Chapter Sixteen

"Let's backtrack to Saturday when you dueled against Ever White. Did you know she was going to use a different deck than usual?"

Yuito never really watched talk shows, whenever he got near a television screen, the most he could get was a few turns of a duel before he was chased away by its owner. He usually just assumed the people went there, got asked some questions and then left again, but it was actually more complicated than that.

It was Monday now. Yuitos duel against Ever White had been two days ago, and when even himself hasn't yet figured out what to make of it, had been in four talk shows ever since then in order to talk about it. As it seemed, this city loved only one thing more than good duelists: Good duelists going crazy.

Apparently talk shows sent the interview partners their questions beforehand so they could formulate an answer and one could also politely turn down questions. When someone wanted to ask Yuito about his family and where he came from, Alessia made them reword it so it bothered him less, because he still felt uneasy talking about his past in front of a crowd. Mister Sonjun seemed like he wanted to protest, but Yuito had become his most marketable duelist in a rather short while so he didn't. Or at least that's what Alessia told him.

"I can assure you I did not," Yuito answered the man in the suit sitting opposite of him, "I watched countless videos of Ever White using White Knights to the point where I thought I knew their deck better than mine. Didn't work out too well in the end, obviously."

The crowd in the small studio laughed slightly at this last sentence. Yuito was getting good at this. During his first interview he was still sitting in his chair shaking like a windblown leaf, but after this while he was starting to be more relaxed about it, especially after he saw some of the videos and realized that he didn't come off as bad as he thought he would.

"I take it you were surprised at this sudden change of decks. What were the first thoughts going through your head?"

"At first I assumed she – well, back then I still thought she was a he, or a they – had just bricked and played defensively until they drew into a play starter. It took me some time that there was no way all these Traps could fit in her White Knight deck. I mean I was surprised, that sure, but not really suddenly but more like… slowly surprised."

"Interesting choice of words. When Ever White was revealed to be a girl, did you believe that? I mean, there are enough people out there thinking this is just an elaborate PR scheme."

"I certainly think that's she is the real Ever White. Her managers looked genuinely shocked throughout the whole duel and especially when she started talking to me. And I doubt she made any kind of plan without involving her management. Why do something that could terminate her contract?"

"Oh we were all genuinely shocked when we watched that duel. Especially when she suddenly Ritual Summoned a monster. Not a sight we see often in the higher ranks, but now that's you've arrived at the scene we should get used to it shouldn't we?"

"Ritual Monsters are here to stay with me; I can guarantee that. And you can see how much value you can get out of this. I mean, I lost my two high ranked duels and now I'm here in your show. What more can I want?"

"How does Top One duelist sound? I mean, you must surely be excited about the duel between the Silver Princess Jeanie and the Northerner Eivin coming up next Saturday. Did you get tickets?"

"Sadly no, but I'd really like to see it. Guess I'll have to resort to television. That won't be an issue, since its on prime time on every major program." Yuito had actually asked Alessia if she could get her hand on tickets for it, but the entire stadium had been booked a few days after they made the announcements and that was months ago. Maybe Jeanie was kind enough to sneak her brother and his friend in.

"Have you ever thought of defeating one of those two?"

"At the moment? No. I'm far too inexperienced to play against any of those, as seen with my colossal defeat by the hands of both Noro and Ever White, but one day? Maybe. It's not like I don't want to be up there."

"You have your priorities set straight in life. But your story is quite impressive as well," the talk master continued, "I heard you were homeless for a few years and now you're waking up the entire competitive dueling scene with your Ritual Summoning. How did you get to playing that mechanic anyway?"

"When I was really young," Yuito started, "my father gave me his old deck, which is the one I still use to this day – give or take a few modifications. It wasn't much later that he died. It stuck with me during my years on the streets, and I grew attached to what Rituals can do. And how you never expect them."

"Seems like its gonna be more common on the dueling scene now that Ever White used one too. Also, we're all really curious to see how the duel worked out in the end, how you did lose."

"I'd like to know that too. We read out the duel log from my Duel Disk, but the file is corrupted from the point Ever White activated her Ritual Spell, so I cannot tell what her monster did to make me lose the game."

"Is there a possibility she cheated?"

"I won't confirm or deny that, I really cannot. If she shows her face again and reveals that Ritual Monster of hers, we'll see."

"Ah, that's a nice closure thought. It was amazing having you in my show Yuito," the man in the suit said, before he turned to the camera, "and after the commercial break, we'll talk to university professor Dr. Manning about the side effects of his frutarian lifestyle."

The audience had given Yuito one last round of applause before he went backstage to his dressing room. Alessia and Keiji were still sitting in the audience, and Yuito ought to join them after changing and washing the makeup off. All this stuff on his face felt weird, more so since it was not the dirt and dust he was used to.

However, as he entered his dressing room and saw it being filled with blue light, he knew that the two would have to wait a little longer.

"You're growing really confident in yourself," Tian greeted the boy, sitting on a table in the corner, his lantern with the Crosspoint right beside him.

"Tian," Yuito replied, "how did you get in here?"

Instead of answering, he picked up his lantern, causing him to disappear in a flash of blue light, only to reappear behind Yuito, blocking the door.

"Do me a favor and don't apply logical questions to me," he said, but smiled as he continued, "besides, you already figured it out, didn't you?"

"It's probably the Crosspoint," Yuito answered, "blue Crosspoint, blue light. Makes sense."

"'Probably'?"

"It is the Crosspoint."

"It is the Crosspoint, indeed," Tian confirmed his suspicions, "it makes me fast. Faster than light. And I do not have to adhere to the physical boundaries that light doesn't have to adhere. I can move though anywhere as long as light can pass through."

Curiously, Yuito pulled out his deck and the Runecross End Wizard card: "Can I do that too?"

"No, sadly," Tian replied, "every Crosspoint has its own… perks, so to say. Blue makes you fast. Green makes you strong. Orange makes you creative. Red makes you stealthy. Yellow makes you insightful. And purple makes you lucky."

"Lucky?" Yuito repeated, "compared to the rest, that seems really unneeded."

"You have no idea what the occasional bit of luck can do for you."

"Well," Yuito sighed, "so it's a good luck charm if I've ever had one."

"One that works, I can assure you," Tian continued, "but that's not why I'm here. I think you were looking for me."

"In a way," Yuito said, feeling slightly uneasy as he hadn't told anybody yet, "but how do you know?"

"As I said, the yellow Crosspoint offers insight."

That wasn't at all helping to ease Yuito. It was true he had been thinking about finding Tian again, since the night in the parking garage where it clicked to him that his lantern contained a Crosspoint and even more after what Ever White told him on Saturday.

"My sister is closing in on you. Follow the blue light."

The blue light was obviously Tian and according to the… visions he had, the sister probably Ava. But that only had him more confused than he had been before.

Seeing how that response wasn't doing it for Yuito, Tian sighed and continued: "The yellow Crosspoint doesn't allow your father to read minds it just… expands his own. Allows him to see the bigger picture. He pierced things together and knew that you were going to try and find me. And since I am more flexible with my location, I thought I may as well just help you get to me faster."

"My father?"

"That is where you stopped paying attention?" Tian joked, "yes, your father. As I already told you the last time we spoke. He is not dead and has claimed ownership of the yellow Crosspoint."

"How?" Yuito said, slowly getting angrier at Tian, "and most importantly why? Why did he not tell me, why did he just disappear and why did he leave me without a home, without food or shelter or anything?"

"As I said, I exert no control about your fathers actions. Suito will come and explain everything to you when he believes the moment to be right."

Suito. Yuito hasn't heard his fathers name in an eternity. It felt strange in this place, from this man he barely knew in a context he couldn't understand, didn't want to understand.

"What if I don't want that? What if I don't want to see my father?" Yuito retorted, "Keijis father at least looked for him, looks like my father didn't give a fuck about me."

"Your friend has suffered in his own right. It is unwise to compare yourself to him," Tian replied, "but if I may repeat myself, I do not exert control over your fathers actions. And if he will seek you out, it is your right to turn him down or listen to what he has to say. I do not exert control over your actions either."

"Stop saying the same shit over and over again," Yuito snapped at the red-haired man.

"May we return to the topic at hand? You were seeking me out, what is it you want from me?"

"I want answers," Yuito started, "you had this Crosspoint back when we met, before I even knew about them and you were talking about my father already, back then, and now you tell me he has a Crosspoint as well. Then I duel Ever White, and she shows me visions about the convergence and the Crosspoints, as well as her sister who I met when I claimed my Crosspoint. Then she told me that I should 'follow the blue light' and now you suddenly appear. What is the meaning of all this?"

Tian had taken a moment of consideration before he answered: "You seem disappointed in your Crosspoints perks. Do you want to try mine for a few minutes?"

He opened one of the glass panels of his lantern, allowing the light to grow in intensity.

"I know what this will do," Yuito replied cockily, "wielding two Crosspoints at once will kill me. And I have no intentions to fight a Contest of Champions with you."

"No need for either. Claiming a Crosspoint requires a Contest of Champions. Taking one without consent requires one. But if I want to, I could just give it to you. All I do is that I have to consent."

"That still doesn't solve the problem that I won't be having much fun with it."

"I'm certain you will," Tian replied, "Yuito, you have the Elder Blood. You are one of the very few people left in this world who can wield more than one Crosspoint."

"What? How do you know that?"

"Because Suito is too."

"So what does that mean for me?"

"It means you can wield up to six Crosspoints. All of them. That you could fight in the last Contest of Champions, during the convergence."

"I heard wishing to the Crosspoints is a bad thing. I doubt I would want that."

"Destiny will show," Tian said, "and no, the Crosspoints are neither good nor evil. Wishing to them will not do you any bad, as long as you choose your words right."

"Which words would be good, in your opinion?"

"You have some time to figure that out. But not too much. The convergence will take place soon, the night between next Saturday and Sunday. Five days left till then," Tian paused for a second, so he and Yuito could here the footsteps approaching in the hallway, "Think on that. Think on what you want to contribute to this world."

As the light started to shine brighter and started to blind Yuito, Tian continued: "A world without conflict. Doesn't that sound desirable?"

Still a little dumbfounded about everything he just learned, he didn't immediately react to Alessia bursting though the door: "Where were you? Oh god look at you! You didn't change and you still got that make-up on! Hurry up now, we gotta leave. I heard Keiji has a date."

The evening flew by really fast for Yuito after they had left the studio. He barely spoke, both during the ride home and when they were back at their room. On any other day, Keiji would have noticed, but he was far too freaked out about his date with Jeanie, switching between hype and self-pity minutely. On any other day, Yuito would have hugged his friend and told him everything is alright, but today it just moved past him like in a haze. When Keiji left he said goodbye and good luck, but he did more out of a reflex than anything, as he had other things on his mind.

His father could be alive.

Few days ago he had still dismissed the possibility, but after everything that has happened ever since, that wouldn't be the weirdest thing to consider.

For a few hours now, he just sat on the couch and stared at his deck, with the card that contained the Crosspoint sitting on top of it. Why did this all happen to him? Was it really bound to happen? Destiny?

He could've just not met Hatsuko. He could've declined their bet. Could've disagreed to take Saburo to the diner with them. Could've denied her invitation. Could've lost to Cole.

But he didn't do any of that. He made the exact choices that got him to this moment. If he didn't… maybe he'd still sit here. It was actually pointless thinking so much about what could've happened and after two hours, he was glad that a knock on the door snapped him out of it.

Putting his deck in his pocket, he went to the door and took a look through the peephole.

"Hello, I've got a package for a, uhm, Kenji," a red-haired girl said from the other side of the door. She was smaller than him and dressed in a uniform, while seemingly having trouble to read the name on the package.

"Yes, thank you," Yuito said as he opened the door.

He did not know how his reflexes reacted so fast, but he was capable to let himself fall to the floor before the katana that poked though the opened door sliced his head in half.

He crawled back on his fours only to see Ava, the black-haired woman, casually close the door behind her, sword in hand.

"I know I said I've grown accustomed to Dueling," she said in her hoarse, slow voice, "but I'm far more experienced with this."

She leaped onto him trying to bury the sword in his chest, but Yuito managed to roll over, under the table and used all his strength to flip it over on her.

"This is nothing personal, young man," she said as she lifted the table off herself, "but I cannot allow the elder blood to continue existing. The key to the end of the world runs in your veins, the only way left for me is to spill it."

Using the two seconds given to him, Yuito frantically tried to plan his escape route. He had the door and the window. Cons for the window would be that he didn't know if the fire escape reached all the way to the bottom floor, but Ava was getting up between him and the door.

So the window it was.

He leaped over the bed with Ava just one sword length behind him, so he took hold of the sheets and tried to fling it over her. It only took her one swipe of her katana to cut it in half, however, the fabric twirled around her legs, causing her to fall and giving Yuito enough time to jump out of the open window onto the fire escape.

Maybe he had a good luck charm after all.

He descended the rusty ladders as fast as he could eventually making it to the second floor in which the fire escape ended. Looking up to the grating, he could no longer see Ava on his tail, so he assumed that she took the way though the stairs to ambush him in the second floor when he made his way out.

Looking down, he could see that the dumpster of their house was open and had not been emptied yet, so he just tried to rely on the Crosspoints luck and make the jump for it.

Fortunately the bags seemed to be filled mostly with paper and leftover food so he had a soft landing, although he smelled about as nice as when he arrived in his apartment the first time.

The safest direction to make the run for was probably the opposite way from the door. Ava probably guessed that he didn't break through the second floor window and concluded that he made the jump, so he tried to get as much mileage between her and him as possible.

But where go?

It took Yuito some moments to realize that he actually had nowhere. The police? Telling them a woman with a kanata was chasing him over a magic orb of light was a one-way ticket to a closed institute. The agency? If Ava found his apartment, it would hardly be an issue for her to make the internet search for his agencies address. Keiji? He knew the billiard joint he had taken Jeanie, but that was in the opposite direction, so he had to backtrack eventually, risking to run into Ava again.

As he thought of that, he realized something else that shocked him. Where did the delivery lady go? He clearly saw her, and he clearly heard her voice and she looked and sounded nothing like Ava.

If worst came to worst, then Ava was a shapeshifter.

That meant she could potentially be anybody. And anywhere.

Yuitos brain frantically worked on a solution on where he could go. Somewhere she couldn't know. He went though all his past hiding spots that he used when he lived on the streets, but none of them seemed safe enough and all of them were too remote, so Ava could just freely attack him when she found him.

Then, he thought of the evening he met her for the first time. When he met an old friend beforehand. And suddenly, he knew where to turn. A place where he could lay low for a while. A place in running distance. An occupied house at fountain plaza. Daichi.