/Yuya\
[Yuto]
~Yugo~
{Yuri}
Yuzu looks around the park as she runs, duel disk held up against her ear as she tries to reach Yuya, hoping this time he'll pick up. But it just keeps ringing in her ear without picking up.
Yuya was nowhere to be found, not answering calls and seemingly having vanished into thin air. With Sora also gone and coupled with what Yuya had told them earlier, her nerves were high-strung.
"Gongenzaka is coming here too." Yuzu looks over at Rin, who just put away her own duel disk. "Any luck?"
"Nothing," Yuzu answers with a sigh, "He's still not picking up."
"Then we'll just keep looking, we're bound to run into him somewhere."
Yuzu manages a weak smile and nod. "Right."
Yuzu returns to scanning the park as they move, looking out for any sight of goggles glinting in the light from the street lamps, a flash of a white jacket, or a bushy blue ponytail.
"Yuya!" she shouts, hoping he'll respond.
Instead, something starts shining.
"What the-" Rin says, raising her wrist as they abruptly stop in the road. Her bracelet is glowing, the silver having turned a pale green and casting colour over her arm and face.
"What's happening?" Yuzu says, eyes flicking between her own bracelet, pale pink light enveloping the two circles and Rin's.
"I don't know!"
They both freeze as a roar sounds out over the park. No, not one, there were two. It echoed into their bones and made them freeze in place.
And Yuzu vaguely recognised one of them, had heard it hundreds of times.
"Hey, Yuzu!" Rin calls after her as the twin-tailed hair takes off running again, in the direction of the loud sound.
Yuzu slows down as the stage comes into view, panting as she looks over the area, Rin soon coming to a stop next to her. The synchro user soon lets out a small gasp, and Yuzu looks quickly at her and to where her eyes are looking.
A scream catches in her throat as she catches sight of a crumpled form in a white jacket collapsed on the ground. She hears Rin curse next to her, and they both run forward.
Yuzu has to pause, however, when she realises Yuya isn't alone.
There's another boy laying there. They're wrapped around each other, holding on even while unconscious. With their faces resting so close to each other, you could mistake them for mirror images.
Yuzu kneels down next to Yuya. "Yuya?" She shakes his shoulder, but he doesn't respond at all. It's as if he's in a deep sleep. The other boy doesn't react either even when the movement rustles them as well. Violet bangs brush against his face, relaxed in the same way as Yuya, their heads resting so close their foreheads were just barely touching. It was a face familiar to her, but the one she knew as it's owner was laying right next to him.
"I'm guessing," Rin starts, remaining standing up, looking down at the unconscious pair. "That this is Yuto."
"Yuto?" Yuzu looks up at Rin in confusion. Then she remembers what Yuya had told her and Gongenzaka earlier. Yuto was one of the names Yuya had given as belonging to his three friends.
Yuzu turns back to Yuya, shaking him again to try and wake him up. "Yuya, what's wrong? What happened?"
Still no answer. Worry was clawing at Yuzu. He was just fine a mere hour ago, what could make him fall unconscious?
"Yuzu! Rin-dono!"
They look up, seeing Gongenzaka running over, his loud footsteps loudly clanking against the ground. His expression turns grave as he spots the two collapsed on the ground. "What happened?"
"We don't know, we found them like this," Yuzu says, brow furrowed in worry. Gongenzaka looks concerned as he crouches next to Yuzu. His gaze shifts over to the other boy, eyes widening. "This is-"
"Yuto!"
Yuzu's head snaps up at the voice. Two figures barrel into view, one she doesn't recognise, but the other one she definitely does.
Ruri pauses, breathing hard as she takes in the scene in front of her. The moment she spots the boy on the ground, however, her expression crumble in worry and she rushes forward. "Yuto? What's wrong?"
'Ruri uses Xyz. Yuto is from the Xyz Dimension. So is Ruri too…?'
"What happened here?" Yuzu flinches at the rough voice and looks at the other person who had come with Ruri. He was tall and wore a long, tattered jacket, gold eyes piercing into them with such fury it made Yuzu shrink back. "What did you do to Yuto?!"
Gongenzaka takes a step forward and meets his eyes head-on, but it's Rin who steps up close and glares right back, both of their steady presences a relief to Yuzu. Rin's voice is frosty as she speaks, back drawn up straight. "We don't know. How about you cut back the aggression and we can think it over?"
His eyes widen as he looks at Rin, then down at Yuzu with the same look.
"Shun, stop it," Ruri says, looking up, keeping one hand on Yuto's shoulder. "There's no use arguing."
They look at each other silently for a few seconds, until Shun let's out a sigh, and nods once. He doesn't completely relax but does stop glaring murder at them. He looks at Yuto, eyes seemingly softening in worry. "How is he?"
"Sleeping, I think." Ruri looks down again, eyes filled with worry. "He doesn't seem injured at least."
"We found them like this," Yuzu says, brow furrowed. "Yuya won't wake up or even stir, I don't know what's wrong."
Rin glances over them. "Yuto's your friend right? Are you all from the Xyz dimension?"
Ruri looks up, soft dark pink eyes widening slightly as they meet wintry amber. "Oh… you are-"
"The one from Synchro, yeah," Rin sighs. She gives Ruri a half-smile "Nice to meet you, I suppose."
Ruri smiles slightly. "Same here."
Shun steps forward, crouching down next to Ruri, voice low. "There are security cameras here, it's not a good place to talk. We should move."
Ruri tenses up. She sends a hesitant glance to the other three, before nodding. "You're right. Let's take Yuto back to LDS."
Shun frowns and looks like he wants to argue, but says nothing.
Yuzu looks down at Yuya. Right, they should get him home. Yoko must be worried about him, and letting him lay out here in the cold won't help him wake up.
Gongenzaka immediately moves forward to carefully de-tangle Yuya from Yuto, which he managed after some tugging when they proved to be holding on to each other pretty hard.
Eventually, Gongenzaka gets Yuya up on his back with some help from Yuzu and Rin. He looks at the other two present as they get Yuto up on Shun's back. "Shall I carry your friend as well?" Ruri and Shun looked at him in surprise.
"Why?" Shun asks, suspicion heavy in his voice and body shifting to hover over his friends sleeping form.
"It is natural to help comrades when you can," Gongenzaka simply says, resolute.
They seem thrown off by this, blinking in shock. Ruri eventually smiles gratefully and shakes her head. "Thank you for the offer but, we'll manage. You focus on getting Yuya home."
Gongenzaka nods, not pressing further. They stand up, Shun hefting Yuto up better on his back, the boy still not stirring at all.
"Guess we'll see you two again?" Rin asks, arms crossed.
"I think so," Ruri says, a small smile on her face that looked a bit tired. "I'd like to talk more, but…"
"After Yuya and Yuto wake up," Yuzu says, finishing Ruri's thought.
So with one last nod, both groups turn away and head to their respective destinations.
Yuri wakes up with a gasp, sucking in air sharply from between his teeth. His muscles scream at him as he sits, body kept tense and taut even after he passed out.
Actually, he wasn't sure what he did. Wavered between consciousness and unconsciousness, spacing out, sleeping, it felt like he had done all and none of them at the same time.
Yuri slowly flexed his fingers, stretching out his limbs carefully. They ached and his head throbbed and he was annoyed.
He thought back, or tried to. Last he remembers, he'd been prowling the halls, looking for something to kill time with in the evening. Preferably some poor sap who thought themselves skilled enough to duel him. It never ended well, but it was amusing nonetheless.
But then, some weird buzzing started up in his head. He'd thought it was coming from somewhere else, until he realised it was coming from a place he usually only heard two particular voices from.
And it kept getting louder. And Yuya and Yuto felt atrocious.
When Yuri felt the start of trembles through his body, he decided staying out in the open was too risky. This called for a strategic retreat.
It was a bit of a challenge keeping quiet and moving without being seen and keeping completely steady when he had to pass by people. Doubly so when he climbed up walls and out of windows or jumped walls, but he got to his room with no injuries.
So when the doors clicked shut and the lock was safely turned, Yuri let himself collapse to the floor. And promptly blacked out.
"I'm gonna wring their necks when I get ahold of them…" Yuri mutters irritably to himself with no real malice behind it, which was just a bit disgusting, honestly. Getting to his feet took some struggling and forcing his legs to hold his weight without shaking.
Only for him to almost fall over again when there's sudden banging on his door.
"Oi! Yuri! I know you're in there! Open up!"
Well, that was a familiarly crass voice, and one he really didn't want to hear right now.
Serena bangs again, hard enough it wouldn't surprise him if she made marks on the wood from her fists. It made his already aching head hurt more, something still ringing in the back of his skull.
"If you break my door I break your fingers," he calls after coughing quietly enough so no one except him heard it. His throat felt dry.
"I won't need to break it if you unlock it!"
Yuri sighs, hobbling over to the door and opening it a crack, subtly leaning against the door. Serena stood on the other side, fist raised in the middle of another bang against the wood. She stopped in surprise at seeing him but soon frowns as usual. "Took you long enough."
Yuri rolls his eyes. "My, please forgive me for not bending to your wishes immediately, dear little Professor's pet student. Alas, I have other things to attend to beyond your whims."
Serena clenches her fist like she's barely holding herself back from punching him in the face, and he smirks in amusement. He might be laying on the taunting a bit thick, but he really wanted her to go away and leave him alone right now.
But Serena doesn't storm off, or shout and curse at him and then storm off. Instead she pauses, and gives him a look. Just staring at his face in silence for a long moment, and it was odd. He'd like it to stop.
"What now?" he says, sounding as put-off and offended as he could.
"...Are you alright?"
That throws him off enough to only managing to blink at the girl for a few solid seconds. Then he looks at her with an unimpressed expression. "Excuse me?"
"You look pale and shaky, kinda like shit overall. And you ran past and ignored me earlier even when I called out to you."
Shit, so he had been seen. Well, since it was Serena, and she felt it was okay to call out to him, the chance of anyone else being around was close to minimal. But that she had noticed was not good.
He huffs irritably, trying to ignore how his legs feel like jelly underneath him. "Maybe I didn't answer you because I didn't want to deal with you?"
Serena doesn't look like she believes him. Yuri frowns, feeling his patience thin out. It was weirdly short today, even though it was short already when he was dealing with Serena. The hand hidden behind his door clenched to make it stop shaking. And why was his damn head still ringing?
{What the hell are you buffoons up to now?}
Buzz buzz, god shut up already, he was trying to-
Yuri freezes.
Serena frowns at his sudden imitation of a statue and widening eyes. "H-hey, what-"
Yuri doesn't hear her. He sees her mouth move, her hands moving, but there's a lock in his ears and he can't make out a word she's saying. It didn't matter though, not right now.
He can't hear them.
He can't hear them-
Yuri tears away from the door to wobbly pace, hands clutching his skull tightly. Serena yells something, but he doesn't hear her, barely sees her with his rapidly fuzzying vision.
{You pests better respond right the fuck now before I come over there-}
His breathing is getting faster and he tries to focus on keeping it at a steady level. He was not panicking. He was not. Yuri was not getting this disturbed over not being able to hear or feel them-
~Yuri…?~
And like that, he stops. Stares down at the floor through his fingers.
~What happened? I couldn't hear any of you but then I could kinda make you out but Yuya and Yuto are still distant… Hey, are you okay? You feel seriously not good.~
It was muffled, like it came from behind a filter and he had to concentrate to listen, but it was without a doubt Yugo. Muscles lose their tension as he breaths forcefully through his nose, legs begging to be freed from supporting his weight.
~Dude, please say something, I'm starting to worry you're not hearing me.~
{I'm here, I can hear you. Just, give me a second.}
~Huh-?~
Yuri raises a hand in Serena's direction, who's stepped into the room and is looking at him with a look mixed with panic and worry, unsure whether to approach or not.
He turns on his heel and calmly walks over to his private bathroom.
And promptly empties his stomach in the toilet.
"Oi Yuri?! What the hell is going on?!"
Serena hurries over, kneeling next to him and, after a moment's hesitation, put her hand on his back. That's what you do when someone is sick, right? She didn't see the point, but she didn't want to sit there and do nothing either. She awkwardly patted Yuri's back, grimacing at the occasional sound. They stop and there's a few seconds where pants are the only sound in the room.
Then Yuri's head snaps back up, making Serena jump. He yanks a small towel to wipe his mouth with as he closes the lid and flushes. He sighs, looking collected and pompous as always despite having just turned his insides back out seconds ago.
"Fuu, what a bother," he says, folding the towel and throwing it into a laundry basket behind him. "This really isn't how I'd like to spend my time, how inconvenient."
Serena gapes, flabbergasted over how quickly he switched mood. If you just looked at him now, you'd never guess he had been sick just a minute ago.
"...You're a really weird guy, you know that?" Serena says, look of incredulity on her face.
Yuri just smiles sweetly at her. "My, you've only just thought of that one?"
Serena gives him a disgusted look, only to frown when he starts to get to feet. "H-hey, should you be getting up?"
"I'm not in the mood to sit on the bathroom floor all night." Yuri manages to get to his feet mostly by himself, only needing to grip the sink to steady himself once he stood up.
{Sorry about that. Something came up.}
~Uuuh, yeah, I noticed. Are you really okay?~
The corner of Yuri's moth turns down just slightly in displeasure, cursing the two-way course of sensations shared between them. He hadn't had the time or clear mind to block his off.
{I'm fine. Just… a bit shaky.}
~Hey, I am too, it's okay. You can talk about it.~
Yuri huffs, walking out of the bathroom with minimal hobbling. It got easier the more steps he took. He heard Serena get up behind him and following after, frown on her face.
{I know.}
'Doesn't mean I necessarily will.'
"That's about enough excitement from me, so why don't you leave- oof!"
He's interrupted and caught off guard when something pushes hard him from behind. He doesn't manage to get his feet back under himself and falls face down heavily on his bed.
Once he's stopped bouncing on the mattress from the fall, he looks up with flat eyes at Serena, who's standing above the bed with her hands on her hips.
"You're gonna rest."
Yuri quirks an unimpressed eyebrow at the obvious demand, maybe even order, in her voice. "Is that so? By your rule?"
"Yes," Serena says as she grabs hold of his legs and pulls them up on the bed proper before pulling off his shoes.
Yuri scowls at her as he sits up. "I don't appreciate being manhandled like a child."
"When you act like a child and won't rest, then that's what happens." Serena tosses his boots to a corner, Yuri staring sullenly as they hit the floor with a loud thud. His vision is obscured as a blanket is thrown over his head. He rips it off only to find Serena is dragging a chair over to put it by the bed, plopping down like she belonged.
"What, you want to watch me sleep? How scandalous."
Serena bristles, stomping her foot on the floor. "Shut up! Just sleep!" She leans back against the backrest with a huff, arms crossed tightly across her front. "I'm just staying to make sure you actually sleep."
Yuri wasn't sure he believed her, but frankly, he was too tired to argue. His body wasn't tired, not at all, but mentally. He could forcefully collect himself and get up as normal if needed, but…
"Our quarters are kinda similar, huh…" Serena mutters, looking around for the first time. It was the first time she was in here, he realised. Usually all time they spent in each others presence was in his garden.
"I suppose they would be," he says, clicking open his jacket to take it off, taking the time to fold it and place it on his bedside table. "When you're isolated from other students by the Professor, that's how it goes."
Serena's head snaps to him, eyes wide. Yuri curses internally, realising he'd let himself slip just a little.
"You're allowed to go to normal classes, aren't you?" Serena asks, looking puzzled, voice a tad accusing. "You just skip."
"No one's making me. Nor am I getting in trouble for it." Yuri shoots back, leaning back on his hands. He smiles, the gesture stretching a bit too wide across his face to be in any way friendly. "I don't think they want me to, either. Hard to force a student they're terrified off to behave."
Really, for even teachers and instructors to behave like that, it was frankly pathetic. They had nothing to teach him, anyway, hadn't for a long time.
Serena doesn't seem to quite understand him, just looking at him in slight confusion. Yuri shrugs his shoulders, and lays down, pulling the blanket onto himself properly and shifting so his back was to her. "When you leave make sure to lock the door behind you."
"Oh, right." There's a pause. "How? Are you telling me to climb out the window?"
Yuri rolls his eyes. "No, numbskull. I've got an extra key under the floorboards. It's under the desk, ignore the obvious cardboard box and reach further in for a small one. Don't you dare lose or give it away."
"I won't," she says resolutely, rising to likely check under the desk. "Is it the one furthest against the wall near the left table leg?"
"Correct."
"Got it."
And with that, it's silent, last noise being when Serena sits back down.
Yuri stares at his pillow in mild disbelief over the situation. Having guests in his room had certainly never crossed his mind as a possibility. The rare moments he indulged himself or dreamed of Yuya, Yuto and Yugo being here with him, they were always down in his garden. The only place he felt comfortable.
{How are things on your end, Yugo?}
~Okay? I kinda collapsed and Jack is making me see a doctor. I'm just a bit shaky, I feel fine.~
{Quit your complaining and let them look you over.}
~I don't want to hear that from you!~
{I am resting right now, for the record. Not willingly, mind you.}
~...That sounds ominous.~
{Not really, Serena is just being stubborn.}
~Remind me to thank her later.~
{Haha, very funny.}
~I'm being told to rest too now. I'm not even that tired… I think.~
{Mental strain tends to do that to you.}
~Yeah… um,~
{What now?}
~You'll still be here tomorrow, right? I don't wanna wake up and have you all just… gone.~
{I'll be here. And even if I wouldn't be, I'd go get you. All of you.}
~Really?~
{Promise.}
~Hehe, okay. I'd go get you all too.~
{You can't travel through dimensions, remember?}
~I'd find a way! If it meant we can be together, I'd find a way…~
Yuri feels Yugo fall asleep, drifting between wakefulness and sleep like a boat on the sea.
His eyelids grew heavy, and he let himself succumb to slumber.
Even if he broke, he would keep them safe.
[Is anyone there?]
{Yuto? Took you long enough, where have you been?}
[Sleeping, I- Yuri, what's happening?]
{I don't know. It's been closed off like this until you spoke. What happened two days ago? You all just...}
[I don't know, there was some kind of sound, and it hurt, and… suddenly I couldn't feel or hear any of you. Like you were just… blocked out, or disappeared. I just woke up.]
{I see… I felt a bit of it too, and you all just disappeared for a moment until Yugo spoke, but...]
[Yugo? How is he?]
{What?}
{Yuto… can't you hear him?}
[...Huh?]
~...! …-!...~
[Yuri, what is Yugo saying? I-I can't hear him, I-]
{He can barely hear you either, but I can hear you both. He's asking if you're okay, about Yuya, and that he's fine.}
[R-right, uh, I'm okay, mostly. Ruri gave me an earful for leading the Fusion spy away by myself.]
~...at him?~
{Yugo's asking if you won.}
[I'm quite sure I could have, but he got forced home in the middle. And Yuya wouldn't have let us, he intended to get in the way in every way he could.]
~Heh…..haha…..~
{How like him. The little spy has been confined to the medical rooms, keeps screaming about Xyz remnants.}
[Yeah… uh, Yuya is. I don't know, I haven't seen him yet. Apparently he collapsed like I did and his friends brought him home.]
{I assume you will visit him?}
[How did you know?]
{Don't ask obvious questions. Anyway, with the spy being sent back, things are gonna start moving, and quick.}
~Are… Yuya gonna… okay? Goddamnit-~
[You're much clearer now, Yugo.]
{Seems it takes some time but we do start hearing each other properly again.}
[Yeah. I… don't know how this will go down, but… I'm gonna do my best to make sure no one gets hurt.]
~Good luck!~
{It'll be impossible to tell what will happen, but know this much, Yuto, if you see me, I am not your ally.}
[Huh?]
{If the Professor catch wind of any connection between us, it could get unpleasant.}
~Why not just defect right now? It's not like you're actually loyal to those guys anyway.~
{I'm playing spy myself right now. And knowing your opponents moves is a nice advantage.}
[...Okay, if you're so sure. But if things get bad, come to us right away.]
{Fine, fine. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I've been living here for most of my life, after all.}
~Mmm, I don't like it, but… okay.~
Getting to Yuya's house doesn't take long. He's been given the address and descriptions of the place from Yuya just in case it was ever needed. Yuto never really expected it to be useful in a situation like this, and he doesn't feel very happy about it.
Still, looking at the house Yuya had grown up in still leaves him with a weird feeling. Even though they'd been talking every day for two years now, Yuto didn't have a clue what the lives the others had been living looked like. He got a glimpse of it when he came to Standard and saw what Yuya's hometown looked like.
Seeing the house Yuya has lived in all this time left him with an odd fluttering, almost excited feeling in his chest. He doesn't really know how to take that.
Yuto pauses as his deck pulses, a light shining from inside it. When he reaches into his deck holder and pulls out the card, he sees Dark Rebellion, softly glowing in his hands. Yuto looks up and through a window on the second floor, he sees a similar light in the room.
"Is that where Yuya is?" he asks his dragon. He gets no answer, but he doesn't really need one.
Pocketing the card again, Yuto jumps over the hedge surrounding the vicinity and quietly darts across the grass. With a jump and pulling himself up, he's on the roof and carefully walks across, over to the window he'd seen the light in. It was on the corner, the roof above slanted. Reaching the window, he pulls at it and, to his surprise, it slides open. He enters, the only sound being the quiet click of his heel on the floor and the sound of the window slowly closing once more.
[Remind me to scold Yuya for leaving his bedroom window unlocked at night later.]
~Seriously? Does he WANT to get robbed?~
{The benefit of not having to protect your wellbeing at night, I suppose.}
~At least one of us hasn't had to.~
Yes, that was indeed a good thing. Hopefully, it would keep being that way, but Yuto wasn't very hopeful on that front.
Turning around, Yuto took in the room he was in.
Yuya's bedroom, he realised.
It was hard to see from the lack of light, but he could see the floor was checkered, big red and white squares instead of one colour. A cupboard with colourful boxes and books stacked inside, the upper shelves having glass doors with some figures and statues inside. The desk looked like an odd shelf, instead of a chair, there was a big bouncy ball with stars on it. A big wall mirror was set up on the wall and two doors, one he guessed lead out to the hall and the other to maybe a closet or a bathroom.
It was very… Yuya.
Yuto turned to the bed next to him, taking in the person laying still on it.
Yuya looked like he was sleeping, face lax and eyes closed peacefully, but very still.
Yuto kneeled next to the bed, relief coursing through him at the sight and hearing his quiet, deep breathing. He folds his arms on the bed near Yuya's head and rests his head on them, suddenly feeling very tired.
/...Yuto…\
He looks up, eyes half-lidded. But Yuya doesn't move at all, hasn't even appeared to have twitched.
/...Yugo…\
His body turns limp as weariness takes hold of his body, eyes struggling to stay open.
/...Yuri…\
Gray eyes slide shut as their owner's breathing evens out. The last of the faint ringing fades away, leaving the other's warmth to fill its place.
Yuto slowly stirred awake. His legs prickled uncomfortably under him and his arms were stiff, yet he felt warm.
Shifting, he noted the softness under his arms. Blearily blinking his eyes open, he first saw his arms, then he made out something bright green and striped. Gingerly he moved his head, feeling a crick in his neck from his odd sleeping position, squinting from the sunlight streaming through the window. He looked up and made out a head of messy green and red hair.
Yuto relaxed, recalling where he was. Slipping in through Yuya's bedroom window, only planning to stay a little while to check up on him, but he had been so tired… What was supposed to be a short lay down on Yuya's bed had ended up with him falling asleep.
[Good morning.]
{Good afternoon, you mean.}
Yuto blinks in surprise. [Is it so late?]
~Yeah man, you slept a long time. How are you feeling?~
Yugo still sounded a little distant, but not like he was talking behind a wall anymore. It made a tension seep out of his shoulders in relief.
[Better. Guess I needed the rest.]
Gingerly, Yuto sat up, feeling the left behind ache from his awkward position. Yuya didn't even stir, face relaxed peacefully in sleep, hair splayed out over his pillow. The sight made him smile slightly.
[Has Yuya been up yet?]
{No, he hasn't come to at all. He doesn't even seem to be dreaming.}
Yuto frowns, looking at the other again. He still looked a bit still, but somehow Yuto thought there was a bit more life in his face compared to yesterday night. He sat up properly, and only now did he realise he had a blanket draped over his shoulders.
Yuto froze. Yuya hadn't been awake to put it on, and he certainly hadn't done it, so who-
The bedroom door swings open. Yuto whirls and stares wide-eyed like a deer in headlights.
With one hand on the doorknob and the other on the doorframe, there stood a woman, looking at him in mild surprise. She had green eyes and long blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail.
She smiled warmly. "Finally awake, are you?"
Yuto gapes. His body is rooted to the spot, limbs not budging an inch as all he can do is sit there. "Ah- Uh…"
The woman doesn't seem to mind his stuttering, only smiling a bit wider. She steps into the room, and Yuto tenses up like an animal ready to run at the slightest movement.
"Did you sleep well? You barely stirred when I came in here, you must have been tired."
Yuto feels gobsmacked, like he was about to be hit with a bat but it turned out to be made of flower petals. "Um, y-yes."
The woman smiles, then looks at the figure lying prone on the bed. "Has he woken up yet?"
Yuto looks at Yuya, still sleeping, but keeps the woman in his vision. "No… he hasn't moved."
A sigh, then steps coming closer and Yuto freezes as the woman sits down on the floor next to him in front of the bed like he wasn't a complete stranger. "Honestly… he can be such a handful."
There's a clear fondness in her voice and her smile is no less warm than before. And Yuto is suddenly hit with the realisation of who this woman probably is, his stomach filling with butterflies.
"Are… are you Yuya's mother?"
The woman looks at him with an amused smile. "That's right, I'm Sakaki Yoko. And since you know Yuya's name and is sleeping in here, I'm guessing you know him?"
Yuto feels his cheeks flush in embarrassment, feeling very awkward and lost. What mother just casually talks and sits down next to a stranger found sleeping half on her son's bed. Someone who had clearly broken in during the night to boot.
Yuto finds himself only able to nod. "Something like that…" He glances at the figure sleeping on the bed before looking back at the woman next to him. "My name is Yuto. Um, I'm very sorry about breaking in. I just… really needed to see that Yuya was okay."
Yuya's mother hums. "I see. How did you become friends?"
He bites his lip, wondering how to answer. Telling the truth wasn't exactly an option if Yuya hadn't already told her, and it wasn't Yuto's place to explain either. He couldn't speak for Yuya in that way. But outright lying didn't feel right either…
"From a while back," he hesitantly says. "It's only recently that I've been able to meet him."
"When you say from a while back… it wouldn't happen to be about two years ago, would it?"
Yuto whirls to the woman with wide, startled eyes. "How-"
Yoko simply smiles. "I guessed."
She turns to look at Yuya with a reflective look on her face, eyes shifting to somewhere that wasn't here. "You know, when Yuya was about twelve, he started mentioning friends I had never met or heard of before. Maybe he had some imaginary friends, but Yuya has never really been that kind of child."
Yuto listens quietly, hands clenching and unclenching around the fabric of his pants. He watches as Yoko gets up and walks over to the bookshelf and opens a drawer. She shifts through it and pulls out a paper, thick and stiff with colours visible from the back. Her lips quirk up into a fond smile before she walks back over and holds it out to him. Hesitantly, Yuto reaches out and takes it.
And stops.
"He got an assignment from school. "Draw the people you love," I believe it was," Yoko says, not paying any mind to Yuto's sudden stillness, sitting down again. She smiles at Yuya's sleeping form. "I remember getting called in because the teacher had tried asking him about three drawings, but he'd clammed up and refused to say anything." She laughs, like the memory amused her. "She was so frazzled, I thought it was something really serious."
Yuto listens with one ear, eyes still glued to the drawing held in both his hands.
It looked normal enough. Yuto could recognise the people on it, helped by the names being written next to their little heads. There was Yoko, someone named 'Yusho' who he remembered as Yuya's dad, Yuzu and Gongenzaka he recognised as well.
But then, in the middle of the paper furthest down, the drawings of humans got interrupted by something else.
Three coloured circles or orbs were drawn, each one having more than one colour in them and each of them having different things scribbled around them. Black, dark purple and what looked like silver had ghosts, swords and dotted stars around it. Blue in both dark and light shades, some green and teal and some clear lines left to leave the white of the paper, were surrounded by a messy motorcycle, clouds, a sun, and little sparkles. Dark purple, dark pink, with some lines of green and yellow, and around that there were leafy plants, sharp teeth, and a scarce few normal flowers.
And next to each little blurb, a name was written. Yuto, Yugo and Yuri.
Yuto looks at the top of the paper again, where the title is written in a black pen. 'People I love.'
He bites his lip, the edges of the paper crinkling under his fingers as they unconsciously tighten their hold.
"Would you be the same 'Yuto' Yuya was thinking about when he drew that?"
Yuto can only nod, throat feeling too closed up for him to speak properly for a moment. He swallows hard, and tries sharing even a little of the emotions welling up in him with Yuri and Yugo. They deserved as much.
~What's up, Yuto?~
[Sorry, there's a lot right now. I'll tell you both later. But Yuya drew us.]
{Last I remember, only you two know what the other looks like, so that seems flat out impossible.}
[No, I mean, I think it's the impression or things he associates with us? There are colours and objects. For an assignment to 'draw the people you love'.]
{...Oh}
~What's with that, I wanna see!~
[You can see it when we're all together, I'm not describing it.]
~Stingy.~
Yuto laughs quietly. After a moment, Yoko waiting patiently all the while, Yuto finally felt like he could speak. "I am. I don't know any other Yuto he could know. I know the other two as well, but… they're not here right now."
Right now. But they would be.
"Then, do I get to meet them someday?" Yoko asks, smiling when Yuto looks at her in surprise. "If Yuya thinks so highly of all of you, I definitely want to meet them too."
Yuto blinks, then finds himself smiling. "Yeah, definitely. Yuya wanted us to meet you too." He pauses and laughs as he recalls something. "And eat your pancakes, which I've heard mountain loads of praise of."
Yoko seems caught off guard by that, but quickly she's laughing, hand held in front of her mouth. Her laugh was similar to Yuya's, his genuine one.
"He really does love my pancakes! I'll have to bring my best when that day comes, huh?"
"I'm looking forward to it," he says, inclining his head with a smile. "But, only when all four of us are here, if that's okay."
Yoko smiles in light amusement. "Is it that special? Eating my pancakes together?"
Yuto flushes. "Ah, no well… we've talked about it, what our favourite food is, and we all said we'd try it together, once we got to meet."
He can't help the almost nostalgic smile from sneaking onto his face. Those conversations felt far away, yet also so familiar even now.
A ding makes him jump, head turning left and right to locate the source of the sound. Yoko seems unperturbed, simply getting up and walking to Yuya's desk, picking up his duel disk.
"What is it?"
"Yuya's opponent tomorrow has been decided," she says, looking at her son sleeping peacefully on his bed. "I just hope he gets up before then. If he'd wake up and realise he missed his match and got disqualified because he was sleeping…"
Yuto frowns. Yuya's whole reason for being in this tournament was to qualify to be a pro. If he missed it, he'd be crushed. And all because he didn't want Sora and Yuto to duel. Yuto didn't know what exactly had happened to them back then, but if Yuya hadn't been there, maybe he wouldn't be asleep right now.
Yuto felt guilt nip at him.
His eyes are drawn to Yuya's duel disk.
"Sakaki-san." She looks at him curiously. "I would like your permission for something."
"Is Yuya-oniichan still not here?"
"He didn't show up before the matches either…"
"Is he gonna make it?"
Yuzu glances at the kids and tries her best to put on a believable smile. "Don't worry, Yuya will definitely come!"
Even as she says this, worry gnarls at her insides. Yuya still hadn't woken up today, is he really gonna sleep through his duel?
"Oh, Yoko," her dad suddenly says, and all eyes present snap over to the woman as she sits down in her seat. "How's Yuya? Is he okay?"
Yoko smiles secretly. "No need to worry, he's okay."
"Is he-" Yuzu starts but is interrupted as the announcer starts speaking.
"And now, could our duelists please enter the field!"
Yuzu wrings her hands, anxiousness setting in as she shares a look with Gongenzaka, dreading the announcement that Sakaki Yuya was disqualified or had withdrawn.
Then, a figure steps onto the field, a familiar white jacket slung over his shoulders and goggles glinting in the light.
"He made it!" Ayu cheers.
"Thank goodness," Shuzo sighs, slumping in his seat from relief. "Really, making us worry like that."
Yuzu smiles in relief, Gongenzaka squaring his shoulders in pride.
Rin tilts her head, staring long and hard at the figure down below, brow furrowed in thought.
Away from the audience, in private seats overlooking the field, sat two people.
"...That's Yuto, isn't it?" Ruri asks uncertainly.
"Pretty sure it is, yeah," Shun responds, looking confused as he blinks down at his best friend.
Yuto wouldn't call himself an impulsive person, nor someone who came up with overly silly ideas. He had always been more laidback, preferring the wall to any other part of a room, where he can be out of the way and not be bothered.
Deciding to impersonate Yuya in a tournament would likely be counted as both of those things.
Yuto barely keeps his eyebrow from twitching madly at the ravenous laughter in his head. He was already regretting sharing his plan with his others.
[Are you done?]
~He-ee-ll no, are you kidding? This is hilarious!~
Yuto sighs, surrendering to the fact that this will take a while.
{Are you feeling more colourful~?}
[Shut up.]
{Hey now, this was your idea. We're just commenting.}
~Ha, ha, haha, okay seriously, are you actually doing this, Yuto?~
[Yes. A bit late to back out now, either way. I'll pull it off.]
{I do wonder if anyone will really buy it, though. You and Yuya give off quite different air's.}
Yuto tugs at his shirt, adjusting the jacket on his shoulders. Yuya's clothes felt weird on him, loose and tight in places he wasn't used to his clothes being. They were flashy, colourful, pretty much everything Yuto's wasn't, except for his cloak perhaps.
His hair had been combed down to his best ability, but the borrowed goggles did most of the work to make his hair resemble Yuya's. The biggest issue, perhaps, would be his eyes. He and Yuya had very different looks in them, and anyone who knew Yuya well would likely start to doubt if they looked at him for too long. Luckily, his opponent was a stranger.
[You two don't know yet just how similar we look. From a distance, Yuya's friends won't recognise me. It'd be easier for others to believe I'm actually Yuya in a different mood than a whole other person.]
~Huh…. anyway please make someone take a picture of you, I want to see you in Yuya's clothes.~
[Absolutely not.]
It was bad enough he was going out in front of a big crowd in this, he'd be damned if he let the other three ever see him in this. At least the people out there didn't know it wasn't Sakaki Yuya they were looking at.
So when the call to enter the field came, Yuto took a deep breath, and strode forward, trying his best to not look like he was going to war.
His opponent stares silently at him, even as the field changes around them. Yuto takes out his deck, actually Yuya's deck, and looks at it for a moment. He draws his thumb over the top card, smiling. "I know I'm not your usual master, but please take care of me."
Yuto puts it in place, raises his duel disk and locks eyes with his opponent. They seem to stagger for a second before regaining their composure.
"Duel!"
"And Kachidoki go for an action card once again, and-!"
Yuto skids, jumps, Kachidoki's eyes widening as he burst out of the shadows and into view, and grabs ahold of the action card.
"Action Magic, Evasion!" Yuto shouts as he flies down to the ground and lands with his knees bent. "Your attack is negated!"
Kachidoki swears as Idaten the Conqueror Star's attack is stopped.
"Aaand Sakaki Yuya once again cuts him off! Like a phantom hiding in the shadows, he appears when you least expect it to strike!"
Yuto sweatdrops over how true that description actually was, just not for Yuya. He turns back to his opponent. "Are you finished?"
Kachidoki glares at him, fist clenched at his side. His teeth are grit as he speaks "You've managed well to survive this long, but that fortune won't last forever. Nothing on your field can help you, soon Idaten will cut you down."
Yuto's brow furrow. "You don't know that until the end. Saying victory is guaranteed will only secure your defeat. In a real battle, nothing is decided until the very end."
Kachidoki grunts. "Don't talk like you know anything. I have walked a road of darkness. I won't lose to the likes of you, who've walked a path with not a single shadow!"
Yuto flinches, suddenly realising where he recognised the look in Kachodoki's eyes. But in the end, it wasn't hard as flint as he was used to.
Yuto remembers, time spent consoling Yuya, crying or feeling down, when the days got too hard and people's words cut deeper than usual.
Gray eyes slide shut. "Everyone has their own darkness. If you don't understand that…" He looks hard at Kachidoki, who flinches and steps back at the hard look in the gray pools. "Then you have no right to talk about others suffering!"
Yuto draws, looks at his hand, usual eerie and comforting spectres and knights replaced by animals in bowties and reliable magicians in his hand. They were not his partners in battle.
But he had one ally with him. His most important one, that he couldn't bear leaving behind.
'Right,' Yuto thinks, breathing in, and out. 'Let's do this.'
"I overlay Performapal Camelump and Performapal Silver Claw!"
He can heard the shocked exclamations from the crowd and see the surprised look on his opponents face, but he pays them no mind.
"From the pitch-black darkness, rise up against the foolish oppression, Fang of Rebellion! Descend now! Xyz Summon! Come forth! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"
Dark Rebellion appears with their familiar roar, threatening to others but reassuring to Yuto. Even it's ominous silhouette was familiar and comforting.
"I activate Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon's effect. By using one overlay unit, I can halve one of my opponent's level five or above monsters attack, and Dark Rebellion gains that amount. I use both overlay units. Treason Discharge!"
His dragon's attack ticks up as it roars, purple electricity sparking around its wings. "Battle. Dark Rebellion attacks Idaten the Conqueror Star!"
"Idaten's effects activates! When this card battle a monster with equal or lower level, that monster's attack becomes zero!"
Yuto's eyes narrow slightly. "Xyz monsters don't have levels, so your effect is negated."
Kachidoki's shout of disbelief is drowned out by Dark Rebellion's cry as it pierces his monster. He falls back with a cry, hitting the ground hard as his life points trickle to zero.
Yuto sighs as the Action Field dissipate around them. He won. Just a little longer, now…
He sees Kachidoki struggle to sit up, and pauses.
Yuto walks closer, stopping some feet away. Kachidoki glares up at him, baring his teeth, fury clear in his eyes.
Yuto's face softens in sympathy. In this world, this kind of person shouldn't have to exist. Yet, despite looking like a peaceful world, this place too had it's shadowed corners.
"Taking pride in your darkness won't lead you anywhere."
The other pauses, staring up at him in confusion.
Yuto turns around. "Not working for your happiness and just continuing to stagnate in your suffering is not something to be proud of. It's pitiful. Working for your happiness is challenging, and can be so much harder, but it's worth it." He glances over his shoulder, small, encouraging smile on his lips. "I'd like to see you do that as well. There's not a person in this world that deserves to suffer."
Yuto leaves, silence following him. The crowds chatter, but he doesn't hear them. Hopefully, he's done something similar to what Yuya would have done.
"Did it go well?"
Yuto looks up, eyes hidden behind Yuya's goggles. Yoko is smiling down at him, a glint in her eyes that he could almost identify as pride, but he didn't understand why it would be there. He nods. "Yeah, I think so. How did it look from the outside?"
"Well enough," Yoko laughs. "Yuya's friends are a bit worried over your 'odd behaviour', but I don't think anyone else would suspect there's two of you."
"That's all that matters," Yuto sighs. "Now how to deal with them…"
"Better think quickly."
Yuto looks up, seeing a group hurriedly approaching their little corner that they had taken under the guise of 'Yuya' still feeling tired.
"Yuya!" The girl he guessed to be Yuzu says, hurrying up to him, a mix of anger and worry on her face. She looked so much like Ruri it made his head spin a little. "Why didn't you come see us beforehand?! We were so worried!"
"Sorry, I needed to rest for the match," he says, getting anxious over the attention.
Luckily, Yoko comes to his rescue. "He just woke up this morning, please give him a break, Yuzu."
"But…"
"Congratulations on your victory, Yuya," Gongenzaka says, looking like he was restraining himself. "And thank goodness you finally woke up! As Yuzu said, we were all very worried, the man Gongenzaka, of course included." Yuto smiles, the gesture feeling awkward on his face, and nods.
Yuto feels pinpricks in his neck, and turns in the direction. And jolts still. Calculating amber eyes were staring sharply at him, suspicious clear in their owner's cold face.
[Yugo, Rin is staring at me with menacing eyes.]
~Hehehe, she can be real threatening when she wants to. What did you do?~
[Impersonate Yuya?]
~Ah, yeah, that would do it. Best to fess up, I think she'll play along, but be prepared to be grilled later.~
So, when Yuto saw everyone else distracted by Yoko and the man in a tracksuit with flames on it, Yuto discreetly pulled up one of the lenses of Yuya's goggles. Rin's eyes widen at the gray eyes and the different look in his eyes. He holds a finger over his lips, glancing at the others for good measure. Rin looks at them, glances back, and nods slowly. Yuto breathes a sigh of relief.
Soon, the kids and the man, Yuzu's dad apparently, leave, along with Yoko, for their next matches, leaving the four of them behind.
"So," Rin says loudly, making everyone jump. "What's the deal?"
Yuzu and Gongenzaka look at her in confusion, but Yuto sighs. "You two really know each other well, huh..."
He pulls off the goggles and there are surprised gasps as he looks up. Yuzu and Gongenzaka is staring in disbelief at him. Yuzu raises a hand to point. "Y-You're from the park the other day…"
"Yuto," he says, and lowers his head. "I'm really sorry for pretending to be Yuya. I wasn't trying to give you false hopes, but…" He looks up, then to the side again. "I didn't want Yuya to be disqualified because he came to help me."
Gongenzaka frowns. "What do you mean by that?"
"That night, because I was dueling his friend, Yuya decided to interrupt. If he hadn't been there, he might not have fallen unconscious, and in the end, I woke up before him." He looks at the goggles in his hand. "It might not have made any difference, but, I wanted to help him out, somehow."
There's a silence for a moment, until it's broken by Gongenzaka's crying.
"Even though Yuya didn't win and he gets to advance, to want to take on that burden while he's unable to because of guilt-!" he wails loudly, sounding incredibly moved. "You are a true man, Yuto!"
Yuto blinks, stunned and not sure how to react. Yuzu and Rin only smile awkwardly, but doesn't tell him to stop, Yuzu patting his arm in a soothing gesture.
~Yuto, say hi to Rin for me!~
[Sure.]
~And that I miss her.~
[Seriously?]
~Please?~
[...Okay, fine.]
He looks at Rin. "Yugo says hi, and…" he sighs in light embarrassment, "that he misses you."
She blinks in surprise, then smiles a fond and warm smile. "Say hi from me and that I miss him too."
[She says hi and that she misses you too. Happy?]
~Hehe~ Very! Thank you, Yuto.~
He lets out a tired sigh. When he looks up, he sees Rin looking at him with an amused expression. "He being a handful?"
Yuto flushes slightly. "No, I wouldn't say that…"
Rin smiles like she knows exactly what he's thinking about, and he relaxes slightly. Right, she grew up with Yugo, of course she would know the feeling of being exasperated by him but the strong fondness never leaving even then.
Yuto sighs, and squares his shoulders. He puts the goggles back on his head. "I should leave, before anyone else notices. I need to talk with Shun and Ruri as well."
"Do you think Yuya will wake up?" Yuzu asks in concern.
"Don't worry, I'm certain Yuya will wake up before the finals tomorrow." He looks at them. "Things will start moving very soon, and when that time comes, I want you all to stay safe, and survive."
They all look uneasy at words, and Yuto hated to bring this worry on them. But if he didn't at least warn them, it could have terrible consequences.
"No matter what enemy it is, the man Gongenzaka will not allow them to touch one hair on my friends!"
Yuzu nods, looking determined. "I don't think I really understand, but… I won't go down that easily! And I won't let them hurt anyone."
Rin doesn't say anything at first, only looks at the floor with a thoughtful expression, a steely look behind her eyes. She meets Yuto's eyes with a determined look. "After this, we're going to rescue Yugo, right?"
Yuto feels something flare up in his chest at her words. He nods sharply. "Yes. I don't know what Akaba Reiji is planning to do, but, that's what we want to do next."
Rin's eyes narrow, hands clenching into fists at her sides as her eyes flicker with emotions.
"I'm going too."
Their heads snap to Yuzu in surprise, who meets their eyes with determination. "That Yugo is someone important to both Yuya and Rin, right? Then I'm going to help too." She squares her shoulders resolutely and gives them a hard look. "I won't take no for an answer."
"Same for me!" Gongenzaka says loudly, arms folded over his chest. "If a friend of both Yuya and Rin-dono is in peril, I, the man Gongenzaka, will of course lend all his strength to assist in his rescue!"
They look at them in silence. Until Rin starts laughing under her breath, muffling it behind her hand. Yuzu wavers at the reaction as Rin finally looks back at them. "I shouldn't have expected anything less." She smiles gratefully. "Thank you, both of you."
Yuzu and Gongenzaka give her reassuring nods and smiles.
Yuto feels one tug at his lips as well. He's glad to see them support each other, knowing Yuya has these kinds of friends with him.
"Well then, I'll be going now." He gives them one last nod and a small smile before turning to slip away. Back to Yuya's house where his clothes, deck and duel disk lay waiting for him.
The pendulum and goggles needed to be returned before their owner realised they were gone. Though if he was up and wondering where they were, that wouldn't be too bad either.
But frankly, he was itching to get out of these clothes. They were really not his style.
"We recovered this from the soldier sent to Standard."
Yuri stares cooly at the image displayed on the wall. A girl, with Serena's face, but none of her other characteristics. She certainly wouldn't smile like that if it wasn't meant to be mocking or accompanied by a frown. "She is likely the last piece we are searching for."
'Obviously.'
Two more images appear, and Yuri mentally curses.
Two other girls, one with short, curly green hair and a stern expression, the other with long, dark locks, wearing a scarf over her lower face appeared next to the twin-tailed girl.
"The two that had gone missing have been located as well. Getting all three of them at once might prove difficult, but focus on bringing the piece from Standard here."
Akaba Leo, or the Professor as he was usually referred to, turned to face him. Yuri keeps the smile on his face even as the man stares at him.
"You'll bring her to me, won't you, Yuri?"
'Well,' Yuri thinks to himself with a sigh, his smile never slipping, 'it was about time.'
Now with added edits of Gongenzaka calling Rin 'Rin-dono', cause I thought of it and really wanted it.
Hope people who have missed seeing Yuri liked seeing him again ^^
And next chapter: Tournament Time! *pumps fist* It's been a long time coming but it's finally happening \ouo/
Oh, and I completely forgot, but the lyrics from the previous chapter was from Bond ~Synchro Harmony~ from Aikatsu Friends