Series: In Darkness We Find Fire||Title: First Steps To Flame
Characters: Juudai, Shou, Theodis (OC), Chronos, Samejima||Ships: N/A
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 5,047
Genre: Drama, Friendship||Rated: G
Challenges: Diversity Writing: YGO Firestarter/Healer Aus: L19, 5+ fics; Include The Word Boot Camp, #4, watch
Notes: I thought about writing this as a multi-chaptered long work but I decided otherwise because those take forever and I can get very distracted. So I decided that this is something I will do differently. It won't quite be a one fic/one episode mirror, especially once we get into the later seasons. But for right now, this is the Healer/Firestarter version of episode one.
Summary: It's the day of the practical trials – a day of beginnings for everyone. Juudai, Shou, Asuka, Manjoume, and many others. A day written in life and burned in flames.
"Hurry up, Juudai!" Theodis shouted, looking over one shoulder as she waited for him to catch up. "You're already late!"
"It's not my fault!" Juudai pushed forward a little faster, catching up to his Healer Cat. "Blame the train!" That made perfect sense to him. It was the train's fault for being late, after all.
Theodis sniffed, the tip of her tali twitching, her whiskers cocked in a way that Juudai knew meant she agreed, even if she wasn't going to say so out loud. He paused just lost enough to get his breath, then pushed forward again, trying to remember as he ran if he needed to turn right or left when he got to the crossroads again.
He'd spent days studying the path from the train station to KaibaLand, but maps and reality looked so different from each other that if it weren't for Theodis, he wasn't sure if he could have even found his way this far.
"Juudai! Watch out!" Theodis's shout came a few heartbeats too late as he slammed into someone who'd paused on their way somewhere. Balance thrown off, Juudai fell and stayed there for a second, blinking, until he realized his cards lay scattered.
Didn't I close the deck case? He thought he had. Guess not. But now he quickly started to gather them all up, as Theodis approached the stranger.
"Sorry about that, sir," she said, tilting her head politely. "We're in a rush."
"I noticed."
That voice. Juudai thought he'd heard it somewhere before. He couldn't place it, though. At first he was too focused on his cards to notice anything else, until he had them all back and stood back up on his feet, intent on a quick apology of his own before he left.
But as he turned and he looked at the person he'd bumped into, he saw spiky hair of red and gold and black, and large, warm violet eyes, and a face he'd seen on television more times than he could count.
He stared into the face of the greatest duelist in the world, and the First Healer of Japan, bonded to Kaiba Seto, First Flame of Japan.
"I see you're a duelist," Mutou Yuugi said, one hand dropping to his own deck case. Juudai nodded numbly, not at all certain if he could make words right now. He could feel his fires twitching and stirring as they always did around strong Healers and yanked them back under control as hard as he could.
He'd already made a bad impression once on Mutou-sama, just by bumping into him. He wasn't going to do it again. Poaching would be a very quick way to end up a very small pile of ashes.
"That's right," he managed to squeak once Theodis nudged his leg. "I'm going to try out for Duel Academia." Would Mutou-sama be there? Rumor had it that Kaiba-sama watched the tryouts, though no one ever saw him there.
Yuugi pulled a card from his case, glancing down at it, before he held it out to Juudai. "This card wants to be with you. I think it'll be a lucky card for you."
Juudai reached for it automatically, still struggling to keep his flames under control. If he let them slip just by the tiniest hair's breadth, then he just knew Mutou-sama would take the card back. And to go into the tryouts with a card given to him by the First Healer of Japan? How could he not win with that in his hands?
"Thanks, Mutou-sama," he murmured, glancing at the card for a brief second.
"You can call me Yuugi," Yuugi said before he gestured. "Better get going, Juudai. You don't want to be late."
Juudai blinked as Theodis nudged him again. "Oh! Right!" He slipped the card into his deck case and started to run again, Theodis on his heels. In moments he'd passed out of sight, the glory of the encounter still holding warm and firm in his heart.
He didn't wonder how Yuugi knew his name. He would wonder that another time.
So that was Juudai, before everything. Yuugi couldn't help but wonder what would happen to change him over the next three years. He knew quite a bit would, he just had no idea of what that might be. They'd only spent a few hours together and there hadn't been enough time to get each other's full histories.
Yuugi decided he would keep his attention on the school this year. Seto always kept himself updated on what happened there. So far there hadn't been anything unusual, save for the presence of the Mythic Demons. But no one had made any moves to take them, either.
That would likely change, sooner or later. But Yuugi had faith that Juudai would be able to deal with it.
He glanced back one more time, before he turned his steps towards the KaibaCorp building. This would set Juudai off on his journey, which would lead Juudai to the point where they met one day.
And perhaps even better, it would lead Juudai to meeting his Healer, and the greatest friends of his life.
Shou stared at Leghul as it rose before him, with three hundred attack points poised to bite into him no matter what his defenses were like. It wasn't really the most menacing monster that he'd ever seen – he'd seen his big brother summon Cyber End Dragon, after all – but given that this faced him and he didn't have anything available at the moment to defeat it, and how low his life points already were, any little bite wasn't a bite that he wanted to deal with.
"Turn end," the proctor declared, Leghul pulling back. He wasn't at perfect life points either, but he had more than Shou did.
I'm going to do this. Shou didn't look at the stands. He knew who would be looking back at him if he did. If he saw those cold eyes staring at him, he knew perfectly well what he'd do – and what he wouldn't do. He wouldn't win. He'd barely be able to move at all.
He focused on what he needed to do instead. This was his only chance; if he didn't win the duel then he didn't have any chance at all to get into Duel Academia. Even if he won, he might not. But he'd try regardless.
"I draw!" Shou hoped that he sounded brave, or at least not terrified. He glanced at his card and almost dropped it in surprise. I-I can win?
His attention darted over to his proctor. Only Leghul on the field and two cards in his hand, nothing set, either. Just two thousand life points left. He might be able to. Unless the proctor could discard from his hand to negate the damage…
I have to take the chance.
Shou swallowed. "I summon Steamroid!" Before him there appeared a steam train, marked with a face on one end, the first set of wheels held up ready to do battle. Shou squared his shoulders. "Steamroid, attack Leghul!"
With a blast of steam from the top, Steamroid blew forward to do as he was told. Shou's stomach churned as he took the next step.
"Steamroid's attack goes up by five hundred points when Steamroid battles!" And that would deliver two thousand points of damage, since Leghul was the only monster on the field.
The proctor's life dropped down to zero. He closed his duel disc and nodded. "Well done, Marufuji-san." A gesture told Shou to head back to the stands. He would hear later if he'd actually got into Duel Academia or not, but now he got to watch the rest of the tryouts.
They were worth watching, too. He wasn't the only person there, and not all of them were trying to get into the school. Some were already in it – such as his brother. Shou kept his attention as far from the higher reaches of the stands as he could. He wanted to believe that his brother would be proud of him, but he refused to take the chance that he wasn't.
What made sitting here even more nerve-racking was how many Firestarters lounged in the seats. Even if they didn't wear the school's collar tabs he could feel them – like that guy a few rows over, dressed in Obelisk Blue's uniform, chatting with his friends. Not a sign on him that he was a Firestarter, but Shou could tell.
He stared down at the duels instead of trying to pick out the Firestarters and Healers. The Healers would make fun of him; the Firestarters would ignore him. He didn't want to really see either of them.
The most impressive duelist right there wasn't either one. He bore the plain gray tab that denoted one who held no unusual powers at all, though it was difficult to see the tab against his uniform coloring. Shou couldn't pin it down as either light gray or a darkish white.
"Whoa – this is as awesome as I thought it would be!"
Shou almost jumped out of his skin at the unexpected words, jerking around to see a stranger there. Tingles spread all through him and he stumbled backward, heart beating rapidly.
Firestarter! Firestarter! How had he gotten so close and Shou hadn't noticed anything? He scrambled into a seat a bit farther away.
"H-hi?" He murmured, fingers clenching together. "A-are you here for the tryouts?" He hadn't seen this guy dueling, and he wasn't wearing one of Duel Academia's uniforms.
"Yup!" The stranger glanced towards him, then down to the field. "Whoa, that guy's good!"
Shou looked to see that he was looking at the same one he had before: Misawa Daichi, the one who'd scored highest on the exams. He would definitely get into Ra Yellow.
"How did you do on your test?" Shou asked, more for the sake of making conversation and hoping that the newcomer wouldn't want to than anything else.
But the stranger just waved one hand carelessly. "I haven't taken the practical exam yet. That's what I'm here for." He leaned forward. "Wonder who I'm going to duel."
"You haven't yet?" Shou blurted out without thinking. "But – the really high scoring people are dueling now!" How high had this guy done on his written test to be able to wait so long?
A second voice spoke. "Juudai scored a hundred and nineteen. We should have been here sooner, but the train ended up being late."
Shou's gaze dropped down to see a sleek Healer Cat, head coming up to about his waist, standing there. A slender silver collar encircled her neck, a triangle of green jade attached to it. Shou waved, a little more relaxed. Firestarters who had Healer Cats weren't usually in the market for a Healer.
Then what the Cat said clicked. "A hundred and nineteen? But the low-scorers have already dueled. You're too late." He'd been the last one of them.
The Cat turned towards Juudai, who hadn't looked away from the duels, even though Misawa Daichi already finished his duel and started up into the stands. He settled down not that far from Shou, who tensed a little at such a good duelist being that close to him.
"You were really good out there!" Juudai addressed Misawa as if the two had known one another all their lives. "You might even be the second best duelist they've got here!"
Misawa and Shou both turned towards Juudai, near identical expressions of surprise on their faces. Before either of them could say a word, an announcement came over the speaker system.
"Would Yuuki Juudai come down for his duel? Yuuki Juudai, please."
Juudai grinned at the sound of his name. "That's me! Going to stay here, Theodis?"
"Yes." The Cat settled down, tail twined around her front paws. "Do try not to blow up anything."
Juudai pulled his features into a pout unlike any Shou had ever seen, especially not from a Firestarter. Firestarters didn't seem at all the pouting type.
"I haven't done that in ages!"
Still pouting, he started downwards. He hadn't taken more than a pair of steps before Misawa interrupted.
"If I'm the second best duelist, then who would be the first?"
Juudai glanced back, his pout transforming into a confident grin, as if he could have commanded the ocean to part before him and it would have obeyed. "I am!"
Shou fidgeted a little, watching Juudai head down to the arena. He wondered which proctor would have the honor. Would it be the same one that he'd dueled?
He didn't expect to see who stood there – Professor Chronos de Medici, the Head of Practical Dueling at the Academy. He'd seen the older man in the seats, observing the duels, but not taking part in any of them himself.
Big brother said that he's an amazing duelist. He spent a couple of years in the pros before he started teaching. Shou shivered, wrapping his arms around himself.
"How good is he, really?" Misawa asked of the Healer Cat – Theodis, Shou recalled.
"Very good. He's dueled ever since he was about six or seven." Theodis watched Juudai, a fondness in her large green eyes. "So he has a great deal of experience." Her head tilted to one side, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth.
Shou watched for a few moments, wondering which practice deck Professor Chronos intended to use. There were quite a few of them, though victory often depended on the skill of the duelist even more than the cards themselves.
He didn't expect to see one of the largest monsters he'd ever seen unfold itself on the battlefield, nor to hear the name of it being spoken.
"Antique Gear Golem!"
Shou jerked his head up, twisting around to meet his elder brother's gaze. Ryou gave him only a cursory look, the tiniest of nods, confirming what he saw. Shou shook his head.
There's no way that guy can win now. Professor Chronos never loses if he summons that monster. He'd seen a few recordings of some of Professor Chronos' duels and while the man wasn't the greatest of duelists, he certainly outstripped an applicant, especially using his personal deck.
Juudai admired the card in his hands, still thrilled at what had just happened. He'd defeated the highest ranking teacher at Duel Academia, and it was all because of this guy: Hane Kuriboh.
And Yuugi gave it to me! Yuugi said I could call him Yuugi!
Juudai wanted to squeal so very much. He almost couldn't believe that it had happened at all. For that matter, he almost couldn't believe the faint whisper that he heard from somewhere. He wanted to say that it came from the card itself.
"Juudai?" Theodis nudged at his side. "Are you done?"
Juudai blinked, looking at her, then at where Professor Chronos was still getting to his feet. It probably wasn't the best idea to stand around here, at least not until the Professor could get himself under control again.
"Yeah, sure. Let's go!"
He darted toward the stands, where those two guys he'd met before came down to meet him.
"You definitely got in!" The shorter guy all but shouted as Juudai got closer. "You're gonna be a Ra Yellow, I'd bet on it!"
Juudai grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Guess we'll find out. Are you guys going home?"
"I have half an hour until my train leaves," Misawa said.
The other guy hesitated, glancing behind him for a heartbeat. Juudai followed his gaze to where a tall teenager – almost an adult – stood at the top of the stands. He was a Firestarter; Juudai didn't need to be able to see his collar tab to tell that. Fire all but flowed off of him, invisible but there, especially to someone like Juudai.
"I have to go," the short guy muttered. He turned back around to look at Juudai. "I'm Marufuji Shou."
Had he gotten around to introducing himself? Juudai decided that he probably hadn't. Well, time to fix that. He held out his hand to Shou.
"Yuuki Juudai. And this is my Healer Cat, Theodis." He nodded down toward the Cat, who gave her own greeting.
"Misawa Daichi," Misawa said, offering his own hand once Shou shook Juudai's. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Same here!"
If they all got into Duel Academia – and Juudai couldn't see why they wouldn't – then Juudai looked forward to the best year of his life.
Kagemaru always watched the entry duels. He knew there wasn't time to choose any more of the Seven Stars from the new arrivals, but he liked to have an idea of who could be the ones that his Stars would have to fight against.
How interesting. His attention remained on the last duel that he'd seen – that of Yuuki Juudai against Professor de Medici. Talent like that wasn't common, and he thought he detected a hint of the ability to hear spirits as well.
As if that weren't enough, Yuuki Juudai clearly was a Firestarter of enormous power. He could possibly even outstrip the famous Kaiser, likely future first Flame.
More and more fascinating with each passing moment.
A quiet hand rested on his shoulder and he glanced to see the winged form there.
"You need to rest."
Kagemaru turned away, focused once more on the display before him. "I make the decisions."
"Of course you do." She sounded far more amused than she had any right to be. But she always sounded like that when he insisted that he didn't need someone nursemaiding him. "You want to be strong enough when the spring equinox comes, don't you?"
Oh. Of course she'd bring that up. He tried not to breathe too hard as he pulled himself to his doddering feet.
"I don't keep you around for this, Gotzon."
The tips of her wings twitched in amusement. "I'm well aware of what you keep me around for, Kagemaru." She folded her wings over herself, hiding her hands from view. When she unfolded them, she held a golden goblet, studded with chips of amber and jade, full to the brim with a deep, rich blue liquid.
An aroma wafted upward from the liquid, teasing at his nostrils, honeysuckle and vanilla mixed together. He'd often wondered exactly what went into the crafting of it, but Gotzon refused to tell him the secrets of the medicine.
"If you know," she'd told him more than once, "then you won't need me anymore."
That didn't stop Kagemaru from wanting to know, but he had far more important other matters to deal with for now. He held his hands out and Gotzon set the goblet in his hands. As always, the metal hummed warm against his skin, and he savored it for a few seconds before he lifted it to his lips and drained every drop of the medicine.
Gotzon took the goblet back when he'd finished with it. "Come on. Once you're resting, I have an errand to attend to."
Ah. An errand. That explained why she wanted him to rest. Her errands always took her to the worlds of spirits, and she'd never go if he were around causing trouble anywhere. She said it was because she wanted to watch and assist. He wasn't certain if he should believe her.
But for now he rose up and carefully started to the room where his life support system awaited him. Gotzon assisted him with each step, murmuring reassurance with every move that he made.
She'd been very useful ever since they first met. Kagemaru couldn't even remember how long ago that had been, only that when he'd first begun to put together the Seven Stars, Gotzon assisted him and didn't need to give him the regular doses of medicine.
He hadn't needed the life support system, either. He remembered being able to breathe easily on his own, walking easily, being able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to.
So very long ago. He tried not to think of it very often. If he thought too often of his past and how he struggled to gain what he wanted so very much, then fury lit every part of his body. He didn't have the strength to deal with that, not anymore.
"I won't be gone very long. Expect me back tomorrow night at the latest," Gotzon told him as he got into his support system. She hooked up various parts of it to him and he leaned back, relaxing. The liquid in here – if it could be considered liquid – reminded him greatly of the medicine that he took. He suspected there was a connection, since Gotzon helped with the creation of the system. Exactly what it did he wasn't at all certain, except for one point: it kept him alive.
He nodded; he suspected he knew what her errand was. Five months remained until the spring equinox and they had only six of the seven acquired: Camula, the Black Scorpions, Abidos III, Taniya, Amnael, and Darkness. A seventh needed to be chosen as soon as possible. They'd searched far and wide and yet no humans they could get their hands on qualified for the position.
If only they'd been able to get their hands on the boy who'd become the Kaiser. Such a powerful Firestarter, such a powerful duelist He would have been perfect for the task. But Samejima protected him far too well and Kagemaru had to make other plans.
Gotzon sealed him into the support system and Kagemaru closed his eyes. It never took him long to sleep when he was in here. The longer he slept in here, the more he wanted to sleep as well. If it weren't for his times out of the place, he might well have given up on trying to take control of the Mythic Demons and just let himself pass away.
No. Never. He wasn't going to let that happen. He'd gone too far and done far too much to fail now. The Mythic Demons and all of that power would be his and there wouldn't be anyone in all the worlds who could stop him.
Chronos de Medici refused to do what he really anted to do, which was scream and throw Yuuki Juudai's application into the nearest garbage can, swear it had been lost in the mail, and pretend he'd never heard of him before. If it hadn't been for the fact the application had digital copies in the school files already – all applications had those, the hard copies existed mainly for backups – then he might have thought about it. It wouldn't have done any good. Too many people had seen the duel and like all the entry duels, it had been recorded and would remain in the school data-banks for the next fifty years or so. Perhaps even longer.
He tried to think about something else, staring out the window of the helicopter as it returned him to Duel Academia. He needed to consult with Principal Samejima about the new arrivals. For the most part the principal trusted his judgment, but there were always potential students who needed to be reviewed more carefully than others.
I will not allow that dropout boy into my school! But as much as he swore that to himself, he knew full well that Yuuki Juudai would enter Duel Academia. Samejima insisted that he be allowed to duel and Yuuki Juudai won the duel. That would bring him into the school.
He pressed his lips together. Very well. He wouldn't even try to fight it, regardless of how much he wanted to. But there would be other things that he could do.
If he wants to attend my school, then he's going to put effort in.
A dozen ideas flickered around in the back of his mind. He couldn't pin most of them down right now, but that didn't matter. He would decide later, when he saw how the boy handled himself in actual class. He didn't have much more time to worry about it, as the helicopter landed on the school's helipad and he made his way out of it towards Samejima's office. He kept himself too occupied with marshaling his arguments for or against the various borderline students to really think of much else.
But the moment that he crossed into the office, he knew something wasn't right. Samejima sat at his desk, bent forward, shoulders slumped, his eyes half closed. As soon as the door closed behind Chronos, Samejima sat up, most of the weariness falling away as if it had never been. Chronos didn't forget what he'd seen, not even for a moment. He just wasn't certain at all what he'd seen was.
Before he could speak a single word about the potential students, Samejima spoke.
"Please sit down, Professor. I have something to discuss with you."
Chronos blinked, thrown off track, as Samejima gestured him to put the files down on one of the side tables. He obeyed, if only because he didn't know what else to do, and pulled a chair around in front of the principal's desk. "What is the problem, sir?"
A sudden cold sensation gripped his heart. Surely Principal Samejima watched the duels – Chronos knew for a fact that he did. That meant that he'd watched Yuuki Juudai's duel against him. Was he going to be fired? To lose a duel against a student was the most horrible shame that he could think of. He swallowed, about to launch into an explanation of why he should be given another chance.
"This year is going to have a very difficult problem to deal with, starting approximately in March."
Samejima's words weren't exactly what Chronos expected. He stuttered to a halt, blinking, trying to figure out what he meant.
"Sir?" "Beneath this school there is a prison set up for three extremely powerful demonic spirits, currently locked into the form of Duel Monster cards. In another time and another place they could – and have – take other forms, but at the moment they are Duel Monster cards. My Cyber Flame Dojo guarded them for quite some time but I moved them here for safer keeping."
Chronos blinked a few times, not at all certain of what he was hearing. He managed a small nod, thinking perhaps the pressure of being in charge stressed Samejima out far too much.
"There is a group of duelists who seek the Mythic Demon cards. They're called the Seven Stars. For a multitude of reasons, they can't attack until the spring equinox. But they will attack and they will do all within their power to take those cards for themselves." Samejima turned his full attention towards Chronos. "We cannot let that happen. If those cards fall into the hands of evil, then the world itself is doomed."
Chronos's mouth opened but nothing sensible came out of it. He closed his mouth and tried again. Still nothing came out. Finally he decided to nod. What Samejima said made little sense, but what else could he do right now? "There is a way to defend them, however. As you may have guessed, it is dueling."
Samejima laid his hand on his desk and Chronos saw a deck there. He couldn't tell if it were anyone's deck in particular.
"We need to find seven duelists who will be able to stand against the Seven Stars. We have five months until we need them."
Now Chronos found words. "You're inviting pro duelists to the island?" He couldn't imagine any other reason for all of this. Samejima would want him to find places where these visitors could stay, arrange for this to be hidden from the students, other such important matters. He started to draw himself up, quite pleased that he would be trusted with something so vital.
"No." Samejima heaved a deep sigh. "Due to the interaction of the Mythic Demons and their prison, then whoever defends them must live near them, and have done so for months, at least, beforehand. Therefore, we must choose people from here. Students. Teachers."
Once again Chronos' jaw worked and yet no real words came out. Teachers? Students? Principal Samejima wanted his students to get involved in this?
"I wish that there could be another way. But this is why I brought the Mythic Demons here. If they'd remained underneath the Cyber Flame Dojo, then there wouldn't have been enough people to defend them. The cards could be stolen with little effort."
Chronos could not answer. His breath remained stuck in his throat as he tried to figure out what was going on here.
"Choose very carefully. We need the absolute best duelists that the island has to offer." Samejima's eyes were unnaturally sharp when he looked at Chronos now. "Consider Yuuki Juudai. I believe he is better than you thought he might be."
Chronos opened his mouth and let the words fall out without thinking this time. "Yes, he is good! But he is also fifteen! You expect children to do this? At least the third years are closer to being of age. Kaiser Marufuji Ryou would be a fine choice, but who else?"
"That's what I expect you to tell me in five more months. Perhaps Yuuki Juudai won't be suitable. But do not turn it down because of his age. Skill and commitment to the cause is what is necessary. Remain aware of that at all times, Professor Chronos."
Chronos wished he could think of something to say that would enable him to stop all of this. The sheer idea of children defending against the sort of duelists that Samejima implied would be coming sent chills down his spine.
If I don't find anyone who is suitable, then he will have to find professionals who can manage this. There's no other way. Chronos nodded, as if in complete agreement with everything the Principal had to say.
"As you wish, sir." These were children. Some of them only had potential for dueling, instead of the kind of skills that would be needed to save the world. Some of them didn't even have that.
But one and all, he would see to it that they remained safe.
The End
Notes: Technically the beginning. I won't copy every single scene of the anime, of course. Often I will tell what other characters are doing while canon events are happening. I don't have a set update schedule for this. Whenever I am in the mood I will write a new story for it. I will strive to keep them in order, though. Next time is some fun world-building for the Red dorm!
Also while there won't be any serious 'ships for a long time to come, endgame will be Yubel x Juudai. Maybe Yubel x Juudai x Johan but I haven't made up my mind on that yet.