A/N: You were asked, and you answered. In this chapter, Yoko tries to be the mother Yuri never had. But she's completely clueless on how to figure out Yuri's actions and ideas, much less actually deal with him.
Fair warning that at some points, this chapter might be a little more risque and unpleasant than normal. This is Yuri we're dealing with, after all.
Reiji hunched over his computer as he examined his screen. With an emotionally blank face, he scrolled through the information that was presented before him.
Files. Notes. Information. Almost every day, LDS had gained more and more knowledge of what was to come: a force stronger than Zarc, which threatened to change life as they knew it forever.
Reiji leaned back and looked up to the ceiling. He had a lot to process now. It was up to him to combat this possible new danger. If it was even a danger to them.
A new dimension. One that didn't have any relation to Zarc or Ray. How could this happen?
I'm trusting you, Yuri, Yuya told him. But if I sense trouble, I'm taking over.
I'll be a good boy, Yuri replied. You won't regret it.
Today was yet another good day for Yuri. Because today, Yuya had granted him control of the body. And boy, did he have plans for himself now that he was free.
Seeing that he was still unfamiliar with the Pendulum Dimension, it only seemed right that he explore his new home. Seeing as he was (technically) a savior of the world (in a way), he was a hero, and he considered doing some deeds that could benefit the world around him. And one of those deeds would be to take out the trash for everyone.
And by that, he meant kill. Straight-up just go on a rampage and clear the city of all its weakest duelists by carding them. See, wouldn't that benefit everyone? Well, except the people who get carded. But they'd be dead, so who would care?
Yuri walked down the stairs, ready to begin his journey. Once he reached the end of the stairs, he made his way past the open kitchen by his right, only to spot a sea of dogs and cats by the fridge.
Yuri glanced over the selection. After a quick count, he took note of fourteen dogs and cats. and every single one of them sat in silence, watching the fridge.
"My, aren't you all cute?" he said with a smile. "Are you waiting for food?"
It was strange, seeing so many animals up close. Academia had a strict "no pets" rule, and Yuri never ventured outside of the school much. The only animals he'd seen were strays he had seen while on missions, or the birds that flew above Academia.
"Oh, Yuri, right?" said a female voice.
And there she was. Yuya's mother, the MILF herself. Yoko Sakaki had entered the room with her hands behind her back. She approached Yuri with an oddly friendly smile.
"Am I really that striking, mommy Sakaki?" Yuri asked sarcastically. "That you can tell me apart from your son?"
"What kind of mother would I be if I couldn't tell my sons apart?" she scoffed. "... Aaaand Yuya told me that you would be taking over for the day."
Yuri put a hand to his mouth. "Oh, did he? Has he arranged a date for us?"
Yoko smiled. "Yuri, you silver-tongued devil. One of these days, a woman just might yank it out of your mouth."
"With their teeth, I hope."
"Yeah, I... Wait, what?"
Yoko shook her head. She could tell right then that it was best not to let this weird young man get inside her head.
"I wanted to talk to you, actually," Yoko continued. "Since you and the other boys part of the family now, I want to get to know you all better."
A bemused look fell on Yuri's face. People were a lot less interesting when they weren't giving into his barbs. He silently debated on whether to keep trying to find a way to push her buttons, or choose to spend his limited time on painting the town red. The woman wasn't going anywhere; he'd be able to traumatize her any time.
To Yuri's surprise, Yoko brought her arms in front of her. In her right hand was a small, plastic flower pot. Extending out from the dirt was a long, thin branch with purple maple leaves at the end.
"Yuya said that you play a Plant deck," Yoko said to him. "So I thought you might like some plants. It's a purple Japanese maple."
"And why, exactly, are you giving this to me?" he asked. He raised a curious eyebrow to Yoko.
"Think of it as a welcoming gift, Yuri," the woman responded. "You're part of the family now, and I want you to know that."
Yoko placed the plant in the boy's hands. Yuri's face became blank as he looked down on it. He wasn't exactly sure what to make of this. For once, he was put completely off-guard by someone.
"Do you like it?" Yoko asked.
Her words brought Yuri back to his senses. No, he wasn't going to let her have a "win" over boy nodded and placed the plant on the dining table behind him.
"Oh, what a thoughtful gift!" Yuri said happily. "I've always had the urge to nurture and care for another living being."
Lies, blatant lies. And from the wicked, mocking look on his face, a look that sent shivers down her spine, Yoko could tell that Yuri's mind hid way more from her than his words could ever tell her.
"I suppose you'll be heading out now?"
"Maybe I won't, Mother. Perhaps we should take this time to bond, now that we're family."
The word 'mother' sent more shivers down Yoko's spine. Never before had she thought that such a benign word could feel so... bad.
When you have your husband, your child, your fourteen pets and yourself living together, things tend to get messy, real fast. And one of the jobs of stay-at-home mother and home maker was to keep things clean.
Yoko had told Yuri to go relax, wait for her in the living room, and watch some television. That would hopefully keep him busy while she collected and folded the laundry downstairs.
Yuya's clothes were in the washing machine. Duel Monster cards (saved from Yuya's pants pockets before they could go in the wash) were piled up on top of the machine. Her and Yusho's laundry were folded and organized neatly in a plastic laundry basket by the dryer.
Yoko folded the last of her clothes, but her mind was on other things. Thoughts about Yuya, and the boys inside of his mind. Yuto, Fusion, and Yuri.
None of them had parents. None of them seemed to have homes to return to. When Yusho and Yuya told her about them, her first thoughts were about adopting them into the family. There was no way she was going to let these poor things feel unloved.
Yuri was a strange one. Very strange. And when she looked into his eyes, she could instantly tell that there was no humanity in them. But that didn't matter - Yuri was her son now. He deserved her love and attention. The love he never got from Academia.
She smiled brightly at the thought. That must have been it! Yuri just needed some love to bring put a genuine egao on his face.
Yoko bent down and dropped the rest of the laundry inside. She then hoisted the basket over her shoulder and turned right around.
Only to find Yuri, standing uncomfortably close to her.
In Yoko's surprise, she yelped and threw her hands back. The basket fell to the ground, and the clean clothes inside spilled onto the floor.
"Yuri, you scared me!" Yoko gasped. "Do you need something?"
"I came down to see if you needed help, Mother," the boy said happily.
A smile returned to Yoko's face. He was still unsettling, but this was a sweet gesture from him. Maybe the plant helped her break through to him?
"I'd love that, son. Thank you."
Yuri knelt down and picked some laundry off the floor. He rose up and presented them to Yoko. It was a handful of her underwear, about five pairs in total.
"Your underwear is very lovely, Mother," he said calmly.
Yoko visibly shuddered. "Thank you, Yuri. I guess?"
Yuri held up the woman's underwear. Slowly, delicately, and with expert precision, he started to fold them before her. A gently smile rested on his face, and his eyes were completely focused on what he was doing.
Yoko bent down and started throwing the clothes back into the basket. "Don't worry about folding, Yuri. Just throw everything in the basket and I'll do it later."
"But I want to help. It allows us to spend some time together."
Yoko rose to meet Yuri. He presented her with four pairs of underwear, each folded to perfection. Yoko quickly snatched them from his hand and threw them into the basket.
"Thank you, Yuri," she said hastily. "How about we go and get a head start on dinner now?"
Yuri's face grew bright. "Oh, I'd love that, Mommy! Let's go!"
One crisis down, at least. Yoko quickly dropped the basket on top of the dryer and dashed towards the stairs. She decided to go ahead of Yuri, since she was pretty sure that if he went first, he would turn around and push her down the stairs at any point.
The name of the game was dinner, and today she was playing with a vegetable soup. After leaving the basement, Yoko had gone into the kitchen and started on dinner. At this particular moment, she was cutting some carrots on a cutting board.
Yuri stood behind her. Uncomfortably close behind her. That made Yoko pretty nervous. Even more than she already was.
I still can't read him just yet, Yoko thought to herself. He has a history of being evil, but I think he's coming around.
She turned around to give Yuri a gentle smile.
Maybe... Maybe he's acting this way because he has a crush on me?
She blushed. She wasn't a stranger to boys falling all over her. In retrospect, this made... some of Yuri's actions seem less menacing and creepy.
I don't blame him for falling for me. Maybe I'm his first crush! I'll have to teach him about boundaries and respecting my space, but... To be honest, I would probably crush on me, too.
Yuri moved closer to Yoko. He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in close. He gleefully watched her as she brought the knife down on the carrots.
Okay, maybe he's not crushing.
Back to square one. Yuri remained ever the enigma. One she was worried that would kill her one day if she wasn't careful and supportive.
"Have you ever cooked before, Yuri?"
"No, ma'am," the boy replied. "But I'd love to help you."
Yoko gulped. Every single one of her senses screamed for her to be wary of this boy. She would have to watch him like a hawk while he was in the kitchen.
"Here, grab a knife," Yoko said to him. "You can cut the..."
Yoko paused. Was she really going to trust him with a knife.
"On second thought, I'll do the cutting," she said hastily. "You can... Ah..."
Yuri looked at her with wide, loving eyes. They still seemed to lack the very spirit of human decency, but he was displaying an uncomfortable amount of affection.
"Yuri, you know I'm your mother now, right?" she said slowly. "And I love you, and I want you to feel loved. But I think we need to talk about how you treat people."
"Don't worry about that, Mother," Yuri responded. "I don't want to hurt you."
"That's not what I meant... Well, that, too, I guess, but..."
The tension was cut through by the sound of ringing. Both Yuri and Yoko turned to the phone stand in the living room. The cordless phone stood in the stand, chirping an instrumental tune of Believe x Believe by Bullet Train.
"Could you go grab the phone for me, Yuri?" Yoko asked. "Please?"
Yuri nodded dutifuly to her, then pranced towards the phone. He approached the stand, picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear.
"Hello?" Yuri said into the phone.
Yoko's eyes were glued to Yuri. She watched him expectantly, waiting for him to say something bad. Some sort of proof that she was right to suspect him.
Instead, he just turned to her.
"Mother, I'm afraid that I must cut out time together short."
Yoko's heart nearly dropped to her stomach. A wave of shock and relief came over her. She was free of him for now.
"Leaving so soon?" Yoko asked.
"Yuzu rescued an injured bird, but she called me to help her take care of it."
"I'm glad we got to spend a bit of time together, at least," she lied. "Go, hurry up and check on Yuzu."
Yuri nodded to her, then spoke into the phone. "Right away, Yuzu. I'll come swing by and take a look at that bird. I can't wait to see it."
Yuri hung up the phone, then cast it aside on a couch. Without any word or fanfare, he waked over to his shoes, slipped them on, and walked out of the door.
After several minutes, Yoko pressed her back against the fridge, then slowly slid to the ground. As several animals climbed on top of her, she could only freeze and try to hold in her screams.
He was gone for now. And when the day was over, Yuri would hand control of Yuya's body back to her son. And then she could rest easy. She wouldn't have to look at the boy's terrifying eyes, or watch over her shoulder for him.
But Yuzu! Would Yuzu be okay? Shuzo was home, but Yuri was coming for a visit.
Yoko closed her eyes. "No."
The woman slowly rose up from the ground. Her fists were clenched tight, and her face became austere.
She let Yuri get in her head; something she wanted to avoid. She let him wear her down and make he a wreck.
"I need to go after him," she said to herself. "Yuzu, I'm coming. I'm not going to leave you with him."
No more, Yuri.
She wasn't going to let him win. She was going to stop him. He was her son, and she needed to give him some tough love.
A/N: What was Yuya doing during this chapter? Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon's spirit kept biting Yugo, so he had to spend his time dealing with that. Turns out Dark Rebellion doesn't like Yugo, since he kinda sorta accidentally murdered Yuto that one time.
Yuri is a character I really love and I love writing him. He's very complex, and his personality, ideas and motivations are conveyed on so many layers. His words can say one thing, but his tones, looks and mannerisms can all say something else. His appeal comes from not beng relatable and human, but his his inhuman nature and ability to mimic humanity in order to hurt others.
That being said, I also hate writing him because he's super hard for me to write for; since I'm limited to just text and descriptions, there's a lot that I can't convey about him. A lot of things will have to be left vague or up to interpretation, and certain traits of him will have to be simplified. But since this story is a comedy first and foremost, I'm glad that I can at least relax on his portrayal and play to what I see as his comedic strengths.