdoitdoitdoitorelse.
Best of all: it turns out Judai is nothing to to his new classmates. Just another kid. Not the useless son of a wealthy family talked about behind closed doors who happens to be blessed with talent he doesn't deserve. Judai is new, so he is interesting, but so are they, and neither of them are interesting for any reason other than new.
No one watches him with hawk-eyes, no one threatens loss of life and limb on him for skipping, and the lessons don't even make him want to skip. They are actually fun because they teach while playing and the students aren't forbidden from talking to each other. It's encouraged even.
The only thing Judai misses a bit is getting taught about dueling. He'd looked a lot forward to learning more about XYZ, in real hands on, and to duel lots of XYZ users and to have fun with it.
"Why don't you go to a duel school?" The girl who is his study partner for the day asks him curiously.
Judai stops searching for the objects written on the list. "Duel school?"
She tugs a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Don't you know? There are duel schools we can visit after classes have let out. I go to the Spade School." She smiles happily. "If you want I can show you there."
"Really?"
She laughs, a sound like grass waving in sunlight and wind. "Of course. I'd be happy to. You're new so its natural you don't know your way around yet. Oh, look!" She suddenly points at an orange ball bigger than Judai's head on a court they were just passing by. "We found a b-a-s-k-e-t-b-a-l-l." The foreign pronounced letters roll awkwardly off her tongue. "Would you mind making a photo of it so I can take it off the list?"
Judai pulls out his brand new D-pad (it's so strange, with mechanical parts, doubling as a mobile phone and address book, note book, camera and duel disk), snapping a picture with it.
"Great!" Ruri proclaims, putting her hands together cheerfully. "Now we're finished. Do you want to go back inside and eat lunch or look for the others and see if they're done too?"
Judai's stomach answers.
It's awesome that the mall is right next to the orphanage. On Sunday mornings, when they don't have school, Toru, Judai and Riku can hang out there while Makka is over at school friends' houses or knitting with Martha-san.
Toru and Riku apparently do always go when they have allowance to spent. Today they are showing Judai around and using up all change that doesn't go into a savings box.
Judai is in awe. The mall has everything.
Lots and lots of stores, the ones Judai has visited with Martha-san, but they also have an entire floor just for games and fun and for hanging out. There's even an arcade (where Judai promptly loses at the fighting games to the rude orange haired man besides him, gotten beaten soundly in memory games by Riku and completely trounced them in all games needing physical activity thanks to his Academia training)! Apparently the arcade has new games all the time, so that every trip is a new exploration.
"Oh, look! Judai! Riku! Look over here!" Toru points at a large aquarium filled with fish, awe pouring out of his voice. "We can swim with sharks here!" Judai does a double take.
It's true. There are other fish in there too, but the sharks drifting lazily around are the most obvious. They are at least as big as Judai. Next to the front plane stands a shield, informing them of what they need to bring if they do want to go diving in there.
"Awesome," breaths Judai, pressing his face flat against the glass. The aquarium is way bigger than it seems, extending past the relatively small window allowing them to see the animals. There are in fact even people swimming in there right now. Yubel's sudden, distinctly pronounced disapproval only spurs Judai on. "Let's try it!"
"Yeah!" Cows Toru.
"Count me out," adds Riku, eying the animals and them in turn sceptically. He's very good with saying a lot without saying anything at all and right now he clearly questions their sanity.
"Oh come on," protests Toru, blond hair bobbing with every bounce on his feet. "Don't be boring!"
The look Toru gains for that is devastating. "I like having all my body parts, but if you want to feed the man-eating fish, be my guest. I'm not doing your chores if you end up with one hand less." With that Riku turns on the spot and heads over to the car races.
Toru sticks out his tongue after him. Then he eyes Judai, suddenly nervous. Judai thinks he's starting to notice that for some reason Toru can never admit to weakness in front of Riku. He wonders why that is. People are as they are, some doing things better and some doing things worse than others, no? "You think they really bite?"
"Those aren't real sharks," a voice behind them speaks up derisively.
The man who beat Judai soundly at the bloody fighting games stares at the aquarium in equal parts scorn and disgust. "The real shark I'm unfortunately familiar with would spit out anyone daring to pet him in more pieces than those 1000 parts puzzles your friend seems fond of." The man jerks his head at Riku, who indeed is drifting back to the puzzles. But the look he shoots them from the corner of his eyes, light brown brimming with something cold and malicious is only for them. "Want me to introduce you to him?"
As Toru eeps, Judai stares at the man, grinning. "You aren't really in a position to throw stones, you know."
The man barks a laugh, chain rings on his fingers, chains on his belt, from his pockets jingling. "True!" He squints as though Judai is something irregular. "Hey, aren't you the kid I took apart in that samurai game?"
Said game works by fitting a helmet and being in a box that transmits their movement in a simpler version of AR that isn't limited to Duel Monsters. It's really cool with seemingly real weapons and on a grass plane with nothing to see except the horizon and the enemy. When that man says 'taken apart', he also means that quite literally. It was very violent.
Judai pulls a face, causing the man to snicker evilly. He decides to move on, walking away, but his eyes glimmer as they drift over Judai. "Don't take it too hard. You've got potential. With a couple years of training, you might even match me for ruthlessness."
Judai pulls a Face.
The man laughs loud as he leaves, drawing many eyes, most of them unsettled.
Heartland is amazing.
Johan would pull his hair out for talking to creepy men, but it's sooooo exciting.
You know, Judai thinks as he lies in bed that night, Toru's snores and Riku's even breaths the only thing disturbing the silence of their shared bedroom. Leaving Academia was the best idea you ever had.
From between the curtains, light from the street and the nearby, never sleeping mall splits the darkness. But even without it he would be able to see Yubel hovering in the air beside his bed as she fondly gazes down at him.
Why couldn't Academia be more like Heartland? Even though we've got Real Solid Vision at home, why didn't anyone ever think that we could have fun with our monsters? That they could be our friends?
Yubel's lips thin as her faint smile drops, thoughts he doesn't catch ghosting through her mind. I would assume that for all the different and thorough ways Duel Academia teaches Duel Monsters, it didn't occur to them that the dangerous, easily summoned, simple to control monsters are anything other than tools - weapons, she replies flatly. To you, the warriors fighting by your side just also happen to be alive.
Judai rolls over, pressing his face into the pillow. That's sad. Someone should tell Academia that Duel Monsters are alive. Pause. Can be alive, Judai corrects himself. Duel Monsters are alive if spirits take residence in them. Just by calling empty manifestations of mass and data a mind doesn't automatically come along with it.
...Though there's always the fact that there are simply so many people calling on Antique Gear monsters and the spiritual energy involved with that might eventually cause some of those spirits to fall down the rabbit hole...
You would not have found many who'd believe you, Yubel observes, tone so neutral it has Judai mentally (because he can't be bothered to roll over again) eye her suspiciously. Generally people would rather have if their weapons are not alive. Makes it easier on their conscience. Besides, Judai, don't forget what Duel Monsters truly exists for.
Pulling a face, Judai hides the grimace in his pillow. Yubel notices anyway of course, but she doesn't care for his new-found reluctance to see Duel Monsters. No nonsense, no pity, no going easy from her. According to her Judai doesn't have the luxury to hide from basic facts of the universe behind sunshine and rainbows. Judai knows all that - she's been teaching him things all his life after all. I like the game idea better, he still says petulantly.
So then play, Yubel returns, coolly unconcerned. Play, and play, and play. But never forget that what you treat as a game is in its basic form an age-old, powerful ritual in which the stakes can mean salvation or damnation. Always be ready to put your life on the line, and know that if you lose such a game at the wrong time, it could spell the end of the world.
Having to suppress a cold shiver running down his spine that wants to settle in his stomach, Judai shoves his guardian's words out of his mind as quickly as possible. Fate, destiny, the-purpose-of-his-life or whatever you wanna call it was never before as unwelcome as it is now. All that bigger picture stuff can just go and...and...hide in a hole or something. Dueling without any stakes whatsoever, having fun and laughing regardless of the victory or defeat is the sort of reality he wants to live in.
Everyone in Heartland does, why shouldn't be allowed to? Because he has powers other people don't? Because he's the Herald? Because he knows about the other rules of the 'game'? Because there is a reason he was born for - an enemy he has to fight?
He's eleven.
Why can't he be allowed to be like everyone else?
TBC
