Going Pro
Chapter 12: Getting Noticed
When Jesse returned to school on Monday, he found many eyes were on him. He tried not to pay much attention to it. For some reason stadiums filled with thousands of people bothered him less than the sudden increase in attention at school. He went about his day normally and made up a quiz he missed after school. The notes Julia gave him really save his hide on that, because he didn't do any of the assigned readings while he was away. It was kind of weird to be back at school after everything that happened.
After school, he deposited his checks and got his mother to go car shopping with him. They found a modestly priced car that she liked almost right away and he paid for it upfront. His mother was going to get some money back for getting rid of her old car, so she was going to come out of this better off than she was before, which Jesse was glad for.
When Jesse got to class the next day, it seemed the other students had worked up the courage to talk to him because they started asking him questions about his dueling tournaments. He had no problems answering their questions until class started and everyone took their seats. This happened in a few of his classes and at lunch.
"Jesse, can I talk to you?" Jesse looked up to see that Simone Summers was talking to him.
"Oh, uh, sure, yeah, what's up?" Jesse sputtered.
"You're like a professional duelist now right?" she asked as she threaded her fingers through a lock of hair in a bashful manor.
"I guess, I've only done the one tour so far, but I think I'll be doing more soon," he said.
"Well I was wondering–since you're so good at Duel Monsters, if you could help me?" she asked, her eyes directly landing on his.
"W-what do you need help with exactly?" he asked.
"I'm just not very good, so I would like some pointers," she explained. "Please? I'll make it up to you," she said.
"I suppose I can give you some pointers, do you have your deck with you?" he asked.
"Oh, well it's in my locker right now, and I still need to eat my lunch, so do you think we could meet up after school?"
Jesse wondered if he had the time for that and determined he did. "Sure, where?"
"There are the big picnic tables out behind the gym by the track, those are usually free for a while after school, so I can meet you there," Simone suggested.
"Sounds fine," he nodded.
"Okay, see you later," she waved and left the classroom.
Since lunch had started, Jesse looked as his cell phone. He was thinking about playing a game on it, but then found he had seven messages on it. After taking the time to listen to each of the messages, he realized he had a problem. Each one was from a different tournament recruiter wanting him to go to some county for a days or weeks even to participate. Jesse didn't pay much attention to the dates they gave, but he just got back! He had barely caught up on his school work. He couldn't leave again already. What about Industrial Illusions? Wasn't Pegasus sponsoring him, why was he being called by these people and not by Pegasus or someone he knew working for Pegasus.
"Is something wrong?" Julia asked. "You're not eating yet, and normally you're done by now."
"I uh, I don't know," Jesse scratched his head. "I think I'm going to need a manager or something if I'm going to keep doing those duel competitions. I just got a lot of messages from people I don't know."
"Is there anyone you can ask about it?"
"Besides Pegasus, not really…" Jesse stood and left so he could eat something.
When the school day ended, Jesse went to the place he promised to be for his classmate. He wasn't sure why he agreed to a duel lesson. Sometimes he thought himself a little too polite. Since lunch, he had received two more messages, one of which was a follow up. Didn't these people know he had school? He was barely sixteen. It should be common knowledge.
"Hey, Jesse!" Simone greeted as she ran over with her bag. "I brought my deck!"
Jesse watched as she sat down next to him and started laying out her cards. "You use a plant fairy deck," he observed.
"Yeah, is that bad?" Simone's big dark eyes got even bigger with concern.
Jesse rapidly shook his head. "N-no! I was just saying…" he trailed off. "But um…" he looked over the cards before continuing.
The deck was already evenly split as it should be, with half the deck containing monster cards and the other half was spells and traps. There were mostly low level monsters with some really good high level monsters, as well as defensive monsters. He saw a couple field spells, equip spells, and even quick play cards. This was the deck of someone that already knew what they were doing or already had assistance and therefore should be able to play pretty well with whatever cards end up in their hand each turn.
"This seems like a pretty balanced deck, are you sure you need my help?" he asked.
Simone laughed nervously. "Okay, I lied, you caught me," she winked.
Jesse raised an eyebrow is confusion. He could hear the Crystal Beast Spirits laughing knowingly like children and he had to force himself to block out their voices. It only worked to some degree. "So why did you want me to meet you out here?" he finally asked.
Simone combed a lock of her hair again and looked down. "I don't know, I guess I've been noticing you a lot lately."
"A lot of people are noticing me," he said, thinking about all the messages on his phone and the students that keep asking him questions.
"No I mean, in a way that causes me to think about you a lot, you know?" she tried.
Jesse blinked. "Not really?" He didn't have a clue what she was trying to say. It didn't make any sense. Meanwhile, the Crystal Beasts were laughing hysterically and Jesse began to wonder if he was being mocked. "This isn't funny," Jesse said aloud, the comment directed at the spirits surrounding his mind.
"I'm not trying to be funny," Simone defended. Jesse's face reddened when he realized how his words were taken personally.
"I-I didn't mean to, uh, nevermind…" he shook his head. "If you just wanted to talk, you can do so anytime, you don't have to stage a duel with me."
"I know, but I didn't just want to talk to you, I needed to be alone," Simone explained. "You always have someone around you though," she said and Jesse mused about how true that statement was since he got the Crystal Beasts. "If it's not your girlfriend, it's our classmates," she said.
Jesse's head shot to her. "Girlfriend?" he repeated. "I don't have a girlfriend."
"That's just what people have been saying about you two, you're together often at school."
"Who? Julia? We're not dating, she's my friend," Jesse explained. Can't two people be friends without others jumping to conclusions?
"That's actually what I wanted to ask you about," the girl started. "Because I like you, and I wanted to get to know you better, but I didn't want to offend anyone if you were already going steady," she said.
Jesse felt his mouth drop open. "I'm dreaming," he stated in disbelief. This wouldn't be the first time. He had never been confessed to by anyone, let alone someone he was interested in. This was the girl he had spent all year staring at from the back of the room. This couldn't be happening. It was too easy.
Simone laughed it off. "So what do you think about me?" she urged.
"Uh…" he wasn't sure how to answer that question without embarrassing himself. "Pretty!" he blurted out, suddenly having no control over his tone. He coughed and tried to pull himself together. "You're, um, very pretty," he stated calmly. He wished he could tell her more, but his voice stopped working.
"So does that mean you like me back?" she asked.
Jesse nodded. He could feel his face getting redder by the second. This reminded too much of a dream he vaguely remembered. Then her hand touched his, simply resting over the top. This was definitely real. He was painfully aware he was like a deer caught in the headlights of a vehicle.
"How about you meet me here again tomorrow, same time?" she offered as she gathered up her cards.
Jesse nodded wordlessly, still wide-eyed and red-faced.
"Great, see you tomorrow," Simone smiled and jumped up. "Oh, wait," she said and turned back to him to place a kiss on his cheek. "Bye!" she said as she ran off.
Jesse waved with one hand. "B-bye!" he called after her and hoped she heard him. Then he sat there in a daze as he touched his cheek.
One by one the Crystal Beasts appeared around him and examined him.
"Ruby-bi-bi?" Ruby Carbuncle said, but Jesse continued to stare off in the distance.
"He's no responding," Cobalt Eagle stated.
"What's wrong with him?" Topaz Tiger questioned with concern.
"It's called first love," Amethyst Cat laughed. "He'll come back to us soon."
"Jesse!" Sapphire Pegasus called, jerking the teen out of his daze.
"W-what?"
"Are you sure you should see that person again?" Sapphire Pegasus inquired.
"Of course," Jesse said. "Why wouldn't I?"
"This doesn't seem strange to you?" Sapphire Pegasus asked.
"Kind of, but it's like a dream come true," Jesse said.
"We should probably head home now," Emerald Tortoise interjected.
"Yeah, you're right," Jesse said as he got up and headed out.
As he did every day, he got his bike and went home. Many of the Crystal Beasts liked to run or fly beside him as he rode his bike. Ruby Carbuncle rode on his shoulders and let the wind pass through her ears. Jesse could tell she loved the feeling.
Just outside of town, there was an unusual chill under his skin and he stopped. "Did you feel that, Jesse?" Sapphire Pegasus asked in alarm.
"Yeah, what was that?" Jesse looked around. He felt like he was being watched. More than that actually, it was as if he was being stalked. "I have a bad feeling; get back in the deck everyone…"
The Crystal Beasts silently obeyed and disappeared. After looking around more, Jesse continued on his path while remaining aware of his surroundings. Hopefully, he could just get home and there wouldn't be any problems.
Something weird happened and Jesse felt his bike get stuck right before being thrown off of it. "What?" He looked back at the bike and found the front tire was broken and bent. After getting up and dusting himself off, he lifted the bike upright and looked it over. There was no use trying to ride it now, but he couldn't just leave it either.
"Where do you think you're going?" a man called out from up the hill.
Jesse looked up and saw a man wearing green and brown. He was also holding a hunting rifle. That wasn't so unusual since they were somewhat close to wildlife hunting and camping grounds, but pointing the rifle at another person was quite unusual.
"Um, home?" Jesse stated calmly. He was sure this man just shot at him. How the gun was so silent, he didn't know. Jesse didn't know a lot about guns, for hunting or otherwise.
"Surrendered the beasts and I'll let you be on your way," the man called out.
Jesse glared. "Are you the card thief?"
"We prefer to call ourselves hunters," the man said.
"You took Jerry Beans Man from a little kid," Jesse accused.
The man had tilted his head. "That wasn't me, probably one of the others," he said.
"What? There are multiple thieves?"
"Hunters," the man corrected. "Now just drop your deck and be on your way and no one gets hurt."
"Shooting another person is a crime," Jesse said, holding his ground. He was so sure he was going to get shot today.
The man laughed. "Kid, I'm not going to shoot you!" He began walking down the steep slope to the rode. "Dueling is legal, an ante is legal, and if you duel me, you're gonna get hurt…"
"I won't lose," Jesse said. "You're the one that will get hurt."
Jesse left his mangled bike where it was and stepped over to the side of the street. He was lucky he had his duel disk in his bag. The duel started right away.
Jesse started out defensively with Emerald Tortoise and Mirror Force as face-downs. When the hunter attack on the first turn, Jesse activated his trap and cleared the opponent's field. Then he summoned Sapphire Pegasus to attack and it was successful.
This man was not a good duelist and was not a strategist at all. The duel was over quickly and Jesse took little damage. The man was on his hands and knees when it was over.
"Hand them over," Jesse demanded. He and the Crystal Beasts stared down at him.
"What?"
"All the spirits you have collected, hand them over, now," Jesse said sternly.
"I don't have any," he said.
"Lies!" Amethyst Cat hissed.
"You heard her," Jesse said. "She might look like a nice kitty, but she has claws and fangs that I can't hold back. Not to mention the rest of them…"
The hunter began to sweat and dropped all his cards before trying to run off, but Amber Mammoth blocked his path.
"Tell me about the hunter who stole Tom's Jerry Bean Man!" Jesse called after him.
"It was probably Trapper! He's a real sadist, not like the rest of us hunters," he said and tried to get around the beast.
"What else? What does that mean?" Jesse urged.
"You don't know? We win cards to sell and trade, but he only gets cards with spirits so he can torture them!"
Jesse's eye's widened. It was worse than he thought. "That's horrible!"
"As long as he doesn't get my bounty first, I don't care what he does," the hunter said.
Jesse was sickened. With a nod to Amethyst Cat and Topaz Tiger, the beasts leapt and attacked the man. He screamed and was rendered unconscious. Jesse felt a little bad for him, but wasn't sorry. Wasting no more time, Jesse retrieved his cell phone and called the police to report that someone shot at him and damaged his bike and that the man was still there unconscious on the side of the road. Before the police could get there, Jesse walked home, leaving the bike as evidence. He was not familiar with the procedures of the law and didn't know if he was supposed to stick around or not and no one told him. As long as he was a minor, he figured he couldn't get into too much trouble for leaving the crime scene. He only lived up the road anyway, so if they needed him for any questioning, he wouldn't be hard to find.
Jesse got home, drank a tall glass of water, and then collapsed on his bed. He let out a long, frustrated groan. He hadn't even changed out of his school uniform yet. His behavior caused great concern for the spirits.
"Jesse?"
"Are you okay?"
"What's the matter?"
"Jesse?"
The spirits were occupying his room and tried to get his attention. Eventually, Jesse rolled over with an arm over his face to block out the light. "I'm just beat…"
"That duel seemed to drain a lot of your energy," Sapphire Pegasus said.
"Why?" Jesse muttered.
"That man… every time he defeated one of us, it was like something was binding our spirits," Sapphire Pegasus explained. "Our bond to you is strong."
"On top of that, life has been fast and hectic lately," Emerald Tortoise started. "Jesse, please be careful."
"What a day," Jesse sighed and removed his arm from his face and look over the spirits. "First it was great, because of Simone, and then… well, at least I found out what the thief is called, Trapper, I'll find him someday."
Jesse got up and began to change out of his uniform and put on his regular clothes, the ones he wore all of the time now. When he went out to the living room, he found everything was still boxed up and ready to go. He wondered if his mother found a new place to live yet. Jesse already checked, and even with what was left of the money he got from dueling, he hadn't acquired enough to pay off the house and get his family out of debt. He didn't trust his mother to stay debt free either. She had been accumulating bad habits. He was certain she didn't know how much he was aware of.
He took an unused box from the living room and took it to his room so he could pack up some of his things as well. It would make the whole process faster later. When he sat back at his desk in his room, he started dropping items into the box. His old duel disk, some books and magazines, and trinkets went in first. Then he found the brochure for Duel Academy Island and sighed longingly.
His dream of Duel Academy seemed so far away. He hoped to see it one day. To be able to duel there just once would be the best.
Looking back, Jesse was surprised he even got to go to Japan the last time at all. The last of the money his grandfather left them would have been better spent in other ways. However, his mother and grandfather had both talked about how important it was that he got to travel and meet his distant family members. His grandfather had traveled the world himself in in youth and prime just to see it and learn many languages and cultures.
"One day, we'll go here," Jesse said, still looking at the brochure.
"An island, yes!" Amber Mammoth exclaimed.
"We'll also go to Rome, like I said before," Jesse added. "And then we'll go back to America and Korea and actually see them and meet the people, then maybe we'll see Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, India, Russia, Japan, Indonesia, Australia…" Jesse paused from jumping around the map and looked at them. "We'll see the world together," he smiled.
"That sounds wonderful," Amethyst Cat said.
"But what would we do?" Cobalt Eagle asked.
"Besides duel, I'm not sure," Jesse said. "But I think we'd find others like us out there, and could get to know them, help them out and teach them about bonds, warn them about people like Trapper, and of course, stop Trapper and anyone like him," Jesse said.
"What about after?" Topaz tiger asked.
Jesse chuckled. "It's so far out in the future, I'm not sure, and I'd like to the leave that open," he said honestly. "Maybe I'll find someplace I want to stay, maybe I'll fall in love and then we can watch our family grow," he said.
"What about that Simone?" Amber Mammoth asked with his trunk up like a finger.
Jesse blushed and touched his cheek without realizing it. "I don't know, I like her, but high school romances hardly ever last…"
"What if it does, will our family grow sooner rather than later?" Cobalt Eagle's head tilted.
Jesse nearly turned completely red. "G-guys, I'm a little young to be thinking about t-that so soon," he tried.
"Really? When do humans usually seek out a mate?" Sapphire Pegasus asked.
The Crystal Beasts started to wonder and discuss it with each other. Jesse didn't even have an answer to that question and decided to do his best to drop that part of the conversation.
"Guys, it's not important," Jesse started. "For now, we should worry about staying together, not only is Trapper still out there, but other people are stealing rare cards, and frankly, cards don't get much rarer than all of you."
"We'll be okay, Jesse," Emerald Tortoise smiled.
"We have each other," Amethyst Cat said and sat next to him.
"Someday you will see how strong our bond really is," Sapphire Pegasus said.
"Are you thinking about going after these card thieves?" Topaz Tiger asked.
Jesse shook his head. "There have always been rare hunters of some kind, and I am only one person, so we won't be able to stop all of them, but I made a promise to Tom, so I have to find Trapper," Jesse said. "Are you with me?"
"Yes!" the Crystal Beasts said in unison. Jesse could feel their bond resonating. He knew they would be with him through thick and thin during this mission, not matter how long it took.
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Author's Note:
Jesse is awkward around girls right now, the joys of being young, but you'll get to watch him mature and grow long before he gets to Duel Academy.
I repeat: this is not a Jesse x OC story. Tune in next time to learn more details.
I can't wait to get to the North Academy arc, but I can't skip to it… shouldn't be too far off though. Getting there.
Hmm, what else to say… I've got nothing important right now. Enjoy and review.
