Chapter 26: Starting Rounds
{Hiiragi Household: July 14th, 2014, 11:01am}
"Yuzu? Are you getting ready?" called Shuzo.
"Yea dad! I'm almost done!"
Yuzu huffed, looking towards the mirror as she stared at her hair. For some strange reason, it wasn't behaving today. No matter how hard she tried, it would not stay up in her typical pigtails, resulting in her spending more time with her hair than she normally would. Today, she was wearing a pair of pale shorts, her pink sneakers with white ankle socks, and a white t-shirt; however, the major problem she possessed was getting her pink locks to behave. Groaning in frustration, Yuzu resolved herself and started to braid it, being mindful of the action until the braids were finished and she tied them off with lavender colored hair-ties. With a final glance at her reflection, Yuzu nodded, walking out the door after pocketing her duel disk and tying a blue hooded sweater around her waist as she did so.
"Ready to head out?" Shuzo inquired as Yuzu stopped beside him.
"Yep, ready to go!"
The two of them walked out of the door, prepared for the day ahead. They had been invited over to the Sakaki household for a small party to congratulate all of the children from the You Show Duel School in getting into the championships, and that included Gongenzaka who had finished his last duel just the other day. As they got into the car and headed down the road, Yuzu considered what would be starting tomorrow. The tournament would begin, and the road towards many things would open before them.
For Gongenzaka, it was to improve the steadfast dueling of which his family's dojo prided itself upon, for the children, it would be to improve their skills, for Sora, it was to have fun doing what he loved to do, for Yuya it would be to show that he had become someone that could be a professional, just as he dad had been, and to showcase the method he had quite literally put his heart into creating. However, for her, it was a bit different. Yuzu was struggling to prove that she was capable of defending her friends, of being by their side and holding her own without a moment of wavering conviction, and to let Yuya know that he could depend upon her if he needed to.
What was more, at the end of this tournament, Yuzu would be admitting her feelings to someone who had always been at her side. The thought caused a dark blush to appear upon her face, eyes closing tightly as she considered the different outcomes that could take place. Loosing a friend would be the least of her worries if she somehow managed to hurt Yuya in some form or fashion. How she would, never quite crossed her mind, but the possibility remained present all the same. It was possible that he didn't feel the same for her, and their relationship would become remarkably stressful and complex at best, and for a less than pleasant situation, Yuya could potentially back away from her as a friend.
"Stop thinking about it and worry more when it gets closer to time. Panicking right now isn't going to help me," she thought.
Within fifteen minutes of the Hiiragi's leaving their house, they had arrived at the Sakaki household, where they saw that several others were already present, and Niknak was chasing a group of field mice in the side yard. Yuzu hopped out of the car and went right up to the mice and Niknak who froze as she crouched and held her hand out to one of the tiny mice in a tailcoat while her father came up behind her as she picked up the mouse, looking at it as it adjusted its monocle and bowed politely to her while Shuzo gaped at the mere sight of it as the other two mice looked at her. Yuzu gave the mouse a gentle scratch, petting it gently as it held onto her other fingers with a playful squeak before she sat it back down and the three mice ran along back to wherever they had come from while Niknak huffed.
"The other fiends are in the house giving Master Yuya a migraine. He's in the kitchen right now cleaning up a potion explosion from earlier," he stated as Yuzu nodded.
"Thanks, Niknak." With that she left, and Shuzo and the gnome stared at one another.
"So, nice weather we're having," Shuzo stated.
"Yes, the tulips are flourishing alongside the picanees… I think this is going to be a good year for the fly-by-nights too…" an awkward silence filled the area for a moment.
"Have you known Yoko and Yusho for a long time?" the gnome nodded.
"Since they were married, just about a year before you came to live here too." Shuzo sighed.
"Keeping up charades is not easy…" he admitted.
"Indeed… have you told your daughter yet, have you? About her mother?" Shuzo shook his head.
"I don't think it's a good idea for her to know," he stated.
"Well, what surprises me is that you weren't aware that Lady Yoko and Master Yuya were witches." The man frowned.
"Hey, I'm a normal human, I don't belong to this world," he said in defense.
"True, you lack all senses to detect magical presences. Still, with how strong Master Yuya is, I'm somewhat surprised when everyone else could pick up on the fact that something was different about him." Shuzo frowned.
"Maybe I'm just not capable of it," he mentioned.
"Possibly, but you should probably go before things get out of hand inside the house. I am certain that Lady Yoko could use a hand with all the children." Shuzo sighed, nodding as he went towards the house, and once he had entered, Niknak sighed.
"This is why those marriages usually don't happen… to many unknowns."
Inside the Sakaki household, Shuzo was greeted to the sight of the smaller children playing with the Duel spirits present around the house while Gongenzaka helped Yoko alongside Sora; however, it wasn't until he looked into the kitchen that he saw where his daughter had gotten off to. The girl was on her and knees helping Yuya in the kitchen with scrubbing the potion off the cabinets and floor as she berated him for not doing something he was supposed to do. The boy argued with her a fraction, blowing his bangs out of his eyes as Shuzo noted he was lacking his goggles and was dressed in dark wash jeans, an orange t-shirt, and black converse sneakers.
Shuzo sighed as he went to offer Yoko help, which she happily took before the group finally were able to go outside in the back yard and enjoy the picnic-styled lunch that Yoko had prepared for them all. Tate, Allie, and Frederic had helped to set the table alongside Sora while Shuzo and Gongenzaka had been left to carry out the food trays. It was only a few moments later that they were beginning to wonder where Yuzu and Yuya were. Yoko sighed, asking Shuzo to go tell them to take a break from the kitchen and come eat. He had gone back into the house and went to look for them, but didn't see them in the kitchen. Frowning, he began searching the house and soon saw Yuzu's reflection in a mirror from the bathroom and looked around the corner of the stairwell to see what was going on.
"Those two better not be doing anything they're not supposed to." Shuzo remembered what it was like to be a teenager – though it had been quite a few years ago – and he also knew that being longtime friends had little to do with hormones. Sighing, he prepared himself to bust into the room and give the two a long talk; however, as he peered closer he saw something opposite to what he had anticipated.
"I told you that the cauldron was still hot," Yuya said as he tilted a bottle upside down onto a cotton ball.
"But you said that it's been at least an hour since the potion messed up, I thought that it would be fine, and you were just kidding." Scarlet eyes glanced to her.
"When it comes to witchcraft, I don't joke around. Cauldrons stay hot or cold longer depending on the temperature spell placed on them. I put one on there to keep the potion cooking for an hour and forty-nine minutes… when you touched it, I knew you were going to get burned, but you dropped it too," he said as he took her hand in his own, being gentle as Shuzo watched.
"What is he doing?" he questioned mentally as Yuzu winced.
"Ouch… that really smarts…" Yuya gave her a small smile.
"Don't worry, I know how to use healing ointments and spells. Mom taught me how to do them when I first started learning potions. Once I get this ointment on your hand and leg with the paste bandages, I'll use the healing spell on it and you'll be good as new," he assured her as he started to dab at her the nasty burn on her palm.
"Thanks for this…" he shrugged.
"Don't mention it. Just make sure you leave the salve bandages on them over night once I do the spell, okay? Otherwise the area will still hurt pretty badly," he told her this as he finished with her palm and began to wrap the area in a faded white bandage that seemed to have a slightly yellow paste on it.
"Hey… um… Yuya?" scarlet eyes met periwinkle ones.
"What is it? Did you get burned somewhere else?" he questioned.
"No… about tomorrow… are you… anxious?" Yuya finished wrapping the bandage on her hand and then started to apply the ointment to her leg.
"Kinda… but I know it'll be okay. Besides, it's not like this is war or something. It's just a tournament, no life or death battles or anything," the scarlet-eyed boy mentioned as he finished with the ointment and started to wrap her leg.
"You sure? Sometimes, the way people are in these tournaments make it feel that way." Yuzu watched him as he finished with her leg wrap and started to close his eyes, focusing on the spell he was casting as she saw his hands gain a faint pale green glow as the burning pain in her leg and hand began to fade away until it stopped all together and she carefully flexed her fingers, thankful to see that she was able to move the appendages without pain.
"There you go, all patched up," Yuya stated as he helped Yuzu down off the counter in the bathroom and began to pack up the things he'd gotten out to treat her while Shuzo watched them, impressed by how Yuya was being so tentative, but not trying to pull anything on the girl.
"Still… leaving them alone is not a smart move… they're teenagers, after all." He rolled his eyes as Yuya put the medicine away and Yuzu turned to him, and as he turned around, she put her arms around him, startling him somewhat.
"Y-Yuzu?" he asked, surprised by her action.
"I'm sorry… I don't know why I keep feeling like I need to be this close to you… I guess its my nerves, or maybe I'm worried that something's going to go wrong…" the boy sighed, gently wrapping his arms around the girl as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"You don't have to worry about so much, everything's going to be fine, and starting tomorrow, we'll be showing everyone out there that You Show Duel School is one of the best! You'll see," he assured her as Yuzu nodded.
"Thank you… Yuya." The scarlet-eyed witch nodded.
"Don't mention it, Yuzu… now come on, the others are waiting." With that Shuzo bolted back to the place where the others were as Yuya and Yuzu soon joined them, and they spent the afternoon enjoying the calm before the proverbial storm.
{Leo Corp Tower: 1:20pm}
Reiji Akaba sat at his desk working on finalizing the contestant list to be sent forth to the announcers for tomorrow's tournament, knowing that he had much to do still and only a few hours to do it. However, as he sat there, working away, the door of his office opened, and he glanced up, seeing Yuto Kisaragi standing there with a somewhat concerned look on his face as he hung back, his gray eyes having a faint glow to them in the dim light of the area.
"You can come over here, if you wish to," Reiji mentioned as Yuto sighed and approached with a steady gate before he looked the silver-haired seventeen-year-old in the eyes.
"I want out of the tournament." Violet eyes looked up at him.
"How come?" he inquired.
"Shay's already in there… and if I'm with him that leaves any outwards eyes and ears all but depleted. We need someone to be paying attention to the duelists present from an outside view. Let me be that person." Reiji sighed.
"Personally, having the two of you in the tournament allows me to gage how powerful you really are. So, I see no point in doing what you've requested," he mentioned. Yuto narrowed his eyes, slamming his hands atop the other's desk as his pendulum crystal fell out of his shirt collar and swing back and forth, causing Reiji to eye it.
"Listen, there could be other witches at this tournament. None of your men are witches, I can tell by their auras that they aren't, just like you aren't one either. If you want to gather more than just mediocre Duelists and maybe a tiny handful of witches for your precious Lancers… then I suggest you get your head out of your ass and listen to someone whose been fighting your father's fucking parasitic murderers for almost two years now!" Reiji watched Yuto's left eye begin to change color, irritation clear in his expression as the silver-haired Leo Corp President sighed once more.
"I suppose doing so would be best. Very well, I shall heed your advice and allow you to be the eyes and ears outside of the tournament. However, I do want to know… your pendulum crystal…" Yuto tensed.
"What about it?" he asked.
"How long have you possessed it?" the Xyz Duelist took in a steady breath.
"Since before I can remember. My mom said my dad left it for me when I was a baby… he died when I was two, so don't bother asking me about him," he stated.
"I see… then it might draw your interest to know that Yuya Sakaki also possesses one identical to it save for it's coloration." Reiji pulled up a picture of Yuya, the pendulum crystal in clear view on it as Yuto eyed the image, seeing that the crystal was indeed almost identical to his own. It was silver, and pale blue almost clear-white in tone when it came to the crystal; however, it's design right down to the crown-style cap and angel wings, were a direct copy of his.
"Are you trying to get at something?" Yuto inquired, not trusting the situation at current.
"Not at all… I just wonder… if there are two pendulum crystals that are identical… with coloring being their sole exception… possessed by two boys who favor quite a bit might I add also save for their hair and eye colors… how many others like yourself and Yuya Sakaki exist?" the phantasmal-imp half-blood tensed, knowing what Reiji was implying.
"Counterparts… you're talking about a doppelganger theory," Yuto told him.
"Yes, or… twins… usually, there are universal numbers when it comes to these things… four, seven, thirteen, sixteen, and twenty. Those are significant numbers in your practices, correct?" the gray-eyed teenager nodded slowly.
"They are… they're part of the major arcana…" Reiji looked him over.
"And what do they mean?" he inquired.
"Four is the Emperor, structure, stability, rules, and power… seven is the Chariot, movement, progress, integration… thirteen is death, the end of something, change, the impermeability of all things… sixteen… is the tower… collapse of stable structures, release… sudden insight… twenty is judgment… rebirth, a new phase, and inner calling." Reiji smirked.
"A Tarot reading… do you have a skill in fortune telling? Mr. Kisaragi?" he questioned.
"My mother was a Gaia witch, so she was more skilled with nature magic… but I am able to do so…" the silver-haired teenager opened the drawer to his left and pulled out a deck of slightly large cards, they were thicker and longer than the duel cards they used.
"Can you discern a fortune for me?" he asked as Yuto took in a deep breath.
"Personally, a Fortuna witch, would be better suited for this than I would be." Reiji hummed.
"Yes, you're a Shadow witch, meaning you can use darker arts… but please, indulge me a bit, would you?" he asked. Yuto glared at him for a moment before he reached forward and grabbed the cards.
"What do you want exactly?" Reiji looked him over.
"The fortune you discerned earlier from the numbers I spoke of, what do they tell for this battle ahead?" he interrogated as Yuto shuffled through the deck and grabbed the Emperor card.
"This represents power, meaning you have great power at your disposal, but there are rules that must be followed to use it…." Yuto placed the card on the table, showing the image of a person adorned in royal garments, a crown upon their head and a scepter in their hand. He then placed the card of a chariot on the table and pointed to it.
"The next card is representing progress, and integration. Meaning you are fusing magic and dueling together, so it's movement, a progressive thing that could be helpful or harmful." Reiji nodded.
"And the next?" Yuto laid out the card of a skeleton on a skeleton horse, carrying a black banner with a desolated land behind it.
"Death, something will come to an end… things will change… possibly not for the better, and those who work with you… can cause problems or be harmed. It's an ill omen," he admitted.
"I see… and the last two?" Yuto took in a deep breath as he laid the card of a tower against a starry sky with a bolt of lightening striking it. As he laid the card out on the table, his entire body felt a whirl of terror, his breath catching in his throat as his mind was sent an image.
The sky was dark red hued, black clouds hung overhead, and he stood upon a pillar's top, the area around him somewhat shrouded in darkness as he looked around him and saw others present, across from him, and just a bit lower than he stood. His gaze went around, looking to the people, but only being able to see their eyes as he felt terror flood his veins while his gaze looked frantically for someone familiar and then he looked just a bit to his right and saw a young boy with a similar appearance to himself with blue and blonde hair, tourmaline eyes, and a concerned look upon his face while another with purple-pink hair and amethyst eyes stood not far from them, looking equally fearful and unsure.
Yuto looked forward and across from him, was none other than Yuya, but the second he attempted to speak and move forward, black lightening shot down from the sky, striking the scarlet-eyed boy's pillar, destroying it and sending him downward into the darkness below, but as he would have just fallen, Yuto saw a large black, clawed hand curl about him, holding him up by his arms as a sinister voice echoed in his mind, the other two who favored him and Yuya covering their ears as his entire sense of balance was thrown off.
"Try all you like valor, will fail you… half-shadow… the thing that would be brave enough to defend him… but will be devoured just like the other two shall be… none of you can save him or anyone!"
"YUTO!" Shay's voice called out to him just as he lost his sense of balance and fell backwards, being saved by his friend as Reiji stared at him, standing and looking somewhat terrified as he watched him. Yuto took in a rattling breath as he put his hands over his ears, trying to block out the sound as he curled in on himself, being supported by his friend due to his lack of energy.
"What happened?" Reiji asked this tentatively and Yuto tried to calm himself as he felt his magic whirling about him in a wild manner, almost hissing like an angry or scared cat while he took in a deep breath, managing to grasp his control back as he looked towards Reiji and the scattered tarot deck on the floor.
"The tower… it's disaster… the collapse of stable structures…it means… someone or something is going to cause great suffering and calamity amongst the Lancers…" Shay looked at the last card that had been in Yuto's hand and took in a deep breath.
"Judgment… rebirth… a new phase and inner calling… something will happen to turn the tides of events that are to come to pass… and it will result in a new trial to appear… Yuto…" the Shadow Witch took in a shaky breath and started to stand shakily before he placed another two cards on the table, that had not been on the list prior.
"Seventeen and twenty-one… the devil… meaning the force that will affect the lancers is destructive, and will try and steal the power we would possess together… for its own goals. Twenty-one… the world… wholeness, attainment and completion… this means we'll be ultimately succeed, but the prior ones indicate that it's not going to be a pleasant trip," he admitted.
"What did you see?" Reiji looked to Shay as Yuto remained being held up by the blue-haired teen.
"Ten pillars… with people standing upon them… myself and Yuya included… his was struck by lightening and he fell… but something… evil caught him… and it spoke to me… telling me that I would want to protect him, but myself… and two others wouldn't be able to stop this thing from getting to Yuya… and we would be devoured by it..." Reiji glanced at the cards upon his desk.
"This is a very dark omen indeed… as a whole, what does it mean?" he inquired.
"We're strong, and have incredible power… but must abide by rules to use it… the things we do will create progress within our world, and change many things… it will be a movement that alters the way things currently are going… many things will end though… tragedies will not be a stranger to us…nor will pain… something evil and destructive is dogging someone in our group… or maybe all of us… the last one… is the completion of our goal, but like I said… none of this will be without a cost." Reiji nodded slowly.
"Something told me this would be the case. I am concerned due to this discord… but do either of you truthfully believe this means the Lancers should not go forth?" he questioned. Yuto glanced down for a moment.
"I would like to say we had the option… but let's be honest… there's no way we're able to ignore what the professor… what Leo Akaba is doing… so no… I don't think that this is something we can declare as a reason to not go forth… even if this reading changes… and becomes even more grim… we'll change it." Shay looked to his friend as Reiji Akaba nodded.
"Very well… then go forth… the time has come… the tournament will aid in the selection of those who will become the lances that shall stop the destruction of our world. Yuto, as you requested, you may be our eyes and ears amongst the audiences… Shay, will you remain as our eyes and ears within the ranks of the Duelists?" the blue-haired teen glanced to his friend before taking in a deep breath.
"Fine, I just hope this doesn't come and bite us in the ass." With that he started to take Yuto out, helping the slighter boy hobble his way from the room as Reiji watched in concern, looking at the cards upon his desk.
"Emperor, Chariot, Death, Tower, Devil, and World… how terrible must our fates be for this to succeed?"
{…..}
I break down, like a record spinning…
{…..}
Author's Note: All this craziness, is literally happening before the Arc League Championships even begins! Makes you wonder what it's gonna be like once it starts, huh? Well, I have no intention of killing everyone with Duels, seeing as there's apparently more interesting things going on between and outside those Duels. The major Duels will be shown, so don't worry, and there will be some interesting encounters soon, but that's for the next several chapters as we get closer and closer to the end of season one of the anime, and the start of season 2, the real reason that this story got the M rating… so much violence and a few other things. -_-
Anyways, tell me what you guys think!
Sincerely,
ShadowDragon94.
Trivia.
The field Mice are representations of the Three Blind Mice from the nursery rhyme.
The ointment Yuya used on Yuzu's burns were from the picanees.
I know nothing about tarot cards or readings, I just do a look up on them and go from there.
Each of the main characters in the Millennium World stories are actually represented by Tarot Cards, mainly our boys and the four girls though.
Yuto did have a premonition of a pretty spooky possibility.
Yuya is represented by the Magician Tarot card, meaning action, and the power to manifest. What manifests, is ultimately his choice.
Yuto is represented by the Moon Tarot card, representing mystery, subconsciousness, and dreams.
Yuto's last name translates into: Like the Moon.
Kisaragi is also the month of February on the Japanese calendar.
Several major characters in this story will be represented by tarot cards, as it fits with the overarching theme of Arc-V and with the theme I gave it.