Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX
Up in one of the booths of the Kaiba Dome a group of testers looked on as they recorded the results. There was a large amount of promising talent that would be entering the academy. This however was not enough to excite one individual that being Doctor Vellian Crowler headmaster of the highest ranking dorm in the academy that being Obelisk Blue. Instead all he saw were the applicants that had managed to barely get in. In his "professional" opinion, their attendance at Duel Academy was a waste of his valuable time. If it were up to him they wouldn't get accepted, but they had met all requirements although barley, so there was nothing he could do without a valid reason. He glanced out of the corner of his eye, and saw the head of registration coming towards him.
"Sorry to interrupt Mr. Crowler, but two more applicants have just arrived to take their exam." The head of registration said, unaware of the mistake he had made.
Dr. Crowler shook his head in irritation, "Did you just call me Mr. Crowler?" He asked
The registrator looked flabbergasted, "Oh I'm sorry Mrs. Crowler I didn't know I'm new here."
"I happen to have a PHD in dueling so it's Dr. Crowler. Thank you very much. Now tell the truants they'll have to come back next year." Crowler crossed his arms to show his decision was final, but the proctors around him still protested.
"Come on Dr. Crowler. Give them a chance, so what they were a little late. Life happens like that sometimes." One of them begged.
"We have time for another couple of duels." Another added.
"Being late is rude! I have no time for slackers" Crowler yelled flailing his arms around.
His outburst didn't hamper the proctor's. More of them started to chime in. Crowler's cell phone rang, saving him from the headache he was getting from the proctor's. They quieted down as he answered it.
"Who is it?" Crowler asked.
"It's Sheppard. I'm just calling to make sure we don't have a repeat of last year's exams" The chancellor of Duel Academy sat back in his chair.
Confused Crowler asked. "What was wrong with last year's exams?"
On the other end Chancellor Sheppard shook his head at Crowler's question. "Last year you cut a third of our applicants for something unreasonable. Make sure everyone gets a fair chance."
Crowler began to sweat at Sheppard's response, maybe he had gone a little overboard failing kids. It wasn't his fault he thought to himself. After all the more years he taught the less patience he seemed to have for what he deemed as incompetence. He'd have no choice now, but to give those two late applicants a chance much to his dismay.
"Of course Chancellor." Crowler said with an even tone before snapping his phone shut.
"Unbelievable that furry chinned windbag. Doesn't he realise there are enough talentless fools going to this school." Crowler thought to himself before he addressed the proctor's around him.
"Fine those two will get their shot, however instead of dueling one on one let's test them in a tag duel. Them against me, and one of you." Crowler decreed much to the shock of the surrounding proctor's.
One of them even went as far as to try, and argue against this, however Crowler wasn't having any of it. He went off to grab his deck, and duel vest after giving further instructions.
Meanwhile back in the spectator's area Yubel was starting to grow more, and more uneasy. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach something was about to go wrong. She wasn't sure why? There wasn't anything going on around them other than the duel in front of them. She was so deep in thought she paid no attention to Jaden's conversation with the short blue haired kid beside him.
"Yubel did you hear me? Hello, earth to Yubel…" Jaden tapped her on her shoulder distracting her from the bad feeling.
"What is it Jaden?" She asked.
Jaden smiled and pointed at the kid beside him. "Syrus here was telling me how the kid dueling down their Bastion Misawa scored the highest mark on the written exam."
"Must be a smart guy. Maybe you could get him to tutor you considering you have a hard time studying." Yubel joked lightly tapping him on the shoulder.
"Hey," Jaden protested, "it's not that I have a hard time there is just a lot of more important stuff I need to devote my time to"
Yubel looked at him for a second guessing in her head what the answer to her next question would be. "More important stuff being what Jaden?" She asked.
"Why sleeping of course." He answered all too casually, suggesting he wasn't joking.
Yubel smiled evilly at his answer. "Well Jaden that is about to change. You and I are going to be studying everyday. For us, school will be twenty four seven with no breaks even on weekends." She said only half jokingly causing Jadens eye's to almost pop out of his skull.
"Relax Jaden, I'm only kidding," she reassured him gently patting his back, "well only partially kidding you are going to have to pick it up studying wise at least a little."
Jaden pouted at that last bit of information before she continued. "No excuses Jaden, it was your idea to come here in the first place. I will not be walking across the stage at graduation unless you are too. We're in this together till the end." Feeling bold she added, "Besides it'll be fun we can have some food, and play some music…"
It was at that point Syrus decided to interject with a very wise realization. "Isn't what you're describing a date more than actual studying?"
Feeling embarrassed Yubel panicked, causing her to screech at Syrus, "No it isn't, who asked you?" He fell back in fear. Everyone in the arena had also stopped what they were doing and was looking in their direction.
Yubel looked at Jaden worried he'd react badly to what Syrus had just said. To her relief his eyes had glazed over with all intelligent thought, and reasoning gone from his mind. After Yubel had mentioned food Jaden's mind had been transfixed on an image of Yubel's signature nachos, and beef dip. He hadn't registered anything after that. Realizing this Yubel sheepishly apologised to Syrus for her outburst. Still slightly afraid he forgave her. Slowly everyone in the arena returned their attention back to the duel. Yubel let out a sigh of relief. She honestly thought for a moment there she'd die of embarrassment. Having just passed his exam the boy known as Bastion Misawa walked over to an open spot below them to have a seat. Jaden had recovered by then and leaned over to congratulate him.
"Tight duel Bastion you might be the third best duelist here." Jaden said.
It was at that moment both his and Yubel's name got called by someone on the intercom telling them to report for their testing.
"Looks like we're up Jaden," Yubel said.
"Hold on," Bastion looked slightly perplexed, "If I'm the third best duelist here who's number one, and two?"
Jaden smiled as he slung his arm around Yubel's shoulder. "Why that would be Yubel and I."
With that they walked down to the arena floor to begin their duels. Leaving Bastion, and an awe inspired Syrus.
After a moment of silence Syrus spoke up. "He's so confident. Do you think they're as good as he says?"
"They better be if they have any hope of winning this," Bastion said honestly, "just look who their opponent is."
It took a moment for Syrus to see what Bastion was talking about, but when he did he crossed his fingers, and toes giving a silent prayer Bastion was wrong. He didn't want Jaden to fail, he seemed like a good person he could get along with, even if they'd only had one conversation. Yubel on the other hand he had mixed feelings about. No, there was just something off about her. When she had yelled at him he could have sworn one of her turquoise eyes had turned an orangish brown. Something was hidden beneath the surface he wasn't seeing, but then again it was probably just his imagination. Besides if Jaden was her friend she couldn't be that bad... Could she?
Jaden and Yubel both stood shoulder to shoulder as they waited for their opponents to show up. Everyone in the crowd was looking down at them watching, causing Yubel's level of unease to increase. She wasn't exactly a people person. She only had one friend growing up, and that had been Jaden. Yubel shuddered as she thought of the day's before she had met Jaden. They had met as kids. Yubel just transferred to Jaden's school, because of treatment she had received at her old school due to an alleged "incident" that had occurred. Yubel could no longer remember exactly what that "incident" had been; no matter how hard she racked her brain it was no use. For some reason good, or bad that memory was locked away where Yubel couldn't find it.
Even though she may not have been able to remember the particular "incident" anymore she could still vividly remember everything that followed. The memories of all the horrible things that had been done to her after were forever etched front, and center in her mind. Whenever she had approached one of her classmates they'd cower away from her in fear. Even the teachers had been scared of her. No one wanted to be her friend anymore, so she would sit in the back corner of the class shunned. That, however, hadn't been the worst of it. The kids in the older grades had been particularly cruel to her. They'd gang up on her during recess, and when she was walking in the halls. They'd surround her, and continuously push her to the ground, not letting her get up for more than a second before pushing her back down. Some of them would even stick chewed gum in her hair. There weren't many days Yubel didn't come home crying to her only parent. That being her father.
The time at her old school had been a living hell for her, and for him too as he watched his only child struggle. Fearing her mental health, and wellbeing it had become clear to Yubel's father she needed to be transferred to a different school. He spent entire weekends researching all the schools in the area until he finally settled on one he thought was suitable. Yubel could still remember the exact conversation they had on the drive there the first day she'd attended it.
(Flashback)
They'd been in her dad's old Volkswagen Beetle driving down the highway. Yubel had been staring depressed out the window. She was convinced nothing would change. Her father had taken note of this, and tried to start a conversation.
"What's on your mind dear?" He had asked. Yubel just continued to stare out the window.
"Yubel please answer me," he looked over for a split second taking his eyes off the road for a second, "whatever's on your mind you can tell me I'm your father, and I'll always love you unconditionally."
Yubel had looked at him and frowned at his words. "Dad, can I ask you something?" Yubel shifted in the car seat waiting for an answer.
"Of course you never have to ask that you can always ask me anything." Her father said his eyes back on the road.
"What does uncon… uncond...unconditionally mean?" She struggled at saying the unfamiliar word.
"It means dear," Yubel's father spoke softly, "that no matter what I'll never judge you, and I'll always love you."
"Oh... Did mum not love us unconditionally?" Yubel asked out of the blue catching her father off guard. She'd never asked anything about her mother before.
"She did dear you never have to worry about that," he felt a small tear come down his face, "why do you ask?"
Yubel couldn't hold back all her pent up emotions came roaring out, "because if she did why isn't she here? Did she see that I was a monster? Did I push her out of our lives?" Yubel sobbed.
Her father grabbed a couple of tissues from a kleenex box nearby, and handed them over to his crying daughter. "Yubel you're not a monster why would you think that?"
"That's what everyone at my old school said, and that's what everyone at this new school will say too." Yubel blew her nose in the tissue.
"Well it's not true the people calling you that they are the real monsters," her father, sighed it was as he feared his daughter was shattering on the inside. His beautiful, sweet, and kind daugher it hurt him to see her like this. He felt like he failed to protect her
"Yubel," her father spoke after letting it all sink in, "your mother loved you with all her heart, and she didn't want to leave, but she had no choice."
Yubel didn't like his answer, "why didn't she have a choice? Why didn't she find a way?"
It was times like these that Yubel's father felt the full weight of being a single parent. "Sometimes life doesn't give us a choice. Yubel life can be cruel, and punishing, but it can be beautiful, and rewarding too." He tapped his hands on the steering wheel. "Your mom went through a lot to make sure you made it alive. She loved you so much she gave her life to make sure you came into this world safely." Yubel's father shivered. He'd never told Yubel any of this, and wasn't sure if he should have been, but she deserved to have the record set straight. "So Yubel never worry that she didn't love you, because the truth is quite the opposite. She loved you more than she loved herself, and me..."
"Ok dad," Yubel stopped sobbing but continued to dab at small tears coming down her cheeks.
"Hey Yubel," her father spoke, "just because your mother's gone doesn't mean she's not still with us."
"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.
"I mean Yubel she's everywhere you go, and in everything you do. She's always with you even if it's only in your heart." Her father began to tear up.
"Dad don't cry please." Yubel said.
Her father let out a small grunt. "I'm not crying… The sun was just in my eyes that's all," he said trying to keep his tough father's appearance up in front of his daughter.
"Ok dad," Yubel said softly almost as a whisper, "I believe you, but you don't have to pretend I love you uncon… uncon. What was that word again?" She asked.
"Unconditionally dear." Yubel's father chuckled, but was still touched by his daughter's words.
"Yeah that's the one," Yubel cracked a ghost of a smile.
They drove in silence.
"You know Yubel," her father said as they pulled into the parking lot to the school, "you're the spitting image of your mother."
"Really dad?" Yubel asked.
Her father nodded as he pulled the car into a parking spot, "yeah the spitting image you guys could have been twins. You both have the same turquoise hair, and eyes. The exact same smile too." He added. "I'm sorry I haven't really shown you a lot of photos of her that's on me, but when you get home I'll show you some to prove it."
"Really?" Yubel got more excited then she'd been in a while.
"Yeah I will," Her father turned the car off, "In fact your mother used to put purple highlights in her hair. It was her favourite color. If you want I'll go to the store, and get some so you can have your hair just like she did." He unbuckled the seatbelt, and went around to get the door for Yubel.
Yubel nodded. "Yes please dad I'd like that."
"Ok then it's settled we'll do it first thing," he held Yubel's hand as they walked through the front door down the hallway, "you ready?" Her father asked as they reached her classroom.
"Ready," Yubel nodded at him.
"Yubel this will be a good change," her father had said, "and if it's not then we'll find somewhere that is. I'll search the whole country if I need to." He added
With that her father had opened the door, and they walked. The room had gone dead quiet, everyone had stared at them. Yubel felt her father tighten his grip on her hand. So much for being a good change. The teacher was the first to move; she invited Yubel in to have a seat at one of the open desks. The students around the spot she suggested began to panic, and schooched their chairs as far away as possible. Yubel's dad was about to lead her out, and back to the car when a young boy with two toned brown hair approached. He wore a grin on his face as he came up to him. His classmates looked at him like he was crazy, and some even shot gestures for him to go back to his seat. He ignored them, and came closer.
"Hi," he said, keeping the same grin on his face, "would you like to sit by me?"
Yubel's father looked down at her as she hid behind his leg.
"Yubel," her father asked, "what do you say."
Yubel shyly came out from behind her father. "Yes please," Yubel answered.
"Great," the boy had almost jumped as he said that, "my name is Jaden, and I'm going to be the next King of Games." He said completely confidently, causing Yubel to giggle.
She seemed to be in good hands. If one kid warmed up to her then the rest would surely follow right? He'd have to wait, and see, but now he had to go off to work or else he'd be late. He said his goodbye, and turned around one last time as he left to see his daughter laughing at something that Jaden boy had said. Yubel's father left with a huge weight off his shoulder. Not all hope was lost, Yubel still had a chance for a normal life, and he was determined to keep it that way as long as he was alive.
(End Flashback)
Like he had said when she got home from school her father had shown her old photos of her mom. Then he helped her dye her hair like her mother had in the photos. She still to the day kept it like that. They'd then chatted about her day, and all the antics Jaden, and her had gotten up to. It was the first time in what felt like forever she'd had an actual good day at school. Although her father had been wrong about one thing… The other kids. Out of all of them Jaden was the only one kind to her. His association with her had even ostracized himself socially from the rest of the school. Yet he was fine with it. He found he really enjoyed Yubel's company; sure she felt different from the others, but to him that was a good thing. With each day the rumors of her past were pushed further, and further from his mind. He didn't look at Yubel like she was a monster, or a charity case he just saw his friend. It was them against the world, and neither of them would have had it any other way.
'Now here we are trying out for Dual Academy.' Yubel thought, and was brought back to the present situation.
She was trying out for duel academy, and couldn't help but wonder what her father would have thought about that. Yubel felt the urge to cry a little. It wasn't fair first her mother had passed away after her birth then her father shortly after she'd finally started to feel like a normal kid again. He'd been so good to her, and had made her feel loved. He'd done the best he was given with their circumstances until the very end. He had died in a car crash leaving Yubel absolutely devastated, and an orphan with only Jaden there to soften the blow. She'd gone into the foster care system for a time until a nice old couple had taken her in returning a form of normality to her life. They'd tried their best to make her a part of their family, but they could never fully fill the hole her father had left.
Glumly Yubel pulled her deck out of her duel disk and began looking through the cards. She found it helped put her at ease. After her father had passed away in the car accident she had received these cards from an ex employer during the funeral. They supposedly weren't released yet, but he'd said that her father would have wanted her to have them. She hadn't really paid much attention that day so she couldn't remember who the man had been, but she'd figured he was someone important. No she'd been too distraught to register much. She originally hadn't even been able to stand looking at the cards let alone using them, but Jaden had helped her get past that. He was with her every step of the way.
Yubel was pulled from her depressing thoughts when she noticed Jaden speaking to her. "Sorry Jaden I wasn't paying attention can you repeat that?" She said.
"Yeah no problem. I said who do you think we're up against?" His excitement was evident in his voice.
Yubel just shrugged and replied, "probably just one of their testers," she looked up at the booth where the proctor's were all sitting together, "who else could it be?" narrowed her eyes at the proctors above; they all looked uneased themselves.
'Why do they all look so nervous? That can't be good news for us,' Yubel thought.
"So you're the two who arrived late to the entrance exam?" A narcissistic voice said behind them.
They both spun around to see one of the protor's, and some oddly dressed man in blue and pink. He was wearing lipstick, and earrings. Yubel wasn't sure of what to make of his fashion sense, but she couldn't have really judged. Fashion wasn't one of her strong suits. The constant change in trends gave her headaches, so she mainly stuck with ripped jeans, and metal band t-shirts.
"What are your names?" The oddly dressed man with the voice dripping of narcissism asked.
"I'm Jaden Yuki, and this is Yubel Sato." Jaden answered for them both.
"Well Jaden Yuki, and Yubel Sato I am Dr. Vellian Crowler, and this is," Crowler gestured towards the proctor standing next to him.
"Names Hank," the proctor answered for him. Crowler hadn't asked him his name prior, "just Hank."
"Yes... Hank… Anyway he and I will be giving you your entrance exam," Crowler continued on clearly uninterested, "except instead of testing you individually you'll be tested together in a tag duel. Now, when you are ready we will begin."
This chapter ended up way longer than I thought. I originally had the duel included, but I figured this was long enough. Anyway hope you enjoyed, and feel free to leave a review