Notes

Last chapter had some mixed reactions hehe hopefully what happens next will mend/clear out some things, after all, we're still not done.

Chapter title may be a little misleading.

Sorry for any mistakes.

Enjoy the show!

PS 14 – The Vacation

It's been almost five years since the end of the interdimensional war.

The four dimensions were partially united now. After the explosion of the ARC Machine, the four dimensions started a slow unification process. At the beginning, portals to pockets in space functioned as the bridges between Maiami City, Heartland City, Neo Domino City and Domino City. Little by little, those portals in the middle of the cities had been disappearing and new land has appeared at the edge of the cities to connect them. Scientists think it will still take another 10 years before the unification was completed, but travel with the portals was permitted and the cities were only separated by hours in train or car if you took the new roads created.

The end of the war became a big event in all four dimensions and even though the cities were connected, the people were not the same. The war left behind one destroyed city, a lot of refugees, a city without an established form of government and a school full of misguided kids. Maiami City became the center of the reconstruction efforts, taking up all the kids and students without families, providing aid to Heartland and Neo Domino City and punishing all the people involved in either the ARC Project or Revival Zero. The people from the Fusion Dimension helped a lot too, but everyone was still wary of them. Academia was closed for an indefinite period and Akaba Leo received a long sentence for his crimes.

The Lancers were attributed to stopping the war in Heartland City by uniting forces with the Local Resistance, they were recognized for their involvement in the abolition of the Class Division System in Neo Domino City and were the main characters in stopping Akaba Leo's ambition; with some memorable members from the XYZ, Synchro and Fusion Dimensions as well.

The death count wasn't as large as the initial attack made it seem, everybody that was turned into a card returned back to normal, but there were casualties. Along with the anniversary of the end of the war, people joined to remember all of those who lost their lives in the fighting. The most known one was probably Sakaki Yuya from Standard, as he had a big part in all main events of all dimensions.

In the four cities, a monument was built in his honor as a reminder of the cost of war and for people to always remember dueling should be done for the enjoyment of duelists, spectators and monsters involved. At least, that was what the public came to be told of his demise. The truth was kept a secret with only some people actually knowing how the war came to an end and what really happened to Yuya, Yuri, Yugo and Yuto.

Yuzu was going to be late to the café if she didn't leave now. With just a little of lip gloss to her lips and putting her shoes on, she was ready to leave. She grew in almost every sense since the end of the war. Now with a more mature body and a little taller, the only thing that had stayed the same in the last years was her preferred hairstyle of twintails, which were only a little longer.

Going downstairs, she saw Serena eating some cereal in the kitchen while watching some reruns of the qualifying duels for the next tournament. After the end of the war, Serena didn't return to either Academia or the Fusion Dimension, instead taking up Hiiragi Shuzo's offer of staying with them in Maiami City. She was as tall as Yuzu with a shorter ponytail and a little bit of more muscle because of her extensive training in order to become a personal trainer. Serena never wanted to pursue a professional career as a duelist, so she decided to help people in another way.

"Going out?" asked Serena.

"Yeah, meeting some friends to clear my head," said Yuzu.

In that moment, a rerun of Yuzu's last match was starting. Both turned to look at it and Serena quickly turned off the TV.

"Yuzu…"

"I'm running late," said Yuzu interrupting the other teen and going to the door, "tell my dad I'll return later, thanks!"

Yuzu got out as fast as possible. She didn't want to talk about her last match and her horrible performance. Yuzu was a pro duelist specialized in pendulum fusion and action duels with a good record behind her (even managed to win some tournaments already), but as of recently her performance had been not so good with the result of losing her most recent match.

She still wasn't out of the tournament, but needed to win the following duels if she wanted to qualify. She needed to improve her game, if not for herself, at least for her fans. Even Masumi was worried about her and after her match went to see her. Masumi was also a pro duelist with ADS (the company had to change its name to Akaba Corporation due to obvious reasons) as her sponsor; she was known as the prodigy fusion duelist of the time.

Pretty lost in her thoughts, Yuzu didn't notice when she arrived at the café. She went to their usual table and found Sora already seating there. As Serena, Sora didn't pursue a career as a pro duelist. Right now, he was finishing high school and thinking about going to college with an undefined major, although was considering doing something related with sweets. After the war, he was practically forced by Sakaki Yoko to live with her and her husband, not as a replacement for Yuya, but because Yoko liked him as another son and wanted him to have a normal life as possible.

It hasn't been easy for them, especially Yoko. Yusho told everyone who was present at the betrayal of the brothers to not tell her what really happened, so she had the same story as the rest of the world; Yuya died after the final duel against Leo during the explosion of the ARC Machine… which wasn't a complete lie, really. Yuzu knew Yoko was a strong woman and during the funeral she didn't shed a single tear, but after the event when Yuzu was going to say goodbye to her and leave the Sakaki household, she found her crying in Yuya's room. Yuzu and her father went home that night without saying goodbye.

"Hey Sora," greeted the young woman while sitting down, "and the others?"

"Gongenzaka sent a message to the group saying he couldn't make it today and I was with Sawatari a little while ago, but he forgot about some rehearsal and had to leave early," Sora let out a little laugh at that, taking a sip of his drink. "We were thinking about rescheduling for some other day."

"Oh" said Yuzu looking at her duel disk, "I didn't check out any new messages…"

"I thought so, that's why I'm here," said Sora with a kind smile, "and I wanted to try this new cake."

"Of course," said Yuzu, "can't let yourself be seen as a kind person."

"You know me, I have a reputation to maintain."

They both laughed at that. A waiter came to ask for their orders and after the desserts arrived, they started to talk. Because Yuzu had been busy with the duels for the tournament, Sora updated her about everyone's lives. Surprisingly, he keep in contact with a lot of members from the Lancers and people from Academia, even if he no longer had any contact whatsoever with the Fusion Dimension.

Edo Phoenix decided to pursue a professional career as a duelist and was using his reputation to bring a better name to duelists from the Fusion Dimension. He was also in his way to obtain a second degree in business management. He and Yuzu were nothing more than acquaintances who meet in the anniversary of the war, but she knew Edo sometimes gave conferences related to entertainment dueling, citing a lot of what Yuya and Yusho taught him.

Tenjouin Asuka had already finished college and wanted to open a new You Show Duel School in Domino City, as a branch of the original school of Maiami City. Right now, duel schools were not well received in the Fusion Dimension (considering the whole incident with Academia), but she believed kids needed a proper guidance to enjoy dueling. She was doing everything with the help of other former students from Academia and her boyfriend who (according to Sora) had Kuriboh hair.

During Yuya's funeral, she and Yuzu got a chance to speak again. Yuya's funeral was a shared one with honorable mentions of Yugo, Yuri and Yuto, as the four of them "died" in the same incident and none of them had families that cared for them. Asuka was sad about Yuri's death and thought it was her fault because she convinced him to change sides really close to the end of the war. Feeling guilty, Yuzu told her the truth of what really happened. "Well, at least he's now with people who care for him," said Asuka with a little smile on her face. At the time, Yuzu didn't say anything because she had been angry at Yuri and the other two boys for their involvement in her friend's death.

Dennis Macfield lived now in Heartland City and was a professional dueltainer specialized in fusion, XYZ and pendulum summoning. Yuzu has to admit he had courage to go there to help in the reconstruction efforts considering the tensions between the XYZ and Fusion Dimensions. After learning of Yuya's death and Yuri's change of heart during the war, he decided to become the best dueltainer ever and changed his dueling style to create one of his own. Yuzu didn't want to admit it, but Dennis could really become the best duelist of all former participants of the Arc League Championship and former members of the Lancers. Yuzu knew the Lancers were still close to each other and after some time he and Kurosaki made amends, becoming somewhat friends. It was inevitable, considering he was interested in Kurosaki's little sister, Ruri.

"Has she said yes?" asked Yuzu with a smile on her face while taking another bite of her cake.

"No, but according to him he's getting closer," said Sora, "he's really stupid or really brave to try anything with Ruri now that Kurosaki is training to become a cop."

After the war, Kurosaki Shun returned with his sister to the XYZ Dimension. Their parents returned back to normal when the ARC Machine was destroyed, along with all the other people who were turned into cards. Yuzu knew he became famous in Heartland City because of his involvement in stopping the war and his status as a Lancer. He decided to become a detective and was working in a private office to train and improve his skills. Yuzu was sure part of his selected job has to do with finding Yuto and Yuya. In a surprising turn of events, Kurosaki was still keeping contact with Serena, Sawatari and Sora and was really close friends with all of them. As mentioned before, he can put up with Dennis but doesn't like his interest in Ruri.

"I don't think he likes anyone for Ruri," said Yuzu, "remember that kiss with Yuto? And he was supposed to be his best friend."

"Yeah, I don't think even his friend Tenjou could be the right person and he's way cooler than any other guy you will ever meet," said Sora.

Tenjou Kaito reunited with his brother and father after they returned to normal, and helped in the rebuilding of Heartland City. His dad was a well renowned scientist who found ways to make the work easier. When things became steady, he didn't return to his career as a professional duelist, instead working with his dad to study the interdimensional portals. From time to time he would perform in exhibition duels. He came to be known as the strongest duelist from the XYZ Dimension. Sora knew about him because of Kurosaki and Edo. The later becoming good friends with Kaito and from time to time they would duel against each other. Yuzu knew he once spoke about Yuya in an anniversary of the end of the war at Heartland City.

"How's Ruri by the way?" asked Yuzu.

Out of all her counterparts, Ruri was the one Yuzu had the least contact with. Anything she knew, she got it from Serena who contrary to her got along pretty well with the XYZ girl. Immediately after the war, Ruri didn't want to relate much to anything or anyone from the Standard Dimension because in some way she blamed Yuya for Yuto's betrayal. She was never unkind and treated everyone with politeness, but didn't want to connect with them.

According to Serena, right now she's taking the whole Yuto situation better and felt horrible about blaming Yuya in the first place, so occasionally she would send a message to Yuzu, even one time going out of her way to seek her out. Yuzu didn't blame her in any way because she felt the same way as Ruri but with Yuto. Treating each other like acquaintances worked for them.

"Heard from Kurosaki that she's going to start medical school," said Sora, "wants to be a doctor, I think."

"Good for her," said Yuzu honestly happy for her. Maybe someday they can become friends, they were not that different after all.

"Speaking of people who look like you, how's Rin?" asked Sora.

Unlike Ruri, Rin was the opposite case as the only counterpart she interacted with was her standard one. The reason was because she felt guilty about Yuya's death, but in the sense that she felt responsible since Yugo was a big part of it. Between Ruri, Yuzu and Rin, the latter was the only one who got over the whole fiasco quicker, Serena didn't actually knew Yuri that well like the others. Not to say she wasn't sad and angry about Yugo's betrayal, however, even before the war started, the two of them were already falling apart. She received the truth in a horrible manner and has managed to overcome it. Yuzu thought she was the mentally strongest of the four of them.

Also, after the war, Rin didn't want to interact directly with the other girls because she didn't want to be mistaken as family, it reminded her too much of the boys' interactions. Rin returned to her home in Neo Domino City and managed to obtain a scholarship to study engineering; she wanted to design D-Wheels. The scholarship was granted by former King, Jack Atlas, who decided to use his influence and money to help children in need. Yuya's death was a huge blow for him and now he tried to be a better person.

"She gets mad at her professors because— and I quote they don't know shit about D-Wheels," said Yuzu imitating Rin's voice at the end. The two of them laughed at that.

"I think everyone from Synchro has a problem with authorities," said Sora, "Sawatari tells a lot of Crow's stories about his work and how people just seem to want to fight him."

Crow Hogan remained good friends with some former Lancers (mainly Kurosaki and Sawatari) and was now a member of the new Sector Security of Neo Domino City. In his own words to keep an eye in the new government and to ride his D-Wheel without anyone telling him not to. Also to work a better paying job to continue supporting his adopted kids and give them better opportunities.

"How do you know everything about everyone?" asked a surprised Yuzu.

"I know my stuff," said Sora taking another bite of his second cake, "…but you can also say that I speak a lot with Sawatari and he's the one who actually keeps tabs on everybody."

"I'm surprised, he's always busy with rehearsals," said Yuzu.

Sawatari Shingo continued dueling after the end of the war. With Yuya gone, he and Dennis became the major promoters of entertainment dueling, however, after finishing high school he decided to pursue a different artistic path; the duel stage had become too dull for his greatness. He entered a theatre school and was working hard to become an actor on his own merit; contrary to what people may have thought, he was great at it and even managed to obtain the lead role in his most recent play. This was the reason he was always busy these days. Yuzu sometimes thought that if Yuya had still been with them, Sawatari could have continued as a professional duelist.

"I think Sawatari may exaggerate a little bit his rehearsal time," said Sora making a quoting gesture, " a few days ago I went out to eat with Tsukikage and Hikage and Sawatari came along."

With the destruction of the ARC Machine, Tsukikage's brother Hikage returned back to normal. He, along with his brother, continued dueling for a little while all the way to the youth class. Then, two years ago they decided to leave the professional stage to work in something else. No one was sure what they did exactly; the gang has a bet going on for that, but everyone was sure it was something for the Akaba Corporation.

"Eh?! Really?!" asked Yuzu, "When was that? Why didn't you guys invite me?"

"It was actually a get together to watch your last duel," said Sora quietly.

"Oh," said Yuzu, "that duel…"

"But don't worry, Gongenzaka couldn't make it either!" tried to comfort her Sora.

Too late, she looked outside the window to the people passing by. The last match which I lost, thought Yuzu.

"Yuzu, are you okay?" asked Sora.

"I'm fine," said Yuzu.

"Really?" asked Sora obviously not believing her, "You don't have to lie, you know? We're close to that date after all… and Gongenzaka is more or less acting the same way as you."

Gongenzaka Noboru was a professional duelist known for his Steadfast style and specialized in pendulum synchro. Because he and Yuzu were pro duelists, they had faced each other multiple times on the stage. He was accumulating victories and giving a good reputation to his dojo which he wanted to inherit in the future. He already classified to the tournament Yuzu was trying to enter, even considering recent circumstances as Sora mentioned. It was not a secret that Yuya's disappearance/death hurt the two of them the most, Gongenzaka and she had been Yuya's closest friends after all.

Every year, close to the anniversary of the end of the war, the two of them entered a depressive state which affected everything they tried to do. This year they were unlucky because the preliminaries were during that time, which explained Yuzu's performance. Gongenzaka's victories meant he had managed to pull through it somehow and give fantastic duels.

Yuzu was not the same.

When that time came she couldn't avoid getting uncontrollably sad. It was not always like that, during the first year she had also been mad because of everything Yuto, Yugo and Yuri did to them and to Yuya. She felt betrayed by dear friends, at least in the case of Yugo and Yuto because she never got the chance to really know Yuri.

In the first anniversary, all former Lancers and people involved in stopping Akaba Leo reunited in Maiami City. There were some beautiful speeches given about dueling, sacrifice and peace and Reiji gave a beautiful eulogy of Yuya. In the celebration, when Kurosaki told them his desire to join the police department, he told them how his frustration towards Yuto had mellowed out and even felt a little like an asshole by thinking so bad about him. In retrospective, he did things on the same level as the Sakaki brothers in his pursue to save his sister and his family, including turning people into cards and hurting others. With that, Yuzu's hate started to banish until it was no more. In the long run, being angry was just wearing.

"The truth is I'm not that fine," said Yuzu looking back at Sora, "but I'll be." She gave him a little smile.

"You don't have to pretend," said Sora.

"I'm not, and that's the truth," she answered back, "my last duel is the ultimate proof of that. Every year it's easier, honestly. The thing with this year is that I'm dueling, and dueling is something we shared with Yuya, so when I'm in a match everything kind of reminds me of him."

"Think you can withstand it for your next duel?"

"I… I don't know…"

Sora looked out the window for a little while, then turned to look at her with a smile and said:

"How about taking a vacation? They say they are good for clearing your mind."

"Thanks Sora," said Yuzu letting out a little laugh, "but now I don't have the time, I need to concentrate on my next duel."

"Think about it," said Sora.

The conversation then turned to places to go on vacation and how next time Yuzu was free, they should take one before Sora started classes.

On the way back home, Yuzu contemplated Sora's idea and how clearing her mind might do her good.

What am I thinking? I need to think about my next duel! She thought while opening the door to her house.

"I'm home!" said Yuzu.

"Hey, Yuzu! Welcome back," greeted her dad at the entrance and with a little hesitance told her, "You have a visitor."

"Eh? Who?" Yuzu wasn't expecting someone this late. Her dad accompanied her to the living room where Serena was sitting in a couch and in front of her in another one was none other than Akaba Reiji.

"Reiji!" said a surprised Yuzu, "Hello, how are you?"

"Good evening, I'm doing fine and you?"

"I… I'm fine, thanks" said Yuzu.

"Wonderful," said Reiji.

"Enough of this chit-chat!" said Serena, "Why are you really here?!"

"Serena! Don't be rude," said Yuzu who then turned to look a Reiji with a curious expression, "But I can't say I'm not curious, what are you doing here?"

At 21 years old, Akaba Reiji continued managing Akaba Corporation in a perfect way regardless of the whole fiasco with his father. His appearance was still as handsome as before, just in the form of a young man instead of a teen. The company suffered defamation and attacks from everywhere, from rival duel schools to local governments of the four dimensions to police investigations. Reiji managed to calm the waters everywhere by using his involvement in stopping the war and offered support to help the other cities to clean the company's name. He has separated himself from the dueling scenario, citing his preference to work in new innovations and personal projects, but from time to time will participate in exhibition duels. Akaba Corporation was also a major sponsor in all big tournaments from all dimensions.

"I have a proposition for you, Hiiragi Yuzu," said Reiji while adjusting his glasses.

Eh?

At least the scenery was beautiful. From her seat in the backseat of a car being driven by Akaba Corporation personal, Yuzu could see the side of a cliff with a perfect view of the sea. They were going around a mountain in a road with no traffic to enter a little town in the middle of nowhere in the Fusion Dimension. Yuzu still couldn't believe how she ended up here…

"It may be better if it was just the two of us," said Reiji.

Yuzu turned to look at her friend and her dad.

"Fine! Whatever, she's telling me later," said Serena getting up and leaving.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything," said her dad.

Now that they were alone, Yuzu asked.

"So… what proposition? You know I'll not affiliate with ADS; I promote You Show."

"It's not that kind of proposition," said Reiji, "but know that if you ever wish for ADS as your sponsor, we can reach an agreement." Just like him to look out for any business opportunity.

"Not happening any time soon," said Yuzu with a smirk on her face.

"Even if you can't enter the next tournament," he said.

"That's a low blow," she said with a frown.

"Your performance has been lacking these past few duels, I know how good you are," explained Reiji.

"There's been some things happening, that's all," said Yuzu averting her eyes.

"Of course, it's that time again," he said with a faraway look on his face.

After a moment of silence Reiji started speaking again.

"The truth is if you can't manage to classify for the tournament, it will not sell as well, you have more fans than you think. Also, I understand that you're going through something right now, but you can't let it affect your dueling."

"You don't need to tell me that!" said Yuzu a little angrier than intended. Why was everyone meddling in her business?!

"How about a little vacation?" said Reiji who was not affected by her little outburst.

"Eh?" that was definitely something Yuzu wasn't expecting.

"I know a nice place and have some friends that would receive you for the weekend," continued Reiji.

Yuzu didn't know what to say, she was thrown out of the loop. Just an hour ago she was talking to Sora about taking a vacation and even thinking perhaps it could be a good idea, but she wasn't going to actually do it.

"Why?" asked Yuzu. She and Reiji were not that good friends, they were more people who became somewhat friends because they have common friends. Even when they met, Reiji had always been more interested in Yuya.

"Let's call it a favor for a friend and I hoping you'll clear your mind before your next match," said Reiji once again adjusting his glasses. "What do you say Yuzu? Akaba Corporation will cover your transportation. You just need to pack a bag and go."

"Where exactly is this vacation?" asked Yuzu still not 100% convinced.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise," said Reiji, "but I'm sure you'll probably like it."

"Why do you say that?"

"You'll see."

Yuzu was brought back to the present by a change in scenery. They had entered a new road going across a path with trees, lots and lots of them. She saw a sign which read "Welcome to Ranmachi", which at least answered the question of where she was. Considering the big fields and trees everywhere she must be in the countryside.

"This is where I'll be staying?" asked Yuzu to the people at the front.

"Yes, Miss Hiiragi," answered the woman in the copilot seat, "Ranmachi is a little town at the south of the Fusion Dimension. Quiet and peaceful, they tend to not get involved with outside matters."

"I see," noticing something Yuzu said, "with Yuzu is fine, Miss Hiiragi makes me feel old."

"Very well Miss Yuzu," answered the woman.

Yuzu continued watching through the car window. Although it was in the countryside, all the buildings looked well maintained. This was probably the kind of town that has one of everything, one café, one school, one dentist, one lodging house, etc., and everyone must know each other. Yuzu couldn't imagine Reiji coming here to relax… or maybe she can, perhaps he wanted to not be recognized every once in a while, and this place seemed far away of anything big. The name of a shop caught her attention, Other Dimensional Dragons ODDs; well, that was an interesting name. She continued looking at the shops and houses until they got out of the main road once again for a path with more trees. The town really had a lot of green. They traveled for another 15 minutes until the car stopped at the bottom of a road surrounded by even more trees.

"We're here Miss Yuzu," said the woman.

"Here?" asked Yuzu, there wasn't any building in sight, just the road.

"We were instructed to leave you here, if you continue down that road you'll arrive at your destination."

"Oh, you are not going to accompany me?" Yuzu wasn't thrilled by that.

"No," said the woman, "but don't worry, there's nothing dangerous here and it will only take you around 15 minutes."

"…ok," said Yuzu. If she ended up dead, her ghost will haunt Akaba Reiji for eternity.

Yuzu got out the car, the driver took out her bag and then left.

"Ok, I'm already this far, you can do it!" Yuzu tried to motivate herself. She first checked her duel disk to confirm she at least had signal in case anything happened to her. Although her first thoughts were uncertain, the road was really beautiful and the sounds of nature were relaxing. Some of the trees still had flowers so the path was full of color. Also, the daylight provided by the clear sky helped a lot to calm her nerves.

From afar, at the end of the road, Yuzu was able to see a tall cement white fence-wall which possibly served as a form of security for the house on the other side. Arriving at the doors, she didn't see any kind of doorbell and after knocking without any kind of answer for five minutes, she noticed the door was unlocked and decided to enter, maybe by the front someone could hear her better. The fence did a good job of keeping out of sight the other side because the land and house were bigger than expected, the house had three levels, a garage and a greenhouse.

Small town but rich people… yeah, they must be Reiji's friends, thought Yuzu. She decided to verify if there was no one before entering the house.

"Hello! Is there anyone inside!" shouted Yuzu.

She heard sounds from inside.

Well, there is someone here, thought Yuzu a little angry, didn't they know I was going to arrive today?

Yuzu's anger banished the moment the door opened.

He seemed taller than her and still slim, but from afar she couldn't tell with precision. He was dressed in some jeans and an orange t-shirt with the same pendulum he always wore hanging from his neck. His hair was as uncontrollable as ever with just the one-star googles somehow keeping it tame. His eyes were full of surprise until they filled with happiness and his face changed into his ever-present smile, exactly as she remembered.

"Hey Yuzu," said Sakaki Yuya, "welcome."

Author notes

So how was it? I think I didn't forget any major characters. What do you all think of their career paths? :)

I don't think everyone ends up being pro duelists. DM and 5Ds kind of showed that and personally, I don't like everyone dueling as their professional careers. However, I believe everyone continues and knows how to duel.

Next chapter we'll see the most expected person of this whole fic.

Thanks for reading!