Yuzu stared up at her fri- no, what was her friend.
It wore Yuuya's face, body, and clothing, but everything else was...
Wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.
The way he held himself, the sense of extreme confidence and pride that radiated off of his form, his Cheshire cat grin expressing his alien mischievousness. But his eyes held such underlying rage (unlike Yuuya's warm and loving ones), contradicting his overall outward expression.
"I seem to have underestimated you..."
Yuzu's eyes focused on the boy whose orotund voice was a quartet of disharmony, with Yuuya's tone the most noticeable.
"...You all showed up earlier than I expected~!" Yuuya's eyes scanned over the small crowd behind her, his smile faltering ever so slightly at the sight of the elder Kurosaki laying on the younger. "But what I wasn't expecting was the appearance of your bird friend over there. I'm sure I knocked him out..." Yuzu could not help but stare as Yuuya twisted himself on the throne until he was almost completely upside down: his legs resting on the back and his head hanging over the seat of the chair.
Gongenzaka stiffened at the entertainment duelist's comment and looked over toward Shun, who mouthed "I told you" to him. Ruri, however, wasn't so silent on the matter.
"You're the one who hurt my brother?" she yelled, somewhat unnerved at the similarities between this person and them purple-haired boy who had previously brought her to this place.
Yuuya's grin disappeared completely at the rhetorical question."I just said that, didn't I?"
"Yes, but-"
"But what?" His cat-like pupils dilated, eyes narrowing. "Do you have anything to say on the matter?"
Ruri opened her mouth to retort, but closed it when her brother squeezed her arm. A silencing gesture. She turned her head to look at his unnerved expression, his eyes seemed to bore into the teen on the the throne.
"Yuuya..." Yuzu took a single but courageous step toward the upside down entertainer. "Yuuya, what happened to you?!"
Yuuya gave a frustrated sigh. "I'm not-"
"Wait, that's Yuuya?" Ruri interrupted.
"Yes. He's-"
Gongenzaka abruptly spoke up. "Yuuya would never-!"
"SILENCE!" Yuuya was standing now, having gotten up from his chair while they were bickering.
The room complied.
It was quiet for a few moments as Yuuya's inharmonic voice echoed throughout the hall. He glared at them, waiting for someone-else to speak up.
When no one did, Yuuya suddenly clapped his hands together and gave joyous yet sinister grin to his audience. "Good~! Now it's time to get down to business..."
Everyone's expressions turned to cautious confusion.
Yuuya began to pompously and slowly make his way down the steps from the throne, causing his fingers on each hand to touch one another. "First, to answer the question on all of your minds. Am I Sakaki Yuuya? " Yuuya made a thinking pose using his right hand. "Yes and no. Sakaki Yuuya is me, but I am not Sakaki Yuuya. I am him, plus Yuugo, Yuuri, and Yuuto." At each name spoken, the corresponding voice briefly became dominant before becoming Yuuya-dominant once again.
"W-Well," Sawatari spoke up, voice slightly trembling as Not-Yuuya's eyes made contact with his own. "if you're not Yuuya, wh-who are you then?"
Not-Yuuya paused in the middle of the staircase, his eyes widening slightly at that, as if mildly both puzzled and impressed with the question. "Hmm~ What a wonderful inquiry..." He caught his chin using his right forefinger and thumb, closing his eyes. The tomato-haired duelist then suddenly spread his arms out wide. "And the answer to that is-!"
Almost immediately at his comment, Not-Yuuya crouched then jumped, front-flipping in the air, and finally landing gracefully on his feet at the bottom of the stairs, frightening the group. "Not important!"
Sawatari sputtered. " 'Not important'?! B-but-!"
"My identity is of no concern to you, Sawatari Shingo." Said person flinched at the boy's suddenly cold demeanor. He turned to the rest of the audience. "It will not have any influence on any of your futures, except for maybe one..." He trailed off, glaring briefly at Yuzu, who unconsciously grasped at the bracelet beneath her jumper. Not-Yuuya then snapped back to his previous disposition.
"Now for the second-most frequent question on your minds: Am I a threat?" Not-Yuuya's tetra-cord voice seemed to obtain an air of humorousness at the question. "That depends. If something is a threat then it is dangerous and should not be encountered. Well? Do you think of me as a 'threat'?" The duelist's crimson eyes glimmered slyly as he scoured the group.
Everyone seemed taken back by the question. Was he a threat? He did attack Shun, but he was still Yuuya, their friend...
"Of course you're a threat!"
The Lancers turned to the abrupt outburst by the elder Kurosaki. "You attacked anyone in your way without a second thought! You even attacked your comrades!" Shun doubled over, being held up by his sister. He faced his previous comrade with determination. "You're not trustworthy enough to not be considered a threat!"
The group tensely forced their gaze back onto tomato-haired duelist at the foot of the stairs. He eyes were closed as he pondered on Shun's reply. After a few moments he shrugged. "No one's disagreeing so I guess I'll-"
It was at this point in time that two small object buzzed across the room and latched themselves onto Not-Yuuya's wrists. A small band of energy formed between them, forcing his wrists to touch. "Oh~? This is interesting. I never realized you had the courage to even face me..."
A bald, tanned man stepped out from the shadows of the room. Reiji and Selena stiffened as they recognized him.
"...Professor."
